Annual Bike Parade

Every year in celebration of the Fourth of July, my school has a bike parade. The children bring their bikes to school all decorated. This creates confusion for my little ones. They don't want to leave their bikes outside in the parking lot. They want to ride it now and they're going to have a fit because they can't. At 9:30 I take my class out to the parking lot, along with other Level one classes ( 18 months to 2 years old ) and Level two ( 2 to 3 years old ). This is what the scene looks like.......

The parking lot has been blocked off and volunteers and a police officer have been strategically placed to keep the children from roaming. Level 3 ( 3 to 4 years old ) and Level 4 ( 4 to 5 years old ) are sitting on the island in the parking lot watching. Schoolers are running a watermelon, lemonade and a first aid stand. There are parents everywhere with their children. Basically its crazy.

Anyway, I take my class outside, help them find their bikes or parents whichever comes first. This year I was lucky, I had three friends. That's right, only three friends all day long! One of my friends is with his mom. No need to worry about him. I have two girls to watch. I get them on their bikes and we are off to parade. I had the two slowest riders in the world. One stops every few pushes of her feet and stops. I have to keep encouraging her to go. The other one is all over the place. I have to keep putting her back on track. We did one lap and I was ready to be done. It tooks about ten minutes to do one lap! On the second lap one of the girls mom shows up. I'm like " Yes! Only one to parade around! " . After a few words to the mother we take off.

My little charge sees her sister, gets excited and takes off in the wrong direction at full speed. I have to chase her down and turn her around. She decides she wants none of it and insists on going the other way. I try to persuade her to get off the bike and get lemonade. Who am I kidding! A 20 month old chosing a bike or lemonade. What do you think she's going to pick? That's right....The bike. Luckily she sees her sister get off her bike and she gets off too. We get lemonade and sit in the shade to enjoy. Did I fail to mention I'm hot and sweaty during all of this? Yuck! My little boy is sitting with us ( mom brought him over ). We are all content for a few minutes. Then I realize mom has left him so we had better go in before he realizes it. As we are on our way inside he indeed realizes his mom is gone. He cries all the way to our room. Poor guy. I finally get him calmed down and our day back to normal. All I can think is " Thank you for letting that be over. ".

This all happened in half an hour. You know what I remember about the five bike parades I've done? Being hot and sweaty, chaous and crying children. Is this thing supposed to be fun?

Every single day?

Why we ( By we I mean women ) have so much to do to get ready for our day? Why can't we basically roll out of bed, shower and be done? I know we could but, we get criticized for it. For example " Why don't you ever wear your hair down? ". I was once told by someone I dated " I think your hair is cute that way but, I really want to see it down again. " I was wearing a ponytail that day. My thought was....Okay, you want to come do my hair for me everyday?. You could hire a professional to do it for me. Maybe, I want to get some extra sleep! If you don't wear make-up, " You look tired today. ". This one makes me want to scream. So basically your telling me I don't look good unless I wear make-up? Why should I feel like I can't go anywhere unless I " Have my face on? ". Don't get me wrong, I like make-up, I like it when my hair is fixed. It makes me feel good but, why do I have to feel like it necessary every single day?

I will say I do have a friend that this does not apply to. She looks beautiful everyday!

Car cleanliness

Today I got in my car and thought " Why can I not keep my car clean? ". I don't mean the exterior. I'm talking about the interior. I'll clean it out and the next time I get in it its a mess! Most of the time I ignore it. Today it really bothered me. I have even spent forty dollars to have it washed and the interior cleaned. When I had it done I thought " This will make me keep my car clean. Look how much money I just spent. ". Yeah right. That lasted a week. The really sad part is I have a car wash in my apartment complex. I can it see outside my window. I know I'm not the only one out there with this problem. A lot of my girlfriends are the same way. I'm ready to address the problem. The question is......Will I be able to keep up with it?

Magnolia

I finally watched Magnolia. I am scared. Please don't let it ever rain frogs.

Fix me

Here are some lyrics that really hit home with me.............

And the tears come streaming down your face

When you lose something you can't replace

When you love someone

but it goes to waste

Could it be worse?

