It's Been So Long ...

I know it has been so long ... I am not even sure why I stopped blogging, so, I will not give an excuse ...

School is going very well and I am very proud of my students. We just had Parent-Teacher conferences and they are so uplifting. I love meeting with the parents and students and bragging about them to their parents or helping their parents figure out a way to get them back on track. I have spent a good part of this weekend putting together a brand new organizational system for one of my students from last year, K. He is going to be so thrilled with the binder and systems we are going to put in place. This is a kid who has so much potential and drive, but, lacks in the organizational area and motivation. He loves supplies and pencils and stuff like that, and I am hoping that this will get him back on track. He needs someone to check in on him and remind him of how incredible he is daily - and I am going to try my best to check in with him each day.

I went home for part of Mid-Winter break and had a fabulous time with my parents and friends. The trip went by quickly as I was busy with friends and my mom and dad. I started to watch the Olympics at home with them and fell in love with the sports!! My mom prepared such great food for me and made sure I was taken care of! :) I spent some great quality time with LB and hope that it lasts until we are reunited once again! I was able to rekindle a friendship with a friend from Middle School/High School while at home and we continue to talk - I hope we do forever!

SLM went on his first business trip this past week and loved it - except for the part where he was snowed out of NYC until Saturday am (he was supposed to be back home on Thursday pm).

I have applied for the School Operations Manager position at the NYC TFA Institute for the summer and had my phone interview this past week and hope that I got it! I find out March 23 and am keeping my fingers crossed!! I would love this position and I know that I would excel at it as well!

Steve bought a snowboard, bindings, boots, and a helmet. We were supposed to go this weekend, but, that fell through when he was stuck out of NYC in FL.

The kittens are doing great - their stomach hair is growing back where they were shaved from when they got spayed. They are still ridiculously insane, but, let us sleep at night more. Isabelle has gotten into this habit of walking on me while I sleep and doing a broken, death-sounding meow to wake me so that I will pet her. I call her an name, pet her a few minutes and then roll over only to be woken again after about 20 minutes. She is spoiled and irritating, but, I love her!

This week is Spirit Week at school and I will take pics to post of me and the teachers (I am not supposed to post pics of my students on the Internet).
Monday: College Day
Tuesday: Twin Day
Wednesday: Wacky Tacky Day
Thursday: Backwards Day
Friday: Sports Day

SLM's birthday is next week!!!

I will update again soon ... :)

SnOw DaY!!!

Today was declared a snow day and it was fantastic! Pepsi HQ were actually shut down as well so SLM got to stay home from work too. I slept in until 6:30 am - about an hour past my usual time. We lounged for quite awhile with the girls and then ventured out into the wintery madness to Dunkin Donuts. I did some work today as well and finished up my 2nd quarter grades. SLM played golf video games most of the day. We had venison tacos for dinner which were super delicious. Our power went out to the TV and refrigerator - we are going to loose all our food which is really awful. I am having a High Honor Award celebration for 11 students - all of whom were the only ones to turn in every singed assignment and homework and they all have A's for 2nd quarter. I created really nice certificates, will make them cookies, get them nice mechanical pencils (hot ticket item) and then let them pick a prize. The prizes come from this warehouse that our school got to "raid". I picked up many books, DVDs, comics, iPod covers, toy figurines, etc. The kids will freak!!

Last weekend we had a nice wine and cheese evening with Dave and Giselle. We had wine and I made baked clams, mint brownies, summer sausage and a cheese tray. We watched The Orphan and had a ton of fun!!! I had grad school last Saturday. I am taking Ethics and Art and think this will be my most enjoyable semester yet!! I mixed my own colors and created my own color wheel of all the primary, secondary and tertiary colors!!! I will take a pic and post it!!

The girls are back to normal terrorizing each other and getting into everything. I am expecting low attendance tomorrow and have a meeting at McKinsey until late and then have to come home and bake cookies for Friday's celebration.

