Mitch Alboms "The Five People You Meet in Heaven"

I'm watching this great movie with Jon Voight, who plays a man named Eddie. Eddie dies at an old age from a freak accident and goes on a journey in his afterlife meeting 5 people that he met or knew in his life. Each has a story to tell and a lesson to teach him. It's an awesome movie and it really makes you think about your life. I would definitely recommend it to anyone.

2008 Vice Presidential Debate

I'm sitting here watching the debate between Biden and Palin. So far, I think Palin is doing a great job talking about the issues and being down-to-earth with the listeners. I love how she keeps it real. I think they are both being careful with their facial expressions and body language in the debate. In previous years, the facial expressions and attitude of the candidates during debates weighed heavy with the viewers opinion of the candidate. We'll see who turns out on top of this debate. I think Palin will be the winner of this one!

Digitize Me!!!

I decided to join the other "95%" of the world (as my fellow blogger Katie said) and get digital cable. I was always envious of all my friends and their ability to record their TV shows, so they never miss out on the "important things". Now since I'm taking tennis classes on Mondays and hopefully playing soccer on Wednesdays I knew it was the time to switch over. I am a huge fan of Heroes and Project Runway both of which air their new episodes on Monday and the other on Wednesday. So now I'll be able to use my DVR to record the show and then catch it the next night when Grey's Anatomy is on. I don't know what percentage of the world watches Grey's Anatomy. I'm sure Katie thinks I'm in the minority, oh well, no one's perfect.

Alright soccer fans!...the game is cancelled.

Well, my fellow blogger, Katie, has decided to feed her love of soccer and continue to play as part of the house team for the Austin Indoor Soccer Arena. The game was set to start at 6:50, but come 7:00 there are only three soccer players for the house team. Their opponent was sitting around waiting in the bleachers, waiting for some competition. I was there in my athletic wear and this seemed to be qualification enough to play soccer so Katie, the ref, and the score keeper were suggesting that I play. I was not about to make a fool out of myself for nothing, so I didn't give in, but Katie has promised to teach me the basics so next time I can be a warm body on the field, not necessarily a talented warm body, but a body none the less.

Mine Isn't Working

My class had a lesson with the school librarian yesterday. The lesson focused on the rules when using the computer and internet. You know, things like not giving out personal information, visiting approved websites only, and not sharing log in information with others. The librarian turned the powerpoint into a turning point which is a program that can pose multiple choice questions for the kids and the kids are able to electronically answer the question with a wireless remote. Each remote has a number and the program keeps track of the remotes that have responded to the question. Unfortunately, the program wasn't working as it should. Some of the students were trying to answer the question but their answer wasn't being received by the program. I had my own remote and mine happened to be one that wasn't working. My kids noticed mine wasn't working and constantly informed the libarian that mine wasn't working. "Ms. Hernandez's isn't working." They would all give me advice to try to make it work like "Try getting closer Ms. Hernandez". I'd try and listen to their advice, but it still wouldn't work. Some of them even offered to try for me and would get closer to the receiver, but to no avail. I thought it was really sweet how they were looking out for me and wanted it to work for me. It was a great moment even though the remote wasn't working. A lot of my other kids' remotes weren't working either and they were constantly trying to get closer to the receiver hoping against hope that this time it would work. No matter how many times it failed to work they never gave up. At one point there were quite a few kids crowding around the receiver to try to get it to accept their answer. One of my other students, who I'll refer to as Collin, was sitting and trying to get his remote to work. The kids were all crowding around the receiver and Collin was trying to send his answer with the remote. Finally, he said, "Hey, guys these things aren't made to go through bodies!", as he continued to try to send his answer. I laughed out loud. I couldn't help it. He was right.

Starry Starry Night

As I was leaving HEB I was about to pass a Big Art Sale Tent with oil paintings, copies of original masterpieces of art by present day artists. I decided to stop a minute and take a look. I was browsing through the art and saw a lot of Vincent Van Gogh copies. I've always loved Vincent Van Gogh art and thought some of them would look great in my apartment. Well, I asked the sales rep. and he pointed me to an oil copy of Starry Starry Night, Cafe Terrace at Night, and Sower with Setting Sun. I hung them up above my bed and they look GREAT!!

Students Connect

I gave my students a reading worksheet for homework Tuesday night. We've been working on making connections to the story and characters as we read. This particular worksheet focused on readers connecting to a character's feelings and experiences by trying to relate to them with their own experiences. The students were to first read about a character named Jacey who was feeling sad about moving to a new city and then answer some questions. The final question read: Did your own experiences or knowledge help you understand Jacey's feelings? If so, how? Here are some of my kids' responses. These were so interesting to read because the kids really thought about this and some of their responses were sad, funny and insightful.

No, because when we moved I was only a baby.

Yes, because I moved once from all my friends.

I move a lot.

Yes, when I left to Colorado for the summer I felt sad.

I've had a friend move away so I know what it's like.

Not yet. (I liked this one because he was honest, but left room for the possibility of moving in the future)

I have never had that kind of experience or knowledge, but I feel sorry for her.

My experiences help me understand how she is feeling because one of my best firends moved last year and I didn't get to say goodbye.

Yes, because I had to move from Pflugerville to where I am now and I was a little excited and sad.

Yes, because I have moved houses many times and I cry too when I have to leave.

No, but I know how she feels.

When I lost my hamster I felt sad like Jacey in the story moving into a new house. We both lost something we love, and it's hard to seperate from it.

Futbol - The First Game I Attend

Although I do enjoy watching soccer, my experiences with it have been in front of a television. Tonight, however, I not only had the opportunity to watch my first soccer game in person, but I got to see my friend Katie and her mom playing as well. I was so excited to see them in action. I heard about Katie playing soccer and her mom, too, but now I was going to be able to witness it myself. The game was fun to watch and although the team they were playing for didn't win tonight Katie had some great kicks and I noticed she was even congratulated by one of the veteran players (at least I think she was a returning player). I must admit that I was secretly hoping that one of the opposing players would rough Katie up a little, just to see how she would react, but then again her students would probably wonder what happened to her the next day when she would show up with a black eye. I let go of the secret wish quickly when I realized this. Katie is planning on continuing to play and I'll definitely be there to support her and maybe, just a little, hope for some "excitement on the field", but not too much.