Lights will guide you home

And ignite your bones

And I will try to fix you

........Will someone try to fix me?

Kind words go a long way

One day last week I was a little frustrated with another teachers friend, when a parent came out to the playground. She must have seen the frustration on my face. I do tend to wear my emotions on me sleeve. She said " You know you do a good job. You really do. ". Her comment made me forget my frustration, smile and say " Thank you. ". Its amazing how one small comment can turn your mood and your day around. If we all said one nice thing to each other everyday, imagine how much better we would all feel.

Go Spurs!!

All this Spurs fan can say is.....................I LOVE THE SPURS!!! My Spurs have done it again! Three tiltles in seven years. Yeah baby!

Too much coffee

This morning I stopped and got my friend and I coffee from starbucks before work. I hadn't been in a couple weeks. I was feeling the need for lots of coffee. I got a venti cafe' mocha . No fat free, sugar free, skim milk, no whip for me. No fussing, just give it to me! I arrive at work anticipating my coffee and the happy look on my friends face. Instead I get a look of shock. She tells me that not only did she bring coffee from home, this is not unusual for her, but our director has brought her coffee too. My director informs she brought me one also and a doughnut. Ok, I can handle this. Its not like I haven't had two cups of coffee in the morning. I say thank you and move on. When I'm bringing my friends inside for snack a parent comes out with two frappuchinos. One for me and one for my friend. I've already finished my starbucks by then. So, I take it happily and enjoy. Here comes the problem. One cup of coffee makes me act like a cheerleader on speed. My friend can always tell when I've had coffee. It makes me talk a mile a minute and I'm full of energy. I know hard to imagine. Its true! My coffee high takes me all the way through lunch. I've never had that happen before. I was ready for it to be over and my heartbeat to return to normal. I think why do I drink coffee? Look what it does to me. Do you think that stops me? Nope. Do you think I'll switch to decaf? Nope, don't see the point. I'll happily drink my next cup of coffee and do it all over again. What I won't do again is have too much coffee. Small doses for me please.

Smile

Walking back to my apartment from getting my mail I heard someone playing coldplay in their car. They had their windows rolled down and the sound turned up. It made me smile.

Are we still in Junior High?

I went to the Pool on Saturday. This is what I noticed..........Girls laying out on lounge chairs and guys talking to other guys or playing in the water with other guys. It reminded me of Junior high, when you have your first dance and the girls are on one side of the gym and the boys are on the other. I saw one guy, ONE talk to a girl. There had to be 100 or more people there. Those are not good odds. Have a little courage guys. A girl is not going to bite you. The worst she could say is leave me alone or no.
Another thing that I noticed was the girls wearing diamond necklaces or big hoop earrings. This is the pool. Not really an appropriate time to wear your jewlery. Unless you really want a funky tan line. It makes it seem like they were trying too hard.

Father's Day

Here is a poem in honor of Father's Day.

" Walk a little slower Daddy " said a child so small.

" I'm following in your footsteps, and don't want to fall.

Sometimes your steps are very fast, sometimes they're hard to see.

So walk a little slower Daddy for you are leading me. "

Contract Day

Today was contract day. A day that has brought me stress for the fourth year in a row. Every year in June the owner of my school issues contracts. You either get one or you don't. If you don't get one you don't have a job. I received a contract. Thank goodness. I'm also a little sad about contract time this year. I have made a lot of new friends this school year and most of them are leaving. They are off to seek new adventures. I wish them all good luck. I know I can keep in touch with them but, it won't be the same. I'll miss seeing and talking to them everyday. I'm pretty sure my partner in crime is staying too. That would be awesome! She makes my days so much better and interesting. Who knows, I might make some more new friends. There's always room for more.

Seeing rats!

About three and half years ago the apts next door to my center were shut down due to black mold. They have just now started remodeling the apts. My coworkers and I have had the discussion about what would be run out of there. We have officially seen two rats and a mouse. So now every time I see a squirrel I freak thinking its a rat! I'm not typically the squeamish type but, there is something about rats that ook me out.

