bubble celebration and a very well-trained fly..or was he just dead?

today was the last day of our first 6 weeks. we had a story celebration yesterday and today because my students finished their first final draft and shared them! we had a bubble party and they got smarties (because authors are smart ones). they had a blast! then we spent the rest of the period doing different things for each class because it was a strange rotation due to a crazy test they had to take in the computer lab.

some of the classes created stories using props i brought, and other classes created shared stories by adding a line to the previous line until we had a complete story. we had enough time in some of the houses to also have a little would you rather and they had to support their reasoning.

we're at that crucial point where we don't know for certain what is going to happen as far as our classes because they are leveling and moving teachers around and all that jazz(this jazz is a little disjointed and off-key, as opposed to being soothing and sexy)-notice i wrote that in brown because brown is a sexy color--like mahogany wood..sexy wood. i cannot imagine not working with all of the classes on the writing now that i've started with them all. i would hate to turn them over to someone else.

today i noticed a little fly while i was in the bathroom. he was just sitting there outside the bathroom stall. i'm pretty sure he was there yesterday-if not, he was there earlier today. same position. so after i washed my hands, i waited for a couple of the 5th grade girls who were in there to leave, and bent down to get a picture of the guy.

he's probably one of those mannequin models or perhaps he was playing freeze tag because he didn't move.

yep, gotta get pretty low to get a picture of a fly sitting on the floor...nope, not embarrassing at all when another kid walks in, i'm sure it just seemed like common practice. i acted like it was a very little-known species. all good.

ok, my eyes are tired and the boys are bugging me to read them a book...

take care and don't let anyone burst your bubble!
julie

toastmakers and the early bird award!

don't forget, hospitality committee needs you (if you go to cabell)..breakfast tomorrow!!!!

i haven't had a headache like this in awhile...perhaps i had my ponytail too tight. or..not enough coffee..or maybe it was just a long day.

i decided that it was probably the right thing to do to help the teacher in charge of the mlk jr oratory competition because i remember what it was like being thrown into it last year. so we were doing that stuff in a meeting today and one of the kids said something about 'i think president obama has probably heard of martin luther king jr. and he wanted to be like him.' perhaps...perhaps. and when i talked to sandra, my friend who is in charge of the after school programs, she had talked to the man from the district in charge of funding and she was trying to explain what the speech program was going to be like, sure that he would recognize the organization: toast makers. well, he didn't recognize it. mostly because she should have said toast MASTERS! smile.



by the time i left school, i decided that it was my duty to share my music with the world. it was my time to impose on the world the amazing sounds of florence and the machine. if anyone saw the voice, vicky (sp?) sang it and banged the drums, and it was invigorating.

if you haven't heard dog days are over, you really must!

this is one of those songs that gets me going. one of the other songs that really gets my blood pumping is pink's so what. anyhoo, i definitely had my music on louder than necessary, not worried about others, because if they didn't recognize the music they weren't cool enough anyway...if they did, they were thinking, 'whoa-i LOVE that song! that must be a really cool person!'

on the way out of school today, i had a conversation with the light man at school. he  said they were supposed to have the lighting done within the next couple of weeks. that'll be nice...real lights! we won't feel like we're walking under the hood of a car with a mechanic light shining on us!

did i mention that the reason i pulled out my baby book last night was to look for my 4th grade class pic because a friend from elementary school was tagged in it and one of the guys commented, 'wasn't there a julie?' (i'm glad i was so memorable in 4th grade). so one of my friends who lived close by answered that yes, in fact there was. when i saw that, it brought back even more fun memories.

the guy that had asked was sean, and actually in 4th grade, he and i were two of the students taking guitar lessons from mr. reimer (sp?) one morning a week before school. the first person to get there won the early bird award and their polaroid picture was on the door for the week! once in awhile mom or dad would drive me to school, but often i either had to walk or ride my bike. now, riding my bike and carrying my guitar was quite a chore. thinking back on it now, i wonder exactly how i managed it, but i did! (all 12 blocks!) when you're young, everything seems bigger.

i remember we used to compete at getting there-i didn't really care who was better. ah mr. reimer. what a great music teacher! i loved his class! he had this great ghost he'd pull out for halloween (every year).

