Garden of Delights

Readicide

2009-08-13T15:17:00.000-06:00

I think I want this book.

Walk Score

2009-08-05T10:41:00.003-06:00

Here’s a website worth checking out if you own a good pair of shoes and don’t mind using them once in a while. It’s called Walk Score and it gauges the pedestrian-friendliness of locations.

Type in any address or pair of cross streets in the U.S. (or Europe for that matter), and the site maps the area and plots the nearby recreational, commercial, cultural, and social amenities. Even better, for the quantitatively inclined, it assigns each location a walk score on a 0 to 100 scale.

The site doesn’t take weather, safety, topography (e.g. hills), or the characteristics of the street network into account. (To their credit, the site’s creators cheerfully admit to these shortcomings.) But in all, the walk scores are pretty much what you’d intuitively expect, providing a degree of confidence the site is getting it right. Here’s a sampling:

My house: 80
My work: 63
My mom's house: 77
My dad's house: 0
Kelly's work: 65
Kelly's parents: 2

thanks

Race Appearance Question

2009-07-24T13:37:00.002-06:00

A white woman and a Chinese man (or switch the genders - it doesn't really matter) have a baby together in America.

Does that baby only look more Chinese than white to me because I live in a country where our majority race is white?

Would the same baby look more white than Chinese to the people around her if she was instead born in China?

Shapes, Figures and Excuses

2009-07-15T16:57:00.002-06:00

I went jogging today. Well, sort of. I went out with the intention of jogging today. What actually happened was more of a walk/something-slow-that-resembles-jogging mix. In the end, it tells me that I'm out of shape! Yeah, yeah, there's the possibility there for a string of excuses - it's ninety degrees out today...I just had a baby - but I don't really want to hear them. I think I've been relying on excuses for a little too long, this time. It's starting to get a little annoying that I haven't lost any more weight. I lost a bunch in the first two weeks after E was born, and since then I've lost zip. Which basically tells me I've only lost pity weight and that for whatever reason, my body (stupidly and wrongly) believes it needs this last ten pounds for something.

So, I'm stepping up the effort. Not like I've just been sitting around doing nothing all this time - I just don't want to stay trapped in the I-just-had-a-baby mindset. Because I didn't just have a baby. I had a baby three months ago. And whereas "just" is a pretty relative term, it's not that relative to three full months.

'Tis the Season

2009-07-07T12:43:00.002-06:00

There's something in the air lately that's been giving me watery eyes and a stuffy/runny nose. Blech. Not to mention the headaches, itchy eyes, and itchy skin. And I think that whatever it is has been bugging Eleanor, too, because she's having similar symptoms. It's making me dread going to Portland this weekend just a little bit because there's something at Kelly's parents' farm during the summers that my body doesn't like either. I'm hoping this trip is different, though, because in all other regards I'm really looking forward to the trip. I don't know how people with serious allergies do it! It's only been a couple days of little problems and I'm already super sick of it all!

Ten years. Count 'em. Ten.

2009-07-03T13:29:00.003-06:00

Well, my reunion is coming up this summer. In just a couple weeks, actually. Whenever I mention that, people ask either if I'm going or if I'm excited about it - sometimes they ask me both questions. Well, yeah, I'm going - to part of it, anyway. I would go to the other part, but I have family obligations that day. Excited? No, I wouldn't say that. I don't really know why I'm going...other than I was invited. I'm not excited. I'm not curious. I'm not hoping to reconnect with old friends. I'm not planning revenge on any of the popular kids. I'm not even expecting to laugh at all the people who have gotten fat (not that I would do that...it just seems to be a common thing I've heard of women doing at their reunions lately). I'm just going, expecting to have a nice evening. Maybe I'll laugh with people about high school stories, probably some that I'd forgotten about, and maybe I'll find that I have more in common with people today than I used to. Who knows? I think one reason I'm sort of ambivalent about the whole ordeal is that I'm pretty different from the girl I was in high school and I feel like I fit into a totally different crowd now. These days, I'm more liberal, less pretentious, more settled, less naive, more calm and less narrow in my views of myself and the world. I drink and swear more and worry less about screwing up. I laugh more and say yes more and am less inclined to sit back and watch other people being cool, secretly wishing that could be me. But, then again, I have a different definition of cool, now, too.

Anyway, it's been ten whole years. Ten. And I feel pretty good about those ten years. Good enough, anyway, that I bought a ticket...and now look forward to buying a rockin' cocktail dress for the affair. I may not be going to compare myself against the other people there, but when the people who go for that purpose sit and compare themselves to me, or even compare me now to me then, I want them to have to think for a while first.

Weirdest Mail Ever

2009-06-12T21:31:00.002-06:00

I received the weirdest, most random mail ever Wednesday: one ticket to the Indianapolis 500 practice, one ticket to the Indianapolis 500 qualifications, a lunch voucher for the 500 Festival, and a schedule of events for the Friends of the Festival Appreciation Day - events that occurred last month - in a hand-written envelope from Indianapolis.

1. I make fun of racing and, to a degree, people who watch it - mostly this is limited to serious fans. I'm just being honest here (sorry Dad...but FYI I never make fun of you). And in my defense, my making fun of people is never mean and is mostly just in my head.

2. These tickets were for an event that happened a month ago!

3. To my knowledge, I know no one who lives in Indianapolis, let alone Indiana.

4. My name was misspelled on the envelope - a misspelling I've never seen before: Angelar. But my last name, the name most people mess up, was fine. As was the rest of my address.

5. I looked up the return address on line (it was provided sans name). Nothing came up on the white pages reverse directory and Google maps street view showed a residential neighborhood.

6. There have been no weird or unexplained charges on my checking account or credit card.

7. On ebay, these month-old tickets would score me $10. Maybe.

It's a mystery! Is anyone out there who thinks they may have an answer or at least another clue?

Solutions?

2009-06-08T10:34:00.002-06:00

Anyone know any good solutions for keeping my couches clean? Kelly likes the dogs on the couch and I like them to not get the couches dirty. I would much rather have no dogs on the couch ever, under any circumstances, but I'm willing to concede that most of the time. In the meantime, my couches are dirty...and I don't want to vacuum (or shampoo, which is what they really need) every day. Anyone have a magic wand?

???

2009-05-15T13:11:00.000-06:00

And, for your reading entertainment, a selection from an eighth grade research paper on becoming a teacher:

"To make sure not a non praiseworthy human being just in case, because human beings would not want to have their children educated by a scandal."

I don't know what it means, but I think it's funny.

IQ

2009-03-26T08:36:00.002-06:00

Kelly says I'm just generally unimpressed with things out of principle, but I don't think there's anything wrong with that.

Lately, I've been unimpressed with Pranav Veera, this six-ear-old boy with an alleged IQ of 176. (By the way, each link I'm posting is a different news article about the kid.) I say "alleged" because I've been unable to find who performed his IQ test and which test was done - both of which can make a difference. The only reason this makes a difference to me is because of the "genius" activities he demonstrates in the media: reciting the alphabet backwards, listing presidents by number, stating days of the week by date. I grant you that these are not normal feats for a six-year-old child, but they're not completey abnormal feats for someone who has worked at memorizing such facts - because that's all it is: memorization. I also say "alleged" because news reports claim that he has a photographic memory, which would make something like reciting the alphabet backwards a piece of cake rather than a sign of genius.

Something else that puts me on guard about this kid's story is how so many sources compare him to Einstein, whose IQ was guessed to be around 160. Guessed. That's right, Einstein's IQ was never tested. We think we know it today based on guesses and nothing more. In reality, because of the subjectivity of IQ tests, there's no way we can be sure of Einstein's IQ.

I'm not completely discounting this child's aptitude, nor am I saying he should be treated as a normal, bratty little six-year-old. I'm saying we need to take this with a grain of salt because, until he does something with his intelligence like cure AIDS or put a man on Mars, he's not telling us anything we can't already find in presidential trivia books. And if someone out there actually does want him to accomplish something remarkable with his elevated IQ, they need to stop telling him how smart he is and start encouraging his self efficacy - because just being smart will get him nowhere if he knows nothing more about being smart than cheap parlor tricks on the Today Show.

I'm still alive.

2009-03-23T21:51:00.003-06:00

I got in trouble today for not posting for a long time, so I thought I'd leave a brief comment to say that I'm still alive. Around Valentine's Day I got the flu, which stuck around for about three weeks, and then Kelly had a silly-crazy time at work for two weeks (their major, annual, on-air fundraising event) that I helped out with and totally threw off both our schedules. Then I had the last week at school before spring break, during which I tied up all my loose ends and finished grades and cleaned my room just in case I don't go back to work after spring break (you know, cuz of the baby), all of which kept me busy, busy, busy and at times at work for hours after I should've gone home.

But now things are starting to be normal again, which is nice because the baby could literally come any day now and it would be all right. I'll post something witty on here soon, assuming the normalcy continues, that is. If I go another month, assume it's the baby's fault. That way I don't get in trouble again. :-)

Don't hound me.

2009-02-10T21:39:00.002-07:00

This morning on my way in to work, I drove next to a police car for a while. Actually, he started out driving behind me, no doubt running my license plate number for a good reason to pull me over on my morning commute, which would have really started my day off on the wrong foot. But, finding nothing, he moved on to the car next to me. And then to another car in our vicinity. He followed - closely - five cars in my little area of the freeway, (my guess is) checking their plates and making sure he didn't have a reason to turn on his stupid red and blue lights. Finding none, he sped off to his next unsuspecting victims...And I do mean "sped." Whereas all of us were going exactly the speed limit, he found it necessary to rush off, probably exceeding the speed limit by an easy ten miles per hour, knowing full well there was no one there to pull him over.

Not fair.

I firmly disagree with police seeking out reasons to punish people. If they want the American people to think of them as benevolent, caring individuals who serve and protect the public, then they should be fair in their practices. Don't hound me, looking for a reason to cite me. Find someone out beating his wife or shooting up a convenience store to harass.

Lucy, the Pup of Many Vet Visits

2009-01-20T16:51:00.002-07:00

Yes, folks, we had to take Lucy to the vet again yesterday. She broke another nail off in the bed, leaving it sore and bleeding. She is, again, on pain killers and antibiotics. She is, again, wearing her cone. The people at the vet's office thought it was cute that she not only has her own cone, but that we've started decorating it with punk stickers - bands and the like.

We've started wondering if perhaps friends and family could purchase us credit at the vet's office for Christmas presents from now on. It's a gift that would surely get some use. I don't know if the office does that sort of thing, but it's worth a shot. Gift cards, perhaps? Or, really, I suppose people could just send us more punk stickers.

We wondered aloud while waiting for her to come out of the surgery room yesterday how we ended up with this accident-prone dog. Kelly blamed me because she picked me to want to come home with. I blame him because I think she got it from his genes (whereas me and Radley are the healthy, non-accident-prone ones in the family).

Fish

2009-01-10T15:27:00.002-07:00

I'm half-watching a PBS documentary on fish right now (the TV is still on after watching an excellent documentary on Truman and I just haven't turned it off since I've been typing). I'm not paying any attention to this show, but it's hosted by a guy who used to be on MASH and it has some interestiing up-close pictures of fish. They're kinda gross looking and make me happy not to be a fish monger.

In other fish news, we've been giving Radley fish oil pills on recommendation from our vet. She said it may help his skin rash. I've found that he treats it like a pill - choking and gagging to get it down - if we just give it to him, even though it smells like fish (which we thought would be motivation for him to eat it). However, if I just drop it nonchalantly into his bowl, he eats it with the rest of his food. Lucy, on the other hand, begs for one and acts indignant if she doesn't get one if she notices that he got one and she didn't. Except she won't just eat it - she will even pick it out of her bowl and take it to the carpet to eat it like it's a treat.

Now this documentary is doing surgery on fish to tag them or something. I can't help but think how smelly it must have been to make this film.

The weather outside is frightful...

2008-12-24T08:10:00.002-07:00

but I don't seem to mind much. Somehow, I'm stepping out of the norm (for myself) and actually enjoying this cold, cold weather and tons and tons of snow. In fact, I was a little disappointed last Sunday when we stopped at just a few inches rather than collecting the ten inches that the weather forecaster said we'd get. Don't get me wrong, I wish I could take the dogs out for a walk this morning (and won't because it's not worth it to brave the ice) or that I didn't have to factor in at least ten extra minutes to any commute, but at the same time, I think it's fun and pretty and I know other people are really excited about all this white stuff, so that makes it a little more OK.

Conehead Lucy

2008-12-14T21:33:00.003-07:00

Every once in a while, our pup Lucy needs to wear a cone...sores, stitches, broken toe nails...you name it. She's rather undaunted by the cone in most circumstances at this point, we think because she's had to wear it so often. (Incidentally, our other dog, Radley, has never had to wear a cone and we've had him for almost two years more than we've had Lucy.)

Here's some pics of the L-dog and me this November.

Ewww

2008-12-09T18:30:00.003-07:00

I work with a kid a couple days a week after school. Social skills, life skills, stuff like that. Today was one of those days. And today I noticed that he smelled bad. BO, you know? And since he's fourteen, it was pretty obvious. Also because he's fourteen, and because it's my job, I had a conversation about it with him. It didn't quite go as anticipated.

Me: gently inquiring So...Did you forget to take a shower this morning?
Him: plainly Noooo. I take showers after school so I'll do that today when I get home.
Me: How about deodorant?
Him: slapping his forehead Dang it!
Me: Well, it's not a big deal, but it is something you really shouldn't forget in the mornings.
Him: Yeah...Actually, I don't think it's that I forgot to put on deodorant this morning. I think it's because I've had diarrhea lately.
Me: trying not to let him know that I'm a little shocked at his open admission and trying to not be grossed out at the thought of dried poo slime sticking to his butt So, just having a hard time getting clean, then?
Him: Well, it's just that when I have diarrhea it makes it too sore to wipe really good.
Me: Yeah...That's not something you should skimp on. Making sure you're clean all the time in all areas is very, very important.
Him: distantly Yeah...

