Blessss all the Elementary Teachers of the World

I've been subbing this week in town - I'm enjoying it.  The first day was in Nat's class - sixth grade.  I learned a lot - a ton - Tuesday... I subbed in Kindergarten - and well - that was hilarious -  I felt I was in opposite land and didn't understand what the kids were expecting from me - We got through it - with me reading stories to them whenever I needed  to fill in some time - and after those two days - I have to say - it's way easier to be a high school teacher than an elementary school teacher - It's not an easy job - bless their beautiful hearts! 

It may be that high school teachers can have as many as 120 students in their room throughout the day - but some teachers only have most of those students for about forty-three minutes a day - Elementary teachers on the other hand, well - they have twenty students or more, for about seveennnnnnnnnnnn  hourrrsssssssssssssssssssssss.........  Hilarious...

That kid who toots non- stop - well that elementary teacher has him or her for sevennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn  hours......  


That kid who drums his desk  - well, that elementary teacher has him or her for sevennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn hours!!!!!

Of course, there's the benefits - the hugs - the funny stories!  The dancing - the singing -

If

I had my own classroom - I'd share this article from the Smithsonian after finding something really awesome on youtube - because I hear Fosston lets their teachers access youtube nowadays.... 




or perhaps..



Then I'd stand back and see what they wrote...

And while we're talking

about art...

What do you think of this quilt reproduction of Exclusively Quilter's 
  A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte" by George Seruat ?

I can imagine myself making this quilt - because I love the painting.  I don't think I'd give it away.

[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]

An eighth grader recited this at Poetry Outloud last year.  It was so lovely and pretty. I  think I'm going to memorize it to and recite it to myself as I'm sewing or falling asleep.

e.e. cummings

 

i carry your heart with me(i carry it in

my heart)i am never without it(anywhere

i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done

by only me is your doing,my darling)

                                                      i fear

no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want

no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)

and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant

and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows

(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud

and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows

higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

Surprise!

I love this picture!


So much can be said in this instant!

Well.. I'm a Diva

A Domestic Diva of course.

I've spent the last few days either subbing or sorting through Tupperware, cereal boxes, old skates, old toys, pictures, papers, and of course, books.

I've thrown out four garbage bags of tuppers without their ware... expired food found in the back of the lazy susan....  and items I won't mention because I plan on being in denial when my mom or anyone else asks whatever happened to?  I can say "Hmmmmm... not sure."  and give her a confused look.

It's a lot of work.  And it's slow.

And I don't have a lot of patience for housework.  I want to spend my time reading, sewing, or crocheting...   But, as we're going through each bedroom and replacing carpets from 1976 with hard surfaces...  I'm finding this organizational revolution is a necessary evil.

Summer Job

As a kid, my dream had been to be a lifeguard.  The lifeguards were so much fun to talk to at the pool  They were so pretty, so handsome, and always good for a laugh or too.  I was honored when I was hired for my first summer job.

There were lots of older cute boys who worked at the pool with me.  There was lots of fun and horse play.  I went home every night with a smile on my face.  I was sixteen.  Life was good.

The little kids decided that they wanted to have a contest to see who could swim under water the longest.  They had done this for days.  I was always amazed at their stamina. 

This contest seemed  to be harmless.  And then, Anne had been hyperventilating to "build up" her endurance for swimming under water.  She dove off the board but passed out by the time she reached the shallow end.  When the other lifeguards finally got her out of the pool, she was not breathing.  I hope you never see that.

  It is a constant nightmare of mine of a little girl who's tongue keeps rolling in the back of her mouth preventing the air flow.  I was a wreck.  I paced back and forth between talking to 911 and comforting Melanie, Anne's little sister. 

I knew the ambulance would not get there in time.  How many minutes was it where her brain would need oxygen?

After what seemed to be almost twenty minutes (but must have been one) a man walked into the pool.  For some miracle of God,  this man was a doctor.  He knew just the position to get her head tilted back and the air into her lungs.  I don't remember what he looked like and where he went after all was said in done - but if there is such a thing as angels... I had witnessed one that day.

I remember Ann puking and getting up and walking around and at that moment, the ambulance finally made it to the pool.

Anne spent the night in the hospital for observation.

