Quite a day!

Well, I have to start with Charlie, because that leads to Ginny. Charlie is a long-haired grey cat that appeared at Halloween weekend. I hadn’t seen him before that, but he was suddenly homeless. I don’t know if his people moved and he escaped, or they threw him out and moved or what. But he liked to come by to eat, snuggle, and hang out. He did this every day, but now I haven’t seen him since Monday night. I don’t know if someone took him in or what.

Anyway, in the morning on the weekends I let the cats out. I let them out around 9 or 10. I used to do it quite early, but they got in the habit of running along the roof, which is tin (but not a HOT tin roof, at least not this time of year!) so it’s noisy. Not a good idea to wake up the manager early in the morning if you can help it! So I keep them in until a reasonable time. Within an hour and a half, they’re done and back in by choice. Well, except for the part about that’s when I shut the door and keep them in. Today I let them out, and then Ginny never bothered to come back — until 9:20 tonight!!! I have a neighbor in the first apartment in my part of the building who is sort of clueless. One day he took Harry in thinking Harry — who outweighs the furniture — was hungry and homeless. No, but he’ll eat if you put food in front of him! So I think that neighbor took Ginny in. I kept calling and she never appeared. My mind went through all sorts of things. Was she taken for bad reasons? Was she hurt? Did someone (like the neighbor) just decide to take her? So now she’s grounded!

Right before I went to my father’s I got an e-mail from his youngest sister! She gave me a link to a county web site in New Jersey, and I was able to access my grandmother’s citizenship application!! So I printed out a copy for my father, but also saved it as a .pdf. It has her renouncing loyalty to the king of Italy at the time, and promising that she’s not into polygamy, among other things! But it was a fascinating document. Later I will go back and look for my grandfather’s papers as well!

While I was at my father’s, the news came in that Dottie’s niece died. It wasn’t unexpected, but still painful for her.

Then tonight a friend from work and I went to a local restaurant to listen to her husband’s jazz band play. That was fun. I ordered a cappuccino, but I didn’t really care for it. We also split a chocolate dessert thing. It was so rich that even with both of us eating it, there was about a third left!

So that is my day!

rain!

It’s been a dismal, dreary, grey day in paradise today, and boy does the lack of sunlight affect me! It didn’t help that we were on a rainy day schedule, which changed our lunch time to a time that … they decided didn’t count. They weren’t ready for us yet. Rather than traipse all the way back to the room in the rain, we stayed under the ramada and played Telephone and chatted. We do at least one quicky topic every morning while we’re waiting for the morning announcements, so I did a few while we stood there, like “Tell 3 things you remember about third grade” (and two about second, etc.). Since it was a rainy day schedule, most of the teachers got to leave when the kids did. But — it’s Thursday. That means tutoring! So instead of leaving at 2:06, I couldn’t leave until 3:45…

But I couldn’t leave then either! I had to go to the office to answer a couple of attendance questions. When students come late, they have to go to the office first, but two weren’t actually signed in by the office apparently, or at least they didn’t go into the computer to check them in. Then I went to talk to one of the assistant principals (the one who likes me) about a student. THEN I had to stop at the store to pick up a couple things, so I got home around 5:15. No time to relax, though. Tomorrow morning the manager is bringing the owner around to look at countertops. I strongly believe the previous owners probably couldn’t find the apartments on a map. I don’t even know who they were! But now we have Grijalva, and they’re here every few months for something. The last event was the new wrought iron screens for everyone and new doors for some, including me. Why couldn’t they come Christmas Eve, when everything was clean because I had company? Or come next Christmas Eve? But noooooooo! So I’m cleaning. It’s not awful (except a bedroom), but the kitchen is a white linoleum floor that opens to the muddy outside. What peabrain thought that one up????

I’d better go finish sweeping and mopping then! Sigh…

Dawn of a new day!!!