Luna Love

2008-12-08T16:58:00.002-07:00

I like to post stuff on here for the three and a half people who still faithfully check in on me that gives you tips on things I like because I think you might like it too. And today, it's Luna Bars.

I've had many different kinds of Luna Bars and enjoy most of them, but yesterday I tried something new. I tried the mint chocolate tea cake. And I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. I mean, it wasn't earth-shattering or anything, but it was really, really good. I guess what I mean by "I haven't been able to stop thinking about it" is that when I've wanted a snack today, that's what I've wanted. But last night I only bought the one, not knowing just how yummy it would be.

So there's my recommendation for a yummy and fairly healthy snack. I may buy a whole box of them the next time I get a chance.

Skydiving!

2008-11-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Check out Kelly's skydiving video!

Dog Woes

2008-11-16T18:02:00.003-07:00

Kelly and I were driving up to Home Depot today when we encountered a bunch of cars stopped along the side of the road and people standing around. I think both of us first thought "Aw, geez" at first, but then we saw why. In the middle of the road - in the center turn lane with two other lanes on either side - was a dog who had obviously been hit by a car.

There were already two women over at the dog, but they didn't appear to be doing much, so Kelly stopped. I stayed in the car because I didn't want to be one more person in the mix blocking traffic. The next thing I knew, Kelly opened the back of the Explorer and started throwing stuff into the backseat. I jumped out and without asking questions started helping clear a space. Thankfully, we travel everywhere with a yucky dog blanket, so I spread that down. One of the women was holding the dog - she looked to be maybe a German shephard mix - on the side of the road. The other woman was hysterical and kept saying over and over again "What do we do?" Kelly had the first woman put the dog in our car and she started talking about taking the dog to some vet office she'd seen up by Fred Meyer next to Pet Co. Well, after my experiences with our pups and our vet's office, I wasn't about to take this poor creature to some place in a strip mall I'd never heard of that may or may not be open on a Sunday. Because I have our vet programmed in my phone (because we've needed it spur-of-the-moment so often with Lucy), I called them to see if they were open and if we could bring in this poor dog. They were indeed open and said to bring the dog right in.

Kelly and I were incredibly worried about this dog because she looked confused and was drooling a lot, but it only took us about five minutes to get her to our vet's office. Three nurses met us at the door when we got there, one of them came out to the car with a stretcher. I think she saw something about this dog that we didn't - that it needed serious and immediate care and that it wasn't going to hurt her - and just left the stretcher in the parking lot, scooped up the dog and ran her inside. We followed her in to talk to the nurse in the lobby, who asked us a bunch of questions. I think they thought we hit the dog at first, but when we told them that we'd just gotten to the accident just after it happened and seemed to be the only ones who knew what to do and were the only ones not driving a sedan (not that being in the Jetta would have stopped us any) then they realized we weren't to blame, that we were just there to help. But then the doctor came out of the exam room with questions and he sounded pretty mad too, until he realized also that we had no real answers. I think Kelly was a little put off by him at first until we realized that he probably thought it was our fault and that if we were vets, something like a dog coming into our office after being hit by a car would upset us, too. Heck, we aren't vets and it still upset us.

They asked us to sit around for a little while in case the doctor had some more questions. While we were waiting, they found that the dog was chipped (thank goodness) and they called the owner to let her know they had her dog and what had happened. I gave them the name and number of the lady who we think hit the dog - the lady who was in hysterics at the scene - because she'd given it to me and asked me to call her when I knew anything.

We came home then and played with our pups, who had no idea the trauma we had just gone through or why we were both so excited to see them. I called the hysterial lady; she said she was at the vet's office, that she'd just gotten there. She still sounded like she was a disaster about the whole thing.

Later this afternoon, our vet's office called to let us know about the dog. They said that the owner had just shown up (this was actually about five hours later) and had refused x-rays, but that the dog was doing well and had really just suffered massive shock. They'd given her an IV for the shock and by the time the owner had gotten there the dog was alert and walking and doing well. Kelly thanked the nurse for calling us and let her know we had been worried all afternoon. I cried a little more when he told me the good news and we toussled the pups a little more.

And just a little while ago, because we haven't had enough puppy trauma for one day, I noticed a large, open sore on Lucy's leg. It's perfectly round like a nasty, popped blister. So, Kelly and I got to play vet for her, shaving her leg, washing the wound, wrapping her up and topping it all off with the cone she should at this point be so fond of (because she wears it so often). We'll keep an eye on it and in the morning if it looks worse we'll take her into our vet's office.

Honestly, I'm surprised we're not on a first-name basis with them at this point.

Just more evidence that Sarah Palin sucks...

2008-10-19T18:08:00.004-06:00

Last night, your favorite lame-ass VP candidate and mine, Sarah Palin, was on Saturday Night Live. Here was her chance to do something cool, to speak up and have personality, to make people who despise her and what she stands for think that she's not so bad after all. And how did it go? Well, to put it simply, she merely verified what a big pile of poo I thought she was anyway. Given the chance to be fun and do something creative, she chose instead to stand there and let the SNL cast make fun of her to her face, with the only nice thing said to/about her all night being - from a cameo, mind you, and not even from a usual cast member - "You're hotter in person." No, he didn't say "Hey, you're not as dumb as I thought you were," or even "Wow! You're funny." He commented on the former-beauty queen's hotness. (For a basic run-down of the evening's scenes with SP, click here.)

The best part of the whole night, though, was the rap by Amy Poehler. I only hope I can be that cool when I'm that pregnant! She became a little bit of a hero to me last night.

I saw a clip on FOX News (of all places) that the rap had been written for SP, but she didn't want to do it...the cast liked it, though, so they kept it and gave it to Amy the Gem. Incidentally, the people at FOX News (the link didn't wouldn't embed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ya39slPgs) liked Amy Poehler better than Sarah Palin last night, too. Huh.

See Spot Walk

2008-10-13T17:45:00.003-06:00

Every year, the Idaho Humane Society puts on See Spot Walk, a fund raiser where dog owners gather at Julia Davis Park downtown and walk together on about a one-mile loop through downtown back to the park.

This is our second year seeing Spot walk and here are a couple pictures of our own Spots walking!

After the walk, back at the park, there's a couple of fun competitions you can choose to participate in. There's a dress-up (your dog) competition and one for the ugliest dogs. Lucy and I decided to participate in the musical chairs competition - the owner had to have a seat and the pup had to sit on the floor when the music stopped too. The best part was that Lucy learned the rules to the game in the first two rounds! I only told her to sit the first two times and after that she had it all figured out when I expected her to sit and she sat on her own! This came in handy when there were only five chairs left...My butt made it to a chair the same time as this old woman, but she totally had more butt in the chair than I did. I was getting ready to walk away when the MC stopped me and announced that I was still in the competition because my dog sat right away, while her dog wandered around the stage before sitting.

It came down to me and a little girl who had been sorta cheating through the game.

But I got the last chair fair and square, with my adorable, champion-sitting pup Lucy plopping down in front of me as soon as the music stopped. We won a $25 gift certificate to Zamzows, which has already come in handy for buying these guys some champion-sitting dog food.

When we got home, me and the spectator-dog, Radley, napped a little on the couch. It was a tiring day for all of us!

Friends

2008-09-29T19:12:00.002-06:00

I saw some friends I haven't seen in a long time this weekend at the two little kid birthday parties I went to.

Carrie looks the same, but her baby is quite changed. He is two years old now. Yikes - I didn't realize he'd grown that much...I guess that just means that it's been a long time since I've seen her!

Anna is engaged to a guy she's been dating since March. It was good to see her happy and in love again.

Kim is raising two pretty little girls - one of them a fresh three years old. It was fun to see Kim's artistic abilities being put to use as a loving mother; she made a pretty rockin' panda pinata for the party.

Charity has a bf and an almost seven-year-old daughter, who, like Carrie's son, is still a baby in my memory.

It's nice to catch up and see people doing so well and being so happy.

For my birthday this year...

2008-09-16T20:31:00.005-06:00

we went to breakfast at Byways Cafe,

followed by a massage and Phantom of the Opera, then a drive to

Lincoln City for an overnight stay,

the Tillamook cheese factory the next day,

Mo's in Cannon Beach later that afternoon for some clam chowder bread bowls

and finally a walk along Cannon Beach.

It was wonderful!

Does anyone have an answer to this question for me?

2008-08-22T18:07:00.003-06:00

Why would you intentionally purchase olives with the pits still inside them? I find them difficult to eat, so I rarely serve them (I bought a jar on accident once - a year ago - and I'm still making my way through it), and sometimes I myself am not up for the hassle they provide. However, they're in grocery stores, so I imagine people buy them regularly. They don't cost less than other olives (at least not to any worth-while degree)...So why do people buy them?

Elk Meadows

2008-08-18T10:21:00.005-06:00

This weekend, we went mountain biking with Russ and Tonya here:

We set up camp outside Stanley Friday night and hit the trail Saturday around noon. There were some scary parts, but over all it was a lot of fun. The worst part for me was a downhill rocky part that went for probably a mile and a half. I don't really like doing things that may kill me and I definitely thought that that part could kill me. So I got off my bike and walked it, which was no big deal because none of us were in a hurry. It was nice to be on my first mountain biking trip with people who were so supportive and helpful and patient - and who were all at my relative level of experience.

One of my favorite parts of the trip was going through the meadow.

The Sawtooths surrounded us on one side and trees surrounded us on the other, while hundreds of grasshoppers jumped across the path in front of us. Another favorite part was seeing how high up we were; we had parked down next to Stanley Lake, but we were looking down at it from the top of the mountain! It definitely gave me a sense of accomplishment.

After five hours on the trail (which included a lunch stop, water breaks, walking from time to time and plenty of pauses for pictures), we were finally back at the parking lot. I don't think I've ever been so happy to see a parking lot before in my life! We loaded up our gear and headed down to Stanley Lake to cool off. It was a cold swim, but it felt really good after a full day sweating in the sun and getting covered in dust from the trail.

All in all, it was a great, although exhausting, day. I don't know that mountain biking is the sport for me, but I would like to try more in the future - just perhaps without the patches of scary, downhill rocks.

School Days

2008-08-12T14:27:00.002-06:00

This morning, I helped out with school registration. Which means it's really happening: summer is ending. There's a part of me that's looking forward to getting back on a grown-up schedule with a time to get up and a time to eat and a time to go to bed, but there's also a part of me that really enjoys all the alone time, fluidity of time, and silence. I was able to see some of my old students today, which was fun, and to reconnect with some of my teacher friends from last year, but it was definitely nice afterward to come back home to my empty house and not think about it for a while. I know it's inevitable, but I really would like one, maybe two more weeks of vacation. I'm pretty sure the kids wouldn't mind if we asked them to delay some.

Radley's Obsession

2008-08-11T11:22:00.002-06:00

Friday, a woman Kelly works with brought some zucchini in to the office to share because she had received an abundance from her garden. When Kelly came home, he sat them on the coffee table.

Friday evening, we were enjoying each other's company in the comfort of our living room when Radley started acting strangely. We can set any number of things on the coffee table - within easy reach of our pups' noses - steak, sausage, hotdogs, and other things that encourage lesser pups to disobediently snag said items from the table. Friday evening, Radley was trying to do just that - only without the temptation of smelly, meaty foods. All that was up there was said zucchini.

Kelly picked up one of the large, green vegetables and held it toward Radley's face so he could smell it and see how silly and confused he was acting - disobediently trying to climb onto the table and all. Rather than sniffing it and walking away dejected as anticipated, however, Radley lunged at the zucchini, aiming to make it his snack.

We were surprised at this, to say the least. We laughed and decided to cut a piece off for our crazed pup...which drove him mad. He couldn't wait to get a piece of that zucchini in his mouth! He was dancing all over, doing every trick he knows, trying to impress us into giving him more and more zucchini! We thought he was just hungry, so after feeding him (and Lucy, who, usually our fruit-and-vegetable-lover, was only mildly impressed) a couple of zucchini rounds, so we gave each pup a fresh cup of dog food. Nay! said the ravenous Radley. He only wanted zucchini. We had to put both the zucchini up on the kitchen counter and distract him from pacing the kitchen floor. I honestly think he was depressed we wouldn't just give him the whole thing.

The next day I tried tempting him with the succulent squash once again, thinking that perhaps Friday night was just a fluke. Nope. He did the same song-and-dance numer again on Saturday, almost more excited than Friday at the possibility of having more delicious zucchini. I've never seen him like this before, even for aforementioned smelly meats and definitely never for vegetables. Now that he has the taste for zucchini, I think I should warn all my neighbors to carefully guard their gardens and to put up electrical fencing around their zucchini patches, lest my dog devour all unprotected zucchini under the cloak of night.

More Germany Photos...Because You Asked For Them

2008-08-07T07:56:00.003-06:00

This is the castle in Ludwigsburg. It was built to look like the palace at Versailles. We learned in Germany that a lot of castles were built to look like the palace at Versailles. Evidently, it's the coolest palace ever.

This is me and Ethan going down the stairs in the Ulmer Munster. It was a little dizzy-making to walk in that tight spiral for so long. I couldn't help but think of the centuries worth of germs I was picking up by holding on to that center post. Ugh.

This is the entire American family in Germany. Here we are in front of the oldest house in Ulm - dating from somewhere in the 1400s, I think.

Here's me and Kelly on the other side of the Danube River with the Ulmer Munster sticking up behind us.

These bears were all over Ulm. Except I don't think they were bears. Large jungle cats of some kind, maybe? I don't remember. Pumas? I just thought they looked like oddly posed, skinny bears. They're part of a city project that raises money for the Munster.

