my pink life, mi vida rosada

It does not snow very often down here where I live, so snow on the day after Christmas is a pretty big deal. Especially since today is a Sunday, and snow in the south often means no church. My church wasn't canceled, but sweet hubby and I decided to stay in, anyway. We took the opportunity to take a couple of pictures before the sun came out.... And of course, we had to get one of the sneaky bunny.... She was not very happy about being out in the snow. In other news, you can give a dollar and help raise money to bring this baby to a forever family....Just click on the picture and you can find out more.

We have been busy in this family, making merry. And more merry. And then a little more merry after that, too. So merry, merry Christmas to you.

I think that vacation is a great time for me to waste my time. For real. Because otherwise, why would I have turned the "move the books from the other room onto the bookshelf" project into a "make the textbooks match each other" project? It all started with this silly idea of mine to group books not by type, but by color. I think I will hate this arrangement as soon as I want to find any particular book and can't remember what color it is. It seemed silly to put one part of The Sisterhood with the yellows and reds, and another with the blues, but I'll have to wait and see whether it bothers me in a few days, or months, or years, as it may be, when I'm finally in the mood to re-read the teenage angst. I am very proud of myself for not taking the time to sort through the books, rather to just put them on the shelf, and there should still be some re-arranging of color/height combinations, but on the whole, I rather like it. There is another half of ...

My husband and I had a little adventure. It started out with a visit to silver coast... And then a little road trip to see the giant Christmas tree... Followed by dinner at circa 1922, a relatively fancy restaurant, for us.... Which was an incredibly delicious meal at an extremely reasonable price. It didn't hurt that they have a fixed price menu for Sunday-Thursday nights, so we were able to easily choose a salad, main course, dessert, and coffee for one low price. We found the famous Silver Coast Touriga on the close-out wine list and, since there had been much discussion earlier in the day, at Silver Coast, about where the last red bottles might still be hiding, decided that we needed to order a bottle. I may or may not have had too much to drink, after drinking a woo-woo before going to Silver Coast, a couple glasses at Silver Coast, and the bulk of the Touriga, since sweet hubby was driving. After dinner, we walked around Princess Street and the river and decided it was co...

Que felicidad, que felicidad.... Estoy otra vez en mi reino, la casa de la playa.... Y de vacaciones, asi que tengo un día extra para disfrutar, y estoy recien empezando las dos semanas de libertad antes de volver a la escuela. Es rico estar en la casa calentita y con lluvia fría afuera, sonando en el techo y creando una neblina encima del agua. El tiempo es completamente diferente a lo que era en noviembre, después del Día de acción de gracias, pero lindo de su propia manera, y me hace pensar en la bendición que es tener esta casa disponible para disfrutar, siempre y cuando hay tiempo para llegar. Ayer, yo limpié un poco en la casa (normalmente limpiamos en la primavera, y a veces durante el verano, dependiente en cuantas personas están usando la casa y por cuanto tiempo -- cuando estamos ocupando la casa por dos meses, como el verano de 2010, limpiamos con mucha mas frecuencia), que no habíamos hecho desde septiembre, y yo cociné el almuerzo. Normalmente me pongo floja cuando est...

3 3 3 Only 3 more days until two little tiny weeks away from my monsters. Any progress that I thought had been made, this week, is out the window. Forget lining up, forget following directions, forget all of it. That what it feels like, at least, and what it looks like, and what it sounds like.... I am so frustrated with my kids that I could just walk out, and not return, and be sad only about the having to find a new job with no references part of the equation, rather than the part of the equation where my kids have no teacher, get stuck with a long term sub, and keep failing everything because they are so horrible and therefore super low. Third graders should know how to read, people. Sure, they won't be reading anything super difficult, but they should be able to read at least a simple book that has repetitive language and simple, one syllable words....But mine can't. And if you think that reading in English is hard, just switch to Spanish. Because then it should be e...

This sounds pretty cool.... http://greenbaglady.blogspot.com/ It goes along nicely with a conversation I had with a good friend on Friday night. We were talking about restaurants and going out to eat, and the cute cardboard box she was toting her leftovers home in, rather than a styrofoam container. We talked about how great it is that everyone seems to be getting better about taking their reusable shopping bags with them to the store. And then we decided that the next big thing in this going-green journey will be toting tupperware. Yep, toting tupperware. We're pretty good at taking a reusable bag with us where ever we go -- leaving them in the car is pretty convenient. Why not keep a couple clean food containers in the car too? That way, when I go out to eat every single Sunday to the same restaurant where I almost always bring half of my meal home, I can just pack it into my own container, instead of having to put it in styrofoam and then change it to a plastic container ...

