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Teaching is getting easier. Kinda. The kids are still much harder to deal with than I remember, but I am getting into a routine. And the staff at my school is fabulous which helps tremendously. Mucho support from everyone. But back to the kids. After spring break I had the kids tell me one fun thing they did over the break. The first kid I called on said he went to Disneyland. Um…yeah…right. How did you get there? A limo. Now I know he has no idea that to drive to Disneyland would take a full 24 hours. But still…why make up such a crazy story? After that the stories ranged from bull riding to mountain climbing to going to a waterpark. Now I know that none of the stories are true. I could tell by the way they were told. I also know that 5 year olds don’t ride bulls, there are no mountains anywhere close, and that the waterparks weren’t open yet. I was so thankful for the kid who said he and his brother got to stay up late and jump on his trampoline in the dark. The best part was how excited he was to tell me that. He didn’t make up a story about something that he couldn’t even imagine. He told the truth, and it showed all over his face.

The same kid who “went to Disneyland” for spring break mentioned that his birthday was coming up. He wondered aloud if I was coming. He answered his own thought by reminding himself that I didn’t even know where his house was. Just because I was curious what he would say I asked him if he could tell me how to get there. I wrote down his directions to make sure I got them right.

“You know where that red light is by my nana’s house? That green light that means go, yellow for slow down and red to stop? Go straight. You see that barbershop. Russell, he works there. My horse is right there by that tree. He is a brown horse. What kind is your car? (me…a van) Yeah, my church has a van. You see the donut shop right here. You gotta turn your head this way. Then you turn and that’s my house.”

And of course his directions were full of hand motions and pointing. He was sure I got it because I paid attention and wrote it all down. Poor kid. I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to his party despite his excellent directions. My reason…I don’t know where his nana lives.

Teaching is getting easier.  Kinda.  The kids are still much harder to deal with than I remember, but I am getting into a routine.  And the staff at my school is fabulous which helps tremendously.  Mucho support from everyone.  But back to the kids.  After spring break I had the kids tell me one fun thing they did over the break.  The first kid I called on said he went to Disneyland.  Um…yeah…right.  How did you get there?  A limo.  Now I know he has no idea that to drive to Disneyland would take a full 24 hours.  But still…why make up such a crazy story?  After that the stories ranged from bull riding to mountain climbing to going to a waterpark.  Now I know that none of the stories are true.  I could tell by the way they were told.  I also know that 5 year olds don’t ride bulls, there are no mountains anywhere close, and that the waterparks weren’t open yet.  I was so thankful for the kid who said he and his brother got to stay up late and jump on his trampoline in the dark.  The best part was how excited he was to tell me that.  He didn’t make up a story about something that he couldn’t even imagine.  He told the truth, and it showed all over his face.

The same kid who “went to Disneyland” for spring break mentioned that his birthday was coming up.  He wondered aloud if I was coming.  He answered his own thought by reminding himself that I didn’t even know where his house was.  Just because I was curious what he would say I asked him if he could tell me how to get there.  I wrote down his directions to make sure I got them right.

“You know where that red light is by my nana’s house?  That green light that means go, yellow for slow down and red to stop?  Go straight.  You see that barbershop.  Russell, he works there.  My horse is right there by that tree.  He is a brown horse.  What kind is your car?  (me…a van)  Yeah, my church has a van.  You see the donut shop right here.  You gotta turn your head this way.  Then you turn and that’s my house.”

And of course his directions were full of hand motions and pointing.  He was sure I got it because I paid attention and wrote it all down.  Poor kid.  I don’t think I’ll be able to make it to his party despite his excellent directions.  My reason…I don’t know where his nana lives.

Ok.  After the Houston episode I’ve been curious.  Anyone else who knows me in real life want to confess to knowing about this blog?

There was purpose in my starting this blog.  I need to write.  I like knowing that people are reading even if the comments are few.  It’s cathartic for me.  There’s a small handful of people who know who I am in real life who know about this blog.  And by know me I mean have met me or have regular phone contact with me.  I can count them on one hand.  The others are people I’ve met through blogging.  They might have read my other blog, but they wouldn’t say they know me.  They know about me some.  Some of them are my twitter friends.  They’ve been invited to read here.  Some have searched for something and found it here.  These random stranger friends are why I write.  Writing for them helps me.  For now I would prefer to keep this blog somewhat anonymous.  I don’t want real life friends to know about it.  If you already do then that’s ok.  Just don’t spread the word that this blog is here.  That’s all I ask.  Oh and I also ask you to let me know who you are.  Just because.  You can email me at midlifenatalie@aol.com or leave me a comment.

Heck…everyone is invited to leave me a comment.  Real life friend, stranger friend, twitter friend.  There’s plenty of love for everyone!

Last week I was able to make a quick trip to the rodeo.  I had promised my kids we would go see Rascal Flatts.  Due to several unforeseen hold-ups between the hours of 4pm and 7pm we arrived late.  As soon as we got in the gates we ran to the stadium.  We missed the first event…calf roping and half of the second event…bareback riding.  We saw the rest of the rodeo events and most of the concert before we left.  There was no time for the carnival or the petting zoo or the ag-venture barn.  I was not happy.  I wanted more.  This weekend will be my final chance to see it all.  The question is will I go or not.  I still haven’t decided.  If I do go I know what shoes I’m wearing…

A month or so ago Fleur de lis and I stopped at a western store to look at boots.  I wanted boots.  I tried on several pair before narrowing it down to two choices.