Our Trip

2008-07-17T14:44:00.006-06:00

All right...I've been promising this for a week now...This is planning to be a quick run-down of the trip so that the pictures at least make sense. This isn't all of my pictures - only a few. If you want to see more, we'll have to do that in person. I know this is a lot of writing, but we were there for two full weeks. And this isn't even everything that I could have written about! Also, I can't promise that I've correctly spelled everyone's names. If I got something wrong, I apologize in advance.

First, Kelly and I flew into Frankfurt on the same day as his parents, Rex and Liz, and his Aunt Monica. Liz and Monica (as well as another sister and a brother) are our connection to Germany. Their parents emigrated to America (well, Canada, and later to America) in the 30s (40s?) and over the last 80 years the American family and German family has been able to stay in touch.

So day one: Kelly, me, his parents and aunt load up and drive to Ludwigsburg to stay with Jurgen (Liz's cousin) and Irene. (For anyone who remembers, their son Daniel visited us two summers ago.) These two people were amazing with their generosity and hospitality. There was never a shortage to eat, drink or discuss. I wish we could have stayed longer so Irene could show me a few things in the kitchen because she was a tremendous cook. She made for us a whole host of traditionl German meals that made me sad my stomach could only hold a limited amount of food.

We stayed here our first two nights, using this time to also visit Jurgen's brother Rainer and his wife Ursl and later Joachim, another of Liz's cousins, who painted the picture we have hanging in our living room a few years ago. Then we went to Ulm and stayed three nights with Michael and Karmen and their children Cheara and Samuel. (Some people may remember that these four visited us briefly last summer.) We stayed here with Kelly's cousin Lindelise and her husband Aaron and their children Ethan and Annelise. (Their parents, Linde and Pete, were also on this trip. They are all part of the American family.)

Our first day in Ulm, we went to the Ulmer Munster, which is the tallest church in the world, and Kelly, me, Aaron, Lindelise, and Ethan climbed to the top of the steeple. We ate some and shopped some and that night spent some time meeting more members of the German family.

The next day, Saturday, was the day of the wedding - the reason for the timing of our trip and for the influx of Americans. The groom, Thorsten, is Michael's brother. He and his now wife, Steffi, have a very cute little boy, Dominik. The wedding started at three in a very beautiful and very old Catholic church. Immediately afterward they held a small reception in the church courtyard, mingling with wedding guests with champagne, OJ and croissants because some people at the service wouldn't be going to the bigger reception. The reception was quite the party. There was skits (one of which a bunch of us Americans participated in), much dancing, food, food, food, and all the beverages you could drink. We didn't leave until after one in the morning!

Sunday we had an uneventful day driving Kelly's parents back to the airport and staying in Frankfurt watching the German soccer team lose (sadly) to the Spanish team in the European cup. The next day, we set off on our own.

Our first stop: Baden-Baden. I don't think I'd ever heard of this place, but wow, was it worth it! Cute, cobblestone roads, old homes, open markets, outdoor patios...it was fabulous. Plus, this place had a fantastic smell to it - like all of the flowers were in bloom all at the same time. We did a quick walking tour of the city, courtesy of our Rick Steve's guide book (which was also awesome!) and found this spigot in the middle of town that puts out hot water from the underground spring. The book said that children used to be sent down to collect a bucket full of water every morning for their father's shave and that older people in town still remember doing this. The water was clean and drinkable - if you don't mind the taste of mineral water. Then we went to a bath house - a Roman-Irish bath house, actually. It's a long process of steam rooms and saunas and soaking pools with a soap massage in the middle. At first I was a little uncomfortable walking around naked with all the other women in the bath with me, but after a while all our nakedness didn't seem like a big deal any more and I was just able to enjoy myself. This was definitely my favorite European experience!

The next day we drove a little west to Strasbourg, France. This time, it was my turn to translate! My first purchase was ice cream cones for the two of us. It was exciting how much French I remember after so many years of not using it. We walked around some, at lunch and perused a book store, where I had to ask the lady working for a certain book that my French teacher used to use with us. I loved it so much, I wanted one of my own. My French was successful! She knew exactly what I was talking about. It was great!

Then we went a little further south and back to Germany to Staufen, one of my favorite places that we visited. Staufen was a cute, relaxing town with old-world charm. We stayed at a gasthous with a tremendous view of a vineyard-covered hill with a ruined castle on top, all nestled in the rolling hills of the Black Forest. The next morning we visited that creepy old castle and were amazed at how well it's held up over the last 800 years. No one could live there now...But in America something that old and "useless" would've been torn down ages ago to make room for a new Wal-mart or something.

Then we drove to Hallstatt, Austria. You've seen The Sound of Music? Yup, that's this place. Well, not this exact town, but the area, sure. Hallstatt was a thriving city with established trade routes when Rome was being (legendarily) founded by Remus and Romulus. It got its start as a mining town because in the mountains the town is built around is a massive salt cache. (I learned more about salt on this trip than I ever thought I would! Ask me sometime.) Salt was always very important and, for people farther away, very expensive, so it came to be called "white gold." We stayed in Hallstatt at a fabulous gasthaus ran by a very friendly woman named Maria, who told us of a great place to swim at the lake, Hallstattersee.

After two nights in Hallstatt, we headed back through the Alps to Munich for two nights. We ate at the Hofbrauhaus, which is, unrelatedly, the first place that Adolf Hitler delivered a speech to a large group of people, visited near-by Dachau concentration camp, ate, shopped, ate, drank and walked. We saw the Glockenspiel, rode the tram, I talked to a stranger on my own in German (I told her the bench was free - as in unoccupied), and stayed in a single room to save a few Euros. We both thought Munich was all right - definitely lots to do - but it wasn't our favorite place. If I go back, I'd like to investigate more of the history of the city.

Then to Rothenburg, which Kelly mistakenly called Rotterdam so much that it left me rather confused as to where we were. This city is a completely walled-in city with a fascinating story (another one to ask me about in person) and more old, old, old-world charm. We took a tour that night from the night watchman, who definitely gave the best tour of our entire vacation. We also went to the Crime and Punishment museum - not as in the book, but as in torture, etc. It's sick how much time and effort people have put into hurting other people, but it makes for a cool museum.

The next day was Monday and our last full day in Germany. We drove back to Frankfurt, found a cute place for dinner and ate our last European ice cream cone. We were sad to have to leave, but we were also ready. More than anything, we missed our dogs! We decided that Germans love doors, as there were doors in every imaginable doorway, but we couldn't figure out why, if we were staying in a clock-making capitol of the world, there were no clocks anywhere we stayed. We also noticed that Germans love ice cream, practicing their English, cutting in line and doing other things indicative of a lack of patience, and sitting forever after a meal drinking and talking (which works, even though it doesn't fit well with their aforementioned lack of patience). We enjoyed driving on the Autobahn, practicing our German, learning so much about another culture and history so different from yet still so similar to our own, spending time together through all these adventures, and being able to go, see, and do whatever and whenever we wanted for so long. Kelly loved having so much bread all the time - a different type for each meal, it seemed - but I was missing veggies by day nine. I drank my fair share of eiscafe (cold coffee, often with whipped cream and sometimes with vanilla ice cream) and Kelly drank a dark beer wherever we went. If I wasn't drinking an eiscafe, I was probably drinking Radler - 50/50 beer and lemonade. I didn't think it sounded very good at first, but after I tried it, I couldn't get enough. I highly recommend it. And if I wasn't drinking one of those two things, I was scrounging for water. In Germany, they think water - especially tap water - is just for washing and cooking, not drinking. So if you order water in a restaurant, you get sparkling water unless you specify to them that you want non-sparkling water...which means that you'll likely get mineral water (which I thought tasted like I was drinking dirt). They served all water by the bottle and never more than you could fit in a wine glass. I don't know how they're all still living! I felt so dehydrated all the time!

Overall, the two weeks there were two of the most memorable in my little lifetime. It was a phenomenal way to spend my first trip to Europe!

Doors and clocks

2008-07-10T16:03:00.002-06:00

K and I got home from Germany two days ago and even though I'm planning to write a much more interesting, in-depth post about the two weeks we spent there, I'm going to first write about doors and clocks.

Germans, I have learned, love doors. In one place we went, I had to go through four doors to get to the toilet: one door to the bathrooms, one door to the women's bathroom, one door to the line of stalls, and one door to the stall itself. In homes, it wasn't uncommon for every single room in the house to have its own door or for there to be another door at either end of the hallway or foyer. It was rare - in any establishment - for there to be a space where a door could have been but wasn't.

And on the other hand, we have clocks. There was a severe lack of clocks in the entire country, which surprised us considering how famous the area is for their cuckoo clocks and how well-known Germans are for being sticklers on pretty much everything. Most gasthauses we stayed in didn't have a clock in the room. The two that did only had the clock because it was on the TV and it did not have an alarm. Most mornings we relied on my personal internal clock and my watch to get us out of bed on time for breakfast.

What happens in Vegas...

2008-06-10T13:35:00.002-06:00

This post is in reference to the new movie that's out by the same title, not something that's recently happened in Vegas on my behalf. The movie was one of those cute, predictable but really fun movies that Hollywood is so apt at putting out every few weeks. The one thing I have to say about it, however, is this: When is Cameron Diaz going to stop taking roles that require her audience to belive that she's still a 20-something, up-and-coming career mistress and start playing characters a little truer to her almost-36-year-old self? She's talented, yes, but at some point her audience isn't going to be able to overlook her wrinkles and split ends as something younger men (as was her male lead in this movie) lust after.

Teacher Compliments

2008-06-04T14:46:00.002-06:00

Today marks the last day of my first year of teaching. I thought that, on this occasion, I would relay the two best compliments I received all year from students.

The first was a couple of months ago. I was in the classroom after school one day with a couple of girls who were writing silly things on my board. Then they left and I left and I just figured I'd erase my board when I got there the next morning. The next morning was when I finally paid attention to what they put on my board. The entire space was full of things like "Ms. Hagans rocks" and "I [heart] Ms. Hagans," but right there in the middle was a note that said "Ms. Hagans is a teacher who actually teaches things." It meant so much that I teared up and took a picture with my phone.

And the second was yesterday in a thank you card I received from a student. In her card, among other things, she said, "Your classroom is a place where I feel like I can speak my mind, be myself and have fun." And that, my friends, is one of my biggest goals in teaching - and she said it without me even telling her that that's what I was shooting for this entire time!

So, congrats to me on a job well done. You know, I sort of like this teaching thing. I think I'll give it another try next year. ;-)

He Triumphs Over the Lawn Mower

2008-04-19T20:21:00.004-06:00

We were going to work out together tonight after he mowed the lawn, but when he went to retrieve the lawn mower he found that it wouldn't run for more than thirty seconds before dying. A half hour later, I suggested that he leave it alone and we can take it to someone who fixes motors and things. He said he would be right in. After almost another hour of tinkering with it, however, he finally got the dern thing started.

And spent the rest of his backyard mowing time crying out triumphant "Ha ha!"s and "Yes!"es.

I love how his cuteness about even little lawn mower things makes me smile from inside, even when it also means we'll probably not go running tonight. I'm glad that he won - and not just because it means he'll be in a better mood knowing that our lawn looks better than our neighbors. I'm glad he won because his tenacity is one of the qualities I value about him most. Maybe it sounds funny to think, but I don't think I would love him like I do if he wasn't so stubborn!

Tea

2008-04-02T21:49:00.003-06:00

Right now I'm drinking some awesome bedtime tea that was a b-day gift from one of the best gift givers ever and happens to be nearly gone (the supply in the cupboard, not the liquid in my freshly-poured cup), which makes me sad because it's awesome and if it's almost gone that means I need to buy some more and part of what made it so awesome in the first place (aside from the flavor) is that every time I drink it I think of Kathy's propensity for generosity and thoughtfulness.

If you also want some awesome tea, it's from Teavana.

Coolest Student Question Ever

2008-03-11T18:08:00.002-06:00

The other day in my newspaper class, I was explaining the requirements for their feature articles when M raises his hand. I call on M.

M: I just have a question to make sure I like understand.

Me: OK.

M: So, should we, like, when we write this, should we be using, like, sentences for this? [BTW: He's serious.]

Me: Yes, when you write your feature article, you should definitely use sentences.

Evidently, that wasn't what he meant, but he only realized that after his buddy made a sarcastic remark about what else he might use to write his article. M tried to explain/redeem himself, but gave up the effort before the rest of the class (myself included) believed him that he actually meant to pose a different question.

I love this company:

2008-03-01T22:47:00.001-07:00

Newman's Own

I've tried more and more of Newman's Own products lately - from the salad dressings to the salsa and tonight I'm trying the wine. So far, I've found that not only is everything delicious, but everything is of tremendous quality. Plus, this company donates proceeds to charities; they've evidently given $200 million over the last twenty years. If you haven't tried any of their stuff, you should.

There are days when THIS is how I would like to address my students:

2008-02-19T20:16:00.003-07:00

Why I Hate Antidisestablishmentarianism

2008-02-14T17:27:00.006-07:00

I remember when I was probably eight or nine asking my dad what the longest English word was. He told me "antidisestablishmentarianism," which quickly became my most favorite word despite being slightly unsure of its spelling and entirely unsure of its meaning.

I was a precocious child and sure of my academic superiority over my peers. Somehow, being armed with the knowledge of the longest English word increased that sense of superiority as well as my feeling of mastery of language. I remember reciting it over and over in my head on my walks to and from school and practicing writing it, just looking at it on the page in my own handwriting. Partially, I would write and rewrite this champion of a word because I wanted to make it look pretty and was continually discouraged at the fact that this is, simply, an ugly word. But mostly I wrote and rewrote it because it somehow connected me with an impression of eminence.

