Five For Friday

1.  EVERYBODY is sick!  The flu, the stomach bug, you name it, it's going around.  I'm a germaphobic anyway but this week I've been hollering "No, no! No hugs this week!"  I've held to a 5 feet space between and the students and teachers I'm talking too.  I CANNOT get sick right now.  Ain't nobody got time for that!  Once January comes I can catch whatever bug is going around then but for right now I MUST STAY WELL!  Back off people!

2.  A Pre-K student came running around the corner, fell and hit my knee.  I got a nice size bruise on my right knee from his hard head.  I wanted to say "And this is why we don't run in school!" but his mom was right there so I didn't.  I rubbed my knee and checked on him to make sure he was ok like a good teacher should.  Sigh

3.  I broke up two fights yesterday.  It's way past time for a break.

4.  Two students threw up right outside the library.  Another student threw up in the library.  #nope #done #DidIMentionICannotBeSickRightNow

5.  Today is our last day and the students get out at noon!  Noon cannot get here soon enough!

Snot. Gag!

Sunday my bestie Janet asked me to help her teacher the 6 month-2 year old Bible class.  It's my favorite class and the only class I'll teach so I joined her in the classroom.

Everybody and their dog is sick in Texas right now.  All the little ones had runny noses.  I hate runny noses about as much as I hate vomit.  I can do blood and dirty butts but runny noses and vomit get a big fat NO from me.

So when one of the visitors sneezes and nasty snot comes out of her nose (my throat is closing as I type that!) I gag and turn my head.

Janet gets tickled at me and said "I'm already regretting asking you to help me!"

Which got me laughing... which turned into a hot flash.

Janet fanned me for a second while I took off what clothes I could and still be decent.  Then she told me I was useless.  Bawhahaha

I can't help it!  #JustSayNoToSnot

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For School:

I got my Junior Library Guild subscription in last week.  So I read through all the picture books.  It's my favorite time of the month!

Pine and Boof: the Lucky Leaf by Ross Burach: Boof the bear has a lucky red leaf.  The red leaf gets swept away in the wind.  Luckily Pine the porcupine walks by at just the right time with his lucky compass.  The new friends set off together on an adventure to find the lost leaf.

All the Way to Havana by Margarita Engle:  A boy and his family take their old family car that makes lots of noises to the city of Havana, Cuba.  As they drive they see the sights, hear the sounds, and watch the neighbors & the musicians performing, and see all the colorful cars driving along.

Charlie & Mouse & Grumpy (Charlie & Mouse, #2): by Margarita Engle: This is a beginning chapter book.  It's the second in the series.  The two brothers are excited for their grandfather's visit.  They pounce each other, sings the wrong songs, build forts out of blankets and do other fun things together.

Catch My Breath by Paul Briggs:  This is a fun little book!  This book is full of puns related to breath.  Like catch my breath,  babies breath, and many others.

For Pleasure:

The Christmas Secret (Christmas Hope, #5) by Donna VanLiere:  I listened to this sweet story.  I don't always enjoy a "sweet" story but around the holidays all I want to read are heart warming stories.  Like all heart warming stories, life works out for this single mom of two.  She gets they guy, though it's not the guy she thought.  Her ex-husband gets his life together and becomes a better father and she gets to go back to college.

Five for Friday

1.  We are one week closer to Winter Break!  Two more weeks to go!

2.  Jay and I are going to the movies tonight.  It's been forever since we had a date night.  Life has just been busy.  And if we've had a free moment we've been too tired from all the other busyness to take advantage of a date night.

3.  I couldn't find the zipper on my coat yesterday.  I looked all over for the zipper.  I finally ask a friend at work if she saw the zipper.  She did... on the other side of the coat.  Yeap.  That was my day.  lol

4.  My library has been freezing this week!  I've worn my coat and sometimes my gloves while indoors.  I've been drinking coffee in the afternoons to help warm me up.  I split it all over my papers.  Yeap.  That was my day.  Ha!

5.  One more Friday till break!

Cold In East Texas

It's been cold here in East Texas.  It's been rainy the last couple of days which makes it seem colder than what it really is.  We don't get much cold weather here so I love when we do!

My library has three walls that are 2/3 windows.  I LOVE being able to look outside all day.  I don't feel like I've been stuck indoors all day.  But mercy!  In the summer, spring and even the fall it's so hot in my library.  It doesn't help that my body runs hot anyway.  And during the winter it's like an iceberg in the library.

Yesterday I didn't think I'd ever get warm again.  I was even cold at Bible study.  I friend nearly fainted when I told her I was cold... cuz I'm always hot. Ha!

I'm cooking cheese soup for us for dinner tonight.  It's my mother-in-law's recipe and one of Reagan and my favorites. 

It's going to warm up to the 60s next week.  So I'm enjoying the upper 40s and mid 50s this week!

Elderly Saints Party

We had our yearly Elderly Saints Party last Friday. It was a lot of fun!

We rented a building and decorated it. This year's theme was "Hat Off To You" so our colors were black and red. We had top hats and black and red checks decorating the tables.

We had one of our younger couples help too. The wife took polaroids of all the couples (the hosts and the guests) while the husband made sure everyone signed in.

One of the hosts made top hat cookies. After the polaroid was taken another lady taped the picture to the package the cookie was in. At the end when everyone was leaving they got their cookie (s) and their picture to take home. It was a nice little party gift. I LOVE this idea!

After dinner some of our musically talented people sang and played Christmas songs for us. There were also a couple of tables of 42 being played.