A Simple "Hello" Would Be Nice

I'm sure anyone with a pulse knows of this weather deviant called Hurricane Ike. My sister and brother-in-law live in Houston, so they came to Austin Friday night to escape the potential destruction and devastation (I'm being dramatic here). I like to call them refugees, but the precise term is evacuees. Anyway, I called the house this morning to see if they were leaving today (Sunday). My sister wanted to play poker and blackjack and I wanted to make sure we were still on. I called the house. You need to be aware that my relationship with my mother is on life support right now and has been for quite some time, so in order to not upset this weak entity I usually call my Dad for any and all information regarding family. My logic is the less interaction I have with my mom the better chance of the survival of the relationship. You see think of my relationship as a person and my interactions with my mother we'll call Momphine. Taken in small doses it's perfectly harmless, but taken under certain conditions and in higher doses, it can be hazardous to one's health and potentially fatal. In this instance I didn't want to call my dad because it was Sunday morning and I thought he would be asleep. My mom on the other hand is usually always up by 8 am and I wanted the information badly, I was desperate. Here is how it went:

Ring...Ring...

Mom: Uh, huh. (not the sleepy, I just woke uh, huh, the what do you want uh, huh.

(Fox News report in the background)

Me: Hello.

Mom: Yeah. (annoyed tone)

Me: Hello.

Mom: Yeah, yeah (repeated more fast to tell me to get on with it)

Me: Okay, whatever ( I say this low enough where she can't hear me and I'll explain why I'm a little peeved. She doesn't even greet me with a hello. A "yeah". What's this, what am I? I can't even think of an instance that greeting someone over the phone with quick "yeahs" is appropriate and not excited yeahs either. Annoyed because I think you're wasting my time "yeahs".)

Me: Hi, is Velvette and David leaving today?

Mom: NO! There's not even power over there yet. They can't leave. (She continues but I break in)

Me: Oh okay, that's all I wanted to know. Thanks.

Mom: Okay, bye.

CLICK

Recommended Dosage for Momphine: Take no more than once a week. Do not take on an empty stomach and do not operate heavy machinery for at least 5 hours after taking this medication. For best results take with a glass of any alcoholic beverage. Results may vary.

The Misadventures at Banfield Pet Hospital

Thursday, July 17 11:00am

Ring Ring...I pick up the phone

Hi, this is "J" with Banfield reminding you that Dusty has an appointment tomorrow at 9am for vaccinations, check-up, and to get a refill of Atopica.

Me: Oh, okay (my mom had scheduled an appointment while I was out of the country and I wasn't informed-usual occurences in my family. I had already scheduled carpet cleaners to come at 10am, so I found myself in jam) Well, I have people coming to clean the carpets at 10am.

J: You can drop him off instead.

Me: Okay, let's do that. Oh, and Dusty has extreme allergic reactions to the vaccinations and what Dr. B had decided to do was give him a couple at a time. You know spread them out.

J: Okay, I'll let the doctor know.

Me: Alright, thank you.

J: Your welcome. Have a nice day.

Me: Thanks, you too.

Friday, July 18 8:45

I take Dusty to Banfield, which is located inside Petsmart. I go up to the check-in counter and "J" is there to greet me.

Me: Hi, I have Dusty Miller for his vaccinations and check-up.

J: Okay. (She hands me a form that I've had to fill out every time I bring Dusty) Just fill out the purple section.

Me: Okay.

It's the usual things. Phone numbers that I can be reached at. I put down my home number and write until 11am. I then fill in the second space with my cell phone number and write anytime. Banfield has provided these spaces for the customer to fill in so if they need to get a hold of me they know what numbers would be best throughout the day. Good idea in my opinion, but it only works if they actually refer to the paper later on in the day. Move on down and see allergies. I put down environmental, food, and drug allergies. He has them ALL. I also put down, extreme reaction to vaccines. Move on down. Medications pet is taking at present: I put down Atopica. Which, let me remind you, is the medication they are supposed to refill for him today. (The reason I'm providing you with all these seemingly insignificant details will become all too clear as we progress through the day). Move on down. Anything else you would like us to do today during your pet's visit? I write down: clip nails. I sign my name at the bottom and hand it back to her.

J: Okay. What time would you like to pick Dusty up?

Me: Um, 2:00.

The rest of the details of this part of the story are definitely meaningless. In short, she takes Dusty to the back with Dusty whining and crying all the way.

I return home. My carpets get a well deserved cleaning and then I use the rest of my time to run some errands.

1:30 pm

I decided to call Banfield to see how Dusty was doing. I assumed thirty minutes to pick-up he would have already received his vaccinations and would be under observation.

Ring Ring...

T: Hey this is "T" at Banfield Pet Hospital. How may I help you?

I know T and he has worked with Dusty a lot so I feel pretty good that he's there.

Me: Hi "T". This is Jackie, Dusty Miller's owner. I'm just calling to see how Dusty's doing.

T: Hey Jackie. Guess who's in my arms right now.

Me: Really?

T: Yeah!

Me: Wow, okay.

T: We are just about to pre-med him and then give him his vaccines. Dr. V will call you after she's done. Okay?

Me: Okay, thanks. Bye.

T: Alright, see you soon. Bye.

I'm suprised that at 1:30 Dusty still hasn't been vaccinated. Especially with his history behind the whole mess. They know that he needs to vaccinated early because of the potential reaction he could have. I'm still calm at this point because I was thinking if they only give him to vaccines along with pre-med then he should be fine.

2:00

I haven't received a call yet, so I go to Banfield anyway.

Me: Hi, I'm here to pick up Dusty Miller.

J: Oh, Dr.V just called you.

Me: No, I haven't received a call.

J: Oh, well you must have just missed her. Dusty isn't ready yet. Some emergencies just came in, so we couldn't get to him.

Me: Okay.

J: If you could come and pick him up after 3:00 that would be great.

Me: Well I have something to go to at 4:20.

J: Okay, so you can come right at 3:00 if you want.

Me: Okay, thanks.

I'm just a little frustrated because we would be in this mess if they had seen him when they were supposed to, at 9:00am. He had an appointment at 9:00. That shouldn't change just because I dropped him off earlier. The fact remains that the 9:00 space was reserved for Dusty. Instead they push it to thirty minutes before his pick-up time and of course something comes up and everything is delayed.

Story to be continued...oh, yes there IS more.

What They Have to Say

It's the last week of school! Tuesday and Wednesday my kids performed their reader's theatre, three times for three different classes, two fourth grade classes and one third grade class. My students absolutely loved it and got great reviews from both teachers and students. I am so proud of them!