I leave for STL on Saturday and return on Thursday and then SLM leaves for FL on Sunday and returns the following Thursday :(

A friend from TFA and grad school showed me her planner and I ordered one the next day - it is by MoleSkine and on the left is a weekly planner and on the right it is a notebook for notes and the back cover has a pocket to hold things!!! I am excited to get it in the mail!!! I highly recommend it!!! :)

Foul Mouth

Today was interesting. I was teaching after school and two of my female students started bickering and cursing at each other in Spanish and in English and then one of the girls told the other girl to "Suck my D%^&". It was horrendous. I started screaming at both of them to "SHUT YOUR MOUTHS" and "STOP IT". I have never yelled like I did today. I haven't yelled at students at all this year. My Principal was walking by and storms in to my rescue. He screams, "WHO IS DISRESPECTING MY MS. BELZ?!" and then he goes on and questions everyone about why I am yelling and that "Ms. Belz NEVER yells". Long story short, both students were removed. I felt very supported and rescued.

I came home ready to relax and blocking the door was the cat's house. Isabelle decided it was time to move again. She gets bored of scenery and surroundings easily.

We made chili last night and because I am a genius I thought I could you ceyenne pepper in place of chili powder and added 2 Tablespoons of ceyenne pepper on top of the black pepper and red pepper flakes. It was so HOTTT. We had trouble eating it all without our mouths exploding. Note to self: never replace anything with ceyenne pepper.

Despite all the stresses this week had to offer and the fact that I feel like I am going to fall over from exhaustion whenever I stand up - I am pretty happy with the way this week has turned out.

My students can find the area of a sector of a circle - the hardest 6th grade standard! YAY :)

What A Monday!

Today was quite busy at work. I literally did not stop from 7:30 am until 6 pm. I had a ton of stuff to get ready for the Acuity Predictive Assessment. I was actually able to get it done more quickly than I thought. The student who cheated will be suspended and I way very pleased with the amount of support I had from the AP.

I taught the hardest standard in math today and the students actually got really into it and loved it - I think they were very excited about how much work they had to do to arrive at answer and then when they got it they were soooo excited! I even had students ask for extra problems to do tonight on their own!

I was nominated and made Co-Chairperson of our Student Leadership Team and I was put forward to the next round of interviews for the SOM position with TFA this summer at the NYC Institute.

I am supposed to be sharpening 150 pencils right now but the sharpener won't work. That part sucks.

The girls are back to normal for the most part. I am hoping Isabelle's cuddling will last forever. She is such a sweetie when she is cuddly. Although, she was not a sweetie when SLM came home from work and found her on top of the bookshelf where she is not supposed to be.

I hope this week is productive and goes by quickly!!!

What a Weekend

The girls got spayed, got rabies shots, their nails clipped, a treatment for their ear mites, and a comprehensive exam all on Friday. I felt sooooo terrible for them!!! They came home and were soooo out of it. They were like drunk trying to walk. They did the splits with their back legs every time they tried to walk across the hard wood floors. They are still even exhausted and out of it today.

So the week came to a close with me catching one of my 6th graders cheating on an extra credit assignment. I was soooo upset. It is just terrible that an 11 year old feels they need to cheat to get by and then lie about it repeatedly ...

Friday night was great - I watched "The Hangover" with my mom, Aunt Gail and Aunt Shookie. We had a blast - that movie is hilarious!!! Saturday my mom and I went to get coffee and had an incredible talk and then we went shopping to Old Navy and Banana Republic. I got a great shirt at Old Navy for $5.60!!! Then, at Banana we didn't find anything in my size. I took mom to the airport which was really sad, but, I get to see her and dad in two weeks (13 days from today!). I met Steve in the city after I went to Banana at Grand Central Station and got a high waisted pencil skirt and a top for $35!!!! It was great!!! I will wear this outfit on either my graduation or my brother's graduation. SLM and I met at Heartland Brewery for a few drinks before walking in the freezing cold to Otto for dinner - which was fabulous! We stopped at Whole Foods before catching the train back. When we got home I went straight into bed to cuddle with Isabelle and it was the sweetest moments I have ever had with her. She laid and contoured her body to my arms and laid her little face on my chest and shoulder - it was soooo sweet. She stayed the whole night with me and was always cuddled up right next to me. At one point I woke up in the middle of the night and she was under the covers with me and I have no idea how she managed to get under them! Today we went grocery shopping and to the movies and saw "When In Rome" which was dece ... I would give it about a 7 out of 10.

