Random Rantings and Ramblings

I haven't had much to say lately -- or maybe it's just that I haven't had time to say anything.  As the school year rushes to the end (only 24 more days) the pressures at work have mounted up.  Last Tuesday we were asked to start and complete 2 huge tasks by May 21 on top of having our progress reports ready for May 18.  These tasks are/were curriculum maps for all the subjects we teach, and transition sheets for all our our students.  We have never done formal transition sheets for our kids who are moving on to 7th grade before.  We've just done quick thumbnails, and placement recommendations that are almost always ignored.  The good thing is that we are being asked to be more detailed; the downside is the quick turnaround, and our fear that are recommendations will still be ignored.  The curriculum maps aren't really as difficult as they first sounded. It was more trying to understand the template.  It was disheartening too because we've done a lot of maps over the past few years and we keep having to do them again.  Wouldn't it make more sense to have an administrator look at the maps we've done previously and ask us to revise them if necessary instead of reinventing the wheel each time the administrator changes??  I've had some other professional obligation deadlines looming too.  The "local education association" for which I'm treasurer has its annual meeting this coming week so I've been up to my eyeballs in financial reports and budgets.  I'm also co-in-charge of the team that checks that all teaching staff are up-to-date with recertification requirements and we "okay" staff for recertification.  That's always an intense chore because teachers are the worst direction-followers!!  A few folks every year (usually the same people!) leave everything to the last minute and come panicked to my room after school asking how they can get enough credit to be recertified.  This despite the fact that we start in September with reminding those who are due for recertification!!!  ARRGGH!

We have an old porch set - 4 chairs, a chaise, and a dining table - that is about 25 years old.  It cost about $450.    It's never been super comfortable, but it's served us adequately.  We decided that this year we would replace it.  We've been to 4 different places however, to no avail.  We found a very comfortable set at Sears, on sale, reasonably priced. It had 2 chairs, a loveseat, and a small round coffee table.The price was under $700 but we didn't like the cushion colors (and there was no other choice) and the round table just doesn't work for our space.  So we went to Home Depot and to Lowes.  Nothing there that we liked.  Someone recommended we try a store called the Seasonal Store.  We went yesterday and loved the furniture.  But . . . the prices were ridiculous.  The set we liked and that would work for us was $2800. ON SALE!!  For 2 chairs, and a love seat.  The coffee table was extra.  Other sets were in excess of $3000.  We walked out.   I could possibly see spending that much if I lived somewhere like southern California where I'd have an outdoor room that I used all year.  But for a screen porch that I can use maybe 2.5 months of the year?????  Even if  it lasted 25 years, that's more money than I can afford.  The salesman told us that they sold a lot of the set we were interested in.  I don't know to whom.  If he's telling the truth, then how come nobody can afford their property taxes?  How  come no teachers in our state got a raise this year?  How come state and town budgets are being slashed to the bone?  I don't get it.

I did read!  Here's the latest.


Dreaming of the Bones by Deborah Crombie

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This series just keeps getting better and better! Duncan Kincaid gets a call from his ex-wife Vic McClennan who has been writing a biography of Lydia Brooks, a poet who ostensibly committed suicide.  Vic believes instead that Lydia was murdered.  When another unexpected sudden death occurs, Duncan and Gemma James decide that perhaps Vic is right.  Both Kincaid and James have their lives turned upside down as a result of the investigation. Aside from the engrossing novel, I learned a lot about another famous poet, Rupert Brooks,too.

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Weather-Related Weirdness and More . . . .Books.

Last week we had snow, freezing temperatures, and winter.  Today it was over 85°F with high humidity -- a steamy sort of July-ish day.  I hate the hot, humid stuff.  I can't stand the stickiness of things: clothes that stick, hair that sticks, the contact between skin and desk.  I couldn't stand the lanyard around my neck today at school either, so I wound up taking it off,  and now the key to my classroom is on my desk locked in my room.  I'll have to find the custodian tomorrow to unlock it for me!  It's only early May and already my daffodils and PGM rhodies are gone, the apple and pear blossoms, and forsythia are gone.  I realize for you more southerly readers your spring blooms are long gone.  Usually these items peak around the 2nd week of May up here in the northern part of New England.  So it's definitely an odd sort of spring.

Catching up on some book reviews:



Last Act in Palmyra by Lindsey Davis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is book #6 in the Marcus Didius Falco series, and while I did enjoy it, I didn't like it as much as the earlier book.  It got "draggy" and I never got invested in the 2 mysteries he was trying to solve.  I felt like the characters weren't that much interested either.  With that being said, I love the attention to detail that Lindsey Davis puts into her writing.  It's clear she has done a great deal of scholarly research to paint a realistic picture of life in the first century Roman empire.  I also love her wit!

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And once again, Precious Ramotswe never fails to ease my stress!

The Double Comfort Safari Club by Alexander McCall Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Be content with who you are and where you are, and do whatever you can do to bring to others such contentment, and joy, and understanding that you have managed to find yourself."  Armed with this advice from her father, and her red bush tea, Mma Ramotswe again brings order and peace to her corner of Botswana.  In this installment, Mma Makutsi's fiance has suffered a horrible accident and has been "kidnapped" by his aunt who is determined to keep Grace away from her nephew.  Mma Ramotswe has been asked by a lawyer in the US to locate a safari guide who is about to receive a legacy.  Violet Sephotho has engineered a swindle, and a friend wants proof that her husband is having an affair.  If more people lived by Mma Ramotswe's philosophy and her late father's advice, what a kinder, gentler place this world would be.

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Leftovers and Cloning Parents

A "Leftovers Casserole" is heating up in the oven made from you-guessed-it, leftovers from Sunday dinner - basmati rice, roast chicken, assorted steamed veggies all mixed together with cream of mushroom soup and a sprinkle of parmesan.   It's a good kind of meal for today.  We woke up to snow covering the bright green grass, daffodils, and forsythia.  At least we only got a sprinkle of snow.  Some folks not too far away got almost a foot of the stuff!  It's been showery, blustery, and even more flurries all day.  Seems much more like March than the end of April.  We got spoiled with a very early spring, and all of our blooms are 2-3 weeks early.

It also feels like a Left Overs year.  We have 37 days left of school, but the kids have definitely checked out. There's too much year left over to stop, but the kids have.

