TSU

This past Saturday Keith came with me as I went on my last official field trip with my students to a Tennessee State University Football game at LP Field. I haven't been at the center in the afternoons for a week now, so it was great to see the kids and get to spend time with them before I'm officially done with my term of service. As crazy as they are, I'm definitely going to miss them :( We stayed through the half time show, just enough time to watch TSU completely dominate whatever team they were playing. Here are some photos from our evening:

Keith playing football with some boys out back before the game.

Bus ride.

Reppin'

Sarah, Keith and I.

Noor with Keith's hat :)

SO. STINKIN. CUTE!

Hiatus

I took a little bit of unplanned time away from the blog this week mostly due to absolute exhaustion. I think I will always be amazed at how tired I am at the end of my work day, regardless of how busy I was. I don't work more than an 8 hour day, but somehow getting finished at 7pm as opposed to 5, or 6 just completely wipes away any bit of energy or motivation. Thankfully I have an amazing husband who feeds me dinner and puts me to bed each night, usually before 10pm haha.

Here are some things that happened this week while I was away from the internet:

Last Sunday we had Trent and Jordie over to watch the Titans game and we made our favorite pizza.

Then we worked REALLY hard to get this group shot haha

One of my little favorites Elijah was SOOOO excited about his new outfit that he asked me to take his photo... precious :)

On Friday Sarah and I took her middle school group on a field trip. 

We went to Rocket town, a local music venue/skatepark and they learned how to play some instruments (note the enthusiasm)

Friday night Steve and Sarah came over, we ate Mas Tacos again and came back to the house to have some beer and hang out... Keith broke out his leather jacket and we all had a good laugh haha

Saturday afternoon we ventured out to find the Grilled Cheeserie food truck with Steve.

I had cheddar with tomatoes and avocado aioli. Yum! Topped off with tots and Mexican Coca-Cola. 

Keith and Steve went to band practice for a few hours on Saturday afternoon so Sarah and I took a walk at Shelby Bottoms to avoid lazily laying on the couch all day.

Then Keith and I watched a movie and Theo stayed very close by 

and today, in honor of the great sandwich I had yesterday, I broke out the panini press and made my own, which was not nearly as amazing, but was way cheaper haha

Some other things that I did this week that didn't get photographed?

• I woke up early to run two miles three different mornings this week AND I went to a 6am Zumba class... hooray for morning motivation!
• Because of how good I was with exercising this week I treated myself to a delicious lunch at Mitchell's on Thursday. Mmmmm. 
• We slept in until 10am both Saturday and Sunday... it felt SO great.
• I worked a nearly 12 hour day on Friday which is usually my day off... oops.
• I finished everything I need to do to become a substitute teacher here in Nashville, I can't believe how soon I will be transitioning away from my job!
• I got some awesome new work pants at the Gap for 50% off! Good things come to those who wait for sales. 
• Oh and we made chili yesterday, and it was probably the best it has ever tasted. So stinkin good!

Anything interesting happen while I was away?

Ruby Falls

So today was another long bus ride kind of field trip that left me exhausted and needing adult beverages by the time I got home. Obviously, I'm already a professional, but that doesn't mean my brain wasn't ready to explode from the sheer volume of screaming children. Ruby Falls is a cave system with the highest underground waterfall in the country. It was pretty interesting, but we had to drive 2 and 1/2 hours on the bus to get there which makes for very restless kids who don't care about anything but running and screaming. These are two VERY bad things when you're underground. Trapped in a cave. with 80 little bodies all trying to push each other.

For as ridiculous as today was though, it came along with some pretty hysterical moments, here are some of my favorite quotes from the day:

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"If I had 3 wishes I want to be a werewolf so that I can eat people because I think that would be really cool"


After I attempted to lay my head on Noor's lap, "I'm not a pillow! I'm a buffalo!"


The second we got on the bus and got seated, Brian very matter of factly says, "Ok Mrs. Richards, I'll just let you know when I feel like I'm going to throw up." Uhhhhh please don't throw up?

