Chinese noodles... my new enemy.

Today was one of those days I could have lived without. I wasn't even going to blog because it would have not been my best post due to my reflection of the day in general.

HOWEVER...

Something just happened to me and I have to tell all of you about it. I'm eating my dinner while talking to both of my roommates and all of a sudden I realized I CAN'T BREATHE! I made a Chinese meal with chicken, rice, veggies, and (keyword) Chinese noodles. So, I'm talking, talking, and talking... and BAM!! I realize something in my throat will not swallow. I tried to swallow about two times when I realized this thing is NOT going down. All I remember is that I had one goal and it was to get whatever it was OUT! Lindsey said my face got bright red and was headed to a different color/I stopped talking in conversation. She said she was about to rush over to do the Heimlich when out FLEW a Chinese noodle.

Oh my goodness. My throat is still hurting from the strain I put it through. I hope I never have to go through that again. Not fun at all!

It's nice to know I have roommates that have my back at all times :) Thanks Lindsey and Laura!

Love me a good weekend.

G-double-o-d-good weekend. Call me corny, but it was! Here are some highlights...

*Helped a friend celebrate being done with the Bar by going to Two Urban Licks (delish!) for dinner and midtown hangouts!
*Ran into an old friend.
*Went on a glorious walk around town in the beautimous weather.
*Kicked some butt in bean bag toss.
*Went to Turbo Kickboxing and FINALLY step with Josh.
*Church with Loomer and her sister.
*Super fattening meal at Shane's w/roommates, but oh was it worth it! We won free desserts... they got brownies and I was the oddball that got peach cobbler. YUM!
*Babysat sweet, sweet Lea.
*Got a mani, pedi, and eyebrows waxed.
*Red carpet/Oscars... love the fashion & beauty! Super jealous of my LA buds working the red carpet.

Hope yours was just as fab :)

A Picture Really Is Worth A Thousand Words

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

In my opinion, it's so weird to start the week off on a Tuesday. I am attempting to give the same amount of work this week as if we were there on Monday. Let's see how that goes :)

In one of my meetings today, I said something that I immediately regretted. In a joking sort of way, I blurted this out: "I'm sorry if my stomach growls during the meeting. I didn't have time to eat breakfast today." I was being completely honest. I know how my tummy works and about 10:00 on a no breakfast day it goes crazy. I was fired back with comments such as...

"Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"Weren't you here before me? You could have totally stopped somewhere."
"Were you late or were you late for you?"
"Do you know how many fast food restaurants you passed on the way to school?"
"You should keep food in your classroom just in case."

All very, very, very kind comments. I'm glad my friends truly care about me enough to elaborate on and on why breakfast is so crucial. I get it. I get it. I get it. SO, what am I going to do about it, you ask? Well, after I worked out tonight, I went to the local grocery store and picked up a few items. My breakfast items include bagels, muffins, AND.... granola bars (the just in case breakfast that I'll leave in my desk). Sorry for the scare today everyone... I did survive though :)

I got the best email today from mama. My Georgia t-shirt quilt is FINALLY in. We took all of my t-shirts over to the lady's house this summer. She did a fabulous job from what I can tell. I am so excited to have it back! She made one for me with all of my childhood favorite t-shirts on it a while back. This is my big girl t-shirt quilt. However, I have a feeling we will be suckered into another in the future. As my mom was leaving her house the lady said, "You know I also do wedding quilts... we take the wedding dress and braidsmaid dresses and make a quilt." Hmmmm... I don't know if I want to curl up to beads or sequins, but the idea sounds cool :)

Tomorrow is a SUPER busy/packed day. A few meetings, a Dr. is coming in my classroom to run my reading groups while I watch/participate/learn from her & we're videotaping the whole hour... I hope the kids do well! eeeeek, SST, and the little girl I babysit is coming to visit me with her mom during math.

Think about me tomorrow... I'll need all the high spirits I can get :) As for now, I am off to write a narrative statement as to why they should pick ME to be ESOL endorsed. :)

So You Think You Can Dance??

The boy, Taylor, still goes to Lassiter and Melanie used to go to Lassiter. Mom knew them both so we talked for a little bit. Melanie got through to VEGAS!! She was phenomenal. So was Taylor!


Bianca and I were trying to perform outside the Fox to see if any of the producers wanted us to tryout. We had to explain to them that we have day jobs that would hate to see us go. They didn't take it well. ;-)


Since my mom knew Melanie, I got to know her too. We took a pic together in case she's famous one day :) Which is highly possible!!


Oh HEY Cat Deeley... aka the host of So You Think You Can Dance.