We are trying to do a final push with skills since our MAPS tests are coming up in a couple of weeks.  Even though these are not the tests that the state uses to assess AYP, they are scary for teacher tests.  We are being evaluated as to whether or not at least 60% of our students reach their target growth rates in reading and math.  If we don't have that percentage, we are put on a professional growth plan.  We're not sure what this means as this is the first year that the evaluation is occuring.  We were told in Sept what our percentages were for last year, and that no one achieved that.  I came close at 59%.  We were also told that it wouldn't count til this year.   All I know is that we all work very hard to ensure that not only are we teaching kids the skills they need, but that we are doing everything we know how to do to make sure that it's possible for them to reach their targets.  The only problem I see is that a lot of our students are not invested in doing their best. Instead, they just want to get the test over with.  Are any of you who are teachers seeing a  lack of motivation in your students?  My teaching partner and I are very frustrated with many of our kids' attitudes, and sometimes with their parents who agree that their child isn't motivated, but they expect us to solve the problem.  It was quite refreshing earlier this week to have a conference with a set of parents who said, "It's our job to send our son to school ready to learn.  You have enough to do with the actual teaching.  If our son is not achieving what he needs to achieve, because he's being lazy, then it's our job to push him."  I wanted to clone them right there and then!!

Birthdays

I love birthdays!!  And today it's mine!   I don't mind that I'm now officially closer to 60 than to 50, I don't mind that I had to go back to school after a lovely spring break, I don't mind that it was threatening rain most of the day, I don't mind that I had to cook dinner, and I even don't mind that I really didn't like the cake my husband purchased at the grocery store yesterday.  I had a lovely day. My husband went shopping at my favorite gift store in town, and purchased a lusted-after Vera Bradley bag for me all without any hinting on my part.  My sons ordered me my most-wanted item off my wish list (even if it's backordered).  A colleague brought me nearly to tears with her unexpected gifts of a Dunkin' Donuts iced coffee and Vera Bradley lanyard but especially her sweet words.  My homeroom sang Happy Birthday to me.  I am grateful for my family and friends, for my often-complained about job, and especially for another birthday.

Some More Sensational Socks

From Knitting Gallery

From Knitting Gallery

These are a pair of Slipped Rib socks from Charlene Schurch's Sensational Knitted Socks book.


I used Trekking XL from Webs and they knit up quickly.   They are fraternal socks, not identical!

What I Did on my Spring Vacation

I am sure that if I assigned this topic to my 6th graders I would get the same title on most of their essays.  I guess that's why I won't be asking them to write about their breaks!  (I'm actually thinking about - What did you wish you did, but didn't!)

We spent a couple of days away on a 900 mile round trip get away.  We left on Sunday morning and headed for Cape May, NJ.  I wanted beach, I wanted further south than here, and I wanted a bed and breakfast.  I got 2 out of 3.  We stayed here, at the Marquis de Lafayette:

We had a balcony view of the beach and ocean, and it was in walking distance of all the sights. Since it was off season, we got our room for a very reasonable price  -- about a quarter of what it goes for during the summer.   Cape May is full of restored Victorian homes.  We took a guided trolley tour and we walked up and down all the side streets as well as the beach.

We spent 2 nights here and then headed back north, stopping in my home town in CT to visit my aunt and some cousins.  Tuesday night we traveled to Mystic, CT where we spent the night, and then on Wednesday morning, I went in search of an old family cemetery in Stonington.  I've been working on our genealogy in between knitting, reading, school work, and church.  My mother's family is an early New England family and a lot of work has already been done on her side.  My father's side is more difficult; he was born in Cuba, and his family is from Asturias, Spain.  My husband's family came to the US in the late 1800's and early 1900's from places that have changed countries a few times:  Sadagora which is now in the Ukraine but was part of the Austria-Hungary empire back when his father was born, and small villages near Minsk.  His family is also difficult because so many records were lost.    But I did find the cemetery I was looking for.

I love the mausoleum!  There is no record however of who's inside!  Someday I will contact whoever is in charge of the cemetery to find out.

This ancestor fought in the American Revolution and is one of the ancestors through which my DAR membership is traced.  There are a number of other family members here, but I haven't been able to yet to trace exactly when the family arrived in Stonington.  Family lore says the first relative came over with Gov. Winthrop on the Arbella in 1630, but I haven't substantiated that yet.














We finished up our trip through the past with a visit to the University of Connecticut.  It's our mutual alma mater.  I have to admit, the campus has mushroomed since we were there in the late '60's and early 70's, and it's not nearly as pretty as it used to be.  It's a veritable city now! 

The rest of the week was very low-key. I got some knitting done, read a lot, and watched a lot of DVR'd TV shows that had piled up.  Now it's back to the grind  (on my birthday no less!) for another 40 days.

My February Lady in April

I FINALLY finished my Knitting Olympics project, the February Lady Sweater. I started it on the first day of the Winter Olympics 2010 and was just about finished with it at the end of the event. But when I tried on the sweater it was too small. So I ripped it out to the bodice and reknit the body on larger needles. I stumbled a number of times along the way. I'd knit 3-4 inches of the gull lace pattern without a hitch, then I'd mess up and knit a couple more inches before I'd realize it. I'd rip out the errors and do it again. I think I probably knit this sweater the equivalent of 3 times!! But I'm glad to report that not only have I finished the knitting, but that it fits really well. I still have to block it and I need to get buttons for the bodice. I am very happy with it!

I used Valley Yarns Colrain in garnet and I increased the bodice using the eyelet increase suggested on the pattern.

Vacation Reading - So Far

First book in a new series by an author new to me:

The Crossing Places by Elly Griffiths


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Ruth Galloway is an archeology professor specializing in Iron and Bronze Age Britain.  She's middle-aged, overweight, and single and she lives with her cats in an isolated cottage on the edge of a protected marsh.  When some bones are discovered that may possibly be those of a missing child, the police call her in to investigate.  Her investigation leads her to a significant archeological find as well as to the solving of two missing persons mysteries.  Ruth also finds a mutual attraction to the lead detective who's married.  This was on the dark side of suspense novels, not at all a cozy read; the characters were interesting, and I look forward to reading more of Elly Griffiths' works.

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#2  An old author, but new to me:

Died in the Wool by Ngaio Marsh


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I've never read any Ngaio Marsh before although I remember my mom reading this author.  I found this through an on-line book group on Ravelry and decided to give her books a try. 

It's just after World War II, and New Zealand woman, Florence Rubrick has been brutally murdered and her body hidden in a wool bale.  Inspector Alleyn has been sent out from England to help solve this cold case as there is a suspicion that her death is part of an on-going espionage investigation.  I found this novel to be slow-moving and even plodding at times.  I also used my dictionary a few times to find out what some of the New Zealand vocabulary meant - "fossiking" for example means prospecting or ferreting out.  I did figure out who the murderer was before the author told us, but didn't figure out how it was tied into the espionage problem.  I will probably try another of her books if I can find them.  My library has none so I have to use interlibrary loan. 

