I need changes

I have to make some changes to help me get out of the funk I have been in for a year now. I have to get my mind wrapped around these changes and stick with them.

1. I have got to stop cursing all the time. That doesn't help me feel any better. And, it makes me worry that if I ever lose my mind if I will be a foul mouthed old bitty that know body in the nursing home will want to help or take care of. I know, that is a strange thought but, since I do not have any children, those will be the people I will have to rely upon.

2. I have got to keep my nose out of other peoples business. After all, it is their business and they probably do not appreciate my nosiness or my opinions. Plus, I do not need their stress to add to mine.

3. I really need to stop being a bitch to my husband. No, it isn't every day all day but, it is enough that I know it can bring him down. He doesn't deserve it. Right now, he is working long days and I must appreciate that. He is a man that has a great heart and he loves me, yes, ME. I need to wrap my mind around the idea that when he says things that I do not appreciate, I need to just pretend I didn't hear them and let the words die. I really need to understand that he is kidding and that I am just being a sour puss. We have a great relationship and enjoy being together and I am going to spoil that by losing my sense of humor and being an ogre.

4. I have to let go of the fact that I cannot change the world. I have to let go of the fact that I can only teach the children that want to learn. I have to let go of the bitterness I feel when the kids do not do their assignments and fail their tests. I am a good teacher and I think I do a good job of communicating the information they need to know to be successful on their assignments and tests. They have to want to do good. I have to understand that most of these kids are not being pushed to complete lessons and do well on tests at home. I am only one person and if I do not get support from the kids parents/guardians, I cannot change the child completely. I will continue to do the best job I can do but, I am not going to stress over the grades and lack of effort any longer.

5. I have got to just enjoy my drive to school and home. It is 35 miles and 30 minutes no matter how hard I drive or how stupid the people around me drive. Getting mad because traffic is snarled or people make dumb choices is not good for me. I just need to pay attention and keep my mind clear of rage and I will keep myself safe and reduce a lot of stress that I am adding to my day.

6. I have to love my Kitties. They love me. They scramble across the yard every day to rush and meet me when I drive into the drive way. Some days, it is like they are racing each other to see who can get to me first. They love for me to pet them and, of course, they love it that I feed them. They are great cats and getting so big. If me, Scott, or my in-laws (they live next door) are outside the kitties stay with us. In fact, my mother-in-law, who always hated cats, has become quite fond of all of them. Her and my father-in-law check every day to make sure the three of them are okay (probably because we lost one right after school started). The Kitties have become part of the family and they make me feel good every day.

7. I have to understand that there are certain girls at school that are not going to change their attitude toward a certain teacher (not me but a good friend) and there probably is nothing I can do to change this. Those girls do not know what they are missing with their dislike. This teacher comes to school and does her job the way the handbook (student included) says she should. Rules are rules and felons became felons by breaking the rules they thought weren't important first. These two girls have a lot of great qualities but, they are not using them condusively. Maybe, just maybe, some day they will realize that they messed up. I just wish they would stop trying to ruin this teacher's day every day. I think every day that maybe, if I talked to them, they would change their attitude but, I don't think it will help.

8. I have to understand that people like me but, they are never going to like me as much as they do other people around us. Therefore, I can count on not getting the support that I want from administration, colleagues and certain family members. I can definitely live with that.

9. I have to get my mind wrapped around getting my body into better shape. Having extra weight is not good for me and, it makes it hard for me to find clothes to fit. I am 5 ft 10 in. tall and that makes it hard enough to find clothes. The extra 40 pounds is making it impossible.

10. Most importantly, I have believe that if I make these changes in my life, I will not have as much stress, I will not get disappointed as often, and I will become a stronger and much wiser person. I need to be seen and not heard. I need to love and support and not get my feelings hurt when it may not be returned. I need to just be Terrena the way Terrena likes her as I have never been much on being Terrena the way everybody else thinks she should be. I have great qualities, I am a good person, I am a good teacher, I know how to laugh and have a good time, and I love my husband and my husband loves me. Those things are going to be the things that I work on and I believe that I will be a much happier person and get out of this funk.

