8:30-3:15: Life at School

BuNnIeS!!

2012-11-10T08:44:00.001-05:00

So, obviously, this blog is pretty dead. I have a NEW and BETTER one, though, here:

verybunny.wordpress.com

Check it out!

What a crazy day.

2011-03-02T18:48:00.001-05:00

This morning I woke up to streams of light coming through our curtains. Not good, not good...I bolted out of bed and looked at the clock: 6:47 a.m. I should be 20 minutes down the road by now. Somehow, my alarm's volume had been turned down to zero and I couldn't hear it. I jumped into the shower and was out the door by 7:05. Traffic was bad, but I managed to get to school by 7:50. On the rare occasions that I've been late like that before, it usually messes me up for the whole day. It just feels like I'm constantly behind no matter what I do. Once the kids got into the classroom, though, things were so busy, I quickly forgot about my rushed morning.

Our busy morning gave way to a somewhat relaxed afternoon. We discussed firefighters and fire safety in Social Studies, which of course, led to many questions regarding extremely specific circumstances. Where kids come up with this stuff is a mystery for the ages. At least they're thinking, I suppose. Some kids were concerned about the possibility of a fire at school. I explained that we would do what we always do during a fire drill.

"But what if the door is blocked by FIRE??"

I said we could go out the window.

"Will we have to smash the windows??"

No, I said, we could remove the screen and open the windows. The glass is about 1/2" thick, so you could throw a chair against them all day and probably not do too much damage.

"How do you get the screens off?"

A demonstration of how to remove the screens and open the windows ensued. I discovered that the space between the outside brick and the window was filled with spider nests and all kinds of nasty looking stuff. The windows were quickly closed and the children returned to their seats.

"Mrs. Phillips? What if, like, what if you lived in a mansion and you were way up high on part of the mansion and like, you couldn't jump out the windows because they were so high up??"

This question was quickly taken care of by asking if anyone lived in a mansion. One boy insisted he did, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't.

We also discussed the reasons for calling 911. I said it had to be a huge emergency (like a fire) for someone to call 911. I stressed that if you called it and there wasn't really an emergency you could get in big trouble. Then, I had someone ask this question:

"So...when should you call the FBI?"

...

....

.....

How do you even answer that?

"Umm...well, you don't ever need to call the FBI. That's not really what they're for." I didn't mention that if the FBI is called in, the emergency is going to be way bigger than just a fire. But since I didn't want to get into the history of the FBI, who works for the FBI, how you can be in the FBI, where the FBI lives, or stories about how someone's grandpa's cousin's brother was maybe they think at some point in the FBI, or any other such questions, I decided to drop my explanation at that and take the kids to recess.

The Tornado Warning

2011-02-28T20:02:00.000-05:00

This morning I drove to school (tired, the Oscars went so late last night), but enjoying the bit of sunshine that seems to come earlier and earlier each day. As it got lighter and the thermostat on my car dashboard got higher I thought it would be a pleasant day. Highs in the 60s was what was predicted on the weather websites I frequent. Thunderstorms (a hint at the summer I am just barely able to make out over the horizon now) were due to roll in late in the afternoon.

The school day began, busy as usual, my kids a little more mellow than usual (not complaining), and the sun was streaming through the classroom windows. I told them how warm it was supposed to be and that they probably wouldn't need their coats at recess (cheers abounded).

Mid-morning I took a spare second to quickly check my email and found this:

"We are under a tornado watch until 4:00 p.m. Please review your Tornado/Disaster Drill procedures especially since we have all moved. And, we will probably be having indoor recess."

Wait...what?! I checked a weather website and saw that, indeed, a storm was closing in on us sooner than expected. The kids were working away on stories they're writing, so I thought I would tell them of the recess scenario and briefly go over our disaster drill procedures after having collected their work.

The kids gathered on the carpet and this is what happened:

Me: "Guys, I have some news. You're probably going to have indoor recess today."

The kids cheer collectively--for whatever reason, indoor recess is special and wonderful.

Me: "It looks nice out right now, but by the time it's time for recess, it will probably be raining. There's a bad storm heading our way and there will probably be some thunder. Also...deep breath...we are going to review our disaster drill rules because...another deep breath...we are under a tornado watch."

At this point, several things happen. One little girl immediately gets tears in her eyes, two of the other girls look at each other and start giggling, and all the boys' faces light up like I just told them I was giving them all candy and ice cream.

Me, quickly continuing: "Now, the chances of a tornado coming through this area is pretty much none, so you don't need to be worried." Girl's tears are suppressed, but she retains an extremely worried look on her face. Boys continue to look elated. "Do you remember how you're supposed to cover your head in the hallway?"

Bottoms go up in the air as heads are lowered to the ground and little hands cover the base of their neck (not heads).

Me: "OK, great. So, just in case anything happens we'll go in the hallway to be safe. Any questions?"

About 5 hands go zooming into the air. Here are just a sampling of questions I received:

"When is the tornado coming?"

"Can the tornado go under the doors?"

"What if I have to go to the bathroom while the tornado is out there?"

"Why do the teachers get to stand up and walk around while we're on the floor?"

"Can a tornado go under a building?"

"What if the tornado smashed through the windows AND the wall AND the hallway?"

"I saw a fox in my backyard this morning!"

"Should I go into my attic if there's a tornado and I'm at my house?"

"My bathroom has windows in it at home!! My bathroom has windows!!"

"Why would we get down in the hallway? Shouldn't we go outside if there's a tornado?"

"Could you ever have snow and a tornado?"
"How does a tornado form, anyway?"

This line of questioning went on for about 10 minutes. No kidding. Kids have a ton of questions about this type of thing. After answering ALL of their questions, we were mercifully interrupted by the PE teacher who had come to pick them up for PE.

After all of that, there ended up being no tornado (surprise), and the thunder was distant. It rained all afternoon, though. Made for a fun commute home (kidding).

Fresh Face

2011-02-27T08:19:00.000-05:00

Hello forgotten little blog. You are still loved.

This whole keeping-up-with-a-blog thing is a lot more difficult than it was in high school, I'll tell ya that. There have been occasions over the last several months when I've wanted to write, but eh--who has the time?

