The 25th Hour ~karenjcardoza.com~

Today was our 4th straight HHH day and many districts either had no school or early dismissals due to the heat and the fact that most schools don’t have air conditioning.  Ours didn’t close but it worked out fine for me anyway. We went on a field trip to a local YMCA pool club and had a great time!  I spent most of the day by the pool and some of it actually in the water. Our kids (Syd’s and mine) did very well and had a blast!  They had a pool area, picnic area, and huge grassy area. There also was a sprinkler park which was lots of fun and kept our kids busy and cool.

Tonight was spent catching up on my Book Nook blog, organizing a few things and hitting the nest early.  I’m quite tired after hours in the sun and watching kids and didn’t really sleep that well last night. I’m hoping to nod off early tonight  and the girls are finally tucked in. They were all riled up and wrestled like crazy tonight.  I for one am thankful for the peace and quiet right now!

Tomorrow is another full day…

Day 7 can be summed up in one single word… HOT! A record was broken as the high for the day was 97 and it’s expected to be even hotter on Tuesday. Naturally, there is no air conditioning in the school so my classroom was over 100 degrees. It was weird to see the entire building practically in darkness and hear the hum of so many fans around. Already, on Tuesday a dozen school districts are closing before noon due to the extreme heat.. (not mine though, of course!)

In the morning, the annual Fun Run was planned so they tried to get it off earlier than scheduled because of the heat. It worked out well, but those runners really felt it and were completely soaked at the end of the mile. The run kicked off the beginning of a whole host of activities remaining from now until the last day.

After school, I headed to BJ’s to pick up some things for a cookout at the local pool club and waited until later at night to boil up the 5 pounds of pasta for the pasta salad. Since there are only 15 kids between Syd and myself, it’s not feasible to do those kinds of trips alone due to the high bus costs so we’re joining another full team of 80 for the day. I’ll likely be in the pool all day with our students but I hope that it’s not too hot for those choosing not to swim.

They say that it will break tonight… we’ll see. In the meantime, while a bit uncomfortable I’m not miserable like most. I hope that those with medical issues, those carrying extra weight, and those that can’t tolerate the heat are doing ok… And.. I certainly hope that pet owners are being responsible and doing what’s right for them as well.

TGIF! Today started out rainy and damp, which surprised me since I thought that the hot and muggy weather would hit today, but it’s actually coming tomorrow. It was a great day at school, chock full with fun things…. living up to its name: Fun Friday!

In the morning, we were treated to an assembly put on by the incredible Big Nazo troupe. The kids had a blast watching the puppeteers perform and getting involved themselves. Then, we had our cultural feast in the classroom and everyone ate to their hearts’ content. We spent time cleaning up and getting ready for the activities to come next week.

Thankfully, I have an open calendar this weekend, which is a rarity. Gameplan for me is to:

• Get pool completely opened and ready for use.
• Set up yard and patio.
• Work in the garden and flower beds.
• Take lots of walks with The Girls.
• Finish my current books.
• Sleep?!
• Work on website.
• Podcast? (The Patriots are at mini camp this weekend.)

Of course the usual stuff like laundry, housework, errands, etc. still needs to get done but I’m glad that we don’t have any formal commitments for a change.

It’s been an incredibly busy week since coming home from the Rendezvous. Unexpected things have been happening in the personal life and I’m wrapping up things at school so online time has been limited. As of right now, there are 9 more mornings that I need to get up for work this school year! There’s been little time to blog but I’m hoping to carve out at least a few minutes each day from here on out.

I’ve finished my last two IEPs for this year and met with parents on my free periods today and yesterday. These will be the last two done in this manner as RI has changed their procedures and forms. (I attended a training the other day and it’s going to take some time to “unlearn” what I’ve been doing all these years and change my mindset.) One of my favorite students has moved back into my district so he started again on Monday. We’ve been kept busy meeting his unique needs so my assistant and I are really on our toes.

Tomorrow, the adults in the room are holding a Cultural Feast for the students. I’m making traditional French Canadian Meat Pies (Tourtiere). Each family has their own recipe but the basic ingredients are beef, pork, potatoes, and spices. Right now, my house is starting to smell like the holidays! In my family, this is also the meat stuffing for the Thanksgiving turkey. It’s quite a bit of work but so very yummy!!

Due to the inconsistencies on Twitter of late, many of us have taken the opportunity to check out Plurk. It’s yet another microblogging site and is good for a back-up or as a page to visit in it’s own right but is not the same type of service as Twitter and will serve different purposes. I’m mrsb there as well. Add me if you wish. To me, Plurk is much more like Seesmic; a place to visit and spend time involved in the conversations. I’m playing around with a new toy a bit but Twitter is my mainstay. (Mostly because I don’t “go to” Twitter. I never spend time on their website, I just have Twhirl open and it scrolls on by. Sometimes I get in on the conversation and sometimes I don’t. It’s invaluable if you need an answer for something fast and it hasn’t let me down yet. My son needed some information about the price of refinishing a wood floor for a math project and businesses were closed. A quick tweet and I had a number of answers within minutes!)

That’s all for tonight.. going to fill the pies, tuck the girls in and hit the bed with a book. More tomorrow for Day 8.

Edit : Don’t forget the ketchup!