Since it was Jay's birthday the first song the group sang was "Happy Birthday" to him. He hated being the center of attention ... not me, I would have loved it! lol

Everyone had a great time and thank us for a lovely evening. It's a lot of work but so worth it!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For School:

I read Blocks by Irene Dickerson to PreK-1st grade.  Blocks is on the Texas 2x2 list.  This is a simple book filled with so much teaching opportunities!  With the book being titled blocks, I'll start with the obvious, we talked about shapes.  We identified colors.  The characters in the books had names that started with the color of the blocks they were using like Ruby used red blocks.  So we identified the sound of 'r' and discussed the placement of that sound.  Most of the sentences are punctuated with a period but there were a couple of sentences with explanation points.  We discussed why the explanation point was appropriate for the sentence it was used in.  With my 1st graders we also took note of the quotation marks and talked about why they were used.  The last thing we focused on was feelings and better ways to handle situations.  One boy takes one of the girl's blocks.  There's a little fusing and fighting.   We explored ways to solve problems other than fighting. The only thing I'll do different next time I read this book is I'll add a block station so they can build like Ruby, Benji and Guy did.

To 2nd-5th I read Follow the Moon Home by Philippe Cousteau.  It has been nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.  After reading about this real life community project, students and I compared and contrasted our school's garden club verse the Lights Out for Loggerheads community project.

For Pleasure:

It's the Christmas season so I've been devouring Christmas stories.

I listened to All is Calm by  Colleen Cobie and Starry Night by Debbie Macomber.  Both are sweet stories with Christmas themes.

I'm half way through Hot Flash Holidays by Nancy Thayer.  It keeps me laughing!

I'm also half way through listening to The Christmas Secret (Christmas Hope, #5) by Donna VanLiere.  A single mom is down on her luck.  Money is tight.  She has a deplorable ex-husband.  She looses her job.  But she saves a woman's life.  The woman's family is going go save her life too.

Five For Friday-Elderly Saints Christmas Party

1.  The middle age church members host an Elderly Saints Christmas Party every year.

2.  We rent a pretty building.  We decorate it to the nines.

3.  We each cook part of the meal.  This year one person is doing all the meat while everyone else is doing a side and/or dessert.

4.  After we eat we take pictures in a "photo booth" and listen to some of the members sing and play their instruments.  Some bring dominoes to play.

5.  Everyone has a blast!

Jury Duty

I had jury duty Monday.  I dread being picked.  I don't want to sit there being questioned.  I hate the whole process.

One of the things I did find interesting was that the judge said that our jobs were not an excuse to get out of jury duty but he did make an exception to that rule.

He allowed medical people to be excused and teachers during the STAAR test (our state assessment).  At first I was super excited!  Being an educator would mean I got to get out of jury duty but then he clarified.... Since it was STAAR test time we weren't being excused.

Then I got a little irritated.  Not because I had to keep sitting there going through the process but because that's what the STAAR test has become.

Not only do students and educators dread it but now a judge of the courts thinks it's so important that an educator can get excused from jury duty because of it.

That's where we are in life now.  A standardized test has been made so important not only in education but out in the world too.

I agree there does have to be some standards.  We do need to know we are teaching our students what they need to know.  But all this standardize testing has just become one big monster.

Wordless Wednesday

Thanksgiving Break

Thanksgiving break was MUCH NEEDED!  It has been a stressful begin to the school year.

Not to give to much detail but I had to make the tough decision to fight for what was right for my students and my school even if there was back lash.  The whole situation was stressful.  Really it's been stressful since March of 2017.

It's crazy what stress does to your body and mind.  How it effects you in ways you don't realize until the stress has been removed.

Two Fridays before Thanksgiving break the stressor was removed.  And let me tell you, it was like the actually school building itself took a sigh of relief.  So much has changed for the better since then.

I feel better.  I sleep better.  I'm not worrying (and I'm not really a worrier).  I feel more like myself.  I'm reading more.  I'm joying my school again.  I always found joy in my job.  I love being a librarian but it wasn't always easy to make myself get up and go to work due to the stressor.

I was busy over the break.  Reagan and I went to Houston over the first weekend.  We had a viewing and funeral of an elderly member of our church.  Then we headed to Tyler for Thanksgiving with my in-laws.  Then back here to decorate our tree and rest.

I read 3 books and 2 novellas and watched 2 Christmas movies.  It was fabulous!

What did you do over you're break?

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I've been in a little reading funk.  Not a big one.  I just haven't been reading as much as I normally do.  Until Thanksgiving break. 

I devoured 3 books and 2 novella's.  And it was glorious!

I add books pins to my Pinterest "To Read" board all the time.  I scanned through it until I found a series.

I read the young adult, urban fantasy series, Firelight by Sophie Jordan.  This series is from the point of view of a female drakia named Jacinda.  Jacinda is a descendant of dragons.  Their deepest secret is that they can manifest into humans.  Through events that Jacinda can't control she falls in love with a human boy.  Through the whole series Jacinda learns about hunters, who murdered her father, and how to live with her human love.  There's family discord, some adventure and love.

In connection with this series I read the novella Breathless.  Jacinda's best friend, Az is getting ready to take her tour in the human world but before she does she takes a family vacation with her parents near a lake.  Az is a water drakia and while swimming in a local pond she saves the life of a local girl then falls in love with her brother.  Though she tries to fight it she can't get past her attraction to him.

The last book I read was a novella from the Ten Beach Road series by Wendy Wax called One Good Thing.  This series is a realistic fiction, beach read.  It'a always nice to go back to the world of the 5 ladies at Ten Beach Road.  This is a Christmas novella.  It was the perfect book to read heading into the Holiday season.

I started Hot Flash Holiday by Nancy Thayer.  I picked it cuz the title cracked me up.  And I'm starting to have hot flashes.  I figured I could enjoy a funny holiday read while relating to the hot flashes.

Complements

My students always give me complements.  Especially the little ones. 

They like my shoes.  They like my books.  They like my shirt.

This morning from 2 tables away in the cafeteria I hear:

PK student: Mrs. Taylor!  Mrs. Taylor!  I like your make-up!

Me: Ha! Thank you! Ha!

That was a first! Ha!

It's Been Awhile

It's been a couple of weeks since I last blogged.  Life has been crazy.  It's been busy.  It's been stressful.

