Could it be any more muggy than this? (Uh, I know it COULD, but damn, is it uncomfortable outside!) Just got back from the Walljasper's house where Abbey and I ate supper and went for a walk. The timing was just right for me b/c Stephen is shooting a wedding today and if you know anything about our household, you should know that he is the cook... And since he wasn't going to be around for supper today, the prospects were lookin' bleak. Actually from a kid's standpoint, it's good as I CAN make mac and cheese (can you even claim to be able to COOK that?) So she probably would have enjoyed being home vs kabobs, but I though it was a-ok! And she got lots of time to play Polly Pocket with Yana (one of her closest friends) while the parents and I had cheese and wine, so it was all good =)
Abbs and I went to see The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants today at the MOA theater. This was a big thing because we don't often go to movies together. They're expensive and being the annoying parents we are, we usually make her do boring free stuff like, oh, go on an hour bike ride along Minnehaha Parkway (this morning). Yes, we have even mall walked in search of ways to get "family exercise." I feel like someone who would own a mini-van when I say that. Sorry if you own a mini-van. Anyways, it was actually a pretty good movie; even made me teary-eyed a little. And not just at how in-shape the girl who plays Bridget is in. So sitting there though the trailers, I got that settle-in-this-is-awesome feeling about movies that I rarely get because I don't watch them all that often, even at home. And Abbey was quite the cuddle-bug, which I relish now because I know that she'll more or less be done with that within a few years. Good experience overall. Some parts of the movie were a little over her head (subtle parts about things that had happened, like one of the girls losing her virginity) but that's ok because she likes to re-watch movies, and it will be a good one for her to see again in a couple of years.
That's all for now. Couldn't find my camera before we went over for supper, so nothing to put up...
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
invisible
Today is my last day of a two week detox (Whole Body Cleanse from Whole Foods) and all I can think about is eating pizza and having a margarita tomorrow. I don’t think that is the goal of the program, but I just can‘t seem to help it. Supposedly my bile is flowing free, my lymph system is cleaner, as well as the system that, well, you would think would be cleaner after a lot of fiber. But I really don’t feel all that different. Really, I feel hungry. And trust me, I’ve been eating. Is it sad when I feel like food items such as 1. soy sauce 2. yogurt 3. oat bran flakes 4. veggies from a can (processed) 5. too many cashews 6. string cheese contribute to something that would sabotage a $28 program (had a coupon...) CHEATING??? I will be super relieved tomorrow. Really, I won’t go whole hog and run to get pizza, a margarita, AND Sebastian Joes (I’ve suggested all of the above to Stephen, who is not enjoying the same cleansing as I) but at least I will be able to enjoy an effing s’more around the campfire!!
Grad class Tuesday night. One topic of interest I’d like to broach. What is the invisible culture of American schools? If an incoming student had never been in a US school before, what would they notice. In my opinion, something glaring would be the notion of being relatively passive, staying seated , and waiting for the teacher’s cues before talking. How is this communicated? If you can’t abide by these rules, you know pretty quickly because you’ll get in trouble. NOW... how does this part of the invisible culture contribute to the gap between upper class and lower class kids, between white kids and kids of color? I think it is huge. I am part of the white, hmmm, I’d say middle class. School was always easy for me. I got along well with others, did well on my assignments, was in advanced classes from the 7th grade on through my senior year. So school is generally good for kids in my situation. But what does the disproportionate number of kids of color and from lower class families in programs like ALCs (Alternative Learning Centers) and EBD rooms (Emotional/Behavioral Disorders) say about what type of culture is withstood in the general classroom. (I have no numbers or percentages to offer; I’m just going on what I observe in my school and what I’ve heard from teachers in other schools). And is this fair? I guess it depends on whether or not you believe that all kids should be able to abide by a system that was created by a majority of white upper class people who developed it to suit their learning styles and needs. What would our schools look like if they would have been created by a different grouping of people, one who held different values? If not all kids learn best by sitting still in a desk and listening, taking notes, listening, is it fair to expect that all will do well in this environment? Are we setting sub groups up for failure?
Not to say that all teachers just lecture to their students, but I’d say that from the 6th grade on, this is quite common. Even in my case. I try hard to mix it up and do things that I think will truly matter to my kids, but when I have 170 kids and limited space, even my best intentions aren’t ever fully carried out. More specific to English than just the sitting/listening issue, I have been trying to start the writer’s workshop in my class, and it is hard. Not completely a loss, but to truly do what Nancie Atwell does with her class of 18 in a school that she created seems nearly impossible in my case. So I modify and do the best that I can. I got a good start at the beginning of last year and through the fall, but by the end of the year, I was back to my regular units, feeling like I wasn’t making a huge difference in the lives of my kids. A Christmas Carol/Charles Dickens, Holocaust literature, A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Shakespeare. So I’ll start over again in the fall with renewed energy and patience and hope. A little smarter but also a little warier. So I have come to the conclusion that our system holds back not only students, but also teachers... Big news, I’m sure. There’s a statistic out there somewhere that states that our schools are conducive to something like 30% of students. The rest would need other types of schooling to reach their optimum level. I suppose I could write about charter schools and the hope I have for education when I listen to people like Walter Enloe and Dan Lortiz, two of my professors from Hamline. But that’s for another day, because then I’d have to hem and haw about whether I am too tied to the union to branch out to a charter school and lose my security. Especially in this economy.
