Well, so begins the ride with the boy. He got his first in school "ticket" for pushing a boy in the bathroom. We are talking about 8 year old boys in the bathroom. It seems that he "pushed" this boy over and he fell in water/urine. Nobody saw it and it is my son's word against this other boy. What do you do as a teacher? You can't really do nothing. So, my son has grounded himself from the Wii for the next two days. You read correctly. He grounded himself. We did not institute any penalty. Not because we don't care, but because we are not sure that he did anything wrong.
Eli is about 6 inches shorter than the other kids in his grade and we held him until he was almost six before he started kindergarten. It seems that the boys in the bathroom were looking at something on the floor and Eli was trying to see over them, around them, and in the process bumped a kid. He lost his balance and fell over into whatever they were looking at - it seems that it was pee on the floor. What do you do? Boys are curious. I really don't think that Eli went up to this boy and shoved him on purpose. It just isn't in his nature. He is definitely a follower, but would not intentional push or shove anyone. It just seems like a waste of time for the teacher to fill out this form. I just wonder if she thinks that Eli really did this on purpose? Am I missing something? I truly don't think that he is an angel, but he is not aggressive. I would even say he is submissive and needs to assert himself more. Something to work on and pray about.
The girl was also in the principal's office yesterday. They had the drug dogs in to her school yesterday to sniff out drugs and other paraphenalia. Apparently, they called her down because she had ibuprofen in her backpack in her locker. This is considered contraband and is not allowed at school. Since when is an over the counter pain reliever a "drug". She can go to Target or Wal-mart and purchase a 500 pill container of this without showing an ID or anything. I know, all medicine should be taken appropriately. She is 14 years old - I think that she knows the appropriate dose and use. She has it because of muscle aches from swimming 3 hours a day for practice. Apparently, the principal just looked at her and sent her back to class. It seems that he knows her. I am truly hoping in a good way!
I am a teacher in this school district and I often wonder what is going on. How much time is wasted on this kind of thing? Thanks for listening to me vent and let me know what I am missing.
Blessings
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Quandry
I bump up against this often - the line between teacher and parent. I would agree with many of you that just being a parent is also being a teacher of so many things - manners, respect, scripture and so on. But now that my daughter will be attending the same school that I teach in, it adds a new dimension to this dilemma.
She is registering for her classes here at the high school. She seems to have a goal to be an accountant or a least someone that works with money and numbers. She wants to wear nice suits to work, commute and work in the city. I truly don't know where she got any of these ideas because it as different from me as possible (maybe that is why?). I think that every time we go downtown, she sees the women in heels all dressed up on their cells phones and finds that glamorous. I can see her point. But I also know the stress that these women have in their lives (?) trying to juggle work and home. I want her to find her niche. So, for now she is pursuing the business side of our offerings here at the high school. Who am I to say what her passions are?
So, I keep putting on and taking off the teacher hat as I advise my daughter and yet try to share my wisdom about taking "real" academic classes vs. something like "floral design" (which is a great class if you like that sort of thing). She is smart and capable and I want her to make the most of her education.
That is all for now. Blessings
She is registering for her classes here at the high school. She seems to have a goal to be an accountant or a least someone that works with money and numbers. She wants to wear nice suits to work, commute and work in the city. I truly don't know where she got any of these ideas because it as different from me as possible (maybe that is why?). I think that every time we go downtown, she sees the women in heels all dressed up on their cells phones and finds that glamorous. I can see her point. But I also know the stress that these women have in their lives (?) trying to juggle work and home. I want her to find her niche. So, for now she is pursuing the business side of our offerings here at the high school. Who am I to say what her passions are?
So, I keep putting on and taking off the teacher hat as I advise my daughter and yet try to share my wisdom about taking "real" academic classes vs. something like "floral design" (which is a great class if you like that sort of thing). She is smart and capable and I want her to make the most of her education.
That is all for now. Blessings
Thursday, January 24, 2008
Shoulder update
Okay, so many of you know that I have been dealing with this lingering pain after I got a flu shot last November. It doesn't keep me from doing my job or anything, it is just more of an irritant. So, I went to the ER and they prescribed some Physical Therapy. It helped somewhat, but the pain was still there.
