So what does it mean when it’s November and I still have posts from September sitting on my front page?  Still not all that excited to blog I guess.  It has now been over a week since some of my Ohio friends came out and we all went haunt hopping.  It’s a little late to review them, and I’m no expert on this sort of thing anyway so I think I’ll just say that it was a good time had by all of us.  Fortunately the threatening rain stayed away.  Sorry you had to miss the last haunt, J and M.  According to C & L it was really good, though whether it be that I was third in a group or just my logical mind drowning out the “let’s have fun” portion I just didn’t get as much out of it.  That said, I though the actors did a good job, especially outdoors (I really wish I had seen the one jumping out at the younger kids but I was facing the wrong direction at the time- apparently their reactions were priceless).  Thanks again C & L for paying for that one.

For work, this week was much better than last for the most part.  The only work-day that had rain was Friday, but I was able to take a full-day sub job that day instead, bumping my one Friday gig to Saturday- yes, the holiday.  Did you all have a happy Martin Luther day?  You know, the anniversary of Luther nailing the Ninety-Five Theses to the church door in 1517 (the doors were popularly used as bulletin boards at that time).  Oh, you celebrated a different holiday you say?  Well, so did the kids on Friday.  Unluckily for the teacher I subbed for, her son got sick on party day so I was the lucky one who got to take the job in her place.  It was my favorite grade, 5th, and it was quite easy.  The morning consisted of three tests- didn’t you hate days like that in school?- split by an hour of gym and music.  At least one of the tests was only spelling, so only two of them were big thinking tests.  Of course, I say “at least” for the spelling test as I was a really good speller in school.  I suppose for some it may have been just as rough as the other two.

Lunch time, then the kids were back in costume.  Did I mention this was the one day of the year 2/3 of the class went home for lunch?  All afternoon was party time.  There was a costume parade through the neighborhood scheduled as well, but- you know- rain.  As a result, the parents came to the school and watched the kids march across the stage instead.  Outside of this time the parent volunteers were in charge.  They organized the classroom party- the food, games, and whatnot- while I just helped as needed.  The kids had a scavenger hunt, played cauldron bowling and a scooter-relay with toilet paper mummy-wrapping, created a haunted story web, felt brains, hearts, and whatnot in a box, jumped for donuts on a string, and had cupcakes and water (where was the punch??).  Most of the year in hometown district serving food in classrooms is a big no-no- they even stopped birthday treats last year- but this was one of the few times they still get to eat sweets in class.

Some of the costumes were classic.  There were a few wearing ghoulish costumes including the obligatory Scream mask, some costumes of movie/tv characters like Darth Maul, and a few M&M girls, but there were some stand-out ones including a girl with an overturned bowl of spaghetti on her head (represented by white yarn with brown yarn-ball meatballs), another girl who came as a washing machine with her head under a pile of “dirty” clothes on top, and a boy who came as a vending machine.  Actually, while original, I’m not sure the last one would have won any awards.  The front really did look like a vending machine with real chips, candy bars, and whatnot, but in reality it was what could have been a store demo with straps so he could wear it in front of him.  It was apparently heavy too, as he took the elevator upstairs instead of the stairs.  I hope he had permission, but I felt for him so I didn’t ask.  The washing machine on the other hand was an excellent costume.  I already mentioned the pile of clothes to hide her face, but it also came complete with a box of fabric softener and bottle of detergent taped or glued to it.  The only thing that would have improved the costume was if the round door in front actually opened revealing more clothes.

So what did I do for halloween?  Well, following work on the windy day I…  handed out candy.  Yep, that was it.  I did have a “phantom of the opera” half-mask, so I wore it when I answered the door, but that was pretty much it.  We had our usual half-dozen groups of kids come to our door.  Seriously, is our house on the sex-offender list or something?  Since moving here we have had no more than ten groups of costumed candy-beggars stop by each year.  Nothing at all like or previous location across from a school.  Oh, well.

We did have a 4th/5th grade church party Friday night, but this post is getting long so I think I will save it for a future church post.

Usually I go a long time between seeing kids from my church in their natural daily habitats.  Tuesday was the super day, way out of the ordinary.  Today I ran into another one, apparently whose memory was not as good as the one I ran into on Tuesday.  This time he wasn’t in my class, but he was in a nearby 4th grade classroom.  I passed him in the hall, then turned and did a double take- I actually recognized him.  At the same time, he did his own double take, but he wasn’t as sure.  When I went to pick up my class from fine arts, there were two other classes in the same room, sort of a special fine arts day.  His class was one of them, and his teacher was already leading the class away.  He asked if he knew me, maybe from church.  I just smiled and said, “I’ll see you on Sunday, Brandon!” (okay, I guess first names are okay- I’ve been a bit paranoid on identifying people).  Then he knew.  At the end of the day I gave him a high five.  So on Sunday, I will see two fourth-graders at 11:15 who I encountered this week, maybe three if Daniel (from Tuesday) brings his friend again.

As far as the day went, it was very easy- no teaching at all.  Ordinarily this wouldn’t make me happy, but it’s been a long week and I was ready for some rest.  I even made two errors this morning since I was so tired.  This morning went like this: fine arts (combined classes), math test, fine arts (single class), finish math test, lunch.  That was it.  The afternoon was a little more complex with SSR (silent reading), spelling test, reading test, computer lab.  Yes, they took three tests in one day- not a fun day for them.  I guess I did do more than babysit in the afternoon.  I of course had to give the words and sentences for the spelling test, and additionally I had to proofread and correct papers on the computer before the kids printed.

In any event, I am glad for the weekend.  I enjoy what I do (mostly) but I need the break.  Before I sign off, I should mention that all went well except for a couple of boys.  One was constantly talking, even during the math test in the morning, which he did not have to take since he was in a different math class.  Unlucky for me the teacher didn’t tell me what he should do so I had to find him something to do.  He said he finished the poetry project, didn’t have a book, and wasn’t allowed to read one of the books in the room because they had to be “checked out” and he had lost a book so he couldn’t check out another.  I didn’t think the teacher would mind, as long as he didn’t bring it home, but no dice.  Sigh.  He was actually elsewhere for most of the afternoon, so that time went better.  The other boy was really only a problem while the first one was in the room- they kind of fed off of each other.

Well, that’s it for now.  Time to torture myself by taking out my contacts, then winding down for bed.  Yeah, I know- Friday night.  Well, I still haven’t gone back to the singles group.  They have a movie night tonight, I am David, but I think I have seen it and I just didn’t want to go.  I really need to force myself next time.  Why the torture?  Well I just made my self some salsa, 3½  pasta-sauce-sized jars of it.  Made with habanero, serrano, jalapeño, and other hot peppers, tomatillos, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro.  The hot pepper juice of course clings to the skin for several hours, so hot pepper meets eye and…  If I don’t post tomorrow it may be because I’m blind from this.  Anyway, goodnight.