Haircut

The blog title speaks for itself.  I did it again...yep, I had my hair cut, and this time a bit shorter than I think I wanted it to be, but you know what they say: it always grows back.  My students were pretty funny today, as I expected they would be.  The comments ranged from, "Did you get your hair cut?" to ""Did you cut your hair?"  That one I especially like, since I don't do hair, and I always answer with, "No."  That usually makes them think and stare for a while.  I usually let them off the hook by saying something like, "No, my hair stylist cut it."  Then they all groan, and say, "Mrs. Endsley." 
I'm not sure how I wanted my hair when I went to Tawnie yesterday.  It took us half and hour to just come to some understanding.  You really want the person responsible for cutting your hair (and anything else related to making major changes to your looks) to understand what you want.  Poor Tawnie, she's so patient with me, since I didn't really know what I wanted.  Oh well.  It (my haircut) reminds me of the way I used to cut Erin's hair when she was too young to fight back.  Ben would call her the little Dutchgirl, and that really ticked her off.
I'll try to get a picture of my haircut in case anyone wants to find me.

Exercise 101

 Bill and I have been thinking of purchasing a treadmill, sort of like this one.  We have a neat slider-type of machine that you get to work your arms.  That's the one I'm using, now.  We also have another piece of equipment that turns you upside down.  Bill hooked me into that one once, and I ended up running to the bathroom!

I've sort of started back on my exercise program.  This is the program that I've invented myself, and consists of whatever I can fit in in a 24 hour period:
After arriving at school (during the weekdays), I try to make it a habit of walking everywhere.  This means, of course, that I must have a reason for walking down the halls.  Sometimes I'm just tired of looking at my students during silent reading time, and I don't have a book to read myself, so I like to make up an important reason to head off to the office, or the bathroom (I usually don't have to make up a reason for the bathroom trips).  Sometimes I just like to wander the halls in search of lost students.  This happened last week, when I had a student that was so upset in class, she asked if she could just walk it off. HUH?? I let her, since she's actually a pretty good kid, but she didn't come back to class at all.  I searched all the girl's bathrooms, checked with the office, counselors, and finally found her sister in Seminary and told her what had happened.  I got word the next period that she had called her mother, and went with her.  That walking counted for a day or two of exercise, don't you think?

You know you're old when....

I'm going to make my list of "You know you're old when..." today, so that those of you who are "young" will have something to be grateful for.  My mother has been telling me for the past gazillion years, "just wait until you're old, then you'll know what it feels like to..."
You Know You're Old When...
1. You spend more for skin moisturizer that food
2. Your students (if you're a teacher) like artists whose names are more like a mixed-up alphabet, than a name.
3. When you go to "Children's Place" or other kids clothing stores, the clerks refer to the items you're purchasing as items for your grandchildren.
4. Your age is dangerously close to the decade you once thought of as ancient.
5. It gets harder and harder to make 5 miles on the tredmill.
6. You keep getting AARP stuff and information on burial plots.
7. Your doctor runs more and more tests (why?)
8. You hate to write your age (or year you were born) on any forms.
9. You really don't mind paying from the senior menu.
10. Your knees really do hurt, and not from playing an active game of tennis.
That's all I can think of right now, but believe me, there are so many more ways that tell you you're getting old.  I remember a long time ago, when my mother kept telling us about this restaurant she loved to go to called the "Night Hawk."  Everytime we tried to decide where to get a good burger (in my mother's neighborhood in Portland), she would bring up the "Night Hawk" as if it were the very first time she had suggested it.  I made a pact, sort of, with my kids, that I never wanted to get to that stage when I would repeat myself, as if no one ever heard it before.  I told them that they would need to stop me before I said anything more, and all they would have to say would be "night hawk" and I would know what they were talking about.  So there, you know what to say to me if I begin repeating myself.  To me it's a sign of growing old, maybe not, but do whatever you think necessary so I don't drive you crazy (like I don't right now!)

It's Spring!

