Friday morning. . .

And no literacy group. We found this out five minutes ago. This means two periods of the day now have to be replanned to accommodate my homeroom class rather than my literacy class.

So why am I blogging????

Because I'm an LJ junkie, that's why.

I was hoping to type up for you some of the more delectable pieces of writing submitted by my kids yesterday. I've decided I need some student permission first, so I'm going to hold off until they've said I may. The assignment was to take a sentence that tells everything, like, "The monster grabbed Katie, and she screamed," and extend it to create suspense. The Mark Twain quote expresses it best: "Make them laugh, make them weep, but above all - make them wait." Well, some of my kids did a really good job of that, and some of them managed to produce considerably more comedy than suspense. I'll share an example of each with you, when I get permission.

I'm wearing purple again today. My kids are going to think I'm obsessed. They'll be right.

Okay, now I really, really have to go plan. Maybe I'll do social studies. That's a project I can speed it up by a week or so without affecting anything for two weeks. Yeah, that's what I'll do. Also, the computer lab will be free. I'm going to pencil us in fast, before anyone else realizes that. I can make this work without stressing too much.

Possible lil kid recipe

This came out of my local paper yesterday, and I decided to make it today. Adult variations included.

Beefy Quesadilla

Ground beef - one package (about 1 lb for five people)
1/2 can refried beans (optional - I cut them out, not being a beans fan myself.)
a bit of diced tomato
1/2 cup shredded cheese, whatever you have on hand
a bit of green onion, chopped
1/3 cup either ketchup or salsa
1 tbsp chili powder (optional)

Edit: For those who dislike beans or just want something to add, try half a can of corn. MMM. Yummy.

Stir-fry the ground beef until done, with chili powder if you're using it, then add everything else as you take it off the heat. Spoon onto flatbread, as many as you have people eating, then put another flatbread on top. (if you're making it for just a toddler, use one piece folded over.) Bake at 450 degrees F. until golden brown.

I just made this for my daughter - no chili powder, no salsa, no beans. On their own, she loves every single ingredient in it, but do you think she'd eat the quesadilla? So I added ketchup to it, called it a pizza, did the airplane thing, all the usual tricks. She kept her mouth firmly closed. So I left her to it and went out to try the other half in the kitchen, to find out if it was indeed inedible. It wasn't. I finished the rest.

When I came back into the dining room, Elizabeth had her hands covered in ketchup. She looked up at me with those guileless blue eyes and said, "Anodder ketchup, Mommy? Anodder ketchup?" I came over to discovered she had licked all the ketchup off of the quesadillas - but hadn't eaten a single piece.

Shortly after that she ate a small handful of shredded cheese and half of a plain piece of flatbread. I do not understand this child.

Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It. . .

I spotted this link on hillarygayle's blog, and had to pass it along. michellinator, you may want to check out her entry today.

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/about/best/sfo/66795671.html