Ahhh, what a day of frustrations. I'm stressing over Monday's exam and my ever increasing list of "things to do" as the semester winds down and Alisa's and my graduations draw near...all of which I'm eagerly anticipating. I realize that I cannot do everything and do it all well, so I have to choose my battles, but SHEESH! Let me just tell you about how today went...
Got up and got children off to school. Returned home by way of Walgreens (for much needed toilet paper and 50% off Easter candy) to complete and submit paperwork for clinical. Made Alisa's lunch and was about to run it to her and perform my weekly lunch monitor duty when the phone rang. It was Alisa, "Mom, could you bring my pencil bag and the bag with the gumdrops and hot glue gun?" "You bet, I'm on my way." I gathered the items, plus Alisa's lunch and some empty Frito Lay chip bags I'd been meaning to turn in since Spring Break (recycling project) and headed out the door. Lunch went smoothly (well, as smoothly as one can expect with the "Cafeteria Nazi," Mrs. J, screaming for the kids to "Quiet down" the entire half hour), and I returned home, reconciled the checkbook, made a call about an "other" charge on my mortgage statement and paid a couple of bills. I finished off half of a serving of spaghetti and planned to hit some review materials pretty hard when my eyes started feeling heavy. I figured I'd be much more productive after a little nap. {I should be studying.}
After the nap, I dragged out of bed and tried to strategize the remainder of my day-Wells Fargo to pay the mortgage, library to return/pick up books, post office to mail bills... Before I knew it it was time to pick up Alisa from school. She hopped into the car asking if I'd seen her math book at home (Great! Another lost item...that makes two for Alisa this week!). I don't remember seeing it. We went directly across town to hear the Gunn Jr. High Symphonic Band perform for the UIL competition at 4:10 {I should be studying} then made our way back across town to execute the above-mentioned errands-house note, library, post office before returning home. Alisa didn't find her book and began with her preteen melt down routine: whine, vent on Facebook, get angry, feel sorry for self, cry, etc. I got on the phone with the public library as I could have sworn that a librarian once told me that you could access textbooks online somehow. I was transferred here and there, and no one seemed to know what I was talking about. {I should be studying.} I wish I could have been more sensitive to Alisa's plight, but how many times have I suggested that she put her things away as soon as she's done with homework? In fact, it seems I had reminded her just last night to put her book and assignment away, and I thought she had.
Anyway, this is getting way too lengthy. I picked Aaron up from school after their return from competition, attended the 6th grade graduation meeting at Alisa's school (thought it started at 6:30, but realized at 6:10 that it had started at 6:00), returned home, made dinner (burgers on the G. Foreman & onion rings), did dishes {I should be studying}, put away food, helped with homework {I should be studying}, and prayed with my kids before they turned in 30 minutes past their bedtime-which in all actuality means 30 minutes into MY time.
I logged onto Software for Nurses to finish some case studies (both for class and for a review) and got bumped off halfway through the module--Aaarrrrggghhh! How can my computer be acting up when I only need it to cooperate for a few more weeks?! That's when I decided to get all of this off of my chest. The time is now almost 11 p.m. Mike is home from work, and I'm ready to turn in for the night (yeah, right!). I will finish at least one module before I do. I'll leave you with the following thought.
I remember my days as a Brownie (that's a precursor to Girl Scouts so you know that was a long, long time ago!) when we would end our meeting by joining hands in a circle singing the following lyrics to the tune of "Taps": Day is done, gone the sun, From the lake, from the hills, from the sky; All is well, safely rest, God is nigh. *sigh* Nice to know that at the end of even the most frustrating of days it's okay to rest securely in the knowledge that God is indeed nigh. Until next time...
Showing posts with label school days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school days. Show all posts
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Pi Day
Hello, all! The "Pi" is not a type-o; it is a pun. Alisa's 6th grade math class has been learning about pi (as in 3.14...),and, so, just for fun they had their annual "Pi Day" celebration with an assortment of real honest to goodness pies. There were just about every assortment of pie you can think of, and the students had a fun time.
Now that I've gotten the "pleasantries" out of the way, let me get down to the real deal where this "Pi Day" was concerned! Anyone who knows me or follows this blog should have seen this coming! Each of the 60 sixth-grade students was asked to bring 2 pies to class. A note was sent hom extending an invitation for parents to attend, too, and eat pie with their student. Unfortunately, 12:45 in the afternoon isn't quite conducive to many work schedules. About a dozen parents showed up. Let me be a little more optimistic than that: two dozen parents showed up. Other faculty and staff were also invited to partake of the pie party. As I mentioned, the festivities began at 12:45. Let's just do a little math for a moment, why don't we: 60 students times 2 pies each = 120 pies. Now, let's say we divided each pie into 8 servings: that's 960 slices of pie for how many people?! Less than a hundred. The way it worked out, each participant could have had a pie and a half to themselves! That's one "problem" as I see things: way too much pie and no "back up plan" for what to do with extras! Don't let me get on my "poor starving college student" soapbox about how coming up with money for extra stuff like this is a real sacrifice for some families, and for it to go to waste is wrong on so many levels. At any rate, my second "beef" is that kids brought lots of cream pies (chocolate and coconut seemed to be popular), but they stayed out at room temperature all morning. Talk about a mess! Do you recall me saying there were over 100 pies? Well, guess how many pie serving utensils there were? If you guessed about 5 or 6 then you win. Why not ask the parents who agreed to attend and/or help with Pi Day to bring a labeled utensil or two? Don't some of the grocery stores (like Tom Thumb) give a free plastic cutter/server when you buy from their bakery?
