Currently!

This will be a quick Currently!  Since I accidentally posted it after I put the title on top:)  Oy vey!  Blogger needs one of those do-over arrows like Word has in the tool-bar, that is all I am saying.  I am just going to keep updating as I go, so you might have to circle back and check for the ending later.  Thank you!  I love you all for understanding:)

So here I am linking up with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade for her (a little early) Currently!

Listening - It occurred to me this week that I was finally able to just read.  It may sound silly, but over the last year it has been impossible for me to not have the TV or radio going in the background.  I have even been setting the sleep timer on the TV just to go to sleep.  Before my dad passed away, the house was so busy and noisy with people and medical equipment.  Afterwards, the silence was suffocating.  This week I realized that I had been happily reading a silly romance novel for over two hours in total silence.  Progress:)

Loving - Does this really need any explanation?

Thinking - My oldest sister was just here for a quick visit.  My next to oldest sister and I spent a few hours on the phone two days ago.  My sister-in-law and I had a very extensive chat yesterday with my brother shouting comments to me in the background.  And I have been receiving the most beautiful pictures and texts about my other brother's six week long camping trip from the road.  I am truly blessed with wonderful siblings - not that we don't make each other crazy from time to time:).

Wanting - Does this really need any explanation?

Needing - The OCD part of the title is just a tiny little issue for me.  I have become obsessed with followers, linkys, and page views.  I need to remember that this is not a competition.  I started to share and network with other teachers.  I started because I felt out of the loop and wanted to learn new things to try in the classroom.  This is not a competition.  Did I mention that being super competitive was a just a tiny little issue for me too?

Hints - When my "to do" list is overwhelming me, I break it down on to Post-it notes.  That way, I can tackle just one thing at a time, and throw that baby in the trashcan when I am finished.  It helps:)

Don't forget to go over and link up with Farley for the July Currently!  And most importantly, don't forget to leave a little love for your other bloggy friends!

Five For Friday Interactive Notebook Special!

Fridays are flying by!  And that is not a happy feeling.  I am starting to have those moments of panic when I realize that there is no way I will finish everything on my list before I have to go back.  Oh well, such is life:).

Warning!  This is a triple purpose post!  Not only is it Five for Friday linky with Doodle Bugs...

...but it will be an Interactive Notebook Linky posting with 4mulaFun...

...and as promised, the winner of the Bloglovin' linky!

1.  Without any further ado, the winner is...

Elizabeth of Hodges Herald!  I thought that this would be so much more difficult! However, I am so happy that there are so many John Wayne fans out there in bloggyland!  This was my first "grown-up" movie.  I was up late because I was sick, and my mom let me watch it with her (this was back before VCR/DVD players, and you only got one chance to watch good movies on TV).  I vividly remember sitting curled up on the couch with my mom watching it. 

2.  This has been a week of cleaning out closets, taking things to donate, and wandering around in pajamas trying to get up enough motivation to do it.   I am trying to empty out two rooms, completely!  One is being transformed in to a gym (I got tired of waiting for that adorable Chris Powell to come and do it for me), and the other into my dream office/sewing room.  The problem is that in order for that to happen, I have to go through all of my parents' stuff that I crammed in the spare room last year because they were too painful to go through.  It has to be done, on so many different levels, but it is hard.  However, I wanted to remind people that Habitat for Humanity accepts donations of fixtures, tiles, furniture, appliances, and anything else that someone might need for their house.  If there is a ReStore in your area, they will even come and pick up the big stuff.  I just drove down to the ReStore - mainly because I wanted to check it out.  My advice is to go CHECK IT OUT!  They had all sorts of stuff that can be used in classrooms, and it all goes to straight to their building fund.

3.  This is my new toy tool for the classroom.  I think I love it.  I think that it will not go to school.  I think I will just keep it on my kitchen table and cut things with it.

Random things, just to see what they look like.  It has four settings!  So happy:).

4.  The Interactive Notebook Linky portion of this posting...

So while I was wandering around in my pajamas this week, this idea smacked me on the head - seriously, while I was foraging for food, a pile of brown paper lunch bags fell out of the pantry on top of my head.  Of course my new paper cutter was sitting right there on the table, and I remembered that I had discovered about 40 billion similar bags in my classroom, so this is what I came up with for the notebooks.

