Tandy Hard

keee-yah!

2009-08-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Hawah! HA!
Super major Bad-ass coming through-make way!
1.5 Weeks until school starts--- shit!
Fun in the summer, is over. But I had a blast-next summer will even be more fantastic, and that is a good thought to get me through the school year!
No dipshits allowed in my classroom-they will all behave like angels-wether they want to or not!

Shopping

2009-07-29T17:14:00.000-07:00

Last night I went shopping. Clothes shopping is still a relatively new experience for me. Family grew up pretty poor, an dI wore hand-me down clothes, we didn't even shop at Goodwill or Salvation army. I always wore clothes that were Already used when I got them and out-of-style. I remeber the first time I actually went clothes shopping with my mother, I was a sophomore in high school and we bought two pairs of jeans. My boss during high school would always chatise me about wearing more professional clothes. But she was paying me minium wage, and I wasn't going to spend my hard earned money on clothes, I was going to save it for college!

In college, I my uniform was, jeans, flip-flops, a T-Shirt and a hoodie! The only exseption was debate tournaments, where I dressed up complete with skirt suits and makeup! It was quite the contrast!

Now I'm earning some money and am expected to dress professionally. This results in me going shopping at the Goodwill and JCPennies. I love shopping at Pennies! 1. Everything is new! 2. Everything is cute! 3. When I was little, when Grandma wanted to get something nice, she shopped at Pennies.

I guess to me it is symbolic of entering into the middle class, of having power, purchasing power. I am also stripped of the moral ritouesness that I once had. I would sniff in College when my friend brought in something new from Banana Republic "At least the Salvation Army doesn't support sweatshops!"

I'm finding out that it is nice to look nice, and am feeling the tugs of all that relization portends!

Camping.

2009-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

There is something very cool about unzipping a tent walking out in the middle of the night with the cicadas chirping, to the outhouse, underneath a canopy stars. Or simply walking a few feet away from the tent, exposing your bare ass to the world, and urinating in the middle of nature's night. The only risk is mosquito bites.

Bonne Terre mine was awesome too.

A good week

2009-06-28T11:00:00.000-07:00

After I got home from Kansas, I spent a day resting. Then I let good intentions carry me away and I picked up a kitten out side of Wal-mart. My cat, Babs, doesn't like her and has been really poutty with me, growling at the kitten and ignoring me. One of my friends came over, and fell in love with her, gave the kitten a nick-name, and now has her over at her house. My friend has two little girls who can give the kitten much more love and attention than I could. I was going to be gone for two days straight and didn't want to deprive the poor thing with no interaction. So I got some good kitten time, and the kitten has a good home.

The next day, I spent the evening with one of my friends from college, Karen. We cooked together making zucchini and mushroom spaghetti, and salad. We went shopping at a hole-in-the-wall fruit store in STL that got us mouth watering watermelon, honey dew, nectarines, blue berries and plums. We made the most amazing fruit salad there ever was! Ripe, lushous, yummyness!

Next, I hung out at one of my co-workers house for the evening. She had a ginormous pool, and we spent the evening eating chocolate, drinking beer/wine and for me smoking cigars. It was finally very cool outside, and a clear night. Watching the stars, shooting the breeze, while swimming around once and awhile was very peacefull and relaxing. We we up til one.

Last night I sold food for the Saint Louis fireworks display. Hawking Ice Tea, Lemonade, Nachos, and roasted corn was fun. When I was driving home, there were fireworks to the south of me and cloud lightening to the north of me. When I got home, I went to the river and watched the lightening. The river was absorbing light, so inky black while the sky would light up randomly with spackles of brightness. It was very cool to see.

All in all it has been a great week!

UMKC

2009-06-22T20:05:00.000-07:00

Went to a Materials Science Class at UMKC. Metals, Cermaics, Polymers, Composites I know them all now. I am also offically dormed out. Tired of uncomfortable beds and creazy science teachers. We are a weird lot. I'm normal compared to most of them.

Went home to Kansas to surprise Dad for fathers day. We went to the Cosmosphere on Saturday. It was very fun! Saw an Imax movies, went to the Planetarium, and Dr. Goddard's Laboratory-talking about rocket science. It was very cool.

It was very good to see church friends too.

So tired

2009-06-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

So this teachers camp was so exhausting.
Subatomic particle Physics, the Engineering of a Nuclear power plant, radiation calculations on log-based formats.

Yucca Mountain bad info denounced (debaters-we were wrong-oops!)

I now have my own Gieger-Mueller counter though, as well as my own costume of radiation protection gear. (including dosimeters)

It was also a good introduction back into the academic community, both good an bad. First, I was one of the few science teachers who could handle the cold fusion lecture (it's real! and it's exciting!)
But I went to a wine and cheese party and had a conversation with the typical arrogant professor. Wrapped up in his own smartness, he has difficultly accepting others well reasoned opinions. He also told me (knowing that I was from Truman) that he suggests sending his weaker students to Truman because they need that one on one attention more to be successful, and that Mizzou was full of "go getters". Please. Every profession has their assholes and he is a prime example. Oh well. I think I gave him a few things to think about if he so chooses. Turd Muffin.

Trip high lights:
I got to see Cerenkoff radiation- the blue glow that reactors give off
I got to see inside Calloway nuclear power plant
I ate ate a few good places in Colombia-- (not near enough free time though)
Science teachers can handle their alcohol surprisingly well ;)
TONS more information in my brain about THE most important power source in the 21st century

This all resulted in me going to bed at 12:00am and getting up at 6:30am each day.
And I have two evenings at home before I go to Kansas city and do the whole thing over again...

Tiger Territory

2009-06-07T19:23:00.000-07:00

So this week I'm a Mizzou Tiger. Grrrr....
I'm taking a week long residency class at University of Missouri Columbia called "Science Teachers and Nuclear Engineering". I'm pretty excited about it, we will be touring the only nuclear power plant in MO and going to the teaching reactor, I'm not sure if it is here or in Rolla. I'm looking forward to taking college class and being surrounded by slightly younger than me eye candy.

Mizzou's campus is huge... I totally have been a lost and scared little freshman. I wonder what my life would have been like if I had gone here. I probably wouldn't have hooked up with the debate team here, or at the other colleges like it, K-State or KU. Would I have found my place/ scence of self earlier or later? Would I have found the love of my life here? Would going through the Masters degree program here been as painful as going through the one at Truman, who knows?

I hated leaving my pets...I had to leave them already for a few days, and they had just gotten used to my smell and now I'm leaving again for a week, home the weekend and then in KC for a week. I travel around.

I also have a rockin' I-pod nano. It is orange and I have named it Klaus. It is good, now everyone give me free indie songs. Being a teacher doesn't pay a whole lot, but I earn enough money to pay off my student loans, and I've been able to afford a chinchilla cage, a laptop, and a nano. Not big purchases, but they certainly make the day more fun!

It seems that every one in my nuclear family besides me (5 people total). Have something major and life changing going on in their lives. Lots of prayers are needed for them. I'm hoping that my crisis's are done for a few years.

1.5 days left

2009-05-26T16:27:00.000-07:00

I'm super stoked!
Ready for the summer to begin. Friday I'm traveling to visit the fam in KS and to see my brother. I'll be back to help a friend move, and the two week long summer camps start. I'm kinda looking forward to going back to school a bit. Real Summer with plenty of free time starts mid-June and lasts a looong time. Maybe a week trip to Portland---possibly?! Could be fun!

Plus this summer I don't have to do any masters degree work... so July is super happy!
Can't wait to just read outisde for a day!

Rock on

2009-05-24T21:47:00.000-07:00

There is something to be said for listening to Rock music late at night. Maybe this is why I loved college so much. Loud music, books I loved, and fewer consequences for sleeping in until 12pm.

Ahh.... I feel so totally rested right now, it's great.

Getting close

2009-05-14T18:59:00.000-07:00

Wellup, we are close tot he end of school. Finals start this next Friday. Then we are offically done. Really we are done before the students are. All we have to is get them ready for finals. Then while they take the tests, it is cleaning up the rooom, etc.

I found out today that I'm not teaching Physical Science or Earth and Space Science. This is a little frustrating because I've worked really hard on those classes. I've developed a pretty good curriculum with power points, tests entered on clicker software, labs. Additionally, I signed up for three summer workshops spanning a week each on topics related to what I taught this year. I'll still go to the workshops because they offer college credit, but they certainly are not as relevant as they could have been.

Instead I'm teaching Biology and Applied Biology. I even have a class within a class. I have a special education teacher in the room and half of the kids are really low Sped. This will be really hard. Plus, I'll have all the ruffians that I had this year. At least I will know them and have a relationship with them now.

So next year will be a little more work than planned, I was hoping it would get easier.

I went to Arizona to see my brother graduate. It was so beautiful and It seemed much more likely that there would be more adventures there than here. If my brother becomes a permanent resident there with his girlfriend, I might think about moving there. I would have no issue finding a job, and there would be a higher chance of young men more to my liking. It is definately something to think about.

