Visual Miscellany, Part 1

I have been collecting these little tidbits for my Bloggy Buddies for weeks. (See how I'm always thinking of you guys!?) I really needed to clear the memory on my camera in preparation for the holidays, so I'm FINALLY sharing! (There are SO many, though, that I’m going to have to share them over a few days, lest I send you into a coma!)

I’ll probably do an entire post just about our field trip, but I wanted to share this photo now. I took it out the window of the bus as we were approaching Navy Pier. Gorgeous, right? (You really need to click on it to enlarge it, so you can see the whole pier.)

The field trip was on Dec. 3. That night, we got our first substantial snowfall of the year. As I rolled over in bed the next morning, this was the first thing I saw out my bedroom window.

The backyard. (Yes, that’s the hammock that I still haven’t put away. Shut up!)

My front steps.

I went downstairs to check on Stud, like I do every morning, and I was a little annoyed to see that the TV had been left on, and that there was a big pile of blankets and things on the floor in front of the TV.

(This one was with the flash on)

Imagine my surprise when, as I went to turn off the TV, I turned my head and saw this…

(again, flash on here) It was my little baby. I still can NOT believe that he fell asleep ON THE FLOOR, watching television. It was a week and a half ago, and I’m still cracking up about it.

Last Sunday, at our little family gathering, my niece came straight from a cheerleading competition, so she was in full competition dress.

Last night, my nieces came over to hang out with us for the evening. When I went to pick them up, the little one had just come from her own cheerleading competition, and didn’t want to take the time to change, so she came over like this.

It’s really a shame that these two don’t like to have their pictures taken, huh?

Ok, I think that’s enough for one post, don’t you? Good thing I’m on vacation, huh, so I can come back and share the rest later.

We went on a field trip today!

We went to see the legendary Ella Jenkins today! I had such a wonderful time, I almost missed how much fun the babies had. I take my class to see her every year, and every year I love her just as much as the year before.

I have a Barney video in which Miss Ella appears, and I always show it to my class in preparation of this field trip. They were SO excited when she sangs the songs they learned on the video. They learned a whole bunch of songs today. I think I may be checking out Amazon this weekend so I can order a few of her CDs. I have several of her albums on cassette, but these days, it's just too hard to even use these. Do you remember, back in the day, when you would try to find a specific song on a tape? Rewind....oops! Fast forward....ah, crap! Rewind....Ugh!!! How did we ever get by?

One of the songs she sang today was Jambo. They loved the way she sang almost all her songs in this call-and-response style. She calls kids up to the stage for nearly every song, and a couple of my babies were chosen to come up. But, they went ape shit when their TEACHER was called up to the stage (to count in sign language). It was just so cute how excited they were.

I tried to find some videos on YouTube to share with you, but Miss Ella must have some tight reins on her stuff. I did find this, though. (Blogger seems to be cutting off the right side of the video, so use the link to see it in full view.)

The only down side of our trip was that I ended up getting a horrific case of motion sickness. It's nearly 5pm, and I'm still feeling nauseous. I think I'm going to see if there's any of the ginger ale I had to pick up for Stud left in the fridge. (He was home with a tummy bug yesterday.) I just hope it's motion sickness and NOT whatever Stud had.

I'm no Julie McCoy....

Nothing really worth writing about today. The babies drove me freakin' nuts, as usual. All but 2 were there, so we were packed in like sardines.

I have a mom (the one I mentioned weeks ago, who kept her kid home because it was his birthday!!) who drives me freakin' craaazzzzyyy!!! Most mornings, she brings her precious little darling to school late, and then she insists on walking him all the way to the room, then she comes IN the room, hangs up his stuff for him, talking, loudly, the whole time ("Come on, Baby, give me your bookbag." "Ok, baby, have a great day!" etc.) despite the fact that class has ALREADY STARTED AND I'M TRYING TO TEACH!!!! You crazy bitch!

Then, she is always standing in the hall at the end of the day, waiting for her child, instead of being out on the playground, where she belongs!!! Today, as I'm trying to walk 30+ children out for dismissal, she starts asking me, "Are they going on the circus trip?" I gave her my best WTF look, and said, "What trip? I have no idea what you're talking about." She says, "The Univer-Soul Circus. The preschool is going." "That has nothing to do with us, this is kindergarten." In my head, that sentence finished with, "You goofy bitch!!" "Oh, really?" Yes, REALLY!!! Ugh!!! Of course, in the meantime, my other kids are all over the hall, instead of walking in two (LONG) lines.

