It's the most wonderful time of the year

The holiday season has come to Mississippi. Jack Frost decided to visit today bring with him temperatures in the 30s. The cold weather (although much warmer than Minnesota) isn't welcomed here.

Writing a quick update to ask for your support and prayers. Christmas is coming to Moorhead again, even though I am not teaching. I met with my principal and another school staff member last week about getting a list of some of my kids who were going to run the risk of not getting Christmas presents this year. They are going to put together a list for me. My principal told me that one family that was included on that list was that of my two favorite brothers that I taught each year. They are the kiddos that I still go back to see and take to McDonald's or to play tennis. It broke my heart to think that they are on that list this year of kids who might not have a happy Christmas. I inserted a picture of us from last year...it was taken one day after school when they stayed with me and did their homework or we worked on other school work. They are pretty much a hoot and have the funniest things to say/share. This fall we went to a high school football game (they had never been to one) and for part of it they were more engrossed in watching the cheerleaders do flips. I love them and will be back in the Delta to see them graduate, guaranteed.

Anyway...I got way off task. I would love your support in purchasing Christmas presents for adorable kids like these, monetary or prayers, I don't care which...just keep these kids and their families in your thoughts.

Thanksgiving break came and went far too quickly. It was a fun day with family at our house on Thanksgiving. Surprisingly we didn't play any games, however, I think we spent 4 hours looking through Black Friday advertisements....and eating all.day.long. Mom, Cassie and I did some shopping on Friday. Although we didn't go out in the middle of the night like Kayla, Gini, and Rachel...we left at an early 8 a.m. :) I think we did more shopping for ourselves because I still feel like there is a lot left to do! It's hard to get your Christmas shopping done when half of your family is with you and the other half don't give specific ideas. Trevor's idea of a Christmas list says--new jeans. When asked what size, he responds, "extra fat." Last I checked, Old Navy doesn't carry that size, but then again I haven't been there for awhile. I'm jealous of those who get all of their shopping done that day!

Only 13 more days until I'm back for the Christmas holidays! I'm excited to NOT spend so much time running around and hopefully more time with the family. It's hard to believe all of the little cousins are growing up. Arg, I'm old! Better get cracking on that family Christmas letter...

Happy holidays :)

Oldies but goodies

So, I never posted the quotes I kept from my kids my 2nd year of teaching. However, I kept all of them on numerous post-it notes in a plastic bag. I had it in my bag and on my way to Minnesota for Grandpa Black's funeral, I pulled it out on the plane and found myself laughing more than crying. Although I know the kids more...hopefully they are still funny to everyone else.

(B.W. and Mama came into the class with the little cousin)
B's mama: Say hey to Braxton's teacher
little cousin: waves and says, "white."

Student: They musta not bring your stuff back yet?
D.P: I know where you need put it? You need to put it in your house then nobody gone get it.

Ms. Ward: Lebruhnze, wake up and write your words.
L.G: (with a sigh) I'm tryin' have a dream.

Ms. Ward: Where you go fishing at?
L.G.: You know, where all the water be at.

Ms. Ward: /f/ /i/ /l/ fill. Who can give me a sentence with the word fill in it?
T.T: You can fill a boy.
Ms. Ward: (thought for a second) ugh, no. this is fill not feel.

Ms. Ward: What kind of animal am I counting? (Pointing to a bird)
D.P: A parrot!
Ms. Ward: right! How do you know that?
D.P: Cause that what a parrot look like
Ms. Ward: how do you know?
D.P: I just know.

(after Mrs. Beamon returned from having previous day off)
Ms. Ward: Turn to Mrs. Beamon and tell her we missed her yesterday
class: We missed you!
A.M: Ms. Ward was crying! (That was the truth)

Ms. Ward: Two things special about today. It's the last day of the month and it's my friend's birthday.
Student: I know your boyfriend. His name is Jarrius.
(Jarrius is a first grader)

(Making predictions about where Mrs. Beamon is)
1. Mrs Swamp got her (from the book Mrs. Nelson is Missing)
2. She went to Mrs. Swamp's house
3. She sick
4. She at the bad school. You know Mrs. Swamps school. Yeah and she gave that boy wood to eat cause he be hungry.
(then they looked out the window and found Mrs. Beamon in a tree apparently)

Ms. Ward: which word has the same beginning sounds: puzzle, pumpkin
K.W. (points to puppy)
Ms. Ward: Good, circle it
K.W.: Muh Ward, I like puppies.