I keep thinking life will slow down and it doesn't.  Why?!?  I keep trying to find things I can cut from my life to make it less busy but there's nothing to cut.  It is what it is.

Work has been super stressful.  I have like 20 hairs left in each eyebrow and my mouth is covered in canker sores.  Lovely.  There are a lot of reasons work is stressful.  At the top of the list is that I remember what my school was like before all this craziness.  I remember how smoothly things ran.  I remember when I looked forward to coming to work.  None of those things are true now.

I miss blogging.  That means I need to make the time to do it.  But that also means giving up something else like family time or reading or watching Blue Bloods (gotta get my dose of Donnie Wahlberg! lol).

Maybe if my stress level was down everything wouldn't seem like such a chore.  I need to work on that.  Do you have any book recommendations I can read that teach how to reduce your stress level?  Or any suggestions at all? I'm willing to try anything really!

Wordless Wednesday

Jay was obsessed with the sheep in Ireland!

What's Your Favorite Thing About Your Job?

At a recent conference a lady asked "What's your favorite thing about your job?"

This caught me off guard. 

Normally people ask "What do you love about your job?" Which allows for a list of things I love. And I do have a list. 

But asking what my favorite thing is about my job made me feel like I needed to pick one thing. My very favorite thing. 

So after the lady asked me I felt like I sat there like a dork silently thinking about my one favorite thing. I felt awkward. She probably thought nothing of it. Ha!

I finally said "Those 'ah ha' moments." Because really this does encompass a lot of my favorites. 

When a student and I find a book they end up loving. 

When I teach students how to find books in the library and they get it. 

When students help me shelf books and they do it right. 

When I start a club like my Code Club and students excel & thrive in it. 

When a student who hates reading learns to love read with my help. 

The list is long my friends so I'll stop here. 

It's such a simple question "What's your favorite thing about your job?" But it's a question that's stuck with me and made me think frequently about it. And made me blog about it. Ha!

What's your favorite thing about your job?

Five For Friday-Ireland

1. Driving on the wrong side of the road.  What an experience!

2.  Sheep!  Sheep everywhere!  Sheep in the roads.  Sheep on the side of the road.  Sheep everywhere!

3. Oh the rain!  It rain off and on everyday except one day when it did nothing but pour.

4. A 10 hour plane ride is not fun.  Not fun at all.

5.  The conference was awesome.  I learned so much from attending session.  I was amazed at how many people were interested in our project.

Invasion of Frogs

Ok... maybe my title is an exaggeration.  Maybe it wasn't an invasion.  And maybe it wasn't frogS.  Maybe it was just one frog.

But why?!

Why does a killer frog jump in my house the night my husband isn't home?  It's like the murderous frog knew Jay wasn't home.

I let Maggie, our black lab, out to potty last night and I see something slink in the house.  I thought it was a gecko.  I followed Maggie on outside to make sure she did her business and contemplated my next move with (what I thought was) the gecko.

I decided to get a plastic cup to capture it then put something heavy on top to hold the cup down.  After that I didn't have a plan.  I sure wasn't going to get it outside.  I did think if I saw the neighbor I might ask him to come get it otherwise... it was going to be waiting for Jay to get home.

When Maggie and I got back in the house I quickly realized my mistake.  It wasn't a gecko.  It was a frog.

I really don't know which is worse.

So I get my trusty plastic cup and a water bottle to put on top for weight and head to the corner of the breakfast room where the frog sits in the corner.  Maggie, my trusty protector is by side with her ears alert and eyes on the prize.

Except...

She charges the frog before I do which sends it hopping behind the breakfast table.  And makes me scream like a little girl.  Which makes Reagan come running out of her room to check on me.

I local the frog again and quickly capture it with the plastic cup and sit the water bottle on top.

My brave 14 year old daughter uses a paper plate and a bundle of bunched up paper towels to get the killer frog out the back door.  Thank goodness for her bravery cuz that vicious frog would still be waiting under the plastic cup for Jay to get home.

Thankful Thursday

While in Ireland Reagan turned to me and said "Thanks Mom for doing what you did to get us here."

Oh my soul!

All the guilt I felt for working summer school and leaving her at home more than 1/2 the day all of June just evaporated.  Knowing not only did she understand that my hard work got us to Ireland but also the extra hours I put in and the extra duties I worked helped pay for a good portion of the trip.

These are all things Jay and I have tried to teacher but I think this trip really made an impact on her.  Hard work really does pays off.  Sacrificing our time and saving our money really does pay off.

And really, how often does a teenager sincerely thank her parents?  I didn't thank mine until after Reagan was born and I realized all the sacrifices they made for me.

I'm treasuring this moment in case I don't get one again until she has kids of her own.  Ha!

Beach vs Mountains

It's hard to tell but that little dot is Jay.

One of the things I found interesting while we were in Ireland for my conference is my preference for the beach verses my husband's preference for the mountains.

Every time we pulled over on the side of the road to enjoy the scenery Jay always tried to climb the mountain and I always tried to figure out how to get down to the beach.

I know I love the water and Jay does not.  I know I'm the first one to jump in the pool at a hotel.  And I'm the first one to plan a trip to the beach.  I know I'm the one who talks about tubing down the river or heading to lake.

For some reason seeing our choices in action on our trip really made me notice it.

I love water.  I was a water baby.  My parents put me in swim classes at 6 months old and I've loved it ever since. We had a pool when I was kid that I spend all summer in. Except for the days I got swimmers ears.  I can remember bugging my mom everyday till I was able to get back in the pool.

I remember my mom and aunt taking my little cousin and I to the beach a few times each summer. We use to go camping on the river and tube all day.  We'd also camp by the lake and swim all day.

I love the water.

Jay nearly drowned in high school on the lake.  One of his buddies noticed him going under and was able to grab him and get him to shore.  Needless to say he does not have the love of water that I do.

