Summer is here!

Summer, Day 1:

Slept until 8:30. It was wonderful. I had absolutely no plans or obligations for the day. That was also wonderful. I spent a good hour experimenting with my semi-new hair cut...went a little crazy with the curling iron, but it turned out super cute. I took pictures, but I don't like my face so you can't see them.

I had an interview at a really great school last week. So thinking positive, I took everything home from my classroom that belonged to me. It's amazing how much stuff you accumulate in just a few years. I don't know how teachers do this for 30 years. I don't think I'll ever get use to the exhaustion. But now we get some much needed time off to think about "how many more year until I retire?".

Plans for the summer:
1. Sleep.
2. Go to New York at the end of the month.
3. Sleep.
4. Try to make it out to Utah.
5. Sleep.
6. Get my house in some kind of order.

That's all I've got so far.

We've got the housekeeper coming out Monday. Yay! But I still have to get the house "housekeeper ready". I sounds silly, but if you've ever had a housekeeper, you know what I'm talking about. Things need to get put away. Otherwise there'll be little piles of stuff everywhere afterwards.

So now that Summer's here I feel like I should have lots more time to blog...but I honestly doubt I will. :o)

I can see the light!

This time of year teachers everywhere are rejoicing. We like to call this the home stretch. Just one more week and then it's finally...May. And just to top it off, we have standardized tests this week. For 3 straight days, our kids have to sit in a very uncomfortable chair while taking a very unnecessary test. Well what if they fail, you ask? No problem! We'll just pass them on anyways. They'll catch up in the next grade, right?

But I digress...

The end of the school year is upon us, and I've already filled my summer with plans of doing nothing. A trip here and there, but mainly nothing. Someone once told me that if the best part of teaching is June, July and August, then it's time to stop teaching. I disagree. Aren't most people's favorite days of the week Saturday and Sunday? Why is this any different. It's a job, and that's just one of my perks. There's no company car, no conferences in Cancun, no going out to lunch...ever. From 7:30 - 4:00 it's go, go, go. Our lunch is a race to see who can eat the fastest so we can get back to our classroom to set up for the next class. Our conference period is a mad scurry to get things put away from the day before and lessons planned for the next week (or next day!). I feel no guilt for having a couple months off to recuperate from 187 days of pure chaos.

And now I've run out of time, and the kids will be coming in any minute. Perhaps I'll find another 10 minutes before the school year is done to write a little more. Or not.

No tact Nellie

Faculty meeting today after school. It was a big deal since the superintendent was coming. It was a crock of crap. He talked to us for 30 minutes about how the kids are number one and how we are number two...blah, blah, blah. Why do we have to be constantly reminded that the kids are number one? Whether we're joking about it or not, we KNOW the kids are 1st. We're TEACHERS for crying out loud! We wouldn't have a job without them. We always like to make those silly comments about teacher work days being great since there's no kids at school. We're JOKING! Our super apparently has no sense of humor. We got a huge speech about this today...I'm not really sure why. Morale? Highly unlikely considering after he left, we were YELLED at by our pricipal...yelled...at us.

I know our principal is new at her job, but she lacks a certain tact about her position. Yelling at your staff at every faculty meeting is not the way to gain loyal teachers. I still have no idea why we got the 3rd degree. One minute we're going over practice TAKS scores in groups, the next...yelling. I felt like I was just scolded by someone's mother. But I do have to admit, it gives us lots to talk about for the next few days.

Baby Fat

Since we've had our new "fun times" administration, our staff has been given many duties that make us want to slit our wrists. One of my duties is making sure nobody kills each other in line during breakfast. It's very exciting.

But one thing I've noticed by spending time in the cafeteria is what these kids are eating every morning. Crap...junk...garbage...SUGAR! What are these people thinking?? To give a kid lucky charms, a donut, and chocolate milk?? Now, I know I'm no Slim Sally, but come on! It's no wonder a good 60% of the kids at my school are overweight when they start off their day like that.

Oh let's not stop there...Lunch.

