Gift Card Slice of Life

My dad and I went to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse tonight. We used one of my gift cards from Teacher Appreciation week. The food was delicious and we had a bit of an adventure as well. We had eaten our salads and our steaks had arrived. After about 3 bites, the lights all dimmed! Everybody looked around wondering what was happening. There was no storm. It was a perfectly sunny day so it was not really very dark in the restaurant. We all went back to eating. Soon a manager came around and said that a circuit breaker had a problem and they hoped to fix it soon. Since it wasn't really a problem, we weren't concerned. Now parts of the restaurant had lights, other parts had lights that would dim, get brighter and then dim again. The computer station near our table would beep occasionally. When we finished eating, the waitperson came with our bill, so a computer was working somewhere in the building. We paid, finished our drinks and walked out into the bright sunshine. It seemed an odd time for a power surge, but it added a little excitement to our outing. It was a yummy dinner!

The Cookies are Calling...

I have a Hallmark card that says, “The cookies are calling...” “Give in!”

Today, after school, I zipped open the first box of Girl Scout cookies. I ended up with two boxes this year. I usually buy one box from each child that asks and the number varies greatly. I pulled out the long, silver sleeve anticipating the chocolatey, mint flavor. I tugged open one end and slid out a lone cookie. I nibbled the edge, crunched the middle and caught the crumbs with my tongue. Three more would be today’s limit, I decided. I removed them, twisted the sleeve closed and pushed the rest back into the box for another day. Happily munching helped to satisfy that ever present after school hunger as I prepared for Monday morning. Yum!

Signs of Spring

Last summer I did an entry about Signs of Summer. It was inspired by Ali Edwards, but I can't find the exact post. Anyway, it certainly feels like spring here. Thank goodness! My school playground has no protection from the wind and it feels like we have been inside forever.



Spring Bulletin Boards








Disappearing Snow
& Mud Everywhere (My students have actually done a pretty good job of avoiding the mud. Yeah!)







Standardized Testing (Our 3rd, 4th and 5th graders are working hard. Our Stanford 10 tests will be in April.)








Light Outside at 5:30 p.m. (That's my watch and the view from the hallway outside my classroom. I'm sure the camera couldn't decide what to focus on!)







Sprouting Hyacinths (These are inside, but the ones outside are sprouting too.)




Happy Spring!

Detective Work at the Gym

I was winding up my stress relief at the gym by diligently pumping up and down on the elliptical when I looked at the book prop. This is what I saw - 2 books. My teacher’s edition of our current math topic. We have a new series which we are implementing with fidelity. So, I really need to look it over each day before teaching. I also had my latest library stash which is Sue Grafton’s newest book, U is for Undertow.

I began to wonder just how much these clues revealed to my fellow pedalers. Obviously, I am a teacher and it even discloses my grade level if you look closely. Good detectives will also deduce that I am a mystery reader. One might also infer that I must distract myself from the exercise by doing something else. Other clues that lead to this deduction would include the gum and the iPod! Perhaps, I should think about what I inadvertently reveal without even trying.

Feathery Alarm Clock

Scritch! Scratch! Thump! Thump! Thump! It sounded like someone was walking on the roof. I slowly opened my eyes and squinted at the clock. 6:30 a.m. I put on my glasses and looked up at the skylight above my bed. A black shadow appeared. Too small for a misguided roofer. Click. Click. Click. The black shadow began pecking on the skylight. A neighborhood crow had decided that it was time for me to get up. I turned over and pulled the covers over my head. I wonder how you “hit the snooze button” on a crow.

Out the Door

I threw on my favorite pair of work out pants and a bright pink long-sleeved t-shirt. Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I headed out the door. I poked the garage door button, opened the car door and slid in. The engine roared to life with a turn of the key, unlike last year on March 1, when the battery was dead! I backed out of the drive and headed toward the gym. The hardest part was accomplished - getting motivated to get out of the house and just go!

