Not Your Regular Bake Sale

Well, I've survived my second week of third grade. My one bump in the road is that I have the honorary cold one catches from the sneeze in your face & don't apologize about it kid. I can't remember the last time I had a cold. How bothersome! I'm on day 3 of my cold now, so hopefully it will start getting better. We have school picture day next Tuesday. I'd hate to have a bright red nose for our class picture. My class and I are in our comfortable stage now. They know exactly what I expect of them. Their behavior has improved drastically. They really are the best behaved when we line-up. Several teachers have poked their heads in my room to say they've never seen such a quiet group. I'm pretty proud of these guys. I've been implementing a lot of social skills training. I can't ignore an opportunity to use my speech therapy skills. Anyhow, they are adorable and I feel very fortunate to have this job, although the pay is horrible.

On Thursday the school held its first bake sale to raise money for the new library. Students were asked to bring store bought sweets instead of homemade. The anticipation of the bake sale was pure excitement all week. They must have asked me 1,000 times if we were still having the bake sale on Thursday. They also let me know what they were planning to bring. Cakes, cookies, cupcakes. All the stuff you'd expect to find. Of course I promised to buy from several of the kids. Well, the day finally arrived. I went out at break with my class to make my purchases. It was complete chaos. No lines of any sort. Kids pushing each other & fighting their way to the front. The 2 secretaries and the PE coach were in charge of selling. They were running around totally out of control. Everyone was yelling at everyone else. Parents showed up for the event. It really was like nothing I've ever seen. Finally, I made it to the tables. What I saw was hilarious. There were a few sweets, but what was for sale were mainly bags of chips, juice boxes, M & M's, Pop Tarts and bread. How disappointing! I didn't even bother buying anything. I was really looking forward to something sweet with my coffee. I needed it!!!!! Anyhow, as I was going back to my room, I saw one of my kids sitting on the bench alone all bummed out. I asked what the problem was. He told me he didn't bring any money for the bake sale. I gave him some money & he took off running. I had to chase him down to remind him to say, "Thanks!" Anyhow, when the kids came back in he gave me a fruit & nut bar he had bought for me with the money I gave him. I thought that was very sweet. They're good kids.

Something hilarious happened with one of my students. Her name is, Nouran. She is Lebanese & Egyptian. She is absolutely brilliant. She corrects me quite often and can define words much better than I can. Anyhow, the kids came in from recess one day and they were all sweaty. I had the ceiling fans on because it was pretty warm. Nouran says to me, "Ms. Monique, can you turn off the fans because my dad said if wind blows on me while I am sweaty I will catch a cold." My parents told us that stuff all the time growing-up. Until today I can't sit comfortably if air is blowing on my back without the fear of getting a cold in my kidneys....as my family would warn. The fear tactics are continuing today, even here in Bahrain. I couldn't help but laugh. I reassured her that she would be fine & kept the fans on!

Scott and I went for a nice (1st) bike ride. The weather is absolutely perfect right now. We're taking advantage of it because it's supposed to start heating up again starting in March. The summers here are reportedly miserable. I don't know what we're going to do. Our ride was a quick one, about 20-minutes. I have to say it was the bumpiest bike ride I have ever been on. We were riding on unpaved roads 90% of the time. We had to try and avoid small potholes the entire time. It definitely was not what I was used to. I was spoiled riding on a paved bike path starting in Venice heading into Santa Monica, through the Palisades and toward Malibu. Beautiful views all the way through! Oh do I miss Los Angeles! Scott left for Qatar on Wednesday and came back today (Saturday). Luckily I worked Thursday so the day went by quickly. I'm so pooped by the end of the day that I just come home and collapse for as long as Benny lets me. Poor Benny was so stressed out about being home alone all day Thursday (Scott usually comes home every day for lunch.) that he got a case of the runs. Sorry to gross you out, but I had to clean it all up. He is such an emotional dog. All his stress goes to his stomach. Wonder who he takes after????? I spent yesterday cooking all day. I decided to make several meals and freeze them for the week. I have no energy or desire to cook when I get home. So, we've got chili, corn bread, chicken enchiladas and mac n' cheese waiting to be eaten. I figure I'll grill either fish or steak with the mac n' cheese. Now you know my menu for the week.

Oh! I have learned so much about the health benefits of turmeric while living here. I add it to pretty much everything I cook. I even sprinkle it on my eggs. It's an amazing spice. Look into it. Indian & Pakistani people have been using it for centuries. I highly recommend it!

We're glad that Scott is home now, but know he'll leave us again at some point. We're heading into month 4......only 20 more to go!