Sunday, December 19, 2010

Oh, The Busy Life

It's been a while, Blog World.

Wednesday after school, I was a timekeeper and scorekeeper for our school's first basketball game.  My school and other schools around us have this after school program called ACE.  I think it's "Active Character Education".  Teachers can recommend students in the 4th and 5th grade who are on the borderline when it comes to behavior and character.  Basically, the bad kids who need some self esteem help and teamwork.  So they form this team of these kids and ever Wednesday after school, their coach (our PE teacher) does some activities with them for a few hours.  They have character education lessons, do activities to build self esteem, and then have basketball practice and apply the character traits they talked about into their basketball team.  Well, they actually play other schools occasionally and Wednesday was their first game.  We lost terribly, but the kids were cute.  Most of them were excited to even have a chance to be on a real sports team, and others were nervous because it was their first game ever.  Then, our PE teacher bought them all pizza and we talked and ate pizza until the bus came and got them.  It was really fun.

My first Holiday program at my new school was scheduled for Thursday evening.  The whole first grade was going to perform four different selections, all about stars. Then the orchestra would do some Holiday songs ,then the band would play.  Believe it or not, we have about 65-70 kids in our 5th grade band.  Pretty impressive, huh?  It's their first year playing and they actually sound really good.  Well, when we woke up Thursday morning, we learned that it was also the first Winter Weather Advisory of the year.  It was supposed to snow about ONE inch.  So they canceled the program and we got a 2-hour-early dismissal.  I was confused, so I went to the principal.  I asked why all this was happening for one inch of snow that might even pass over us.  He replied, "Maria, this isn't West Virginia.  We don't treat the roads here.  When it snows, we all go home and wait until it goes away."  (ME): But why can't we just put chains on the bus tires?  (Principal): HAHAHAHA.  Chains!  You're funny.

And sure enough, it snowed one inch and there was one inch of ice and snow on the roads.  It was crazy.  And don't you know, school was closed on Friday, too!  So we watched Home Alone on Thursday night and laughed our heads off.  It truly is the most hilarious movie ever!


So, Friday, I woke up late, drank coffee and watched Regis & Kelly, made cookies, went shopping, went to the gym, and made chicken noodle soup for dinner.  It was delicious!  And it's sooo easy.  Let me share with you:

In the crock pot, put:

A bunch of chicken broth, sliced carrots and celery, pieces of cooked chicken, and some oregano and parsley.  Let it cook on high for about 4 hours.  Put some egg noodles in and let it cook on high for about another 45 minutes.  Voila.  Delicious.

I made sugar cookies on Friday.  I still don't have a rolling pin so I used a PAM spray bottle and pressed really hard.  I tried making royal icing and "flooding" the cookies.  It's pretty much the only way to make the icing on the cookies look smooth, according to Martha Stewart.  So you make two kinds of royal icing--stiff and wet.  Then you outline the cookie with the stiff icing, like so:

(not my cookies, just a photo from the internet)

Then you add water to the stiff icing to make wet, really thin icing and use a pastry bag to fill the inside.  When it dries, it will be nice and smooth.  My only set-back: I don't have pastry bags or tips.  So I resorted to the old "fill-a-sandwich-bag-and-cut-a-hole-in-the-tip" method.  The outlines are terrible, but they turned out okay for my first time:



I finished all of my Christmas shopping on my day off.  While I was at the gym, Josh finished his Christmas shopping as well and wrapped all of my gifts.  Something you should know about Josh: He is an excellent gift-giver.  He is thoughtful and always buys me things I love.  The problem is: He likes it so much that he usually goes overboard and then cannot contain his excitement.  So the second I got home from the gym, I immediately had to open some of the gifts that he had just wrapped before he exploded.  So, I opened two gifts.  One was a rolling pin.  He saw me using the stinking PAM bottle and immediately got dressed, went out, and bought me a nice rolling pin.  See, I told you he is thoughtful!  The other is our first Christmas tree ornament.  We actually got a beautiful "First Christmas" ornament from a friend as a wedding gift.  It is gold and beautiful (it has always been my dream to have an all-gold Christmas tree).  The problem?  The date says 2006!!!  It's definitely 2010.  So Josh bought me another gold "first Christmas" ornament with the correct date and we have both on the tree.  It's even a Willow Tree ornament (my favorite)!!!

The rolling pin and ornament.

The ornament on the tree!
I don't typically like to decorate with knick-knack-type things, but I do love Willow Tree things.

That night, we watched one of our other favorite Christmas movies, Elf!!!! And drank gin & tonics.  They are our favorite drinks, especially around Xmas time because they taste like our tree!  The movie was soooo funny.  If you haven't seen it yet, go buy it right now!  It's on sale at Target for $9.




Saturday, we decided to make it our Christmas together.  We are going to be at Josh's parents house on Christmas day, and Josh couldn't wait any longer before I opened the rest of my gifts.  Plus, we had our Christmas last year on the Saturday before the real Christmas, so we may as well make it a tradition.  Here is what our tree looked like in the morning:


How fun!

Josh got me a beautiful sweater I have been wanting from Macy's, lots of chocolate, some beautiful champagne flutes I have been wanting to match our set of wine glasses and the. best. gift. ever.  Are you ready for this?


A set of 25 colorful Sharpies!!!!

You better bet I got my best card stock, went straight to the computer, printed off a bunch of coloring pages and got right to work.  And I did that for about 9 hours that day!  I love Sharpies!