Anyway, I've given this blog a face lift and we'll see where it goes from there. I hope to amuse you with stories from the classroom, among other things. We shall see how this turns out.

Nothin' Like a Sore Throat...

2010-09-18T09:12:00.000-04:00

It's been a long week.

And it's going to be a short weekend.

Followed by another long week.

Is it Columbus Day weekend yet?

Tuesday and Wednesday I was at the school until after 4:30. Tuesday I didn't get home until about 6:30 and Wednesday I didn't get home until about 5:30.

Thursday evening I noticed that little tickle in my throat. The tickle that all teachers dread. It's the tickle that might mean you're getting a cold. When I woke up on Friday, my throat was feeling even more scratchy and my tummy didn't feel quite right. But I headed off to school anyway. It was picture day, so you can't miss that!

The day went by fairly smoothly. All the kids looked so cute--the girls in poofy dresses and the boys with little ties and button up shirts. I wasn't feeling worse, but I wasn't getting any better. My stomach would go from feeling okay to feeling really nauseated. That's a good feeling.

Finally the day was over, carpool had ended, my room was packed up for the weekend, and I dragged my exhausted self out to the car and settled in for my normal commute home. I got all the way to the on-ramp for the Parkway aaaaaand...there's a police car blocking it! Sweet! I figured someone must have crashed on the on-ramp, so I would get on the Parkway going the opposite direction, make a U-turn and get on my way. Minor inconvenience, but I can deal, right? As I pass the on-ramp, I looked up to the Parkway and it looked like a parking lot. Oh, good. As I get on the Parkway heading the opposite direction, I'm weighing my options. I can do my U-turn and just sit through traffic or I can get on 95 South. I make a U-turn and pass a sign that says to expect delays on the Parkway for the next 5 days between where I get on and another exit several miles down the road. So there's no hope that the delay is short. I decide to get off the Parkway and take 95 South. Normally, 95 South at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon is just plain stupid. If you get on then, you'll be on it for a long time because it usually looks like this:

[from http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/the-psychological-toll-of-automobile-traffic/]

...and no one is moving anywhere.

But, miracle of miracles!

I hopped on 95 and there was only minor traffic! It was a little disconcerting, but I was home by 4:30! Not bad, considering I was thinking I would be lucky to be home by 5.

Anyway, by the time I got home, I was more tired and still feeling yucky. Then I started to think. I started thinking about a little boy who wasn't at school on Monday. He wasn't there because he had strep throat. He was back on Tuesday after having taken 24 hours worth of antibiotics. Now, 4 days later I had a scratchy throat and a general "sick feeling." I looked up symptoms for strep:

-very sore throat (check? It was scratchy, but not the worst I've ever had.)
-red throat, sometimes with small white or yellow splotches (not sure--my mouth is dark and I can't see inside it very well)
-fever (no fever!)
-general sick feeling (check.)
-lower stomach pains/ache (check.)
-nausea (check.)

Hmmm...I was worried. Matt and I went to bed and I tried not to think about it.

This morning, my throat is feeling much better and I don't feel so yucky anymore. w00t!!! Hopefully I just had a little 24 bug of some sort and I'm fine.

So that's my week. Lots to do today and tomorrow...at least I didn't have to get up at 5:30 this morning.

Remembering 9 Years Ago...

2010-09-11T08:37:00.000-04:00

It has crept up on me again this year. With the business of the beginning of the school year, it's hard to think of anything beyond the classroom walls. But last Monday, I turned around and there it was, staring at me from the end of the week. I haven't thought about it a whole lot over the last couple days...just brief snippets of memories and emotions invading my head every so often. I tried to push them aside so I could answer a question about the math lesson or settle a squabble between two students.

But now it's Saturday, September 11, 2010. I don't have to go to school today and while there are things around me here at home that could distract me, I know they won't. Even if I want to be distracted. Because what happened nine years ago today had such a huge impact on my life I can't ignore it. It represents a major dividing line: a line separating the young, naive me and the more aware, less jaded me. It destroyed a lot, but it created a lot, too. It destroyed the old world, the world where things happening outside my own circle of family and friends didn't really matter or have much bearing on my life. It created a new awareness and a new appreciation for our country and the things that happen outside of our country's borders.

Nine years ago, I couldn't fully understand what was happening. The images on T.V. looked like something from a movie, not something that was really going on in New York and in D.C. (just 15 miles north of where I lived). It was a scary day--do you remember? I remember every detail of that day: from the moment a girl entered our classroom at school saying something had happened in New York to coming home and seeing those videos for the first time. I remember lying in bed that night, not able to sleep--not wanting to sleep--worried that something else would happen in the middle of the night. Do you remember the next day when you woke up not knowing if it was really over or if there was more to come? I didn't know what to do other than watch news all day. What can you do on a day like that?

Now, nine years later, I still cry and still think about each moment of that day. I remember my own emotions, I remember the emotions of people on T.V., I remember the patriotism and unity that followed. And I hope and pray--so fervently--that this day is not forgotten.

[from http://casualhardcore.wordpress.com/2009/09/11/9-11/]

One Day at a Time

2010-09-04T19:57:00.000-04:00

The first three days of school are over.

My kids are awesome.

But dang. I am so tired.

After hours of planning with my other 1st grade co-teacher we found out the day before school started that we had reached the magical 28 children. Just enough to officially split us into two independent classes and gain one T.A. to share between the classes. All our planning, our daily schedule we had developed, our system of organizing materials, all our time and efforts went straight out the window. We suddenly went from being on top of things and ready for the first days to feeling like we needed another week to re-plan everything.

There were a few moments during that day-before-the-first-day-of-school as I was trying to redo as much as I could in just a few hours where I got that huge sinking feeling in my stomach and felt for a second like I was going to throw up. I knew I couldn't redo everything in that one afternoon. So I just focused on the first day of school. I wanted it to go smoothly for the kids and I knew I would have this lovely long weekend to do all the re-planning that needed to happen. The first day went pretty well and I spent the afternoon looking at our plans for days two and three and redoing them where needed.

All in all, things have been frustrating, stressful, and sometimes so ridiculous you just have to laugh. The kids seemed to have a good first week, though, and that's what really matters.

