Captain's Log

I taste blood.

Have you ever been sitting next to a complete stranger, attempting to keep up with conversation, while simultaneously attempting to separate a sub-zero temperature popsicle from your face?
Well I have, and it was no small feat.
Apparently I was in the right place at the right time for snack distribution, and among various treats, including candy bars and cupcakes, they were also giving out strawberry popsicles as a pick up for the waiting guests.

I was thrilled when I started seeing the familiar wrappings of one of my favorite frozen treats, and waisted no time in acquiring one of my own.

Little did I know, that in order to keep these concoctions in their frozen state, that the powers that be had put them into some cryogenic chamber complete with what I can only guess must have been dry ice.

Soon after attempting to take the first frosty bite, I was instantly informed that I had made a terrible mistake and had cemented the treat to my face.

This was not however, apparent to the person I was previously talking to, who went on to ask me questions about my line of work and the tasks I was in charge of.

I made every attempt possible not to give away my embarrassing predicament, and in between drooling profusely, while trying to plan out an exit strategy, I did fairly well in responding nonchalantly.

Finally, after giving up on all attempts at avoiding injury, I gave in and just focused on freeing myself from the frozen demon. After all that I was in instant pain and immediately looked up to see that everyone who had made the same unfortunate mistake as me was in a similar situation.

The room filled with people glaring at their chosen treats and digging for pocket mirrors to help assess the damages.

I was lucky, I only lost a little skin and the better part of my taste buds, leaving me with the unsatisfying taste of blood and nothing to show for it.

I finally solved the puzzle by stealing a water cup and dunking the arctic treat into water before making any other ill planned attempts at consuming the thing.

The popsicle came in handy, soothing my latest injuries.

You learn something new every day, and I will be wiser if ever the situation presents itself again in the future.

On other notes, I had a nice time at the day's activities and made my way to the convention center with plenty of time to spare.

I did find that after a long day of meeting new people and mulling about that the tiny laptop I had brought soon hung like lead from my shoulder, causing continuous pain and dragging me down, leaving me to find any excuse to put it down like the nagging child it had become.

I am hesitant to bring it with me, and am even considering reviving the long dead art form of note taking with a pen and paper to help cover all the new information and contacts, though I know that would not be the best for helping me to remember all the fantastic tools I will be introduced to in the coming week.

The last event of the day was a keynote presentation by the leader of our convention, and a special guest who was formerly the head of the World Bank.

The arena filled to the brim with excited new faces all waiting to hear from our leaders. After the introductions had been made and the awards for various accomplishments relating to the technology field had been doled out, oru key speaker took the stage.

I was curious as to how his background would relate to the integration of technology and the different strands we were trying to help be incorporated into teaching, but I was excited to find out.

After the show began, I became increasingly confused as to how the topics under discussion were going to relate back to the topics at hand and as the performance went on, I finally realized that there wasn't going to be any.

The presentation was on a series of important topics relating to global issues that need to be addressed in the near future, and our need for a unifying team that will take on the task of enforcing our goals across the globe. The issues that were covered ranged from the depletion of forests and over fishing, to emission levels and our dependency on other consumable resources, such as oil, water, and food.

I admit that with such a large group of people in attendance, it was nice to know that the message was being heard loud and clear from participants around the country, but I wish the connection between helping students to become involved and concerned about the choices being made would have been stronger.

Knowing about the issues is one thing, but helping students to get involved is another, and I would have liked to have heard more about the different steps and programs that were being implemented with that goal in mind and the kinds of projects students were creating.

There will be an exhibition of student work that we will be able to see throughout the conference, and hopefully that will fill in the rest of the gaps for me.

So the lesson of the day kids is... don't eat a popsicle strait out of the cart without a glass of warm water and a pair of tongs.

The Road To...

Oh My Goodness, did I have the day from hell…
After getting all my ducks in a row and making my way to the airport, getting through the open threats on the number of bags you can carry, and listening to the crazy woman complain about her lost toiletries, I finally made it through all the thunder storms, the insanely large airport, to the bench under the budget sign. After watching numerous shuttles pass by every minute from the competitors, I finally made it to the rental agency, to be greeted by an hour long line and a bag of chili Fretos, which would be my only meal for the day.

