Thursday, July 19, 2007

Philippines Prayer Guide


Thursday July 19th

Pray as each of us leaves Houston we will go in His strength with a song in our hearts, ready to exalt the Father.
Exodus 15:2

Friday, July 20th
Pray that the team will experience unity as we pray in agreement, live in harmony, caring for one another and meeting each other's needs.
Psalm 133:1

Saturday, July 21st
Pray that each team member trust God completely as they share His truth. Pray that each person will embrace this scripture and realize God has chosen them and will help them.
Isaiah 4:9-13

Sunday July 22nd
Pray that all team memeber are encouraged in the Lord trusting Him for wisdom and a clear message.
Psalm 19:7

Monday July 23rd
Pray for safety and good health as each team member trusts in the Lord for His presence in ministry.
Psalm 125:1-16

Tuesday July 24th
Pray for each pastor who attends the seminar that they will be blessed and encouraged.
Colossians 3:2

Wednesday July 25th
Pray that joy will overflow showing forth Jesus.
Colossians 3:16

Thursday July 26th
Pray for each spokesperson to be bold and clear in message.
Ephesians 6:19

Friday July 27th
Pray that we believe God for miracles
Colossians 1:9

Saturday July 28th
Pray that during this time of rest a new awareness of God's mercy and grace will be experienced by all.
Colossians 3:15

Sunday July 29th
Pray thanking God for the presence of His Holy Spirit that gives us freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17-18

Monday July 30th, Tuesday July 31st
Pray for each team member as they return home that their walk with the Lord has taken a giant step forward.
Colossians 4:2

Monday, July 16, 2007

Cringe


Did you have a high school diary? Would you like to read it aloud?

These people did. And it is hilarious.



I would LOVE to go to Cringe Night and read mine. The thing is that my current diary entries sound like everyone else's high school entries. Just for this occasion I found an old diary from high school. If I could find my middle school diary, I'm sure that would be even better.


1996

"I'm in love! I met this guy in Driver's ed. He's great. He's tall, brown hair, good clothes, plays baseball, and good sense of humor. I'm not sure what color his eyes are, but I'll check tomorrow. He's just perfect. Except I don't know if he's a christian. I hope we can become better friends. He must have a girlfriend because no one who looks like that cannot have one. I can't believe he talks to me, and he knows I'm a freshman!"


Have I changed at all since high school?? It appears that I'm still looking for the same characteristics in a man. HAHA! I've been reading my old diaries and I'm so glad I wrote down all this stuff because I completely forgot about it. Most of what I wrote was prayer. It was more like a "dear God" diary.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Worth a million words

The world's tallest man meeting the world's smallest man. 7'9 vs. 2'5.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

What have I signed up for???


Ok, so maybe you know that I'm going on a mission trip to the Philippines next week. And if you know that, then you know that I have been totally freaking out about speaking to groups of 1,000-plus university students. I've had to totally trust God on this one. So I get a phone call on Sunday from our leader. It went something like this:

Harvey: Hey, Melissa! Just wanted to let you know about some new things about our trip.

Me: Great!

Harvey: We have set up some time with a local TV station to give a 30 minute devotional in the mornings. Some men have been asked to do this.

Me: Great!

Harvey: And we also set up a time with a reporter to interview someone to speak about American education.

Me: Great!

Harvey: And so you will be doing that. Your going to talk about what education is like in America and answer questions.

Me:...................

Harvey: And you could also add something about Christian education too.

Me:.................

Harvey: Well, it's been great talking to you and I'll see you at the next meeting.

Me: ...........mhpbye.


WHAAAAAAAAATTT??? Total freak out session. What do I know about education?? I can't be on TV?? This is all wrong. What have I signed up to do?? Don't these people know this is not my thing? I can't talk to large groups of people and I can't be on TV!

I compose myself long enough to drive to Barnes and Noble and look for books about anything related to education and Christianity. I found a book called "Learn the Bible in 24 hours". I was tempted to get it, but I was afraid someone might see me "cramming" for the mission trip and rat me out. It was just about as thick as the bible. Why not just read the bible? I ended up spending about 3 hours there and came out with a book that had nothing to do what I was looking for. "Let me be a Woman" by Elizabeth Elliot. It looks good and I can't wait to start reading it.

