Birthday wishes to me; Quilting photos update; school hierarchy

Today I turn triple-11; my DH already wished me a Happy Birthday at 5:45 am as he was strolling out the door. (Better than what I did for him----I had forgotten until AFTER I had left the house last Tuesday--he turned 37; I was in the car listening to the 6:00am news on my way to my class when the newscaster said the date---I called him straight away). No big plans---for us, our birthdays are just another day. We try to have a little something for the girls' birthdays, but not ours.

It appears that Blogger will allow me to upload my pics now, sooo.....
This is a tablecloth (~48"x48") that DH's grandmother has stitched for a wedding coming up this weekend. She asked her daughter (DH's mother, my MIL) to put it together, but then she (MIL) asked ME to quilt it up since I seem to be "better at it than she is." Oh dear-----I was nervous!!! This is one of those already-marked-whole-cloth pieces, so the quilting didn't take all that long once I started. However, the markings don't appear to be the wash-away kind, so a person can see the blue dots (sigh). But, I guess you could say that I'm pleased with the results. It's hitting the mail today to get to my MIL so she can sew the lace binding on before this Saturday's wedding. I hope it arrives in time (by Thursday??) for her to accomplish her part.


Next, this is a shot of the Fun with Bricks that has come together quite quick.







And here is a birds-eye-view of the Wafer Cookies possible layout (left) and Oklahoma Backroads (right). Upon seeing the Wafter Cookies laid out, I've been playing the mind-visual-game and am picturing some plain white (light) blocks in with the smaller rail-fence blocks. Anyone care to share any other ideas???


Finally, Amanda has asked about our school hierarchy.....
Superintendent is the "head-honcho." He runs the entire District, and being a smaller city (about 1000 people), our District is rather small. One K-2 school and one 3-12 school. Our School Board (consisting of about 10 members comprised of Community members) and the Sup kinda are on the same level. New policies, etc, can't be passed without the SB's vote.
Next in line would be our Principals----we have one Elementary (K-6) Principal and one High school (7-12) Principal. Then, naturally, we have the staff of teachers, custodians, cooks, aides, etc.

I am anxious, yet excited, about the changes we have in administration this year. Brian (our Sup) is VERY MUCH a people person; loves children (he was a 7-12 Guidance counselor when I first started teaching 10 years ago, then became the K-6 Principal about 6 years ago); and WANTS the school to be run from the "bottom up." And I Quote........"I'm tired of this top-down business! It doesn't work." Hence, this is why he has asked some staff to sit in on the 7-12 Principal interviews. This is a new procedure, and the School Board hasn't given him too much of a hard time with it.

Now, our school board....well, THAT's a whole different story! (watch out---here comes my humble opinion)...... Our SB has almost the same unrealistic goals as President Bush with his NCLB and that 100% of all students will be Proficient or Advanced in all areas come 2014 (or some year coming up soon.) Our SB is pushing for all of our students to be college-bound material, but that just is unrealistic!!! NOT ALL STUDENTS NEED TO BE COLLEGE BOUND! Truthfully, if my passion wasn't for teaching, I would have taken a 2-year Technical route for Computer Science and be making $100,000+! But still, our nation can't function without our farmers, mechanics, NURSES!!!, etc; and all of these jobs DO NOT require a college degree!

Whew....well folks, it's 7:30; I haven't had my morning coffee yet; only Candace (#3) is awake. Within the hour, I am predicting that I'll head downstairs for awhile since the sun is going to be pouring through the windows soon. It's going to be a scorcher today! Our AC can't keep up with the heat of the sun coming through our big windows, so being downstairs is very nice.