Well, Peeps. I'm back! That was seriously the best birthday present I could have gotten. I feel so refreshed! Rather than write everything twice, I'll cut and paste part of my emails to Libby below so you can have an idea of what I did with myself while I was away. First last night. I wrote this sometime after 11:00:
I have been having a FABulous day over here. Right now, I’m sitting with my window wide open, listening to the pounding of the surf and smelling wafts of wood smoke from the fire that has been burning down on the beach for several hours now. I can’t see much out there except for that fire and the sparks shooting off on the breeze and lines of white surf. It’s completely, utterly peaceful here.
I left about 11:15, got down here around 1:00. I went to the outlet mall first. You will not BELIEVE what I got! First, I got—get this—2 shirts for Asher, and two shirts, one pair of shorts, one hat, and a darling fleece “coat of many colors” for Analeigh … for $16.00 total. Can you believe that? Then I got one shirt each for Kayte and Alex (who really don’t need clothes, but I wanted to bring them back something, and … who could resist those prices???) and two shirts for Brendan, who DOES need winter shirts. Then I went to the toy store, which is going out of business, and bought the neatest thing for my future lesson on “La Casa” (the house). For $1.19 each, they had these magnetic folding boards with a dollhouse image on it and people/pet magnets to go in it. I bought ten of them. I know the 7th graders are going to get a kick out of the practice session I hit on, when I saw those. “Pon el padre en la cocina.” Put the dad in the kitchen … Too fun!
I had a very yummy late lunch at a Japanese restaurant at the outlet mall. Salad and chicken and rice and California rolls and some kind of pot sticker type thing. So good! I sat and read _Shakespeare’s Monkey Review_. (I need to send them some more stuff, since they published my “Rage.” I need to see what themes they have upcoming.)
I looked at stuff for me, but nothing really jumped out at me, except for one green blouse which I loved—but apparently so had several other people, because there was only one left and it was far too small for me. (I didn’t even bother trying it on.) So … that’s okay. This trip is enough for me! Besides, tomorrow my “mission” in the gift shop is to find the perfect collectible miniature. I haven’t added one in over a year, so I think I’ll see what I can find.
But not until after I walk on the beach! I haven’t been down there yet. After the outlet stores, I checked in here, put my stuff around to make it homey seeming, and … climbed under the covers. I didn’t want to miss the sunset, but I was SO tired. I could only half-sleep, though, and ended up bolting awake with my heart pounding, as it sometimes does when I try to nap, but still, it was refreshing to just rest.
Then I wrote part of a short story that started out strong and sort of ... got off on tangents, I think. So I went to the store to get some food (nachos and tin roof ice cream. I’m going for health food here! But hey! I balanced it out with a vitamin water …) I decided, as I drove, to set the detoured short story aside and work on my novel for a bit, which is what I did until just a few minutes ago …
And this morning:
I wish you could see what I’m seeing, sitting here at the table in my room, looking out over the ocean … The wind is so strong this morning that it’s whipping the top right off the whitecaps and sending this rainbow colored mist high into the air. Gorgeous!
And from home, late this afternoon:
I DID make it down to the beach. The wind that made the short walk to breakfast rather unpleasant had let up (mostly) by the time I had to check out of my room. I went down there with my coat zipped up and my hood up, and ended up uncovering myself bit by bit until finally I was carrying my coat by the time I made my way up the looooooooong stairway behind the motel where I had stayed.
I could see evidence of the wind on the drive home, though. It looked like God had swept through the VanDuzer Corridor with his arms outstretched and just sheered the limbs right off the trees, for miles. Not ALL the limbs, obviously! But quite a few of them.
And, OH! There was a man parked at Mo’s, where I went for lunch (for their famous clam chowder and shrimp salad) and where I read the first chapter of _America’s Women_. DANG, that’s a good book! It’s going to be hard to set it aside now, but I simply MUST focus on reading up on Latin America history. It’ll give me something to forward to over spring break, though. Anyway … what was I saying? Oh, the man parked outside Mo’s was cutting up a tree that may have (?) fallen down in the wind. (I’m guessing … or maybe they wanted it taken down.) Anyway, he had in the cab of his truck the most ADORABLE boxer puppy. Not brand new, obviously, but still fairly little. He was bouncing around, making his opinions known, and the man finally said, “Hey, you (can’t remember the name), can you take it down a notch in there?” Hah!
Oh! I almost forgot. I saw the funniest thing from my window, earlier! You know Frisky Dog that I was telling you about? Well, someone came by with a dog who was on a leash—but they weren’t holding onto the leash! The dog was just dragging it behind himself. Frisky Dog grabbed up the end of that leash and took his new buddy for run! The other dog clearly had a need to do his business, but F.D. would have none of that! He tugged and pulled and ran, and Other Dog had no choice but to follow along! It was SO CUTE!
So, anyway! I know that-all is kind of random. I've edited it some, but I know it's still rather helter skelter. (You have to sort of think like Libby and me to understand our emails as written--and very few people DO think like us! We're twin nuts in a shell, I think ...) But this will give you an idea of what I did with myself down there. Thanks again, family!
And now that grades for last week have all been put into Pentamation so that I can give printouts to one and all, I must go mix up the coffee cake that I promised the juniors we'd have with our live viewing of the inauguration in the morning. (Why did I tell them I'd bring food? Well, it sounded like a good idea at the time! :) )
Monday, January 19, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
And I'm OFF ...
