Wow what a week. I don't even know what I should or shouldn't tell. It's just been a whirlwind.
A big note - there is only about 10 weeks left in this whole year. I am so excited. But these next couple of weeks are just chock full so many different activities. I am having a bit of trouble keeping track of things. It might actually be stressing me out.
I pretty much have the semester planned out with the exception of finals week. I worked out what I want to do, now all I need to do is get everything created.
I am still trying to figure out what to do for Turkey day. No traveling for me and Silvio I think. A few free days of nothing would be fantastic.
My apologies for not being more descriptive. My brain is all sorts of scattered.
I did get the house all decorated for halloween. I am happy with the results. I don't have any plans for Halloween. I'll probably just hand out some candy and maybe see if there is any ghost hunters on tv.
Day 281
There is only one more week in the quarter. But the past couple of weeks have been rough. School has been presenting issues - not students but other things. The gamecocks lost. It was confirmed that I need to figure out some plans for a Kansas Turkey Day. There was a possibility that someone might return home early. But that is no longer even a likelihood. I guess Andy is super important.
Not sure how I will manage these upcoming holidays by myself. But the upside is there is about 11 more weeks left in this deployment.
Nothing else important to share. Watching the Black Cauldron. Also picked up Pete's Dragon which I haven't seen in forever. I can't wait to watch that one.
Not sure how I will manage these upcoming holidays by myself. But the upside is there is about 11 more weeks left in this deployment.
Nothing else important to share. Watching the Black Cauldron. Also picked up Pete's Dragon which I haven't seen in forever. I can't wait to watch that one.
Day 274
Week seven of the school year is over. It was unbelievably long and trying. I had to have several stern talks to my students - about grades and behavior. I also had some issues with professional work that I need complete this year. Needless to say I was a bit stressed out this week.
I met up with some friends on Friday evening to see Janis Ian. She is a folksinger from the '60s. A very controversial artist. Probably the most well known song of hers is "At Seventeen". I found the concert to be quite enjoyable and also very insightful. It is amazing to hear about how different life was like only 50 years ago. Not to mention it was nice to do something somewhat cultural. Next month, Spamlot is coming to town. I need to find out if I can get tickets.
Did you notice the day - 274? Nine months over and done with. Already have moved into the 10th month. Only a manageable number of weeks left until Andy gets home. I managed to get the rest of the semester's lessons finished. That means I can actually start enjoying some of my weekends. So I already have.
Right now I am watching Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray. It is really quite amazing. It reminds me of when I first watched it - except the animation seems soooo much crisper. I think that might go on a Disney movie watching kick again. I love Disney movies.
On the book front. I started reading Don't Take My Lemonade Stand. But I don't like it - just not my style. I guess I will just start on some of the other books that I have.
Only 2 more weeks until the end of the quarter...
I met up with some friends on Friday evening to see Janis Ian. She is a folksinger from the '60s. A very controversial artist. Probably the most well known song of hers is "At Seventeen". I found the concert to be quite enjoyable and also very insightful. It is amazing to hear about how different life was like only 50 years ago. Not to mention it was nice to do something somewhat cultural. Next month, Spamlot is coming to town. I need to find out if I can get tickets.
Did you notice the day - 274? Nine months over and done with. Already have moved into the 10th month. Only a manageable number of weeks left until Andy gets home. I managed to get the rest of the semester's lessons finished. That means I can actually start enjoying some of my weekends. So I already have.
Right now I am watching Beauty and the Beast on Blu-Ray. It is really quite amazing. It reminds me of when I first watched it - except the animation seems soooo much crisper. I think that might go on a Disney movie watching kick again. I love Disney movies.
On the book front. I started reading Don't Take My Lemonade Stand. But I don't like it - just not my style. I guess I will just start on some of the other books that I have.
Only 2 more weeks until the end of the quarter...
Day 267
Six weeks of school completed. Parent teacher conferences went well. It was quite a difference from last year's conferences. A bunch of parents that really care about what their kids are doing and where they are heading. That was refreshing.
The weekend was crazy. I thought I would get a chance to do some relaxing. Not really. Technology has decidedly thwarted me this weekend. I spend most of the time trying to set up a new computer once I found out that my laptop has a corrupted hard drive. Even the disk repair utility said it could not fix the laptop. It still runs though. It surprised the heck out of the Apple people that is was still running. So now I plan on running it as an actual laptop (it was just sitting around in one spot like a desktop normally would) until it dies.
It finally was nice and cold outside. I love change in weather. It means we are getting closer to the end of the year. Closer to Andy coming home. Silvio loves this weather too. He can make it through a long walk without crazy panting or nasal issues. Another refreshing experience.
As a mental note - I need to find a really great pair of gloves or mittens. I managed to find a somewhat warm pair of liner gloves. Now I need the outer layer. My fingers get absurdly icey cold. Anyone have any suggestions on really warm gloves?
The weekend was crazy. I thought I would get a chance to do some relaxing. Not really. Technology has decidedly thwarted me this weekend. I spend most of the time trying to set up a new computer once I found out that my laptop has a corrupted hard drive. Even the disk repair utility said it could not fix the laptop. It still runs though. It surprised the heck out of the Apple people that is was still running. So now I plan on running it as an actual laptop (it was just sitting around in one spot like a desktop normally would) until it dies.
It finally was nice and cold outside. I love change in weather. It means we are getting closer to the end of the year. Closer to Andy coming home. Silvio loves this weather too. He can make it through a long walk without crazy panting or nasal issues. Another refreshing experience.
As a mental note - I need to find a really great pair of gloves or mittens. I managed to find a somewhat warm pair of liner gloves. Now I need the outer layer. My fingers get absurdly icey cold. Anyone have any suggestions on really warm gloves?
Day 260
5 weeks of school over only 13 more to go. Week 6 looks to be the most energy consuming. Parent Teacher Conferences. Ugh. I really don't like spending all day at school only to get an hour off and then be back at school from 4:30 to 8:30 at night. Then do it again the next day. The only saving grace is the Friday we have off following the second evening of conferences.
Not much else to report. Almost done with the Mathematical Universe. My brother got me super cool stoneware that I wish I had more time to use. I spent some time putting together a package for Andy. I have not made one for him in a while. But I won't get to send it until Friday when I have off. It may just be the last package I have time to put together.
I have had run ins with lots of spiders lately. I am not talking the little kind. I'm talking 1+ inches kind. Thankfully, I have been the winner in all contests and contests have been outside not in the house. But I refuse to take any chances. Bug guys will be taking aim in just over a week to finally to ease my mind.
Lately, I have been getting these minor panic attacks - one over the spiders and the other over Kansas storms. I think the 90mph storm has set me off. Yesterday there was another bad storm at the start of the KSU game. For the entirety of the storm I was unable to function. I could not do any other tasks except fret about the storm. I think there is something really weird going on - not sure if it's hormonal, a side effect of deployment, or if I really have a problem. Only thing I know is that when we get orders to get out of here, I will definitely be a happy camper (that is no reflection of my not liking our house or actually liking the town here). Sorry double negative...
Probably won't hear from me until next weekend - after conferences. Who knows if I will even be able to think coherently then.
Not much else to report. Almost done with the Mathematical Universe. My brother got me super cool stoneware that I wish I had more time to use. I spent some time putting together a package for Andy. I have not made one for him in a while. But I won't get to send it until Friday when I have off. It may just be the last package I have time to put together.
I have had run ins with lots of spiders lately. I am not talking the little kind. I'm talking 1+ inches kind. Thankfully, I have been the winner in all contests and contests have been outside not in the house. But I refuse to take any chances. Bug guys will be taking aim in just over a week to finally to ease my mind.
Lately, I have been getting these minor panic attacks - one over the spiders and the other over Kansas storms. I think the 90mph storm has set me off. Yesterday there was another bad storm at the start of the KSU game. For the entirety of the storm I was unable to function. I could not do any other tasks except fret about the storm. I think there is something really weird going on - not sure if it's hormonal, a side effect of deployment, or if I really have a problem. Only thing I know is that when we get orders to get out of here, I will definitely be a happy camper (that is no reflection of my not liking our house or actually liking the town here). Sorry double negative...
Probably won't hear from me until next weekend - after conferences. Who knows if I will even be able to think coherently then.
Day 253
I have managed to survive the first four weeks of school. Tomorrow we embark on week number 5. But that means there are only 13 more weeks left in the fall semester. The fall semester is so short. But that is alright. It brings me closer to having Andy home.
I have had a busy weekend. Friday was particularly long. I had school all day with a painful cough. I came home to try to wrap up my grading. Did that and napped for about a half hour. Then jetted out for the football game. I saw a lot of students there. I think they find it amusing that I am there. After the homecoming game, I signed up to chaperon the homecoming fun night. Believe you me by 9:30 I was ready for bed not for 2 hours of blasting music/karoake/raffles. I didn't get home until after midnight. Yikes.
Saturday - I woke up feeling awful. Throat was not working properly. I vacuumed and dusted the whole house - which probably didn't help. I got up on the ladder again to change light bulbs. I can't wait til Andy is home and he can change the lightbulbs. I'm not a fan of the ladder. I went to mass which was nice. I saw a lot of familiar people there. I guess this place is becoming more like a home. Came home to a load of laundry. Fun
Today - got up a bit late - still with some throat issues. I can't tell if if is an actual sore throat or some awful case of allergies. I talked to Andy for a bit, made some beef soup, and then mapped out the rest of the semester. This year it seems so much easier to be prepared for my classes. Last year, I could not get more than 2 weeks ahead. Now I know where i am headed for 3 months. Maybe it is because i am familiar with the text and understand how to pace the students a bit better. You may ask why all the planning for the end of the semester. When Andy gets home, I would really appreciate having as much free time as possible with him. These hours put in planning now will turn out to be a godsend later when we want to take little trips when he comes home.
I did get a whole new batch of books in the mail. I am currently reading Mathematical Universe. Have up on the docket: Quantum Evolution, Don't Take Away My Lemonade Stand, The Tao of Physics, On Food and Cooking, and Euler's Gem (written by my honors thesis advisor at Dickinson - David Richeson). I am super excited about reading these books even though they may seem a little on the dry = academic side.
Catch ya later - I am hoping this week will be a breeze.
I have had a busy weekend. Friday was particularly long. I had school all day with a painful cough. I came home to try to wrap up my grading. Did that and napped for about a half hour. Then jetted out for the football game. I saw a lot of students there. I think they find it amusing that I am there. After the homecoming game, I signed up to chaperon the homecoming fun night. Believe you me by 9:30 I was ready for bed not for 2 hours of blasting music/karoake/raffles. I didn't get home until after midnight. Yikes.
Saturday - I woke up feeling awful. Throat was not working properly. I vacuumed and dusted the whole house - which probably didn't help. I got up on the ladder again to change light bulbs. I can't wait til Andy is home and he can change the lightbulbs. I'm not a fan of the ladder. I went to mass which was nice. I saw a lot of familiar people there. I guess this place is becoming more like a home. Came home to a load of laundry. Fun
Today - got up a bit late - still with some throat issues. I can't tell if if is an actual sore throat or some awful case of allergies. I talked to Andy for a bit, made some beef soup, and then mapped out the rest of the semester. This year it seems so much easier to be prepared for my classes. Last year, I could not get more than 2 weeks ahead. Now I know where i am headed for 3 months. Maybe it is because i am familiar with the text and understand how to pace the students a bit better. You may ask why all the planning for the end of the semester. When Andy gets home, I would really appreciate having as much free time as possible with him. These hours put in planning now will turn out to be a godsend later when we want to take little trips when he comes home.
I did get a whole new batch of books in the mail. I am currently reading Mathematical Universe. Have up on the docket: Quantum Evolution, Don't Take Away My Lemonade Stand, The Tao of Physics, On Food and Cooking, and Euler's Gem (written by my honors thesis advisor at Dickinson - David Richeson). I am super excited about reading these books even though they may seem a little on the dry = academic side.
Catch ya later - I am hoping this week will be a breeze.
Day 248
On a somewhat random note, I have stopped making big meals for myself and have returned to the microwave/prepared meal option. Yes, I still bring my lunchables - Deli Select kind, not that weird processed salt filled kind geared towards small children - with me to school for lunch. I try to make meals on the weekends but the weeknights have been unpredictable lately. I don't really have a set time to come home, or I am home early and spend 3 hours grading or whatever.
But I guess what is the thing that concerns me the most is that (and don't take this the wrong way) - I still lost a couple of pounds over the past 3.5 weeks. I am not sure if this can be attributed to no soda drinking, which by the way I don't even have a desire to drink anymore. Even Coke or Ginger Ale, my two favorites, just seem way to sugar -y. I don't know if it is stress or what. I do not even get the chance to workout on a regular basis.
Maybe I should go eat a package full of cookies or something. Yeah I could do that.
Other news - had a meeting with my second year mentor. I really like her. She is a bit on the busier side. But I feel like she is so much more down to earth and that I can talk to her about issues and things. I guess that is good because it counteracts my not so good experience with PLC this year. Other than that, I am still wavering as to what I should do for next year. I feel like I am such a better lecturer that I belong in a community college setting with office hours - but my students are so....much fun. Maybe that is a consequence of the fact that I sit on the weekend and evenings talking to Silvio all day. Their conversation is better than no adult conversations.
Ack wine makes my stream of consciousness just a little off. I need to take out the garbage and take Silvio for a walk.
Check in later.
But I guess what is the thing that concerns me the most is that (and don't take this the wrong way) - I still lost a couple of pounds over the past 3.5 weeks. I am not sure if this can be attributed to no soda drinking, which by the way I don't even have a desire to drink anymore. Even Coke or Ginger Ale, my two favorites, just seem way to sugar -y. I don't know if it is stress or what. I do not even get the chance to workout on a regular basis.
Maybe I should go eat a package full of cookies or something. Yeah I could do that.
Other news - had a meeting with my second year mentor. I really like her. She is a bit on the busier side. But I feel like she is so much more down to earth and that I can talk to her about issues and things. I guess that is good because it counteracts my not so good experience with PLC this year. Other than that, I am still wavering as to what I should do for next year. I feel like I am such a better lecturer that I belong in a community college setting with office hours - but my students are so....much fun. Maybe that is a consequence of the fact that I sit on the weekend and evenings talking to Silvio all day. Their conversation is better than no adult conversations.
Ack wine makes my stream of consciousness just a little off. I need to take out the garbage and take Silvio for a walk.
Check in later.
Day 245 - September 11, 2010
Wow. Has it really been 9 years since that fateful day?? I remember it like it was yesterday. I was living in a quad with Dana, Laurie, and Margaret at Dickinson. It was a Tuesday and I was getting ready for my Intro to Women's Studies course. We had the television on in our common room. The news was on. And all of a sudden it starts. I remember remarking that it was something straight out of a Tom Clancy novel. (Indeed the scene is just like one in a Tom Clancy novel.) It all happened so quickly. We head out to class but you can tell the mood was not normal as everyone gathered around talking before class started. Our professor came in to cancel class. Sometimes there are events that are so much more important than school. I remember walking to the HUB. Lots of students just watching the tv's there in shock. I remember calling home that day to see if my uncle was alright - while not in the towers, he was nearby.
