Whew! Another Week Down

Hello, is there anybody out there? Anyway, this week seemed inordinately l - o - n - g. We have progress reports due on Tuesday, so my holiday weekend is going to contain more work than I'd like for it to. But, I want an accurate picture painted for my students and their families, so it's what I've gotta do. I let them see their averages earlier in the week and have been giving them opportunities to make up various things the past few days. It's funny to see the change when a student, who has seen poor test grades and lower daily grades, goes through when they actually see the average. It's weird. The students really have no sense of how one daily grade or test affects the average. One daily grade 100 and they expect a 72 average to bounce up to a 90. I'm willing to bear partial responsibility for this since we've been at this for four and a half weeks, but since we've not done any statistics, I'm kind of not responsible?

Supermom, Snoopy, and I had a nice dinner at a bar-ish restaurant. It was good. I had a burger (now seating GERD for one) and blueberry crumble. This concoction was made on the premises. It was similar to something my momma calls "dump cake." It has cake mix, pineapples, pecans, blueberries and more pecans. Yum. I think the GERD will be worth it.

We were going to see a movie, but the service was a little slower than it could've been. Thus we opted for the Wal*Marting experience. My wallet that I bought at Target about two years ago for $2.50 was falling apart, so I was searching for a new one. Boy, oh boy, did I find it! I bought and (and I quote) "The Incredible BULK Wallet." It really is pretty cool. The funny thing is that it came with a card professing that the walled has (again, and I quote) "Special Abilities." Yes, that's right, a wallet with "Special Abilities" for less than $10. I thought, "How can I NOT buy that?!?" The aforementioned "Special Abilities" include: 1) "pull out ID window and mirror," 2) "removable key ring," and last, but certainly not least, 3) "detachable wrist strap." That's why we have a trade deficit. I don't see us producing any US-made products that have toutable "special abilities." Let's get our best inventor-type minds to work on coming up with "special abilities." This could only be beneficial for us as a country.

I'm going to have a good weekend. I'm going to start by sleeping in. Then maybe gym? Hmmmm. This will require thought. I think I'd like to finish My Antonia, since I started it over a month ago.

I've got to transfer ALL my money to my new wallet. Peace out, folks.

Cross-Country Team Wins

Whoa! Today it was AWESOME. Both boys' and girls' teams won! It's fantastic. I'm SO excited. We went up against a couple of teams in our region, so the competition was early season, slightly slow, but the kids were unbelievable. Snoopy is the coach. Go Snoopy!

It's only 8:00, but I could go to bed right now. I think I'll stay up a little longer. It seems as if I can't get enough sleep, but leaving here before 6:00 doesn't quite allow me to get my full night's rest. I actually seem to be more productive when I work in the quiet building EARLY in the morning. I am gonna go to bed early. I love when I get an early-to-bed early in the week.

Sorry I can't contribute more. I'll check in tomorrow!

Grrr!

I'm blogging to say I don't feel like blogging today. Love you, mean it. Good night.

Sunday

Today was a good day as well! I've not gotten my ducks in a row for school, but I have put up all my washed clothes. I hate putting up clean clothes for some reason. I will let them sit in baskets indefinitely. It was like shopping today, because I found two shirts I'd been looking for. I don't know what I thought had happened to them.

It was a lazy day for me. I folded clothes and watched The Biggest Loser marathon. I took a nap. Then I went to the gym, did lifting for about an hour and then ran for 30 minutes. I felt so good that I went to Wal*Mart and bought some salad.

I think I'll go to bed now.

Hoping for a good week for all.

Saturday!!!

Good day today. I got to the gym before 10:00, which is a minor miracle. I had a very good run of 3.42 miles. I didn't think I was gonna make it. At about minute 11, I felt pretty oogey. I kept going though. It's amazing what your body can do if you don't tell yourself that you can't.