Back to Ireland.  That's one of the awesome things about Ireland.  The beach and mountains are all

The beach at Ventry-Coumeenoole.

right there together.  Some of the houses have front porches that faced the beach and back porches that face the mountain. That would be the perfect house for us except we might never see each other. Ha!

Don't get me wrong.  I do love the mountains but I'd pick the beach over the mountains any day!

What do you prefer?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

For Pleasure:

I finished listened to Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys. It is a young adult historical fiction set in 1941. Lina & her Lithuanian family are taken from their home by Soviet officers. Lina, her brother, their mother are separated from their father. They end up spending 12 years in an imprisonment camp working in terrible conditions.  They are malnourished, mistreated and watch new friends die. 

For School:

Last week I read Are Pirates Polite? by Corinne Demas.  Tuesday, September 19 was Talk Like a Pirate Day so I wanted to read a pirate book and dress up like a pirate.  The students LOVE it!  This is the second year I've done this and will keep doing it as long as the kids keep loving it.  Are Pilates Polite? teach children about manners in a fun piratey way.  We learn that sometimes pirates push forward in battle but they never push in line.  We learn that pirates never interrupt.  Don't you want to have manners like a pirate?!?

Ireland-Conference

I've been trying to decide how to write about my time in Ireland. 

Do I go day by day? Do I write about our sight seeing? Do I write about the conference? Do I write about the conference in general or my present?  Do I write about the looonnnngggg flight? Or the sheep? So many adorable sheep!

And when I do write about these things how do I organize my thoughts? And all the bazillion pictures we took... do I add those? If not all the pictures how do I choose just a few pictures?

All these choices!

It doesn't help organize my thoughts that when people at school have asked me how Ireland was all I have had time to says is "Ireland is beautiful. The conference was great! The food was yucky."

Those 3 short simple sentences aren't enough for a blog. Ha!

So....

The conference. I think I'll start there since it's the whole reason I ended up in Ireland. Specifically my presentation. 

The conference is call International Association for Research on Service-Learning and Community Engagement. IARSLCE for short cuz mercy that's a mouth full!

I quickly learned this conference was geared for university faculty and staff. I always got funny looks from other attendees when I told them I was an elementary librarian. Then I'd explain I was presenting a project a professor and I did together. Then everyone (yes, everyone) would then nod and smile in understanding. Ha!

The professor and I did a PechaKucha.  It's Japanese for chit chat. Luckily the secondary lead librarian had taught us librarians about a PechaKucha so I had some prior knowledge. 

Our presentation was called "A Reversal of Service-Learning: When Young Students Teach Student Teachers." We did 20 slides in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. 20 seconds for each slide was not nearly enough time. Ha!

There were 4 presentations in one session. After all the presentations the audience was able to ask each set of presenters questions. We had 3 professors ask questions. After the session 2 of them came over to ask more questions and got our contact info. 

At lunch another professor asked if she could sit with me and ask more questions. While we were talking and eating 2 of her colleagues walked up. She introduced me as "This is one of the presenters in that awesome session I told you about."

Dude! How cool is that?!?

She went on to say that the professor and I need to write a paper on our project and offered to send me lit reviews. 

I made so many great contacts.  I learned so much about what colleges and universities have to offer the community. 

Five for Five

1.  Tired

2.  There's no tired like the end of the first week of school tired.

3.  My feet are tired.

4.  My back is tired.

5.  T. I. R. E. D

Houston Flooding

I had a different post ready for today but after the rain, the flooding, the evacuations in Houston, Texas due to Harvey I decided to scratch the other post and do this one.

My parent's house in Houston has never flooded.  Their street has flooded but it's never gotten over sidewalk.  I never worry about them.  That neighborhood was build in the 70s and it was built well.

Until Harvey.

At 10:00 last night my mom texts Jays that they are having to evacuate to a shelter.  Thinking about my parents in their late 60s sitting in a shelter was more than I could take.  So I started texting friends.  They couldn't get to my BFF or my bestie house.

They tried to get to my dad's hunting buddy's house but they couldn't get their either.  Since they have a hunting dog they couldn't take to the shelter they ended up going back to the house and riding it out.

I text both my parents this morning.  My dad is going to need a lesson in texting etiquette!

Me: How did it go last night???
Dad: Get back to you later.

So that was comforting.  I mean a little info would of been better than that.  Like "Knee deep in water. Get back to you later." or "We're good.  Get back to you later."  Come on Dad!

About 30 minutes later my mom texts me:  We got to bed about midnight.  We are still high and dry. Been glued to the TV this morning.  A surrounding neighborhood has 4-5 feet in the houses.  It's looking like we may only get street flooding.  I can handle that.  We should know more around 2:30 or 3 today.  Will keep you posted.  Love you

Now that's an informative text!

I'm trying to think positive about my grandparents who live inside the loop and my granny who lives further north of Houston and about my parents.  Prayers would be appreciated!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm listening to Airborn by Kenneth Oppel.  It's an adventure where airships fly through the air.  I have to admit it took me awhile to understand the ships were flying (insert eyeroll here).  There are new lands to be discovered and creatures never seen before.  People die, airships crash, pirates attack, kids are kidnapped and so much more.  I'm really enjoying this book!

I'm still reading True Grit by Charles Portis as part of our town's One Book, One City program.  I've seen parts of the movie and have never read the book before.  I'm not really into westerns but this book is more than just a western.  I'm about a 1/3 of the way through the book.

I started The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking. I'm trying to apply the Danish word hygge to my life. What better way than reading a book about it!

Teaching Training

Today was the 1st day back for teachers. My 1st day was Monday. 

I'm pretty sure my face looked just like the face of the 15 and up in the meme. I know the 1st year teacher looked like the one in the meme.  Bless her heart. She wanted to follow all the instructions to the T when the rest of us just want get "it" over with. Ha! 

I thought of the meme a lot today. 

