Golden. I went for my Pap, my mammogram, and a bone density test all in one day today, and I am good to go until this time next year! Yay me for good women's health!
And, my house got spring cleaned today, too. Woo-hoo! Granted, I didn't do it, but it feels so luxuriant to walk in and see sparkling windows, dust-free ceiling fans and vents, and gleaming cupboards, walls, and woodwork. Pinesol, I love you! (Of course I owe a big thanks to Chris and Teresa, the wonderfuls gals who did the hard stuff for me.)
After my doctor visits and before I met my high school friend for a long afternoon lunch, I jumped into a JoAnn fabric for a minute. They had silk flower wreaths on sale two for $25.00, so I grabbed some fresh ones for the front and side doors of the house. The one now on the front door is a grapevine with a couple of summery sunflowers, some lemons, and some fern-y looking greenery. The side door has bunches of big, white sunflowers and daisies. Very summery looking and almost guaranteed to make feel good when I look at them as I'm driving up our long driveway. I'm not big on silk or artificial flowers in the house, but I do like having wreaths on my doors reflecting the different seasons of the year.
Tomorrow is back to school, and I feel good about that, too. My first grade students are having great success reading the last two books I have chosen for them. The books are ones that have a very controlled vocabulary consisting mainly of sight words (Dolsch vocabulary), and rather than just drilling, drilling, drilling on those sight words, the children seem to be internalizing them much better when they are used in the context of a story. But, Duh! That is something that we learned in our most basic education theory classes years ago! My Kindergarteners and second grade students are also making progress in reading and learning, but I seem to be leaning toward liking the first grade mentality much more than K or 2. Hmmmmn. Food for thought there. . .
On Sunday Richard and I worked outside. He mixed up a batch of weed killer for me, and I spot-sprayed dandelions and other pests in my flower beds. I do hope I didn't get any overspray on any of my Stell d'Oro daylily border or on the various colored Achillea I have planted in my dry sun bed. If I did, I have plenty of other daylilies I can divide to fill empty spots, and I think the achilleas have sprouted enough runners that they can survive some parts of the parent plants dying off. Dandelions and sow thistles!!! Two of my biggest gardening banes! I can never get the tap roots out when pulling or digging, and if you don't, the buggers always sprout ten more where there was one before! Anyway, after doing the beds, I walked the goat fence and the posts with bluebird houses where it is hard for Richard to mow and sprayed weed killer along there, too. Once the stuff works its magic, we will have nice, straight-looking fence lines w/o a bunch of raggedy weeds outside the fence. Inside the fence, the goat patrol keeps the weed population in check.
And speaking of goats - the triplets born on April first are in fine fettle. They are now "eating" hay. It is so funny to watch them take a little mouthful of something and act as if they are chewing it. What they really do is just mouth it a little and then spit it out. After that they usually leap wildly up into the air and act very surprised, as if "Hey! How did that get in my mouth?" And the littlest one, whom we've named Slim, is really beefing up. But I am not surprised at all by that because he is a lusty little drinker. Even when he was brand new he nosed right up to the wonderful milk machine that is his momma, good ol' Bessie, and got his fill of her yummy goodness. So I am happy that they are doing well.
And that is all for today.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Today I . . .
Need to get down to the basement and TRY to find my work tables. I have three tables all set up for my own use downstairs and right now they are covered in piles of stuff. I tried to keep separate areas for different activities, but it doesn't seem to work out that way.
We had some water issues down there earlier this winter, and I had to rearrange some of my piles that were on the floor and move them to safer spots - the tables. I haven't put anything away forever, and my art supplies seem to be stealthily creeping up the stairs.
I have a prom dress that I am hemming for a former student and her prom is Saturday, so I need to do the dress tonight. My serger and sewing machine have their own table - sort of - but I will have to clear off a large space around it and cover it with a sheet. No fuzzies or snags on the dress please!
We had Monday this week off school, and it's a good thing we did. I had a water change planned for my marine fish tank and was plannning on using the water I removed from the tank to start cycling a new tank. Halfway through the water change, my filter pump went out and I ended up having to drive 100 miles to get a new one, come home, make some adaptations, and set up a new mechanical AND biological filter. I didn't want to try anything very tricky becasue I've only been in the marine business about a year, so instead of relying solely on the new bio filter alone, I am floating the old bio wheel in the tank for a while. The Pacific Blue Tang hates me and thinks I am trying to kill him. Anyway, that whole business of having that pump go out has left me panic-stricken about having a back-up plan for other fish emergencies. I've been researching like crazy and have a good idea of what I need to put together, so now I just have to put it into action. I wanted to put seahorses in this other tank, but after reading up on seahorses, I find that this new tank is too small. My next choice is a hummingbird wrasse if it isn't too large a fish for this bio-cube. But I am not giving up on seahorses! Just need to learn more and hone my fish-keeping skills.
