things I don't understand

One of the teachers at school found out for sure she was pregnant on Monday. Exciting news. She had some suspicions for about a month and finally went to the Dr. Monday, figuring she was probably about two months along. Doctor says no. I don't think so, more like 5. so she has an ultrasound Tuesday, yes, it's a boy, and the due date is May 2. How can you be 7 months pregnant and just find out? I have had my suspicions for quite a while, but really, not the thing to bring up if you aren't sure, I don't want to get into the whole, hey, you are looking really fat in the middle, are you pregnant? conversation if someone really isn't...

Also I started my before school math group last week. Oh, wow. we were doing fractions today. So, the totally could answer the problems. that picture is 1/2. that one is 1/3. on and on with stuff looking at numbers and following rules in the book. Then I brought out lucky charms for a little test. I said, ok you can eat a handful of lucky charms if you show your handful to me first and it is 1/2 marshmallows. Could not do it. Really, is there any way to learn fractions not involving food? so we figured out 1/2 marshmellow handfuls together. but no, that didn't mean they could make 1/3 marshmellow handfuls. Did I mention these are 6th graders? 6th graders!

Tonight Alissa and I went to Chevy's and had some encheladas because we had a coupon that needed to be used by today or it expired and to reward ourselves for cleaning the house every week for a month (gotta love bribing yourself with food) now I am pondering whether the weather will bring any surprise day off for me tomorrow and watching "are you smarter than a 5th grader" So far I have at least known the answer to all of the 1st through 5th grade questions. Good--since I am one of the ones responsible for teaching them this stuff...

Movies

I actually watched the oscars last night. I don't know that I have ever sat through the whole show. Ellen was humorous. I thought it odd that Al Gore won an oscar (or his movie anyway) I think Jack Nicholson is creepy. Why would you put his movie as best picture. It should loose points just for involving Jack Nicholson. And Leonardo Decaprio. Really. A double dose of creepyness and still it wins. I guess I will just go back to my philosophy of who cares who wins the awards, I still like sappy chic flicks... Which my favorite moves are never going to even be nominated, so who really cares. So, if creepiness means you are a good actor, I guess I like bad acting.

Oh, and if anyone wants to learn from Alissa and my bad movie watching choices this weekend:

The Prestige: odd, doesn't make much sense, I think the point is that you don't know what is going on, if you want to watch it and understand it, you might want to watch it several times, and I don't know if it is worth that.

Bee Season: bad, wierd, watch Akeelah and the Bee, and pretend this spelling bee movie doesn't exist unless you think spelling is a gift from some wierd kaballah version of god and spelling well is a spiritual gift

Man about town: don't bother, it's stupid

he found his soul mate in the conga drum

I had a student today tell me that he is in love. No, not with me. (though how COULD you resist?) With my drum.

"Miss Olson, I am in love. With your conga. I fell in love. I think I found my soul mate. I love your conga."

Seriously. How could I make something like that kind of crazyness up? And the earnest little look on his face. However, this is the same 5th grader who asked me, "Why do you wear your hair back in a ponytail? I like it so much better when it is flowing freely around your beautiful face?"

I am a rhyme torturer

So, I have this student. He is oppositional defiant (for those of you unfamiliar with ODD... it is torture for everyone involved...) I can make him do almost anything, because I am just that good at the passive aggressive game, don't take me on, I can out-passive you. But... my little friend does have his explosions if he thinks you are telling what to do or controlling him or he just feels like it... he bit the principal the other day.

Today we had the most bizarre music time. First he almost had a melt down because he didn't like the rhyme scheme of the poem we were doing. Evidently, poems should rhyme every line or not at all. Every other line is just cruel torture that who would ever think I would subject on children.

Then he noticed that the elephant bookshelf had the tail broken off. I managed to convince him it was going to be ok, as I think the tail was last when I was younger than he is and distract him by not making eye contact and get the class in a circle for a game with him facing away from the thing.

Do we think there is more than ODD going on inside his head? Oh, yeah, what is it? I don't know... Someone suggested a little bipolar, but I don't think that fits, I think it seems like a combo of OCD, ODD, and being royally screwed up by his parents. But then, I am not a psychologist, so who knows... I feel sorry for the kid

Long weekends

Long weekends are nice. It is so nice to have more than two days in a row. I think a three day weekend every other week would be just about a perfect amount of time off. I went to lunch and a movie with Emily today. I haven't really hung out with her much lately-she is one of the ones who got a boyfriend and dropped off the planet... We had a great time. Music and Lyrics is a cute/funny/flaky movie.

news

our school made the news this evening... camera crew there and stuff... exciting times

