Who needs sunglasses? I have inversion.

This morning I took Annie and her brother to the airport.  As I came around the point of the mountain into Salt Lake County, I thought, "Wow, the air is sick."  But as I was driving home and drove around the other side into Utah County, I was grossed out.  The air is way worse here!  It was so dark!

No, I didn't take this picture. This is coming out of Little Cottonwood Canyon in Salt Lake, but you get the idea.

I thought the sun was actually the moon for a few minutes since it was so dark.

I wanted to go running outside today, but I feel gross about breathing that into my lungs. Somehow running inside makes me feel better about it.

28 hours and 45 minutes

Guess what...

Christmas break starts at 2:45 PM tomorrow!

Who's excited?

I'm excited!

I told my class this morning that I was going to miss them for the next 19 days until I see them again.  And guess what...I meant it.  Shocking, I know.  I know I complain about my job a lot, and some of you have to deal with it a lot more than others, but I really do love it.  And I love my students. Most days. :)

But a break will be very nice.  I can't wait to go home to Montana!  I can't believe it's been a whole year since the people of Drummond were blessed with my presence! :)

The Great Thanksgiving of 2011

Thanksgiving 2011 will likely go down as one of the most memorable.

My roommate Joleen invited me to go with her to St. George to her aunt and uncle's.  Her cousin Maren was also there, as well as another aunt and uncle.  They were all so fun and nice!

We showed up on Wednesday night and decided we wanted to have our very own turkey trot the next morning. We decided to take it a step further and run all the way to Arizona (a whopping 4.5 miles from their house...though we ended up only going 3.2 miles. But doesn't it sound cool to say we ran from Utah to Arizona?)

No race is complete without an official t-shirt. Joleen, Maren, and made a trip to Walmart to buy some blank shirts and some iron-on transfer paper.

After the great run, Tim worked on this video as dinner was cooking.

Personally, I love this video. It makes me laugh so hard each time I watch it, which has been a lot. :)

After an amazing dinner, we went on a pre-pie hike up this hill/mountain right by their house.

On Friday morning, Joleen and I went to the St. George temple on the way out of town.  It's so beautiful!

Such a great weekend.  I always love Thanksgiving and the focus put on the blessings I have.  Hope it was great for you too!

When all else fails, make the teacher laugh

I was just grading an interior design quiz I gave to my 8th graders.  They were supposed to list the principles of design.  I remember watching him as he took the quiz and could tell that he didn't remember some of them.  Here are his responses...

1. Emphasis (correct)
2. Harmony (correct)
3. Potential (??? At least it starts with a P like it's supposed to)
4. Pattern (That's an element, not a principle)
5. Polygamy (What the?)
6. Waffles (oh goodness)

Off to the side was a drawing of him holding a quiz with a big A on it, and he was wearing a t-shirt with an A+ on it.  Plus he drew a big star and said he was a star student. 

Nice try, buddy.

Run, Shannon, Run

So this afternoon, I decided to go on a little run. I planned on going 2, maybe 3 miles, but I didn't really have a plan. So I ran to a point where I thought I'd turn around and come home. Once I got there, I thought, "I think I'll turn here and run up this road before going home." When I got to the end of that road, I thought, "I think I'll turn here and go to the next street before heading home." When I got there, I thought, "I think I'll run a loop around this block before I head home." Once I did that, I thought, "Perhaps I'll run out to the freeway before I go home."

By the time I got home, I had gone 7.5 miles. A little unexpected, but totally great. I kept feeling like Forrest Gump when he decided to go for a little run to the end of the road.

Shopping Spree, Anyone?

I don't go shopping very often, but when I do....oh, boy.  I feel like I'm unstoppable.

It always happens this time of year when I start getting Christmas gifts.  It's so easy for me to say, "Ooo, look at that!  I want one."  So I buy it.

Online shopping doesn't help.  It's just so easy to click "Add to Cart" and "Checkout".  Then amazon goes and saves your info so you don't even have time to second-guess.  Normally, I would change my mind in the time it takes to pull out my credit card.  

Not anymore. 

So easy.

I feel like I don't have much of a winter wardrobe, so I just HAD to work on that. Right?

