Extreme Educators

Letters

2010-04-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Dear brilliant scientist who discovered the planets in our solar system and therefore got to name them,
You have clearly spent very little time in a 5th grade science class, otherwise it would never have crossed your mind to name a planet Uranus. Seriously. Uranus? Plenty of Roman gods and goddesses out there in ancient lore and you choose Uranus. You can't even try putting emphasis on a different syllable, then it just sounds very close to urine. However, I did have a brief epiphany while reading about this rather unfortunately-named planet with my class of 20 11-year-olds. The entire planet is made mostly of methane gas (true scientists please do not leave me angry comments about how unfounded my statements are, it's 5th grade), which, if I am not mistaken, smells rather rank to the human olfactory nerve. So basically, Uranus smells like... a butt. I got about halfway through this thought process verbally before I realized I should not be sharing this with my students. Oh well.

Dear recess duty,
I despise you. It's too hot. It's too cold. The wind blows my hair so many different directions that by the time I get inside my fingers get stuck in my hair as I try to untangle. It's dusty. It's too bright. The kids wwaaaayyyy down there are trying to get passing cars to honk. Is that ok? Does it merit a hike all the way down there, therefore leaving the rest of the playground unwatched? Those kids over there are going the wrong way up the slide. By the time I get over there they will be gone. Can't they just enjoy gravity? Why fight it? Those kids over there are climbing the tetherball pole because it has wrapped itself around the chain way up at the top of the pole and it is now stuck. I walk over to assist but they have unwound it by the time I get there. Those kids are playing tackle basketball. Unlike everyone else, they are much closer to my post so they get a whistle and a solemn promise that they are about to lose basketball privileges. Those boys over there would be causing much less trouble if they had a football to play with. Where is that dang football? I could let them go inside and grab the one the kid in my class illegally brings to school for such a time as this, but that would be breaking the no-balls-from-home rule. I said balls. Hehe. Oooo, that kid just bit it hard. Tears? Blood? Nope. Good job. Walk it off. Those two kids just collided at a full sprint. This is why we don't play tag in the wood chip area. And my favorite: "Jimmy is trying to get us out on purpose in 4-square". Pause... and? Apparently that's against the rules. "Tommy called me a bad name". Well, were you acting like that bad word? Did you throw rocks at him first or tell him he had no eyebrows? Don't laugh, it happens frequently. Which leads to the weekly playground prayer: "Dear God, LET THE BELL RING!"

Dear fellow dance class members,
Can you move your arms that fast? I think that my long limbs put me at a disadvantage. I think that I can scientifically prove that it takes longer for my long arms to wave back and forth than it does for people with shorter arms. No offense. Oh, by the way, my digestional tract is unhappy this evening so try not to stand downwind, especially during the bouncy numbers.

4 Reasons Why

2010-04-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

I feel bad that I only post during spring break, so I will throw out a few random thoughts.

4 Reasons Why...

I love the YMCA:
1. As I was washing my hands I got to read a tract telling me about Jesus
2. There is a sticker on one of the locker doors that says "I got it, did you?" and I giggle to myself every time I read it thinking of all the things it could be referring to
3. The oversized shower curtain that hangs in the little changing stall thing in the locker room. It is always plenty wide enough to provide privacy
4. Their pool is warmer than most
5. Very few really-in-shape-and-extremely-model-like folk work out there. They all go to the fancier gyms
6. No kids are allowed in the locker room. Call me Scrooge but at the end of the day I don't want to deal with small children frolicking about in the locker room
7. No one judges me for listing 7 things when I said I would give 4
8. No one in Zumba can dance
9. The lady in my dance aerobics class that looks just like Rice from the movie Beethoven.

Things I don't like about the YMCA...
1. Naked old ladies in the locker room. Seriously, the other day I went to the bathroom in the locker room, and when I came out there was this older lady showering in the stall by the toilet stalls and her shower stuff was sitting on a table across the room. So when she needed shampoo or soap she would just trot her nude self across the room to get it, then walk back to the shower. I actually had to say "excuse me" to walk by her to get to the pool. Gross!
2. The shower curtains on the shower stalls are never wide enough to cover the entrance. There are always large cracks in your stall coverage.
3. The toilets flush before you are done. And once they start flushing they will keep flushing until you leave. Pushy.

Things I have heard about from my students this week...
1. How Jimmy (fake name) got a black eye
2. Tommy (fake name) is going to the Alamo this weekend
3. Shirley's (fake name) dad had surgery yesterday, but he gets to come home today
4. Jenny (fake name) has a cat named Freddie Cruger
5. "Oops, sorry, just hit you with my mohawk"
6. "Jake (fake name) says your hair looks nice today. He was too scared to tell you."
7. One kid showed my part of the book he was reading and I am still laughing. It was one of those chapter books with funny comic-style pictures in it. The page he showed me was titled "delights you can find at a garage sale" and it listed "a box of old shoes that will go perfectly with your hobo outfit, a top-of-the-line washing maching door, and no-longer-legal kids' toys (beside which there was a picture of a rather pointy action figure who was called "Mr. Puncture"). I laughed.

Strange moments this week...
1. This morning I was standing with my back to the class and if I didn't know my kids were there I would have sworn I was alone cuz they were so quiet. Not typical for fifth graders in April.
2. One of my more... expressive... students wore a rather large gift wrap bow on her head as an accessory. I wanted to tell the PE teacher that while they were doing archery they could pretend they were William Tell and practice shooting it off her head.
3. In an essay one of my boys suggested that they be allowed to bring their balls to school. You know, soccer balls, foot balls...

All right, I am all listed out. Plus I am horrible at picking a number of things to list and sticking to it. Some things I only have two or three things to write, while others just keep on coming. But hey, at least I blogged. Take that Uncle Stephen!

WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!?!

2010-03-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

There is a funk in my house. I don't know where it is coming from. I started smelling it last night when I got home from my day out and about, so I don't know if there was just something percolating in my trash and after a long day away it was very noticeable when I got home, or if it coincided with the return of my husband from his mini camping trip. I thought that maybe if I went to sleep that in the morning it would be better. I was mistaken. I am breathing in short gasps as I sit here on the couch typing. Maybe it's just my overly-sensitive olfactory nerve that is the problem. I tried taking the trash out (and by "taking the trash out" I mean that I pulled the bag out of the trash can, tied it shut, then set it outside the front door for someone who is not in their robe and pj's to carry to the curb). Smell is still here. I'm thinking that maybe I need to wipe out the trash can with bleach or something, like maybe the smell is living inside the plastic itself. Riley keeps saying that someday we will get a "nice" trash can, but I can't bring myself to pay $80 for a metal comtainer that holds my trash and which usually doesn't have as much space as my cheap plastic one. So I guess I will just clean out the one I have, though really, who likes sticking their arm and torso down in there? We'll see. I could also try doing the dishes (though really, there aren't that many and I have done them recently) or bathing the dog (we did that three days ago and I don't think this is a doggy smell). But whatever happens, that funk needs to leave!

Meanwhile I am gazing outside at the sunshine, waiting for the temperature to rise so that I can spend virtually my entire day outside soaking up the sun's rays. Should I help Riley with his shed? Plant some flowers? Build a slightly raised bed for planting edible things (I am not a huge veggie fan but I have a strong desire to have a strawberry patch)? Ride my mountain bike? Run at the park? So many options! But despite the fact that today should be in at least the upper 60's, those kill-joys on the news insist that tomorrow is going to be blizzardy. Blech. I refuse to believe it. But I am still going to take full advantage of this beautiful day... as soon as I take care of that SMELL!!!

My back and our shed

2010-03-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

My back hurts. Even when I sleep. I can only fall asleep on my back because everything else hurts (but hey, at least I can sleep on my back without making weird puffing noises). When I wake up in the middle of the night, lying on my back hurts. Ironically I can now sleep on my stomach which used to give me neck headaches. Is this supposed to happen at 24? My chiropractor says I need to stretch really well because my hamstrings and other butt-related muscles are attached to my lower back where it is hurting and if I stretch that part of my spine will not get pulled on so much. You would think that would make me go "relief? I'll do that right now!" and spend most of my day stretching. And yet I really don't stretch at all. Isn't it weird how some people can be so lazy that they don't even do things that will get them out of pain?

Moving on to other non-depressing items. There is a shed growing in my back yard! For those of you who don't know my husband and I have a small fleet of bicycles that are currently living in a friend's shed and in our man den (which now has no room for manliness because of all the bikes). I bet most of you didn't know that you could have a bike that is specific to dirt jumps or trail riding or cruising to Starbucks or road riding or pointing yourself down a mountain and not dying. We have all of those. Some of them more than once. So when we moved into our house that we own (I guess technically the bank still owns most of it) we decided we needed to build a shed for our bikes in the back yard. That was almost two years ago. About a year ago Riley and his dad built a beautiful floor. We ooooed and aaahhhhhed over it, and when it began to rain we quickly covered it with tarps and tried to weight down the corners so that it wouldn't get ruined. Then nothing really happened after that, except that the wind blew corners of the tarp up and leaves and water started collecting on it and we looked at it and said, "it'll be fine". We didn't have the resources to continue. Then we didn't have the time. Then we didn't have any help from anyone who REALLY knew what they were doing. Anyhow, that all changed this week. Riley's dad came over Monday morning and took Riley to Home Depot to gather supplies, and they got started. Over the past few days the floor of our shed has grown three walls, one with a window and walls, the other two just framed. This morning Riley and one of his buddies is putting up wall number four complete with window and door holes. I am very excited. Now our bikes can live outside where they belong and the mower and weedeater don't have to sit on the side of the house and look trashy (not that you would notice in our neighborhood where people have massive windchime collections and cook fish in a barrel fire in their driveway or have so many lawn ornaments that you are often startled by their dog who you didn't notice standing over there by that gnome). If I had a camera that worked I would take pictures of the progress and show you. But alas, my camera has stopped focusing and Riley's bounced down about twenty feet of rock. Oops. Well, now I am off to get my house cleaned up and go get my hair cut. Hooray!

Dear cowsins

2010-03-15T20:18:00.000-07:00

This blog post is dedicated to Cori and Ali.

Dear cowsins,
You should come here semi-permanently. We have much fun. Here are my reasons why:

1. We have a cute baby that you can play with. And she is going to be approaching the age where you can teach her to say all kinds of weird and borderline-inappropriate things. It will be fun. Perhaps she will make weird noises.
2. We could Zumba together. Nothing brings family together like exercise and booty-shaking.
3. The last Harry Potter movie should come out within the next year and Tessa and I need people to go see it with who know the difference between between a quaffle and a snitch.
4. All of my friends are moving away and I will be lonely
5. There is this bakery somewhere in Piedmont (I think) that makes beautiful cookies that taste fantastic. And someone usually gives the office staff some on special occasions (so your mom can save you some).
6. People in Oklahoma don't smoke weed like the folks in Colorado do (we prefer meth here).
7. Less snow, more blood circulation
8. Your dogs live here:)
9. You are way closer to free food and someone who might to your laundry if you play your cards right.
10. Your cousins and aunt and uncle and grans live here:)

So there you have it. Now I am going to go eat more chips.