Yes, yesterday was awesome! I had my students make little books that we put in fancy report covers. This was the cover http://tinyurl.com/apgw9s, printed onto blue paper with balloons around the sides. They did one “All About Me” page to record about themselves and their families, like that they’re in fourth grade and ten. The “All About The Election” page could include who ran, who their family wanted to win, if they stayed up and watched the election, etc. The “All About The Inauguration” page was filled in after lunch, since it hadn’t happened when we started in the morning, and the “Photos” page was for newspaper photos as well as my last photo of them. At 9:20 our time (MST) the 4th and 5th grades went to the cafeteria to watch on the television and the huge screen it was projected onto. These are public school kids, so they were prone to cheering during the opening prayer. In fact, they were basically prone to random acts of cheering throughout, whether or not they knew who they were looking at on the screen or what the person was saying.

Honestly, I didn’t think Bush would let go of power. Before some of you think that’s bizarre, keep in mind the other parts of the Constitution that he trashed: the rights to assembly and free speech (you could be arrested for having a protest sign where he could see it, like if he was driving by in a motorcade), the right to an attorney and speedy trial (or trial at all) if someone decided you were a terrorist (since when did our Constitution say that we can pick and choose who has rights and who doesn’t?), etc. I don’t want to go into all of it, but a large number of laws that were in effect for over 225 years were torn up during one administration. It’s nice to know that they can again be restored.

I actually listened to President Obama’s speech and loved it. That was pretty amazing, since I was so used to tuning them out for so long (decades?). But honestly, I never thought I’d still be alive the day we had our first African American president, and I didn’t know if when the time came he would be someone to vote for based on color, or because like most candidates he was the lesser of two evils, or what. Instead I found a candidate who I actually wanted to be my nation’s leader … and who also happened to be African American. I’m a happy camper!

busy weekend!

So on Saturday, we went to Tohono Chul Park. They have two gift shops plus a garden shop. I got three plants there for a total of $16 for my patio. In theory, the photo is attached (right now it’s downloading). So part of the weekend was spent unpacking some of the tubs on the patio. A lot of it was papers and junk for school, so I managed to get a load in the trunk. Tomorrow I’ll bring another load! Anyway, all three of these are supposed to bloom in the spring, so here’s the “before” picture:

On top of that, I spent the weekend trying to write a program for my class. We were supposed to access this thing and write a program for it that figured out the tax rate for three stores with different tax rates, for a purchase of $125. It was posted as a service request for an imaginary company (their imaginary companies were a lot of work to put together!). But the service request also requested changes, so that instead of $125 any number could be put in and figured out. So I’m going nuts with my C for Dummies book, trying to make a switch/break loop and get variables to cooperate — keeping in mind that last week’s “think of beauty” is the first and only program I’ve done — and also keeping in mind that they aren’t exactly teaching us how to do this!!! Then I saw someone’s in my group and it was way different from mine, which didn’t surprise me. But it wasn’t complicated at all! Turns out for this assignment, we just had to do the $125! So my program is written with the illusion that you’re inputting the 125, but you’re not really. So here’s what it looks like. It includes extra/unnecessary stuff, but if we do end up having to make the change, then I either have a starting place or I’ll know where I went wrong.

/*Tax Calculator for Kudler Fine Foods*/

#include
#include

int main()

/*Page 244 explains switch & break. I’m using that because it seems the best way to use the necessary variables.*/
{
int price=125;
int store[1];
float total;
float tax;
char c;
int done;

printf(“If your store in DelMar, type 1.\n”);
printf(“If your store in Encinitas, type 2.\n”);
printf(“If your store in LaJolla, type 3.\n”);
gets(store);
printf(“What is the total purchase amount?\n”);
gets(price);
/*I took out all of the looping stuff, and decided to print all 3 taxes because I couldn’t get it to work*/
tax = 125*.0725;
printf(“DelMar’s tax due is $%.2f.\n”,tax);
tax = 125*.075;
printf(“Encinitas’s tax due is $%.2f.\n”,tax);
tax = 125*.0775;
printf(“LaJolla’s tax due is $%.2f.\n”,tax);

getch();
return(0);

}

The Park

Sorry to change the theme back! This is the only one that lets me have wide photos!

