Another Classic Black Friday!

Camping out at Old Navy! Waiting to get a free Lego Rockband Game with a $20 purchase!!!!
Our Group was the first there! My sister, Maria, got there at 9:00 p.m. and claimed our territory with a table, chairs, and she even brought her RV so we'd have a potty in the parking lot!

We got 11 of the 26 games! SCORE!

Julie brought snacks and drinks. Her friends brought cupcakes and homemade rolls! This is Me (black and pink) with two of my sisters (Maria, far left, and Julie, far right) and two cousins (Kimm and Debra).
Most of the group went to breakfast after our 12 hour Black Friday shopping spree! We hit Old Navy for their opening at 3 a.m., then Target at 5 a.m, and after we got everything there, we headed to a couple of Walmart's for their great deals!

We truly have it down to a science! Woohoo! We don't need no stinkin' football!

(Thanks for the pictures Debra!)

Cake and Catching Criminals and Cockroaches

I am lovin' my job. Today my aides baked me a cake and then we caught a criminal.

Last week we had a big adventure and caught an escape artist. Then on Friday I had an observation. After observing my lesson, the woman from the District said, "You are a Rock Star! I can't imagine anyone else teaching these kids. You are a master teacher. It was a pleasure to watch you teach."

Oh yeah! That's the part of working that I missed. Yeah, going to work every day is still hard, but I really love my job, my coworkers, and my students. I enjoy teaching, and it's nice to hear that I'm good at it too.

We also found a giant cockroach in the cupboard today. However, it didn't reduce my enthusiasm. I am going to get some roach motels though!

splatters

I'm sorry, I have no thoughts. Since I've been going to school, teaching, and everything else my thoughts are spread so thin...I was going to say it's as thin as margarine on toast, but it's more like splatters of Pam on a pan - not even covering an entire surface. I spend half my time making lists, the other half I spend, standing around trying to remember what I was going to do and why I'm: looking in the fridge, standing in the kitchen, on the computer, looking in my purse, etc.

Today at church, someone asked me how I'm handling everything. I have just given up everything optional. I've missed the last couple of Bunco nights and GNO's. My house is just passable. I don't watch t.v., use the computer, read for pleasure, or do any crafts. I barely see the family. Monday through Thursday, I wake at 5:30, get people ready, drop off the babies, go to school/work, pick up the babies, drop them off, go to class, tuck in the babies, go to bed, and wake up to do it all again. Wednesdays, I have young women's instead of class. Fridays, I'm so exhausted we just have family time instead of going on dates. On the weekends, I do marathon loads of laundry, make sure people have 5 days worth of outfits set aside, make menus, go shopping, cook meals for a week or two, do homework, and try to spend some time holding the little ones.

The classes I'm taking are actually really worthwhile and I enjoy them, but it would have been nice to spread them out. I'm doing the National Board Teacher Certification Pre-Candidacy class which is very (hhhmmmmm, can't think of the word...I've strained for 5 minutes and still can't think of the word I want...yeah, see what I mean?) The other class I'm loving is "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". Sadly, my favorite part is that there's no homework. However, it's great information and goes so well with our Book Group choice, "Bonds that Make us Free". (Which I haven't had time to read except 5 minutes at a time).

Validating. That's the word I couldn't come up with. The whole object of the National Board certification process is to verbalize why what I know about kids determines my actions in the classroom and how that benefits students, and then to show evidence of how that helps my students. Very worthwhile. However, not something I'm going to attempt when I can't string 10 words together in a coherent thought. Maybe next year.

Randoms from this Week

It's finally getting cold here. Well, you know, we wear jackets in the mornings and turn on the air conditioning in the afternoon.

One of my students was deciding what everyone in class should dress up as for Halloween. At first he just told what movie their character was from, then he told what character we were: His sister, was from The Hunchback of Notre Dame - Quasi Modo; I was flattered he said I was Mulan, until I asked what character from the movie, and It was Yao. Yes, "King of the Mountain".

The other day I was going to use my last cash to buy a cola to kill the caffeine headache that had been plaguing me all afternoon. I stopped at Walmart to pick up a birthday present and when I got back in my car, a woman with a small child asked me for some money to "help them out". I gave her my change, honestly wishing that I could do more for them on that cold, windy day. I thought, "Darn, there went my headache money." I rushed through the rest of my day not thinking about it. In the middle of the night I woke up and thought, "Hmmm, I don't have a headache", then realized, that was my blessing for giving that woman the last of my money.

Last week they were giving students the AIMS test at school. As I was driving past the front of the school, I saw a convertible in front of the school. It had a giant Red Bull can on the back of it. They were parked there, giving every student who passed by a free can or two of Red Bull. I really wish I could compare their scores on the AIMS to the students who didn't get the free overdose of caffeine that morning.