I have become a bad blogger.
No wait.
I’m a second-year teacher with a full plate of activities and a to-do list three miles long.
Anyhoo, it’s been a busy week, and I’m feeling a little random, so here are a few unrelated musings.
Favorite Teaching-Related Moment From the Week
One of my students handed me a notepad at the end of class on Monday. She told me to read it. It contained a message about how glad she was to be in my class and how thankful she was that we had worked things out during a talk we’d had before Thanksgiving.
Oh, how my heart swelled with joy. This little gal and I have a few things in common. Her mother and I are the same age and grew up in the same small town in Alabama (which we discovered before Thanksgiving.) During Christmas, when my family visited the Mr.’s grandmother (who lives in the above-referenced small town), I asked the woman who takes care of her (and cooked lunch for us) if she happened to know a person with my student’s mother’s name. Not only did the lady know her, but it was her daughter, and she proved this by mentioning my student by name (she has a very unusual name too).
I was shocked.
My student and I shared a chuckle when school resumed as we discussed this God-incidence, which is what I prefer to call it over the word “coincidence.” It’s obvious that God put this student in my class.
Puppy Update
Gambit, our new puppy, continues to thrive. He’s making himself quite comfortable…a little too much so as evidenced by some of his shenanigans, which shall go pictureless…for now.
A few people have raised their eyebrows at the fact that we now have four dogs in the house. This doesn’t matter to me. Gambit was meant to find us…I see proof of this every day as he soaks in the love that Rooster, the Mr., and I shower him with. The other dogs are getting their share of loving too as we are working very hard to assure them that they are not being replaced. It’s been a win-win situation.
Another neat teaching moment occurred this week when one of my students asked me to attend his wrestling match. I usually sleep in on Saturdays, but I set my alarm and was out the door before 10. He was surprised to see me. I guess he’ll know that he can count on me to keep my word!!
My love affair with bling is going strong. After we returned home from visiting family during Christmas, I spent my Christmas money on the following…
That, my friends, is Sorrelli…”Gold” to be exact. I had gone in search of a matching necklace to go along with the bracelet and earrings the Mr. gave me for Christmas. Unable to afford the necklace, I started to leave the store when, upon talking to the owner about my love for Auburn, she pointed out the above line, which happened to be on sale for 30% off.
You know me and a sale. It’s hard to pass one up when it smacks me in the face.
I was able to purchase a necklace and a pair of earrings with the Christmas cash I had in my purse…nearly the exact amount. I only had to pull out $.46 from my change purse to finish out my purchase.
It was another God-incidence. 😉
Now, I’ve gotta tell you a little something about bling, in case you’re a naysayer. See, I used to poo poo the affect that bling can have on a person…the addiction that people have with this Sorrelli stuff.
Things changed, however, when I got ready to attend a movie with my family, selected a blue sweater to match my new jewelry, and then put on the necklace…
I actually squealed out loud when I saw myself in the mirror sporting the new jewelry.
It was sparkly, and I felt extra-pretty.
The Mr. asked me what was wrong, and I told him absolutely nothing…that I had just discovered the dizzying effect that bling can have on a person.
He chuckled.
So, totally changing the subject (remember that this is a post titled “Randomness”), my mom always gives my sister and me sets of flat chunks of wax that are individually wrapped. They’re usually holiday-scented. They have no wicks. I’ve never known what to do with them…that is until after THIS Christmas.
See, by the time I was into a week of my vacation, my brain was functioning normally again, and I was able to think straight.
I headed to Bed, Bath, & Beyond and saw these…
Uh huh. I’m sure you’re wondering how the Mr., Chicky, and Rooster have managed to survive having this not-so-bright woman leading the family, eh?
But give me a break. My brain is fried SPECIFICALLY from taking care of the crew, so it takes me awhile to “get” things nowadays.
Anyhoo, back to my story.
Seeing the above items in the store, I started to put the pieces together. But first, I needed to call Super Sis to see what she thought.
We both agreed that we should be able to melt the wax blobs by buying other things that are called “tea candles,” sticking them in the bottom part of the above-pictured items, putting the wax blogs in the top “bowls,” and lighting the tea candles, which would heat the wax blobs above them and then make the house smell wonderful.
I was willing to give it a shot…
Voila!
All of a sudden, I felt smart…
Sorry. Had to throw that in…just could not resist the opportunity.
Ok, so being a reading teacher means that maybe, just maybe, I should actually be doing some reading on my own.
Being a new teacher doesn’t leave much time, but over the Christmas break, I managed to read three books.
Actually, I read more like two full books, three quarters of another book, and the second half of another book.
First off, I read Pretty Little Things, by Jilliane Hoffman…
This is Jilliane’s fourth book, and it is an excellent read! It’s set in Coral Springs and Miami, Florida and chronicles the search for a teenager who, it is discovered, meets a man online through a chat room. It’s quite gripping and a bit scary, if you’re a parent. I read this book in one day…even staying up until 3:30am to finish it.
Jilliane’s style is very similar to James Patterson’s with short chapters and characters you can connect with.
What I love so much is that Jilliane, who the Mr. and I know, combined the names of people she worked with when she was an Assistant District Attorney in Miami. Because I know a lot of the people personally, it was fun to see the various name combinations.
Another book I finished was The Dead and the Gone, by Susan Beth Pfeffer…
This book is actually the second in a series, although you can read Life As We Knew It after this one and not really miss anything. What’s important is that you read these two before reading the third.
The Dead and the Gone is told from the perspective of a 17 year-old boy who is left to take care of his two younger sisters after a meteor hits the moon, causing catastrophic natural disasters. His parents go missing, and he has to become the man of the household.
One of my students had told me about the book and let me borrow it. This student is a voracious reader, and he frequently checked in with me to see if I’d finished the book. I’m going to return it on Monday. Perhaps we’ll have a little discussion about it.
The book was good, although it was a little difficult to get into. I connected to it by remembering a movie I’d seen a few years ago…The Day After Tomorrow. The book was a little similar.
The other book I finished was Mockingjay, the third in the Hunger Games series…
I loved the third book…so much more than the second one. I think that Suzanne finishes developing the characters well, and I just loved the ending. I cannot wait for the movie to come out!!!
I saw these at Walmart and just could not resist picking up a box. Those who know me know how much I love Angry Birds…
Before Chicky went back to school, we had one last family outing…a movie night!!
The Mr. had purchased new Blue Ray versions of the Mission Impossible movies, and the packaging had coupon codes for free movie tickets, up to $10 off. We decided to watch the iMax version, so we only had to pay $3 for each ticket. Below is what the free ticket vouchers looked like…
I’ve gotta say that I’ve never believed much in the whole IMAX thing, but after watching this movie on that screen…all I can say is WOW! This was the perfect movie to see on that amazing screen. It felt as if we were actually a part of the action.
The movie was very good…very fast-paced. All of us enjoyed it immensely! It was a wonderful evening of family bonding.
Well, that’s all of my random thoughts…for now anyhow.
Filed under: Pets, This-n-That | Tagged: Jilliane Hoffman, Mission Impossible, Pretty Little Things, Sorrelli, The Dead and the Gone | 5 Comments »
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