With the end of the year approaching I've been giving them assignments that focus on their thoughts and opinions of school. On Wednesday the students wrote a letter to my next year's class. I asked them to tell them "how to survive fourth grade." They laughed when I told them that. My kids wrote things like "don't forget to do your homework, so you don't have to sit out during recess" and "get quiet when Ms. Hernandez asks you to because if you don't she'll start coloring the word RECESS and each letter she colors will cost you four minutes of recess." The tips they gave my future class were funny and helpful. I love the letters. I can't wait to give them to my next class.

Today, my students wrote a letter to themselves that I would deliver to them their first week back from summer vacation, their first week as fifth graders. They were to write helpful hints to remember that would help make their fifth grade year successful. I had them seal these, so they wouldn't be opened until them. A few of them were calling them time capsules and another student responded, "No, not really. We'll get to open them in like three months."

These letters are definitely getting me excited for next year!

Tomorrow's the last day of school. It's going to be a fun day. They're bringing board games and I'm bringing my karaoke machine. My students gave me a cheer when they heard that. They're eager to demonstrate their singing talent. We'll see if Hernandez's Class Gots Talent!

Teacher Talk

RP is making a scrapbook cover that goes along with a book she read.

RP: Ms. Hernandez, how do you draw a dog?
Me: The best you can
RP: (smiles and starts coloring and drawing)

RP's goal was to actually get me to draw the dog for her, but with my response she knew that I knew she could draw it and it didn't have to be perfect.

BB comes over with his scrapbook cover.

BB: Ms. Hernandez, is this scrapbook cover good?
Me: What do you think, what do you like about it?
BB: (looks at the cover, thinking) Well, it doesn't have very much detail. I think I need to put more detail.
Me: Okay, if that's what you think.
BB: Okay.

BB wanted me to tell him something about his cover, but I left that up to him. I let him decide what he thought about it. It worked out perfectly because instead of me telling him he needed to put a little more into it, he decided that for himself. The less I have to dictate to them the better.

Reader's Theatre

My class is performing a play based on the children's book "And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon." It's a comedy based on famous nursery rhymes and stories like Little Boy Blue, Little Miss Muffet, The Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk etc. The story centers around the characters from the following nursery rhyme:

Hey diddle diddle, the cat and the fiddle,
The cow jumped over the moon;
The little dog laughed to see such sport,
And the dish ran away with the spoon.

In the story cow, cat and dog are searching for their missing friends the dish and the spoon who ran away together, like they always do, but never came back.

The kids are doing an awesome job with it. Some even change their voices to fit with the character. I have one who chose a sinister Hispanic voice for the big bad wolf and another chose a high pitched mischievous voice for the spider. They are really paying attention to their lines and making sure they are portraying the mood. I have to say, there might be some future actors in my group from what I've seen. They will be performing their play in front of some other fourth grade classrooms and I think I might invite some lower grade classes as well. Who knows, maybe I'll make it a tradition for my classes to perform a reader's theatre in the future years. That'll be something to look foward to from Hernandez's Heroes.

Lonestar 5000

I'm part of a Run to Walk club and we've been training for a 5K that we ran today, the Lonestar 5000. The group is made up of teachers at my school who are all at different levels and different goals. I was the "star student" of the group, but my goal was to run my best the entire race. I never was really concerned about my time, just that I would run a 5K for the first time. I usually just walk the 5K's I've participated in. In the morning I actually had some pre-race jitters, but I calmed down and kept reminding myself that I wasn't running for a competition. In the end, all the member of the club finished by their goal time or better. I ran it in 28 minutes. I was a little disappointed in my time because I know I could have done better, but I had to stop running for the 2 weeks prior to the race because of some knee injuries.

Along with the Lonestar 5000 another event started about 5 minutes after and used the same route; it was the Mighty Texas Dog Walk. The area was swarming with the four-legged pals. Some of the dogs had received special grooming for the event. There were dogs with mohawks and their hair was dyed fun colors like hot pink and neon green. I never thought of giving your dog a mohawk. I'm completely in love with the idea and have decided to give Dusty the adventerous look.

It was a great morning and I look foward to participating in my next 5K, which is tomorrow. I'm taking part in the Bagel Fest 5K with my friend Katie.

Mean Girls

We have a case of Mean Girl Syndrome at my elementary school. Some may say that it's just girls being girls, but the events going on have definitely crossed the fine line between girl drama and emotional bullying. Every class has 'em. Girls who seem to delight and thrive on making other girls feel miserable and inadequate. Girls making fun of the way you dress, the way you look, the way you act, or anything else they can beat you down with. I've come to the conclusion that maybe these girls wouldn't have such an effect if they didn't have an entourage mimicking their every move or not standing up to what they know is wrong. Unfortunately, I have more than a few of these girls in my class. Whether they're leaders or followers, both make healthy classroom relationships among the students next to impossible. What can we do? There are only so many classroom talks or discussions with the counselor that we can have. As teachers we can try to protect the girls being targeted, but we can only protect them at school. The bullying continues outside of school and we can't do anything about that except tell the girls to stay away from each other and alert parents, but that seems to never work. The mission seems impossible, but as teachers we will continue to fight back.

Comet, Meteorite, Same Difference?

I gave my students quiz 1 from the "Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader" book. I told them it would be a challenge to get all the answers correct. Any person that got them correct would get to pick a prize from the prize box. I told them they could use any resource in the classroom to help them answer the questions, but they couldn't help each other. During the course of that time Jason came up to me.

Jason: Ms. Hernandez, the dictionary says that a comet is made of rock and metal.
Me: Oh really, show me.
Jason: (runs over and brings me the dictionary open to the page he was looking at)
Jason: See!
Me: That's the word meteorite. Are they the same thing?
Jason: Oh, no.
Me: Okay.
Jason: (walks away, now searching for the word comet)

It's funny how he didn't even realize he looked up the word meteorite and tried to say it was the same thing as the word comet. Funny or just plain ridiculous?

Quiz 1 ANSWERS

Answers to Quiz #1:
1st: October
1st: False, Africa is a continent made up of many countries. It is south of Europe though.
2nd: The Gulf of Mexico
2nd: Four: Mis-sis-sip-pi
3rd: False, The year 1492 was near the end of the fifteenth century.
3rd: There are 225 feet in 75 yards, three feet to a yard.
4th: False, Comets are comprised mostly of ice and dust.
4th: Nitrogen
5th: Less
5th: A. The frontal lobe of your brain controls your learning and decision making.
$1,000,000: The intruments that most normally comprise a string quartet are: two violins, a viola, and a cello.