That’s better. Not such a fucking brainless entry.
If only I could tape Stephen’s and my conversations when I get home from class. He says he’s glad I’m back in class because we really talk about issues., and it’s nice for a change to be able to discuss something other than how we need new people in office. We seem to talk about that a lot.
Grad class Tuesday night. One topic of interest I’d like to broach. What is the invisible culture of American schools? If an incoming student had never been in a US school before, what would they notice. In my opinion, something glaring would be the notion of being relatively passive, staying seated , and waiting for the teacher’s cues before talking. How is this communicated? If you can’t abide by these rules, you know pretty quickly because you’ll get in trouble. NOW... how does this part of the invisible culture contribute to the gap between upper class and lower class kids, between white kids and kids of color? I think it is huge. I am part of the white, hmmm, I’d say middle class. School was always easy for me. I got along well with others, did well on my assignments, was in advanced classes from the 7th grade on through my senior year. So school is generally good for kids in my situation. But what does the disproportionate number of kids of color and from lower class families in programs like ALCs (Alternative Learning Centers) and EBD rooms (Emotional/Behavioral Disorders) say about what type of culture is withstood in the general classroom. (I have no numbers or percentages to offer; I’m just going on what I observe in my school and what I’ve heard from teachers in other schools). And is this fair? I guess it depends on whether or not you believe that all kids should be able to abide by a system that was created by a majority of white upper class people who developed it to suit their learning styles and needs. What would our schools look like if they would have been created by a different grouping of people, one who held different values? If not all kids learn best by sitting still in a desk and listening, taking notes, listening, is it fair to expect that all will do well in this environment? Are we setting sub groups up for failure?
Not to say that all teachers just lecture to their students, but I’d say that from the 6th grade on, this is quite common. Even in my case. I try hard to mix it up and do things that I think will truly matter to my kids, but when I have 170 kids and limited space, even my best intentions aren’t ever fully carried out. More specific to English than just the sitting/listening issue, I have been trying to start the writer’s workshop in my class, and it is hard. Not completely a loss, but to truly do what Nancie Atwell does with her class of 18 in a school that she created seems nearly impossible in my case. So I modify and do the best that I can. I got a good start at the beginning of last year and through the fall, but by the end of the year, I was back to my regular units, feeling like I wasn’t making a huge difference in the lives of my kids. A Christmas Carol/Charles Dickens, Holocaust literature, A Midsummer Night’s Dream/Shakespeare. So I’ll start over again in the fall with renewed energy and patience and hope. A little smarter but also a little warier. So I have come to the conclusion that our system holds back not only students, but also teachers... Big news, I’m sure. There’s a statistic out there somewhere that states that our schools are conducive to something like 30% of students. The rest would need other types of schooling to reach their optimum level. I suppose I could write about charter schools and the hope I have for education when I listen to people like Walter Enloe and Dan Lortiz, two of my professors from Hamline. But that’s for another day, because then I’d have to hem and haw about whether I am too tied to the union to branch out to a charter school and lose my security. Especially in this economy.
That’s better. Not such a fucking brainless entry.
If only I could tape Stephen’s and my conversations when I get home from class. He says he’s glad I’m back in class because we really talk about issues., and it’s nice for a change to be able to discuss something other than how we need new people in office. We seem to talk about that a lot.
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Devil's Lake
We got back from our first camping trip of the year late last night. It was kind of a rare trip in that we were camping with both of our parent sets, along with Abbey and Marcus (Stephen's youngest brother.) So Abbey got to see both sets of gparents on our side and plot pranks against her dad with her 14 yr old uncle =) She seems to love the outdoors and camping, which is good for us since we live for camping trips in the summer. Anyhow, we went all the way to Devils Lake, ND, (a littel too far for the general camping venture) and stayed in the Geffre's new pop-up, quite spiffy. We bought their old one which is now safe in our driveway. Two weeks until Stephen and I head to Duluth for five days for another trip...
Needless to say, having to sit in the St. Thomas Univ. library today for two hours to read two chapters in the textbook that I checked out vs bought was not all that easy. Neither will it be easy to sit in class tonight (at Hamline).
