Hey, a shout out to my 2 new followers. (I don't know who you are yet, since I haven't looked.) Sorry I've been slacking on the blog...spring is a busy-ass time of year, don'tcha know. On with the list...
1. Having the window open at night when it's windy outside. I have the weirdest dreams and I feel like I can't breathe properly. Also, the tree outside the bedroom window rustles all night and it bugs the shit out of me.
2. Movies/TV shows that have someone see someone else (usually something scary) in the mirror behind them. Ack!!!
3. Extreme body modification. Don't get me wrong...I have some tats and some piercings...and if I worked in a different field, I'd probably have more, but the full-face tattoos or the dinner-plate sized ear stretching seems crazy to me. I also think to myself, "What do you do for money???"
4. Hairy spiders. Little spiders don't bother me. Big spiders don't bother me. But spiders...WITH HAIR? *shudder*
5. Seeing horrible injuries during a sports game. With my awesome history of ankle injuries, watching the slow-mo replay of some dude twisting his ankle makes me want to vomit.
6. Reality shows. Don't get we wrong. I watch Jersey Shore. I even enjoy it--okay, I enjoy watching them make fools out of themselves, but they make more money in a red-carpet appearance than I will 10 years of working, so I suppose I'm the fool. However, watching the TeenMomHordersCelebrityRehab debacle just makes me sad. Are these peoples' live any better after being in the "spotlight"? Probably not.
7. Little kids in beauty pageants. Do I really need to explain?
8. Sushi (or, Sashimi, rather...) I know that I *should* like it...all the cool kids do, after all, but I just can't get over the fact that I'm eating raw fish. Blech.
9. The smell of raw chicken. Ugh. I'm also not a fan of cutting it when it's thawed...too slippery.
10. Close talkers. It's like, "Yo, find your space!"
So, if you don't want to see me get all freaked out, avoid the above.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Not My Kid!!
Remember those after-school (or "family viewing time") specials that they showed in the late-80's? They dealt with sex...drugs...most likely some rock-n-roll. Anyway, one was called, "Not My Kid!" and it focused on a kid that was in the wrong crowd, but her parents didn't want to believe it, hence the name.
This became a HUGE joke in my family...one of the sibs or I would do something and everyone else would shout, "Not my kid!" Huh, I wonder if the Bro, Sis, and Parental Units remember this...
I've found myself wanting to say this, nay, SHOUT this at the top of my lungs these days. Where you ask?
Soccer practice.
I'm coaching Boo's U5 team, so all the boys are already 5 or just turning 5 and Boo, FSM love him, is...um...not the best player on the team. After watching his dad, older sister, older brother, aunt, and me play countless games, one would think that he would pick up on some things. But, no. At our first practice, he kept trying to stop the ball with his hands. At the first game, he was the only kid to consistently go the wrong way. Granted, every player went the wrong way at least once, but Boo...every time he got the ball. At practice, he whines, cries if he trips, and moves at a snail's pace with the ball while the other boys are zooming around him like rockets shooting across the sky. As a self-proclaimed "jock" it's sometimes painful to watch, especially when he'll get mad or frustrated during a game and he runs over to me for a hug.
However, he is having fun. He almost got his first goal last week, on his birthday, and while he's not the fastest, toughest, or most skilled player on the team...he is the sweetest. He constantly has a smile on his face and when his teammates score, he gives them the biggest high-fives.
Going through this, I see what my dad must have gone through when he was coaching all three of us in our various sports...holy shit, it's a miracle he didn't kill us! It also reminds me that no matter how badly we want our kids to be "just like us" they are their own little people, and their strengths, as well as their weaknesses, are their own--and I'll love them fiercely and unconditionally regardless of what they do.
Unless one of them becomes a serial killer...I don't think I'd be cool with that.
This became a HUGE joke in my family...one of the sibs or I would do something and everyone else would shout, "Not my kid!" Huh, I wonder if the Bro, Sis, and Parental Units remember this...
I've found myself wanting to say this, nay, SHOUT this at the top of my lungs these days. Where you ask?
Soccer practice.