Sometimes, I see Anne at Walmart, a play, or just driving down the street.  She's a mom now.  I can't help but tear up and think how lucky she is - and how lucky I am that she's alive.

Sauce

Today's project was sauce. It had been two years since I made sauce - maybe even three. 

What made me the happiest is that it came back - the wonderful science/miracle of  homemade spaghetti sauce.

First, one must wash the tomatoes - but grrr....  mi camera will not let me post that pic  so... 

Let's pretend that this is me washing tomatoes....


Then, blanch the tomatoes - this will help with peeling  and coring the tomatoes.  Blanch in boiling water for three minutes - not one, not two, but THREE minutes mister.

 

You're tomatoes will look like this...

Don't worry - this is what  some tomatoes look like when they're from a garden.

Put the tomatoes in some cold water.


Peel and core the tomatoes -


Puree the tomatoes in a blender.  Woo hoo... or a food processor - but I just happen to think a blender is easier to clean...

 Put pureed tomatoes in a pot- along with seasonings and some sugar - some people sift threw the seeds and pulp - but I like the seeds - I've tried that and it makes me think of ketchup...  (YUCK)










After boiling your sauce and letting it simmer for twenty-five minutes - put it in sterilized jars and process for 40 minutes!!!


And magically - you have canned sauce...
 

Plagiarism

Of course as a teacher, I've encountered plagiarism.  And most of the time, it's pretty obvious. Kids have a certain voice, and it comes out in their speech and writing - even the short answers they give on a quiz shows their voice.  When they go ahead and copy and paste, I have to sigh at their naivety thinking that I wouldn't catch on immediately.

I remember a project I gave my eighth graders my first year.  They could draw, write a story or poem, or make a collage about the short story they liked the most.in the quarter.

Of course- what should have taken the kids a few nights after school took two weeks of class time -- Rookie mistake for sure.

But - well-- live and learn.

I remember looking at the pieces as each student handed in their work and being in awe at the beauty of their creativity - of course there were a few duds - but that's how it goes sometimes - creativity during those two weeks was low for that student or whatever.


One student handed in something he drew at home - but it wasn't the original - it was scanned and printed.  He told me that right after he was finished he had scanned it and set it down - and his pop spilled all over it.

The story was fishy - and yet, for some reason believable.

I held it up and showed it to the para.

He shook his head "Naww... he didn't do it."

I wanted to believe the student.  I showed it to the art teacher.

"No Way..."  she said.

That night, I had volunteered to be on the fan bus.  This kid's parents were signed up to be on  my bus.  I brought the beautiful work with me.

When they looked at me, they said "Oh - he does this all the time."

I knew it!!!  I knew this kid was a prodigy!  I was thrilled.  I was excited that he had shown me his brilliance, and I discovered it!

What I didn't count on was that by asking and validating this artwork the kid wouldn't trust me again for a very long time..  By questioning, he felt I was questioning him.  I think that hurt him.

I never handed back that work.  I kept it in my happy file.  I knew he had a scan of it at home  I wanted it to remind me to trust my own instincts. Hopefully, he'll show off his talent to more teachers so they'll believe him too.  I won't be there to take out his beautiful picture and say - "Well, he did draw this for me that one time."

Weather

One of the funniest things in the world is when people get mad at others for wanting a certain type of weather.

Let's say I tell  someone that I like the rain - bad idea - there may be a farmer out there who's land is flooded, and they want the sun....  And boy - if that farmer didn't get ticked at me.

And I'm confused because me liking it rain doesn't cause it to rain...  so what's it to the farmer that I like the rain?

For some reason, it's like a personal insult.

My grandma once told my step-grandpa, "I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow - my emphasyma is acting up."  Ooooo did he get mad.

Didn't she know that there was a drought? And the river was drying up?

She turned to him...  "Well did you know that me liking this dry weather does not create it? "  I think she may have called him a dumbass....   She wasn't very soft-spoken or anything like that.  She was pretty blunt.

Sewing With Bobbi

Today, I got some fabric for a quilt I'm making for Allison for her Birthday?  for Christmas?  I haven't decided.... When I showed Natalie the first bit of fabric I had gotten she had said

"You're not making me a quilt for my birthday are you?"  Well...  I HAD been planning on it.  I suppose she's been thinking - "How many quilts does a girl need?"

