Creature Bug

Going to Work

Yesterday was Take Your Child to Work day, which many of Jason's students used as a great opportunity to ditch school and go see how cool working is (or not).

Instead of ditching school, Sydney actually went to school. For an assortment of reasons, Sydney didn't go to work with me. The main reason was that students were giving final speeches, and while they have developed a plethora of techniques for conquering their shaky nerves, I suspect a child waving at them from the back of the classroom would have just sent them over the top.

So, Sydney went to school with Jason. And, boy oh boy, was she just beside herself with excitement. The night before, she picked out her clothes, helped her daddy pack her lunch, and got her overnight bag all ready since my grandpa was picking her up at school to take her up to the Family Farm for her weekly visit. She went to bed early the night before since she knew that she'd have to wake up early, and she didn't complain about waking up at 6:15 am. Normally, Jason leaves for school very early because it's better for him to get work done before school than to stay after school more than the required time (ie: I beg him to be home by 4:00). However, he made an exception this time and left for school later than he needed to be.

By all accounts Sydney had a fabulous time. She gave hugs to the girls, and avoided giving high-fives to the boys (well done, my child). She drew on the dry-erase board, watched Winnie the Pooh on the iPod, ate donuts in the school office, and ran around the gym during Jason's prep time. As an added bonus, Inkling took her son to work with her too, so Sydney was jazzed about seeing him. Lunchtime rolled around, and my grandpa arrived to pick up Sydney. Jason told me later, "I wish Sydney could have been with me all day. It was so much fun having her around."

There are certain benefits to being almost four, and this year it was finally being old enough to go to work with Daddy. Who knows if this early experience with teaching will actually mean she'll want to be a teacher--gosh, if she follows in our footsteps, she won't figure out her career choice until her college adviser says, "Uh, maybe you should pick a major?"--but I'm glad she had a great experience her first time going to work with Jason. There are valuable lessons in learning what your parents do for a living, but of course, you already knew that, didn't you? Smarty pants.

*****

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Week 194: Busy not blogging

I have undertaken the monumental task of putting our pictures in photo albums. This has been a resolution of mine for, oh, the last four years. I have albums completed up until Sydney was born, or rather just before she was born. Just now I'm getting around to dealing with the folders and folders of photos that I have saved on my hard drive (and an external for back-up). It's quite handy that my pictures are so marvelously organized by month as it makes this whole project much easier.

I have to say that I'm really getting a great deal of satisfaction out of choosing pictures and then designing the layout for the page. It brings back grand and glorious memories of the days I used to teach yearbook. My mind is a running monologue of words like white space, eye lines, and thematic design elements. I have dedicated a certain number of pages to each month, and the page that introduces the next month is a consistent design throughout the album. Instead of using traditional albums, I've decided just to go the route of using My Publisher. Yes, it's more expensive than just printing the pictures at Costco and putting them in an album. No, I don't care. I can swing $35 for a 100-page album. (Note to my dad: you should totally be doing this! REALLY. It's a matter of family urgency that you get the photos in order since we'll never be able to figure out your organizational system to do it ourselves.)

(Here's a spread from the Christmas pages, and yes, I broke the eyeline on this spread and have come to terms with it. Turns out it's very tricky to keep eyelines in My Publisher. No big deal.)

The plan is to do two albums per year, one for the first six months and one for the last six months. The plan was also to complete a month a day (beginning with last July and then working forward), and I started this whole photo project last Friday. Tomorrow I finish book one. Right on schedule.

 

Unfortunately, I've gone from "I'll get around to organizing the photos sometime," to "I'm organizing the photos now! At this moment! Get out of the way!" That's good for keeping momentum going, not so good when I should have mailed out Valentine's cards last Saturday and will instead be mailing them out tomorrow. I feel awful about my tardy cards, but nothing I can do about it now. Except do better next year.

*****

I gave up daytime blogging and websurfing for Lent (which is to say, no Internet stuff except email while the girls are awake). I don't miss the websurfing. It was time for a change because over the last few months I  found myself just migrating towards the computer to check on this, check on that, and before I knew it, an hour later I'm reading the court transcripts from Britney's child-custody case while my girls pull on my arms begging me to come play with them. Bleh.

So, after some soul searching, it seemed like I needed to back off a little. I just didn't need to be on the web that much. I didn't. I don't. I get frazzled that I've wasted my time, frustrated that things that should get done aren't getting done, and impatient with my sweet little girls who need me way more than anyone needs my comment on their latest post. Hard to believe, but it's true.