I generally spend Saturdays (or some portion thereof) with Dad and Dottie.  I didn’t want to stay inside today, though, since it was expected to be gorgeous.  So we went to breakfast at The Good Egg and then went to Tohono Chul Park.  While we were there, I remembered that we were also there a year ago this weekend, because John and Lisa came out from Wisconsin and Donna came down from Phoenix.  I’ve been there plenty of times, but this time we saw a bunch of stuff we missed on earlier visits apparently!  The rock wall part with various rocks is to sort of show the layers of materials in the earth.  The bird houses with the cool insides were in the children’s section.  I totally cracked up when Dottie was looking with interest at a plant — that turned out to be named a Curiosity Plant!  I also found out that the mutant cactus in last year’s pictures was actually not mutant at all but rather a rare cactus in the barrel cactus family that they’re hoping will reproduce! What looks like a really weird stick on the ground with holes is actually a sahuaro cactus spine.

Afterwards we stopped at the Foothills Mall for a little while, and I actually managed to be in the presence of a Brandeis Book Sale without buying any books! Something to do with the hundreds in my livingroom, I suppose…

Without further ado: a ton of photos from today. Enjoy!!

A thing of beauty

#include

int main()
{
printf(“The Desert Duck is awesome\n”);
return(0);
}

That Thing

Yesterday I went over to Dad and Dottie’s. Knowing when to go home is tricky, because if I go at the wrong time, the setting sun is shining directly into my eyes. If I leave later than that, I have to navigate the winding road with drop-offs in the dark — no street lamps, and I can’t use my high beams because cars come toward me just often enough that I can’t use them, but not often enough to improve visibility. We talked about the sun part yesterday. So when I leave, I’m driving and suddenly a blaze of yellow is shining in my eyes and my first thought is “Dang! There’s that thing!” Um, that thing??? It’s called the sun!!

In my U of Phoenix class, we’re writing a very simple program this weekend. The class is frustrating because there is a bunch of reading, but the questions don’t quite go with the readings. For example, each week you generally would have two articles (usually brief) and a chapter. Most of the time the two discussion questions came from the articles, but sometimes from the chapter. That’s how the first two classes were, anyway. The last class used those as a starting point, but then you had to go on the internet to answer the rest of the question. At least she came right out and said that, though!

Now, instead of two discussion questions, you have three discussion questions for yourself plus the team has to answer one. For the first one this week, out of all the readings there was one line that addressed the question. And by “all the readings” I mean two articles, two chapters, and two written lectures. This class is definitely a whole lot more reading! I got a C for Dummies book to help with the program, and it’s helped with the homework as well! Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Whew!

Yes, an exhausting week is over. I think the first week back after vacation can be brutal sometimes! One little event was that when we got to the classroom one morning, a student told me that other students had a BB gun on campus! So I sent him to the office with another student (mostly because he’s … a few fries short of a happy meal and I wanted to make sure he actually made it all the way to the office and remembered why) and I called the office to let them know he was coming and why. The only thing I know is that the kid with the BB gun was … the student council president. He’s a fifth grader, and a large chunk of that fifth grade bunch has just … not been pretty this year. They have one experienced returning teacher, one who had been a student teacher last year, and the rest are new. The kids wander around when they’re supposed to be in class, and vandalize the restroom or disturb its occupants when they can. We have a program this year where a college student with a grant brings various fruits for snacks. We’ve tried all sorts of unfamiliar and exotic things. This week she brought a fruit called a sapote. It looks sort of like an apple with the skin of a pear. The skin is crunchy and thick. The inside fruit was mushy. I did manage to eat most of mine, but it was definitely unusual. Many of the fifth graders, on the other hand, threw theirs against the portables or on the blacktop “sidewalks” in the portable area to watch them smash. Delighful little urchins.

