Landscaping, Part II

The front lawn has been criss crossed with these ditches...
A brand new water main has replaced the old galvanized metal water main from the city (at the street) inside the house. Under the house, Dave branched the water main to come out the side of the house for the sprinkler valves created by Dad.

The preliminary sprinkler PVC pipes and sprinkler heads have been added and sand has covered the new water main.

Girls' Night Out

Our "girls' nights" have been transforming over the past few months. We've gone from cooking for each other every week to planning "outings." Fun activities, dinners out, etc.



The first week in October, Desiree, Robyn and I joined a few of Des' friends from school for sushi (new adventure for me). We then proceeded to Tyler mall to see a Love Happens. Although the movie brought tears to our eyes, it is alwasy great to spend an evening with the girls!

Love, love, love this new "stage" of girls night

Landscaping

This is the goal. But, before that could happen...

Dave and Dad have some major work to accomplish.
Strangely enough, there were two old sets of sprinklers in the front yard. Getting the old metal pipes was important to Dave, so here we go...
A rented "ditch witch" comes to visit our front yard for two days to dig lots of 18 inch ditches for the sprinklers. Sprinklers follow... we'll see what comes after that.

Total Excitement

Sammy loves riding the carousel at Disneyland and California Adventure. This picture is a few weeks old, but I just found it. He talked to the seal he rode up and down :)

Early Birthday

Grandparents are wonderful for multiple reasons. Today, I was able to thank Grandma T for the birthday card and check because it allowed Robyn and I go to to Color Me Mine and spend four hours painting. Celebrating my birthday early is always fun and I can't think of a better way to spend a day--talking with a great friend and being creative! I painted a food and water dog bone bowl for Reese. It was pink all over with teal and purple stripes and polka dots.
Robyn, of course, used her fastastic art skills to create a beautiful, fall candy bowl with multiple color leaves. It was beautiful every step of the way.

My completed bowl, complete with Reese's name and raised white dots. After I finished, I also created a snowflake and dogbone Christmas orament.

Four hours later, we finished out projects!

Thanks Grandma T and Robyn for an amazing early birthday celebration!

Missing

With tears running down her face, the teacher created awards for each of her class leaders. Reminiscing about the great year, smiling about the silly events and even funnier moments of intense stress turned laughter, and mourning over saying goodbye, she printed each student certificate. Without joy, she walked down the tile hallway into another classroom. Upon entering, she handed the certificates to another teacher and showed her where to sign her name.

"You're getting some great kids, my kids," the teacher said while trying to hold back the quivering chin and approaching tears, "they are stronger and better than I could have ever hoped for a year ago."

As she watched the other teacher sign her name to the awards certificate, the teacher felt utter sadness wash over her.

This sad story has been my reoccuring dream for the past three nights. I miss my yearbook kids. The specific kids--the ones who know me and how I operate, the ones who cared about me as much as I cared about them. They've moved on just like me; some of them are in eighth, ninth, and tenth grade.

One of those kid wrote me this beautiful poem last year and I treasure it in my heart. I've thought about sharing it with you (mom) before, but now I need to feel better about missing them there is no better time.

The Clock

by Madelynn Knust

The clock means so much more than just the time of day.

Each simple little part of it represents something special about you.

The face of the clock represents the smile you put on my face each day that I entered your class sixth period.

The numbers represent the countless times you make school worth attending.

The countless hours you devoted to my future.

The countless times I will remember what I learned

from you down the long road of life.

The long arm of the clock represents how I have felt your

arms reaching out to help me achieve my goals.

They represent the support that I have felt from you,

as if your arms have been wrapped around me with support.

The second hand as it sweeps on so quickly, represents how fast

I knew you were going to be a special person in my life.

It represents the speed in which I have been able to learn from your teachings,

and the too swift passing of the time I have had with you.

The alarm represents the eagerness at which I rose each morning

knowing that I would have the opportunity to learn from your knowledge.

Whenever you see a clock please remember that you have been a life changing influence in my life.

I know as time moves forward others will be blessed with your special qualities.

Remember how thankful I am for this time I have had with you... the time that has changed my life.

Top Ten Reasons teaching high school is better than teaching middle school

10. The amount of whining is cut in half. A lot of the annoyances of behavior has been eliminated by their hard working middle school teachers.

9. Coaches put pressure on players to have passing grades and it actually has a connection to the students.

8. Parents have less ability to damage their kids, cause them to be late to school, and make excuses for their behavior and lack of work.