Snoopy called and wanted to go get the cross-country team members who can't afford them shoes. I agreed this would be a good idea. She had talked about going to a Reebok outlet at Darien. I wanted to go, but was wondering WHEN this weekend we'd achieve this. She called and said we might as well do business in this town and get lunch as well. Well, it ended up that to get the big discount two more pairs of shoes had to be purchased. Well, I am now the proud owner of a pair of Brooks shoes. I have run in New Balance up until now. A different world completely! And, since I have monstrously huge feet, I am now wearing a men's size. I'm not sure if it's the difference between Brooks and New Balance or women's shoes and men's, but these shoes are mighty cushy. I'm wearing a men's 9 1/2. I'm virtually a midget (or the more politically correct, "little person"), but my feet are HUGE! I've put them (the shoes, not my feet) on to break them in a little bit.

And then lunch. I go to the same place whenever possible and get the same entree-- teriyaki salmon wrap with a salad of field greens. Not sure if Snoopy totally appreciated it, but I absolutely LOVE it there. It's quiet, cool (both temperature-wise and style-wise), and always good. I love places you can go and the entrees are the same all the time. Every time I go there and inevitably get the same thing, it always tastes the same.

One week until college football. I have to say that I love college football. I'm from Georgia and am one of the four people who actually like Georgia and Georgia Tech. When they play each other, I have to pull for Georgia Tech. Other than that I like to see them both win. Mark Richt is such an awesome guy. This makes me quite the Judas around these parts. Rules demand that you must LOVE one team and HATE the other. Oh well, since when have I followed rules? P.S. I hope that Calvin Johnson (wide receiver for GT) is as awesome in the NFL as Mel Kiper, Jr. and I think he's gonna be!

I'm going to try to get some of my schoolwork done. I'm sure something awesome will come of this!

Later!

Okay, I'm good with this.

How about I ran 47 minutes on the treadmill today? I am so excited. I logged 3.48 miles. Yipee. My feet are a little sore, but I was able to run and talk to someone for about 10 minutes. This running deal is pretty cool. The training in the afternoons with the cross-country team really has helped. Running in 100 weather is pretty awesome for building stamina.

School is good. I had to give my 3rd block discipline sheets to fill out. There are blanks for every incident and every consequence. I shouldn't have to do this, but I have some knuckle-head types who think that they need to grace us all with the latest rap lyrics or a little of Whitney's "It's Not Alright, But It's Okay." I've explained how silly this is going to look on a discipline referral, but I'm having so many outbursts, that I have NO choice. So much for that. My other two classes are dreams when it comes to behavior. It's really proving to be a good year.

I've gotta wash some clothes. UGH. Why do I hate doing that so much?

To the wash! See you lather!

D is for Delightful.

My day today was positively delightful. School, of course. Didn't seem too bad. I worked hard, but the students did too. Then about a mile and a half with the cross-country team. Next, I chugged back to the land of the domicile for a haircut, followed by dinner and coffee with Hippy
Chick. I really mean it when I ask, "Who could ask for anything more?" I mean I could, but I don't think I could be more satisfied with my day.

Now, papers to grade and lesson plans and entering of grades. Can I do it? YES I CAN!

Tomorrow, friends!

Just grading papers.

Hey. I am just here grading papers. Stacks and stacks of papers. Ugh. I did get out long enough to go work out with Mrs. C. and Hippy Chick. I would love to wax rhapsodic about something totally stupid like how I LOVE Evil Dick from Big Brother or how I almost went to church this morning, but I have the youth of America to give feedback to via a grade on a paper.

Hugs to all.

P. S. Lovely week to y'all.

Personal Best (Not the Movie from the 80's)

I had an unbelievable day at the gym. I just went in to get a treadmill workout this afternoon. I thought I'd do 50 minutes of something. I decided that I'd do 5 circuits of 2 minutes walking, 2 minutes walking on a steep incline, then 2 minutes at 4.2 and 4 minutes at 4.0. I did the first 10 minutes and the walking of the second. I then decided that I'd run longer than the six minutes. Well, I did. I ran for the REST OF THE 50 minutes!

