I'm A Craigslist Junkie

When we first moved into our house, there was so much we needed to buy. I found myself addicted to Craigslist on the constant search for a variety of things. After searching long and hard I found an EXCELLENT 7 piece rattan furniture set for our 3 Season porch:

Motivated by this purchase, I looked long and hard for bedroom furniture. The search paid off, because I got a STEAL on this lovely set:

 Then I thought a mirror would be a nice addition to the bedroom:

After much success, I started looking for ways to help organize all of the "stuff" that had accumulated over the past several years and found these 4 shelving units for a great price:

Needless to say, after HOURS of searching for a variety of things on Craigslist, I found myself pleasantly surprised. Now, with it being Winter Break, and having a long list of things to do, I find myself wishing for something to look for on Craigslist. The odd thing about this is that today the sun is actually shining. This should be instant motivation for me to get rockin' on all sorts of house projects. But instead, I'm sitting on the sofa after eating an egg, mushroom, onion, tomato, & cheese sandwich, trying to think of something to search for. This would be a lot easier if I had some extra money to spend, but I don't. So, we'll see how long I waste in my day-dreaming state before I actually get productive. I give myself another 45 minutes before I guilt myself into getting off the couch and accomplishing something that I know I'll feel good about doing.

Happy Thursday!

If I Were A Rich Man...

I'd create a public school where the teachers were allowed to share their faith and spread the love of Jesus to anyone who wanted their child to attend.

I'd buy a huge chunk of land a create as natural of an environment as I could for big animals. Then, anytime "seasoned" animals or neglected animals are going to be put down, they could retire in peace and luxury.

I'd buy another huge chunk of land and start buying out big animal/slaughtering farms and change the requirements to create natural living environments for these animals to live out their lives with the opportunity to roam, play, and enjoy the sunshine, as well as humane ways to put them down since I can't imagine being able to terminate the meat industry (which isn't necessarily what I want either).

I'd travel to all the countries that my Compassion children live in: Haiti, Peru, El Salvador, Philippines, and India to finally meet them face to face.

I'd build my dream house. Complete with a wrap around porch, secret room, and soundproof bathrooms.

I'd foster more animals than just baby raccoons.

I'd hire a great lawyer to get a friend out of prison. Accidents happen and it is unfortunate how an accident can make someone spend more time in prison than a planned crime.

I'd try to change the world. One good deed at a time. Multi-Millionaires and Billionaires, where are you? And why aren't more of you making a difference?

"I really do NOT feel sorry for you."

Yes. I do, indeed, say these words to my students on an almost weekly basis. Okay, not weekly, maybe monthly. How many times can you direct a child to do right, and still, they will do wrong? Some examples from my teaching career:

"Child, you need to keep your arms and legs untucked from your oversized T-Shirt... your arms and legs are there to help protect you if you lose your balance and fall." (After correcting this behavior several times a day over the course of a week): Child goes to music class and proceeds to squat on his chair, tuck his knees into his shirt, and then pull his arms into his shirt, looking like a rock waiting to be pushed off a hill. Well, child loses his balance, and goes head first off the chair and onto the hard floor. Hello goose-egg bump and a need for stitches. "I told you that you needed your arms and legs. I really do NOT feel sorry for you."

I am helping students with their writing assignment at a back table. An excited student asks for more lined paper for the creative story they're writing. I go get more paper. I return to a table with a boy crying because he cut himself. "How did you cut yourself while you were writing?" fully knowing that he had to have been fooling around to get cut. Well, he and his friend thought it would be fun to break their pencils while I was helping the other student. Unfortunately the pencil breaking didn't go as smoothly as planned and it cut him across the palm of his hand. "Pencils are a tool for writing, not a toy for breaking. I really do NOT feel sorry for you."

The YEARLY accident that happens no matter what grade or group of children you have: Students sit in their chairs tipping them so they are balancing all their weight on the front two legs or the back two legs. "Remember, all four legs on the ground." It doesn't matter how many reminders you give. At least four times a year, you hear a loud THUD and then crying. "Yes, when you don't sit on the chair the right way, you CAN fall. I really do NOT feel sorry for you."

