My face TODAY....

...looks more like this...

or, even this......cuz the weatherman just said it's FIFTY-THREE outside!! Woo-freakin'-hoo!! Now THAT'S what I like! I don't even care that our temperature fluctuated by almost 50 degrees in one day. It's supposed to stay this way for a couple of days. Let's hope it does, for my sanity's sake!

We had a storm from hell this morning. All I could think when the thunder and lightening was literally shaking my house this morning is, "Hmmm...I wonder how many of the babies will stay home today?" It was THAT bad. It was so bad, in fact, that I almost called in sick this morning because there was water pouring into my basement this morning. It looked like a friggin' waterfall under my stairs. And, no, I'm NOT exaggerating. It already had made its way to the kitchen, and there was also a few puddles in the laundry room. I threw down all the towels I had available, and left for work. My driveway was already flooded, as was my street, and most of the streets I had to take to get to the Hell-Hole.

I couldn't call in today because I took yesterday off. It was mostly for fun (aka a mental health day!) but I did take care of a lot of errands that needed to be done. I actually had a really nice day, despite the fact that the heat index was, again, over 100. (That actually had a LOT to do with my decision to take the day off. It was unbearable at school the day before. I knew it legitimately would NOT be good for my health.) I figured it wouldn't be so bad at school today because I knew many of the kids wouldn't come. My partner across the hall only had 8 kids show up. One of the 2nd grade teachers had 4! I, of course, had 18. The art teacher stuck his head in at one point this afternoon specifically to tell me that I had the biggest class of kids in school today. Oh...great... Then, he tried to make me feel better by saying, "Well, you KNOW why that is, right? They LOVE you!" Yeah, well, that doesn't make me feel better, pal!

There are 4 days and about 1 hour left with the kids. I hate to say it, but it can NOT go by fast enough. This year has been the WORST in all my years of teaching, and I just want it to end. I don't want to start complaining, so instead, I'm going to go watch Jimmy Kimmel's pre-game show, and enjoy the cool breeze blowing in my window right now.

***I just found this in todays' Chicago Sun Times. See, it's not just me.***

OK, I give up

I have been trying to access the freakin' NaBloPoMo site since I walked in the door this afternoon, and I keep getting some error message. So, I have no prompt for today! However, the fact that I'm typing this drivel right now fulfills my NaBloPoMo obligation for the day. :)

Despite the fact that today (like just about EVERYDAY) at the Hell-Hole sucked great, big, giant, hairy donkey balls, once I arrived home, I was able to leave that crap in the car, right along with my school bag. Stud has finals today through Thursday, so I didn't have to pick him up, which means I arrived home about 20-30 minutes earlier than usual. That also means 20-30 minutes less of being stuck in traffic, so it's a win-win.

The way Stud's school does their final exam schedule is that the boys have 3 periods on the first day, but not Periods 1-3. Today they had 5th, 2nd and 3rd periods. Tomorrow will be 4th, 1st and 8th. Thursday will be 6th and 7th. The periods last for 1 1/2 hours. For the periods that you have lunch, gym or study hall, you don't have to attend. Not a bad deal.

Today, Stud only had exams for the first two periods, because he normally has lunch during 3rd period, so he was free to leave by 11. However, he stuck around for the extra period and went to the art room to work on a project until his buddy was finished with his exam. Then, he and his buddy were treated to lunch by my mother-in-law.

On Thursday, Stud doesn't have to attend the first period, because that's his art class, and they took their finals already. There were seniors in the class who needed to take them early because they graduated a week and half ago. So, that means he doesn't have to be at school until 9:30, then he only has one final, so he'll be finished by 11:00.

SO, I'll be taking a personal day on Thursday! Can you see my GIANT smile through the screen? We can both sleep in if we want, since he doesn't have to be at school at his usual 7:30, plus he'll be done so quickly, I plan to spend the rest of the day celebrating the end of his school year. We're going to lunch, and then to the DMV to (hopefully!!) get Stud's driver's license. Feel free to say a prayer or two for him. I don't think I shared the fact that he's already taken the test once back in November and he, obviously, didn't pass. :( He's been too gun-shy to take it again, but now his girlfriend (yeah, girlfriend. That's another post...) is begging him to get his license, cuz I guess it's not cool to have your mom drive you on dates. Sheesh....she's awfully demanding, isn't she? I'm hoping to God he passes this time!

Yikes! I've been sitting here for almost an hour, typing a few words at a time and now, it's time to watch The Biggest Loser Finale! Gotta run!

It's SHIT Day!*

I thought I'd show you how cute my new daisies look in their new home. Thanks, again, New Principal!
Last night, my mom had an Arbonne party at her house, and since it was Cinco de Mayo, I made my most-requested appetizer, Crispy Taco Bites. Yum!!

They look so fancy, but they are really the easiest thing to make. I love recipes like this, that make you look like a superstar, even if they only take a few minutes to make. Naturally, this is a Pampered Chef recipe!!

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Ok, ssshhhh.....don't tell anyone....but I just called sub-center and requested a sub for tomorrow. I'm playin' hooky!!!

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Saturday is my birthday, and I usually like to take a personal day (or in this case, a sick day) and just do whatever the hell I want all day. I wasn't so sure about doing it this week, especially because it's usually such a pain in the ass to prepare for a sub, and then the kids are usually nuts all day, etc. Last night, one of my good friends came to my mom's for the party, and told me that she, her mother, and another mutual friend (all teachers!) are all playing hooky tomorrow! Of course, she asked me to join them, so we could celebrate my birthday. I told her I'd have to think about it, but probably not, blah, blah, blah.

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Well, after the week I've had at school, most especially today, I decided at 2:30 that I was going to just do it. The kids have been AWFUL all week. By noon today, I had a pounding headache (which hasn't yet subsided, and I'm afraid is about to become a full-blown migraine by tonight) and was ready to bite someone's head off. Instead, I dismissed the little beasts, I mean babies, and went right back to my room, and prepared a sub folder. It was well worth the hour and a half I stayed at school to do it. Too bad I have to drive Stud to school tomorrow, so I can't really sleep in, but I am meeting friends for lunch, so that'll be nice.

