Bohemian Rhapsody, Morgan Freeman and Hershey's Kisses

So I had this bright idea that I would have my students write a compare/contrast essay about Hershey's Kisses and Skittles. I wanted to do it in stages to kind of draw it out and get more lessons out of it. I started day one with a quote from the movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"I can't do without it [gum]. I munch it all day long except for a few minutes at mealtimes when I take it out and stick it behind my ear for safekeeping. To tell you the truth, I simply wouldn't feel comfortable if I didn't have that little wedge of gum to chew on every moment of the day, I really wouldn't." ~Violet Beauregarde

Then I asked the kids to write about what they can't do without. I got some pretty cool responses but the two I liked best were Bohemian Rhapsody and Morgan Freeman. The kid who said he couldn't do without Bohemian Rhapsody said that it was his favorite song and he listened to it and sang it every day and he couldn't imagine not being able to hear it. The one who said Morgan Freeman wrote about all the great movie roles Morgan Freeman has played, specifically his role in the Dark Knight.

Sure they wrote these responses to be funny but in reality the points they made were actually pretty thought out, so I guess my little assignment did have some impact. We barley even had time to talk about Hershey's Kisses so we will be continuing that tomorrow.

Twilight

Just finished the novel Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and all I can say is WOW! It was breathtaking. I had seen several of my female 8th grade students reading it at school and many of them had commented on how much they love it so I thought I would give it a try. Well I was blown away. It's target audience I guess would be teenage girls but it was so well written that I was enthralled for the whole 500 pages. It is also being made into a movie to be released in November. I put a widget at the bottom of my blog containing movie facts etc. It is an incredibly dark novel about vampires, which usually isn't my thing but it's not the standard blood and gore you usually find with these types of novels. READ IT, now!

Writing Project

I volunteered to go this workshop called the Gateway Writing Project. It's through my school district and it is supposed to help us teach better writing skills to our students. Yesterday was the first class. I admit I had some mixed feelings about going, I mean mostly these types of things are really boring and just go over the same old tired techniques that everyone knows. So I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this workshop. The instructors made us write just like we make our students write and they connected writing to literature in a way that makes it seem interesting not the same old boring read a book and write about. Since I like to think of myself as a "good" writer as evident by this incredibly wonderful blog that I write ;) it was challenging to try to write some interesting and creative things to fit the goals of this class. Not sure why I am putting all this in my blog but it's my blog and so here it is.

Also, today is Wednesday and I am NOT weighing in for the biggest loser, Justin has a football game tonight and I have to meet Bob at the car dealer to sign the papers for our new truck. Besides it has been a terrible food week and I really don't WANT to know if I gained or lost. If I relent and do actually, secretly weigh myself and I actually really lose some pounds then I'll blog about it, if I don't then I won't. Hmmmm sometimes it's good to be your own author.

+ 1

I can't FREAKING believe it but I gained one pound this week. I mean I have to tell you that I have been really, really, good. I have eaten more fruit this week than in the entire month of August. On Tuesday I ate a pear, a cup of grapes, a bannana, a glass of o.j. and a raspberry yogurt. Good lord have I been in the bathroom a lot and still I gained 1 pound? HOW, HOW, HOW can this have happened?????

I have even started exercising 2-3 nights per week. I mean COME ON!

That scale is rigged, I must've had heavier clothes on, I was retaining water. ARG!

Hurricane Ike Damage in Affton

We live far, far, from any ocean but we still felt the damage from Hurricane Ike which made it's presence known here in Affton yesterday. It rained, no it poured, 4 inches in about a 3 hour period to be exact. We also experienced the gusty winds of over 30 mph. (the basement stayed dry, thank God for sump pumps)

Our local ballpark didn't fair so well. Hannah is playing fall softball at Affton Athletic Association. The same place she has played since kindergarten, the same place I played for about 12 years of my childhood. The same place that my dad was president of for about 5 years back in the day. It is not only a ball field but a hockey complex that is home to the award winning Affton Americans hockey club.

Here are some pictures of the damage. The storm got so bad that 18 people had to be rescued from the ice rink by the fire department. It swept away several cars in adjacent Gravois Creek which is normally a little trickle of water but surged up over it's 8 foot banks to flood the ice rink, 12 ball fields and concession stands.



