Weekly Menu

Summer is officially here! Yay! That means I will finally be able to cook every night.

My plans for this week:

Monday: Retirement Party at BJ's. Jordan is on his own.
Tuesday: Chicken Marsala with Angel Hair Pasta, Garlic Bread and Salad
Wednesday: Stuffed Quesadillas with homemade tortillas.
Thursday: Marinated Pork Chops, spanish rice and corn on the cob with lime and chili butter.
Friday: Pizza Bites with spinach salad.
Saturday: Netty is going to be here.. probably will be at my parents house.
Sunday: Parents house (?)

Thoughts? Suggestions?

And baby makes 3...

Meet Oso, the newest member of our family! Oso is a5 year old, Great Dane/German Shepherd mix that we adopted from the pound. When we got him he was only 108 pounds, you could see all of his ribs, he had wounds all over his body and a tail that had obviously been broken.

He wormed himself into my heart...

and Jordan's!



He looks so little in his pictures but he is definitely a big boy. He loves his mom and dad more than anything and would rather be loved on than play- silly boy.

Ever wonder?

Ever wonder what the inside of cell looks like? Well, my students have been studying that very idea for the past few weeks. As our culminating project the students were required to use everyday household items to represent the various organelles in the cells.

Given my clientele...these weren't half bad. Only half of the groups presented today so I will post more tomorrow.

Hahaha... a remote control for the nucleus... get it? These kids are geniuses!

If you only knew the story on these kids- you would be proud of them too!

That gel/vomit looking stuff in the bottom is actually hair gel...lots and lots of hair gel... my class smells like a salon.

I have yet to take a picture of my favorite one...3 students forgot that their project was due today (we have only been working on it in class for 3 days) and improvised. Did you know you can actually represent every single organelle using the parts of a calculator and some makeup? Yup, its true.

Oh, funny moment. My 8th graders have been learning about atoms. Today I taught them the "Atom's Family" song (totally awesome by the way and I would be happy to sing it for anyone interested... "Their tiny and their teeny, much smaller than a beany, they never can be seeny, the atom's family...). One of my class clowns raised his hand and asked, "Can I sing it in Oprah?" Huh?? I was so lost. I asked him, "You want to go on Oprah and sing this song?" "No," he responds, "I want to sing it in Oprah... you know, lalalalalala." "Oh! You mean OPERA!!!" (I couldn't help but chuckle) "Yeah, sure, if you want you can sing it however you'd like." It is those little giggle moments that help me keep my sanity.

Moments like these

There are days when I seriously question my sanity. I chose to be a teacher?!? What was I thinking? Then, there are moments like today when a student runs up to you at brunch and hands you a card that says "ples tac the card. You are the Best thecher in the worold. Your stodend" There was also a piece of paper inside with a drawing of the girl- above it it said "mrs. Maraez". On the girls shirt it says, "Blank's (she wrote her name) firend."


They may drive me crazy but they definitely know how to make me cry. It's those moments that I live for- the one's that let me know I am making a difference. They may not know how to spell, or what a cell is but they know that I believe in them.

Stigmata

Stigmata...it ain't just for Catholics anymore. So, over the past 3 days I have heard the following from supposed medical "professionals":

"You're bleeding where?"
"Are you sure it's blood?"
"Wow, it looks like something from a horror film."
"I have never seen anything like it." (If one more person says that I may hit them)
"That's weird." (Are doctors allowed to say things like that to their patients?)
"I have no idea what it could be" (Way to instill faith)
"I can't wait to see the diagnosis on this one." (Triage nurse at ER)
"Why are you on the phone with me, you should be at the ER"
"Let me refer you to a specialist"
"Did you scratch it?"
"Now we just wait for it to start bleeding again."

So, if you are one of the few that Grandma hasn't told (just kidding Grandma), I started bleeding from my belly button on Sunday. Yep, like bloody nose style. No one can find where it is coming from (no, I didn't scratch it) and no one knows the cause. My ER doctor referred me to my gyno, my gyno referred me to a doctor of internal medicine, and my dr. of IM said, "I have never seen this before and don't know what is causing it."

So, that is where we are at. Jordan is convinced I may be the newest case of stigmata. Maybe I could market myself as a miracle...too bad the blood didn't dry in the form of some saint- then I could really pull in the dough.

Oh well...maybe next time.

A thought for the day...

As I head back to school this week I would like to leave you with a thought...

'Some people are like Slinkys. They aren't really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when they're pushed down the stairs.'

Have a good day and try to avoid the stairs...

Bargain Huntress

I don't know about you but I LOVE a bargain. I especially love shoe bargains. I just bought 4 pairs of Sofft shoes for less than the usual price of 1. Yeah, I am pretty stoked. The great thing is that I was considering paying full price for these shoes...that is how awesome they are. :) Now I just need to wait for the mailman to come...