Oh, the weather outside is frightful...

but the fire is so delightful!
I can count on 1 hand my Christmas decorations this year. That's not usually like me! I've had to make myself not walk down the Christmas aisles at stores because I have an addiction with buying more stuff every year. I got out all the boxes from my storage room after Thanksgiving, but then decided that I didn't want to have to put it all away in a few weeks. Pretty pitiful, huh? But this little Santa made the cut. And I hung a lighted wreath on my door...that way all the neighbors can just assume that the inside of my apartment is decorated as well. I'm using a poinsettia that was given to me as my "tree."

A couple of weeks ago Zane and I went to the Gaylord Texan Hotel in Grapevine to the ICE sculpture exhibit. It's 2 million pounds of ice hand-carved into 3 slides, the nativity, toys, gingerbread people, etc. They keep it at a chilly 9 degrees so they give you a lovely parka to wear. Cute, huh?


I used to teach a penguin story to my 2nd graders so now I love penguins!


the nativity...
and the disposable camera wasn't so great, but this is me coming down the slide...

Merry Christmas!!!

Kumbaya

Well, I survived camping and it was lots of fun. There were 10 adults, 3 kids, 3 dogs, way too much food, and tons of laughs! We didn't completely "rough it" because we slept on air mattresses, but I was ok with that! The bad part of camping is that it takes a lot of effort getting everything ready to go and then a lot of time setting up just to "rough it." That part was funny to me. One friend Krista said her husband Tim spent so much money on camping supplies that they could've gone to a 5-star hotel for that price. But we reminded her it wouldn't have been as much fun. Here are some pics from the weekend...Once again, I'm at the mercy of other people and their cameras so I think there are some other good pics out there, but they haven't been sent to me yet. :)the girls

me, Wendi, and Sarah

my buddy Jeff and I waiting on breakfast

the chefs--Tim, Zane, and Melissa cooking breakfast

Jaleen, Emma, Wendi, and Connor watching breakfast cook

where Krista spent most of her time...in her chair watching the fire

me and Sarah with no make-up!

Then Zane and I figured as long as we were outside, we might as well go hunting for some dinosaurs...
the t-rex and the brontosaurus

Alright already :)

Apparently Shandra and Carrie are bored with my old post so I guess it's time to update. :) If only I had something to blog about...

Only 2 more days of school till Thanksgiving break! Woo hoo!!! Friday night I'm hosting my Bunco group at my apartment. I think all I have left to do is vacuum the living room. It should be fun times. It might be a little different than Todd thinks, but we still know how to have a good time. :)

On Saturday a group of 12 friends and I are going camping. I've never been camping in a tent so it should be quite interesting. I'm not sure if I can handle "roughing it" or not. I do get to take an air mattress though, so that's good. If nothing else, I'll get to make a s'more while sitting by the campfire.

Unfortunately my camera is broken so I have no pictures lately, and you know how much I love taking pictures! It's killing me! Sometimes I can talk friends into taking their camera but then I have to bug them about sending me the pics and all that. I do have a few pics from a trip I took last weekend. I went with my friends Mike, Wendi, and Tim down to New Braunfels where we float the river in the summer. We stayed with Mike's brother Jeff and his wife Sarah and went to a festival Saturday night. It was lots of fun. I wasn't able to go last year because that's when I was having to work in my classroom every weekend. But this year I don't usually have much weekend homework so I was able to go. Anyway, we went shopping at the big outlet mall down there too. It's hard for me to look at sweaters and such when it's 85 degrees outside!

Here's the group from Dallas that drove down there...Wendi, Mike, me, and Tim
Mike, Wendi, Jeff, and Sarah

Jeff is a junior high football coach. There is a lady at his school that has cancer and lost her hair. So Jeff and some others shaved their heads to support her. I thought that was very sweet of them! He loved it! Don't they look just a little bit alike? :)

So that's about all that I've been up to lately. I'll try to get someone to bring their camera on our camping trip this weekend and post some pics of that. I'm excited to finally get to see my family next week for Thanksgiving. Has anyone started their Christmas shopping yet? I haven't even thought about it yet!