On the teacher web site, someone posted a spam message. I looked anyway at the site they were directing us to, and I actually found it interesting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBeWEgvGm2Y http://homepage.mac.com/chrisbiffle/Menu38.html So I tried it when I went back to school after break, and I really like how it’s working. The usual attention-getting method is that you raise your hand in a peace sign and eventually, if you wait long enough, everyone will do the same and stop talking. I’m not really into “eventually if you wait long enough.” This is working out better, and it’s fun for the kids. They also have their team points at the end of the week converted to Coyote Coupons, which they like (which I was doing in SFA but I’m now doing for all my classes). One of the things the program is into is physical gestures. We’re doing things in math like parallel and perpendicular, various angles and triangles, lines/rays, etc. We did the teach/OK thing with them explaining these things to their team using gestures, and it made quite a difference! It’s also within the realm of a SIOP strategy, which is bonus points for me. SIOP strategies are things you use to help make learning comprehensible to English Language Learners – like physical actions, using real objects instead of just words and pictures, etc. On weeks that are full school weeks, I do tutoring on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:15-3:45, so that made this week more tiring!! This month, then, I have three weeks of tutoring (not the week of MLK Day). Anyway, I’m a pooped cookie!

Clothes

There is totally the wierdest phenomenon here.  I’ve never driven two days in a row without seeing clothing in the middle of the street.  Really.  It’s just so bizarre.  You get in the car fully dressed, get out with no shirt on, and you don’t notice?  Does someone reach in half-way down First Avenue and take the shirt off your back?  Are people having such serious hot flashes that they not only strip but toss the clothes as well?  Geez, Louise, people!

Today was the first day back at school, except of course for the four who didn’t show up. School is optional, after all. Because it was rainy, of course we had a rainy day schedule (indoor recess). And at the same time they announce no SFA today. That means the first day of SFA lesson plan is now for tomorrow — and I have my homeroom class for an extra hour and a half!! Unplanned!! What fun! We were behind in math, though, because I took extra time in the foolish hope that more students would pass the division test. So today we were more or less caught up — we got caught up except for the minor detail of not taking a test yet that we need to take. Oh, well.

Because it was rainy, I didn’t wear my favorite shoes but a different pair, so my feet were killing me by lunch time (Which was only ten minutes because of the dropping them off and picking them up time), and of course I was exhausted by the time I got home. But I have to finish report cards tonight, since they go home tomorrow! So no early bed time for me!!

Happy birthday, Lisa!!

Yucky

Yes, it’s a yucky, rainy day here. So of course I cheer myself up in the usual way:

Here:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
58° F | 41° F	54° F | 36° F	59° F | 34° F	67° F | 43° F	70° F | 45° F
T-storms 40% chance of precipitation	Chance of Rain 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Clear	Clear

Jefferson:

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
31° F | 4° F	22° F | 13° F	29° F | 18° F	25° F | 11° F	16° F | 9° F
Partly Cloudy	Clear	Chance of Snow 30% chance of precipitation	Chance of Snow 30% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy

Liverpool (NY):

Sunday	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday
29° F | 25° F	36° F | 18° F	34° F | 27° F	34° F | 25° F	27° F | 13° F
Partly Cloudy	Chance of Snow 40% chance of precipitation	Partly Cloudy	Ice Pellets 70% chance of precipitation	Snow Showers 60% chance of precipitation

I feel better already! Don’t you??

Today of course was brunch at the Blue Willow. There is a regular soap opera there, with a cast of characters. Our favorite waiter from before moved up to Seattle — in October? Somewhere around there. Maybe earlier. But he was back today for a visit, so he was working! That was nice. He’s sweet and fun. There are other men who work there, but they don’t generally have much customer contact, except for one who was hired when Sean left. I don’t know his name, but he’s famous for being a pretty face … and sort of lacking in the IQ department. Of course, it’s also possible (as voted on nearly unanimously by those who’ve dealt with him there) that he’s under the influence of illegal substances, which is slowing down his brain. I don’t know any of the women’s names, but I see them so much and they know with which group I belong. So today instead of my usual avocado/bacon/chicken omelette, I had a fried eggplant sandwich that was very tasty and burnt the roof of my mouth. Oh, well.

Del got sick, so I drove her home. I got to see their new dog, Buddy. I’d seen a picture of him as a puppy. He’s not a puppy now; he’s huge!!

The other day — New Year’s? — I was driving toward my father’s and saw a man and his dog coming back from the store. They were easy to spot since the roads were fairly deserted. The man had a gray pony tail and was carrying a 12-pack of beer. The dog was carrying in his mouth a long skinny beef stick, just smiling away as e trotted along. Guess they were both planning on a happy New Year!