Looking forward to this week going quickly.

Below is a short video of Isabelle trying to walk to her home right after she was brought home from the Vet.

Mom in Town!

The end of last week could not have come quick enough! My mom came into town and I very much enjoyed spending time with her and my Grandma on Saturday. We had a quiet evening at home in LI on Saturday. On Sunday, I went to breakfast with Aunt Gail and Mindy. I spent some time with my mom shopping for a dress for Giselle's wedding and after about 8 dresses, no luck. We will keep searching when I go to STL in February. Chinese take out was had by all on Sunday night for dinner!!!

My mom came to school with me on Monday! Surprisingly, I was not nervous with her in my classroom at all. My students were very eager to meet her and to have class that day!!! It was very exciting for my mom to see my students and my classroom since she hears all about it all the time - now she has faces to place with names! We enjoyed a lovely dinner at Otto (my favorite restaurant) and mom loved their Dark Chocolate Gelato!

I have been super well planned for the week and have all my lesson plans ready for the entire week!!!

I finally finished the winter session at grad school and turned in my final assignments and project this evening! Yay! Spring semester starts Feb. 6! One last semester to go! Woo hoo!!

This evening Isabelle did something quite hilarious ... she moved their "home" from one location in the apartment to another. I have uploaded it for your enjoyment. The plot goes as follows: Begins to move home ... stops for a makeout session with her sister Chloe, goes back to home to attack it, returns to moving it into the kitchen where it now resides ...
Enjoy!

cRaZy WeEk!

This is one crazy week - regular school days and lesson plans and grades to do, I'm conducting TFA phone interviews, and I have this crazy Grad School class that isn't over yet!

I am getting really exhausted and tired and irritable!

However, we started our circle unit this week and I am very happy with it so far!

I passed out Progress Reports to the students yesterday and made about 8 students cry - it was bad. I have designed an Extra Credit packet for them to complete - but, I will not be reminding them or hounding them for it - it is their responsibility. I gave a 15 minute speech yesterday to each class about how getting anything below a "B" in 6th grade is absolutely unacceptable and inexcusable.

I will be applying to work for TFA this summer and really hope I get it!

The cats are crazier than ever and are breaking tons of crap.

On Monday night, I woke up because Isabelle bit my face and was sitting on my chest meowing at me so that I would pet/play with her. I pushed her off the bed and whispered/yelled at her. She ran away and then wouldn't leave me alone when I actually woke up and went to the bathroom.

That is all the updates for now! :)

Day off!!

Today I woke up earlier than I wanted and went to Panera for an asiago cheese bagel and cream cheese - it was super yummy! I miss going there all the time when I was in college with LB!! I met up with Michelle to get our nails done. I had the same lady I usually have, but, this time she took a lady in the middle of my pedicure to get her eyebrows done and then took a second lady - I had to wait in the middle of my pedicure for about 30 minutes!! Then, she put the wrong color on my toes!!! Ugggh - I didn't say anything because I noticed when she was doing my last toe and I didn't want to waste anymore time to fix it. However, the foot massage was fabulous! We then went next door to get some sushi - and they brought me the wrong rolls!! It wasn't my day!!! I finally got my spicy tuna roll and my Philadelphia roll. Michelle and I went to the Christmas Tree Shop which is like a huge dollar store but with way more stuff and better quality. I picked up two new pillows (sorry Mom, they didn't have down, but these are really good!), a splatter protector for cooking, more colored pencils for my classroom and tape for my classroom and a spray bottle for the kitties (we haven't used it yet).

SLM and I went to Lenscrafters to get him new glasses. His eyesight has gotten worse, but, he picked out a sweet pair of Burberry glasses and they will be ready in 7-10 business days! We went grocery shopping and came home and did laundry and had dinner. I mixed some shredded carrots and feta cheese and had that with some chicken. We got more gelato - it is soooo good.

Looking forward to the 4 day week and seeing my mom and grandma!! Woo hoo!!

