Birthday Selfie

Our hotel balcony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea!

Time Traveling

Time zones are weird and disorienting. I'm exhausted and it's 4 am but I can't go back to sleep. Also it's my birthday already here (though it's still 9pm yesterday at home). 

Yoga in JFK

Just did 20 minutes of yoga at the B41 gate at JFK airport while waiting for our flight to Tel Aviv. Guess I'm as ready for this 12 hour flight as I'll ever be. 

Israel

Heading to the airport!  Only cried a little bit when we said goodbye to Korra. Ready for this adventure!

Happy Easter

Went to sunrise service and brunch with our church family (Nate preached a great sermon that tied in professional wrestling to the resurrection), took a nap, ate ham and cheesy potatoes with my parents, and then watched Jesus Christ Superstar. Now it's time to finish packing- we leave for Israel after lunch tomorrow!

Hair Dye

Danny came home from a friend's house with black hair dye all over his head and eyebrows. Apparently he tried bleaching it, hated it, and decided to dye it back to black. Not sure why that involved huge swatches of dye all around his eyebrows but I feel it is a testament to my amazing parenting skills that I did not laugh in his face or immediately post a picture to Facebook. I will however text you a photo if you text me first. I'm not that good of a parent. 

Easter Eggs

I have hidden the dozen plastic eggs Korra got from school around the house at least a dozen times in the last 24 hours. At least it's better than playing hide and seek. 

Spring Break '16!

Starting Spring Break off right!  Got a massage (thanks, Genevieve!), took a nap, and then ate a big piece of the delicious chocolate cake my friend from school made for me. 

Easter Egg Hunt

Book Fair

The Book Fair was one day shorter this spring than in the past (Spring Break begins tomorrow- adapt longer than usual). We made only $200 less than previous years so for a full day less work, I'm not disappointed at all. No eye twitch this year AND I wasn't desperately trying to find a PTO board member to hand off a couple thousand dollars in cash right as everyone's trying to leave for the beach. I call that a win all around. 

These Kids

We've got a "threenager" who told her dad, "you can't tell me what to do!" and a teenager who essentially says that with his actions. Kids are a lot of trouble. 

Less than a week!

In less than a week I'll be in Israel! 

Flower Girl

Bye-bye baby monitor

After 3 and a half years, we finally stopped turning on the baby monitor at night. We've only been using it this long because we can't hear Korra from our room but her recent cough was waking us up and we realized she's big enough to come get us if she needs us. That might be the last baby item we were still using. 

Mommy-Daughter Day

We had a picnic at the art museum. We took a walk and put clover flowers in every whole in the sidewalk. We ate ice cream for dinner. We played 4 board games and built 3 puzzles.  We painted. 

Birmingham

Korra and I are taking our neighbor on a quick trip to Birmingham today. While she visits, we are going to the art museum!

Pizza and a Movie Date

Nate's gone to the cabin for a weekend with the guys so Korra and I made pizza and are now snuggling on the couch watching a movie in our pajamas. 

Cologne

Danny has already used the entire bottle of cologne he got for Christmas. 3.4 oz in less than 3 months. 

Former Student Drive-By

A car full of former students (all in their late teens or early twenties) just drove by Korra and I while we were on our walk and with all the windows rolled down yelled, "Hi, Mrs B!"

Technology Incident

A teacher's computer has a virus.  He was trying to save all of his documents off his computer to a flash drive before IT came to work on it.  The desktop appears to be the only place he's ever saved anything in the 2 years we've had these laptops.  I told him it would be easier if he saved it all to his Google Drive (since we use Gmail at school).  I asked him to log onto his email so I could show him how to do it and he double clicks on Internet Explorer, even though Google Chrome is right next to it on the desktop.  I tried my hardest to suppress a groan.  

Teenage boys...

Can be real turds sometimes. 

Breakfast

Avocado sprinkled with sea salt on homemade oat wheat bread toast. Mmmmm. 

Alphabet

Korra with her first attempt to write the whole alphabet. 

Recent Middle School Reads

Here's what I've read recently:

Disappear Home

Down from the Mountain 

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing

The Raft

In the Shadow of Blackbirds

Scorpio Races

Outdoor Yoga

The highlight of my day was an hour of yoga outside at sunset with my neighbors. 

Toenails

I let Korra paint her own toenails. 

4 loaves

Got in a baking mood this morning and made 4 loaves of bread (2 French, 2 honey wheat).  Then I made empanadas. Then I took a nap. 

