Vacation!

It's Thursday morning, I haven't been here for a week yet and it feels like we have been here a month. Things are crazy as usual, here's a glimpse:

Saturday-

* Haircut at barber shop
* Mom and dad to wedding
* Sarah and I took grandma and grandpa to Kara and Katie's grad party for day

Sunday-

* Church at 9
* Reception to say goodbye to Jeff and Julia
* Catered brunch for wedding participants (got moved at last minute when air conditioner broke)
* Crashed and took nap
* Fathers day with grandpa
* Vacation Bible School kick off, helped crew for hot air balloon

Monday-

*On the road for Chicago - two traffic jams added 2 hours to our trip
* Dinner with John and stayed at his apartment

Tuesday-

*Located Betsy and hit Starbucks
*Appointment at headache clinic - happy with progress, my favorite Dr. is leaving :-(
* Field Museum - great exhibits - highly recommended!
* Lunch at Hard Rock Cafe (who can resist their valet parking in downtown!)
*Dropped Betsy at friends work and headed back to Michigan

Wednesday-

*NOTHING - I stayed in my pajamas all day until dinner. We took Jeff and Julia out for a see you later dinner so I showered and such but when we got home it was right back in my jammies and we finished tying a quilt they had been working on.

Thursday-

TBA Sarah and Dad headed out to the links this morning but I opted to stay home and relax a little. I need to get back on a schedule. I hope everyone is doing well. Drop me a line and let me know what's going on!

Big Bang

Last Thursday I completed my second year at Crane. I am celebrating it as a success because seep down I like my kids and my job. The day was good, we saw them all for a little while, said our goodbyes. I sorted through some boxes and got rid of some stuff etc... Then the day ended. It was a half day and the kids were all crying, because, let's be realistic, this is the now for them. For a lot of these kids who move around and have very flexible families, school is the one constant in their lives. So everyone is crying and hugging and all the teachers are out for bus duty trying to herd them to the buses when all of sudden I am in the middle of a fight trying to pull one of my students off of another. They had a hold of each other's hair in death grips and refused to let go. I was pulling pretty hard on one and my fellow teacher Mrs. M was pulling equally hard on the other. The math teacher jumped in and the gimpy social studies teacher and police officer (who is on crutches at the moment) also tried to get in. It took some doing but we untangled everyone and I had to physically pick my student up and remover her from the area. We got them separated and calmed down pretty quickly because the 8th grade promotion was starting so there were parents milling around. Sarah in the mean time had been across the yard, seen what was happening and run to our aid. She went for the principal who was outside with us but oblivious to the whole thing.

I am still not sure what the whole thing was about my my student got pretty scratched up from fingernails and she was upset, she didn't start it and was apparently caught off guard. We also learned that another girl had been involved and slipped away during the commotion so we called her house and her mother brought her in immediately when she got off the bus.

It certainly ended the year with a big bang!

Extravaganza

I am exhausted! But it is good, today we had fun, I was in charge of the jousting matches at the carnival this morning and I took a few hits but overall I had a winning record. We had boxing, water slides, a rock climbing wall, a giant slip and slide, an obstacle course and more. All set up in our parking lot. It was great and the kids behaved great, it was hot so we are sunburned and tired. Now we have had lunch and are watching "Akeelah and the Bee" until it is time to go home. Then tomorrow it will be the last day. This was a positive way to end the year.

Especially since there hasn't been alot of positives lately. We are in huge budget crunches and we are being forced to lose a teacher to the elementary. My boss put it to us to decide as a staff, which I think is unfair, but that is the way it is. I offered to go but they said no. They can't afford to lose an English teacher. They want a social studies teacher to go.

One of my students is in lock up because she assaulted a police officer during a domestic disturbance last weekend and has to stay there until July 6th. Another is under house arrest and yet another is in in school all week for coming forward and admitting he took part in a crime. Things are messy for my kids. I teach the low ones so their lives are a little harder than others. Sarah got a huge gift basket from one of hers with a gift card and scrapbooking stuff in it. I felt bad at first knowing I wouldn't get anything from my kids. Then I remembered that I don't need anything. I get satisfaction every time they get a good grade on a test or learn the meaning of a new word.

I am a tree!

I am a tree, I did it! Sarah and I started going to Yoga class during spring break so it has been about 3 months and my goal has been to do tree stand without falling over. I did it tonight, twice! I was so excited - the instructor kept telling me to keep going that the strength work would pay off and it did. For anyone that doesn't know what tree pose check this out:

http://www.santosha.com/asanas/vriksha.html

It ain't easy bein' green

I try to be conscious of the world and my impact on it. When the scientists said to stop using aerosols I did, when they said to stop using lead in products we did, when they said to stop drinking so much bottled water because the bottles were stacking up and not biodegrading fast enough I did, even though I miss it.

So now, even though I am trying to do what they say it's not enough and I have to wonder if it will ever be enough. Newsweek reported this week that male fish in the Colorado River are turning into female fish thus causing a reproductive problem and it is being caused by non other than anti bacterial soap being washed down the drains.

So now I am going to stop using anti bacterial soap as well. The scientists are investigating the link that this finding has on humans. They are seeing a connection to puberty starting earlier in girls and lower sperm count in men. The results could be devastating to our future. All of this from fish! And people wonder why I don't sleep.

Gone Green

Mary Kay has gone GREEN! No, your make -up will not be green, we are still MK Pink and proud of it but we have jumped on the environmentally friendly bandwagon. I got an order yesterday and it came with new packing material. Peanuts. OK, peanuts are not new but we usually get brown paper. These peanuts are special. They are made out of some crazy biodegradable stuff and they are OK to throw away because they will break down quickly or, are you ready for this...They dissolve in hot water. It really works. I poured them in the sink and soaked them in hot water and they disappeared down the drain. It was fantastic.

So now you have one more reason to buy MK, we're not just pink anymore, we're green too!