1. Specialized clothing for the beach: none.
Specialized clothing for the snow: Snow pants, ski cap, goggles, waterproof boots... And if you don't have them, you quickly end up freezing and damp.
2. Specialized equipment for beach activities: blanket (although you could bring a kite, flippers, snorkel...)
Specialized equipment for the snow: available at better used sporting goods stores for only a few hundred dollars.
3. Driving to the beach: If it's a particularly nice day, you might hit some traffic.
Driving to the snow: At some point, men flag you down, instruct you to pull your car over to the side of the highway, and have you put expensive chains on your tires so that you don't go skidding to your icy death.
4: Walking on the beach: flip-flops.
Walking on the snow: tennis rackets, cold, wet, and periodic bouts of falling on your ass.
5: Cost of beach: Up to $5 for parking.
Cost of snow: A really good lift ticket/ski rental package can be as low as $80.
6: Adjusting to altitude at the beach: home is at sea level, beach is at sea level. Done.
Adjusting to altitude at the snow: Takes six days, involves drinking lots of water, can involve headaches and trouble sleeping.
It kind of goes on from there. To be honest, any place where you can lay on a blanket and read a book in the sunshine kind of beats the pants off any place where you can't for me.
With that said, though, I went to Tahoe this weekend for a conference, and it was really lovely. I've only been two other times in my adult life. Once I had great fun with two good friends -- most of that fun involved sledding and Kahlua. The second time was for a wedding, and the company was wonderful, but the lodgings were pretty shitty. So I just wasn't really sold.
But now I'm actually thinking there are reasons to go. I hiked, put my feet in the lake, ate good food, gazed at the brilliant stars, and enjoyed an unparalleled view of the lake from up on a cliff. So anyway, if I had four chances to go on weekend trips, I would have previously suggested San Francisco, Point Reyes, Bodega Bay, and Santa Cruz. Now I would consider swapping out Bodega Bay for Lake Tahoe.
Also, my conference was really useful and I learned a lot. But that's a side note, right?
I'm glad to be home now with my family and cats.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Granlibakken
For a conference, I'm in Granlibakken, which is Lake Tahoe.
Good: great weather, easy drive, good company, actually entertaining first night's speeches, free wine, comfy room, reliable internet, food that is vegetarian and Weight Watchers-friendly, and a coffee maker in the room.
Weird: Postcards of this place include one of a nipple-pierced viking. The trails around here randomly have pictures of squirrels posted to the trees. It takes 6 days to acclimate to 6,000 elevation (which it is here) from sea level (which my hometown is), and we'll be here for three.
Bad: My upstairs neighbor is apparently one of these guys...
and the floor of his room is made of drum heads. Also, he wakes up and does calisthenics at 4.
Okay, off to breakfast. I miss my home and family and cats. You guys should all give each other hugs for me.
Good: great weather, easy drive, good company, actually entertaining first night's speeches, free wine, comfy room, reliable internet, food that is vegetarian and Weight Watchers-friendly, and a coffee maker in the room.
Weird: Postcards of this place include one of a nipple-pierced viking. The trails around here randomly have pictures of squirrels posted to the trees. It takes 6 days to acclimate to 6,000 elevation (which it is here) from sea level (which my hometown is), and we'll be here for three.
Bad: My upstairs neighbor is apparently one of these guys...
and the floor of his room is made of drum heads. Also, he wakes up and does calisthenics at 4.
Okay, off to breakfast. I miss my home and family and cats. You guys should all give each other hugs for me.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
A very unusual week
So here's the main thing that was strange... my husband and mom were BOTH out of town last week. Zadie spent three days with Grandpa John, and by all accounts, everyone there had a good time. I was on half-days, which was awesome, but obviously Z's routine was ALL jacked up. At about the end of the day each day, she'd have a mini-meltdown. One night she had to put her feelings of missing Daddy into her piggy bank after a brief miscommunication where she thought I was giving my missing-Daddy feelings to her.
We did a bunch of fun stuff, though. We went to Mighty Kong Cafe for lunch one day and had a milkshake and a nice talk about Godzilla vs. King Kong. On another day we went to Bertha Henschel park in the evening. On another, we went there for a concert and she ended up in the wading pool in her underpants (so were half the other kids). We made dinners together and went to the gym together. We had a few treats like popsicles. We hung out in the hammock. It was odd but nice.
Our long, long, cold, gray spring suddenly turned to summer. It was actually a little reassuring: I always say that I'm not bothered by the heat until it hits 100, and yesterday it was 93. I was fine. Today it was over 100, so we sat in the air conditioning after noon and enjoyed the wonders of TV.
Father's Day was super-fun. I bought Sweetie some DVDs of Dr. Who, but I also made him fresh sriracha hot sauce. Then I made my dad a pineapple upside down cake. My stepdad was out of town, but when he came back, I made him a Portuguese marinade which is spelled Vinho d'alhos and which is pronounced vinya dazh or something. I don't get Portuguese.
I met with a personal trainer at the gym. I felt kind of awful saying it, but she was like "And what's your main fitness goal?" and I responded, "I just want to lose weight." I know that's not supposed to be your goal -- you're supposed to want to be healthy and fit and have low cholesterol or whatever, but the truth is, except for being overweight, I have all those things. I rarely get sick, I have lots of energy, I have low cholesterol, low blood pressure, a healthy resting heart rate... I'm just fat. And although I sort of believe in "health at any size," I don't want to be any size. I want to be smaller and not have a big fat gut and back fat. So she said I was doing things right, but thought I should add some circuit training, so I am, starting tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.
On the cat front, the cats are finally getting along. Luther pretends to be super Beta -- Mina and he get close and he flops onto his back -- but when food is delivered, he throws himself bodily in front of her to get it. He's very sweet and cuddly and loving, but he pisses everywhere, which is going to be a problem. I think once we have him unmanned, perhaps that will get better, too. Also, I could do without his middle-of-the-light love-fests with my face.
Zadie is taking swimming lessons, which I'm glad about. I really want her to know how and to feel more comfortable around the water. She likes it, but she clings to me and won't even hold onto the wall. But in two lessons, she's already made progress. She is kicking and blowing bubbles, and will easily go up to about her nose in the water. She absolutely cracks me up, though: the instructor puts these shark-shaped weights on the stairs and encourages the girls to pick them up. I think he's getting them used to going a little deeper in the water. Well today, Z was sitting on the right side of the stairs and he kept moving the shark farther left so she would have to reach farther, therefore getting deeper in the water. Well he got to a point that she was like "okay," and stood up, walked up two steps, scooted to the left side, walked down two steps, and picked up the shark. I love her problem-solving, but I'm not sure his pedagogical goal was met. I have a feeling we're seeing the very early stages of "But why do I HAVE to show my work?" and various other school-rule-related minor rebellions.
The other girl in class is the most stone-faced kid I've ever seen. She NEVER smiles. And when he floats her along and tells her to kick, she just does a dead-body float. Zadie, on the other hand, is kicking wildly and yelling "WHEE!" The other girl has burst into tears once each day, and Zadie has been fine. About ten minutes before class got out today, she told me she wanted to get out, and climbed out on her own. I thought she was asking to leave, but then she announced "I have to go potty." I took her, still not really thinking she had to go, since we'd gone only about 25 minutes earlier, but she promptly peed and went back to her lesson. So she's kicking ass, basically.
My writing group is tomorrow and I haven't written a thing. I should have done it tonight, but I just didn't have it in me. Anyway, I have to get going to feed the cats and go to bed so I can go "circuit train" in the morning.
I hope you're all well, and I know life is good today, because everyone I love that lives here is here, and it's really summer time, and I don't have to work.
We did a bunch of fun stuff, though. We went to Mighty Kong Cafe for lunch one day and had a milkshake and a nice talk about Godzilla vs. King Kong. On another day we went to Bertha Henschel park in the evening. On another, we went there for a concert and she ended up in the wading pool in her underpants (so were half the other kids). We made dinners together and went to the gym together. We had a few treats like popsicles. We hung out in the hammock. It was odd but nice.
Our long, long, cold, gray spring suddenly turned to summer. It was actually a little reassuring: I always say that I'm not bothered by the heat until it hits 100, and yesterday it was 93. I was fine. Today it was over 100, so we sat in the air conditioning after noon and enjoyed the wonders of TV.
Father's Day was super-fun. I bought Sweetie some DVDs of Dr. Who, but I also made him fresh sriracha hot sauce. Then I made my dad a pineapple upside down cake. My stepdad was out of town, but when he came back, I made him a Portuguese marinade which is spelled Vinho d'alhos and which is pronounced vinya dazh or something. I don't get Portuguese.
I met with a personal trainer at the gym. I felt kind of awful saying it, but she was like "And what's your main fitness goal?" and I responded, "I just want to lose weight." I know that's not supposed to be your goal -- you're supposed to want to be healthy and fit and have low cholesterol or whatever, but the truth is, except for being overweight, I have all those things. I rarely get sick, I have lots of energy, I have low cholesterol, low blood pressure, a healthy resting heart rate... I'm just fat. And although I sort of believe in "health at any size," I don't want to be any size. I want to be smaller and not have a big fat gut and back fat. So she said I was doing things right, but thought I should add some circuit training, so I am, starting tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.
On the cat front, the cats are finally getting along. Luther pretends to be super Beta -- Mina and he get close and he flops onto his back -- but when food is delivered, he throws himself bodily in front of her to get it. He's very sweet and cuddly and loving, but he pisses everywhere, which is going to be a problem. I think once we have him unmanned, perhaps that will get better, too. Also, I could do without his middle-of-the-light love-fests with my face.
