Friday, March 31, 2006
sick
Thursday, March 30, 2006
update
The punishment that the Dean of Students assigned for this particular infraction was rather severe. The parent had to take a day off work and shadow the student at school all day (which incidentally was today). Of course, today her behavior was impeccable. But then, she always does behave for me.
Students usually behave for me even if they misbehave most of the time in other classes. The reason is that I often quickly win them over. For better or worse, many students see me as a magical type of person who makes them able to do work that, without me, would be impossible. I spend much of my time trying to show them that I am not the magic key and that they do have the skills and can learn the strategies to do it all without me. However, being that many do see me as the magic key, their behavior is generally good for me.
unlovable
When I got home, I gave Schataje her treatment and gave Tala a bath (lucky dog). Now I am contemplating tidying up a bit before getting into bed early. I am also watching “Extreme Makeover Home Edition – After the Storm” which takes sappiness to a whole new level of sap.
Tomorrow, Tala will be attending school with me. The students are so excited. They have been waiting for this and asking about her everyday since I told them I would bring her in two weeks ago. Days when Tala visits are like holidays, the kids love her! I brought in this book for them to read to her. It is about a hideously ugly dog; Tala can relate.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
work at home
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
retrospective
Wallis, drinking eggnog out of a cup on Christmas Morning, 1997. What an amazingly talented dog.
Fall 1994, marching band. I played saxaphone, because it is louder than clarinet and you can use a strap. It was fun but cold and very dorky.
1996, Incredible! I have always had a long tongue.
Monday, March 27, 2006
pug = pig?
Oh, what is the matter with poor Puggy-wug
Pet him and kiss him and give him a hug.
Run and fetch him a suitable drug,
Wrap him up tenderly all in a rug,
That is the way to cure Puggy-wug.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Echo Cliffs
Friday, March 24, 2006
Schataje update
Schtaje is really well this week. She has more energy than I have seen in a long time and I didn’t notice any bleeding at all this week (Schataje has been experiencing bleeding since way back in summer ’05 but we didn’t really notice for a long time).
big trouble
I was out of the classroom all day at a training seminar about standards based ongoing assessment (yawn). My sub got mad at one of my ninth graders and sent her to the office for saying "para de chingarme", which apparently is very rude. I have been spending the last ten minutes trying to figure out what this means. Here is what my investigation has turned up:
Freetrasnlation.com: costs $39.95, not worth it
In order for (para) of (de) screw me (chingarme)
Based on these last, I interpolate that it means something like:
Thursday, March 23, 2006
easy life
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
slug marathon
One of the reasons that public school is only 180 days per year is that it teachers can’t stand any more than that. Right now I am at the tail end of a very long period without any breaks. Winter break was 11 weeks ago and I have three weeks to go until spring break (a whole week off). I feel like I am running a marathon. I just hit mile 21 and don’t think I can make it to the end.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
schataje-bell
After a rather grisly discovery this evening (third bird in two weeks), I have decided to have Schataje wear a bell.
current interests
Currently reading: just staring The DaVinci Code
Currently listening to: Don't Do Me Like That, Tom Petty
Currently climbing: 5.10cs and 5.10ds (at last, I thought I was stuck on 5.10bs forever)
Not Watching: American Inventor (what a disappointment!)
summer school
I volunteered to teach summer school this summer, but didn’t know what I would be teaching. I am “highly qualified” to teach multiple subjects so it could have been anything from math to English to *gulp* history (but I hoped not!). I asked Rachel yesterday, and she thinks that I’ll be teaching English 9.
I am excited about it because I think it’ll be a fun class to teach. I hope that I can teach either Of Mice and Men or Animal Farm.
Monday, March 20, 2006
basic instinct
Sunday, March 19, 2006
Schataje update
Schatajae visited the vet on Thursday. The vet took some blood. We got her ferritin back right away. Schataje is running low, indicating that she is anemic. The vet gave her a shot and gave me two additional shots to give her this week to address this problem. The shots should help give her a lot more energy and generally feel better and healthier.
Good news! Schataje has gained ½ pound in the last month! This is significant since she is a small cat. It appears that her new soft-food diet is agreeing with her.
More good news! The vet called on Saturday night to let us know that Schataje’s kidney blood work came back from the lab. Although one type of test showed that Schataje levels are too high, the other test came back in the normal range! This means that Schataje’s fluids therapy is working well and that Schataje is felling better. Schataje is still a very sick kitty, but is happy and comfortable now!
planet of the apes
In order to reach some open routes, we traversed around the pool to find some not as crowded routes. Traversing around the rock pool was an adventure of its own. We were basically climbing horizontally just inches above a deep and cold pool of water. I was so scared about falling and dropping all of our expensive gear in the water. I made Keith take multiple traverse trips and carry all the gear.
After doing a few climbs behind the pool, we traversed back (again with Keith making multiple trips) and got on the Apes Wall. Then the sun started to set and, cold and tired, we headed back to the car.
A very fun day!
Saturday, March 18, 2006
the great garage clean-up
LA Clippers
I was a volunteer leader, in charge of motivating and organizing 7 other volunteers. We were assigned to the suite area but had free range to roam the entire staples center. It was cool to be able to wander way up to the fancy boxes and all the way down to the courtside seats (where I spotted Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle).
I discovered that the best selling technique was to approach people in their seats and block them in so that they couldn’t escape my pitch. Even so, I only sold to about 10% of people I approached. Boy, it was tough to get shot down so much, but it was for a good cause.
In all, I sold over 160 tickets! Hurray me!
