Friday things. (kinda favorites)

1. I knocked out a bunch of Christmas shopping in the last week.  I always leave it until Thanksgiving and I feel like that's not a strategy that has served me well. Plus, rural Missouri isn't the best location to get out to the stores on the weekends. It's a 45 minute drive to go shopping. The only thing I need to get for Wells at this point is bedding for his new bed (that Scott has decided he's going to build) and I think we'll get him a bike of some sort. (If anyone is wondering, Wells is really into dinosaurs and Paw Patrol right now.)

^okay well I suppose my foresight there IS a favorite

 2. I desperately need to get off of the school district Facebook pages. The other day, I read dozens of comments of parents arguing over the rule about "only regular water" in water bottles in the classroom. The reasoning is quite simple (and many pointed it out): if something that's not water spills, it's a giant mess to clean up. We have at least one water bottle leak per day and these are older kids in my class. 50% of this is in backpacks and a kid bringing home a sticky backpack sounds like a nightmare. This shouldn't even be a discussion. They get juice/milk for breakfast, and then milk or whatever they want to bring to drink for lunch. *I* rarely drink anything other than water at school. 

Anyway, the parents online argued about this for actual days. Parents are SO mean. Threatening that "you can't tell my kid _____" is not a way to go through life. And if you want your kid drinking actual Kool-Aid all day long from a water bottle, well, I question that decision. 

OH, and I have cases of bottled water sitting on my counter for anyone who forgets a bottle. A parent donated them and I add to the stack when I remember. No one goes thirsty in my classroom, I promise, though I can't promise every teacher holds such common sense (these aren't my parents who are complaining. it's a big district. just mind-blowing altogether, though. and i can't believe i spend time on this.)

3. I had a seamless visit to the eye doctor yesterday. If you recall, in 2017, I ended up crying at the eye doctor. I avoided it for about 2 1/2 years after that. Finding an eye doctor to renew my contacts prescription in Pittsburgh, then, was a nightmare because almost no one there took our military insurance. This time, I called the local place, made an appointment for the next afternoon, and was in and out in less than 20 minutes.

4. This house feels like we're falling behind and the amount of work Scott has had to do in the last couple of weeks would blow your mind. It's been...an ordeal. However, his friend came over for the long weekend and helped with all of the things. 

adding a support beam so the ceiling doesn't collapse, for example, was just one of the elements to Scott's Columbus Day weekend break

Including: taking out the dangerous and unusable playset and the "decorative" well that that covered up a pipe sticking out of the ground. I'd rather look at the pipe. 

^This is DEFINITELY a favorite. 

5. While the weeks have been rainy and gross, the weekends have been warm. I like to think that, years later still, I can somehow make Scout prefer me by taking him places to let him swim. 

In case you missed it this week: book fails and screenshots. 

Linking up!