Mustache Talks...

I have a dude who I'm getting married to in October. He's the best of everybody and my very own redhead for all of eternity. I'm honored to call him mine because he's everything I could ever need or want in a dude. It has taken us 1.5 years to get to this point, and I will take all the credit for that! I'm a real slow mover, like the slowest! He told me he never worries about me cheating on him because it would TAKE me sooo long to get comfortable enough to kiss someone else. Plus I have a real battle axe of a conscience. I don't open up easily, you know, I'm one of those people.

Probably about a year or so ago, Nick would want to talk about serious stuff and I would stiffen all up and get weird. I hate serious talks. I'm a card writer so I rarely say my feelings out loud. I'd much rather write them down. It was this constant battle between the two of us. After the 2nd or 3rd talk I suggested that we come up with some sort of sign that signified the talk was serious. Instead of saying "we need to talk about something," which I cringe at, he could hold up the sign and I'd know right away. Enter the mustache. There is a story behind the mustache but I won't get into it. I'm just here to say that this simple pointer finger placed right below the nose has made our conversations so much more bearable. It adds some much needed humor to some non-humorous conversations. You can't not smile when someone is talking with a mustache finger held up to their face, it's genius and perfect. I've told a few people about this weird solution and they are hysterical. It may sound ridiculous, but man it sure works for this duo. Give it a whirl, and tell me you're not in love with it.

One night we were in Dallas (where Nick is from) and tiny Nick had something real important he needed to talk to me about. 

Mazel!

P.E.

I teach 2nd grade, which means I teach all subjects. My school doesn't have specialty teachers so the four 2nd grade teachers divide up music, P.E., art, and geography. I have taught P.E. the past few years, mostly because I'm 20 years younger than the other teachers I teach with. I've learned over the course of time that doing P.E. WITH the kids makes all the difference. I remember as a kid being annoyed that gymnastics teachers or P.E. teachers were telling me to do some really hard stuff when I knew they couldn't do it. The kids can't give me grief about what we're doing if I'm doing it too. We're all in this together people!

We used to play dodgeball a lot. I LOVE dodgeball, it's a serious workout and it's legitimately fun. When was the last time you played a good game of dodgeball? If it wasn't yesterday, it has been too long! Well dodgeball was banned from our school a year or so ago, which is a crying shame. "It teaches kids to throw stuff at each other... blah blah blah." Since dodgeball has been banned, we've been playing a lot of kickball, which is almost a comparable alternative.

It has been interesting to teach 100 different kids every week because you really get to see who has played sports and who hasn't played sports. It is VERY obvious which kids have been on teams or played different sports with family members on a regular basis. There are a wide range of coordination levels depending on their experience, which can make it difficult to teach. After a few weeks of teaching P.E. I started noticing that the athletic kids were getting really cocky. Nothing bugs me more than a big ego. I knew I had to nip this in the bud. I decided not to go easy on the kids.  I used to drop a ball on purpose or overthrow occasionally, not anymore, those days are gone. When I started playing my best I noticed that the kids started treating me differently. They had this new found respect for me, plus the big heads started deflating, BONUS!  The kids get me out, I get them out it has worked really well for us. After a long day of teaching nothing makes me feel better than tagging the kid who has been on my nerves all day and saying, "you're out!"

*I'd also like to send a formal cyberspace farewell to my tiny bunny Bernie. I gave her away to someone who could take better care of her in the summer than I can. Sometimes I really miss her, but I don't miss her sharp nails or her teeth except when she would eat cupcake wrappers then I miss her tiny teeth. Farewell Bernadette Rose you were a cute bunny with a hell of a lot of personality and spunk! (She actually had 2 ears, the above picture is misleading).