Through the years my humility grew. Since I'm not sure I had much humility at eight or nine I'm not sure if "grew" is the completely correct term for it; perhaps I would be more accurate to say that my humility was planted, but I'm not sure who I could credit for that. I realized a lot about my aforementioned academic superiority and other abilities, my relations with peers and the English language. The first serious blow, I think, came around the age of fourteen, when I learned that antidisestablishmentarianism is actually not the longest English word. In fact, antidisestablishmentarianism is a paltry 28 letters and is, incidentally, a mostly useless word in today's English vocabulary except for its ability to excite precocious children. The longest word in major English dictionaries is "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a 45-letter word which refers to a lung disease contracted from the inhalation of very fine silica particles specifically from a volcano. Research has discovered that this word was originally a hoax. It has since been used in a close approximation of its originally intended meaning, lending at least some degree of validity to its claim. The Oxford English Dictionary contains pseudopseudohypoparathyroidism (30 letters). The longest non-technical word in major dictionaries is floccinaucinihilipilification at 29 letters. Consisting of a series of Latin words meaning "nothing" and defined as 'the act of estimating something as worthless,' its usage has been recorded as far back as 1741" (wikipedia). And then on top of that you have some random made up words from James Joyce or Mary Poppins that exceed some of these "actual" words, none of which I fault my father for not knowing. I don't know that it's necessary for really anyone to keep those terms tucked away in their knowledge bank.

My reasons for hating antidisestablishmentarianism have nothing to do with the meaning of the word. In fact, I have no strong opinions whatsoever concerning the opposition to the withdrawal of state support or recognition from an established church, esp. the Anglican Church in 19th-century England. My distaste for the word stems from the word itself. Even though I flaunted my knowledge of this word for so long, I never liked the word. It seemed greater than its own purpose and somehow I came to represent that. Therefore, my distaste for that pompous behavior extended to a heightened sense of the use of words and people who get high off of blatantly showing their own superiority through knowledge of bigger, better or more obscure words. Yes, I think that knowing more words and having a firm command of language is important and impressive. For me, however, it is when that vocabulary arsenal is used to intentionally degrade others that words cease to impress.

Recently, I've been discussing tolerance with my sixth grade gifted and talented students. They spent twenty minutes telling me all about how gifted kids have a higher emotional intelligence than other kids (which isn't necessarily reflected in the literature, by the way) and that they know all about intolerance from other people because they're always being snubbed for being smarter than everyone else. It was the "poor little rich girl" syndrome, basically, only with sixth grade smart kids who have no humility yet for their own gifts. The same day and every day since, I have heard them raving about the "awesomeness" of "antidisestablishmentarianism" and how dumb other kids their age are because they've never heard of it. So it continues.

Yes, I know all about the power of words and knowledge and how smarter (and generally higher income) kids are just exposed to more words since birth than their lower-IQ counterparts and that they're, in that way, factors of their environment that are directly related to their parents pushing them – pushing them to be smarter, know more, do better, get better grades. I get that and don't (usually) hold it against them.

But there's something about that word: antidisestablishmentarianism. It excites nerds. This ugly, pompous, useless word remains a champion among words for a reason that I may never understand again. For me, however, it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth that resembles a lack of awareness of the world, naivete of self, and, most of all, a foolish arrogance.

Needs

2008-02-08T18:42:00.000-07:00

I did this once with "is," but it's also funny this way. Go to google and put in quotation marks your name plus needs. For instance, when I googled "Angela needs," I came up with...

Angela needs a family who will access and work with a therapist.
Angela needs a parent who uses humor and non-threatening approaches to discipline.
Angela needs a psychiatric evaluation. Angela needs help. Angela needs to take her father off the pedestal. Oh so true.
Angela needs to constantly "feel" the presence of God.
Angela needs help!
Angela needs her space.
Angela needs to take those 18-hour days she spends working on her Web site and devote that time to improving the quality of her clothes.

And when I put in "Kelly needs"...

Kelly needs patience right now.
This tells me that Kelly needs to feel important to someone.
Kelly needs a quivering antenna.
Kelly needs to learn about patience.
Kelly needs modesty.
Kelly needs to prepare and think about a hundred things.
Kelly Needs to Be In My Life, Always.
Kelly needs to "Double Up" on lawyers.

What do you need?

Yes We Can

2008-02-06T16:27:00.000-07:00

I think this is the best music video I've ever seen. Partially because it's well done and partially because I also believe we can.

I just can't help it.

2008-01-24T21:26:00.001-07:00

I have become quite the little porn addict.

However, I didn't intend to. I did nothing to create this problem and really, I don't even enjoy that it's there. I wouldn't even really call myself an "addict," actually, because I try to ignore the porn when it is there.

The problem is that it's there all the time. If there are ads on an internet site, those ads are all porn ads. I see girls in thongs, wet girls, girls in bikinis, girl butts, girls grabbing their own breasts, girls nearly kissing other girls, and more - all in freeze frame.

I think there's something drastically wrong with my computer. At least, that seems far more likely than a change in my sexual preferences (that's a reference to the excessive porn as well as the massive amounts of hot girl action). If anyone has a quick and easy solution - or a condom for my computer - please pass on the good news.

Lately,

2008-01-20T20:13:00.000-07:00

there have been a lot of birthdays in my family. C's now 22, T just turned the big 1-0, and D finally hit 9. Mom had one too, but I don't know what she thinks about me telling everyone in Internetland that she's 44. Oh, oops, I just did.

I've been spending a lot of time with my friends, which I really like. It makes me feel more connected to life.

I've been drinking more water. I've also (subsequently) been peeing more.

K has been speaking more German to me. He's trying to warm me up to hearing it all the time when we're in Germany in five months and four days.

my dogs have been feeling very neglected, I think. We've tried to take them out running at the eighth street trails a couple times, but the weather has been so weird that either the trails are frozen over or completely muddy. Either way, they're unpredictable.

Maybe I should have taken this quiz three years ago.

2008-01-06T20:21:00.000-07:00

My sexy new website!

2007-12-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

Each teacher at my school is supposed to keep up a little calendar of their classes so that students and parents can access it from home. It only really needs to be done a week at a time, but some of us keep an ongoing calendar. I started off with the format I was given, but it was sooooo boring that I had to change it up. My next draft was a little better and the one after that a little better still. The last one I had was awesome...for a time. Now I have this one. I absolutely love it - which is why I'm sharing it here. I know a lot of people aren't too thrilled to see my kids' calendar, but you may be thrilled to know that I developed this website all on my own. It's a little tricky because we do the sites just on Word and because our server only updates once a week - so anything I work on doesn't show up as an actual change until Monday after school. And, because of that, there are a couple weird things - misalignments and such - on my page that you should just ignore for the most part. I know they're there. In fact, they've already been changed...you just won't see those changes until next week.

Anyway, just wanted to show off my handiwork! I think I'll quit my teaching job and just do web design from now on. This website will get me hired hands down!

What's in your cosmetics bag?

2007-11-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

I have an increased awareness lately of the crap that cosmetics companies are putting in their products - and we then put on our bodies and faces. Here, I list just a couple of items you will find in a standard ingredients list with links to the web pages I retrieved the information from in case you don't believe me. Go ahead, read the back of your bottle of concealer, your lotion, your soap. You won't think the same way again about your childhood chemistry set.

Propylene Glycol

This is a tricky one because PG is very closely related to a couple other chemical compounds that are severely toxic (carcinogenic, even), but PG has been approved by the FDA for use in not only cosmetics, but in food (things like ice cream, microwavable popcorn, etc.). However, it can also be a primary ingredient in antifreeze.

But, just so I'm not only providing negative info on something many companies and researchers believe to be OK, here's a good article on the matter from Tom's.

Mineral Oil

What's highly flammable, used as a laxative, destructive when you get it in your eyes or swallow it, and something people rub all over babies every day? Mineral Oil! This stuff also goes by many aliases, such as "hydraulic oil" and "cable oil." Mineral oil, with added fragrance, is called "baby oil," but it is also commonly prescribed as a laxatives. Basically, when used in cosmetics, mineral oil is used to "cut" the product to make it last longer and go farther (the same basic idea coke dealers use when they cut their product with things like bleach).

And, once again, so that I'm letting you decide what you want, here's a site arguing for the safety and continued use of mineral oil.

Parabens

Currently, the FDA doesn't see a serious carcinogenic cause of concern with parabens, used as preservatives in many cosmetic lines, but the products are still under review. The reason parabens are still being tested is that there have been tests that have shown that bodies may react to the estrogen-esque properties in parabens, which may lead to certain types of cancers (primarily for females, who, incidentally, are the primary users of cosmetic products that contain parabens) even when the products containing parabens were only rubbed into the skin - they did not have to be ingested or injected. Problems in young boys who have exposure to parabens have been noticed as well - for instance sperm abnormalities and testicular cancer - and more attention is being paid to general allergies to parabens. For more information about research and cosmetics, visit ThinkBeforeYouPink.org.

I didn't find any web sites extolling the virtues of parabens.

Sodium Lauryl Sulfate/Sodium Laureth Sulfate

This stuff, abbreviated to SLS and SLES, are commonly used as cleaning agents in shampoos, soaps, bubble baths, garage floor cleaners, and engine degreasers. They are used in products we expect to foam, but it's a cheap product (which is why it's used in general) and it's a severe irritant (think of the searing pain you experience every time you accidentally get soap in your eyes). There are no known carcinogenic effects of SLS, however, which is the biggest argument for the use of SLS or SLES.

Fine Literature

2007-10-14T18:37:00.000-06:00

Sometimes when I talk to my "smart" friends who aren't middle school reading teachers I feel a little out of place. I graduated with an English degree and therefore hung out with a lot of people in college who read Emerson and Judith Butler on a regular basis. And I totally fit in. Then. I was one of them.

I don't read that stuff any more. I have no time or interest in that stuff. These days I'm working on some Phillip Pullman and plan soon to start some Scott Westerfeld. Why? Because I work with twelve-year-olds and that's what they read. When they ask me what a book is about or if an author is worth a shot, I want to be able to tell them truthfully, rather than just tell them what I've heard from other kids. And when they finish a book I want to have a discussion about it rather than just file that tip away for the next time a kid brings up kid literature. Plus, these are good reads. They're fun and easy and about life things that people face forever - even way out of adolescence; they're adventurous and encourage dreaming.

But really, I want to connect better with twelve-year-olds. I want to meet my new little "friends" where they are and on their page (pun intended). They don't care what Emerson said about friendships but they know that Harry, Ron and Hermione took seven years to develop the tight bond that they did and they know, because Ben Mikaelsen told them, that life is what you make of it - good and bad. They listen when Johnny tells Ponyboy to stay green and they're shocked with the possibilities in Uglies.

I encourage you to check out these books, these authors. Pick up some used copies somewhere and keep them in your car to read while you're waiting at the dentist's office or something. And when you're done, if you don't want to keep them, give them to me. I'll put them in my classroom and let some of my twlve-year-old literary explorers check them out. Their lives will be better because you shared with them some fine literature.

Noses

2007-10-08T20:22:00.000-06:00

I underestimated how many students I would watch pick their noses every day in class before I started teaching. As it turns out, I watch students pick their noses every day. It's pretty awesome, really. And by "awesome," I mean funny in a gross sort of way. I thought that "Don't pick your nose" was one of those big time parent rules that they shout at their kids for the first ten years of their lives or so. But, as it turns out, that's not the case. Granted, more sixth graders than eighth graders pick their noses, but I personally think that more than one a day is too many. The funny part comes in when the kids try to hide it when they think no one's looking or behind their other, more free, hand.

And so I issue a plea to parents: Teach your children about tissues so they don't gross out their middle school teachers. Otherwise, my patience for this habit may wane and it may be your child I decide to embarrass some day.

Especially when you wonder what they do with all the gross nose stuff they dig out...

Warren Peace

2007-10-05T23:03:00.000-06:00

The other night I was at dinner with some strangers. They found out I teach and were asking me some questions about it. I mentioned that I teach gifted and talented sixth graders - eleven-year-olds. I told the story of the conversation with one of my students that involved him telling me "When I read War and Peace..." and how statements like that don't even surprise me about those kids any more. I mean, this little child of a boy was talking about War and Peace in the past tense - as though perhaps he read it when he was in pre-school or something.

So one of the guys at the dinner table says, "Wow! I've never read Warren Peace and I'm well out of sixth grade. I've never even heard of the guy to have read any of his stuff!"

Huffing

2007-09-14T22:58:00.001-06:00

In case you're unfamiliar with huffing, it is the process of getting high via smelling noxious substances. People huff gas, laundry detergent, bleach...You name it. As a side note, I think huffing is funny because it seems really desperate for a high...Not that that's funny, but...well, I guess it's a dry humor thing. Anyway...Huffing is something kids will do because it's easy to get ahold of substances to huff. Few people think to lock up things like laundry detergent or gas - especially since visiting gas stations is free...And markers can get you high too...those really smelly ones that give you a little headache...you know the ones...In fact, when they started making the "smelly markers" that was a REALLY bad idea because it got a lot of kindergarteners high. But, then, I never did think the rulers of the 1980s were incredibly intelligent. They have since changed the formula of the smelly markers because they couldn't take the law suits from parents suing due to brain damaged kids, I suppose. Those markers aren't nearly as "cool" as they used to be to the kids, although they're still sorta cool because they smell good...

So today one of the funniest things I've ever encounered while teaching happened. I have to preface this with the fact that just last night Kelly and I had a conversation about how I've noticed that the emo kids where I teach now aren't nearly as good about being emo as the kids at the last place I taught. We decided that it's because the last school I taught at was in a much, much, much lower socio-economic part of town. Much lower.

It was eighth period. My students were coloring a little comic they drew about their reading process when M, who could be considered a slightly weak-sauce emo kid, opened his binder and pulled out a Sharpie.

"I love the way Sharpies smell," he said enthusiastically. The class echoed approval.

"I love it too," said E, who could also be considered slightly weak-sauce emo. "And you know what's cool? When your head gets that woosy feeling after you smell the marker for a long time. It's kind of funny."

I hear this conversation from my desk and my ears perk up like cartoon radar systems.

"Are you guys talking about huffing markers?!?" I walk toward my students.

"No." They respond honestly in unison.

"No, Ms. Hagans. We're just talking about smelling Sharpies."