7. They "get" my humor and actually think I'm funny (most of the time).

6. The ability to "focus" is significantly increased or they've learned to pretend really, really well.

5. People don't apologize anymore after I tell them what I teach.

4. The curriculum is a bit more interesting, but really exactly the same as seventh and eighth.

3. Personal responsibility of students is an expectation of all teachers on campus. Students are more willing to put each other to be responsible too.

2. The "getting it" learning process is faster and more intense.

1. There are three football games a week to watch!

The Wednesday Sisters

Attemping the impossible, I've been trying to read just a little before I go to bed each night. Originally, I wanted to dream about something other than school and sleep better because of it, but then it kept coming back to the fact that I really just like to read.

I picked up a low-key book at Costco that wasn't super exciting and didn't appear to have any of my addicting book qualities (British Lit themed, love stories, suspenseful, etc). I picked up The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. It is a book of friendship, love of literature, and writing.

This week, I succeeded in reading before I went to bed. Although the goal was 30 minutes, I never read that little, but I was able to stop myself around an hour of reading. With time today, I finished it. It causes tears and laughter--a good overall book that makes me miss my friends; it also made me very greatful that we still are able to have "girl's night" regularly (4.5 years later it is still happening).

so long idea

I often think of things I should write about on my blog that would be funny and/or worth your time while I drive to work in the morning. )sually by the time I get there, I forget and the brilliant idea is gone. Sometimes they come to me in the shower... They to never make it. Now, I feel bad so I give you my lame 'but I thought of an interesting thing to say' excuse. Oh well...

maybe I will remember tomorrow and actually write it?!?

Another joy of teaching

BOOKS!! ON SALE!!!

My good friend and mentor Brenda sent this over to me today. Oh, the joy! Makes me feel better after my last post.

Year Five

These are the things that make me love teaching...

Teaching is challanging; every year, month, day, and period is different and requires constant modification and reflection. Dr. Miller (RUSD's superintendent) has set the goal that every teacher knows every student's name, need, and story--this goal is my daily goal and has been since the first day I stepped into a classroom. I was emotionally involved with many of my students at Central, felt their pains, and loved to watch them grow and mature.

Investing in my yearbook students made a lasting impact of my and I'd like to think on them. I love that I can walk onto the field at a freshman football game (Poly Bears vs. Arlington Lions) and talk to students I had two, three, four years ago. I love that I can still invest in these students with encouragment and praise.

There are also things I don't love about teaching...

Although different, teaching is also the same. Each year, there are student issues, paperwork to fill out, meetings to sit in, and parents to notify. There are also more requirements, more pressure, more tests, and less resources. There are irritating students who have parents who have created the monster. The worse part is working with teachers and administrators who hate kids (collecting a paycheck) but don't realize that they need to leave the profession.

This year has been difficult. The parts of teaching I love aren't on the forfront of my day-to-day activities. My ninth graders share less naturally and don't rely upon adults as much. I have no yearbook class to invest in; my SELA class would rather do anything other than make effort. I know this year may become a great year and I have great potential to have an impact, but I feel quite "bored" with teaching at the moment.

I couldn't see myself leaving the classroom right away for administration, but now, I feel like I'd do it tomorrow if I have the chance. Then again, isn't the five year mark suppose to be the one of indecision in teaching? Maybe I'm just in the year five funk.

Happy Birthday Tawni!

Wednesday night we celebrated Tawni's 27th birthday at The Melting Pot in Rancho. We had a blast playing around with our pokers, the different tastes, and remembering how long each type of meat had to cook. The resturant was a great place, very quiet and attentive. Rob planned the suprise party with great details! He managed to get all of us there, reservations made with menu choices ahead of time, and babysitters too! When you make reservations for a group, they want you to give all the orders too! I was able to order just a salad and pick off of Dave's plate :)

Tim and Casey, Rachel and Scott, Dave and I, Carla and Rob, and Melinda celebrated with LOTS of food and laughter! The four course meal was amazing; first course was chedder and spinach articoke cheese with dipping materials, followed by salads, third course presented raw meat, potstickers, and ravioli to cook two different ways. We ended with great desserts to dip in Turtle chocolate and S'mores!

I sat in the middle of our table and got to dip food in cheese, cook veggies and meat, and dip chocolate for my friends. This is the oil bubbling away!

Believe it or not, we went through seven plates of desserts for 9 of us!

Only in San Diego

Only in San Diego at a professional football game will you see this magic!

Chargers Time

Last Sunday, we spent a very hot afternoon in the sun watching the Chargers lose to the Ravens. Although it was a sad game, the defense decided not to play well, and the offensive line was hurt, it was great to be at the game! Being a Chargers fan in San Diego on gameday is entergizing.