It's oddly freeing, keeping away from reading news on the Internet. However, it's been a lot harder to keep away from blogging, whether reading, writing, or commenting. It had become so much a part of my daily life that stepping away--even if just for a few hours--was really hard. It was a habit that needed to change though. My advance apologies if you post some critical news and I'm not johnny-on-the-spot to comment. I think about you though. Honestly.

And speaking of Lent, if you're looking for a book that doesn't dwell too much on the denominational aspect of Lent and instead focuses on the spiritual journey, I am thoroughly enjoing the book I'm using as a daily devotional, Small Surrenders. Very thought provoking. Highly recommend it.

*****

Sydney had a dentist appointment today, and I've figured out the way to make her look forward to that is to schedule an eye appointment the day before. As she said today, "Dentists are fun. Eye doctors are not fun. That new toothbrush is very funny!"

The dentist appointment went splendidly. The eye appointment still has me blinking slowly, warming up to the idea that Sydney needs bifocals. Already her prescription is +6.00 in her right eye and +6.5 in her left eye; the bifocals add another +3 to the bottom half of her glasses. I didn't think it would bother me that her eyesight is unchanged and in some cases worse, but it does. I started to write about it last night, but it was too emotional for me. I'm not as brave as Sydney is.

*****

I baked eight dozen cookies to take to my students today as an early Valentine's gift. Even though I have class on Thursday--which would be a more appropriate time to give them cookies--several of the students will be gone on account of baseball and softball games. I thought they deserved cookies too, so I stayed up until 11 o'clock last night finishing off the last batch.

I'm pretty sure the only thing they'll remember about today's class is that they got cookies.

I'm okay with that.

*****

I'm so glad you all approve of Trader Joe's. Which isn't to say that I'm searching for approval, except that sometimes I am. Also, I should note that Corvallis DOESN'T have a Trader Joes (thanks, Jen, for pointing that out). Eugene has one. Now I know what I'll be doing while Jason is running the Eugene Marathon in May.

(c) 2008 Creature Bug. All rights reserved.

Helping Others

This week my students finished up their final presentations in which they had to deliver a persuasive speech (using the handy dandy Monroe's Motivated Sequence) urging their listeners to take action on some issue. Even though I love listening to almost all of the speeches they deliver over the course of the semester (except the group speech, which is painfully long and unexciting), their final speech is one my favorites. This is when students get to shine, when they get to put a whole semester's worth of knowledge to use and convince their classmates to do something. While not all the students all passionate about their topics, many choose issues that they really care about. They speak about suicide prevention, exercise, the environment, and music education. They speak about the Voice of the Martyrs, Global Expeditions, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, Save the Children, and Operation Christmas Child.

As one of the students said, "You can't choose every charity; you can't fix every problem; you can't donate all your money and time. But you can do something. You can make a difference." I am sad to see these two groups of students leave me...they have been good classes.

And they have reminded me to share some of my favorite organizations and links that are doing their best to make a difference in the world. For me, my passion is global hunger. This is a topic I have been reading and praying about for many months, and even though I am just one person who cannot solve the major ills of the world, I am still one person. I can make a difference.

• Free Rice: I shared this link before, as have others all over the Internet. This is a fun and easy way for you to help make a difference in fighting global hunger. Even Jason's students work on Free Rice during their spare time in class. As you learn new words, Free Rice takes their ad revenue and donates money to the UN's World Food Programme, which in turn gives rice to those in need. Make Free Rice a habit, and FYI: there are 29,000 grains of rice in a one-pound bag.
• Food for the Hungry: works in 26 developing countries, providing disaster and emergency relief. They have a powerful interactive story in which you can experience what it is like to make life-and-death decisions in order to survive.
• ECHO: their mission is to "network with community leaders in developing countries to seek hunger solutions for families growing food under difficult solutions." Based in Ft. Myers, Florida, ECHO is one organization I know for certain is making a difference because I had the opportunity to visit the ECHO farm in 2004 when my sister was working there. The work they are doing is amazing. Consider using their Christmas Catalog to give a gift that sustains life.
• Heifer International: give a sustainable gift to a family that will help sustain them. Maybe a flock of chicks. Or a goat. One year for Christmas we gave my grandma the gift of choosing which livestock she'd like to send to a needy family. For someone who has everything, it was definitely more rewarding than a basket of lotion from Bath & Body Works.
• Global Giving: connects you to pre-screened grassroots causes and helps you donate directly to those groups. Want to provide education for AIDS orphans in India? How about supporting a girls' soccer team in Rwanda? Or giving American students access to music education? Global Giving will hook you up! 
• Bread for the World: an excellent resource in identifying what you can do to help fight social injustices as well as the global food crisis. They even have suggestions for things you can do right from your home.
• The Hunger Site: similar to FreeRice in that ad revenue goes to fight world hunger.
• End Hunger Fast: a wonderful resource (developed by Heather, one of my favorite bloggers) that gives excellent ideas on what you can do to end hunger.
• Compassion International: a child sponsorship program that strives to provide food, education, and social opportunities for impoverished children. When Sydney was born we knew that we wanted to sponsor a child, but waited until she was three years old so that we could find a child who was about the same age. We are now the proud sponsors of Gertrude from Tanzania.

