Back to Mayo

Some people have all the cool gear.

Heading back to Mayo early. Not the five words I had hoped for ... I was thinking more along the lines of, "Hey, let's have a beerfire."

Hannah has begun to develop a fullness in her wrist which has us questioning whether it's a result of her hand issue, or recurrence. Either case, the doctors want to check her out now rather than waiting until June (when she was scheduled). We're set for testing early on Monday to determine what we are dealing with.

Peace and Prayers

Start Your Day

Each morning begins with two very important details:  who's here and what do you want to eat for lunch.  That's it.  After we're done with those two things, the rest of the day is downhill.

I take attendance by carefully scanning the room and looking for the empty chairs.  With twenty-seven students you would think it to be an easy task.  It's about as clear cut as trying to catch your shadow on a partly cloudy,  blustery day.  At any given moment of the morning, there could be one student off to the office to drop off the latest and greatest in fundraiser packets, another could have deep issues with cramming an entire wardrobe into their locker and struggling with the door staying shut under the pressure, and a third child could easily be snagged by another for a quick will you play with me at recess chat before the day gets underway.  After my scan of the room, I typically follow it with, "Has anybody seen...?"  

The second item of the day is a bit more complicated.  I have to share the 'lunch choices' for the day.  This to would seemingly be an easy task, but you have to account for the moans and groans that certain foods bring about.  For example, the breaded pork patty receives the coveted name of the dread pork fatty, while the turkey deli wrap is figuratively transformed into the jerky smelly wrap.  Kids are very creative when it comes to school lunch choices.  Aside from the various nicknames they share amongst themselves, they feel the need to tell me why they dislike a certain choice over another and what their parents seem to think about the caloric content.  All of which gets filed under my uh huh expression.  Once we move past the pleasantries, it's on to decision making:  which choice will you choose.

Choosing a lunch choice comes down to two key elements:

1. whether they like the food.

2. which choice did my friend pick

If you REALLY like one food option, then it negates the second element completely.  However, if you were wavering at all, then the second option takes precedence and ultimately becomes the reason for lunch.

Some teachers will have a board that students mark their lunch choice (usually located at the classroom entrance), some will have students raise their hands in order to take count.  I choose the standing method.  "All those having Veggie Corn Dogs please stand."  one, two, three, four,.."Are you standing or just kneeling on your chair?  Well then, sit down so I don't count you.".. five, six,.."Wait, why are you sitting down now?  You're not having the Veggie Corn Dog?"..five, six, and seven.  "Great, you may be seated.   Now I need those having Grilled Cheese Quesadilla to stand."  one, two,.."Okay, didn't I just count you for the first choice? ...  Then why are you standing again? ...  Because you changed your mind? ...  You changed your mind too? ... What do you mean you didn't know we were taking lunch count? ...  You want to can call your mom to see if she can bring in a cold lunch, because you didn't look at the lunch choices at home? ...  Let's just start all over with how many people want the Veggie Corn Dog?" one. 

Academics seem fairly easy once you've gotten the morning started. 

POP! Goes the Bubble.

Frantically spending each free moment working on the manuscript...teach a lesson, have the kids work for a few moments.  I believe most aspiring writers work in such conditions.

Out of the corner of my eye, as a wrap up another imperfect sentence overlooked in the MS, there stands a boy patiently waiting for me to stop typing.  "Mr. Kelly?"  unsure of the response he might draw from me.

"Yep.  That would be correct.  What can I help you with?"  I really wanted to finish my paragraph in the MS, but I could tell he wasn't going anywhere until I had heard him out.

"I was wondering,"  he paused as if he were searching for just the right words that would elicit the desired response.    

"You were wondering what?"  I threw out my hands, palms up, in an attempt to say, 'let me have the question.'

"I got this never ending bubble wrap device for Easter, and I was wondering if it would be okay to bring it to class,"  his eyebrows lifted with a sign of hope, while his eyes squinted in order to shield himself from my responsive glare.

That's correct, you read it right:  A Never Ending Bubble Wrap Device for Popping!

Now I don't know how much time you've spent in an elementary classroom lately, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that your response would not be too far removed from mine.  "Hmmmm, let me give this some time to soak in and then,......... No."  I felt the need to cut right to the heart of the matter.  

With my answer given he returned to his seat like a rejected puppy who's been told there will be no walk today.  "He said no,"  was the answer he gave his peers, who huddled around the group of desks waiting for the news of the impending popping to begin.

Back to writing on the MS!  The only problem I have now is, I can't seem to get the sound of bubble wrap popping out of my head.

Fancy Free From Facebook

It's been said that we live in a connected world. I would agree.

The problem with a connected world is that sometimes you just need to unplug. Over the past several months I have journeyed to the world of the fast and furious connectedness of Facebook. I've posted photos, picked clever little buttons to display, downloaded funny videos, and spent meticulous time developing the profile...I even went as far as to suggest it to others that I ran into. Then it dawned on me after listening to my good friend Odessa, "Facebook has become at least a hourly routine in my house every night. It's an addiction to see what everyone else is up to."

Hmmmm. An addiction? An hour a day, life sucker upper? Can't break free from it? Odessa has a point!

Today, I have the decision move back to the blogging world with open arms. To rid myself once and for all of the Facebook Monkey that has climb on my back. I've unplugged, switched off, and become a closed book - except for the bloggers that still review the Roosevelt Dave news that is my life.

So maybe I'm not as disconnected, but I do know that there's more to pure written expression on a blog than could ever be found on a Facebook. It's good to be back.

Two Fer

Once upon a time, a father and son shared a dream.

Travel to Wings Etc. seven days in a row and partake of a minimum of seven wings. We called it the 'Seven in Seven, Dare to Dream'. It was not only a dream, but looked upon as a personal challenge. A CHALLENGE!

This Spring Break, while not shooting for the 'Seven in Seven, Dare to Dream,' I did find myself in a 'Two Fer.' What's a 'Two Fer?' It's not a 'Seven Fer' because that would put me about, ohhh, five days short.

While we might not make the seven day dream, we will someday,....someday soon. I love Spring Break.