I have already been working on these changes this week and I have felt better. At least I do not feel so heavy mentally and emotionally. Now to get started on that exercise to change my body....

My life is good and I will make it better with a better attitude. I have the power.

The Thanksgiving Holiday has been very relaxing. I have been able to do some painting (a friend ordered some terra cotta pots with gingerbread designs) and I have been watching a lot of football.

School has been a little chaotic with kids hitting, pinching, and who knows what else but, we keep plugging right along.

I fell in the girls bathroom the first week of November after it was flooded by a boy who tampered with the toilet in the boys bathroom . Nothing was done to find out who did it. I was very lucky that I was not hurt very seriously. I think that is one reason why our principal didn't pursue it. Well, I am absolutely sure that is the reason because when he was asked by the superintendent if he was going to find out who did it he said "no, it isn't worth the hassle".

For the first time, I am seriously thinking about changing school districts. I drive 70 mile round trip every day to teach at that school. I feel like I do a very good job, I know I miss very few days every year, and I handle almost all of my own discipline and this is how the principal repaid me. I no longer feel any loyalty to the school as they have shown me how loyal they are to me.

The Sooners won the Big 12 Conference South division today(beat the crap out of the OSU Cryboys). Now, the Sooners will be playing for the conference championship this weekend. They will also be appearing in a BCS Bowl game but, we do not know what one---if they had won last week, it would have been the National Championship game.

Oh well---BOOMER! SOONER! Beat Missouri!

Ouch!

Last night, I burned my tongue so bad it is still raw today. I can't think of the last time I did something like that. It had to be back when I was about 13 playing softball on a very cold spring night while drinking hot chocolate. Ummmmmmmmm, that would be a very long time ago.

Any way, I found a new soup recipe and wanted to try it. I got everything done and the soup was cooked so, naturally, I had to taste it. I stood at the stove holding a spoon full of hot soup in my hand and was blowing on it. Put the soup in my mouth and spit it right back out. Luckily, I was still standing near the stove or the soup would have went right in the floor. Yes, it was that hot. What a silly girl I was.

Things got a bit exciting at school last Friday. We had an 8th grade girl poke an 8th grade boy in the face. We won't discuss why but, I will say that I told her, well I yelled at her twice to stop and to take her hands off of him. Then, another girl decided she needed to put her two cents in about what she saw and walked out of a teacher's class to do so. Yep, the teacher was telling her to stay put. I guess you could say that, those two didn't make the best decisions they could make that day. Our principal has been dealing with the boy and girl today trying to find out just exactly what was going on that lead up to the poke in the face. They have had almost five days to come up with a good story. I wonder what it was..... No matter, I still love teaching.

My birthday was Monday, I am gladly another year older. One of the things that I do not like about getting older is that the days seem to fly by and the years seem to add up faster. Oh well. Just think of all the memories I will have to look back through when I am 100.

Made it.....

Okay! Go ahead. No, really, go ahead and ask me. yes, you can. I don't mind. What? Why haven't I been blogging? Oh, well, uhhhhhhhhh, well, it is like this. I found this new game to play and I am playing it almost every free minute I have to play. What? Oh, what is the game? Well, it is Jewel Quest. Am I any good? Ummmmmmmmmm, I'm thinking NO! But, I enjoy playing the game.

Sorry, I haven't blogged like I need to. I have some things to tell but...., well there really isn't a good excuse for why I haven't been taking care of business. Obviously playing Jewel Quest isn't a very good excuse.

Okay, let's see...what have I been up to? Well, my husband's high school girls fastpitch soft ball team played in the state tournament. Nope, they didn't do any good. For some reason, they can't seem to hold things together when they get there. This year, they made a lot of errors. I had to leave the ball park as quickly as I could so I wouldn't say something to one of the obnoxious parents that think they know more than the my husband who has taken his softball teams to the state tournament 10 consecutive years.

