Technology Sucks

I truly believe that electronic devices have their own intelligence. I guess I was programmed early by listening to my mom as she would pat the dashboard in the car and offer it words of encouragement along the lines of "Please just start one more time. I know you can do. That's a good car!"

I have been known to offer my computer words of encouragement or threats or frustrated curses. And I know that it is listening. So mainly I try to be nice.

Evil blinker

Today when I was driving Hubby's car (which is temporarily mine for reasons best explained in another post or not at all) with M, we were bashing everything about the car. "Why does it smell so bad? What is wrong with the intermittant wipers, they don't work like they should. This is not as comfortable as the swagger wagon!" I tapped the turn signal to switch lanes in the middle of all our complaining, and the blinker would not stop flashing. WTH? I was driving down the road like a deaf old lady with the blinker going on and on. I tried tapping it in the opposite direction and the other blinker came on. Now I'm driving down the road signalling that I'm trying to turn onto the country club golf course. I tried several times to get the turn signal to simply turn off, but all I accomplished was to confuse all the other drivers around me. By this time they are giving me a wide berth. Wouldn't you? Marvelous finally figured out the problem. "It heard us being mean to it." Oh crap, she was right. We both started talking about what a great car it was. "Aren't we lucky to be driving such a shiny new car? blah, blah, blah" I tried the switch again and it worked!!!

I did it myself!

We were on our way to Lowe's to get a garage door opener for the wonderfully perfect aforementioned car. Great, another electronic device. When I got home it took several phone calls and an emailed picture to Hubby for me to figure out how to program the opener. I thought I would take a picture of me working, since I'm sure you get tired of seeing only the kiddies on here. Rather than have M take a picture I decided to use the timer. That would have been a good idea if I knew where it was on the camera. Finally M found it and got a picture of herself as she handed the camera back to me with the timer running.

Is this a scary book or what ?

So now I'm done with technology for the day. After I get this posted.

Soccer Season Starts

Marvelous started her soccer season last week. They have had four games and are 2-1-1. I have only been to one game, but it was one they won (5-0). Last night they beat the team that they had previously lost to, but this time they won (4-2). And M scored her first goal of the season.

M plays left wing. For those who may be soccer illiterate, that means she runs up and down the entire left side of the field, playing offense or defense. It would wear me out, but she likes it. I would like to be the goalie if I played. They just have to stand in one place. Of course I would only like to be goalie of an amazingly awesome team, that never let the opposing team within scoring range.

Sorry about the quality of the photo. It's impossible to take a good action shot with my camera. And the lighting at night makes it look grainy.

Scattered

I can tell when my thoughts are scattered. It shows up in my reading material. Most of the time I start one book and finish it before moving on. When my life is hectic and my mind is going in a million directions at the same time, I tend to read more than one book simultaneously. Right now I'm re-reading Sometimes a Great Notion, Ivanhoe, and The Winter of Our Discontent. I'm reading (for the first time) 44 Scotland Street. On top of that I read my daily devotional and Bible verses. I've got to get focused, but... that's life I guess.

So where is my mind? On Smarty's college decision and subsequent financial obligations. On the fact that Marvelous is always at soccer and I'm too busy to go to many of her games (like tonight when I have a gazillion papers to grade). On Mr. Creativity who has been having a hard time getting himself organized and keeps misplacing assignments or flat out losing them (he has been moved to tears this afternoon because he can't find all his science hand-outs and tomorrow is a notebook check). On my precious 4th graders who just don't get fractions or drawing conclusions and I'm feeling so hopeless with only a little over two weeks of instruction time left before testing. On the fact that our house has been for sale for almost two weeks and no one has looked at it. On the price of gas, which jumped over 20 cents since yesterday, and what a crock of shit that is. On the fact that I spend up to twelve hours a day working and only make sixty bucks a day (you do the math).  On the quite literal pain I developed in my neck and down my left shoulder blade, which makes it hard for me to look to the right. On and on and on...

The Girls

Mr. C is not the only singer we have in the family. Since the beginning of the year, Marvelous has been singing with two other girls from church and our youth leaders. They lead the worship about every other week.  Usually I can't hear the girls. I think their mikes must be turned down, but not today. They sounded really good this morning! No pictures as I don't feel comfortable whipping out the cell phone and snapping away in church.

Speaking of Marvelous. She has been doing research for one of her classes. They have to look into the field they want to work in, find out what education they need and how much they can expect to earn, after taxes. M was a little disheartened to learn that she will probably start out making between 45-60K a year. I told her she could live at home while she pays off her student loans, and most college grads would be happy to know they had 6 years guarenteed income directly after graduation. Still, she's got a long road ahead. If she follows through with her current plans she has two more years of high school, four years of college, four years of medical school, three years (paid) residency, and three years (paid) fellowship. She will be 32 by the time she can start practicing juvenile hematology oncology.