Valentine's Day Sucks

And no, this is NOT me being bitter about the fact that I don't have a boyfriend. This is me being annoyed at having to teach children all day who have consumed more sugar than they should touch in a month. I did have a couple good classes. But for the most part, the entire day was hyper, sugar-high kids. And unlike Halloween, the other holiday sent to us straight from sugar-hell, the focus of the candy consumption is at school, giving it to each other. Also, unlike Halloween, February is the height of sick season. You get kids that are sick and eating too much sugar (imagine the fun) and you are fighting off all of their little germies too... I ended up with a desk full of cupcakes at the end of the day that I threw away, because 1) I couldn't sit there and eat 13 cupcakes, 3 cookies, and who knows what else without going into a sugar coma and 2) little hands touched them while they sneezed and breathed on the all the way to my room. I don't think that if I had the most wonderful boyfriend in the world I would want to even see him right now, let alone go out or try to be romantic and mushy. So maybe it is good that I don't have a boyfriend for tonight. I can sit her in my pjs and feel like crap and have no one bother me because both of the roommates are working tonight. Oh, well... One day left this week and then 4 days off. Too bad I know they will be crazy tomorrow too...

a little venting

Yesterday evening I had quite the "cultural" experience... I went to the play the drama club had been putting together in my room for the last 4 months... Have to see what I have been working around, right? They were actually pretty good. cute play, main characters were clothespins, and then bugs and butterflies and birds, etc... My favorite was the snail. He was pretty cute with his giant sleeping bag that was all spray painted to look just like a snail shell on his back. and a trail of "slime"-silver gauzy fabric trailing behind him... Is it sad that my "cultural experience" is 4-6th graders in a play dressed as bugs? maybe... maybe... even sadder is that I was at home before nine and Alissa kicked me off the couch and made me go sleep in my bed before 10. Katherine would say "young girls shouldn't be going to bed on a weekend before midnight" and sleep on the couch until 12:01 when she can go in and sleep in her bed.

This is just one of the many "young girls" rules she seems to live by... None of them make much sense... Young girls should sleep in and be tired when they get up in the morning whether or not they ACTUALLY want to or are... Young girls should be spontaneous and shouldn't plan anything in advance... Young girls should lust after every reasonably attractive boy who crosses their path even if you know he is a big jerk... Young girls shouldn't cook until they get married... Young girls should eat salad for every meal... Young girls need to work out so they can get married (if you are "fat," you can't get married)... Young girls should be blonde... The point of young girls' lives is to find a man... Young girls shouldn't be responsible for anyone or anything other than themselves (and barely that at times)... Young girls shouldn't get a job at which they can support themselves at or enjoy, because you are going to have to give it up when you get married anyway and really... aren't we all just filling the time until we get married and our lives start? Young girls... drives me nuts.

There... I am done venting. Makes me angry though. She has limited her own life (and tries to tell others to limit theirs) by what she feels "young girls" should do. Be yourself. If you are sleepy, go to bed, if you are awake, get up, who cares if you go to bed early or late or not at all. If a guy won't marry me because I have a job I enjoy, can cook, enjoy food other than salad, care about people other than myself, or have interests other than what I look like, I don't think I WANT to be married to him. Crazy? I don't think so. but maybe I am the one with the warped sense of values here?

The wonders of baking

I have lounge duty this week. So I have an excuse to bake. I have made cardamom bread, chocolate revel bars, pumpkin bread, and now I have bagels in the oven. Everyone loves it. And the added benifit... pounding dough into a counter is such a stress-relieving activity. They are doing a play in my room (the stage) tonight and twice tomorrow. And kids are going crazy. I have had 3 CPS worthy conversations with kids this week. Fortunately, I just get to tell thejavascript:void(0)
Publish counselor everything and she has to deal with it. I just get to be the one kids for some reason feel like dumping on. I felt awful when i got home, but a batch of bagels later... feeling quite chipper... now I just have to make it through one more day... and the longest day ever... extended day before school, 9 classes, a meeting after school to decide on an arts grant (very exciting) opportunity, then going to the play in the evening...

cardamom bread

Cardamom bread... mmmm... tasty stuff... and as I just discovered, it is very good if you use half whole wheat flour. I didn't know, but figured I would try... mmmm... even better than with normal flour. it is my week on lounge duty at school, and I am trying to be a little bit healthy-ish in my snacks. today was grapes and crackers. tomorrow, cardamom bread... who knows what the next day... we so frequently have doughnuts and candy and cookies...

my day got way better

Brent bribed Daniel to come to church. Which meant I only had to do one job. Not that I do an easy job, but doing one person's worth of hard job is much easier than doing two people's worth of hard jobs with only one of me. And the only major issue was that the youth pastor forgot to take offering. How do you forget offering?

clumsy teacher

Yesterday I made my little morning reading group hot cocoa. (Yes, I bribe them...) I lectured them all about how they only got to have it if none of it went on the floor. Well, two of them (literal little buggers) thought I meant they had to drink the entire cup before setting it down (no--don't chug it...) I explained and we got started reading, well, I decide that I will have the extra cup, after all, it has marshmallows, and guess who spills her cup on her pants and the carpet when she tried to sit down? Needless to say the kids all thought it was funny...

Today, I have church, and not just my normal production job that I do every weekend, but the old worship pastor is on vacation, the new one hasn't fully taken over yet, all of the interns are leaving tomorrow for southeast asia, and I am both directing and producing, thanks to all of the normal directors being unavailable. So I am pretty much running the place even more than usual, which makes me a tad (or a lot) nervous...