Teacher Talk

All names have been changed to protect the identity of the students.

Eddie comes up to me during the Science Benchmark and wants to ask a question. Eddie has the tendency to read the quesiton along with all the answer choices and then finally ask me a question about it. He started to do just that; when he started reading the answer choices I interupted and said, "Yeah, I know what it says, what's your question?"

I have no problem with him re-reading the question in front of me, but reading all the answer choices, too! That takes way too much time, time I don't have.

Paramount Event of the Day

This segment will be dedicated to a major events or occurences at school.

Today's event centers around my inablility to pop popcorn. I enjoy popcorn because it's a low calorie, low fat snack that I can enjoy without feeling guilty. During my planning period I decided to pop some popcorn into the microwave (couldn't resist making the pun). I carefully read the directions and punched in 5 minutes and pressed start. Pop. Pop. Pop. I was listening to see how close the pops were to eachother to make sure I didn't burn it. Well, I have a portable buddy and she happened to come in and struck up a conversation. Next thing I know I smell burning popcorn, turn around, and crap. I open the microwave and steam is billowing from the popcorn bag. Nooo! Okay, this is where I should have let the popcorn be, admit defeat and thrown it away, but no I had to see. I had to peek in and check for any surviving puffs. As I pull open the bag another cloud of smoke escapes and my room starts getting clouded with smoke and the smell of burnt popcorn. Oh no!!! I run over, open the door, grab the trash can and throw the popcorn bag in the trash can. I leave the trash can outside using it to prop the door open. It's not helping. The damage is done. I immediately grab one of my students books and start using it as a fan, trying desperately to get the smoke away from the smoke detector. Luckily, the alarm doesn't sound. I start thrusting all the windows open hoping it will help release the smoke and smell. In the end my room is smokeless, but the odor of burnt popcorn is still in the air and as many teachers have warned me the effect might be a lasting tribute to my popcorn woes.

Blog Segments

I've decided to shape my blog like a radio show with regularly scheduled segments. I think I'm going to have a segment called "Teacher Talk". This segment will focus on quick responses that teachers have to student behavior. The responses will come from me and some of my fellow teachers.

Another segment will be "Are You Smarter Than Really Smart Kids". You know what that one's about. I'm still thinking of a few others. If you have any ideas feel free to offer them up.


Again, these changes are to help me keep my blog updated.

Teacher Moment-Happy Mother's Day!

It was Friday; the Friday before Mother's Day. The students had made Mother's Day cards and a coupon. The coupon's were for things like: washing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, taking out the trash, and other such helpful tasks. I wanted to leave the kids with an important Mother's Day message: "Guys, don't forget it's Mother's Day. Go home and appreciate her, she does a lot for you!" Many students then said, "But, Ms. Hernandez, you're like a mother because you do a lot for us." Another student said," Yeah, you're like a mother, but you also teach us stuff." That was one of my biggest teacher moments of the year.

Are You Smarter Than Really Smart Elementary Students?

I've seen the show, played the board game, and own the book and I've come to one conclusion. The questions and the grade levels don't match up. I don't know who these first graders are that know where the Constitution was written or how many days are in a non-leap year. I'm sure they exist, but they are definitely in the minority. Some of my fourth graders would have trouble answering these questions, especially the one about U.S. History. They won't be focusing on U.S. History until 5th grade.

I wish you luck on these questions. Don't get down if can't answer them all without assistance. The majority of people are right there with you. Unless you're one of the first graders the TV Network seemed to happen across.

1st Grade: Social Studies
In what month do Americans go trick-or-treating?

1st Grade: World Geography
T or F Africa is a country south of Europe.

2nd Grade: U.S. Geography
What is the body of water between Florida and Texas called?

2nd Grade: English
How many syllables are there in the word Mississippi?

3rd Grade: World History
T or F Columbus discovered America in the fourteenth century.

3rd Grade: Measurements
How many feet are there in 75 yards?

4th Grade: Earth Science
T or F Comets are made up mostly of rock and metal.

4th Grade: Chemistry
On the periodic table, what element is represented by the letter N?

5th Grade: Math
Is the fraction 3/7 greater than or less than 7/10?

5th Grade: Biology
The frontal lobe of your brain controls...
A. your learning and decision making
B. your hearing and memory
C. your sense of touch
D. your sight

$1,000,000 Question
5th Grade: Music
In classical music, what instruments typically comprise a string quartet?

Book Fair Madness

Many teachers have expressed their disdain of the Book Fair. They say their students get crazed at the opportunity to shop and for some time that's all they can think about. Well, I have to admit that the Book Fair has similar effects on me. I love books, but even more, I love shopping for them. Book fairs are my favorite way of purchasing books because I can shop while never leaving the comforts of my school. Not only that, but being a teacher I get the unsurpassable deal of buying three books and getting the fourth free of charge. After school today, teacher's were able to get an early preview of the books, fill out wish list sheets, enter for a prize drawing, all while enjoying refreshments. Being my crazed self I asked if we could make any purchases and the librarian replied with an enthusiastic yes. I was thrilled and rushed back to my classroom to grab my purse.

After some time of browsing I settled on a Chronicles of Narnia set of 3 books, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader Companion Trivia Book, and 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny. The last was recommended to me by Katie, fellow 4th grade teacher.

Everyday I hope to post a couple trivia questions in my blog. Answers will follow in the following day, along with new questions. Hope you viewers have fun. This will help me post everyday, so says my friend Katie.

Surgeon General's Warning on Big Brother

There should be a Surgeon General's Warning for Big Brother.

As you know, I just picked up on Big Brother about a month ago on my friend Katie's advice. Since I missed so much of the drama in the episodes I missed I decided to catch up and watch them online. Today, as I waited to play tennis with "The Crew" I watched the first 10 episodes. I am more addicted to this show than ever and to think I can watch it any time I want and not wait is even worse. While I'm just starting another episode my cell phone rings and Katie tells me they're at my apt. complex and to come outside. I go outside, lock-up the house, and we're off to enjoy a serious round of tennis. Or so I think. We get to the court, notice a few guys talking in the court. Talking as opposed to playing tennis, so we kick 'em out. J/K I kindly asked them if they were done playing, they said yes, packed up, and left. Okay, so we set to play. I notice right off that "The Crew" is particularly giggly today and totally not taking tennis seriously. Well, I get a little moody and it definitely shows. Katie tells me to calm down, we're just playing for fun. So we play our game and after an hour Katie and Wendy stop playing because apparently they've fulfilled their tennis quota for the week. Jesse and I continue to play. As we're playing I notice that Katie and Wendy are sitting on the bench whispering very quietly to each other. Immediately I see a relation to their quiet whispering to the many secret conversations going on in the Big Brother house. I signal Jesse over to the net and point them out. What are they quietly whispering about. I'm in Big Brother mode. I sense mutiny on the court. I yell out and ask them what they're talking about. They say nothing and I continue to play, continually suspicious. WHAT AM I THINKING?! Of course, they are not talking shit about me, but I tell you watching all that Big Brother is messing with my mind. Anyway, after a fun game of "keep Jackie's keys away from Jackie" we finish up and my friends go home after Katie almost runs me down with her car.

