Life,The Universe and Everything

Gratitude days 17-24

2011-11-24T21:41:00.000-08:00

OK so I did not do so good this week the daily gratitude thing. Here is some stuff to catch up-

I am grateful I made it to Thanksgiving break. I seriously need it. Five days of no work and no students.

I am grateful for people willing to help me dye my hair. Has to happen frequently and it gets old doing by myself. One day I will be very rich and can afford to have it done every 5-6 weeks.

I am grateful for understanding friends at work that let me vent and help me.

I am grateful for our Special Ed aides at work. With out them I would go crazy and would not get my job done.

I am grateful for delicious food to cook and eat.

I am grateful for the ability to read. Getting lost in a book is one of my favorite things to do.

Gratitude Day 16

2011-11-16T17:53:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for a great haircut. I'm so glad I found a great hair stylist, now to just get the color...

Gratitude days 11-15

2011-11-15T19:16:00.000-08:00

OK so I have missed a few days so I will do one big catch up.

1. I was grateful for Friday! It was a hard week and late start Friday was very nice.

2. I am grateful for my roommate. She is a great friend, she listens to me when I have a bad day but also is ok if I don't want to talk. Thanks Angie!

3. I am grateful for my Heavenly Father. He has comforted and guided me my whole life.

4. A student told me thank you today, I am very grateful for that.

5. I am grateful for my new sweater. Sometimes new clothes can make you feel great!

Gratitude days 9 and 10

2011-11-10T19:50:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was a bad day and I was not really in a gratitude mood. I also would like to apologize to those who had to deal with me yesterday... I was slightly irritable. Anyway part of this exercise is being grateful all the time so yesterday I was grateful for understanding friends and family that let me vent and tried to make me feel better. Today I was grateful for M and M's. They make great bingo chips :)

Gratitude Day 8

2011-11-08T20:13:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for my Mom. That she can go out and do things and have a conversation with me.

Gratitude Day 7

2011-11-07T19:58:00.000-08:00

Today I am grateful for my job. As frustrating, overwhelming and exhausting as it can be some times, the fact that I get to help students be better readers is amazing. It is something that can change their life forever, for the better. The fact that I did not plan on being a reading teacher but was led to it makes it even more amazing.

Month of gratitude.

2011-11-06T21:08:00.000-08:00

Hello all. (I say all facetiously since I know I post so infrequently the only one reading this is probably someone who clicked here by mistake. Anyway welcome...) My sister started doing a month of gratitude posts on her blog and I thought it was a great idea. So I am stealing it from her...as I do most of her good ideas. Since I am getting started late I will just do 5 things from last week then start with today-

Nov 1-5: Last week I was grateful for spending time with my brother and niece, a good Halloween costume, getting all my IEP's scheduled, having power (hearing about others without it makes me very grateful) and TMBG.

Today, Nov 6: I am grateful for a day to rest and recover. It was a long hard week and I was exhausted.

Disneyland!

2011-07-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hello all. Well the writing once a week thing has not happened so far... its a slow process. Now I will give you all the long awaited update on my summer (you can let out the breathe you've been holding, I know its exciting) My last two weeks of June were very busy. First I went to girls camp for a couple of days. It was great fun and I will once again say that we have the best young women ever in our ward. They all get along and no drama. No seriously, 15 teenage girls and no drama. Its amazing! I went home and had one day to get ready for, DISNEYLAND! The last week of June I went to southern Utah and Disneyland with my brother, his roommate and my niece, KiRin. First we went to Boulder, UT. Yes, there is a Boulder, UT. I got to see some Anasazi ruins which I have been wanting to do for several years! To some they may seem unimpressive but walking around them knowing that people hundreds of years ago used this land, and those tools was amazing to me. As for the rest of our two days in Southern Utah, its best I not go into it. We did get to drive through Grand Staircase Escalante and it was breath taking! Here are some pics of it with my new camera-

We spent the next 3 days at Disneyland and California Adventure. Now I have often been teased about my supreme organization for trips like this but I think that Kenn and Lowell both appreciate the pre-planning now. On Monday we spent 15 hours at the park and wore ourselves out. I know you are supposed to go and then take a break and go back but I just can't convince my self to waste my time at Disneyland taking a break! The next two days we took longer and longer breaks since our bodies were rebelling against us. Ki and I have two more converts for our favorite ride- The Tower of Terror! Also the new Star Tours is awesome and it has 54 different combinations to watch! Fantasmic and The Wonderful World of Color were so amazing. Also I just want to say my idea of a perfect world is Disneyland. It is clean, everyone is friendly and nice, there is some helpful person there to clean up after you child makes a mess, there are clean, nice bathrooms where you mostly do not have to wait in line and there is Diet Coke available. Yes, folks it is the happiest place on earth! Here are a couple of the pics I took-

On the way home from DL we stopped in Primm, NV for a night. Unfortunately we rode the "coaster of death" I seriously thought I might die on it... and not in a good way. When I got back home I had one day to do laundry and re-pack then I was off to Connecticut for a month. So far it is really hot and humid here but there are some really cute, smart nieces and nephew :)

Bring it on!

2011-06-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

So I had really good intentions to write on here at least once a week... and then a couple of weeks went by. But if you put it in the perspective of me usually having months between posts I'm doing great! So, school is out. Yea! There are many reasons why I became a teacher and really summers off was not on the list, but I love them! There are necessary, at least for me. By the end of the year I am burnt out and need some time off to re-charge. Especially this year, I was done about 2 months ago. Anyway my week and a half off has been busy. I sanded and re-painted my dresser. That took longer than I thought it would but it looks good. I also cleaned and rearranged my room. I swear I think I am a pretty clean person but there was so much dust everywhere! I was quite disgusted. Things are much cleaner now. This next week starts my crazy time. I am going to girl's camp from Tuesday through Thursday, then Friday I leave for Southern Utah and Disneyland!!! I am very excited about Disneyland, yea! Mickey here I come! When I get back from CA I have one day and then I leave for CT for a month. I am also very excited to see my family there. I already have tickets for Harry Potter and Wicked. So far my summer is looking awesome!

Shock

2011-06-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

So, if I still have any readers I bet you are shocked... two posts in two days. Has the world gone crazy? Maybe. I work at a middle school so I can't really tell. Anyway I should be exercising right now so I am using this as a tool of procrastination. Speaking of that I got the wii active 2 after Christmas and I have to say I have worked out more consistently and just more with this than with anything else. Each exercise lasts for about 2-3 minutes then I can change to something else. I think I have ADD when it comes to exercise. The other reason for this post is that I have been watching quite a lot of Remington Steele lately. And getting a lot of flack for it and while I do not feel thee need to justify my viewing choices... I though I would illuminate some people to what they are missing.

The top 5 best things about Remington Steele...
5. It had high production values and obviously stylists who had some taste because it still looks good. Not like some of those 8o's shows that when you see them now make you want to run away because they remind you of some horrible looks you and others had back then that you would rather never remember.
4. The acting is great. All the leads are good actors and these were perfect roles for them. Most of the extras were pretty good too.
3. The writing is really good and still holds up. I am the first to admit that some of the shows I used to love long ago on second look are very cringe worthy.
2. The character of Laura Holt was a strong, independent woman and great example for me as a child. I am pretty sure my first car was a rabbit because of her :)
1. Pierce Brosnan is HOT!!!

I mean look at him, seriously...

So I suggest you give it a look. You can't borrow mine though, after lending the first season to someone and never getting it back I have a strict it never leaves my house rule now. I would be happy to have you come over for a viewing though... call me...

Long time in coming.

2011-05-30T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's been a long time. I am again going to try to write on here regularly... we'll see how it goes. Only 7 days!!! Yes I only have seven days left of the school year. This year has been hard and I am ready for a break. The last month I have had a lot to look forward too before the end of the year. First my wonderful brother took me to see Abba: the Concert. It was an ABBA cover band that played with the Utah symphony. It was awesome. The cover band was great, they dressed up like ABBA and some of them had even played with ABBA originally. The other entertaining part was watching quite a few in the audience who obviously had season tickets to the symphony and really had no idea what they were in for! Some were disgusted and left at intermission but some stuck it out. The only downside was that we could not dance the whole time!

