beginning of the end of january

alright, so i got a little ahead of myself- my birthday actually happened the day before ginger and i went to kilgore, and i celebrated it with nicolette and nafia with a simple dinner (reminiscent of last year-simple, small, private.not a big deal) we were going to do cheesecake factory, but it was so packed, we opted for blue mesa next door. it's always good to catch up with the girls and laugh a little! they were very thoughtful with their gifts-those who know me, know i am a sucker for stationery! so stationery, a sweet journal and the  i received some sweet cards over week leading up to my birthday, and silly/humorous affirmation cards! time i get to spend with these two has become so limited, but when we do get together, it truly is enjoyable!

i also received several cards leading up to my birthday-a few from colleagues (thanks leadership team, alyshia, and joyce-so thoughtful!) not to mention, the following weekend i received a gorgeous bead necklace, which is totally me, (for which i have the perfect matching earrings) and another stationery set from sabrina, none-too-soon, i might add...as i only have about 4 cards left from the punny set, and maybe for from the inspire set. yes, i may have substituted letter-writing for blog-posting over the past couple months. oops.

that last weekend of january, we were off to abq, new mexico. i found out about a month too late that one of my old kampers, and dear friend, kelly v lives there! if only i'd known sooner! anyhoo. i was pleasantly surprised that my flight was hooking up with sabrina's, so she saved me a spot on plane while i was boarding from dallas. i was excited that we were going to get an opportunity to fly together-a little hangout time long overdue. we did some work on the plane (as much as we could, as the wifi was sketch). we arrived in the afternoon, had some copies to run and things to do to get ready, then we grabbed a late-lunch/early dinner and went to settle into the hotels.

 notice i said hotels plural? well, as it so happens, the two hotels are basically connected by a courtyard, divided by a gate. so i checked into my room, then made my way across the courtyard to hang out with ju and sabrina in the other hotel. it was like playing marco polo trying to figure out where they were, but eventually, i heard my name ring out through the air, "JUAN!" and then my phone rang out and we talked my way through the mine-field...as i tried to use my sense of direction and looking at where the sun was setting, as the constellations hadn't come out yet (and even if they had, i'd left my astrolabe at home)...reunited and it feels so good... 

when i first arrived to my room, i was a little worried, and i ransacked the place, trying to locate the hair-dryer. i was getting worried. i looked under the sink (the usual place) under the OTHER sink, not there either, in the closet, in each of the drawers,

BIBLE: beauty is fleeting, why you need a hairdryer?
DEX PHONE GUIDE: baby, i got yo' number... (closed that drawer right back up)

behind cupboards...but finally! really? hanging on the back of the door? who'd-a-thunk?

oh! there you are!

it didn't take too long before it was time to go to bed, and wake up again! of course when you wake up with these two, you know it's going to involve a little starbucks, as well-and so we were off, and i tried the sous vide eggs for the first time-gruyere and bacon...ah, delectable! somewhat heavenly bites-if you can handle the consistency. as we slowly drove through the parking lot, past the carl jr's, i'm pretty sure there was a homeless man in the back corner who was making drug deals or something. i mean, there was something going down back there- both mornings a truck drove by and then the next morning a car was back there-and they weren't dropping off blankets and toiletries. just sayin'.

we got back to the convention center and had some setting up to do-it took pretty much 30-40 min. creating the posters, setting up the tables, passing out the papers-but it got done, and people started showing up, many of whom the girls had worked with before (several of them seemed so excited to be back-which has been a welcome progression!). cris appeared out of nowhere and we got her stuff set up as well, and it wasn't long before we saw lori come in as well. it was good to see her out of her boot, although it may have been a little premature, she did pretty well. this was the first chance i got to meet kelly and she introduced us all to heather, her partner in crime.

the session began with a little review from the previous round, because there were lots of positive comments about it, in fact, believe it or not, there were a couple of teachers in monday's group, and tuesday's group that actually brought their lap-folders with them-so excited about all the foldables! so there was a bit of review on portfolio/profile/display ideas, goal-setting, problem-solving, and then a bit on PLCs, followed by a survival -type team-work-collaboration. and that was followed by more end of year reports/work-time.

