Teaching at Hogwarts

Which Hogwarts Class Would You Teach?
	You would teach Potions. You are a creative person. You're the type of person that could change a situtation around in a short matter of time. You are also artistic and when it comes to new ideas, you're the one everybody else turns to.
Find Your Character @ BrainFall.com

A stitch in time...

Mother's Day. Christine. In the kitchen. With a knife.

Yes, I am a dope. Yes, I know the difference between onions and my finger. Yes, I realize care should be taken when slicing food. And yet I managed to cut deep enough into my finger to end up needing stitches. Duh...

So. We were all helping cook and fixing fixin's for hamburgers for Mother's Day dinner. I was slicing onions, and sliced into my finger as well. It started gushing blood, so I took myself to the sink to take care of myself. It didn't really hurt, just was very inconvenient. I got a paper towel on the wound to stop the bleeding - hoping to see that it wasn't a deep wound after all. Mom and Holly finished making dinner, and I sat down to recover. After eating (a girl's got to have priorities, right?) it was determined that my lovely cut was deep enough to warrant a visit to the doctor, so off I went, taking Holly with me.

The Jazz game was on at the Instacare where I went, which provided some entertainment for Holly while I waited. Turns out that a Jazz player got stitches during the game as well - what a great connection between the two of us - ah! I had a cute nurse check me in, and a nice doctor to stitch me up. The stitches didn't hurt - I was even able to watch - but the tetanus shot was a killer! The Jazz game had 4 more seconds when I was finally done (we got there at the beginning of the 2nd quarter, I went back in the middle of halftime), and it was tied up, so we watched the last 4 seconds of regulation, and sped home to watch the Jazz beat the Lakers in overtime.

My kids at school were pretty awed at my large finger dressing. When I could take it off and sport just a bandaid and neosporin, we looked at it through the ProScope - very cool stuff.

I went back this last week to have them take my stitches out (I probably could have done it, but ew... I didn't really want to...). The same cute nurse who checked me in last time checked me in again, and took the stitches out. He remembered me being there to have them in. He did a fine job taking them out (really, I guess I could have done it... but again, ew...). He was worth going back anyway. Hee hee.

4 days and counting...

Where did the school year go to? I know we were busy doing what we were supposed to be doing for the past 176 days... but really, where did it all go? The year really went by quickly, especially the last 5 weeks after our spring break (the last time I found the time to blog!).

We've had a lovely time at school since testing. We dissected owl pellets (a very cool kind of gross...), have been working on scrapbooking our yearbooks (it's fun to see how creative the kids are... I'd bet many of my kids have moms who don't let their kids do their own scrapping, and the kids have done pretty nice jobs of their pages. Plus, I get to release some of my excess paper for the project - yay!), and have listened to the first Harry Potter book on CD (they like listening and have to stay pretty quiet to listen well - a bonus!)

I'm also busy packing up my room for my move down the hall to the fifth grade! I've known for a while, but didn't want to say anything until the end of the year, mostly for my own mindset - I needed to get through with the year with these kids at the forefront of my mind, not what I'll be doing in the fall. I haven't told my kids yet... so we'll see what they say this week when I do tell them. They might not care so much... but then once the rumors spread throughout the 3rd grade and the school, well, someone might care then. Hee hee. It'll be sad in some ways to leave 3rd grade. My team was great - Liz, Charlotte, Bobbi, and Ryan. Liz and Charlotte are staying, Ryan's moving up the 5th grade, and Bobbi is leaving to teach 6th grade at another school. I've spent a lot of time working on things for 3rd grade. But I am excited for the challenge of new curriculum and using the technology they got from a grant last year - laptops, a projector, digital cameras, document handlers... right up my alley!

Well... more next week when I am less pressed for time - yay!

Many Years Ago...

20 years ago...

I was 6 and in Mrs. Kofford's kindergarten class. I took piano lessons from Grandma before heading off to school in the afternoon. Kindergarten was great! Holly wasn't around yet, so I got to enjoy both parents' undivided attention at home in the evenings.


