The Holiday

Barack and Michelle are with their girls tonight, celebrating Halloween. Our kids are hither thither and yon. #1 son is working, so we suggested he trick or treat as a waiter after his shift. But he said he already had a costume idea. His plan is to print out his pal's face and glue it to a paper bag. Teendaughter finished all her college applications so she left here happy as a clam. She's at a pal's house, handing out the candy to others. Husbandman and I will watch a creepy movie while he eats the dreaded candy corn. Happy Halloween, peeps!

The Ad

The 30 minute ad was phenomenal of course. I was so nervous, but I loved every minute of it. As Rachel Maddow said, "He had me at the wheat field." She said something like that anyway. The stories were amazing. Live feed at the end worked. Good job, Barack. Good job.

The Illness

I took a sick day today and watched CNN all day long.  I watched a little bit of Bravo as well.

Barack gave a great speech in the rain today in Pennsylvania.  Then he jetted off to Virginia.  It was funny to watch him doing so many activities while I did nothing but watch telly, so I figured I'd better do some Barack blogging, just to follow Barack's good example, keeping strong til the very end.  My great desire right now is for Indiana to go for Barack.  It could happen!  It can happen!  Yes, it can!

The Rally

I've been having some election anxiety and most of the people I know are having it too. Actually everyone I talk to seems to have it, even the people that I don't know but just speak to in passing. Everyone's freaking out about the future of our country and our world if we don't elect Barack. So today I went to hear Jane Pauley speak at a rally. She says that one paper recently had a typo that said she was "stomping" for Obama and she kind of liked that concept. She says she's been stomping all over Indiana for the past month and believes the Hoosier state will be going for Obama on November 4. I was feeling pretty good about things until Jane mentioned that Dems are better at registering voters, but Repubs are better at getting to the polls. What's up with that, Dems? Just go vote. It's not difficult in the least. If you need a ride, I'll take you. If you need me to watch your kid, I'll do it (except from 1 to 2 because I'm having a stress relieving massage that day). But the point is...get the job done. Please.

The Plan

Peeps in my class confuse the heck out of me. Yesterday we put on a skit in front of the whole school about "responsibility" and "attendance." This was at the request of my bosslady principal. One peep had a small part, two lines, introducing our skit. He was excited about this. Every day we practiced and practiced. His reading skills aren't great, but we practiced it so much, he had it basically memorized. When his big moment came, he just stood in front of the mike and would not talk. After a few moments, I walked up and whispered his lines to him behind his back. He delivered them and headed off stage.
Later, when the crazy convo was over, I asked him, "Were you okay with me coming up to help with the lines?"
Peep: (in a surly voice) NO!
Me: (clearly taken aback) Oh I'm sorry. Were you about to say the lines?
Peep: No. I was embarrassed and I wanted to stand there by myself.
Me: (confused) You weren't going to say them because you were embarrassed? That was the plan?
Peep: (confidently) Yes, that's what I wanted.
Interrupting Peep: (making a valid point) Then you would have looked even more stupid!
Me: Okay, let's move on.

The main point of all this is that the convo that gave me much stress is finally over. Report cards are in the hands of the learners. I've reviewed an article for a journal that's been in my bag for 2 weeks. And I have 2 more big tasks ahead today. Plus laundry. It can be done. Oh yes, it can all be done.

The Voting

I think I'll head over to the voting place and vote for Barack tomorrow.  I'll let you know.

The Frustrations

The job I have can be very tense. When kids throw pencils and refuse to pick them up. Or when kids refuse to come to the rug for the lesson. Or when kids hit each other on the back and yell out that one kid should suck another kid's appendage. These things get on my last nerve. I try to stay calm, but some days, I'm burnt by 3;15. So today will be good because I'm heading for a facial after school. Afternoon spa services should be part of this gig. I wonder if Barack could get behind that. He probably could.

The Park

Voices in the Park is an awesome book by Anthony Browne.
I'm sure Barack's kids would love it.
He's probably already read it to them because he's just that awesome.
Barack should listen to our podcast here so that he knows how kids feel about bossy people
controlling their playtime. He may already know about that theme, because of his awesomeness, but the podcast would still be enjoyable.

Brother, can you spare six minutes? That's how long it is.