But I made sure to find some good deals.

I bought this cute little guy last week...

50% off? Yes, please!

I got this sweater tonight...

80% off?  Yes, please!

It has cute buttons up on the shoulder.  Who wouldn't want a cable-knit with buttons on the shoulder?

I decided last week that I want to enter the world of boots.  The decision was confirmed the other night as I stood out in the cold with bare legs.

This led to these...

60% off? Yes, please!

While I was shopping for those last ones, I found these...

65% off?  Yes, please!

They look more beautiful in person.  Unfortunately, they didn't have my size.  But don't worry...I found them online. 

Remember how easy it is to shop online?

They're on their way.

Who wants a free camera?

So I have this friend named Laura.  Laura is super cool and uber talented.  And Laura's one of my favorite people because she came with me to Disney World and Harry Potter world.

Well Laura works for this great company called Lifestyle Crafts.  She pretty much runs the place.

Well Laura informed me this morning that Lifestyle Crafts is giving away a Canon 60D Camera and Jo Totes Camera bag.  All you have to do is create an account at lifestylecrafts.com.

I know some of you are major photog pros, so maybe you should enter.  Or don't, because then I'm more likely to win.  But I like Laura enough that I told her I would spread the word.

Laura is sad that she can't enter the contest herself.  But I made a deal with her...if I win, she gets to teach me how to use the camera.  What a great deal, right? :)

Post-Halloween Sugar Overload?

This morning we played a little game in my class.  I had three winners.  I asked them if they wanted an apple or candy.

They all chose an apple.

Teenagers chose apples over candy.

Weird!

Way to go, healthy students!

Easiest Costume Ever

On Saturday night, we went to a Stake Halloween dance.  I was tired after my race and didn't want to go to the effort of dressing up too much.  Plus my Waldo costume was really sweaty. 

My roommates had a brilliant idea, and a pretty easy supply list...

• black shirt
• blue jeans
• orange yarn
• rock from the side of the road
• piece of paper (college ruled)
• scissors

I love it.

I love these girls.

I can do hard things

(Warning, this is kind of long. But my journal writing skills are lacking, so this is my documentation.)

On Saturday, I did something I really NEVER thought I would do...I ran a half marathon!

I still don't believe it.  I know some of you have done full marathons, but this is really something I never expected this chubby girl could do.

My greatest ever friend Carie says she remembers me saying years ago that I would never run a 5k.  It was pretty great that Carie decided to run the half with me.  Even better...we ran all 13.1 miles together and crossed the finish line together.  (Well, she was one second ahead of me, but close enough).  I'm so glad I had her there to push me and coach me..."Don't eat the GU, it will make you sick"...(she was right)..."Run on the outside of your foot if the inside of your calf is cramping."  Thanks for sticking with me, Carie!!!

I went into this race with 4 goals...

1. Make it to the finish line
2. Don't get last place
3. Don't walk
4. Stay under an 11 minute mile

Over the years, I've learned that it's important to review my goals, so here we go...

1. I made it to the finish line!
2. I did NOT get last place!  In fact, I got 1,782nd place...which sounds bad, but out of somewhere between 3500-4000 runners, I don't think I did too bad!
3. I never walked!  But I'm not counting the water stations.  If you've found an effective way to drink and run at the same time, please share!
4. Pace Time:  9:47.  Take THAT, 11 minute mile!  My total time was 2:08:02

What got me started?

I feel like it's been a crazy thing leading up to this.  I started running a few months ago for a few reasons.  A lot of it was because I wanted to be healthier.  I wanted to lose some weight, and it seemed like a good way to make it happen.  My brother-in-law, Steve, has turned into this crazy runner, and I'm always intrigued when I hear him talk about his runs.  He kept telling me I should try it.  He even made me a running playlist this summer.  As soon as I heard Britney Spears on the mix, I knew it was meant to be.

I guess you could say I needed an "outlet" as well.  It's been a wild/emotional past few months.  I started out writing more about that, but I decided it was perhaps too personal to post on my public blog.  I don't really want to go into detail on here, but running gives me a lot of time to think and run off sadness, frustrations, and fear.  It's a good distraction.  After a long day, it's surprising how much I look forward to going on a run.  It's therapeutic, really.  It's true what Elle Woods says on Legally Blonde..."Exercise gives you endorphins.  Endorphins make you happy.  Happy people just don't shoot their husbands...they just don't!"