In short I think there should be a surgeon general's warning posted for Big Brother. Such as the one down below:

SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING: The viewing of this show may cause anxiety, mood swings, unexplained lashing out towards friends and relations, and severe paranoia. If watched in great concentrations the risk of developing any or all of these symptoms may increase and may be potentially fatal to otherwise perfectly healthy relationships.

You're such a boob!

Our school had a Spring Festival to raise money for the school. One of the biggest events of the festival was an auction. Two types of items were auctioned off: baskets filled with items following a theme (like Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Family Fun Games, etc.) and teacher time. Katie, Kari (another fourth grade teacher) and I offered up our time. We would take the student with the winning bid to see Horton Hears a Who. In the end Katie and I each had a student (from our classrooms) bid and win our teacher time. So yesterday our students cashed in. We met them at Tinseltown, bought them snacks and proceeded to the movie. As we opened the doors to the screen room both students said they needed to go to the restroom. Katie volunteered take them and I continued in to snag some seats. The theater wasn't filled, but there was a decent crowd. They returned shortly and the movie began. During the movie the Mayor of Whoville stated that everyone thought he was "a boob". I've never heard this expression before and never expected it in a children's movie. I immediately turned to Katie and was shocked. What? A BooB!? This expression was used often. I'm not sure how that expression found its way in a Dr. Seuss movie. Oh well. There was a moment in the middle of the movie where I turned to Katie and noticed she was napping. The movie did slow down in the middle, but picked up again towards the end. The girls, however, thoroughly enjoyed the movie with occasional spouts of laughter. At the end of the movie Katie took the meaningful line "A person's a person no matter how small" and I took "you're such a boob". I can't wait to see which expression is adopted by kids more. I have an idea, but we'll see.

Hodgepodge of Happenings

Alright, I stopped blogging because since my recent separation from my parents I can't seem to think of anything to write about. I realized that so much of what I had to say centered around my family drama. I can't promise humorous or really interesting entries, but hey life isn't always a roller coaster.

School life has been pretty normal. Either my kids are finally seeing my side of things or I'm just getting used to their quirks. I love the analogy Tim Gunn, from Project Runway, used about the monkey house at the zoo. When you first walk in the smell is appalling, but after while the smell starts to fade. You walk around see the exhibits and before you know it the odor is completely gone, or so you think. Of course, it's still there, but you don't notice it. I've entered the monkey house and the smell has started to fade and life is pretty damn good. All joking aside, I have a pretty good class and I'm happy to have them. They all have different personalities and it's interesting to see how they change throughout the year and think about what they will be like when they grow up or even just up to high school.

Behind the scenes is a different matter. With the end of the year approaching there entails change. In my school's case, a lot of change. Teachers are getting moved around through grade levels, others are putting in transfer requests to different schools, and some are getting them. With all this change comes talk and worry. Where's she going, is she staying, oh no, am I going to get moved? DRAAAMAAA. Luckily, the much of the worry is over except that we are now interviewing applicants for one of our fourth grade positions. Unfortunately, the first interview doesn't look promising. The interviewee sounds okay as a teacher, but her personality and energy is kinda blah. That being our first interview we're eager to do some more searching to find the perfect fit for the Fourth Grade niche.

I recently started watching Big Brother and I'm completely hooked. I started watching when Matt was voted off. Almost immediately I remember having negative feelings towards Natalie and ever since then the feelings have escalated to intense dislike. So much so that I rallied for Sheila's cause and cheered when Natalie was voted off. I hope Adam's next. I predict Sharon and Ryan to be the final two. Both, from what I've seen, have been fairly decent players, but in the end I'm rooting for Sharon.

That's my hodgepodge of happenings. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Lame and getting Lamer (is that a word?)

This morning my friend said my blog from yesterday was pretty lame, not as entertaining as my previous blogs. Well, hate to say that this blog entry is no different. Today was an ordinary day. Tomorrow we have a field trip, so towards the end of the day I totally held it over my kids' heads, or as I like to call a motivational tactic. It definitely worked. My kids were working towards keeping the privalage to sit next to a friend and talk. They lost the "choose a friend to sit next" part, but after that it was nice and quiet. It was awesome. I'm excited about tomorrow, but the rest of my team is..well...not. I'll see tomorrow if it's what I thought it would be. Here's hoping!

What are you doing? Come on!

When my students start doing things that are just plain ridiculous I use a special phrase that expresses my deep frustration "What are doing? Come on! That phrase was in constant use today. Like my friend Katie, my students seem to be playing catch up. Making up for all those relaxing days that they had given me. Perhaps the fact that Friday is a field trip has something to do with it too. This afternoon was highlighted by a particular student. A boy in my class who has attention issues was giving his attention to paper plane folding. His parents and I had talked to him about his paper airplane hobby and how it was not an appropriate school activity in December. When I told him that we had already talked about the paper planes earlier on in the year he furrowed his brow and told me he doesn't recall such a conversation. I was like, come on, you know what I'm talking about, but he wouldn't fess up. So I pulled up the email that I had sent his parents in December and read it to him. I asked him if he remembered now and he thought about it and said nothing, but I could tell that he knew he was caught in a trap. He went back to his desk and secretly pulled out another paper airplane. What are you doing? Come on -------? (insert name). He brought the airplane to me and swoosh, perfect shot into the trash can. I immediately wrote his parents an email and they assured me that they would have an in depth converstation about the whole thing. I hope this time it sticks!!!!

On to Thursday!