Anyways, after I calm myself I realize what God is teaching me. Lesson#1 "It's not about you, Melissa." Lesson #2 "Get over yourself." I feel like he has been teaching me this for the past 26 years. I need to let God take over this and rely fully on His strength because I have no strength of my own. On a side note, I have been working with the Houston Project (our church's local mission trip) on the evangelism team. I thought this would help me get over myself. I am completely out of my comfort zone and totally relying on the Lord for help. I'm just just as freaked out about the Philippines trip, though.
"When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul."
Psalm 94:19

Saturday, July 07, 2007

100 Things

1. My initials are MMM. When someone discovers this, they are always way more excited about it than I have ever been.
2. I screen my phone calls. Alot.
3. I might have a disease called Celiac. Go look it up and learn something.
4. I google my own name more than anyone else's name.
5. I've gotten prank calls from my students before.
6. The prank calls make me laugh.
7. Most of the time whenever a student does something really bad and I get mad at them at school, I usually laugh about it at home. I think bad kids are the most amusing and my favorites.
8. I do have favorite students. Sorry, but I do. My first year of teaching, I tried really hard not to have favorites. But it happens. I like all the bad ones so it kinda balances out.
9. I was always called the Teacher's Pet when I was in school and I absolutely hated it. I never did anything wrong. I was never in trouble at school. Except one time.
10. In first grade, when everyone went outside to P.E I hid in the bathroom. I watched my classmates all doing jumping jacks and I ate all the teacher's candy. It started out with just one piece. Then 2. Then just one more...next thing you know, the jar was empty. Unfortunately, the teacher caught me and asked me if I ate any of her Red Hots. I said no. She made me open my mouth and I was totally busted. But I never admitted that I ate them. I had nerves of steel.
11. I am a compulsive eater.
12. I wanted to be in the FBI when I was younger. I would be a really good spy.
13. One of my favorite toys growing up was this "Scientist Kit". It had all these magnifying glasses and a microscope with slides of bacteria and bugs and stuff. It was amazing. And totally real. I wanted to be a scientist also.
14. My senior year of high school I decided that I wanted to be a physical therapist. I quit the Varsity softball team so that I would have time to volunteer at a physical therapy center.
15. My first major in college was for Physical Therapy.
16. Actually, my first major was Biology. Reba, stop laughing.
17.Then I changed to Pre-Physical Therapy.
18. I took Biology 113 (Intro Bio) three times. I made a D twice. I needed a C. Third try I made a B.
19. I pass out at the sight of blood. Hence, my major then changed to Sports Management.
20. I am possibly hypoglycemic. I have not been officially tested for this, but I passed out a couple times and each time the last words I uttered were "I'm really hungry, guys...." I get really shaky when my blood sugar level drops.
21. Nothing about Biology makes sense to me. I am not really sure I even believe in "cells".
22. My first job was working at a daycare in Brentwood.
23. When I was working at the preschool at Grace Bible church in college, I had 2 kids who were autistic. That is probably one of the most fascinating disorders. I could have watched those kids for hours. They were not high-functioning so they did not talk or communicate with people at all. I always tried to figure out what they were thinking about. I still get excited when I meet a person with Autism.
24. In high school, I once met a girl who claimed to be a witch. I really believe she might have been possessed. It was a very strange encounter.
25. I have been on 5 mission trips. Utah, Mexico, New Orleans (twice), and Chile. I'm going to the Philippines later this July.
26. I used to babysit. Alot. I would fall asleep when I was babysitting. Alot. But I was always asked to return even though the parents would have to wake me up while the kids are running around on some sugar-induced high. A trustworthy babysitter is hard to find.
27. I really don't like being around babies.
28. There is a nasty rumor that I don't like babies. It's not true. I don't like being around babies. There is a difference.
29. I LOVE African babies. I want one.
30. I have had 10 different roommates.
Jennie, Courtney, Kim, Lori, Stephanie, Caroline, ??(What is that girl's name??.....she was never home and she was only there for a couple of months....), Hanna, Natalie, Jennie again, Ashley (current roommate)
31. I have never lived in the same city for more than 5 consecutive years.
32. I have moved every single year since I was 18.
33. I am an expert at packing/moving.
34. I have lived in Houston for the past 3 1/2 years.
35. I only keep in contact with 1 person from High School.
36. I hated High School.
37. I LOVED my middle school.
38. My favorite animal is the panda. It has been my favorite animal since middle school.
39. I received stuffed pandas and other panda paraphernalia for gifts. This continued for several years. All of that is in my classroom. My students love my giant stuffed pandas and they count all the pandas in the room when they are bored.
40. One time I turned around and one of my psycho students was punching one of the giant stuffed pandas in the face. I couldn't scream. I couldn't move. I got him off of the panda, but the panda had a broken arm and was losing stuffing very quickly. Luckily, I had a Room Mom who took the panda home and stitched him up. The panda came back to school the next day with a sling on his arm. Everyone was so happy. That boy transferred out of my school shortly after that.
41. I just remembered how weird that boy was. He and his twin sister were 'professional' ice skaters. They would tour the country as a skating act. He obviously had some anger issues. He also had an abnormally shaped head.