Zadie is taking swimming lessons, which I'm glad about. I really want her to know how and to feel more comfortable around the water. She likes it, but she clings to me and won't even hold onto the wall. But in two lessons, she's already made progress. She is kicking and blowing bubbles, and will easily go up to about her nose in the water. She absolutely cracks me up, though: the instructor puts these shark-shaped weights on the stairs and encourages the girls to pick them up. I think he's getting them used to going a little deeper in the water. Well today, Z was sitting on the right side of the stairs and he kept moving the shark farther left so she would have to reach farther, therefore getting deeper in the water. Well he got to a point that she was like "okay," and stood up, walked up two steps, scooted to the left side, walked down two steps, and picked up the shark. I love her problem-solving, but I'm not sure his pedagogical goal was met. I have a feeling we're seeing the very early stages of "But why do I HAVE to show my work?" and various other school-rule-related minor rebellions.
The other girl in class is the most stone-faced kid I've ever seen. She NEVER smiles. And when he floats her along and tells her to kick, she just does a dead-body float. Zadie, on the other hand, is kicking wildly and yelling "WHEE!" The other girl has burst into tears once each day, and Zadie has been fine. About ten minutes before class got out today, she told me she wanted to get out, and climbed out on her own. I thought she was asking to leave, but then she announced "I have to go potty." I took her, still not really thinking she had to go, since we'd gone only about 25 minutes earlier, but she promptly peed and went back to her lesson. So she's kicking ass, basically.
My writing group is tomorrow and I haven't written a thing. I should have done it tonight, but I just didn't have it in me. Anyway, I have to get going to feed the cats and go to bed so I can go "circuit train" in the morning.
I hope you're all well, and I know life is good today, because everyone I love that lives here is here, and it's really summer time, and I don't have to work.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Almost done!
For the first time in all my years of teaching, almost all my classes are seniors. And if you don't know, seniors check out of school a bit early. Which means, for me, that I have almost no teaching to do this week. I had almost four hours free yesterday, two today, and the next two days involve no students at all -- eight hours of me-time.
Of course, I'm using it for school stuff. No, don't laugh! I've actually been working my ass off. I caught up on all my grading, created a new web site for my classes, packed everything in my room into boxes, moved about 75% of them to what will be my new room, took pictures of some of the art on campus and turned those into a slide show for a special project I'm doing.
So I'm busy, but in the kind of way where I'm actually getting interesting, useful new stuff done instead of catching up on old stuff. Kind of cool.
This is a weird week: my sweetie is at a work conference and my mom is in Iowa (well, as of tomorrow morning). So my dad is taking care of Z for the next few days while I'm at work, and then she and I have a bunch of mostly free time. I'm sad that everyone's away, but glad my mom's seeing my grandma -- she fell and broke her nose and sprained her ankle, plus she has a few other things going on. It's bad stuff, but a good time for Mom to be there for her.
Our new little kitten, Luther Furbank, is really fun. It's been so long since I had a cat that played! He's fattening up nicely, and he's just adorable. He and Mina have a tenuous relationship. Mostly they stay away from each other, but he's just so interested in her that he can't keep away. Then she hisses. Today I took this photo, because for the first time, they were hanging out next to each other with no trouble.
Then a moment later, he batted her tail and she FREAKED out on him, swiping at him for the first time. But she still wasn't trying to hurt him -- it was more of a "DUDE, GET OUT OF HERE!" motion.
Last summer, Z and I had lunch in the park with Monkeygirl, who suggested that Z and I should have matching outfits. My reaction was along the lines of "gag me with a pitchfork." But then I asked Z whether she'd like us to have matching outfits. She thought it was dreamy, so I bought patterns and fabric, but then I never did it. I busted all the stuff out yesterday and am on my way to making two dresses. It feels hecka Amish or something. Like I should just go ahead and make the dresses with high collars, puff sleeves, and a lace inset or something, then get a family photo taken in front of a fake Autumn leaves backdrop.
I guess that's about it. I hope you're all as happy and healthy as I am!
Of course, I'm using it for school stuff. No, don't laugh! I've actually been working my ass off. I caught up on all my grading, created a new web site for my classes, packed everything in my room into boxes, moved about 75% of them to what will be my new room, took pictures of some of the art on campus and turned those into a slide show for a special project I'm doing.
So I'm busy, but in the kind of way where I'm actually getting interesting, useful new stuff done instead of catching up on old stuff. Kind of cool.
This is a weird week: my sweetie is at a work conference and my mom is in Iowa (well, as of tomorrow morning). So my dad is taking care of Z for the next few days while I'm at work, and then she and I have a bunch of mostly free time. I'm sad that everyone's away, but glad my mom's seeing my grandma -- she fell and broke her nose and sprained her ankle, plus she has a few other things going on. It's bad stuff, but a good time for Mom to be there for her.
Our new little kitten, Luther Furbank, is really fun. It's been so long since I had a cat that played! He's fattening up nicely, and he's just adorable. He and Mina have a tenuous relationship. Mostly they stay away from each other, but he's just so interested in her that he can't keep away. Then she hisses. Today I took this photo, because for the first time, they were hanging out next to each other with no trouble.
Then a moment later, he batted her tail and she FREAKED out on him, swiping at him for the first time. But she still wasn't trying to hurt him -- it was more of a "DUDE, GET OUT OF HERE!" motion.
Last summer, Z and I had lunch in the park with Monkeygirl, who suggested that Z and I should have matching outfits. My reaction was along the lines of "gag me with a pitchfork." But then I asked Z whether she'd like us to have matching outfits. She thought it was dreamy, so I bought patterns and fabric, but then I never did it. I busted all the stuff out yesterday and am on my way to making two dresses. It feels hecka Amish or something. Like I should just go ahead and make the dresses with high collars, puff sleeves, and a lace inset or something, then get a family photo taken in front of a fake Autumn leaves backdrop.
I guess that's about it. I hope you're all as happy and healthy as I am!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
The things she says...
We were bringing our new kitten, Luther Furbank, home for the first time, and he was clearly nervous to be in the car. I suggested that she could talk to him to make him feel better, so pretty much the WHOLE way home, I heard this: I like your nice head, Luther Furbank. I like your blue eyes Luther Furbank. You're a nice cat Luther Furbank. You have pretty fur Luther Furbank. (I'm not sure why she felt she had to say his name in every sentence, but it was cracking me up.)
Yesterday we were driving around, and we were talking about clothing. It went like this...
Z: I like to wear dresses.
Me: I know.
Z: And I like shirts.
Me: Oh, do you? What do you like to wear them with?
Z: Dresses..
Me: Hm. Do you like to wear skirts?
Z: I like to wear skirts with tank tops.
Me: Ah. Do you like to wear pants?
Z: Yeah, I like to wear them with dresses.
Me: Do you like to wear shorts?
Z: No. I like to wear tank tops with shirts.
Me: Oh. Then what do you wear on the bottom?
Z: [laughter] I'm going to tell you a joke.
Me: Okay, go ahead.
Z: I like to wear cream!
Me: Cream?[more laughter.] I'm going to tell you another joke.
Me: Okay.
Z: I like to wear a cream cheese sandwich!
Last weekend, she narrated a story while I typed. It went like this...
I love you. Cinderella didn’t love her sisters and also she didn’t like her stepmother. But her sister loved her stepmother. Then she was very mean to Cinderella and she almost hit Cinderella. And then when she was walking outside she saw Cinderella and she said, “Do your chores” and she said “I already did my chores.” And when Cinderella went outside to play, run and chase leaves and chase butterflies and chase butterflies again and everything she liked to do and not die. But then she didn’t like it because she didn’t like it again. But she laughed! But she didn’t laugh and she did all the things she wanted to do and she went happily off to bed.
And then she did something really naughty, and she did something really naughty again and the stepmother laughed. And then she did something really, really really naughty. And then she stopped being naughty and she went away to go fishing. And she tripped and fell and hurt her knee. And then she fell down into the river. And then she didn’t like it because noone was happy, and then she got to have fun and then she went to go outside and her stepmother wasn’t there but her stepsisters were there. And then she hit her stepsisters. And then she hit her stepmother. And she hit her stepmother so hard that her stepmother died.
[mom] Uh-oh, I don’t like stories about killing or dying.
I like to have stories about dying and killing. And then her stepsisters went off to bed, and the stepmother was worried about the stepsisters, but Cinderella wasn’t. No one loved Cinderella – she was alone. No one except anyone liked her. No one liked her except anyone. And anyone did it again. And Cinderella got a huge pot of peas and no one ate the pot of peas except her stepsisters and her stepmother. But they didn’t like the peas, but they had fun playing with nobody. They had fun eating dinner, and no one seemed to love her.
Pretty butterflies aren’t fairies. Fairies and butterflies aren’t fair. But fair-keys are. No one is happy about that. No one. No one.
(I really like that e.e. cummings-esque section toward the end with the "no one except anyone liked her" thing.)
Yesterday we were driving around, and we were talking about clothing. It went like this...
Z: I like to wear dresses.
Me: I know.
Z: And I like shirts.
Me: Oh, do you? What do you like to wear them with?
Z: Dresses..
Me: Hm. Do you like to wear skirts?
Z: I like to wear skirts with tank tops.
Me: Ah. Do you like to wear pants?
Z: Yeah, I like to wear them with dresses.
Me: Do you like to wear shorts?
Z: No. I like to wear tank tops with shirts.
Me: Oh. Then what do you wear on the bottom?
Z: [laughter] I'm going to tell you a joke.
Me: Okay, go ahead.
Z: I like to wear cream!
Me: Cream?[more laughter.] I'm going to tell you another joke.
Me: Okay.
Z: I like to wear a cream cheese sandwich!
Last weekend, she narrated a story while I typed. It went like this...