12 more school days before winter break! I can see the light! This week has helped me see that in some ways, my kids truly are making progress. And it has also helped me see that in other ways, my kids will NEVER make any progress. How enheartening and disheartening all at once. My kids (in both groups) are now much better at entering the classroom quickly and relatively quietly, which typically translates into calmly, which is a GREAT improvement. Credit goes to the RISC 4-square tool -- what does it look like and sound like when you come in and what does it look like and sound like when you pack up? The problem is getting packed up with enough time to rate how each child has done -- less feedback, so harder to be inspired to do better. But half of the equation has improved, so I'll keep at the packing up earlier and getting quieter and calmer with that, too. My thrower is still throwing things. So overreactive. On his behavior plan, he received "2s" (on a 4 poin...

He disfrutado al máximo los días aquí en la playa. Me da mucha tristeza pensar que hoy, en la tarde, tendré que volver a la realidad, acostarme temprano, e ir a la escuela en la mañana, a un grupo de niños que seguramente habrán olvidado las reglas... Tristeza, frustración, cansancio, y más -- estas son las cosas que me esperan. Pero hoy, estoy celebrando. Estoy celebrando que le convencí a mi esposito lindo ponerse un traje de baño ayer, ir conmigo a sentarse en la arena, comer un picnic, y después caminar hasta el final de la playa en el sol y frío. Estoy celebrando que dos días hemos ido a Silver Coast a tomar vino rico, juntos, para puro disfrutar. Estoy celebrando que fuimos a comer helado, y en vez de comer helado, encontramos una tienda nueva de tortitas, y tuvimos que comprar algunos extras porque no teníamos efectivo. Estoy celebrando que fuimos a comprar otra vez porque esposito quiso hacerlo, no porque yo lo sugerí. Estoy celebrando que vimos el cielo cambiando a rosad...

Why, o why, is it always so long in between beach visits? This place, how it restores my soul, my productivity, my good mood. Just to look out the windows and see the water, the sunlight reflecting in, the green of the live oaks, the marsh grass, and way out beyond that, the white of the dunes.... And a week with four Saturdays -- totally beats that week with two Mondays that we had a while ago. I'll take four Saturdays anytime. Wednesday-Saturday was spent at Target, then baking Thanksgiving cookies with my mama and sister, and shopping with my mama in the afternoon. Thursday-Saturday was spent with the family -- all of the family -- 43 of us, to be exact, eating and playing and walking the annual walk, and then eating some more, before heading to the beach with sweet hubby. Friday-Saturday was spent sleeping in, visiting Silver Coast, napping, and, late in the day, shopping -- best way to do black Friday. I got the things that were on my list at a discount, and without having...

School days, at least. A Sunday, two school days, and then WednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday goodness. Thursday night to the beach -- Oh, my refuge, how I have missed you. Oh, beach, how I hope and dream that I might be so blessed to spend two months with you this summer....But I bet it's someone else's turn. School is still plugging along, with kids who talk back every change they get and complain about the tiniest things. I wish I could love on these little kids, because they clearly need it, but with so many behavior issues to "handle", there seems to be no time for being nice. That may be the hardest part of the year for me -- no time to be nice, no time to be relaxed, no time to just feel at ease doing the teacher thing this year. What is making this year feel so long is that I am always stressed -- always wondering which kid will go off next, and exactly how, and what I'm supposed to do in response... For the kid who likes to throw stuff, my team ...

Will you please end soon? The sooner you end, the sooner December comes, and goes, and the sooner January and then February and March, April, May, and June will arrive....And Oh, how I want June to arrive. This is going to be one long school year. I think my day could have been a little nicer without the migraine today. Oh, and the smell -- 3rd graders after recess, horrible, with a migraine. Basically unbearable, with the migraine. And an upset in the fourth grade.... The sudden switch of our fourth grade immersion teacher to the middle school, and the middle school teacher to fourth grade immersion....I'm sure she will be really nice, once I get to meet her for more than 5 minutes and she has some time to settle in. It was a good weekend, though -- time well spent with a college friend and her family. They were having a rough weekend, coming to visit right off of bad news (a life dream crushed in a phone call the day they drove over....) but we managed to watch a ridiculou...