And speaking of Compassion Int'l, I want to thank those of you who Commented for a Cause! Thank you Amy, Anachronism, Jen, Kim, Simona, Paige, Becca, Ally, Karen, Gretchen, Kristan, Kimberly, Danielle, Rachelle, Goslyn, Alida, Jess, Becca Banana, Megan, Rach and Liv, Kim, Andrea, Aleece, Leanne, Erin, Margaret, Lee Anderson, Kimberly, Leslie, Inkling, Suzanne, CCAP, Nancy, Katy Lewis, Amy, Molly, Stout, Katrina, Donnelle, Devon, Bananas, Sarah, Heather, Ariadne, Diana, Dad, Jeri, Alison, Kari, Lynette, and Sophie. What a blessing.

Of course, there are innumerable organizations that are making a difference in this world, but these are some of the ones that I hold near and dear to my heart. Nearly all the organizations are four-star charities according to Charity Navigator (an online resource that determines a charity's effectiveness and fiscal responsibility), so that's good to know.

I know this post has a lot of links and maybe you don't have time to look through them all, but I really encourage you to see what some of these organizations are doing. You never know what change you are capable of accomplishing unless you try. We can make a difference.

How about you? What issues speak to your heart?

From the classroom

For the past several days Jason has been teaching his students about the environment, ways to recycle, some of the research regarding global warming, etc. Since it is directed at junior high students, it's not highly indepth, but students of that age are old enough to learn how to take care of our planet and understand the value of recycling and our limited natural resources.

Yesterday, he came home from school feeling a bit down because he has had a few students come in and tell him some negative comments they have heard from their parents regarding this environment unit. Comments like, "I hope he's teaching you the other side of the issue," and "What on earth are they teaching you at that school?! Nothing." Additionally, parents are upset that Jason showed some clips from An Inconvenient Truth, presumably because the film features Al Gore and so that *must* make the whole thing a bunch of hogwash.

Okay, so maybe some people don't believe in global warming. Whatever. But to think that teaching students about recycling and limited natural resources is a bad idea? Right. Don't recycle. Litter everywhere. Use as much paper as you possibly can. Leave your lights on all the time and the water too. Good idea.

It's a good thing I don't have a teaching position where I interact with parents anymore. Because even though I've matured in some areas, I'm not sure if I could keep myself from saying unprofessional things toward them. All I can say: some people are ridiculous.

Week 182: Homework is finished

If you're a teacher then you can fully appreciate the following statement: I am all caught up with my grading, and have my grades entered in the proper grading program. Yippee!

Even though I only have 40 students--which is nearly the size of just one classroom for some teachers--I don't allow myself nearly enough time to get the grading done (approximately 15 minutes, two days a week). Fortunately, since I teach speech then a lot of the grading is done in class as they give their speeches. However, I still manage to plague them with a few paper assignments. This week, I'm having individual conferences with students to discuss their grade and final speech project, so it is imperative that I actually have their grade handy. The paper work isn't what I get behind on; it's the pages and pages of emails that I receive on a daily basis. Most of my students email me their assignments (which I encourage because I'm all about saving paper), which works in theory but it actually takes more time to grade than a real honest-to-goodness sheet of paper.

Thanks to Jason, though, I had a few hours of uninterrupted time (or as uninterrupted as time gets with two kids in the house) and now I'm good to go for the rest of the semester. Which, incidentally, ends in three weeks. I'd rejoice, but I really love my classes and love teaching. It's so much easier than anything else I do in my real life.

And speaking of homework, in a couple weeks some of my real-life friends (who are also bloggers) are having a get-together. Part of my job is to complete this assignment. I'll gladly oblige since I don't have to grade it!

What is your motto?
A place for everything, and everything in its place. But maybe that's just because I spent the whole day organizing the coat closet/office.

What superhuman power would you most want to have?
I have to echo Becca's sentiment here: To be able to do things super fast.

What makes you laugh?
The better question is perhaps what doesn't make me laugh, since I laugh quite easily. But a few things: Sydney talking about how much she loves broccoli, Jules dancing, Jason's sarcasm, and The Office.