I won't have any camping pictures until my mom sends me some over email, so you'll be left to envison everyone but me eating s'mores. I should have known better than to start a two week detox when I had a camping trip right in the middle... Yeah, THAT won't happen again =)
Subsiding on veggies, fruit, brown rice, and beans, MICHELLE =)
(ok, so nuts, and yogurt, and a little cheese, too)
Needless to say, having to sit in the St. Thomas Univ. library today for two hours to read two chapters in the textbook that I checked out vs bought was not all that easy. Neither will it be easy to sit in class tonight (at Hamline).
I won't have any camping pictures until my mom sends me some over email, so you'll be left to envison everyone but me eating s'mores. I should have known better than to start a two week detox when I had a camping trip right in the middle... Yeah, THAT won't happen again =)
Subsiding on veggies, fruit, brown rice, and beans, MICHELLE =)
(ok, so nuts, and yogurt, and a little cheese, too)
Friday, June 10, 2005
"Think of it as stickin' it to the Man with a six-millimeter crochet hook."
I feel like I'm a lot less crafty than I was several years ago (ok... so it's been almost a decade/) Nonetheless, I asked my grandma to teach me to knit four or five Christmases ago. My MO? I didn't want the cool things she has done for us (mittens, afghans, quilts, LEFSE!) to get lost with our generation. I guess I wanted my kiddies to have cool snowflake mittens and plenty of lefse at the holiday meal. So I'm not a STELLAR knitter--IS that a scarf?--lefse is quite frustrating *but oh-so-worth-it* and the only quilt squares I have are the fronts cut off of all of my old punk rock tshirts (lots of those!)--but I still have aspirations to get better. And wouldntcha know it... today was my last technical day at work until August. (Reminder: working with adolescents winds up your blood pressure so much that, yes, this time is needed to unwind and come down to normalcy again.) So I've got some time on my hands. Until I get paid for curriculum planning in a few weeks, so I'm not completely off the hook. And I can't forget about the really hard grad class that starts next week... Wouldn't want you to think I'm a slacker!
Anyhoo-- since I DO have some extra time on my hands, I decided to go to the City Pages website to see if I could find anything cool for our family to do. I got hung up on Diablo Cody's blog for a few minutes and then came across this article.
It's not that I'm a trend setter, but it's weird how you find out that you have unwittingly been part of a greater group of like minded people. That everyone's doing it. UGH. After several reports on Frida Kahlo in college Spanish, I found out that people like Madonna liked her work and that it was the thing of the moment. That's more bad than good in my mind. Madge. Whatever.
And I'll tell ya. Stephen makes fun of me for some of my "great craft ideas." Not that he isn't right and that we have ended up with usless crap at random times. My beading stuff has been the most sustainable hobby, albeit put on the way-back burner until I get this grad school stuff done with.
And I am in a crafting circle with my sister, Lisa, and some other ladies... the Hot Mamacita Craftng Circle. Yeah, got shit about that, too =) Although I think the only time I've been able to make it was after the John Kerry rally last summer. Ran from the Metrodome to Augsburg as the lightrail was super crowded and, well, I was late.
Here's the link to the article. I must say, the references to pr and riot girl send me back some years. MC3 anyone?
I feel like I'm a lot less crafty than I was several years ago (ok... so it's been almost a decade/) Nonetheless, I asked my grandma to teach me to knit four or five Christmases ago. My MO? I didn't want the cool things she has done for us (mittens, afghans, quilts, LEFSE!) to get lost with our generation. I guess I wanted my kiddies to have cool snowflake mittens and plenty of lefse at the holiday meal. So I'm not a STELLAR knitter--IS that a scarf?--lefse is quite frustrating *but oh-so-worth-it* and the only quilt squares I have are the fronts cut off of all of my old punk rock tshirts (lots of those!)--but I still have aspirations to get better. And wouldntcha know it... today was my last technical day at work until August. (Reminder: working with adolescents winds up your blood pressure so much that, yes, this time is needed to unwind and come down to normalcy again.) So I've got some time on my hands. Until I get paid for curriculum planning in a few weeks, so I'm not completely off the hook. And I can't forget about the really hard grad class that starts next week... Wouldn't want you to think I'm a slacker!
Anyhoo-- since I DO have some extra time on my hands, I decided to go to the City Pages website to see if I could find anything cool for our family to do. I got hung up on Diablo Cody's blog for a few minutes and then came across this article.
It's not that I'm a trend setter, but it's weird how you find out that you have unwittingly been part of a greater group of like minded people. That everyone's doing it. UGH. After several reports on Frida Kahlo in college Spanish, I found out that people like Madonna liked her work and that it was the thing of the moment. That's more bad than good in my mind. Madge. Whatever.
And I'll tell ya. Stephen makes fun of me for some of my "great craft ideas." Not that he isn't right and that we have ended up with usless crap at random times. My beading stuff has been the most sustainable hobby, albeit put on the way-back burner until I get this grad school stuff done with.