 I cut away the bottom and cut the top part in half.  Then I taped them down - along the bottom and sides.  This gives you TWO divided pockets - in the brown paper, and behind it.

 I think that I will use them for a variety of things, but they hold index cards very nicely.  The possibilities are endless.  But the best part was what was left over...

 ...these awesome little mini paper trays!  Even though I have 6th grade, I do a lot of word sorts and these are perfect to keep them contained.  They can be used as a little tray for math manipulatives too.  I really think that these are a multipurpose Interactive Notebook tool!  (Remember, I am feeling fragile this week, so just nod and smile:)

5.  This week was special because the moon was just a little bit larger in the sky.  I just wanted to share one of the pictures I got of it.

Thank you to all of you who became new followers this week, and thank you to those who made the effort to make sure that you were following on Bloglovin'.  Thanks to your participation in the Bloglovin' linky, my followers doubled this week!  Enjoy your weekend:)  I am off to defrost the monster (and mainly unused) freezer in the garage before it gets hotter than the face of the sun!

Bloglovin' Linky

The countdown is starting, Google Reader is disappearing on July 1st!  What I want to do is to make sure is that you don't disappear too!  This is only the 3rd month of Middle School OCD, and would hate to lose my bloggy friends and followers before I really hit my stride.  So, I am joining the Show Us Some Bloglovin' Giveaway!  My first giveaway - a little scary, but not as scary as losing my readers!  I am having way too much fun sharing and exchanging ideas with everyone:)

If you have already switched over to Bloglovin' then this will be easy!  If you haven't switched yet, or are not sure if you following Middle School OCD, it is just a few easy steps away!  To make sure you are following, just click on the Follow this Blog with Bloglovin' button over in the sidebar.

If you haven't already done so, you will need to take a minute or two to set up an account with Bloglovin' so that you can continue to follow your favorite blogs. 

When you are done signing up, you can move all of the blogs you follow from Google over to Bloglovin' in a few easy steps.  Just click on this link and they will talk you through it!  After you have imported your list, make sure the blue Follow button on the top of my blog (and your other favorites) is clicked.  If you are following it should be gray and say Following!  When I did this a few of my favorites did not say Following, so I had to click on them again.

If you are already following Middle School OCD on Bloglovin' (and so many of you have already done this that it made my heart sing!) or if you just signed up, please enter the giveaway.  Did I mention that it was my FIRST giveaway?  I haven't done the TPT thing yet, so I thought what better gift for OCD me to give away but a $25 gift card to the CONTAINER STORE!  Who needs Disneyland?  (Okay, I do.  But this is almost as good!)

Since this is my 1st giveaway, I am keeping it simple and a little silly.  To enter, please leave me a comment with your Bloglovin' name and your favorite John Wayne movie (Lauren from Life in Middle School is in possession of an email with my answer:).  The first person who's favorite matches my favorite John Wayne movie (hint: "..., we've got ourselves another war.  A gut bustin', mother-lovin' Navy war. " says his famous co-star.), will win the Container Store gift card! You can try as many times as you like, and the entries are open until Friday! Winner will be announced on Saturday, June 29th.

Again, thank you for reading, being here, and following!  This blog is one of the best adventures I have ever been on!   

get the InLinkz code

Monday Eating, Drinking, and LInking Made It!

This is looking to be a very frustrating day!  GRRRRR....totally lost the first post of the day!  Deep breath...

 Okay, moving on to Christy's Eating, Drinking, and Linking party at Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road with a yummy recipe for Blueberry Buttermilk Breakfast cake from Alexandra's Kitchen.  This is so good, and since I am trying to be so good, I did not make it today:)

http://www.alexandracooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/cakecut2.jpg

This recipe is so beautifully laid out and explained on her post, that I will not even attempt to duplicate it.  Let me just say that it is easier than it looks, and that it was a favorite with my colleagues and my contractors.  So good!

Now moving on to the Monday Made It portion of this jinxed post with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics.

Before my whole post disappeared (it probably posted on Polyvore), I was saying that this week has not been very crafty.  It has been a week of errands, yardwork, and cleaning out closets.  Not very exciting:(.  However, I did figure out how to make a Facebook page for my blog!  I think it was an amazing feat of technological know-how, and I am very proud of it:)!  Also, I made my point sheet for my behavior management system, and decided on how to implement it! 