I feel such a great sense of accomplishment.  I probably shouldn't have been smiling so much after running 13.1 miles, but I couldn't help it!  Even when I was so sore for a couple days, I would still smile and think, "I did something I thought was impossible."  What a great feeling!  I can do hard things!

And I couldn't have done it without so much encouragement. And I was so happy to see my two best cheerleaders (a.k.a. the roommates) there at the finish line with posters, Gatorade, and chocolate milk.

I look like I'm about to throw up in these pictures.  Probably because that's what I wanted to do.  Remember how Carie told me not to eat the GU?

Love you girls!

Will I do another half marathon?  Absolutely.  A full marathon?  Now you're pushing it.

Tuesday Morning Confidence

I just had a great interaction with a co-worker.  For those of you who work/have worked at my school, I'll give you one guess who he is... :)

Co-worker:  You look old today.
Me: Wow, thanks. I'm not sure that's considered a compliment.
Co-worker: Well it's true.  You look old.  Yesterday you didn't.
Me: Well thanks (insert heavily sarcastic tone).
Co-worker: Yesterday I'd say you looked like you were 21. Today it's more like 32.
Me:  Sorry for the confusion. I'll be sure to never wear this outfit or my hair like this again.
Co-worker:  Okay, have a nice day!

Men.

Notes from substitutes

One of my "favorite" parts of coming back from an absence as a teacher is reading what the substitute had to stay about my students.  In the past week and a half, I've had 6 substitute days.  SIX!  That's a lot!  I've had all sorts of meetings, conferences, and...oh ya...an amazingly fun trip to Orlando (more details to come).

When I came in this morning, I had all sorts of great notes from the substitutes.

Here are some favorites...

"Not many of the kids were good.  ______ and ______ were especially obnoxious."

One sub had my students write notes to me about what happened in class.  Here are some of the notes (with their same spelling)...

"My friends and I were throwing pencils at each other.  The sub took us into custidy"
 "I only goofed off a tad bit."
"The other guys were goofing off, and they blamed me so I got sckrewed."

And my favorite from a sub yesterday...

"Please dock points, take away free time, give extra homework or whatever you can to punish this class.  They were terribly rude and disrespectful, especially ______, ______, and ______.  Well, too many to name, actually.  I had to yell and make them sit quietly the last 10 minutes, after a talk on respect.  So when they say, 'That sub was mean!', they would be right."

A note to my #1 sub, Brittany:  I love the notes you leave.  Don't worry...the kids you named were the same ones the other subs left notes about.  Was I surprised that they were on the list? No.  It's been a wild term with them.  They're being taken care of today by the administration.  :) And I love when you leave notes about listening to Celine Dion.  I'm sure the kids loved it!  And thank you for leaving positive comments.  I don't feel like as much of a failure as a teacher when I know that some of them are good.  :)

About 3 more weeks!

Remember how I'm running the Halloween Half Marathon?  It's in 3 weeks from Saturday!

I've never been a runner.  I never thought I would be.  In fact, my friend Carie says she remembers me once saying that I would never run a 5k.  I wouldn't say that I am one of those die hard runners like my friend Heather who wins these things. But I've been doing quite a bit of running lately, and it's been a fun new adventure!  It's also been a good "outlet" as I've powered through some rough past couple of months.  When I'm having a hard day, nothing's more therapeutic than running out my frustrations.

A lot of people say, "Slow and steady wins the race."

Well, that's not always true, but at least it finishes the race, right?

 

I'm so slow.

I run slower than 1-15 traffic in Utah County construction on a Friday afternoon before a BYU football game.

  

Now that is SLOW!

I'll probably have an 11 minute mile on this half marathon.

But...

The U.S. Olympic Sewing Team?

I heard a couple of boys in my 8th grade class talking and heard my name mentioned.  I asked them what they were saying about me.  Here's how the conversation went...