It has been a difficult week

2009-05-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

My brother had a motor cycle crash late Monday night. He called an briefly talked to my Dad to tell him about it. Nathan had a concussion, and Dad's IQ level drops thirty points until about an hour after he wakes up. Anyways, the call-back number was bungled. We didn't know where he was or if he had gotten medical attention. This resulted in large amounts of calling friends in the Pheonix-Prescott area. The friends called hospitals in the area trying to locate him. We ended up finding him late Tuesday morning.

There is nothing worse in life than knowing that your brother is hurt, but have no idea where he is or if he needs help.

It was a head on collision with a truck. The motorcyle is in five pieces. He has a femur break and is recovering from a concussion. He was wearing his helmet and leathers. He is definately lucky to be alive. The pain medication is doing some weird things to his speech so it is kinda funky to talk to him.

One of the teachers at the high school is beign forced to go to the middle school to replace a retiring teacher. She hasn't lost her job, but she feels betrayed and angry. Lots of other things are going on in her life, like a divorce, a crazy ex, and buying a house. She doesn't need this.

Finally, my father lost his job on Friday. He's been with the company since I've been a freshman in high school.

Friday night I had dinner and hung out with some college friends. The dinner was free and great, but when we were at their home, it turned into a "Roast Liz" party. They pretty much laughed at all my weirdness. Normally, I'm okay with it--- after all, I am pretty wierd. But that night I needed some comfort and sympathy not the opposite.

Thursday I'll be flying to Pheonix via Minnesota to visit my brother and see him graduate. I'll see my mother on mother's day---which just happens to be my birthday.

Weekends Past

2009-04-24T19:04:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was rough. I sponsored prom and then judged NFA Sunday. This meant that I didn't go to sleep Saturday night. I usede to do this all the time for college when I worked as a night monitor. I still have it, but this week was pretty difficult be cause I was so sleep deprived. I really didn't have much of a weekend because before Saturday, I had to get all of my grading done, etc. To not be swamped the following Monday. The count down begins, and things are certainly winding down. I'm looking forward to going to a cardinals game in may. Last year I had already gone to three so far!

the sprint to the finish

2009-04-15T19:09:00.000-07:00

April 24th is our last mid-term grade. May 28th is the last day of finals.
Then FREE! I'll spend a week at home and then two weeks back to back at conferences. I think I can hold out untill then. I know my kids almost too well now, and I'm ready for a fresh batch and to try a few new things on them.
I'll have my curriculum all ironed out and then they'll change it again... :)

What a great weekend!

2009-04-05T11:50:00.000-07:00

Three hour conversation and root beer floats with some friends Friday night.
Slept in Saturday, walked around Forest Park with some other friends and went to the zoo. Had a large Dr. Pepper and a dipped icecream cone. Drove home and had a night on the town in Washington, including bar hopping, live band listening and flirting.
Slept in on Sunday, cleaned house, went for a walk and read.
Then went to a plam Sunday Service and cooked for a friend and her little girls. I then taught the little girls how to do their nails. (I would have never guessed I would have had fun doing THAT.)
AHHHH!

Eight pounds of cookie dough later...

2009-04-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

I'm a sucker for charities. When the tax rebates came in everyone started calling me. $200 dollars later and I'm supporting the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Firefighters league, the deputy Sheriff's department, the World Wildlife Fund, Missing and Expoilted Children, Ranger Rick etc. I had to call it stops.

I'm exactly the person that callers want on the line, I have temporarily have money b/c of taxes and can be guilted and have sympathy for almost any cause.

This is also how I ended up with thirteen boxes of girl scout cookies and eight pounds of cookie dough to support Prom. And Cardinals tickets. (Actually, I'm pretty excited about the cardinals tickets...it is Pujols figurine night!)

This is proabaly a good thing overall, but certainly not for my waistline!

2009-03-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

This time last year I was a pile of gelatinous goo. My school had not hired me back, my master's degree teacher had threatened to kick me out of the program and I had two, maybe three people I could count on for emotional support.

THANK YOU GOD THAT THAT IS OVER WITH!!!

It makes since that when you've lived through hell, it provides some perspective. Sweet Jesu, I am so much happier now. That huge emotional weight that was on me this time last year is gone. I am happy with work, I have multiple people I can count on, and the place I live is wonderful.

I'm working on being a happy being single. The huge disadvantage is that when growing up, I was surrounded by women who were married and had kids, so all my models are irrelevant. Similarly, the problem I'm running into is that what most women talk about is family and husbands. Topics of conversation that I can't really contribute to.

I this problem is unique to smaller towns. I've got friends in Portland and New York that say the opposite is the case. They run into people their age all the time and it's rare to interact with the very old or the very young. Hmm... maybe I need to make more forays into the city.

Home Cooked Food

2009-03-03T15:46:00.000-08:00

My grandpa worked for 5 formative years in North Africa and brought back that region's wonderfully culinary style. For Christmas we usually babaganoush, hummus and Montlube. Also, we grew up pretty poor so rice and bean dishes were Momma's especaility. Without further transgressions in my culinary heritage, I present...

Pakistani Kima (A simple, cheap, Vegetarian curry!)

Materials:

Canned Diced Tomatoes

1 can or one cup Peas

Large onion

One cup TVP

Minced Garlic

Olive oil

Rice

Yellow curry powder

Instructions:
Cook rice
Soak TVP for 7 min in water, drain excess water
Brown onions (chopped or in strips)with garlic and two cap fulls of olive oil
Put in diced tomatoes juice and all
Put in peas (drained if canned)
Stir in TVP
mix in as much curry powder as possible. I like a little less than 1 Tbsp-- the sauce is slightly
yellow

simmer until rice is done.

Serve with a side of plain yogurt (NOT Vanilla!!!)

A complete, and cheap meal! It lasts me two servings/meals, but I have a big appetite...probably serves more like 4

Working!!!

2009-02-08T19:15:00.000-08:00

Weekends... sigh are not really weekends. I spent Sunday afternoon just catching up on work and have no idea what I'm going to be doing tomorrow!

On a random note, I got asked out by the guy in the Burger King window. Random, but flattering.

I love Disney movies.... I'm watching "Sleeping Beauty" right now. Fantastic!

Snow days.. are ugh.

2009-01-28T19:55:00.000-08:00

I'm trapped in side my apartment, being lazy, waiting to get the motivation to get ahead of all the school work that I have to do. Instead, I window shop online, color fuzzy posters, and dream about what to do with my tax rebate check.

I missed out on a ver cool fundraiser dinner becasue of the snow. My classes are behind two days becasue of the snow. I've found out that I'm a lazy lump when the weather is cold. I really don't want to go to school tomorrow because I don't want ot work. And all this online shopping makes me wish I had money to spend.

Sigh. But it is pretty, we did get a good three inches, and it is beautiful to walk around. And I am planning to go to Chinchilla Nationals to maybe pick up another chinchilla! :)

Teacher Feature

2009-01-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

Sundays are never really a part of my weekend. They are the grading, planning, creating power-point presentations, worksheet, and refferals for tardies day. They are the new-seating-chart-because-the-kids-were-squrriely-and-because-the-Scholars-Bowl-team-rearranged-my-room-anyway-day.

The appeal of a 9-5 job is there. The appeal of "I have my masters degree, I could teach at a low quailty community college" idea is there too.

If I didn't have to run to the Evil place for school supplies with money out of my own pocket, that would be cool too.

But students are learning about plate tectonics and Physics...and that is fun. I also get to add "A Female Bill Nye the Science Guy" to my list of compliments too. ;)

The Obama Lama

2009-01-24T18:30:00.000-08:00

With everything that's been going on, I'm going to endulge in a little joy before typing about sorrow. OBAMA!!!!! Thank the frick'n lord. I ended up going to two celebrations. One was at a college friends house in St. Peters. We ate chololate fondue, artichoke dip, olive/cheese salad and danced. I played beer pong for the first time :). There was a Bush Pinata, and we killed it by throwing shoes. Much festivites and rejocing as well as crashing at the party place. The morning after was a trip to Denny's with lots of OJ.

The second was a offical democrats of Franklin County Shin-ding. It was so funny to watch. People we really networking and carousing around. From people's behavior, I can guess who is running for what postion in a few years. There is definately a divide between the old house republicans and the new people brounght into the Obama fold. The Old house is still in shock a little. At the first meeting after the election the obama voulnteers were chastize for electioneering for Obama but not for any of the local candidates. A woman was literally in tears because there was a lack of voulteers for the local campaigns, but a surplus for the Obama camp. The way the networkinghouse was set up, the people in charge did not encourage any cross over. So doors were knocked on for Obama, but almost none for Local officals.

The Lady doing the chatizing then looked out at the crowd. Over half of the people their were new, and over half lokked so pissed they were going to walk out. She quickly back tracked. All of this happened in November. It seems that the Obamanites are now controling the show. They organized the Celebration dinner on inaguration day, complete with left-over election materials. Old posters, old door hangers were given away. The food was good, and met union folk. The town I grew up in was small, so I was not exposed to union traditions, it has been interesting to learn more.

