Be My Strength

This year (all six days) is not working out well for me so far. In fact, I asked God for a do-over. I'm pretty sure that's not going to happen, and I'm sure I'll come out on the other side of this with great lessons learned. In the mean time, I've found comfort and peace in these lyrics. This is my prayer and my song. I hope that it blesses you.

Please Be My Strength - Gungor

I've tried to stand my ground

I've tried to understand,

but I can't seem to find my way again

like water on the sand

grasping at the wind

I keep on falling short

So, please be my strength

please be my strength

cause I don't have anymore

I don't have anymore

I'm looking for a place

where I can plant my faith

one thing I know for sure

that I cannot create it

and I cannot sustain it

it's your love that's keeping me

Please be my strength

please be my strength

I don't have anymore

I don't have anymore

And at my final breath

I hope that I can say

I fought the good fight of faith

I pray your glory shines

in this doubting heart of mine

and all would know that you

You are my strength

You are my strength

You and You alone

You keep bringing me back home

Merry Christmas, Teachers!

It's the most wonderful time of the year…for those who aren't trying to corral rambunctious seven-year-olds that are hyped up on Santa and sugar! Thankfully we have 2 weeks to rest, recover, and hopefully pamper ourselves with some nice presents.

Teacher gifts can be broken into the following 5 categories:

1. Homemade

This kind of gift is mostly candy and food. It is important to find out if they are parent-made or child-made.

2. Kid-picked

While the sentiment is nice, the child is usually more attached to the gift than the teacher. Over the top excitement once the gift is unwrapped is absolutely necessary.

By the way, that bird pen actually came from a co-teacher.

3. Really Nice

Often this gift leaves the teacher confused. Is this an apology for a "special" child? Is this an attempt to encourage me to focus more on your child? Or am I really just that awesome??
4. Body Products

Sprays, gels, lotions, bubble baths, etc. Is it a friendly gesture or do I smell bad? If you're basing that on the odors in my classroom, I can assure you that it's coming from the children.

5. Gift Cards

You usually can't go wrong with gift cards. The only exception is picking a place where the teacher doesn't frequently shop.
Parents, thank you very much for the gifts. It's nice to know you care. Don't worry, I'll be ready to jump back into gear in January. I just need a little break first! :)

Monos

Today I found this bracelet:

Which made me think of these sweet boys:

I love these guys! Only a few more months until I see them again. :)

Ridin’ Solo

Tracy's Tips for Staying Awake on the Road

*Set your iPod to all songs and hit shuffle. Try to identify songs by name and artist in 10 seconds or less.
*Turn on Glee songs and belt it out. Preferably "Hate on Me" with Mercedes and "Rose's Turn" with Kurt.
*Alternate humming and whistling along with songs.
*Make loud popping sounds (like Donkey on Shrek)
*Run over a UDO (unidentified dead object)
*Drink a LOT of water. Just keep in mind that some rest stops are spread really far apart.
*Brian Regan
*Dance to Single Ladies and Bad Romance.
*Mentally calculate the miles to your destination. Divide by your current miles per hour. Add extra time for each small town that you must travel through. Determine the exact time you intend to arrive. Recalculate as needed or after every town.
*Sing the entire soundtrack of Wicked as loudly as possible.
*Wave at all the cars that pass you.
*Enjoy the scenery and fall foliage. (This one does not apply to travel in Texas during the winter.)
*Play the jelly bean game with yourself. Make sure to only eat half a jelly bean so that you don't have to spit it out and guess what color it used to be.
*Roll down the window, chew some gum, and listen to a country radio station.
*Make a list of things to write about the next time you get around to blogging.

As an added bonus, here's my personal collection of songs that I cannot resist singing along with:

The "Gotta Sing Along" Playlist

Fidelity - Regina Spektor

Gold Digger – Glee Cast version

Hemorrhage (In My Hands) – Fuel

White Man – Gungor

Go West Young Man – Michael W. Smith

Take Me to Your Leader – Newsboys

Mr. Brightside – Killers

I'm Yours – Jason Mraz

Company Car – Switchfoot

Grandma's Feather Bed – John Denver

Drops of Jupiter – Train

Don't Stop Believin' - Journey

Recipes of the Week

I occasionally fix something super delicious that is worthy of sharing with my friends. This recipe was requested often enough that when I made it this week I thought, "I should share this awesomeness with all my blog readers!" So…for the two of you that I haven't given this to yet, please enjoy!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas

2 chicken breasts

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1 cup milk

8 oz. light sour cream

Whole wheat tortillas

Salsa

Monterrey Jack cheese, shredded

Boil chicken breasts and set aside to cool. Melt butter in a small sauce pan. Add flour, then slowly whisk in milk. Continue stirring until the mixtures comes to a boil. Remove from heat and set aside to thicken. While that is cooling, shred the chicken. Whisk sour cream in to the white sauce.