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!

Slice of Life Story Challenge 2010

I'm thinking about flexing my fingers and exercising my brain. It is time for Two Writing Teachers' month-long Slice of Life Story Challenge. I don't know that I quite feel up to writing every day, but good writing teachers must practice their craft. Right?

Day 28

Snowflakes

Snowflakes

Silently falling
Noiseless creation
Of a
Winter Wonderland.
Flakes of ice crystals
Laying in drifts
Across the frozen ground.
Kisses of cold
Eager to greet you
Sparkling in the sunlight.

Day 25 - Christmas Day

Day 24 - Christmas Eve

I baked these cute, scrumptious chocolate cupcakes for dessert.

Day 23

Our winter break challenge is to write every day in our winter writing mini-notebooks. So far, I have done pretty well. Of course, I have the incentive of posting to the Internet every day. Lots of second grade eyes will know almost immediately if I have not done my writing homework! Hopefully, there will be lots of notebooks returned on January 5th and we will be able to celebrate our writing in some fun way.

Day 22

Yesterday, I did some shopping for Christmas presents. Today, I went shopping at two grocery stores. I bought some food for Christmas Eve and christmas Day. There were a LOT of people out for Monday and Tuesday afternoons. Thankfully everyone I met was patient and happy which makes the whole experience more enjoyable! Check out Straight No Chaser singing The Christmas Can-Can in which shopping figures prominently.

Day 21

I have finished my Christmas cards. I also wrote a short note to include this year.

Day 20

Sometimes I take advantage of a weekend morning to actually cook breakfast. Today I had French toast. I can't believe that I used to think that this was difficult to make. I was glad to find an easy recipe in my Starving Student Cookbook and now I can even add some cinnamon, vanilla or secret Lounsberry flavoring to make it even tastier. Yum!

Day 19

Today I put up my Christmas tree. When I was growing up, we always went to a tree farm, cut down a tree and dragged it back to the truck. Then it sat in a bucket of water until after my mom's birthday. Then we could cut off the bottom again and try to get it into the tree stand. After that, we half carried and half pushed it through the door into the house. The tree stood in front of a window in the family room. Once it was standing, the bolts had to be adjusted to make the tree stand up straight. Sometimes branches had to be trimmed so the star would fit on the top. Someone had to crawl under the tree branches to add water to the stand. This had to be done carefully or the water would overflow. When the tree was standing straight and tall, Dad would put on the lights. When each light was twinkling, Mom, my sister and I would put on the ornaments, each with its own story. Then the icicles were hung with care strand by strand creating a sparkly, beautiful tree.

Day 18

Everyone enjoyed our fabulous winter celebration at school. The students rotated to all the stations allowing them to experience many fun activities. They decorated scrumptious sugar cookies. Creating a foam snow globe with our class picture was fun too. Picking up Hershey's kisses with chopsticks was a bit of a challenge! BINGO is always popular, especially when you can win a Tootsie pop. Many students also painted or created a snowflake ornament. Everyone was very busy! I am always thankful to all the parents who helped by coordinating the party, running the stations, and sending supplies. It would be much more stressful without all of their work!

Day 17

Today we had an assembly at school. Our 3rd, 4th and 5th grade starter string students played a few songs. They looked quite professional in their performance clothes. Then Mrs. Childers, Mrs. Lueking and Mr. Fowler played the flute, violin and piano. The students chimed in and sang some familiar holiday songs. Finally, several staff members sang three songs: Deck the Halls, Winter Wonderland and Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree. It was fun to watch and sing.

Day 16

Day 15

We usually have a holiday assembly or two. Today, my class found a spot in the gym with the other 500 students to enjoy the music of the Lincoln Magnet School Jazz Band. Unfortunately, I had to spend most of my time looking for the substitute art teacher so I could go to our mandatory grade level meeting, so I only got to hear a couple of the songs.