I really need to post more often so my posts aren't so freakin' long.
Win for the day: I had $70 in Kohl's Cash between buying new, full-sized suitcases for the girls and some clothing Will had recently bought, another $10 coupon that came at the bottom of a Staples receipt, and a "bonus 20% off everything" coupon that came in email. I bought a small ceramic frying pan to replace our dying Teflon one, a dressy-ish long-sleeve print tshirt and silver earrings for me, a dress shirt for Two, and a sleeveless tech (exercise) shirt and bundle of dress socks for Will. Total cost to me: less than $6. \o/
Ok, the past week. Still nuts, and that's WITH the kids in school. Wasn't my life supposed to get easier?
It didn't help that the library barcode scanner is broken, so I went in for an extra shift in order not to leave the librarian to try checking out all those books manually by herself. There was PT and errands and trying to finish my hd_fan_fair story, sewing the girls' RenFaire costumes (blue dress for MiniPlu and red black knight without the armor parts for Two) and trying to squeeze in some cooking so I didn't just have to eat salads all week.
Also, I had to go to the bank twice for the PTO, had to get to the elementary school Back to School night early to set up the PTO table but ran late because of traffic and phone calls and ... gah.
So, Back to School Night:
Elementary: In recent years they've started dividing it up into grades 3-5 on one night and K-2 the other night. I don't know why. Anyway, this year for the first time we left the girls home alone while we went to visit the schools, with MiniPlu in charge as "babysitter" and threats to each kid that if they overstepped their bounds by being bratty to their sibling, they would get their sibling's chores to do this weekend.
Unfortunately, MiniPlu came home with a paper assignment to write, using an object that invoked special memories, and what those memories were. Although photographs weren't allowed, we cheated a bit by using the ticket stub for the Dom in Cologne, which we climbed two summers ago. Anyway, I knew MiniPlu would need help with organizing her thoughts, although she did the brainstorming herself. BTS Night starts at 6:30pm and the principal usually talks until 7pm. I figured we'd be home again shortly after 7:30pm. Plenty of time for her to write.
But, no - the fourth grade team talked and TALKED. MiniPlu called at 8pm to find out where we were, and I finally left at 8:15pm - even though they weren't done yet. As it was, MiniPlu was up until 10pm finishing the assignment - although I found out at HER back-to-school night that it only had to be 1 paragraph, not several. *bangs head* Anyway, I had missed MiniPlu's 4th grade BTS because of the PREP faculty meeting, so it was good for me to hear their spiel this year, especially as one of the teachers retired and a third-grade teacher moved up. They also covered the district's new (and stupid) rules regarding sugar, trying to get suggestions as to what people might be interested in doing for the traditional once-a-month birthday shindigs they do for 4th grade.
[Incidentally, the 4th grade team was trying to impress upon us how seriously the district is taking this no-junk thing, by saying that if they were caught violating the policy they could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, MiniPlu has TWICE been given small amounts of candy for little prizes, with no apparent concern on the part of the teachers. Same district.]
The big news was that Two WILL have to do the thrice-weekly writing assignments, based on their daily 30-min reading assignments; last spring there was some consideration as to whether the bottom academic group might have a different type of work to do, but no - they'll be doing Four Squares same as everyone else. I am SO not looking forward to this. First of all, getting Two to read for *20* mins is hard enough. Moving it up to 30 will be a nightmare, and then to ADD the Four Square summary of her reading? Sigh. I'm not arguing how helpful the work can be to teaching kids how to summarize, but I'm just NOT looking forward to getting Two to cooperate with it.
Middle School: This was much more informative, at least since it was all new to us. The only really irritating thing was that just as we were walking through the 6th-grade wing, some teachers were telling everyone that they'd moved the room parents were supposed to start in, to room 114, instead. We held up our schedule, and said, "So, we're not supposed to go where it says?" Nope. So, ok, we followed everyone else to room 114, sat down. Bunch of other families from our elementary school there, but I didn't see anyone that I knew MiniPlu shared classes with. Of course we hadn't met any teachers yet, so that wasn't any help.
The opening session was 10 mins longer than the others because everyone watched a video with a welcome message from the principal, VP, the grade-appropriate school councilor and the librarian (who encouraged everyone to come to the Book Fair during their child's "lunch" period). All fine. Then the teachers got up and introduced themselves as Team X. I turned to Will and said, "We're in the wrong room" because I knew that MiniPlu was in Team Y. One of the teachers, standing by the door, pointed us to the right location - which was where we were supposed to go in the first place. We just had the bad luck to walk by Team X's room JUST as they were being moved, and got swept up into their group by accident. Oh well. The only thing we'd really missed in Team Y's room was the video, which was the same for everyone.
