do you have these with a longer string??

hard to believe today was monday...it feels like a tuesday or wednesday! it's ok, because wednesday is friday!

i was walking the other day, and the lilacs are in bloom again! i love the way the vines wrap around the little pergolas...i think i have mentioned before that lilacs bring back childhood memories of wisconsin..regardless, there are just some smells that make memories seem more vivid, and for me lilacs are one of them! i remember these bushes that were at the very edge of the bottom hill of our property. they were great to hide in when we were playing different hiding games, and they were in bloom!

strangely i met a girl the other day who has no sense of smell, and it made me think of all of the smells that bring back special memories, and i felt a little sorry for her! then i thought about things like overcrowded buses in third world countries, children with b.o., adults with b.o., halitosis and i stopped feeling sorry for her.

this past weekend was a good one. i went to nevada to get another little gun. nevada, tx that is...45 minute drive. it's like the one i saw when i was visiting mom and dad! on the drive, it was raining, and my radar detector kept picking up a laser in the wylie area, so i muted it, but it did that on the way back as well. strange.i wonder what's out there that caused it...anyhoo, i had to go over the river and through the woods- i felt like it was "to grandmother's house we go.." i finally got to armadillo guns, and there it was in the showcase. i was immediately smitten. apparently the fbi likes me, because it was pretty quick to ok me, of course, why wouldn't it be?! 

isn't it a cutie?! i mean, almost as cute as those little oranges!

so of course i had to take it right over to the range to check it out! once i got used to it, i was convinced that i'd made the right choice! it's a taurus pt22, and it should be much easier to find ammo for this one.

and today i stopped to look at some shoes...

nice that i had on brown socks....

but as you can see, there was this little string connecting them. i had heard a funny comedy routine once, so when i was at kamp one summer, i went with a friend to walmart to check out some flip flops, and they had a similar string on them, so i pulled out the comedian's line and i went up to the lady in the blue vest with the smiley face and i said, "ma'am, i really like these, but the string is too small. do you have any with a longer string?" as i was stumbling around with the string restricting my movement. she kinda looked at me and replied, "hmm, i'm not sure, i don't work in this department."really, lady? i think she actually went to find someone else to help me.

other than that, SOMEBODY ripped up a magazine page and left the evidence right in front of the door where i walk in....hmmmm, who could it be? bruno acted very normal, and then there was this one.

..(coughchaco) notice the ears back...he knew he done wrong!

but we're friends again, because it got chilly and he wanted a spot under the electric throw blanket! silly puppy!

week's almost over! g'night!!
julie

start pedaling, said the bike...stop yankin' my chain! i yelled back...(in my mind)

i'm tired. i need to get my sleep tonight-tomorrow is a long day of art museum/field trip and parent conferences at night. ew.

this morning we woke up to crazy thunder and some rain and lightning. very very frightening....(not really). but i decided to wear brown shoes with my khakis instead of my chacos because i didn't want wet cold feet today. well, the shoes i had were cheap and the inside pad that your foot sits on was sinking below where it was supposed to down into a hole in the heel of the sole. it bothered me like the pea under the mattress with the princess and the pea...so when i got to my classroom, i cut an eraser to size and filled in the hole so that it didn't bother me as much! janky fix, but it worked! i'll have to share the pic tomorrow because i left the cord that hooks up to the computer at school. boo.

today i came home to the gym at the apt, and there were lots of men in there using the weight machines, so i looked and the elliptical machine was out of order (glad the sign was on it because last time, it squeaked with every round)...and on of the 3 treadmills was not working either...and 2 people were on the other two. so i got on the electric stationary bike and the pedals felt kind of like when the chain comes off the gears....well, i kept trying to set it and the screen kept flashing to start pedaling. in my head i was shouting at it, "I HAVEN'T STOPPED YOU DUMMY!"  and so i kept pedaling and some guy got on the bike next to me and started on it- he went for a few minutes to warm up, and then he went to the weights and i was still pushing random buttons the whole time thinking that i was doing something wrong. i'm sure he probably wondered what i was doing and when i was going to start riding the bike. and i'm sure everyone else in the gym was thinking i didn't know how to work the bike because it was beeping so much and turning off and back on.... finally i switched bikes and instantly i was riding and feeling the burn-the piece of equipment i was on had been out of order as well with no sign...apparently our equipment needs some maintenance.