Well, I did it! I got everything done that really needed to get done yesterday so that I can leave for the beach after church today. I had a huge bag of grading to do, and lesson plans to write up. I desperately needed to get my roses cut back before spring hits. (Have any of you locals noticed the daffodils poking through the bark dust already?) And I had to get laundry done (and dishes and yada yada yada). Meanwhile, I had a batch of four teenagers last night, another (only slightly) different set that stopped by during the day (briefly), and three teenagers here last night. Well, they're still here actually! Oh, and I was the designated "pick up the kids from the movies" person last night, too. Wheee!
It was funny, though. Both this afternoon when the kids stopped by and then this evening when I picked them up from the theater, there was a boy (different one each time) with them. Boys rarely come to our house. I wish they would! But ... they don't. But Isaac came by with the girls today, and apparently after he left, he told Kayte, "Your mom is so COOL!" Hah! Well, thanks, Isaac, but ... I'm completely baffled by that. I didn't even do anything! I was sitting at the table, grading papers! But ... I'll take that compliment, wherever it came from! I think maybe he was just blown away by the fact that the girls just waltzed in and went straight to the fridge. He said (to them), "You just get in her fridge?" Dakota said, "Oh, yeah. We do it all the time." I told him, "They basically live here." (Maybe that's why I can't seem to keep food in the house ... Hm ...)
The second boy, D., is not one of my favorite--and he knows it. I called his mother, when he and Kayte were back in the 7th grade, and they were going out. When she broke up with him (again. Those two have a love/hate on-again-off-again relationship that worries me at times.), he threatened her. Now ... I don't think he would have hurt her, for real! But even to threaten her like that, because she chose to break up with him? Nuh-uh. Now, I have to say, I tend to have a pretty hands-off policy with my kids. I instruct them and discuss things with them, but I rarely intervene. Like when Kayte and Lindsay had a year long spit-and-hiss fight ... Kayte and I talked about it routinely, but unlike the other mother involved, I didn't want to make them "kiss and make up." They had to WORK through things, not gloss over things, and now they are (finally!) friends again. (Whew ...) But that was a long, tough road. And then other things happen: Kayte tells me about parties where her peers are getting drunk (NOT parties she has been at), about so-and-so giving a boy oral sex and making sure it gets back to her as revenge for this-or-that ... all kinds of lovely things kids do when adults aren't looking. I listen ... and listen ... and listen. But I rarely DO a thing except (hopefully) help her think through what happened and how she's going to handle it. But when D. threatened her, I called his mother (who insisted, of course, that he's a very nice boy). Anyway, he knows that I'm not entirely thrilled with him. (I told the girls today, "It's nothing personal. It's just that I don't want him within 50 feet of my daughter ...") Well, he was so nervous in the car last night. After he got out, the girls told me how they had coached him to try to smooth things over with me, etc. I told them, "You know, I don't think it's such a bad thing to have a WEE bit of fear of a girl's parents ..."
But speaking of fear ... I had quite the incident this week! a first for me. I had gone to a lovely Lit Lunch with some other teachers (eating quiche and lemon bars and discussing how to help student comprehend what they are reading), and time was up all too soon. I went back next door to my own classroom and was trying to transition my mind back to the class that was due to start up, when I saw W. (BIG, white kid) reach out and smack at C. (tiny, Mexican boy). I said something like "Hey, knock it off," because the kids are always hitting each other in their play and I didn't think much off it. Next thing I know, W. is sprawled across the table and lunging for C (who had turned his back). He grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down, backwards, against the table and was choking him. I know my jaw pretty much hit my knees as I stared at him in horror. The freaky thing is ... he stared right back--RIGHT into my eyes, the whole time he was choking this kid. I said, "W!!!! WHAT are you doing?" Then I pointed, full arm outstretched, at the door, and ordered, "Get out of here!" Thank merciful God, he let go of that boy's throat and stalked out of the classroom. C sat up and blinked at me, his face a mask of absolute terror. It was ... awful. I went next door and got Jami (principal) and she took it from there, but I can't help wondering what I would have done if he hadn't let go ... Could I have taken him down? I have no idea. He's a pretty big kid! But thankfully it didn't come to that. (And also thankfully ... he won't be in my class when he returns from his three-day suspension.)
But anyway! Other than that, the week went well, although it was BUSY (hence, no blog posts). I'm still working/studying late every day, but I was able to knock off about 10:00 this week, rather than 11. It's amazing what one more hour of sleep can do for a person's ability to function!
I had my formal observation by the principal on Thursday, and she declared me to be "growing by leaps and bounds," which pretty much made my week! But now ... I have to be observed by the superintendent, twice, once this coming week, and once the week after. GULP. (Long pause in the typing here, as I try to figure out a way to convey the depth of that gulp ...) Well, there's nothing for it but to press ONWARD--and to be as prepared as I possibly can be.
But in the meantime, I'm out of here! I was singing yesterday, some made up song about going to the beach. Kayte's friends say, "I love your mom." Kayte just rolls her eyes ... They said the same thing yesterday, when I was going through the drive through to get Brendan some chicken nuggets (since he won't eat pizza), and I dropped my money inside the car and the lady at the window was waiting for me and ... yeah. Dakota says, "I love your mom ..." Kodee, at school this week, asked as I was setting up for class, "Are you always this way?" I looked at him, "Like what?" He said, "I don't know. Like ... this." I said, "You mean, scattered?" He shrugged. "Yeah?" I nodded. "Yep. Pretty much." Ah, well, watching me struggle to keep the loose ends from flapping in the wind provides countless hours of entertainment for the youth among us ... Hah!
