just kidding (the book) is not nearly as entertaining as JUST KIDDING, with judy grimes on snl. just sayin'

today was a pretty good day. i'm so glad that no one from our school participated in the 'don't go to school day.' teachers who really care about the students' best interest don't leave their students hanging.they aren't the ones driving politics in the district. it was very thoughtful of our principal and assistant principal to have floats of appreciation after school let out-i did have one, but it didn't sit well, and i know i won't crave one next time.

i wouldn't have wanted to miss today because we had visitors from ibm come in to read to the students about bullying...or rather about NOT bullying. it is always interesting to hear what the students have to contribute. the book was called just kidding and it was really a great book, the kids were engaged, and it was pertinent because they are always saying something mean and following it with "just kidding" to try to stay out of trouble, but they don't realize that it is hurtful.... but the best part was that ms. brooks, our volunteer, left heat sensing pencils for the students! woo hoo!!

i'm so glad they get something new to distract them and play with. yippee.

when she came in, she saw my big bloom's task wheel and i explained it to her and how i want my kids to start thinking about their level of thoughts and deeper logical thinking and she said, "i pay for my daughter to go to a private school, and i know she isn't getting this kind of stuff!" yea for public schools!

i've been going through the green tea pretty quickly these days, so today i stopped and purchased 3 boxes..i've cut back a little on the coffee; i just drink it as a comfort drink now every once in awhile when i need the robust aroma to pick me up!

well, i think that i will be hanging out in dallas for most of spring break (i might try to make a quick run up to oklahoma for a long weekend at the beginning to go bowling and painting...) but i think i am going to try to schedule my interview for the latter part of spring break and then plan to work up at the school, outlining the murals for our volunteers from mary kay. smile. bringing new life to our school. lots of plans, lots of work!

about 9 days until the school biggest loser is over- it's been a good jump-start, but i am pretty sure that when it ends next friday, i will still have at least 20 lbs i want to get rid of, so it's going to be a long spring. but hopefully i will be at my goal weight by summer! work.self-control.work.self-control.

have a great evening...self-control.work.
julie

i'll buy the fiber optic thing for 200, please...

it's only tuesday. ugh.
but....i made it to the 3rd phase of the interview process! (which means i am only one step away from being accepted into a program to which i will sign away a portion of my life)...

"hard core selection process" as my friend said last night.

 i love it that tide just used the song 'pop goes the world' in their commercial! what a flashback! i'm pretty sure that was my 9th grade year in council bluffs, ia! my favorite place to hear it? my brothers yellow volkswagon bug! he so wanted to paint the chiquita banana logo on the side, but never got around to it. that was an excellent year! i met some of the neatest people from our church, and i was involved in some of the neatest activities! we had such a fun youth group! i spent so much of my time memorizing hebrews for Bible quizzing and we really had a great time!

 it's amazing how songs can take you back to specific times in your life! maybe not for everyone, but for me it does because we moved around so much growing up, so i definitely make connections with music. i'll have to do a post just connecting different eras of my life with different songs sometime.


today at school during the last period, there was a fund raiser assembly. basically that means a guy came in and showed the kids all of the fun toys they could win if they sold things. i remember when i was in elementary school, i wanted to sell these little glass flower vases that had different smelling deodorant roses. so i went around the neighborhood, stopping at some houses, skipping others. well, after a couple of sales, i came home and my dad read the fine print, i had to sell a minimum amount to begin, so i ended up having to go back and give those people the samples from my box and my grandma bought the rest. i'm a terrible sales person! i don't know HOW i sold cars!


so the kids got all excited about the prizes, and i got to take a sneak peak of the prize catalog.

i guess coca cola products will never go out of style. in fourth grade somehow i had a coca cola dancing radio...

another prize the awesome fiber optic glow thing....

ok, the fiber optic thing pretty cool. back in the 80's, while visiting my grandparents in michigan, my grandma had acquired one of these that changed colors-like a rainbow...i was fascinated by it and i could sit in front of it for hours ..minutes trying to comprehend the inner workings. then i would give up and when my cousins and i sat in the formal living room, we would play a game in which we pretended to buy things out of the living room as if it were an ancient episode of wheel of fortune when they had the rounds in which the people had an amount of money to spend on silly gifts...i always gravitated toward that flower-ish light. good times. 


