The Best Christmas Ever

Hands down Christmas 2008 has been my best Christmas ever. Actually, the year 2008 has been my best year ever. I'll write a post about my favorite 2008 moments next week. Today I want to dedicate my post to the reasons why I had the best Christmas ever.

1. Presents: giving and receiving. I have to begin with my class this year. They are the most observant and thoughtful class I've ever taught. They listen to every word I say. All of the gifts they gave me were things they heard me say I loved. Also, no expense was spared when it came to their gifts. I didn't get them anything amazing but they were all so grateful and thankful. My favorite student gift: a San Antonio Spurs ornament. Then my friends and family also gave me many thoughtful gifts. And I was happy to give many gifts to all my friends and family. My favorite family gift: a tie between a framed picture of Horacio (He looks adorable). and my cousin gave me all the Scrubs seasons I didn't have. 4 in total so now I have all 7.
2. Family: I've been lucky enough to spend lots of time with all of my family. I am including my cousins as well as my nieces, nephews, and brother and sisters.
3. Karaoke: Everyone knows that I'm a huge fan of karaoke. Last night at our annual Christmas Eve Party other people actually joined in on the singing fun. I have to admit that even though I wanted people to join in on the fun I was a bit reluctant to let go of the microphone. In the end, karaoke was a HUGE hit.
4. Shopping: I am not a shopper at all. Wait! Let me rephrase that. I am not a shopper during the holiday season. I hate to even shop for myself. I currently owe my brother and parents their Christmas presents. However, in a strange moment of weakness I headed out for a day (yes, a whole day) of shopping with my cousin Mary and her boyfriend's cousin, Robert (Please see bullet number 5). I ended up having so much fun with them. And I managed to buy some last minute gifts.
5. New Friends: I've met a couple of new people over the break. Robert is one of them. He's funny and a good guy so I'm excited to take a road trip with him and my cousin and her boyfriend. I always have a great time with Ben and Mary so I expect nothing but the same this time around.

So there you have it. My best Christmas ever. I hope y'all had a safe and very Merry Christmas!!!

It's Beginning to Not Look Like Christmas

I can't tell you what the deal is but it is not at all Christmas weather here. Yes, today in the morning I was wearing a coat. However, as 1:30 rolled around the coat was off and I was shopping in short sleeves. I'm not sure how y'all feel but I'm having somewhat of a hard time getting into the holiday spirit with it being so hot. Well hot for December.

What's this? Karaoke at an airport?

I just came across this article on Yahoo!. I can't believe it. At least I could sing while I waited.

Hello All

So sorry that I've been M.I.A. Once I finally missed a day of posting I kind of didn't feel that pressure to post daily. And I felt like the quality of my posts was in limbo. So I'm back and sort of refreshed. I have so many things to talk about but then I'm so tired. We have one day left of school before we go on Winter Holiday. At this point my body knows it's about to get a break and it wants to relax.
With that being said I can't wait to share with y'all how my day goes tomorrow. Already I can tell it's going to be different. First of all, I only had to make rice krispy treats today. Usually I have to make or put together a lot of things. I rather like this feeling. I can actually relax before tomorrow. Next, my kids at school are surprisingly well behaved. Sure they are excited but they are being good. My classroom looks good. My kids have been working hard making decorations for our holiday party.
So I'll share tomorrow with all my fun moments. (Not at all related to this post...Spurs lose 2 in a row...boo hoo).

Oh the Drama

I am an out in the open celebrity gossip aholic. I read it everyday to stay up to date with the latest happenings. Right now I am very much in a frenzy because of all the latest Twilight/New Moon developments. I very much like the actor that plays Jacob but they don't want him back. Read all about it...I'm too sad to talk about it.

Mr. Kitty aka Optimus Prime, Santa Baby, Octopus, Bad Kitty, Jinxy

A couple of weeks ago my dad was cooking out for family night. On this night a stray kitten came to hang out. My mom loves cats. She's taken care of her share of fuzzy critters but her numbers have dwindled. My niece Vanessa begged us all night to take him in. All of us said no for different reasons. Yet the kitty seemed to adopt us. So now we have a cute, sweet, crazy, and mischeivious kitten living with us.
Except...
He has no official name. I wanted to call him Edward or Jinxy. Vanessa, wanted to call him Santa Baby, and my brother wanted to call him Optimus Prime. Needless to say that he still has no name. So I've come to call him Mr. Kitty and my nephews call him Optimus (my four year old niece called him Octopus thinking it was the same as Optimus). And Vanessa still can't decide. So I guess he better respond to all of them.
Mr. Kitty is very, very bad. Just today he tried to trip me, almost tore my favorite shirt, attacked my trash can, made a mess with the toilet paper, and tried to use my laptop. Bad Mr.Kitty! Ha it reminds me of that book Bad Kitty. So cute. But you've got to love him.