Mrs. Hanken (cafeteria worker) asks why I don't eat their food.
Me: I brought my lunch!....(I leave to sit with my class)
Mrs. Barner: she's trying to stay skinny
Mrs. Hanken (yells out the cafeteria door): Ms. Ward, black people food WILL make you fat!

D.P: Man, what's this doing in my pocket? (as he pulls lint out of his pocket)

Ms. Ward (holds up letter M): what letter is this?
D.P: U
B.W: That's not a U
Ms. Ward: What letter is this?
B.W: U
NO!

Ms. Ward: Quit pickin your nose.
D.P: All I tryin to do is get it out my nose
Ms. Ward: Quit. Get your finger out of your nose

Ms. Ward: what starts with /m/
T.T: Dog
Ms. Ward: Does dog start with /m/
T.T: No
D.P: Then why you say it?

Student: you musta got new nails put on? (after painting my nails for Ingrid's wedding)

Student: Muh Ward, someone betta do sumpton bout that boy.
Ms. Ward: who?
Student: Him, naw, that one (pointing at L.S.)
Ms. Ward: Why?
Student: He be getting in trouble all da time...

Ms. Ward: What's this? (holds up a picture of a wig)
T.T: a wig.....my mama wear a wig!

Ms. Ward: I didn't hear anyone say the ending sound!
D.P: You didn't hear me Muh Ward. I didn't hear me either.

A.M: Muh Ward, you all look alike (in reference to my mom, grandma and grandpa)
Ms. Ward: really? why?
A.M: cause you all white

K.B: They said he lives in the L.G
Ms. Ward: What's the L.G?
K.B: I don't know. I live in Mo'head.

J.P: What's wrong with your head? (I was wearing a headband that day)

L.G: There are two Michael Jacksons. A black one and a white one.

F.E: (in reference to Sara visiting and working with them in our classroom library) she talks like you.
Ms. Ward: What does that mean?
A.M: (to herself) like Chinese

Ms. Ward: My pants are too tight
Z.B: Just like apple-bottom jeans.

B.W.: My mama says she be sad when I'm on red
Ms. Ward: oh yeah? me too.
B. W: And my auntie sad and my granddad. My granddad dead.
Ms. Ward: Oh? I'm sorry.
B.W.: I forgive you
(apparently we were working on our manners)

Ms. Ward: Did everybody eat a good breakfast so you're ready for May Day?
Student: I tore that corndog up

L.G is mad because he lost his recess. Looks across the table to B.W. (also lost recess) and starts laughing, hard.
Ms. Ward: What's so funny?
L.G: he said he was being good (proceeded to laugh hysterically)
B.W starts laughing as a result. I'm laughing obviously.
B.W to L.G: I'm gonna tell your mama, I'm gonna tell her.

L.G: Muh Ward, what they be calling you at home?
Ms. Ward: why?
L.G: cause I jus wanna know. I know what they call Ms. Davis.
Ms. Ward: Oh yeah? What?
L.G: (confidently) Stephanie. (her name is Jessica. I find this hysterical mostly because I think she just played a REALLY good joke on him!)

his greatest contribution is the ones you leave behind, raised on the ways of gentle kindness

The one thing that I worry about most....having something horrible happen at home when I am more than 900 miles away. check. Grandpa Black passed away, I'm sitting in the Memphis airport waiting for my flight to board, it's horribly surreal. There were 3 people at my gate, I sat facing the windows, not in the mood to bother trying to people watch. It's a cloudy and overcast day (a rarity) except for one spot in the sky. No clouds, no gray, the sun shining through. It's 7 a.m. and I'm crying in a public place. Damn, Grandpa is up there probably shaking his head popping unsalted peanuts thinking, "oh cripes. get a grip, Kami."

There are so many things I kept thinking about this week....and it always came back to the same thing, it was his time and God thought so too, he was ready. I was not. We were not. I think the longer he was in the hospital, the more he was trying to prepare us for that reality and not get our hopes up because it was okay, he is going to a better place.