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*Sure Happy It's Thursday!

Huh?

I was working with one of my small groups today, using some of the same books I used yesterday. AM was doing well with her sounds, and once again, we found ourselves on the "nap" page with the picture of the cute baby. This is what I heard today: "nnnn...aaaa...p....SLEEP!"

As we were walking out of our staff meeting this morning (10 minutes AFTER the kids were supposed to be picked up!!) New Principal drops this little bombshell on us - we are expected to put on a Christmas Assembly next Friday. She claims she told us, but everyone jumped up to say, "No, you didn't!" WTF?! As I was walking out last night, I was told that I have to attend a professional development meeting Thursday, which means I'm now down to 6 days with the babies. What the hell am I going to teach them for this show?! AND, preparing for the show can't take away from any of our instructional time. Yeah, ok, how 'bout I take all 28 of them (yeah, I got a new kid this morning!!) home with me for the next two weeks, and we can work on it every night from now til the show? Ugh!

We're having a walk-through tomorrow by the state, so everyone has been scrambling to get ready for that. Then, literally 20 minutes before dismissal, she sends a notice around to the teachers telling us what we're missing in our rooms for tomorrow, with a note saying we needed to fix it by the end of the day. Is she out of her fucking mind??! I'm not going to stress about it, it is what it is. My room is not changing one bit before tomorrow morning, sorry. One of the things that she had listed for my room was that I didn't have enough words on my word wall. Well, I have 15 words up there, and there have only been 9 words introduced so far in our reading series. The words on the word wall are supposed to be words that the kids know, not just random words. The last time the word wall issue was addressed, I was told I had TOO MANY words up. WTF? Make up my mind, will ya?

As much as it pisses me off that I have to go to this PD Thursday, I'm just glad to not have to be at school. Unfortunately, there are a couple of staff members who are going who I think are going to make it almost impossible to ditch this thing. Mrs. J., my neighbor/friend, and Mrs. M., my friend in the room across the hall, will both be there, and we were trying to figure out how to ditch and go see Mrs. F. and the baby. Mrs. M. hasn't met The Princess yet. But, like I said, the other two people attending aren't staff members we're very familiar with, and I think they would rat us out if we left. Damn... Well, at least when we come back on Friday, there won't be any kids since it's a staff development day. Then, we only have the 5 days next week, and we're ON BREAK! Woo hoo!

I need to get out of this grumpy mood, now that I've been venting, so I think I'll go put up some Christmas lights or something. Or, maybe I'll just go curl up with a magazine. Ah, who am I kidding? I have about 10 loads of laundry calling my name. Poop....

Potpourri

Here are a few pictures from my uncle's surprise party this past Sunday. This was the moment he walked in.
Here he is enjoying an after dinner drink with one of my cousins.

This isn't the greatest picture, but I wanted to get the four siblings all together. They're actually arranged oldest to youngest. My Aunt Marylou, my Aunt Lucy, my mom and Uncle Ed.

Yesterday was Report Card Pick-Up Day, which is Chicago's version of parent/teacher conferences. In a nutshell, it was fine. I actually had the highest number of parents show up in all the years I've been at the Hell-Hole. 23 out of 27 report cards were picked up. I'm actually shocked because it was rainy and miserable here all day yesterday, which usually keeps the parents away. AND, I had 18 parents show up before our dinner break, which is unheard of! Normally, I only have 3 or 4 parents before the dinner break, then I get about 10-15 during the last 15 minutes of the night. It was completely the opposite yesterday. I had promised the babies that if every single report card was picked up, we would have a pizza party. Man, they must have worked on their parents because it was pretty damn close.

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Today, I enjoyed a day away from the Hell-Hole. New Principal let 7 of us go to a conference today. SEVEN! I still can't believe it. That's a hell of a lot of subs. The conference was only from 9-1, which made for a nice short work day, huh? Unfortunately, the conference was really a waste of time. Yeah, that's right, I actually STAYED!! Pick your jaws up off the floor, people! There were too many other teachers there for me to ditch. Actually, all but 1 of them would have ditched with me had I asked, but that one probably would have ratted us all out. Anyway, the conference, it turned out, was just a 4 hour sales pitch for software! Ugh! But, on the bright side, we were finished before 1, so we all were able to chat for about 20 minutes before I had to leave to pick up Stud. I actually picked him up a little early from school because he had an orthodontist appointment. Even after all was said and done, I was still home before 2:30. Not bad, right?
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There are only 13 school days left with the babies before our glorious Christmas break. Woo hoo! The countdown above is the number of actual days, but the number of days that include the babies is so much more important! ;-) The only downside to this is that I only have a handful of days to do any kind of Christmas activities. I only have 9 days between Thanksgiving and the break to do what I usually do in a month's time. We'll just have to make the best of it. I'm willing to step up and take on for the team on this one. tee hee!

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Last week we had a bit of a heat wave here in ChiTown, and it hit nearly 70 for a few days. All of my planter boxes in front of my house sprouted new growth, and there are tons of new blooms. I was awestruck yesterday when I went out to get my mail. (I really should go out and takes pictures for you, because the flowers truly are beautiful.) Anyway, this week, the temperatures have been dropping rapidly, and there has been talk of some snow in the next few days. WTF? God, I LOVE Chicago!!!!

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I almost forgot! Here are a couple of pictures of Princess Sylvia! She is so damn cute! We had such a fun visit before going to work yesterday. I kept telling Mrs. F. that I was going to put her in my purse and take her with me to school!

The happy family!

Awesome day!!!

Today was a professional development day for CPS schools. Last month, I was sent a letter from the Early Childhood Dept. letting me know that there was a kindergarten-specific workshop scheduled for today. Naturally, I called immediately and signed up for a spot. All my Bloggy Buddies already know what that means - FREE DAY! I dropped Stud Muffin off at school, then drove into the city, fought the morning rush hour, parked in the college parking lot, walked into the building, up to the assigned room, signed in (and OUT!), then repeated the whole process in reverse. I actually drove back home in about 1/4 of the time, since I was going the opposite way, which made it all the better!

