a rant...and then an update

thanks to cesar chavez, i have the day off. and it could not come soon enough.

(begin of rant)

life in room b-07 has been rough.

my kiddos have been struggling lately.

i'm not sure what happened. is it spring fever? or the sudden presence of sunshine? are they getting tired of eachother? what can i do?

in the simplest of terms -- they are being mean to eachother.

and, at the risk of being a big whiner, some are starting to be a little mean to me.

daily there have been physical fights (some minor, some requiring visits to the nurse), unkind words spoken and tattling galore amongst the kiddos. daily there are kiddos who tell me they don't want to read/do math/write/participate. i don't mean to be bossy...but what the crap? some of my little ones seem to forget that i'm the teacher and that it is my job to help them read/do math/write/participate. it makes me sad because they are only six/seven and they already think that there is no problem with defying adults and people in 'authority'.

how can i undo that kind of thinking?

(end of rant)

okay...now i can move on to other things. it's been awhile since my ode to chocolate milk, so here are some things going on lately (in bullet form, so i stay organized):

--my brother-in-law james has been in and out of the hospital due to the doctor's inability to control his seizures. something is amiss with his meds and they just aren't working like they need to. luckily, my in-laws have been able to get more attention from the doctor's at kaiser and they are working to determine what needs to happen to help james. keep him in your thoughts/prayers. and also, i just wanted to give kudos to matt's parents. i have no idea how they can deal with it all, but they're doing it. so keep them (brian and mary) in your thoughts/prayers, as well. :)

--not everything related to my kiddos is negative, so i wanted to highlight some recent fun we've had. :) on wednesday, my kiddos and five chaperones (including my brave husband) ventured to the monterey bay aquarium for a day of aquatic exploration and fun times. i was able to divide the kiddos among the chaperones, leaving me to wander around the aquarium and hang out with all my kiddos as they poked and prodded various sea creatures. they had a wonderful day...and i'll try to put some pictures in a future post.

--we've stocked our netflix queue with loads of tv shows - so we have been a bit reclusive as we catch up on an entire season worth of tv in a weekend. i don't think i could every pay for cable and watch tv the regular way ever again - i'm getting too used to the instant gratification of an entire show at my fingertips.

--spring break is only one week away. this break will include a muse concert in san fran and then a road trip to boise to check it out. pit stops to visit my parents in rocklin will bookend our trip...and cut down on our time in the car. :)

--a little bit of sad news - charles ezra rockway died last week. :(

for those not 'in the know', charles ezra (a.k.a charlie, chuck, and tubs) was one of my family's dogs and he was such a lovable curmudgeon. he had a stroke two weekends ago and gradually lost the ability to move, so my parents decided to put him down. we think he was 15 years old, so he lived a good long doggie life. :)

(charlie is on the left, heidi is on the right)

i'm off now to get caught up on all the things i never have time for when i'm working. i love the free time...but kind of wish i could just be a lump on the couch. i guess i have a whole summer to practice and perect being 'lumpy'.

happy friday/weekend all! :)

does a body good :)

one additional perk of working at an elementary school is the daily access to chocolate milk. there is just something so fun and refreshing about a half-pint of chocolatey dairy goodness. :) and it's only 1%...so it balances out, right?
i'm enjoying some now on my lunch break and just had to share because it puts me in such a good mood.
happy friday and happy milk drinking. :)

little bit of everything

the past week has been busy.
come to think of it...i think this is how many of my blogs begin.
i think it is safe to say that all weeks will be busy from here on out. :)

anywho...since my last post, i started liking my kiddos again. :) the kiddos who were there on thursday stayed home and my normal class showed up friday morning (and this week, thank goodness). so my job is once again a source of joy, not headache and insanity.

we visited my parents in sacramento this past weekend to see them and also catch a theater production of 12 angry men (starring none other than norm from 'cheers' and john boy from 'the waltons' - good times, but no autographs). it was the first time that matt and i visited sac when just my parents were around. on the way home, we remarked how grown-up it was so spend a weekend with just parents - usually siblings and extended family are around. it was nice to spend time with them and talk about stuff that would have bored my siblings (or anyone, for that matter) to tears. hot topics of conversation: mutual funds (ooh!), the california housing market (bleh!), work (only briefly!), car shopping (options, options!), etc. with all of those lively topics, i swear there were also many moments of laughter and good times. seeing my mom and pop just make me happy and i am so glad that everyone gets along to swimmingly.

matt and i are in the process of planning trips to boise and austin. why...you might ask? in simple terms, california (especially the bay area) is super expensive. we aspire to someday own a house and on our salaries and with the cost of housing, it doesn't seem to add up. matt knows of companies (and people) in boise and austin, which make them viable options for our relocation in a couple years. we're planning to visit boise in april (during my spring break) and texas in july (which will make or break me - heat is not my favorite). so, my few (but wonderful) blog readers - i have a question for you: have you ever visited/lived in/driven through either of these places? any suggestions on where to go/what to see? we're open...and want to get the best idea of each place duringour short visits. anything would be appreciated. :)

okay...that's all for now. i think. :) i'm off to help the husband prepare some homemade indian food. we're being adventurous. hopefully it pays off. however, we were adventurous with a crockpot tortilla soup the other night and ended up making something that we called 'mexican upchuck'. not good. :(

happy (almost) friday/weekend! :)

oy vey!