After making it through the gauntlet of people waiting for the four assistants behind the desk I encountered some new issues and events.

To make my trip more valuable and not to miss out on the major events that were to take place on Sunday, we amended my reservation to include Saturday. We just added an extra day to the bill and I was told that since it was reserved through Expedia, that I would need to put the small fee on my own card and be reimbursed when I return home. Sounds simple enough… Not if you are talking to the guy I got.

He takes my credit card and lisence and looks at the screen. He informs me that since the two reservations are being paid separately, I will need to return the next day to re-check out my car. I explained that we had arranged the purchase ahead of time and had been told I would be signing two separate rental agreements at the same time and that I would just return the car on Wednesday on my way out of town.

A simple arrangement turned into a straight out screaming match, with me trying to keep my cool at each turn in the conversation. After giving in to the ridiculous terms of having the car for a matter of hours and needing to return again, only to stand in line just to get the same keys handed back to me, the evil man inquired if I would like to get the additional insurance. I asked if the additional insurance had been purchased for the other dates that had been arranged and he said that they had not, so I said I didn't want it.

From there he went on and on, insisting that I needed the insurance. I explained that I was perfectly covered by my school's insurance from being on a business trip and my own. He insisted again… So basically I said "no" quite clearly around 5 times, and each time he shook his head and said that I really needed it.

Finally I gave up and asked how much it was… In an inaudible tone he mumbled a number that could have been anything, so I asked again… He printed out my bill and I looked at the charges, and said, oh sixteen dollars, that isn't too bad. He immediately corrected me, fifty three dollars…
So I finally made it out accomplishing nothing and in a complete haze as to my whereabouts in this state that I have never seen before.
I watched as the helpful woman at the next kiosk cheerfully handed her patrons maps and helped them with their journeys. I asked my guy for a map and he wandered around as if the request was out of the ordinary and through off his concentration.

I know the line is long and that people are waiting, but it doesn't do me any good to be in a parking lot in the middle of nowhere with no clue where the freeway is.

So I head out to the car and give the latest report to Mandi, the one who made the reservations… She calms me down and explains that I need to call the 1-800 number and get the ball rolling, lucky for them it was past their usual hours of operation and there was no one to hear my story.

So I head back in and Bullwinkle seems surprised to see me back in line. Mandi told me that there should be two forms and that it was all set up so I made my way, since I had nothing better to do.
As I reached the front of the line I hoped that I wouldn't be paired with Grumpy Bear a second time.
Thankfully I was matched up with the smiling map girl from earlier. I mentioned my problem and she said that it would be no problem to fix. Of course she was a trainee and needed to ask for help in setting the final changes… That is when Grumpy Bear came back on the scene, yelling at me and telling me that I needed to come back and that there was no way around it. I explained again that I was going to be at the convention center all day and that there was not a convenient time to drive an hour out of my way after a long day of classes and networking…
From there I saw Grumpy storm off to his manager and yell quite clearly (for the first time in our dealings, as all other attempts at speech had resulted in garbled consonants that couldn't even clarify billing questions) that he didn't know of any conferences that went past nine o'clock at night…
I was really upset after that one, implying that day or night I should find the time to drive back to the boondocks to put an X on a line and drive away again.
And for the record, though he may find it unfathomable that a conference will go late into the evening, I do not and have even gone as far as to sign up for classes that go till that time. While there I made a complaint that the man had also badgered me into the insurance that costs double what the car rental was for and brought my bill into the triple digits on a school trip. I asked for the guy's name and the frightened trainee did her best to recall, but you could tell that she wasn't about to ask him.

Good plan, offer the insurance, and then get the driver so upset that they storm off to the parking lot and out into the darkness, not even knowing where the lights are.

I had a thrilling time with it all…
Thankfully after barely making it the 45 minutes on the freeway to my hotel, the wonderful woman behind the counter explained that there is actually a light rail train outside my door that goes straight to the conference center, avoiding the freeway, (which she mentioned she wouldn't go onto if her life depended on it) and avoiding the issue of parking fees. She even said that there is a shuttle from here that goes straight to the airport for a whopping six dollars as well…
So now my final mission is going to be getting to the rental agency, getting rid of the car, finding a bus, and making my way back to the hotel. I am guessing that the switch may be a lot of work for me, but perhaps the best plan.

