First Day of School Eve

First Disc To School. Alphabetical list.

Sun, Earth, Moon Rhythm, Rhyme, Results Science (Disc 1)
Lab Safety! (Recall) Rhythm, Rhyme, Results Science (Disc 2)
Water Cycle (Recall) Rhythm, Rhyme, Results Science (Disc 2)
I'm Lucky Joan ArmatradingJoan Armatrading: Greatest Hits
Celebration Kool & The Gang Funk Essentials
At Your Best (Remix) Aaliyah
Fastest Finger Theme abc Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Atom's Theme Song Atom and His Package
Lose My Breath Destiny's Child Lose My Breath -
Elevated Earth, Wind & Fire & Floetry Elevated - Single
A Day Without Rain Enya Only Time: The Collection
At Last (Single) Etta James
Vocab (Refugees Hip Hop Rem) The Fugees The Score: Bootleg Versions
I Ka Barra (Your Work) Habib Koité and Bamada Muso Ko World
I Want You Back Jackson Five
Sun On The Moon James Taylor Live [Disc 2]
Gravity John Mayer Continuum
I Heard It Through the Grapevine Marvin Gaye
Cool, Cool River Paul Simon Rhythm Of The Saints
Sing for You Tracy Chapman Our Bright Future

First Day

I couldn't sleep. Watched Mad Men, and Criminal Minds. I can't stand Criminal Minds. I should like it. But I absolutely can't stand it when the wife from Huff always calls and says "I found a blood trail" and Dharma's husband or the other boss guy says "well, follow it" Like no duh! I also can't stand waiting around for the serial killer to kill again. They do it every time. So - "when he kills again this time he will leave in a red car" yeah sure. It makes my skin crawl. I also don't appreciate that they show you the bad guy and then you congratulate them for figuring it all out. It makes for boring TV. PLUS the show is a little creepy and at times more uncomfortable than SVU to watch but at least on that show, they do some investigation and evidence collection. For example, last nights dealt with a necrophiliac and they nabbed the wrong one, so like there are more than one creepy necros running around saying "I sleep with Dead People". Oh yeah, I also hate how the blond can just "call to put a rush on the DNA analysis". It takes 48 hours even without a line. But this FBI group can go back to their private jet and get the results out of thin air, literally. Plus the private jet is completely unrealistic. It's like Air Force IX or something. And I hate the computer lady, not just because she gets terrible lines and called babygirl by the sexy black character (skin crawl again), no, it's because she single handily let the really bad guy after them into their computer system by playing a game on her wireless laptop. She should be fired.

So I perfectly arranged all the desks into groups. Then changed them to a Double U shape. One big U with 20 desks and smaller U inside with 16 desks. Lab Tables. Each of which have to be turned over and moved. So one, mean evil one, knocked me right on my ass. On the floor, under a table. Dreaming.

那个小女孩重心不稳差一点跌倒

The principal that hired me retired on Friday. Friday. Before teachers report. So... we met our new principal today. Someone is new-er than me! Who knew? Hooray!

Wordle

Using a literary activity in science! The assignment is to look at the
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I will also be using wordle for vocabulary lists this year. We'll see.

August 24. 2008

Almost two years ago I made a list of places I still have to see in the blog post Shattered Memories. I am totally glad that upon all this list making, I have actually crossed something off a list! And within a year!. So time for these plans. I changed Italy to Rio. Let's see if this works again!

"Places I still have to see
Brazil: Rio Di Janiera, Sao Paolo, Amazon rain forest
Greece: To replace Renee Z's dad's prayer beads from 5th grade project
Hungary; Budapest (and perhaps Prague Castle District)
Netherlands: Anne Frank's House
Romania: Count Dracula's Castle
Spain: Basque Bilbao Museum and Portugal: so I can say "the Plane to Lisbon"
Iceland: for the ice ice baby
Egypt: Nile Cruise, Aswan Dam, Abu Simbel, Pyramids of Giza
Kenya: The Masai Mara
Tanzania: Safari
China: Lhasa (Tibet), Three Gorges Dam, Warriors of Xi'an, Hong Kong, Beijing
India: Uttar Pradesh Taj Mahal & Varanasi
Cambodia: The Silver Pagoda and Angkor Wat
Jordan: Petra
Fiji; Um Fiji, to see the coconuts
New Zealand: To Zorb down a mountain and find the lord of the rings
Mexico: Teotihuacan & Monarch Butterfly migration Michoacan Feb/Mar
Guatamala: Tikal
Peru: Machu Picchu
Chile: Easter Island
Mali: Timbuktu for the mosques and to say "I'm going to Timbuktu how about you?""
Italy: Rome, Venice, Sicily

New Job

I am starting work at my new job in 1 hour and thirty two minutes.

