trust teachers!

tonight was refreshing- i am so glad i have gotten to be a part of ed policy fellows program through the teaching trust!  tonight we got to hear the recap of their trip to austin! they got to see everything firsthand and some of them even got to speak to the legislators-in session! we also got to hear from recruiters of uplift education and our own dallas isd recruiter-it was very informative, and dallas did well in hiring Carmen Darville. she is sharp! the more sessions i go to, the more convinced i am that teachers MUST make their voices heard if there is to be true education reform.

i love this design for the pins!

another important thing that must be done, and this is for teachers and everyone else out there: we MUST help affect a paradigm shift in how the teaching profession is viewed! instead of being venerated, respected and revered as in many top-performing countries,  education has been degraded and devalued in such a way that cause teachers to be looked upon often with disdain and skepticism. THIS SHOULD NOT BE!
therefore, whenever you are given the opportunity, show appreciation and speak up on behalf of the teachers who are preparing the ceo's, bankers, entrepreneurs and big shots who will create jobs and become the backbone of our country. i could go on, but i think you get the idea!

on a lighter note, i am excited that next week we have made some fun plans, as it is a short week-i am SO glad that we didn't have any snow days this year!! we're doing something that i did with one of my small groups a long time ago. writing down fun and silly ideas to do, then putting each of those ideas into Easter eggs to pick randomly. then whichever egg we choose, that will be the event that we do! obviously we won't get to do all of them, but any of them will be a blast! so it will be a random weekend. good times!

and last thought, but not least...ok, maybe least...ok, DEFinitely least. ever been in a restroom and tried to get the toilet paper from the dispenser only to realize it's a new roll, and the paper is stuck together and won't unravel? i tried for i don't know how long to get the darned thing to start, but the perforation/adhesive was ridiculous!! i mean, i finally had to rip a huge chunk off to get any off...i was so frustrated by the time i got it unrolled! but i got it!

i know it is difficult to see, but there are about 10 layers there. i'm sure the people in the toilet paper factory were having a good laugh. jerks.

and that's a wrap...not like a sandwich wrap...nor like a sarong wrap...more like i'm wrapping it up (and not like a gift!)
julie

'runs-with-sassy-socks-mcrobinson' incapacitated the target man.

ok, today is a sad day. it is the last day of spring break...tear rolls down my cheek.

but on a happier note, gigi is coming back to visit in may!! i already put it on my calendar, so that is set.

oh, and i don't want to forget, happy st. patrick's day!! wore my lucky socks today (for a few minutes before i decided it was too nice to wear real shoes and put on my chaco's-which works because they are also green!)..

i decided that if i were a native american irish woman, i would be called 'runs with sassy socks mcrobinson'

 today was a good day at the range...while i was at my parent's place up in misourri, i noticed that my gun seemed off..i don't think it's that i was off, so i took out the little do-hicky thingamajig to adjust the sights. then i went to the bullet trap and i was also thinking about getting another gun (but thank goodness they didn't have what i was looking for)...i'm hooked. i looked at a couple of different options, but i did the wise thing and decided to think about it. and i decided to just go in and shoot for today.

so, the majority of my shots were within the range that i wan them in...i took my last shot at his head, and even though it's less points, he's dead.

and that was the bulk of excitement for today. plus i got a letter written! (which is huge these days!)

i am excited to be back at school tomorrow in a way because when i'm not at school, i feel like i need to get out of the apartment, and getting out, usually means going and spending money somewhere-not so good.

ease back into i people! remember, all you dallas isd people, a week from now, we have a three day week!!
julie

done! but i'm not holding my breath (i don't like that light-headed feeling).

this morning started with my online assessment for the teaching trust...it lasted longer than i thought it would, so my whole day pretty much revolved around this group interview. i can't really talk about it, but one of the gals in my ed policy class was there and also one of my principal's former teachers. it was a good group...i felt kinda like this:

i'm the 'good luch pig'...

just kidding, and regardless, this type of interview-intense as it is, is a good exercise for me. challenging and out of my comfort zone.

the worst part of the whole day is that i didn't get home until about 6:20, so i missed out on one of the most beautiful days! but then, they also gave up their day, and i am thankful for that.

and in about a month or so, i will either be celebrating the fact that i got into the program, OR the fact that i will still have some free time in my life. it's a waiting game again.

bruno and chaco have absolutely no concept of what i did today, and when i tried to explain it to them, bruno was like, "yea." (zero enthusiasm) and chaco shifted his head and said, "did you bring treats? if not, i'm not really all that interested." i need to work with them on their self-centeredness.

