My First Day at Marshall Elementary School

Well, it's finally time. I got up way earlier than I have all summer and went to my first day as a student teacher at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School. We had breakfast time, and some meeting time, then some organizing time, then some lunch time, and then some setting up the room time. And then....I got to start working on a bulliten board! I have to admit I felt like a fish out of water, and I missed all the teachers at Keene, but I know I will have a great time and learn a lot from the two teachers I am working with. Of course, the kids weren't there yet, so this time next week I might be thinking to myself "What the heck am I doing?" Stay tuned for more...

The Last Faux Yankee

My sisters left the northeast this morning, and I realized I am the last one of my extended family still standing in the northeastern part of the United States. Having been born in the south and having been raised in the south, and because my heart LOVES the south and because my tummy loves southern food, I am a true southerner. However, because I have lived in the northeast for a total of thirteen years (and have actually liked it. Shhhhh, don't tell my southern relatives) I am calling myself a "Faux Yankee." One day, when our kids are raising their families, Chad and I will sneak away to live somewhere in the south.

That's my dream anyway, and I am sticking to it!

P.S. The picture is of Woodville Baptist Church located in Woddville, Georgia.

This is where my sweet parents were married!

Hey y'all, part two

Tice here. Doing a little guest post on Lori's blog. Seems fitting since I'm at her house right now. She was kind enough to take me in for a week since I had to be out of my apartment at the end of July but had to wait until Sally was done with camp before making the big move.

What does one, such as I, do while visiting Lori? Allow me to enlighten you. I started by helping her pick paint colors for the TV room. Her instruction was that she wanted a light color above the chair rail and a dark color below so as to avoid having to see so many unsightly stains and fingerprints. I armed myself with this information and headed to Home Depot to pick up swatches and samples.

I painted a sample of a light[er] tan and a light[er] green above the chair rail. Then I painted a darker brown and a darker green below it. She and I proceeded to debate why she didn't like the darker colors. I tried to convince her that some of her color choices were [ahem] outdated. We came to an agreement. [I don't know why I argued so much. I don't even live here.] We painted the first coat yesterday. Chad came home and said, "It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would." Ha. From Chad that's a compliment.

After the first coat of paint was squared away, I went to Lori's Methods of [Teaching] Math class. The teacher was kind enough to let me observe. I was fascinated. I learned how to do multiplication using partial products and the lattice method. Hello...where were these methods when I was busy doing it algorithm style twenty years ago...

And for the piece de résistance, I have a problem for you to solve. And you over there. No help from Google. You know who you are.

Problem: We're looking for a license plate number from a hit and run. It's in two parts. A two digit number and a three digit number.

The two digit number is prime and the sum of the two digits is a two digit prime. The tens digit is larger than the ones digit.

In the three digit part, the digits are all odd and different. The sum of the three digits is palindromic. The sum of the first and third digit was one-half the sum of the first and second.

Hint: A palindromic number is one that reads the same from front to back and back to front. ie. 22, 33, 121, 232, 818 etc...

Another hint: I'll give you the prime numbers between 1 and 100. They are: 2 3 5 7 11 13 17 19 23 29 31 37 41 43 47 53 59 61 67 71 73 79 83 89 97.

Good luck. If you get the answer, I'll mail you a prize. If you at least try and can't get the answer, I'll mail you a handwritten letter with the answer. And who doesn't want a handwritten letter from me, I ask you. And NO GOOGLING...or yahooing...or finding a website with math problems. You get the idea. No cheating.

ps- Natalie, are you feeling left out? Do you need me to guest post about how I'm fixin' to go see your love story played out on screen in the movie, Adam?

Lorelei, the Book Critic

If you have ever wanted to know what happens after the ending of Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen then this is your book. I couldn't put it down! It captures the first five months of marriage, and what a marriage Darcy and Lizzy have! If you like romance, you will love reading this book. However, as much as I enjoyed reading it, and as your personal book critic (don't laugh, I know my books) I feel I need to reveal these two points of thought:

1. Okay, this book is a teeny bit sappy. By the end of the book, you will have read William (aka Mr. Darcy) calling Lizzy "Beautiful love" 553 times. Okay, kidding. But it was a lot. Very sweet at the beginning, but a little "Oh, for real" towards the end. I had to keep telling myself that they were still in the first HALF of their first year. This went both ways. Lizzy called Darcy "My dearest beloved" 485 times. (No, I didn't really count!)

2. The subtitle "Two Shall Become One" is not simply a quote from the scriptures. For those of you who enjoy reading about "romantic encounters in the bedroom," you will be sufficiently pleased. Really. For those of you who have teenage daughters asking to read it after you, I suggest you have them wait until right before their wedding night! For those of you who do not read anything your daughter should not read, then I would say this book is not for you! If you didn't think "Breaking Dawn" (Twilight #4) was appropriate for teens, then you definately won't think this is.

I know, I know. You want more information. You are just going to have to read it for yourself. I don't think you will be disappointed in the least. Enjoy!

For more information, go to darcysaga.net

P.S. Did I mention it's going to be a saga. The next one comes out September 1st!