Funny day

I dropped off Z yesterday and decided to get a 2nd cup of coffee, which is a pretty rare event. I was glad I did, though, because I got to see someone get a surfboard out of a Saturn. Then I was complimented on my spider brooch. And they had tiny Milk Duds on the counter, so I said "Trick or Treat" and they let me have the wee box! Then I got in the car and Tone Loc's "Funky Cold Medina" was on. It was definitely the beginning of a good day.

At school, my first two classes were all gone for a Key Club event, so there were only 3 or 4 kids there. In 1st period, we just talked, but in 2nd, I taught two of the boys dominoes (and kicked their asses).

Also, I recently instituted "high-five Fridays," wherein I jog around campus high-fiving any adult who'll raise their hand. I made it all the way from the C wing to the J wing and got at least 30 teacher high fives. They probably think I'm crazy, but I think I'm CRAZY AWESOME!

After school I chatted with a student who told me at great length about the Key Club event, which had involved a haunted house for 1st graders. She was legitimately thrilled that she had made about ten kids cry. I know the kids crying isn't funny, but my student was so enthused about it I just laughed my ass off.

After school there was a party, so I went to pick Z up. Mom informed me that her class had gone on a costume parade around the block. Zadie was yelling to the neighbors, mostly things like "There's no place like home!" But then she waved and yelled "We're just kids from the local school!" It cracked me up then, and later, Mom forwarded an email from Z's teacher, which read (in part), "Zadie was just too cute for words today! My favorite line all day ..."we're just kids from the local school!" ;)"

Then at school, she was SO excited to hang out with my kids. She latched on to one girl in particular, calling her Rapunzel because of her long hair. She wanted to spin, to play ring around the rosie, and to get piggyback rides. At one point, she told the girl she wanted to lay on her, so the girl laid down on her stomach on the floor. Then Z started getting bossy, trying to push her over onto her back. The girl was laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation, and noticeably nervously. I told Zadie "Honey, you have to respect people's bodies. If she doesn't want to roll over, don't push her." Zadie announced, "But she's laughing anyway!"

Also, she went straight to my desk at one point and dug out a cough drop. She pops it in her mouth and I said "Honey, you don't need cough drops right now." With a crowd of kids watching (and I point this out because she was totally playing to the crowd), she says "Well, I cough a lot!" The kids laughed and she faked a cough to prove it. They were dying.

I actually got in a couple funny lines myself this week. We were talking about having to give the Title IX sexual harassment training. My kids didn't understand what innuendo meant, so I said that "That's what she said" jokes were an example. I mentioned it to my colleagues in a small group that afternoon, and they all laughed. A moment later, a male coworker, talking about the training, said "I'm looking forward to doing it." Yeah... I said "That's what she said."

Then that night, we had band practice, and the drummer was pulling his usual pussy bullshit: "I don't know this song. Guys, can we do something else? I don't know this one..." I said "Jeff, it's just in 4/4 time." He said "Well, I wish I knew what that was." I said "I wish you knew what 4/4 time was, too." One of our guitarists laughed to the point of tears.

All right, that's about it. Z is supposed to have soccer today (even though it's a bit wet out, it's apparently not cancelled). I have some cleaning to do around here, and then there are a bunch of Halloween-y activities I'm considering, like a thing in Old Sacramento, a thing at the Zoo, a thing at ArtBeast... I'd most like to see the sugar skulls on display, but I think Z would prefer candy and a train ride.