More Brain Potpourri & An Announcement for Texas Teachers

1.  Texas Teachers…are y’all ready for another lunch date?!  I AM!!!  Time to get this party started…again.  We’ll be meeting here in Dallas on December 20th.  Location and time TBA.  If you’re interested, email me at texasteacherblogmeetup@gmail.com.  You can also get updates on my little FB page! Can’t wait to see some of y’all again and finally meet the rest of you!

2.  I enjoyed EVERY.SINGLE.MINUTE. of my Thanksgiving break.  Why did it feel like I blinked and it was over?!  LOTS of QT with the fam…tons of way too good food…and lots of shopping :)  Now the countdown to Christmas break is on…10 more days!!!

3.  I was out of commission for a few days this past week.  I had a SEVERE allergic reaction to JALAPENOS.  Yes friends.  True.  I’ve NEVER been allergic before, but apparently things can randomly develop as you get older.  Just another perk of going gray!  So, I was cutting up 4 jalapenos for chili I made last week and I guess it soaked into my hands pretty good.  I was coughing something awful as I was cutting them, but I didn’t put two and two together.  A few hours later, I got my first ever migraine.  I went to bed around 10 and woke up around midnight.  My hands were on FIRE.  I swear I thought they were going to burst into flames.  It felt like someone cut my hands up with razor blades and then proceeded to pour salt and lemon juice into my wounds.  They were red and swollen and the only thing that helped was ice cold water.  The pain lasted for FOREVER.  The doctor put me on Zyrtec and hydrocortisone.  Eeeks.  I’ll never cut those suckers without gloves again!!!  DARNIT!!!

3.  I’m officially obsessed with these…

This is my new favorite snack.  CAN’T.GET.ENOUGH.  I’m basically obsessed with anything cinnamon, but these take the cake.

4.  My student teacher is officially a college graduate in a week.  She spent her last day in my classroom last week.  I’m SO sad to see her go.  So were my kids.  I mean, crying and all.  It was a sad day.  We showered her with gifts and cards and my sweet team treated her to lunch.  SO bittersweet…

A few of y’all asked me what I was going to do for her and I apologize if I didn’t respond.  I bought her an Erin Condren planner, got her a little gift card, and then we made her a class book.  She loved it!!!!  And the kids LOVED making it!!!!

5.  Speaking of responding to emails…if you emailed me sometime in the last two/three months and haven’t heard back, I apologize.  I promise I’m not ignoring you.  I read each one I get and I appreciate them all!!!  Between school, my 3 boys, and my domestic duties, I’ve gotten really behind.  Email me again or leave me a message on FB.  I’m so sorry if I haven’t gotten back to you!

6.  My kids have been keeping pretty busy and they’re *finally* in a groove!!!  YAY!  This month we’re working like crazy on graphing, editing sentences, adding adjectives to our writing, and SO much more!!  It’s going to be a BUSY two weeks!!! Praying we can fit it all in!!!!

7. My little family starting our RACK’s this week.  Y’all…it was amazing.  On the first day, we placed about 65 candy canes on random cars in store parking lots.  My boys did the majority of the work.  I didn’t want anyone to see us doing it, but one lady caught us in the act.  She picked up her candy cane, read the message, and had little tears in her eyes.  She looked up at Landon and said, “Did you do this for me?!”.  Landon had the biggest grin on his little face and said, “YES!!!!”  She said, “Thank you!  I really needed this.  This made my day.”  Then I started tearing up….crying, actually…and told her I prayed for that!  LOVE this time of year!!!!

Our list of random acts of kindness has been changed just a bit, but we’re rollin’ with it and loving every minute :)

8.  I’m sure y’all have started the Elf on the Shelf with your families.  Our little elf… “Elfabet” {named by Landon last year}…is back!  He brought the boys a little North Pole breakfast on Saturday.  Definitely one of my favorite new traditions!  We’ll surely be doing this EVERY year! {Thank you, PINTEREST, for this fabulous idea!!!}

9.  I’m NOT a fan of cold weather.  Not by a long shot.  The temperature has taken a turn for the worse here and the high isn’t supposed to be above 40 tomorrow.  Not my idea of a good time.  For those of y’all living in the cold weather states, God bless you.  I don’t know how you do it.  I’m sitting in the living room bundled up in about 5 layers of clothes, fireplace is on, and I’ve got the blow dryer out trying to warm up my toes.  LAWD.  This Texas girl isn’t cut out for this stuff. 

Alright.  I’m sure that’s all the randomness you can take from me.  I’ve got some freebies to share with y’all, but I left my EHD at school!!  I’ll be back with lots to share!  Hope you have a VERY happy Monday!!!