MMMmmmm...what is it about certain times that make you feel introspective...contemplative...what are other words that end in -ive? I was listening to a song tonight in my car as I sat outside my house. It was a song from the musical Wicked. It's a song about a boy she likes that likes someone else. It's called "I'm not that girl" and it's got clever lines in it like this: Blithe smile, lithe limb, she who's winsome, she wins him. Gold hair with a gentle curl: that's the girl he chose and Heaven knows I'm not that girl. Now, these lyrics have absolutely nothing to do with me or my life but I found myself sitting there under my rain dropped windshield in the nine o'clock darkness of a Saturday evening feeling...umm...I don't know...nostalgic?...for what I don't know. I don't know if it was the dark evening drive to water a friend's plants, the quietness of the post office drive thru, the cool breeze through my window as I made an ATM deposit, or the fact that I've been watching Sex & the City (which is laden with my above phrase "I don't know if it was...") but I just really felt like I needed to sit for a minute...in my car...and sadly sing those words along with the actress in my IPod. I don't know...I don't know what I'm feeling right now.
I want to say that I'm feeling in flux...maybe unsure...I don't really know what I've got to be unsure about but there are things in my life that feel out of my control. The weird thing is there are no big things that definitely need my control. Melancholy...is that how I'm feeling? Hmm...I don't know. I'll try to be in a better mood. A more alive mood...a less quiet mood.
So, after asking you to PROMISE to not let me slack off on the daily stuff you big fat went and did it anyway! :-)
2-17-09
School after a long weekend. Mmmm...a long weekend. Except that short weeks always seem to take too long. It was fun to see everyone's reaction to the final totals for the Pennies campaign...over $3000!
2-18-09
I found this really cool website when looking for something for youth group. It's called TeenSundaySchool.com and it had the latest lesson series I'm using on Truth. It's interesting...my students' view on truths...quite the range I must say. It should be interesting!
2-19-09
Survivor tonight...YAY! Doug comes over and our typical deal is to order Chinese. I sort of like it and I sort of don't like it that they know my name there...and my specific order that never EVER changes! Sweet & Sour Chicken, Chicken Fried Rice (no sprouts), House Special Fried Rice (no sprouts), and BBQ Pork...mmmm!
2-20-09
It's my 34th birthday today and many many people wished me well. Lots of my friends and classmates on Facebook wished me happy birthday, a student of mine wished me happy birthday every time she saw me in the hallway, a colleague sang to me, my aunt who never ever misses my day sent me a card, Sean had not one but two gifts, and some people called to say happy birthday. But why is it I still tend to think of who didn't call me. Hmm...
BTW...Prosser girls played at EV...fun to see my friends..not so fun to lose :-)
2-21-09
Ahhhh...lunch my girls...ahhh! It started as just a quick trip to Tri Cities, that changed to a quick trip and lunch with Nicole, and that turned into all four of us (which is surprisingly difficult sometimes) getting together for lunch a bit o' birthday party wishes. Then out to the farm for family birthday. That's always good to see everyone all at the same time...Grandpa isn't getting any better though and that makes me...umm...heartsick.
2-22-09
Church, school work, you know...a typical Sunday. Ooohh...plus the Oscars. So my girlfriend Kate Winslet won! I love love LOVE her! And Slumdog Millionaire...oohh we really liked that movie!
2-23-09
Typical Monday. No meetings...now that's a breath of fresh air! I ended my six year term of elder at church which means that although I still volunteer with the youth group I don't directly volunteer on the Christian Ed. team or on Session. And that means!....that I don't go to meeting twice a month anymore. You wouldn't think that two meetings would be difficult but it kind of cuts into the week :-)
2-24-09
Now...the down side of no meetings is that I tend to spend way too much time at school. Sean informed me the other day that since I'm so close to home now I can come home earlier than 5:30...we'll see if I can improve that :-)
Oh...and a yummy birthday lunch at school for me and Ellen...I LOVE Chinese chicken salad :-)
2-25-09
Today in youth group we re-arranged the furniture. It was fun...but I think we ruined some TV cords. And it wasn't the MOST spiritual night...but we did do some fun Bible Trivia :-)
2-26-09
Survivor again...Chinese again...plus I finished filling out some congratulations cards to my students for raising their reading levels. Sure, it takes time but I'm hoping that the small investment of my time will make a difference in their desire to continue working hard!
