River of Rainy Death

We have all been aware that there was a large storm coming towards us here in Cali-town. However, we all kind of ignored it because we get warnings and they never really happen. We got some rain yesterday, but it was today that it really kinda hit us. Here is a small clip of the river that formed outside of our apartment in the street.

About 15 seconds before I could get the camera on, there was a flash of lightning that was instantly followed by a crash of thunder that almost disemboweled me. It was the loudest clap of thunder I have ever heard. After verifying that I was still ok, I pulled out the camera and filmed the above. Love thunderstorms. Love crazy rain. Love the combo.

Mary Poppins

For Christmas Mark got us tickets to see Mary Poppins in LA! What a delightful evening we had. I was surprised at how many extra songs they had put in the play as well as the way they told the story; a little different from the classic Disney film. But it was so great to get to spend an evening with my husband.

A few things to remember about the evening:
--I feel the most stressful part is parking. Anytime I'm going to a highly attended event, parking stresses me out. Especially if I have never been to the venue before. I love a well marked parking structure!
--The family of 25 that filed into our row just before we did. Climbing over them was awesome.
--According to US Weekly, TomKat were there the night before. Blast-just missed them.
--I'd like to say that I'm a "theater snob" and that I simply won't go unless we have good seats. However, our poor pocketbooks won't allow for this and I'd much rather go! So I guess I'm not a snob. I just like going to the theater. We rented binoculars to see the faces of the actors better and it turned out to be a good investment.


We sure love going out together. Especially love live performances. Just such a great bit of life we all get to enjoy!

"Deleted by Author"

I may have thrashed out irrationally.

Rather than write bitter diatribes, we just deleted the Anonymous option. We don't want to have to go private, but it may come to that eventually.

To those who have no idea what I'm talking about...its better that way. :)

Back to normal blogging.

My favorite sentences:

I have the students write "Daily Questions" at the start of each period. There are all kinds of names out there for this activity--Bell Work, Starters, Warm Ups--you get the picture. I require they write in complete sentences and explain themselves. 2 word answers aren't good enough.

Mostly they are about what we've learned or are going to learn, but with the winter break just passed, last Monday I asked them what their favorite part of Break was. Here are some answers (copied exactly):

--Partyin' hanging out with my step sistas

--I got alot prezants

--Wii wet to disneyland and it waz fun

--I got to sleepin everyday and do what ever I want all day till night

--It's cause I wanted a no routine time so it was better to just to do something at any given time.

--We just hanged out

--The best part of my Break was not wacking up early

--going to Barns & Nobles becaus I got to red my favorit mangas.

--I was bored and then I went shoppin.

--My favorite part was I got to go outside.

I couldn't choose a favorite in these could I? I love that the gaming system went to Disneyland, and the boy who went outside because apparently he never gets to go outside. And the Sistas...precious

Holiday Post

It's a new year and I haven't had felt the groove in blogging. Writers block lets call it. But we did in fact have a Christmas here in our house. We spent it here at home as Mark had to work both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. But what fun traditions we started. We watched Muppet Christmas Carol and ate Cinnimon Rolls and Hot Chocolate. We woke up the next morning fairly early and I must say, its amazing how quickly the Christmas process can happen with just 2 people and a few gifts. Pretty sure we were done in 15. But then we got to play for the next several hours before Mark went off to work. And we may or may not have spent 7 hours breaking in the new Rock Band 2. Delightful.

The real holiday fun came the next week when we headed up for Trent's wedding. The whole family made it for almost the whole week so we spent the time really hanging out. The biggest memory maker was the Amazing Race! Lesley and I planned a scavenger hunt made after the TV show Amazing Race and it was a huge success.

Some of our clues were to count mailboxes, bowl a potato to get 2 strikes, golf a tomato into a cup in PAR 3, pick up a child as a speedbump, find a Blockbuster video with a clue inside, and do yard work as a service for a homeowner. What a fun race. The family said that they can now imagine what the real contestents feel and aparently...its pretty intense. What a FUN event it was.

Of course the wedding was the event of the week. The youngest of us kids was married and what a beautiful event it was. How fun that all 6 of us were together again. One a little less "here" then the others, but definatly not absent.
Congrats to my new sister and little brother. We're all just so excited for our family reunions to come. We just love you both! And cheers to my husband and his wicked photography skills.