i need to go back and look at my lesson plans for this week (i wrote them so long ago, i can barely recall them!) i need to see what type of prep i need to do before school on monday! i also need to go to the grocery store...i feel like old mother hubbard!

i also just received my rei event calendar, i need to start going to these things cycling, kayak, mountaineering, hiking...all the good stuff! i MUST get my bike tuned up! it's been way too long. goals...i probably need to try to get this done within the next two weeks.

nothing else has even happened today...it's been all about the assessment center.

and i'm beat!
julie

there's a man hot-tubbing in my tea!

home. headache. long day-long ride home.

even chaco is exhausted-he's curled up beside me, too tired to finish his treat! he's had a long week. bruno was able to relax around the cats, but chaco was on edge most of the time; he just needs to be around the cats for an extended period of time to get used to them.

this morning, i decided that i really needed to stop by and put up the banner that i made, because hopefully it will help make a great ending to a fabulous trip! so i went an hour out of the way to branson to put it up. i guess it wasn't really out of the way, because i really had to stop at dick's 5 and 10! besides, the drive is so easy (i remember when it used to be a 2-lane, under construction and one night when i was driving to k.c, i almost got in a wreck because of the construction-that was YEARS ago!) anyhoo, when i got there, i pulled out the tiki torches to hold it up (i wasn't sure how i was going to support it, but i found tiki torches at walmart that were just the right height!), and put them in the ground, then when i tried to zip tie the banner to them, they kept leaning over. well, i forgot to get tent posts to anchor it, so i looked around and found a pile of scrap wood that was being thrown away and broke off a couple of pieces that i could pound into the ground (i brought one of dad's many mallets and i had some purple duct tape) it was standing when i left, and i tied a card to it with a 'catch-up' letter. hope it's still standing and they don't miss the letter!

this is what happens when the people i want to see are gone on vacation

as i was leaving, someone was pulling in-through the circular drive. hopefully i didn't scare the neighbors!

then we stopped at dick's 5 and 10 because they had the pillows that mom and i like, and we've had difficulty finding them. so i bought one for me and one for her-they only had two. so i couldn't be picky about the designs... i have difficulty sleeping with any other pillow, in fact, it may take awhile to break this one in. anyone else out there with this problem?? gotsta have your own pillow?

i'm excited

tonight i still need to take an online assessment before i go to the assessment center tomorrow! ugh. i might just have to wake up and do that tomorrow morning, my head isn't feeling it right now. i also wanted to re-read a chapter in my leveraged leadership book-because it's just that good.

so, i was worried about my package that was supposed to arrive while i was away..no worries, it arrived! i now have a little man hot tubbing in my amazing tea cup that maria got for me! yea!

i need to go buy a good canister of tea! world market or whole foods, ready or not, here i come!!

wow. i just re-read through this post, and i can tell i have a headache-super flat...sorry!

ok, i'm off to find some excedrin and take a shower-gotta get rid of this headache!! boo.
julie

when i dress up, people don't usually say 'you clean up well,' they just laugh at me...rude.

i should have planned my time better while in misourri. i have so many special people in the area, yet i spent most of my time at mom and dad's doing school work and just relaxing...

today reminded me of how i need to do better at keeping up with friends! it was a joy and a breath of fresh air to hang out with kristin today and meet her kiddos! they are quite the crew, and i love watching her in their teachable moments!

i meant to get a pic of us today, but here is one of our more memorable moments in college...

not a special event...we just wanted to dress up for dinner...at the steak house.

 when did i start taking myself so seriously? time to have fun again! there is nothing more wonderful than catching up with old friends!

and unfortunately i didn't have time to go to my friend's home to put up the welcome home banner because i had to meet mom and dad in ozark for dinner at lamberts! they had never been there to eat, so they had a treat! i only finished one of my pieces of chicken because they overfeed you with southern cookin'! hot rolls thrown right at your face so that if you miss it, at least it falls on your table.. yum.

and my new friend, who will be making random appearances on the blog...robert de masmines the knight. he met tiger and the mouse tonight.

tiger was unimpressed and told him to put his sword away...(is anyone quoting the office right now?)

but he dominated the mouse!

if i hadn't made plans to come to misourri, i would have gone to austin with others from the fellows cohort on ed-policy reform-it looks like they had a great time and got a priceless experience first hand! the best opportunity for teachers to make a difference in policy is by telling our story to influence the policy makers, or becoming policy-makers ourselves. i cannot wait to hear about it next tuesday! check out pics of what they did here!

so, up bright and early tomorrow to get home at a decent time. next time i will plan more accordingly and give my friends the heads up to see if we can't work out some get-together-time!

