Well, I usually tell you how our learn-about-a-country weeks have gone. To be honest, we haven't done much for Mexico. I mean, we had Mexican food on four nights, Zadie went to (normally scheduled) Spanish class, and we read a book about "the Mexican Cinderella." But that was about it. I may add a few things in the coming days, and I plan to do a write-up on Mexican foods on The Goodest Cooker (it's not there as of Saturday evening), but it's been a bit of a busy week.
One of the most fun things we did was yesterday. We went to school for the annual banquet. It's for the honors students, and it's a big potluck. Traditionally, the students organize it all (all I do is get a building permit, send a couple emails, pick up plates and stuff, and then show up to chaperone). They have sort of built on it every year -- it used to be just a dinner and dancing. Then they added a senior slideshow. Then they added "humorous teacher awards." Then there were performances. Then they added games. This year, the banquet ran from 5:30 to 8:00 before they turned off the lights and started dancing.
It's always a bit of a challenge to have Z there during the awards and stuff, because one of her favorite things to do is run away from me and sprint across campus. But during the dance? Shoot, I could probably wander off for a drink and come back and know where she is -- smack in the middle of the dance floor. In fact, a couple times she shooed me away! She scans the crowd, looks for a young lady who strikes her fancy, and then grabs the young lady's hand. If there are two next to each other, that's even better. If there aren't two, she might drag the first one around until she finds another one. Then, she twists, she jitterbugs, she jumps, and she wiggles her fanny until the girls giggle and pull away or she decides she's bored. It seems that she normally chooses young Asian ladies in flowered dresses, but she threw me off at one point by grabbing a cute little lesbian couple in pants. Even though the party was clearly ending when we left at 8:50, she was very sad to go. I think she would have danced for hours more.
Anyway, because it's a three-day weekend, I have a little extra time to shop and do my errands, so today I decided we'd do something fun. I checked my blogs, and there were two events that sounded promising. First was the Kids International Festival in Land Park. It promised dance performances, food, bounce houses, and more. Also, it was free. Then there was the county fair, which sounded rather like the state fair, but only $5. I debated, and ultimately let Z decide. She chose the fair.
It was $10 for parking, so next time I'll bike, but the weather was yucky today. I really thought it would be a lot smaller than the state fair. Frankly, I kind of imagined the Charlotte's Web fair -- mostly hogs and maybe a ferris wheel. But in fact, there was a midway, lots of food vendors (we ended up with crepes for lunch, actually), exhibits, art, animals, and fun little things for kids, like tractor-shaped tricycles. I bought the $18 for 20 tickets "super party fun-time pass" (or whatever) thinking that there was no way she could go through 20 tickets. Lesson learned: next time I'll buy the unlimited pass. She LOVES rides and could have continued going on rides for hours. We did, however, see a lot of other cool stuff, like a Chinese dance academy and a ballet folklorico troupe. We had a great time, stayed for about four hours, and then came home to make dinner.
I made a yummy taco night happen, and then we all sat down, cuddled under a blanket, and watched "Tangled" together. Under a blanket? I can hear you asking... Yes. Despite the fact that it is Memorial Day weekend and almost June, it is cold and rainy. Anyway, it was really nice family time.
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A whole mess of stuff.
Well, I didn't post after our big camping adventure last weekend. I wrote it all up and put it on Facebook, and then I just ran out of steam. Long story short, we really didn't expect snow and really weren't prepared for snow, and we woke up in six inches of it. We bailed but not before some wrong directions, some roads that had to be plowed, some inexperience with driving in the snow (I seriously almost took us off the side of a cliff), some luggage flying off the top of vehicles, a set of lost keys, a bear, three collapsed tents and a pile of wet wood. Oh, and twenty teenagers in canvas shoes and sweatshirts.
Honestly, despite all that, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of fun. And what I didn't mention in the original story is that there were some things I experienced that I never had before. First, although it's possible that I have been in falling snow, I do not remember it at all. I have been to the snow several times, but generally it's old snow that has formed a dirty, icy crust on top. To actually have snowflakes falling on you is pretty cool. I actually got to stick my tongue out and catch snowflakes, and so did Z. I threw a powdery, lightly packed snowball. The kids made snowmen. You know how, when you grow up in one kind of place, you just don't really understand the weather of other places? I had seen, in movies, people taking snowballs and rolling them around to collect more snow and make the balls bigger. I honestly did not think that worked. I thought it was a movies-only thing. But the kids were trying it, and it worked! Brand-new fresh snow actually turns out to be much more fun than that icy crusty stuff.
Okay, moving on... I still have hives. It's awful. My skin is super-duper sensitive and I still itch ALL THE TIME. I'm hoping that whatever it is goes away soon.