trying to decide which song i will connect with this year...i'm sure one will surface.
julie
 

my boys hold the keys to my heart....if only i could get them to keep track of the keys to my apt.

i didn't get as much done this weekend as i had hoped. i woke up at 2:30 and began to think about things i still needed to do and i ended up changing my alarm to 4:30 instead of 5 so that i could wake up and finish grading 6 wk writings. grr. so it has been a long day. i feel it right now.

when i got home i took the boys out for a walk because it was much too beautiful to not go! so we took the long walk around and ended up at our little dog park and they ran around a bit, then we took off again. we saw signs of spring!

they're just so small in the big yard!

i always feel like i've just crawled out of a big wardrobe into narnia when i walk past these lamp posts.

not sure what the white flowers are, but they are so beautiful! (even more so once i found my keys!)

 well, we got back to the apt....3rd floor and i realized that i didn't have my keys. uh-oh. it was about 5:47 and the office closes at 6, so i made a call and retraced our steps back around. i got no answer, so i left a message asking about getting into my apt if i couldn't find my key..as i retraced my steps, the only thoughts that went through my head were: what am i going to do if i can't find the keys and there is no one in the office? 

 i don't have my car keys or my wallet...i could walk around with the dogs all night...if gigi still lived close, she'd come and get me and i could hang out in her spare room...maybe i could find a cardboard box in the bin and cover up...hmm.

so, as you can imagine, the most beautiful sight in the world was:

relief!

the boys had no idea what was going on-i'm sure they just thought i had alzheimer's or something, "mama, we just did this." but they weren't complaining, they enjoyed the 2nd lap! i'm just glad to be comfortable in the house, because it was beginning to get a bit chilly out there and i didn't have a sweatshirt on. 

may all your belongings remain where they should!
julie

sorry girl scouts...i'm going to have to pass...i really AM on a diet-not like all the other people who walked by and stole my line!

shopping for produce today was ridiculous! we'll see how long i can make it last. i am pretty excited about trying some new recipes.

i also decided that it is probably a good thing that i don't have kids-i would go broke! i am slightly impulsive:

i went into petsmart for greenies...i came out with a bag full of dog treats that will last us awhile.ugh. must gain control!

i'm excited to get started reading a new book i just got.it was a suggestion from a dear friend in iowa-my former Bible quizzing leader. i want to start when i have time to thoroughly enjoy it, uninterrupted.

 but it won't be this weekend! i should be grading some assessments right now, so as soon as i finish this post i'll be back to the tests..bruno again offered to help, but he scores high. chaco won't even read them because: "there's no pictures!" 

today when i went to walmart, the girl scouts or brownies or someone pretending to be girl scouts...were outside the door selling cookies. i didn't even want any. i tried to avoid eye-contact as i was going in, but they caught me on the way out. "hi ma'am! would you like to buy some girlscout cookies?!" and i'm sure it sounded like a lame excuse that they'd heard all day, "no, i'm actually on a diet." i'm sure the mom was sitting back there thinking, "yeah, right, stop lying to my girls." and i almost felt like saying, "i'm serious! let me show you my bags! you'll see-it's all vegetables and fruit! and some meat...." but i didn't, i kept walking. but i almost went back to give them a few bucks as a donation, until i thought, "why should i feel guilty? i donate to other causes that are pretty darned important. you can't save the world." don't get me wrong, i like girlscouts-i was a brownie and  got all the little patches (bird-watching, toilet cleaning, etc).

alright, back to grading, because it's so much fun.
julie

chaco thinks he needs a talent scout now....

oh blessed friday! it's good to be sitting in my own living room relaxing.

i know i work with 2nd language learners when most of my students seem to think that inanimate objects have feelings of desire or "want." i hear it almost every day. "ms. robinson, my pencil didn't want to sharpen." and i feel like asking how they know what their pencil wants...but today i decided it was time to put it in a visual:

just do it mr. pencil, it will be alright, you want to be a sharp guy, right?

it's also time to make a count-down for our bathroom bulletin board! that was gigi's job. but someone put up a note today, so i will tackle that this weekend.

walking around the school today i saw another self portrait...i think this kiddo fancies herself a superhero...