A typical day at lunch consists of processed chicken nuggets, or processed fish, or processed beef...get the idea? With a side of instant mashed potatoes, corn, and smiley fries. YES! They'll serve 2 types of potatoes on the same plate...I kid you not. There is rarely anything green on their plates. The USDA has regulations about the fat content and calories, but nothing about carbohydrates or sugars.

If a child is on the free and reduced lunch program, they are required to get milk, whether they drink it or not. Half these kids don't even open them. They just go straight to the garbage (which is actually fine with me since I'm not a fan of milk). But it's the principle of just wasting it. But I digress...

Food in our schools is atrocious. Especially at the elementary level where it's hardly edible. On the off day I happen to forget my lunch, I would rather starve than eat anything from our cafeteria.

I can't make this stuff up!

My neighborhood is so jacked up! Although most nights are pretty quiet, we have plenty of entertainment on other nights. And it's ALWAYS at night that "things" happen. Joe says we should write a book about all the drama that goes on here. I've decided we need to start smoking in order to fit in better. It's like an undercover operation, and we're about to get made. We're overqualified to live here. We have all our teeth, pay our bills on time, don't smoke, we can speak a complete sentence without dropping the F-bomb, and we both have jobs. Completely overqualified.

So last night was no night of disappointment. Let me preface this by saying we live on the inside of a 90 degree curve into the neighborhood. It snowed half the day yesterday, and iced over after. I was not at all surprised to hear a thud outside around 9:30. I've heard this thud before. I heard it when our mailboxes were taken out last year, and again when a pole was taken out last winter. We went outside to take a look and saw what we thought we'd see...one of the "watch it, there's a curve here" sign taken down by a car, but no car in sight. Our neighbors came out too; probably thinking they took out our mailboxes again.

We went back inside thinking nothing of it. But once I sat down, I had this nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right. I didn't hear the usual squealing tires that precede a crash. Nor did I hear a car take off after hitting the pole. So we went back outside with flashlight in hand. Across the street there's a GIANT drainage ditch, and just guess what was at the bottom of it? Yep...the freaking car! It's about a 20 foot drop. Of course we started freaking out and called 911. Some boys from the houses next door to us went down to check on the guy, but he was okay. Actually, he was great...cause he was drunk! Stupid drunk. AND didn't speak a lick of English.

So the fire trucks get there, and the ambulance, and the State Troopers. It's a mess right outside our front door. And to make it even more interesting, the boys who went down to help the guy noticed a bottle of liquor in the car and threw it away from the car so they could go back later and retrieve it. Is that not the dumbest thing you ever heard!? Idiots...

Half the neighborhood was in our front yard wondering what was going on...and smoking. A girl 2 doors down came trotting along about 8 months pregnant without any shoes on! It's 20 degrees and the preggo didn't have shoes! I was just waiting for her to light up too.

There is just no shortage of drama here in Trailer Trash Estates. It wasn't even the accident that made the evening so interesting...it was the neighbors! I wish I had a hidden microphone or video camera. You'll just have to be content with the view we had from our front porch.

Thorny Thursdays

Today is Thursday. Every Thursday morning I have a REALLY hard time getting out of bed. This stems from a fear that one of my Thursday kiddos will drive me to the point of insanity where I cannot be responsible for my actions. Why should I be responsible? Most of my Thursday kids don't feel the need to be responsible for their actions. If they happen to hit me all I can do is document it. If the tables were turned, my career would be over. Yes, I've been hit twice this year, pinched, and had a chair thrown at me by a 5 year old.

All of this has happened on Thursdays. I'm glad this Thursday is over. Just 2 more until Christmas.

Hugs to Last a Lifetime

Every day I come to school I always think about writing this blog. The hug blog. I get more hugs in a day than I blink my eyes. Last year it was probably more. I had morning bus duty last year, and therefore got to greet about 80% of our students first thing in the morning. These kids are very lovey-dovey. I tried to count one time how many hugs I got in a day, but quickly lost track.

Hugs are pretty much the only things that keep me going this year. Every time I think I can't take anymore "stuff", I get kindergarten at the end of the day...and 27 hugs in 2 minutes.

I'll miss my little huggers next year if I happen to get a new job.

Hugs are fun! :o)