Today we sat through safety training and T-Tess training. And maybe some other stuff but after awhile my brain went numb. Ha!

I passed out 6 Advils to teachers with headaches. 

I sat in a cafeteria with no AC for hours. Being hot makes me angry. Another teacher brought in a fan that I sat directly in front of with my hair in a ponytail. 

My hands were shaking. I'm blaming it on the pain meds I'm taking but I looked up the side effects and shaking isn't a side effect. 

Tomorrow is a work day. Work days are so much better than training days. 

I think if you have 10 or more years experience you should be able to be exempt from the routine trainings like the safety training and T-TESS training. I mean we get it. Rock Star teachers are only proficient. 

Wordless Wednesday

We celebrated Reagan's 14th birthday Saturday.

A Letter To Myself

Dear Self,

As you start year 15 in the world of education I want you to remember a few things.  This may be your 15th year but none of your students have been in school for 15 years.  They are not as jaded as you. Although some of these babies might be close to as jaded as you.  So ask yourself, "How can I be the difference for them?  How can I help chip away at the jadedness we both have?"  Remember you can't reach them all but you can sure try.

You've been at this current school for 3 years and have had 5 principals.  That's a lot to deal with.  It's a lot of inconsistency.  It's hard of the students.  It's hard on the parents.  It's hard on the faculty and staff.  No one is denying it's hard.  It.  Is. Hard.  So what are you going to do with that? Fake it till you make it?  Although, I know you're tired of faking it.  Maybe you should try the saying you found of Pinterest, "Faith it till make it." 'Faith it' seems much easier than 'Faking it'.

So pray more.
Leave work at work.

If this is hard on you at 40, you know this is hard for 4-11 year olds.  So be there for them.  Be the consistency in their lives that they might not have at home or even at school as a whole.  Set expectations for the library.  Model those expectations.  Be consistent with your rules and procedures. Teach the love of reading.

No matter what kind of day you're having don't let the students see anything but that you are happy to see them, you love them and want the best for them.  Be that adult in their lives.

Remember who you are and what you've done for the library, the school, and the students.  Don't let anyone take from you.  You know what you've done.  You know what you've done.  You know what you've done.

You know what you are good at and you know what you need to improve one.  Pick 3 improvements and work on them this school year.  How can you encourage the love of reading?  How can you reach those who hate reading?  What new clubs can you add to the library program?  How can you help improve testing scores?  Cuz it all comes down to testing scores doesn't it?

Focus:

*Faith it till you make it
*Hygge
*Don't let idiots ruin your day

The last one... your not trying to be flippant just... real and truthful.  Just trying to make it through the day.

Love,

Your-15-year-in-educator-self

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I finished listening to One Safe Place by Tania Unsworth.  After Devin's grandfather dies he is invited to a home where children are fed and cared for after some one witnessed him do an act of kindness.  Only the home turns out to use the children for their youth.  Devin makes some friends and together they find a way out of the craziness.

I started listening to Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriot.  Suzume watches her father get killed. She barely escapes and does so by discovering a hidden power.  Through turns of events she could never of guessed at she finds her mother married to her father's best friend and she's now disguised as a drudge.

The town I live in is participating in the One Book, One City program.  Of course I'm participating! Ha!  So I'm reading True Grit by Charles Portis.  I'm looking forward to all the activities the public library has planned for this program.

For School:

All the librarians in my district vote on a professional development book each year.  This year we picked Your School Rocks So Tell People by Ryan McLane and Eric Lowe.  I'm so inspired by this book!  I do all my school's social media and our webpage.  I'm looking forward to trying out some of their suggestions.

What are you reading that I need to add to my To Be Read list?

Wordless Wednesday

On our way back to our house after visiting the in-laws

Maggie stuck her head up on Reagan's

shoulder.  My sweet girls!

Five for Friday

1.  This is my last Friday before heading back to work.

2.  We are celebrating Reagan's 14th birthday tonight.

3.  There will be boys there!

4.  We are making s'mores in our firepit.

5.  14.  How did we get to 14?

Breakfasts

Every August I take one day to make as many breakfasts as I can.  I'm not a morning person and being able to reach into the freezer and grab a health pre-made breakfast makes my mornings go just a little bit better.

I started at 9:45 Tuesday morning and ended at 2:15 (I did take a 30 minute lunch break).  I went through: 4 dozen eggs.  24 white corn tortillas. A pound of turkey sausage crumbs.  10 turkey sausage links.  A large block of cheese.  Lots of foil. Lots of sandwich size baggies.  5 gallon baggies.

56 individual breakfasts, 8 smoothie packets, 2 sore feet, 1 aching back later my freezer is stuffed full of yummy, healthy breakfasts to grab and eat quickly or to eat on the go.

Through all that I forgot to take pictures to post here.  Oh well!

Here are the links to what I made:

French Toast Overnight Oats packets (minus the liquid)

Smoothie Packets (minus the liquid)

Breakfast Taquitos

Breakfast Burritos

Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

English Muffin Breakfast Pizza

It Burns!

Reagan and I picked up a rotisserie chicken and some rice from the local grocery store after I got out of a training yesterday afternoon.

It was raining and all I could think to do after putting away the other groceries was to take a shower, put on some comfy jammies, and snuggle up on the couch.

So before eating dinner I jumped in the shower.  Got comfy, heated up dinner then Reagan and I sat down to dinner. 

I ate a couple of bites of yummy chicken then shoveled in some rice.  It was scorching hot!  It burned the very back of my throat.  Why I didn't spit it out is beyond me.  I mean it was just Reagan and me. It's not like I was in a restaurant trying to act like I had manners.

Instead I let it burn the back of my throat.  Genius.

Next thing I know I drip ketchup in the middle of my collar bone.  

Apparently I'm new to eating.  Never a dull moment! 