I'm coaching Boo's U5 team, so all the boys are already 5 or just turning 5 and Boo, FSM love him, is...um...not the best player on the team. After watching his dad, older sister, older brother, aunt, and me play countless games, one would think that he would pick up on some things. But, no. At our first practice, he kept trying to stop the ball with his hands. At the first game, he was the only kid to consistently go the wrong way. Granted, every player went the wrong way at least once, but Boo...every time he got the ball. At practice, he whines, cries if he trips, and moves at a snail's pace with the ball while the other boys are zooming around him like rockets shooting across the sky. As a self-proclaimed "jock" it's sometimes painful to watch, especially when he'll get mad or frustrated during a game and he runs over to me for a hug.
However, he is having fun. He almost got his first goal last week, on his birthday, and while he's not the fastest, toughest, or most skilled player on the team...he is the sweetest. He constantly has a smile on his face and when his teammates score, he gives them the biggest high-fives.
Going through this, I see what my dad must have gone through when he was coaching all three of us in our various sports...holy shit, it's a miracle he didn't kill us! It also reminds me that no matter how badly we want our kids to be "just like us" they are their own little people, and their strengths, as well as their weaknesses, are their own--and I'll love them fiercely and unconditionally regardless of what they do.
Unless one of them becomes a serial killer...I don't think I'd be cool with that.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
It Shouldn't Bug...
But it does, damn it!!!!!
(I'm talking about the inability for people on the interwebz to use a fucking apostrophe appropriately.)
I joke with my students, every year, when we're covering the 3 different ways to use these little gems, that "Apostrophe Abuse" is my biggest pet peeve in.the.world. I even show them this site and they all laugh and laugh and laugh.
Then, I'm perusing various internet sites where people blog, post, tweet, update, etc. and the sheer and utter lack of knowledge about this particular punctuation mark bugs the ever-loving shit out of me!!!!!!11ZOMGELEVENTY!
I understand, it's the internet, and due to text-speak, the English language has been compressed, recycled, and pretty much mangled into something that vaguely resembles its original form. (And by "original" I mean the language that I use and love...I don't want any language nerds yelling at me.) I should just let it go. Hell, this is the second post I've made about this same topic...obviously I think about it a great deal. I teach this stuff, I should.
The internet--for all of its speed and information--allows for anonymity to facilitate stupidity...and that's just sad.
(I'm talking about the inability for people on the interwebz to use a fucking apostrophe appropriately.)
I joke with my students, every year, when we're covering the 3 different ways to use these little gems, that "Apostrophe Abuse" is my biggest pet peeve in.the.world. I even show them this site and they all laugh and laugh and laugh.
Then, I'm perusing various internet sites where people blog, post, tweet, update, etc. and the sheer and utter lack of knowledge about this particular punctuation mark bugs the ever-loving shit out of me!!!!!!11ZOMGELEVENTY!
I understand, it's the internet, and due to text-speak, the English language has been compressed, recycled, and pretty much mangled into something that vaguely resembles its original form. (And by "original" I mean the language that I use and love...I don't want any language nerds yelling at me.) I should just let it go. Hell, this is the second post I've made about this same topic...obviously I think about it a great deal. I teach this stuff, I should.
The internet--for all of its speed and information--allows for anonymity to facilitate stupidity...and that's just sad.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Just Another Manic Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday...
ZOMG, I hate getting up for work. Well, it's not the getting up part that bugs, it's the getupshowergetreadypacklunchgetkidsupoutthedoorredlightredlightdropkidsoffrushtoworkwaitinahugeasslineofcarsbecausethestudentsareincapableofridingthebusorwalking.
It makes my mornings a bit stressful.
I try to get up earlier, but it seems like the earlier I got to bed, the harder it is to wake up and going to bed late...well, it has the effect you would expect it to. I guess I'm just destined to rush around all morning and have chest pains whilst screaming at the asshat that is driving 5 miles per hour under the speed limit while I get ready to educate the masses.
^That^ or switch jobs. LOL.
It makes my mornings a bit stressful.
I try to get up earlier, but it seems like the earlier I got to bed, the harder it is to wake up and going to bed late...well, it has the effect you would expect it to. I guess I'm just destined to rush around all morning and have chest pains whilst screaming at the asshat that is driving 5 miles per hour under the speed limit while I get ready to educate the masses.
^That^ or switch jobs. LOL.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
The Unbearable...Something of Something..
I really thought that the post title would be a riff on "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and I was going to talk about weight. But then I realized that it sounded lame, hence the vague title.
