Wacky and Tacky - on purpose!

It's Seuss Week!


What exactly is Seuss Week, you ask? Well, it's a busy and fun week long celebration of the fantastic children's author, Theodore Seuss Geisel (aka: Dr. Seuss).

You know Dr. Seuss... he wrote The Cat in the Hat, Horton Hears a Who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and 44 other fantastic books for children.

Now, what you may not know about Dr. Seuss is that as a child his mother let him draw on the walls in his bedroom (don't try this at home!), and that one of his first jobs as an adult was drawing advertisements for bug spray. It might also be a surprise to you that it took him more than 20 tries before a publisher accepted the manuscript and illustrations for his first book, And To Think That I Saw It On Mulberry Street.

So, why does Seuss Week get a spotlight here at B&K? Well, as the school librarian, K hosts Seuss week, and B gets to hear all about it! There is lots of planning (seriously, lots of planning!) and lots of talking about the planning. Then, during the week of Dr. Seuss's birthday (March 2), as K hosts different activities and events at her school each day, there continues to be a lot of talk about Seuss between B&K (and I mean a lot of talk about Seuss!).

One of the fun things about Seuss Week is celebrating a book by Dr. Seuss everyday and dress-up to go with that book. So, "crazy caps" to celebrate The Cat in the Hat, "silly socks" to celebrate Fox in Socks, "favorite colors" for My Many Colored Days, favorite places for Oh, The Places You'll Go, and the most fun of all... "outrageous outfits" to celebrate Wacky Wednesday.

It's because of Wacky Wednesday that today things are, well, WACKY (and a bit tacky).

Case in point... Ms. Wacky-Tacky (all the way from Ar-Can-Sauce):

Yep, that's me... aka: Ms. Wacky-Tacky in all my "whacked out glory" for Wacky Wednesday! The only thing missing are the big ol' Bubba teeth that really make me look strange. It is so fun to become this character and to see the wonder on so many faces of the precious children that I work with as they try to figure out if it's really me behind those glasses and fake teeth.

I always set them up to think that I will be gone to a workshop on Wacky Wednesday (and my awesome teacher friends play along and help me with this ruse!). Then I tell the students that my "distant cousin," Ms. Wacky-Tacky from "Ar-Can-Sauce" will join them for the day (NOTE: Even though I have no cousins that look this wacky in real life, I have to give the children some reason for why Ms. Wacky-Tacky and I look so similar!). Then I show up in my "whacked out glory" and watch for their reactions. All I can say is... Priceless!

There are some children who just aren't sure if it's really me or my "distant cousin," and it's fun to hear them defend why they think Ms. Wacky-Tacky is a different person from me. My favorite this year came from a kindergartener who told one of his friends: "It can't be Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy doesn't have a brown pimple on her face. It has to be Ms. Wacky-Tacky." In case you were wondering, Ms. Wacky-Tacky doesn't have a brown pimple either, it was a "mole" that I drew by my mouth with eye liner, but I loved his logic!

Wacky Wednesday is one of my favorite days. It is such a fun way to cut loose and celebrate Seuss and it forges a bond between me and my colleagues and students built on fun, laughter, and enjoying a good book. What a great way to strengthen relationships (and a great reason to throw together your own "outrageous outfit!")

Sneak Peeking Harry Potter 2010

A couple of weeks ago the 9th grade Biology teacher at school popped into the library to tell us about an opportunity she had worked out to see Harry Potter 7, Part 1, at an early showing at Movie Tavern and asked if we were interested in tickets. Um... YES!!!!

Not only is she the 9th grade Biology teacher, she also happens to sponsor the Harry Potter club at TVS which has quite a large number of participants.

The dealio was that she would have to sell every single seat for us to rent out the theater for a special showing. Myself and my friends Jennifer and Marcy snapped up the chance to go and I scored a couple of seats.

So... fast forward two weeks (actually I am pretty sure they were slow weeks as we eagerly anticipated the sneak peek!) and the time to hang out with Harry arrived!

It was definitely the highlight of my day - especially after a crummy dr's appointment that included a rather painful procedure as part of a follow-up appointed to a sickness I have been battling. Thank goodness I had Harry to distract me and help me realize that there can definitely be more painful experiences to endure than a dr's visit!