After this tough year, I decided to revisit a system that had worked really well for me in the past.  It took a little revamping to make it fit, but I think it will work.  Their points were die cut numbers.  Table 1 got ones, table 2 got twos, and so on.  This eliminated the incentive for stealing another table's points, because they couldn't use them.  The rewards were simple.  The table with the most points did not have to participate in clean up, they might go to lunch a couple minutes early, or they might get a little homemade treat.

So I morphed the classroom economy concept with the old point system.  Instead of numbers as points, each table will have a specific color.  Instead of single points, the new ones are in denominations like money - 1's, 5's, 10's, 20's, 50's, and 100's.

 

By using the similar denominations as money, I hope to improve their real world number sense.

This is the table point record keeping sheet.  Two of them print out nicely on one sheet.  My goal is make a little ongoing lesson on positive/negative integers and percentages.  Will we have time every day for all of this?  Probably not, but as the year goes on it should take less and less time.  And in the end, it should mean that I have to spend less time on the "lesson" about converting fractions to percentages.

Please feel free to use the points or record keeping sheet for your classroom.  The zip folder is here:).

Have a great week!  And thank you so much for those of you who came back to read the real post!

Five for Friday!

It is Friday, and that means...

1.  Scholastic Book Warehouse Sale!

I had not been to a Scholastic Book Warehouse Sale in years, so I was beyond excited to go and spend a little money.  Trying to be budget conscious, I went to the ATM and got out my budgeted book cash, took my coupon, and drove off grinning like an idiot.  Idiot is the key word, because I drove off without the directions.  So there I was in Irwindale, by myself, with a wad of cash, driving around backstreets looking for the Scholastic Book Warehouse.  Those of you from Southern California will understand exactly how determined I was to find those books!  Those of you who live elsewhere...well, lets just say that there are a lot of warehouses and "film at 11" opportunities in Irwindale.  Needless to say, I found it!  Spent about three hours wandering around, and with my coupon, I stayed $3 under my budget.  Now, I have to find room for the new books in my newly reorganized library...eek!

 

2.  Clean Out Continues!

This week has been spent dealing with landscapers (xeriscaping a portion of the front yard - phase 1), shredding (bags and bags of) documents and bills relating to my father, and trying to completely clean out two rooms in an organized fashion.  I am in the process of de-popcorning the ceilings in the whole house.  Next on the list to be done are what is now a small dark office/sewing room and a spare bedroom.  When they are de-popcorned (new word:), painted, and have new flooring, I am moving my office to the bigger spare bedroom.  It will be beautiful, but right now I have boxes of stuff everywhere!!!!

That is Tex in the foreground, not a cow:)

Now that both of my parents are gone, I have become the "keeper" of the family.  Those boxes are family pictures.  They were everywhere, and I need to sort through them, but for now they just need to be consolidated, safe, and contained.

Consolidated, safe, and contained!  

3.  Hangers 

While cleaning out this week, I realized that I had these great hangers.

The pink one is mine from when I was a little girl, and the others were from my grandmother's things.  I want to incorporate them in to the new office/sewing room.  Any ideas?

  4.  School Things

Well, I made my lesson plan binder cover...

hahaha!

But you saw that in my Workshop Wednesday linky post with Ideas by Jivey:) 

Also, I really started exploring TPT this week - I know, a little late to the party.  Last Friday, Amanda and Aylin at Learning to the Core had a few fabulous freebies, and I was brave enough to try one.

I love it!  This is from Amanda's Teachers Pay Teachers shop!  I am going to use it as a homework incentive, but I am still working out the details.  Thank you Amanda!

 

5.  Bloglovin' and  Facebook

Oh, Bloglovin' seems more like Blogstressin' this week!  However, Jivey @ Ideas by Jivey, and Megan @ i Teach, What's Your Superpower?, have done SO MUCH extra work to help all of us out!  If you are stressin' then I would suggest goin' on over to their blogs and checkin' out their fantastic tutorials. 

And finally, I think I made a Facebook page for my blog.  I expect that you are all applauding with the appropriate awe:).  So, will you please click on that fancy Facebook button in the right hand side bar and show me some love (and to see if it really works, because I am not really sure if it does:)???

Have a great weekend, and don't forget to hop over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and join the linky!

 

"Professional" Development

 Today is Workshop Wednesday over at Ideas by Jivey.