it was comical when one of the gentelmen that was in the session shared that he disagreed with the order of some of the survival game entries...and he was a survivalist. HA! (keep your opinions to yourself, mista!) it was still fun!

we had a great lunch (when it comes to sushi, i trust julie k, she never does me wrong!) i forget the name of the place, but we did it for lunch both days, and i was a happy girl! yummers!

monday night after the training, we headed out to dinner with kelly and heather, and it was loud. partly because it was like 8 girls in a small room, surrounded by small parties and some business men. add a little wine, and the girls get louder. the food was really good-we had quite the variety-a bit of everything! lovely evening. while my reach wasn't bad, the gentleman from the next table offered to take our picture, and it came out much better! (i'm sure he was probably thinking, 'just let me take this and get it over with so ya'all can get out of here and we can have a peaceful conversation, bringing the decibel count down a notch). ha!

my lovely friends/colleagues. 

i do enjoy working with these ladies! abq day tuesday-ish next up.

julie

firetruck conspiracy, stocked on stationery, and census stalkers

alrighty then. it seemed like an ordinary saturday until i got out of the house to go purchase some 'crafty' things. then it was just busy. as i pulled out of the complex and headed west, there was a fire truck blocking half the road; not sure what happened, but there was a car just in front of them, and they were getting back into the truck (did i mention that it was almost directly in front of the fire dept? how convenient! if my car ever catches on fire, may it be in front of a fire station!!)

actually, yesterday when i got home from school, there were 2 fire trucks in the complex at the building next to mine and people outside...that is the one thing that i am paranoid about; living in an apt. complex, worrying about the dogs-if any idiots in the complex do something stupid with a space heater, Christmas lights...candles...so no, i don't mind living next to the fire department at all. i rather welcome the sound of the sirens, knowing that they can be at the apt in a minute.

scariest part about living in an apt...ANY apt!

but i digress. today i was out and about looking for cups, a waffle iron, paint pens, bacon...you know, the fun stuff! so i found some cups that were 'alright' at target, but they didn't have the waffle iron i wanted-the model was out, but there were no boxes on the shelf...i saw that as a sign that i did not need a waffle iron today. then when i got up to the cash register, the man in front of me had the waffle iron that i wanted. the last one...i weighed out all of my possible options, and decided that none of them were legal, so i would just wait another day, or check on amazon.

on the way back, at the intersection near my place there was a major disruption-2 fire trucks and a couple of police cars, so i took the back roads and finally got to the grocery store for-like i said before, bacon. i also grabbed a zucchini and a yellow squash because i purchased a vegetable grinder-thing the other day and want to see if it works as well as it did on 'the chew'. game on-zucchini spaghetti tomorrow!

when i walked out of the store, there was yet another fire truck in the parking lot!! WHAT IN THE WORLD?! perhaps subliminal messages-they are getting out in the neighborhoods so that people will think, "oh, i should get a shiny, red fire truck for little timmy!" pretty sure that's the deal.

this has been a busy month. we were preparing at the beginning of the month for our PERSONALIZED LEARNING (PL)presentation. we had a decent presentation, and then we waited, and waiting is the devil. then-drum roll, please! we were recommended for 'full launch!' umm...i know, sounds like we are a rocket ship or something. so..it's been a busy 6 months planning and creating a framework for the direction that we'd like to go with this endeavor, now that we are in, the heavy lifting begins, and it is going to get real. spring semester separates the wheat from the chaff...the milk from the cream... ok, seriously, training, planning, preparing, learning. that's what it be.

one of the neat things that has come of this is that one of the ladies from the community was at a PL meeting down town and learned that we were applying, and since she lives in our neighborhood, she came by to tour our school! in the process, she noticed our pathetic playground. she came back a few weeks later with a check for about 96k and it gets better, there was a special because it's off-season, so the company matched it and we are getting almost 200k worth of playground equipment!!!! WHAT?! we are blessed! not only that, but our generous benefactress is also on our advisory board, and has some great input, and she is planning to volunteer to read with our students. it doesn't get any better! we are humbled. our kids are going to be ecstatic!

loving this season of JOY!

it's that time of year, and my people know me-i got stationary from my secret pal and some note-cards from my principal

love the elegance and simplicity-

so fun-they will certainly get used!