It was funny, though. Both this afternoon when the kids stopped by and then this evening when I picked them up from the theater, there was a boy (different one each time) with them. Boys rarely come to our house. I wish they would! But ... they don't. But Isaac came by with the girls today, and apparently after he left, he told Kayte, "Your mom is so COOL!" Hah! Well, thanks, Isaac, but ... I'm completely baffled by that. I didn't even do anything! I was sitting at the table, grading papers! But ... I'll take that compliment, wherever it came from! I think maybe he was just blown away by the fact that the girls just waltzed in and went straight to the fridge. He said (to them), "You just get in her fridge?" Dakota said, "Oh, yeah. We do it all the time." I told him, "They basically live here." (Maybe that's why I can't seem to keep food in the house ... Hm ...)
The second boy, D., is not one of my favorite--and he knows it. I called his mother, when he and Kayte were back in the 7th grade, and they were going out. When she broke up with him (again. Those two have a love/hate on-again-off-again relationship that worries me at times.), he threatened her. Now ... I don't think he would have hurt her, for real! But even to threaten her like that, because she chose to break up with him? Nuh-uh. Now, I have to say, I tend to have a pretty hands-off policy with my kids. I instruct them and discuss things with them, but I rarely intervene. Like when Kayte and Lindsay had a year long spit-and-hiss fight ... Kayte and I talked about it routinely, but unlike the other mother involved, I didn't want to make them "kiss and make up." They had to WORK through things, not gloss over things, and now they are (finally!) friends again. (Whew ...) But that was a long, tough road. And then other things happen: Kayte tells me about parties where her peers are getting drunk (NOT parties she has been at), about so-and-so giving a boy oral sex and making sure it gets back to her as revenge for this-or-that ... all kinds of lovely things kids do when adults aren't looking. I listen ... and listen ... and listen. But I rarely DO a thing except (hopefully) help her think through what happened and how she's going to handle it. But when D. threatened her, I called his mother (who insisted, of course, that he's a very nice boy). Anyway, he knows that I'm not entirely thrilled with him. (I told the girls today, "It's nothing personal. It's just that I don't want him within 50 feet of my daughter ...") Well, he was so nervous in the car last night. After he got out, the girls told me how they had coached him to try to smooth things over with me, etc. I told them, "You know, I don't think it's such a bad thing to have a WEE bit of fear of a girl's parents ..."
But speaking of fear ... I had quite the incident this week! a first for me. I had gone to a lovely Lit Lunch with some other teachers (eating quiche and lemon bars and discussing how to help student comprehend what they are reading), and time was up all too soon. I went back next door to my own classroom and was trying to transition my mind back to the class that was due to start up, when I saw W. (BIG, white kid) reach out and smack at C. (tiny, Mexican boy). I said something like "Hey, knock it off," because the kids are always hitting each other in their play and I didn't think much off it. Next thing I know, W. is sprawled across the table and lunging for C (who had turned his back). He grabbed him by the neck and pulled him down, backwards, against the table and was choking him. I know my jaw pretty much hit my knees as I stared at him in horror. The freaky thing is ... he stared right back--RIGHT into my eyes, the whole time he was choking this kid. I said, "W!!!! WHAT are you doing?" Then I pointed, full arm outstretched, at the door, and ordered, "Get out of here!" Thank merciful God, he let go of that boy's throat and stalked out of the classroom. C sat up and blinked at me, his face a mask of absolute terror. It was ... awful. I went next door and got Jami (principal) and she took it from there, but I can't help wondering what I would have done if he hadn't let go ... Could I have taken him down? I have no idea. He's a pretty big kid! But thankfully it didn't come to that. (And also thankfully ... he won't be in my class when he returns from his three-day suspension.)
But anyway! Other than that, the week went well, although it was BUSY (hence, no blog posts). I'm still working/studying late every day, but I was able to knock off about 10:00 this week, rather than 11. It's amazing what one more hour of sleep can do for a person's ability to function!
I had my formal observation by the principal on Thursday, and she declared me to be "growing by leaps and bounds," which pretty much made my week! But now ... I have to be observed by the superintendent, twice, once this coming week, and once the week after. GULP. (Long pause in the typing here, as I try to figure out a way to convey the depth of that gulp ...) Well, there's nothing for it but to press ONWARD--and to be as prepared as I possibly can be.
But in the meantime, I'm out of here! I was singing yesterday, some made up song about going to the beach. Kayte's friends say, "I love your mom." Kayte just rolls her eyes ... They said the same thing yesterday, when I was going through the drive through to get Brendan some chicken nuggets (since he won't eat pizza), and I dropped my money inside the car and the lady at the window was waiting for me and ... yeah. Dakota says, "I love your mom ..." Kodee, at school this week, asked as I was setting up for class, "Are you always this way?" I looked at him, "Like what?" He said, "I don't know. Like ... this." I said, "You mean, scattered?" He shrugged. "Yeah?" I nodded. "Yep. Pretty much." Ah, well, watching me struggle to keep the loose ends from flapping in the wind provides countless hours of entertainment for the youth among us ... Hah!
Friday, January 9, 2009
One of Those Days
Below is an excerpt from an email today. (I'm too tired and lazy to write it all again):
Today was a disaster. It started last night when I left off working after having been at a conference in Portland all day--only to get home and have Mark ask me to please, please go into town and get him his Valium because the narcotics by themselves weren't cutting the pain. So I turned around and went to Newberg and then came home and worked for several hours. About 11:30 p.m. I had just shut down my computer when I realized that I had forgotten to scout out a news clip to show in my high school classes today, but I was just so tired that I decided to wait until morning. But I also hadn’t showered last night, so I had to do that this morning, too, and … well, days that start off in a rush like that tend to go poorly, I’ve discovered.