Well - girlie as many as your mom and grandma make you.

Anyways..  this quilt is going to be a paper doll theme because Allison likes paper dolls.  

I hope it works out better than the 50s girl's dress I made Allie this morning - I'm not even going to show it to you - because it's that bad -  and a seam ripper is going to visit that project real real soon.

YIKES! 

Braces

Nat is getting braces.  We made the trip eastward to this little town called Fosston...  maybe you've heard of it?  Anyways....
She sat in the front seat - because she's tall enough to sit in the front seat.  And she played with the rodeo while I drove. We ate at DQ with a former co-worker.  Natalie met some of my former students.

Between appointments, we went to the fabric store where we considered fabrics for multiple friends who are having babieeeeessss.....  Natalie helped me with her expert opinion of color coordination.

On our way home, we grabbed a blizzard - she the small, me the mini.


And I realized, how lucky I am.  For the next 18-24 months, it'll be just us two - making our monthly visits to Fosston  - singing along with the radio, eating blizzards, picking out fabric, and maybe sharing a thing or two about our lives.

I survived!

Last March,  my principal came into my room and told me that I was being laid off.  My first reaction was very objective.  I knew that there were four English teachers at the high school and three of all other subjects.  I also knew that I was the last hired and there had been hints of financial difficulty.

My second reaction was anger. 

I wasn't sure who to be angry at.  So,  I was angry at the teacher who kept asking me if she could have my SMARTboard when I left.  I was angry at the teacher who was whining about having class the last hour of the day...  she wrote to mass e-mail to everyone "I feel like the bottom the barrel."  I wanted to write her back - and maybe I should have "I think the girl without a job is the bottom of the barrel."  I bit my tongue publicly and vented to a trusted co-worker.

My third reaction and hardest was sadness.  I was already missing the kids. I couldn't imagine my life without the kids in Fosston.  I really had no clue what to do without driving east every morning.

I'll have to tell you - my summer was amazing.  I worked at the ALC in Thief River Falls - and it's an amazing place.  I loved every minute of my experience there.  I know that if I had not been laid off, I never would have given the ALC a chance.

 So, I'm finding in a weird way that being laid off was a blessing?    I'm not sure how or what to share - but I'm just happy to know that there's a group of adults on the second floor of the district office who care about kids who need caring about - Le sigh - they are true heroes.

I spent many summer afternoons at the pool with my own girls.  I spent many evenings at the pool too.  I didn't do much housework - which is SO evident this fall.

The hardest day was the first day the girls went back to school.  Here's a cliche'  - the silence was so loud.  I didn't even know how to be.  I thought about calling my lovely husband and telling him that I was bored - but to tell you the truth, I hate people who are bored.

I went on facebook - for once I turned the chat button on.  I saw a childhood friend online.  She had been laid off of her non-teaching job in the winter of last year.  As a single mom, times have been rough for her.  She said that she only had two more months of unemployment and had went to a few interviews.  One interview, she had taken her son to Duluth and had slept in the car getting ready for the interview in a gas station bathroom.   When she got there, there were six other people being interviewed at the same time -  It was very intimidating.  She didn't get that job.

She pointed out to me how lucky I was to have a loving husband who made a decent living.  And of course, she is right.  I may have suffered a short personal crisis... but my family is still intact. And within that personal crisis,  I'm thinking that there's a lesson in there somewhere -

After all, I'm a teacher at heart.  There's always a lesson.

Oooooo.....

So anyhooooooo........  Since I can't spend twenty-four hours a day just cleaning - I've decided to sew a bit.  I'm making my daughter's their Halloween costume...


So - just to let ya all know.


I have become the ultimate stay-at-home mom.

 

Subbing

So - today I subbed.

Turns out it's not so bad.

We watched a movie - from the History Channel - and I was glad to see that the teacher had them take notes because that solved a lot of problems for me!

Also,  I must admit - it was nice to get home five minutes after my day at the school was done.

What I noticed at was how small the school was - Lafayette seemed so tiny. And the classes were small.  That was SO nice... I have to tell you.

I brought along some thread and crocheted while I watched the movie with the kids. 

I knew most of the kids from the pool.  And well, I guess - how do you not know kids after living in a town for about thirty years of my life.