You'll Miss Me When I'm Gone

Okay, so I went to my parent's house to search for my W2 tax form. When I first got it I took it to my their house because my dad and I were going to work on my taxes since it would be my first time. Without thinking of the consequences I left my form at the house and trusted it would be there when the time came. Well, low and behold, no tax form. I scoured the study, but couldn't find it. I asked my mom and she said she saw it, but didn't know where it was now. Apparently, she had "fixed" the files a few weeks ago and probably, in all her organizing frenzy, threw away my tax form or "misplaced" it. She helped me search, we were unsuccessful. How can we find something that is probably lying at the bottom of a landfill?

Before I left, my mom asked how Dusty was doing. I said fine. She then remarked that she misses him and it seemed like a shame that I am keeping him at my apartment just so I don't have to clean up after him. I told her the reason I'm keeping him at my place was to escape the drama that seemed to generate around him. She said there was no drama and I left it at that. I bid her well and went home.

I received a warm welcome from Dusty. I had dinner and sat in front of the television watching Real Housewives of New York City. Suddenly the phone rings. My first thought is, alright my mom found my tax form. It was my mom, but no tax form. She called to tell me that the Dog Whisperer Cesar Milan (I think that's how you spell it) was going to be interviewed by Bill O'Reilly and that I should watch it and make sure Dusty watches as well. My dad and I used to watch his show so I was happy to see the interview. After watching my mom called again and said she loved what Cesar's message and agreed with it all. She liked how he said that every family should have a dog because it helps them to connect to mother nature. She went on to tell how Dusty helps us calm down and think about how we should treat eachother because his love is unconditional and constant. I gave the occassional uh, huh's and before the phone call was over she told me how she dearly missed Dusty. I said, "Okay...bye".

Wow, my mom never calls me at home unless she needs some of my things delivered to her house or she wants to take some things back that she had given me. Up to the day she has now repossessed my brown suitcase, a comforter, and metal storage unit. Now she wants Dusty back. My god who knew that Dusty would be my competition for my mother's love.

Well, my friends told me distance makes the heart grow fonder, my mom is pining for my dog.

Dusty's Independence

Okay, due to recent issues with my mom and Dusty being at my parents house, I've decided, along with advice from family and friends, to leave Dusty at my place while I'm at work instead. This morning I made sure to feed him early enough, so that when the time came for me to leave I would be able to take him out to do his business, entirely, if you know what I mean. After I took him out I expected for him to be at my heels as I walked out the door, but it seemed that he knew what was happening this morning and was at the top of the stairs. I bid him well and reminded him that the bathroom is outside and he would not be able to go until I came home later that afternoon. I turned the alarm on, opened the door, and drove off.

I have to admit that during the day and more than once thought about Dusty and hoped that he would be able to "hold it" the entire day. Katie and my other team members kept ensuring me that everything was going to be alright.

After school I went to the Roomstore to purchase my new bedroom furniture and then rushed home BEFORE I went to the grocery store. I opened the door and called for my baby. He didn't come and I worried for a second that he didn't come because he felt guilty about something. I had an idea of what it could be. I looked around as I walked up to the living room. YES! Everything was fine and there he was wagging his tail sitting on the couch. How could I ever have doubted you Dusty?!

It was a great thing to come home to. A pee free home and a happy dog.

Check Please!

After school today a group of fellow teachers and I went to Sherlock's to celebrate the coming three day weekend. Sherlock's has become a popular meeting place with my friends, but unfortunately the service we've received hasn't been so great. The first time we went our first waitress took FOREVER to bring us our drinks and would rarely ask if we needed anything else. She took so long in fact that we developed a strategy to help make the wait between drinks shorter. HINT: when you finally get the attention of the waitress go ahead and make two drink orders so by the time you finish drinking the first one the second will be on its way.

Well, low and behold, today we got stuck with the same time challenged waitress. Well, we were impressed that she increased her waiting record from 10 minutes to 15 minutes. You can see that she has really been working on her customer service the last time we were there. After that waitress "abandoned" us Katie finally had to flag down another waitress and inform her of our situation. She responded with little enthusiasm and "wished she had been told" that we were her new table. She brushed it off and began to take our orders starting with Kari and I. We both wanted Miller Lite so she asked us if we would prefer a pitcher instead of order separate glasses. We literally had about 5 seconds to think it over before she, apparently frustrated with how long we were taking to order, asked us "do you want me to come back when you're ready to order" in a not so nice tone. I ordered the pitcher and she moved on to the others, who also received the same question with the same amount of annoyance.

After we were finished and asked for the checks she came back with a mistake. She had charged three pitchers of beer to the others instead of two. After arguing with her about the mistake and explaining that another friend of ours who left early had paid for one pitcher already she simply rolled her eyes and went to fetch the manager as requested by Jessica (first grade teacher). Before the manager returns the waitress comes back with the checks fixed and informs all of us that she fixed the checks for us (as if she was doing us a favor). No apology for her rudeness or mistake on over charging them an extra pitcher. Finally, the manager arrives and hears us out. He responds by saying he doesn't want to make excuses, but here are a bunch of them anyway. He tells us that she is his best waitress and blah blah blah. We all thought that if she was his best he really needed some help, but anyway. He apologized shortly and was about to leave when Jessica stopped him and told him that he would need to remove the charges for the two pitchers, oh and my pitcher as well to make up for the hassle we had just gone through. He agreed and went to the back to fix the checks.

He wasn't even going to give us compensation for the rudeness and poor service we had just experienced. If a customer is displeased with their service then you as the manager should be trying to do everything you can to rectify the situation, but this manager did nothing of the sort. The customer had to actually force him to do what any good manager would do.

After we received our checks I noticed that I got only one copy of the receipt. No copy that I could keep for myself. Okay, you're thinking who cares, you'll just throw out the extra copy anyways. No, not the case. You see the last time I went to Sherlock's I was charged an extra $5.00 for no reason. I found out by looking at my online bank statements. With that history I knew I needed a receipt. I told the waitress I needed my own copy of the receipt and she rolled her eyes as if giving the customer their own receipt was a special request. Hello, isn't it my right as a customer to get a receipt?! Again, after a while the manager came out with a copy of my receipt. I thanked him politely and filled it out. TIP -/-/-/-/-/ NOTHING. I believe very few if any tips were given that night from our table.

So long Sherlock's, it's a pleasure LEAVING you.

