testing brought back memories of HONDURAS

well, here we are again...testing wears me out! first it was taks...now it's staar season. i'm not a fan of testing, because it makes for a treacherously long day! and i get so stinkin' bored! at least i was with my students from last year. as i was looking around the room, i was reminded of how much i miss them! they were a good class! i don't remember if i thought that last year, but right now, i am REALLY missing them!

so as i was 'actively monitoring', i had to strategically move around the room. and amazingly enough, it seemed like every time someone important would walk by or pop their head in, i was in the same spot, hence making it look like i wasn't really moving around the room (but if you ask those kids, i think they were getting dizzy...and i did it with such stealth, that they would quietly look around to locate my position).

yesterday was better than today because the windows were open (it was so hot in the room, they had to open them), and it was great to feel the breeze, and hear the fountain and the birds! relaxing. at one point, it made me think about high school in HONDURAS  at e.i.s. we kinda had an open-air ventilation system. i transported myself back to the good-ol-days when i had to do social work-collating dirt, filling 100s of bags full of dirt for our greenhouse, planting plants all around the drive...as much as i didn't enjoy social work because i'd rather have been playing volleyball, i look back on it fondly...if those were the "unenjoyable" moments, you can imagine how incredible the other moments were! i truly enjoyed every minute of it! some moments:

typical computer class..notice how few computers there are..hmmm..

this picture is special to me because freda was one of those friends who was so humble and fun and everyone adored her and her quiet spirit-she recently passed away due to cancer, but her spirit and way of being remain fresh in my memories!

just taking a moment to play a little air-guitar...

eis breakfast club (special spanish class...and we were pretty special....in our minds)

yanira my volleyball pal-and i believe that is chin behind us (he was one of the guys who helped us improve our game)

and here we are at a game-i don't stick out like a sore thumb do i?

i wouldn't give up my high school years in HONDURAS for all the money in the world! sorry-total tangent...wait, no, i'm not sorry! every once in awhile i have to talk about the amazingness of my past because it has shaped who i am today! (someday i will have to share some of the stories about individual friends-erika, helen, sheryl(little sis), bernadette, and so many more!)

so back to testing...last night i decided to make some food for today-somehow it just makes the day a tiny bit better...so i was looking forward to that while we were testing, which made every minute take 7 minutes to pass (and as everyone knows, every seven minutes, someone is thinking about abraham lincoln); by then most of the kids were done with their test. so after lunch, i was a little tired..in fact i may or may not have tried to hypnotize myself into staying awake with my classroom keys....and the natives were getting restless- lots of fidgeting. so when that final student raised his hand to let me know he was done, i rejoiced!

and then when i took students outside to be picked up, i was blind-sided by the cold weather BOOM! there it was! so i was very excited to come home and put on my long-sleeve t that i mentioned yesterday (pretty sure i have worn it every day since i got it). in fact, i have TWO shirts on! i also have the soft, green one (also from bmayes, also from wyoming!) i have just come to realize that i am passionate about awesome comfortable t-shirts! thank you bmayes for helping me to learn that about myself! so, there you have it...to all potential gentleman callers out there (but let's be honest, who even says 'gentleman callers' besides jane austen and marilla from anne of green gables..) but i digress, it's like i was saying, apparently tulips and daisies are only one way to my heart, comfy t's are the other! so , the one who comes bearing said gifts will most certainly be up there on my list (but then he has to pass the intelligent conversation test, and meet the high expectations and make me laugh) well, in the meantime...i'll just buy my own flowers or grow them and wear the t-shirts my friends get for me!

julie

dorothy got nothin on us!

remember the time i dressed up like dorothy for a reading program? i do. (and then remember when gigi and i hid in my classroom and then the music on the intercom was so unbearable that i took my speaker off the wall and turned it around? i don't remember that quite as well...)

 ok, i realize that i look nothing like dorothy from the wizard of oz...i mean you do what you can with what ya got..i was NOT going out and paying for a costume, and so gigi helped me 'sew' this sheet into a makeshift dress (sewing with staples). and the red basket is one we use to collect library books in our class..the wig..well, cheapie from walmart. i had some red shoes from a thrift shop which i glued glitter to and voila--scary. of courst it was lost on our kiddos because out hispanic kiddos aren't real familiar with the wizard of oz...had i been a tall skinny man on a horse chasing windmills...in fact, they probably thought i was a scary witch about to eat a dog...or la llorona..who knows.

i just wanted to post up the dorothy pic because of the tornado warnings in effect. praying that the storms are not affecting loved ones! 

sweet! (totally typed that meaning to text a friend back! oops..leaving it there, though because it just kinda fits).

well, today was another one of those days when i woke up early so i could stop by walmart...and i got my diet coke and then i also saw something else that caught my eye...i love soft t-shirts. i hate thick t-shirts because they just sop up sweat and feel heavy. so i got these super flowyish lightweight t's.

7 dolla!

 aw hail...tornadoes...how dare you. we were trying to watch the biggest loser finale.when the warnings went off, i was trying to figure out exactly what to do with the dogs..would they be safer in the kennel or in the bathtub with me? i found my bicycle helmet(i know, sounds cra-cray) one of the ladies at work was saying that she was watching the news and the family had everything in the bathroom ready to go. well..i'm pretty sure it made bruno nervous. chaco just sat in the tub licking the side, trying to chew the wall of the tub. i don't usually get nervous about tornadoes, but now that i have these two, i do...and i just watched the news of a tornado earlier this afternoon that traveled 50 miles on the ground in oklahoma! what in the world...and that which just happened in joplin. it's the year of the tornadoes. and it is also quite possible that i had the emergency flashlight inside my shorts.(no pockets, so i figured: if we were buried under rubble, i'd be able to signal with the flashlight, so i'd better put it somewhere where it won't get away... )

that's bruno, and we do have a cushion on top of us...

well, we've been sitting in the living room watching the map and i still have my helmet on-what gives? it is not that comfortable...discomfort just won out over laziness.did i feel at all secure on the 3rd floor with a couch cushion over me? no. no, i did not. i would've much rather been in oklahoma with bmayes and fam in the shelter with some kahlua...hmm. i probably ought to check if we have a tornado safe place at this complex. noted. 

don't be blown away-
julie