Student #1: Miss Lacey, we were just talking about how skilled you are at sewing.
Student #2:  Yeah, you're like a pro.  Do they have sewing as an olympic sport?
Me:  Why yes, they do.  I'm on the U.S. team.
Student #1:  They have a U.S. Olympic Sewing Team?
Me:  Yes.  I'm a gold medalist.
Student #2:  That's sweet!  So you and Michael Phelps hang out?
Me:  Yes.  We play golf together in the off-season when we aren't training.  See how cool I am?
Student #1:  How does one train to be on the sewing team?
Me:  I just sew stuff and unpick it.  It keeps my fingers strong.
Student #1:  Wow, you're so cool!
Me:  Yes, I am.  Now get back to work.

5 minutes later...

Student #2:  Miss Lacey, do you have a sharpie I can use?
Me:  Yes, there's one in the cup by my computer.

5 more minutes later...

My very own gold medal in sewing.

Go Team USA!

Turn that frown upside down

So...

I had one of those mornings.

The kind where nothing goes right.

You try and try and everything falls apart.

All between the times of 7:15 and 8:00 am.

I emailed my bff Carie to tell her about my morning.

It was a downer email.

I vaguely remember threatening to quit my job.

Then, a few things happened...

An office lady comes down with these...

 Carie is the best!  Wow!  That's about all I can say.

Then at lunch I find out I'm going to be getting one of these...

Then I find out that I'm likely going here for Spring Break...

(that's Ireland, in case you were wondering!!!)

And suddenly, my day doesn't seem as bad.

Thank you, tender mercies.  Heavenly Father knows when I've reached my limit and knows when to let some sunshine peek through the clouds.

It's finally Friday

I wanted to find a picture of quicksand to post as my picture. Because that's how I'm feeling this week.  The harder I work, the more buried I get.  I can't seem to get ahead, and it's frustrating!  I stay late at work, and my to-do list grows.  I asked my principal if I could win a prize if my car was the last one in the parking lot all week.  He brought down a granola bar yesterday morning. That works. :)  

But as I tried to find a good picture of quicksand, I found this...

And it made me laugh.  

Mean?

Probably.

But I guess I also feel like this poor horse whose head is stuck in a tree.

This evening's music brought to you by....

It was just a matter of time...

I always think the few people who read this don't like hearing about my teaching stories all the time.  A few of you have told me that you enjoy them, so you get to hear them.  I'm bad at journaling, so this and emails to friends are my forms of journaling.

With that being said, let me tell you about the first finger-sewing incident of the 2011-2012 school year.  It's a pretty common occurrence that students sew their fingers.  Some aren't too bad.  Maybe it just gets a little layer of skin.  Sometimes it hits the bone and breaks the needle.  You may remember the winner of 2010 where the little piece of needle broke off in her finger, and I had to pull it out.  That was easily the most disgusting needle-in-finger incident I had faced...until today.

It was first period.  There were 6 minutes left in class.  I see a girl with her hand casually in the air, waiting for me to come answer a question for her.  I walk over and she calmly says, "The needle is in my finger." I look down, and sure enough, the needle is in her finger.  Her hand is still attached to the machine.  It's sick. Blood is coming out.  I calmly ask if she's okay.  I don't want her to freak out.  I don't want to freak out.  And I don't want the rest of the class to know because she's already embarrassed.

So in order to get her detached from the machine, I have to remove the presser foot.  Then I had to loosen the needle clamp to get the needle out of the machine.  Once it was out, I could get a better look.  Her finger was centered on the needle.  There was an equal 1/2" sticking out of both sides of her finger.  This wasn't a little skimming of the skin.  This needle was IN her finger!  I brought her over to my desk, away from the other students.  I warned her that I was going to try to pull on it.  I pulled it about 1/4".  Sick.  It was sick.  I asked if she was still okay.  Then I tried pulling again.  She pulled her hand back and let out a little scream of pain.  That thing was stuck.  Blood dripping away.

I called the office.  "Umm...I have a sweet girl here who has a needle really stuck in her finger.  What can you do to help me?"  Miracle of all miracles occurred...the school nurse was actually there!  I think she's only at our school one day a week.  So I sent her on her way and tended to the blood path that was left...my pretty new machines had their first blood incident.  I went to the office between class periods.  I saw her walk out of the nurse's office.  No needle!  Just a traumatized 14 year old with tears in her eyes and a handful of bandaids.