I love you. Cinderella didn’t love her sisters and also she didn’t like her stepmother. But her sister loved her stepmother. Then she was very mean to Cinderella and she almost hit Cinderella. And then when she was walking outside she saw Cinderella and she said, “Do your chores” and she said “I already did my chores.” And when Cinderella went outside to play, run and chase leaves and chase butterflies and chase butterflies again and everything she liked to do and not die. But then she didn’t like it because she didn’t like it again. But she laughed! But she didn’t laugh and she did all the things she wanted to do and she went happily off to bed.
And then she did something really naughty, and she did something really naughty again and the stepmother laughed. And then she did something really, really really naughty. And then she stopped being naughty and she went away to go fishing. And she tripped and fell and hurt her knee. And then she fell down into the river. And then she didn’t like it because noone was happy, and then she got to have fun and then she went to go outside and her stepmother wasn’t there but her stepsisters were there. And then she hit her stepsisters. And then she hit her stepmother. And she hit her stepmother so hard that her stepmother died.
[mom] Uh-oh, I don’t like stories about killing or dying.
I like to have stories about dying and killing. And then her stepsisters went off to bed, and the stepmother was worried about the stepsisters, but Cinderella wasn’t. No one loved Cinderella – she was alone. No one except anyone liked her. No one liked her except anyone. And anyone did it again. And Cinderella got a huge pot of peas and no one ate the pot of peas except her stepsisters and her stepmother. But they didn’t like the peas, but they had fun playing with nobody. They had fun eating dinner, and no one seemed to love her.
Pretty butterflies aren’t fairies. Fairies and butterflies aren’t fair. But fair-keys are. No one is happy about that. No one. No one.
(I really like that e.e. cummings-esque section toward the end with the "no one except anyone liked her" thing.)
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Gloomy June, but high spirits
I love sunshine and warm weather and picnics and swimming, and this spring is really not allowing for that sort of thing, but nevertheless, I'm looking forward to lots of things, most especially, our July trip to Oregon.
I'm having a lot of fun with my new food blog. I don't know if anyone's getting any benefit from it, but I'm enjoying writing it, and I actually feel good about the content. I think a novice cook could utilize it and make some decent food.
Zadie just had her last day of her first year of pre-school. She loves school. She's a real extravert, and she loves being around other kids. Next year, she'll be in a four-day-a-week program, which is a little scary for me, because it feels like that's too much, too soon! Isn't she just a baby? But no, I think it's perfect for her and she's really going to enjoy it. Here's her first day and last day.
In other news, we're getting a kitty! I wasn't exactly ready, but this one wandered into my classroom at school three times. I kept shooing it away, but it kept coming back, so I figured it needed something. It was very small and skinny, and I picked him up easily and put him in a cardboard box. He mewled unhappily, so his sister came wandering in to see what the fuss is about. With a little more difficulty and some help, I caught her, too. My dad was kind enough to pick them up (I didn't want fleas in my car), and he and my step-mom are nursing them back to health. Anyway, I've fallen in love with the little gray guy, and I am pretty sure they are in love with the caramel one, so my initial concerns about how to adopt them our or whether to fix them and return them to the colony were unfounded. They both have homes. I'm naming the gray one Luther Furbank.
My school is almost out, but not quite. Sigh. It feels like it's a long year.
I was updating (okay, completely re-making) my web site for school, and I decided there ought to be a page that has my education and some of my writing credits. But there aren't that many, and so I decided to submit more of my writing for publication. I went to my writing group last night, and the other gals really supported that idea. Then, this morning, I read one of my local poetry blogs and they had an announcement that a journal's submission deadline is tomorrow. So I threw something together, attached it to an email, held my breath and hit "send" before I could change my mind. Wish me luck!
I'm having a lot of fun with my new food blog. I don't know if anyone's getting any benefit from it, but I'm enjoying writing it, and I actually feel good about the content. I think a novice cook could utilize it and make some decent food.
Zadie just had her last day of her first year of pre-school. She loves school. She's a real extravert, and she loves being around other kids. Next year, she'll be in a four-day-a-week program, which is a little scary for me, because it feels like that's too much, too soon! Isn't she just a baby? But no, I think it's perfect for her and she's really going to enjoy it. Here's her first day and last day.
In other news, we're getting a kitty! I wasn't exactly ready, but this one wandered into my classroom at school three times. I kept shooing it away, but it kept coming back, so I figured it needed something. It was very small and skinny, and I picked him up easily and put him in a cardboard box. He mewled unhappily, so his sister came wandering in to see what the fuss is about. With a little more difficulty and some help, I caught her, too. My dad was kind enough to pick them up (I didn't want fleas in my car), and he and my step-mom are nursing them back to health. Anyway, I've fallen in love with the little gray guy, and I am pretty sure they are in love with the caramel one, so my initial concerns about how to adopt them our or whether to fix them and return them to the colony were unfounded. They both have homes. I'm naming the gray one Luther Furbank.
My school is almost out, but not quite. Sigh. It feels like it's a long year.
I was updating (okay, completely re-making) my web site for school, and I decided there ought to be a page that has my education and some of my writing credits. But there aren't that many, and so I decided to submit more of my writing for publication. I went to my writing group last night, and the other gals really supported that idea. Then, this morning, I read one of my local poetry blogs and they had an announcement that a journal's submission deadline is tomorrow. So I threw something together, attached it to an email, held my breath and hit "send" before I could change my mind. Wish me luck!
Saturday, May 28, 2011
Mexico week, the banquet, and the fair (yea, it's been busy).
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.
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.
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.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Our intriguing Easter
Today started with an egg hunt. I put together some brunch munchies for the adults and hid a boatload of eggs for the kids, and then we waited... The kids were raring to go at about 9:50, but we had said we'd wait for the other kids to come at ten. When we finally released them, it was madness. Fun madness, though. I watched as some kids found eggs, then placed them in others' baskets. Some kids took eggs out of others' baskets. Some kids had to be led to eggs. Some kids thought hard-boiled ones were perfect for throwing. And then we all sat around and ate junk food and chatted. And it was a little melancholy, because some neighbors whom we really like had news today: they sold their house. We knew they were listing it, but it seemed like it was really up in the air, because they needed to make a certain amount to move. But they got an offer, countered, and it was accepted, so they are in escrow now. I'm happy for them, because it will cut down on something like six hours of commute time per week, but I'm sad for us, because their son was really Zadie's first friend and playmate, and because I just really like them.
We cleaned up, had some down time, tried to take a nap (failed), and then went to the park to kill some time before dinner. The park was surprisingly crowded. I guess having a barbecue on Easter is a thing. Anyway, the playground was mobbed, and I usually don't step into Zadie's social stuff, but there was a crowd of bigger kids playing really rough, pushing, cussing, and she was just obliviously hanging out right behind them. I suggested she play elsewhere. Anyway, after that, she almost fell BIG-TIME. She was on a bridge that's about 5 feet off the ground. She was wearing sandals, and as she stepped onto the bridge, she slipped. Well, in the moment that it happened, I thought she was just going to land on her ass, but then she kind of twitched sideways and started to slide right off the play structure. She reached out her hand, grabbed the rail, and DID fall, but was hanging on so tightly with her hand that she just hung there. I was very close, so that probably lasted only a second or so, but in that time I saw that her body had sort of pulled her arm around into an odd angle. She was crying, but didn't seem to be hurt. She wanted to play again after a minute, so I let her.
Then we were playing in the sand. Several other kids were there when we walked over, and there was a little kerfuffle going on. A kid who was maybe almost 4 was yelling "It's OURS! It's OURS!" Another boy I had seen earlier with his mom was holding a toy shovel and looking confused. A small girl tried to yank the shovel from him, and he pulled back. She yelled at him, too, and the first boy yelled "Man, we hate people!" I looked around to see who was with these kids, and it didn't seem that anyone was. There were actually about five kids, all between three and six years old, yelling at the kid with the shovel. There was a little more pushing and pulling. No one stepped in, so finally I said to the main antagonist, "That's your shovel? You want it back? Why don't you try saying 'May I have the shovel back, please?'" She tried it, he dropped the shovel, and that was the end of it. The shovel boy's mom had been fairly nearby (she was preoccupied with a younger girl), and had only seen him pushing back, so she made him apologize. He had really been ganged up on, though.
Anyway, there was yet more playground drama! A few moments later, I heard a thunk (kids had been dropping off the bars) and then some crying. It didn't stop, and it sounded like pretty traumatized crying, so I looked. The girl was sitting on the ground and didn't seem to want to get up. I asked where her mom was, and she said she wasn't here. I asked who was with her, and she said her grandma. I asked her to point to her grandma so I could get her, but she wasn't on the playground. She was "way over there." She pointed across the park. Did I mention the park was packed? So I asked if any of the other kids on the playground were her cousins or anything, but they weren't. She was alone. Hopefully, I asked whether maybe she was better and wanted to go back to playing, but she didn't. I told her to wait, and I grabbed Z and we went off to look for her grandma. I knew the girl's name and the grandma's name, and I asked EVERY group of people in that park, but no one knew her. I ran into the other mom (shovel-boy's mom) on the way back, and she had gone counter-clockwise doing the same thing, to no avail. A woman whom I had talked to came to the playground and asked if we'd found the grandmother. She said she knew that sometimes people dropped their kids off when the playground was crowded, leaving them alone and hoping no one would notice. I wondered whether we should call the police, an ambulance, child protective services... I didn't think her elbow or arm were broken, but she was still cradling it and sniffling. I'd been gone a long time, and when I came back she was still sitting in the same spot; she couldn't get up because she couldn't put any weight on her arm.
Shovel-boy's mom asked the girl's mom's phone number, then called. It went to voice mail, so she left a message.
It turned out that two other mothers had also gone out looking for the grandmother, and finally someone found her (in an area I SWEAR I looked and asked around). Just then, the mother called back, but she spoke only Spanish, so the phone was passed off to a younger man (an uncle, I'd guess). They picked her up and walked her back to their barbecue. I'd say the girl was four or five.