We've got a good garden in this year. I added some planting space to the front yard and put in a kumquat, a blueberry, strawberries, and raspberries. Everything is looking good. And in the back we have tomatoes, basil, many peppers, some pumpkins, tomatillos, and cucumbers, plus some herbs. The peppers don't like this cool weather, and the basil has been pretty well eaten by bugs. We have grubworms, and Sweetie is subjecting them to torture on an individual basis.
Zadie's going through some stuff. She needs to make all the decisions for herself all the time, and if she changes her mind twelve seconds later, her only question is why we didn't KNOW what she meant. Ugh. But time-wise, we have a lot more fun times than awful times. It's just that the awful times are pretty awful. But she's a good and weird and interesting individual, and I know we're going to get through it all relatively unscathed.
Today we were at the park and ran into some kids that we know pretty well. The girl is 5 1/2, and I told her mom she's a "leader." She thanked me for using such a positive euphemism for "bossy." Okay, she's bossy. But what I liked about Z is that she would play their game, whatever it was, for a while, and then go do something else. She was perfectly capable of following and getting along and being part of a group, but she wasn't tied to the group thing, and was totally independent about doing what she wanted to do. A couple times, I heard the group calling "Zadie! Zadie! We're over here!" and then I'd see them running to where she was to follow her onto the spongy climbing thing. She's pretty awesome.
I'm sucked into the third Steig Larsson book. I kind of hate myself for it, but when a book's engaging, it's engaging.
This is Mexico week. Viva Mexican food! Yes, that is the main reason we're doing Mexico this week. I will throw in some educational stuff, but... tamales!!
Zadie is now almost 38" tall. I can't believe how fast she grows.
My stress at work is easing off. Most of the high-pressure stuff is over, but there's still a lot of time-consuming stuff. This week alone, I have two events after school that will take a total of almost 8 hours. For one, I'll have to go home and come back, so add 40 minutes of driving. The other, I may not leave at all, so add a couple hours of hanging out after school doing catch-up work and packing. But it's always like this at this time of year. Final potlucks. Awards ceremonies. Graduation. Meetings.
My kids are more attached to me than I thought. I mentioned that I was moving to the other learning community, and you'd think I'd hit them with shock and awe. Plus, they're asking when they can add me on Facebook. Graduation day? Before or after graduation? What about the day they check out? Can they do it before they've gotten my signature on the check-out paper? Can they do it from their phone in class that day? Dorks. I'm going to miss them.
Honestly, despite all that, it wasn't that bad. In fact, it was kind of fun. And what I didn't mention in the original story is that there were some things I experienced that I never had before. First, although it's possible that I have been in falling snow, I do not remember it at all. I have been to the snow several times, but generally it's old snow that has formed a dirty, icy crust on top. To actually have snowflakes falling on you is pretty cool. I actually got to stick my tongue out and catch snowflakes, and so did Z. I threw a powdery, lightly packed snowball. The kids made snowmen. You know how, when you grow up in one kind of place, you just don't really understand the weather of other places? I had seen, in movies, people taking snowballs and rolling them around to collect more snow and make the balls bigger. I honestly did not think that worked. I thought it was a movies-only thing. But the kids were trying it, and it worked! Brand-new fresh snow actually turns out to be much more fun than that icy crusty stuff.
Okay, moving on... I still have hives. It's awful. My skin is super-duper sensitive and I still itch ALL THE TIME. I'm hoping that whatever it is goes away soon.
We've got a good garden in this year. I added some planting space to the front yard and put in a kumquat, a blueberry, strawberries, and raspberries. Everything is looking good. And in the back we have tomatoes, basil, many peppers, some pumpkins, tomatillos, and cucumbers, plus some herbs. The peppers don't like this cool weather, and the basil has been pretty well eaten by bugs. We have grubworms, and Sweetie is subjecting them to torture on an individual basis.
Zadie's going through some stuff. She needs to make all the decisions for herself all the time, and if she changes her mind twelve seconds later, her only question is why we didn't KNOW what she meant. Ugh. But time-wise, we have a lot more fun times than awful times. It's just that the awful times are pretty awful. But she's a good and weird and interesting individual, and I know we're going to get through it all relatively unscathed.
Today we were at the park and ran into some kids that we know pretty well. The girl is 5 1/2, and I told her mom she's a "leader." She thanked me for using such a positive euphemism for "bossy." Okay, she's bossy. But what I liked about Z is that she would play their game, whatever it was, for a while, and then go do something else. She was perfectly capable of following and getting along and being part of a group, but she wasn't tied to the group thing, and was totally independent about doing what she wanted to do. A couple times, I heard the group calling "Zadie! Zadie! We're over here!" and then I'd see them running to where she was to follow her onto the spongy climbing thing. She's pretty awesome.
