I'm going to be in soooo much trouble for blogging about my dad, but apparently I already am in trouble with him. (And this just a week before I go home for a visit. Not too smart, is it?) Today, my dad told me that we needed have to have a little talk about the language in my blog. I think that means I cuss too much. I do that sometimes, but I didn't think I'd been too bad. In fact, in the last two months, I haven't inserted any strong language.
I'm not going to say I'm innocent of ever using strong language, which I know some better bloggers would never do, but it hasn't been that much. Or has it? This is what I figured:
In 2 years--
that is 222 posts,
I have used
6 "a" words
19 "d" words
11 "h" words
1 "b" word
8 "s" words
At first it didn't seem like very many, but when I counted them up, it could be considered one word every four posts. Only, I often go weeks and months without any and then one post might have more than one. And when you think about my verbosity, those few words are nothing!
Point taken, though, Dad. I'll try to be better.
And Dad, while you're commenting, I could always use help with proofreading, as I am forever making silly errors that are more embarrassing than my low-brow language.
Oh! And thanks for reading!
June 28, 2007
Eight is More Than Enough
Thank goodness Ms. M tagged me for a meme because I have even less to write about than usual. It's kind of hard because I think I've told about every random thing I could about myself in other memes here, here, here, here, and here. Oh, and another one here. Now, why don't I just reveal myself completely since you know everything about me.
I'm tagging
Adeline @ ChezWhat?
Laura
CaliforniaTeacherGuy
Kimberly@Terrible Teacher
Teaching in the 408
Graycie@ Today's Homework
Ms. Sigh Ants @Red Fish, Blue Fish
Ms. Whatsit who, by the way, is having a Potluck next week
Oh! And if you're going to join in there are some RULES:
The rules are 1. Let others know who tagged you. 2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. 3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. 4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.
- My social security number is--just kidding! It does have three 5's in it. Easier to remember.
- I go by the common abbreviated form of my formal name. My husband also goes by the abbreviated form of his name. What makes this interesting is that in abbreviated form, we have the same first name. Isn't that cute?
- I'm in the mood for some Vonnegut-like books. I'm sure if I read any of Vonnegut's works again, I would enjoy the experience, but I don't usually read things more than once. Any suggestions?
- I often go alone to see movies at the theater. Many people thing this is strange. I think it's enjoyable.
- Only once in my life have I had a car that wasn't red. Both of our cars are red now. Trust me, it was hardly on purpose. It's about function.
- My sweetie and I are hooked on reality tv. (Anxiously awaiting Big Brother, which is our favorite.) This summer we are totally into cooking reality shows like Hell's Kitchen, The Next Food Network Star, and Top Chef. We are simple eaters, but we love those shows!
- I have a pair of slippers under my desk at school that I sometimes wear instead of shoes during my prep and after school. Sometimes I change for comfort, and sometimes I change for warmth.
- I do not own a movie collection--not even Walt Disney. I'll watch a movie more than once if it's on television and it fits my mood, but I can't imagine owning a movie and watching it over and over.
I'm tagging
Adeline @ ChezWhat?
Laura
CaliforniaTeacherGuy
Kimberly@Terrible Teacher
Teaching in the 408
Graycie@ Today's Homework
Ms. Sigh Ants @Red Fish, Blue Fish
Ms. Whatsit who, by the way, is having a Potluck next week
Oh! And if you're going to join in there are some RULES:
The rules are 1. Let others know who tagged you. 2. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves. 3. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts. 4. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.
June 26, 2007
It's All About Appearances
A few days ago, workers from the lawn maintenance company that does the landscaping at my apartment complex were working for hours outside my patio for hours. I noticed because I never see them. The landscaping just magically looks wonderful. All year long we have green grass. Seriously. As it turns out, there were several patches of the lawn that were yellow, due to sprinkler issues. I hadn't noticed the yellowed lawn, either. In my mind, that's bound to happen when it's so blasted hot outside.
Today when I came home from errands, the yellow grass was gone! What how can this be? It can't grow green that fast. No, it was SPRAYED GREEN! Is it just me, or this crazy? We are in the back corner of this huge complex, so it's not like the management is showing the property back here. And now I wonder if it's safe the kids (and their clothing) to play on the lawn.