I've learned so much from Grandpa and Grandma. They spent almost all of their time over last 56 years together. I can't even fathom the amount of time, memories and stories that they created and shared. Without a doubt, Grandma can. Their relationship defines what it means to love, to share your life with someone and I admire that immensely.

Being in the Delta hasn't let me laugh about the good times that we have shared. Although I'm SUPER glad that Grandpa was able to come visit last year, despite the dog stuck below our house directly under the bed they were sleeping in, the first ice storm in Mississippi in the last two years happening that weekend, the lack of electricity in our bathroom for things like shaving, etc. And to top it off, I think I gained four pounds from eating the candy that he happened to find during frequent trips in Wal-Mart. I'll forever laugh thinking about his "ring" from his "Mississippi girlfriend" that had my roommates and I cracking up during breakfast one morning. When I called Grandpa after his survey he answered the phone saying, "well, you're calling from a long ways away." And although he was probably bitter about only eating ice chips at the time, he still chatted about Mississippi, my job, and the horrendous weather. I'll forever cherish that conversation.

And although he wasn't a southern man, this Alan Jackson song is phrases things all too well. Word to the wise...don't read an obituary in an airport. I'm debating posting this and I might delete it later. My G key isn't working very well so I wonder how many words are missing that letter that I didn't catch. Anyway, getting ready for my last leg of this trip...ready to be home for a bit. I tried sleeping on the last flight but only ended up head-bobbing which always looks cool. Better do a little people watching, this guy next to me is eating ice cream (it's 10:30 in the morning). I'm sure there are other awesome things I can spot.

Love,

Kami

Dog Days of Summer

Wow so much has changed these last few months. I am currently in one of the warmest most humid places on earth. The heat index is on average 110 degrees. There is NEVER any wind, it's stifling. It's dangerous to not wear pants at night because the bugs will eat you alive in a matter of seconds. You take a sweater everywhere you go because you'll freeze in doors. And to top it off, the mosquito problem in doors is outrageous. And in true Minnesota fashion, I talked about the weather first...

So, a recap of my last month or so....I was home for the month of June enjoying every minute of my time spent in Minnesota. The weather, family, friends, etc. were amazing and made it incredibly hard to come back to the delta after only 4 weeks, particularly because I spent all of my time working on grad school or new PD work or something. However, I made the choice to take a new job, guess I have to own it. I drove back to Mississippi on July 5 and started my job on the 6th. It was pretty much a whirlwind for a few days as I was behind and felt like I didn't know anything, which was pretty much the case. However, that Monday all of the new program directors flew to Chicago for a New PD conference. We were there until Thursday then came back and had to get ready for two big days of orientation on Sunday and Monday. All of the new corps members finished institute that Friday and our orientation was getting them ready for the first days of school, planning for the year, etc. It was chaotic running between sessions facilitating sessions that I didn't really know much about, ha ha but still turned out okay. One of my sessions was to the elem, art, music and social studies teachers in Arkansas.

From there work has been CRAZY busy. I was assigned a "summer PD group" which would last until about the first week of school. This means I was responsible for a lot of the lower elementary folks, those who teach Pre-K, Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd. Because we still had a number of people not placed, we were each given a few unplaced folks as well. My people ended up getting elem positions that spanned into 5th grade so I had a wide range of people. AND as more and more people were placed kinder and 1st grade, I also obtained them. It was a little crazy, I felt as if I was constantly getting new people but never giving anyone away! I was responsible for looking at all of their foundational documents and giving feedback. These include their big goal, long term plan, unit assessment and unit plan. I didn't realize how long it takes to look at all of these documents. During the day we were busy with meetings and whatnot so I would be holed up in my room or office doing this until the wee hours of the night. It was exhausting but also important. As of last Thursday we now have our official PD groups that we will be with for the entire year. My group is in the Greenwood area and encompasses 3 school districts there. I have 31 people that grange from Kindergarten to high school english. However, the majority are elementary placements and am really looking forward to getting into their classrooms this week doing pop in visits.