Josh also opened his gifts.  I got his two sweaters from Gap that he had been wanting and what I would call an overpriced ugly tie.  Every time we go to Macy's, he stops and looks at these certain ties.  I think they are terrible.  He loves them.  They are super expensive and probably won't match anything, so I always tell him "NO WAY!"  Well, they went on sale right before Christmas and I had a coupon, so I bought it for him, even though I hate it.  He was pleasantly surprised and very excited.  Now he's probably going to wear it every day.  I also booked us two tickets for a DogFish Head Brewery Tour in January.  It's about 45 minutes away in Delaware, but I am super psyched about going and he is too!  The tickets are usually sold out months in advance, so I  really had to be on the ball to get this one.  I got online right at the time they were posted for this particular date and snagged two.  We are excited to try lots of beers!

After gift giving and eating left-over chicken noodle soup, we went to a church down the road from us to watch one of Josh's students in the Christmas piano recital.  We brought her a bag of cookies, and for some reason I had a feeling that I should bring more than one bag, so I did.  And guess what?  One of my students was in the recital, too!  It was adorable.  Josh's student was 9 and mine was 6. They each played 5 pieces, including a duet with their teacher.  Each song was only about 30 seconds long, but it was so cute.  So we gave them both bags of cookies and their moms were really happy to see us there.

We stopped at the Shoe Dept, which is ALWAYS  a mistake because I always buy something.  Which I promptly did.  I bought a beautiful pair of peep-toe nude colored wedge shoes on clearance for $9.99 and I am SO excited to wear them.  

Josh had promised me a long time ago that for Christmas, we could have Chinese food.  We have lived here for about 5 months and still haven't tried a Chinese restaurant.  So we ordered it and it was so-so.  I liked it better than he did.  But I was mainly just happy to have gotten it in the first place!  Then we watched another favorite movie: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.


Have you ever seen this movie?  If not, you're crazy and you need to go watch it right now.  I laugh non-stop when I see this movie.  It's one of my all-time faves.

While we watched our favorite past-time movie, we enjoyed our favorite past-time drink.  Super cheap champagne mixed with pomegranate juice.  And we enjoyed them in our new champagne glasses!


This morning, we woke up super late and watched yet another movie.  Yes, we were super lazy bums this weekend.  Deep Impact was on TV and I hadn't seen it in a long time.  It's pretty intense and a good way to spend two hours.  It's about an asteroid that is supposed to hit earth and kill everything on the planet.  It's kind of like Armageddon. 


And that's how we spent our weekend.  Pretty exciting, huh?

My program is rescheduled for tomorrow evening (Monday).  I am kind of concerned that most kids won't show up now.  Many of our students couldn't come in the first place because their parents don't have transportation or just plain aren't involved in their child's life or education.  And now I'm afraid that the people who were going to come already have plans tomorrow.  Oh well.  We will have to wait and see.  I will say that the program is going to be super cute.  My 6-year-olds practically created the whole thing themselves.  They made up the lyrics to the songs and made up their own movements, too!   I will take pictures!  Wish us luck!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

My "In-Your-Dreams" Christmas Wish List


1.  Mini-Cooper S.  It has to be white.  It has to have a black roof.  It cannot have stripes.  I need awesome wheels, as well.

2.  Apple Mac Book Air.  It's awesome.  And I want it.  And I want to take it on planes and to work and to the coffee shop and to the park and in bed and everything.

3.  Pink Susan G. Komen for the Cure KitchenAid Mixer.  I have wanted one of these forever.  I remember staring at my mom's as a child in wonderment as it whipped up my chocolate chip cookies or fluffy mashed potatoes.  We actually put one on our wedding registry, but obviously that didn't happen.  But someday it will happen!  I will make sure of it.


4.  Any pair of shoes from Anthropologie.  I am a lover of all fabulous shoes.  I don't own too many.  But that's basically because when you are a teacher, you cannot justify hundreds of dollars on shoes.  But I love to look!  Here are some of my favorites:


5.  Fine china.  Lots of it.  Lots of different ones to use on each night.  I especially love some new modern patterns.

L by Lenox
Mikasa Pure Red
Kate Spade Gwinnett Lane
Mikasa Daylight
6.  An awesomely expensive and huge chandelier:
Quoizel La Parra Chandelier
7.  Another trip to Costa Rica.  The last time (and only time) I was there was in the summer of 2004.  I fell in love with that place and even thought that someday I could move there.  Now I would just like to visit every once in a while and climb an ACTIVE volcano again!

This is the volcano that my junior Chemistry class and I hiked up in 2004.

There you have it!  My "I will never get it--In your dreams--He!! no--Are you serious--Christmas list".  

Friday, December 10, 2010

A Controversial Topic...

This is a long story.  Are you ready?

8 years ago at Josh's school, their test grades were crap.  In the last 8 years, the principal has kicked it into gear and done some awesome stuff.  First of all: Hire some awesome teachers.  Next: Eliminate things that cause behavior problems.  The most behavior problems were at recess.  So she eliminated some of the recess.  The kids still get recess, just not every single day.  Then she added all of these awesome after school programs that 80% of the kids attend every single day.  Their test scores now are through the roof and they are getting a lot of attention for it.  i.e. being featured on the TODAY SHOW!

Recently, four parents have teamed together and decided that it is an outrage that their 11 year-olds don't get recess every single day.  Their argument is that kids need unstructured play time.  Who disagrees with that?  No one.  Those four parents came to Josh's principal and asked if their child's schedule could be changed midyear so that they would get recess every day.  The principal obviously said no.

So those four parents went to the board of education.  They scheduled a meeting to meet with the executives of the board of ed.  In the meantime, they put up petitions around the city titled "Would You Want YOUR Child to Have Recess?" with no more explanation.  They posted them around in grocery stores, the mall, and other places in the community.  They got a ton of signatures.  80% of the signatures were from people who do not have children in their school and about 10% were from the students of the school!  They took this petition to the board and the board is voting on it soon.