"Yeah...." I need to hear more.

E takes the lead. "It's just that when you smell them for a long time your head gets a little woosy. It's funny."

"Right," I respond seriously. "You're talking about huffing markers. You're getting high."

"I don't think so, Ms. Hagans," E says seriously. "We're just smelling Sharpies."

"Yeah. That woosy-in-the-head feeling means you're killing brain cells. Which means you're getting high. When ever you feel woosy in the head you're killing some brain cells. Especially if it's from something like smelling chemicals - like the stuff Sharpies are made of. Or snorting crack. Take your pick. Either way, you should never do it. And I especially never want you to do it in my class. I don't think your parents would like you getting high in English."

"Really?" says J from the back of the room. "You're really getting high when you smell markers?"

"Noxious markers like Sharpies, yes. It's that 'woosy' feeling in your head like E was saying."

"Wow! I didn't know that!"

I told J I didn't like the smile on his face and reiterated to the class that they were not to get high in my class any more.

My kids last year would have known all about huffing and that "woosy" feeling in their heads. Case in point - my kids this year suck at being "bad."

My Birthday Weekend

2007-09-03T15:05:00.000-06:00

As nice as vacations are, I do so enjoy the time afterwards when I can nestle into my couch with my laptop and write about them. This vacation story is one of my birthday. I had been so busy and preoccupied with the schoolyear starting that I had nearly forgotten that it was my birthday. However, Kelly didn't. When I came home from school Friday I encountered a lovely surprise. Kelly had left work early to clean the house and mow the lawn so that everything around the house would be ready for us to leave as soon as I packed my suitcase. Within a half hour, we were out the door and heading for Crouch.

Crouch is a small, woodsy town of a few hundred people. Which is why I was surprised to find that they had an outdoor community theatre. That is where we spent Friday evening - after we checked into our bed and breakfast.

Saturday morning we woke up and hit the road again, this time heading toward McCall. Tamarack resort, more specifically. They have ziplining there and Kelly had signed us up. I was a little frightened at the first platform, but after that I relaxed and enjoyed myself.

After ziplining we took it slow. It was kind of an on-edge day of adrenaline and hiking. Sunday we left the B&B in search of a hot spring called Moondipper. The guy in the parking lot told us it didn't exist, but we didn't believe him. He seemed like a know-it-all redneck who we just didn't want to trust. So we hiked in to literally the middle of nowhere for what came to seem like hours.

Along the way we saw some wildlife and the most beautiful, untouched scenery I have seen in a long time. At times we wondered aloud if we were going to die out in the wilderness since our directions to this place were sketchy at best, but it was all worth it.

After such a long hike in the hot, hot sun we were exhausted. Last night we ate some ice cream and watched a movie in the comfort of our own home and got a long, full night of sleep. It was a wonderful weekend and a great way to start my 26th year!

Our New Bathroom

2007-07-09T16:39:00.000-06:00

We decided to remodel our very outdated upstairs bathroom recently. Since it's done I thought I would post some pictures of all our hard work. Well, it's K's hard work more than mine...He had more time than I did to work on it - plus, the bathroom is too small for us to both work in there comfortably.

First, here's a shot of K taking out the old vanity. Notice the linoleum...the brown wood panelling...the thirty-year-old blinds...

This is the toilet spot after K took out the toilet.

Here's the area in front of the shower after it was painted and K started laying tiles.

Here's the old sink spot with the new tiles down and the paint all touched up.

Finally, voila! The finished product!

Like I said, the bathroom is a little small, so it was difficult for me to get a terribly good photograph, but I'm sure you get the point. This was a fun project and we are thrilled with the result!

OxBow

2007-06-19T22:12:00.000-06:00

My dad is starting out as a home inspector and has a really cool new website for his company, OxBow. I just thought I would post it here in case anyone needs a home inspection in the southwest Idaho area and because I'm really impressed with the site!

Parenting

2007-06-03T22:28:00.000-06:00

After working with at-risk and high-risk teens intimately for about two years now, I have come to some realizations about children, parenting and the like. What follows is a rough beginning to some of these thoughts and lessons learned put to paper.

What you pay attention to dictates how your child will act. This works in both a positive and a negative way. If you display all of the assignments your child scores an A on, your child will strive for good grades. If, however, you ignore her when she's doing well in school (perhaps because she isn't a bother to you at this point), but yell at her when she's failing, she will fail. If you're all right with him being quiet all the time and only pay attention to him (even if it is only to tell him to shut up) when he's making loud noises, he will make loud noises. You may not particularly value failing grades or annoying sounds, but what you give attention to teaches your child what is valuable in life because children thrive off of attention and cannot yet distinguish good from bad values.

You shape your child's social norms. This seems like a no-brainer, but I think not enough parents realize this. If you like to sit on the couch watching basketball and cheering for your favorite team no matter what else is going on around you - someone is trying to concentrate, take an important phone call, work on a project, etc. - your children will be as zoned in and show a similar disregard of others' space as well. It may or may not be with sports, but your child will find something. If you are cheerful when you meet people, use traditional manners of "please" and "thank you," laugh at other people's jokes, swear or call people names, your child will do those things as well.

Your child learns cleanliness habits from you. This begins with bathing him as an infant (Once a day...or once a week?) and continues throughout life. It generalizes to brushing his teeth, washing his hands, making his bed, changing his socks and underwear, using deodorant, vacuuming and caring about whether or not he eats off of clean dishes. When he pees his pants, do you clean it up immediately? Or do you let it go because it will evaporate eventually? When she doesn't shower for five or six days at a time, do you notice? Do you say anything? How often do you, the parent, brush your teeth? Sweep the floor? How much do you care what your house looks like when people come over? What do you do about it? Because it makes a difference, I promise.

Your child interacts with people outside the home the way she is allowed to act (and how other people are allowed to act) inside your home. If a child is allowed to bully his younger brother (name calling, hitting, manipulating, etc.), he will bully other people. He has learned that he has power not only over the little brother, but over Mom and Dad, who, even though they may tell him to stop, don't effect change in his behavior because he is more persistent than they are. And the younger, bullied brother will be both a target for other bullies (the behavior he is accustomed to at home) and may also bully those children over whom he can assert some power (younger children, children with either mental or physical handicaps, etc.) because that is another behavior he has learned from home and is one that he associates with power. The bullying that either child enacts may not be the TV version under the willow tree at lunch and may not involve stealing lunch money, but it may land him in trouble at some point. And then the parents say "I had no idea he could be like this..."

Negligent parents breed negligent children. Perhaps you only neglect paying attention to your daughter's diet. She may have a stellar diet on her own, but may be negligent with her math homework. Maybe you neglect following through with consequences. Maybe then your child neglects cleaning her room. You neglect to tell the truth; your child neglects to tell you what he does after school at his friend's house. You neglect to apologize when you do something wrong because it's easier for you to blame the other person...Your child mysteriously develops a similar trait. The negligence may or may not assert itself in the same manner, but it will appear in your child in some form. All it takes is some awareness on the part of the parent to prevent that.

That's it for now...But this is still in the works. It's something I've been thinking about for a while. I know that I may be a little jaded in some respects because I work with such an extreme portion of the teenage population, but I like that because it makes me more aware. The more I think about this, the more I pay attention to my interactions with my siblings, my students, even my dogs, and especially the teens who represent my learning curve.

Today is my day off.

2007-05-23T14:35:00.001-06:00

I have talked to my mother on the phone.

I have spent time outside, feeling the warm sunshine on my skin, knowing that the amount of time my skin would be exposed to the sun would depend on me rather than a ticking clock.

I have washed three loads of laundry and hung them outside to dry.

I have listened to my wooden wind chimes and remembered buying them in Belize.

I have responded to emails.

I have not changed out of my pajamas as of two in the afternoon.

I have read.

I have listened to music.

I have cleaned up the messy room in the house, creating one more full bag of paper for the recycling bin.

I have enjoyed my day.

Race For The Cure 3

2007-05-14T16:49:00.000-06:00

Here's the group shot before the race. We were all very happy to be there among so many people working for the same cause. It was moving, really. Thank you to everyone who cheered us on along the way!

Race For The Cure 2

2007-05-03T21:02:00.000-06:00

I picked up our race packets today! Hooray! It's only a week from this Saturday! Our team is at 20% of our fundraising goal, thanks to our lovely friends and family who have made generous contributions. I would like to add a couple to the list of thanks: Mandy and Scott!

Race for the Cure

2007-05-01T16:36:00.000-06:00

I'm participating in Race for the Cure in two more Saturdays and would love some support from you, my loyal fan base. Yes, that's right, I'm asking for money. But really, it isn't for me; it's for breast cancer research. So think tax deductions and saving boobies and donate a buck or two!

P.S.
Much thanks to our current donors:
Rex and Liz
Diane and Steve
Bert and Lori

You rock!

Maturity

2007-04-18T22:34:00.000-06:00

A student hugged me today. This student was the captain of the football team, straight A, funny, charismatic, genial, helpful, attractive, cooperative student everyone likes. After the said hug, I realized something...

He talks to me because he wants to.
He is nice to me because he wants to.
He hugged me because he wanted to.

Ten years ago when I was their age, THAT kid wouldn't have talked to me, been nice to me and would definitely not have hugged me. I was so not cool back then. I didn't do my hair, I didn't wear hip clothes, and I didn't talk to people because I was nervous and worried that they wouldn't like me. Instead, I read and studied and talked to safe people. I kept to myself and, not only would the captain of the football team have not hugged me, he would have flat out ignored me.

It's so funny to see the differences today. In their world, those "cool" things are soooo important. In my world, they're really not. But because I don't really fit into their social world, I can be accepted for being a cool adult. This kid, whose counterpart made fun of me a decade ago, hugged me today. And I allowed him without wonderng what mean trick he was pulling as I once did.

When do we make that transition? What drives us to be horrible to each other? And then suddenly to be OK? Does "cool" ever actually go away? And who makes it up?

Down, down, baby, down by the roller coaster.

2007-04-12T17:34:00.000-06:00

I think that friendships were easier once upon a time, back when we jumped rope and judged people on their ability to keep up in hand-slap games. I think it was better and more clear cut then, too.

I have one friend now who I don't really want to be friends with any more because she brings me down and it seems to me that she doesn't want to be my friend any more because I bore her, but we continue talking to each other. I have a friend I want to see more because she's true and fun and helps me remember to let go, but she has a baby and a boyfriend who, rightfully so, take precedence in her life. I have a friend who I thought was a good friend for a long time, but now I'm not so sure because either her definition of how you treat a friend has changed or her feelings about our friendship have. I have a friend who is on such a different path than I am with her life, her education, and her choices in general that we have nothing to talk about when we're together that obligatory once in a while except the old times - and I think we're lucky enough to have enough old times to fall back on. I have a friend who I would love to see more because we have a lot in common and never run short of things to say to one another, but between our two busy schedules I'm fortunate if I can see her once a month.

So it would be easier - much easier - if they all lived in my apartment complex again and we could visit each other every day after school and we could race around the sidewalk taking turns pulling each other in our red wagons and we could turn up the radio and dance and spin circles in the grass and we could know each other's parents as only "mom" and "dad" and they would love us all the same. And we could play again without worrying about making supper or getting up early in the morning or staining our clothes because jacks and hopscotch would be the only things on our minds.

Summer Dreamin'

2007-04-09T17:28:00.000-06:00

I'm really looking forward to this summer. I have the COOLEST shift EVER at the shelter for one, and for two, K and I have gotten into fun, cool outdoor physical activity stuff like trail running and hiking. We want to do a lot more of it this summer. Plus, I'll be riding my bike to work this summer too. AND we have two trips planned so far: to Oregon and to Virginia. And hopefully this summer I'll get a teaching job and I WILL finish my master's. Overall, it will be amazing. The only thing to do now is wait for it to get here...

Denver

2007-04-05T21:38:00.000-06:00

I had a great time in Denver. In between attending wedding events, Jennifer and I spent a lot of time talking and talking and talking. We shopped some, ate some and walked some, but mostly we were talking. It was a lot of fun spending that much time with another girl - something I haven't done since, well, since I lived with Jennifer.

Here we are at the bachelorette party. I won the group a bucket-o-drinks because I knew who the drummer for Queen was. And by knowing that, what I mean is that I sneaked off, called K, and had him Google it for me.

Here's a group shot of all of us girls at the bachelorette party. It was held at a piano bar (after a delicious dinner) that really was the perfect venue for the occasion. I think we all had a great time!

And finally, what would a post that mentions a wedding be without a picture from the wedding? Here's the beaming couple in after the nuptuals. Everything was beautiful and Mandy and Scott looked truly happy - which is all I can wish for them for the rest of their lives!

Overall, it was a great trip, but I was glad to be home again. I think that's how you can tell if you've had a good vacation - if you're ready to see your own comfy, familiar surroundings again. Millions of thanks to Mandy and Scott for the reason to fly to Denver; to Hillary, Mandy and Hillary's parents, and Scott's parents for planning other cool events during the weekend; Bethany for the ride to the airport; Justin for the ride from the airport; Jen for the fabulous company and trusty chauffeuring all weekend; and, of course, Justin and Jen for their amazing hospitality (which loosely translates into "Thanks for letting me invade your bathroom with all my crazy girly stuff").

Denver or Bust

2007-03-28T15:17:00.000-06:00

Tomorrow morning I leave for Denver! I'm looking forward to a weekend full of hanging out with friends and not grading papers! Hopefully, my camera won't suck all the life from my batteries in two seconds like they have been lately and I'll be able to bring home some cool pictures to post here!

