Best Friends

Janna and her amazing family came up and spent Fall Break with Sara and I this past weekend. Let me tell you, I needed the break desperately and it was absolutely perfect to have them come up. (A very big thank you to them for sacrificing their Fall Break just to make my life better...) We ended up doing a lot of really fun things- The Utah State Historic Park, The Children's Museum, The Sorcerer's Apprentice (during which Josie held my hand and made me feel more comfortable and safe than I have for a while. She's really one of the coolest girls ever.), shopping, playing football, going to the park... All out awesomeness. Janna's kids are amazing- all of them. So unique and special in their own way. I'll probably get around to writing posts about all of them some time or another just because of that, but this one is specifically dedicated to her youngest: Miss Jainie Elizabeth Belle Thalman. 

Jainie and I have been pretty tight. However, lately she's been upset with me for not going home more often. It's stunk! No good at all. After spending the weekend though, she was getting back to her old self more and more. On the last day they were here, we went to the park and swung, doing the octopus- where one person sits normally and the other sits on their lap, facing the other person- making their legs go the opposite way (does that make sense?). We were swinging away and laughing and when we finished she said, "Linds, you're my best friend." In case the weekend hadn't been healing enough with Janna's advice and humor, and Jaxon's energy and wit, and Josie's tenderness and attitude, and Josh's sweetness and athletic macho-ness, and Jake's pure craziness and expression, this added the little extra I needed. Facing the week is do-able all over again. :) Whew!

(This is obviously from last winter, but I didn't take my camera with me this weekend, so... I just decided to put up a favorite of Jainie Belle and I...)

Books, Books, and More Books

Apparently when I'm stressed I decide it would be more advantageous to read for hours on end rather than work on the To Do list that should be filling that time. Logical sense, right? Yep... I know. Pure brilliance on this side of the computer. Anyway, I've read a couple books in the last few weeks that have left an impression (there have been others, but... don't want to bore you). 

Fallen

by Lauren Kate

  After a crazy stressful day at school I escaped to B&N and bought this (I'd heard recommendations). The premise is a doomed love affair with the whole 'fallen angel' angle thrown in. The main characters are destined to fall in love during each life, but once they find one another, the girl always gets killed, but is reincarnated so they can fall in love again in the next life. (Sounds sketchy, right? Up to this point I agree.) This life, however, is different and the entire battle of good vs. evil is brought to a point around them. 
Is the book going to win a Newbery award? Probably not. Is it entertaining? For sure. It has a lot of over the top drama with a little teenage angst and some dreaminess thrown in. There's romance, a little mystery and pretty good plot and character development. I'll probably end up reading the rest of the series, but... not until I get some other books out of the way. 

The Hero and the Crown

by Robin McKinley

While at B&N during that same stressed out spree, I happened to pass by the shelf that held the staff recommendations and this was on it. I'd never heard of it before, but it's about a dragon and a hero and fantasy and medieval and on top of all that, it was a Newbery winner... what more could I ask to recommend it to me? And.... I absolutely loved it! Honestly, it was great. Very well written with a complex plot that continues to twist and turn as you read. The story line is a very fantasy, so if you aren't into that, this isn't for you, but it's cohesive with lots of old legends involved, which of course made me love it even more. It has all the aspects of a book that make it a great teen read and I honestly would recommend it to anyone who likes the genre. The only thing I didn't like was one aspect of the end that didn't quite get tied up completely... at least to my liking. After you read it, we'll chat. I'm itching for someone to discuss it with... : )

Book orders just came in yesterday... you can bet I have a whole stack waiting on my book shelf again right now. In fact, I'm pretty sure I feel a pull from them... a need to immerse myself in one right NOW.

On Friday morning I was...

Getting ready to pass out the weekly vocabulary tests.

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Jumping at least two feet off the floor (exaggeration) and losing ALL the papers when my arms jerked because of said jump (not an exaggeration) when that blasted, annoying, buzzer-thing went off.

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Walking out into the rain with all of my students.

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Taking roll and having at least eight of my students, individually, ask me why I had to raise a red flag when I knew perfectly well the two kids missing were absent. 

"Umm... Ms. Oldroyd? Don't you remember...."

...

Giving my jacket to two students who were shivering and who then found a way to both fit inside, zip it up, and promptly forget that they would have to walk together. (Actually quite funny- it was like watching two four year olds try to master a three-legged race.)

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Getting my students back into the school without their writing on every dirty car window they could find.

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Gathering the scattered vocabulary tests and trying, in vain, to get the students back to thinking about words such as 'lionize' and 'dissension' and 'indifferent' so I wouldn't have to enter depressing scores like 6/15 into my computer. 

Teachers hate low scores probably more than students do.

...

Wondering why a fire drill could possibly cause this much drama.