Josh's principal basically told them that because of those FOUR parents, they would most likely have to add in more recess time to their schedule.  And the only time that they could schedule it was... during specials.  So starting soon (probably January), instead of teaching music to certain classes, he will be taking them outside for recess duty.  He is trying to see what he can do to convince the board that although recess and play time IS important for a child's development, so are the arts.  Not to mention that he did not go to college to be a babysitter!

Meanwhile, those parents haven't thanked the principal or arts teachers for the amazing things they are doing with their children or the great accomplishments the school is making.  When the principal asked those parents why their kids can't play at home, they didn't have much of an answer.

What is your opinion?  Should the board change the schedule midyear and force the arts teachers to do recess duty?  Or keep the schedule the way it is?

WINTER

Here is a list of my favorite winter-time things:
  1. Soup.  I love my crockpot and I love the comfy, warm feeling of a hot, hearty soup.  Recently I have made white cheddar corn soup and white chicken chili!
  2. Sweaters.  They are the best.  I bought this beauty at NY&Co. recently:
  3. Snow.  I can't wait until the first snow.  I love snow days where I can sit at home, snuggle in a blanket, and watch a movie while the snow piles up outside.
  4. Blankets, especially my heated blanket.  The heated blanket is the BEST invention ever.  Using it in the winter to snuggle up makes me soooo happy.
  5. Christmas.  Christmas trees and Christmas music.  That's a given.
  6. Baking.  I will be the first to admit that I am not the greatest baker, but I do love cookies and apple pies!  So I bake.
If you asked me what my favorite season was, I would say summer.  The beach, weddings, my birthday, being outside, the weather, etc.  But winter definitely comes in at a very close second :-)

Thursday, December 2, 2010

The Night Before His First Program

Josh's first school program is tonight.  He is super excited and nervous and I am too!  His whole fourth grade is performing.  Students are reading The Night Before Christmas as narrators and every few stanzas a different class will perform a song.  Most of them were written or adapted by Josh, me, and his students to fit the story. 

One of the classes is even performing a longways set dance as the "reindeer" on the sleigh.  They will be wearing reindeer antlers with bells!  All of the other kids are going to be wearing "Christmas Eve" attire.  A.K.A. Pajamas.  It should be super cute. 

Programs are scary and nerve-wracking.  We, as teachers, get all worked up and try to make everything perfect for a bunch of 6 year olds!  They end up performing a stellar program full of great musicianship (especially for little kids). Meanwhile, all the parents remember is the cute kid in the front who just stood there and waved to his mom.  I will have to remind myself of that in two weeks for my program!

Wish us luck!

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christmas!

It's December!  Yay!  I have never been so excited about Christmas in my life.  Not even as a kid.  I am excited to see my family and spend time.  I am excited to spend time with a new family.  And I am excited to make some memories for our first Christmas :-)

When Josh and I got back from my mom's on Saturday, we got home, brought the stuff inside, and got right back in the car and went shopping.  We got all the decorations for our first tree and a tree stand.  We also picked up a few gifts for some family.

On Sunday, we bought our first tree (it's real!) and set it up.  I also set up my little, tiny, fake tree that my grandma and pap gave to us/made for us last year when we didn't have any room in our apartment for a real tree.  It sits in a window upstairs and looks beautiful!  Then I baked some chocolate chip cookies with Hershey's Special Dark chocolate chips (Thought you would like that, Kathi).  We did all of this while listening to Christmas music, of course!

On Monday I wrapped some of the gifts and put them under the tree and we strung the lights.  We were still kind of waiting for the branches to fall a bit before we put the decorations on.  We also put a wreath on the door, put the stockings up, and added a few of my grandma's ceramic decorations that she made.  And I bought my first Christmas cards to send out... I got good ones, too :-)

And Tuesday we actually put the decorations on our tree!  It looks a little silly without a tree topper or skirt, but it's our first one, so take it easy on us! 




And we are excited for this weekend when my mom, sister, and grandma are coming to visit us!  I will probably bake more cookies and use my crockpot!

It's hump day!  Only two more days to go :-)

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Thanksgiving...

...is one of my least favorite holidays.  Turkey isn't really my thing.  But I do like pies :-)

Last Tuesday I woke up late and super sick.  It was literally the worst sinus infection EVER!  I got to school, walked right to the assistant principal's office and told her I had to go home.  It was that bad.  And people, I have great work ethic.  So that should tell you that I was really sick.  I went home and napped on the couch for hours!

When I got up, I was feeling a little better, so I packed my stuff and straightened the house up.  When Josh got home, we hopped in the car and drove to Cumberland for the holiday.  It only took about 4 1/2 hours, which is a little less than usual.  But it felt like the longest ever because I couldn't breathe!

We spent all of our time (from Tuesday night to Saturday morning) just visiting and spending time with family.  It was really nice. Our dinner was delicious and we had lots of people visiting.  It was also our first holiday without my pap, which I thought would seem really weird.  It was only like that when I was thinking about it.  The rest of the time was just happy and relaxing and fun!

I feel so much better now and so does Josh.  We came back Saturday and ran lots of errands.  We also hit up my favorite restaurant in Salisbury called Fratelli's:


It is the best Italian restaurant I have ever been to.  They make the best crab cakes I have ever had and they make all of their pasta homemade in the store.  They (the owners) are Greek.  I know, weird.

We bought our first Christmas tree and set it up.  We are going to decorate it tonight and I am sooooo excited!  I am seriously in the most Christmasy-wintery spirit this year!  Do you like my snowy blog background?

