West Nile Anyone?

Ok, so I can sometimes be a bit of a drama queen, but this is pretty bizarre!

Yesterday in my 40 year old science lab, my students are working on an assignment and I keep noticing this bugs flying around my head! I hate flying bugs...they are gross. I know I teach science by entomology is not bag! Any-who...I realize they are mosquitoes and so for the rest of the day I am batting them out of my face, trying to kill them and save my kids! After school I wash all my tables off using the sink in the prep-lab and every time I turn the water on, a puff of mosquitoes attacks me!!! I open the cabinet under the sink only to discover that the pipe from the sink does not connect with the drain under the cabinet. Yes folks, there is a hole in the floor that the water drains into! And each time the water drains into the hole, a cloud of mosquitoes flies out! (Can you say West Nile?????)

Long story short, I race the office and ramble on about bird-sized mosquitoes attacking me and a hole in the cabinet floor and the admin laughingly puts in the work order.

Today the maintenance guys come to fix the problem (yes, they came the next day! That blew my mind!..in my old district it would have been a couple of weeks to a month!) and get a great laugh at the crazy science teacher who is scared of the West Nile Virus. Clearly they have no idea how hard it is to get a decent sub in my district!

That's all for now...very sleepy...kids are still pretty good...yawn...3 detentions in the morning though :( 2nd period was a bunch of butts today!

...more later...tomorrow's Friday!!!!!!!!!!!

Great Quote

"Skill to do comes from doing."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Awesome in it's truth and simplicity!

My, How Time Flies!

Wow, it is hard to believe that my first two weeks are over tomorrow. This has been a beautiful beginning!

I have 6 classes each day but the numbers are sooooo low. I spoke with an old co-worker and found out that the classes at my old school are around 38+. WOW! That's all I can say. My largest is 30 and the others are less than that. These kids are totally different in their behaviors. They actually follow instruction to the best of their 13 yr old brain's ability. The halls are orderly and quiet. The cafeteria will be full of kids but the noise level is so different from my last job.

I did have to hold my first detention this morning for a young man with a terrible attitude...I am hoping that this will be the end of our problems, but I am not holding my breath!

Things are definately different and it is hard because I don't really have anyone to eat lunch with and I do feel alone much of the time. I know it is still early in the year so I am hoping to make some new friends.

I am sooooo glad that Labor Day weekend is coming up just so I can maybe catch up on my sleep...M will probably keep me up. She's moving to the new room at school in 2 weeks. I am not happy about this. I am sad that my baby is not my baby anymore...this feeling is so hard. I see how women have their children so close together to keep this feeling away. I even have caught myself thinking about another one. We just cannot afford the cost of another child. Maybe someday.

What will they think of next?

Ok, so...wow...lots of madness since the last post.

Wednesday and Thursday were new teacher training..boring...most if the info was for 1st year teachers not teachers with experience that are new to the district. But I did meet some of my new co-workers and get to know them. H is freakin' hilarious, thank God she is there.

Today I show up all prepared to sit on my butt and work on LPs and talk to my hall neighbors when I find out that the new 8th grade teacher quit and admin decided to move me from my completely decorated and cozy 6th grade room to a filthy, trashed out 8th grade lab room full of the previous teacher's crap...I mean C-R-A-P crap! I emptied 3 filled cabinets, the teacher desk, a bookcase, and a large built-in cabinet full of old junk. I found activities and LPs dated back to 1982! I was 3 years old and my youngest brother wouldn't be born until 2 years AFTER these things were used! AMAZING what people will keep! The hardest thing was that my room was completely finished and I had to take everything down and move it.

I was a serious basket case this morning...almost comatose...seriously!

Now I will have to spend the evenings after inservice getting my room ready while everyone else gets to go home and be with their families.

Such BS...but I guess that's the way my luck goes!

All I can ask is...what will they think of next?..........

1 Day Down!

Today was new science teacher training. I got to look at my curriculum online and It looks pretty good. I am excited about the 5E lessons! They look fun. I hope the kids like these...it will make my life much easier but I am concerned about losing my control over how I teach what I teach...

Give it the ole' college try though!

Got to see Becky Sa....she looks great. I will miss having her to talk to but I did meet the 2 new science teachers at CCBMS. The were pretty sweet and I hope to get to know them better soon.

Any chance we might finallt get some rain around here? We're parched already!!!!!!!

Sweet, Warm Smells!

The cake is in the oven! Yeah!!!!!!

It is one of the easiest I have ever made and probably tastes the best too! It is called South Georgia Pound Cake. I found it in a new Paula Deen cookbook that I got from her cooking class. Will and Maddie and I went to Savannah for a week with Bill and Kathy. We had lots of fun. The biggest highlight of our trip was Paula's Cooking School. Bill bought tickets for Kathy and me for Christmas and it was tons of fun. She is a total hoot in person! Anyways...they gave us a free cookbook signed by her and some other goodies too!

Great memories!

Beautiful Girl!!!

Here is my beautiful Madeline! Isn't she amazing?

This photo was taken ather 1st b-day party. We made homemade ice cream and Maddie was facinated by the process, she couldn't keep her eyes off the machine!

P.S. She loves ice cream! hehehehe

Round Two

Here I am at the start of another school year. The thought of starting all over again is a bit daunting!

From 8th grade to 6th grade.

A new district, new campus, new team, new everything....

New friends.......?

The thoughts running through my head are crazy...I am dreaming of all the things that can go wrong. Have I made the right choice? Close people say yes...I am not so sure. Perhaps I should have stayed...the problem is that I was miserable at MMS...the staff was sooo divided and I couldn't deal with the politics any longer.

No choice now...the contract has been signed...the room has been packed, moved, unpacked, decorated...so stressful...I really don't adapt to change well! (winkwink)

Ok...btw...when I am nervous I bake...that's part of the reason I have a little extra padding (winkwink)...my daughter is in the kitchen draggin out all of the plastic storage bowls and lids...I have eggs and butter out coming to room temperature...something yummy awaits!