Gazing into my crystal ball

It's time to blog for school again. What fun!

Blog Response #3: What is your 2020 Education Vision?

Looking into the near future, I think the event that will have the most significant event on the whole compulsory education complex will be the retirement of the baby boomer teachers. Looking at the teachers I know from that generation, specifically my mom and step-mom, I can tell they are definitely excited at the prospect, no matter how much they love teaching.

After the baby boomers retire, schools find themselves missing a large chunk of their returning teachers. New teachers will come into the profession, much as they have, but continued high rates of attrition (made worse by the retirement of mentor teachers and school leaders) will lead to teacher shortages. I imagine that 2020 will probably be a turning point for education, though the field will go in one of two opposing directions.

The first direction, the ideal one, would be for schools to reduce teacher hours and institute formal mentoring programs. During an extra free period, novice teachers would meet with more experienced colleagues for advice, planning tips, and even (hopefully) to share materials. By giving teachers a little more time to plan, network, grade, and contact parents, attrition rates will decrease. School curricula will be refined, while at the same time becoming more inventive, thanks again to the increased planning time.

The second direction, the non-ideal but more probable one, is that the prerequisites for going into teaching will be lowered in an attempt to shovel more bodies into classrooms as fast as possible. The constant influx of new inexperienced teachers will hinder any attempt to institute school programs and policies, as participants will change from year to year. Staff development will also suffer, as many new teachers leave prior to or immediately after completing induction. In an attempt to counteract the inexperience of the majority of the teaching staff, more schools will adopt prescribed curricula, decreasing educational flexibility and experimentation.

Wow, that was depressing. Time for a gratuitous cat picture!


moar funny pictures

Recipe Review: Infused Vodka

I'm not much of a vodka drinker myself, but a friend's birthday provided the perfect excuse to try infusing a little bit of flavor into alcohol. Out of all the berries at the supermarket, the raspberries were the most fragrant, so I decided that they and a couple of moist-looking vanilla beans would make a nice combination.

I've got to warn you, though, that you really should check this concoction regularly. Due to school and the rigorous cat medication and feeding routine, I completely forgot about this for a week. Although it had turned a lovely raspberry color (sucking the pigment right out of the raspberries themselves), the dominant flavor wound up being the vanilla. Perhaps one bean would have been enough, but I suppose it will make a nice flavorful mixer.

Vanilla-Raspberry Vodka
Adapted from wikiHow

750 ml medium grade vodka
1 punnet fresh raspberries
2 vanilla beans
1 1-qt. mason jar

1. Wash fruit and split open vanilla beans. Place the fruit and vanilla beans in the clean mason jar

2. Add the vodka and seal the jar. Put it out of the sunlight (perhaps in a cabinet), but somewhere where you won't forget about it like I did.

3. Wait a week or so, testing the flavor every day or two. You might want to take out the vanilla beans a few days before the raspberries finish infusing.

4. Filter liquid back into the bottle (I used a coffee filter I liberated from my school's lab supply closet) and enjoy. One could also turn the pale raspberries into a rather potent smoothie, if so desired.

Of course, now that I've done that I find myself wanting to try other projects (and am pining over the associated tools).

My kitty's keeper

Lately, my schedule has revolved around feeding my cat. I had to force feed her twice a day last week, but after getting worse the doctor figured out that she needed to be getting more food, so now I feed her two syringes of food three times a day. Combine that with the pills and fluids and my activities start getting constrained.

I don't begrudge it, mind you. I refused to put a feeding tube into her neck, though the vet recommended it, as it would have been an unnecessary surgery just for my convenience. I was also afraid that the other cat would pull it out, even though the vet assured me that it would be safely taped down when not in use, as he's been rather mean to her of late. He's probably not being more of a bully than he normally is, but now that she weighs fully half as much as he does she just can't put up as good a fight. Of course, the clincher on the feeding tube was that it would have cost $300, which was just way too much after having already thrown $600 or so at this illness. I love my kitty, but she's still just a cat.

In any case, I think I made the right move, as she's getting better sans feeding tube. She seems more energetic and is starting to lose that jaundiced yellow coloring of the visible skin near her ears. The only downside is that the healthier she gets, the less she is willing to put up with the treatments. Hopefully we'll be able to pin her down and feed her long enough for her to get better!