Off to ISTE

The forecast for the area of Denver Colorado is a gloomy, overcast scenario with a major probability of thunder and lightning.

I am excited for my arrival in this new state, and am continually impressed by my own lack of general knowledge relating to the country I live in. I have been flying over sandy desert and snow covered mountains, each one looking more mysterious than the last, leaving me to wonder where I may be and finally leading to the conclusion that I haven't a clue what the names of any of the states are or where they might be in geographical relation to one another.

Getting out of the airport was the usual endeavor. I had the rare opportunity to leave out of Eugene and avoid an extra two hour drive on top of what is already going to be a long and tiresome day. When I arrived, I was surprised to find how small the entire operation was and was very impressed with the local artwork that is incorporated into the whole area.

I was not, however, impressed by the local options for food, where I was presented with an $8 dollar burger and a $16 dollar bill. That was just a funny oversight, but I thought it was a little entertaining.

On the topic of entertainment, I was fairly amused to find after arriving at my final terminal in waiting for my plain, that the rest of the passengers and I were joined by a very pushy woman with a knack for projection. This lady sat on a bench for over an hour, calling everyone she knew in turn and screaming across the terminal how she had been robbed of her most prized possessions and hated the airline industry on account of it.

After the first two calls I started collecting data on the frequency in which she repeated herself. I heard toothpaste about 11 times, mouthwash about 9 times, and hour mouse about 12, which was the most displeasing to her…
It was a fairly interesting spectacle, with the rest of the waiting passengers in complete silence and not wanting to disrupt this obviously disgruntled passenger. I knew that she would be joining us on our flight, but am hoping in the back of my mind that she is no one of consequence and will not turn out to be one of our keynote speakers and end up holding a grudge with me for mocking her pain and taking data on the subject.

The Picnic Table

Long ago in a far away land, there was once a complex that was home to a picnic table.
It was a modest thing. It just served a purpose...
Many a day would be filled with the merriment of book clubs and old friends, gathering around in it's presence...
No one minded that the table had been well worn over the years and that the paint was chipping in certain spots.
The true joy came from the simple function that it served, it was a place to eat, chat, and hang out...

But soon the powers that be learned of the picnic table's power and they were jealous....
They took it away for "Maintenance"....
The seasons passed with few noticing it's absence, but for the rest of us, we waited patiently for the return of our long lost friend.

Finally, a year later, I see a little college kid, sanding away at the table, promising that it will be done any time now...

As the final touch they have covered it in caution tape and given up completely...

I want my table back, how hard can this be?
I mean really,
What is the hold up.

Over and Done

Today is the last day of the year and the first day without students.
We ended the year with our final field trips, having sent the graduating class off to Oaks Theme Park near Portland and Shipping the 6th and 7th graders off to a fun filled day at Skate World and Fall Creek.

I wasn't slated to join either of the ventures and was looking forward to a peaceful day sorting electronics in my room. At the last minute, I was discovered enjoying the calm silence in my room and immediately recruited.
I was put in charge of bus three, which boasted more than it's fair share of misfits.
Not looking forward to the 10 hour adventure, I drug myself out of bed and prepared myself for my post.

The morning was filled with popcorn and movies, starting the countdown till we headed out on the buses to take over a forgotten skate park that has frozen itself in time and ignored progress at all costs.

I recall visiting skate world as a child and was surprised to find that the rumors were true that they had not done a thing to update it in the last 20 years....
The very same retro carpets, stained with coke and iceys were right were I left them, and even the prices had gone unchanged.

The students really impressed me with their skills, flying around the rink and crashing into the walls.
I was very impressed to find that some of our teachers are also master skaters and make short work of showing up the kids every chance they could.
I opted to wear flip-flops and guard the munchkins instead of injuring myself in any attempt to pretend I could skate.