We were at the Fox from 1:15-7:00. Luckily, we ate lunch at Picnik next door. LONG day full of dancing... I never once found myself bored. At one point, I even found myself BOOing the judges. Nigel, Mary, and Lil C were there. Nigel came over and talked to all of us... nice guy! Super cool experience!! :)

Beautiful weekend

There are many reasons why this weekend was a good one...

-Babysat and made extra cash $$

-Tiff came over again to hang out with us

-Bought my BONNAROO ticket!! ahhhh... so excited. Never been! It's a four day over night/camping trip with TONS of concerts. So many awesome solo artists/groups... Eminem, Widespread Panic, Mumford and Sons, Lil Wayne, Girl Talk, Florence & the Machine, etc. Check out this pic I found from 2006.

-Two hour walk around my beautiful area on a beautiful day

-EXTREMELY productive Saturday night full of grading papers, laundry, PSC, CBT data info, etc.


Probably my favorite.....

-WORKOUT WITH JOSH!!! I went to his new studio today. Class was for 2 hours... the first hour was Zumba and the second hour was turbo kickboxing. Needless to say, I was a hot mess when I left, but it was so worth it! I apologize if I can't walk tomorrow at work.


Hope all of you had just as good if not a better weekend than myself :)

If I can make your day, I will (or at least try to).

Sat in another hour conference after school. This parent also requested that the child be present in the meeting. This specific child is a HOOT. He was cracking all of us up in the meeting. :)

As I was leaving school, I came into view of the beautiful outdoors!! AHHHH, I could hardly wait to get home so that I could change to go walk! I walked in this beautiful weather for close to two hours. I had the most scenic views of various spots in my area. I made sure I listened to an endless supply of music on my iPhone. Interrupted by a few phone calls, but it was nice to catch up with these people.

On my walk, I decided that I needed to use up some bananas that were getting somewhat brown. What better way to use brown bananas than to throw them in banana pudding with Nilla waffers? I had all of the ingredients I needed except for the milk (if you know me well, this is super uncommon... I get this from my mother). Luckily, I live near a grocery store. On my way back, I decided to pop in to get some milk. While I am waiting in line, I noticed a very troubled man with screaming children trying to dig up change to pay for his things. He was five cents too short. He was not the nicest man I have ever encountered due to his screaming at his own children. I was waiting for the cashier to say "Don't worry about... just go on", but she never did. He said, "Well, I can't find five cents. Let me go to the car. I'll be right back. I won't be though if my kids don't shut up." Something immediately made me feel like I could be the one that saved the day and hopefully could give him a change of heart. I told him that I could give him five cents. He did say thank you, however, it was the kind of thank you that basically says I am not really appreciative of your generosity. The cashier told me that was one of the nicest things she has ever seen on the job... but it was just 5 cents??? Like just one nickel? I guess it's the thought that counts :) Who needs a sincere thank you when you know you did something right?

Great day!

Life is not always a piece of cake.

Teacher appreciation week is so sweet. The kids bring in various items for their teachers to show they care... even though I know my little ones do love me. I received this heart cake today. It was strawberry! So thoughtful and creative. <3

This afternoon I had a conference that lasted from 3-4. I learned SO much about my student along with her family within this short hour... things that I am still pondering about. The mother requested that the child be present in the conference. The teachers that were present shared things that were positives and things that the student needed to work on. It was extremely apparent that the mother cared so much about her daughter and her education. Working at a school where there is a language barrier can be difficult and oftentimes misleading. Some people assume that they don't care about what is going on, but I 100% disagree. This parent was so passionate about her daughter's education that she wept. I had to fight to stay strong for her. All I felt like doing was consoling her and crying alongside her. Boy, was that tough stuff. I left the meeting reflecting on life... life really isn't a piece of cake. Your idea of "horrible" is probably someones idea of "amazing" due to their circumstances.

As we do in our meetings, I stand for ________.

I get to dance with ELLEN!!!!

Mommy won tickets for us today for during spring break! She has been trying for 3 years and FINALLY we got them!

Happy LOVE Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! It was a day full of love. Full of work, meetings, and such... but still... full of love :). I was showered with so many gifts from my loving students. Flowers, stuffed animals, chocolates, jewelry, and all that sweet stuff. The gifts don't even matter to me (although, very much appreciated)... It's just amazing to feel that love from everyone around me! I got eyes full of tears a FEW times today... tears of joy...

1) Student: "Ms. Wexler, can I read you what I wrote to my mom for Valentine's Day?"
Me: "Of course!"
Student: "........ You fill my heart with happiness and I never want to let that feeling go. I appreciate (apreshiat) all that you do for me even though we can't always do the things we want to do."

