We have "Windsuit Wednesdays" at school. I like that. I went and bought an outfit for it. Gray pants & hooded vest thing w/ lime green stitching and a lime green t-shirt w/ gray stitching. The shirt has 3/4 length sleeves so I will wear it year round. I wore it for the first time today and it's my new Wednesday's uniform.

Vic took my Carson cat to the vet yesterday because I don't have time during their business hours. Seems his eye is matted shut and his cough for the last 2-3 weeks has been due to allergies. He got an allergy shot. Like momma, like cat.

My new insurance starts tomorrow. I'm going to go back to my allergy dr. that I have no longer been able to see because they stopped taking my insurance about 9 months ago. I'm going to start taking shots again. I felt so so so much better taking allergy shots. I have more snot in my head than I would like and my throat hurts today. But I refuse to be ill because I leave in less than 48 hours to a long Vegas weekend.

Yeah for long Vegas weekends. I plan to do nothing but be brainless. Thinking only of outlandish drag queens, compulsive gamblers wearing the same clothes for 2 days, and women who've had more work than a car on "Pimp My Ride." I can't wait! And Big Willie is 21! Wowzers. That's so weird.

Ok, I'm going to bed. Notice the time. How things change.

You get a free ball of cool yarn. If you don't knit, you can get it and give it to a knitter :). Like me or Moe :).

http://www.bernat.com/getdown/

I did my first restraint today. We had a fire drill and the new autistic student didn't want to go back in. Wow. I'm exhausted.

Happy Birthday to William, Happy Birthday to William, Happy 21st Birthday dear Brother, Happy Birthday to YOU!

We are going to Vegas Labor Day weekend for a little celebratin' and I can't wait! Yeah!

I had my kids for the first time today. I would not be anymore tired if I had left the house at 7:30 this morning and just walked continuously until 6 p.m. when I got home. 11.5 hours of walking would not make me as tired as I am right now. And I didn't have enough prepared. It never occurred to me that I would have a group of second graders that don't like to color...so like the dot-to-dot that was supposed to be colored after being connected...took 5 minutes rather than 20. So for the last 30 minutes of class we did a Scooby Doo puzzle. And when I say the last 30 minutes, I mean of my 2.5 hour time period...hopefully tomorrow is better prepared.

And then I came home tonight and just taught myself, with Allison's help, to play "Monster Consonants" in the event I need it tomorrow. And now I'm going to bed to read "Ghost Beach" from the Goosebumps series by R.L. Stine because I'm going to read it aloud for the next few days to them and want to know what's in it before I put it in their little not so innocent heads.

We talked about our "favorites" today...one's favorite movie is "The Seed of Chucky" and another's is "Black Hawk Down...because it's violent."

And my parents wouldn't let me see Dirty Dancing....

I'm still working on my room, but here are a few shots of what I have so far...including my grass skirt around my desk and Hawaiian flowers in my window :)! It was "Meet the Teacher" night tonight. I sat in my room for 1.5 hours and didn't have a single parent stop by. That makes me really sad for my little second graders. One would hope that special needs kids have parents that care enough to participate in such an event...especially since my school is only 2-4th grades...so all my kids are new to the building!!

I also had a final tonight. I'm so glad it's over. I will sleep easier tonight! Ok, I'm off to bed.

I have a new appreciation for elementary school teachers. Who knew how much frickin' work it was to decorate their rooms! And that THEY supply all the cool stuff in their rooms...like games, flash cards, etc. If I am this exhausted after a week of teacher training...I can only imagine what next week and the next and the next....will be like! My brain is fried and my whole body hurts and I have to get up in the morning (SATURDAY) and go work more on my room. But I really like it. I have some pretty great co-workers...and I'm getting less scared of the kids...but I think it's just because I'm so ready to have all the preparation done that the kids actually being here would be a welcomed change...

Did I mention that I only have paint on the walls and "Meet the Teacher Night" is Tuesday. Aye Crumba.

So it's Friday. This is my last non-working Friday for sometime. You see, Monday is my first day of work...of course it is about 10 days of training before the kids actually start...but it still means that I have to be up in single digit hours!

Yesterday I had to have some stuff signed by my principal and while there, I picked up my keys to the building and my classroom. Holy Cow. Walking into that room will seriously go down as one of my scariest moments ever. I was instantly overwhelmed with the responsibility of providing skills to these kids that will impact them for the rest of their lives. That is so incredibly cool, but it's also a rather large amount of pressure...not really much room for failure. Yeah, to me it is practice...but if one of my second graders does not master a technique or skill that I am responsible for teaching...it could put them behind for a long time.

Second grade also hits really close to home with me. I had a terrible second grade teacher that didn't really require me to learn to spell/phonics/etc and I can honestly say that I still feel the effects today, as I am a terrible speller! I know that has to do mostly with my learning disability, but it didn't help that she didn't require much out of me and still gave me A's!

I plan to spend the weekend psyching myself up...and one way I'm going to do that is to spend the weekend decorating my room and getting really familiar with it...because you gotta start somewhere! One extra neat thing is that they told me that they don't require, but do prefer me to PAINT the room a nice color or two. In all my spare time, of course. But my dear friend Sheri has volunteered to help me on Saturday to get the room coated in a nice shade of pale green or sky blue. The school also gave me $100 to "Teacher's Tools," a store in Lewisville, to go get some decorating stuff. I'm about to go there now. So anyone that reads this and has even a few spare hours tomorrow...PLEASE come help me make my room appropriate for 8, 9, and 10 year olds! I'm so serious...Wendy, Andra, Moe, Martha, Jamey...anyone. I will be greatly indepted to you if you would come help me!

Considering there are only like 5 minutes left in this day, I thought I would share the first thing that has made me smile all day:

"And forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair." ~Kahlil Gibran (1883 - 1931)


(...school just may be the death of me.)

This is proof to all of you who have ever called me weird that I'm no such thing! I'm 70% normal and just like in school...that would be a C which means average! Ha ha!

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

I'm also smarter than I knew. See....

Your IQ Is 120

Your Logical Intelligence is Exceptional Your Verbal Intelligence is Exceptional Your Mathematical Intelligence is Exceptional Your General Knowledge is Exceptional

A Quick and Dirty IQ Test

And this is amazing...I act exactly my age!

You Are 27 Years Old

27 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

"It's hot. Damn hot! Real hot! Hottest things is my shorts. I could cook things in it. A little crotch pot cooking."

Well, can you tell me what it feels like?

"Fool, it's hot! I told you again! Were you born on the sun? It's damn hot! I say... It's so damn hot, I saw little guys, their orange robes burst into flames. It's that hot! Do you know what I'm talking about?"

What do you think it's going to be like tonight?

"It's gonna be hot and wet! That's nice if you're with a lady, but it ain't no good if you're in the jungle."