When I walked out of school today I rejoiced because the sky was blue and spring was definately on it's way. I've had a really runny nose...but that's just a reminder that flowers will be blooming all summer and the temps will get higher. After a winter where we literally spent a month below freezing, I'll be ecstatic to see temps in the eighties and ninties. The only thing that made me cringe was the fact that tomorrow I'll have to be in my windowless room attempting to teach to teenagers who don't listen. Maybe if I texted them they'd process what I'm telling them? I don't question the path I've choosen often, but today I was honestly fighting back tears of sheer frustration. We're reading a play that is in normal language, language that normal southwest Virginian's speak actually! It's got plenty of conflict between the characters and it's sarcastically funny at times and we go over everything as it happens, yet I still hear "I don't get it" and "this is stupid" and "who is _____ (insert character name)" and "what's going on in this play". ARGH!!! I feel like screaming at them to pay attention and suck it up. We're also working on research papers, which is probably the tenth level of hell. You know they make t-shirts that say "What level of hell is this?" I think I'll buy one for the times we're in the computer lab and they complain that they can't find any research (they're researching major historical events!!) and they don't know what to write down for their works cited. Sorry to be a bit of a downer today, but sometimes I have to vent!

Oh, and I changed the settings on my blog so anyone can post a comment, not just other people who have blogs, so feel free to tell me to suck it up and enjoy the weather!

Gardening

Today we tilled out a section of the back yard so that we can grow a bigger garden. I say we, but Brandon did most of the tilling because when I tried it, it was definately harder than it looked. I don't feel like it should be that hard, but it is on ground that has never been tilled. We didn't get to do the front flower beds or the small raised beds...I guess I'll be doing it by hand. Maybe I can get a manual tiller for cheap at Lowes. I bought my first plants of the spring today. I bought a snapdragon hanging basket and some small butterfly attracting plants to put out front. I'm still contemplating what else to put out front. I have a feeling that we're going to have a good growing season and one of the teachers at school said I could borrow her pressure canner, so it's going to be awesome well into the fall and winter too!

Doggy Daycare Expulsion

Today Brandy got expelled from doggy daycare. I take her to school on Tuesdays and Thursdays where she goes to the small animal class to hang out with the kids taking that class and the other dogs in daycare. Well, today they had a new dog down there and Brandy decided that she was going to put that dog in it's place. Apparently Brandy bit through the dogs ear and there was lots of blood. They put Brandy in a crate for the rest of the day except for when they took her out to go outside. Brandy is sort of our English pod dog so all the other teachers were heartbroken that she wouldn't be back, they were sure it was the other dog's fault and they even jokingly asked a principal if she could get a due process hearing :-) I joked that everyone in my family has a biting problem :-) I'm not super concerned. Doggy daycare was good for her to get some attention and socialize with other dogs, but without it, it makes my mornings less hectic. The teacher said that if she had a job next year, that Brandy could come back and that she'd schedule her to be with dogs she get along with.

Ironic Happenings

Thankfully it's been a while since I've had to break up a fight at school, but today I made up for that. Last week I had two girls telling me that they were bff's, but today one was punching the other and they were both calling each other sluts and whores. Oh how things change. Thankfully I didn't really have to get between them, the agressor stopped when I hollared at her. I was sort of mean when we got to the office and told the agressor to wipe the smile off her face because what she did was stupid and immature. Ironically enough, the fight errupted while we were in the middle of reading a story about Gandhi and his non-violent philosophy :-)

By the way, I was trying to teach my kids about irony and I talked about the song "Ironic" by Alanis Morisette. They had NO idea what I was talking about. That song came out in the late 90s, they still play it on the radio and it was a BIG deal when that album came out. I think I'm getting old since music I used to listen to in high school is considered oldies.

Forking Some Oranges

Today I had to stay at school until 8p.m. for parent/teacher conferences. Conferences are such a waste of time for us, though I wish they weren't. I wish I had so many parents that I had to beat them back with a stick, but for some reason parents think that when their children go to high school that they don't need to be as involved. If anything, I think parents need to be MORE involved. I also think that the lack of parents coming to conferences is an indication of how uncaring parents are right now. A lot of my kids from home lives that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy and it's sad. I feel sorry for kids whose parents can't spend twenty minutes at school talking to teachers.

In other news, Colby is back in the bite log, though I think this time he was hungry and wanted his snack. Colby also came to school for bit to eat dinner and the teachers were impressed by his fork using ability, he can spear an orange like it's nobody's business.