Remember 2009?

Little tid-bits I don't want to forget:

• Remember when the it was announced that Kaylinn doesn't like hamburgers, only after the entire bridal shower food for 20 people had been planned to be a hamburger bar.
• Remember the LA temple session that lasted 3 hours cuz it was a stake relief society night and the attendance for the sisters was somewhere in the million range. (give or take a few).
• Remember 1st period trio who brought Kay donuts, Milky Way's and orange juice all.the.time. to get out of learning that day. It didn't work...most the time.
• Remember Taffy. and how that dog peed all over the house. That was awesome. And when the roomie took Fido in her car without a cover on the fish bowl.
• Remember when we bought a bed off craigslist that was a piece of lumber covered with thin fabric. Then we tried to resell it to a scammer. Only to later sell it to an actual man for half what we paid for it. Lesson learned? Buy mattress from store.
• Remember when our hotel room the night after the wedding was right on the BART tracks. Every. Twelve. Minutes.
• How could you forget Hawaii...and Cholos. And we have to mention the tounge thing.
• Remember Skookie with the Richards'. And Party in a Can. and Jookie. And the Chokie. And Michele being blamed for knocking Pluto over.
• Remember the Flarp Face. And when Mark got the marshmallow all over his face at our BBQ.
• Remember when Mom beat out all the kids in her energy when they all came down to Disneyland. And then the car battery was dead at ONE in the morning and we had to wait for help. And your need was up against the guy who lost his kid at noon.
• You can't forget about the Gender confusion Denny's trip, and the Kamikaze squirrels that attacked us on the rocks in San Simion.
• Remember when Kaylinn cut Mark's hair for the first time ever. And that one really big mistake...or maybe we want to forget that.
• Remember 13.1 miles in Long Beach. And the ghetto hotel we stayed in that had a smoking room assigned to us so we upgraded to a "2 bedroom suite" to get out of it. And the "suite" was just as bad...but at least didn't have smoke.
• Remember when we stayed in the Grand California hotel and the Disneyland Hotel for the one night each...free...as a "test guest".
• Remember the Disney Dining Plan in Florida. And our mammoth Ice Cream goodness.
• Remember the Richards' visit round II. And Judy the hoarder. And we all vowed to never...
• Remember how glad you were to have a spare bedroom given the number of friends we were able to visit with!
• Remember Christmas day and Rock Band for 7 hours.
• Remember Nikki, and Mora, and Kathy at Disney. And the Drama!
• Remember our generous donations to El Torito, Ruby's, Chili's, and Yogurt D'lite.

It was a good year!

Our Announcement

For some time now, Mark and I have been trying to figure things out work wise. Disney has been less then favorable and although the benefits are delightful; the work hours have been less then conducive for "family time". So...

We're Moving!

To my old roots!

Mark is going to take on Wright's Pool Service.

So a little shout out to my dad and his lifelong labor that has secured my future.

He really was a good man. I love you dad.

The Move is scheduled for the end of March. and we're not moving exactly to the old stomping grounds because I really want it to be a new story. If we moved there, and the kiddos went to CVHS and we were in CV2...come on now; we're not the Blatters. :) you'd have to be CV2 alumni to get that last part.

Guilty Pleasures

Don't deny it...you know you have them too.

1) Infomercials: especially the long ones that are like a whole program. I'll watch the same one for almost an hour! Who does that? And secretly I feel a small need to have whatever they are selling. I've never actually purchased, but I do love to watch them.

and on that note...

2) I also love the Great Performances show that has like a 20 minute break every 15 minutes to get you to donate money to their network. Its usually some great Jazz artist or a tribute to an era passed. Its just great music.

3) Celion Dion: I'm pretty sure I would karokee it if I sounded even a little like her.

and while on that note...

4) Cher: Although I only know a few of her songs-and they're all the old ones...I really do like them. And I may or may not have already karokee'd Cher in the past...more then once. If I could turn back time....

5) Alias: And I'm pretty sure I crushed on Michael Vartan that summer.

6) House Hunters: and pretty much every show on Bravo.

7) Children's books: thankfully I know a family with young kids and I read their books. Sara may think I'm reading it for the kids...but I'm not. I use to go to the library and read a whole section of children's books just for something to do. I miss those days.