Lucyfer

2007-03-27T10:16:00.000-06:00

Lately, Lucy just isn't happy unles she is well exercised. And by well exercised, I mean at least a half hour of running outside. She paces through the house, half barking, half howling. She prances up to the couch, bites my hands or other available extremities and yaps at me. She paces more, tastes her food, whines, paces, yaps, nips, yaps, whines, licks, paws at me, jumps, paws at me...it continues. Two nights ago she let us know she was upset by bringing downstairs a pair of Kelly's underwear and my work out pants. We were home. We were sitting on the couch. She brought them to us - almost as a warning of what havoc she was thinking of wreaking. We have been taking her out more frequently now that the weather is nicer, but it seems like we need to do something first thing in the morning, before she has the chance to go stir crazy. The thing is, she's driving me absolutely crazy dealing with all her nuttiness!

Spring break

2007-03-26T11:25:00.000-06:00

I find that I get just as excited about spring break now as I did when I was a kid. I've also come to determine that I think a "real" job with "real" hours would be detrimental to my health. One reason I think teaching will be such a great fit for me is because of the time that it requires you to take off: all holidays, spring break, summer break, Thanksgiving break and winter break. Without those scheduled times off, I think I would just work and work and work and never take time off, which would eventually lead to my ultimate demise and failure as a well-rounded human being.

Daydreams

2007-03-14T22:35:00.000-06:00

Do you ever have daydreams of kicking someone's ass just because you think it would be a good outlet for some pent-up frustration you've been carrying around for a while?

My daydream features an attractive male in his mid-twenties wearing a tight Hollister tee shirt and pre-shredded Abercrombie jeans with hair just long enough that I can get a good handful of for just enought time to make him tear up while I yell at him in public - in front of his friends is best - and make him apologize, although for what I do not know.

I wonder what Freud or Jung would have to say about this (on second thought, Adler may have more to offer on the subject).

NPR/PBS

2007-03-12T22:24:00.000-06:00

The other day, K and I were stopped while out and about by a man with a clipboard who wanted to ask us some survey questions. Since it was just a mild survey, we agreed to talk to him. He began with one simple question: What local radio station do you most listen to? He was trying to figure out which station would be the most profitable for his company to advertise on. We told him that we listen to 95.1 - the BSU radio station that carries NPR. Unfortunately, that one wasn't on his list. So he asked us which television station we most watched. We told him channel four: PBS. He said, "No, I mean which local station?" We told him that PBS was the only local station in Idaho, but he argued with us and showed us his list and asked us to select one of the stations he had listed. We told him, honestly, that we don't watch them. He said OK and thanked us in a way that made us think we had somehow disappointed him...Except that I'm not sorry we don't rot our brains with standard network sitcoms.

My Vindictive Daughter

2007-03-01T16:13:00.000-07:00

When Lucy is not appropriately (read: to her standards) paid attention to, she chews things. She chews things anyway - mostly paper items - but these things are like stereo manuals that we have no idea how she obtains or junk mail that has not yet made its way to the recycling bin. Yesterday, however, I think due largely in part to the fact that she had not been walked for two mornings straight, she chewed my personally annotated copy of To Kill a Mockingbird that I have had since high school and have been using in the current instruction of my ninth graders. It is, in no way, salvageable. Many of my annotations, however, did not end up in her digestional cavities so I will be able to resurrect them in another version of the novel fresh from my shelf. It's a pain, really, but the price we pay for having such a bright, spirited and drama queen-esque member of the family.

Apologies

2007-02-23T18:00:00.000-07:00

It has been brought to my attention that one of my current 102 students has stumbled upon this personal blog of mine and was concerned with a statement which remarked that I feel inadequate with certain areas of my life right now, including my 102 class. This discovery was in part my fault. For whatever reason, my computer defaults a section for blog comments with this website, which it did on the blog for my 102 class. I try diligently to erase it each time I post, but sometimes I forget. Well, I forgot once or twice.

Regardless of the fact that I feel as though this was an inappropriate boundary to breach in a student/teacher relationship where I value some personal distance, I recognize that my writings here are public and therefore accessible to anyone and for that cannot hold a grudge. Plus, it was my own fault for not watching my computer's lovely defaults better. I would like to apologize to that student - and any other student who read that post - for the misunderstanding that arose from reading that blog post. Yes, I did express concern with myself and my own responsibilities, but that post was hardly more than a personal, hyperbolic rant. I take it for granted, I think, that the majority of people who read this - about seven total in the world - are close friends and family members who speak to me on a steady basis and are privy to my propensity to vent negative bothers and exaggerate on my personal blog.

In actuality, I feel that my life is quite balanced between home, school, work, work, and work. One reason I perhaps feel that I don't give as much time to my 102 class as I should is because I don't give as much to it as I have in the past. This is because I wrote daily lesson plans and set course expectations during winter break this year rather than working on it throughout the semester, leaving for me only the task of adding to lessons or altering things along the way. This has proven to work rather successfully for me, and has helped me grow in the art of unit planning and coordination and has alleviated my constant time commitments in the copy room and late nights at my computer trying to come up with an idea of what to do next. Also, as I mentioned, I'm unable to return emails during the day and often either don't want to sit at a computer or have no time to sit at a computer in the evenings. I generally try to maintain a 24-hour return on emails, but this semester, admittedly, it has taken me longer - sometimes up to three days, which, although a disappointment to me at times, has not yet seemingly been a problem with my students. If it has, they have not voiced that, and since they also have my cell phone number, they have more than one venue for doing so.

And so, I apologize for having a rough time and feeling comfortable enough to put that mildly on public display. My heart is in fact in all that I do and I often find it mostly in my 102 students. I do honestly worry about neglecting them, but I am coming to learn that that's a general fear of many teachers. I look forward to every Saturday class this semester and helping welcome a classroom full of bright and interesting adults to the world of college writing. Working as a graduate assistant over the previous two years has increased my awareness like I had never imagined it could to the world of education, authorship and community connectedness. I fear that leaving it at the end of the semester will leave me with a certain void in my life that could never be filled with ninth graders. I value the college courses I teach for their openness, their willingness, their insight and, obviously, their lack of behavioral concerns. They are a place where I can share, intellectualize and challenge in a way that I can't in other avenues of my life. I view my 102 class this semester, in particular, nostalgically for that reason: it will be my last. I think it is this reason as well that drives me to succeed with them, to help them more than I've helped the others, to do more than a superhuman teacher could do. But alas, since I am not superhuman, I must live with what I am capable of: one day a week, pre-planned lessons, sometimes late emails, and all the gusto I can gather.

Scene: The Boulevard Bar

2007-02-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Scene opens upon a dark, smokey bar. People play pool wearing jeans and tee shirts or flannel. Other people linger at the bar making large movements and talking and laughing overtly. The juke box plays loudly from the corner. Enter Me and K for my aunt's birthday celebration.

After sitting for a while at my aunt's table, I decide I would like water and offer to buy the birthday girl a drink. I stand and walk toward the bar. I aim for a section of the bar with three open barstools near the end of the bar. I lean forward on the bar and wait for the bartender. A middle-aged and severely drunk man two barstools over addresses me.

MAN: Are you married?
ME: Excuse me? It's difficult to hear over the noise of the place.
MAN: Are you married?
ME: Yes. looking back at the bartender
MAN: I rarely do married women.
ME: shocked and a little apalledOh!looking back at the bartender
MAN: laughing and embarrassed I'm sorry, that didn't come out right.
ME: wanting to exit the conversation and still be polite That's...all right. I know what you meant and...I'll just...take it as a...compliment. looking back at the bartender
MAN: My name's Doyal. D-O-Y-A-L.
ME: Nice to meet you Doyal. looking back at the bartender
MAN: reassuringly serious I would do you in a second, though, if you weren't married.
ME: again shocked That's...nice. looking back at the bartender
MAN: Are you sure you're married?
ME: Yup, I'm sure.
MAN: I just thought I would check.
ME: nod

Upon the scene enters the bartender. I am finally able to order my water and cocktail and leave the creepy man.

OMG

2007-02-09T17:21:00.000-07:00

There's nothing at all in the whole world like coming home, exhausted, on a Friday, sitting down to check out what's been happening in Internetland, and finding a riotous display of humor on the comments section on my blog. Absolutely nothing else like it anywhere...

One thing quickly about women's pants. I hate the fact that men can buy pants in a waist size AND length. As a woman, you can buy a 0,2,4,6,8...you get it. And the length of all those pants sizes is roughly the same: about an inch longer than necessary to fit my legs. NOT all of us are built at 5'6"-5'8". Some of us fall about an inch short of that - and our legs are to blame. Never, in a million years, will my leg length change. Yet, I will forever be rehemming all the pants I purchase. Thank goodness I have a grandmother with a sewing machine and lots of spare time.

Sometimes, I would just rather play video games.

2007-02-05T16:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm getting the feel finally for working full time. What I have determined thus far is that I do not like waking up every day at 6:30. I would much rather wake up an hour and a half later. However, I can't work an eight-hour day and still be home around three in the afternoon if I sleep until eight every morning. Bah.

I discovered today that I'm making about $10 an hour. I'm substitute teaching for my cooperating teacher, see, and making $75 a day for it. If I'm there at eight and leave by three, that's about $10.71 an hour. However, my days fluctuate - and I'm always there before eight and usually stay at least a few minutes after three. How do I feel about that? I don't like it. Teaching is harder than working at the shelter. More planning and thinking goes into the job, plus, I'm actively shaping their minds every single day, filling them with knowledge about racism and judgement and other complicated issues (we're reading To Kill a Mockingbird). At the shelter, I have time to do crossword puzzles sometimes or spend time alone in the kitchen when I'm making dinner or washing dishes. At the shelter, I take kids to the movies, hot springing, or hiking and will often watch TV with them or work on puzzles with them in the living room. All I have to do there is be fun yet uphold rules and set a good example. Yet at the shelter - even though it's in the social work field - I make $2 per hour more. Somehow, that doesn't match up to me.

Incidentally, I discovered that I made more last year than almost all of my previous working years combined. That's only an estimate, but it may be very, very true. And I'm still in graduate school! People in graduate school aren't supposed to make lots and lots of money! Not that $18,000 is a lot of money, but I suppose when you're in fields as lucrative as mine, you don't have a lot of complaining room.

Allergies

2007-01-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

I think that to my list of seasonal and pet allergies I can safely add a third. I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to all activities involving the computer, a pen or a pencil. K thinks this may increase my difficulties in becoming a teacher. I think he's right. Already, this allergy is taking its toll on my health and well-being. For instance, I have had an off-and-on headache for about a week now. Today, when I have spent more time than on previous days in front of the computer, the headache seems more resilient. Another symptom of this allergy is insomnia. I have had such a difficult time sleeping this week that making it from day to day is becoming increasingly difficult. I used to experience insomnia when I was a teenager - perhaps the allergy laid dormant for a few years and is just now resurfacing - so I'm sure that's what this is that wakes me up at 3 a.m. and keeps me awake for hours, unable to fall back to slumber.

I wonder if they make medication that would help curb the effects of this allergy. In fact, I wonder if doctors have even diagnosed the problem yet. I could be the first in a series of cases. They could name something after me - perhaps the affliction or the resulting medication. I could go on tour with pharmaceutical companies and write a self-help book and provide inspiration for people all over the globe who also suffer from this allergy. I could save the universe!

Perhaps that's my calling, then. Perhaps I'm not meant to finish school, but rather to give speeches at conferences held in cheap hotels where they will give me gifts like crystal clocks and wooden carvings of young children healed by my word.

Thank goodness for allergies.

The semester...

2007-01-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

is going well so far. I've taught at West for two days - which means that I'll start updating my student teaching blog again soon. I also have a new college class blog to add to the list - it's up now, gliches and all. I'm not sleeping eight to ten hours a night any more. That sort of sucks. And my super cool teacher who seemed to be totally cool with anything I wanted to try with the ninth graders is turning out to have a few more...preferences...than she initially let on. I still NEED a book for my master's prospectus that the BSU library has seemingly lost and would like to look at another one that someone has had checked out for two months now. Seriously...Who else in their right mind needs a book on classroom differentiation for that long? On a side note, I learned tonight that graduate students can check out up to 250 books at the library. I'm only at a paltry 38.

I can feel it coming...

2007-01-18T11:48:00.000-07:00

K started getting sick Saturday. He was complaining about a severe headache, neck stiffness, confusion, dizziness, fevers, chills and fatigue. Yesterday we took him in to a doctor because he didn't seem to be getting better and we were worried that it could be meningitis. The doctor said it was just a flu that's been going around and that he's lucky he didn't pick up the other rabid strand coarsing through Boise - the one accompanied by digestional grossness. She prescribed him Norco, which is like double Vicatin, and told him to get some rest and drink plenty of fluids. I like the meds - they make him silly.

I woke up this morning with a headache and as the day progresses I want to do less, my head feels heavier, and my neck doesn't want to move at all. I think I'm developing the flu too. Maybe we'll spend the weekend high on pain meds, being goofy together.

Help!

2007-01-14T18:16:00.000-07:00

I have a program currently being protected by a firewall. I went into my firewall controls and made sure the program is excepted. It is. However, it's still being blocked by the firewall. I don't know what to do with it. Ergo, I need my computer-savvy pals to provide PC assistance. Please!

I heart cooking!

2007-01-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

I just made a super dinner, followed by delicious banana bread. The dinner was one of the "weird" meals K and I love so much but most people we know don't because it involved lots of vegetables and nothing fried, so I'm not going to waste my time by posting the recipe link. However, the banana bread (although also a healthier alternative to its standard form) was amazing! I just used two medium eggs and didn't do the glaze and one hour in my oven was perfect. Happy baking!

I should have studied business...

2007-01-06T14:35:00.000-07:00

I know it's still early in the year, but in case you're wondering, there are no openings for secondary English teachers in the following school districts:

Boise
Caldwell
Emmett Independent
Garden Valley
Horseshoe Bend
Kuna
Meridian Joint
Middleton
Twin Falls
Vallivue

There are, however, plenty of openings for business teachers.

Home again, home again, jiggety jig

2007-01-03T12:29:00.000-07:00

K came home last night around four - as in four this morning. With the exception of a half-gone voice and a blue and orange tinged chest, he looks in tip top shape. He told me this morning that he's glad there's two sexes, that riding for that long with that many guys was fun for a while, but it sure made him miss home.