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#3  And an old friend!

Poseidon's Gold by Lindsey Davis


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
These books just get better and better!  This time, Falco is charged with the murder of a legionary from his brother's regiment.  His brother Festus apparently left a huge debt behind as the result of an investment scheme gone wrong, and Falco's family is on the hook for it.  When one of the investors comes to get his money, he winds up dead, and Falco is blamed.  In this fast-paced installment, Falco works closely with his estranged father Geminius to clear his name, and he finally has the opportunity to ask Helena to formally marry him.   But as always, the famous Marcus Didius Falco luck prevails . . . . . I really enjoyed this one.

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Top 100 Children's Books - What Have You Read???

 This list was compiled by School Library and I borrowed it from a friend's blog.  I've read all but 12 of them, mostly as a kid.  I just purchased (free) from Amazon for my Kindle, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  I never read the Oz books as a kid quite frankly, because the illustrations in the editions that my library had, scared me.    I decided that it was time to catch up on that omission.  I have to admit that I have a hard time deciding which of these are the best  --- I think they're all terrific books.  Some of the newer ones that I would heartily recommend are The Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963, Frindle, Walk Two Moons,  and The Lightning Thief.   But they are all good!

 

#1 Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

#2 A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

#3 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
#4 The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
#5 From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler by E. L. Konigsburg
#6 Holes by Louis Sachar
#7 The Giver by Lois Lowry
#8 The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
#9 Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
#10 The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
#11 The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
#12 The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
#13 Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson
#14 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling
#15 Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
#16 Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh
#17 Maniac Magee by Jerry Spinelli
#18 Matilda by Roald Dahl
#19 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
#20 Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt
#21 Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riodan
#22 The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread by Kate DiCamillo
#23 Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#24 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
#25 Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
#26 Hatchet by Gary Paulsen
#27 A Little Princess by Francis Hodgson Burnett
#28 Winnie-the Pooh by A.A. Milne
#29 Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland /Alice Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
#30 The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper
#31 Half Magic by Edward Eager
#32 Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH by Robert C. O'Brien
#33 James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl
#34 Watsons Go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
#35 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire JK Rowling
#36 Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret by Judy Blume
#37 Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred Taylor
#38 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling
#39 When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
#40 The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
#41 The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare
#42 Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#43 Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
#44 Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
#45 The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
#46 Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
#47 Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis
#48 The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits and a Very Interesting Boy by Jeanne Birdsall
#49 Frindle by Andrew Clements
#50 Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
#51 The Saturdays by Elizabeth Enright
#52 The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
#53 Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
#54 The BFG by Roald Dahl
#55 The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson
#56 Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
#57 Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary
#58 The Wolves of Willoughby Chase by Joan Aiken
#59 Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
#60 The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle by Avi
#61 Stargirl by Jerry Spinelli
#62 The Secret of the Old Clock (The Nancy Drew mysteries) by Caroline Keene
#63 Gone-Away Lake by Elizabeth Enright
#64 A Long Way from Chicago by Richard Peck
#65 Ballet Shoes by Noah Streatfeild
#66 Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
#67 Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
#68 Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech
#69 The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart
#70 Betsy Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace
#71 A Series of Unfortunate Events: The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
#72 My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett
#73 My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
#74 The Borrowers by Mary Norton
#75 Love That Dog by Sharon Creech
#76 Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse
#77 City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau
#78 Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes
#79 All-of-a-Kind Family by Sydney Taylor
#80 The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
#81 Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
#82 The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander
#83 The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
#84 Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge
#85 On the Banks of Plum Creek by Laura Ingalls Wilder
#86 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling
#87 The View from Saturday by E. L. Konigsburg
#88 The High King by Lloyd Alexander
#89 Ramona and her Father by Beverly Cleary
#90 Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan
#91 Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar
#92 Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
#93 Caddie Woodlawn by C. R. Brink
#94 Swallows and Amazons by Arthur Ransome
#95 Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren
#96 The Witches by Roald Dahl

#97: The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

#98 Children of Green Knowe by L.M. Boston
#99 The Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
#100 The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatley Snyder

 

Let me know which ones you've particularly enjoyed!  

On Vacation

We've actually left the homefront for a couple of days. We've headed south a bit, via car, to Cape May, NJ.  Despite having lived 7 years in NJ during some of my growing up days, I never made it to NJ's southern tip.  I suspect however, that back in the '60's, it didn't have quite the cachet it has today.  We took an architectural tour today, and many of the beautiful painted ladies were in disrepair 40 years ago.    When I get back, I will share a few of my favorite photos.  For now, we've done a lot of walking, and enjoying beautiful spring weather.

I'm Proud to be UCC

This is a new commercial for the denomination I belong to.  For almost my entire life, I've been a member of a church that belongs to the United Church of Christ.   From my birth church, originally established in 1639, but which became a UCC church in 1959 when I was 5, to my current church which is a Open and Affirming Just Peace member of the denomination, I've been a UCC member for all but a few years when we lived in NJ and there wasn't a UCC nearby.

Check us out!


The Language of God from United Church of Christ on Vimeo.

WEBS Sale

I treated myself to some yarn in the WEBS Anniversary Sale. I got the Honeydew Plymouth Encore and the Aquamarine Plymouth Encore for some upcoming baby gifts. I bought the Opal Memory for socks, just because it was pretty. And the Raspberry yarn is Plymouth Royal Llama Silk for a sweater for me. All the yarn was on sale. I saved $55 plus change on the Royal Lllama Silk which made the sweater I want to make affordable. On the outer edge of affordable, but affordable nonetheless. The Opal was about 1/2 price and the Encore was also a great deal.  the amazing thing is that I place the order online Saturday afternoon.  The package arrived this morning - Tuesday!!  I LOVE WEBS!