Today I think of it from a slightly different angle. Coldblooded massacre - that has been the reason for the start of two wars, and two tours of duty in Iraq for Andy. I am heartbroken in more ways than one this year. It is unfortunate that tolerance is not the way of the world. It is still filled with hatred for those who are different. I am not sure if it will be a problem that will ever be resolved. One can only dream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a slightly happier note - I wrote up a whole bunch of lessons. So I am set through Chapter 2 - which brings me to the beginning of October. I think that I might have some issues with my PLC group this year. Last year was pretty good. Interesting topics. But we have added several other teachers to the group this year. It seems I have already been called out for not "participating enough" by one of these new members (not by name I assure you - generalization of the new/young teachers in the group). I eased the tension by stating that "while I don't speak up frequently, as a new teacher I am here absorbing all that wonderful knowledge you experienced teachers are sharing". It was enough to get a chuckle from the group. But I think I will be on this teacher's "list" from here on out.
I love love love my faucet. The sink seems so much bigger and I can move dishes and pots and pans freely.
Big Love to my new cousin Declan. He's a cutie pie.
Hurray - Gamecock win over Georgia! We are now 2 - 0.
Today I think of it from a slightly different angle. Coldblooded massacre - that has been the reason for the start of two wars, and two tours of duty in Iraq for Andy. I am heartbroken in more ways than one this year. It is unfortunate that tolerance is not the way of the world. It is still filled with hatred for those who are different. I am not sure if it will be a problem that will ever be resolved. One can only dream.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On a slightly happier note - I wrote up a whole bunch of lessons. So I am set through Chapter 2 - which brings me to the beginning of October. I think that I might have some issues with my PLC group this year. Last year was pretty good. Interesting topics. But we have added several other teachers to the group this year. It seems I have already been called out for not "participating enough" by one of these new members (not by name I assure you - generalization of the new/young teachers in the group). I eased the tension by stating that "while I don't speak up frequently, as a new teacher I am here absorbing all that wonderful knowledge you experienced teachers are sharing". It was enough to get a chuckle from the group. But I think I will be on this teacher's "list" from here on out.
I love love love my faucet. The sink seems so much bigger and I can move dishes and pots and pans freely.
Big Love to my new cousin Declan. He's a cutie pie.
Hurray - Gamecock win over Georgia! We are now 2 - 0.
Day 243
I am in a funk. I am not sure how else to explain it. I just feel like there are very few coworkers there I can relate to or have a decent conversation with. So I sit and hang in my room - I refuse to go to the Teacher's Lounge at lunch. I'll just end up talking smack about my students - and I am really trying this year not to think ill of them. As much as I try, it isn't working. Some of them are just not making a great impression on me (don't take that the wrong way - this year is better than last year by far when it comes to students). But I feel a little left out of the loop. Like I am not involved. Believe right now I have no desire to add an extra curricular activity to my list - but I just feel like I have no roots. No connections. No one there really gets the whole army thing and I don't have any kids.
I guess some of it is partially my fault. I don't go seek others out for company - I sit in my classroom and grade papers over lunch. But I try my very hardest to be happy smiley face and say good morning or good afternoon to everyone. I suppose I'm just way to quiet or boring to have lots of fellow teachers want to initiate a conversation.
It just feels really odd in comparison to the two years at Brookdale. I got to really know the ladies/gents I was working with and it happened fairly quickly. It was so easy to shoot the breeze. Maybe I just am not in the right environment. But we will leave those thoughts for another ponder-ance. Maybe a few months down the road...
I guess some of it is partially my fault. I don't go seek others out for company - I sit in my classroom and grade papers over lunch. But I try my very hardest to be happy smiley face and say good morning or good afternoon to everyone. I suppose I'm just way to quiet or boring to have lots of fellow teachers want to initiate a conversation.
It just feels really odd in comparison to the two years at Brookdale. I got to really know the ladies/gents I was working with and it happened fairly quickly. It was so easy to shoot the breeze. Maybe I just am not in the right environment. But we will leave those thoughts for another ponder-ance. Maybe a few months down the road...
Day 240 - Eight months down
I wrote most of this entry out before i realized today is 8 months completed. We got to start month number 9. I can't wait.
Sitting here watching the VT vs Boise state game. Finally taking some time to relax. The past two weeks have been crazy. It seems like such a long time.
School started and I must say it has been a step up from last year. No real behavior issues to speak off- except for my 7th hour which has end of the day-itis. I am excited about the year is some respects and in other not so much- lets just say I got comfortable staying home with Silvio . But it is nice to only have 1 class to prep for. Major difference this year is the fact that the students are doing homework. So i have about 100 pages of work to grade nearly everyday. Crazy. I want to change that but not sure how.
Birthday weekend has been okay. Birthday day was long and somewhat painful. I did not plan to spend all day at school. Oh well.
Up this week: short school week- thank goodness. I bought a new faucet ( pseudo birhday present for both me and Andy) so i need the plumber to come in this week to switch out the faucets. Andy got me a santoku knife which i cant wait to use- but our knife block doesnt have enough space for it. Trip to bed bath and beyond maybe. There is a cooking class this week but it is in Topeka. Don't think i want to deal with a 2 hour road trip on top of a long day at school.
Catch ya later.
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Day 236 - Celebrate...
Because it's my birthday. Yep. Another year older. Spent 80% of the day at school. Long day with the students - then the school's present to me was a shortened schedule for the parents to walk.
I feel weird dealing with parents. Because most of them appear to me like my parents. And I am sure more than one of them thinks - well who is this crazy gal who looks like a student teaching my kid. Just weirds me out. But I didn't get my head chewed off so i guess that is a good thing.
Technically I am now older than Andy. Does that make me a cougar for the next two months until his birthday?
I promise promise more entries. School has been crazy - better than last year but crazy. I have tons of phone calls to make back to people and I am so happy about all the facebook messages I got today. It makes me feel so loved even though I am out here in tornado country by myself.
Anyway, I have some last minute stuff to take care of - but I think I might just go to bed.
More entries to come....I swear.
I feel weird dealing with parents. Because most of them appear to me like my parents. And I am sure more than one of them thinks - well who is this crazy gal who looks like a student teaching my kid. Just weirds me out. But I didn't get my head chewed off so i guess that is a good thing.
Technically I am now older than Andy. Does that make me a cougar for the next two months until his birthday?
I promise promise more entries. School has been crazy - better than last year but crazy. I have tons of phone calls to make back to people and I am so happy about all the facebook messages I got today. It makes me feel so loved even though I am out here in tornado country by myself.
Anyway, I have some last minute stuff to take care of - but I think I might just go to bed.
More entries to come....I swear.
Day 227 - First Day of School
Here we go. Another school year has started. Not liking the fact that it starts on a Tuesday. At least it was a half day. I believe I was sufficiently meaner than last year and gave a lot of evil eyes today. I just need to continue the trend. Wednesday I will read them the riot act and then I need to stick to my guns and catch them early on. I already have my eye on a couple of them.
I don't want to jinx it - I think this year might be a lot better than last year. Granted I will have more work seeing as my class sizes have nearly doubled in size. My last hour class has 28 students. I only have 25 desks but we made it work.
It was neat to have a bunch of students wandering the halls who actually knew me and said hello. I actually felt like some of the other teachers - ones who know bunches of students.
I got a lot of compliments as well. I wore a skirt - SHOCKING. I did my hair nice - compared to wearing it back all year. One of the other teachers actually said I looked a lot thinner. Yey, thank you. I didn't think anyone would really notice. Since Andrew has left, I have lost about 7 pounds and now I am working to maintain that. Was very nice to hear.
I feel quite exhausted today even though I didn't do much.
Hey - I'll have visitors tomorrow and that makes me happy. The more intriguing thing will be if I manage to be awake when they get here.
I don't want to jinx it - I think this year might be a lot better than last year. Granted I will have more work seeing as my class sizes have nearly doubled in size. My last hour class has 28 students. I only have 25 desks but we made it work.
It was neat to have a bunch of students wandering the halls who actually knew me and said hello. I actually felt like some of the other teachers - ones who know bunches of students.
I got a lot of compliments as well. I wore a skirt - SHOCKING. I did my hair nice - compared to wearing it back all year. One of the other teachers actually said I looked a lot thinner. Yey, thank you. I didn't think anyone would really notice. Since Andrew has left, I have lost about 7 pounds and now I am working to maintain that. Was very nice to hear.
I feel quite exhausted today even though I didn't do much.
Hey - I'll have visitors tomorrow and that makes me happy. The more intriguing thing will be if I manage to be awake when they get here.
Day 225
I had some fantastic visitors this weekend. We had loads of fun. I did not get a chance to write about my cooking classes. Send me evil email messages - maybe sometime I'll actually be good about writing that post.
I was supposed to get a call from Andy today. Unfortunately, there was a communications blackout. That means there is a not so good incident that has occurred.
Tuesday marks the start of school. Ugh.
Right now I am really tired, need to walk Silvio, and then I plan on passing out. Our exciting weekend has left me with little to no energy.
I was supposed to get a call from Andy today. Unfortunately, there was a communications blackout. That means there is a not so good incident that has occurred.
Tuesday marks the start of school. Ugh.
Right now I am really tired, need to walk Silvio, and then I plan on passing out. Our exciting weekend has left me with little to no energy.
Day 222
I have not fallen off the face of the earth. My body was recovering from the clean up job from the storm and my brain has not been able to stay on one topic for longer than 30 seconds lately. It's amazing I am prepped as I am for school.
I want to write a post about the cooking classes I have been going to. They really are fun and if your local grocery store offers one you should really try going. I think this is a new trend because I don't remember there being supermarkets that did that a couple of years ago.
Silvio is mad at me. I had my first day back to be professionally developed. He was alone for the whole day. He has been giving me evil looks all night. Not that I blame him - I would rather have been at home the whole day today.
So no post tonight - maybe I will be coherent enough to write one tomorrow or over the weekend. Sorry.
I want to write a post about the cooking classes I have been going to. They really are fun and if your local grocery store offers one you should really try going. I think this is a new trend because I don't remember there being supermarkets that did that a couple of years ago.
Silvio is mad at me. I had my first day back to be professionally developed. He was alone for the whole day. He has been giving me evil looks all night. Not that I blame him - I would rather have been at home the whole day today.
So no post tonight - maybe I will be coherent enough to write one tomorrow or over the weekend. Sorry.
Day 216
Today's events are the reasons why I miss my husband.
At 11:30 am, a thunderstorm hit our area. Wind gusts of about 30 - 40 mph. I was actually quite excited for this one. It had cooled things down considerably - except that lasted all of 20 minutes. I did get worried enough that I brought our outdoor rocking chairs on the front porch inside the house. Thank the lord I did not put them back out.
At about 4:10 pm, the weather radio went. Thank goodness I got this new weather radio. I love it. It tells me a severe thunderstorm watch, then 2 minutes later it goes off again saying it has switched to a warning. The storm is noted as having 60 mph winds and quarter-size hail. As an observer of the weather, it is quite normal to be able to see most approaching storms coming from the west through our dining room window. Oh yes, weather radio you were right. There was a massive gray/black cloud. I give another minute - watching by the window. Then what seems like hell - breaks loose. I watch two cars pull onto our street and park. It's raining - more like pelting. My neighbor is outside on her deck trying to get something secure. I watch her swing set swings go nearly vertical. Small toys are being bounced along down the street. Another neighbors basketball hoop is down and has slid down their driveway and up the street about 7-8 feet. I look back to the dinning room window - branches, not from my trees - up in the air. 15 - 20 feet in the air, swirling. OH Shit! I won't even try to bleep that out. I run to the bedroom grab our emergency lantern, grab phone, and frantically start pulling down every blind in the house. I go to turn off the computer and at about 8:16 ~ 8:17, there is no need to worry because the computer is dead and all the lights are out. I make sure the front door is locked, grab my purse, Silvio's leash, a toy, phone, lantern, and scream at Silvio to follow me down the stairs. He's way out of it. I throw the stuff down in our workout room by our "safety" closet. (The "safety" closet - has all of Andrew's extra army gear - which is a lot, and I have added to it cases of bottled water, first aid kit, meals that are not canned, but don't need heat to eat.) Silvio is running up and down the stairs, I pick him up off the landing as I hear a massive boom as it shakes the house. I run into the workout room and plop on the floor. I watch through the underground window as rain, branches, and later hail come bouncing down. In the dark with our little lantern - you can hear the wind cause the windows to rattle, the walls to creak, and the thunder that shakes everything. More thanks to goodness, I chose to charge my phone last night. I had a full battery. Texting my mother. Who else would I call?? I estimate at 4:20 - 4:25 she tells me that there was an alert at 4:17 for quarter size hail and 80 mph winds. I reply that is hailing as we speak. At 4:34, she texts again, this time a better message, warning until 4:45, wind speeds clocked in excess of 90 mph at the Manhattan airport. The airport - shit. That is down the hill from me. The planes descend over our house all the time - it's so close you can make out all the windows in the aircraft. It isn't even a 2 minute drive from our house. Thanks - just give me the willies all over again. I notice through the underground window that the wind is starting to slow around 4:45. It's still raining like a crazy person so I come out a little into other areas of the basement. No damage down here. A little bit of water came in through the windows though because they are side opening. I decided to venture upstairs and everything is in tact. Again just a little water came through the side-sliding windows. I see my neighbors outside assessing - so I figure it is safe to do that same. Only one thing outside did not make it.
Our patio furniture. I assume it was lifted or dragged sideways about 20 - 30 feet into our neighbors yard. The glass top shattered. Not sure if any of the chairs are still in tact but thank goodness again, this time for Andy. He used a crazy (I say that now but really I'm so glad he did) reinforced metal cable to connect all of the chairs and table together. He then bought a 30 pound weight and connected to the table by means of the umbrella. No the umbrella was not attached but the metal bottom part was. So right now the table and chairs is one tangled mess - but all accounted for. I can't imagine what would have happened if they were still loose patio furniture. I'd probably be sobbing on the phone with our insurer right now. Here is an after picture:
It continued to rain for another half hour or so. Around 5:45 it had stopped raining. At a quarter to 7, the electricity turned back on. Thank you Westar for working so quickly. After I walked Silvio at 8, this is the sky view that we had:
Tomorrow is day to clean up and I think everyone in our neighborhood is glad nothing more than some patio furniture or loose gardening supplies had any damage. Everyone was safe.
So yes, today I miss Andy. Because my stress level has gone through the roof. I was going to have done a bunch of lesson planning but that doesn't help if it's dark, you have like no light, and your head is calculating the probability of the roof coming off your house. Andy would have kept me calm. Or more likely than not, he would have scared the crap out of me by going outside and checking the patio furniture or something crazy. But maybe not in this situation. But it would be sooo nice if he was here to help when I have to clean up this table and chairs. No idea where I will put them while I wait for garbage day to roll around.
Guess I can't complain, I'm still here with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight.
