11.25.19 About a year and a half ago a big weed sprung up in my front yard overnight. I pulled it. The next day it was back and twice as big. I’m not sure how that happened, but I swear it did. I pulled it again and that stubborn thing just kept coming back. I pulled it, I sprayed it, and I certainly cursed it – but that weed just wouldn’t go away. Then, when I left town for a few days I left my weed unattended. I came back and it was no longer a weed – it was a tree. Turns o

11.24.19 Sundays were pretty darn predictable growing up in the Wiebel household. Sunday mornings were for church. After church we'd have lunch together as a family. And then, right after lunch my dad would declare, "I'm going to go take a proper Sunday afternoon nap." Sometimes he'd add, "I think I'll try it out just this once -- see how it goes,” and we’d all smile or chuckle at the predictability of it all. Now, it's important to know that my dad is the hardest working per

11.23.19 My appreciation for music certainly isn’t contained to just this one day. It’s a super important part of my life. But tonight I had the honor to attend a concert by Phoenix Singing, a group of local vocalists with some incredible talent. My friends Jaime and Annalicia are both in the group. The entire concert was acapella and featured many locally composed and/or arranged songs. It was an amazing night of music. There was a very eclectic collection of songs presented

11.22.19 I’m not a big one for retail therapy. I’m way too cheap. I can get a little crazy with school supplies during back to school time and I’ve been known to do some damage on Black Friday, but generally I’m not a huge shopper. However … today was a crazy day. And it was a long week. And I’m still sick. And a little comfort shopping never hurt anyone, right? All signs pointed toward Target today. I’d actually been carrying around a Target bag in my car for over a week wit

11.21.19 He invented the neti pot. I spent many years thinking neti pots were really gross. Actually, if I'm honest, I pretty much still do. But I have come to appreciate my beloved neti pot during the germ-infested cold season, which hit my classroom and my home hard this week. I'm also thankful for the inventors of Mucinex, of cough drops, of humidifiers, of Clorox wipes, and of Netflix. Oh, and whoever it was that first thought to add lotion into tissues.-- I'm thankful fo

11.20.19 The majority of my day was full of bad luck and mishaps. I had morning parking lot duty in the pouring rain. I somehow tore a huge hole in my left sock that drove me bananas all day long. My science demonstration was a bust, and no matter how hard I tried I could not get my zoomer to zoom. The kids kept chanting “Go Ms. Wiebel go” and I kept disappointing them with every attempt. It was an epic fail. The on-again-off-again rain we had all day was “off-again” while we

11.19.19 I love ice. Probably more than a person should. I firmly believe that cold beverages should be served cold – and I mean really cold. I like drinking water, but I LOVE drinking ice water. When getting an iced tea from QT, I’ve mastered the perfect proportion of crushed ice to cubed ice in my cup. (2 parts crushed to 1 part cubed). Sonic ice is also a favorite of mine. It's unique in shape and texture. I like ice in water, in tea, in apple juice, in lemonade, in Coke Z

11.18.19 I had every intention of arriving at school by 6:15 this morning. I had a lot to do – grading, planning, photo-copying, cutting, organizing, and prepping. I had a bulletin board I wanted to get up and several emails that I needed to send. When my to-do list gets especially long, I find it’s best to hit the ground running early in the morning. There are very few distractions at school that early. The photocopier is almost always free. And typically, my zone of peak pr

11.17.19 This was a a super busy weekend. I was on the go much of yesterday and today, and although I had fun, I didn't get a lot accomplished. I have no regrets, but Sunday nights after busy weekends often leave me feeling a bit anxious and sad. Not this weekend, though. Cousin Meghan and her husband Whitney are in town, so we had Sunday night family dinner at my Aunt Diane 's house. I feel very, very blessed to have such a great family and I cherish time spent together. I

11.16.19 When I was a kid, I loved the TV show Punky Brewster. It was on Sunday nights. I didn't watch a lot of TV when I was little and my parents were fairly strict about what my sister and I could and couldn't watch. But Punky was on the approved list and I loved it! She was funny and kind of sassy and oh, so fashionable. I remember waiting and waiting for Punky Brewster to come on each Sunday night. It was often delayed due to football games. I'd go down to the basement a

11.14.19 First grader: I saw you crying, Ms. Wiebel. Guilty as charged. I totally cried today. In front of my students and a room full of senior citizens. We went on a field trip today to a retirement living community. Our first graders have been learning all about our country, and in honor of Veterans Day we prepared a number of patriotic songs to perform at a nearby retirement center. The kids have been working really hard to memorize all the words and perfect their songs.