Car floating down Gravois Creek

Flooded ball fields

Busted up concrete next to concession stand

As the rain came down


Needless to say, I think the season may be over.

- 4

Okay, to make friends at my new school, I joined the Biggest Loser club. Today was the first of our weekly weigh ins and I lost 4 lbs. I joined Weight Watchers online and I have been following the points system and trying to walk the track at the high school a couple nights a week. Not a bad start although I was hoping for more. I'll try to keep you updated on Wednesday.

Sick Day Part Deux

Yes, I took my second sick day Tuesday. Adam still wasn't feeling well enough to where I thought I could leave him with anyone but me or his dad. And since we both have new jobs, I had to do the duty again. He still had fever and sore throat and vomiting. Today, even though he didn't go back to school, I went back to work. And much to my surprise my classes were fine in my absence. In SLPS if you were lucky enough to get a sub they usually left the classroom totally messy and they hardly ever followed the lesson plans. Well these Mehlville subs were great they followed my plan even gave out extra assignments to keep kids busy. My room was still clean and things were still organized. I couldn't have asked for more!

Sick Time

I am taking my first official sick day today. It's a bit earlier than I would've liked but poor Adam has been sick all weekend. He kept saying he had a headache Friday night so I gave him some Tylenol. He didn't really mention it much Saturday morning but I was out running errands and didn't get much of chance to talk to him. Then Saturday night, Bob was working 3-11 and I was working part time at this restaurant that I used to work at before I became a teacher called the Fatted Calf. (I started working there about a month ago just one or two nights a week as a manager, basically to help out the new owners and because my friend Larry was working 55 hours a week and needed some time with his wife and new baby, plus it's a little extra grocery money. And I only work like 10 hours a week.) Any way when I left home at 3:30 he was fine when I returned home at 9pm he was running a 103 degree fever and my in laws who were baby sitting said he had been sleeping most of the evening and hadn't eaten anything. So I thought, FLU< great it's starting already.

So here I am on my first day off school, luckily as teachers we get 10 per year. Took Adam to the doctor and it is strep throat, not the FLU< thank goodness. He still has fever but I am hoping that antibiotics will hurry up and work so I can go to work tomorrow even though he will probably need to go to grandmas.

LAZY HAZY LAST DAZE OF SUMMER

To me Labor Day has always been the unofficial last day of summer. I'm sure this lingering heat will remind that summer isn't really officially over for a few more weeks but I am looking forward to fall. It's my favorite time of year.

You may be wondering how it's been going at school. Well, much to my surprise it continues to get better! My 3rd and 4th hour classes are fantastic! I would say my 4th hour is my somewhat excelerated class but the 3rd hour kids are all really nice and well behaved. My 5th hour class is the hardest. It's also the biggest with 32 kids and it is right before lunch. My 6th hour is talkative with like 4 boys who are class clowns but they aren't disrespectful like 5th hour. My 7th hour is a combined push in class with the resource teacher and it is challenging due to all the kids who receive special ed minutes. It is by far the class that I have to slow things down.

Justin has his first football game Wednesday night against Brentwood and he is super excited. I'm going to try to take some pics, although it's hard up in the stands.

This weekend is pretty lazy, no plans, just hanging out at home. Bob has to work all weekend and the rest of us don't have much going on. I'm happy about an extra day that I don't have to wake up at 5:30.

Another Baby Born

The last of my preggo friends/former co-workers has just delivered her baby. Andrea worked with me at Monroe 2 years ago but we first met way before that when she taught at Hope Lutheran and was the second grade teacher for both Justin and Hannah. She and her husband welcomed their daughter Jillian Mae a few days ago. All are well and Andrea is adjusting to life with a newborn and a toddler. (her son Nate is 2 1/2)

This marks the end of the last 5 month period when babies Bruno, Jane, Sophie, Ethan and Jillian were born. 2008, what a year to remember!

Congratulations to all!

Mom says "Update your blog!"

