Another Check-In February 26, 2012

 It is February. I teach third grade.  My kids are a challenge and I love them. I am getting the hang of managing a big classroom.
Why would someone who has teaching experience be saying this? Well, I had been a remedial specialist who took 3-6 students at a time and sent them back after a half hour to their classroom teacher. My district, due to diminishing funding and student census, changed my job to be a classroom teacher.They are vastly different jobs. The classroom has different challenges.  I will shoulder the challenge though.

just a check in September 14, 2011

Hi!
Just saying that my goals were too lofty!!
Today I plan to get to bed right away and teach reading and math well.
Maybe I will let you know how it goes.
There are so many things that go on in a day it is hard to write about it when you are in a hurry and really don't have any time at all.
So good night.

Declaring My Goals August 15, 2011

In a blog that I follow the author stated that she feels she must publicly declare her goals more often to be able to achieve them. And I think that is a good idea.

So, I am going to follow suit and do so. First I must disclose that I am an elementary teacher and am looking at the coming year with knowledge of the challenges ahead. And one of the more personal challenges is to be able to walk out the door on time every day. This does set the tone of the day. If I am on time I feel equal to all my peers. If I am late I feel a notch below. It is that simple.

Goals should be small and attainable. For this week my goals are:
1.  to work in my room for 8 hours tomorrow and be in the car by 8:30 a.m. tomorrow. this will include so many details I am not going to try to write them here.
2. to get all  the chickens cut out of cardboard.
3. to be completely caught up on laundry and ironing (thus having my wardrobe prepared for the beginning of school. )
4. to finish the preparation for spelling.
5. to study the math curriculum and by doing so prepare for the year. (Again, there are too many details to try to write about right now.)
6. finally, I intend to get to bed on time tonight and tomorrow.
So, good night.

The two of us riding bikes on a gorgeous late summer day with dog. Just couldn't leave her home.

I wish I had a picture of Dave as he carried Mishka in a black, oversized book bag around his neck as he pedaled a mountain bike down our road toward Alice's road. Mishka's head peeked out of the bag as her ears and tongue flew in the brisk wind. Dave was smiling too. When we turned on Alice's road where there was less traffic, (We probably saw 3 cars the whole time we were on bikes on either road.) we stopped, lowered the bag to the ground and dumped her out. Then we rode on and Mishka ran with us. She was having a great time running along with us. Sometimes she trotted and took her time and sometimes she ran all out and kept up with me as I breezed down a hill!!! She is fast. Since this was our first experiment with riding bikes with Mishka, we only pedaled about a half mile down Alice's road, turned around and rode back home, again placing Mishka in the large, black book-bag when we reached the highway. My thigh muscles were swearing at me and saying: "What do you think you are doing!!!!????"
They quieted down when we got home.

What a nice day it was. Just the three of us.

Just a quick check in

It has been some time since I last posted and am in the middle of making Gluten-Free Zucchini Bread, so I will not tarry. But I just want to put up some pictures to show what I have been doing.

This June, I drove to see my parents.



This is Mom and Dad clowning around in their usual way.



Here, we took Mom to get her hair done.

She got a perm.

Mom getting her hair done.



Mom and Dad's summer footwear. The first sandals Dad has ever owned.

The past few weeks we have gone north to Lake Superior to enjoy the quiet expanses of water, sand and the tall rock cliffs. Here are a couple pictures from our travels around the Apostle Islands.

We are floating out of a landing place in Bayfield. The day was warm and sunny with a slight breeze.



We landed upon several Islands such as Hermit Island and Sand Island. As you see below, this particular island is called Ironwood Island.





This is an example of the plethora of butterflies and bees and other flying insects that landed on the milkweed plants of Ironwood Island.

I spent several days working on a display for a table that would be part of a Health and Wellness Expo. in a nearby town.
Here are some pictures from that:



The other ladies that I worked with added samples of refreshing cucumber-apple juice, a wonderful Quinoa Salad, bottles of water and information about health topics.

So this blog is just a check in to let you know what has kept me away from the computer for so long.

Love ya.

Aunt Gertrude is surprised by Petunia

One day my Aunt Gertrude was surprised when she read a post that her friend's daughter, Petunia wrote. She had admired how kind and upbeat the girl acted whenever she saw her. But the Facebook post caused her to pause. It said: "Just chilling. Was supposed to go to work but called in sick because I really want to see this movie. *^#* them!!  I don't care."
I wonder if Petunia who appears on Aunt Gertrude's friend list really wants Aunt Gertrude to read her posts. Aunt Gertrude may realize that her friend's daughter, Petunia, is not as sweet as she once thought.

Does facebook sometimes leave you with a vague sense of discomfort? Are opinions sometimes shared, that you don't agree with and maybe would have been just as well off never knowing?
What is friendship?
Who is a friend?

At work yesterday, at lunch, a coworker said that in a recent post on facebook someone wrote that they were about to go to a clogging class. She told me, "They are neighbors. I know them. But they never asked me to go, so everytime I read about it on Facebook I feel left out!"

Someone once said that people who are used to lots of emotional support enjoy face book more than those who are "more on their own". I thought that was interesting but I reserve judgement. Facebook keeps extended families updated when they are separated by distance. We can find out what other people are doing and this may stave off isolated feelings. If your interactions on Facebook are positive it is a gift no doubt, but I still have some reservations.  


  

Enzymes

Good morning!!!
A lovely weekend of traveling north to Little Sand Bay and camping, in the comfort of our motor home, has rejuvenated me!

Just a question: Is it beneficial to take enzymes in capsule form? There is a company, Enzymedica, that claims that many benefits can come from supplementing with their enzyme formulas. Oh. How nice that would be! However, there is a place for health skepticism. Their web site is: http://www.enzymedica.com/. It is a very informative site and their 888 number is, in my view, even better. You can call it and ask for the training part, and then listen to their approximately 15 minute long recorded 'educational' messages about digestive enzymes and theraputic enzymes.
As time goes by, people's bodies produce fewer and fewer enzymes. This is one reason our bodies do not work as well as we age.
The difference, I think, between digestive enzymes and theraputic enzymes is when you take them. If you take them with a meal, then they are digestive ezymes and will help with digestion. But if you take the enzymes 2 hours after a meal or 30 minutes before a meal they will pass into the bloodstream and do their busy work to cure what ails you. Enzymes, I am told, are the workers in your body in comparison to nutrients which are the building blocks.  So I will follow up on this blog and say how it goes as I have purchased enzymes that are supposed to help my husband's allergies and my inflamation in my heal and foot!! We are going to give it a try with the careful use of one bottle each. I don't know if we have wasted the money or not. Each bottle is about $30 dollars. So it is not cheap.