And I am in a crafting circle with my sister, Lisa, and some other ladies... the Hot Mamacita Craftng Circle. Yeah, got shit about that, too =) Although I think the only time I've been able to make it was after the John Kerry rally last summer. Ran from the Metrodome to Augsburg as the lightrail was super crowded and, well, I was late.
Here's the link to the article. I must say, the references to pr and riot girl send me back some years. MC3 anyone?
Monday, June 06, 2005
can you feel it?
newyear04
Originally uploaded by michellend.
ok, so i caved and decided to try to learn how to post pictures. my original thought was to avoid anything that a student may randomly find and attach to me, and i wanted complete separation from my job... but i figure the chances of one of the odd thousand or so of them coming across this is slim. not like i have too crazy of a personal life anyhoo...
so here's my trial post; Stephen, Abbey, and I at Buca on New Year's 2004 =)
Tuesday, May 24, 2005
counting down
just took too long i guess and had it all erased... not good when i have a bad posting record to begin with.
counting down
ohhhh, it's that time of year when even the teachers of the world start counting down. i've got...three, four, four... that would be eleven days left to teach this year. that's a good thing, because these kids were a hard bunch. can you believe that? most people wince at the fact that i CHOOSE to work with middle schoolers. yes, there are less nuts years than others. and this wasn't one of them. that, coupled with the fact that we've wrestled with a horrible administrator for two years, makes the impending summer even sweeter. (said administrator resigned.)
so we have silent sustained reading for the kids sixty minutes a week, twenty for every homeroom class and forty that rotates week to week through the core teacher's classes. i have found that i really am not good at finishing books. it is with this in mind that i have been determined to start finishing books and to start finishing books that aren't young adult fiction. because besides being a middle school english teacher, i am, afterall, a real adult. so far i've finished of mice and men. now i'm onto the sun also rises. which i have had a hard time sticking to. but i'll be damned if i shall abandon it and send it to the depths of other abandoned books such as white teeth, one hundred years of solitude, sea biscuit, and on and on. i guess i prefer hemingway's short stories and later work. this one is seeming really choppy and too detailed to me. what should i try next? any suggestions? since i'm not really sure that anyone reads this (because i write SO often) that's really a piece of bait to see who my DEDICATED friends are =) well, and to see what you all are reading currently or have loved in the past. not that stephen and i don't have stacks of books here to check out.
just finished my shakespeare unit for the year. did you know that i totally love shakespeare? here is a link to pages i made years ago for the kids. you know, just in case you have some spare time to read up a little on the bard. the comm teacher and i have them work in groups to put on a midsummer night's dream, lines memorized, costuming and all. in the end, it is one of my favorite things to teach. if you have even more spare time, make sure not to miss the insults. they are great! The most infectious pestilence upon thee...
what else. i feel like i've gotta make this worthwhile since i'm here. i'm actually anticpating that i'll post more during the summer when i have some time to think.
but the truth is that i have shit to do. again, tony k. and todd generally have meaningful blogs, so you can live vicariously through them (like i do) until i have something of substance to say. so sorry...
i need to ask, before i go, a question on the mn political situation. does anyone know when we can start rallying for someone to run and BEAT our fair governor? a democrat would be especially nice.
so we have silent sustained reading for the kids sixty minutes a week, twenty for every homeroom class and forty that rotates week to week through the core teacher's classes. i have found that i really am not good at finishing books. it is with this in mind that i have been determined to start finishing books and to start finishing books that aren't young adult fiction. because besides being a middle school english teacher, i am, afterall, a real adult. so far i've finished of mice and men. now i'm onto the sun also rises. which i have had a hard time sticking to. but i'll be damned if i shall abandon it and send it to the depths of other abandoned books such as white teeth, one hundred years of solitude, sea biscuit, and on and on. i guess i prefer hemingway's short stories and later work. this one is seeming really choppy and too detailed to me. what should i try next? any suggestions? since i'm not really sure that anyone reads this (because i write SO often) that's really a piece of bait to see who my DEDICATED friends are =) well, and to see what you all are reading currently or have loved in the past. not that stephen and i don't have stacks of books here to check out.
just finished my shakespeare unit for the year. did you know that i totally love shakespeare? here is a link to pages i made years ago for the kids. you know, just in case you have some spare time to read up a little on the bard. the comm teacher and i have them work in groups to put on a midsummer night's dream, lines memorized, costuming and all. in the end, it is one of my favorite things to teach. if you have even more spare time, make sure not to miss the insults. they are great! The most infectious pestilence upon thee...
what else. i feel like i've gotta make this worthwhile since i'm here. i'm actually anticpating that i'll post more during the summer when i have some time to think.
but the truth is that i have shit to do. again, tony k. and todd generally have meaningful blogs, so you can live vicariously through them (like i do) until i have something of substance to say. so sorry...
i need to ask, before i go, a question on the mn political situation. does anyone know when we can start rallying for someone to run and BEAT our fair governor? a democrat would be especially nice.