Obviously, I knew for a while that I'd be enjoying this FREE DAY, so I had a long list of things to do. I didn't actually go straight home, because I had to take care of the first errand on my list. I drove straight to the DMV (I know, gasp!) to purchase my renewal sticker for my license plate. After standing in the wrong line (!) for 10 minutes, I got in the right line, and was back out to my car in less than 15 minutes. Miraculous, right?

From there, I went to the furniture store because I decided today would be the day that I finally purchase furniture for the basement. I've been looking for the perfect furniture for about 3 1/2 years. I thought I found it back in October, but then it didn't work out. Long story short, they couldn't get it in my house. OK, so I've spent the past 6 months looking for what I want. Wednesday, I found it! I received a sale paper from a local furniture store, and right there on page 2 was what I've been looking for. Oh happy day! So from the DMV, I went straight to Harlem Furniture to check it out. I really liked it, but I just couldn't let myself commit to such a large purchase without another person's opinion.

I called my sister, she was busy. I called my mom, she wasn't dressed yet. She then told me about another furniture store that was having a sale, and said we should go check it out. I told her to call me when she was dressed, and I went home. About a half hour later, she called, we met at the store and of course, she didn't really care for the furniture. I agreed to go to the other store. But first, she wanted to go literally across the street to yet another store. It was the store where I purchased the furniture back in October. I've since gone there at least 3 times, only to be disappointed because they never had anything new. But, my mother was relentless, so I gave in and we went. This story is already wwaaaayyyyy too long, so let me just say, I FOUND MY FURNITURE!!! It's a done deal. The only 'bad' part is that they did not have it in stock, so I have to wait nearly 2 months for delivery. But, that's ok, because it gives me time to look for an area rug that goes with the furniture.

This was the furniture grouping I had purchased that wouldn't fit in the house. I really like it, especially the chair! Oh well...

This is what I bought today! It's EXACTLY what I wanted! It's a 5-piece sectional, each of which is small enough to fit down my dumb-ass basement stairs. I love the color (well, duh, it's the color of chocolate!!) and the fact that it's leather. The set I saw first this morning was exactly the same except it had microfiber cushions, which I was afraid were going to be a magnet for dog hair. This is sooo much better! Thanks, Mom!!

Wow, is anyone still out there? After buying my beautiful new furniture, and doing a happy dance, I came home and made another splurge purchase! I'll spare you the details (you're welcome) and just say that I recently received another Barnes and Noble gift card, which brought my total in gift cards to $150. I used it to buy myself a Wii!!! I've been wanting one for the longest time! I was able to get it for $100 out-of-pocket. PLUS, it's going to be shipped in one day! I plan to get the Wii Fit package, and maybe finally work on getting this fat ass into some kind of shape other than round!!

My plans for my basement finally seem to be coming to fruition. Hopefully, Stud's friends will be hanging out, sitting on my new furniture and challenging each other to Wii games very soon. Just thinking about it makes me smile.

Thanks, JLo!!

My sweet bloggy friend, JLo, over at Almost Famous just did the sweetest thing! After reading this post, she felt compelled to do something for my babies. Today, I received a package in the mail with this in it:How adorable are these?! Monday morning, there are going to be two boys and two girls that are very happy. My dilemma now is deciding which babies to give these to. I have a pretty good idea already, and now I have a three-day weekend to make my final decision. A million thanks to you, JLo!!

The three-day weekend is thanks to a professional development day tomorrow. The kids are off, and we're supposed to attend one long, boring meeting after another. But, Homey don't play dat! (Holy crap, did I really just type that?!) My report cards are finished, which is what tomorrow is really supposed to be for, and I finished all my DIBELS testing today, so I don't feel the least bit guilty about taking a mental health day tomorrow. Ah, who am I kidding? I NEVER feel guilty about taking mental health days. ;-)

I've had 3 babies transfer out in the past week and a half, a total of 4 since we've come back from break. I'm back down to 20 babies. Now, of course, I just jinxed myself by putting it in black and white, but for now, I'll just enjoy it.

JLo wasn't the only one to bless my babies with gifts this week. I'm pretty sure I didn't post about this, but back before the holidays we had our "Principal for the Day" day at the Hell-Hole. It's something CPS does every year (do other schools do it, too?) We actually (finally!) had someone come who followed through on his promise to support our kids, and help us out. This year, our Principal for the Day was the president of Scholastic Books School and Library Group. He actually spent quite a bit of time chatting with me at our meet-and-greet breakfast, then later came to visit my class, and sat in on our read-aloud. He told me more than once to let him know what I needed/wanted for my class, and I figured I'd catch up with him later in the day to talk. Well, he ended up leaving before I had a chance to speak to him.*

A few weeks later, on our Real Men Read Day, who do you think came to our room to read? You got it, Mr. President! My kids loved it! If you aren't familiar with this program, Scholastic send books to the school for our kids (usually a different book for each grade level) then a male volunteer comes to read the book to the kids. The kids each receive a copy of the book that was read. The book Mr. President read to my babies was a book that my kids were familiar with thanks to one of those Scholastic DVDs I mentioned last week. The kids had a blast listening to Mr. President read, and he got a kick out of the babies, since they knew the story. He actually ended up staying for a while and observed/participated in our center time. The babies were thrilled!! And, I gotta say, he was impressed with how knowledgeable my babies are, as well. We were able to chat a bit during centers and I was able to give him an idea of what kinds of things I could use in my classroom.

Flash forward to yesterday (as this post is 10 times longer than it should be already!) I received two big boxes from Scholastic. One box had a collection of books specifically written for African-American children. The other box held the mother load!! There were 11 (11!!) sets of books and CDs. Each CD came with 5 copies of the book. Our listening center just doubled in size! Today, I received another box that held Scholastic's entire Kindergarten Read-Aloud Library. I noticed on the packing slip that I still have one more box coming. From what I can tell, it's Big Books. (Ok, I know my teacher friends just wet their pants, right?) In all, Mr. President sent me approximately $500 in books for my classroom. Can you believe it? I can't!!