Spring break

2010-03-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

Update on my odyssey to become physically fit: decided to work out yesterday, and since I hadn't done anything too strenuous in a few days I decided to really make this one count. So I put on some stretchy pants and headed out to the Y. I decided to start on the treadmill and started jogging. Of course I had to check out everyone else's distance and speed and time and compare it to my own as I started. Out of the eight or so others who were also treadmilling at various speeds, most of them were older, less-fit-looking, and basically unintimidating (yes, I am shallow and judgmental). Careful glances at those directly adjoining me assured me that I was the superior being. Look right: Ah, I see we are just going for a casual stroll today. Look left: Oo, a runner... but only for a few minutes. Pity. Then she came in. I could tell by the healthy tone of her hamstrings that she was a runner and that she was going to come right to the treadmill next to me where I was busy congratulating myself on being the queen of the gym as I passed minute 20 of my run. Sure enough, Ms. Hamstring came right where I thought she would and promptly started running. And man did she run. I was trotting along at a brisk 5.4 miles per hour. This chick was sprinting at an astounding 7.4. Geez. I felt my self confidence fading. I was slow. I wouldn't be able to make it that far. Who was I kidding? Then she grabbed onto the side handles and hopped off onto the side runners as the belt continued to spin. Apparently her shoe needed to be retied. After it was fixed she hopped back on and continued running. Not more than two minutes later she hopped off again. This time it was her hair. She adjusted her bobby pin and continued. Hmm. Another 90 seconds and this time she had to redo the whole ponytail. As I continued to watch her from the corner of my eye my confidence returned. She didn't go more than two minutes at a time without retying a shoe, fixing a bobby pin or redoing her ponytail. Her speed was still impressive but her stamina was not what I was fearing. Just another example of how shallow and self-conscious I am. Oh well, I finished my run, did thirty minutes on the elliptical, then jumped in the pool. And yet I am not sore today. Makes me feel like I didn't even do anything. I'll try harder next time.

And finally... it is spring break. After the Y I was picked up by my wonderful family and whisked off to go see Alice in Wonderland. Good movie. Kind of trippy. I can't figure out how Johnny Depp can suddenly have a big gap between his two front teeth. Then a nice afternoon nap and dinner at Ken's with the other side of the fam. This morning was church, lunch with the 'rents, another nice nap, dinner, and a movie while curled up on the couch with my hubby. The best part? It doesn't matter when I get up in the morning. It causes me pure joy to know that if I wake up at ten til six tomorrow I can turn over and go right back to sleep. No students. No grades (well, I do have stuff to do, just not right away). No plans. It's whatever my heart desires :). Sigh.

Stuff

2010-03-11T17:02:00.001-08:00

Did you know that chocolate oranges are not really orange slices dipped in cohcolate?! Who knew! When you pull it out of the box there is a sticker on it that says "burst to enjoy" or something like that. Again, too lazy to get up and go check. Which led me to the question, how do you "burst" a chocolate orange? I banged it against the counter multiple times and nothing seemed to "burst". I finally just unwrapped it and pulled it apart. I am unsure as to whether or not that had anything to do with my attempts at bursting. Whatever, it's chocolate and it fits in my mouth.

In other news, spring break begins in approximately 20 hours. And yes, I am counting. Trying not to count minutes. Seriously, if I make it through tomorrow without killing any young children it will be a miracle. "No, you can't call your parents to get cough drops. Yes, go to the bathroom, but if some other kid comes and tells me you have been throwing wet paper towels at the ceiling again you will never pee at school again. To be honest I really don't want to hear your story right now. Congrats on the new hampster. Yes, you may go to the library. No, ice will not help your papercut. You're going to be absent when? And don't you DARE tell me you "think" you left your spelling packet at home." Sigh. My thoughts no longer go in orderly processes through my head, they run screaming through the crowded parking lot that is now my brain, smashing windshields, throwing rotten fruit, and setting off car alarms. I can hardly keep from twitching by the end of the day. 19 hours and 40 minutes now!

Thursday is my swimming night. I should be changing right now. I am exhausted. My stomach is rebelling. Just ate dinner. American Idol is on (really that was just the only thing on, it isn't exactly my favorite show). Papers to grade. Decisions to make. Do I give those filthy kids a break and make up grades for missing papers to put in the grade book, or should I give them zeros like I said I would? Deeper sigh. I think I am going to attempt to swim then come back to the grades.

laziness

2010-03-09T19:15:00.000-08:00

So despite the fact that I have faithfully worked out lately, I have come to the conclusion that I am extremely lazy, or else really good at avoiding things I don't want to do. Examples:

1. I am currently sitting in my living room on the couch and someone has left the fan on at a rather chilling level. I am cold. I really wish the fan would stop. Am I going to get up and turn it off? Not a chance. However, just my luck, one of my many couch friendly blankets was lying on the back of the couch within reach. Now the only problem is how to keep the cozy blanket over my arms while I type. Maybe Riley will come home soon and flip the switch by the front door.

2. I meant to blog last week about my trip to the grocery store, but I didn't. However, Tessa's account of her Walmart trip has somewhat inspired me, so here are the highlights: I tried to con Riley into going to pick up chips to take to a friend's house (who was providing the rest of the dinner) despite the fact that he had to run a different errand first, but he caught on to my scheme and told me to suck it up and go get chips (in a loving manner of course). So I went to Homeland, parked, and avoided eye contact with the girl scouts who were enthusiastically selling cookies over by the other entrance which I avoided like the plague. Who likes to be the person to tell a girl scout "no sorry I don't want cookies today"? So I made it inside without purchasing any thin mints or tagalongs and decided it would be best to grab a cart since we needed milk and probably a few other things along with the chips. Homeland is great because they provide little cart wipes for us weird people who like to wipe our carts down before we touch them. Only this time I had to reach around the rather attractive young security guard standing by the antibac wipes. Now normally the security guard is old and very non-threatening in his uniform and bullet-proof vest (groceries are a dangerous business) and I make jokes to myself about how they are "Homeland Security" and realize that I made that joke last time I came too. Anyhow, this guard is young and much better looking than the normal guy and I wonder what he thinks about this odd girl who must disinfect her cart before she pushes it. So I wipe quickly and try to whip my cart out of the line of carts and continue to my shopping before I look too dumb, only when I whip I bring about two other carts with me and cute security guard has to help me disentangle myself from the other carts before I can escape. I smile to myself sheepishly and mutter a "thanks" as I turn my cart to leave and realize that I got the defective cart that doesn't turn! So I have to pick up the back end of the cart and reposition it to point the way I wanted it to go before I could make my escape. By then I was mentally cracking up with no one to share my joke. The rest of the trip was uneventful except for the fact that I had to manhandle my cart every time I wanted to turn right.

3. Today at school I used my planning period to kidnap one of my student's stuffed animals (today was pajama day)and leave her notes on how to find poor Hello Kitty instead of grading all the papers that desperately needed grading. Hello Kitty was reunited with her owner in our first grade study buddies' classroom.

4. I finally picked up my contacts today. They have been in for almost a week and a half. I have been wearing my current pair for... well never mind... a long time.

Anyhow, after looking at all of that procrastination I am amazed that I accomplish what I do. Now I need to shower and grade more papers. Nah, I'm going to bed.

Oo, Riley is back, maybe he will turn the fan off!

The Y

2010-03-08T19:21:00.001-08:00

Working out is an interesting phenomenon. First I decided that the only way to get my squishy butt off the couch and into some other non-squishy state was to spend money on a gym membership. That way I would at least feel guilty if I was not working out but still spending the money on it. So I searched around a bit (and by that I mean I checked out the Y, found it to be just a tad pricier than I desired, and checked out one other gym that sent something to my house advertising "teacher discounts", which turned out to be nothing much), and finally decided that since the local YMCA is only about a stone's throw from my cosy casa (depending on who is throwing the stone) that would be my best bet. So I paid my dues and signed up. So far my genius guilt-induced work-out program is going beautifully. I even have a little schedule of when I go and roughly what I do when I am there.

So that is where I found myself this Monday evening: dance aerobics night. I was running quite late in getting there due to a dinner engagement that involved really good free food (you can take the kid out of college, but you can't get them to pass up free food) so I missed like the first half of my class. This left me quite un-warmed-up and a bit off. My grapevines were kind of small and the little hop in the middle threw me off. And should I clap now or just fling my arm in some artful way? Oh crap, I think I two-stepped when I was supposed to pony!

Anyhow, I finished up dance aerobics without major incident and even stayed for the "toning" afterward, which involved five minutes of me (and the rest of the class of course), two 4-pound weights, and a brief glimpse of hell. Three words: we did arms. Now no offense mom and dad, but I blame my genes for my wussy upper body, as well as my under-developed neck muscles which prevent me from leaning over and looking into the mirror simultaneously. I mean really, my head is not that big.

Once the class was over I decided to take a break from the treadmill and mount an elliptical. They are supposed to be better for your knees but it took the first ten minutes or so just to get over the knee pain. Once I found my stride I began to realize that it was a much slower stride than the other Y patrons around me. I know that you shouldn't compare yourself to others but I totally do. I am that person who secretly checks out what speed the person next to me is going, or always checks to see how long those around me have been going. Done after only 10 minutes? Amateur. Going on mile 7 huh? I'm leaving now. Well I checked everyone else out and finally decided I just needed to go at my own speed at resistance level 4, not the resistance 20 the woman next to me was going. It looked like she was running through water! Maybe she is training for Baywatch.

I ellipted for a while and mused about things to put in my blog... much cleverer things than I have actually written... then walked home, stretched my burning legs out on my yoga mat while fighting off the dog who figured that since I was lying on the floor I needed a hug, and now I am going to bed. Hope this post isn't too detailed, I am a little out of practice.

Last full day

2009-08-09T02:08:00.000-07:00

We are back in Busingen once more, glad to not be getting on any trains today and to use the computer for as long as we want. I can even find the exclamation point!!!!!! And the letter Y is in the correct place. Small victories. Anyhow, I will give you the highlights of the last few days.
Three days ago we took the train(s) to Interlaken. As we were wandering down the street towards the Travel Information center to book some adventurous things we happened upon a booth advertising paragliding and other stuff. We ended up booking paragliding for both of us for that afternoon and rafting for the next day. Paragliding was amazing! I really never got scared, though I almost threw up. Taking off was the best part. You run a few steps, wait for you chute to catch up to you, then run a few more until there is no ground underneath you any more. I would highly recommend it to anyone. However, at the end as we were descending I agreed to a few acrobatic maneuvers which I think is what did me in. By the time we landed I was praying fervently that the Lord would keep my lunch from coming out my mouth. We then took the train, a bus, and a lift up to Gimmelwald and the Mountain Hostel where we stayed the night. It was a very busy place, full of American Alp enthusiasts all talking about good hikes and other places they had gone or are going to. We stayed in the owner's daughter's room (she is apparently away at college) so we got some space to ourselves. The next day we went back down the mountain and went white water rafting. I seem to remember going rafting in Colorado in years past and just wearing my own clothes and a life jacket. Not so here. We were given wet suits, wet suit jackets, booties, life jackets, and helmets. Pretty intense, but I was very thankful for them once I felt the glacial water. We opted to join the Swiss-speaking boat (as opposed to the one full of Australians) and not know how to say useful things like "all forward, right, left, and duck/hold on". The water was decently rough and within the first hundred feet we hit a rock funny and the entire back of our raft went under, leaving me up to my waist in freezing cold water. Somehow we were able to wiggle the boat out of the spot it was stuck in and regain some sort of bouyancy. It then took a few minutes for all the water to drain, at which time I felt like we were floating down the river in a full bath tub. The rest of the journey was not quite so treacherous, though we were bummed that our raft didn't get to attempt the small waterfall since our guide was brand new. Oh well.

I am apparently writing in too much detail because Riley has given up waiting on me and has gone back to the room. Summation of the rest of that trip: Next day we took some lifts up a mountain to hike, hiked the trail, took a bunch of pictures, but the mountains were covered in clouds so we couldn't see the big mountains, only the hills directly in front of us. Ate overpriced cheese fondue. Bought a few souvenirs. Took the train back to Schaffhausen. Fell asleep as soon as we got back. Today we are hoping to borrow some bikes and ride to the Rhine Falls. Tomorrow: home. Love you all!

