Month: December 2008 (Page 6 of 7)

I have been particularly irritable at school lately. I don’t know if it’s all me, or if it’s the kids too. The eighth graders in particular seem to want to turn everything into an angry confrontation. I am anxious for Christmas break. I hope that taking a couple weeks of vacation will mellow them (and me).

It didn’t help yesterday to see that my chalk had been broken. I love getting out a new piece of big, beautiful chalk. I carefully guard it, always holding it near the tip so it won’t break. If it doesn’t break, I have a larger piece to hold on to, it lasts longer, and I don’t scrape my nails against the board. Long pieces of chalk make me happy.

But yesterday morning, a kid used the chalk to write some numbers on the board and didn’t hold it right and broke my big chalk. Now it’s two stubby pieces that will only get stubbier. I almost want to throw them away and start over again, but the long-chalk never lasts. Someone always breaks it. I’ll just wait for the stubby pieces to get too small to write with, then replace them. Maybe I’ll get to put out a new piece of chalk just in time for Christmas. That would be a merry Christmas indeed, Tiny Tim. “God bless us, every one.”

I have been really disconnected from things without my shower radio. I wouldn’t even have known Tuesday was Britney Spears’ birthday if not for my daily check-in with This Day in History for my homeroom period.

I would have gotten what Brent suggested, but guess what Brookstone had: a shower radio! It has a digital tuner, three presets, and a timer… all awesome features. Also, it’s not pink. Now I can keep up with all the important news of the day, such as the birthdays of Martin Van Buren and Little Richard.

Yesterday morning I noticed a black thing on the wall next to my desk.

I was curious, so I looked a little closer. It was a Boxelder Bug. (Actually, I like THIS LINK better. The creepy stories in the comment section kept me reading for twenty minutes before I snapped out of it. Now I’m behind schedule.)

Anyway, these have been sneaking into my classroom a lot lately. The other day, there was even one on my shoulder while I sat at my desk between classes. When one of my students saw it, she screamed. Hehe. I should wear Boxelder bugs more often.

Well, my parents have made it safely back to Nebraska. It was a great visit. I’m really glad they came. It’s funny because I still have a reminder of their visit: a refrigerator packed full of food. I don’t think it’s ever been this full.

My parents visiting made me think again about how I almost never cook for myself. I eat cereal a lot, and I do carryout. For entertainment on the weekends I might go out to eat. While my parents were here, I kept suggesting this or that restaurant. We spent a lot of time eating. Am I some kind of foodie? …some kind of foodie who doesn’t like to cook? Hmmm…

I have been eating a lot over the past few days, so yesterday when I was back at school I got pretty hungry in the middle of the morning. Then I remembered that someone had brought some store-bought cookies for one of our bake sales. They were individually packaged and full of preservatives, so I had no worries about eating them two weeks after they were brought in. They were Dora the Explorer Animals Crackers from Keebler.

When I ate the first one, I was astounded. They tasted almost exactly like McDonaldland cookies. You know… the ones that used to come in a box? I used to love those. Now-a-days the only cookies I see at McDonald’s (if I see any at all) are big “freshly baked” cookies. The sugar cookies are okay, but they don’t in any way compare to the old McDonaldland cookies in the various shapes.

I ate the whole bag quickly because I was hungry, but not before I noticed a cookie that resembled Grimace. Coincidence?