Crate and Barrel?

i stopped on the way home from work to day and bought some tulips...just because! then i got home and arranged them in a vase. i realized our dining room table (that i had been avoiding tidying up for quite some time) did not have a square inch of table showing. the surface was littered with mail and various other random things I had previously needed to put away. i contemplated just moving the piles around and making space for a 2 inch diameter vase. then i thought better of it. the actual thought that popped into my head was "these flowers are so pretty, and if i clean all this crap up, then my table will look like it is straight out of a catalogue!!"

immediately inspired.

i am going to enjoy my clean beautiful table until the flowers die or the mail piles back up... whichever comes first :)

load of whites + ballpoint pen = :(

deep breath.
this really sucks.
they're just clothes.
but it really sucks. bad.

at least i got to wear my brand new cute nordy's shirt once before it got ruined. and matt got many, many wears out of that quicksilver button down. i stopped taking inventory on all the casualties of the load. it was too many to count. the socks were the only salvageable items...because who cares about black and white polka-dotted no-see 'em socks?

hiatus

hiatus from taco bell that is. we got in the habit of me grabbing taco bell about once/week on my way home from coaching club. well, we still probably get it for dinner once every 2 weeks...just because. matt likes the fresco menu (healthier) and i love bean and cheese burritos, no onions!

i am pretty sure i got food poisoning last night and the only thing it could have been was...alas...my beloved burrito from taco bell. let me tell you, my friends, it was not pretty. i woke up at 4am, headed straight to the bathroom and proceeded to stay there for an hour and a half :( it was coming out both ends. simultaneously. sitting on the toilet puking in the bathtub. i was in bad shape! gross, i know. sorry was that tmi? hahaaa. i was sweating like crazy and then freezing cold. bleh! i woke matt up and asked him to call me a sub because there was no way i was making it in today.

at first i thought i was coming down with the flu, but as today has progressed, i feel much MUCH better, which makes me think food poisoning! thank goodness not the flu. i couldn't take any more of that yuckiness. as it was, in the wee hours of the morning i reverted to a small child and thought to myself "i want my mommy!" anytime i was sick, she would sit in the bathroom, give me a cold washcloth to put on my forehead, and rub my back. thinking of how stinky the bathroom was, man! what a good mom!! thanks mom! :) i know matt would have sat up with me but i also knew there was nothing he could do, so i wanted to let him sleep!

matt made me a sandwich last night to take to work today, and i found it when i woke up this morning :)

CST Testing...

BLEH! boring!

i have to admit, i do like the peace and quiet...but there is only so much productive work i can get done that is quiet, while getting up every few minutes to "actively proctor." good thing too, because my last circle around the room, i realized one of my students was in the complete wrong section of his answer document. good thing i was actively proctoring. i would look like the idiot who wasn't paying attention if i didn't catch it!

anyway, i'm going to stand on my soap box for a minute. because i can. it is so ridiculous how testing is regarded as the end all be all determining factor in our students' and school's performance. have you ever seen the test? it infuriates me. it is written in confusing language with twisted questions. as i look over their shoulders at the various questions, i just want to help them...because i know they know the content being asked, it just needs clarification. too bad i signed an affidavit saying i will give up my first born if i don't follow all the rules. and helping kids succeed on this test is breaking a rule.

once again, our school (and our teachers) will be judged based on these results and we can only hope we show improvement to last year and grow in our number of points. nevermind all the poor second language students who are new to the country. nevermind our struggling students who are many levels below grade level. i should just be used to it by now, this is my 6th year in this district. however, i think it is dangerous to just sit back and say "oh well." what's the balance? is me as a teacher knowing in my heart how many gains my students have made enough? screw the rest of them? i can't change the current system, so why bother getting worked up about it?

we are supposed to be miracle workers here! ok, stepping down now (off my soap box) if you are still with me, thanks for listening! :)

anyway...this is the downhill slope of the year. we have 7 weeks of school left after this week. crazy! i am pretty sure this year is my best group of students ever. i will sure miss them....but i will also sure welcome summer with open arms!!!

whirlwind

friday
1:00 pm: left for las vegas in two 15 passenger vans, with the RMS cheer squad for the US Finals.
7:30 pm: arrived in vegas. checked into the hotel. went to dinner on the strip...casino buffet.
11:00 pm: back to hotel. in bed about 30 seconds after taping all the girls doors shut and lecturing them that if the tape is broken, they are dead.
11:30ish pm: fall asleep after a looOoong day

saturday
5:30am: up to begin helping with hair (prepping with flat iron for stylist) and make-up. continental breakfast and many, many cups of coffee in a tiny styrofoam cup. matt slept until about 7...well, half slept as much as you can with doors slamming and excited/nervous cheerleaders in and out of the hallways/rooms.
9:30 am: matt and i sneak away to a pub next to the hotel to play some video poker. we thought las vegas needed some of our money.
11:00 am: leave for the convention center
1:36 pm: girls perform a fantastic routine!
2:15 pm: matt and i go get him lunch at the venetian (connected to convention ctr) and then think better of giving away our money, and win some of it back on a slot machine. we still made a small donation to the nevada economy. is that tax deductible, by the way?
3:00 pm: awards cermony where we found out we won FIRST place in our division! Yeah!
4:00 pm: load the vans. san diego or bust. *note: this is less than 24 hours after we arrived. holy schmoly, it was crazy.
10:00ish pm: arrive in san diego. disperse students to their parents at school and return rental vans.
11:00 pm: home sweet home. bed sweet bed. zzzzzzzzzzzz.