it's going to be a beautiful weekend..a little cooler than the past couple of days, but 64 isn't bad for feb.

the boys saw that i had a calendar made and chaco looked through the pics and kept saying, "mama! that's me!" "i know it is, chaco." "i'm a MODEL! you can call me sean o'pry." i looked at him, and i cocked my head (which they totally understand-they invented it), "what are you talking about?" and he just smiled and said, "ma, calvin klein...ralph lauren...versace???" so i just nodded and went along with it, "yeah, um, how about i stick with calling you chaco."

and in other interesting news, i was on high alert and worried last week because whenever i went to the bathroom it was bright yellow like a highlighter! and i was afraid that i was sick without knowing it or something, so i googled it. and much relief- multi-vitamins. who knew? fortunately whoever wrote the article did! i just started using a more expensive multi-vitamin and fish oil vitamin, so that's what i get...hopefully that isn't the only effect it has on my body.

have a blessed weekend!
julie

80's in february....feelin' hot,hot,hot (gloria estefan and the miami sound machine, right?)

what a beautiful day today turned out to be! i cannot believe it's february! (why does it have that weird r after the b?)

80! woah!

today i met the two women who are in charge of the program that i have applied for-they were at our school meeting with my principal, because she will be helping them out a little this spring. that was exciting and interesting!

i had a meeting after school and i couldn't wait to get home! i stopped by the office, but my package had not arrived. i did see the mailman putzing around, taking his time at the other mailbox round, so i knew it would take forever for him to reach mine, so i didn't wait around.

i decided to take the boys out to the dog park, and once again, it was packed! bruno does pretty well about meeting others (at least smelling them), but chaco is still a bit snippy. he really doesn't like others in his face. he said it was their breath, but i think he's just a little scared.

how fun was it to pull up to the mailbox round for the 2nd time today and see roses in bloom! even more fun, was to see the mailmen were past my box!

when i opened my mailbox, there it was! it was almost like charlie finding the golden ticket! the key to the package postal box! so i went to the box and there it was...my package i've been waiting for! the office was closed, so i couldn't go show them-tomorrow.

love my calendar!

i am so glad that i got the address labels as well!! i am so tired of writing my address on every envelope i send out!

well, off to finish labeling envelopes to go out first thing in the morning!
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

hulie beat up the rolling cube handle...and had to get a new one.

i am so glad today is friday! i needed it! only i didn't tell the boys (and they haven't learned how to read the calendar yet)because i will be gone most of the day tomorrow. so our weekend will just start late-and instead of the three day weekend that everyone else is enjoying, we'll make the most out of our sunday and monday!

ups-person has not delivered my calendar yet, so i'm a little bummed. i checked the tracking and it arrived in mesquite at 6.45 p.m...so if they deliver tomorrow, i'll be out all day-and i don't know if i'll get back in time to catch them at the office or not because sat. and sun are their early nights. grr.

this morning i made my frequent early stop at walmart to grab something for a coworker and i got some pens for the kids and a great new sharpie PEN for me (that doesn't bleed). so when i got to school, i used a knife to carve notches into the pen so that i will recognize them and hopefully deter the students from 'permanently borrowing' them.

you can kinda see the notches-you can certainly feel them...ok, maybe YOU can't because it's a computer, but  you get the idea

i've been using the sharpie all day and i love it! i was skeptical, but it really doesn't bleed through!

after school i had to go get bindings to bind some student books that they made (school didn't have any in stock). while i was at office max, i decided to go ahead and get a new "stuff" cart...a rolling cube to put my junk in. they seem to have cheap handles with plastic innards. the first one i had last me a long time before the handle went arthritic on me, so i got a new one. it also had handle problems, which i may have made worse by my foot trying to coax it to extend to its proper height...not so gently. today i used the broken handled one (although i had to tape the tar out of it so that i could pull it; i probably had more in it than i should've). 

while i was picking a cart, a store associate came up to help and noticed my cabell jacket and said his sister goes there. so i asked who his sister was and when he told me, it was one of my students from last year. that started a whole conversation. when i finally got up to the cashier, i was searching for my rewards card, and since i couldn't find it, i had to fill out a new one. i wasn't going to, but the cashier kept saying it'll only take a minute. so to make him shut up, i just filled it out. when i got home, i was supposed to go in and register or something, and of course when i accessed it, he input my name as Hulie. great.

