Co-ed again
Mood:  don't ask
Now Playing: Eagles - Long Road Out of Eden

I am a co-ed again.  Four of us who teach together have decided to go back to get our Master's of Education degrees.  I'm doing it for the pay raise, it's pretty substantial.  It's expensive to do this, but there are long term benefits, especially as I head towards retirement.

We chose Cambridge College in Boston, mainly because it has a reputation of being for the working professional, and that it takes into account that the students have demanding full time jobs.  For the most part, this has been true.  But not in the Saturday class from hell.

The person who taught this class (I refuse to call her professor, as that implies an amount of professionalism and ability to impart knowledge in the given subject area) was nothing short of useless.  The class was supposed to be about alternative assessments, yet she never spoke of any assessment and had no idea what the life of a public school teacher was like. There are many more things I could go into, but I don't want to relive the horror.  I still have a huge paper that I need to write for that class. And it's all about writing in APA form, has little to do with content.  More than that, I resent writing a paper for a class where I learned NOTHING!!!!

 The other two courses that I took have been quite good. One is on Accelerated Learning, and I've already started using those techniques in my class.  The other is a required Professional Seminar, and it's been useful.  That one is on going until I finish writing the big paper that's required at the end of all this (called an ILP). I have a short paper, and the first chapter of my ILP due for this as well.

There were ten hours of Saturday workshops to attend.  The first four hours were great, the last two were OK (relaxation techniques).  But the two on the middle were useless.  Something about using art in counseling (there were no education workshops available, so we had to take these to get the hours in).  We made things.

This is the most expensive artsy-craftsy project I've ever done, when you take into account what the price of the workshops was!

Reasearch addict
Mood:  irritated
Now Playing: The Beatles

I spent yesterday working on getting the bedroom and closet torn apart and put back together.  I'm still not done, and I really want to see if I can focus and finish it today. I still own way too many clothes, even though I continue to make donations of older items.  I can't fit all that I have in the closet. 

I am addicited to research.  Part of being a history geek.  I'm still researching my children's author and poet of the early 1900's (and now his daughter and her friends), and I continue to be obsessed with them.  But now I've added a new search.  I want to know who owned my recently purchased powder horn.

 

 

 

 

I want to see if I can track down the man who owned it and then order his Civil War documents to use them with my class.  But I'm not having any luck yet, and I don't know if the man fought for the Union or the Confederacy.  I sort of hope it was for the Confederacy, seeing my author fought for the Union and I have all his records.  It would be nice to have things that represent both sides of the conflict.

Guess that's all for now, I should get back to cleaning.  I've released a bad allergy attack in myself with all this, so I should just keep going until it's all finished and then I can take a ton of pills.

Two in a row!
Mood:  surprised
Now Playing: The Monkees ( I'm feeling nostalgic)

Hey, two days in a row.  Maybe I really am going to keep this up.  I think that part of what I need to do is not pressure myself to write a lot in one sitting.

I spent yesterday putzing around, then met my brother for dinner.  That was unexpected as I had just planned to go and drop off some pastry that I'd gotten for him at Mike's Bakery in Boston's North End. (I was taking a class at the Paul Revere House and the bakery was on the way home.)  He mentioned going to a small restaurant near the house where we grew up, so I went with him.  Better than the two of us eating alone.

I came home and watched the Red Sox game (they won 10-5), and spent time doing some school work.  I've tried to do a lot of summer reading that might be good for my class.  I finished up the cover of a reading journal that I want to use as a model for what I'd like the kids to do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I modeled the journaling for the novel The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs by Betty Birney.  It's a cute book, and one that we encouraged all the kids to read this summer.

I have many things I'd like to get done around here today, but I don't really know if I'm going to get even a tenth of it done, but at least I'm sort of in the mood to get going.

Now all I need to do is actually stop sitting at the computer and get to the projects.  Avoiding distractions is always a challenge!

A Re-Entry?
Mood:  not sure
Now Playing: Playbill radio

Gee, it's only been three years since I posted.

