Wow it's been...a bad, bad month. There are some good things that have happened too, but it's definitely not been a great time. Between the crash, my grandpa dying, my car breaking down in VA Beach, and financial issues, it's been a long month. School has been great. My kids are doing really well, learning what they need to learn, making me laugh, and passing their goals. We've been doing a lot of goal-setting, practicing, and assessing to show their progress towards meeting their goals and they've become obsessed with "results". They constantly ask me to test them again to see if they've improved. It's actually pretty cool because they don't see the tests as something to stress about. They see them as evidence of how much they've grown and achieved (WHICH IS WHAT TESTS REALLY ARE!).
My car was basically unfixable in VA Beach - needed $3,000 worth of repairs and I only had $200. So I had to trade it for a different car. I got a really good deal on the "new" car and I'm happy with the car. But it has made the situation harder because now I have a car payment. The purchase of it was cool though because I totally played the car salesman before he realized what had happened. He spent so much time trying to manipulate the numbers with me that he didn't realize I was manipulating the numbers right back at him. He picked the wrong person to play a numbers game. I quickly signed before he realized what happened and when he realized how much he had lost on the deal (after it was too late), he was so angry. He even threw papers at Ivan and I and kicked the trashcan. For real. It was hilarious.
We had the memorial service for my grandparents last weekend. That was hard because my sister and I are kind of mad at each other right now. My aunt spoke at the service and she said something really cool that stood out to me. She was referring to us (the grandkids) and she said, "Our children grew up thinking that everybody's grandparents had trains that run around the pool and a red teddy that greets them on the front porch with a message..." She mentioned other things too, and I thought about how right she was. When I was little, I really did think that everybody's grandparents must be just that awesome. Now, I know differently. I know everyone has grandparents that are special and awesome to them, but I truly was blessed to have the absolute best kid grandparents in the world.
I have a new kid from Mexico in my class. She has cerebral palsy and has never been to school before. She speaks no English and has many limitations and needs. She is sooooooo sweet. She just smiles and laughs all day long, so happy to be here around all the kids. She loves Zorro and carries him in her lap in her wheelchair. Yesterday she was using the computer in the computer lab with us and I put Zorro on the keyboard of the computer next to her as if he was typing on it. She saw him and laughed and laughed and said, "Zorro no puede escribir en la computadora! Es un zorro!" (Zorro can't write on the computer! He's a fox!) She thought it was the funniest thing ever. My kids love her! They spend a lot of time trying to talk to her in Spanish and making her laugh with smiles and pictures. She's pretty cool.
Today I got a new job! I had my second interview at Best Buy and I'm going to start working there. I'm really excited because I really want to work there! And I threw out an idea to the manager during the interview for a new technology item that could be useful with kids. I was simply asking him if he'd ever heard of anything like it and where I could get one if he had. He said, "Wow, I've never heard of anything like that before, but it's brilliant! You need to not spread that around and instead try to develop it and patent it. It would be brilliant!" So...now I have a new challenge ahead of me. Like I need another one.
:)
Tons of snow!
Completely covering the car - we had over 2 feet!
Miguel, Edith, y Mama making their way through the snow!
Miguel thinking he's going to play soccer right now.
Me snowboarding down the street! There's still snow covering our street - 5 days later!
snowboarding down the street:
Ivan snowboarding down the hill by our house
Me going down the hill
Miguel snowboarding down
The 3 of us snowboarding down the street
Me with my brothers snowboarding
Ivan jumping off the roof
Me jumping off the roof
Me with my brother's snowman. 
Lucero fixing her snowman's flower
Edith and me making Edith's snowman
Edith loving the snow
The 3 of us with the 2 snowmen. Look at the eyes on Edith's snowman! They're really cool!
