Do They Have to Grow Up?

Isaat.


"Quirks McGee"

Hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa's house, and Mia climbed over Isaac's legs.

Isaac: OW! Mia, you hurt my yegs. Auntie Cat, my yegs hurt.

Me: Mia, you hurt your brother. Can you tell him you're sorry?

Mia: Sorry, Isaat.

Isaac: It's okay.

Mia: I yuv you, Isaat.

ASB Card

At 28 years old, I still get an ASB card. Too bad I probably look exactly the same as when I got my first one issued at Saltars Point Elementary.
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X Man

6:30 pm to 9:30 pm and still going!



Auntie Cat wore him out. Shouldn't it be the other way around?
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Pumpkin Patch!

There's a GI Joe and a peacock hunting for pumpkins.
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4th Grade Science!

I had to go out and get 40 crickets for science class. We're studying ecosystems, and the kiddos got to add crickets to the terrariums they built. It was quite the experiment.
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Stressed Out

This is what I have on my plate:

• 2 days after G-Pa's funeral, I headed back to work.
• New grade, new team.
• At school from 7am to 7pm at least 3 days a week.
• At least 3 meetings a week--before school, during lunch, or after school.
• 27 sassy students in my class.
• Going to school one Saturday a month to study for my Professional Certificate (Pro Cert) in order to keep my job.
• Working on my Pro Cert a couple of hours a week.
• Regularly taking work home, even after I said I refused to do so.
• I haven't been trained in 4th or 5th grade science yet, and I need to find time to do that after school on top of everything else.

Work has been consuming my life. I knew this would be a challenge, but I didn't think it would be a life-changer. So far my weekend has consisted of calling parents on a Friday afternoon to tell them about their childs' behavior in class, babysitting until 11pm, only to wake up the next morning to go to Saturday Pro Cert class from 9am to 4pm, taking a nap, grading papers, waking up on Sunday morning and writing papers for Pro Cert and planning lessons for Monday so that I'm not crunched for time in the morning because I have a meeting. I can't seem to find a balance like I did when I was teaching kindergarten and 1st grade. I want time to be with family without having to SQUEEZE it in. I want time to myself without having to SQUEEZE it in. I want a break. Something's gotta give.

What did I get myself into?

WE DID IT!

Ardon and I finally took the plunge... WE ATE AT JOLLIBEE! We knew we wanted to find an off time during the weekday to go in order to avoid all the Filipino chaos, so we drove down to Tukwila tonight after Ardon got off work. Since the opening of Seafood City about a month ago, I've been hearing about how it's so much like being in the Philippines. I had to experience it myself, and just like everyone said... it's just like being in the Philippines! As soon as I walked in, I felt like I was in the Philippines. We arrived at Seafood City at around 8:30pm, and it was poppin like it was in the middle of a sunny Saturday. The place was bursting at the seems with Filipinos pushing carts, carrying around baskets, up and down the aisles, behind the counters, everywhere. Playing on the overhead speakers was a Tagalog ballad by Sharon Cuneta. I saw pan de sal on one end and tsinelas on another end of the store. We exited Seafood City and entered Jollibee and there were WAY MORE FILIPINOS! We were determined to eat. After about 10 minutes in line (which I hear isn't bad), we ordered our meal--spaghetti and chicken joy combo and a peach-mango pie. It was delicious as expected. After we ate, we stopped at the bakery and bought some chicken pan de sal and other pastries that I can't wait to bite into. I'm already looking forward to going back to eat my Yum!