Aches and Pains Update...

I've had many good wishes sent my way since my fall yesterday, which I greatly appreciate.

Today I went to school, grateful that it is Friday and that we have a 4-day weekend ahead. If today wasn't Friday, I probably would've called in sick.

It is amazing how the adult body handles falls differently than a young body. Today it wasn't my knees that hurt, but both of my thighs were sore when I walked, my right shoulder has been a little painful, and I've had a headache since this morning. I guess my whole body felt the impact of the fall, not just my knees.

The hardest part is getting up from a sitting position, and trying to squat to pick something up off the floor? Forget it.

It was hard to be productive with my students because I just didn't have the energy, but experience has taught me that they behave better when they are busy, I tried to give them activities that didn't require a lot of me. Before that, we had decided that this morning we would reconfigure the desk arrangement in the room and we were expecting a Williams visit at 10am. A Williams visit is a visit from the state to make sure the kids have the text books they are supposed to have. We were still in chaos, but almost cleaned up at 9:45am and I thought, "OK, we're good, we've got 15 minutes and my room is all the way on the far end of campus." At 9:50 we had a knock on the door. I was very embarrassed. I usually try to be very impressive with visits, but today they really caught me with my guard down and the room was still not in order. Oh well. It keeps me humble.

Trip, Slip, and Fall...

What a klutz I was this morning...

I was walking quickly from my car to my classroom and my shoe caught on some uneven pavement outside of my classroom. Down I went--hard--right on both knees. My lunch box went flying, as well as things in it...some of the parents and kids who saw me were like, "Teacher, are you OK?"

The pain didn't happen right away. I went quickly into my room and then to the office. Our health clerk, Fernando, rolled up my pant legs--what a mess. The left knee was badly scraped and very purple. The right knee was nice and bloody. I ripped a hole in my right pant leg at the knee. Owwowow...

I have never, in all my career, left school early, but I did today. A sub was found to take my class and I hobbled to my car. When I first got to my classroom--half and hour after the bell rang--I began to think that I could hang in there for the day, but now my brain has caught up with my body and I feel like the wind got knocked out of me. My head hurts and I am suddenly very tired. I don't know, does trauma do that? I just know that I'm going to have to really take it easy today. Walking hurts, standing hurts, sitting hurts.

How do I make those cool headers?

Some of my blogging buddies have asked me how I make my headers. I'm happy to pass on the info:

1. I go to scrapblog.com (you need to open an account, but it is all free unless you order something.)

2. Choose an existing template to tweak or start with a blank one (I start with a blank one, but greenies might want to start with an existing one while you get comfortable with the tools)

3. Create your header (including picking out stickers, which you first choose, then drag, then resize/upload pictures, which is very, very easy)

4. Click on "publish"

5. Click on it to see it full-sized

6. Now, the only way to really get it is to do the "print screen," which I do when it is full sized with the black background. For newbies, hit "control" and "prtsc" at the same time, then go to your "paint" feature and go to "edit" and "paste." It will appear.

7. Doing the Print Screen really captures every part of the screen, and you only want the header, so I select and Copy the part I want to keep, then open a new file and Paste, then Save.

8. To insure that Blogger doesn't make the header fall off the sides of the space provided, I also resize it in the Microsoft Picture Viewer. Then save again and upload. All done!

P.S. I've gotten smarter about this. First I find the background I want to use, then I make a header to match it...I use Cutest Blog on the Block and Aqua Poppy backgrounds. Have fun! Happy designing...

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road? Anyone?

I received this in an email. Very funny!

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

SARAH PALIN: Before it got to the other side, I shot the chicken, cleaned and dressed it, and had chicken burgers for lunch.

BARACK OBAMA: The chicken crossed the road because it was time for a change! The chicken wanted change!

JOHN MC CAIN: My friends that chicken crossed the road because he recognized the need to engage in cooperation and dialogue with all the chickens on the other side of the road.

HILLARY CLINTON: When I was First Lady, I personally helped that little chicken to cross the road. This experience makes me uniquely qualified to ensure right from Day One that every chicken in this country gets the chance it deserves to cross the road. But then, this really isn’t about me.