After I dismissed my class, I was trying to get to the office to swipe out, so I could leave to pick up Stud, and she started in again! "Isn't there any way you could join the preschool?" "Absolutely not." "What if we got a lot of parents to come, like they do in preschool?" Ok, parents on field trips are the biggest problem with the field trips!!! (Keep in mind, I'm specifically referring to OUR parents, not parents in general!) "No, in preschool, the parents are required to go. We would never get enough parents to go. And, there's no way I'll be taking this many kids anywhere on my own." I wanted to throw in, "especially the way this group behaves!!" but I kept it to myself. "Well, will you be taking a lot of trips?"she whined. "No, probably not. That's the problem with having 38 kindergartners and no assistant. That's just the way it goes."

At this point, I wasn't even TRYING to be polite. She was seriously bugging my ass! I mean, seriously, WTF?! If you feel your child needs to go see the Univer-Soul Circus, then shit! Buy a damn ticket, and take him!!! I've got bigger fish to fry, like trying to teach your little cherub the damn letters of the alphabet, which you apparently were too busy to even introduce him to! How 'bout you teach him the ABC Song? Or a color? Or a number? A shape? ANYTHING!!!! I'm busy all day trying to teach the reading program, the math program, the science program, the social studies program, the NEW character education program, all while trying to get 30+ babies to sit in their seats, keep their hands and feet to themselves, and pay attention. Add the unbuttoning and buttoning of at least 20 pairs of pants at every bathroom break, unbuckling and rebuckling at least 10 belts, the tying of 100 shoe laces each day, saying 100 times a day "STOP DIGGING IN YOU NOSE AND GET A TISSUE!!" Yeah, you're right, I've got PLENTY of time to worry about taking your kid to the freakin' circus!!!!!!! UGH! Apparently, she pissed me off more than I realized... (Keep in mind that this kind of crap with this woman has been going on since school started 5 weeks ago. Today was certainly NOT the first time something like this has happened, but it obviously must have been the straw that broke the camel's back, huh?)

This is something that is really pissing me off regarding New Principal. She PROMISED us in the beginning of the year, that she was going to keep the parents out, both before and after school. Unless they have an appointment, they have absolutely NO business in the hallways, outside of our rooms. Almost every single day, I have some parent knocking on my door 10-15 minutes before school gets out because they want their child. This is exactly why we asked her to keep the parents OUT. At that time of the day, I'm trying to get every kid in and out of the coat closet, helping them pack up their bookbags, put on their jackets, etc. I don't have time to deal with people at the door. I don't even answer it anymore. How freakin' hard is it to go stand on the playground where you belong? Your child will be coming out, just like every other child. I don't get it.

OK, now that I've offended every one of my Bloggy Buddies who are parents, let me just remind you that I, too, am a parent. However, I have always followed whatever rules and procedures were in place at Stud's school. Despite my thinking that he was the single greatest child ever born, he was never treated any differently than any other child in his school, and I was expected to abide by the same rules as every other parent. I practically had to give blood just to enter the office. Parents were NEVER allowed beyond that point. We were NEVER allowed to go to the classroom. If we were picking our child up, the child was sent down to the office. We weren't allowed to just roam freely through the building, like parents are at the Hell-Hole. This is a serious safety issue, and it's being completely ignored. In that neighborhood, you can never be too careful about who the hell is walking in off the street.

Wow, so much for not having much to say. I could seriously go on and on, but it's past my bedtime, and I think I've offended enough people for one night. I hope tomorrow goes a little better. And God help this nutjob if she even TRIES to talk to me tomorrow!!!

Where have I been lately?!

