his pitch and my week...

Zac was chosen as teacher of the week by the senior softball players, and therefore got to throw out the first pitch at their game on Friday night. It was fun, but the best part was the sweet words one of the girls said about him. :)

His students love him so much. I wish I had social studies teachers like him...I might be a little smarter in that category! ha! I wish I still had a picture of his Swine Flu stance. One of his coworkers caught it with his iPhone and sent it to me, but I can't find the email. He used to brag about how he could do this stance (looked like a very awkward lunge) and it would prevent him from ever getting the swine flu. The thought and idea were funny, but I have to admit...it wasn't successful, because he did catch it. Oh well.
Zac's little slogan in his classroom (and sometimes he uses it with me) is "Don't Be Tacky!" If people are trying to talk about someone or bragging or basically doing anything that he wants them to stop, he says "Don't be tacky!" Apparently the kids think this is way more amusing than I do when he says it to me (hehe) because he even had a kid draw this for him last year...


Big week...
Tuesday night-dinner with Uncle Mel, Ellen and her family, and Amy and Gian in Fort Worth at Cooper's BBQ!
Wednesday-MY FIRST JOB INTERVIEW!!!!!!!!!! It's for a sixth grade English teacher position, which is why on...
Thursday-I have a half day of school because I'm taking the 4-8 English Language Arts certification test at 1, then driving to Corsicana for day two of the district track meet. (I'll miss day one because I have a full day of school and then the interview at 4 on wed.)

Lesson learned...

Never sit down on the job! No, really...I'm not joking! Our kids have a Special Olympics track meet coming up, so we were working with them outside today (which was a lovely day, might I add?). The kids were doing long jump, and practicing landing with two feet. (It's much harder than it sounds.) Anyways, I was off to the side with one of my kids in a wheelchair who was not participating. I rolled him over to the pole vault mat and tried to sit on the edge of the mat. Except apparently it's been raining a lot, when no one was watching, because as I started to sink into the mat, it INSTANTLY formed a big puddle around my 'seat.' I had a long sleeve shirt on, and the wrists of both sleeves were so soaked they were dripping. My jeans and undies were saturated too. It all happened so quickly. The water was freezing, and I was so shocked, but my students were laughing so hard, it was ALMOST worth it. Luckily I had some workout clothes with me at school, so I was able to change after we went inside. It was one of those "laugh-so-you-don't-cry" moments. :)

Another page for the book...

(the book that I'm going to write about being a special ed teacher)
Last semester, since I was not only an aide, but a "student teacher" as well, I took over the science curriculum and have taught that since the beginning of the year. We've done some cool units, such as fossils, plate tectonics, and recycling, and we are about to start life cycles. We ordered some stuff to help bring the lesson to life for the kids. Literally! We got a box delivered today that said "open immediately" and I was so excited that it was our science materials. The box had two vials of large red ants (with neon orange "Caution:Ants Bite!" stickers everywhere), and two cups with ten butterfly larvae. The butterflies will become caterpillars, then chrysalis, and then butterflies. (but you probably already knew that). The ants are for an ant farm, and we will discuss living in a community, etc. Okay, I am really drawing this out, so I'll just get to the good part...I carefully opened the first vial of ants and successfully dumped them all into the first ant farm. It was a little stressful. but not too bad. When it was time to put the second vial into that "farm" I dropped the vial and 40 huge ants started crawling all over the place. Luckily most of the kids were in reading, and only three were in the room at the time. I was doing it on a countertop, and two other teachers came to help, so we saved about half of them back (by scooping them up into the vials and then dumping them in their new farm home). Unfortunately lots of them walked right off the counter onto the floor and had to be stepped on. We were worried about them getting away before we could scoop them up, and as much as we sit on the floor in our class, we certainly did not want ants infesting our room. My blood pressure was through the roof and I was squeamishly trying to get everything under control. It was a mess but we laughed soo soo much. One of my coworkers get bitten on the pinky and it hurt really badly. She said it hurt much worse than a normal ant bite. I felt so bad!
Anyways, I always say it, but I love my job. Every single day is a new adventure and it never gets old. I can't think of a better way to spend 8 hours a day than caring for and teaching these kiddos. :)

My afternoon on the football field...