I used to "joke" (like in high school and college) that I could never have an eating disorder...I like food too much. Ha, right? But looking back, I've flirted with eating disorders, in minor forms, in various times in my life. I'm what I call a "stress starver". When I get REALLY stressed out, don't eat. Literally. I can go for days eating maybe 100-200 calories a day, if that. I don't feel hungry, I can still go about my "normal" routines (keeping in mind that during these times, I probably wasn't working out, playing soccer, or doing much of anything physical), and I sleep just fine.
In addition to all ^that^ my waist defines, my hip bones become prominent, my collarbone, always jutting out, becomes razor-sharp against my skin. I revel in the fact that I can feel my vertebrae through my t-shirts, and I feel... Light. Ethereal. Transcendent.
However, I look...not so great. My face becomes gaunt, my hair is dry, and my eyes, which I consider the best part of me, become lifeless.
When I met Babe, I was coming off of the divorce to my son's father. While Ex and I are friends now, the demise of my marriage wrecked me, and I was around 110...a "healthy" me is 130. After Babe and fell in love, moved in together, and became a family, I started putting the weight back on. The size 2's and 4's that I bought because my 6's and 8's were falling off of me quit fitting...and I was okay with it. I called it my "happy fat". I was happy, so I ate--that's a good thing, right?
I wasn't, however, working out (thanks soccer injury and subsequent 4 surgeries!) and then I got pregnant with the girl...I had a healthy pregnancy, only gained 20 pounds, and it was gone by my 6 week post-partum check up.
Crap, I've totally lost the point of this post. Lemme see if I can find it...
<pause while I check>
Okay, here it is. Prior to joining getting serious about getting healthy, I was weighing in at 140, I think my highest non-pregnancy weight ever. I'm 5'3", so I was looking a bit heavy. I have an "hourglass" figure and I'm built, from the waist down, like a brick shithouse--my legs are usually pretty muscular while I've got big boobs, but I'm small framed up top. (My 2 year old daughter and I have almost the same-circumfrenced wrists...)
Somewhere in there, I started playing soccer again, but was eating like crap. Then, I found the "My Fitness Pal" food/calorie tracker on my Droid Market, started tracking calories, then found the actual website. Since then, I've started doing Turbo Fire, yoga, eating better, and feeling good.
The downside? I'm starting to feel that ethereal feeling creep into my brain... As I walk to use the restroom that's down the hall from my classroom at school, I look into the HUGE mirror, and revel in the fact that over the course of the school year, my waist has gotten smaller and smaller. This morning, Bay pushed up my shirt (she likes to look at my tattoos there) and she kept saying "What dat?" while she poked my vertebrae. It's become a contest with myself to see how many days in a row I can stay below my calorie count.
I need to remind myself that food=fuel. I tried to do a 55 minute Turbo Fire workout the other day after not eating breakfast--I was hydrated, thanks to the 40 ounces of water I drank that morning--but I half-assed my way through the workout because I was light-headed. (I still burned over 400 calories, though...whoopee!)
I need to figure out a way to not go overboard with my desire to lose 10 (a mere 10!) pounds and remind myself that it's about getting stronger...not light enough to float away.
I used to "joke" (like in high school and college) that I could never have an eating disorder...I like food too much. Ha, right? But looking back, I've flirted with eating disorders, in minor forms, in various times in my life. I'm what I call a "stress starver". When I get REALLY stressed out, don't eat. Literally. I can go for days eating maybe 100-200 calories a day, if that. I don't feel hungry, I can still go about my "normal" routines (keeping in mind that during these times, I probably wasn't working out, playing soccer, or doing much of anything physical), and I sleep just fine.
In addition to all ^that^ my waist defines, my hip bones become prominent, my collarbone, always jutting out, becomes razor-sharp against my skin. I revel in the fact that I can feel my vertebrae through my t-shirts, and I feel... Light. Ethereal. Transcendent.
However, I look...not so great. My face becomes gaunt, my hair is dry, and my eyes, which I consider the best part of me, become lifeless.
When I met Babe, I was coming off of the divorce to my son's father. While Ex and I are friends now, the demise of my marriage wrecked me, and I was around 110...a "healthy" me is 130. After Babe and fell in love, moved in together, and became a family, I started putting the weight back on. The size 2's and 4's that I bought because my 6's and 8's were falling off of me quit fitting...and I was okay with it. I called it my "happy fat". I was happy, so I ate--that's a good thing, right?
I wasn't, however, working out (thanks soccer injury and subsequent 4 surgeries!) and then I got pregnant with the girl...I had a healthy pregnancy, only gained 20 pounds, and it was gone by my 6 week post-partum check up.