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Shit Happens

My "little" brother has been through thick and thin. I say "little" because he is 3 years younger than me and twice my size. He is an excellent musician and finally got himself on YouTube. I am his advocate :-)

He wrote this song shortly after getting out of jail and finally getting himself out of trouble. Watch out, folks, it's got some curse words so don't watch it around the kids!



                   

For a young kid in his situation, I think it shows a lot of maturity to have that attitude about his life. And the fact that he can finally express himself is great for him and our family.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Stories from American Education Week

I had a plethera of adults in my room this past week.

The mom from my previous posts of child abuse has been in to visit all three of her kids.  Dad isn't allowed on school property.  It is weird having her in my room because she is treating her kids like they are angels.  Makes me wonder why she is married to this dude.  And why she doesn't have any control over their discipline strategies.

I had a dad come in the other day who was dressed in his police uniform.  He walked in while I was teaching a class of first graders.  I assumed they would react to it, of course.  In the brief second that I had to think, I thought they would have said "Wow!"  "Cool!"  "A cop!"  "Neat gun!", etc.  Nope.  My kids are thugs whose parents are constantly running from the cops.   This was their response (in terror) "Mrs. Mengel! There's a cop in our room!"  "AHHHH!" "What's he doing here?"  "Who is he here for?"  "Is someone getting arrested?"  I attempted to explain to the 6 YEAR OLDS that police are good people who are here to protect us.  Didn't work.  They were still scared and most of them wouldn't even look him in the eye.  Kind of felt bad for the guy.

I had a 4th grade class today with 9 parent visitors.  The adults had to sit on the floor with us because we didn't have enough chairs in our room!  Having 10 adults in one room is tough.  Especially when one particular student wanted to show off for his mom.  He was playing his instrument like a rock star while I was talking or while other kids were trying to share.  He got reamed from me AND his mom.  That part was nice :-)

You would think that the kids would be super behaved because their parents are watching but really they are excited to show off!!  I was definitely caught off guard by this phenomenon.

I also gained a lot of respect for some parents and lost a lot of respect for a few.  First of all--I think it is awesome when parents are involved and come to see what their child is learning and how their days are spent at school with friends and teachers.  Every parent who actually showed up got a check mark in my book.  But then we had the parents who would chat to each other while their kids were trying really hard to pay attention and participate.  And I had more than one mom who actually ANSWERED HER CELL PHONE in my room while I was teaching a class of 5 year olds.  HOW RUDE!  I didn't say anything at all but I just kept on teaching loudly so she couldn't hear her phone call.  Respect=Gone.  I wonder what the expectations are for her children when it comes to manners.

A Fun Sunday

Today we finally got to Ocean City.  I am still sick from yesterday with a sinus infection and slight fever.  But since I gave myself a day (yesterday) to relax I figured I had to do something today.

We slept in and watched That 70s Show all morning and Josh make us eggs with salsa.  Around lunch time we headed to Ocean City.  It's pretty awesome that we live exactly thirty miles away from the beach!  We got there and went to my favorite OC restaurant The Shark on the Harbor.



They serve mostly local and organic gourmet food but they have the most amazing lunch specials and local craft beers.  I ordered fried green tomatoes with lump crab meat on top served with this spicy creamy sauce.  I wanted to take a picture of it so bad but I couldn't wait to eat it so this picture is my beautiful lunch with one bite taken out:

Then we walked the board walk a little bit and got some Fisher's caramel popcorn and I had to go to the candy kitchen to get some rock candy (my FAVORITE!)

I tried going to the gym tonight with a fever.  This was a bad idea.  I wasn't there too long.

This week we only work two days and then we are going to Cumberland on Wednesday to be with my family for Thanksgiving.  It's pretty weird being married and having to choose a family to share holidays with.  We want to go to both even though it's not realistic because they are about 2 1/2 hours away.  So this will be interesting in the future on Christmases and such.  I think they should just start visiting us on Christmas (what do you think, families?)

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Sick and Tired of It

Yesterday after school the teachers decided to go out for Happy Hour to celebrate the end of American Education Week.  I celebrated with gin & tonics and bar food.  It was awesome.

We came home around 7pm and watched an episode of That 70s Show.  I was super tired and the gin & tonics were wearing off so I literally went to bed at 7:30.  I was asleep by 8.  I assumed it was because I had a long week.  But when I woke up at 6:30am (ten and a half hours later!) I found out why I needed sleep.  I am sick.  Fever and really sore throat and body aches.  Dang.  And we rescheduled our Ocean City trip for today.  Yeah--not gonna happen.

I couldn't go back to sleep so I was up all morning watching Miss Congeniality until Josh got up.  Now I am just hanging out and drinking hot tea.  Jasmine green tea with honey to be exact.  The Mountaineers are playing today so I will be watching TV all day and browsing Weddingbee (best thing to do while you are sick).  Speaking of which--Lizz--are you on Weddingbee?  It's pretty awesome and anyone getting married needs to know about it.

Happy Weekend!

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Dear People Who Read My Blog,

Some of my friends and family tell me that they read my blog.  But I don't know that you are out there unless you comment and say hi every once in a while.  Let me know you are here and comment.  Write what you think about my posts, please :-)

I feel like a kid who has to beg for friends.  Bryana? Lizz?  mom?  grandma?  kathi?  kathy?  barb?

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Hump Day! & A Vent That I Have Been Waiting to Let Out...

Usually I hate hump day.  Today it was my reminder that at exactly 12pm, the week is half way over.  It is amazing how much I need this Thanksgiving break.  I REALLY want to sleep in on a weekday.  Don't ask me why... I just do.  I would also like another fog delay... that would be terrific.