*Ok, I'm really surprised I didn't write about this day, cuz I should have shared this story. Like I said, Mr. President left before I could talk to him again. My real plan was to talk to him about a job. After I dropped my kids off at our prep class, I went to find him, and that's when I heard he had to leave early because he had a meeting. I was feeling sorry for myself, and a little pissed at myself, too, for not at least getting his card. As I was walking back to my room, literally with my head down cuz I was pouting like one of my babies, I looked down at the stairs I was on, and there it was...HIS CARD!! Yes, seriously! I still can't believe it. Is that a sign or what?! I immediately emailed him, but never heard back. When he came to read to my class, I told him this story, and even he was taken aback, and agreed that it was a sign. He said he never got the email, but then he then told me I should call him anytime, since his cell phone number is on the card.

So far, I've resisted calling, but maybe if all my bloggy friends put in a good word/positive thought/prayer for me, I may be able to say I'm an employee of Scholastic Books soon!

Holy crap, is anyone still there?? I can't remember the last time a wrote a post this long. I gave myself a headache just rereading this! Since I don't have to work tomorrow (tee hee!) I'm off to watch the episode of The Bachelor I missed on Monday. Nighty night!

Ta dah!

This is the pumpkin my son finished last night before going to the dance.
He'll be carving a second one this afternoon. I wonder what he's going to do with that one...

The dance was nice. On the way there, my son said something about how maybe he really didn't want to go, and so on, but I reminded him that two of his best friends were going to be there (because they have younger siblings that still attend that school) so he kind of just sucked it up. But, once we got there, he was thrilled that he went. I couldn't believe how many of the kids from his class were there. It was great to see them, since we hadn't seen most of them since June.

After the dance, we had to head over to my friend's salon to get our hair done. My son actually wanted to come with me and get his hair cut. I was a bit surprised, but I wasn't going to say no! Needless to say, it was a late night, and I'm very sleepy today. As a matter of fact, I'm going to play hooky today from work. It's a staff development day today, so the kids aren't there anyway. I could use a long weekend. And, I certainly don't have the strength nor energy to sit through one boring meeting after another at school today. I'm not in the mood to listen to the Big Cheese butcher the English language, either.

I felt bad for my baby, though, this morning, because he had a hard time getting up. He's gonna be tired and cranky all day at school. But, he can go right to sleep when he comes home :) He had planned to try and stay up all night, then sleep during the day tomorrow because they're having a Freshmen Overnight tomorrow at his school. The kids are basically locked in the school from 9:00 Saturday night until 7:00 am Sunday morning. They will have access to the pool and the gym,and they'll be watching movies and playing games. Apparently, the only thing they WON'T be doing is sleeping. He's excited about it, and I'm excited for him.

I was originally going to play hooky with a friend, but he just called and the plans have changed. Damn!! Maybe I'll just go to work....I don't know....crap, crap, crap! OK, I'm going to go figure out what the hell to do. Now I'm annoyed!!!

Less than one hour...

...til the Cocksucking Jagoff and the Homewrecking Whore become man and wife. I wish I could stop letting it bother me, but I just can't. My son just called to check in, and he was already dressed in his tux, and waiting to go. I'm the only one who thinks it's just wrong that he isn't his father's best man? I'm appalled. He's having his nephew be his best man, the same nephew who was our best man. Idiot! It's not like my son is an infant. He'll be 15 in a matter of weeks. Whatever. And, seriously?!! We're having a full blown wedding, are we? This is at least her 3rd wedding, his second. What's the fucking point?! The Whore is undoubtedly wearing white, I'm sure. I'd love to know which church agreed to marry them. Why the hell didn't they just take their nasty asses over to city hall and get it over with. Have the party, if that's what you want, why all the ceremony to go with it? Neither one of them can follow a commandment, especially "Thou shall not commit adultery", obviously!! It's a fucking joke. They've been "living in sin" for quite some time now. I just don't see the point. The only reason to get married at this stage of the game would be to have children. He keeps telling me she can't have any more children. So, why the marriage? So she can dump him like all the others, and take half of what he has? Not that he has much, but still. He's such a fucking idiot!! Ugh!! OK, I'm obviously not handling this well, which makes no sense. I don't know why the hell I even give a shit. Maybe it's because now that chapter of my life is unequivocally closed. There is no going back. Even though, that's not really what I want. I want my old life back, but not with him. Does that make sense? He makes my skin crawl these days. But, I want to be someone's wife again, I want to have a partner to go through life with, share things with, spend time with, grow old with. I think I'm feeling it more now that my son is getting older. Up until now, he's been pretty dependant on me, and my whole life could easily revolve around him without me feeling like I was missing something. After all, he's my baby, and that's my job, right? But, now that he's slowly pulling away from me, I'm starting to realize that I need to get a life of my own again. It's kinda scary.

OK, enough of the self-analysis. It's time to find some tequila and call it a night. Here's a little tidbit I've never shared - I've had a "boy toy" for about 8 years now. The past few years have been a bit on-and-off, but more on than off. We met when I was 33 and he was 22. Today is his 30th birthday (so I guess he's not a boy toy anymore, is he? A man toy?) I was really looking forward to helping him celebrate, but sadly, his father passed away a couple of weeks ago, and he's still not ready to be social. I feel really bad for him. I (selfishly) wish he was feeling better so he could help me get my mind off the CSJ. I guess I'll just have to make due with my sister and my brother's girlfriend, and lots and lots of tequila. I think we just might hit our favorite salsa club in the city (Nacional 27) and do some serious dancing. Hmmm, I guess that means I should probably go take a nap, huh?