the ghost was on a little stick or something

he would turn out the lights, and it wasn't completely dark, just shaded, then students would get to go up and hold the stick and as we sang a simple song in a minor/flat key :there was an old lady who lived on a farm. OOOoooOOoooo and it went on from there, but the kid holding the ghost on a stick would have to move it up and down as the music moved up or down the scale. coolest thing EVER.

i hope our students are making fun memories that they will remember for years to come!
julie

off kilter...take off your kilt...sounds similar...false cognate

today was one of the more frustrating days in the last few weeks. i thought i was off the hook for the mlk oratory competition, but i think the other teacher does not want to be fly solo on it. boo. i really have no desire to be involved with it this year. i have too much else going on.

this morning i was flustered because permission slips that were supposed to have been made yesterday were not made, and then an announcement that was supposed to be read yesterday was read today...and it was inaccurate because the permission slips hadn't been made. and i have to stay after school tomorrow for that now. boo.things have seemed just a little off-kilter for me at school.(it doesn't mean taking off the kilt-we are not celtic).

especially boo because i was there until 6 today trying to figure out a schedule to get all of the teachers in for an assessment that has to be done by oct.6th-and should've started last week. ugh.

at school today, i noticed that the hand dryers have finally been installed! they don't work yet, but they have been installed! with the pipes exposed-so urban-industrial-loft! probably the best use of disd funds yet!

 

no more messy paper towels!

what i hate worse than paper towels were those old hand-drying machines where the towel wrapped around and kept going (mostly found in public gas stations) it always seemed so unsanitary and struck me as ew.

this evening when i finally got home, i was looking through my baby book for the first time in years, and found a project i did in like...kindergarten (talented me!)

such a young picasso!

i also read through the notes. apparently i danced a jig i made up...but more interestingly, does anyone think it appropriate for your mother to say that you drink like a fish at 3 years of age? should there be some sort of intervention??

last sentence. (you may or may not be able to see before that it says i talk a lot)

i did talk a lot. in fact, when i was a bit older it became a running joke when we were at the dinner table and if there was a lull in the conversation, it bothered me and subconsciously i would blurt out, "but..umm.." as if to start a conversation, and then i wouldn't have anything else to say. according to dad silence was like a big purple monster to me at that time. hmm.

well, besides that fact that bow hunting season starts this weekend, that's all i got!

julie

1 in 4 wins, but 1 in 3 julies is me!

this morning i had to go to training, so i took the easy route-yep...it's down the street on the way, and guess what! IT'S MONOPOLY TIME AGAIN!!

1 in 4 what? people? tickets? items? one in 4 golden arches have winners?

i know, i just gave everyone a perfect reason to go by and get  an apple pie!... umm... when i got to my training and sat down, one of the trainers looked down her register and said, "who's julie robinson?" and i raised my hand. she said, "that's me! i'm julie robinson too!!" and a split second after that, a gentleman in the back row looked over and said, "hey! are you the julie i've been sending all the emails to who's been emailing back saying they're not for her? i took you off my list!"  

he must've been the principal from truett; maybe i should've kept getting his emails-they were pretty informative. yes, i was getting random emails from random people at their school, so i (nicely) let them know that i thought they had the wrong julie robinson, and would they kindly take me off their list?

but how random is that? my parents weren't unique and original in naming me. but that's ok, it works.

my sub thanked me for leaving such an easy lesson. hmm..it was kinda funny when i walked into the room i think she might have been trying to figure out her smart phone, but she tried to hide it like she wasn't doing anything. i guess she totally wasn't expecting me to walk in. smile.

when i saw the monopoly piece this morning, it reminded me of when we tried to have game nights when i was young. i'm sure we played different games, but my favorite was a game called payday i think i liked it because of the silly pictures.(side note-payday is also one of my favorite candy bars) it was set up like a map and it had medical bills, and groceries and things like that, which you didn't want to land on! it was pretty cool...until STOP THIEF! came along "the electronic game of cops and robbers" now, THERE was a game! we played that often, and it actually became a bond between our family and the bells-one of the families from our church (their daughter, pam and i used to play have fun doing silly things..i remember they had a garden and if i remember correctly, one of the things we used to 'harvest' was strawberries! yum).

well, have a great evening, but steer clear of boardwalk unless you own a hotel there!
julie

apparently saggy and flat describe something other than fish

well, last night i was reading one of the stories and the student mentioned getting to touch the saggy flats. (the student had mentioned it in class as well, but i wasn't sure what it was-i couldn't tell any better after the illustration, so i decided i'd look it up later). well, when i looked it up out of curiosity, this is what i found:

so, as you can see, i think whatever they saw in the aquarium was something other than saggy flats...

