Friday, January 7, 2011

Ta-DAH Feel Good Friday and the Last Day of Christmas

So, it's Feel Good Friday again.  Thank God thegirl returned to Feel Good Fridays.  It was weird being all alone for 2 weeks, not having anyone to link to.  Go read her post- it's great.  It's something I am thinking of using a post of my own soon.  I am using a computer that won't let me put in the pretty FGF picture, so you'll have to bear it without the prettiness.

First though, I have to do my last day of Christmas. The thing that will make you say HMMM.  Here it is.  Oh, it is making you say EWWW?  Or WTF?  Good, you can chew on that for a while as I post my feel goods and then I'll clue you in.

1.  So, it's Friday and I've had some good laughs this week.  I think I will start with the one that took place just today.  We got an email from the dean yesterday saying that he would be out today and so would the principal.  This would leave some people in charge who are never in charge, so it spelled out C-H-A-O-S just waiting to happen.  So, some of us joked that the only thing that would make the day even better would be to have a fire alarm.  We have had some issues with fire alarms.  2 years ago, we all stood in the rain for 20 minutes when an alarm went off.  When the firefighters finally came, it was still another 5-10 minutes before were let back in.   It was a faulty sensor but the rain didn't know that.  It was outrageous.  Then there was an actual small fire in a trash can one time.  Then there were a variety of faulty sensor things.  So, we are all a little shell shocked about the fire alarm around here.

This morning's email from the principal said she would actually be here, should we need her.  So, lo and behold, the fire alarm went off at 9:44.  And out we all trudged, many of us shocked that we had joked that maybe the alarm would go off, and then it did.  Faulty sensor again.  Oh, did I tell you it's 26 degrees?  And no one lets kids go to their lockers to get jackets.  But smart teachers like me learned a lesson and now I bring everything I own, including my phone so I can text k-ster and tell him you won't believe where I'm standing.  It's all very funny when it's not a real fire and I get to wear my nice warm coat and gloves.

2.  I offered a crocheting class at the Cultural Center a few months ago and I had 5 people.  We had a nice time, I made some money, the Cultural Center made some money and some ladies learned to make granny squares.  So, I thought I'd offer it again.  Wednesday, I had 13 people in my class!!!!  Do you know anything about trying to teach 13 women how to start a craft project- AT THE SAME TIME????  I need my head examined.  And everyone was at different levels.  At least I didn't have what I can any anklebiters.  Anklebiters are students who just keep nipping at your ankles, making it really annoying and you constantly trip over them.  I had one in my last session.  I needed to hold her hand.  She was quite proficient and didn't need hand holding.  She didn't return.  And so far, I don't have anyone biting me in this one.  It's nice to have such a big class, but it's overwhelming!  At least people were patient.  It was listed in our local paper as a Best Bet, which is why they all signed up.  OH THE PRESSURE. I'm no master crocheter (crochetresse?), I just know how to do some stuff and that's more than most people know, so I can do that.  4 more weeks.  We'll see if it was a Best Bet for real.

3.  I got my new crop of 6th grade French students and they seem to be a good group so far.  I've heard good things about them.  One class makes me laugh because it's like my own private high school reunion.  I know many of their parents because I went to school with them.  Over the years, I have had students of my former classmates, but it's been kind of scattered.  Now, we are at an age where it would make sense to start seeing more and more of them, but this 6th grade seemed to be lacking many kids of parents who I know.  Ahh but they are all in one class.  And they don't know I know.  So I have my own little laugh here and there when I look at the names.  2 of them are daughters of girls I was a cheerleader with.   That one really makes me laugh.

4.  We started the painting phase of the My Impression of Impressionism project in 8th grade and they seem to really like it.  This is the "dessert" the fun part of the project.  What wasn't so fun was contributing to the wiki and creating the photostories.  You can see what that's all about here.   One student actually asked if we can listen to a French radio station online while they paint.  Absoluement!  I'm thrilled that I had enough supplies from last year's grant so I didn't have to go spending money.

5.  K-ster's family had Christmas part 2 on Saturday and that's always fun.  This family is large and the grandparents are still kicking, in their 80s and there are a mess of great grandchildren now.  I don't think they all realize how cool it is that 5 generations of them come together every year for c-family Christmas.  It's pretty remarkable.  We basically sit around and shoot the breeze, eat lots of food that people bring and then do a mini Christmas with people who didn't come to real Christmas.  And with the little kids, they get the presents now and we big kids get a couple here and there.

