I'm Back!

So, I took a little summer vacation, not only from school, but also blogging. Just to catch everyone up. My summer was great. I spent a lot of time with my family, which I truly enjoy. My parents have opened up a little vet supply store in Tulia and I helped my dad around there some. I also went to Oklahoma to visit my grandma. My mom and I spent the majority of that trip cleaning her carpet. Unfortunately, my mom and uncles just recently made the decision to move her to an assisted living place.

I also got to go to Vegas and spend a great weekend with some really awesome friends. It was so much fun, while we were there we saw the show KA, which was awesome. We gambled, laid by the pool, ate and drank a little…haha.

I also floated the river for Brooke’s bachelorette party. That was so much fun. I went to Dallas for the night to see Jenna’s new house…so cute. I spent a really fun couple of days in Wichita Falls for Brooke’s engagement party and shower.

And even though it was a little after school started, I finished the summer watching my bestie Brooke get married. It was also a really fun weekend and I got to see a lot of great friends and I got to ride a segway around downtown Austin, which was awesome.

The real reason I am blogging today though, is to see if anyone has a good idea for this blog. I feel like I just ramble on here most of the time because I don’t have a good direction. I enjoy blogging, but let’s face it, my life alone isn’t really blogworthy. What should I blog about. I watched Julie and Julia this summer and I loved that she had a mission, a purpose, for her blog. Anyone have any ideas? Hope everyone has a great rest of the week!

100%

YAY!!! All of my students passed their TAKS Test. I was so happy when I found out yesterday. I am so proud of them. I had a girl come to me yesterday morning and asked if she could talk to me. My friend Rachelle was in my room talking to me and the girl told her she could stay. So she comes in a sits down. Now...let me give you a little background on this girl. She is pretty well behaved but she gets sassy occasionally. She really does not know how to communicate with adults and struggles getting her message across most of the time. She also has a hard time in school. She did not pass a single benchmark test for me all year. So I was extremely happy when she passed the TAKS. So she comes into my room and sits down and says, "Ms. Howard, I just wanted to thank you for pushing me so hard this year. I have never passed a TAKS test before and so I wanted to thank you. I guess what I really needed was a really mean teacher to get me to pass..." At this point Rachelle and I bust out laughing because all the kids say Im mean. Anyway, it was a really heartfelt thank you, just delivered funny. Whatever it takes I guess. The year is quickly winding down. Today is actually my last normal day. I get to miss the next two days for UIL stuff. Then Rachelle and I are taking our UIL kids to state, me for prose her for math. So we will leave Sunday and perform Monday and Tuesday. Hope for the best! Then we come back take finals and are finished. Year five down!

BLACK OUT

Doesn't it look like such a pretty day here. It is too. There is a little breeze, the sun is shining. It is warming up nicely. Wonderful spring day! For some reason at about 10:20, we lose all power in the entire school. I have a classroom full of kids, not the most well behaved class, mind you. We are for once though having a good discussion about the holocaust and concentration camps when my room goes completely black. One thing I should clarify is that I have a "safe" room on the inside of the building that we can use for bad weather. This means that I don't have any windows. So when the lights go out...it is pitch black in my room. Scary. Not my best day to be trapped in a dark room with a bunch of kids. A. I am really mean to that class (I have to be). B. There is a couple in there that can't keep their hands off each other when the lights are on. and C. How scary is it to be held responsible for wild kids in the dark. I just kept picturing someone getting up and tripping over a desk. The sounds of breaking bones was one I was trying to avoid. Anyway, I got them calmed down (16 year olds lose control of themselves and their reactions when the lights cut out like that). We started to continue are discussion when the principle popped in. Now my principal is a middle age man with somewhat of a white head of hair. As he walks in, one of the students pops off, "hey, all I can see is your hair." Well, that did it. I no longer had control of my class. I myself found it pretty amusing. Mr. J, on the other hand, said to me..."man, that is low" as we were all laughing at him. Needless to say...he didn't stay long. They eventually just let the kids go for a little while. Nice break for the teachers! The electricity is back up and running and things have somewhat settled down.

New Toys

I came home from spring break on Saturday evening. Once I got home, I realized I had gone off and left my wallet in Tulia. I had no money on me. Nor did I go to the grocery store before I left. I ate some pretty random things for a couple of days. Luckily my sister-in-law was going through Tulia on her way to Lubbock on Tuesday, so she picked it up for me and I got it late Tuesday evening. So yesterday, after school I went to the grocery store on my way home from work. I know it's silly, but I felt bad because Scout and Idgy were going to have to stay cooped up for a little over an hour longer. So, while I was at the store I bought them a couple of little toys. They really are like kids. They were jumping around when I told them I had toys for them...and flipping out while I was cutting the tags off of them. Once I gave each of them their toys they both ran in different directions and played alone for a little while. Then they traded their toys (which were the same just different colors) and played some more. Finally they started playing together with them. I was amused by their play time.

