Ah yes, I live!

Hey everyone!
I'm sure you didn't miss me, but I took a break...mostly because I was having a hard time dealing. Dealing with life. I go through periods like that sometimes. For awhile I found it amusing that I had a blog, because I am not one to share personal feelings. I protect my thoughts and feelings and internal happenings with a 100 foot tall, thick steel wall. Kind of makes the thought of having a blog pretty ridiculous if I can't even share anything.
It took a certain person to make me realize that I don't open up very easily. I know that. I will give you every penny I own and the clothes on my back. But ask me to share my feelings on certain things, and I just can't do it. Thank you, friend, for helping me realize that.

ANYWAYS! Things have been going well for the most part! Work is good, coaching is wonderful! I am having a great time with the middle school kids! They are full of life and energy and passion and it's really great to see. Hopefully I will have some videos to share come January!

I have been reading my Twilight books again. You can laugh, but they make me so happy. I caved and I ordered the Hunger Games and Catching Fire today...I hope they are as good as I am hearing! I will let you know when I finish!

I can't wait to catch up on all of your blogs (and lives!) and I promise that I won't wait so long to post :)

A story that will touch your heart

This story has consumed me since I received an e-mail about it on Friday at work. Read about this incredible young boy who asked for nothing but Christmas cards for presents as his last wish. I am crying just thinking about him!

Thousands send early Christmas cards to dying 5-year-old Noah Biorkman

By Jessica Nunez | MLive.com

November 06, 2009, 4:11PM

WDIVNoah Biorkman, 5, of South Lyon, smiles as he opens a Christmas gift. Noah is dying of cancer and his parents don't think he'll make it until the end of December.Five-year-old Noah Biorkman of South Lyon will celebrate Christmas early this year.

His parents, Diana and Scott, wanted to make sure he would see the holiday one last time before cancer claims his life. They'll have their own Christmas this weekend.

Noah was diagnosed with neuroblastoma in 2007, when he was 3 years old.

He went into remission, but then relapsed in September 2008. His family is not expecting him to make it to Christmas Day.

The media caught wind of the story and now thousands of people from across the country and around the world have sent Noah gifts and cards.

An entry on the Web site Reddit asking for people to send cards is at the top of the list on AskReddit today, with 1,723 votes and 840 comments.

The movement also has a Facebook invitation page with more than 10,000 confirmed guests and wall posts from people in Finland, Sweden, England and Canada.

You can send cards or gifts directly to the family's home at 1141 Fountain View Circle, South Lyon, MI 48178.

You can also send them through Metro Detroit country radio station WYCD.

The family is asking people not to stop by their home.

Local NBC news station WDIV did a video report on Noah's Christmas, which you can watch here: WDIV video.

When Noah opens an angel Christmas tree ornament, the reporter asks him what it means to him.

"I'm going to heaven," Noah responds. "I'm going to be an angel."

Changes are coming

As of now, I am teaching by day and coaching by night. It's a long day, but it's really all I've ever known. A couple weeks ago we found out that our Middle School competitive coach is not returning for the upcoming season. So it looks like (well it's actually official) I'm the new(old) Middle School Comp. Cheer coach! I am both excited and fearful. I started coaching at the middle school level right out of high school, but it's been 3 years since I've done it. I'm so used to my high school kids that it's going to be a big change! Plus I am going to miss being the Varsity assistant CC coach. I get to resume my position when my MS season ends, but I will be sad to miss their progress. But I guess it's a whole new adventure for me! So in honor of my incredible Varsity girls, here are some pictures I've taken of them this season.

One of our pyramids that we do!

Before every game we "work the corner" haha sounds so bad I know, but the girls are just greeting the fans!

Also working a corner...that's one of my baby sophomores on the top!

During one of our chants!

I'm looking forward to the last few weeks I have with them. I probably wont be with them much again until the end of January! They have progressed so much this season. We went from having 2 solid standing back tucks to having 7 now (we're still working on it!) and they have made so much progress in their stunting! These last few weeks I'm going to be focusing on getting them ready for competitive. They are one of the most elite teams in the state, and I can't wait to see what they will do this season!