Ang

Day 5?

2009-08-07T13:08:00.001-07:00

We are currently doing a quick update on the computer at the Mountain Hostel in Gimmelwald. I will do this quickly so I don^t hog it.

Highlights
-Paraglided yesterday, almost threw up. It was incredible
-White water rafted today. Also incredible. In the first five minutes we nearly submerged our raft and we had to hang on for dear life.^ Wicked
-Beautiful views of the Alps. Wow
-Hiked under a waterfall, got a little damp.
-Thats it for now. Love you all
-Ang

Day 3- Ebenalp

2009-08-05T13:43:00.000-07:00

Day three consisted of our second day trip to a beautiful little... place... called Ebenalp. If you want information about it just ask my dad, I'm sure he's researching everything we do. Keep up the good work dad! Anyhow, we awoke bright and early and caught a train to Waserauen. Then we took a cable car up a mountain/cliff to this little place that had a church and a house thing built into the cliff it was cool. Also, there were paragliders and hanggliders. Holy crap. They just put their chutes in place and take off running down the mountain until the wind catches their chute and they float off into the wild blue yonder, or a little ways past the cliff where they catch an updraft that causes them to sail around in endless circles. It's really cool from the bottom of the mountain because there's just a swarm of them circling the top of the mountain like buzzards around a fresh kill (do you like my use of imagery?). Here are some pictures of the beautiful scenery and paragliders...

Oh wait, our camera ran out of batteries after 4 pictures. Hopefully they are great pictures. We hiked a bit, I didn't die from the climb back up the trail, we caught the correct train back, all was well.

Things I learned today:
-It is totally ok to pack up your chute in your speedo
-Don't put your feet on the seats on the train, old ladies will grump at you in German.
-First class cars on trains have microscopic 1's on the side for all to see and you shouldn't ride in them if you are not supposed to be in first class.
-When it's dinner time, feed me, lets not walk all over Zurich looking for a power converter (though that was not at all Riley's fault, I was not hungry at the beginning of the trek).
-Swiss outlets are 3-pronged and look nothing like American outlets
-The Bible College where we are staying is not in Switzerland, it is in Germany.
-German outlets are 2-pronged.
-Most people who know English are very nice and willing to help you out.
-Chinese ladies at the Chinese Restaurant are not so helpful.
-Switzerland only gives out Francs, they don't believe in Euros and therefore no ATM in the ENTIRE COUNTRY will give you any.
-Again, the Bible College is in Germany, therefore the ATM right next door has Euros... so much wasted time.

Well, we are excited about the day to come. We head to Interlaken tomorrow, please pray that we can find a decent place to stay. Love you all! Apparently Riley thinks this is a good time to play ping pong so I'd better go.

-Ang

2nd Day Swiss

2009-08-04T11:19:00.000-07:00

After some confusion with flight delays they (US Airlines) moved us to a Lufthansa flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany. It was uneventful, unless you count the unhappy toddlers in the row next to us and the passengers in front of us who felt the need to recline into our laps. Oh well, at least we got to see the Hannah Montana movie.

We arrived in Switzerland yesterday morning, managed to get ourselves train passes, and find the correct train. We even managed to locate the right bus that would take us to the college, and some God-sent man knew where the college was and told us when to get off. We were then shown the apartment that they were letting us use for unbelievably cheap (in a country where "cheap" has a much more expensive meaning than we are used to) and crashed the moment we laid down. When we woke up we were famished and decided to brave the bus into Shauffhausen for some dinner. After walking around for quite some time looking for something good, checking out the prices on the menus posted outside, and wincing at the prices, we sat down to eat at a very good restaurant. Riley ordered curry wurst on the recommendation of a friend and we decided it tastes like chicken flavored Ramen with a touch of sausage (veal sausage to be precise).

Today we slept in and decided to take a boat down the sparkling Rhine River to a small tourist town (Riley calls it a tourist "trap") called Stein Um Rhine. It was very quaint and we had some excellent crepes for lunch, but we were ready to move on about an hour before our boat came back (though we did find a cool museum that our awesome Swiss passes got us into for free. This thing rocks!). When we got back to Shaffhausen we planned out our trip for tomorrow at the train station, then ventured in to what we were pretty sure was a grocery store. We were correct. We also remembered why we don't ever grocery shop together.

Now we are excited to be resting and gaining some internet access. We will continue the tale of our adventures tomorrow. Until then, here are a few things we have learned so far:
-Lufthansa is the airline from Germany (Riley won that bet, I assured him it wasn't German)
-Flying first class oversees is barely flying, it's traveling in your Lazy Boy while people serve you food and wine. We would like to try it someday.
-Europeans have a different definition of personal space.
-If it's hot and you want to swim but you don't have a bathing suit, no problem! Just strip down and sunbathe in the nude on the banks of the river while waving to passing boat passengers.
-When visiting a German-speaking country, it's helpful to know German.
-Words related to travel seem to have the word "fart" in them. Makes me giggle.

Have a great day! Chow!
-Ang

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2009-05-09T14:15:00.000-07:00

So we were watching an extremely inspiring and thought-provoking movie the other day... Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium, and it led us to an interesting question: how in the world does paper beat rock? I mean think about it! Since when does being able to cover something equal dominance? Does that mean clothes beat people? Or that bedspreads beat beds? Paper works when it comes to being beaten by scissors, but to think that you could conquer a rock by covering it with paper is just non-sensical. So Riley and I decided to think of what could really beat a rock but not scissors. My suggestion was erosion. Here's my reasoning: Erosion is the transport of broken down rock/soil/etc which can wear away at a rock until it is almost nothing. At the same time, your scissors are not going to be worn away like rock would. Riley thought that my reasoning was flawed due to the process of rusting. My response was that rusting is not a part of erosion, it is weathering. This heated discussion resulted in internet research and a call to my favorite geologist. She confirmed that rusting is indeed not part of erosion, making me right, not that it matters of course:) Anyhow, if you have any suggestions on something that beats rock but not scissors, please let me know. We are having a hard time coming up with a hand signal for erosion.

-Ang

Love and School Supplies

2009-05-07T17:34:00.001-07:00

One of the best parts of being an intermediate teacher is intercepting some fabulous notes. I came across this tasty treat after school while cleaning up. Part of what makes this so great is who the note belongs to.

Just picture it: A very tall somewhat hefty Native American girl who could take me down in a second...and a short, stalky Vietnamese boy (at least a foot shorter than the girl) who speaks broken English and is quite the comedian because of his over the top emotional outbursts of joy. Are you picturing it? Okay....

Girl: Do you Like me? Yes or no.
Boy: No.
Girl: Why not? I like you!
Boy: Because I love someone else in the class.
Girl: Who? I wont tell! Name______________.
Boy: She is my secret admirer.
Girl: Well...I <3 you!!!!!
Boy: I don't like you. Can I borrow a pencil?

Glad to see he chose the kinder route and asked for a pencil instead of a pen. Telling someone you don't like them and then asking for a pen would be just plain insensitive.

-Kare

I'd be a lot less afraid of it if I just knew what it was called....

2009-05-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

This post has nothing to do with the title. I was just thinking of how funny the movie Over the Hedge is and decided to use that as my title. Anywhoooooo...

Nothing to exciting to comment about, I just felt like Angela was sort of hogging the blogging (hehe...hogging...blogging...okay nevermind) so I needed to step in and let everyone know I'm still alive! So here is the readers digest version of my life lately:

-I got fired. Yes, I joined the thousands who can say, "I remember back in 09' when times got tough and even I lost my job" Oh goody. Good news is I am high on the list to get rehired and there is the possibility I might even get my same job back. Updates should come sometime next week so cross your fingers! And..."say a little prayer for me..." (cue Julia Roberts and dancing lobsters...anyone? anyone? I know you know it Ang!!)

-Ten days left of school. Enough said.

-My big sister is having a baby and I cannot wait to be an aunt. Still don't know the gender yet but I'll keep you posted. If its a girl the name is pretty much set on Piper Clementine Henderson. As for a boy..still workin on it. I love my hippie, trendy, Seattle loving sister. :)

-I have recently succumbed to an addiction to ZUMBA! If you don't know what it is, just imagine 30 or so women (and one very enthusiastic asian man) of all ages, shapes, sizes, and hip thrusting abilities shaking their booties to latin and hip-hop music. It is glorious and a dang good workout!

And there you have it. How thrilling right? :)

Much love!
Kare

epidemic

2009-04-29T18:28:00.000-07:00

A terrible epidemic has struck our classroom. No, not the swine flu. Worse. Cholera. Yes I know, you thought cholera was a thing of the past. Well, you're right. However, my class is also a thing of the past, as in we are currently traveling the Oregon Trail. We have crossed the Platte River, gone through Forts Kearney and Laramie, and just stopped by Independence Rock. Unfortunately we met a vagrant who had recently contracted cholera and exposed everyone in our wagon companies. In my first class they were all too healthy and every stinkin one of them lived. Bummer. How boring is that? So in the next class I made sure they were already a little weak before I hit them with Captain Cholera. I was successful, but only just barely, I only lost one kid. However, my last class went much better: three casualties. It was very tragic. We had a moment of silence for our lost comrades. Mind you it was a quick moment since time is of the essence on the Trail. Perhaps in a few decades the invention of antibiotics will improve life expectancy. Now the only question is: what to do with the deceased pioneers while the rest of us continue on to the Oregon territory? Hmm... life's questions.

Now, I shall close with one of the many fantastic lines from this wonderful movie everyone should see: "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium"
Magorium tries to fly model airplanes around the store to no avail and cries out in panic:
"Mahoney! The laws of gravity have begun to apply!"

-Ang

Misc

2009-04-25T10:04:00.000-07:00

There is nothing terribly important going on in my life currently, but I felt it was time to blog. I have spent the last 40 minutes looking through other people's blogs, laughing hysterically, and looking around sadly because there is no one here to share my giggles with. Riley is a Shiloh, aunty went home after Bible study was over, and my phone is sitting over there on the couch so I can't call anyone (at least not without getting up from this chair which is out of the question). So here I am on my favorite chair reading blogs and thinking about life. I really have nothing in particular to discuss, so I have decided to take a page out of my mother's life book and make a list. So here's my list of things I am thinking on Saturday, April 25 at roughly 12:07 (or 10:18 if you go by my cute red clock on top of my bookshelf, or 12:08 if you are looking at the coffee cup clock in the kitchen, oh wait, that one is actually correct, Riley must have reset it):
1. I have to pee. Why is it that all good things must be interrupted by my bladder? Perhaps it's hereditary, after all, aunty had to excuse herself twice during Bible study this morning to use the facilities.
2. Could I survive as a vegetarian? I was reading about the health benefits of eating natural foods and thought it sounded like a good idea. But let's be realistic, I don't like most vegetables. I find them offensive.
3. I think I am going to have to buy new slippers. I have the greatest slippers in the whole wide world, but they are starting to fall apart. Is it possible to find slippers as comfortable as these?
4. There needs to be a lamp somewhere in the dark corner of our living room. We have a wimpy overhead light, a lamp by the kitchen, but no light on the other side of the couch by the hallway. Maybe I could find some cute light to put there. Maybe I could go to second-hand shops or antique places and try to find something a little retro. I am still jealous of the lamp Alli pulled out of grandma's garage. Maybe someday she will get tired of it and let me have it. I would even buy it from her!
5. Why does my fridge make helicopter sounds?
6. The need to pee is taking control of my thoughts so I am going to go now. Have a great weekend!