The next big thing was the U2 concert. It was amazing! It is really quite indescribable. U2 are the definition of rock stars! The stage, the music, the lights and sound all incredible. It maybe the best $35 I have ever spent.

Now I have Lagoon day- (I get paid to spend the day at Lagoon!), summer vacation, Disneyland and family in Connecticut to look forward to! I can't wait.

Suprise!

2010-11-27T20:55:00.000-08:00

So I decided to post again so soon to shock my readers (there's like two of you right?) I have had the last nine days off and it has been great! I saw the new Harry Potter movie twice, once at midnight. It was really good but I want to see part two right now! I then went to Boise for a few days. It was great to see family and friends, it had been awhile! I also subjected said family and friends to the new IQ test I am getting training on. I must say I have very smart family and friends :) Thanks very much to everyone who let me test them. I used like 8 people and it took all total about 5-6 hours. Just imagine if I had given it all to one person (Kenn is really glad you guys did it too so he wasn't that person) Despite the weather report and many warnings I traveled back to SLC on Tuesday, yes the day of the "BLIZZARD OF 2010" (I hope you hear that in your head with dramatic music) The roads were not great and I-84 after Burley was closed so I had to go the long way but with Mom and Dad's four wheel drive car it was fine. It took a long time though. After surviving the "BLIZZARD of 2010" I thought I was home free and eagerly went the next morning to get groceries for Thanksgiving dinner. Alas, I think the ice was angry at me for surviving easily the day before and it caught me by my car. I took a nice spill and twisted or dislocated my knee, there were some not nice sounds of some kind. Knee issues are not new to me though and before I ended up in a brace up to my waist or it swelled up to the size of a cantaloupe (both have occurred before)I hurried and did my shopping. Well, not so much hurried as limped through. Anyway the injury made for an interesting two days of cooking but it all turned out. Thanksgiving dinner was very nice and several games were played afterwords, thanks Kenn for indulging me again! Now I am not ready to go back to work and I realize I have little time to get all my holiday stuff done before I leave. Here comes the rush... Before I go here is a list of some of the things I am grateful for right now-

a bored niece who wants to talk to me
concerned family and friends
Good Eats Turkey recipe
a fun roommate to see movies with
a brother-in-law that is willing to run my errands
my parents four wheel drive
games!
family willing to play games with me
Amazon.com
Law and Order marathon
a heavenly father who loves me
a job I like

I could keep going but this is getting a little long...

Long time

2010-11-17T18:38:00.001-08:00

Well.... It has been a long time. Probably don't have any readers left, if you are reading this, kudos you have sticking power! So things the last few months has been busy. There have been a few family crises (that is pretty normal) and work. Work has been quite overwhelming this year. Here is why... I am now a full time Special Ed teacher. Now I am grateful for a job but I never wanted to be a full time special ed teacher. (It could be worse, I could be a math teacher too.) Anyway this means that I now have 4 different preps each day. Four different lesson plans to come up with each and every day. Also two of those classes are brand new. I have never taught English or Geography before. The only thing getting me through those classes is my awesome co-workers who allow me to steal all their curriculum! Also this means lots more students files that I am in charge of. That means being responsible for their IEP's and re-evals and any other issues that come up. It is a ton of paper work, no really, a ton. Some days I feel like I am barely keeping my head above water. Also, just as a reminder, I am a middle school teacher and kids at that age are... special. So if you don't hear from me much this school year this is why. I am done complaining now.

On a brighter note, I put on my own bumper, with help form my Dad. I got desperate and tried it, so far it has not fallen off. The boys at DI thought the red bumper on the black car was really cool :) Also, I got a new lap top at work because I have the best Principal ever. I am a little irritated that the district took Windows 7 off of it before they gave it to me though. Tomorrow night I am going to Harry Potter at midnight, yeah!!! Then I am going to Boise for the weekend. I haven't been there in like a year and I am so excited to see everyone. I am also bringing my Grandma back with me for Thanksgiving! Very excited to have her here. In October I went to Idaho Falls and visited Lauri and her family. It was great fun!

Thanksgiving is my favorite Holiday. I love cooking a feast for my family and friends. Anyone who would like to come is welcome!

Summer!

2010-06-22T05:53:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. Greetings from the east coast. June is almost gone, I can't believe it! Summer goes by way to fast. So my first 2 weeks of summer were great. I quite enjoyed not having to get up early, being able to do nothing, etc. I did have 2 days of professional development on literacy. It was a little to close to the end of the year and I was not a very good student. Also a lot of it was review. It was nice to get to know some of my colleagues better. Anyway soon after I made the annual pilgrimage to Connecticut. This year it will be for about 7 weeks. I am taking care of the little ones for the summer. (Note: The nieces and nephews will only be referred to by initials because I feel silly using a fake name :) It is still hot and humid here in case anyone is wondering. It has not been to bad yet, I am waiting with dread for it to really get hot. The littlest one had her gymfest on Saturday. She was so cute doing all her gymnastics routines and apparently she has made huge progress this year! I. has a cast on but I usually forget because she almost never complains! It is amazing and she has found a way to do almost anything. I think maybe she got her spirit from Grandma Greenland! G. read the book I gave him in 24 hours, that was with about 4-5 hours of actual reading time. The book was 516 pages long. It is hard to admit that he reads faster than me! Well I wish I had lovely pictures to embellish this update with but alas no camera. That is on the shopping list for this summer.

Almost done

2010-05-21T20:58:00.001-07:00

Hello all. It has been awhile, again. I gave a lesson last week on journaling and how it is a commandment. I was honest with my girls and explained that I don't do it very well but as I did challenge them to do it I thought I should make more of an effort.

School is winding down. It came up kind of fast and surprise like this year. When people started mentioning only a month left I was like, "really." I wasn't in the "I can't wait" phase yet. I am now. It is like in the last 2 weeks my students have forgotten everything they have ever learned about classroom rules, listening to instructions and just not talking! I have had to fall back on my stand by of more bribes- wait I mean rewards. Of course the end of this year brings me closer to the beginning of next year where I will be teaching 2 new subjects. That is a little stressful and nerve racking. I will really try hard to actually do some preparation this summer. Also the end of this year means that one of my VP's is leaving. He got transferred to another school. Most of you don't know him but he is great. One of the best administrators I have ever worked with and he will be missed.

The end of year school year also means summer!! I have tickets for CT and can't wait to see the family. I have lots of plans for fun.

I have also been reading and watching quite a few movies so here is a short review of those- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins- I read this in a day. It is really good. It is a distopia, future story about a world where 24 young adults are sent each year to fight to the death. It is fast paced, has great characters and a very interesting, thought provoking message. It doesn't hit you over the head with it though, it is subtle. I have started the sequel and so far it is great too.
I have also read the first and fourth books in the Sword of Truth series. I really liked them. You may wonder why those two... well I read about a third of the second and was highly disturbed, then read synopsis of the next few books in the series and decided I didn't want to pick up the story till the 4th. Much better. There is a TV series based on it which is also pretty entertaining, "Legend of the Seeker" Last book is Forest Born by Shannon Hale. It is part of the books of Bayern series. Nice YA book with many strong female characters. I really enjoyed the evolution of the main character in this one. So far this is getting long so movie reviews will be short- Letters to Juliet- OK, you might wait till DVD. Just Wright- I enjoyed it quite a bit. I am a big fan of Queen Latifah. Robin Hood- a little slow to start but picks up and has a good ending. Not historically accurate but interesting how they combine the legend with the Magna Carta. OK that's all for now.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

So today to celebrate Mother's day I thought I would give 1o reasons why I am grateful for my mother. (Also to beat my sister to the punch :) In no particular order-

1. She taught me to cook. This has brought me much joy and is a very useful skill to have.

2.She made me take Piano lessons. I can not play at all but it did help me develop an appreciation for music.