Finally towards the end, I noticed the air hockey table in the corner and wandered over to see what was going on...
From there I took on each of my students and dominated them in an undefeated streak ten kids long.
I had a great time destroying them on the table and taking on a few of my favorite students, especially the one who took the time to write, "I had a good time annoying you all year"in my yearbook.
I was finally taken down by one of the smallest students in the entire 6th grade, who took his rightful place as the air hockey master.
It was nice to actually be good at something for once, and I had a great time.
From there we headed out to Fall Creek Reservoir, where the students swarmed the cement lined pool of water that we call a lake.
Even though it was freezing out, the kids dove right in and had a blast.
It was nice to see all the students enjoying their last day with their friends and showing a new side.
We got back at around 6 in the evening, and I immediately went home and passed out from all the excitement.

I am happy to see the year has made it's way to a close and the rest of the summer is in sight.
Next up for me will be a dizzying schedule of activities and events that will lead right back up to the return of school in the fall.
This week is my only time to prepare for the events that will follow.
I have today and possibly a bit of the coming week to shut down the lab, get all the equipment in summer mode, take 350 batteries out of all the computers, deconstruct the lab and get ready to leave for Denver where I will be attending the ISTE conference for 4 days.
I will be on the outskirts of town and be traveling by car to reach the event each day. It is my hope that I will even be able to find the place, let alone find parking...
As soon as I get back to town, I will be right in the middle of teaching Super Summers, where I have 6 hour classes daily for three weeks straight...
After that I will be working in a lemonade stand until it is time to get out of town, on what will be my only break, traveling to Peru.
We have all the pieces together for the final excursion and as soon as I get back I will have about three days to design 12 classes for the fall and get back to work, imaging and resetting all the computers in the building and significantly increasing the stock of the company that makes our labeling tape.
Looking forward to making the lies come true and getting a minute to relax when it is all through.

Dinner with Autumn

So last evening I headed out with Autumn to catch up and split a burger...
We arrived at our destination and were carded at the door before being seated at our table...
We then began perusing the menu while waiting for our waitress...who carded us again...
She stood waiting for our drink selections, as I flipped the menu over back and forth, looking for my options...
She looked down at me and said, "You looking for drinks? You won't find them there..." and pointed to the special leaflet.
I asked if she had anything like tea...
She said, "Sure, we've got tea with peach vodka, mango vodka, vanilla vodka, we can do what ever you like..."
After a few impatient moments and a clear look of confusion on my part, Autumn finally speaks up and asks me, "Did you just want tea?"
Which was the correct answer...
The lady apologized for trying so hard to push the booze on us and wandered away...
I just thought it was funny that the idea of a regular drink was unheard of and she seemed mystified by the proposal.

Irises from the Meadow

Tiptoe Through the Tulips with Me

This weekend I will be headed out to a major showing of irises and other flowers in record numbers...
I will be taking some photos and getting caught up on classes as well.
Today was a grading day and I spent the majority of my time gathering photos for the yearbook which will be up for publication in the coming week...
So time to buckle down and make the lie come true by putting together a photo archive of all the year's activities for the whole K-8 building.
This should be a fun one.
Other than all that, I will be dipping strawberries in chocolate for a treat for the teachers on monday and planning out my next year's courses for technology....
Good times.

Rainy Days and Thunder Storms

Hey there,
I have been informed by numerous parties that I need to give a few updates, as it has again been a while since I got on here and posted any news.
I have been busy getting the wind up for the end of the year ready to go.
We have five weeks left in the year and the kids are ready to be getting out the door.
This Friday will be the end of the first grading period and then just four more Mondays and we are all done.

This week has been an interesting one, with a few exciting developments in the baking department.
I had two orders for baby showers in the same weekend and ended up making 113 cupcakes between the two events.
It required three batches of icing and the majority of my weekend, but it seemed to go nicely.
Sierra is expecting her first child with in the next month, and we had a nice time getting together with all of her family to celebrate the new arrival.
In other news we are experiencing some very strange weather here in Eugene, with summer just around the corner I have to admit I am a little surprised by the thunder, lightning, monsoon style rain, and occasional hail storm.
Along with the baby showers, I had a chance to see my long lost friend, Kristy, and catch up a bit with her over the weekend. It was a nice change of pace to have someone back on the couch and get a chance to spend some time around town and hear how everyone from back home was doing.
Other than that, like I mentioned before, I just received my new teaching license, which puts me back in the green for another three years... All my observations are in, and I am all set till the next round.
Other than classes, I am getting ready for the first round of visitors over at my second school site. We will be hosting a number of visitors that will be checking out the new additions to our classroom and the ways we are putting our new tools to work to help our students learn new things.