The Lacuna #27

The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was a very compelling novel, although at first I was tempted to abandon it.  But I stuck with it, and it became a book I couldn't put down.  A lacuna is defined as a missing piece of text, a gap, an extended silence, and this novel is well-named.  Harrison Shepherd is half Mexican, half American, and the son of divorced parents.  His Mexican mother takes him to live in Mexico on a small island with her newest lover and while living there Shepherd discovers a lacuna, or gap in the sea cliff that leads to an underground well or cenote.  Shepherd grows up feeling very much as though he himself is a lacuna.  Caught between two diverse cultures, two indifferent parents, and ultimately very different world views, Shepherd never really feels whole.  His story is told through his personal journals and letters, through the letters he writes to Frida Kahlo, through the papers he types for Trotsky, and through the letters and articles others write about him.  Shepherd himself is a lacuna - much of his story is missing, and the people around him are left guessing his story, as is the reader at times!  Shepherd's first job is as a plaster-mixer for muralist Diego Rivera, but soon his life becomes intertwined with Rivera and Frida Kahlo when he joins their staff as cook/driver/secretary.  Through that relationship he becomes secretary to Trotsky until Trotsky is murdered.  All throughout, Shepherd keeps minute records of his life and thoughts in finely detailed journals which disappear after Trotsky's murder.  Shepherd returns to the US where he settles in Asheville, NC and discovers his voice as a best-selling novelist.  And then the ugly head of McCarthyism raises and Shepherd is denounced.  The original lacuna, the cave in the sea cliff, becomes important once more as the novel reaches its denouement.

This novel raises some tough questions about reality and perception, about how lies become truth.  It's a tough read, but very much worthwhile.

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Light Reading - Just What I Needed!

This is not great literature, but it was a very relaxing read.



Death by Darjeeling by Laura Childs


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
This is the first book in a series featuring Theodosia and her Indigo Tea Shop in Charleston, SC.  The mystery is light, the writing is uneven, but it's a quick cozy read.  Charleston is definitely a main character as is tea.  I do drink tea, and I order teas from a tea wholesaler.  This book made me want to drink even more tea!

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It's Still a Knife in the Heart

It doesn't matter that I knew this was coming.  It doesn't matter that I've had 2 months to "reconcile" myself to it. When you finally get the official letter with the decision written in down in black and white, it still hurts.  It's still a knife in the heart. 

Book #26 The Hot Fudge Sundae Blues

Hot Fudge Sundae Blues: A Novel by Bev Marshall


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Thirteen year old Layla Jay's mother Frieda is widowed and penniless, and the two of them live with with her grandparents.  Layla Jay's grandmother is strict and very religious while her grandfather cusses and never goes to church. Frieda doesn't get along with her mother, smokes, drinks, dresses provocatively, and has a string of boyfriends that both Layla Jay and her mother disapprove of.  Then the handsome revival preacher shows up and Frieda marries him much to everyone's dismay.  Layla Jay's life takes a definite turn for the worse.  Eventually Layla Jay has to make some life-changing decisions.   I really enjoyed this coming-of-age novel.  Layla Jay is quite believable as a conflicted teenager.  She loves her grandparents and her mother, and she desperately wants to make things right with her God.  Yet life constantly puts her in difficult places and forces her to make some choices she would rather not make.  Layla Jay somehow manages to stay true to her core self and to her family.

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Waiting

We're still waiting for the formal notifications of changes in teaching assignments for next year.  It's getting really old fast.  As one of the folks who is going to be reassigned, it's been a tense couple of months.  Those of us who are affected have been told not to discuss it with anyone.  And yet EVERYONE knows something.  I can't tell you how many teachers have found their way into my room to ask me what I know.  The really sad part of all of this is that I have VERY mixed feelings about the pending reassignment.  I do not want to leave my grade level but I also do not want to continue teaching science.  I'm discouraged because I have seniority over others at my grade level who are teaching the subjects I'm qualified to teach and that I taught successfully for almost 15 years.  But I don't have the political connections that others have, and I've never figured out how to whine successfully.   We were promised that the announcements would be made last Monday, and then the date was Wednesday.  It's Friday, and no announcements yet.

Book #25 for 2010

I really enjoy these books. I love my local library; I just wish they had them "in stock" and  I didn't have to get them all from the interlibrary loan system!  I do appreciate the fact that I can get them that way however!

The Iron Hand of Mars by Lindsey Davis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Falco has reluctantly accepted an imperial mission which takes him deep into the wilds of the Germania Libera.  Helena has disappeared, apparently in a fit of pique when Falco misses  her birthday.  At the same time, Vespasian's son Titus is romantically pursuing her.  Helena' s brother Camillus Justinius is introduced in this installment, teaming up to support Falco.  I really enjoyed this installment of Falco's adventures even though it was less of a puzzle than usual, and much more of an adventure.  There are the usual misunderstandings between Falco and Helena as well as the usual reconciliations!  I really appreciate the level of research that the author has done to produce such a detailed picture of the first century Roman world. 

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TGIF AT LAST!

It has been a horribly long, difficult week.  I had to be out 4 nights in a row, the weather was miserable most of the week, and the students in our group were really on a rampage.  We have several students who have are disruptive, but we normally are able to reign them in.  This week though, nothing we did worked.  Our school's discipline system requires us to enter every misdeed into a database explaining what happened and how it was dealt with. I might write up one student a week.  In the last 2 days, I have to enter at least 8 referrals.  I had 2 students serve an after school detention on Wednesday for their shenanigans in the classroom on Tuesday. The 2 boys think that their primary purpose for being in class is to provide a show for the rest of us.  Normally 70% of the rest of the class ignores them, 20% get distracted and react until I do the teacher glare, and the other 10% follow their lead.  Tuesday however, was a different story, and  I eventually had to send the ringleaders to the office.  Then once everybody got calmed down and re-focused we had  a visit from the Noxious Fumes.  I have a student who has a problem with severe and quite odoriferous flatulence.  Every so often he just lets it rip, and within a few seconds, the class is gagging and hysterically laughing. Of course it had to happen then!

On another somewhat humorous note, yesterday one of Tuesday's ringleaders shouts out in the middle of silent reading "NO, I don't want your gum!!  Mrs. W, Jonny has gum!!  Jonny has gum!!"  (Gum is a prime forbidden object in our school).   To make a long story short, Jonny was chewing gum.  .  He said yes, because he had gotten it from Tommy.  So then Tommy produces a huge package of gum that he says he got from Jimmy.  Jimmy says yes, he SOLD it to Tommy because Tommy was the highest bidder.  Then the 3 of them started arguing about whether it was fair that they lost their gum because of each others'  tattling.  I sent all 3 to the office because it was taking too much to sort it all out.  As soon as the 3 miscreants left, one young man came up to me sheepishly and told me he had gum in his pocket.  He gives it to me.  Another young man pipes up, "I have gum but it's for the bus ride home."  I remark, "Gum isn't allowed on the buses."  He starts to argue, but I cut him off, "My husband and I own the bus company, so I do know the rules!"  He gives me his gum.  Then the "Eagle Scout" student comes up. "Mrs. W., I think there's a stick of gum in my jacket left over from the weekend.  I'll go get it."  I had to laugh at this point.  I ended up with a gum amnesty  ---- I turned my back and told them all to put any gum they had in the trash and I wouldn't look.  When that was done there was probably enough gum in the trash to open a store!  