My students are slowly recovering from the loss that took place last weekend. The student who died had some issues, and many of his friends who are now coping have even more. My students are dealing with grief in many different ways. Some kids have been more defiant, others a lot quieter. Many have had trouble taking medications routinely. This can make for a basket case of a classroom. Some how I'm supposed to deal with my own grief, and lead others to a healthy way to deal with their feelings. It is just hard.

At the funeral, there were SO many kids. The counselor says that students many students may have not know my student deeply, but that his death reminds them of the death of another loved one. So students are re-living and re-dealing with old grief. Many of my students haven't developed good coping mechanisms because of what has happened in their lives previously, drug abuse, divorce, physical and mental abuse. Many are starting to go down dangerous paths.

The good of it is, I'm hoping that his death with allow students to heal in a healthy way. To safety open up old wounds,and cleanup the infection. I just hope I have the patience to guide them.

2009-01-17T11:52:00.000-08:00

One of my students died last night in a car crash. I knew that I would have to deal with this sometime during my career, but certainly not so soon. He was working really hard in my class, and had struggled to pass first semester, but did. This child was living breathing, and talking out of turn in my class on Friday. Now he's gone, he simply dosn't exist any more.

What do you say? What are you supposed to feel? How in the hell am I going to deal with my students? Most of his friends are at-risk students. They have lost parents to alcohol, drugs, divorce and abuse. They havn't developed the coping mechanisms to deal with this. Many of them are already struggling in school, and I am terrified of what this will do to them.

I am glad that I can say that I was a postive influence in his life, and that he heard praise from me in class before his death.

Oh God, be with us all.

Camp Hope

2009-01-15T17:34:00.000-08:00

Early Saturday morning (4:30) I left with a car pool to go up to Camp Hope in Chicago's Drexell Park. Basically it was a vigil to make sure that Barak Obama keeps his campaign promises of progressive reform.

Summary1: It was cold.

Summary 2: It was enlightening.

The people that I went up with were awesome. They included my ex (a theology masters student), a family practice doctor who works at a low-income clinic, and a employee for the piece economy project. I was probably the least liberal person there!
We got there and shivered in the snow, using the signs we were holding as wind blocks. My feet got wet, and I was seriously worried about frostbite!

The group ended up at the vigil for 3.5 hours on a Saturday, and we ended up staying at a Catholic worker house. The building was a converted Friary, where Jesuit Friars used to live. Think beautiful wood working, and lots of rooms, like a three floor college dorm.Now it is a safe house, for people who have just immigrated and need a warm place to stay. The majority of people living there are single moms with their familes.

On Sunday, we were out there till three in the afternoon. it had stopped snowing and I had plastic bags around my shoes, which increased my comfort level a lot. We also has smores and a fire. We also met some international press, as a reporter from Japan took our pictures and some notes.

Meet some very cool people at the vigil, (more mennonites), Social Justice catholics, Humanists, and Athesits. It was some of the most interesting discussion that I've had since college. I've really missed being exposed to that many view points!

Then, we are back to school, and starting the physics semester. I love this subject and I've been working hard to make it interesting to my students!

Artistry

2009-01-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to get creative. I'm finding that teaching school gets me into a power-point creation cycle, and not much else. The two main styles that I"m working on are simple pencil sketching and cut paper art.
Keep in mind that my first "C" ever was in art, so it's not coming easy. I'm finding that it is very difficult to draw accurtely. I'm following the advice of my art teacher friend and I'm drawing what I see, not what I think I see, and that's been working okay. I've got some sketches of hands that aren't too bad. But it is clear it is going to take a long time to get good at it.
The other style of art that I'm attempting is cut paper art. This is where you cut geometric desgns and scenes out of contruction paper and layer them. I'm a little bit better at this becasue it is so diberate a process. I'm not doing alot of designs that require a ton of detail yet, so it is hard to mess up. It is really thearputic to simply worry about cutting out a piece of paper right, instead of the rest of the world that assails me.
I'm goign with a car pool to Chicago, for "Camp Hope" a Peace and Justice/Obama forum. Wish me luck!

Guilty pleasures

2009-01-05T19:10:00.000-08:00

Everyone is allowed their bad taste in music. My guilty pleasure is techno music. A boyfriend in college would listen to Russian/Ukrainian techno, and it's addictive. When the wind is frigid, and there is no money for a gym, dancing spastically to techno music for 20 minutes does the trick!
Back to school. I actually missed the little darlins'. The poor kids have to take finals week after a break, so it's going to be rough going for them this week. This next semester is all Physics and Energy. It's going to be time to ride my bike inside the school to demonstrate velocity and displacement...wait untill the pricipal hears that there are wheelies taking place inside the school!

The Year of the Chinchilla

2009-01-01T19:48:00.000-08:00

I think that 2008 was defined by my aquring large quantites of animals. It was also deeply defined by my profession. I left a job that I was deeply unhappy at and am now in a school that I greatly enjoy. The transistion from miserable to okay has certainly been welcome, and I thank the Almightly that it happened. However, I do want to move from okay to fantatic. I need to do this by taking more risks and being more proactive about pursuing my happiness. I think that I'm at a good point where I'm not overwhelmed with work that I can sit back and plan and scheme.
The major unique goal this year is to go to Spain for two or more weeks.
Other goals include to increase the amount of hiking and biking that I do.

Ah... the wonders of being employed

2008-12-31T14:54:00.000-08:00

I was just talking to a friend who became unemployed recently. It puts into perspective how lucky I am. I've just sort of fallen into a profession that fits me very well. I have money, enough to be comfortable.I always wish I could be more articulate.
Lots of conversations over cheesy fries, coffee an aim. All good.
It has really helped refresh me...hopefully I'll be writting more soon. How about a New Year's Resolution to write one short story a month? I can do that.

New Post

2008-12-15T11:45:00.000-08:00

It's a snow day to day. That gives me a three day weekend to chill, and that's fantastic. I'm ready for a break and the poor children are too. My poor kiddos are pooped from all the studying, and I think that this snow day may actually give them extra time to study. Fat chance.
I've entered consumer culture, and purchased for myself a cashmere blend pea coat. It was $220, and I bought it for $77. So, I'm not officially superfical yet, am I? I'm also in line to purchase a MP3 player. My radio antenna died on the way home from thanksgiving and driving home for 6 hours without out music was painful. The list below will be my first downloads, I think. I'm very much looking forward to going home. I haven't seen my brother Nathan in a very long time, we are very close, and there are some things you just can't share over the phone.
It also looks like next weekend will be Christmas party time. I've got a few parties to go to and some people to meet.

Music

2008-12-14T15:27:00.000-08:00

Music for the LONG drive home:
Conor Oberst- Cape Canaveral
Murs- Everything
Sea Wolf-The cold, the dark, the silence
Ray LaMontangne- I still care for you
Beck-Modern Guilt
Cold Play-Viva la Vida
Pete Townsend-Let my love open the door
Keane-The Lovers are Losing
Teddybears-Cobrastyle
Chris Koza-The Dark, Delirious Morning
M83-Graveyard Girl
The Verve-Bittersweet Sympony
Bon Iver- For Emma
Carbon/Silicon-Why do men fight?
Laura Veirs- Don't lose yourself
Adele- Right as Rain
Travis- Chinese Blues
Black Flag-Rise Above
Sonic Youth-Rise Above
16 Horse Power- Black Soul Choir
Imogen Heap-Hide and Seek
DeVotchka- the clockwise witness
The Smiths- The Boy with the Thorn in his side
Past Lives- Strange symmetry
Mylo-In my Arms
XTC-the mayor of Simpleton
Poyksopp- Poor Leno
Sigur Ros
Kings of Leon
John Mellancamp
Allison Krauss
Nickel Creek
Chris Thiele
Evanesence
Calexico
We are Scientists
Joe Henry
Halloween Alaska

Computer is down for the count

2008-11-10T15:06:00.000-08:00

I hope I'll be able to back up soon. The school internet filters facebook :(

An attempt at punditry.

2008-11-02T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have a good feeling abou this election. this year, I've gotten off of my duff and voulnteered about 25 hours to the democratic party. That's not a whole lots, but it's something. It beats 2004 where I debated the issues for college but did realitively little to help out the Kerry Edwards campaign. I've talked to people and had a few people say they were going to vote for Obama. That's exciting. That's change.
There are newscasts saying that person to person, face to face conversation conversation is the best way to get votes, on an order of magitude.
I met two McCain guys canvassing. They were hot, dressed nicely, and drove a Ford Mustang. I almost turned Republican right on the spot!

Hopefully all will got well Tuesday night!

Computer is gone :(

2008-10-19T19:49:00.000-07:00

I love my chinchillas, but sometimes they get on my nerves. Like the time they chewed through a power cord to my computer tower and started a small electrical fire which toasted my motherboard. Yeah, and the time they chewed through a mouse cord and two keyboard cords. Those times. So I've been reduced to getting my internet fix through the school's computer, which is against school policy.

