Stupid Stapler!

It all started a few days ago, and I don't know who to blame it on yet. My students were turning in all their papers at the end of the quarter, using the stapler often to keep their many papers together. I have (had) two staplers: one was a slick black stapling machine, and the other is a stupid, old, brown, sticky, jam-easy contraption. Last Friday I went to staple a few papers together when I noticed my cherished black stapler was missing. I've looked for it for a few days now, and I can't find it anywhere. (Maybe it's in the ceiling with the markers my students put up there . . .) Anyway, today I was stapling a lot, and getting fed up with my old stapler that gets jammed every time I staple something, and only actually works 50% of the time. So naturally, I went to the supply room and retrieved a replacement for my nice stapler. This new stapler, shall I name him Stanley, looked promising. In its shiny, never-been-used condition, it worked like any stapler should. It opened and closed smoothly. Yes, very promising.
I grabbed some staples to put inside Stanley when it happened. Pure evil. I closed the lid of the stapler and suddenly, I had a staple in my FINGER! Not just like poking in a little, but like, flush with my skin. A STAPLE! My yearbook students were sort of gathered around me when it happened. I laughed and cried and laughed to put off the actual pain. It hurt real badly. I had to go watch a class for the teacher next door. They probably think I'm crazy (they probably thought that before) because I was laughing really hard, but really I was crying too. It only bled a little, and I soaked it in Hydrogen Peroxide (retrieved by to caring yearbook staff members) because who knows where that staple has been. Now its sensitive to the touch, like when you get your finger pricked while donating blood but ten times worse!

I guess it's been a hard few weeks for Olsen fingers. If you've seen my brother Bret's blog, you'll know what I mean. I guess my puncture wound pails in comparison to his 18 stitches and a nicked tendon, but it hurts. Bret said he was stupid, so I guess that makes me a moron. I mean really, who staples themselves on accident?

I wanted to take a picture of my owie, but there isn't much to see. The wound is in the middle of the red circle. I drew around it so you could at least tell where the entry occurred. Regardless, I had fun with my computer's camera. Enjoy laughing at my expense.

Halloween Fun

Halloween is so fun. I usually like to leave town and visit one of my brother's places to enjoy the little kids trick-or-treating, etc. this year, I stayed in town though, and it was kind of fun. On Friday night, I went to a party with my Creative Writing and Arts Club. We called it Poetry in the Dark (an knock-off of Poe in the Dark from Utah State). I wanted a cool place to have the party so we could decorate and lounge at our convenience. Instead we had it in my classroom. :) No, for real it was pretty cool. I took all the lamps I could find from the Brown's house and took them to my room. It created the perfect low light atmosphere. I got a light up pumpkin and some orange twinkly lights too. The room looked awesome. I pushed all the desks to the wall and brought in camp chairs to put in a circle. It was much more conducive to poetry reading. If only I could have built a fire. . .

My club members brought snacks and I put together some Ghoul-ade (purple and orange kool-aid and ginger ale) together over dry-ice inside a cauldron. Yeah, it was cool. We started by reading "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. Then my students took turns reading things they had written or scary stories they knew. It was awesome. After the chilling stories, we watched "The Three Amigos." I know it isn't very festive, but they have cool costumes, and I try my best to give my students some pop-culture in their lives. I am a teacher after all. All in all, it was a success, and hopefully a tradition we can carry into the future.

Halloween day didn't amount to much. I went to a piano recital for an adopted niece, Jennie, and then I spent the rest of the day grading papers. Yipee! The quarter ended Friday. 'Nuff said.




Kassie and I dressed up for Halloween. Kassie was a butterfly and I was a pirate. Kassie did my make-up (and hers). She's so talented. We didn't get one together because we weren't ever dressed up at the same time. I only got in this one pose of me before my camera died. So laugh if you will, it was fun.

Happy Halloween!