Oo, one final thing. I'm supposed to be going to a workshop on Monday. My longtime readers know exactly what that means....a day off!!! My mommy is finally coming home Monday, so I'll have all day to cook and bake, and get the house ready for her homecoming. My darling son also has his second orthodontist appointment on Monday, so I'm a little afraid for him. It'll be his first adjustment, and I think he'll be in pain all week. Maybe I can make a few things that he'll be able to eat, like mashed potatoes, pudding, pasta, etc. I'm getting excited already just thinking about not having to be at work! I will miss my babies, though.

OK, naptime!! Have a great weekend! I plan to! (Maybe I'll post some Homecoming pics next week...)

40 and 1 week....

This was the fastest week I've ever had! Where did the past 7 days go? There were still things I wanted to share from my birthday, and a whole week has passed already. Let's try and wrap this up...

That evening, my son and I went to dinner with my parents at one of our favorite restaurants. My brother and sister were both working, so it was just the four of us. After dinner, I took my son to his other grandma's, and the rest of us headed to the bar. When I arrived at the bar, some friends were already there waiting for us. A few minutes after I got there, my brother told his buddy (who helps him out behind the bar) that he had to go home for something, and that he'd be right back. About 10 minutes later, he came back with this:

Check out the description on the box! Pimpin Stein!?! LOVE IT!!I LOVE it!! He and I were cracking up, especially after we had to translate for all the seriously Caucasian people in our group. While my brother was gone, I had taken that opportunity to mix myself a couple of margaritas (that's right, I said a couple.) I had made them in BIG pint glasses, so there was quite a bit of heaven there. When he brought me my goblet, I washed it out, and then poured my two drinks into it. They didn't even fill it half-way! I LOVE this thing! I decided I'd better finish what was in there instead of filling it up all the way. Good thing, because I made those margaritas a little on the strong side, and by the time I was half through, I was trashed! More friends joined us in the meantime, including my Dori, and a good time was had by all. At some point, my brother turned off the music, and announced to the entire bar that it was my birthday, and had everyone sing to me (just like we did for my dad a few weeks ago). It was very sweet! My mom and sister then served ice cream topped brownies to the whole bar.

Flash forward 3 days to Mothers' Day. I've already spent too many days boring you with the details of my birthday, so I'll keep this short. I got even more flowers (yay!) from my nieces and my brother. Aren't they pretty? The daisies are from my nieces, the tulips are from my brother.

The only thing is that now, my kitchen is starting to feel like a funeral home, with all these flowers!Hey, remember way back when, when I started a blog to tell you about life as a CPS teacher? Baby Story Alert!

Once again, it's DIBELS time! Oh, joy! I've been trying to jot down some of the funnier things the babies have said. Before I share those, let me just say, I'm so proud of my babies so far. As much as I bitch and moan about not being able to do any teaching because I'm always disciplining, obviously some of them must be absorbing some of what I say.

You might remember that one of the tests requires the babies to take words I give them and make sentences. The words I gave are bold and in italics:

These are from Miss K.C.

• "I felt a wooshie cushion." (woopie cushion?)
• "Animals are not shmosta (supposed to) boo boo in the house!" (For those of you not in the know, "boo boo" is the Englewood version of "poop")

Miss C.W. gave an awesome sentence for the word north. "I went to the North Pole." Don't even get me started on the fact that north is one of the words given to 5-year olds to use in a sentence!

D.J. (who I haven't written about in ages!) gave me a couple of very short phrases for these two:

• "Early dismissal." (we hear this phrase far too often at school!)
• " North side." (I think this may be a Chicago thing!)

Earlier in the day, we had started a new unit for reading, and this week we are discussing insects. I was trying to see what the babies already knew about insects, and I asked, "How many legs do insects have?" A few of the babies started yelling out random numbers, from 2-100. Then D.J., with a very serious face, said matter-of-factly, "A lot!" I've been meaning to write about D.J. for a while now, I just haven't had the strength or energy. I will get to it soon though. I have lots to say about him.

OK, it's time to figure out what's for dinner. Thank you, Big Cheese, for signing me up for a workshop today. By now, you have to know that means I enjoyed a day off today! Hence, this extra loonnggg post!!

This made me think of D.J.

We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today. ~Stacia Tauscher

Open wide....

Well, the gyne appointment actually went well. That's especially nice cuz the morning started out kinda sucky! I woke up with the same migraine I went to bed with last night. Still have it right now, actually. Anyway, woke up in pain, then had to get the 'pain' I gave birth to out of bed. Trust me, it wasn't pretty. It involved LOTS of yelling, which is bad enough when I don't have a migraine. Needless to say, he was 10 minutes late for school. AGAIN!

From there, I headed over to the Hilton to sign in and leave. Or, so I thought. Weeks ago, I gave the woman in the office, who handles the $, the registration papers for this workshop. Last week, I asked her if she sent everything in, etc., and she said, oh yeah, I'm gonna do it right now. Oookkkk....this past Wednesday, I stopped in her office and asked again. She holds up the papers and says, oh, I'm doing it right now! Yeah....last night, as I was walking out of school at 6:30, I asked for the third time, she says, yeah, I told you I did it.

So, that takes us to this morning. I walk in to the Hilton at about 8:15, thinking I'll be back out in my car by 8:20. No such luck. Surprise, surprise, my name wasn't on the list!! I was tempted to just say 'screw it' and walk back out. But, I realized I'd better have something to show I was there, just in case. I signed in, but then was told I needed to call this stupid woman at school and get the P.O. number from when she supposedly paid. First, I couldn't get a signal in the building, so I had to go outside. Then, I get Ms. M. on the phone, and she puts me on hold for 10 minutes. Then, she comes back and says that she put it through, but the Big Cheese never ok'd it. Ugh!!! She said she was going to go look for him, and call me back. So, I sat like a big ass in the lobby of the Hilton waiting for about 15 minutes, then called back. Long story already too long, she finally gave me the number, which I promptly gave to the girl at the table and then left. However, I'm about 90% certain she realized I was leaving cuz, duh! Everyone else was already in the conference room! It was much easier to blend into the crowd when there WAS one! Whatever!

