So, longest week in the world. Glad the weekend has arrived.

I picked up two new books to read this week. One is called "Wicked - The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West" by Gregory Maguire. I'd like to say I'm reading it for enjoyment, but the real reason is because I fear the WWotW, and I have hopes that if I hear her side of the story, that little fireball incident won't seem so scary.

The other book is David Eddings "The Belgariad". I bought the first volume, which includes the first three books in the series. Haven't ventured very far into that one because Wicked caught my attention, but the first hundred pages have been very adventurous, and I'm rather pleased.

You know, I had this long post written about what's been happening at school the last week or so, and then blogger ate it. I refuse to rewrite the post, so I will find something else to discuss.

After sitting here for 10 minutes, I've discovered I have very little to say. Work is good, life is good. It's not that I don't have any complaints, but simply that complaining won't do any good, so I'll spare us both.

Ah, here we go. BLUE news! And of the best sort.. news about the stars and this wonderful (demented and sad.. but social) world in which we exist. News from the Hubble Telescope shows that there are approximately 400 BLUE stars in the center of the Andromeda galaxy. Where'd they come from? You'll have to read to find out.

EDIT: It seems blogger DID manage to save that previous post, so it's below as well. Wonders never cease.

School's been keeping me busy as of late, among other things. I've finally figured out a method that's working with my new set of students, and the last three weeks have been nothing but training.

Unlike last years group, this group is easier to control and manipulate (and that's not meant in a negative way.) They listen, they follow directions, and the parent involvement seems to have gone through the roof. The curriculum is set, and now all I have to do is follow the projected course and all should run smoothly.

The team of teachers I've been assigned that work under me has also changed dramatically since last term. The first of the set (teacher's aid) was removed from the class because of conflicts with the teachers assistant. No more arguing and disrupting Miss Smith's lessons! The teachers assistant took a three week vacation, and then got in a car accident, so she hasn't returned to work. What does this tell me? I work better by myself than I do when forced to work with two other teachers in the room. I've always know this, though. (It comes with being a perfectionist.)

The children seem to handle one teacher in the room better than two or three. When there are multiple adults in the room giving directions it seems to confuse them and cause chaos. They play the "Let's ask all the teachers until one of them lets me do what I want because one of them is bound to say YES" game. I find there's just too much leeway for confusion and error amongst the teachers. It makes for a disorganized, territorial, frustrating work/learning environment.

Today I took all of the children's pictures for a book we're making, and I also managed to teach them to rhyme, do a science experiment making sugar crystals (purple ones at that!), as well as redecorated the classroom windows by painting flowers on them. The children played on the outdoor roof, watched their new favorite Sesame Street video (old school style!), sang songs, you name it.

I love to see them smile.

Consolidate your student loans! Lock in the lowest interest rate in loan history! Yeah, that's great, but people who have combinations of loans that cannot be consolidated are tired of the hype. One of my two college loans was granted by a private company, thus Sallie Mae (the second lender) will not oblige my requests for consolidation.

Lucky me.

But I'll tell you this. If the companies who continuously send snail mail brochures, letters, and a variety of other annoyances daily would stop spending money on envelopes, printer ink, paper, and postage, THEY would have the money to pay off ALL the student loans in the WORLD.

I wouldn't be so quick to complain if 1. I could actually take them up on their offers, or 2. I only received one or two information packets in the mail per week. Unfortunately for me, that is not the case.

They'll be sorry once they bury me in snail mail and I can no longer dig my way out each month to make the payments. If any Ents have been harmed during this barrage of paper pushing, I'm going to be highly upset.

You know, it interests me to know where my blog is being read across this big wide world. So I'm playing with the idea of making a list of some sort on the sidebar with all the various locations, or perhaps a map of sorts.

I'm using sitemeter to track the location of my visitors. For those who are curious, here's a list so far:

Indianappolis, Indiana; Brooklyn, New York; Bangor, Maine; Toronto, Ontario; Paris, France; Releigh, North Carolina; Madison, Wisconsin; Kendallville, Indiana; Vienna, Virginia; Midvale, Utah; Leesburg, Florida; Eustis, Florida; Denver, Colorado; Potsdam, New York; Saint John, New Brunswick; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manchester, New Hampshire; Austin, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Fort Riley, Kansas;

Paris! Canada! and the U.S.A.! I am so easy to please.

A night for traditions.

For as long as I can remember, I have always found myself in front of the television over the Labor Day holiday. This is not due to the fact that it's a holiday weekend filled with movies we've all seen a million times, or because I simply don't have anything better to do. Oh no.

I share my birthday weekend with Jerry and his kids. For those of you who might not understand, the MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association) telethon takes place this time each year. To date, I've missed only one year, which came in the form of Hurricane Francis.

At any rate, each year Jerry Lewis and the MDA come into our homes for 21.5 hours via broadcasts from around the country. They bring love, entertainment, and tears all in small but mighty packages; the children's hearts. At the end of those few hours, millions of dollars have been raised and with any hope, millions of Jerry's kids as well. (Might I add that this year, a portion of the donations will be given to the relief effort aiding victims of Hurricane Katrina.)

Every year from the time I was very young, my aunt (mother's side) always called in and pledged money under the names of the children in our immediate family (myself, my brother and sister, and my cousin). A certain amount was given for each child (all healthy) the family was blessed with over the years; a sort of "thank you" in her own way.

The years have gone by quickly. This is the first telethon that all four of us have come of age (26, 25, 21, and 19.) However, the tradition will not end tonight, for I now have a beautiful, healthy godson.

Tonight, I take over the tradition. Bradley Ryan, this "thank you" is for you.