I hate going to the Dr - even though I really like her. She is great. I just tend to leave things alone and hope they go away. She sent me to get an MRI last week. Results are in. I have a torn tendon in my shoulder. How does that even happen? It obviously was not caused by the flu shot, but occurred around the same time. I have a appt with an orthopedic surgeon next week. Please pray for wisdom for my treatment. Thanks!
In other news, the girl is in her countdown mode for synchro - only 39 days before practice starts. She is already creating music mixes for a solo if she gets one. She is hilarious. The boy is enjoying Wed. night programing at church. He looks forward to it every week - what more could I ask for. The husband had been getting the car fixed. Apparently the tie rods were loose at the last oil change. These were covered under the warranty - luckily, but the alignment was not. Funny how that happens...
I think that is all for now.
Thanks for reading. Blessings.
I hate going to the Dr - even though I really like her. She is great. I just tend to leave things alone and hope they go away. She sent me to get an MRI last week. Results are in. I have a torn tendon in my shoulder. How does that even happen? It obviously was not caused by the flu shot, but occurred around the same time. I have a appt with an orthopedic surgeon next week. Please pray for wisdom for my treatment. Thanks!
In other news, the girl is in her countdown mode for synchro - only 39 days before practice starts. She is already creating music mixes for a solo if she gets one. She is hilarious. The boy is enjoying Wed. night programing at church. He looks forward to it every week - what more could I ask for. The husband had been getting the car fixed. Apparently the tie rods were loose at the last oil change. These were covered under the warranty - luckily, but the alignment was not. Funny how that happens...
I think that is all for now.
Thanks for reading. Blessings.
Monday, January 21, 2008
| What Cyndee Means |
 You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row. You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace. People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. |
What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?
Fairly accurate, don't you think? Kind of scary.
I did it again, but typed in Cynthia instead. Not much different, but there are a few differences.
Fairly accurate, don't you think? Kind of scary.
I did it again, but typed in Cynthia instead. Not much different, but there are a few differences.
| What Cynthia Means |
You are very open. You communicate well, and you connect with other people easily. You are a naturally creative person. Ideas just flow from your mind. A true chameleon, you are many things at different points in your life. You are very adaptable. You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in. You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising. You may miss out by not settling down, but you're too busy having fun to care. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are truly an original person. You have amazing ideas, and the power to carry them out. Success comes rather easily for you... especially in business and academia. Some people find you to be selfish and a bit overbearing. You're a strong person. You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It's easy to get you excited... which can be a good or bad thing. You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don't stick with any one thing for very long. You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. |
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Book review and update
For those of you that read my blog on a regular basis, you know that I do not blog everyday. I just don't have the time. I blog when I am processing or when I have the time. I admire those of you that have a word of wisdom everyday - it just isn't in me.
Anyway, I have been busy grading a huge individual lab project that we assign. It takes forever or seemingly forever to grade. And then I must field the many phonecalls from parents about the grade the student got. My teaching team has even created a rubic (grading scale) that addresses why they get the grade they do. It isn't enough that the student completes the project if the answers are not correct. How is it different from a test? Just because a student completes a test doesn't mean that he will get a good grade on it. But, now that is done and I am ready to start fresh with a whole new bunch next week.
In the midst of this, I have been reading (don't I always), going to the YMCA and helping out at church in our coffee shop. I am including a review here because of the impact this book had on me in relation to so many things!
I found this book for $.50 at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping for new jeans. Why is it a get "used" jeans and my daughter gets brand new? Sacrifices I tell you! Anyway, I couldn't pass up a Kingsbury book that I hadn't read yet.
I started reading it right away then had to set it aside. The unresolved conflict in this book was agonizing! The premise behind the book revolves around adoption. The main character Molly is living a blessed life - great husband, nice house, no financial worries and a great son Joey who is adopted. Her world is turned upside down when she gets a phonecall from the adoption agency saying that the adoption was fraudulent. Molly and her husband, Jack, will need to hand over custody to a couple a thousand miles away. How could God have this happen? If there was a God - Molly and Jack were not sure about that. Joey takes the step to trust God through it all and brings his parents along as they fight to be his parents forever.
Kingsbury does a great job of setting the stage of hopelesses on one end and the joy of the birth mom to get her son back. My heart was just torn. The thought of having to say good-bye to my son - I think that I would do everything that I could to keep him with me. The ending was a little abrupt, but possibly realistic. I was rooting for both mom's.