At 11:30 am, a thunderstorm hit our area. Wind gusts of about 30 - 40 mph. I was actually quite excited for this one. It had cooled things down considerably - except that lasted all of 20 minutes. I did get worried enough that I brought our outdoor rocking chairs on the front porch inside the house. Thank the lord I did not put them back out.
At about 4:10 pm, the weather radio went. Thank goodness I got this new weather radio. I love it. It tells me a severe thunderstorm watch, then 2 minutes later it goes off again saying it has switched to a warning. The storm is noted as having 60 mph winds and quarter-size hail. As an observer of the weather, it is quite normal to be able to see most approaching storms coming from the west through our dining room window. Oh yes, weather radio you were right. There was a massive gray/black cloud. I give another minute - watching by the window. Then what seems like hell - breaks loose. I watch two cars pull onto our street and park. It's raining - more like pelting. My neighbor is outside on her deck trying to get something secure. I watch her swing set swings go nearly vertical. Small toys are being bounced along down the street. Another neighbors basketball hoop is down and has slid down their driveway and up the street about 7-8 feet. I look back to the dinning room window - branches, not from my trees - up in the air. 15 - 20 feet in the air, swirling. OH Shit! I won't even try to bleep that out. I run to the bedroom grab our emergency lantern, grab phone, and frantically start pulling down every blind in the house. I go to turn off the computer and at about 8:16 ~ 8:17, there is no need to worry because the computer is dead and all the lights are out. I make sure the front door is locked, grab my purse, Silvio's leash, a toy, phone, lantern, and scream at Silvio to follow me down the stairs. He's way out of it. I throw the stuff down in our workout room by our "safety" closet. (The "safety" closet - has all of Andrew's extra army gear - which is a lot, and I have added to it cases of bottled water, first aid kit, meals that are not canned, but don't need heat to eat.) Silvio is running up and down the stairs, I pick him up off the landing as I hear a massive boom as it shakes the house. I run into the workout room and plop on the floor. I watch through the underground window as rain, branches, and later hail come bouncing down. In the dark with our little lantern - you can hear the wind cause the windows to rattle, the walls to creak, and the thunder that shakes everything. More thanks to goodness, I chose to charge my phone last night. I had a full battery. Texting my mother. Who else would I call?? I estimate at 4:20 - 4:25 she tells me that there was an alert at 4:17 for quarter size hail and 80 mph winds. I reply that is hailing as we speak. At 4:34, she texts again, this time a better message, warning until 4:45, wind speeds clocked in excess of 90 mph at the Manhattan airport. The airport - shit. That is down the hill from me. The planes descend over our house all the time - it's so close you can make out all the windows in the aircraft. It isn't even a 2 minute drive from our house. Thanks - just give me the willies all over again. I notice through the underground window that the wind is starting to slow around 4:45. It's still raining like a crazy person so I come out a little into other areas of the basement. No damage down here. A little bit of water came in through the windows though because they are side opening. I decided to venture upstairs and everything is in tact. Again just a little water came through the side-sliding windows. I see my neighbors outside assessing - so I figure it is safe to do that same. Only one thing outside did not make it.
Our patio furniture. I assume it was lifted or dragged sideways about 20 - 30 feet into our neighbors yard. The glass top shattered. Not sure if any of the chairs are still in tact but thank goodness again, this time for Andy. He used a crazy (I say that now but really I'm so glad he did) reinforced metal cable to connect all of the chairs and table together. He then bought a 30 pound weight and connected to the table by means of the umbrella. No the umbrella was not attached but the metal bottom part was. So right now the table and chairs is one tangled mess - but all accounted for. I can't imagine what would have happened if they were still loose patio furniture. I'd probably be sobbing on the phone with our insurer right now. Here is an after picture:
It continued to rain for another half hour or so. Around 5:45 it had stopped raining. At a quarter to 7, the electricity turned back on. Thank you Westar for working so quickly. After I walked Silvio at 8, this is the sky view that we had:
So yes, today I miss Andy. Because my stress level has gone through the roof. I was going to have done a bunch of lesson planning but that doesn't help if it's dark, you have like no light, and your head is calculating the probability of the roof coming off your house. Andy would have kept me calm. Or more likely than not, he would have scared the crap out of me by going outside and checking the patio furniture or something crazy. But maybe not in this situation. But it would be sooo nice if he was here to help when I have to clean up this table and chairs. No idea where I will put them while I wait for garbage day to roll around.
Guess I can't complain, I'm still here with both feet planted firmly on the ground. But I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight.
Day 214
Well I am starting to feel the crunch. I finished my required teacher float day in the building. I find it a little absurd with all the construction going on. Sometimes the network works, sometimes the air conditioning works, sometimes my stapler works... Yes I throw in the stapler because I spent an hour and half decorating a 5 x 4 bulletin board. This shouldn't be a hard task but the stapler inevitably would jam every third time I pressed down on it.
On the upside, my classroom is relatively ready to go - with the exception of my projector. I can get away with not using the first few days - but I need to scrounge up an extension cord (which disappeared sometime over the summer) and put the whole thing back together again. I spent today proofing my Expectations and Policies and its corresponding homework assignment. I mapped out the first few weeks - through the first chapter test. I plan on giving a pre-assessment to see if I will need to review how to solve linear equations and the like. I have one from last year that I gave to my Geometry class. I am pretty sure I could get away with giving both the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes the same pre-assessment. I need to go through it though and make some adjustments though. I'd really like to speed through the first chapter without hitting any major road bumps in both classes - it should help greatly. All that leaves left to do is actually write out some lessons for my Algebra 2 classes. Thankfully, I have a binder filled with every lesson I ever did last year in Geometry - including worksheets and notesheets I handed out. So score on not having to do work on that front. In that respect, this year should be infinitely easier than last year. I can bust out lessons like nobodies beeswax if need be plus this group of students should be able to handle doing homework out of the book. No more sitting at the copy machine every morning to make 60 copies of the homework.
I am intrigued by the Algebra 2 book. Almost like I was the Geometry book last year. I had not done any geometry in almost 10 years - since I took it in high school. The only thing I remember about it is having to explain things to the rest of the class because our teacher that year was :oP. I'll leave it at that. I don't remember much about Algebra 2 either - except that I took it with a teacher who was in fact shorter in stature than I was. God, that made me feel good. I know we learned about a whole bunch of different functions but that's about it. It will be neat to talk about lines, quadratics, polynomials, matrices, logs, exponentials, rational, radical, piecewise, inverse, conic sections, some probability, and some sequences and series. Hold Moly - did I say sequences and series? That should be fun - like calculus fun. Now that I write that all out - I have no idea how I will cover all of it. I guess I need to try to fit six topics into this very short 1st semester and the move like heck through the rest of it. Tomorrow starts the lesson writing insanity!
Other news - I'm pretty sure Silvio picked up a cold at this new place I boarded him at. His breathing sounds all "stuffy" like if you had a stuffy nose. Plus, his nose is running and that means he is creating these funny snot bubbles. Plus, he seems very tired and has shorter bouts of energetic running around. I might be calling up the vet if it doesn't improve. :o(
On the upside, my classroom is relatively ready to go - with the exception of my projector. I can get away with not using the first few days - but I need to scrounge up an extension cord (which disappeared sometime over the summer) and put the whole thing back together again. I spent today proofing my Expectations and Policies and its corresponding homework assignment. I mapped out the first few weeks - through the first chapter test. I plan on giving a pre-assessment to see if I will need to review how to solve linear equations and the like. I have one from last year that I gave to my Geometry class. I am pretty sure I could get away with giving both the Geometry and Algebra 2 classes the same pre-assessment. I need to go through it though and make some adjustments though. I'd really like to speed through the first chapter without hitting any major road bumps in both classes - it should help greatly. All that leaves left to do is actually write out some lessons for my Algebra 2 classes. Thankfully, I have a binder filled with every lesson I ever did last year in Geometry - including worksheets and notesheets I handed out. So score on not having to do work on that front. In that respect, this year should be infinitely easier than last year. I can bust out lessons like nobodies beeswax if need be plus this group of students should be able to handle doing homework out of the book. No more sitting at the copy machine every morning to make 60 copies of the homework.
I am intrigued by the Algebra 2 book. Almost like I was the Geometry book last year. I had not done any geometry in almost 10 years - since I took it in high school. The only thing I remember about it is having to explain things to the rest of the class because our teacher that year was :oP. I'll leave it at that. I don't remember much about Algebra 2 either - except that I took it with a teacher who was in fact shorter in stature than I was. God, that made me feel good. I know we learned about a whole bunch of different functions but that's about it. It will be neat to talk about lines, quadratics, polynomials, matrices, logs, exponentials, rational, radical, piecewise, inverse, conic sections, some probability, and some sequences and series. Hold Moly - did I say sequences and series? That should be fun - like calculus fun. Now that I write that all out - I have no idea how I will cover all of it. I guess I need to try to fit six topics into this very short 1st semester and the move like heck through the rest of it. Tomorrow starts the lesson writing insanity!
Other news - I'm pretty sure Silvio picked up a cold at this new place I boarded him at. His breathing sounds all "stuffy" like if you had a stuffy nose. Plus, his nose is running and that means he is creating these funny snot bubbles. Plus, he seems very tired and has shorter bouts of energetic running around. I might be calling up the vet if it doesn't improve. :o(
Day 210
210 days = 7 thirty-day months
That means there are only 5 thirty day months left in this deployment. Even better (or maybe worse) we are closing on in the school year starting up. Plus it is the fall semester and the fall semester is always shorter than the spring one. This should be flying by.
It doesn't mean that I feel good today. In fact we are celebrated today with an awful sinus headache (I really am allergic to Kansas) and body aches. It is definitely a curl up in a ball day - which I have done and will continue to do.
On the bright side, Silvio and I should have a few visitors this month. :o) Also, I signed up for a few cooking classes at the local Hyvee. I am very excited about this - as I am all things cooking.
Other big news - The No Crate Experiment has begun. Since returning from the wedding and baptism, I have ventured to allow Silvio to stay out of his crate while I leave the house to go on errands. We have worked our way to about 4 hours without being in the crate. I am proud to say I have returned home each time to find the house in tact. I hope we can keep this up during the school year. That also means if we get another pug puppy - I shouldn't need to buy a new crate - because Silvio can stay out and the new puppy can get crate trained.
Well, I can no longer sit in this computer chair, so I guess I am headed back to the curl up in a ball position.
That means there are only 5 thirty day months left in this deployment. Even better (or maybe worse) we are closing on in the school year starting up. Plus it is the fall semester and the fall semester is always shorter than the spring one. This should be flying by.
It doesn't mean that I feel good today. In fact we are celebrated today with an awful sinus headache (I really am allergic to Kansas) and body aches. It is definitely a curl up in a ball day - which I have done and will continue to do.
On the bright side, Silvio and I should have a few visitors this month. :o) Also, I signed up for a few cooking classes at the local Hyvee. I am very excited about this - as I am all things cooking.
Other big news - The No Crate Experiment has begun. Since returning from the wedding and baptism, I have ventured to allow Silvio to stay out of his crate while I leave the house to go on errands. We have worked our way to about 4 hours without being in the crate. I am proud to say I have returned home each time to find the house in tact. I hope we can keep this up during the school year. That also means if we get another pug puppy - I shouldn't need to buy a new crate - because Silvio can stay out and the new puppy can get crate trained.
Well, I can no longer sit in this computer chair, so I guess I am headed back to the curl up in a ball position.
Day 207 - Of a Girl and Her Brother's Hound Dog
My parents' new home is part of a community. You know, those communities that have age limits from below and do all the landscaping and snow shoveling for you. It just so happens that their backyard looks out onto a nice little pond. It is very peaceful. More peaceful than the road our back yard looks out to, but that is neither here nor there.
It has been a relatively quiet summer. Well, that is unless Murphy is howling. The picture above is Murphy, my brother's hound dog/beagle mix. I think he is more coon hound than beagle. Needless to say, the neighbors are okay with it - but sometimes the Murph-dog's howling can be a bit annoying.
Let us get to the juicy stuff. I was glad Murphy is staying with my parents. Why not my brother? Well, Murphy is there to participate in the Parental Unit run Dog Weight-loss Summer Camp. By the way, it has been quite effective. I felt so horrible leaving Silvio at some other boarding place it felt good to have another dog around.
While I was there, the Canadian geese arrived at the pond. There were a total of 23 of them. They arrived mid-morning on the day of my goddaughter's christening. We returned from the christening to find that the geese had made themselves at home. They were eating and pooping and swimming and pooping. Doing whatever they please. This large group had separated into a group of 17 and a group of 6 on opposite ends of the pond.
After feeding Murphy, I take him for a walk out back. He howled. He crouched down as if he was going to attack. Then he gave 3 more howls. The group of 17 began flapping their wings and took off. I noticed the 6 geese that were left over on the other side of the pond. They apparently did not pay much attention to their friends leaving. So I ask Murphy if he wants to get those last stragglers. He gives me that look that says - yeah, lemme at 'em. We start to run around the edge of the pond. The remaining geese start to get anxious. Honking ensues and they begin to move in the opposite direction as we make our way closer. Two howls and the remainder of the geese take off.
The neighbors come out applauding. Murphy, we knew that barking would be good for something.
But the next day a new group descends onto the pond. A small group of about 14 geese. We wait until the afternoon to go for round two. This time we had a little help. Since the neighbors had noticed how well Murphy had done yesterday, there was another dog, Muffin, already out walking around the pond. So these geese were already a little on edge - moving in the opposite direction of where Muffin was. Murphy makes his way outside giving a few barks. These geese seem less intimidated. Muffin moves around to our side of the pond and all of a sudden the geese make a beeline to the opposite side of the pond. We leave them for few minutes. Then we walk, Murph dog being very interested, towards the new goose position. I imitate a howl and the geese all turn their heads at me. One even stands on a rock and starts flapping his wings like get out of here girl. But it was just enough to set Murphy off into his stance and three long howls. Bye bye Geese.
It was so great to Murphy in action. I've never really seen a dog doing anything remotely close to what they are bred for except on television. It was exhilarating. I almost wish I could take a class on how to give them commands. I think Murphy would seriously enjoy doing that sort of work. It really isn't something I would expect Silvio to be able to do. But I love my Silvio. It was just a special time with me and Murphy.
Day 206 - A Wedding and A Baptism
I just returned from my last trip of the summer. Maybe even for the whole year unless I work out something for the holidays. Back to the recap.
I headed back to NJ for a very old family friends' wedding. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Given the fact that it is hot everywhere this year, the bride and groom lucked out and got a day with very little humidity and no blistering sun. The colors were great. I never would have thought of black and yellow. But it was perfect. The ceremony was sweet. It reminded me of my wedding. It was not so long ago. I missed Andy even more. But you can't cry at a wedding because you miss your husband. So I dialed on the charm and took out the camera. It was great to be back home with family and with friends who are so much like family. There was dancing, food, drinks, and lots of fun.
Then that very next day we all trekked out for my goddaughter's christening. It was such a personal ceremony. I am so glad that I get a chance to be part of this little one's life. I may be far away - which is a pain *thanks army* - but she is always in my heart.