This summer she has challenged us to put our Pinterest addictions to good use and share our favorite pins for classroom inspirations...and I might have gone astray from the stated mission:).

When I first started developing my Pinterest addiction, I was amazed at all the classroom and craft ideas.  Some of them were just simply genius and amazing, and others were just amazing to me because someone actually spent the time to pin them.  It was in my second month down the rabbit hole of Pinterest that I came across these hysterical Hey Girl pins.

 

Source: 2.bp.blogspot.com via MiddleSchoolOCD on Pinterest

My first thought was, "Who has time for this?"  Soon I started realizing that a lot of them were teacher related.  So then I started wondering, "What teacher has time to pin these?"  Then I realized that they were "memes" and soon found out that not only were people pinning these, but that they were making them.  Honestly, it was the first thing I thought of when I figured out how to use PicMonkey for my blog,  "Ohhh, I can make my own slightly inappropriate Ryan Gosling pictures."

Source: Uploaded by user via MiddleSchoolOCD on Pinterest

And apparently, you can pick your dream honey to validate your teaching:).  Who doesn't need a little TLC with validation from time to time?   Legolas doesn't suit your fancy?  Then you can pick from Ben Affleck, George Clooney, the little boy from Hunger Games, and other guys I don't have the faintest idea about who they are or what they do in life.  Soon, they became a little secret obsession of mine.  Admit it, you giggle over them too:).

Source: Uploaded by user via MiddleSchoolOCD on Pinterest

But by far, the funniest ones are with Ryan Gosling.  Yes, I know that I am old enough to be his...well, his very young and vibrant aunt, but have you seen Crazy, Stupid, Love?  Have mercy!

By now, you might be asking where is all this leading as far as classroom inspiration?  Well, have you ever seen a middle school girl's binder?  It has picture after picture of whatever teen idol is currently setting their hearts a flutter.  One of my goals this summer was to clean up my teacher binder and make it Pinterest worthy, and I think I have my cover sheet!

Now, you might think I am joking, but I am not.  At our site, the principal comes through after school and checks lesson plans weekly.  Some people say that he doesn't really look at them, but I think this cover sheet is a good way to check.  Can you imagine his face when he finds this on the cover of my lesson planner?  So, this will be the actual cover...at least for one night:). 

You see, I brought it back around to something vaguely school related!  Don't forget to go over to Ideas by Jivey and link up with your Pinterest picks!

Bloglovin Update

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

This is just a short post because I keep forgetting to "Claim" my blog over at Bloglovin'.  Megan's post at I Teach, What's Your Superpower, just reminded me to get on the bandwagon (she is so smart:).  So, now you can follow me over there when the end of the world happens on July 1st or is that just when Google Reader disappears? :)))  Hopefully this works, or it might be more embarrassing than the accidental Polyvore posts. 

Also, I linked up over at Fifth in the Middle!  It took me a while to figure out how come everyone else had cool state buttons and I didn't..., but I finally deciphered yet another blogging mystery:)

Have a great day!  Looking forward to linking up with Ideas by Jivey for her Workshop Wednesday, Pinterest style tomorrow!  I can promise you that it will be a little out of the box (let's just say a little more middle school humor than elementary:).  See you then!

Eating, Drinking, and Linking, deep sigh!

Monday is a good linky day!    I was so excited about this that I was writing it in my sleep!  This is my 2nd post of the day -so sorry, but someone in Kansas must have slept in a little this morning, or maybe she was worried about my recipe being SO AWESOME! mmmm....

I am joining Christy's Eating, Drinking, and Linking party over at Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road (still the cutest blog title ever:)

Last week she threw down a yummy tailgating recipe with cream cheese, and I just have to meet that challenge with a breakfast dessert filled with cream cheese.  This is an old family recipe that I got from my Uncle Doughboy (wink, wink:).  Earlier this year, when I made this for a staff potluck, I actually caught my principal in the staff lounge, spooning the crumbs out of the empty pan.  The secretaries banned me from bringing it ever again, after they all got the recipe from me.  It was so good!

