countdown

What are you counting down to? It seems I am always counting down to something. As a teacher, I count down to vacation. I have four days this week and then get a week off. Then, there are three weeks until another vacation. Without those vacations, I think teachers would go crazy. We all love our students, but you try being locked up in a room full of teenagers and not being able to go to the bathroom when you have to or getting to eat lunch on a daily basis and see if you don't go crazy! I challenge a doctor to treat a room full of patients all at the same time. Why is it they get to deal with each patient, one on one, for 15 minutes at a time, but I have to have 28 students, each with different needs, all who are just as important as each other and I'm expected to help them all at the same time? And then when I miss one (who didn't want to be there in the first place) I'm the bad one?

I also count down to when my oldest comes home from college. 32 days and counting. I can't wait to see her again. She sounds like she is having so much fun...not yesterday when she had to work with annoying kids who thought they knew everything, on a project. But, every other day, she is getting to experience seasons for the first time. Growing up in California, she saw snow once in elementary school. You can't even call it snow, it was just little flakes that fell and when they hit the hot cement, they melted, but boy did we think it was super cool! She has been 'up to the snow' a couple of times, but this is the first time she gets to live in a place that actually 'gets' snow. She gets to jump in piles of leaves and feel cold. That's so cool!

As I count things down, I have to remember to enjoy the now. My youngest is wanting to learn to read. He pretty much carries a book around everywhere now. He is constantly asking someone to read to him, which can get annoying after a while, when you are trying to do other things. I vividly remember my oldest going through this stage. She would ask how to spell things and try to read everything. The middle two, I don't remember. I'm sure they went through this because they are both very good readers and love to read and read all of the time, but I just don't remember them starting to read. I don't want to be in such a hurry to get through things that I forget these times as well.

I need to remember that as I am counting down, I need to count today for something too.

Catching up with pictures

Here are some of the things I have been up to. These first two pictures are of the fabric crowns I made. My #2 daughter had a canned food drive at her school and she promised that I would make a crown for the winner. I had to make a practice crown since I didn't know what I was doing and my youngest son wanted that one for himself. This one is the crown for the winning teacher. I heard he wore it proudly all day long. It is held together in the back with elastic and a button so it would fit any size head. I'm pretty aware that there are many different head sizes since I have a ginormous head and 99.9% of hats will not fit me. I wanted to make sure it would fit anyone, so I added the elastic in the back. This is the practice crown I made at first. Turned out pretty cute for not having a pattern. It was a little too small, so I just added several strips of elastic in the back and it fits perfectly.

Here is one of the quilts I made for the Veterans Day dinner raffle. It is about 48 x 60.

Here is the 2nd quilt. This is the upside down one. You can see the writing in the top right corner of the quilt. What you can't see is the back, which when I am holding it is upside down for me. Of course, you can't see both the back and the front at the same time, so unless I tell you that the back is upside down, you never could tell. But, I know. And it is driving me nuts.

And finally, these are the dozen quilts that are going to the Friends of the Pine Ridge Reservation. There are 10 of the dark baby quilts, one that has bears and green squares and then one bigger quilt on the left end. It feels so good to get them out of the house and into hands of people who can use them. Click on the picture to enlarge it and see the quilts bigger. They really are cute, just strange for baby quilts if you ask me.

Random thoughts

Today I have been working on those quilts that need binding. I have three done and 5 more that need to be finished. I think I have enough of the binding to do maybe 3 more. I will have to keep going to see if I can get them all done or if I have to dig out more fabric.

The funny thing is each quilt is taking me 15 minutes to bind. They have sat for months, waiting to be finished and in 15 minutes each one is getting done. Why do I wait so long?

Well, one of my online groups, AC4C, put out the call this weekend for an emergency project to help the Native Americans and send blankets and quilts. These quilts are made with black fabric and are baby size and didn't really have a home. Since the reservation they will be going to doesn't have access to lots of washing machines, the black fabric will be perfect for hiding dirt and stains and will serve its purpose. I will have to get some pictures and post them when I'm finished with the batch. The tops and backs were donated, but I can't remember where they came from. I quilted them this summer and they went together quickly. I just did a stitch in the ditch on them and each one took maybe 20 minutes to make. The batting was donated too so they cost me nothing but a little time and I hope they will keep a dozen babies warm this winter.