enjoy the long weekend!
julie

'demon fish'-80's pop band or book by an author with bad galmour pics?

let me begin by saying i am so sorry, those of you who link to this blog from facebook-somehow my settings got messed up and none of my posts were showing up for others-i don't quite know how that happened.


today has been long. but not bad. we had our field trip to the nature museum today, and it would have been really fun if i were there with friends! but, alas, i had 17 students to be in charge of.

we got to watch a great show about force and matter and the kids loved it. i loved finding a brochure about speakers for their shark exhibit. check out this one:

the picture caught my attention and i couldn't help but think that it really fit the book title...i could see her being the author of "demon fish."

then we watched the movie in the imax dome-loved it! it might've been a little over the kids' heads, but that's ok, they loved the prehistoric marine reptiles! by the time we got to do lunch, it had still not warmed up and the wind was blowing....and we had to eat outside. boo. (thanks gigi). then we went back in and enjoyed the hands-on exhibits for the kiddos.

this was the mucus display, and it accurately portrays what has been going on in my head, nose and throat over this past week.

LAST PAYMENT ON MY CITI CARD TODAY!!! now only one more to go and the last bit of a student loan! it feels good!

i also tried the spaghetti squash today and i actually enjoyed it as much as the zucchini! i loved prepping it last night because it was so much fun to shred!! cool stuff!

i walked into the office today hoping that my package had arrived, but it had not. the package, being my calendar. so i am hoping that it is in tomorrow's delivery. i walked in at a good time because they had one of the 'annoying tenants' in trying to get his way about something that was obviously not an option.

and tonight was my phone interview with smu, it seemed like it went fine, but only time will tell...i'll know how well i did if i move on to round 3, i guess. i wasn't too nervous, but i don't know how great i am at thinking on my feet, either.

may your field trips in life be without all the children!
julie

central market...enticing-perhaps. heavenly? not quite.

today was a good day-everything went as planned! i was able to get quite a bit done! and we had our plc today, which went well- it's always a relief when those things go well.

then when school was over, i jetted out pretty quickly to get over to central market!! woo hoo! as i was driving there around 4:50-ish, the thought went through my head: what if all of this traffic is headed to central market?! uh-oh. i was relieved when i turned onto preston and they continued going straight! i turned in and there were police officers to guide traffic, which made me wonder where in the world i was going to park if there was a necessity for policemen. (they were probably offered doughnuts if they stuck around). anyhoo, i looked to my left and there was a parking spot just for me!

when i looked out  my window, they skies parted and a bright light from the heavens shone all around and i think i heard :AAAAAH (but only the first syllable of the alleluia chorus, which i am sure is due to the mere awesomeness). so i got went in and found some great little goodies. some things i needed and some things i was hoping i'd find-i found the coconut oil and the coconut flour!! i also had to get coffee and grabbed some green tea. this particular store was a little cramped. rather small, but it still has quite a bit to offer.  i found what i wanted, so i wasn't disappointed. there weren't any real freebies that late in the day, but there was a sample lady, only it was something that's not on my list. so when i got back to my car, i looked back at the store and realized that it had not been the skies parting, it was merely a small wispy cloud blowing over. and it there was not actually light pouring out from heaven, it was the reflection of another car in my rearview mirror. and as for the beginning of the alleluia chorus...it was only a frustrated driver who couldn't find parking.  

not bad, just not heavenly..i need to check out the whole foods down on forest (i haven't been to that one)

i shared some zucchini 'pasta' today and it was a hit! woohoo! good food is just plain good!

today i saw this self portrait and it made me smile. i have no idea who it is, because i have NOT seen a little boy nor girl at our school who actually looks like this (thank goodness)

if i saw this boy, i would probably hide my hands in my pockets for fear that he might go for a digit.

and last but not least, i finally got my package sent off to nina!! that is satisfying! i cannot wait for her to get her surprise!

hope your day has been a grand-opening kind of a day...only that the right things are opening.
julie

cacao-the seed of chocolate...the essence of valentines day...take off the o and that's what you'll feel like if you eat too much.