Cats or dogs?
Dogs (don't much care for cats and Jason is VERY allergic), but after Daisy isn't with us anymore then we'll be a pet-free household. The dirt drives me nuts.

Would you rather be a little smarter or sexier?
Well, since I'd really like to get my PhD at some point, I'm going to say smarter because I can always work-out and get in better shape, but my brain seems to be deteriorating a lightning quick pace.

What's one thing you'll never understand?
The NY Stock Exchange.

My life would be simpler if...?
...someone did my laundry. I'm at the point now where I would pay someone to do my laundry (and yes, I know there are businesses that do that but I'm sure they'd charge more than I'm willing to pay).

The big decision I'm currently wrestling with is...
...which designer/builder to choose to build our house. Do we go with a general contractor, and have someone else draw up our plans, or do we pick a designer who works closely with a builder? Questions to ponder.

Also...whether to go to bed now and have to get up early to write a review, or stay up late and write the review now. Hmm...I think I'm going to bed.

Professor Cheese

I mentioned earlier that I was going to tell two cheesy jokes to my students, and thought I should give you the other one since it is hands-down one of my favorites. Naturally, I learned it from my dad. Also naturally, my students are alternately horrified/annoyed/freaked out that I tell this joke and find it so amusing. College professors definitely should be more serious than moi. [Sidenote: After two years, I have finally given up the fight against being called "professor." I'm really not a professor, I'm just an instructor. An adjunct instructor with no PhD to my name. But, my students call me professor, and if I tell them not to, then they just resort to calling me, "Hey, you." So, I've learned to accept the title of Professor S----- and not fight it.]

I should add, before telling the joke, that the punch line works a lot better told out loud. It loses most of its punch in writing, but I share it here so that you can go forth and give your friends even more reasons to roll their eyes at you. Also, I'm giving you a shorter version of the story even though it generally takes me about 4 minutes to tell the whole thing because I insist on elaborating by using local restaurant names and acting it out with voices. Sophisticated, I am not. Entertaining, I am. Sometimes.

Three strings walk into a restaurant and decide to order some lunch*. The manager notices them and asks, "Excuse me. Are you strings?"

"Yes, we are," they reply.

"Sorry," he says, "We don't serve strings."

"You don't serve strings! Why not?"

"We just don't. I'm sorry, you'll have to leave." The strings protest mightily but in the end they are thrown out of the restaurant.

By this time they're really hungry, but they aren't giving up on their mission to get some food. "I have an idea," says one of the strings, "let's dye ourselves green so they won't know we're strings." The other two strings think this is a good idea, so they all eventually find themselves looking quite green. They walk into the restaurant again, sit down, and order some food. But before their food arrives, the manager sees them again, marches over and demands, "Are you those strings I just threw out?"

The strings try to evade his question, but eventually admit that they are those same strings. With great force, the manager throws them out of the restaurant again with the directive to "Stay out!"

At this point, they are ready to give up, but one string decides to take one more shot at getting in. "It's an outrage," he fumes. "Strings need food too!" His friends leave, but he comes up with a plan. He ties himself up, messes up his top threads, and is sure that this new disguise will do the trick. Once again, he goes back to the restaurant, orders his food, and waits.

Just as his food is about to be delivered to him, the manager arrives and looks at the string long and hard before saying, "Aren't you that string I've been throwing out all night?"

The string looks back at the manager and replies with great conviction, "No, I'm a frayed knot."

I've told that joke dozens of times and it still cracks me up every. single. time.

*I did up my sophistication level a little bit this time around because I said the strings were ordering creme brulee, and they were ordering at Bentley's Grill even though j.james has really good creme brulee too. Certainly that has to make me just a teeny tiny bit cooler, yes? No? Really? Well, okay. It's still a good joke.

PowerPoint 2007 is not my friend

Ah, the sound of students chattering. The smell of stacks of paper. The thrill of being back at the podium. I wouldn't say I'm happy that summer is at an end, but it's good to be back teaching. I have twenty-five students in one class, nineteen in another (where all but TWO are female, my oh my), all of them definitely thinking of better places they could be on sunny Thursday afternoon than sitting in CO102 listening to me rah-rah about public speaking. I got so jazzed up I started singing the theme song from Little Einsteins. Yes, yes, I did. Listening to it every. single. day. has permanently engraved it into my mind, prone to bursting forth at any given moment.

