Anne Frank

Today in class we will begin the play adaptation of The Diary of Anne Frank. Yesterday we discussed background information, important literary terms, vocabulary, and some historical overview. A few students were interested in what Auschwitz looked like, etc. so they went online rather quickly the last few minutes of class. They were amazed at some of the images. I guess even if they don't particularly enjoy reading the play, perhaps they'll still take something away from its reading. I hope they don't get bogged down in the reading since it is in play form.
In other news...
I can't remember if I have posted about getting accepted in the National Writing Project. Well, I did! I am very honored and excited to be a part of this. My first informational meeting in April 16 at IU Southeast. We'll learn exactly what the classes entail as well as a lesson to bring back to our school. I'm thrilled!! I'm almost positive that I'll receive six grad credit hours, which I need to maintain my licensure, so that rocks!
On to school...

Spring Break 09

We didn't go on a dream vacation, we didn't even fly in an airplane. We have, however, spent time with friends. And that's what matters.
We've laughed quite a bit. We've caught up with old friends. We've purchased a baby gift to give to an extremely cute and cuddly newborn of an old high school friend of mine who saw each one of my daughters when they were days old.
Tomorrow we will venture to Bloomington to see the old stomping grounds and have dinner with the girls' old babysitter also known as "Princess". She misses us and we miss her terribly. We'll take pictures. Hopefully it is nice enough to do some walking around campus taking photos. I love to do that. Once I drive into Bloomington on third street, I get a sense of excitement. I love IU. I love the culture there. I love the town of Bloomington. There's just something about it. I'm excited to go tomorrow.

A bit unnerved

So, my dad called a short while ago and told me mom gets to come home today. We went up to the hospital yesterday and she was coming around a bit, but still very confused with memory issues. Her voice quivers when she talks, is a little hoarse, and her tongue is still roughly twice its normal size from biting it so hard when she had the seizures.
My dad is a wreck. We all are. We are unsure of her meds. - what should she really be taking, when, what does it look like (don't know if they are in the correct bottle), and how do we keep them from her. I can't live at my parents' house. I have my own daughters to take care of. My dad will have to work eventually. My brother works. I mean, she's 55 years old. Does she actually need in-home nursing care? My dad doesn't want to talk about that. How long will this shit last? Will she come around in two weeks? Never? ???????
So, today, I must go to my parents' house and help get things settled. Mom will put up a fight. She told dad yesterday, "When you come get me tomorrow, you BETTER have my cigarettes and my lighter with you, and I mean it!" She has gone a week without smoking. Everyone has told her to just stop now - the hardest part is over. She won't, though. Dad won't be strong enough to make her. So that leaves me with the question, is he strong enough to go against her on anything? My brother and I talked last night. We agreed that we are going to have to take control if dad won't. It's just that simple.
On another note, has anyone ever heard of being able to buy medicines (ones that should be prescription) out of a magazine? Like those smut mags? I'm talking butalbital (sp?) - medicine like Vicodin, etc.? I have gotten wind of that being an option for people. I need to know if it is. Not for my sake, but for my mother's sake. Please give me information if you have it. You might save her life.

Busy

This past week has been challenging, nonetheless. I had a huge yearbook deadline at school with no cooperation from the computer program I use, grades are due, tests to grade, etc. On top of that, my mom was taken by ambulance to the hospital for having two seizures in one day. She bit her tongue quite badly, and had some minor injuries from falling. She didn't recognize me when I got to the hospital. She swore I was the doctor. She was almost catatonic looking. She would go for what seemed like forever before blinking, she was slumped over to one side, and was odd. She has been in the hospital since Tuesday. A neurologist is seeing her, but doesn't have difinitive answers. I was impressed that the doctor called me (per request) yesterday and talked with me for over five minutes about my questions. I wasn't expecting much, but he far exceeded my expectations.
Today some friends of ours are getting married. A very small ceremony. It at least puts a highlight in my week. Hopefully this spring break week will be better than the last.