Pillsbury Sweet Cheese Delights

Here are the really easy instructions for this scrumptious breakfast pastry.   They are taken from the Pillsbury site with a little hints from me:)

Ingredients

• 2     packages (8 oz each) cream cheese, softened (this is really important) 
• 1     cup sugar
• 1     egg yolk 
• 1     teaspoon vanilla 
• 2     cans (8 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated crescent dinner rolls 
• 1     cup chopped pecans 
• 1/2  cup packed brown sugar 
• 2     tablespoons butter, melted 
• 2     teaspoons ground cinnamon 

Powdered sugar, if desired- I did not use it.

Directions

1. Beat softened cream cheese and sugar with mixer on medium until fluffy.  Add egg yolk and vanilla on low speed until blended.
2. Open one can of crescent rolls into one large rectangle.  Pinch the seams as you lay it out on the bottom of a 13x9 baking pan.  Spread the cream cheese mixture (When I make this again, I will only use about 2/3 of the mixture - it was a little gooey for me).
3. Mix pecans, brown sugar, butter and cinnamon (this I might double:).  Sprinkle half the mixture over the cream cheese.  Open last can of crescent rolls (keep in the fridge until you are ready to open it - they get sticky!) into one large rectangle.  Pinch the seams as you lay it out on top of the cream cheese and pecan sugar mix.  Sprinkle the remaining pecan sugar mixture over the top of the dough (then lick the bowl because it is yummy).
4. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until they are golden brown.

For the breakfast potluck, I cut them up and placed them into a covered dish.  They looked a little gooey to me, and I wasn't sure if they would go over well.  The staff loved them warm.  However, there was one row that didn't fit into the covered dish that got put in my fridge, and I loved them cold!

Check out my Uncle Doughboy's (Pillsbury:) site for deliciously easy recipes!  Don't forget to link up with Christy at Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road!  Lots of love to the girl in Kansas:)

Monday Made It!

I am so ready for the Monday Made It with 4th Grade Frolics!

School Made It

Every year I lose too many packs of flash cards.  I know that they are on the dollar racks at Target and everywhere else, but I buy them every time I see them.  This year, I am going to try a check out system with the flash cards. 

I started with clipboards, library pockets and cards, labels and (totally cool) colored plastic sandwich bags I found at Albertson's.

I glued the pockets down and then used packaging tape across the top, middle and bottom of the board.  Each pocket got numbered with a cute label (I bought them...I haven't figured out the magic spell for making my own yet:).  Each pocket got a library card.

 

Then I took the corresponding color plastic bag and labeled them. 

 When I was done, I had these four beautiful clipboards.  Each one easily holds four plastic bags, with the cards inside, under the clip - I tested it.  Hopefully, this will help me keep better track of the flashcards, and get them returned to me in better condition.  

Home-Made It

I have been promising Lauren from Life in the Middle a scarf for about two months now.  It is finally finished.  

I used the little circle loom and three skeins of yarn.  One skein of yarn for each strand.

I tucked the three completed strands under a clipboard, and carefully braided them.  Then I sewed the un-clipped-boarded (yep, I made up a word) ends together, and wove a long piece of yarn through the middle of the scarf to keep the braid from falling apart.  The excess was used to sew up the ends under the clip board.

 

Adding the tassels was a little tricky because the ends were so thick.  I ended up pulling through two pieces of yarn at a time, and tying them in a little randomly.  Don't hesitate to ask questions about either of my little projects:)

 Please don't forget to go over to link up with 4th Grade Frolics with your own Monday Made It!

For Daddy...

A few days less than a year ago, I lost my father.  He was 89 years old.  As a little girl, every morning as he left for work, he would kiss me and tell me to do my best at school. 

Later, I would come to understand how hard he worked at the steel mill as an industrial mason.  Later I would understand why he worked so hard.

 His school years were marked by the Great Depression. 

 

His school pictures are adorable, but it is easy to tell when things got really difficult for his family.  

As a little girl, I asked him why he worked so hard.  He told me that he worked hard to make sure that we always had "nice clothes to wear, shoes that fit, and a warm coat for winter."  Later on, I would come to understand that those were things he rarely had as a child.  He told me not to worry about it because "nobody had those things." 

He and his brother caught wild burros and built their own carts from scavenged materials.  They would race each other and anyone else brave enough.  They used the carts to haul manure from the corrals and chicken coops they would clean out before and after school.  They would "charge people for hauling away their #*^!, and then charge people for bringing back their own dried out #*^! as fertilizer in the spring (insert my mother rolling her eyes:)."  He thought that was so funny.  His income from this little enterprise fed his family for several years, but his school attendance suffered.  He barely made it through 8th grade.  I see a little of my daddy in my students who struggle.