Before the movie started the manager explained to all of us that Warner Bros. had given special permission for us to have this advanced showing (massive cheers filled the theater 'cuz ya know, we're special!) but that under no circumstances were any of us to have our phones or cameras out at any point during the movie (cue all the camera flashes to instantly start going off - mine included!) and then encouraged us to sit back, dig in to our complimentary bag of popcorn (delish!) and enjoy the movie. So we did!

The movie was great! And being in a theater filled with great friends, my school community, and my fantabulous sister was a blast!

Now the hard part - waiting until July for Part 2 to be released! This is purposeful punishment from the production company! Boo!

So what are you waiting for? Get outta here and go see Harry Potter for yourself. It.Is.AWESOME!

Summer Recap... WHAT?!? NOW?!?

Yep, it's true - back to school is quickly approaching and even though I hate to think that it is time for a "Summer Recap," the reality is that a new school year is staring me in the face and I am rushing into it headfirst (even though that could cause brain damage!).

FYI: For anyone who really thinks that "teachers get the summers off" - I'd like to find out which teachers you know that are living that life, cause I need to talk to them and figure out how to cash in on that part of my career since I haven't managed a "summer off" yet in 13 years of being an educator. Holy crumb, just by saying "13 years as an educator" I felt myself age!

So, here are some of the things that I would have to include in my summer wrap-up (oh yeah, I have pictures, they're just still on my camera!)...

• Taught classes at our school's summer enrichment camp.
  
  
• Co-facilitated the Community Partners Program at school where students in 7th - 12th grade act as a board of trustees to learn about non-profit organizations in our community and then decide as a board which organizations to disburse grant monies to and how much each will receive. A totally AWESOME experience!
  
  
• Met with the young lady who will be my intern this coming year.
  
  
• Went to San Antonio to visit family that I love.
  
  
• Hosted an Open House to celebrate my seester's graduation with her Masters in Social Work from UTA.
  
  
• Went to my little nephew's blessing.
  
  
• Had some friends over for a chat session. It was such an uplifting evening where we talked about the talks given during our Church's spring session of General Conference. I loved being able to share my thoughts and feelings and to discuss these things with some people that I love and respect a lot.
  
  
• Went with Brian to Houston for a week where I: Caught up with a friend that I worked with at Sycamore when I was just starting down the road that would lead me to"13 years as an educator;" Visited with Matt-ay Sapp-ay (he's like a brother-from-another-mother, since he grew up in our house with my youngest brother and has always been part of our fam); Went to the Holocaust Museum of Houston and was overwhelmed by the emotion of that event in our history - how anyone could think it wasn't real is beyond my understanding; Met some of Brian's co-workers (who were funn-ny!); Survived the torrential downpour of rain compliments of Hurricane Alex (who thankfully did not make landfall in Houston as originally predicted); Read a couple of great books while hanging out in the hotel room during the previously mentioned torrential downpour; Saw The Last Air Bender (and surprisingly liked it!); Went shopping; and mostly... I just enjoyed being out of town with B!
  
  
• B and I went with our friends Shelby and Kirk to see a late show of Eclipse as a spur-of-the-moment decision the day we got back from Houston because Shelby was going to miss our July 8th GNO. It was soooo much fun and we all think that we should do more random things more regularly! Just cause we age doesn't mean we get old!
  
  
• Girls Night Out events to see: Letters from Juliet (such a cute movie) and Eclipse (the movie event of the summer!).
  
  
• Went with the "Sunshine Girls" to deliver "Buckets of Sunshine" to some friends.
  
  
• Had a great time on the 4th of July at Heather and Spence's awesome get-together.
  
  
• Celebrated my birthday... 35 years of living life... I hope I'm living it well!
  
  
• Started planning for my new responsibility of teaching the early morning youth scripture study class (aka: Seminary) this coming fall. And when I say early morning, what I mean is... 17 teenagers (9th - 12th grade) get up and come to a 5:45 am class to study and learn the scriptures together Monday - Friday during the school year and I have the amazing opportunity to teach this class. I love working with these youth and even though 5:45 am is SUPER early, I am excited to be able to teach this class. Having been a student of early morning seminary many years ago, I know that there are great blessings that come from starting your day studying the scriptures.
  
  
• Dealt with home repairs like: replacing a section of pipe under our foundation (which is thankfully all finished - including the carpet being restretched) and having the air conditioner repaired when it went on the blink.
  
