High Five for Friday Part 2!

Happy Friday, friends! This week has gone by pretty quickly, and I’m excited for the weekend! There’s nothing I love more than having Louis home with me! Just wanted to stop in today to share 5 of my “highs” from the week!

1. This past weekend Louis and I went home for Easter to celebrate with our families. Last year, we stayed in San Antonio, so this year we wanted to head home. We got tons of quality family time and got to do tons of fun stuff, but the best part was just being together with everyone. Even though the weekend was packed with fun activities, one of my favorite times was late Sunday night. My dad popped homemade popcorn and got Sonic drinks for us, and my mom, sister, and I sat in the living room by the fire laughing and catching up. With Amy having Henry (and soon Hudson!) and me being in San Antonio, times like this are rare these days. It was great just to all be together!

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2. Speaking of Easter, my parents had an Easter egg hunt for all the big kids, and Louis found the golden egg! Enclosed was a gift card to Chic-fil-a! Any night I don’t have to cook dinner is a win in my book, so I was psyched we got to use that for some delicious fri fri chicky chick this week.

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3. This was actually last week, but I got a haircut! Woo! My hair has always been long, but it was getting a bit out of control. I decided to take a few inches off the length and add some face framing layers. Shout out to Nancy at Visible Changes in La Cantera. She was awesome, and I love my fresh, new look! I’m sure most people can’t even tell I got it cut, but to me, it’s a big improvement! Also, I’m sure you’re psyched I labeled the pictures below because you couldn’t tell that the picture with the shorter hair was after…

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4. Another high this week was that my car passed inspection. You’re probably like, “Wow, Ali leads a super lame life if that was a highlight of her week.” Well, um, stop being so rude first of all. Secondly, I’m psyched because I was worried it wouldn’t pass! My Sunfire has been my buddy since my parents gifted it to me for my 16th birthday, so it’s been through a lot. Currently my windows, gas gauge, and speedometer don’t function…it is what it is. NOT funny story: last time I got my tires changed I asked the mechanics not to roll down my windows because they don’t roll back up. They chose to roll them down anyway, and I had to drive home with them down…in the rain. Because of that fun experience, I taped the note below over my power window buttons to ensure my windows would remain up. Thumbs up for Firestone though because they DIDN’T roll down my windows (not that I gave them much of a choice), and I only had to wait for 30 minutes for my inspection. Plus they had free wifi! Way to go Firestone. And way to go, Sunfire!!! We’re in it together for at least another year, baby!

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5. I’ve been lusting after this GIGANTIC teal mason jar at Walmart for about a month, and I finally broke down and bought it this week. I think it was like $9, so it wasn’t a major investment, but I’m in love! It holds 32 oz like my Nalgene, and I find myself drinking even more water than usual, so yay for that! Also, the color is so fun! Perfect for summer.

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Well, that’s my week in 5 quick moments! Hope you had an incredible week, and your weekend is off the charts! Apparently Fiesta is going on right now in San Antonio. It seems like it’s a big deal, but to me it just means to avoid the River Walk! Hah! Such a Debbie Downer. 😉

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Stories of a Sub.

0As I’ve mentioned before, I occasionally substitute teach in our district. So far, I’ve only chosen to sub in middle schools, and it has worked out great. Mostly because middle schoolers are at their peak awkwardness. And yes, my header is a little dramatic…my experience subbing for these little devils has not been reminiscent of a creepy murder scene. However, they can be challenging at times to say the least. Here’s a little chronicle of some of my more interesting experiences thus far.

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Best lunchbox ever. Everyone needs a PackIt.

First of all, every school I substitute in has morning announcements during 1st period. They start with the pledges, and EVERY TIME, I say the Texas pledge wrong. Want to know why? They CHANGED IT since I was in school! It is now, “Honor the Texas flag; I pledge allegiance to thee, Texas, one state under God, one and indivisible.” Apparently it changed in 2007 with the addition of “one state under God.” Who knew?  Well every middle school student I guess because I’m the only person that jacks it up every morning. Note: Learn the pledge.

I love when teachers leave me seating charts because I can call kids by name, and it totally freaks them out. Sometimes, albeit rarely, all it takes is a “Jimmy, stop talking!” and the rest of class I have a quiet, wide-eyed boy who’s mesmerized that I mysteriously know his name. A few weeks ago, I subbed for a teacher who added descriptives next to students on her seating chart…perhaps to help her remember who was who early in the year? It was very entertaining for me because the adjectives included: best, smart, sweet, tall, amazing, weird, fun, colorful, random, and another tall. I think weird, best, and tall were my favorites. Note: They were all very accurate.

I did love that teacher’s seating charts but not her grammar…she used the wrong ‘there’ on her instructions! Ugh. She wrote: “Turn in their papers when THEIR done.” Gross. If you’re teaching our future generation, you should at least be able to figure out there, their, and they’re! And your and you’re for that matter! Get it together teachers. (Also, now that I’ve complained about grammar on my blog, I’m sure I’ll make a huge error soon.) Note: Proofread posts multiple times.

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One morning, as I was reviewing my assignment for the day, I saw a small carton on the teacher’s desk. I tipped it towards me and saw it was full of small black and white spheres with red lights. I set it back down on the desk, and suddenly all of the red lights lit up and the spheres started beeping. Y’all, my immediate thought was that they were bombs, and the teacher hated her job and students, so she planted bombs and called in a sub to do her dirty work. I was seconds from sprinting out of the classroom when they stopped beeping and lit up different numbers. I then realized they were dice. Crisis averted. Does anyone else jump to the worst possible scenario possible first? Note: Stop overreacting.