2-27-09
Ahh...finally Friday. I had to cover detention today during the Staff vs. Student Ball game...it stank. It really stank. I hate having to be the mean teacher at detention. And then a quiet evening at home doing the bills, reconciling the accounts, and finishing the taxes. It feels good to have it done! Plus, a whopping $40 refund. It's funny that we're disappointed in that when all a refund is is the government giving back the money that we overpaid anyway. It's not really extra or free in the first place :-) funny!
2-28-09
Sleeping in RULES! Basketball today...EV lost :-( versus Othello of all teams! We won..and the games were at EV so again...it was fun to see my friends :-) **See above post at the beginning for the rest of today**
So...tomorrow...I WILL POST and (now repeat after me) I WILL correct the essay, I WILL correct the essays, I WILL correct the essays!
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Daily Completion
Today I went up to school for like...five hours...wowza! I love holidays when I can go up there with a HUGE block of time all to myself. I am finally DONE with everything Penny related. I got all the final numbers tallied, the congratulations posters made...everything! I just have to fill out the report and send it in and we're good to go! We made a little over $3200 just in nine days...I'm so proud of my kids and the student body. They worked really hard and it totally paid off!
Also; I finished watching all of my Judge Judy's that have accumulated on Tivo...and we watched the last Cities of the Underworld we'd had saved...plus the last of the DVD's are sorted and put away in our new storage device...and the sheets and comforter are ALL dry well before we want to got to bed!
Lastly...here's something I've wanted to check off our TO DO list for some time. We had FISH FOR DINNER! Not such a big thing I know...but we really want to be healthy and we logically know fish is good for you but we so don't like fish. I found some mild Tilapia and it was good. I didn't exactly get a thumb's up from Sean but a "it's not bad" is as close as I think I'll get. Close enough to have fish maybe once or twice every two weeks...baby steps :-)
Also; I finished watching all of my Judge Judy's that have accumulated on Tivo...and we watched the last Cities of the Underworld we'd had saved...plus the last of the DVD's are sorted and put away in our new storage device...and the sheets and comforter are ALL dry well before we want to got to bed!
Lastly...here's something I've wanted to check off our TO DO list for some time. We had FISH FOR DINNER! Not such a big thing I know...but we really want to be healthy and we logically know fish is good for you but we so don't like fish. I found some mild Tilapia and it was good. I didn't exactly get a thumb's up from Sean but a "it's not bad" is as close as I think I'll get. Close enough to have fish maybe once or twice every two weeks...baby steps :-)
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Daily Catch Up
Okay...I know...this is SO not a daily post since it's been more than a week. But I can explain :-) Everything is fine...I'm fine...we're fine...just circumstances, you know?
So; for the sake of catching up, filling you in, and keeping up with my Project 365 here we go! **Reader beware...this is shaping up to be a novella**
Friday 2/6/09
*refer to aforementioned Oscar movie post* Sean has wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire and it finally opened in Sunnyside...so off we went right after school. We try to catch a matinee for many reasons...cheaper...no stupid people...less crowded (more on stupid people later). I must say this was one of those I'm-going-for-him-more-than-me kinda things. He goes with me to Chick Flicks so this was the least I could do. I did end up really liking it. Sean like it more...but it was good. It's about this slumdog (read: impoverished, lowly tea server young man) who wins the top prize on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Because he gets all the answers right he's questioned by the Indian police about whether or not he cheated. And by "questioned" I mean "tortured within an inch of his life". Then the movie follows his whole life and how the circumstances of his life helped him know each question. It was a really cool conceit for a movie and it does have a happy ending. I like it and I'm fine with it being nominated...totally worthy. About 1/4 of the way into it I turned to comment to Sean that I'm so happy I was born in the United States...wow!
Saturday 2/7/09
On Saturday we headed to Wenatchee for my brother's surprise birthday party. He actually didn't turn 40 until Valentine's Day (or as he calls it...St. MARKentine's Day :-?) It was fun to surprise him...although he kinda knew something was up...the stinker! It reminded me of my Surprise 30th birthday party that Sean threw for me when all of my family and friends came all the way to Prosser to help me celebrate! I made a scrapbook layout for him titled "40 things I learned from my brother"...among them "How to cool off the television set with ice cube trays so mom won't know we were watching TV instead of doing chores". Maybe I'll do another post with more! We also had lunch at Miner's...Sean LOVES Miner's :-)
I got some good Cooper and Crosbie time, too. Cooper wanted to snuggle with me all night and thought it would work out great to sleep in between me and Uncle Seannie. Not so much :-) But we did snuggle a bit in his room while we watched his favorite part of Superman and some more in the morning watching Sponge Bob.