My only wish really - to be closer to all the people that I love so much.
I headed back to NJ for a very old family friends' wedding. The day was absolutely gorgeous. Given the fact that it is hot everywhere this year, the bride and groom lucked out and got a day with very little humidity and no blistering sun. The colors were great. I never would have thought of black and yellow. But it was perfect. The ceremony was sweet. It reminded me of my wedding. It was not so long ago. I missed Andy even more. But you can't cry at a wedding because you miss your husband. So I dialed on the charm and took out the camera. It was great to be back home with family and with friends who are so much like family. There was dancing, food, drinks, and lots of fun.
Then that very next day we all trekked out for my goddaughter's christening. It was such a personal ceremony. I am so glad that I get a chance to be part of this little one's life. I may be far away - which is a pain *thanks army* - but she is always in my heart.
My only wish really - to be closer to all the people that I love so much.
Day 200
Go us!!! 200 days since Andrew has deployed. Only about 5 more months to go. Silvio and I can make it easy. Why?
Because starting next month, school kicks in. The days and the weeks fly by. I will try to be a bit more active with after - school activities. Root on my students in whatever they are doing.
I will attend cooking classes at our local grocery store. I am super excited about this. It may only be 2 times a month but I am sure I will have some yummy tidbits to disperse to everyone.
I will be trying to complete my knitting project - it went on hold as we hit the summer.
I will spend some time trying to learn a new language.
Other big news -
I completed Lego Harry Potter. Well, sort of. I managed to complete all the stages, but I have not unlocked all the characters, spells or other neat stuff. The game tells me I have 50% complete. Go me.
Stay Cool!
Because starting next month, school kicks in. The days and the weeks fly by. I will try to be a bit more active with after - school activities. Root on my students in whatever they are doing.
I will attend cooking classes at our local grocery store. I am super excited about this. It may only be 2 times a month but I am sure I will have some yummy tidbits to disperse to everyone.
I will be trying to complete my knitting project - it went on hold as we hit the summer.
I will spend some time trying to learn a new language.
Other big news -
I completed Lego Harry Potter. Well, sort of. I managed to complete all the stages, but I have not unlocked all the characters, spells or other neat stuff. The game tells me I have 50% complete. Go me.
Stay Cool!
Day 198
Just some random thoughts for today.
I started to get to work for the upcoming school year. Started is the important word. Updated my gradebook, expectations and policies, and signed up for wikispaces. I think a couple of weeks is more than enough time to get it up and running. I feel like I can do it now. I'm ready to work - or more aptly stated - get to work.
I learned something while reading What Einstein Told His Cook. Ever wonder how M&M's melt in your mouth and not in your hand? While at room temperature the chocolate is nice and hard. It melts in your mouth because the fat in the chocolate will melt at just below your body temperature. How crazy is that? You know if my chemistry course at school was more like Cooking Chemistry. I would have loved it.
Acura came out with a new commercial. See below:
Reminds me of my physics research project. Ah the old college days.
I started to get to work for the upcoming school year. Started is the important word. Updated my gradebook, expectations and policies, and signed up for wikispaces. I think a couple of weeks is more than enough time to get it up and running. I feel like I can do it now. I'm ready to work - or more aptly stated - get to work.
I learned something while reading What Einstein Told His Cook. Ever wonder how M&M's melt in your mouth and not in your hand? While at room temperature the chocolate is nice and hard. It melts in your mouth because the fat in the chocolate will melt at just below your body temperature. How crazy is that? You know if my chemistry course at school was more like Cooking Chemistry. I would have loved it.
Acura came out with a new commercial. See below:
Reminds me of my physics research project. Ah the old college days.
Day 197 - A Day for the Dogs
For the Weener dogs, that is. Silvio and I invaded went behind enemy lines to check out the Weenie Dog Races.
Silvio was so happy to get outside. He could hardly contain himself. All eyes were on him. Everyone was so surprised to see a pug dog. Silvio got lovin' from all corners - little kids, big kids, adults, grandparents, and even the Weener dogs!
Silvio participated in the Mutt Strut. Sorry no pictures because Mom took the walk with him. After all that OOOing and AHHHing, we needed to find a spot to watch the exciting races. Silvio thought this spot was perfect.
Always thinking ahead that dog. We had such a fun day, but it started to get really hot. Even though we wanted to stay for the contests (biggest, smallest, best dressed), we decided to hightail it out of there. Tail...hahah.
I wonder if Silvio will have made it onto any news or radio station websites. Lots of people around taking lots of pictures.
Silvio was so happy to get outside. He could hardly contain himself. All eyes were on him. Everyone was so surprised to see a pug dog. Silvio got lovin' from all corners - little kids, big kids, adults, grandparents, and even the Weener dogs!
Silvio participated in the Mutt Strut. Sorry no pictures because Mom took the walk with him. After all that OOOing and AHHHing, we needed to find a spot to watch the exciting races. Silvio thought this spot was perfect.
Always thinking ahead that dog. We had such a fun day, but it started to get really hot. Even though we wanted to stay for the contests (biggest, smallest, best dressed), we decided to hightail it out of there. Tail...hahah.
I wonder if Silvio will have made it onto any news or radio station websites. Lots of people around taking lots of pictures.
Day 194 - Cause it is never to early to think about your birthday or Christmas...
or another wonderful title:
How Not to prepare a new course for the upcoming school year.
For some reason I can not peel myself away from my personal computer to work on my school computer. In all honesty, I have a month to start prepping for a totally new course that I will be teaching next year. Thank goodness, I have all my geometry work from last year. I just need to edit it, because these students might actually do the work out of their textbooks this year. If they actually do homework, I might actually have things to discuss with them rather than blank stares for a majority of the day.
Anyway back to the task at hand. It is just about 5 weeks from my birthday - too bad it does not actually fall on Labor Day then it would seem like a holiday. Not far down the road is Christmas, yikes. There do happen to be some items that I would love to have - in no particular order:
There you have it. I successfully managed to stay away from my school computer for a good hour.
How Not to prepare a new course for the upcoming school year.
For some reason I can not peel myself away from my personal computer to work on my school computer. In all honesty, I have a month to start prepping for a totally new course that I will be teaching next year. Thank goodness, I have all my geometry work from last year. I just need to edit it, because these students might actually do the work out of their textbooks this year. If they actually do homework, I might actually have things to discuss with them rather than blank stares for a majority of the day.
Anyway back to the task at hand. It is just about 5 weeks from my birthday - too bad it does not actually fall on Labor Day then it would seem like a holiday. Not far down the road is Christmas, yikes. There do happen to be some items that I would love to have - in no particular order:
- A new kitchen faucet. When Andy is home he does most of the washing but I do help now and again. The faucet the builder's installed is totally useless. It is only 3 inches above the sink - so no tall pots and pans fit. Plus the reach is less than 5 inches. So I can only reach a portion of whatever needs to be clean. Would totally love a faucet like this Gerber one. It has a higher clearance- hurray for the sauce pot fitting in the sink and a detachable hose so I can get those hard to reach places. Only major issue - I have no idea how to install one. But it would totally make my day.
- A different camera case. Don't get me wrong I love my Lowepro. Simple fact is - with only one strap, I tend to get some massive shoulder/back issues when I carry it all day - like I did in Disney. My solution - a Lowepro beltpack. Okay, so it looks a lot like a fanny pack. Sue me. It won't weigh down my shoulders and back. Plus I like to think my hips can handle that sort of weight so it would be a win win situation.
- My neighbors to grow a lawn. It just isn't pretty to look at.
- EDIT (I totally forgot this): A large 9 or 13 qt Le Creuset pot. I would love to try making sauce in it. I'll leave it at that right now. If someone wanted to replace my entire cooking set with Le Creuset cook and bake ware, I would be in heaven. Any takers???
- For the hubby to come home, that would be an awesome birthday present. Not going to happen though.
- An Ipad - with the new OS4 loaded on it. Why? So I am not playing my fun games on my Iphone and using up all of it's juice. Two, I love books - but we literally have no more bookshelf space. It isn't my fault that one whole shelf is filled with 3 copies of Harry Potter (hardback, softcover, and UK version). The others are filled with childhood and my other favorite books. No space for those great beach-y reads. Plus, I then have to sell them back due to the lack of space - even if i would think about keeping them. I think a great idea would be to have another library of books on the ipad for vacations and such. Plus, ebooks are cheaper than buying hardcover new books. Lastly, I would like a little portability. I hate being chained into the office to be online.
- Both a 5 inch and 7 inch Santoku Knife. I think this would be great for our knife collection - there are really only 3 knives that I use on a consistent basis. The rest are dead to me. Plus, we don't really have a cutlery set. We just have a bunch of mixed up knives.
There you have it. I successfully managed to stay away from my school computer for a good hour.
Day 193 - Juicy Genetics
Like the alliteration? I guess it isn't quite alliteration in the spelling sense but phonetically yes.
Yes, I have juicy genetics. Where in the heck am I taking this? My skin has always had a way of calling mosquitoes to it. When I was younger, it was not a big deal. Yes I got lots of bug bites but nothing to serious. But I have noticed since I moved to South Carolina four years ago this "situation" has become increasingly worse. This summer has been horrible. I stayed out late for a July 4th barbeque and the next morning awoke to a myriad of bites ranging in size from tiny to nearly 3 inches in diameter. Besides the fact that I wanted to scratch them like crazy the larger ones are hot to touch and somewhat painful. Solarcaine is mildly helpful - combating the heat with cooling effects - but for the large "welts" it needs to be applied almost every hour and half to even get me to stop thinking about wanting to rip part of my skin off my body.
I managed to get over this happening only to stupidly walk Silvio late one evening in shorts. Bingo - yesterday the welts appeared. Seeing as I didn't learn my lesson before, I put Solarcaine on the irritated areas before bed. Needless to say, someone did not sleep well. Today, as the welts seemed to get larger, I decided on a new plan of attack. Enter Lanacane. Almost immediately, that tingling need to scratch my legs off was gone. More surprisingly, it has lasted nearly 10 hours and seemed to reduce some of the swelling. It did not however take away the heat. But who cares if I am not scratching every three seconds.
What have we learned: For the rest of the summer, it appears I must now walk Silvio clothed from head to toe to avoid bug bites. This should be so much fun!!! Then slather on the Lanacane to stop the itching. Finally, I am the biggest baby ever!
Other news: It has been raining since about 5:30 this evening. I am going to be pissed off if my neighbor tries to blame tomorrow's mudpit on my yard.
Yes, I have juicy genetics. Where in the heck am I taking this? My skin has always had a way of calling mosquitoes to it. When I was younger, it was not a big deal. Yes I got lots of bug bites but nothing to serious. But I have noticed since I moved to South Carolina four years ago this "situation" has become increasingly worse. This summer has been horrible. I stayed out late for a July 4th barbeque and the next morning awoke to a myriad of bites ranging in size from tiny to nearly 3 inches in diameter. Besides the fact that I wanted to scratch them like crazy the larger ones are hot to touch and somewhat painful. Solarcaine is mildly helpful - combating the heat with cooling effects - but for the large "welts" it needs to be applied almost every hour and half to even get me to stop thinking about wanting to rip part of my skin off my body.
I managed to get over this happening only to stupidly walk Silvio late one evening in shorts. Bingo - yesterday the welts appeared. Seeing as I didn't learn my lesson before, I put Solarcaine on the irritated areas before bed. Needless to say, someone did not sleep well. Today, as the welts seemed to get larger, I decided on a new plan of attack. Enter Lanacane. Almost immediately, that tingling need to scratch my legs off was gone. More surprisingly, it has lasted nearly 10 hours and seemed to reduce some of the swelling. It did not however take away the heat. But who cares if I am not scratching every three seconds.
What have we learned: For the rest of the summer, it appears I must now walk Silvio clothed from head to toe to avoid bug bites. This should be so much fun!!! Then slather on the Lanacane to stop the itching. Finally, I am the biggest baby ever!
Other news: It has been raining since about 5:30 this evening. I am going to be pissed off if my neighbor tries to blame tomorrow's mudpit on my yard.
Day 192 - Lawn Maintenance Mayhem
Long story short - we have spent the past year desperately trying to grow a meaningful lawn without forking over thousands of dollars for sod. Right now we have a lawn that some would say is nice - it still has patches of grass-less space. But if you look from far away, it does not look half bad.
According to our landscape professionals, in normal weather we would only need about 30 minutes of watering twice a week. Unfortunately this is not normal weather and the grass minimally needs about one hour's worth of water 3 times a week. Now watering for an hour is silly - the ground saturates to quickly and will not absorb the water it so desperately needs. To combat this problem and still get an hour's worth of water, we have set our cycle of zones to run twice. It runs through zone 1 - 5, and about a half hour after zone 5 finishes, the whole thing starts over again. All this is done early in the morning while it is still cool (who calls nearly 80 degree weather cool at 2 am?) so that the grass can grow deep roots and suck up as much water as possible.
Enter the only true neighbor we have. They moved in about 9 months ago. We have had our sprinkler and drainage plan going since they have moved in. This weekend though our lawn maintenance is no longer OK. Our neighbor's lot has NO grass, it barely has weeds. It is - for all intents and purposes a large mud pit. They are trying to get grass growing in their lot and now it is our issue that their dirt is "wet" and they can't get the grass to grow. Without pointing out the obvious facts, trying to get grass to germinate in 90+ degree weather is nigh impossible (we tried last summer), the fact I have no control over when it rains and your "yard" becomes a mudbath, and I can't control the wind so that it doesn''t blow some of the water onto your lot, I tried very hard to be civil. I tried to explain how I understood what was happening - we had the same issue - we live on a hill. If it rains, where is this dirt supposed to go except down the hill? I said I would check with our lawn care people about what if anything we can do.
Enter lawn care guy. He confirmed the fact that yes, we do live on a hill so any sort of water is going to drain down the hill through the neighbor's lot. There is almost nothing they can do to change that fact. He then proceeded to say - we can't not water your lawn. If we stop watering, we have dead grass, which means nothing is holding the dirt in place, which means more mud in the neighbors lot. He checked the sprinkler heads, which are in order and the program, which is appropriate for the weather we have been having. The only thing he said we could do is reduce the percentage of water coming out of the heads by 25%. So we made the adjustment and after a week I need to check back in with him.
Now, I have to inform the neighbors of what I am doing to HELP their situation. On one level, I am sympathetic. I know how hard it is to grow the grass - we are still in that process. But it isn't our fault that our neighbor's are unable to get their grass to germinate. At what point do I throw my hands up and say I've done all I have done??? Personally - being the mean person I am, I think adjusting my already minimal watering scheme (I don't even water every day of the week) is more than enough. We didn't have any neighbors come out and help our lawn situation. Neither has anyone else in the development - even the people at the bottom of the hill who bit the bullet and sodded their entire lot to stop the mud movement.
I refuse to believe that their mud issue is totally our sprinkler issue. It has been fine for the past 9 months - why now? My personal belief is that the city is sending them nasty letters, which by the way - we got and had to deal with as well. Other people in the development have as well. Their code violation is that the city requires you have a lawn in by a year of residing in your home.
