B-O-R-E-D

My students are benchmark testing today and for the next two days as well. Basically this means that they use ALL day to take a practice TAKS test while I watch to make sure no one is cheating. In theory it sounds great--no lesson plans, peace and quiet, catch up on blogging ;) . . . But in reality, it is BORING! I think my day would actually go by a lot faster if I was teaching. Since I currently have all the time in the world I suppose I can update you on the latest excitement at our house.

On Tuesday night Eric decided he wanted to start the first fire at our new house. Being carefree like he is, Eric lit a starter log and went about his business.

Pretty soon we realized the house was getting a little smoky. Eric moved a lever on the side of the fireplace to see if that would help clear the air, but it didn't. By then we had a roaring fire and no apparent way to draw smoke up and out of the chimney. I googled "how to stop a fire in a fireplace" and soon realized that once a fire is going good, there's not much that can be done.

Suddenly the hazy smoke we had been seeing started turning into black billowing smoke and the flames were coming out of the fireplace and touching the surrounding bricks. We had only one resort--call 911. The operator told Eric we needed to get Lucy and quickly get out of the house.

A few minutes later a police car pulled up and at that point Lucy and I were quickly welcomed into a neighbor's house. Thanks Sarah! :) Shortly after making it inside, we heard more sirens. Apparently one firetruck wasn't enough, they sent four! Along with the firetrucks was an EMS vehicle. Sarah's little boy, Caleb, thought we were pretty cool neighbors, after all we did manage to fill the entire street with firetrucks!

One of the firemen used the correct switch to open the damper and then they, along with Eric, formed an assembly line and transferred bowls of water from our kitchen sink to our fireplace until the fire went out. Before they left one of the firemen suggested that the next time Eric wanted to be romantic he should just turn on the heater instead of lighting a fire!

Our house had little visible damage--a now gray mantle and blackened bricks around the fireplace--but the worst part was the smoke damage. Eric and I decided it would not be wise to inhale those fumes all night, so we packed up and spent the night at my aunt's house.

Turns out cleaning up smoke damage is an expensive, time consuming process. The company our insurance recommended cleaned the carpets, wet washed the walls, wiped down the ceiling, sent out couch cushions and some clothing to be dry cleaned, washed all of our dishes, wiped down all of our furniture, cleaned the AC unit, cleaned the bricks, painted the mantle, and ozoned the house. We're hoping to be back in our house this evening assuming all has gone well. The one good thing coming from all of this is that I'll have a clean house. :)

So here's a FREE lesson to all of you--make sure your damper is open before starting a fire or better yet, turn on your heater instead!

We've had even more excitement this past week, but you'll have to wait on that. My AP just walked in and I sure don't want to be caught typing a blog. . . .

Playing for Change

Music has always had a special place in my heart and can really do a lot to help (or hurt) my mood. Eric doesn't understand how a song can be so moving that it brings tears to my eyes, but that's just how I am. Playing for Change is an organization that understands the power of music and the impact it can have. I stumbled upon this video this evening and fell in love. You can read more about Playing for Change below the video.



Playing for Change is a multimedia movement created to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music. The idea for this project arose from a common belief that music has the power to break down boundaries and overcome distances between people. No matter whether people come from different geographic, political, economic, spiritual or ideological backgrounds, music has the universal power to transcend and unite us as one human race. And with this truth firmly fixed in our minds, we set out to share it with the world.

A Supposed Perk of Middle School

From one fifth grader to another:

"I can't wait 'til I go to middle school. They let you kiss in the halls. That's why I like middle school."

Feeling Behind

I feel so behind in everything. It's like life is one massive to-do list and I can't keep up with getting everything checked off. A lot of the time I think about all of the things that need to be done, become overwhelmed, and make the choice to not do anything at all. After all, it's not like I can catch up. Here's just some of the stuff I need to be doing:

• Write lesson plans, preferably all the way through December.


• Search for and find the best deals on fares to NYC, if that's what Eric and I decide we're doing for Thanksgiving.


• Clean the house.