My only hope is that the color is loaded with grass vitamins so it doesn't seem so pointlessly vain.
(I think I found a place to live, and there's no fake grass there.)
Today when I came home from errands, the yellow grass was gone! What how can this be? It can't grow green that fast. No, it was SPRAYED GREEN! Is it just me, or this crazy? We are in the back corner of this huge complex, so it's not like the management is showing the property back here. And now I wonder if it's safe the kids (and their clothing) to play on the lawn.
My only hope is that the color is loaded with grass vitamins so it doesn't seem so pointlessly vain.
(I think I found a place to live, and there's no fake grass there.)
June 25, 2007
This Nesting Stuff Sucks
Apparently it's too early for me to look for a place to live at the beginning of August. Houses want to rent immediately. Apartments aren't sure of their openings until July 1. I don't know why I keep looking. I suppose because in July I'll be going on vacation and then to a conference, so the 8-9 days in July when I'm home seem kind of tight to find a new home.
This morning I gave up my quest to try to find a place that is zoned for a nine-month school. The zoning is so erratic. One year a school is nine-month and the next year it could be twelve-month, so it was time to get over myself because I was seriously limiting my housing choices. I think a third of the elementary schools are twelve-month, but based on my housing search, it seems like it should it was two-thirds. I really don't have a lot against twelve-month--other than the sheer inconvenience for me since I work on a traditional nine-month. Once I resigned myself to the fact that we might have to deal with it, I figured that the kids' Cali family could benefit from a schedule like this. Track break? Go see Grandma.
My brain is fried with trying to figure out other important details. What would be a comfortable commute for me and my sweetie? Before he even told me to do so, I decided to make the convenience of the commute all about me. That freed up my brain power a little. I work in the central part of the city, which would seem like a good thing, but I guess it depends on what side of the "spaghetti bowl" one lives. I also think it's important for me to have a short commute because then I can pick up the kids after school. In the last year I'd say I was able to pick up the kids about 70% of the time. I'm really into trying to cut costs on our budget this summer, so let me tell you, being able to pick them up saves our family about $200 a month. (This money issue is also why I refuse to assign academic or behavioral detention. If I stay after, I'm usually getting paid for it or it's mandatory meeting Monday.)
And speaking of living and having a close commute to the central part of the city...I'm familiar with my ghetto 'hood, but I don't know about the other ones that would be within good traveling distance. (My own 'hood doesn't seem to have much housing available right now.) So, my brain is swirling with trying to figure out if a neighbor is going to be safe enough. One can't just think, "Oh, that street's bad. That neighborhood is bad." I'm finding that so many places in Las Vegas have pockets of new and old, nice and run down, tagged and untagged. You wouldn't believe the change in scenery you might see change in just a few blocks.
In addition to figuring out good neighborhoods, I have to decide what is the best value for my money. Old or new? House or apartment? Freeway underpass?
Ugh. I hope this ends soon.
This morning I gave up my quest to try to find a place that is zoned for a nine-month school. The zoning is so erratic. One year a school is nine-month and the next year it could be twelve-month, so it was time to get over myself because I was seriously limiting my housing choices. I think a third of the elementary schools are twelve-month, but based on my housing search, it seems like it should it was two-thirds. I really don't have a lot against twelve-month--other than the sheer inconvenience for me since I work on a traditional nine-month. Once I resigned myself to the fact that we might have to deal with it, I figured that the kids' Cali family could benefit from a schedule like this. Track break? Go see Grandma.
My brain is fried with trying to figure out other important details. What would be a comfortable commute for me and my sweetie? Before he even told me to do so, I decided to make the convenience of the commute all about me. That freed up my brain power a little. I work in the central part of the city, which would seem like a good thing, but I guess it depends on what side of the "spaghetti bowl" one lives. I also think it's important for me to have a short commute because then I can pick up the kids after school. In the last year I'd say I was able to pick up the kids about 70% of the time. I'm really into trying to cut costs on our budget this summer, so let me tell you, being able to pick them up saves our family about $200 a month. (This money issue is also why I refuse to assign academic or behavioral detention. If I stay after, I'm usually getting paid for it or it's mandatory meeting Monday.)