I'm glad for a happy ending, but my gosh -- a five year old should really not be left unsupervised far from her family. After they left, three of us admitted to our fears about even helping -- one of my first thoughts was to help the girl up and walk her to her family, but what if someone saw me walking with this girl, and we happened to be heading in the wrong direction? And what if she HAD been really hurt? How long did she have to wait before getting help? Why did she have to rely on strangers?
I try not to be a "helicopter mom," and I let Zadie play. It was only out of sheer luck that I was so close by when she fell -- not long before that I'd been sitting on a bench. But I have a hard time imagining letting such a young child out of my sight -- out of ANYONE'S sight -- for so long. Would I trust her with a family member, even an older child? Sure. But I want, most of the time, someone there who's looking out for her welfare. To young Miss A with the hurt elbow, I hope today was an aberration. I hope your family loves you as much as you deserve to be loved.
Sigh. Okay, so then we came home and got ready to go to Mom's. We had a lovely dinner, and it was especially nice to see them, as they've been gone for a week, and Zadie usually sees them almost every day. I made rolls (which got a little dry, boo!), and pie (which came out great, yay!). There was asparagus, salad, and scalloped potatoes, so I was in heaven. Obviously, it was nice to see the rest of my family on that side, too.
And now we are home and the house is quiet, and the egg mess is mostly cleaned up, and I have to go back to work tomorrow, and I think I need to stop taking my allergy medicine, because I simply can't get up in the morning when I take it, and there you are. I hope you had a lovely Easter, or as we like to call it, Zombie Jesus Day.
By the way -- I'm starting a new blog. I'll link up soon, but it's a cooking blog aimed at the novice home cook who wants to be a great home cook. I think I have some good ideas.
We cleaned up, had some down time, tried to take a nap (failed), and then went to the park to kill some time before dinner. The park was surprisingly crowded. I guess having a barbecue on Easter is a thing. Anyway, the playground was mobbed, and I usually don't step into Zadie's social stuff, but there was a crowd of bigger kids playing really rough, pushing, cussing, and she was just obliviously hanging out right behind them. I suggested she play elsewhere. Anyway, after that, she almost fell BIG-TIME. She was on a bridge that's about 5 feet off the ground. She was wearing sandals, and as she stepped onto the bridge, she slipped. Well, in the moment that it happened, I thought she was just going to land on her ass, but then she kind of twitched sideways and started to slide right off the play structure. She reached out her hand, grabbed the rail, and DID fall, but was hanging on so tightly with her hand that she just hung there. I was very close, so that probably lasted only a second or so, but in that time I saw that her body had sort of pulled her arm around into an odd angle. She was crying, but didn't seem to be hurt. She wanted to play again after a minute, so I let her.
Then we were playing in the sand. Several other kids were there when we walked over, and there was a little kerfuffle going on. A kid who was maybe almost 4 was yelling "It's OURS! It's OURS!" Another boy I had seen earlier with his mom was holding a toy shovel and looking confused. A small girl tried to yank the shovel from him, and he pulled back. She yelled at him, too, and the first boy yelled "Man, we hate people!" I looked around to see who was with these kids, and it didn't seem that anyone was. There were actually about five kids, all between three and six years old, yelling at the kid with the shovel. There was a little more pushing and pulling. No one stepped in, so finally I said to the main antagonist, "That's your shovel? You want it back? Why don't you try saying 'May I have the shovel back, please?'" She tried it, he dropped the shovel, and that was the end of it. The shovel boy's mom had been fairly nearby (she was preoccupied with a younger girl), and had only seen him pushing back, so she made him apologize. He had really been ganged up on, though.
Anyway, there was yet more playground drama! A few moments later, I heard a thunk (kids had been dropping off the bars) and then some crying. It didn't stop, and it sounded like pretty traumatized crying, so I looked. The girl was sitting on the ground and didn't seem to want to get up. I asked where her mom was, and she said she wasn't here. I asked who was with her, and she said her grandma. I asked her to point to her grandma so I could get her, but she wasn't on the playground. She was "way over there." She pointed across the park. Did I mention the park was packed? So I asked if any of the other kids on the playground were her cousins or anything, but they weren't. She was alone. Hopefully, I asked whether maybe she was better and wanted to go back to playing, but she didn't. I told her to wait, and I grabbed Z and we went off to look for her grandma. I knew the girl's name and the grandma's name, and I asked EVERY group of people in that park, but no one knew her. I ran into the other mom (shovel-boy's mom) on the way back, and she had gone counter-clockwise doing the same thing, to no avail. A woman whom I had talked to came to the playground and asked if we'd found the grandmother. She said she knew that sometimes people dropped their kids off when the playground was crowded, leaving them alone and hoping no one would notice. I wondered whether we should call the police, an ambulance, child protective services... I didn't think her elbow or arm were broken, but she was still cradling it and sniffling. I'd been gone a long time, and when I came back she was still sitting in the same spot; she couldn't get up because she couldn't put any weight on her arm.
Shovel-boy's mom asked the girl's mom's phone number, then called. It went to voice mail, so she left a message.
It turned out that two other mothers had also gone out looking for the grandmother, and finally someone found her (in an area I SWEAR I looked and asked around). Just then, the mother called back, but she spoke only Spanish, so the phone was passed off to a younger man (an uncle, I'd guess). They picked her up and walked her back to their barbecue. I'd say the girl was four or five.
I'm glad for a happy ending, but my gosh -- a five year old should really not be left unsupervised far from her family. After they left, three of us admitted to our fears about even helping -- one of my first thoughts was to help the girl up and walk her to her family, but what if someone saw me walking with this girl, and we happened to be heading in the wrong direction? And what if she HAD been really hurt? How long did she have to wait before getting help? Why did she have to rely on strangers?
I try not to be a "helicopter mom," and I let Zadie play. It was only out of sheer luck that I was so close by when she fell -- not long before that I'd been sitting on a bench. But I have a hard time imagining letting such a young child out of my sight -- out of ANYONE'S sight -- for so long. Would I trust her with a family member, even an older child? Sure. But I want, most of the time, someone there who's looking out for her welfare. To young Miss A with the hurt elbow, I hope today was an aberration. I hope your family loves you as much as you deserve to be loved.
Sigh. Okay, so then we came home and got ready to go to Mom's. We had a lovely dinner, and it was especially nice to see them, as they've been gone for a week, and Zadie usually sees them almost every day. I made rolls (which got a little dry, boo!), and pie (which came out great, yay!). There was asparagus, salad, and scalloped potatoes, so I was in heaven. Obviously, it was nice to see the rest of my family on that side, too.
And now we are home and the house is quiet, and the egg mess is mostly cleaned up, and I have to go back to work tomorrow, and I think I need to stop taking my allergy medicine, because I simply can't get up in the morning when I take it, and there you are. I hope you had a lovely Easter, or as we like to call it, Zombie Jesus Day.
By the way -- I'm starting a new blog. I'll link up soon, but it's a cooking blog aimed at the novice home cook who wants to be a great home cook. I think I have some good ideas.
Friday, April 22, 2011
New music challenge!
It's movie music! Yeah, I'm excited. I can't decide which direction to go. I could start with musicals...
Actually, as much as I like "America," I just searched for and started listening to "A Boy Like That." It's one of the most passionate scenes in that whole film. "No, Anita, no!"
Or I could go with great movie scores...
Or music that was integral to the movie...
(Ugh, there's something in my eye.)
Go with a mockumentary theme for fun...
And there are so many soundtracks I used to love: Doom Generation, Tank Girl, Pump up the Volume, The Crow, Cool World, Natural Born Killers... It's hard to know which direction to take. And right after I post this and crawl in bed, I fully expect to have my brain go "Hey dummy! What about Rushmore? What about The Royal Tenenbaums? What about The Wedding Singer?"
And so forth.
Actually, as much as I like "America," I just searched for and started listening to "A Boy Like That." It's one of the most passionate scenes in that whole film. "No, Anita, no!"
Or I could go with great movie scores...
Or music that was integral to the movie...
(Ugh, there's something in my eye.)
Go with a mockumentary theme for fun...
And there are so many soundtracks I used to love: Doom Generation, Tank Girl, Pump up the Volume, The Crow, Cool World, Natural Born Killers... It's hard to know which direction to take. And right after I post this and crawl in bed, I fully expect to have my brain go "Hey dummy! What about Rushmore? What about The Royal Tenenbaums? What about The Wedding Singer?"
And so forth.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Blogging under the influence
Just upfront: I took a prescription allergy pill twenty minutes ago (at 8:10), so if this gets weird toward the end (or weirder than usual), you'll know why. My doctor recommended taking them right before bed, because they make you super-groggy, but I find that I'm way too tired in the morning to get up and go to the gym, so we're going to try this.
Monday we didn't do a heckuva lot, but we did go visit my grandma, and got a Granny Bonanza! Not only did I get some vintage clothes that were the stated purpose of the visit, but she mentioned she had kumquats. Sweetie and I both love them, so I said I'd take some off her hands and make marmalade. Well, when she heard that she asked if I wanted jars, too. She had a box-and-a-half of canning jars! Jars are one of the most expensive parts of the canning process (I mean, unless you're canning Goldberries or something), so that was a boon. And she ended up giving us 8.5 pounds of kumquats! I'm going to have to use them fast.
We spent most of Monday morning at Bertha Henschel park, which was nice as there were about 20 other kids there to play with. It was lovely weather.
I have been on a cooking spree. I did make one batch of kumquat marmalade, and I made another of strawberry marmalade. I also made a kiwi jam. They're all good in different ways. The kumquat marmalade didn't gel much, so it's more like a syrup -- but the world's best syrup.
