tea cups and gnomes and grizzly bears, oh my!

so...i've been pretty sparse lately on the blog posts-sorry about that! it's not like i don't have things to say, because i certainly do; it's just that i have been busy!  to start with, i am going to blame b-mayes, because when she came to visit back in december, she suggested i watch alias, and once i started, game over, i had to watch all 5 seasons! oops.

and then i decided i may apply again for this urban leadership program at smu, through the teaching trust. hmm..i might be a little crazy or maybe optimistic..b/c i'm pretty sure next school year will be no less busy than this year has been, and if i haven't mentioned it before, it has been crazy. in fact, i have other things that i should be doing right this very minute, but i am trying to keep life in perspective, and if this is what it takes, so be it.

and if that doesn't work out for whatever reason...i could always do this...

yes, well, my drivers license came in the mail today too, time to cut up the old one

and when that was all over, i had to write a 'serious' blog post for ed-reform policy

i was thrilled to look in my mailbox the other day and receive real mail!! i love it that gigi is so creative! this made me smile!

and to top it off, she sent me box tops and labels!!! woo hoo-priceless!

 i also had an evening that i had to GOT TO go to world vision to pick up some amazing supplies!! our school purchased a 'membership' and all of our teachers have the opportunity to take advantage of the supplies to use in the schoolroom! i know it's hard to appreciate everything, but there is over $300 worth of stuff in this haul!check it out!

 books, binders, pens, pencils, markers, paper, craft supplies, post-its, scissors, notebooks, glue, labels, clipboards, zipper bags, shoulder bags, thermal lunch bags, etc...i hope we do it again next year!

over mlk jr long weekend, we had to create a little big banner for a baby shower, so, having a lack of space, the only thing i could really do was pin it up on the wall and paint it there! and it worked just fine.

congratulations luis and susan!! can't wait 'til we get to meet tommie!!

  the weather over the weekend was awesome, so we definitely went walking. the boys loved it because i told them we were going to visit the ancient ruins in a foreign country and on the way, we saw wild life...b-mayes, i know you're in wyoming, but today, we faced a grizzly.....container.

todd them this was the mayan ruins....

and....there are grizzly warnings in farmers branch...

                         

the morning we came back was a teacher work day, so we had breakfast provided by the NIGHT HOTEL here in fb (farmers branch, not facebook). maria was so thoughtful, when i got to my car, she gave me a little box, and i opened it before i left (curiousity!) it was a beautiful cup from anthropologie, and she insisted it was the best for tea. i was so excited, and i couldn't wait to get home to try it! then we finally got back to school and my 4th grade team was so sweet-they got me a target gift card-which i definitely used for some fun goodies!

fast forward to the moment i got home from school. i was carrying my bag, purse and another bag on one side of my body, and i had the box in the other hand. if you will recall, i live on the 3rd floor. it wasn't that i didn't have a good grip on the box, i did. the problem is that i hadn't snuggled it back in as well as i should have, and i didn't realize that this designer box opened from 2 sides! it was pretty much slow motion as i felt the box get infinitely lighter and saw the paper-wrapped cup drop to the stair, praying that it not fall through the stairs all the way to the ground floor, which it didn't. my stomach dropped with the cup and that feeling of wifpofinasjdnf (because there is not really an onomatopoeia  to accurately describe the feeling...although there may have been a different sound, or set of not-so-Godly words that came out of my mouth-not as holy as i wish i were). i didn't even have a chance to sip from it! sigh.

devastation!

the next day i mentioned it to my principal, who does a pretty good job at keeping us on our toes, and she asked if i was going to tell maria. i will admit, i was going back and forth about it, but i cannot live a lie and pretend to love it if i didn't even try it, so i did tell her. and she was so gracious-when i told her i was planning on going to get one because i hadn't even gotten to try it, she insisted on getting a replacement for me. THANK YOU, MARIA!! and i know she thought i was joking, but i was thinking about drinking from it all weekend long-every time i had a tea (which was at least once every 2 hours)! so, when i got home today, the first thing i did was unwrap the paper from the cup (which took about an hour, b/c maria asked them to 'extra-wrap' it!) and i don't know if it enhances the taste of the tea, but it certainly enhances the tea-drinking experience! it's simply a 'made-for-tea' cup.

i LOVE it maria, it is perfect for me!

 and just for fun, this morning, when i stopped in at the store to get science supplies for some lessons, i saw this guy in the garden department, and i realized i don't have a gnome. i kinda' like this one. i walked away, but if i keep thinking about it, i may be a gnome owner this spring. so....

he's spunky!

 hey, let's not wait so long to do this next time!!
julie