'twas the night before school started

'twas the night before school started

when all through the town

the parents were cheering...

it was a riotous sound

 

by eight, kids were washed

and tucked into bed...

where memories of homework

filled them with dread

new pencils, new folders,

new notebooks, too

new teachers, new friends...

their anxiety grew

 

the parents just giggled

when they learned of this fright

and shouted upstairs

GO TO BED... IT'S A SCHOOL NIGHT

disclaimer: i read this online tonight and thought it was so cute, so i had to post it so i could remember it later :)

Not Me Monday

Well, seeing as how January is almost over and I haven't blogged since last year, I thought it was about time I did something about that. So here it goes... it's another edition of Not Me Monday! Check out MckMama's blog too, to find out what other people have not done this past week.

Since we've only been back to school for two weeks after our Christmas break, you wouldn't think I'd be ready for a day off, right? Wrong! Yes, I love my students and I love teaching, but I must admit that I love my days off too. So it was definitely not me who discovered that I'd made a HUGE mistake on the calendar that I sent home with parents the first day back from vacation. After looking at the school district's calendar, I did not realize I had marked today, January 18th, as a "day off" instead of next Monday. I did not drive in to school to verify the information. I did not have to inform all the parents on Friday that we would have school on the 18th but would have the 25th off. I guess there wasn't too much harm done, but how embarrassing.

Once I got over the disappointment about the fact that I had school Monday, I thought the calendar fiasco was over. So as I sat at my sister's house this weekend, I was not completely embarrassed all over again. As I checked my email at 12:26 a.m. on Sunday, this is not the subject of an email I received: "NO SCHOOL" is coming up. Yes, this was an email reminder I received from the calendar on my class website. Oh no, that means this message was sent to all the parents too, after I told them today that we would have school on Monday. As if the first time telling everyone I messed up wasn't bad enough, I did not have to tell them twice... first when I told them in person and second when I had to update the calendar and re-send the message.

Now that the Do we have school/Do we NOT have school issue was solved, I thought it would be smooth sailing the rest of the week. No more embarrassing, humiliating, I-can't-believe-I-did-that moments for me. Boy, was I wrong. Our family weekend stretched out until 10 PM Sunday, and then I had to drive two hours home. Normally that would not be a problem, since I'm usually up until midnight anyway, but it's different when you're driving that late. I had to stop to take out my contacts, since my eyes were getting quite dry and gritty. Solution in case? Check. Left contact out? Check. Right contact out? Check. Lids secured on contact case? Check. Ahhhhh, that feels much better.

Today as I attempted to put in my contacts, there were no problem with the left one. Only a slight problem with the right one. The problem? I couldn't find it. I did not think I'd lost my mind as I tried to look for it. How does a contact just disappear? And that was my last one, too! I did not search for five minutes, and as I continually came up empty, I did not just give up and put on my glasses. As I got into the car, I was not expecting what I found. I did not see a dried-up, crusty, crunchy contact lens flipped upside-down on the dash. No, I did not completely miss the contact case and put my contact on the dash. Not much I could do about it during the school day, so I did not leave it there for another eight hours. Once I arrived home, I did not fill the contact case, drop in the shriveled lens, and hope my contact would be revived. Fast forward three hours... TADA! Contact lens was not completely re-hydrated and ready to be worn! YAY!

Try Not Me fun next week! You'll love it!

Not Me! Monday

Wow, it's time for Not Me! Monday already. Check out MckMama's blog--she's the very creative, incredibly fun creator of this "therapy" where you can be brutally honest about things you'd otherwise not care to admit.

Let the therapy begin!

Last week, I did not completely neglect to post a Not Me! Monday. Believe me, you would have been bored, because there really was nothing to write about anyway. As opposed to this post... or this one....

