Oh those boys!

I went to my nephews, Reed and Brock's first football game tonight. I tell you what those boys make me laugh. They are so funny! For one thing, it is just funny to watch them play football. They are all so small, but totally play hard. Brandon is helping coach this year and that is funny too. After the game I of course had my camera and wanted to take pictures. I took a few when they were playing, but they aren't that good. So I took a couple and Reed told me that I needed to take a few in black and white. So of course, I always do what I am told......so I did! They were trying to act tough in their uniforms, but it is funny because they have a hard time not smiling in a couple. Then Brock did a little commercial for Gatorade, but for some reason I can't get it to work...........help Whitney!!!!!! Brock was just being a little ham tonight. After his commercial, he was on the truck and I had to get a few pics of him being the little turd that he is!

Riley is going through the middle school stage where he doesn't talk a whole lot. He has been going to football practice for the 7th grade team. It has been a lot different this year because he is really working hard for a position on the A team. It sounds like he is doing a great job. I am so excited to see him play this year!!

Still running scared!

Well ladies and gentlemen, it happened again. Last night I was on my daily jog. I was doing really good and was about on my 3rd mile, when what do I see...........four dogs running my way. If you have read my blog before, you know that this has happened once already. This time it was even worse, there was four of them. I was so mad. I was thinking to myself shouldn't I be able to run around my neighborhood and not be scared of a dog attack???!!! I have purchased pepper spray and I take it with me every time I run. Here is my question though, when do I use it? I am not a dog lover by any means, except for Bronson, but I am not a dog hater. So I was so tempted to use it last night as two of them are at my heals, but didn't. I just know that I would feel horrible and I am kind of scared that the owners would get pissed at me. Should I care though? They are the ones letting their dogs run lose and chase innocent runners like myself.

So let me know your thoughts. Should I spray them or should I just keep running scared?

Three days down!!

As many of you know I started school this week. It was a typical first week, introductions, rules, procedures, etc. I will say I am so glad that I made the move back to 6th grade. For one thing you don't have to plan for a full day which is such a stressful task. For another I don't have the same kids all day long! I really found that I need the change of children every few hours. Last year I had the same kids all day and I just did not enjoy that too much. A lot of people think that I am crazy for liking 6th grade. Maybe it is because that is what I started teaching and have kept with it throughout my teaching with the exception of last year. I love the age though and am so glad there was an opening in 6th grade. You can be serious with them and they can sit and work and you can still do goofy stuff and the like it. I am hoping that the rest of the year will go as great as the first three days. I do miss the people at E II, but I know that I can still see them every once in a while. Thank goodness for e-mail. To me it is like moving to a new district like I have done before and I had to leave some very dear friends behind that I miss tremendously. The difference this year is those dear friends from E II are still within walking distance, so that is a major bonus! I don't have funny first day stories like Danavee and Whitney, but I will share when one does come up!

One other thing......I am starting my masters this week!!! I have been debating since I started teaching what I wanted to get my masters in. I have thrown around the idea of library, counseling, and technology. I finally decided on Instructional Mathematics. I am pretty stoked about starting. Not so stoked about the CHA-CHING that is going to be making a big whole in the bank, but it will pay off soon I hope! It is a 2 year program and pretty much all online! So excited about that. Kind of nervous at the same time though. I haven't taken classes in forever! Wish me luck!!!

A great first impression!