Ummmmmmmm, every body has been pretty healthy. Well, maybe not my husband's son-in-law who had a vasectomy one day and was riding his motor cycle later that day or the next day and got hit from behind by a car. On top of the accident he had pneumonia. Him and his mother are so damn smart they wouldn't let his three year old son go see him in the hospital. Don't ask, they are just stupid.

I have been suffering from the side effects of the extreme and extended stress I experienced over the last year. I think I am just about over all of that. I had the runs for a while, I couldn't sleep for having really stupid dreams, my blood pressure shot up and scared both my husband and me, my hair has been falling out but, atleast not enough to leave me bald, and of course I have been pretty moody. Right now, however, I feel the best I have felt in months.

Yesterday, I had a student call me and my teaching colleagues stupid just because I made her get off of her cell phone and put it in the principal's office. The rule is that none of the students should have cell phones at school. If they do, they should not ever have them out at school any time during the day (some times, they need them for after school functions). She stormed out of the principal's office and would not return when ordered to come back. The really bad thing for her is that she made her statement in front of quite a few witnesses. She had got mad during basketball practice and told the coach she was going to quit and stormed out of the gym refusing to return when he ordered her to. The principal was furious when he dealt with her. She got a big kids “time out”.

All through the outburst, I held on to my temper and never got upset. I am still not upset. Why, I guess, compared to the stress I went through last year, this was nothing. I am not intimidated by any of our students and I have a good relationship almost all of them. This young lady did come to me and apologize before she left and I told her that we would be on level ground when she returned. I do not hold grudges. In today's society, if you held a grudge every time a kid was disrespectful, you would hate every body. Too many kids are not taught to respect adults or authority. Rules mean nothing and they are so rude. They don't know how to tell people thank you for help, gifts, or compliments. They believe they have the authority to tell teachers and other adult figures to shut up. And, they are very profane. They sit right on the verge of saying actual curse words every minute (in bigger school systems they do say them and nothing happens to them). Their idea of a rule is that it is something to be broken. Luckily, at our school, they are in a rural area and they do not want to get suspended or they won't get to hang out with their friends.

We have started our 2nd 9 weeks of school. It is amazing how fast the 1st 9 weeks went by. My 8th graders are edgy. I mean, they want to see how far the can push you before they back up and say that they are kidding or they didn't mean to do something. I wish the would spend that energy on their school work. They are pretty smart kids but, they do not apply themselves. I hope it doesn't end up biting them in the butt in high school. My 7th graders like to push but, they stop before they go very far and they do use a lot of that energy on school work.

All in all, I am farely satisfied with things as they are right now. I hope that everybody stays healthy and we get to have a relaxing holiday season (if you can ever call the holidays relaxing). I never, ever want to experience another one like last year.

I am rooting very hard for the Sooners. They have been having a fairly successful football season. Actually had the chance to be ranked number 1 or number 2 in the BCS polls but, got beat by Colorado. Then, last week, they barely mustered a win agains Iowa State. They have fallen into a funk of fumbling the football. Plus, the quarterback that started out on fire hitting all his receivers with perfect passes has started to aim the football and is either throwing way over the receivers or throwing the ball too short for them to come back and catch. I hope that they get a good rest this week while they are off so that they will be ready to beat OSwhoooooooo in a month. I will just want to vomit if we get beat by them and from the way that the Sooners played last weekend, getting beat by OSwhooooooooo would be very possible.
BOOMER! SOONER!

An open letter to a columnist

Ms. Carlson,

I want to applaud you for sticking to your guns. Those guns I am referring to are the ones for your column on Sunday. I have read your column and I am still trying to figure out why Mike Gundy blew a gasket. Could it be that maybe he feels guilty (I highly doubt) about talking out of the side of his neck... Saying they are completely behind one quarterback and then turning to another as soon as they
hit tough times. Could it be that he is feeling some pressure because his defense stinks so bad and the Cowboys offense looked like, well, I won't say what, against Troy? I felt from the start that his outburst was uncalled for. I have had people (including my husband) tell me that was just defending his player. From reading your column, it looks like it is high time that player stepped forward and defend himself. My gosh, he let his mama feed him chicken by hand outside the team bus after he stood on the sideline seeming to enjoy the outcome of the game. Could it be possible that it was Mr. Reid's mama who gave Gundy the paper just before the press conference? Just a thought. I am sure you have received many emails in support---hopefully enough to offset the birage of Cowboy fans hate mail---this is another one. I enjoyed the article and agreed with what you had to say. Keep up the good writing.