Little bag of bones

My poor little kitty has been withering away. At first I thought it was all in my head, but as time went by we started to be able to clearly feel her spine. I tried tempting her with different foods, treats, and other goodies, but to no avail. She's meow hungrily whenever it looked like we were heading to the kitchen, but would give up after a bite or two.

I've spent the last two afternoons at the vet. As it turns out, my little kitty lost about a third of her body weight. She went from 11.6 pounds to 7.6. Poor baby! As it turns out, when cats stop eating (for whatever reason, perhaps due to an illness) it starts to mess with their liver, which in turn keeps them from eating. A vicious cycle, but I'm glad its not anything serious (though I do wish we had figured that out prior to all the expensive tests).

In any case, I've now got to keep her fed and hydrated until her appetite returns. I now know how to:

• give pills
• force feed
• administer subcutaneous fluids

I've become quite the medic. Luckily, I've got a pretty compliant patient. The subcutaneous fluids are pretty hilarious, though, as they form a big liquid bulge by the cat's elbow. It's squishy!

Anorexi-kitty

One of my cats stopped eating. Not the fat one, of course--he'll eat anything. Instead it's the little, smaller, nicer cat.

We'd been noticing that there had been more food left in the bowl lately. Half-pieces of food, as if they had been chewed but not swallowed. When I returned from staying at my mom's house, I did notice that she seemed smaller, but I figured it was just my having been away blurring my perspective. It wasn't until I realized that I could clearly feel most of her bones that I put two and two together and offered her a treat, which she scarfed down ravenously. Apparently she disliked the dry food so much that she'd rather starve. We picked up some canned cat food today. R and I never thought we'd be the kind of people to cater to our pet's whims, but here we are getting special food.

To think I made it this long

Today I learned that the song lyric is "secret agent man," not "secret Asian man."

LaBloShoeMo

Above is the reason I didn't post yesterday: I was busy picking out my Christmas present. New boots! Beautiful boots. Comfortable boots. Boots with a lining that has been heat-molded to the shape of my foot. Boots a half-size larger than my old pair; a half-size larger than the guy at the store recommended.

I swear, there is some sort of sports store conspiracy to get everyone to buy snowboarding boots that are slightly too small for their feet. The first store we went to didn't have a very large selection, but while R and I were looking we overheard a customer commenting that the boots she was trying on felt to small and heard the sales associate launch into a tirade about how they were supposed to fit that way and you want your toes to be touching the front of the boot and it is better to get them small than too large.

I will tell you all now, having had boots slightly too small for my feet for the last four years, the sales people are lying to you. Yes, when crouching while wearing the boot it is fine for your toe to brush the front of the boot, but they should not always be touching. If they do, your foot will wind up hurting. You will wind up buying the thinnest socks you can find, at which point in time your toes will start becoming numb. Just resist the salesperson's pressure! They should be snug, but anything mildly uncomfortable will only get worse.

These are the boots that have served me faithfully for the last four years. If it wasn't for the fact that they make my toes go numb and I can only wear the thinnest of socks with them they could last me another five or ten years. If you can't tell from the picture, their laces are thinner than those of my new boots, making them much harder to lace. Even with all their issues, I still feel a little bad about replacing them before their time. They were my first boots. We've got a history.

Three in one

Recipe Review: Macaroni and Three Cheeses

If you're looking for a quick recipe, this isn't it. However, if you're looking for something tasty and a step up from mac in a box with orange stuff, you might want to try this out. I think it may have been even better the next day, which is a mark of superior craftsmanship.

You can find the recipe here, so I'll not bother typing it up. I didn't put the bread crumb garnish on top, as I don't think bread crumbs add anything to pasta, but otherwise made it as stated in the recipe. Reviews were positive, so I think I'll keep this recipe. I will, however, be making a few modifications in the future. The dish could use a little more bite and personality, so I'll probably put in a little chili powder. Additionally, I may sprinkle some cheese on top so that the dish can have the crunchy top layer that it was supposed to have.

Fridge Friday VI: The top

Ah, yes. The top of the fridge. Home to whatever fruit I need to ripen (in this case, an avocado destined for grated carrot salad with avocado) and, only recently, the cat. He only figured out how to get up there this week and is still slightly unsure of whether or not he is supposed to be up there. Often times when one of us pass by we'll startle the cat, who then proceeds to try to hop up into the crevice between the cabinets and the ceiling, a space that is much too small for him to fit into. It's pretty funny to watch.

