school's out...summer school's in...living for the three day weekend

tomorrow begins week 2, the final week of summer school. my mission was to help prepare our fifth graders for the THIRD re-take of the state-test...well, ironically information came out this week from our education commissioner stating that our 5th graders would not have to retake the test, due to 'vendor reporting errors.' so... i guess that means we'll have a little more fun this week week with our reading instruction-planning some socratic seminar-type discussions because they'll love it!

this three day weekend has been welcome, as i have used much of it to finalize my presentation for my interview this week. i am really, quite looking forward to it--in fact, i wish i could video it with a swivl- yes, it's going to be THAT good! 

last weekend i had the honor of attending a graduation luncheon for the twins-it was lovely! i really enjoyed spending time with solange and marisol outside work. it is really hard to believe that solange's babies are graduated! it seems like just yesterday they were in 5th grade, grappling with the language and learning...they have come so far and she has SO much to be proud of! they are both so well-rounded both academically and socially!

wonderful company!

this weekend, i did work a little on the running effort, gave my hair another treatment, and then today i had the joy of meeting with stevie, as she was traveling through on one of her road-trips to drop of furniture for built-by-stevie -she is so talented! i was hoping to go to klyde warren park and visit the food trucks, because there's such a great variety (nammi!!) but as we arrived, it began to rain! and it didn't look like it was going to stop, so we opted for kyoto sushi...only when we drove by, it was CLOSED ON SUNDAYS! so off we went to rock and roll sushi...and guess what? CLOSED ON SUNDAYS! strike 2 (technically 3, but only 2 for sushi...) so we went to mockingbird station to check out reikyu...and we were the ONLY ones there! is there an unwritten rule that i don't know about concerning sushi on sundays? it was delicious and we had great conversation, so i have no complaints about driving around! and by the time we finished, it was sunny out again, and we very well could have gone to KWP. another day!

hollywood roll! edamae! stevie!

on the way home, i found myself driving through a deluge..thanks, tx! good thing i have such amazing windshield wipers! anyhoo, i got home and was literally here for about 5 minutes before the power went out! ugh. and it started to get dark...so i pulled out some candles and looked for the flashlight...looked for a small lightbulb to hook up to my battery, but alas, all i had were the 60 and 100...boo.

teaching 4th grade science came in handy...if only i'd invested in the tiny flashlight bulbs!

the worst part was that i was almost out of coffee, so i may or may not have pulled out the camping gear-to light up the kerosene and make some camp-coffee. no lie. fortunately it didn't come to that. but what i did notice is that my ceiling is spotting-which means there is a leak in the roof...which in effect means that as soon as i report it, i will probably have maintenance workers in my apartment this week. triple ugh! this means i should probably figure out what to do with all of my school mess!

in other news, i DID, in fact clean out and almost organize the laundry room! yea, me!

so i think this is where i bid you adieu, and prepare for tomorrow-
julie

i kinda like my creative side sometimes

last night i finished what i started about 2 months ago! first of all, i will say it was a hassle getting this thing in my car, if you will recall. brand new car and it barely fit. when i got it home, i sanded it up and painted it two shades of brown.

just an excuse to purchase a sander!

and last night i finally decided to finish painting it so that i can set it up later as a headboard. the only thing is, i am going to have to figure out how to put it up because it's really heavy! the lighting isn't great, but here is the final product (apart from one board on the back which i have to remove).

it looks much cooler in person

it matches a canvas set i painted awhile back. i'll have to take a better picture in better light. sorry. also yesterday i worked on our bathroom bulletin board again, now we just need gigi to make us a count-down! woo hoo!

yes, it has battery operated lights.

it's always a sense of accomplishment to finish something, but two things in one day?! no wonder i didn't get started on my Christmas cards like i had planned! hmm.

i walked into the apartment tonight, and i threw on some sweats i had worn in branson. well, when i reached into my pocket, i found the key card we were looking for before we left. i knew i had used it, but i had no clue where it was! i'm thinkin' i sat it down and one of the boys slipped it into my pocket when i wasn't looking!

hopefully they don't charge for them. oh, and the dominos that's advertised on the front is right next to my hole-in-the wall sushi restaurant that i took mom and dad to.

