Guilty Pleasure

Okay, I admit it. I enjoy reading other people's blogs. My friend Lisa did an entry one time linked Matt's blog (Lisa & I went to high school with him), and from his blog I've jumped to his wife's where I found this this quiz (thanks Jessica!). I guess I belong in London.

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

To take the quiz yourself, click here

Stretched Too Thin

I don't know why I feel I have to do it all. I promised myself, after over committing in high school and burning out, to never do this to myself again. In college I did practically nothing beyond classes, homework and hanging out with friends. It was a wonderful time. You'd think I would've learned from that experience.

My typical week right now consists of working all day. I'm usually at my desk by 7:30 and try to leave by 4:00. Then comes the meetings:

• Evaluation Committee: meets every other Monday
• Executive Board for the Union: at least two, usually three meetings a month on Thursdays.
• Staff : meets every Wednesday afternoon with entire high school; my building every Tuesday morning.
• Book Club: every Monday, but I miss it on the days I have Evaluation meetings.

Throw in yoga two nights each week, and any parent/IEP/etc type event and I rarely get home by 7:30. Now if only I could figure out why I seem to be incapable of saying "NO."

The Birthdays

I really hate making quick trips to far away places, but sometimes you just need to. Committements are really important in my family, and this last weekend our family had two birthdays: My mother turned....well, "you're only as old as you feel" (or so she's always saying) and my Great Aunt Bess celebrated her 95th. Happy Birthday ladies!



My cousins threw a little party for my aunt with several dozen close friends and family. It was really great to catch up since we're scattered geographically and have very busy lives. It's sad that it takes a special occasion or a tragedy to bring all of us together. The last time most of us were together was for Melissa & Brett's wedding in 2003.



After the party, our immediately family had birthday dinner for Mom. We ended up at Old Chicago in Portland. She's more low key, and not really a fan of the big do. Of course, there may come a day when all bets are off. After all, there is a big wedding anniversary coming up in a couple years. She'd kill us if we actually did it. But...

Gripes: NCLB and Testing

Today the entire district was subjected to a training seminar for the state tests we administer every year. The fact that we have to the tests isn't work griping about. Until the federal government pulls its head out and realizes that standardized tests are not the way to increase achievement we are stuck with them. My gripe is with Department of Education's unending, contradictory rules for those tests. Some examples:

• Tests of special education students who have modifications in IEP's must be modified, but will not count toward the school and district participation percentages.
• Students taking the mathematics test can use a calculator, manipulatives (rulers, protractors, counting sticks, etc.), a multiplication table and the provided formulas. At the same time, teachers must remove bulletin board strips that read "1+2=3, 5+6=11"
• Teachers who are working one-on-one with students providing modifications on the math test may only read the words in story problems, not the numbers or signs (ie: Jack has ____ apples. If he adds ____ more, how many will he have?)
• My personal favorite, while monitoring testing teachers are not allowed to make supportive comments such as "Keep up the good work" and "You're doing a great job." Teachers doing one-on-ones must read in monotone and not use non-verbal gestures of any kind.

My Opinion: Planned Parenthood

When I opened my email today I had a message from Planned Parenthood. It seems there's an 40 day protest of Planned Parenthood clinics going on by the Pro-life movement. And PP has set up a blog to share the experiences of staff and patients. It's very interesting reading. You can see for yourself at http://www.iamemilyx.blogspot.com

I've never used Planned Parenthood's servies, but I know how important those health care services are for millions of women and their families. I can only appreciate the courage of the associates and patients who have to run the gauntlet of protesters, tuning out the hateful comments and signs passing judgement on their lives and choices.

Scrappin'

Last night I returned to one of my favorite activities: Scrapbooking! The local scrapbook and stamp store holds crop nights twice a month. I try to go as often as I can for a couple different reasons. First, I really enjoy the company of the women who come. Second, it provides the opportunity to be inspired by the creativity of the other scrappers.

Last night was really successful for me. I packed up my scrapping materials last May, and they didn't come out of the box until yesterday. I felt like I was burned out; sucked dry of all creative juices. Of course that didn't stop me from buying new supplies this summer. I'm wasn't that tapped out. But I wasn't producing any new pages. So, last night I finished my Virginia trip from 2006. Next crop.... summer 2007!

Time Flys

Suddenly (or so it seems) it's the middle of October. I feel like just yesterday I was lamenting the end of summer and now Halloween is in sight. (BTY: Halloween is a fabulous holiday! I never get trick-or-treaters, so all the candy is for me!)

Anyway, back to time flying by. My sister called last night and it made me realized that we hadn't spoken all week! That's very unusual for us. I talk to my parents and/or sister everyday, usually. But this month illustrates so well how busy we all are. Between meetings, trips, kids, family time, work....is it any wonder our communication sometimes slips? The important thing for me to remember that I can't take those relationships for granted.

A Funny Thing

Today district staff had to do required meetings for bloodborne pathogens and couple other things. The video for bloodborne was really aimed at an elementary school audience, so we adults had a few moments of hilarity. For instance, "Remember, never touch something that comes out of someone else's body, and never touch something that comes from someone else's body." That's an actual line from the video.

Tire Trouble

So, I made a trip to Portland this weekend. And it's not like that's the short jaunt it used to be. Now, I spend hours in the car to get there. But I went, because the OEA (Oregon Education Association) trainings are usually pretty good. And I feel much more confident in reading a school district budget now.

The tire trouble reared it's ugly head this morning. I was up early ready to get to work with lots of things on my "to do" list. Something didn't feel right as I backed out of the driveway. Lo and behold, I had a flat tire. No big deal, right? I've changed tires before, and I'm more than capable of doing so again. I jacked up the car, removed the the flat; no problems. Then I discovered that the jack, at it's maximum height wouldn't give me enough clearance to mount the spare. One call to Les Schwab and an hour and a half later, I was finally on my way. Thankfully Suzanne was willing to cover for me at school. I don't know what I would've done without her today.

The end of the story was expensive. Somewhere, on the road between Corvallis and here I picked up a piece of metal in the tire. The tire couldn't be saved and I had to shell out more money than the budget allowed to get rolling again.