Lunch meat

This week marked a first for subbing...I subbed all 5 days!!! I'd like to share two interesting stories/lessons learned.

1. At 7 in the morning on Tuesday I got called, which wasn't too bad until I heard that it was for a kindergarten class. When I got there the regular teacher was finalizing plans. She told me to "just get through the day." Not so comforting. Oh my goodness, this class was crazy. Individually they were good kids, but once one situation arose and taken care of a whole new saga was unfolding. I made a particularly "energetic" young man cry when he thought he'd be in the time out room during a birthday party. By the afternoon I had managed to gain what I considered to be good control of the class (i.e. they weren't running around the room screaming and no one was constantly telling on someone). However, I didn't see what was around the corner. At the end of the day I was to walk the students to the office so they could catch their rides. No big deal right? Well I got the kids lined up quietly, but the choice about whether I should be in the front or back presented itself. For those who don't think much of the job of educators might think this choice proves how simple the life of a teacher is. Still, I had a decision to make and I stayed in the back of the line to make sure there were no disappearing children along the way. Unfortunately I didn't anticipate the screaming rampage the students took off on as soon as they hit the gym and continued all the way to the office right in front of you guessed it, the principal. There were horrified looks of everyone who witnessed this disaster and I all could do was hang my head. It's common knowledge that this particular group of kids are constantly on the verge of out of control, but I really thought I had tamed the beast. I guess I didn't entirely, but I did learn one important lesson...ALWAYS be in the front of the line and just to be safe, learn how to walk backwards. And for all you teacher skeptics out there never underestimate the advice I just provided.

2. As I was subbing in a 4th grade class I got a call from the office. They asked if one of the students had brought lunch meat and if so would she bring it to the office. I thought it had something to do with eating a special lunch because of a dietary need. So I passed the message along only to get an odd look. I repeated myself at which point a para in the classroom asked if I meant lunch money...wow that made a lot more sense! I promised the class I wasn't always so off my game; too bad I continued to pronounce a few their names incorrectly. At least I'm not the sleeping sub (apparently there is a sub who feel asleep during class once).

That time of year

I'm not a person who gets sick, knock on wood, but about once a year I get a cold that slows me down. So here I sit at home in my sweats with a sore throat, running nose, sinus pressure, and headache. Jealous, right?!? Luckily I'm on a Sudafed and Motrin regiment and I'm sure that in a few days I'll be back at 100%.

On the bright side the 6th graders I subbed for on Wednesday and Thursday guessed that I was 27 or 30. Most people want to be younger, but for a girl who gets mistaken for a high school student on a regular basis 27 was wonderful to hear. Another high are the Olympics. Now I may not have the ability to compete as an Olympian, but I found myself identifying with the women who competed in the half pipe. Here's the connection, as Daniel and I get closer to closing on our house we've run into some road blocks that are leaving us a little uncertain about our financing. Needless to say it has been an up and down experience leaving us frustrated. As I was watching the women's half pipe I thought about how disappointed some of these ladies felt when they fell on jumps they had nailed thousands of times before. I was feeling disappointed about the uncertainty of financing and call me weird, but I wanted so badly for these women not to experience disappointment too. Unfortunately competition requires such disappointment and in effect it's what makes the games exciting. So here I am identifying with Olympians and experiencing a love/hate relationship with competition. Gotta love my life!

Valentine's Day

Most girls want flowers, chocolate, or jewelry, but this Valentine's Day I couldn't have asked for anything more than what Daniel did for me. So we have a love seat/oversized chair in our living room. It's in great condition and has a pull out bed...BUT it is a little bold with a red, floral print. I don't want to pay to get it reupholstered, so a slipcover is the natural choice. I ordered one online, but it didn't quite work out the way I wanted. They happen to sell slipcovers at Bed, Bath & Beyond. I found a couple that I liked, but I couldn't tell which color would be better. I like shopping online and Daniel could be a spokesperson for it, but I still like to see and touch things in person. Unfortunately the closest Bed, Bath & Beyond is in Joplin, which is about an hour away. Not too bad except that I was asking Daniel to give up some of his Saturday to go shopping for home decor. I could tell he didn't want to, but he said he'd go for me...and Wendy's. We ate at Wendy's but didn't find the slipcover I had seen online. HOWEVER, we did get a shower curtain and accessories for the guest bathroom in our soon to be new house thanks only to Daniel. Although he was motivated to find one that wouldn't require him to paint the bathroom once we moved in, he still tried to find one I would like. I wasn't sold at first, but the more I looked and thought about it, I liked what he had chosen. I'll post a picture once we move and get it hung up. You might be thinking I'm nuts for buying stuff before we've offically closed on the house, and you're probably right, but if I find something I like, know it's something we'll need, and have driven an hour to the store I'm not one to sit back and wait. Oh, and the shower curtain was on clearance. Moral of the story is that I have one amazing husband...he also made me breakfast in bed this morning. I hope you all have felt some extra love this Valentine's weekend.