New stuff. Pounding the pavement for Obama. I rarely acutally talk to someone, but it gives me exersise on pretty days.

Caving- way fun! Very muddy and I'm sure I'd have been prett scared if I didn't have a fantastic guide. The students really enjoyed it and learned more through experiance than any power point I could have presented.Only three students though... but the kids who did show up I didn't mind spendign my Saturday morning with. We are definatley doing it again, and I'm going to do it with my friends.

Stealing children-lots of single moms working here who are new. When I want my kid fix, I steal their children for a Saturday. It's mutally benifical relationship. Nothing like showing a six year old a tadpole for the first time.

Cat-wakes me up when hungry. She also has a bad habit of hanging around the chinchilla room.

Men-hit on by a guy in a kilt--- it counts, right?!

Tales of the chinchillas

2008-09-23T18:21:00.000-07:00

They smell like Vanilla. They roam and chew. They might eat you!

I've got another opportunity to travel to Europe. This second one is more expensive than the first, costing a whapping 3 grand. I am really enjoying my job so far. It is such and incredible contrast from Troy. I enjoy what I'm doing and that makes the days so wonderful. Students are stretching their brains and it is amazing to see them forcing themselves to remember and to think critically about the world around them.

The one thing that does frustrate me is that many students their freshman year skip physical science, and move directly to Biology. That means even if I do an outstanding job with my students, the teachers are still going to have to re-teach significant amounts of information. My students who know it already will be bored!

I must say though, I do miss college. I miss be around hundreds of like minded individuals and I miss growing and stretching MY brain

Thai Coconut Chai and Randomness

2008-09-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

I have consumed a large quantity of Ding-Dongs recently, and have been trying to make up for the trash I'm imbibing by drinking tea. Which I'm sure is wholesome until I pour white refined sugar into the cup.

I'm teaching that characteristics of how to tell different minerals apart in Earth and Space Science Class. It is hard to keep a straight face when I'm talking about "Cleavage", "Streak" and "Hardness"

School zaps the creativity out of me. I can't even read something new. I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series. However, to must read "A Brief History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson. Makes my science heart happy.

I'm slowly falling in to love with the indie music scene in the Twin Cities. I think I think I'm going to marry the 9:00 DJ.

Parents: No, I will not move back to Kansas. There are good men here, it just takes a while to find them.

When will Barak Obama fix everything?

Why will Washington University only give tickets to students for the Vice Presidential Debates? That smells.

Give the teachers you know a big hug

2008-09-15T19:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes they need it.
And sometimes the parents are more of a headache than the students!
Some technology that was supposed to work to save time, didn't work and cost more time to fix than time saved. It was some test taking software, and kids were freaking out...the program told them they had failed miserably! After calming them down, I had to grade papers the old fashioned way. It took a long time....
Next on the agenda, explain how hot air balloons work and how to handle a purchase order.

Restless

2008-09-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

So you guys have missed out on the exciting parts. Sorry. The transition to the new school has gone well, and I'm in to the swing of things. Long hours creating power points, writing lesson plans, grading papers and watching freshman football games.
It's been rainy and I'm starting to feel restless. That cool wind with a hint of fall gets me thinking introspectively and I'm not sure what to do.
When I'm in the computer room with the chinchillas, the cat will wait outside the door trying to chase the shadows of the girls when they run by.
My Earth and Space Science Class is going well. I do have a few yahoos though. I give them the test before hand, go over it, and I still have a few kiddos who fail! It is sometimes very hard to relate to the kids who just don't care, because I was about the opposite of that as I could be.

Mosquito bites

2008-09-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

10 on one hand
itchy itchy itchy

Hmmmm... Apparently the chinchillas like posting empy blog space

2008-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

Many of my students are struggling with so much. I have one student who has severe learning disabilities that make it really difficult for her to succeed in the regular classroom. Graduating will be a struggle for her, even though she'll work twice as had as everyone else. I've heard alot of "Anyone can pull themselves up from their boot straps" rhetoric recently and it makes me angry. There is a Education scholar named Ruby Payne, that explains that to move up in the class system from lower to middle to have to sever all ties to family, and many to culture. So many people are willing to condemn the "lower class" as lazy, when in truth the upper class are just lucky and born into the right caste system. Unenlightening rant over!

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Firs t day of School Round up

2008-08-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

I for got how exhausting teaching is. All I did to day was pace the room from the smart board to the white board. In heels. My first hour is my plan period. This is great because I'm super ready for the day. This is not so great because I have no break from the kiddos. All the freshman classes seem like they will be a lot better than last year. My average class size was 24 students as opposed to 29/30 at "place that must not be named." I have been setting limits and calling out students who are misbehaving. The smart board is an excellent tool, and I'm excited to use it. Basically you can set up lessons like you would a web page, and be able to type things on the board, surf the next, etc, all on a 3'X 4 foot screen. The only disadvantage is that it is on the way far side of the classroom, so the people across the room can't see it very well. Plus the room doesn't have air conditioning

Ahh.....Anticipation

2008-08-17T19:13:00.000-07:00

School Starts tomorrow. Lessons are planned, and seating charts are made. The science people are amazing, and I have a beautiful view from my room. The chinchillas are happy, and my cat, Barberella is pawing at the door, wanting to come in and play. Life is good.

(It looks like I'll have to backwards blog... at lot has been happening in the last month.)

Lots to talk about

2008-08-04T14:01:00.000-07:00

But no privacy in the Library. Will have internet on Wednesday, thank goodness.

Getting used to my new place

2008-07-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

I have a very visual memory, where I need to see things in order to remember them. This makes navigating a new town very difficult because I have so few points of reference. The stuff I'm excited about is very silly to most people who live in civilization, but apparently I haven't been there for a year.
Stores that make my life happy in Washington: Loaves and Fishes (a health food store that has bulk foods, including TVP) Toadly Frogs (a frog collectors store- this town was made for me!) The Fudge Shoppe (need I say more) The Goodwill ( nice, $4 jeans) Used Furniture Store I can't remember the name of (high quality, gently used furniture, I'm getting another desk there later). There are lots of other cool shops that I haven't visited yet-but I've been told organic, fair trade coffee is in abundance.
I also really liking my apartment. My room is square, my previous room in Troy was this long rectangle, that really didn't fit right. Because of the size of my new room, furniture fits better and it is definitely more cozy. My desk in the room is an old teacher's desk from the city of St. Louis. It still has the metal I.D. tag on the side. It's nice and big for projects and has a nice deep red finish which I like. It's got all "my stuff" on it: my porcelain dolls, favorite debate trophies, diplomas, gifts from friends and stationary and cards. It really feels comfortable and more relaxing than the previous room.

Kitty update: I'm told by the landlord that he'd rather not let me have a cat. But, the people directly below me have a dog, and I know their are dogs in the other apartment buildings. The original plan was to get two kittens if he said yes. So, I figure I'll get one adult cat and name it after the landlord. If he finds out, surely he can't boot a kitty with his own name?!

Moved

2008-07-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

I'm typing a little lamely, I gave blood today to get some good karma going. I forgot how much it wears me out. I'm moved, and the parents, sister and brother in law were a great help. Was able to load everything up in an hour and a half and unload about the same time. We were done by two, but we had to move furniture up the stairs, which drained everyone. My apartment is about the same price as my old one but I get a couple extra things: A garage with automatic opener, coat closet, pantry, storage area in the basement, laundry room in the basement, and a voice buzzer to see who's outside. The downside is that I will not have computer access until the 5th, so I've joined the library.
We also went to Merrimac caverns on Sunday. It was very cool, but a bit commercialized. All the stalagmites and stalactites were the same color, they are all made of calcium carbonate and the way the water flowed made it look like dripping snot. For the price $17, I don't think we'll be taking a field trip there for my Earth and Space Science class. I'm sure there are other caves that are less expensive and more authentic.
One of my old classmates is in the last throws of getting his masters degree in Geology, so I'm planning to have him talk to the class through web conference. Yea for technology, and here's hopping that I can figure out how to work it be fore the conference.

moving

2008-07-17T19:56:00.000-07:00

I'm half way packed. But still have a lot to do tomorrow. I'll have to take apart my computer, and I may not have internet until August 6th. It looks like I'll have to get a library card to gt my daily internet fix. My parents, sister and brother-in-law are coming late Friday, so I've got to have everything packed by then. We'll move, and then hopefully do something fun as a family. I really want to go to a Cardinals game. An ex got me addicted, and now I follow them pretty reguraly. He also could get free tickets really easily, and that made it more affordable. There is something about the climate, the smell of beer and hot dogs, thousands of fans... I wanna go!

Anyways, wish me luck moving!

:)

2008-07-16T20:42:00.000-07:00

I've got my masters degree. I'll have the diploma in August. Whew. What a relief. I'm done. It's weird because my main goal in life so far was to complete school. I've done it. And now my purpose is to be a teacher and enter into my adult life. It feels like a lot of evilness is behind me(adviser, some Troy experiences). Right now I'm in this transitory period though. I'm literally living in my old life, and will be moving to my new one on Saturday. I feel a lot of hope that I haven't felt in a long time, it's a good feeling. I'm excited and scared and incredibly happy. The move feels right, the town I become more and more impressed with each time I visit. I already have people I know there, and she said there were FOUR (!) young people bars. It's quite different from Troy and I'm happy about that.
I can see myself very happy/content in the future, and that is very promising.