Buffalo Wild Wings

Here in a moment I will jump in the shower to get ready to go to Buffalo Wild Wings. We are celebrating two things: 1. Our friend Tom's 40th B-Day, and 2. watching the selection for the NCAA tournament. I love BW3s. It ends up being expensive for all of us to eat there, but once in a while it is worth it.
Tomorrow begins my last week of work before spring break. I am ready for a break. My dad invited us to Florida to visit, but I can't bring myself to drive all that way. If I am going to go to Florida, I want to be able to get in the ocean and not be cold. I also want to not have to rush to get back to return to work. I wanna linger there. So, it'll have to wait until summer.
I am excited about the upcoming warmer weather. I want to plant flowers and be out in the sunshine. It's long overdue. I even wore flip-flops last night in honor of my longing for spring and summer. I just had to!!

Eleven years ago

Eleven years ago yesterday I was in the hospital having my last baby. She was the easiest to birth of all three. She was the only one born at night (evening) out of the three as well. Thinking back to that day, I can remember a lot of events. One of those would be that she was actually born on "mid-term day". I was attending IU, as a commuter, and had a horrible literature class. I was not doing so well in that class; mid-terms were to be on March 11 for that class. I was not looking forward to it. Well, as fate would have it, I got out of taking that mid-term when I was scheduled to take it. I would take it two weeks later with breastfeeding baby in tow. No, I didn't take the baby to class with me, but I did take her on campus and in Ballentine Hall where I met my professor to take my exam. We went into a quiet room (sort of like a teacher's lounge) and I took my exam while she patiently waited in my mother's arms. TWO weeks! Looking back, I don't know how I accomplished all of that while having three little ones. I guess I was determined. It all worked out in the end. I graduated that following year (1999).
Another thing I remember is that the weather had been mild right up until the day she was born. It ended up snowing the day she came into the world. I was not pleased. I wanted to take a new baby home in nice weather, not freezing cold weather. She had to be bundled up to be taken home. She had a maroon hair ribbon in her red hair that the hospital put in there. Her two big sisters commented on the hair ribbon, wondering how we were going to get it out. They couldn't comprehend that it wasn't actually stuck there forever. They were worried. They were relieved when I showed them how easy it was to get out; that it wasn't glued in.
Now, it is only two more years to teenager land for her. Wow.

Dance, Dance, Revolution

Makaili doesn't wear a dress very often. When she was little, she used to beg to wear dresses. She loved to wear them, and when we would go shopping, she would beg me to buy her a new one. Now, it is like pulling teeth to get her in a dress. She is much more tomboy now. When we bought this dress, I was in shock that she picked a purple dress. She doesn't normally like that color. She did look good in that color, though. She wore this to a semi-formal dance that she attended with her cousin, Tevin. Before the dance, about ten to twelve kids came over and had pics taken. They all looked amazing. I love seeing Mak in a dress, even if she isn't really comfortable in one! She looked pretty.

Alliteration

Here's the language arts lesson for today:

Alliteration - the repeated occurrence of a consonant sound at the beginning of several Words in the same pHrase.
Example: doors dancing open during a difficult time, denouncing my doubt in deep adoration

See? The "d" sound is repeated for effect. Let's try another one.

Windows that I watch through wIll bring me wonderul things and leave me wanting more and more of mutual wonderment between these two wishful souls

Language is such a beautiful Thing. And when people use langauage in very poEtic ways it can make someone crY, don't you think?

ISTEP - CHECK, BUT WITH TEARS

So I hear tell that this ISTEP has been brutal on students. For example, there has been a story told that an elementary school in the state, ahem, had this going on: fourth graders were so upset that the test included so many things that they didn't know how to do. In reaction to this, the students were having little breakdowns, anxiety attacks, if you will. The school had to end up calling parents of these kids to come and pick them up to take them home. That's how bad they were! Poor little fourth graders getting this upset over a test! I found a little ironic humor in this. Students across the board complained about the difficulty of the test and how it was trying to measure things they hadn't even talked about in their classes. So, it will probably be thrown out as some obscure mistrial or something. Hey, look at it this way; we get to do it all again in April! Such a short time away...
BUT, spring break will be between now and then. Amen, sista!