Spray a 9x9 or other small casserole dish a begin layering. Tear pieces of whole wheat tortillas, chicken, salsa, sauce, and cheese. I usually make 2 layers, ending with tortillas and cheese on top. Bake @ 350 for 15-20 until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling.

This makes enough for me and a friend with some leftovers. I would double everything to make a family-sized portion.

Tracy's Recipe for Procrastination

The following may or may not be based on real life experiences. ;)

To do: Read and respond to two current events articles and two journal articles.

Check email while watching TV. Decide to take a one hour nap to increase potential energy later in the evening. Wake up. Eat a snack while fixing dinner. Clean off desk to use as a workspace. Eat dinner while watching TV. Organize supplies needed to complete the work. Check email again. Adjust light and temperature settings. Begin working. Review numerous articles in an attempt to find the perfect one. Wander into the other room to find a resource that was left behind. Semi-finish two of the responses. Decide to bake cookies. Set out cookie dough. Empty dishwasher. Wash every dish in the house. Put cookies in oven. Read some more articles. Stop reading to eat cookies. Finish reading articles. Write some more. Realize that it's getting late. Decide to stop working for the night and get ready for bed.

Still to do: Finish four responses. <sigh>

What’s new?

My Class

The 2010-2011 school year promises to be exciting and fast-paced. I've got 19 precious new kiddos, a student teacher, a new classroom layout, and a new ELA curriculum that hasn't all arrived yet. Here's a "before" pic of my classroom. It looked awesome for Meet the Teacher, but I forgot to take an "after" picture before the kids came. Sooo…it will probably never be clean again. :)

Grad School

Yep…you heard correctly. I'm starting my master of education this year. Each class meets for 4 hours one night a week for 8 weeks. I'm already trying to figure out how to adjust to having homework. The keyword for this semester is "discipline." I'll let you know how that works out for me.

My TV

I've had my hand-me-down TV for the last 5 years. It's so old that I couldn't even connect a DVD player to it. There were more important things on my list of things to buy (couch, car, etc.) so I'm just now getting around to updating my TV. Lots of research, reviews, and pricing later, I found a good deal on a TV that I'm happy with. It's sooooo big compared to my last one. Almost like being in a movie theater. Who wants to come over for a movie night??

Pets

Chris was looking to down-size her class pet collection, so I eagerly offered to adopt these two fire-bellied toads. Today was their first day in our class and I learned that 6 year old boys are highly distracted by amphibians in the classroom. Let's hope that wears off soon. We're voting for names later this week. I'll let you know how that works out.

I've about reached my limit of new stuff to adjust to, which means I can expect something else to show up any day now. Here's to a school year of fun (and potentially overwhelming) adventures!

Summer: A Summary

I'm feeling overwhelmed, which has led to blogging procrastination. There's just too much to tell about my summer! So I'll sum it up:

School's out! Colorado. Buddy & Jessica's wedding. Lots of driving. 5^th grade summer school. TAKs test. Pool. Friends. Register for grad school. Free time? Packing at Cyndy's. Oreo balls. More swimming. Peru planning. Peru packing. PERU! New friends. Old friends. Cesar Vallejo boys. Churros. Hot chocolate. Translators. BFFs. Cusco. Pisac & llamas. Meet up with Mom & Dad. Machu Picchu. Hard to leave. Austin is hot. PD classes. Fly to Michigan. Overnight in MSP. Rachel & Chris' wedding. Shopping. Back to Texas. Summer's over. Start school!

Obviously there's much more I need to share about my Peru adventures. Until I make time to blog about that, you'll have to be satisfied with a few pictures.

Cesar Vallejo Casa

Kaci, Tracy, Andres, Alejo, Carlos, Tamara