Blue Man Group

This goes with the post below...soemtimes technology is smarter than me! :)

What a busy week!!!

I love living in a place where so many fun things are constantly going on! Unfortunately I don't have real pictures for most of these things because #1 my camera is dead and #2 these places wouldn't let me use it anyway.

Last weekend my friend Koby invited me to the Meyerson to hear the Dallas Symphony. There were honoring the group ABBA. We didn't really know what to expect. After the intermission, a group from Sweden came out dressed up like ABBA and put on a concert with the symphony backing them up. It was great. We even got to stand up and sing along. All of you that liked Mamma Mia would have been singing with me. :) being silly on the way home
Audra

Last Wednesday night I went to see The Lion King at Fair Park. Oh my gosh, it was sooooo good! If you get the chance to go, you should!!! I've always liked that movie and the music in it. But you would not believe the costumes! It was amazing! We had great seats on the floor in the middle section, 13 rows back. I've never sat down there!

Then last night I went to see The Blue Man Group at the American Airlines Center. I didn't really know what to expect, but it was a good show. I've never been to Vegas, but if I went, this is one of the shows I would want to see there. So I was glad to hear they were coming to Dallas. Here's a video someone put on youtube from the show the night before.

done!

Well, I'm finally done with the past 3 weeks of training for my new reading tutoring program. Whew! Tomorrow I finish up working on schedules and start doing some special ed inclusion. From what I've heard, that should be interesting...more so because of the teachers I'll be working with rather than the kids.

I had to move classrooms...AGAIN!!! We've had about 100 more kids enroll than expected so they've had to hire more teachers. So first I moved out of my own classroom into my new friend Leigh Ann's room with her. But then a week ago, we got booted out and had to move in with another special ed teacher. So there are 3 of us crammed into 1 room that's smaller than all my rooms from the past 7 years. Nice! It's taught me that I have way too much stuff! And most of it is already in my spare bedroom! But like I've said before, teachers hate to give stuff away, and for all I know I could be back in the classroom next year and need it all again. But let's hope not! :)

I still miss my old friends from my last 2 schools. It's hard getting to know a whole new staff. And not really being on an official grade level makes it a little harder. But I've really enjoyed being able to help out as a support teacher. Our faculty meeting lasted over 2 hours last week, but it didn't really bother me that much because half the stuff that was covered didn't have anything to do with me. I still feel a little guilty because of that, but I'm trying to get over it. :) Tuesday night I'm having dinner with 3 of my closest teammates from my 1st school. We try to get together about once a month.

Not a whole lot else has been going on lately. I got to hang out with my good buddies Jill and Demian this weekend. That was so much fun it made me dizzy! :) And a "first" happened for me today...I successfully operated a lawnmower at a friend's house. I feel bad to say that I've never done that before, but I haven't. I used to help rake sometimes when I was growing up, but I had never mowed. It made me glad I live in an apartment with no yard!

Last week I went several days without checking everyone's blogs because of some computer issues here at home and I had missed out on pregnancy announcements and births! So now I'm trying to stay in the loop more. But if you've missed checking my blog in a while, you haven't missed a thing. Have a great week!!!

1st week of school

Whew! I am glad the first week of school is over! Since my training for my reading program doesn't start until this week, I wasn't able to start my reading groups yet. So last week I got to do all sorts of odd jobs for my administrators. Then our 2 monolingual kindergarten classes each had 30 kids so they had to make a new kindergarten class. Guess who almost had to sub for a few days?! ME! But luckily they found a long-term sub that can teach until they can hire a teacher. But guess whose classroom they needed to make into a kindergarten room?! MINE! So all in one day, I had to pack everything up and move it to another room. Then with a little help, we had to get my old room ready to look like a kindergarten classroom. It was crazy! And it would have been easier if I could have worn shorts and flip flops! :) So here are some things I learned during my first week of school...