I love inconsistency.

Actually I don't love inconsistency, but I did forget my password, so there's one excuse. Lame, but an excuse nonetheless.

There have been huge changes since I last wrote, I am no longer a special ed teacher, I am now in the classroom.  I totally, totally love it.  The change came two years ago, and it was one that I wanted for ten years, but couldn't convince my principal.  He retired, new one in, at the end of the first year, SHE approached ME about making the move! I was stunned, and had sort of given up the idea of that ever happening, because my former principal had been such a jerk.

It was a great year with those kids, and an equally good with the class I had this past year. I enjoyed this year's class because they were really smart and into school and projects, and were funny and always happy.  I'm going to miss them.

My incoming class appears to be a bunch of fireballs, I met them for an hour in June.  Several kids with learning issues, which is fine, and a bunch who appear to be on the ADD side. They were really active and chatty the first day they met me, and that's really unusual. One of the kid's dad plays for the Red Sox, so that has the potential to be cool.

I am also going back to school this fall to get my master's.  Four of use are going together, so we found a program meant for working professionals and are all hoping that we can handle it. We are all doing it to get the pay increase.  It's going to be a big task to take on, and it may mean that I don't do some of the other things that I usually do like chorus.

We shall see.

It's Sunday
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Soundtrack to "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy"

It's just dawned on me that I haven't bought any new music in a long time. The thing is that there doesn't seem to be anything that's calling to me. Unfortunately B.J.'s has cut the CD selection down to nothing, and I would often make an impulse buy while I was there.

Gonna have to go to a store and see if there's anything out there that I must have.

These weeks have been speeding by. The beginning of the school year is always wild when the kids and teachers are all trying to get used to each other and settle into a routine. I feel as if I'm moving at light speed each day, trying to get all the things that need to be done squared away.

I love my little groups of kids that I pull out for reading. One is a group of girls, the other is a group of boys. It's really odd that it's worked out that way. It's a scheduling fluke, I usually have mixed groups. I was giving the kids choices about what books we might choose to read this year, and it was funny how it really did break into a gender thing. The guys were into the books about aliens and Jackie Robinson and the girls were choosing the ones that seemed that they were going to be funny. It didn't matter if the main character was male or female (the main character in the Jackie Robinson book is a Chinese girl), it had to do with the topic.

I think it's going to be fun no matter what they choose. All the kids have a sweetness about them, and are full of personality and humor.

I have lots of different things I want to get done around here, and am making my usual small dents. I wish I had a cable hookup in the craft room. That's where I'd like to organize today, but I have to watch the Red Sox game. (OK, I know I don't HAVE to but..... I HAVE to!) I think I'll see if there's a way to haul the stuff out to the living room, organize it there, and then put it back into the craft room.

Doesn't seem too practical though.

Watching all the home improvement and organization shows inspires me to greatness. Maybe I'll get there eventually. (Said with tongue in cheek and humor in the voice)

Reappearing
Mood:  lyrical
Now Playing: Tessie - Dropkick Murphys

I guess writing in a blog is no easier than writing in a daily journal.

At least not for me.

It's been one of those "where did the summer go???" kind of summers. I know where it went, but I didn't go anywhere or do half of the things that I wanted to get done for myself.

Basically, all free time from the end of January through July was dedicated to getting the family home ready for sale, on the market, and finally sold. There were lots of little things that we needed to do to spruce the place up, and then years worth of stuff had to be sorted.

We rented a dumpster and tossed tons of stuff, but kept so much more. And a lot of it is in my garage! Just when I thought I had it cleared out and unpacked, it ends up being filled again.

Actually, I wanted all the file cabinets so I could move some of my stamping magazines and things that I want to be able to refer to out there. But I hadn't counted on the Christmas decorations and the stamp collection that was my father's. He collected postage stamps for about 70 years, and it was all meticulously cataloged and put into book after book. I think I have something along the lines of 26 paper boxes full of albums that are all organized by country and year. We took them to a so called "appraiser" who told us they weren't worth anything, but that he'd happily take them as a donation.