Sunday 2/8/09
We came home and I immediately went to Starbucks to correct some papers...didn't get as much done as I thought...I never do...but it was some good time. After some grocery shopping at Grandview Safeway (which I know is a BIT more expensive but it's so pretty there) it was a pretty regular Sunday night...little bit of Housewives, little bit of laundry, little bit of school work, little bit of getting ready for the week!
Monday 2/9/09
Probably the best thing about this night was that I didn't have to go to Team Meetings...not that I don't enjoy doing ministry with my friends...but I sure do love having my evenings free again. On this night I got to stay at school and watch some student produced presentations for National History Day. Once upon a time when I was a CWU Wildcat I used to help with the National History Day State competition when it was on campus. I told my two colleagues and Viola' I was recruited to help. It's fun to be staff at a local school and get to participate. At my old school I never stayed for this stuff because it was always at night and I lived far away. There were some REALLY good ones...and some that were still "in progress". But they have four weeks still and they should vastly improve!
Tuesday 2/10/09
Were I to have done a post on this actual day I would have titled it "That's how you know?" and then quoted the lyrics of that song from the movie "Enchanted".
And then I would have told you this story:
On Monday Sean informed me that the next Netflix movie to come in the mail I couldn't open...it was a surprise! Hmmm...so I told him that he's not the boss of me and I could come home on my prep period and get the mail and open it anyway. But I didn't. I got the mail on Tuesday and sure enough there was the new movie. Sean was on the treadmill so we didn't open it right away. I told him I thought I knew and he challenged me to guess. Guess #1: Kids Incorporated...NO "You'll never guess what it is" he baits..."But it's something you really likED". Guess #2: Facts of Life...NO Quick rebound with Guess #3: Silver Spoons..."How did you guess that?"
And then I would've ended the post with something poetic...a little like this...but it probably would've been longer:
That's how I know...that's how I know I'm the one...cause he orders my favorite 80's sitcom from back when I was in love with The Ricker. You know how much I love Kevin Costner...it doesn't even compare to my devotion to Ricky Schroder! And he knows that and he surprises me with it. He gets the big garbage can from the alley without me asking...he lets me sleep in when I have a day off...he washes and changes the sheets and makes the bed all while I'm away...he doesn't mind when I go out with my girlfriends instead of him on Valentine's Day...he still sends me Valentine's roses...that's how I know!
*I also bought 300 Conversation Heart boxes in Tri Cities today for a Candy Gram promotion at school...yikes!*
Wednesday 2/11/09
Wednesday's are always dominated by youth group stuff...and that's a good thing :-) Luckily Pete was able to help out tonight so it wasn't just me and the 22 middle schoolers :-) We did Bible skits...which they ALWAYS love!
PLUS...my BFF had her baby today! Check him out here
Thursday 2/12/09
Survivor finally started! This is our thing...don't gimme a hard time about it. Doug comes over, we order Chinese food, and we watch Survivor. Last year was the first time we picked winners a'la Fantasy Football...a'la Amazing Race (more on that later). Plus CSI...even without Grissom it was still good. We're about two weeks behind on CSI...but thank goodness for Tivo!
Plus I got my Valentine's roses today. It was two days early...Sean always likes to mix it up because I kinda expect them. I love it when they come to school and my girls gush about how sweet it is and I use it to talk about what a good man he is. Sometimes I worry that me saying that is the only time some of my girls get an idea of what it means to be treated right by the person who loves you.
Friday 2/13/09
Friday the 13th...ahhh...:-) It's finally over...the coin drive at school. After two straight weeks of counting almost $200 in coins EVERY DAY it's done! The kids did an awesome job and they're a bit bummed they didn't meet the goal...but it was a rousing success. We'd set the goal using last year's number but neglected to consider that last year was a 3 week campaign and this year was a nine-day campaign. So, coming within $100 of last year' goal in 6 fewer days seems A-OK to me!