I then had to rush to get to my gyne on time, which I did, and was in and out in less than a half hour! That's never happened before. Then again, I've never gone during the day before, either. This was awesome! I went to the bar from there, since my doctor's office is all the way out in BuFu, just like the bar, and I met my brother. We went to lunch, then did some banking, then I came home to change, maybe lie down for this migraine for a while, and then head back out in a bit. I have a hair appointment tonight, then I'll be going to the bar to work. I'm already exhausted. I figured I'd better post now, since I'm hoping to nap, and then there won't be time later.

OK, one last thing (especially for my Cali friends!!)...we had a damn EARTHQUAKE here this morning! Oh, yes we did!! Thank God I slept right through it, but it woke my poor sister up out of a sound sleep. I believe it was a 5.2, which is pretty big, especially for the freakin' midwest. The epicenter was in downstate Illinois, but it was felt all the way downtown. If any of my Chicago friends felt it, or have a story, PLEASE share!! It's been an absolutely gorgeous day here today. It's in the 70s (the bank said 79 earlier, but I find that hard to believe) and sunny. I have all the windows open in my house, and I'm planning to take a little siesta under the open window, feeling the warm spring breeze. Have a great weekend!!

I used to sleep nude - until the earthquake. ---Alyssa Milano

You and me both, Girl!!

It could be worse....

...I could have to work a full week. I just realized this morning, as I was typing out my weekly newsletter (that none of the parents read, by the way!!) that I only have to work three days this week. Well, three days with the kids, that is. The kids are off Thursday because it's Report Card Pick-Up Day. The nice thing about those days is that we start late, but the crappy thing is that we start late. We work 12-6 those days, so it's nice not having to go in until noon. But, I REALLY don't like being in Englewood until 6 pm. [On a side note, about 30 minutes ago, I was watching the early evening news, and they had a "breaking news story" about yet another child shot in Englewood today. I think the number of children killed this school year by gunfire is now around 35. Most of those have been in Englewood.]

Anyway, because we start late on Report Card days, we usually try to go out, or do something, the night before. However, I have a feeling I'll be "working" at the bar Wednesday night. That's fine, though. Maybe I can convince some of the girls to meet me up there, since they all start late the next day, too.

Friday, I'm not working because the Big Cheese paid for me to go to a workshop. Now, you all know the routine. Go, sign in and leave. However, Friday, I'll be leaving to go right back home (the workshop is at a Hilton that's about 10 blocks from my house) and jump in the shower, because I have a gyne appointment. Worked out well, didn't it? I love that I was able to make a daytime appointment, because it's so hard to get an evening appointment at this office. I realized about a month ago that I was about 3 months late for my checkup. That wouldn't be such a big deal, except I've had to go see my doctor every 3 months for the past few years, so I basically missed an entire checkup. Oh, well. Hopefully, there's not a problem.

My doctor told me to stop having intimate dinners for four, unless there are three other people. ---Orson Welles

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

This is absolutely one of my favorite pictures of me and my daddy. He looks a little like Elvis, doesn't he? This was taken at Kiddieland about 39 years ago. For the record, Kiddieland still has this exact same carousel, and hasn't changed much in the 50+ years it's been around.

Today my daddy turned 65. That means that in 27 short days, I will be turning (gasp!) 40. Yikes! Big year for both of us. And, my baby will be 15. How the hell did that happen?! I think it's kinda cool that my daddy and I are 25 years apart, and my son and I are also 25 years apart.

We had a big surprise party for my dad when he turned 50. At the time of his party, I hadn't told him yet that I was pregnant. (Partly because I couldn't bear to admit that his little girl was having sex! Never mind that I was already married for over 3 years at this point!) I had a fake newspaper made up with a headline that read "MG to Become a Grandpa at the Ripe Old Age of 50!" And that's how he found out I was having a baby. It's one of the few times I've ever seen my dad cry.

My dad and son absolutely adore each other. He's the first grandchild, and only grandson, so he'll always have a special place in my daddy's heart. Despite promising myself I wouldn't post pictures of my child (or any family members for that matter), I'm gonna do it again. This is one of my favorite pictures of him and his grandpa. I think it's about 10 years old now. They're both lookers, don't ya think?

Sadly, I didn't end up ditching my workshop today, so I didn't have lunch with my daddy. But, we'll be having dinner together tonight (me, mom, sis and dad) then we'll head over to the bar and do a little celebrating with my brother. I think I'd better go take a quick nap, cuz I think it's gonna be a late night! Happy, happy birthday, Daddy!! I love you!!!!

The greatest gift I ever had

Came from God; I call him Dad!

~Author Unknown

Whew....

...thank God that's over! I only had to stay for about 15 minutes after school today to finish my report cards. I had to get them finished today, because I won't be at school tomorrow (thank you, Jesus!!) and the grades have to be in by the end of the day. That's the point of the teacher institute day, despite the fact that most principals (Big Cheese included) schedule meetings all damn day long. I used to always take these days off, since I could get more work done at home, plus my son would be out of school, as well. But, this year CPS switched over to a computerized system for attendance and grades, and we can only access it from school. How freakin' stupid is that?!?! I don't know any teachers who actually do their report cards at school. We take them home (along with the hours of other work we bring home every night!!) and work on them in the comfort of our own homes, sitting in our jammies, sipping our tea or coffee. Or margarita, if we're lucky!! It REALLY pisses me off that we have to be at school to do our damn cards.

Anyway, my little darlings basically did nothing today while I worked on report cards. They watched Between the Lions and Sesame Street videos (both to ease my guilt, as they are incredibly educational) and then Rugrats (the source of my guilt!) But, bottom line - I got my damn card finished, and didn't have to stay in Englewood any longer than necessary.

Of course, I drove straight here to the bar, where I've been trying to program the damn cash registers for a week! I'm taking a quick break to post and check email, then I'm going to go get my brother and myself some dinner, then I'm going to give the registers another try. Since I don't have to work tomorrow, I figure I can stay out later. Yeah, right, I'm already exhausted!