Where, oh where, do my kitties go....

When I leave for school or to shop . I know, they go to grandma's house.


Yes, they do. I live next door to my in-laws and when my husband and I leave our house for the day, the cats go next door. I am not sure who is baby-sitting who. My in-laws love it. My mother-in-law tells me every time I see her that the cats came over after I left. She says that most of the time, I haven't been gone 10 minutes before the cats show up over there. I know why they are going over there.... My mother-in-law has started giving them a snack.
Now, for the sad part. I had four male cats until last week. One black (Blackie), one white (Whitey aka D2), one gray (Mouse) and one tabby (Striper). Wednesday, Mouse didn't answer the call for breakfast. I didn't worry a lot as he had done that before. I didn't worry much when he didn't show for dinner, either. After all, they are male and a year old so, I am thinking that just maybe some female caught his eye . I did start to get concerned when he didn't show up on Thursday but thought (hoped) that there really was a female distracting him. Friday, I found him. Well, I should say I smelled him. He was right across the street from our mailbox. I had walked out to that box every day and I can't believe that I didn't see him. It isn't like there is a lot of tall grass or anything like that.


My husband and I guess he had been run over. Mouse was such a sweet kitty and my in-laws favorite. He loved to be with them.


I am still angry about how he died. We live on a single lane, 1/4 mile, dead end road posted 25 mph. However, the idiots that live at the end of the street think they have to be traveling 50 - 60 mph by the time they reach our house which is about midway to the end. At that rate of speed, they could never get shut down in time if a child, adult, or animal (like Mouse) enter the road. Jeez, you idiots, this is a single lane road with barely any room for cars to get over to pass each other. Driving 50 - 60 mph is asking for more trouble than anyone can afford on this street. Slow down you JERKS! Oh, and by the way, thanks for running over Mouse--he didn't deserve it.

Why?

It has been a long week for me. Not because of anything at school but, because I have a summer cold. I have had to get up every night and sleep on the couch until I could get the coughing under control. I started feeling better yesterday only to wake up this morning and feel tired and worn out and coughing quite a bit.

I am not sick often so, when I am it hits me pretty hard. I hate to miss school so, I have trudged in every day and worked very hard to have a good attitude and remain in a good mood for my students. They are doing so well right now that I do not want to do anything to discourage or turn them off. However, I have stayed home from my husband's softball games (he coaches high school girls fastpitch) to get the extra rest I need to get through the next day.

So, why, after not seeing him most of the week did he call after his softball games tonight to tell me that he had to stay for the last half of the last jr. high football game? I wouldn't mind except he waited until 8:30 to call me and tell me that and there are two principals and another athletic director there.

No matter how proud I am of him for being loyal and fulfilling his duties to the school, my feelings are still hurt. He knows I have been sick all week and not only that, I haven't eaten supper waiting for him to get home so we could eat together. He is going to be gone all day and evening tomorrow evening as well. Most of the time, I understand, tonight I do not.

School has started

All I can say is that the first two days of school were......................................................................really good. They usually are. They are a little hectic because you have to learn all the new students faces and names but, that is fun and the kids and I usually get a good laugh out of me not being able to remember.

At Keystone, the middle school teachers have their students for two consecutive years. So, I have 7th and 8th grade and this will be my second year for the kids that entered 8th grade. I like this concept as you really get a chance to know the students better. By that, I mean you learn what methods they use to learn and you can change things to make lessons work for them. You also get a chance to understand the workings of kids with raging hormones and rapid growth. The maturity in this age group changes so fast it can make your head spin. I have seen very immature kids leave school for Christmas break and when they come back in January, their style and maturity level have changed so much that they do not even seem like the same kid any more. I really enjoy these kids.