In other areas, I am testing all my students' reading abilities and writing reports for their classroom teachers. The end of the school year is drawing to a close, and that is always a time for me to reflect on what I've taught this year, what still needs to be taught, and also on the things that we are not going to be able to get to. Right now we are going into state testing times, and that is stressful for students and teachers alike. Teachers are taking their kids on field trips, all kinds of activities are starting up for the kids, and it really makes for a crazy time of year. Soon it will be time to take everything down and pack it up again. Seems like I just did that!
We had some water issues down there earlier this winter, and I had to rearrange some of my piles that were on the floor and move them to safer spots - the tables. I haven't put anything away forever, and my art supplies seem to be stealthily creeping up the stairs.
I have a prom dress that I am hemming for a former student and her prom is Saturday, so I need to do the dress tonight. My serger and sewing machine have their own table - sort of - but I will have to clear off a large space around it and cover it with a sheet. No fuzzies or snags on the dress please!
We had Monday this week off school, and it's a good thing we did. I had a water change planned for my marine fish tank and was plannning on using the water I removed from the tank to start cycling a new tank. Halfway through the water change, my filter pump went out and I ended up having to drive 100 miles to get a new one, come home, make some adaptations, and set up a new mechanical AND biological filter. I didn't want to try anything very tricky becasue I've only been in the marine business about a year, so instead of relying solely on the new bio filter alone, I am floating the old bio wheel in the tank for a while. The Pacific Blue Tang hates me and thinks I am trying to kill him. Anyway, that whole business of having that pump go out has left me panic-stricken about having a back-up plan for other fish emergencies. I've been researching like crazy and have a good idea of what I need to put together, so now I just have to put it into action. I wanted to put seahorses in this other tank, but after reading up on seahorses, I find that this new tank is too small. My next choice is a hummingbird wrasse if it isn't too large a fish for this bio-cube. But I am not giving up on seahorses! Just need to learn more and hone my fish-keeping skills.
In other areas, I am testing all my students' reading abilities and writing reports for their classroom teachers. The end of the school year is drawing to a close, and that is always a time for me to reflect on what I've taught this year, what still needs to be taught, and also on the things that we are not going to be able to get to. Right now we are going into state testing times, and that is stressful for students and teachers alike. Teachers are taking their kids on field trips, all kinds of activities are starting up for the kids, and it really makes for a crazy time of year. Soon it will be time to take everything down and pack it up again. Seems like I just did that!
Thursday, March 25, 2010
What Have I Been Doing?
Wellllllll . . . Lately I have been spending way too much time engaged in activities that a friend's daughter says are just mindless activities that give you a false sense of accomplishment - computer games. Most notably, Farm Town and Country Life on FB. Argggh! I quit Farm Town back in the summer because I was spending several hours a day on the computer just playing that stinking game, but I unblocked the application a couple of months ago, and unluckily for me, my farm was intact. Then, being the follower that I am, the same friend whose daughter calls computer gaming mindless activities with false senses of accomplishment (which they are), sent me a request to help her out in Country Life - so I did!!! Now I am sitting here once again with this stupid game occupying me in the evenings.
Sitting here putting this down in black and white makes me feel ashamed of myself. I can really see that it does no good at all, and it does, indeed, induce a false sense of accomplishment since there is no real-life gain in playing these games. Yes, you build up a bank of coins and goods, but what can you do with it? In a way you are competing against others, but there is nothing measurable achieved. As a teacher, I have viewed video and computer gaming as the enemy because many children neglect reading and homework and physical activities in favor of their virtual counterparts. Now I find myself getting sucked into the very thing I have advocated against. Hmmmmn. Time for a change in habits for me, I think.
I can think of about three dozen things that I could do right now to take the place of my little addiction. Coming to the foremost, with the arrival of nice weather, is cleaning out the flower beds around here. That includes picking up the pukey remains of last fall's pumpkins sitting in melted puddles of what-used-to-be-orange, white, and green nearby the steps. Soooo attractive to look at. I always do that - leave them for spring and I always un-enjoy it so much! As long as they are hidden by snow, I let them go, but they are always lurking under the snow and in the back of my mind, waiting for spring! As old as I am, you'd think by now I would be done with it and haul them down to the compost heap (so-called) in the fall.