Two Mondays is way too many Mondays in one week. I guess that technically, there was only one Monday this week, and will only be one Friday, too, but the first Monday this week felt like a whole week in and of itself. Monday was the day after Halloween and the day before election day. For most people, this simply means that Monday was the day after handing out candy to cute kids dressed up in crazy costumes, and the day before trying to remember to vote. For me, it was the day after my students stayed up late eating ridiculous amounts of sugar and the day before a day off of school. Monday was full of Monday behavior. And Friday behavior. And between the two, I managed to send two kids to the office before 8:30, and another in the afternoon, and one of the 2 I had send in the morning got sent back to the office in the afternoon by his other teacher. Four office visits in one day? Not a normal Monday. Four office visits in a week? Now that would seem like a normal week, with t...

Ahhh, the annual pumpkin carving. Except for the first time, at my house. And an ever changing guest list. And no real idea how many people are coming. And really, that makes it pretty hard to know how many pumpkins to provide, to those sweet sweet people coming over for carving. And coming over meant, in many cases, driving more than an hour and a half to get to my house, and just for the one night (although invited for longer than that!). In the end, we bought 17 pumpkins for the 13 people who came over. Someone didn't carve though, because we still have 7 untouched pumpkins this morning. Exactly how that happened, I'm not sure.... So now I have 7 extra pumpkins, and absolutely zero desire to take the back where they came from and ask about their pumpkin return policy on the day before Halloween. Really? I think the demand is going down and that they won't really want them back. My wallet, though, after only two of the 11 who should have paid for their pumpkin a...

Pensé que estuviera dando una hora de tutoria, pero por suerte revise mi telefono para ver un mensaje diciendo que la niña no necesita ayuda otra vez esta semana y que si me necesita, me llamará en el futuro. Estoy un poco triste que no me necesita, por la perdida de plata, pero desde la primera vez que me junté con ella, pensé que solamente necesitaba estudiar un poco más, y no necesitaba tanto a mi ayuda. También recibí una llamada de mi mamá, que ella no iba a ir a la clase de yoga que normalmente asistemos juntas, y decidí que no iba a ir yo otra vez sin ella, siendo que me quedé despierta una hora más tarde que normalmente me acuesto y anduve todo el día con mañas hoy. Decidí, en vez de ir a yoga, pasar a la biblioteca. Busqué algunos libros de autores que por suerte leí la última vez que fui a la playa (antes que este fin de semana) y me puse a ver "The biggest loser" cuando llegué a la casa. La conejita se acurrucó conmigo en el sillón mientras lo veía y disfruté ...

It's mid October, and fall break at the local university, so even though I'm only peripherally a student there, I am on fall break with some friends. Well, it ends today. I'm back at the beach for a brief vacation with the girls...Only by some funny error of planning, half of the group came and left a day early. So the three of us who ran the 5K together had a fun night yesterday -- shopping, eating German apple pancakes, and drinking woo woos. I also took fall break the weekend before -- visiting a college friend and her little family, to help unpack, organize, and paint parts of their new home. It was great to see an old friend and talk and paint and be productive in someone else's home, and to see her parents (somehow we almost always manage to visit each other's parents), and to go to a farmers market and IKEA. Oh, IKEA. How you tempt me. I had volunteered to simply stop by and pick up a couple things that hadn't fit in my friend's car, and on my ...

Y si, lo disfruté mucho. Estabamos trabajando para escribir escalas para usar para evaular el progreso de los niños entre kinder y quinto. Y una sustituta que al parecer no hizo mucho con mis niños... Por suerte mi otra mitad estuvo alli para ayudarla con mis niños malitos. En otras noticias... Este fin de semana a Swint! Voy a poder salir a correr con mi amiga, comer s'mores, y hacer muchas otras cosas divertidas. Mientras no me encencio, todo bien!