42. There are some students I will never forget. And there are some who I will never remember their names. I never remember the good kids.
43. I have been to 6 different countries.
44. I want to go to at least 4 more before I'm 30.
45. I really don't want to ever be 30.
46. My second year teaching I had a student with Cerebral Palsy. She went to physical therapy 4 times a week and had several surgeries just so she could walk using a 'walker'. We had an aide who would take her to the bathroom, but sometimes I had to help her. This totally changed my outlook on life. Every time I ran after meeting her I praised God for my ability to run. She would give anything to run and I complain about how fat my legs are. At any moment my ability to run could be taken away. I want to treasure every opportunity I have to use my legs. This inspired me to run the marathon last year. I was so grateful for every step of that race.
47. I want to run my second marathon in 2008.
48. 100 things is too much.
49. I once had a crush on this guy with a prosthetic leg in my class. I was only attracted to him because of his leg. It was metal, not the plastic kind. I couldn't stop staring every time he moved. I never missed that Management class.
50. When I ran the 1/2 marathon last year, a guy with a metal leg passed me. It wasn't the same guy.
51. I love to read.
52. One of my favorite things as a kid was to curl up with a book in bed and read all night long.
53. I still do that sometimes.
54. I'm really jealous of people with a fast metabolism. Especially Frizzy Stick.
55. In High School, my dad told me that he thought God had told him that I was going to be a missionary. I told him he was wrong and that he should listen more closely to God. What I was really thinking was: Maybe I need to listen more closely to God.
56. My dad used to read Edgar Allen Poe stories to me when I was a kid. I love those stories and poems.
57. I hate scary movies.
58. I am incredibly shy. I am so shy that sometimes I think maybe I just have a social disorder. My face gets really red and I sweat profusely when I think people are staring at me. I am that shy.
59. In college, I thought that if I took an acting class I could rid myself of this shyness. However, the class I signed up for made us run around like wild animals and make crazy movements on the floor. It didn't help that the most perfect man in the world was in that class. Shyness was not completely overcome. But I do feel more comfortable making a complete fool out of myself in public.
60. Alcohol helps with the shyness.
61. That is why I started drinking in college.
62. My first alcoholic drink was a shot of vodka.
63. Sometimes I would rather talk to strangers than answer a phone call from a friend.
64. I like meeting new people.
65. I have had a crush on the same guy for the last 5 years. Yes, the guy from the acting class.
66. I have only said about 4 words to him. Ever. And those words were probably "do you remember me?"
67. I tend to not talk to guys that I really like. Shyness.
68. One time I had to call the cops on my neighbors. The man was beating the crap out of the woman. It was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. I could hear her head hitting the wall.
69. I want to get married.
70. But then sometimes I don't.
71. I love breakfast. Best meal of the day. I NEVER miss it.
72. Actually, I don't miss any meal. In fact, sometimes I have extra meals.
73. I just called my grandma. I LOVE that woman.
74. I really want to learn how to play the guitar.
75. I really wish I could sing better than I do.
76. Musicians are hot.
77. South African accents are hot.
78. British accents are hot too.
79. When I was 10 I broke my finger. My dad didn't believe that it was broken so he reset it. I screamed. The doctor said good news and bad news. Bad news: your finger is broken and you need a cast. Good news: I don't have to set it. I wore a cast for a long time. Then once it was off, I had to keep it taped. We played Red Rover at recess. It grew back crooked. I still catch people staring at my finger when I write. It is difficult to write for a long period of time.
80. I hate when people stare at my finger.
81. I have a big fear of snakes.
82. My grandma shot a rattlesnake with her shotgun a couple months ago. She loves to tell that story.
83. It is very strange to be in the Singles Department at church. When I was little, my dad was the Singles Minister so I remember "the singles". It is also weird that our Singles Minister kinda looks like my dad.
84. I love my roommate, Ashley. She is the best roommate I have ever had. I haven't seen her in over a week. That's how opposite our schedules are.
85. I have had 6 cars.
86. I have hit many parked cars. Actually, I think all I have ever hit are parked cars.
87. I have never had a speeding ticket. Only tickets for running red lights.
88. I have argued my way out of 3 tickets.
89. I have cried during the other 3 tickets.
90. I feel very lucky to have grown up knowing the Lord.
91. When I was little, I would say that Jesus was my best friend. Adults thought that was cute. But I was very serious about it. I would always leave a place for Jesus. At night I would tuck him in. He was like my imaginary friend only cooler because he was God.
92. I really don't like to hear birds in the morning.
93. I am a morning person. I like to run first thing in the morning.
94. I smell books before I read them.
95. I love the library. And bookstores.
96. I love my sisters. I wish we saw each other more than once a year. I miss them all the time.
97. I like clothes. Apparently, I like clothes a little too much according to my credit card bills. I am trying not to buy any new clothes for a month. Not sure how that is going to work out.
98. I have very low self esteem. I struggle with this daily.
99. I would like to one day write a book.
100. It feels like I just wrote a book.

Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Mad Parking Skills


For those of you who are aware of my incredible parking skills, this won't be shocking to you. Parking is obviously not my spiritual gift. My first week at my new apartment and I already have a nasty note from the management.
"Please park your vehicle closer to the curb as not to impede traffic flow. Your cooperation in this manner.
Your management team,
Memorial Creole"

It was typed, but they must have written it pretty quickly. Here's what I wrote back. (But I decided not to deliver.)

"Dear Memorial Creole,
Actually, that was some of my better parking. You should be lucky that I didn't hit any parked cars. Especially your car. Writing notes will not improve my parking skills. No need for any more notes.
Your favorite resident,
Me"

Saturday, June 30, 2007

Summer 2007

Most summers I have too much time on my hands and I usually attempt to see how many consecutive days I can go without human contact and not getting out of my pajamas. However, this summer has been different. It's like this:



The day school was out I packed my bags and left for a week long trip to St. John to see Suzanne. Then I came back and spent every waking minute during the entire week looking for a place to live. Spent a week packing everything I own (which is entirely too much) into boxes to prepare to move. Then a week unpacking boxes in our new apt and moving everything from my classroom to my new school. This week I have spent every day in professional development learning how to teach a Gifted/Talented class. Today is my day off. Next week is full of July 4th activities and a trip to my grandma's house and possibly a trip to Dallas for my grandad's 85th bday party. After that, I have a week full of meetings at my school and Houston Project. Then I leave for the Philippines for 2 weeks. I get back to Houston for a day then leave for VA Beach for a week. 2 days back in Houston and then we start back to school.



So the question is: When am I going to have time for a summer romance? I guess I'll have to wait until summer 2008 for my summer fling. Sad.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

I have issues......


So early this morning I woke up with a crazy nightmare. In my dream I was cleaning the fridge and my roommate, Ashley, was there. I was like "I can't get this Parmesan cheese off!" And Ashley was like, "It's not Parmesan cheese; it's feta cheese!" And we continued to argue. Then I woke up. I was really stressed out about the cheese dream. I went to the fridge and the door was open which can only mean one thing......
I must have been sleep-walking!! I haven't done that in a long time. (I don't think.) It's so scary. What if I had gotten in my car and drove somewhere???

Later tonight I was talking to Ashley about it. "We weren't arguing about cleaning the fridge in the middle of last night....were we? Ok, I didn't think so. It must have been just a crazy dream! We don't even have either cheese in the fridge!" And she opened the door and said, "Yes, we do. I bought feta cheese yesterday. Not Parmesan."

There is definitely no Parmesan cheese in the fridge. Only feta. But it's not all over the fridge like in my dream/nightmare.

Monday, June 25, 2007

Shameful

I cheated on my church today. I went to another mega church in Houston. The music was sooo good! The message was pretty good too. I even ran into a coworker. I might have to cheat more often.


Oh, and by the way I am an idiot. I ran into the speaker from last week's Metro. He's my neighbor. So instead of thinking before I spoke, I blurted out. "I heard you speak." He gave me a weird look. So I clarified "At Metro. Last week. I'm Melissa."

Okay, this is what I wanted to say and should have said, "I really enjoyed your message last week at Metro. It was refreshing to hear biblical truth about God's will for our lives. My favorite part was your reference to the game of MASH."

Oh well. I screw everything up.

Saturday, June 23, 2007

Airtroductions

This is so bizarre!! So apparently, online dating isn't enough. Now you can "set up" your chance meeting someone on an airplane. Ridiculous.

But yet, why am I tempted to sign up???

