Put your game face on, Part 2

Goal Line Stand -- the 1979 Sugar Bowl between Alabama and Penn State

ROLL TIDE!

Put your game face on, Part 1

Because I am SO ready for Saturday to get here, I decided I'd do a YouTube video each day this week of some of my favorite Alabama memories. I'm starting with a video about the tradition of the Million Dollar Band. Why? Because it is the sound of the band playing "Yea Alabama" that gets my blood pumping. There is nothing like hearing the band playing on the quad before the game, and then to hear 90,000+ singing along during pregame...if I have to explain, you wouldn't understand!

ROLL TIDE!

It's THAT time...football season!!!

If you have followed my blog any at all for the past year, you know how much I adore my beloved Crimson Tide. You know that I would rather spend my Saturdays between September and November in a stadium. When the games are away, I can be found glued to the TV from the time Sports Center comes on until the last game goes off (or on some rare occasions, until I fall asleep because I just cannot keep my eyes open.) Yeah, I know that isn't "typical" for a female, but when you look at the females in my family, none of us are typical. And we like it that way. :)

My mom's side of the family is very much sports oriented. My uncles played high school ball, my aunt was a softball player, and my brother and all of my cousins played at least one sport. One of my cousins, Bryne, was the punter for Bama in the 90s. He was actually on the '92 Championship team (and the ring is not only gorgeous, but it is huge.) In high school, I played softball. I wasn't the greatest player, but I loved it.

As a youngster, I remember either listening to or watching Bama play on Saturdays. Back then, teams were only on TV once or twice a season, so those televised games were special. I remember the '79 Sugar Bowl when Bama beat Penn State with the goal-line stand. They showed JoePa, and for just the briefest of moments, I felt sorry for him because his team had lost. I also remember the 1986 (I think) Penn State game at Bryant-Denney. During warm ups, one of the Penn State balls hit one the members of the Million Dollar Band. Coach Paterno walked across the field to check on the band member. I always thought that was very classy. He could have easily had the attitude that she was in the way.

As the season opener against Virginia Tech looms near, the butterflies begin to build. There are times when I actually feel physically ill because I'm so tense and nervous. Just sitting here blogging about it has caused me to get "that" feeling. If you don't know what feeling I'm talking about, there is no way I can explain it to you, and not to be disrespectful, but you probably wouldn't understand anyway. After such an amazing season last year, the entire Crimson Nation hopes for a repeat. I think that is what makes me even more nervous. And I know that there are people out there who are just waiting for Bama to get that first loss.

Be prepared to read posts throughout the season about Bama. Sometimes I might even be obnoxious, but only if you are a fan of "the cow college" as Coach Bryant used to say. (ALL of my barner friends and family members KNOW that I love them!)

Alabama Bloggers is gearing up for a Football Carnival. Click on over and pick up your button (but only if it's the Alabama button.) Blog about it and earn points for your team!

Oh, and I can't leave without saying...

ROLL TIDE ROLL!!!!!!

So, um, yeah...sassy shoes = pain!

I have the most awesome pair of red, peep-toe wedge-heeled shoes that I love, love, love. BUT they kill, kill, kill my feet. This morning I stared into my closet praying that something comfy was going to be clean and ironed, but alas, nothing was. Now, because I roll out of bed at 4:45 every morning, there is plenty of time for me to iron and still get to work sometime between 6:30 and 6:45, but I hate to iron. So I decided to pull out the navy striped skirt, the red top, and the RED SHOES.

I got ready, put on my awesome red, peep-toe wedge-heeled shoes and headed out the door. No problems. Got to work, got out of the car, walked across to the building, walked up the stairs and to my room--just hoping that Karen would have Band-Aids 'cause I ain't got none in my room. (That's my "not in English teacher" mode.) Fortunately, she did. And they helped. Until about lunch time. Now I'm sitting here dreading the walk down the hall and the stairs, across to the parking lot, and to the car because I know it's gonna hurt. I don't dare take my shoes off until I get home because if I do, the blisters will feel even worse when I have to put the shoes back on. Oh, when will I learn? If I were a teacher who sat at the podium all day, it wouldn't be a problem at all, but nope...I'm a wanderer. (It makes it a lot easier to make sure students are paying attention.)