If it isn't clear, this whole situation is bugging the living daylights out of me. I find it hard to be in the house and try to prepare for the next school year with this hanging over my head. I want to have the confidence that I will handle it civilly and not become a total *itch. At what point can I say I have done all I can to help your situation but there is nothing else I can do about it. Neighbors - you need to deal with your problem yourselves - we didn't have any help and we have been more than generous.
Ugh, rock and hard place. But at least yesterday and today I reorganized all the stuff in 2 closets, a desk, and 2 nightstands. Here's to hoping I can do some brain work tomorrow, if not, I'm not sure what else is left in this house to clean or organize.
According to our landscape professionals, in normal weather we would only need about 30 minutes of watering twice a week. Unfortunately this is not normal weather and the grass minimally needs about one hour's worth of water 3 times a week. Now watering for an hour is silly - the ground saturates to quickly and will not absorb the water it so desperately needs. To combat this problem and still get an hour's worth of water, we have set our cycle of zones to run twice. It runs through zone 1 - 5, and about a half hour after zone 5 finishes, the whole thing starts over again. All this is done early in the morning while it is still cool (who calls nearly 80 degree weather cool at 2 am?) so that the grass can grow deep roots and suck up as much water as possible.
Enter the only true neighbor we have. They moved in about 9 months ago. We have had our sprinkler and drainage plan going since they have moved in. This weekend though our lawn maintenance is no longer OK. Our neighbor's lot has NO grass, it barely has weeds. It is - for all intents and purposes a large mud pit. They are trying to get grass growing in their lot and now it is our issue that their dirt is "wet" and they can't get the grass to grow. Without pointing out the obvious facts, trying to get grass to germinate in 90+ degree weather is nigh impossible (we tried last summer), the fact I have no control over when it rains and your "yard" becomes a mudbath, and I can't control the wind so that it doesn''t blow some of the water onto your lot, I tried very hard to be civil. I tried to explain how I understood what was happening - we had the same issue - we live on a hill. If it rains, where is this dirt supposed to go except down the hill? I said I would check with our lawn care people about what if anything we can do.
Enter lawn care guy. He confirmed the fact that yes, we do live on a hill so any sort of water is going to drain down the hill through the neighbor's lot. There is almost nothing they can do to change that fact. He then proceeded to say - we can't not water your lawn. If we stop watering, we have dead grass, which means nothing is holding the dirt in place, which means more mud in the neighbors lot. He checked the sprinkler heads, which are in order and the program, which is appropriate for the weather we have been having. The only thing he said we could do is reduce the percentage of water coming out of the heads by 25%. So we made the adjustment and after a week I need to check back in with him.
Now, I have to inform the neighbors of what I am doing to HELP their situation. On one level, I am sympathetic. I know how hard it is to grow the grass - we are still in that process. But it isn't our fault that our neighbor's are unable to get their grass to germinate. At what point do I throw my hands up and say I've done all I have done??? Personally - being the mean person I am, I think adjusting my already minimal watering scheme (I don't even water every day of the week) is more than enough. We didn't have any neighbors come out and help our lawn situation. Neither has anyone else in the development - even the people at the bottom of the hill who bit the bullet and sodded their entire lot to stop the mud movement.
I refuse to believe that their mud issue is totally our sprinkler issue. It has been fine for the past 9 months - why now? My personal belief is that the city is sending them nasty letters, which by the way - we got and had to deal with as well. Other people in the development have as well. Their code violation is that the city requires you have a lawn in by a year of residing in your home.
If it isn't clear, this whole situation is bugging the living daylights out of me. I find it hard to be in the house and try to prepare for the next school year with this hanging over my head. I want to have the confidence that I will handle it civilly and not become a total *itch. At what point can I say I have done all I can to help your situation but there is nothing else I can do about it. Neighbors - you need to deal with your problem yourselves - we didn't have any help and we have been more than generous.
Ugh, rock and hard place. But at least yesterday and today I reorganized all the stuff in 2 closets, a desk, and 2 nightstands. Here's to hoping I can do some brain work tomorrow, if not, I'm not sure what else is left in this house to clean or organize.
Day 190
Now, I am not the first one to run around and flaunt my Roman Catholicism. But I went to Mass today. It felt good and added bonus I thought the Gospel reading was really a message for me. Even better the Gospel was only 5 verses long. So what touched me? Well, here is the reading -
Besides that fact then when I heard it, the priest said "Martha, Martha" as if he was saying Marsha Marsha Marsha from the Brady Bunch, i feel that I am anxious and troubled. I am constantly running around to make sure things are ready to go. Even more so during this deployment. I feel that the running of the household is creating a wave of insanity in me. I need to make time to just rest. Relax. Maybe is Jesus was more hip he would say Chill-ax Martha. Don't worry so much.
So what am I going to do about it. Well, knowing me - I will constantly have vexations about anything and everything. But I need to make sure that I make some time each day to just chill out. Lately this has been occurring in the evening while I play Lego Harry Potter (trust me my summer days have been filled with lots of cleaning, reorganizing and then reorganizing some more). I just need to carry this attitude through the school year. Just stop doing work in the evening and Chill Out!
HAHA see how long that lasts.
Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; one thing is needful. Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her."
Besides that fact then when I heard it, the priest said "Martha, Martha" as if he was saying Marsha Marsha Marsha from the Brady Bunch, i feel that I am anxious and troubled. I am constantly running around to make sure things are ready to go. Even more so during this deployment. I feel that the running of the household is creating a wave of insanity in me. I need to make time to just rest. Relax. Maybe is Jesus was more hip he would say Chill-ax Martha. Don't worry so much.
So what am I going to do about it. Well, knowing me - I will constantly have vexations about anything and everything. But I need to make sure that I make some time each day to just chill out. Lately this has been occurring in the evening while I play Lego Harry Potter (trust me my summer days have been filled with lots of cleaning, reorganizing and then reorganizing some more). I just need to carry this attitude through the school year. Just stop doing work in the evening and Chill Out!
HAHA see how long that lasts.
Day 188
I will not apologize for my lack of updates this time. My weirdness about being secure on the internet won this bout. There were no posts because Silvio and I went on our massive roadtrip. We would like to thank all of our friends and family for taking time out of their schedules and let us invade their homes. We are so grateful for your kindness.
Some things we learned on our road trip:
I think that sums it all up. I did learn that it would be super awesome if my car could act like a huge telephone. So we are going to get that situation fixed. Then I can talk to people while I'm driving. Super excited about that.
Other than that - we have past the half way mark and hopefully only have about 5 more months to go. Yippee!! Unfortunately I only have about a month left to prep for the start of school next year. Keep your fingers crossed.
Some things we learned on our road trip:
- Fort Leonard Wood really should be named Fort Lost-in-the-Woods.
- It is baby season. Congratulations Ladies!
- Going on a distillery tour in 90+ degree heat/humidity does not make bourbon taste any better.
- Silvio is not at all an interesting road trip buddy. He just falls asleep the whole time.
- Toy Story 3 in 3D was an intense movie. I am serious.
- I wouldn't mind moving back to South Carolina - the beaches, the people...
- It doesn't matter what shoes I wear, I will manage to injure my feet.
- After going through a bunch of stuff from my parents move, I really did save some odd, sentimental, and totally hilarious stuff from when I was younger.
- I am not a fan of Nestle fruit flavored water.
- My in-laws are really kind people, but they have some wacky kitties.
- I love taking pictures of butterflies.
- Joey Fatone (NSync) is actually a decent actor.
- Silvio and Anthony love cupcakes. Anthony likes to hold them and Silvio likes to eat them.
- Our country is amazing and beautiful. It is too darn bad I can't drive and take fancy pictures at the same time.
- Being back home in Kansas, really isn't all that bad.
I think that sums it all up. I did learn that it would be super awesome if my car could act like a huge telephone. So we are going to get that situation fixed. Then I can talk to people while I'm driving. Super excited about that.
Other than that - we have past the half way mark and hopefully only have about 5 more months to go. Yippee!! Unfortunately I only have about a month left to prep for the start of school next year. Keep your fingers crossed.
Day 161
Mad. I spent all that time in Florida not to far from Universal Studios. Why did they not have the decency to open up the Harry Potter Wizarding World 3 days earlier when I was there? Clearly - big fan right here. I did not want to be taunted by Daniel Radcliffe on Fox News this morning talking about the park and all the rides and the buildings. I am Bitter. Yes, it needs the capital B.
In another side note, I am thinking about applying for an assistant coaching position with the cross country team. I'm horribly out of shape and have an awful knee, but that does not erase 3 years of running in high school - earning 5 varsity letters, and 2 years of running cross country at one of the best division 3 colleges in the country. Does that sound good enough for my letter? Do you think Silvio will be mad if I am not around all the time to play with him? Even better do you think he has the stuff to be a team mascot?
In another side note, I am thinking about applying for an assistant coaching position with the cross country team. I'm horribly out of shape and have an awful knee, but that does not erase 3 years of running in high school - earning 5 varsity letters, and 2 years of running cross country at one of the best division 3 colleges in the country. Does that sound good enough for my letter? Do you think Silvio will be mad if I am not around all the time to play with him? Even better do you think he has the stuff to be a team mascot?
Day 159
First day back from my Disney trip a la 2010. I have loads of little things that I need to get done. But that is besides the point.
I left on Wednesday last week (the 9th). That was a fun filled day - dropped off Silvio at the pet resort. Quick back to the house to make sure everything was taken care of there, then drove 2 hours to KCI. I got to Dallas no problem and actually took the first class upgrade (45 dollars - I wasn't giving that up). I had an enjoyable flight and even spent a portion of the time talking with my neighbor. Dallas is a fantastic airport. I am convinced of it. Yes it has some draw backs - but really, they made it easy to get from one terminal to another. Plus, I got to sit down and eat lunch at TGI Friday's as opposed to running around getting take out. The flight from Dallas to Orlando - ended up being about 45 minutes late. Boo. Plus, we can not forget the hour time zone change. I didn't actually get to the hotel to meet up with the parents until nearly 9 at night. I think I spent over 12 hours traveling in some form or another.
Saratoga Springs is a humongous resort. Really - Disney could put another theme park on that plot of land - it's that big. Talk about getting exercise - nearly a half mile walk from our room to the Front Desk, or food, or the big pool. Thank goodness we had a quiet pool nearby. I felt really disconnected as opposed to the other resorts we have stayed at. At the Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach Club, you get a really feeling of hustle and bustle and people moving around. It's really quite dead at Saratoga Springs. I guess that just isn't my speed.
I purchased my ticket on Thursday. I really would like to thank Disney for the Military Salute promotion. What normally is a nearly 300 ticket - 4 day park hopper pass (with tax), I only paid half that price. Sometimes the military is good for something (if only my hubby was with me).
We snuck through Epcot - growing to be one of my favorite parks. We tried out Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions and created our own roller coaster. Raytheon, which runs the exhibit, tells you it is all about the math and science that we can create these great rides. It got me to thinking. I think I would like to create a on-going roller coaster project for my algebra 2 students - build different roller - coasters by piecing together different types of functions (we explore a lot of them in algebra 2). But it would be something that I would really need to work on like...right now. We also played the The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. It was really fun - more geared to smaller kids to learn about saving through 3 video game like activities. But we had a blast playing the games. I think we made more noise then the kids playing the games (you played in teams). We went on the Nemo ride in the Living Seas - not particularly spectacular - except for the part were it was the actual huge fish tank and they projected the characters on that. We roamed around the countries and got some sushi in Japan. Then we headed to Hollywood Studions (MGM - it will always be MGM - stupid name changing). We went on the Toy Story ride, which I think is more fun than the buzz lightyear ride. It might be because I can score more than 6000 points on it. After that it was time for dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Yummy buffet - good after a day of park hopping.
Friday we took it easy. Did some shopping at Downtown Disney and a nearby outlet mall. Kinda out of character. Then we went to eat at Kouzzina by Cat Cora. Greek food. Totally yummy. Fantastic meal - it is housed in the same place that Spoodles used to be on the Boardwalk. I am really a Greek food newbie. Never really branched into that food culture. Okay it was my first foray into Greek food. I had Avgolemono, Traditional Egg-lemon Soup with Chicken and Rice. So lemony and soooo delicious. Then for dinner I could not decided what I wanted. So I went with the Kouzzina Trio which was tasting size portions of Pastitsio (Greek lasagna - cinnamon infused), Char-grilled Lamb Burger (spicy burger), and Cinnamon-stewed Chicken with Orzo. For dessert, loukoumades - freshly Made Greek Doughnuts drizzled with warm Honey. Reminded me of tiny zeppoles covered in honey and not powdered sugar. I am making my mouth water just thinking about that meal. I hope that I can find a good recipe for the Avgolemono. I would love to try it on my own. Clearly we needed to walk off our fantastic dinner. So we set off around the lake. We caught Illuminations and then finished our walk around the lake.
Saturday, mom and I set off for the early morning park opening at Animal Kingdom. 8 am park opening and we got there at about 8:10. It was very light foot traffic wise. We were surprised. We headed straight to the safari and got picked off the line (hurray for being a small party of 2) to go on one of the handicapped trucks. So lucky! It was barely 8:30 and there was still breakfast food out for all of the animals. So they were out and about munching on breakfast. Fantastic. We got super close to the giraffes and the white rhinos. Craziness. Probably some of the best pictures I have ever taken of the animals. We went on the gorilla trail and the tiger trail. The we headed back because it was hot as...well you can fill in the blank. Spent part of the afternoon at the pool. Then got ready for a nice meal at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. That meal was depressing after dinner in Kouzzina. We were all ready for some seafood and just totally disappointed. I will leave it at that. But afterward we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the comeback of the Main Street Electrical Parade. I think we nearly sat in the same spot from our very first videotaped trip to Disney in 1987. Am I dating myself? The music is slightly a bit more techno-ified but I love it. They added some new floats which look great. But the lights - compared to the old bulbs - these LED lights are so bright and fantastic. I tried to capture it with my camera.
We got up a little later on Sunday to head back to Epcot. We had lunch reservations at Le Cellier in Canada. Before that we Test Track, got fast passes for Soarin', and rode the Journey into Imagination (i could probably spend an entire post on how Disney messed that one up). Lunch at Le Cellier was totally yummy. I had the cheddar cheese soup - and was able to snag the recipe from the kitchen. Score! Then we had the Filet Mignon with wild mushroom risotto. Needless to say there were 3 very clean plates. For dessert we ordered this chocolate whiskey cake - oh to die for. If we weren't walking around and sweating our behinds off in the 100 + degree heat, I would probably have gained about 5 pounds. We could not resist a stop at the Maelstrom or a chance to walk around the shops. Disney is bringing back some of the original t-shirt designs and I love it. Nothing major for dinner since lunch was so yummy.
Monday was the last day in the parks - so we headed to Magic Kingdom. Can we say crowded? There was a Pampered Chef convention in town too. I could use some more pampered chef. (Gosh it all comes back to food doesn't it?) We went on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, the Laugh Room (I really enjoy that one - plus you spend a lot of time in the air conditioning and you see people do things they normally wouldn't do.), and Pirates of the Caribbean. Had a little lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and high tailed it out of there because it was another bloody hot day.