The Birthdays

I'm sure everyone will join Senator Obama in wishing me a happy birthday. Husbandman, too, should get good wishes because his birthday is tomorrow. But for now, let's just focus on me.

The Peeps

This morning I have a substitute teacher in my classroom for the first time. I have to be in pal KV's room, watching a textbook company rep teach a reading lesson. Then I have to talk with others about the lesson for 45 minutes. I don't really try to have a good attitude when it comes to pain in the neck nonsense like this. My main goal is to remain calm by focusing on my breathing. Wish me luck.
On a good note, one of my peeps gave me a Barack button yesterday. She said, "It costed me one dollar, but I wanted to get it for you because I know you like Barack Obama." I wore it around for awhile because she's right. I do like Barack Obama, and because it was a kind gift. Way to go, little peep. Thanks!

The Debate

I'm not going to attack the opponent, even though he did and said many things last night that I found confoundingly annoying. Instead, I'm going to congratulate Barack for his victory in the debate last night. He got the job done.

The Election

A pal at school has gathered a ton of resources to teach her little peeps about the election.  Yesterday she said she felt like she wasn't doing a good job with her unit.  "I mean, what can you really say about this election? Barack has good ideas, McCain doesn't."  I agreed that she was in a tight spot pedagogically.  But I encouraged her to soldier on.  

The Plan

I was glad to see McCain taking the microphone out of the hand of one of his supporters yesterday to disagree with her false statements.  He seemed pretty annoyed.  But he brought this on himself, by attacking and being rude.  So now he has to deal with the repercussions.  

Today I'm behind schedule on my goal of getting everything done.  

The Blood

A peep in my class signs up each day to tell stories that are difficult to believe.  A few weeks ago she told about her 3 legged dog getting hit by a semi truck.  Now it has to hobble around on only 2 legs.  Today she brought a small bottle made of red glass.  It was filled with liquid. She held it up and told us,  "Yesterday I went to the hospital because my Aunt Myrtle is dying.  And I gave her some of my own blood.  And the doctors took extra blood from me and they let me keep it."  Almost weirder than her story is how many peeps yelled out comments like, "Can I hold your bottle of blood?' and "Did it hurt giving the blood?'  I mean, come on people.  Let's get focused here. 

The Teaching

When Barack taught at the law school at U of Chicago, he got very high evaluations. This is another good sign.

The Fields

Happy Debate Night! We are pretty sure Barack Obama would like our new podcast, which is about a book called Voices From the Fields. It's about 6 and a half minutes long, so you might or might not be able to listen to it some time soon.  The edublog's been a little glitchy lately, but leave a message for the peeps if you have an extra minute or two.  The peeps get a thrill when they find out people have listened to them.  

The Teacher

I heard Bill Ayres speak several years ago and I own some of his books. He is a fantastic educator who stands up for social justice teaching. The fact that Barack knows him in any way only makes me happier about voting for him.

The Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to Barack and Michelle!  Keep up the good work!

The Debate

Here's what I don't get. After the debate last night so many pundits were making comments like this one I'm just making up out of my memory:

"Well, it's hard to say who won the debate. If you think a debate is won by answering questions accurately, probably Joe Biden won. But if you think this particular debate is about Sarah Plain and Small NOT melting down or bursting into flames in front of our eyes, then clearly Sarah Plain and Small won the debate."

I debated in high school. I wasn't very good at it. But I did try to stick to the topics presented to me because that's how I scored more points in the debate. Actually, not doing this basically meant I would lose the debate.

So I'm going old school and declaring Joe Biden the clear winner.

The Snacks

Today we had a faculty meeting at 8:00 am. We usually have snacks at these early meetings, so I didn't buy a bagel with my latte, even though I wanted one very badly. When I got to the meeting, no snacks. All through the meeting, I kept looking around and wondering why there were no snacks. Why was this meeting so different from the others, the ones with the tasty snacks? Later, when I checked the calendar of school events that I'm supposed to check each day but haven't lately, I discovered that it was I who was signed up to bring snacks. And it was I who had not brought them. Does everyone hate me now, I wondered, feeling some degree of worry and remorse. I'm going to make it up to everybody somehow. Probably by bringing in snacks some other time. I'm not sure yet.
On the Barack side of life, he looks very cheerful here. CNN is already starting with the big maps. I wish they would hold off on that. It makes me nervous.