Because we have been working on the weekends so much lately, we had a comp day on Friday. I spent the morning in Moorhead visiting my kiddos. I spent some time with my first year favorite L.G. in first grade. He didn't pass last year :( and I told him I was going to be stopping in. In fact, I missed this kid so much I took him out for lunch the week before school started, even by himself he was a handful! I do not envy the kindergarten teachers right now, they both have 29 kids in their rooms and have 3 severely special ed students. There aren't enough chairs for that many kids much less places for them to sit. It was mild chaos the entire time, but I guess you'll have to deal with that with so many students. However, my Principal just hired another teacher, a new corps member actually, she started today. That still makes 20 kids in each room which is plenty! While I missed my kiddos who are now in first and second grade, I don't miss all of the hitting, fighting and lack of listening from kindergartners. The toughest part about Kindergarten is teaching them how to act right, when they've gotten away with it for the last 5 years. The best part of the day was when I peeked into the 2nd grade room across the hall from mine (that teacher is one of my friends) and half the kids saw me and yelled, "Muh Ward's HERE!!" At that point I had to go in, but luckily they were just getting ready to go to the bathroom! I think I can say that I miss my kids more than I miss the classroom.

Changing the subject, I went to a new church yesterday. Someone stopped at our house this week and dropped off a loaf of bread they had made and invited us to their church in town here. While I really like my church in Cleveland, I decided I would check this one out. I really don't know anyone in this town and I have lived here for 2 years, that's pretty sad. Anyway, when I was walking up I realized I was about to stick out like a sore thumb. This is a Methodist church (don't worry Grandma, I'm not giving up on the Lutherans) and everyone walking in was over the age of 70. I sat in the pew for about 4 minutes before people were sitting next to me wondering who I was, where I was from, etc. They were all SUPER nice. The "Preacher" is an older woman who made me feel super comfortable and gave a great sermon (I generally have a hard time paying attention to sermons...actually make that every time). Although it was a small congregation (between 30 and 40 people probably), I'm pretty sure I met 90% of them by the time I left. The hilarity of this is that they asked me to spell my name so they could add me to facebook. I didn't realize so many grandparents were on facebook. I also got asked if I was a yankee or a damn yankee (this was by a spitfire woman from Iowa, so it was okay!) but I can't remember the difference right now. It has something to do with staying or visiting.

While it's been mostly work around here, there has been a little time for "play" as well. Last weekend after working all day on Saturday, a few of my friends packed up and headed for a friend's lake house in Arkansas. We stayed until early Tuesday morning. The beauty of this job is the ability to work remotely, so we all worked on Monday even though we were lounging around the lake house. At the last minute I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go. My Grandpa Black has been in the hospital after having survey the weekend before and took a turn for the worst. Being 900+ miles away from home, this is without a doubt the worst thing that can possibly happen. However, my friends were incredibly supportive and convinced me that being with them would be better than sitting in my house alone. Grandpa was moved out of but now back in to the ICU. While he may think he is ready to go meet God, I'm not sure if the rest of us are ready to let him. I know I'm not. Please pray for him and my Grandma.

Southern girl by Amos Lee

Look at that...less than a month since I wrote last. I'm proud of myself, even if everyone else thinks it is far too long. So much has happened in the last month, I don't even know where to begin.

School finished up last Tuesday, with teachers finishing report cards/folders/etc. on Wednesday. I made a huge choice last Friday and decided with a heavy heart that I was not going to be returning to my classroom in the fall. I was offered a job with Teach For America to work as a program director here. While I hadn't seriously considered being a PD until the week prior after a conversation with the head person here, I decided that it might be the best decision for me to see if the classroom is where I should be in the future. I told my principal that I really hate who I am in the classroom. I don't like yelling, I don't like the idea that yelling is the only thing that gets through to some kids, I don't like going home and hating who I am and how I have ot act in order to teach the lesson. She understood and agrees that I did not come in with the personality and mentality of other teachers in the delta. Therefore, this opportunity could show me if I belong in the classroom or if teaching maybe isn't for me. The role basically involves managing a cohort of 30 corps members in their 1st and 2nd year of teaching, observing them and problem solving around their data to ensure that they meet their goals. It is an honor that others think I would be good at this job, because I'm neverous about basically sucking at it. ha ha...however, I know it's going to give me good experience and I look forward to working on staff as TFA doubles again in the delta.

The end of the year finished up strong. We did our final assessments and ROCKED the math summative with a 94% on all skills taught during the year. We also had a reading growth of 1.40 years. I'm excited to hear how they do next year in first grade. My class is definitely further this year than my first year.

