Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The Mouse Saga Continues

When we got home from our Christmas travels, we walked into our house to find that we had been overrun by mice. The entire place. All rooms. So we got even more serious in our mouse-catching attempts. We set out traps and glue boards everywhere. We were rewarded in our efforts with the capture and killing of two mice.

Now, I enjoy going to work every morning (even those mornings when I'm 30 minutes late), mostly because I enjoy the company of my kiddos. However, there is that extra little added bonus of being in a mouse-free environment for eight hours a day. Today, that joy was stolen from me.

I was eating breakfast at the table with my kids (all three of them...big crowd), when I heard screaming erupt from the kitchen. I tend to consider my work environment to be a sane one, so this was a little more than out of the ordinary. I looked around to see none of my fellow teachers willing to leave their place of safety and investigate, so I took it upon myself to rush to the aid of my distressed coworker. Upon entering the kitchen, I saw my administrator standing in the middle of the kitchen holding a broom to the floor, screaming her head off. I vaguely heard something about "mouse" and pretended I didn't hear it. "What's wrong" I inquired as calmly as possible. "Mouse...in trap...not dead...caught under broom!" She lifted the broom minutely, and I saw it. Indeed...mouse...in trap...not dead. I bravely grabbed another broom and asked her to hold still. I shall leave the rest up to your over-active imaginations and spare you the details. After disposing of said mouse, I was informed that there was another trap in the cabinet. I bravely asked my boss to ready her broom and slowly opened the door. There, to my horror and wonder, was yet another mouse half caught in a trap. It began it's frantic and frenzied rush around the floor. I told the broom holder to "get it!" The mouse quickly met it's demise and joined it's brother in the trash.

Needless to say, I never expected such a task to fall under my teaching duties, but when faced with a challenge, I'm always ready to rise to the occasion.

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Holiday Busyness

Thursday night, Blair and I attended the King's Singers concert at ECU. The concert was amazing. They did mostly Christmas music, and it was all done so beautifully. There were moments of comedy, too, and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

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Friday, we had a Christmas party in my classroom. My kids had a blast. My students and parents were very generous in their gifts and Christmas wishes. I also worked on this glove at naptime. It is now finished and in need of its mate. I'm working on that and hope to have it done in a couple of days.

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This week, I need to spend the week packing and wrapping gifts. I only have four days of school this week, and then Blair, the dogs, and I will all be on the road back home. And now, I'll leave you with some images of the season.

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Thursday, December 4, 2008

A busy day

My class of three-year-olds took their first trip today. We went to the big library in town for a field trip. Might I just say that my kids were the best.

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After tutoring today, this is what I saw on the way home.

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Monday, December 1, 2008

Christmas in my Classroom

I apologize in advance for the poor lighting in my room. I got the place decorated for winter (it's easier than Christmas because I can leave it up until March). I started reading winter/snow/Christmas books today (Owl Moon and The Polar Express), and they are loving it!!

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Sunday, November 30, 2008

Thursday, November 27, 2008

Thanksgiving

Blair and I have had a nice Thanksgiving. It's the first one we've had with it being just us. Wednesday night, we played Risk (I actually won!). I got up at 6:00 Thursday to put in the roast, but then I went back to bed and slept late. When we got up, I got right to work on lunch. Here's what we had for lunch:

Mulled Wine

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A roast with carrots and potatoes

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Sweet potato casserole

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Fudge

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Cheese ball

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and eventually, an apple crisp.


Not a fancy table, but since we don't have a dining table it worked.

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Blair did all the dishes all day (what a sweetie).

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Wednesday I went to Michael's and picked up some candles thinking I was splurging on two $9.00 candles. When I checked out, they rang up for $.89 a piece! They smell so wonderful, and really make it seem like a holiday inside.
We had a nice iChat video session with Matt, Karen, and my parents, and then spent the afternoon and evening studying, knitting, and watching football.

Sunday, November 23, 2008

A long week

My grandfather passed away Monday, and Blair and I drove all the way to Arkansas over the course of two days. Here are some shots of our LONG journey.

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