Happy New Year 2017 Goals

I'm visiting my parents in Colorado this week and my sister's family came over tonight to celebrate my 50th birthday,  My sister was talking about her goal for 2017 to walk 2017 miles this year.  She has walked 10,000 steps every day since she turned 50 in 2015 and hasn't missed a day (that's pretty incredible)!  I'm lucky to get 4,000 steps in and am super excited to get 5,000.  I'd love to take on a challenge like that, but know that I'd never achieve it.  By the end of the work day I'm exhausted and the couch at my house has a very strong gravitational pull that cannot be escaped.  I'm pretty sure there is a black hole hidden underneath it that sucks in anything that gets within 10 feet of it, including the TV remote.

So, I started thinking about what goal I would like to achieve for this year.  Something I could actually accomplish.

Since I got an Addi knitting machine (two actually-the king size and the smaller one) I have been making hats...lots of hats.  I was talking to my mom tonight about all of the things I've been working on this school year since my quilting machine is broken.  I actually have some hope that it will be fixed this week (fingers crossed and breath held) because I talked to the repair guy last week and he said that the parts have finally come in and I paid  $1,000 for the deposit on them.

But my goal for the year will be 2017 things made for charity.  That will be hats, quilts, blankets, afghans, fleece blankets, dog beds, baby booties, burial gowns, stuffed animals, dog toys, head bands, keychains for fundraisers or anything else I can think of that I can donate throughout the year.

Doing the math, that's 5.5 things a day or 39 things a week.  Some weeks may be easier than others, but overall, I think it is a very doable goal.  Plus, with making so many items, I hope to find many worthy charities to donate to and also to clean out much of the donated yarn, fabric and other goodies I have stashed away in my shed and garage.

Today I made about 7 or 8 hats here at my parents' house while sitting and talking. I even got my nephew to make a preemie hat after dinner.

I will also be blogging again.  I will not let life get in the way of documenting the things that are going on.  I enjoy looking back at the year and reading about the events and everything that happened, so even if nobody else is out there reading, I will do a better job of keeping track for myself.

Here's to a productive 2017!

It's ok to be a loser-as long as you are the 1st place loser

The Teacher of the Year winner was announced yesterday during 6th period and I didn't win.  Both my husband and I were nominated this year and he didn't win either.  He came by my room to let me know that I lost to the winner by one vote.  He said the principal wanted me to know that and thought it might make me feel better.  Hey, I'm first place loser.  Oh, yeah, that makes me feel so much better.

I was in the middle of trying to corral my most challenging class and my husband is trying to have a conversation with me.  I wish the principal had just announced it over the loudspeaker like they do with the student body election results.  The students know nothing about the nomination process, the election or the winner.  It's actually a pretty ridiculous chain of events.

Teachers are asked to nominate fellow teachers.  We are never in each other's classrooms because we work at the same time so we have no idea how good of a teacher our neighbor is.  Who are we to judge each other.  Then, we have to fill out a resume for that other teacher, when we really have no idea what they do.  Then, teachers vote for each other, but nobody gets to see the form that was filled out, so it is really just a popularity contest.  If you have a lot of friends, or if only one teacher from your department was nominated, or if people in your department remember to vote, you get picked to represent your school.

Then, one teacher from each school goes on to a selection committee where they have to present a list of accomplishments and make a video that says why they are so great and this committee which may or may not know anything about teaching picks one 'winner' from the district to send on to the state level.

One year, the principal forgot to ask for nominations and had to turn in our school's Teacher of the Year the next day, so just picked a teacher.  She picked her friend and that lady was so embarrassed to be the 'chosen one' as we all called her.  She didn't 'win' teacher of the year.  Not that she wasn't a good teacher, but she didn't go through the process, however lame it is.

A couple of us losers were talking yesterday about how the real judges of good teachers aren't even asked.  The students who have to sit in our classrooms should be given a choice in the process.  Not the only choice, but at least some vote.  The administrators should also be given a voice.  Not that one administrator has come in my classroom to watch me teach, but maybe this would force them to come into classrooms more often.  It's pretty silly to have teachers judge each other based on no knowledge of what actually goes on in the classroom.

I have actually sat in most of the teachers classrooms on campus because I am a BTSA mentor.  (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment)  One year I took a day off and with my new teacher I was supporting we went around to every class on campus and sat for about 10 minutes and watched every teacher do their job.  So, I have 10 minutes of information on what goes on in classrooms.  That's 10 minutes more than anyone has of what goes on in my classroom.  We also had a thing called 'Showcase of Excellence' a few years ago where the vice principal had teachers invite people to come watch 'good teaching'.  I thought it was a stupid idea, but went anyways (yes, I can be a suck up and a really good one at that!).   I got a much longer view of some of the classes on campus.