GEORGE W. BUSH: We don’t really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road, or not. The chicken is either against us, or for us. There is no middle ground here.

DICK CHENEY: Where’s my gun?

COLIN POWELL: Now to the left of the screen, you can clearly see the satellite image of the chicken crossing the road.

BILL CLINTON: I did not cross the road with that chicken. What is your definition of chicken?

AL GORE: I invented the chicken.

JOHN KERRY: Although I voted to let the chicken cross the road, I am now against it! It was the wrong road to cross, and I was misled about the chicken’s intentions. I am not for it now and will remain against it.

AL SHARPTON: Why are all the chickens white? We need some black chickens.

DR. PHIL: The problem we have here is that this chicken doesn’t realize that he must first deal with the problem on this side of the road before it goes after the problem on the other side of the road. What we need to do is help him realize how stupid he’s acting by not taking on his current problems before adding new problems.

OPRAH: Well, I understand that the chicken is having problems, which is why he wants to cross this road so bad. So instead of having the chicken learn from his mistakes and take falls, which is a part of life, I’m going to give this chicken a car so that he can just drive across the road and not live his life like the rest of the chickens.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN: We have reason to believe there is a chicken, but we have not yet been allowed access to the other side of the road.

NANCY GRACE: That chicken crossed the road because he’s guilty! You can see it in his eyes and the way he walks.

PAT BUCHANAN: To steal the job of a decent, hardworking American.

MARTHA STEWART: No one called me to warn me which way that chicken was going. I had a standing order at the Farmer’s Market to sell my eggs when the price dropped to a certain level. No little bird gave me any insider information.

DR SEUSS: Did the chicken cross the road? Did he cross it with a toad? Yes, the chicken crossed the road, but why it crossed I’ve not been told.

ERNEST HEMINGWAY: To die in the rain, alone.

GRANDPA: In my day we didn’t ask why the chicken crossed the road. Somebody told us the chicken crossed the road, and that was good enough.

BARBARA WALTERS: Isn’t that interesting? In a few moments, we will be listening to the chicken tell, for the first time, the heart-warming story of how it experienced a serious case of molting, and went on to accomplish its lifelong dream of crossing the road.

ARISTOTLE: It is the nature of chickens to cross the road.

JOHN LENNON: Imagine all the chickens in the world crossing roads together, in peace.

BILL GATES: I have just released eChicken 2008, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook. Internet Explorer is an integral part of eChicken 2008. This new platform is much more stable and will never crash or need to be rebooted.

ALBERT EINSTEIN: Did the chicken really cross the road, or did the road move beneath the chicken?

COLONEL SANDERS: Did I miss one?

John, Cindy, and Sarah...I mean Tina, on SNL

I'm feelin' musical...

The weekend mornings are usually the time when I feel like doing some singing (probably in celebration OF the weekend.) This morning I felt especially ambitious...click the songs to hear them...or not! :-)

A little bit of Christmas...
IT CAME UPON A MIDNIGHT CLEAR

A little bit o' Beatles...
WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

A little bit of Kermit...
RAINBOW CONNECTION

A little bit of Elvis...
NOW OR NEVER

Because they're pretty...
WIND BENEATH MY WINGS
THE ROSE

And, in the "What The Heck Was I Thinking?" department...
LE JAZZ HOT

This is Halloween....

Well, it has been an unusually slow night for trick-or-treaters, so I'm going to blog and hand out candy when the doorbell rings.

I've got my $5 Target glittery jack-o-lantern t-shirt on today that I get to wear once a year and a ton of candy. I'm hoping that things will pick up soon. I've got sound effects playing through the window, glowing pumpkins, spider webs, the whole works! The thing is, we have a lot of elderly people on this street who just turn off all their lights and don't give out candy. Sad, huh?

Today at school it was not too Halloweenie...

The kids are allowed to wear costumes, but they aren't allowed to wear gory make-up and they have to wear their costumes over their uniforms. Naturally, the motivation to wear costumes is minimal! That's OK. The gross and scary costumes are really popular in the neighborhood where I teach.

After school, the classroom behind mine was hosting a haunted house and a HUGE line of kids formed when the bell rang. I stood out by my classroom's back door eating a lollipop and chatting with kids and parents.