Running out the door, I realized that I’d forgotten to pay two important bills. I plan to take care of bills this weekend, but these should have been done LAST weekend. ACK! I can’t hold all this in my head! I felt so bad that I let that slip, but what could I do about it right then? Nothing. So I went off to work.
I got through the first part of 1st period just fine, but then I went to show them the news clip I’d selected, I couldn’t find it. I had put the link in my lesson plans, but it only opened to a search screen. I also couldn’t find it in my bookmarks (although I KNOW I put it there, too, just in case). I looked and looked for something else that would be suitable, wanting to find something somewhat interesting and/but appropriate for a high school classroom setting. (There’s a LOT of stuff on Univision.com, but I didn’t think, for instance, that the story on Jennifer Lopez’ love life, for example, would be quite suitable.) I finally decided to just show them the weather, but first it wasn’t loud enough (solved that when I discovered that I can plug the speakers directly into my computer) and then we could hear it, but the woman was talking SO fast that it seriously felt like it was sped up. So that obviously wasn’t going to work. I finally settled on a clip about Obama’s visit to Miami and a mini-discussion on whether the embargo against Cuba should continue. All’s well that ends well, right? But those poor kids had to sit and sit and sit while I tried to come up with an alternate plan.
Then second period, the kids came in and said that they hadn’t understood what I left for them to do yesterday. They were supposed to take a test today, but I scrapped it and we went over everything they did yesterday. Even still, a couple of the kids were thoroughly lost. The book is HARD. I felt really bad for them. Oh, and then the vocabulary crossword that I had computer generated with their vocabulary words was all messed up. I DO make mistakes myself, which is always really embarrassing. But this was such a MESS that I know it wasn’t me. The computer really had a total brain fart or something. GRRRR. One of the girls gave me the web address of a more reliable crossword generator, though, so hopefully this won’t happen again.
Then third period … Remember how excited I was about Quia.com? and how much TIME I put into setting up my classes thereupon? Well, okay … the kids took their first quiz on Quia, and it did NOT go well. I thought that this being the computer age, they would do BETTER in an electronic format. Actually … no. Most of them bombed it. It was too confusing for them not to be able to write in the margins or mark things off (for the multiple choice), etc. Poor Emma, after struggling and struggling, clicked on something and got kicked out of the test. The site wouldn’t let her back in and scored her test at a zero. I told her we’d find a solution after lunch, but when I looked over again, she was wiping away tears. She’s such a sunny creature, but right then she was SO frustrated. When the kids got back from lunch, I gave her a paper version of the same test and she retook it. Said that it was “so much easier.” It was the same test, exactly! But … a different medium.
Then I also had to deal with the issue that only six kids could test at once. I knew that, of course, and I rotated them and gave the other kids a crossword to work on, but clearly the crossword wasn’t long enough because about halfway through the period, kids started finishing up. Then I had kids just wandering around, being loud and boisterous while others were trying to quiz. I could have/would have played a game with those who were done, except that I had realized that it was SO EASY for the kids to cheat on their tests with those big monitors just open to view and so much commotion in the class that there was NO WAY I could monitor who was “talking while testing” from the front of the room. So I ended up having to monitor the testers, while the rest of the class sort of … enjoyed themselves, shall we say.
Okay, so … like Jen Nice said, we all have learn through experience sometimes what works and what doesn’t. And I’m really glad that I figured out that this wasn’t actually as ideal as I had thought BEFORE I paid the money to extend my membership beyond the trial period. But still … that was a lot of time I sunk into this “brilliant idea.” Sigh …
And then all day I was so, SO tired, and I couldn’t help but think repeatedly of the fact that I probably won’t even BE here next year, and … if I AM here, can I REALLY do all this and grad school, too? and … it was just so discouraging. But thankfully, 4th period went really well, and they are such a fun bunch of hoodlums that I ended the day on an up note. And then I went to the staff room during my prep and was able to get all of Spanish 3 planned out for next week so that I only have one class still to prep for (and a HUGE pile of grading to be done/inputted), so that I felt better about my ability to get it all done this weekend (as well as the other non-work related things I needed to get done) so that (hopefully, hopefully) I have time to study this coming week.
But for tonight, I'm going to put up my feet and veg (likely while playing Pathwords on Facebook. That game is seriously addictive!). I have to drive Alex to the dance and pick him up later, but that's just around the block, so ... no biggie. I should, probably, do some work tonight since I have such a full weekend and such a lot to do, but I really feel like if I don't just go floppy for a few hours, I'll never make it.
Today was a disaster. It started last night when I left off working after having been at a conference in Portland all day--only to get home and have Mark ask me to please, please go into town and get him his Valium because the narcotics by themselves weren't cutting the pain. So I turned around and went to Newberg and then came home and worked for several hours. About 11:30 p.m. I had just shut down my computer when I realized that I had forgotten to scout out a news clip to show in my high school classes today, but I was just so tired that I decided to wait until morning. But I also hadn’t showered last night, so I had to do that this morning, too, and … well, days that start off in a rush like that tend to go poorly, I’ve discovered.