LaBloShoeMo

These dusty, filthy, slightly urine-splattered shoes are my mountain biking shoes. R and I fell in love with Solomon brand shoes after his brother gave him a pair of boots. They're really comfortable and have huge tread on the bottom, meaning they're perfect for keeping one attached to the pedals of their bike. Sure, I could get clip-in shoes, but you have to be sure you're not going to fall, because it's hard to detach yourself midway through the air. I'm just not ready to take that leap of faith yet.

Six percent

I think I finally managed to convince a large portion of my students to turn in an assignment.

First, I printed out a summary of their assignments to date and grade breakdown and gave them each a copy. After they had looked it over, I drew their attention to the total grade percentage at the bottom.

"Look at that number. Now, add six to it. This assignment," I said, "that we will be doing for the rest of class will raise your grade approximately six percentage points. It's not hard; it just requires a little thought and reflection. I know you can all do it.

"Remember. Six. That will raise a whole bunch of you up a grade. It's so easy."

You know what happened then? They all worked on the assignment! It was awesome.

LaBloShoeMo

I got these Tevas for a trip to Costa Rica that I took with my mom a few years back. I'm still not exactly sure why I got tan ones. They look like something my mom would wear. Still, they're quite comfortable and I have gotten a decent amount of wear out of them.

Happy Halloween!

Euki dressed up as a resident of San Diego County.

Yesterday was the first day back to school. It was so dark when I left for work, and we're still on daylight savings time. It's amazing how much the light level changed in just a week. I'm not looking forward to leaving when it is still dark out. Of course, that won't last too long. Two more weeks (one of which is a four day week), then a week off for Thanksgiving, followed by one more week of class and a week of student presentations. All the teachers are practically counting down the days until the end of the semester. It's so close!

It has begun

Well, I have now survived the first two days of school.

The first day... well, I think it can be best described in lolcat form.



R was very much afraid that I would come home and announce that I had quit the teaching program, and in all honestly, he wasn't too far off the mark. There was certainly some crying involved at one point during the day and the semi-serious consideration of the fact that bowing out of the program immediately rather than waiting a while would be much better on everyone, seeing as the kids had only had one fluff day with me and there are still interns in the teaching program in need of biology positions. The kids weren't even bad or anything. I just didn't feel like teaching was clicking with me - you know, all that standing up in front of people and talking.

Today was a lot better, though. Even though it was just the first day all over again with a new set of classes, I felt much more confident and a bit more prepared. If nothing else, I now feel that I can make it through the year.

Bachelors in Memology

Another meme, stolen from Laura.

1. The phone rings; whom do you want it to be?
Anyone but my mom. The woman can go on forever about anything!

2. When shopping at the grocery store, do you return your cart?
To the store itself? Rarely. To one of those kart korrals? Almost always.

3. If you had to kiss the last person you kissed, would you?
Every day (and hopefully more than once).

4. Do you take compliments well?
No, not really. More often than not I don't really agree with the person, so I think they just lack perspective.

5. Do you play Sudoku?
I did for a couple of days, but there are just so many better things out there. Books, for example.

6. If abandoned alone in the wilderness, would you survive?
For a little while, at least. I don't think I could make a fire, though, even if you left me a cigarette lighter. One of those BBQ lighters, however, and I'd be set.

7. Do you like nipple rings?
They're... interesting.

8. Did you ever go to camp as a kid?
Oh yeah. Day camp, Girl Scout camp, 6th grade camp, music camp - I did the whole spectrum.

9. If a sexy person were pursuing you, but you knew he/she were married what would you do?
I'd tell them to look at the ring and then back off. Look at my ring, that is (of course, this also applies to sexy single people).

10. Could you date someone with different religious beliefs than you?
Possibly, but it would depend on how religious they are. It's easier if you and your partner are at least somewhat in agreement.

11. Do you like to pursue or be pursued?
Be pursued. I'm shy and lazy.

12. Use three words to describe yourself at the moment:
Tired, full (of mango chicken), cramped (I had a charley horse of the calf in the middle of the night and the darn thing is still all funny).

13. Do any songs make you cry?
No, but there is one that gets me pretty close.

14. Are you continuing your education?
Yup. Currently I'm getting my Masters in Education, and I figure down the road I'll get another Masters or a Doctorate. I'm a degree junkie.