Coldplay

I know a lot of you out there have not been to pleased with Coldplays new CD. I think it is awesome. I know I'm not the only one out there. I purchased their CD on Sunday and have not stopped listening to it since. I have even risked getting caught at work to listen. If I can listen to a whole CD days on end, in my opinion, they are GREAT. I don't really understand the whole stink. Please tell me so I'm not in the dark.

Daily doody

This is something that happens to me on a daily basis at work. I know its going to happen but it doesn't make it any less frustrating. It happens after our afternoon snack. This little cutie below is my biggest culprit. This is how it goes........I change diapers like a million times a day, at least it feels that way. keep in mind all my friends are two or almost two. I change them all, let them sit on and/or stand at the potty. The second I'm done with the very last one, this sweet faced little girl walks up to me holding her bottom and says " Mia? Poo poo. ". Mia is whats she calls me since she can't say my name yet. I really like it. I'm going to let her keep calling me Mia. Anyway, my response is either a noise of frustration or " You JUST sat on the potty! ". Now I know that it is normal for a child to poop after you change them. It has something to do with not wanting to go in a wet diaper or maybe it s something to do with having a clean diaper put on. I can't even remember the exact reason anymore! I still don't understand why they just can't get it all over in one go instead of making me change twelve diapers instead of six. By the time I'm done I've spent forty-five minutes doing diaper duty. The funniest part is when I look around the room and see six little angels in their little space with red faces. All I can think is great, Here we go again!

My baby is leaving home

This morning I feel just like it looks outside. Sad and gloomy. Cowboy is leaving me today. For those of you who don't know me well, Cowboy is my dog. He is a Border Collie mix. He's not huge but not little either. Cowboy loves to be outside and being in an apartment does not allow for a lot of outside time. Being the mom that I am I have decided Cowboy is to stay with my mom. She loves him, he loves her and there is big back yard for him to play in. All perfectly good reasons for him to go. The other side of me wants to keep him here so I can see his sweet face everyday. I know going to my moms is best. I have packed his things, he has lots of things to pack. I spoil my babies. So I'm sitting here waiting for his ride to San Antonio and trying hard not to cry. This is a battle I don't think I'm going to win. Its hard doing the right thing.

cowboy

Which side would you rather be on?

I was married for four years, we dated for four years before that. In all it was a good relationship. There are some things I look back on and wish I could change. Something went wrong along the way. I swore to myself I would never let my marriage go bad. I kept up my end . He let his end waver and here I am starting my life over again. Its been a rough road. I've learned a lot about myself. I know now that I'm a strong person and I CAN take care of myself. So, I find myself out in the dating world. Let me just say what a scary place that is. I'm getting to the point, I swear! I meet a really nice guy, I wasn't expecting anything to come of it. We were just friends. Somewhere along the way that changed and we began dating. My thought is why not go for it. You never know where life will lead you. We had fun hanging out. I started to get the feeling things changed for him. I freaked out a little. I decided to ride it out and see what happened. Oh how I hate it when I'm right sometimes. Do you ever see something coming from a mile away but just can't seem to except its happening? That's me. Like a deer caught in the headlights. I still stand there mesmerized by those beautiful lights every single time. Then WHAM, Its all over. So here is the question.....Would you rather be on the side telling someone its over or being the one hearing it? When you are the on telling, though it hurts you there has to be some kind of relief. Being on the end hearing it, the pain can stay longer and you are baffled. I think I would much rather be on the telling side, being on the hearing side quite often. Then I think that's what happens when you put your heart out there in someone else's hands and hope they don't crush it. That's part of life. I will overcome like so many things in my life. Just one more bump in the road. I will continue to put my heart out there. If your not willing to take a risk you might miss out on something wonderful.

Sad News

Today I learned that my favorite tv show Joan of Arcadia is cancelled! I am very saddened by this. I for one do not watch a lot of tv and when I find a show I like, I watch whole heartedly. I love Amber Tamblyns character Joan. She is a VERY reluctant servant of God. She is constantly questioning God's work through her. Just another show that I enjoyed GONE! Case in point....My So Called Life! I am hoping for a miracle!