well, i made it through the day! being a teacher means lots of things, but on valentine's day it means you earn a treasure trove of chocolates and other goodies. none of which is on my diet. so i packed up a bag and gave it to marlon, our janitor and i brought the wonderful lindt truffles back for shannon and mandie-i thought they would appreciate them. i did pretend i was super excited to get everything, though! it does make one feel special to receive love in the form of candy-the thoughts behind it were received in full.

there was more, this is only half of the box...

and i had one student who was especially thoughtful- i love tulips! i was so happy to see them after being bummed about all the fun candy!

precious

and tonight's romantic celebration is a little t.v., drying zucchini to prepare it for cooking and a little coffee. i know, i know, it's almost too much to handle!

i am thrilled about tomorrow! it's payday and more importantly, the central market on preston and royal is scheduled to open tomorrow!! i am so going! maybe there will be some special kind of grand opening gimmick...fingers crossed! i'm sure it will be an adventure for the books!

and today the dogs caught a little winged animal and started playing with it and then it was laying motionless on the ground. i got a little closer and saw that it was actually cupid. sad day...cupid is in poor condition, but he might recuperate...bruno said he wants cupids for snack from now on. grr.

hope everyone is feeling loved, or at least satisfied by chocolate...
julie

i'm sad that i am going to have to find homes for the chocolates tomorrow.

well, i never watch award shows...but i did record last nights(only to fwd through and see the parts dedicated to whitney).i don't like award ceremonies. and because i wanted to pay a little tribute to a legend, i also watched bodyguard yesterday morning.

hmm...i have my phone interview set for thursday night; they will send an email about 1/2 hour before the interview with interview content info...not much time to prep! but i am looking forward to it! i probably ought to let mom and dad know so that they don't try to call during that time!

tomorrow i need to get some more zucchini..smile. and i need to get some green tea. i've never really done green tea, but tomorrow i will imbibe.

the maintenance man came by today and changed out the fire alarm batteries, so now i feel much more secure! and relieved that i will not be woken up in the morning again by random beeping. (i'm glad that i didn't have to get on a ladder and do it myself, because my stepping ladder is not quite tall enough and i would have tried to awkwardly balance it on something else and probably fall off and break something...on my body. not ok).

i will let you know what comes of tomorrow..the valentine's day party should be a little more under control than the last one. i will also let you know what the boys get for me... as for the vday candy i will locate teachers who are willing to adopt the lovely little morsels. they need to go to worthy homes. i'm hoping for no creepy stuffed animals that the students think are so cute. otherwise, i will once again have to donate them to a worthy cause.

i am a little bummed that i agreed to do destination imagination volunteering because that is the saturday of a long weekend and i could've gone to oklahoma.. boo. i'm in need of a trip to see friends and go bowling and help shea with some artwork...and to make fudge that i cannot eat...maybe it's better that i wait until i can enjoy the fudge!

good night!

julie

zucchini noodles and dumpster diving

this morning i woke up and i had to force myself to do my workout. it's hard on a saturday (especially after the day off)! anyhoo, after the workout, i made breakfast-this morning it was 'french toast eggs"-then i made a little 'syrup' out of a little olive oil, cinnamon, allspice and vanilla mixed together really well...they were really good! oh, i almost forgot, they were topped with blueberries! yum!

then this afternoon i cut up a zucchini and dried it up so that i could use it for dinner tonight. i used the strips as spaghetti-no pasta, but it tasted even better! 

took awhile to cut them up, but i'll do it again! i might also try to use them as fries sometime by baking them.

see? looks a lot like spaghetti...i actually like the consistency better-slight crunch

i highly suggest this dish! the sauce is just a store bought with as little sugar as possible.

 and for lunch i had a 2nd new favorite..taco boats! lean ground beef, sauteed peppers, onions, tomatoes and salsa in an artisan romaine leaf-yum! no shell.