Crap, I've totally lost the point of this post. Lemme see if I can find it...
<pause while I check>
Okay, here it is. Prior to joining getting serious about getting healthy, I was weighing in at 140, I think my highest non-pregnancy weight ever. I'm 5'3", so I was looking a bit heavy. I have an "hourglass" figure and I'm built, from the waist down, like a brick shithouse--my legs are usually pretty muscular while I've got big boobs, but I'm small framed up top. (My 2 year old daughter and I have almost the same-circumfrenced wrists...)
Somewhere in there, I started playing soccer again, but was eating like crap. Then, I found the "My Fitness Pal" food/calorie tracker on my Droid Market, started tracking calories, then found the actual website. Since then, I've started doing Turbo Fire, yoga, eating better, and feeling good.
The downside? I'm starting to feel that ethereal feeling creep into my brain... As I walk to use the restroom that's down the hall from my classroom at school, I look into the HUGE mirror, and revel in the fact that over the course of the school year, my waist has gotten smaller and smaller. This morning, Bay pushed up my shirt (she likes to look at my tattoos there) and she kept saying "What dat?" while she poked my vertebrae. It's become a contest with myself to see how many days in a row I can stay below my calorie count.
I need to remind myself that food=fuel. I tried to do a 55 minute Turbo Fire workout the other day after not eating breakfast--I was hydrated, thanks to the 40 ounces of water I drank that morning--but I half-assed my way through the workout because I was light-headed. (I still burned over 400 calories, though...whoopee!)
I need to figure out a way to not go overboard with my desire to lose 10 (a mere 10!) pounds and remind myself that it's about getting stronger...not light enough to float away.
Friday, March 4, 2011
10 Things: I've Learned Lately
1. I would much rather plow through a Big Mac that eat all the ice cream, candy, or other sweet things that is world has to offer. I'm a savory/fat addict!
2. "Pincesses" eat "nunules" for "dinure" in their "hastle". (Or, "Princesses eat noodles for dinner in their castle," in Bay-speak.)
3. If you cut off a huge hunk of your thumb, it will grow back.
4. RelishRelish.com is the absolute bomb! (It's a great menu-planning site that does your grocery list and everything!!)
5. Boo is smart...but he's obstinate when it comes to homework. He always says he doesn't know the answer but I know he does. Oy, he's going to give me an ulcer!
6. Babe should be on talk radio...he's so frelling funny!
7. Steel-cut oatmeal is really, really good!
8. I *do* know how to serve a volleyball over the coed net...it jut took me a while to figure it out!
9. Three-card poker is one card game I can follow.
10. I have a truly amazing group of friends. (Okay, I've always known this, but I've recently been reminded.) <3
2. "Pincesses" eat "nunules" for "dinure" in their "hastle". (Or, "Princesses eat noodles for dinner in their castle," in Bay-speak.)
3. If you cut off a huge hunk of your thumb, it will grow back.
4. RelishRelish.com is the absolute bomb! (It's a great menu-planning site that does your grocery list and everything!!)
5. Boo is smart...but he's obstinate when it comes to homework. He always says he doesn't know the answer but I know he does. Oy, he's going to give me an ulcer!
6. Babe should be on talk radio...he's so frelling funny!
7. Steel-cut oatmeal is really, really good!
8. I *do* know how to serve a volleyball over the coed net...it jut took me a while to figure it out!
9. Three-card poker is one card game I can follow.
10. I have a truly amazing group of friends. (Okay, I've always known this, but I've recently been reminded.) <3
Monday, February 28, 2011
Pssst...I have a secret
I really don't think standardized testing is the devil.
There.
I said it.
Does it take away from instruction? Yeah. Does the possibility of ONE TEST being a huge determinant of my salary scare me? Yep.
However, these tests hold value. Really, they do. Imagine you're a teacher (and for some of my readers...that's not too hard to do!) and there you sit, a blank lesson plan book in front of you, you know that20 25 30 35 bright, shiny, new faces are going to be staring at you in a matter of days. After the preliminary "getting to know you" activities parents, and your administrators, expect you to actually start teaching. (I know...the nerve!) Where do you start? What are your goals? WHAT THE HELL DO I TEACH THESE KIDS?
Those evil, no-good, dirty, rotten tests actually give me a starting point. The bulk of my kids struggled with extended writing last year? Great! Guess what a focus of mine is going to be? Their grammar and conventions suck? I'll start pulling out the Michael Clay Thompson books.