• Last Friday-All day field trip with the babies to The Museum of Science and Industry. Walked about 45 miles. Dragged Stud Muffin with me since he was off.
• Friday afternoon/evening-Had the WORST plantar fasciitis attack ever, almost went to the emergency room. Poor Stud had to take care of me, Ace bandaged bags of ice to my foot, brought me drugs, etc.
• Saturday-Worked my usual 37 hours at the bar
• Sunday-spent the day hanging out with my parents and my brother. Went to dinner, then back to my parents' and played Wii all night (Did I mention that we bought my mom a Wii, plus Wii Fit and Wii Play, for Mother's Day?) It was an awesome time. I could hardly move by the end of the night because we were laughing so much and so hard, that my sides were cramping! My dad swearing at the game pushed us over the edge!
• Monday (Memorial Day) spent the afternoon with my best friend, then back to my parents' for a while.
• Tues-Thurs-The usual craziness that is the Hell-Hole! (Just don't have the strength for specifics right now)
• Friday-Went back to the museum, but had a much smaller group (the ones that couldn't behave last Friday were NOT invited this time!) and I had my favorite mom, Mrs. G, come as a chaperone. I made Stud come again, too, since he finished school on Thursday. Yeah, he hates me....
• Friday night-Had to freakin' work at the bar since our bartender is out of town. 'Nuff said.
• Today-Was woken up early by a(n unnecessary!) phone call, drove Stud and The Girl to the museum (yes, seriously! There is a Harry Potter Exhibit going on, and The Girl is obsessed with Harry Potter.) drove around for a couple of hours delivering Pampered Chef orders, went shopping for Spirit Week next week with my babies, and now doing laundry. I'm waiting to switch loads because my "work" clothes are in the washer! The twenty minutes it's taken me to type out this post is the only twenty minutes I've had to sit down today. Quite frankly, I should be in the shower right now. So, on that note....

Sunny Saturday

Good morning, Sunshine!! I woke up (far too early, by the way! Naturally I went straight to the bar from the theater, so I was able to maintain my usual 4am bedtime...) to the most beautiful, warm, sunny day we've seen in a while. Yesterday was one weird stormy moment after another, so this is an unexpected surprise. Why, oh why couldn't it have been like this yesterday for the picnic?! Oh, well, it is what it is.

I was all set to give you the details of the 8th grade trip from the other day, but then I realize, nobody really gives a rat's ass about it other than me! So, instead, I did want to share a few things I've been thinking about in regards to my baby and his friends. Let me tell you, however, what our schedule was like on the day of the trip, just so you can appreciate why I'm always so tired...

7:30 Arrive at school. The kids start school at 7:50. I dropped off my darling, then went to the corner for Dunkin Donuts coffee, naturally.

8:15 Kids start coming down to get on the bus, name tags are passed out, etc.

8:30 Bus pulls away from the school, headed to Medieval Times in Shaumburg.

10:30 Arrive in Shaumburg. Oh, no, that's NOT a typo. Two freakin' hours!!!!! The biggest problem is the route the bus driver chose to take. I won't bother to get into, especially because only my Chicago friends would understand it anyway. Let's just say, two hours is far too long to make an old lady sit on a bus once she's had a large Dunkin Donuts coffee. I had to finally give in to the demands of my bladder, and use the bathroom on the bus. I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Very clean, for sure. Just tiny and bumpy.

11:00 The show started. The kids had about 25 minutes to walk around the gift shops and take pictures and stuff before the show. The show was a lot of fun. Lunch was a bit difficult for some of the kids. If you aren't familiar with Medieval Times, you're served a meal that you then must eat without utensils. There's a cup of soup, that you have to drink, then they bring you a half a chicken with a potato wedge, which you then have to eat with your hands. Finally, they bring out big chocolate chip cookies for dessert. Many of the kids had trouble dealing with the chicken, since they're used to their chicken being cut into separate pieces (leg, wing, thigh, breast) plus, let's face it, it's messy! Then, on top of that, the meal is served during the show, so it's pretty dark. But, I guess the kids weren't that bothered by it, because they were more involved with watching the show.

1:30 Load back on the bus, head downtown.

2:30 Arrive at the McCormick Freedom Museum, meet up with our guide from the agency that put the trip together. The kids explored the museum a bit, but truly weren't that interested in doing anything the least bit educational that day. I should be embarrassed to admit, I was hitting a slump at this point (I think my Dunkin Donuts wore off!), and basically sat in a chair for nearly the entire time we were there. I'm going to have to go back on my own with my son to really see what the museum has to offer.

3:30 Back on the bus to head to Navy Pier. Oh, but wait! One of the little darlings says she has to go back in because she left her IPod in the museum. She and the guide go running back in, while Mrs. M. lectures the rest of the kids about how now we're going to be late because one of their classmates was irresponsible, and really, she shouldn't have brought the IPod anyway, so on and so on. The teacher in me was saying the exact same thing to myself. After a few minutes, one of the boys says, "Mrs. M., why did T go back into the museum? She gave me her IPod to hold, and I have it." Well, I thought Mrs. M., was going to slap him. Now, we're trying to call the guide to tell her we found it, but we couldn't get through on her phone. Luckily, they were back in just a matter of minutes anyway. I have a feeling T remembered she gave her IPod to someone to hold. We finally get under way about 3:45.