Monday, May 02, 2005
crap
Ok, so I think I am officially a crappy blogger. It's been a while. In the meantime, I've been bingeing on housewares all over the metro area. Our latest victim was Ikea tonight. Plant stands. Bedside stands. Phone stand. Lofted bed for Abbey. Pots and pans hanger. I got a call today from the bank inquiring about odd activity on my account. Yes, it is odd for me/us to be spending like this. Nice thing they called, but does it mean this is out of control?
I'm not really worried about us being out of control with spending, though. At some point, when we have the general house stuff, we won't be spending like fools. The relatively ODD part about the whole thing is that even though Stephen and I saved for this sort of opportunity, we are feeling out of sorts with all this shopping. We aren't used it it, therefore we are feeling like the world is caving a little. Plus, we've (...he's) spent countless hours assembling random pieces of furniture. And pulling out carpet nails and laying flooring and painting. Did I mention that Stephen is working a lot harder than I am on all of this? Don't get me wrong; I'm working, too. But he seems to be carrying us a little better than I am =)
So I shouldn't be complaining. We have our house, and we are *really* happy with it. But we are ready to be done with the moving-in part. I'm quite certain this is probably normal.
And we are having a 30th bday party for Stephen on Thursday, cinco de Mayo. Since it's 05/05/05, it will be starting at 5:05 pm. Maybe that's why we are going a little nuts trying to get the place decent. It probably won't matter after some TASTY KEG BEER...
So I guess we should relax a little. The house payments don't come until next month...
I'm not really worried about us being out of control with spending, though. At some point, when we have the general house stuff, we won't be spending like fools. The relatively ODD part about the whole thing is that even though Stephen and I saved for this sort of opportunity, we are feeling out of sorts with all this shopping. We aren't used it it, therefore we are feeling like the world is caving a little. Plus, we've (...he's) spent countless hours assembling random pieces of furniture. And pulling out carpet nails and laying flooring and painting. Did I mention that Stephen is working a lot harder than I am on all of this? Don't get me wrong; I'm working, too. But he seems to be carrying us a little better than I am =)
So I shouldn't be complaining. We have our house, and we are *really* happy with it. But we are ready to be done with the moving-in part. I'm quite certain this is probably normal.
And we are having a 30th bday party for Stephen on Thursday, cinco de Mayo. Since it's 05/05/05, it will be starting at 5:05 pm. Maybe that's why we are going a little nuts trying to get the place decent. It probably won't matter after some TASTY KEG BEER...
So I guess we should relax a little. The house payments don't come until next month...
Friday, April 08, 2005
Delightful I'm convinced
Ooooohhhh ahhhhh. How delightful is a sweet cup of , um, Sierra Mist and Smirnoff Vanilla Twist with frozen strawberries as icecubes? It's so delightful that I'm writing about it in this here blog!
Two more things for a brief post: Karl Rove is in Minneapolis tonight. Can you feel me shuddering? I guess the fact that Hillary Clinton is here as well will have to get me through.
Gallery 360 opening tomorrow night...
House closing on the 18th...
Moving on the 23rd...
Finally!
Two more things for a brief post: Karl Rove is in Minneapolis tonight. Can you feel me shuddering? I guess the fact that Hillary Clinton is here as well will have to get me through.
Gallery 360 opening tomorrow night...
House closing on the 18th...
Moving on the 23rd...
Finally!
Wednesday, March 30, 2005
pro...crastinator
First of all, I'm becoming the procrastinator I never wanted to be but secretly feared I would. Damn... I guess I could blame my eyes, but that would probably be lame.
So the status> I'm in a good amount of pain. Seems looking at lots of adolescents daily takes a toll, so I'm taking the morning off tomorrow. That makes it 9 1/2 days total so far out of work for all of this eye stuff. I guess I'm cutting into all those pregancy leave days that I should be accumulating =) No, nothing brewing now, just looking ahead. Anyhoo, I think I'll try to take some half-days through April. It seems important. I know that doesn't sound convincing, but it is really a pain to write sub notes, and trust me, I've had to write my share lately. But I've left school the the last three days with pains on my eyeballs as well as a whole temple/cheek area range of headaches. Something tells me that's not so good for the rehab.
Abagail, lucky lovely Abagail gets to leave for Colorado tomorrow with her mom and Dustin. She informed me this morning that she is a little anxious for the plane ride =) I hope she has a lot of fun! Third grade and taking a real spring break... Much better than my week of packing last week when my district was out of school.
So I do have some plans to wax poetic on issues that have been on my mind, but that will come later. I figure it's pretty boring to just talk about the day-- I've just got to take the time. You could read Todd's blog in the meantime. He seems to find more time than me to muddle through some interesting thoughts...