a couple shots of their performance



waiting for score/results

champions!

team shot with their new jackets that say "US Finals Champion"


sunday: relaxing! (well, i went and got a pedicure and matt went to get a new golf club/driving range). plus the usual weekend chores-laundry, grocery store.

we are so proud of our girls!! hope everyone had a GREAT weekend.

dance party

for Christmas this past year, my in-laws (sis and robert) gave us Bose speakers to fashionably accessorize our Mac desktop they gave us the year before (yes.....they are way too good to us!) the funny thing is, we just picked up our Christmas presents from their house on Easter! [we left them there, because we left that same night to drive to Oregon and they wouldn't fit in our packed car! and we are slackers and hadn't been to their house since Christmas] we did, however, get a sneak preview of our cool gift all set up when we visited my brother and sister-in-law (mike and kirstin) because we often times get the same cool gifts!! The twins are used to the same gift thing and always liked to look at what the other just opened to see what they were getting...potentially in a different color :)

so i came home from the gym tonight and matt had the speakers all set up. naturally, we had to check out the capabilities of the sound, right? after all, Bose is the best company in the world when it comes to sound! i'm sure you can see where i'm going with this one. this scenario yielded itself to none other than an impromptu dance party in the living room.

just the three of us.

matt. me. and kanye west [Stronger].

our dance party was short-lived for a couple of reasons: 1) the dogs were looking at us like we were nuts, and 2) we were fairly certain our downstairs neighbors would be knocking on the door shortly due to the insanely good [and loud] sound and bass.

okay, story time is over for now! Thanks for the rockin' speakers Sis and Robert...they are fabulous!!

job update

we have them next year, and we are thankful!

matt is continuing to loop with his students, which he loves. this year he has 6th and 8th graders, and next year he will have 6th and 7th graders.

i taught 6th grade for the first 4 years of my career, have taught 8th grade for the past 2 years, and will be going back to 6th grade next year. *sigh*

In short, the study skills class I have been teaching is being eliminated due to budget constraints and a master schedule change for next year. I really enjoy 8th graders. I don't have the right credential to teach a core class at the 8th grade level. [It's ironic that I could teach at a junior college with my MA degree, but not "highly qualified" to teach 7th-12th grade English]

I am thankful I get to stay at Roosevelt and there is a job for me there. I am thankful Roosevelt is one mile from our front door. I am thankful that I already know the curriculum for 6th grade English and History.

I am not so thankful that I don't get to teach 8th graders next year. I am also not so thankful that I have to move classrooms (ugh.) and give up my huge room that I scored this year. (6th graders are isolated in their own little bubble, away from the big bad 7th/8th graders.) Maybe that's because they are so little and immature and wimpy. Oh sorry, I got carried away. I am still trying to be okay with going back down to this grade level :)

To end on a positive note, we only have 9 weeks left of school including this week! crazy!!!

two!

isn't my husband so sweet? man, i just melted at that last post. ahem. cough cough. actually, in his weird and sarcastic way, he is pretty cute. good thing i think so, huh?

so last week was 2 years married! it seems like not very long ago that i wrote this post. we decided a relaxing week in julian was exactly what we needed (and how we'd spend our spring break.) i love how appropriately timed our anniversary is with a recurring week long break (don't think i didn't have that in mind when choosing a wedding date!) anyway, i digress. we threw our stuff [and the dogs] in the car and headed up the mountain. i got a sunburn and frostbite in the same week. ok, not really frostbite, but a crazy storm for one day. and i really did sunburn my chest sitting outside reading! i read a book cover to cover. we played a lot of cards (i got my butt kicked at rummy...2 nights in a row. i made a heck of a comeback though.) played bananagrams. watched 3 movies. drank julian apple cider. walked the dogs on the trails.

documentation of us having fun :)

trailer watchdogs. (please excuse buddy, he's a little too excited)


hanging out in town


mimosas. cheers to two years!


lounging dogs :) they have a tough life.


my man and my girl


matt cracking a book [and a beer]


kisses for zoers


visiting the "big dogs" by our site. matt pulled all the good green grass they couldn't reach (on our side of the fence) and gave them a little snack :)



clear chilly night and super bright stars and a campfire. and a couple of goofs. heavenly.




exploring the far side of the pond


that murky water was really enticing for our boy, bud


log jumping. ready. set. goooooo!



i'll leave you with a couple family photos. you can't even tell i just booked it across the grass squealing/laughing as the beeping of the camera got faster and faster :)