For Whom The Bell Tolls

Here is a recap of yesterday-----

The Hubs had to check in at 6am, so we got up at 5. I scarfed down my Thai leftovers from the night before. Hubs couldn't eat so I felt mildly guilty.

To say that I was nervous would be a vast understatement!! I am a worrier by nature---- Thanx Grandma---- so the Hubs' surgery freaked me out. I'm sure that he knows that, but I tried to keep it underwraps. I possess pathetic lying skills...

Being in a strange city and a stranger hospital I had to entertain myself while Hubs was under. Hey, I used to be a Girl Scout---- I came prepared with a list! How to keep myself busy during Hubs' surgery: AKA don't act like a freak show

1. Mock Matt Lauer
2. Knit like a mad woman
3. Eavesdrop on conversations in the waiting room
4. Read trashy magazines
5. iMessage sister
6. iMessage friend incessantly
7. Ride the elevator
8. Get lost
9. Wring hands
10. Shop online: 2 dresses, 1 cardi, 1 skirt
11. Watch tape delayed Olympics
12. Read spoiler news articles on Olympic results
13. Don't let imagination run wild
14. Read
15. Worry
16. Eat crappy vending machine food
17. Don't get lost in the parking garage
18. Drink water

After a small run in with a nurse, I found out that the Hubs was in recovery. He rolled by the family waiting room and we went up to his room on the 9th floor. He had some wicked nausea, dizziness, and headache. I think it was the morphine. By then I was content to just watch him sleep.I went back to the hotel at about 7pm----took a hot bath, face timed the Boys (tucked away at home with a friend), iMessaged the Hubs (sweet talked the nurses to get his IV out), and fell into bed.

He should get released today and then four hours home in the car. He is supposed to wear a soft neck collar but he told me he isn't and I said he is. I have the keys------

Here he is in his sexy booties! The other thing is a blood pressure cuff...

 

Posted with Blogsy

NBC Get With It!

I love the Olympics; I come from a long line of Olympic lovers.

We are only on day 1, full day, of the 30th Olympiad. What have I watched so far? Tape delayed opening ceremony, tape delayed swimming, tape delayed volleyball... Do you sense a theme? NBC, what is your problem? We live in a digital age with up to the minute news! Have you heard of streaming? Would it be so bad to preempt the craptacular reruns? Do humans require the drivel on daytime TV?

While I'm on a roll.... Why is Ryan Seacrest loose from American Idol interviewing Olympic hopefuls?

NBC your judgement stinks!

But then again, maybe a rerun of Cash Cab articulates the human experience to a greater degree than world class athletes and their drive for sucess.

Posted with Blogsy

Beautiful Morning

What a beautiful morning! The Hubs and I ate our breakfast outside this morning. We go out to breakfast every Saturday, just us, sans the Boys.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped by Bernice's to get the Boys a cookie... So we shared a slice of lemon wine cake with buttercream frosting. Of course, cake is a breakfast food---everyone knows that!

 

Posted with Blogsy

Bargain

Resident Little dude loves to draw. The drawings are seemingly cute and innocent until you take a closer look and you notice a homicidal undertow. Of course, I wanted to share these gems on the blog. Well, Resident Little dude had other plans. It turns out that he wasn't happy with one of the drawings and he didn't want them on the blog. So, I did what any good mother does... Bargain!

He "designs" Keep Calm posters with the app on my iPad. The Toap Duck is his favorite. I don't know why he finds it hilarious... Nine year olds find hilarity in most everything! Toap makes more sense than taupe.

Back to the bargain... I can post his drawings if I keep the Toap Duck on my blog for a week. He might be a future lawyer with those bargaining skills. So enjoy the Toap Duck!

Look at this sweet picture--- of course, the farmer carries a scythe----to slaughter the cow!

You'll notice the quaint farmer with a gentlemanly hat, wearing a necklace, with a suit coat carries two sickles to slaughter the adorable pig!

























Yes, this is totally normal for little boys. No, they don't grow-up to be Charles Manson.

Posted with Blogsy

Technology is a tool

Technology in my future classroom....  Well, I think that technology falls into three categories:

1.  A little bit of razzle-dazzle

2.  Teacher organization and efficiency

3.  Student engagement

All classrooms need a little bit of razzle-dazzle!  Some projects beg for the technology Gods to sing... hello classroom newspaper, pen-pals, or newsletter.  

Sometimes a piece of tech isn't directly for the students but to help the teacher stay organized.  Absolutely!!  I believe that is a benefit to the students if only secondarily.  Try to wrangle 30 1st graders without organization... yeah, they will eat you alive!  

The most important piece is student engagement.  An effective teacher is always looking at student engagement.  It evolves and changes, multiple times a day.  I am always thinking, "How can I make this lesson better for my students?  How can I connect the lesson to my students experience?"  Technology at its best engages students and connects to their experience.  Notice that I say technology at its best...

Technology is a tool, like everything in a classroom, that teachers use to engage their students.  Technology doesn't replace teaching---- that special exchange of ideas between teacher and student--- it augments it.  

I am a year away from student teaching.  I am anxious to see how my cooperating teacher uses tech; it may be an enlightening experience or an exercise in utter frustration.  

I already soap-boxed  Ipads in education and my hate of worksheets... no need to blather on about that!

Denial----plain & simple

While perusing my local Wal-marts I noticed the large Back to School section. The Hubs was with me so I pointed it out to him as I think July is too early for back to school sales. Bad idea.....he turned on me and I might have seen the eyes of Satan.

The Hubs is a middle school teacher---- Yep, he is either a saint or crazy. The simple truth is: he is in denial that a new batch of students await him in a matter of a month!

I completely understand his denial. I don't suffer from back to school denial because I am one of those freaks that likes to buy textbooks, paper, and pens! It's a sickness!

I am in denial about plenty of other things----say, that the Hubs is having a surgery in less than a week. Denial! Resident teenager is starting high school. Denial! Resident little dude will start 4th grade. Denial! I am not at my scientifically (who is in charge of that?) determined ideal weight. Denial! My closets need a clear out. Denial! My last living grandparent is 84. Denial! Cookies and watermelon don't constitute a meal. Denial! I have to leave my boys for two nights while the Hubs has surgery in Spokane. Denial! I don't need an iMac. Denial! I have Hobbit feet. Denial! 1992. Denial! I know all the lyrics to ABBA songs. Denial!


So, Back to School, the entire phrase, is banned at my house----Denial reigns!





 

Posted with Blogsy

Signs from the Universe

I think the Universe is sending me a sign. I see iMac boxes everywhere I go. I already know that I NEED one. This is a sign that the Universe WANTS me to have one!! Who am I to argue with the Universe?

To my sister---- Yes, I took pictures of a dumpster! The Universe is talking to me so it's okay!

Posted with Blogsy