Running out the door, I realized that I’d forgotten to pay two important bills. I plan to take care of bills this weekend, but these should have been done LAST weekend. ACK! I can’t hold all this in my head! I felt so bad that I let that slip, but what could I do about it right then? Nothing. So I went off to work.
I got through the first part of 1st period just fine, but then I went to show them the news clip I’d selected, I couldn’t find it. I had put the link in my lesson plans, but it only opened to a search screen. I also couldn’t find it in my bookmarks (although I KNOW I put it there, too, just in case). I looked and looked for something else that would be suitable, wanting to find something somewhat interesting and/but appropriate for a high school classroom setting. (There’s a LOT of stuff on Univision.com, but I didn’t think, for instance, that the story on Jennifer Lopez’ love life, for example, would be quite suitable.) I finally decided to just show them the weather, but first it wasn’t loud enough (solved that when I discovered that I can plug the speakers directly into my computer) and then we could hear it, but the woman was talking SO fast that it seriously felt like it was sped up. So that obviously wasn’t going to work. I finally settled on a clip about Obama’s visit to Miami and a mini-discussion on whether the embargo against Cuba should continue. All’s well that ends well, right? But those poor kids had to sit and sit and sit while I tried to come up with an alternate plan.
Then second period, the kids came in and said that they hadn’t understood what I left for them to do yesterday. They were supposed to take a test today, but I scrapped it and we went over everything they did yesterday. Even still, a couple of the kids were thoroughly lost. The book is HARD. I felt really bad for them. Oh, and then the vocabulary crossword that I had computer generated with their vocabulary words was all messed up. I DO make mistakes myself, which is always really embarrassing. But this was such a MESS that I know it wasn’t me. The computer really had a total brain fart or something. GRRRR. One of the girls gave me the web address of a more reliable crossword generator, though, so hopefully this won’t happen again.
Then third period … Remember how excited I was about Quia.com? and how much TIME I put into setting up my classes thereupon? Well, okay … the kids took their first quiz on Quia, and it did NOT go well. I thought that this being the computer age, they would do BETTER in an electronic format. Actually … no. Most of them bombed it. It was too confusing for them not to be able to write in the margins or mark things off (for the multiple choice), etc. Poor Emma, after struggling and struggling, clicked on something and got kicked out of the test. The site wouldn’t let her back in and scored her test at a zero. I told her we’d find a solution after lunch, but when I looked over again, she was wiping away tears. She’s such a sunny creature, but right then she was SO frustrated. When the kids got back from lunch, I gave her a paper version of the same test and she retook it. Said that it was “so much easier.” It was the same test, exactly! But … a different medium.
Then I also had to deal with the issue that only six kids could test at once. I knew that, of course, and I rotated them and gave the other kids a crossword to work on, but clearly the crossword wasn’t long enough because about halfway through the period, kids started finishing up. Then I had kids just wandering around, being loud and boisterous while others were trying to quiz. I could have/would have played a game with those who were done, except that I had realized that it was SO EASY for the kids to cheat on their tests with those big monitors just open to view and so much commotion in the class that there was NO WAY I could monitor who was “talking while testing” from the front of the room. So I ended up having to monitor the testers, while the rest of the class sort of … enjoyed themselves, shall we say.
Okay, so … like Jen Nice said, we all have learn through experience sometimes what works and what doesn’t. And I’m really glad that I figured out that this wasn’t actually as ideal as I had thought BEFORE I paid the money to extend my membership beyond the trial period. But still … that was a lot of time I sunk into this “brilliant idea.” Sigh …
And then all day I was so, SO tired, and I couldn’t help but think repeatedly of the fact that I probably won’t even BE here next year, and … if I AM here, can I REALLY do all this and grad school, too? and … it was just so discouraging. But thankfully, 4th period went really well, and they are such a fun bunch of hoodlums that I ended the day on an up note. And then I went to the staff room during my prep and was able to get all of Spanish 3 planned out for next week so that I only have one class still to prep for (and a HUGE pile of grading to be done/inputted), so that I felt better about my ability to get it all done this weekend (as well as the other non-work related things I needed to get done) so that (hopefully, hopefully) I have time to study this coming week.
But for tonight, I'm going to put up my feet and veg (likely while playing Pathwords on Facebook. That game is seriously addictive!). I have to drive Alex to the dance and pick him up later, but that's just around the block, so ... no biggie. I should, probably, do some work tonight since I have such a full weekend and such a lot to do, but I really feel like if I don't just go floppy for a few hours, I'll never make it.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Happy Birthday to Me
I had to update my profile just now because I'm no longer thirty-six. I am, as I told my classroommate, "turning 29--for the 8th year in a row." Despite the fact that I can feel the Big Four-Oh breathing down my neck, I really had a very nice birthday. It started early with an hour-long chat with my Fab Friend, Libby. (Our early morning conversations are generally carried by her for the first 20 minutes or so until the coffee hits my brain. Until then, I mostly grunt ...) I opened the present she had sent for me and found a lovely pottery pitcher and plate that she, knowing my growing fashion for fair trade, had found in one of the shops in her area. It's hard to imagine that something so lovely was crafted by a woman at a wheel, somewhere in South America. I just love it.
Anyway! I got the kids up and went off to school/work. During first period, I was teaching away (actually, the kids were doing the work--reading Spanish poetry. I was just sort of standing there, for the most part.) when the door opened and Maricela (TA in the ESL department) came in with Kayte and a half dozen or so of her friends. They started singing happy birthday. Very sweet. Then Maricela, who was apparently my "secret birthday buddy," left me a scarf/hat/mitten set (scarlet! Yey!) and a large container of homemade truffles--FAR too many for me to eat and still fit into my jeans! So I shared them with my first and second period classes.
