allergic to school

For the past couple weeks I've been having bad allergies- itchy eyes, sore throat, runny nose, etc. I was frustrated because I thought I was feeling the effects of Spring before Spring even arrived!

But this week I realized I only feel like this when I'm at school. I felt fine all weekend, but on Monday morning I started feeling icky again. At night my allergies wouldn't bother me at all.

On Friday I made an even more interesting observation. Fridays are our early out day, so the kids leave at 1:30. I, of course, was still at school until 5:30 and I noticed that I felt fine that whole time after school. Thus the conclusion, I am allergic to my students.

I wonder if they'd let me take sick days the rest of the year? Or maybe provide me with some excellent worker's comp?

The Graveyard Book

I figured as a teacher it was my duty to read this year's Newberry Medal winner. Unfortunately, my reading time is limited to the 15 minutes it takes to blowdry my hair each morning, the occasional 30 minutes I spend on the elliptical, and the glorious 15 minutes before drifting off to sleep. Reading this short book took me way longer than it should have. Maybe that's why I got so bored while reading. I liked the beginning (very creepy) and I loved the end, but I got stuck somewhere in the middle. It just felt like it was going on forever. And, the characters were too nebulous for me to feel any attachment.

But, I hate to be so negative. It was a fascinating book, and I'm glad that I read it. Plus, I never would have thought to name my firstborn Nobody without reading it.

LOVE this

I totally stole this from Kirsten, but I just loved it so much. Thanks!

good news!

If you have seen/listened to Wicked, please imagine the very beginning when they announce Elphaba's death. If you have not seen it, go see it right now.

Bryan found out today that he got a research job with a prof. This is excellent news for a variety of reasons.
1) Though we have not yet heard, we're thinking it is pretty safe to say that he's in to grad school now
2) We'll get paid for all of Bryan's hard work in school!
3) We know now that we will definitely be in Utah until Aug 2010 (still not sure if this is really a good thing :) but it does feel nice to know a little bit more about our future)

Way to go Bry!!!!

Warm Fuzzies

Some days I come home wondering what I was thinking. 26 kids in one room for 6 hours? Convincing these 26 little darlings to close their mouths long enough for me to throw some knowledge down their throats? (sidenote, that is definitely not how I view teaching.) Spending almost every evening underneath a mound of papers to grade? Never getting a lunch because I have to spend my allotted 23 minutes at the copier?

You get my point. But sometimes I come home feeling all bright and sunny knowing that I am hopefully making some difference in the world and getting a good healthy laugh in the process. Here are some highlights from the day:

- Students just got the forms for the Golden Apple Teacher Award- basically a popularity contest for teachers. I passed them out and explained to the kids that they don't have to pick me (their obvious choice) they can pick any teacher in the school. One girl came up to me later and said, "No offense, but I have to choose Miss Roberts." And, I really don't take any offense because if I had Miss Roberts for third grade, I would totally be nominating her too.

- Today I had a mom come into the room for a minute and she said it was really hot in there. One boy didn't even miss a beat, he said "Sorry, do you want me to leave?" We were totally cracking up.

- My students each get a turn to be Starfish of the Week (my room has a beach theme.) The little girl who is starfish this week wrote her goals on her poster, which include: "marry a righteous returned missionary, defend marriage and the family, raise children in righteousness, go on a couples misison when I am older." It was so precious and I thought, only in Happy Valley...

- After school I was grading homework (fractions- ick) and I found a little note: "dont giv me sutch hard holmwork p.s. need help"

So, if you're ever in need of a good laugh, come visit me and my little crew.

Dear Bryan,

I know you're jealous that I have a super cool and fabulous blog. And, I know you have been really coveting the fact that I have friends who are kind enough to actually read and comment on my random observations and ramblings.

I know that even though you appear to be a nerdy engineer, you are a writer at heart, and you have been searching for that perfect outlet to share your literary genius.

But, please, please, please WRITE ON YOUR OWN BLOG. As much as I appreciate and adore your unique insights, I'm afraid you are going to dramatically reduce the validity, cuteness, and overall good nature of this blog.

I know you're thinking, "but the title is Rachel and Bryan." Let me be completely honest with you, that title is just for looks. This is my blog, and my blog it will stay.

Love Always and Forever,
Rachel

ps- Steak is a food, not an animal.

TWINKERS

So much for "Golden Sponge Cake with Creamy Filling." Apparently I don't have very original taste in food. This morning I arrived in the workroom at school to find that Cami (fabulous 3rd grade teacher) and I were eating the exact same thing. We had the exact same twinkies with extremely scrumptious white filling.

Really? Really? What are the chances of doing this thrice in one week?

Did you know that twinkies originally contained a banana creme filling, but this was replaced with a vanilla cream filling during a banana shortage during World War II.
My favorite animal is steak.