Saturday, January 12, 2008

A Cycle of Events...

I'm seeing a pattern develop over my time as an educator, and I'm not sure how long I'll last. I've seen several teachers from my Master's cohort leave the profession, and I'm not sure how much longer I'll hold out. It's a cycle, year after year-- and I'm at a 'good' school. I just don't know.

I know that there are those that appreciate me. If I was left alone to teach, I'd be happy as a clam. There are so many outside pressures that are just pure nastiness, though. Not going to get into them here-- no way. The pressures are mounting and I am just not sure where to go.

Do I stay and continue to take the pressures that directly influence me and my family life? Do I leave and find another job? Do I take the plunge and enter a doctoral program (I keep coming back to this, again and again). If I go for my doctorate, will it really be worth the investment?

I am not sure which direction I'm going in. I can't imagine another 22 to 23 years of this, though.

Gifts

It is always interesting to see what gifts arrive at Christmastime. Among the more interesting include the golf ball wine bottle stoppers and a Project Linus blanket for my son. (The wine bottle stoppers were a very obvious regift, especially because my cousin's husband is a golf freak and we don't golf. The blanket? I can't even fathom why, beyond rummage sale crap coming our way.)

However, I got some things I wanted. My folks gave me mad money for Best Buy, which I was excited to drop on Photoshop. Once I was at Best Buy, though, I decided to go for the Photoshop/Premiere combo. To clear my mind today, I decided to take it for a test drive. I can only liken it to a being teenager behind the wheel-- I was excited by the possibilities and I dove right in. I put together a slide show put to music. I haven't added the transitions yet, but I have gained a whole new appreciation for those who edit movies. There was a whole lot of effort that went in to 3 minutes and 34 minutes. Wow.

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Nostalgia, served with a side of camp

It all started with Jon Krakauer. I enjoyed Krakauer's book 'Into Thin Air' and then I discovered his book 'Into the Wild.' I was really blown away by the book. Quite honestly, I think that I would have done something similar had I been born male out here on the East Coast (as McCandless was). However, I was fortunate enough to be born in Deadwood, South Dakota to an outdoorsy father. I had my scrapes with wildness-- due to a considerable amount of town spent on the South Dakota/Wyoming border on my grandparent's acreage. Had I not been exposed to that and had grown up in suburban hell, I think that I would have plunged myself more into nature. I understand that I have inborn granola tendencies, and I accept them.

So tonight I was looking on imdb looking at information regarding Into the Wild. I knew that part of the movie was filmed in eastern South Dakota, but on the site I discovered that part of the filming took place south of the Black Hills. As I looked for more information, I linked into a page that showed all movies filmed in South Dakota. One was a skiing movie. And as I looked for more information about that movie, I discovered that it was filmed in my hometown. It's listed incorrectly on the imdb site, because the town listed (Deadwood) does not have a ski area, only my hometown (Lead) does.

When I discovered that another B-movie was shot in 'Deadwood.' (We'll see about that-- I'll give you an update once I've watched it thanks to Netflix.) It's called 'Beast from Haunted Cave.' Which then brought back vivid memories of a time when I was involved in the shooting of a no-budget horror film during high school. How was I involved? It was my crappy Chevy Citation that enabled some of the shots to be filmed. What happened to the movie? I have no idea, although I know someone who probably does.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Snuggly baby

While there are nights that my son really upsets me, tonight was the opposite-- a really fun night. Perhaps I'm becoming a bit more acclimated to the motherhood thing. Coffee dumped on the family pictures? Oh, well-- let's mop it up. Dumping his chicken spaghetti in his milk cup and then using that concoction to gel his hair? Dig out the baby wipes.

The best part of the night was Mark running through the first floor and giving our legs a full body hug. As I picked him up, he giggled uncontrollably. That toddler tummy is perfect for zerbitts.

We put him to bed and he was like Olivia, negotiating for more books. He wedges his head between the pillows on his bed. We ask him if he wants us to start his lullaby CD and we hear the little voice say, "Uh-huh."

Tonight, it's good to be Mark's mommy.

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Traveler IQ Challenge

Fun game!

I got to level 8 with a score of 273,000 on my first try. Enjoy!

Traveler IQ Challenge

Thanks for the heads up, ZeFrank!

Ahh... First Day Back From Vacation!

There are some days at school when I look at the clock and wonder how I can make it move quickly through the next five and a half hours. (At that point, I've usually had to ask a kid to pick up their pencil five times and then have picked up the pencil myself, because I would probably do the Fred Flintstone-fall if I didn't.)

Today's happiness is that the day went very smoothly. It always does, though. The kids always come back pretty calm from their holiday vacation. Oddly enough, it is the fourth Thursday in May that makes me want to pull my hair out.

And to segue...

I took tons of homemade cookies, candy, etc. to Minnesota with us. I was really happy to share the sweets (I might as well tape them to my rear instead of eat them, because that's where they are going to go).

So I went back today to... more chocolate on my desk. More truffles, peanut butter cups, chocolate-dipped pretzels, and so on. Wow-- I'm going to pay for this! (Probably on a treadmill...)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008

Road Trip, Past Tense

We just returned from a monster road trip out to see the Minnesota family. It took us two days of driving (each way) to get to Southeastern Minnesota. Here were some of the highlights:
  • There wasn't as much traffic as we were expecting, which was a very pleasant surprise.
  • We enjoyed having some time alone as we drove. It was just the three of us, and we could be as serious or as silly as we wanted to be. Pretty nice to have some family bonding time.
  • The whims of the airlines were not controlling our travel destiny. I did not have to be worried if I had enough water/sippy cups/diapers. I had no b*tchy TSA employees to deal with. If we had to go to the bathroom, we stopped. If I wanted quiet, I popped in a DVD. After many recent unpleasant flying experiences lately, it was a treat.
  • I got to go to Seed Savers in Decorah, Iowa. I visited where the biodiversity-preserving magic happens. (And, according to the employee I talked to, I was their first on-site customer since the Visitor Center closed.)
  • We got to sit quietly in the farmhouse (where privacy does not exist) until 2 PM every day while my MIL slept after working her graveyard shift. With a toddler. And on Christmas, too.
  • My son, who as my friend aptly described, sounded like a 'barking seal', got better. Gotta love the humidifier!!!

We enjoyed our trip. Do we have to go back to work?