Well I've had quite the interesting morning. I had to go get a TB test done today (those of us who work with small children or the elderly etc are required to have them once a year.) I've been putting this off for four months now, but it finally caught up with me and today was the day.

What I haven't told you is that I react poorly to immunization for some strange reason. I've come to believe that it's not because I'm afraid of the needle, but possibly just the anxiety I experience from the whole ordeal. I'm not very fond of doctors offices, and have managed to pass out the last three times I've gotten a shot. Yay. You can imagine the stress.

So I went down there today and got my shot after warning the doctor that I tend to pass out after these visits. He told me that if I passed out he was going to take advantage of me, and lord I'm glad I knew he was joking. So he gave me the test, drew an annoying circle with pen around my newly wounded arm, and gave me the don't wash it or scratch it speech. Off I was sent down the hall to hand in my paperwork, and upon arriving I said "I need to sit down." The nurse asked if I was ok, I managed to squeak "Pass out" and I sat down and put my head between my knees.

A few minutes later, feeling better, I stood up to try speaking with her again, reaching the same outcome, and ending up back in the chair assuming the position aforementioned. Finally I managed to stand up and walk out of the office, but with a terrible stomach ache.

The story doesn't end there folks. The doctors office, being about 12 blocks from my house, I had to take the bus. While waiting for the bus, a rather large man on a bicycle attempted to pick me up. After politely declining and pulling my hand away from his (which he wouldn't let go of after shaking hands with me on our meeting) I jumped on the bus and left.

What a day.

Why is my page not loading? Why does blogger stink? Why do I work with 3 and 4 year olds all day long? I'm tired. G'night.

So here's the news for the day: my children drove me crazy at school; my teaching aid called out sick again; I went into the city by myself (first night trip alone ever) and picked up R.A. Salvatore's "The Lone Drow" which came out today; watched The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown on tv.

I'm really excited to see the movie Radio (Ed Harris; Cuba Gooding Jr.) that came out recently. It looks like such an incredible story, especially since it's based on an actual person, not a fictional character. I have an uncle who is handicapped and that seems to draw me to the movie for one reason or another. I learned a lot of my compassion through hearing stories of how people treated him growing up, and watching how people treat him to this day.

When my uncle was about a year and a half old, he contracted Eastern Equine Encephalitis. There have only been 200 reported cases in the nation since 1964. In severe cases, it causes swelling of the brain. This is what happened to my uncle and the swelling caused scar tissue to build up near the base of his spine, which damaged his brain. To this day, although he is 50 years old, he has the mentality of a 10 year old. His reflexes are much slower than the average person, making it impossible for him to drive (although he's attempted it more than once much to everyone's demise.) He also has very poor balance, but at the same time, he is ten times stronger than the average man.

At any rate, I'm looking forward to seeing the movie. I hope people can watch it and relate to the lessons being taught, as I learned so many important lessons from my uncle. (My little sister has seen it all ready, and claims it to be a wonderful movie, if you needed proof before you run to the theater. Go! Shoo! What are you waiting for?)

Three cheers for the team that beat the Yankees! Hip Hip! Horaaay! (any time would suffice... it matters not that it was the Marlins.)

By day, I am a preschool teacher.

By night, I am Leila Swiftbow, Half-Drow Ranger, Dungeons and Dragons player. I had a great time at the game yesterday. There was only a small time frame of incessant giggling after three glasses highly caffeinated 7up surged through my veins, but it passed quickly and the game continued. And you all wonder why I don't drink? Look what caffeine does! (Plus all those brownies.. I'm too good a cook for my own good.)

Today I managed to run my four miles or so, (to rid myself of the brownies and caffeine) and now I am pleading with the Marlins to win game 6 of the World Series. I'm not rooting for the Marlins because I lived in Florida for the first 22 years of my life (although that would be a more logical excuse than the my actual reason). I'm rooting for them because the Yankees were absent they day of kindergarten where they taught the children how to share. Give someone else a turn, you brutes!

Last but not least for this evening's rant: I'm discovering that being a long-distance big sister is just as difficult as being a long-distance girlfriend. They each suck in their own special ways. Hang in there Bubba.

A day in the life of Grace follows. You have been warned.