Daddy on the left - bad boy in the leather jacket.

Like so many others of his generation, he fought in WWII.  He could have sat it out.  As a little boy, he had broken his elbow.  There was no doctor and his mother set it the best she could, but it never healed properly.  He could not straighten his left arm.  He fought to get into the Army, and then fought to get into gunnery school, so he could fight as a ball turret gunner on a B-24.  The only stories we heard as children were funny ones about his time in Italy.  It wasn't until he was in his 70s that he opened up a little about the dangers and horrors of his time in Italy.

When he came home, he started work at the steel mill.  He and my mom met at the drugstore soda fountain - where she worked.  A little over a year later, they eloped to Yuma ("nice girls did not go to Vegas to get married").  They were married for close to fifty years when my mother passed away seven years ago.

 

After the babies, grand-babies, and great-grand-babies started arriving, it was hard to find a picture of my dad without one in his arms.

This is my favorite:)  Daddy and me snuggling.  My dad was so proud that he had raised five good kids.  Three of us are teachers, and whenever he would talk about one of us with his old friends that would be the first thing he would proudly say, "This one is a teacher."  This blogging thing would have made him proud too.  He would have marveled at how smart I was to be able to put my writing and pictures on the internet:)

My father worked hard so that his babies would not have to.  My father worked hard to make sure that we always had what we needed.  My father worked hard so that we would be able to go to school and play as children.  My father worked hard so that we would have every opportunity that he did not.  He marveled everyday at how good his life was with his family.  And I marvel at how blessed I was to have had such wonderful parents.

Thank you for indulging me in my semi-teaching-related post today.  Make sure to give your daddy some love today:)

Today is Friday?

Today is Friday?  What?  Where do the days go when you are not teaching?  How do regular people keep track of time without writing it on the board everyday and bells ringing every 55 minutes?

However, if it is Friday then it is time for to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for...

1.    POLYVORE is just as evil, time sucking, and AWESOME as Pinterest.  My oldest sister got me hooked on Polyvore this week.  How I lived this long without it is a mystery to me.  Just a little tip, don't click on the "share with Blogger" button while you are on a Polybender thinking that it will allow you to "share" a set in your Five for Friday, because it doesn't.  Instead it puts your outfits directly onto your blog as a new post, and the really weird thing is that it doesn't show up on your iPad...so, so, so sorry about the random postings of "Beige" and "Lavender Casual" late last night!

For those poor souls who do not know the joys of Polyvore, it is like playing digital Barbie!  You get to make endless combinations of outfits without any regard for your budget or your actual size!!!

2. Two is for two of my (currently) three dogs who do not approve of blogging.

There are obviously other things I should be doing with my time.  I wish you could hear the deep sighs and random groaning that Lucy and Tex (aka Bonnie and Clyde, aka The Tart and The Tramp) had been doing before I snapped this picture.  Such drama!  Also, a little disclaimer about the condition of the little couch in my office - they rearranged the blankets and pillows to suit their fancy.

3.  I finished 3 things this week for school: my multiplication chart for my Master Math Notebook, 

and a writing/organizational rubric for The Iceman.

Usually the only I thing I finish the week after I shut down my classroom is a bag of Reeses Peanut Butter Cups.

4.  While I was trolling at Lakeshore for things that I do not need, I saw this book!

It presents each lesson at four different reading levels!  Also, it comes with a CD that allows you to edit.  The only problem is that at Lakeshore it was $39.99, and at Amazon it is $32.99.  Before I spend that much on a resource book I want to know if it is any good.  I might be able to get school to pay for it.  Please, let me know if you have seen it or have used it. 

5.  How do you know when summer has started?  For me, when I start watching TV shows I NEVER watch during the school year.  With that being said, they say the first step is admitting that you have a problem...well, I have to confess to something...

While I was scrolling through the cable guide last night, I actually heard myself say, "Ohhh the Kardashians are on!"  And then I actually sat and watched it.   How many books, how many documentaries, how many hours of lesson planning will I have to do in order fill up the vast empty part of my brain that was sucked out by watching one hour of that show?  The worst part is that I will probably do it again:). 

Don't forget to go on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and link up for your Five for Friday!