We rode the trolley and got there early again to watch the players warm up down by the field. Our seats were in the "Family Section" ALL the way at the top of the seats by the giant score board. If you're going to sit that high, it is nice to have no drinking and cussing around you.

100th Post

I can't believe this is my 100th post on this blog!

I started blogging in July 2007 when I started my Weight Watchers journey so that I could reflect and encourage myself; doubting that anyone would care what I said, I did not share the website with anyone except the few people on the WW Message Boards. A few friends starting reading, then my mom... I felt like I should talk about things other than my weight so I didn't sound whiny or annoying. In January 2009, when I ran out of "free" space on freewebs, I moved over to blogger (which is much easier, by the way) and it has transformed into a diary of my life.

Thank you to all of you who read my whinning, complaining, and talking about nothing important. This year I hope to post more often and about more interesting things :)

Master Bath Progress

The project keeps rolling along at a super fast pace! Here is the building prepared for stucco, but the real magic was happening inside... The electrical system in our house is old, but when this area was built in 1977 it was done very poorly. Instead of spending the hours to figure out the old system, Dave cut out all the old wires and ran completely new wiring for all the plugs, light switches, and overhead lights and fans. The wiring required significant "learning," caused many frustrating hours for Dave, and required many phone calls to electrical friends.

In the new "dressing area" we have these cool recessed lights with dimmer switches. I eventually hope to use this area as my reading nook with a giant comfy chair.

As part of the electric upgrade of the addition, one day I came home to see this in my kitchen... in order to get the inspector to pass the rough electrical, Dave had to put the new room on its own breaker. This damage occured when he was working with the old (1939) box on the left wall and the newer (1977) box directly in front. No idea why there is a whole in the ceiling. At least when I came home there wasn't too much of a mess, but I still have holes.

Today, Cecilio and his man came over and put the scratch coat onto the outside walls. This is the first coat of the stucco process.

He was going to put another coat (brown coat) on today, but the scratch coat wasn't dry enough. Monday Cecilio will come back and finish his part. At that point, we'll be on our own to finish this addition.

For now, we're going to concentrate on cleaning up the outside (piles of wood pieces, insulation, and cement) and doing one thing at a time when money comes in... and onto GRASS!!

Sleep

My parents believed in an enforced, consistant bedtime. As a small child, I remember clearly having to be in bed by 7:30 and up until the end of high school I remember being in bed by 8:30.

When Dawson's Creek came on in January of 1998 (sophmore year in high school) I still had a set 8:30 bedtime, but was given special permission to stay up on Wednesday nights to watch it with my mom and sister after church. Going to bed was never an issue with me because it was a set expectation and I really like to sleep. In high school I left the house at 6:35 am to get to school before first period bell at 7:21. Going to sleep at 8:30 gave me 8-9 hours of sleep.

I often wonder if my parents had been more relaxed with our bedtimes if I would need less sleep now as an adult. In order to be a peppy, happy person I still need between 8-9 hours... to be manageable, but considerably more calm person, 7 works... but give me less than 7 and you don't want to be around me. Today was one of those days... I am a grumpy, flustered person without sleep.

Morning time isn't my favorite until about 9 am and night time isn't really good after about 9 pm. The middle of the day is my time! I soar in the middle of the day!!

Last night we spent a wonderful night at "The Melting Pot" for Tawni's birthday (more on that to come); the four-course dinner was fun and it was great to spend time with all my friends, but dessert wasn't served until 9:30 pm! We didn't get home until close to 11:15! I get up at 5:30 friends! That is only SIX hours... and you want me to be nice to one hundred and seventy two ninth graders all day?!? Setting myself up for failure!

Putting the time in...

Part of my masters degree is spending hours watching and learning about the ins and outs of being administrator. Tonight I am spending time in a Board Study Session (about test results) and Board Meeting. Although I am bored enough to write a blog during the meeting, I am super impressed by our new superintendent, Rick Miller.

Next time I see him at church, I may just say 'hello' to him.

Battles

My mom sent me a cute note about choosing my battles (over yelling at the kid) and it got me thinking about growing up.

When I was younger, I fought every battle. I defending myself and others to the nth degree, even if I should have just backed down. Some of the time I fought worthy battles that I could have walked away from and some times I fought worthless battles. I had (and still have) this compulsive need to stand up for other people that won't stand up for themselves. Some find that good, some find that bad, some even say that is why I'm a teacher and should have been a lawyer.

Looking back at the battles I've fought over the years a few things come to mind.

