stop thief! an electronic game of cops and robbers...and going halfway

well, yesterday i did it! i went to check out 'the dark knight rises.' i decided to drive down to springfield for it, and i'm glad i did-i went alone and watched it in the imax...PHENOMENAL! if you have not seen it, i highly recommend it! and yes, at the end i did have tears-which i tried to blow on to dry them up and since that didn't work real well, as soon as the credits began, i was the first one to the door (the advantage of going alone- no waiting on anyone else!)

i don't know if i've ever mentioned it or not, but my parents are big game people (not like safari elephant big game...more like game board and cards), so the other day we played an old family favorite (one that we played back when i was in 3rd and 4th grade)...STOP THIEF! the electronic game of cops and robbers. my students would be better off in the critical thinking realm if they had the opportunity to play games like this and have family game nights in which they were using their thinking skills. this one was especially good in helping to learn to focus and draw conclusions.

we got through one crime scene and i arrested the bad guys and got the reward money, but then when we began the next scene, the electronic gadget went berzerk on us and it wasn't the battery-just an old machine..about 30 years old...it's held up well until now.

today mom and i went on a little drive around town so that she could show me around. down in the town square (i love old towns with town squares!) there was a mural, which was pretty good-the buffalo probably could've been a little darker brown, but other than that, very nice.

everybody loves a good mural

 then, after sightings of the fire station, the clinic, the police, the water tower...we stopped at the pharmacy-where i found a great little card, and then i wanted to see halfway, the town with a population of 137...it is half way between buffalo and bolivar-creative name, i know.

i got out to take a picture of the population sign, and 3 of the cows were looking at me very curiously...there's one of them...somehow, i must have deleted the picture of the sign. boo.

 but in a town like halfway, you make up the joke...here's halfway elementary, and i think this is where they send the mediocre teachers so that they have an excuse for being mediocre...

i say that in jest, i am sure that the teachers here are probably amazing.

that is basically what i did today-and continued reading in the book that has captivated me this week-the one i mentioned yesterday: the founders on the founders...you get the most accurate portrayals of people by what their own words to others, their diaries, words by their spouses and colleagues as well as mere acquaintances from abroad and even their enemies or opposition have said. the book is interesting because it is more about their character (be it good or bad) rather than their politics...which i would have enjoyed just as much.

staying at mom and dad's is dangerous-it's impossible to say no to mom's cooking and baking, and when they want to grab ice cream..what can i say? (although, i did bring the bullet with me and have had several breakfast concoctions...but it doesn't make up for the other!)

well, i think it's time to get ready for pizza hut...
julie

1 in 4 wins, but 1 in 3 julies is me!

this morning i had to go to training, so i took the easy route-yep...it's down the street on the way, and guess what! IT'S MONOPOLY TIME AGAIN!!

1 in 4 what? people? tickets? items? one in 4 golden arches have winners?

i know, i just gave everyone a perfect reason to go by and get  an apple pie!... umm... when i got to my training and sat down, one of the trainers looked down her register and said, "who's julie robinson?" and i raised my hand. she said, "that's me! i'm julie robinson too!!" and a split second after that, a gentleman in the back row looked over and said, "hey! are you the julie i've been sending all the emails to who's been emailing back saying they're not for her? i took you off my list!"  

he must've been the principal from truett; maybe i should've kept getting his emails-they were pretty informative. yes, i was getting random emails from random people at their school, so i (nicely) let them know that i thought they had the wrong julie robinson, and would they kindly take me off their list?

but how random is that? my parents weren't unique and original in naming me. but that's ok, it works.

my sub thanked me for leaving such an easy lesson. hmm..it was kinda funny when i walked into the room i think she might have been trying to figure out her smart phone, but she tried to hide it like she wasn't doing anything. i guess she totally wasn't expecting me to walk in. smile.

when i saw the monopoly piece this morning, it reminded me of when we tried to have game nights when i was young. i'm sure we played different games, but my favorite was a game called payday i think i liked it because of the silly pictures.(side note-payday is also one of my favorite candy bars) it was set up like a map and it had medical bills, and groceries and things like that, which you didn't want to land on! it was pretty cool...until STOP THIEF! came along "the electronic game of cops and robbers" now, THERE was a game! we played that often, and it actually became a bond between our family and the bells-one of the families from our church (their daughter, pam and i used to play have fun doing silly things..i remember they had a garden and if i remember correctly, one of the things we used to 'harvest' was strawberries! yum).

well, have a great evening, but steer clear of boardwalk unless you own a hotel there!
julie