Contrary to popular belief, change can sometimes be good. Take a look around; the same old place with a brand new feel.

This was a shot of the sky in my neck of the woods (who am I kidding?) city this afternoon. How many of you remember sitting in seventh grade earth science listening to the teacher drone on and on about the different cloud formations you can see on a sunny day?

Well here they are again, how many can you see?
Cirrus
Cumulus
Stratus
Cumulonimbus

Decisions. Has anyone else ever spent years weighing the factors of a single choice, afraid of the unknown? You know that this situation you've landed yourself in is the most miserable place in the world, yet you can't bring yourself to escape for fear that it's the only chance you'll have and nothing will ever come after to take it's place?

You finally scrounge up the courage, put one foot in front of the other, and discover that you were completely wrong the entire time. How many of us have spent an eternity living unhappily, then realize out of the blue that there's no way on this green earth that you could be more annoyed and frustrated? So you draw the line. And guess what. There's a world full of options you never even knew existed.

I drew the line in May, and ever since have been wondering what it would be like to run into the cause of all that indecision one more time. What would I say? How would I feel? Would it all come flooding back? Was there a chance I'd be made weak again just by seeing a familiar face?

Nearly four months later (yesterday), I ran into, slam through, and right past all of the trouble that world had caused me for so many years. All the things I thought were for me, were nowhere even close. And you know what? He didn't phase me at all.

Another Friday come and gone. Another week come and gone as a matter of fact.

Nothing terribly exciting to report, unfortunately. I spent the week teaching my students nursery rhymes, complete with corresponding arts and crafts projects. Tomorrow is my coworkers birthday, so I made sure that the children "made" her a giant card with all of their names on it (as well as the names of the students from all the other classrooms). Then we got her carnations, and had the card and flowers waiting for her when she arrived at work this morning. She was thrilled. It's good to make people smile.

The weather has been exceptionally nice in the city this week as well. We got rid of the hot and humid summer weather that stretched through the beginning of August, and currently seem to be easing into a much more bearable fall climate. As I may have mentioned in previous years, fall suits me best. No sweltering, no freezing, just nice cool breezes and the smell of apple pies filling the air. Or is that only in my imagination?

What do you do with a child who won't listen or follow directions? Tickle them into submission! Blaze (who recently turned four-years-old) learned the hard way today. I called him to come so I could tie his shoes, he starred like I had eight heads. Again I called, "Blaze, come here!" Again Blaze looked at me like I was silly.

I felt like I was on the Cosby Show. "Come here. THAT is there. THIS is here! Come HERE!!!"

So, I eventually ended up crossing the room, chasing him down, and tickling him until he was gasping for air. The playful child that he is, he loved every minute and jumped up asking for more. Then, he called me Mommy by mistake. He does that from time to time. One of the happiest little boys I've had the pleasure of teaching.

It's times like those, when they're laughing like happy children should, that I remember a very important aspect of teaching. Sometimes you have to stop worrying about how they're learning, and start worrying about what they're learning. Of all the concepts they need to absorb in their lifetime, one of the most important is that there are people in this world who love them very much.

I heard the most awful pickup line today. It wasn't directed towards me, but to the mail carrier walking down the street as she passed a local barber shop. The guy looked at the woman (who was African American) and said "You should have an umbrella..." and the woman said "why?" and the man said "everyone knows what happens to chocolate when it stays in the sun too long.. it melts."

The rest of life is the same tune, just a different station. Tomorrow I may go pick up a new cd... Gavin Degraw, from right here in NYC. I approve of the Chariot song he sings.

Nothing more to report. You may now return to your regularly scheduled program.

As promised, here I am again today. Monday went well, I must admit. I was up at 6am for no apparent reason, and at work by 8am. The children weren't whining (which is always a blessing), so I actually managed to accomplish a good lesson. Here's how the day looked:

800am - Tracing practice (Aa apple Bb bear Cc cat) and writing their names
900am - Snack (also time for me to check up on the children I sent to Kindergarten this morning and find out why the custodial staff set off bug bombs and didn't cover the supplies up, making me throw out every cup, napkin, and spoon in the classroom)
930am - Circle time (what we call our group lesson) Calendar review and how to correctly write the letters A and B! Yay.
1000am - Finish tracing practice and color fish pattern to introduce the week's theme (fish, of course)
1100am - Books and puzzles!
1130am - Prepare for lunch (IE wash hands, set tables, wash more hands, "stop touching your shoes!!" washing more hands sigh)
1200pm/230pm -Lunch and Nap time
230pm - Snack (most of which I spent picking up grapes off the floor, work those fine motor skills kids!)
300pm - Numeracy practice (The children went "fishing", each pulling a fish I made out of a bucket and counting the number of holes I'd punched in each one.)
330pm - Time for me to go home and what they did after that I have no idea.

Maybe Zann will be up for some parcheesi!

At a prompting from a friend, Devin, from way back, I've decided to make a better attempt at posting here more frequently. I've been a bit lazy the last few months. So here's what's been happening in my world.

I've begun playing with a timeframe for my return to Florida. Funny how odd the deciding factors have become. The first being the need to be back in the state for my brother's wedding in November. The second is found in the form of a certain Hall of Fame concert that I must attend the weekend before the wedding. (Congratulations Dr. Adams!! You'll finally get to do the concert your way!)

There are other aspects that are being taken into consideration as well, such as the amount of bull I can deal with at work before I snap, as well as a certain someone's important decision making due in September (but that's all I'll say about that for now.)

So all in all, it looks like the chances of me having a Floridian Christmas are better than average. And there will be much rejoicing and horseback riding! The only quesiton is, who's going to come and get me?? Father/brother? Jason/Alex? I'm taking applications.

In other news, I've been completely engrossed in reading the last two weeks. So far I've gone through five books. I finished Ruled Britania by Harry Turtledove, A Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony, and then I finally started on the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter books (finishing the third one currently).

That's about it for now. More news tomorrow perhaps.