Thursday's 13 things I've found in my laundry this week

1. A candy cane missing the red stripe
2. Pink socks formerly known as white socks
3. A one dollar bill
4. A ten dollar bill(SCORE!)-What I find in the laundry I get to claim as a morale boosting tip
5. Two very soggy Texas scratch-offs I had gotten in Christmas cards-(SCORE! again) I won $5
6. One of the cat's play toys, formerly covered in rabbit fur, now scalped
7. Rabbit fur encrusted jeans
8. I found OUT that just because the label says I can wash my new kitchen mats that I should not.
9. Handfuls after handfuls of brightly colored wads of yarn(formerly known as my kitchen rugs)
10. Three Eskimo Joe's cups-this comes from having a washing machine next to your kitchen sink-they are very clean now but smell like Downy.
11. I'm not sure but the little pink specks all over the clothes smelled like Bubble Tape
12. An empty Bubble Tape package
13. I found OUT that it is possible to nearly pass out from hanging upside down inside your washing machine while scraping gum off the inside of it.

FESTIVUS-The Airing of Grievances

1. People who only show up for gift time.
2. Sheets that pull off the corner of the bed every time that you sit down even though they're advertised as deep-pocketed.
3. Having to write extremely detailed lesson plans-seriously-who reads them? By the end of the week's instruction, they should be renamed "my wish list" or "Ms. 100 Farmers delusions of grandeur".

My End of Year Inner Dialogue

Hey Ms. 100 Farmers. New School, New position, Better work environment?
"Sigh."
Don't you like it over there?
"I am honestly at a loss at how to respond."
Are you happy?
"No."
Haven't you met some great people?
"Oh yes. I've made friends with some fantastic people and dedicated educators who keep me sane some days."
So what's the deal farmer girl?
"My principal is mean."
Come on. You're a big girl now and we can't always like the people we work with, can we?
"But she's a bully and makes wildly inappropriate remarks about people."
Hmmm, does it affect you personally?
"It makes me feel dirty to be part of it."
Can you avoid these type of conversations with her?
"I'm supposed to evaluate, help, mentor and give advice. When she asks my evaluation of a situation, she will then tell that person what I have said. Her version often seems designed to make her look like the good guy." "It makes me ineffective."
Sounds like you don't trust her?
"I feel like I can't come to her with issues like I'm supposed to without her disabling the mentoring relations I have established to help other people."
Do you think you're doing a good job over there?
"I work my tail off but feel like I'm spinning my wheels. I don't have faith in her as a principal and I hate coming to school."
That's pretty harsh. Is it as bad as last year?
"In my heart and gut it feels that way."
What are you going to do about it?
"Sigh........." and my inner voice goes quiet

Thirteen Happy Sounds

I am stealing this idea from http://thursdaythirteen.com/

1. The "Quack!" made by my black lab's favorite play toy.
2. "Miss 100 Farmers!" that I hear screamed across a store when I am spied by a former student.
3. The "gallump, gallump" noise made by cats chasing each other down the hallway.
4. Mockingbirds calling to each other in the morning. One of the reasons I love Texas.
5. My favorite ringtone playing on my cellphone.
6. The sounds you don't hear when the little farmers have finally gone to sleep.
7. Wind blowing through the cottonwoods.
8. Stomping down a sidewalk full of acorns
9. The lovely crunching you make from perfectly running over an aluminum can in your car.
10. Mixing anything with my Kitchen Aide
11. That final bell on the last day of school before a break.
12. The church bells you can hear from my grandmother's backyard.
13. The radio announcing my district's name during bad weather school closings.

Looking for treasures Part One

I love this collection:

Golden Treasury of the Familiar by Ralph L. Woods

Politics Defined
by Oscar Ameringer

The art of obtaining money from the rich and votes from the poor, on the pretext of protecting each from the other.

One of the best gifts my grandparents ever gave me was the enormous scattering of books around their house: the Ralph L. Woods books, Time-Life western books, National Geographic magazines, Huck Finn, Chinese Mythology, Reader's Digest.......

Do Not Go Gently Into That Good Night
by Dylan Thomas

Do not go gently into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
rage, rage against the dying of the light.

I feel like I've been asleep for months.