Plans for this evening include ironing because I will be wearing my cute pink and green polka dot Yellow Box flip flops tomorrow. :)

Y'all have a GREAT day.

Yard crashin', clean sweepin' fools

So, this was our weekend to stay with John's mom. Linda called on Thursday to ask if we'd mind helping out in the yard on Saturday, which we didn't. Except that I'm so horribly out of shape that I am so sore. That's beside the point, though. We spent about four hours cutting, pruning, pulling, and tossing. Fortunately, the weather was WON.DER.FUL. We moved Billie's swing from the patio area and put it under a nice shade tree. Not only will it be in the shade, but she'll be able to enjoy the nice fall breezes much better since the swing won't be blocked on two sides like it was on the patio. The yard looks so good, but by Sunday, she had already forgotten who had done it and when. :(

Sunday, Connie made chocolate gravy and biscuits for breakfast. Danny and Linda came over for that, and then Connie, Linda, and I sent John, Danny, and Billie for a nice Sunday drive. Linda and Connie had planned on cleaning out some of Billie's clothes, and that can't be done while she is there. While Linda and Connie went through her closet and drawers, I cleaned out the bathroom and the linen closet. It is hard to believe that one person can accumulate so much...stuff...in two very tiny areas! I bet I used three or four garbage bags just for the bathroom and closet. Linda and Connie probably loaded up three or four, maybe five, bags of clothes. And there are still two bedroom closets left to do.

We did some straightening and tossing in the kitchen, too. That was actually when we sent the "boys" out with their mom. Connie was going through one of the cabinets trying to toss old stuff and reorganize the rest. She found five (I think) jars of peanut butter. One of them had a 2007 expiration date on it, so Connie put it aside to throw away. Billie opened it and smelled it and was insistent that it was okay because it smelled okay. I'm not going to definitely say that it WAS bad, but I wouldn't make a sandwich with it. Besides, there were several other jars that weren't out of date. Ah, Alzheimer's.

We got to see Will and Maggie B, too. Will has recently discovered that John and I live close to Auburn, so he wants to come see us so we can take him down there. Amy told him that Aunt Trina doesn't love him that much. LOL He asked me if I'd take him, and I told him NOOOOOO. I don't go to Auburn. hahaha Of course, if he did come to visit, we would take him, but neither of us would be very good tour guides because we know next to nothing about the AU campus. And we like it that way.

Maggie just smiles and laughs all the time, and she is starting to really imitate words. She says bye, doggie, high five, and a couple of others that I don't remember right now. If Aunt Trina has ANYTHING to do with it, Little Miss Maggie Moo won't ever say anything except ROLL TIDE! (I used to be able to bribe Will, but I'm not sure that I still can.)

After a night of CRAZY dreams, I am certainly not excited to be up and at it this early. I'm already at work, and I wouldn't normally post when there are a few things that I need to be doing, but if I didn't do it now, I don't know when I'd get it done. It's going to be a crazy couple of days--grocery store/house cleaning tonight, bunco tomorrow night. The kids will be happy to know that there probably won't be much, if any, homework for the next couple of days. :)

I have got to get busy, so that's it for now. Hope you have a GREAT day!

Love,

I'm such a BAD bloggy friend!

***Edit: I was right about where John was. He has a new "toy," but if anyone deserves it, it is he! :)***

I haven't been reading blogs much at all lately. Really, I haven't been reading them much for a couple of months now. It isn't that I don't WANT to. It's been TIME! Well, that plus the fact that my wireless internet is STILL wonky from the storm back in July, so I don't have internet access on my laptop. Let me tell ya what...having a wireless laptop is definitely my preferred way of surfing the 'net! For whatever reason, the desktop won't recognize the wireless router, so the laptop isn't getting a signal. SO, if I usually read your blog but I haven't been by lately or left a comment, please forgive me.