-Ang

The curiosity of teaching

2009-04-10T08:10:00.001-07:00

The last few days have been hectic at school. The dreaded state tests are next week and we are frantically cramming everything down their throats thinking that something will miraculously stick and they will all pass with flying colors, causing the district to say "wow, check out those fifth grade teachers, they're probably the best thing to happen to this school since the new parking lot. We should give them a massive raise since they are making us look so good" (just so you know, in my head that was said in a Strongbad voice. IF you are just not that cool and don't know who Strongbad is, check out homestarrunner.com and enlighten yourself). Anyhow, here's some highlights of my week:

Monday: walking down hallway after dropping my kids off at lunch

-Second grader- taps my arm

-Me- looks down to see what insignificant child could be wasting my lunch time

-Second grader- tells me pointless story about how sometimes things make him think of other things and about how that happened just now.

-Second grader- walks away

-Me- wondering if I was wearing a sign that says "please tell me about your thoughts"

Later that afternoon after dropping my kids off at Music...

-Second/Third grader (they are very similar in size and I don't pay attention to anyone below fifth grade)- walks by with new eraser in her hand. Stares at it like it holds the secret to the universe. Looks and me and says "Now I can go hunting with my dad".

Me- wonders how an eraser can evoke such a comment. Was that the last part you needed to complete your hunting rifle? Will you give the eraser to your dad in exchange for the hunting trip? Do multi-colored erasers possess great monetary value? Or perhaps this is just national "Tell Mrs. D random crap day".

Wednesday
Some of my students decide to start businesses of making nametags to put on desks. Signs are posted on the door advertising services. Students flock to door to read sign. Time is wasted making name tags instead of doing class work. My last roll of scotch tape is used up because when the name tag is done you then have to adhere it to your desk. At the end of the day I take down the signs like the grinch I am and make a mental note to do an economics lesson where they get to create their own businesses... later.... after testing.

Thursday
My day takes a turn for the worst at 8:24 when I start trying to explain adverbs to a student (which we have been talking about the last 2 weeks). I am really grumpy by about 8:48 when student is still clueless and I have not gone over morning work yet. My mood worsens at 10:04 after we have switched classes the second time and I discover copious amounts of pencil shavings on the floor around my trash can and covering the corner of my desk. My brand new electric pencil sharpener decided to stop working a few days ago and we have been reduced to the primitive hand sharpener. I have a few in my top desk drawer which I allow the class to use, but apparently I failed to specify where I would like the shavings to end up, like not on my DESK!!! I was hacked. I then gave each of my three classes a brief tutorial on how to sharpen a pencil by hand and not make a mess. There was a lot of sarcasm involved. They tell you never to use sarcasm when you are in teacher school but I disagree, it is a very handy tool (so long as you use it on fifth graders who get your sense of humor and not first graders who cry easily).

Anyway, my week was at least short since we had parent-teacher conferences Tuesday and Thursday and have the day off today. Sorry I drug on for this long. Happy Easter!

-Ang

Ho Hum

2009-03-30T17:11:00.000-07:00

I really have nothing to blog about. I am once again sitting on my butt. I was interrupted from finishing The Golden Compass by Riley and a friend of his taking over the living room to watch a mountain biking video, which is fine, I like the movie, and really you don't want to finish a good book by giving it anything less than your full attention. It just isn't good courtesy to the book, it deserves your all. I'm also trying to decide when I should bust out the Raamen. We haven't grocery shopped since we got back from Moab so the cabinets are extremely bare. We hate grocery shopping. Now the boys are discussing a guy who did a backflip on a snowmobile. Is he certifiably insane? I wouldn't do a backflip on a trampoline, not to mention on a piece of machinery that could crush my skull and end my life. Plus I'm not a big fan of trampolines... weak bladder... 'nuf said. Basically I'm just not as studly as I sometimes think I am. Or as entertaining, which is why I will stop rambling now. Have a nice day. And Cori, BLOG!!!

-Ang

11 reasons why I'm awesome!!!

2009-03-23T16:57:00.001-07:00

In the land of mountain bikes there are a few sacred spots in North America: Whistler in Vancouver, BC, Winter Park in Colorado, Ray's indoor Mountain Bike Park (for those who are open to some different winter options), and Moab, Utah. This last week we made our pilgrimage to the desert holy land to pay homage to the mountain biking gods. And the gods smiled upon us and granted us beautiful weather and pleasant companions. We rode a few trails (or rather survived a few trails), explored Arches National Park (which everyone should see some time in their life), and camped at a wonderful little campground called Up The Creek Campground (which was very chill and came complete with clean bathrooms and showers!). Instead of rambling on, which I tend to do, I will just show you my eleven reasons why I am awesome (in a very non-conceited kind of way):

11.
I was there.

10.
I was there too.

9.
And there...

8.
I climbed that.

7.
AND got down (more impressive than the up part for me)

6.
I somehow rode down that on my bike :)

5.
See, here I am riding down that hill

4.
We rode the famous Slickrock trail (Cookie and I just did the practice loop, but it's not easier, just shorter)

3.
I rode down that without dying!

2.
I shimmied down that, and it was fun!

And now a tie for the #1 reason why I'm awesome:

1.
I am married to that amazing guy!!!

1 b.
That's me. I'm driving! I stayed awake for all but thirty minutes in 16 hours, and I personally drove at least 12 of those hours. I know, try not to be too shocked. But it's true!

Well, those are the highlights. Now I need to go see if Jack Bauer can keep this poor expendable character alive on 24. It's not looking good for him. 'Night!

-Ang

Tick Tock...

2009-03-22T19:19:00.000-07:00

I'm procrastinating.

I really need to finish my lesson plans for tomorrow, shower, then go to bed, and yet I'm sitting here blogging while Riley mends the hole in his backpacking pants with a needle and thread, he's so cute (and resourceful). Seriously, testing (*curse word*) is in three weeks and I feel that since it is my second year in the teaching profession my test scores should be higher than last year. I am thinking "crap, what have I taught them this year?". I think it's a government conspiracy to give teachers ulcers. We are good teachers, we teach what we are supposed to in interesting ways, and yet when the end of March hits we all start to panic. I think that the teachers should take the test instead of the kids, I feel so powerless.

Ok, I'm going to go finish my plans now. Tune in... soon... to hear about our spring break trip to Moab, Utah.

-Ang

Paula, Simon, Kara, Randy...and Harry?

2009-03-10T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Karen, and I am addicted to American Idol.

Hi Karen!

Tonight was the first night of "offical" American Idol as I like to call it. And I was super pumped until I realized it was two freakin hours long! That is far too much drugged up Paula and melodramatic Simon for one girl to handle. So, to make the time go by faster, I grabbed The Half Blood Prince. Yes, I also belong to support groups for those who suffer with addictions to Harry Potter and Twilight...ahhhh Twilight...Edward...swoon...

Where was I? Oh yes, curled up next to my mother I watched the contestants sing, and then during commercials, or one of Paula's drawn out ramblings, I busted out a little HP to pass the time. FABULOUS. This is how I will be watching my American Idol from now on. Now for my expert opinions:

Danny: I love you. I know you miss your wife, but I am really good at being supportive and helping people cope. Call me. (Is that inappropriate? Who cares, hes studly and he loves Jesus.)

Adam: You're good, but not that good. Jeeze Paula, take a chill pill. Or maybe stop taking them? Hmm...

The rest of you: Not bad, although I can't think of anything clever to say about you at the moment.

Carrier Out.

Serving size

2009-03-10T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning and told myself that I wasn't going to eat any sweets today. I succeeded... until about four thirty when I was driving home. I drove past a Braums and managed to keep my car going down the road. I pulled into my driveway, opened the door, grabbed my purse, put my purse back on the passenger's seat, closed the door, restarted the car, and drove to 7-11 to buy a pint of crappy ice cream. I couldn't help it! It called to me like a siren (the mythological kind, not the type that warns of coming tornadoes)! And I answered. I nibbled pleasantly for a while whilst catching up on my blogs, until suddenly I realized that I had eaten about two-thirds of the pint. That wasn't too disturbing until I checked the label on the back (not recommended) and found that the one pint contains FOUR servings. Seriously, who eats such a small amount of ice cream in one sitting? People with self control, that's who. Oh well, at least I didn't clean out the whole thing.

-Ang

My own infinte playlist...

2009-03-09T16:20:00.001-07:00

My lack of blogging can be blamed on several things.
1) I am a teacher, enough said.

2) I get on with the intention of blogging, get to blog stalking and find myself sitting in the dark 5 hours later wondering where I am and why my contacts have shriveled up on my eyeballs.

3) I have had some major bloggers-block. So, I think I shall do what the greatest writers do when they can't get the creative juices flowing...copy someone else! Today I shall steal the "Infinte Playlist" idea from my second mother who has a fabulous blog herself. I have decided to just go with it, and write down whatever comes to mind and hope that it's not too embarrassing.

*Anything NSYNC: Sitting up in Sydnee's bedroom at night watching the contraband NSYNC concert taped from the Disney Channel that I snuck into her house. (Youth Pastor's daughters do not listen to heathen boy bands.)

*Maneater, or any of the Runaway Bride soundtrack: My fearsome foursome girls know exactly what I'm talking about. Needless to say it involved some silly boys and us silly girls swooning over them in junior high and who am I kidding, high school too.

*Legends of the Fall theme: Guaranteed to make me cry. There are multiple meanings behind this one, both rather bittersweet. High school marching band my freshman year, and fond memories from past relationships.

*Anything Justin Timberlake: Freshman year at Point Loma...joining the sorority, and staying at a frat house until 4 in the morning...good times ;)

*Ginny Owens If you want me to: Another one guaranteed to make me cry. Spring my senior year at Point Loma I listened to this song at least 5 times a day. A perfect reminder of the most supportive and amazing roommates a girl could ask for.

Okay, I realized I could go on and on forever, so instead of boring you to death, I'll end it here and perhaps do another installment later. And now to copy my blogging sister, a funny tidbit from school:

Discussing our writing topics a student was telling me about a concert she went to: "We sat down, but then we were hungry so we went to get condoms." Yes she meant condiments, and yes it took me a second before I could figure out what she was saying. Ahh good times.

much love
~Kare

Oops

2009-03-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

So it has been... let's just call it "a while" since I have blogged and I think I am a little rusty. I logged in to my blog, then attempted to visit Aunty's blog by clicking on her picture on the side of my page (which I've done many times before). Well, some new windows popped up, I pushed some buttons, and now I am apparently following my own blog. No really, if you look at the list of people following at the side of my page you will see my picture amongst the family and friends. Good grief! And the bad part is that Riley is diligently...

... hey mom, remember when you homeschooled me and I was being somewhat less than cooperative so you made me look up the word "diligent" in the dictionary? I still think of that whenever I hear the word "diligent"...

... crap, what was I saying? Oh yeah... Riley... he is studying for a test tomorrow and was getting rather irritated with me for spontaneously giggling while catching up on Cori's blog (you know, that kind of giggle that pleads "please ask me why I am giggling so I can read you this funny thing and you can laugh too"). It was recommended that I relocate to somewhere out of the studysphere so I promised to contain myself. Then I started following my own blog and the giggling started to come out so I made up a story in my head about how there was something tickling my nose and that's why I kept exhaling quickly just in case he gave me the evil eye.