Walking in Memphis

My mom, my sister and I went to Memphis, Tennessee for spring break. It was so much fun. The weather was awesome and Memphis is a fun place. While we were there we went to visit one of my mom's old friends who is a retired missionary from Brazil. She lives in Jackson which is about an hour from Memphis. East Tennessee is a really pretty place. Memphis sits right on the Mississippi. They had these awesome houses that overlooked the river. I would love it be able sit out on their third story balcony every evening and watch the people play next to the river. Here are some pictures from our trip:

Beale Street: Birthplace of Rock N Roll, Home of the Blues

Graceland: Home of Elvis! This place was pretty cool. Not as big as you think though. The coolest part of Graceland was looking at his planes. His plane "Lisa Marie" is awesome. I could get used to flying like that.

Rendezvous: This place had some pretty good dry rub ribs. We ate lots of bar b que while we were there. We also ate Neely's BBQ and Leonards BBQ. We also had some good ole southern cookin at this place called Four Way. The food was awesome.

Drinking sweet tea. You can't go to the south without drinking sweet tea. I think it is all I drank.

Don't be fooled. This isn't sweet tea. Just as good though. We went to this cool pub on Beale street on St. Patty's Day and listend to some live blues. It was fun.

National Civil Rights Musuem: This is where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. The musuem is built around this hotel. It was really interesting and a good memorial to MLK. It really displayed all the good he did for our country.

All in all, Memphis is a cool place. If you haven't been, you should add it to your places to visit.

Free Day!!!

Friday before spring break...even on a normal Friday, the day before a holiday is always crazy at a school. But, today is no normal Friday. First it is an early release. We get out at 1:30, sweet! But our boys basketball team is playing today in the state semifinals game in Austin. So our basketball team is gone...along with all the coaches and the ones who have wives that work here...yep, they are gone as well. Plus, you have parents and siblings of the ball players, I think we have three teachers at the high school alone with a son on the team. Then that takes the cheerleaders and their families. Plus the cousins and close friends of all the players, coaches, and cheerleaders all needed to go. So the state tournament alone wipes out a good percentage of our population. But then our tennis team, which is surprisingly big, made it to state, so they are competing this weekend as well. Our baseball team is in a big tournament down by Austin. Finally the band folks, that are left, are out working with some kids from Wayland. Our entire administration staff, from top to bottom, are all gone. Therefore, the kids and teachers that are left here so we don't lose one of those state mandated days, well, we don't want to do anything. You know what they say about being idle. Ill be exhausted by 1:30.

Meet Scout

So, my roommate recently moved out, taking her two dogs (Idgy's best friends) with her. Sadly this leaves my precious little dog home without any companionship. Every morning, as soon as I would begin to put my shoes on to leave, Idgy would sit on the bed and violently shake. Granted she is chihuahua, so this is natural but it still made me sad. Then when I put her in her room (my bathroom) she would shriek at the door. It sounded as if she were being physically harmed. I couldn't take it anymore...so I had to get her a little sister. I named her Scout Delis. She is real feisty and funny, so she is named Scout after the little girl in To Kill a Mockinbird and Delis is short for Fluer de Lis...which I love to decorate with...but also it is a symbol of friendship, which is why I got her for Idg. Welcome to the family Scout!

I know...she's precious. Even if you don't like chihuahuas...look at her...she's so cute. Anyway, if you don't know, chis are sorta moody dogs. They can be really territorial and Idgy is. But, she actually doing really well with the new baby. The only time she gets mad is when they are both on my lap. She is playing really sweet with her and even loving on her some. But, yesterday morning my dogs taught me a lesson on how to treat others. When chis are babies, they have blood sugar problems, so you have to make sure they eat. Scout wasn't eating much, so I was a little worried about her. Idgy is a little grouchy when she eats because she doesn't want anyone stealing her food. But, that particular morning, Scout walked up to Idgy's bowl while Idgy was eating. Idgy just looked at Scout and turned around and got in her bed. She just sat there while Scout was eating. When she finished eating, Idgy looked up at me, as if she were asking permission to finish her food. I had tears in my eyes. I know it sounds really cheesy and nerdy, but Scout really needed to eat and it was as if Idgy knew that. The reason it made me emotional is because it made me stop and think about how often I ignore the needs of others just to "feed" my own selfish needs. Idgy could have growled and snapped but she chose not to. It is pretty humbling when you get a reminder like that in the morning from two dogs. That is why I love them so much. They are quickly becoming best friends.