The two teachers who share all the academic subjects we liked a LOT (as does MiniPlu). One's pregnant, due in Feb, which means we'll be affected by maternity leave for the first time since I, myself, was in first or second grade. The other one is apparently older than she looks, as she's taught for 28 years and, in fact, taught the younger one when she was a tween. Anyway, very warm and friendly and funny, both of them. Between them, they covered all six academic subjects within the first four periods, leaving two "blanks" for us later on. We used the extra time at the Book Fair (although we only got two bookmarks), met the gym teacher (nice guy - assured us there are plenty of kids who hate gym so MiniPlu was not alone) and saw their listing of what they'd be covering in both PE and health for the year.
We were then a little early to Home Ec, and sat through the latter part of 6th period's spiel, as well as the 7th-period we were supposed to hear. I get that they only have 45 mins and 3 weeks each of cooking and sewing, so it's not like they can do really complicated things, but the stuff they've been doing so far in cooking class is kind of ridiculous. MiniPlu says they spent one entire period learning how to wash their hands. The only things they've "cooked" in two weeks have been ice cream floats (ie: pour carbonated beverage, add scoop of store-bought ice cream) and lemonade - which I suspect was frozen concentrate. Next week they learn how to use the microwave - which both kids have known how to do, in terms of basic reheating or thawing a frozen pizza, for ages. When I was in middle school, I remember doing actual cooking. On a stove. And our periods weren't really much longer, maybe 5-7 mins? (Btw, by the time they reach 8th grade, they've apparently graduated to Muddy Buddies - choc/peanut butter Chex mix, essentially. Really? That's the best they're going to do?)
In sewing, they're going to make a 9-patch (ie like tictactoe) pillow. I volunteered to help with the sewing segment if the teacher needed another pair of hands. (When she heard this, MiniPlu told me that was ok, but I had to pretend not to know her. :P) For the final period, we went back to the academic teachers to introduce ourselves and get to know them a little better, assuming, correctly, that they'd be less swamped by then.
While we were there, another set of parents came in. The mom came up to me and said, "Are you [MiniPlu]'s mother? Uh, yes. Then she told us the name of her daughter, one of MiniPlu's new friends, and said that we'd initially met when our daughters went to toddler storytime at the public library! I looked at her a moment, and a vision of her toddler daughter popped into my mind. "Did your daughter accidentally burn herself and have her arm bandaged for awhile?" Yep - same kid! We thought it was hilarious that our daughters had made friends all on their own nine years after they'd initially met. :D
Having been in the school for a tour in February, to register MiniPlu in July and attend band camp in August, I actually was able to find my way around to every class without asking for help or getting lost - except for the gym. The sign to the gym pointed at a stairwell, but didn't specify upstairs or downstairs, so I had to ask that. Otherwise, hah! I was proud. :D
I'm also gearing up for PREP/CCD to start this coming Wed. Because the faculty meeting was the same night as the middle school BTS night, and because I HAVE been to the PREP meeting twice, I chose this year to bail. Instead, the director of religious ed (S) invited me to come in on Thurs afternoon to get the necessary information; due to some interruption, this meeting took an hour instead of half an hour.
Initially I had 12 students, which made me happy because when I get little holiday gifts from Oriental Trading Company, they typically come in units of 12. Last year I had 14 and it was a PITA. Of course, two hours later S emailed to say that she'd had another last-minute registration, and so now I have 13. :-P Also, this will be the first year I have a significantly older kid; in each of my first two years I had a lone 3rd-grader in with the 2nd-graders, but that really didn't make much difference. This time I have a lone 6th-grader, which changes dynamics considerably. All the crafts and activities I do - they're all geared to younger kids. Not sure how to balance things so he doesn't feel like I'm talking down to him, and yet so I'm not talking over the heads of the younger ones. (The past two years, any older kids went to my co-teacher, not to me.) Oh, and I do know one girl already - I met her in the school library when she was in kindergarten. This year she transferred to the next closest school, but I do remember her. I'm bummed, though, that another 2nd-grade girl from our school went to my co-teacher.