Last but not least, this week we found out that Corky will be joining Tom Arnold in an upcoming comedy show out in Maui. She will be up on the big stage in front of 300 people for her latest production.
I hope it goes well and that this is the first step in the long process of her successful repayment of many loans starting when I was around ten years old.
I have an entire photo album filled with I.O.U.'s and haven't forgotten about our little arrangements...
So here's to hoping she is a big success.

And lastly, this past weekend, I had the chance to go out and see the latest Iron Man movie...
The theatre was packed and I thought it was a great show...
Full of excitement and fun new twists.
Definitely not as disappointing as many of the others out there...

Happy Taxes

So this week I am trying to be on top of things, clean the house get my act in gear in time for Wednesday.
My dad will be making his way to town this coming week. We are looking forward to heading out to the world renown Olive Garden as well as a few other sights in town.
Should be a good time...
In other news, I finished the paper work for renewing my teaching license...
This was the first round for me, though we are required to do this every three years...
The process is a little vague and there are always conflicting stories in regard to what the actual requirements are... In part this is because there are different rules for different groups of people depending on the type of license they hold and the time that they were first issued it. If for example, you were issued a license in the 70's or 80's you are "Grandfathered" from complying to the current requirements, which dictate that you must have passed your state testing from Praxis and CBEST. Those teachers only need to have informal reviews completed by their peers and be showing progress toward continuing education, shown by district professional development units or course credits...
Along with that they need to fill out a form describing the areas they have been improving in...
I get to do the masters level courses route and had to come up with 4.5 credits. The paperwork is pretty confusing.
But at any rate, I drove all the way down to headquarters and dropped it all off...
The main concern of the man behind the counter was to ensure I drafted my check correctly...
Past that he said everything else I turned in looked fine.
I am really glad I made it all the way down there and had them check me off in person. I would have hated to have waited for acknowledgement to find later that I had incorrectly filed...
So that is a big relief and I should receive my new license within the month.
In other news, I recently had a chance to hang out with a few old friends, one I hadn't seen in around ten years...
It was nice to catch up and we made a modest attempt at making sushi, only to mess it up at every turn.
But in the end all went well and we had a great time.

I will keep you posted on the coming week...
Our Apple visit is coming up soon.

Happy Easter

So sorry for the absence...
Over the last few weeks we finished with the Saturday Class... All the munchkins got their sites up and running.
And as planned I finally had a chance to get out of town for Spring Break.
We went down the coast on 101, through the Trees of Mystery and down to the Avenue of the Giants.
It was fairly rainy throughout the journey which I found to be an added benefit, since it kept competing visitors at bay.
I had a chance to stay in Redway and was very impressed by the little communities in the area and how they refuse to give up even though their little towns have been ravaged by floods for hundreds of years.
One of the highlights on the trip was stopping into a small conservatory where you could read information about the area and learn about the interesting events that have happened in the area...
While exploring the scene I was impressed to find one of the most complete displays of dead native animals that I have ever seen.
When these people go on a killing spree, they sure are thorough.
I saw around 80 specimens all crammed into on space, baby bears next to baby squirrels and so many others...
On the way out I wandered past a setup for children to explore... They were so often seen boxes with covered lids and the invitation to use your sense of feeling to guess what is inside.
I decided to skip the whole guessing process and just look inside...
I was shocked to find a taxidermied limb from a mountain lion...
It was obviously falling apart, smelled horribly, and had patches of fur that had fallen off and been worn away by the children...
That was a little startling, but other than that the whole thing was pretty neat...

