Repost from last year

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Sorry for the rerun, but today is the first day of what I call legalized child abuse and the educational system calls standarized testing.  I will never understand why people think it's a good idea to force Kindergarten students to go through this.


Dear Class,

You should not read this blog because you are five or six and you are in kindergarten, but there are some things I want to say and this is the place I always come to when I need to work out my thoughts.

There are just some things people shouldn't know about their kindergarten teachers. Things you shouldn't know about me. The day you stop believing that I live in our class room, have Santa on speed dial and am close personal friends with Zero the Hero is the day the world begins to lose some of it's magic and you start to believe stupid things like standardized test scores being more important than fairy tales and daydreams.

There are a few things that are more important than fairy tales and daydreams. A standardized test score isn't one of those things.

I want you to know that I am sorry. I am sorry that in around 9 hours I'll be responsible for giving you a standardized test. I am sorry that from this day forward you will be constantly bombarded with standardized test in school. I am sorry that someone somewhere, someone who doesn't know you and hasn't met you will draw conclusions about who you are and how successful you'll be in life based on how well you score on these standardized tests. I am sorry because you are five or six and you are in kindergarten and you should be playing instead of testing.

You were sent home from school on Monday and told to get a good nights sleep and to eat a good breakfast before coming back to class. You should be sleeping now. I should be sleeping now.

I can't sleep because I'm worried about you. I've thought all night about what I can say to encourage you; to remind you of just how wonderful you are. Right now, it feels important for me to say that while you are, can and will be lots of things it is the thing that you aren't that matters most.

You are not a test score!

Through the years you will be forced to sit through more of these tests than anyone can count and you will have teachers who will handle them differently. Some teachers will try to make you believe that the future of the entire world depends on how well you score, others will simply tell you to do your best and trust that you will. I hope that I have been like the latter, but fear that I have probably jumped back and forth between the extremes. I am sorry if I have made you feel pressured to do well. I am sorry because you are five or six and you are in kindergarten and you are not a test score.

There will be questions on this test that you can't answer. I know that you will look at me with pleading eyes expecting help. I am sorry that I won't be able to offer that help. Please understand that it makes me as sad as it will make you. It makes me sad because you are five or six and you are in kindergarten and you are not a test score.

You will take lots of test during your educational career. Some will be long, others short. Some will take forever to finish and others will go quickly. Some tests you will enjoy and find easy; others ~ not so much. Just remember that there is more to you than any test score can ever reveal.

Through the years you will take some important tests too. Your courage will be tested. Your faith, loyalty, honesty, willpower, integrity and patience will all be tested. These are the only tests that really matter. The only tests I truly hope you never have to say you've failed.

I am tired now so I am going to try to sleep. When I see you in class I will smile and remind you to go to the bathroom, to listen carefully to the directions, to think about your answers and to do your best.

That's all you need to do. Nothing more and nothing less. Leave all the worrying to me because you are five or six and you are in kindergarten and you are not a test score.

Things are better!

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They showed up Friday morning to fix the AC in my class!  I told them to leave it in high and when they asked why I wanted to be that cold I told them, "If it's on my body and it's possible to freeze it off, I want to do it!"

I was out and about Saturday when this dog came up to me and just kind of leaned against me and stopped.  I looked down at her and said, "Well, hello there."

About that time the dogs owner called out, "Come on, old lady, you don't have to say hi to everyone."

I very quickly and very loudly responded, "HEY!" in a tone that let him know I didn't appreciate being called an old lady.

He quickly explained that the dog's name is Lady and they often call her "Old Lady" because she is 19 years old.  He then told me that made her something like 91 in dog years.

Old Lady had been a rescue dog who was abused by the people who had her before.  They got her and took her home thinking she wouldn't live much longer.  They wanted her to be loved during whatever time she had left. 

That was nine years ago.

You go, Old Lady!

Mix It Up templates by Nibbles Skribbles

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Manda of Nibbles Skribbles has released a cute set of templates with space for lots of pictures.  They come in layered PSD and Tiff, individual PNGs and .page and .sbpage for Storybook Creator users!Check them out...

The yemplates are availables in the Nibbles Skribbles store at The Studio and right now they are on sale.

I used one of the templates and a soon to be released kit from Nibbles Skribbles called Medley to scrap some photos of the beach...

4-7-13

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4-6-13

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Things have been bad!

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I've been quiet the last couple of days because I've been hot, tired and cranky.  Things have been bad.....really, really bad!  I am absolutely convinced everything is going wrong because I still have no AC in my class.  It's been 18 calendar days since I first reported it was broken and if they would just fix it I know things would get better.  And heck, even if things don't get better, at least I'll be nice and cool!