Here you go mom, it's updated for the week! I probably won't get another post up until next weekend. She emailed me some pictures of fun times at the lake from this summer so I thought I would go ahead and post some here. Some are actually from last summer but it's pretty much the same thing, boating and swimming. It's still our favorite place to go.


My crazy father tubing on the "hotdog"


Hannah, Adam and my niece Megan on the tube.


Swimming in the lake.

School Daze

It's been really hectic this last week with the kids starting school Monday, Bob starting his new job and me in my first full week of school. I have been totally exhausted! We had open house at my school Thursday night and except for leaving for an hour to grab some dinner I was at school from 6:45am till 7:30pm. What a long day!

Bob so far is enjoying his new department and the change of scenery. The kids liked school this week and seeing all their friends. Adam wished he could be home schooled so he didn't have to get up so early :)

But, for me it has been hard dealing with my change. I miss the familiar territory of my old school and I miss all the really great friends I had made. Although they have reported how crazy SLPS has been in it's first week, I still wonder if I have made the right decision. With 150 kids in my classes at Buerkle, there is a ton more grading. Plus I feel like I don't know anyone, I haven't even met the whole staff and only know about 1/3 of them by name. I do really like the two ladies that I team teach two of my classes with, one is the speech pathologist the other is a special ed teacher. Both are very young and enthusiastic and we have a good working relationship in the classroom. I also have been getting to know the woman next door who is new to Buerkle and has children about the same ages as mine. We have a lot in common and we have started to depend on each other for information when needed.

Justin is playing football and practicing two nights a week, Hannah is playing fall softball with practice once a week, pitching lessons once a week and double headers on weekends so we have been going non stop!

Baby Boom #2

In past posts, I blogged about all the friends that were preggers. Well now two have had their babies and I didn't even post about them. How terrible a friend am I?

So here goes.

Bridget and Drew from Texas had their daughter Sophie LeighAnn on July 22. Bridget is a good friend from college, Hannah's Godmother and my Godson, Luke's, mother. Mom and baby are doing wonderful. Sophie was kind of a big one at over 8lbs but from all the pics I've seen, definitely gorgeous.


Bridget, Sophie and big brother Luke


What a head of hair she has!


Our other friends, Larry and Kim, had their baby on August 18th. Ethan Alexander weighed just over 7lbs and has a spray of light brown hair. He is absolutely adorable! Ethan and Kim are doing fine, even though he was born via c-section. Larry reports that Ethan is nursing like a champ!

I have cell phone pics but they don't show up very well when I email them to myself and then download them to the blog so I'll wait till I get some good shots of him and do another post.

Too Busy to Blog

Been crazy busy this last week and have really been too busy to blog. But just a quick update before the stuff really hits the fan tomorrow when my new school starts.

Last week spent an entire week in new teacher orientation. BORING! I did get 3 days to set up my classroom which now has stuff in it, thank you very much. And it is brighter and cheerier than even I thought.

Then we went to the lake for our last little hurrah of summer. The last two days have been spent in the classroom/school preparing for our first day which is now tomorrow. YEAH>

Everyone was a little freaked out and unroganized today but not I, I have been the diligent teacher who has everything prepared. YEAH-RIGHT! No seriously, I am ready.

SO excuse me if I don't blog for a while but I do have some cool boating pics from the lake to get up sometime soon.

Another change 'round here

All summer long you have heard me go on about my job change. But I have yet to mention that Bob is also changing jobs. As most of you faithful readers know, he is a policeman in the city of Crestwood, a small suburb of St. Louis. He was hired as a dispatcher for them about 8 years ago and then they paid for him to go through the police academy and he has been on the road for 7 years now. Like most areas now, Crestwood is in a recession. Made all the more worse for them by the decline of the mall that has anchored the town and brought in the most revenue for the last 30 years. The mall was recently sold and big changes are in the works but it will take at least 2 years to see them come to fruition. That, coupled with Crestwood's aging population has also meant that although Crestwood has the lowest property tax in St. Louis County, they can't pass a tax increase. So needless to say although the salary has been adequate, no raises, not even cost of living raises have been given in 3 years. For the last year and half several long time, good officers, have left Crestwood for police work elsewhere. So we knew it was time to make a change. the question was where?