i tried again under saggy flat fish, and the entries were even worse. boo. i'll have to discuss this more and try to figure out what they saw at that aquarium!

while at school today, i had to get some copies made, and when i went to write down what i needed, lo and behold someone had stolen the pen from the flower! can you believe the people i work with? TEACHERS! someone had the audacity to take the tape off of the flower that was on it to keep people from stealing it!!! if they needed a pen that badly, they could've asked our amazing office manager, and she probably would have provided them with an entire box! (if she liked them) just sayin'.

if it was you, put it back! (somehow i don't believe that any of my co-workers who read this blog would do something like that)

also at work today i finally inquired about something i have been eying for awhile now, and i got the ok to haul it off!

the wooden pallet! you won't see it again until i am done with it! i'm excited about it!

today i bid adieu to my fair-weather belt. it's been a good belt until now, but today we lost him...he was hanging on by a thread, so i had to fulfill his last wish...i played the song 'whip it good...whip it real good.' and he went home to belt heaven.

RIP

umm..speaking of final wishes, i just heard on the radio the other day that they are going to stop offering a final meal to those on death row because so many of them over-order like 7 different things and then don't eat any of it, and it's a waste of the taxpayers moneyi say, "give them gruel! they don't deserve to eat any better than the rest of us!"-

and right before i started this little post, i peeled a carrot, and the dogs came running around the counter- after so little time, they already know the sound of the peeler! hmm..and then i came into the front room and pulled out the chive/onion dip and they waited patiently for about 5 minutes just like this, watching me.

which makes me really happy that they are tiny dogs, not cujo style!

if you have visited hollie's site, she just put up a new fun project that would be fun with the kiddos! it looks pretty simple, and so cute! plus she redesigned her site. check it out here!

alrighty...if you're not sure what saggy flats are, i wouldn't touch 'em!
julie

bungee here, bungee there...bungee everywhere!

so..umm..i woke up this morning and it was off to the storage unit! we started at 11:00 and i got there just in time!

bungees to the rescue!! for whatever reason-probably the girl-scout-soccer mom, i keep a bunch in my trunk for 'just-in-cases'

right downtown. it was actually very easy to get to

and yes, it did seem a little like storage wars-the place is huge...like a maze

thank goodness it was not too large of a locker and we eventually got everything down onto the truck. and it was really nice that the locker wasn't too far from the elevator! we kinda did shifts getting everything out and to the elevator, then down and took everything around to the truck. it was good to catch up in the in-betweens of moving stuff. i'm so glad there were two men helping! and once i got downstairs, i even got to help with the packing of the truck! i loved it-it reminded me of when i worked on the ramp for comair airlines, and rps (the equivalent of UPS).

last night i entertained myself with text twist. i've had to go back because as i mentioned, they took away the scramble game. boo. so one of my friends (nika) and i used to play this and it was really fun because instead of trying to get little words, we would only go for the biggest word to get to the next level and level up (which means you don't get as many points, but it wastes less time...

perhaps i was proud of myself last night because i leveled up to 107, and the last time it was level 47.nice jump.

my nickname should be 'master unscrambler' only that is kinda weird for a nickname. scratch that.

i should be reading-yes, reading all of my papers. boo. so tonight i had to go get copies of the rubric so i can read the papers and grade them. and since the kinkos is almost next door to chilis, what seems like the most obvious thing to do for dinner??

that's right chips and salsa and southwest eggrolls!

well, there you have it folks, nothing exciting...tonight i'll be stretching, grading papers and watching live from new york...SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE!!!

start keeping useful things in your trunk-they could come in handy!
julie

oh, jeans friday, i love you almost as much as chocolate sundae.

and today was a bonus because it was college shirt day as well! wore my unc shirt even though i didn't go there. (love chapel hill; thank you layne carey witmer for introducing me to the beautiful campus and scenery of nc!)

today the kids were illustrating their story. i showed them how to draw a person using the shoulder, hip and spine bones as their base, and they were amazed at how easy it was (that does not mean that they were able to do it, but it was worth a shot, i just think 4th grade is too old to be drawing with stick figures...). this wasn't from today, i just found it on the floor-not exactly sure...