Anyway... this is my "extreme educator" blog so I will share a brief anecdote from school. Last week we had spelling words with silent letters (don't even get me started on the stupidity of silent letters. Why can't English be like Spanish and everything is spelled phonetically. Do Spanish kids study spelling?) and we had the word 'assign'. Well, one of my students got a little confused on where the silent g goes and it came out "assing". I won't even start the conversation of how that word could be used. Anyway... I had a good silent laugh.

Be safe.

-Ang

Twister

2009-02-15T13:25:00.000-08:00

If you are a frequenter of my mother's blog, or if you live in the state of Oklahoma, you will know that when I say "Twister" I am not referring to America's favorite stocking-footed party game. This past week (I don't remember exactly what day since I have mentally blocked the whole incident) we had a series of storms blow through northwest Oklahoma city and the surrounding area (aka, the center of my universe). As a teacher I have to say that you have not lived until you have herded 21 nervous children into the boys bathroom to join the other two classes that are already in there and instruct them to kneel on the floor as close together as possible and assume the time-tested "duck and cover" position. They must be totally silent despite the uncomfortable smell, the suspision that the mystery liquid that just dampened your hand is actually pee, and the kid next to you whose shirt is not quite long enough to cover their exposed butt crack. And heaven forbid anyone makes any sort of accidental noise (like when your teacher, who has graciously stationed herself in front of the urinal that still had some pee in it so her students would be spared the horror, moves away from the urinal to join the other teachers across the room and upon moving the urinal flushes itself). We managed to keep very good order and I eventually ended up reading Shel Silverstein poems aloud to entertain. After all was said and done we were in the offensive "storm shelter" for approximately 30 minutes. We returned to our classroom and were told to go ahead and dismiss about 5 minutes early. I was ok with this, thinking my adventure was over and I could go home.

I was mistaken.

This was only the beginning.

As school let out we loaded the buses and began dismissing the "car riders" to their parents as they arrived. Then, as soon as we had loaded the buses (including the middle schoolers who walk over from the middle school next door to get on the bus) the tornado sirens began to go off. Crap! I look down the hall and see masses of wet students from 1st to 8th grade heading for the bathrooms and the teacher's lounge. Double crap. So I spent the following 30 minutes trying to keep the 4th and 5th grade boys from eating anything they found in the teacher's lounge and trying to get them quiet as our poor principal continues to call names over the walkie-talkie as parents arrive. She finally allowed all of us to find our way to the cafeteria (as it started to hail) and continued to call names for the next hour and a half. My favorite part was when she (still talking about my principal) stood up on a table and did the hokie pokie, since there were no parents arriving at the time. Go aunty! Anyhow... at about five o'clock they re-loaded the buses and I made the dash home. Throughout the previous 2 hours we had been hit by storm after storm with a few tornadoes in various places (like Chucky Cheese), but nothing that came too close to us. I had also been well-informed about the condition of my loved ones since some bright person invented twitter so we could be updated of every movement. I think I received at least 30 text messages during the whole ordeal. I concluded my day with a very detailed phone call to my beloved blog-buddy in Phoenix. She informed me that the most exciting thing that ever happened to her at school was a rainy day schedule due to excessive heat. Bah!
Ang

Another day, another donut-hole... ooo... donuts

2009-02-04T20:20:00.000-08:00

My class... my wonderful, angelic, delightful class... have decided to push Mrs. DeLong to see at what point she snaps. She probably doesn't mean be silent when she said no one can talk. I bet if I confer with my neighbor I can get some good ideas for my essay even though she said we weren't supposed to. I doubt she meant single file when she said "get in a straight, quiet line". I bet we can get Mrs. DeLong to begin referring to herself in third person. They really are wonderful children, caring, responsive, but there are times when I say I want them to work quietly and I don't mean converse with your neighbor, get the answer from someone else, stroll around the room, hop around on your classmate's crutches, get your third drink in one hour, take a restroom break, go to the office for chapstick, doodle, or stare off into space. Call me crazy. So this afternoon I sought council from my more-veteran teammate and we discussed all the terrible things we could do to make them regret their very existence. I am currently throwing aroung the idea of resorting to endless worksheets until they decide to focus. Some part of me feels like I need to be more creative and positive and use rewards instead of punishment, but the other part of me just wants to be able to teach without expending all my energy on keeping them on task. Sigh. Oh well.

My night improved when my wonderful husband did the dishes so I would have room to make dinner (which I enjoyed so much that I followed dinner with cookies, of which I only ate 1 thank you very much). Then after our yummy cornbread pot pie he did those dishes, followed by the laundry. Am I the envy of women everywhere or what? Anyhow, I also worked out, which I really don't recommend if you enjoy non-sore muscles and full range of motion. I dread what my legs and abs will feel like tomorrow and I thank my lucky stars that I don't still live on the fifth floor of my college dorm. Good stuff.

Well, my bed calls so I must sign off...

Ang

A for effort??....

2009-02-02T17:11:00.000-08:00

Soo....I tried to be blog savvy and change the heading since it is officially February. And all I could figure out was this lame picture only half the right size with the boring font. Ang...my blogging guru...fix it so we still look cool? :)

ps. School is fabulous. Friends are fabulous. Life is fabulous. The End.

-Kare

Cabbage

2009-01-29T17:29:00.001-08:00

Cabbage
So last night I made potstickers for my husband and I and 5 of our closest friends. For those of you poor unlightened souls who don't know what a potsticker is I have included a photo. At least I would have if I was more motivated.

I enjoy making these little bundles of joy from scratch, makes me feel like a chef, but it does make quite the mess. Then I fed 7 people and we enjoyed ice cream afterwards. I also cooked up a batch of both white and brown rice. Needless to say the amount of dishes that were stacked around my cute little kitchen this morning was rather staggering. Dishes annoy me so I pushed up my sleeves this morning and dove right in. Unfortunately, after about three minutes the sink was backing up with water. This is not unusual, it just means I need to use the all-powerful garbage disposal. I flipped the switch and was suddenly treated to an Old-Faithful-esque geyser errupting from the other side of my sink. When I recovered my senses and turned it off both sides of the sink were flooded and small bits of cabbage were floating in the muck. Huh, so maybe I should not have stuck the left-over cabbage from the potstickers in the disposal. Who knew? I will spare you all the gorey details. Riley was in class til noon so I sent a pitiful text to a friend of ours who is good at fixing things. He willingly came over, experienced the excitement of my geyser, then proceeded to disassemble the pipes under our sink until he discovered the cabbage hairball that I, of course, saved to show my friends and neighbors and have graciously pictured below. I only wish that I could have included the smell with the picture.

OK, so again I am too lazy for the picture thing. Perhaps someday I will get around to gracing you with my rotting food pictures.

I think that everyone who comes into possession of a garbage disposal should be given a list of things that do not go in a diposal. I knew about potato peels, but apparently you should also avoid fibrous vegetables. To gather more information I naturally turned to the infinite knowledge of google. Here are some things that should not be garbage disposal-ed:

What Does Not Go Down Garbage Disposals

Anything that is not biodegradable food
Anything combustible
Plastic and metal
Cigarettes and butts
Bacon grease or other grease
Celery, corn husks & cobs, artichokes, pineapples, asparagus and other extremely fibrous foods

Ok so really, who puts combustible things in their garbage disposal? And surely there are better places for my cigarette butts. It was just the "fibrous foods" that no one warned me about. Well, now we know.

Life sucks and then you die

2009-01-24T16:00:00.001-08:00

Ok, so maybe I am exaggerating just a smidge, but it's not my fault. I am terrible at being sick. Thursday morning, right as our 5th grade spelling bee was beginning (all the 5th grade teachers are judges) I had an incredible wave of nausea that threatened to overpower me. Now granted I am nauseated about one quarter of the time anyway, but this was different. This put me in true fear that I would lose it all over the poor soul sitting in front of me. I dashed to the back of the room, got a drink, and recovered nicely. However, the feeling returned midafternoon and I have been feeling... under the weather... ever since. Luckily, before I left school that day I left a few notes in case I would need a sub so I didn't have to worry about returning to leave instructions. I have henceforth done nothing but lie around for two days, which has actually done quite a number on my neck. At this point I can comfortably look straight ahead and... well... that's about it. My poor little husband has been very patient, but I think we are both tired of being cooped up. Anyhow, I am still feeling crappy and hoping I do not have to prepare sub plans for Monday.

OK, I am out of witty things to say and I'm still grumpy. I'm going now. Bah!

Ang

Is this really happening?

2009-01-24T13:07:00.000-08:00

Is this really happening?

If I had could say anything to sum up last week, it would be that.

Let's start with Monday...
-My right arm has been hurting like crazy for the past month, then all of a sudden my left one starts up. Well some other weird stuff happens so I finally break down and go to the doctor thinking he'll just say I've been tossing too many bad children against the wall and I really should stretch before going into the classroom. Instead his response was..."That's weird. I'm going to have you get a chest x-ray and both arms x-rayed and you are going to give a blood sample." Gulp. To those that don't already know this...I HATE GIVING BLOOD. This would be the reason why when my dad plans and puts hours and hours of time into organizing a church blood drive...I simply refuse. Don't care if I am going to hell, I'm not doin it. Well, he said that he thinks God was punishing me and now I have to go give blood whether I like it or not. Thanks for the support dad. :)May not sound like a big deal to you, but I will fully take on the title of Pansy because it was a big deal to me.

Tuesday...
-Let's just say if you have two people listed in the contacts of your phone with very similar names...be sure to check and see who you are really sending your text messages to. ESPECIALLY if the text in question is about one of those people. You really wouldn't want to accidentally send a rather embarrassing text to the wrong person and then feel like a total idiot. Of course, this didn't happen to me, I'm just sayin be careful....I would never do something that stupid. I swear...

Friday...
-My Principal walks in while my kids are playing a rousing game of quiet ball/math trivia. This game involves the children sitting on their desks, catching a ball and answering a math question. Innocent enough right? Well, the first comment my principal makes is, "Make sure their feet are dangling and not tucked underneath them in case they happen to reach too far. Wouldn't want a safety issue." Totally right, which I DO tell my kids that, but since when are all your students doing exactly what you want them to be doing, especially when your Principal comes in right? So, I do a quick scan...NICE! Everyone is sitting flat. Time for the next question "Joey tell me what number is in the ten-thousand place." I turn to write the number and CRASH! One of my students inevitably has fallen off her desk, and is now crying on the floor with the desk on top of her. And YES. My Principal is STILL standing in the back of my classroom. Crap. I swoop into action catching the mixed look of horror, shock and I told you so on his face. Send the kid to the nurse immediately tell my kids to sit in their chairs and try to save some of my credibility as a teacher. Murphy's Law says stuff like that will happen. Well I want to know, who the heck is Murphy and since when was he in charge?

So there you go...I may be a drama queen but I felt like it was a rather eventful week. And yes, I did get my blood taken this morning, and yes I did almost pass out on my way to the bathroom to give another kind of sample. Not my proudest moment.

-Kare

Bark Bark!

2009-01-16T22:22:00.000-08:00

So this afternoon I was talking to my fabulous little sister (it took me about 20 minutes to warm up my talking skills, but I got there eventually) and was trying to think of anything interesting to share in my otherwise routine life. For some reason Tess isn't always jumping up and down to hear all the little details about my 21 students (weird), and then I remembered something that would spark her interest and probably give you a good giggle as well. So I was sound asleep Wednesday night dreaming completely random things as usual. In my dream I was unlocking the front door of the house my grandparents lived in many years ago in Missouri and I had the feeling that in this dark abandoned house something spooky might be lurking, so as I unlocked the front door and kicked it open I took a deep breath and attempted to yell (was I yelling a warning for any lurking within? Preparing to cast out any evil spirit that may be lurking in the shadows in the name of Jesus? Or perhaps just making myself feel better). In typical dream fashion the scream got caught in my throat and ended up a sort of muted grunt. At this point I woke up, thought "yeah, that was weird", and repositioned myself to go back to sleep, at which point my hubby, who was apparently also awake, said "Ang? You awake?", to which I answered "yeah, why?". His answer surprised me: "You.... barked! You just let out a loud "Baarrrrraarrrrraarrrrraarrrrrrr' that woke me up and made me crack up". Oops. I guess I could have done worse things. What kind of sound does a water buffalo make? I hear they're pretty mean. Anyhow, that's my only amusing story for the week. I'm going back to 27 Dresses now.