I also got my hair done today. It was the second time for this girl to do my hair and it's different but I like it...darker for sure...and the blonde is more carmel this time which I like!
Basketball versus Wapato this night...girls won keeping their no-loss season alive! And I must admit that I wasn't expecting much from our boys...Wapato is that good. But, it's a wacky CWAC this year. We lead them through 3 1/2 quarters and finally got outscored at the end and lost...but they played so well! And it was INTENSE. Their coach got a Technical Foul...he must've said something about the ref's momma..maybe "Your mother is so beautiful and by the way thanks for the outstanding job you are doing on the court". And it's always fun to listen to the whiny Wapato fans...seriously the only foul they're aware of is "Three in the Key" because that's all they yell about from the stands...ugh!
Saturday 2/14/09
Happy Valentine's Day! I slept in until 9:42...that's late for me! Well, it's late for Adult Me...back in high school that wouldn't even have been a drop in the bucket. Jacki and I drove down to Tri Cities to have lunch with Nicole and we spur of the moment decided to watch a movie...Confessions of a Shopaholic...it was cute...and it worked well since no one's husband wanted to go to this :-)
Sunday 2/15/09
We were greeters at church today and everyone was SO excited to see Sean. With his surgery (which is SLOWLY progressing in it's recovery) and not feeling well it's been a while since he's been to church. It was a good sermon...about anger and not raising your hand in anger but in kindness. Plus Lindsey brought her friend's little boy to church. She was babysitting and funnily enough (yes, I know it's not a word) the little boy is related to me. It happens that her friend's husband is a second cousin of mine from Sunnyside...how wild is that? I happen to think this little bitty boy looks just like his dad did when he was little.
Without a doubt our favorite FAVORITE show is Amazing Race. Sean wants us to apply to be on it SO badly. For his birthday last year I partially filled out an application...but certain "stipulations" have yet to be met :-) For Amazing Race we always pick our dream teams and we do it Fantasy Football style...meaning that we pick who we think is going to win the whole kit-n-caboodle before we know anything about them. The person who came closest to winning last year has to pick last and we pick two couples. So, I TOTALLY kicked Sean's butt last year...my couple actually won the WHOLE thing! So, he picked the Lawyer Siblings first...doh! I picked the Blonde Flight Attendants...YES! He then picked the Sporty Sisters...that a'ight! My final team is the Troubled Dating Couple...risky! Turns out my two teams came in DEAD last...the troubled couple got booted and the flight attendants have some serious catching up to do!
Phew...that was intense...PLEASE remind me to NEVER save up a week+ worth of posts...it's way too taxing! I already know there's stuff I've forgotten and that drives me crazy!
I'll do today's post all by it's lonesome :-)and I'll try to post pictures soon, too.
So; for the sake of catching up, filling you in, and keeping up with my Project 365 here we go! **Reader beware...this is shaping up to be a novella**
Friday 2/6/09
*refer to aforementioned Oscar movie post* Sean has wanted to see Slumdog Millionaire and it finally opened in Sunnyside...so off we went right after school. We try to catch a matinee for many reasons...cheaper...no stupid people...less crowded (more on stupid people later). I must say this was one of those I'm-going-for-him-more-than-me kinda things. He goes with me to Chick Flicks so this was the least I could do. I did end up really liking it. Sean like it more...but it was good. It's about this slumdog (read: impoverished, lowly tea server young man) who wins the top prize on India's "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Because he gets all the answers right he's questioned by the Indian police about whether or not he cheated. And by "questioned" I mean "tortured within an inch of his life". Then the movie follows his whole life and how the circumstances of his life helped him know each question. It was a really cool conceit for a movie and it does have a happy ending. I like it and I'm fine with it being nominated...totally worthy. About 1/4 of the way into it I turned to comment to Sean that I'm so happy I was born in the United States...wow!