Summer is here and Mississippi isn't lacking heat or humidity. I spent a few hours outside sweating buckets this afternoon. I'm coming home for the month of June and will be venturing north on Tuesday. Therefore, if you're bored/free...please call me, I'll be driving for 14 long hours! I'm excited for summer, but know I'm going to stay plenty busy. Trevor's graduation at the end of the week. I'm taking two grad classes. I'm trying to finish that darn thesis. And I'm going to do roughly 8 hours of PD work a week. This is all on top of spending my time rollerblading, playing tennis, fishing, being on the lake, going to parades, and enjoying the Minnesota sunshine. I cannot wait!

Yay for summer :) :) :)

The Final Four

Easter was only a couple of weeks ago, therefore, no one can get too worked up about me not blogging for awhile! Each weekend of April was crazy hectic, so without a lot going on this weekend, I'm twisting my thumbs and pretending to be productive to ward off the spring fever!

Here is a recap of the last few weeks. Easter came and went...and was amazing. The following week Erik came to visit the dirty, dirty Delta. It was crazy! We had a bonfire on Friday night that ended with a lot of beer consumed and a nerf gun rifle fight in the kitchen at 2 a.m. The rest of the weekend involved more alcohol, leaving groceries in the car for a few hours too long, a whole LOT of tennis, another bonfire, some Mississippi sunshine for the pasty from Minnesota, an afternoon cookout that turned into a Sunday night of drinking. Phew...it was a crazy but oh so fun! I love when my Minnesota friends get along so well with this crazy Mississippi crew :) (Picture is of my roommates and I out after our professional saturday)

The following weekend was the HUGE Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale. We ran a 5K in Cleveland in the morning, beat our time from last year by at least 5 minutes, haha. I guess that's what happens when you don't walk parts of it. Juke Joint was crazyyy. It's basically another reason to drink all day and listen to blues music at different venues all morning/afternoon/night. The weekend was GORGEOUS...I love getting sunburnt in mid-April. Heck, anytime of the year is suitable for me!

Last weekend started a little rough, tornadoes and storms across the state. The kids were loading the buses when the sirens went off so they had to come in and put their heads down in the hot, overpacked hallway. It was a mess but eventually everyone made it home safe. It has now been two weeks in a row that the sky opens and it downpours right at 3:15 when I am outside on bus duty. I'm going to start bringing my rainboots for Friday duty. Last Sunday I went to Oxford (home of Ole Miss) for Double Decker their annual art and music festival. I cannot wait to go to an Ole Miss football game this fall....Oxford was great. Ole Miss was great. While it's not in the Delta, it still makes me realize that Mississippi is great too!

Now onto the important stuff....my classroom. So far we have grown 1.2 years in reading. This is okay...could be better. We want to get closer to 1.5 years of growth by the end of the year. We will be close...it's things like this that make me nervous for the last weeks of school but force me to constantly stay productive! I just started giving our big math test that determines how we did overall. It's a 16 page test, clear to see that we are going to spend a good 5 days or so taking it! My kids did their end of the year DIBBELS test last week and kicked the **** out of it! I had 12 students that were considered "at risk" at the beginning of the year (that is NOT a good thing) and I finished with 3 that were only scoring in "some risk." Definite improvements. Many of my kids had phenomenal scores. I even baked them brownies on Friday because I was so proud of them!

Our district has been in an absolute mess all year. I've tried to refrain from complaining too much (because I wanted to keep my job) but now all bets are off. Before spring break, parents lodged a protest and didn't send their kids to school for two days. The state finally realized there was a problem. They brought 50-60 members of the state department to the district for a week to do a FULL audit. Their report was concluded 30 days later and was more than 300 pages long. Our superintendent was fired. The school board was removed. The state took over. They issued a conservator to be in charge of our district to straighten us out. It could take months but more likely years before the state will remove the conservator and allow us to function independently again. This is not necessarily a bad thing. There are 37 qualifications for accreditation that must be met in entirety across the district. We did not meet any. It was severe. However, spirits are rejuvenated and people are happy again. All is starting to become peaceful again in the land of sunflowers.

