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.