Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Skirt Season

Today's high is 78.

I think it is safe to say that Skirt Season is here!

I do love a good skirt.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Love of the Book


When I was a little girl I spent all of my time reading. Not just free time. All the time. Ask my parents.

I have rediscovered my love of books and a good read.

All day long I thought about how much I could not wait to get home to snuggle into my book. I got home later than I thought. I made dinner. I worked on a project for school. It is now time to go get into my next chapter of the Jodi Picoult novel I am reading.

Excited.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Sushi

So we have this sushi place by school that we (Maggie, Beth N., and I) love! We go there anytime we have to stay real late, inservice, or just anytime the kiddos are not around. We have become such frequenters and always order the same thing so now we can just say we will have the usual. It is nice.
Let me just say, you know that you have found a good sushi place when somebody can take your picture, show it to the people that work there and say "they want the usual."
It happened.

Unconditional Love

So I have an exceptional child in my classroom. (Exceptional is the new buzz word for "special ed.") He has grown on me since the beginning of school. He now has a big place in my heart. Today I broke some other pieces of my heart and his.

At the end of 9 weeks, we have a special event for the kiddos to do something fun if their behavior has been good and they have been responsible. This was his first time to make it. Everyone was so happy for him especially me.

He goes to work with an exceptional educator each day and today just happened to be right before our special event. 1:30 came and I took my kiddos out. Everyone that is except him. I forgot he was gone. At 2:30 when we came back, he was in my line. I asked him if he had a good time and he said he hadn't gone. What? "Ms.Quarles, you forgot me."

Heart breaks.

By the time I figured out what happened he held his head high, but huge crocodile size tears were spouting out. I asked for his forgiveness and his reply "Yes, Ms.Quarles. You are still my favorite teacher."

Daggers to my heart.

My eyes started getting wet and I tried my hardest to hold it in. He gave me a hug. I said a quick prayer. What a lesson on unconditional love and forgiveness.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Justin Timberlake



Yet another reason why I like this guy. He hosted all of SNL in 2 minutes.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Spring Break: Atlanta

Well, if you remember I went to Atlanta with four, possibly five things in mind to do. We only managed 2. Here is quick run down.

We left Nashville at about 9:30am. Only an hour and half later than planned. :) Nice, uneventful drive to Atlanta.

Our first stop was Everybody's Pizza in the Highlands area. A fellow teacher had recommended the place and glad she did. The Highlands seemed like a bigger version of Nashville's 12 South district. While eating, we noticed that everybody seemed to be wearing clothing from the 80's. Please say it isn't so.

After eating, we headed to Sweetwater Brewery. Touring breweries is always fascinating to me. While I have toured several and still cannot tell you the exact process of brewing a beer, it is just so amazing to me how much goes into making even a bottle. Sadly, Sweetwater is not open for tours or tastings on Tuesdays.

Next stop, IKEA. It was Justin's first time. I love a good IKEA newbie! After spending 3 hours walking around (and daydreaming), I checked out buying 3 side tables, 1 coffee table, 3 hot pads, and a wine rack. I decided to get side tables and push them together to make my coffee table. (The other table was for Katie.) Justin had done really well in the beginning, but seemed quite okay with leaving after 3 hours. His reward... IKEA ice cream. I cannot express how much I stinkin' love this stuff!

When walking out of IKEA, we found it was getting dark so we decided to check in the hotel. I had used Priceline and was even more surprised to find out just how good I done! Hilton Atlanta for $45! It was right downtown and close to the aquarium and such so we could walk everywhere.

After much debating and searching for a dinner spot (nothing is open at 9:30pm!), we ended up at a place called Taps. Pretty decent. Nothing special. End of Atlanta day 1.

We got up fairly early, opting to skip breakfast so we could see more stuff. We took a nice walk to the aquarium on which I kept getting more and more excited. I really have always wanted to go there! While standing in line, we decided just to see just aquarium so we would not have to rush. World of Coke was out.

I cannot express how wonderful the aquarium was except to say that we did not get to see everything because everything we did see was that mesmerizing. So here are some pictures that cannot do it justice!






We stopped by Varsity for lunch on the way out of town. I was surprised to learn that it was a sit down diner. Passing by, I always thought is was a drive-in. Anyways, a nice Atlanta tradition for us to end our trip on.

Yea for short Spring Break trips!

Friday, March 19, 2010

Puckett's

A new Nashville/Franklin experience for me...

Puckett's.

Katie took me to Puckett's for dinner. It is a small restaurant/music venue/grocery store just off the square in Franklin. I had fried chicken, squash casserole, and mac and cheese. You know it wouldn't be a good Southern dinner without sweet tea. After we ate, we got to listen to a little band play hillbilly, bluegrass, and ragtime music. It was the perfect evening on a spring night with a good friend.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Day Ahead

A quick jaunt to Atlanta.
Leaving 8am today.
Be back 6pm tomorrow.
4 things to do.
Sweetwater, IKEA, Aquarium, and World of Coke.
Possible CNN tour... it might be my only chance in life to see Anderson Cooper up close. Like 2% chance he would be at Atlanta center. Cross your fingers.
Since I could not find a couchsurfing host (grr Atlanta!), I used Priceline for hotel. While I got to put in the amount I wanted to spend and pick star rating and area, it was still a little nerve-wrecking not knowing what hotel I would truly get. (You pay up front.) With my result online, I am more than pleased. 63% off normal cost. (I did the math myself to check.) Guess I will see if it truly was that great this evening.
So ready for a break. So. Ready. Break.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Stink.

The past 12 hours have been pretty crappy... in the literal sense.

On the way to my part time job yesterday, I learned that my gas at my house had been cut off. They will not come turn it on until Thursday. Temps in my house were in the 40's so I opted for staying at my old house with roomies. I missed my bed terribly.

I stayed up to make a birthday cake for my class in honor of Dr. Seuss' birthday. I am now at school and guess where the cake is??? Yep, at home.

It is raining.

I am cranky.

Everyone I have talked to this morning is also cranky. Some more so than others.

The best part though was when I was walking into the school building a bird decided to poop on my head. (Not funny yet.) I thought birds only pooped when the sun was shining. My mistake. Thank goodness for short hair.

Oh what a start of a day...

Monday, March 1, 2010

Teacher's Motto

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
-- Theodore Roosevelt