I've been waiting for our trees to bud, and, as you can see, it's just begun.  Also our lawn is greening up really well, since Bill spread the fertilizer.  I can hardly wait until all the leaves come out.  I know I'm sounding a bit weird and over excited about spring, but I'm ready any time it is.

Where did all that water come from?

Today, a couple of hours after I got home from school, Bill was out in the front yard doing what he loves to do to make our yard green and beautiful.  I was grading quizzes, when all of a sudden I heard Bill yell something about water, and the back deck leaking.  I ran out to the deck, and there was a gusher spewing water everywhere.  It seems that our very, very old table that stood up against the house next to the sliding glass door had broken in half (any wonder, since it was as old as dirt, and had tons of stuff piled on top of it?).  I checked to see what I could do, but I think I made matters worse.  The water was aiming away from the house, but as I began to clear off the table and attempt to move the broken pieces, the water was redirected toward the house, and we were in the beginning stages of a house flood.  With my quick thinking and strong muscles, I put the table back on top of the broken pipe.  Bill was in the front yard, trying to turn the water off, but to no avail.  We finally got a hold of the water company, and they sent someone out to turn it off.  We were grateful the water finally stopped drenching our deck, but now it's 10:30 pm, and I'm waiting for Bill to turn the water back on.  He didn't have the tool before, but he went to the hardware store, and bought a new pipe and a thing-a-ma-jig to turn on the main line, so we wouldn't have to call the water guy.  Bill wants me to go to bed, because I get up so early, but I want to make sure the water gets turned back on so I can take a shower in the morning.
So you see, friends and family, it's all about my shower...I shall stay up so Bill doesn't fall asleep and forget to turn the water on.  He wouldn't be pleased with me if I tried to wake him up in the morning just so I could have my shower.
 
Here's the P.S.
Bill just went outside, turned on the water, while Mandy and I stood watch over the newly mended pipe, and it WORKED!

Heaven help us all!

Just got the word on our "illustrious" congressional vote tonight on Obamacare, and it ain't good.  I don't want to bore you all with a tirade on this huge mess, but if you're smart (and I know you all are), vote those idiots out of office that were responsible for the lying, sneaking around, and cutting backdoor deals against the wishes of the American people.  I can hardly wait until the 2010 and 2012 elections.  Especially the 2012 election where, if we're smart enough and learned our lesson, will elect a new president.  The only worry is, who would that be????

We're not in Kansas (St.) anymore, Toto.

 

 I guess that saying can work whether BYU beat Kansas St. or not.  Kansas lost earlier to N. Iowa, and in the first few minutes of the BYU/Kansas St. game, we had them on the ropes by 10 points.  Alas, we lost the game, and so I guess I will have to get over it.  At work, I submitted Bill's and my choices for  "March Madness."  I don't feel too bad, especially compared to one of the secretaries (son played football for BYU), who placed BYU as the ultimate winner of the whole tournament.  OOPS.

BYU won!!!

OK, I know it's only the first round, but since we haven't gone past the first round in the past 7 years, that's dang good, huh?  My concern is that we may have to play Kansas St. on Saturday.  It was a great game, back and forth, back and forth.... but in the end the cougars triumphed.  I was teaching my 10th graders during the last few minutes of regulation play, but we just had to  hang in there and watch the two overtimes.  I threatened them that if BYU lost, they would get a HUGE test immediately following, so they (the students) all began cheering wildly.  I love my power.

GO COUGARS!!!

Strange people (things) in Hollywood

As Bill and Mandy and I were cruising through L.A. (Hollywood), I snapped this picture of a tree.  It sort of looked like someone trying to scare you on Halloween, or maybe Barbra Streisand waking up in the morning.

Wouldn't you be freaked out at night, if you came upon this image?

Life is not for the birds!