It was a nice afternoon. I didn't have to worry about the girls since Sydney has resumed her weekly treks up north to spend Thursday nights with my parents, and Jules was in the very capable and wonderful hands of Rebekah, our fabulous college student friend who is living with us this school year. We are so fortunate to have Rebekah back with us this year because she's amazing, and it means I get to leave the girls at home while I go teach. Lucky me.

I wouldn't say the class went off without any hitches. The school, being technologically savvy and all, upgraded all their computers to Microsoft Office 2007. That meant when I opened up PowerPoint I was in for a terrible shock.

WHAT ON EARTH?

It took me 30 seconds just to figure out how to open up a file. Gone was my feeling of confidence as I bumbled through the new program. For a fleeting moment I thought I might have to get through all 75 minutes of class without having screen notes, but then I did get it somewhat figured out. Obviously, the school needs to keep on the up-and-up with software, but I hate it when my programs get messed with. Have you seen Word 2007???!! Grr.

Mid-way through class I lamented to the students about the new PowerPoint.

"Look at this!" I project a screen shot of the new PowerPoint for everyone to see. I hear a rumble of despair as students see that buttons and menus are not where they should be. I ask rhetorically: "What is this?"

Sam, from the back row, took the opportunity to answer: "It's the devil."

The PowerPoint devil. Exactly. At least we all hate the new program together. Good for bonding, I suppose. The rest of each class went well; I even had one student come up after class, say thank you, and shake my hand. I don't care if she's overdoing it because I'd rather have super polite students than the reverse.

Oh, are you wondering which joke I chose to open class with? You left me some great chuckles, which will no doubt make their way hither and thither into my classroom lectures, but in the end I had to go with the joke that would allow for optimum storytelling because those are my favorite kind of jokes (I am not my father's daughter for nothing). I didn't think the joke would work well (or believably) in first person, so the main character became my youngest brother (hi Jake!).

This summer my brother, who's of the athletic sort, decided to go kayaking. He dressed to keep cool, since it was one of the few days where the weather was over 90 degrees. But then later in the day it started getting colder on the water, so he was trying to figure out how he could get warmed up. He didn't really have any extra layers to add, so in the end he started a little fire in the kayak to keep warm. Well, obviously the kayak caught on fire and burned, forcing my brother to swim to shore.

It just goes to show: you can't have your kayak and heat it too.

We can all thank J-L for that. Loved it.

Back to Work

Every year, US News & World Report ranks America's best colleges. Not all colleges participate because there's a movement that believes the college application process can be friendly, and nice, and fun. I say, if you want to have fun while filling out the small novel that has become "the college application" just fill it out while simultaneously listening to Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits and eating cotton candy. I can't think of anything more fun than that. Unless you did all that while sitting on a couch in IKEA. You could die from all that fun.

My college, however, appreciates the recognition that they get from the rankings. Some people are under the opinion that "small Christian college" means "weak academics." Not so where I teach. Last year we were ranked eighth in the category of best Baccalaureate colleges in the West, and this year we moved up into fifth place. Considering we're one of the smallest schools on the list, I think it's a pretty good achievement.

When I was at an inservice meeting last week, I was so encouraged by all the progress the school has made in the last five years. The school has come a long ways since I attended classes there a decade ago, and even though I wouldn't say I had the best college experience as a student, I have had a wonderful time teaching there. I love my students. I love the campus. I love the vision that the administration has for the school. I love that the other professors respect me even though I'm just an adjunct; I love that I can bring my daughters to school and not worry at all about them as students watch them while I teach; I love that when I share a personal hardship in class my students send me emails to let me know they are praying for me; I love that while the school continues to grow and expand, their mission statement hasn't. It's just a great place to be, and that's why I can't wait to get back in the classroom.

Next Thursday the 30th I'll be back in the classroom. Handing out syllabi. Giggling at the looks of dread on their faces. Convincing them that Fundamentals of Speech is actually not as terrifying as they think. Really. Not dreadful. Fun, actually. I promise.

And just for good measure, I throw in a ridiculously cheesy joke about a string. This year, I'm upping the ante and telling TWO ridiculously cheesy jokes. Because what's better than that? The second joke I'm hoping you can help me out. Put on your best jokester hats, and leave some humor in the comments. I'm looking for something that'll take longer than 3 seconds to tell (read: no knock-knock jokes), something that's not inappropriate, and FYI: I'm a big fan of puns. Your reward will be two classrooms full of students laughing and/or groaning in despair.

That's me.

Putting the "Fun" in Fundamentals of Speech. (But seriously. I don't say that in class because I need them to respect me. Just a little.)

PS: Thanks for giving me such lovies on the new haircut. I'd send you each a piece of key lime pie if I could!

