I Confess...A Catholic girl's guide to life: Let the Children Come to Me

Today was a big day in my classroom. We had the opportunity to make gingerbread houses. I have waiting three patient years to get the courage up to make these gingerbread houses. I was anxious and nervous out of my mind and got tired just thinking about this project. I was pleasantly surprised that the kids did a great job handling the responsibility and did not even make a HUGE mess. Of course, it was messy, but that's part of the fun. The kids had to earn the activity with appropriate behavior Mon-Thurs. and even Friday morning, so they took the house decorating very, very seriously. I was so impressed!

Why does it always happen that the week before break goes so slow, until the last couple of days of the week? Monday and Tuesday dragged on. Every morning, I would wake up thinking, okay, 4 more days, 3 more days, etc. Then, after Wednesday the week flew! I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I can't believe how fast today went. It was like I looked at the clock and 'blink' it was the end of the day. I have no idea how that happens.

I'm so anxious to get home tomorrow, but I still have plenty to do tomorrow morning and afternoon. Tomorrow is the big day for the flash mob. I'm real excited. Mostly, it's just really fun that all of my friends here are doing it. We are having a ton of laughs. Laughing is good.

After work today, I could think of only one thing. Nap. So, I headed straight home. Well, I took a slight detour by the duck shop to look for a couple last minute gifts but when I couldn't find a parking spot I decided it was a sign that I should just head home and hit the couch. Indeed. I flew home and quickly cuddled up in my leopard print snuggie. You heard me. Leopard print. And, headed off to the shut-eye theatre. Then, I get a text. I thought, I cannot check that, but I saw that it was from Chrissy who was going to pick me up for the Flash mob dress rehearsal tonight. She informed me that she cannot find her house key and cannot practice in the clothes she is in and has to wait until her boyfriend gets home from work. I said that was totally fine...hey, longer nap for me, and invited her to come hang out here so she wouldn't have to be out in the 35 degree weather. She came by and hung out while I rested on the couch. Suddenly, I hear her laugh, and she says, "Wait, what?!" I wasn't quite sure what/who she was talking to so I said, "What?" She informs me that she just got a text from her boyfriend who said he was home now but had just locked HIS keys in his truck. Unbelievable! He tells her to swing by his parents house to get the spare key. Don't mention that he lives about two minutes walking distance form his parents house but WE have to stop by there. He didn't tell us that he would be busy breaking into his own house, and not tell us that he made it into the house. We got to the house to find him inside, and Chrissy disgruntled because the stop at his parents house cost us some time and now we were going to be really late for rehearsal! She runs into change and we are off to flash mob practice. When we get there we decide we should pick up our shirts for tomorrow's event first. So, we enter the registration room and neglect to see all of the signs that say "Registration is by FIRST NAME" I confidently walk up to the lady and inform her my name is, "Tacchini." She repeats it and then adds, "Oh, that's cuuuuute." In the way that people do, that mean they don't really think it's cute. They think it's weird, and who would name their child, 'Tacchini.'? Well, my parents didn't name me that either! I apparently just don't know how to read all of your massive signs...so, naturally, they could not find my name on the list and we are all thinking this is very odd. Why does it show that I am not registered? Finally, one of my friends points out that registration is by first name, which incidentally didn't help her out any because they never did prove that she was registered. (She got a shirt anyway.) As the light bulb appeared, I had to swallow my pride and inform the man I had made the mistake and that my name actually was Judy and, not, Tacchini. He found it right away and I got my shirt....just in time for rehearsal to be over. Awesome. I'm dressed up like Nanuk of the North for a good solid 10 minutes out in the cold. I am already so over this night, so I ask Chrissy to take me through the McDonald's drive-thru on our way home. McDonald's = default comfort food. Gross, I know. Anyway, we're sitting in the drive thru concocting our plans for tomorrow afternoon, when suddenly everything goes pitch black. Really? A power outage? Right now? Her gas tank is on empty and we were next to order. Moments later the lights flicker back on. The girl comes through the speaker system and is cracking up laughing while simultaneously asking about our order. Then, she says, "Oh, oh wait, our system is down. I can't take any orders." In panic mode, she calls her manager over who confirms, "No, no more orders." Unsure of what to do, Chrissy and I sit there for a few more minutes, thinking, so do we wait until we can order or what do they want us to do? They reiterate, no. more. orders. So, we're thinking do they want us to back out of the drive way because it appeared they really wanted us out of their like 10 minutes ago. Just then, a car pulls in behind us. Well, so much for backing out. Now, we are literally stuck in the drive thru. The entire time I'm thinking. This is a sign. I'm going to eat McDonald's and have a heart attack tonight...because I'm dramatic like that. So, we pull up to the first window, whereupon we are met by a male attendant. He asks about our order and Chrissy tells him we didn't have the chance to order. He basically laughs and tells us okay. So, we're giggling and asking, so can we order now? And, he doesn't respond, so apparently that's not an option. We continue waiting until the people in front of us get their food and are on their merry little way, when it occurs to us, the people that pulled in behind us are in fact ordering! What the hell!? Eventually, we pull up to the second window where the girl attendant is ready to hand us a bag of food. We inform her we did not get to order and she just laughs and apologizes briefly. I'm thinking these people are all acting very strange and they do not seem to care what so ever that I have gotten no eats! Chrissy then poses the question, "Do we drive thru again?" I'm thinking. No way. We would be unreal. But, that's what I want. So, yes. Yes, of course, we drive through again! Here we go. We get to the speaker where the male attendant at the first window can clearly see the car, and asks for our order, and we think it's weird that he's not acknowledging the fact that we already went through the drive through, so we place our order and pull up to his window. We are laughing hysterically, and Chrissy laughs and says "Hello, again!" He basically is unresponsive takes our money and acts as though he has never encountered us before. It was very, very strange. The female at the second window also acted as though we were completely unfamiliar. I was left feeling very, very confused. Finally, Chrissy deposited me at my house and I made it home, never to leave for the rest of the night.

Currently, I am procrastinating packing. I did do laundry though. Yay, me!

Today's list: Things that went well today...
1. Getting up earlier than usual
2. Having breakfast with coworkers
3. Gingerbread houses
4. Making it through the day with a relatively positive attitude
5. Kids finishing their writing assessment practices
6. Blogging
7. Returning emails
8. Watching The Ed Show (second half)
9. Not raining
10. Having lots o' Duck pride ( I don't really know where the video Call me a Duck went but it should be here somewhere.)