-Ang

Special moments

2009-01-12T17:48:00.000-08:00

So, apologies for the lack of blogging, but since our heat is on the mend, our computer felt it necessary to fill the void left by our now-working heat and pooped out on us. Options: pay a bunch of money to get it fixed (and still have a behind-the-times computer) or save a little more and get an entirely new one. We have chosen the latter, and are therefore computer-less currently.

Anyhow... I had one of those "wow, they really are listening" moments today. We are delving into the Revolutionary War and are, of course, starting off with the causes of the colonists' revolt. We started our class today pretending to be the British parliament trying to solve their financial problems that resulted from the French and Indian War (if you are totally lost right now, I have one word for you: wikipedia). I'll tell you what, start talking to a room full of 5th graders in a British accent and I assure you their attention is yours. Our goal was to solve Britain's finance problems. I "gently guided" them in the direction of taxing the colonists on paper products and eventually ended up with the Stamp Act. Later on in class one of my students made a comment that gave me hope that they do hear what I say:

Student: "You know Mrs. DeLong, I never thought about it from both sides before. I just always thought England was the bad guy, but really they didn't have much of a choice. "

He had me beaming when he got to the words "I thought". I made a 5th grader think! My life is complete.

-Ang

Sport of Champions... and rednecks

2008-12-29T20:30:00.000-08:00

So today Riley and I GPS'ed a Frisbee Golf course at Will Rogers Park in good ol' OKC. Wow! A whole world has opened up to me that I never knew existed! I tried to pay close attention so that maybe someday I may be accepted into this amazing sport. Here are some things you will and will not need if you decide to take up frisbee golf:

Must Have:
-Beer- must be canned, the park doesn't allow bottled beer, so you are guaranteed to have something cheap and crappy (my apologies to those of you who enjoy a good Natural Light).
-Cigarettes- you can actually hold a frisbee in one hand while keeping your cig lit in the other.
-Tattoos- you may be hurling a small round piece of plastic through the air, but no one will make fun of you cuz you've got all those cool tats!
-A bag to carry your frisbees. A true frisbee golfer has multiple frisbees so you will need something to carry them in. If you are really ghetto you can just use a Walmart sack. If you are hard core you have a special carrying case complete with backpack-esque strap and multiple pockets for your beer (though if you run out of the beer never fear, there is a gas station across the street from hole 12 where you can restock before moving on to 13)
-A severe twang- 'nuf said

Not necessary:
-A shirt- you're out in the great outdoors! If you got it, flaunt it!
-Proper grammar- screw your sixth grade English teacher, double negatives just sound better!
-A trash receptacle- If you have trash, just leave it on the ground with the rest of the beer cans and plastic bags, who needs wildlife?

And just in case you are wondering what one wears while frisbee golfing, here are a few tips. Ladies, even though you are doing something active, there is no need for sweatpants or spandex tops. Just wear some jeans and whatever top you usually wear (tight, low-cut, and midriff are all okay, also feel free to wear anything that salutes Harley Davidson). Guys, anything goes. Just pull something out of the bottom of your hamper, no one will smell you, you are outside!

Now, I should probably make one of those statements about the views stated in this post do not necessarily reflect the stance of everyone at this site or our supporters... you get the picture. So if you are an avid frisbee golfer and are slightly offended by my color commentary of my experience, please realize that this may be specific to the area I was in, it may just have depended on who was off work that day, and the fact that most of the good folks out there were very friendly and could easily have kicked my butt at frisbee golf.

So if you find yourself with some time on your hands and the weather is nice but you don't have the cash to go real golfing, just grab yourself a frisbee and a Bud and try your hand at this exciting past time.

Ang

The Holidays...desert style.

2008-12-28T21:40:00.000-08:00

I am not sure if I love the week after Christmas, or hate it with my whole heart. It's one part exciting because of the coming New Year with all of its possibilities for self-improvement, (not to mention the fact that New Years is the one holiday that greatly increases the chances of us poor single souls getting some lip action.) But it's also one part incredibly sad because Christmas lights and decorations come down, people go back to work and holiday spirit takes a nose dive. Either way, this week is unavoidable so instead of dwelling on my mixed feelings, I will relive holiday happenings here in Arizona.

The last week before school was surprisingly pretty fun! My kids were really well behaved compared to last year. Our Christmas party went off without a hitch including ice cream cone Christmas trees and hand painted ornaments for my kids (puff paint rocks my face). I didn't waste any time after school was over though. Bright and early Saturday morning myself and 5 other girls loaded up and headed to the happiest place on Earth for a girls getaway!

If there were ever a place to get you in the holiday spirit, it is Disneyland. We had an absolute blast and took many a cliche silly face picture to prove it. My highlight was getting the super cute guy working at the Monsters Inc. ride to take our picture. I almost went back to take a picture of him, but alas he had moved on to bigger and better things...perhaps the Jungle Cruise? Our day at the Magic Kingdom ended far too quickly but it as totally worth it and I hope it becomes a tradition. We came home just in time to do some last minute shopping for the parents and to gear up for Christmas.

Christmas day was divine. We woke up at about 9:30, sat and chatted around the digital Yule Log on TV complete with crackling noises to make it feel authentic, finally decided to open presents, and then hung around until an afternoon movie. I love my family dearly, but it was fantastic to just sit and do nothing all day! Some notable presents included: a heated blanket (for those freezing 60 degree cold fronts that come through AZ), a bunch of great movies, gift certificates, and a hotel style bathrobe that is so fantastic I'm pretty sure my parents snuck into the Hilton and stole it from Paris herself.

So here I am a few days before New Years blogging trying to avoid the looming report cards that are piled up on my desk. I am excited for 2009...who knows what fun blog-worthy things it might bring.

So...Adios 2008, and Bonjour 2009! (Didn't you hear? 2009 is the year I become tri-lingual.)

-Kare

Wii!!!

2008-12-27T17:41:00.000-08:00

So the last few days have been spent discovering the joys of our new Wii. There are just so many possibilities!!! You can "work out" on the Wii fit (don't knock it 'til you try it), search for the Ark of the Covenant on LEGO Indiana Jones, get Wii-bow playing Wii tennis, snowboard with Shawn White, or just sitting around making various celibrities and friends into "mii's" (we already have my whole family, Jack Sparrow, Hannah Montana, Mr. T, Harry Potter, Snape, and our favorite, Michael Jackson). You have to be careful though, Wii-ing is not for the faint of heart. For example, if you create a profile on the Wii fit you have to be willing to proclaim your age and weight. And if you register as "overweight" your mii is given a rather protrusive gut. Then if your electronic trainer thinks your athletic performance is not up to snuff, you only get one (out of four) stars and are labeled things like "couch potato". I try not to take offense, but you really have to take your confidence pill before you begin.

But even though it is enjoyable to sit by yourself and waste your time pointing a white piece of plastic at your TV (or hurling it at your TV if you aren't careful, I would highly encourage the use of the wrist strap), it is way more fun to do it in a group. I have had many a belly laugh watching my family try to figure out the complex inner workings of the latest in gamer technology.

Here is dad snowboarding

Riley is showing us how he can mimic the picture on the game.

Of course if you are tired of staring at your TV, you can enjoy your Wii just by talking to your friends about it. You can tell your friends you "spent all afternoon playing with my Wii" and they can snicker quietly to themselves. Or you can enjoy your friends' reactions when you ask them if they would like to come play with your Wii. You may even find a good place to throw in a "That's what she said". And yes, we do still have the mind of a middle-schooler.

Oh, and here is a cute Christmas picture of Riley and I.

Ang

Christmas etc...

2008-12-25T09:34:00.000-08:00

I know I have been a blogging bum lately so I will at least list some things that have gone on recently.

1. School is over. The last day of school before the break was surprisingly peaceful and relaxing. I gave each of my students a clipboard with their name on it. They were thrilled. Why is it that kids can have every elecronic gadget known to man and yet be tickled pink over a clipboard? I don't know. Anyway, the day was good. Tessa joined me during the afternoon and was asked for her autograph on many of the clipboards.
2. We are now the proud owners of a Nintendo Wii. Riley found one at Walmart and was ecstatic. We then came across a mom at school who had an extra Wii Fit that she sold us so now we are all set to go. We are also rather sore. The Wii controllers activate all kinds of previously unused muscles. For example, I did some lunges on the Wii Fit and now I have almost been reduced to a limp on my right leg. My quad is so sore I almost feel as if I have pulled something. Oh well. At least I am exercising. My parentals and sister came over to play on it the other night and now they have purchased one of their own.
3. Our heater is on the fritz. The last few weeks it has had a hard time keeping up with any sort of drop in temperature. Our last electric bill was double what is usually is due to our heater running constantly. Then about a week ago we started waking up to temperatures in the 50's (inside our house). This made it rather difficult to get up in the morning. During the day the temperature would gradually inch its way up to 67 but that was it. Then Tuesday evening I got home to find the temperature at a balmy 48 degrees. Not acceptable. No more denial, our heater is broken! We finally just turned off the "heater" since it was blowing out cold air, giving our borrowed space heaters a chance to catch up and our house is now almost in the seventies. Hooray!
4. I am tired of writing and I have a headache from watching the LEGO Indianna Jones on our new Wii game jump all over the place. Must go now.

Ang

You know it

2008-12-16T17:01:00.001-08:00

Spelling bee

2008-12-14T12:36:00.000-08:00

Just thought I would share my tear-jerker moment of the day. Every once in a while you have one of those moments that just makes you feel good about what you do, and this was one of those instances. Thursday we had our class spelling bee. The first and second place winners qualify for the fifth grade spelling bee in January. The third place winner is the runner-up. So we started our spelling bee and the first couple of rounds go well. I would also like to mention that I have an autistic child in my class this year. He gives me some extra challenges and makes me smile quite a bit. He is very high-funtioning but the other kids help him with things like staying on the correct page, understanding directions to our class work, knowing where I asked him to stand in line, etc. Well, this child survives the first few rounds of the spelling bee, which shocked me a little, and every time he got a word right the rest of the class cheered loudly for him and some even walked across the room to give him a high-five. About the fourth round I realized that he was close to being a finalist. He ended up one of the last three kids "alive" and I wasn't really sure what to think. Long story short: my autistic student placed second, qualifying for the fifth grade bee in January. My class went wild. They were cheering and high-fiving all over the place. They told him that he got to go to the fifth grade bee so he got up and started walking towards the door. They quickly explained that the spelling bee wasn't until January. I discovered later that the boy sitting next to him even wrote a note in his agenda for him telling his parents what had happened so they would understand. I almost cried. Maybe teaching is really worth the effort.

I love my job.

2008-12-03T16:33:00.001-08:00

Okay, okay...I know I'm a bad blogger. Poor Ang has been holding this thing up on her own. Sorry friend, I'll try to do better.

But I did finally find something I felt was blog-worthy. This week we had to do a school-wide writing prompt. I found this jewel of a response and just had to share. This is why I love my job.