-all this after i stopped at world market and i shouldn't have but i stopped at the card rack and found these sweet cards...$60 worth...so-i'm stocked for a little bit. my freakin' achilles heal...for some girls it's shoes. for me, it's cards. you can't write on shoes...but then cards on your feet might be kinda' tacky as well...

world market, thank you!

and there were tamales. that makes my Christmas complete! (cue a deep sigh of satisfaction). i will be making a stop at the pupuseria down the street in the next couple of days as well as the panaderia guatemalteca-in hopes that i will find a tasty little snack to go with my coffee.

thank you, mrs. markham-this made my holiday complete!

 and i have already forgotten what day it is-for not keeping track or having a schedule...pretty sure it's monday..nope, tuesday, that's what i meant! my internet has been spotty, so i couldn't finish this last night-grr. so i decided to go to ihop to use the wifi while enjoying a simple egg and bacon breakfast. i walked in and asked for a booth where i might be able to work. i was guided to a booth and when i tried to access their wifi, lo and behold, there was no network available! what? so i asked my lady if they had wifi and she said no they did not. well, that was a first, almost every ihop and denny’s i’ve been to has wifi! i was very disappointed-i tried not to let it show on my face, but unfortunately my body language and facial expressions are fairly easy to read. i still over-tipped (it's Christmas, and breakfast waitresses don't get large tips because the prices are so low on breakfast).. not her fault they don't have wifi -note to self, no business meetings at ihop on beltline...not that teachers usually conduct 'business meetings.' in that case, maybe no e-book-club at that ihop...and the eggs weren't even cooked well, and the bacon had a funky taste...i guess i'm a little picky about my eggs and bacon.

oh, and a few weeks ago, i received this census form in the mail and thought i could just not do it. then i got bombarded with reminders and "if you missed the first mailing, we will send another. you are bound by law to fill this out. if you don't, we will send another. if you still don't fill it out, we may send one of the gitmo detainees to 'encourage you' to fill it out. we KNOW you haven't filled it out; in fact, we know that you threw the first one away....do the right thing. we just want to pave your roads better." Perhaps that wasn't verbatim, but close enough.

wonder if mary and joseph got one like this in the mail.

so, yes, i did fill it out to be done with it. i'm just glad i didn't have to do it the way mary and joseph did back in the day...riding a donkey up to illinois would not be ideal (even not being great with child).

and of course, i would be remiss to not mention the staff party-we had a great time. papadeaux is always delicious! i sat with jeri, abby and her husband and there is a crazy connection. when i mentioned that i wasn't going to mo. for the break, he asked what part of mo. when i said north of springfield, he asked where, and when i said buffalo, he knew EXACTLY where i was speaking of-he proceeded to tell me that his grandparents live in halfway. if you recall, i've spoken of halfway before..tiny town of 2...perhaps i exaggerate, but still, the coincidence of anyone in dallas being familiar with halfway is somewhat comforting. smile.

we were especially happy this evening because of the news of PL!

oh, and i wasn't planning on going anywhere this year, but some friends are gathering in oklahoma, and it's been awhile since i've seen them, so we may be having a last-minute, impromptu reunion, and the boys are excited because they will get to see their friends/family! they were just saying they wanted to work on their social skills, so basically what is going to happen is that reagan is going to put chaco in his place, and bruno is going to wander off and do his own thing, trying to avoid the others and thatcher is probably going to chill and try to hide from chaco.

so this is where i halt for the day and wish you all the merriest!  be back after Christmas!
julie

faith is turning my arm green...let's give something away!!

chaco has a new habit. he gets his squeaky toy and climbs up on the couch, squeaks it a few times then drops it...on purpose, and then puts on puppy dog face (which takes a moment to decipher because it's so natural), then says, "momma, can you pick up my toy?" i like to call it the jenni o'halloran move.

