just in time for valentine's day

Jeremiah's note to Macie, which he folded up and asked me to give to her after school:

Dear Macie,

Hey girl

I know you got the moves.

You look so good.

From: ?

Obviously I could not, in good conscience, show this to Macie. But I think I showed just about every other adult I came into contact with that day. Seven year-old boys... gotta love them.

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you should have been there

My dad and I went to the de Young Museum in San Francisco, where Post-Impressionist pieces from the Musee d'Orsay in Paris are visiting. Being in the same room with these paintings was indescribable. So I'll just show you the best of what I saw. Six inches in front of my face.





I think I stood in front of this painting for a solid ten minutes.

I never understood either of these paintings until I saw them in real life. And then when I finally did they blew me away.

And last but not least, my most favorite painting of all time.
My life is now complete.

retail therapy

things getting me down:
school
work
housing
boys
money
...you know, the usual

things that make it better:
bought this shirt





















and this dress





















and this skirt I'm going to wear as a dress

and this dress that cost as much as the last three items combined.

also making me happy:

the fact that i paid full price for all of the items and i don't even care.

the fact that they all look better on me than the models. ha!

friday, i love you

You're here! You're finally here!
Please save me from this work week that was only supposed to be four days long but felt like fifty.
Please PLEASE send the sun to hang out with me on Saturday.
And while you're at it, would you mind bringing me enough hours to do everything I have to accomplish by Monday?
If there's extra room in your suitcase maybe you can slip in some time for fun too.
I promise I will love you forever...
Deal?

so happy

I get to stand with this beautiful soon-to-be bride at her wedding.

Yay!

i'm really getting into:

What I Like About You
This show somehow never fails to amuse me. Even though it probably should. Especially because I've seen each episode multiple times.

Collecting a Classroom Quote of the Day

"When I see the American flag, I get kind of sad because it makes me think of all the people who are smuggling drugs on airplanes, and they just keep on doing it and doing it until they get caught." - Alex

Planning Vacations
Or really just picking destinations, some of which I plan vacations to, and some of which I make myself think I'm planning vacations to. And in order to bring these dream vacations to life, I'm trying to save money by cutting back on my food budget and shopping in my parents' pantry. Donations are accepted.

This List

And that I know exactly what she's talking about.

Big Libraries
And instead of buying clothes, I'm going to be buying books to make a big library of my own. This will be my first purchase (but I am still allowed to buy some clothes, I mean, come on, who am I kidding?):

sun, where did you go?

Looks like I'm going to have to chase you down in Palm Springs.

The forecast for Friday is 77 degrees...

Anyone want to join me for a three day weekend?

That's it. I'm going.

r.i.p. fiddlesticks

Today I came into the classroom to find our beloved class pet, Fiddlesticks Marvin Hatcher, on his back, eyes closed, hands and feet up in the air. Sometime over the weekend the poor little mouse met his end, most likely due to the freezing cold temperature of my classroom. That's what I told the kids at least. I'm mostly sure I gave him enough food for the weekend.

My students fell in love with him instantly. According to Robert, his cage smelled "like soup, and kind of like noodles." I thought it smelled like shit, but these kids didn't mind.

I loved to watch the kids interact with Fiddlesticks. They were fascinated by him. It was funny how much they didn't know about mice and how animals work! When I let Jacob hold Fiddlesticks, he freaked out because he thought the mouse was biting him. He ran screaming to the sink to wash the germs off his hands. I told Jacob that Fiddlesticks wasn't biting him, and he replied, "But I felt it vibrating!"

"Actually, Jakey, that was just his feet walking," I yelled over his nervous laughter and squeals.

His response to that? He stopped screaming and hyperventilating and said in a calm voice, "Oh."

This afternoon we had a memorial service for Fiddlesticks, and each student got to make a speech. The general consensus is that we are thankful for the company that Fiddlesticks gave us, and we are sad that he died "so young." We thought he was so cute that we will even miss how annoying it was when he would run in his wheel all day long.

new year's resolution

Tomorrow morning, I face the first test of my ability to keep my New Year's resolution - be on time for work. I love coming into the classroom after all of my students have already arrived because they get really excited to see me. They all yell, "She's here! Miss Hatcher's here!" and run to give me a hug and tell me about the Korean dinner they had last night or the squirrel they saw on their drive to school that morning.

However, it looks a little unprofessional when they think it will be funny to hide in the cubby area and jump out to scare me when I come in. Also it's probably unprofessional when I sneak into the cubby area to scare them before they scare me. Highly entertaining, yes, but not professional.

So, we'll see how tomorrow morning goes...

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