I have another little lovely (no one is sure how I got so lucky two years in a row). This one is worse in many ways. When I give him ANY instructions (sit down, get in line, etc.) he does the opposite. A clear case of oppositional defiance. When he gets mad (many, many times a day) he does bodily harm to himself. Scratches his arms and face. Tries to break his fingers. He has punched himself in the face. Other awful things. We are guaranteed to have some sort of blowout each day, you just never know when it's going to happen. Well, he went to the same behavioral treatment center for two weeks. He came back last Thursday WORSE THAN EVER. I cried in school more that once....I am NOT a sap, I NEVER cry in school. I didn't want to come to school on Friday, but knew that I couldn't do that to my assistant. Ugh. It was a nightmare. He is still bad and each day you never know what you are going to get. I try to get him through the day and will walk him home after school if he makes it all day...many times if he is sent to the office even the principal can't control him or keep him from hurting himself. It's a sad situation and one that makes me realize that the future of this Class of 2022 is not everything I wish for and work toward.

Enough of the sap....lets talk about animals, particularly ones that are in and around my school. There was a lizard in my classroom a few weeks ago. I made one of the kids kill it. Now I realize that might not have been my best move. The janitors killed two snakes climbing up the outside wall of my classroom two weeks ago (this was ON the playground mind you). They were not small but luckily not poisonous. (Picture is after they poured a little gasoline on them. Turns out gasoline makes them flip over and die instantly) The other day at recess one of my cute and hilarious girls told me there was a turtle by the door. I went to look and sure enough there was a big ol turtle right at the door. Its shell was probably 10 inches or so! A bigun'. Anyway...the kids all screamed when we walked past it just because they can. I went out the back door an hour later to get something and saw the turtle had dug a hole and was laying eggs next to the school. My co-teacher and I quickly got groups of kids to come out back and watch. I thought it was SO COOL that my kids got to watch that...heck, I haven't ever seen a turtle lay eggs before! However, good thing I went to see The Last Song over Easter so Miley Cyrus could teach me a thing or two about turtles!

In one month I'll be home for the summer (or at least 6 weeks of it I guess). I cannot wait to enjoy the sunshine and some Minnesota lakes!! If anyone knows of any sand volleyball leagues around Amboy...please let me know...I really want to play :) ALSO...here is my plea...if anyone hits up any good garage sales and finds some Disney movies on VHS...please buy them for me! I'll pay you back, PROMISE :) We are getting a little sick of the ones we have and with the rain we've gotten lately, we haven't been able to go outside (mehhhhhh).

Hope Minnesota spring is FABULOUS! The humidity in the 'sip for the last two days has been at least 80%. Ridic. I just turned the air on because our house got up to 78 with TOTAL humidity!

Just less than four weeks left of my Teach For America commitment...who would have thought it would go this quickly....

Irons in the fire, dogs in the basement

Is that how the expression goes? I mean about the irons part? Either way, we no longer have dogs trapped under our house. I heard one while I was getting ready one weekend so we went out to the boarded up basement, took the board down and of course.....nothing. Well...we got smart and decided to get some old hotdogs (clearly we wouldn't waste good ones) and threw one under the house and left one at the opening. 10 minutes later, a black lassie was sitting in the yard chillin' like Bob Dylan. I started screaming since it was out my window...I ran around to get shoes to close the hole while my roommates stared out the window. Lo and behold, there was the brown one, the one who really had been under there for 4 weeks to the day....needless to say, we're not sure how he survived. Before I could close the board, the dumb thing went back under there. We threw the rest of the hotdogs all over our lawn so when he came out we were quickly able to board it back up and take a few pictures to prove to the plumber that we are not, in fact, crazy yankees.

The school sweetheart pageant came and went. No winners here. Oh well. Next year I am going to pick the bad kids to be in it because whoever is picked if they are good they turn bad; if they are bad, they stay bad. My king this year was super sweet, but suddenly turned into a big ol' baby. I don't DEAL with crying children. He crumpled up someone's paper, got his clip moved and cried for 30 minutes. My principal got sick of hearing him and wanted to whoop him or call his mama because he would not stop boo-who crying. I'm sick of babies crying--I make them go stand in the hallway to cry which usually gets them to stop before they get there. I have little sympathy for boo-who'ers. Makes you want me to teach your kids, huh?

