The Cards

In Thirdland, I'm seen as someone with quite a bit of street cred when it comes to Pokemon.  #1 Son collected the cards way back when, so I shelled out quite a bit of cash for the cards, watched the show every day after school and came to have my own favorites, including Squirtle and Bulbasaur.  Sadly,  I had to put the kibosh on the whole shebang of Pokemon at the school site by announcing to the Thirdlanders that Pokemon is now banned.  They weren't surprised.  The trading had reached a feverish pitch and even they could see that they needed someone to step in and get control of the situation.  These kids were trading like they worked on Wall Street.  Recess became a hyped up Let's Make a Deal show.

Don't worry about the ban. They'll get in to something new soon, and after awhile, they'll start wreaking havoc with it. That's just how we roll. In Thirdland.

The Podcast

Photo Credit:  Heinemann 

Well, yesterday was a big day.  We had a celebration for Back and Forth.  We ate tamales and cake and drank wine.  The house could barely hold all the friendship and fun that frolicked through the place yesterday eve.  I wish my handful of blog readers that couldn't be here for the party could be here now.  I would give you leftover tamales and we could samples some of the fabulous wines that were gifted to us last night.  Fun times.  And one more thing.  Have you listened to the Heinemann podcast yet?  Brett did a great job of telling the story of the book with his questions and editing.  I do a bit too much laughing as I talk but does that really surprise anyone???? I'm so glad I went to Florida to tape the podcast.  I hope you don't think I'm going overboard with blogging about the book, but you've been with me through the hard times and I want you here now during the good times.  Thanks, good friends.

The Herons

So first off, let me tell you

that everything's going well here in the heartland.  My colleagues threw me a surprise party for the book on Friday morning.  Funnest time ever. We saw U2 on Sunday night and that also was the funnest time ever.  And C., I took these photos of the mysterious green heron a few weeks ago. Life's just rolling along and I'm basically just singing my song.

The Bees

The 3 day weekend is over, but my illness isn't.  I spent the weekend on the couch, watching movies and sleeping.  Yesterday I pulled it together to write the ILA proposal, so that's good.

Frankly, I'm irked, but I know things could be worse and I should just be happy that I didn't have to write sub plans for this illness which I'm calling Fatty Fatigue Syndrome.  I hope you don't get it, because it really knocks you OUT.

Still feeling punky, to tell you the truth, but I'm heading in to teach because I'm teachering up and that's how we roll.

My weekend was not the bee's knees.  It was just the bees.

The Fries

I'm thinking of calling any blog I write on Fridays, 'The Fries.'  Good idea?  Let's see.

Recap of the week's highlights, in a bulleted list.

• Open House went well.  I talked with most parents about our tarantula.  I enjoyed that.
• Katie Wood Ray agreed to present with me at ILA next summer.  I started working on the proposal this week. 
• A copy of Back and Forth arrived at the house.  To be honest, I'm in love with it.
• Judith gave me a cupcake.
• My gentle yoga class was effective at calming both my mind and my body.
• The Thirdlanders are making some awesome creations at our Well, well, well inquiry centers.