Intricacy

I've heard of the 6 degrees of separation theory. Instead of trying to explain it I'll quote the ever useful Wikipedia, "Six degrees of separation (also referred to as the "Human Web") refers to the idea that, if a person is one step away from each person they know and two steps away from each person who is known by one of the people they know, then everyone is at most six steps away from any other person on Earth." I blown away at the intricacy of life and relationships. Case and point, last night Daniel and I were checking out at Wal-Mart and a lady and her little girl were behind us. They looked as though they might be from India. I happen to be corresponding with a woman named Reetu who is from India. She works at Amazon with Daniel and he gave her my e-mail address. Now back to the lady at Wal-Mart, as I watched her unload her groceries, I couldn't help but think about my e-mail buddy and wonder how her night was going. Now here's the cool part, as Daniel and I were headed to grab a sandwich from the Subway in Wal-Mart, I saw someone waving at me...at least I thought she was waving at me. I hate that feeling when you don't know if you're waving back while someone else (the one who the wave was meant for) is behind you feeling sorry for you because you have no idea that the mental stress you're putting yourself through trying to figure out if you really know this person is entirely unecessary. Anyway, as I was tentatively waving it dawned on me that the woman was in fact waving at me because she is my pen pal of sorts. We got the chance to talk briefly before Daniel and I headed to the Subway. As I ate I noticed that the little girl from the checkout line was now sitting with Reetu. Obviously they knew each other, but I didn't know how. I later got an e-mail from Reetu explaining that the lady and little girl who were behind us are her friends and from the same part of India. I know it's not a life changing story, but I can't help but smile about how small the world really is. There are so many relationships that connect us to people far beyond our usual circle. When I student taught I tried to stress that the language and people we were learning about weren't aliens, but in fact similar to us in many ways. Although I taught this, I still have a hard time looking at people who are different than me in any way and believing that we'd have much in common. The truth might be that we don't have much in common as far as our favorite food, color, and way of doing things are concerned, but fundamentally our need for respect, love, meaning, etc. are the same. It just makes me happy to think about how God has created us as relational beings and connects us in the most unlikely ways, which leads me to believe that He is in the smallest details of our life and can guide it to make one incredible story if we let Him be the author. Basically, I love small world moments.

Now on the Super Bowl, as a Kappa and cheerer for the Cinderella story I hope New Orleans wins tonight. See the visuals below to figure out the Kappa/Saints connection. Oh, I also like their cheer ""Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints? Who dat? Who dat?" Just so you know, I also looked the cheer up on Wikipedia because as an English teacher it's tough for me to write things like dey and dat, so I had to make sure I did justice to the chant and didn't correct something that shouldn't be.

Do you see the connection???

Patio Furniture

Not only is this a buyer's market for housing, but also for patio furniture. Daniel and I are looking forward to a covered deck at the new house, so it's only natural to have a place to sit and enjoy this feature. Daniel wanted to get some tubs from Wal-Mart to help start the packing process and I thought it would be a great opportunity to introduce the idea of furniture. In all honesty on my list of things I would like to do at our new house getting patio furniture was a lower priority (I have to rank things because if not I'd spend way too much money as an overly eager home decorator). However, as we walked into the garden center we found a 5 piece set for $350. Expensive right...well it's normally $700. Such a good deal just can't be passed up! We couldn't take it home tonight because we didn't have the truck, but I will hopefully get it tomorrow.

I have to stop finding good deals before we move or we'll have no room to walk in our rental house. We currently have a queen mattress up against the wall in our kitchen because we got a new one on Saturday. The kitchen may look silly with a mattress, but I think the comfortable night sleep I've been getting makes it worth it.

Back to school

I finally got the chance to sub!!!! It was for a 5th grade class and my biggest concern was having to do recess duty. Luckily it was indoor recess today...instead of being cold, students just went crazy. Overall it was a great day and I realize how much I miss being in the classroom even if grade school is a whole different ballgame. The following are the quirks, highlights, or just interesting facts about the day.