Pot of Ants

Got some chicken manure/compost from a neighbor and then went about dumping the dirt from all of my pots into the wheelbarrow with it with the intention of mixing it all up before putting it back in the pots. The last pot I dumped turned out to be full of fire ants. Not only did they bite up my hands, now we have to wait a few days before we can plant anything in the pots. Bummer. 

Happy Danny

Danny's on Cloud 9. He got to play the whole game and was asked to keep playing on the varsity team. AND he got notice of the approval of his immigration petition (one more step toward visa and permanent residency). 

Varsity

Danny got called up to play in the varsity soccer game tonight so that's where we're headed. Not how I planned on spending my Friday night but, you know, kids and such. 

Hopeful Gardener

Spring is in the air and I can't resist the urge to plant a garden.  Every spring I plant a vegetable garden, swearing this year will be different.  Every fall, I swear that I'll never plant one again because I have a brown thumb.  What can I say?  Spring makes me hopeful.

Stinky

Took 3 teenage boys home from their soccer game tonight. Korra commented, "it's really stinky in this car. These boys do not smell good. Roll my window down."

Key for Hope

Heck yes.  Going to try to put together a school-wide drive!

http://keyforhope.org/

Old Keys

Went looking for one key and found a coffee cup full of keys.  What should I do with that many unlabeled keys?

Local Paper

I was reading the local paper's sports section (I clip articles about our students to display in the library) and came across this little piece of journalistic gold:

"The Grangers put some more beef in their burrito with a 6-0 victory..."

Is that a sports metaphor people really use?

The Sacred Journey

Finished reading The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster this morning. I highly recommend it, even if you aren't about to go to Israel. 

Pizza and Cookies

Picked up pizza for dinner and baked a batch of cookies with Korra. Add a new episode of Survivor, a nice walk with Korra and tonight is shaping up a lot better than last night!

Sucky Afternoon

This afternoon and evening were busy with a bunch of things we didn't want to do. Nate and I deserve a medal. And some cookies. 

Princess Dinner

Korra picked a couple of recipes out of her Disney Princess cookbook and we made them together for dinner tonight. Merida's shepherd's pie and Rapunzel's braided cheese biscuits. Fun and yummy!

Taxi

Totally understand the "mom taxi" jokes now. Pick Danny up from tutoring or soccer practice. Take Danny to soccer or games or friend's house. I feel like I spend an extra 30+ minutes in the car every day just driving him around. 

No Camping

Pintrest has been putting a bunch of pins about camping in my feed since I'm usually getting ready for our annual camping trip to Jekyll Island this time of year.  I have to say, I'm really going to miss going this year, but I am so excited about going to Israel in 3 weeks!

Zootopia

Took Korra to see Zootopia. Nate and I enjoyed it as much as she did!

$72

Made a total of $72 this morning. Hoping to sell a few more things on the Facebook yard sale site (clearly I didn't learn my lesson!)  Not great but glad to have more stuff out of the house. 

$37.75

On hour into our yard sale and I've made $37.75. I'm not impressed. 

Lost Books

Today I mailed out 28 letters to students who have overdue books since before Christmas and called schools on Oregon, Ohio, and North Carolina to get back books that left with students who moved. Fingers crossed I get 3 books back for all that work. 

Super Korra

"I am a super hero!  Super heroes never ever go to bed!"

Alone

Me: pick up your toys, please. 

Korra: help me!

Me: no, you can do it yourself. 

Korra (whining):  I'm all alone!  I'm all alone!

Marble Machine

This is cool

http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2016/03/03/469027281/be-amazed-by-this-marvelous-music-machine-powered-by-2000-marbles

Survivor Night

Feeling Old

A teacher I work with told me that she graduated with all those kids who signed and hid that paper in my old classroom. Thankfully she said, "I didn't realize you'd been teaching that long" instead of "I didn't realize you were that old."

Nate's Daughter

Naked Korra runs into the living room singing Silent Night. When we tell he to go put her pajamas on, she pokes out her naked booty, shakes it, toots, and then runs out of the room laughing. Nate finds this hilarious. 

Half Birthday

Korra is 3 and a half today. 

Weird Teacher Work Day

Oddly, we have teacher work day today because many of the schools are used as polling places.  So on this weird day off, I'm doing some weird things:  recording some teachers lip syncing Shake It Off, putting 6 foot tables in the back of a borrowed truck (and tying them down with yarn), meeting with the children's librarian at the public library to discuss reference materials, applying for a few teaching jobs at magnet schools in Chattanooga, and hopefully going to vote during my lunch break.