Hang on...ONE of these dogs is gassy... BAD! I've GOT to get them outside before I suffocate.

OK...they're out. And they are gonna stay out until I'm fairly certain one or both of them have pooped.

So, it's almost the end of week 2 of the 2009-2010 school year. I still have no complaints. Except for the fact that my feet are still killing me. The older I get, the harder it is to adjust to starting back after the summer. The fact that I'm on a concrete floor all day long doesn't help. And I'm not one of those teachers who can sit behind a podium and teach. I'm constantly walking around the room.

Ah ha! Bama was the stinky party. LOL

I've got some sad news to share. My daughter Jessi's dog Lulu got hit and killed on Monday. It has been a very tough week for her. Anyone who is an animal lover can understand. It hurts me to know that she is hurting.

This will be our weekend in Hartselle. Pray for me to have patience. :) My sis-in-law Tisha called yesterday to give us the heads up that Billie has been turning the heat on because she gets cold. Tim wanted to tell John that he might want to shut the vent in her bedroom. Thinking that might be a VERY good idea!!!

I'm wondering where that wonderful man of mine is. When I got home about 5:30, he had been home but was gone in the truck. I tried to call his cell, but he didn't answer. I'm seriously thinking that he may have gone to look at another truck down in Auburn. When he was pulling the boat up the hill a couple of weeks ago, he almost didn't make it, so he has been tossing around the idea of selling his truck AND the Miata and getting a 4WD. (If you know of anyone who would like a '98 Ford F-150 that is in VERY good condition, let me know! I'll get you a good deal on one. LOL) He found a couple online in Auburn. They had very low miles on them, and neither price was bad. Guess we shall see.

OK--I'm gonna go. I've got some work to do for tomorrow. Have a GREAT Friday and a GREAT weekend!

Love,

Happy Sunday!

Just a quick post before I go take a nice power nap. :)

The first week of the new school year was great, as I've already mentioned. There was some grumbling by the kids about the new dress code--guys must tuck in shirts and wear their pants no lower than their hipbones, girls must have modest necklines and are no longer allowed to wear spike heels (I think this goes back several years to a girl fight where a spike heel was used as a weapon--yep, she pulled that shoe off in about 2 seconds and nailed the other girl in the head with it)--but they have seemed to accept that the new admin isn't playing games. Several students were sent home because they were not in compliance. They were not given an opportunity to change and go on with their day...they were sent home. The noise level in the halls has been about half what it was. Even though we didn't count tardies last week, there weren't that many students in the halls after the tardy bell rang. As a matter of fact, there were a couple of days during third block when my class was actually back at work BEFORE the tardy bell rang! And after the bell rang on Friday afternoon, Mr. R was playing some rockin' music over the PA system. Loved it!!

Yesterday, Jess, Lance, John, and I went to Jess's old apartment to repaint the living room and foyer area. Long story about that, but we got it done, and I think it looked great. I love the color, too. It may be the color that ends up on our bedroom walls whenever I decide to paint. It just occurred to me that I had planned on taking this summer off in terms of painting. I almost made it. haha I certainly didn't mind, though. The four of us had a good time visiting.

After we got home, I watched my A&E Biography of Ernest Hemingway and made notes so that I can made a video test for my juniors. I was SO excited when the video came in. And I have two more ordered--F. Scott Fitzgerald and William Faulkner. I love having these on hand for those days when I might be out unexpectedly. It's an easy day for the sub, and because I make out a test, the students must pay attention.

I guess that's it for today. Nothing special or exciting or entertaining.

Have a GREAT day!

Love,

Time to catch up

Whew! This has been a busy few days! In my last post, I had said we were leaving on that Thursday to go to the lake, but that didn't happen. John called about 5:00 and said they were having problems with the PACS (Picture Archival Communication System) and he'd be home as soon as he could. He called again about 7:30 and said he was about to leave the hospital, so by the time he got home, it was almost 9. When he called the second time, he told me that the pups and I could go ahead, but we didn't. It would have been 10:30 or so before we got there, and I just didn't want to be that late getting there by myself. We left on Friday about 8:30, though, and then John came up as soon as he was able to get off work. Nope, he didn't get to take Friday off like we'd originally planned. They were still having a few problems.