On deck-- why it really bothers me that immigrants have to take menial jobs to support their families when they may have a much larger range of expertise. Then why it bothers me that I may just be making assumptions or feeling bad for people who don't want to be felt bad about. ANd why it really bothers me that returned troops are expected to fit right back into society when they have experienced a part of life that we have no grasp of.
So the status> I'm in a good amount of pain. Seems looking at lots of adolescents daily takes a toll, so I'm taking the morning off tomorrow. That makes it 9 1/2 days total so far out of work for all of this eye stuff. I guess I'm cutting into all those pregancy leave days that I should be accumulating =) No, nothing brewing now, just looking ahead. Anyhoo, I think I'll try to take some half-days through April. It seems important. I know that doesn't sound convincing, but it is really a pain to write sub notes, and trust me, I've had to write my share lately. But I've left school the the last three days with pains on my eyeballs as well as a whole temple/cheek area range of headaches. Something tells me that's not so good for the rehab.
Abagail, lucky lovely Abagail gets to leave for Colorado tomorrow with her mom and Dustin. She informed me this morning that she is a little anxious for the plane ride =) I hope she has a lot of fun! Third grade and taking a real spring break... Much better than my week of packing last week when my district was out of school.
So I do have some plans to wax poetic on issues that have been on my mind, but that will come later. I figure it's pretty boring to just talk about the day-- I've just got to take the time. You could read Todd's blog in the meantime. He seems to find more time than me to muddle through some interesting thoughts...
On deck-- why it really bothers me that immigrants have to take menial jobs to support their families when they may have a much larger range of expertise. Then why it bothers me that I may just be making assumptions or feeling bad for people who don't want to be felt bad about. ANd why it really bothers me that returned troops are expected to fit right back into society when they have experienced a part of life that we have no grasp of.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
leader
i swear, martin sheen IS my president.
i've never really accepted the fact that gwb was ELECTED anyways.
yesterday abbey and i both had the stomach flu. not so pleasant.
and even worse, it was her 9th birthday. i felt so bad for her.
we were a one-two knockout. =(
eye appt. tomorrow to see how it is healing. i've been out of work since
last wednesday. and i'm withering, between not having an appetite with
the eye pain and nothing staying down with the flu. not the way i wanted
to get off of my plateau really. i prefer fruits to vomiting =)
yum.
and stephen, poor lad. he does way too much for me. and right now he's enjoying
some ice cream that i don't even have a apetite for. there is something wrong
when i am not hungry for icecream, for i could surely subsist on it
in an alternate world..........................................................................
that's about all i can squeeze out of my dehydrated, vision-challenged head today.
i'll work on something smarter next time =)
i've never really accepted the fact that gwb was ELECTED anyways.
yesterday abbey and i both had the stomach flu. not so pleasant.
and even worse, it was her 9th birthday. i felt so bad for her.
we were a one-two knockout. =(
eye appt. tomorrow to see how it is healing. i've been out of work since
last wednesday. and i'm withering, between not having an appetite with
the eye pain and nothing staying down with the flu. not the way i wanted
to get off of my plateau really. i prefer fruits to vomiting =)
yum.
and stephen, poor lad. he does way too much for me. and right now he's enjoying
some ice cream that i don't even have a apetite for. there is something wrong
when i am not hungry for icecream, for i could surely subsist on it
in an alternate world..........................................................................
that's about all i can squeeze out of my dehydrated, vision-challenged head today.
i'll work on something smarter next time =)
Friday, March 11, 2005
hurting in mn
there is a small piece of plastic in my eye that will remain for life. it even has a serial number.
the surgery: scleral buckle
time: wednesday, later than scheduled, around 2:00pm
the eye: left
the doctor and nurses: awesome
the anesthetics: i could hear everything (i think), see nothing, feel almost nothing
my retina: completely sucks. had more holes than he thought. and apparently i had thick fluid in there... really thick =)
the iv: hurt... lidocane x 2
my eye: hurts like hell, red, hard to open, bruised, feels like i have lots of eyelashes in there, or worse
the husband: how did i get so lucky? he totally loves me to think i'm sexy with eye gauze taped to my eye. he even tapes it for me =)
ibuprofen: doesn't go well with my stomach. found out the hard way.
body heat: 94 degrees for most of yesterday... brrrr
vicodan
prednisone
atropine
best line: we don't usually see people under 70 back here!
the school newspaper: done and into the printing office at the do... what a hard worker i am (well, it should have been done in december or january.)
back to work: not sure yet...
the surgery: scleral buckle
time: wednesday, later than scheduled, around 2:00pm
the eye: left
the doctor and nurses: awesome
the anesthetics: i could hear everything (i think), see nothing, feel almost nothing
my retina: completely sucks. had more holes than he thought. and apparently i had thick fluid in there... really thick =)
the iv: hurt... lidocane x 2
my eye: hurts like hell, red, hard to open, bruised, feels like i have lots of eyelashes in there, or worse
the husband: how did i get so lucky? he totally loves me to think i'm sexy with eye gauze taped to my eye. he even tapes it for me =)
ibuprofen: doesn't go well with my stomach. found out the hard way.
body heat: 94 degrees for most of yesterday... brrrr
vicodan
prednisone
atropine
best line: we don't usually see people under 70 back here!
the school newspaper: done and into the printing office at the do... what a hard worker i am (well, it should have been done in december or january.)
back to work: not sure yet...