Saturday 2/7/09
On Saturday we headed to Wenatchee for my brother's surprise birthday party. He actually didn't turn 40 until Valentine's Day (or as he calls it...St. MARKentine's Day :-?) It was fun to surprise him...although he kinda knew something was up...the stinker! It reminded me of my Surprise 30th birthday party that Sean threw for me when all of my family and friends came all the way to Prosser to help me celebrate! I made a scrapbook layout for him titled "40 things I learned from my brother"...among them "How to cool off the television set with ice cube trays so mom won't know we were watching TV instead of doing chores". Maybe I'll do another post with more! We also had lunch at Miner's...Sean LOVES Miner's :-)
I got some good Cooper and Crosbie time, too. Cooper wanted to snuggle with me all night and thought it would work out great to sleep in between me and Uncle Seannie. Not so much :-) But we did snuggle a bit in his room while we watched his favorite part of Superman and some more in the morning watching Sponge Bob.
Sunday 2/8/09
We came home and I immediately went to Starbucks to correct some papers...didn't get as much done as I thought...I never do...but it was some good time. After some grocery shopping at Grandview Safeway (which I know is a BIT more expensive but it's so pretty there) it was a pretty regular Sunday night...little bit of Housewives, little bit of laundry, little bit of school work, little bit of getting ready for the week!
Monday 2/9/09
Probably the best thing about this night was that I didn't have to go to Team Meetings...not that I don't enjoy doing ministry with my friends...but I sure do love having my evenings free again. On this night I got to stay at school and watch some student produced presentations for National History Day. Once upon a time when I was a CWU Wildcat I used to help with the National History Day State competition when it was on campus. I told my two colleagues and Viola' I was recruited to help. It's fun to be staff at a local school and get to participate. At my old school I never stayed for this stuff because it was always at night and I lived far away. There were some REALLY good ones...and some that were still "in progress". But they have four weeks still and they should vastly improve!
Tuesday 2/10/09
Were I to have done a post on this actual day I would have titled it "That's how you know?" and then quoted the lyrics of that song from the movie "Enchanted".
How does she know you love her?...you get the idea :-)
How does she know she's yours?
How does she know that you love her?
How do you show her you love her?
How does she know that you really
really truly love her?
Well does he leave a little note to tell you, you are on his mind?
Send you yellow flowers when the sky is grey?
He'll find a new way to show you a little bit every day
That's how you know he's in love
And then I would have told you this story:
On Monday Sean informed me that the next Netflix movie to come in the mail I couldn't open...it was a surprise! Hmmm...so I told him that he's not the boss of me and I could come home on my prep period and get the mail and open it anyway. But I didn't. I got the mail on Tuesday and sure enough there was the new movie. Sean was on the treadmill so we didn't open it right away. I told him I thought I knew and he challenged me to guess. Guess #1: Kids Incorporated...NO "You'll never guess what it is" he baits..."But it's something you really likED". Guess #2: Facts of Life...NO Quick rebound with Guess #3: Silver Spoons..."How did you guess that?"
And then I would've ended the post with something poetic...a little like this...but it probably would've been longer:
That's how I know...that's how I know I'm the one...cause he orders my favorite 80's sitcom from back when I was in love with The Ricker. You know how much I love Kevin Costner...it doesn't even compare to my devotion to Ricky Schroder! And he knows that and he surprises me with it. He gets the big garbage can from the alley without me asking...he lets me sleep in when I have a day off...he washes and changes the sheets and makes the bed all while I'm away...he doesn't mind when I go out with my girlfriends instead of him on Valentine's Day...he still sends me Valentine's roses...that's how I know!
*I also bought 300 Conversation Heart boxes in Tri Cities today for a Candy Gram promotion at school...yikes!*
Wednesday 2/11/09
Wednesday's are always dominated by youth group stuff...and that's a good thing :-) Luckily Pete was able to help out tonight so it wasn't just me and the 22 middle schoolers :-) We did Bible skits...which they ALWAYS love!
PLUS...my BFF had her baby today! Check him out here
Thursday 2/12/09
Survivor finally started! This is our thing...don't gimme a hard time about it. Doug comes over, we order Chinese food, and we watch Survivor. Last year was the first time we picked winners a'la Fantasy Football...a'la Amazing Race (more on that later). Plus CSI...even without Grissom it was still good. We're about two weeks behind on CSI...but thank goodness for Tivo!
Plus I got my Valentine's roses today. It was two days early...Sean always likes to mix it up because I kinda expect them. I love it when they come to school and my girls gush about how sweet it is and I use it to talk about what a good man he is. Sometimes I worry that me saying that is the only time some of my girls get an idea of what it means to be treated right by the person who loves you.