Yesterday - was a long day. Up at the crack of dawn to get on the Magical Express back to the airport. A sad day. I wish Matt and Andy had been able to come. Or that it had been longer. Oh well. A few more steps closer to the end of this year. :o)
I left on Wednesday last week (the 9th). That was a fun filled day - dropped off Silvio at the pet resort. Quick back to the house to make sure everything was taken care of there, then drove 2 hours to KCI. I got to Dallas no problem and actually took the first class upgrade (45 dollars - I wasn't giving that up). I had an enjoyable flight and even spent a portion of the time talking with my neighbor. Dallas is a fantastic airport. I am convinced of it. Yes it has some draw backs - but really, they made it easy to get from one terminal to another. Plus, I got to sit down and eat lunch at TGI Friday's as opposed to running around getting take out. The flight from Dallas to Orlando - ended up being about 45 minutes late. Boo. Plus, we can not forget the hour time zone change. I didn't actually get to the hotel to meet up with the parents until nearly 9 at night. I think I spent over 12 hours traveling in some form or another.
Saratoga Springs is a humongous resort. Really - Disney could put another theme park on that plot of land - it's that big. Talk about getting exercise - nearly a half mile walk from our room to the Front Desk, or food, or the big pool. Thank goodness we had a quiet pool nearby. I felt really disconnected as opposed to the other resorts we have stayed at. At the Boardwalk or Yacht and Beach Club, you get a really feeling of hustle and bustle and people moving around. It's really quite dead at Saratoga Springs. I guess that just isn't my speed.
I purchased my ticket on Thursday. I really would like to thank Disney for the Military Salute promotion. What normally is a nearly 300 ticket - 4 day park hopper pass (with tax), I only paid half that price. Sometimes the military is good for something (if only my hubby was with me).
We snuck through Epcot - growing to be one of my favorite parks. We tried out Sum of All Thrills in Innoventions and created our own roller coaster. Raytheon, which runs the exhibit, tells you it is all about the math and science that we can create these great rides. It got me to thinking. I think I would like to create a on-going roller coaster project for my algebra 2 students - build different roller - coasters by piecing together different types of functions (we explore a lot of them in algebra 2). But it would be something that I would really need to work on like...right now. We also played the The Great Piggy Bank Adventure. It was really fun - more geared to smaller kids to learn about saving through 3 video game like activities. But we had a blast playing the games. I think we made more noise then the kids playing the games (you played in teams). We went on the Nemo ride in the Living Seas - not particularly spectacular - except for the part were it was the actual huge fish tank and they projected the characters on that. We roamed around the countries and got some sushi in Japan. Then we headed to Hollywood Studions (MGM - it will always be MGM - stupid name changing). We went on the Toy Story ride, which I think is more fun than the buzz lightyear ride. It might be because I can score more than 6000 points on it. After that it was time for dinner at Hollywood and Vine. Yummy buffet - good after a day of park hopping.
Friday we took it easy. Did some shopping at Downtown Disney and a nearby outlet mall. Kinda out of character. Then we went to eat at Kouzzina by Cat Cora. Greek food. Totally yummy. Fantastic meal - it is housed in the same place that Spoodles used to be on the Boardwalk. I am really a Greek food newbie. Never really branched into that food culture. Okay it was my first foray into Greek food. I had Avgolemono, Traditional Egg-lemon Soup with Chicken and Rice. So lemony and soooo delicious. Then for dinner I could not decided what I wanted. So I went with the Kouzzina Trio which was tasting size portions of Pastitsio (Greek lasagna - cinnamon infused), Char-grilled Lamb Burger (spicy burger), and Cinnamon-stewed Chicken with Orzo. For dessert, loukoumades - freshly Made Greek Doughnuts drizzled with warm Honey. Reminded me of tiny zeppoles covered in honey and not powdered sugar. I am making my mouth water just thinking about that meal. I hope that I can find a good recipe for the Avgolemono. I would love to try it on my own. Clearly we needed to walk off our fantastic dinner. So we set off around the lake. We caught Illuminations and then finished our walk around the lake.
Saturday, mom and I set off for the early morning park opening at Animal Kingdom. 8 am park opening and we got there at about 8:10. It was very light foot traffic wise. We were surprised. We headed straight to the safari and got picked off the line (hurray for being a small party of 2) to go on one of the handicapped trucks. So lucky! It was barely 8:30 and there was still breakfast food out for all of the animals. So they were out and about munching on breakfast. Fantastic. We got super close to the giraffes and the white rhinos. Craziness. Probably some of the best pictures I have ever taken of the animals. We went on the gorilla trail and the tiger trail. The we headed back because it was hot as...well you can fill in the blank. Spent part of the afternoon at the pool. Then got ready for a nice meal at Narcoossee's at the Grand Floridian. That meal was depressing after dinner in Kouzzina. We were all ready for some seafood and just totally disappointed. I will leave it at that. But afterward we headed to the Magic Kingdom for the comeback of the Main Street Electrical Parade. I think we nearly sat in the same spot from our very first videotaped trip to Disney in 1987. Am I dating myself? The music is slightly a bit more techno-ified but I love it. They added some new floats which look great. But the lights - compared to the old bulbs - these LED lights are so bright and fantastic. I tried to capture it with my camera.
We got up a little later on Sunday to head back to Epcot. We had lunch reservations at Le Cellier in Canada. Before that we Test Track, got fast passes for Soarin', and rode the Journey into Imagination (i could probably spend an entire post on how Disney messed that one up). Lunch at Le Cellier was totally yummy. I had the cheddar cheese soup - and was able to snag the recipe from the kitchen. Score! Then we had the Filet Mignon with wild mushroom risotto. Needless to say there were 3 very clean plates. For dessert we ordered this chocolate whiskey cake - oh to die for. If we weren't walking around and sweating our behinds off in the 100 + degree heat, I would probably have gained about 5 pounds. We could not resist a stop at the Maelstrom or a chance to walk around the shops. Disney is bringing back some of the original t-shirt designs and I love it. Nothing major for dinner since lunch was so yummy.
Monday was the last day in the parks - so we headed to Magic Kingdom. Can we say crowded? There was a Pampered Chef convention in town too. I could use some more pampered chef. (Gosh it all comes back to food doesn't it?) We went on Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, the Laugh Room (I really enjoy that one - plus you spend a lot of time in the air conditioning and you see people do things they normally wouldn't do.), and Pirates of the Caribbean. Had a little lunch at Liberty Tree Tavern and high tailed it out of there because it was another bloody hot day.
Yesterday - was a long day. Up at the crack of dawn to get on the Magical Express back to the airport. A sad day. I wish Matt and Andy had been able to come. Or that it had been longer. Oh well. A few more steps closer to the end of this year. :o)
Day 150
We can officially turn the page on 5 months of this deployment. I am surprised that it is here.
**Interlude: While starting to write this, I was interrupted by the doorbell. There is another church that is looking for members. This is probably about the 5th or 6th time since we have moved here since this has happened. Mind you - they are all different churches. As much as I would love to be a member of so many wonderful organizations, I am a card carrying Roman Catholic. Yes, what some would say is one of the more structured belief systems out there. But that's okay, I like structure. Anyway, I just never really remember this happening so much back home. Maybe it is a mid west sort of thing?**
Back to our regular programming. This means that we are 30 days away from the half way point (supposing things do not change). I am not sure if this deployment feels easier or faster compared to the previous one. I am just happy 5 months are done.
I also managed to complete all of the assignments for my last online course. It feels satisfying. To be honest - I think I have hit the end of the road with schooling. I am done. I have no desire to take courses for credit, get any more degrees, nada. Not that I do not enjoy learning. I just am done with the pressure of having to perform. Now if I found some fun cooking classes, or maybe some piano lessons (that would require having a piano to practice on first, doh) I would be all for it.
Other than that - just spending loads of time watching the news (depressing), cleaning (or getting me dirty), or reorganizing (throwing old crud out and buying fun plastic tubs to put the rest of the stuff in).
**Interlude: While starting to write this, I was interrupted by the doorbell. There is another church that is looking for members. This is probably about the 5th or 6th time since we have moved here since this has happened. Mind you - they are all different churches. As much as I would love to be a member of so many wonderful organizations, I am a card carrying Roman Catholic. Yes, what some would say is one of the more structured belief systems out there. But that's okay, I like structure. Anyway, I just never really remember this happening so much back home. Maybe it is a mid west sort of thing?**
Back to our regular programming. This means that we are 30 days away from the half way point (supposing things do not change). I am not sure if this deployment feels easier or faster compared to the previous one. I am just happy 5 months are done.
I also managed to complete all of the assignments for my last online course. It feels satisfying. To be honest - I think I have hit the end of the road with schooling. I am done. I have no desire to take courses for credit, get any more degrees, nada. Not that I do not enjoy learning. I just am done with the pressure of having to perform. Now if I found some fun cooking classes, or maybe some piano lessons (that would require having a piano to practice on first, doh) I would be all for it.
Other than that - just spending loads of time watching the news (depressing), cleaning (or getting me dirty), or reorganizing (throwing old crud out and buying fun plastic tubs to put the rest of the stuff in).
Day 148
I'm not sure if this is considered momentous or what. But I suppose it should be documented.
I sliced my finger this morning with a serrated knife. Okay, that sounds a heck of a lot worse than what happened. I was preparing to cut some more slices of bread from the loaf I baked yesterday. *Probably a good thing I had managed to cut two slices just before the incident and managed to eat breakfast. I most certainly would have been forgoing breakfast if this happened first.* I can barely even explain how my finger got there, but all of a sudden...knife to bread and then... knife to left middle finger. Being I have the lowest threshold for pain imaginable stopped myself going - "WTF my finger hurts!!!" Then I saw blood. I knew I only had mere seconds before - for no reason at all - I would be fainting on the floor. Since I am a 5 year old when it comes to cuts, scrapes, and bruises - finger went straight in mouth as a ran to the bathroom and turn on the faucet. Why I ran to the bathroom sink when there is a perfectly usable kitchen sink not 2 ft from me - I have no idea. I think I screamed like a little baby for about 2 minutes and tried to keep myself from hyperventilating. Fortunately for me I spent part of yesterday putting all of the band-aids and neosporin away in the closet. My finger stopped it's bleeding just long enough for me to fumble one-handed through everything. Bandage complete. Laid down on the floor for 10 minutes while Silvio just licked my right hand.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. After that - I got cleaned up.
I inspected the cut this afternoon. Thankfully for my killer instincts I just ended up with what looks like a mother of a paper cut. Nice and deep. Not deep enough to warrant a call for help. Since I got the neosporin on there real fast it even looked as those it was starting to heal up nicely.
Now I am slightly embarrassed. I do not even want to come close to that bread knife. Nor do I want to cut a slice of bread - no matter how much I want it and how tasty it is. I guess I won't be baking for a while - until I become comfortable with the bread knife again.
I sliced my finger this morning with a serrated knife. Okay, that sounds a heck of a lot worse than what happened. I was preparing to cut some more slices of bread from the loaf I baked yesterday. *Probably a good thing I had managed to cut two slices just before the incident and managed to eat breakfast. I most certainly would have been forgoing breakfast if this happened first.* I can barely even explain how my finger got there, but all of a sudden...knife to bread and then... knife to left middle finger. Being I have the lowest threshold for pain imaginable stopped myself going - "WTF my finger hurts!!!" Then I saw blood. I knew I only had mere seconds before - for no reason at all - I would be fainting on the floor. Since I am a 5 year old when it comes to cuts, scrapes, and bruises - finger went straight in mouth as a ran to the bathroom and turn on the faucet. Why I ran to the bathroom sink when there is a perfectly usable kitchen sink not 2 ft from me - I have no idea. I think I screamed like a little baby for about 2 minutes and tried to keep myself from hyperventilating. Fortunately for me I spent part of yesterday putting all of the band-aids and neosporin away in the closet. My finger stopped it's bleeding just long enough for me to fumble one-handed through everything. Bandage complete. Laid down on the floor for 10 minutes while Silvio just licked my right hand.
I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house. After that - I got cleaned up.
I inspected the cut this afternoon. Thankfully for my killer instincts I just ended up with what looks like a mother of a paper cut. Nice and deep. Not deep enough to warrant a call for help. Since I got the neosporin on there real fast it even looked as those it was starting to heal up nicely.
Now I am slightly embarrassed. I do not even want to come close to that bread knife. Nor do I want to cut a slice of bread - no matter how much I want it and how tasty it is. I guess I won't be baking for a while - until I become comfortable with the bread knife again.
Day 146
Well I did it. After the Hair debacle of Lawton, I finally got it cut. It feels fantastic. I keep brushing my hands through my hair in wonderment. Yes it really is that short. No, I do not have to worry about blow-drying hair that comes down to the middle of my back. Yes it was long. Plus, I splurged on some hair products - a really really nice flat iron (bye bye 15 dollar Conair iron), new shampoo, plus other fun hair creams and sprays. Gosh i feel so girly.
Silvio had his annual vet appointment. He is doing well. The vet thinks he is hilarious. He even sat nicely while they gave him every shot imaginable. Needless to say, right now he is passed out on the chair behind me. So much excitement for one day. Little downside - he needs to lose a couple of pounds - he is 23 pounds. Yikes. He doesn't look like Kona - but he is a bit chubby. More walking outside for us then.
I did a little bit of work today. That is a bit of an understatement - I did a bit to get ready for Disney but that was it. Tomorrow I need to get at least one of these papers completed and start cleaning the house. Dirty house is not fun. If anyone would like to clean it for me - you are more than welcome too!
Went out last night to Harry's with the Yellow Ribbon Social. Lots of fun - plus I miss going out to eat. I really need to be more comfortable with going out to eat by myself.
I watched An Education tonight. It was a really good movie. Hmm, no wonder it was up for an oscar or two.
Silvio had his annual vet appointment. He is doing well. The vet thinks he is hilarious. He even sat nicely while they gave him every shot imaginable. Needless to say, right now he is passed out on the chair behind me. So much excitement for one day. Little downside - he needs to lose a couple of pounds - he is 23 pounds. Yikes. He doesn't look like Kona - but he is a bit chubby. More walking outside for us then.
I did a little bit of work today. That is a bit of an understatement - I did a bit to get ready for Disney but that was it. Tomorrow I need to get at least one of these papers completed and start cleaning the house. Dirty house is not fun. If anyone would like to clean it for me - you are more than welcome too!
Went out last night to Harry's with the Yellow Ribbon Social. Lots of fun - plus I miss going out to eat. I really need to be more comfortable with going out to eat by myself.
I watched An Education tonight. It was a really good movie. Hmm, no wonder it was up for an oscar or two.
Day 144
Book update:
Textbook for special ed online class is finished. No more reading that for me.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - enjoyable quick read...I think there are 2 other books by Larsson that go with it.
Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn - just started reading it. If only I could get away with not giving homework - do you think that is even possible?
Summer Reads:
My Life in France by Julia Childs - I wanted to read it before I attack the cookbooks.