15. Do you know how to shoot a gun?
Nope.

16. If your house were on fire, what would be the first thing you grabbed?
During the big wildfire, R and I packed up our important documents, pictures, and DVDs so that we could quickly get them into the car if we needed to evacuate (the fire actually came up a canyon within a quarter mile of our apartment, so this wasn't just idle paranoia). Now, if there was a fire in the house, first thing would be to make sure the other people were awake and escaping and the second thing would be the cats.

17. Who was the last person you shared a bed with?
R. Same as for the last few years.

18. Whom do you text the most?
I guess my sister, but really I don't text much.

19. Favorite children’s books?
The Ordinary Princess.

20. What color are your eyes?
Blue.

21. How tall are you?
5'6", which makes me practically a midget in my tall Scandinavian family.

22. If you could do it over again, start from scratch, would you?
No, because I'd probably just make the same dang decisions.

23. Any secret admirers?
If I knew then they wouldn't be secret, now would they?

24. Have you ever taken pictures in a photo booth?
Yup. I've still got 3 of the 4 of me and my dad from back in the day (my dad has the 4th on his nightstand).

25. Where is the farthest place you have traveled?
Either Hawaii or Costa Rica.

26. Do you like mustard?
I love mustard.

27. Do you prefer to sleep or eat?
Well, if I'm hungry, then eating, and if I'm tired, then sleeping. They both are wonderful.

28. Do you look like your mom or dad?
When I was little I looked just like my mom when she was the same age. Now... I look like my cousin. Genetics is a funny thing.

29. How long does it take you in the shower?
Depends how much time I have. 15 minutes-ish, but I do enjoy a long shower.

30. Can you do splits?
No, but I can touch my foot to the back of my head (and not by bringing it up and over my shoulder).

31. What movies do you want to see right now?
Pirates!

32. What did you do for New Year’s Eve?
Is it sad if I don't remember?

33. Was your mom a cheerleader?
Nope, she was too tall (pretty hilarious, eh? Actually, I'm guessing it was because she was a big dork).

34. Whats the last letter of your middle name?
N.

35. How many hours of sleep do you get a night?
6 or 7 on weeknights, 8 to 10 on weekends.

36. Do you like Care Bears?
Not being allowed to watch much TV when I was a child, I missed out on the whole Care Bears phenomenon.

37. What do you buy at the movies?
I don't actually buy anything. R buys two tickets.

38. Do you know how to play poker?
Yup. I've finally gotten to the point where I don't lose all my money immediately, which makes it much more fun.

39. Do you wear your seat belt?
Click it or ticket, biatch. Actually, in high school I did stop the car when my sister didn't have her seat belt on (I also stopped the car when my stepsister was playing with a lighter in the back seat. So not okay to hear that right behind my head).

40. What do you wear to sleep?
Nothing. It's so much better than wearing anything.

41. Anything big ever happen in your town?
Fire? Near bankruptcy of the city? All the illegal immigration that the rest of the country wants to talk about? I'm sure there are other things.

42. Is your hair straight or curly?
As straight as can be. My mom and I tried to perm my hair once in 2nd grade. My hair was apparently too immature, so it didn't take, but to make up for it my mom's hair turned out extra curly. She wound up cutting it short and wearing a wig while it grew out.

43. Is your tongue pierced?
Nope.

44. Do you like liver and onions?
I've never had it as a dish, but I do like the components. The onions would need to be caramelized, though.

45. Have you ever been in love?
I'm so there.

46. Do you like funny or serious people better?
I like funny, but it has to be the right kind of funny. I enjoy dry humor.

47. Ever been to L.A.?
Yup. May I never return. B, however, is moving there in August, so I probably won't get my wish.

48. Do you steal or pay for your music downloads?
Lately I pay, but if I can't find the song I want or they only have it in wma format then I will find alternate procurement methods.

49. Do you hate chocolate?
Nope. I love dark chocolate and tolerate milk chocolate.

50. What do you and your parents fight about the most?
My dad and I don't fight. My mom and I fight about stupid things. Of course, sending me "A Case for Faith" for Valentine's Day (and my sister a Dr. Phil self-help book) is really just asking for it.

51. Are you a gullible person?
Sometimes. I'm too trusting and innocent to pick out good and determined liars.

52. If you could have any job, what would it be?
Trust-fund baby, though firefighter sounds good too.

53. Are you easy to get along with?
I think so, but then I rarely fight with myself.

54. What is your favorite time of day?
Evening.

55. Are you a generally happy person?
I'm... at peace. My host teacher described me as Zen-like.

If the loop is over there, then where am I?