then i came home and threw some chicken, quarter of a cooked sweet potato, some kale and a little spice into the food processor and made some chicken salad-it was actually better than i expected!! before i did that i threw some asparagus into the oven to cook. well...i kinda' forgot about it until i smelled it quite awhile later. when i pulled it out, the tips were crispy (which is fine because i actually like the texture, and the stalks were soft and easy to cut through). and i'm not gonnna' lie, just gonna' put it out there: i almost licked the spices off the baking sheet it tasted so stinkin' good!!!!

anyhoo, that's what i got tonight!
julie

yes, tent-making is my thing...

training...shmaining. i feel like today would have been just as productive if i'd taken the day off to go shopping..and i don't even love shopping.

i did realize something today though. i am paying a lot more attention to peoples' shoes these days. but only because i find myself in the stall so many more times/day while on this water-drinking crusade. today i saw some interesting shoes. one lady had some pink and black alligator-type shoes. some shoes look very uncomfortable. and as i was looking at shoes today, i was thinking, the day may come when i have to wear dressy shoes...i just refuse to put my toes into any scrunched up positions-that is NOT natural. cute, but not natural.

the first order of the day was making our table-tents.

so, what was supposed to be a 5 minute exercise turned into an all-day event. i don't see the problem.

the lady next to me was from the carrollton area, and her husband was going to get her, but not until like 4 or 430, so when we got out, she asked if i could give her a lift to anyplace up in this area, so i did and it was pleasant conversation.

today for snack, i had a delicious combination-blackberries and cashews! i was really surprised at how well the two went together!! that will DEFinitely be a repeat on my menu! why is it that when i'm sitting here at home eating fish and vegetables that sonic's hot dogs (which have never enticed me) look so incredibly desirable??? grr.

alright, it's that time!
julie

what do cei's and the gingerbread man have in common?

ok, i know what you're thinking..just kidding, no i don't! i'm not a mind reader! but you're about to know what i'm thinking!
but what do they have in common? well...they both make sense only in some kind of fairytale land.

yesterday while i was administering the math TAKS test, i kept hearing a little squeaky sound and thought i saw something out of the corner of my eye. when i looked, i didn't see anything. except for one time. i sneaked a peak and saw the gingerbread warrior flailing his arms, then he froze as soon as he noticed me watching him.

and today, while they were taking their reading test, i was admiring the carpet/rug. it was very colorful and had designs and random letters and numbers everywhere. so, you know how i am about random letters, i started making words, because that's what i do! and then the designs started playing games- for example:

is it 4 flowers, or is it 2 circles beside each other with a diamond in the middle..or two circles on top of each other with diamonds in the middle...or is it just 4 diamonds..or is it on big diamond with a flower in the middle? hmm..and on and on...

but yes, i was actively monitoring the students.

and as i was monitoring, i was reminded that i had agreed to go to a focus group meeting this evening from 5 to 7. downtown.ugh. why do i agree to these things? i got there with no problem. the worse part was once we got inside (a little late), i had no idea what they were talking about besides pay-performance. hmm..well i didn't have much to say until we got to the end and they were talking about the ever elusive CEI (classroom effectiveness indexes-which no one can explain); i did have something to add after that because i don't always have a high CEI, but i know that i am an effective teacher, so i told them that: i sign up every year just for kicks because i know that i should get the performance pay because i perform my job well, but then at the end of the year even though there has been growth, i feel like they've put me in a dark gym and spun me around and said, "you get one shot to make the free throw, but we're not going to point you toward the basket..good luck!"

ok, enough of that, i would like you to know that today i did see something that made me smile. it was probably while the kids were having snack...

i mean, c'mon, tell me that doesn't make you smile!

it reminded me of when i lived in HONDURAS and there was this cage-like not really a zoo, but they had monkeys in a cage. i think it was in tela...anyhoo, we went and a girl got a little too close to the cage (maybe for a picture or something, or maybe to feed them?) but the monkey grabbed her hair and wouldn't let go. somewhat funny, somewhat frightening.