Yesterday, the kid I took the phone from that is in my 6th period class was hanging out after school. He had come into class ready to fight another student. About a half dozen students told me that I had better watch out for him because he was going to fight another one of my students and I had better keep them separated. I figured if they were going to fight, this guy is about twice my size and there was no way I was going to jump inbetween him and anybody so he had better get it over quickly. Well, after school he was just hanging out, waiting for another student to finish something and he says to me, "Mrs. Lewis, when can I get my phone back?" I told him he had to have a parent come to the office and pick it up. He says, "oh." Then, he says, "Mrs. Lewis, you are my favorite teacher." Where did that come from? I just took this kid's phone and probably got him in trouble with his parents and now I'm his favorite teacher? I will never understand kids.

Why don't donuts like me? I used to be able to eat 6 of them for breakfast every morning in college and we got along just fine. Now, every time I eat them I get a headache. Yet, I still buy them sometimes and think that maybe THIS time I won't. This morning, I went out and got TWO dozen donuts (have to support the local donut economy you know) because they looked and smelled so good and now I'm paying the price for eating 2 of them. Why do I do that to myself? Why? When will I learn my lesson?

And finally, what is it about a resting mother that attracts everyone to come and gawk? I tried to take a little rest today and everyone in the house, including the dogs had to come and look at me, ask me a question, have me solve their problem, or tell me their life story! I even got licked in the face (by the dog). Why can't I just lay down for 10 minutes and close my eyes? Is that a crime around here? Does the world have to come to an end? I think tomorrow I will go into the garage and close the door and lock it and sleep there. Maybe nobody will find me out there!!!

Happy Friday

Ok, more flowers. Just because I can. These were taken last January I think. Maybe not January, but last year sometime.

I have grand plans for this weekend again. It includes a little bit of grading--work before play, and some cleaning--to keep the kitchen nice and clean, but for the most part, I want to play.

I want to put binding on at least 4 quilts. I took all of the quilts that need binding and cut them and moved them to the banister in the kitchen. They are right next to the pile of finished quilts so they can see what they will become when I get enough time to finish them. I can get the binding on a quilt in about 30 minutes if I have things cut and ready to go. Since I sat and cut binding last weekend, I think I have enough for at least 4 quilts before I have to cut some more. These are just baby size quilts, maybe 36 inches or so, but they are still quilts and they still count in the total. I can't believe how many quilts I have finished this year. And yet the fabric stash is getting bigger by the second. Oh, well, I guess there is no need to worry if the cotton industry goes belly up or the economy gets worse. I will NEVER run out of fabric :)

I will also NEVER complain about getting fabric donated. I love mixing and matching all of the different fabrics to make such wonderful quilts for the kids.

I also have to make a quilt for my daughter's cross country coach. I had some of the kids (the ones who showed up to the pizza party) draw on fabric squares. I have the sashing cut and now just need to iron the squares and start sewing. That shouldn't take too long to get done and I'd like to have it done by Monday. We have one more week of school and then get the whole week of Thanksgiving off for a very well deserved break! I can't wait. I will NOT be bringing lab books home to grade. No matter what, those things will not be coming with me to ruin my vacation.

I'd also like to get a few Christmas stockings done and sent out to my oldest to pass out to her friends to hang on their doors at school. Then, they can play secret Santa and drop presents in them or notes of encouragement during the month of December.

So many plans...hope to get at least some of them done.

How about a nice Christmas poinsetta

to look at today. This was from last Christmas.

I'm ready for the holidays. Any holidays. Just a vacation from school would be nice. The people are getting on my nerves and the kids are ready to be done learning for a while. I'm tired of grading papers and giving tests and ready to spend time with the kids making cookies and eating them.

