no, it's just me the flying monkey! (good thing i was not the playwright for wicked)

hmm. well.last friday we took our class to the dallas museum of arts for our annual 4th grade field trip. i love the dma! i would love it more if i weren't trying to keep track of 15 kiddos. i never really know what we'll come across and how it will go.

fortunately this time, our art teacher requested that they do the speedster take-no-prisoners tour. i was thrilled because we got to breeze through and experience as much as possible. the students did fairly well, and the docent was impressed by how much they actually knew. and of course the boys are at that age, where they giggle when they see boobies in a painting. of course the docent tried to avoid these paintings, and there was only one, so they were able to not be distracted the rest of the time.

my favorite part of the museum! i love the glass!

history is amazing

so much symbolism! frogs with teeth!

then after school, we got ready and went to have something to eat at coal vines-delish! and then we went to fair park for wicked, and found our seats just in time for the show! it was wonderful-as i knew it would be. sorry to the girl in front of us...lindsey and i probably should not have sat beside each other...but our commentary was pretty funny..."elfie..is that you?" "no, it's just me, the flying monkey!" 

saturday i was up before i expected or wanted to be. i did hit up michael's for some paint thinner to clean my paintbrushes of the oils. i still have not finished a project that i started quite some time ago, and i really need to finish it up. i'm happy with the work i did, but it is going to need a little more work to finish up.

of course i had to take advantage of the weather and get the boys out on a walk! the view really is better on the other side of the fence! that's where the wild flowers grow!

and i had to take another picture of this tree, because i get such a kick out of it! and this time, bruno and chaco were laughing and bruno said, "can you just bring pants next time?"

then chaco made a wise 'crack' about indecency

this morning my alarm went off, but the snooze didn't. oops. when i got to school, i was reminded of the firetruck bringing one of my students to school! so exciting! we got everyone around to cheer her on when they pulled up. last year it went a little more smoothly. last year, the cars were out of the way, and the firetruck came in honking and blaring it sirens, and it was great! fast forward to this morning. we were all around and ready, and finally the truck shows up about 10 minutes late, and then had to go around the block. by the time it pulled around the block, there were so many cars in the unloading zone, that the truck was stuck in traffic, and to make it even better, the crossing guard was making every effort to be as safe as possible. i think he might have been crossing one child at a time, because it took forever to get those cars out of the way, which kind of dampened the excitement. but when they finally pulled up, we cheered on our star, and made as big of a deal as possible!

and wait for it............wait for it...........

it's already been a long week-today i was a little confused, thinking it was wednesday and i'd missed a meeting....wow.  something's gotta be done about this!

julie

thoughtful friends = chats, warm fuzzies and squirrel panties..

last night right after i finished my post, i remembered that i had to make food for our early 5 de mayo celebration at school today on the 2nd of mayo...so i drove out to get my ingredients (at 9:30 p.m.); it was a late night.

this morning, one of my friends was so sweet to come in and touch base on the whole masters situation; i don't think i was quite ready to really discuss it, because it prompted some tears-still a little raw. but throughout the day, i think i shook it...it was probably the warm-n-fuzzies and the squirrel panties..

i found that it is much easier to 'put on your big-girl-panties' than to put on the little squirrel panties...

i do have thoughtful friends at work. and later, chatting with maria about entrepreneurship... hmm.the u.s. is certainly in need of more bilingual teacher supplies that are fresh...

tomorrow we have a little field trip to the art museum, which is always a fun little trip. the docents are really good with our kids, and the kids are usually really attentive. and as for me? i love the art museum! and then for the most important part of tomorrow....i know, i've mentioned it all week....

                                       WICKED!!!
i am so excited! i know i've said it before, but i would go every year if it came around to dallas every year! i am mystically enthralled by musicals! i think my love for all things theatrical actually began when i was in elementary school in brodhead, wi....a friend invited me to a play at her church-PETER PAN...(i have no idea why they were performing peter pan at a church.. but they were...perhaps..nope, i got nothing) but i was riveted! i was star-struck with the lead in the play and my imagination drew me right into it all. in fact, i'm pretty sure i imagined that the 'star' and i were bff...crazy, i know.

i'm really excited because one of my old kampers from kamp is going to be applying for the ed policy program! i didn't even realize that she was teaching in the dallas area! i'm so excited because i really do think the world of erika and appreciate all of the hard work that she has put into the program to grow it and create an advocacy experience to help teachers realize the voice that they can have! great job, erika!

 no one mourns the wicked....
julie

you don't know a thing about me! i wish i could be a pirate..instead i have to settle for super hero.

so today was not my best day ever.

when i got to school, i stopped in and my principal was kind enough to let me know that i did not make it into the masters program i was hoping to get into. i am thankful that she was very up front with me. now i can move on and make plans for the next three years that will not include said program. i am not real keen on going into 'any ol' masters program.' i still think this is one of the top programs available in our area, even if they weren't astute enough to recognize that i would have been a solid candidate, and whatever they perceived as lacking, i would easily be able to overcome and conquer!