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My face half time time I’m subbing trying to figure out these kids…

Whenever I take attendance each period, I always try my best to pronounce each student’s name correctly. Growing up, subs always pronounced Ali like Muhammad Ali. I understand that they’re spelled the same, but to this day I get mail addressed to Mr. Ali…awkward. Anyway, while taking attendance one day, I reached the last name on the sheet, and it was: Abcde. I said, “Is someone’s name in here actually A-B-C-D-E or is this a typo?” A girl replied, “Oh, that’s me! It’s Ab-suh-dee.” Obviously. Note: Sound it out? (But not, because then I would have said Ab-kuh-duh.)

In that same class, a 7TH GRADE boy came up to me and asked what we were doing for the day. That wasn’t so out of the ordinary. What was awkward was the fact that he looked me in the eyes and asked me while picking his nose. We’re talking finger halfway up the nostril, digging for gold, totally unashamed. I somewhat awkwardly responded that it was a free day, and he strolled over, dislodged his finger, and started typing on the class computer. Note: Always bring hand sanitizer when subbing.

Until next time…

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Do You Want to Buy a Kindle?

Here it is, my review of our Kindle Paperwhite! To make things a little more interesting, I wrote my review to go along with the song “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?” from Disney’s Frozen. Go ahead and press play and feel free to hum along. If you’re extra adventurous, google the karaoke version and try with my lyrics… 😉

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Readers?

Do you want to buy a Kindle?

Here’s why I think you should.

It’ll hold a thousand books for you,

Yes that is true.

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If you want it to it could!

Hardbacks used to be my favorites,

And now they’re not.

I’m going to tell you why!

Do you want to buy a Kindle?

I really think you’d like a Kindle.

Keep talking, Night Al.

Ok, BUY!

Do you want to buy a Kindle?

The Paperwhite lights up at night!

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You can also adjust the text size

Bigger for fuzzy eyes.

Whichever size is right!

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Hang in there, y’all.

Get all the books that you want

For half or less

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And Prime has some books for free!

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(Instrumental 😉 …could be a good time to mention that the Kindle Paperwhite is as thin as a pen!)

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Readers?

Please, I hope you’re still there.

I have a few more things to say.

Goodreads is loaded when it comes to you

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Battery is loaded too, at least halfway.

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Keep track of chapter progress,

Minutes left or percent

Remaining in the book…

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Do you want to buy a Kindle?

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*Our Kindle pictured and what the “stats” are based on is the Kindle Paperwhite. Our Kindle also has the Leather Cover in Onyx Black (Louis’s pick…I would have picked the Honey color 🙂 ).

**There are many other benefits that the song wasn’t long enough for…No glare in sunlight, turn pages with the tap of a finger, look up characters or definitions with a simple swipe…and more! Check out Amazon for more details!

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The 5 People You Encounter While Grocery Shopping

Y’all, I went to the grocery store today to get our stuff for the week, and it was chaos. As always. With the experience fresh on my mind, I wanted to share with you some of the people you are likely to encounter on your next trip to your local grocer.

Hogs

When I walk into HEB, I head to the produce section first. This is typically where I encounter the first Hogs. A Hog is the person who places their cart longwise in front of half of the apple section and does a quarterback stance in front of the other half of the apple section thereby blocking them from ALL OTHERS. Hogs then proceed to inspect every apple in the section while straddling the length of the bushels. Hogs may be present in all sections of the store. It is best to be patient and let Hogs finish their business. However, as soon as they are done, move in quickly lest you encounter a Hawk.

Hawks

After waiting for what seems like years for the Hog to move, you can begin leisurely browsing the produce. Then, BAM, a Hawk swoops in! A Hawk is that person who unnecessarily stands millimeters from you and reaches over you to grab the last perfect avocado. They don’t care that you’ve been waiting patiently. A Hawk will peck your eyes out to reach their goal and don’t have any concept of waiting their turn. Beware. Keep your guard up after Hawk run-ins because a Haywire may be just around the corner.

Haywires

The produce section is disappearing behind you as you head towards the deli when suddenly a cart is barreling towards you! You quickly swerve and sidestep them, but they breeze by like they never even saw you. You’ve just had a brush with a Haywire. These are the people who have 76 other things they would rather be doing or need to be doing besides grocery shopping, so your toes are definitely less important than their time. They can be avoided by looking both ways before exiting an aisle and staying to the side when possible. Make sure to continually check behind you unless you want your Achilles Tendon rammed with a cart. Those most endangered by Haywires though, are the numerous Heathens.

Heathens

As you near the Soda and Cookie aisles beware of an upsurge of Heathens. There may just be one, but they typically travel in packs of two or more. Heathens are the unruly, unsupervised children of an exhausted parent who has a million other things to worry about besides keeping their kids in check at the grocery store. Heathens can be seen running up and down rows, tearing open bags of chips to eat while running, and throwing around those plastic bouncy balls that every store seems to carry. Beware, they may turn you into a Haywire, since they often run in front of carts while chasing after said balls. The only person that may dislike Heathens more than you is a Hater.

Haters

You walk over to the dairy section and finally find an employee to ask where the Smuckers Uncrustables are located. Oh no, you accidentally encountered a Hater! They turn around, glare at you, pull down their hood, yank the earbuds out of their ears, and greet you with a, “What?” Haters are the 18-year old stock workers that hate their job, which to them means they hate their life. For Haters, every task needs to be met with an exasperated sigh and an eye roll. Avoid them if possible.

You know what I want to say to all these characters? BE A HUMAN. We’re all in this together. We all need groceries. Don’t hoard sections of the aisle, wait your turn, slow down, be respectful, and be kind.

Good luck next time you’re out of milk. You’re on your own, and you can’t say I didn’t warn you!Black all caps siggy

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