I also made pancakes this morning, Portuguese chickpea soup Monday, bread Sunday, dough for more bread today, cookie dough for Easter sugar cookies today, and enough pie dough for four crusts. I'l be making rolls and pie for Easter dinner, so I'm doing a little prep work.
Yesterday we did something a bit odd. I took Z to Harbin Hot Springs, which sounds just fine and dandy until you realize that it's clothing-optional, and most people opt out. I warned her ahead of time that there would be adult strangers there without clothes on, and asked if it would be okay with her. She said, "Oh yeah... I'll make friends with the adult strangers." If you're familiar with the old Bob Newhart show, you can imagine his voice coming out of me as I said, "That... th... that was not the.. the message I wanted you to take away."
Anyway, there's a pool that's kids-only, so of course we were in there and didn't really run into many other adults. We soaked a bit, then sunned a bit, then got into hiking clothes (a skirt for her, naturally) and went for a walk.
(There's something I love about the confidence of her stride.)
We saw deer. For about a minute, I got her to crouch quietly next to me as they approached. At one point, she took a deep breath and reared back, probably to yell "HEY DEER!" I shushed her, and she stayed quiet. But then she couldn't help trying to get closer. They let her for several paces, then started to scatter.
We also saw a lizard and a dead snake, plus three semi-squished centipedes (huge ones!), but Zadie's favorite thing that we saw was a pop-up camper van.
You're not supposed to take pictures there, but no one was around at this little spot.
Then we went and had lunch at the little market. I am sure people's tastes vary, but I am not thrilled with the food selection in the market or the little cafe, and the restaurant isn't open for lunch. The Poolside Cafe is AWESOME, but is only open during the summer months. Finally we went and soaked a bit more, then went to rest on one of the sun decks. As we sat, a man with long hair approached. I saw him first, and as he passed, Zadie noticed.
"That girl doesn't have hair on her butt yet."
"Shh. We don't talk about people's bodies."
"Or maybe it's a boy."
"I think it is a boy, but we don't talk about other people's bodies."
"Yeah, I think it is a boy, because I saw his penis."
Good mom for letting her see a range of natural body types and not being freaked out by human nudity, or bad mom for letting her see a stranger's penis? Only time and therapy will tell.
She fell asleep the instant we got in the car, so we didn't stop at Taylor's Refresher (more's the pity), but I promised her Burr's after dinner, and so we went.
Harbin was a fun day, and she keeps asking to go back, but for $45 (not including lunch and gas), it was a pretty expensive pool dip/nature hike. We could just go to Sutter's Landing park and the gym and be ahead $50.
Today was less spectacular, but actually a lot of fun. I made pancakes, which she ate her weight in, and then we got ready for a playdate. I follow a blog for neighborhood parents, and there was a free thing at a new "dance academy." Zadie always talks about dance, but ballet wasn't really a good fit for her, at least last year, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to check the place out. It was funny -- the woman was sickly sweet, the tunes were Disney, the place was largely lavender, and Zadie LOVED IT. But you know, I can put aside my... whatever... because she loved it so much. There was a tiny bit of hip-hop, a lot of props, a chasse or two, some stretching, but she kept it constantly moving, really had the kids involved, made it fun, and had great control over the classroom. Zadie actually paid WAY more attention than she ever did at either ballet or soccer, and was involved and following instructions pretty much for the whole hour, which is stellar for her. I might suck it up and pay for classes, as there is one on Saturday mornings that's similar to the playdate class today.
I feel a bit like those weekend dads you used to hear about, who felt so guilty for not spending time with their kids that when they did, they tried to make it really spectacular time, like Disneyland. I know I could spend this week just going to the park, reading books, and taking walks around the block and she'd be happy, but I feel so awful for seeing her for only a few hours a day most days that I really feel like I want to make this time off special. So anyway, don't be surprised if there are zoo pictures or something. You can count on egg-dying and cookie-making.
Monday we didn't do a heckuva lot, but we did go visit my grandma, and got a Granny Bonanza! Not only did I get some vintage clothes that were the stated purpose of the visit, but she mentioned she had kumquats. Sweetie and I both love them, so I said I'd take some off her hands and make marmalade. Well, when she heard that she asked if I wanted jars, too. She had a box-and-a-half of canning jars! Jars are one of the most expensive parts of the canning process (I mean, unless you're canning Goldberries or something), so that was a boon. And she ended up giving us 8.5 pounds of kumquats! I'm going to have to use them fast.
We spent most of Monday morning at Bertha Henschel park, which was nice as there were about 20 other kids there to play with. It was lovely weather.
I have been on a cooking spree. I did make one batch of kumquat marmalade, and I made another of strawberry marmalade. I also made a kiwi jam. They're all good in different ways. The kumquat marmalade didn't gel much, so it's more like a syrup -- but the world's best syrup.
I also made pancakes this morning, Portuguese chickpea soup Monday, bread Sunday, dough for more bread today, cookie dough for Easter sugar cookies today, and enough pie dough for four crusts. I'l be making rolls and pie for Easter dinner, so I'm doing a little prep work.
Yesterday we did something a bit odd. I took Z to Harbin Hot Springs, which sounds just fine and dandy until you realize that it's clothing-optional, and most people opt out. I warned her ahead of time that there would be adult strangers there without clothes on, and asked if it would be okay with her. She said, "Oh yeah... I'll make friends with the adult strangers." If you're familiar with the old Bob Newhart show, you can imagine his voice coming out of me as I said, "That... th... that was not the.. the message I wanted you to take away."
Anyway, there's a pool that's kids-only, so of course we were in there and didn't really run into many other adults. We soaked a bit, then sunned a bit, then got into hiking clothes (a skirt for her, naturally) and went for a walk.
(There's something I love about the confidence of her stride.)
We saw deer. For about a minute, I got her to crouch quietly next to me as they approached. At one point, she took a deep breath and reared back, probably to yell "HEY DEER!" I shushed her, and she stayed quiet. But then she couldn't help trying to get closer. They let her for several paces, then started to scatter.
We also saw a lizard and a dead snake, plus three semi-squished centipedes (huge ones!), but Zadie's favorite thing that we saw was a pop-up camper van.
You're not supposed to take pictures there, but no one was around at this little spot.
Then we went and had lunch at the little market. I am sure people's tastes vary, but I am not thrilled with the food selection in the market or the little cafe, and the restaurant isn't open for lunch. The Poolside Cafe is AWESOME, but is only open during the summer months. Finally we went and soaked a bit more, then went to rest on one of the sun decks. As we sat, a man with long hair approached. I saw him first, and as he passed, Zadie noticed.
"That girl doesn't have hair on her butt yet."
"Shh. We don't talk about people's bodies."
"Or maybe it's a boy."
"I think it is a boy, but we don't talk about other people's bodies."
"Yeah, I think it is a boy, because I saw his penis."
Good mom for letting her see a range of natural body types and not being freaked out by human nudity, or bad mom for letting her see a stranger's penis? Only time and therapy will tell.
She fell asleep the instant we got in the car, so we didn't stop at Taylor's Refresher (more's the pity), but I promised her Burr's after dinner, and so we went.
Harbin was a fun day, and she keeps asking to go back, but for $45 (not including lunch and gas), it was a pretty expensive pool dip/nature hike. We could just go to Sutter's Landing park and the gym and be ahead $50.
Today was less spectacular, but actually a lot of fun. I made pancakes, which she ate her weight in, and then we got ready for a playdate. I follow a blog for neighborhood parents, and there was a free thing at a new "dance academy." Zadie always talks about dance, but ballet wasn't really a good fit for her, at least last year, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to check the place out. It was funny -- the woman was sickly sweet, the tunes were Disney, the place was largely lavender, and Zadie LOVED IT. But you know, I can put aside my... whatever... because she loved it so much. There was a tiny bit of hip-hop, a lot of props, a chasse or two, some stretching, but she kept it constantly moving, really had the kids involved, made it fun, and had great control over the classroom. Zadie actually paid WAY more attention than she ever did at either ballet or soccer, and was involved and following instructions pretty much for the whole hour, which is stellar for her. I might suck it up and pay for classes, as there is one on Saturday mornings that's similar to the playdate class today.
I feel a bit like those weekend dads you used to hear about, who felt so guilty for not spending time with their kids that when they did, they tried to make it really spectacular time, like Disneyland. I know I could spend this week just going to the park, reading books, and taking walks around the block and she'd be happy, but I feel so awful for seeing her for only a few hours a day most days that I really feel like I want to make this time off special. So anyway, don't be surprised if there are zoo pictures or something. You can count on egg-dying and cookie-making.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Bem-vindo a Portugal!
That's right; it's been about a month since Ireland week, and we're moving on to Portugal. This may actually prove to be one of our most challenging countries/cultures, as almost everything else we've studied has a restaurant, a cultural center, or something else to go see and do here. Not Portugal. Despite there being a fairly large Portuguese population in the Delta, most of what I found online is crab feeds and fundraising dinners, and it kind of looks like you have to already be a member.
Still, we do our best, right? Today I made a chickpea soup that was surprisingly simple, and the family really liked it. Zadie heaped on the praise, actually, and Sweetie, who has in the past eschewed chickpeas, suggested I make it again. It was just a broth with chickpeas, and then you add a mix of mint, parsley, garlic and olive oil. We also had some veggie chorizo, as I read that although it's not as popular linguica, it is nevertheless widely available in Portugal. Not the Mexican kind (where you squeeze the sausage out of the casing), but the Spanish kind (which is more like a Bratwurst).
I'll probably also print some coloring pages again, make a couple more dishes (sweet bread, figs with chocolate and almonds, and a bean and rice dish), and find some music to listen to.