Everywhere I look there are signs of summer. Students (and teachers) enjoying vacation, swimsuit-clad beach-goers, sunburned faces, convertibles... Oh, speaking of convertibles... Pulling in to a parking spot at Wal-Mart, I saw a red Mustang convertible. As I gathered my list, I saw a lady walking toward the convertible. Now you must understand that on this beautiful summer day, of course the top was down. As she approached the door and tried the handle, it appeared that the door was locked. My first thought was Your car doesn't have a roof. Why do you need to lock the door? Obviously I must have missed something. Either that or I've never had the need to lock MY car, let alone a convertible. Anyway, as these thought were going through my head, this lady did not open her purse and begin to dig around for her... KEYS! Ummm... couldn't you just reach over the door and hit the lock button? Needless to say, I got a few laughs about this one!

On Wednesday, I did not hit the garage sales. Wow, what great deals I found! I mean, didn't find, because I didn't go to any sales, right? Most of my purchases were not toys. I guess I'm in my second childhood!

This week I absolutely, definitely did not opt to take the flannel sheets off my bed and move on to "normal" sheets. I did not have to make this decision because there is no way on earth that I would have even had flannel sheets on my bed in June. Nope, not me!

Saturday was not the hottest day we've had this summer. I did not see 87 degrees on the thermometer. On such a lovely say, I did not spend a good chunk of the day at school, packing up my stuff. How much did I pack up? You will not see a picture if you click here.

Ever had a moment when you wish you had a camera? Or had the camera but wish you were not sitting at a stoplight, only to see a blog-worthy photo opportunity drive away from you? It seems like everywhere you look, you can see those magnetic ribbons on cars--the ones that started with Support the Troops, but now you can find ribbons for almost anything. I usually ignore them, but for some reason this one caught my eye. I did not do a double take as I read THIS bumper sticker...

Are people really that desperate to find things to stick on their cars?

Well, there you have it... a few things that did not happen this week. Join the fun next Monday! You'll be glad you did!

Saturday at School

Since it was a Saturday and I had absolutely nothing else to do, Mom helped me pack up the rest of my stuff at school today. It was a good feeling to get it done, but I began to doubt our sanity when we picked the hottest day of the summer so far. I saw 89 degrees on the thermometer. It was kind of a weird feeling to have all my stuff moved out of that room, and with the preschool room organized, I really don't have to do anything else at school until I get ready for preschool in late August. It will be different not working in the junior & senior high class, but I'm excited about teaching preschool. In the meantime, do you think I have a few totes to go through????

For the record, not all the stuff in this truck is mine. The chairs and garbage can are not mine. But, yes, the seven very full and heavy totes, computer, table, two crates, rolling cart, and desk ARE mine... it was a truckful!

Not Me! Monday

It's time again for Not Me! Monday. Check out MckMama's blog and keep baby Stellan in your prayers as he has surgery tomorrow.

Here are some things I did not do this week (not that I'd like to admit, anyway).

I was not completely thrilled after my chiropractor appointment when I was told I could come back in a MONTH! Yeah, baby! It seems like I've been going every 2 weeks since I was in a car accident....so, yeah! I was excited. I mean, not excited!

Thinking that my Tuesday could not have gotten any better after my chiropractor appointment, I was not ready to shout from the rooftops after the physical therapist said I could go down to once a week....and then maybe every 2 weeks....and then I'll probably be done! Yeah, ecstatic does not begin to describe my sentiment.

I did not bring my junior and senior high class outside to do school work. I also did not award myself the coolest teacher award.

While playing bowling on the Wii with my niece Samantha, it was not me who intentionally got 2 gutterballs on frame 10 so she could win. It also was not me who did not remember that I had a strike in the 9th frame, so my score was higher than I thought it would be. I did not beat her by six points. OOPS! She did not lament to my sister Erin, "Mom, how did Auntie Heather beat me? She got zero points at the end and I got 9 pins down. I don't know how she won."

It is definitely not me who has the cutest, most adorable nieces and nephews in the world. And of course, I'm not biased in ANY way!

I did not chase my nephew Ryan around the house when he was supposed to be settling down for bedtime. When he's squealing, laughing, and giggling, who can resist?

