Mardi Gras 2019

Mardi Gras at Universal Studios has begun and this year the floats are amazing.   They really went all out on them and the backs are just as fun as the fronts.

Enjoy the pics from tonight's parade.....

A Day In My Life

It's been a while since I did one of these....but they're fun to look back on. 

So...this was my Tuesday, February 19

6:30 - Wake up.  This is 10 minutes before my alarm is scheduled to go off. Usually, I wake on my own sometime between 6:00-6:30 and then grab my phone and lie in bed on the internet reading my devotional, the news, and/or Facebook. 

6:40 - Roll out of bed, brush teeth, put contacts in, slap on a little make-up, and throw on some pre-picked out clothes. 

6:55 - Take the dog out, feed both animals, grab my coffee mug, and run out the door.

7:10 - Stop for coffee.  I stop at the same gas station everyday which is a service plaza off the Florida turnpike. I've stopped almost everyday for the past year and I am there so much, they will usually give me the coffee for free. 

7:30 - Arrive at school and check in. Run up to my room to drop off my things and talk a bit and then I head back downstairs. 

7:45 - Morning arrival duty.  Since I don't have a class this year, I am designated to be outside helping the kids out of their cars and greeting them and the parents. I truly love this part of the morning. 

8:00 - 9:00 - Back up in my room. This is my free time on T and Th.  On M, W, and F I need to pick up the 4th and 5th ESE students and take them to the computer lab from 8:10 - 8:30.  Today, I checked the news on the internet and ran off some assessments for the students. 

9:00 - 9:30 - 3rd grade Math intervention. I get 5 students and go over their daily FSA assignment

9:30 - 10:00 - 3rd grade Math intervention. I get 5 kids from the other 3rd grade and do the same thing. 

10:00-11:00 "Lunch" It's really too early to eat lunch for me so I usually do some paperwork, take a little break, and grab a quick bite right before 11:00. 

11:10 - 11:55 - 2nd Grade Reading Intervention. This is new for me as I have spent my time only with 3-5 this year so far.  Today, I just had them take an assessment and tested their reading fluency. 

12:00-12:30 - 4th Grade Push in.  I am usually hanging around in the 4th grade room helping out with their Math assignments

12:30-1:00 - 4th Grade Math Intervention.  I pull 5 students for work on their foundational skills. I do 4th grade on Tuesday and Friday and on Monday and Thursday I pull 5 5th grade students for the same purpose. There is really a gap in their foundational skills in Math. 

1:10 - 2:00 - 4th and 5th Grade Reading Intervention. I pull 9 students and, along with the ESE teacher, teach comprehension skills, testing strategies, and foundational skills.  

2:10-3:00 - 3rd Grade Reading Intervention. I pull 10 students and, along with the PE teacher, teach the same as above.

3:00-4:00 - Clean up my room and sit and wait for our staff meeting. Usually, I head out the door between 3:30 and 4:00 depending on whether I have to work at Huntington. Tuesdays we had staff meetings. 

4:00-4:45 - Sit through some announcements and are excused 15 minutes early - Yay! 

5:25 - Home. As usual, the trip is uneventful until just past the Sand Lake Road exit on I4. At that point, I only have 1 mile to my 528 exit, then another 1/2 mile on 528 to my International Drive exit, then another 1/2 mile to my apartment complex. But that 2 mile stretch can take up to 25 minutes depending on the time of day. Today...it took 13 minutes. 

Home before 5:30 = a win for me. Hardly ever happens

5:30 - Put PJ's on immediately!!! Call Sunpass to find out why I received toll violation notices in the mail over the weekend when I have SUNPASS??????  However, I was not up for the 35 minute wait to speak to a customer service rep so I hung up.  ***Side note*** Sunpass did the exact same thing to me in November and put a registration hold on my car. I had no choice but to pay the fee as I was under a time crunch and had to get my car registered. 

5:45 - Make tacos for dinner

6:15 - Give the dog a bath. Poor Ollie has been battling fleas. Even with flea meds, he is plagued by them. So I bathed him, combed out all the fleas (and cut some of his fur) and tomorrow I am stopping at Wal-mart for a stronger flea med. 

6:45 - Finally sit down to relax. 

7:45 - Writing this post as Ollie is wrapped up in his blanket and for the first time in a few days, he is not scratching himself every five minutes. I am hoping he has a peaceful night and we can get this under control quickly...poor baby. 

---I usually take him out for the night about 9:00 and crawl in bed to watch TV for an hour or so. I try to make lights out between 10:15 and 10:45.  

Lightning Game

It's hard to put into words just how good the Lightning are this year.  They are amazing to watch.  

Saturday night we headed down to Tampa for a game against the Canadiens. On the way, we stopped for Zack's and my first experience at Five Guys. 

I was a bit skeptical because they never seem to play well when when I am at the game. And for a long while, it seemed to be the theme as the game was completely scoreless. 

And then came probably the greatest period of hockey I have ever seen them play. They were completely and utterly dominant on offense and defense allowing Montreal only 4 shots on goal while amassing 26!   They scored twice a about 3 minutes. 

Then Tyler Johnson added another one

And Vassey recorded back to back shut-outs and claimed a franchise record 18 shut outs (and many more to come hopefully).  

Magic Game 5

Who would ever have thought when our tickets were purchased in November that on the final game of the 5-game package we would be witnessing the biggest game the Magic have played in the [ast 7 years. 

Yet here we were, the Magic riding a 5 game win streak that not only saw them winning games - but blowing out their opponents!  And they didn't disappoint for a change. Due partly to an abysmal offensive performance by the Hornets, the Magic built a huge lead and never looked back.

They ended up winning by 38 points.  We were hoping for 40 but Kaminsky drained a basket with a couple seconds left - so 38 it was!

Charlottes half time 3 point shooting - 0%

Orlando's 3 point shooting

Wisconsin's
 Frank Kaminsky

Magic Game 4

Somehow, it just gets better...we arrived for this game on Thursday evening, to discover we had seats in row 4!

Even better is that the Magic did not squander their large lead this time and won the game. 

A ton of offense in the second quarter...Magic were on pace to score 140 points.  

Nice victory- 4 players with over 15 points.  Terrance Ross has been "Magic"coming off the bench and led the way with 32 points.

The past two games have been exciting to watch with just the right amount of three point attempts (in my opinion) and have proven that if basketball was played as it was originally meant to be played (with lots of action in the paint) the Magic could be contenders.  

Magic Games 2 and 3

Game 2 (Friday Jan 25) we were pleasantly surprised with seats in row 8!  Unfortunately, the outcome of the game was not a pleasant surprise.  They made a bit of a comeback for a minute in the fourth quarter, but that didn't last too long.  All in all though, it was an entertaining game and at least they didn't blow a 20 point lead this time. 

Pictures above from game 3

For game 3 (Thursday Jan 31) we were back in the nosebleed sections.  Personally, I like those seats too.  And the Magic pulled out a win!  So there was that. 

Game 4 is tomorrow night! 

The Goofy Pets

They're so cute