Favorite Fall shows

Hey everyone! It's been forever, but I've been really busy...plus things have not been going so well and the last thing you want to read about it someone's crappy day on the internet! I'm feeling better now, and I want to know, what is your favorite fall show??

Mine's easy. It's GLEE!

When you read about it, it sounds like every other high school show/movie. But after you watch the pilot, you know it isn't. The characters are HILARIOUS and so different. I can't even pick a favorite character because I have about five. (But if I had to pick, it would sooooo be Kurt Hummel!) It was the first show to be picked up for a full season this fall (and only after the first official episode!). So basically I'm saying - you NEED to watch it! Here is a clip from my favorite episode thus far:




(If you're wondering why they are dancing...it's because the kicker - Kurt the gay character - can't do his kick without doing the dance before hand because it's how he practiced it. But seriously....so hilarious!)


What is your favorite fall show so far?

We did it!

As I may have mentioned before, I work at a school in a moderate poverty level area. Almost 50% of our students qualify for free or reduced lunches. We have many kids who come from other areas to our school every day. These are also reasons why I have the job that I have! Anyways, the two girls that I work with and myself need some supplies, and we don't really have any funds. So we set up a page on donorschoose.org that lists the things we would like to obtain, and people can go there and donate! If you like our cause, then spread the word! Check it out below!

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THIS looks amazing!

This is the trailer for the movie "The Lovely Bones", based off of the book by Alice Sebold. Such a good book! The movie looks even more amazing...I can't wait!

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2973237785/

GO WATCH IT! Then let me know what you think!

Adventures in Babysitting

Ok so listen, I know that there is a movie called "Adventures in Baby-sitting", but let's be honest...the story you are about to hear should have really been that movie instead. It all started one summer afternoon when I was in Middle School. I was 14 years old and I baby-sat for these two kids, Tot and Pretty Girl. Tot was about three and Pretty Girl was in elementary school. We had a fun day planned...ok not really. Which is probably why this adventure happened!  

The first thing that happened was that Tot wouldn't put his pants on. He was running around the house in his skivvies! Then he got bored of the house and ventured outside. Somehow he got ahold of the hose, and thought it would be funny to spray it at the front door so Pretty Girl and I couldn't get out to catch him. He would spray it at you every time you tried! Needless to say, we were all soaked by the end of this. Luckily, Tot was only wearing his skivvies so there wasn't much for him to take off.

After I calmed Tot down, he decided it would be fun to run around the house with a pair of scissors in his hands. They weren't even the kids scissors either! Real, sharp adult scissors. And he would snap them at you every chance he got. At this point, Tot was having anger issues and he was really starting to scare me. He not only was going for fingers, he was aiming for the hair as well! Unbelievable. Pretty Girl and I were too attached to our hair to let Tot touch it. Somehow I wrestled the scissors from Angry Tot and put them up high where he couldn't reach.

Things were going well for a short period of time. I think I even fed Tot some food and he watched about ten minutes of tv before the next maniacal adventure began. Let me tell you, the last one was a DOOZY!

Pretty Girl, Tot, and I were playing computer games in the guest bedroom for a bit. Tot got bored, then he somehow got his hands on, get this, a BUTTER KNIFE. I KID YOU NOT! (If you haven't noticed already, Tot was a handful to babysit. HANDFUL!) Anyways, Tot began chasing us around the guest bedroom with his new friend, the Butter Knife. Somehow (and seriously people, I was 14, who the heck let me babysit Tot? I wasn't the brightest either at the time.) the door got slammed, and it stuck. I am not kidding you, stuck better than any door I've ever seen. And the door didn't push out, so I couldn't use my shoulder to push it open. OH...and what do you know? Pretty Girl and I were inside the room...but where was Tot? Right....he was OUTSIDE of the room. With the butter knife.

D'OH!!!

I tried and tried and TRIED to get this stinkin' door open, but it wouldn't budge. I panicked, because there was Tot outside the room, running around and laughing like a hyena. He knew he was free...smart little Tot! Pretty Girl and I looked everywhere in the room. No phone. This was back when I didn't have a cell phone, and the internets were not what they are today. But Pretty Girl and I tried anyway. We signed on the ancient computer to try and locate the police. No luck.

 

The only way out of the room was to jump...

...and pray that these would break my fall (and not my ankles!)...

