I can't believe I haven't posted since Tuesday! So much for my "commitment" to myself to post everyday. Apparently it bit the dust shortly after the "eat better" commitment collided with the Girl Scouts.
I think it's because our schedule was so wacky. I've been extra-exhausted this week after only going to work on Friday last week due to the ice storms. Then, when we all got to school Monday morning, they told us that there was a water main that had broken. We had to send all the kids home! I did get several hours of work done that day, though. It's amazing what I can accomplish when I don't have to actually teach. :-)
So, this wasn't even a full week -- only FOUR days -- and I'm still ridiculously tired.
On the upside, my students did some fun labs this week. I'm in a brand-new lab that I get to stock and set up throughout this year! It's been a blast.
My biology I class is covering fungi, so we looked at various fungi, both live and preserved specimens. They'll finish the lab with preserved slides on Monday. I love subjects that make my students go, "Eeeewww!!! Moldy food!!!". I actually gave extra credit to students for bringing in specimens of moldy bread or fruit, because, the ONE time I actually NEEDED moldy bread, there was none to be found in our house. Sheesh. Of course, it was the night before I needed it... can't make it mold overnight very well (I had several students who tried to do that, too!).
My IPC (physical science) class is beginning a unit on acids and bases. We'll be doing a lab next week, and I wanted to impress on them the importance of lab safety. So, I cracked an egg into a petri dish on the overhead. The light shines through the transparent portion of the white. I explain that the white of the egg is protein, much like their eye is protein. Then I drop hydrochloric acid onto it, which fries the egg just as if it were in a pan on the stove. It turns opaque, and has a pretty big "wow" factor.
My chemistry class used the fume hood for the first time all year. I've been waiting for some ventilation errors to be fixed. They did a neat limiting reactants lab with magnesium and hydrochloric acid. The reaction fizzes and fumes and generates a lot of heat (I think I know some people who could be described that way). They love being in the lab. I'm getting ready to order materials for us to tie-dye t-shirts. I remember doing that in my high school chemistry class. I wore that shirt until it actually fell apart.
As I read back over the list of labs I wrote, taught, prepared, supervised, and cleaned up after, I'm beginning to think that I have a reason to be tired this Friday evening. Especially considering that I also gave and graded several tests and quizzes, oh, and that pesky job of managing a classroom, and did it all in FOUR days.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Commitment schmamitment
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Not the bed! Anything but that!!
What IS it in a two-year-old kid that propels him from his bed as if it were on fire, precisely three seconds after his parent lays him down on it? Repeatedly? For an hour, usually between 8:00 and 9:00 p.m.?
What is it in him that draws him out of his bed in a sleepy state at three a.m. to stumble to our room, only to stand next to our bed and breathe on me until I realize that something is standing next to my bed, breathing on me?
What part of his little body finds it sooooooooo difficult to just stay in bed? There are days that I can't wait to get into my bed in the evening. Does he ever feel that way? If he does, what is it that triggers that desire? I'd really like to know so I can plan to do it every single day.
I love my son. I really, really, really do. As far as real troubles go, this isn't a huge issue. But it happens every evening, when I'm the most tired.
I've tried the Supernanny trick -- putting him back in bed without saying anything. I've spent hours doing that. He just gets out of bed again. He doesn't cry or holler or argue. I've taken to just standing outside his door after I put him down. He's just as stubborn as I am. More stubborn, in fact, because I give in and rock him to sleep.
It wouldn't be that big of a deal, except that we worked so hard to get him to put himself to sleep, and he was doing so well for over a year. Then, suddenly, wham!, he's not into that anymore. He even did really well for a month or so after we switched him to his toddler bed. I guess we just got spoiled.
I'm trying to come up with a positive way to end this post -- I don't like for it to be completely negative... but seeing as how I actually wrote it (except for this last paragraph) two days ago, and my feelings on the subject haven't changed much since then, I think I'll just let it be. Suggestions for creating attractive chemistry between a toddler and his OWN bed are appreciated.
Monday, January 22, 2007
... and those Lemonades? They're awful. I promise.
It's Girl Scout Cookie Time again. They're smart to start selling them right around the time that people's resolve about their resolutions starts to falter.
My sister brought over some of the Lemonades. They're shortbread with lemon frosting on the bottom. As a favor, we finished them for her. Saved her from the temptation. That's what big sisters do, you know... Sacrifice LEFT and RIGHT for those little sisters.
The next day, a very cute little girl (about five or six years old) rang our doorbell. Who says no to a Girl Scout? Not me, I tell ya. I'm supportive. Bought three more boxes of cookies. Thin Mints for Knight (he freezes them), more Lemonades, and those Caramel Delights (my favorites).
The plan was to only eat part of the box of Lemonades, then give the rest to my sister to replace what we ate. At least we had a plan, right? I mean, that's good for partial credit or something, right?
A few hours after the cute little girl scout with the big, brown, pleading eyes conned me out of $10.50 and into about eleventy thousand extra calories, I received an email from my sister-in-law. Yep, you guessed it. Our niece is selling them, too. Not that I didn't see it coming. Again, I can't turn down a Girl Scout. Especially my niece. So I ordered one each of the Lemonades, Peanut Butter Patties, Thin Mints, Caramel Delights... and maybe one other one, but I can't remember just now. Kinda overloaded on sugar from the rest of the Lemonades that were supposed to go back to my sister.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
What do you know about tweetle beetles?