The Case of the Brown Crappy Suitcase

Okay, so my mom has really upset me again. If you don't know already, my mom is very good at this. Today as I cooked my dinner my mom called and inquired after an old 1 foot by 1 1/2 foot suitcase that they had let me have. You see the last time I needed a suitcase was for my sister's wedding. The brown suitcase was the one on reserve for me to use while everyone else got to use the nice decent sized suitcases. So here I am with my crappy suitcase and she calls saying she needs it back. Apparently my sister is going on a day trip and needs the crappy brown suitcase and it's the only one that will serve the purpose. Not the other thousand bags that my mom has, that are nicer and newer than the crappy brown suitcase. No, they're not right for the job. She needs the old, worn suitcase. I proceed to tell her that I'm cooking my dinner and she says, no problem. Finish cooking and doing that and then come bring it to the house. Karem needs it tonight, so yeah bring it over. ARRRRGGGHHH. I was so upset. I couldn't believe she was expecting me to drive back to the house to deliver this suitcase. Why wasn't my sister or her coming over to come pick it up. They are the ones that needed it. Can you imagine if I needed something from the house and I called her to tell her she needed to bring it to my apartment. OF COURSE NOT. In any normal society the person who needs something usually will go pick it up. Not expect someone to bring it to them. Well, my family is not normal society. Help me, I'm living in the twilight zone!!!!

They're Back!

First day of school after Spring Break has come and gone with not much to report. The students were pretty much the same as they have always been. I must say, I have a pretty good set of kids minus the drama between the girls and the tattling. Although, I have to say the tattling was absent today. Of course, I did have three absences, so that might account for it. When I have students missing you can certainly tell the difference. With less bodies in the classroom the kids seem more in control of themselves and make better choices, with little guidance from me. Well, Dusty is downstairs, doing God knows what, so I'll go see watch going on. Let's hope for a similar day tomorrow or even better. That's optimism at its greatest!

Household Sunroof

This afternoon my sister called and we talked about her new house and what was going on. She proceeded to describe the house and said that the upstairs level had "a sunroof". A sunroof I thought hmmmm. Do you mean a skylight. She paused. Thought about it and laughed. Of course she meant a skylight. I told her it was okay and understood how she could get confused. Right? I mean a skylight is similar to a sunroof excepts for two MINOR differences. A sunroof is in a car and can open and close. Similar right? Oh well. She had a second moment in our conversation of interest. We were talking about her new washer and dryer. The washer has the door in front instead of on top and the the dryer was the same. We talked about how we preferred the washers with the door on top as opposed to the front opening washer. She thought dryers usually had the openings on the top instead of in the front, too. I informed her that actually dryers usually have the door on the front and NOT the top. Another long pause followed and the usual realization of confusion. It was a great conversation and a time to catch up on life.

Exercise and Lounging

Yesterday I woke up and got ready to go to my Fitness Group; we're called Peg's Proud Warriors. Our trainer, Peg, worked me really hard last weekend because she thinks I can win my age group in the 5K we will be doing in about 8 weeks time. She apologized for working me so hard because my personal goal was just to run the entire race, but not to actually win. She's taking it a little easier on me and understands I didn't want to push myself so hard. I did about four laps of running to warm up. We then proceeded to drills, I find the lunges the most difficult. Then we were seperated into groups based on our abilities. My group jogged 30 minutes straight and we all felt pretty good and weren't really tired. I find that when you run with a group the time goes by quicker, your talking, so that means your breathing, and it's more fun.

We finished our session and went our seperate ways. I always go to Smoothie King after my Saturday fitness group. After my smoothie I returned home to Dusty and had some leftover chicken that I had made the previous day.

Another day of nothing much, but enjoyed the downtime.

Bravo TV

One of my favorite channels is Bravo. I love the reality shows, such as The Real Housewives of New York City, Project Runway, Make Me a Supermodel, and Top Chef Chicago. Although, I don't know if they are showing another season of Project Runway. Yesterday and today has been pretty dead in terms of going out with friends, so I've had a lot of time to catch up on my shows. Yes Katie I do watch TV, just not a lot of it.

I like Real Housewives of New York City more than Real Housewives of Orange County. I don't know, the New York people seem more real to me and more involved in their families. I love how one of the families encourages their kids to speak more than one language and I totally agree with what one housewife said (Alex), " I think parents are doing their children a disservice if they don't encourage them to speak more than one language." My favorite housewives so far are Luann and Bethenny.

My favorite model in Make Me a Supermodel is Shannon. I think she has consistently did well on almost all the challenges and deserves to win. We'll see. She was in the bottom three last night, so we'll see how America votes.

All and all these have been two great days of spending some exercise time outside, bonding with Dusty, and relaxing in front of the television.

Uneventful, yet Satisfying

Today was an uneventful day of Spring Break compared with the other days this week. I woke up at 9:45 and got ready to exercise. I knew the weather today was going to be nice, so I took Dusty out expecting clear skies and a warm breeze. However, this morning it was completely overcast and there was even some light drizzle. Well, since the weather was pretty crappy I decided to go down to the Post Office, for the third time this week. Shalinda and I had ventured to the Post Office to apply for our Passports earlier in the week. The first day we had come, what we thought at first too early (at 11 and they opened at 12). The following day we went back around 12. Big mistake. Now there was a line. An employee soon came down the line and said that the back of the line (where we were) would be waiting at least 3 hours. We left.

Today I made a solo attempt at the passport thing. It took about two hours, but I took that time to catch up on my reading. I'm currently reading a book titled "Many Lives, Many Masters" about past lives written by Brian L. Weiss, M.D. I would definitely recommend it. Anyway, after reading several chapters I was finally up to bat. The process went fairly quickly and after about 15 minutes, my application was in and I was officially ready to go to Greece and Italy.

Afterwards I returned home to Dusty, took him out and had a late lunch (grilled cheese, yum). The weather finally cleared up an I went out to run, jog, and walk. I did about 4 miles and came home tired and sweaty. I went to HEB with Dusty has my driving buddy. He waited in the car as I went in to stock up on the essentials, fruits and vegetables.

We went home with a lemonade shaved ice and started watching Make Me a Model. Episode after episode, dropped model, after dropped model. I personally LOVE this show and it's so addictive.

Although I didn't go anywhere special today, it was nice to relax at home with Dusty on the couch.

Kayaking, Hula Hut (NOT for the first time) and The Clay Pit

Third day into Spring Break and still going strong. Katie and I decided to venture out and enjoy the beautiful day by Kayaking at Lake Austin. ***Pause***Dusty wanted help onto the bed *** We decided to take our business to the Rowing Dock. I've gone there a couple of times before and the rates are pretty inexpensive, like $10 bucks an hour. After losing our way through high-end neighborhoods, in which Katie and I will each be purchasing a home within the near future, we finally found the Rowing Dock with the help of Kaite's friend, TomTom. We soon rented the Kayaks after signing a release saying that if we drown it isn't The Rowing Dock's fault because hey they gave us a life jacket. Apparently the kayak that Katie used was the favorite of the guy who worked at the Rowing Dock, but I noticed that mine was exactly the same except it was orange instead of blue, whatever.

