idontbelieveingrammar

a few weeks ago i wrote about all the fantastic things of something new. scrap it. Last week I started a new amazing job. I kept waiting for the catch. the pay was better. My schedule was better. The oppertunity to advance was better. The setting was better. The support was better. Everyone was so nice. It all made me want to be even better. And then the catch. Purely by accident I discovered that I will be teaching 2 TAKS math classes. Keep in mind this is Friday and school starts Monday and that I am a science teacher. Now to be fair, I am the TAKS girl on campus, but no TAKS classes, particuarly not non subject area classes were ever part of the deal. I fell apart. No materials, No background, and No time and 50 kids. I did what anyone else in my postion woulld do -- my chin started to quiver. I couldnt control it and next thing i knew i was doing something i had NEVER EVER done in my 8 years of teaching. I cried in front of an administrator ( and about a dozen others). Now, it is n...

Last night my friend Tina threw a BBQ off. Her husband likes to smoke......no, not what you are thinking......meat. He spent the day making a brisket and then they hit 3 of the most popular local BBQ places. She then put them all in cups, labeled with letters so we didn't know which was which and we had to taste and rank them. It felt a bit like the old school Pepsi/Coke taste tests ( whatever happened to those??).....but was fun and yummy. Todd came out the winner and I went home with a stomach ache. ( me and red meat are not friends). Several partygoers mentioned something a bit odd. If they had bought meat from any of those places and put it out we all would have been happy. It would have tasted like BBQ and surely some of us would have commented on how good it was, even the one that came in last place. Side by side we noticed all kinds of things. One even seemed to taste like old socks to me, next to the others. Like I said, if I didn't have Todd's prize winning BBQ to ...

I did my official weigh in on Monday.....but am a little late getting it posted. 151 -- down 3 lbs. No working out at the gym ( my knee was REALLY sore) and I only played one soccer game. Conclusion -- don't go to the gym if you are trying to lose weight. Some of it from last week probably finally caught up with me. One pound was probably hair, and another was probably just water due to all this freaking heat. My face is always the first thing to lose weight. This positive because I look skinnier to myself in the mirror and feel encouraged to continue. Negative -- because it isn't my face that needs to fit into any clothes. I felt fine with my face before.........not so much about my thighs. So it is Wednesday and I am already up a pound from Monday's weigh in. This is to blame on my new school. Monday's menu consisted of Chicken Red's for breakfast ( I split one with someone), and Babes for lunch ( i got a TINY peice of smoked - not there famous fried chicken, but ...

So this sunday i was demoted to kindergarten. It was much smoother, but still no peice of cake. The lesson was on doubting Thomas, but it was lost to most of them who thought I was talking about a little blue train.

I just got a new haircut and am pretty enamored with myself. I kept flipping my hair and looking in the rearview mirror all the way home. It feels lighter, smells good and has that just from the salon style. You know the one I wont be able to repeat no matter how hard I try or how many different products I use from home. I wished I had made evening plans. This hair needs to get out on the town. This hair could use a new outfit ( although I will resist). It is more than the haircut, all of me feels new and fresh. I like new things; they inspire. New shoes feel like they go faster and make me want to hit the gym. New pens write better words. Blank pages hold so much promise. New cleaning products make me want to dust (and trust me this is significant). New office supplies make me want to be a better teacher. A new outfit can change my entire self-image, at least briefly. Yes I know this sounds like I am falling into traps of consumerism. And, I am, but that is not what this is about. I’v...

I wondered in and tried to scope out the seating arrangements. I am new. I don’t know anyone. It’s been 5 years since I have been the new girl. Usually, a seat has already been saved for me at a crowded table full of coffee, candy and crosswords. We giggle and write notes and try to be quiet ( it is a struggle). But today I am searching for a seat near someone else sitting alone that looks friendly. Preferably near the back. I leave the customary empty seat between us and get comfortable. This is my first inservice of the year and an unwelcome reminder that my summer is almost over. I am not looking forward to my day of powerpoints and forced discussion. I am, however, on time. I brought a pen and paper and left my phone in the car. I was in the minority on all of those. Teachers, as a group, tend to be horrible students. I witnessed lots of text messaging, magazine reading and lesson planning. Some one in the back was rumored to be watching a movie on their laptop. The two girls...

