• Okay so I am sick AGAIN! I even let Michael talk me into getting a sub on Tuesday just so I could get some rest. My 300 pound congested head and I stayed in a dark room half comatose for most the day. I drug (and drugged) myself through most of the week fairly well even with a couple of unnecessary comments from several people, ranging from, "you're still not better", "you look terrible" and "I'm surprised you came to work today." The best one came from one of the kids, keep in mind I sound like the offspring of a trucker with a pack a day habit and a robot, "Ms. Carbajal, you're voice sounds funny." Gee, thanks for noticing.

• I have a student whose mom likes to come in about once a week to listen to the kids read in small groups or one on one. This kid's parents are great, by the way. The mom used to be a kindergarten teacher so she is down with all the lingo and really knows how to break down where the kids need help. The dad is a chiropractor and around Halloween he brought in a skeleton and gave the whole second grade a presentation about bones. So, the mom has only come in up until this last week and I guess the little boy wanted his dad to start coming in. I told the class in the morning that we would have a parent helper in the afternoon and they would go over and read to him. So my student pipes up and announces to the class, "He is really good at second grade stuff too because he had to do second grade twice when he was a kid." The kids all looked at each other like, "Oops, probably not something your dad wants everyone to know about." Hehehaha.

• Michael and I are certain there is a problem with gravity around the garbage cans in our house. It seems like every time we go to throw a coke can, paper towel, or water bottle near the garbage can it takes a hard turn and falls on the ground instead. I was cleaning around said gravity challenged garbage can today and was surprised to sweep up one wayward uncooked pasta noodle, one raw garlic clove, and one googly eye. Yes, just one lone googly eye. Ohh, the scandalous dirt (literally) of an elementary school teacher.