Life proceeded uneventfully, except for advisory, which was a hoot, but that's another story, which I may tell you another day.
I went home for lunch and found that Mark had just returned from driving into town to get me a birthday gift. I thought, "How sweet!" and "Uh, oh." Sure enough, I was a little over halfway through my next class when I heard the sirens go off. I called home, and Mark said that yes, he had gone into SVT and the medics were there to take him to the hospital. Sigh ... But I kept teaching, and after my last class, I called the hospital. They said things were fine, so I stayed to finish up my lesson plans for the substitute tomorrow. (I'm going to a BER conference in Portland.)
Then, into Newberg to pick up Mark, back home to drop him off and pick up the kids, into Mac, where we all stuffed ourselves with Mexican food.(We were going to go to Chinese, but I thought, since Mark wasn't able to go anyway, we'd go do MEXICAN! I love Mexican. Mark does not.) Anyway, I had the most scrumptious seafood burrito, which I couldn't even come close to finishing.
Got home and started making an attempt at straightening up. (Not sure why I do that, since my family all know me too well to believe that I have somehow learned to keep a tidy house!) The family arrived, with lovely flowers and a giant cheesecake and some much needed bath towels. Mark gave me some teacups and a really cool tea press (for making loose leaf tea) and some "titanium-laced" wine glasses. (They look normal, but apparently they are super strong, which is good since I'm about as graceful as I am tidy! I think perhaps one of my ancestors was an elephant? But I digress ...)
The Grand Finale was a gift from my family. I still cannot believe this. I am SO excited. I AM GOING TO THE BEACH. By myself!!! A week from Sunday (the 18th), I have a hotel room booked at the coast. They've worked out childcare arrangements (with Kayte) and gave me a gas card to get there and a bunch of bucks to eat and go shopping or ... whatever! I am so excited, I could almost cry. What am I going to DO with myself? Hm ... maybe ... write??? Perhaps! :)
Anyway! I got the kids up and went off to school/work. During first period, I was teaching away (actually, the kids were doing the work--reading Spanish poetry. I was just sort of standing there, for the most part.) when the door opened and Maricela (TA in the ESL department) came in with Kayte and a half dozen or so of her friends. They started singing happy birthday. Very sweet. Then Maricela, who was apparently my "secret birthday buddy," left me a scarf/hat/mitten set (scarlet! Yey!) and a large container of homemade truffles--FAR too many for me to eat and still fit into my jeans! So I shared them with my first and second period classes.
Life proceeded uneventfully, except for advisory, which was a hoot, but that's another story, which I may tell you another day.
I went home for lunch and found that Mark had just returned from driving into town to get me a birthday gift. I thought, "How sweet!" and "Uh, oh." Sure enough, I was a little over halfway through my next class when I heard the sirens go off. I called home, and Mark said that yes, he had gone into SVT and the medics were there to take him to the hospital. Sigh ... But I kept teaching, and after my last class, I called the hospital. They said things were fine, so I stayed to finish up my lesson plans for the substitute tomorrow. (I'm going to a BER conference in Portland.)
Then, into Newberg to pick up Mark, back home to drop him off and pick up the kids, into Mac, where we all stuffed ourselves with Mexican food.(We were going to go to Chinese, but I thought, since Mark wasn't able to go anyway, we'd go do MEXICAN! I love Mexican. Mark does not.) Anyway, I had the most scrumptious seafood burrito, which I couldn't even come close to finishing.
Got home and started making an attempt at straightening up. (Not sure why I do that, since my family all know me too well to believe that I have somehow learned to keep a tidy house!) The family arrived, with lovely flowers and a giant cheesecake and some much needed bath towels. Mark gave me some teacups and a really cool tea press (for making loose leaf tea) and some "titanium-laced" wine glasses. (They look normal, but apparently they are super strong, which is good since I'm about as graceful as I am tidy! I think perhaps one of my ancestors was an elephant? But I digress ...)
The Grand Finale was a gift from my family. I still cannot believe this. I am SO excited. I AM GOING TO THE BEACH. By myself!!! A week from Sunday (the 18th), I have a hotel room booked at the coast. They've worked out childcare arrangements (with Kayte) and gave me a gas card to get there and a bunch of bucks to eat and go shopping or ... whatever! I am so excited, I could almost cry. What am I going to DO with myself? Hm ... maybe ... write??? Perhaps! :)
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Riding the Wave
I got some disturbing news in our staff meeting this morning. Actually, it wasn't "news" really, since I first heard of the matter in the Oregonian a couple of weeks ago. But our principal confirmed today that our district has to cut $300,ooo from the budget. She said that cutting a couple of sports programs, for instance, won't even come CLOSE to the amount we need to "find" somewhere. I guess the administrators met for several hours today to work on a solution. One of the possibilities include restructuring the school day so that each teacher would teach five rather than four classes. When asked how that would help us financially, our principal stammered about a bit and basically said she didn't have time to go into that right now, but I'm pretty darn certain that I can do the math. Four teachers teaching four classes each gets the district 16 classes for approximately 160K. Three teachers teaching five classes each gets us 15 classes for 120K. Do you see where my thoughts are trending here? All they have to do is cut about 8 teachers. Piece of cake, right? And I KNOW who will go (if anyone does). It's not the math and science teachers (and it shouldn't be). It's the electives. There was some stammered comment about "restructuring" the electives, but ... I wonder. The junior highers are not required, by the state, to have Spanish at all, and only two years are required at the high school level. If they cut out Junior High Spanish and Spanish 3 and 4 and bump the day to six periods, Efrain could cover it by himself.