Oh, and for the first time, I tried something just for myself -- a Portuguese wine called Vinho Verde. It's pleasant. Very summery.
Today was pretty lovely. We slept in (Zadie until almost 8!), then went to Orphan for breakfast, where I had the nicest poppyseed, raspberry, and meyer lemon curd pancakes. Then we went to the farmer's market, swam for a while at the gym, and came home for lunch and a long nap. I made that dinner, and then made strawberry marmalade. I think it will be good, but quite sweet. Plus, the lemon rind in it is surprisingly tough. It seems that usually the rind is marmalade is toothsome, but not super-chewy.
Of course, sometimes those long maps lead to trouble getting to sleep, and this is one of those nights. It is now ten minutes to ten, and she is still periodically calling for me, asking me to adjust the lighting, whatever. Still, it was nice to have a nap.
Still, we do our best, right? Today I made a chickpea soup that was surprisingly simple, and the family really liked it. Zadie heaped on the praise, actually, and Sweetie, who has in the past eschewed chickpeas, suggested I make it again. It was just a broth with chickpeas, and then you add a mix of mint, parsley, garlic and olive oil. We also had some veggie chorizo, as I read that although it's not as popular linguica, it is nevertheless widely available in Portugal. Not the Mexican kind (where you squeeze the sausage out of the casing), but the Spanish kind (which is more like a Bratwurst).
I'll probably also print some coloring pages again, make a couple more dishes (sweet bread, figs with chocolate and almonds, and a bean and rice dish), and find some music to listen to.
Oh, and for the first time, I tried something just for myself -- a Portuguese wine called Vinho Verde. It's pleasant. Very summery.
Today was pretty lovely. We slept in (Zadie until almost 8!), then went to Orphan for breakfast, where I had the nicest poppyseed, raspberry, and meyer lemon curd pancakes. Then we went to the farmer's market, swam for a while at the gym, and came home for lunch and a long nap. I made that dinner, and then made strawberry marmalade. I think it will be good, but quite sweet. Plus, the lemon rind in it is surprisingly tough. It seems that usually the rind is marmalade is toothsome, but not super-chewy.
Of course, sometimes those long maps lead to trouble getting to sleep, and this is one of those nights. It is now ten minutes to ten, and she is still periodically calling for me, asking me to adjust the lighting, whatever. Still, it was nice to have a nap.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
With the curtains up
IMG_3040
Originally uploaded by Mrs. Piggs
I also removed a big toy chest that had outlived its usefulness (it was really deep, so worked great for me to pull stuffed animals out of, but now that she's into smaller stuff and is more interested in getting it herself, I put the toys in shallow drawers in her closet). I like how it looks now, although ultimately, I'd like to get rid of the metal bins, too (one is a laundry hamper, the other's strictly for diapers).
Make me one with everything.*
So, what have I been up to? A little of everything.
Monday: I observed the election ballot-counting of my union. It was educational. I think last year there was a huge concern about malfeasance on the part of the elections committee, but in fact, it seems that a lot of the problems lie with people who just can't figure out the rules and do stuff wrong.
Tuesday: Sweetie got an award! I flew over to his place of employment from work and enjoyed watching his introduction and his speech. He really deserves it, y'all -- it was for service to the institution, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find people who put more work into that. Then I flew back to school for Open House. Very few of my parents came (I have seniors -- the parents are pretty much done by that point), but it was still nice to be there with everyone.
Wednesday: nothing after school, but I did finish reading, proofreading, suggesting edits and responding to ALL my seniors' first drafts of their senior project research essay. Biggest common issue? They don't realize how obvious it is that they're plagiarizing. (Okay, actually, it's that I'm not sure they even realize they're plagiarizing, but whatever.)
Thursday: Union meeting. Surprisingly, this was the least-contentious and least-stressful one I've been to in a while.
Friday: This was the day of our school's annual edu-fun festival. Normally we study a culture, but this year we made it an environmental festival. There was some dissent as to whether we should be celebrating and studying the current conservationist movement or the history of counter-culture (i.e., hippies). I was for the former, but the guy who does most of the work was for the latter, so we went with it. He is learning to delegate (and he should), but I got delegated the task of arranging speakers. Now, I have probably never mentioned, because I don't usually brag here (at least I hope not!) that I scored hecka high on the logic portion of the GRE. Higher even than I scored in English, and I wasn't too shabby there, either. (For balance, I proved myself utterly inept at math.) Anyway, the questions are always like, "There's a flower show. Daisies are never available on Wednesdays, and Tuesdays must be roses unless tulips are shown on the prior day. Sunflowers must follow orchids." And so on, and you have to figure out what you can make work. Well, arranging speakers for 15 teachers, some of whom move from classroom to classroom, some of whom are on prep one of the three periods, some of whom never respond to their goddamn emails, etc. is rather like one of those logic problems, except that instead of assuming you have the daisies to begin with, you have to cold-call SMUD to beg them for some (er, speakers, that is). Good thing I'm good at it, I guess.
It was funny, because I did end up having to make a few last minute adjustments, run (twice) across campus to try to get a camera, text one teacher to tell her to change the location of her class and stuff like that, but it more or less went off without a hitch. I scheduled the boringest-sounding guy for my room, and instead he was incredibly engaging, and I feel like I understand nuclear reactors way better than I did a couple days ago.
I had also suggested a vegetarian lunch because of the lower carbon footprint, and the kids were skeptical. But on the occasion, they LOVED it. Several spontaneously came into my room with a Boca burger and asked, "Have you had one of these? They're delicious!" We also had veggie skewers, fruit kebabs, and a salad bar. It ended up being the best lunch we've done. And the feedback I got on the rest of the speakers was that they were all really successful and engaging.
So in short, it's been a motherfucking busy week. All three of us took a nap yesterday afternoon, and I felt refreshed and relieved as I haven't in weeks when I awoke.
I finally hung those infernal curtains. I think they're crooked, but you can't tell unless you're really looking. I finally called my grandma. I finally put in some plants (18 of them). I have stuff I want to do this week, but not that much, really. Perhaps a brunch date. Make a couple pies. Host an Easter egg hunt for the kids on the block. But it's all fun stuff, not stressful. Of course, you know how I am -- my Easter egg hunt has already, in my head, turned into "Maybe I can have prizes! Maybe I should bake Easter cookies! Maybe I'll have mimosas out for the adults! That would be a good morning to make Portuguese sweet bread! Or pecan sticky rolls! Or both!"
I'm breaking out in hives again. Oddly, it's almost the exact same time of year and situation as last year: I had just used up one jar of moisturizer and bought a second. I'm thinking maybe it isn't the moisturizer at all, but something seasonal. I wouldn't mention it but they itch like crazy! I'm trying not to scratch because it makes it worse, so if you see me walking around gently slapping my own cheeks like a crackhead, you'll know why.
As if to out-do me, Z has enormous hives, about the size of a quarter each, on her arm and leg. We've all been outdoors a lot gardening and enjoying the nice weather, so I'm not sure what it is, but we're both taking allergy medicine.
The title of today's post is based on a silly joke. What did the Buddhist monk say to the hot dog vendor? It appealed to me, because if you asked what I'd been doing this week, the only real appropriate answer might be "a little of everything."
I hope you're all well. Zadie said to me tonight, "I'm glad you're my mom, and I'm glad you don't have to go to work." That pretty much sums it up for me, too.
Monday: I observed the election ballot-counting of my union. It was educational. I think last year there was a huge concern about malfeasance on the part of the elections committee, but in fact, it seems that a lot of the problems lie with people who just can't figure out the rules and do stuff wrong.
Tuesday: Sweetie got an award! I flew over to his place of employment from work and enjoyed watching his introduction and his speech. He really deserves it, y'all -- it was for service to the institution, and I think you'd be hard pressed to find people who put more work into that. Then I flew back to school for Open House. Very few of my parents came (I have seniors -- the parents are pretty much done by that point), but it was still nice to be there with everyone.
Wednesday: nothing after school, but I did finish reading, proofreading, suggesting edits and responding to ALL my seniors' first drafts of their senior project research essay. Biggest common issue? They don't realize how obvious it is that they're plagiarizing. (Okay, actually, it's that I'm not sure they even realize they're plagiarizing, but whatever.)
Thursday: Union meeting. Surprisingly, this was the least-contentious and least-stressful one I've been to in a while.
Friday: This was the day of our school's annual edu-fun festival. Normally we study a culture, but this year we made it an environmental festival. There was some dissent as to whether we should be celebrating and studying the current conservationist movement or the history of counter-culture (i.e., hippies). I was for the former, but the guy who does most of the work was for the latter, so we went with it. He is learning to delegate (and he should), but I got delegated the task of arranging speakers. Now, I have probably never mentioned, because I don't usually brag here (at least I hope not!) that I scored hecka high on the logic portion of the GRE. Higher even than I scored in English, and I wasn't too shabby there, either. (For balance, I proved myself utterly inept at math.) Anyway, the questions are always like, "There's a flower show. Daisies are never available on Wednesdays, and Tuesdays must be roses unless tulips are shown on the prior day. Sunflowers must follow orchids." And so on, and you have to figure out what you can make work. Well, arranging speakers for 15 teachers, some of whom move from classroom to classroom, some of whom are on prep one of the three periods, some of whom never respond to their goddamn emails, etc. is rather like one of those logic problems, except that instead of assuming you have the daisies to begin with, you have to cold-call SMUD to beg them for some (er, speakers, that is). Good thing I'm good at it, I guess.
It was funny, because I did end up having to make a few last minute adjustments, run (twice) across campus to try to get a camera, text one teacher to tell her to change the location of her class and stuff like that, but it more or less went off without a hitch. I scheduled the boringest-sounding guy for my room, and instead he was incredibly engaging, and I feel like I understand nuclear reactors way better than I did a couple days ago.
