Five for Friday.... Fall break

It's Friday! Yippee! It's also a no-school day here. And they don't call it Fall Break, which I suppose is good because we had to change out "fall break" plans to go visiting friends because my senior takes the ACT tomorrow. It is mandatory that she be there, it is not one of those things where can just schedule her to take it a different day. This has to do with the waiver our school received in regard to state assessments, so even though it's an inconvenience, I have to say, I still think the whole waiver/ACT/C3 incentive is a good thing. And who knows, maybe we just needed to chill here in our own home.

Head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to read about everyone's week! 

1. One of my kiddos is going to college next year! Oh my! I am both melancholy and ecstatic about this. I love her and the person she is becoming. We went on a college visit last Friday/Saturday to Pittsburg State University, which a bit of a drive from here~ 3 1/2 hours. 

2. Fall treats. I signed up to take treats to my Punky's fall party.  Thankfully the room parent called to remind me because I didn't know the party was this week! As I've mentioned recently, things here are pretty tight financially, so I decided I would make sugar cookies, I just KNEW I had all the ingredients. Well, it turned into a Murphy's law fiasco! I ran out of white flour, had to add whole wheat.  I ran out of frosting and had to keep adding more powdered sugar, I ran out of powdered sugar next. Then I realized that I didn't have any red food coloring to use to make orange. But I had some neon food coloring left so I mixed pink and yellow, not bad. But the box said to make apricot add a drop of neon blue, so I tried that.... that makes a not-so-neon brown. Ugh. So after much more artificial dye was added (yellow, yellow and more yellow), we finally came to an end result. I didn't know if it was a Halloween party, or just a Fall party, so I sent plain ole pumpkins to school instead of Jack-o-lanterns. But at home we made ourselves some jack-o-lanterns by making chocolate chip faces. 

My sugar cookie recipe makes a TON of cookies. Which is something I love about it. It isn't good for healthy eating that is for sure! But now that payday has arrived, I can frost the rest of the cookies and I can make a true orange for the pumpkins! P.S. Santa, if you are reading my blog, I really want to cake decorating tips for Christmas, the frosting-in-a-baggie thing isn't working out so well for me.

This orange little pumpkin is what they SHOULD look like. 

3. I have been struggling lately with what to write about. Last year, EVERYONE knew what I did and I had media releases for my class, so I could post pictures and not worry about violating privacy laws or offending anyone. But this is a different game. For one thing, I really wanted to brag and expound a little more about the Second grade guided reading group I just became a part of when we switched groups last Monday. But I can't really explain the fun I'm having without talking about other aspects of my job and well, it's complicated. Since I am working with different skill levels of students, it is hard to know how much to talk about, because I don't want to offend anyone and I don't want to inadvertently disclose information about students that I shouldn't. When our group finishes our project in guided reading, maybe I can post about that! I am super excited about it. Here is where I posted about my excitement earlier in the week.

4. Random personal observations of the week/month/season. I was involved with a class called Lifeskills for several years in the early 2000s. First I took the class (3Xs), then I taught it. One thing it talks about is something called life commandments. A life commandment that I believe to be true in my life is equivalent to sour grapes. Here is it as best as I can describe it: "Whatever you have, you will wish for the other thing." When I graduated I couldn't get a job (I am a TERRIBLE interviewer.... no one wants to hire the person that goes to these interviews), but I agreed to take a job locally at the same pay scale as I am at right now. Right after this, I accepted a teaching job in the OK panhandle, so we packed up and left our community, family, and friends so I could teach Kindergarten. I met great people and taught great students. It is a very different place than where we live right now. One of the most culturally diverse communities.... anywhere. But I was miserable. And there were some serious strikes against us which I won't go into right now. I couldn't wait to get back "home." So here we are again, home, in OUR HOME (which we DO love and I did miss), and all I can think about are my colleagues in the panhandle, the Kinder class I taught last year, the class I would have this year, and so on. I just wish for my classroom and teaching partner and so on. But I am adjusting, and loving where I am at. Bloom where you are planted, right? But everyday I think about how I need some Kinders to teach and how some little kiddos somewhere need me. I know that when I move on, all I will be able to think about are the people and students I am working with this year. If I get a job in this district and more to the point, THIS SCHOOL, then kudos to me, I will love it. But if I move on, I will focus on how much love I feel in my current job and I will wonder if it is right to leave there. I can't pay my bills this year, so everyday I get on the teaching jobs website looking for a teaching job. But I am getting to know people and I am becoming part of the teaching community in this school and I know that when I move on, I will wish I were here. So... this commandment isn't all bad. I see things in retrospect through rose-colored glasses. My goal is to start to appreciate those things while I am in the midst of them and not just develop gratitude after the fact.

5. Happy Fall Y'all. Here are the pumpkins we could finally purchase at Walmart since the price came down, and since payday rolled around....

Guess which pumpkin the Punky picked out? Yes, the one that she
can't even pick up! After Halloween I will bake the "little" orange one,
how much pumpkin filling do you think that will make?

Seriously, that is my random science question of the day: how many cups of pumpkin filling do you think I will get out of the "smallest" orange pumpkin after I bake it and mash the pulp? The biggest pumpkin won't fit in my oven....

**and other random tidbit: pumpkins are now $3.98 at Walmart. Baking pumpkins are cheaper, $1.98. So go out and get a pumpkin, and then bake it and see if you get more than the equivalent of 3 cans of pumpkin (you will, you will....).