• Battles are exhausting, both mentally and physically.
• Battles create drama. I swear it isn't me creating drama :)
• Once I start, I cannot stop or back down (well, I could, but then I wouldn't be opinionated and bossy).
• Sometimes when I "win" I look back and wonder why I cared in the first time, other times I look back and still feel the anger that started the battle.
• I am proud of some of the results of my battles throughout the years and I think I have helped a few people along the way.

But the real insight that I've been pondering is that I have been battling less and less. I'm assuming that is the growing up process that it has taken me twenty-five years to learn--pick your battles wisely (the theme of my mom's email). I also wonder if I will eventually stop battling?

On a side note, I have clearly won today's battle with the yelled at kid. Today he was actually receptive, asked positive questions, kept his mouth shut the one time I corrected his behavior, and let me help him start his narrative. I hope this is our last battle and the war can be over, but knowing fourteen-year-old boys...

Yelling

As much as it may suprise you, I don't yell at my students. I make it a point to not let them get me that angry and usually send them outside to cool off so that I can cool off it it is getting to that point. In four years of teaching I can count on one hand the number of times I have raised my voice (4). I can also tell you every single kiddo that caused the voice-raising and exactly what they did...

Today I got closer to hand number two, I yelled at a kid. I was mad. I am still mad. So mad, that I don't even care (yet) that I yelled at him. I think he needed it--continual disrespect, talking back, and rudeness will not win you brownie points in my class especially when you add some cuss words and tell ME (the teacher who is staying calm although she wants to pull your hair out) that I am being rude?!?

What I wanted to say: Kid, who do you think you are? Oh, wait, I know, you're the kid that has failed every class and reads at a first grade level and instead of trying to improve and working with the teacher who is working with you, you're going to be "funny" so no one will notice. Sorry, kid, I noticed and "funny" isn't going to cut it in here. Shut up.

What I did say (very loudly): You're not funny and I don't appreciate being treated with disrespect and talked back to. Please make a positive choice. This positive choice should include you closing your mouth and remembering what respectful behavior looks like.

After this he continued to talk back and I kicked him out. Maybe tomorrow I'll regret it, but right now, it brings me peace to know that he got the "chewing out" that he deserved. The watery-eyes that I saw also prove that the information was going into his head.

I also wrote him a referral (all good yelling is referral requiring) and kicked him out of my class for two days. Even better, I sent an email to his coach and he'll be benched for two practices and one game.

Contractors Move Fast!

Cecilio from Caba Contractors impressed me so much in our inital meeting; so much that we hired him! The day Dave got the permit, Cecilio and his crew came over to begin the project. The siding was taken off by Dave the day before. The first day, they dug this 24 inch deep ditch for the foundation.

Very quickly, they built this frame for the foundation and the cement steps. Included inside the frame is a "rebar" metal supports for the concrete. After the Riverside Building inspector gaves us the go-ahead, Cecilio and crew poured the cement. The very next day, they began building the floor and framing the new exterior wall.

New cement sets from the door (eventually the "pool" door).

By the end of the day, the crew had the entire new wall up! Dave spent the evening tearing down the old exterior wall! By the time I got home from class, it looked like I had a completely different house (left in the morning with the house looking like the black picture above).

They also extended the floor joists, added insulation to the studs, and put down the new rough floor (right side of picture). The right side of the ladder would have been outside the day before!

Dave made his second trip to the dump (for just this project) with a very full trailer.

Dave continued to demo by removing the dividing wall between the bathroom and the sink room and Cecilio's crew frame in the new ceiling (which will greatly improve our hot/cold issue with insulation and HVAC vents)!

Dave also figures out how to get the "rough" plumbing and electrical in the new part for the next inspection. Thursday the inspector came back out and gave the okay to proceed from the framing part. A few more things need to be fixed with the electrical and plumbing (hopefully done soon without a huge budget breaking pricetag).

Cecilio and crew came back out and added brackets, vents, and began to prepare the wall for stucco! The wire in the above picture is step one.

This entire process has only taken seven business days. Cecilio only has two steps left before he's finishes his "part" of the job (base AND brown coat stucco). Then... it won't move so fast...

FOOTBALL IS HERE

WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!! I could not be more excited. In honor of the season offically starting on Monday when the San Diego Chargers meet the Oakland Raiders, I thought I'd share some of the "boys" in blue that hopefully will make it all the way to Dolphin Stadium this year :) There is another Bennett on the team!

Melissa, Dad, Uncle Randy and I enjoyed the last preseason game on a warm Friday night, September 4th. The pictures were taken as they warmed up before the game and we took in the endzone. Our regular seats were up at the top :)