Now, no one has TOLD me that I won't have a job this fall. I talked to our principal privately a couple of weeks ago, and she said that I should just "carry on" for now, that they've had to cut budgets in the past and they try really hard to preserve staff. But clearly some significant changes are coming to Dayton (and plenty of other Oregon schools), and ... I think I should be ready.
That said, I've decided to do exactly as Jami recommended and just ... carry on! I am not one who tends to see God or the Devil behind every bush and in every cloud. Sometimes ... things just happen. I also KNOW that my being at Dayton High at all IS a gift from God. I am certain that he put me here. And if my time here turns out to be more temporary than I had hoped ... well, then ... he'll lead me somewhere else. I know I wasn't put here merely to pass time. The whys and wherefores may not be instantly revealed, but I am confident that I am here for a reason, no matter how long I am able to stay.
I'm learning, the last few months, not to resist the feelings that have often paralyzed me in the past: fear and doubt, guilt and loneliness, anger and longing. I have found that when I resist what IS there (whether I want it to be or not!), it builds up and up and starts clotting off places in my heart and mind. More and more, I'm learning to let the feelings be what they are and not try to rationalize them away or stuff them down, down, down until they ooze out the cracks. I'm learning to say, "I'm frightened ... and I'll be okay" or "I have this longing for something I'll never have ... and I'll be okay ..." Leaning into the wave and riding it is, I'm discovering, far more productive (and less exhausting) than fighting what I cannot change.
Now ... back to work!
Now, no one has TOLD me that I won't have a job this fall. I talked to our principal privately a couple of weeks ago, and she said that I should just "carry on" for now, that they've had to cut budgets in the past and they try really hard to preserve staff. But clearly some significant changes are coming to Dayton (and plenty of other Oregon schools), and ... I think I should be ready.
That said, I've decided to do exactly as Jami recommended and just ... carry on! I am not one who tends to see God or the Devil behind every bush and in every cloud. Sometimes ... things just happen. I also KNOW that my being at Dayton High at all IS a gift from God. I am certain that he put me here. And if my time here turns out to be more temporary than I had hoped ... well, then ... he'll lead me somewhere else. I know I wasn't put here merely to pass time. The whys and wherefores may not be instantly revealed, but I am confident that I am here for a reason, no matter how long I am able to stay.
I'm learning, the last few months, not to resist the feelings that have often paralyzed me in the past: fear and doubt, guilt and loneliness, anger and longing. I have found that when I resist what IS there (whether I want it to be or not!), it builds up and up and starts clotting off places in my heart and mind. More and more, I'm learning to let the feelings be what they are and not try to rationalize them away or stuff them down, down, down until they ooze out the cracks. I'm learning to say, "I'm frightened ... and I'll be okay" or "I have this longing for something I'll never have ... and I'll be okay ..." Leaning into the wave and riding it is, I'm discovering, far more productive (and less exhausting) than fighting what I cannot change.
Now ... back to work!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Hey, look! It's me! :) Katie took this picture at our Christmas gathering on the 27th. I am so excited that ALL of my sisters are going to be present at Mary's baby shower in March. It's been a long time since we were all together. Well, only a year, I guess, but ... it feels like a long time!
Paul is here! He arrived yesterday and will be here until Sunday. (Oh, dear. I guess that's tomorrow, huh?) I am so excited to have him here. I used his visit as an excuse to redo the boys room. I took apart the bunkbeds. Well, they sort of ... fell on me! But no bones were broken, so it's all good. Kayte came when I called for her and helped me get them apart! And the boys and I spent hours sorting through toys and junk. We took two full bags of papers and what-not out of their room! Can you believe that? And we moved the dresser, put the TV and DVD player on top, moved the hulking shelf thingy into the closet ... I LIKE their room now! It's much more open seeming. All we still really need is a rug and some curtains. (We have blinds, but a little color would be nice.) I'll have to see what I can do about that soon.
Today, Paul and I are going to go see Doubt. The closest theater that's playing it is in Tigard! But ... oh, well. I'm up for an excursion. Libby sent me money and told me that I simply MUST go see it, so ... I shall! I don't even remember when the last time was that I saw a movie in the theater without the kids. (Poor Kayte has been conscripted into watching the boys.)
In another positive note, Paul has agreed to watch the boys for me again this summer. I'm not sure where Libby and I are meeting up this year, but we plan to spend a week together in July. We've talked about Tin House conference, here in Portland, but in addition to money for a plane ticket to get her here, the conference costs $1,600. Each. Yikes. So ... I suspect, unless we can get scholarships, we'll be looking at meeting up somewhere else. But I'm really touched that Paul would agree to come back here again and take on this clan. He was pretty exhausted when I got back from Wisconsin!
Well, I'd better go and make breakfast for this crew. Yes, yes, I do realize that it's 10 a.m.! But the boys have only been up for a half hour. I think it's going to be a bit of an adjustment on Monday getting back to The Routine! We've been spoiled with three weeks of late nights and lazy mornings ...