After deciding that I couldn't bring myself to do that, I had to come up with Plan F. Pretty Girl had been a great help by keeping Tot at the door so we knew where he was at all times. We then coaxed Butter Knife away from Tot by asking him to push it under the door to us. I think we told him that it would help us open the door. So he finally pushed it under the door. PHEW! One problem solved. NOW...we had to get out of that room! We told Tot to go get the phone and bring it up to the door. Tot did a great job and did that. But since he didn't know his numbers, or what 911 was, we had to try and dial the phone ourselves. THIS is where the butter knife came in handy! I had Tot hold the phone against the door and after a minute finally used the knife to dial 911. We had to coach Tot on what to say to the people. We weren't sure, but we were hoping the police were on their way!

(Ohhh Tot #2, you are so cute!)

After waiting a few minutes (and contemplating jumping out the window a few more times) I heard Tot and another voice conversing. This is what Tot saw:

(haha...kidding!)

But there was one police man who broke in the door for us! WE WERE SAVED!! And Tot was in GIGANTIC trouble. We were in luck though, the police man happened to know the parents of Tot and Pretty Girl. I didn't feel so bad about bothering 911 after that.

When Tot and Pretty Girl's parents arrived home, I was waiting on the stairs for them. Pretty Girl says she remembers me looking like this.

I probably did.

After telling the entire story to the parents, they laughed hysterically for five minutes and then asked me if I was available to babysit again the next weekend.

I said yes.

Tot is now in high school and Pretty Girl has made it to college! I ran into Pretty Girl last Friday and we reminisced about our wonderful adventure. To this day she still tells the story to people. And my friends, so do I.

Have you ever had any crazy adventures?

Bummer

This song has been stuck in my head for about three days now, and it kind of embodies my 

mood as of late. I adore Rocky, and my mood has just been so "blah" lately. I had four full 

days of school this week, and that has been stressing me out a bit. We have a new 

kindergarten teacher and it has been a challenge helping her out. The other two girls I work with and myself have been helping out while the kids get acquainted to their new grades and classrooms, and we actually started testing today so we have been busy. It looks like I will 

be working mostly with 4th graders this year, which is good with me!

Today I also found out that I may be coaching Middle School come competitive season. It 

kind of bummed me out. I really love working with the older kids now and I don't think I 

remember how to coach middle schoolers. It's been three years since I've done it. Plus it is 

just going to be embarrassing because the team we always have to go against has freakin' 

team back tucks and I wont be able to compete with that. It's such a bummer. I also think 

that I'll only have like 10 kids too. At least I will be getting paid.

I also think that the girls I work with don't like me very much. And that just really bums me out. I have come up with some really great ideas so far and I may be quiet but I've never 

been the one to talk the most in a group of people. I usually just listen and take it in (it's the green in me!). Once in awhile I add in things but usually there is no room to talk since everyone else is always talking so to me, it is just polite to listen. I don't know. Maybe I will feel 

better about it soon.

ANYWAYS!

There ARE good things that have happened this week too, I promise!!! As much as the 

kindergartners are a handful, there are some IN-CREDIBLE little children in that class! I am in love with like 10 of them. Today one of them told me that his brain hurt after coloring for five minutes! HA HA! There is another little one who has a big brother that I taught last 

year. So he thinks its cool that he knows who I am, and he is the cutest kid ever so I always 

help him out or wave to him when I see him. Today he said "Ms. M, why do you always smile when you wave to me?" I said "Because it makes me happy to see you!". And he says "When I wave back to you I get little tingles in my tummy!" and I said "Well Julian that just means you are happy to see me too!" and it was just SO GOSH DARN CUTE! I just want to pinch 

his cheeks!

My principal thinks it's funny that there are three of us working together and we always go 

everywhere together so he started calling us "Charlie's Angels". Today we were trying to put together a proposal to get a supplies donation (since we have no budget) and Chelsea came 

up with "Divas for Achievas" as our proposal name! I thought it was awesome so now you 

can refer to me as "Diva" lol (I kiddd!). I will tell you more about our proposal when it gets 

posted on the website! Then if you know anyone with extra money laying around, you can 

help fund our project and there will be so many kids that benefit from it!