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I'm almost done listening to Gone by Michael Grant.  It's the first book in a series.  I've enjoyed this book so much that I plan to read the other books in the series.  As soon as a person turns 15 years old they disappear.  Poof right into thin air.  All these babies to 14 year olds are left alone.  The other children are trying to figure out what happened to everyone.  To make matters even weirder some of the children have powers.  Some are more powerful than others.

Wordless Wednesday

We've been having district librarian professional developments this week.

We did an Instagram challenge.  I hope you enjoy

this picture as much as I enjoyed

taking it!

Lead Librarian

It's finally official!  As of yesterday I am the lead librarian for the elementary librarians in my district. This is definitely a new roll for me.

I'm excited to:

*test my leadership skills
*learn how to be a good leader
*to help support the other librarians in my district
*demonstrate to the school district what librarians can do
*share my knowledge
*learn from the seasoned secondary lead librarian

This is an exciting step in my career.  I think I'm ready for it!

It's Monday! What Are You Wearing?

Listening to:

Gone by Michael Grant One minute everyone is there then suddenly some are gone.  Those left are trying to figure out what happened to those who are gone.

Reading:

Born In Fire by Nora Roberts  I wanted to read this book because it's set in Ireland.  An artist signed with a business man who will make her rich though that's not why she signs with him. Passion ignites between them!

Five for Friday

1.  I just completed my first week as the lead librarian for the elementary librarians.  Ah!

2.  We had a girls' night last night.  Much! Needed!

3.  Reagan and I are headed to Tyler today to visit the in-laws.

4.  I didn't get to swim this week cuz the neighborhood pool turned green.  Yuck.

5.  I can't wait to eat Andy's Frozen Custard while in Tyler! Yummy!

Girl's Nite

My Nac girls and I are having a much needed girls' nite tonight.  I'm not sure I've ever written "girls' nite" without writing "much needed" before it. Ha!

We are celebrating one of their birthdays.  Two of them have birthdays back to back.  Some times we celebrate their birthdays together and some times separate.

I prefer separate.  Cuz then we have an excuse to go out twice! Ha!

We'll eat dinner then head to Starbucks for coffee and dessert.  Come on night time!

Five For Friday

1.  I had migraine two days this week.  Fun times.

2.  I decided to go to Houston a day earlier than planned cuz I just need out of this town.

3.  My parents, Reagan and I are going to the Monument Inn tomorrow.  I don't think I've ever been.  Maybe as a kid???  I can't remember.  My parents have taken Reagan a lot.  When she was little she told them she wanted to go feed the "eagles."  It took my parents hours to figure out she meant "seagulls" not "eagles" and wanted to go to the Monument Inn.  Ha!

4.  I'm using my new luggage, the one I'm taking to Ireland.  I'm practicing packing it.  I like my other luggage better but it was too wide by 3/4 inches.  I didn't want to run the risk of having to check it so I bought a new one.

5.  Yesterday I bought a pair of palazzo pants.  When the lady checking me out asked if I bought them for a reason (I thought it was a weird question but I think she was just making conversations) I told her yes that I had tried them on a month ago but didn't buy them.  I've been thinking about them the whole month and decided if they still had them I'd buy them.  She laughed and I got a new pair of pants.

Last Full Week of Summer

This is my last full week of summer.  Next week I have 4 days of professional development.  The week after that I have one day of training then I'm back to work on Thursday.

After teaching summer school all June, I really tried to cram in all my summer fun in in the month of July.  I think I did a pretty good job.

I don't have that "I'm ready to get back into a routine" feeling I usually have at the end of summer. I'm sure that's because I worked all of June and have only enjoyed a summer-lack-of-routine for 4 weeks.

I am ready to see the students.  To see how much they've changed and grown over the summer. Though honestly, I'm not ready to go back. At. All.

I had one meeting and left with a headache that turned into a migraine by night time and lasted until 10:00ish the next morning.  It came back that night and lasted again until the next morning.  So yeah.  I'm not looking forward to the stress or what it does to my body.  Fun times.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

It's a rainy Monday here in East Texas.  It was cozy to wake up this morning to the sound of thunder and rain hitting the roof.  All I could think about was coffee, a couch, and a good book.  What are you reading on this rainy day?

Thanks to Audiobook Sync I listened too:

Sugar by Deirdre Riordan Hall:  Sugar lives in a dysfunctional house with her bed ridden obese mother and her obese middle brother.  Her mother and her brother are both verbally and physically abusive.  Her oldest brother escaped their house and has lost all his weight and changed his behaviors. Through an unlikely friendship and the with the help of her oldest brother Sugar starts to make changes in her life.

The Dorito Effect: the Surprising New Truth About Food and Flavor by Mark Schatzker  I have a love/hate relationship with books like this.  I prefer to be blissfully unaware about the food I'm shoving in my mouth.  Yet books like this insist on informing me about nastiness of today's food. This book makes me want to start a garden and raise my own animals for slaughter.  Then I remember I'm a city girl and thought of getting my hands dirty in soil and with gross animals reminds me I'm just going to have to be ok with eating all the yucky things this book tells me about.  Sigh

I've started a couple of different books set in Ireland (for my Ireland trip) but have had a hard time getting into them so I've set them aside.  I started Nora Roberts series Born in Fire.  I'm not very far into the book yet but I think I might actually finish this one.  Can you recommend any books set in Ireland?  Preferably not a historical fiction.

Manic Mommies Reunion Podcast

Back when I was a stay at home mommy, in 2005 I found a podcast called Manic Mommies.

If memory serves me well (and it never really does) I had a Palm Pilot back then.  I would have to download the podcast from my laptop onto a sims card, insert it into the Palm Pilot then search through all my music until I could find The Manic Mommies podcast.  It wasn't as easy as it is now to download a podcast!

Although they were working mommies and I was a stay at home mommy, we were still mommies. We still had the same worries, the same concerns, the same joys, and the same love.  Their two oldest sons are the same age as Reagan.

I loved listening to them.  I loved knowing I wasn't alone.  And when I started working part time then three years later full time they were still there for me.  Our similarities grew.