On to bigger things...  I have a vent that I am going to express.  Ready, here I go.  I love the Duggars:



They are the family from the show, 19 Kids & Counting on TLC (in case you didn't already know).  Some little factoids: Yes, they have 19 children.  And one of their kids is married with a kid and a kid on the way.  They do not take birth control for religious reasons.  The girls only wear skirts and dresses.  Their television and internet is very limited and restricted.  They all live in the same house and they all pitch in and keep it running.  They are homeschooled.  They often taken mission trips and volunteer.  They own commercial properties and the dad, Jim Bob, was formerly a state legislator in Arkansas.  The mom, Michelle, delivered every child.  She also contracted eclampsia in her last pregnancy and was forced to deliver very early.  The baby was born very premature and almost didn't make it.  Some people say it is because she is getting too old to have babies (she is now 44), but no one really knows for sure.  They say that they will welcome another child if they get pregnant again.

They get a lot of criticism when it comes to their lifestyle and the way they are raising their kids.  Many people say they are crazy for having so many kids.  Many say they are neglecting their kids because they have so many.  Many people say they shouldn't have more.  Or that they are using our tax dollars to raise so many kids.  Or that they are too conservative.  Or that their kids should be exposed to more socialization. And many, many more things.

Here is my vent: for some odd reason, I feel offended by these statements.  I don't know why, especially because I have no desire to live a lifestyle like theirs.  But here's my point of view:  Who are they hurting?  You? Probably not.  Their kids?  Nope.  Their kids are VERY happy and lead productive lifestyles and are good people.  Themselves?  Nope.  They are happy, too.  So what's the flippin' deal?  Should we go out and criticize every woman who delivers prematurely and say she should never have a baby again?  That's ridiculous.  They are doing well financially because they are responsible and are great money savers!  They are very protective because they see what the world is like!  And I think they are right!  And it just goes to show.  Watch an episode some day.  They are possibly the happiest family in America, and they aren't hurting anyone!  What's wrong with that?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

I'm Not Trying to Depress You, But Please Pray for My Students...

SALISBURY -- A Salisbury man is facing child abuse charges after allegedly beating two children with a rod, according to court documents.
One victim alleged Sun J. Kim beat him with a 2-foot wooden rod after he lied about his grades, according to charging documents. Kim is accused of beating the child before and after school Nov. 4.

A second boy, the victim's brother, also alleged Kim beat him Nov. 2.

In addition to child abuse, Kim has been charged with reckless endangerment and assault.

First-degree child abuse, a felony in Maryland, carries a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison under state law if convicted.

City police were dispatched to Pemberton Elementary on Tuesday after a school nurse reported the abuse to police.

The child was sent to the nurse after a teacher noticed he was limping. The nurse located a 4-by-4-inch bruise on the child's left thigh and bruises on his back, according to police.

Police transported the victim and his brother, who is also a student at the school, to Peninsula Regional Medical Center for a medical exam. Hospital personnel observed multiple bruises on the victim's thighs, lower back, buttocks and lower abdomen. The victim's brother also had similar bruises to his buttocks, according to police.

"The main bruise (on) top (of) the thigh was described as a deep injury to the muscle which can potentially cause kidney damage and severe health problems or death," wrote Officer M. Merritt in charging documents.

Kim was released from the Wicomico County Detention Center on a $75,000 bond on Wednesday, according to court records.

A District Court hearing has been scheduled for early December.




Everyone at my school is pretty upset that they published the exact person who reported the abuse (the nurse).  Apparently the media is not supposed to get that information,  but somewhere along the line, it got out there.  The dad was released and is back at home with my students.  I know that this is not the only case of child abuse in my school, but when I see these boys in my classroom I just want to bring them home with me because I know where they are really going after school.  And now there is nothing we can do about it... Scary.

Monday, November 15, 2010

What the He!! is a Fog Delay?

I grew up in a town where if there was a quarter inch of snow on the ground... BAM. Two hour delay.  Oh, it's 8 degrees outside? Two-hour delay.  Even where I taught last year in West Virginia... any snow was a two-hour delay or cancelled school.  Okay, it makes sense (a little).

Which is why I was surprised to wake up to a delay this morning.  Hmm... It's 46 degrees outside... probably not snowing.  What could it be?  I look outside to see this:


No, this is not a personal photo... I stole it from the internet, but it definitely captures the effect.  Apparently, in Maryland's eastern shore, fog is a very common thing.  Who knew it would be so dangerous?  They delay school until the fog has lifted.  Even then, I heard about some accidents this morning.  Kind of sucks, but guess what?  I got to sleep in!  Which was great :-)

Friday evening, my school had an auction.  It was crazy.  There were donated items for both a live and silent auction.  Everything from restaurant gift certificates to lunch with the mayor to Disney passes.  The PTA hosted a spaghetti dinner.  I can't even imagine how much money they made.  Tons of people came and they auctioned off hundreds of donated items... that's right: everything was donated!  They had to have made thousands and thousands of dollars.  It was the best PTA fundraiser I have ever seen!  The kids were all piled into classrooms and given potato chips while they watched movies so their parents could attend the auction and spend money without having to watch their kids.  It was genious.  I helped out a bit with the kids auction (mp3 players and wii games!) and with the movie.  It was a good night :-)

Yesterday, it was our intention to go to Ocean City for the day and spend some time together.  This was the plan:  Wake up early.  Make breakfast burritos (which we love!).  Do all the laundry.  Go to Ocean City and have lunch at my favorite OC restaurant, The Shark on the Harbor.  Walk the board walk.  See the ocean while the leaves are turning color and falling... which we have never done.  We promised ourselves that we would not go to the beach until all laundry was washed and folded.  Well, we share a laundry room with the other townhomes in our development.  It has 5 washers and 5 dryers, so it's not a problem if someone else is already doing laundry... we use the other ones.  Well... don't you know that every single washer is full of already washed, wet, stale clothes.  Hmmm... We say, "Well, we will come back in about 15 minutes and hopefully they will be gone."   6 hours later it was gone.  We didn't go to the beach.  Meh.

