ok...so i bought the diet coke. BUT i DIDN'T eat the "chocolate!"

well, this morning i was going to bypass qtrip and not get a diet coke, but then right as i was getting ready to pass it up, something came over me and i swerved in, under the false pretense that i should get fuel while it's still at 3.19...and yes, i got my diet coke-justifying it by saying to myself that my student teacher is only with me a couple more days, and she always has one, so it's tempting. so when she's gone, i will be drinking only water. hold myself to it.

when i got to work, it was important to get started as quickly as possible on my assembly line. when i was younger i remember going to the gm factory with my dad and my brother to visit one of the members from our church, and so i got to see an assembly line; when we were in HONDURAS we went on field trips to the coke factory and a towel factory. many of our students have not gotten to enjoy field trips like this. so i got it all set up and the first class was a trial run. it went really well. i gave them the assembly line experience, and now i am pretty sure that they understand what an assembly line is.

unfortunately i was too busy making the line belt go around and didn't have time to whip out the ol' phone camera...but i have made a replica so you get the basic idea...

very basic franken-ford

it was actually the perfect thing to be doing today, as we were observed. i have no idea what the lady who was observing was thinking, because she did not crack a smile at any given moment....didn't seem like a very happy lady. but guess what.(you don't need to guess because guess what...did it again, did you catch that? because I'M GOING TO TELL YOU!) i do my best work under pressure! in fact, i may have mentioned it before, but when i used to take piano lessons in council bluffs, we had a recital, and afterward, the piano teacher told me that one of the guys in the audience said i needed to be on t.v. acting, not playing piano (not that i wasn't good at playing piano, just that i carried myself more like an actress..could also be that i wore my black skirt, white shirt and insisted on a bow tie with a black blazer..oh, the 80's)

while i was getting my stuff around and ready to go, the drama lady was in my room with my kiddos doing some chanting and marching and other loudness, and i had just come back from the restroom. there seemed to be a foul stench in the air, and i was thoroughly hoping that it had not followed me from the restroom, and as i was walking toward the door, i saw something on the floor that looked like mud, so i got closer and i wasn't quite sure. it looked a little like something chaco and bruno might have left behind for someone to smear on the floor. (it was smeared, not in a neat little, easy-to-pick-up package). and sweet crystal got one of the boys to help her clean it up with some lysol wipes. i am not quite sure what happened--some visitors had been with us earlier, so i don't know whether someone pooped themselves, or just wiped their shoe, but i certainly hope it was the latter!

if it doesn't smell like chocolate, don't eat it.
julie

5 diet coke with lime kind of a day

i'm pretty sure i despise monitoring all day state assessment tests. i think you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone who loves it. so this morning i got up early because i knew i would need an extra dose of something special to keep me going. well, i'm a diet coke girl, but the something special today was 'with lime.' so i stopped in to walmart before school to get some.

the first time i ever added lime to my coke was when i used to visit the cays in utila, HONDURAS with my friend heidi. that was long before they came out with it in cans. so, as you can imagine, each sip took me back to memories of the islands and the beauty of it, as i stood by the open window in my classroom, there was a breeze and bright sun, and you know that in my mind i was laying out on the deck under the palm tree...but in that classroom, my eyes were open (glazed over, but open) and i was walking around (in a trance, and maybe you could call it wandering around) but no, really i was...actively monitoring.

notice the chalk board...who has chalkboards any more???

and while i was wandering around i wrote some things on my hand: babies, sandpaper.i write things on my hand, and kids ask why i write it on my hand, and the only answer i really have is that i lose papers all of the time, but i'll never lose my hand. i know, i know... what do these have to do with anything? it will come into play later, but for now suffice it to say that i was trying to make sure that no one saw my hand because those are two things that really don't go together and i was in no mood to explain and connect the dots for people. (i will soon)

As soon as i drove into my apartment complex, i saw a man with a face mask of some sort, then i saw his truck...not what i want to see when i pull up to my apartment-it wasn't actually my building, but here's the problem:

the way i see it is that he's going to get the bees out of their apartment, and they're going to migrate this way...he will purposely miss a few so that he has job security. great. well, if they come over here, i'm just going to steal their honey, so there!

and then i climbed the stairs to my apartment. did i mention i live on the 3rd floor and i hate it? so, someone just recently moved in below me, and they must have kids. my complex can be a little confusing if you're not careful. i mean, i have people call all of the time trying to find me. i'm sure they're getting used to it and all, i don't know them, don't know where they're from, but when i got to the second floor, i had to double take.

 i mean...really? i've heard of hansel and gretel. they left bread CRUMBS, not breadSTICKS! or i don't know..maybe they're having an Easter bread hunt..?

and now it's time to take chaco out for a walk. he put on his bully shirt and thinks he's tough now. typical, he reminds me a little of my friend's daughter. she loves to dress up and change and put on layers of clothes. fortunately i have his winter sweater put away.

 sorry, it was hard to get a still shot of him, because he was trying to beat up on bruno..when he has his tough shirt on, he kinda reminds me of drew barrymore's brother in 50 first dates, only he doesn't have a lithp.

it's going to be a beautiful evening!

good eve to all,
julie

***update**

when i just went out for a jog..THEY'RE MULTIPLYING!!