Well, Bob has accepted a position with the Kirkwood police department and will start on August 18th. Those of you familiar with Kirkwood know that it is actually right next to Crestwood, much larger and with several strip malls and large stores to help the tax base. However, Kirkwood has also been the scene of several incidents of violence against police officers. In the last 3 years, 3 officers have been killed in the line of duty. Two were killed just last February. So needless to say, we are all a bit apprehensive about this change. There is a much needed salary increase but with it comes more risk.

I am including links to articles about the two separate shootings that claimed the lives of three veteran Kirkwood officers. Sgt. Bill McEntee was killed July 5, 2005. Then last February, Sgt William Biggs, Officer Tom Ballman and several other Kirkwood city officials were gunned down at a City Council Meeting.

I ask that you keep Bob in your prayers as he begins this new chapter in his career and that you also keep the families of the three, brave, officers lost in the line of duty in your thoughts and prayers also.

My new classroom

I finally got to meet my new principal and some of the faculty of my new school and see my new classroom last week. The people are all very nice and I think I will fit right in. My only problem is my classroom. For all my complaining about St. Louis Public Schools, I did have a big, bright classroom. Well my one at Buerkle is small, windowless, and barren. I was really bummed, because although it is middle school I want it to be fun, bright and inviting for my students. So needless to say I have A LOT of work ahead of me. All that was in the room were student desk, a teacher desk 2 file cabinets, and a large locking cabinet with shelves. No teacher chair, extra table or book cases to be found and no, I repeat NO windows to the outside. The only window is a small one in the doorway. It can only be described as 70's architecture, need I say more?

I talked with the head custodian, a very nice woman named Polly, about at least getting a chairt to sit in and maybe a book case since I am teaching literature it would be nice for the books I have for students to be displayed. She told me she would scrounge up a chair and book case or two but couldn't guarantee the quality. I then asked one of the other teachers if we got a budget to spend in the beginning of the year on supplies and I was informed that no we did not get a budget. Supplies are ordered by department chairs and were placed last spring. BUM-MER! At my old school my principal would give us each a $500 budget that we could spend on supplies that would be ordered from catalogs. Unfortuntaly all of that stuff that I ordered the last few years then becomes property of St. Louis Public Schools, so I couldn't really take my good books shelf, steel stool, and moveable dry erase board with me.

Did I mention that my new classroom had a chalk board, UGH!

So if any of you teacher people out there have any cast offs you can throw my way, let me know! I will take any and all donations.

Vacation Pictures/Tales

I haven't really talked much about our vacation to Branson and the Lake of the Ozarks last week. So here goes. First off it was HOT! We were still in Missouri in July for gosh sakes so what did we expect. We started our trip off by stopping at Lamberts just outside of Springfield, MO. It is the Home of the Throwed Rolls. They literally throw hot rolls to you from across the room. It's a very homestyle place with rolls of paper towels on the table and servers walking around dishing out extra portions of what they call "pass arounds" which were fried potatoes, macaroni, black eyed peas, fried okra, and molasses for your rolls. (no it's not figure friendly) But needless to say it was a big hit with kids. At first they were a little scared to ask that a roll be thrown from way across the room but they really got into it as the meal progressed.

After that, we made our way to Branson and our hotel, the Grand Victorian. Lets just say the hotel was nothing to write home about. It was clean but very small, had and indoor and outdoor pool that were also really small and an absolutely terrible continental breakfast. But my kids didn't care they still swam and ate donuts from the breakfast. That evening we went to a new attraction called Branson Landing which is Branson's equivalent of Downtown Disney. Lots of shops and restaurants and ways to spend money. They do a have a Bass Pro shop which was fun with everyone getting t-shirts or hats in Adam's case. Justin bought himself a hunting knife and Adam enjoyed "riding" on all the ATV's parked all over the place.

The next day, we rode the Ducks, which are vehicles that go in land and water. This was probably my favorite part because I sat with Adam and this was something he really wanted to do and then when we got into Table Rock Lake, they let him drive. He was so cute up there.