1. I find myself saying "muy bien" when students answer correctly because Spanish has penetrated the deepest parts of my soul...or maybe it's just that's what I'm used to teaching. Along the Spanish lines, students wanted to know how their names would be spelled in Spanish. Much to their dismay, I had to let them know that Spanish uses the same alphabet as English.

2. The lunch room had a stop like machine that measured the volume of the students. If the red light ever lit up students had to get really quiet. I must say it's an ingenious idea.

3. I am happy to report that I did not have to eat my soup cold. I was nervous that it would be locked (like it is at Fredonia) or there would be such a long line for the microwave that the little sub wouldn't get a chance at it. This tragedy was avoided when the other fifth grade teacher, who was so helpful, walked me down to the lounge and alas there was no line. In addition to my soup, I ate from a big bag of Skittles and threw the yellow and green into my lunch box. As you might guess, I'm not a fan of the green and yellow ones. I hesitated for a minute because I'm a professional and should be able to eat things like vegetables and yellow and green Skittles, but I just couldn't hinder the weeding out process I am very much dedicated to.

4. This is probably the best laugh from the day. I was walking down to the classroom this morning and from the mouth of an unknown lad came "You're hot!" I kept walking not wanting to give attention to his comment. I later got a visit from this young gentleman and he apologized. At first I didn't know who he was because I hadn't looked at the cat caller, but when the accompanying principal asked him what he was sorry for it didn't take too long to put two and two together. She said a third grade teacher had heard the comment and was quick to let the principal know about the incident. I came away from the situation now having proof that kids can't help but be honest ;)

Something New

Well after sitting at home wondering how I can bring meaning to my day, I've decided a blog is the way to do it. The decision to write this was the easy part...picking out the design, font color, etc. somehow kept me busy from 10:45 until now (3:10)! To make me sound a little less obsessive about the details I want you to know that I took some time off to eat lunch and talk on the phone. PLUS I'm new at this and it took a while to find websites with templates I liked. Now I'm ready to start this adventure of documenting the day to day goings on of my life.

So...what to write about today's excitement?!? Well, Daniel and I are set to have an inspection and appraisal done on "our" house this week. I use the term "our" loosely because these two events are hurtles to jump over before we can completely take ownership of the house. I did learn something about searching for a home that might be useful for those of you who didn't go to the class "Home Buying 101"...oh wait, I didn't go to that class either, which is why I gathered this piece of advice the hard way. Daniel and I began looking at homes on the Internet. Dinner and online house shopping was almost like our idea of a date. Neither of us had set foot in a real estate agency before, so the Internet proved to be a safe place to start. Once we found a few houses we liked we contacted the agents in charge of the listings. As we became more serious and had a better idea of what we were looking for, we stuck with one agent. However, it is apparently unethical to use multiple agents. This seems pretty obvious to me because the idea of leading someone on is a difficult pill for a relational person like myself to swallow. Yet, at the time Daniel and I were trying to get our feet wet without committing ourselves to something we weren't ready for. Unfortunately along the way might have come off as untruthful or not taking serious the job of a real estate agent. I have a feeling that for business minded people out there this bad feeling of possibly doing something wrong is slightly silly because after all, selling property is a business and making assumptions about what first time home buyers might or might not know about the process is a dangerous step to take. Still, the idea of disappointing someone or acting in a way that might call into question my character, justifiably or not, is difficult for me. Therefore, it is with all sincerity that I offer my advice...If you are looking for a house, be up front with every agent you contact. Simply let them know that you're looking around, trying to get a feel for the process, and not committed to any one agent at that particular time. I enjoyed getting to work with a a few different agents because you want someone you feel comfortable with. Once you've figured that out, you can let everyone involved know that you appreciated their help and have found the agent that will work best for you. This might not be what they would've taught me in "Home Buying 101" but I think it makes for helpful advice.

As a funny side note, my need to not disappoint and act in good character led me to want to buy houses we looked at based on the sheer fact that it would help someone...had I followed through with this desire, Daniel and I would be the proud and bankrupt owners of 5 homes :-) How was I able to refocus my logicless (<-- not to be confused with real word) tendency??? I thought about what would best meet the needs of Daniel and I...and what house would allow me to put my own decorative spin on it without needing to win the lottery.

I think that's all for now. The external processor feels satisfied that I was able to share my thoughts on finding an agent. More house news to come soon!