A week off

I have a week of for Thanksgiving. Yesterday I took Tonka to puppy class so she can learn how to be a good dog. She's come a long way - we learned how to give high 5s yesterday. It was awesome!

Cooked some amazing dinner.
I got the idea from here

Slowcooker - I know you already love the plan.
3 frozen chicken breasts
1 packet dry italian seasoning
1 cup chicken stock
I also put two good glugs of our favorite balsalmic salad dressing.
Let cook for at least 3 hours on high so the chicken will cook.

After three hours add one can of cream of chicken soup and about a half a cup of sour cream.
Mix until all are blended. (Side note - before I added the soup and sour cream I took out the chicken breasts and cut them up into cubes.)

Boil rigatoni or penne pasta - cook until done then pour the chicken creamy yummyness over the pasta.

Enjoy!

Today I went to Costco - picked up some paper towels and toilet paper. Then I made my way over to Barns and Nobel to pick up the next book club selection. This month we will be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. I look forward to it.

I am now waiting for my banana bread to cool and enjoying the Sound of Music!

A lesson in patients

I have become in love with bulbs. Planting them - waiting for them - seeing how hard they work underground just to head towards the sunlight. I think people need to be more like bulbs. Willing to put in the work to become something beautiful.

This is the garden on the side of my house. I have taken it upon myself to make it something amazing. Every couple of months I do something a bit new or different. This has been a slow process because there are always papers to grade. Like the stack I have right now waiting for me - but as you can see they'll have to wait a bit longer.

So A while back Costco had a bag of 50 bulbs for 12.99 - Gotta love Costco! So I couldn't resist that. Called my Gramma to make sure that Tulips liked it here in Temecula - she said they did and I was on my way home!

If you have a Winco near you - 1. You are very lucky 2. The people at Winco always seem a little strange which I truly enjoy 3. they are SO cheep! and for a girl on a budget - I love me some quality food at a very low price! 4. They have random items like - Bulbs for sale (2.49) and heeps of them. I could stood in front of the end-cap just staring. I'm sure there were some people who looked at me the same way I also look at the people in Winco.

I ended up getting Wood Hyacinths and Persian Blues. (The Daffodils came from Henry's - another amazing grocery story). I spent Veteran's Day out diggin' in my garden so that a few months from now I'll be able to see the efforts of my patients. You all will have to be patient as well, because as of today - no movement from the 70 bulbs in the ground.

Side note - I think that the word patients is terribly spelled. As a dyslexic - It may even be rude of the word patients to be spelled the way it is! So I say to you Patients - You are rude!

I'm in love with Ikea

I Love IKEA! Not only is this because on occasion I will see things made by a person that has my own maiden name but because of the ideas that flow in my brain when I see all of the amazing possibilities that could transform my home. If you are lucky enough to live near an Ikea please go there - just look around and experience the Swedish goodness.

For Example - I really wanted to put pictures up in the house - there was this wall in the family room that needed something going on... So we took a trip to the magical land of the Swedes and got some ideas.















Who wouldn't like to wake up to something like this in the morning!





















This is the one I took my idea from.











So we loaded up our cart with picture frames,














And went home to create a picture wall!



















Meg thought it was all very interesting! She was sad to see her hiding place disappear.

Here is our finished product! We picked some favorite family photos and are very pleased with our 'wall of love'.











Please ignore the mess on the table and the random cat toys!












For even more ideas please visit http://www.ikea.com/

Book Club

A couple of the women that I work with have started a book club. We read The Art of Racing in the Rain if you like dogs. If you have ever owned a dog or you are a animal person you will love this book.

It begins with the story of Enzo the dog. He tells the story of his family Denny, Eve and Zoe and the conflicts that they go through.

I am a dog person - have always been a dog person - will always be a dog person. It made me think about my dog in a different way. Enzo doesn't like the fact that he can't tell his family what's going on around them. At one point Zoe (who is the little girl) says that she doesn't want to eat dinner. Enzo smells her dinner and can tell that the food had gone bad but her parents (Denny and Eve) can't tell. They yell at Zoe for not eating her dinner and Enzo can't explain why she won't eat the food.

It's told in such simple terms but at the same time a great complexity of thought. It's not your typical dog lovers book - one of the women in the group had started to read Marley and Me but was not able to get through it. This she finnished and really enjoyed.

Here is a picture of my little pup to encourage the dog lover in all of us!

But I'm only one person... Who will listen to One person

"My grandfather ran off the V-2 rocket film a dozen times and then hoped that someday our cities would open up more and let the green and the land and the wilderness in more, to remind people that we're allotted a little space on earth and that we survive in that wilderness that can take back what it has given, as easily as blowing its breath on us or sending the sea to tell us we are not so big. When we forget how close the wilderness is in the night, my grandpa said, someday it will come in and get us, for we will have forgotten how terrible and how real it can be. You see?" Granger turned to Montag. "Grandfather's been dead for all these years, but if you lifted my skull, by God, in the convolutions of my brain you'd find the big ridges of his thumbprint. He touched me. As I said earlier, he was a sculptor. 'I hate a Roman named Status Quo!' he said to me. 'Stuff your eyes with wonder,' he said, 'live as if you'd drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It's more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories. Ask no guarantees, ask for no security, there never was such an animal. And if there were, it would be related to the great sloth which hangs upside down in a tree all day every day, sleeping its life away. To hell with that,' he said, 'shake the tree and knock the great sloth down on his ass.'"
— Ray Bradbury

This is what we read in class today. I cry every time - Every Single Time. It makes me sad that there are students in my classroom that don't have a thumbprint. That there is no one to tell them that the world is better because they are in it. I try everyday to be the person that is different in that child's life. The person I want to be is someone who can be looked up to. I want to be the one who says it's cool not to do drugs or drink. That yes there is a way to have fun without being that bad kid and hang out with the wrong crowd.

I had a student today raise her hand and say "but Mrs. Parsons I'm just one person - Who's going to listen to just one person." I wanted to weep for her. I wish that there was a way to remind every single small person that one is a number that matters.

After my staff meeting today I got back to my computer and found an email from a student. She also lamented that she felt small and a bit lost - that she could not pinpoint someone who was her thumbprint. She apologised for making me take time out of my day to even read the email. It makes me so sad that there is a fear and an assumption that a teacher is only that for the hours of a school day.

My students are such thumbprints in my life. I told them this and they did the expected 'ahhh and oooo'. That's not my intention I don't want them to think I say things like this just to get that emotion out of them. It's purely the truth. I wish them the best in the world and that they get the best education I can give them. It's because I want them to be amazing humans. I need them to be great - because they are the people who are going to help me in my old age. These are the people who are going to be creating other human beings and if they are good parents those little people that they create will go on doing good.

I want to do good. I am reminded of this when I look at the students in my classroom. And it is my hope that I can continue to inspire others to do some good too.

feeling crafty

I feel like being crafty. I haven't been in the mood to 'create' over the past few weeks. But I can feel the rumbles of inventing brewing in my brains. There may be a trip to Joann's in my near future.

I want to make aprons for all of my friends for Christmas. I'm searching online to find the best one - then it's all about the fabric.

Adventures Await!

She Cares...

So my new grade book has the option to send students emails to update them on their grades, what's going on in class, remind them of tests. So I sent an email to them last week reminding them that they needed to read and be prepared for a quiz we were going to take. I didn't think much of it. It was just a little email to get their brains in gear.

But the next day in class two girls stop by my desk and ask how I was able to send the emails. I tell them about this amazing new tool and they look at me then back at each other. The both of them say almost at the same moment "She cares! It made me feel like you really care about us"

I do care kiddos! I do care!!