Sunday, March 06, 2005
Really, it's in the retina...
Has it really been a week? I'm already becoming a slug at doing this. Not that it hasn't been busy around here. On Wednesday, I had two interesting pieces of news.
1. My retina seems to be detached. I have THINNING retinas (like thinning hairlines?) and the one in my left eye apparently just got too thin and formed a hole. I guess I didn't do anything too out of the ordinary; it's NORMAL for the lucky people who are nearsighted.
So...
the optomitrist forbade me to go to work on Thursday and made an appointment on the spot with the retina specialist for Thursday am. The gist of it is that I will be in surgery this Wednesday to REATTACH my retina. I know... it sounds quite fun. No pirate jokes, please =) Stephen is already coming up with them. I'll be out of school for a little while, which meant that I've have to bust it to get everything graded before I have one good eye (during the recovery) because grades are due the week after next.
2. That night, we found out that the people selling the house we want ACCEPTED our offer! So we will be moving back to the other side of Lake Nokomis to Chicago Avenue! FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, we are moving into our very own house. After we sign the insane paperwork that is. And thoughts of paint and fix-ups and trips to Home Depot and Ikea and Target have been taking up a good portion of our time!
So I do intend to update more often... just a few things going on. And now I have to plan what I'm teaching tomorrow, so that's all for now... HAve a good week everyone. (I'll have to work on my endings!)
1. My retina seems to be detached. I have THINNING retinas (like thinning hairlines?) and the one in my left eye apparently just got too thin and formed a hole. I guess I didn't do anything too out of the ordinary; it's NORMAL for the lucky people who are nearsighted.
So...
the optomitrist forbade me to go to work on Thursday and made an appointment on the spot with the retina specialist for Thursday am. The gist of it is that I will be in surgery this Wednesday to REATTACH my retina. I know... it sounds quite fun. No pirate jokes, please =) Stephen is already coming up with them. I'll be out of school for a little while, which meant that I've have to bust it to get everything graded before I have one good eye (during the recovery) because grades are due the week after next.
2. That night, we found out that the people selling the house we want ACCEPTED our offer! So we will be moving back to the other side of Lake Nokomis to Chicago Avenue! FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY, we are moving into our very own house. After we sign the insane paperwork that is. And thoughts of paint and fix-ups and trips to Home Depot and Ikea and Target have been taking up a good portion of our time!
So I do intend to update more often... just a few things going on. And now I have to plan what I'm teaching tomorrow, so that's all for now... HAve a good week everyone. (I'll have to work on my endings!)
Saturday, February 26, 2005
In the eyes...
This week couldn't have come and gone much faster for me. The kids are getting crazy at school. I had four meetings in two days on top of teaching 170 kids, trying to hook up technology (after hunting down a LCD projector on the other side of the school from someone who never returns his stuff), correcting, lesson planning, making new materials. Oh, and having to do follow up on the meetings, getting work ready for an inbound kid, emailing updates on EBD kids, and trying to reply to parents who are wondering what msising work their little lovelies have. Then Thursday night, Stephen and I spent some quality time in the Emergency Room (7:00 - 11:30). After a CT scan, I learned that I've had an ocular migraine since Monday. So I got some pain meds and am already scheduled to go to my eye doctor this coming Wednesday. But it still hurts and my vision is weird in my left eye. It kinda sucks, to put it eloquently.
Yesterday, I was at a district workshop to see Dr. Dick Allington, who has some very interesting things to say on literacy and the research that has been done and the research that has been skewed by the current administration. Most I had already heard, but it's always nice to hear reiterated how fucking stupid G.W.B. is about education and testing and reading and, well things he obviously didn't pay much attention to when he was a wee lad. Gawd, why can't someone intelligent be running the country? And if you're going to answer that, then please tell me why professional athletes make so much more than teachers. I mean, c'mon. YOU tell ME... who has the highest amount of stress???
But, we got to babysit for my niece/goddaughter last night... and it is a nice sunny Saturday morning. Too bad I have mounds of correcting to do. You try that with one good eye... Now about that pay raise?
Must do: Add Dylron to list of links...