This beauty.  A boot by Twisted X.  Fleur de lis swears by her Twisted X boots.  I loved them.  I paraded up and down the aisles and looked in the mirror numerous times.  My only issue is they came up higher on my calves than I preferred, and unfortunately I have thick calves.  I wasn’t sure how that would feel after hours of wearing them.  But they were so pretty.  And other than being a bit tight on my calves they were very comfortable.

Then there was this one by Ariat.  I liked it, but did I love it?  That was the question.  I put them on and they were comfortable.  I liked the color as well.  Not quite as pretty as the others, but at least they weren’t pink.  (Yes, they came in a pinkish color.) I walked and walked and walked and began to love them.  I tried on one of each boot and walked some more.  No doubt about it.  The Ariat was more comfortable.  It was also quite a bit cheaper.

I made my choice…comfort over beauty.  And let me tell you I LOVE my boots.  I wore them to school one day, and my feet felt fine the entire time.  I know that summer is coming and that the weather is getting warmer.  I know that flip flops will be the shoe of choice fairly soon around these parts.  Despite the warmer temps I think I’ll find excuses to wear jeans just so I can wear those pretty, comfortable boots!

Hi,

Do I know you?  I’m just curious since it seems as though you’ve read my entire blog in the last 3 days.  And while the blog is here for you to read, love, pick over, and be repulsed by I can’t help but wonder who you are.  I have many friends in this great city, and I can’t help but wonder if you are one of them.  I know there are several Houstonians who read my blog.  People from the great wide world of blogging who happen to live in this city.  Maybe you’re one of them.  You may be a repeat offender since I don’t pay attention to ISPs or anything.  It was the fact that you read every post that worried me some.  You don’t even have to confess who you really are.  I just want to know if I know you in real life.  You can either leave a comment on here or email me directly at midlifenatalie@aol.com

Thanks,

Natalie

It’s Spring Break.  I have a whole week of nothing.  Oh my how I needed it.  Forget that I had two and a half weeks of nothing much before I started teaching.  Forget that I only taught 2 weeks before this one.  So what if I only worked 2 out of the last 5 weeks.  I still needed the break.

Now if you’ll excuse me I need to go take a nap.  I’ll be back with more at some point this week.

I survived my first week but so needed the weekend to recover. It’s Sunday, and I’m still tired.

Kindergarten is hard! The material the state requires a child to know by the end of their kindergarten year far surpasses what I taught to my students 15 years ago. Several years ago they made some huge changes to the curriculum. It will take me a little time to figure it all out.

The kids are also quite different from the ones I taught 15 years ago. They don’t seem phased much by consequences or rewards. That’s going to take some work on my part as well. How to keep a classroom running well while teaching what they need to know. I’m not there yet.

I’m older than I was when I taught last time.  All the newness and uncertainty of the past week knocked me on my ass.  By Wednesday night I was so tired that I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.  Fleur de lis came over and took me to dinner.  At least that’s the story I was told.  I barely remember it.  There was leftover Chinese food in my refrigerator so I guess it really happened.

I barely saw my kids.  I went to work an hour early and stayed an hour late just about every day.  I went to the teacher supply store three times.  I was in bed by 9:30 every night.

I teach this week and then have a week for Spring Break. I am so happy about that!  I think a week to recover from my first two weeks of teaching is just what I need.

just a quick note to let you know that i’m alive. barely. too tired to even press the shift key to capitalize. is it friday yet?

Oh my. I start the new job tomorrow. I am ready, but then again I’m not. I just got the lesson plans, and most of it is just gibberish to me. I don’t get the codes or know the curriculum at all. It is kindergarten so they won’t be able to tell that I have no idea what I’m doing much. I think there will be a helper in the room as well so between the 2 of us we should be good. I plan to arrive an hour early, and I’m sure I’ll be staying late just so that I can figure out what’s what.

I packed my lunch and picked my clothes. My first day of school is tomorrow.

Random thoughts…

1.  What does it say about me that I would rather wait at a light to take my turn than have to decide when to merge into oncoming traffic?  There are two particular places that come to mind where I routinely choose to sit through a couple of lights rather than go the shorter way because of this.

2.  In April of 2008 my grandmother passed away.  I bought waterproof mascara as a precautionary measure and have since only used waterproof mascara.  I started crying that month, and for some strange reason I cry all the time now.  At silly commercials, my daughters’ program at school (which wasn’t even a tear jerker), over a dirty bathtub, and at countless other noncrying moments.  Happy, sad, frustrated, mad, hopeful, wistful, sleepy, bored.  It doesn’t even matter.  The faucet turned on and now it leaks.

3.  I start work on Monday.  This week was a flurry of getting background checks and filling out paperwork and getting fingerprinted.  My principal just called me and said to be there Monday at 8am.  I am pretty sure I’ll arrive a tad bit earlier than that.  I have no idea what I’m supposed to teach so I need to get a look at those lesson plans!

4.   My train of thought jumped the track, and now I can’t remember what other random thoughts I was having.  Oh well.

5.  There’s more to my story, but I’m not sure when I’ll have time to write it.  I’m going out of town for the weekend, and I start work on Monday.  I’m not sure how much time I’ll have next week to sit down and think through what’s next.  If you are interested I would suggest starting at the beginning of my blog.  Bits and pieces are told here.  Part 4 of my story took place in the spring of last year, and I started this blog in June.  You can read about me telling my parents, my sister’s reaction, Fleur de lis, and much more just by starting at the beginning of this blog.  It’s like those Star Wars movies.  I told the end first.