I spent this morning redoing our daily schedules. Normally, each 1st grade class has their own T.A. to help with our Language Arts block and teach Bible. Since there are so few kids this year, the school board only approved one T.A. for both classes to share. That means that we had to have Bible at different times and coordinate our Language Arts block so our T.A. would only be needed in one classroom at a time.

It was quite complicated.

I finally managed to work out a schedule that I think will work. We'll see.

There's still more to do, but at least some stuff is getting straightened out. Never a dull moment :-P

Oh, and P.S.
Do you know how I know that school has really started?

I went 11.5 hours on Friday without going to the bathroom. 5:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., baby.

Back in the saddle again...

What do teachers do?

2010-08-29T12:48:00.000-04:00

As I begin this third year of teaching, I realized that I forgot to do something I promised myself I would do at the beginning of my first and second years of teaching! When I walked into my classroom two(ish) weeks ago and looked around at the blank bulletin boards...

stacks of desks and chairs...

the stuffed closet...

and I wondered,

"Where do I start with all this?!"

What should I do first? What all do I need to do? I know I'll need to buy new stuff...but what all do I need to get? Wouldn't it be nice if I had a pre-made To Do list for all the beginning of the year things that need doing?

"I should make a list as I go," I tell myself. Then, next year I'd have that To Do list! Unfortunately by the time that thought crosses my mind, I've already unloaded three boxes from the closet, put up half my calendar board, organized some desk supplies, and several other things that I can't quite remember. So the Beginning of the Year Master To Do List has been postponed yet again. Oh, well!

Sometimes people ask what I have to do to get ready for a new year (or a new week!) of school; or why I go in to school so early (I usually start back about a week before the official teacher work days start). They can't fathom what in the world could take so much time. I won't tell you everything that I do (obviously--I can't remember everything anyway!), but I will tell you something I did this weekend that took hours (even with Matt helping me for part of it).

At the beginning of the year, we get a huge shipment of new workbooks for the kids. Each kid gets a spelling book, a phonics workbook, and four (yes, four) math workbooks--one for each quarter. All the pages come in a bound, paperback book. We don't give the books to the kids (too much for a 1st grader), so we tear out the pages. Then we can hand out just the page they'll need for the day's lesson.

Let's do some math, shall we?

Each student gets...

4 workbooks...

each workbook has 150 pages...

and we have 26 students this year.

So that equals...?

15,600 pages

That is a lot of pages to tear. Now, I'm not crazy. There is no way on earth that I would tear out that many pages and file them. I hand off most of the work to eager parent volunteers. However, we begin using the math workbooks on the fourth day of school, so I need to have several pages ready to go. I also don't want to start the year with an email to parents asking for a huge favor right off the bat. So I worked on tearing and organizing pages from just the first of the four workbooks. It's enough for the 1st quarter. But even with just one book, it's 150 pages for each of 26 students. That's still 3,900 pages to tear out.

I tore out all the pages on Saturday afternoon. Matt helped a little bit with this part, but...well, he's not the best with tearing along perforated lines. So I told him he could help with step two. After I was finished tearing, I looked at my big stack of papers. 26 stacks of pages for 26 students. Now I needed to organize them--because I'll be handing out all the page 1s for the first math lesson. I needed stacks consisting of all the page ones, all the page twos, all the page 100s, etc. Matt helped me make stacks of the pages and paper clipped them together.

In total, it probably took us about 3 hours to tear, stack, and organize all these pages. Now they're sitting in my blue crate ready to be taken back to the school on Monday and filed into my filing cabinet. All nice and neat.

So that's one of the things I get to do at the beginning of the school year. It's a lot of work, but it all ends up getting done :-)

New Year, New Plans, New Faces

2010-08-26T20:43:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I went back to school for our first official teacher work day of the 2010-2011 school year. It was great seeing everyone--I love the people I work with! Everyone's so friendly and happy--best work environment ever!

I got quite a bit done yesterday--we only had meetings in the morning and over lunch. The afternoon was free to work on whatever needed to be worked on. Today, I was in meetings until 2:00 and I only stayed until 3. I wanted to stay later and work on a few more things, but I needed to go to the teacher store (i.e. the "Oh-my-gosh-I-NEED-everything-in-here store") before heading home.

I'm excited about this school year, but it will be different. Me and my 1st grade co-teacher (see this post for an explanation) sat down Wednesday afternoon and started outlining how we wanted the classroom to be run. The kids were divided by the admin into 1A and 1B, so we decided that the morning welcome time (morning meeting), read alouds, and dismissal could be done separately in our own rooms. The rest of the day we split responsibilities. I'll be teaching math, Bible, social studies, and doing the small group activity for Language Arts. She'll be teaching the rest of Language Arts, science, computer lab, and handwriting. We had to think through where they would keep things like incomplete work folders, pencil boxes, books, etc. I think we've got a good system figured out. We'll see how the kids do with it when they get here next Wednesday!

We also planned out the first three days of school together. The first day, we're going to keep the kids separated for most stuff, but then starting the second day we'll introduce them to the other classroom. It took a long time to plan those three days! But I think once we get into regular planning for regular days, it won't be so involved! It will be nice only to have to plan for half the subjects, though!

I keep looking at the names of the kids who we'll be teaching this year. They're not my kids yet. The group of kids I taught in kindergarten and 1st grade are my kids. I know them inside and out: all their little quirks and habits, how they'll react to different stuff, what they'll love, what they'll hate, how they learn...all that. I know I'm not a parent, and I'm not pretending like I know exactly how they feel when they hand their kids over to a new teacher, but...wow. I so want to sit down with the 2nd grade teachers and tell them everything about these kids. I guess I feel like I can identify a little better with parents who want to tell you everything up front about their kids. But I know the teachers in 2nd grade are amazingly talented and wonderful and my kids will do just fine.

OK, so I get a little attached to the kiddos in my class. I'm with them nearly 7 hours a day, 5 days a week, nine months a year! Sorry that I grow to love them so much ;-) I'll miss my kids from last year a lot. But I know in a couple months I'll be completely smitten (most days, haha!) with this new group.

So bring on the new year and new faces!

The Tiny Hummingbird

2010-08-24T16:52:00.000-04:00

I was going to include this in my posts about the shooting match in West Virginia, but in the end, I thought it would be better as it's own post.