Another upcoming job is too clean out the veggie plot. That, too, is a fall job that I didn't do this year. But it was kind of neat this winter to look out the back door and see, hanging on for their dear lives, the little pear-shaped heirloom yellow tomatoes that were left on the vines. (Unlike those lurking pumpkins!) I don't know why, but these particular tomatoes really stick to their vines. I bet too that they will self-sow if I don't get too aggressive cleaning that area. I loved those tomatoes in salads this past summer, too.
Another big thing I can do to stay away from computer games is my continuing self-directed professional development. I have spent many evenings this winter reading and researching and relearning many early primary best practices for teaching reading. My big job change at the beginning of the school year prompted this flurry of PD, and it feels as if it has really paid off. I am much more secure lately in my knowledge base and my teaching practices. I think that increased confidence has benefited my students, too. Either that, or just their natural developmental progression has increased their growth through the school year, but I like to think my intervention has helped! I am still reading and rereading my Jan Richardson, Debbie Diller, and Richard Marzano. Another hugely valuable resource that I continue to explore is the Florida Center for Reading Research web site maintained by Florida State University. This database is vast and although I have downloaded and copied all the materials for grades K-3, I haven't read or evaluated it all, yet. Of the eight-ten activities I have tried, I found several worth using again, so I will definitely keep sifting through this treasure trove of materials looking for teaching materials to use with my students.
The other things keeping me busy lately have been hand-made goodies. I am hosting a traveling round-robin swap through my paper doll group on Swap-bot. That endeavor has been semi-sucessful in that one person dropped out after not sending on the dolls she has received for the past couple of months. I think she has deeper issues than the doll swap, though, so I hope she gets everything in her life straightened around. She is a talented artist in real life, but her health and employment issues are not where she needs to have them. The other swap participants have hung in there and are creating some really cute outfits for the dolls. Don't know who has my doll right now, though! I've also been making a BUNCH of jewelry. I finally used the bright red coral nuggets (huge and honkin!) that my hubby bought for me at a bead and gem expo in August. Now I need to think of something exciting to do with the biwa and dentil pearls I bought there as well. Now they are GORGEOUS! I really need to come up with a special design for them. I also have been making a lot of Pandora style keychains lately. They are pretty cool. I've also been experimenting with some fabric creations, but I am not trotting them out for a while. I need to work on my technique! And last, but certainly not least, I finally found out that my flip book of paper dolls is being published in the summer issue of Somerset Studio's Gallery magazine. I can't wait to see how they feature it. I hope it will be a multi-picture spread just so people can see the diverse group of dolls I stamped and embellished. And that, Folks, it all there is for this update!
Sitting here putting this down in black and white makes me feel ashamed of myself. I can really see that it does no good at all, and it does, indeed, induce a false sense of accomplishment since there is no real-life gain in playing these games. Yes, you build up a bank of coins and goods, but what can you do with it? In a way you are competing against others, but there is nothing measurable achieved. As a teacher, I have viewed video and computer gaming as the enemy because many children neglect reading and homework and physical activities in favor of their virtual counterparts. Now I find myself getting sucked into the very thing I have advocated against. Hmmmmn. Time for a change in habits for me, I think.
I can think of about three dozen things that I could do right now to take the place of my little addiction. Coming to the foremost, with the arrival of nice weather, is cleaning out the flower beds around here. That includes picking up the pukey remains of last fall's pumpkins sitting in melted puddles of what-used-to-be-orange, white, and green nearby the steps. Soooo attractive to look at. I always do that - leave them for spring and I always un-enjoy it so much! As long as they are hidden by snow, I let them go, but they are always lurking under the snow and in the back of my mind, waiting for spring! As old as I am, you'd think by now I would be done with it and haul them down to the compost heap (so-called) in the fall.
Another upcoming job is too clean out the veggie plot. That, too, is a fall job that I didn't do this year. But it was kind of neat this winter to look out the back door and see, hanging on for their dear lives, the little pear-shaped heirloom yellow tomatoes that were left on the vines. (Unlike those lurking pumpkins!) I don't know why, but these particular tomatoes really stick to their vines. I bet too that they will self-sow if I don't get too aggressive cleaning that area. I loved those tomatoes in salads this past summer, too.