Friday 2/13/09
Friday the 13th...ahhh...:-) It's finally over...the coin drive at school. After two straight weeks of counting almost $200 in coins EVERY DAY it's done! The kids did an awesome job and they're a bit bummed they didn't meet the goal...but it was a rousing success. We'd set the goal using last year's number but neglected to consider that last year was a 3 week campaign and this year was a nine-day campaign. So, coming within $100 of last year' goal in 6 fewer days seems A-OK to me!
I also got my hair done today. It was the second time for this girl to do my hair and it's different but I like it...darker for sure...and the blonde is more carmel this time which I like!
Basketball versus Wapato this night...girls won keeping their no-loss season alive! And I must admit that I wasn't expecting much from our boys...Wapato is that good. But, it's a wacky CWAC this year. We lead them through 3 1/2 quarters and finally got outscored at the end and lost...but they played so well! And it was INTENSE. Their coach got a Technical Foul...he must've said something about the ref's momma..maybe "Your mother is so beautiful and by the way thanks for the outstanding job you are doing on the court". And it's always fun to listen to the whiny Wapato fans...seriously the only foul they're aware of is "Three in the Key" because that's all they yell about from the stands...ugh!
Saturday 2/14/09
Happy Valentine's Day! I slept in until 9:42...that's late for me! Well, it's late for Adult Me...back in high school that wouldn't even have been a drop in the bucket. Jacki and I drove down to Tri Cities to have lunch with Nicole and we spur of the moment decided to watch a movie...Confessions of a Shopaholic...it was cute...and it worked well since no one's husband wanted to go to this :-)
Sunday 2/15/09
We were greeters at church today and everyone was SO excited to see Sean. With his surgery (which is SLOWLY progressing in it's recovery) and not feeling well it's been a while since he's been to church. It was a good sermon...about anger and not raising your hand in anger but in kindness. Plus Lindsey brought her friend's little boy to church. She was babysitting and funnily enough (yes, I know it's not a word) the little boy is related to me. It happens that her friend's husband is a second cousin of mine from Sunnyside...how wild is that? I happen to think this little bitty boy looks just like his dad did when he was little.
Without a doubt our favorite FAVORITE show is Amazing Race. Sean wants us to apply to be on it SO badly. For his birthday last year I partially filled out an application...but certain "stipulations" have yet to be met :-) For Amazing Race we always pick our dream teams and we do it Fantasy Football style...meaning that we pick who we think is going to win the whole kit-n-caboodle before we know anything about them. The person who came closest to winning last year has to pick last and we pick two couples. So, I TOTALLY kicked Sean's butt last year...my couple actually won the WHOLE thing! So, he picked the Lawyer Siblings first...doh! I picked the Blonde Flight Attendants...YES! He then picked the Sporty Sisters...that a'ight! My final team is the Troubled Dating Couple...risky! Turns out my two teams came in DEAD last...the troubled couple got booted and the flight attendants have some serious catching up to do!
Phew...that was intense...PLEASE remind me to NEVER save up a week+ worth of posts...it's way too taxing! I already know there's stuff I've forgotten and that drives me crazy!
I'll do today's post all by it's lonesome :-)and I'll try to post pictures soon, too.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Daily Count
So...originally I was thinking that this post would be about counting money. We are in the beginnings of our Pennies for Patients campaign and it seems like my whole focus is on counting coins...piles of pennies...piles of nickels...piles of dimes...piles of quarters...and stacks of cash!
It seems it takes the whole period to collect ad count everyone's money. Today we did a promo at lunch called "Stuck for a Buck". One of our staff members volunteered to be stuck to the wall with duct tape. So at lunch students could buy a strip of tape for fifty cents to stick him to the wall.
We made $80 just at lunch...let alone the rest of the day...it was awesome! One student brought his birthday money---$50! Another student brought his own $20 he earned. It was really cool..for student to be so giving. I know they are competing for pizza...but still...it's pretty cool!
Anyway...yes this is about actual counting BUT will you allow me to stretch it a bit? It also makes me think about what counts in life. Today we asked our students what success means & to define a success they had today. The point was there are little successes that lead to bigger successes. Don't just concentrate on the enormity of the big things that seem impossible...because it's all the little things that lead there. That's why we end our daily Pennies announcement with "Every cent counts"...because it does! :-)
It seems it takes the whole period to collect ad count everyone's money. Today we did a promo at lunch called "Stuck for a Buck". One of our staff members volunteered to be stuck to the wall with duct tape. So at lunch students could buy a strip of tape for fifty cents to stick him to the wall.