notice the homemade stairs and the tom thumb carry-all (currently transporting student projects

i used to have a kamper a long time ago who used to do silly things: jrob, will you blow dry my hair? jrob, will you brush my teeth? then at night we'd turn out the lights and most of the kampers would be in their beds when i'd hear, "jrob, will you pick up my pig?" after i answered with a yes, we'd all hear a thud and then giggles. oh kamp, how do i miss thee? 

those of you who have fb saw my post line yesterday that went with chaco's pic, he rolled over and said, "hey momma, i'm buddha! RUB.MY. BE-LLY!" he's not demanding at all. bruno, on the other hand will lay next to me, but if i start to pet him, he'll kinda' try to pull his shoulder out of reach, and if i continue, he gets whiny and says, "stooop it." and just walks away. they are so, so different in personality!

well, tonight i came home and i noticed a strange green marking on my arm.

not the bracelet, the lighter green band around my arm!

i noticed it last night too-wasn't sure what it was, so last night i might have tasted it...(?) and it was pretty nasty, but it washed off. don't ask what was going through my head to make me taste it, because i don't even know. well, tonight i thought and thought, and finally it came to me! faith is turning my arm green! i got this amazing bracelet for Christmas some time ago from my small group bible study gals, and i've been wearing it religiously the last couple of weeks, because  it's that time of year! 

now faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.

 so i looked up why my skin turned green because i am a curious person. 

it's a reaction between our skin and the metals used in jewelry, especially when the jewelry touches areas that perspire.

and there you have it, i should not wear any jewelry from now til the end of the school year because i will be perspiring..it's what we do in my classroom! the ac is almost certain to not be working in my room before summer.

i like to celebrate the small things! this morning i woke up and noticed that my silly, little blog had broke the 1000 mark! (1,001-which i loved because i really think palindromes are cool!) so to celebrate, i am going to do a giveaway!!! woohoo! sorry, it's not going to be dried fruit, sorry! 


actually, i think to kick off a fun beginning, i'm going to celebrate with something i've already shown you! STATIONERY!!! i'll be putting together 3 packages of cards, notecards, and mini cards, so if you want to be part of the giveaway, be sure to leave a comment on THIS POST! make sure to post before sunday p.m. at 7!

let your friends know, because i'm guessing that if you're still reading my blog it's because it has in some way or another entertained you, and who doesn't need a little non-intellectual stimulation once in awhile!!

have faith..but keep it off of your arms! (and if it gets on your arms, definitely avoid licking it!!)
julie

p.s. as i began writing tonight, the tornado sirens went off again, and i had to explain to bruno that it was not, in fact, the ice cream man.
 

i make stationery..so? whatcha' gonna do about it??

so..i'm pretty sure i've mentioned that i like being a little creative once in awhile. well, recently hollie, my sister-in-law, asked me to make some stationery for teachers day because she was thinking about doing a teacher appreciation give-away on her blog. you can enter the give-away by writing her a comment here. if you're wondering what some of the stationery looks like,

the bottom one is actually one of the ones i sent to hollie-she has 4 different designs

and these are the minis i throw into letters (told you i like miniature!)

the pictures from my phone don't really do them justice, but a dear friend who was a nurse for the kamp i worked at (yes, i spelled it with a k, kanakuk, what's up with that.i said..what's up with that..) sent me a message the other day saying that she still had some from when we worked together a few years ago :) i thought that was fun!

i may have just taken in a king size PAYDAY (not taken in like a stray puppy..taken in like into my stomach)-wish that were a prediction of this friday when i get my paycheck...if so, i might take it as symbolism and eat myself a payday and follow it up with a 100,000grand bar next month!!

hmm..funny how i can eat almost an entire honeydew melon in one sitting once it's dehydrated...and 2 cartons of strawberries.. did you realize that's a lot of fiber? i've noticed it today.

i thought this was kinda' funny, the czech president "stealing" the ceremonial pen at a conference...if i were him, i'd tell people it was the voices in my head telling me to do it. i mean, he did have an earpiece in.


some of my friends said they were having trouble posting comments, so i modified settings..hope it works now, if not let me know!

other than that, nothing exciting to share, but check out hollie's site if you get a chance!
julie