Tuesday at 2:45 pm, two students were absent, six were in resource reading, and four were in the room with me. Two of them were working on touch math, one was in his wheelchair at the computer getting his tube feeding, and one of them was in the shower in the bathroom (with two teachers helping). Suddenly a familiar voice came over the speakers and announced that we were having a fire drill. Jeeze, great timing. My coworker/friend Lisa and I looked at each other like "you have GOT to be kidding...right?" and then started getting the kids to the door. Since I was in charge of "N" at this time, I had to wheel him in his big cumbersome wheelchair AND his IV pole to the door and out in to the hall to leave the building. We thought we were just going out the door and standing there, but a fireman was waiting for us there and sent us to the back of the school. We all had to evacuate to the football field, which meant a long walk all the way around the perimeter of the school with a wheelchair and an IV pole. It's kind of hard to push both at the same time, especially when I'm trying to keep another kid close to me as well.
Long story short, there was a gas leak down the road and we had to evacuate so they could check the gas levels in the school. While we were out there, one of my girls said "if you don't let me in the school, the principal's gonna FIRE YOU!" It was disrespectful, and I definitely explained to her that she can't talk to me that way, but it was a little funny too. Haha, can you just picture her 'pulling some strings' and getting me fired because I wouldn't let her go to her locker? ;) We were outside for half an hour when they discovered that the levels were low enough to let the kids get their books and backpacks to go home. So not only did we evacuate 1000 students, we also let them back into the school (quickly!!) and then back out to the football field again. It could have been SOO messy, but luckily it was very organized and even though no principals or anyone could have ever predicted or planned this, it went very smoothly. News helicopters even flew over to get footage, which was very exciting to most students, but increased anxiety and fear for our kids. The Nurse had to run in and get supplies to flush my student's tube feed line. His bag had emptied, so we had to finish the tube feed and get him ready to go home. That part was kind of stressful. Anyways, after the kids were back on the field with their backpacks, we were just waiting for the city officials and fire department to open the roads near our school again so the busses and parents could come pick the kids up. Our school gets out at 3:40 on a normal day, and the last kids left around 4:30, so that's not too bad if you ask me. I helped direct traffic, since parents had to pick kids up in back of school (rather than in front). Most parents were pretty pleasant considering they'd been waiting for roads to open and stuck in lines, and having to reroute and whatnot, but not one mom...I got SCREAMED at. I'm not sure why she chose me, but she blocked traffic coming and going and got out of her car to start yelling at how she didn't appreciate her kids having to stand outside. (Um, for the record it was a BEAUTIFUL sunny day, the weather was gorgeous and they weren't outside more than an hour!) Luckily my principal saw it happening and jogged over. He had to literally scream at her to get in her car and she still wouldn't. What an idiot. She finally got in her car, but promised we'd be hearing from her. My principal told me later that he called her that night and explained that if everyone acted the way that she had, there would have been complete chaos. It's true, but of course she didn't back down. Luckily most parents just appreciated the measures we took to ensure the safety of their children. It ended up being okay and we were all laughing when it was over that it was a day we'd NEVER forget, but at the time it was pretty crazy.
We had a fieldtrip on Wednesday. We purposely planned it on that day, because we had been notified that there would be a lockdown that day, and in our class, that's a big deal. It's easier to just plan to be gone. Anyways, we found out Tuesday that the lockdown would be postponed to next week. Go figure, right? :) We still went to the Science Center at Fair Park and had lunch at Cotton Patch, and it was a blast, but I can puh-romise you that I will have another interesting story next after our lockdown drill. It's supposed to happen during lunch, and the people at admin want to video tape it, to find weaknesses and whatnot, so it's gonna be crazy. We are in the gym during 4th period, so we will have to hideout in a locker room. I took one of our kids in there today just to get him familiar with it. He was very cute, and whispered and seemed to know that if we were in there it was serious. Hopefully next week when it really does go down, he will be that calm and easy going. Boy oh boy, I love my job...there is ALWAYS a new adventure! :) I think I'm going to write a book one day about being a special ed teacher!

Saved By The Bell...

Real posts are in the works, but I saw this and thought it was too funny to pass up. :)

JT is brilliant!

Justin Timberlake was on Saturday Night Live this past weekend and he was hilarious! He really is the total package...singer, actor, great looks, and comedian! I might have gotten a little carried away with embedding videos, but I just thought they were all so funny. Enjoy!