I think we're all on the same wavelength, somehow.

I was looking at the new xkcd comic, as seen above, and to better explain it R showed me all the funny cat pictures that have been circulating around the Internet. I'd missed them somehow, and so found the idea of putting labels on cats funny. Apparently that is nothing compared to the power of a cat picture with a caption, because I laughed so hard that I could barely breathe. In any case, I started reading my blogs after that, and what do you know? Fussy has puts up a link to cat pictures. I swear, any time I hear about anything it's suddenly everywhere!

It's probably all in my head

Is it weird that I have this lingering desire to move to Sweden? I'm sure I'm just over-idealizing it in my head, but I think it would be nice to live in a place that is full of people who enjoy the outdoors, shun small talk, and don't feel the need to be constantly grinning like idiots (but the taxes. Gah!). Perhaps it's just that I never had the chance to live abroad. I really wish I could have done that during college, and I hope that I can provide my children with the financial assistance to do that if they wish. I think it is just that I can see my window of opportunity approaching - being nearly finished with school, childless for a little while longer and not yet owning a house - but knowing that we probably won't take advantage of it (What about jobs? Our stuff? The cats?). There is definitely a part of me that wishes we would go somewhere new and different for a year before settling down for the rest of our lives.

Two quick anecdotes before I disappear for the weekend

The cats have returned. Ever since we moved we have hardly seen a whisker or a tail (except at meal times). Apparently, there was much exploring to be done. They must have finished to their satisfaction yesterday, though, since last night they were suddenly their usual selves (i.e., wanting to be in the same room with us, no matter what we are doing). I'm glad to have them back, but at the same time I was enjoying not having to bribe/coax/chase them out of the bedroom at night.

Yesterday, while reviewing the notes from a video on the atmosphere, there was a bit of confusion due in part to my handwriting (and my students' inability to read it). We were listing the layers of the atmosphere and one student said we were missing one - the "lonosphere." I gave him a funny look, but then the rest of the class and I realized what he was talking about. Earlier in the week, when the students were copying down vocabulary words, I had written the words by hand and I had capitalized the first letter of each of the terms. My capital 'i' happens to look like a lower-case 'l," and while this fact had been noticed and talked about immediately after I wrote it, apparently this student hadn't heard the discussion. In any case, when I'm in my own classroom, I think I'll just type the vocabulary.

Our new neighborhood

While unloading yet another box from the car, R spotted a black cat and a white cat strolling down the street together. They were surely out on an adventure.

We're moving!

Not the blog, but rather our physical location. We're moving from a condo to a house not so far away. We are also acquiring a roommate, which will be a new experience for me as, aside from the one year in the dorms, I've only ever lived with R.

Things I'm going to miss:

1. A convenient exercise room. I guess I'm just going to have to suck it up and buy a used treadmill on Craigslist.

2. The Cat Bathroom. We currently have two bathrooms - one for us, one for the cat box (oh, and guests use it, too). Our new place has two bathrooms - one for us, one for our roommate. I'm not quite sure where the cat box will wind up, but the issue has been weighing on my mind lately.

3. Hanging around the house naked/in my underwear. We're going to be gaining a lot of nice things in this new place (having another person paying rent definitely increases the amount of space you can afford), but unfortunately it also means a decrease in privacy. Oh well, I guess I will just have to get some comfy lounging-around-the-house type clothes.

4. Dogs. Living in a condo complex, there are a lot of people with dogs (since, owning their own place, no one can tell them they can't have them). There is even a chihuahua that walks around on its front paws! Unfortunately, all the dog owners are very polite and will stand off to the side of the path when people walk by, meaning I hardly ever get to pet any dogs.

Things I definitely won't miss:

1. Other people using the exercise equipment.

2. Schlepping our bikes up and down the stairs every time we want to ride them. We're going to have a garage now. What joy!

3. The unbearable heat and humidity in the summer. Three cheers for central air!

4. The gardener. He's a nice guy, but most of the time I really don't want to talk to anyone. I've taken to parking far away and checking the mail if I see him by his car (which is near where I would normally pass walking back to my house).

