Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving. It's one of the few days of the year that I can turn off my alarm. It was so nice to sleep in this morning. I spent the entire morning importing cds into iTunes so I could then transfer them into my new iPod. I'm loving my new toy! Then I watched Season 1 of The Office on DVD. That show is hilarious. I really need to get TiVo or something. I think I'm missing some good shows. I plan on sleeping in tomorrow too! Very nice! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. And I hope everyone enjoys their vacation, even those working intersession.

Random Thoughts

Today's staff development meeting was a mix of good and bad. The good was the writing portion, of course. I really need to start writing in my writer's notebook again. This blog has become sort of my writer's notebook. The stories I could write from some of these entries! The bad is having to make cuts. It must be done. Time to tighten the belt. So sad. I'm trying to think if anything funny or interesting happened today. Ummmmm...lets see. Oh yeah, I was commenting at the patio party about how it felt like Christmas, and then I started channeling Bing Crosby. I started singing White Christmas in my best Bing Crosby voice. Mr. H just laughed and the kids actually looked a little scared. I stopped. Oh yeah, one more thing...last night I had a horrible nightmare. Let me tell you about it. Of course the nightmare's setting was school (all my nightmares are set at school - alseep and awake), anyway, I noticed the boys' bathroom in the main building was locked up. So I go to unlock the door and open the door and I notice a boy and a girl in the bathroom. I asked "What are you doing in here!" Then dozens of kids come out of the stalls (boys and girls). I know, FREAKY. Oh wait, it gets better. So the bathroom is totally filled with kids. I get on the radio to call Matt for backup. I think as I was still on the radio, one of the kids comes up to me and starts slashing my face with a knife. Oh yes, slashing, with a knife. So now I start calling Georgia on the radio (because I've been slashed, with a knife, and obviously need medical attention). I grab the kid slasher and start strangling him/her (I'm not sure if it was a boy or girl). And then I wake up. FREAKY!! Usually I don't dream. I know, sad. But when I do, they are doozies! (Is that a word?) Usually I'm searching for my car in my dreams. Anyone know what that means? I think I'm fully clothed while searching for the car. I could be pantless, but I'm not sure. I wonder if that makes a difference in the interpretation of the dream? Well, I'm glad it was only a dream. I am going to be a little careful when I unlock the bathroom door though...just to be on the safe side. You know, I think I'll make Darryl unlock the door.

Great book - Check it out!

Sorry :(

Yup, I've been a grump for the last couple of weeks. Sorry. It's been very stressful lately. That's no excuse. Everyone is stressed out and working their butts off. Report cards, data reports, conferences, and just the day to day teaching that needs to happen - dayum, who is making you do all this? We're all stressed. So, today I took a deep breath and bought books and coffee. Buying books and coffee always calms me down. Hopefully the next 11 days will be calm and productive. There's still lots to do. We are so deserving of the upcoming break. AND next Monday is a holiday. I'm definitely going to buy books and coffee on that day!

Words that Annoy

We all have certain words that annoy us. Some, I hear, have words they "loathe." I don't really "loathe" any words, but there are some words that truly annoy me. Here they are: indeed, rejected, super, rockies, giants, padres, bistro, late, can't, won't, squishy, pinhead, conservative, and "sloppy copy." Just to name a few. What words annoy you? (I wonder if Mr. C can write a song using all my annoying words?)

Exhaustion

I'm totally exhausted. Almost too exhausted to sleep. What a day. I barely had time to "use it." The bathroom that is. Lots to do. I'm hoping to get intersession done this week so I can start on tutoring. But I have to figure out how to squeeze Butler's elementary kids into our intersession. I've agreed to take a few of Butler's kids. Not sure if I should have done that. Intersession is such a pain. It really is. The budget survey went out today. I've been putting that off for weeks. Definitely not something I'm looking forward to dealing with and I'm sure Glenda feels the same way. We definitely need to make cuts...actual positions must go. The question...which ones? It's like deciding which limb to cut off...hard decision to make. It's not right, we shouldn't have to make these cuts. It's a shame.

Kids are funny...sometimes...

As I was visiting fifth grade classrooms this morning, two funny things happened. Funny thing number one happened in Mr. C's room. I purposely sat kind of close to my very good friend Marcus. I think I sat a little too close for his comfort. He said to me, "Ummm, Mr. Garcia, not to offend you or anything, but you're giving me goosebumps." I felt like saying back to him, "Well, after all the headaches you've given me, you're lucky you're only getting goosebumps." But I didn't. Too funny. Funny thing number two happened when I was passing room 70. A bunch of Michelle's kids were going back to class after Read 180, I was right behind them. One of the kids was shaking his booty and having a good 'ol time. He had no clue I was right behind him. It turns out he wasn't just shaking his booty at me, he was actually doing some sort of dance. When he realized I was behind him he quickly scampered to the ramp and covered his head with this hoodie. Too funny. He was mortified. I whispered to him, "You never know where I'm going to turn up. Huh?" I saw him later at lunch and he gave me a huge grin. Too funny. I need to get out of the office more.