Not-Even-Close-To-Currently

First (and most importantly), HAPPY Thanksgiving One Day Late! 

I hope your day was happy... and filled with friends and family and lots of JOY! I love this pumpkin-pie-eating buddy from Pink Cat Studio. Click on the turkey to take you to the collection on TpT... It's actually a fraction set. Neat-O!

Next, if I hurry, I can hit "Publish" while it is still NOVEMBER! And then I can link up with sweet Farley for the DECEMBER Currently tomorrow! (Or, knowing me, some day in December...)

As I type, the washing machine is humming away--filled with clothes from a spur-of-the moment adventure. With little advance planning, we decided to do some traveling and spend Thanksgiving with our "extended family" in San Francisco. We got up at four in the morning on Thursday and drove eight hours northward (Is that a word?!). A few hours later, we sat down to enjoy dinner with twenty friends and family!

The next morning, I was in Starbucks by 5:00, happily sorting and grading papers and sipping my current fav: a mocha macchiato (keep the vanilla, hold the foam!). I got so much accomplished, and it was just... BLISSFUL!

By noon we were in downtown San Francisco... half of the group went ice skating while the other half went shopping (Shouldn't take you more than three seconds to know which group I was in... Hint: Shopping doesn't require skates!) Then there was eating and sight-seeing and general merriment... followed by left-overs and more visitors.

This morning, we were out the door by 5:00, and eight hours later, we were home again. A whirlwind event--but a fun one--especially since I didn't have to do any of the driving. I spent my time napping, singing (off-key), grading a few papers and trying to use my iPad without feeling carsick. I couldn't read or type very well, but I did polish off a few rounds of Sudoku. (I know, I know, such an old-school choice, but I once read that games might help keep my old brain semi-functional--and Sudoku and Tetris are the only ones I can play for more than five minutes without giving up!)

Since vacation started, I have been planning some fraction lessons for my sixth graders. We went backwards to go forwards... and are looking at fractions in many contexts. Teaching fractions conceptually is so hard when students THINK they already know what they are doing. They have bits and pieces of "steps," but no concrete understanding of how or why. I'm actually having fun inventing lessons "from the beginning." I'm anxious to see if we make any progress... And I have my fingers crossed that we do!

I have my day planned out for tomorrow to finish up some loose ends for Monday. I hate loathe arriving at school with  parts of the day incomplete. Those are the days when the copy machine is broken or you can only find eight dice when you need nine. I want this week to run smoothly. I've got a formal observation coming up on Thursday, so I want the kids to believe that our days always run like clockwork. Do you think they can forget some of the chaos from the last three months? My To Do list is well into the second page, so I will have to be efficient. I'm sensing at least one visit to Starbucks will be necessary to see me through!

This month's (soon to be LAST month's!) Currently asked for something delicious... How can you look at this picture without drooling? It is doubtful that I will ever make this cheesecake. But I would be more than happy to buy it--and tomorrow would be soon enough! Click on the picture if you want to do some chocolatey baking! And let me know if you feel like sharing...

Of course I am leaving a link to Farley's... but it will only get you back to November's link-up. It's been all crickets there for a while. But, by tomorrow, the race will be on! Will YOU be in the top 100? For the record, I am #301 for November, so it's likely you will be posting your link before I do. That's okay... There are THIRTY ONE days in December. We've got lots of time!

Happy November (for one hour and fifty one more minutes) and JOYful wishes for December too!

 

P.S. In case you missed the link, check out all of the cute clip art and other good things available from Pink Cat Studio...