This week is American Education Week at school.  The parents get to come in during school and observe/participate in classes with their kids.  Here are the pros and cons:

Pros:
  • If I was a parent, I would be excited to see what my kids do in school
  • As a teacher, I am excited for parents to see what they are learning
  • It puts kids on good behavior if they know mom or dad is watching.
  • Good way to get parents involved.
Cons:
  • Last year there was an incident with an attempted child abduction so now they are SUPER protective about who comes in the school and when and how they sign in.
  • Sometimes kids show off for their parents
  • I feel like my room needs to be spick and span all week
  • I hate punishing kids in front of their parents, but it sometimes needs to be done.
  • When the parents sit there and talk while their kids are being attentive, I want to punch them in the face.
Long week ahead... How was your weekend?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

We Have Found a New Love...

...err... obsession.

Caramel Apple Pops.

We have always known that we love them.  We found them super cheap after Halloween and bought 8 bags of them.  They now make THREE different kinds... green apple, golden delicious, and macintosh red.  If you come to our house at any given time you will see one or both of us with a lollipop in our mouths!  We are obsessed.

We have NOT been busy the last few days, which is really nice.  We went out to my new favorite restaurant of all time on Friday after school.  On Saturday Josh stayed home with a cold while I spent the day at Salisbury University at an Arts in Motion conference.  It was a lot of fun and I was happy to spend the day with some of the teachers from my school.  It was nice to get to know some of them.  And today I ran at the gym and went to the grocery store (my personal favorite).  

At school I am getting ready for our Winter Program.  The first graders are performing and each class is doing a different 5 minute performance.  The theme is "Winter Stars".  They are doing all songs about stars and the winter night sky. I am not allowed to have any religious connotations in the lyrics which is why I chose this theme.  I guess I have to leave Jesus at home that night...

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Today I Lost $1650

Today my payroll dept. called me to tell me that over the course of time, they had "accidentally" paid me an extra $1300.  They found this through an audit.  I didn't notice because they were my first few paychecks here and I assumed that they were correct.  So now, not only do I owe my board of ed $1300, but my pay checks will now be much smaller, too.  Great.

Also--Josh's car broke and it took $350 to get fixed.

Yesterday, I thought we were very financially stable.

Today, we are poor :-(

Monday, November 1, 2010

November Already!

I officially applied to grad school at the University of Illinois.  I found a great online asters program in Global Education Studies.  Basically I would study education policies and procedures internationally and research why certain policies and curriculums are more successful than others and how to incorporate or supplement my own curriculum with their successes.  My ultimate goal is to serve as a leader in my county or state on evaluation of effective teachers.  

Now for my November goals:
  1. More sweaters!
  2. Bring out the electric blanket.
  3. Bake more pies
  4. Make lots of soups.
  5. Go on walks and take more pictures of leaves.
  6. Get in to grad school!!
  7. Wear fuzzy slippers around the house.
  8. Secretly shop for Christmas stuff... don't worry, I won't decorate until after Thanksgiving.
  9. Take more yoga classes.
  10. Make our first family Christmas cards :-)

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Happy Halloween News




  1. Happy Halloween!
  2. Happy 20th Birthday to my "little" brother!
  3. I had a great weekend!
  4. I applied to Graduate School today!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 29, 2010

TGIF

It's Friday!  Josh and I are watching the Mountaineers and waiting for my dad to arrive!  It's the first time my dad has been to our new house!  I am excited for him to see it.  I have a fun filled weekend of food planned.  Yes I do.

Tonight: NY style pizza.
Tomorrow: bacon eggs and orange juice for breakfast.  Tacos for lunch.  Amazing authentic Italian restaurant for  dinner.  Apple pie and wine for dessert.
Sunday: Life cereal for breakfast.

Yay :-)

Today I was super tired and didn't feel so hot at school.  So I got off at 4 and came home to take a nap on our air mattress (surprisingly comfortable for naps) and didn't wake up 'til 7:00!  I feel much better now that I am drinking wine and waiting for pizza.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Oh... Sooo... Tired...

It's almost midnight.  Why am I still awake?  I chose to get up after laying there restless for a while.  Now I am hungry.

I think I figured it out: We have a tornado watch.  Something about tornadoes gets me all worked up.  Am I afraid of them?  No, not really.  I have actually seen more than one in my lifetime.  I know, it's weird considering I grew up in a little valley in Maryland.

But ever since then, I have been completely enthralled by the things!  I love watching videos of tornadoes and looking online at tornado pictures.  In all honesty, I have a tornado dream about once every two weeks!  I never die or even come close, though.  Usually they are beautiful dreams!  Complete with black and white spinning tunnels of all different shapes and sizes.  I think in another life, I am a weatherman or storm chaser or something. Some of my all-time favorite tornado photos:

This is my all-time favorite photo.  It's all over the internet.  It almost looks fake... anyone know for sure?
A real waterspout.  My family saw one of these one year at the beach!

This is the scariest thing I have ever seen.  Also the most beautiful thing I have ever seen!

I love how they twist and turn. They remind me of arms.

Some of my favorite photos are when they are dissipating, or are no longer connected to either the sky/clouds or the ground.

I found this and the next one online.  I can only hope that they are 100% real.