"You cut yourself while playing with scissors?"
"You took out a chunk of your face from falling into a bookshelf while playing chase during library time?"
"You hit someone and they hit you back?"
"You tripped while running down the hall?"
"You stepped on a tack while you had your shoes off in school?"
"You pinched your skin in the binder rings after purposely opening and closing them to annoy your neighbor?
"You don't feel that good after eating chalk dust?"
"You stepped in cow poop while fooling around during the tour?" (At Dairy Expo)
"You feel bad because someone responded to the "Yo Momma" joke you said to them with a different "Yo Momma joke? You can dish it but you can't take it?"
"She's looking at you again?"
"She said you have brown hair? You DO have brown hair. What's the problem?"

I REALLY DO NOT FEEL SORRY FOR YOU!
BTW, I am writing all of this with a smile on my face. It's always funnier looking back.
Happy Tuesday! =)

3 Monkeys Mustard

Feeling a little strapped this year, and agreeing with the family to go light on the Christmas gifts, I've been taking time to notice the simple luxuries in life that would make GREAT gifts for people on your "I don't know what to get them" list:

3 Monkeys Mustard: Sweet & Spicy. This knocks your socks off in an awesome way. At $8.25 a jar, it's a great gift that goes a long way. It complements pretzels and makes a great addition to a chicken marinade, among other things.

Craft Store gift cards. Archiver's carries an amazing collection of paper (among other things) and Michael's carries just about anything you would need for crafts (except fabric) and has 40% off coupons pretty much every week. Make the crafty person in your life smile!

Traveling Coffee Mug. Make sure it's one that you can fit your hand into so it can get cleaned well- or, if it's for a guy, who cares how big it is? He'll just throw the whole "Not Dishwasher Safe" item into the dishwasher. Everyone could use another fun traveling coffee mug. When I say nice, I'm thinking those $15 ones at Target that have with random designs on them.

Fun Flannel Sheets. If you don't put on flannel sheets when the cold nights come, you'll never experience the true joy of crawling into your bed at night, and the pain of having to get out of bed in the morning. Seriously, most people don't pamper themselves with fun flannel sheets... why don't you give someone a smile for these cold winter months? =)

Bird Seed. Yes. A gift to feed the birds. Seed can get expensive, so why not gift your "hard to shop for person" a bird feeder and seed? Who knows what birds will come and visit during these cold winter months! Entertainment for hours- or at least a few minutes while they try and figure out what bird was just at their feeder!

And finally, give the gift of creativity. If you have an amazing way with painting, drawing, or any media (JSA), or can take pieces of wood and craft an amazing birdhouse, bird feeder, or piece of home decor, DO IT! Nothing beats a gift crafted from the heart.

If you want to make a difference out of our country, check out: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/ if you'd like to send your money to a world wise cause. Or check out: http://www.compassion.com/ if you'd like to begin sponsoring a child from another country. My 6 kiddos and I all share the same birth date. It's the one thing we have in common (other than lovin' Jesus!) and getting letters from them is truly amazing. One of my current Compassion Children from El Salvador, wants me to explain what a Raccoon is! I sent her pictures of my raccoon rehabbing adventures. Seriously, we CAN make a difference!

Happy Almost Holidays my friends, and remember, simple is better!

What do you live in, A BARN?

Those words were spoken to me once and only once by my husband while we were dating. I hadn't put down the toilet lid. WHAT? A man telling me to put down the toilet lid? Who was I dating and was I really that lucky? I was a little embarrassed about being called out on that, but from that moment on I've always put the lid down. Wherever I am. Hotel. Friend's house. Family's house. If there's a lid, I WILL close it.

Enter Dusty's cats. He got his two cats after I convinced him that they'd make his apartment and his life more happy since he lived alone. Had I known he was going to propose in a few months I would have NEVER encouraged it. 4 cats? Seriously? Well, that's what we have.

The first picture are my cuddly, furry, lovable cats Top: Yahtzee, Lower Level: Ginger.

The second picture shows Dusty's cats: Defensive Mode: Smitty, Attack Mode: Rodger.

Wait, it gets better. Third picture: Devil showin' it's true colors:

With Dusty so Proper, you'd hope that his manners would rub off on his feline children. But, no such luck. His cats DON'T EVEN BURY THEIR POOP! Honest truth. We both consistently have the toilet seat down to prevent appearing like we live in a barn, and his cats will paw at ANYTHING around the litter box, refusing to get their paws dirty by covering their poop with litter. One of his cats pooped... you'll hear clawing on the wall. Another one of his cats pooped... you'll hear it scratching the side of the washing machine (found next to the litter box). His cat pooped... you'll hear clawing on the floor. NEVER are his cats' poops covered.