Yesterday, I was at a district workshop to see Dr. Dick Allington, who has some very interesting things to say on literacy and the research that has been done and the research that has been skewed by the current administration. Most I had already heard, but it's always nice to hear reiterated how fucking stupid G.W.B. is about education and testing and reading and, well things he obviously didn't pay much attention to when he was a wee lad. Gawd, why can't someone intelligent be running the country? And if you're going to answer that, then please tell me why professional athletes make so much more than teachers. I mean, c'mon. YOU tell ME... who has the highest amount of stress???
But, we got to babysit for my niece/goddaughter last night... and it is a nice sunny Saturday morning. Too bad I have mounds of correcting to do. You try that with one good eye... Now about that pay raise?
Must do: Add Dylron to list of links...
Saturday, February 19, 2005
Hot Toddies
So I just linked up with Amanda on Friendster and am feeling happy about that. We were in a p-rock band a decade ago, Madaline. Her profile says that she needs a vacation and that she is single. I think she needs to come spend a weekend in Mpls! And we need to talk about this single thing. Really? I did get to see her over the holidays in Minot (at Ebenezer's) when Stephen and I were hanging with Jen, the third girl in Madaline, who is an art teacher now in Fargo/Moorhead. Maybe, just maybe. A Madaline reunion? Don't get your hopes up. I gave the bass to Wade when we divorced. Figured he'd need it more than me as he yearned to play guitar by the sea. And Stephen sold his bass to move here when Kari decided to move here with Abbey. So... not so sure.
Anyways, I'm not doing a good job of getting out of the house today. I wanted to sleep in since I don't get to very often, but then it just got out of hand and I felt like I was wasting time. We had planned on going to the Fineline with Lisa and Nick last night, but Lisa has been sick, too, so they decided to not go, and Stephen and I ended up watching fine TV... 3rd Watch (which I do like) merged with Medical Emergency (which I hate.) I guess Paul and Anna and some of their friends were headed to the FL, too, but when it came down to it, I just wanted a night inside, lounging around, doing nothing, eating frozen pizza.
Thursday pm we ventured out into the COLD to the light rail station on 50th. Stephen had printed a photo he'd taken of Kieran (of the Local and Kieran's) and Mary Robinson (of, um, Ireland) and had Mary R. sign it at the Peace Prize Forum. (She was the main guest of honor at the Local deal we went to the Thursday before.) So then he framed it, and we went to deliver it to the manager. It's a really long walk between the LTR and the Local when it's finally MN winter COLD. After hot toddies and some bread pudding (I called it our real Valentine's dinner since I was pissy on Monday about Stephen working too much for Augsburg) we headed back to south Mpls...
One last thing. Yeah. The Mpls police officer accused of raping a woman... That's the Lifetime Stephen and I go to the most. Highland Park. Feelin' good about that one. I'm already a freak about locking my car doors the second I get into my car; I'm convinced that this fear of kidnapping was cultivated by growing up in the late 70s/80s, when kidnapping seemed to be a big deal. Then you add Dru Sjodin to the mix, whose kidnapper/murderer looks like, well, a nice little grandpa. I guess I'll go Eagan LTF to work out today. They've got a steamroom anyways.
And that's that. I need to get out of the house while it's still sunny.
Anyways, I'm not doing a good job of getting out of the house today. I wanted to sleep in since I don't get to very often, but then it just got out of hand and I felt like I was wasting time. We had planned on going to the Fineline with Lisa and Nick last night, but Lisa has been sick, too, so they decided to not go, and Stephen and I ended up watching fine TV... 3rd Watch (which I do like) merged with Medical Emergency (which I hate.) I guess Paul and Anna and some of their friends were headed to the FL, too, but when it came down to it, I just wanted a night inside, lounging around, doing nothing, eating frozen pizza.
Thursday pm we ventured out into the COLD to the light rail station on 50th. Stephen had printed a photo he'd taken of Kieran (of the Local and Kieran's) and Mary Robinson (of, um, Ireland) and had Mary R. sign it at the Peace Prize Forum. (She was the main guest of honor at the Local deal we went to the Thursday before.) So then he framed it, and we went to deliver it to the manager. It's a really long walk between the LTR and the Local when it's finally MN winter COLD. After hot toddies and some bread pudding (I called it our real Valentine's dinner since I was pissy on Monday about Stephen working too much for Augsburg) we headed back to south Mpls...
One last thing. Yeah. The Mpls police officer accused of raping a woman... That's the Lifetime Stephen and I go to the most. Highland Park. Feelin' good about that one. I'm already a freak about locking my car doors the second I get into my car; I'm convinced that this fear of kidnapping was cultivated by growing up in the late 70s/80s, when kidnapping seemed to be a big deal. Then you add Dru Sjodin to the mix, whose kidnapper/murderer looks like, well, a nice little grandpa. I guess I'll go Eagan LTF to work out today. They've got a steamroom anyways.
And that's that. I need to get out of the house while it's still sunny.
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