Today, the other Tuesday ringleader got into trouble at lunch, (not on my watch).  I didn't know this had happened, so when he came to my class  he asked if could use the phone to call his mother because he wanted to stay after school to work on the mounds of missing work he has.  Since my teaching partner and I have been trying to get him to do this, I gave him permission.  Imagine my dismay when he asks his mother to pick him up because he was sick of school!!!

And then there is the tension in the building among staff and between staff and the school board.  Our contract was not passed by the voters, the board is bent on changing our calendar without adequate community input, and there are big changes looming in teaching assignments (mine among them.)  Nobody is a happy camper.  I'm sure that kids must pick up on atmosphere too!

Enough of this.   It's Friday.  I'm tired.  TGIF

Another Great Read!

Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This series just gets better and better.  Falco is hired by a family of freed slaves who thinks one of their members is being taken in by a gold digger who has a penchant for murdering her rich husbands.  As usual, as Falco delves into his task, he finds much than meets the eye.  Less than scrupulous landlords play center stage, and Helena finally makes an important decision regarding her relationship with Falco.  I couldn't put this one down!

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Trying to Lighten the Gloom that Presently Surrounds Me

I offer the following book as an antidote to the cloud of darkness that seems to be wrapping itself around me.


The Fourth Bear by Jasper Fforde


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Laugh out loud funny in several parts!  Another very clever and witty entry in Jasper Fforde's body of work.  This is the second installment of the Nursery Crimes' series, featuring Jack Spratt (who could eat no fat) and Mary Mary.  This time, they are attempting to locate Goldilocks who was last seen at a bears' cottage in Anderson Forest, figure out why a greenhouse full of giant cucumbers exploded, penetrate a porridge-dealer's network, and reinstate themselves into the good graces of the authorities.  The notorious master criminal Gingerbread Man is on the loose again, but although Jack was instrumental in the original capture of the cookie (or is he a cake?), he has been suspended from his job as head of the NCD  (Nursery Crimes Division).  Will they find Goldilocks?  Will Jack be able to get his job back?  Will his marriage survive the outing of a major secret?  Will Mary Mary and Ashley (the Rambosian alien) finally go out on a date?  Is the Gingerbread Man a cookie or a cake?  And who exactly is behind the building of the major theme park, Somme World???

 

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Struggling

I'm struggling...
With work. Changes are looming and they are unwelcome and unwanted.  I am scared about what comes next.
With church.  Changes are here.  I don't like what I'm experiencing.  I don't feel fed, I don't feel I fit.  I wonder, am I listening?  What is it I'm hearing?  Silence??  The answer??   Is what I'm hearing/not hearing the answer??

Send me some prayers, please.

Annoyed

My February Lady sweater is coming out too small.  This was my Knitting Olympics project which I didn't finish.  I got to a point yesterday where I could try it on, and it's too small.  I had gone down a needle size to get gauge, and I'm still getting it, but it's not fitting right.  The yoke is perfect, but the body just doesn't have enough room.  My 2 choices are to continue on and find somebody it fits, or to rip it out and try again using a larger needle.  I don't have enough yarn to knit the next size.   I'm annoyed because all the comments I've read about this sweater are that it comes out large, so if in doubt about which size to knit, knit the smaller size.  I wasn't in doubt -- I knit the finished bust size that always works for me, and I swatched.  I think this pattern, which I love by the way, could be improved by having a schematic with all the finished measurements for the size.  It's one of those patterns that tells you to knit til it's the desired length.  What it neglects to state (although I guess I should have done all the math ahead of time) is the finished width at various points.

Anyway, I'm really annoyed with myself!

All Over the Place

March has been a bust for me so far.  I started off on Monday leaving school early to head to the doctor's office.  Diagnosis?  Severe sinus infection AND conjunctivitis.  I had to stay home for 2 days in a row.  Aside from totally throwing off my scheduled lesson plans (starting a new science unit, a new writing unit)  I had to figure out 2 days of back-to-back sub plans.  Any teacher who reads this understands that difficulty.   In my district, we never know who will get as our sub, so we have to make sure that our plans can be handled and understood by anyone from an experienced sub familiar with the school and students and subjects, to a college student on spring break, or to a warm body.  The first day is bad enough, but then to figure out what to do for the 2nd day when you can't come in and see  how far they got the first day . . . well, it was not exactly the easiest thing to plan for.    I returned to school Thursday.  I had had the same sub for both days, and it appeared that things went well, although I did discover that several students earned after school detentions for misbehavior. 

We had an awesome presenter on Thursday - Scary Guy.  He is a dynamic presenter and the kids were very impressed.  I don't think I've ever been a gym full of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders (450ish) who sat in shocked, even horrified silence as they viewed the opening powerpoint.  When Scary Guy actually entered the gym you could have heard a pin drop.  Scary Guy is tattooed over 85% of his body, was dressed in what looked like biker leather and sported a bleached blonde short mohawk and beard, and numerous facial piercings.  His message?   If you want world peace, it starts with you!  We need to love each other and understand each other.  You control  your mind and actions.  He challenged the kids (and us) to go 7 days and 7 nights without calling someone a name other than their own.  If you slip up (and you will), go face to face to that person and apologize.  He preached a terrific sermon - as close to church as you can go in a public school-- from a truly universal point of view.  It's the golden rule - treat others as you would wish to be treated.  It takes a lot to impress me when it comes to assembly presentations.  This was terrific!  I'm glad I made it back to school for this.  It didn't hurt that his whole school presentation lasted an hour and a half, and then our 6th graders got another 90 minutes with him in a training session.  He told the kids that if you receive negative energy (someone calls you a bad name, verbally assaults you, etc.) you have a choice.  You can accept that negative energy which gets stored inside you, creating stress, and when your "stress tank" is full, you will pass on that negative energy) OR you can reject the negative energy, refuse to "own" the bad name, and walk away, realizing that the bad energy belongs to the sender, and not to you.  The kids were told that when you accept the negative energy somebody else controls you.  The other big piece that impressed the kids was that he asked the audience to raise their hands if they had ever called somebody a rotten name.  Every hand went up.  Then he asked how many people had been called a bad name.  Every hand went up.  Finally he asked if they had every hit somebody, (including a brother or sister, "cause they're human too")  Again, everyone raised their hand.  Scary Guy then told us that we were all bullies, all victims, and therefore all participants in the vicious cycle of violence. 

I didn't expect this to turn into a Scary Guy posting, but he was amazing.