And speaking of living and having a close commute to the central part of the city...I'm familiar with my ghetto 'hood, but I don't know about the other ones that would be within good traveling distance. (My own 'hood doesn't seem to have much housing available right now.) So, my brain is swirling with trying to figure out if a neighbor is going to be safe enough. One can't just think, "Oh, that street's bad. That neighborhood is bad." I'm finding that so many places in Las Vegas have pockets of new and old, nice and run down, tagged and untagged. You wouldn't believe the change in scenery you might see change in just a few blocks.
In addition to figuring out good neighborhoods, I have to decide what is the best value for my money. Old or new? House or apartment? Freeway underpass?
Ugh. I hope this ends soon.
June 22, 2007
Boring Tales of Summer: Going Into the Closet
I have been doing some school work and thinking this week, but mostly I'm pretty into home things. You know all those things you put off doing until summer so you have more time to dedicate to them?
I started small by tackling the linen closet. You know, I have lived in places that didn't have linen closets. Can you imagine? I would die if I had to do that again! My linen closet also serves as my craft closet, as well as storage to undisplayed collectibles, such as my tea cups, and some paintings (from my brother) that don't "fit" anywhere in my home at this time. As you can imagine, the towels and sheets get crowded out.
It's a daily struggle for me to live a simple life. I try, but I'm not that good at it. I keep at it though. I also try to be frugal. So, as I organized my closet, I found that there wasn't much that should have been thrown out. However, I did have several towels and a sheet set that had seen better days. Of course, everyone needs rags, which is what those towels became, but there were too many to fit into the assigned rag bin. I didn't know quite what to do. I don't need more than a bin (milk crate size) full of old rags. I don't have extra storage for rags. You can't really donate old dingy towels. I hate to say this, but I had to throw them away. I felt like such a fool hauling those things to the dumpster. I was actually looking around, hoping nobody would see me.
It just occurred to me that what I used to do with old rags and towels was to take them to the stage. We were always in need to drop cloths for painting, and a good scrub down of the props and dressing rooms was standard practice when we finished each production run. Now, that's a good use. Throw old towels and sheets away? I am totally ashamed of myself.
Tomorrow I'm going into the kids' closets. My son has been walking around with high waters for the last three months of school. My daughter has far too many clothes for one person--even a girl. She's on a hand-me-down circuit that has been quite active this spring. Don't worry, I'm not throwing away any kids clothes like I did the rags. It's my turn to box up and pass clothes down the circuit. Now THAT seems like a simple, frugal way to deal with my closet. No shame there.
I started small by tackling the linen closet. You know, I have lived in places that didn't have linen closets. Can you imagine? I would die if I had to do that again! My linen closet also serves as my craft closet, as well as storage to undisplayed collectibles, such as my tea cups, and some paintings (from my brother) that don't "fit" anywhere in my home at this time. As you can imagine, the towels and sheets get crowded out.
It's a daily struggle for me to live a simple life. I try, but I'm not that good at it. I keep at it though. I also try to be frugal. So, as I organized my closet, I found that there wasn't much that should have been thrown out. However, I did have several towels and a sheet set that had seen better days. Of course, everyone needs rags, which is what those towels became, but there were too many to fit into the assigned rag bin. I didn't know quite what to do. I don't need more than a bin (milk crate size) full of old rags. I don't have extra storage for rags. You can't really donate old dingy towels. I hate to say this, but I had to throw them away. I felt like such a fool hauling those things to the dumpster. I was actually looking around, hoping nobody would see me.
It just occurred to me that what I used to do with old rags and towels was to take them to the stage. We were always in need to drop cloths for painting, and a good scrub down of the props and dressing rooms was standard practice when we finished each production run. Now, that's a good use. Throw old towels and sheets away? I am totally ashamed of myself.
Tomorrow I'm going into the kids' closets. My son has been walking around with high waters for the last three months of school. My daughter has far too many clothes for one person--even a girl. She's on a hand-me-down circuit that has been quite active this spring. Don't worry, I'm not throwing away any kids clothes like I did the rags. It's my turn to box up and pass clothes down the circuit. Now THAT seems like a simple, frugal way to deal with my closet. No shame there.