I'm mostly ready for the first day, but I need to make name plates for their desks and restock my prize bin.
Sewing: Almost done with MiniPlu's RenFaire/Halloween costume, just cut out Two's and finished the dragon applique part today. Two's will go much MUCH faster than MiniPlu's. Now to find a free weekend!
Reading: Now that we're no longer spending several hours at the pool, my reading time has dwindled drastically. It's taking me a long time to get even to the 1/3 mark of The Name of the Wind, even though I'm enjoying the story. Well, once we got past the first 50 pages and got into the STORY - that's when I started enjoying it. Wish I had more time to read!
And, finally, a review of Scott Westerfeld's Goliath. I really did love this series - although I'm not sure which part was my favorite. The world-building in the beginning of Leviathan was fantastic, but I also liked how Alek and Deryn played off each other once they met. And speaking of - I liked how they handled Alek finding out about Deryn, and their relationship - how they missed being friends, first and foremost, and that the romance was kept light, for the most part. I didn't like Tesla, although I did like that the story included the meteorite strike in Siberia. Also, I learned a lot about other issues going on during WWI, like Germany getting involved with Mexico's revolution as a hedge against the eventuality that the US would enter the war, and the political events in Turkey - even if the details were altered to fit the AU. The 'round the world' tour in Goliath was kind of distracting and annoying in places, but I suppose each part played a role in the overall plot, including Deryn's injury.
I admit I was surprised that Dr. Whatshername hadn't pinged that Deryn was a girl - there were times I was sure she knew. Also, although the Lorises were interesting (and helpfully perspicacious), I did wonder what the Dr really did have in mind for them, especially given how many eggs there were initially. And I felt bad that Alek's dream of peace didn't turn out the way he wanted.
I feel like there's a lot more that I really wanted to say when I first read the story, but I can't think what they were now, so if you've read the series, feel free to ask me what I thought of XYZ.
I've just been dismissed from PT, which I knew was coming. My shoulder has been clicking somewhat painfully lately, but both doctor and PT think it's scar tissue and will work itself out eventually. I hope. So, anyway, I'm continuing to do my exercises at home. After my next appointment in 2 months (the 6-month mark), I'll hopefully be released to do whatever I want. (Still forbidden: self-defense involving my arm being cranked around, and push-ups.)
Tomorrow: Marathon relay. Will has Leg 2 and I have Leg 4 (of 5), positions we've held for several years now. The girls hate how long the entire process takes, but they'll live. Time for me to get to bed.
Ok, the past week. Still nuts, and that's WITH the kids in school. Wasn't my life supposed to get easier?
It didn't help that the library barcode scanner is broken, so I went in for an extra shift in order not to leave the librarian to try checking out all those books manually by herself. There was PT and errands and trying to finish my hd_fan_fair story, sewing the girls' RenFaire costumes (blue dress for MiniPlu and red black knight without the armor parts for Two) and trying to squeeze in some cooking so I didn't just have to eat salads all week.
Also, I had to go to the bank twice for the PTO, had to get to the elementary school Back to School night early to set up the PTO table but ran late because of traffic and phone calls and ... gah.
So, Back to School Night:
Elementary: In recent years they've started dividing it up into grades 3-5 on one night and K-2 the other night. I don't know why. Anyway, this year for the first time we left the girls home alone while we went to visit the schools, with MiniPlu in charge as "babysitter" and threats to each kid that if they overstepped their bounds by being bratty to their sibling, they would get their sibling's chores to do this weekend.
Unfortunately, MiniPlu came home with a paper assignment to write, using an object that invoked special memories, and what those memories were. Although photographs weren't allowed, we cheated a bit by using the ticket stub for the Dom in Cologne, which we climbed two summers ago. Anyway, I knew MiniPlu would need help with organizing her thoughts, although she did the brainstorming herself. BTS Night starts at 6:30pm and the principal usually talks until 7pm. I figured we'd be home again shortly after 7:30pm. Plenty of time for her to write.
But, no - the fourth grade team talked and TALKED. MiniPlu called at 8pm to find out where we were, and I finally left at 8:15pm - even though they weren't done yet. As it was, MiniPlu was up until 10pm finishing the assignment - although I found out at HER back-to-school night that it only had to be 1 paragraph, not several. *bangs head* Anyway, I had missed MiniPlu's 4th grade BTS because of the PREP faculty meeting, so it was good for me to hear their spiel this year, especially as one of the teachers retired and a third-grade teacher moved up. They also covered the district's new (and stupid) rules regarding sugar, trying to get suggestions as to what people might be interested in doing for the traditional once-a-month birthday shindigs they do for 4th grade.
