San Francisco...Aquarium of the Bay

One of the first days we were in San Francisco, we visited Aquarium of the Bay.  This aquarium is a lot cooler than the one in Utah...mostly because they have a tunnel you get to walk through and all the sea creatures swim over you.  I liked it a lot.  So much so, I made us walk through twice.

Jellyfish are probably one of the coolest sea creatures.

See, really cool, right?

I pretty much love starfish.

Especially when I get to pet them.

How many of you have seen the underside of a stingray?

Or pet one?  Probably a lot of you.  This really isn't that uncommon.

Why does this happen?  Because it looks cool, that's why.

We saw the octopi, octopuses, (I honestly have no idea what the plural of octopus is...I like octopi so that's what I'm going with.)  We saw two octopi...chilling in a crack in the wall.

As we began walking away, the guide in the tunnel said one octopus was moving and that was a very neat thing to see because they are usually very sedentary.  Awesome. I decided to call him Adventure Octopus.

Also, this octopus changes colors.  Red and white.  How neat is that?

Then it began to climb the glass tunnel.  It was super cool.

Here' a little video of Adventure Octopus.

Pretty cool, yes?

I really liked this place. 

San Francisco...The Beginning

We flew to Oakland (because it was waaay cheaper than flying to San Francsico) on Sunday afternoon. 

As we were getting off the plane I heard a little boy yell to his dad:
"Is this Sausalito?"
"No, we still need to go there."
"Are we going to WALK there?!"

It was funny in person, believe me.

My posts may not be in order.  While on vacation, I tend to get days mixed up.  Maybe it's because I'm having too much fun to keep track of the days maybe it's because I'm developing early onset Alzheimer's.  We don't know for sure.

I spent Sunday April 17th to Friday April 22nd in San Francisco with my dad, step-mom and brother Ethan.  Yes, after not quite 3 months of marriage, I took a vacation without my husband.  Bad choices all around.

I Am Still Alive...Promise

Dear Lovelies,

I realize I haven't blogged in ages and I realize that makes me a hypocrite because I bother many of you about not blogging on a regular basis. 

Here's why I'm not blogging much now, in a nut shell: My life is boring.

I've been off-track for about 2 weeks and let's face it, it's the 6th graders that make this blog even remotely entertaining. 

I've also had a week full of trainings (which while I found entertaining and educational, you will not be hearing about...snore fest!)

And I just got back from a trip to San Francisco...without the Husband.  It was an adventure.  I'll tell you about it later.

Please stay tuned.  I'll catch up eventually.


Hugs and flowers,

Ash H.

Ash H. is an Idiot: Story #3218

Scene: Early Saturday morning, Husband and I are standing in the bathroom getting ready.

Husband: "Can I talk you into coming with me [to fix cars]?  I could really use the help."
Me: "I have lots to do around here and I was going to run a few errands.  Don't you have some brothers that could learn how to do whatever it is you're doing today?"
Husband: "Please.  I'd really like to spend time with you today."
Me: "I really need to get stuff done.  I'm going to pass."

And pass I did.  In retrospect, I should have joined him.  I would have gotten just as much done.

Here's the story.

As Husband left, I began cleaning the house.  I quickly became bored and decided to run the errands I had planned.

As I was leaving I thought, "Man, I'm hungry.  I should have eaten lunch.  Oh, wait!  I have a coupon for a free sandwich at Chick-fil-a!  I'll just run in there and grab a sandwich then be on my way."

Bad choice.  I locked my keys in my car.  Ugh.  So I call Husband and say, "Guess what I did again."  (Yes, again.  This new-to-us '94 Sentra doesn't ding when the door is open and your keys are still in the ignition.  Dang 1994 and their cars that make it so easy to lock keys inside.) He thought I was going to say "killed the car" (I've also done that twice since December.  Maybe I should just get a bus pass.) I told him the story.  He told me he was up to his elbows in car parts and wouldn't be able to come save me for about an hour.  No big deal.  I'll just wander around the stores around the area.

I wondered through Shoe Carnival, Michael's, Sport Chalet, Michael's again and finally as a last resort, PetSmart.   I say it was a last resort because I'm not a big animal person.  I hate the way those stores smell, I hate....well, that might be it.  It's the smell.  Bleck!

Anyway, it was adoption day at PetSmart.  Despite my aversion to pets and horrible smells, I was thisclose...if you could see me you'd know I have my pointer finger and my thumb almost touching.  This close, people.  THISclose...to adopting an 11 year old lab.  His owner had died.  How sad.  This dog was just so sad.  You could see it in his eyes.  Oh, how I wanted to take him out of that tiny cage and love him and hug him and take him on walks.  He was just so sad and he definitely kept staring at me.  For real, peeps.  STARING.  He was for real trying to ESP me from his little dog brain "Take me home, Ash.  Take me.  You know you want to.  Look how cute but sad I am.  You're husband would like me too.  And I'd be perfectly happy in your little house with no yard...promise."

But I left without him.  I left with tears in my eyes.  I'm such a baby.

Just as I was leaving without my puppy soulmate, Husband called.  He came, unlocked my car and off he went.  And off I went to do my hours of errands in 1 hour.  Ugh.

Moral of the story: Just help your husband if he asks nicely.

President's Day

I know President's Day was over a month ago but I walk past a kindergarten Presidents Day bulletin board every day on the way to my classroom.  And everyday, I crack up when I read one certain student's writing.

The prompt: If I were president, I would...

That's right, Rule everybody!  

I can't wait for this future generation to be in charge.

April Fool's, Mrs. H!

I walked into my classroom today to find that I no longer had a desk.

My reaction?  "Ugh.  My desk." and immediately walked out to find RS and his crew of assailants.

They were nowhere to be found so I decided to talk to the janitor...he's always in on the practical jokes.  Unfortunately, he had no idea where my desk was.  As I walked in to show him, I noticed the camera taping my every move.

So I picked it up and said, "You think you're so funny, don't you?"  Then I heard it.   The laughter of a half dozen 12-year olds.   They had been standing outside the window peaking in and laughing the whole time. 

"You guys watch out" is what I told them in my most mischievous tone.  "You never know when I might get you back."

And get them back I did.  I gave them a "7th Grade Math Placement Test" with 9th grade honors curriculum on it.  I told them I wasn't allowed to help and any question that didn't have work shown would be graded wrong regardless of a correct answer or not...they also only got 30 minutes to finish.  (I should have made it 15, just to make them worry that much more.)

There were kids who were about to cry, there were kids who obviously just gave up, there were kids who whined, there were kids who tried really hard to figure things out, there were kids who sat and looked dumbfounded...it was glorious.

After the half-hour, they were distraught.  I thought about telling them about the joke before they went to lunch but why not let them squirm a little longer?

Next year, I will be prepared.  Next year I will have hilarious April Fools for my students.


Watch out class of 2012...

April Videos

This video contains a few swears...Watch at your own discretion....I warned you.



Here's one my lovely husband told me about...