We made $80 just at lunch...let alone the rest of the day...it was awesome! One student brought his birthday money---$50! Another student brought his own $20 he earned. It was really cool..for student to be so giving. I know they are competing for pizza...but still...it's pretty cool!
Anyway...yes this is about actual counting BUT will you allow me to stretch it a bit? It also makes me think about what counts in life. Today we asked our students what success means & to define a success they had today. The point was there are little successes that lead to bigger successes. Don't just concentrate on the enormity of the big things that seem impossible...because it's all the little things that lead there. That's why we end our daily Pennies announcement with "Every cent counts"...because it does! :-)
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Daily Busy-ness
6 AM wake up and get ready for school
*don't forget the bills to mail
*don't forget to print directions to Sierra Vista
7 AM drive out to Starbucks
Pick up school van
7:15 AM finish the copies for my sub
panic when it's 7:40 and she's still not there
7:45-8:05 stand outside my door and collect late assignments
8:05 AM learn one of my students is NOT going with me...an $18 loss
8:10 AM leave with five ASB officers to Sierra Vista Middle School in Sunnyside
8:40-1:15 spend all day in a gym with 210 middle school leadership students...isn't there a medal for that?
1:40 PM collect $220 in coins and cash for our first Pennies for Patients day
2 PM join book study with colleagues
3 PM begin counting $220 with three student helpers
5:15 PM finish counting...ugh!
5:19 PM begin loading coins into the Coinstar machine at Food Depot
5:54 PM finally finish fighting with the Coinstar machine and get my receipt!
6:05 PM return home with a McDonald's dinner
6:30 PM arrive at church to NOT do a lesson because I'm inundated with 25...yes 25...middle schoolers all by myself...and I'm SO tired
8:20 PM finally arrive back at home to watch the end of American Idol and go to bed...why are some days like this?
Gooooo.....GOooooo...that's all I felt like today....GO.
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Daily Kick Off
Technically yesterday was our Kick Off for the Pennies for Patients campaign at school. But, today was the day we got the last posters up and the collection cans out to classrooms. So, it feels like today is really the kick off. This picture is of my students holding our poster. They've been working really hard and they're really excited and have had a ton of great ideas. I always love it when kids stretch outside themselves to help others.
In other news...I spent TWELVE hours at school today! Not twelve hours from the time I woke up to the time I drove home...literally TWELVE hours in the building! That means I didn't get home until after 7.
I am taking the ASB officers to a conference tomorrow so I had to get ready for a sub and that always takes so long...between my sub plans I have to write, and the copies I have to make, and the perpetual mess that is my desk it just takes so gosh-darn long. But on the bright side I'll have fun tomorrow and my sub is awesome!
What else today...
Sean's incision is finally showing noticeable signs of improvement.
I had one of the most perfect dinners...plain pasta and mozzarella/parmesan cheese
I'm wearing my new sweater that I bought three months ago...only the second time I've worn it since I hung it in the closet in our old room and forgot I had it :-)
We watched the first night of Hollywood night on American Idol.
Sean had to wake me up today because I just wasn't waking up so he got up first and then had to call up the stairs "Honey? You going to school today?"
Even though it was MONUMENTALLY noisy I really had genuine fun with my students coming up with their Editorial arguments.
Tired! But...Good times :-)
Monday, February 02, 2009
Daily Accomplishment
Back in the day banks used to send you your cancelled checks. That way you could see that they had cleared...who cashed them...etc. etc. etc. Back in the day my mom worked in the banking and finance industry in many different capacities. She volunteered as our church treasurer for many many years and she'd call on us kids to help her from time to time. I LOVED helping. My big job was to sort the church's returned/cancelled checks into numerical order. So, off to the living room I'd go and lay out all the checks on the electric blue carpet. If it were a lot of check I'd start sorting into big bunches...like all the 100's, 200's, 300's, etc. And then I'd take the 100's and sort into groups of tens and so on and so on until all the checks were in order. **I also used to walk the half block to Mrs. Schefelbein's house to deliver her paycheck for being the nursery attendant**
My mom was a really good banker...she was ambidextrous...she could operate her adding machine with both hands! She taught me how to count cash three times...yes, three times. Because if you only counted twice and both times got you different numbers how would you know which is right? Whereas if you count it three times then at least two times would be the same and that was probably the right count. She taught me how to flip through checks really fast using the eraser at the top of your pencil in the upper right hand corners of the checks. She also once refused to close a month's statement at the church when it didn't balance. Now, it was only off by a quarter and our minister offered to just give her the quarter to balance it out...but that's not the point. That quarter was there somewhere and by golly she eventually found it!