Semana larga. Parece que cada semana es larga, ahora. Un día más de escuela, y yo cansada para el fin de semana, ya. Un día más.... Lo que ha hecho sentir más largo aún a esta semana....Martes, cena con gentes de RISC que están de visita en la escuela, y miercoles, tutoria con una niña que conozco... Días largas, todas. Y los niños, locos con la luna llena....Aunque los niños me dicen que no deben hablar mientras hacen varias cosas, siguen hablando. Ni podemos terminar de decir que no deben hablar, y ya están hablando. No se si están demaciados emocionados por lo que estamos haciendo, o que por fin pueden ir a torturar a sus padres en vez de a mi, pero el volumen dentro de mi sala me hace querer morir. Oh, los niños.... Y siendo jueves, llegue tarde, otra vez, pero a una casa vacía....mi esposito anda en un asunto de la iglesia, y yo con ninguna gana de ver a otras personas. Tuve la idea de salir a correr, pero me senté un minuto para llamar a esposito, y todavia estoy sentada ...

Ayer fue el 18 de septiembre, el día más importante en la vida de muchos chilenos. Para mi chilenito, era un día triste, sin celebración, lejos de su familia. Y yo con otros planes, más encima. En la mañana, yo salí con dos amigas a correr un 5K. Cuando regresamos, mi esposito nos sacó algunas fotitos y nos regaloneamos un poco, y después tuvimos una pelea pequeña y me fui a buscar otra amiga para ir a la piscina (planes previas). Antes que volví de la piscina, esposito fue a vender asientos durante un partido de fútbol americano. Después de la pelea, no nos vimos en todo el día. Así que hoy, mi mamá me dijo que tenía algo para mi esposito.... Había encontrado empanadas chilenas aquí, y sola, sin que yo le acordara, sabía que fue el 18 de septiembre. Mi mamá es una mujer fantática. No hay nadie como ella. Siempre está pensando en otros -- como ayudarles, las cosas que les hacen feliz, los días importantes....Yo todavía estoy demaciado enredada en mi propio mundo, y la mitad d...

But probably a little better than last week. In fact, MUCH better than last week, but I'm still exhausted. At least I wasn't falsely accused again this week -- by the crazies. I'm still feeling really stressed out by the kids I'm teaching this year, and not having much success with behavior.... Oh, it's tough. My partner teacher thinks we are making progress, though, so I will pretend she's right, for now. We've at least figured out that certain kids LIKE to go to the office, so they misbehave on purpose, to get the extra attention. The more we ignore the problem behavior from those students, the easier it becomes to ignore in the future? Maybe not...But telling them straight out that if going to the office is a reward for them, they aren't going to go, and then tricking them into thinking they are getting pulled out of the classroom to go to the office but really having to finish their tests or classwork in another teacher's room...Is apparent...

Esta semana voy a llegar a la escuela con una actitud positiva. Voy a tomar la iniciativa y voy a demandar que mis estudiantes me muestran respeto. Today, as I was doing my homework for the "applying theory and research" class I'm taking, I read about the different parenting styles. I had learned about these a couple of times before, but the information had been shoved aside to make room in my brain for other, I'm sure, more pertinent facts.... So it was really interesting to me to read about the predicted behaviors that children will exhibit if/when their parents employ particular parenting styles. Watch out, indulgent parents -- you are basically teaching your children to become a menace to society. And you thought you were helping your baby become more creative.... It was particularly interesting to me after the week I had at school last week....And several different run-ins or conversations with parents over the last couple weeks. In my morning group of stude...

Holy Cow. Wonders never cease. My students are crazier than I thought. I had a great labor day weekend, relaxed, read books for fun, finished sewing a pretty skirt, got lots of sun, and in general, didn't want to come home -- love me some beach time. Nope, wrong. Love me some dock-time and house-time and mama's cooking. Yum. I didn't want to come home -- I was dreading this week. I just knew something was going to happen. And it did. Some of my students told lies to their parents, and I was falsely accused of doing things that I would NEVER do, and the principal of my school spent two days pulling kids out of my class to question them about how I behave at school. The guidance counselor got the ring-leading kid to confess that nothing had happened, finally, and as an added bonus I got 45 minutes of time outside of my classroom unexpectedly. Great -- I did 60 minutes worth of science in 25 today. I'm sure my students feel adequately prepared for their vocab. ...

