Fries

As of late, I haven't been able to eat French fries without them getting stuck in my throat.  Isn't that weird?   The sad thing is that fries were my favorite mustard conduit.  I'm weird, I know.

What's funny is that I can handle having students call me weird, but not stupid.  I don't get called stupid very often, ever, so when it happens, I get mad.  Mainly, it has to do with the Smart Board in my room that I'm learning to use.  I'm not a complete idiot with it, but these kids, who are more technologically inclined than I am, have been watching people use the boards for 5 years.  You pick up a lot that way.  Uff.  Oh well.

I'm tossing around the idea of going to a Halloween party.  Any costume suggestions?

Feel Better

I had a headache after school and I was trying to think of somewhere I could go that was totally relaxing.  I eventually came up with the library.   I grabbed a coffee at Dunn Bros. first, hoping it was caffeine related, and then headed to the book shelves.   It's so nice to wander around, looking at all the options, knowing I don't have to think about budgets or if I could find the book on Amazon for cheaper.  I just grabbed what I wanted (fiction, How-To, DVDs).   Ah.  It's just so calming for me. 

I think some of it has to do with growing up next to the neighborhood library (a different one that is now closed).  If I close my eyes, I can still smell it, still hear the creaks in the floors and picture the librarians.  I think I read every teen book there that even remotely interested me.  I still remember where the poetry section was and where the encyclopedias were that I used each Monday of 8th grade art to fill in my "artist" biographies.  I still have those worksheets. 

MEA

It's MEA weekend coming up, which means schools in the Twin Cities have Thursday and Friday off and schools in Duluth only have Friday off.   I think they assume that we don't go to the teacher convention any way.  I've never been there, in 16 years of teaching, so I guess they're kind of correct.   Either way, it means I get Friday off (we make up for it by staying late for parent/teacher conferences).    Soooo... by Friday, we will be 50% done with conferences for the Fall and will get a day off.   I'm hoping to sleep and do something goofy.

Movies I Watched This Weekend: The Ides of March and Hanna.  The first one made me mad and the second one made me sad.  Watch at your own risk.

Duluth Foliage

School Lunch

I got up early yesterday and hauled myself to 6:30 AM yoga class.   I haven't been there in weeks, for various reasons.   When I got to school, I realized I hadn't grabbed my lunch (which I'd made the previous night, which was not my usual routine).   Drat!  So, I ended up going to the cafeteria and standing in line with the kiddos.   Now, this would be fine, but I have only had school lunch ONE other time in my 15 years of teaching.   Yes, once.

I asked a couple kids about what I should do and didn't get a clear response until I found one of the girls from my class.  She said I was in the burger and fries line.  Oops.  So, wandered to the sandwich line and paid close attention to what the kids ahead of me were doing.   Then, went to check out and was told I could grab a beverage or "whatever I want because I'm a teacher" but that was a bit unclear.   It was easier to grab a milk and escape back to my colleagues.

Here's to trying something new!

Movie of the Day: Jane Eyre.  It's a recent adaptation and it was really good!

Tail End

I'm on the tail end of a cold and the hacking cough combined with the teaching of classes (talking too much) is not going so well.  To top it off, our new school has a sound system in each room and I keep coughing into the mike that is around my neck.  Uff.  Oh well.

Movie

What's your favorite movie? 


Talk amongst yourselves!

Same Time, Same Place

Last weekend, I ordered something online and the tracking dealy-bop said it would be here by Wednesday.   I was so excited to get home two days ago, only to find a post-it note saying I needed to sign for my package.  It said they would stop back the next day at the same time. 

Well, I signed the back saying "I won't sue you if you leave it here and something happens to it."

Thursday: I rush home between work and errands to secure said box only to find TWO post-it notes.  The second one added to the "Must sign" "in person".   WHAT?!?!?!!?!   It then said that they would return the same time on Friday.