0900am - Walk into classroom; greet children; serve children snack
0905am - Watch teaching aid leave classroom
0915am - Begin cleaning up snack mess; insist that children pick up toys from morning play; greet more children
0930am - Continue greeting children; begin morning lesson; spend half an hour refocusing children with ADD.
1000am - Finish morning lesson; Begin morning craft project; Break up fights over who gets what paintbrush etc
1015am - Get discouraged because children are gluing items in wrong places; Listen to "He kicked me!" over and over
1030am - Postpone morning craft project until afternoon; Send children to use bathroom; Teaching aid returns from extended break; Assistant teacher arrives at school
1035am - Continue sending children to bathroom; Dress children in winter gear for outdoor play; Tie all laces before leaving.
1050am - Walk children to park; Keep them from harms way, as they enjoy running in front of traffic
1100am - Arrive at park; Watch teachers aid leave for extended break number 2 of the morning; Clean scrapes and referee fights between children
1140am - Teaching aid returns from extended break; Line children up; Make sure all laces are tied
1145am - Walk back to school; Watch for cars; Teaching aid disappears again
1150am - Send children to wash their hands; Watch children wash their hands and THEN use the bathroom, leaving without washing their hands; Send children BACK to wash their hands again; Teaching aid returns from whatever number break it is this time
1200pm - Serve children lunch; plead with children to eat lunch; feed children who refuse to eat; Wave as teaching aid leaves for the day
1230pm - Clean up after lunch; send children to bathroom; wash tables, sweep floors
1235pm - Begin pulling cots out of closet and setting them about the room for rest time
1245pm - Help children spread sheets on cots; look for missing sheets; run children out of the cubby every 30 seconds
0100pm - Break time; Leave long enough to run to the corner and get a soda; return to school; dodge administrators attempting to pawn their work off on me
0130pm - Complete paperwork needing to be done for the day; Update children's files; Fuss at children to go to sleep
0145pm - Continue fussing for children to go to sleep
0200pm - See 145pm.
0215pm - Thank the Heavens that children finally went to sleep
0225pm - Wake children up from nap; drag children who just went to sleep off cots; fold up sheets; return cots to closet
0235pm - Coax sleeping children lying on floor to get up and put on their shoes; tie all shoe laces
0245pm - Serve children snack; continue to fuss at children to put on their shoes
0300pm - All children are eating snack, or dropping it on the floor, or spilling milk; clean up spills because children have no common sense
0315pm - Clean up snack mess; wash tables; sweep floors; send children to meeting area for afternoon lesson
0325pm - Begin afternoon lesson (which assistant teacher is supposted to be teaching but doesn't for unknown reasons); teach children reading, writing, arithmetic; refocus children's attention every 15 seconds
0345pm - Afternoon puzzle activities; play games; sing songs; etc.
0400pm - Free play time for children; Continuously tell children to pick up toys off of floor
0415pm - Watch clock, waiting for 430pm; Remind children to pick up toys off of floor; break up fight number 34985 of the day
0430pm - Tell children good bye; leave for home

Now you understand why I became furious this morning when, during a teacher meeting with the director, my assistant teacher complained that I don't include her in my lesson plans. I politely explained that I shouldn't have to come to her, (as she suggested) and ask "Is there anything you would like to do with the children this week?"

I have enough to deal with between the children and the other teachers' laziness. I shouldn't have to ask if she would like to do her job. If she wants to start a project, then fine, go right ahead, I'm not stopping her. But when they're out of the room 9 times out of 10, and never put forth an effort to help me in the classroom, why should I include them? I'm working to take care of young children, not old children as well.

I don't do everything by myself because I want to, but because I have to. I'll be damned if I'm going to let 20 three and four-year-olds run around the room all day playing and driving me crazy because they can't organize a lesson. I'm here to teach children, not to sit on my ass.

Thank you.
::steps down off soap box::

Guess who I saw last night at the Olive Tree in the village.... follow this link to find out. Celebrity Spotting

I broke down yesterday, due to extreme pain, and bought a pair of boots in Time Square (otherwise known as The Land of Everything Which is Overpriced). Here's the shortened version of the story.

I decided to wear my MaryJane shoes to Friday's little get-together. I had to dig the shoes out of the bottom of the shoe pile in the bottom of my closet. I was soon to remember exactly why these cute little shoes were buried under every other pair of shoes I own.

Tomorrow is my father's birthday. He'll be 48 years old, if I remember correctly. So here's to you Dad! May this be only one in many more birthdays to come.

I don't know if I should scream at the Yankees and the Marlins for winning, or scream at the Cubs and the Red Sox for losing. They're lucky I'm not in charge. I'd fire them all and start over. Punks.

8 runs in one inning?! Give me a break Cubs! You're killin' me!

Well the last two days have been interesting to say the least as far as work is concerned. Yesterday being a holiday, I only had eight of my students attend school, which was fine by me. The low attendance made working on a holiday slightly easier to bear. I did receive a new student yesterday. Her name is Brandy, and she is three years old. Brandy is a little confused, however. Let me explain.