Julie & Julia - confession, yes I watched the movie - but I'd like to read it too after Childs' book but before cookbooks
What Einstein Told His Cook - science and food - the kitchen revealed, I just couldn't resist.
Beer & Philosophy - okay this is more for Andy but I have a feeling I might speed through it before I send it to him
Book on the horizon:
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee - this is the original science/chemistry/food investigation type book - I'd call is summer reading but I do not feel like lugging a 700 page book around (plus I think I have to order it online)
How To Cook Everything by Bittman - yes I think this is last major cookbook I want to add to my collection - for now.
Off to not stare at the computer. I could probably do that all day if I really wanted too.
Textbook for special ed online class is finished. No more reading that for me.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - enjoyable quick read...I think there are 2 other books by Larsson that go with it.
Homework Myth by Alfie Kohn - just started reading it. If only I could get away with not giving homework - do you think that is even possible?
Summer Reads:
My Life in France by Julia Childs - I wanted to read it before I attack the cookbooks.
Julie & Julia - confession, yes I watched the movie - but I'd like to read it too after Childs' book but before cookbooks
What Einstein Told His Cook - science and food - the kitchen revealed, I just couldn't resist.
Beer & Philosophy - okay this is more for Andy but I have a feeling I might speed through it before I send it to him
Book on the horizon:
On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen by Harold McGee - this is the original science/chemistry/food investigation type book - I'd call is summer reading but I do not feel like lugging a 700 page book around (plus I think I have to order it online)
How To Cook Everything by Bittman - yes I think this is last major cookbook I want to add to my collection - for now.
Off to not stare at the computer. I could probably do that all day if I really wanted too.
Day 142
I think this might just be a rambling post.
I got all of my grades in. I am not sure how I feel about this but I had just under 50% of my students pass. I am sad about it - but I know what I was up against. I was not going to pass anyone who did not do work. Here is to hoping that next year I can manage a better pass rate.
In the meantime, I am just enjoying being home - if you can call what I am doing enjoying. Spring cleaning in the summer is what it amounts too. I feel totally spastic about it as well. There it no rhyme or reason. My brain latches on to some reorganization idea, I get started on it and then :::sparkley::: I see something else that I could totally reorganize. It is pathetic really. I have managed to get 2 drawers in the kitchen done a while back. I am trying to tackle the office. It is the receptacle of everything that does not have its own home.
I have about 10 more assignments left for my online class and about 9 days to do them in. I am hoping to knock a couple of them out tomorrow and only leave the papers to finish up last. Who wants to spend half my vacation working on that all the time?? Not I.
Silvio has been a tired little man all day. Yesterday we went to a little pool party. He got to run around and play with a bunch of dogs. He was on his best behavior. I am so glad that he is a good dog.
Only a few days away from 5 months complete! :o)
I got all of my grades in. I am not sure how I feel about this but I had just under 50% of my students pass. I am sad about it - but I know what I was up against. I was not going to pass anyone who did not do work. Here is to hoping that next year I can manage a better pass rate.
In the meantime, I am just enjoying being home - if you can call what I am doing enjoying. Spring cleaning in the summer is what it amounts too. I feel totally spastic about it as well. There it no rhyme or reason. My brain latches on to some reorganization idea, I get started on it and then :::sparkley::: I see something else that I could totally reorganize. It is pathetic really. I have managed to get 2 drawers in the kitchen done a while back. I am trying to tackle the office. It is the receptacle of everything that does not have its own home.
I have about 10 more assignments left for my online class and about 9 days to do them in. I am hoping to knock a couple of them out tomorrow and only leave the papers to finish up last. Who wants to spend half my vacation working on that all the time?? Not I.
Silvio has been a tired little man all day. Yesterday we went to a little pool party. He got to run around and play with a bunch of dogs. He was on his best behavior. I am so glad that he is a good dog.
Only a few days away from 5 months complete! :o)
Day 139 - School Is Out for Summer
Finally. I wish it had come earlier. Today was our final half day. I only saw about 10 of my students all day. That's fine - it gave me a lot of time to clear out my room and clean it up some. I will be back next year not to worry. Right now I will have 3 geometry classes and 2 algebra 2 classes. No more schools to careers. Hopefully a lot less discipline problems as well. Not to mention I'll be able to give homework out of the textbook again. Yeeey. I am trying not to think about prepping for next year already. That can wait until July or sometime like that.
Other than that I am in an odd state. I am happy there is no school but I have this intense urge to reorganize and violently clean everything in the house. I still have about 13 assignments left in my online class - which I think I could get done in about a week if I really put my mind to it. But yeah this urge to organize and get rid of stuff is just really strong. I hope it sticks with me, and I can get some of our closets cleaned up, and my bookshelf - o- math books can be a bit neater. Plus I need to find a place to put all of my school supplies. But to be honest - the urge is really distracting. I want to relax. My brain is going a thousand miles a second. Can someone distract me from my distracting organizational thoughts?
I have no clue where this post was headed. Me - I think I am going to go to pick up some clear tubs for my school supplies. That should satisfy me for a while right?
Other than that I am in an odd state. I am happy there is no school but I have this intense urge to reorganize and violently clean everything in the house. I still have about 13 assignments left in my online class - which I think I could get done in about a week if I really put my mind to it. But yeah this urge to organize and get rid of stuff is just really strong. I hope it sticks with me, and I can get some of our closets cleaned up, and my bookshelf - o- math books can be a bit neater. Plus I need to find a place to put all of my school supplies. But to be honest - the urge is really distracting. I want to relax. My brain is going a thousand miles a second. Can someone distract me from my distracting organizational thoughts?
I have no clue where this post was headed. Me - I think I am going to go to pick up some clear tubs for my school supplies. That should satisfy me for a while right?
Day 136
2 years of marriage. Crazy. Having fun though.
Will for sure have job - should hear about my schedule for next year in a day or so. The powers that be needed to re-do a huge chunk of the master schedule. No schools to careers kids. Not so many discipline problems.
Maybe i will have more words at the end of the week when school is out for summer!
Will for sure have job - should hear about my schedule for next year in a day or so. The powers that be needed to re-do a huge chunk of the master schedule. No schools to careers kids. Not so many discipline problems.
Maybe i will have more words at the end of the week when school is out for summer!
Day 135
I was going to get an Ipad for our anniversary. I got to Best Buy and asked whether or not they had any in stock. Apparently not. It set me to thinking - as much as I would like one now - ebook reader/ pseudo computer to play games / surf internet without getting out my phone, do some light work without being tied to one area of the house - I am holding off. In a few months, a new operating system will come out. Plus, I don't think I am willing to pay 699 for a 64 GB Ipad which I can imagine is like an oversized version of the 64 GB Ipod (it only goes for 399). 300 dollar difference for 6 more inches in height and 5 more inches in width. Really? Maybe the price will go down by my birthday....or christmas. Then I will get one. Added incentive - I have two weddings to fly to, my goddaughter's baptism, a trip to Disney, and my very long roadtrip to consider for this summer. It may be best if I hold off on that purchase. I think I have enough things goings on - plus I need to prep for whatever classes I will have next year, pick back up on my knitting because I've stopped for some reason, reorganize and generally spring clean the house. Get rid of all of that stuff that we just don't use or repack it better and hide in the closets.
Note: I got a B- for my internship this semester. Probably because I stopped caring about the evaluations. I am halfway through with my final online class. Hopeful that I will get it done before heading to Disney.
Maybe by this summer I will have more fun things to talk about.
I watched the Jane Austen book club. Eehh - glad I got it on netflix. Started reading the girl with the dragon tattoo. This is in between all my textbook reading. Goodness textbook reading is boring.
I must prepare for tomorrow and try to relax for this last week.
Note: I got a B- for my internship this semester. Probably because I stopped caring about the evaluations. I am halfway through with my final online class. Hopeful that I will get it done before heading to Disney.
Maybe by this summer I will have more fun things to talk about.
I watched the Jane Austen book club. Eehh - glad I got it on netflix. Started reading the girl with the dragon tattoo. This is in between all my textbook reading. Goodness textbook reading is boring.
I must prepare for tomorrow and try to relax for this last week.
Day 133
The past two weeks have been insane. I'm not even sure where to begin. note to self: If you wrote more frequently you wouldn't have to cover two weeks at a time.
On the job front, I spent the two weeks on pins and needles. No one really had any information to me. But by Wednesday this week, I had an inkling I was safe from a last minute cut. As of now I officially still have a job. No word on what exactly I will get to teach. I guess I will find out during the last week of school. i really would like the summer to revamp or prep for next year. I might actually get some regular classes and not Schools to Careers. It makes me a little sad then - my classes were never boring. As one student said to me, you know Ms. G - the thugs got your back. Not a lot of teachers can claim that apparently. We have our differences but they know I won't tell them something I don't believe to be true.
I went to a Tupperware party. That was fun. The next day I was supposed to go to the Math Department end of year get together but I spent the whole day either passed out or throwing up. What a fun day. I went to school the next day cause I felt mildly better. I should have just stayed home since all I got was grief for munching on my plain old cheerios. "They aren't even the honey nut kind!!! How can you eat that?? You lose Ms. G."
I attended the Army Wife Network: Spouse Field Exercise yesterday. It was a lot of fun. A great night were I didn't feel self conscious about being by myself in public - like when I try to eat out at restaurants by myself. That doesn't happen often by the way. It made me wish we were back in Lawton. We had a good group of friends and good time. For some reason, I feel that here in Manhattan I have been lacking in my friend making skills. I guess it is a combination of a bunch of things - not being able to fully participate in events while working, and not being a super outgoing person. It is one of those army - life things I am still working on. I admit though that it leaves me a little sad.
Beckie and Morgan had their baby girl early this morning. Little Miss Adina. My goddaughter. I feel so honored. She is beautiful. I can not wait to meet her in about a month.
Next Monday is our 2 year anniversary. The army is 2-0 for making us spend it apart. Andy was really sweet. He got me Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs. Gosh, I love cookbooks. I have a bunch of textbooks to read right now though. I should be able to enjoy it over the summer though. I just hope that he gets my package in time. My luck it will show up a week later.
Check in later.
On the job front, I spent the two weeks on pins and needles. No one really had any information to me. But by Wednesday this week, I had an inkling I was safe from a last minute cut. As of now I officially still have a job. No word on what exactly I will get to teach. I guess I will find out during the last week of school. i really would like the summer to revamp or prep for next year. I might actually get some regular classes and not Schools to Careers. It makes me a little sad then - my classes were never boring. As one student said to me, you know Ms. G - the thugs got your back. Not a lot of teachers can claim that apparently. We have our differences but they know I won't tell them something I don't believe to be true.
I went to a Tupperware party. That was fun. The next day I was supposed to go to the Math Department end of year get together but I spent the whole day either passed out or throwing up. What a fun day. I went to school the next day cause I felt mildly better. I should have just stayed home since all I got was grief for munching on my plain old cheerios. "They aren't even the honey nut kind!!! How can you eat that?? You lose Ms. G."
I attended the Army Wife Network: Spouse Field Exercise yesterday. It was a lot of fun. A great night were I didn't feel self conscious about being by myself in public - like when I try to eat out at restaurants by myself. That doesn't happen often by the way. It made me wish we were back in Lawton. We had a good group of friends and good time. For some reason, I feel that here in Manhattan I have been lacking in my friend making skills. I guess it is a combination of a bunch of things - not being able to fully participate in events while working, and not being a super outgoing person. It is one of those army - life things I am still working on. I admit though that it leaves me a little sad.
Beckie and Morgan had their baby girl early this morning. Little Miss Adina. My goddaughter. I feel so honored. She is beautiful. I can not wait to meet her in about a month.
Next Monday is our 2 year anniversary. The army is 2-0 for making us spend it apart. Andy was really sweet. He got me Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Childs. Gosh, I love cookbooks. I have a bunch of textbooks to read right now though. I should be able to enjoy it over the summer though. I just hope that he gets my package in time. My luck it will show up a week later.
Check in later.
Day 121
All weekend I have had this unbelievable cold feeling. Literally. I feel cold - numb - icicle-like. I even have the heat on and I feel like an ice cube. I don't have any other symptoms (cough, sneezing...) just a feeling of cold. I admit though that I have been taking a nap at around 2 every afternoon.
There are only 3 weeks of school left. I guess that deserves a hurrah. This past week I went to my final new teacher's meeting. Got the wonderful piece of paper that is my application for a professional license. I also found out that the district will be going through the hiring process for the open middle school spot. I honestly do not want to have to participate in the hiring/interviewing procedure. See where it got me this year - last one hired and first one on the chopping block. Not cool. As much as I feel like throwing in the towel, I will go through it anyway. At this point, any extra cash we can bring in would be fantastic and I wouldn't mind working with a different group of students. The last thing on my list of to-do's for today is to update my resume. Fun!
I also started working on my last alternate route class - a survey on exceptionality. I almost wish that I had gotten a chance to take this last summer. It would have helped so much. I have a bunch of students on IEP's mixed in with my "at-risk" kids - so it has been one heck of an experience. Next year (if there is one) will definitely be different. I am trying to get as much of this course done as I can prior to finals. I need all my grades done by May 28th so clearly that week is going to be difficult if I have class work and grading to get done.
I received an interesting proposal from our ESL teacher. The state is in desperate need of ESL teachers. The ESL teacher came to tell me that the state is waiving any sort of formal coursework and accepting teachers if they pass the Praxis English as a Second Language exam. Oh did I mention I have ESL students thrown in the mix in my classes too? But from what I hear, they are doing really well, they really like me and they understand me. That is the reason the Esl teacher came to talk to me. It is great the hear that my students think so highly of me. I joked that it must be that I'm from New Jersey that they understand me and me them.
Hmm, it says day 121 - by my count that means we are about a third of the way through the deployment (supposing it lasts a year). Nothing really of note this week to worry about - except if I will get any sort of information about being non-renewed. A total of 10 days is how many they have to make a move. I really hate sitting around and waiting for things to happen to me.
There are only 3 weeks of school left. I guess that deserves a hurrah. This past week I went to my final new teacher's meeting. Got the wonderful piece of paper that is my application for a professional license. I also found out that the district will be going through the hiring process for the open middle school spot. I honestly do not want to have to participate in the hiring/interviewing procedure. See where it got me this year - last one hired and first one on the chopping block. Not cool. As much as I feel like throwing in the towel, I will go through it anyway. At this point, any extra cash we can bring in would be fantastic and I wouldn't mind working with a different group of students. The last thing on my list of to-do's for today is to update my resume. Fun!
I also started working on my last alternate route class - a survey on exceptionality. I almost wish that I had gotten a chance to take this last summer. It would have helped so much. I have a bunch of students on IEP's mixed in with my "at-risk" kids - so it has been one heck of an experience. Next year (if there is one) will definitely be different. I am trying to get as much of this course done as I can prior to finals. I need all my grades done by May 28th so clearly that week is going to be difficult if I have class work and grading to get done.