The end of my two-year commitment to teach for america is almost up. Who would have thought. It has been a crazy ride, one I wouldn't trade for the world. Crazy enough in fact, I'm not quite done with the adventure. I'm staying here another year...finish this ed masters and get more teaching experiences under my belt. I love life here, not enough to live here forever, but it's pretty great right now. In fact, only one more professional Saturday left in my existence of needing to attend professional Saturdays! In February they announced that 20 of us or so were nominated for the Sue Lehmann Excellence in Teaching Award. While I wasn't named a finalist, it was still an honor to be nominated by peers or other corps members.

And it's also official that I will be basking in the wonderful midwestern sun somewhere on the shores of a Minnesota lake this summer!! While I was ultimately rejected from a staff position that I had hoped for in the Delta, I am still excited at the thought of not being stressed out or crazy busy sitting on the lake. I.frickin.love.Minnesota.summers. Cannot wait.

Two weeks ago we enjoyed a mildly frigid spring break trip to Destin, Florida. We drove, it is roughly 7 hours. Somehow we made it take 11.5. I think this was because we went through Louisiana (completely unnecessary) and got stuck in standstill traffic outside of Mobile, Al (WHAT?!) in which we went 6 miles in 30 minutes. However, we had a great car ride/trip. Did you know IHOP DOES in fact have ice cream? Take that Erik Stonestrom and scarring me for life for never having been to an IHOP before. We rented a house in the middle of spring break spectacularness. It was a nice house, even for 9 people, despite the raccoons that took up residency on the second story deck outside of my bedroom (we found this out AFTER I left the door open for 30 minutes because it was hot). My kids would say, "they nasty." And they were. You should only see raccoons briefly before you run them over with your car. The temp in Florida didn't get over 65 and was plenty windy, but all in all, not bad. We drank too much, made bad choices, acted like college students...you know, typical teacher stuff. I spent the last weekend of break in Jackson enjoying the luxury of Redbox movies from the grocery store and reading outside getting one helluva suntan. Go fig that one would get more sun in the 'sip than they would in Florida. My Uncle Mike and I ran a St. Paddy's Day 5K around the capital building in Jackson on Saturday...we decided at 10 o'clock Friday night. It was great although I think next year we need costumes! I went to the parade in the afternoon to check out this sweet potato queen business....someone help me, how can I sign up to be one? My life long aspirations (they just started)....Lastly, the highlight of my weekend. A crawfish boil with Mike and Gretchen at their neighbors. I would stay in Mississippi FOREVER just for things like crawfish boils. It was amazing. And don't even think about judging it before you try it...I know, I know, I'm the LAST person that should be saying that.

Easter weekend is here...the last break of the school year, ugh. However, one perk of teaching in the south was the ability to teach my kids that Easter is not about eggs and candy! Throw in a bit of that religion and teach the real meaning of Easter. The big news from this week. Damn thieves visited my classroom in the form of 5 and 6 year-olds. Late last week my jump drive was taken. Now, on Tuesday, my eyebrow ring was taken off of my desk. UGH, I was PISSED! I didn't realize it until after kids left. My Principal told me to call a few parents before it got too far. So, I did that. Well, no luck. The next day, during a DRAMATIC display of lesson-learning, all children's clips were on red, I had the paddle from the office showing them just what it looked like (of course I didn't use it, "they know you ain't gonna use it, Ms. Ward. Until they think you gone use it, it won't make a bit of difference."). I hit it on the table hard enough for them to realize that it wasn't going to tickle. It's practically a 2x4 mind you, and is the smallest one I think she has. Anyway, during this charade, two girls raised their hands...one claiming my jump drive was on her mama's dresser, the other claiming my eyebrow ring was on top of her refrigerator. Well, they said they were willing to go to the office to call their mama's to bring it back right then. Let's be real, these are both children of parents I talked to the night before hearing every story from both parent and child about who had it. To make this longgg story shorter, all parents had meetings in the office with me, the principal and the student. One student lied that she had it as soon as we got to the office. Her mama is FURIOUS with me, but hey, I didn't ask her to raise her hand in front of the whole class saying she had it. Moral of the story, I didn't teach on Wednesday morning AT ALL. I was in the office most of the time. I have one parent that likes me and one that could care less if her daughter passes. I have kids lying to their parents about this, that, and the other thing. And to top it all off...I still don't have my jump drive or my eyebrow ring. Damn.

