Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Viva Las Vegas Part II

My mom finally booked the trip to Vegas! We'll be going during that first week during Spring Break. I really need a break and at least I have something to look forward to. I'm kind of bummed I'll be missing spending time with BFC, but who can pass up Vegas?

Sunday, February 22, 2009

Eureka!

I have a major problem with organization. You should see my desk at home. There are papers and textbooks scattered all over the place. I spent some time today cleaning up my desk and sorting my papers. I enjoy sorting the papers and arranging them into neat piles, but I don't enjoy sitting down and correcting them. I got through some spelling tests and math classwork today, so that was a plus. As I was grading the papers, I thought about how I need to record the scores in my gradebook and then I remembered one of my co-workers telling me about this gradebook online called engrade.com. I had told her that I would check it out since she said that it was easy to use and the kids could even access their accounts to check their progress. I finally logged on to today and let me tell you, I LOVE it! I created several different classes into the different math strands and all I need to do is input the grades and it calculates the scores for me. This will also help me keep track of who's turned in their assignments. I figure, hell, since I'm on the computer afterschool anyway, now I can just hop onto engrade and input the assignments on there instead of trying to search for my checklist (which is often buried under a crap of papers on my desk).

Hooray! Hopefully this will help make my life a little easier.

Monday, February 16, 2009

Hilo Getaway

I just got back from my weekend trip to Hilo. It was a nice trip, but I'm super tired. BFC and I ended up getting up around 6:30 every morning since the sun came up around that time and the light shone through his screen door. It was nice spending the long weekend with him.

He had bought me roses for Valentine's Day and I was pleasantly surprised by his gesture. It meant a lot to me since it had been a long time since I got flowers. We went to this cute Japanese restaurant for Valentine's Day dinner. We just bought some sushi since we couldn't get a regular table and couldn't order from the regular menu. The sushi was good, but it didn't beat Kat's though (especially price-wise).

On a side note, everywhere we went for a sit-down meal, we had crappy service. On the first night, I wanted to go to KHOP, but there was no parking, so we went to Kuhio Grille, where the service has always been really good, but then we ended up waiting a while for someone to get our order and bring us our check. Then the following day, we had to wait forever for our water refills and checks at Encore, and at the Japanese restaurant, the cook was kind of rude to us until BFC name-dropped his uncle, who's a loyal customer. This morning, we finally got to go to KHOP for breakfast and there were no regular seats, so we had to sit on the counter, where I thought we'd have fast service, but I was wrong! We had this waitress who'd been working there for 35 years and she was talking story more than working. Since we were sitting on the counter, we could see our food sitting on the food counter for about 10 minutes (I finally ordered the coconut pancakes with coconut syrup and probably won't order it again...I should have gotten an omlette). Another waitress ended up bringing us our food. Then we had to wait another 5 minutes or so for the lady to bring a box to wrap BFC's leftovers. It's a good thing we went early, otherwise I'd been late to the airport.

Overall, aside from the sit-down restaurants, the trip was great and BFC and I both agreed that this was the best trip so far.

Thursday, February 12, 2009

Viva Las Vegas

My mom has been asking me on almost a weekly basis, "So when are we going to Vegas this year?" since we've gone at least once every year since I graduated college. After looking at the Vacations Hawaii site for the last couple of months, I've found that the package prices have skyrocketed, so I've been really hesitant about booking anything. Today, my mom received some type of rewards thing that gives her $200 off the package price. I teased her that it was because she spent so much at the casinos. I hadn't received anything from VH regarding a discount or anything, but then again, I don't gamble as much as she does. So, once I walked into the house after Jazzercise, she announced that we needed to go ASAP because the coupon expires in May.

We decided to book a trip during the first week in Spring Break, so I'm looking forward to going. Hopefully they'll have some good "spring" sales at Ann Taylor Loft and Bath and Body Works. I'm also hoping to squeeze in some time at JCPenny's, Trader Joe's, and Olive Garden. I'm going to bug my mom to rent a car...we'll see what happens. At least now I have something really look forward to for next month. On the downside though, I'll only be able to spend one week with BFC since he'll be back for Spring Break...oh well, I know I'll get over it. LoL

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Rotations and Refractions

The days seem to just be flying by.  I think there is little over a month left before Spring Break.  I've been looking at the different benchmarks and trying to figure out when I'm going to teach each one.  In the beginning of the new year, I was trying to be good and correct my papers the night I get them, but that lasted for about a week or so.  I found myself procrastinating as usual.  I'm happy to say though that my piles are not as huge as they were before, so I guess that's a plus.

Today I tried doing definition maps with my students with some Science terms.  They were excited to do something different.  I had written various terms on scraps of paper and thrown them into a shoebox.  Then I had each student pick a term and find its definition in their Science books.  Then they had to write the definition in their own words and create an illustration for their definition.  They were supposed to share their work as well, but they all got done at different times, so I decided to let them share later tomorrow.  It's been a while since I've seen them so into their work.  They were so animated about the definitions and their drawings.  

On another Science note, I told them that we would be doing a research paper on something within the solar system.  I'm debating how to do this.  I'm thinking of having begin with doing an article review or something like that before going into a full-blown paper.  I figure they could take a small step first.  I need to go and reread that section in "Strategies That Work."  

I cannot wait for the weekend and am counting down the days.  I've been looking forward to seeing BFC for a long time and am really looking forward to spending time with him again.

Monday, February 2, 2009

Everybody's Working for the Weekend

I rolled out of bed this morning not wanting to go to work, but dragged myself to do so. I can't believe it's already February! BFC called in sick today and spent the day running errands while I worked hard for my money. I called him during my lunch break to see what he was doing and he was leisurely buying his lunch. I had to rush to get off the phone with him to eat my salad in the workroom before the kids lined up.

I will be going to the Big Island in about a week and a half. I've been having major cravings for Ken's House of Pancakes. You know, the past two times I've gone up to Hilo, and the two times we've gone to Ken's, I've never eaten their pancakes. I was bored this evening and instead of doing my work, I ended up looking at the KHOP's website and tried to make a mental list of what I want to eat when we go there this time around. I definitely want to try the coconut pancakes with the coconut syrup. I'll be happy to be off my semi-diet as well and just indulge in eating crappy food. I just have to work hard for a few weeks at Jazzercise to make it up.

This weekend is Christy's wedding! I can't believe how quickly time has passed! I'm really looking forward to the whole event. Hopefully my dress still fits....