Oh, school. Such a challenge, this year. If only my students would use their ears... Wait...Use their ears to listen to ME, not their classmates, when I want to give instructions so that we can do something FUN. In what was perhaps not my finest teaching moment ever, today, I lost my cool and SLAMMED the air conditioner-switch-lid very loudly. It was actually quite effective. The students jumped, sat quietly with looks of shock on their faces, and then listened in silence as I told them that they were acting like kindergarteners, not third graders. They stayed pretty well behaved for about half an hour, too, and we made it to lunch on time again. I like getting to lunch on time -- it means I actually get to eat. And amazingly, when the assistant principal walked in to check on my class this afternoon, she found my students working in pairs, actually doing what they were supposed to be doing. It was AMAZING. She saw me give the tail end of an example, then ask students who tho...

The school year is off to an extremely rough start. My kids have gotten the best of me twice now, which is amazing, since there are only 14 of them at a time. Yesterday I rearranged the classroom into rows, reassigned seats with the talkers apart from each other, and came on strong and loud this morning. It worked until after recess. Then the volume button seemed impossible to turn down -- just got louder and louder in my classroom. I am praying VERY HARD that these kids settle down and get with it -- they are too old to be this LOUD. There is no understanding whatsoever that sound carries and that we don't yell indoors, especially when the teacher is trying to show you how to do something cool. For real.

I don't know how I've made it to Friday night, but here I am, wishing I was already asleep, but thinking that I can hold on a little longer. The girls and I had movie night on Saturday, to honor Kayla's visit before moving to Duke, and turned out the lights around 2am. Up on Sunday morning at 8:30, dropping off hubby's car for a friend to borrow by 9, showered and dressed for church a little later, then lunch with the family, followed closely by parent and student orientation at school. After orientation, a detail-oriented trip to wal-mart (in over an hour I only found 3 things off my list) and then on to university church for dinner. Followed by an unannounced meeting during which one of my movie night girls was outed, and emotional, and many other friends also upset. All return to my house, since that's where we can all be comfy and such while we recover and whine. Up early the next morning, preparing my classroom all day, number-photo hunting for an hour or...

Yep, on. Not in. I was informed by a co-worker this morning that a nearby school district is cutting all elementary foreign language instruction over the next two school years. A couple hours later, I received a phone call from the head of the SC Foreign Language Teacher's association asking for my permission to pass my number along to someone from a local tv station. She called a few minutes later, and was going to be at my school in less than an hour. My school, which is 30 min. away from my house, and my makeup, and my shine-fighting powder which I had forgone knowing that I was going to spend the day playing with blocks and magnets and drawing on white erase boards with students in between moving heavy boxes full of stuff around in my classroom. I was pretty nervous and very shiny, but I think that I ended up sounding reasonably intelligent on the news...Even though she cut out all the parts where I mentioned that "research shows". It looks like everything I say...

Estamos en casa de nuevo. Fue super triste salir de la playa, pero disfrutamos mucho los ultimos días de vacacion con una amiga mia de la universidad, su esposo, y su guaguita. Lo pasamos bien saliendo en la lancha, a esquiar, usando kayaks, jugando putt-putt, y tomando vino, viendo peliculas, y jugando "The Really Nasty Horse Racing Game". Fue triste empacar las cosas, limpiar la casa, y todo eso....Y tener que llegar a la casa nuestra y desempacar, guardar la ropa otra vez, ver cuanta ropa sucia hay, cuanto desorden hemos creado. En otras noticias, el Pato se va el domingo, temprano, a California, para un campamento de coro. Estara allá 2 semanas. Invité las niñas a ver películas conmigo el sabado en la noche....uuuups. Hay que empezar a ir a la escuela para arreglar mi sala y prepararme para el año escolar....Uf. Hay que cenar con mi mama hoy, e ir con ella a target este fin de semana....Lo triste es que estará loca la tienda con el fin de semana sin impuestos.... ...

Recien estuve viendo cosas en facebook, como la maestra de todo sketchy, y me di cuenta que alguien que conocí en la universidad se había divorciada. Me choqueó, para decir la verdad. Esta niña es un poco más joven que yo. Al parecer, es mucha más bonita, inteligente, y sin duda siempre fue una bailerina mejor que yo. Se casó en 2007, y recién descubrí (no soy una amiga de esta mujer, pero no la tengo nada en contra, tampoco) que ya está divorciada. No tengo idea que pasó, ni las circunstancias, pero lo encuentro triste. Triste que el divorcio es tan común que los matrimonios no duran más que tres añitos, y se van. Bueno, mi matrimonio lleva un poco más de cuatro años, y con el amor y bendición de Dios, durará muchos años más. Me choca que gente de mi edad ya están pasando por el divorcio, cuando la mitad de mis amigas ni se han casado por primera vez. Triste es, cuando lo piensas bien.