While we were waiting for the rain to pass, several of us sat on a beautiful porch in front of the house. It had a roof and off of the roof, over the sides, hung long green vines. On the other side of the vines, under the eves, were three hummingbird feeders. As the rain came pouring down, we waited to see if any of the hummingbirds would come around. We were assured that when it wasn't raining, there were sometimes 10-15 hummingbirds swarming around the feeders. As the rain began to slow, we began to see things darting about just beyond the feeders. Soon, five or six hummingbirds were buzzing past the feeders, hovering just briefly to drink.

[Please note, this bird did have two wings, but even shooting at 1/500th of a second, I couldn't catch it!]

I took more pictures of these birds than I did of the shooting match! The birds would so briefly fly near the feeders, it was difficult focusing and getting all my settings right before they flew off again!

If you look closely at the last two, you can see their tiny feet! It was so fun watching them--I've never been that close to a hummingbird before and I've certainly never seen as many as we did in one setting! We must have watched for at least half an hour. Sorry my pictures aren't any better--photographing them was a bit beyond my amateur photographer talents!

Anyway, all that made me kinda want to invest in some hummingbird feeders...maybe next summer!

Champion Grocery Shopper

2010-08-23T13:15:00.002-04:00

Well, folks, I've done it again. I have fought and conquered the grocery store. I am pretty much getting awesome at this.

I decided to make two weeks worth of meal plans since school is starting up and going to the grocery store every other week is better than going every week. Right?

My budget for one week is $50. At least, I'm trying to make that my budget. Some weeks it happens, other weeks...not so much. I'm a little over this month. However, compared to what I had been spending each month at the grocery store, I am way, way, way under. Anyway, since I was shopping for two weeks, I figured I would be spending close to $100 (because $50 x 2 = $100!). So this morning I made my two weeks' worth of meal plans. I looked at what we already had, what could be made from that, and what we would need to cook everything else. I made my grocery list and Matt went with me to the store.

Aldis was up first. This is what I bought:

2 lbs ground turkey
4 lb. whole roasting chicken
pork chops
ice cream
biscuits
apples
green peppers
hamburger buns
chips
2 sour cream containers
garlic

How much did I pay for this bounty? $29.34!! Amazing.

I only had to pick up a few things at Safeway:

Onions, fried rice spice packet, and pizza sauce only cost $4.24.

So my total cost of groceries for the next two weeks comes to........$33.58!

I think that's pretty darn good. I will have to pick up some fresh produce and bread next week, but that should only be a couple bucks. Here's what Matt and I are having for din-din over the next two weeks:

Sweet and Sour Chicken
Pizza (homemade)
Aglio e Olio (Pasta and Oil) with tuna
Fried Rice
Sloppy Joes
Tuna Noodle Casserole
Pork Chops
Roasted Herb Chicken Breast
Tacos
Tuna Cakes
Rotisserie Style Chicken

and a smattering of leftovers when necessary.

What good deals at the grocery store did you find this week?

Back to School

2010-08-22T08:54:00.001-04:00

Wednesday, August 25th is the first official teacher work day for the 2010-2011 school year.

Didn't we just have the last official work day for the 2009-2010 school year, like...a week ago?

The summer has flown by. F L O W N by. I'm pretty sure we just finished school last week and someone pulled off the July page from the calendar and is trying to trick me into thinking it's late August.

I did do a lot this summer. Including, but not limited to, the following:

•Babysat for some awesome kids who liked to play "Goldfish," lightsaber battles, and Pokemon.

•Went to Florida and visited my Grandma.

•Attended the wedding of two amazing people.

•Figured out that I can save a ton of money on my grocery bill by going to Aldi's and using coupons.

•Saved $30 on our cable bill by switching from Digital Cable to Economy Cable. [P.S. there is no obvious difference between these two packages.]

•Took part in a shooting match in West Virginia.

•Spruced up our bedroom, my bathroom, and the laundry room.

Not a bad summer. Just a fast one.

So even though official work days don't start until this Wednesday, I went in a couple days this past week to start getting stuff ready. I went in early for a couple reasons (I'm all about bulleted lists today):

•There was nothing to do at home but watch Food Network and "forget" to do dishes or laundry.

•I get antsy thinking about all the prep work there is to do before kids come into the classroom on September 1st.

•I like setting up and decorating the classroom.

•Why cram everything into a week, when I can spread it out over two weeks?

I didn't get a ton done--mainly just arranging furniture where I want it and putting up my calendar board and some other decor. This year will be different (again). I don't mind different, but I also like the idea of having the same year back-to-back. Let me recap my first two years of teaching and what will be my third year (yay, more bullets!!):

•Year 1: Taught Kindergarten with two T.A.s (one morning, one afternoon). Super fun.

•Year 2: Moved to 1st grade (because of enrollment issues, not because I was a terrible K teacher). I had to move to a new classroom and learn a whole new curriculum. It was almost like starting over except for the fact that I knew a little better how to manage a classroom.

•Year 3 (this year): 1st grade! I don't have to switch grade levels! This is good!! However, due to more enrollment issues, me and the other 1st grade teacher will be doing a pseudo-team teaching thing. Don't get me wrong, I worked with the same teacher last year and loved it--so it's not the working together thing that's a problem. It's just going to mean that I have to change things around again and it will just be another different year. I can deal. I'm just sayin'.

At this rate, I'm thinking I won't have two back-to-back identical years until Years 4 and 5. They told me in college that by Year 3 I would have things sorted out and be somewhat sane. But since I've moved around so much, I feel like I haven't had a chance to really get good at anything. Oh well. Maybe one day...

Monday I'm going to run some errands and maybe go in to the school. Tuesday I certainly will be there and then starting Wednesday, I have to be there! Ooo, boy. So much to do. I can feel the pressure already. So if you notice these posts getting fewer and farer (more far?) between, that's why. We'll see what happens to this space once school really starts going ;-)

Mud, Guns, and a Sore Shoulder, Part 2

2010-08-16T19:04:00.000-04:00

[N.B.: I added some pictures to the previous post--check 'em out! And if you haven't read Part 1, do that first.]