Because I was in the middle of all that noise, I didn't hear my cell phone ring. It turns out my cleaning lady, who comes every other Friday, had tried to set my security system and then tripped it. The security company called me, my cell, my mom, then my mom called my cell twice. Long story short, the security company called the police, who had 2 cruisers come to my house.

My mom handled it and was able to get a hold of the security company, as did I, after going through a ridiculously long phone menu.

So back to tonight, which is too quiet! At least all the kids are really polite. We don't really have mischief makers during Halloween around where I live. I'm grateful for that.

And, tell me if I'm being petty...

The neighbors next door keep using my driveway (our driveways are side by side) even though I've asked them not to. They're nice enough people, but kind of clueless. Today there was a big ol' black mark across my driveway from the tires turning. I'm annoyed. It's a rental next door, which is a drag. I know that in the grand scheme it is not that big a deal, especially considering my previous post, but still...

Amy

It hardly seems possible, but we learned today that my 38 year old stepsister, Amy, passed away. She was rushed to the hospital on Saturday, needed to be put on a respirator, and by Monday had no brain activity. We are stunned. The picture above was taken in June at my grandma's 90th birthday party.

Amy's mother, Judie, was married to my dad for 25 years until he passed away in 2006. She studied at UCLA. Amy is survived by her husband, Juan, and her 6-month old son, Jackson. Please keep her mother, husband, and little boy in your prayers.

Animator vs. Animation

Today my cousin, Dov, sent this very cool link. Who would've thought that an innocent-looking little stick-figure guy could be so ambitious?

Click the picture below, then click the word "Play" and just watch...

A Day of Intense Teaching and a Night of Intense Tiredness...

I'm actually so tired right now that I'm practically walking into walls, but I'm happy with the day. I felt like I taught, taught, taught, with no down time at all. We're teaming for ELD (English Language Development,) which means that for the first 40 minutes of the day I only have about 1/2 my class. Another group of kids come from the room next door. Their language level is what determines their group.

It is taking a lot more day-to-day preparation than I am used to. Usually, most of my energy goes into teaching, not planning, because so many things are pre-planned within the programs.

For the rest of the day I was still very "on." We talked about story structure, summaries, verbs, content vocabulary, common factors, and greatest common factors.

On top of that, I forgot my lunch box, which was fully packed with a hearty lunch, but left behind on the kitchen floor next to the fridge. I was not in the mood to deal with mysterious cafeteria food. I called my mom and she was nice enough to drive the 10 miles and bring it to me. It also gave her a chance to see our Smartboard in action. Like anyone seeing it for the first time, she was astounded.

Our productive day ended with me pretty tired , but one of my good friends had asked if I was free in the afternoon to give her a little tutorial on the Smartboard. We worked with it for an hour. My next door neighbor joined us for a while.

I arrived home just thankful to be home. It was hot today and we all worked very hard. Still, it is a good kind of tired. When I compare my tiredness to last year's--which was marred by the numerous behavior problems--this year's tiredness is one that is OK.

A funny joke to share...

A nun gets into a taxi, and notices that the Cab driver, (a very
handsome man) is staring at her. She asks him why he is staring.
He replies: "I have a question to
ask, but I don't want to offend you."

She answers, " My son, you cannot offend me. When you're as old
as I am and have been a nun as long as I have, you get a chance
to see and hear just about everything. I'm sure that there's
nothing you could say
or ask that I would find offensive."

"Well, I've always had a fantasy to have a nun kiss me."

She responds, "Well, let's see what we can do
about that: #1, you
have to be single and #2, you must be Catholic."

The cab driver is very excited and says, "Yes, I'm single and
Catholic!"

"OK" the nun says. "Pull into the next alley."

The nun fulfills his fantasy with a kiss that would
make a hooker blush.

But when they get back on the road, the cab driver
starts crying.

"My dear child," said the nun, "Why are you crying?"

"Forgive me but I have sinned. I lied and I must confess;
I'm married and I'm Jewish."

The nun says, "That's OK. My name is Kevin and I'm going to a
Halloween party."

Alexander and His Great-Grandma...

