all general mills cereals are made with whole grain!

A few days ago one of my kids kept asking me if I had ever been to the candy shop. I said, "No, not really. I'm not a big candy eater." He erupted in laughter, as did many of the other kids around them. I assumed there was some perverted junk going on and decided to just ignore it. I continued on teaching them how to make a bibliography. Very important stuff.

Today, they turned in their bibliographies. About 50% of them were done incorrectly. But that's not what matters most here, what matters most is that finally, I saw 50 Cent's video "Candy Shop." Anybody seen this? Now that I know what it's all about, I feel somewhat violated. I just try not to think about it.

If teaching has given me anything, it is the strict determination that my own children will NEVER watch MTV or listen to that dirty music. Yes, I will be THAT mother. You know, the one who won't allow sodas in the house and refuses to let my kids buy the unedited CDs and such. I never thought I'd be that way...but now...well I just don't want my kid going to school and asking his teacher if she's been to the candy shop!

Oh, I'd be mortified.

Worked out with iPod today for the third time. He's my new best friend.

Every morning I get up and do the same thing. I take a shower and dry my hair. I eat Honey Nut Cheerios and read some news articles on Yahoo! and then I check to see if Rob has updated his blog. Sometimes there is interesting news, like all of this Schiavo stuff, and very often Rob has an interesting post. But always, always, without fail, I wonder: Why don't they make Team Cheerios anymore?

arrested development

I just had a moment. One of those that's not really nice but not terribly alarming or anything, one of those that just makes you go "Ah, interesting," in only a slightly troubling way. Here's how it went down. Here's the 411:

I was checking my e-mail in the Yahoo! account. I have had this account since I was 18 years old, and the password has not changed even once. I can do it without looking. It's instinct...reflex even. So, imagine my surprise when it comes back not once but twice and says to me "Password incorrect." Excuse me? How could my password possibly be incorrect? I tried two more times. On the fifth try, I realized what I was doing wrong.

Here's the moment: While trying to log-in to my personal e-mail account, I was denied five times before I realized that I was typing in the password that I use at school, for my GroupWise school e-mail.

My, my, my...how my work has invaded my life. Let me count the ways.

On second thought, I'd rather not count the ways.

In Other News...

FYI to FOX: I am tremendously displeased with the departure of Lindsey Cardinalle. Can't we get rid of that mini-Fran Drescher? There's only so much more of this that I can take.

Anybody have the current count for the number of USC football players who have been arrested and/or charged with some criminal malfeasance?

Rob appears to have posted the same post twice on his Blog. It's ok. Once I tried to comment on his and his silly Blog posted my comment three times.

Load it up. Put it on. See where it takes you.

Today I bought an iPod Shuffle. It's about two inches long and weighs less than an ounce. It is possibly the cutest thing I have ever seen. And I hate it. Let me tell you why.

Every time I plug it into my computer, the computer shuts down. I sit here and wait on it to come back up, thinking that maybe the computer wants to start-up with the Shuffle plugged in before it will actually work with it. So, I wait and wait while my PC runs about a trillion scans. Once that is over and the computer has dubbed itself officially ready to operate, I open the iTunes software and BAM!! It shuts off again. I scream, unplug the iPod, run into the bedroom and cry tears of frustration.

Then I come back and try again, and I do every thing the exact same way as I did before, but somehow, this time, I have worked a miracle. I have touched the computer in its secret spot, if you will. It likes me this time. The iPod starts flashing and downloads a bunch of songs to itself in about three minutes. I just stare at the screen thinking, "Good, it's doing it. But this is not the Playlist I wanted. But, I'll never be able to change it."

So, I will run with my little iPod, and I will just have to accept that I didn't get to put "Let Me Go" by 3 Doors Down on the Playlist. And, inexplicably, Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" is on there, never mind that I never even remember having downloaded it to the computer in the first place.

See, this is the second day in a row that Ken Aucoin has not done the weather in the morning. Things are off-kilter. I think that my iPod is in cahoots with him. Yes, I said CAHOOTS.

Fell, Touch, Smell the Difference

So, Ken Aucoin was out this morning. Hannah Nelson was gone all last week, which had me discombobulated for some reason that I can't really explain. I just don't like it when members of the WIS Sunrise team are gone, because their absences somehow coordinate with me having a
B-A-D week.

So, this morning, I wake up, new week and all, ready to roll. Things are going well... Hannah's there, Scott's there, Lucas is there (and I love him). I'm generally feeling like things will get back to normal and then...they went to the weather.

I have nothing against Sagay Johnson. Nothing at all. But dang. Can't the whole Sunrise team just come back to work?

Maybe tomorrow.

There was a show one time that I loved. It was a Saturday morning show. There was this family, and it was a dad and a boy and a girl, and they were traveling along and all of a sudden their SUV went into this hole. Then they landed in this prehistoric place, where they quickly built an awesome tree house and lived there with some nice dinosaur named Tasha. Anybody know that show? I wish it was still on.

Also, there was a show about a dinosaur family, and the
baby was F-A-T. Wish that was still on too.