Also, this one is a little bit inappropriate, but none-the-less extremely hilarious. (At least I thought it was funny!)

I'm Good!

Every 13 minutes, a new name is added to the national transplant waiting list. Every day, 17 people die waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.
I have always thought that being an organ donor is something everyone should do. You don't need those organs when you are dead...why not give them to someone and potentially save their life? I have always wanted to be an organ donor and have always meant to sign up, but just never got around to it. I don't know what made me do it today, but I just finally looked it up online and signed up. I have to sign something when it comes to my house, but everything else is already taken care of. It took about 30 seconds. If you are interested in being an organ donor, and you live in Texas, please go to this website! :)
This has nothing to do with organ donation, but I was just watching TV and I saw a commercial that literally made me laugh out loud. I always DVR everything (anything I watch is previously recorded, then I fast forward the commercials), so I usually never see commercials. Well, I just turned the tv on to fold some clothes, and saw THIS commercial. It might be old, but I really did laugh out loud. Molly looked at me like I was crazy. I usually don't think this type of humor is that funny, but I guess I just happened to watch it when I was in the right mood. :)

Say hi to your mother for me, alright?

Here is just a little Monday humor for ya. I am sure some of you have already seen this, but hey...so have I, and I still like it. :) I think our friend Bez ends every conversation with "Say hi to your mother for me, alright?" and I still chuckle every time. Oh, and surely you know that Mark Wahlberg's my number one crush, right? (At least in the "actor" category.)

Prop 8: The Musical

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

food for thought...

Last night Zac and I drove up to Dallas and met my cousins from McKinney (Amy, Gian, Ellen, Breagan, Nati and Claire), and my cousin Robin (who lives in Dallas) for dinner. Of course it was a wonderful time. Happy Brithday Ellen and Robin! Hollaaaa!
Today I went to Rockwall to see my friend Meagan, and get my hair done. As I have been saying, we are having family portraits this weekend and I want to look good for the pics that we will (hopefully) have forever! My hair looks great (thank you Meg!) and I had a blast at the salon. The first thirty minutes, all we talked about was Twilight...it was amazing! :) Only one week until the movie comes out y'all! Ask me if I am ready! haha...
I always do my best thinking late at night (usually when Im trying to fall asleep) or when I am in the car by myself, driving. I had some 'good thoughts' today, but I have to admit, they were not very deep or meaningful. This was my internal monologue...
While listening to Beautiful Dirty Rich by Lady GaGa (shout out LG!), I started wondering why they say "dirty rich." But then I became more perplexed when I remembered that we also say "dirt poor" and "filthy rich." Hmm...what does cleanliness have to do with money?
So then I started thinking...I should post a blog called Food For Thought, and ask people why this is. Then I started wandering about the phrase "food for thought."Why do we say food for thought? I have always taken that saying for granted and never questioned it, because it is a common phrase and we usually dont stop and try to understand alot of phrases true meaning ...you just take it as it is. But really? Why "food...for...thought?" What does that mean? hmmm...
I am sure you are scratching your brain (is that even a phrase, or is it scratching your head?)now, like I was in the car earlier today (or maybe you are way smarter than me, and you know the reasoning behind the verbage?), so I will give you something that will just make you feel so warm and fuzzy inside...



One more funny story...My dog has an ear infection, so i was calling the vet to request more drops today, and this is how the conversation unfolded...

"Arbor Animal Clinic...this is Molly"
"Hi, I was wandering if I could get some medicine for my dog?"
"Sure, what's her name?"
"ummmmmm....uh...(timidly)...Molly"
"(laughter)nice choice...can you hold, please?"

You all have a wonderful weekend! I will be soaking up some needed family time, and taking lots of pics and vids to share with yall next week. :) Austin, here I come...

Playful in Pink

I'm sure you already noticed the new banner at the top of my blog. I bought Molly a new winter coat today in celebration of our upcoming trip to Zac's family's ranch house in Oklahoma. (We are going over Thanksgiving break!) It is super cold up there, and I would never want Molly to be cold, so naturally I had to buy her some warmth! :) Only the best for my baby!
Today when I tried it on her, she was so cute and posed beautifully (as always) but then when we started playing, the hood on the jacket flipped down over her face. It was hilarious...I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. It was one of those moments when I really wished someone else was there with me to share it with me! I didn't get the funniest part on film, but here is the basic idea of what she was doing to try to get the hood off. (Wait, why do they even put hoods on dog jackets?!)

