Over the Hedge

In our backyard, we have a hedge that separates US from THEM....we'll call it "Steve." Today Steve is getting a haircut and like my haircut, it is way WAY too short. Several feet of Steve is currently being whacked off and it appears that he will stand just a bit over 5 feet. So instead of admiring Steve (a beautiful wall of greenery), we will be privileged to look at the house behind us and a dilapidated apartment building several hundred feet off. Lovely. I feel so naked without our hedge.....and they've only gotten as far as our next door neighbors house! Hopefully, Steve grows quickly.

I must warn you now....I have a story to tell.....

Every morning I see a group of 4th graders for reading intervention. The group I had today responds well with humor, so to keep things lively and moving along I like to make jokes and be a little silly with them. So....I asked one of my students to tell me the time. She looks up and says that it is 9:15. I know this is incorrect because I only see them from 8:30 to 9:00 and I knew 45 minutes hadn't passed already. So I asked her again to check the time. She responds by telling me it is 8:15. At this point the rest of my students are cracking up because she is obviously not fully awake and in school mode yet...she of course realizes this too and starts laughing. Then I ask her if she needs some of my coffee to wake up. She says no because she doesn't drink it, so I praise her for making a good choice.....A few minutes pass by and I got really excited at something (I can't remember what) but that same girl says to me "Now Mrs. Taylor, I think you've had a little too much coffee!" This made me start laughing so hard I had to end class. This is one of the reasons I love teaching. Kids say the funniest things!