Update: Mr. Kitty attacked my foot again. Bad Kitty. I was on my way to get some banana-nut bread I baked yesterday. He must want it all for himself.

Holiday Party

Our school is having their holiday party this evening. I look forward to these parties because you get to see how people are outside of the work place. Some people are funner and some not so fun. There are a couple of people that I have become better friends with because of our interaction at the holiday party. There are a few things I hope will happen at the holiday party:

• Karaoke
• Yummy food
• Fun conversations
• At least one drunk co-worker

We'll see if how it goes. I've been to every holiday party since I started teaching. I like the parties at my new school because they are always at someone's house. I love to see how they decorate and it really does give the party a homey and warm feeling.

The Conclusion

I just wanted to update everyone on the last two days of secret santa. On Thursday I got the cutest mug from Starbucks. It has a black top and handle and slivery, glittery, clear color to it. I got this because I love the San Antonio Spurs. Today was the reveal day. I got a really cute card with a gift card to Starbucks. I have to say that this was the best secret santa I've ever had. My class and I were all so excited to find out who my secret santa was.

"You're going to have to go to the doctor for that."

My class is hilarious. There are way too many examples to give. They just crack me up and I spend a lot of time laughing with them. This week one of my little girls has been telling me that I'm going to need to go to the doctor to take care of my giggling fits. And then her saying that made me giggle even harder. I love the holidays. They make me extra happy and giggle-y.

Obviously my class knows I love 3 things: San Antonio Spurs, mr. Goodbar, and Little Miss Sunshine. In the summer Target had many of the Mr. Men products in their dollar section. I picked up whatever I could that would work in my classroom: stickers, mouse pads, wipe boards, pens, note pads, and a cute little chart that shows your mood for the day. The only difference is that instead of it saying happy, sad, mad and so on it shows the different Mr. Men and Little Miss characters. Needless to say that my class enjoys changing my moods throughtout the day. Sometimes I'm Little Miss Bossy and others times I'm Mr. Noisy. Crazy kids. Gotta love them. See why they crack me up.

Secret Santa

Every year I've been a teacher I have always participated in Secret Santa. I love to give gifts and I should be honest that I love to receive them too. The only sad thing was that this year only about 15 people signed up to do Secret Santa. I think a lot of us are feeling our pocket books tighten. When we sign up we fill out a sheet with our favorite things. Each day is has a differnet category. Monday: sweet treats; Tuesday: teacher tools; Wednesday: hobbies; Thursday: favorite color or sports team (hmmm what team did I pick?); Friday: gift card to favorite restaurant or store.

My Secret Santa is the best. I have gotten the best gifts. I feel so spoiled. And my kids get so excited to watch me open my gifts. This is what I have received so far. Monday: 2 giant chocolate bars, one mr. Goodbar and a Hershey's with almonds; Tuesday: big, lined, multi-sticky pads, 5 pack of pens, and a correction pen; Wednesday: many, many beautiful beads, scrapbooking paper, card stock backgrounds, and stickers.

I'll update what I get on the final two days as they happen. What can I say? I love Secret Santa!!!

Principal's Observation

Yesterday I announced to my class that we were going to have a special visitor today. My principal was going to do her yearly observation of me teaching a lesson. My class was excited because they love visitors. The plan was to do a mini-lesson on prefixes, suffixes and root words. Then move into work stations while my co-teacher and I did guided reading and writing.

Fast forward to today
7:40 Miss G. drives into the school parking on a dark, cold and drizzling morning. I can tell that all kids are going to be CRAZY today because of the weather. Not the greatest day for an observation but at least it's not raining. I'm also worried the principal will be a no show because she is not back in town.
8:15 Starts to pour outside. Aw crap, now the kids won't even get to go out to recess. Miss G. thinks that after lunch the kids are going to be crazy. I exchange worried glances with my co-teacher.
11:45 Two of my girls that go to another class for enrichment run in and shout: "MISS G. IT'S SNOWING!!!" All of my enrichment kids run to the one window in my class to see the snow. I'm thinking, AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!
12:35 Jen tells me that my co-teacher reminded my principal of the observation. (She had been out of town since Thursday.) She also asked if she was going to take into consideration the weather. Needless to say that the principal was a bit clueless.
1:20 Co-teacher arrives early to help prep the kids. We get them to clean their desks, pass out their work stations folder, and to continue writing in their writer's workshop notebook. I want the principal to see us transition into our lesson.
1:32 Principal walks in and the kids are excited. She says hello and the lesson and observation begins. Since yesterday I introduced prefixes and suffixes today's mini-lesson is a hands-on activity where the class gets up and puts together root word with a prefix or suffix that makes sense. My class rocks the activity.
1:45 Class breaks into their work stations. As soon as kids get situated co-teacher and I call our guided reading and writing groups. Principal circulates asking students about their work station. Principal watches co-teacher and I work our magic. After one group with us Principal asks me questions about my work stations. She is impressed with my students' writing and asks for additional copies that I hadn't enclosed in her packet.
2:15 Principal leaves and my class, co-teacher and I exhale. Not at all bad. I thank my students for the awesome lesson.