2) Student: "Look what I wrote to my mom!"
Me: "Show me!"
Student: "I know I'm the luckiest child in the whole wide world because you love me more than a dream."

3) My mom came to my school today and brought me the most thoughtful gift I think I have ever received. She made a book for my brother and I on snapfish.com of my dog, Casey. I cried like a tiny baby!! Thanks for such a thoughtful gift, mommy :)


Great Valentine's Day. Loved at school by my students. Loved after school at dinner by my sweet mom, dad, and brother. Loved from text/phone calls from friends. Loved by co-workers. Love, love, love. It has been a great one! Hope you had a great one too :)

And remember, I LOVE YOU!!

Oysters, love, and Grammy's

Can't believe the weekend is already over. It was a good one full of fun and friends. On Friday, we had three friends from work come over. 1 from the office, 1 from 3rd, and 1 from 4th. And of course... Linds in 1st and me in 2nd. We represented our school well. We had a great time full of food (and lots of it, right?) and so much more. On Saturday, I went to a festival in Piedmont Park. SOOOO fun! Lots of good friends. Even ran into my roomies :) Today I have been writing Valentine's Day cards, watching red carpet footage, and about to dive into grading papers. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy early Valentine's Day! I love you! <3

Day 365... the finale, but not goodbye!

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to myself :) I have blogged each day for a solid year. Even if I didn’t blog that exact day, I made sure that I caught up. Wow, where do I begin? Well, I could start off by remembering back a year ago. A friend asked me, “Have you seen my blog yet?” She sent me her link and I began to be a “follower”. I never was one to do something like this, but I was interested in the idea. A couple weeks went by of me “following” her and I decided that I’d like to take on the challenge of blogging for a solid year. To be honest, I didn’t know if I was actually going to succeed at doing it, but somehow I did. Blogging turned into a part of my life. I actually looked forward to coming home and blogging for my followers to read.

Here I am a year later. I am about to reflect with you about my year. On the 100th day of school this year, this same friend recently did her top 100 favs on her blog that have stuck out in her mind this year. To go along with my 3-6-5 theme, it would be ideal to write my top 365 moments from my year, but there are a few reasons why I won’t… a) I don’t want to make you become bored and b) I don’t know if I can come up with that many in one sitting? SO… I will take yet another challenge she has thrown out there in her blog and I will do my top 100 moments (some good some not so good) from this year. In no particular order… here it is :)