I had also suggested a vegetarian lunch because of the lower carbon footprint, and the kids were skeptical. But on the occasion, they LOVED it. Several spontaneously came into my room with a Boca burger and asked, "Have you had one of these? They're delicious!" We also had veggie skewers, fruit kebabs, and a salad bar. It ended up being the best lunch we've done. And the feedback I got on the rest of the speakers was that they were all really successful and engaging.
So in short, it's been a motherfucking busy week. All three of us took a nap yesterday afternoon, and I felt refreshed and relieved as I haven't in weeks when I awoke.
I finally hung those infernal curtains. I think they're crooked, but you can't tell unless you're really looking. I finally called my grandma. I finally put in some plants (18 of them). I have stuff I want to do this week, but not that much, really. Perhaps a brunch date. Make a couple pies. Host an Easter egg hunt for the kids on the block. But it's all fun stuff, not stressful. Of course, you know how I am -- my Easter egg hunt has already, in my head, turned into "Maybe I can have prizes! Maybe I should bake Easter cookies! Maybe I'll have mimosas out for the adults! That would be a good morning to make Portuguese sweet bread! Or pecan sticky rolls! Or both!"
I'm breaking out in hives again. Oddly, it's almost the exact same time of year and situation as last year: I had just used up one jar of moisturizer and bought a second. I'm thinking maybe it isn't the moisturizer at all, but something seasonal. I wouldn't mention it but they itch like crazy! I'm trying not to scratch because it makes it worse, so if you see me walking around gently slapping my own cheeks like a crackhead, you'll know why.
As if to out-do me, Z has enormous hives, about the size of a quarter each, on her arm and leg. We've all been outdoors a lot gardening and enjoying the nice weather, so I'm not sure what it is, but we're both taking allergy medicine.
The title of today's post is based on a silly joke. What did the Buddhist monk say to the hot dog vendor? It appealed to me, because if you asked what I'd been doing this week, the only real appropriate answer might be "a little of everything."
I hope you're all well. Zadie said to me tonight, "I'm glad you're my mom, and I'm glad you don't have to go to work." That pretty much sums it up for me, too.
Saturday, April 09, 2011
Catch-up
Hi all,
Well, I never really told you how I was after my Tuesday (?) freak-out. I'm fine. I suspect that if you know me well, you could have figured that out. I did have some chocolate and a glass of wine and I did some reading and some writing. Then I rescheduled a thing, changed my mind about a thing, decided to let a thing or two go and brush a thing or two off, and here we are.
I could be at Prom right now, but that's a thing I brushed off, so instead I'm baking cookies. Can I just tell you that I don't mean this in a pompous way, but I think the cookies I make are better than 99% of the other cookies I have ever tasted anywhere? I'm looking at you, Pacific Cookie Company... I mean really, I know that part of it is nostalgia (I make a lot of cookies that my mom used to make when I was a kid) and some of it is that I make what I like (no linzer whatevers here), and another part of it is that they're hot and fresh from the oven, but EVEN SO, I really think I make the second best cookies in the world, next to my mom.
This has been a pretty awesome* Saturday. I slept until 6:30, and was not awakened by the kid (it doesn't sound like much, but that's an hour later than usual). Then I had a brilliant cup of coffee and a breakfast of homemade whole wheat bread with homemade nectarine-plum jam and a slice of cheese from the farmer's market. Soon, I got down to the business of cleaning, and after that, went to get my eyebrows waxed, at which time I also got a mini-facial.
Once home, we had a little lunch, then I went outside and invited the family to join me. I cleaned off our patio furniture, took out the winter garden, removed a horrid little tree stub, picked lemons, turned compost and dreamed a little of what I want to do back there. Sweetie helped a lot and Z mostly played.
I came inside and finally hung those curtains I've had for... 2 months? Anyway, the panels themselves still need to be hemmed, but I got the rods installed, so that's a start.
Then we went grocery shopping and to Target**, and then home for dinner. We had veggie burgers and sweet potato fries.
Saturdays are awesome. Ach!
Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much. I even briefly considered doing another blog-a-day month for April, but honestly, I've just got my mind in a different place right now. I'm trying hard to not let the house get too untidy, so I'm folding laundry at least a couple nights a week, which is not a multi-tasking activity. Also, since I joined my writing group, I feel like if I show up I HAVE to have something new, so I'm trying to set aside at least a few nights a week for writing. It's going pretty well. I mean, I don't see anything I've written headed for the pages of the New Yorker, but I'm happy with quite a bit of it, and I'm exploring the idea of having some minor ambitions.
You know how some people seem to pride themselves on how little sleep they get/need? I'm not one of those people. If I had no obligations or interruptions, I would definitely sleep for 9 hours every night. And since I've been getting up at 5:30, I need to make a concerted effort to get to bed by 10. Even when I do, I often find myself reading until 10:30, and 7 hours is just not really enough for me. So I'm not staying up late to blog because, well, I need my sleep!
Okay, other stuff from this week: I changed up my bread recipe, and it was better than ever. I'm going to make even more changes to see whether I can make it exactly how I like it -- light and airy, with a crunchy, chewy crust.
It was spirit week at school, so I went ahead and did crazy hair day, twins day (quints, actually - we found four other teachers all willing to wear the same thing), beauty and the geek day (I wore my Tetris earrings), little kid day (Saltwater sandals and a bracelet I've had since I was a kid -- I tried), and pink for girls/black for boys day. I wore the pinkest thing I could find, a salwar kameez in Pepto pink, so I was covered from neck to ankle and wrist with BRIGHT pink.
Zadie decided she likes Debbie Harry. I couldn't be prouder of the girl who is destined to be a social reject in school.
*I discovered some web sites*** that will turn your blog entries into word clouds with your most-used words biggest, and now I am always self-conscious that they might have "I" "Me" and "AWESOME" in 36 point font.
**Yes, I am still boycotting Target... mostly. But we got two of the same outfit for Zadie's birthday, so I returned it, and while we were there... I bought stuff. Ugh, I hate myself, but also they have cute clothes.
***One is Wordle. Today's post's biggest words are thing, make, got, and cookies. Really is also fairly big. This does not serve to make me feel like an interesting, unique writer.
Well, I never really told you how I was after my Tuesday (?) freak-out. I'm fine. I suspect that if you know me well, you could have figured that out. I did have some chocolate and a glass of wine and I did some reading and some writing. Then I rescheduled a thing, changed my mind about a thing, decided to let a thing or two go and brush a thing or two off, and here we are.
I could be at Prom right now, but that's a thing I brushed off, so instead I'm baking cookies. Can I just tell you that I don't mean this in a pompous way, but I think the cookies I make are better than 99% of the other cookies I have ever tasted anywhere? I'm looking at you, Pacific Cookie Company... I mean really, I know that part of it is nostalgia (I make a lot of cookies that my mom used to make when I was a kid) and some of it is that I make what I like (no linzer whatevers here), and another part of it is that they're hot and fresh from the oven, but EVEN SO, I really think I make the second best cookies in the world, next to my mom.
This has been a pretty awesome* Saturday. I slept until 6:30, and was not awakened by the kid (it doesn't sound like much, but that's an hour later than usual). Then I had a brilliant cup of coffee and a breakfast of homemade whole wheat bread with homemade nectarine-plum jam and a slice of cheese from the farmer's market. Soon, I got down to the business of cleaning, and after that, went to get my eyebrows waxed, at which time I also got a mini-facial.
Once home, we had a little lunch, then I went outside and invited the family to join me. I cleaned off our patio furniture, took out the winter garden, removed a horrid little tree stub, picked lemons, turned compost and dreamed a little of what I want to do back there. Sweetie helped a lot and Z mostly played.
I came inside and finally hung those curtains I've had for... 2 months? Anyway, the panels themselves still need to be hemmed, but I got the rods installed, so that's a start.
Then we went grocery shopping and to Target**, and then home for dinner. We had veggie burgers and sweet potato fries.
Saturdays are awesome. Ach!
Anyway, I'm sorry I haven't been blogging much. I even briefly considered doing another blog-a-day month for April, but honestly, I've just got my mind in a different place right now. I'm trying hard to not let the house get too untidy, so I'm folding laundry at least a couple nights a week, which is not a multi-tasking activity. Also, since I joined my writing group, I feel like if I show up I HAVE to have something new, so I'm trying to set aside at least a few nights a week for writing. It's going pretty well. I mean, I don't see anything I've written headed for the pages of the New Yorker, but I'm happy with quite a bit of it, and I'm exploring the idea of having some minor ambitions.
You know how some people seem to pride themselves on how little sleep they get/need? I'm not one of those people. If I had no obligations or interruptions, I would definitely sleep for 9 hours every night. And since I've been getting up at 5:30, I need to make a concerted effort to get to bed by 10. Even when I do, I often find myself reading until 10:30, and 7 hours is just not really enough for me. So I'm not staying up late to blog because, well, I need my sleep!
Okay, other stuff from this week: I changed up my bread recipe, and it was better than ever. I'm going to make even more changes to see whether I can make it exactly how I like it -- light and airy, with a crunchy, chewy crust.
It was spirit week at school, so I went ahead and did crazy hair day, twins day (quints, actually - we found four other teachers all willing to wear the same thing), beauty and the geek day (I wore my Tetris earrings), little kid day (Saltwater sandals and a bracelet I've had since I was a kid -- I tried), and pink for girls/black for boys day. I wore the pinkest thing I could find, a salwar kameez in Pepto pink, so I was covered from neck to ankle and wrist with BRIGHT pink.
Zadie decided she likes Debbie Harry. I couldn't be prouder of the girl who is destined to be a social reject in school.
*I discovered some web sites*** that will turn your blog entries into word clouds with your most-used words biggest, and now I am always self-conscious that they might have "I" "Me" and "AWESOME" in 36 point font.