I still do have to get up early tomorrow and drive all the way to Malcolm X College to sign in and leave. Then I'll be off to celebrate my daddy's birthday. 65 wonderful years! Yay, Daddy!

A father is always making his baby into a little woman. And when she is a woman he turns her back again. ---Enid Bagnold

I need to put these in a book...

My Upstairs Neighbor was bothered by the fact that I didn't give up the scoop on our ridiculous staff meeting yesterday. Given my Alzheimer's, I can't really remember everything, but I'll share what I can remember.

First of all, I HAVE to share the survey we were handed when we walked in to the meeting. My table was having uncontrollable fits of giggles over this ludicrous document. (Be sure to click on it so it enlarges, and you can read it!)

As a group, we wanted to scratch out the word "different" in the last choice, and write in "some" or "any." One of our teachers was told a while back by our LLT something to the effect of "maybe you'll be happier at your next school." So, naturally, she was looking for the option that said, "Mrs. C. told me to look for a new school."

Another topic brought up in this meeting was teacher attendance. Big Cheese started to talk about it, and immediately says, "Well, I guess I'm preachin' to the wrong group." DUH!!! WE are all here! But, did that stop him from going on and on? Um...NO! He proceeds to waste 10 minutes talking about how we "muss be here everyday, teachers!" (no, that's NOT a typo!) Monday we had 8 teachers out. Far be it from me to agree with anything Big Cheese says, but that is irritating! Dori and I both missed preps this week because so many teachers were out. That sucks! I have yet to miss one single day in the Hell-Hole this year (outside of days that we are scheduled for professional development). Shocking, I know! I seriously think that's a major contributing factor to my unbelievably high stress level this year. In the 18 years I've been teaching, last year was the first year I had any sick days left at the end of the year to carry over to the next year. This year, like I said, I haven't taken ANY days off. I think I feel a sick day coming, though, cuz we don't have another day off until freakin' Memorial Day!!! (OK, all you non-teachers out there can stop rolling your eyes now!) And, just for the record, the main reason I never had any sick days left was because I'm a mom, and when my baby was sick, I had to stay home to take care of him, obviously. But, believe me, there were "mental health days" mixed in there, too.

We do have a teacher institute day coming up on April 11. Dori and I are scheduled to attend some in-service meeting somewhere, but I/we plan to sign and in leave immediately (I know, hard to believe, huh?) so I/we can enjoy the day with my daddy. April 11 will be his 65th birthday. He's officially going to become a senior citizen. Haha! I'm planning to drive up to his office with a cake, and maybe some balloons, just to irritate him. tee hee! We did that on his 60th, and all his employees were so excited. I actually got these giant number balloons, a 6 and a 0, and parked them in the breakroom along with a cake and assorted pastries. This year, his birthday falls on a Friday, so maybe we can make it an all-out party.

I'm sure there were many other things from the meeting that would make for interesting reading, but they escape me right now. If U.N., or anyone else, remembers any of them, PLEASE feel free to share! I'm just too tired to think anymore about it right now, and I still have tons to do for the big fundraiser I'm having Saturday night. I hope to see some of you there!

The man who doesn't relax and hoot a few hoots voluntarily, now and then, is in great danger of hooting hoots and standing on his head for the edification of the pathologist and trained nurse, a little later on. ~Elbert Hubbard

Marvelous Monday!!

Well, I've had just a glorious day today!!! Take a look:
http://intheloop.ivillage.com/on_demand/watch
(You may have to put in the date - Feb. 11) Just in case you don't have 40+ minutes to sit and watch this whole show, let me just tell you that I came home with $1,213.70 worth of gifts!! I can't even remember what they all are right now, so watch the show to see them.

On the off chance that you want to know what happened at the Hell-Hole today, take a peek at Dori's blog.

Thank goodness we don't have school tomorrow (Happy Birthday, Abe!) cuz it's snowing like crazy right now, and the windchill is below zero. I plan to stay cuddled up on the couch, watching movies and reading all day tomorrow. I may even go back to school Wednesday feeling re-energized! At least I hope so, because we'll be going on a field trip that day, so I need all the energy I can muster!

When the student is ready the teacher will appear. ---Lao Tzu

Let's hope my babies aren't ready until Wednesday!!

Woo hoo!!! It's FINALLY Friday!!

Imagine...four glorious days without the Hell-Hole!! I'm so excited, I could pee my pants!! Then, when we get back on Wednesday, we have a field trip. Thursday's Valentine's Day, so the day will be filled with plenty of activities. Friday is the only day of "school" we'll have, and then it's another three-day weekend! Now, don't start your complaining about how teachers have so much time off, or I'll be forced to jump through your monitor and throttle you!!

Monday I'll be going downtown again for another In The Loop show. This time, I'm bringing an entire posse! My friend from work (whose son I pick up in the morning), my brother, my cousin, and two of my brother's friends. Hopefully, Dori will also be joining us. (We ARE supposed to be working, but after the day she had today, I don't think it'll be that hard to get her to ditch like me!) I've now gotten pretty chummy with the woman who is the audience coordinator for the show, and she's hookin' us up! She said they wanted an audience that is half men and half women for some reason, so I lined up 5 men. I should get a prize for bringing the most testosterone to the party! It's supposed to be a big give-away day, so I'm looking forward to it. My brother and the other boys were thrilled to hear there's going to be a lingerie fashion show. I'm hoping one of the give-aways is champagne, or a bottle of wine. For some reason, we need to bring ID with us this time that has our date of birth, so I assume we need to be old enough for something.

I realize I haven't really said much about school today, but I'm trying to pack and type at the same time because I'm leaving in about 10 minutes for a Girls' Weekend in Michigan. But, there's plenty to say about today at the Hell-Hole, so I'll be sure to fill you in next week. Have a wonderful weekend. I know I will! I have the important stuff already packed, like the margarita mix and the tequila!!!