Tell about a time when you did something exciting:

Joey Age 10
An exciting time is when we found out that our dog Oreo was having puppies.
Did you know it takes 4 months for a dog to have puppies? I sure didn't. I thought dogs had puppies just like humans. I thought it took 9 months for a dog to have puppies. Well 3 months later Oreo started puking on everybody's bed and floor. A week later she kept falling down and couldn't get up. It happened to her every day.
One afternoon when we came home from school we heard a dog scream. We ran into my brothers room and there was Oreo, she was screaming her lungs off! She was having puppies. She was screaming because it was her first time having puppies. After she was done having puppies she ate the after birth. It was disgusting but she needed to eat it for her fiber.

Who knew that afterbirth was such a good source of fiber! :)

-Kare

Rock Star

2008-12-02T05:09:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are connected to my bi-monthly twitter updates, you are aware that I got to go to a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert last night. Totally amazing, I was (for the third time) blown away by the whole spectacle. What really entertained me was the style of all the performers. They were inhumanly talented as well as… well… cool! I made careful observations and here is what I have gathered for those of you who would like to be just like them someday.
If you want to be a rock star:
1. You must be beyond-fantastic in your field: instrumental or vocal. We are talking major virtuoso here.
2. You must have lusciously long hair that is styled in such a way that it will cascade down your shoulders and in front of your face at the slightest movement of your head, and then throw itself back into place with the easiest of head jerks. This goes for both men and women. (*WARNING! When trying this at home, be sure to stretch first so you don’t start your rock star career at the chiropractor).
3. Assume the rock stance: feet double shoulder width apart (slightly less if you are a girl), one forward and one in back so as to stabilize yourself since all the hair flicking and general rocking may throw you off-balance.
4. Begin to play, rocking back and forth to a slow rhythmic beat while effortlessly tossing your mane in a seductive kind of way.
5. Move around a lot. It’s a big stage, don’t be afraid to visit every part of it. Also be sure to visit your other musician friends on stage so you can rock together.
6. When rocking with another musician onstage, stand back to back and hold your instrument higher than normal while you play.
7. When standing near the edge of the crowd, point your finger, bow, or entire instrument at the crowd nearest you so as to achieve a higher level of noise and excitement.
8. For optimal cool points, you must be raised into the air or lowered from some high point somewhere in the show. Be sure to give yourself a solid rock stance to maintain balance, and don’t forget to keep flipping your hair around.
9. Wardrobe: Good rockers are well dressed. Men must wear a classic black suit complete with tails, and women must squeeze themselves into some sort of black stretch fabric. If you are concerned about unsightly curves, just pull your skirt up shorter or let that neckline plunge, no one will be looking anywhere else.
10. Finally, be prepared to endure extreme conditions: seizure-inducing strobe lights, tongues of fire, brain-rattling sound… a true rocker will take it all in stride.
-Ang

smurf muffins

2008-11-29T10:50:00.000-08:00

Aw the joys of being a teacher. Not only do I get all major holidays(and some minor ones) off, I also get to spread my creative wings and make some really weird things. For example, my cousin, the geologist (yea rocks!), came into town for Thanksgiving and I jumped at the chance to slack off... I mean offer my students an engaging scholastic experience. I suggested to Cori that she should come talk to my class about something rocky, and she agreed (really I just don't think she had any better plans). That is how we came to be giggling hysterically in my parents' kitchen late Monday night while glopping color-enhanced muffin mix into over-full muffin pans, while Alli (other cousin) begged us to hurry so she could go to bed. Our goal was to make muffins that had different-colored layers inside so the kids could shove clear straws into them, pull them out, then use these "core samples" to guess what the inside of the muffins looked like. It worked pretty well except the kids kept getting berries in their samples. Hooray for fifth grade!

-Ang

Motivation

2008-11-22T10:21:00.000-08:00

It is a Saturday morning and I awoke bright eyed and bushy tailed at about quarter til nine. I have a long list of things to do today and was excited to get going. Riley and I checked "getting the bugs out of the living room light fixture" off our list and we were rarin' to go. He set off on his adventures, and I headed to my parents' house to start our laundry (which we haven't done in two weeks). THat's as far as I have gotten. I got to chatting, then mom signed me up for twitter, then I discovered the holiday issue of Real Simple magazine, then dad went to pick up pizza. And now I am blogging. Maybe the afternoon will bring more results than my morning.

Ang

Unpacking...

2008-11-10T16:38:00.000-08:00

The past 2 years have been some major transitional times for me. I mean the chop your hair off, dye it basically black, change your entire wardrobe and get a tattoo just so you can feel different than you did 3 months ago kind of transition. (Although I did opt out of the tattoo) Lately though, I’ve been reflecting on where I’ve come from and where I’m going and surprisingly enough, I’ve been incredibly happy! I’ve finally made it. I am the new woman I wanted to be and things are fabulous. Or so I thought... For the past couple of Sundays at church our Pastor has been mentioning over and over again the idea of ‘unpacking’ things. Unpacking those things you reeeeeaaaalllly don’t want to unpack. Revealing, analyzing, and examining those parts of yourself you’ve either denied actually exist or refuse to acknowledge even though they are staring you straight in the face.

Yesterday I was digging through my closet and I found a journal from about 4 years back. I made the major mistake of opening it up and reading it thinking, ‘Awesome! now I can see how far I’ve really come right?’ Wrong. I found nothing but page after page of the same thing I struggled with two years ago, and the same thing I am struggling with today. Am I destined to relive the same mistakes over and over again? Did I learn nothing since then? Will my ‘house’ ever be fully unpacked and put away neatly? It hit me like a ton of bricks. I was on my way to a dear friend’s house to get some hot chocolate and have some good girl time and I started crying like a fool on the drive over. When I finally got up the courage to spill my guts again to her, she was (as she always is) an incredible encouragement. She helped me realize a few things.

1) We all have issues! And we will always be unpacking and revealing those parts of ourselves we consider ugly, bruised, and broken to God so that He can make them beautiful, healed and restored.

2) I am fabulous and I deserve only the best. I should never settle for anything less than God’s intended plan and I should never sell myself short.
And finally...
3) The fact that I even recognize that I’ve still got issues to unpack, means there’s already one empty suitcase that has been cleaned out and is sitting to the side. Thank you Syd, you are a blessing. xoxo

So, where does that leave me? Scared, excited, nervous, confused, confidant….all of the above. I still don’t quite know what all of this is going to mean, but I am at least willing to look into it. Who knows, maybe unloading a few pieces of baggage will be good for me and perhaps I’ll find a cute pair of shoes I had forgotten I even had. :)

-Kare

Chai Latte

2008-11-09T15:39:00.000-08:00

I am feeling very grown up right now. I am feeling a bit under the weather this weekend, and I woke up from my nap today to discover that my throat was hurting. Crap. So I took a shower and decided to find something hot to drink. I am currently lacking in the tea department, hate coffee, and didn't even have any hot chocolate to speak of. I did, however, have some chai latte mix. I thought that milk might be nicer than water, so I heated some milk, mixed in the chai mix, and am now happily sipping on something that has the smoothness of milk and the cinnamon of chai. I feel very sophisticated.

-Ang

Invincible

2008-11-08T16:47:00.000-08:00

Alas, I am not invincible. My immune system has failed me. I finally got the antibacterial wipes out and had the kids wipe all the germs off their desks, but not until it was too late. Now my nose is running, my head hurts, and I have decided I dislike children.

-Ang

barking

2008-11-06T19:37:00.000-08:00

My class barks! Seriously!!! They go outside, play for a while, come back in tired and out of breath, and a chorus of barking coughing follows. At times I find myself in the midst of a virtual cacophany of hacking, rumbling, and all varieties of lung-rattling activity. Do people still get whooping cough? 'Cuz that's what it sounds like. When I am teaching I have to talk really fast until someone strikes up the chorus and they all join in. It's like they hear one kid do it and then they think, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that tickle in my throat", and go at it. Am I going to die of some terrible airborne virus? Maybe I should wear a mask to school. I had a professor in college that wore a mask whenever she was outside. She was wierd. Anyhow... I hope they get better soon or pretty soon it will be like teaching in a kennel.

-Ang

October 31...the good girl's excuse to do things her mother usually wouldn't approve of.

2008-11-02T15:07:00.001-08:00

Yes, it is officially November and the frightful day of October 31st has come and gone. Last year my Halloween consisted of stuffing the kids in my class full of candy, sending them on their merry way, then going home to an oh so exciting night of absolutely nothing. This year...not the case. Surprisingly enough this year was probably the most fun I have ever had on Halloween.

Following a fun-filled school day including pumpkin math and science centers, I proceeded to get ready for a sick dance party where a fabulous costume and my best dance moves were a must. I was a 60's gogo dancer. Now, I've never been one to go all out for a costume. But this year I happened to come upon a fantastic lime green dress and white knee-high platform boots. I lathered on the white eye-shadow, black eye liner, and frosted lip stick. I flipped out my hair, teased it to an ungodly height, and shellacked it with hairspray. With the help of my mother, I cut the calf length dress to a couple inches above the knee. It's not every day your own mother says, "No, I really think you need to go at least a couple inches shorter." Fantastic!

The dance party was insanely fun. There were all kinds of costumes including a human facebook page (with a wall everyone wrote on and everything!), an 80's rocker, Elvis, Dorothy, a smurf, Michael Phelps, a pregnant woman, ect. I knew I had done well with my costume when I walked in and heard, "Wait! What the freak? Is that Karen?!" Mission accomplished. We all danced the night way, doing dance moves that would have given my grandmother heart palpitations. But hey, it's Halloween so anything goes right? It's a pretty funny sight to see the youth pastor, his wife, the members of the worship band, and a several youth sponsors thrusting and dipping to censored versions of songs normally reserved for clubs on Mill Ave. But, it was all in good fun and the party went on until 2:00 AM so we must have been doing something right!

I would have to say the highlight of the night was when myself and three of my girlfriends secretly planned a dance to surprise everyone with. We added our song to the heavily guarded play list with James-Bond like stealth. When we knew our song was next we headed to the hallway until it was time to make our grand entrance. Then as Crank Dat by Soulja Boy started playing, a gogo dancer, an 80's rocker, a thug and a smurf made their way out to the dance floor and busted out the best performance of the super man dance you've ever seen. Cameras were flashing and people were clapping. It was amazing.

This Halloween I learned three things: I have fantastic friends, I love dance parties, and I look fabulous in gogo boots. :) Here are some pictures to give you an idea of how sweet it really was!

-Kare

Why gravity sucks (or pulls?)

2008-11-01T20:51:00.000-07:00

Isaac Newton was right all along. Drop something, and it will be caught up by the earth's gravitational pull and plummet to the earth below. It is inevitable. So why do I think that I can ride off the side of a massive wooden teeter-totter on a bicycle and avoid the consequences induced by gravity? Twice!!! One word: pride. Kristy did it, so why can't I? I have been riding longer. I have done stuff like this before. Should be easy. Wrong. Lack of speed mixed with inability to ride in a straight line spells falling four to five feet onto the unforgiving Oklahoma ground. The first time wasn't too bad. Brief lack of wind, dirt on face, no biggy. I even hopped right back on and tried it again. I succeeded! I tried it again and succeeded again. Score: me-2, teeter-1. I win. However, after riding the cross-country trail and second time Rachel suggests we get video footage of the girls triumphantly conquering the double-teeter. Crap. Rachel does it- my turn. I pedal-pedal-pedal, ride up, wait for it to go down, lose speed, plummet to the ground... again. This time everyone is watching and the video camera is rolling. Convenient. Now anyone who wants to can watch me fall off a teeter totter while uttering a rather uncharacteristic choice word (which according to Andy rhymes with "shoot"). This time I have no oxygen left in my lungs and I lay on the ground grunting until my lungs can reinflate. My legs are bruised and battered, my shoulder is throbbing, my left forearm looks like someone threw a handful of glass shards at it, and my pride is no longer in the same zip code. Score: me-2, teeter- 2.