I have a few days booked in the next month. Hopefully, there will be more coming up. I can bring my red bag with my crochet hooks and watch movies with kids - just like when I was a teenager.  Babysitting for that $1 an hour.

Well.... my rates have gone up! 

Crapft

Before I went back to school, one of my favorite things to do was to craft.  I have to tell you.  It's taken me many years to even get remotely good.  My sewing projects are not very beautiful and the girls would only wear the dresses I made them outside.

  At home.

  In the sandbox.

But - slowly and surely - I get better.

I'm not sure what appeals to me about crafting so much - maybe it's the pioneer feel to it.  Maybe it's because I loved the things my grandma made for me.

I think I mentioned that my grandma taught me how to crochet.  I've made plenty of afgans, bags, and doilies in my time. They weren't always the most beautiful creations in the world - and this is why I call it Crapft.  My mom has the first pot holder I crocheted in an old box filled with all of her important papers - it's pretty lopsided.

I won't show you the crapft I made - it's so embarrassing.

But - I am rather proud of this

of which I made for someone swell on our tenth wedding anniversary.

A Poem..

My Dream

My Dream by Ogden Nash

This is my dream,

It is my own dream,

I dreamt it.

I dreamt that my hair was kempt.

Then I dreamt that my true love unkempt it

Ogden Nash

Very nice indeed.

Momma Morning DJ

The first two mornings of school were a bear.  Natalie moves very slowly in the morning.  Allison is a little grumpy.

I turned to Jason and said "Is this what I've been missing the past two years when I left for work?"

"No dear, it's special for you."


Sigggghhhhh...

This morning, it started - Allison started picking a fight with me.  I didn't bite   On the fly, I came up with a back- up plan.


I turned on the itunes and started dancing.to Sexy Chick in my pink fuzzy robe. 

Allison's 'tude melted right away, and her smile came out under the crossed eyebrows. 

Natalie was still looking at herself in the mirror.  I heard singing softly...

Next on my playlist was "Kung Fu Fighting"



The girls started laughing. I actually heard laughter from the halls of the Aakhus in the morning!

Eventually, the girls got to the end of the driveway in time to thumb a ride from the man who drives the yellow bus. Smiles in tow.

First Days of School

Now that the girls are back to school, I'm finding out what it means to be a stay-at-home mom. And the worst part about it is that bored people annoy me.  I have a million and three things to do and all I can do is think about how I'm not making lesson plans.


Sure... I could make lesson plans in my free time - but... I think Jason and the girls would get tired of literary element discussions every night before bed.

"So?  Allison?  What do you think of Robert Frost's poem "Stopping by Wood's on a Snow Evening?  What did you think of the line...

Miles to go before I sleep... ?"

She'll look at me and shake her head and growl...

Natalie wouldn't even bother.  She'd be on the phone somewhere else.

____________________________________________________________________
On facebook, I've been getting messages from students.

"I miss you!"

"It's  just not the same without you here."

That's really nice.  A real ego booster.

I remember when I was first in Fosston.  I was sitting at my desk with the door open.  Some kids passed in the hallway and shouted to another down the hall...  "Dude, where'd the hot teacher go?"

When they pass by room, they don't hear the music that was there last year.  I think there's some kids there who miss me like I miss them....

But I'm 100% sure they are not asking...

"Dude where did the hot teacher go?"

Writing Assignment

I think that twitter would be a good grammar website. For instance, students could take 50cent tweets and make them grammatically correct.  Then, I might have a clue as to what he's even saying.

Cleaning

This weekend, I finally put my books away in the closet.  I threw out scrap paper from my Fosston Files and neatly packed them away for future reference. People! We even sat and ate our supper at the dining room table  For heaven's sake, we even said grace. Not the kind of grace that people shout "Amen!" midway through the grace - but the quiet, modest type that we memorized for everyday use.

Come Lord Jesus
Be our guest
and let these
gifts to you
be blessed.


I'm sure it could be more dramatic like...

Come Lord JEEESSSSUS - Amen!
BEeeeeee Ouuurrrrr Guesst

But I have to tell you - I'm not that sort of Christian.

oh! 

So I was cleaning!  And we ate at the table for the first time since March -


For the love of cheese.... I even baked cookies and bread.