4:15 We begin boarding the boat for our architectural tour on the river. It was wonderful! The only problem was that it was FREEZING! By this point, the sun had become hidden by clouds, and we did feel a few drops as we pulled away from the dock. Luckily, the rain held off, but it was very cold and windy during our ride.

5:15 Disembark, head over to Navy Pier so the kids could walk around and explore for a little while. Somehow, we got behind our original schedule, because the kids only had about 45 minutes, instead of the hour and a half we were first told. But, it was fine, they didn't care. I had to just keep telling them to please try and not eat much, especially junk food, because we were going to be going to dinner at the Rainforest Cafe at 6:30. Yeah, well, no such luck. Nearly every group of kids I passed as I walked around had something to munch, like ice cream, candy, Starbucks, popcorn, whatever. I couldn't blame them, though. 7:00 was an awfully late dinner time for kids who ate lunch at 11:30.

I wasn't any better. As soon as we got off that boat, I headed straight to Starbucks for a venti sugar-free, fat-free caramel macchiato. YUM!! That was more because I was frozen, but it hit the spot! I did manage to get my son to meet me a few minutes before we had to leave to take a picture with me in one of the photo booths. We try to hit this particular booth every time we go to Navy Pier. It prints a photo that looks like someone drew it with a pencil. Very cool! I have a bunch framed and hanging in my living room. They're in chronological order, so it's really neat to see how my son has changed over the years. And how old I've become!! :(

6:30 Back on the bus, head over to Rainforest Cafe. Luckily, they were totally ready for us when we arrived at 7:00, so we didn't have to wait. We sat down immediately, and they started bringing on the food. Surprisingly, there was a salad on every table (my son was happy about that!) then they brought each table a pepperoni pizza, a plate of cheeseburgers, and a platter of french fries covered with chicken fingers. They later brought a plate of chocolate chip cookies. The kids finished up their feast of bad foods, and headed over to the gift shop. They were able to shop for about 45 minutes before we had to get back on the bus and head home.

8:30 Arrive back at school. Luckily, at that time of night, the expressway was empty, and we made it back to school in 15 minutes. Our bus driver was a really sweet guy named Bob, who the kids immediately took a liking to. Can I just tell you what sweet kids these are? The majority of them got back on the bus after Rainforest with gifts for Bob. Yes, really! He had a bag full of things by the time they all were seated. He was really moved by their generosity, and was very appreciative of their gifts. It was a very proud moment, as their "mom."

By the time all the kids were picked up, and we arrived home, it was after 9:30. What a looonnnggg day. But, I loved every minute of it. I hope my son enjoyed it as much as I did.

Jeezaloo, didn't I say I WASN'T going to give all the details?! If you're still reading, my apologies! What I said I wanted to tell you about was the kids. I'll save it for another day, when your eyeballs aren't bleeding! I'm off to start baking for the graduation party tomorrow. (Did I mention my sister and I are having a party for our kids tomorrow? My niece graduated this past Wednesday, my son graduates next Monday, so we're having a combined party to make it a little easier on our family) It figures it would be warm and sunny today, doesn't it? Not exactly ideal baking weather, but what are gonna do? I need to get over to the bar soon, too, since I missed several days this week, and I have to catch up on my duties. God, I can't wait for school to be over!!! Maybe then I can catch up on some freakin' sleep!!! Preferably in my hammock! :) Have a great weekend!

Great Day!!

It's 10:00 pm, and I'm basically just getting home from a wonderful day with my son and his classmates. I'm going to give you all the scoop tomorrow, I hope, when my eyelids aren't fighting to close :( Nighty night!

Busy day...

We went on a field trip today, then I had to race home to shower and get to my doctor's office for an appointment. The appointment left me a bit shaken (maybe I'll explain later) so I headed over to the bar (since my doctor's office is close to the bar) after stopping to buy some things to make dinner for my brother and myself. I'm sitting at the bar now, people watching and catching up on the blogs I didn't get to read today because we were at the zoo. I will post again later about the trip, complete with pictures.

Yay, we made it to another Friday!

