Writing on my blog is really not what I should be doing right now. I have to go plan Bible study for tomorrow. I just got home because I had 4 days of subs to plan, but it was pretty fun planning with Rylan and tomorrow morning we are both going in early to finish up stuff and enjoy coffee together.

I got to hold a 2 month old baby at church yesterday and every time I think about it I get so happy! I forgot how much I love babies. He really was the cutest thing ever.

Last night I went on a car rally with Impact. Tim made directions that were supposed to confuse us that led to a "secret destination." Then the two cars are supposed to "race" to see who gets there first. Well, I drove, and I am the slowest driver ever. I was happy that I drove, though, because we were going on windy dark roads in the rain and I probably would have been carsick. It was fun catching up with a few friends and then eating dinner at a lady's house from church.

On Saturday I played pool with my friend Fion. Here are a couple pictures:


I was very thankful for the many games of pool I played at my grandparents' retirement village when I was younger, because I could play decently even though it has been a long time. Well, I started out good and then at the end I had a streak of getting the white ball, and then the black ball, intot he pocket. Oops.

Mmmmm Lunch

As I eat my tofu-eggplant-bok choy-zucchini yumminess, I will give you a quick update on me. (Don't worry. I had waffles for breakfast.)

My birthday was nice...it is so good to get cards and phone calls from all the people in my life. My friend/coworker Rylan made me a cake for school and brought cupcakes to my classroom. My friend Fion from church surprised me in the morning by coming to my classroom. Joanne's and her parents took me out for dinner and last night I went to Ashley and Thomas' for dinner.

This week was difficult with students. I am having little patience with their persistent chatter in class and drama on the playground. I made Iveth cry once again. I am thankful for the weekend to give me a chance to check my attitude. Next week I only teach on Monday and then have GLAD training from Tuesday to Friday. Sub plans are going to take a while.

My new hobby is reading. If I didn't feel guilty for sitting and doing nothing, I would sit and read all day long. I am reading Martin Luther King Jr.'s Strength to Love. He uses big words that are so beautiful to read. I think reading it is making me understand more that he was just a man. I mean, a great man, but so often we idolize him and I forget that he was human. I just finished I Kissed Dating Goodbye (ha ha ha...). And it is the cruel irony of the world that I'm reading The End of Poverty while eating dinner, using a dollar bill as a bookmark.

Blessings

2008 has been crazy so far. My kids still say "2007" every morning when we do calendar. :) I feel refreshed for school after the break. I like being with the kids a lot more. Yesterday I had my post-evaluation conference with my principal and she had a lot of good things to say about my teaching. She's a very positive person. I finally dealt with my problem child during ELD mixing and have a discipline procedure that I think might solve the problem. At least it was the first day in ELD where I felt like I had some control and could smile. This month I am getting pulled out of the classroom for many trainings and Monday is a holiday. During the last week of January, I am out 4 days! Those sub plans are going to be hard to make!

Last Saturday I went with my friend from church to her company party in San Francisco. We took CalTrain there and back (missed it on the way back -- oops. Good thing one of her coworkers is compassionate and my brother is always available for being my MapQuest). We got there a couple hours early and walked around the city and then had a dinner at a fun restaurant. It was fun to get to know her a little better.

Tomorrow should be a fun, easy day. I'm looking forward to the long weekend. Joanne and I are trying to plan a bit of fun somewhere.