Why Truman was a waste of money

2008-07-14T19:38:00.001-07:00

I'm very angry. My portfolio is/was due on the 15th, a Tuesday. I drive up to Kirksville on Friday morning to make the final changes to my portfolio. Doc then looks it over and gives me a final edit. I do the final edition Saturday, burn it onto the required autorun CD and drive home. Total cost: $100 for gas, motel and food, not bad, but not cheap either. However, I get a call at 3 pm today from my adviser, saying that I need to do another revision. This is 16 hours away from the deadline. I drive up to Kirksville (3hrs) and find out that the edits he wants me to make are TYPOS THAT HE COULD HAVE CAUGHT ON FRIDAY! (It takes me twenty minutes to fit everything). So I'm out gas money and trying to decide if it would be safe to sleep in my car or semi-break in to one of the buildings at Truman so I don't have to pay for a motel again.
Driving home on Saturday was one of the most liberating things I've done. I was done with my education and I could just be what I set out to be, a teacher. Much car dancing and air punching ensued.
It was very frustrating to be told to come back. I was hoping to see the campus again next year, NOT the day after tomorrow.I'm behind on packing for the move this weekend and a goal that I thought was finished bounces back to be an even greater pain in the butt.
This guy is getting old, and his mistakes are passed on to his students to fix. Granted, I should have caught the typos, but he said it was his job to edit and catch everything.
I'm so angry, mad and frustrated. I'm deffinatly leaving Truman with a bad taste in my mouth. this is sad, because I was one of it's biggest advocates.

Fired

2008-07-10T13:19:00.000-07:00

My life is very exciting right now, there are at least two events that I want to post about.
BUT
This masters degree project is killing me. I was so worried about it that Tuesday night I just didn't fall asleep. I ended up giving up at 5:30am, went to Caseys, got coffee and a doughnut and started doing laundry. The problem that keeps slowing me down is revisions. The deadline for the first self-booting/ autorun CD is tomorrow. However, this past week, my masters degree adviser would wait FOUR days before editing the newest edition. He has land and will only have large amounts of time to work on it "when the weather is bad and I can't work outside. " It seems to me that his primary profession is being my adviser. I'm paying tuition this summer for him to help me get this completed. I think in the final days to the due date, I should be a higher priority that his sheep!

Right now the document is 115 pages, not including some of the supporting evidence I had to create. To make the auto-run CD I have to drive to Truman, burn it, submit it to him. Then he'll check it out to make sure there aren't any more revisions. If there are, I have to make corrections and re-burn it. So I have to go to Truman, when the library is open and when he's willing to take time to look at it. There's not a whole lot of time between now and Friday(7hrs), and I'm waiting..... GAH!

Woot!

2008-07-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

July is one busy month.
This weekend: 4th of July and Parties
Next Friday: MAE portfolio is due-I'm done with my edumacation! Yea!
19-20th, Moving weekend, with parents, sister and her hubby
25-27 Maybe going to Omaha to see some Creighton Friends
Last week of July! I'm either going to get two kittens or two adult cats. I've never had cats before, so I kinda want to get kittens, but fewer people want to adopt older cats, so I'd be giving them a second lease on life. What to do?!
First week of August: I graduate (sort of!) Truman doesn't have a ceremony in August, and I'm sure as hell not going back their in December.

Crazy, but eventful and fun.... now if I can just get my masters' degree adviser to respond to my emails. :(

Where oh where did June go?

2008-06-30T21:46:00.001-07:00

Where did June go?!
Time flies by when you are having fun. My sister and her husband visited me this weekend. We went to the zoo. It was so good to see her. I really like my family, and it was good to see some one who really knows who I am and loves me for it. I also got to get to know her husband a bit better. The wedding was the first time I actually met him!
He only said "Russ Limbaugh said on the radio the other day...." Three times, so I can handle him. It's nice to talk politics with him because he's a thoughtful conservative. They also liked my belated wedding present, a cedar chest made by one of my college buddies.

Beauty, the Compare People Application on Facebook, and Cesar Milan

2008-06-26T11:15:00.000-07:00

So I just read my compare people application on facebook. Apparently, I'm considered not very attractive-it seems that lots of people have better eyes, smell nicer, are more sexy, etc. At first, I was kinda upset about this. Then, I think back to how the people on facebook know me:through college. In college, I was a mess. I was catching up on a ton of social skills that I should have learned in high school, had no clothes budget/still wore hand-me-downs from my cousins, was stressed about school, hung out with a group of people who didn't like me much, and probably treated anybody who asked about my life a long list of how unhappy/ grumpy I was.
And I wondered initially why people would think I was unattractive.
Then Cesar Milan, the Dog Whisperer came into my life. Not really, but watching his show, a couple of things came to a head, that had been swirling around for a while.
He talks to people who have huge dog issues. There dog is violent/ aggressive and misbehaving. Milan tells them to be the pack leader. To show and exert control over your dog by body language and attitude. You're to show them that you are clam, confident and in charge.
For a large portion of my life, I was the opposite, and that showcased my most negative character traits. Shall we say unattractive?
I could fake this "clam and incharge" non-verbal body language in speeches and sometimes deabtes. Perhaps that's why I liked Forensics so much and placed well in speeches. I would also notice that when I was actually going out with someone, I got hit on the most. Again, I think It's those non-verbal signals that I sent out. At that time, I was happy and confident, and that aura helped me be more attractive to other people.
Now, I'm at a point in my life, where self confidence is a must. I've got to teach, and that requires at lot of faith in myself, especially dealing with disruptive students.
Slowly I'm making changes to the person I wan to be. I'm dressing better, I'm taking care of myself more, and I'm working on being more confident, in or out of a relationship.
But this compare people application is bunk anyway....people voted me, out of all the character traits... most likely to skip class!
Not anymore! (unless they want to hire a sub!) :)

Stud

2008-06-25T08:42:00.000-07:00

One of my friends just recently completed an Iron man.
"Swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, run 26.2 miles. Brag, for the rest of your life."
Talk about endurance.
Hat's off to you, Todd!

Lazy

2008-06-23T11:34:00.000-07:00

That's me. The only thing I've got to work on is my Master's Degree project. I'm probably only spending 3 hours a day on that. It is more of a "Thing I've got to get done to get more money" than anything I'm really interested in. My research is far from break through, I'm just jumping through a hoop. In some ways I wish I could be more excited about it, then it would actually be fun to work on. A friend who completed the program last year said she was able to complete it in a week and a half since she devoted every waking hour to it. I've got a good start about 1/3-1/2 done and I've got three weeks left. So no real worries there.
So, I've been re-reading Harry Potter, taking naps, getting some sun. This is about the laziest summer I've had since I've been old enough to work. I think it evens out though. This past year teaching was a unpleasant, stressful experience. I would stay awake till 3 am just thinking about all the things I had to do when I got up in three hours.
Last summer wasn't much better. I took two summer classes, worked full time at a fulfilling job, and moved twice.
Maybe it's finally Karma coming back.
For once, it's just nice being me and not worrying about lesson plans, labs, tests or even forensics speeches.
Ahhhhh.....

Grammer Ma'am

2008-06-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

So, I'm working on my master's degree project. And I am, apparently, horrible at formal writing and grammar. I mix up their and there, here and here. I talk about "that" when I should be talking about "who". I end sentences with prepositions. I use contractions. I don't spell out words completely: vocabulary (vocab) and laboratory (lab). My sentences can be complex and confusing.

My master's degree advisor's PhD is in biology, not grammar, he keeps telling me.
And to top the hole ( :0) mess off, I keep wanting to spell grammar -grammer!

Thank the Lord for the red/green squiggly line or I'd be hopeless.

No New Chinchillers

2008-06-18T16:07:00.000-07:00

I had tried adopting two female chinchillas from the Saint Louis Chinchilla rescue. However, the Lady in charge of the rescue tried introducing the pair to a newcomer, and it was a no-go. She feels that they wouldn't adapt well to my girl Bridget.
So, I've got a quandry... do I go to the evil place (Petsmart) and pay $150 for a chinchilla probably irresponsibly breed? Or do I spend a tank of gas driving to a reputable breeder and most likely paying even more for a chin?
Bridget being alone isn't really an option at this point. But spending money isn't really an option either.

Passion

2008-06-17T15:02:00.000-07:00

I've been surfing the web, reading various blogs.
There are thousands of people who are richer, smarter, and use those skills to go on fabulous adventures.

But I figure that I've got something that they don't got. Passion. Passion for teaching. The Gonads to stand up to a career that has handed me one of the most painful years I have ever experienced and say: "Got more?!"

This year I have changed 180 kids' lives. Some for the best, some for the "I fucking hate Ms. Hobbs". And a few, perhaps a small few, I've fed their passion.

the pain is gone!

