Tagged!

Here are the Rules:
1) Post rules on your blog
2) Answer the six '8' items
3) Let each person know by leaving them a comment

8 Favorite Shows
1. Biggest Loser
2. Do we get any other shows?


8 Things I did Yesterday (well, actually today...)
1. Created a new seating chart
2. Entered student grades into the computer
3. Wrote math and language lesson plans for this week
4. Took out 4 bags of trash after cleaning up
5. Read about the 7th month of pregnancy--sounds like this is getting to be the hard part...
6. Ate a few too many chocolates
7. Wrote a letter to parents about a problem in our classroom--not a fun thing
8. Exercised


8 Things I'm looking forward to
1. Spring and Summer--like Heather, I would be perfectly content to never see snow close to me again.
2. A fully re-painted condo :)
3. Parent-teacher conferences--my last ones for a long time!
4. March 13th--when I go off-track again
5. The end of Brian's semester
6. My cousin's wedding--I won't be able to go, but I am super excited for her!
7. Being able to wear my normal clothes again.
8. May 13th!

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Cafe Rio
2. Goodwood Barbecue--oooh, delicious!
3. Wendy's--for fast food
4. Subway
5. Brick Oven
6. Taco Bell--a childhood favorite
7. Nearly any Mexican restaurant
8. Hometown Buffet/Golden Corral--mostly the dessert bar

8 Things on my wish list
1. I hope for a healthy baby.
2. I hope he doesn't come early. I want to finish up as much of my school year as I can, so I have enough sick days to cover my absence.
3. Sweets! Oh, sheesh! I have been craving anything and everything sweet in the last few weeks!
4. I want everything to be ready for Little One to come.
5. I wish for 26 happy students--we've been having major problems with student possessions "disappearing", and I wish it would stop.
6. I wish that all my students could read.
7. My little one would kick and punch a little more gently. :)
8. More clothes that fit. :)

Whew! That took longer than I expected.

Valentine Treasures and Tragedies

It has been so wonderful to read about your Valentine's Day experiences, so I thought I'd better write about mine, too. Well, Valentine's Day started on Friday for me with my 2nd graders. We aren't supposed to have parties or celebrations unless they have some kind of academics involved. So, we practiced our alphabetical order skills (you can't imagine how difficult ABC order is for many 7 year-olds!) by putting our bags in ABC order by our first names. Students had to pass out their valentine cards by figuring our where each person's bag would be. Here is where the tragedy struck. Let me back track just a bit. In the morning, I had collected the students' valentines, put them in a box, but the box under the chair which is under my desk, then put two of my coats over the chair. I didn't want students to be tempted. Anyhow, at the end of the day, one student's valentines were missing. I felt furious because we have been battling stealing in our class and because I had tried so hard to protect the cards. The little boy broke down in tears, and I spent the next three hours trying to overcome my frustration by figuring out how to stop things from "disappearing" from my class. (I am not allowed to check backpacks or desks without an administrator.)

Anyway, that was a Valentine's Day tragedy. Here are some of the treasures.
On Friday night, Brian and I went to a music party at my Aunt Kristine's house. Kristine and her husband Adam invite musicians they know to perform, and it is simply amazing. One man performed Irish tunes on his violin, which was simply gorgeous. Then, he pulled out a saw (yes, a saw he bought at Home Depot) and used his violin bow against the dull side of the saw to play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" and "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables. Just incredible!

On Saturday, we went to the temple, and I had a particularly sweet experience. I won't say much more, except that I felt peace and strength.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Mind Boggling

I thought this was quite interesting.