Leaf Houses

In the fall, my mom would send Missi and I outside to rake leaves.  This seemed to be the silliest thing ever.  Didn't mom know that snow would just cover the leaves in a few months anyway and no one would ever know the difference?

Missi and I would take our rakes and start at opposite ends of the lawn.  We'd moan about the unfairness of raking such a big lawn...  Eventually, we'd get bored with raking and complaining about raking.

We started raking the leaves into boxes.  Eventually the boxes would look like the blue prints of a magnificent house.  We invited all of our friends in the neighborhood to play in our leaf house.  We thought it was the best thing in the world.

Eventually, we went to our neighbor "Hey Marc, you work for the Gazette?  Come and take a picture of our leaf house!  It's amazing!  It needs to be in the Red Lake Falls Gazette!"

He agreed! 

We were so excited.

And then, he met us in our backyard and took a look at our leaf house.

"Wow - I'm not sure how to take a picture of this so it would show up in the paper.  Do you think you kids could take these leaves and put them in a pile?  And I'll take a picture of you kids jumping in!"

Well - woo hoo... we got to work.

And there in the paper that week was a picture of about six kids jumping in a big leaf pile! 

We had made the Gazette!

My dad made us rake up the leaf pile and scatter it on the garden for compost.  He said that over the winter the leaves would turn into dirt.


It didn't seem so much like work after all was said and done.  We were local celebrities.

Go Greenbush/Middle River

http://www.wdaz.com/event/videos/vidid/19412/


Another case against the No Child Left Behind fiasco....

Messages on my Voicemail

There comes a time as a mom when you start sharing your phone with your daughters.  I don't usually let my girls talk too long on the phone because talking to long on the phone can only lead to two things

1.  Oversharing- telling people too much about yourself - Too Much Information.

2.  Gossip - telling people too much about others.

Yesterday, I hadn't noticed that Nat had been on the phone for an hour - so, I did what any normal mom would do.  I unplugged the phone chord since I couldn't find her anywhere.  She must have redialed not taking the hint because she never reappeared.  After ten minutes, I found the other phone and said "Nat - I need you - say goodbye." 

She came inside.  She had been outside in the rain.

I took the phone and listened to see we had voicemail. 

"HELLOOOOOOOO..... This is Lilllyyyy for Allie..... I wrote a song and wanted to sing to Allie." 

Next message..

"oooooo  yeah rainbows.  Puppies."  It was Lilly singing her song to Allie.

Third message....

"Bobbi?  This is your mom."  Click

Fourth message

"This is Halle calling for Natalie"  pause  "I have something very very very important to share with Natalie.  I JuST got to tell her...... "  pause  "You know, you can just pick up the phone and talk - it'll turn off the answering machine..."  I've tried explaining to Halle that we have voicemail not an answering machine - so that doesn't work.  But she says this every time she leaves a message.


Allie called Lilly and discussed their band.  I called my mom back and told her about the prayer service I had attended.  Natalie called Halle back and heard about the Very Very Very important message Halle had.

When we were finally off the phone, I never checked the voicemail for more messages.

7th Grade Art

I was just thinking about when I had to take Art class in seventh and eighth grade.  I was so nervous.  I remember thinking - "Oooo... I'm so bad at Art."

But -You wouldn't hear any of that.  Attitude was everything.  If I whined about my art abilities, Mrs. Piersol put a stop to it immediately.

I remember slowly drawing a self portrait and being surprised at the end result.  I remember asking Mrs. Piersol if she'd dock off points for me not adding the scar on my right cheek.  She said that I didn't need to add it if I didn't want to.  I loved that self-portrait.

I also remember making an elephant out of clay.  I remember working intently and focusing on the beauty of the elephant.  I remember her coming by and checking on me once in a while to see how it was coming along.  When I was done, we put it in the kiln. 

After those years, I found I loved art.  I found I wasn't as bad as I thought I was.

First Blood

When Allie was four, she decided that First Blood was her favorite movie.  Ok?  She hadn't even seen it.  Every day, she asked;

"Daddy, can we watch First Bloooood?"

"Naaa... let's watch it another day."

We'd hide the video.

She'd find it.

"Look mommy!  I found First Bloooood. I want to watch First Blooooood."