100. Found keys I have been looking years for.
99. Traveled to Athens to see Ron Clarke speak/become his bff.
98. Discovered my love of the Big Top Cupcake with my sweet twin cousins.
97. Rock Band with L, Meg, and Gladys.
96. Learned a lot about my teaching styles being a mentor to a few interns.
95. Met my sweet little cousin Caleb for the first time.
94. Experienced the uncertainty of having a job.
93. Went to Charleston with some great work girls.
92. Shook Jay Leno’s hand.
91. Attended Easter services in the Hollywood Bowl.
90. Developed relationships with new people at work.
89. Realized Panera is my bff.
88. Experienced times when I knew I should be thankful for all that I have.
87. Step classes with Josh.
86. Heard about a zebra on the interstate in Georgia. So funny and random!
85. Three trips to LA!
84. Watched a child learn his alphabet, letter sounds, numbers, and begin to read.
83. Read a few twilight series books and saw a few movies.
82. Heard my mama got teacher of the month at her school—so well deserved!
81. Watched a friend get teacher of the year—well deserved too!
80. Witnessed a few friends get married.
79. Attended Dancing with the Stars in LA VIP style.
78. Coached two different squads in cheerleading.
77. Celebrated a few friends having babies.
76. Donated many bags of clothes to Good Will.
75. My favorite teacher as a child came to my classroom… TWICE!
74. Traveled to Napa.
73. Became aware that I don’t like talk radio—just give me the music!
72. Screamed when a few friends got engaged.
71. Went on a few beach trips.
70. Learned and fell in love with the “You Read to Me & I’ll Read to You” series.
69. Went to a real magic castle.
68. Met a wonderful family that I babysit for on a regular basis.
67. Attended the American Idol season finale in LA.
66. Roomie dinners.
65. Grandmommy and mommy came to see me at school.
64. Joined forces with Meghan in second grade… thanks, my mentor :)
63. Learned that collecting data isn’t so scary and easy if you’re organized.
62. Ate the spicy chicken sandwich and spicy chicken biscuit from Chick-Fil-A.
61. Became bff’s with the Lexus staff due to a few visits.
60. Attended weekends in Athens for the dawgs.
59. Bible study with some of my best girl friends.
58. 4th of July at Lindsey’s lake house.
57. Said goodbye to good friends that moved (Germany, Charleston, New York).
56. Discovered how much I enjoy games—Scramble and Words with Friends.
55. Hiked on a mountain in California.
54. Spent Christmas at home for the first time ever due to snow on Christmas Day.
53. Attended a Nutcracker performance for one of my students—2nd year in a row.
52. Revamped my classroom from the year before… I love new ideas!
51. Danced to Rihanna with Linds and watched her pup freak out many times.
50. Graduated from SIOP (well, not technically yet).
49. Sometimes it’s necessary to bring your laptop with you on a treadmill run.
48. Went to Doobie Brothers and Chicago with my family.
47. Learned about heart murmurs.
46. Got pied in the face for the very first time in my life. I volunteer this year too!
45. Nights out with friends (when I gathered enough free time).
44. Became spoiled with step.
43. Moved in with Lindsey, Laura, and Ottie.
42. Created a classroom community… love my little ones.
41. Realized how important it is to be thankful for the moment.
40. Studied Australia with my class & found out I have friends that will help me out!
39. Traveled to California… but this time… San Fran.
38. Drove on the Golden Gate Bridge.
37. Went to UniverSOUL with Lauren… an experience for sure.
36. Won tickets to So You Think You Can Dance.
35. Became reminded of how important differentiation truly is in the classroom.
34. Got a handful of students in the services they needed due to collecting data—thanks Dr. P for all of your help and patience with me! :)
33. Organized book buddies with a 5th grade class—simply precious to watch.
32. Studied the “cherry oh key” with my students.
31. Taught my beautiful grandmommy how to use an iPhone.
30. Each day, learned more and more why being a teacher is the best job ever.
29. Missed a day of CRCT due to strep. What????
28. Watched my best friend FINALLY come to school and interact with the kids.
27. Decked out our apartment for Christmas.
26. Downloaded lots of music to iTunes… some types I never thought I’d like.
25. Got to spend a lot of quality time with my brother due to both of us living at home at the same time post college.
24. Baked and cooked lots of yummy food.
23. Helped parents celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary.
22. Celebrated a friend’s 40th birthday...limo style.
21. Hosted and attended many jewelry parties.
20. Somehow managed to walk to the mall during the crazy snow/ice storm.
19. Learned what it might mean when someone is wearing a jacket while working :).
18. Got to know a bunch of work people through their blogs—thankful for that!
17. Raised my expectations for my students… I know they can do it, why hold them back?
16. Celebrated Auburn winning the National Championship—excited for my mama!
15. Met the Beach Boys with my family.
14. Hoped I’d see my cousin again.
13. Realized Nashville is a place I could eventually see myself living.
12. Spent many weekends in Auburn with my loving family.
11. Received an email that an old high school friend was going to be working with me.
10. Kept the same phone all year… huge accomplishment… let me tell you.
9. Received/gave the words, “I love you”, many times.
8. Learned a lot about different fonts and how to make professional worksheets.
7. Put my seven years of learning Spanish to good use.
6. Named Trader Joe’s my preferred grocery store.
5. Spent snow days with friends (snow angels, snowball fights, Cans).
4. Learned that dice can transform into sweet messages.
3. Learned that goldfish can transform into sweet messages.
2. Became a Starbucksaholic.
1. Experienced the joy of sharing my life with all of you. Thanks for listening!

I promise this isn’t goodbye, blog world. :) I won’t be blogging daily anymore, but I will check in with everyone here and there or when I have exciting news or just need to vent. Talk to all of you then!

One talented MAMA!!!

Iphone convo with my mommy! She's the gray and I'm the green. CONGRATS to the best teacher in the whole wide world that works harder than anyone I know!!!

Love youuuuu.... you deserve it more than anything!

Update: I completed my homework.

Phew... my homework is complete and it's not even 10 o'clock. I am pretty impressed with myself for being so diligent. Quickly approaching meeting on Monday=lots of paperwork to be filled out. I plan on arriving to school early in the morning to finish it up and turn it into the one that needs it :)

I don't really have anything out of the ordinary to share. However, two things do stick out...

1) I took the doctor's orders from a friend and went home to nap for two hours :) Feel pretty awesome I must say.

2) I recommend buying the vegetable lasagna from Trader Joe's. Because of my homework, I didn't have time to slave over a stove. The oven was going to have to do all the work for me. It was a huge success!

