• The importance of the dishwasher: One of my favorite home appliances is my dishwasher, and this week I've learned how much I like the one we have at work. Because it is my co-worker's turn to be in the dish room, she has been hand washing all the pots and pans. Hand washing, rinsing and sanitizing. At least we are using paper trays.
• end of the year breakdown: It's not only the kids ready to be done with the school year. It's apparently all of our appliances. This week the freezer broke.
• Middle-Eastern American meal: I don't know whose idea this was, but apparently May is Middle-Eastern American month. Seriously? Our district decided to honor this made up holiday with a meal of Jawaneh, Kousa, Al Koozy and assorted fruit. Say what. In case you are curious it's lemon garlic chicken, spicy rice and a zucchini and tomato salad. Surprisingly, many of the kids like it.
• Soup: Serving soup on paper trays is not a good idea.
• Repetition doesn't work: Every morning the kids in my building say a pledge. In that pledge there is a line that says, "I will treat others they way I would like to be treated." Everyday they say this. Today, I watch a 2nd grader spill his entire tray of peas in the hallway and not a single student stopped walking to help him pick up the mess.

What did you learn this week?

I've been blogging for a while now.  I'm not famous by any stretch of the imagination.  I'm not even looking to make money off this blog (gasp).  I just enjoy writing it. 

This being my 600th post I thought I would share with you some things blogging has taught me.

1. There are some amazing and fantastic blog writers out there.  They make me laugh, they make me cry and they make me want to come back for more.
2. Comments are like crack.  I can never get enough of them.
3. Blogging is better than therapy.
4. Blogging has helped me learn things I never thought I would be able to do.  Among them:  changing my blog from two to three columns and how to make my very own blog header.
5. People actually stop by regularly to hear what I have to say.  (This one still boggles my mind).
6. Digital pictures are more useful when you blog.
7. Friendships can bloom from blogging.  This is something I never really dreamed about.
8. Blogging can encourage you to do more.  More reading, more writing, more walking.
9. I am not the only mom out there who sometimes feels overwhelmed, under appreciated and disrespected.
10. When we blog, we are never alone.

Thanks for stopping by.  This post was inspired by Mama Kat's Writing Assignment.  Stop by and see what everyone else is talking about.

This was our first full week of school in quite a while and I can tell because I'm dog tired today.  The sad thing about this statement is I only work about 27 hours a week. 

This week I learned:

• Kids will take any fruit you sit out if you put a dollop of fat free whipped cream on it.
• They won't eat the fruit, just the whipped cream.
• It is possible to go to school for 125 days and still not know how to just buy milk.
• Principals have to handle a lot of miscellaneous crap and they don't get paid enough.
• I live in a district that will be having a hoedown next week.  Middle G is preforming.
• I do not know what you should wear to a hoedown.
• Dr. Seuss is cause for a week-long celebration.

So this weekend remember to "be who your are and say what you feel, because those who matter don't mind and those who mind don't matter." ~Seuss

This week was filled with wild and crazy children and a lot of menu changes.  Here's what I learned:

• Snow days make elementary children forget everything they have learned.  Including how to walk through the lunch line, how to discard the food on their trays and whether or not they want grape or strawberry PB&J.
• Sprinkling pears with jello powder is stupid and doesn't make children eat them.  It's especially important to remember to order red jello if you want them to look like "blushing pears."  It's best not to substitute green jello as this only makes them look like moldy pears.
• Ravioli's aren't very popular but the kids who order them LOVE them.
• Any changes to the menu, even those neccesitated by a blizzard, will cause mayhem and foolishness.
• Spiders can live on apples in the middle of winter and they still make me jump.

What did you learn this week?

This was my first full week of school in a long time.  It was exhausting.  Between school holidays and sick kids I haven't had to work five days in a row in a month.  This is what I learned this week.

• No matter the combo, kids will eat it.  We served BBQ ribs, broccoli soup and chocolate pudding and the kids liked it. 
• Lettuce doesn't clean up very easily.
• No matter how many times you explain things to elementary students explaining them again is a requirement.  Even though we are approaching the 100th day of school some students were surprised to learn they had to pay for milk.
• If you stuff a cheeseburger into a pita you can call it a gyro and pretend that it is a greek meal.
• I learned that if you live in PA you must own camouflage.  That way you can be prepared when your elementary school has "Camo Day". 

I was not prepared and had to borrow some camo pants and a hat from neighbors.  My son asked me if we were hunting chicken.  I don't know about that but I looked pretty hot in my camo.

What did you learn this week?

It's time once again to enlighten all of you with random cafeteria knowledge.


I know you are eager with anticipation. That being said here are the top five things I learned in the cafeteria this week:

1. Ketchup travels quite far: My co-worker, D, decided to "test" a ketchup pump unaware that it was still filled with ketchup. It landed on my back, on my hat and in my ear! She was more than five feet away from me. It was hilarious!
2. Tuna fish is actually available in gallon size cans.
3. Lots of hand washing, dish washing and food prep mixed with Pennsylvania's lovely winter weather equals painfully dry hands.
4. Cinnamon buns qualify as a healthy breakfast under federal guidelines. This obviously means that the Poptart I have every morning for breakfast is good for me as long as I have it with milk.
5. Polish Heritage day involves a corn dog and pierogis. A whole wheat corn dog, mind ya. Apparently, corn dogs aren't as good for you as cinnamon buns. Who knew??

What did you learn this week?

P.S. Are you a lurker who has never commented? Do you want to follow my blog but haven't taken that leap. Don't be shy. Jump on in. I'd love to hit fifty followers before the end of the week. You know you want to...

It is Thursday and time for my "What I learned this week posting."  Feel free to play along and let me know what you learned.

• I learned that having a long weekend with the kids can actually be fun.  Sure there were times when I thought, "When do you go back to school?"  but there were also times when they played dress up, and hide and seek, and made caves out of the couch cushions.
• I learned that going to Stuff-mart is never a good idea.
• I learned that I can defeat the clutter monster in my house. One. Room. at. a. time.
• I learned that Facebook is more hassle than it is worth.  Please note:  If we weren't friends in high school I have no desire to be your friend now.  Why do you think I didn't include my maiden name?  It's because I'm hiding from you.
• I learned bloggy buddies can really cheer you up.

What did you learn this week?

The first full week of 2009 has nearly come and gone. What have you learned this week? Here are a few things I learned.

1. Now that my oldest daughter is almost 10, I only have to remind her to brush her teeth, comb her hair, and put deodorant on five times each morning. This is a significant improvement. **smile**

2. My dog likes to eat crayons. Do you think he has a wax deficiency?

3. Remembering a dentist appointment is much more complicated than it sounds.

4. Trying to learn "new" math, gives me a headache. What was wrong with "old" math? Why does my 4th grader need graph paper to learn simple division? Is Everyday Math really the best math.

5. Both my daughters think I'm beautiful. **smile**

Leave me a comment and tell me at least one thing you learned this week....