iguana/dinosaur man? but what is he holding? is it a mini toilet/bidet, or is it a tall mug with an awkward handle that shoots french fries out the top?

i am interested in reading their final drafts, but i am not excited to grade the other project. nope. not excited at all.

i was a little frustrated at lunch the other day because i brought down almost a whole new box of plastic ware so that i wouldn't have to run upstairs if i forgot to bring mine down. well, guess what i looked in the drawer and it was no longer there, but this was!

i guess it's now like a makeup drawer. who keeps a personal makeup stash in the break room? c'mon now.

now, i don't mind sharing, because no one likes to have to waste time running around looking for plastic-ware. i will admit that i borrowed a fork before i brought the box down, which is part of why i brought my own down...so i guess my thought was if you use it, replace it. then after thinking it through with my coworker, we decided to keep them in a safe place on the first floor. so i stopped and bought some this evening on the way home (don't worry, it's not going to be like the Easter egg hunt was, so don't go opening random lockers and looking behind plants...wait, what plants? they're gone!).

i may have signed up for something i shouldn't have. my friend sent a text asking for some help moving stuff from a storage unit and i was eager to just hang out and catch up before she takes off for austin (haven't seen her in months!)...so i said yes. i'll be more of a moral support, carry the small bags...i'm going to pretend it's like storage wars and pretend we just won the unit and we're looking through it for hidden treasures! (she'd probably get a little upset if i started rummaging through things and shouting, "let's go get it appraised by an expert!" in the target-lady voice).

well, too many sundaes and the jeans won't fit on fridays...must start working out.
julie

i just noticed that my dogs' toy looks slightly like satellite debris...

i'm glad it's thursday.

the boys are ready for it to be the weekend too. i came home today and they had somehow dismantled one of the chew toys to get the little chew-hide disc off...pretty impressive. i really should have them tested-i'm sure there is something that smart, small dogs can do that might make some extra income on the side....

don't waste genius.

and in other news, the news man was talking about a large nasa satellite that is falling out of orbit. they said that some of the debris could be the size of a bus. it is NOT going to land in the north american hemisphere. (how miffed would other nations be if our projectile satellite parts landed in their country and killed their people?) but no worries, because the expert statisticians claim that the chances of a single piece hitting and killing a person are 1 in 21,000,000,000,000. (that is trillion, correct?) but then statisticians can say whatever they want, and who would really debate them? no ordinary person with the semblance of a life, i'm guessing.

hmm..there are orbital debris scientists tracking 16,000 pieces of debris in space...what? who goes into science with the notion of tracking orbital debris?

today at school i saw a suspicious looking unattended backpack in the back of my room.

who doesn't realize that they are leaving the room without the backpack they came in with?

anyhoo, it reminded me of when i worked for the airlines and they had the heightened awareness level and the intercom lady would be on continuous play with her annoying message over and over and over again. when i figured out whose it was, i was not surprised.

tomorrow is fall! stay on your feet!
julie

no, i am not cutting pizzas in my classroom

in·trep·id  /ɪnˈtrɛpɪd/ Show Spelled[in-trep-id]adjective: resolutely fearless; dauntless

i was stuck behind another vehicle today...bet you'll never guess what kind of car it was... an intrepid! how did you know? only the driver must not have known what the name of the car meant, because it was sitting there waiting to make the turn for WAY longer than necessary. def-initely not a FEARLESS move.

this may or may not have prompted me to find out what the meaning of elantra is...there was an interesting discussion board on a hyundai site-best i can gather, it is a play on a latin word meaning to elevate or lift one's spirits. well, it lifts my spirits, but there are a few things i still miss from the g6...i just found out this morning that it is stuck in the ice ages-it doesn't have automatic headlights..i thought all cars were now born with automatic headlights. i was driving in the dark this morning (only i didn't realize it because of the streetlights). 

the worst part about all of this is that i really thought it was important enough to explain it all to you.

i mentioned my brother and some of what is going on there, but his wife explains it a little better than i did. she talks about it on her post that she posted last night. you can access it by clicking here. 

it was brought to my attention today at lunch that if you read the sign in the bathroom slightly differently, it sounds like the kids had a choice of either throwing toilet paper or teachers on the floor.if you need to read it again, click here.  it was also a relief to notice today at lunch that mcdonald's shows their employees how many items they can put in each bag.

relieved.