3. She made healthy well balanced meals for us. I may not eat very healthy all the time but it is not because I don't know how.

4. She taught me to speak my mind, even if sometimes it was to argue with her :).

5. Years of practice dying hair, it comes in really handy now.

6. She gave me the gift of celebrating birthdays instead of dreading them. Our birthdays were always big celebrations!

7. She took me to Disneyland and Disney World!!!

8. She taught me to treat all people with respect, even of they are different then we are.

9. When I was freaking out about not getting a good enough score or not studying enough she told me it would be fine.

10. She showed me how to be an intelligent, independent woman!

Thanks Mom, I love you.

book reviews

2010-04-03T22:56:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone. My sister has requested that every time I finish a book I post about it. I told her to get on goodreads and she can read them there. She said it was easier to put it on the blog. Because she sent me beautiful flower and was very nice on my Birthday I will oblige her, this time. By the way the birthday was very good thanks all those who helped me celebrate even my 4th period who sang the worst rendition of Happy Birthday ever. Anyway in the last week I have read "Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison"- It was very good. I love this series. Brandon Mull is a great author, I highly recommend the series to anyone who remotely likes fantasy; "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night"-This book was really good. It is so different and unique. Is from the point of view of an autistic teen. The author created so much empathy for the characters and what they are going through. I am not sure how accurate of an insight into the mind of an autistic child it is. It did tend to match up to what I see with my students and what I know about the condition. Anyway I totally recommend it! There is some language, but not to bad. Also it is an interesting and fast moving plot as well: "City of Ember"- This book was interesting but not great. I liked the concept but the delivery lacked something. I have now started on "Wicked"- not the "Wizard of Oz" remake but a different one about witches and stuff. I'll let you know how it is.

Also I think I might review movies here as well. Kenn says that would be my perfect job, you can let me know :) I went and saw "Remember Me" tonight. It was better than I expected but I had really low expectations. I apologize now all you Edward fans but I do not think Robert Patinson is a good actor. He just always looks moody and depressed, in everything. On the other hand Pierce Brosnan was great as usual. The good thing is that it shows how people can survive tragedy and keep going, even if the tragedy is contrived. I also watched the "Red Riding" trilogy this week. It was well done but not worth the time invested. The content was too much for me. Remember I watch shows like "Bones" and "Law and Order:SVU" all the time. Also I was not satisfied with the ending, too much bad not enough good.

Until next time...

Catch up

2010-03-01T18:35:00.000-08:00

OK so its been a few months I thought I would catch everyone (or no one:) up a little.

I got my Wii Fit! Yea! I have so far exercised much more than I have with anything else. Unfortunately it has not cured my dislike of exercise but made it a little more palatable. I finally unlocked advanced on rhythm Kung Fu!

I decided to go off sugar. I am highly addicted to the stuff and I finally decided cold turkey was the only way to go. I have had a few stumbles but for the most part I have done much better than I thought I would. I have lost a little weight and am feeling some what better. I need now to stop filling in with high fat/high carb stuff.

I had my final JPAS for my probation years!!! I have had to be evaluated 4 times a year for the first 3 years and now I am done! If I can just pass my PRAXIS PLT test then I can become a real teacher, or at least get a level 2 license. I should probably start studying for that...

I watched a ridiculous amount of the Olympics in the last 2 weeks. Here is my opinionated summary- Sooooo glad Evan won, Plushenko is a dork! Apolo was robbed but is still The Man! Shawn White amazing. Short Track relay is insane and I am not sure why it does not end in bloodshed every time, those skates are sharp! I like watching curling, still not exactly sure what is going on but they sure are enthusiastic, also I think it is the only Olympic sport I might be able to do :) Now it is time to get back to my regularly scheduled TV viewing.... can't wait for The Vampire Diaries :)

Update

2010-01-19T19:02:00.000-08:00

OK, again it has been a really long time. I have been busy and really I just haven't been in the mood. It's weird. Anyway Christmas was great. Kim and Dave and their kids came. It was crazy but great. Christmas day it's self was pretty quiet. I did have a hard time sleeping, just like a kid because I wanted to open my presents :) I got a wii, yea! Thanks again Kim and Dave. I also got to visit my friend and her family in Idaho. That was a lot of fun. I am a big fan of Beatles rockband. If only I could get some Rick Astley on a rockband, that would be awesome!

A new semester starts tomorrow. For the first time I am kind of sad to lose my students. I have my classes well trained and most of them are pretty good. Oh well, hopefully this semester will be even better. I worked out on the Wii fit at Alicia's last night and I am really sore today. I am not used to the muscle movements required to do the hula hoop :)

Girls weekend!

2009-11-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I just had a great weekend. My friend Lauri came and stayed. We have know each other since we were 4. There were a few rocky years in grade school :) but mostly she has always been one of my best friends. She is always there for me no matter what. I can have not talked to her in months and she is always willing to be my sounding board and listen to me complain. I also remembered this weekend how good she for me, subtly encouraging me to be more positive and less critical of others, thanks Lar! Anyway Friday we went shopping and got some great makeup,had dinner at the cheesecake factory, very yummy, and then went to a movie. Saturday I introduced her to her first pedicure, nice excuse for me to get one! We had a great time just hanging out. I am so glad she came and I hope to get to see her again soon.

Nothing much else is going on. It was a busy week at work. I missed the monthly Chili's outing Friday. At least once a month a group of us from work go to Chili's after school on Friday and hangout for awhile. The group includes our Awesome administration. Any teachers out there reading this you can be jealous now. I work at the best school ever! This is just one small example of why it is so awesome. November is going by in a blur. Next week is New Moon, yes I have tickets already and then Thanksgiving! I am now issuing an open invitation to anyone who would like to come to Thanksgiving dinner. I love to cook for Thanksgiving and would love to have more to cook for! Hope to see you...

Quarantine

2009-11-07T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hello all. Thank you very much those of you that fed my need for feedback. Although like a drug I always need more :) Anyway it has been an interesting last couple of weeks. I got a really bad cold about a month ago. I stayed home one day, watched way to much random TV(Say yes to the Dress)but after like a week felt a lot better, than my sinus' started to get worse again. I used my mucinex and decongestant hoping it would go away but after 3 weeks decided to go to the Dr. That was Monday. I found a nice colleague willing to watch my class and went hoping for some antibiotics. The Dr. came in and asked me if I had been exposed to the H1N1 flu. I said of course, I am a teacher. She said you have a fever of 101.6, many flu symptoms so I am testing you and you have to stay off work for 7 days. I said, "what the crap!" We negotiated it down to staying home till the test results came back. I then decided to put it in my Principal's hands because I really did not feel that bad but I didn't want to be a typhoid Mary. She said even if you don't have it you still probably don't feel well, stay home. So for 2 days I was quarantined at home. It was kind of nice but I felt like I was wasting sick days, what if I really do get the plague? Also as a teacher being gone for multiple days is a lot of prep work! Anyway the test was negative, yea!

In better news last night I went to my 5th They Might Be Giants concert. This time Jennifer went with me, she had never been. It was great! They played the entire "Flood" album plus a bunch from their new "Here comes Science" album. It also included a couple of numbers with sock puppets and an accordion! It is always a different experience seeing them. At the end of the concert they handed out free bumper stickers and I got one straight from one of the Johns!!! For all you parents I highly recommend their kids albums, I have heard "No" and quite a few off the science album now. Hope you all have a great day!! Until next time...