Happy 11th day of school.

Things I've learned from Google this week

Sometimes when I don't know the answer to things, I brush it off with an "I don't know. Oh well!"  But this week, curiosity has gotten the best of me a time or two.  Here's what I've learned...

Question:
How do you perform the Heimlich Maneuver on pregnant women?
Answer:
Above the baby.  Push in the center of the breastbone...inward and downward.
Question:
What is happening to a person during a seizure?
Answer:
It's electrical activity in the brain. The brain sends out too many impulses at the same time to tell muscles to move.  Your muscles go tight and relax really fast over and over until the seizure stops.
Question:
Do bees really die after they sting?
Answer:
Let me give you a little funny background about this question...
Two of my 7th grade girls told me they want to have pet bees.  They want to catch them, freeze them, remove their stingers, tie a string around them, then defrost them and hope they're still alive to be pets.
Only honey bees die after they lose their stinger.  This is because when they try to pull out the stinger, they also lose parts of their abdomen and digestive tract.

There you go.  I hope you feel smarter.  I sure do!

A Lesson Learned

Don't eat almost an entire Cafe Rio salad 30 minutes before going running.

It's a bad idea.

I'm in love! I'm in love! And I don't care who knows it!

I'm in love!

Remember at the end of last year when I got rid of my old machines and my brand new machines had to spend the summer in boxes?

Well two weeks ago, the machines (or "sewing computers" as the manual calls them) were released from their boxes and installed in my classroom.

Today was the first time any of my classes used them.  

I love them!

They're so quiet.  They handle better.  They sew cool designs.  They have a pretty LED light.  They have a computerized screen.  Nothing is broken on them (yet...I know it will eventually happen).  They handle so much better.  The students are loving playing with the settings.

I love them!

High Five

My friend Laura sent this to me today...

And I just laughed and laughed.

Thanks for making my day, Laura!

I did something crazy

I signed up for a half marathon.

Am I insane?

My friend Carie put the idea in my head a couple months ago, so I've been thinking about it/planning on it for a couple months.  But as soon as I actually registered, I got nervous!

It's the Halloween Half on October 29th down Provo Canyon.

It's all downhill.  And it's encouraged that you wear a costume.  

That's fun, right?

I can't believe I'll be running 13.1 miles.

(Well, in reality, I'll probably be running a mile and walking the rest)

Things that help me transition to reality

Remember me? Remember how I haven't blogged since the first week of summer?

Well I promise to update you on my great summer adventures, but for now I'm trying to transition back into reality.  Yesterday was the first day of school.  It's been a long couple of days, but it's good to be back.

This morning, I had a sweet boy in one of my 9th grade classes give me an apple at the end of class.

Such a simple thing helps the transition back into teaching much easier.

Thank you to the sweet mom who sent the apple with him for the first day!

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

I can't believe it's only been a week since the last day of school?  

Have I ever told you much I love summer break?

I LOVE SUMMER BREAK!!!

I need it!

Every year, a miracle takes place...once August rolls around, I'm actually excited and ready to teach again.  I'm hoping for that miracle again this year. :)

Until then, here's a little of what I've been doing this past week.

The Lighting of the "G"

In honor of Pleasant Grove High School's graduation, they lit the "G" on the mountain.  My roommate Joleen has a fascination with things that light up...like fireworks and letters on mountains. :)  So we popped some popcorn, made some hot chocolate, and set up lawn chairs on the grass outside our condo.

Special Olympics

After school got out on Friday, we headed down to Cedar City to volunteer for the Special Olympics.  Joleen has been working with them for the past several years, so she invited us to go with her this year.  We had no clue she would be such a celebrity with those in charge!  I almost want to get her autograph...she was that cool!  We helped at the finish line for the races with timing and recording.  It was so much fun!  I'm pretty sure I'll be wanting to do this again!

