Waterboy!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, Here's My Deal...

A few nights ago an amazing thing happened in our home. Our two year old son took a bath willingly and had fun again! He used to love the bathtub and would play and play and play--except when it came to washing his hair--and cry when it was time to get out. Then all of a sudden about 2 months ago he just HATED bathtime and it was a huge battle full of hog-tying (try that with a lathery, squirmy, honked off toddler!!)

Now, we took him to the pool at my husband's place of employment and we thought it would be a little bit of a battle because the last time it took him about half an hour to get realxed enough to have fun. By the time we left, he was jumping into the 4ft end all by himself (he had on arem floaties and my husband was right there to make sure he came up and was fine. It was great.

Procrastination? No, they just couldn't organize a fart.

Okay, Here's My Deal...

The last time I was in my school building was on Aug. 17th. Teachers report on the 21st.--with a sixth grade orientation that night and students start on the 24th. When I left the bulding on the 17th, these were the conditions:

• student schedules were NOT done--which means class lists were not done
• homerooms were not even assigned (this will be the FIRST place kids go after meeting in the auditorium the first day)
• they had not figured out where my algebra class and my study halls would meet (since I do mostly pull-out with my gifted kids in small groups, I only need a small room--actually, it is literally an old storage closet)

Yeah, makes me excited to get back into the swing of things. I am so tryingto be positive this time around, but it is very hard. The last time I looked at one of my study hall rosters, it was up to 31 students...with some of the same bad eggs that were in there that I mentioned in my last post plus some new doozies.

I have some other postive things to post, so I will stop here and just make another post.

Special Corner of Heaven...

Okay, Here's My Deal...

God must have a special little corner of Heaven reserved for me.

I say this because I got a sneak peek of my class lists for my TWO study halls (yes, plural...two study halls have been assigned to me this year) and I am not happy.

One of them has the following combination of students:

• a student who threatened to kill two different teachers three times last year
• two BD (behavior disorder) students...no, tehy will not have associates with them
• another kid, not BD, but ADHD and very squirrely
• at least three who I heard teachers talk about last year as being just nasty all the way around

The other? You judge:

• one student who was suspended more than she was at achool (wait...that could be a good thing)
• at least 5 who fit into the last category I mentioned above
• one who has a very quick, nasty and violent temper who has also threatened harm to teachers

Nice. Just want I want to go back to school worrying about...if I am going to get killed or attacked in study hall. It is scary and I am not afraid to admit it to anyone.

War of the Crickets

Okay, Here's My Deal...

I am at war with the crickets that have invaded my house!! Well, my basement, anyway. It is not their chirpping...which, oddly, they don't seem to be doing any of...it is just the fact that there are so many of them, it almost seems Biblical!!!!! I know theyare just gnawing away at my clothes right now. They just need to die die die.

Fish School...

Okay, Here's My Deal...

During the 2,584,936th time Finding Nemo was playing on our DVD player yesterday (Our son's new favorite) I realized, through the nudging of the Holy Spirit, that I need to be more like Dory and less like Marlin.

When they are in the belly of the whale, you know, sort of Jonah-esque, and Marlin is swimming full force at the teeth trying to get out and getting nowhere despite his intense anger and determination to do it on his own, here comes Dory, la-de-da, floating along, trusting that they will get there and she is calm and serene.

Then, when Dory and Marlin are hanging onto his tastebuds after he tells them they need to go to the back of his throat, and she tries to talk to the whale again, Marlin gets all flustered and says, "You think you can do these things but you can't, Nemo!!" (instead of saying Dory) The whale speaks and Dory says, "He said it's time to let go!!" (meaning his tastebuds, his stubborness and Nemo...) Marlin freaks out and asks Dory how she knows nothing bad will happen and she says she doesn't and he finally takes a big breath and lets go.

Dory is a good example of having faith by letting go and an example of trust because she follows the advice of the other sea creatures along their journey. Marlin is a good example of how difficult it to get where you are going if you don't have faith and trust others andalways want to play it safe and by your rules.

I am a lot like Marlin...I get advice and council from God, my pastor, my therapist, my husband, close Christian friends...but yet, more often than not, I still am stubborn enough to think that somehow I can do it on my own...When am I ever going to be like Dory? How cool would that be?

Updated!!

Okay, Here's My Deal...

I finally did ome editing and updating to my other blog on here...All About the Fish. I guess I just felt that I needed to add more stuff to that one. I am going to try and update that one with more often...but all one one page instead of many entried like this one. I kind of like that one to be more of a webpage without actually having to pay for it or have a bajillion (remember, I am a math teacher) ads on it for stuff.

That really is all to my deal today.

And so it starts...

Okay, Here's My Deal...

My son, bless his heart, is not old enough for a learner's drving permit as he is only 26 months old, however, he has already caused havoc with one of our vehicles.

The other night, we went to make grilled cheese and found we had no butter...which is an optimal ingredient for grilled cheese. So, we hopped into the van to go to the store to get some, start her up and then found we could not shift into any gear. The gear shift would not budge. Not gonna happen. No way, no how. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Unh-unh.

To make along story short, it was not any of the things my friend from Ohio's husband thought (he is a mechanic) it might be, but rather a blown fuse...caused by none other than our son. That's right, he had somehow gotten a coin into the cigarette lighter (there is no cover, wasn't when we bought it) and it blew a fuse. So somehow, the car went into "safe mode" because it thought it had been hotwired or something.

I guess in the end it was a good thing because the mechanic saw that the radiator hose has been leaking antifreeze for sometime and the clamp needed to be replaced. He also went ahead and changed the oil as we are overdue and topped off the other fluids.

Crazy. Another funny story we can add to the mix of his young life.