How is it possible for this week to go by so quickly, yet drag at the same time? Maybe I'm just losing it. Could it be because I'm so busy being focused on "is it Friday yet?" that it seems to drag? I don't know, I'm just glad another week is over. We have 18 days of school left (which is 14 for me!) and the end is in sight. Monday, some of my babies will be going on a field trip with me to Lincoln Park Zoo. I say 'some' because several of them were not invited to join us on this trip. Too bad, so sad! There are only 20 of them coming, and that's assuming they all show up on time, cuz the bus ain't waitin'! I just pray we have nice weather. Chicago's weather is a bit schizophrenic. Yesterday it was rainy and in the 50s, today it's been very sunny and in the 70s. Who the hell knows what Monday will be like. It just might snow! Every year, on the day I take my class to the zoo, it rains, so that's what I'm planning for. We go rain or shine, so I hope the babies come dressed for the weather. Luckily, there are enough places we can go to stay out of the rain.

OK, I'm very late for my second job, so I'd better get going. Have a great weekend!!

There aren't enough days in the weekend. ---Rod Schmidt

No kidding, Rod!

I'm gonna get fired...

...I was all set to head up to the bar tonight, when I was reminded that we had a Parents' Club meeting tonight. CRAP! I had totally forgotten all about it. As usual, I couldn't just skip it, since I had to run it (!) plus we were holding elections for the incoming executive board. I was hoping to get the meeting over with quickly, then I figured I'd shoot over to the bar for a while. Unfortunately, due to circumstances WAY out of my control, the meeting went WAY too long, and in the wind-up, I just came home. I have a feeling I'll have a pink slip waiting for me tomorrow night ;-)

The babies were just AWFUL today. AWFUL! Their behavior has progressively gotten worse, and will continue to do so for the remainder of the year, I fear. They want this school year to end just as much as I do. OK, maybe not just as much, but a lot! It was raining all day today, so we couldn't even go outside this afternoon. That's about the only thing I have left to hold over their heads. They apparently didn't get to go to snack yesterday because they were so bad for the sub. Oh well, too bad, so sad! I've said that phrase to the kids a few times now, and it must have stuck with a few, because I've heard them say it to each other. Haha! Too funny!

Thank goodness there are only 24 school days left. And, I'll be out at least 5 of those, so I only have 19 days with the babies. When I think about that, I have such mixed emotions. "How in the world will I teach them everything I still want to teach them in such a short amount of time?" That thought competes with "How the hell am I gonna survive that many more days without smacking one of them!?" We have a field trip coming up, and I'm hoping I can use that for some leverage. Little T.B., the Mad Cusser from yesterday, will NOT be joining us on this trip. As thankful as I am to not have to deal with him at the zoo (where he could be lost in a heartbeat because he doesn't listen or follow the rules!) there's a big part of me that is so sad that he won't be joining us. He's exactly the kid who should be going on this trip. His family will certainly never give him this experience. How sad is that? It just breaks my heart. I'm tempted to make arrangements with his family to take him, by himself, to the zoo, or someplace else, maybe on a Saturday. Just the two of us. One on one, he can be the sweetest baby. But, when I have 29 other babies to deal with, I can't give him that undivided attention he so desperately craves. By the way, I asked our assistant principal what time somebody finally bothered to show up to get him on Monday. (You may remember that he was still sitting there at 3:30 when I left.) Mr. H. told me it was after 4:30!!! Seriously, WTF?!?

OK, it's far too late for me to continue down this path, I just don't have the strength to dwell on it, and I'm on the verge of tears just thinking about it. I'd better get my behind in bed. When I wake up, I will officially be starting the 5th decade of my life. Holy crap!! I'm so old!! Now, I REALLY want to cry.

It is not all bad, this getting old, ripening. After the fruit has got its growth it should juice up and mellow. God forbid I should live long enough to ferment and rot and fall to the ground in a squash. ---Emily Carr

OK, Emily, whatever!

Look at my beautiful babies!

I just this afternoon figured out how to add a link to some photo albums I've created with pictures from school of my babies! Yay! When the link opens, click on the yellow button that says "view slideshow."

Here are some from the our trip to the Shedd Aquarium, the 100th Day of School, and last Friday's Dr. Seuss celebration. You can see our icky lunchroom in the Dr. Seuss photos. In the 100th Day photos, the babies are making necklaces with 100 Cheerios. I had posted some of the Shedd photos already, but they're still nice to look at.
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=69o0sna.8ek73pc6&x=0&y=tlwql8

Here are some old ones of the penguin puppets we made last month http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=69o0sna.1nkug25i&x=0&y=wnm26l

I had some funny stories to share from our Dr. Seuss party last Friday, but I was so ill when I got home, I didn't write about them, and now my ancient brain has forgotten them :( Oh well, enjoy the pictures!

