the good, the bad, the ugly

I thought of this again the other day. Just the thought of it makes me laugh. Enjoy!

begin the countdown!

So The Hunger Games is all the rage, and I decided it would be fun to read it. My first resort, like any other middle-class American citizen, was to check the library. Since all the books were checked out, I put it on hold. I was informed that I was number 203 in line. At the minimum check-out time, that means that I have an 11 year, 9 month, and 1 week wait. That'll be just in time for my first-born to read it. I'll start counting - 609 weeks left.

nicknames

One of my students is insisting on being called KK. This is slightly ridiculous, because his first name starts with a C and his last name with a Q. He doesn't have a single K in his name, much less two. For the record, I enjoy nicknames. I think they're great. But there are nicknames appropriate for school, and there are nicknames that aren't. "KK" is pushing the limit. It's a bit of a term of endearment. I'm not against terms of endearment, either, but I prefer to use them when I'm finding the kids endearing. I don't find them endearing all the time. And terms of endearment don't always fit with the tone of voice I use. (Should I feel guilty about this?) Today I was taking some student information down to the office and saw that a parent had requested that we call her daughter "Bubbles." Honestly? Bubbles? There will be no "Bubbles" in my classroom. I refuse to call anyone "Bubbles" who is old enough to walk.

all done!

Seen at church, right underneath the clock:

Yes, that is the thermostat. With a thermometer stuck in it. There was some debate about whether it was a candy thermometer or a turkey thermometer, but research shows that it appears most like a turkey thermometer. Now we can all know if we've cooked enough.

It's all in a sentence

Me: "Use the word doctor in a sentence."

Mikey: "Doctor, are you sure that baby's going to come out?"

It's love

There are days I love my job. Honestly. Who wouldn't want my profession, when I get to play with these kiddos every day?

'nough said

school's out!!

Rose, you know what I'm talking about!

the benefits of calcium

Calvin, out at an impromptu recess because it's the last day of school: "I'm scared! I have to run so the girls won't catch me!"

Me: "You'd better run fast, then."

Calvin: "I can run fast because I drink milk!"

And then he demonstrated. He really could run fast.

update

Best news of the day: I'm lice-free! Only six more days to go to have three teaching years of lice-freeness!

prayers

I have a cold. Yesterday I woke up and thought I'd check out my voice...so I started humming, which of course didn't actually sound like humming, but more like I was dying. I opened my eyes and looked over and Rachel was kneeling by her bedside praying. I wonder if she was praying for me to recover. I hope it works.

Hungry?

I checked on the boys when they went to wash their hands, and was just in time to catch Louis stuffing paper towels into his mouth as fast as he could. I said, "Louis!" shocked, of course, that he was eating paper towels. He froze and looked at me with an incredibly guilty look on his face, as though to say, "Ah, man! Just a few more minutes and I would have gotten it down!" He just stood there looking at me with his mouth full, so I made him take the towels out of his mouth and throw them away. He looked incredibly disappointed - as he pulled three or four paper towels (slimy and drooly) out of his mouth. Since then, I've caught him eating paper cups and crayons. Either he has a serious oral fixation or he's not getting the minerals he needs. Something's not right. :)

just a small moment.

While in the grocery store, I parked my cart beside the tomatoes while I bagged some peppers. Just as I turned around to put the peppers into my cart, an old man grabbed my cart, put his things in it, and walked away with it. I was too stunned to debate my options fast enough, and I finally settled for watching him walk away with my cart and my groceries. I looked around for his cart so I could use it, but I couldn't find it, and it was too much work for me to go get another one. So I just held on to everything the best I could as I walked around the grocery store - cartless. I hope the old man either wants everything I had or realizes that he doesn't before he makes it to the check out counter.

faulty cups

For the last several Sundays, as I've partaken of the sacrament, I've been slightly distracted by the difficulty of getting the water to my lips without serious mishap. One Sunday I couldn't get the cup out of the tray. The cup seemed to have disintigrated such that it was so flimsy it wouldn't hold its weight. Another Sunday I got it out of the tray, but a hole had developed near the bottom and a small stream of water sprayed out in an arc out of the cup, dousing my scriptures, hymn book, and skirt with water. A third Sunday the cup was filled so full that the movement of raising it to my lips caused it to drip down my shirt. As a result, I have been looking sufficiently incompetent for the last few weeks. I thought it was just me, but as I watched the bishop last Sunday struggle to catch falling water with his spare hand, I realized that it wasn't just me. It's all because of the cups.

printout marriage

I received a phone call from one of the temple presidency the other day (who used to be one of the high council for my ward). He said he had a situation that he wanted me to "assess." He then proceeded to tell me about an "attractive young man" who had just returned from his mission and was volunteering at the temple. He wanted to know if I thought, in general, a girl like me would be interested in going on a date with him. I said that, in general, girls like me would be fine going on a date with such a young man. The conversation ended, and as I was about to hang up, he asked if I would stop by his office the next day, just to finish up the visit. Of course I agreed.

I stopped by the next day, and after chatting for a few minutes, he brought up this young man again. He handed me a printout about this young man, complete with a picture and vital stats. It was two pages long, and after glancing through the first page, I turned to the next page. I was stunned to see a picture of me! It was a printout of me! Stapled to the printout of this young man! How funny is that! I laughed and laughed, and teased him about stapling our printouts together. I think he blushed. He finally came out and asked if I would be willing to go on a date with this young man, and I told him that although in general I would, I was currently dating someone else. He was ecstatic that I was dating someone. I love that man. But how funny is that! It still makes me laugh that he would staple our printouts together.