LOVE these!

 i finally packed up my boxes for nina down in roatan and will send them off when the post office is open. it didn't all fit in the first box, so i had to get another for the posters and some other stuff. i was on my way to office max, but i had to take my garbage to the dumpster first and lo and behold, there were like 4 different sized boxes out there and one was the perfect width and height...just a little long. so i snatched it out and headed back upstairs, ecstatic that i didn't have to take a trip out-simply too cold!!

 and as for the box, nothing a knife and some tape couldn't remedy. now all i have to do is wrap this one and address it.

don't worry, when i wrap it, it won't be so janky! smile.

 bruno and chaco caught me today when i was slicing up the zucchini and just sat at my feet so i let them try it. once again, i have found another random vegetable that they thoroughly enjoy.

 i've been looking for a school calendar. the one my mom got for me i keep at the house. last year one of my former students got me a great baby animals calendar, but this year nada. so i had thought about getting a yorkie calendar at petsmart, but it cost like $15. so i decided that i would use my own models and create my own calendar! it was free-only pay shipping and handling (like 6 bucks), but then i upgraded from paper to card stock. i may have also upgraded once more to get the address labels with the boys pic on it...(i always run out of room when i'm writing it on the envelope) ~i think i might get stamps of them as well at some point..no, i am not obsessed.

this is the cover and one of the months, and it is on the labels as well. can't wait!

 good evening and enjoy the remainder of your weekend!
 julie

congrats to me...i'm celebrating by sharing celery with the boys!

Congratulations! You have been selected to advance to the next round of the Master’s in Educational Leadership with Urban School Specialization program.

not gonna lie, i was pretty excited to get this email! the next round is a phone interview lasting up to an hour...what could they POSSIBLY want to talk to me about for an hour?! i hate phone talking. well, if i manage to get past that portion, there is still the on-site session. 

yesterday for snack i had celery sticks and humus, and i found out that the boys like celery...i think they like the crunch. whatever it is, they sat in attention while i was eating it.  

mama! what is this stuff?! i LIKE it!

today at school i was waiting for my students to get picked up when i noticed this:

i couldn't get an inconspicuous shot off, but his harness looked just like chaco's.

now, i've seen people use leashes for their kids before, but she was yanking it around and shortening the leash around her hand to keep him close...i really wanted to give her lessons on how to walk a dog because they would probably work for the kid too.


tutoring on capitalization usage went quite well today-i think they learned it (in spite of my computer lack of usage).


i am super excited that tomorrow is my non-workout day! i can't wait to wake up a little later tomorrow morning! this morning i woke up and decided i needed to snooze for another hour, but just after i reset my alarm, and began to doze, i heard a beep. then nothing then about 3 minutes later another beep. the dogs heard it too, but strangely didn't bark...it was the fire alarm. boo. it continued to do this, but the intervals got longer and longer until they finally stopped-i'm pretty sure that means i really ought to change out the battery. tomorrow. 


goodnight!
julie

those orchstra people were perCUSSING left and right..all over the stage!

 today was awesome because the percussionists from the symphony came to cabell to perform! woohoo~ it's amazing what all they can do with their instruments!here's a short clip of the last piece they performed. (ok, just kidding because that took way too long to upload! boo)

i love music, so this was dreamy for me. i would've loved the entire orchestra, but i'll take what i can get!

we were most certainly wow-ed! the students behind me were oooo-ing and ahhh-ing. i think i might have been as well. i was definitely all smiles!


i got an email saying that my next water delivery date was feb. 9th...well, they just delivered the first batch on the 1st, so i am not ready for 15 more gallons yet! so i postponed the delivery. i couldn't drink that much in two days if i tried...water poisoning!

and today i used the last bit of coffee i had at school, so i knew that after school i'd have to purchase some more from a reputable establishment. so i stopped at world market on the way home, because i was also hoping to find coconut oil (to cook, not to tan) and coconut flour...to make coconut pancakes! well, i found the coffee that i think i might be even more fond of right now! TEXAS TURTLE! wow, yum! i didn't find the coconut stuff i was looking for, so instead i grabbed some humus to use for chicken and the pesto-bread. smile.

i bought 2 because i knew i would need one at school and one at home.

 alright, i think it's time to be done for the night!
julie

decorating a school is not the same as decorating a house...

yet another day in paradise! some decorating has been going on around our school, and they seem to be trying to make it feel like a house. it doesn't need to feel like a house to be 'welcoming' but it's nice that someone is taking the initiative to do something, nonetheless.

yes, strangely we now have a fake dog who sits under a bench...

but what really caught my eye was when i walked downstairs after lunch and saw a lady in a dress and stockings holding a paintbrush in one hand and a jacket in the other. she was painting a bench by the kindergarten hall, but she was certainly no professional. (again, beggars can't be choosers). but then again....

