The Sampler!

For the past two months, I have contributed to something called The Sampler. I heard about it on a great podcast: CraftyPod (moderator, Sister Diane). The Sampler is an artist’s exchange – artists send samples of their product to Marie Kare, the founder and operator. She then divides them up into boxes and auctions them off to the first 450 or so bidders. She also puts Samplers on E-Bay. They go for as much as $60. I know because that is how much I paid for mine (hey, I had to see what I was getting into – now I get them for free for contributing).

The past two months, I contributed 50 buttons that I had ordered on Cafe Press – part of my Loteria Celeste collection. I included a card with the URLs of my two current websites. We’ll see… Right now, it’s just fun to contribute and to see what I get each month.

Today was the first day of ITBS testing. And, for the first time in a year or two, I overslept. I usually wake up at 5:30 AM and hit snooze a couple of times – getting up around 5:48. I leave for school (a 35 minute drive) at between 6:12 and 6:18. This weekend, I set my alarm for 7:00 AM to make an appointment to get my car assessed by Geico. I forgot to reset it. Lucky for me, I woke up in time. I looked at the clock, and it was 6:12!!! Yikes!

I tell you what: I put in my contacts, threw on clothes, went downstairs and grabbed my lunch. Got in the car and the gas icon was flashing – no time for a refill then! I made it to school before 7:00 – looking ravishing, of course. I got my testing materials, went to my classroom, and the day zoomed by after that. Oh, I forgot my frozen entree for lunch, but at least I had salad and breakfast!

Exam weeks are always very surreal. Administrators are always experimenting with different test schedules – this week, I get to keep my little darlings (16 students, when my usual max is 9 in a classroom… I know – you’re jealous, but it’s not as easy as it seems!) from 8:20 to 11:00. That is, IF testing ends then. The students also are not allowed to leave the room during that time. That means no bathroom breaks, at all – except for me: I can call an aide to watch my classroom. Today, we finished up at around 10:15. Tomorrow, we are testing Math. The very best part is that, because my seventh grade students only have to take the Reading and Math tests, I have to find some way to entertain 9 of my students (my fifth period class) for 2 hours and 40 minutes on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Can you say, “video”?

Today, I decided to treat my students like adults – colleagues, if you will, and show them my plans for Hispanic Heritage Month. I am the head of the Cultural Diversity committee at my school. Last year’s Hispanic Heritage Month was a good starting place for what I want it to be, but this year, I have bigger plans! Last year, I had a poster contest, and put the winning designs on Cafe Press. This year, I am designing the t-shirt and have put it up already. Since the theme this year is the Loteria (I know, big surprise!) and our school mascot is the Blue Devil, I have created a diablito azul card, and I really like it. I am getting better and better at PhotoShop, but I still had glitches. I hope to upload this design, with its papel picado logo, on another CafePress site. The trouble with last years’ designs was that they didn’t go up until November, and there never was a satisfactory way to collect money.

So, I showed my students the cute calendar I made in Microsoft Publisher – each day has a Loteria card assigned to it. There will be a different topic each day on the announcements: everything from Pancho Villa to Lucha Libre. I hope to get my students to help with setting up displays. Tomorrow, I am going to go around and take pictures of the different display cases and bulletin boards around the school to see what my options are.

Distroller strikes again!

Check out my Coolceras auctions on E-Bay!  Distroller style for half the price!! (posted 7/17/07)
As you may know from my former blog – I am a bit of a Virgin of Guadalupe fan. About a year ago, I found out about this great company called Distroller. It is a company out of Mexico City founded by a woman called Amparo Serrano – she has lots of designs and a bunch of prank gifts as well as cute little faux religious medals, scapulars, and watches. Now, I have an actual watch from Distroller that I bought from a third party on E-Bay, and it doesn’t actually work. I’ve been meaning to get it to a watch repair to see if it’s just the battery… OH, the buckle on the wristband is also broken… Still, the design is dynamite!

Just last night, I broke down and bought the bag above from a seller in Hidalgo, Texas. It’s a basic market bag, so it should be okay… Of course, I bought it before I saw the Virgincita purse. It’s to the right – isn’t it cute? I am just dying to make a road trip and head south of the border – just to check out one of the shops. I think that there is also one in Puebla, which is close to where my friends Pablo and Lisette live… Well, that will have to wait. I could jet down to Cancun and visit the store there, though. Would that I had that kind of lifestyle!

If I had not already lived the cautionary tale of a life in retail, I would sign on to be the first franchisee in the United States. I wonder if we have enough Spanish-speaking people here to buy stuff. I know that my students liked what they saw. Apparently, there is this teen Mexican telenovela called Rebelde, that is very popular with the kids, and some of the characters wear the Distroller wristbands and medals and such. My students have Rebelde pix all over their books and notebooks. I also purchased some stickers. Only a few of them are of the Virgin, so I may give the others away. I’m not so nice that I am going to get the wristbands (called pulseras) for them. Those are kind of like the “Live Strong” bracelets, but I think that they are nylon fabric with print on them.

I just wrote a letter to my friends in Atlixco, Mexico. They are the couple that I last visited three years ago with my Dad and husband. I really want to go and visit them again, but can’t yet. But, when I am ready, I may just make a month of it and go to the new Language School there. No, I don’t know what we will do with the dog, but my husband is welcome to join me! He might as well learn Spanish, too. We may even be able to stay at my friends’ hacienda – which just had a feature article in Casa & Gente. Dig the living/dining room area.

One last word on Distroller – I came across this awesome I-Pod Mini cover on sale on E-Bay. I have an I-Pod Shuffle that I just received for my birthday from my husband, so it won’t fit. And my husband does have an I-Pod Mini, but for some reason, he won’t let me buy this cover for him! Even after I explained to him that there is a blessing from the Virgin on it that may keep him from losing his I-Pod. The blessing around the screen reads: “Virgincita, estoy feliz con mi Ai-Po (That would apparently be I-Pod in the wierd modern slang Spanish that Distroller uses...), plis ayudame a no perderlo.” Of course, the bright colors would help one in not losing it as well.

I have obviously not been keeping up with my new blog: school has started, and it has not stopped for much! I am currently on a diet – it’s one I found in a Good Housekeeping magazine in my doctor’s office while waiting for an hour and a half for the results of my blood tests. I checked out fine, but I know that I need to lose weight.

Still, I cannot seem to get away from food. I think about food all the time. I once heard Dr. Phil say that you should go to all lengths to lose excess weight. One of his recommendations was that, if you work in the food industry, then maybe that wasn’t the best place for you to lose weight.

For the moment, I am trying to remove myself from the “food business” by not cooking so much. I am on the “frozen food” diet. I found a Frozen Food Diet on the Good Housekeeping website, but it is not really the same. I basically have a pretty rigid menu, but there is some variety because I get to choose 2 low fat frozen entrees to eat at lunch and dinner (along with a big salad). Breakfast, which I eat in my classroom while my boys eat their free breakfast, is a bowl of cereal (augmented by All-Bran) with milk and fruit. Of course, the first thing I did was to obsess about all of the different choices of frozen entrees there are… But I’m getting better. Maybe I can get this Distroller scale to weigh myself on. Okay, I’m done now.