Here are just a few examples of the things that are going wrong...

Last week, I went shopping for a new mattress and actually decided to buy a new bed to go with the new mattress.  The finish on the bed matched the bedroom furniture I already have so it was perfect.  One new piece of furniture, a much needed new mattress and it's like I have a whole new bedroom set! 

The store I bought it from only delivers Monday - Friday and couldn't deliver while I was still on vacation.  I made it clear that I would need a late afternoon delivery and was told that they would make me the last delivery of the day and that I would get a call the day before with the final delivery time.

Well, on Wednesday I get a call letting me know that my bed would be delivered between 9 and 11 AM Thursday morning.  I quickly say that won't work. I made it clear that the day of delivery wasn't as important as the time of delivery and  that my account had been marked to show that I needed a late afternoon delivery.

The girl on the other end of the phone replied, "Well, that's not possible."

She didn't offer to reschedule or try to explain why it wasn't "possible".  She just expected me to give in and change my schedule to fit their needs. BUT...I'm the customer.  They weren't doing me any favors.  I was doing them one by spending my hard earned money in their store.  So...

Instead,  I replied, "Well, then we're just going to cancel this sale and you can refund the money back to my credit card and I'll go spend it at one of your competitor's stores."

Girl on the other end of the phone: "I'll have to connect you with the sales clerk who helped you so that the refund can be processed."

Me:  "That's fine.  I'll be more than happy to talk to him and let him know that the reason he's losing whatever commission he was supposed to make on this sale is because you were very rude and unhelpful."

I got put on hold!

Christian, the hot sales guy who had helped me didn't pick up the other end of the phone.  Instead, it was some other girl who said she was the store manager. I explain to her why I want to cancel the sale and get my money back.  She says that I have two options:

1. reschedule the delivery for Tuesday when they can get it to me between the hours of  3 and 5 PM
2. Have my money refunded.

I know that she  was completely expecting me to want that new bed so badly that I completely forgot about the rude girl I had just spoken to and reschedule the delivery. 

She doesn't know me! 

I don't like being disrespected and I don't spend my where I get disrespected!

I told her that the first girl should have offered to make the delivery schedule change instead of declaring that a late afternoon delivery wasn't possible and that if she had done that I would have gladly rescheduled, but she didn't and I wanted my back.

The money is supposed to be refunded within 3 to 5 business days.  If the transaction doesn't show up on my credit card by the fifth day...I'll be calling that store again!

I probably should be nice and not mention the name of the store that gave me such a fit, so I'll just say that I will never, ever buy anything from Modani Furniture of 2898 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami, Florida and I don't recommend that you do either.

That's just one of the many things that have gone wrong lately!

Want to hear about another one?  Too bad!  I'm going to tell another story anyway.

On Wednesday, as I was driving home from school, all hot sweaty and tired when the light came on in the car to let me know that I needed gas.  I didn't want to stop for gas!  I wanted to get home and take a cold shower, so I decided to do just that.  I came home knowing that the gas station is close enough for me to get to the first  thing in the morning.

So, I get to the gas station on Thursday morning,slide my card through the reader, punch in my zip code and start mindlessly pumping my gas.  The pump shut itself off after I had pumped $28.40 worth of gas into my car.  I didn't know what was going on!  My car had been beyond empty when I started so I knew that $28 wasn't going to fill it up.  I was looking at the pump and pressing the handle trying to figure out why I couldn't get more gas when the lights suddenly went out.

This scared me...first the pump and then the lights! 

Naturally, I thought, "OMG! It's the North Koreans!"and started looking around for someone (hopefully someone young, male and super good looking) to help/protect me when I realize that the lights inside the store are still on and that one of the guys inside is watching me through the window.

I threw my arms up in the air and gave the guy the nationally recognized, "What the $%^&?" shrug.  He came to the door and called out to me, "We turned the pumps off, cause it's time to do our change of shift paperwork." 

That's right!  They couldn't wait for me to finish my purchase.  They had to get that paperwork work done so that one of them could go home.

I really wanted to show the guy another nationally recognized hand gesture, but I didn't.  Instead, I just said, "You realize that you're losing here, right?"  I don't know if he answered me or not cause I didn't waste any time getting into my car and driving way.  After all. the North Koreans could still have been behind the whole thing.  You just never know!

Here's a little bit of good news....

My principal moved me into a portable today until my AC gets fixed.  The portable smells really bad, but it has AC so I'm not complaining!  Breathing in the smell of  mold may kill us, but at least we won't be hot and sweaty when we go! lol!

I was also told that the part  to fix my AC is in and that as long as there are no "emergencies" my air should be fixed tomorrow.  We'll see...

4-4-13

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