I received an interesting proposal from our ESL teacher. The state is in desperate need of ESL teachers. The ESL teacher came to tell me that the state is waiving any sort of formal coursework and accepting teachers if they pass the Praxis English as a Second Language exam. Oh did I mention I have ESL students thrown in the mix in my classes too? But from what I hear, they are doing really well, they really like me and they understand me. That is the reason the Esl teacher came to talk to me. It is great the hear that my students think so highly of me. I joked that it must be that I'm from New Jersey that they understand me and me them.
Hmm, it says day 121 - by my count that means we are about a third of the way through the deployment (supposing it lasts a year). Nothing really of note this week to worry about - except if I will get any sort of information about being non-renewed. A total of 10 days is how many they have to make a move. I really hate sitting around and waiting for things to happen to me.
Day 115
One step closer ... to having that wonderful teaching license. So I spent an inordinate amount of time #itching and moaning about this 25 page paper that I need to write as part of my internship. I finagled a way to get it done. I hate writing. I think I might never go back to school again if I know I have to write any sort of paper. Journals I am okay with - but some sort of masterpiece (anything longer than 3 pages) is a no go. So I was very surprised when I got my grade. The huge rubric included 134 points. I mean it was a huge rubric, there were about 40 some odd specific points that needed to be with some sufficient/proficient rating. Insane. But I somehow scored a 125. I'll take it - I only tried to make sure that I had enough to at least get the 94 points I needed to pass. Clearly I underestimated my writing abilities.
Up this week: One final observation and the last new teacher meeting. Gosh, I am so happy those will be over.
Note: I finished reading Pug Hill - do not know what to read next. I'm sure my students will have some good picks. If you have a good pick, please indulge.
Up this week: One final observation and the last new teacher meeting. Gosh, I am so happy those will be over.
Note: I finished reading Pug Hill - do not know what to read next. I'm sure my students will have some good picks. If you have a good pick, please indulge.
Day 113
I baked some bread today. It takes a lot of strength to not scarf down the entire loaf in one sitting. I think I managed to get it just right. The crust was golden brown but not a thick crust. You don't injure the roof of your mouth when you bite into it. So yummy. At least I will have some for breakfast tomorrow morning. Sometimes I think I just want to stop what I am doing and enroll in a cooking school. I love cooking. For now, I'll keep my experiments to myself.
I finished up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was hoping for more zombie action but alas there was not. It was an amusing read though. Not sure if I should pick up the Abraham Lincoln vampire slayer book. I just thought it would be much more entertaining from what I had heard. Oh well. Time to start Pug Hill.
I watched Marley and Me. Gave a big hug to Silvio. I'd probably be an even bigger mess if he wasn't around - especially now. It also made me miss the Kon-bone. But they did a good job with it compared to the book. I really have to stop watching sad movies. Shoot - I half cried watching Transformers....at the end with poor Bumblebee. Must be something wrong with me.
Oh well, I'm heading to bed - here's to hoping to get more sleep.
I finished up Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. I was hoping for more zombie action but alas there was not. It was an amusing read though. Not sure if I should pick up the Abraham Lincoln vampire slayer book. I just thought it would be much more entertaining from what I had heard. Oh well. Time to start Pug Hill.
I watched Marley and Me. Gave a big hug to Silvio. I'd probably be an even bigger mess if he wasn't around - especially now. It also made me miss the Kon-bone. But they did a good job with it compared to the book. I really have to stop watching sad movies. Shoot - I half cried watching Transformers....at the end with poor Bumblebee. Must be something wrong with me.
Oh well, I'm heading to bed - here's to hoping to get more sleep.
Day 112
Only 4 more weeks left in the year. It is really getting rough now. The student have hit the point where they will either do work or not do work. And this is different from the rest of the year how??? They realize *finally* that they are going to have to take some form of algebra 1 again. Clearly, no one believed me when I said that 40 times this semester. But I digress. I have a group that are really pushing to get that next letter grade and then the rest who have given up. It is really sad.
The board of ed decided to non-renew 27 teachers and 4 administrators. I am still in the game since my name was not read aloud at the meeting this week. Isn't it a little rude to read these people's names out loud? Shouldn't they have been informed in a more gracious manner - by say their building administrator behind closed doors? We will see what next week brings. I need to be informed of a cut by May 21st. Isn't that rough - oooo there is only 1 week left in the school year and umm, yeah we don't want you back. I guess I just need to see how things fall in place.
Other than that - I just feel really beat up. These last weeks are taking a toll on me. Super sleepy.
I should probably take that as a sign right? Get your silly behind to bed.
Oh - almost done with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Amusing read thus far.
The board of ed decided to non-renew 27 teachers and 4 administrators. I am still in the game since my name was not read aloud at the meeting this week. Isn't it a little rude to read these people's names out loud? Shouldn't they have been informed in a more gracious manner - by say their building administrator behind closed doors? We will see what next week brings. I need to be informed of a cut by May 21st. Isn't that rough - oooo there is only 1 week left in the school year and umm, yeah we don't want you back. I guess I just need to see how things fall in place.
Other than that - I just feel really beat up. These last weeks are taking a toll on me. Super sleepy.
I should probably take that as a sign right? Get your silly behind to bed.
Oh - almost done with Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Amusing read thus far.
Day 107 - Dark Tower Completed
This morning before Andy called (hurray phone call!!) I managed to complete the Dark Tower series. I am very proud of myself.
On the whole, the story was really good. I won't much about the story itself. I really dislike when people tell what happens. Isn't that the point of reading the book is for? To discover for yourself the story and how it relates to you? But you are not out of luck - I do have a comment or two.
1. King developed some really fantastic characters. My issue occurs right where the finish line is. For a couple of the characters, he creates a really thrilling end to their story. But for the remaining characters (remaining 200 pages) the ending seems thrown together. Whatever way that he can tie up their stories he takes. It just didn't feel as thought as or as complete as say the beginning of the story. He just knows it needs to be over and to heck with the details. Plus the final battle, really anti-climactic. (okay yes, there is a final battle.)
2. Personal comment, I hate epilogues. I made the mistake of reading the epilogue of Harry Potter and did the same thing at the end of the Dark Tower. King even says at the beginning of it...if you are happy with the ending then stop reading. Yes I was happy with the ending. I got your overarching cyclic good vs evil battle. So then why in the heck did you continue to write?!?!? Adding more pages to a book makes me feel compelled to finish it from "cover to cover" - literally. The epilogue seems to sour my like for the book. Oh well. Mental note - don't ever read any other authors' epilogues.
Now on to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
On the whole, the story was really good. I won't much about the story itself. I really dislike when people tell what happens. Isn't that the point of reading the book is for? To discover for yourself the story and how it relates to you? But you are not out of luck - I do have a comment or two.
1. King developed some really fantastic characters. My issue occurs right where the finish line is. For a couple of the characters, he creates a really thrilling end to their story. But for the remaining characters (remaining 200 pages) the ending seems thrown together. Whatever way that he can tie up their stories he takes. It just didn't feel as thought as or as complete as say the beginning of the story. He just knows it needs to be over and to heck with the details. Plus the final battle, really anti-climactic. (okay yes, there is a final battle.)
2. Personal comment, I hate epilogues. I made the mistake of reading the epilogue of Harry Potter and did the same thing at the end of the Dark Tower. King even says at the beginning of it...if you are happy with the ending then stop reading. Yes I was happy with the ending. I got your overarching cyclic good vs evil battle. So then why in the heck did you continue to write?!?!? Adding more pages to a book makes me feel compelled to finish it from "cover to cover" - literally. The epilogue seems to sour my like for the book. Oh well. Mental note - don't ever read any other authors' epilogues.
Now on to Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Day 105
This has been one helluva week. It never really seemed to end. Thank goodness now there are only 5 more weeks left.
So what has been going on:
The math department needs to get rid of two positions. One they are doing away with because that teacher is retiring. Second one well.... since I was the last hire by the department last summer, my slot is the first one to go. Depressing, considering the amount of ::: insert finger quotes ::: stuff that I have had to put up with this year. We can now add high school math teacher to my growing list of short-term jobs I have held:
But there is a somewhat little silver lining. One of the middle schools is losing a math teacher - a spot that they must find a replacement for. My department head and building administrator are pushing to have me moved to this position. It would be essentially the same content and material I am teaching now - except gifted little 8th graders. It is comforting to know that they are looking out for me. In the meantime, I am sure that this move would have to get approved by the board. With the way things are going with the board and the budget, who knows if this will get approved.
I guess what has me depressed is that this week my students started asking me questions about next year. But Thursday my fourth hour students asked if I would be their teacher next year. "We really like you Ms. G." It breaks my awfully mean little heart - (I have been really mean lately trying to get them to realize that they need to take assignments seriously or else they have to take algebra again next year). I told them that I do not know if I will be their teacher next year because the budget has not been approved. "You have tenure right?" No, I do not have tenure. I have not been here 3 years. "So they can cut you for no reason?" Yep. "Man, that sucks Ms. G cause you are like the best teacher." "I even told the grade level principal that you were the best." Almost made me want to cry. My little crew of hooligans... Later that day one of my ESL students came in to ask if I could be their teacher next year. (This student had switched from a different class and has really improved their work.) I was like I'm sorry, I just don't know. "Really, cause I understand it when you teach it... not from the other teacher." Ugh.
Not sure how I will tell them at the end of the year. I have a funny feeling they will be devastated. I guess I always have a glimmer of hope that maybe the budget will turn out alright and we do not need to cut that much. But it will all stay up in the air until May 21st. That's the last day they can give me a pink slip (only 1 week before school lets out). Pretty sure it will happen before then though.
That is pretty much where things stand. Little - okay a lot depressed with having done all of this work only to have the slate wiped clean after a year. But I guess that just comes with the territory. At the very least, I will get my license out of the deal.
Other news: Doing lots of hard yard work - that is a lie. I'm paying other people money to do lots of hard yard work. Boyo is that satisfying! I just look out at that lawn and it is nicely mowed and well kept. I'm so proud.
I have about 300 pages left in Dark Tower. I think I can almost manage knocking that off this weekend.
I got an interesting offer to help create an online open-source algebra 2 textbook from one of my para's. It sounds pretty cool and would be a fun side project to work on. I might take him up on his offer.
I think I have managed to get all the heavy stuff off my chest. Wish Andy was around to give me a hug.
So what has been going on:
The math department needs to get rid of two positions. One they are doing away with because that teacher is retiring. Second one well.... since I was the last hire by the department last summer, my slot is the first one to go. Depressing, considering the amount of ::: insert finger quotes ::: stuff that I have had to put up with this year. We can now add high school math teacher to my growing list of short-term jobs I have held:
- Doctor's office assistant
- Dental office assistant
- Summer School teacher
- Learning assistant
- Adjunct instructor
- Teaching assistant
- Tax Professional
- High School Math Teacher
But there is a somewhat little silver lining. One of the middle schools is losing a math teacher - a spot that they must find a replacement for. My department head and building administrator are pushing to have me moved to this position. It would be essentially the same content and material I am teaching now - except gifted little 8th graders. It is comforting to know that they are looking out for me. In the meantime, I am sure that this move would have to get approved by the board. With the way things are going with the board and the budget, who knows if this will get approved.
I guess what has me depressed is that this week my students started asking me questions about next year. But Thursday my fourth hour students asked if I would be their teacher next year. "We really like you Ms. G." It breaks my awfully mean little heart - (I have been really mean lately trying to get them to realize that they need to take assignments seriously or else they have to take algebra again next year). I told them that I do not know if I will be their teacher next year because the budget has not been approved. "You have tenure right?" No, I do not have tenure. I have not been here 3 years. "So they can cut you for no reason?" Yep. "Man, that sucks Ms. G cause you are like the best teacher." "I even told the grade level principal that you were the best." Almost made me want to cry. My little crew of hooligans... Later that day one of my ESL students came in to ask if I could be their teacher next year. (This student had switched from a different class and has really improved their work.) I was like I'm sorry, I just don't know. "Really, cause I understand it when you teach it... not from the other teacher." Ugh.
Not sure how I will tell them at the end of the year. I have a funny feeling they will be devastated. I guess I always have a glimmer of hope that maybe the budget will turn out alright and we do not need to cut that much. But it will all stay up in the air until May 21st. That's the last day they can give me a pink slip (only 1 week before school lets out). Pretty sure it will happen before then though.
That is pretty much where things stand. Little - okay a lot depressed with having done all of this work only to have the slate wiped clean after a year. But I guess that just comes with the territory. At the very least, I will get my license out of the deal.
Other news: Doing lots of hard yard work - that is a lie. I'm paying other people money to do lots of hard yard work. Boyo is that satisfying! I just look out at that lawn and it is nicely mowed and well kept. I'm so proud.
I have about 300 pages left in Dark Tower. I think I can almost manage knocking that off this weekend.
I got an interesting offer to help create an online open-source algebra 2 textbook from one of my para's. It sounds pretty cool and would be a fun side project to work on. I might take him up on his offer.
I think I have managed to get all the heavy stuff off my chest. Wish Andy was around to give me a hug.
Day 100
Indeed folks, we have hit 100 days. Well I have. Andy does not count it as 100 because the meter started running when he got in country (like 5 - 6 days after mine.) I can not wait for another 100 to pass by. Things are moving along, but not too fast. I could go with speeding things up a bit.
I finished cleaning the house today. Yep, actually cleaning the house - did all the floors and the bathrooms. I feel awful. I was taking claritin but that didn't seem to have much effect. So I switched to zyrtec and and mucinex d. I know the mucinex will help with the stuffy-ness from prior experience. The feeling like I am in a fishbowl - that never really seems to go away no matter what medication I take.
I took all of our change to one of those coin counting machines. We accumulated enough that I could definitely by myself something nice. I was quite surprised. I also went to look at an Ipad. I like it. I think I might order one....but one with 3G capability. My one issue is that it doesn't have a file managing system on it. Guess I will need to get an app like Bento or something like that. Plus I like the idea of the e-reading capabilities. I would get an e-reader but they cost about the same as the Ipad.
On the topic of books - I am 400 pages into the last Dark Tower book. I have Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Pug Hill on deck. I would love to get the Julia Child's cookbook. yes me and cookbooks - I am crazy I know.
I can't sit in front of the computer without my head exploding so I am done...
I finished cleaning the house today. Yep, actually cleaning the house - did all the floors and the bathrooms. I feel awful. I was taking claritin but that didn't seem to have much effect. So I switched to zyrtec and and mucinex d. I know the mucinex will help with the stuffy-ness from prior experience. The feeling like I am in a fishbowl - that never really seems to go away no matter what medication I take.
I took all of our change to one of those coin counting machines. We accumulated enough that I could definitely by myself something nice. I was quite surprised. I also went to look at an Ipad. I like it. I think I might order one....but one with 3G capability. My one issue is that it doesn't have a file managing system on it. Guess I will need to get an app like Bento or something like that. Plus I like the idea of the e-reading capabilities. I would get an e-reader but they cost about the same as the Ipad.
On the topic of books - I am 400 pages into the last Dark Tower book. I have Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, and Pug Hill on deck. I would love to get the Julia Child's cookbook. yes me and cookbooks - I am crazy I know.
I can't sit in front of the computer without my head exploding so I am done...
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