I have to say that I was very pleased with the way my observation went. Even though the weather was bad and the day was unusual my class was wonderful. They really pulled through for me. I guess that's what happens when you have the perfect class. So thanks to all of you that wished me luck. It was a great day.

My New Grandma

If you read my previous post I spent the afternoon with Jen and her MawMaw. I met Jen's MawMaw about two months ago and thought she looked fabulous. Today I got to know her a lot better. She bought me dinner, welcomed me into her home, showed me her beautiful Christmas tree, and shared a lot of her family history. Being a lover of history in general I absolutely loved everything she shared with me. And there were pictures to go with it. I have to say that I had a great night.

So again thanks to Jen for sharing her grandma with me. And thank you to MawMaw for making me feel welcome and for the great history lesson.

Aw S@&t! I Forgot to Shave

Today I had the privilege of going to the beauty salon with Jen and her MawMaw. Jen had invited me one previous time but it conflicted with family night. I'm so glad I got to join in the fun today. Jen and her MawMaw had their nails done and I had a pedicure and eyebrow waxing. By the way...OUCH!!! It had been a couple of years since I had touched up my brows.

As the girl was getting the foot tub ready something hit me like a slap in the face. To my horror I forgot to shave my legs. I was mortified. I apologized repeatedly to the girl and she said repeatedly not to worry that she had seen worse. What??? Worse than me? As embarrassing as this is I have to admit that I haven't shaved in about...6 weeks. (Opps, guess y'all know I'm not getting any.) Anyway, I didn't really believe she meant it but still it was nice of her to say.

So to conclude my next embarrassing chapter I had a great pedicure, the girl was nice and I enjoyed myself tremendously. So thanks Jen for inviting me to come.

Little 'Ol Me....

I want to thank Amy and Bonnie for giving me this award. They have become such great buddies of mine.

Bonnie:
I actually met Bonnie in person on my birthday last year. She and Jen had class together. Jen wanted to treat me to dinner so I tagged along as they met before class. I'm sure glad to have gotten to know Bonnie better through her blog. And it is so true that we share many similar interests and ideas. So cheers to my tomboy buddy. And thanks a lot for the award.

Amy:
I started reading Amy's blog because of Jen. I've come to really enjoy it because of Amy's love and appreciation of family. I too am very close to my family. And I think Alyce is too cute. I also feel that I know Amy a lot better because Jen tells me stories about when y'all were little. So thanks Amy for the award.

The rules for this award are that you must list 5 of your addictions and then give the award to five other people.

Tell these people about their award by leaving a comment for them on their blog.

My Addictions
Laughing: I can make anything into a joke. I find the humor in EVERYTHING, which can get me into trouble.

Celebrity Gossip: Because what Britney did over the weekend is really important.

San Antonio Spurs: Woo hoo!!! Go Spurs Go!!! I guess Manu Ginobili should be a category on his own but I'll include him here. I.LOVE.Manu.

Harry Potter: This boy wizard totally won my heart over. Technically Harry Potter is about a year younger than me. The books take place in the 90's rather than when they were released so it's okay for me to love him.

Arts and Crafts: I will attempt to make anything and everything. When I see invitations, greeting cards or jewelry the wheels in my head start turning. My thought: "Why buy something you can make yourself?" So I refuse to and make it myself. Next on the crafting plate...stamps. But some are sooo pricey.

And the award goes too....(drum roll please)
1. Jen: The gal that got me into this whole mess so I guess I would never have received this award without her. Jen has put up with so much of my attitude, drama, and excitement that she deserves this award and many others. Oh and not my attitude necessarily but I can be temperamental when someone rubs me the wrong way.

2. Heidi: I'm glad to have crossed paths with her. She is so giving with her time and it inspires me to do the same.

3. Anne: Without even knowing it she has come to the rescue with her witty posts and great sense of humor. I love reading her blog.

Don't have too many blogging friends so I pick you and you again.

4. Bonnie: What can I say? You crack me up. I love to read your blog. You are funny and deep. A really great balance.

5. Amy: I love to hear Alyce's point of view and how your life is so complete with her in it. You are a wonderful mother.