In another vein, I'm also struggling with the idea that I will probably have to change grade levels next year.  It looks like I will be moved to 7th grade to teach social studies and language arts.  I love the idea of getting back to those 2 subjects, but I'm not at all  happy with having to move up.  I have been in 6th grade for 15 years and I love it.  I love the age level and I'm good at reaching these kids.  I have been unhappy this past year and a half because I got "stuck" teaching science instead of social studies.  For reasons I won't go into here, I got switched from social studies to science against my will.  I've officially complained  about the switch since I'm not HQT for science and I guess this is the official answer.  I guess you have to be careful what you wish for!

I have a ton of work today -- one result of being sick is a lot of extra work to look at, even if you don't grade it all!  Tomorrow I hope to get to church -- although that's another problematic area in my life right now.  I need to figure out what to do about that soon, but that's another whole post in itself on another day!

Knitting Olympics: DNF

My sweater is actually a tad longer, but not much.  I still have one more skein after the current skein is finished, to use on the body, which leaves me 3 skeins for the sleeves.  I'm actually going to move to the sleeves when I finish the current skein because I always shorten my sleeves by 3 inches.  (I have VERY short arms, and do this on all sweaters).  Then I can use the rest of the yarn to get a longer sweater since I don't like short sweaters.    I'm just hoping  this will fit.

So I guess I'm a slower knitter than I thought.  It takes me about an hour to do 4 lace rows.  It's a very easy lace pattern, but they are long rows  (almost 400 stitches). And despite the fact that it's a quickly memorized pattern, I still make mistakes and find I lost a yarn over, or put it in the wrong place. 

It's okay that I won't make the finish in time.  I've been enjoying the process and that's what counts.

Book #18 Midnight Come Again

Midnight Come Again by Dana Stabenow


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I stayed up til the wee hours with this one!  Kate Shugak has left her homestead, changed her name, and abandoned her friends in her deep grief.  Meanwhile, Jim Chopin has been tapped to go undercover by the FBI to trace a Russian Mafia plutonium smuggling scheme.  Off he goes to Bering, where he takes a job as a freight handler at the local airstrip.  Imagine his surprise when the other employee turns out to be Kate!  This novel features Jim Chopin prominently and much of it is told from his point of view.  As the novel progresses, however, Kate is brought back to the forefront as she finally begins to emerge from her paralyzing grief.  Once again, Dana Stabenow evokes the culture and geography of Alaska well, and her characters take on new depths as the story plays out.  I've already started the next one in the series!

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And So the Week Ends

So I end my winter break sick --- 2 days of a sore throat, swollen glands, headache, which is morphing now into a head cold and tight cough.  I had to go into school yesterday and today for workshops, and if I'm being honest, they were not the most productive use of my time.  While some of the work was necessary, it could have been condensed into one day.  Today especially felt like busy work to me.  It was hard enough to have to go into school these last two days; at least give me a meaningful task to accomplish or give me time to work in my classroom on planning.  

I have not gotten as far as wanted to on my knitting.  I may, if I do nothing but knit from now til Sunday, finish the body of my sweater, but not the sleeves.  I'm disappointed, but that's okay.  I gave myself a challenge, and it's okay that I didn't finish . . . .I also couldn't watch all of the ice skating last night --- 11 pm is too late for me to watch TV on a school night!   I did enjoy the men's aerials, though I think they're crazy!!

Here's a good read:

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Flavia deLuce is the eleven year old sleuth in this debut novel.  She's precocious, imaginative, lonely, and passionate about chemistry.  Flavia is the youngest daughter of a widowed philatelist, and she's devoted to finding ways to "get even" with her older sisters Daphne and Ophelia. She's especially fascinated with poisons, and uses her knowledge of pharmacology to "prank" her sister.   She lives in 1950's England in Buckland, the ancestral home of her family, and her family has a reputation for eccentricity.   As a schoolboy, her father was involved in the suicide/accidental death/murder of his schoolmaster and also in the disappearance of a very rare stamp.  When a dead body appears in Flavia's garden, her father is a suspect, and off she goes, hot on the trail of the murderer, finding clues that even Inspector Hewitt misses.  I really enjoyed this book.  I'm not sure if it's being marketed as a young adult mystery, an adult mystery, or a children's book. It would certainly appeal to some of my more mature readers on some levels.  I learned a lot too -- about chemistry and stamp-collecting, and I could see this book being used as a hook in a chemistry lab. 

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Winter Break - cont'd

Edited:  So the power cut off before I could post the book review--- here's what I wrote yesterday . . .and I'm still sick, but have to at least show my face at school, then come home early, I hope!

Today is my last day of break - back to school tomorrow and Friday.  At least it's workshops, so somebody else has done the "lesson-planning" and I get to be the student for a change!

I spent Sunday and Monday doing school work --- grading papers and  planning lessons, including working on a new science unit.  I had to reach back to high school physics for this one - wave energy, sound, and light.  I read a couple of science textbooks to familiarize myself with content, and tried a couple of the suggested lab experiments.  Yesterday was supposed to be tax day --- I set out to organize all our info so that I can send it to the accountant, but I got sidetracked by illness.  I have developed a horrible sore throat and fever, achiness, etc.  I should go to the doctor, but we are in the middle of a huge snowstorm --- 14 inches on the ground and it's still coming.  Nobody's going anywhere.  Right now, the tylenol has me in an "okay, maybe I'm getting better" state, but I'm not holding my breath.  We'll see.  I want to be knitting, but the needles feel too heavy right now, and the lace pattern of my sweater too daunting  --- that's the illness talking there.



I did finish this book last night (or early this am when I couldn't sleep!)

Shadows in Bronze by Lindsey Davis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Shadows in Bronze is the second book in the Marcus Didius Falco series, and it's a wild romp through Rome, Pompeii, Hercanuleum, and the coastline of southern Italy.  Falco is working as Vespasian's informer, trying to earn enough money to purchase a higher rank.  Vespasian gives him all the "dirty" jobs however, like ridding Rome of inconvenient corpses and mopping up a failed anti-Vespasian conspiracy.  Helena Justina is back in the picture, despite Falco's resolve to forget her, and their relationship takes some unexpected turns and twists.  I have to admit that I got a little lost in the intricacy of the plot, and the abruptness of chapters got  a bit in the way of my enjoyment.  However, this was quite a satisfying adventure, and could lend itself to a great action/wry twist humor TV series.  I'm looking forward to reading #3 in the series!