Dad, if your reading this - your birthday is coming up and I still don't know what to get you - please give suggestions or I will be forced to pick out a sweater or get you a Home Depot gift card ... :)

What a Weekend!

We went to Sno Mountain yesterday and met up with Corie and Liz and their friends! We had a great time! Steve and I went down the "bunny slopes" a few times and then hit the Green Slopes. We had quite a blast - Steve has really improved. We both still suck at getting off the lifts - we fall down nearly every time. I went down the Greens a couple of times without falling once! I felt like a pro!! We have started looking at other mountains to go to and boards to purchase - which won't happen for awhile - but, it is good to plan ahead! We went to dinner at TGIF and had great food and watched the game. Everyone met down at the tub afterwards and then we went back up to the room to watch the other football game - haha!

Today, we traveled back and stopped at the Columbia outlet to get Steve some of his own ski pants - he has been borrowing his boss'. I ended up getting a lighter jacket to wear boarding when it is hot out like it was yesterday - it was in the 40s and I was dying wearing the big jacket! I also picked up part of LB's birthday gift!

We got back to our apartment around 1:30 pm today. I did TFA phone interviews from 2:40 until 6:00 PM and then we ate dinner really fast - then, I continued on with grading, uploading data, writing a LP, writing a letter to my TFA sponsors, creating Failure Notices for my 9 students who are failing, creating a survey for the McKinsey Consulting group and uploading it onto the internet, filling out awards for the students who got above an 80% on the exam on Friday and sending some emails I needed to send out. I am finally done with all of that! It is 10:00 PM!!!

Tomorrow, I am finally having my pamper morning with Michelle - Giselle went out of town last moment and won't be able to attend. Steve and I will go get his glasses in the afternoon!! It will be a relaxing day - and I will get to take a bath!

I cannot wait to go snowboarding again!!! :)

The Weekend!!!

It is finally here!!! It has been a wretched week!!! Today I gave an exam and was disappointed with many of my students' results. However, two of my students, we will call Y and T got a 100%!!! I am sooooo proud of them!!! Flawless!!!

After school today a couple of teachers got together in Manhattan to have some drinks. Our secretary's friend owns the bar and he always gets us a free round. I had two rounds of white russians. Then, I rushed home to SLM because he offered to make me a delicious dinner of jambalaya. I got a "wine to go" on train and was feeling pretty good. Dinner was SUPERB, it was a little spicy though! I did my coursework in a cinch and am ready to enjoy the 3-day weekend.

I am doing TFA phone interviews and some work on Sunday, but, oh well. Tomorrow we are going snowboarding with my co-teacher Liz and another teacher/close friend Corie. I am soooooo stoked!!!! We are going to have a blast. Corie and Liz are my best friends at school and we are like the three musketeers. I cannot wait for them to really meet and get to know SLM.

Monday I am doing a mani/pedi/foot massage/back rub with Giselle and Michelle and cannot wait to pamper myself. I am also getting SLM his Christmas gift - new glasses!!!

Ill write again after we hit the slopes!!! :)

Better Tuesday!

School was great today - I love teaching graphing! When the kids start plotting points and then start to realize what picture they are drawing - it is incredible to see their expressions.

I helped to mediate a dramatic issue today between 4 girls in the 6th grade.

The grad school work is unbearable. I now have to give up my Friday night to complete Thursday's assignment because I won't be getting home from work on Thursday until after 10pm and then won't have ample time to complete it. She gave me an extension to Friday at midnight - woot, thanks a bunch. I'll be doing the assignments while drinking a bottle of wine. Oh well.

Snowboarding on Saturday!
Bubble bath on Sunday!
Mani/pedi/foot massage on Monday!

Sour Mondays

Today was very busy at school. The day did fly by though. The lesson went well. The kids were chatty as usual. I took a note away from the same student that had issues on Friday. The note was about why two of my students should get married, it reads, "C should marry E because they have the same last name, they wouldn't have to worry about switching it". REALLY?!? This is what is important to you during math? UGH.

We had a meeting after school. I wrote my lesson on the train. Steve picked me up from the RR station because the bag I carry all the work I have to grade broke. He bought me an iced coffee as a reward for everything I accomplished yesterday - it was the highlight of my evening.

