Sensitive Little Thing

I'm never going to burn down my house. Well...I should say that I'm never going to burn down my house without knowing it. I won't because I have the most sensitive little smoke detector ever!

Now, most of you have read my tales of cooking. I'm not really great at it even though I really like cooking. I'm used to a few curls of smoke and maybe a few scraping off a few patches of burnt, but I love to cook and experiment in the kitchen.

Until lately.

Oh I still like the idea of cooking, but a few things have put a damper on it for me. One...the vent fan thingy above the oven went out. Some might argue it wore itself out sucking all that smoke out of the air. Anyway, it's out of commission. I still open it but the suckage isn't there so it doesn't really provide the desired result. Two...did I mention these really sensitive smoke detectors that I have? They go off all the time. They go off when the food is just done...not burned...just done. I'm waiting of the day when they go off when I pour milk on my cheerios. Three...I hate electric stoves. I can never get the tempature right. I'm sure that contributes to the burnt factor. I usually get things too hot.

Anyway, I'm going to try the toaster oven...can't really burn stuff up in there...can you? So, if you see a big cloud of black down in the south don't panic. It's probably not a wild fire or anything like that. I'm probably just trying my hand at cooking!

Mrs. Hildabrant

I'm kind of tired tonight (oh fine...I am tired but mostly I'm engrossed in Grey's Anatomy) so I'll just leave you with this little gem from class today. I have some big lemons with my house, but I'll blog those later.

Today a little boy came up to my desk. He was overwhelmed by the assignment to "be creative!" (The assignment was to invent their own calendar.)

Student: "Mrs. Hildabrant, I don't know how to be creative!"
Miss Stewart: "What's my name?"
Student: (as he pauses to think...he looks up and put his hand to his chin...totally adorable!) "Oh...Miss Hildabrant, I can't be creative!"
Miss Stewart: "Who am I?"
Student: (I swear a light bulb came on over his head) "Oh...Miss Stewart. I might get confused again and call you Mrs. Hildabrant. She was my teacher last year. I don't think she asked us to be creative."

It might have lost something in translation, but it was just one of those moments where my heart melted. I have awesome kids!

Productivity

Sometimes I sit back at the end of a long hard day and think to myself, "Today was a productive day." Then sometimes I sit back and wonder what exactly happened. I had hours to get things accomplished and I achieved absolutely nothing. And then, there are days like today. A delightful mix of both. A day when at the end, absolutely no goals were met but where so many productive things were accomplished.

My parents are coming for a visit in about three weeks. I've made great strides in making sure my home looked more homey than the last time they were here. Unfortunately, I still have strides to make. After putting in my time at school, I come home and I'm ready to sit down and relax in the easy chair and spend quality time with my tv. Weekends are reserved for the heavy lifting and house fixing. The few of you who have been around from the beginning know about and roll your eyes at my love affair with making lists. Every Friday afternoon I make the weekend to do list. This weekend's list was long with no room for getting off track.

1. Sort laundry
2. Do laundry
3. Put up dishes off of drainboard
4. Vacuum
5. Clean bathroom
6. Fix two meals for leftovers during the week
7. Unpack kitchen box
8. Hang up pictures and shelves in bedroom
9. Organize school crate to take back to school
10. Organize spare bedroom
11. Iron wrinkled clothes
12. Finish open scrapbook projects

As you can see, and I am now reminded of, I had a busy weekend planned. Yep...that verb was had. Somewhere between Friday afternoon and Saturday morning my plans went completely off track. This is what did happen:

1. Slept late and then read in bed for an hour
2. Agreed to a spur of the moment shopping spree with a friend that needed a little company
3. Waited a ridiculously long amount of time in line for my tall shot of heaven from Starbucks
4. Looked at five apartment complexes with said friend who is in the process of making a major life change and moving out on her own
5. Bought four pairs of shoes, a new handbag, and spent less than $85
6. Found an absolutely adorable shower gift
7. Picked up the last case of "summer" water in my favorite flavor (spearmint)
8. Decided to have a Halloween party
9. Learned a new recipe that I can't wait to try out
10. Brought some comfort to a lady from work who is going through something horrible right now
11. Managed to spend less than $100 at Walmart
12. Watched one of my all time favorite movies (Beaches) and cried at all the right parts

As I crawled into bed at midnight I thought back over my day. There were things I needed to do that I'll attack with my very Scarlet-esc attitude of "that's another day" tomorrow. Oh, the average Joe that wonders by might argue that I accomplished nothing that I set out to accomplish and therefore today was a very unproductive day. But I'm discovering that there are a lot of degrees of productivity.

And for me...today...was a very productive day.

First Year 'Itis

More tales from the classroom...can you believe it? These days I can't seem to blog anything that isn't wrapped up in second gradeness. I'm kind of blah about that. Anyway, on with the educational recap...

Funniest things my kids said this week:

"Miss Stewart we're out of vanilla paper." (This came from one sweet little girl that likes to copy me. I was saying manila paper and I guess she translated that to vanilla paper. I've tried like crazy to correct them, but it is going around...everyone wants vanilla paper to draw on!)