690

There has been a looming concern on Jason's teaching horizon regarding his status of being able to teach Health next year. He's been teaching it for the last three years on a conditional license, but in order to be able to teach it next year--thereby guaranteeing his position at his school--he had to pass the Health Education Praxis Exam (ie: expensive tests that teachers have to take in order to get their teaching license) so that he could be Professionally Certified to talk about fat content, and meth, and sex.

Really, what's not to love about talking about reproductive organs with seventh graders? Just this week he started the unit on puberty. *snicker snicker* It used to make him kind of uncomfortable, but now he finds it all quite hilarious because the kids would totally rather be somewhere else than listening to him talk about ovaries and...um...other body parts. *more snickering* I love a man who can tell me why I got pregnant in terminology fit for a junior higher. Plus, if there's anyone who should be teaching health it's Jason. Aside from his unwillingness to eat wheat bagels (I've tried...the man loves his white bread), he's a healthy living guy.

He took the test five weeks ago, but didn't feel terribly confident about how he did. After all, he didn't take any health education in college. His class schedule was filled with things like Civics, and national government, and American Thought and Culture. They don't talk too much about mental health and STDs in those classes (although maybe they should).

Just to be safe, Jason even interviewed at West HS because they needed a social studies teacher. Since he's going to be coaching soccer there next year, he has a very good shot at getting that job (this is when we like the preferential treatment given to those sportsy types).

He had to score better than a 690.

The news came in the mail, and I, federal law breaker that I am, opened the letter even though my name appeared nowhere on the envelope.

He passed. I knew he would. He's so sex-y like that.

Thus, it ends

I heard the last speech.

I gave the final exam, gave hugs, gave advice, gave good summer wishes.

I entered my grades, drove down the hill, past the prison fields, listening to the radio blaring "You Give Love A Bad Name."

And, thus, my third semester of teaching CO102 comes to an end.

I am home, and I am on summer vacation.

I am happy.

And, now, I can turn my mind over to becoming a student for the next several weeks.

When that ends, my grandma is taking Jason and me to Kauai for a week's vacation. I booked our rooms at the Hilton last night.

Oh, yes, I am very happy.

Quote of the day

As a perk for being a public school teacher, Jason gets the monthly issues of NEA Today (NEA: National Education Association). Since he has no interest in what they're writing about, then I feel responsible to at least glance through the pages to see what's going on and report back.

Quite often, the magazine irritates the heck out of me. Specifically, the fact that the writers always refer to the No Child Left Behind act as "the so-called No Child Left Behind act." One particular issue used this phrasing 33 times. Thirty-three! Hey, I don't think NCLB is a good idea either, but still. We get it. You're not a fan. Be a better writer and move past the bitterness.

I didn't plan on reading the newest edition that came in the mail this week, but I glanced through the table of contents just to see if there was anything interesting. Good thing I looked. On page 33 is a short feature called "The Many Moods of Teacher Blogs." I noticed a quote from a blogger that I read. The quote is from a post she wrote back in September called "Advice to First Year Teachers." I loved it then, and loved it again when I read it today because I remember being a first year teacher, and because I understand the metaphor she uses.

"Your first year [of teaching] is not going to be easy. It's a little like having a newborn baby--you're sleep deprived, and your schedule is all messed up. You have...responsibility for...little people that need constant care and attention and tend to emit loud, howling cries despite your best attempts to anticipate and respond to them....There ought to be a new diagnosis for PNTD: Post New Teacher Depression. Brooke Shields could bring it into the public awareness by appearing on Oprah and Tom Cruise could tell all new teachers just to take vitamins."

Congrats to Amy for getting some national notice for her writing.

Honey, the baby shrunk the car!

Today was my first day back in the classroom. Twenty-five students, all bright and shiny for their first day of class, even laughing periodically at my jokes. I was just giddy to be teaching again, and totally relaxed since Jason was taking care of Jules. She managed the three hours without me nursing her, and I did too. Mostly. Some folks may call it "Dressing for Success"; I call it "Dressing to avoid embarrassing leak spots on my shirt."

Funny story of the day: I had the students fill out a questionnaire regarding their goals and experience with public speaking. At the top were three blanks: Name, Major, Year. In the "Year" blank I had a student write "2007." Usually students write what year they are in school, but it is January after all so maybe he was just trying to be helpful.

*****

When we bought our nifty little Saturn six years ago, it was the perfect size. Sure, it wasn't our dream car--I had two major requirements when we were looking, "An automatic and not white," and of course we ended up with a white, manual vehicle--but it's a nice little four-door vehicle. As an added bonus, it gets fabulous gas mileage (36:30).