yellow paint on the floor...maybe we should be a little choosier.

tonight i tried something new for dinner, and i will suggest that everyone try this-it is delicious! it's called no grain bread.

i ABSOLUTELY loved this! super healthy too.

now i need to get busy and try to make some tutoring material for my bilingual students!


julie

educational gifts and food processors

well, i went out today to make some purchases for a small christian school on the island of roatan.(children's palace- cpbs) my dear friend from 6th and 7th grade is the administrator there and there is not a lot of extra money to get lots of extra 'stuff'. it is a very small school, but they have a mission to educate children and love on them. so i went to lakeshore and u.s. toy and purchased some awesome stuff that i would use in my classroom!

i'm sooooo excited to send this package!! i think for the next package, i want to send something special for their staff. they only have 27 people working at their school, and i know they don't get paid much at all-room and board...maybe. they sacrifice but they gain so much!

while i was at lakeshore, i looked across the street and i was drawn like a firefly to a bug zapper to bed bath and beyond (did you like that simile?). so, i went in with one mission in mind: get a food processor. and when i got in and started looking at them, a saleslady approached and asked if she could help. i didn't say yes, i merely said, "i'm just looking for a food processor." so she asked for how many do i cook, etc. after i told her 1, she picked up the smallest processor and said it might be good. then i asked how many functions and blades it had and she looked and looked for the information on the back. finally i said, "well, i'll just take a couple of minutes and look at them and decide. thanks for your help." and i was grateful that she walked away. i don't like help at stores unless i request it-and usually when i do want help, no one is to be found. so i went with the 9 cup instead of the 7 cup.

i think i picked the correct one!

now all i really want to do is go to the store and buy choppable foods and shove them (gently) into the food processor! it's like a new toy on Christmas morning!

earlier, before all of the shopping, i took the boys out and shock of all shocks, bruno came without a scene! and he did fairly well most of the way. most of the time, he took off ahead of us and led the entourage. the girls at the office were very excited for him. and shannon pulled out the pupperoni that i had dropped off earlier to win puppy points. they were very excited, and displayed their gentlemanly behavior...sit and down.i was all smiles by the time we got home because bruno did so well...maybe it's the cooler weather? who knows, but i'm hoping he had so much fun today that he'll be excited about going again!

good boys! i'm so proud of you!!

can't wait to slice and dice!
julie

is that a watermelon on that lid or are you just happy to see me? both.

ok, WOW! that salmon with the avocado/sweet potato mash-deLIcious!! in fact, it was so good for lunch that i had it again for dinner!! smiles all around! today i also had some of the watermelon i dehydrated the other day! and when i say some...it was half a baby watermelon.which dehydrated only produces about a ziploc baggie...

gigi, thought of you and decided to share with ms. lama (now mrs. sowe)

i took some over to the office as well and i think i've convinced mandie that it is a necessity and she'll probably try to talk her husband into getting her one. smile.

oh, today at school i intercepted the game. this particular game was who you would end up with.

they may or may not have put teachers' names on there as well. and my only thought was the only way any of them would 'end up' with one of us would be if we adopted them. silly kids. oh to be in 4th grade again-i remember making these games. smile.

my shoulders are so sore! i was trying to figure out why, when i remembered it was from cutting things-veggies, fruit...so i have decided that i need to get that nice food processor. and right now i am sitting with the heating pad on my shoulders wishing i had a masseuse! remember how last year they were going to give massages for teacher appreciation week and it got canceled? that was nice.

when i stopped at walmart the other day, i bought early valentines cards fort he students. at first, all i saw were boxes of 25 and 24-too many. i put them in my basket, did the math, took them out, kept going saw some more with 22 count, so i bought 4 boxes-which is almost perfect for all of my classes! woohoo! i'm going to try to put personal notes on each of them-i need to start this weekend if i really expect to get it done. i don't know, though...with that game going around, i might have to make all of them say: no, you will never end up with me. happy vday (v for darth vader).

i think i am going to try to pull out the paints this weekend-i haven't painted in awhile. i also need to do some arranging in my craft corner...craft pile...i also need to grade some writing papers. ugh.blch.

have a great weekend and try to stay off any student lists,
julie