Fiesta Bowl

2006-12-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

If, while watching the Fiesta Bowl Monday, you happen to see a small group of men wearing body paint, orange mountain man-type beards, and orange sombreros, sit comfortable knowing that one of those men is my K.

I'm so dang proud of my sports fan hubby...

2006-12-19T21:33:00.000-07:00

This is an actual press release written by real journalists (not like me) about K and the gang. Since then, K has been contacted by varied media sources about this. By the way, he sooooo owes me a pair of diamond earrings. I think all the guys on the trip should chip in.

FOR TRUE BRONCO FANS, GETTING TO THE GAME CAN BE HALF THE FUN

Within five minutes of the close of the Boise State Broncos' regular undefeated season, as fans rushed the field in Reno and commentators mused about the football team's upcoming appearance at the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, alum K H of Boise received four text messages in rapid succession.

All of the messages asked the same question: "How are we getting to Arizona?"

Within 20 minutes, H, a 2001 English secondary education graduate of Boise State, had talked his mother-in-law into letting him borrow her RV for a road trip to Tempe, Ariz. As his friend and fellow Bronco fan Alex Baxter puts it, "It wasn't a question of if we were going, it was a question of how."

For the group of fans, students and alumni traveling in this RV - at the moment, seven guys are going down for sure, but the party might balloon to 11 on the way back - a trip to the Fiesta Bowl is the cap to a magical season.

"I knew it was going to be a good season," Baxter said, "but I didn't want to say it out loud because it might jinx them."

With an RV ready to go to Arizona, all the guys had to do was get tickets. H and his friends camped out on a street near the Boise State campus the Friday night before tickets went on sale at the ticket office and played NCAA football video games in the RV.

"We kind of tailgated our way through the night," H said.

Baxter came along for support even though he had secured his ticket through a season ticket holder. "If someone in my crew doesn't have tickets, we're not done yet, you know?" he explained.

Now that their places in the stands are safe, the guys can look forward to spending New Year's Day in sunny Arizona - even if they have to make the sacrifice of going without their wives or girlfriends. "My wife had no desire to spend three days in an RV with some stinky boys," H said.

And they're prepared to take one for the team. Baxter said that he'll break out his "secret weapons" at the game to help cheer the team on, including a beer can holder helmet outfitted with Tostitos salsa on one end and Tostitos cheese dip on the other. "It could be pretty hard to suck down," he admits.

Russ O'Leary, a Boise State student and member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity, is
traveling in the RV and says that he's one of about 20 current or past fraternity members making the trip. He's part of the face-painting, blue-and-orange crowd that has become so familiar to TV viewers and fans.

It's going to be a great game no matter what the outcome, he says. But as a true Bronco fan he has a prediction: "It's going to be the Broncos, up by 6."

Did you know...

2006-12-18T12:06:00.000-07:00

Putting a cap full of vinegar in a water bottle to use on your pets when they're engaging in bad behaviors like barking works really well to lessen that bad behavior.

You can purchase master's thesis on line and pay for them in installments.

Dog training classes really do show results after one day.

A Boise teacher with the same qualifications and experience as a Meridian teacher will make about $1000 more a year.

The national average bra size is 36C.

BSU now has on-line grading.

There are currently zero openings for English teachers in either the Boise or the Meridian school districts.

Onions can grow in your fridge.

Dear Prissy Girls in Short Shorts Who Go to the Gym to Chat,

2006-12-05T09:17:00.000-07:00

The gym is a place to work out - not to have your next cell phone conversation. You should be sweating, not talking with your roommate about last night's date. Please stop clogging up the machines I want to use with your worthless prattle - either work out like you mean it or have your conversations over coffee instead of over the treadmill. Did you realize that when you talk on your cell phone while walking, you could burn the same amount of calories as if you just walked around outside - with the added benefit to those around you that your cell phone conversation wouldn't be overheard just because we want to use the treadmill next to yours?

The gym is also not a place to meet men. Stop coming to the gym in your tiny shorts that barely cover your panties, perky ponytails and full makeup. Boys don't come to the gym to meet "chicks," so they're hardly checking out your ass - especially when your ass is sitting around not doing anything.

If you would keep these things in mind during your next gym visit, you would indeed be making this world a better place for all of us.

Ode to My Desk

2006-12-04T10:25:00.000-07:00

You're dirty, desk, with tea cups and tape dispensers and lots of pens.
But thank you for not complaining as I pile on more.
File folders and books and more pens and paper clips and extra books and stray papers without a home.
You don't even complain that nothing is tidy, that nothing is stacked - even though at one time it was stacked and I ruined that quickly.
I promise - as soon as my master's thesis is completed, we'll go back to normal. I'll remove the excess books and pens, put away the papers in neat, paper clipped piles, and carry all my tea cups to the kitchen.
Until then, desk, I appreciate you taking the abuse.

Education and Culture

2006-11-28T16:05:00.000-07:00

It seems to me sometimes that we - this huge, cultural, ambiguous "we" - really want everyone to be and act the same. Ah...But we celebrate diversity, you say. Um, true...if you count celebrating MLK day and Cinco de Mayo as celebrating diversity. Or maybe they're just reasons to take the day off work or drink yourself into a stupor.

We live in a country where it used to be (very, very recently) all right to hang a man from a tree in his front yard because he made a pass at a white woman. One of the largest terrorist organizations in America founded on the principle of a singular nation comprised of middle-class, white, male Protestants - the KKK - still operates today. Our government right now is trying to ban people who love each other from marrying - in the case that these two people share the same sex. When foreigners travel to America we expect them to speak English and (heaven forbid) if they move here and don't speak enough English, we think they should "go back to where they came from." As children with disabilities go through school, they are not instructed in ways to learn, work and study in a way that works best for them; children with disabilities are taught how to get along in a world where people are "normal" and no one needs handicap ramps or special bathroom stalls or little bumps on the keypad at the ATM or extra time on a test. Essentially, they are taught how to pass the standardized exam with the same expectations as everyone else. Don't make waves. Keep your mouth shut. Wear the right clothes. Only share what's appropriate.

Yet we value individualism? We celebrate diversity?

Gifted students too are expected to conform to this "norm" - the umbrella standard we have set up for all students to conveniently fit under. In doing so, we abandon those students in this field of boredom where school becomes for them a waste of time. Perhaps it's because teachers are afraid of progressing this elitist movement that GT students are thought to have - even though research and testimony show that that's not true. Perhaps it's because as adults, we're afraid to acknowledge that a child is more gifted than we are with our college degrees and super-important business suits...which points more to pointless and destructive pride on the part of the adult more than anything else. Perhaps it is a way of avoiding another underserved portion of our population - which will only work for so long.

My point is simply this: diversity is here and it is around us and it should not be ignored. To ignore it is to lump everyone together in this mold that meets no one's needs. All categories of students - ESL, gifted, special needs, at-risk, jocks, emo, preps - need to be specifically targeted in the classroom to make the school experience and learning in particular significant to their lives. This means not giving everyone in the class the same copy of the same novel and requiring them to be at a certain point by Wednesday for a test. If we really are celebrating diversity and taking care of each individual's needs, we cannot continue to treat all students the same, because it does nothing but alienate the students that fall outside of that umbrella and teach them to hate school.

And then we wind up with more idiots who think that homosexual marriage is destroying the sanctity of marriage as a whole, foreigners are stupid for not speaking English, immigrants should bow in reverence of all that is American, owning guns with the intent to actually kill another human being is all right, and we can really get a good feel for what people know by having them take a bubble-sheet test in two hours or less.

From the London Bridge to Mexico!

2006-11-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

For our week of Thanksgiving, K and I drove to Arizona, visiting old friends and spending the holiday with family.

Saturday, we drove. And drove and drove and drove. Or, rather, he drove. I sat in the passenger seat reading the last Harry Potter book aloud. That's how we've gone through the whole series. Now we can't wait for the fifth movie next summer - and the seventh book! While driving through Nevada we stopped at three casinos in little towns between the Idaho border and Las Vegas. At each one we each spent a single dollar in quarters. I think I came out negative a dollar fifty, but K ended up winning about five bucks. Obviously, we weren't at all serious about the gambling; it was a great way to break up the drive, though.

Sunday, we arrived around midnight at Billy and Michelle's in Lake Havasu City and went right to bed. Sunday morning, Michelle made breakfast, which we ate out on the porch in tank tops and flips.

After breakfast we walked around the downtown-ish area a little and around the London Bridge. Evidently, some guy thought it would be a good idea to buy the London Bridge for a million dollars a few decades ago when they tore it down in London and have it reconstructed over Lake Havasu.

That evening we went to a wine tasting at a little wine shop where the guy gave us far more than just a little taste of the wine - between us, we finished off a couple of bottles. I think he was amused by us and knew that the store would return to boring once we left.

Before dinner we took the ferry across the lake to a reservation in California. Michelle and I didn't do much gambling because we sat in the bathroom talking for about a half hour until K came looking for us. I know at one point Billy was ahead twenty dollars, but kept pushing that little button and lost it all.

Monday morning we woke up super early and drove to Williams, where we boarded a train and rode the train to the Grand Canyon. After eating lunch, we started our trek along the eastern side of the canyon - well, from where we were we walked east for about four hours. I think it would have been impossible for us to get to the eastern side of the canyon by walking in one day. It seriously is huge.

Tuesday we hiked. We took a trail actually into the canyon for about two miles. I don't have a whole lot to say about it except that it was a giant hole in the ground. K and I decided that after this trip we don't need to return ever until we have kids old enough to also appreciate a giant hole in the ground - so in about fifteen years or so. I am pretty sure it won't change much between now and then. It was beautiful, though, and I'm definitely glad I can join the ranks of individuals who have seen this marvel. Then came the trip back to Billy and Michelle's - a reverse of the trip to the Grand Canyon - and our last night in Havasu.

Wednesday we put on swimming suits and planned to lay out at the lake, but after we ate and dressed, the clouds had moved in. Since it was still in the upper seventies outside, we still went to the lake - just to enjoy the scenery and the experience, not so much for a tan. That afternoon we packed and drove to Phoenix where Kim and Chief live with their little girl Hailey. Charity and Elizabeth were also there. It was wonderful to see old friends again and catch up on everything. Kim is expecting her second baby in January; it's fun to watch my friends' families expand and change as we all grow older.

Thursday morning we woke up before everyone else at Kim's and sneaked out before sunrise to drive to Tucson. When we arrived at our hotel (the fourth different bed we slept in on this trip) we met up with Rex and Liz for breakfast before heading to K's sisters house. Laurie and Dwayne and their two kids have a great little house in the traditional southwestern style - stucco and cacti. It was great spending a quiet Thanksgiving with family and getting to know one of K's sisters and her family a little better. K and seven-year-old Patrick played video games a lot that afternoon and Laurie prepared a delicious Thanksgiving feast that we all enjoyed. That night we played board games - one of which Miranda made as a middle school science project.

Friday was Mexico day. We all met that morning at Laurie and Dwaynes and drove to Nogales, a little border town about an hour south of Tucson. I took a ton of pictures of both Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico, to show my students who for whatever reason think that people coming from Mexico have so much at their fingertips once they cross the border. Honestly, there wasn't much difference in the two sides of the town. We wandered, we shopped, we talked with strangers.

After Mexico we went miniature golfing in Tucson. We went in two groups - the four youngest and the four oldest. The four youngest made a bet with the four oldest - the losers had to make dinner. Well, suspense aside, we lost. On the way back to Laurie and Dwayne's, Patrick kept coming up with every excuse he could not to help. He was too short, he didn't know what to do, he had never made dinner before. The list went on, but K and I just kept telling him that we could surely find something adequate for him to help with. He turned out to be very good at setting the table and stirring things - much to his chagrin.

Saturday brought more and more driving, as we wound our way home through the desert. On the way we crossed the Hoover Dam and stopped at more casinos to spend our dollar. The trip home was much less eventful, as we were both tired of driving and no longer had the excitement of a trip as motivation. Home at last, we went straight to bed just after midnight.

Bubble Butt

2006-11-14T16:36:00.000-07:00

Lucy ate four packs of Bubbalicious Bubble Gum yesterday. Since she has been eating - or should I say terrorizing - more things around the house (the corners of the coffee table, the rug, any paper within snout's reach), I've been trying to take her out on more walks. This morning when walking her at seven, before coming to school, she decided she couldn't hold it any longer and pooped in the neighbor's yard. It's a good thing I was prepared with a baggie in my pocket, otherwise that poor old man would be so confused as to why there was blue and green swirled poop with pink flecks in his front lawn.

Here's my full holiday article for anyone interested in Boise fun...

2006-11-10T14:17:00.000-07:00

As leaves fade from bright green to shades of gold, orange and red and the air develops that crisp coolness that makes people pull out scarves and contemplate winter jackets, there's something about a cup of hot cocoa that justifies an evening inside under an afghan more so than at any other time of the year.

This is the season not for bursting shopping bags, checking off lists and sitting in the car listening to carols while waiting for a break in traffic as television commercials may tell us it is. This is the season instead for turkey, apple cider, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. This is the season for pine trees and candles and wishing for snow. It is family, friends, community and charity.

It is winter again in Boise and regardless of how you spend your holidays, here are some events happening in the City of Trees this holiday season worth checking out on one of those cocoa-on-the-couch kind of days.

Boise Lights
The Idaho Botanical Garden covers the garden grounds each winter in an array of lights perfect for a family outing or a cozy winter evening walk for two. They supply hot chocolate, caroling and cookies while visitors view the spectacle of lights from around the garden. "My husband and I go every year," said Trina Clifford, Eagle resident and self-proclaimed Christmas romantic. "It feels like magic to walk through the rose bushes and under the trellises, everything glittering with so many beautiful colors." The Winter Garden aGlow runs from Nov. 24-27, Dec. 2-4 and Dec. 9-Jan. 1 from 6-9 p.m. nightly.

