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

fire alarms at my school are like the little boy who cried wolf..only different b/c firemen come.

this afternoon, i was actually going to work on my school bulletin board, but i got sidetracked and found posters from last year and the year before that i wanted to put up. so i pulled out way too many. then i sorted through and made some decisions. the hardest decisions were where to place them.

so i finally decided to hang one from the tile ceiling in the room. we have those tiles you can push up, so i went to push one up to hang something and as soon as i pushed the tile up, the fire alarm went off. well, there were no kids, and so i knew it wasn't a drill, and they usually come on before-hand to let us know they are testing, or whatever. well, there was no announcement, so i jumped down from my chair, my room in shambles still, and grabbed my purse and my bag and walked out into the hallway, when i heard two other teachers down the hall. i was actually a little worried that i had tripped some wire or something when i lifted the tile (you never know what type of work those bond people have done!)

so i went down to see if they were leaving, and they were just sitting around. one of them said, "this happens like twice a week." so i went back to my room to pick up and finish up. after about 4 minutes, the sirens were in front of the bldg, and the firemen came on in. oops. perhaps we should've gone outside...umm. well, after going to the restroom, i went back to my room and unplugged the space heater and hid it in a  box. then i finished up and took off. bulletin board = not done. grr.

and on the way home, i was thinkin' i really didn't want to cook tonight...i wish i didn't live on restaurant alley-addison, you're killin' me! but i entertained myself while i waited!

look at me, i'm an electric box...no, wait, look again! i'm a robot with really long legs!!

 sooo...i obviously need to work on spelling with my bilingual kiddos and teach them some spelling patterns!

i guess bubbles can be considered a liquid (before they become the bubble capsule)..but umm...boobles? maybe liquid holders?

ramping up for tomorrow night! parent conference!

goodnight,
julie

gnome-body likes monday...at least nobody writing this post!

hmm..it's monday.

Every other day, every other day Every other day of the week is fine, yeah But whenever Monday comes But whenever Monday comes You can find me crying all of the time..

mama's and the papas...perhaps in another life teachers. 


and i know you all probably have a hard time understanding why i have such a difficult time getting anything important done during my planning period, but, um..well, things like this just keep happening; i had to get the food coloring so that i could create some halloween hospitality treats...

the blue guy looks like something out of a scary movie. i was too lazy to remake the face

 then we had an extra long training this afternoon-boo. the first 15 minutes could have been nixed and nothing would have been lost. i should have taken my new hexaflexagon with me! thanks to renee for posting about it, i found a good site showing how to make it in easy steps and now i have my own little toy to entertain me for hours...i don't understand it, but it doesn't even matter.

what person comes up with this kind of thing? who accidentally folds all of this paper into the perfect little contraption?

 and yesterday when i sat down to work on lesson plans with the school laptop, the battery was super low, and i realized after looking through all of the bags that i had left the cord at school, so then i searched for a zip drive-which i left at school as well (couldn't find a single one!)...so i had to make a quick trip to target to get one and while i was there, i came across some baby toys for friends.

too cute to pass up

chaco thought so too! he sat there and whined until i finally put it away

 and in other news, one of my friends is enjoying nature in wyoming (jealous) and she posted this picture of a river...well, at first, before i scrolled down on my phone, it looked like beef jerky to me...

note to self, next time i want to pretend to go to a river in the fall, i can cut out a picture of my feet and paste them to a bag of beef jerky, take a picture and say i went hiking in wyoming with bmayes...

so i took a picture of a bag of peppered beef jerky while i was at target to compare the two, and to be quite honest, the 'beef jerky' in her picture looks tastier than the real deal...


not happy with this post? don't be jerky, just take a hike...gnome, just kidding!
julie

yes, as a matter of fact, we DID cover the sandbox so cats won't poop in it

here goes nothing. hopefully i finish this tonight...i feel like i cannot finish anything i want to finish these days and i leave a lot of things half-done for later. i don't like that, but that's what i feel is happening.

yep, that's my car out there all alone in the evening...why? what do i really accomplish?