it also took me back to costa rica when we visited a family who lived in the mountains by a river. they had 3 monkeys. the baby was sweet and loved to climb up and be held, but when you tried to out him down and walk away, he would go ape (hehehe)...it was also the first time i saw a Jesus lizard running across the river. they also taught me about cashews. in case you were unaware, cashews have a toxin called urushiol, so they must be roasted (but that has to be done outdoors because they give off a toxic gas). all that from a stuffed animal.

 then one of the boys said he was going to get shoes like mine-the 5 finger vibrams i had on today. well, that got me looking around at their shoes. i was wondering where all their shoes had walked. and then i looked at mine and decided mine have not traveled nearly as much as i was hoping they would. i originally got them to go out and enjoy the wild-which as of yet they have not, so i am looking forward to getting them initiated.

do not let anyone measure your effectiveness by some black hole of malarkey, instead measure effectiveness by how much of a difference you make in the lives of others!
jules

w. machine...must there be a smack down?

i thought i would begin with this because a friend at school asked about my chaco's today. (again, yes, i named my dog after my shoes-special credit to becky mayes for being so creative and letting me steal her idea!) i've mentioned my shoes before, so really quick, these are my staples:

ah, what a handsome bunch! from left to right: keens, chacos, vibrams

most of my kamp friends are familiar with all of these, but for those of you who are not,for 365 days out of the past year these are all i have worn. i just find them comfortable and practical for me.

moving from the shoes to my life! the washing machine is still being a sissy-it keeps stopping before the spin cycle (i'm guessing that it just realized that that's when it always starts to get dizzy, and now it's just on strike or something). i look like an idiot trying to figure out how to remedy it because i've been on top of it, around it and behind it. tonight if i cannot figure it out, i'll have to call maintenance and maybe take my laundry to the mat...not like wrestling either. and i don't want to have to do that because with my luck my students and their families would be there. ew. no. please. it's like reverse mean girls-seeing students outside the classroom is like seeing a dog stand on its hind legs.

i lived in brodhead, wisconsin from 1st grade through 4th grade. i loved living there and i have sooooo many great memories, someday i might share some of those if it be relevant. i went to brodhead elementary which was later renamed after the principal who was there the entire time i was there- albrecht elementary. i bring this up because as i teach 4th graders, i try to remember what it was like and it's nostalgic. i remember the cool kids, the artists, the sporty kids, the cheerleader types, the imaginative types...today as i looked around the room i was testing, i was putting kids in their categories. there was ty (the cool kid), chad (the class clown), jamie (the big goofy redhead-only ours isn't), monique (the cute and sweet), adam (the artist), pam (the loyal friend), lottie (the imaginitive), mandy (the adventurous), tricia (the friendly and well liked) chris(the well-rounded and liked by everyone)...crazy how  memories can be so vivid.

one day of taks done and gone. we can never get it back. thank GOD! today i had halls cough drops in my pocket, so i ate one-figured the menthol in the cough drops would wake me up a little. testing is for the birds..the blue footed booby birds... please say that with a british accent like a documentary...  wikipedia says:
"Blue-foots will make raucous or polysyllabic grunts or shouts and thin whistle noise." and that's about how i felt like i was communicating today.

on the way home from school today i was noticing that my bag is threadbare in places, and i just noticed where chaco found the zipper and the zipper lost.i swear that dog is possessed sometimes by the tasmanian devil! little unholy terror...but cute. (cuteness covers a multitude of sins...wait...no, that's love that does that..but i suppose cuteness doesn't hurt!)

the strap isn't the original either(the hooks on the end went bad, so i replaced it awhile back with nothing less than my rollerblade holder strap! the kind you attach a blade to each end then sling it over the shoulder for easier carrying-i was quite the roller-blader back in the day thanks to my college friends stacey and mike! which once again is another story!) so...i guess i should just go ahead and get a new one. ugh. i hate spending money on stuff like this because i want to spend it on fun stuff, not practical necessity. blech.

ok, time to get on the washing machine issue!

jules