We (the room mom and handful of parents in attendance) tried to organize the pies a little so that there was a method to our madness--fruit pies on that side of the cafeteria, cream pies on this side. Kids were practically sticking their noses in the pies to savor the aroma, servers were licking their fingers. One kid had the nerve to put the can of whipped cream that I brought for Alisa's lemon pies up to his mouth as if he were about to spray it directly into his mouth. I put a swift end to that nonsense. Kids ate pie and more pie until they were green around the gills. Some took their unopened pies back to class with them, and there were still dozens of pies stacked in the teacher's lounge once everything was said and done.
When I asked one of the 6th grade teachers why they didn't just request that each student bring one pie, I was told that sometimes the cream pies are more popular and the fruit pies are usually left. Okay, so why not have students sign up for what they're going to bring? I mean, even if only 25% of the students brought pie (25% of 60 is 15 times 8 slices per pie = 120 slices), everyone could have at least one slice. And, if they cut small slices (now there's a novel idea), people could sample several kinds of pie without wasting so much. I know I'm making it a lot more complicated-the proverbial mountain out of a molehill, but it just seems that there could be a better way than to waste all of those pies (and the time and energy for those of us who actually took the time to make a pie or bake the frozen ones). Okay, I'm stepping down off of my soapbox now. My bed is calling my name. Good night! Until next time...
Now that I've gotten the "pleasantries" out of the way, let me get down to the real deal where this "Pi Day" was concerned! Anyone who knows me or follows this blog should have seen this coming! Each of the 60 sixth-grade students was asked to bring 2 pies to class. A note was sent hom extending an invitation for parents to attend, too, and eat pie with their student. Unfortunately, 12:45 in the afternoon isn't quite conducive to many work schedules. About a dozen parents showed up. Let me be a little more optimistic than that: two dozen parents showed up. Other faculty and staff were also invited to partake of the pie party. As I mentioned, the festivities began at 12:45. Let's just do a little math for a moment, why don't we: 60 students times 2 pies each = 120 pies. Now, let's say we divided each pie into 8 servings: that's 960 slices of pie for how many people?! Less than a hundred. The way it worked out, each participant could have had a pie and a half to themselves! That's one "problem" as I see things: way too much pie and no "back up plan" for what to do with extras! Don't let me get on my "poor starving college student" soapbox about how coming up with money for extra stuff like this is a real sacrifice for some families, and for it to go to waste is wrong on so many levels. At any rate, my second "beef" is that kids brought lots of cream pies (chocolate and coconut seemed to be popular), but they stayed out at room temperature all morning. Talk about a mess! Do you recall me saying there were over 100 pies? Well, guess how many pie serving utensils there were? If you guessed about 5 or 6 then you win. Why not ask the parents who agreed to attend and/or help with Pi Day to bring a labeled utensil or two? Don't some of the grocery stores (like Tom Thumb) give a free plastic cutter/server when you buy from their bakery?
We (the room mom and handful of parents in attendance) tried to organize the pies a little so that there was a method to our madness--fruit pies on that side of the cafeteria, cream pies on this side. Kids were practically sticking their noses in the pies to savor the aroma, servers were licking their fingers. One kid had the nerve to put the can of whipped cream that I brought for Alisa's lemon pies up to his mouth as if he were about to spray it directly into his mouth. I put a swift end to that nonsense. Kids ate pie and more pie until they were green around the gills. Some took their unopened pies back to class with them, and there were still dozens of pies stacked in the teacher's lounge once everything was said and done.
When I asked one of the 6th grade teachers why they didn't just request that each student bring one pie, I was told that sometimes the cream pies are more popular and the fruit pies are usually left. Okay, so why not have students sign up for what they're going to bring? I mean, even if only 25% of the students brought pie (25% of 60 is 15 times 8 slices per pie = 120 slices), everyone could have at least one slice. And, if they cut small slices (now there's a novel idea), people could sample several kinds of pie without wasting so much. I know I'm making it a lot more complicated-the proverbial mountain out of a molehill, but it just seems that there could be a better way than to waste all of those pies (and the time and energy for those of us who actually took the time to make a pie or bake the frozen ones). Okay, I'm stepping down off of my soapbox now. My bed is calling my name. Good night! Until next time...
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