"Don't forget she went to college. Give her a hard one like 100-10=!" (Today we were playing a math relay game. My kids are terrible sports so we play games where it's the teacher against the class or where everyone is a winner. I disagree with this policy but when the councilor says to not promote competition then I'm going to listen. Anyway, today it was all those little kids against me. I made up a math problem for them and they made one up for me. It's hard to purposely loose! They were thrilled to have beaten me...considering, as one boy put it, "she did go to college!")

So...this itis thing I've caught. Sunday night I noticed that my throat was sore. It could have been the screaming at Schlitterbahn or maybe a combination of the cool weather and rain and being wet. Perhaps I picked up some bug at school from my nineteen little darlings. By Monday morning it felt like I was swallowing glass. I'll skip all my pain and angus but Wednesday was completely miserable. I was coughing (the deep in the chest kind), running a little fever, breathing even though it hurt, and fighting off a killer headache. So, I came home and went to bed. I slept, albeit fitfully, for about 12 hours that night. I called in sick and got a sub for Thursday. I also got into the doctor and came away with a couple of prescriptions and a diagnosis of bronchitis. I was back to school this morning...still a a little under the weather but getting better. It totally warms my heart when my little darlings come up and hug me and tell me that they missed me. That was the best!

Well, anyway I was told not to worry. I've got my first dose of first year itis...where I catch everything that comes my way. Oh goodie...

Other than that, I'm going to spend a little time tomorrow hanging up wall art, a little time shopping with a new friend, and a lot of time catching up on grading.

Hope your weekend is relaxing...however you choose to spend it!

Because I Like It And Don't Want To Forget It

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter won't mind.

Hittin' The Highways

Oh my little blog...kiss kiss...I've missed you! Have you been okay by yourself these last several days...smother smother...it's okay...mommy's back now.

Ahem...sorry. I didn't realize I had an audience. What...like you aren't attached to your blog?

The last few weekends I've been off gallivanting around central Texas. Labor Day weekend I went to visit my family (the first since school started...it had been about a month since I'd seen my parents) and this past weekend I went to Schlitterbahn with friends.

These aren't really big things unless you knew me really well. I had to drive to these places...on roads I've never traveled before....with my total lack of map skills. I've seen more new places on the roads than I ever thought. And guess what...I didn't get lost!!! Okay there was a little moment that I thought I'd gotten off course but I managed to get back on track without much backtracking.

Anyway, a few of the really neat things I've seen was the birthplace of Texas (Washington on the Brazos), Mustang Ridge (a really neat small town where there were horse farms on each side of the road), and a little store called Weird Stuff (outside of Anderson, TX). All this traveling time has really gotten my travel bug all worked up. I wonder where I'll travel next?

Now, for Schlitterbahn report. I had a blast with my friends. With our group it's hard to not have a fun time together. And that is a good thing because all the water levels were LOW at the water park and in the Comal river. Did you know that it is not easy to float in only a foot of water? I've got the scrapes on my elbow to prove it. So, the park experience wasn't all that, but the time spent with friends was wonderful. Can't wait for next year!!

Now, if you'll excuse me...I have to go and pick out something suitable to wear for picture day.

40/60

It was pointed out to me recently that I live in a 40/60 world...forty percent reality and sixty percent bubble. I have to admit that at first I was highly offended, but upon a little closer reflection it caused me to stop and wonder. Do I have a skewed reality because I grew up middle class, have a college education, and was always surrounded by love from parents, family, and friends? Have I missed some critical element that makes the world go round because I don't have first hand knowledge about war, starving children, having to live on the street and dance in seedy dives to put food on the table?

Well, okay. I admit it...I've been very blessed. I have two parents that are married and that love each other and love me. I grew up in a nice house, I always had clothes to wear, and my mom always managed to put a good meal on the table at dinner time. I got to take trips (Washington DC in seventh grade for example) and I never was short on presents at Christmas and my birthday. Sounds just about perfect right?

Yeah, but I got spankings...a lot...for misbehaving. I wasn't allowed to talk back to my parents, I was taught the value of hard work, the importance of managing money, and to not look down on others who weren't as fortunate as I was.

I do not apologize for my background. It isn't something that I take for granted. After reflection, I don't think that I look down on people or have a loose grasp on reality because of my background. You can't please everyone. There will always be people who feel that I can't truly understand or appreciate reality (whatever that is) because I haven't been down and out. That seems like their problem instead of mine.

I was at a seminar today about teaching children in poverty. It was really interesting to learn about the hidden rules and core beliefs that govern the class systems in America. It sort of reminded me about the whole reality versus bubble thing. I agree that I can't identify with some of the circumstances surrounding poverty, but I can be tackful and sympathetic to my students and their needs. The presenter made an interesting comment about how we can still be effective educators even to people outside of our own sphere of understanding. Yes, that is regarding education, but I think it can apply to almost any "spherical" situation.

Anyway, while I really think the percentage is off, I do admit that I have a nice comfortable bubble. Sure, it can be roomy, but I'll gain new perspectives with age and experience. My background is not a handicap but is something that enriches my life.

What is your opinion...is there a correlation between background and one's view of what reality is?