It looks like cell phones are still going to be a problem this year. I may have some parents very angry with me before school is out this year. I will take the phone and mom or dad will have to come get it. Our experience last year was pretty negative about this.

I am looking forward to a good year. If you can judge the kids the first two days as to how they will be the entire school year, it is looking good.

I am having a tough time finding time to exercise. It has been so hot that I have not risked exercising in the afternoon after I get out of school. Today, it is cooler and right now, sprinkling so, I am going to go run. I am thinking that it will be a tough go but, it will be worth it. My clothes look so much better on me since I have slimmed down through my back, hips, and legs. Can't really say I have lost much weight but, I have slimmed.

My heart goes out to the Utah miners and their families. What are they going to do? :(

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so proud of myself. You do not even know how hard it was for me to exercise this morning. I had to twist my arm (a feat in itself) to get my hiney off the couch, get dressed, get in the truck and drive myself to the trail to do my routine. Not only did I get there and do it, I went the entire 3 miles. YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The PGA started today at Southern Hills. It is going to be a scorcher. The had to treated 11 people for heat related problems there yesterday. The media has been telling people that they need to come prepared to fight the heat and to start hydrating the day before they go out to the course. I guess some do not watch the news or, they are people from out of town that have never experienced the heat and humidity of Oklahoma. The weather men are predicting 100 degrees through out the week and weekend and if it doesn't reach 100, it is going to be 98 or 99---not much difference. The fortunate thing is that it is breezy or it would be walking into an oven every day. The prediction is that the breeze is going to die out over the weekend and it will be even more miserable. GOOD LUCK GOLFERS!

Just 6 days before school officially starts through out northeastern Oklahoma. At my school, teachers have to report on the 14th for professional development and to get their classrooms ready. I went two days this week so that I will not have to worry about anything but a little cleaning and looking at future lessons.

While I was working in my room yesterday, three of my former students came in. Yes, they came to see me. No, not just to visit although we did that for at least 30 to 45 minutes. One of them is getting into some pre-a.p. classes and needed my signature. How lucky he was that I was there and how lucky I was to get to see them. They are three of my favorite kids and all asked me when it was time to leave our school for high school if they could come back to my class every day for history :). Yes, makes you feel good all over. These boys are good kids and I wish them the best of luck.

I am thinking that if getting motivated to exercise today was so tough, I bet tomorrow is going to be worse. I guess it has been that way all summer. Monday and Tuesday I do fine but, each day after that, I struggle to get out there. What am I going to do next week when I have to exercise after school in the 100 degree temp.....?

Ohhhhhhhhhh....

Well, it is here. That good old fashion Oklahoma heat and it's best friend humidity. We have been very lucky this summer with the temperatures because we had a pressure system sit on top of us for weeks that brought us record breaking rains, flooded creeks, rivers, and lakes, and cool air. We are not used to mild summers and now, the heat is reminding us how lucky we were early on. I am having to get out and exercise earlier and earlier in the day and the cats are panting even in the shade.

The PGA is coming to Tulsa this week. The city of Tulsa has spent weeks preparing for this event as well as Southern Hills Country Club. This event will create some inconviences but, it will be very good for the economy of Tulsa and the surrounding suburbs. I hope the golfers are prepared to address issues of dehydration due to the heat. They were saying on the news that some of the golfers have been coming and playing rounds at Southern Hills in the cooler hours of the morning but, we all know that they all cannot tee off and play morning rounds when the tournament starts. If it were me, I think I would schedule a few rounds in the heat of the day to have a plan to address the issues I mentioned earlier and get an idea of what type clothing they want to wear.