When Sydney came along, the car got a little bit squishy. Those rear-facing car seats take up a lot of room, drat them! But it only affected the passenger's side, and since I was the only one who ever sat in the passenger's seat, then the world went on and I learned not to mind that my knees touched the dash board. When she moved to a forward-facing seat then we reclaimed a little bit of space.

Now, however, with TWO car seats in the car, things are VERY squishy. All our luggage has to go in the trunk, and it's impossible for us to take our stroller anywhere since it it never fit in trunk in the first place. We had absolutely no plans to get a bigger vehicle until the last possible moment. We had deliberate conversations about it: "We'll stick with this car. It'll be okay." We rejoiced that we didn't have car payments. We would tough it out.

Turns out we aren't as tough as we thought. It's one thing for the passenger's side to be a bit uncomfortable, it's another to have the driver's side uncomfortable as well. The driver's side should be the premium spot in the car. Plenty of room to stretch out, feel comfortable, rule the road. But I tell you what, it's hard to Rule the Road when you're hunched over the steering wheel.

So, Jason, in all his spare time, has been scouring the Internet for ideas on a new vehicle. Our dream vehicle is a Toyota Highlander Hybrid, but that's a LONG way off. So far off, probably we'll get it when we have grandkids. There are a few other more affordable vehicles that are in the running, but I have no true confidence that we'll actually end up getting one. See, the thing is whatever we could spend on a car could also be spent on our backyard. That's my mantra these days: "Whatever we could spend on (fill in the blank) could also be spent on our backyard."

Bigger vehicle or a finished deck and grass in our backyard?

Hmmm.

I think our knees will just have to tough it out.

*******

Am I just so lame for laughing and laughing at the title of this post? Yes, I am.

A Party, some Rum, and Google Feeds

It's a very quiet house right now. Sydney is asleep; Jason is at a poker/birthday party; Daisy is snorting quietly in her bed. I could go to bed, but considering how miserable sleeping actually is these days (can I order a new back? like a whole new spine and everything? no? *sob*) I'm postponing my bedtime until later.

In other more interesting news, Jason had a holiday staff party/progressive dinner tonight, and I went along. We got a babysitter, I got dressed up, wore makeup, diamond earrings, HIGH HEELS, and did look rather sassy for being nine months pregnant if I do say so myself. It was a fun enough affair. I ate crab puffs even though I faintly recall reading something about how pregnant women should not eat crab, but maybe that's just my imagination. I traded a few birthing stories with other moms, and didn't worry about not mingling around too much since I had a good reason to be sitting (refer back to the nine months pregnant + high heels).

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Jason made a double batch of gingerbread cookies today, so our house smells super yummy. The one smell that's missing? Irish Cream. Or rum. Or anything remotely of alcohol. I'm not a serious drinker (I'm not even a drink-a-month drinker), but I'm dying for some tasty holiday beverages. Only a few more days to go. I told Jason I was having a glass of Willamette Valley Riesling at the hospital as soon as baby was born, but he thought they'd frown on that. Crazies.

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I'm almost officially done teaching this semester. Last day of presentations was on Thursday, and next Thursday they have their final. Then...finished. It's been a very different semester of teaching than last year. Last spring, all my students had an easy time tracking with the syllabus, and they all passed the class. This term, more students have had grade troubles, and a few aren't going to make it. I think I'd be concerned about it (what could I have done differently? how could I have made things clearer?) except that the flunking students very obviously didn't care how they were doing (yes, showing up to class is always a good idea). So, then. That's the way it goes. Always quite bizarre, however, to see students apathetic about their education when tuition is nearly $20,000. Nevertheless, I have to say that I couldn't possibly encounter a nicer group of students than the ones that I teach. Genuine, caring, polite--some of them are even spending their Christmas vacation in New Orleans rebuilding a church. Good kids.

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I'm conducting a Google Reader experiment. For many moons now I have used Bloglines to keep me updated on who is posting. I know some of you may still keep track of your blog reading by using bookmarks, or links off your blog, or sticky notes with web addresses scrawled on them (and if this is you, please please please let me help you), but I had to give that up. I hardly have time to write on my own blog, let alone spend time clicking through all the blogs that I read trying to see who has updated. So Bloglines did all my clicky work for me, and the downside is that I comment less frequently (because I was too lazy to click through to the actual blog after reading the post) and I don't get to see if people change their designs. It's sad, but I make do.