On the other end of the spectrum is Smarty. What does she want to be when she grows up? Three months to graduation and her plans are still up in the air. Good news: She was contacted by Auburn's School of Architecture this week. They have invited her to apply to the program for immediate acceptance this fall. Only a very few freshman get to start their first year, so this is a big deal. If she fills out the application. And if we come up with boatloads of money. If you have one of those trees that grows it, send us a sapling. We're going to need tons of it in the next few years!

President Parade

Today was the fifth grade's President Parade. This is a big deal (isn't everything at Mr. C's school?) and the kids go all out on their costumes and presentations. The first ladies are recognized as well, as you can see from the photo. They started by singing about the presidents, listing every one in order.

Mr. C was Dwight D. Eisenhower. He wore Grandpa's jacket from WWII and told about being a high ranking general in the war and then starting the interstate system after he became president. All the kids did a great job. There were some nerves, but overall I think they were very poised.

Besides dressing up, they all had to complete a notebook with various information pages about all the presidents, make a powerpoint or prezi or glog about their chosen president/first lady, and complete an excel sheet outlining all the presidents(including dates of birth/death, first lady, years served, political party, and children). Next week they will write an essay about their president. It has taken over a month to accomplish all this, but I think it's a great unit.

This is the kind of learning that doesn't show up on a standardized test and I'm so glad that our school is still taking the time to do it. So many schools are abandoning everything other than the core reading and math standards to improve their scores. I hope when we move that we can find a school where learning is valued over test scores. The odds of finding a school like that anywhere in America are very slim, and growing slimmer.

My Little Rock Star

I was having a hard time uploading this. When S got up she told me that she had already uploaded it to Mr. C's youtube page. So I snatched it from there. I hope it plays smoothly for you. Probably depends on your connection speed. I tried to scan the audience at the end, but it was too dark. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

My Other Kids

I know I said I wouldn't write about my "other" kids, but I'm going to break that rule just this once. Today was the county spelling bee. One of my students won first place! He beat all the other kids, including his middle schooler brother. Not that I had anything to do with it, but I am so proud of him! Now on to state.

Getting Ready For the Talent Show

Mr. Creativity's art submission--photo by Mr. C

The talent show is only two days away! Mr. C has his art entry ready. It is a picture of Grandpa O. It looks better in real life than in this photo.

Tonight is the last guitar lesson before the show. Tomorrow is dress rehearsal and then the real deal on Friday. Mr. C doesn't seem nervous, but I am. I'm still not sure of his singing. The guitar sounds good though. I'm afraid the lighting in the auditorium won't be right for taking pictures or video. I'll try though.

For those of you who have not heard of The Talent Show, let me tell you it is A Big Deal. It is in the high school auditorium and it is usually standing room only, after they bring in folding chairs to line the aisles and the back walls. Some of the parents go all out with elaborate backdrops and costumes. The kids who are in dance, have been practicing with their dance instructor for months. And then there's Mr. C who is going to play and sing by himself. I'm sure he'll be fine.

Sleepy Girl

S recovers from her first blood donation

Smarty wanted to give blood today. She weighed herself and found that she is 1 1/2 pounds heavier than you have to be to donate. I made Hubby go with her, just in case it made her light-headed.

I guess I should have gone with her. Hubby got dizzy in the chair. The reason was that he ate right before he went and all his blood was supposedly in his stomach. Smarty passed out completely on the floor after she gave blood and again while she was sitting down drinking apple juice. She said they made her drink about a gallon of apple juice. What light-weights!

At least they both got free movie tickets (the whole reason S wanted to go in the first place). So when she wakes up S is off to the movies with two of her friends. One of them gave blood, and Hubby donated his ticket to the other.

Volkswagen Commercial: The Force

This is the reason we're moving to Chattanooga.

Too cute! This is going to be my favorite Super Bowl ad.

Evil Cat

Last night while I was in a deep sleep, Lizzie started howling at my bedroom door. I finally managed a groggy, "Shut! Up!" That help for 0 seconds. So I woke up a little more and hollered, "Go Away!" That worked long enough for me to roll over and think I might be able to get back to sleep.

More intense meowing, along with pawing at the door. So I got out of bed and opened the door to show her I meant business. She ran down the hallway into the inky blackness. I hoped she was gone for good.Unfortunately I had to repeat this several times.

Finally I decided it would be a good idea to madly chase her around the house, threatening her in a very loud whisper, so as not to wake the kids. This is the kind of thing that only seems like a good idea when woken from a deep sleep in the middle of the night. We went round the coffee table a few times, as Mr. Socks watched on with little interest from his spot on the couch. I tried climbing under the dining room table to get to her. I'm not sure what I planned to do if I actually caught her.

When I thought she had figured out that she needed to leave me alone because I'm not a pleasant person when I'm sleeping, I went back to the bedroom. Not so fast. She was very persistant. I opened the door and threw a house slipper aimlessly down the hallway.

After several minutes of silence, I decided it was safe to go back to sleep.

Now I'm up early waiting for my phone to ring to announce the 2 hour delay that I already know about from the internet. Too bad I can't deactivate the school's Emergency Response System so I could sleep in.