posting isn't always online

alright, so no pics this time, but today-days after bruno pooped out a whole lempira(which i spoke of here), chaco's digestive system caught up and today i found that quarter of a lempira ... good way to hide money if you have have sketchy people coming over...gross. but hey, they are both safe and sound...and healthy!

last weeks' blog was on a thursday. it was a crazy week, and after i finished writing that blog, i remember thinking about how stressful everything seems at work lately. i was acutely aware that i usually try to deal with the pressures (that i put on myself), and the never-ending list of to-do's and i let things build up until i feel like everything is about to blow. i need to get better at finding ways to decompress. well, on friday, i had a chance to at least express the way i was feeling-a few tears and a lot of just trying to figure out how to lessen the perceived burden.

the thing is, all of the things we have going on at school right now are great things, and our students will benefit from them, but that doesn't make it less stressful. and i know it isn't just me, everyone is feeling it. so...i had an idea the other day. it was fun, and even if it just made a few people smile, it was worth the time that went into it (the writing took awhile, but the getting up early to post them was the more tiring part!)

 i got most of them up before most of the staff arrived, and i was able to get back to my office to eat a little breakfast! really?, you ask, what made you think all of this was necessary? for one, myself and andrea have felt stressed, and i'd seen others on the verge of tears or crying, so that is usually the first indicator...and then, i knew something must be up when i found someone's butt draggin' on the floor in the staff restroom... yikes.

mind you, it's not just staff using this restroom and i'm certain that it was probably just stuck on someone's shoe or something when they walked in-silly public.

ANYHOO. today i was out of the building with several others for a google training. it was a great training, and i think i may try to get in more of the webinars to learn as much as possible. i am becoming a google apps fan the more i learn. soooooooo helpful and it really makes the work a whole lot easier! the training was well-paced. what was interesting about today? there were a couple of incidents...perhaps the more comical one would have been watching me try to wave my hands in front of the paper towel dispenser and waiting. hmm...manual. the worst part is that i didn't realize the sign until the 2nd visit, i just figured the thing was out of paper or broken! #bathroomexpectations

 the other incident was the fire drill. yes, what timing. wait until everyone is upstairs and then go ahead and have a fire drill. so there we were settled in just getting ready to get started when it goes off. so we all filed out and around when we should have gone through the door that was closest to us that reads EXIT, but no one did. teachers. anyhoo. we filed down the stairs at an agonizingly slow pace. once outside, we were herded around to the parking lot of the lounge next door. and then we pretty much walked a lap around to the other side of the building to go in again. 8 flights down...8 flights up... got my heart-rate up, that's for sure!

so, yes. to recap, it's been a long week, we had a coaches meeting off-site, common assessments this week, google training, catch-up-&-read started up...and so, i would just like to end with two things.

ROSH HASHANAH was this week. i wish we celebrated the standard calendar new year in similar fashion. i appreciate the act of pulling out from the daily grind to really reflect on the year and to think about how to shake things up for the year to come; so to those who have the fortune of celebrating Rosh Hashanah, happy new year-Shanah Tovah!

the second thing you ask? well, THIS WEEK WAS THE BEGINNING OF FALL!!! i LOVE it! (totally just kicked my leg up above my head a couple of times there!....note to self, take aleve before retiring to bed tonight). so to celebrate fall, it's time to break out the all-spice and pumpkin-pie spice! coffee, french toast, whipped cream, you name it, it works!

nom nom nom! (yummers!)

time for me to leaf...jijiji.
jules

ingesting, digesting and wasting lempiras...starring the boys

when i arrived home yesterday from school, i was surprised to find the boys chillin' with about 14 lempiras strewn around the living room. when i asked them what they'd been up to,they gave me blank stares. i always know that this means they have been up to something. they looked at each other and bruno finally said,"oh...we were just in the process of making a joke....wait for it..."

i didn't think they were very funny.

then i realized that one of the bills had been chewed off, and the other fourth was nowhere in sight.

pretty sure that he's the culprit...

then this morning, i understood the joke a little better...bruno came running out with chaco and said, "get it?? un lempira ni vale mierda!" ok, i was too shocked that he knew spanish to be worried about the language...then i had them sit and stay, and we had the potty-humor discussion, during which i explained to them that amongst boys it might be funny, but they wouldn't win over many girls with this tactic.not any girls that i know anyway....

I APOLOGIZE! but yes, that IS in fact a whole lempira encapsulated in ... doggie waste.

 again, sorry about that. i am just thankful that there was no blockage and that it did indeed pass through his gastrointestinal tract without a hitch, because the last thing i need is doggie stress!

a couple of nights ago i went to our garden coordinator meeting and they gave us some transplants for our garden-cabbage and broccoli plantlings. in order to plant them, at least one of the beds had to be weeded and turned, so i stayed and did that yesterday because we need to get the plants in this week. i have my little garden crew ready, and whoever can join me early tomorrow morning will come out to help put them in the ground.

this one looks really nice, but don't be deceived!

this is the one right next to it with a couple of tomato plants...that i am having a hard time parting with because...

well, mostly because they keep producing these!! and they are delicious! (note there are a couple of little carrots in there, just so you know, it is NOT a hybrid plant, it doesn't grow carrots, they were nearby).