Most of the time, I'm not a huge fan of surprises. That's usually when they are directed at me, and involve things like failed classes or forgotten laundry or extra meetings, and things like that.... I am a huge fan, however, of planning surprises for my husband. Like a three night stay at a B&B in Virginia. For his birthday. When my cousin was bringing guests to stay at the beach, and he wanted to go away. He thought we were just heading back to Columbia, kicked out of the beach house, and that I had finally relented and agreed to go with him, rather than sticking it out at the beach with the cuz and her guests. When I asked about taking his camera "home" with us, he wanted to know why. Oh, I said, we never take pictures of the two of us; I thought it might be fun to take some while we are home. When I suggested he take more nice clothes "home," he wanted to know why. Well, if we are taking pictures, I want to make sure you look nice. I snagge...

With friends, this time! After a week of RISC training at school, I am back at the beach, and so glad to have a couple more weeks of vacation. I'll enjoy going back to work, when it is time for that, but I am glad to have a break for a little while. Yesterday we packed up a picnic lunch and went over to Waites Island. We climbed up on the sketchy old dressing platform and had the best view -- over the dunes and across the water, clear skies, beautiful sand, and in the distance, the horses from Inlet Pointe. We followed up with some swimming, some reading in the sun, a little walking, a little photography... When we arrived back at the house, the second half of the group had arrived. We got the boat, played some games, ate dinner, learned the Honor Roll, and watched Whip It. Overall, a great night. Maybe even better than playing Super Mario Bros. 3 the night before.

Why do the days fly by when one is on vacation? It is so unfair. My mom and sister are on their way down to the beach, and my dad will bring my grandma tonight, and we'll have a small crowd for a couple of days. Rayen will be stuck in the bedroom, we've vacuumed and cleaned the kitchen, and we've been straightening up the rest of the house too -- even though most of the mess was made by the whole family together less than two weeks ago. Free place to stay, on the water? I'll take it. Esposito and I went to Waites Island yesterday afternoon (and the afternoon before that) even though it takes a good 20-30 minutes to get there. We stopped for ice cream on the way, in to-go cups with lids, stuck into the cooler. When we got to the beach, we climbed up on the old dressing-room tower, and sat there, looking out over the dunes onto the completely unoccupied beach. There is nothing better. What a blessing -- no time commitments, no hurry, just me and my hubby and so...

We have had a great summer so far -- very little rain, few thunderstorms, etc. Until about last week, that is. Cloudy and overcast every day, lots of rain (mostly at night, though), and thunderstorms like nobody's business. I don't mind it, but it does make it harder to want to go out and do things. So these are the things that I do on a rainy day at the beach: 1. Work on a puzzle on the screen porch. Currently, "100 elephants and a mouse". I still haven't found the mouse. 2. Read books. As previously mentioned, I'm currently reading Other People's Words and really enjoying it. And learning a lot. 3. Sewing. I decided to work on pajamas for my movie night girls for Christmas. I am having mixed success and concerned about the sizing -- since I'm not exactly the same shape as all of my friends. Most of them are taller than me. We'll see how these turn out. But already this summer, I have completed two skirts and an apron. 4. Napping. ...

Esposito and I are finally relaxing again, after playing host and hostess, of sorts, to my family.... Oh, to be able to let the cat out of the bedroom! My grandma didn't realize, in a whole week and a half, that there was a cat in the house. Excellent. The sneaky bunny is now curled up next to me on the couch, shielding her eyes with her paws as she sleeps. We went home from the beach for a night. Hubby needed some arias from the music library, and suggested that I might need a movie night with my girls. They, very obligingly, agreed to change their plans and have a night of catching up -- I hadn't been home in 5 weeks! Our yard is a jungle, but it was wet and stormy, so no mowing this trip. Movie night was just what I needed. Many of my friends, like me, are away for the summer, and keeping in touch is just not our strong suit. Getting together for 6 or 7 hours of "movies", on the other hand, is the perfect remedy. Also, my mama and I went shopping at the J...