After making our way though the Avenue of the Giants, we wandered down 101 and made our way to Fort Bragg.
This little town was actually where I was born, and I can't recall visiting it in quite some time.
Getting down there was no small feat, traveling down the infamous highway 1 through it's nauseating turns and bends.
It really was a sickening road, with little relief once through the passage.
After that with the rain and fog on the coast, the little towns on the side seemed pretty sad.
We finally made it into town in time to find a fun little restaurant in the middle of town.
As I wandered through the building, looking at art on display, I was surprised to see a small woman standing next to me, who moments later walks up and announces that she knows me and that I teach her son...
That was a bit of a trip. It really is a small world, and even driving hundreds of miles into what I would sum up as the middle of nowhere, there are still people out there waiting to hop out of crevices and say hello.

This week I am off to the Sheraton Inn again, up in Portland, for the latest round of conferences on integrating technology into the classroom curriculum.
Lately at my sites, I have been working on getting the teams up and running with their clickers, Proscope microscopes, and other fun new tools. I have just gotten three out of the four classes up on Apple Remote Desktop and had a little chance to show them how the tool looks in action.
At the last part of the day in one of my classes, I heard the teacher announce that it was time for all the children to begin shutting down their machines and getting ready to go home. I could hear the reluctant sighs as the kids looked at their screens, not wanting to stop what they were doing. Just for fun I asked if it would be alright if I took care of it, and my wonderful host agreed. With just the press of a button I sent out the order for all the machines to shut down, and within a matter of seconds all the kids were looking around trying to figure out what had happened...
Clean up was accomplished in record time and many of the kids came up to inquire about the magic I had just performed.

Good times,
though I am not looking forward to being away from my class and the fun planning that goes into being out of town.

Week in Review

This week we are rounding the middle of the term and getting ready for Spring Break.
Tomorrow is grading day, and I am ready to get going with the second half.
Quizzes are in, reflections are done, and tomorrow is a half day for our school.
This means 25 minute classes and the rest of the day to get ready for the next few weeks and grading.

Our next Apple visit is coming up at the end of April, and I will be sending out all my paper work for my first renewal as soon as it arrives.

This coming weekend will be the last for our Super Saturday program and we will be ending with a bang in both the science and the HTML classes...

After that it will be time for some upcoming classes for teachers over the beginning of break and then a few days to unwind before the long haul till Summer.

The year is going by quickly and the kids seem to be having a good time.
We will see how it winds down.

In other news I am fighting off the inclination to succumb to the latest round of illnesses that my munchkins are bringing in on a daily basis...
Trying to lay low and make it to the weekend to recover...

Weekly Update

Impressed to have actually lived up to the title of this post and gotten my latest entry in on time...
School choice wet just fine, and the kids did a great job of being wonderful examples...
Each time we saw feet approaching the doors, I would throw a smile at my class and they all put on their best smiles and waited to greet the latest tour...
In other news my classes reached their first goal for good behavior and earned a day off...
In the usual fashion, we put all the equipment away and busted out the karaoke setup.
I only heard one person from the room next to us pound on the walls, signifying that we weren't too crazy.
We had a great time, and I am happy that we have the chance to do fun things to recognize the students...
Everyone needs a break once in a while, and it is fun to let the students see what happens when they use their time well and work together...

Every time I head through the checkout line with all of my supplies, someone always asks where I work, since it is obvious we are going to have a blast.

The latest installment of HTML and schience went well, though there was a bit of a turf war over the space...
Turned out that there was an employment conference in the same building and that the science class had been 86ed to a new building on account of the trails of slime that ended up being tracked all over the building...

This week we worked on creating media for our sites, and showed the students super fun tables...
I crack up thinking about it... I gather the class in close and tell them that we are about to learn about ordered lists... Their eyes light up as they get their fingers ready to try the latest tip...
One of the students informed their family that they now plan to drop out of school and do professional web design as a career.

Past all that,
I finally finished my paper for my upcoming renewal...
I am a little leery about the process since there is so much pressure to get everything in on time... From what I have heard from other teachers, it should be a simple process, with the main idea being you send $100 to the powers that be every three years...
I spent a good part of my afternoon fighting with the archaic fax machine that lives in our school office...
After five attempts to send a twenty page document to another state, I was feeling a little slighted by the contraption... Inches from pulling an office space move and with bat on hand, it finally went through...
So I should be done with the next step in the process soon and move on with the final mailings...
Props going out to Liz for being my cheer leader and helping me answer the silliest questions...
I really appreciate all the patience and not blocking my frequent calls...