Finally

2009-10-24T15:04:00.001-07:00

Hello all, well any of you that still bother to check this since it has been so long since I wrote. At first I did not write because I was irritated. Yes I have discovered through this blog (actually I kind of knew it, the blog just confirmed it) that I am needy like a dog when it comes to praise and/or feedback. I want people to acknowledge what I do, now!! Facebook is bad for this too, I get upset if no one has commented on my status. It is pathetic, I am getting therapy and taking pills for it.... (extra points for anyone who can name that quote :) Anyway as part of my therapy I am going to write on this blog regularly no matter if anyone comments or not. (It would really encourage me though if you did comment, please, I need it)

So we are already almost to Halloween, the time has gone by fast! School really is going very well so far. I don't even have a "bad" class so far (knocking on wood now.) I am getting to the frustration point with students who refuse to do anything in class or outside of it. We have a new intervention system that we are doing this year though and that is helping, every week I get to pull some of those kids in and give them some one-on-one attention. It is a lot harder to do nothing when the teacher is sitting next to you walking you through the assignment!

I have also been attending an aquacise class. As most of you know I hate exercise but for multiple reasons it became even more clear I needed to do something. I had heard some one talk about how much they liked the aquacise classes at the local rec center so I decided to try it. I can't say that I like it for the whole hour but I like it enough to finish the hour. Also it is really good on my bad knees. I was going twice a week very regularly until the last two weeks when I got sick. I have to start up again next week. This might get more difficult when it gets really cold, I hate changing in gym settings. It brings back flashbacks to junior high.

Well I hope all is well with you and I promise to be back soon.

Cape Cod!

2009-07-19T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hi guys. Yes I know it is a miracle, a post two weeks in a row. Amazing! This week has gone by pretty quickly. Monday we had swimming lessons and then we went to the beach about 45 mins from Glastonbury. It was very nice, kinda of crowded and no big waves, good for kids. The kids also went crabbing. I have always heard about "crabbing" but did not know what it entailed. for the kids it entails tying a string to a raw chicken drumstick and sticking it in places you think crabs are hiding. Kind of weird, I know. The kids caught 6 crabs though, then we released them back to be tortured by some other kids. Tuesday night Kim and I went to the midnight Harry Potter 6. I know I didn't think I would be able to talk her into it either, but she was very nice and indulged me. It was great. For the first time Michael Gambon (the guy who plays Dumbledore) didn't make me want to throw something on the screen. The movie was very well done, can't wait to see it again.

On Friday we went camping on Cape Cod. We stayed at a giant state park near the beaches. This is the view from our camp...

The first night we had a major storm and while we did stay mostly dry the adults did not get a lot of sleep. On Saturday we went to two different beaches, one on the cape side and one on the ocean side. The one on the cape side we went to for low tide. It was amazing the water receded like a mile into the ocean and you could go out and look at the tide pools left behind. Dave and G found a huge horsehose crab, A and I found several crabs buried in the sand. (I think this is a much better way to go crabbing) At the ocean side beach we finally found our big waves. The water was a lot colder but the waves were a lot of fun. This is G against the ocean, trying to stand against the big waves...

Here is I. having fun in the sun...

After two beaches we went back to camp, roasted hot dogs and went to bed, we were tired. This morning the kids decided to swim in the lake and here is Kim styling in the fabulous sun glasses we mysteriously ended up with... (she was desperate for sun glasses)

Next week is Kim's B-day and we go to D.C. Hope you all had a great week!

East for Summer

2009-07-12T13:58:00.000-07:00

Hello all. It has been am long time so this might be a long post, you might want to prepare a snack now. I'll wait... Ok, Well first girls camp. It went very well! We had 16 girls from our ward go and we had no drama, no fights, nothing! I was very impressed with all of the girls they got a long great, made sure everyone was involved and unless they are all lying, had a great time! I had a great time, minus all the bug bites. Also all the girls got certified!!! I know there are a lot of people who do not think that girl's camp certification skills are important, but I do. I think these skills can help the girls become more independent and self-reliant women. The girls even got me to wear my bedazzled purple headband for a whole day, oh and our skit won! I wrote the script but the girls did all the work.

After camp I had 5 days to recover and get ready for my trip back east to visit Kim and family. I needed almost all that time to recover, I was exhausted when I got back. Anyway with a few minor delays I made it to Glastonbury, CT. So far I have watched a lot of Charlie and Lola. I am not complaining, as kids shows go this one is rather entertaining and the English accents are nice too :) We also had a fun girls night since the boys went to cub scout camp. We did pedicures, had homemade blueberry sorbet and I was forced to watch High School Musical 3. They should have stopped at 1 but the nieces enjoyed it immensely. Yesterday we went to the outlet mall near Glastonbury. It was really great. Big, lots of good stores and not very crowded. The only complaint is the lack of eating options but I did get a nice new shirt. That afternoon we went to the Hartford river festival on the Connecticut River. There were some kids activities, face painting and then fireworks. We went on a very long journey to find just the right spot to watch the fireworks from but we ended up right by a playground which when waiting for 3 hours with 3 kids was great. The fireworks were amazing. The finally was the best I have ever seen! Kim and Dave said it was better then the ones they watched last week in Boston. Well worth the wait and we made it to the car right before the downpour started. Tomorrow we are going to the beach after swimming lessons. Next week we are going to Washington D.C. Should be exciting. Here are some pictures of the fireworks, not great but ok for my camera. Also the cute kids.

Catch up

2009-06-19T13:36:00.001-07:00

Hello all. It has been a long time. I have just not really felt like blogging for the last few months. Knowing that so many of you (snicker) have been waiting anxiously for news I have decided to end your misery :) Well I got through the end of the school year. I have developed a theory that there is a finite amount of time that most adult humans can be around 12-14 year old adolescences and still remain sane. I think the regular school year is just about that amount. Of course this could just be me :) I did plan better this year and most of my classes were watching movies that actually had to do with the curriculum the last week of school. Yea me!

After school got out my Grandma came to town for a few days, that was great! We went to the Ochre temple open house, saw the giant Kennecotte copper mine, and went for a picnic in the mountains. We had a lot of fun, thanks Grandma!

Since then I have been wasting a lot of time, thanks Farm Town on Facebook, and trying to plan Girls Camp. It should be very interesting, I have one more week to go before the big event. I am also ready to go visit Kim, Dave and the kids now! I hope all is well with all of you.

Catch up

2009-04-18T14:22:00.000-07:00

Well it has been awhile. Here is a brief catchup on what I have been doing. I had to spend my legislative money by this week so I did quite a bit of shopping the end of last month. I bought some fun new toys like a wireless, all-in-one printer and my favorite a 5 foot Cat in the Hat to go on my wall!! I am easily amused some times, but I am proud of it so here is a picture-

Isn't it cute? I also went to Boise for Spring Break. It was a lot of fun and quite relaxing. I got to spend some quality time with my amazing Grandma, my cousins, Aunt and Uncle. I also had lunch with a friend from Junior High-High School. It was great to catch up and I realized that I had great taste in friends even back in Junior High! On the way back to SLC I decided to stop at Shoshone falls. I had never been there, really I didn't know much about it. Apparently the falls is only really cool in the spring with the spring melt. It is called the Niagra of the West and since I have now seen Niagra falls I thought it would be good to see the one in my own backyard. It was spectacular! Here is a picture of it-

Nice huh? This week Angie and I went to a play at the Hale Center Theater. It was a version of the Phantom of the Opera, not the Andrew Lloyd Weber one. I now know why the Andrew Lloyd Weber one is more popular, it is vastly better. Angie did a great and humorous review of it on her blog so if you want to know more read here (Angie if you want me to take the link off just let me know:) So this weekend Angie and I did watch the other Phantom, unfortunately the copy I rented was very damaged and it kept skipping, but it was still better:) This weekend I am holed up at home trying to deal with my stomach problems and caffeine headache. I think my stomach has finally had it from years of ibuprofen and diet coke and is rebelling. So I can't drink diet coke with out a lot of pain, which leads to the headache. I toughed it out last night but when it had not gone away today I got desperate and made flat diet coke. I really hope this is a temporary condition!

Cutest kids ever!!!