2008-06-10T16:07:00.000-07:00

Gentlemen reading this post should probably stop now. This one's for the girls.
I've been told that having your period is called "the curse". For me, as of yesterday, i thought is was a misnomer. Inconvenient and messy, yes. Evil? No.

Then today came, and I wished for death. For about two hours I was in severe pain in my mid-section. I thought I had food poisoning, untimely-with my monthly. The pain was so bad I vomited three times. I spent the time, curled up in the fetal positions at various locations in my apartment, alternating between chills, hot flashes, and walking around because the pain was too much. I ended up calling my Mom, asking her if a visit to the emergency room was appropriate. Two hours of "I think this is how you are supposed to do relaxation breathing", and two pills of Midol (2 try)-It suddenly stopped.

The weird thing is now, today, it's a good day! It's amazing the contrast of pain/without pain has an effect on your mood. I'm ecstatic that the pain is gone, even though it's been a mediocre day otherwise.

:(

2008-06-08T17:20:00.000-07:00

Sad news: I accidentally killed my Chinchilla (Gisele) coming back from my parents house. Chinchillas are heat sensitive, originally from the mountains of Chile they should be above temperatures 85 Degree. I forgot that my parents house isn't air-conditioned, so both Chins had a lot of heat stress during the four days I was home. Bridget handled it alot better than Gizzy, even going nose to nose with my parents puppy.
The day I drove back, it was about 85 degrees. I had to run two errands that required me to leave my car. My windows were open halfway, I had one of those reflecting windshield covers. My chinchillas cages were covered, so they were in the shade. The temperature in the car was the same as it was outside. But that proved too much for Gisele, although thankfully not for Bridget. I feel horrible. Bridget is now very lonely and bored. Gisele was around $175. I'm moving mid-July and my %&^*&* land lord has hit me with some huge unexpected expenses. So I may have to go on the college diet again to afford a companion for my poor girl.

No Air Conditioning

2008-06-02T19:53:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believeI lived like this for 18 years. It is hot, sticky and I'm breaking out.
I also forgot my checkbook.... and very few places take my kind of credit card.
I've been reading alot of good books, and I certainly feel centered.
And sad that tomorrow is my last day home....I gotta start getting ready for my trip home tomorrow.
The chinchillas will appreciate the air conditioning... they aren't supposed to be in above 85 degree weather. It's certainly above that here!

Freedom

2008-05-29T18:18:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow, I'm donating part of my liver to pay for gas to drive home to Kansas. This maybe the last time I drive there, gas prices are painful and there is a train station right in my home town. I should of taken the train this time, but I didn't really plan ahead.
While home I plan to:
Play with the puppy
Make crafts, including cute magnets
Read "Water for Elephants"
Take a walk on the River Walk
Drink lots of sugary coffee
Hang with parents
Sleep
Tan

Ahhhhh.....
I'll be gone for a week,
and then June will be spoiled by me having to email daily my least favorite person to work on my master's degree portfolio.

Dancing in the Street!

2008-05-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is the last day!
Thursday or Friday I am going home!
I'm going to get a puppy in a month and a half!
I'm planning to Veg.
With Drool, and lots of Discovery Channel

The count down begins

2008-05-21T14:17:00.000-07:00

One week from today...
SCHOOL"S OUT FOR THE SUMMER!
Thank the freakn' Lord!
I will officially be done with the year of hell...( although it could have been much worse!)
At Washington, I will be teaching four classes of Physical Science, and two classes of Earth Science. I'm the only one teaching Earth Science, so I can totally revamp the curriculum. I'm pretty stoked. After school gets out, I think I'll visit the relatives for a bout a week and then work on the Masters degree starts. I'll put in five hours a day to it, and it should be good.
I'm sad to be leaving this school, but excited to have a fresh start at the new one.

Day off

2008-05-12T18:06:00.000-07:00

Today, I took a day off for my Birthday. I had the car's oil changed and the transmission flushed. I did laundry at the local laundromat. I watched a movie and folded clothes. I went grocery shopping and made my lunch for tomorrow. I paid my bills, and got stamps. I cleaned house a little.
AHhhhhhh.......
It was wonderful.
Can't you tell I'm an adult now?!
:)

Doggie?

2008-05-11T22:17:00.001-07:00

So, I'm going to be moving the Third Weekend in July. This means I could get a new apartment--THAT ALLOWS PETS!
This year it was really evident that I need a dog to be happy.
I am actually thinking about a rescued Pit Bull. They are playful, medium sized dogs that could handle apartments as long as they are walked.
So cute. the dog above is named Lucy and has such a tragic story! I want her now!

Washington it is.

2008-05-06T13:56:00.001-07:00

I'll be teaching Physical Science, Earth and Space Science, and Principles of Technology.
It was a really tough decision, but I made the safe choice.
It turns out the lead thing, wasn't a big issue as it first seemed.
But there were other determining factors to turn down the ****** job.
I feel guilty though because I know it is hard for small schools to attract good science teachers. I really hope they find somebody that fits their needs!

Silently Crying....

2008-05-02T19:29:00.001-07:00

Read the previous two post for this to make sense, in a very sick way, it's kinda funny. :(

So I may be teaching at a "Superfund" sight next year

2008-05-02T19:17:00.000-07:00

I'm lazy, so I'm copying and pasting from Wikipedia. How Lame is that?

HOW FUCKING RIDICULOUS IS THIS ?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

"Testing by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Missouri Hazardous Waste Program has revealed elevated levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other metals associated with smelting in the air, soil, and groundwater in Herculaneum. [1]. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service found high levels of lead in fish, mice, frogs, and birds tested near **************. [2] Many of the birds tested were found to suffer from lead poisoning. Almost half of the children living in Herculaneum who were tested in 2001 near the smelter had high levels of lead in their blood, and a fourth of those under 6 years old had lead poisoning. [3] Lead is a toxic metal and lead poisoning has been linked to learning disabilities, behavioral problems, anemia, kidney disorders, decreased intelligence, and central nervous system damage.

The Doe Run Company has purchased more than 130 houses as a result of toxic metal contamination in **************. It has also removed contaminated soil from the yards of at least 430 homes in the town. Due to toxic metal contamination, the company tore some down some houses and left others vacant. [4] The Columbia Tribune reports that the town is "characterized by empty homes and vacated neighborhoods as a result of these buy outs, and the Saint Louis Post Dispatch has described the town as a "ghost town." [5] Although the town has long been recognized as an environmental disaster area, lead continues to be emitted at high levels and testing of the soil for lead contamination has shown an upward trend at least as recently as November of 2006. [6].

The New York Times reported in 2002 that there are clusters of brain cancer and multiple sclerosis in **************. The paper did not identify the cause of these disease clusters, although many people in the town believe these diseases were caused by exposure to toxic waste, including lead and other metals."

WHAT THE FUCK DO I DO NOW?!

Job Offer!

2008-05-02T14:10:00.000-07:00

*HS has offered me a job!
This is a small school of about 500 students. I would be one of three total science teachers.

The good:
Class sizes of 20-28 students
the school has had no fights this year, period.
I'd be the only physical science teacher so I could make any call I want about the curriculum
I'd know all of my students better
they have a lot of technology options for a small school

The bad:
Tiny town, I could see myself get depressed if I lived there, I would maybe have to live in the town North of it.
Everybody knows everybody else's business
They didn't quote me a salary, so I'll have to do some research. The state website says they are 3 grand below the state average
Not sure about the Administrators... they are home town born and bred: could be good, could be bad.

I'm waiting for another district to get back to me. This other district is bigger, and would have a better salary. The town would be livable in, and would be more similar to what I'm used to at **HS.

So now it is a waiting game, for the other district to make up their mind. I have to let *HS know by Tuesday. If I say no to *HS and wait for an offer that never comes from the other district, I'm up the creek without a paddle!

Anyway, I won't be Subbing next year!!! WAHOO!

Perfume addict

2008-04-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

I always grew up with Avon. My mentor from church sold it. (It is a catalog with beauty products marketed by independent sales people, like Mary Kay or Tupperware, but cheaper.)

Now there is an Avon Lady at school, and I find myself buying their perfumes.
I love smelling good, and to me it is even more important than looking good. This equal very few lipstick purchases and quiet a few 5fl. oz sample perfume purchases.

Here's what I like:
Rare Gold- Nice and warm with orange and amber, a good winter sent but too heavy for spring.
Crystal Aura- Floral and Grapefruity-maybe a tich too girly for me, but other wise a good fit.
It looks like I like a citrus underlay!

Scents I don't like:
Imari- heavier, traditional, darker, makes me smell older than middle aged
Sweet Honesty-I recently bought this looking for a good spring perfume. Not my thing. Smells like baby power more than anything else. It's more of a "Oh, you are wearing perfume" than a "Oh, you smell good" scent. This was also my first perfume I ever got, so when I wear it, I feellike I'm twelve again.