and there's the walmart tree again..you know, the one i have to dodge when i get to walmart before school in the morning to get stuff for science class...birds. lots of loud birds up there chit-chatting...i wonder what they're up there talking about. maybe they're trying out the turn-and-talk strategy! hmm...

i think the lady that was waiting by the door for my ride was hoping that i would walk under the tree and get pooped on just to be amused...but i knew better!

then that night i got to stay late for the pta meeting-yea fourth grade! always more endearing outside of the classroom than inside...

had to cut off their faces-didn't want to get the waivers...

well, if you haven't noticed, i did not finish earlier in the week. it is now saturday. i was feeling blah yesterday and exhausted. i was a little less exhausted when i woke up this morning, but definitely not 100%, so i didn't want to trust the breakfast bars, instead, i went to get donuts and kolaches. hmm...i need to get back on my diet of good foods!

remnants of breakfast and the task ahead of us! this is part of the lumber we used to build our sandbox...earth-station...

 it was actually a great day i was there from beginning to end-not bragging. not complaining. just stating the facts. it was neat to see it come together and think about how i was going to go about using the garden for various classes. it would actually be really cool to use the sand box to build a tx map showing the different regions and elevations-hills, mountains, plains, etc...pretty sure that is the only thing i can think of for social studies...move on to science and writing! (reading out there would be great for tutors)...lots of math ideas, but i don't teach math. the composting is cool-i think i am going to help mom and dad build a compost pile at their house so they can use it in their garden...they didn't ask, but i think it'll be a great idea!

we had lots of volunteers today!

special shout outs to volunteers from mattress firm, bank of america, community, teachers, marsh middle school kids (many alumni) great turn-out! and thank goodness the weather was fabulous. the sandbox actually came together rather quickly(once we got hold of a powerful drill-i must get an upgrade!) anyhoo, we got our 100,000 wheelbarrows of sand and leveled it out, and then we crafted a cover that bungees down so that we can keep the cat from using it as a litter box (although, i don't know if feral cats would gravitate to sanitary means of relieving themselves or not...natural instinct? idk and idc -i don't care)  when we finished our sandbox, we moved on to picnic tables, and then to the pond. when we were working the pond, some guy thought he was chief, and kept saying let's do this, let's do that...i gave my opinion, and then i had to walk away. and when i walked away, i was introduced to a man who has an incubator and eggs so we can watch and learn about incubating and hatching baby chicks! so, this may be a fun learning experience for cabell students! yippee!

speaking of incubators, i remember when we lived in HONDURAS, and my friend's father owned a huge chicken business in the land...and so we went to see the whole chicken incubating, growing and slaughtering for packaging process. we had our own personalized field trip. i am one lucky girl! p.s.(even though it's not at the end of the note, so technically not a post script...don't care...we bought our chickens and eggs directly from their home-beyond the large gate)..and what a beautiful home they have! good times.

so, yes, it was a good day, i'm glad i got to be a part of something that can potentially make a huge difference for our students!!

julie

super market sweep...trippin over your booty

oh my goodness! it felt SO great to sleep in today! and it felt even better to no do anything related to school (kinda...i had my papers out and was thinking about doing schoolwork, but decided it would wait).

when i woke up this morning, i awoke from a dream of being reprimanded for googling 'YORKIES' things are tightening up in disd...and then i was thinking about friends who have recently had babies or are about to have babies, and for whatever reason, the thought that came to mind was a statistic that i remembered about the average u.s. household having about 2.3 children. from there, i decided that i didn't want to see that .3 of a child, and visions of the eyeball monster from monsters inc flooded into my head. two normal children and one eyeball with arms and legs. hmm.

 so..i watched the debates the other night. i make no apologies, i am in favor of mitt romney, because at this moment in time, i believe that our country is in an economic crisis and i believe that he is much more capable in matters of fiscal responsibility. people who know me well, know that i am also quite socially conservative. and people who know me really well know that i'm not voting for the white guy, i am voting for the guy i believe is most capable. trust me if herman cain were running against president obama, i would be voting for the black guy over the half-white guy, because i again, believe that cain is much more fiscally capable than president obama as well.