Friday, June 22, 2007

Pray, Preach, or Die


We had another meeting last night for our mission trip and there was a comment that stayed with me. Mostly we talked about what we would do when we got there, how much we could pack, and when our flights left, blah blah. But our leader made the comment that we need to be flexible and ready for anything. He said that at any time we should be ready to either pray, preach, or die. How true. We should always be ready to do those 3 things at any moment in our lives. Today I had the opportunity to share what prayer is and explain the holy spirit to someone. I realized when I was doing this, that I tend to explain things like I'm speaking to a little kid. I guess that's just the teacher in me. I need more adult conversations.
So if you are a believer and you are reading this. Remember to always be ready to do those 3 things for the Lord. Pray to Him. Preach about his love. Die for Him.
"but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you"
1 Peter 3:15

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Day 3 Francis Bay/ Annaberg Ruins





These are the Annaberg Sugar Mill Ruins. Annaberg is the remains of one of the 25 sugar factories which were active on St. John. Besides sugar, molasses and rum were also produced by Annaberg. The factory was driven by slave labor until July 1848 when freedom was declared for Danish West Indies Slaves. The name Annaberg means "Anna's Hill" which refers to the infant daughter of William Gottschalk, a plantation owners from St. Thomas. Sugar cane harvesting and processing was backbreaking work.
The soil in the area was very thin and planting was done on hillsides. The hills had to be terraced and the soil fertilized with water, ashes, and dung. The sugar cane had to be then planted and then harvested 12 to 18 months later. Once harvested the cane was brought to the windmill where it was crushed and the juice from it was collected. If there was no wind the cane was crushed on a horse driven mill. After the juice was collected it was then sent to the boiling bench. Roughly three to five hundred gallons of juice could be produced per hour this way
The cane juice was boiled in "coppers" which were heated copper pans. The coppers were heated by fires fueled with dry can stalks. Boiling caused excess water in the juice to evaporate out and impurities could be skimmed off of the top of the pan. The juice was progressively boiled and ladled into smaller and smaller coppers until it was poured off into wooden pans to cool and allow sugar crystals to form. If molasses was desired instead of sugar the juice was removed from the last copper early to prevent sugar crystal formation. The sugar was then placed into barrels called hogsheads which could hold up to 1600 pounds of sugar. Drippings from the wet sugar within the hogsheads were used to produce rum.

Allegedly, they are haunted. I didn't see any ghosts. But I did meet this man who said he was in a Reggae band called "Inner Visions". Then again, maybe he was a ghost.












Francis Bay was nice until it started to rain and the sand fleas came out. Or whatever they were. Apparently, they only come out when it rains.

Day 2 Continued


Went to Cinnamon Bay. So beautiful and peaceful. It was kinda hard to relax at first. I felt like I needed to be doing something at all times. I needed a little detox session before I could relax and enjoy doing nothing. I need to purge all the "bad energy" (i.e. the stress of teaching and entertaining kids.)

Suzanne and Cameron came to play later in the day. I told them how bored I was and they thought I was crazy. They suggested snorkeling. I didn't really understand how sticking your face in the water and looking at the bottom is fun. The water is crystal-clear! You don't need to stick your face in it.
(I was later convinced to try snorkeling, considering my parents bought me brand new snorkeling gear. But that's on Day 4)

"Someone" thought that bringing Shamu to the beach was a super idea and not embarrassing at all. Turns out that filling Shamu with air didn't take as long as emptying Shamu to fit in the car. Hilarity ensued. I had to ride back to the house with "San Diego" in my face. (please refer to Anchorman for that one)




Tuesday, June 05, 2007

Vacation: Caribbean Style


Day 1
After 14 hours of traveling by planes, automobiles, and boats we finally arrive at our villa. The picture above is of the harbor when we came into St. John that night.

Day 2
We wake up at the crack of dawn which in Houston is 7:15. In St. John dawn is 5:00am. Since everyone was sleeping I decided to take pictures of the villa.
This is the view from the deck of our villa. The white roof is our neighbor.

We had our own pool. This is the view from the deck of the pool. This was the cat that lives at Jasmine. The deck wrapped around the house. I loved it. I could have just stayed at the house the entire week and not even see a beach and been just as happy. But I didn't do that.




The name of our villa was Jasmine. And she was a princess. (Did anyone catch that Disney movie reference?) This is the walkway from the gazebo to the house.
This is the gazebo which overlooks the pool.

This was another walkway from the gazebo to the pool.

To be continued.....

Friday, May 25, 2007

Last Day of School Recap

7:40 students arrive outta control
7:50 morning announcements
8:15 Chad puts glue in veronica's chair to make her stick to it.
8:16 Rodrigo grabs Stephanie's camera and starts taking pictures of himself.
8:17 Stephanie kicks Rodrigo and punches him.
8:18 Stephanie tattles on Rodrigo.
8:19 Rodrigo tattles on Stephanie.
8:20 yell at class that we are all about to sit in silence for the rest of the day
8:30 I make Chad walk to the office carrying the chair that is covered in glue. He cries the entire way.
8:45 talk to Principal about "appropriate punishment" for chad
8:50 decide that chad is to clean all of the chairs for punishment. awesome.
9:10 Kickball game
9:45 Ancillary time....I go to my room and do excessive paperwork.
10:30 eat Popsicles at the track
10:35-11:00 clean up Popsicle mess and break up ice-throwing fights. why???
11:00 go back to homeroom and clean
12:00 start movie
12:30 lunch
12:31 kids are outta control. parents show up and start passing out extra candy that they don't need and cake. why??
12:55 leave lunch early to maintain sanity.
1:00 finish movie
1:45 Rodrigo and Emily get in a fist fight over....nothing!!
2:35 kids leave. praise the LORD!!!