2009-03-24T20:31:00.000-07:00

My brother in-law posted some new pictures on his facebook page and I have to share. I mean these are these cutest kids.... I am not just saying that because I am their Aunt, I think I can be totally objective :)

Happy Moments...

2009-03-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

Hello all. I survived another week and as you are reading this it seems you did to, congratulations to us all! This week was very busy and tiring. I had several IEP's including one that I have been dreading all year. That one went surprisingly well thankfully. I also had a couple of Ward Sing practices to attend. Wait, before you all start cringing and thinking what is going on... i am not singing in the ward sing. I am strictly back stage help. This is my attempt to become more involved in my ward, get to know people more. Now I am wondering what I was thinking :) I think that the show is going to be great it has just been a lot of commitment and a lot more this next week as well. Oh well. I guess life is made up of experiences, the more the better. Also I have discovered that a member of my ward has a diet coke fountain with good ice in her house, available at all times. I am now trying to figure how to make good friends with this family :)

This weekend will also be busy. I have a practice at 7:00 am tomorrow morning, I am trying not to think about it, and my St. Patrick's day dinner. Tonight was a boost for my mood though, I went and saw Duplicity. It was very enjoyable and not only because I got to stare at Clive Owen for 2 hours. That was very nice though. So as a way of sharing I shall post a nice picture of him here. Just take a look, it is sure to make you feel happier!

Now wasn't that nice?

12 and 13 year olds, necessary?

2009-03-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

So this week has been a bad one at work. As you can see by my title, today I am wondering if we can't just skip the years 12-13 in the growth process or at least maybe like speed it up. Like maybe if we had a fast forward button on each kid and speed through those years in like a week. I think that would be great. Then they would emerge more mature, they would not steal my dry erase markers, they would not forget what I have told them 3 times before- about 30 seconds after I told them the last time, they would not demand my help and attention all at the same time, right now!!!! Really it would be so nice, I bet parents would go for it too. So if any of you out there know of a brilliant scientist looking for a new project please pass along my idea.

The big problem when weeks like this happen is Ms. Crandall gets more and more sarcastic (they tell us not to be at all, like that will happen) for instance here is an exchange that happened today, Me- "Suzy I have asked you repeatedly to not throw things in class, please don't do it again." Student- "But Joe did it first." Me- "Oh, well that's OK then because obviously if someone else does it first that completely absolves you of having to obey any rules. So apparently you are free to just ignore all the class rules from now on."

Yes I know this may not be the best teaching method but I did get a laugh from my students who understand sarcasm and the offending student was quiet :)

Update...

2009-03-07T16:21:00.000-08:00

So, its been a little while again since you have been graced by a life update from me. The last couple of weeks have been good and bad... first the good stuff. Depeche Mode is touring this summer!!!!!!!!! Yea!!!!! I am a little excited. SO I called up Kim and told her that she would have the good fortune to go to the Boston or New York show with me and she said, "Are you sure you want to see them here, haven't you seen them enough." I will now give those of you that know me time to gufaw and say "What was she thinking?" To answer her questions, I have seen them 8 times and yes I do really want to see them twice this summer. If I could afford to go to the Vegas show too I probably would. They are highly entertaining!

Anyway in other good news this week I also got my JPASS results back. For those of you that don't know, JPASS is my teacher evaluation and I have to have 4 a year my first 3 years of teaching. If you do not pass you get put on probation and could lose your job. Anyway this semester my JPASS was being done by one of our Vice Principals, she is supposed to be the hardest JPASSer. I have not had her evaluate before so I was a little nervous. Then a couple of weeks ago she came in to observe me on the worst day possible. It was portfolio collection day and without going into the details is basically means chaos. After that I was seriously worried. The second observation went well but I was still worried. Also being the competitive person I am I get mad if I get less than I have before, even if I pass. I know it doesn't really matter but its how I feel. This week she came into give me my results... it was the highest JPASS I have ever received!!! I was so shocked and happily surprised. I do have to say that I think technology gave me a leg up on this one :)

The bad stuff lately includes a funeral for a friend's Mom which was very sad, I feel so bad for her and her sister. I hope they are comforted by all the prayers from friends and family. Also my own family stuff that I will not bore you with. It is more of the same crap I have been dealing with for many years now. Yea. It could be worse though.

Hope you all are having a good March and I will leave you with a bit of wisdom from the X-Files- Scully- "Nonsensical repetitive behavior is a common trait of mental illness." Mulder- "Are you trying to tell me something?"

The X-Files

2009-02-25T15:34:00.000-08:00

So I am still at work, it is about 5:00. It is student led conferences night so I am here till 8:00, yea! I am sick of work, I was here till 8:00 last night too so I thought I would do something else. For Christmas Angie got me the first season of the x-files on DVD. I do not know why I have never gotten them before, probably too expensive. Anyway that one season made me remember how much I love The X-Files! So since Christmas I have bought 5 more seasons, I have been watching a lot of x-files the last few weeks. The other day Angie also asked if I had heard the "I love David Duchovny" song. I had not, so tonight to distract myself I found it. It is great. Very entertaining, although now with the whole sex addiction thing I am not so sure I would want him to love me back. Maybe it is better just being unrequited love :) Also I don't really agree with the part about killing Scully, I really like Scully too. Anyway if you have not heard it you should take a listen it is pretty entertaining :) Here is a link- or just listen to the one on my page. Hope you enjoy!

The first five...

2009-02-18T21:06:00.000-08:00

Well I commented on my friends so I guess I have to follow through :) Can't wait to see who I get to make stuff for.

The first five...
The first people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me.
However there are some limitations
1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year. (might take a while)
4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, shoes, bags or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. It may blow your mind!
Here is the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

an update...

2009-02-07T08:58:00.000-08:00

This week has gone by pretty fast. My new classes are still behaving, hopefully that will last awhile! I have developed a new pain or at least it got way worse this week. My hip for some reason really hurts, mainly after I have been sitting and then get up. I can barely walk sometimes. I have tried the exercises that the chiropractor gave me but they didn't seem to work well. Maybe if I was more consistent... I did play some Wii this week. I am better at tennis but my 7 year old niece still kicks my butt. I must get more practice time in, Andre would be so disappointed in me :) I went and saw Doubt last night. It was very good. The acting was great and it made you think. I really do love Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Hope you all had a great week I am off to try and increase my score for Settlers of Catan...

25 random things

2009-01-31T19:56:00.000-08:00

So I haven't written in awhile because I have this problem that I don't think anything interesting, that people would want to read about, has happened lately. So I saw my roommate do this random things and then my sister so I thought that might be good format to use for a post that might be interesting. Then I read my sister's post and she took most of my interesting things.... so here goes and some of it might be repeats :)

1. I am currently watching the PBS version of Jane Eyre for like the 15th time. It's good.
2. I have no idea how many times I have read Jane Eyre and yet I find new things to love about it all the time.
3. I read the end of the latest Princess Diaries book in the store to find out if she ends up with Michael. She does, yea!
4. I often have insomnia and am up at 3:00 in the morning.
5. I have been to 11 countries and hope to visit a lot more.
6. I own all 5 seasons of Remington Steele and enjoy it as much as when it was on originally.
7. I drink way to much diet coke.
8. I saw Lance Armstrong in the Tour De France
9. I have seen 5 movies in the theater in the last 2.5 weeks.
10. Slumdog Millionaire was the best one.
11. It should totally win for best picture.
12. I almost fell asleep at the assembly on Friday.
13. I spent 3 hours yesterday playing Settlers of Catan
14. I just got a membership to Costco.
15. I love their big bag of snap peas.
16. I had to set up my parents voice mail today, they didn't realize they even had it.
17. I was thrilled to have my first "real" phone conversation with my nephew this week. You know where he asked me questions too.
18. I am addicted to Dunford chocolate doughnuts.
19. I think they put an addictive chemical in them that makes me crave for it daily.
20. I have crooked teeth, even though I had braces.
21. I hate watching people being mean or neglectful to older people in movies and on TV.
22. I have only cried at 3 movies in my life.
23. I went through bigger culture shock moving from Idaho to Texas then when I moved to Taiwan.
24. I love to dance, but only to music I like
25. I used to work at a country dance club.