June 20, 2007
The Day Is Here!
I'm bored. Or I just don't know what to do. Whatever. I've been busy with company and then I've spent some time at work with my colleagues prepping for next year, but today, I don't have anything planned. I know how boredom works. It's a personal problem. I have things I could do. Yada, yada, yada. I've hit a wall and am more interested in the life as blob right now. Summer.
June 18, 2007
Goals and Aspirations Revisited
Let's rewind to last summer. I had great hopes of getting organized. My first task at hand was to organize weblinks I had on three computers that I had accumulated since the beginning of time (or since 1997) into a del.icio.us account. It took me days to organize everything, but it has been the most beautiful tool I have. Now, I realize that I probably have more stuff in there than what I can use, but it has saved me so much time in the last year. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE TAGS, MAN!
Unfortunately, upon my arrival back at school in the fall, I discovered that the school district network had blocked del.iciou.us and every other social networking application I was interested in trying out in my classroom. My frustration was voiced loud and clear at least once a week as I tried to share links with my students. Since I knew of a better, more efficient way, yet couldn't use it, my life suddenly was worse off than before, although technically it was just the same as it had ever been. A little knowledge hurts sometimes.
(Actually, if I'd just taken the approach that many of my students do in trying to access such forbidden sites such as YouTube and MySpace by using a proxy, I'd have no problems at all. I was tempted, but that sets a terrible example and breaks the AUP.)
If any of you ever find yourselves in such a position, I did find an online bookmarking site that my students could view called Portaportal. It was very easy to use, but not as easy to post to. Plus, the site has advertisements, so about half the time there were some weird ads for "real" shrunken heads. Uhm. Yuck. Luckily the students don't even look at those paid advertisements on any site. Here's a screen shot of what my page with one folder open looks like once you have the secret password to get in. It actually worked out pretty well since, at this point, my del.icio.us account is too large to be student-friendly.
But guess what? I'm suddenly able to access del.icio.us at school, plus I am now able to access Wikispaces, too! I'm so excited, and now I'm returning to another goal from last summer:
Unfortunately, upon my arrival back at school in the fall, I discovered that the school district network had blocked del.iciou.us and every other social networking application I was interested in trying out in my classroom. My frustration was voiced loud and clear at least once a week as I tried to share links with my students. Since I knew of a better, more efficient way, yet couldn't use it, my life suddenly was worse off than before, although technically it was just the same as it had ever been. A little knowledge hurts sometimes.
(Actually, if I'd just taken the approach that many of my students do in trying to access such forbidden sites such as YouTube and MySpace by using a proxy, I'd have no problems at all. I was tempted, but that sets a terrible example and breaks the AUP.)
If any of you ever find yourselves in such a position, I did find an online bookmarking site that my students could view called Portaportal. It was very easy to use, but not as easy to post to. Plus, the site has advertisements, so about half the time there were some weird ads for "real" shrunken heads. Uhm. Yuck. Luckily the students don't even look at those paid advertisements on any site. Here's a screen shot of what my page with one folder open looks like once you have the secret password to get in. It actually worked out pretty well since, at this point, my del.icio.us account is too large to be student-friendly.
But guess what? I'm suddenly able to access del.icio.us at school, plus I am now able to access Wikispaces, too! I'm so excited, and now I'm returning to another goal from last summer:
It's so sad that I'm about ten paces behind what's new in education, but I'm getting there. Oh! And as fate would have it, I've somehow scored some pay to work collaboratively with my colleagues this month--we call it a kind of in-service, I guess. A group of us is meeting in real life, trying to figure out how we can use wikis. In just a few days we have made a lot of progress in setting the groundwork for some online collaboration, too!
So, what I'm working on this week is getting myself organized. It's not just for me, but so I can share with my colleagues, too. (I'm really just thinking those with the same grade level and subject.) My big undertaking is to create a wiki for me and my mates to use as a reference and for sharing too. There are apparently many uses for a wiki, so I hope this is a good one. We often share things anyway, but this might make it easier.
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