pray for safe driving tomorrow!
julie

darth vader did not really die...i know where he lives

today i went for another joy ride..what else do you do when you've come to the end of your budget and don't get paid until you're on your way home? and it was beautiful and relaxing!

you may not believe this, but i saw it with my own eyes! after the whole death star thing, and fighting the forces of good, darth did not die. amazing what the big screen can fool your eyes into believing! medical miracles happen every day. that was a cover up-he retired and moved to a farm out in misourri and is now raising goats, bunnies and chickens.

hard to take in, i know. (proof is in the red-eyed rabbit)

it's going to be hard to leave on friday morning!

tranquility.

 but then, it will be good to be home-i almost forgot, i should have 2 packages from the fed-ex man...i left a note on my door for him to take them to the front office..hope he obeyed my command honored my request...because they're cool things. and i may have a training date with someone's dog~time permitting.

my dad worked on this the last couple of days, and this afternoon he brought it home and said i had to paint it. so i did...it still needs another coat of paint, but here is the lock box for the ipad or 2 and ten i-touches..hopefully the school will spring for a charge and synch box (they're a little pricey), but i had him build it with that in mind, so it will fit in the back slot. then, i'd like to put anchors on it so that it is secure in one place, and all one has to do is carry the carrier to class. tomorrow we will go to the fabric store and find some foam or something to line it for the actual devices.

the one we saw in austin opens from the front, and has a drawer-like tray that slides out, but we couldn't figure out why it would be necessary, and the drawer rails aren't super cheap, so we improvised. afterward, i thought, hmm..if you have two, you'd probably want the second one to have a tray if you were stacking them, so that you could access it more easily...so if we need a second one, and if they need to be stackable...but for now, this will suffice for our needs.

i'm excited because tomorrow i get to go down to branson to visit a dear college friend! they actually moved back to the college and are working there! so i get to visit the most beautiful campus in the ozarks!

julie

ode to the country...and target man.

so yes, i did get most of my grading done, and i got labels for education glued onto their respective submission forms. ridiculous. but it will be worth it when we can actually get things from our points!

today we finally didn't have rain, so i was able to take the dogs out to run around in the yard-they could be country dogs...but only when i'm out there because a hawk might swoop down and carry them away (like in the proposal-favorite part)...or the bobcat could come back. yes, there is a local bobcat (not to be confused with the cougars picking up on the young guys in town).

mom was just telling me last night on our walk that there was a bobcat that was in the driveway one morning, and dad was looking out the front door, when a car whizzed down the road and spooked the cat. the bobcat bolted toward the door because the light was on, and ran smack into the door! dad thought it was going to break the glass, it hit so hard.

anyhoo, i know you want to see them milling around in the yard...

chaco is a copy cat. whenever bruno finds something, he wants to stick his nose in it as well.

little investigators...

the neighbors off in the distance have some hounds, and they were barking up a storm today.

there are just so many new smells!

of course as they were doing all of their exploring, chaco lifted his leg every other step... if chaco were a native american indian, his name would be: MARKS-ON-EVERY-CLUMP-OF-GRASS-IN-THE-PRAIRIE. and his middle name would be NEVER-GETS-VERY-FAR-VERY-FAST.

SORRY, i was in the middle of almost getting a good picture when he hiked up his leg.

after a little grading, i had to get out of the house and just go for a joy ride in the country- i love a little exploring too, the difference is that i don't feel the need to smell everything and leave a mark everywhere~ there are so many little county roads and junctions around here it's nuts! i'll probably do something similar tomorrow. if it were warmer, i'd go kayaking on the niangua-it's close and there's a little kayak rental just down the road! can't wait for warmer weather!

i also got a welcome home banner done for a friend of mine, who is actually out of town and i will not get to see them, so i thought i would write a letter and put up a banner-i was here, and i thought of you. (picture of the banner later).

when i got in my car today, i was reminded that misourri is not texas. my gum was partially frozen and it took my jaws a little work to get it right.

pretty sure i mentioned that i love the country, so here's my ode to country living:
it's great to breathe fresh air.
better than breathing non-fresh air.
i don't miss the noises of the city,
not even a little bitty..............(bit).
i can see the stars at night,
only not tonight...(it's cloudy)
 i can shoot out back by the thicket
and the police won't be giving me no ticket...
i don't love it when relaxation ends,
but it'll be nice to be back with friends (until the darts start flying).

so. i'm going to turn it into a song, then into a children's book. then i plan to create a painting to depict the scene.

it was target man, in the yard...with a LAMP! a lamp? (mixture of clue and snl..anyone?)

love the little rifle.

alright, not much else to tell tonight. maybe we'll work on a puzzle or something.
julie