on a news show just now, the lady said people tend to vote for the person they'd most want in their living room for the next four years...well, after reading the amateur, and seeing how mitt and his family interact and play olympics games at their family reunions, i think i'd prefer to have him in my living room.

ok, off that topic.

saturday, october 6

this morning i woke up and my alarm went off on my phone and i realized that today was the day for my 'shopping spree' at world vision...i was thinking it might be like supermarket sweep and all of the teachers would be lined up and ready to go running after their supplies!

we were very fortunate that our principal bought a membership for our school for the year-we get another shopping spree in the spring! woo hoo!

as i was driving to the place, i was thinking it seemed to be in a rather remote location. well, something even more interesting is that i am pretty sure i have driven by there before (on accident, following some directions off of mapquest-anyone remember mapquest? from before gps?) anyhoo, i finally got there and i was early, so i went in and filled out the paperwork (next to nothing), and then the tattooed man brought the shopping carts and gave us instructions. it was painless. the only thing they didn't have that i was really hoping for was a nice pencil sharpener; mine is on it's last legs...

some of my spoils! i did feel somewhat like a pirate who stumbled upon my booty (butt then, if you're stumbling on your own booty, perhaps it's time for a diet and some stair stepper exercises...just sayin)

here's a partial list: 2-hole punch, a couple of binders, several spiral notebooks, pens, pencils, 2 reams of copy paper, some books, 2 kid-usb ports, zipper pouches, thermal bags, drawstring bags, markers, crayons, and the list goes on...thank you dr. hughes!

yesterday i was in need of spinach and artichoke dip and salsa, so i took a quick trip for the ingredients and whipped up a batch, and it was phenomenal! hit the spot!

i wish i'd gotten a larger bag of chips!

 i'm so good to myself!

and in other news, my apartment complex has painted the mailbox 'carousel-pavilion-looking' things a poopy-diaper green. gross...bruno looked at it and told chaco it looked like when he pooped after eating his greenie treats. fortunately no one else was around to hear them discussing it. 

the boys have loved having me home. last night they were laying around-kinda like they are right now...and every once in awhile, they would get on a barking frenzy-neighbors-and i'd have to pull out the treats in a failing effort to distract them.

bruno guarding his treat.

i've been kinda bad about their treats lately. chaco likes to save his and keep playing with it and goading bruno after his are gone. so, i've been pulling the progressive redistributive act and taking part of chaco's treat and giving it to bruno. it's highly unfair, i know...and chaco would probably have lots of treats stored up for a rainy day if it weren't for me saying he has plenty and he should share his wealth...bruno kinda liked it because he didn't have to work for it, he just acted like: woe is me, i don't have what he has.

ok, time to get some work done!
julie

chat customer service folk make me write in CAPITAL LETTERS...

my conversation with the clear person (internet provider) went something like this:

Chat Transcript

Arren:  Thank you for contacting Clear Web Chat Support. My name is Arren. Please give me a moment to pull up and review your account.

Arren:  Pleased to meet you online. How are you doing today?

julie:  i already had someone helping me-do i have to start all over again

Arren:  Oh I am sorry for that.

Arren:  How may i help you today?

julie:  that person asked me to take off the battery cover of my hotspot to reset the device so that they could reset the password and we got cut off b/c obviously the connection was lost

julie:  i am having problems logging onto the wifi with a new ipad-apparently the password is not working

Arren:  If I understand you correctly,you cannot connect on your IPAD suing your clear device,correct?

julie:  the previous agent talked to someone in tech 2 or something and they were basically going to reset it from there

julie:  yes

Arren:  I understand your situation and I apologize for the inconvenience. But I will be more than happy to assist you with that!

Arren:  can you please provide me the mac id of the clear device?

julie:  (i gave him the #)

Arren:  .I am sory however that is not the correct mac id.

julie:  it's a wipipe and the number is (i repeated the #)-the smaller device is the usb port with the #0-----------

julie:  my phone # is ----------- if we get cut off-i do not want to go through all of this again

Arren:  Oh I see.