Paul is here! He arrived yesterday and will be here until Sunday. (Oh, dear. I guess that's tomorrow, huh?) I am so excited to have him here. I used his visit as an excuse to redo the boys room. I took apart the bunkbeds. Well, they sort of ... fell on me! But no bones were broken, so it's all good. Kayte came when I called for her and helped me get them apart! And the boys and I spent hours sorting through toys and junk. We took two full bags of papers and what-not out of their room! Can you believe that? And we moved the dresser, put the TV and DVD player on top, moved the hulking shelf thingy into the closet ... I LIKE their room now! It's much more open seeming. All we still really need is a rug and some curtains. (We have blinds, but a little color would be nice.) I'll have to see what I can do about that soon.
Today, Paul and I are going to go see Doubt. The closest theater that's playing it is in Tigard! But ... oh, well. I'm up for an excursion. Libby sent me money and told me that I simply MUST go see it, so ... I shall! I don't even remember when the last time was that I saw a movie in the theater without the kids. (Poor Kayte has been conscripted into watching the boys.)
In another positive note, Paul has agreed to watch the boys for me again this summer. I'm not sure where Libby and I are meeting up this year, but we plan to spend a week together in July. We've talked about Tin House conference, here in Portland, but in addition to money for a plane ticket to get her here, the conference costs $1,600. Each. Yikes. So ... I suspect, unless we can get scholarships, we'll be looking at meeting up somewhere else. But I'm really touched that Paul would agree to come back here again and take on this clan. He was pretty exhausted when I got back from Wisconsin!
Well, I'd better go and make breakfast for this crew. Yes, yes, I do realize that it's 10 a.m.! But the boys have only been up for a half hour. I think it's going to be a bit of an adjustment on Monday getting back to The Routine! We've been spoiled with three weeks of late nights and lazy mornings ...
Thursday, January 1, 2009
An Update and Some Musings
I wanted to let you-all know that Mark is home and well(ish) and sleeping soundly. His SVT actually converted on its own on the way to the hospital, and all the tests came back good (well, good for him!). I don't know what this episode means long term, but for now, he's okay.
Also, we are very grateful to have gotten home health up and running yesterday. They were going to start coming and working with him the week before Christmas, but we missed them once when I lost track of time in Wal-Mart when I was seizing a window in the Wild Weather to finish my Christmas shopping. Mark had tagged along with me, but the excursion wore him out so much that he ended up in the hospital overnight. When the nurse called the next morning, Kayte informed her that he wasn't in (but not where he WAS). The nurse, apparently peeved, dropped him from the list, saying that "clearly he's able to get out." Well, that-all has been straightened out finally, and she will be coming to the house every Wednesday to look in on him and to change his dressings. She thought that she could also have his narcotics delivered to the house, which I was very excited about, since I spend a lot of time going back and forth for his prescriptions, since they'll only give us a little bit at a time. But she found out that they will only ship larger quantities--like IV drips, not a week's supply of individual doses. Drat! Well, at least the weekly dressing changes are taken care of. ANY trip to Newberg I can cut out is a good thang!
On a different note ... I've been musing over your comments this morning, Katie. I hear what you're saying, but even though I moan about it, I really rather LIKE having our house as Grand Central Station (most of the time ...) The kids aren't only here on the weekends. We generally have two or three here after school, too (just not overnight on school nights). At school, the kids took a survey where they were supposed to check off all the teachers they felt truly connected to--not just that they know, but that they would feel comfortable going to in a crisis, for example. I was kind of dreading getting my list, because I've only been there one term--and how many kids could I realistically have connected to in that time? Anyway, I got my list back--and
there were over thirty kids on it. About a third were kids that I'd forged new bonds with through the classroom, but many of them were kids who come through our house all the time. A few of them call me "my other Mommy." It IS exhausting, but ... I think it's worth it! (Maybe I should just stop moaning if I don't plan to change things, eh? But what would be the fun in that!?! :) )
Also, we are very grateful to have gotten home health up and running yesterday. They were going to start coming and working with him the week before Christmas, but we missed them once when I lost track of time in Wal-Mart when I was seizing a window in the Wild Weather to finish my Christmas shopping. Mark had tagged along with me, but the excursion wore him out so much that he ended up in the hospital overnight. When the nurse called the next morning, Kayte informed her that he wasn't in (but not where he WAS). The nurse, apparently peeved, dropped him from the list, saying that "clearly he's able to get out." Well, that-all has been straightened out finally, and she will be coming to the house every Wednesday to look in on him and to change his dressings. She thought that she could also have his narcotics delivered to the house, which I was very excited about, since I spend a lot of time going back and forth for his prescriptions, since they'll only give us a little bit at a time. But she found out that they will only ship larger quantities--like IV drips, not a week's supply of individual doses. Drat! Well, at least the weekly dressing changes are taken care of. ANY trip to Newberg I can cut out is a good thang!
On a different note ... I've been musing over your comments this morning, Katie. I hear what you're saying, but even though I moan about it, I really rather LIKE having our house as Grand Central Station (most of the time ...) The kids aren't only here on the weekends. We generally have two or three here after school, too (just not overnight on school nights). At school, the kids took a survey where they were supposed to check off all the teachers they felt truly connected to--not just that they know, but that they would feel comfortable going to in a crisis, for example. I was kind of dreading getting my list, because I've only been there one term--and how many kids could I realistically have connected to in that time? Anyway, I got my list back--and
there were over thirty kids on it. About a third were kids that I'd forged new bonds with through the classroom, but many of them were kids who come through our house all the time. A few of them call me "my other Mommy." It IS exhausting, but ... I think it's worth it! (Maybe I should just stop moaning if I don't plan to change things, eh? But what would be the fun in that!?! :) )
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