Teachers Like Teacher Humor

I'm not sure if the funniest part about this picture is

a) The student's answer

b) The teacher's response

c) The way the question has grammatical errors.

But I do know it's a good laugh during a crazy week.

Dear teacher friends, please go here if you need some laughs, too.

Recollections and Hope

"It's always this time of year my thoughts undo me."

["The Bells of New York City" - Josh Groban]

While I wouldn't go so far as to say the memories make me unravel, the fact is that this is the time of the year when there are lots of flashbacks. Time to do some smiling, chuckling, crying, and aching a little again.

7 years can make a baseball cap in the back of the car fade, but the memories remain undiminished.

Here's to the greatest fairy tale ever lived and recalling the ending that was all too fitting.

And here's to the hope that someday my own love will be a tale my children and grandchildren cherish remembering, too.

Someday I Will...

...own each and every one of these books for my children, be they in my classroom or in my home.

...have a fully functional financial organization system. [Although being halfway there ain't half bad. :)]

...get better at staying in touch with people.

...have an acceptable balance between work and play.

...make a To Do list and remember where I left it and

...cross every single item off a To Do list without adding anything to it.

...get a full night of sleep for more that just a night or two in a row. I'm talking like a week straight, at least. Maybe two if I'm really feeling ambitious.

...not rely on coffee so much. [Okay, okay, I just threw this one in for a joke. My blood's really just coffee with some blood cells floating around. Who needs that plasma nonsense?

...actually, that's kind of a gross joke. Sorry. ]

...have an organized office room.

...actually put pictures in all of the picture frames in my living room.

I'm going to end this here, but I know I could add much more to it. In fact, that's probably what I'll be doing tonight while I'm trying to fall asleep. :)

Wow, I'm really getting awful at blogging.

And I'm behind on reading everyone else's blogs, too.

I'll catch up.

I mean, summer break comes in 11 weeks.

...not that I'm panicking about that realization, but wow, that's going to go crazy-fast.

Productivity of the Pow! Variety

This weekend I have taken on a To Do list and finished nearly everything on it for school. EVERYTHING. The exception is lesson planning, which I'm currently taking a short break from. And yes, I started planning before 8 pm the night before the school week starts.

That To Do list included a major overhaul of a million things in my room and writing a new, more detailed handbook for next year, too, to hand out at Kindergarten Round Up tomorrow night.

In light of all of this professional accomplishment goodness, the only victory phrase I can think of is…

like a beast.

Totally professional, right? Hokay, so maybe I’m not completely adult-esque…

But after a period of feeling so inadequate, so useless, and like I was falling short on so many levels…I needed to push myself to be this productive this weekend. I needed this sense of accomplishment. It’s been a long, long while since I felt like I had any of this under control.

I think this renewed energy is a sign spring is getting closer.

And now to finish off those lesson plans...mwuh hahahaha....

Whirlwind

Friday: come home. play with dog. coffee. read for Bible study. go to Bible study. schoolwork until late. sleep. Saturday: half an hour of cuddling with the pups to start the day right. coffee making. schoolwork. call from grandparents. schoolwork. dishes and lunch break. schoolwork. break from schoolwork by going to work in classroom. grocery shop. talk to mom. laundry. skype date. ♥ sleep. Sunday: coffee. breakfast. church. come home with headache. twenty minute nap turned three hours. fold laundry. clean apartment. do dishes. make dinner. school work. put away laundry. wonder where the weekend went.

Snippets

laughter in copious amounts and

spanning all ages and

relationships and friendships make

today a beautiful day

kids saying things they don't intend to be funny but

instead are meant to celebrate the joys they have found like

the smell of smelly markers or an epic spaceship out of legos and

make me admire their purity

a deep breath to calm nerves rubbed the wrong way while

knowing this, too, is a teachable moment for

both of us and

i hope i don't mess it up and

pray for the wisdom, strength, but mostly

the guidance to

make the most of it

the flowers i was sure were dead and

had tossed in the trash but

were plucked out and saved by

a patient, more knowledgeable soul who

warmed them, loved them, coaxed some life out and

some hope lingers there yet

and just when i thought for sure they are ready to

leave and never come back because

that's perhaps how i feel too they

start to swarm and

arms encircle me

love surrounds me and

warm my heart and

reassure me

this is my place

because five and six are forgiving, forgetful ages

and untainted by silly adult anxieties

he's nearly tripping over himself as

he wags his nubbin of a tail while

trying to jump on me all at once when

he's free of his gated kitchen corral

and he sits in the seat next to me for

the whole 3 minutes it takes to drive

back to school for the forgotten but

he licks my hand the whole way to say

hey, it's okay. i still love you.

the words pouring out from the

mind to the pen to the paper to

clear the swirling thoughts because

once they are trapped in ink there is

no going back to clog this mind and

i'm renewed.