My mother's daughter

I know I'm turning into my mother when I buy two bowls of candy.  One chock full of the good stuff for the cute darlings who grace my door and another full of dum dums and smarties for the kids who are way too old to be trick-or -treating.  I'm totally asking for my pumpkin to get smashed aren't I?

10-10-10

Nothing really to write.  Just lovin' the date. 

Your Mailbox is Full

I was really irritated the other day because I keep trying to call someone and I always get the message that their mailbox is full.  I really need to talk to this person and I don't have any other way of getting a hold of her.  I kept thinking seriously, empty your mailbox!  So this morning when I go to check my messages I hear "your mailbox is full."  Oops.  I guess that's karma for you.  Also, later I ran into her at the grocery store.  Guess it all worked out. 

Forced Unpaid Vacation

So on this the first of five furlough days this is what I accomplished:

1. Long walk with Dudley and mom in the gully.  No snakes spotted -- Thank heavens.
2. Planned my methods class for Tuesday
3. Set up Scholastic Book Clubs orders
4. Updated Blog
5. Organized guided reading groups
6. Printed off labels for online math access
7. Scheduled parent volunteers
8. Organized my roll book
9. Made a parent email list
10. Finished all my beginning of year assignments to turn in to my principal
11. Started to burn the primary CDs for the program

And it's only 4 pm

Next I'm off to work out with Lori and catch a class of water aerobics.

This has been an extremely productive no work/no pay day.  I always knew I'd get so much done if it weren't for the kiddos.

I think I've earned a movie from Red Box tonight.

Off centered and bouncy

Today while on a walk with Dudley, Gunner, and my mom, she commented on how cute the Dudster's tail is.  Dudley's tail is long and curves up in a high arch.  It is constantly going.  You know Dudley is happy because he wags it -- hard.  He wags it so hard it often bangs into things like metal garbage cans, walls, door frames, and the side of the bathtub.  You'd think it would hurt and then he wouldn't be so happy, but it does not deter him.  Anyway, mom said, "Dudley's tail is so cute.  It's kind of off-center and bouncy -- Just like him."  Yup, that's one way to describe him.  Off centered and bouncy.  Especially earlier that afternoon when he wrapped himself up in his leash so that his hind legs were tethered together.  He looked like a rabbit hoping around in my mom's flowers. Crazy dog.

Sometimes it's just best to lie

On the first day of class it's really not a good idea to tell me you'll be leaving early so you can attend the John Mayer concert.  At least have the creativity to come up with some feasible excuse.  It's also not a good idea to leave 2 hours before the concert begins.  So infuriating. 

In Love

Be still my heart. When George Stephanopoulos announced he would be leaving This Week for Good Morning America I was devastated.  Almost as much as when Alison Becker was replaced on VH1 Top 20 Countdown.  But my heart started to beat slightly when it was announced that Christiane Amanpour would be new the host.  This morning it was full on pitter pat when the topic was the Race to the Top and her guests included none other than Arne Duncan, Secretary of Education and Jamie Oliver, host of Food Revolution.  She had me at, "Today we'll be discussing improving America's Education System."  I've always been a one issue girl politically and when my favorite Sunday morning news highlights my one issue it's hard to stay miffed.  Now I'll be late for church, but I'll still be wondering about performance pay, and what I can do personally for my school.  I'll also be googling Finland to check out what they've got going on -- my guess, small class sizes, quality early childhood education, arts instruction by qualified individuals, and a system for dealing with misbehaviors in the classroom.  Oh yeah, and parent involvement accompanied with respect for education.  Not just respect for educators, but truly people who see education as a step up.  This is something we are seriously lacking in America.  If we're serious about improving education, we have to put our money where our mouth is and vote for politicians who will do it.  Take that Jeb Bush -- class size doesn't matter?  Try and teach 25 2nd graders how to play a 15 minute math game by yourself in 100 degree temperatures at 2:00p.m., while an autistic child makes bird calls in the background and tell me that class size doesn't matter.  Go ahead, tell me.