-Ang

Hippies and Hillbillies Part II

2008-10-25T13:20:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were almost lulled into a comatose state by my last post, I will try to wrap it simply. Short and sweet. But just in case, maybe you should set aside a small chunk of time and maybe get some popcorn before you start.

So... in addition to the nylon suburbia and gun-shooting rednecks, there were also some campers on the other end of the spectrum. While looking for the end of a downhill bike trail we discovered a... commune?... of rather peaceful folk. There were probably ten or so of them sitting around the campfire... in the middle of the day. They had a small wall of fire wood, making it obvious that they may be there for a while. They were listening to some sort of chanting music and their faces were painted! Only one camper had full-face paint, the rest just had some beautification here and there. Nice people, but you had to ask yourself... is all that smoke coming from the campfire?

The last type of camper, the category we find ourselves in, is the green camper. When we moved into our campsite the first thing the boys did was pick up all the trash in the area. We had such a great time enjoying being outside. On Friday we started the day by exploring the cave. Now I have known for a while that I suffer from at least mild clostrophobia, but I have never tested my fear on any truly enclosed space. When we got to the entrance of the cave there were lots of people already there, standing around outside of the entrance. We turned on our headlamps and headed, not into a wide entrance to a cavern, but into a closet-door-sized hole in the wall. Apparently I had some misconceptions as to what caving would be like. There were not vast caverns, no stalagtites or mites, only a hallway-sized tomb that was packed full of families with small children. RUN!!!! I managed to contain my hyperventilation (though not my tears, yes, I am a wuss), and made it through about half the cave before Riley finally brought me to my senses and escorted me out. He took me out then requested permission to reenter the cave, so I then proceded to sit on the hill above the cave watching people go in and out for about forty-five minutes. I am proud to say, and a little envious, that they did not come out the entrance like everyone else, they had crawled all the way through and shimmied out the exit and came walking down the trail covered in mud, to the excitement of everyone sitting there. My day got better after lunch when we went on a hike and then settled in for the night. This was, of course, the hellish night of noise and booze, but we laugh about it now. I regained some of my studliness the next day when I road the rock-infested mountain bike trail.

All in all, a very satisfying trip. We had some laughs, got some exercise, and I even learned a little bit about myself. By the way, on our way out of the park we stopped to take a picture in front of the cave, and Riley handed me his headlamp and told me to just step in and see if I could conquer a little of my fear. I came out ten minutes later after going as far as I could inside the cave without having to crawl. There may be hope for me yet.

Hippies and Hillbillies

2008-10-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

I am newly returned from my weekend sojourn and feel much better now that I am clean, though my legs are completely covered in chigger bites. For those of you who have never experienced a chigger, like perhaps you live in a desert, you have not felt an itch until you have had a colony of microscopic bugs devour your exposed skin (or sometimes your not-so-exposed skin). Our weekend was full of many memorable experiences, some of which I will try to share by describing different ways that people camp.

At one end of the spectrum you have those campers who really don't understand the point of camping. They have brought so much equipment and modern comforts with them that it takes their children a few hours to realize that they are not at home. These are the people who like to camp in the spots that are just a few feet from the people in the next site over. It's like someone created suburbia outdoors and used nylon instead of brick. They have brought the barbeque, the air mattresses, the kids' bikes; I even saw a few small trailers that were lined with shelves on the inside so that they could bring the entire contents of their pantry!!! Most of these people receive a roll of the eyes and a sigh that says "they just don't get it". However, some of these people can just be rude.

This leads me to the second group of campers. This group may not bring as many modern conveniences, but they make up for it with their thoughtlessness for the environment. Let me give you a few examples. We frequently drove past a friendly-looking suburban family who had set up camp right by the bathroom (talk about the smell of the great outdoors). They have the portable pantry/trailer and quite an elaborate site. We just shook our heads at them every time we passed until the last day, when we saw that someone had paintballed the side of the bathroom! Really?!? I know I am jumping to conclusions, but why would you give your kid a paintball gun while you are camping?!? The other example of this came our second night there. Let me backtrack a little. When we arrived at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas on Thursday we were told that the campgrounds were booked to capacity for Friday and Saturday nights, so we could camp there Thursday, but we would have to relocate for Friday. They told us about a camping area just outside of the State Park boundry that we could try though they couldn't guarantee what kind of company we would find ourselves in there. So we thanked the nice ranger and headed to said campground: Cedar Flats (kind of like the Narrows in Gotham City?). The area was very conducive to camping and we found ourselves a spot that, after cleaning up quite a bit of trash, suited us quite nicely. Our neighbors seemed normal, except for the gunshots but I will get to that momentarily, and our first night was enjoyable. The second night was not so kind. A little after dark some new campers rolled in and settled a little farther into the woods. One group consisted of two father-son pairs who made a nice fire then turned in early. We liked them. Then the music started. At first it was kind of funny because it went from 80's rock to country to techno, but then it started to get old. We surmised that it must be someone's car stereo and we prayed that God's wrath would strike quickly and drain the car battery. We fantasized about our musical friends coming to ask for a jump the next day since they drained their battery the night before and laughing in their faces. As the night wore on and the bass only got louder, our amusement turned to wrath. How dare they ruin our camping trip! How will we sleep? Why come into nature if you are just going to bring the noise of home with you?!? You just enjoy sleeping on the ground? Riley decided to go ask them to turn it down and I joined, though I feared for our safety. What kind of people could they be? Dumb teenagers who came out here to drink? Someone violently drunk who will beat us senseless for asking that they end their party? Nope. A family with multiple children. We asked nicely (though the annoyed couple who came with us to storm the castle were slightly less polite) and they obliged, kind of. BUT THE NOISE DIDN'T STOP!!! I finally wussed out and decided that unconsciousness was preferrable to a tense situation and went to bed (typical). In the morning I discovered that Riley and Eric (we camped with him and his wife Kristy) had gone in search of the noise again and had discovered the offending sound was coming from a new campsite that was inhabited by some 16-year-old guys and their giggly girlfriends. Our boys puffed up their chests and sent the younglings scurrying for the volume control. End of problem.

The next category of camper is the Redneck/Hillbilly. When we moved into "The Flats" we found ourselves next to a large camp of... hunters? It was a large contingent of males who could easily have been there for days, weeks, months, years? (insert Friends themesong :). They had a rather sizeable community of tents and camping equipment and plenty of firearms, which they tested constantly. For those of you who know me, I hate loud noises, I just about pee my pants every time. The smaller guns weren't bad, but the shotgun was a little ridiculous. And they weren't even shooting AT anything!!! Seriously, bullets don't just grow on trees. Nothing like being awakened first thing in the morning to gunfire. The other redneck group pulled in the second day with three 4-wheelers, 2 dirt bikes, 1 beat-up truck on a trailer...and maybe a partrige in a pear tree. They then amused themselves by taking all of these vehicles out into the forrest. They almost ran us over as me rode our bikes peacefully down the dirt road. Who races down a dirt road on ATV's past people on BICYCLES?!? We thought we had seen the last of them when they packed up, but they returned after dark to set up camp and drink themselves silly. We listened to them talk about how drunk they were and play "I've never" until the wee hours of the morning (once the loud music finally went away). It was quite funny the next morning when we went by their campsite and saw the ground littered with bottles of Mike's Hard Lemonade and Bud Lite with Lime. Is it even possible to get drunk from something with such a low alcohol content? What studs!

To be continued...

-Ang

Hi, my name is Karen and I'm a mother of 23.

2008-10-16T16:54:00.001-07:00

So this past week has been parent-teacher conference week and I am on my last legs. Before actually having to do them, I never realized how incredibly exhausting they are! Having 23 conferences requires knowing tiny details about each child as if they were your only student. It requires quick thinking and wise word choice when there are some especially difficult parents. It requires coming up with creative compliments to soften the blow of a bad report card. (Your child is failing everything, but he/she certainly has wonderful handwriting....?) It takes all of that, TIMES 23!!

But really, it is emotionally and spiritually draining more than anything else. I've got kids who's parents are in jail, are workaholics, are alcoholics, have restraining orders, and who simply don't give a crap. I go home every night thinking about how I might have been the only positive influence in their lives that day, that week, that month, maybe even that year. (insert Friends theme song here) It makes me think twice about those words that I may have spoken too harshly, or that story that I didn't listen to because I thought there were more important things to do. A teacher's job is not just a job. It's a calling. Why God decided I would be a good fit for this calling is beyond me, but I know one thing....I've been blessed more than anyone can know by each of their precious faces and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

Enjoy your break Ang!!
-Kare

The Great Outdoors... Brrr

2008-10-16T06:34:00.000-07:00

Man's oldest question: What is the meaning of life?
Man's second-oldest question: What to do with a 4-day weekend?
If you are my husband or any of his friends the answer is always right there in front of you: camping!!! I am about to embark on my second camping trip in a week and a half and I am... excited... but also bracing myself for the numbing cold. For some reason God saw fit to give me an internal body temperature of about 60 degrees, so I start pulling out the hoodies at a balmy 85. This week a cold front hit the Oklahoma area and when I came home from school yesterday our thermostat registered in at a whopping 59. Time to turn on the heat. Anyhow... we are headed out to the wild blue yonder for two and a half days of camping, hiking, biking, caving... maybe that Indiana Jones thing will work out after all. And yet the biggest worry in my mind is: what am I going to do when my hair gets oily? Seriously, 24 hours and my head is down for the count. And will there be bathrooms? I can squat with the best but not when you can feel the frost on the ground with your backside. Oh well, here's to adventure! We'll see how it goes. Have a good weekend Kare!

-Ang

The Pressure of the First Blog...

2008-10-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

How to even begin...of course my lovely partner in crime here has to start off with a bang and be witty and clever her very first post. (Way to go Ang...) No pressure to match her well thought out connections and metaphors for the life and times of a teacher. Alas, I have no insightful metaphors at the moment, no humorous anecdotes. Just a tired brain at the end of a week of parent-teacher conferences. So, I guess thats it. At least I can say I lost my proverbial blogging virginity right? However, I gotta tell you...it's really wasn't as great as they all say.
But practice makes perfect yeah? :)

-Kare
ps. I need a sick Halloween costume for our 10/31 dance party. Any suggestions??

Double Life

2008-10-15T19:12:00.000-07:00

Over the past two days I have found myself enjoying the newest Indiana Jones flick... twice. It occurs to me that the famous Indiana Jones, the captain of adventure himself, has a lot in common with yours truly. He is ("part time")... a teacher!!! I regret to say that the similarities end there. I don't understand any dead languages (though I'm conversational in at least one non-useful language), I would be terrible in a fist fight (I'm a "walk, talk, or rock" kind of gal), and if I was ever handed a whip I would never even touch it for fear it would make that loud cracking sound. Maybe if I could just have his hat, that seems to be the source of his power. I could wake up every weekday morning, go to school, teach kids the difference between a simple subject and a complete subject, try to entice them into learning about why Columbus sailed the ocean blue, assure them that walking in a quiet line is a life skill, and then on the weekends I just put on my khaki hat and the adventure begins. But alas, I am just an ordinary teacher, no whip, no upper body strength, and alas, no khaki hat.

-Ang