AEPA, is a Pain in the Neck, Literally!

This past Saturday I took the AEPA. It was a whole day thing, 7:45-5:20. I had a 25 minute break in there somewhere, but spent the whole time studying the guides I had. During the +9 hour fiasco, I developed a kinked neck from writing and reading with my head down. I was totally exhausted by the time it was over. Naturally, Keem decides to cheer me up with a dinner and a movie (sob fest-Defiance).

I woke up this morning with a horrendous neck kink. I had a morning neck massage and I still feel icky. What gives?!? Add insult to injury.

I don't know how to feel about the test right now. All I know is I had my thinking cap on the entire day and my brain feels full, even today.

Wish me luck..

Say Hello to My Leeetle Friend

Last weekend we went to Cottonwood for a visit and the unexpected happened. I met my nemesis. Keem was fixing issues in the back of his mother's television set and he says, "Hey, there's a spider back here, come see."

(I hate hate hate hate hate spiders)

Like a fool, I go and look.

It wasn't a spider. It was a baby tarantula. I screamed bloody murder for about 2 minutes straight (I was surprised neighbors didn't call the cops)!

Here's my worst nightmare..he's taking autographs at 10 a.m. tomorrow:

*No spiders were hurt in the making of this post

Another Year Wiser...

I'm officially nearing thirty, I find myself saying:
"Turn that music down!"
"What? I can't hear you, speak up."
"It's cold!"
"Record my program so I don't miss it."
"Pass the prunes, please." (Okay exaggeration)

I spent my birth day with my two favorite people in the entire world; Manny and Keem. We had dinner at Rustler's Rooste on a hill in Tempe. I really liked the live band and the long horned steer in the front. For my birthday I got a cowgirl hat with an Arizona bandana (Yee-Haw). My birthday wish was to keep my sanity this last semester and not to sweat the small things. ;)

"A" Mountain is a Pain....In My..

....legs. We hiked up "A" mountain yesterday and I deserve a gold medal or a gold star for going all the way to the top. Once upon a time, I heard that 'someone's-sisters'-cousins'-best friend' runs all the way up each morning at dawn. Thinking this was a small feat, I decided to walk up the mountain...bad idea. 1/4th of the way up I told Keem to leave me with a bottle of water and send a helicopter, but he coaxed me to keep going.

What really got on my nerves was the younger boy briskly walking up the 70 degree slope talking on his cellphone the entire way up, NON-STOP! (Jealous? -Yes)

As I was huffing away I almost forgot to take in the beautiful view of Tempe.

Luckily Keem didn't bring his camera to document me in an unsightly mess.

Remakes Galore! (Horror)

My goodness, great news, I was on IMDB and found this little tidbit of future remakes (courtesy of IMDB):

"The Wolf Man" (2009), "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (2010), "Angel Heart" (2011), "Anguish" (2009), "Art of the Devil" (2010), "At the End of the Spectra" (2010), "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!" (2011), "Battle Royale" (2012), "The Birds" (2009), "The Brood" (2009), "The Burning" (2012), "Candyman" (2011), "Cat People" (2010), "The Changeling" (2011), "Child's Play" (2010), "Children of the Corn" (2009), "Communion" (2011), "The Crazies" (2010), "Cruising" (2011), "Creature from the Black Lagoon" (2012), "Dead Daughters" (2009), "Death Line" (2012), "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark" (2010), "Don't Look in the Basement!" (2009), "Don't Look Now" (2009), "Don't Look Up" (2009), "The Echo" (2009), "The Entity" (2010), "The Evil Dead" (2011), "Faces of Death" (2010), "Hell Night" (2011), "H2: Halloween 2" (2010), "Happy Birthday to Me" (2012), "Hellraiser" (2010), "I Saw What You Did" (2012), "Humongous" (2012), "I Spit on Your Grave" (2011), "In the Playground" (2009), "I Walked with a Zombie" (2009), "Infection" (2009), "Isle of the Dead" (2009), "It's Alive" (2009), "The Last House on the Left" (2009), "Just Before Dawn" (2011), "Let the Right One In" (2009), "The Leopard Man" (2010), "Long Weekend" (2009), "Motel Hell" (2012), "Martin" (2010), "My Bloody Valentine 3-D" (2009), "Mother's Day" (2010), "tt0880638" (2010), "Night of the Demons" (2009), "Night of the Living Dorks" (2011), "Piranha 3-D" (2009), "Plan 9" (2009), "Poltergeist" (2012), "tt1201159" (2011), "Silent Night, Deadly Night" (2010), "Sorority Row" (2009), "The Stepfather" (2009), "The Seventh Victim" (2011), "Suspiria" (2010), "The Thing" (2012), "The Tingler" (2009), "The Uninvited" (2009), "Vargtimmen" (2010), "Versus" (2010), "The Witches" (2010), "The Wolf Man" (2009), "Yeux sans visage, Les" (2010), "Zero Dark Thirty" (2010)

Island of the Blue Dolphins

I began this quarter by reading this book to my students. It's such a great book and I really wanted to share this treasure with them.

I know you're thinking, "Hey, they're in 4th grade, they can read it themselves!" Actually, I wanted to read to them because one of my earliest and fondest memories of school was a substitute in 5th grade reading stories to our class.

It also opens students up to brushing up on their listening skills. This is my favorite time of day because we get to share our thoughts and discuss as a group. It's really amazing to see the students sitting on the floor with their hands folded in their laps listening intently. (Especially when they say, "Aww, no read more!" when I come to the end of the chapter)

Please read to your kids and family so they will enjoy reading later! (I suggest historical fiction by Scott O'Dell)

LABEL ME...

Today I spent all morning/afternoon reading in a small, but cozy, jury room. I was a bit irritated to find that after all that waiting I wasn't picked to be a juror. It bothers me as to why I wasn't picked.

What I didn't understand was all the talk about being open minded and the constant questions, yet I still felt labeled all day. I was a bit nervous about all the questions, but I answered truthfully. Every question answered by anyone was written by both sides of the court; the plaintiff, defendant, and their lawyers. Talk about labeling!

Then after more waiting 30 out of 37 of us were thanked for our time and asked to leave. No goodbyes, hugs...nothing...just 'k, thanks, bye.'

I feel so labeled. (I think I'm going to get a t-shirt made that says, "LABEL ME")

I did learn: "The laws mean nothing without the people."

New Year = New Beef

I started this new year on a good note, with family. Sadly, the harsh reality sunk in. I have JURY DUTY tomorrow. It really sucks because I had to postpone my duties prior (twice) for very important reasons. I was "granted" the two postponements only to have the court move it to this Monday.

I'm really irritated about it because I wanted to be there at the first day of school to get to know my students, or I thought I was going to. I was wrong- the court requested my attendance this Monday (and from what I read online, a missed duty is an automatic warrant for arrest-because that's logical reasoning)

That makes no sense whatsoever. I feel that I'm being punished for someone's criminal/alleged criminal activity (say no to drugs, kids). Jury duty should be optional for school staff (won't they think of the children?!)

Okay, enough sarcasm...we'll see how this goes tomorrow.

Random though: I wonder if this is karma for my December 16th educational post on mullets?