"I'm going to read your mind!" puts ear to my forehead "oh weird, it sounds dusty in there."

Inside the cave, "THIS LOOKS LIKE THE DEVILS HOME!"


"Can you lick my armpits for me?"


While trying to make the point the none of the students know my first name, I asked, "What is my first name?" response: "SPAGHETTI!" Duh. Spaghetti Richards is definitely my name.
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On the bus with my boys....

Sarah looking out at Chattanooga

In the cave, iphone flash that makes everyone look scary

cave

cave

waterfall

The waterfall would have been way cooler to me if I didn't also come with an artificial light show. The blue/purple/red/green light was a little hokey. But overall it was a really beautiful sight. 

Another one of the better things from today is that the kids revealed to me that they believe our newest employee, Jon, is a vampire. No joke whatsoever. They truly believe he is a real live vampire. Once this was made known to me, I spent the rest of the day exploiting it. How is he not melting in the sunlight? Well obvious, he has sunglasses on. Will he attack us and try to suck our blood? Only if you scare him, or make him really mad. Be VERY CAREFUL around him. I also told them that when we got into the cave he would turn into a bat (this may have contributed to the screaming, oops). I laughed about this A LOT today. Especially when one of the kids told me that he made a wish at the waterfall and couldn't tell me what is was but he wanted to tell the vampire since he's not alive and it doesn't count :) I love their little minds hahahahaha

This is my job, and I kinda love it. Not always in the moment, but looking back, I can't help but smile haha

A Lack of Pictures Post

It makes me sad that not having a camera has caused me not to post anything to our blog. I promise we've been just as busy doing fun things! Our long weekend turned out to be a great mix of getting things done at the house and relaxing, which means I was a happy camper. We got our lawn mowed, and Keith installed the air conditioning units in our windows, which was MUCH needed because Nashville has been hotter than I can describe. Saturday we fought off cicadas at Centennial Park and tried to enjoy some music now that Musicians Corner has started; maybe next week it won't be so bad haha. Monday we enjoyed our day off with a trip to the pool at the YMCA and I definitely look forward to many more summer days over there (since there isn't a beach anywhere near here, boo). Afterwards we had a great group of people over for a BBQ (the daiquiris were a hit!) and spent the evening hanging out, and eating. The boys played some games outside and sweat themselves to death, while the rest of us enjoyed the cool air inside. I'm guessing that most gatherings for the rest of the summer while have to happen like this because I don't see it getting any cooler any time soon.

This has been an interesting week at work for me, since it was the students last week of school. Tuesday I had the pleasure of walking from the school my students attend, to the Titans stadium. At 1pm. In the sun. Up a hill. I have never sweat so much in my life haha. Thankfully it was only a mile and a half away.

We got to tour the stadium, check out the players locker rooms and the owners suite. It was pretty interesting, but above all the kids had a blast (except for the walk) and were just excited that they weren't in school.

Yesterday the kids had a half day, so I only had to work until 3, but came back around 7pm for a lock in. Please don't ask why I volunteered to sleep at work with a group of 25 middle schoolers, but it seemed like a good idea.... until like, 4am. We took the kids to dinner at Applebees, went to the movies, played an epic game of mat ball, lots of uno, basketball, loud music, a scavenger hunt, pool, and just general non sleeping. We finally convinced the children to close their eyes, and I went and hid in a quiet room to catch a little nap before heading out at 7:30 am. With that being said, I spent the rest of today SLEEPING! Keith called me at noon and was surprised to find that I was completely passed out, but I don't think I've been that tired in my whole life. No more "sleeping" at work for me.

Also, in the absence of my camera I've been using instagram on my iPhone. If you have that app you should follow me!

Field Trip Lessons.

Here are some tips from a professional field tripper:

1). A 4 hour drive will easily turn into a 5 1/2 hour trip when taking a school bus.

2). If you're already sweaty, letting a child lay on your lap only makes it more unbearable.