I was very ill Saturday night. Not sure what the problem was but, think it could have been my blood pressure. It started with a severe headache. My head hurt so bad for 7 hours and I also started vomitting. The vomitting started at 5:30 a.m. and my head hurt so bad that I couldn't sleep. I haven't been that ill in years. There was a point at which I wondered if I was having a heart attack. Today, the muscles along my rib cage are so sore that I don't even want to think about coughing or doing any thing real physical. Good thing I went and exercised early this morning before the soreness set in.

I am looking forward to relaxing and doing what ever I want today. I am going to do some scrapbooking or altering today as well as read my Harry Potter book (7) that I haven't finished yet. I will probably even take a nap.

Tomorrow and Wednesday, I am going to work in my room at school and start getting it ready for the first day. I like to do that so that I am not scurrying around on our professional development days trying to get things ready and attending meetings.

Jeez, it is noon already.....

Year 7

I received my copy of Harry Potter Deathly Sallows. I ordered it from WalMart last Wednesday (I think) and it was at my door yesterday. I have the other 6 books but this one is different. Yep, I bought my first hard cover edition of Harry Potter. I will be ordering a box set of the other six books soon. I have read and reread all of those books.

I started reading the book last night and have read a little today. As you notice, I am not spending every waking minute or my day reading it. I want to enjoy it. Yes, I already peaked near the end so, I know that Harry survives and that Dumbledore returns (which I predicted he would). What I do not know is, who else will die and I am hoping that there will not be any more of the main characters (yes, Moody is gone---maybe) die and those of you that have already read this book are probably laughing at me. I love the books, I hate it that somebody has to die but, I guess that is the way it goes when you put good against evil.

An interesting thing about this book being the 7th year is that this last school year was my 7th year of teaching although the first year was considered my intern year and doesn't count as a year of experience. This school year will be my official 7th year of experience. I wonder if I could teach at Hogwarts? :) Nahhhhhhhhhhhh, I like teaching in Oklahoma better.

I exercised this morning and have kind of started in on my craft room. I bought some paper organizers yesterday and I will be working on filling those today and try to organize the paper as I go. I have a feeling that I will just end up getting into a big hurry and not get as organized as I want......

I was going to go to school today but, I will just wait until next Monday.

Time to eat some lunch.

I tried....

...to kill myself in the shower this evening. I was soaping my face when my little finger ran up my nose. I SWEAR I touched my brain. Thank goodness I didn't have a long finger nail on that finger... :D

I had to mow AGAIN today. However, I had some problems with push mowing. I either ate too much for lunch or my blood pressure dropped too low. I kept getting woozy. I did finally get done with the push mowing but, I wasn't able to do as much of a section as I usually do. I planted my butt on the riding lawn mower to do the largest part of our acre. Tomorrow, if the grass dries early in the morning, I may push mow what is left. It isn't much.

I will be going to school again tomorrow. I am going to take some scrapbook pages, my camera and hook-up. I am going to take pictures of the scrapbook pages and upload them to scrapbook.com. If you would like to see them, feel free to visit my gallery at http://www.scrapbook.com/places/SoonerTeacher . I may upload some of them to here if I ever get familiar enough to load photos....

Mow, Mow, Mow

Mow, mow, mow your yard
Every day it seems
Thanks to the rain
The yard is a pain
But, I really do like it green. :)

Yeah, I gotta mow again today. Bright side, I get my daily exercise.

Yesterday, I went to school and numbered my new textbooks and found a lesson plan on the internet for a Textbook Scavenger hunt. That will be a good way to introduce the new textbooks to the students and help the get a little more familiar with the set up. I also cleaned off some old programs on my computer to help it run faster.

I have been messing around today on scrapbook.com. One of the threads is about bloggers. Yeah, I am addicted and blog in several locations.

Next week, I am getting in my craft/scrap room and reorganizing it. That means taking every thing, I mean every thing out of it to rearrange the furniture. It will give me a chance to discard some things that I have clung to after my mothers death that really have no meaning other than they were hers. It will be hard to (the room and the discarding) do but, it really needs to be done. I need to rid myself of that emotional baggage and, I need a clean room so I will feel more motivated to scrap and paint.

