Days of Inservice

The last couple days have been long and, somewhat, tedious. It's the usual back to school stuff. Tuesday's boring part started off with the district staff listening to a rather patronizing speech by a school board member. It's really annoying when someone makes a point of telling a group "you're all very intelligent" but does it sarcastically. I was not impressed, which he probably thought we should be. Yesterday I sat in on a department meeting where the new director of said department started his presentation strongly (I had high hopes) only to negate that when we presented him with some real-life situations. I can't wait until he actually has to sit in on a meeting with one our more dogged parents. I think he'll be in for an eye-opener. Yesterday afternoon was spent in curriculum mapping training. I actually think it's a useful tool, just not very practical for my particular position. School starts Tuesday. I guess we'll see how things play out.

Plumbing Problems

Kit and I had a very uneventful drive home today. He was unusually quiet, and traffic was not an issue. I figured I'd get the car unpacked and make it to my hair appointment without any problem. Boy was I wrong!

I unlocked the door and was greeted by the smell of sewage. I started checking the possibilities and discovered the downstairs toilet was was plugged. I tried the plunger; didn't work. So I mopped up the water on the floor and started a load of wash for the wet, stinky towels. That was a mistake. When the washer drained, everything back flowed into the downstairs shower and toilet, and then cascaded all over the floor. Really gross. At this point I made a panicked phone call to the rental agency and waited for the Roto-Rooter guy. He ended up having to take the toilet out to snake the drain. He finished fairly quickly. My clean-up took a lot longer.

Cat with an Attitude

Kit & I have to go home tomorrow. He knows, and he's making a nuisance of himself. Right now, I have to push his tail out of the way to type. He's spent most of the day knocking things off tables, counters, the piano. He has so many bad habits. It's not like I'm in any hurry to get back, but I have to work next week. And I'm not leaving him hear for my parents to spoil more than they already have!

Ethics are so....

Hard to live with. It's not really a secret that I'd love to have a job closer to my friends and family. I hate having to drive 5 hours just to visit the people I love. Tonight a friend of Mom's called to tell me she's just posted an alt ed job at my old high school. And I had to thank her very much, and know that I had an opportunity I couldn't take because school starts in two weeks and I've given my word, via my signed contract, that I will be there. Sometimes I wish I didn't have such a sense of responsibility.

First Aid Class

I started out teaching First Aid and CPR classes for the American Red Cross for selfish reasons; I needed to keep my card current, and as a substitute teacher for many years I had to pay for the class. It was easier to volunteer, and it's been fun interacting with adults. They learn differently from kids. And face it, after a day with teenagers, I'm ready for some adult conversation. But I've really come to believe that everyone should have some working knowledge of what to do in an emergency. We don't live in a bubble, and bad things happen often.

For more information about services offered by the American Red Cross, check out their website. http://www.redcross.org

Is Silence Really Golden?

I usually think so. After a long day at work with kid noises I'm ready to go home, put my feet up and enjoy a few hours of silence. Of course my students don't understand that. Most of them can't comprehend they enjoyment of a place without a cacophony of auditory and visual stimulation. And I can't explain it to them.

Then, the other day it struck me why. I was in a room with other people who were not in the mood to communicate with each other. This silence was deafening and very uncomfortable. If I could've hid, I would've done it in an instant. I wonder how many of my students exist in places where the silence is so uncomfortable that they feel the need to fill it.

Goodbye Summer

Okay, so my summer isn't officially over until school starts again. But my traditional summer finale is usually a trip to Green Peter, and that is where I spent the weekend.

You could say I grew up on that lake. I don't think there has been a summer of my life when we haven't made at least a couple trips up for camping, boating, swimming, and just chillin' out. It's part of my personal culture. It holds a treasure trove of memories with family and friends. It's a place that always feels comfortable. And every year, my last trip I make it a point to say "Goodbye 'til next year."

This trip was very low-key. It was just the family. The parents, nephew and I drove up on Friday morning. We towed the kid around behind the boat on a tube for awhile. In fact, we did that regularly. Saturday morning we spent some time fishing (note I did not say catching). My sister and brother-in-law showed up late Saturday night. I didn't think they were going to come, but I was wrong.

Weekends at the lake are wonderful because they are so ordinary. We don't really do anything special. It's just a place to be. However, we do meet some interesting people. The first was the very nice Asian man whose family camped near us. He told Dad that this was his 7th trip to the lake, and that it "is better than Disneyland." Dad countered with the fact that he and Mom have been camping at the lake since 1969. The second interesting person we met was a man fishing down near the dam on Saturday. He reeled in a fish, unhooked it and tossed it back. Not a big deal, but his comment was "It's a damn trout. I don't know what he was doing at 50 feet!" I know that doesn't make much sense, but at the time it struck me as very funny. I guess he didn't want trout, just kokanee.

