Boogers, Bills, and Boyfriend

I know, I know. It's been awhile. 

I've been quite busy. 

Anyone who is a first year first grade teacher can tell you that I don't even have time to pee, let alone sit down and write a whole blog post.
This Christmas break has given me some newfound free time. I've pretty much forgotten how to watch a television program or movie without falling asleep or talking the whole time...so with this free time, I opted to work on a very past due blog post.

Let's see...last I wrote was around July, when I briefly talked about some summer travels, and coming back to America. I'll speed through what has happened since then:

- I hung out in Pittsburgh for a few weeks:

-Went to Ocean City with some family:

*Attention: If ever you have the urge to go to Ocean City, Maryland, do not go with a vertical ID. Here's the story: When I was carded as I was purchasing a bottle of wine at a certain establishment, my vertical Pennsylvania license was denied and accused of being a fake. In all the time I spent in Russia, not once (maybe just once though) was I ever carded, let alone denied a bottle of wine.
Don't worry, I did e-mail the mayor after this terrible injustice. And I did receive an apologetic phone call the following morning.
Moral of the story: Do not go to Ocean City.

-Straight after Ocean City in early August, I packed up and moved to North Carolina.

I've been on "GO" mode ever since. I literally laugh at myself when I think that I chose to live in my apartment complex because it has a fitness center and a pool. HA...like I have time to even acknowledge their existence.

In a nutshell, I've been busy with:


1. Boogers.

I've got 20 six and seven year old munchkins in my first grade classroom.  There are surprises everyday (as in unexpected situations and tattles, not presents.)

When I first arrived to my classroom in August, it looked like this:

I busted my rear end for a whole week, until it looked like this for open house:

Being that it is now December, you better believe the arrangement of my classroom has changed about ten times. No matter how well I thought I was prepared...once I met my students, everything changed. 

"So and so can't be near so and so", "Let me seat them with others on their reading levels", "Reading levels change weekly", "Math levels?", "Those change too", "AH!". 

Planning for, keeping track of, and conducting every move 20 children make five days a week can be a little exhausting. 

(And at times frustrating: 

Miss Wagner: So we know that 8 + 2 = 10. So 2 + what = 10? 

Student: uhhhhh....16?)

Absolutely not.

BUT. It is the moments like when that student can finally tell me that the answer is "8", and can tell/show me why it is eight, or when a student moves up a reading level, or when they remember their silent "e", or when they remember to not capitalize letters in the middle of a word, or remember to sneeze into their sleeve instead of the whole wide everywhere....it's those moments, that make me love my job!

All of this work I lug home everyday when I leave work at 5, is totally worth it when a student has the urge in the middle of a math lesson to raise their hand and tell me "Miss Wagner your hair is beautiful like a garden".
They are all about "filling up my ego bucket".

I always receive lovely notes like this:

And of course, how can my ego not be boosted when I am presented with an oh-so-beautiful student drawn portrait of myself:

Another thing I just can't get over about my 6 and 7 year olds, is their creativity and originality.
During the holiday season we had a "snowman elf" in the room who watched us, took notes, and reported back to Santa information that he needed when making the nice/naughty lists.
Here are the names my students suggested for our snowman:

Also, their memories are impeccable.
No matter how many times I tell them otherwise, they all still think I am married and have my own kids.

Student: Miss Wagner, did you read this story to your kids?
Miss Wagner: No, I do not have children of my own.

*A WEEK LATER*
Student: Miss Wagner, are you gonna give the leftover popcorn to your kids?
Miss Wagner: No, I do not have children of my own.

*ANOTHER WEEK LATER*
Student: Miss Wagner, do your kids like playing this game too?
Miss Wagner: No, I do not have children of my own.


Their whole perspective of the world around them is so spot on. Especially when they ask me questions like:
"Miss Wagner, do you have a job?"
"Are you in the high school?"
"Are you 35? Because my mom is 35."
"You live in Russia right now?"
"I'm real sick, can I hold your hand?"
"I'm real sick. Can you call my mom?"
"I'm allergic to peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I should just eat my ice cream for lunch, right?"
....didn't seem to be allergic yesterday...I'm no detective, BUT......

And if you ever need life advice, talk to a 6 year old:
Miss Wagner: So I told the delivery guy NOT to leave my sofa on the front porch. He did it anyway, and I had to haul that sofa into my house all by myself!
Student: Why didn't you wait for your husband to come home and do it?
Miss Wagner: Well, because I do not have a husband.
Student: Well why don't you get married first, and THEN get  a sofa?