Back in 2014 they released their last episode.  It was a sad day for me.  I had spent 9 years listening to these mommies.  Spent 9 years listening to their laughter, to their complaints, to their wins and their losses.  They were a small part of my life.

After raising money for a cancer institution they reunited for an episode.  They did this in 2016 also. Somehow I missed that episode.  So last week I downloaded both the 2016 and 2017 reunion episodes.

Their voices took me back.  Took me back to the good old days.  I listened to them back when we still lived in Houston.  When I was still a stay at home mommy.  When I still worked for a district I grew up in and loved.  When I lived 35-45 minutes from my best friend.  When I lived 15 minutes from my parents and in the same city as the rest of my family.  To a time I was happy about everything in my life.

And I started crying.  I cried for the good old days.  Cried because I missed them.  Cried because it was nice to hear that they still have the same child raising issues I have.  Cried because it was just good to hear their voices.

And then I decided to stop crying and enjoy the moment.

I do wish I hadn't listened to both episodes back to back while I cleaned my house.  I wish I had savored them and listened to one later.  But honestly I couldn't help myself.  I just had to listen to both.

Now I'm waiting for the 2018 reunion!

Boys!

Reagan had two friends from school over this week to watch as many Star Wars movies as they could before they had to leave.

One was a BOY!  Eeeeeeee!!!!!  He is the 1st boy in our house that's not a family friend.  Ahhhhh!!!!

Reagan might not feel this is a milestone but boy (pun intended!) do I.  It's a different responsibility. With all girl friends over I just have to make sure they don't do anything too stupid.  But with a boy here.  I feel like I need to make surprise appearances ever so often.

I also giggled a little.  When the girl's mom dropped her off she came in.  We shook our heads over the fact that a boy was going to be here too and wondered where the time of all girls went.  She made sure I was staying at the house the entire time.  When the dad drop off his son, he didn't come in or ask to talk with me.  I just happened to walk the other mom out and catch the dad driving off.  He rolled down his window and we talked for a minute.  Boy dads verses girl moms.  Ha!

We bought each of their favorite candies, got their favorite drinks, picked up popcorn from the local movie theatre (cuz it just tastes better), ordered pizza, rolls and salads.

I got my bathroom cleaned, clothes washed, blogging done, and a book read... in between surprise appearances.  Ha!

Wordless Wednesday-MahJongg Weekend

After playing MahJongg we had to eat at my favorite custard place,

Andy's Frozen Custard!

Reading Other People's Blogs

Since I didn't keep up with my blog in June it also means that I didn't participate in the Tuesday's Slice of Life put on by Two Writing Teachers.  Which means I wasn't reading other people's blogs either.

I'm back at daily blogging.  Back to posting my Tuesday Slice.  And back to reading other people's blogs.

I knew I missed blogging.  Missed putting my thoughts into black and white words.  Missed writing about my life, the books I read, taking pictures of the little things in my life and sharing.

What I didn't realize is how much I missed reading other people's blogs.

I have a ton of blogs I follow in my Feedly but their not real people.  I mean, they ARE real people but they aren't the teacher with a little blog they keep up with for themselves.  They are professional bloggers.  They do blog about their life but they also blog advertisements and stuff for money.

I missed the... I don't know what word to use here... amateur (maybe) blogger.

I like reading about the little things.  Like the teacher blogger who was moving states, changing from a suburban, financially fluent school to an urban school with no money.  Or the mom blogger who found some journals from her childhood who took some time to read through them and remember her old self.

I missed those simple things.  I didn't expect that.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

I listened to The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner (Children's Circle Stories #2) by Terry Pratchett.  It's a series of funny short stories ranging from a terrible toothache to a time-traveling television.  I'm not a huge fan of short stories.  Just as I really get into a story... it's over... cuz it's a short story. Ha!

I also listened to My Name Is Not Easy by Debby Dahl Edwardson.  This book is a work of fiction loosely based on a true story about Indians and Eskimos going to a Catholic school in Alaska.  They had to learn the Catholic ways, there were many lessons learned mostly negative. The students were taken from their families.  Many of the students didn't have the means to go home frequently so only went in the summer.  The culture and lifestyle the children were accustomed too was ripped out of them to learn how to be "normal" children.

I also finished listening to American Night:  The Ballard of Juan Jose by Richard Montoya.  In a nightmare of sorts, a Mexican immigrant meets Sacagawea, the KKK, Teddy Roosevelt and many other historical figures in this satire.

I'm still reading Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter.  Bob Lee was one of the best snipers in the Marines until he was shot.  Years after getting out of the service Bob Lee is approached by military men to test shoot their new bullets.

MahJongg Weekend

Today starts our Girl's MahJongg Weekend!  Lara, Marcie, Janet and I look forward to this weekend all year long.

We play in the Alzheimer's Alliance of Smith County MahJongg for Memory.  We buy a table and play all morning and afternoon.  We drink coffee, have great conversations, laugh and play MahJongg.

A couple of years ago we decided to stay the night and do some shopping.  Ever since that year we've stayed the weekend and shopped for two days and eat at restaurants that we don't have in our town.

It's nice to get away and get with friends, play games, shop, and eat good food!

Wordless Wednesday

Jay's happy place: a baby in his arms and her toddler sister

laying on his legs.

Ireland Proposal... ACCEPTED!

Back in February I partnered with an education professor from the local college.  She asked me to demo my (Half) Hour of Code to her future teachers.  You can read about it here.

Then she came back and asked if I'd go with her to a conference in Ireland and present what we did together if the proposal was accepted.  You can read about it here.

Y'all!!!!!   The proposal was accepted!  I am so unbelievably excited I don't even have words to express it!

As a family we decided not to take a vacation this summer so that my family could go with me.  So all the money we saved for vacation will go to Ireland.  I taught summer school to add to our Ireland fund.  My husband is preaching in some extra gospel meetings and I'm attending some professional developments that pay me, all that money is going to Ireland.  So I have about 2/3 of the money saved.