Summer Institute

Being a teacher means getting my head in gear for another school year. I still have a couple weeks, but I've just spent three days in Portland at the Summer Institute sponsored by the Oregon Department of Education (ODE), the Oregon Education Association (OEA), the Oregon School Board Association (OSBA) and the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA).

I'll be honest, when those four groups get together, most people would wonder what the agenda was. All are political, all have issues the others, and it just seems odd to have them all partner together. Surprisingly, what I anticipated to be painfully and possibly boring turned into a pretty good conference. They did an excellent job of putting together a wide variety of topics for sessions and classes. But I think three days was a bit much. As the only teacher on our district's team, I'm still mentally on vacation. The administrators, school board member and superintendent all have been focusing on school stuff all summer. In fact, it was a bit strange to be the only teacher on the team. Why me? I still haven't adequately answered that question. Maybe I never will. But I did enjoy spending time with my colleagues without student issues to interfere.

Two New Firsts

So, it's been a weekend of firsts for me. Mom and I went to the county fair with a friend, and I had my first ever Deep-Fried Snickers Bar. I know, it's not a new thing, but it's new to me. I mean, I'd heard about them, but I'd never actually tasted one. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give it a 7. It's hard to ruin a Snickers bar, so that part gets plus points, but I wasn't too crazy about the batter they dipped the bar in.

The second first was today. It was a girls shopping trip (Mom, sister, aunt, niece and I) at the new Ikea store in Portland. I've never visited another Ikea, so I have no comparisons except to my own imagination. First of all, I really do like the array of things they sell. I think when it's time to buy some new furniture, that's the place to start. It's inexpensive and very well presented. After all, teachers don't make a mint. Second, I've heard really great things about their cafe, but the line was horrendously long, so that was nixed for another visit sometime in future. What I wasn't really fond of was the crowds. Way too many people, which could be a result of only being open for two weeks. But I don't really like being herded along like sheep, and that's the way I felt most of the time we were inside.

Kentucky & Indiana: Follow-up

I can finally say that my body and my brain are both back in the same time zone. And it's given me the opportunity to do a little more reflection on my trip.

Kentucky is really green, even though they're in the middle of a drought. It's also warm, and humid. For a girl from the west coast, humidity is not a completely pleasant thing. I saw more brick houses than I've ever seen in my life. They have a little problem with termites, and one of the few woods those pesky bugs don't like is yellow poplar. See, I learned lots of interesting things. For instance:

• It takes 30 seconds to shape a wooden bat at the Louisville Slugger fact0ry.
• Many of the old buildings in downtown Louisville are cast iron, not brick, wood or cement.
• Bourbo whiskey, to earn the bourbon label, must be aged at least 2 years in a virgin, charred, white oak barrel.
• Each barrel of bourbon will lose about 46% of it's volume in 7 years of aging.
• Only four distilleries in the United States stayed open during Prohibition. They produced medicinal alcohol. The maximum prescribed amount was 1 pint every 10 days.
• Two school teachers in Frankfort are credited with creating the first bourbon ball candy in 1919. The company, Rebecca-Ruth, still makes them, turning out 100,000 pounds of candy each year.
• Most people think about Thoroughbreds in Kentucky, but Shelby Co. produces a great number of Saddlebreds as well.
• Much of Kentucky draws it's water from a limestone aquifer, giving the water a higher percentage of calcium.
• The Ohio River has a cascades rapids, dropping the river level 26 feet over 2.5 miles. It proved to be a challenge to riverboat travel during the 19th century.

We didn't spend as much time in Indiana. It struck me as a more open landscape. The most interesting thing we learned there is that the land on which the the Lincoln Boyhood Home National Monument was once owned, in part, by one of my ancestors. That's pretty cool. :)

Kentucky & Indiana

A week ago my parents and headed to Louisville, Kentucky for a family reunion. This reunion is an annual event that moves around the country, and includes descendents from a common ancestor who lived during the Revolutionary War. It's a lot of fun, and I really enjoy the relatives. Now I just need to rest up from my vacation!

For anyone who hasn't been to Kentuckiana (yes, they call it that down there), there's so much to do. A brief list of things we saw and experienced include: The Louisville Slugger Museum, the Frazier International History Museum, Bardstown, My Old Kentucky Home State Park, The Bourbon Heritage Center at Heaven Hill Distillery, Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum, Locust Grove, Abraham Lincoln Birthplace, Abraham Lincoln Boyhood home, The Ohio River, Buffalo Trace Distilley, Bluegrass Country, Frankfort, Jim Beam Distillery, and a few other things. It feels like I haven't stopped moving in the last week. And all of this was in addition to the time spent with our cousins who came from ten other states for this reunion. It really was remarkable.