For dinner I had a ham, turkey and cheese roll-up on a tortilla and Hershey kisses. This grad work is kicking my ass. I created a test, the goal setting day for next unit and I graded the homework and a quiz and updated grades for a project. UGH.

I am going to bed - it is 9:08. I am getting up at 5:15.

I am really looking forward to the out to breakfast/Starbucks/Mani-Pedi/Foot massage day I have planned with Giselle next Monday!!! WOOO HOOO!!!

I promise to be in a better mood tomorrow.

The kitties are scheduled to get spayed on Friday, Jan. 29 - Happy Birthday Dad!! HAHAHAHAHA :)

So Productive

Today was my day of work. We woke up and went to Target to get "a few things" and ended up getting a ton of groceries. When we got home I relaxed for about an hour while we did our laundry - 3 loads!!! Then I spent the rest of the day grading over a month's worth of student work, then I uploaded the grades to my online grading system. Then, I entered student data into my data tracker, then I made new homework folders and labels for each of my students, then I created my bulletin board and finally I did my lesson plan for tomorrow. I straightened up the apartment and we made dinner - venison and mashed potatoes. I gave myself a manicure with my awesome purple nail polish. We are watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition and I will shower soon before I watch Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Giuliana and Bill (my weekly Sunday night shows). My lunch is ready for tomorrow and so is my new breakfast - oatmeal. I got awesome containers and plastic spoons so I can eat my breakfast on the go everyday!

I feel very accomplished this weekend and look forward to the 3-day weekend coming up - more relaxation!!!

It is going to be a busy week - regular work week, still taking that stupid grad school class, meeting tomorrow after work, After School Academy on T, W, and R, and consulting meeting on Thursday night ... phew!!!

Relaxing ... Finally

I know its been a few days. My Thursday was awful. I spent over an hour on the phone with my dad because my computer blows and he was trying to help me fix it - we did - and I cried about it. I was rude on the phone to him because of my frustrations - I am sorry Dad!, it is something I am working on - I just can't take it when my computer malfunctions - I use it for everything I do for work!!!

I was exhausted at work yesterday because of Thursday's ordeal. There was a major student conflict at school at the end of the day and I ended up having to take a kid home in a cab. I didn't get my bulletin board up but the administration was understanding and gave me an extension until Monday morning. Lindsay came over and we made baked clams and worked on a gift she is making for a friend. We watched the Hangover and recited all our favorite lines!! My watch arrived - finally - I had to exchange it for the same thing because a piece came off.

I went to Nordstroms today to get it sized and to get a new phone cover!!! I came home to catch up on all my DVR-ed programs and fell asleep for like 3 hours. I did a little work for the consulting group my school is working with and then Steve made me dinner - breakfast for dinner. We are going to get ice cream at halftime!!! Woo hoo!!!

The kitties have been real lazies today and Chloe-bear is sleeping in my lap as we speak!!!

Toodles for now.

I am so frustrated!!!!

It is really getting on my nerves that I get to school at 7:30 and go non stop until 4:30 ... I get home, eat and then do grad school work until 9:15 (and I am having to skim a lot of pages just so I do not go insane). It is so much, and I have other stuff I need to be doing for my other commitments at school and elsewhere. I am exhausted ... a little less than three weeks left ... woo hoo!!! Then, back to my normal semester of grad school.

I am ignoring the kitties and Steve. I am like super easily irritated when I get home.

Sorry this is so negative - need to get it out ...

Tomorrow will be better, because the next day is Friday and Lindsay is coming for a sleepover!!! :)

Volume is Fantastic!!!

Today I was finishing up my lesson about volume with my 6th graders. They discovered the formula yesterday V = l x w x h. Today, we used the cubes and rectangular prisms they constructed out of paper to find the volume. Then, the students worked in pairs to find the volume of different rectangular prisms. I was so proud of them - they COMPLETELY got it!!! EVERY single kid today mastered it!!! Even my most struggling student - we will call him "D" - got this like it was no big deal. He was so excited today that he mastered this - his face was absolutely priceless!!!

