why can't they just make cards with my thoughts on them?

well...back to school!

so...i think i may have scared the pee out of someone today. we had made an agreement to put the invisible darts and dart guns away during the school-day, but as soon as 3:15 rolled around, game on! and of course, lindsey beat me to the draw on the way down the stairs, and i went down, but fortunately maria was there to find the invisible dart so i could get out the door to dismiss students. well, there was someone at the foot of the stairs, and when he saw me go down, maria said his face was in shock because he had no idea what was going on.

so, those of you who have no idea what this thing is, the 'game' consists of an invisible dart gun and invisible darts. when shot, you go down...because that's what darts do! and you're down until someone removes the dart. i think i might request a 30 second limit on the down time, because i know that if olivia, maria or dr. hughes is around, they will remove the dart, but i wouldn't put it past lindsey to sneak in when no one else is around on the last day of school before spring break and shoot me...we take this game seriously. perhaps by then it will be in the past. perhaps not.

i looked for any card that had a far-side or something with aborigines and dart guns at target, but i couldn't find any, so i made my own little comic. (erin beckwith loves it when i make comics, so she'll get a kick out of this one!)

a little difficult to see, so i added a close up

 let's not lie, this is definitely a contact sport...contact with the floor, wall, whoever you happen to fall on...it can be intense-as it should be.

carpet burn.

i wish i had the video or a link to the video, because the ambush in the hotel was classic...as was the willingness of the hotel night attendant to play along. he was like commando (not not dressed, but like the movie-diving and rolling and all that jazz)

and last night, i finally got to sit and catch up with heidi, one of my dear friends from HONDURAS. i made a book with my students, to model how to write a descriptive book, and i did it about utila, one of my favorite places in the world. she used to invite me out when she came back to visit, so i sent her a copy. it was so great to catch up, and it made me smile to know that although much has changed, much remains the same! i need to be better at staying in touch!

i am actually getting ready to look at the mimio website-i know i mentioned it in my last post, but if you teach, i would suggest you check it out! i am hoping to look into some grants or something to try to get a mimio teach (although i would prefer to get the projector), and the reading program. my biggest wish is that they would work on some bilingual materials.

so..i'm off to check that out right now and prepare my invisible darts,
julie

will power is overrated, but i held out for the tshirt

today was quite the day! i HATED getting up early. plus it was raining. so i took my car to drive across the street (literally) to the school where destination imagination (di) was. when i pulled up th the turn left lane, the light never turned and there was a huge long line on the other side-nobody was letting anyone in. jerks -all of them! so i peeled out and found a place to u-turn and go back to my apt. and i walked over as quickly as i could because i was a little late.as quickly as i could because i was a little late.

so, when i got there, i was like the 3rd or 4th in the score room, no worries. and we just basically waited around for the longest time before we could start inputting scores. i was fortunate because i chose the right random computer! our teams finished first! which meant i got to go home earlier than i expected! there was quite a bit of wait time-wish i had taken a book or something. i did think to take some stationery, but i didn't realize i would run out after writing about 6 letters..

i am actually quite proud of myself- i was in a room full of chocolate, chips, diet dr. peppers and diet cokes, but i stuck to my water, and almonds for a snack...and they even brought in shclotzky subs-but i ate my salad.sigh. i can't wait to get to the weight i want to be at! anyhoo, when i was out on a bathroom break, i heard a voice yell, "miss cabell!" and it was dr. jones! our former interim principal! fun to catch up really quickly. but the best part of the day was that i got a free t-shirt! with a robot on the back!

cool shirt, right?

forbidden places...that's where we were-no entry! (the lady next to me was reading this book)

and this is what i was doing most of the day-data entry. i am one fast 10-key-er! pretty sure i astounded everyone with my skills!

 so when i got back to the apt, i went to target to get some cheap jeans and i was hoping to find a cool puzzle or something for our co-worker who is laid-up for a couple more weeks. well, i found the jeans, but not the puzzle...i also found some wind-pants, brown socks (which i had been needing), avocados, strawberries and truvia....oh goodness. then i took off for barnes and noble.

when i got there i found a rubics 360 which i'd like to take out of the box and play with myself before giving it away...but i won't. i also found a book i've been wanting to get for awhile now. i finally had time to get out and get it and i have a weekend without much to do; i am so excited begin reading it asap!

 on the way home, i was behind another elantra, but it was a different year, and here was my train of thought: hmm. that must be a boy car. he isn't nearly as cute as utila! i wonder if people know how to pronounce that? i hope they aren't pronouncing it like 'you-tila'...i hope they say, 'ew-tila' (like ew gross...); celestial drive! woah, i can't wait to get home and have some green tea (celestial seasonings tea)! after that, i'll have some coffee. that new stuff i got tastes so good it's almost like a hint of coconut or marshmallow at the end!

 needless to say, it was a good ride home!
julie

infants shouldn't play guitar...no baby shredding

today i had to go out and get a shredder (no, as a matter of fact i did not go out and get a man who plays a mean guitar...i got a paper shredder). interestingly enough, there are certain things one is not supposed to shred.