After having trudged to the top of a hill for a shooting match, those who had brought their own guns started getting everything out of the cases, cleaning things out, and setting up sandbags on the shooting bench. Matt's uncle stapled targets to a large plywood board...

...and walked it 100 yards away from the shooting bench.

Whad'ya mean you can't see the target?! It's the small yellow thing right in the center, of course! And that's why the first round is rifles with scopes.

We got protective ear muffs on (those guns are loud!) and the shooting started with last year's winner (who is a friend of the family). He had brought his own rifle and took his sweet time getting everything set up just the way he wanted.

After taking his six shots, Matt's cousin was up next. He also had his own gun:

Matt's uncle was third. He had yet another gun:

Matt was up fourth.

He decided to use the first gun:

Yours truly was fifth. I was nervous about this round because last year, the gun I used kicked something awful. So bad, that by the time you take your fourth or fifth shot, it's hard to pull the trigger because you know it's going to punch you in the shoulder! Self-inflicted pain isn't really my thing. Matt said the first gun really didn't kick bad at all and that I wouldn't need a "sissy pad" (extra padding for your shoulder). So I gave it a shot:

Not too bad! I didn't need a sissy pad, but my shoulder was still a bit sore afterward.

The last shooter took his turn:

After we had all taken our shots, we trekked up to the target board to count up points and move it closer for the second round. Matt had only scored 2 points higher than me. Certainly not insurmountable by any means. However, I had beat him in the first round last year, so I wasn't too pleased.

The second round is my favorite. I love the old .22-cal rifle they have everyone use. It was Matt's grandfathers. I was determined to outscore Matt and give him a run for his money!

The targets were moved in to about 35-40 yards since the .22-cal has iron sights instead of a scope.

We went through the same order as the first round.

We collected targets after the round was over, and Matt's uncle added up the points again. I had outscored Matt by 7 points! Splendid! I even tied his uncle at 56 points a piece. That meant that collectively, I had 5 more points than Matt. All I had to do was hit some good shots in the last round to secure victory!

The last round is pistols.

I hate pistols.

Last year, they were my downfall. This year, though, I knew which pistol to use and I was ready. The targets were moved in to about 15 yards and we took our shots.

The targets were taken off the board. And the points were totaled. In one round, Matt had outscored me by 11 points. That meant overall...he was five points ahead of me. FIVE points. So close. He wiped some proverbial sweat from his brow, barely having dodged a humiliating defeat.

The final results were as follows:

1st place: Matt's uncle, 131 points
2nd place: Matt, 119 points
3rd place: Last year's winner, 115 points
4th place: Me, 114 points
5th place: Matt's cousin: 103 points
6th place: Family friend, 70 points

I improved my standing from last year's 5th place, but I'm not satisfied. Next year, I'll be back and beat my husband. That's a promise.

Mud, Guns, and a Sore Shoulder, Part 1

2010-08-15T11:07:00.001-04:00

The main reason Matt and I traveled to visit his parents this particular weekend is because there was a family reunion in good ol' West Virginia.

Yea, that kind of West Virginia.

We went to the reunion last year, too. We have to drive about an hour and a half to get to his uncle's house which is half way up a mountain. There were several family members there who had all brought various goodies to eat. Eating is the first event. But the real event--the MAIN event--comes after the eating is over.

The main even is a shooting match.

Last year, before we went, Matt had told me about this shooting match. It takes place up on a hill overlooking his uncle's house and they've been doing it for over 15 years. There are three rounds and blah, blah, blah...I didn't really care. The only gun I've ever shot (besides a BB gun) was an old shot gun. And you don't really aim with that. I figured I probably couldn't hit the broad side of a barn, much less a small target 100 yards away. I thought I'd just go watch, since there wouldn't be anything else to do. We got up on this hill and they started setting everything up, got out guns, and cleaned things out. Matt's uncle laid out targets and started labeling them with names. He looked at me and said, "You shootin'?" I said no, I'd just watch. He said, "Nah, you're shootin'," and put my name on a target.

Long story short, after the first two rounds, I was ahead of Matt in the points. I couldn't believe it. Matt couldn't believe it. His uncle turned to me and said, "Have you been practicin' or somethin'??" The last round, though, was my downfall. I had the worst pistol ever and I think I only managed to get a few points. Matt shot several bullseyes and overtook me in the points, and ended up in 3rd place. I finished in 5th (out of 8).

While this was certainly not a bad result (seeing as how I'd never really shot a gun in my life), I was not happy losing in the last round. Just to clarify, I didn't care about winning the whole thing--I don't think I could ever beat his uncle. But if I could beat my husband in a shooting match? That would give me bragging rights for centuries, people. Centuries. I was determined to return next year and get those rights.

The last couple weeks at our house have been ripe with taunts and jabs, hints at humiliating defeats, and plenty of (friendly-ish) fightin' words. I wanted to beat him. Bad.

Yesterday, we headed out late morning for West Virginia. It was hot and humid, but not as bad as it's been recently. We arrived and after some chatting and food fixing, we all sat down to eat. About halfway through eating, it started to rain. Just a drizzle. "It'll pass," Matt's uncle said. We could all see blue sky just beyond. Well, the rain stopped. Then started up again. Then briefly stopped. Then more rain--lots of rain. Pouring rain.

Half an hour later, it's still pouring down. Hopes of a glorious shooting match are slowly dying and the rain keeps coming. Some people leave, some people putter around waiting to see if the rain will let up.

After about 45 minutes, the rain slows...then comes to a stop.

Some of the men clamber up the hill to see if things are dry enough to get up there. They come down and report that the top of the hill isn't muddy at all! The trail up the hill...whole 'nother story. Muddle puddles and ruts with mud are all along the hill's trail. Matt's uncle tries to get his truck up through it, but no go. Even 4-wheel drive doesn't do it in this stuff. So in our sandals, we grab duffel bags, gun cases, and other paraphernalia and trudge up to the top. We are shooting today; mud or no mud.

Finally, we're all up there. There will be six shooters (down from last year's 8): Matt, me, Matt's uncle, Matt's cousin, and two friends of the family. The rules are as follows:

-In each round you have six shots at the target. You must take one standing shot; the other five you can sit down and use sandbags to prop up the gun or your arm.