One evening, Grandma Bev was over. She asked if Grandma wanted to watch First Blloooood.  We all piled on the couches....  And watched.  When it got to the shower scene, Jason jumped up and said..."Well, that was a great movie."

And we all agreed.

I"m there...

Our local school district has not made AYP. (Annual Yearly Progress).  Bummer.  A HUGE part of me thinks big deal - who cares?  I've got a thumb to the nose attitude regarding No Child Left Behind - if you haven't noticed.

But I know that we can't do that.  We have to figure out a way to get our kids' genius measured on those Fill-In-The-Bubble-Tests.  When I got the letter in the mail, I thought "Whatevs - I'll ask to be on the committee and offer my support - no biggie."

After I went on the Minnesota's Department of Education's website, I knew that the district really needed help figure out "This-Is-How-The-Test-Makers-Think"  Only 43% of Natalie's  class filled in the bubbles correctly. 

I called the girls' Principal and asked her what I could do to help.  She asked me to be on the school's AYP Committee.  I told I would and that I had been on Fosston's  AYP committee.  (Don't click on that link unless you really care to see my name and you're really interested in AYP materials)

Even though I really hate  those Fill-In-The-Bubble-Tests I know how the test-makers think -

1.  Pick out reading material kids think is boring

2.  Make four possible answers that are very similar.

3.  From those four questions, make the kids decide which wording makes the best answer.

and last but not least...

4. Smile smugly when the kids don't get it.

My First Friend At College

I didn't want to tell my seniors this, but  I was MISERABLE my first months at college.  I had a horrible room mate, a horrible job, and I missed my mommy.

I was a transfer student.  I was slightly older than the girls on my floor.  One girl two doors down hated my guts and made fun of my Lee Jeans.

Again - I was miserable.

My first quarter was hopeless.  I don't remember meeting anyone.  I did know a few girls from town and hung out with them once in a while, but to tell you the truth, I was lonely.

The only class I even remotely liked was Spanish 301.  It wasn't because I studied every night and practiced conjugating verbs.  My professor was kind and funny. 

I remember taking a test.  We had to translate Spanish into English.  There was a question about Belden going into a spaceship.  I remember thinking. "Hmmmmm.... that's odd.  What an odd name for Profesor Hall to make up."

One day, I decided to go to the twelve o'clock class instead of the eleven o'clock class.  I sat in the back of the room while Profesor Hall went about the lesson. And he called on a guy named Belden.  I looked up from my paper and there was a red brown headed kid with a trench coat. - He had these brown boots - not cowboy boots - but like work boots you'd find at Fleet Farm.

I thought "That is an actual name of an actual student. - well  -  this kid looks like a weirdo..."

And that weirdo became one of my dearest friends.

When I told him about the girl who lived two doors down who didn't like me, he said "What's her problem?  Well, she has a pig nose anyways."  From then on, we called her pig nose - but not to her face.  He had all kinds of nick names for people on campus there was Big Gulp, Curly Head, Sleazy Dave, and of course, Pig Nose.
 
I'm not sure how we ended up being friends - but Belden and Bobbi were kind of like the Lenny and Squigy of Spanish class. 

Plans

I used to travel a bunch more as a kid.  My parents love to travel.  I do too.

I miss it.

And so - in the next few years as our debt dwindles - I am planning on traveling more.

Now - Jason isn't the traveling type.... But that's ok.  He can sleep in the hotel room if he wants or even stay at home if necessary.....  So - that's that.  I have a feeling his curiosity will get the best of him.  I've found that I can just stuff him in the car with a hat and shades and he'll go just about any where with me.(Kind of Like Bernie here) 

  When we got back from South Dakota, he turned to me and said "Well, that was nice.  Let's not go anywhere next summer." 

Well nice try there Buckeye....

I packed him in the car last weekend and took him camping--  Tent and everything.

What happens to a little old girl like me who hasn't had a job for hmmm... officially two days is that she needs to start planning something.  And since it isn't lesson plans for Language Arts - it's Traveling for Aakhuses. 

Here are the destinations I'm dreaming up...

Disneyworld - for the kids *wink wink* 

Acadia National Park - I have no idea why I want to go there - the name just sticks out in my head.

Spain - because I have a slight lisp.

Germany - because one of my best friends live there.

New York City - because one of my best friends lives near there.....

Greece - because I saw Momma Mia.