* tiny but powerful *

I'll be starting with a new group of these guys tomorrow for the afternoon Kindergarten-to-Elementary transition program. Even though we're a year-round school, Sept. 1st is considered the first day of the new school year. I'm a little nervous - it'll be my first day of kindergarten, too! :-P

Merry Moo-day! :)

This is a sad time for the livelihood of Tina's Personal Product Supply. The shampoo I have used since 6th grade -- Pantene Pro-V 2-in-1 Shampoo Plus Conditioner: "Classic Clean" -- is now a dying item on the shelves of drugstores and superstores. :( :( :( The new version has "amino proteins" (um, ALL proteins have amino acids) and IT SMELLS DIFFERENT!!! I DON'T WANT DIFFERENT! I searched two different Wal-marts, but apparently they don't carry the old kind anymore. I almost gave up, but I found a few smaller bottles at Longs, so I bought out the rest of what they had on the shelf. I'll check a few other places too, but once I run out of what little I can find... the end will be inevitable. :(

So sad. :(

(P.S. Melisa says I should mate the remaining old Pantene that I have in captivity. I think a better idea would be for her to purify the new kind for me at Genentech.)

From CNN.com: Highly qualified teachers on the way -- or are they?

The law aims to make sure a math teacher knows math. But it does not measure a teacher's devotion or ability to connect with students.

[...] Norma De La Rosa, a reading teacher in El Paso, Texas, said it is fine to hold teachers accountable, but the judging often is unfair and subjective.

"Whose definition of highly qualified are we looking at? From what perspective?" she said. "From somebody who has never been in the classroom? Who has never gone through the teacher preparation courses? Who has never been through the ups and downs of education?"

- being prayed for
- Ephesians 6:10-18
- my mom and my brother
- Eric and his family, who care for me like one of their own
- a roommate who brings me cranberry juice to comfort me, surprises me with sticky felt, and runs to Wal-mart to get my lesson supplies for me
- lambs
- talks that are hard but which need to happen (and finally do)
- cleaning and reorganizing the classroom supply cabinets :-D
- Linda...I couldn't ask for a better role model
- predictable bop dinners
- Chi-En coming to visit my school tomorrow afternoon!!!

Now that it's officially public (online)... CONGRATULATIONS, BEN and JO!!!

SO EXCITING!!! :-D

As you can see, I have changed my blog template. *gasp*

For a number of reasons, I decided that it was time to let my four-year-old template go. The new layout is still under construction, so I don't have everyone's blog links up yet - but don't worry, they'll be back eventually. :)

I'm also switching over to Blogger's built-in comments system, now that they allow pop-up comment boxes. None of the old comments will be viewable on this main page, but all of the July-and-earlier archives are still intact with the old template and the old comments system.

What do you guys think? :)

Great summer traditions:
- Jenny Lin Concert
- Deborah Groody's reunion dinner
- Music@Menlo (the Prelude Performances are free!)

Past summer traditions that should be revived:
- going to the zoo with Kari
- daily emailing/IMing with moo...sadly not possible anymore since I don't work in front of a computer (and he hasn't started his job yet)
- dancing...do I still know how to do that? :-P