But then, Bloglines and Blogger decided not to play nicely. Sometimes Bloglines won't update a Blogger feed for hours, or perhaps days. And other times Bloglines will just drop a Blogger feed altogether. I won't realize for weeks that I have been missing out on reading someone's blog. This makes me grumpy. Not as grumpy as pregnancy makes me, but a very close second. Oh, and quite often Bloglines won't post pictures, so if I want to see your adorable children/funny pets/amazing craft/beautiful sunset I have to click through to the blog. Harrumph.

Then, I happened upon this post at Kerflop (which is inspired by this post at Schnozzfest) espousing the virtues of Google Reader. Evidently, it's like Bloglines. Only better, see, because Google and Blogger obviously get along (since they are corporately connected) and because Google seems to have the corner on the market for getting info in such a speedy--if not somewhat stalkerish--way.

At first I was hesitant to try it out. I have mixed feelings about supporting Google ideas because they've become this huge entity that will probably one day rule the Internet, like Clear Channel or Time Warner rule the media. (Should I get on my "It's a bad thing that all the news is controlled by less than half a dozen corporations" soapbox? No? Okay.) Despite my non-affection for Google, I decided to try out Google Reader and see if it was better than Bloglines.

Okay. It's better.

It picks up the new feeds faster. It posts pictures. It's so organized, and somehow very clever. True, it's not very pretty and it doesn't seem to allow me to rearrange the feeds, but it does what it should do, and that makes me happy. And it was super duper easy to export my subscriptions from Bloglines to Google Reader. (In Bloglines there's a link at the bottom of the subscriptions which says "Export subscriptions." Save that file, and then in Google Reader under "Manage Subscriptions" you click on the "import" link. Voila!)

I haven't totally given up on Bloglines, but I'm close. Google may have won me over. Those rascals.

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And finally, now that I really am tired and ready to go to bed, I have to leave you with a snippet from the first post I read this morning. I was sitting at the computer, breathing in the lovely smell of gingerbread, drinking my very sober apple cider, and reading about Raehan's broken wrist. Then without warning, her post leads to this picture:

My apple cider didn't stand a chance.

The politics of junior highers

Real conversation Jason had with one of his 6th grade students:

Student: I heard Hilary Duff is running for President in 2008.

Jason: ...Hilary Duff?

Student: Yeah.

Jason: Hilary Duff?

Student: Uh...Hillary Clinton.

Jason: Ah.

The magic of eggnog

It should have been a rough day. It should have been a very rough day.

It started out with me getting to sleep at 1 AM after tossing and turning for 2 hours. It continued on with Sydney waking in the middle of the night with a bad cold. "My ears hurt," she cried. "I have a runny nose." She kept us up starting at about 3 AM, and after Jason got up to go to work at 5, Sydney and I managed to sleep for a few more hours.

When the hacking coughs finally woke her up, she was melancholy and clingy. Had to cancel my morning get-together with my group of friends. More exhausted weeping from Syd, which resulted in an early nap for her and a long hot shower for me.

I should have been exhausted. I should have been frazzled. I should have thought that taking Sydney to class with me was a bad idea.

But I wasn't, I didn't, and will wonders never cease, I got through the day without shedding a single tear.

Sydney, runny nose and all, amused my students to no end. I don't think they'll remember much about ethos, pathos, and logos, but I bet they'll remember that drawing she did on the white board which she announced was "a house." My students may not have remembered to take notes about persuasive speaking, but they did remember to say hi to Sydney and give her high-fives.

I should have been stressed out about an annual Thanksgiving gathering with friends that we went to tonight. My hair was unspectacular, my outfit un-fantastic, my daughter unwilling to play with the other kids upstairs--it all could have been the end of me. But it wasn't. Who cared about the hair? Or the clothes? Or the child who only wanted to eat ice cream? Instead we ate too much, told too many pregnancy stories, laughed too much at our memories as we played "name that tune," and clapped at the crowd of little girls dancing and spinning and giggling in the living room to the tunes of Elvis and Snoop Dog and Vanilla Ice.

It should have been a rough day.

But it wasn't.

And I don't know why it wasn't, except that it just wasn't. Instead of focusing on what was going wrong, I enjoyed the change the pace. I enjoyed walking to class with Sydney's hand in mine. Enjoyed the distractions as I taught. Enjoyed the hot chocolate she and I shared between classes. Enjoyed the hug from my husband, the time with my friends, the hour of TV watching "House." It wasn't a rough day. It was, runny nose and all, almost perfect.

Yesterday, when everything went right, I got it wrong.

Today, when everything went wrong, I got it right.

Maybe it was because it wasn't raining when I woke up this morning. Or maybe it was because of that eggnog I drank yesterday. Or maybe it was because somewhere, someone prayed for me. And if that was you...thanks. Today, I needed it.