Ghetto

I work in Irving, TX. Not the ritziest place, but not too shabby either. I don't ever feel unsafe at work and don't freak out over my students being little wanna-be thugs or gang bangers. Sure, it's a much different culture than I'm used to since most of my kids speak Spanish at home. No big deal, right?

Apparently I work in an inner-city school and didn't know it... I was completely unprepared today at work when my vice principal and campus police officer came into my room for a random drug search. They made all the kids empty their pockets and even had a metal detector wand! What struck me as so hilarious was that the kids seemed to like having to spread their legs and have the wand waved up and down them to see if it beeped. The fact that this was entertainment to them and not really freaky did disturb me slightly. The fact that it was no big deal to them also says a lot! So does this mean that I officially work in the ghetto?

It's About Time

Okay, it may not be worth celebrating for some, but I was really happy when the Chiefs FINALLY won a game this week! Talk about long overdue... These are highlights of this week's tailgate at Wizard's and the mood was definitely uplifted, as one might imagine!

Megan and I are trying to stay warm. This week it finally got cold outside in Dallas!

We tailgate in true KC style--with Gates ribs and everything! Who knew there were such loyal Missourians and Kansans in Texas? Ha! Here my friends Anthony and Robb show off the fare of the day. It was so good!

This is Gavin, the youngest fan that comes every week. He loves to say, "Go Chiefs!"

Celebrating a victory!!! As you can tell, everyone is very animated and excited. My tailgate friends are an interesting bunch. Everyone has been in Texas for various lengths of time, but we all love KC still! More to come soon...

Saturday Morning Fun

This is what I woke up to yesterday morning. My cats were both on the bed with me and Gunnar was busy attacking Grace as she was grooming. One big happy family! I love how the cats decide when Mommy wakes up. Jeeesh!

They were both so happy to see me after a week! Gunnar was so happy that he was biting my hand in this picture. That's kitten code for "I really missed you."

He looks so innocent here, but don't let the cute face fool you. This little guy had my apartment in shambles when I came home! Feathers from his toys everywhere, food spilled all over the kitchen, and even my pillows pushed off the sofa! Talk about a full-time job!

More Twilight!!

"Twilight" is finally here! After much anticipation for the movie of the fall, I got to go see it twice in the past week and LOVED it! The movie really did a good job following the book, and of course, Edward is some serious eye candy!

Seeing the movie back in KC with Erin and Tiff. What a great way to start Thanksgiving break at home! We decided to go see the movie together after we realized that all three of us read the books and loved them. I'm so glad we did! Miss you girls!

Here, Ariana and Erika and I anxiously await the premier of "Twilight" in Dallas. The movie came out on a Friday, so we went Thursday at midnight for the first showing. Talk about a packed theater! Our buttons say: Twilight 11-21-08 Not soon enough.

When we pulled to the movie theater in Dallas to get in line, there weren't very many cars in the parking lot. Ariana and I thought we'd get right in at the front of the line. It was only 9:30 PM after all, and we still had a few hours to wait. Let's just say that I haven't seen a line like that at a movie theater ever- and most of the people who were there couldn't drive and had obviously been dropped off, thus explaining the lack of cars in the parking lot!
What fun! I can't believe we got up and worked the next day!

Twilight Party

Last week at school, the Language Arts department hosted a Twilight Movie party to get the kids excited about the upcoming release of the movie. The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer has been an absolute phenomenon on our campus at CMS. I saw my students reading the books and never really gave them much thought. I'd ask what they were about- vampires and werewolves-and think there's no way I'll be interested. I finally decided to read the first book and was instantly hooked! If you haven't read the 4-book series, it is a must-read!

Our party was held in our Library by the wonderful Librarian, Ms. Cartwright. The kids had several stations that they rotated among to get a taste of vampire life.
Here the kids compete against each other to answer questions correctly about the series for prizes!

The "Blood Thirsty" station was my personal favorite. It was the snack station that featured my red velvet "Vampire Kiss" cupcakes with black icing. The icing stained the kids' mouths, but that didn't stop them from coming back for seconds. (I want to feature these cupcakes in my future bakery someday...)

Here Melissa and Erika make tissue paper corsages to represent the prom corsage that Edward gives Bella in the first book.

The party was a huge success and I'm sure we'll host another when New Moon comes out in theaters. I can't wait!

Home Sick

I think I have bronchitis. I'm obviously not at work today, which I hate! It's still a few hours until my doctor's appointment, so I'm just resting and pittling around my apartment. The cats are racing around and chasing each other. I could yell, "Stop that running!" but with what voice? Ha!
I made it through the workday yesterday (barely) and made the decision to take today off. Having been a substitute teacher myself, I can honestly say that I know how hard it is to be in a room with 28 strange 12-year-olds who look like they hate you!
Now I'm on the other side of the coin, as it were. I don't know if it's because I'm sick or what, but I was in my classroom getting ready for my sub until 8 P.M. last night! I just think that's hilarious! I had no idea when I subbed how much work went into leaving plans to follow or whatever. And honestly, it's really never quite taken me that long. Just goes to show that teachers shouldn't get sick. We should be men and women of steel because if we show weakness for a moment and catch the kids' nasty little germs, it's over with! We're stuck at home praying that the day goes well for the poor person stuck filling in for us.

Fall Festival!

Our school's annual Fall Festival was tonight. Each hallway had a different theme and all the teachers and students wore costumes. My team's hall was the Spooky Sports hall, so all of us wore athletic uniforms. As if today weren't crazy enough at school, we were allowed to dress up all day today. I literally spent the past 14 hours dressed as a middle school football player! Like my students are really going to concentrate on adverbs when I'm in shoulder pads and look ridiculous! Ha! Here, the blind ref, rival football players, soccer player, and nerdy commentator get my classroom ready for all the fun.

These are the vice principals of my school... this picture sums it up! They definitely have a good time at CMS.

Sarah and I as rival football players. We are also supposed to be "spooky" so we have fake injuries and black eyes.

My room hosted the Spooky Soccer Kick. After my "terrible" play, I am interviewed by the nerdy commentator and ref a.k.a. football coaches Andrew and Mac. They helped me put the uniform together and made fun of me that I could wear a 7th grader's uniform!

Sarna had scooter races in his classroom. This was a hit with the kids, and he's all decked out for the racing action.
My friend, Jamie, who is the new band teacher this year. Her team's hallway was western. Cute!

In my room posing with the inflatable goal post! This is coming with me to the Chiefs game this weekend!
My fellow team-mates from L to R: Andrew (History), Sarah (Math), Sarna (Math), Carolyn (PE), Maria (Science), and Edna (Reading). We are definitely ready to go home after such a long day. It amazes me how much time we put into planning an event, and then it's over so quickly. More to come soon, but it may be a few days before I'm rested!