We have a wedding to attend tomorrow afternoon in Stillwater---Sooners do not care much for venturing into Stillwater but, sometimes a person has to do what a person has to do... :D

Have a great weekend!

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaah, it is good to be home!

You know, vacations are a lot of fun and can be very exciting. Also, it is interesting how you have to come off of vacation to rest---I can remember when taking a vacation was suppose to be a time to relax and catch up with your family and friends. Yes, there is no feeling like returning home after vacation dog tired. :)

We just returned from Las Vegas and yes, we were dog tired. We flew out on Sunday, July 1st at 6:10 p.m. We landed in Denver a little early and was suppose to fly out of Denver at 6:50 p.m. and be in Vegas by 8:30 p.m. Notice, I said suppose... Yep, it happened to us just like it is happening to every other airline traveler... that dreaded delay. We were delayed 3 hours before we got to fly to Vegas. Then, to top that off, our luggage was split with our flight and another flight that was headed to Vegas 30 minutes behind us.

We got to Las Vegas at 11:00 p.m., we waited about 45 minutes to an hour for our final piece of luggage and went to get our rental car. Oh my! wasn't that fun...? NOT!!!!!! We get to the rental car place (Hertz) around midnight or later and there are 30 people waiting in line to get their car. Wouldn't have been a problem if there were more than 3 people working the counter. Finally, I get to the counter around 1:00 a.m. and I have to listen to the whole speil about insurance, gas prices, upgrades, etc... on a car that I had reserved (if I had gone for any of their add-ons, it would have cost me $300 to get the car plus, they scare you to death with the "loss of use" clause) before they will let us get the car. It seemed like that took 30 minutes.

At last, we are in the car headed to our casino (Tropicana) at 1:30 a.m. We get to the casino, check in, get to our room----it is warm with no thermostat to turn the air down and, we felt like we were in a dungeon as they had put us on the 1st floor which is below ground level. My husband doesn't balk very often at what he gets but, this time, he said "let's get a different room". We did that but, we had non-smoking accommodations and, naturally, they did not have any more non-smoking rooms. We ended up with a smoking room but, the room was better than the first and we could look outside on the strip.

We went down to the casino and it is pretty small and by 2:00 a.m. most of the card tables were shut down so, we went to the bar and had a couple of drinks and went back to our room, exhausted, to go to bed.

The rest of our trip went much better. We went down and had breakfast at the buffet the first two days and then played some slots and cards (card tables are moving up to a $10.00 limit so there are very few $5.00 tables and my husband managed to cop the only chair at the $5.00 blackjack table so, I played slots until I found a poker machine that would pay). We both like to play cards and my husband likes to play roullette. Neither of us like to play regular slot machines. We don't mind playing a poker machine as long as it keeps you playing.

Later in the day, we went to the strip. We hit MGM and New York, New York the first day. These two casinos are small cities in themselves. If you stayed at one of these, you would never have to leave. We headed back to take showers and get ready to go eat. We went to eat at an Outback (favorite place to visit when we go out of town). They had an excellent happy hour and the bar crew was awesome. After returning to the Tropicana, we played some cards then went to our room. We are not much on the late night scene, especially since we were up so late the first night.

Second day, we went farther down the strip after spending some time in our casino after breakfast. We went into the Bellagio, Caesers, and the Flamingo (formly owned by Bugsy Siegel of the mafia). We played a couple of blackjack machines at Caesers and roulette at the Flamingo and won some money. We headed back to our casino after visiting the Flamingo. We wanted to get back before it got too hot, the temperatures were 115 to 117 degrees every day. We ate at the Hard Rock and played cards at our Casino.