Steve and I went to the store today to get "healthy" food. We left with two types of apples, beets, two types of salad, carrots, radishes, red peppers, cauliflower, gelato, almonds, and diet Pepsi. I eat an entire red pepper a day - they are so delicious and I was told they are a natural stress reliever - yay!!!

This coursework for Lehman is so intensive!!! I had to read a whole textbook chapter, answer questions, watch a video, respond to questions, and "add my 2 cents" to a teaching contract for 2009. It doesn't look like a lot, but, it was, when I have to eat dinner, plan a lesson, and do other things for school, and try to relax a bit from a whole day of teaching!! UGH!!

Time to do more stuff and "relax" for a bit. :)

New Phone!!!

Today was the first day back at school and it flew by!!! We are working on volume and the students seemed to have a great time today playing with the wooden blocks to discover the formula for volume. We sent home "Homework Packets" over break and I got all but 1 back - I was very pleased!!!

After school today, Steve took me to Verizon to get my new BlackBerry for our anniversary - my plan was finally authorized for an upgrade - so, I am very excited to have my very on BB!!!

We didn't get home until late tonight from that and I had coursework to do for my Masters program - I am currently in the 3-week intensive course. It is going to suck!!! However, I looked up my GPA for last semester and it was 4.00!! My Cum. GPA is 3.918!!! YAY :)

More tomorrow, I am soooo tired!!!

NYE in VT!!!

We have spent the past four days in West Dover, VT at Mount Snow. We went with 3 other couples - Dave & Giselle, Matt & Michelle and Steve V. and Jess. We all arrived on Dec. 31 and were all together by 8:30 pm. We had our own little party at the house we rented for our stay. Everyone had such a blast that night!! We stayed up way too late!!!

On Friday we all hit the slopes around noon. Matt, Michelle and I were snowboarding and Dave, Giselle, Jess and Steve V. went skiing. SLM stayed home because he had food poisoning from some chips he ate the night before - it wasn't too much partying I promise. He was still sick into the evening!!! Matt taught Michelle and I how to snowboard - he was a great instructor. We went down the bunny slopes twice and then Michelle started to not feel so great. She went to the warming hut and Matt and I went to the top of Mount Snow - the VERY TOP. We went down the green trails - I did okay - tons of falls, but I made it. When there was about 1/5 or 1/6 of the trail left I had to walk down with my board because my knees had taken such a beating - they were really hurting. We all came back to the house and had pasta with meat sauce and chili. The girls hung out in the hot tub and we all stayed up as long as we could - but we were wiped!!!

Saturday we hit the slopes again - I found a pair of my very own ski pants - they are super amazing!!! SLM joined Michelle and I on the bunny slopes and he never gave up!!! I was so proud of him for sticking with it especially since he hates things on his feet. He tumbled around the first time and then really got the hang of it!!! Michelle and I had such fun going up and going down the bunny slopes - we still have some trouble with the lift :) We had a lunch of New England Clam Chowder again from the Main Base Lodge - it is very delicious! We all met up at home - Matt got injured trying to do a 360 turn on a stunt - but, he is feeling a lot better. We had Giselle's Pulled Pork for dinner - YUMMY - and then the girls went to the store to get supplies to make S'Mores!!!

Steve and I just loved the whole experience and culture of snowboarding - this is definitely something we want to do a lot more of. Michelle and I are going to get more snowboarding stuff at the store - its out of season soon - so at a cheaper price and we want to go a lot more this winter!!!

This morning we cleaned up and got on our way. It took 6 hours to get home - the GPS took us on a weird way which included a ton of snowy and slick roads. The babies went nuts while we were gone and broke a glass and our elephant statue that sits atop our bookshelf. They were super excited to see us when we got home and have been extremely cuddly ever since.

We both ache a ton - snowboarders take quite the beating on the mountain!!

Here are some pics from our trip!! Enjoy!!


View of the mountain from the house!




The girls on NYE!!! :) <3




SLM and I on NYE!!! <3




SLM and I after hitting the slopes!!!




Michelle and I after mastering the bunny slopes :)




The drive home in the blizzard