Yeah, I'm sure. He didn't even really look at what we brought, he sort of leafed through them and dismissed them as not worth his time.

So now I can't get the car inside again.

I'm going to have to start shoving stuff around, because I don't want to have to scrape the windshield this winter!

Going through everything in that house was so painful. I wasn't ready to really throw things away, but my brothers were ruthless - and they threw out stuff that should have been kept - things like address books. I wanted to kill them when I heard that the things had just been tossed.

I have a few small bookcases that I took, and have brought inside, but still have a dining room set that belonged to my grandmother and a desk from my parent's bedroom.

I haven't figured all this out yet.

I did a couple small things in my condo, painted the hallway deep "Victorian red" and started painting the dining area and the living room two different shades of blue. I know the color choice is on the dramatic side, but that is me. I smile when I walk in the hall and see the red. Everyone who has been here has loved it, and when I first said that I was doing that half of the world shook their heads to indicate that I was nuts. But my sense of drama knew that it was right for me. And it's only paint, easy to undo.

I must say that I did have some nerves when I first started painting, as the primer was Pepto bismol pink. Then it took four coats of the red.

The blue is only requiring two coats. I still have several walls to finish. It's sort of a piecemeal project.

The most intimidating thing was hanging the mirror that is in this picture. It's over 50 years old (it's from my parent's house) and weighs a ton.

 

The only room that's really together is the bedroom. I spent several days getting it really squared away, as I decided that when work started I would want to go to bed and wake up in a tranquil(ish) environment.

I still own way too many things, but I feel as if it's all put together in there. I haven't attempted to paint in there because I can't decide what color I might want.

I love blues and purples, but I may already have too much blue in here once I finish the dining and living rooms.

I will probably just buy some paint on impulse and go nuts some day.

That's a brief update.

Maybe there will be another someday soon.

Needles clicking furiously
As I write this the little weatherbug that I have installed on my computer is telling me that it's actually a balmy 11 degrees with a wind chill that is making it feel like 7 degrees. It's getting to be downright toasty! I have all the drapes drawn against the cold, and I have the feeling that this might be what it feels like to live in a crack den. Or a funeral parlor.

It's really been brutal here for the last week or so, if you saw any of that nail-biter-of-a-football-game last night (Patriots vs. Titans) you know what it's like here, I live about 20 miles from the stadium. I, of course, watch the games from the comfort of home. One hand over my eyes and the other on the clicker in case it gets so tense that I can't watch. Actually, I've taken up knitting this week and that's what I was doing during the game. It's all very Madam Defarge - the Patriots are in trouble and the needles click faster. I've almost finished my third scarf since I started on Tuesday night. If I'd started at the beginning of the season I'd be buried in scarves by now!

I have no idea where this sudden urge to knit has come from, that's never been one of my talents. I was wandering through the yarn department in a craft store and was seduced by the colors and textures of the different yarns and fibers. Suddenly I had a basketful of skeins, and I keep going out to find more. My mother taught me to knit when I was little (actually it was on the day that John Glenn first went into space, and I was home with one of those childhood illnesses - a strangely vivid memory) but I was never any good at it. Suddenly I'm going at it so fast and furiously that I'm thinking to start a cottage industry. I'm naming it Defarge Inc.

But the scarves are really pretty. I'm using short eyelash yarn, long eyelash yarn, varigated wool and some solids. So far I've made one that's sort of plummy in color, then I've make one that's black with electric blue eyelashes, and the one that I'm almost done with has sort of pastel aqua and purples and yellows.

I have enough yarn here to make several more. I have no idea what I'm actually going to do with all of them. I may have to take a class so I can learn to make other things.

But for now it's all about scarves.

Vacation's end


I always find it hard to believe that vacation flies by so quickly when work drags away. But it's happened again and the Christmas break has come to an end.