Running

I have a new fascination with running.  Never in my life did I think I would like it.  But I've been trying it out the past couple weeks.  On Monday, Annie and I ran 5 miles down Provo Canyon.  I've gone on at least a little run everyday since school got out.  Some longer...some shorter.  By no means am I shooting for 26.2 miles, but it's been pretty fun. :)

Hiking Squaw Peak

Annie and I took off early Tuesday morning to hike up Squaw Peak in Provo.  It got my heart pounding and muscles sore, but it was pretty spectacular!  The view at the top was pretty great!  

Pretty sick picture, especially since the sun was in our eyes, but it's evidence that we made it!

 Babysitting

I always wish that my nieces and nephews lived closer to me.  Unfortunately, they don't.  So until then we'll watch someone else's kids. :)  On Tuesday we watched our old Bishop's three kids for the afternoon.  It was so fun!  It got me excited to see my 16 nieces and nephews in a couple of weeks!

Car Stuff

Wednesday was my car day...oil change, safety and emissions tests, registration, and new tires!

Friends

I feel like I don't see friends much during the school year.  This week I met up with two of my favorites...Laura and Kristen.  I went to a movie and chatted with Laura.  Yesterday I met Kristen in SLC for lunch and a trip to a fun cookie shop downtown.

Lost

I resumed my netflix account.  That means I'm watching Lost again.  It's pretty great. :)

Monticello/Moab Trip

Over Memorial Day weekend, my roommate Annie and I took a little trip to the middle of nowhere.  Two summers ago, Annie and I decided we wanted to go to every temple in Utah.  It's taken us longer than we thought, but we're almost done!  We checked off another one when we went to Monticello.

We left after school on Friday and arrived there late that night.  Hotel pickings are slim there, so we stayed at a stinky place that smelled like the old brown trailer that some of our old ranch hands would live back in Drummond.  I'm thinking only my family and the Mackay's will appreciate how sick that is! :)

I can't believe Monticello has a temple.  It's such a tiny town!  But the temple was beautiful!

After the temple, we drove up the road to Moab for lunch.  We ate at this place that had the most amazing omelets I think I'll ever have.  Who knew that salmon and avocado was a good combination?  Trust me...it's delicious!
Then we hit Arches National Park for an afternoon of hiking to Double O Arch.

 

It was so nice to leave the great rains of Utah County to enjoy some sunshine!  Don't worry, as soon as we came out of Spanish Fork Canyon, it was raining again.  Shocking.

Best Yearbook Posts of 2011

Today was yearbook day!  It's easily the easiest, yet boringest (spell check says that is not a word...I submit that it is!) day of the year.  I was just glancing through comments kids wrote in my yearbook.  In addition to the classic comments like "Thanks for being my teacher!", here are a few of my favorites...

• Eat your vegetables & fruit. They are good for you.  --Will
• You're the best! --Jaclyn Bieber (the girl really think she's married to Justin Bieber)
• Sorry I'm loud!  --Maddy
• 1 Nephi 2:15  --Jessica
• Lacey, stay sexy.  --Anonymous, but definitely a boy
• Hope you love the underwear I made u. --Bailey (she sewed some "underwear" out of scraps the other day.  They were too small for her, so she gave them to me...I don't know, either)
• Lacey, Thanks for teaching next to me at school. "It was so out of control!"  --Rachel (turns out I say "it was so out of control" a lot, and Rachel calls me out on it :)
• Don't get hit by a bus.  --Brandon
• No man is worthy of you, Lacey.  You're that good.  --Jessica  (She's the type that always kept tabs on my love life)

Love these kids!  But I'm extra excited that there are only 8 hours and 15 minutes of school left!

So long, old friends

As I write, my old sewing machines in my classroom are being taken away.  The new ones will be installed later in the summer.  For now, they continue to sit in their boxes in the storage room.

I asked the guys from Dave's Bernina in Provo what their plan was for these.  They said they've already sold about half of them.  HALF!  They haven't even left my room yet!

That means there are still about half (20) of them left.

If you've been waiting to get a deal on a Bernina, you might want to give them a call!  They told me they'd be about $499.  I know that sounds like a lot, but it's a great deal for a Bernina.  These go new for probably $800

They're pretty great machines.  It's Bernina model 1008 if you want to do any research.