no baby shredding.

but it sure beats tearing bits and pieces of account numbers and throwing them in different trash cans around the place trying to be super safe!

today i came by one more thing i'm going to miss-i don't know if we're going to get halloween cups with cutie mice this year!

he's rubbery and stretchy-a fixture in my classroom (if you can find him)...

and after naming my car UTILA, i decided mentioned the cays as one of my favorite places when talking to my kids about using favorite places to think of ideas for writing and i talked about utila, so i am taking a couple of pictures to show them since i showed them how i was using specific events from my visits out there. here are pictures of the cays of utila, my car's namesake..

yes, for me this is paradise! (my happy place!)

well, today was just another day of teaching and learning. 


do what ya gotta do-if that means naming everything you own after your happy place, then so be it! just refrain from shredding infants and their toys.
julie

mind games are for three year olds, not smart dogs

"BRUNO, NO! do NOT run across my chest!"  
"but why not mama?"
"because you are a LAP dog, not a RUN-ACROSS-THE-CHEST dog."

ouch. small dog, but 7 lbs is 7 lbs! 

last night time warner was having difficulties, so in the middle of the program i was watching, i decided to pop in a documentary i still hadn't watched..indian wars. i'm fascinated by history and the way they lived was simply spectacular. oh to dress like the indians next week when we hit 100 again! loin cloth. that's all.

this afternoon, i was trying to take a short nap with the boys, and they kept barking. finally i heard it there was someone in the parking lot talking (with excessive volume), i got up to look out the window and two teenagers were down below playing catch by the garages and one kept boasting about the amazing things he was able to do with his computer or something, and it kept interrupting our sleep. i'm pretty sure that i "had an evil evil look in one of my eyes."  so finally i gave up and decided to go for a quick drive to check out UTILA(remember why i called her that?)...i will miss the v6 engine of the pontiac. i went to petco to see if they had one of those dog toys... 

it didn't take bruno long to figure out how the games worked. he's brilliant...so perhaps it's not so much mind games for the dog, but rather for the three year old...

good colors, but it's cheap plastic, so i'm just hoping they don't play too roughly.

like i said, bruno is the bright one. chaco, on the other hand, chewed on the toy, the board, etc.he wasn't as interested in the treats.

when i went to check out, the lady asked if i had my petco card, and i couldn't find it. so she went through the process of looking it up, but it didn't populate by my phone #, so she found it by last name and it had a julie robinson with no phone #, no address and i said it was probably me. so hopefully that one was mine...

bruno just looked at me after finding the treat in less than a minute and said, "hey! i thought this was supposed to be stimulating." so i put the toy up for later and got out the old toys and they've been busy for the last 45 minutes.

oh...and walmart is right by petco...i may have stopped in there too. i LOVE halloween candy corn! mixed with peanuts it is the sweet and salty mixture that my mouth appreciates.

my favorite candy bar is the payday, and this comes pretty close!

 i don't remember which one of my aunts put this mixture together, but for some reason i think it might've been kim. anyhoo, the first time i ever had it was when i was in sioux city visiting the fam (it must've been either a family reunion or thanksgiving)...i love going up and visiting family-it's never as often as i'd like, but that's just how it goes when you live in a country this big, i guess.


i'm pretty sure the dogs like the mind games, whereas i'm almost positive that if my parents had made me get my food by figuring out puzzles, i might've turned into a violent child or starved.


good weekend,
julie
        

car delivery-similar to pizza delivery minus the tip...and minus the pizza.

well, it's no big secret now. our principal is moving on to a new position, which is great for him. as happy as i am for him, i'm sad for our school. transition is never easy. the most difficult part of losing an incredible principal is that the bar is now set and our expectations are high.

we've been very fortunate, and we will certainly miss mr. hise.

we had a little send-off. very strange to lose a principal in the middle of the beginning of the year. hmm.

in other news today, my car was delivered as ordered!

and i'm just going to say i had the best experience getting into my new car! i now have a silver elantra-we traded out of my car at school today and he drove the pontiac off. i really like the elantra, but i am noticing some of the things it does not have that the other car had. i'm sure i'll be thankful whenever i go to the pump though-and my bill went down. yippee~

there she is!

the inside is pretty and about the same size -it doesn't have a display panel to tell whether tires are low and all the important info like that

but the best part is that little fin on top like a shark. so i think i'll call her UTILA because that was the first time i got to touch a shark close and in the natural!

i think i'm going to like the car a lot, but my favorite thing was just how easy the whole process was, so if you are ever interested in purchasing or leasing here in dallas-i can give you my person's name and phone-it was so much better to have him looking and getting a bid on my car than going in and getting haggled from a car dealership salesperson (and that from a former car dealership saleslady!).

i'll have to take the boys out and get them broken in.

may your next car purchase be as easy as ordering pizza!
julie