Now, where is the logic in this???  If I'm not home two days in a row at that time, what makes them think Friday is going to be the magic day that I'm there????   So, I went online and changed it to "I'll just pick up the stupid thing myself tomorrow after work."  Okay, it doesn't say that, but SERIOUSLY!?!?!?!!  

Movie of the Day: You've Got Mail (somewhere)

Blah, Blah, Blah

So, here's my lame excuse for not blogging lately: I can't think of anything to say.  Seriously, it's not like I can't expound on some random topic for a couple paragraphs.  It's more an issue of complete exhaustion and hardly being able to drag my cereal bowl from the table to the counter.  I'm really high energy if I rinse it and put it in the dishwasher.  

WOW!  That sounds so pathetic.  Okay, here's my excuse for being THAT pathetic: first full week of school.   Now, you're probably wondering, what's the NEXT excuse going to be and the great thing is that I already have it planned out: It's Homecoming Week this week!  Yes, that's right, weird stuff happens every day.  Uff.  It'll be fine, though and I'm hoping that I can adjust to this "working every day" gig and have a little more energy.  Otherwise, I'm the dork going to bed at 8 PM every night! 

Tomorrow, if you want to pretend that you go to Denfeld High School, the theme is Wizard of Oz and kids (and staff) are wearing grade-level appropriate colors:

9th graders: Blue
10th graders: Red
11th graders: Yellow
12th graders: Black (not a part of the rainbow, but it's tradition that they get to dress up like mimes/thieves)
Staff: Green
Should be a blast and one of the less-disruptive days.   Friday's Maroon and Gold Day is the MOST disruptive.  Only mean teachers like me try to teach anything that day.  :)

Movie of the Day:  You guessed it: The Wizard of Oz!

A few flowers

Not So Organized

I would love to report that everything is going to be spiffy and ready for the amazing year that is to come at school.  Unfortunately, I don't really know how to do lots of whiz-bang stuff on my Smartboard and I'm still trying to get enough desks and a pencil sharpener.  However, I will do my utmost to make things happen and get some learnin' to occur tomorrow.  Yes, yes I will.

Decorate

When you were in high school, how did you decorate your locker?  And, was it a stacked locker or a tall one that you maybe shared? 

I shared a locker with a friend who hung a poster of Alan Rickman, as the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood.  Um, okay.... You might know him as the man who played Snape in Harry Potter.   Yep, not exactly Tom Cruise or Keanu Reeves (it's his birthday today, Happy Day, Sir!).   Soooo.... yeah.  I have no idea what I put up.  Weird.

Maybe you'd set up a little altar to the homework gods or hang battery operated Christmas lights?  I had a student hang up shag carpet on the inside of the door and keep a camping chair in the locker.  Wanted it to feel homey, I guess.

Now, I'd probably hang up travel pictures.  Paris, London, Macchu Picchu, Rome, a fjord.  You get the picture.  Ha ha. 

Movie of the Day:  Saved.  She had stuff hiding in her locker.

The Books

I'm kind of old-school and still have paper books around my house.  I don't have a Kindle or Nook or whatever the next cool thing is.  I have paper.  Sometimes, my house feels like Becca's Reference Room.  I have two large dictionaries, 20 yearbooks (or more) spanning from when I was in junior high to last year (I like to buy them each year so I can look up kids that I hear about later.), and books on "What does that symptom mean?"  I have self-help books (they're working, can't you tell?), fiction, travel books, and multiple Bibles (Good News, The Message, Student Bible NIV, a couple mini Gideon Bibles, and an English/Finnish/Swedish hotel Bible from a friend).  I have quote books, art books, decorating books, how to fix your toilet books, poetry books, textbooks, and books on teaching/parenting. 

I better get back to reading. 

Movie of the Day: Inkheart.  They love books, too.

Good Point

I spent the morning staining my deck with my dad.   This type of activity always leads to chatting about random stuff that is going on in the world or church.  Sunday, my family attended a wedding for two friends: Cynthia and Jonie, yes two women! 