3). If you give one kid a piggy back ride you will never let it down and will be the subject of relentless requests hereafter.

4). In reference to the sleeping on the lap part -> kids will tell you that you look pregnant all year long with their little unfiltered brains- until they want to sleep on your shoulder. At which point they may say, "Ms. Richards, I wish you had more pudge... you're uncomfortable!".

5). Take any complements you can get.

6). In reference to piggy back rides -> don't send a 7 year old on a field trip in flip flops. Their feet will start hurting before they have even taken a step. Or they will lose them.

7). When kids smell food, they will immediately become hungry and useless regardless of their hunger level before smelling this food.

8). Learn to tone out the phrases "are we there yet?" and "Ms. Richards, I'm so hungry I could die!".

9). When you're on a trip to view animals at some point in the day the students WILL witness an animal pooping. This will cause them to scream in disgust, but will not stop them from complaining of hunger.

10). Your students will inevitably push and shove other kids/adults/handicapped people out of the way to be in front and there will always be someone who will mistake you for the mother of the children in your group. The only proper response to this is: "yes of course sir, all 12 of these African American children are mine- I don't know what I was thinking! Do you want one?!"

11) At some point in the day you will think to yourself, "I was NEVER this bad when I was a kid!". This is not true. Call your 3rd grade teacher and apologize.

12). Regular headphones do not block out the sound of screaming children- invest in noise canceling headphones.

13). Regardless of how many new cool things your students saw- if asked they will ONLY remember the poop.

14). Children are gullible and it is your duty to take advantage of that. Here are some easy lines that will send them into an instant panic: Before arriving at your destination, "Oh you though we were going to the aquarium? No, we can't go inside, we're just going to ride the bus all day!" After a phone call, Ok guys, the aquarium called and they said that kids aren't allowed. We're going to leave you here on the bus... but I promise we'll take lots of pictures for you!" After your trip, No no no no no! We aren't going home! We all live in Atlanta now. Didn't you say goodbye to your mom this morning??" and you can always make up stories about child eating bears that come out of the forest to attack the buses and eat the kids. WARNING: These do not stop the students from talking incessantly... this is simply for your own amusement.

15). Don't try and sleep on the bus. This is the equivalent to falling asleep with your shoes on at a college party. I guess I should preface this with "don't let your students borrow your pens".

16). Kids are not easily trainable- save your breath and get over it. They are not going to sit down.

17). Regardless of how great the song is- resist the urge to sing along with your headphones on. You will be made fun of because your music is "so beyond lame, ew".

18) ... until they find out you that you have the Jonas Brothers on your iPod. You are instantly elevated to hero status once more.

19) Even though it seems like a good idea at first- don't try and teach your students spanish as a way to pass time. Unless you bought those noise canceling headphones, seniorita.

20). Children are just a strange breed of wild animal- they require NO sleep and they always have to pee.

21). Oddly enough one of them will surprise you with a hug saying "today was really fun!". Which will usually be followed up by another students' snarky comment, "that was so dumb, all we did was look at fish."

22). Riding on a bus with the windows open on the highway is the equivalent to driving in a convertible and your hair will be the evidence of this. DON'T under any circumstance let a child help you fix this- it will only bring you pain and grant you "crazy teacher" status.

23). Not all chaperones will be as committed as you or understand that this is not a chance for them to take a fun trip and that it's not ok to take their own tour separate from the group. Resist the urge to hit these people or publicly berate them. This may be more difficult than dealing with the kids.

24). If left to their own devices kids will always make a terrible concoction out of the things they find on a restaurant table. This usually consists of water, lemon, anything in a packet, salt, pepper, half and half etc. There WILL be a slightly dim child that will be convinced to drink this, which may or may not cause them to puke. We've all done this. Or tried to.

25). Nothing will go the way you planned. Bring super glue just in case.

Enter the highlight reel, these smiles may be fake:

I love whale sharks :)

Oh yeah, 26). No one smiles during a group picture.