Work Related : In Reviewing the American Revolution these past weeks, I challenged my students to learn and recite the 1st 2 stanzas (?) of Paul Revere's ride (okay, so that's a bit like torture, but hey, I need to evaluate effective speaking skills...lol).  Anyway, I had several students mess up the author's name, such as Henry Watson, Harry Longfellow, Henry Waddlesworth, Henry Livingstone, Harry Long-"something-I-forgot".  It was extrememely hard to keep a st...

I've been seeing this ad above JoeUser's homepage for a while now...lol.  Haven't clicked on the link to find out he he gets the free money, though.   And he's looking so cool with that "Look at all my money" pose...very impressive, Chedda.

I don't know why, but I cannot find the "Blogging" category on the Forums.  Is it just my browser or is it really missing? Btw, Hope everyone has a very Happy New Year. May 2009 treat you well. Chris and I will probably have an early dinner out, catch a new movie (I'd like to see Milk, Happy Go Lucky, or the Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and head on home to watch the ball drop...just a quiet celebration.   May 2009 allow me to write a bit more.  I was talki...

Have you ever had a week where your routine is just thrown out the door...like nothing is just as it should be? Okay...well, maybe you haven't...lol...but that is what I am experiencing this week. My week started off with a way-too-long grocery shopping trip, which I made after work.  Sigh...I should have gone on Sunday.  It was crazy there, to say the least.  What should have been a 45 minute trip turned out to be more like an hour and a half.  The only thing I wanted to ...

Well, I made it through the first week of school...well, work.  It wasn't easy since I spent most of the week worrying about my stepdad.  I felt pretty lost the first two days, but I got back in the game by Wednesday and things were good from there. I have 5 classes--about 120 kids--coming into my classroom each day.  Yikes (I am a Social Studies/Reading&Language Arts teacher, btw)! For the most part, they have been well behaved.  I am having a tough time with ...

My stepfather suffered a massive heart attack this past Saturday. He was out of town (Amarillo) for a construction job when it occured. My mom was a mess after receiving the news, of course. Two of my brothers had to drive her up there (it's about 7 hours away). She told me it was better if I didn't go since my first day of school was today. He had two clogged arteries and had to have stents inserted. Needless to say his heart was very weak after the attack (doctors say he was very lucky ...

Honestly, I didn't think I'd be watching the Olympics as much as I have been.  I thought, Okay, I'll watch women's gymnastics, but that's it.  But lo and behold, I have also been watching swimming, diving, a bit of beach volleyball, and track as well (dang it, I have yet to see the Men's basketball team play). So, okay, me watching swimming shouldn't be so hard to believe since Michael Phelps was putting on the most awesome performances ever.  However, I am surprising myse...

Drifting   Well, summer is not quite over, but my mind is slowly drifting away from lazy days and free time and drifting towards getting back to work.   Already lesson plans are forming in my mind (though not written down yet), and the eagerness of getting my classroom together for another year is setting in.   I happily made my way the other day to the Big Lots bargain store to get my “teacher appreciation”10% discount…lol.   Well, it’s ...

These are some pretty random pics I have recently taken.  I added one Chris took as well. ***Traffic at Sunset ***a trip we took to the other side of town (literally on the other side of our mountain range)   (Chris took the one above)   ***A former student of mine (and her mother) invited me to a Traditional Mexican dance show she was going to perform in.  She did an awesome job...I was able to find her and congratulate her aft...

Well, my 4th will be spent going to the movies, (maybe) going over to a barbeque, and then hopefully catching some fireworks somewhere (I'd love to go see our local symphony play along to a fireworks show, but if it's too crazy out there, maybe I'll catch some on TV...lol). I love this day.  I love that even though my family is very much into our  Mexican culture and traditions, we are just as much into American patriotism.  We were pretty much taught at a young age the importa...

Is Wall-E for everyone? Probably not. If you dig animated movies with lots of dialogue and plenty of over the top/zany/big mouthed characters, then this movie might not be for you. Wall-E is pretty subtle...but oh so endearing.  Here is a robot that has strolled around earth doing his robotic duties for the last 700 years, and along the way develops a "personality"...I guess you can say he's picked up some human quirks. The movie begins in a pretty "solitary" manner&...

What are you doing at this moment (or this hour...or this day...)? Right now, I am letting a peanut butty (lol...I have to keep this typo. I meant peanut butter of course) and strawberry jelly sandwich settle in my stomach.  I hope it doesn't cause any harm (I've been getting stomach pains lately).  I'm also drinking some apple juice. I am also searching for public domain photos to put into a video I am creating (I am halfway done).  In about half an hour--if I don...

You vex me…especially in the afternoons when I wake up from a nap.   You are okay in the morning…but once that sun glow from the window is gone, replaced by the ugly artificial light, man, your mean streak comes out.   Hey, I do my best with what is given to me. I can only do so much…and btw, shouldn’t YOU be taking care of the streaks?   Okay, so, the streaks are my fault, but... do you have to make it so damned obvious that I don...

Here is my writing challenge to all you talented word artists: Bring an inanimate object to  Life. Have a conversation with a coffee cup, create a love story between a hoe and a hose, have the can of yams on aisle 9 go on a rant.  Have us guess at your object...OR...have it be very obvious.  Make it fun, make it sad, make it angry. It doesn't matter...as long as you make it interesting. (I came up with this idea a few weeks back after an unsuccessfu...

  Here are a few pics I took from our yearly class field trip.  This year: Cattleman's Ranch in West Texas   A peacock whose colors I couldn't quite catch (wish he would have come a bit closer...)   A Longhorn Relaxing in the Sun     Covered Wagon Ride   Pioneer Home (tour guides explained to the students that people would put valuables up on the roofs, so that bandits wouldn't get to them so easily) ...