musings.

word of the day: musings \ˈmyüz-ing\ thoughtfully abstracted

It has been a weird week. In fact, that's kind of an understatement, but we'll go with it. Because of the nature of the past few days, today is a day for musings. Today is a day for disconnected thoughts and incomplete sentences. Even though that is the exact opposite of what I taught my students today.

Do you remember the office episode where Kelly sings "This day is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S. This day is bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S!"? The office was in chaos because of the product recall and she had to train the accountants to be customer service reps. If my memory serves me correctly, directly following her adaptation ofHollaback Girl, Angela pops an aspirin into her mouth.

I literally almost sang that song to my students on Wednesday. And today, I popped two Ibuprofins right before 7th block. The nature of the week.

I usually leave for school somewhere between 6:15 and 6:30. That gives me time to stop for my tri-weekly latte and get to school by 7:15.

This morning I woke up at 7:00.

I walked out the door 16 minutes later and arrived at school promptly at 7:45 (my required time of arrival).

I wore flip-flops on Tuesday. That's usually unheard of in the middle of November, and I reveled in the opportunity.

On Wednesday, I felt like I should have had a runway to walk down. Ever have those days? Those days where you are wearing the most fabulous outfit and you wish everyone you know could see you in it? Those are the days you plan out in advance. I'm pretty sure I walked with some extra confidence all day mostly because of the way my new black flats clicked when I walked. Nothing says "There's a teacher coming" like clicky shoes. I'm just sayin'.

I wish I had taken a picture of myself so I could insert it here.

But I didn't.

My classroom was super hot this week. So hot that my students' faces were flushed and that I have now resorted to keeping one set of lights off to eliminate any extra heat.

I reacquainted myself with a old friend this last week. He hadn't changed, really. He was packing and emptying out a dusty suitcase when I finally found time to meet him. He couldn't stay long. Something about horcruxes to destroy.

It doesn't fall under the realm of this week, but I recently redeemed myself for the "Barfalaya" incident of 2008. Jake was a little wary when I told him I was attempting Jambalaya again, but has informed me that this most recent recipe will be requested in the future.

I did a sentence mini-lesson with my students yesterday and today. Now, grammar lessons are not typically very fun for kids, but I have learned that kids will do anything for a LifeSaver candy. Anything. It's almost bizarre the lengths they will go to for a 5 calorie circle of high fructose corn syrup. I had them write on their white boards examples of simple, compound, and complex sentences. Their examples had me rolling.

Mrs. Flinkman will give me a LifeSaver.

I want to eat a LifeSaver, but Mrs. Flinkman will not give me one.

Mrs. Flinkman is beautiful, and I am jealous of her.

LifeSavers have healing powers; however, I have not received one yet.

When I get home from school today, I will study sentence types all night.

Conjunctive adverbs have the best of me; I am not very good at English anyways.

I urged my kids to write complete sentences today, and tonight, I find myself unable to put more than one thought together. Instead, I just want to curl up on the couch with a hot cup of cider and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Bonus points to any reader who can name all seven FANBOYS. In fact, I'll give you a LifeSaver if you can tell me what FANBOYS even are.