Well, as many of you know I am going to be teaching 6th grade again this year. In order to do this, I had to move buildings. I think I have talked about this before. So the move was going ok. I really like everyone that I am working with and they are all very helpful. I am starting to feel somewhat comfortable, but honestly it will take me a while to feel like I am part of the building. Well I was trying to finish up decorating my room. I thought I had a really cool idea of what to do on one wall. In order to do this I need to copy some things on overhead transparencies. So I grabbed a couple and headed down to the office. I put it in the copier and started the machine. And then.........ERROR!!! I had flippin' used the wrong kind of transparency and it had MELTED and was stuck in the machine! Well, isn't this my lucky day. I felt like such an idiot. Why the heck do I have transparencies you can't copy on??? I had to get the secretary to help me. I felt so horrible. I think she was a little bit irritated at me, but was very patient. I cannot believe that I did that. After about 20 minutes we finally got it fixed. Although we did take a chunk out of one of the rollers, it still seemed to work. So I went back to my room hanging my head low and thinking I feel like a complete idiot. What a great impression to make on the secretary. I am sure you are thinking oh poor thing didn't get to finish her cool idea. Oh not to worry, I found the right kind of transparency. I will say that my heart was a poundin' when I put that first one in and I was giving a good shout out for someone to make this work. Luckily it did not melt!!!! I will take pics and post next time so you can see how important the copies were :~)

Two funny things....or so I think!!

So Sunday Dan and I went over to move all my school things from one building to another. Now let me just tell you that I have been teaching for 8 years and you just accumulate a lot of things in that time. I know that my teacher friends understand this. I know I should throw some of it away and I actually did throw quite a bit away, but my big thing is you never know when you are going to need something. I mean I am not for sure why I possibly need 8 staple removers but I do have thousands of staples to go with it....not even joking here you should see all the staples that were left in my new classroom.......crazy! Or why might I need Crisco? Anyway, I have a lot of stuff. So we decide to get started moving things, we had already drove 4 hours that day from my parents, needless to say we were dreading this job. The school I was at last year has an upstairs and that is where all my things were. There is a elevator, unfortunately I never got a key. I will say that I used it during summer school and got kind of freaked out because I got in the door closed and it didn't move and I couldn't get the door open, so I was thinking that the stairs were just fine. So we start loading. Dan had got a two wheeler from work so that helped. We had to take two car loads over, which was really good because I thought it would be more than that. There was one load that Dan had to shut me in because I was loaded down with a big box of posters. We get the last load over and I start to look around the room for a minute. Dan was like look Babe you have a really nice chair. He sits down and starts spinning around and having fun in the chair. He does things like this quite often so I didn't think much of it. I was looking around and then I started saying something and there was no answer. I look around and Dan wasn't in there. All of a sudden I hear him rolling down the hallway with great speed and grinning from ear to ear. He was like, "Hey go get you a chair and we can have races." I said oh I don't think so there are cameras not a good impression. He was quite surprised there were cameras, but it was a great way for him to end the day of hard work!

Second Story

Yesterday my friend Myranda called and asked if I wanted to go do a class with her at the gym. I was like sure. So she said it was a step class. I have never done a step class before and thought why not. So I meet her at the gym in time for the class. We get our steps and our weights and wait for the class to begin. It starts and they ask who hasn't done this class before. Myranda and I both raise our hands. It starts of with just a basic step up and down....easy. Then it goes into a step and kick. No problem. Wait what is this the cowboy kick. Charleston, around the world......what is going on I don't know any of these. Ugghhhhhh I am not getting this at all. I am seriously like getting about four of the eight steps we are suppose to do. I keep trying though and am thinking to myself come on Andrea you are more coordinated than this. So I have finally picked up a few, but still not getting a lot of it when what happens......Oh yes, I step and my whole little step contraption comes apart. I am thinking oh shit what an idiot I am. So I, as quickly as I can, try and put it together without laughing too hard and turning bright red. I was thinking to myself this just might not be the best class for you. I finally get back into somewhat of a groove and back with the group. Then Myranda looks at me and is like I have to quit I hurt my foot. So I stopped to check on her and she took her shoe off and her foot was all swollen. Poor thing. She heard it pop when we first started but she kept going......she's a tough cookie! She got some ice and rested for a bit. She told me to go on and finish the class. I said are you sure, like please don't make me go back in there. I did though and by the end of the class I was feeling a little better about the whole step class. It was quite a workout and would really be good if I could do the triple time that some of them do. Maybe next time!!!