Unfortunately my district will not pay for an international conference.  All the grants I've found online had June 1, 2017 deadlines.  I've contacted some of the venders I spend quite a bit of money with to see if they sponsor teachers to attended professional developments.  One does not and I haven't heard back from the other 3 yet.

So I started a Go Fund Me. I'm hoping to raise money for the conference, my part of the hotel for 4 days and my flight to Ireland.  If you are able I would GREATLY appreciate your help!  I would also appreciate my link being shared with others over social media, email, etc.

This is an amazing opportunity for me to showcase my library and to learn from international educators!

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

Y'all.  Y'all I listened to the longest audiobook ever.  Ever.  Known.  To.  Man.  Ok, not really but it felt like it.  As part of the Audiobook Sync 16 weeks of free audiobooks I downloaded The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff two weeks ago.  I just finished it this morning.  I was super excited to listen to this book because I'm fascinated by the Salem Witch Trails.  We went to Salem for a day a couple of summers ago while we were in Boston for our family vacation.  It's such a fun little town. We visited the Salem Witch Trials Memorial, walked around town, visited shops and the Bewitched statue and ate lunch.  So I wanted to listen to the audiobook and add to my knowledge of the Salem Witch Trials.  But sweet biscuits, it was long!  It also felt choppy.  It jumped around from person to person.  It was hard to keep up with.  When I went to rate it on Goodreads I saw that it averaged 3 stars so I didn't feel to bad about giving it 3 stars too.

Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes is nominated for the Texas Bluebonnet Award.  I wanted to read this book because 9/11 is the first event that happened when I was an adult that I truly understand the implications of such an attack.  It was a powerful book for me.  I understand what 9/11 did to us as a country.  I can sympathize with the 1st responders.  But I had never thought about the effect of the attack on the people working inside the Twin Towers.  As I type that I realize that sounds ridiculous.  I mean why wouldn't I think about the after effects for those people?  Some how I didn't though.  This fiction book did that for me though.  It showed me how even 15 years later this tragedy still effects people in awful ways.  And not just the people that experienced it but even their families who have to deal with the depression, illnesses, etc of their loved ones.

I started Point of Impact by Stephen Hunter after watching the Netflix series "Shooter."  I didn't realize "Shooter" was based on a book until the 2nd to last episode.  So after watching the series I put the eBook on hold.  I'm 17% of the way through the book (according to my Kindle).  I'm glad I watched the series first.  There's a lot of military lingo and info on guns that I think would of bogged my mind down if I didn't have a bit of background knowledge already.

It's Monday! What Are You Reading?

For Pleasure:

I listened to The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez.  This audiobook was a part of the 16 week free audiobooks by Audiosync.  It took me a couple of chapters to get into this book but once I did it was great!  Some parents in Cuba had to make the hard decision to send their two children to America in the 1960s to escape Castro's control.  The story takes us through the heart breaking decision to the children's new life in American and everything in between.

I also listened to The Souls of Black Folks by W. E. B. Du Bois.  It's a non-fiction, historical book that studies the lives of black people at the turn of the 20th century.

This week I'm listening to The Witches: Salem, 1692 by Stacy Schiff.

I just finished The Power of Our Words: Teacher Language That Help Children Learn by Paula Denton.  I had NO IDEA how many things I said wrong to my students!  This book has REALLY helped me rephrase my directions, redirections, praise and consequences.  I find myself thinking "how can I phrase this?"  Or rephrasing sentences I've said.  THIS BOOK WORKS!

I'm also reading Towers Falling by Jewell Parker Rhodes.  It's on the Texas Bluebonnet list.  I wanted to read this book because it's about September 11th.

Five for Friday

1.  We had Vacation Bible School at church.  Our theme was "My BIG God and me."  My bestie and my topic was "God Created Me."  We centered our lesson on Psa 139:14-I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  We teach the same lesson all week in the same room but our students change everyday.  I really like teaching this way!  We only have to study one lesson.  We usually write a two lessons, one for the older kids and one for younger kids.

2.  Reagan went to an over night, week long religious camp.  It's the same one I went to when I was a kid.  Then she went to a 2 day basketball camp at the local college.  She's going to be on the high school this coming school year!

3.  Basketball practice started this week.  It's weird and exciting and sad to see her on the high school team!

4. My BFF and her 3 boys are came in town yesterday.  We are taking her oldest two and Reagan to a three day Bible study at a church in a town close by.

5. Summer School is OVER!!  I had a lot of fun doing lessons with such small groups of students.  But I'm past ready for a little break!

The Things We Choose and the Things That Choose Us

I was reading one of the Nerdy Book Club blogs  a few weeks ago and this sentence jumped out at me "I was pondering all the things people choose, and all the things that choose us."  My OLW for 2017 is "choose".

I've thought about all the things I can choose but I never stopped and thought about the things that choose me.

My first thought to this was that I could choose how I react to the things that choose me.  Which is a complete and total truth.  But at the same time that's not the same thing as things in life choosing us.  We don't always have a choice.  

In the blog, Laura Ruby talks about getting breast cancer.  The cancer chose her.  She'll have to cancel signings, slow up on her future works for a while, etc all taken from her because of cancer.  Which was not her choice. 

How many things in my life happen to me that I don't choose.  Like yesterday, Jay's truck wouldn't start. The battery was dead.  I did not want to end my day jumping his truck.  Taking it to get a new battery only for the place to be closing soon.  To me having to jump the truck again before I left for work so he could get a battery before he went to work that morning.  Luckily he has a very flexible work schedule and can do these kinds of things.

There seem to be a lot of car wrecks happening to people I know on Facebook.  They certainly did choose that.

Choices

Choosing

Choose

So much of life is us making chooses.  But so much of it isn't.  And we have to learn to roll with that.