¿Puede ser? ¿Puede ser verdadero que ya se están yendo mis familiares? Durante el fin de semana habían 14 personas en mi casa. 14. Y ahora, algunitas días después, solamente hay 8. Se irán 3 más hoy, y 3 más mañana, y son todos, ya fuera de mi casa, dejandome a mi con mi esposito lindo solitos para un día. Y el próximo día, se supone, vienen algunos amigos, con su guagua, a disfrutar de un fin de semana durante la semana, una vacacion corta que no pueden tomar durante el fin de semana por ser pastores. Pero solamente vendrán si la mujer se haya recuperado de una enfermedad rara que tuvo recién. Mi gatita linda ya quiere andar libre en la casa, y mi esposo ya quiere tener espacio libre en la casa, y yo yo quiero un poco de paz y un poco de espacio en el refrigerador. Imagínate, tres galones de leche a la vez, porque tantos lo toman.... Lentamente, mi vida volverá a la normalidad, si es que eso existe. Por ahora, voy a clase hoy, dejando la locura por un rato, y el viernes, term...

A, la bendición de familia.... Siempre quejando que las cosas cuestan caro, ofreciendo pagar cosas y después negando la oferta, y diciendo que no tienen dinero cuando en realidad son mucho más rico que los otros miembros de la familia. No dispondré de información personal de las finanzas de mi familia....Pero para ponerlo bonito, yo con mi esposo ganan MENOS que cualquier otro miembro de la familia. Mi esposito lindo está estudiando en la universidad, trabajando más o menos 3 horas a la semana, en un trabajo que paga un poco más del sueldo mínimo. Yo soy maestra de primer año, y además, soy estudiante en la universidad también, terminando mi certificación. Piénsalo bien: dos estudiantes, un trabajo de tiempo completo, y nosotros ofreciendo de lo que tenemos que todos pueden sacar y comer y usar, sin saber si lo pondrán de vuelta al final. Y otros miembros de mi familia: llegan, comen, usan, disfrutan, y se van, sin pensar ni un minuto en la orígen de las cosas. ¿De donde vino el v...

Mi familia ha empezado a llegar. The invasion has begun. Mientras normalmente disfruto de la compañia de mi familia, hoy trae consigo la voz de mi mamá, diciendo que la gata debe estar en otra parte, y la voz de mi abuela, pidiendo cualquier cosa a cualquier hora, no importando que estabas haciendo antes, y la tambien la voz de mi prima, diciendo que quiere ir a hacer tal cosa porque no hemos hecho nada hoy (incluyendo las 5 actividades que ella ya ha hecho hoy...). Yo amo a mi familia, pero en números grandes, me cansan. Llegó mi hermano ayer, relajado. Trajo muchos libros, estuvo contento con la gata, leyó en el muelle por un buen rato, nadó con nosotros a la noche y marea alta. Hoy empiezan a llegar en cantidades grandes, invadiendo de a dos. Creo que me sentiría un poco mejoy con la llegada de tantas personas si hubiese escuchado a mi mamá y buscado otro lugar donde cuidar la gata por esta semana. Mi mamá dijo que no quiso tener la gata en la casa con tantas personas, que s...

I am ready to be finished with taking classes to add early childhood certification. It is such a process to be able to find a class that I think will count, submit it for evaluation, have it rejected, find another, submit it with an angry letter, track down syllabi, pay registration fees and application fees to universities I will only take one course from, ever, and then to finally take the courses and find them less useful and hardly applicable...It is very frustrating. Right now I am 1.5 classes away from my certification, but this last class is very elusive. The ever-so-unhelpful description provided by the SC Dept. of Ed. reads "Methods and Materials, 3 hrs". Great. The courses I have found with a similar title, like, "Instructional mat. in elem. school" somehow just don't match up -- it is really frustrating. I just want to be finished with this whole process, already. I want to be able to focus on teaching, not on whether or not I can find rhyming ...

Este verano, tengo la bendición de vivir en la playa. Estoy participando en un curso de la enseñanza de lenguaje y lectura a niños chicos. Mientras es divertido, me deja con demaciado tiempo libre. I'm learning about things like how "reading" with your 6-month old can help your child eventually be a successful reader. Please talk to your baby about anything and everything. And pretend that you like to read and write, even silly things, all the time. If your child thinks it is important to you, and useful, your child will want to do it. Even if you HATED reading in school. Somehow, my cat just hasn't caught on yet.