Well that took a lot longer than I thought it would. Hope everyone has a great day!

Game etiquette

2009-01-17T21:24:00.000-08:00

Hello all. So this week I found a website where I can play Settlers of Catan for free. As some of you may know, I quite enjoy playing games and since I can't usually convince people to play with me as often as I want my only gaming outlet is the computer. This seems like a great solution but I have discovered that when playing online other people have some issues. And this is not just me. I have discussed this problem with my sister so I feel that maybe it is a much more widespread problem then I know. In the interests of the general good, or just to get it off my chest, I would like to layout some suggestions for people who play with others online. Please feel free to share these with others, maybe they will get to the ridiculous people I played today!

1. Stop being whimps! It is a game, people play to win, duh! That is why those of us that spend too much time playing anything online do so, we are competitive and like to win!!! So when I rob you even if you only have one card, or only 3 points don't yell at me, or swear or cry.

2. Be nice. I do not mean in strategy as mentioned before, play to win, whatever that entails while following the rules. I refer here to not telling people they are stupid, swearing at them or telling them to learn how to play the game if he/she does something you don't like or would not have done your self.

Now since I myself am a gigantic whinner when playing with real people some people may think that this is hypocritical. You may be right but most of the time I am whinning at my family, they can take it. Not complete strangers. Also I am considering therapy for the problem :)

Actually maybe I will just start vetting people before I play with them. My questions might be something like this... Are you a sissy? Will you whine and act like a 2 year old with a potty mouth if things do not go your way? If not, lets play!

Also, sort of related to the game theme, I went and saw Slumdog Millionaire and it was great! It was disturbing but a great story.

sick.

2009-01-13T18:33:00.000-08:00

It has been a little while since I wrote. That is because I was sick, sick, sick! I got really tired of it, if you can't tell :) I got a cold asa soon as I got to Connecticut for Christmas, which after 3 weeks developed into bronchitis and a sinus infection. I did take 2 days off work but I think I would have rather been well and dealing with middle schoolers. On the plus side my roomate Angie took good care of me while I was sick. She brought me KFC and didn't make me stay in my room :) Besides being sick not much going on. Grandma came to visit, which was nice. Also I went to Martha's new baby's blessing which was very nice. I am currently trying to decide what to do with all my free time now that I don't have to go to class after work. This week is the last week of the semester, I think both me and a few of my students will be grateful to have new classes next week. I have about 15 movies I need to watch, at least according to my EW that came last week. I have to be prepared for the Oscars :)

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays all! So far besdies being very sick this is a great Christmas. I wanted to post some great pictures of this morning since I am at my sisters, who has all the pictures. I hope you all have a fabulous day!
I wish I had a rain coat that cute!
I scored big with Spore!
Having fun with the My little Pony Scooter.

It's a Wonderful Life!

2008-12-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

So I just watched "It's a Wonderful Life" again and had to tell everyone to go watch it! I love this movie. It is the ultimate feel good movie. It reminds you of how many people we all affect in our lives, more than we have any idea of. Also I went to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert last night and it was great! Edward Herrmann was one of the guest stars, I have loved him since I watched "Annie" around 40 times as a kid. He played FDR. Anyway it was a great way to help me get more in the Christmas spirit. Thanks to my relief society president who gave me the tickets!

I made it!

2008-12-13T20:40:00.000-08:00

OK. so when I was offered my current job last year and decided to go back to school while teaching so I could get a "fulltime" job I thought, "It will be hard but I have been working two jobs and going to school for the last 2 years. No big deal." Well I was wrong. It was a big deal. It was a lot harder to be a 1st year teacher and go to school full time than I thought. And I did have experience and a teaching degree already. I don't know how my fellow classmates in the ATP program did it. Anyway I made it through and last Tuesday was my last class, yea!!! Hopefully I will soon be a fully qualified Special Ed teacher. I should also say thanks to the man above who as usual knew what I needed and kept nudging me towards this even though I kept resisting!

Countdown to Sanity!

2008-12-03T06:31:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving!

2008-12-02T20:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, I don't have much to say but I am going to be busy the next couple of weeks so I figured I should say something now. Thanksgiving was great, pretty relaxing. I cooked, I will it admit it is because I am controlling and particular about my Thanksgiving dinner. I want the traditional turkey and stuffing, done right. It works out for everyone else thought, I think :) Anyway Kenn and I took my Mom to see Twilight, yes that makes 3 for me.... in a week. What can I say I am a sucker for a vampire love story and each time I went with people who hadn't seen it. So now I am trying to complete a semesters worth of work in one week so I can finish my class next week. Yea I will be done! I also have to get 5 IEP meetings in before Christmas break, finish Christmas shopping, do Christmas cards, treats etc. It is going to be a busy three weeks. I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and thank you all for being part of my life. It wouldn't be as good with out you.

crash, leak and twilight.

2008-11-24T18:03:00.000-08:00

Hello all. I figured it was finally time to catch you all up. Last week... could have been better. Everything was going OK until Wednesday. This is how Wednesday went- Woke up, then nose bleed. Finally get the bleeding stopped, get ready, go to leave, and bang, back into someone. I swear I looked but they came up fast. Anyway the person called the police so I ended up getting to class 5 minuted before it started. I then realized that I had forgotten my flashdrive that had the powerpoint I had spent 2.5 hours making the night before. So I quickly had to come up with something else for my students to do. I made it through the day, went home and collapsed on the couch and turned on the TV thinking, "I will watch Keith and he will make me laugh and inform me and I will feel so much better." Oh, no. Not on this day, Keith was on vacation. Yes, how dare he. Anyway I swallowed my bitter disappointment and got ready for Enrichment night. It was nice and I came home about an hour later in a better mood to find that... my ceiling was raining. My roomate had gotten home a little while before me to discover lots of water coming through the light fixtures and smoke detector in the hall. The carpet was soaked and they still had not figured out where it was coming from. Luckily the maintence people figured it out, cut a large hole in the ceiling and replaced the burst pipe. After a late night carpet cleaning and a giant fan for a couple of days all is well except for a musty smell that welcomes us as we come home. I was very thankful to live in an apartment with maintence people though! After that lovely day things did get better. My reward for surviving the week was going to see Twilight. I actually saw it twice, but only so I could see it with other people. I made plans to see it with my cousin's Martha and Lisa, and Lisa's daughters awhile ago. My brother could not make it Saturday ngiht though so I went to see it with him Firday night. Luckily it was very enjoyable so I did not mind seeing it again at all. It was a fun girls night out. I think I enjoyed it so much because I went in with very low expectations. After reading several interviews with cast members I was a little scared about what they may have done. Luckily they did a very good job transffering it. The movie is like the book in that it is great escapist entertainment! I hope you all are well and that you all have a great thanksgiving!

A new world...

2008-11-05T14:38:00.000-08:00

So I woke up this morning and I could feel the hope in the air. I know some of you may not have voted for Obama but all of us should feel privileged to be living in America at this time and to be apart of this historic moment. I am so proud to be an American today. Because we elected this first black man to be president, because we had a huge voter turn out, because people stood in line for hours to make their voices heard!!! Anyway enough of my effusions ... There is something else I have been meaning to do and haven't yet. A couple of weeks ago I accepted a challenge to tell 5 people in my life how grateful I am for them so here goes...

Kim- You are the best sister I could ask for. Thanks for listening to my rantings, for being so supportive and for all the fun we have. Also thanks for producing the cutest, most enjoyable kids!

Kenn- Thanks for always being there. No matter what I ask or need I know you will be there when I ask. Also thanks for all the games, movies and fun! If not for my family I wouldn't have much of a social life but that is OK with me because you guys are my best friends.