"Goin' to Jackson..." tomorrow to enjoy a little bit of my break. Need to run some errands (and buy a new jump drive and eyebrow ring) and I want to go see a movie. It's going to be a BIG weekend! We're having a little Delta family dinner on Sunday after church....so I won't be home and celebrating Easter, but I will be at church with all 12 other members and having egg bake for lunch, OBVIOUSLY. I love my life...and eggbake...and crawdads.....not together.

Over and out. It's late, I'm tired and my hair smells like bonfire and is making me sick. Happy belated birthday to Grandma Davis and Happy Easter to you all (all 3 people that still actually check this thing)!

Hater e-mails from immediate family

Someone drank the hateraid this morning...


5-2-08 to 12-31-2008 28 blogs
1-1-09 to 12-31-2009 23 blogs
1-1-10 to 3-26-201 1 blog

Do you see a trend??? And don't get all wound up and call me to tell me how busy you are (you know I just sit at home in a bean bag chair and eat cheetos). So go out and do something then write about it. Did you ever think for some of us that the only excitement we get is in your blog (pretty lame huh). See ya

Too cool for school

Yes, after a two month long hiatus, I have returned. You know it's bad when you get a valentine card that says "thinking of you and waiting for some blogs." Yeah, you know who you are. Anyway, I vow to not let it go for two months again, mostly because I can't stand the nagging :)

Anyway, yes, it did in fact get cold in Mississippi. In fact, for some people it was too cool for school, literally. Some kids did not come to school because it was too cold out. How do I know? Well, they are 5, they don't know what they should tell you and what they shouldn't.

These last two weeks have been crazy ones. The end of January I was visited by Jeannie, Delbert and Darlene. A few highlights from their trip:

* Visited school I was told, "you all look alike." I said, "really? why?" "Cause you all white."

* "Muh Ward, I like your mama's hair. I like your grandmama's hair." Then they started petting my mom.

* Ice/sleet/closures throughout Memphis. Drove to Tunica instead (16 miles south) for a visit to the casino and Paula Deen's restaurant. We drove over the bridge to Arkansas, although looking back on it, that bridge is the place people stay away from in bad weather.

* We putzed around the house, listened to the dog bark under the house, catfish museum, got ice cream from Sonic, the usual.

Then after a hectic three days of catching up and trying to get ahead on work and grad school, Sara came to visit. And back to the Jackson airport I went! She came to school on Friday and didn't put up with ANY crap from the kids (who got to dress out for the second time EVER and were wild as a pack of monkeys). She spent the morning reading with small groups and trying to keep them from crawling in her lap. During my planning period we frantically finished and submitted a paper/powerpoint by noon when it wasn't due until Midnight--masters professors need to learn am & pm. Friday night was a lazy night...Sara said kindergarten tuckered her out (the reason I have gray hair). That weekend we toured Cleveland and Indianola. We went out for crawdad's with a big crew and then to a place called the Pickled Okra for a night out with locals. Sunday, after a slow moving Kami got kicked in gear-Memphis! We had BBQ and catfish at a place we LOVED the last time we were on Beale and then went to the Peabody to see the ducks march. Home for more Sonic, papers to grade and the superbowl. Who dat? It was a great weekend and an AWESOME two weeks. I L.O.V.E. visitors!! hint, hint :)

In kindergarten we are 1/3 of the way through...holy cow! Some of my kids are progressing really well. We have grown .6 years in reading mainly this semester. However, we still have a long way to go and a lot of LOW kids to get moving. I'm starting to get antsy for summer or warm weather at least. It's currently snowing outside, where did I move to?? My summer plans are to either work in the delta for TFA during their summer institute or be back in Minnesota sitting on a lake. Either one sounds amazing right now.

A few shoutouts:

* Happy birthdays to Rachel, Dani and Craig...

* Thanks to the MPI crew for keeping me informed of your antics over the weekend despite being 900+ miles away, much appreciated!

* Congrats to Joe (or as Sugarland says JOEY!!!) for getting into pharmacy school! Woop, woop, DULUTH!

PS...for those of you that do not have to work tomorrow. Don't even think about calling me. Bitter Betty over here has to make up a snow-day when half of the schools in our district do not. I don't EVEN want to talk about it. Ilovemykids.Ilovemykids.Ilovemykids.Ilovemykids.