In the parking lot of the beach house on Park Point, a car had the bumper sticker: Marriage is SO Gay!  How great!!!!   Yes.  Seriously!  Two people love each other.  They want to commit to each other for the rest of their lives.  We should all be encouraging this, not condemning them! 

Well, this morning, my dad mentioned that the GOP wants the government to get out of people's lives, and YET, they want to control all sorts of things about people's lives.  So hypocritical!  

Congratulations on your wonderful marriage, Cynthia and Jonie!

Are you excited?

This is such a loaded question and one that was asked of me this morning.  Are you excited for school to start up again? 

September 6th will be my 15th "Start of the School Year" from the Teacher's Side of the Desk.   Every year has many blessings and many different things thrown at us.  Maybe it's a record football season and the kids hop fan buses to the State Tournament (thus messing with my lesson plans, oh well).  Maybe a famous person visits the school for an assembly or a teacher wins an award.  Maybe there are times when we all have to pull together to get through an issue or an event.  There are SO many different things that come up, and that's just "events."

The first day of class goes like this: I have an approximately accurate list of students who should be in my room, within about 5 minutes of the bell.  I introduce myself, mention what class this is (Algebra 2 or whatever) and then tell the kids to let me know of any nicknames they would like me to use in class, within reason.  Then, I read the list, trying not to botch the names too badly and ask for corrections.  Then, I try to give myself a mnemonic so I can remember the kid or write down "glasses" "front" "blue shirt" or something else descriptive. 

While I have the kids filling out a survey, I try to memorize the names.  This works for the first three classes of the day and then my brain is full.  The last two will just have to wait.  For the first three classes, though, once I'm feeling confident, I announce "I know all of your names."   Then, I go up and down the aisles. The kids are shocked. 

By the end of the day, I have no voice and I just want to go home and have another week of summer.  So, am I excited?  Sure.  Will I cherish this last week of vacation?  YES!

Sculpture Garden

Here are a few photos from the Sculpture Garden next to the Walker Center in Minneapolis, MN.

August

August is the "Sunday" of the calendar.   The I-Better-Get-Things-Done part of the year before reality hits with a bang in September.   It's not like I don't do things once school starts, but it always FEELS like I won't be able to do things once it starts.  Sure, I can't use the washroom whenever I'd like and I can't take a week-long vacation to somewhere warm in the  middle of any old month, but I should be able to see friends and read books.  Seeing friends are reading books has been pretty much all I've done this Summer too!  Okay, I have been working on remodeling my basement bathroom and for any of you who have been to my house, you know it's been about 9 years of bathroom destruction.  Soooo... it's high time, right?

Movie of the Day: August Rush. So true.

Drip, Drip, Drip

It's a wee bit humid around here lately and I think most of us are sick of it.  I have one friend who LOVES warm weather and I should be talking to her so I can talk to someone cheerful.   The rest of us are suffering. 

What are your favorite ways to escape the heat?

73, Please

I like the sun.  I do, honest.   I just don't do well in 90 degree weather.  I'm not productive.  I let my dishes sit for days.  Now, some are thinking "You do this in the winter, too, Becca" but in the winter I notice that I haven't done them.  In the heat of summer, I don't even care that I haven't done them.   Is that pathetic or what? 

Today, I'm going for a walk outside and I'm sweating just sitting at my computer.  This might be a silly thing to do. 

Saw Midnight in Paris yesterday.  Good movie!

Coffee

I gave up pop a while back and then accidentally started drinking it again.   Today I read an article online about how diet pop is horrible for you and makes one obese (oh joy!).   So, now I'm going to work on cutting out artificial sweeteners.   For a diabetic, this is kind of the kiss of death or at least flavor.  Maybe I'm being dramatic, as I am prone to do, but seriously!?!  It's a big step. 

My sister suggested starting to drink coffee (not just the chocolate frou frou stuff, but like normal coffee).  Well, this might be my only source of caffeine and we don't want to see me without caffeine.  At least not yet.  There are only so many changes one person should have to make at once, right, if they have any choice in the matter.

So, how do you take your coffee (caffeine, water)?  I need suggestions!