Undead

Before you start thinking that this post is going to be about Zombies, which I love by the way, I'll just tell you right out that what I really mean is that I'm still alive. It's been almost four weeks since my last post, which is just crazy, and as much as I try not to, I feel guilty about staying away for so long.

Everything is good though. In fact, quite great. I'm having a good school year and I love my students. Not in a creepy way, I just think they're pretty awesome.

I've been buried since school started though, and I can't seem to catch up. I feel like the hamster in a wheel, except that I'm running the wrong direction and maybe it's really a gyroscope.

Whine whine, though. I didn't come here to be a buzz kill. Changing the subject to unicorns and rainbows.

Before I forget, this is my last chance to remind you to enter the giveaway for the Monster headphones, here. It ends this week. As a matter of fact, I have mine on right now. My noisy family is in the middle of watching a Grimm marathon, and I'm satisfied having watched most of them at least once peripherally. Much like second hand smoke, except it doesn't kill or maim.

In other news, I'm loving the beautiful fall weather. The tree in the picture above is in our front yard and it makes me happy every time I look at it. I gaze longingly at it when I pull in and out of my driveway on my way to and from school.

As many people experienced earlier this month, we were faced with Peanut Head going on furlough as a result of the government shut down. Although it was scary, we didn't really panic or lose sleep over it, because it's one of those things that you can't control and you just have to hunker down and deal. We've been poor before, so we tightened our belts for a couple weeks and I cancelled my nail appointment with tears in my eyes.

Thankfully, Peanut Head avoided furlough by the skin of his teeth, and I was able to reschedule.

Isn't my mummy Cee-UTE?

Not only was I able to keep my nail appointment, but I didn't have to cancel my already overdue hair appointment. My grays were getting very sproingy and in your face, and they needed some TLC.

I can't believe I'm talking about hair and nails. Geesh. Allow me to change the subject one more time.

I want to talk about some of the fun I've been having with my co-workers at school. We have this one teacher in particular who has the nickname "Peppy" because she's super ADHD like Tigger on Winnie the Pooh. In fact, she's so hyper that I've told her that she's like a hummingbird on crack. I'm totally not kidding.

We have conversations and I have to snap my fingers at her and say "Get to the point, Peppy!" It doesn't phase her a bit. You have to love her though. She keeps things interesting.

For example, we went to an iSTEM conference in June, and at lunch our Principal walked in with his iPad Mini tucked into the back of his pants. Like his pants were a holster or something. It was so funny. Then Peppy waits for him to sit down and get comfortable, and then she stands up and stuffs her iPad not-Mini into her size 0 trousers, stuffs a coke in the back pocket for good measure, and then walks up to our Principal's table and circles it three times. Like she's in a traffic circle and can't decide if she wants to exit because she's having so much fun.

Our sweet Principal, bless his sweet little heart, is completely oblivious to the whole show, in spite of our entire table laughing hysterically across the room. I was laughing so hard I dang near had an asthma attack and I did wet myself just the tinsiest little bit. No lie.

Peppy wasn't able to get his attention with her runway trick, so she saunters up to the treat table and puts together a little sampling of treats for him, and then she walks back and offers it to him.

Still no reaction.

I think I need to frame the picture above and give it to him for Christmas. I can feel an asthma attack coming on just thinking about her circling his table. It was seriously so funny.

I take great delight in hassling Peppy. She has this cute little stuffed monster that I covet, because I heart monsters, and I'm always stealing it and hiding it from her. One day he was in my filing cabinet with just an arm sticking out, waiting for her to rescue him.

It's gotten so bad that her students have taken to assisting me in my shifty dealings.

Last week one of her students tossed the monster to me across the hall and then I duct taped him to my door looking out.

I also torture Peppy by sending ransom notes over to be taped to her door. 

One day I tried all day to acquire Peppy's monster so I could stick one of his legs in the back of my pants and ask Peppy "Does this monster make my butt look big?" I never could get him though, because a pair of her students took him from her. She was accusing me of stealing him and I kept telling her that it wasn't me. Finally the two students relented and gave the monster back. The best part of that was that they escorted her over to my classroom to apologize for accusing me of stealing him. 

It's all very immature, I know, but this is middle school and I firmly believe that you have to be a little bit crazy and immature to work with this age group anyway. At least that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.