Weather Woes

Listened to the weather man for what was to be balmy weather for Monday. At least I wore a coat to work. The temperatures did not climb like predicted. And that wind was so raw. So this a.m. I hear the man say it is in the 50s. Yahoo! But beware, it will drop to 12 by tonight with strong, gusty winds, rain and eventually snow. But after all, it is January, and it is Indiana.

Take Me, Please

I went shopping with my daughter and granddaughter yesterday. The sales at one of the stores were 70%, 80%, and 90% off. If I wait long enough, they will pay me to take the items. After looking at most of them, they will have to pay me a lot.

The List for Today

Been up for hours and have filled a page of things to do for today on my "List." I am always optimistic as I plan the activities for the day, jotting down ideas as they come to mind and expanding on them later. Then as the day progresses, it really doesn't bother me if I don't complete my list. When my children were young and I was a stay-at-home mom, it would bother me immensely if I did not complete my list. So, I became creative with post-it notes. Each job was written down on its own post-it and neatly arranged on a full-size sheet of paper under the appropriate categories. Then at the end of the day, those jobs not completed were transferred to another sheet of paper for another day. This method took the pressure off of me, especially when the situation with the kids was not conducive to completing the "list." I guess as I have aged, an uncompleted job list doesn't bother me because now I can throw the whole thing in the trash without the least bit of remorse. Another benefit of growing older.

Beatnik Poetry

Over the last 4 or 5 years, our school has been receiving training in teaching children how to write, especially how to write to a prompt. This year we are doing 3 school-wide writing prompts. Just this week we completed our second one. Most of the children are understanding the assignment, but a few remain resistant to writing. One such child in my class did not want to write much past 3 lines. She was encouraged to try just a little harder. The prompt was to tell what you think friendship is. Although she never mentioned friendship, she did tell about her friend, John. She and John have been friends all through school, so she had many experiences to choose from. I cannot print her writing here, but will tell you that she wrote a page and a half with every other line stating, "He likes me a lot." With practice in reciting the piece, it begins to sound like beatnik poetry. So although she scored poorly on the assignment, I do think she has promise in writing poetry for the 60s. Now if I could just find those bongo drums.

Looking for New Blogs to Read

When I sign in to blog, I always look at the scrolling list of blogs just updated. At this early in the morning, the list contains many written in Spanish as well as characters not from our alphabet. In past years I have been able to find some interesting blogs to read by clicking on one of the just updated blogs. Guess I will need to choose a different time of day to scan that list since my Spanish is so rusty, and I don't read whatever those characters are.

Smanking

Went shopping for groceries last night and had our granddaughter with us. She talks non-stop, and usually asks question after question. While in Wal-Mart, she talked grandma into buying her some chocolate candy. (Wasn't hard to do.) Then on the way home, she wanted to eat one piece. I did the usual in cautioning her not to get chocolate on her coat, etc., or her mommy would be mad at all of us. She promised she wouldn't. Then when she finished, she announced that we weren't in trouble with her mommy because she didn't get any chocolate on anything. Now we were not going to get a "smanking," the combo of a smacking and a spanking.

Feelings of Worthlessness

I went to a professional workshop/meeting for my job as teacher. I sat through the 1/2 day session, listening intently, and all the while feeling less and less worthy as a teacher. The subject matter was teaching vocabulary to fourth graders in tiers while using our new reading series. In the meeting with me were all the other teachers of fourth grade in our school corporation. A few teachers were vocal about what methods they were using, what worked for them, what didn't work, etc. Most of us expressed frustration in managing our new reading series, working in all the components, or figuring out what we should leave out. But most of the teachers do not work with a classroom of struggling readers as a few of us do. While they talked of teaching vocabulary beyond background knowledge, I sat there knowing how deficient my students are in the everyday knowledge of vocabulary. How do I work in the vocabulary lessons for Reading, Science, Social Studies, and Health and teach all that is expected of me? Well, I began to shut down during the meeting, overwhelmed with even the thought of planning for the task. Instead of learning from the workshop, I came away feeling totally worthless as a teacher, one who is ineffective. It will take several weeks for me to overcome this negative feeling and return to reality and the knowledge that YES, I do know how to teach my students, and I do know how to meet their educational needs. But for now, I will struggle with these feelings of ineptitude.

Cooking With Toots

We had our granddaughter over last night. So she and I "cooked" supper. Being pressed for time I decided we would make pancakes. She helped find the ingredients in various cabinets, measured and spilled her usual way, and stirred with the whisk. She ate 4 pancakes by herself, and without much of a sticky mess. When we got to church to sew diapers, she told them that she had cooked patticakes. Suppose she got that from the song about the baker's men making patty cakes.

Cat Answers the Call

Our cat makes many different sounds in his cries, just like a baby. I can usually tell what he wants by his cry. Well, last night he was wandering the house doing his desperate cry for his long-lost family when the phone rang. At that point I heard him say "Hello." Even my husband thought the intelligent feline said hello. Now if we could only get him to make a sound that would get rid of those calls from colleges asking for money.

More Schooling

I could scream! Yes, me. I'm aggravated. With all my years of education, all my degrees, all my experience, and me being near retirement, I still have to take more college classes. My last degree fell under the umbrella (or should I say NO umbrella) of no permanent certification. So every 5 years I must take 6 more hours. I plan or hope to retire within the next 3 years, which puts me past the deadline of taking more classes. Frankly, I don't want to take any more. Think the state would accept that? Me neither.