It's Saturday night, BYU lost last night to UNLV, it rained like crazy today, and to top it off, we have to set our clocks forward one hour!  That's a reminder for all of you out there that may read this blog and are wondering why it appears that you're running a bit late today...yes, you forgot to set your clocks, and watches forward.  It doesn't bother me, the loss of one hour in my day.  For some (Bill), it does bother them, but, what the heck, just sleep in one more hour the first day.
Spring Break is almost over, and I have four classes of vocabulary tests to correct, but forgot my grading key.  One more thing that will have to wait until I get to school.  Dang, I wanted to be ahead of things this quarter, but I'll get it done.

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a bird (any kind, preferably the kind that can fly)?   I watched quite a few good sized birds while on the California beaches last week, and I wondered just what they did with all their time.  Here's a few pictures that got me to thinking.

This big guy appears to be setting sail for the open sea.  I wish him luck, and as Bette Midler used to sing, " you're the wind beneath my sail."  Corny, I know, but only because I ate too many yummy corn nuts at the farmer's market.

Spring Break cont.

I still haven't unpacked my suitcase.  That is one of the two things I hate about traveling.  The other thing is packing.  So here I sit, looking at a bulging suitcase, trying to talk myself into cleaning it out.  Maybe tomorrow.
While in California, we went down to the Huntington Beach Pier, and the Santa Monica Pier.    Here's a couple of pictures of both of them:

  I found this couple and thought they would like their picture taken.  Ha, ha.

This big guy just wouldn't sit still for me, but I shot this pic just before he flew away.  What a life!

 This is the Santa Monica Pier,
just like in the movies.

OK, now you have to let me explain this picture, it's not really what it seems.  We were walking down Venice Beach, and Mandy and I saw this guy with a very obvious sign.  Well, it got our attention, and if you read real close, it says "SEX, now that I got yo attention, gimme a dollar!"  We thought it was funny in a stupid way, so I told Mandy to block my camera as I shot this picture.  He saw me and yelled that I owed him a dollar.  Imagine that!  Owing a dork a dollar for taking his picture.  Anyway, we moved on and Bill, Mandy and I bought the best homemade corndog and fries.

This was the Venice Beach sign as we headed out.

One more thing.  When we went back to Huntington Beach to partake of their yummy farmers' market, we spotted this amazing look-a-like to the babe magnet.  Doesn't she look great?

Spring Break 2010

This is going to be a multi-part blog, since I have a few pictures I'd like to share.  We went to the Costa Mesa/Huntington Beach area, and then drove around to various locations.  The first place we went to was the Academy Awards (which we couldn't get within two blocks of), and ran into one sort of famous person.  Mandy and I were standing on the corner with a few other people, trying to see if we could get a glimpse of anyone famous.  We did see a lot of limos and fancy cars, people in tuxes, and suits going to and from the Kodak Theatre, and found ourselves a few feet from a man who had tons of makeup on, in a tux, and saying goodbye to his wife or girlfriend.  Mandy glanced down at his all important tag hanging around his neck, and it read "Wardrobe Assistant to B. Streisand."  Well, it doesn't take a genius to know who B. Streisand was, so I had Mandy kind of stand between him and I as I shot a picture of him.  Here's the shot:

We were watching t.v. at the hotel later that night, and guess what? B. Streisand's wardrobe assistant was on a post Oscar show talking about the various celebrities' dresses and hair.  By the way, when Ms Streisand appeared on the show to announce an Oscar, her "wardrobe and hair" didn't look all that great, but that's just me.
Here's a couple of other pictures and a video taken outside and approximately two blocks from all the fun.  How pitiful I am.

It's taking too long for the video to upload, so I canceled it.  Here's a couple of pics that don't really show you how much security was there.  They had the police out in force, and trying to get by them was not something Mandy and I wanted to try.

