I've got a student story for you.

Last week I started a new unit , needed something active & different to mark the transition from my student teacher teaching to me teaching again. In order to settle my nerves ( yes , after all these years I still get nervous when getting back into the saddle again!) & mark the change I had some exploratory time at the beginning of each class.

I put out all kinds of real skulls, bones,set out broken synthetic pieces of ex- human skeletons, a few bison bone vertebrae with cow vertebrae for comparison etc etc. I just love doing this. The kids love it too. They have free rein to pick up whatever bone they see, they'll put the human mandible under there own and act like a vantriliquist, they put antlers on their heads and act like a buck... they look inside the turtle shells & realize that the backbone is fused to the top shell & marvel at that , they play fence with the cow ribs... I thought I'd seen it all until last Thursday.....

I was walking by a student who was admiring a deer skull, he looked at me with an incredulous expression and said, "someone found this at STARBUCKS?" At first I was confused and wasn't exactly sure what he was talking about and so I took the skull from him and saw written on the skull "found in Starbuck, MN 1998". So I put the skull down on the counter and asked the kid, "So you're wondering if this skull was found in Starbucks... the coffee shop?" and still with eyes wide open he replied "yeah! Did someone actually find that at Starbucks?".

Man, I got a good laugh out of that one. I have used those skulls for years and of course John Anderson's farm is in Starbuck, Mn so that is where they came from & John marked them, but this is the first year a kid mistook Starbuck, MN for Starbucks. I giggled pretty good at that one:)

Flash!

A weak moment for Grandpa.

My husband Dan is not a compulsive shopper; not by a reeeeeeal long shot. His idea of the perfect present is something practical like the new set of tires I will be getting for my car for Christmas this year. Or the classic "I got something we both can use" which inevitably is something like a power auger for drilling holes in the ice for ice fishing or a rifle or a set of pots and pans.

But today he spent $60 dollars on a pair of snowshoes for Connor. I think that is very endearing. And I am now especially looking forward to snowshoeing with the fam again this Christmas! Everyone will be home!!!

F

We made it... there AND back!

And we weren't one of the 40 or more cars in the ditch.... not even close!! Nap time zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

F

Over the river and through the woods

to Mommy's house we goooooooooooooo...WOOT!! Took Monday off so Dan & I and Buster are leaving Saturday morning for Adair , Iowa. A 7 hour drive. I can't wait. Boy was Mom surprised!!!

Yeah. I got the perverbial hair up my ass to go see my mama & especially to see Bill. I can't wait to see him play his geeeeeeeetar. I'll bring a camera.....

Flash

I want to eat:

A grilled cheese sandwich ( NOT with Velveeta) that I make. A grilled cheese sandwich is one of the very, very few things that I think I can make better than anyone else in the house..... and yes, that includes Dan. He would NOT put enough butter on it.

An Arbys RB ( no cheese) with horsy sauce. Curly fries.... small order please.

Two fried hamburger patties with gouda cheese melted on top. Dan can make this. I will eat one with catsup and one without.

A DQ sundae... small. Not sure which sauce ( not hot fudge though) and definitely with pecans on top...NOT walnuts.

2 mild pepperoni sticks made by our neighbor, Virgil.

Is it normal to have a protein crave rather than a carb crave? What does this mean?

Hungry bear!

Beautiful sunny day.

Word.

Flash!