Scents I do like but am too poor to buy:
Tommy Girl-lighter and cooler, with not too much sweet, feels like a light teal blue
Tribute by Mary Kay- A Dry rose scent good for fall and late summer. I had a bottle, but it disappeared

Scents I will probably get in this next catalog:
Haiku I'll let you know how these smell
Dreamlife

DO YOU HAVE ANY PERFUME SUGGESTIONS?
I'M LOOKING FOR A GOOD, CHEAP SPRING PERFUME

One more month

2008-04-27T20:09:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh....
The weekend is never long enough.
the highlight was going to the butterfly house.
Thousands of Butterflies from around the world zooming around in between people.
The only downside was that it was very hot and humid and while we could have stayed for hours, we ended up staying for only 45 minutes or so.

I have two interviews this week. One for the Washington School District west of STL, and in Herculaneum at the Dunklin School district. Dunklin is pretty small-their graduating class is around 125, so it would be a nice, small school feel. I'd be teaching chemistry though...

Washington is about the size of my high school, but further away from StL.

hopefully I get a job offer from one of them, and my life will be coasting untill the end of the sc`hool year.

PASSED!

2008-04-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

and I so wanna pass out....
Off to Mustang Sally's where I'm going to drink like a crazy science teacher!

THANK THE LORD...

(And a fun weekend ahead too!)

Added Stress

2008-04-19T17:31:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, my adviser from Truman is coming.
After his visit, my life gets a little easier or it becomes a living hell.

Let me back up a little. This is my masters degree adviser to finish my Masters of Arts in Education degree. In Early March he expressed to me that he felt that I was an incompetent teacher and didn't know if I would pass my internship. He also hinted that he would not be able to write me a positive letter of recommendation. As a result, I've not communicated with him on what schools I'm applying for a job for. Usually the master's adviser plays a key role as a reference and advocate for job placement. Going at the job hunt alone may raise some questions, but I feel it is better to go at the job hunt alone than risk him sabotaging me.

Anyway, If I don't pass the internship, the Masters Degree and long term teacher certification falls apart. I either have to go to another school (probably Webster) to finish my degree, or say goodbye to the thousands of dollars I spent at Truman and embark on a new career.

We have block scheduling at **HS, and I thought he was coming on a green day. I look at the calendar and he is coming on a Black day. I've be working with both classes to improve items on the checklist that I need to complete before he comes. But I've been super focusing on my green days. (The students are more malleable that day too. )

Now he's going to see my worst students and where I haven't focused as much on classroom management.

Oh god.
Oh God.
SHIT

Getting nervous

2008-04-18T14:01:00.000-07:00

So, I went to the job fair at Truman last Friday. I went to do some preliminary interviews. Talk to people, shook hands and wore my lucky purple suit.
I've received one "We appreciate your application, but we are sorry to inform you...."
and the sound of crickets from the others.

I'm getting very nervous. To the point I'm hoarding every penny in case I have to make a living subbing next year.

One lucky school District needs to ask for a second interview soon.....

Or things are starting to look very scary.

Crafty

2008-04-12T21:18:00.000-07:00

My chinchillas are simply doted on. the have treats, they have toys and now the have a fleece hammock courtesy of me.
I originally saw the hammocks on the forum Chins and Quills and was going to buy a double one for fourteen dollars. But I looked at them closely and decided that I could probably reproduce them.
$7 dollars of fleece, needle and thread later my chins are cozying up around neon dots with a black background.

It was ve3ry enjoyable to sew the thing, and a great way to deal with stress. I think I'll be sewing a lot this summer with my free time.

Go Rico!

2008-04-03T21:23:00.001-07:00

I watched the CARDS win their first game! Wednesday a friend came across free tickets, and I dropped everything and had the time of my life! Went to the game and the excitement was electric. thousands of people super excited to be there, all having a great time, and all wearing Cardinal red. The stadium was enormous huge and beautiful, so much history and tradition. I went with people who slept, eat and breath Cardinals baseball, and so through the entire game was a stream of anticdotes, story, history and trivia coming at me. I loved the barkers: people selling beer, hot chocolate, cotton candy and of course: peanuts n' popcorn.

Every demographic of STL was present-even little elementary schoolers sang take me out to the ball game during a time out. It was cool, and reminded me of the "snap" of football weather

Best of all: I got to see my assistant principal on the "kiss cam"!

(Rico Washington has worked his way through the minors for 11 years until this season. I got to see his first hit in major league baseball. HOME RUN!!)

Le Employment Drama Lama comes to visit

2008-04-01T15:24:00.000-07:00

So, yeah....
I've decided that it is very unlikely that the school board members of the district that I work for read my blog. I'm pretty sure that the principal of the high school has better things to do.
With that in mind:

Gah! **HS has failed to hire me as a teacher. Which means I will be searching for a job next year. It all started when I was called to the principals office and asked for a letter of resignation on his desk at the end of the day. He very kindly explained that since I was an intern, I needed to resign from my internship position so the position could be open for next year, for me or some one else to be hired to as a teacher of record. He encouraged me to to get my application in before spring break. (This is the Thursday before) okay... not as big a deal as it seemed. Pretty shocking to be told that and it shook me a little, but it makes sense and I was hopeful I would be hired as a teacher of record at **HS next year.

Turns out that the district interviewed and hired everyone before my application was even completed. The deadline for the application that was posted was in May.

Turned out that two of the positions filled were the principals' friend and the husband of a teacher who had been working there for years. (Speculation ONLY!) Don't look at me, I heard it in the teacher's lounge!

I was really looking forward to not having to move next year. I was looking forward to knowing the ropes a little bit. I was looking forward to settling down.

Now I have to deal with the same question that I had to answer from last year. Where do I wasnt to work? Do I want to go back to Kansas? Do I want to be employed at a big school district or a small one?

I feel sad becasue I was looking forward to watching my students grow up. Some of them are lookign forward to having me as a teacher next year. I like my colleagues.

I'm not looking forward to having to acclimate myself to a new town, apratement, school, and curriculum.

But that's life, and your role with the punches.

But boy howdy, tenadcity better freakin' win a fight!

What dosn't kill you....

2008-03-26T19:30:00.000-07:00

Man, there has been a lot of job/ employment drama this week.
Enough to make me drink three shots of Rum in Succession, eat a dark chocolate bar, and then pass out on the futon for a couple hour contemplating different careers.

Maybe a professional hula-hooper
Maybe a annoyer of literary agents.
Or even a official butt wiper of babies

I've come to the special conclusion that God hates me, or at least doesn't want me to be employed as an educator. Which is sad, since I've wanted to be a teacher since high school.

I'm sure it will all blow over and that I'll be fine.

But man, life really sucks right now.

Puppy Picture

2008-03-21T08:27:00.000-07:00

The newest puppy/ member of the Hobbs family!
(Who is that beautiful girl wearing the Truman Debate and Forensics Shirt?!)

Addicted to pets.

2008-03-19T19:30:00.000-07:00

That is me. I love 'em.
Soft fuzzy fur.
Lookout, instead of a cat lady....
I'm a Chinchilla Chica!

Puppy!

2008-03-19T11:14:00.000-07:00

My parents finally caved in and got a puppy. This means I get to hold and potty train "Patches". He is adorable with green/blue eyes. He's a Brittany/German short hair/ Lab mix and so will be a medium large dog. But right now he's all warm and puppy kisses on my lab.

Reason for the absence: my academic adviser told me I was an incompetent teacher and that he was thinking about not passing me. This would mean I would not/ if ever get my masters degree. A lot of soul searching later I've come to the conclusion that you should never get your masters in science education from Truman. The adviser is a jerk wad!

This is my response to my mentor at the school:

Doc had relayed the belief that I am an incompetent teacher. If anything, I am an incompetent classroom manager. (which I have made strides through out the year to improve!) I am NOT an incompetent teacher. My students are learning and thinking critically, and I believe they will actually remember the topics that were taught.

To that effect, could we some how show Doc the test score of my students compared to that of other students? It might be possible to do that with mastery manager. If nothing else, it would help make my case the next time he visits.

I'm just a little angry that he feels he needs to consider preventing me from getting my degree (and thus a job), when their are teacher out there (esp. where I grew up) who were perfect classroom managers...but students did "Jack Taco"-- Learned nothing, did nothing of importance.

Thanks for your help and I'll be doing as you suggested:

Using the "Stop" motion/action with proximity.
Calling student out when they are disrespectful to me or to others.
Referrals with the Mr. XXXXX format.
Using more proximity with the new classroom arrangement
Keeping the classroom orderly and neat.
Making students clean up if they dirty it up/ disrespect it.
Setting up labs in pods/groups

Any thing I'm missing that we talked about last afternoon?

My thoughts:

Obviously, teaching has drained me of my ability to be articulate. I am really ready to be done with Doc. July 15th is when everything has to be ready for my masters degree. I figure I'll take a week off in early June and then get cracking. The end is in sight if that $#%^ passes me. Afterwards, I'm thinking about taking a road trip to Oregon. I've got some money saved up and the economic stimulus package will help with that. I've got two friends in Portland, I really want to Estes park and arches national park, so we'll see how it goes.