You can learn many things from children. How much patience you have, for instance. ---Franklin P. Jones

**********************************************************************************

Ok, I just checked to make sure the links worked, and I must apologize for the less-than-perfect quality of these pictures. I keep a crappy digital camera at school (my dad got if for free when he test-drove some car) so I can take pictures whenever. It doesn't even have a display screen. I have to download the photos to my computer to even look at them. Obviously, the picture quality isn't the greatest. But, hey, it gets the job done! Actually, now that I've looked at them again, the crappy quality almost scrambles the babies' faces, thus keeping their identity private. haha! I also noticed that in the first set of photos from Dr. Seuss' birthday, you can see living proof of a couple of the adults sitting on their asses, EATING, instead of supervising the children. Nice!

This Just In....

...I HATE MY FUCKING JOB!!!! Why am I even ever surprised at the level of stupidity at the Hell-Hole?!?! I'm SOOO sick of the Big Cheese, I don't even know what to do about it. It takes every bit of strength I have to not punch him in the face when he's talking to me. Part of that is the fact that he insists on TOUCHING when he talks!! Then, add to that the fact that he will look you dead in the eye and LIE to your face! Ugh!!! I can't stand him!


There was an "issue" today regarding our field trip, and one of the office women. Basically, she accepted money from a student, but never told us (specifically Dori, since it was her student) so the little girl wasn't on our list. We left her behind today when we went to the aquarium, but then found out AFTER we came back that she was supposed to go. I can't even count the number of times this woman has done this exact thing!! She's such a stupid bitch!! Then, she was bitching about us to El Queso Grande, trying to say it was our fault!! Bitch! Long story short, Dori and I have decided to cancel our next trip, and not take anymore this year. It's just not worth the hassle! If the office would just mind their own damn business, we'd have a lot less problems!

Speaking of the office NOT minding their own business, the office clerk decided to take attendance for us while we were gone, and screwed it all up. I had kids at school who were marked absent, and kids who stayed home who were marked present! I would say it's unbelievable, but the sad fact is, it IS believable in the Hell-Hole!! Just a little over a week ago, we noticed the attendance was actually doctored. If you recall, the night of Jan. 31, we had about 12 inces of snow dumped on us. The next day, most of the kids in the school stayed home! I had 14 kids come to school, Dori had 7. Well, lo and behold, when Dori pulled up the attendance for that day, most of the kids WE marked absent were suddenly marked TARDY!!! WTF?!?! Gee, how many ways is that wrong? Not to mention illegal! That place is an absolute joke!! I need to change the subject, because I'm about to blow a gasket!!


We had a great time on our trip to the aquarium today. The first thing we did was go to the Oceanarium for the dolphin show. One of my babies was picked to help with the show!! It was great! He actually got to walk out into the tank and touch the dolphins. I tried to get pictures for his mom, but you can hardly see him. For those who have never been to the Shedd Aquarium, the big dolphin tank is built out on the side of the building that faces Lake Michigan. The wall is all glass basically, looking out on the lake. Well, believe it or not, we had a very bright and sunny day today in Chicago. Since the sun was behind the tank, it made all the pictures turn out dark. The only thing that didn't go so well was that we were given a 12:30 lunch slot for the lunchroom. Well, our babies usually have lunch at 10:45, so they were STARVING! The nice thing was, though, as soon as we ate, we went straight out to the bus, and home we went. Oh, and another interesting tidbit...as I was walking into the lunchroom, I heard someone call out my maiden name. I looked across the room and saw a girl I went to high school with standing there! It was so great to see her!

I wanted to share this awesome picture I took of our gorgeous city from the staircase of the Shedd Aquarium. Man, I LOVE Chicago!!

I took this shot from my seat during the dolphin show. It's the Adler Planetarium, which is also on the Museum Campus.

No visit would be complete without seeing my darling babies!!! Could they be any cuter!!!? I'll spare you the other dozen pictures I took of them. ;-)

Well, my brother is trying to convince me to ditch school tomorrow and go to another In The Loop show. After today, it doesn't sound like such a bad idea! I don't want to abandon the babies on Valentine's Day, though, so I'll probably just go to work...

My darling little boy came home from 5 days with his dad not feeling very well. I probably should have let him stay home today, but Mean Mommy made him go. I just gave him a healthy shot of Nyquil, so I'm going to go tuck him in for the night. Hopefully, he'll fall asleep soon, and sleep all night, then wake up feeling much better. He can't even stay home tomorrow because he has a project due. Thankfully, it's finished, so all he has to do is rest the rest of the evening.

