vanilla is better as ice cream than as a shot, and unpacking standards is much more involved than unpacking a suitcase!

so...went on a walk yesterday morning in the beautiful 70's weather and we were in walking-heaven.

had to get a pic-they had a neat look about them, and it reminded me of something.

when i lived in costa rica for a year (5th grade, when mom and dad were going through language school), chris (girl) and i used to go to a little park and she showed me these weeds that you could pull the 'berry' off and pull the stem out along with some fibers that went through the middle of it, and make them into beads for bracelets and necklaces. i thought it was the coolest thing ever!

we also made cookies at her house one time and i distinctly recall her setting out the vanilla for the dough. well, i guess i'd not made cookies with mom yet, because i looked at the vanilla and thought, "hmm..i like vanilla!" (ice cream). i may or may not have taken a small swig while chris was looking the other way and gagged a little. no worries, i never did that again.

back to yesterday-we went up to the office later in the afternoon to say goodbye to jessica our office girl. sad day. the boys have grown quite fond of her because she loves to get down and play with them.

then i ran some errands-had to swing by lakeshore to pick up borders and fade-less paper! and the best part was when i got up to the counter and paid with my gift card, i only had a balance of like 1 dollar and change!!

and i learned that one of my friends-mere- who is not a teacher recently joined the cult out in cali so she could become a laminating queen! welcome aboard, i'm sure your sister is proud! (she teaches, right? do they have one of these in la-the state?)

of course, since i had only spent $1 and some, i obviously had the misguided notion that i was rich and lucky, so i crossed the street to bed bath and beyond. fortunately i knew exactly what i needed and i did not tarry. 

remember how i brought another pallet home? well, it took awhile but i decided on a design; it was probably the most time consuming one i could choose because i had to tape it out and move tape and what not, but i think i like the result. all that's left is to paint the back boards-there are 5. i am trying to decide what color to paint them. i thought white at first, but i am now leaning toward yellow, green, blue, orange and red-or white...any thoughts? then i think i'll sign it on the 2nd board from the right at the bottom (red, white and blue-gotta' love this country!) it took about three evenings (because i had my wide brushes at school, and was alternating between two, which meant waiting until they were washed and dried to re-use. i finally broke down and went to get some yesterday).

and this morning i was kicking myself (all the way out of bed) for saying that i would go to this curriculum alignment training-thing down in south america...ok, well...south of hwy 30...(i've told you a hundred and fifty million thousand times not to call me an exaggerator)

it would have been REALLY cool if i had actually looked at the time instead of assuming (love that word) that it would start at 8 am. and of course i left early to have a cushion for being lost or having traffic...i did end up having to stop at quicktrip to put air in my tires

well, needless to say, i got there early. best seat in the house. i chose the back corner. it was actually a really good training. all kinds of terms were thrown around-align the curriculum, unpack the standards, create dol's...if you ever get to go, do it! susan walker provided an excellent presentation.

cute tables.

at one point we had to get up and go into the hall with a mixed group of people and come up with lists about a section we read from a packet, and the instructions were to come up with as many points as possible. and we were off to the races. and when we were told to stop, we counted them up and then read them off out loud for the group. well, my group had the most, but some lady from group 4 had the audacity to look at me and say "it's all about quality." blah blah blah. in my mind i was thinking, "we still won, yo!" and then we were given a prize for winning-added bonus!

i would not have been so excited were i not teaching science this year!

so, all in all it was a good day and i learned some things. the problem with learning things and liking them and knowing in my heart that they will improve my practice as a teacher is that it is always something that is going to be time consuming and a slow, long process! grr, but in a good way?

julie

magic leaves, magic bullet...stickers that are not FOXY

this morning i got up early to take the boys out for a walk and they loved it. we came across a floating leaf and i told them it was magic. "oh, like the magic bullet?" asked chaco. "no, the magic bullet wasn't very magical...we'll have to see about its replacement when it gets here." they were very impressed with the leaf, though.

and for the next couple of minutes chaco was singing from the police: every little thing she does is magic, magic, magic....

 as we were walking, we met a lady walking her terrier mix and we stopped for a moment to talk-teacher from houston, looking for another dog, possibly yorkie...and the boys were cool for a minute, then i don't know what happened but chaco put on his snarl face and got snippy. grr..so we moved on. and when we got back home, i had to turn around and get over to my doctor appt.

when i arrived, i was told i had an outstanding balance..great more $...then i was shuffled into a room i hadn't been in yet. and i waited while i listened to the conversations out in the main room. lots of people talking and planning..i'm glad my walls at my apt are thicker and more insulated than this! anyhoo...i think the doctor might've been running a little late because i sat in there for about 15 minutes waiting...

so, while i waited, i observed scalped glass man.

 and then we agreed that i would get new medication, try aleve or ibuprophen (figure out which one works better for me), and get started with some physical therapy. woo!

so i bought both because i don't really know which one will work better.

