Happy Halloween!

I've never been a HUGE fan of Halloween...although I loved all the candy I got each year as a child. But I've noticed that since being a teacher and listening to the excited chatter of Halloween planning from kids of all ages....you can't help but get a little excited.

Our big plan tonight is to hang out at home. A few friends might come over. But we want to give out some candy. El Maestro bought about 15 king size candy bars for any of his students that come trick-or-treating. (Having lived 20 minutes away from civilization most of his life, the idea of trick-or-treaters coming to his door is quite exhilarating for him!)

Maybe another reason that I'm looking forward to Halloween this year is that I have the perfect mascot.

Aaaawwww...he was such a baby! He is taller and fatter than that boot now! Is this kinda what it feels like to look at your grown children and know that they were once small enough to fit in your womb?

This kitty is nothin' but good luck:)

Sneaky

Our little family has a tradition that happens whenever one of us is about to leave the house. We grab our keys, put on our coat and head to the door. My cat-child does not like this at all. If someone is leaving, then the cat won't be with them anymore. And this is unacceptable.



To protest our departure, the kitty runs to the front door and hides under the mat. I'm not sure if it's because he thinks he's going to scare us as we walk out...or if he thinks he'll be able to escape to the beautiful outdoors while we're leaving...Probably he just knows that it is so cute to see him hiding that we'll pick him up and cuddle him one more time before we leave.



Hey, I don't call him the cat-child for nothing.

Puh-lease!

I just want to say that the week before Daylight Savings Time ends is torture for me. It is almost 7:00 am, and it is still pitch black outside. And cold. And sleepy....so sleepy...

It's not usually that hard for me to wake up in the morning at about 6:00. That's a great time...not hideously early, but early enough to feel ambitious. But this week it has been sooo difficult to wake up because I know that when I get out of the shower it will still be dark. And when I start the coffee it will still be dark. And when I check my email it will still be dark. And when I dry my hair it will still be dark. I think you see where I'm going here.

I just hope that by the time I start walking to work it will be light out. I need light. Without light the world seems gloomy. There's not really a point to being awake if it is still dark outside.

But that's just me. Maybe other people disagree. All I know is that I'm eagerly looking forward to Saturday when we gain an hour of sleep and I might be awake to see more daylight!

!por fin, viernes!

It's finally Friday! Um...again.

And it's not like I suffer and hate life all through the week, just trying to make it to the weekend.

Ah, but the weekend! Such a wonderful time in the life of someone that doesn't have homework! (Yes, I'm still enjoying the fact that I'm no longer in college.)

Today is the last day of conference week...which means that most teachers are able to go home when the kids do...right after lunch! We've stayed extra late every night this week. So today after school I am going to meet some of my co-workers at the most delicious Mexican Restaurant in town...Tijuana's.

Once when I was a kid, my aunt and uncle took me on a road trip to San Diego. My sister and a couple of my cousins went, too. And my older, wiser, and hilarious older cousin explained to us kids that Tijuana is the happiest place on earth. I never really understood why, but it is an adage repeated often by my family.

You all thought it was Disney Land, didn't you?! So did I. And to this day I'm still not sure why the border town of Mexico and the Estados Unidos is suppose to be happier than a place filled with flowers and balloons and talking mice and candy.....

Perhaps someday I'll understand. For today, I'll smile at the memory of our family's inside joke, and look forward to some mean chips and salsa with mis amigas.

(P.S.) I love you, Mexico.

Mi Corazon

This week has been conference week at school. The students go home after lunch and the teachers spend all afternoon and evening meeting with parents to let them know how their child is doing in school.

I have been rushing around, trying to attend as many of my ELL students' conferences as I can. And when I'm not in a conference, I've often been recruited as an interpreter for surprise parent visits, interpreter no-shows, etc. I'm certainly beginning to embrace my Spanish abilities. Listening to interpreters and other teachers speak Spanish for conferences, I'm starting to give myself a little more credit.

I've had a chance to get to know a family this year. The older sister is in la clase del Maestro, and the little sister is one of my ELL students. The most striking thing about these girls (other than their adorable latina looks) is their elaborate hair-do's. Each night their mother painstakingly braids a beautiful pattern into each girl's hair. She hairsprays it well, and in the morning, the girls are ready for school with their hair looking great.

On Tuesday, I filled in as interpreter while the mom and daughter were conferencing with El Maestro. When the conference was over we were all chatting and the mom asked me, "Quiere un corazon?" or "Do you want a heart?" She wanted to braid my hair! Of course I let her. And this is how it turned out:

Not nearly as impressive as her daughters' do's...but fun nonetheless!

I've been tagged!

My niece, Miss M, has tagged me and so I have to take part in the "Six Randomnesses". Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you, list the rules, write six random things about yourself, tag six-ish people by leaving comments on their blogs and let the person who tagged you know that you've written the post.

It's like a chain letter online. And there's a problem. All the people I know that have blogs have already been tagged by Miss M! So, just like when I get a chain letter, I'm the weak leak and things stop here. Sorry.

Random things:

1. I would like to eat some pumpkin ice cream from BnR. Right now would be fine.

2. I feel like I haven't been home in a week. The only thing I do at home is sleep. Hopefully this will change soon.

3. I like speaking Spanish. I kind of forgot that until I went to the "Roach Coach" or "Taco Wagon" or whatever you want to call it. Tacos el Rey. And it was delicious and the people working there were so friendly. And then at school yesterday I went to a parent teacher conference. The teacher was using an interpreter to communicate with the parents, and so I was going to speak English so that the teacher could understand what I was saying...but I automatically started speaking in Spanish. And then the interpreter repeated exactly what I had just said! Weird.

4. I need to hurry because I've still not gone grocery shopping which means there's no coffee in the house which means we'll be driving and getting coffee before school today which means we need to leave early.

5. I have a pair of slippers that I love. My husband got them for me for Christmas last year. Usually the first thing I do when I get home is change into my slippers.

6. I will do my hair and make-up in twenty minutes today. Or I'll try. Ready, Set, Go!

Friday!

Even this special breed of ear-less sheep is baaaaa-ing in joy. It's Friday! Have a great one!