It's beginning to look alot like..............Kwanza?!?

That is the title of a book that you can buy to read your kids at a very low price of $1.99 if you are a teacher. Does anybody know what Kwanza looks like?

Let's see how far we've come!

Sooo my headache didn't get any better and I ended up missing out on Dave's bash. I felt like such a bum so I decided to write him a 30th birthday toast to make up for it. It's pretty good if I do say so myself. I emailed it to him, but there is something wrong with his server so I am posting it on here instead. Dave and I have been friends for 10 years now, which for me is about 5 lifetimes. We've both come along way in the last 10 years and I couldn't ask for a better friend to be by my side on this crazy roller coaster I call life :)

I'll never forget the first time I met Dave. I burst into his apartment in the Lake Claire dorms looking for his roomate, and there he was moving in. I very brightly introduced myself and welcomed him to the neighborhood and he's been a little bit in love with me ever since! :) That was 10 years ago!!! I've watched you grow from being a silly obnoxious pain in the butt who wore nothing but baggy shorts,basketball jerseys and rolled in his mamma's honda to a fine young man who is still silly and sometimes obnoxious but has a better ride :)But seriously you've grown into a smart, successful man who knows what he wants out of life and goes out and gets it.

Ten years is a long time, on the drive to Ft. Lauderdale I wast hinking about some of the events in my life that you've been therefor and here are a few that stuck out to me.

My 21st birthday bash and you even brought a friend for me to make out with! :)
When I tried to drive home drunk you were the one who took my keys got me home and then yelled at me the next day for being so stupid (ironic isn't it?)
When I had only 1 day to move all my stuff out of my apartment into storage and I wasn't going to make it you came and helped me finish moving.
When I decided to convert and become a mormon
When I decided to serve a mission and give my farewell talk before I left for nevada. my family was so mad at me for leaving that they wouldn't come hear me talk. But you drove 4 hours and sat in a christian church for the first time and stood in my family's place.
When I was at the lowest point on my mission and didn't think I would make it, you were the one who told me that I wasn't a quitter and that I was strong enough to make it. Even though you didn't agree with what I was doing you were still there supporting me and cheering me on.
When I decided to move to Utah you were the one who told me that I was running away from home for the wrong reasons and that I would be back(and you were right too).
When I decided to move back to florida and become a teacher you welcomed me with opened arms and only told me "I told you so!" about a thousand times! :)
When I was in love with the wrong boy I called you up crying you listened and comforted me and then calmly explained that obviously he was gay and I shouldn't have anything to do with him.
When I still didn't listen you yelled at me which didn't help at all! But your example of what a loving friendship should be like did, and I walked away.
When that same boy broke my heart you were the one who told me I needed to quit feeling sorry for myself and get back in the saddle again (and you are right about that too)

When I need a shoulder to cry on, a person to laugh so hard I cry with, someone who will wrestle with me and doesn't let me win, someone who is always there to support me but not afraid to stand up to me and tell me when I am doing something stupid, someone I can be my true noholds barred and no walls up self with, someone who knows and understands my family and the relationship I have with them and knows what it means to me. You've seen the good and the bad and the ugly in my life and at the end of the day your still standing by my side cheering me on or kicking my butt, whatever needs to be done at the time. You have no idea what that means to me! Everyone wants to be around when I bring the party with me, but its always surprising how many people take off when things aren't so great. You have been there for the highs and the lows and your friendship is something that I truly cherish. I can honestly say I would not be the person that I've become these last 10 years if it wasn't for your love and friendship. So raise a glass of johnny and coke (minus the johnny for me) to a young man who is smart, talented, classy(sometimes), successful and is always striving to be a better person and live life to the fullest! To Dave, I hope the next 10 years are as much fun as these last 10 have been.
Cheers!