Later that afternoon we went to Silver Dollar City at about 4:30 because if you go after three the next day is free. But we didn't' realize that the park closed at 7, so that didn't leave us a whole lot of time to do anything. But we rode some rides, ate funnel cakes (the whole reason to go to Silver Dollar City) and watched the glass blowing demo. Not too bad. I for one was pretty much done. But ofcourse we had to go back the next morning. So we did. Well it was HOT, I would guess the hottest day of the year so far. And Silver Dollar City is all black topped. Yeah, you can guess how miserable we were. We split up because Hannah suddenly decided that most of the rides made her stomach sick?!? So she and I went to a couple of shows, explored the overpriced craft areas and hung out in a super cold ice cream parlor while the boys rode all the water rides that got them completely soaked and miserable. At about 3pm we had all had enough. However this was Wednesday and we had already checked out of our hotel so there was no where to go and we had Dixie Stampede tickets for 5pm that night. So we did end up going back to the hotel during their tea time to eat cookies and go to the public restroom and just sit in the lobby where it was cool. Bob's parents who also went spent the day shopping because his mom isn't too good on her feet. (not sure how she did shopping with her knees but?) We met up with them at Dixie Stampede.

The Stampede was fun, I for one will never go again as I discovered that I must be allergic to either horses or hay because what I thought was me having a claustrophobic panic attack turned out to be an allergic reaction to something there. The food was pretty good and the show is like a rodeo with songs etc. But it's hard to clap and get into it while you are trying to also eat. Kids liked it though.

From there we drove to the Lake which took about 2 hours and didn't get there till after nine by which time we were all EXHAUSTED! We did they usual lake things like swim and shop and except for a mayonnaise incident that I won't mention here, it was fun. WHEW, can you tell how tired were where by Saturday when we came home?


(Justin enjoying a roll at Lamberts, his favorite part of the trip)


(Hannah at the Bass Pro on Branson Landing)


(Adam outside of Bass Pro on an ATV)

(Adam drives the Duck)

(Posing with our tour guide)

(The cop goes to Silver Dollar City Jail)


(everyone on the suspended bridge at SDC)


All in all we had a good time but Branson has become somewhat rundown since the times I went there as a kid. Plus there are no big name entertainers there anymore, just a bunch people I've never heard of. Bob and I both agreed that the next time we go to Branson and Silver Dollar City it will be with our grandchildren. (hopefully about 20 years from now)

Home, Home on the Range!!

Yep, we're home. Went to Branson and the Ozarks last week and had a pretty good time. Although it was HOT! Since returning on Saturday, we have been busy with a capital B. We've had two softball games, friends over for dinner and many phone calls and errands to run. WHEW! This is also a busy week. I am finally getting to meet the new principal at my school and meeting with the other 8th grade teachers. I start next week with new teacher orientation. YIKES! Yes, that means summer is O-V-E-R for me! But I'm excited about it. I have a few vacay pics (our camera was kind of on the fritz) that I will post and talk more about vacay soon. Just wanted to get some kind of update before people think I have fallen off the planet.

out of office reply

sorry this blogger is out of the office (er, I mean couch) all week long. don't you just hate it when you get that repsonse from an email? not sure why but I find it annoying. anyhow, I will be gone all week with the fam on vacay. not sure why I'm not capitalizing my sentences but I have seen lots of other blogs that do this but I don't know why they do it. come to think of it I really shouldn't be capitalizing my i's either so i guess i won't

WAIT! The teacher in me can't do that. In fact, I feel uncomfortable not capitalizing the title either. I mean that is like a 3rd grade skill, you capitalize the title of a story. DUH! So I guess I will just do the right thing. Like always! (oops that's not a complete sentence)

But to all my adoring public readers, check back next weekend for the vacay update.

passed

No it's not gas or anything crude like that, I passed my Praxis exam that I took in June. I got a 190 out of 200 which is like a 95%. So I guess I did allright. But all I can say is WHEW!! One less thing to worry about. So now all I have to do is apply for Middle School Language Arts Teacher Certification through the state of Missouri and send in my score and I will be able to add that to my resume and ofcourse guarantee my job at Mehlville. YEAH!

(Buerkle Middle School Mascot)