 before i stopped at cvs, i stopped by lakeshore to spend some of that gift card from brooke (again, best gift ever!) they were super slow, so every worker must've stopped by and asked me if they could help me. nope. i knew exactly where to look for what i needed. got some great stickers (my summer school kids are suckers for stickers!) but then, i used to be too...my anne frank collection was the world to me...i got a sticker when we went to costa rica that was glimmery and said: FOXY, with a fox tail coming out of the O i think...i didn't realize that it was for a truck bumper and was more of a sex symbol...i thought it was just referring to the furry animal in the woods...back to lakeshore...i also found a great little science kit for about $24-very cool and lots of the stuff we will be going over next year!

the boys are intrigued by science and very excited that i will be teaching it next year! look closely and you will see that this is a card showing how the brain is related to the spine...

 then i went on to cvs and put in my prescription and walked around ...by the time i was called back, i had a handful of stuff that would help me with recovery...chocolate...

and this is the nerve medicine...i forget exactly how it works.

when i got home, i had to call a physical therapist to set something up with them...the part of the script that i loved:

heat massage!!!

and then i came home and took the meds and about a 2 hour nap. i didn't mean for that to happen, but it sure was nice!

when i woke up, i decided i should try to go find some cheap games for fun fridays...so i went to the dolla store and got some connect 4, old maid, go fish, checkers, and mind teaser puzzles...

as i pulled out onto forest, i noticed ms. weekley's car and decided it would be rude not to stop in and see her at pets plus! so i stopped in and chit-cahtted for a minute and looked around the store (because i had never stopped in before), and grabbed a couple of things for the boys-i am excited to try out chaco's new harness! renee was gracious to help me get the best discount possible. thanks renee! the boys said thanks as they were entertained with their new thinking toy!

i stopped by the office on the way home and picked up my package-the magic bullet base has arrived! now i will be able to have a wonderful smooth smoothie tomorrow!! woohoo!

worth it to get a powerful base!

and bruno was fighting with the bubble wrap as i popped them with my feet....chaco went and hid.

it has been a productive day-back to the classroom tomorrow!
julie

mustard greens...your name is so deceiving...

well, today i wasn't sure whether my student teacher would show up or not (because i had e-mailed telling her she didn't have to-but i was hoping she would). i got called to the principal's office and thought i might be in trouble, but i wasn't-thank goodness, she just wanted to talk about the weather! (wait, when have kay and i ever sat down to talk about the weather?! but it's true.) so, after picking up my kiddos a little late, we got to the classroom, and brooke wasn't there. then she walked in right as breakfast was coming in the door. yea! it's always more fun with another adult in the room!

i had gotten a fun gift of some classroom type supplies that i thought she might be able to put to use, so i pulled it out and she had gotten me a thank you card and a gift card to the greatest teacher store ever-

i am the luckiest teacher ever!

remember the day i talked about getting a sprinkles cupcake?  well, i'm glad i forgot to go, although, on the way home today, i remembered and decided to head over that way and half-way, i decided that it would be even better to stop by nothing bundt cakes instead-closer and even more delicious! i remember gigi telling me it was off royal, so i gps'd it, and drove up preston, then i wasn't really exactly sure where it was, but i needed to stop in to central market for some swiss chard. well, i was in the parking lot after making the purchase, and my phone kept telling me it was to my right. i looked around and didn't see it. i went to the window of celebrity cakes and looked in (like one of those norman rockwell paintings with the little kids) only to realize it was not the right place. i got back in my car and went across the intersection and looked in that shopping area...not there...went back, looked again...it was in a small strip right facing preston road-strangely located if you are unfamiliar...back me up, gigi. but i finally found it as i pulled out onto preston one last time! red velvet, you made my day!

ahhhh!!!!! angels singing halleluiah!

at some point during the day, we were talking about salsa and mango salsa came up, so tonight, i bought a couple more mangoes to try it out because i just ran out of salsa. it was missing something, so i added some cumin, salt, basil....it's all good.

and i got my chard for morning shakes-in case you are not familiar...

they have red stems-love the taste, it is a favorite.

 i got a lot because it freezes well for the smoothies. i tried mustard greens the other day. big mistake. i thought, 'well, everything else i've tried in the greens lately has been ok, kind of nutty, or green-ish tasting....not so with the mustard greens. surprisingly, they taste a lot like...mustard. ew. mustard and strawberries. not a good combo. i took a bite of a leaf before throwing it in, and spit it out and threw the rest away. nas-tay!

and note to self, i have GOT to take the Christmas music out of my phone because driving around in 105' and a random saxophone rendition of 'i'm dreaming of a white Christmas' comes on...aargh. first of all, to me, Christmas is the most romantic season of the year. Christmas music on a cold winter night with snow flakes drifting down-romantic. umm...romantic Christmas music when i have sweat beads on my brow is in no way romantic- taking it off tonight so that i don't ruin it for this winter.

the boys have rawhide chews and chaco keeps getting it and going up to bruno and saying, "no, you can't have it. stop trying to come after it..." and fake growling with his little tail wagging and turning his back to bruno. bruno doesn't even want it, but he'll pretend to grab at it just to humor chaco. then when chaco looks away, bruno looks up at me and says, "was that good? i didn't really want it, but i want him to leave me alone." such a good brother!

now i need to review my lesson because apparently i am under the microscope tomorrow,
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