Football and random weekly stuff

This morning started off early with my long run in PERFECT weather. I wish we could have at least 4 months of this kind of weather instead of maybe 6 weeks. I wasn’t dying from humidity, I had plenty of water, and nobody hit me with their car (happened last weekend…hand is still giving me problems). It was a great day before 8:30. Then Mom called and said she and Grandma were out checking garage sales and found a quart mason jar with a handle for me. 🙂 I love small surprises like that. Then I found some good recipes on the healthy side for tailgating AND I visited the third and final cupcake bakery in Tuscaloosa. Not only did I visit it..but I purchased. A few. Four. Other than missing my turn onto 15th St. because I didn’t recognize the landscape that is now bald from storm cleanup, my day is shining rainbows so far. People were out, there’s a buzz in the air on home game days, and people were happy to be here and happy to be alive to tell about it.

Yesterday was a very intense day at school. I was actually not teaching, but in a room with 8 other people working on our school-improvement plan for this year. This is the report that determines if we make “Adequate Yearly Progress” or AYP each year. We have met our goals each year so far and we hope to continue. But in order to do that, we have to chase down the data through files or online databases, compile it, compare scores, find weaknesses, determine what we can accomplish with the kids we have, and then get the other stuff that goes into AYP—attendance, tardies, staff info, etc. Each year, the team spends 1 teaching day working on it and in the last couple of hours, we enter the data/goals/timelines into the program from the State department. This year….major fail.  When we got ready to start typing, the state database was down. Or worse, would shut down once we could get it to work. It was mass chaos and dozens of phone calls to the state. We finally got in the system and 3 of us typed ourselves silly. With a major headache, but good feeling of getting something done, I came home and popped some Excedrin. Days like this remind me like a glaring neon bug zapper how much I love my actual of job of teaching kids….not so much on the other junk that goes along with it. And we all agree there isn’t enough money, chocolate, or bath salts in this world that would send us for our ed.admin degree to be a principal. No way.

Look at what I made one night when I was feeling awake and adventurous. Chipotle salmon with dill sauce.

This was easy. Sprinkle whatever seasonings you want on the salmon. Bake 450* for 10 minutes. Prepare this sauce.

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Dijon-style prepared mustard
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh dill (or 2 teaspoons of dried dill weed OR ranch seasoning)

Long week is over and all I have to do is laundry, grocery shopping, menu planning, school work, and lots of football. Not a bad way to enjoy a fall weekend.