2 Jews and a Mormon are at a Bar.....

NO its not the beginning to a joke, its actually the beginning of my weekend in Ft. Lauderdale. I'm down here visiting my friend Dave for his 30th birthday bash. We meet up with some of his people at the Hard Rock Casino. He PROMISES me we will be home at midnight. And stupid me I fall for it! :) I always feel like where's waldo at these places. Its like which one of these people is not drinking smoking or gambling.....oh yeah that would be ME! But it was nice to just chill with some friends for awhile. And as payback for keeping me out late I locked Dave out of his house till he called me Princess! :) However it seems I am allergic to south florida and I've had a raging headache all day! Ugh does this stink! Tonight is the big party, I'm thinking I'll take my own car so I can get home at a decent time b/c I am getting up early on Sunday to go to Church! When I am good I am really good! But when I'm bad I'm even better! :)

Still putting the fun in dysFUNctional! :)

This is the china my mom and dad got when they got married. We still use it for the holidays. I plan on fighting my sister tooth and nail for this china after my parents have kicked the bucket! :)

Well I survived another crazy holiday with my family. I decided to be more pro-active with my mom about helping out with the preparations. A wise move on my part if I do say so myself since mom usually gets stressed and freaks out thereby stressing ME out. We had minimal stress and really no freak outs which was a nice change. My sister ditched us to hang with her hubby. So it was just mom, dad, me, grandma, my aunt, my lesbian cousin and 3 of her "friends". Ummm I was a little worried about all the strangers coming over. (mom referred to it as lesbian land) but they were all really nice girls (even the one dressed like a boy with a Mohawk)! And they were super nice to my dogs. :) For those of you who don't know I totally judge people by how they treat my dog (and guinea pig). So it worked out.

I had to swing by grandma's last week to pick up the food that she cooked 2 months ago and put in the freezer(she does this for every holiday). Most of it tasted like freezer, so I pitched in and made mashed potatoes and stuffing. We actually had so much food we forgot to put some of the dishes on the table!

Grandma was in rare form! She was in a fighting mood which is never good. She complained about EVERYTHING and tried to give my dog coffee!!!! Apparently her poodle used to love his morning cup of joe. Of course he developed a heart murmur later on in life and died, but hey what does the vet know? Apparently not as much as my grandmother. Some people have grandmas who bake and sew and talk about the good old days. Not me! Mine is mean, complains and threatens to put a bag over her head and kill herself (I keep telling her there are better ways to go, but she has a flare for drama). :) All in all a typical holiday at my house! :) I hope everyone else had a happy thanksgiving! One of these days I will take a pic with my new hairdo and post it, but not today! :)

Teaching on the fly

So I teach Relief Society at church once a month. I love teaching and its a nice change from 9 year olds. I always prepare my lesson about a week before....then I ponder and fine tune my lesson during the week until its just right. It was no exception this week. However about 5 min before the beginning of my lesson I realized that I had carefully pondered and prepared for the WRONG LESSON! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Luckily for me the lesson I should have been preparing for was about the Prophet Joseph Smith, a subject near and dear to my heart.
I personally believe that if you can move people emotionally when you teach or speak in public you are doing a good job. People will usually forget what you've said to them about 10 min after they walk out your door. But they'll never forget how you made them feel! And lets just say that there were very few dry eyes after I was finished with my lesson! Now I'd really like to take credit for this and pat myself on the back about just how fabulous a teacher I really am. And I am pretty fabulous if I do say so myself. However I'll give credit where its due. Thank You Heavenly Father!!! It really was a good lesson and I shared some very emotional things, but I can tell you right now I was being prompted the whole time. I guess sometimes Heavenly Father likes to remind me who is really in charge! :) I hear ya LOUD and CLEAR :)

The finer things in life!

So the weather has finally cooled down here in sunny Florida. And by cool I mean a low of 45 and highs around 75 or so. Its a nice change. I have to say its funny watching all the native Floridians in their leather jackets and boots like there was snow outside! :) My blood is still too thick from living in Utah and Reno. I am sure by next winter it will thin out and I too will be wearing long overcoats and gloves and hats. But for now its just light sweaters and long skirts. I have however carried one thing back with me from my snow days.....ELECTRIC BLANKETS! Now you all are thinking an electric blanket sounds crazier than a long coat in Florida. And you'd be right if I was sleeping underneath the blanket. However I put the electric blanket under my fitted sheet and presto! Its like a slice of pure HEAVEN crawling into bed! Its deee- lightful! And good for my sore muscles too! My friend Charlotte always tries to find something she is thankful for. I am thankful for electric blankets under my fitted sheets in the winter time!