11/12/19 Phonics is my favorite subject to teach. There's something super satisfying about giving kids the tools they need to become readers. There are lots of light bulb moments in phonics instruction, and watching/listening to kids apply their learning in actual stories and books is pretty incredible. The analytical side of me also really likes phonics. Even though English is pretty crazy and filled with lots of exceptions (or rule-breakers as we call them in class), I love

11/11/19 It's easy to go about my business and take my freedoms and rights for granted. Today, for example, I did normal things. I slept in. I grocery shopped. I talked on the phone. I did laundry. I watched tv. I food prepped for the week. I lesson planned. I did some online shopping. I cleaned my kitchen. I walked my dog. It wasn't lost on me today, though, that these simple things aren't a given for all people and the freedoms that I enjoy are far from free. Today I'm than

11/10/19 Allow me to explain. About 4:45 this afternoon I was sitting on my couch avoiding my pile of laundry and my sink full of dishes, when my phone rang. It was my dear friend Alex inviting me to grab a bite to eat with her and her son Carlo. Of course, my answer was a resounding yes, and we quickly made a plan to meet. As they walked into the restaurant, Alex was chatting with Carlo about the little dinosaur toys that he'd brought along to play with. The hostess overhe

11/9/19 I've actually spent every day of the past 8 and 1/2 years being thankful for Barkley. He's the perfect dog. I know I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure it would take approximately 4.2 seconds for him to win over even the most difficult of critics. I didn't really grow up with pets. We had a number of fish throughout my childhood and my sister had a few hamsters here and there, but I never became super attached. We did have a couple of cats for a brief time, but we discover

11/8/19 Tonight was Western Round-up at my school. It's a big family event with food trucks and games and bounce houses and prizes and dancing and all kinds of fun. My students and I played classroom BINGO all week -- they covered a square on our class BINGO board each time the entire class followed directions quickly. They were quite motivated because I promised them that that if they got BINGO before the end of the day on Friday I would kiss a pig at Western Round-up. For t

11/7/19 Well, kind of. That may be a bit of a stretch. Tomorrow is Western Round-up at school and I have a specific pair of pants that I want to wear with a specific flannel shirt and a specific pair of boots and a specific cowboy hat. Tonight, about 9:00, I realized that the shirt was missing a button and the pants were dirty. Yup - sounds about right. Procrastination at its finest. Now it's 10:15 and I just pulled the pants out of the dryer and realized that the pants' butt

11/5/19 In August of 2005 I stepped into Susi's class room for my very first school-based internship on the road to getting my teaching certificate. I was beyond excited and I eagerly completed any task that Susi had for me. I couldn't wait to get in front of students and I quickly found that an elementary classroom would become one of my happiest happy places. After several more internships I returned to Susi's classroom in the spring to student teach. Susi became my mentor

11.4.19 3 a.m. friends = the friends you know that you can call in the middle of the night in an emergency and they will, without a doubt, pick up the phone and come to your aid. I didn't have a 3 a.m. emergency today. But at 5:25 this morning, between snooze alarms, I did text one such friend to confirm our after school happy hour plans. She texted back immediately. I knew she would. Today's happy hour was spent with a friend who, over the course of our friendship, has: asse

11.3.19 When I was little, the story of Zacchaeus was one of my favorite Bible stories. For those who may not be familiar with it, Zacchaeus was a tax collector from the town of Jericho back in the time of Jesus. Tax collectors in that era were known for their dishonesty and were therefore not real popular in most circles. Well, Zacchaeus got curious when he heard that Jesus was coming to town to preach and he followed the crowd of Hebrews to go meet this Jesus guy. Zacchaeus