Yesterday my mom and brother took my nephew, Alexander, to see my grandma (I was at work and couldn't go.) She hasn't seen him in about 4 months, which is a long time when you're watching a baby grow up. He was a little nervous to be held at first, but only for the first few minutes. These are treasured moments that we need to take advantage of...


And yes, it IS 4am right now. Bailey (dog) woke me up to go outside. But I'm going right back to sleep...Zzzzzzz

Woo hoo! 1000 Visits!

My blog's counter just rolled over 1000 visits. Cool...

Keeping them coming and I'll keep writing! Thank you for visiting and a big thank you to my loyal readers!

Ron, Opie, and Richie all endorse Obama...

Here is a light segue back into political mode. Thanks, Midge, for posting this on Facebook!

It was a little bit big for the Blogger layout, but you can click on the link:

Ron Howard's Call to Action

43 Odd Things...

I promised myself that I would never use my blog to post a survey, but I want to show that I'm not just a heavy-handed Democrat--as my latest writings may reflect. So, here goes. My cousin, Laura, emailed this today:

1. Do you like blue cheese? Yes

2. Have you ever drank? Water? Milk? Soda? Juice? Tea? YES. Alcohol? NO

3. Do you own a gun? No

4. What flavor Kool Aid was your favorite as a kid? Whatever was at a friend's house. My mom did not buy Kool-Aid

5. Do you get nervous before a doctor appointment? Not really.

6. What do you think of hot dogs? If it is the turkey hot dogs, that's fine, but not often.

7. Favorite Christmas movie? Home Alone

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Sometimes tea or...Pepsi. Yes, I like soda in the morning!

9. Can you do push ups? If my life depended on it.

10. What's your favorite piece of jewelry? I have several--all the sentimental stuff

11. Favorite hobby? Hmm...taking care of my house/garden/pets, being musical, and blogging...

12. Do you have A.D.D.? I don’t think so...oh look! A kitty!

13. What's your weight? You first

14. Middle name? Michelle

15. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: School, tired, want to watch Brothers and Sisters from last night

16. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink? Milk, water, Pepsi

17. Current worry? Obama--he'd better win. I also feel really bad about what Jennifer Hudson and her family are going through right now...

18. Current hate right now? Prop 8

19. Favorite place to be? With my family and friends--favorite place is Carmel, CA

20. How did you bring in the New Year? Quietly. I'm not much for parties.

21. Where do you want to be right now? With Brad

22. Name three people who will complete this? Well, since I'm not resending it, I have no idea. Maybe Emma on her blog.

23. Do you own slippers? Somewhere. I don't wear them.

24. What color shirt are you wearing right now? Kind of a light peachy-colored blouse...

25. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? If I ever sleep on them, I'll let you know

26. Can you whistle? Very well

27. Favorite color? White

28. Would you be a pirate? Only for the cool outfits and lots of "Arr's" (I saw something funny that said "To err is human, to ARR is pirate." heehee)

29. What songs do you sing in the shower?? I don't sing in the shower. But I sing everywhere else.

30. Favorite Girl's Name? Lily

31. Favorite boy's name? Daniel and Christopher (except my 3 most recent Christophers in my classes have been handfuls)

32. What's in your pocket right now? More pocket

33. Last thing that made you laugh? My students

34. Best bed sheets as a child? Laura Ashley

35. Worst injury you've ever had as a child? A football-sized bruise on my thigh when my brother pushed me against the toy box.

36. Do you love where you live? Yes. I adore my house and love my street.

37. How many TVs do you have in your house? 2

38. Who is your loudest friend? (said with love) Cathy

39. How many dogs do you have? 1, Bailey

40. Does someone have a crush on you? I have a feeling--yes

41. What is your favorite book? I have many, not just one

42. What is your favorite candy? Milky Way Dark

43. Favorite Sports Team? I always root for the US at the Olympics, but other than that, no real loyalty to a certain team

OK! That was fun and pointless!

You know you're in trouble if...

...the largest newspaper-- in the state where you are governor-- endorses the OTHER candidate. Sorry Sarah Palin! Maybe some shopping with GOP donations will take the edge off.