I recommend nightly study, just prior to placing your offspring in their beds for their nighttime slumber. This has been my method of study for the last several weeks, and it has worked well.
Let me know how it works out for you.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Show and Tell Friday
Since I leave the house before Knight and Jet are awake, I usually call to check in with Knight during my afternoon planning period. I like to hear how their morning went -- I really wish I could be here in the mornings to help them, but it's better all around for Jet. When Knight was working at my school as the IT Director, Jet had to be dropped off at his playschool at 6:45 every morning. Now, Knight drops him off at 8:15, and I usually pick him up at about 4:45. A much shorter day = a much happier Jet in the evenings.
Yesterday, Knight told me that they had a pretty rough morning. They got in the car, and got on their way. Suddenly, Jet says, "OH! My Buzz and my Woody!" He wanted to go back to the house to get these two toys. Knight told me that Jet was trying to tell him something else, but he couldn't understand. They were running a few minutes late, so Knight didn't turn around. Jet cried and hollered all the way to the playschool (about 10 minutes). I thought it was just difficult for him to get back into the routine. He didn't want to go when I took him on Thursday, either, but he had a great day once he got there.
When they got to the playschool, Knight found out that it was Show and Tell Friday. Suddenly, it clicked that that was what Jet was trying to say to him. Knight said he felt horrible. His teacher, who is quick on her feet (I guess you have to be with a room full of two and three year olds) grabbed a fire truck from another classroom for Jet and said he could show and tell that. Jet was thrilled -- he adores fire trucks.
When Knight first told me this, I thought that Jet couldn't really have remembered that it was Show and Tell Friday -- he's only two and a half! The more I thought about it, though, I realized that he probably did remember. He's a smart kid. And he's getting bigger and smarter everyday.
We do experience the "terrible two" moments, but overall this is a really fun age. He's learning something new literally everyday. He's incredibly enthusiastic and dramatic about everything (good or bad). It amazes me that God has given us this person in this little body who is big enough to make his own decisions about so many things. There are times when he's very blessed to be so darn cute. Sometimes it's what saves his hide! :)
At any rate, when I picked him up yesterday afternoon, his teacher told me that Show and Tell Friday went very well with the fire truck. I'll try to remember to put Buzz and Woody in his bag next Friday.
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Bye-bye "pie-cicles"
My school is still closed today. Apparently the campus is still iced over pretty badly. Darn! However, you can say a prayer for my two turtles (Fred and Gerald) that live in the classroom. I'm kinda worried about them -- haven't fed them since Friday last week, and I don't know what the temperature has been in the room... Hopefully they'll do their reptile thing and hibernate a bit.
I took these pictures this morning. Everything is melting. I know for my bloggy friends further north, the ice isn't that remarkable, but everything grinds to a halt around here. We don't have the equipment to deal with it well or the confidence to drive in it (as evidenced by the three hundred kazillion calls to 911 reported on last night's news). So, we get to snuggle down in the house and play together! For days and days on end! Yay!
Knight and I are going to have a lunch date today at a local cafe. Awhile back, we decided that anything we did without Jet qualified as a "date". We've had dates to Wal-Mart and Home Depot, for pete's sake. It's fun to just be out by ourselves sometimes without wrangling an active two-year-old boy. Sometimes I forget how nice it is, and how much we need it. So, I think lunch with him will be very nice today.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Psst, hey! Wanna talk to a human?
This is not a fake-Rolex-from-the-weirdo-on-the-street scam. Promise.
The very, very pretty Mir at wantnot posted this today. Very useful for avoiding the endless cycles of "...please press one or stay on the line. Para instrucciones in espanol, oprima numero dos."
On a related note, did you know that cell phones have a limited number of digits you can dial during any one phone call? Not kidding. I was trying to get to a human at my credit card company (back in the day when we were foolishly using those evil things) and had to enter my 16-digit card number twice in the process, in between the ones and twos, etc. After that, my phone wouldn't let me enter anymore numbers. Humph. For that, I cut up the cards. :)
Anway, bookmark the site and please go thank her! Don't forget to tell her she's pretty. Because she likes it and we need to keep her happy so she'll keep posting all of this cool stuff and because she probably really is pretty. If I ever find out for real I'll be sure to let you know. Not that I think she wouldn't be pretty ... umm... *awkward turtle*.
P.S. Many thanks to the very hot and handsome Knight for teaching me some HTML and how to put some links in the text!
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
I'll save you, Mommy!!
Jet's newest thing is to randomly run to me yelling, "I'll save you, Mommy!!" (from what, I've yet to discover, but it doesn't really matter to me). He clambers up into my lap and says, "I'm saving you, Mommy!"
I managed to convince him at one point that, in order to save me properly, he had to wrap both his arms around my neck and hug me. So he did this for awhile.
Then, I convinced him that I really needed a kiss to feel saved. He complies with that now, too. :)
It's cheap, but it's still toddler hugs and kisses. From Jet. Which I'll take any way I can get.
Calorie-Free Cuppycakes
This one is too cute!
For what it's worth, I did find a low-cal sweet treat that is amazing. Jello makes Dulce de Leche pudding cups that are vanilla pudding with caramel sauce. They're sugar-free and only 60 calories per cup... the trick is not sitting around and eating three of them in one sitting because you're cooped up due to inclement weather and going a tad bit crazy. I'm just sayin'.
No Snowmen... yet.
