May 14, 2014

Unplugged. This afternoon, the school office had to close early. This meant that the front door would be locked and I still had a half hour to go on my Book Fair. Being the optimist that I am, I decided that I would sit on the bench just inside the front door, ready to open it for the stream of customers that may decide to descend upon the fair. Unfortunately, my laptop was at the other school and my iPad and phone were in the car. Oh no! I was faced with sitting on the bench completely unplugged! The only librarian thing to do was to grab some books...wow...30 minutes of not checking email, creating spreadsheets, editing Google docs.....just reading.  Even though not one customer made an appearance, it was a bright spot in my day. I really need to detach that cord more often! 

May 13, 2014

Gatekeeper. Most of the time I am a optimistic about our youth but a little worried after today. This evening I was leaving school and saw two middle school boys that I didn't recognize standing with their bikes inside our playground fence at the gate. As I approached they smiled and kind of looked relieved. I walked around them and opened the gate by pulling it toward me. "0h.....", they both exclaimed, "That's how it works! We thought we were locked in!" Yikes! Surely they're from out of state! 

May 12, 2014

No snow day today! I was relieved that we didn't have a snow day today because we are almost at the end of the school year. A snow day would have meant one extra day of school and to me, this would have felt like having to run another mile to the finish line! I have never run a marathon but have run a few 5Ks ( I use the term "run" loosely!). There are so many things going on right now and so many things that I need to do before school is out that  I feel that I am at mile 2, trying to push through and finish strong. I'm hoping that any day now someone will throw some water at me, I'll get my second wind, burst through the tape and find myself at the snack table of summer vacation!

My running philosophy is, " the best part about running is stopping!

May 11, 2014

Happy Mothers Day! I had a fabulous Mothers Day even though I didn't get to see my daughter. For the last six years CSU has scheduled Finals to begin the day after Mothers Day weekend. So as with tradition that started with Alex when he was a student there, Paige got special compensation and was not required to have an audience with her mother today. We rescheduled for next weekend! Needless to say, Alex was busy picking up the slack. He and Don slaved away in the kitchen and made a delicious lunch for me, my mom, Don's mom, my sister, and my father-in-law. They even did the dishes! So even though the "weather outside was frightful", the company inside was delightful...pretty sad that I have to quote a Christmas carol in May but it was a great day!

May 10, 2014

Green and Gold! That was the color of the night. Don, Alex and I along with friends and Don's folks attended CSU's Green and Gold Gala in downtown Denver tonight. It was a benefit for CSU and the Metro Scholarship fund. There was a fun silent auction and great food. I even got Don out on the dance floor a few times! Go Rams!

    

May 9, 2014

Second school, second carnival...done! This time I wasn't on cotton candy detail-although word had spread about my spinning prowess and I was asked to help tonight's cotton candy volunteers get started. No, tonight I worked the Scholastic Book Fair. It was just me and my loyal paraprofessional because we promised the PTA that we wouldn't steal any volunteers away from the carnival. Boy were we busy! It was very heartwarming to see such a wonderful turnout by families tonight and at last week's carnival.Too often we get disillusioned by a few uninvolved parents and we forget that there are many parents who work hard to support their children in all they do.

May 8, 2014

Poke me I'm done! I spent my evening baking. This is not my best skill. Fortunately I have raised a child who is great at it but unfortunately, she is not here! I baked Mexican chocolate cookies and Margarita cake (no tequila involved) for the Fiesta Book Fair teacher preview tomorrow. If you ever want a teacher to show up at an event you feed them! Also my other school has their carnival tomorrow night so I made some brownies for the cake walk...they won't be the first item picked believe me! Oh well...I figure if you put enough sugar in something it will be tasty... And besides..it's the thought that counts!