Quandry

So a funny thing happened today. As you know, I teach 6th grade, and if you remember anything about sixth grade it is an incredibly akward age where kids are all over the place maturity-wise. I have kids who act like they're in college...to kids who still cry at the drop of a hat because somebody stole his favorite new highlighter. I also have kids who are still wearing toddler clothes to kids that are almost as tall as me!

Anyway, so on MWF, I open my classroom during lunch for tutoring. The kids can bring their lunches into my room and eat before they start working on homework. About halfway through lunch, one of my boys comes up to me and asks if he can go to the lunch room to get lunch. I could have sworn that he had just been eating, so I asked him if he'd already had a lunch. He (with NO volume control) said, loud enough that everyone in the room stopped to listen, "my dad thinks I'm too fat and that I need to go on a diet, so he only packed me a salad for lunch and I'm STARVING."

So do I honor his father's wishes and make him eat what's in his lunch only, or do I let the boy eat??

I let him eat and he came back with a gigantic plate of food. I guess that I'm guilty of contributing to adolescent obesity. It's just that he was STARVING!

Welcome in Seattle!

Doesn't that just sound like something you would read on engrish.com? Since I am now living in a city where half of the population speaks engrish, I should try to start speaking like them. Mean, I know, but I know that the three people who actually read my blog probably won't be offended and might possibly laugh if it is really late at night and there is some sort of beverage involved--like sprite.?

So I realize what a lousy blogger I am. I read other people's blogs so much that I feel so inadequate at posting my own that I make excuses until I've forgotten about it. It usually takes a comment like, "Cydney, where are you?" for me to post again. I promise I'll try to be better. So here's my update. I am now living in the beautiful city of Seattle.


Though I don't actually live anywhere near the space needle, nor have I seen it since I've been here. This is more of what I see:

which is a much better view, in my opinion...

So I moved to Woodinville, WA--I'm living with my brother and teaching school which is funny because when I moved (ran) from Salt Lake I swore that I would not teach again and here I am--teaching sixth grade, the very grade that made me cry a whole lot last year. But you know what? I put the whole job thing in the Lord's hand and wow, he made it work! I love my school, I love my teaching team, and I love my class! Things are really really good. So good that most of the time I forget that I have absolutely no social life and no immediate prospects for one! I think that it helps that I have family and most importantly, three adorable nephews and one gorgeous niece to keep me smiling. In fact, I just made this halloween costume for my nephew, Will.


(and on that note, I'm going to put a little plug in for my website that you should check out when I actually get something posted on it. I'll be selling my costumes and bags, etc. there so please tell your friends...in a few weeks when there is something on it!! Mine is www.silverpenny.etsy.com and my sister's is www.ollieolliebaby.etsy.com. She sells cute baby stuff for those who are looking. She only has one thing on it right now, but I know she's working on a lot more. ) I'm shameless, sorry.

I...quit!

Yes, I actually did it to day. I didn't do it quite that way. I graciously let my principal know that I will not be returning next year. What a release. I love telling the truth. I'm heading to Seattle on Tuesday and I couldn't be more excited. More to come. I kind of forgot about my blog there for a while. That's how bad it was getting.

Are YOU ready to join the army?

Obsessed? I think not.

So as most (or the two of you who actually read this blog) of you know, I like to sew. In fact, I've been making bags and selling them at local boutiques for the past several months. Needless to say, I've got loads of fabric. In fact, when I move, my fabric takes up more space than my clothes. Anyway, I realized the other night that I really need to start setting my priorities straight when I had a nightmare involving my fabric.

I dreamt that I was housesitting for someone and when I came inside the house, there was a man waiting for me with a knife. He held me at knifepoint and told me that he needed money. Instead of asking me for money (perhaps he knew that I didn't have any), he made me cut all my fabric up into 1-ft squares so he could sell the pieces on ebay. I was so distraught in my dream--not because I had a knife to my throat but because I would not be able to make anything out of such a small piece of fabric.

I need a life.

This is what had me...

I hadnt read any Strongbad Emails lately, so Im feeling reminicent. This is the email that had me hooked...

Money changers in the temple...I kid you not.

So on Thursday nights, I work in the Salt Lake Temple cafeteria serving food. Tonight, I'm cleaning up and I see this sweet old temple worker leaving and I make polite small talk. He tells me that he's never seen me before, I let him know that I've been there about six months, and he says how happy he is to see me at the temple. Anxious to get going, I make a polite comment about him having a little snack in the cafeteria before his last session and he lights up and he asks, "Do you feel that you have enough energy?"
Confused and leary, I answer that I'm sure that I could always use more. He then asks me what I eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and I sheepishly make something up (sorry for lying in the temple, but I'm pretty embarrassed by my poor diet). He then pulls out a bottle of Full Energy Inulin and proceeds to tell me what a difference it makes for him in his energy levels. From his pocket, he pulls a plastic spoon out of a baggie and asks if I'd like to taste it and so I do and politely say how good it tastes. Long story short, he asks me if I'd like to try some. I hem and haw and ask how much, and he says, "only 41.99 for a 1 pound bottle." Before I can think of an excuse to hightail it outta there, he says, "stay right there, I'll be right back." He is gone for a few minutes and I consider slipping out, but remember that I'm in the temple and I'll have to see this good brother every Thursday, so I stay. He comes back with a BRIEFCASE full of this stuff, and shows me a very small $41.99 bottle of Inulin (which, FYI, on the website is $39.99). I tell him that I am a poor teacher and cannot afford such goods, so he gives me a gift of a sample size of the following: Silver, sugar-free nutritive bullets made with 100% Inulin
Apparently, I'm supposed to take one of these 15 minutes before running and any other time I need a boost. My question, what is Inulin? To me, it sounds a bit like Insulin, and that's not good.

Anyway, sweet old man. I'm not interested. When I got home, I looked at the bottle closer, and this "miracle pill" is bottled in Holladay, Utah, and the sweet brother's name was Brother Silver.