i went straight from school to the grocery store, even though i was a mess, because of the dirt and compost...don't care! i may have gotten a couple of looks, but again...don't care! so those little hand wipeys at the entrance of the store, i don't know what everyone else uses them for, but it was kinda like a little bath for me...once inside, i wasn't surprised when the card section called...spent way too much; forgot to get the fresh mozzarella for caprese salad. argh. (please with one hand over an eye in a pirate voice...thank you).

and since a little breeze had picked up by the time i got home, i took the boys for a walk. upon our return, i decided that it is high time i give bruno a trim. i have said it for the past month and not gotten around to it. my bad, but when the little boy comes in and i feel like i should be calling him 'jack' because he's hauling a tree around behind him like a lumberjack, i think it's time.

don't even try to tell me it's embarrassing...it's not like toilet paper stuck on your shoe from the bathroom...it's just a little sapling....deal.with.it.

so. what made my heart smile this week? two things-a sweet message via whatsapp from my brandy friend, because let's face it, we all need some sunshine in our lives from time to time, and she provided a little this week :) and the other thing that was heart-healthy was receiving this sweet Christmas letter from kristin. it's the daily small details, that when shared, help me to understand and do life with you long distance-i love this. a lot!

Christmas in september...i'm down with that!

alrighty then, it's closing time!
julie

what do crema, stamps, pigs and rainbows have in common? nothing really.

it's been a minute or two since my last post...i apologize- i've been exhausted! the beginning of this year has been nothing less than expected. EVERYONE's been busy! i've been busy, teachers have been busy, admin has been busy...i don't know how busy some people have been downtown, because when i emailed specialists to see about a district rubric for one of my grade levels, the response i got was a web address to a highlighted google search, which took me to some lady's pinterest account, which took me to Kim's blog, which i had to scour to find the rubric they suggested, which wasn't really what i needed. really? don't waste my time...i KNOW how to do a google search, and i am completely aware of the infinite world of pinterest, i even have several blogs favorited on my tool bar... all i wanted was for my district to provide me a rubric that was perhaps standard for our district (one of the largest districts in the state...just sayin').

something that has been of great soothing to the weary soul is this! i found it at the fiesta grocery store! and of course, when you purchase crema, you must continue to make beans until you run out!

crema catracha!

i fell out of the habit of writing letters awhile back-a hobby i had become quite an expert at back in the day of keeping up with former campers...then, for whatever reason, God laid it on my heart to get back in touch with friends through letter-writing. i know i've mentioned that before, and i have completely enjoyed getting back into the habit! i have to keep track of who i write to and when so that i can think back to what i may or may not have mentioned-i try not to repeat too much of what has been going on around here! anyhoo, this started back around november of last year, and it's been like having an extended conversation.

since then, i have gone through about 1 1/2 stamp rolls (rolls sell by the hundred). i have about 62 people on my list of recipients-and i still have others whom i would really like to be in touch with, but i just don't have their addresses yet. this is nothing compared to when i used to write to the campers in my units over the summer! THAT was ridiculous! but i LOVE having the opportunity to send something in the mail, always that thought of, "i hope it's just what you needed!" knowing at that point that it's out of my hands!

happiness= a new roll of stamps and fun cards! (easily satisfied)

the brighter the colors the better-i'm just hoping it motivates the mail carrier to get the letters where they need to get and maybe make him/her smile!

i don't mind not receiving a ton of correspondence in return-in fact, for the most part, i expect not to, so when i do get mail it's very exciting! unless i get something like this:

i wanted to punch this person in the face.

because THIS was in the envelope.

ok, so for starters, at seeing my name in letters that almost looked handwritten (curses to that font-maker), my heart skipped a beat, thinking i was receiving REAL mail!! but the worst part is what was inside- a "turning 65? medicare" letter...wwwhhhhaaaaaaattt??? way to make a gal feel older than she is! not ready to think about the future yet-still living in today!! leave me alone, jim!

so when i got these little ditties in the mail over the past few weeks, it made me smile! JACKPOT! hit the lottery!! (granted two were from family...) i've gotten a few others over the past 9 months-thanks to brandy, jp, lori and carrie! the most recent ones are actually from 3 iowa gals! (with the caveat that mom isn't currently IN iowa, just from there!)

THANKS!!! i LOVE letters!

and i found these little cutie air fresheners with a sweet note in my box the other day as well! LOVE IT! bruno and chaco approved and they agreed-in a perfect world, every home would have a dog!

and as i was putting one up on the mirrror in the car, i dropped one, and when i bent over to find it, i also found my lucky pig!!! he had fallen out of the alligator's mouth when i turned a corner a bit too quickly a couple of weeks ago.

lucky pig! this pig has been with me for a few years now. we're tight...and the alligator well, he's the pig's guardian! makes my car look tough.

and while lucky pig was a great part of my day, the BEST part of my day was the rainbow this morning! unfortunately i allowed circumstances to get in the way of thinking about the beauty of it and i got frustrated with circumstances instead. must work on this. i'm glad that i grabbed a pic of it this morning so that i did not completely forget about it. annoyed with myself for being so easily distracted from all that is good.

may our rainbows linger in spite of the hectic craziness of our days!
julie