If I have to win, I have to start working on my resume for next year's election and polish my popularity skills.  It isn't about good teaching as much as it is about who you know.  I guess I need to get out of my room more and shake some more hands.  I need to focus less on my students and more on my fellow teachers.  Oh, wait, that defeats the purpose of being a good teacher.  Nevermind.  It's not like you get a closer parking spot or anything for winning.

more hats

 I finally got a new cord for my camera so I'm back in the posting world.  I've been busy making crochet chemo hats and will send them off when I will a flat rate box.  They are only going to Modesto, Ca, which is about 100 miles away, but it is still cheaper to send a whole bunch.

 I hope they bring comfort to women who are going through a difficult time.  I enjoy using my talents to make something useful.  Crocheting is relaxing at the end of a long day and is something I can use to help me unwind from stressful situations.

 Today, the list of nominations for Teacher of the Year was made.  Both my husband and I were nominated.  I asked if we could campaign.  The principal said he wondered how things would be at the Lewis house during the voting period.  I told my daughter that I knew I would win because I have better hair.  She says her dad will win because he has rare, invisible hair.  We are a funny bunch.

 I finally heard some news about my quilting machine.  The repair guy is going to have to rebuild the machine and replace the computer part as well as the electrical part.  I will basically get a brand new quilting machine when he is done.  It is going to cost about $2500.  At least I will be back to quilting in the near future.  That gives me so much hope.  I have missed making quilts like nobody's business!

I got a message on Tuesday that a friend of mine was taking in three of her husband's sister's kids.  Two are babies and one is a six year old.  The parents are unable to care for the kids and so she was called on to take in these three.  She already has three kids of her own so overnight her family doubled.  I loved that I was able to provide quilts for the kids.  I just miss being able to provide for every need that comes my way.  A call recently went out for those displaced by the fires in Tennessee and I don't have quilts on hand to send.

 Hopefully my quilting machine will be fixed soon and I will be back to quilting again so when the next need comes up, I will be ready again.  Plus, I was doing great this summer with cleaning things out around here and then donations started coming in faster then I could get things out and now I'm back to where I was before summer.  My garage is full of fabric again and I will soon be buried if I can't work again.

Another happening in my life is my daughter's car.  Oy, have I learned a hard lesson with that car.  It's a Kia and has a recall on the airbag.  At the end of last school year it started making a squealing noise and the air bag light came on.  Rather than deal with it, I just left it parked in the driveway.  I didn't need it so it has sat for more than 6 months.  Well, cars were built to be driven, not sit and so, when I got the notice that the registration was coming due.  I didn't have time to deal with the car because it wouldn't start.  I figured it needed a jump or new battery.  Well, I got the reminder that I really had to deal with the car and so over the Thanksgiving I got a new battery.

II took the car in to get the smog check and they told me they couldn't smog it because the check engine light was on.  I asked if they could just turn the car off and on because that should fix it.  The guy looked at me like I was crazy, laughed a little and said he would try it.  Of course, it didn't work!

So I took it in to get fixed and it needed a new alternator.  $500 later, I thought my problems were solved.  No such luck.  There was still something not right because two sensor weren't firing right.  I was told to drive the car for a while and start it in the morning when it was cold a few times.

I drove the car for 200 miles over the past week and it is still misfiring one of the sensors.  The repair shop called and said that I can get the car smogged with the one sensor not working because of the age of the car.  Hopefully tomorrow I will have the time to get it in and try it out myself!

trying to find things

I have been working on cancer caps this week while on vacation and have a dozen or so finished.  I mailed out 4 to a lady in Modesto who runs the Crochet for Cancer group.

https://www.facebook.com/CrochetForCancer/?hc_ref=PAGES_TIMELINE

I took pictures of all of the caps, but now cannot find the cord for my camera to download them all to the computer.  It has to be here somewhere, but when I don't use something daily, it has a tendency to fall into the couch, or under the couch or get put in a safe place to be found sometime next year.

If you have yarn and some time, this is a great project that could use your help.

dog pile

I'm not sure how this happens, but my dogs have figured out how to tell time.  Every morning around 5am, they start to bark to wake me up.  Not bark, bark, bark, like someone is at the door, but one little bark, then wait 2 minutes and then another little bark.  They are telling me that it is time to get up for work.  But what they can't figure out is that there are weekends and vacation days where I don't really need to get up at 5am.  Then, we all come downstairs and I sit on the couch and watch the news, check my email and eat breakfast and they all go back to sleep.  They just want to make sure the day starts right.  They could easily come sleep on the couch by themselves, but for whatever reason, it just isn't as comfortable unless they all pile on top of each other and one of them at least has to be touching me to make it all work.  I'm not sure who is protecting who here.