**Yes, I am still boycotting Target... mostly. But we got two of the same outfit for Zadie's birthday, so I returned it, and while we were there... I bought stuff. Ugh, I hate myself, but also they have cute clothes.
***One is Wordle. Today's post's biggest words are thing, make, got, and cookies. Really is also fairly big. This does not serve to make me feel like an interesting, unique writer.
Tuesday, April 05, 2011
A vent, as brief as I can make it.
Senior project sucks. Also, can't get computers about 2 days a week. Not much to do without them.
IB exams are coming. You can never have prepared the kids enough. Scores reflect on me.
Spring festival is next week. Last Fall, like a dummy, I agreed to arrange all the guest speakers. Why?
Senior project comes with another planning nightmare -- presentation night. All I have to do is file a building permit, get all the kids' projects online, arrange judges, invite families, have a social get-together beforehand, arrange juniors to attend and help, copy the judging forms, hold a meeting for judges... what am I missing?
I've been having the IB kids write papers once a week. There are 35 students. I'm up to my ass in papers to grade.
It's union elections week, and though I hemmed and hawed about whether I'd agree to watch over the ballot-counting, the person who asked me announced that I'd do it.
Oh yeah, and I'm holding the elections at lunchtime all week.
If it wasn't just being busy and having work stuff sort of overwhelm me, I might be fine. But I'm also having a lot of emotional/social stuff going on.
One of my friends and colleagues has gone from pleasantly enthusiastic to hyper-manic over the course of the last few years. I need to talk to him. I think something's really wrong. Also, there is a possibility that I have some baggage about manic behavior.
I offended someone last week over a missed communication, and it was totally my fault. I apologized and explained but her reply was still terse.
I am navigating a social situation that's not entirely mine. A few people don't like another person much, and I try to stand up for the latter person. I'm friends with the few, and the latter had been left out of a couple events. One of the few had said she would communicate with the latter about it, but she hadn't. I reminded her that she said she would, and she apparently did, today. Whatever transpired between them left the latter clearly hurt and upset, and she left a handwritten note of apology on my desk for being "a nuisance," "inappropriate," putting me on the spot, pressuring me, and being "a bother, hassle, or source of discomfort." Also, for "intrusions and interferences with [my] world or disruptions of peace." I have never been anything but kind, straightforward, and honest with her, but you can tell from the excerpts there that it was a big deal to her, that something got communicated wrong, and that I was part of the authorship of her hurt feelings. Also, it sure sounds possible that someone I like and count among my friends was mean.
In the last four days, I've also been told really nice things by three different co-workers, but it's hard to believe when I keep messing things up.
I think the social stuff kind of puts me over the stress edge partly because I'm usually really good at it. I don't generally annoy or offend people, I make friends easily, I don't get into fights with people... In fact, two of the compliments I got were of that nature -- that I'm so approachable, good with people, and easy to get along with. It's when you suck at the things you're supposed to be good at that it really gets to you, right?
Oh yeah, and I have a very sore throat.
A bicycle ride may be in order tonight. Also, chocolate.
IB exams are coming. You can never have prepared the kids enough. Scores reflect on me.
Spring festival is next week. Last Fall, like a dummy, I agreed to arrange all the guest speakers. Why?
Senior project comes with another planning nightmare -- presentation night. All I have to do is file a building permit, get all the kids' projects online, arrange judges, invite families, have a social get-together beforehand, arrange juniors to attend and help, copy the judging forms, hold a meeting for judges... what am I missing?
I've been having the IB kids write papers once a week. There are 35 students. I'm up to my ass in papers to grade.
It's union elections week, and though I hemmed and hawed about whether I'd agree to watch over the ballot-counting, the person who asked me announced that I'd do it.
Oh yeah, and I'm holding the elections at lunchtime all week.
If it wasn't just being busy and having work stuff sort of overwhelm me, I might be fine. But I'm also having a lot of emotional/social stuff going on.
One of my friends and colleagues has gone from pleasantly enthusiastic to hyper-manic over the course of the last few years. I need to talk to him. I think something's really wrong. Also, there is a possibility that I have some baggage about manic behavior.
I offended someone last week over a missed communication, and it was totally my fault. I apologized and explained but her reply was still terse.
I am navigating a social situation that's not entirely mine. A few people don't like another person much, and I try to stand up for the latter person. I'm friends with the few, and the latter had been left out of a couple events. One of the few had said she would communicate with the latter about it, but she hadn't. I reminded her that she said she would, and she apparently did, today. Whatever transpired between them left the latter clearly hurt and upset, and she left a handwritten note of apology on my desk for being "a nuisance," "inappropriate," putting me on the spot, pressuring me, and being "a bother, hassle, or source of discomfort." Also, for "intrusions and interferences with [my] world or disruptions of peace." I have never been anything but kind, straightforward, and honest with her, but you can tell from the excerpts there that it was a big deal to her, that something got communicated wrong, and that I was part of the authorship of her hurt feelings. Also, it sure sounds possible that someone I like and count among my friends was mean.
In the last four days, I've also been told really nice things by three different co-workers, but it's hard to believe when I keep messing things up.
I think the social stuff kind of puts me over the stress edge partly because I'm usually really good at it. I don't generally annoy or offend people, I make friends easily, I don't get into fights with people... In fact, two of the compliments I got were of that nature -- that I'm so approachable, good with people, and easy to get along with. It's when you suck at the things you're supposed to be good at that it really gets to you, right?
Oh yeah, and I have a very sore throat.
A bicycle ride may be in order tonight. Also, chocolate.
Friday, April 01, 2011
The fight I didn't prevent
Yesterday I left my classroom between periods to go to the restroom. I hadn't gone very far when I saw a young lady in a white shirt walk up to another girl.
She smiled.
It was a weird smile.
By that I mean that she was smiling, but there was something about it that seemed tense or fake. I stopped and watched her. She had braces, and I noted that, as sometimes people's lips take on an odd shape due to braces.
She said, "So, what's going on?"
There was something odd about that, too. She was still smiling tightly. I looked around to get a feel for the crowd. The other girl did not appear scared or intimidated. No one was gathered. There was no posse of back-up girls waiting to see what happened. No one else was even looking.
Her tone of voice made me think she was rehearsing lines for a play. I don't know what I mean by that other than that it was insincere. It didn't at all sound like someone who was speaking naturally. It was too bright, too high. It reminded me of the worst actress in one of our high school plays, who used upspeak every time she introduced herself. Chipper: "I'm AnnaBeth Morton?" We were, in fact, only two doors down from a drama classroom.
I judged the crowd again. Only seconds had passed, but still, no one else seemed to notice.
I walked on.
When I came back a couple minutes later, there was an unnerving geometry to the crowd. There were clear arcs -- the outline of a circle. I looked around, and there was a campus monitor holding the other girl, whom I didn't at first recognize. He pointed. "I need HER. In the white shirt." I went to her, but another teacher already had her. There was blood all around her mouth. There was blood on her teeth around her braces. We took her into my room and had her get a drink of water.
The other teacher asked, "What happened?"
"I heard she was talking shit, so I confronted her."
"And she hit you?"
"No, I hit her."
"So you confronted her with your fist?"
Afterwards, I told my class (many of whom had seen the fight) that I thought something was wrong, but I didn't stop it. One student said he had even noticed me stop and watch the girls. They assured me that it didn't start until I had been gone for a minute. The other teacher told me I couldn't have or shouldn't have intervened because someone was "smiling weird." "What were you going to say? -- 'Come here, you have a weird smile?'"
But I could have, I think. My instincts were right. I should have followed them.
She smiled.
It was a weird smile.
By that I mean that she was smiling, but there was something about it that seemed tense or fake. I stopped and watched her. She had braces, and I noted that, as sometimes people's lips take on an odd shape due to braces.
She said, "So, what's going on?"
There was something odd about that, too. She was still smiling tightly. I looked around to get a feel for the crowd. The other girl did not appear scared or intimidated. No one was gathered. There was no posse of back-up girls waiting to see what happened. No one else was even looking.
Her tone of voice made me think she was rehearsing lines for a play. I don't know what I mean by that other than that it was insincere. It didn't at all sound like someone who was speaking naturally. It was too bright, too high. It reminded me of the worst actress in one of our high school plays, who used upspeak every time she introduced herself. Chipper: "I'm AnnaBeth Morton?" We were, in fact, only two doors down from a drama classroom.
I judged the crowd again. Only seconds had passed, but still, no one else seemed to notice.
I walked on.
When I came back a couple minutes later, there was an unnerving geometry to the crowd. There were clear arcs -- the outline of a circle. I looked around, and there was a campus monitor holding the other girl, whom I didn't at first recognize. He pointed. "I need HER. In the white shirt." I went to her, but another teacher already had her. There was blood all around her mouth. There was blood on her teeth around her braces. We took her into my room and had her get a drink of water.
The other teacher asked, "What happened?"
"I heard she was talking shit, so I confronted her."
"And she hit you?"
"No, I hit her."
"So you confronted her with your fist?"
Afterwards, I told my class (many of whom had seen the fight) that I thought something was wrong, but I didn't stop it. One student said he had even noticed me stop and watch the girls. They assured me that it didn't start until I had been gone for a minute. The other teacher told me I couldn't have or shouldn't have intervened because someone was "smiling weird." "What were you going to say? -- 'Come here, you have a weird smile?'"
But I could have, I think. My instincts were right. I should have followed them.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Zadie's "field trip."
I asked Zadie if she was playing in a mud puddle and she replied, "Unh uh. I'm not 'playing.'" A few minutes later she was even deeper in, and I wondered if she would still deny playing in the mud. Not only does she, but she spins a pretty fabulous tale about a field trip taken by ship.
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