Last of all, after the blur of the week and weekend have passed, I made it outside and have evidence to prove it...
Most of them are ducks and puddles, but they are my dcks and puddles, and I like them.
So you will have to check out the latest...

Weekly Update

This week has been a pretty big on for us,


We received our recognition as an Apple Exemplary Program for integrating technology in a two to one atmosphere with our students and creating a 21st century learning environment for our school.
An Apple representative came all the way down from far across the state to present us with our award.
I had the honor of being the one to take the plaque home and had a great time putting it up around the house.

The week went well with my students finishing up on some of our latest projects and making it through the four day week in style.

My Friday and Saturday were spent in preparation for my two classes for the University Youth TAG program I am working on. I have one class on Kitchen Science and another on HTML for nine and ten year olds.



Both classes took an amazing amount of preparation, but ended up going great.


The HTML class was a hit with the students continually impressing me with their abilities to understand difficult concepts and wanting to do more... I even had one student who wanted to take home all of our handouts so that he could practice at home. Pretty cool... Though I thought that a three hour class would prove daunting for any group of individuals, especially 3rd and 4th graders...

In other news, I got a call from my friends to meet up down at Sam Bond's Garage for drawing and catching up... I was quite surprised to find that the one night I chose to actually make it out of the house and to local bar that I had shown up on the same night as a benefit for one of my schools... It was really fun to see all the parents getting up and entertaining the crowd throughout the evening.

The highlight was definitely the puppet show, where a strange fury cyclopes got up in front of us and sang Bobby McGee...

Next week will be school choice week, where families have the chance to tour our school and see if they want to enlist their students in the lottery to join our crew next fall. So we will have to be sure to have some great activities ready to go just for the occasion.

In other random news, we had the best fire drill ever...
In past years, getting everyone outside has never been an issue, but students were often fidgety and noisy while waiting to head back into the building.
I was proud to see that my class was absolutely wonderful as an example to the younger students around them and even did a nice job of facing away from the imaginary blast while they sank down in the squishy grass from the latest rain..
Go team.

My Three Day Weekend

So today is the last day in the long break before heading back to work.
Weekend in review goes as follows:
Day one: Head out of town, down to the coast, and up to Waldport.
Stayed in a sweet little green A-frame for Friday and Saturday, checked out Newprot, took advantage of the rogue brewery's annual garage sale, took lots of photos of pelicans and seagulls down at the pier...
Got lots of shots of what turned out to be a very stormy day at the beach, and explored a little beachside shop that boasted having the largest insect in the world...
After Waldport and Newport, we headed back down the coast and went to one of my favorite restaurants...
Long ago when I was a child, living in Florence, we would get up early and head over to the Blue Hen.
The blue hen was a tiny little house that boasted some of the best homemade biscuits around and had breakfast down to an art. Sadly the employees in the back also had arson down to an art as well, leading to its mysterious combustion (which occured three times) over the next few years.
They tried to rebuild, but again, when they least expected it, fire struck again...
Finally the little Blue Hen closed it's doors for the last time, and the choices for a decent breakfast in town seemed lost as well.
Fast forward ten years, and to my surprise, there was a reincarnated version just across from where I first went to school. It is now called the Little Brown Hen, and sports a trailer trash looking chicken with it's arms held out, as if it were saying it just didn't care anymore...
The food was great, and we took a moment and added it to Urban Spoon, so others will be able to find this little gem.

After breakfast, we made the rest of the trip back to town, where dear Autumn was waiting with truck on hand to move all of her belongings out of my apartment and into her new home.

We ended our day with a wonderful meal at Beppe's italian restaurant, There was an hour wait from the moment they opened, but as usual, it was well worth it.
I had the lobster ravioli and they were fantastic!

