Random Things...

I have been challenged to write 25 random things about me. Ok, here goes:

1. I was born on Midway Island. My dad was stationed there in the navy, so my birth certificate says "State of Hawaii" on the top. What? I don't look like a Hawaiian native??

2.I teach in the same elementary building where I went to school as a child. In fact, I teach first grade in my old first grade classroom.

3. All 3 of my babies were born by c-section.

4. I have a very difficult time sitting still. I fidget. A lot. This drives my husband insane.

5. My whole life I planned to be a nurse and now I'm a teacher.

6. I am a hopeless animal lover. Seeing my dogs is one of the best things about coming home at the end of each day. I have a hard time sleeping if they're not next to me.

7. I have one younger brother who used to spend his childhood days thinking of ways to antagonize me. Now I think he's hilarious.

8. I'm a pretty adventurous eater. My kids tease me about always ordering the weirdest thing on the menu at restaurants. One thing I really dislike is ketchup.

9. I don't like going to concerts. This is weird, I know. I like the idea of going to concerts, I just don't like paying for the tickets, and fighting the crowds. Plus I think I have a short attention span.

10. I used to be a perfectionist before kids. Now I stay sane because I keep lowering my standards.

11. I love to read and can't get to sleep at night if I don't read something first.

12.I have had laser eye surgery. It was the best thing I ever did!

13. I'm working on re-learning spanish, and hope to become fluent one day.

14. A few years ago, I decided to quit just calling myself a Christian, and start working on living like one.

15. I hardly ever cry. If I go to a movie that everyone says is a tear-jerker, mine will be the only dry eyes in the place.   The rare times I shed tears, it catches me completely off guard.

16. I was once Joey's cub scout leader. Really. Stop laughing.

17. My hands hurt almost every day. I have been told this is an early form of arthritis.

18. I am way too young and cool to have an early form of arthritis.

19. I love to sing and have a song running through my head almost continually. 

20. Laughter is an important part of my life. I continually look for the humor in life's situations. The only thing I like better than a good laugh is an opportunity to crack somebody else up.

21. I can't stand it if my bed doesn't get made each day. The entire bedroom can be a mess, but as long as the bed is made, I'm happy. 

22. IKEA is my all time favorite store.

23. I am cold all the time and wear turtlenecks every day from November to March.

24. My pet peeve? when people don't do what they say they're going to.

25. I am a small-car kind of person. I drive a Focus and it suits me perfectly. Big trucks and SUVs overwhelm me. I can't seem to manage the running boards and they are impossible to get out of without embarrassing myself.

Nothing Good to Say

My mother used to tell me," If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all." Guess that's why I haven't updated my blog lately. No, I won't blame it on the weather, the winter blues or cabin fever. I've lived in the midwest all my life and winter comes every year. Even though the current weather is the main topic for small talk around here, I refuse to let the climate dictate my frame of mind.

The past week was a challenging one. Trying to get back into the swing of things after last week's weather roller coaster was totally beyond my expectations . It felt so much like starting over with class routines, behavior expectations, and reading skills. Very depressing for a teacher painfully aware of grade level goals and benchmarks, realizing the year is half over, and each day of staff development and school dismissed due to weather feels like another missed opportunity for progress. Monday I sat at our inservice meetings, trying to listen attentively about state core curriculum. I wished I could drive around to my students houses, tell them to jump in the car because what we REALLY needed that day was to DO SCHOOL!

So in the midst of a frustrating week, with piles of paperwork all around me, unfinished projects to be completed, and January's reading assessments barely started, what did I do?

I rearranged the furniture in my classroom! Psychologists would have a lot to say about my coping strategies, but when faced with challenged I can't seem to fix,  I find that the answer to my problems is almost always ...moving furniture.

Inside Recess Game

It's the time of year when "inside recess" becomes an unfortunate part of the school routine. The temperatures plunge and the wind chills are too cold for the kiddos to play outside. That means several things. The boys and girls are not able to expend their extra energy outside which makes learning time challenging, my classroom gets trashed with stray legos, pegs, and miscellaneous game pieces, and new social conflicts arise over Candyland or the Playmobil indian set.

While the children played yesterday, I sat at my computer and  tried to catch up on some much needed record keeping for the end of the second quarter. Our school monitors reading progress with a spreadsheet chart for each class, with shaded cells representing growth over the different months of the school year. When things are going well, this chart looks like a multicolored quilt of sorts. I was updating my Record of Progress, by clicking the boxes and filling yellow and purple squares when I sensed someone watching over my shoulder.

One of my little guys had been watching me intently and came to get a closer look. "Are you playin' a game too?" he innocently asked.

Did I look like I was having THAT much fun??

Jeans Quest

Tonight Sam and I went on a shopping adventure. Since Perry was playing poker with the guys, Sam agreed to come along and hang out with me.

I was a woman on a mission. My "good jeans" now have worn spots all over them, so it was time to begin the search for a new pair. Plus, I had a $25 North Grand Mall gift card burning a hole in my pocket. Sam's a good natured kid, but I knew I couldn't subject him to following me around various stores, and waiting outside ladies dressing rooms while I struggled and grumbled behind the door.