8) Taco Bell: and I'm pretty sure I order 7 things when I go...all for myself...and I eat it all. Something about Taco Bell at any obscure hour is just delightful. But-you can't plan on Taco Bell. It must be a spontaneous idea and acted upon immediately, otherwise it it only medium in taste. Preferably long after the dinner. 5th meal as it has been called.

9) Professional Photos: Photoshop makes for some wicked nice wall art. And for flawless skin/teeth/radiance that sometimes I don't feel is present. Bonus.

I think nine is enough for now. What stuff do you love that it a little taboo but you still love it?

Sightings

While in Disneyland the other day, we stumbled upon this guy:

I only had to quadruple-take before I believed that it was in fact John Header made popular from Napoleon Dynamite. Delightful for us. Then on our 3rd ride of the day, we rode just in the log just behind these people:

Yes, these are the Hinkins from the reality show "Here Come the Newlyweds" who we wanted to win but they didn't. They came in 3rd place. And they are Mormon. I'm just saying--John; Mormon, the Hinkins: Mormon. We're totally on a celebrity sighting 2 for 2.

Disneyland is the greatest place for my paparazzi instincts. Photos compliments of Michelle's camera. Without her these photos would not be possible. :)

Semester Wrap Up

The greatest thing about being a teacher is the breaks! Today I finished up Semester 1 and now am ready for a fabulous 2 week long break. Allow me to toot my horn for a minute:

--I am especially proud of my students this semester. 2nd period specifically. They are rock stars. Overall I only failed 18% of my students. A huge improvement from last year where I failed 28%. Pretty sure that my hours of after school tutoring was actually worth something for a few of those kids.

--I am just not going to count period 4 for anything! At least 6 of those students. If y our percentage in class is 28.41% or lower (the lowest being 5.24) I'm pretty sure you have bigger problems in life other then the fact that you're not passing World History. With that being said, it really helps the fail rate percentage in that class. Do you think the school will care that I'm deleting 6 kids from that class period in my stats?

--I did exceptionally well with my parent contacts this semester; better then any before. Many of the parents had numerous emails and letters home to notify them of their kids progress, both good and bad. Pretty sure that is what got George, Karen, Denisha, and Ana to pass. It didn't work for everyone but, it did for some and I am really proud of myself. Can't lie, I totally went back through my "sent mail" and re-read what I wrote. I'm good!

Next semester will pose new challenges and changes. With yearbook no longer being "my" class it will make the structure different which will be an interesting adjustment. Some of my favorite students are graduation again. So weird to think I have been here long enough to have seen an entire class go through their 4 years of school. I just smile thinking of all those good kids. Meena & Aaron, and Chris, Jenny, Sean who I've had every year these 4 years...such good kids all of them. So-here's to another semester down. One more to go!

Please Step Down

Late last night I got a phone call from the principal of my school. Really? I have never received a personal phone call from the school. Conveniently I had taken the day off from work, which added to my anxiety as to why I would receive a phone call!

This morning I got word that I would be forced to step down from my Yearbook position. Being that I am not "highly qualified" under NCLB (no child left behind); the state threatens revoking my teaching licence if I continue to teach without obtaining either an English degree or an Art degree. So-I am being replaced. My room will still be the yearbook room; the book is 3/4 done. I'll still edit, and submit the pages, and essentially do all the work for it. Just not be the teacher on record. Or get paid for it. I am really sad about the whole thing.

Kinda a crappy deal. But I suppose that this was inevitable; considering I refused to go to another several semesters of classes to get an English degree. At least I made 2 books. Sad.

Qualified

My car desperately needed a wash. Desperately!

The other day it was raining. I stopped to get gas. While waiting at the pump--yes--I used the window washing brusher to basically wash my car. The combination of wet car, washer fluid brusher, followed by a raining rinse completed my very make-shift car wash. Hey, it worked. Don't judge me. And you probably thought of it too.

Pretty sure that qualifies me as something not so great. Whatever. I'll take it. And my cleaner car. I'll take them both.

Cast Christmas Party

Another Cast Christmas Party found us spending more time in the Park then we had anticipated. At first we just jumped in to get the collectors ornament, which turned into just swinging by to see if they had chocolate covered caramel apples, which evolved into stopping into the Christmas shop, and passing through King Arthur's Carousel, Dumbo, and Small World.