 

i have this great cutting utensil i use often. well, one of my students may have walked in the other day and saw it and asked, "ms. robinson, why do you have a pizza cutter?"

i love it-it makes cutting fun.

 this morning someone also left some earrings in my classroom...it reminded me of when i was in 4th grade.

no claimers yet.

 i had a crush on justin, so one of my friends, amy, talked me into going to the dime store with her to get him a ring (and candy cigarettes). that's when a dime actually went a little further. so i bought a ring and i don't remember what she bought. so, then we were going to try to find his house (when a dime was really worth something it was also safe to walk all over town and not worry about crazies)...we didn't find it, and the ring was actually big, so we went back to my house and found some yarn, because she let me know that the best way to make a ring fit was to wrap yarn around the bottom side. i chickened out and never gave the ring to justin-i kept wearing it.

 this afternoon before i left school i was really happy that i stopped by my box! look what i found!

oh! a royal invitation! I ACCEPT!

i went a couple of years ago with a coworker and had a great time. it's always pretty much the same thing, but free food? c'mon! who's in?! bring a guest! the only thing is, you have to remember to bring wet naps and hidden plastic silverware....

 if you drive a car with a name that means something, know what it means!

julie

dun...dun.dun.dun...dun.dun.duuuun.(eye of the tiger) thank you survivor, you made my morning!

ok, get ready, because there are lots of pictures today...it's kinda' like a story book; i tell my students, sometimes there is valuable information in story books (nothing real valuable in this blog, though, so don't look too hard or try to extrapolate some deeper, hidden meaning-it isn't there).

this morning i got to school and as always with music on random, i never know what is going to come on, but lo and behold, i got eye of the tiger! so i turned it up (probably a smidge too loud, but no one else was around yet).

thank you, survivor, for reminding me that 'it's the thrill of the fight'

perhaps i sang portions of the song out loud and perhaps i pretended i knew all of the lyrics and sang some of them incorrectly. what's your point? it started my day out right (yo, adrienne)...

the preliminary perusal of the projects that were turned in today lead me to believe that my standards were set a little bit too high. adjust, be flexible.

the next two shots are bathroom shots. why do they start doing this in 4th grade??

i know you can barely see it, but it's a heart with an 'i love' message.

 we're going to have to have a talk with them about damaging property. then guess where i saw this one.

i'm not going to tell, i just want to see if any of my coworkers recognize it...

do you think someone is being facetious? does this mean we're ok with students throwing paper on the floor and we expect it? i think not. i actually saw it for the first time today as i was on my way to the dreaded fund-raising assembly. (again, please say this with the toy microphone!) although i do want the flying monkey...(had one once, lost it, want another). and i looked at the catalog-thought this was cute.

dog leashes on 'his' i guess (or give it to a him who has no her)

on the way out today i stopped at my box to get drop something off and noticed a bag of pretzels in my box. 'i wonder what these are for,' i thought. then i saw a note that explained a lot. it was above the mailboxes (i never look up there, but it explained a lot...especially the mint from last week because there was another message for the mint which i had no idea why it was in my box!)

very thoughtful. i thought it was just some random things someone was putting in boxes.

when i got home from school, i used the car fob to lock the doors and i think there's a squeaky toy under the hood for a horn...what in the world??

totally sounded like this. i don't know how it would caution ANYONE! it can barely be heard. 

i must be careful not to use it too much in neighborhoods or dogs might start chasing after me. (not that i go around honking my horn in family neighborhoods).

just a quick fyi for ya'all, if you are ever not sure about something that is going around on facebook, or email, check out hoaxslayer...it's on facebook and there is a web site. reliable information. i check it out once in awhile.
www.hoax-slayer.com

and they lived happily ever after,
julie

aw gash, that was sharp!

this morning i was going to get something off the shelf in the cabinet in my bathroom and i didn't duck back quick enough. the lethal corner of the door almost ripped my shoulder off. no exaggeration.

i suppose it could be deemed a deadly weapon, it's all about the angle..it certainly felt like it killed my shoulder.

and just as i expected, after i checked it out and had a few choice words with the door, i went back and looked. and sure enough, there it was. a thin layer of skin was just hangin' out on the corner of cabinet and door.

i'm not sure why, but i kinda' walked into class today on a short fuse...or just very impatient. i think it might have been just the spending time yesterday going over what we would be doing in our campus PLC today. i think i was also a bit frustrated b/c several students had not completed their draft even after i extended their due date over the weekend. boo. so they got behind. i make students write why they didn't have their homework and how that affects them in class to not have it. and that will go into their files...plus they didn't get to move their markers to the coveted revising section. (please say revising section like you're speaking into one of those toy microphones with the spring inside that echoes...thanks).