I'm really pleased because I felt kind of bad when I went out this week with the cross-country team. It was 98 degrees plus and humid. I wasn't able to jog a full mile. I guess that it builds endurance. Those conditions seem to have built stamina I didn't know I had. I felt fantastic. Afterwards, I felt as if I could have gone some more. I did a total of 3.37 miles, a personal best as far as distance is concerned.

A big yea me!

Happy Saturday!

Okay, I couldn't keep my eyes open at 9:15 last night, so I went to bed. I woke up at about 8:45 feeling as if I could take over the world. Now it's about 11:30 and I'm needing a nap. What illness do I have? I am SO sleep deprived, I suppose.

Last night we went back to the local Cajun-y hangout. I got a Bourbon Street Chicken Salad which was pretty tasty. My friends Fiona and Snoopy enjoyed happy hour to the max. I stuck with the ever-popular unsweetened tea. After, oh, about 8 glasses of that, I still fell out once I got home. Does caffeine lose its impact when you reach a certain age?

I have spent a good two hours watching videos on YouTube this morning. That site will suck your life right out of you. I started out watching Wynton Marsalis and Branford Marsalis. How can a family be so talented? I just love jazz and most classical. If you haven't seen it, there's a clip from Sesame Street with Hoots the Owl (Where did this bird come from? I'm a big Sesame Street devotee, but haven't ever seen him.). Anyway, don't ask me how, but I wound up watching Weird Al videos. He is a GENIUS. Listen to his lyrics. He has mad skills. I watched the White and Nerdy video, one where it's just him in front of a green screen and Donny Osmond doing that dancing and silliness that winds up in the video for just a few seconds. Very entertaining. "Whiter than sour cream" still makes me laugh out loud.

Well, it's Saturday, so the parents are coming over. They're almost here, so I'm gonna go get ready. Maybe more later, but if my history is any indication, probably not. I love Saturdays. Once college football starts, you can't get any better.

Tired Again.

Happy Thursday to the great out-yonder. School was good today. It's been pretty fun on a regular basis. Sure, there's the normal crap, but overall, it's been good.

I stayed really late this afternoon to get some work done. I HATE grading papers. Isn't it funny that the part that seems the most fun when you're in school is actually a sonuvabeep. I like interaction with my students, but grading? Ugh.

I'm so tired that I'm coming up empty on any topic tonight.

Cat Stevens & The Wonderpets (not together, though that'd be AWESOME!)

These two items were left over from Sunday. I just wanted to make sure that I covered them because you need to know.

Cat Stevens. I had no sooner gotten the fact that I didn't like Cat Stevens out of my fingertips on Sunday than I watched CBS Sunday Morning and who was on it but the illustrious CAT STEVENS. I learned that he is quite the gentle soul and that I think I actually really like his voice. I don't think that my head would explode if I had to hear "Morning Has Broken" one more time, as I once did. Life is funny.

And now for my exaltation of The Wonder Pets. I LOVE this show. The Child loves it and prior to its coming on, he goes around saying, "Pets, pets, pets." He is absolutely mesmerized by them, as am I. If you haven't had the pleasure, three little animals who by day are pets in a classroom, do great feats of wonder after the school bell rings. Linny, the hamster; Tuck, the turtle; and Ming-Ming, the duck use teamwork to save a baby animal in peril. It has a tinge of the PC business going on, but nothing I can't stand. They're so darned cute. I told my sister I was gonna DVR it for The Child, but I was actually doing it for myself!!! It's done in a little operetta style kind of like what Mister Rogers used to do in the Neighborhood of Make-Believe. Check them out. They are awesome. When Ming-Ming said things were "twagic," I just about lost it.

Good Weekend

Hey y'all!