Things that are good...

I loved teaching middle school.
My entire life has been influenced highly by my experiences in 8th grade.
I will help a population of kids that need to be helped.
I lived in the same neighborhood as the school for 7 of my 8 years here.
I get to commute by the best liquor store in Baltimore on my way home.

Things that are scary...

It is a middle school.
Meeting the new administration and teachers.
No air conditioning.
Only one photocopy machine.

Things I know now that I wish I knew then...

Don't wear heels. It's not the job for them.
Look sciency and sound sciency and act sciency. It is all in the appearances.
Labs make for an easy and interesting class and just take time to set up.
Demos are even better.
Look organized and sound organized and act organized.
If you don't grade every day after classes, it will just sit in a pile for a long while.

Spa weekend = fabulous

The highlight of the weekend was the yoga outside and I have continued the practice into the week as well. The list of activities was exciting but I am glad I didn't go to the spa and spend the money. I already bit off some of the fingernails, the pedicure still needs the polish, I couldn't sit still during the eye cucumbers but I have to remember that for the school year, puffiness and tired eyes! The part that I didn't do on my scheduled spa weekend was the hike. It has even been cool weather but scattered showers. I prefer to do yoga on the porch in the rain.

All of this prepared me to write two pretty darn good lessons.

And yesterday, 54 and I were both home kicking around when he decided to put up shelves. I got to help. I spray painted the brackets. He put up a shelf above the oven, above the kitchen table, and above the TV in the living room. They are absolutely beautiful. I was amazed at his skills. It was like wood shop on the porch for a bit, but for absolutely no money, three new beautiful shelves, practically out of thin air. I keep walking around saying I love my new shelves. I do!

Day Two

Pilates. With Cat.

I don't have much experience with Pilates. Except my twin was a dance major in college. And my niece loves her ballet class. And I once owned a pair of toe ballet shoes. So I had one experience with a Pilates instructor. Named Kat or something like that. You tie yourself onto the expensive rowing-esque machine with legs and arms like a bow flex and Kat tells you to breathe and contort and do it 5 more times. Then switch. With like a million thousand exercises until you get off that thing feeling a little experienced with a medieval times torture chamber and stretched like you were on a salt water taffy machine. And then Kat charges you a fee of $75 for the service. Or, conveniently, you use sister math in that you attending the almost missed but would have to pay any way allow sister to pay for session.

So, I needed a cheap (free) version of the real Hollywood Body Pilates that I cannot afford especially in August. I researched what I had scheduled for myself this day of my spa vacation, and there were some floor exercises that are fancy ballet-esque ab and glut routines that seem torturous but not too bad. But I was way less disciplined than in leading my own yoga routine so I fell back to using On Demand Less is More Pilates 20 minute floor routine. The cat, Han Solo, joined me in my stretches. Wherein I wrote a Pilates Rap. Pilates for the Ab-iEs, And I felt a little flabby. But I'm not crabby. Not too shabby. Word.

In other do it yourself Three Day Spa news, the facial mask (Papaya Mask) was replaced with the Milk and Honey mask I made up because yes, I had no Papaya. 1 tbsp honey 1 tsp milk. On face. 10 min. Then shower it off.

Day One

Yoga. With Fox.

The thunderstorm greeted my morning as forcefully as the smell of coffee permeated the bedroom. I was inspired to start the day of pampering and accomplishment that I have scheduled. The first class Yoga meant to start at 8 am but I was eager and started at 7:30. It occurred to me that I live on the edge of a forest with a covered balcony. What a great place to do Yoga in the rain. Following my index card of poses I listened to only the rain, my breath, and the poses. It felt fantastic. And then, out of the green in the distance, was a fox watching me do hero pose. We just breathed.

It was awesome.

Stay at home 3 day spa vacation

I read most of this in a magazine. I decided to put the items on the schedule and just pamper myself. It will be the best start to a new, and as always stressful, school year. Hoping to teach some classes, take some classes, and cook some good food this upcoming year. This will set the tone.

Three Day Spa Vacation. At home. Free (practically) and DIY.
The At Home Spa Guide by Martha
Detoxify and Cleanse
At home remedies

Here's the Three day schedule of activities
Thursday 8/12
Yoga
Farmers Market Visit
Papaya Mask facial

Friday 8/13
Pilates
Herbal Steam Shower & Bath
Facial
Manicure
PM Yoga

Saturday 8/14
Hiking
Eye Soothing MaskDo it yourself spa
Power Yoga
Pedicure

Menu Items

Breakfast Smoothies
Cobb Salad
Soup, Salad, Sandwich dinner
Brunch Quinoa Quince Quiche
chunky apple muffins
strawberry freezer jam
Homemade Gorp and Granola Bars