today is over.
finally.
apparently, my kiddos were quite the treat in my absence.
first thing upon entering my room, i found three names on the board, indicating those students who chose not to listen all day.
after that, two separate parents came up to me and said that yesterday, their kids were bothered (hit, pushed, hair pulled, scratched) by another member of the class.
school had not even started and i was already up to my ears in 'talks' with various students about appropriate conduct at school. i usually like to save those talks at least until recess. and i felt compelled to address the class and tell them how disappointed i am to see that they were rude to the sub.
once the bell rang, i knew we were in for a long day. to put it mildly, i was ready to run for the hills by recess. not good...and i think it's against the law. :) the day continued to go downhill - i was scheduled to do some observing today, so another teacher came in to corral my group.
she was forewarned.
basically, they were rude to this teacher (who are these children?), ran amok in the library with this teacher (much to the horror of our sweet librarian) and engaged in some fights (and subsequent principal office visits).
today was not the proudest day for the smart sharks of room B-07. :( maybe it's me? maybe it's them? maybe it's spring? i think i'll blame spring for now...but it's probably a combination of all three. i just have to hope to never be sick again.

all this said...i hope tomorrow is better. it has to be. right? :)

the eye - an update

so, the nice people at kaiser gave me some eye drops to get rid of my current condition.

i don't think i've ever mentioned that i get the eebie-jeebies when anything gets near my eye. i don't even like touching my own eyes (so how can i still get pink eye?). contact lenses terrify me - i hope to never need them. :)

so, you might wonder...how are those eye drops working out? i think i can honestly say that it is the most pathetic thng anyone could ever see. i think i have gotten more drops on my cheeks and eyelids than in my actual eye.

i hope i can get the hang of it soon - otherwise, i'm still contagious and unable to go to school. wish me luck...i'm off to 'drop' again. :)

the eye

i've got 'the eye'.

for those not in my family, that means i have pink eye. :(

the man at kaiser said i am highly contagious and should not go to school. so i am home today. i'm not sure who i got it from...i just hope it's looking better by tomorrow.

i don't like to miss school.

latest

over the last few days, i've sat down to write about a number of things - both positive and not so positive - that have kept me busy. and every time i start to write, something comes up - dinner to be made, lesson to be planned, phone to be answered, husband to snuggle (this one isn't much of a sacrifice), [insert other lame-o excuse], etc. since i am too tired/lazy to dedicate a post to each thing individually - here is a mish-mash of the latest:

~seeing my sister in slo was good fun - but at the same time, it felt a little odd. as previously mentioned, our age/life stage gap wavers between appearing non-existent and being so obvious we have little to talk about. it's just...odd. our relationship has been something on my mind off and on lately. i want to delve into it more (and seek the advice of other bloggers) when i have some more time.

~amy and i spent a lovely and absolutely refreshing day in lovely berkeley. for nostalgia's sake, we ate some delicious diner food, then proceeded to wander around a half-price bookstore (i love discounted things) and then concluded with some warm starbucks drinks. intermixed with all this was some wonderful conversation and genuine communication. she is one of my favorite people and i was just so blessed to spend a day with her. so yeah...i have an awesome friend. :)

~matt and i enjoyed a relaxing weekend where we watched movies in our jammies all day, then spent time with family and/or friends at night. things have been good with us lately - being married definitely suits me. being the wonderful and generous man that he is, matt decided (without any prodding or suggestion from me) to sell his motorcycle and to trade in his leased car - all in the name of saving money for our future. we've both been worried about saving money and whether or not we'll be able to afford a home any time in the next 5 years - so he decided to alleviate some of those worries. he's just swell. :)

~speaking again of my awesome friend, amy, she recently posted about her interactions with other people. as other people's blogs always do, it got me thinking about my interactions with others. mildly put, i can be awkward and a little bit of a worry-wart. my mind is go garbled with thoughts of 'what do i say? am i being completely annoying?' the sad thing is - this isn't just with people i've recently met. sometimes, spending an afternoon shopping or having lunch with my mom/dad/brother/sister/old friend can make me fret about how the one-on-one time will 'go'. i worry - 'will i have anything to say? will i put my foot in my mouth ? what if there is awkward silence?' i've been considering why i feel this way with people i feel comfortable. i haven't gotten too far in my considerations...but i know that it's something i need to not worry about, which is easier said than done.

so...in summary...there are currently lots of things floating around in my noggin. there are more that i am too tired/lazy to write (students making me crazy!!!!, loving the beautiful weather - yay (almost) spring!, summer plans). i want to get them all out soon - it is taking up valuable room. :)
hope this post finds you all happy and enjoying some beautiful weather - it feels like spring is in the air...can't help but smile about that. :)