-First round is hunting rifles with scopes at 100 yards. These things (for those of you who don't know), kick like a mule. Not my favorite round. Ouch.

-Second round is shooting with the family .22-cal rifle with iron sights at about 40 yards. I love this round. I scored better than everyone in this round last year and the .22 kicks about as bad as a BB gun (i.e. not bad at all).

-Third round is pistols at about 15-20 yards. I learned last year that pistols are inaccurate and terrible and I hate them. It's what ruined things for me and saved Matt from defeat.

-The winner gets the trophy (yes, there's a trophy) and a year's worth of glory over other family members.

And so we started. The riveting story and stirring results are next!

Odd Happenings on Long Drives

2010-08-13T21:40:00.000-04:00

Matt and I set out early this afternoon to drive to his parents house. Tomorrow is a family reunion in West Virginia (more on that tomorrow!), so we're spending the weekend here.

We've driven down to visit his parents many times since we got married last June. It's about a 4 hour drive and we usually end up chatting and dialing through radio channels. We have radically different musical tastes (for the most part), so sometimes we have to suffer through songs that the other one likes. I usually have to suffer through things like the Beatles, the Who, Genesis (*gag*), or *shiver* RUSH (*double gag*). He usually has to suffer through dance/club/disco music or cheesy pop music. Now, just to be clear, I certainly have wider (and more eclectic) musical tastes, but when I'm in the car on a long drive, I want something upbeat to keep me alert at the wheel. I also enjoy dancing in the passenger seat. Never dancing in the driver seat, though. I would never do that...

Anyway, on these drives down to visit his parents, and through our channel surfing, it seems like we always, always, always end up on a channel playing a certain song. I happen to love this song and promptly turn it up, start dancing and laughing, and generally enjoy Matt's misery and the amazing coincidence that we are hearing this song again!!! Seriously, there's maybe been one or two times in over a dozen drives that we've not heard this song. Each time we hear it, the coincidence is more and more hilarious (in my opinion). In his opinion, it gets more and more annoying (but I think secretly he's starting to see the funny side).

So, are you just dying to know what this song is?

Are you?

Well, here ya go:

So, did you enjoy it? Or are you like Matt and rolled your eyes and sighed loudly?

Dishes

2010-08-11T10:01:00.001-04:00

I have a beautiful pattern on my dishes.

Isn't it lovely?

My grandma had the pattern first. Then one of my aunts loved it so much, she bought her own set. Then mom decided she liked it and bought some, too. After awhile, my aunt wanted something new, so she gave me her set when I first moved off campus in college. Now, 4 years and only two broken dishes later, my set is still going strong. It's good stuff.

The only problem with my dishes is that after you use them, you have to clean them. Of all the household chores there are to do, I think doing the dishes is my least favorite. It's not like laundry or vacuuming where you can do it once a week (or less). Dish washing has to be done every day. Often, multiple times. And since our dishwasher is probably as old as me, you essentially have to wash the dishes before putting them in it.

So I wash and scrub and get poked with a knife and pick at stuff that's gotten hardened. And after awhile, I have a full dishwasher and a nice pile of clean non-dishwasherable stuff on the stove (because that's where you stack dishes to dry when you have a small apartment).

But no matter how many times I do dishes, there's almost always something in the sink. A pot. A pan. A glass. Or, usually, a pot, a pan, a glass, some plates, and some utensils.

I would totally invest in one of those giant dishwashing things they have in restaurants, where you stack everything under a huge cover, push a button and it does this high powered wash on everything in about 5 minutes. Like this:

[courtesy of http://www.indiamart.com]

So if you have one of those lying around, I'd be happy to take it off your hands.

In the end, though, I'm glad to have dishes. Then I can bake things in the oven:

Things like this:

Which turn into this after about 7 hours:

Yummy pulled pork!

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have some dishes to attend to...

Shrinky Dinks

2010-08-09T10:04:00.001-04:00

How many of you have made a shrinky dink in your life?

Remember, the things where you draw on special paper, cut it out, put it in the oven, then watch it magically shrink into a cute piece of colored-on plastic?

The thing that middle schoolers typically play with?

Matt and I decided to be middle schoolers last night and make shrinky dinks. Matt had never made one (*gasp!*) so I showed him the wonder that is shrinky dinks.

We sharpened our colored pencils.

We colored super careful.

And cut oh-so slowly to make sure they would look awesome.

We put them on a cookie sheet...

...and slid them in the oven.

And waited. Soon, they started to curl up.

And when they had flattened back out again, they were so cute and shrunken!!

It was so fun, Matt even made two. Can you guess which two are his and which one is mine? ;-)

Mary, Mary, Quite Contrary...

2010-08-07T11:48:00.000-04:00

...How does your garden grow?

Well, up until the last week, it didn't grow very well. Or rather, it was growing lots of leaves, but no veggies. And really, the point of a garden is to have something to eat after a few months.

We began our little deck garden in April. I found these cute little pots that came with seeds and dirt for only a dollar at Target! They had tomatoes, different types of herbs, peppers, and various flowers. I bought one for each of the kids in my class (we were studying seeds and plants) and then I thought, "They're a buck. What the heck...I'll buy some for us, too!" So I bought tomatoes, peppers, parsley, oregano, and strawberries. Matt and I had visions of feasting on fresh fruit and veggies throughout the late summer months and saving money at the grocery store.

They started out very small and tiny.

And after several weeks, they grew...

and grew...

and grew!

We were so excited that our plants were growing and not dying! We bought bigger pots for them to grow in and eventually set them outside on our deck.

They continued growing...but after several months, we still had no indication that any actual veggies or fruits were growing. August rolled around and I had given up hope that we would ever see any type of return for all our work (and money).

...until earlier this week. What did we spy, but a tiny tomato flower! And on the peppers, what looked to be the beginnings of peppers! At this point, I'll be happy with just about anything. We still have awhile to wait before anything is ready to be picked, but it's fun watching things grow. Especially for me--I could kill a cactus or any other easily-kept-alive plants.

These are the peppers--the buds are right in the center. I apologize for my lack of a macro lens. If you'd like, you can buy one for me and then I can take better pictures! Just leave a comment and I'll send you my address so you can ship it to me. Thanks!