OMGOODNESS!!! i just peeled a carrot and ate it with chive and onion philly cream cheese! yum. like i said before, not a carrot lover...i guess i had just never encountered the perfect, supplemental coating.

i remember when we were young in wi and mom decided to have a small garden out back. we had the sweetest carrots! there were also some tomato plants and sunflower plants...peas, green beans..."i don't know what happened to the green beans and peas, mom....perhaps it was the rabbits....picked them right off of there and scattered them around..." don't worry, it didn't really happen that way, there really were rabbits.

early to bed-hopefully i'll wake up with more patience and a brighter disposition.
julie

just because it was a dream doesn't mean the waiter shouldn't serve me

those of you who know me know that i prefer to be comfortable than to get super fancy and dressed up all of the time. (i will dress up if need be, but i just like shorts and sweatshirts!). well, i had a dream last night in which i had been to the pharmacy and saw some friends in the parking lot of a little plaza area. well, i was hungry, so i saw a little cafe and went in and a guy sat me at this large table for 8, then a waiter came over and just stood in front of me without giving me a menu and he didn't say anything, he just looked at me. so i said, "what do you have on your brunch menu?" "nothing," he answered. then while he was still standing there, i asked him if they were serving breakfast and he said no, so i asked if they were serving lunch and again he said no. during this time, i noticed a table near us having brunch and i looked at him and said quite loudly, "you just don't want to serve me, do you?" and again he told me that no he did not. so i stood up and left and i wanted to tell everyone what jerks they were and i made sure to get a really good look at the name of the cafe (apparently not good enough because i don't remember it now).

when i woke up, i recall feeling indignation about the whole thing. yes, i wear sweats, sweatshirts, tshirts...don't judge!

i just watched a beautiful mind for the first time and i absolutely loved it! it must be a russell crowe day because right before that cinderella man was on. i am a sucker for stories based on true life.

it's a sad day because zynga is taking down one of my favorite game sites-scramble. it's like boggle online...

so, there it is one more source of wasted time gone...i'm losing all of my lame excuses for procrastinating. argh.(close one eye and bend one knee and pretend you're a pirate). yes, i suppose play acting would be another means of procrastinating.

may your favorite form of procrastination remain intact!
julie

note to self: no dehydrated eggs for the casserole!

i'm writing this post a bit early because i have just put a casserole in the oven. so what, you're probably thinking. well, i am using the dehydrated eggs and the dehydrated potatoes. so i am hoping i did the eggs right and don't get sick. i will say for the record that powdered eggs stink. keeping the fingers crossed because i am hungry and it takes 40 minutes! i would hate to have to scrap it and run down to the waffle house down marsh.

well, i gingerly raised the fork to my mouth and my nose was warning me not to do it..it went into my mouth and right back onto the plate. then i found something i could put the concoction in that would somewhat contain the smell and threw it away. waffle house, i'd call for reservations, but you don't take them. 

so i ended up at waffle house, but the parking lot was packed..who knew waffle house was so popular?

good thing sonic is right next to waffle house, so i opted for a sonic burrito and french toast sticks.

 i got the super sonic burrito, and it kinda' reminded me of when i was a little kid and they first had the self serve machines for drinks and it was the cool thing to go along and get a little bit of each flavor and make the "everything" drink. well, i looked into this burrito and it was like someone went down the line and got one of everything and shoved them into a large tortilla. (tator tot, tomato slice, jalapenos, sausage, eggs, onions, and i'm certain there was more). but the important thing is that it hit the spot and i will be alive to live another day!

i had to go to the grocery store-it's been a few weeks (the perks of being single), and i splurged and got some crab cakes-cannot wait to fry one of those up! i also got my ingredients for salsa. i have new favorite meal-refried bean tostadas. love love love them! i probably need to start buying uncooked beans and making my own, because yes, i love them that much!                            

one of my friends at school said she gives her dogs carrots as a treat. i bought some today to check it out and see if i can trick the boys into liking them, because that would be a great inexpensive treat!!