Getting Control

I wander into my house after a long Monday and take a moment to survey the scene and assess what should be done first...
After squishing the latest cluster of ants that have wandered into my pristine kitchen, I settle on the dishes...
Scrubbing my way through the daily accumulation of coffee cups and bowls, pondering what to make for dinner.
The living room is the first thing I see when I walk through the door, and always takes a little time to get used to...
the dying plant on the coffee table, piles of things, and then the green fish tank...
Always the fish tank...
So I will focus on the small things I can control and take them all on one at a time...
Dishes: Check
Dinner: Next...
Yumm Bowls Again...
Off to make the lie come true.

I was just thinking that we are long overdue for some cookies...
Hopefully that will find it's way into the schedule to help boost spirits in this long week of schedules, retakes, and testing.

Collard Lake Cabin in Florence

This is the little cottage I had the chance to spend the weekend in Last weekend...
It was an awesome chance to get a change of scenery, chill out, and just relax...
It was nice to be cut off from the daily routines and be in a place without cable, wireless, or dishes.


Also had the chance to see why all the restaurants that are next to the river opted to be on stilts...
Major high tide washed out most of the bank and left the beach a swamp...

Instant Recognition

So I had a chance to meet up with Autumn's sister Sierra...
I haven't seen her since she announced she will be having a new arrival in June.
She just found out she will be having a little boy and is excitedly preparing for the new addition to her family.
We met up at the Fisherman's market for lunch and to catch up.
Upon entering the restaurant, I was greeted by a familiar face in what used to be a staple in my foraging routine.
Back when I first started working at my current building, I would seldom find time to eat with my busy schedule and often found my way to the market as a way to relax and unwind.
I always liked watching the crab tank, where the inhabitants would take turns strategizing their escapes and climb on top of each other in a meager attempt to cheat death.
On certain occasions, some would find their way to the top of the tank, even getting as far to reach one leg into the air towards freedom, only to have some imbecile on the bottom of the pile screw it up and send the unlucky crustacean sinking back down to the bottom of the holding tank.
I liked the water that was all over the floor, and of course, I thoroughly enjoyed the food.
I never really liked the crabs, though I tried them from time to time... Instead I found that the best deal they had to offer was in the form of their fish tacos... Being little fried bits of goodness, smothered in salsa and sauce, over a corn tortilla.
They were always fast, delicious, and just what I needed after a long day of ringing phones and endless emails for assistance.

At any rate, I became a familiar face and frequented the market on a daily basis...I came in so often that one of the fish mongers went out of his way to introduce me to his mother when she came in on his birthday...

So at any rate, I wasn't surprised to find that as soon as I sat down with Sierra and our food that a familiar face appeared, calling me by name and inquired as to how we were enjoying our meal...

I assume Sierra might have been a little surprised, seeing as she didn't know the history and picked the place at random as a place to meet... But as usual, I made no attempt to explain, thanked our server, and went back on with the conversation as if it were nothing notable...

And of course, to make things even stranger for her, upon leaving, my friend made a point to shout his farewell across the restaurant just to make sure I felt special...

Definitely one of my favorite restaurants.
Always a good time.

Happy Sunday

So as of yesterday, Autumn has again left the building...
She is on her way to Washington to visit her family...
Her predicted absence is two weeks, where upon returning she will be vacating to her new home and studio space in central Eugene.
In other news, this week she had some of her artwork presented at a prestigious gallery in town.
We also celebrated Steve's 31st birthday at the Sushi Station.
Mine will be the next one in April.

This week at my new placement we are still organizing and rearranging equipment and getting it ready for roll out to students this week...
I have a training on Google Tools session I and II coming up, and am still trying to finish all the requirements for updating my license...
I am almost done, and just need to hunker down and get the final pieces collected and sent out.
We finished the tax info this week, only to send it all out and then receive more documents that will need to be added in.
In other news, I am battling it out with the fish tank today, and disappointed to find that the tank is in a perpetually green state, in spite of the numerous algae treatments I add into the tank on a biweekly schedule.
My giant sucker fish has decided to give up.
I am contemplating replacing the current inhabitants with a gerbil or plastic creatures.
I feel they might be less work and just as rewarding as my filthy little ingrates.

Back to coffee and dishes.