This has been a pretty good weekend. I watched Little Miss Sunshine yesterday. What a cute movie! That little girl did deserve the Academy Award nomination. Wow! Everyone in it was good. I also found that I LOVE Sufjan Stevens. I didn't want to. I can't deal with Cat Stevens or his offspring. But I find that I can't help myself.

My blender is all but dead. I got up at 6 something this morning to go to Wal*Mart so I could avoid all the collegiates. I didn't have my shake until I got back and found that my blender lid is messed up. So now, I've gotta go back into the fray. I have gotten some laundry done, so that is a plus.

I may come back to report more this afternoon.

Happy Day!

Had a really good day today. I can't believe how well-behaved and hard-working my ninth graders are this year. They want to work every day. What a delight!

My other classes were very good also. I was fairly productive, but packed up almost everything so I can play catch up. This week was the longest week EVER. It may be my age, or the heat due to the fact that it's hard to heat an upstairs when the temp outside is getting up to 105 degrees. Also, I've been walking/jogging with the cross-country team. It's been brutal.

This afternoon/evening Snoopy, Senora, Dude, and I went to a Cajunish-themed restaurant. I had some delicious tuna and a Caesar salad that wouldn't quit. It was very enjoyable.

I'm gonna go catch some zzzz's. Good weekend, y'all.

Shake Request Granted

This is a version of the shake that Jackie Warner popularized with her Skylab project. I have modified it to suit my needs and my taste.


1 Tbs Maximum Greens Super Green Formula Complete
1 Tbs cold-pressed organic flax-seed oil
2 Tbs Super 2222 amino acid liquid
1 scoop whey protein powder
2 cups frozen berries of your choice

Add a cup, give or take, of water to your blender pitcher. Then add the first four items and put it on to blend. Then add your berries and blend until smooth.

I have recently become a devotee of the magnificent blueberry. If you buy the really big bags of berries, they seem to be more reasonable. And you know there's nothing worse than an unreasonable berry! I mean monetarily reasonable, of course.

At first I was tempted not to use the full 2 cups. Don't make this mistake. It takes the full 2 cups to counteract the taste of the Maximum Greens. I used to call this the grass-clippings shake and it wasn't affectionately. The shake will be almost undrinkable, for me anyway, unless you use the full 2 cups. I've used blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, and the mixed berries. I really like blackberries and blueberries best, but they eke out the top spot just by a hair.

I usually drink mine around 5:30ish and have a Fiber One bar and I easily make it to my new 11:30 lunchtime. I actually have convinced myself that I feel better too. I take my multi-vitamin with it and I'm set for a day of slaughtering the dragon that is mathematical ignorance.


Also, I want to warn you that some of this stuff is a little pricey. I get all my stuff, with the exception of the berries, at my local GNC store. The investment is worth it. Once you get all your items, you're set for a month. Imagine eating at McDonald's or somewhere of that ilk for a month. It would cost more, not to mention how much it'd cost your health. I also recommend some bendy straws. Happy slurping!

Exhausted!

Wow! I am tired. Trying to keep everything up and do all the beginning of the year things has gotten me to a point of ZZZZZZZZZZ. See, I fell asleep while doing this. I'll try to update you tomorrow. Nothing major, just the day-to-day fun of school.

Peace out.

Spinach & Mushroom Quesadilla

After a second visit to Wal*Mart this weekend, I had a yummy lunch with Snoopy at the Mexican restaurant in the town where I teach. The quesadilla is a delicious mix of spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. After that, I went back to Snoopy's and showed her the "Chocolate Rain" video along with the John Mayer response. Then I hauled it over to the school to do work. I didn't get the plans done, but I got the notesheets done. That's more than half the battle.

I have put myself on a strict regime. The shake for breakfast, a whole-wheat mini bagel sandwich for lunch with some veggies, a Kashi bar for a snack, and Uncle Sam cereal and soy milk for supper. I realize this may not be the best idea ever, but my choices lately have been in the hog-wild category. I'm sure I'll eat more than this, but it's my template. The shake has mega-veg powder, protein powder, amino acids, flax-seed oil, and two cups of any berries. I usually get on a jag and have strawberries until I get tired of them, then raspberries. Today I decided a blueberry kick is in order, since they are so gosh, darn healthy.