Arren:  Sorry however I am only seeing a USb device on your account not a clearspot.

julie:  strange because i have been using it for the past 2 or 3 years, and i ordered it from you guys-

Arren:  Sorry however I can only see 1 device here on your account and that is the USB.

julie:  ok, great, what do you suggest that i do????

Arren:  .Do you still have the box where it came from?

julie:  yes, part# PHS300CW upc cODE 094922229595 mac aDDRESS (same #) serial number MM090303301287

Arren:  Is that a CLEAR device?

julie:  i don't have the covering that had my address and the return address, but i have the original box-it came from one of your warehouses. i was going to get it at best buy, but i decided to get it from CLEAR. YES, IT IS A CLEAR SPOT-PERSONAL HOTSPOT

julie:  WIPIPE

Arren:  .I am sorry however we cannot locate any device under your account .

julie:  ok, now i am getting a little upset. OBVIOUSLY I HAVE ONE OR I WOULDN'T BE wasting my time here. find someone who can give you a suggestion about what to do.

julie:  please

Arren:  I understand that but on our end here we only see a USB device on your account w/c is active and no clear spot device.

Arren:  We need to have a mac id.

julie:  AND I GAVE YOU THE MAC ID!! WHAT NOW?

julie:  (repeat the number for the 4th time)

julie:  do you not have a way of tracking it?

Arren:  .Sorry however we do not have any mac id of that .

julie:  great. thanks for nothing-i don't know that this is going to work out for me. i have been using this device for the past 3 years-i may just have to switch carriers

Arren:  I really understand that but in order to have it check you need to remove the battery of the device so that we can get the mac id .

julie:  great. that's what the last person told me and that was when we got cut off because obviously we lose connection as soon as i do that. thanks.

Arren:  I understand that however we still need to get the correct mac id/

(and i'm guessing arren isn't even a real name, if i sucked that bad, i wouldn't use MY real name!) i mean, did you read the part about Arren:  .I am sory however that is not the correct mac id.(obviously this person hasn't heard about customer's usually right)...
so i copied the message, then i opened the device and took out the battery and guess what! 1. the number was the SAME NUMBER I HAD BEEN GIVING HIM..2. we got cut off. i am pretty sure that this is their routine way of getting rid of customers that they are not able to help. jerks.

so this is where i give my non-endorsement of their customer service. this happened twice. i am pissed. i thought about getting back onto their chat again and copying the transcript so the agent can just read through it, and keep doing that until they get tired of it and find someone who CAN help me. jerks.

all i want is to be able to get on the internet wifi through my hotspot with the ipad...that's all. why does it have to be so difficult-heart rate= higher than it needs to be.

and so, it goes-i have much difficulty with chat-customer service folk apparently!

i received my first newsletter, bearing great information:

yep, so not sure if you can see that or not, but the newsletter i received from 'retirement millionaire' just gave some great advice-not sure if you can see that, but it says that wine helps maintain bone strength for women better than milk....just sayin.

almost as good was the segment that said people who eat a little chocolate 5 times a week have lower bmi than those who only eat it twice a week...i like that study as well! who knew!

today after our school staff meeting, we had a leadership meeting...then i was going to try to get something done, not realizing what time it was, when one of my coworkers popped her head in and suggested a chili's stop-half price appetizers! so i agreed, since i haven't gone out to eat in ages. it was great to relax and get away from school...i looked at my watch and could hardly believe that it was already 5:20...boo.

well, i should've gone to the bathroom before i left the restaurant, but i figured it was close enough to my place that i could make it...well, when i got out of my car, i was wishing i'd gone because i dropped my leftovers and had to bend down to pick it up for the boys, then i grabbed the rest of my bags and on the turn to go up the second batch of stairs, my lunch bag fell, and i again had to bend down to grab IT! and once i got to the door and struggled with the key...i was pretty sure i wasn't going to make it. well, i cut it closer than i should've, but i did make it...barely. note to self-if you even think you might not make it, just use the bathroom where you are.

goodnight!