Houston-CAST Conference

On my way to Houston, the past two times, my trip has been delayed due to accidents and resulting traffic.  Apparently, I have terrible luck when driving to the big city.  I also apparently have trouble IN the big city too.  More to come on that later…When I FINALLY arrived, I had dinner with my favorite married couple, Aimee and Trey.  They reminded me that we have warrior dash in exactly one week.  YIKES!  I am actually really nervous since I have not been committing ANY time to training.  I’m a natural athlete, so I’m sure I’ll be just fine, probably even place….HAH… I’ll keep you posted. 

After dinner I made it to Sach’s apartment with NO problem.  In my head I am thinking very highly of myself and am so proud of how capable I was in this huge city!  Thursday morning, I rose at 5:45 AM to make my 4 mile trip to the hotel where I was meeting my other teacher-friends at 7 AM.  I left at 6:15 to give myself plenty of time for unforeseeable obstacles or traffic.  Surprise, country mouse!  At 7:15, I threw my  keys at the valet and huffed into the hotel lobby.  There is NO traffic at 6:30 in the morning, so this was not the source of my frustration.  My frustration stemmed from my absolute lack of navigational skills!  I had google maps on the iphone and my Dad on speaker phone.  I believe it took me roughly 30 miles to reach my destination that was supposed to be 4 miles away!  Most of you know how patient, level-headed, and kind I am when I ‘m stressed.  You’ll also know how I uncharacteristically cursed google maps and screamed at my poor Dad, who was my only saving grace that morning.  Thanks Dad, lesson learned- be more of a planner and figure stuff out ahead of time.  I did make it to my 8:30 session and learned a lot about fun demonstrations/explosions to keep my students interested to listening to me drone on in lecture every day about acids, bases, molarity, stiochiometry, and I can already feel you drifting…  Hence, the need for some excitement in my classroom.  I did not end up getting into any 10:00 sessions because all three I wanted to attend were full.  With 10,000 nerd-o science teachers I suppose this was inevitable.  However, I still hadn’t totally cooled down from my trek that morning, so I stalked down to register for an all day course for Friday.  As I’m standing in line, I hear a familiar voice next to me.  I turn to look and see none other than Dr. H, my freshman Biology teacher from MFHS!!!!!!  Go get ‘em Mustangs!  The back story on this man is classic. Although, now that I am a teacher, I am absolutely horrified at how awfully we treated this poor man.  We mercilessly made fun of him, NEVER paid attention , refused to learn about evolution because of our morality-which we clearly displayed everyday while we tortured this old man.  One day, we all dressed in jeans, black shirts, and pulled our hair into pony tails.  We all switched seats and he NEVER noticed.  He called us by the names on our seating chart.  Needless to say, after we learned his oblivion to our actions in his classroom, we tested his patience to the limit.  I was so taken aback by his presence that I took a picture with him and immediately texted it to all my friends!  Even though he had no idea who I was, it made my entire year to see him.  I am certain now that it was fate that I missed all of my 10:00 sessions. 

I took an all day class for new chemistry teachers on Friday.  I am now armed with tons of cheap and easy experiments for my classes.  I am so excited to see how they like all my new tricks and activities!  (((Special thanks to Sach, Grady and Lucille for letting me stay with them all week.  Also thanks to my RoRo and Uncle Doug for letting me stay and for the yummy breakfast tacos! )))

Bulldog news:  There is a new bully in our family!  My parents surprised my brother Logan with this little English chunk.   He is adorable, but needs a name! 

This is the true story of a bulldog and a teacher, picked to live together and have their lives blogged.  Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. 
The Real World Lampasas

Germs

I have a cold.  This will be the third time I’ve been sick since I started teaching.  I guess my immune system is trying to adapt to all the germs I am subjected to every day.  According to all the vet teachers, I will just catch EVERYTHING this year.  Great…  I know some teachers that shake every student’s hand as they walk into their classroom.  Blech.  I have a strict NO contact with children rule.  Do not touch my pens, my desk, my papers, and especially  do not EVER shake my hand.  Gross.  The closest I will get is the Howie Mandell fist bump.  Geniuses, those germ-a-phobes!    Germs are one of the main reasons I REFUSE to teach children under the age 12 years old.  Last year while subbing kindergarteners, a little darling came up to me and asked to go to the bathroom because her hair was wet.  I learned quickly not to ask small children questions.    “Little angel, why do you need to go to the bathroom?—How I respond to all cute little children that have asked me to go to the bathroom 35,000 times that day.  (I have a LOT of patience. )  Her response, “I sneezed in my hair and got it wet.”  Many of you know I have an extreeeeeeeeeeeeeemely weak gag reflex when it comes to boogers, snot, and anything else that comes from the nasal cavity.  It took everything I had not to puke in the five year old’s face!  Luckily, I don’t have any snotty hair in high school.  I do however have sneezing, coughing, and the sniffles.  I hate when its silent in my room, all you can hear is congestion and upper respiratory infection sounds. 

In other news, I am going to Houston tomorrow!  We have a science conference, and I am pretty excited.  Nerdy as it may sound, it will be nice to learn some new techniques and be around people who like science.  It should be a nice change from hanging around kids that disdain chemistry.  Although, we had a test today, and I am pleasantly surprised and pretty excited about the grades so far!  A lot of As and Bs.  Is it too naïve to think that I am finally getting through to them!??  I probably should look in to how they cheated… haha. 

Barkley news:  I got in touch with Barkley’s mom’s owner and she is coming into heat in two weeks, and drum roll please…………..she will be having PUPPIES, hopefully around April they will be ready to go home!  I will be saving all that I can to get a Barkley K. Ruffington II.

This is the true story of a bulldog and a teacher, picked to live together and have their lives blogged.  Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. 
The Real World Lampasas

The Official Beginning of the Holiday Season!

                Halloween 2010 has come and gone, but that means that the countdown to my favorite time of the year has begun!!  It is supposed to cool down this week and my pumpkin cravings have been kicked into overdrive.  Time to start surfing Food Network for delicious pumpkin recipes.  My all time favorite treat has to be my Mom’s pumpkin cheesecake!    I saw the first Christmas commercials of the season today-made my heart SO happy! 

                I am being observed at school tomorrow.  First, by my field advisor from my Alternative Certification Program and then by my principal for my first official PDAS Evaluation.   PDAS is how the state evaluates me.  I am pretty nervous, but always good to get feedback, right?  Today I had a bunch of students stay after for my tutorials, and they described the study session as awesome and fun!  I was pretty excited to say the least.  I’ve never heard anyone say that studying chemistry was awesome or fun or even interesting for that matter.  Thursday I get to go to a training in Waco, so it will be nice to reverse the roles and be taught rather than teach. 

My brick pictures!  Thanks Mom and Dad!! 

Good to be an AGGIE this weekend!  We beat the hell outta tech and the t-sips got beat by BAYLOR!  I had an absolute blast in College Station this weekend.  There is something about game day on campus, you can feel the spirit in the air!  We had great tickets to the awesome game thanks to Katy’s parents and had the best time hanging with all of my girls.  I also got to see my cousin LaLa!  We never stop laughing when we’re together, and this weekend was no exception.  My RoRo has always called us the gold-dust twins…we still have no idea why.  I feel like all I did was EAT this weekend!  My food count for Saturday…happy meal for lunch, free chick-fil-a chicken sammich at the tailgate, corndog at the game, nachos at Bodega, and Taco Bell to finish the night.  It makes me sick just to recap. 

This is the true story of a bulldog and a teacher, picked to live together and have their lives blogged.  Find out what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real. 
The Real World Lampasas