3 trips to the gym and 2 soccer games = only one less crummy pound. Making this week's weight 154. My sister is only down an eight of a pound so I have a slight edge. Confession I am a cheater: Wed - fried jalepeno slices covered in cheese w/ creamy ranch ( i paid for this later) Sat- I went to a shower....pie, cookies, lots of ranch. Saturday night - cooking out at a friends and more pie. Today a kitkat and an oatmeal cookie Now that I think about it, maybe I should be happy with the one pound. This week I will try harder to curb my sweets. I at least feel skinnier when I am hungry, but man I love pie :) I also plan to get my haircut and have thought seriously that if I chop enough off I could lose almost a pound!

I did not like my first grade teacher. She used to staple notes to my shirt telling my mom that I talked back. She wrote messy on my ditto copied worksheets. She gave me a zero on a paper on greater than less than signs. I had them flipped, meaning I was 100% correct, just backwards…She should have taken off like 10 points or something NOT give me a big fat goose egg. She even made me cry once. I do not look back on first grade fondly. After my morning teaching 1st and 2nd grade Sunday school though, I am considering writing her a big thank you letter and sending a bottle of wine. So I seldom do my part at church, so when my friend Christy asked me to sub for her while she was out of town I accepted. How hard could it be. Last time I saw her class there were only 2 kids. I am a teacher by trade, send me the lesson plan and I’ll be good to go. If all else failed I figured we could just color. I am a little nervous. I am used to much older and much younger kids, but I read my lesson in a...

My plan for Friday was to move into my new classroom. This is a little tough with a 2 year old, but I talked Shaun into borrowing a big giant dolly and meeting me at the school for lunch. I figured one of us could carry tubs, the other carry Owen. I got a phone call inviting me to storytime, lunch and then swimming. Dilemma, work or play?? I almost always pick play……but Shaun is meeting me, the room is open and we have a dolly. Maybe I can do both. I pack a swim bag with and take off.I make it to B&N ( did I mention it is the one in SW Fort Worth) in plenty of time. I did see an accident on the other side of the highway. Mental note, try and avoid that on the way back. So my plan is a typical plan a lot into a short time, I –can-do-everything-plan. Go to story time, leave about 11:30. 15 –minutes to get home 10 – minutes to load the truck ( yes I know that was a lofty goal, b/c it is a lot of stuff. 2 cars worth of stuff, but 90% of it is in plastic tubs and I can really mo...

She questions her next move. She isn’t the only one. Age doesn’t provide all the answers. It doesn’t protect us from fear Or rejection or insecurities. She is supposed to worry about these things. We are supposed to know better. Or at least we are expected to pretend we do. It almost makes me wish for the advantage Of that miserable ache.

Owen hasn't quite mastered the English language. I'm not worried, i still say a few things funny myself........these are my favorites. 1. wimming - translation swimming, it used to be just 'ming! must be said with much enthusiasm. 2. nack - translation snack, this is what he asks for when he wakes up from a nap 3. belbow - translation elbow. very cute. my new favoirte body part 4. nanny - translation banana, this is one of his favorite nacks. 5. waygo - translation frozen waffle, altertnate translation legos 6. mooey - translation movie, must also come with paw-corn ( popcorn) 7. meeelk - translation milk, yuck and he thinks so too! 8. dina-swore - translation dinosaur and followed by a big roar! 9. goodie -translation anything yummy like cookies, candy or icecream 10. peas - translation please, said cute enough guarentees he will get that goodie. there are lots more, but some things he shouldn't say like frog...turns into another 4 letter f word. recently we just got...