Memories of 5th Grade

I was just reading a blog I found on Summer's blog.  It's one of her "followers", I guess.  Sometimes I enjoy reading the blog of a blog of someone I know.  It feels kind of like listening in on a phone conversation (back when there were only land lines, and you had extensions (not the hair kind).  Anyway, I was reading a really neat one about memories of 5th grade, and the challenge was to ask yourself various questions that would prompt you to remember all of those hilarious "issues" back then.  As you know, I'm a wee bit older than most, if not all, of you that are blogging, and reaching waaaaay back to my 5th grade year may be nigh unto impossible, but I'm going to try.  Here goes (are you ready?)
I went to Chief Joseph Grade School from 2nd to 8th grade, and I remember my 5th grade in snippits.  Probably the most important memory was meeting my best friend (then and now), Vicky.  My first impression of Vicky wasn't the best, maybe because I was jealous of her.  She moved to Portland from Japan...yeah, Japan.  Her father was in the military and they were based there.  It made her all the more mysterious, and I was anything but mysterious.  She had light blond hair, and was so bouncy and cute, I swear she became the teacher's pet from day one.  It didn't take long for me to mend my ways, and get to know her; we became best friends (BFF) to this day.  Right now, she and her husband, "hawk face", (Ron) are serving in Argentina as Mission President (Ron).  They'll be back this coming June.
Back to my recolection of 5th grade.  I do remember my teacher's name, and, if I close my eyes, can picture her.  Her name was Mrs. Nashiff and I remember she had black hairy arms and a bit of a mustache.  Boy, I hope she's not around to read this.  There are many things I recall about that year, but I won't bore you with them, except the time Vicky and I took band and we both chose the clarinet.  We were so full of ourselves; we thought we were talented enough to compose music after the first 6 weeks of band.  Because we couldn't play our clarinets in the classroom, we each used a ruler with finger placements where we were sure they should be.  We composed a song about another friend of ours, Lynn Hyde, and brought the "musical" score to band one day.  Oh boy, were we off.  Not only did it not sound anything like we had hummed, but our band teacher forbid us from playing while in his presence.  Just thought you'd like to know...

17 Hours and Counting

I just finished grading my second to last class of Research Papers and I truly think 1/2 of my students tune me out when I give them instructions on how to do a simple Power Point Research Paper.  All I want is that they learn how to do research, evaluate reliable sources, do parenthetical citations, and put a dang heading on their introductions.  Some of the kids did everything correct, or close to it, but there were those that sleepwalked through the entire three week unit.

We're heading to Southern California Saturday morning, and will return Wed. afternoon.  Bill wants to drive to Mark Harmon's home (star of NCIS), but I'm sort of afraid he may actually get out of the car and attempt to knock on his door, or something equally as embarrassing.  Maybe I could convince him to go on one of those star tour buses, and I'll go to the mall or IKEA.  You can count on me taking many pictures of our adventures, so stay tuned!

I should probably charge IKEA for advertising their logo here on my blog.  Not a bad way to make a little extra money.

Serious Blog Entry

I find it necessary to alert you to my theme for today; that being a very serious topic.  I just don't understand why students don't do as well today as they used to.  Actually I do know, and it may not come as a surprise to any of you.  That's because all of you are smart, and if you're parents concerned about the education of your children, and helping them (emphasis on "helping", not "making") become independent thinkers and good people you do what it right to help your child navigate through their growing up years, which includes their education.  I have a few of those types of students with parents who get it, but I'm afraid for the next generation.  I've gotten a few emails from parents asking for help with their children because their child is either emotional, out of control, disconnected, or otherwise failing my class.  The parent usually wants to know if their child can make up all their past (past = months late) assignments, because their child cannot fail.  What do you do?  I know what I've done, but, believe me, I just want to take most of those parents and....
I seriously don't mind it if I have students who, after listening and trying their best, still need more of my help.  That's fine.  It's for those students who feel entitled, tuned out, and have not got parents who make them toe the line (kind of an old fashioned phrase).
One thing I'm sure of, I wasn't a perfect parent while raising my kids.  I made mistakes, but I don't think I allowed my kids to tune out and feel education wasn't important.
One other thing I'm sure of...next week is Spring Break!  I kind of feel like Mel Gibson in Braveheart, when he rode in front of his men, yelling, "Freedom."