Wah!

2008-03-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

Life is crazy.
Apparently I'm official member of the Missouri Democrats. This brings on all sort of obligations, like working on a phone bank every Wednesday. I call a number, ask who they are voting for for governor, and if they identify as a strong Democrat or Republican ("Do you consider your self a kind-a democrat or a gung-ho democrat") Very sexy, I know. We work in a old law office still decorated like it's 1972.

almost 3/4 done teaching my first year. The end is in sight... even nearer is spring break!

St. Louis High School Debate Sucks. I watched NFL districts and it was pretty bad... not horrible, but not very exciting by any means.... I will may be judge PKD here this weekend.

The new chin is working out great. she's getting used to her surroundings and the smell of my other chin. Hopefully they will be able to live together eventually, but the introduction process is necessarily slow for these creatures.

Life is busy, but good. the weather is starting to shake winter off it's back and that's a good thing.

Vanilla Chinchilla

2008-03-03T18:04:00.000-08:00

Here she is.... Gisele.
(Sorry, it's just that it's her name... she is Gisele, in a non-hotty toyty kind of way.)

Hookah

2008-02-25T18:55:00.000-08:00

Yum.
My friend told me that the Hookah bar would mostly be habited by muslim men. I wore a purple Land's End turtle neck. I was surrounded by hip college students with enough eyeliner to design a bridge. Opps! Out of place.

Love it, though the even cost $50 for me and a friend.

Building things

2008-02-21T21:45:00.000-08:00

I was blessed with a father who knows how to work power tools. Throughout growing up we built things.

I've made: 2 birdcages
a CO2 Cannon
a trebuchet
a spring powered cannon
a tadpole ledge
and enough balsa wood structures to make a raft.

Now... I'm hopefully getting another chinchilla soon.... and I need a bigger cage.
One of the things I enjoy about it is sketching out the design, thinking about the logistics and shocking old men at the lumber yard when I can speak their "language"

Snow Day tomorrow... so let's get building!

Discernement

2008-02-18T08:25:00.000-08:00

What does this mean? What in the heck am I supposed to do?
Lincoln County RIII did not grant me a job interview at the job fair. I don't really know what this means, but I can assume that my chances of being hired back here again are getting slimmer and slimmer. Do I stay in Missouri? Do I go back home?
I have a few friends here, but not a whole lot, and if I have to re-settle in a new school... I'd have to move which would sever any friendships in town and any professional relationships. That keeps only a few people here as my base. I love'm but they are busy too.
If I go back home, there is family and high school friends, Safety and familiarity.
Any suggestions?

CUTIE

2008-02-17T19:43:00.000-08:00

Graduate School

2008-02-10T15:59:00.000-08:00

Six months from now I will have supposedly completed all the requirements for the MAE from Truman. Right now, I have to work on one major project with two components. The major project is my teaching Portfolio. This will run 40-90 pages of reflections about my teaching style and what I learned in my internship. It will also include "artifacts": copies of worksheets, tests, and student written journals. Most of this will be worked on once school is out. The entire due date for everything is July 15th. The smaller component of the Portfolio is a Unit Plan that I implement during the school year. This has to be keyed to the Missouri Grade Level Expectations and the National Science Standards. Everything has to be planned out ahead of time, and every detail covered. This Unit plan, including the worksheets and the tests will add 30-50pages to the portfolio.

All in all, it is no small project, but definitely doable. HOWEVER: my adviser is a stickler. The kind of Mentor who is blunt with criticism and short on praise. He's made students cry multiple times. He's picky with word choice and Language. (For example it's not "lab" it is "Laboratory"). People have gone through Reflections with 10 different revisions and still it's not up to his standards. He's one of those professors who make you a better teacher, but you end up hating him during the process.

The portfolio is where most people fail at getting there degree. It is usually put off a summer. Technically you have two years to complete it, but you get paid more if you have a masters degree than if you don't.

I'm afraid that my slacker tendencies will kick in, that I'll be lazy and won't get it done. That would be bad, very, very bad. This portfolio is just another hoop to jump through, and I'm not very engaged in it, so I could see the degree postponement happening. The good thing is that I like writting, so hopefully the reflection part of the assignment will be easier.

The thing is, I don't see my self satisfied as a science teacher for the rest of my life either... so what after the degree? There are lots of masters programs in Science that are available to teachers too. hmmm.

Friday Night fever

2008-02-09T11:36:00.000-08:00

at 2:30 it hit me. Fatigue and achy limbs. I couldn't really walk well, so I relayed directions to a couple of students, who then relayed information to the rest of the class. I love my fifth hour class, no one is failing, and when I'm sick, they are nice to me. It was really hard walking to my car when class was over: fever, dizziness and high heels don't really mix. It was even harder to convince my self to get out of my car and into the apartment. On the way home I had to stop at Sonic because I had the shakes, and not the happy vanilla kind. If I wanted to get into my apartment, I'd have to move, and if I moved it would hurt and make me want to throw up. I finally convinced myself that moving would be a good thing, and went straight to bed, where I was in and out of consciousness. I don't know high my fever was because I didn't want to move and get a thermometer.

It really sucks living by yourself when your sick. There is no one to feel sorry for you or get you a glass of water or medicine. Your sick self has to get it. This means if you are too achy to stand, medicine can wait. My Friday night was ruined. The good thing is my fever broke around 10:30pm and I'm slowly getting better.

You can't get this soap opera evry year

2008-02-05T18:38:00.000-08:00

I love politics, I love talking about politics, I love reading about politics, I love debating about politics.

McCain backstabbing Romney...ouch!
Who in the heck will Win Missouri?
Will Hillary Clinton ever pick her nose in public?
who do you want to be your vice president?

Red State, Blue State,
Race, Gender, Reglion

a McCain Huckabee ticket is almost as tantilizing as a Obama Edwards tickets.

I love living in Missouri instead of Kansas--go swing state!

Did you know?

2008-02-01T13:46:00.000-08:00

I am a bitch.
I am a Lesbian.

Children say the darnedest things sometimes.

I guess they thought they were insulting me with the lesbian thing. Poor little children, they can't even think creatively when it comes to insults.

(It's been a really horrible week.)

Intellectual stimulation

2008-01-27T17:21:00.000-08:00

I was at a debate and Forensics Tournament this weekend. And with that comes the prerequisite stages of complete and utter exhaustion. I judged a lot. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were filled with rounds, most good a few bad. I got treated to a extemp round of Presidential Politics. I got to judge finals of persuade. I got to see many, many, many rounds of Lincoln Douglas and parliamentary debate. Most of them were good, although the final round was just above my comfort level, so it was hard to make a decision. That round really frustrated me and I'll need to talk about that later. It was so enjoyable to be challenged and to think, instead of the usual course of explain multiplication to freshman who are clueless.

Judging is hard work. It is super hard to believe I fielded 5 IEs and Parli. Damn, I had balls. I certainly don't have the same stamina I had then.

Also, I got to meet the new Kids on the team. Good kids, and I had some fun. I got the privilege of watching one kids defining moment. The team of Meti and Jen had never traveled before, they are a new freshman walk on team. Earlier, I had helped prep them out. Turns out they debate their way into finals (Novice). They end up winning finals. Meti come back from receiving his award and is welcomed to the team with handshakes, high fives and pats on th back. For a good ten minutes after, during the awards ceremony, he just stares at his trophy. Looks at, and ouches the edging. I could just see the gears in his head whirring. He's hooked. He'll want more-that taste of victory and the boost of self esteem is addictive.

The sense of Fun and causal confidence that I sensed was new and probably contributed to the newbies success. Hopefully that will continue to snowball.

So the next time he goes to a tournament, he'll read a little more, prep a little more, and the success he gets will spur the next increase in research and motivation. Hopefully that will continue to build until he's top notch. I wish him luck.

This weekend I did absolutely no academic work. I think I'm going to go to bed now and just get up at 4:00am.

Excitement

2008-01-24T16:44:00.000-08:00

Yea! We are five eighths done with the school year!
This Friday, Saturday and Sunday I am judging a debate and Forensics Tournament at Webster University. Yea! I'm really looking forward to it, several alumni from Truman are judging at the tournament and I'll get to see old friends whom I havn't seen in two or more years. I'm also looking forward to watching the events. There are fewer things more pleasurable for me than watching a good Crit round or debate. I'm excited because I'm going to be one of the experts, one of the experienced judges. "Oh, we have Hobbs, feew, she knows what she is doing!"
Also, I'm getting paid which is exciting, $10 per round. If things go how I expect them to, I should earn around $100 this weekend. That will be mediated of course by the hour drive and the gas, but I'll pretty much be paid to see friends and do what I enjoy. If only if there was such a thing as a professional debate judge..... The money will be welcomed, it's not like I can work overtime at school.

Also, one of my friends who is also a MAE intern has started on the cedar chest that I commissioned (sounds fancy, right?) for my sister's wedding. You can see the design here. http://www.mywerkshop.com/home.php?pid=20080124094111727

Gotta go grade papers.