Experts say that cat owners should have one litter box per cat, per level of home. I refuse to have 12 litter boxes to clean. We used to only have two. One upstairs, and one on the main level. I have recently upgraded to 4. Two upstairs and two on the main level. They are all being used. But NO LUCK with his cats. Rodger and Smitty still haven't learned to cover their poop. This makes getting out of the shower an unforgettable experience when the most recently added litter box is in your "get ready to start the day" bathroom. So what do I do? I COVER IT UP!

They must not have gotten the lecture. I wonder how our kids will turn out...

The 27 Hour Day

I feel like I often get great ideas while working out. Well, today, I figured out an answer to almost all the problems with elementary education. Are you ready for it?

The 27 hour day! Don't roll your eyes yet, just hear me out. This is how it would work: School would start in the morning along with most other businesses. The school day would remain the same: Kids going to their "specials" classes (art, music, gym, library, reach, etc), staff meetings once a month, and of course the insanely growing Professional Development that we are given which will surely fix the problem with failing children (even though it currently takes away from our small amount of planning time which is necessary to be a prepared teacher).

But here's where it all changes. After the kids leave, elementary teachers have an extra THREE HOURS of UNINTERRUPTED preparation and planning. They can read all 27 of their students' Reading Response Logs. They can read all 27 of their students' Writing Journal entries and comment on them so the kids know they have an actual audience with their writing. They can correct the weekly homework, district-encouraged math workbooks, and any other student work that needs to be looked over. When all the STUDENT work is done, they can sit down and read the Lucy Calkins'  Reading Workshop Chapter to prepare for the following day's lesson. They can read the different assigned chapters from their 5 different reading groups so they can have a meaningful discussion with students about what they read the previous night. They can sit down and read the Writing Workshop Chapter to prepare for the following day's lesson. Please keep in mind that EACH of these daily chapters is typically 16 pages long (as well as the Reading Workshop chapters). They can read over and plan for the following day's math investigation and/or create student specific problem solving questions. They can look at the grade level standards for History and Science and create units or modify preexisting units that will captivate the students and encourage learning. They can change their bulletin boards more than once a year. Then, once teachers get home after work, they still have time for a good healthy workout, won't need chiropractic appointments to fix their broken backs from carrying so much work home with them every night, and can pursue their own personal interests- like cleaning the house, working on a hobby, or just taking a bubble bath guilt-free.

So what are the students doing while out of school? MANDATORY FAMILY TIME! Yes! Students MUST spend the extra three hours with their family: reading together, going over any homework together, playing games together, going places together - NOT R-RATED MOVIES, cooking together, volunteering together, and finding ways to promote learning in all areas of life.

All teachers reading this are laughing right now at the thought of three extra hours of work- we're already underpaid, but get this, since this is THE answer to our problem, teachers would get PAID for their extra planning and work, thus feeling motivated to be the best teacher they could be- our extra work and contributions would finally feel valued- WE WOULD FEEL VALUED.

Now, there is a big problem with this picture: What if BOTH parents are in elementary education and have children of their own? Yeah, that is a problem. Teachers' kids need family time too. I guess I haven't worked that one out yet. And in re-reading what teachers would do in an extra three hours a day, I wonder if it's actually enough. I'd be willing to give it a try.

But for now, I'll just continue doing pretty much everything I listed above in the amount of time that I have - or however much I can get done before getting too stressed out and bringing the rest home with me to taunt me from my backpack and make me feel awful for even considering to sit down a read a book of my own choice, write this blog, or watch a movie with my husband. I'll keep putting off doing my scrapbooking, organizing, and any other hobby interests I have to make sure that I'm prepared for my next day of teaching. But you know what? I'll still do my best to smile every day at school and let my students know that my job is to be the best teacher I can be and their job is to be the best learner they can be. The question is, how long can elementary teachers last with a lifestyle like this?

Now, I need to decide: Time with my husband or reading tomorrow's chapters for school... What would you do? You'd think it'd be an easy choice, but nothing feels worse than having 27 students staring at you or getting out of control because you're not prepared...

Happy Tuesday Night.

I Will Always Try

I save things. I don't always like this animal compassion that I have, but I always give in to the desire to save animals from an unnecessary death as often as possible. Sometimes it results in getting other people involved in my animal rescues against their will...

