adventures

i've been having a few adventures lately. some have been good, some have been hardish, and some have been awesome. oh, you want to know what they are? perhaps so that you may model your own life after my escapades? okay, if you say so

1) i visited mesa & flagstaff over spring break. there are literally 0 pictures of this. so you'll need to just imagine me having a frickin' awesome time hanging out with my family, eating a wonderful Italian birthday dinner, visiting Marshall & getting a gigantic ego boost from 20+ kids shrieking/hugging me, and seeing everyone i love in flagstaff at Chris & Fenner's house. it was seriously awesome, which is why it's #1

2) i started applying for jobs. this is not pretty, but it's definitely an adventure. hopefully no one needs to model their life after this part (since it pretty much sucks). and, just so you all know, it's slow going and seriously un-fun, so i don't think i'll be talking about it much more.

3) we went out with some girls from work downtown to the bars and it was insanely fun. michael even commented that it was out of control for him and i know for a fact we've been in some pretty rowdy situations in the past. i ended up falling asleep on the floor by our bed. so, yes, go ahead and try out this adventure of getting housed one night.

4) speaking of getting housed, we've been settling in to our new abode. we bought a vacuum (dyson - YES!) and a washer/dryer (no more hang drying my clothes so they don't get scorch marks!) we (and mostly i mean michael) have also: built a "front" for the chain-link fence of wood planks, secured the fencing in the back yard so cooley cannot escape, and put in a dog door (that was a challenge). while michael was doing all that, I: created an organization system for our constant pile of crap/mail/paperwork, spent 3+ weekends creating a collage-wall for the living room. i learned how to do that at this website

and on to some pictures, yes?

there is a momma birdie cooking up some chicks on our patio. mdt took these pictures and then we didn't see her for a while and we were nervous. but she's back.



we tried to roast a chicken. it looks good here, but it was Totally Raw inside. F you cooking light - that was *not* the perfect roasted chicken. (p.s. we salvaged it)



here's the collage wall. i'm not sure mdt likes it so much, but i'm pretty proud. the big empty space is going to be a corkboard (mdt has been dreaming of a wine cork board, so i'm working on that next weekend)

this is my life

so, first, to clarify: when i said i "quit" my job that really means i'm still working there until the end of may. just another messed up thing teachers do.

second, if anyone is interested in the insanity that is my workplace (and, sadly it seems many other public schools across the nation), please check out these videos. the first one especially encapsulates the madness

"good teachers can model and engage students at the same time. that's why it's called an I Do - because everyone's doing something"

"you have to model everything for the students, because they are not smart." (i've *actually* been told this very thing)

"the students have started filling in all the bubbles as a form of protest...the one thing we have assessed beyond a shadow of a doubt is that they do not care about assessments. and that they hate you." (another one that is very true)



also, what he says about phrasing evaluation is probably what our administrators were told word-for-word.


here's another special one which shows off our awesome "plc" time (which is not PLC At. All. and makes me want to scream every time they call it that.




love you!

so much to tell

hey party people! there's a lot to tell, so i'm not going to do it now. i'll do it when i have the proper time and space. but i'm sure you've all had enough of cooley's bandanna by now.

some peripheral news:

-i was dying for a day and a half, but now i'm alive
-michael painstakingly installed the dog door and it is like heaven on earth
-michael is also painstakingly building a front for our fence, so no one will steal cooley when we start leaving him out to roam the yard alone.
-we are having So. Much. Fun. reading "the witches" in class. the kids are wonderfully horrified! it's like they are freaked out, but they don't want me to stop. today i told them if they didn't hurry into the classroom i'd turn them into mice & that i had delayed-action mouse-maker in my water bottle. they were thrilled and also slightly nervous, which is just how i like my kindergartener's to feel! mwhahaha (also, i had to drink out of my water bottle to prove that it was just water)

p.s. if you are like most of the people in my life, and you have not read "the witches" please go wiki it now.

bandannas* are cool

*and by "bandanna" i mean "bow tie" and most of you need to go here to appreciate the awesomeness of that reference

anyway, cooley got groomed today. handsome, yes?

oh no, cooley. bandannas are cool.

and lots of other things have been happening, too
1) moved into our new house
2) quit my job [and i don't have another one. the thought of being unemployed is not as stressful as the thought of working in that place again]
3) did our taxes [blech. we're stupid and owe money]
4) i just about lost my damn mind for a good 4 weeks [or more, you know, who's counting?]
5) mdt turned 30 and started his 30 for 30 [and is hence gone adventuring as you read this]

all these things mean......

**picture post!**
fyi, since mdt has the camera, i used my webcam. don't hate on the picture quality



this is the yard nowthese are our plans for it

and another of cooley

here's another video if you're so inclined.

babies & puppies!!

so i said to myself, "self, what should i post about? moving? my job? michael? how banging my outfits have been lately?" and then cooley ripped apart a stuffed toy and brought you all this greatness:

COONSKIN CAP!!!!

we spent forever laughing about this!

and when i was downloading the pictures of that, i found pictures of nephew K from when Hilary (another amazing sister-in-law) came to visit a few weekends ago:

K looks so stoked here

this is our facebook photohilary was practicing for pt school - finding my bones & flexitudes

and because i mentioned it a while ago, here is that surprise letter in the mail. an old student, Mr. Awesome, sent me this in the mail. I'm not gonna lie, he was my favorite student when i wasn't even supposed to have favorites (and, honestly, he still is). loved it!

it says: "To: the best teacher ever! Dear Mrs. Molly hope your having a happy new year! Thank you for the lego man light. I like it very much. P.S. I'm learning about penguins."

seriously, what more could you people want? bam - you've been mollied!

and another of cooley for good measure