Melanie- Thanks for being the most loyal friend ever. And thanks for helping keep me sane.

Angie- Thanks for being so easy to get a long with. Thanks for making me laugh frequently and for all the great conversations. Also thanks for putting up with all my stuff, rantings and obsessions.

David- Thanks for being the best brother-in-law ever. Thanks for all the help and for giving me so many new experiences like Taiwan, military bases in Prauge, Greek food, and countless others.

Ok so this is not a complete list, I have many other people in my life that I am very grateful for. So please everyone that is reading this, Thanks for all you do for me! You may be on the next list :)

Election Results!

2008-11-04T10:56:00.001-08:00

To help you keep up! And because I think it is cool.

A to Z tag

2008-10-27T11:14:00.000-07:00

I was tagged again by Lauri so if anyone is sick of these blame her :)...

A-Attached or Single: Single but severely attached to my family
B-Best Friend: Sister and brother
C-Cake or Pie: Chocolate cake
D-Day: I like nights best
E-Essential Item: jeans and a computer
F-Favorite Color: black
G-Gummi bears or gummi worms: Gummi worms
H-Hometown: Boise,ID
I-Indulgences: Reading all day or watching movies all day and doing no grading!
J-January or July: July, I don't have to work!
K-Kids: 3 nieces and 1 nephew, yes they count!
L-Life is incomplete without: Keith Olberman and/or Depeche Mode
M-Marriage Date: I think this is a prejudicial question
N-Number of Siblings: A sister, a brother and sister-not-appearing-in-this-movie
O-Oranges or Apples: oranges
P-Phobias or Fears: spiders, especially big hairy ones
Q-Quote: "Sarcasm was very important in my family."
R-Reason to Smile: when some is funny or kind around me.
S-Season: all them
T-Tag: Kim, and Angie
U-Unknown fact about me: I love the Princess Diaries books.
V-Vacation destination of choice: Europe and/or Disneyworld!
W-Worst Habit: Not being patient with my students
X-X-Rays or Ultrasounds: Whichever is needed?
Y-your favorite food: diet coke and chocolate
Z-Zodiac Sign: tarus

Catch Up.

2008-10-26T17:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry all. it has been awhile since I posted. I have been busy. I had midterms last week. I got a 59 out of 60 on one so thats good :) I also signed up for a technology grant program through my school district. It means I got my own projector(that is supposed to be mounted any time now), a voice enhancement system, access to a mobile computer lab, a digital camera and a student clicker response system. It also means that I have all this work I have to do to show that I am learning new technology and using it in my classroom. I put it off for the first few months of school and now I am playing catch up. The good news is that I finally got my voice enhancement system installed last week. It is basically a sound system that I can talk into, and play music through. It also came with a wireless microphone that I can have my students read into. I have had a lot of fun playing with it this week. Especially the first day when my students didn't know what was going on. Other than school and work I have not been doing much. I played Sttlers of Catan with Kenn and his roomate John, and won. John fits right in with our family, he whines when he is losing too :) Anyway I am going to go make some cookies now.

A Poem...

2008-10-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I am going to post a poem that John Cleese wrote about Sean Hannity. Now I know some of you may not think it is very funny and some might even be offended, I hope not. But this is my blog and I think it is highly entertaining, also I would welcome any comments :)

Ode to Sean Hannity
by John Cleese

Aping urbanity
Oozing with vanity
Plump as a manatee
Faking humanity
Journalistic calamity
Intellectual inanity
Fox Noise insanity
You’re a profanity
Hannity

Debate?

2008-10-02T20:20:00.000-07:00

Ok I will not say anything about the Vice Presidential debate (those of you who know me know what I would say:) except that I did not throw anything at the TV. I think I showed remarkable restraint, I have learned discipline over that last 8 years :) On to the catch up.. it was a fast week. At school I did find out that I most likely will be able to keep my current schedule and my class of 38 went down to 27! Yea! I still have a class of 33 and 36 but still it is better. Also Pushing Daisies premiered this week and I think it is my favorite show on TV now. If you have never seen it you should give it a try. In closing I would like to say you should all go to Dave and Kim's blog and checkout the video David posted a link to. The video is pretty much indescribable, enjoy :)

Tagged?

2008-09-26T21:40:00.000-07:00

So I was tagged by my friend Lauri, I have never been tagged before but I think I am supposed to fill out the info for me, so here goes..

I am: A teacher, a daughter, a sister, an Aunt and an Abba lover!
I think: All people should travel because as Mark Twain said, "Travel is fatal to prejudice."
I know: I have so much to be grateful for.
I want: to keep my history classes!
I have: great family and friends.
I dislike: disruptive, defiant students.
I miss: my nieces and nephew.
I fear: Spiders, anything with 8 legs can not be natural.
I feel: "Happy. I think I'll go for a walk..."
I hear: The sound of the after debate commentary.
I smell: vanilla hand soap.
I crave: good books.
I cry: rarely, especially in front of others.
I usually: drink too much diet coke everyday.
I regret: yelling at my students.
I search: google for interesting pictures and videos for my power point presentations
I wonder: what many people are thinking sometimes.
I love: my friends and family and good chocolate.
I care: sometimes too much and sometimes too little.
I always: Try to get home in time to watch Countdown.
I worry: about the people I care about.
I am not: very disciplined.
I remember: a lot of trivia, it is useful in games!
I believe: we all have a responsibility to vote!
I dance: in the halls at school
I sing: loudly in my car
I don't always: Tell people how grateful I am.
I argue: when I can, I always enjoy a good discussion.
I write: on a lot of student papers
I win: a lot of games and contrary to popular opinion I can be a good loser.
I lose: my patience too often
I wish: School started at 9:30 am
I listen:to a lot of 80's music
I don't understand: why bringing a pencil to class is so difficult
I can usually be found: trying to catch up
I am scared: a giant tarantula will jump out of a package at me.
I need: prayer
I forget: to do things I don't want to do.
I am happy: when I am with my nieces and nephew.

The Tongue is a very important muscle...

2008-09-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

So last week I had a crown fall off. I called my family dentist, Bill, and made an appointment. I had to take a whole day off because he is in Pleasant Grove but it is worth it because 1. He is a great dentist, 2. he's family and 3. He has me totally parinoid about seeing another dentist who will tell me I have cavities and other issues when I don't then stick me with that horrible needle when I don't need it. Anyway the crown ended up being an easy fix, just glued right back on. But while I was there he asked me if I wanted him to cut off the fibroma on my tongue. I think that was the technical term for an annoying bump on the side that he thought was some scar tissue (I bit my tongue hard, then kept biting it or something) and I had had it for 2-3 years. I think he finally figured I was not going to go to the Doctor and get it cut off so he said he could snip it off. I said sure, thinking, otherwise it's not coming off. Anyway I found out that trauma to your tongue is very inconvienant. It wasn't extremely painful, I mean it hurt but it was more that my tongue swelled and it was really hard to talk. Being a teacher and not being able to talk easily is hard. I got sick of mashed potatoes and pudding really fast and I gave in and showed my students a video and played games on Friday. It taught me to be very grateful for that unsung hero of our body, a healthy tongue.

The Vampires...

2008-09-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Ok so I started commenting on my sister's blog entry on the Twilight books that she finally just read and comments posted about it and it got to long so I decided just to put it on my own blog. So here goes for all you that have been waiting eagerly for my opinion on the series (sure) Well all those of you that said it is not the best writing, you kept reading. If writing is truly bad you stop, believe me, I've read enough LDS fiction. Not that I am saying it is the greatest writing but she has created complicated characters and a very engaging story. I think it can be a great tool to show girls what is good and bad about adolescent behavior. Come on Bella cooks, and cleans for her father willingly, without complaining, because she loves him. I agree she is very obsessive about her love but if a teenager has to be obsessive about something, which they usually are at some point, it could be worse. I guess Edward reminds me of Mr. Darcy in some of the ways he acts and that is not all bad. Also he changes as does Bella throughout the series. Jacob is the one that gets on my nerves, especially in the last book. We all know you are tortured, get over it. Anyway those are my thoughts please feel free to agree or argue with any of them. I'd love a great discussion!!