I always enjoyed going to c-family Christmas, but I would get bored and eventually leave.  These days, I'm one of the last to leave because it's fun and sometimes we play games.  No games this year though, but it was good.  K-ster's aunt and uncle added an office to their house a few years ago and there's a huge room and then another one upstairs that's like a man cave.  The office is perfect to set out the food and for everyone to stand around and talk.  And this year, the little kids were sent to the man cave with a cousin to supervise.

It's fun to see all of the family traits that flow through k-ster's family.  They share a name and so much more.  There are mostly boys that are our age and they all look so much alike.  Strapping young men with strong beards.  Well, 30 something young men.  Funny though, the little cousins are mostly girls.  I guess they've all married women's whose genes know what they are doing.

Wow, my feel goods are mostly teaching related.  That's bizarre.  Oh, maybe because teaching (school, at the gym, at the Cultural Center) consumes most of my life....

So, what the heck is that picture for my last day of Christmas?  It's called a String of Pearls plant.  I saw it in an organic magazine and thought it was really cool.  I never thought my sister would actually be able to find it, but the nursery she went to had 2 of them!  Doesn't it look like peas?   It smells like peas too.  It's supposed to be a fast grower and it's ornamental.  It's already going crazy where I've hung it.  If you touch it, it has that slight sticky feeling that makes you think if you stand there for a minute, it will actually wrap around you.  Like kudzu.  It comes from Africa.  It probably is a weed there.  The picture I saw had "pearls" that were kind of marbled looking.  The pearls on mine are pure green but maybe they will marble and get bigger.  It says it can be outside down to 36 degrees, so it might be a candidate for my greenhouse next winter.  Because it will be complete by next winter.  I am sure of it.

Now go link up with the girl and post your own FGF!

p.s. here's a funny email I received.  It's pure spam, though the person claimed they are someone I know.  They get sneakier and sneakier.  They totally stole my own words and wrapped them into their very warped sentences.  I can't wait until she buys the compilite jewerly and I'm so glad she respects my decission.

hi my name is fereidoun. i`m happy you get you  great job with no
pressure. I set my own hours and decide how much I want to work. i
like jewerly, I decided when we getting married i  will buying the
compilite jewerly for you, . Selling jewelry is a fun part time job,
but I'm respect to your decission a tomboy or another kind of
hairstyle . I live in the house I grew up in, in a big city. I study
in the district where I to live there. I have a boyfriend of too many
years to mention. His name is k-ster and he grew up two towns over
from me. I recently began to ride a horse which was a lifelong wish. I
finally decided to giving offering to the sweet relationship with you
are you ready.
fereidoun

5 comments:

  1. Great post and I love the plant!! I have a brown thumb to grow anything indoors.

    Dollycas
    http://dollycas.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  2. Happy Feel Good Friday to you! That plant is quite interesting:) How nice of your sister to find it for you!

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  3. That spam is seriously the best ever!!!! They never actually read.

    What a great week! That is so cool that you teach crochet classes. Now you should teach a blog class too!!

    Thank you very much for the nice words about my post today. That was very sweet. It sure has been a turbulent week over here and I am happy to have my focus back. I love blogging and talking with people like YOU!

    ReplyDelete
  4. fereidoun sounds like a keeper! Together you will become rich when he sells you into white slavery.

    ReplyDelete
  5. As soon as I saw the photo, I was like, "Cool!" That is one serious, kick-ass plant.

    Oh and I have kudzu all over the woods in front of my house. I know it's a choking threat to everything, but I just think it's so pretty!

    And don't you love a great spam? I should let you go so you can hook up with Fereidoun and get a sweet relationship going. It sounds like you have a lot in common, of course, except for the bad grammar and punctuation.

    ReplyDelete

I love comments almost as much as I love summer. I reply to all comments except those ridiculous anonymous comments offering me dirty deeds and real estate. When you leave your comment, please make sure your own settings will allow me to reply to you. Nothing makes me sadder than replying to your comments and then realizing it’s going to the no-reply@blogger address!