ARTICLE: Alaska's Largest Newspaper Endorses Obama

Myths About Prop 8. The last time I'm writing about this.

OK, now that I have everyone’s attention with my pretty new header, here are some things MYTHS about Prop 8.

The “yes” ads say that schools will have to teach that gay marriage is “okay.” Schools do NOT teach about marriage. I’ve been teaching school for 12 years (Kinder, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th grades.) Never once have I ever been required to teach about marriage in the classroom. In addition, “okay” is an opinion. If the district told us we had to teach that gay marriage was legal, there is a difference between the words “legal” and “okay.” A wise teacher knows the difference, would define the word “legal” and move on. The California Teachers Association (which includes almost all CA teachers) is against Prop 8 and very unhappy about the way the “yes” ads are scaring people into thinking that their children would be taught about gay marriage in school. That is an absolute lie. If the kids bring up any controversial subject that we are not required to teach, we are fully within our rights as teachers to say, “This is something you need to talk to your parents about.”

The overturning. “Yes on 8” ads are telling people that this is all about getting rights back that were taken away from us when 4 judges overturned previous CA votes. Another lie. Back in 2002 CA had something on the ballot called Prop 22. Prop 22 was kind of the same idea as Prop 8, and equally unconstitutional. Let’s define what “unconstitutional” means. It means that people are being treated differently under the law. The “4 rogue judges” overturned Prop 22 because it was unconstitutional and should never have been put on the ballot.

The last myth is that churches will be forced to marry gay couples. Here is what the 1st Amendment of the constitution says:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

This is called the Establishment Clause, which, if you read it carefully, actually PROTECTS religions so that the government cannot tamper with their doctrine. The actual “separation of church and state” clause can trace its history to this:

[Thomas] Jefferson wrote a letter to the Danbury Baptist Association in 1802 to answer a letter from them written in October 1801. A copy of the Danbury letter is available here. The Danbury Baptists were a religious minority in Connecticut, and they complained that in their state, the religious liberties they enjoyed were not seen as immutable rights, but as privileges granted by the legislature - as "favors granted." Jefferson's reply did not address their concerns about problems with state establishment of religion - only of establishment on the national level. The letter contains the phrase "wall of separation between church and state," which led to the short-hand for the “Establishment Clause” that we use today: "Separation of church and state." (www.usconstitution.net)

And lastly, remember this: voting a Yes on 8 will set a precedent, as most votes do. Today it is the gay community’s rights that are taken away. Sure, they’re an easy target. But who will be next? Maybe you.

NO on 8.

A new look...

I fully intended to have a Halloween look to my blog, and I did--for about 2 hours. But then I decided to make a new header over at Scrapblog.com in honor of the upcoming election.

And, while Halloween is a lot of fun, there is so much riding on this election that I wanted to focus on it instead.

I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out! Scrapblog is so fun. And easy!

Dimes in the Hamper

This is the bottom of my hamper.

It all started one day weeks ago when I was doing laundry and discovered 1 dime at the bottom of the hamper. Apparently it had fallen out of a pocket. Probably change from the Coke machine at school.

In a moment of complete apathy, I left it there.

Several days later, another dime appeared at the bottom. Amused, and still not remembering ever getting a dime in change from the Coke machine, or anywhere else, I left it there too.

A couple of weeks later, yes, you guessed it, another dime lay at the bottom of the hamper.

A philosophical person might say that this is some sort of metaphor--that treasure appears where you least expect it.

A crazy person might think that some sort of wacky Dime Fairy has been secretly visiting my house and leaving dimes behind to test my sanity and rate my reaction.

A miserly person might look at the situation in a bemused but optimistic way, hoping that the dimes will continue to multiply, perhaps even evolving into coins with more value, like quarters, or dare we say, silver dollars. There could be a possible fortune at the heart of this mystery.

As for me, I have some philosophical days, I consider myself to be quite sane, and few people would characterize me as miserly.

I am, however, intrigued with the dimes at the bottom of the hamper. If nothing else, they motivate me to do laundry *slightly* more often.

SNL keeps having fun with the election...

Some past cast members--Tina Fey, Will Farrell, and Darrell Hammond bring Palin, McCain, and "W" to life...funny!