...duh, why didn't I think of that?

According to a 6 year old, if you aren't married, you're sitting on the floor.

We went to the Life and Science Museum on a field trip...the kids were just as floored to ride the escalator as they were to see this whale skeleton.
...God bless any soul who decided to take a relaxing stroll through the museum on that day....

We wrote what we would do if we were snowmen. It was such a coincidence because nearly everyone wrote about how they would build a roller coaster out of snow to ride all day.
Not one person admitted that they go that idea from my example either...
But with each one read to me I listened with SURPRISE.


2. Bills.
Two things told me that I'm a "grown up".

One was when a high school student rear-ended my car, I asked him for his parents phone number for insurance, and on the phone his father said "I'm sorry about this ma'am...you know young people these days...."

Another are those things received in the mail. At first its so cool to open your mail box and see that "WOW, I have MAIL! This is so COOL!"
But that wow factor wore off quick when I realized that mail was not a load of friendly snail-mailed letters....they were BILLS....and almost even worse...ADVERTISEMENTS.
(How do all the pizza joints in the greater Raleigh area even know my address?)

Living all by myself, I quickly learned:
Anything that needs paid, I am the one to pay it.
Anything that needs fixed, I am the one to call maintenance.
Anything that needs cleaned, I am the one to clean it.
Anything that needs cooked, I am the one to cook it.
Anything that goes right OR (and more often than not) wrong, I am the reason.

If there is a wild animal blocking my entrance, I am the one who has to fight it.
The list really goes on.

During the first couple months or so of being on my own, I also learned:
1. Do not put over sized comforters in the washing machine.
2. Do not put cast-iron pans in the dishwasher.
3. Do not spill nail polish remover on wooden tables.
4. The dishwasher needs to be turned on from a light switch in order to use it.
5. Being of a slightly warmer/humid climate than PA..North Carolina has more bugs like cockroaches.
6. When I find those roaches, I am the one who has to get rid of them.
7. Bug killing spray is a household necessity.
8. Dead light bulbs do not magically become alive again, I need to switch them.
9. Throw pumpkins away before they rot.

10. Do not buy sofas online from Target.

...kicked this one out really quick! 

11. Big Lots is the place to buy nice/cheap furniture. I nearly furnished my whole apartment with Big Lots. 

(They saved me with a bigger and better and cheaper sofa)

12. Kohls has a lot of deals when you open a charge card with them.
13. If the power is out in Walmart, you aren't buying groceries that day.
14. As far as I have witnessed, North Carolinians fear heavy wind, rain, gray skies, and temperature below 45 fahrenheit.
15. The dial on the stove indicating the burner on the top left part of the stove, does not operate the burner on the bottom right. Double check to make sure food is on the correct burner.
16. Slight rain in the morning indicates that there will be a minor fender bender blocking the road to work in the morning...sending me on an alternate route all over God's green earth middle of North Carolina country/farmland.

17. Raleigh is nice little city, that literally just pops out of nowhere as you are driving with all sorts of trees on either side of you.

(North Carolina State Capitol building)

18. Hog racing is a thing at the North Carolina State Fair. The State Fair, is where I found this sign:

19. The city where I live, Cary (right outside of Raleigh), is an acronym for "Central Area for Relocated Yankees". 

I wish I could think of 1 more, making this an even "20 things I have learned". 19 is such a weird number. 

3. Boyfriend.

In late October, my boyfriend (Greg) and I found a weekend to take a trip to Asheville, NC. 

Asheville is a mountain-y city located about 4 hours west of Raleigh. 

Around the Vanderbilt's hay-day, it was meant be a sort of "mini NYC"...leaving it with streets such as "Broadway", and "Wall Street". 

Speaking of the Vanderbilts, Asheville is home to the Vanderbilt family's "house for entertaining", and largest house in American: The Biltmore. 

We spent a day touring the mansion built in the 1800s. 

George Washington Vanderbilt had this mansion built to live in, and entertain guests during the summer months or holidays. He was inspired by European architecture and design, so he traveled throughout to gather ideas. 

The movie "Richie Rich" was filmed here! 

All in all it was an eventful and relaxing trip. We were only in Asheville for a couple of days, but did as much as we could...including a "haunted Asheville" tour, where we learned a lot of it's history! 

That is all pretty much what has been going on since I last posted! Needless to say, I have not had very many boring moments in the past four months.

-Gina