Track Changes?

I found out today that I can change tracks next year if I want to. I'm tempted. I'm really tempted.

Let's measure the pros and cons of changing tracks.

PRO:I'll have a long summer.
CON: I won't have the huge Christmas break and I'll work on my birthday instead of having a whole month to contemplate all the things I want people to buy for me.

PRO: This track tends to have more parent involvement.
CON: This track tends to have more parent involvement.

PRO: Less behavior problems.
CON: I tend to like the behavior problem kids and work really well with them.

PRO: I was on this track in elementary school and it was the best.
CON: I'm off for Halloween.

PRO: I'm always on for 9 weeks at a time instead of 6 or 3 weeks (really, this year I go off track then come back for 3 weeks then the school year's over. How many 6th graders are going to continue to work? Ummm....1...maybe...if I'm really lucky.)
CON: I won't have siblings of my students.

PRO: I hear this class coming up is kind to each other.
CON: (I cannot think of one)

PRO: This class tends to stay at the school and not move out at random times throughout the year.
CON: (I cannot think of one)

PRO: I'll have lots of time to prepare for next year.
CON: (I cannot think of one)

This list shows that I should go for it. I'm going to sleep on it and talk to my principal on Monday. This is so exciting!

Good Morning, Mr. Winter

I woke up to this:

a light dusting of snow...

Hello! It's April 29th, Mother Nature. We had to have 2...TWO...inside recesses today because you decided this dusting was not enough. Nooooo...little Miss has to snow all. freaking. day! I expect you to clean up your act Missy! May will be here on Saturday. I expect compliant weather.

Oh, Curse Word!

As you all probably know, Wednesday is Free Pie Day at Village Inn. Obviously, we had to go.

The rules are that you have to buy something to get your free pie. There were three of us there. Here is our order:

• French fries
• Toast
• Orange juice
• English muffin

Big spenders. Apparently there are restrictions on what kind of pie you can get also. Basically it's all the disgusting pie that no one ever buys for real. I swear it used to be any pie they sold. Whatev...it's free pie.

Everything was fine until we went home. Our keys would not work. Really. Watch the video.




Because I'm not a swearer but really needed to swear, this is where I said, "Curse word!!" We tried to do all kinds of things to this lock. Mostly it was just putting the key back in and trying again...and going insane, much like Albert Einstein said, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."

After much turmoil and curse wording, my little sister was finally able to break in. Don't ask how, just know that if we ever turn to a life of crime, breaking and entering will be our first choice.

What do I do? Replace the lock? Call a locksmith? What's the cheapest option?

Short List

My friend and I were talking recently about our lists. You know, the list. The one you have been writing since you were 10-years-old, the one with the gaggle of things you want in a spouse. We realized that as we get older, our lists become shorter but there are certain things that we will not compromise on.

Here's my list: (you've heard some of these before)

• Handy (in a carpenter kind of way...not a "I touch everyone inappropriately" kind of way)
• Handsome (in a "Ash J. thinks I'm hot" kind of way not a "Every girl on the planet wants to jump my bones" kind of way)
• Active in and has a testimony of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
  
• Knows the difference between their, there, and they're; two, to, and too; and your and you're

If you don't know the difference between these very simple homophones, either figure it out or don't even try getting with this. It's not going to happen.

Ok, I'm lying. If he fits the first 3 criteria I would teach him the differences between each of these oh so important homophones.

Does that drive anyone else crazy or am I just nuts?

Miss J. the Rock Star

On the way to library today, I told my class that I finished my M.Ed. classes for the semester.

They clapped and cheered and gave me high fives. I felt like a rock star.

Two Things

1. I just finished my first year of master's classes. Feel free to give me a round of applause or mounds of cash.

2. High wind + being allergic to almost everything = wanting to punch the world.

Happy Birthday Bloggy!

Here's my year in review:

I finished student teaching.

I gave great Father's Day and Mother's Day present advice.

I had a goal to read 45 books in 90 days (it's been way more than 90 days and I've only read 44...sad face.)

I got a freaking awesome job.

I graduated.

I decorated my first classroom.

I handled my first puke in the classroom experience without puking myself.

I got a blood clot (boo, Sherman you creep! I'm glad you're gone!)

I cried a lot.

I cut all my hair off...twice-ish

I didn't get the swine flu.

I moved into my new house.

I got a Snuggie for Christmas.

I found a new singles ward and spoke in sacrament meeting on my 4th day.

Things annoyed me.

My bathroom ceiling fell in.