Friday, March 17, 2006
vocabulary test
Wept: I fell and had a big wept on my leg.
Debt: When I am 18, I will have my own debt card.
Revive: I told my friend a secret because I know that she wouldn't revive me.
Alter: The alter is where people get married.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
test
vet
Schataje:
Schataje has gained ½ pound and is feeling much better in general. She has iron deficient anemia (I know what that is like!) and I got shots to give her at home. The vet would like me to keep giving her the IV fluids. We’ll know how her kidney is doing when the blood tests come back in a few days.
Tala:
Tala got her rattlesnake booster vaccine and got so excited that she pooed on the vet’s floor. How embarrassing (caused a blushing episode)! The vet also cut her toenails, cleaned her ears, and “aspirated” a little weird bump that she had on her chest. She thought that it was great fun.
you know you’ve raised them well when…
I was five minutes late to my second period 9th grade class today, a meeting ran late. When I rushed in, I discovered that my 9th graders were sitting quietly around the table, with the table cleared and their books out. They were reading aloud from Fahrenheit 451 (we always start class with me reading aloud to them for 5 minutes). When I came in, they looked up, smiled and continued reading. I was so proud!
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
wedding dress
Comments PLEASE! Is it formal enough? Will it make my hips look big because of the high waist?
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
smemory
erythrophobia
I dislike blushing. In fact, I hate it. I have erythrophobia, fear of blushing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blushing
Monday, March 13, 2006
what kind of dog are you? TALA
You're a Labrador Retriever! You're friendly and
always looking for fun, but you aren't too
bright.
What kind of dog are you?
what kind of dog are you? CARRIE
You're a Chihuahua! You're small and cute, but you
try to make everyone think you're bigger than
you are. You like to bully people, but
you're loyal to one person.
What kind of dog are you?
Sunday, March 12, 2006
lazy weekend
On Saturday, Tala and I tried out the new Culver City Dog Park. It was neat, but has lots of room for improvement. Tala enjoyed meeting some nice new people and sniffing butts with other dogs.
On Sunday, Tala and I slept in late. Then we went to REI and spent a long time looking at books, admiring the Keen Newport H2 (see picture below), and helping Keith pick out a new hydration daypack. Then we went to Beach City Rocks and did some climbing. I have not been climbing in a couple of weeks due to time constraints and was disappointed to discover that in that short time I had lost some muscle strength in my back, bah!
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Joshua Tree trip
I am back! The trip was both great and difficult. We contracted with an adventure trip company, Boojum, who provided our gear and planned the activities. We broke the students into six groups of 13 students with one ECHS teacher and one Boojum instructor in each group.
his little tiny hole that was only big enough to go in sideways and then slide down a four-foot long smooth rock slide and then climb up and over a bunch of boulders and obstacles. Eventually, we got to a neat water pool deep in the cave. It was so cool!
Trip highlight: when it snowed on Friday morning and many of the kids had never ever seen snow before
Trip lowlight: Friday morning when it was freezing and so windy that I almost blew away and I couldn’t stop shivering
activity: exploring the cave
Worst activity: yelling at naughty students
Most interesting thing learned: Joshua Tree used to lay at the bottom of the ocean
Most painful thing learned: The Golden Choya REALLY hurts if it sticks you in the leg (make sure you click the enlarge the picture for full effect)
See http://cyhayden.net/gallery/JTreeECHS for more pictures!
Monday, March 06, 2006
work
In such a climate, I am not surprised that I forgot to pay the rent. I am in a bit of a pickle now. Should I call up the landlord and make some lame excuse (i.e.: “Oh I thought we were paying on the 15th of the month now!!!”), should I just pay now and pretend like it was on time, or should I wait till he says something and then act like, “Oh, you didn’t get it!? I sent it WEEKS ago!!!”?
Oakwilde Campground Hike
On Sunday I hiked from the Angeles Crest Highway in La Canada to Oakwilde Campgroup along the Arroyo Seco via Paul Little picnic area. It was a pleasant hike with warmish sunny weather. The stream crossing were numerous and a bit difficult and on the way back, we decided to save time by forging the river rather than hopping boulders. Total hike time was about 5 hours. We didn’t spot any snakes, but did see a pack of wild pugs foraging for treats in the chaparral.
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Conejo Mountain rock climbing
Tala had a fun day outdoors and has proven herself to be an excellent climbing companion. She patiently waits at the bottom of the rock and watches both climber and belayer with rapt attention. If you call her when you are halfway up a climb (15 or so feet in the air) and tell her “up-up” she even runs around and appears to attempt to comply (unsuccessfully obviously).
The approach was the most strenuous part of the adventure. Although a fire-road gives fairly easy access to the climbs, it was fenced off some time ago after a guy hurt himself up near the rocks. We had to bushwhack our way through the chaparral and up a big old mountain. Hard work!
Disneyland
Shortest line: Winnie the Pooh (less than 5 seconds)
Longest line: Roger Rabbit’s Cars (25 minutes)
Average wait time: 5 minutes
We got veggie burgers for lunch and I noticed that they also have veggie gumbo in new Orleans square. Three cheers for vegetarian friendly Disney!
We counted throughout the day and noted 24 total product placements throughout the park. Some were quite weird (Brawney’s Big Thunder Park… how are paper-towels related to western-themed railroads?). Boo for Disney selling out.
Carrie’s favorite ride: Splash Mountain (although admittedly, not as fun when it is 50 and raining).
Keith’s favorite ride: Space Mountain
Carrie’s highlight of the day: veggie burgers that Keith conceded were “almost as good as the real thing”
Keith’s highlight of the day: nostalgia