Am I too young to be senile enough to regress back to childhood? That happens you know.

le fromage est sur le table

I'm keeping a running total now of the every day words, phrases, and/or dances that one of my students claims to have invented with her sister. Thus far, we have:

1. crap
2. freakin
3. the dance in Snoop's video

Today, we added a new one. Are you ready? Get ready...my student and her sister were the first people in the history of this planet to ever say "Starvin like Marvin."

Who knew?

One of my kids called me a "fun sucker" today, because I wanted her to make-up a quiz she had missed. Imagine that. What was I thinking?

So, American Idol results show tonight. I have decided that if that one girl with the weird bangs does not go tonight, I may very well boycott the rest of the season. Oooh, get scared Fox. Get very scared.

Do you ever feel weird about using "tonite" instead of "tonight"? Is "tonite" cooler, or is it just for when you are too lazy to type an extra letter?

This One is for Kris (the last part anyway)

As part of my whole Anne Frank unit, I've had my kids respond to a few quotes about tolerance. The one from this week was, "There is only one race, the human race." One of my kids, after much deliberate and serious thought, wrote the following:

"This quote is clearly directed straight at people who think there is extraterrestrial life on other planets. If there were aliens they would've come to earth by now. They haven't, so that is proof that there is only one race, the HUMAN race."

Clearly, that is what it means.

In Wal-Mart, when I use my debit card, I'm asked for my "PIN." In Bi-Lo, I'm asked for my "Secret Code." Something about this makes Bi-Lo more fun, don't you think?

I spent a great deal of money in Best Buy today. Something about television series on DVDs makes me want to buy them. I came home with the 3rd season of The King of Queens, because my parents have given me the first two and I mean, let's face it, Doug Heffernen is just funny. Also, I couldn't seem to stop myself from picking up the first season of Party of Five. I watched the first five episodes today, and I was pleasantly surprised to find something that I can use at school.

Kirstin: That's metaphor Charlie! You understand metaphor don't you?
Charlie: What are you talking about?
Kirstin: "You've got hair like an angel." You remember that line right?
Charlie: I just wanted to say something nice.

Hahahahahahahahahah!

Possibly, you have to be an English teacher to get a laugh out of that one. Kris, you know what I'm talking about. Don't leave me out here alone in Geeky English Teacher Town!

Aloha Shouldn't Have Gone

Blogging at work again, this time while my kids sit in front of me. Here is the situation: we are supposed to be in the lab doing MAP testing, but, as so often happens, the computers are "not ready." So, here we are, back in the room, and me with no plans of any kind because I planned to be testing today. I gave my kids some choices for what they could do with this time, and miraculously, they are all working oh so very quietly.

To understand the magnitude of this situation, you need to know something about my 4th block. They are, unequivocally, my worst class. Each time I am out, I have complete confidence that the substitute will leave an excellent report for my other two classes, while 4th will get an "unacceptable," or "pretty rowdy," or something of the like.

They aren't bad kids. No, that isn't it at all. They have, let's say, misdirected energy.

But man, do I love them right now. They are so cute, working away like real little students. Some of them are looking at me b/c I'm smiling. They don't see this a lot. I could get all philosophical now if I wanted to, about how I love them even though they can't seem to behave when I'm not here, and most of them time when I am here.

This situation feels very precarious, and I keep waiting for one of them to do something silly and break the peace. It is so very fragile.

Tricky. Very tricky.

Brussel Sprouts are So Cute, Like Little Baby Lettuces

So this morning, I get up and go to my 8.15 doctor's appointment. I've taken the day off from work. I needed the time to you know, recuperate, after my 10 minute check-up. It's very trying, actually, getting up and driving over there, walking in the door, sitting on the table. Very very taxing on a person.

So, with my day off, I had decided to do some things. I was going to go by the bank and get a new check register, but I hit a little snafu: the bank doesn't open until 9.00. This was around 8.30. I decided to move on to my next thing.

I was going to go to Best Buy and get the first season of Everwood on DVD. With a whole day to myself, I had big plans for catching up with Ephraim Brown. But, gadzooks! Best Buy does not open until 10.00. Becoming slightly annoyed, I head to my next stop.

Eckerd's Pharmacy. Opens at 9.00 am. It was now 8.55, so I waited. After picking up my prescription, I thought I might go into Blockbuster and pick up a movie, since Best Buy had denied me.

Blockbuster opens at 10.00.

I stood there at the door, looking at the sign, and I could see the people inside preparing to open up in an hour. I wanted to bang on the door and make them let me in. I mean, what does it take to prepare to open the Blockbuster? Putting movies back on the shelf? There can't be very much to it.

This business of opening at 9.00 or 10.00 is no good, if you ask me. Maybe it's just because I'm used to my day starting at 8.00, when the first bell rings. I can't understand why everyone doesn't start at 8.00.

So now I'm back at home. With no movie. No check register. No Ephraim Brown.

What will I do all day?

On the upside though, I did manage to escape from Summerland after all. I fell asleep while it was on - and that, my friends, is the number one sign that you are not hooked into a show. Feel free to jot that down for future references.