I wrote about my students all. the. time.

My heart was bruised and broken due to school issues.

I celebrated my birthday.

I gave up soda.

I finished one year of my Master's...one more to go!

And there you have it bloggy friends. My year wrapped up in a neat, cyber package.

Earth Day Rocked My Organic and Fully Compostable Socks Off

We had an Earth Day Party. It was amazing. Next year you need to come for sure. To answer your question, yes, we are making it an annual celebration.

The day began with me making super-amazing Earth-like cupcakes. Look how much fun I'm having.

It totally looks like Earth, right?

(Side note: My roommate, Jenny, had a baby shower for her sister about a month ago. We still had a bunch of tiny, plastic babies sitting around the house.)

We decided to put a baby in two of the cupcakes...one for a test and one for a surprise.



This is us making sure putting a tiny, plastic baby into a cupcake won't kill anyone because we all like our friends and didn't want to injure them in any way...we didn't take the choking hazard into account though.




I turned some of these fabulous Earth cupcakes into the continents. Shhh...Australia is the one with the baby in it.




Jenny's brother-in-law was the lucky recipient of the baby cupcake.


He won this pineapple. He was so excited.

Once people began to eat the cupcakes, we had to begin to get creative with our messages.

Happy Darth, ay...

Happy Tar or if you prefer...

Happy rat.

Did you know that the bag from Sun Chips is now 100% compostable? These obviously had to be at our party.

At the end of the night, we decided to see what would happen if we turned on the fan while the streamers were still attached to it and the walls. Here is the result.




I realize this video is not as funny as we thought it was in the moment. Give us a break ok, it was 1am.

Visa debit cards, Justin Bieber and "Owned Dissigens"

Here's the prompt:

If you could be one age for a week, what age would you be? Why? What would you do?

These are some of the gems I received today:

K. (of this lovely and this lovely) said: "If I were a age I want to be 18 so I can join the army. I would go to the gym and get a Visa debit card."

L. (featured here): "I would turn 13 or 14 then I would try to go out with Justin Bieber. These are my two reasons. 1. because he's totally cute. 2. It would seen fun to be as old as my brother and I would only be that old for a week."

and J. (our newest overheard at school contestant!): "I would like to be 18 cuz then you would be able to do your owned dissigens (decisions if you don't read 6th grader) and I would start working to by my own stuff and not ask my parents for anything. Then I could move and get my own place and even if this doesn't happen, I plan to be responsible for what I do and not blame any1 for my actions. But first I plan to live my childhood I don't wanna grown that fast but then agen (again for those of you who can't keep up) it's just one week."

Man. I love their thinking!

*All spelling mistakes are what the 6th grader actually wrote, I wanted this to be authentic...please take off your judging pants before you call me on it.

Speed Dating

When was the last time someone asked you out while driving down the road?

If your name is Ash J. the answer is today. Yep, that really happened.

I Can't Believe I'm Admitting This

If you've even read a few of my posts, you've probably figured out that lots of things make me cry. Well, today I took my crying over ridiculous things to a new level.

It started innocently enough. I was watching videos on YouTube and in the related videos section, I saw this one. I had seen it many times before (I even blogged about it here) and because it makes me immensely happy, I clicked and watched and smiled...for about the millionth time.



Then, I remembered that when Jim and Pam got married on the Office, they did the same thing and it was so funny. So I looked to see if it was available on YouTube. It is. I was happy.



About half way through, the tears began. Seriously? Yes, seriously. I was crying like my best friends who had loved each other forever were getting married. It was ridiculous.

And there you have it...another example of how I am a huge baby.

Oil Cleansing: 15 Days Later

I began the oil cleansing method on April 3. Here is a picture from tonight (yes, I realized that it's from the other side but whatever). Look how much better my skin looks already.



I'm beginning to be a believer.

Legos Have Birthdays?

I woke up early this morning thinking "Happy Birthday, Legos."

This was so important to me in my sleepy 2 am brain that I even wrote it down.



I remember thinking "This has to be important. I should write it down so I don't forget." Well, I didn't forget but I still haven't figured out how it could be important.

If You Drink Tampico, You are Rich

F: "Why don't we go on lots of field trips? It's because our school is poor, huh. We're One Title or something aren't we? What does that even mean?"

Me: "Our school is a Title One school. It just means that we are..." [L interrupts]

L.: "We're so poor we can't even afford Tampico."

6th grader logic, if you can afford Tampico, you are rich.

The truth...I can afford Tampico but I am not rich.