After playing bumper kayaks for an hour Katie and I docked back at the Rowing Dock and decided to have a late lunch at Hula Hut. It was good except that we had both ordered Strawberry Daiquiris, for which we were carded for, and when we drank them it tasted like strawberry slush WITHOUT any alcohol. We were carded for rum, we paid for rum, but NO RUM!!! None that we could taste.

We soon left and spent some time at Katie's playing Cranium Pop! with Jesse and Alice. We had to stop the game because we needed to get ready to go to the Clay Pit, but Jesse and I were in the lead with three chips, Alice and Katie had none.

The food at the Clay Pit was great, but we were lucky because Alice and her boyfriend were experts, so they knew exactly what to order for our tastes. Apart from the continuous loud gaggles of a group of older women sitting next to us the dinner was great. We had pretty much finished our meals and were signing the checks just as a bachelorette party strolled in and took a table behind us. We all agreed that a bachelorette party at the Clay Pit was a strange pick.

Katie, Jesse, and I returned to Katie's apartment where we did some scouting and played a quick game of Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit. Jesse won, of course (he was made for these games as he himself stated), Katie in second, and I dead last (I was not made for these games). We were all pretty tired so we left to go home, update our blogs, and sleep the rest of the night away.

Wine, food, and uhhh....a partial game of Marry, Date or Dump

Katie and I drove over to Shalinda's new house (another fourth grade teacher) for, of course, some wine, oh, and appetizers. At any get together with our teacher friends wine will almost always be a part of the menu or at least some type of alcoholic beverage.

After chatting it up and inspecting Shalinda's awesome laundry shoot we plopped ourselves on the couch and lazy chair for a game of Marry, Date, or Dump. In this game one person rolls the dice. The dice will determine what type of relationship choices you will have to choose from (marry, date, or dump is one; there is also live with, party with, or wrestle with; be your lawyer, surgeon, or pool boy; etc.) That person will then choose a card and on it will be a list of three male celebs. That same player secretly decides, depending on the roll, how each male celeb would fit into a relationship with them if they ever had the chance. The other players then try to guess what the rolling player decided on. The more accurate you are the more points you get. Well, if that confused you too much just know that it's a pretty fun game. Katie was definitely in the lead, but unfortunately the game was not completed due to...I'll leave it at that. If you were there you know what happened.

We abruptly stopped playing and went back to sipping wine and chatting. Finally, and I don't know how, the conversation turned to my hair and its curliness. Within minutes most of the girls started attacking my head of hair and fluffing it up and out to create, what another fourth grade team member called "an afro". I struggled to get away, but was pinned by Shalinda's muscular legs. I will go no further, but I will say that Katie was one of the main offenders. If you have curly hair you understand how important it is NOT to mess with it otherwise it will frizz to no end. However, my friends all have perfectly straight hair and are ignorant to the troubles those of us with curly hair go through.

First Blog-Hockey, IHOP, Scrabble, and Pop Culture Cranium

I've never kept a diary or journal before. There's been plenty of beginnings, but I've just never kept up with it. I am determined to keep this one active. Having viewed a few friends' blogs I think I have an idea of what to write about, although mine may not be as interesting or humorous as others, I'll do my best.

Yesterday was an eventful day, one of which consisted of an Austin Ice Bats game, a dinner at IHOP, Scrabble, and Pop Culture Cranium.

I was invited to my first hockey game by my friend Katie, who also happens to teach fourth grade with me. Accompanying us was Katie's close friends Jesse and Wendy. I was definitely excited to be going. The ice rink it took place at was one on which I had ice skated on before, so you would think I would have dressed more warmly than I did having experienced the frigid atmosphere before, but no. I brought only a light jacket and wore flip-flops. I was cold, but happily enjoying the game with occassional cheering and yelling. There were two 15 minute breaks in the middle of the game. During these breaks the Ice Bats' Mascot would come out onto the ice and try to entertain us. As Katie said, it was their way of trying to help us forget about having to sit for 15 minutes for the game to start back up again. The Ice Bat (i don't know if he had any particular name) would throw some shirts to cheering fans and it seemingly all depended on which section could cheer the loudest. Being my first game and all I cheering and shouted hoping to leave that rink with a free t-shirt. I did not leave with a t-shirt and on top of that the Ice Bats lost due to a penalty shot in overtime.

Afterwards, we hopped on over to the IHOP (notice my attempt at humor). My friends all had an evening breakfast and I had a grilled sandwich from the healthier choices section of the menu. How much healthier was it? I'm not sure, but knowing I ordered from that section gave me some peace of mind. I've always been a careful eater I must admit, but on top of that I'm training for a 5K run, in which my trainer thinks I will win, so-yeah-anyway. You can read more about the Mystery of the Blue Maple Syrup that took place there at Jesse Sosa's blog.

Following dinner and breakfast we traveled to Katie's apartment to play a game of Scrabble. I entered the game pretty confident. I'm usually a decent player and I had just beat Katie the night before at a game of online Scrabble (my score was in the 200's). Little did I know that playing an online game with Katie is much different than in person. You see Katie likes to carry on a conversation during the game with you and all the other players. Katie's conversation are also usually pretty animated and in this case included baby pictures, pictures on her computer and even a story of a sick little fish whose environment is being polluted. The game ended with Wendy as the winner, Jesse following closing behind, Katie in third, and me dead last "not even breaking a hundred" as Jesse kindly pointed out.

Alright, after my depressing defeat we moved on to a game of Pop Culture Cranium. I was fearing another defeat in this game, I don't consider myself very knowledgeable about Pop Culture. Jesse and I were a team competing against Wendy and Katie. The game was actually not that bad and much of it I was relatively familiar. I did have trouble with New Kids on the Block and Bono, both of which I attempted drawing to help Jesse guess. My illustration of Bono was a poor attempt. Jesse couldn't get passed his crappy hair cut and shades. In the end Jesse and I were victorious against Wendy and her ever chatty partner.

I learned that day that hockey is fun to watch, IHOP makes mistakes with their syrup, never to play a game of Scrabble with Katie in person, that axel is spelled axle, and that Jesse is a marvel at taking my pitiful clues and making them into something meaningful.