[Incidentally, the 4th grade team was trying to impress upon us how seriously the district is taking this no-junk thing, by saying that if they were caught violating the policy they could lose their jobs. Meanwhile, MiniPlu has TWICE been given small amounts of candy for little prizes, with no apparent concern on the part of the teachers. Same district.]
The big news was that Two WILL have to do the thrice-weekly writing assignments, based on their daily 30-min reading assignments; last spring there was some consideration as to whether the bottom academic group might have a different type of work to do, but no - they'll be doing Four Squares same as everyone else. I am SO not looking forward to this. First of all, getting Two to read for *20* mins is hard enough. Moving it up to 30 will be a nightmare, and then to ADD the Four Square summary of her reading? Sigh. I'm not arguing how helpful the work can be to teaching kids how to summarize, but I'm just NOT looking forward to getting Two to cooperate with it.
Middle School: This was much more informative, at least since it was all new to us. The only really irritating thing was that just as we were walking through the 6th-grade wing, some teachers were telling everyone that they'd moved the room parents were supposed to start in, to room 114, instead. We held up our schedule, and said, "So, we're not supposed to go where it says?" Nope. So, ok, we followed everyone else to room 114, sat down. Bunch of other families from our elementary school there, but I didn't see anyone that I knew MiniPlu shared classes with. Of course we hadn't met any teachers yet, so that wasn't any help.
The opening session was 10 mins longer than the others because everyone watched a video with a welcome message from the principal, VP, the grade-appropriate school councilor and the librarian (who encouraged everyone to come to the Book Fair during their child's "lunch" period). All fine. Then the teachers got up and introduced themselves as Team X. I turned to Will and said, "We're in the wrong room" because I knew that MiniPlu was in Team Y. One of the teachers, standing by the door, pointed us to the right location - which was where we were supposed to go in the first place. We just had the bad luck to walk by Team X's room JUST as they were being moved, and got swept up into their group by accident. Oh well. The only thing we'd really missed in Team Y's room was the video, which was the same for everyone.
The two teachers who share all the academic subjects we liked a LOT (as does MiniPlu). One's pregnant, due in Feb, which means we'll be affected by maternity leave for the first time since I, myself, was in first or second grade. The other one is apparently older than she looks, as she's taught for 28 years and, in fact, taught the younger one when she was a tween. Anyway, very warm and friendly and funny, both of them. Between them, they covered all six academic subjects within the first four periods, leaving two "blanks" for us later on. We used the extra time at the Book Fair (although we only got two bookmarks), met the gym teacher (nice guy - assured us there are plenty of kids who hate gym so MiniPlu was not alone) and saw their listing of what they'd be covering in both PE and health for the year.
We were then a little early to Home Ec, and sat through the latter part of 6th period's spiel, as well as the 7th-period we were supposed to hear. I get that they only have 45 mins and 3 weeks each of cooking and sewing, so it's not like they can do really complicated things, but the stuff they've been doing so far in cooking class is kind of ridiculous. MiniPlu says they spent one entire period learning how to wash their hands. The only things they've "cooked" in two weeks have been ice cream floats (ie: pour carbonated beverage, add scoop of store-bought ice cream) and lemonade - which I suspect was frozen concentrate. Next week they learn how to use the microwave - which both kids have known how to do, in terms of basic reheating or thawing a frozen pizza, for ages. When I was in middle school, I remember doing actual cooking. On a stove. And our periods weren't really much longer, maybe 5-7 mins? (Btw, by the time they reach 8th grade, they've apparently graduated to Muddy Buddies - choc/peanut butter Chex mix, essentially. Really? That's the best they're going to do?)
In sewing, they're going to make a 9-patch (ie like tictactoe) pillow. I volunteered to help with the sewing segment if the teacher needed another pair of hands. (When she heard this, MiniPlu told me that was ok, but I had to pretend not to know her. :P) For the final period, we went back to the academic teachers to introduce ourselves and get to know them a little better, assuming, correctly, that they'd be less swamped by then.
