sorry for the lack of blogs...

sorry for the lack of blogs... haha I act like I have a million people reading my blog or something. ;) I'm more sorry that I haven't been writing cuz I love writing more than I'm sorry that I haven't been providing reading material for you. but how DOES it make you feel when I don't blog? I promise, it's nothing personal!



let's see... what IS up with me? not much. been a lot of the same ol, same ol. I mean, other than my trip to Santa Barbara this past weekend. did I blog about substituting the other week? hold on... I'm gonna check. ok, I didn't. so that's what I'm blogging about today. :-D

the other week I got called in to substitute. happened to be at the same time as all those crazy fires. I facebooked Rey and told him he better not be dying from smoke inhalation cuz he'd hate to miss out on seeing me at school the next day. he said he probably wouldn't be there cuz they were gonna be evacuated. the fire was just a few blocks from their house. I told him I'd pray for him and the family (he's got 3 kids... the youngest only a few months old) & guess what! he was at school the next day. :-D

knowing the school as well as I did, I went in being told I'd be subbing for 1st grade but knew that I'd be changed to either 4th or 7th (if Rey wasn't there). so I'm in the class getting them started for the day. my little Vero was cracking me up, along with all the others. I missed them so much. then Lily (the t.a./p.e. coach) comes in totally lost cuz there was no lesson plan. she runs around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to figure out what's going on. then Rosa comes in and asks me why she's being sent to teach 1st grade if I'm already in there and she had already started in 4th. I looked at her and laughed and asked her to remember where she was at. some time during all that, Rey popped his head in to say hi (he was late to school as it was... so I don't even know how he managed that).

eventually I ended up in 4th grade (surprise surprise?). a parent had been trying to teach the class when I got there. her control would have been all over if I didn't settle the kids down as I walked in... cuz they were ready to mob me. I told them to sit down til the parent was done with what she was teaching. then she finished and they mobbed me. seriously, I feel like a celebrity when I go there. :-D I miss those kids so much.

well, because of all the smoke from the fires... there was no "recess" time to go outside... which means I got "stuck" with the kids all day. they did amazingly well for being stuck inside all day. I give them props for that. they all worked hard (they're trying to convince me to come back... they don't like their new computer teacher.) and were generally very obedient. they even enjoyed doing some of the work I gave them and didn't complain when I did things different than their regular teacher (which they would normally do). haha randomly throughout the day kids would just come up to me and hug me and tell me they miss me. it was really precious.

during the "recess" times and after school the jr. high kids kept coming to see me. when I taught there I spent the most time with them because I also assisted in jr. high math. so they got to see me every day, not just once a week in computers class, so they miss me more than the others.

after school I went to Rey's class to say "hey". ended up helping him think up a punishment for a student that had been making fun of another student. it was kinda funny. I walk in and he says "Miss Nardi, come help me make up a punishment..." and then the girls explained what had been going on. I think I came up with a great punishment that was fit for the crime. :-) anyhow, after the girls left, Rey asked me to give him a math lesson. the math teacher that I assisted last year has moved away so he has to teach math for 7th and 8th. so I tutored him real quick. it was funny cuz he knows it, he just doesn't know how to explain it. once I explained it to him he was like "ohhhhhhhhh". haha

after that I went down to see Rosa. we were standing inside the front door talking when I heard the secretary telling someone to call the police and she closed the door... some h.s. girls from the school across the way were fighting in front of the school. mind you, it IS in East L.A., so it could have been a very bad situation. anyhow, that was my day back with my kids.

I had so much fun being with everyone. I do miss my kids and my friends a lot. I promised them all that even if I'm not substituting that I'll come to visit more often. they didn't see me for all of Sept. and Oct. I think they were going through withdrawals. hahaha :-D

it's nice to feel like a celebrity every once in a while. and to also know that you're making a difference in those people's lives. I've seen my kids go through so much and they'd tell me so much (as did the teachers). I've been so blessed to be a part of their lives.

well... I'm done now... 10 min's left to my lunch break... nothing to do... it's raining outside and my body aches.... bah. but I'll survive. I guess this is all I'm gonna right for now.