Things that are awesome about the new place:

1. A backyard! We've got a patio and two (2) gazebos. This place is going to be BBQ central this summer.

2. Fruit trees. Apple... Guava... Philippine Lemon? I think I have some research to do.

3. Having enough space to have both a dining room table and a crafting table. Our dining room table is currently covered in a partially assembled photo album (me) and paper waiting to be converted into a sweet-ass model (R), among other things. Plus our new dining room table (kindly left by our landlords) looks to be in a line of sight with the place we plan on putting our TV, so we might actually eat there. Heavens!

Top five

On the way in to work this morning, the DJs on the morning show were doing top five lists of inventions that have happened in their lifetimes that improve their lives. We only caught the last one, but we did hear a caller comment on the fact that none of them picked the credit card for their lists. Apparently, the whole crew there is money stupid and can't really handle credit cards. One guy uses an American Express card so that he is forced to pay it off every month, and the other guy, his wife gives him cash if he needs money! Talk about lacking common sense (and yes, I do include basic money sense in that category). In any case, here is my top five list of inventions that have make my life better.

1. The credit card. I hardly ever carry cash around, and now that almost everyone takes credit cards I don't have to. The smallest amount I've ever charged: 31 cents for postage.

2. Wikipedia. This makes up for my deficient historical education (as well as being the first place I go to if I want to know more about anything). It's been really helpful lately, as we've been watching the British "Whose Line is it Anyway?," and they keep dropping all of these British cultural references that we then have to look up.

3. Silica gel cat litter. Without it, I don't think I'd be able to keep cats, as the dust from every other sort of litter I tried just made my nose go crazy. Of course, I have yet to try a mechanical litter box, so maybe some day that might take this spot on the list.

4. Laser eye surgery. This might be cheating, as I haven't actually had it yet, but my mom and all my uncles have been thrilled with theirs. I will be getting it as soon as I can, but they want you to be 25 so that your eyes are done changing (mine did in fact change last year and the year before, after having been stable for several years). I can't wait to wake up in the morning with clear vision.

5. Digital music. As nifty as records are, I'd hardly ever listen to music if I had to carry around individual albums. The portable mp3 player is where it's at.

There are so many other things in my life that also make life better and easier (the rice cooker, the microwave, cell phones, the Internet, the printing press), but I can't include them, because they were invented before I was born.

Phoning it in

I'm working up to a post with substance, but until then you'll have to subsist on funny pictures and some more odd keywords that have been used to get to my site. I've been having my own private Slayers marathon, so until I can unglue myself from the TV stuff just really isn't happening.


Can you believe this? [snicker] Apparently they have these all over the Midwest. This picture happens to be taken in my favorite little town, Missoula, Montana, which is also home to several cunningly named chain-store knock-offs: Kreate-a-Kritter and Junga Juice. Apparently they're so far off the map that no one ever sues for patent infringement.


I spotted this box while visiting a friend's garage. What stuck me as hilarious was not just the frugality of it (I'm a bit of a pack rat myself), but also how impeccably it was labeled. It takes a special kind of mind to do this sort of thing.


This picture is only funny because Obi just so extraordinarily fat. He's going to outweigh my nephew for a few months yet.

Now on to the recent searches!

tell i have a crush teacher - You have a crush on your teacher? Perhaps you should wait to tell him or her until your grammar has improved.

the evil side of the teacher - Mwahaha! You've found me out. I really hate you and that's why you're failing.

are you moist - Okay... I know what I was talking about, but I don't think that's what you were looking for.

power ballad wedding - There is someone else out there who is totally awesome!

Kitty!

R showed me this comic yesterday. It is, unfortunately, exactly what happens when I get near cats (though I think it happens a bit around dogs, too).

I swear, if I keep learning new things about teaching every day (as I have been), then I might actually have a fighting chance of surviving my internship year. Today, because I was feeling overly sensitive to time (I ran long yesterday) and also because I didn't talk quite as much as my host teacher did during first period, I finished up early. Too early, actually, as the kids were able to finish their homework and then had five minutes left. It was chaos! Mild chaos, but still chaos. One of the boys was holding a piece of paper up for another guy to punch holes in with one of the meter sticks. Why?!

So, yes. Five minutes is just too long for sixth graders to be left to their own devices. Oh, and the new antiperspirant? No better than the old antiperspirant. Quite frustrating.

A light in the... cold?

I guess my lady cat was feeling a bit chilly today (the guy has a luxurious fur coat), because she's here on my desk basking in the warmth of my desk lamp.