QVC Maverick

I gotta give it to John McCain...he was very funny on Saturday Night Live last weekend. Of course, I think it helped that he had Tina "Sexy Sarah" Fey by his side! :) Here is the clip:

Happy Halloween!

Ya know what is scary? A big huge bumblebee in your own front yard!



Okay, maybe it's not scary. It's downright cute and cuddly! :)

Absentminded Me

Just a few little things I have caught myself doing lately. Maybe I am sleep deprived, or maybe you do this kind of stuff too...

Two different times last week, I sat at a flashing red light, waiting for it to turn green. After sitting, and sitting, and sitting, with no one around, I thought "this is rediculous!" and then in perfect timing, my brain started working again and I realized I was the one who was an idiot!

Sometimes when I am really tired (or distracted because I read all the time now, every chance I get...I cant put these darn Twilight books down), when I get ready to brush my teeth at night, I open the cap to the toothpaste, turn on the water, and then hold the tube of Colgate under the running water, instead of my toothbrush. Brilliant, right? This has happened more that once!

The worst is when I want a glass of juice. I open the fridge and get it out, open the cabinet and get out a glass, and pour the juice. Then I put the lid back on the juice, and put it away...securely in the glass cabinet.

And people think that blondes are dumb...I think I'm more "checked out" when I'm brunette!

Advice from Princess Leia & Karen from "The Office"

See more Natalie Portman videos at Funny or Die

***It was brought to my attention by my sweet little brother, that Natalie Portman was NOT Princess Leia. Oops. Haha, I don't think I have seen Star Wars (or is it Star Trek? I dont know, I get them confused!), so I just thought she was the Princess. Oops! :) I hate to change the title of the post now, but if I had it to do over again, I would name it "Advice from Garden State's Sam, and The Office's Karen..."

Happy Saturday Friends!

Hope y'all are having a wonderful weekend! :) Here is a little something to make ya smile...

Dennis Quaid is here!

Tonight, after Zac went to bed I was catching up on my Ellen. Since I had class last night until late, I had to watch yesterday's episode tonight. Dennis Quaid was on the show and had a lovely interview. I truly believe that Ellen brings out the best in people...I know I become a fan of a lot of the people she has on her show! Anyways, after their interview, she sent him to the Starbucks on the Warner Bros. lot and made him do a little prank. I think it was so funny because he is such a humble and modest seeming person, so for him to do this was a riot! I laughed so hard that I woke Zac up! I had tears streaming down the sides of my face. Molly woke up and started looking around. I hope I am not saying so much that you won't think it's funny. Just watch...


Isn't she a hoot? Gosh I love her! If any of you win the lottery, will you send me to California to see a live taping of Ellen!? I wish for that to happen every day! She is amazing!

Word Up!

My best friend Stacy is super creative and computer savvy. Well, I just learned where she gets it from...her father. Stacy's dad has worked forever in the field of semantics, which is "the study of how meaning in language is created by the use and interrelationships of words, phrases, and sentences." Well, he just made a video montage of Sarah Palin speaking and it is quite fun to watch. I am impressed that people can make 6 minute videos with a million different clips, and obvisouly it didn't take him long, since some of the footage is from the past few days! Here it is...

Is it bad, that sometimes when it's a quick picture, I can't tell whether it is Tina Fey or Sarah Palin? (Yes, you should not have admitted that Julia!) Haha, that's been happening to me for a few days now, and I have to think about which person it is. Ooops! In my defense, they really do look alot alike though!

they did it again...

Happy Birthday Nati!

Happy Birthday to a very very special boy...Nati! I can not believe I didn't even know him just six months ago! My love for him is so deep and so special, you would think I have known him forever! Happy Birthday Nati. Can't wait to see you at your party next weekend!

Here is a video of Nati and Claire dancing. So funny. He is a great dancer!

PS-Anyone (Ellen?) have any cool gift ideas for an active and smart five year old? I want the present I give him to be the best one he gets, haha! :)