To see holiday lights around town, Boise Tours will carry you in heated trolleys and mini-buses to tour Boise homes. Tours run from Dec. 14-Dec. 23. The tours will only run on the west side of town this year, picking up spirited holiday tourists at the Moxie Java at Cole and Ustick. Tickets for the trolley rides are available through Select-a-Seat.

There's always the option of enjoying lights from the comfort of your own vehicle, too! It's a fun way to spend time with someone close by, sipping warm beverages from travel mugs and enjoying a holiday-inspired conversation.

Christmas Celebrations
Each Saturday from Nov. 25-Dec. 23, downtown Boise will celebrate Christmas in the City. The holiday party features downtown Boise glowing in a festive array of holiday lights with Santa roaming around visiting with kids young and old and the Holiday Trolley offering free rides between downtown locations.

Sun Valley welcomes the public to come out and experience the magic of the area. Holiday events include a Gingerbread Decorating Party, tree lighting, Torchlight Parade and caroling parties. The holiday events are free to the public and occur throughout the month of December.

For an unexpected holiday venue, check out Zoo Boise Dec. 9 for Claus N' Paws - a day with great Zootique discounts, holiday music, hot chocolate, photos with Santa Claus, and much more! "My daughter and I used it as a fun day for just the two of us last year," said Boise resident Krista Monroe. "Neither of us had been to the zoo during the winter before. Sipping cocoa and seeing our favorite animals while all bundled up in our caps and mittens was definitely a trip to remember!"

Holiday Productions
Knock 'Em Dead Dinner Theatre presents The Magic of Christmas Dec. 1-16. This KED production turned holiday classic offers performers in a variety of skits, readings and holiday songs people love to hear and delivers a traditional message of love and peace.

Opera Idaho Sings Christmas! Dec. 2-3 at the Egyptian Theatre. The Opera Idaho resident company and children's chorus join voices for this holiday tradition. Together, they will sing selections from Handel's Messiah, familiar holiday tunes and ask the crowd to pipe up for a sing-along.

Prairie Dog Productions presents Scrooge, Older but Miser! a play set in the 1950s in Dickensville, USA Nov. 24-Dec. 30.

Dec. 15-17, Ballet Idaho will perform the holiday classic The Nutcracker at the Morrison Center. "I go every year," said Boise resident Mike Brown. "It's a holiday tradition my mother started when I was little and is one I just can’t get out of - even as an adult. It isn't Christmas until I've seen The Nutcracker." Ballet Idaho performances will combine talents from Ballet Idaho, the Capital City Children's Chorus and Opera Idaho's Children's Chorus and the Boise Philharmonic plus a spirited new cast of little mice, angels and dragons.

And, because every holiday is more fun when celebrated with a high school band performance and unicyclists in goofy hats, the Boise Holiday Parade will be Nov. 25 at 9:45 a.m. The route begins at 10th Street and Jefferson Avenue, traveling east to 5th Street, south to Idaho Avenue and then west on Idaho back to 10th Street.

Giving
Toys for Tots will have donation sites at all Boise Toys R Us stores and all Treasure Valley fire departments, Albertson's, Wal-marts and Big Lots. Operated through the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, Toys for Tots aims at collecting new, unwrapped toys and delivering those toys to needy children in the area.

The Veterans Resource Network is sponsoring Operation Care Packages - a project that attempts to send care packages to deployed Idaho service members. To help fill boxes for the first round of mailings scheduled to be sent before the holidays, call 376-0753.

Plus, there's always the option of giving through a local school or church community or directly to a local shelter or community agency such as the WCA or the Boise Rescue Mission.

City of Trees!

2006-11-08T09:20:00.000-07:00

Sunday, K ran the City of Trees Half Marathon! He accomplished both of his goals: to finish in less than two hours and to finish without stopping. It was pouring rain all day, but that didn't stop runners or spectators from having a good time. K says he's still hurting from it (he thinks he may have injured his right foot), but I think he's stoked about accomplishing something like this. To see the race results, check out the bottom of the COT website. But for the real fun of the event, here are some photos I took.

Here he is around mile two on Warm Springs Avenue. This is after only about a half hour in the rain, so he isn't completely soaked yet.

This is on Americana - around mile eight.

This is mile twelve at Capitol and Main. K told me afterwards that when he saw me here, he thought he was almost done - he had forgotten that he still had a mile left to go.

And here's the finish line! K finished in one hour and fifty-four minutes! And, in true K fashion, he raced the guy running next to him for the last 0.1 miles, even thought they were both exhausted and had just been running for two hours. K sneaked past the guy for a little personal victory.

After the race, K declared that he was not running again for the rest of the week. He had some problems with stairs (mostly descending them) for the rest of Sunday and all day Monday, but he's better now. I'm a little worried about his foot pain, but it doesn't seem to be bothering him so much that he's mentioned going to a doctor. If it still hurts next week I think I'll make him go in and get it checked out. K has even mentioned perhaps wanting to take part in the City of Trees Marathon next year - spending the next year or so training for the full 26.2 mile run...and I think it would be fun to train for the half next year.

Here's the opening of my newest article. Thought I would share.

2006-11-01T19:28:00.000-07:00

As leaves fade from bright green to shades of gold, orange and red and the air develops that crisp, coolness that makes people pull out scarves and contemplate winter jackets, there’s something about that cup of hot cocoa that justifies an evening inside under an afghan more so than at any other time of year.

This is the season not for bursting shopping bags, checking off lists and sitting in the car listening to carols while waiting for a break in traffic as television commercials may tell us it is. This is the season instead for turkey, apple cider, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. This is the season for pine trees and candles and wishing for snow. It is family, friends, community and charity.

It is winter again in Boise and regardless of how you spend your holidays, here are some events happening in the City of Trees this holiday season worth checking out on one of those cocoa-on-the-couch kind of days.

Writing Prompt

2006-10-30T16:25:00.000-07:00

I wrote this from a writing prompt I received in a writing seminar over the summer. Lately, I haven't been able to stop thinking about this girl - who she is, what she's doing. I'm going to revisit her and her story, but I wanted to start with her here. What follows is just what I wrote on the spur of the moment in class.

If there was an answer, she'd find it there - there where the road met the state line - that place that for so long had only existed in her imagination - that place where the sun always used to sink below the horizon. She stood there looking - looking out, over and beyond. She wasn't completely sure what it was that she was looking for, but she knew it would be there. She took one more trepidatious step forward as if it was at this point that someone would finally be there. Her second step - the one that actually crossed the state line - was a little easier. By the third step, when she had clearly and with all of herself entered Nebraska, she finally noticed the weight of her backpack and thought to herself "I can't go back now." She trod forward, wobbling slightly with the weight of her expanded belly, the weight of her reason to walk three days in worn-out sneakers and cutoffs, her dark hair darker with dirt and sweat, the sun beating down on her face, arms and exposed parts of her shoulders. The answer - she was still looking for an answer. An answer to her blackened eye, to her throbbing left knee. "If there is an answer," she said, "I will find it here."

Barber to Boise Results

2006-10-25T14:35:00.000-06:00

I placed 25 in my age group - that's out of 37 women ages 25-29. For not being much of a runner, I'm pretty impressed with myself. I finished in 33:29. Kathy finished half a footstep behind me. This means we finished in the top 68%. This makes me think that maybe with practice we could get a little better!

Barber to Boise

2006-10-22T20:50:00.000-06:00

Kathy and I did the Barber to Boise 5K yesterday! We ran the whole thing because we're rockstars. They took pictures of us and posted them on line. Check us out! You have to search under the Barber to Boise pictures and then search by my last name. I don't know our times yet because they're not posted, but I'll put them here when they are.

Eight Mile

2006-10-17T11:50:00.000-06:00

K ran eight miles this weekend as part of his half marathon training. We purchased a bikedometer for my bike - that's what I call it because I don't know its real name; it's just an odometer that sits on my handlebars - so that I can ride behind him and keep track of his time and miles and such. I like it because riding behind him makes him look stationary, almost like he's riding in front of a blue screen - he looks the same the whole time, but the scenery changes. Plus, it's a way for me to be involved with the outside running since I can't keep up with his pace and I can't run eight miles the way my knees have been hurting lately.

The race is in less than three weeks. Mark your calendar for November 5 to come out and cheer him on!

In Memorium

2006-10-11T20:17:00.000-06:00

Today I went to a funeral service for an old high school teacher, Mr. Fout.

Honestly, I was disappointed with the service. It felt to me like a political scheme on behalf of Mr. Fout's church to proselytize to the 1500 people there to mourn. The funeral was directed at his family and church, neglecting half the crowd who turned up: students and colleagues.

Now, it isn't that I have a problem with the funeral being directed to his family and church because there's no doubt in my mind (especially not after the service today) that those two entities were huge in Mr. Fout's life. I just think that since he had been an educator for 25 years and because the funeral was open to the public and because the public showed up in huge numbers and because the service was held at the high school gym that there should have been some recognition of the people who filled that part of his life. You know, rather than four prayers, including one where people were supposed to give their lives to Jesus and ask Jesus to come into their hearts so they too could go to Heaven, and two pauses for poorly dubbed church music. I was genuinely surprised there was no communion.

And so, because there was little opportunity for people to express their heartfelt appreciation for Mr. Fout, here is mine.

Dear Mr. Fout,

Thank you for being fun and engaging and supportive for three tough years of my life. I always knew your classroom was a place I could go when I needed help, ideas or a laugh. Most of all, thank you for being the best male role model in my daily life for so long, giving me love in your teacherly way, because whether you knew it or not, I wasn't getting that at home.

Just before I entered the large auditorium to receive my high school diploma I saw you helping organize students, straightening tassels and giving everyone high fives and slaps on the back. I went up and hugged you, crying. I was upset because at that moment I realized I was really moving on. I was upset because I thought I would never see you again. You told me that I would see you again - you promised. You said that with my drive and aptitude and intelligence I would do something great and that our great paths would be sure to cross again.

Well, I saw you again today. It wasn't in the context I had hoped for, but it did give me hope. I hope that I can have an impact on people the way you did - that they will remember me with the same fondness we remembered you with today.

Thank you again for trusting me, for humoring me and for telling me to go ahead with all my plans that probably sounded at first a little nutty. You’re right – I plan to do something great. I plan to be as inspirational and helpful as you were for me and to never give up on my own dreams and never give up on a student’s either.

Welcome Home Lucy!

2006-10-04T15:05:00.000-06:00

Lucy contracted Parvo - a nasty puppy virus that has serious potential to kill - and has been staying at the vet's for the last two nights with an IV in her arm to give her fluids. But today she gets to come home again! The clinic has taken great care of her so she's doing well and her strength is back. We've missed her around here!

I've decided I never want to raise another puppy.

2006-09-27T17:30:00.000-06:00

Lucy is still working on potty training, leash training, gathering enough courage to run down the stairs, and learning not to chew Mom's favorite dress shoes. Meanwhile, we haven't had to go through any of this in a year and a half because Radley is that much older and has it all down pat. I didn't realize how wonderful it was that we had a dog in our house who knew where things were kept, how to get himself put outside, what to do when there's a problem, and how to behave when we have company over.

Having Lucy around has made me realize that when we finally decide we're ready to have kids, we're having them close together. I do not want to get one kid trained to not pee on the carpet and not chew my shoes just to turn around and start it all over again years later.

Women's Fitness Celebration

2006-09-24T12:52:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, Kathy and I did the Women's Fitness Celebration - a 5k around downtown Boise that raises money for local non-profit groups. This year the 5k became the largest 5k in the nation with more than 14,000 women and girls participating.

The energy was incredible and the whole event was just fun. Kathy and I are already planning to do another 5k next month. We ended up running the whole thing, even though neither of us thought we would. I think it has psyched K up for his half marathon in November too. Who knows - maybe I'm becomming a runner!

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds

2006-09-17T11:02:00.000-06:00

Her name is Lucy.

Yesterday I took her to the pet supply shop to pick her up a toy that is just hers. While there, a little girl - no more than five years old - sat on the floor and started playing with and petting my new pup.

"Good gir, Lucy," the girl said. "I love you, Lucy. Your fur is sooooo soft, Lucy."

Hearing my pup being referred to by a name was odd, since she didn't yet have one.

"We haven't given her a name yet," I told the little girl with red hair. "Are you calling her Lucy because you think she looks like a Lucy?"

From her cross-legged position on the cement floor of Zamzow's, the girl looked up at me with wide eyes and nodded. In a tone that indicated that I should have known better, she said, "That's her name."

When I relayed the story to K, he said, "Well, if that's her name then I guess that's what we should call her. Welcome to the family, Lucy!"

Thank you, stranger child, for naming our new puppy.

Radley's little sister.

2006-09-16T16:09:00.000-06:00

K and I went to the Hyde Park Street Fair today - just an annual neighborhood event where businesses and vendors set up in the park and hippies peddle their wares. The Human Society was there with a 12-week old border collie pup who we fell in love with. We've been talking a little about getting Radley a playmate - especially now that we're both away from home more often during the day - but never did anything fairly serious about it. But when we met her, we thought maybe she was the one. We came home and picked up Radley so he could meet her and took him back to the park. They seemed to get along all right and there was no outward hostility - plus, she seemed to remember me and K when we returned.

So...Long story short, we brought her home with us today.

She's had a long day, so she's in the front room sleeping on the carpet.

I think she may also be resting from Radley picking on her so much already.

She was trying to cuddle Radley in the car on the way home, almost leaning over to him and sleeping on his shoulder. He just looked at me as if to say, "Mom, please make her stop. She's touching me!" So far she seems to be fitting in well. I'm sure she and Radley have a lot of figuring out to do, but they'll make it.

Obviously, we don't yet have a name for her. We've kicked around a few ideas, but nothing that has really jumped out at us yet. We figure that the perfect name will just come to us like an epiphany while meandering through the forest. Or something like that.