How do I put this without offending anyone? There is very little diversity in my workplace as far as race is concerned. Ok, I am the "little" in the "diversity" in that statement. All of my coworkers and 98% of the children at the center are African American. This is Brooklyn, remember? I, on the other hand, am as white as they come. Now, of course, little Brandy has yet to discern the difference between white, and Spanish. Meaning, because of my skin complexion and the fact that she probably has not been around anyone who has been anything but Spanish, she has tagged me as such, and has come to the conclusion that I speak fluent Spanish.

This had made for several impromptu Spanish lessons the last several days, thanks to the help of Miguel, the custodian. I have learned how to say "sit down" "bathroom" "write your name" "look!" "what is it?" "see you tomorrow" and a variety of other small phrases. I'll have the vocab of a four-year-old Spanish-speaking child in no time at this rate.

I also have a new little girl in my class named Tristan. She, however, is not "little". I'm talking 50lb three-year-old here. Amazingly enough, I've yet to see her eat but one bite of lunch. It makes me wonder what she's eating at home.

In other news. I find dwarves (the Tolkien/R.A.Salvatore type) highly amusing. They are sarcastic, witty, and angry all rolled into one. Quite the dangerous combination, although I can relate to their sarcasm more than I'm willing to admit.

Blah. I have a toothache. It's not a typical toothache either, which annoys me. It's the occasional sharp pain on the top set of teeth. It doesn't happen when I chew, it doesn't happen when I drink hot or cold liquids, it happens whenever the hell it feels like it. This makes no sense.

I'd run to the dentist if it was constant pain, or even regular pain, but we're talking about one or two pains every hour or so... sometimes none for hours on end. I'm hoping that it's just my wisdom teeth. Then there's the possibility of cavities. At any rate, I think I'll be making a trip to the dentist soon. Just to get a check up and see what's going on in there. I know they'll make me take out my top wisdom teeth, and I've been avoiding that for four years now. The extraction of the bottom wisdom teeth was a nightmare, and I'm quite afraid of returning to any dentist at all.

I pray the pain goes away by tomorrow and I can just add it to the days of annoying pain my wisdom teeth cause. If not, well then we'll see what I can do about getting down to the dentist next week. Can't mess with your teeth people, especially if you need them to play saxophone with.. loosing teeth is not an option.

Apple picking with the rugrats tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes... my guess is something like this "Are we there yet!?! He took my apple! I can't reach! Pick me up! That's my basket! Leave me alone!" Mutter.

Ambition and drive. That's what it's taken to get me through this day. 19 screaming, complaining, three and four-year-olds, a lot of exercise, and realizing it's only Tuesday will all drain you of any energy in record time. I actually woke up tired this morning. Of course, that is to be expected when I stay up late reading. Who can put down R.A. Salvatore's The Thousand Orcs? I must have my daily dose of Drizzit (or at least until Lord of the Rings - Return of the King is released.)

I now understand what my mother meant when she used to fuss at my siblings and I for not listening. She would claim "You hear what you want to hear, and nothing else!" while we explained we really didn't hear her ask us to let the dog outside during one of our favorite cartoon episodes.

I find myself repeating the same directions many, many times in order to get a response from each child in my classroom. "If you would like a cup of milk, come to the table and get one." I must have said that phrase fifty times this afternoon. Much to my dismay, I was still pelted with "Miss Smith! I want some milk! You didn't bring me any!" Mutter. I'm your teacher, not your slave. Reading, writing, arithmetic. No where in that phrase does it say I must be your maid.

Now I know how mom felt (feels). It's funny the things we forget about when we grow a little older, and how we are reminded of them in the most annoying way possible. Paybacks are hell.

It's been a long day, and I'm a tired girl. The cold weather that we've been having the last several days is really beginning to get to me. I'm not ready to freeze. All I want to do is curl up under a warm blanket, or cook a lot of food. I'm not sure why, but that's what I feel.

There are many school related stories I can tell that occurred this week, but I'm not up for a long-winded post tonight, so I'll give you the short version.

• A recieved a memo stating that so long as the temperature outside is above 32 degrees F, I am required to take my class outside, not once, but twice, a day (45 minutes each trip).


• A child shoved a bead into his ear after stashing it in his pocket during a morning counting lesson. It was removed by two administrators and myself. Two to hold the child down, one to fish out the bead.


• My ever absent teacher's aid managed to be present in the classroom 10% of the time that is required of him.

I also managed to run into the door frame this evening. Yes, it's always been there. I turned around to go through it, and missed, completely. What's a little skin anyway?