Another big thing I can do to stay away from computer games is my continuing self-directed professional development. I have spent many evenings this winter reading and researching and relearning many early primary best practices for teaching reading. My big job change at the beginning of the school year prompted this flurry of PD, and it feels as if it has really paid off. I am much more secure lately in my knowledge base and my teaching practices. I think that increased confidence has benefited my students, too. Either that, or just their natural developmental progression has increased their growth through the school year, but I like to think my intervention has helped! I am still reading and rereading my Jan Richardson, Debbie Diller, and Richard Marzano. Another hugely valuable resource that I continue to explore is the Florida Center for Reading Research web site maintained by Florida State University. This database is vast and although I have downloaded and copied all the materials for grades K-3, I haven't read or evaluated it all, yet. Of the eight-ten activities I have tried, I found several worth using again, so I will definitely keep sifting through this treasure trove of materials looking for teaching materials to use with my students.
The other things keeping me busy lately have been hand-made goodies. I am hosting a traveling round-robin swap through my paper doll group on Swap-bot. That endeavor has been semi-sucessful in that one person dropped out after not sending on the dolls she has received for the past couple of months. I think she has deeper issues than the doll swap, though, so I hope she gets everything in her life straightened around. She is a talented artist in real life, but her health and employment issues are not where she needs to have them. The other swap participants have hung in there and are creating some really cute outfits for the dolls. Don't know who has my doll right now, though! I've also been making a BUNCH of jewelry. I finally used the bright red coral nuggets (huge and honkin!) that my hubby bought for me at a bead and gem expo in August. Now I need to think of something exciting to do with the biwa and dentil pearls I bought there as well. Now they are GORGEOUS! I really need to come up with a special design for them. I also have been making a lot of Pandora style keychains lately. They are pretty cool. I've also been experimenting with some fabric creations, but I am not trotting them out for a while. I need to work on my technique! And last, but certainly not least, I finally found out that my flip book of paper dolls is being published in the summer issue of Somerset Studio's Gallery magazine. I can't wait to see how they feature it. I hope it will be a multi-picture spread just so people can see the diverse group of dolls I stamped and embellished. And that, Folks, it all there is for this update!
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Sunday and It's COLD!
Today is Sunday, and it is cold out. I guess it's supposed to be cold here in Ohio in December, but I am never ready when it starts settling in and staying cold. I have miniature dappled dachshunds, and they are very low to the ground and short-haired, so when it gets like this, they have to have their coats on to go outside. Sometimes I am a bad mother and try to get them to go out without their coats, and they just stand there and give me dirty looks. It's like they're telling me, "You know better than this. Do you think we're stupid?" And it usually works to shame me into getting their coats for them.
Another reason I dislike the arrival of cold, snowy weather is that it tends to make me hibernate. I've posted before about the fun I have every Friday night going over to the Scrap Shack to play with my friends, and the cold weather sometimes makes me stay at home. It's not that I don't want to go play; it's just that I have never learned the fine art of packing light. So, instead of dragging all my stuff out and packing it in the car, then unpacking when I get there, I just snuggle up in my jammies and think about the fun I am missing . . . Sigh.
So, here I sit on this sunny, cold day looking for reasons to complain. I think I'd better get up and get moving to warm myself up!
Saturday, December 5, 2009
A New Doll
This is a new mermaid doll I made last night at my weekly visit to the Shack. She is made from a template available theenchantedgallery.com.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Long Holiday Weekend Plans
Today was the last school day of this week, so I have a full day off to get things ready for Thanksgiving. I haven't planned my menu formally yet, but I have a pretty good idea of what we're going to have. I am pretty classic - roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry something, gravy, stuffing (for my hubby, I don't like it), pumpkin pie, relishes, squash, maybe some turnips, and also some mincemeat tarts. Oh, and homemade yeast rolls in crescent shape. So yes, there it is - I have planned my menu. Now for the shopping list . . .
Tomorrow is also my hair appointment day and cleaning day. I have the major cleaning out of the way, just little stuff.
I have finished up all my dolls for the time being. Now I am ready to start making some jewelry. I have a ton of beads I want to play with and make some dazzling new creations. Got lots of ideas. So maybe Friday evening at the Shack will be jewelry bling night.
Friday AM will be one early morning jaunt to Michael's. Last year I scored some really good deals and it wasn't crowded at all at six AM! I can always stock up on my new favorite glue; Zip Glue. It's a great quick drying, non-wrinkling paper glue. LOVE it!