I am exhausted and need to get back to work, so I'll get back here later.

Write y'all tomorrow.

Catch Up!

Well, since I am now a working person, blogging time has greatly decreased. My first day was EXCELLENT. My classes seem pretty good, my room was cool, and my feet were SO sore! I am very excited about the possibilities for this school year.

Snoopy, Fiona, and I went outlet shopping at Hilton Head Island yesterday. Fiona and I didn't have a whole lotta luck, but Snoopy hit the jackpot at Eddie Bauer. Eddie Bauer has some really cute tailored shirts. Snoopy is the original prepster, so she got several of these and a cute sweater vest (I know, who knew they could be cute?). We were delirious (mostly me) from being tired. After shopping, BACKYARD BURGER.

Backyard Burger is DELICIOUS. Why hasn't someone told me about this? Is it because my heart would have exploded from all of these hamburgers, onion rings, cobblers, etc. that I would've eaten? My Lord, but this is good. We were caught in a monsoon and were all drenched to the bones. I'm sure there were local places that would've been better, but we couldn't pursue those at 9:30 at night.

Well, I woke up this morning and the balls of my feet were throbbing! All day on my feet plus walking the outlet malls equals SORE feet. I HATE being around huge groups of people, so in fear of them I girded up my loins and went to Wal*Mart at around 8 this morning. Got that done. Then I went over to Office Max to finish up the spending of my "Sonny Money" as it was dubbed by a friend. I love to be able to say this-- the lady who checked me out was SO HELPFUL. I was a goober-head and had no idea how much of the $100 was left on my card, so she kept doing some deal where we started at $20 and went down and figured out that I had $10. She was wonderful. I am so busy "hatin'" on customer service people ususally. This woman was so nice.

Also at Office Max, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven when I saw the end-cap of Tul (long "u" I don' t know how to represent that here) products. They have gel pens and dry-erase markers too! I hope the markers are as awesome as their pens. And did I say that the pack of gel pens includes purple and green?!? I am totally blissed out.

Fiona, by the way, is a teacher at school as well. She is a down-to-earth coach's wife who is an EXCELLENT social studies teacher. She's got sarcasm on lock down, so you can see why I enjoy being around her. She's also a smart person. (Don't ask her about the political implications of The Wizard of Oz unless you've got a good hour and a half on your hands, though.)

Gym, what is that? I've gotta do that tomorrow. I forgot how hectic things get when school starts back.

Oh yeah, I've got to mention what I experienced at the nail salon this morning. It was, like, the day of some sorority, like, rush activities, so, like, some officers of one of them were, like, all getting mani-pedis and, like, it was AWESOME! One that got finished first went on a run and got them some iced coffee. They talked about all their potential pledges. OMG! It was really entertaining since I didn't bring a book. Yes, a HUGE foul on my part. I usually have some book in my bag or on my person for these types of occasions, but I forgot it. I'm reading My Antonia by Willa Cather. I LOVE it so far. She's kind of like a grown person's Laura Ingalls Wilder. Where are the Willa Cather p.r. people? She is awesome, but I really had never heard of her prior to a couple of years ago. I read AND LOVED O Pioneers!. I finally got around to getting another one.

I think I'm going to make a fast food run, so I'm gonna PEACE OUT!

Today is SOME better.

Well, if only because I decided it would be! I walked three miles with an injured Snoopy. That was a highlight. My room still needs to be finished up. Go time is Friday.

The Child and Supermom visited school today and everybody cooed and ahhed about him. He actually was very cute, but then there is the bias that I have. I was really glad Supermom brought him. There were people who didn't believe he existed. They have been appropriately corrected.

Signing off a TIRED person.