The talented

Today was a busy day. After school we had baseball practice, and then went to a talent show at my school. There were various groups ranging from punk rock bands to gospel. All of them very talented, I was quite impressed. I like to see the kids in extra-curricular activities. There's a lot more to school than homework and sports. It's good to see they're happy in their own skin.

Do I smell Potatoes?

So after school today I made dinner, fed the boys and headed out to soccer practice. Soccer lasts for a hour and we have snack afterwards. After all that we ran to Wal-Mart to get some odds and ends, then finally made it home. I'm exhausted tonight. The boys ate a piece of fruit and headed off to bed. So I'm sitting here dinking with my new laptop thinking how tired I am and that I should really get in bed. It's only 9:00... Instead I decide to put a potatoe in the microwave and have a little snack while I'm dinking. Then here comes the boys.... "Do I smell potatoes" they both say. Good thing I made a couple of small potatoes... I divy up the potatoes among the two of them, with all the fixings. So that leaves me to put more potatoes in the microwave for myself, and here I sit still dinking.

Fire

Yesterday was a very interesting day at school. Thursdays we hold classes 2, 4 & 6. Our schedule is different everyday. Today while in a class, that to me is kind of meant to be like a home room, the fire alarm went off. (This was between 2nd period and 4th) As usual we all thought it was a prank- someone just pulled the alarm. Everyone evacuated the school and stood across the street waiting for the fire department. As we stood there we began to realize that this wasn't just a prank... but at the same time it wasn't anything major either. The fire trucks began to arrive and one by one the firemen actually geared up. That was a clue that everything wasn't just fine. I have seen the fire department arrive several times, for pranks or such, but never had they put on their gear before entering the building. Administration came around and told the staff that indeed there was a small fire in the boy's bathroom on the 3rd floor and we would be outside for quite a while. So there we stood... hoping that the students wouldn't head for taco bell or such. We remained outside for a little over an hour, then word came that if you had a class on the 3rd floor to report to the gym and everyone else report to your regular class. Of course... I would be located on the 3rd floor that period. Thank goodness I work with an amazing teacher. He decided that we would go to the upper level of the gym and continue our scheduled Cold War Quiz. He rewarded the students, who reported to class, with full credit for their quiz. We sat on the floor and went over the quiz out loud together. Being a great teacher shows, that when even in the most unpredictable situations your students show up for class. I was very surprised at the amount of students who actually showed up for class. I would say almost all of them were there. To make a long story short... we all eventually made it back to our regular classrooms. The halls smelled of burnt plastic on the 3rd floor, but everything was okay, only minor damage had occured. And to make the day even better someone thought it would be funny to pull the alarm again... not only once but twice. To say the least, I could no longer think straight by the end of the day and I was thankful when it was time for bed.

Chaos

Today we went to a birthday party for a friend that the boys went to school with last year. The party was to begin at 1 o'clock. Birthdays are always somewhat chaotic and stressful. But this party was a chuckie cheeses...Millions of children everywhere, screaming & playing around. Okay so that's a bit loud. But to add to the noise, there was constant music playing over all of that. It was impossible to carry a conversation, nevermind to think. Now I'm not the type of parent to leave my children at the party and head out, BUT I can see why at this particular party you would want to. We were the ONLY parents who stuck it out. Two others tried but eventually bailed. This left the birthday boy's parents with about 15ish boys running aimlessly through chuckie cheese's until their parents return.
On top of that, it was CROWDED. I would say in the birthday area alone, there were 8 tables that seated 20 children each. The tables were very close together making it difficult to serve pizza, pop and cake. You could not squeeze by without bumping into someone else at the neighboring table. There was no room for me and Jason so we sat at a separate table that we could see the boys from. It actually worked out okay, because the boys ended up playing games in the area that we were sitting in.
In the middle of all of this there was a stage. Chuckie cheese came out and did a few songs and danced. I think out of all of this... this part was the best. So chuckie is dancing with the employees on the stage. Not just randomly dancing, but a routine. They didn't do too bad... a few of the employees were actually breakin' it down. This made me laugh so hard... they would have definitely have to paid me more than minimum wage to embarrass myself. But who knows maybe they actually dig doing the song and dance. So finally chuckie sings happy birthday to all 8 tables at once, and clears the stage. I'm not sure when the cake was cut because the kids were everywhere but at the table, but eventually the cake was gone. Finally the boys spent their tokens and said thanks for inviting us. In the car on the way home the boys talked about loud it was and that they didn't have much fun because they never really got to talk to their friend. You know it's bad when the kids didn't even enjoy themselves.
Oh yeah...one more thing that irks me... I think it's rude when you do not order enough food and drinks for everyone including the parents.

Underwear Problems?

Natalie Portman
Originally uploaded by petarver.

So I was searching aimlessly on the internet and came across this picture. Who thought that we would ever see Queen Amidala (STAR WARS - Natalie Portman) with her hands in her pants? What's your guess...Thong or Granny panties? HAHA

The weather is nice

The weather is nice, but I am lazy. We bought some bulbs to plant in the yard. I don't know the first thing about gardening, but I thought it would be nice. So here we have a perfect day and I'm to tired to even think about where I want them. It hasn't been a long day, but a mentally draining one. Fridays are usually the day I just want to pass out. I test a lot of students on Fridays which sometimes not only turns their minds into mush but mine as well. Don't get me wrong...I absolutely love my job. It is very rewarding. Hopefully tommorow after soccer I will get them planted.

Rabbit in the moon

When I was in school I just kinda did what I needed to do. Much like a lot of my students today. I've been lucky to have the chance to work in a school. I'm learning so much that I never cared about when I was there.
In school we are studying WWII. Right now our focus is on the Japanese Internment camps. We just finished watching Rabbit in the Moon. I highly recommend this movie, check it out. It's important for everyone to know our history.

The Streets

We are really into music as most know...especially Jason. Jason is always telling me to borrow cd's from the kids at school... and I never do. But anyway, One of my students recommended this Cd The Streets. I REALLY dig it. It's hard to describe... Just check it out. My favorite is A Grand Don't come for Free. Ps. Walmart wouldn't approve...if you know what I mean.