These are some of the notes I received from my students (and my own personal comments):

"Have a great summer. Thanks for the knowledge." (suck-up)

"Dear Ms. McGoldrick
Thank you for teaching me Reading and Social Studies." (as if I had a choice)

"Dear, Ms. McGoldrick
This year has been so much fun because of you. Your the best teacher I've ever had. Thank you for teaching me this year. I'm going to keep working hard when I go back to Japan this summer. I'll never forget my experience at America." (LOVE IT!! He even drew a picture of a baseball player! Best student ever!!!)

"Dear Ms. McGoldrick,
We were very fortunate to have you as Koji's teacher this year. He always told us how nice and patient you were with the kids and your kind disposition towards them. He has learned alot and has nice memories from his 4th grade. Have a wonderful summer!"
(kind disposition? patient? haha! I wish all parents were this nice. It helps that her son is perfect!)

As for gifts....I got the usual smelly candles, tacky lotions from Walmart, and gift cards (which I LOVE), and makeup!! Are they trying to tell me something?

Friday, May 18, 2007

Dragon Lady


All my students refer to my teaching partner, Christina, as Dragon Lady. They say that she breathes fire when she's angry. Here is a note I picked up today:

"I hate Dragon Lady because she is a b----. I hate her guts and she hates mine. She is very mean thats how she got her name dragon lady. Today we got to sit on a piece of tar. Other kids were talking alot during class. So what happened to all good kids got to go to track expect for me. I hate her so much she doesn't let me go to the....." (note ended when I took it up)

Actually, this might have been more of a diary entry. I still like the "50 things I hate about my teacher"note about me, but this is pretty great too. 5 more days of babysitting.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

What the kids are writing about

This is from a note I confiscated from 2 of my best students who had been writing back and forth during my lesson:

"Stop being a M----- F-----"

"Stop being fat"

"Shut your face, n-----."

"You're not black so you can't say the "n" word, you fat piece of s---."

I was really mad when I took it up. Definitely could NOT read it aloud. But then went home and when I was reading it aloud to a friend, I started laughing hysterically.

Confession


Yesterday I had total meltdown. When most girls have a meltdown, they cry. I'm not very good at crying, so instead my pantry is emptied. Fortunately, all I had to eat was health food. I gorged on a box of flaxseed cookies and emptied my fridge of all the sugarfree pudding. I still felt guilty and ran 3.5 miles.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

"Miss Walmart"



I'm not really sure what to say.....this is from the Walmart website and best explains it all.

"Teacher of the Year" Awards and Grants
Each year, every Wal-Mart store and SAM'S CLUB selects a local educator as its "Teacher of the Year," based on nominations from members of the community. Each store and club will give the award-winning teacher's school an $1,000 educational grant. The winning teacher receives a Teacher of the Year polo shirt and a Wal-Mart gift card worth $100 to buy classroom supplies. Local winning teachers are also considered for state and national "Teacher of the Year" Awards. Winning State Teachers of the Year receive a $10,000 educational grant for his or her school. State winners are automatically eligible to be chosen as National Teacher of the Year and receive a $25,000 educational grant for his or her school.

The Walmart off Kirkwood at Westheimer has picked me as their Teacher of the Year. My kids went officially "nuts" when the visitors came in. They also each got a box full of goodies. And by goodies I mean school supplies. I can't wait to rock my "Teacher of the Year" Walmart polo tomorrow. You can go to my school's website to read more about it. I'm still not sure whether to feel embarrassed or honored.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

"i hate my life"

Gotta love the notes I collected today. I'll just leave you with the best ones:

"I hate my life. I'm not going to have anyone to play with this weekend."

"Is you my real friend?"

Thursday, May 03, 2007

How could I forget to mention this??

How could I not mention this......as you know my dad is a pastor. And for the contemporary worship service, he has a punk rock band play. I mean they play christian music, but they tour on the side. They are totally this emo-punk rawk group. So at Easter my dad was dropping names of bands and punk music....as if he knew what he was talking about!! Soooo embarrassing!! See, now this is why he is only introduced to a small group of very close friends who I know won't reject me once they meet him.