So...fast forward to today and I still love to do home banking! I LOVE LOVE LOVE office supplies that make my office more organized and pretty. I love a fresh pack of pens and highlighters. I love an empty accordion file at the beginning of the year. I love closing up last year's accordion file. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when our paychecks come in and I can open Quicken and everything balances and is accounted for and the bills are paid. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the feeling of paid bills. Would I like to hold on to some more of that cash? Sure...but it's so satisfying to know that God provides for us and we are good stewards and take care of ourselves.
Tonight was one of those nights...all paid...all stamped...all addressed...all balanced! Yippee!
My mom was a really good banker...she was ambidextrous...she could operate her adding machine with both hands! She taught me how to count cash three times...yes, three times. Because if you only counted twice and both times got you different numbers how would you know which is right? Whereas if you count it three times then at least two times would be the same and that was probably the right count. She taught me how to flip through checks really fast using the eraser at the top of your pencil in the upper right hand corners of the checks. She also once refused to close a month's statement at the church when it didn't balance. Now, it was only off by a quarter and our minister offered to just give her the quarter to balance it out...but that's not the point. That quarter was there somewhere and by golly she eventually found it!
So...fast forward to today and I still love to do home banking! I LOVE LOVE LOVE office supplies that make my office more organized and pretty. I love a fresh pack of pens and highlighters. I love an empty accordion file at the beginning of the year. I love closing up last year's accordion file. I LOVE LOVE LOVE when our paychecks come in and I can open Quicken and everything balances and is accounted for and the bills are paid. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the feeling of paid bills. Would I like to hold on to some more of that cash? Sure...but it's so satisfying to know that God provides for us and we are good stewards and take care of ourselves.
Tonight was one of those nights...all paid...all stamped...all addressed...all balanced! Yippee!
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Daily Bummer
I hit a dog tonight. I think I clipped it as it ran out of the way. Ugh..I'm hating myself right now. There were two dogs and it was dark and I was by myself so I didn't stop. I asked Sean if I should have stopped and he said I made the right decision not knowing how hurt and angry the dog was and not knowing the state of the other dog and not having anyone with me and it being dark. I looked in my rear view mirror and didn't see anything in the road way so I'm hoping I just bumped him with my tire and he was able to run home.
I'm frustrated though by dog owners that didn't look after their dog. I saw the first dog along side of the road so I started to slow down and then all of a sudden the red dog was in front of me. I feel awful...should I have stopped? Would I understand my point of view if it was my dog that was hit? Why do dog lovers end up being the ones to hit the dogs...there's something cosmically wrong with that!
I also had my first People to People meeting with my Australia students...it was a much better first meeting that last year's. That makes sense I guess because this time I was able to answer questions based on my experience. It looks like we have a great group of students and I'm really excited!
Also...a quick observation...if you're strapped for cash and come into a windfall is it really the wisest investment to frivolously spend money on high priced electronics? Just curious :-)
**Sweet!...no misspellings found...again!**
I'm frustrated though by dog owners that didn't look after their dog. I saw the first dog along side of the road so I started to slow down and then all of a sudden the red dog was in front of me. I feel awful...should I have stopped? Would I understand my point of view if it was my dog that was hit? Why do dog lovers end up being the ones to hit the dogs...there's something cosmically wrong with that!
I also had my first People to People meeting with my Australia students...it was a much better first meeting that last year's. That makes sense I guess because this time I was able to answer questions based on my experience. It looks like we have a great group of students and I'm really excited!
Also...a quick observation...if you're strapped for cash and come into a windfall is it really the wisest investment to frivolously spend money on high priced electronics? Just curious :-)
**Sweet!...no misspellings found...again!**
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