Life Goes On

So far this week...

I have learned that I really hate teaching Social Studies. Really. Ancient Chinese dynasties are soooooooooo boring. So what is the answer? Go to the county library and check out a couple of videos on it, of course. It's the best thing I ever did. Today we watched something about the Shang Dynasty. Madame Lu was buried for 21 centuries. On the video, a scientist pokes her arm and the skin is still pliable. The wonders of embalming! We also saw the 6000 terracotta soldiers that were discovered by peasants digging a well. Wild! Did you know that the Chinese invented the rudder? They were the first to discover the compass? The kids love it. They love impersonating Chinese accents even more. And stealing candy from the candy jar when I'm not looking.

Trayvon and I got into a screaming match and he's been put into in-school suspension until his mommy shows up for a meeting. He used to be so calm and boring. Now he's an agressive 300 pound, 6 foot giant. Sometimes I hesitate to tell him to tuck his shirt in. Then I think, "Why give up one of the perks of being the teacher?" Actually, bossing kids around is not that fun.

Our fish died. One is left. The ugly girl fish, of course. After the pretty male betta died, she started eating his neck. It grossed out all the girls in the row next to our fishtank. Very educational, I think.

Jinna came to visit today! She looks so good! And her hair is so long! I cooked pasta for her and made her hot chocolate. She says that Sarah T may move to California this year. We went to the mall and looked at the diamond rings I've been dreaming of since Orazio and I went to look at them last weekend. I tried on one with blue diamonds, but the ring didn't look nice next to my pale skin. Too much white gold. I tried on the gorgeous canary diamond again. It was even more beautiful than the last time I saw it, and Jinna preferred it to the plain white diamonds ring. I did, too.

Can you believe that Orazio and I looked at rings? I can't, either. And he was so into it! Like a girl! He kept saying how fun it was to look. How he didn't want to decide on one because it would mean that we would have to stop going to the shops and choosing different ones. Exactly.

Orazio is lovely. He took me to Big Bear Mountain for my birthday (Las Vegas was fully booked). We had the most amazing rooms! One was a cave. Seriously. It was a free-standing cabin, but the inside had been concreted all over to be like a cave. There were sparkly crystals, stalactites, the whole deal. The second cabin we stayed in was the Anthony and Cleopatra cabin. Hieroglphics everywhere. It was very exotic and beautiful. I didn't expect to be half as good as it turned out! Best of all, there was a jacuzzi. I LOVED it. I had 4 jacuzzi baths in two days. And we had real, working fireplaces in both cabins. That was why he chose them, actually. So we curled up in front of the fireplace and I had the best sleep I've had in ages...

David told me that I used to grind my teeth at night. Orazio is awake for hours after I fall asleep, usually, and he hasn't heard me do this. I think I'm calm and relaxed around him. I feel like this is right.

We ate at the Iron Squirrel, walked around the village, and slept a LOT. It was wonderful. And it was nice to be away from home.

I started Weight Watchers yesterday. The meeting was good, and the leader wasn't a flake. I hate it when the leader is an idiot. This one was good. She had gone on and off of Weight Watchers 6 times. She knows the reality of the situation. I bought 10 weeks, so I'm committed.

When I weighed in, I weighed far less than I thought. I'm only 4 pounds above my lowest weight ever on Weight Watchers. My goal is to lose 22.2 pounds. If I do it, I will have lost 74.2 pounds total on WW. Then, maybe they will profile me in the magazine! That would be SO fun!

Have I mentioned that I love my job? I love that the kids need my attention and they depend on me to guide them along the right path. Sometimes, they listen to me. Today I pulled Gabriel aside and asked him, "Gabriel, you love to read, right?" "Yeah, I do, Miss Flansburg." "Then why do you only have six points? You could be kicking Breeyonna's and Cortny's booties right now if you set your mind to it." "But Miss Flansburg, I'm reading the Lord of the Rings books right now like you told me to. I'm halfway through the first one." I was startled. A) I don't remember telling him to do that. B) I don't think I could make it through half of the first book of that trilogy. I'm dead impressed by the kid.

There's more to tell, but that is all for now.