Moving on!

I saw a girl who I used to babysit tonight (she's already in COLLEGE! I'm so old!) and she 

reminded me of the funniest story ever, that happened to us one time I baby-sat. My next 

post is going to be about that!

Hope y'all have a great weekend! I promise a much better post SOON!

What's your....color?

What's your flava?? Tell me what's your flavaaa?

(Popeye's Chicken anyone?? COME ON you know you get it!)

So I've decided to reveal my "True Color".

I know you are DYINGGGG to know. (rrrright!)

Anyways. My color is...

GREEN!

I've decided to embrace my nerdy side, and admit to being green.

Actually, the more I think about it, the more proud I become! I am totally a green person. Here is the proof!

• Needs and enjoys challenges
• Needs to ask questions and time to understand
• Values intellectual achievement
• Loves problem solving
• Perfectionism
• Abstract thinkers
• Tends to prefer intellectual relationships
• Reserved in thoughts
• Continual quest for knowledge

So I know that those qualities don't really sound too great to most people. But did you know that green people are the most misunderstood people of all the colors?? THAT is a FACT!

If you would like to know more about your color, let me know! I am very interested in this and am looking forward to using it with my students this fall. 

Back to the topic of being misunderstood...what do people misunderstand about you?

True Colors Personality Test

In the words of our professional development speakers at work today...

"YO!!! What up??"

Seriously.

Today at work we had all day professional development, which means we basically sat and listened to speakers all morning and afternoon. The speakers happened to be two people I know. One of them was a professor I had in college, and the other was her teaching partner. Since I took their class, I was familiar with them....and they are HOO-HOOS! But they really have some amazing ideas on education.

ANYWAYS!

The entire afternoon was spent taking the True Colors Personality Test and doing activities with that.

If you've never heard of the true colors test, you need to check it out! It's really amazing and helps you understand people a whole lot better once you know what "color" they are! Here is a short explanation of it:

One of the most popular personality tests is the True Colors Personality Test. This personality test asks a serious of questions to rate your likes and dislikes. The test will then rate your personality as either a blue, green, orange or gold personality type. You may be a combination of two colors, but usually a person will exhibit one primary color. A personality test is not a means to type cast a student, but it allows teachers to understand the personality attributes associated with various students. You will operate as one primary color for the most part, but high levels of stress and other environmental factors can shift your personality type for short intervals. As a rule of thumb, you should recognize your strong attributes and keep in mind the attributes that irritate people.

And HERE are some things about each color:

How we see ourselves – how others see us:

Gold Personality:

Things that frustrate golds:	Things golds do to frustrate others:
· Irresponsibility	· Control freak
· Lack of planning	· Being bossy and controlling
· Lack of discipline	· Working long hours
· Laziness	· Being obsessive
· High risk taking	· Being judgmental
· Illegal behavior	· Planning for everything

Blue Personality:

Things that frustrate blues:	Things blues do to frustrate others:
· Lying	· Lack of planning
· Violence	· Being passive
· Personal rejection	· Avoiding conflict
· Lack of communication	· Suppressing problems
· Lack of close friends	· Being too generous
· Sarcasm	· Being overly sentimental

Orange Personality:

Things that frustrate oranges:	Things oranges do to frustrate others:
· Rules and laws	· Ignoring rules
· Same routine	· Being undisciplined
· Deadlines	· Lack of planning
· Paperwork	· Being quick-tempered
· Lack of adventure	· Thinking out loud
· Too much structure	· Impulse buying

Green Personality:

Things that frustrate greens:	Things greens do to frustrate others:
· Routine	· Not being sociable
· Small-talk	· Living in the future
· Plagiarism	· Being wordy
· Illogical arguments	· Blowing up when criticized
· Social functions	· Not going with the flow
· Incompetence	· Being to independent

All of the websites I found dealing with this test made you pay money to take it, but I found an accurate quiz HERE

TAKE IT!!

FAST FACTS:

In the teaching world, here is the breakdown:

~75% of teachers are GOLD

~ Only 3-5% of teachers are GREEN

~ORANGE teachers are predominantly male

Betchya can't guess what color IIIII AM!!??!!??

I'll let you know...but first!

I want to know...what color are YOU?!