While we were there, another set of parents came in. The mom came up to me and said, "Are you [MiniPlu]'s mother? Uh, yes. Then she told us the name of her daughter, one of MiniPlu's new friends, and said that we'd initially met when our daughters went to toddler storytime at the public library! I looked at her a moment, and a vision of her toddler daughter popped into my mind. "Did your daughter accidentally burn herself and have her arm bandaged for awhile?" Yep - same kid! We thought it was hilarious that our daughters had made friends all on their own nine years after they'd initially met. :D
Having been in the school for a tour in February, to register MiniPlu in July and attend band camp in August, I actually was able to find my way around to every class without asking for help or getting lost - except for the gym. The sign to the gym pointed at a stairwell, but didn't specify upstairs or downstairs, so I had to ask that. Otherwise, hah! I was proud. :D
I'm also gearing up for PREP/CCD to start this coming Wed. Because the faculty meeting was the same night as the middle school BTS night, and because I HAVE been to the PREP meeting twice, I chose this year to bail. Instead, the director of religious ed (S) invited me to come in on Thurs afternoon to get the necessary information; due to some interruption, this meeting took an hour instead of half an hour.
Initially I had 12 students, which made me happy because when I get little holiday gifts from Oriental Trading Company, they typically come in units of 12. Last year I had 14 and it was a PITA. Of course, two hours later S emailed to say that she'd had another last-minute registration, and so now I have 13. :-P Also, this will be the first year I have a significantly older kid; in each of my first two years I had a lone 3rd-grader in with the 2nd-graders, but that really didn't make much difference. This time I have a lone 6th-grader, which changes dynamics considerably. All the crafts and activities I do - they're all geared to younger kids. Not sure how to balance things so he doesn't feel like I'm talking down to him, and yet so I'm not talking over the heads of the younger ones. (The past two years, any older kids went to my co-teacher, not to me.) Oh, and I do know one girl already - I met her in the school library when she was in kindergarten. This year she transferred to the next closest school, but I do remember her. I'm bummed, though, that another 2nd-grade girl from our school went to my co-teacher.
I'm mostly ready for the first day, but I need to make name plates for their desks and restock my prize bin.
Sewing: Almost done with MiniPlu's RenFaire/Halloween costume, just cut out Two's and finished the dragon applique part today. Two's will go much MUCH faster than MiniPlu's. Now to find a free weekend!
Reading: Now that we're no longer spending several hours at the pool, my reading time has dwindled drastically. It's taking me a long time to get even to the 1/3 mark of The Name of the Wind, even though I'm enjoying the story. Well, once we got past the first 50 pages and got into the STORY - that's when I started enjoying it. Wish I had more time to read!
And, finally, a review of Scott Westerfeld's Goliath. I really did love this series - although I'm not sure which part was my favorite. The world-building in the beginning of Leviathan was fantastic, but I also liked how Alek and Deryn played off each other once they met. And speaking of - I liked how they handled Alek finding out about Deryn, and their relationship - how they missed being friends, first and foremost, and that the romance was kept light, for the most part. I didn't like Tesla, although I did like that the story included the meteorite strike in Siberia. Also, I learned a lot about other issues going on during WWI, like Germany getting involved with Mexico's revolution as a hedge against the eventuality that the US would enter the war, and the political events in Turkey - even if the details were altered to fit the AU. The 'round the world' tour in Goliath was kind of distracting and annoying in places, but I suppose each part played a role in the overall plot, including Deryn's injury.
I admit I was surprised that Dr. Whatshername hadn't pinged that Deryn was a girl - there were times I was sure she knew. Also, although the Lorises were interesting (and helpfully perspicacious), I did wonder what the Dr really did have in mind for them, especially given how many eggs there were initially. And I felt bad that Alek's dream of peace didn't turn out the way he wanted.
I feel like there's a lot more that I really wanted to say when I first read the story, but I can't think what they were now, so if you've read the series, feel free to ask me what I thought of XYZ.
I've just been dismissed from PT, which I knew was coming. My shoulder has been clicking somewhat painfully lately, but both doctor and PT think it's scar tissue and will work itself out eventually. I hope. So, anyway, I'm continuing to do my exercises at home. After my next appointment in 2 months (the 6-month mark), I'll hopefully be released to do whatever I want. (Still forbidden: self-defense involving my arm being cranked around, and push-ups.)
Tomorrow: Marathon relay. Will has Leg 2 and I have Leg 4 (of 5), positions we've held for several years now. The girls hate how long the entire process takes, but they'll live. Time for me to get to bed.