10 years ago...
16 years old, and a sophomore at good ole' WX. I had just transfered in January from Hillcrest, and didn't have a ton of friends... I guess this is when I became more of an observer-of-people, rather than a full-on participant with all these strange people. (One day in English, I was a witness to the usual insult-in-good-fun fest, and accidentally said one of my snarky comments outloud... my table-mates were shocked! I spoke!) It seems like AP tests were upon us around this time of year, and when I wasn't studying and doing homework, I was watching the Jazz in the playoffs... one of the years they went pretty far, from what I can remember.


5 years ago...
Go Utes! I was a junior at the U, and gearing up for the end of the term, only to be getting ready for summer semester, freshmen LEAP orientation, and then Disneyland when it was all over! In fall, I would begin student teaching in Centerville in 3rd grade. I also had quite a few friends coming home from missions (wow, they've been home a long time!), and missed my own meetings to be to theirs.


3 years ago...
I was finishing up my first year teaching computers in Cedar Hills, and getting ready for a repeat performance the next year (but full time! Hoorah!) I was also finishing my first year of grad school at the U, and had been, finally, officially, accepted to the program, so I could take classes in the summer (whoopee...). Joee and I were planning our fantastic China trip! Joee had been the year before, and so had a great list of things that she'd take again, and things she wished she'd taken - and so we were well packed and prepared. What a great trip - once in a lifetime for me, twice in a lifetime for Joee. It was a good last adventure (so to speak) to have together before we phased into different phases of our lives... Joee got married the next winter!


1 year ago...
A year ago this week, I was on spring break! I had my last paper to write, and could have finished it... but ended up finishing it the day it was due, and emailed it off to the professor 5 minutes before it was due - early for me! Graduation was coming up - what a relief to be done! I was also 6 weeks away from finishing my first year in 3rd grade - whew! Holly and I were also getting ready for our cross-country adventure to Palmyra, NY, to be in the Hill Cumorah pageant. What a great experience!


So far this year...
It has been fantastic to not have to run off to class and write papers and prepare for class each week. I've been able to get some crafts and scrapbooking done - and there's a lot to do! I've gotten to read books for fun (eeek!), and have a few must-see tv shows that I can watch and not feel bad about watching (because I should be doing homework instead). I've enjoyed teaching this year, and have been able to leave school at school a little more often (not all the time, but it's a marked improvement over last year).


Yesterday...
What a great day! I got to sleep in a bit before taking Holly to the train. I got ready for the day at my leisure, and then met Charlotte at Ikea for breakfast and shopping. I came home, read a paper for Lee, sent it off, and fixed lunch for Dad. I took JoAnne to Ikea to get a new chair for her new computer desk (and computer!), and we braved the snow and wind to go down to my school to work for a while. We drove down to Orem for Holly's band concert, and then went to Applebee's (with the band, but not of the band) for dinner after the concert. Mom wasn't able to come, but we texted her during dinner. We got home late, and I went to bed. Hoorah for spring break! (29 school days to go!)


Today...
Today's been great! I got to sleep in, take Holly to campus, and go shopping in the early morning before everyone gets off work! I got to make dinner (slow-cooker creamy chicken - yum), and am blogging in the middle of the afternoon! What a great spring break!

New Toy

I read a blog post last week about the Flip video camera - a small, user-friendly, relatively inexpensive video camera. I watched a few video comparisons between the Flip and other, more expensive cameras... and decided that I was going to 'stimulate the economy' and buy one. It came yesterday - what a great toy! I've done a few practice videos with it, and played with them in iMovie. What a dork I am. But a fun dork with a cool new toy!
Here's the video - I hope!

Big News!

Well... I'm anxiously engaged!

And, while you probably didn't fall for that... 27 third graders did, as did several teachers at school - and the principal! My ring was pretty convincing (as long as you didn't look to close). The picture of Edward, my prince charming, did the trick, though.

Happy April Fool's Day!

The Ruins of Gorlan: Ranger's Apprentice book 1

A student and his parents recommended the Ranger's Apprentice series to me. It's very similar in scope to Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Eragon. I like it just as well as the books in those series. Characters are quite well developed, the story is ongoing and intriguing, and there's enough magic and mystery to keep it interesting without taking over the story.