We had all the "kids" there Saturday. Katy and Sam got there about 11. Phillip was at a football camp in Cullman, so about 12 John left to go pick him up. Jess and Lance got there about 12:30. We just hung out, which was really nice. I did sneak off to the swim pier for a while. Katy was trying to get Sam to nap, so I figured the fewer people making noise, the better. Bless his little heart--he was getting sick with croup and wouldn't nap at all. After dinner, they bathed him and put his jammies on so that maybe he'd sleep on the way home. Katy sat down with him in the recliner, and within minutes he was zonked. He woke up when they got up to leave, and he was SO wheezy! She called Sunday morning and said he didn't sleep well Saturday night, so they were going to take him to the doctor. She called later that afternoon and said they were going to admit him to keep an eye on him. He did get to go home late Monday afternoon, so that was good. She sent me a text about 5:30 and said he was already asleep. Poor sweet baby! John talked to her a while ago, and she said he was doing better. He had yogurt smeared all in his hair and was wiping his hands on her. LOL

It has been a MARVELOUS week at school so far! Even though there have been some complaints from kids about the dress code, they have--for the most part--complied. Some have been sent home, but that is to be expected. For way too long, they rules haven't really been enforced, and they didn't think we'd carry through this year. The halls have been so much quieter, too. I know it's only day 3, but if they get into the habit, at day 103 it won't be any different.

Every morning this week, I've been up at 4:45 and have been at school between 6 and 6:15. I love that extra hour+ in the morning when it is still so quiet. That's when I get my mind focused on what is on tap for the day ahead and make sure that I have everything ready to go. Around 7:15-7:20, Karen, Don, and Kristen will come in to my room or we'll go to Karen's room. We have coffee (or Diet Coke for Karen most days) and talk. Until lunch at 12:32, there isn't a whole lot of adult interaction. :)

My classes have been tremendous! I think I posted once before about my schedule being the only thing I don't like because I have to shift focus from English 12 to English 11 and back to English 12. The Eng 12 to Eng 11 isn't so bad because there is time during advisement to forget about Beowulf and think about Ezra Pound, but the Eng 11 to Eng 12 shift is a little harder. There are only five minutes between classes, and we're supposed to be at our doors during class change. As long as the technology is working as it should, it isn't a problem because I set my Eng 12 up on one laptop and my Eng 11 up on the other. Today, however, was one of those days of technological difficulty. My LCD projector kept kicking off, and I'd have to get it going again. Finally, I just swapped to the hardwired laptop and used it. Of course, that meant have to swap out flash drives between classes. It got done, and the day progressed as planned.

As far as my class numbers--I have 29 in my first block Eng 12, 28 in my second block Eng 11, and 30 in my third block Eng 12. Of the 30 in 3rd block, I have taught all but 6 of them in a previous level. One of the girls has me for the third time. I had her for Eng 10 and 11. At least she knows what to expect from me, and I know I can rely on her. :)

Y'all, I am about to fall asleep, so I'm gonna call it a night. Take care, and have a GREAT Thursday!

Love,

Busy, busy!

I have been uber-productive today! Everyone at school was. Every time I went anywhere in the building, there were others scurrying around--making copies, locating and moving books, etc. I don't know what is different about this year for me, but rarely have I felt as prepared as I do now. My luck, though, is that I'll walk in on Monday morning, and about the time the students arrive to my classroom, I'll have that "OH NO" moment when I realize that I've forgotten something of major importance. After 16 1/2 years in public education and one year in a private school setting, I think I'd be able to wing it. ;)

My plan for tonight is to get as many of my syllabi for English 12 updated for this term and to put them on my wikispaces page. I know that I'll end up having to tweak them as the term progresses, but if I can get them done tonight and tomorrow, I'll save so much time later. If I can update the English 12 tonight, I can work on English 11 tomorrow.