It made me think about how precious time is with your children. I would miss the big hugs that my son gives me everynight before bed. I would miss my daughter singing in the car to whatever song is on her ipod. I think of her especially because she was almost somebody else's. I would have missed so much!
To make all of these things in my life connect to God's plan, the sermon at church was about making choices that will affect you 20 years from now - play the movie forward. Our church is doing a series based on Henry Cloud's "9 things you simply must do" - and condensed it down to 7 things. They played the music video for "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. Our pastor loves country so it is no wonder that he choose this. It made me tear up. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Hug your husband and kids - life moves quickly. Enjoy the noise of little kids, the arguing with teenagers and the middle of the night feeding with infants. Soon enough, they will be gone and the house will be quiet. Don't Blink...
Anyway, I have been busy grading a huge individual lab project that we assign. It takes forever or seemingly forever to grade. And then I must field the many phonecalls from parents about the grade the student got. My teaching team has even created a rubic (grading scale) that addresses why they get the grade they do. It isn't enough that the student completes the project if the answers are not correct. How is it different from a test? Just because a student completes a test doesn't mean that he will get a good grade on it. But, now that is done and I am ready to start fresh with a whole new bunch next week.
In the midst of this, I have been reading (don't I always), going to the YMCA and helping out at church in our coffee shop. I am including a review here because of the impact this book had on me in relation to so many things!
I found this book for $.50 at the thrift store a couple of weeks ago when I was shopping for new jeans. Why is it a get "used" jeans and my daughter gets brand new? Sacrifices I tell you! Anyway, I couldn't pass up a Kingsbury book that I hadn't read yet.I started reading it right away then had to set it aside. The unresolved conflict in this book was agonizing! The premise behind the book revolves around adoption. The main character Molly is living a blessed life - great husband, nice house, no financial worries and a great son Joey who is adopted. Her world is turned upside down when she gets a phonecall from the adoption agency saying that the adoption was fraudulent. Molly and her husband, Jack, will need to hand over custody to a couple a thousand miles away. How could God have this happen? If there was a God - Molly and Jack were not sure about that. Joey takes the step to trust God through it all and brings his parents along as they fight to be his parents forever.
Kingsbury does a great job of setting the stage of hopelesses on one end and the joy of the birth mom to get her son back. My heart was just torn. The thought of having to say good-bye to my son - I think that I would do everything that I could to keep him with me. The ending was a little abrupt, but possibly realistic. I was rooting for both mom's.
It made me think about how precious time is with your children. I would miss the big hugs that my son gives me everynight before bed. I would miss my daughter singing in the car to whatever song is on her ipod. I think of her especially because she was almost somebody else's. I would have missed so much!
To make all of these things in my life connect to God's plan, the sermon at church was about making choices that will affect you 20 years from now - play the movie forward. Our church is doing a series based on Henry Cloud's "9 things you simply must do" - and condensed it down to 7 things. They played the music video for "Don't Blink" by Kenny Chesney. Our pastor loves country so it is no wonder that he choose this. It made me tear up. Here are the lyrics to the chorus.
Don't blink, just like that you're six years old
And you're taking naps and you wake up and you're twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink, you just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads
Next thing you know your better half of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink
And you're taking naps and you wake up and you're twenty-five
And your high school sweetheart becomes your wife
Don't blink, you just might miss your babies growing like mine did
Turning into moms and dads
Next thing you know your better half of fifty years is there in bed
And you're praying God takes you instead
Trust me friend a hundred years goes faster than you think
So don't blink
Hug your husband and kids - life moves quickly. Enjoy the noise of little kids, the arguing with teenagers and the middle of the night feeding with infants. Soon enough, they will be gone and the house will be quiet. Don't Blink...
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
Coming back to Psalm 90:17
I like to look at other versions of verses when I am trying to absorb and memorize a verse. I found these at biblegateway.com.
I love the language and different words used which have the same meaning. Sometimes changing a word brings the scripture alive to me. This verse shares the hope that the Lord is with us and giving us a work to do - to be successful at! What a joy that is to know and have sink into my soul.
Thanks for reading.
New Living Translation
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!
New International Version
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
New American Standard Bible
17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
The Message
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval
and make our efforts successful.
Yes, make our efforts successful!