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Winter Break

This may be our last year of a February winter break and an April spring break.  Our school board wants to combine the 2 weeks into one March break.  Many of us are against this idea for a lot of reasons.  The board wants us to be able to get out of school a week earlier, which sounds nice.  The downside to that however, is that it extends the summer learning loss window.  Kids lose a lot of ground over the 9 weeks they already have off.  Adding one more week to that doesn't seem educationally sound to me.  In New England, the period of time between Christmas and March is a long dark tunnel.  The Feb break comes along at the height of flu and cold season, and does a great job of breaking up that cycle.  We will see what happens with the calendar - decisions will be made in a few weeks.

This year though my winter break is shorter than usual.  The kids have the whole week off; teachers just have M-W off.  We have workshops scheduled for Thursday and Friday.  This is a huge change, and one that we had no say in.  Don't get me wrong, the professional development time is valuable.  It's just that in the past, it wasn't scheduled into a 50 years plus-old tradition, and it wasn't sprung on us with no input.    There's a lot of unhappiness in the ranks. 

So what am I doing for this break?  On Saturday, we traveled to Boston to visit with our sons.  Son #2 lives in LA and flew east with his lovely girlfriend on business.  Son #1 lives in Providence so  he drove up and we all met at the Prudential Center.  We had a lovely day visiting the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  I was fascinated by two of the special exhibits there:  Secrets of Tomb 10A: Egypt 2000 BC 
and Luís Meléndez: Master of Spanish Still Life.  The Egyptian artifacts painted a detailed picture of everyday life but I was so bothered by the fact that I haven't been able to teach social studies for the last two years.  I kept wanting to buy resources in the gift shop for the 6th graders, but I refuse to spend money on something I'm not teaching.  I fell in love with the paintings in the still life exhibit.  Meléndez's paintings of fruits, vegetables, and kitchen implements were amazing.  He was a keen observer and captured details like the water droplets oozing out of a cut watermelon, the reflection of fruit off a silver platter, and the iridescence of a freshly-caught fish's eye.  Imagine a cauliflower so true to life that it seemed 3 dimensional!    After our cultural enhancement we headed to the North End for a great Italian dinner on Hanover Street, followed by sensational cannolli  from Mikes Pastry.  

Yesterday I spent grading science reports and today I'm working on developing a new science unit on waves, sound, and light.  Thus I am reading the textbook and doing some research since high school physics was the last time I thought about wave energy.  I have the state GLE's and a ton of resources to use, so that's my game plan for today.  Tomorrow is tax day, and then Wednesday will be a day off.  Thursday and Friday it's back to school for work shops, and then it's the weekend. . . .I guess the break part is the fact that I can sleep in!

And I can stay up a bit later to watch the Olympics.  I am not a sports person by any stretch of the imagination,but I just love watching Olympic competition --- curling, bobsledding, skating, skiiing, I don't care!   My knitting is coming along - I probably won't finish my sweater by the end of closing ceremonies, but I'm giving it a valiant try.

Tough Day Ahead

I do not like the day before a break, especially one that's set up to be crazy.  I don't understand why we set kids up to get overexcited and wild by scheduling super high energy events such as pep rallies, and whole school tug of wars on the Friday before winter vacation.  All week long the excitement has been building . . . . and the kids who have trouble focusing and keeping their impulses under control have already had a harder than usual time.  I suspect it won't be pretty.

There will be some big decisions made shortly too, about reorganization of teaching teams.  I'm one of the folks on the cusp of another unwanted change.  I alternate between anger and half-hearted optimism, but mostly feel betrayed once again. 

As I said, a tough day.

The Silver Pigs -

I liked this new series I discovered by Lindsey Davis.  As a history major, and erstwhile social studies teacher, I love historical fiction, and it's especially enjoyable when it's set in a favorite time period.  In this case, it's ancient Rome during the time of Vespasian.  The Empire is in turmoil, having just endured the Year of Four Emperors.  As is usual for imperial Rome, intrigue is never far away.

The Silver Pigs by Lindsey Davis


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ancient Rome, theft, murder, damsels in distress, and true love  - Lindsey Davis introduces Marcus Didius Falco, a professional informer and investigator.  The silver pigs in this novel refer to silver ingots that have been disguised as lead.  Is a Senator involved in smuggling these ingots out of Britain to finance the overthrow of the emperor Vespasian?  Who is responsible for the death of Sosia, the beautiful niece of the beautiful, but fiery Helen Justinia?  Marcus Didius Falco is an Army veteran, sickened by the mismanagement of the "higher ups."  He has no love for the imperial rulers of Rome and in fact is a republican (power to the people, not the emperor!).  He's well-known as a womanizing scoundrel, a doting uncle, and is constantly running from his landlord as he tries to avoid paying his rent as long as possible.  He's found work as an investigator with very-questionable contacts and morals.  Yet, he really does have the proverbial heart of gold, deeply hidden..  I really enjoyed this one!  

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What a Difference a Day Makes

I'm glad today was a snow day.  Even though we now risk having to go into the next week in June should we have another snow day, I am glad that today was a day I got to stay home.  I've been fighting the bug that's been making the rounds at school, and I was feeling last night that I was losing the battle.  I did get up at my usual 4:45 am but by 5:20, when the decision to close school was made, I snuggled back into bed and actually went back to sleep until the phone rudely awakened me at 7 am.  I've had a very leisurely day ---- catching up on episodes of Big Love, Castle, Project Runway, and even catching some Olympic curling.  I got lots of knitting done on my Knitting Olympics project, the February Lady Sweater. I napped some too.  I feel like a turned the corner and at least got the immunity cells recharged.

I also had a chance to compose an email to my principal.  He asked me for my thoughts on a proposed assignment change last week, and he gave me some time to think about it.   I've been thinking, and finally got my thoughts down in writing, slept on it, prayed about it, and finally composed the email.   Now I just have to wait and pray that I've made my thoughts persuasive enough.

All in all, a snow day was exactly what I needed today.

Books of 2010: #14 Shades of Grey

Shades of Grey: The Road to High Saffron by Jasper Fforde


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
This new novel from Jasper Fforde is very different from both his Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes series.  While the biting satire is there, this is a much darker-hued (pun intended) view of the world.   Fforde's novel is set about 500 years in the future after Something Happened.  Society is tightly organized and controlled ( á la 1984 or the The Giver) by a Head Office and National Color.  Your place in society is determined strictly by the color and the percentage of that color that you can  perceive.  Eddie Russet, a potential high-level Red, is sent to the Outer Fringes as punishment for his lack of humility.  Or is that really the reason?  Eddie is trying to "color up" through an advantageous marriage, but he's been known to question things that are supposed to be unquestionable.  He travels to East Carmine with his father, who acts as a healer, using color swatches as his tools.  Eddie meets Jane Grey, a known troublemaker, and through his association with her, discovers far more about his world than he wanted to know.   Fforde creates a very believable world - a world that values spoons, barcodes, and following Munsell's Rules.  There's the characteristic Fforde humor  --- the librarians who can recite the misremembered names of novels that have been removed in the Great Leapbacks, Killer Swans, and the wonder of loopholes.  I liked this book, though not as light-hearted in feeling as his previous books.  I was bothered by the darkness of the ending, but I am looking forward to reading the sequels.  It wasn't a fast (for me, anyway) read. I did get interrupted a lot, but at the same time, the darker side of the humor, slowed me down.