You Rang?

I got this from a blog I read and link to mine. I'm sure she won't care if I link it to mine. This link will take you to ring tones you can download from the National Zoo. If you have a cat you might want to try out some of the bird tones to see how quickly your cat will come running. Then you can experiment to see which tones will make your cat or dog or husband or kids disappear. Just kidding.

Making My Bucket List

Hubby and I went to the matinee yesterday to see The Bucket List. I'm a big fan of both Jack Nickelson and Morgan Freeman, and I was not disappointed in their performances. If you have seen a trailer of the movie you know the premise, but you have not seen all of the funny parts. We were entertained throughout. At one point we were both laughing out loud. I don't think I have ever heard my hubby do that at a movie. Now my daughter would probably say we enjoyed it because we are closer to those ages and the scenario of the characters. Maybe. But my nephew, age 30, thought it was a riot. If you still are in doubt, wait until it shows for five bucks. I started my own bucket list a long time ago. Near the top of the list is to visit the state of Alaska. Well, for our 35th wedding anniversary, we are taking a quick trip to Alaska over Spring Break. Cost wise, our whole trip, including air fare, is cheaper in March than one airline ticket alone in the summer. Let's just say my bucket list will be much more realistic and cheaper that Jack's.

Wake Up, People

We had the granddaughter over to our house the other evening. Papa took a short nap before we went out to eat, so Tootsie had to keep quiet or at least try. After a short time she came close to me and said with aggravation in her voice, "Mimi, it's not the time to take a nap. It is still daylight outside!"

08, Not 07

Have you written 2007 by mistake yet? I'm hoping I wrote the correct year on the check I mailed last week.

Mine Is Back, Yours Is Missing

Go figure. After I blog about my missing comment prompt, I post and find that it is there. So as I am reading other blogs, I find that their comment prompts are now missing. I KNOW I did not do anything to theirs to change them. Maybe it is just my computer or my Internet system or something. Or maybe they will magically appear after I post this.

Now What Have I Done?

Instead of depending on my daughter so much, and because she is working two jobs, I thought I would go into the settings or whatever it was, and look at how the comment section was listed. I DO NOT REMEMBER CLICKING ANYTHING! But now my comment/speak option is missing. Those of you reading this cannot help me because you cannot comment. My only hope is for daughter to read and fix it.

It Continues to Look a Lot Like Christmas

My Christmas trees are still up and decorated. The huge wooden nativity scene is still in the front yard. The lights are still shining on the bushes. The three artificial trees are still lit on the front porch. The two real trees are still glowing with lights, one in the front and one near the patio. Am I concerned? No. After all, I can think of it as being early for Christmas 2008. And I have a big excuse with the passing of my father. Also the nativity scene is important no matter what time of year. So with all my excuses used, I will begin the process of taking down the Christmas "stuff" today. I promise.

Cheap Milk for Sale

I saw an ad for a local grocery store that advertised 4 half gallons of milk for $1.00 each. But you had to buy 4 of them to receive that price. And the regular price was not given. We don't use one half gallon of milk in a week, so would never be able to use 4 half gallons before they spoiled. And while I am talking about ads for groceries, from my experience with teaching fourth graders, I would assume that many people are not able to figure out the best buy in groceries. Stores make it so confusing and often complicated to figure some of the prices. Too bad we don't have a uniform way of listing sales prices.

Siblings

I saw a lot of people at my dad's visitation last night. Their comments were very interesting. On display were over 90 pictures of my dad and family in various places and stages of life. Several people remarked that I hadn't changed in all these years and they could recognize me immediately. One man asked if I were near 40. (I didn't have a quarter to give him.) As I introduced myself to the many parishioners from my brother's church, many of them had no idea that he had another sister. I told several of them that I would be sure to have a talk with that brother of mine. Our other sister, who is a member of my brother's church, told us that many did not know that she was his sister either. I think Sis and I should gang up on him and spill the beans about how he really was while growing up. Maybe that would make a lasting impression. On second thought, no, I will not do that. Being unassociated may turn out to be to my advantage.

Grief Etiquette

Today is the visitation day at the funeral home for my dad. It is strange how people are treating me since my father passed away. And I suppose I have been guilty of the same things. When I see people in a group setting, they tend to stare at me. While some will talk, maybe only one out of ten will say anything about my dad's passing. Others will just stare in silence. We have not done a good job of teaching people how to react when someone loses a loved one. Our parents and grandparents knew and acted well. I know I have several readers of my blog and usually not many comments, but I see that no one has commented. We don't see the "elephant in the room," meaning we ignore the obvious hoping it will soon go away, and we will not have to deal with it. I have learned much from this experience. I have learned that I should call the grieving family, that my call will NOT be a bother. I could go on and on, and I don't mean to scold, just to point out an obvious lesson that I have learned.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! May this year bring you happiness, health, and good fortune.

Obituary

While finalizing plans for my dad's funeral, I was surprised to find out that newspapers charge a fee for obituaries. I had always thought that service was free. After all, why would you want to place an obit in the paper other than the obvious reason of the death of your loved one? It is not like you are selling an item or making some gain from the obit. I wrote the obit for my dad. I did it several weeks ago when I knew his time was close and when my head was a little clearer. I had been paying close attention to how other obits had been written for local newspapers. I am satisfied with the final copy of the obit, and if I had shared it with my dad, I know he would have been proud also.