One thing that I have LOVED about yesterday and today is getting to see everyone again. We always say that we're going to get together for lunch or to go to a movie or something, but we get so busy with stuff that we never do. We've talked, texted, and messaged on Facebook, but it just isn't the same. Talking to Karen about the frustrations of Alzheimer's, laughing at Don's grumpiness, or zinging Kristen for her goofiness is hard to do in a text. LOL

Tomorrow is another work-in-our-rooms day. We do have a meeting about school safety, but other than that, we'll just be getting ready for all those bright, shining faces on Monday. We don't have to go Friday, and I'm not! I wasn't going to go anyway because John took Friday off so we're going to the lake tomorrow, but having everything done will mean that I'll be able to enjoy myself and not worry about all of those little things that I left.

Jess and Lance are going up to the lake Saturday. They've been busy this summer so this is the only time they've been up. Lance has never been to Smith Lake before, so I'm excited about showing him around. Hopefully the weather will be nicer than it was this past weekend.

I need to get busy on those syllabi, so that's it for tonight. I might have time to post tomorrow, but chances are I won't. So, have a GREAT weekend!

Love,

Talk about inspirational!

Today was our system-wide day of meetings. Well, we actually had our first faculty meeting with Mr. Reyes, our new principal. I'm thinking it's gonna be a good year!

We had a terrific speaker this morning. Dr. Crystal Kuykendall, the author of From Rage to Hope and Dreaming of a P.H.A.T Century, spoke to us about expectations and how our expectations as teachers affect the way the students perform and behave, and that in turn affects our expectations. We are all supposed to be getting From Rage to Hope. I can't wait to read it!

Following lunch, all of the schools in the system met for about 45 minutes. Mrs. Waggoner, our superintendent, showed a short video from the Dallas ISD Convocation for 2010. The young man, an 11-year-old student, in the district gave a motivational talk. YOU NEED TO WATCH IT! It is awesome! Check it out.

OK--I have to run down to the sauna to make a few more copies; then I'm heading out. Have a GREAT day!

Love,

Quick hello!

Just here to post a quick HI before I head off to bed. Yeah, it's only 8:30, but I'm tired, and I have to get up early in the morning for the first day of inservice.

I spent a few hours at school today getting copies made and adding info to my wikispaces page. My plan was to go to the school fairly early this morning, BUT today was the day that SEASON TICKETS were delivered, and I did NOT want to miss that! It wouldn't have been a big deal if Mr. UPS Guy did come by because I have to go to the mall in Auburn tomorrow afternoon anyway. A trip to the Opelika UPS office wouldn't have been any extra hassle, but it was worth it to hang around until 10:45.

A couple of years ago, the UPS driver stopped that morning, but I was either at inservice or maybe school had already started. Anyway, just down the street from us is a UPS drop box that he picks up from around 4:30 in the afternoon. He noticed my car was here when he went back by, so he made a special stop just to deliver the tickets. I could have hugged his neck. :)

Back to today--I had to go to Wal-Mart (pure torture) and then Kristen and I had lunch. It was almost 2 before I got to the school. So much for the early start. LOL I did accomplish all that I had planned, but there were a couple of other "if I have time" things I didn't do. And what did I do with my laptop? I left it in my classroom, so those things that I could have done tonight didn't get done. No biggie, though. Since I won't have to spend time Wednesday and Thursday in the teacher sauna, I can work on those things.

A teacher sauna--yes, you read that correctly! We have our very own sauna. What? You thought that money was tight in the educational system? Now, let me set the record straight. Our sauna isn't some fancy schmancy deal, and I know that any other school in the world could have one of its own. All you need is an old room without any central air, one window-unit air conditioner that doesn't work half (3/4s??) of the time, and three copiers that run almost nonstop. Now, it is very important that you keep the one window open, even when it is 90 million degrees outside and the humidity is at 100,000,000%, and you must keep the door closed. We even have a sign that says the sauna is for teachers only. (Laura G, did you do that??) Seriously, it is the one room in the building that I avoid as much as possible. It is H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E!!!!!

OK--I've gone on long enough, and I am really, really tired. See y'all later! Have a GREAT Tuesday!

Love,