Our Budding Author

Dayna has been working at school on adding detail sentences to her writing. Here's her latest story (all spelling left intact):

The Dog and the Walk
by Dayna Wilson

One day Tom took his dog's leshe down. The dog was very egsiydid.
Next Tom put the leshe on the dog. The dog was still very egsiydid.
Finally Tom took him for a walk. The dog was very very egisidid.
The End

Overwhelmed

Today was one of those days where my to-do list was so long, and the things on it were critical to be done today. I was overwhelmed and honestly had no idea how it would all get done.

So in my morning prayer, I asked God to help me accomplish only what He wanted me to do today. By 9:00 am, I had completed a huge chunk of what I was responsible to do. There's still a lot to be done, but without returned emails, my hands were tied. I had an incredible amount of peace about that.

It was a good day at school. (See previous post.) The pinnacle of the day was running into friends at the pumpkin patch. They had never been before, so Dayna and I had fun playing tour guides. Their son David even got to ride in the front of the train with Dan.

So, I didn't accomplish everything on the list, but I'm going to bed now with a content heart and memories of a day well lived. (I can even rest easy knowing I made it to 10 posts this month...with 2 1/2 hours to spare!)

Bubbles

After a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day yesterday (really...8 out of 10 classes had really horrible behavior, and Mrs. Wilson turned into the Music Teacher from the Black Lagoon), I came home exhausted and grumpy.

Dayna suggested I tell my students the same story her teacher uses to get kids to stop talking. Would you know? It really worked! Those same 10 classes were *almost* angels today; at least, the talking was under control. I can't believe it's taken me 13 years to figure this out. And really, it may not even work next week...but today, I'm happy.

So...what is this secret trick? When I say the word "bubble", the students have to catch a bubble in their mouth. The bubble will pop if they talk, hum, or even open their mouths. Any student caught talking or making noise after I say "bubble" receives a check. (Do students even know what the checks mean? I wonder sometimes.)

Anyway, I think I only needed to say it more than once in about 3 classes. Even my extremely chatty (that's a charitable description) Kindergarten class did so well we were able to get out the instruments and play today.

Here's hoping it still works next week...

I Don't Even Know Where to Start...

I saw this comment on a news story tonight. I'm torn somewhere between speechless and having way too much to say on the matter.

It is frustrating to me that so many conservatives hand over their kids to the state for “FREE” care & education. Our state-run education system is a monstrosity that is feeding our crumbling nation with a mass of poorly educated population that will willingly swallow all things anti-liberty. Rather than expecting the agenda-driven educators and administrators to be something that who and what they are, why not start a mass exodus out of the state-run education system. Imagine if every PROFESSING conservative put their actions where their rhetoric is and gave their children a real education (i.e. homeschool). We would have quite a generation to rise up to secure freedoms that previous generations so foolishly squandered. If you send your kids to the state school you will get a state education — think Nazi youth movement.

1. I'm not handing my kid over to the state for a "free" education. I am preparing her to be a light in the world.

2. Last I checked, neither myself, my colleagues, nor my daughter's teachers are agenda-driven or anti-liberty. Administration, maybe (in some cases)...but the vast majority of teachers in the public school system are simply trying to teach.

3. I believe myself, my colleagues and my daughter's teachers ARE providing a "real" education (to those students who are coming to school ready to learn.)

Honestly, I'm sick and tired of conservatives who are shooting the rest of us in the foot by spewing such ignorant, close-minded rhetoric.

Thoughts on Heaven

Dayna's favorite pastime is "tickle wrestling" with her dad. Not just tickling or wrestling, but tickle wrestling.

We were talking tonight about heaven and giving Jesus our crowns. Somehow, the conversation turned to the fact that we will actually be able to touch Jesus in heaven, and not just think of Him or look at Him.

"Can I tickle wrestle with Jesus?" I'm pretty sure that will be in the cards.

"Will he tickle wrestle like Daddy?" Probably even better, because He'll know all the best tickle spots.

"Like my knees and my toes and even my armpits?"

Yes, Dayna. Even your armpits.

Spa Day

I came home from my meeting this morning to be greeted by a little girl who wanted to serve me. She found my inflatable foot bath and had her daddy help fill it with warm soapy water. She found a pillow and put it in a chair, brought me a book and a can of pop, and encouraged me to just sit and enjoy. She massaged my feet, painted my nails, applied many, many, many layers of top coat, and (not-so)-gently blew on my little piggies to help them dry.

Then she brought out my makeup. She took a warm cloth and (not-so)-gently removed my existing makeup, then applied many, many, many layers of foundation, blush, eye shadow, mascara, lipstick, lip gloss, and so on.

Next, she (not-so)-gently brushed my hair and placed many, many, many hair clips and rubber bands in it.

(You know...it's really too bad that we're having computer issues and I can't post a picture.)

Finally, she placed a pillow on the floor and gave me a massage. She applied many, many, many layers of baby lotion (to moisturize) and baby powder (to keep me dry), followed by several sprays from a water bottle (to moisturize) and pumps from an air pump (to keep me dry) {can you say brrrr......?}

Despite my strange looking toes, somewhat decent makeup, unusual hair and goosebumps all over my back, I've got to say...I kind of enjoy having a spa day.

Survey Says...

This is a little bit of a pet peeve post...be warned!

I'm looking at a receipt I recently got from an office supply store. At the bottom, it says "If you were happy with your service please take the survey and give us 5's."

I've got a problem when people tell you how to fill out a survey. You know...sometimes I "agree"; I don't have to always "strongly agree."

Last year, Dan & I bought a new (to us) vehicle. The salesman was wonderful. Former Marine. Family guy. Honest. A straight shooter. We really enjoyed working with him. As soon as the sale was final, he turned to Dan and told him that a survey would come in the mail. We should fill out "strongly agree" for everything. Dan & I talked about it, and felt that we needed to fill it out honestly, and not necessarily the way we were told. Frankly, although we were quite happy with our purchase and the salesman, we just didn't "strongly agree" on everything.

A few weeks later, the salesman called Dan quite upset. He wanted to know what he had done wrong that we would not give him a "strongly agree" in every category. Dan said that we were quite happy, and had no complaints. The salesman went on to tell Dan that he missed out on a large bonus because we didn't fill out the survey the way we were told.

Wait a second...I don't believe the salesman was justified in blaming us and the survey for not getting the bonus. We didn't have any complaints...we just weren't gushing over every detail of our used car purchase.

This survey situation left a bad taste in our mouth for this dealership. When did we start dictating how people should feel about their shopping experiences? A survey should be optional and people should be able to fill it out as they see fit. Maybe that's just old-fashioned of me, though...