Tonight I let him venture off by himself for about an hour, and we agreed to meet in front of Younkers. He was pleased with this new freedom and happily took off for the arcade and video game store. 

There was no time to waste...I hurried to the first store and was faced with THOUSANDS of different pairs. Scanning the labels low rise, natural fit, slimming stretch, and contour fit gave me a false sense of security. It couldn't be that hard to find a pair that fit my body, surrounded by all these options.

I tried four pairs....then four more. Too tight... too loose....too gappy in the waist...can't get them past my thighs....who proportions these pants anyway??! !  By the time I exhausted all the options there, I'd broken a sweat from all the dressing room contortions. 

The next store presented no helpful options. I wandered through the third, wishing to find a sign that read "JEANS FOR PEOPLE WITH REAL BUTTS". Another armload of jeans...another disappointing calorie burning session in the dressing room.  I hung them all back, defeated, and thinking I'd better resign myself to a future of dumpy denim jumpers. 

Sam returned, safe and sound, from his video game adventures, and looked concerned when he saw me continuing to loop around the ladies department. Last call announcements could be heard from the overhead speakers, but I spotted one more rack of jeans. Scrambling for my size, I dashed back to the dressing room, and felt like singing the Hallelujah chorus when they actually fit.  The $48 dollar price tag made me panic but there was no time to waste. I crossed my fingers and hoped there would be some sort of discount when the clerk rang up my purchase. 

Let's just say that I got out of the mall before they lowered the metal gates for the night, with a huge sense of accomplishment and a $19 pair of jeans !!!

Resolutions

When people ask me if I'm making a New Year's resolution, I'm always tempted to say yes. I really don't make resolutions for the new year, because as anyone who knows me well, I fill the ENTIRE year making resolutions for myself. March 11? I'm sure to have a new goal for keeping my classroom organized. October 3? Bet I'm resolving to get to exercise class at the Y. June 24? I'm probably mapping out a plan for my family to eat healthier. 

I drive myself a bit crazy with things like this, and my mom has often told me that I'm my own worst enemy. So, making a special resolution just because it's the new year feels unnecessary to me. Maybe I should just resolve to keep all my other resolutions going. But in the spirit of the season, it's tempting to jot down a few....

My new(est) resolutions:

Stop eating Christmas cookies for breakfast. (The supply is dwindling, so I may succeed at this one. Always set goals that are attainable, right?)

Quit bringing so much school work home with me in the evening. Leave school at school, and quit using family time for lesson plans.

Resist the urge to log on to Facebook until my bible study is done for the day. (Sigh.)

Learn to shave my legs without being such a hacker. Do this before I become anemic. It's getting ridiculous.

Keep up with my ironing pile. At least get clothes pressed and on a hanger before they go out of season (or out of style)

Keep exercising on a regular basis. Maybe stop yelling "Uncle!" during weightlifting class when it gets hard. It's supposed to be hard. Duh.

Simplify my life, instead of just hanging decorative signs around my house with that word on it. Maybe show some integrity and buy a sign that says, "COMPLICATE"

Stop making so many resolutions.

Celebrating The New Year

Call me boring, but wild New Years Eve parties just aren't my thing. The idea of dressing up and traveling to Des Moines for an expensive night on the town doesn't appeal to me anymore. The past few years we've done a progressive dinner with a small group of friends. Appetizers at one house, dinner at another, and dessert and games at the last home. Our children gather at the last home with teenage sitters and have their own party until we grown ups join them for dessert.

This year, dessert was at our house, which means we took a turn "hosting" the kids. Now that the children in the families are a bit older, the eldest siblings in attendance were put in charge. We left kid-friendly food, covered the new pool table, set out some games, and hoped for the best while we were gone.

It was a relaxing evening. We munched on appetizers and caught up on each other's lives, women in one room, and men in another. At dinner time, we drove across town and minutes later were sitting down to a wonderful meal. I think that was my favorite part of the evening. All the couples sat around the same table, laughing and sharing stories as we lingered over dinner. It also felt like the calm before the storm, before we rejoined our kiddos for the final part of the evening.

I wasn't sure what we'd find when we walked in the door, but I was pleasantly surprised. One child was asleep in a chair, a group was huddled around the computer, and others were playing ping pong and games on the Wii. The only visible damage was the mess from the food, snacks and koolaid we'd left for them.  

Once again we segregated ourselves. The guys played pool in the basement and gals gathered around the chocolate fondue pot upstairs. The kids ran around the house propelled by their sugar buzzes. We made it to midnight, but just barely. We counted down and cheered when midnight arrived, then the sleepy parents were perfectly content to pack up the kids and head for home.

As we blew out the candles and shut lights off, Sam had a confession to make. He solemnly opened a drawer to reveal the only casualty of the evening....a decapitated wise man from my Willow Tree nativity set. Apparently some wild play had sent the king tumbling to his demise.

The next day, I mentally replayed the night before and counted my blessings....getting to spend a relaxing New Years with wonderful friends, good health and safety for my family, and the way God has provided for us over the past year. Just like the New Years party, my life can be noisy and messy sometimes, but I'm feeling a sense of contentment and anticipation as this year begins.

The wise man figure, recovering nicely from his reconstructive gluing, seemed to wink at me from his place on the shelf.