I'm so happy for all of you! I love to read your blogs and get to know you better.

Holiday Movies

Even though I love holiday movies I don't exactly rush out to see many (with the exception of Elf, but that's hilarious). Yet this year I'm in a movie type of mood so I thought I'd post a list of movies I'm interested in watching this holiday season.

1. Twilight: Yup I want to see it over and over and over.
   
2. Nothing Like the Holidays: The previews remind me of my family.
   
3. The Spirit: I loved 300 and Sin City so I know I'm going to love this movie.
   
4. Seven Pounds: I'm so curious what Will Smith's mission is.
   
5. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button: I wonder how this love story will end.
   

What movie are y'all looking forward to watching this holiday season?

Soooo Sleepy

I am so sleepy that I can't fall asleep. I hate when that happens. I have no will and energy to lay down and fall asleep. What a boring post I know. I will more creative tomorrow. I promise.

Not Again

So my perfect class has one flaw. They are NOT Spurs fans. When I mention the Spurs the boys in my class roll their eyes. They even say, "Not again!" Most of them have their own favorite team so they don't follow MY team. Every year I'm able to win some kids over and make them Spurs fans but not this year. And not even the fact that my co-teacher follows the Spurs helps win them over. What can I do?

So picture this...I am reading a book to my class. I want my kids to enter the Kids Can Be Authors Contest through Scholastic. Students write and illustrate their own book. Well I've been reading different books that have won before. The kids really like them. I read one where students wrote about a farm that became the place where their school was built. It was very sweet. After the book I talked about possible subjects for a book the class could write. I said that you can write about something you really love. I did a think aloud with the kids.

Me: "What is something I love?" (I actually thought of mac and cheese but I couldn't write a book about that. My next thought was the Spurs.) "I know. I love the Spurs. I would write about them."

J: points to his mouth with both hands "I knew you were going to say that with that little mouth of yours?"

The whole class cracked up including me. But of course I didn't back down. (FYI: J is a New England Patriots fan.)

Me: "Yes, I'm going to write about the Spurs. That's my idea!"

So today my class started brain-storming their own idea for a book. I started my Spurs story. Jen had a great idea that I should keep every part of my story so that I can show my kids (present and future) that you have to work hard at writing something good. It isn't perfect the first time. So I'll share my process with y'all. Of course the kids can't take my idea. But it would have been nice if they chose to write about the Spurs.

I can picture it. It would win, I could send the Spurs Organization a copy, then they would invite us all to one of their games, we would meet the team down on center court, I would lock eyes with Manu, he would want to marry me. Kidding...he's already married. But just meeting the Spurs team would've been amazing.

Wishful thinking! Hope my kids end up loving my story.

Ok, Ok, Jen...I'm Spoiled

Note: I began this post on November 20th and am finishing it today.

Today when Jen was dropping me off there was a HUGE dog outside. Since I live at home I called my dad to come help me. Of course my dad bundled up (it was cold) and he came out to shoo away the dog and help me carry in my stuff. Unfortunately, by the time my dad came outside the HUGE dog was gone. But it really was there, ask Jen.

Today, December 3rd, my dad was cooking out for dinner for our family night. It's not really all that cold here so it wasn't a big deal. Of course Patty has a special request. My hamburger patty has to be made in a pan outside. I hate the taste of grill marks. Yuck!!!
Also, when I got home I had two bottles of Dr. Pepper on my nightstand. I know y'all are thinking: "so what?" but they are football shaped Dr. Pepper bottles. He brought my mom one at the beginning of football season and wanted one ever since. So he remembered to buy me two.

These are just a few examples of how my dad spoils me. My mom spoils me too. Jen and I have huevo con chorizo burritos every Friday. Yummy! I love being at home.

I Love Christmas Shows

I hate it when I change the channel and I just missed a Christmas cartoon or movie. Boo hoo.

Reconnecting

Today while logged in to my Yahoo! account I was able to catch up and chat with my old friend Denise. Denise went to Our Lady of the Lake University together. We moved through our entire education classes together. We also did extra-curricular activities like Lake Ambassadors and Smart Friends. Smart Friends was actually a job. I will have to go more into detail about another day. Needless to say that after moving back home Denise and I didn't keep in touch as much as I would've liked.

So thanks to IM'ing Denise and I have reconnected and I will definitely make a better effort to stay in touch with her.

Holla!!!!!!!!!!

Just saying hello to all of you still reading my blog. I've been especially giddy and happy lately. I can't exactly pinpoint why I'm so happy but I am. And I really like it. This may be a random post but perhaps my good mood will rub off on other people.