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. ---Kahlil Gibran

We'll definately be sharing some pleasures this weekend, probably from our good friend, Jose Cuervo. I just hope he doesn't give us all headaches in the morning!

Potpourri

The babies cracked me up all day today. It was just a silly day all the way around. At 11:30, smack in the middle of art, we were treated to a play put on by some local high school students. Naturally, things were running a bit behind, so when Dori and I came back from prep and met our classes in the auditorium, they hadn't started yet. Good for us! We didn't miss any of the show. I have to say, the high school kids did a wonderful job. They did their own versions of The Three Little Pigs and Little Red Ridinghood, and another play based on an African folktale. They were great. I hope they'll come back again.

I had planned to rant again about our reading interventionist, but I just don't have the strength. She infuriates me to the point of wanting to rip her hair out! Let me just tell you how the morning with her started. She showed up at 10:00, again 10 minutes AFTER she was supposed to already be in Dori's room, and says, "I figured I'd wait til you were done with your stuff before I came." Yeah, right!! It's more like you were busy doing jack shit like you always are!! OK, I'm stopping now cuz I could write volumes about this!

After all the DIBELS testing I've done these past couple of weeks, I needed to adjust my reading groups a bit. Today, I called each new group over so we could come up with group names. Before the switch, I had 6 small groups going. There were two groups each for benchmark, strategic and intensive students. The groups were all named after Chicago sports teams. We had the Cubs and Sox (benchmark) Bears and Bulls (strategic) and Blackhawks and Fire (intensive).

Now we only have 5 groups. I tried to steer the kids toward picking names that connected to the color of their level. (That's mostly because their senile old teacher has trouble remembering what groups they're in!) The first group to come over were the 6 highest in the benchmark (green) group. I tell them that we're going to pick new names for our groups and asked for suggestions. C.B. says, "The Good Kids!" so matter-of-factly, I couldn't help but giggle. I asked them to brainstorm about things that are green that they could be called. They came up with trees, frogs, turtles and grass at first. My buddy D.J. is in this group, and he immediately suggested money. We tried to vote, but they each kept voting for their own suggestion. They're so funny. D.J. kept insisting they should be called The Moneys, and he did his best to persuade the rest of the group. I gotta give the kid an A for effort, that's for sure! Then I think I may have suggested green M&Ms, and they went nuts. So, their new name is now the Green M&Ms. Yum! My favorite! The other 6 children in benchmark came over, and after going over the list the last group suggested, they voted on being the lizards. Great! Two down, three groups to go!

The first of the strategic (yellow) groups came over and did their brainstorming. After much deliberation, we still couldn't get a consensus. Each of them kept voting for their own suggestion. One of my boys, C.B., almost made me cry. He, like the others, kept voting for his own suggestion up til this point. It was The Sunflowers. I explained to the group that we couldn't pick a name until we had a majority vote. So, he gets this pensive little look on his face, then he sweetly concedes to I.W.'s suggestion, Lemonheads. I swear, I got teary eyed. I guess you had to actually see his face. I then launched into this whole thing about what compromising means, and how very proud I was of him for doing that, and so on. Well, then the third member of the group gave in, too. Yay, we had a name! I then said to I.W., "What do you say to your group?" She immediately said, "Thank you!" and then proceeded to hug them both at the same time. It was so damn adorable, I almost cried again. God, I love these babies!!!!

The second strategic group came over and listened to the unused suggestions of the first yellow group. Since M&Ms and Lemonheads are both candy and edible, I suggested they might want to think of something edible for their name. The first suggestion was Bananas, which is actually one of the names I had been thinking of myself. Another one of them suggested cheese, and still another suggested macaroni and cheese. Cuz, afterall, it's yellow!! Then, one of them decided since the other yellow group was The Lemonheads, they should be The Cheeseheads. Awesome! The rest of the group immediately gave the name a thumbs up, and so they were named.

The last group to be named was my intensive (red) group. Out of the four of them, two were absent today, and the other two were at the back table with the RI. So, I took it upon myself to name them The Cherries. After realizing that four out of the five groups had edible names, I called the Lizards over and explained the situation to them. I asked them if maybe they wanted to change their name, so they started to brainstorm again. After a few minutes and several suggestions, they came up with....wait for it....The Salads!! I kid you not! Hey, it's green and you can eat it! Enough said!

One of the babies in the red group came up to me after I read off the names of the groups and who was in each group. He was visibly upset that I read his name off with the red group. He was in the red group last time, but when I tested him this time, he really did move up to yellow. However, he made it by the skin of his teeth, so I intended to keep working with him in the red group. Actually, he scored yellow in the one assessment that was weighed the heaviest, but red in the other four. I feel he should keep working with the other reds. But, as he gently reminded me, "When I took my test, I moved from the red to the yellow." He was so upset, that I think I may just have to move him to the Cheesehead group. We'll see how it goes next week.

I hope the day goes well for the sub tomorrow. Although, really, I could care less, cuz I won't be there!!! I'm so excited. I'm actually going to be stealing from CPS again. My friend and I plan to sign in and leave the meeting, as usual, but this time, we're actually going to be doing something fun. My friend's friend is the producer of the show "In the Loop," an IVillage show, that's live from downtown Chicago every morning. So, we're going to the show. Yay! The hosts of the show are Bill Rancic, Ereka Vetrini and Kim Coles. I'm really most excited about the possibility of meeting Kim Coles. She cracks me up! I suppose I shouldn't wear the warm-up suit I had planned to wear on my "day off." It wouldn't look so hot on TV, huh? My sister is worried that I'm actually going to be on TV, and I'm gonna get busted. I reminded her, however, that anyone from school that might see me on TV would obviously not be working like THEY'RE supposed to, so I'm not worried.

I suppose I'd better hit the sack so I'm fresh-faced and well-rested for tomorrow. I'll be filling you in on what, if anything, happens that's worth telling.

I very often hear, "You are a saint!" when people hear stories about my job. I loved this quote that I found tonight:

Most saints live to regret their career choice. ---Bob Stokes

You ain't kiddin' Bob!!