• Decorate the house. I feel like we still have that "just moved-in" look.


• Unload and reload the dishwasher.


• Find a good quiet time.


• Exercise. I originally wrote "exercise more," but realized I don't exercise at all right now.


• Take Lucy on walks.


• Balance the checkbook and pay bills.


• Write a letter to Sada.


• Do something with this light fixture that is sitting in the chair beside me.


• Visit my grandparents on a regular basis.


• Clean the inside of my car and Eric's car.


• Cook semi-healthy meals more often.


• Buy winter clothes.


• Go to Wal-Mart.


• I need to figure out what to do with my Monday and Tuesday tutoring group.

This may not seem like a lot to some of you, especially you mom's out there who have more than just your own life to take care of. Maybe it's really not that much to do. Maybe I'm just in a funk, as my mom would say. Nonetheless I don't enjoy feeling this way. Hopefully I'll be back to my old self soon.

Kids Say the Darndest Things

A small selection of stories from an elementary teacher and a middle school teacher:

The other day I asked my students if they liked the Texas Rangers baseball team. One of them raised his hand and told me that his cousin, Simon B______, plays for the Rangers. That afternoon I told Eric my super-cool news. "Simon B______?" Eric laughed, "He was one of my students last year!" Apparently my student's cousin plays for a local youth baseball team named the Texas Rangers. So much for my super-cool news!

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Eric's class was reviewing vocabulary dealing with the periodic table, elements, and atoms by playing the "I Have. . . Who Has" game. In this game each student gets a card with a vocabulary word and a non-matching definition. The game works its way around the room as each student reads his card aloud after hearing the definition for his vocabulary word. A card might read, "I have an electron. Who has a positively charged particle?"

As the game made its way around the room today, one student read out the following definition,"Who has the name for the rows in the periodic table?" A boy, who realized his card had the vocabulary word on it, unwittingly called out "I have a period!" Haha! Needless to say the game came to a screeching halt while the students AND teacher had a much needed laugh.

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Each of my students has a planner to write down their homework and whatever other nonsensical things they feel like jotting down. This morning I noticed one of my girls had written the following as her plan for Friday: Watch Smallville and South Park. Pet the cat. :) I schedule a time to give attention to my pet, don't you?

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That's all I've got for now. I hope those weren't the kind of stories that are only funny if you were there. Oh well!

Parent Conference Day--UPDATED

Today is Parent Conference Day.

Have I ever mentioned how much I detest Parent Conference Day?

I feel like such a rambling idiot and I hate delivering bad news to some of the parents.

Can we please just fast forward through the next 5 1/2 hours?

Update #1: The day is going better. After stumbling through the first few conferences I feel like I am sounding a little more intelligent.

Update #2: So much for feeling more intelligent. While I was showing a parent the student's test grades I realized I recorded one grade as a 50 when the student actually made a 75. Oops! I had to re-average her grade and make a request for her report card to be reprinted.

Update #3: I survived! Now it's time to get ready for tomorrow.

A Downer

I so don’t want to be here at school today. This isn’t like my usual complaint of just not wanting to come because I don’t feel like it. I mean I REALLY don’t want to be here. I feel completely drained. I don’t know if it’s because of these longer hours they have us working this year or the fact that I don’t feel like I’m teaching these kids very much. Having a headache behind my right eye doesn’t help either.

I’m not in the mood to correct behavior, because I don’t feel up to the argument that typically comes along with it. I had to tell a student twice to start a new line in the gym this morning and then he began crawling up to the front on his knees. I told him, “_______, get up and walk” 10 times, slowly, and calmly. He never once stood up on his feet. What do you do then? The parent would think it’s ridiculous if I called, the office would kick the referral back, and I looked like a push-over in front of all of my students. I’m not in the mood to deal with this. Sorry for being such a downer.

Oh and by the way, I STILL haven't had my white trousers hemmed. Thanks for all of the advice though. I think I'm like you Janet. I'm not going to judge if someone else wears white pants after Labor Day, but I don't know that I want to take the risk and do it myself.