Lock down, this is not a drill....

2008-09-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

Hello all. This week was pretty good, mellow, nothing to exciting until Friday. First the beginning of the week was just work and class. I started my Special Ed law class on Tuesday and it seems like it will be pretty interesting. My Thursday night class so far is not so interesting. It will be a struggle to get through this semester.

Back to work, my administration is AWESOME. We had a meeting this week to discuss the 4 special ed classes we have that have over 23 students in them.(Luckily none of those are mine) The district will not do anything about maybe getting an other teacher until we count numbers on October 1st. So until then my Principal and Vice principal are going to take turns going into the over crowded classes and help the teacher teach them. I have never seen that before. The bad part of this is that I may have to go to teaching all Special Ed classes for the rest of the year. I really don't want to so everyone cross your fingers that it works out.

So exciting Friday... it was a normal day until the middle of 7th period. I was with my 7th grade Special Ed reading class. The secretary came over the announcements and said we were going into lockdown. I knew we were going to have a drill sometime soon so I assumed it was that and ran towards the door to close and lock it as I told my students to get in my office. My autistic boy yelled that the lights had to be turned out, I told him I would get them. He then yelled "Drop, cover and roll" and flew under my desk. I let him stay under the desk while trying to calm him down. Then my students in the office said, "What's going on, they said it wasn't a drill." I said, "Really?!" Anyway it turns out there was an armed robbery at the 7-11 adjacent to our field and the cops saw the suspect go in the school's direction. We were only in lockdown for about 45 minutes before they caught the suspect but it was kind of scary. I felt much better after Kenn and I went to the Mama Mia sing-a-long again and we dragged John too.

Finally acting instead of just talking...

2008-09-05T19:44:00.000-07:00

So this week went really fast. The second week of school went very well, this year is sooooooooo much better and easier than last year. I also had classes, well one was canceled and one was really boring. After teaching all week the last thing I really want to do is to go in on a Thursday afternoon for a three hour class, especially one on adaptive technology. Anyway besides all of that I volunteered for the Barack Obama campaign. It is the first time for me and it makes me feel a little better about spouting my views so vehemently :), at least I am actually giving my time as well. Anyway they even talked me into making phone calls. I signed up for data entry, I told them I would not, could not make calls. I got there and before I knew it she was setting me up to call supporters. She got me by getting me to where I was uncomfortable telling her no. I tried to get out of it by extolling my bad sales skills but she said that was better because I would sound more real. Anyway it was not nearly as painful as I had imagined. I only got one republican and she just said they were voting for McCain very nicely. It was fun to be a part of the process and I am going to try to talk Kenn and his friend into going to Colorado one weekend to do some canvasing. If he is with me I can make him do all the talking :) My main point in telling you this is that one, I got out of my comfort zone which is usually always a good thing and two no matter what you believe it is always good to get involved! And oh ya, everyone go vote on November 4th!!!!

Back to School

2008-09-01T20:09:00.000-07:00

So once I got back from my extended vacation, School started about 5 days later. Well I had to be back at the School. It was a hectic week before the students actually came back. I moved from two rooms into a brand new one at the end of last year and had not done much putting away or arranging. I did get it all put together and I feel much better about my room than last year. I actually have bulletin boards with boarders on them! I am a real teacher now :) The first week with my students is now over and it went pretty well. I pretty much just gave, reviewed and reviewed some more the rules and procedures for my classroom. I learned last year that in middle school teaching rules and procedures can be more important than the academic content. Hopefully after laying my base last week this next week will go really smoothly. Here's hoping :) Today was Labor Day and Mom, Dad and I went to Kenn's new apartment and had lunch with his roommate John, his friend Lowell and KiRin. Kenn's apartment is really nice. It is an older building downtown with a lot of cool details. We then walked down the street to Pioneer park,temple square, Brigham Young Memorial Park, City Creek park and Memory grove. There are a lot of nice parks right around him. We then played scene it where my team hardily beat Kenn's and John's. I'm not really that competitive :)

A beginning...

2008-08-31T15:22:00.001-07:00

Ok. I have given in. Today I was sitting thinking about how I need to write in my journal about my trips and experiences this summer and about how I didn't really want to do that. Then I thought about how I really need to e-mail some of my friends that I haven't communicated with in a long time. Then I thought about how I really need to e-mail my Grandma more and how bad I am at that. I then thought (don't you like this stream of consciousness I have going) maybe a blog could work for all of these things. So I am going to try it. Hopefully there are some people out there that might be interested in what is going on in my life but even if only my Grandma looks at it it will serve its purpose :)

Anyway a very quick recap of this summer... Take a deep breath, I did a lot...

First I loved being off work and getting paid. It was Awesome! I saw several movies including Mamma Mia, The Dark Knight, The X-Files, Wanted and Kit Kittredge. In June Kim, Dave and the kids came to visit and I went with them to Blackfoot, Idaho for a week. I had a great time staying with David's family, especially camping. Then Kim and I, with the kids, went to Boise for a week. It was great to see all the family there as well. Kim, kids and I then came back to Salt Lake City for 2 weeks. My roomate put up with all of us staying in our three bedroom aparment for most of that time extremely well. We were very busy. We went to Lagoon, went camping, went to Provo, had a swimming party and a bunch of other stuff too.

After the Police concert I went back to Connecticut with Kim and the kids. Yes I made Kim get plane tickets that were after the concert, it was important :) The plane ride went amazingly smoothly and I then watched the kids for the next 2 weeks while Kim studied for the bar and took it. It was tiring and wonderful. I loved spending all that time with them. As soon as she was done we went and picked up my Grandma in Boston where she was staying with my cousins Aaron and Brandi. It was great to see Aaron, Brandi and their kids even just for a little while. (I managed to see all my Blake cousins this summer!) Kim, Dave the kids, Grandma and me then all went to Rochester, New York. We saw Niagra falls, very pretty. The next morning we went to Palmyra and saw The Smith farm, the Graden Building and of course the Sacred Grove. The Grove was a lot different than I thought it would be. It was beautiful and had a wonderful peaceful, happy feeling in it.

After New York we went back to Connecticut for the next week. Here is a brief list of what we saw and did... Mark Twain's house, Starry Night by Van Gogh, New Haven and a little of Yale, the oldest continuous ferry in the U.S. and Walgreens- I got a pretty bad cold. We had a lot of fun with Grandma, I was so glad I could experience all those things with her. Both of us especially loved seeing the art Mueseum.

After the quick week and a few airplane mishaps, Kim and I took Grandma to the aiport at 5 am and then took the train into NYC. We stayed with the sister of a friend (thanks!) in Harlam. It was great to be able to stay in someone's house and kind of see how people live. Harlem was much different and less scary than I thought it would be. We went to the Metropolitan Muesum Saturday morning and saw an Egyptian Temple, a bunch of Monet's, Van Gogh's, Picasso's, Warhol's and others. It was very educational and great. Next we stood in line for 2 hours to get half price tickets to Spamalot on Broadway. It was worth it! In between the waiting and the show we went to the Empire State building. That was over priced, a long line in which they tried to sell you something more every 2 minutes but the view was incredible.
Sunday we went to sacrement meeting in Harlem, different and the same. Then we went to china town which reminded us a lot of Tiawan. Then Kim made me walk across the Brooklyn bridge, I'm glad she did, it was a great view as well. On Monday Dave and the kids met us and we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. That experience is hard to describe, it was historical, patriotic, moving and fun. I could imagine all those new immigrants comming with a dream and hope in their hearts and not much else, and seeing the Statue for the first time and all it ment for them. It made me very proud of our country that 98% of all those millions of new immigrants found their way in to make new lives as Americans.

So this is a really long post so I think I will leave the rest of the catch up for another day.