1. All of you moms out there need to teach your kids how to open their milk cartons and ketchup packets before they start kindergarten! Helping out during lunch was quite an experience. One little boy had one of those lunchables with a pizza in it. He almost cried because I wouldn't go heat up his pizza. I guess he's used to eating it hot. I told him it should be ok because it had been sitting in his lunchbox all morning. He said no, the ice pack was keeping it cold! I suggested he bring a sandwich the next day. :) Just kidding! I would have gone to heat it up in the microwave in my room but that would have left 1 other teacher managing the whole cafeteria. And I also didn't want him to think we would heat things up everyday!

2. After wearing flip flops all summer, your feet sometimes rebel to real sandals by giving you horrible blisters!

3. Sharing a classroom with another teacher is fun, but not quite the same as having your own space to yourself.

4. Working with new people and making new friends is good, but it makes you miss the old friends from previous schools too. I'm glad to have my friends Koby and Jaleen there. It's nice to have familiar faces around.

5. Directing traffic is not as easy as it looks. Parents that have been sitting in the parking lot waiting for their little baby to get out of school sometimes honk their horns at teachers who are trying to help children not get run over in the crosswalk! :)

6. Parents that wait to register their kids on the 1st day of school are impatient! How dare it not be a 5 minute process because they might be late to work! Well, all you had to do was come up to school the week before...I'm just saying...

7. Having to go to bed at a decent hour and getting up early is HARD after a summer of staying up late.

8. Even though I've been super busy all day long, I can get in my car with just my purse and lunch bag...and no teacher bag full of lessons to plan or papers to grade. I'm handling less stress quite well! :)

9. Dinner with Kristi is a great way to unwind during the week. A bowl of chips and salsa can cure anything! We sat 3 tables over from my principal and the lady I share a classroom with. What a small world!

10. The best way to end the 1st week of school is Bunco on Friday night, shopping with your mom on Saturday, and a country music festival on Sunday afternoon.

For the next 3 weeks I will be in training from 7:30-3:30 for the reading program I'm going to be doing. Luckily the training is at my school so that's nice. I've heard it's really intense though. My friend DeAnne is the trainer for this week. Tomorrow she's going to start by recording us while we read, then grading us. I'll let you know if I have to be in the "Buzzards" reading group. Just kidding! We don't call them that anymore, Todd S. :)

All moved in

I got all moved in to my new classroom last week. Whew! What a bunch of junk I've collected in the past 7 years! I won't need a lot of it this year so I brought some of it home to store for a while. My spare bedroom is a mess! Unfortunately the teacher that was in my room last year had not moved out yet. I had to put all my boxes in the corner. I'm going back today to see if she's been up there. It's a been a week so let's hope she's cleaned up the place! But then I got to thinking that it might just be junk that she didn't want, and left for me to clean up. This is my 4th classroom to move into, so I've learned that some teachers are like that.

Last Thursday night I went to a Cowboys preseason game. They were playing the Colts which means Peyton Manning was there. :) We were in a suite at the top so the pictures are kinda fuzzy. But I tried to get a picture of him for you, Buf.

We had to keep the windows closed because the air was on so there's a glare. There were fireworks and the players are running through that big helmet down through a line of cheerleaders.

Can you see Manning? Squint! :)

We were in that top section.
The final score was 23-10.

There's usually a group of players that kneel on the star after the game and pray.That's what they were doing here...

The mayor of Nairobi, Kenya was in our suite too. (how random!) He was in Dallas for the week and decided that a Cowboys game would be on his list of things to do. They call him "His Worship." I thought that was funny.

I went home last weekend for a quick trip before school starts. Reanne goes to the daycare at Emmanuel and they were performing a musical on Sunday night. She had a solo and sang her little heart out. She loves to watch Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel so my brother was calling her Reanna Montana. Then they came up with Reanna Louisiana. She couldn't wait to see herself on channel 4 the next night. She did great and wasn't nervous at all. She told me she was going to be singing in front of thousands! :)

I guess if I'm going to get anything done at school today, I better stop blogging now. Have a good weekend!