This is the tomato flower. It's the star-like pointy thing right in the center. Again, send me a macro lens and I'll take better pictures.

I'll keep you updated on our gardening endeavors!

[And in case you're wondering what macro lens would be acceptable for you to buy for me, check this one out. Thanks!]

The Perks of Being Married

2010-08-06T09:41:00.000-04:00

I married an awesome guy.

He helps with dishes. He likes to vacuum. He's super nice and fun to be with.

Also, he's kind of a good artist. He can draw stuff like dolphins and geometric designs and make them look super cool.

The other week, we bought a plain white terra-cotta-ish decorative pitcher at my new favorite store, Home Goods. It was cute and I thought it would go good in our bedroom on the table we bought for the empty corner (also from Home Goods). The table was white, so I didn't want a white pitcher on a white table against an off-white wall. I had some blue spray paint, so I decided to spray paint it.

I sprayed and sprayed and got paint on my fingers and probably some in my lungs. When I was finished, it looked....okay. Not awesome. Not terrible. Just okay. I decided it would be fine and put it on the table in the bedroom. Matt looks at it and says, "Why don't we paint a design or something on it?"

Has he ever seen my illustrations? Does he know that I can't draw much more than a circle or square?? I can't paint on a decorative pitcher to save my life! I have the drawing skills of a 5 year old.

Then he says, "No, let me think of something and I can paint it. Okay?"

Fine. He sketches something out on paper (it's like 500 billion times better than what I could do already) and starts painting.

He's really careful.

And by the end of the day it looks so much better than just plain blue!!

Then he says, "But it's not finished yet. I'll do more tomorrow."

The next day he paints while I'm away babysitting. When I came home, this was waiting for me in the bedroom:

Pretty stars.

It. Looks. AWESOME!!!

And that's why you should make sure your spouse has better skills than you. At least in some things.

Playing Goldfish

2010-08-04T20:26:00.002-04:00

As I've mentioned before, I've been babysitting this summer for two sweet twin boys about 3 days a week. This morning, they were digging around for something to do. First, they found some homemade light sabers and had a light saber battle:

It got intense.

Next, they happened upon a small cardboard box with Spongebob on it. One of them exclaimed, "Goldfish!!" I thought he had found a box of (who knows how old) goldfish crackers and told him to put them away for later (hoping he would forget about them). He said, "No! Let's play goldfish!" Now I was confused. You want to play with old goldfish crackers? Right then he opened the box to reveal some sort of playing cards with Spongebob characters on them. He quickly dealt them between himself and his brother and started playing:

Brother 1: "Ok. Umm...do you have any...Spongebobs?"

Brother 2: "No...goldfish!"

Brother 1: *draws card*

Brother 2: "Do you have any Squids?"

Brother 1: "Nope! Goldfish!"

I'm assuming you now understand "Goldfish" to be "Go Fish." But in their cuteness, they didn't realize the difference. I tried to explain that it was, in fact, "go fish," but they continued saying "goldfish" through approximately 50 rounds of the game throughout the day.

I love 7 year olds. They're great.

I Never Imagined...

2010-08-02T14:58:00.000-04:00

...that I would be cleaning up stuff like this:

...before I had children.

But when your husband works at the Lego store and discovers his inner child, this is what happens. A small set there, a box of pieces there, and it all adds up. There's more than just this, of course...scattered throughout the apartment.

Best Day

2010-07-31T09:36:00.001-04:00

This summer, I've been babysitting for some awesome kids. The two boys are twins (I taught one of them in Kindergarten and 1st grade) and their older sister is going into 8th grade. I'm usually at their house 3 days a week from 9-5. It's easy money and is paying for our insane car repair bills.

[You may remember that my car cost us about $260--not terrible. Matt put his car in the garage for several things and his was $650. Sooo....it's a good thing I had this babysitting job!! We should have a little left over by the end of the summer.]

Anyway, our normal day includes swim practice in the morning; lunch; then off to another teacher's house so the boys can continue a reading program they're in. After all that the day is pretty much over--we only have a little bit of time to play or just relax. It's fun, but there's not much time to go somewhere and do something different.

Yesterday, however, was an awesome day. Swim team is over for the year and we had already been to the reading teacher twice that week. We had the whole day to do whatever we wanted! They've asked several times what my apartment looks like, so we headed over to my place so they could see it. They were very impressed--we had a lighthouse in the living room, ship models, Lego cars, guitars, plants, and even a shoe rack!! Wow!!

They were also interested in meeting my husband, Matt. Unfortunately, he had already left for work. Luckily for them, though, he works at...the Lego store! After getting them to understand we weren't buying anything, we drove over to the store to say "hi" and look at Legos. I parked next to Matt's car. One of them commented, "Wow!! He has a race car!" Why did they think his Mazda 6 was a race car? "It has one of those things [spoiler] on the back!"

When entering the mall, they have a large collection of those candy dispensers in the center of the hallway. "Look at this candy!! [dancing around it] They have everything here!!"

We spent about half an hour looking at everything. There was a 30 second Lego video that repeated over and over again that they watched about 12 times. ["Just one more time..."] I finally managed to get them out of the store by telling them we wouldn't have time for the park otherwise.

We drove down to the park and spent some time walking along the river and looking at the old prison/workhouse on the grounds. Have you tried explaining women's suffrage to a 7 year old? I did.

Lunch was next on the agenda, so we drove back to their house. We ate a quick PB&J lunch, then piled back in the car to head to the library. We checked out a bunch of books (including "Walter the Farting Dog"), then drove to another park.

This was an awesome park. They had a playground, lake, kiddie train ride, ice cream parlor, and a merry-go-round! We rode the train and got ice cream. The day was perfect--no rain, no 100 degree temperatures--so it was nice being outside.

While we were driving back home from the park, one of the boys told me that when their daddy first saw their mommy, "He wuved her so much!"

Once we were home, we read some of the library books and they played Monopoly until their mom got home. We also saw THREE bucks in their backyard! What a great day!

New Grocery Store

2010-07-22T14:29:00.000-04:00

After reading several blogs about it, I decided to try out Aldi, a low cost grocery store. They cut prices in various ways so you get good deals; like not bagging your groceries, having you return your own cart, stocking off-brand items, etc. They claim you can do 50-90% of your regular shopping there and cut your grocery bills down.