New International Version
17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.
New American Standard Bible
17Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us;
And confirm for us the work of our hands;
Yes, confirm the work of our hands.
The Message
And let the loveliness of our Lord, our God, rest on us,
confirming the work that we do.
Oh, yes. Affirm the work that we do!
I love the language and different words used which have the same meaning. Sometimes changing a word brings the scripture alive to me. This verse shares the hope that the Lord is with us and giving us a work to do - to be successful at! What a joy that is to know and have sink into my soul.
Thanks for reading.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Sanctuary is in the Small Things
I found this link through Jenny and just loved the idea and decided to play along. The whole premise is to spend 5 minutes to make our Home more peaceful, orderly and beautiful. I may not do them all, but plan on enjoying seeing what 5 minutes can do for my home and family.
The first task was to print and post this verse. It is the theme verse for January. I have done that and plan on it being on my bathroom mirror as a reminder (20 points for me).
If you are interested, join Rachel at Home Sanctuary, you might just enjoy yourself. And did I mention that she is giving away prizes? Fun for all!
Blessings
The first task was to print and post this verse. It is the theme verse for January. I have done that and plan on it being on my bathroom mirror as a reminder (20 points for me).
If you are interested, join Rachel at Home Sanctuary, you might just enjoy yourself. And did I mention that she is giving away prizes? Fun for all!
Blessings
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
The Gift of the Magi (or the computer saga)
Well, I can finally write about this since Christmas is over. The Story of the Magi is here if you have never read it, and this Christmas seems like that to me...
I had this grand plan - to get my husband an iPod for Christmas. The rest of the family has one and he sometimes feels left out because of this. So, I did my research, and we needed to update our OS (operating system) to run the new iPod. Not a problem, or so I thought. I went online and found some new software that I thought (hind sight is wonderful isn't it?) would work. It turns out that it didn't. The new software only came on DVD and we only had a CD drive. I was then pulling my hair out - having spent much money on stuff that would not even work!
This is where I call in my techie husband. I explain my problem (without sharing why I needed this update) and he takes it to work to the tech person to put in a DVD drive and update the OS. This seemed an easy fix until the power supply went out. eBay here we come. The power supply comes in and alas - the computer is officially dead. The motherboard is fried. It could be worse, at least I had backed up all my data files before sending in to be repaired - otherwise all you would hear would be sobs on this blog.
So, I am thinking that I now have a gift that won't work. Roger could not wait for me to open this surprise gift. Guess what it was? A new computer with our DVD in it. It turns out that the tech person at work had an extra computer on hand that we can use until it dies - with a DVD in it! It will be cheaper for us to use it than paying to get rid of it. I am so grateful! We can now save for the machine we want!
He was surprised by the gift - and it was even funnier once he knew why we had a big ordeal with the computer. We are still laughing and joyful about it! The joy of giving and receiving - that is what Christmas is all about!
Blessings and thanks for reading!
I had this grand plan - to get my husband an iPod for Christmas. The rest of the family has one and he sometimes feels left out because of this. So, I did my research, and we needed to update our OS (operating system) to run the new iPod. Not a problem, or so I thought. I went online and found some new software that I thought (hind sight is wonderful isn't it?) would work. It turns out that it didn't. The new software only came on DVD and we only had a CD drive. I was then pulling my hair out - having spent much money on stuff that would not even work!
This is where I call in my techie husband. I explain my problem (without sharing why I needed this update) and he takes it to work to the tech person to put in a DVD drive and update the OS. This seemed an easy fix until the power supply went out. eBay here we come. The power supply comes in and alas - the computer is officially dead. The motherboard is fried. It could be worse, at least I had backed up all my data files before sending in to be repaired - otherwise all you would hear would be sobs on this blog.
So, I am thinking that I now have a gift that won't work. Roger could not wait for me to open this surprise gift. Guess what it was? A new computer with our DVD in it. It turns out that the tech person at work had an extra computer on hand that we can use until it dies - with a DVD in it! It will be cheaper for us to use it than paying to get rid of it. I am so grateful! We can now save for the machine we want!
He was surprised by the gift - and it was even funnier once he knew why we had a big ordeal with the computer. We are still laughing and joyful about it! The joy of giving and receiving - that is what Christmas is all about!
Blessings and thanks for reading!
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