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Sunday Evening - Random Musings

I'm ending this weekend in a much less stressed frame of mind than this time last Sunday.   I had many fewer "have to's" this weekend.  I still could use another day in between Saturday and Sunday.  Yesterday I did chores - laundry, schoolwork, errands.  I didn't get them all done and just realized that I never got to the bank.   We went to Home Depot to look for carpet for a room we're renovating, but the price wasn't right, so we decided to wait on the carpet.  There's a very worn pine floor that we can cover with a Oriental rug for now, so it's not urgent that we lay down carpet at the moment.    Today I even made some Toll House cookies for my Valentine.  I can't remember the last time I made chocolate chip cookies!  Now the trick will be to limit myself to just one a day as a treat!!

I got to church today which was good in some respects and not so good in others.  I am finding it harder and harder to go the church I've attended for over 30 years.  I am an active member; in fact I'm part of the church leadership team.  Yet I cannot seem to find nourishment during worship.  As I sat in church this morning, trying to open myself up to whatever the Spirit had to offer, I realized how stale and empty the service felt.  I love the people of the congregation - it is a family, which I love dearly, but it doesn't seem to be enough.  I have signed up for a Lenten Bible study which starts tomorrow night to see if that helps.  We've been too long without pastoral leadership, so I keep going, hoping that now that we have a settled pastor, I'll find my way again.  But that quiet voice is starting to shout that perhaps this isn't the place any more. 

My knitting is coming along well -- I've really been enjoying the Winter Olympics.  The short track speed skating last night had me on the edge of my seat, and I really enjoyed the women's moguls competition.  This afternoon I even enjoyed the men's biathlon!  I wish the ice skating wasn't tonight -- I have to go to bed early since there's school tomorrow!  One more week and then a very short break.  The kids have the whole last week of Feb off but we only have 3 days.  We have to go back on Thursday and Friday for professional development days.  This is the first year ever that this has happened.  We've always had the full week.  We are NOT happy campers!

The Olympics

 

So as I sit and watch the Vancouver Winter Games, I am also participating in the The Knitting Olympics. This is a new endeavor for me, and it will definitely be a challenge.  I am attempting the February Lady Sweater.  I'm using Valley Yarns Colrain  in burgundy on size 7 needle.  Last night I cast on at 8 pm EST --- 8 times because I couldn't get the right amount of yarn estimated for the long tail cast on  --- I kept ending up with a way too long tail!  I knit about 4 inches of the yoke (and re-knit several rows several times!).  I have 20 more repeats before I move on to the next step in the yoke. 

This will be challenging to knit in the allotted time span.  I will not have a great deal of knitting time this coming week  -- two evenings out for Lenten Bible Study and Ash Wednesday services, plus all the usual school stuff, but then the following week I have 3 days of Winter Break. (The kids have the whole week, but our school board in its infinite wisdom decided to put 2 of our professional development days at the end of what has always been a full week of winter break!)  So, wish me luck!

It Was a VERY LONG Week

I think the kids took crazy pills this week at school.  I  haven't had such a difficult week behavior-wise in a couple of years.  Student A was suspended from school for a knock-down, drag-out physical fight, spent a n day on "in-school" suspension, and came back into the classroom on Tuesday.  He was in no emotional/mental state to be in the classroom, and I had to remove him  Tuesday.  On Wednesday he managed to stay in the classroom, but I had to file an "incident" report.  On Thursday I was out of the classroom because I am on a district committee that's rewriting the language arts curriculum and my sub had to send him to the principal's office.  Meanwhile Student B was out of control in the classroom on Monday, so I wrote him up and called home.  On Tuesday, I had to write him up again and he spent lunch with the principal.  Also on Tuesday, Student B and Student C had a food fight in the cafeteria because Student D told them too!  Then on Wednesday, Student C and Student A got into a loudly vehement disagreement over whether or not the classroom window should be open.  As I said, it was a crazy week.  Kids really feed off negative energy, even more so than positive energy.  I know that they all were hoping we'd get a snowstorm (the remnants of the massive storm that hit the mid East coast) so storm energy was in the mix too.  Unfortunately we just got snow showers.   I did make some phone calls to parents and I did threaten to make a few more calls, so by Friday, things were much calmer.  I was thinking somehow that it was me but when just about every other teacher experienced a similar week, I decided that it was just one of those weeks.
We have one more week before winter break, so I'm hoping we contain the energy a little bit longer. 

What's Wrong with this Picture?

Somehow it doesn't seem right that it's just going on 8 pm on Saturday night, and I'm still busy with chores.  Almost 5 hours spent today on business bookkeeping and it's not done, plus a trip to a wallpaper store to purchase wallpaper for the 2nd bedroom renovation that will start once the first room is done  (more on that another time.) I already have a full-time teaching job to fit into my life ----  I don't really have time for a 2nd job! 

It Could Have Been a Good One

  Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
   I found this book dull, perhaps because this was a manuscript found after Michael Crichton died, and it was not polished and edited the way  it might have been had the author himself submitted it for publication.  Although there is potential for a "rollicking, swashbuckling adventure", it's unrealized potential.  This truly felt like the first draft.  The pieces were all there - flawed hero, villainous characters, loyal henchmen, damsel in distress, treasure hunt, pirates, exotic locations, murder, mayhem, and sex.  But none of pieces were developed well.  I felt no rapport with any of the characters, and didn't really care how the drama played out.  All in all, I was glad I borrowed this from the library instead of downloading it on my Kindle.

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Another Book Review

Hunter's Moon by Dana Stabenow


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I gave this book 4 stars because I can't stop thinking about it, not because I really liked it.  I hated the ending!  To go from the peak to the lowest depths in one novel is gut-wrenching.  Kate and Jack are hired as assistant guides for a backcountry hunting trip.  The clients are German executives on a corporate retreat, and there's something "off" about them.  The company is being investigated on several fronts, and there are some odd signals being sent. All hell breaks loose when one hunter is accidentally shot, and then a second death occurs.  I just couldn't believe the ending!

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