Last night I had wild dreams. It was veritable parade of all of the people I have ever met in my life in quick succession. At times people transformed from one person to another while I was staring at them.

I woke up and my sore throat was gone. Blew my nose once and my sinuses were clear. Amazing, isn't it, what the human body can do?

(There was a moment I thought I was dying because my pee was red, but I think it was the beets I ate last night. Mmmm beets)

***

No pictures this week and not much to update. I left school frustrated and upset this week. The kids broke my chair and didn't listen to anything all day long. My feelings were hurt. I know it's not personal, but at a certain point when you take pride in what you do and your clients are just pooping all over it, it's hard not to feel upset. 

When I got home on Friday, Wonder by AJ Palacio was waiting for me. I opened it up and read the entire thing that afternoon. I love this book. I cried, I laughed, bla bla bla, but what I really did was think, "Oh my god Student A needs to read this because she has a brother with a disability" and "Student B needs to read this because he was homeschooled up to this year and kids were super not understanding about it" and "Student C needs to read this because I know she wants to do the right thing but is afraid of what her so-called friends will think" and so on and so forth. By the end of the book I decided that EVERY SINGLE ONE of my students needs to read this book. 

So yeah. I don't know how/when we're going to do it, but we are going to read this book. 

***

School related, but I have to write it down in case I forget someday.

One of my students on the autism spectrum (I have 6) didn't want to stay after school for tutoring. He's lower-functioning--has a debilitating speech impediment, low cognition, anger issues, and generally struggles with the day-to-day expectations of 6th grader. He did not want to stay after school because he didn't want to stay with some other kid or something. He has to stay after school because he is failing all of his classes and his mother requested it.

Anyway, he didn't want to stay after school and began throwing a fit. One of those fits. Screeching, hitting, banging, throwing, a real fit. 

His brother is Intellectually Disabled and in the self-contained classroom heard him across the hall. His brother, who will never be able to live by himself or hold a job or do much of anything, pulled him aside and said, "I am your older brother and I can't let you get in trouble at school. You can't get in trouble. You need to calm down. You need to make a good choice right now. I won't tell mom you got in trouble, but you need to stop."

I cried. Of course. How could you not? 

***

Food updates:

Banana bread disaster. Too dense and thick, slightly chemical tasting, which is strange because it was totally Real Food/WAPF/whatever. But not so good. Ate a few pieces and threw it out. Blerg.

On the pro side, this cabbage casserole recipe was very good. Perfectly spiced, excellent texture, not greasy, and then topped with melted cheese to boot. One commenter said that layered food just tastes better. Agreed, homeslice. Also second week in the row with the roasted beet/beet greens. I couldn't wait for the beets to get out of the oven--I ended up eating the greens right out of the pan. 

I also made popcorn on the stovetop for the first time ever. Why do people even bother with the microwave? The popcorn on the stove comes out perfectly seasoned and is the most fun to watch. I mean, do you guys ever think of how amazing it is that just a little heat and oil can turn something into something completely different?!

(Reminds me, I taught my students what an interrobang is this week. You're welcome, future teachers of these students)