A new job!!!

I forgot to mention earlier that I passed my special ed. test!!! And it's good thing because this week I was offered a new position that requires that certification. I will be teaching a small-group tutoring program called Read Right half of the day and going into classrooms and helping special ed. kids in small groups the other half of the day. I will be moving schools...again! It is such a chore packing and moving because teachers are such pack rats! We hate to get rid of anything, in case we need it someday. Last year my parents were a huge help with moving my classroom and apartment. Just the other day my dad told my mom that he sure was glad I wasn't moving this summer! :)

My Bunco friend Jaleen will be moving to my new school to teach 1st grade, my buddy Koby is the new assistant principal, and the new principal Tina used to be Jen Ken's principal. So it's a small world! I am excited about the change but am also sad to leave my 3rd grade team and school. They welcomed me with open arms and I learned so much in such a short time there.

Last night they had a birthday get-together for me at Frances' new house. I was nervous about telling them my news because I didn't want them to feel like I was deserting them. But they were so sweet and understanding. Not that I can't be replaced :) but I know it's not always easy finding teachers with experience at this time of the summer that still need a job.

Jessica, Kasey, Karla, me, and Frances
(Carmen and Susan were out of town)

mmmmmm, red velvet cake!

Yesterday my friend Joy and I went to visit Krista and baby Hannah. She's trying to get her on more of a schedule but it's not working as well as she planned. But all she does is sleep and eat...what a life! Hannah had so fun with Miss Mandy that she needed a nap! :)

Touchdown!

Still celebrating

Last night I went to eat at Texas Love & War with Kristi, Jill & Demian, and Murry in Grapevine. We highly suggest the fried pickles and fried green beans! Then we went to Kristi's house and had birthday cake! It was sooooo yummy! It was the Sacher torte from la Madeleine's.

yep, I still like to use the automatic timer on my camera,
just like in college :)

Kristi cutting the cake

Sacher torte

Jill & Demian re-enacting their wedding reception...

I really appreciate all your birthday wishes, e-cards, gifts, and even a post about me for my birthday! This past week I have really been reminded of what great friends and family I have! Maybe I'll turn 30 every year from now on. :)

30 is the new 20, right? :)

Since 30 is the new 20, I shouldn't feel any older, right? But I do!!! Some friends took me out to dinner last night. We had loads of fun! My friend Greg (in the white shirt below) works for Nokia and got me a new phone that's out in Europe. It's sooo cute! And it's red, my favorite color! It's a slide phone with an MP3 player, radio, camera, etc. I love it!

The group after dinner at Monica's...

Me and Koby

The black and white girls...Wendi, me, and Melinda

So far 30 hasn't been that bad. I already had gray hair, wrinkles, and bad eyesight so what else is new!?!? :)

Monday I went with some friends to a small waterpark called Bedford Splash that's here in HEB. My friend Karen has 2 sons. This one is DeWayne. Isn't he so cute in his floaty suit? The faces he can make with those eyebrows crack me up!

My friend Krista had her baby last Thursday. Her name is Hannah Marie. How sweet!!! I started tearing up when I first held her b/c they've been wanting a baby for a long time! There were some difficulties with the pregnancy so I was glad to finally have her here and healthy.


A couple of weeks ago my friend Margaret from Ruston came to town with her 3 kiddos. I entertained them some while she had some meetings and things to do. It's a rough life swimming with the kids at the 4 Seasons Hotel. :) Will chose for us to go to the Frontiers of Flight Museum at Love Field. It was really neat. They knew the names of all the planes because their dad is a pilot. Me? I knew Jay Jay the Jet Plane in the kiddie area. :) James chose the Bass Pro Shop. And Sarah Margaret wanted to swim!!! I don't get to see them much since I moved to Dallas so it was good to hang out with them. Sarah looks like she's about to cry but that's her "say cheese" face.

And one more picture...my soon-to-be 2nd grade niece Reanne--chewing her food has got to be difficult!