To prove how grumpy I was today, I took two cell phones away from kids. I NEVER take cell phones away. This is why! The first one I took from a girl who was texting in line for lunch. I asked her what her name was and by the time I got back to my classroom, I had forgotten her name. I asked my students if they could figure out what her name was from her phone and they pushed buttons and clicked all sorts of things and came up with her picture, but we never could figure out what her name was.

The second phone I took from my own student. I took his phone yesterday and talked to him about not taking it out in class. Then, I gave it back to him after school. Today, he pulled it out again with 5 minutes left in class. I had to take it and turn it in this time. He needed this lesson to make sense or he would have kept doing this over and over.

The kids can have their parents come and pick up their phones the first time. I think the third time, they get a Saturday school. When I was in the office turning in the 2nd phone, there were three parents coming to pick up their kids' phones. They didn't even wait a day to make their kids go without a phone. That's why the kids keep using their phones during class.

upside down quilt

Ok, so the picture has nothing to do with anything, but these were in my yard last year and I love them. And I am too lazy to go find the camera to upload the real pictures that go with today's writing. And I love these flowers.

Yesterday I got the 2nd quilt done for the Veteran's dinner. I was so proud that I actually got two quilts done this time. I started them on Saturday and finished them on Tuesday. Not bad.

Here's the bad part. The first quilt was going along just great. I was quilting it with a simple meander and some loops and stars and then I got to the end and there was this nice red square at the very end of the quilt. It was perfect for writing a word in it. So, I decided to write the word Freedom in the red box. Great, everything looked so good and I was all done. I unpinned the quilt and then realized that by writing the word, I had made the back fabric upside down from the front! Argh. Ugh, ick. So, what to do? Unstitch the word and re-do it? Leave it as is and don't say anything? Hide the quilt in the closet?

I decided on option 2. I just called it my 'ode to the Amish' Veterans Day quilt. I have a lot of Ode to the Amish quilts around here. Legend goes they purposely put a mistake in each of their quilts because only God is perfect. Well, I'm very far from perfect that's for sure.

Of course, you can only tell the quilt is upside down if you are looking at both sides at the same time, which I think is impossible to do. Or, you have too much time on your hands.

The second quilt, I decided not to get fancy on and just quilted it with loops and meanders. That one turned out nice too.

Then, I graded lab books for 5 hours. No more playing for me. Oh, and I had the cleaning lady over in the morning for about 4 hours. The kitchen and bathrooms look great :)

Big plans

Tomorrow is a day off of school and I have some big plans! Well, at least in my mind. I have a lady coming over to help clean the kitchen--deep cleaning to get all the icky stuff out from under the stove and off the floors that I don't want to do. I also plan to finish up the 2nd quilt for the dinner at the Veteran's Hall which is tomorrow night. I will post pictures of those tomorrow as well. I have some grading to do, but that is low on the list :) And I hope to get to play with some quilt blocks. I was sent some string blocks and they have been calling my name for some time now. I think there are enough blocks in there to make 4 tops and those are quick and easy to put together. I also have about 10 quilts that need binding and of course lots and lots of quilt tops that need backings picked out and sewn. So many choices, such a short vacation.

Then, it is a full week of school and we get a full week off for Thanksgiving. The school district decided that so many students were taking those extra couple of days, they might as well give us all the whole week and make us start 2 days earlier since they were losing so much money.

I met the new teacher today and she is really nice. I hope this mentoring thing is going to be good for both of us. I think I can learn a thing or two about art from her and she can learn a thing or two about the politics of teaching from me. Nod your head, smile and go back to your room and teach. If people think you are doing what they want you to be doing, they pretty much leave you alone. Just don't get caught with the phonics books. That was the best advice I got when I first started teaching!

I started when 'whole language' was the 'in' thing and phonics books were almost burned! If you were caught with those in your rooms, you were in big trouble. But all of the older teachers had them hidden in their rooms. And they gave them to me too (I started by teaching 1st grade). I knew it was wrong to have them, but I also didn't want the other teachers not to like me. The older teachers knew that kids learned to read by learning phonics. Here I was a new teacher, coming out of a teaching credential program that said, 'don't teach them phonics, they will learn to read, just by being read to often enough.' Boy, did we mess up a whole group of kids. Probably about 5 years worth of kids never learned to read because of 'whole language'. But, the older teachers knew better. Nod your head, smile and do what you are going to do in your own room. Just don't get caught with the phonics books.