A typical coversation with the kids

Setting: I've just picked them up from lunch and we are headed back to class

Student #1: Do we have teacher PE today?
Me: NO! We have PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays today is NOT a tuesday or a thursday

Student #2: What days do we have teacher PE again?
ME: (sigh) Tuesdays and Thursdays
Student #2: So we don't have PE today?
ME: That's right because its not a Tuesday or a Thursday

Student #3 (raising his hand as we are still in line): Ms. S do we have....
ME (interrupting): "All right everyone stop where you are and give me 5. Listen up! we have teacher PE on TUESDAYS and THURSDAYS! Since today is not a TUESDAY or a THURSDAY please do not ask me again if we have PE because we don't! Let's move out!"

Student #4 (at the back of the line): Ms S do we have PE today?
ME: Are you kidding me? Did you not just hear what I said?!?
Student #4 just looks at me
ME: NO WE DON'T HAVE PE AND WE WILL NEVER HAVE PE AGAIN!

I have this conversation 3 days a week! (on monday's wednesdays and fridays)

I survived my first field trip!!

I will explain why I chose this particular picture in a moment..

So there we were....

The kids have been studying greek amphora's in art class and the art teacher thought it would be fun to take them to the Tampa Museum of Art for a field trip. So off we went! There were alot of greek statues with frontal nudity but the kids handled it really well. Until.... we got to this statue. All of a sudden I see 2 of my boys (incidentally the same 2 who told me the whizzpopper story) peeking around this statue of Neptune. I knew exactly what they were doing....checking out Neptune's WHIZZPOPPER! Of course I start laughing! And that's when they decided to look around to see if the teacher was watching them. And then we ALL started laughing :) And of course everyone had to check out Neptune's backside and that was the highlight of the tour! :) The docent talked NONSTOP! I mean seriously we got a 5 minute lecture on each peice of pottery! My kids are 9 years old! Just be quiet and let them look at the pretty pots and make their own connections! I wanted to stab myself in the eyeball so I can only imagine how the kids felt. Ahhh well we all survived and now you get to see Neptune's very well rounded whizzpopper! :) Enjoy!

Out of the mouths of babes.

Soooo there we were.....

We finished reading The Big Friendly Giant by Roald Dahl last week. The kids LOVED it! They did an awesome job on the AR reading test on it too. Well there is a part in the book where the BFG farts (in the book its called whizzpopping). Of course the kids thought it was funny, but they handled it rather well. However today after school 2 of my boys came up to me and said the following:
"Ms. S did you know that if you whizzpopp and you have a lighter you can set it on fire?"
Of course I am a grown up so what do I do? I start laughing hysterically! And then the other one chimes in "yeah if you go to youtube and type in fire farts you can see it on video" They are 9 years old and they are on youtube!!!! After I calmed down I told them not to try and light their own whizzpops b/c it could backfire and burn their bums. To which they replied "its not a bum its a whizzpopper"! Dang I love my job! :)

Wild and Crazy Hair Day!

So the kids got to have a wild and crazy hair day for selling a bazillion dollars worth of wrapping paper as a fundraiser. I thought you guys would enjoy the pics. Also here are some pics of my classroom including the WALL O'BULLETIN BOARDS which are a little bare b/c I am in the process of changing them.

Wild was definitely an appropriate word for the day. My brain is fried. I am about 1 crisis away from a mental breakdown. My co-workers are all going out and doing a little drinking, which would be a great idea if I was still a drinking woman :) Instead I am going to turn off my brain for the night, and relax tomorrow and probably go to the Temple!

Here's to a relaxing weekend! (Hang-over free)