See you tomorrow 3-6-5 :)

Day 364

Can't blog. Wayne said. He gave me homework tonight. You just wait until tomorrow... you just wait! :)

Day 363

Happy Day 100!! I always love the 100th day... mostly because the kids love it so much. I didn't have specials today so I didn't really have a second to think. This made for a very fluid day. It was a good one full of quality instruction and fun activities.

I walk away from today realizing how important it is to treat others how you'd like to be treated. I try my best as a human being to always treat everyone with respect. There is always that chance that the other person is going through something hard and you might not know about it. Why add more stress to their lives and treat them poorly? It's quite silly if you ask me. Today I was the other person and I don't really know why? All I can say is I hope whatever is troubling them in life gets better.

2 more days till 365!! One year of blogging comes to an end soon.

Day 362

Moe's with Lauren. Napped. Worked out. Grocery store. Super Bowl PARTYYYYY!!! Is it weird that I like the entertainment and food aspects better? I don't really care who wins. I say I'll go with the Packers just to choose a side.


Oh em gee everyone. I received this email last night at 2:30 and about cried.... I couldn't go, but you better believe I'll be there next time!!! JOSH IS BACK! JOSH IS BACK!



Hello this is Joshua (use to teach class at LA Fitness)
Please join leann and myself for our first class @ our studio

Tomorrow Sunday 2-6-11 from 12p-2p
We will be having a masterclass of kickboxing and cardio jam.
And its Free

for the month of february we will be having class every sunday from
12p-2p and then in march we will have weekday evenings and weekend
classes.

thanks for your support and see you soon.

Thanks In Advance,


J Neal
Fitness Professional

Day 361

3 games. Napped. Going to work out. Celebrating being DONE with good friends!!

Day 360

Late post... Great day at school! A few highlights...

Principal came to read to my class... they were so eager to tell her all of the things that we have been doing recently. I was quite the proud teacher! A few times I caught myself biting my tongue because I thought I was going to burst out with laughter. Kids say the funniest things. It's not very often she gets to come into a classroom just for fun so I was glad my class could provide that for her :)

We got to explore Cherokee Indian artifacts throughout the whole day. The kids could not stop talking about it. Every other sentence was a question or a comment pertaining to them. It was such a great teaching day because of this! It made my heart smile <3

We had our "house" meeting today where we taught them a "cheer/chant" that one of the teachers made up. It was SOOOO cute. The kids were so adorable doing it!

Babysat after school... I didn't realize how tired I was until the little girl went to bed. I went downstairs to watch tv and apparently fell asleep. I woke up to her parents waking me up :) Fail as a babysitter.... even though they encourage me to do that because they know how long my days are each day. Still though, super lame!

Long coaching day tomorrow... 3 games in a row! Night all!

Day 359

As I walk away from today, I have to remember one thing... I'm loved.

Turn your head upside down for a sweet message I was needing to hear :)

Another ticket for me :)

Just won 4 tickets to So You Think You Can Dance when they audition in Atlanta :) Anyone interested in coming with me?

I don't know where my luck comes from?

Day 358

Day long meeting. SST meeting. Dentist. Dinner at parent's house.

No cavities :) A+ like always!

Day 357

Great day all around. Precious moment from today? I actually have two. They both happened in indoor recess. It was raining today.

First precious moment:
Right before recess, we have writing. I had a few kids that did not want to turn in their writing because they were not finished. To one of them I said, "I'm sorry! Tomorrow will be the day!" and she said, "NO!! Today is the day. Plllleeeassseee!" So... I felt guilty for taking up their papers so I gave two options for indoor recess. They could finish their point of view papers or they could play games. I was totally shocked when 8 kids sat down to finish their papers instead of play. AMAZING! All of them were girls except for one boy. After indoor recess was over he came over to me. He said, "You know why I decided to write instead of play?" I looked curious and said, "Why?" He said, "Well, it's because I wanted to add dddddeeeeeetttttaaaaiiilllll." That's not the best part. As he was saying it, he WINKED at me! Hehehehe.... so funny!

Second precious moment:
As I am sitting with the future writers of America, I look up and notice that one of the children that decided to play was tapping me on the shoulder. She said, "Can you please come to my desk? I really want to show you something." When I went over there, I see THIS on her desk. She had taken dice to spell "I Love U". She said, "I really want you to take a picture of it so that you can blow it up bigger. I think you need to know how we all feel all of the time." I about lost it. Literally. I teared up.

I don't care what anyone says.... as much work as it is.... teaching is BY FAR the most rewarding job EVER!!