As my sister Erin mentioned in her Not Me! post, we did not take pictures with us three sisters, and no, we did not bring ourselves and our mom to the point of tears because of all the laughter. I also will not decide to post a couple here, even the silly one.

When I looked at my blog minutes ago, I was not excited to see MckMama as one of my recent visitors at my blog, although I guess it could have been someone else who linked to if from MckMama's website! Still praying for Stellan (and that is something I'm for sure NOT ashamed to admit)!

Not Me! Monday

What a great way to start the week! It's time for Not Me! Monday again! Check out MckMama's blog to read what others have not done this week. But read mine first!

After my mental block a couple of weeks ago (read post here), I for sure did not decide to start this post a week ago, so I wouldn't forget things to write.

Even though I was sick last weekend (click here for the Not Me! story), I did not decide to go to work when I should have taken a day off. I absolutely did not have a fever all day and I was not counting down the minutes until I could leave school and take a nap.

After surviving the day at school, I did not leave school at 3:07 p.m., just seven minutes after the final bell rang. Nope, not me. I stayed for staff meeting, end-of-the-day routines, and even working a little extra for tomorrow. That's me, right? I would never leave school so early.

Driving home that day, I definitely, absolutely did not turn on the air conditioner in my car because I felt like I was burning up, even thought it was only seven degrees outside. That would be a great way to catch a cold, right? So, no, that is not something I did.

I did not get into my pajamas immediately after getting home Monday, and when I looked at the clock, it positively, definitely, for sure did not read 3:57 p.m.

During The Bachelor, my sister and I did not call each other at every commercial to talk about the things that were happening, and then hang up abruptly when the show came back on.

This week I did not sit and watch "Lady and the Tramp" all the way through. If I had watched this movie, I most certainly would not have done so without any children watching it with me. I would never, ever choose to watch a Disney animated movie by myself. That would be weird, wouldn't it?

On Friday, I did not wake up late and have just enough time to jump in my car to get to school by 8:00. Because of that, I would never have gone to school in my pajamas. How embarrassing would that have been? There's no way I ever would have done that...unless it was "Pajama Party" day in preschool...which it was!!!

On Sunday, I for sure did not finally win a game of Upwords (probably the first this year), and one of my words definitely was not "quoth." (Anyone Edgar Allan Poe fans out there?) After winning, I for sure did not call my Grandma in Alaska to tell her. Spend long distance minutes to gloat? No way, I would never do that!

Well, there's a few things I definitely, for sure, absolutely, never would have done this week. Check out some other Not Me! posts here. Join the fun...tell the world what you have not done this week!

Thankful Thursday

As usual, I have so much to be thankful for, but these things pop into my mind...

Right now, I'm thankful for peanut butter (the stuff that hasn't been recalled). It makes the ice cream I'm eating taste so much better.

Webcams are a great invention, aren't they? I'm glad I was able to "see" my sister and her family in Kansas City tonight.

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day. To walk outside and feel the warm sun on my face, not the cold Arctic air we're used to during a Minnesota winter... it was a great promise of the coming spring, even if it's a few months away.

My family has always been important to me. We enjoyed a wonderful Christmas together, and even though everyone is gone back to their homes now--Erin to Kansas City, Becky to Two Harbors, and Grandma to Alaska--we have wonderful memories to keep with us until we're all together again.

The other day at school, I was grading a student's work. She had to write sentences using a certain vocabulary word. The word was influence. Every once in a while, I am surprised at the thought that the students put into their work, because it's not too often they wow me with their love for writing sentences. Anyway, after a couple hard days last week, it was very reassuring to me to read her sentence and know that maybe some of the things I'm trying to teach them are really getting through. Her sentence... Miss L. has had great influence in my education. Not a hugely (is that a word?) profound sentence, but I was very touched and thankful to God for those "little" things that give confidence and remind me that God is working in my life to influence the students in my class.

What are you thankful for today?