This is my older son.  He just got done with his interview with the FBI for a summer internship.  He is in the middle of his 2nd year of college, but because of all of the AP (advanced placement) classes he took in high school, he only has one more year left before graduation.  He should hear back from them in a couple of weeks.  I'm proud and scared at the same time.  He wants to go into cyber terrorism-hopefully not being a cyber terrorist, but catching the bad guys and as a mother, that makes me really proud that he wants to serve our country, but I have watched a lot of TV and know that sometimes these guys are the target of shooting.  He will probably have to learn to use a gun and may have to work over seas.  He was just a little kid last week, so all of this is really not ok with me. In my mind, time stands still.

It has been too long

It has been almost 4 months since I've posted and although I have good reasons for abandoning the blog, it's time I came back to the land of the living and documented my life again.

My quilting machine is broken still and I have nothing to show in that area, but I am still alive and kicking and have much to be thankful for!

It looks like the drought here in Northern California is about to be over.  At least at my house.  We are having lots of rain and I need to find someone to fix the gutter above my front door.  The gutter is clean, but the downspout has been clogged for years and when it rains really hard, the water pours over and right in front of the door.  I went into the garage looking for some stuffing for a doll I'm working on and the garage was flooding.  The water was coming in through the wall and into the garage.  Time to move some stuff and get things off the floor.  Luckily it only rained hard for about 15 minutes.

CPR training tonight

 Another step towards the adoption is CPR training.  My husband is a tennis coach at the high school we both teach at and every other year he has to renew his CPR and first aide certification.  Since there aren't enough coaches signed up, they are letting me come to the training for free!  One more step checked off the list of things to do.  I think the last time I took a class was about 30 years ago, before I started teaching.  I know things have changed because way back then, you did chest compressions and breathing and I've heard you don't do the breathing part anymore or something like that.  Luckily I haven't had to use any of my training to save a life.

Any science teachers looking for a job?

Less than two weeks away and they still haven't hired a science teacher to fill the empty position at my school.  That could mean a few things.  #1 They hire someone at the last minute who is amazing who was out all summer exploring the world and just now realized that school is starting and they probably should look for a job.  #2 They hire someone who has interviewed at lots of schools and nobody wanted to hire them and we are desperate so we take our chances and they turn out to be a great teacher. #3 We can't find anyone and there are 5 of us who end up teaching an extra class and we all go insane by the end of the year.

My money is on option #3.  It's not like they (the people in charge-who have worked all summer) haven't had all summer to find someone to fill this position they knew was open since March.

Anybody want to come and work at my school?  We are really nice sometimes and will help you with curriculum.  The kids are good some of the times-at least as good as any teenager can be these days when they would much rather do anything besides what you ask them to do.  I mean it's not like they bring guns to school EVERY day or anything. :)  I really do love my job most of the time.

Any takers?

What do you fight about?

 I think it's time for a new camera.  For some reason I cannot get mine to focus properly.  I've tried everything I can think of and it just is getting tired of taking pictures of quilts maybe.  It's at least as old as my baby who is 12 now, so that's pretty long for a digital camera.  I started looking online today and there are too many choices!  I get stuck just thinking about buying a new one and go back to taking blurry pictures.

I've been thinking a lot about a question on the adoption paperwork that I couldn't answer when I first filled out the form 6 weeks ago.  It asked what do you and your spouse fight about?  I couldn't think of anything.  But, now I have something to write down.  Almost every day this summer we have fought over the temperature to set the thermostat!  He wants it set to 72 and I'd prefer 76.  I bet that is a common argument in many households.  We have two thermostats in the house, one upstairs where he spends most of his time and one downstairs where I can be found.  So, most of the time it isn't a problem, but when he comes downstairs, he changes MY thermostat!  Then, I start to freeze and complain that he's trying to kill me!  I go upstairs and change HIS thermostat and he claims I'm trying to kill him!

I guess there could be worse things to fight about.  But at least I have something to write on the form.

In the winter, I crank up the heater and he turns it down.  Maybe I should just add a layer of fat.  I do love ice cream and chocolate! :)

can you hear it?

 Today is August 1.  That means school begins in 2 weeks.  In 2 weeks I will be sitting in a meeting, excited about the beginning of a new school year, but sad that the summer is over.  I will be thinking about changes I can make in my teaching that will hopefully make the year run smoother.

All of my teacher friends are posting pictures of their fabulous vacations and adventures on Facebooks and I'm trying to finish cleaning up the last of the junk piles.  I know that once school starts, time will be limited and the piles will grow again.  I'm trying to practice routines that will keep the clutter at bay and optimistic that I will be able to balance school and home and find time to get some quilts done as well.

Tick, tock, time is fleeting.