Life's Greatest Questions...

Yes, life's greatest questions are answered everyday in my classroom. I really need to write this stuff down somewhere, maybe in hopes that I would one day write a book, but more for the sanity so that I can sleep at night. I probably spend 3/4 of my day answering questions in my classroom. Not that there are ever any stupid questions, but I will let you decide. Today's conversation was centered around dress code for our Valentine's Day celebration. I told the kids that they could wear anything that they wanted to as long as it was red or pink. This was my first question... "Can we wear purple and white?" Ahhhh!!! About 10 minutes after that we had to discuss bringing in Valentine's for the other kids. Each kid has to bring in a Valentine for everyone. Pretty simple... About 10 hands slowly go up. The first questions.... "Do I have to make one for myself?" Ahhh!!!! "Do we have to write who each one is supposed to be for, that's a lot of names?" Ahhhh!!!! Just last week we were doing reading and the kids had to answer a simple journal assignment about the chapter. This was the journal assignment that I wrote on the board... "Draw anything from Chapter one and color it." (Keep in mind chapter one was mostly about an Indian shooting a bow and arrow) The first hand went up.... "Would it be a good idea to draw the bow and arrow?" Ahhhh!!!!! The second hand goes up.... "Would it be ok if I drew it in pencil first and then colored it?" Ahhh!!!! I could go on like this for a while, I have lots of material. I have been a little exhausted at the end of my day lately. Maybe I am giving them too many rules, maybe it is just developmental, maybe they are just trying to push my buttons. It is hard not to show compassion to these kids daily, but the questions are starting to kill me, one by one, ever so slowly.

Weekend Getaway to the Sequoias

Tim and I had the opportunity to head out of town for the weekend and enjoy a little snow. It was hard to leave San Luis when the weather was in the 80's, but it was great to get away.


The giant sequoias are unlike any other. The one I am standing in front of fell on a clear sunny day where there was no wind. Kind of a scary thought as we hiked miles into the wilderness.


These are views from Moro Rock. In the summer time you can climb the 400 some odd stairs to the top. We could not even see the stairs and decided to crawl up half way to check out the views. The last time I was here was with my family when we were little. I just kept thinking about how my mom must have been freaking out watching the three of us climb this rock!
Don't you think Tim's snowman (the one on the right) looks like a monkey?

Quote of the Day

Today was Grandparent's Day at school. We all dressed up 1960's style. I went as a go-go girl and thought I was looking pretty darn good until I had one of my fifth graders come up to me and ask, "Are you a grandparent?" My response was, "Are you kiding me, I'm not even a parent, go sit down!" This job is aging me.

A Most Delicious Recipe for Chocolate Lovers with a Sensitive Side

I recently tried out a recipe for Vegan Chocolate Cake and it was absolutely delicious! You would never know it was vegan, and those with sensitive stomachs will thank you.
Mix dry ingredients together, then add the wet. 2 greased, floured 8 or 9 inch pans. Bake at 350 for 30 min.




3 Cups Flour
2 Cups Sugar
6 Tbs. cocoa
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp salt
3/4 C vegetable oil
2 Tbs. vinegar
2 tsp vanilla
2 Cups cold water

A Little Visit to the ER

This morning did not exactly go as planned. The plan was to get up early, get ready for school, and make it out the door in time to get my kids prepared for putting on 8:00 am mass for the entire school. I did wake up early, only not to head to work but to the ER. I have been dealing with some neck issues lately and have been having horrible pain near my spine. So this morning was the morning I couldn't deal with the pain anymore. Only in San Luis Obispo would we walk into the ER and not have to wait for anything. I was brought right to a room, had x rays taken, and was back home in about an hour. I love small towns. Not to mention an ER Doctor of one of the students that I teach calling the hospital for me to make sure I was well taken care of when I arrived. The X rays came back fine (which is always a blessing and a curse because you still don't know what is wrong with you) and the Doctor said that I had a mayofascial cervical strain. So I sit here with a neck brace on the couch, realizing that life in my classroom is probably going on as somewhat usual, and learning not to stress out so much about the little things that were most likely the reason the whole neck thing started in the first place.

Pecho Coast Trail

We took a great hike this past weekend to the San Luis Lighthouse. We were led on a 3.4 mile hike by a docent. They don't let you travel out there alone because it is so close to the nuclear power plant. The views were absolutely incredible and we learned a lot of history. I would definitely recommend it if you have a free Saturday. Just meet at Port San Luis at 9 am, sign a few waivers, and you are on your way.

This is Smith Rock. There were actually five families living on this rock in the 1920's. They chose to live here to escape taxes. They used to tether there children to the rock so they wouldn't fall. How crazy is that!
This is Whale Rock. Local whalers used to process the whales. They made many products at the base of the rock.

This tree swing hung near the lighthouse. Can you imagine growing up with a swing like this in your front yard? Not to mention the view!


Here is the lighthouse. They are in the process of restoring it. It is the only remaining lighthouse of this particular design. Two others were built in San Diego and the Bay Area but are now destroyed.

Christmas Vacation

Christmas at the Romano's was a lot of fun. We did the traditional gift giving in the morning after enjoying homemade cinnamon rolls. We then headed out to the Grandparents in Cherry Valley.




A Romano family tradition includes something called "Destination Unknown." This involves some sort of adventure with the family without any clues. This year he took us 4 wheeling through some major puddles and mud holes to a beautiful trail. Keep in mind we were in Orange County. Once we reached the Cleveland National Forest, you never would have known it. We hiked the "Holy Jim Trail" until we reached an amazing waterfall.








New Year's Day was warm and sunny. We put our new landscaping to the test by playing Cornhole. (Basically bing bag toss with skill) I couldn't believe I was breaking out the sunscreen and shorts on January 1st!