I went this morning and bought the following items:

4 plums
2 green peppers
3 tomatoes
bananas
shredded cheese
milk ($2.29 for a gallon!!)
creamer
sour cream
4 yogurts
ground turkey
2 packs of chicken breasts
ice cream
hamburger buns
sandwich bread
deli meat
tuna
tomato sauce
tomato paste
green beans

My total was....$39.45! I didn't get everything on my grocery list, but compared to what I would have spent at Safeway for the same items, that's a pretty good deal. And, if I don't like something I bought, I can take it back and return it, get my money back and get a free replacement.

I like good deals.

Florida!!

2010-07-15T15:02:00.001-04:00

We have had so much fun in sunny Florida the past five days! Our time here is coming to an end, so I thought I would update you as to all we've done.

We drove down on Thursday, June 8th--Woodbridge, Virginia to Sarasota, Florida. We got up at 5:30 a.m. and left the parking lot at 6:00. We drove in 4 hour shifts, with a couple stops for food, gas, and bathroom breaks. We managed to drive all 935.44 miles in 14 hours and 45 minutes! We hit NO traffic, NO delays, and surprisingly, we DID NOT get lost!!! Despite our amazing drive, I was exhausted by the time we got to the apartment we're staying in. We dragged our stuff in and went to bed around 10:00 p.m.

Part of what is making this trip possible, is the FREE accommodations! My grandmother owns an apartment in Sarasota that she rents out during the winter months. Most people aren't coming to Florida in the summer to stay long-term, so she's letting us stay in the apartment free of charge for the 5 days we're here. It has a large bedroom, two nice bathrooms, a cute kitchen, and a good-sized living room. It's been so comfortable and a real treat to get to stay here instead of paying $500+ for a hotel!

The next morning we were able to get up, have a leisurely breakfast, and take our time getting ready. We made a quick stop at a nearby Publix to pick up some food stuffs, then went home to eat lunch and take a nap! I love vacations.

My grandmother lives in a retirement home just north of Sarasota, so we went over to visit her mid-afternoon. She showed us around the complex (which is amazingly nice!) and we had dinner in one of their dinning rooms. I haven't seen Gram since 2006 (4 years ago), so it was wonderful getting to spend time with her again. She's also never met Matt and I was glad to introduce him!

The next day, Saturday, we went to one of my favorite Florida places: the flea market!! I didn't buy anything besides lunch, but it's fun walking through the long halls and seeing what the vendors have out. We almost bought two cute puppies that were for sale...but then thought that a 12 hour car ride probably wouldn't be best for them.

We returned to the apartment and looked up a place to eat for dinner. The Lobster Pot was down near the beach, so we decided to eat before heading to the beach for an evening walk. It had been a hot day, but by the time we got to the beach, the weather was perfect. We walked about a mile down the beach before turning around, enjoying the surf washing over our feet. There were some fun shells, a snail, and a sand dollar! It still looked like this when we found it:

But we put it in a bowl with water and bleach once we got home and now it looks like this:

Hopefully we can frame it or put it up in our bedroom somewhere :-)

Sunday we got up and drove up to Tampa (about an hour north) to visit Matt's parents and his aunt and uncle. His parents were in town for part of his mom's class requirements (she's getting her PhD) and his aunt and uncle live in St. Pete. We had lunch and caught up a bit. I was tired by mid-afternoon--my allergies were acting up and just wore me out. We relaxed awhile when we got back to Sarasota and then ate at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. We swam in the apartment pool that evening and began considering moving to Florida.

On Monday we drove down to the Mote Marina on the Sarasota Bay. We signed up for a Bay excursion, which took you out on a boat with a marine biologist. They told us about some of the fancy houses on the Bay (there's one on sale for $7 mil....) and about the wildlife in the area. We saw several dolphins and lots of birds. There was a spoonbill bird on one of the islands which is apparently rare to see in Florida. The biologist said only about 900 nesting pairs are in the area.

Lots of pelicans!

They took us to a man made island in the Bay and we were able to get off the boat to look around.

At the end of the boat tour, they threw a net overboard to collect some marine specimens for us to see. They caught several types of fish, a baby crab, some sponges, and a sea star.

The Mote Marina also has an aquarium with fish, sharks, and a giant squid specimen! It was a fun place to look around.

After we finished looking around the aquarium, we drove down to the beach. It was fun playing in the surf, splashing in the waves, and sitting in the sun. I'm not much of a beach person, but it was a nice afternoon. For dinner we used our Ruth's Chris anniversary present from my mom and dad! So delicious. My steak melted in my mouth, which is exactly what it should have done ;-)

Our last day in Florida was Tuesday. We spent a few more hours over lunch with my Grandma, then spent the afternoon packing and cleaning up the apartment. We were sad to go--the time went by fast!

Wednesday morning we were up bright and early to jump in the car again and drive to Dublin, Virginia--"only" 12.5 hours (instead of 15!). We had a pretty good drive, only hitting some traffic near Charlotte, North Carolina.

We're pretty tired, so we're taking it easy today. I'll update more later. Have a good one :)

Packing and folding and cleaning and prepping....

2010-07-06T11:44:00.000-04:00

Matt and I are driving down to Florida on Thursday.

We are excited.

But.

BUT.

Before we can enjoy Florida sand and sun (and Grandmas) I have to get us ready for it. We'll need clothes and a cooler full of food. I have to get my car serviced. I have to run to the grocery store, probably a CVS, and a couple other places. I have to clean the apartment so it's not stinky when we return.

Yesterday I started this whole process. I went to BJs to grab a couple items (it was pretty close to being 100 degrees outside). I did three loads of laundry and folded/ironed probably about half (or more) of our total clothes collection. When Matt got home from work, we took my car up to the garage to get the oil changed and to have a couple things looked at. [The guy called me about 20 minutes ago to give me an estimate....$260. They have to replace some belt that was "crapped out" (as he put it) and probably some other stuff like a Johnson rod or something...].

Anyway, I've got my whole list printed out and I'm loving the part where I get to cross things off that have been completed. Lots more to do...

~Meredith