Third day, we went to the Venetian, the Mirage, Treasure Island, and Harrahs. We played a couple of blackjack machines in the Venetian and the Mirage. We ended up at the Carnaval Court where they had a bar outside with Flair Bartenders and a live band. We sat at the bar and the bartenders kept us entertained for 3 or 4 hours. However, this is outside but, nice and shady. The heat wasn't as bad as long as you are in the shade and, a cold drink makes it pretty nice. I recommend this place to any person who visits Vegas and wants to find a place to just hang out for a few hours, drink, listen to good music and, even play blackjack at $5.oo tables. We went back to our room then went back to the Outback.

The true last day in Vegas, we went to Circus Circus and I played 3 Card Poker---I think this is the came I need to play from now on---I draw terrible hands most of the time and that kind of hand wins at 3 Card. We then left and went to visit a friend of ours that lives in Logandale and spent the afternoon and evening with them before returning to our casino for some poker machine action (tables were full) and bed.

The very last day, we were up at 4:00 a.m. and flying home by 6:45 a.m. We had a great time in Vegas and if our luck wasn't the best coming into town, it was leaving. We had no delays and got home not too long after lunch. That night, we slept like babies and didn't get up until 9:30 the next morning.

So, as I said, our vacation returned us home dog tired but, we had a great time and, except for the first day out, I would do it all again.

Okay, here goes...

I guess it is time for me to tell you something about myself. Let's start with my handle...I am a middle school social studies teacher and my last name is Dean hence, The Dean is in. Just a clever play on words.

As I said, I am a teacher. I love teaching and this was my 7th teaching year although, the state only counts it as the 6th. The chalk the first year up to internship and it doesn't count as experience now, how that can be, I am not sure.

I live in Oklahoma and have all my life. I grew up in Moore and graduated from Moore High School. Went to college on a basketball scholarship but, I was a bit immature and ended up blowing all that. Met my husband of 20 years while playing slow-pitch softball. He graduated from college with his degree in education started teaching in 1995-96. After his first summer out of school and off---I decided it was time for me to go back to school and get my degree. Of course I chose education and it was the second best decision I ever made---marrying my husband was the first.

I have a lot of interests---gardening, crafting, decorative painting, scrapbooking, reading, sports, RV camping (not tent camping), and traveling. There are others but, these are the main ones for the time being.

I have high blood pressure therefore, I must exercise as I did this morning. I am trying to get off the medication. I am also overweight but, being 5'10" tall has kept me from being obese but, I have to lose weight to help with the blood pressure issue as well. I do not like taking the medicine, it makes me moody. I don't mind exercising because I really feel good mentally and physically but, I get so bored.....

I enjoy blogging and forums and one of my favorite forums is scrapbook.com. There are thousands of women on that site that of course scrapbook but, some of them don't. They go to that site because the feel safe. You can blog, post scrapbook pages and pictures, and chat in the forums. This is my place http://www.scrapbook.com/places/Fanscrapulous feel free to come by and visit any time.

I did it again...

I do not know why it has been soooooooo hard for me to remember my password for this blog. Well, I am sure that I won't forget it this time and, if I do, I know how to reset it.

I have to go exercise right now but, I will be back later today to blog.

Yippeeeeeeeee!!!!!! Summer vacation started two weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yipppppeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am finally signed back into my blog. It has only taken me two hours of constant hunting but, I finally did. I am so proud of myself---pat, pat, pat. Yes, that is the sound of me patting myself on the back.

I don't have time to say much because it has taken me so long to get to here. Maybe, tomorrow evening, I will be able to get back on and post.

Wish me luck.

What teachers make

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life.

One man, a CEO, decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

He reminded the other dinner guests what they say about teachers: "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...) "Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could. I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor. I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I Pod, Game Cube or movie rental...

You want to know what I make?" (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table.) I make kids wonder. I make them question. I make them criticize. I make them apologize and mean it. I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions. I teach them to write and then I make them write. I make them read, read, read. I make them show all their work in math. I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know in English while preserving their unique cultural identity. I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe. I make my students stand to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag,
because we live in the United States of America. Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.) "Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant...

You want to know what I make?
I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?"

"Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach."
What an insult to all educators.

Becoming a teacher was the second best thing I ever did for myself. Marrying my husband was the first.