Last day well wishes...

Teachers always get funny little things from students for the holidays and end of the year. I got a lot of really great stuff this year. A lot of gift cards, flowers, plants, chocolates, lotions, etc. My room moms got money donated from parents in the classroom and bought me several hundred dollars worth of new books I had hinted I wanted for a teaching program I've been using. We have a great community where I teach and I feel truly blessed.

Students also write the funniest cards and notes. Below are the top three from this morning's bon voyage.

"Dear Miss Chidester, thank you for being the best teacher in the world. I love you because you care about me and you care about the class. I love you and I will miss you when I go into 2nd grade. I will come to your classroom every day. Well maybe not every day but I will come and see you a lot. I love you!"

This is hilarious!! It's by far my favorite.

(it would have been nice had it come from Cary Grant!)

"You're a rose that smells like a daisy. You bloom so beautiful in my eyes. You are so beautiful I can't take my eyes off you! Love, Faith. To Miss Chidester"

This little note accompanied some lotion and body spray from Victoria's Secret. You need that little piece of info to understand it.

"Dear Miss Chidester. From Bella. You are the best teacher ever so you deserve something special something that smells good. Makes you smell good even though you already smell good. Love Bella J."

TGIF - Thank Goodness It's Finished!

Don't get me wrong... I have LOVED my kids this year and really enjoyed them. But, I am ready for a little R&R. My classroom is all cleaned and ready for my summer hiatus.

Can you believe there are 29 desks, 29 chairs, an easel, overhead projector and cart, and various other crap smashed into that corner? 

R.I.P. until August, my favorite occupation!

Tour de What, Where, When?

So, I have to post something that my brother Brian brought up to me the other day which I found quite funny. To his credit, Brian can say some pretty clever things. This was his observation that is so true I needed to pass it along...

Why is it that everyone who rides a bike on the street these days is decked out in biker gear? Obviously many of these people are not serious about bike riding but they sure dress like it. Bright yellow spandex plastered with name brands. I'm with Brian... it's weird. Seriously, take a look around as you're out and about and notice this strange but real phenomenon. What gives?

I say, let's leave the uniform to the people who do it as a profession.

You don't see people who drive white cars dressed as police officers.

Go Lance Armstrong!

Joy...

I am thrilled that today is Friday. 

Even more thrilled that it will be a long weekend.

Overjoyed that there are only 4 more days of school left.

That's all. I just needed to say that.

Life is good.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Pot... the legal kind

So I have about 15 or so pots that are scattered throughout my backyard. I love to plant flowers in the ground around them and then in the pots as well. I haven't gotten THAT far yet this spring, but my front yard is 100% finished now (I'll post those pictures later) and it's time to move my focus and energy into the backyard.

To quote the Homestar Runner...

"Yard work is hard work" 

In addition to flowers, I decided this year to plant a few vegetables in really large pots on my back patio. I haven't really done this before so it's my first attempt. 

This is a few of the baskets that hang off the deck in my backyard.

More pictures from the back deck.

Look! I'm already getting a little color on the strawberries. Success!

This would be a Roma tomato plant. Gotta love the sacrament meeting Mother's Day gift.

Cilantro on the left, and an Early Girl tomato on the right.

My small patio garden. A work in progress. 

I think the central air conditioner in the picture is a nice finishing touch, don't you?

SWF seeking nice guy...

This morning as my students are silently reading, one of the girls looks up and blurts out...

Student: "Miss Chidester, why aren't you married?"

Me: "Because I'm not. Is it okay that I'm not married?"

Student: "Yeah. But how come you didn't get married?"

Me: "Well, why did your mom get married?"

Student: "Because she met my dad and married him."

Me: "Well, I didn't meet your dad so I couldn't marry him."

She looked at me completely confused, and a minute or two went by.

Student: "Miss Chidester?"

Me: "Yes?"

Student: "What kind of a guy do you think you'll marry?"

Me: "What?"

Student: "What kind of a guy?"

Me: "I haven't met him yet so I'm not sure."

Again... she looks at me totally confused.

Student: "Will he be a nice guy?"

Me: "Yep. I am going to marry a nice guy."

Student (with a big smile on her face): "I knew it!!"

And that was that. Somehow, the deepest darkest question of this seven year old got answered. And I sat there for a minute and thought to myself... yeah, I'm staying single until I meet a nice guy!

Annoyed (and slightly hungry)...

Okay. I am totally "on one"since lunch today. I'm not really mad about what happened, just annoyed. So, I've been doing this new way (for me) of eating for about 2 1/2 months now. It's not a crash diet or anything, but I've become a lot more conscience of what goes in my mouth, and come to a realization of just how little I need to consume to get through the day. I've pretty much cut out sugars (other than what occurs naturally in food) and eliminated any junk. I'm eating about 4 servings of fruit per day and have about the same number of servings of vegetables. Don't get me wrong... I am FAR from healthy and am certainly not eating like a "health nut" or anything. I haven't cut out food groups or gone radical with things. I'm just saying "no" to a lot of the things I want, and trying to eat more of the things I should. So far, I've lost almost 30 pounds.

Today at lunchtime I went into the faculty room to eat my lunch. I open the cupboard and I cannot find my food bar... aka my lunch. It's not in the cupboard where I had put it a few hours earlier (I put one there every morning). So I sat down and began to eat my salad (I bring a small one from home everyday) and decided to get up and look again for my lunch bar. It was my favorite raspberry flavor too! After a little sleuthing, I finally found it! There, in the garbage can, was the wrapper of my $4.00 meal bar that someone else had obviously enjoyed. No evidence of the bar, just the wrapper. What the hell?! Who opens a cupboard and eats someone else's stuff? That is just weird to me. I've taught at this school for 2 years and never had anyone eat my lunch before. I thought it was so odd. So, I taped the wrapper to a piece of paper and wrote a note that say's something like "please don't eat food that doesn't belong to you" and proceeded to write a small paragraph about how I hope someone enjoyed my lunch. I posted my little note on the cupboard door where my lunch bar once resided.

Weird.

So here's my question... at your place of employment, would YOU eat something that didn't belong to you if you found in a cupboard. I'm talking anything... granola bar, candy bar, unopened soda?

Would you?

Mother's Day (the first grade way)...

As part of our Mother's Day present this year, I'm having my kids write to their moms. We had a big lesson about specific sentences versus generic ones. I really encouraged the kids to write the specific reasons they love their moms, and not just that "they're nice". So, they did! 

Here are a few of my favorites...

"I love you because you're really good at being nice"

Do you think she listened to the lesson?

I guess the words "really good" made it specific.

"I love you because you give me comfort"

Ummm... he spelled it comfart. Cute!

"I love you because you are the best in the house"

At what? We're not sure. Just the best.

"I love you because you make hot dogs even though you don't like them"

Who likes those things anyway?!

"You are always nice to me everyday"

Specifically, everyday. Lol!

"I love when you make me smile because you're crazy"

I'm glad she specified the crazy part. That's just fun!

"I love you because you always make me laugh when I am sad. You play with me and Chase (her brother). You're always kind to everyone and barely get mad at me"

"I love you because you make stuff"

Umm.... NOT at all specific... but considering the student, adorable!

My personal favorite...

"Dear Mom, I love you because you let me sometimes not do my hair on Saturday"