I'm sucked into the third Steig Larsson book. I kind of hate myself for it, but when a book's engaging, it's engaging.
This is Mexico week. Viva Mexican food! Yes, that is the main reason we're doing Mexico this week. I will throw in some educational stuff, but... tamales!!
Zadie is now almost 38" tall. I can't believe how fast she grows.
My stress at work is easing off. Most of the high-pressure stuff is over, but there's still a lot of time-consuming stuff. This week alone, I have two events after school that will take a total of almost 8 hours. For one, I'll have to go home and come back, so add 40 minutes of driving. The other, I may not leave at all, so add a couple hours of hanging out after school doing catch-up work and packing. But it's always like this at this time of year. Final potlucks. Awards ceremonies. Graduation. Meetings.
My kids are more attached to me than I thought. I mentioned that I was moving to the other learning community, and you'd think I'd hit them with shock and awe. Plus, they're asking when they can add me on Facebook. Graduation day? Before or after graduation? What about the day they check out? Can they do it before they've gotten my signature on the check-out paper? Can they do it from their phone in class that day? Dorks. I'm going to miss them.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Been busy, and changes a-comin'
I haven't been around a lot. Maybe it has something to do with pre-school meetings, school meetings, senior presentations, camping trips, refrigerator deliveries, garage sales, holidays, and just the general grind. Sometimes I think to myself, "The kid is usually in bed by 8:30 -- why don't I have ANY goddamn free time?" And then I remember -- it's because after she goes to bed, I tidy up her stuff, throw a load of laundry in, fold a load of laundry, run to the store for something we forgot, pay the bills, take the garbage and recycling out, scoop the cat litter, feed the cat, sort through the junk mail, make the coffee for the morning, start the slow-cooker, answer my students' emailed questions, bake bread, remove stains, transfer the laundry to the dryer... Guh. It's not really stuff that can get ignored, but it does wear on you.
Anyway, the big thing on my mind is a work thing. I was asked yesterday to switch small learning communities. I've worked in two schools now with strong SLCs. I know it doesn't work everywhere, but it happens that at the two places I've been, our communities have had a sense of identity, colleagues who collaborate, students who know what they're a part of, and just generally a sense of being part of the larger school, yet a distinct entity within it, too. I told the principal that I could see why he was doing it (there are a lot of personnel changes happening), and that my answer was almost certainly a yes, but that I really still wanted to think on it overnight. He said today that it shouldn't be a surprise, when we work so hard to foster community, that we are hesitant to leave one. And I am. I'll work with an entirely different set of colleagues -- ones I also respect, but simply don't know as well, and they already have some dynamics firmly in place. It's almost like going to a new school when you're a kid -- "Will I fit in?"
I'm sad to leave my co-workers. With them, I've gone on innumerable camping trips and field trips. I've sat through hundreds of meetings. I've chaperoned banquets and dances. Heck, I've gone out for beers with them. My lead teacher once couldn't stop laughing as he sang "I will always love you" to a s'more at Yosemite.
But then... I know myself. I am an adaptable person. The first thing the principal asked me was "how are you with change?" And I had to answer honestly -- pretty good. I am also an optimist, so I can see the silver lining to this. Although I'll lose out on a lot of things we did together in my SLC, there will be new things in the new one. I will get to know colleagues I haven't spent much time with. And if they don't have all the fun, educational stuff that we used to do? Then I shall use my vast knowledge of organizing that shit to start new, not-exactly-stolen riffs on it.
Here's a story. My old school was not a great school, but I loved it. I loved my colleagues, and I loved my temporary principal, and when we got a new principal, I didn't love him, but I understood him and he respected me, so we worked together fine. And every Wednesday was salad day. We had a sign-up sheet, and every week, we would bring bread (from Irene's bread machine), dressing (Lou's homemade dressing was the best), cheese, olives, beans, tuna, boiled eggs, and whatever else. One guy was allergic to cilantro, so we started leaving that on the side, along with the tuna, but we mixed everything else up in a gigantic bowl. It wasn't the whole staff, but a pretty good chunk. And then I left.
I was nervous. I knew a few people at the new school from having been in an internship program with them. And, well, my dad worked there. But it was bigger, and it right away seemed more impersonal. My room was far from the staff dining room, and lunches weren't long. A few times, I went there to see what was up, and there were four or five older guys arguing passionately about politics. It wasn't my scene, so I took to eating alone in my classroom. Soon, kids joined me, and that became the routine.
But a couple years ago, I tried starting a pot luck salad. The sign-up list didn't work -- people just brought what they had without signing up in advance, but nevertheless, we had a few nice lunches before school let out. The next Fall, two people said "Hey, are we going to do salads again?" Sure, I thought. I sent out a school-wide email, and about three of us showed up. But then there were four. And then there were five. This year, there's a steady salad group of eight, and we have been more ambitious -- Rachel brought mochi. Tom brings three or four raw veggies and a homemade salad dressing. Nicole roasts beets and sometimes brings boiled eggs from the chickens in her backyard. Stacey brings chevre. I bake bread. Nina, who is new, brought pickled carrots last week.