Tell me that isn't real, natural, crude beauty?

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Mmmmm... apple pie.

I am currently enjoying a hot piece of apple pie.  My second of the night.  And I am pairing it with a nice glass of red wine.  Not sure if they go together or not... they do in my book :-)

I had a very loonnnnggg Monday and Tuesday at school and today after work I made dinner for josh and a new friend :-)  Jenny is the elementary music teacher in Josh's district and came over to talk lessons.  We had chicken carbonara, rice pilaf, and steamed broccoli... and homemade apple pie.

This past weekend we took a trip to Cumberland to visit my family.  Here are the details of the last few days:

Friday: Go to work early and teach all day.  Get off at 4pm.  Go home and pack the car.  Drive 5 hours to Cumberland.  Get there and bake a cake.  Go to bed.

Saturday: Wake up at 5:45am, pack the car, drive to Morgantown for the game.  Pick up my sister (yay!), tailgate, game, birthday for step-dad and brother-in-law, go to dinner with Josh's family, drive back to Cumberland by 9pm, have a campfire with grandma, go to bed around 12.

Sunday: Wake up, do laundry, have breakfast/lunch at mom's house, pack the car AGAIN, drive the 5 hours back to Salisbury, unpack, get ready for school on Monday.

Monday: Wake up as usual for school, get ready, get in the car and.... it won't start.  Dead battery.  Call a taxi.  Late for work.  Get there flustered.  Teach 10 classes.  Go home.  Go to the gym for a class.  Have dinner.  Go to the grocery store while Josh goes to get me a new battery.  His Check Engine Light lights up on the way.  Replace the battery. Go to bed.

Tuesday: Go to school. Teach a bunch of classes, come home, start dinner, have dinner, talk about school stuff, eat apple pie, drink wine, blog.  Tonight I will pass outtt.......


Goodnight, world :-)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

My Community


As a new resident of Wicomico County and the City of Salisbury, I am learning every day more and more about our new community.  Here are some things I would like to share with you:
  1. The murder/manslaughter crimes in this city are up 50% from last year ALREADY and the year is not over.
  2. In Baltimore City, 1 in 4100 people are murdered.  In Salisbury, 1 in 4000 are murdered.  Yes, that means that I am more likely to be murdered in little Salisbury than in Baltimore!
  3. Every week in the city limits of my new city, there is an average of: 38 thefts, 16 burglaries, 8 assaults, 1 murder, 1 rape, 3 robberies, and 3 motor vehicles stolen.  All of the averages except murder have gone down in the last year.
Even though I have only lived here for a few months, my career and sanity is dependent upon the safety and well-being of our community.  Why, do you ask?  Because I see it EVERY DAY.  I teach hundreds of students per day and I see first hand where they come from, what they do after school, where they live, and who their parents are. 

For some reason, I feel the need to help.  If I am going to be a long-time resident of this community and city, I want things to change.  I really believe that every bit can help.

Here are the things that I have already invested time/money/resources in:
  1. I give money out of each paycheck to the United Way.  I hear things like, "Well, the United Way is basically helping people who need to get off their butts, get jobs, health insurance, a home, etc."  I agree that those things need to happen.  I also know that even if those people do not choose to make those decisions and their needs are being met by taking money out of my paycheck, they still need it.  And I have it to give.  They have feelings and families, too.  And I also see something that most people don't see... their children.  And how homelessness and no food affects a 5-year old.
  2. The Blood Bank of Delmarva.  I am a contributing member.  Our community needs blood donations to help the sick people of our city get in and out of the hospitals faster.  So I give.
  3. Food Bank donations.  At the grocery store, I pick up some small non-perishable items and place them in the bin at my school.
  4. Being a mentor.  We have this great mentoring program in Wicomico County.  I am a mentor to a 2nd grade student at my school who desperately needs some stability in his life.  He gets to spend a few hours per week in my classroom with me.  The Mentoring Project also sets up outside activities for the mentors to do with the kids, like go to the zoo.
  5. Be an advocate for my school and my students and my classroom!
  6. Teach my students about character and the consequences of getting involved in violence and gangs.
  7. Trying to be knowledgable about the current political candidates for our county, city, and state, so that I can make good voting decisions next month.
I am not going to go around paroling the streets of the projects to prevent gun violence, but I am doing what I can.  Can you suggest any other practical things I can do to help my community?

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

It's Been Too Long!

Apparently I have been busy!  I haven't been on Blogger in over a week!  Here are the things that are going on in my life right now:
1.  Rita's is closing for the winter this Friday.  :-(
2. I am applying for grad school soon at the University of Illinois.  And I'm really excited.
3. My classroom is too loud because it is connected to the cafeteria.
4. I have been taking Tai Chi, Yoga, and Pilates classes at the gym.  I have always known that I love pilates.  Still true.  I have never taken yoga, but I am loving it despite falling over occasionally due to lack of balance.  Tai Chi is a whole new story.  I think I like it, but it is kind of weird for me.  We will see...
5. I am a mentor at my school to a 2nd grade boy who really needs a buddy.  He is like no other 7 year old I have ever seen before.  Already getting ISS on a regular basis!
6. I really like my job.  But it is SO exhausting.
7. I think Josh and I are planning on an addition to our family this coming summer... no baby... maybe dog?
8. We would also love to own a home.  Foreclosed homes are looking really nice right now.
9. We are going to a WVU this Saturday.  It is homecoming.  The alumni band is going to be there.  It is my step-dad's birthday.  And my brother-in-law's 21st birthday.  The people that we are going with: mom, step-dad, brother, other brother, sister, grandma, step-grandma, step-grandpa, mother-in-law, father-in-law, brother-in-law, and family friends: mom, dad, daughter, daughter's friend.  WOW.  I am so excited.