may your creativity and productivity astound even you,
julie

hope you had a thankful thanksgiving...rather than a thoughtful thinksgiving

so, i forgot to tell about yesterday-mom and i went shopping and we found the 'as seen on t.v.' store. and i got a couple of things. my favorite purchase today was this:

you can easily understand why i HAD to acquire this little number!

then tonight for dinner, it was my choice, and i thought mom and dad should experience sushi. well..good thing dad wasn't too hungry, because he wasn't a huge fan. he has a hard time with the seaweed wrapping...he mentioned that it was like having a wet rag in his mouth. mom was ok with hers, but it wasn't her favorite. i was in tears trying to hold in laughter as she was struggling with the chopsticks. she was laughing too, so it wasn't like i was being rude and laughing at her, we were sharing a moment. i haven't laughed that hard in a long, long time! thankful for my parents!


today we went to denny's for breakfast-love it that it's open on thanksgiving.we had quite an enthusiastic server and she seemed happy to be there on thanksgiving day.


we found out that bruno doesn't like walking in branson any more than he likes walking in dallas. must figure this out. and dad took chaco for a walk, but chaco would start going in one direction and then change directions making certain to stay within eyesight of the door to the rooms. not used to doing anything without mama.


for our thanksgiving meal we had...(drum roll) carne con queso dip, with pecan pie for dessert! smile. and since we've been watching football we had to have afternoon popcorn. mom isn't as big of a football fan, she's been playing solitaire and some word puzzles.(like mother like daughter with the word games). she happens to be really good at text twist as well (the yahoo word scramble game).

good thing it's thanksgiving instead of thinks-giving...i mean how different would it have been if the indians had given the settlers/pilgrims a piece of their mind instead of the food.'let me tell you what i'm thinking! i'll give ya my thoughts.' .



because it is thanksgiving, i feel like i should mention things i am thankful for. well, that would be a long list, and the truth of the matter is that i believe a thankful heart should be a never-ending condition. i could say one thing i am thankful for every day for the rest of my life and never run out of things i am thankful for. today i could just start with family, health, a job, friends, the boys, and an incredible GOD who never stops providing and showing his unfailing love!

'teachers get good things to eat'

today i asked one of my students what she wanted to be when she grows up. at first she was not sure, but after a minute, she said maybe a teacher. i asked her if she just said that because i'm a teacher. she said no, she wanted to be a teacher because "teachers get good things to eat." (she was referring to the time our principal got us sonic drinks for appreciation day or something like that). hmm...i probably ought to explain to her that usually one does not make a career choice by following their stomach. restaurant-fine...job-not fine.

some people know that when it comes to chinese food, i have to have a craving (unless it was in dsm, we used to always crave shrimp fried rice!) but sushi on the other hand i could eat any time...i could probably even eat it for breakfast (i haven't, but perhaps i could). well, guess what was on my door knob when i came home today.

interesting...

not one, not two, but THREE fliers! chinese and japanese! so today, i was in the mood for shrimp fried rice and sushi, and i figured it was a good idea because i would have leftover for lunch tomorrow. sigh of contentment because i don't have to wake up early to make lunch! so tonight as i savored my dinner, i remembered good times with cindy and shannon after a long day at the airport.

oh, i forgot to mention that when i took bruno and chaco walking yesterday, there was a girl who came out to the little dog park here with her maltese and sat down on the bench where i was. her dog pooped and she stood up to go get it (ok, not really to go get it, but more to throw it in the trash)and said, "i think one of your dogs might have peed on my shoe" well, i wanted to say, "first of all, that's not a shoe, it's a flip...or a flop... secondly, i could only wish for so much,  because i'm trying to get them to go potty outside, but i'm pretty sure it wasn't them because they pee like girls-they don't hike their leg...you would've known if they were peeing on you." but i just said, "i don't think so-they usually don't pee outside." it was her dog, dolce. really? dolce? but then, i did name chaco after a shoe...but one of the most amazing shoes EVER!

when we were leaving bruno looked at chaco and asked, "did you hear that girl ask if you were a tea cup yorkie?" of course chaco who has little-man syndrome just glared at him and muttered, "i'm not a tea cup...i'm a mug."

oops..just opened my fortune cookie!

oh bland fortune cookie...how could you?

you know that this means i'll be busy writing letters over the next few days..weeks...trying to make sure that the one person who needs it most gets their letter!

don't trust the fortune cookie...i thought fortune meant great riches...
julie