I really can't remember the last time I rode Dumbo. Quite Fantastic. And don't worry, I totally remembered the Disney episode with John & Kate's 8. Nice. I wonder if this is the face Mark would have made if he saw what I was thinking.

Love the Carousel.

Cheers to another Family Christmas party. Of course we walked out with several unnecessary purchases that were at a very discounted cast special. I even saw one of my students there. Its funny since his mom works there, he and I always have conversations about the inner stuff most don't know. Merry Christmas from the Disney Resort. We'll take it.

"I quit yesterday"

I haven't said much about school lately. Mostly because it feels like the same thing all the time. But I have one period every day that really tests my sanity. I changed the seating arrangement thinking it would be the cure all pill; and for all other periods it is! Except fourth period; the period that holds the children from...well, in the spirit of the season, we are all God's children, but these are definitely the...never mind.

The point is Martin. Started out a quiet kid. Didn't do a lot of work, (then again, none of these kids do) so I contacted mom to try and get some outside support. Fast Forward to today. He has 17%. Yesterday he came in after lunch smelling like smoke real bad. Then, to my shock, he came in after school to see if tutoring could help raise his grade. (um...you're asking me now? 5 days before the end of the semester?) I told him no, we had an interesting conversation about how he has turned in blank assignments, and even gone as far as giving me the assignment back telling me he wasn't going to do it and to save paper. Then we had this conversation:

Martin: Its better then last year, all I did was smoke weed before every period.
Me: [stunned] Every Period?
Martin: yeah, but I quit that. Now I just smoke cigs.
Me: Why are you doing that? You know it is a stupid choice right?
Martin: Yeah, but I'm quitting.
Me: That's good. are you on the patch or the gum?
Martin: The patch. I've got two on right now.
Me: That's good.

--at this point, Martin starts to get work to me that he wants credit for which is a whole new story; and he says something to me which made me feel like I had entered a smokers only zone--
Me: MARTIN! Did you smoke before you came in today?
Martin: Yeah. Just a cig though.
Me: and did you smoke before lunch too?
Martin: Yeah.
Me: You told me you were quitting. You've had 2 in 2 hours! That's not quitting!
Martin: I quit yesterday. It was too hard. I'll quit again later.

Nice. Wisdom from a 15 year old with a 17% in world history. Take it for what its worth.

Movie Review & stuff

One word! Amazing.

We haven't really been feeling the movie theater vibe until just recently. Now we have several that sound really good. We just ventured out to see the "Extraordinary true story"--The Blind Side. I may or may not have cried a little. So many great scenes and emotions. Pretty sure I have my most favorite NFL player now. Such a great flick and one we both HIGHLY recommend.

And I must add the topping to this already delicious cake came upon our exit of the theater. We were walking behind some rather old fellows who were also commenting on the film. One turned to the other with his hand resting on his companions shoulder and stated, "Did you see that body? Wow...now that was amazing. She is a looker that is for sure".

He may be totally out of her league and probably her generation, but he is totally right. I bet she doesn't have the privilege of enjoying ice cream.

In other news:

I have been working my hours finalizing the Senior yearbook pages. I have spend so much time doing these it is crazy! If one Senior says anything negative about them I'm going to punch them in the face. And then loose my job but it'll totally be worth it.

We've set out our Christmas tree. That was a delight. Cheers to Home Depot and their simple, tree purchasing process. Although he didn't cut off enough of the bottom so we struggled with leaning tree syndrome until Mark went all manly on it with his pocket knife. If we were stranded in the jungle, we'd totally survive. The magic of white lights on a tree at night makes the cold goodness of winter my favorite time of year.

Mark has been having quite the stories from work recently. A lot of he said, she said high school stuff which makes me laugh. Sometimes I think his lifeguards are younger then my Sophomores. One situation in particular makes us more frustrated then a job should make you. Someone is suspected to have been tampering with the schedule after it is posted. Thinking that nobody would know the difference. Shift hours were switched to benefit one party over the others and who gets the bad end of the deal? US! It has been quite the adventure, and we're certain the benefits of going to the park is not worth the job itself. So--we're ready for another adventure.