so, that said, it was a rough morning. i definitely had tears this morning, in part because i really wanted to do this thing, and in part because it hurt-- i don't deal with rejection well. i think i went through the phases of grief today...apart from denial. then i got a little angry, and the song playing in my head was : you don't know a THING about me... and by the end of the day i was into a different mindset-forget about it, i'm going to wicked on friday, and i don't have time for this, so...

defying gravity...

so anyhoo...i will be working summer school, and preparing for next year. i will probably spend more time up in missouri this year than last year. regardless, whatever the next phase is, i'm going at it 110%!! i'm fired up-i just need something more to be fired up about..i finished grading my end of year DRA, and when i left school, i wanted to just drive and play pink's SO WHAT! that's kinda' how i feel right now.

chaco said he wanted me to become a pirate.

i think he just likes to say aaarrggh!

anyhoo, i am slightly sad to say i will not be joining pirate school, i just don't think it would a wise investment.

ok, life. bring it on!

julie

whine or cry? whine....wine or cry? wine.

ever had one of those days when nothing really went terribly wrong...in fact, teaching-wise, everything went as planned-home run (third base at least)...but still felt overwhelmed? yep, that was me today, and at one point i just wanted to curl up in fetal position and cry. and it's not even for girl reasons-so not pms.

so, when i came home, i just needed a good glass of wine.

close call, but i probably really needed a good cry (every once in awhile, it just helps..like once a year)

it also helped just to reflect on the beauty of my walk yesterday! i walked for about 45 minutes, and it was fabulous-45 minutes at my pace is a good little walk! i did stop to take a few pics because they certainly caught my attention! why did it catch my attention? well, see for yourselves, TULIPS!! i said it yesterday, i am a sucker for tulips. the man who finds the way to my heart will be sending me tulips or daisies! roses are too seductive and sexy-not my style...whereas daisies and tulips are more friendly and playful!

add in a little fountain, and how can you go wrong??

then i made my way around the park behind the savoye and life was sweet. i went without the boys because they like to stop at any whiff of urine, and i was not interested in stopping, so when i got home, i took them for an extra walk.

the other thing that helped was thinking about the fact that i am going to see wicked again! with friends!

defying gravity!

and i'm planning on doing season tickets next year! woohoo! i'd love to do the symphony...we'll have to see.

this morning, i did take in the coleslaw that i made out of our garden cabbage and carrots, and when i was picking my kiddos up from specials, renee commented on the coleslaw. she first advised me that she was a connoisseur of coleslaw, always trying out different varieties, and she actually went back for seconds! what a great compliment! it was fun to make something with the goods from our garden!

so, yes, this day wasn't terrible, i just, for whatever reason, had one of those moments. this week has to get better.
julie

82 folks...that's when the money runs out...82

 well, a lot has happened, so let's begin with the fact that last thursday during parent/teacher conferences, i had all but 4 of my homeroom parents show up; actually more parents showed up b/c we teach content area, and so i saw some that were not from my hr. the conferences went fairly quickly and i had time for some word games and a little alice in wonderland...

working on a high score.

 then, saturday night, i got to hang out and catch up with some precious friends from kamp who live in the area! loved it!! can't wait to do it again real soon!! our conversation was all over the place, but it was good-it is ALWAYS great to fellowship with close friends.

the burgers here are fabulous!! and the brie...ah, the brie!

 so i decided that it was time to get up a little count-down! it's coming! granted, whoever came up with the current calendar should be fired...i mean, they took away the one benefit of working for disd...the week-long thanksgiving break! boo.

there will be a surprise! (gigi, i will post the surprise when we get to it!)

 yep, for whatever reason, the countdowns make me think of gigi....perhaps it was because she was usually in countdown mode...right? anyhoo, this also made me miss having her here in dallas. i got my musical line-up in the mail...wicked is coming back! actually it looks like a phenomenal line-up!

i don't know that i need to go to all of them (the lion king least on my list), but i am definitely thinking about wicked again, mary poppins and sister act....

 and i know everyone is wondering how science is going. well, i am glad that you asked! tonight i sat here stripping some wire and attaching it to alligator clips to do some circuits tomorrow in class! some of the kids today were working with the little d-cells and wire and kept saying, "oh! i just got shocked!" and i was curious what they were talking about, and it was actually just that they were poking themselves with the prickly little wire...sillies.

 so, yes, it has been a lot of fun-it keeps me on my toes, but i am enjoying really getting them interested in learning and asking questions about it. they seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. next year i will be better at it (if i am still able to do it...because i won't be starting from ground zero).

and i was working a little calculator to figure out finances after retirement, and i am just going to have to pass away by age 82, as that is when i will have a shortfall of money...that or become completely self-sufficient in my little cabin in the woods with my animal traps, berry bushes, garden, compost bin, rainfall water collector, burn pile, horse, or solar powered car, river to bathe and fish in...solar powered generator to play word games on...ok, you get the picture.

 

and tonight i would like to just leave you with this one last thought...is it just me or did andrew jackson have a disproportionately large forehead and head in general...brainiac, or alien?  

and at that, we will call it a night-have a good one!

julie