thanks raquel! i think they like 'em! they did this for awhile and made quite a mess, so then i cut them up into little bitty chunks, and they really liked that! i kinda got turned off on carrots when i was young because i had to chew so many times and then i almost gagged trying to swallow it. (i think i was trying the chew it 50 times thing). anyhoo, i really like cooked carrots -especially the way mom cooks them in with the roast on sundays! but i still struggle a little with raw carrots. it's just the way it is.

started early, posted late

when in doubt...eat out!
julie

bulletin boards...a contact sport.

at the end of a long dark corridor there is a board. a green board. a green bulletin board. my responsibility. uf..

nemesis or challenge in disguise?

so today i set my jaw and decided to tackle it! and by tackle it, i am not talking football, although let's be honest, it might have been slightly comical for our interim principal to walk out and see me running down the hall and jumping on the bulletin board and pulling it down...but no, it was more like this:

hopefully we'll get some interaction!

today i heard a boy say, "i have something in my brain." as he felt a little bump/scab on his head toward the front of his hairline. i wanted to say, "if there's something in your brain, you'd better leave it there! that's what we've been working toward!" but i didn't. 

later, i noticed that my coworker had a bag of loving-kindness (the only place i've ever heard that is in the Bible, but this bag was full of deliciousness of biblical proportions)...tamales! now...i will preface this with: nothing beats the tamales that doña angelica used to make in honduras with banana leaves-they were our Christmas and new years love). anyhoo, back to the tamales of today. they were typical mexican corn husk tamales. there were three different kinds and each was very good. the last one i had was packed with heat (not packing heat).

reminds me a little of corn husk dolls.

the picture kinda reminds me of when i was small and we went to a turkey farm in michigan (hopefully i haven't mentioned this before), but i really wanted a corn cob pipe. i don't really know why- i think it was the smell...and maybe the popeye cartoons.  but my parents voted me down...kinda like when i wanted the sword from mackinac island, mi. must be the michigan souvenirs. hmm.

well, i am thrilled about the rain outside because it's like goldilocks: not too light, not too hard!
hope your weekend is just right!
julie

if you have bluetooth, you can either try to brush it with crest, or pair it with your car system!

today is independence day for HONDURAS! warmest wishes to all my catrachos out there! VIVA HONDURAS! when i was in school, this was the day of the big march and parades. every day at school we would practice for the parade and make sure we were marching so that we looked sharp on the day of!  to graduate from high school, we had to memorize and discuss the chorus and one of the verses of the national anthem (they gave us spanish language learners a break. smile); at the time, i was not happy about it, but now i am so glad that i did!

over the last few days, i have been trying to figure out how to get the bluetooth in my car to work. this morning i finally figured it out! (i looked in the manual). so i was so excited to get in the car and use it! i love that it linked up my phone music as well! nifty.

i had my back appt today and when i got into the lonely room, the assistant came back with a file and said, "i see you've had several medications," and opened the file that was about an inch thick.FIRST OF ALL, I DON'T REMEMBER BEING ON LOTS OF MEDICATIONS...ONLY 2 and sparingly at that! i looked at it and it said julie robinson, but then i noticed how thick it was and that there were dates back into the past few years. so i quickly let her know that this couldn't be my file. so she looked closely and the id number did not match up, they pulled the wrong file on another julie hmm...who knew.

and when the doctor came in, has hit a few different pars of my body with his little rubber tomahawk. and then he asked how i felt and what i wanted to do. 1. go home and just see how the exercises continue to help or 2. get an MRI. hmmm....let me think $0 or....$400-3500...tough call.

then i went straight to cvs to pick up the just-in-case prescription. and while i was there i saw an unfortunate balloon. i'm sure he just wanted to try to get out of the cage for a little freedom. little did he know that the cage was actually protecting him.

yes, i always find a reason to stop in the card aisle. and today, it was well worth it! i found the most amazing card!

sorry, it's sideways...but you gotta' listen. and the unicorn comes off so you can carry him around!

 when i got home, it was so beautiful out that i thought for sure the boys would want to go for a walk. so i got them all harnessed up and this is what happened.

yep, there's bruno. he just sat there. so once again, we took him back.

 so it was just me and chaco.

"mama, we gotta figure out what's the deal with bruno, i miss walking with him."

chaco has gotten really good at walking off the leash as long as he doesn't get too distracted. and i still don't trust him around other dogs. so the leash goes with us and we start out on it until we get out into the wide open space out back.

hope tonight you dream in a silly unicorn voice!
julie