Seven pounds, four ounces, and absolute perfection

Last night at this time, the world changed forever. Introducing my nephew, Leaf William. For a few hours today I got to hold him and smell his amazing baby scent. I love him!

Feeling thankful

for a new episode of the L-word that I thought sucked until the last 30 seconds

for my yoga/pilates class tonight-so relaxing and yet a great workout

for having enough of a sense of humor to laugh by the end of the day during which a student stole from me and lied to me three times

for running into a student at the grocery store and having a positive interaction with his mother

for receiving a birth announcement from a friend in the mail

for talking with my mom on the phone, even if it was only for 7 minutes

for a great Dr.Seuss biography read-aloud today with my class

for my student who was in a car accident and finally came back today after missing a week of school

for life.

It was a splendid weekend. We hosted a baby shower for my sister and brother-in-law yesterday (17 people in our TINY living room) and spent a lot of time watching Netflixed Scrubs. On a very exciting note, I think my nephew might be born before his Valentine's day due date! All I really hope for is a safe labor and delivery for both the baby and mom.

Random Ramblings

One of my students was in a serious car accident over the weekend and is in the hospital. I think he's going to be okay but it's going to be quite awhile until he's well enough to come back to school. It's put a damper on my class this week and the kids are genuinely concerned about him. It's sweet, in a way.
In other news. . . Where the heck is everyone? I know desertUndine has decided to stop blogging but what happened to you other ladies? DesertJade, Erica, Erin (Erin, I just started reading yours but I really enjoyed it!) where did you go? Did I miss some really fun vacation that you all went on together and didn't post about?
One of my best friends from High School is getting married in February. In Hawaii. I wish I was going but alas-it is not going to happen.

Daddy Dearest

My dad flew in last night. He's visiting until Monday and we're having a grand old time. He finally met Rex and saw our new house. Last night we took him out to the new Irish pub in town and today we ventured out to IKEA. He had never experienced the craziness so we took him out for the maiden trip. I'm happy to report he loved it!
By the way-Glue Girl is just fine. Shen *only* glued one eye shut and it was an accident. I'm just glad there wasn't any severe damage to her eye. It led to an interesting "Sharing" time in class on Friday.

I couldn't make it up if I wanted to

One of my students Super-glued her eyes shut on the school bus today.

What a fly on the wall would have heard in Room 9 today

"Jessica Simpson's gotten so ugly lately. Her nose is so close to her eyes, huh?"

"Stop pretending to cut my desk!"

"You can't run around the room. The teacher said so."

"We only broke two of them."

"It is so hot in here. It's like fifty-hundred degrees."

"Rainy day recess again? Why, why?"

"I have NOT been talking all day. Just part of it. Like the big part"

Third graders wonder

why do people's feet stink?

why do kids interupt the teacher?

why do adults drink alcohol?

why don't penguins fly?

I just got off the phone with my sister-in-law. She's 34 1/2 weeks pregnant and I'm throwing her a baby shower in two weeks. I can't wait to meet my nephew but more than that, I can't wait to see her and my husband's brother become someone's Mom and Dad in an instant. It's going to be great.

This little piggy. . .

I've been trying to write a post about our Winter Break in California but I've been struggling with it. It's not that we didn't have a good time, we did, but it was not exactly relaxing. Within the first full day we were in Sacramento, my grandfather (my mom's dad) was in the emergency room with irregular heartbeats, which isn't good for someone with his heart history. He ended up being fine-just the flu I guess. Luckily he was well enough to join us for Christmas Eve at my Aunt's house.
We had my (other) grandfather's memorial service the day after Christmas which was incredibly difficult to deal with and just being in his house for a few days was really hard. There's this green pig cookie jar that has ALWAYS had Oreos in it for as long as I can remember, and for the first time, it was empty when we arrived. I guess it must have been my Grandpa's job to pick up the Oreos. The next day when my mom and I went grocery shopping we bought Oreos and filled up the green pig.
We got home last Friday afternoon (wow only a week ago-it feels like a month ago!) and I went into the End-Of-Vacation-Depression like I always do. This time though, there was anxiety along with it. I wasn't *stressed* as much as anxious. I'm still not totally sure about what was going on but I think it was the combination of thinking about going back to work and knowing my students were still the same high-needs kids that I love but also suck every ounce of energy I ever thought I had, knowing I wouldn't see my family again for 6 or 7 months, thinking about living so far from the people I love the most, and the realization of my grandpa dying finally hitting me. It was just too much at once. It is days like that when I almost cry because I'm so thankful I have such a supportive husband. If he hadn't been there to hold my hand and wipe away my tears and calm down my racing heart, I think I would have gone to the ER thinking I was having a heart attack. Anxiety is so hard to describe to people who have never experienced it. I don't really want to write anymore about it. I'm done.
This past week back at work has been intense. I felt like I was starting over with my class, going back to the beginning of the year and teaching and reteaching my class expectations and teaching them how to treat each other (and me) like real human beings. I thought my third graders last year were talkative but they pale in comparison to this year's class. They do not stop talking unless there are serious threats of loosing recess (one of the things they truly value) or a phone call home. I make them call, by the way, and tell their parents what they were doing that was so inappropriate. Today was no exception. They talked. All day. From 8:35 when I picked them up on the playground in their line to the time I gave them high-fives at 3:10 as they walked out the door. THEY. TALKED. AND. TALKED. AND DIDN'T STOP. So what am I going to do right now? Watch mindless TV and mute it when I don't want to hear noise.

FOUR

I am so lame. I wasn't even "tagged" and I still filled this out. Let's just say I'm avoiding other things, like finshing the baby shower invitations, making dinner, and feeding the dog (Sorry Rex-I'm seriously getting up right now!).

Apparently it's all about the 4s:

Four Jobs You’ve Had in Your Life: Nanny, Salesperson at Gymboree, Camp Counselor, and Teacher

Four Movies You Could Watch Over and Over: Office Space, Sleepless in Seattle, Bed of Roses, and Napoleon Dynamite

Four Places You’ve Lived: California, Alaska, Oregon, and Washington

Four TV Shows You Love to Watch: LOST, The Office, Scrubs, and Gilmore Girls

Four Places You’ve Been on Vacation: Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, Hawaii, and Disney World

Four Websites You Visit Daily: ONLY FOUR? http://www.dooce.com, http://antesqueanochezca.blogspot.com, http://desertjade.blogspot.com, and http://thisisme2005.blogspot.com

Four of Your Favorite Foods: Ice Cream, Mongolian Tofu/Veggies, fresh raspberries, and peaches (but not together)

Four Places You’d Rather Be: I wouldn't necessarily say "rather" but-with my family, in Hawaii, back to my wedding day. . .

Four Albums You Can’t Live Without: The Garden State Soundtrack and anything Smashing Pumpkins