When asked if he is sick, he replied "No I'm not sick, my batteries have just runned out"— Boy, 4

Woo hoo!!! It's FINALLY Friday!!

Imagine...four glorious days without the Hell-Hole!! I'm so excited, I could pee my pants!! Then, when we get back on Wednesday, we have a field trip. Thursday's Valentine's Day, so the day will be filled with plenty of activities. Friday is the only day of "school" we'll have, and then it's another three-day weekend! Now, don't start your complaining about how teachers have so much time off, or I'll be forced to jump through your monitor and throttle you!!

Monday I'll be going downtown again for another In The Loop show. This time, I'm bringing an entire posse! My friend from work (whose son I pick up in the morning), my brother, my cousin, and two of my brother's friends. Hopefully, Dori will also be joining us. (We ARE supposed to be working, but after the day she had today, I don't think it'll be that hard to get her to ditch like me!) I've now gotten pretty chummy with the woman who is the audience coordinator for the show, and she's hookin' us up! She said they wanted an audience that is half men and half women for some reason, so I lined up 5 men. I should get a prize for bringing the most testosterone to the party! It's supposed to be a big give-away day, so I'm looking forward to it. My brother and the other boys were thrilled to hear there's going to be a lingerie fashion show. I'm hoping one of the give-aways is champagne, or a bottle of wine. For some reason, we need to bring ID with us this time that has our date of birth, so I assume we need to be old enough for something.

I realize I haven't really said much about school today, but I'm trying to pack and type at the same time because I'm leaving in about 10 minutes for a Girls' Weekend in Michigan. But, there's plenty to say about today at the Hell-Hole, so I'll be sure to fill you in next week. Have a wonderful weekend. I know I will! I have the important stuff already packed, like the margarita mix and the tequila!!!

In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter, and sharing of pleasures. ---Kahlil Gibran

We'll definately be sharing some pleasures this weekend, probably from our good friend, Jose Cuervo. I just hope he doesn't give us all headaches in the morning!

It was a whale of a day!

We had an unexpected surprise today. (Well, ok, we were told about it, but then I forgot!) We had an in-school field trip! Some people from the Shedd Aquarium came and did a presentation about beluga whales. Specifically, they talked about Qannik, a baby beluga that was born at the Shedd. The kids really enjoyed it. As an added bonus, each child received a coupon for five free admissions to the aquarium. I'm thinking that Dori and should plan a trip to the aquarium for this spring.

Here's a girl after my own heart:

If kids are brats when you babysit, don't lie and and tell their parents that they were angels because the next time you babysit, they'll be brats again. ---Cassie, age 15

Field Trip Day

What a day! As I mentioned yesterday, we went on a field trip today. Why can't anything ever go smoothly around the Hell-Hole? First of all, the woman who writes all of our checks hasn't been around since sometime last week. We were never able to turn our money in, and get a check, which is standard procedure. That meant, also, that we had no check to give the bus driver. Now, that shouldn't have been a big deal, because the Big Cheese and our assistant principal can both sign checks. Actually, each check requires two signatures. Gee, what's the problem then? The problem is the Big Cheese was coming in late this morning, so only Mr. H, the AP, was there. Luckily, it turned out there was a check in the checkbook that already had one signature on it, so Mr. H. was able to sign it and give it to us in time for the trip. First crisis averted. Here comes number two...

Typically, when we have kids who aren't going on a field trip with us, they are told to stay home, because there won't be any kindergarten staff at school to supervise them. (We can get away with that because in Illinois, kindergarten is still not mandatory.) On the last field trip day, I had about 6 kids show up who weren't supposed to, despite sending no less than 3 letters home saying they had to stay home. Dori had even more than that.

So, of course, this time we sent several notices AGAIN. I even put it in my newsletter on Monday. I said I would be calling the homes of any students who show up that aren't supposed to. I didn't have any show. Dori, though, had 4 or 5 show up. What the hell is wrong with her parents?!?!? I don't understand why they are so disrespectful to her. When she questioned the kids about why they came, they all said something like, "I told my mom, but she said I have to come anyway." She was able to call some homes, but she was still stuck with 3 kids. Of course, now we're running late, so I took the rest of the kids to the bus, while she tried to find somewhere to leave them. How irritating for her! Thankfully, Mrs. M. took all 3 for her.