I guess what I'm saying is, where there isn't a community, I can build one. Slowly, maybe. And where I don't know people, I can get to know them. It is one of my greatest gifts that I rarely really dislike someone, and I don't know very many people who dislike me.
In short: I'll be fine. I'll be sad, but I'll be fine.
Anyway, the big thing on my mind is a work thing. I was asked yesterday to switch small learning communities. I've worked in two schools now with strong SLCs. I know it doesn't work everywhere, but it happens that at the two places I've been, our communities have had a sense of identity, colleagues who collaborate, students who know what they're a part of, and just generally a sense of being part of the larger school, yet a distinct entity within it, too. I told the principal that I could see why he was doing it (there are a lot of personnel changes happening), and that my answer was almost certainly a yes, but that I really still wanted to think on it overnight. He said today that it shouldn't be a surprise, when we work so hard to foster community, that we are hesitant to leave one. And I am. I'll work with an entirely different set of colleagues -- ones I also respect, but simply don't know as well, and they already have some dynamics firmly in place. It's almost like going to a new school when you're a kid -- "Will I fit in?"
I'm sad to leave my co-workers. With them, I've gone on innumerable camping trips and field trips. I've sat through hundreds of meetings. I've chaperoned banquets and dances. Heck, I've gone out for beers with them. My lead teacher once couldn't stop laughing as he sang "I will always love you" to a s'more at Yosemite.
But then... I know myself. I am an adaptable person. The first thing the principal asked me was "how are you with change?" And I had to answer honestly -- pretty good. I am also an optimist, so I can see the silver lining to this. Although I'll lose out on a lot of things we did together in my SLC, there will be new things in the new one. I will get to know colleagues I haven't spent much time with. And if they don't have all the fun, educational stuff that we used to do? Then I shall use my vast knowledge of organizing that shit to start new, not-exactly-stolen riffs on it.
Here's a story. My old school was not a great school, but I loved it. I loved my colleagues, and I loved my temporary principal, and when we got a new principal, I didn't love him, but I understood him and he respected me, so we worked together fine. And every Wednesday was salad day. We had a sign-up sheet, and every week, we would bring bread (from Irene's bread machine), dressing (Lou's homemade dressing was the best), cheese, olives, beans, tuna, boiled eggs, and whatever else. One guy was allergic to cilantro, so we started leaving that on the side, along with the tuna, but we mixed everything else up in a gigantic bowl. It wasn't the whole staff, but a pretty good chunk. And then I left.
I was nervous. I knew a few people at the new school from having been in an internship program with them. And, well, my dad worked there. But it was bigger, and it right away seemed more impersonal. My room was far from the staff dining room, and lunches weren't long. A few times, I went there to see what was up, and there were four or five older guys arguing passionately about politics. It wasn't my scene, so I took to eating alone in my classroom. Soon, kids joined me, and that became the routine.
But a couple years ago, I tried starting a pot luck salad. The sign-up list didn't work -- people just brought what they had without signing up in advance, but nevertheless, we had a few nice lunches before school let out. The next Fall, two people said "Hey, are we going to do salads again?" Sure, I thought. I sent out a school-wide email, and about three of us showed up. But then there were four. And then there were five. This year, there's a steady salad group of eight, and we have been more ambitious -- Rachel brought mochi. Tom brings three or four raw veggies and a homemade salad dressing. Nicole roasts beets and sometimes brings boiled eggs from the chickens in her backyard. Stacey brings chevre. I bake bread. Nina, who is new, brought pickled carrots last week.
I guess what I'm saying is, where there isn't a community, I can build one. Slowly, maybe. And where I don't know people, I can get to know them. It is one of my greatest gifts that I rarely really dislike someone, and I don't know very many people who dislike me.
In short: I'll be fine. I'll be sad, but I'll be fine.
Monday, May 02, 2011
Tweet-style
Itchy hives, go away, or I'm breaking out the big guns: elimination diet.
Gotta start going to the farmers market earlier, not least because I keep running into my boss.
Garage sale a success. Geek moment = "OMG! That guy is the former poet laureate of Sac and he lives right down the street!"
Dressed up to model "business attire" today, and feel like I'm in disguise.
Gotta start going to the farmers market earlier, not least because I keep running into my boss.
Garage sale a success. Geek moment = "OMG! That guy is the former poet laureate of Sac and he lives right down the street!"
Dressed up to model "business attire" today, and feel like I'm in disguise.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)