Sunday, October 10, 2010

Weekend is Over :-(

This weekend was a really nice one, though, I wish it would last longer.

Josh's parents, brother, and puppy came to visit.  They got here Friday evening.  On Saturday, we hung out, took a nice walk, watched the Mountaineer game, and had lasagna and wine for dinner.  But before all of that, I had my first performance with my new students!

I was asked to have a group perform at a local church for "Community Fest"... basically a carnival-type thing minus rides.  Since our arts-integration theme this year is China, I had kindergarten do an "authentic" Chinese ribbon dance to some really cool Chinese music.  I have two deaf students in kindergarten, so to highlight them, I decided we would do the entire performance based on visual cue cards.  I sent the permission slips home.  Out of 90-ish students, only 25 kids signed up.  Sad face.  Only one of the deaf students signed up.  Super sad face. ANNNDDDD.... only 6 kids actually showed up.  Very sad face.  But they were still cute and did a great job.  I will post some photos soon!

Today, Josh's parents left and I went to the gym, we had leftover lasagna, I bought my first yoga mat, we started to plan Josh's Holiday Program, and now I am relaxing and getting ready for bed.  And I am sad that the weekend is over...

I always say that.  Me:  "I hate waking up early"  "I don't want the weekend to end"  "Why can't we have three day weekends?"  Then come Monday morning when I get to my very own classroom: "I love this job"  "This is fun"  "Look at those cute kids!"

Although we do have a three day weekend this weekend AND next Monday is a professional day!

Kindergarten Quote of the Week:
Mrs. Mengel is getting very annoyed with one particular student, "A", who is constantly talking and bothering other kids.


Me: A, Zip it!
A: Oops, sorry! (And zips up his pants)

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Yeah for Us!

Today we did something that we should have done a long time ago:  Got gym memberships.



I was doing very well with exercise and eating healthy.  Not to make excuses--but this was literally why I have slacked off A LOT in the last few months:

  • Last day of school last year:  my grandfather dies.
  • Two weeks later: I get married.
  • Two days later: I go to Cozumel with Josh for a week.
  • Two weeks later: We move to the eastern shore.
  • Two weeks later: We go to the beach with my family.
  • Two weeks later: School starts.
  • Two days later: I realize what I am in for with this job.
  • Since then: So tired when I get home.  Also:  been very busy since then.
  • But most of all: We discovered a Rita's down the road. 
Now: No more excuses.  We signed up for a gym membership for a year.  No getting out of this one.  Here are all of the pros:
  • We get a VERY discounted rate for being teachers.
  • It's right down the road (across from Rita's)
  • The hours are really great.
  • With our membership--we get free Chipotle on Wednesdays.  Which means: If we go every Wed. we will get almost $60 of free food each month.  The gym membership has basically paid for itself!
  • They have lots of exercise classes: Which I LOVE!  Pilates and yoga and zumba and cycling!
Now I just have to cut down on the Rita's...

Sunday, October 3, 2010

I Heart Fall

Although summer is definitely my favorite season, I LOVE Fall!!!  Look at these images and try to tell me that this doesn't make you feel great.

On the list for this month:  Make lots of soups.  Go on some walks in the local parks and take pictures of leaves :-)  Break out some sweaters.  Watch movies under a blanket.  Roast chestnuts.  Buy a scarf.  Make pumpkin stuff (pie, cookies, pancakes, etc.)  Go to a WVU game.  Travel and visit some family.   Wish us luck!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

It's been raining here for days.  And days.  And days.

Although yesterday was a beautiful day!  We took a trip up to Long Neck, DE to visit some friends who were in town.  We went to Rehobeth and shopped, went to lunch, and hang out.  We had great weather!  And we got to see some friends who we don't get to see too often (and their 6mo old baby!).  It was fun!

We went to the Dog Fish Head restaurant for lunch and it was SO good.  Some of the BEST food I have had in a long time.  And there were plenty of their brews to choose from!

I officially moved my classroom last week and it took FOREVER!  It was nuts.  Now my new room is spacious and great, except it is a huge MESS!  I am not used to being disorganized, but I haven't had time to clean it or organize it yet.  It's driving me nuts because I don't know where anything is.  They didn't give me any paid time after school to move or set up, so I decided that it would all be done during school.  And I refused to give up any instructional time.  So my kids are having music class among a disaster.  It drives me crazy and they don't even notice!  Oh well.

I have my first performance this Saturday.  I am taking a large number of kindergartners to a local fair/festival thing to perform.  The performance is based on our Arts Integration theme this year, which is "China".  They are doing an "authentic" Chinese ribbon dance.  It is very cute and I think the parents will like it.  We will see how it goes!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Oprah, Michelle Rhee, The Today Show, & Waiting for Superman



It would take me forever to describe what happened this week on Oprah.  It was absolutely life-changing. Check it out for yourself:



Things I Want You to Know:
  1. Go see the movie, Waiting for Superman, the movie.  It IS the most important movie of the year.
  2. Read Oprah's Lessons in Education page and watch the videos.
  3. Learn about The Shocking State of Our Schools and find out what Michelle Rhee is doing about it.



NBC's Today Show visited Josh's School last week!  Ann Curry came to visit and do a special taping of a school that is "Doing What Works".  It will be featured next week on the Today Show's Education Nation Week.  Here are some articles from Worcester County Public Schools and Delmarva Now, our local newspaper, highlighting Ann Curry's trip to the eastern shore!

Ann Curry with a few of Josh's students 




















Watch the Today Show on Wednesday to see Josh's School, Pocomoke Middle!