So, we rush off to the arena where the Pre-Kwanzaa festival was taking place. The bus driver dropped me off at the box office to pick up the tickets, then drove to the gate. Well, little did we know, this place was run just like the Hell-Hole!! I stood in line, in the freezing cold, without my coat, for over 35 minutes!! The damn box office was printing out the tickets as people checked in. What the hell?! Do you know how long that took? Like I said, I stood in line for over 35 minutes. By the time I had our tickets in hand, it was 10:30, which was the time the show was supposed to start. I went running all the way around the building to where the babies and Dori were waiting. We get checked in, then escorted to our seats. We get the babies all settled and excited about the show starting, only to sit for almost an hour. I couldn't believe it. Do you know how hard it is for 5 year-olds to sit still for an hour in an auditorium? Plus, all the "big kids" around them were being loud, and walking around, and their mean teachers made them sit perfectly still and quite! By the time the show started, half of the babies were almost asleep. And, to top it all off, they were starving! We normally eat lunch at 10:30, so I knew that was going to be an issue. I meant to give them a snack before we left, or at least on the bus, but with all the confusion with the extra kids and the check issue, I forgot.

We were told when we made the reservation that they show should be over around 11:45. Well, it didn't even start until 11:30!! Then, this group that put on the show has a procedure where they call one school at a time out of the auditorium as the buses pull up. So, of course, we had to wait to be called. But, after we sat for about 15 minutes, Dori and I decided we should just sneak out, since we had such a small group. (There were only 25 kids, and 3 adults.) Our babies were hungry and tired, after all! Luckily, as soon as we got downstairs, Dori saw our bus, and we were able to run right out and jump on, and go!

By the time we got back to school, it was 1:30. I don't know how the babies held on that long. I left all of them in my room with Dori to eat while I ran out to get lunch for us. They were so hungry, there wasn't a peep in the room. Too funny! After they ate, they watched a Yogi the Bear Christmas movie, and it was time to go home. Great day!!

Sometime during the show, the babies naturally had to go to the bathroom (since they had been sitting for two hours!) I took a small group of three of my girls first, and as we walked into the bathroom, they all looked around in awe, and one says, "Wow! These bathrooms be beautiful!" How sad! They all said they wished our bathrooms at school were like that. Gee, there was toilet paper, soap, paper towels, warm water....why would they want all that nonsense? Plus, there wasn't any graffiti, or just plain dirt and scum. How boring!! How sad and pitiful that a PUBLIC RESTROOM could be that impressive to 5 year-old girls. Gives you a little window into their world, doesn't it?

If our American way of life fails the child, it fails us all.

---Pearl S. Buck

These babies are definitely falling through the cracks. The whole system is failing them, starting with their parents in most cases. God help them. And, THIS is why I drag my ass to the Hell-Hole everyday....

It's raining, it's pouring....

We're having some whacky weather here in Chitown. They've been talking about an ice storm coming for a couple of days now. It barely drizzled last night. Today, it was drizzly again all day, but when I left school at 5;10, it was pouring. It's slowed down now, but they say the temperature is supposed to drop to the mid to low 20s tomorrow, so I just hope it doesn't all freeze.

We're going on a field trip tomorrow, so it should be a great day. I only have 16 kids going on the trip, and Dori has 9. We're going to a Pre-Kwanzaa Celebration. I've taken the kindergarten to see it every year since I've been at the Hell-Hole (except last year, because they didn't have a show) and the babies always love it. The 'message' is a little over their heads, but they LOVE the music and singing & dancing. The funniest thing every year is me standing up with the babies, and belting out, at the top of my lungs, "I've got to free...the African in me!" It's the song they close with every year. It cracks me up every time!! My partner teacher has always been Caucasian, as well, so it's pretty hilarious to see these two 'white girls' belting out that song.

The rest of the day should be nice and easy, too, since between the two of us, we'll only have 25 kids to deal with for the afternoon. I think I just may bring a movie tomorrow...

I'm graduating Saturday!! OK, technically, I graduated in July, but our ceremony is Saturday. We decided, as a cohort, that we were all going to walk since we all had to pay the bullshit $100 graduation fee. Everyone has to pay it, whether they walk or not. Bullshit! They won't release your records, either, if you don't pay it. Bullshit!

The rehearsal is Friday night, followed by a reception for us. The flyer says 'complimentary spirits and food.' We decided we were going to eat and drink our $100 worth ;-) Then, the ceremony is Saturday morning. I just hope it isn't too long.

Live not for your tomorrow but for the tomorrow of your children. ---Evangeline Trevino

As beautiful as this quote is, I have to be honest and say - I'm living for tomorrow!