I got more done during this break than I usually do, so I should be happy, but I didn't get as much done as I might have liked. I am never happy, but I'm not terribly motivated either.

I have finally gone through all the clothing and bedding and have gotten rid of a ton of stuff. The things that I've kept are all organized and in the proper places. This is really unusual for me, so it's a good thing. Of course who knows how long I can maintain this.

I still haven't put up a couple of knick-knack shelves and a few pictures, and I'm not sure why, seeing that those a relatively simple tasks. Maybe before the night is over I'll get that done. Ha.

I have also been working on a couple of altered book projects. I finished one and got it into the mail and am almost done with the one that is here at the moment. It's part of the angels round robin, and I've been having a tough time coming up with designs that I like. I'd like to get this done and in the mail this week, seeing there's another due in soon.

I'm also gathering stuff for an altered ancestors book, so I'm trying to pull together old family pictures and information to send along with the book. I have to do a few pages myself as well. I have so little from my father's side of the family that I'm scrambling to see what I can locate. I'd like this one to be special.

But it's back to work tomorrow and there goes the time to goof around.

I'll have to check to see when I have my next time off.

Blood on the floor
I have white tiles that run from the front door thru the kitchen and stop at the entrance to the living room. I hate them, they look really pretty and make the place look really bright, but they are a pain to keep clean.

The other morning I got out of bed and followed my usual routine of going to the kitchen to feed the cats, put on the coffee and then go to check the email. When the coffee was ready I headed to the kitchen and noticed a trail of blood smudges on the tiles.

I, of course, panicked convinced that one of the cats was dying of an intestinal disease or was bleeding from a wounded paw or other body part. So I tracked them down and checked them over, but couldn't find any wounds or blood. I then went back to the kitchen and tried to follow the trail to see if I could figure it out. The trail went to the sink, the fridge, and the coffee maker.

Hmmm.

I was the one who was bleeding.

The heel of my right foot is so dry that it had cracked and started to bleed. I knew that the heel was bugging me a bit, but it never dawned on me that it was as bad as that. So it's time to test out the Burt's Bees foot treatment that I got for Christmas. I have to fix this before I go back to school and am on my feet all day.

But I'm very relieved that it wasn't one of the cats!

Caterwauling
I have now lived through the meaning of this word.

Main Entry: cat?er?waul
Pronunciation: 'ka-t&r-"wol
Function: intransitive verb
Etymology: Middle English caterwawen
Date: 14th century1 : to make a harsh cry
2 : to quarrel noisily

I had to give the cat a bath. Broadway, the big guy ( I think he weighs about 15 pounds) has long hair and the poop was getting caught in the back end. He stunk. He needed a bath.

It wasn't pretty.

I filled the bathroom sink with water and shampoo, grabbed the cat, shut the door and attempted to dunk his rear end.

And only his rear end. The yowls were deafening. You'd have thought that I was pulling his teeth out. His yowls led to Bravo coming on the run and sitting outside the bathroom door, also yowling. Broadway would yell inside, Bravo would answer. I have no idea how well insulated this place is for sound, but I was waiting for the ASPCA to come pounding down the door, handcuffs at the ready.

So I dipped the cat, then grabbed a washcloth to try to scrub those hairs a bit. He'd then wrestle out of my arms - leaving scratches along the way - and try to get out. The door was closed, so he was trapped (and the bathroom is really small)and I'd try to get a hold on him to scrub the backend a bit more.

He'd yowl. Bravo would answer.

Bravo was also sticking his paw under the door, in an attempt to open it I assume, so he could rescue his brother.

This scene continued to replay itself for about fifteen minutes, during which time I also tried to dry him off a bit. This was fruitless, though as he didn't want to have anything to do with me, and the floor was so wet that he just kept getting wetter after I dried him off.

I finally gave up and let him out. He and Bravo found a place to go to commiserate.

Now I need to see if I can start brushing him to get out some of the mats.

It should take a couple of months at this rate! But at least he smells better!