Getting them done

Today I decided to just get some quilts done. They are doing nobody any good sitting on the cutting table. In fact, I can't even use the cutting table because it is covered in quilted, but not bound quilts! So, today, I grabbed some yellow with white polka dot fabric and decided to just cut it into 3 1/2 inch strips and see how many quilts I could get done. I finished 4 of them. (the four on the left of this picture) Plus, I started cleaning my kitchen and vacuumed the upstairs hallway AND sat and graded papers for 2 hours. Not bad for a Saturday's efforts. I still have a couple hours before bedtime. Maybe I could cut some more binding and get a couple more quilts done or maybe pick out some backing fabric for some of these quilt tops I have sitting here, waiting to be done. I really need to get the quilt started for Tuesday...too many choices...this is what gets me in trouble in the first place. I get paralized by indecision and then nothing gets done! Anybody else have these troubles?

another new job

well, call me crazy, but I agreed to do yet another job today at school. They needed another BTSA support provider for a brand new teacher because her first one quit. I had been one for the past two years. But I had it so easy. My new teachers were really good at what they did. One was in the military before becoming a teacher so had the classroom discipline down pat. The other was also older and not only knew the subject matter, but is also really good with the kids. Our meetings went something like this...need anything from me? Nope? Have any questions? Ok, see you next week. We talked about students who drove us crazy and how we liked chocolate and when summer vacation was. This new one may be a challenge. I don't know her at all. She is a part time art teacher, coming from a career as a photographer and is having troubles with her classes. I hope that I can help her to be successful. The statistics on teachers who quit before 5 years is pretty sad.

I also hope it doesn't take away from my quilting time! Maybe since she is an art teacher, she can teach me a thing or two about making art quilts. That would be fun.

This weekend I hope to put the binding on 2 quilts and make one for the Veterans Dinner on Tuesday. We have Tuesday off and I have a cleaning lady coming over in the morning because I don't feel like cleaning my kitchen and bathrooms and I'd rather pay someone else to do it for me now that I have 3 jobs :)

That will give me more time to play.

I voted

I have to admit that I am a bit disappointed. I was hoping for the long lines and waiting for my turn to cast my ballot as a citizen of the USA. I even brought along some knitting that I leave in my car to work on for those long unexpected wait times. When I drove up to the school, there were lots of people outside, so I figured there were lines coming out the door. Turns out, there were just lots of lost people who didn't have a clue where they were supposed to go to vote. I don't get that! How can you not know where your polling place is?

So, I went inside and they sent me to the wrong table. I figured I had a 1 in 4 chance of just guessing and that was the table I went to last time, so I just went where they told me. Nope, it was on the other side of the room. I got my ballots (yes, in California, we had so many initiatives, they gave us two!) and actually got to sit down at a desk with my ballots and a manilla folder to hide my answers. At first, nobody was there to peek, but then the line started to form and I had to put my folder up like I was in 1st grade so nobody could see what I was marking. There were so many choices! I had to double check my answers to make sure I hadn't marked the wrong guy.

Not that it matters in California who I picked for President...

But then there was measure T. I remember the signs...Ask a Farmer...Vote ________on T.

But, I couldn't remember what went in the ______. That one took me a while to figure out. I had to read it over and over to remember if I wanted to vote yes or no! Why don't I write these things down?

Two of my 'friends' are running, one for school board and one for Supervisor. I really have no idea what a supervisor does...I guess he supervises things, but he is a really nice guy and his kids are nice too so I voted for him. I have both of their signs in my front yard. I've never had yard signs before, but since I know both of these men personally, I decided to get their signs and put them up. I have no idea if it changed anyone's mind or not, but hey, it was cool! And I will save them for the next election too. I will put them up even if these guys aren't running and see what people think ;)

I'm just glad this whole thing is almost over. My students have really been into arguing politics and they really don't know what they are talking about!