It's really not my dad's fault that he likes them. It is the bands fault for letting my dad hang out wtih them. That needs to stop right now.

p.s. The band's name is "Sam's the Hero". They used to be called "Sons of Noah". I think you can download their stuff on itunes just to get a taste of the contemporary service.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

How do y'all talk?

I'm stealing this from Emily's blog. Take this Quiz.

My results were "95% Dixie. Is General Lee your grandfather?"

Friday, April 27, 2007

30 more days until......


Field Day

One of the most dreaded days of the year is going to be here in less than 24 hours. This is the day where anything goes. The kids are completely outta control. My star student announced yesterday "I'm going to run like a wild animal on Field Day!" Why? Why me?! Where's the food?

"WTF"

So one of my students ran up to me a couple weeks ago and says, "WTF, Miss McGoldrick?". I blank out. What?! What did you say?! "WTF, Miss McGoldrick?" Ok, so there it was again. Now this kid's parents are both doctors and comes from a good family and I'm thinking where is this coming from? He must not know what this means. So I ask. "Yes, I know what it means. Do you?" I tell him to lower his voice when he's answering being fearful of what he might say. "It means 'Where's The Food?" Oh!! That's what it means! Silly me!

My teaching partner, Tara, and I are both compulsive eaters. Whenever we get stressed, we reach for a snack. So when my celebrity students say and/or do the most obsurd things, we always look at each other and ask "Where's The Food?"

The Office


I absolutely love this show. I can't get enough of it. So excited today is Thursday. If you haven't seen this show....you are missing out!

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The Opposite of True Love A.K.A. What a Girl Wants


ex b.f.: "Have you decided to unshun me?"
me: "unshun. maybe. why? reshun."
ex b.f.: "I miss you! I want to hang out with you! I bought tickets to see your favorite play!"
me: "unshun. ok, but just this once. reshun."
So I once believed that, as women, we should be pursued. We should wait patiently for our knight on a white horse and a big sword to come and save us from our boring, monotonous lives. After being wined and dined by the ol' ex, I've decided that I don't like this tactic. I don't want to be pursued and treated like a princess. Screw that. It's all just facade. Everyone looks like a better person when they are in a "date" scenario. For like 1/2 a second, I thought to myself....he's not so bad......he's actually really sweet....wow, he's paying for everything- how nice.....why did we break up?..... maybe we should get back together.... and then NO! WRONG!! BAD IDEA!! MUST LEAVE DATE NOW!!! Going on dates at really nice restaurants and theaters will only make you believe you are in a cheesy movie. That is the opposite of true love. It's not real. If you really want to get to know a guy, have him move your furniture or clean up a dead cat that you accidentally electrocuted. That's what true love looks like. A dead cat.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Make a Difference

Our principal sent us this video. I think it was supposed to inspire us not make us laugh hysterically. I have 3 classes full of "Teddy"s. They all have sad stories. I'm not heartless; I just don't have time to cry about each one. You know who is heartless...the congressmen that say each child must pass a standardized test to be promoted to the next grade and not take into account that student might have just lost their parent or might be treated like crap and are shoved out the door by their heartless parents, but they have to take the standardized tests!! Sorry, it's TAKS season and I'm in my TAKS Nazi mood and I hate school.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

feelin' bored? need a laugh?

1. go to www.google.com
2. click on "maps," above the search bar...
3. click on "get directions"
4. type "New York" in the first box (the "from" box)
5. type "Paris" in the second box (the "to" box)
6. click on "get directions"
7. scroll down to step #23

Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Square or Round?

Caroline and I watched this video yesterday and then went to the nail salon and everything happened just like in the video. Soooo funnny. I love my nail ladies;they crack me up!!!

Kiss this


So I finally finished reading "I kissed Dating Goodbye" and by the 3rd chapter had kissed marriage, dating, and anything with a commitment goodbye. He had me convinced that I was not ready to date. EVER. But then I realized by chapter 10 that this book is for preteens and it's even labelled "young adult" on the cover. Somehow I missed all that. Apparently, "not dating" is for 13 year old girls, not 26 year olds. I am at the "possibility of marriage" state in my life right now. It would have been a little more helpful if he had mentioned that at the beginning of the book. There should be some kind of warning, because right now I have kissed dating goodbye and I will never date again. Until I meet Jared Leto.

Easter


Tuesday, April 03, 2007

"The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket. "


Problem: Checking account balance is -483.01 (Yes, negative)
Solution: Scream. Cry. "How did this happen?" Buy concert tickets.

Problem: Get credit card bill in the mail. Balance is too high to publicly display.
Solution: Go get mani/pedi at the spa.