Not only does looking at the data help drive my curricular planning, I look back at how my former class performed. Did they struggle with identifying theme in their writing test? Looks like I should hit it harder from now on, etc.
Granted, once kids get to the upper-elementary/middle school grades, a ton of their test scores really do depend on their attitude. There's a story of an 8th grader at my school that, while he had the ability to do well on one of his tests, he spent the majority of the testing sessions drawing sea life in the test book. I'm assuming he didn't score too well...and I would also gather that his teacher didn't look to his scores to help her figure out her areas of strength and weakness as a teacher.
There's also parents that don't put much stock into it, a friend of mine had a parent last year that said, "Well, all the kids know it doesn't really matter how THEY do...it's just a report card for the teachers."
^That^ statement scares me, but I'll save it for post some other day.
Does state testing foster "teaching to the test"? Well...yeah. But, the test reflects the state standards, which are reflected in my district standards, which are then reflected in my school expectations. What is wrong with that?????
I know the horror stories of teachers just doing "testing workbooks" all year long, but honestly...how many of you have really seen/experienced that? I know that my students will have to analyze some poetry, so I have them analyze some poetry throughout the year. I also know that my students will be required to respond to a persuasive, descriptive, or explanatory prompt...yeah, they've been sharpening their writing skills in those areas throughout the year.
Frankly, if you are doing your job, and teaching to the standards and grade-level appropriate curriculum..you ARE teaching to the test, and that's okay. I'm lucky to be in a school that allows a great deal of teacher-autonomy, so I can get my kids to write persuasively any way I want. I had them identify propaganda techniques, read persuasive writing, analyze persuasive writing, research an issue, and finally, write a persuasive essay about the issue. <----That, my friends is how AimCo " teaches to the test".
So, long story longer, I don't mind the period of testing. It gives me some data, I can get end of the quarter grading done, read some books, and organize my file cabinet...not a bad week, in my opinion.
There.
I said it.
Does it take away from instruction? Yeah. Does the possibility of ONE TEST being a huge determinant of my salary scare me? Yep.
However, these tests hold value. Really, they do. Imagine you're a teacher (and for some of my readers...that's not too hard to do!) and there you sit, a blank lesson plan book in front of you, you know that
Those evil, no-good, dirty, rotten tests actually give me a starting point. The bulk of my kids struggled with extended writing last year? Great! Guess what a focus of mine is going to be? Their grammar and conventions suck? I'll start pulling out the Michael Clay Thompson books.
Not only does looking at the data help drive my curricular planning, I look back at how my former class performed. Did they struggle with identifying theme in their writing test? Looks like I should hit it harder from now on, etc.
Granted, once kids get to the upper-elementary/middle school grades, a ton of their test scores really do depend on their attitude. There's a story of an 8th grader at my school that, while he had the ability to do well on one of his tests, he spent the majority of the testing sessions drawing sea life in the test book. I'm assuming he didn't score too well...and I would also gather that his teacher didn't look to his scores to help her figure out her areas of strength and weakness as a teacher.
There's also parents that don't put much stock into it, a friend of mine had a parent last year that said, "Well, all the kids know it doesn't really matter how THEY do...it's just a report card for the teachers."
^That^ statement scares me, but I'll save it for post some other day.
Does state testing foster "teaching to the test"? Well...yeah. But, the test reflects the state standards, which are reflected in my district standards, which are then reflected in my school expectations. What is wrong with that?????
I know the horror stories of teachers just doing "testing workbooks" all year long, but honestly...how many of you have really seen/experienced that? I know that my students will have to analyze some poetry, so I have them analyze some poetry throughout the year. I also know that my students will be required to respond to a persuasive, descriptive, or explanatory prompt...yeah, they've been sharpening their writing skills in those areas throughout the year.
Frankly, if you are doing your job, and teaching to the standards and grade-level appropriate curriculum..you ARE teaching to the test, and that's okay. I'm lucky to be in a school that allows a great deal of teacher-autonomy, so I can get my kids to write persuasively any way I want. I had them identify propaganda techniques, read persuasive writing, analyze persuasive writing, research an issue, and finally, write a persuasive essay about the issue. <----That, my friends is how AimCo " teaches to the test".
So, long story longer, I don't mind the period of testing. It gives me some data, I can get end of the quarter grading done, read some books, and organize my file cabinet...not a bad week, in my opinion.
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