  
• Spent time with ALL of my family! Both of my brothers that live out of state came in with their families for a week and so we created "Camp Sturgill" with activities that all of us could do together each day (and by all of us, that would be 21 people - ages 2 months and up). It was fun to see everyone and I enjoyed spending time together.
  

And something that was really awesome this summer:

• Celebrating 15 years of marriage with B - whom I love more than anything!

Now to get ready for the school year - our teacher inservice days start August 11 and then school starts August 18.

So, farewell Summer of 2010, it has been busy but fun!

How did it happen?

I know that there are some of my friends who will be upset when I say it, but for me...

THIS IS THE LAST WEEK OF SCHOOL!

As exciting as that is, how did it happen?

This year has flown by. Seriously! This has been a "kick the bird out of the nest, now it's off and flying, but hey...where did it go" kind of year.

I like that the year was filled with so many great things and neat experiences. But man, if time keeps flying by in this "crazy-busy" way (I'm quoting my blog stalker, Mary!) than there will be NO amount of magic that my friend and awesome hairdresser, Rochelle, can use to fix the color of my hair.

So...I'll have time away from school, but how do I make the most of it? After all, summertime flies even faster than school time!

I have several things to do professionally that will help me in my job (plus, I really don't know how to actually "have the summer off" and none of my friends do, either!)...and there are always things around the house that HAVE to get done now because they don't get done in the fall... but I want to enjoy the time available to me this summer.

I want to savor the time. I want to appreciate the time. I don't want to suddenly look at the calendar, realize it's back to school and think.... "what the" (see previous post for more details on this phrase).

It's not easy for me to slow down. I feel like I should always be busy. So any suggestions? All are appreciated!

Home again

After a week in Houston at a work conference, I am so glad to be home! It was a great week, but there is nothing quite like being in your house, with your own things, walking to the bathroom without wearing flip flops! You know - all those "little" things ;)

It was a great conference with lots of break-out sessions, vendors, and resources (gotta love those Advanced Reading Copies!) and my brain is FULL of ideas. This means that I will have to "brain drain" so I can sleep tonight!

I co-presented a session with my TVS colleagues focused on shifting the perspective towards school libraries and it went really well. This reminded me how much I enjoy presenting and sharing ideas and experiences that have worked for me.

I am grateful that my school supports the faculty in attending professional conferences so that I can stay current and on top of my game in my profession (but I sure wish they'd offer a laundry service after getting back!).

Now that I'm home, I'm gearing up for another experience as I get ready for our church's General Conference. I just think I'm tired now, but after all of the great talks and inspiration that will come my way this weekend, I will really be brain-drained! I can't wait!!

What a week!

It was one of "those" weeks. You know...the kind of week where you wonder "what the heck was I thinking!"

My week was all about Celebrating Seuss at work AND gearing up for our Road Rally quarterly enrichment at church.

Yeah, I did it to myself. It was crazy and more than once I wondered, "what am I thinking!"

The craziness began on Monday and didn't stop until Friday.

Celebrating The Cat in the Hat

Celebrating Fox in Socks

Celebrating Wacky Wednesday


Celebrating My Many Colored Days

And our last celebration was Hooray for Diffendoofer Day

Then there was the Road Rally...

In the end it was worth the craziness!

We had a great week at school celebrating the wonderful, fantastical, incredible books of Dr. Seuss AND the Road Rally was an absolute blast!

What I need now is rest. Good thing it's Spring Break!

Oh wait, I have plans... Big Plans. I'm visiting an exotic location for the week.

You've probably been there... it's called: THE GARAGE!

Austin

I am in Austin at a work-related technology conference for the week and am learning about all sorts of fabulous online resources/tools/toys!

How can I NOT spend time exploring these sites and figuring them out? After all, they will "enhance my teaching" (along with enhancing my "Butt-in-Chair" Syndrome!).

Gotta git - there is more to explore!

K

Brian Graduates!

WAHOO!!! This past Saturday Brian graduated with his BA in Criminal Justice from UTA!!!!

After 2 and 1/2 years of juggling work and family with school, he did it... and did it well!!!!

I can't even begin to express how proud I am of all his hard work and diligence, even when life got tough and threw some unexpected curve balls into our playing field.

Congratulations, B! I love you more than I can tell you!
K

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