Easter Fun


Knocked Up


My friend Christy is preggars!!!! I'm so excited for her and Chris! It's so weird that we can make babies. I'm not sure if I want babies popping out of me, that is still up for debate. But CC makes pregancy look easy!
p.s. this picture was taken long before her pregancy. please ignore the adult beverages in the background.

Saturday, March 31, 2007

"I am still far from being what I want to be, but with God's help I shall succeed." --Van Gogh



There were a few Van Gogh imitators at the Art Festival last weekend, but my favorite pieces were the ones where I thought "What is that? no, really.....what.... oh, ok. Cool."



Meghan, Heather and I had to indulge in some Marble Slab ice cream which was heaven. Not quite as exciting as the chocolate-dipped-cheesecake-on-a-stick. Hands down, greatest invention in the world.

Friday, March 23, 2007

"32 reasons why I hate my teacher"


I just picked up a stellar piece of writing from one of my famous students entitled “32 thing I hate teachers”. I can't decide on my favorite reason. It might be #4 " takes all the rulers away" or # 8 "tattletales".

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

No one likes a vegetarian


I have begun to consume meat again. I know you are all so proud of my decision.

Monday, March 19, 2007

Canada was awesome, eh?




I have to say that I am exhausted. It takes a long time to get to Whistler, Canada. We flew to Seattle then drove to Canada which took about 10 hours altogether. It snowed every day we were there. After the head injury on the first day, I opted for the helmet. I learned some rad snowboarding skills, even a few jumps off the snowbank(which were completely unintentional but so gnarly). I was at the site of the 2010 winter olympics, so I obviously got in the promotional bobsled and wore the gold-painted-CD that was supposed to be the gold medal at the Olympic office. I even learned about the para-olympics(I'll explain later). All in all, it was a gorgeous place and a great break from America. The best part was definitely the british and australian boys with totally hot accents. It is good to be single.






Thursday, March 08, 2007

Spring Break, baby!


T minus 5 days until this picture becomes a reality.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Bring It On


Yeah, that's me in the far left leading the chanting at the end of the cheer. I wish I had a picture of the actual cheer because I'm sure it was the greatest thing you've ever seen. (I wrote it, so you know it was totally awesome.) We were certainly more pumped up about the TAKS Test than any of the students. However, they were extremely impressed by the cartwheels and roundoffs that Nicole and I did before the 4th grade cheer. Somehow my roundoff became a "roundoff-backflip-backtuck" by the end of the day via the 4th grae rumor mill. I did not confirm or deny any part of the gymnastic routine. Later I was offered a position of gymnatics coach at the new school down the street. Bring it.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

6 Weird Things


Ok, so I received this:
Tag! You're it! Here are the instructions (see my blog for an example :) ):"Each person who gets tagged needs to write a blog post telling 6 weird things about them self... as well as clearly state the rules. After you state your 6 weird things, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Also, leave a comment on their blog telling them that they have been tagged."

So Em....I guess you're assuming I have 6 weird things. HA! Probably everything I do is weird and I just don't know it! Ok, here goes:

1. I had braces in college. So hot.

2. I went on my first mission trip at age 8. Yeah, I took it to the hills of Utah and I preached my heart out to those mormons. Actually, I just ate alot of Twix and helped to paint the church.

3. I was a vegetarian for 2 years. I have recently regained my sanity and also added 5 lbs to my "healthy weight". Please see reference to Twix. This began my lifelong eating disorder and my participation in Overeaters Anonymous.

4. I had a lazy eye when I was a kid and had to wear Bifocals until the age of 12. Sometimes I try to get my lazy eye to come back when I'm teaching to freak the kids out, but it doesn't work.

5. I just consumed an entire box of Girl Scout cookies and I don't feel an ounce of guilt for it. Refer to #3 if you have further questions.

6. I think the South African accent is really hot.

Ok, so I have to choose 6 people for this. I don't think I know 6 people who have blogs, but I'll try. Reba, Emily, Stephanie, Sarah, Mitzi.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Belated Vday

I was really busy last week, so I'm sorry I didn't wish everyone a happy valentine's day!! Hope yours was great!

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Declaration of Independence




Student: Ms. McGoldrick, can I have a piece of paper?

Me: No. Why?

Student: To write my own declaration of independence.

Me: And who are you independent from?

Student: ummm. I haven’t figured that out yet.

Me: Well, you can’t have a declaration of independence if you aren’t claiming to be independent from someone.

Student: Ok, then adults.

Me: WRONG.

Student: Ok then teenagers. Once a teenager beat me up. I want to be independent from them.

Me: Ok, but you aren’t using my paper for that.