Lesson Learned

You know, I've learned a really important lesson about being a principal over the last couple of weeks. As you know I'm getting my masters in educational leadership and hope to someday become a principal. I've learned that principals walk a fine line between advocating for students and sticking up for teachers. Lately one of our principals hasn't been walking that line very well, which has stirred up some angst among some teachers including myself. It's not a great situation when a principal practically interrogates a teacher over an accusation from a parent over something as simple as calling a girl's yellow pant ridiculous. A - I didn't say that, B - if I did say it and hurt her feelings, why can't she ask for an apology, C - calling her pants ridiculous wouldn't even make it on the top 100 list of mean things a teacher has said, and D - the girl, when asked, couldn't even remember what the principal was talking about. Another teacher was interrogated over a much more serious accusation (it turned out that the teacher didn't do anything wrong), but I learned a very valuable lesson: Each time she has interrogated someome, her trustability erroded. Being a principal is tricky. I don't know why I want to do it to myself, but someone has to take the lessons learned and put them to good use.

Over Sickness

It took me a ridiculously long time to get over being sick. I didn't feel well all week until today - better late than never I guess. We didn't really get to do much in the yard even though the weather was beautiful. On Saturday I DID get to take Colby to the park and I got to open the back door, but I fell asleep on the couch while Colby was napping so I didn't do anything outside. Today I got to put our zuchini and squash plants into larger containers, but I mixed them all up and I'm not sure what I transplanted and what I didn't - guess I'll find out when they sprout some veggies :-)

On Saturday I went shopping and got Colby and I some Easter outfits and today I put away several weeks worth of clean laundry, so did get some stuff done. Next weekend we're hoping to rent a tiller and get our gardens taken care of. We're trying not to jump the gun though on planting. I wouldn't want to plant something and then have it zapped by frost. But things are looking very green!

The Biting Odyssey

So, whatever Colby had the other day, he gave to me. I was sick all day Sunday and I haven't felt too well the last couple of days. Last night on my way to class I refused to back down on a close parking spot (we both had our turn signals on, but mine was on first!) and I was about to freeze to death sitting there listening to him jabber about the budget. I hate being sick. Unfortunately Brandon also got it and had to take the night off last night.

I've written from time to time about Colby's bite log craziness. Well, now it's getting bad. He bit some poor kid in the back and left a pretty good mark so they decided to move him up to the 2 year old classroom. The director of Colby's daycare hinted that if that didn't help the problem, then he might get put on a 2 week probationary period when he wouldn't be able to come to daycare (!!). I really don't want that to happen. I don't know what I would do. But it would be pretty funny to tell a teenage Colby that he was on probation when he was two.

Sick Baby

I hate it when Colby is sick...I get thrown up on as much as anything (and he threw up 8 times today). I had to take Colby to school for one period because Brandon was sleeping so he could work tonight. My kids were nice to him, but I'm sure they were grossed out by his throwing up. My it'll be birth control...there's a thought!

We're working out the details for our summer beach trip. Looks like we'll be staying at the same place as last year, which is good because it was convenient and cheap. I'm excited about the trip!! I hope that everyone can come!

Busy, Busy

It seems like I've had a lot of stuff going on lately. On Sunday we celebrated Brandon's grandmother's 90th birthday. On Monday I had class. Last night we had Bible study. Tonight I had to go to Walmart because there wasn't a thing in the world to eat tonight. Also I finally mailed our taxes so maybe we can get our sweet return soon. I also feel like the everything in the future is going to be busy. Colby has pictures on Friday and I have a ladies night to go to, Sunday we're eating lunch with friends, next week we go to our super long schedule at school, Brandon and Lindsey's birthdays are on St. Patricks Day, the first week of April is Easter so I'm going to visit my family and the weekend after that is Colby's birthday...whew!! It's crazy busy!

Oh, and I just found out that our super long days only add up to 3 school days and I'm supposed to stay until 5:10 on Mondays. I'm not staying until 5:10 - I have class at 6:30. An hour and 20 minutes is not enough time to pick up Colby, go home, eat dinner and then drive to class. I can't be done.

Parenting Award

Today was good. One of our resource officers whose wife used to work in the English Department decided he was going to cook chili for us. So we decided to bring in some fixins to go with the food and as always, it was an awesome spread and all delicious. Colby was in a good mood too, so that makes things even better :-)

When it comes to Colby, I've been getting the feeling lately that God is just blessing us all the time. We have a daycare situation that is great, Colby is a really good kid, we've been given good advice and had the courage to use it. I've realized that some parents let their 1-2 year olds go to bed at 10:00 PM (!!!), can't get their children to eat vegetables, and let their children run their household. While some of that may be true of us sometimes, it's not usually true, which makes me feel really good. I'm only taking note of this now because it may not be the same in the future and I might as weel enjoy it while it lasts!

Updates

Last weekened we went to visit my family in Hampton. It was a pretty good ride with Colby. We only had to stop once each way, which is excellent for a toddler that didn't sleep much. I think he made my parents REALLY tired!

So, to make up for our many, many snow days, we're adding 40 minutes to our school days starting March 15 and going through May 28. I just want to say...that's a LONG time to spend in school, but at least we won't be going to school until July and I can finally make vacations plans!

My RU class is starting up again. Last night I wanted to stab my eyes out with my pen I was SOOOOO bored. School law, while totally necessary, is COMPLETELY boring!!