Or just ask me because they've been my constant companion for 5 years.  I know them pretty well. :)  They are mechanical, instead of the newer electronic models.  But they're Berninas, which means they're pretty amazing!  If they can handle junior high kids for years, they can handle anything!  Dave's Bernina will fix them up and make them all nice and "new"...minus the occasional smiley face one of my angelic 8th graders carved into it with a pin.

Anyway, if you're interested.  Give them a call.  You can ask for Christopher...or Richard I suppose.  You can tell them you heard they might still have some 1008 machines left from Timberline Middle School.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Dear Parents

To my friends who are parents or may someday be parents:

School is important.  Please make your children go.  Just because they're tired in the morning doesn't mean they should be able to sleep in until noon.  Their classmates and teachers are probably tired too, but they come.  I can understand maybe once or twice a year, but it's going to be a problem when your child only comes to first period three times in an entire term.  And if you do decide to let your child sleep in almost every day, please don't be surprised and shocked when your child gets a C-...that is probably a generous grade.

On a similar note, just because your child is getting an A doesn't mean they can stay home. 

Also, maybe you can help me with something....if your child cheats (let's say, for example, they forge YOUR signature...four times), would you defend them?  Would you go to the teacher and ask her to still give him credit for the assignment?


Just some thoughts.


Sincerely,

A teacher with 5 days of school left

(FYI, these aren't all from personal experience, but they've been discussed among co-workers. I could go on all day) :)

Teacher Show and Tell

What makes a junior high sewing teacher happy?

How about two cute delivery guys bringing 38 brand new Bernina sewing machines to my classroom?  

I wasn't even mad that they forgot one.

  Or maybe it's this beautiful denim shirt that a student bedazzled and puff-painted for me.

 

Either way, it was a great way to finish off the last Monday of the 2010-2011 school year!

8 more days!

Single Digits

9 days of school left!

For any of you who might be a teacher or know a teacher (which would be all of you), you know this is a pretty big deal.

Get excited!

I am!

A random day to remember

I've never been known for my stellar memory.  I was always the one who forgot everything 5 minutes after finishing a test.

That may or may not be because I was one of those procrastinator crammers when I was in school.

But every now and then, I remember some random fact, date, name, etc.

May 19th is one of those dates.

9 years ago today, I graduated from high school.

I can't remember most of my good friends' birthdays, but I can remember my high school graduation date?

What's my problem?

Why I remember that date, I have no clue.  It was probably because I knew about it half way during my junior year.  My friends Kate, Kara and I created a paper chain with several weeks left of our senior year and strung it down our high school hallway (Yes, hallway is singular.  You should go to Drummond High School...it's a social experience you shouldn't miss.  Add it to your bucket list).  It never got ripped down because the rest of the seniors were excited for it, too.  And the freshmen, sophomores, and juniors were probably too scared to do it because we would shove them in a locker.  And the teachers wouldn't rip it down because they were excited to see the class of 2002 out the door after dealing with us for 13 years of K-12.

I can't believe it's been 9 years.  I'm getting old!  But it's been a great 9 years!

Hawaii Day 7

Friday

Aloha (the goodbye kind), Kauai!

Aloha (the hello kind), Oahu!

We woke up at 4am to catch our 6:30 am flight.
Sick.

We started out at Pearl Harbor.  

 

We didn't do any tours and were only there for maybe 30 minutes.  But it was a very somber place!

Then we went to a session at the Laie Temple.  It was BEAUTIFUL!!!

We spent the rest of the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

 

 Okay, this is sideways, but these hats were sweet!

 Natalie and Justin, I hope you see this.  I took a picture of this guy just for you!

 

 

 

 Mmm

 These pina colada drinks were so good!

  Just being crazy

We got a little wet when it started to rain (okay, we were soaked)
Before

After

 

We got leis.  Real ones.  They were BEAUTIFUL!

They had a show at the end (no pictures allowed), but there was a lot of fire throwing and attractive Polynesian men.

That night we stayed at a hotel in Honolulu.  It wasn't quite as nice as our house on Kauai...okay, that's an understatement.  I was scared to take off my flip-flops. :)  But we were so tired and only there for a couple hours before we had to leave, so it was fine.