Hwy Q from Middleton heading to Waunakee: Just about dusk. I see a HUGE turtle on the side of the road. I watch him as my car approaches the stoplights just beyond, praying that he has already crossed the road and will not attempt to cross the four lanes of traffic to get to the other side. To my dismay, I see him in the rearview mirror start to head into the first of 4 lanes of traffic. The light turns green, no one else is around... so I put my car in reverse and pull off the side of the road. Once I'm up to the turtle, I see that not only is he a HUGE snapping turtle, but he is watching me like a hawk, turning his body to follow my every move. Who do I call? My dad. What does he tell me? In order to move a snapping turtle you need to pick him up by the tail. THE TAIL?! Are you kidding me? I tried, with fear showing in my facial expressions and actions. I thought I firmly had the tail, but the giant moved around, almost lunging at me and pulled its tail in- giving me a nice gouge on my finger. At this time a police officer happened to be driving along and spotted me. He turned around to see what the problem was. When he saw the turtle and heard the advice about moving it by its tail, he said a few choice words and said there was no way he was touching that animal. I told him I wouldn't leave until the turtle was on the other side of the road, and told him not to worry about me. I went to my car and emptied out my box of outdoor equipment (rollerblades, frisbee, basketball, volleyball, glove, softball, etc- you never know when you'll need those things) and the cop went to his car and came back with an ice scrapper (in the middle of summer). He used the scraper to force the turtle to go into the box. Eventually the turtle was contained and the officer carried it across four lanes of traffic and into the tall grasses on the other side. He maintained a good distance from the box as he released the turtle. When he handed me my box I thanked him. He again said a few choice words and we both went on our way. My mood: Happy.

On Century Avenue, heading home after a number of disappointments, just about dusk, I came across the biggest raccoon I had ever seen in the middle of the road. It had been hit. I stopped my car, put on my flashers and approached the animal. It was on its back and was breathing heavily as it moved its feet in the air trying to move. I looked around and found myself alone on the typically busy road. I called my nearby friend with a truck who might run it over to put it out of its misery, but there was no answer. I looked at the raccoon and started balling right there in the middle of the road. I went to the back seat of my car and pulled out a plastic grocery bag. Using the bag to protect my hands, I began to haul the raccoon over to the side of the road, crying the entire way, apologizing to it for its predicament. Once safe on the side of the road, I watched it gasp a few more times, and then breathe his last breath and become still. My mood: Complete and Utter Misery. I went right home and cried myself to sleep.

On Gammon Road, early morning, heading to school (last week), I noticed a group of birds circling above the road in an unusual manner. As I got closer, I saw something white in the road. I figured it was a bird that had been hit. It was. Only, this bird was still sitting upright and looking around, but it couldn't move. I turned into the first possible place, keeping my eye on the bird and the cars that were hopefully missing it, quickly parked, and flew into the street. Thankfully the bird hadn't been hit again and I scooped her up and took her back to my car. A driver passing me gave me a funny look. I looked at the large (and surprisingly beautiful) seagull in my hands and wondered what I was going to do with it. I looked up at the crows waiting in the trees and told them, "NOT TODAY, CROWS!" Knowing I didn't have a box of sporting equipment in my car anymore, I did what any normal animal lover would do: I carefully set the seagull on the passenger seat next to me. With my foot shaking on the gas pedal, and my right hand petting the bird, telling it that it would be okay, I headed to school. Long story short, Animal Control came to pick up the bird. Having a very negative image of Animal Control in my mind, I was pleasantly surprised with how friendly the woman was who came to get my seagull. She was very optimistic about the bird and would be taking it to the Emergency Animal Hospital to be checked out. I'm pretty sure its leg was broken and it appeared to have an injury possibly from a pecking crow. I told my class it was our Thankful Seagull since it was the day before Thanksgiving. At the end of it all, my mood was: VERY HAPPY!

With plenty more stories to share, I'll leave you with my mother's advice to me over this Thanksgiving's visit. She said it would be wise to always have an animal crate and gloves in my car. And since my compassion for animals will never end, I think I'll take her up on that idea. Time to go to craigslist and find an animal crate.

Just for fun, here are two other pictures of "animal rescue" opportunities that I have had. I wish I had photos to go with them all.

My first litter of coons to rehab & release.

A partially blind dog I found stopping traffic
in the middle of Hwy 78. She hung out with me
for several hours before anyone claimed her.