So there you have it in a nutshell - my long holiday weekend plans. Oh, that reminds me - I need to pick up the rest of the black walnuts out of the driveway that we have been hulling by running over them with the car. And those will be used in future plans for Christmas goodies.
Tomorrow is also my hair appointment day and cleaning day. I have the major cleaning out of the way, just little stuff.
I have finished up all my dolls for the time being. Now I am ready to start making some jewelry. I have a ton of beads I want to play with and make some dazzling new creations. Got lots of ideas. So maybe Friday evening at the Shack will be jewelry bling night.
Friday AM will be one early morning jaunt to Michael's. Last year I scored some really good deals and it wasn't crowded at all at six AM! I can always stock up on my new favorite glue; Zip Glue. It's a great quick drying, non-wrinkling paper glue. LOVE it!
So there you have it in a nutshell - my long holiday weekend plans. Oh, that reminds me - I need to pick up the rest of the black walnuts out of the driveway that we have been hulling by running over them with the car. And those will be used in future plans for Christmas goodies.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Get 'Er Done
Yep, that's me, Ms. Get 'er done. Last week I complained about all the swaps I had to make that were sending me over the edge because it seemed as if I wouldn't be able to get them done on time. Well, I am here now to crow about my ability to get 'er done! They are all finished, and will be going out in Monday's mail. Friday night's Scrap Shack get together was very productive for me, but I also spent several evenings holed up in the basement working some late hours, too. Now someone needs to come over to my house with a scoop shovel to help me clean up my mess down there! It is a disaster of epic proportions - there are some pretty precarious piles waiting for me to carefully approach them and start the sorting process so all my stuff can be put away.
Even though I fight valiantly against it, the collections of "stuff" seem to grow continuously. Should I just give up the fight and fill my house up with all the things I might someday need? I really wonder if I will ever use the rest of the VERY NICE French bread sack I tore to collage-sized bits, used two pieces for the Marie collage, then meticulously saved for the future. It's a wonderful sort of paper with an almost imperceptible pin dot pattern . . .
Maybe I need to charge up that get 'er done thing to a really high level and race down to the basement and organize like crazy. But I'm thinking (and I bet you are, too), that I am probably going to save all my get 'er done for all the important things that I fill my life up with!
Now off I go to find more important things on which to focus my awesome get 'er done powers .
Even though I fight valiantly against it, the collections of "stuff" seem to grow continuously. Should I just give up the fight and fill my house up with all the things I might someday need? I really wonder if I will ever use the rest of the VERY NICE French bread sack I tore to collage-sized bits, used two pieces for the Marie collage, then meticulously saved for the future. It's a wonderful sort of paper with an almost imperceptible pin dot pattern . . .
Maybe I need to charge up that get 'er done thing to a really high level and race down to the basement and organize like crazy. But I'm thinking (and I bet you are, too), that I am probably going to save all my get 'er done for all the important things that I fill my life up with!
Now off I go to find more important things on which to focus my awesome get 'er done powers .
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Happy Birthday, Son
Happy Birthday, Son! I just wanted to let everyone know that today is the anniversary of a very special event in my life! It marks the day my wonderful son was born. Scott, thanks so much for being you. You are a kind, caring, empathetic person. You are intelligent and are not afraid to be the voice that speaks out for injustice and cruelty in the world. I am proud of who you are and what you stand for. I will always love you.
La Reine
Here are the latest dolls I have been working on. Blue one sent off already and the pink one and display collage she's shown in are in the box ready to ship off to my swap partner. I hope she likes her.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Post Script to Dolls, ETC.
Hoo-Boy! I wish I had paid more attention in business and office class when I was supposed to be learning how to type! Man, I had a big, long post all ready to go on here about how much I accomplished last night at the Scrap Shack, when BOOM! my finger hit the wrong key and I deleted the whole darn thing! So, instead of trying to remember what I had written and go into all the boring details, here is the short version: I got some things done! Made three Marie Antoinette dolls, one of which is totally done. The others are going to be easy to finish up. Finished the huge doll except for a pink feather boa which I purchased this evening (bought some more Zippee Glue, too, which I love!). On our weekly late-night/early morning jaunt to Wally World, I bought the items I needed for this evening's potluck/turkey shoot my hubby and I attended. Today I finally sat down and made the genealogy list for the goats hubby requested, made the pot-luck food (yummy golden baked onion casserole and crock-pot peanut clusters), and then we tagged goat ears. OUCH! they said. That's the update - I am getting that elephant eaten one bite at a time . . .
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