Design Wall Monday (a day late) - Status of Log Cabin Blocks

A new favorite word recently seems to be "putzing."

We're empty nesters, and we've transitioned quite nicely into the empty-nest household.  Don't get me wrong! NATURALLY we DO love our girlies, specially when they come home... but we always have roughly a bazillion irons in the fire to keep us busy.  For example, currently, the hubster has been spending hours and hours in the kitchen processing a few pigs he and a buddy butchered up on Sunday; these are a couple that he's been raising since September.  He has a long night ahead of him yet, too.  Oy.

So, I ventured to the quilting loft, and sifted about.  T'was time to get a beat on the status of the classic Log Cabin blocks that seem to have been around for quiiiite some time.  A quick search on the blog says these have been around since at least 2014.  Whoo-hooo, how's THAT for a UFO?  (WIP??) lol

Twenty-six 10" blocks are completely finished, and twenty-two are nearing completion after just a couple more colored strips are added to the edges.  Forty-eight might just cut it;  this would result in a 6x8 layout; 60" x 80" before borders... yup.  Seems like that'll be a plan of action.

So, although they aren't actually up on the design wall YET, tis good a day as any to be linking up with Small Quilts & Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday. 

And my day job update -- there are certainly days where life is GRAND in the mathematically-delicious world of education!  Today was a good day; in EVERY class! Amazing mathematical-minded cherubs are definitely in the making.  

Pre-Calculus example of determining roots of polynomials.  
(no nightmares allowed, people!) - ha

It's definitely what they say:  "Do what you love and love what you do!"

Happy Tuesday.  Hoping your day was amazingly awesome as well.

Running action today: Hill workout

Beginnings: school, running, tomatoes, and some crochet

Rather than thinking that the summer has come to an end, I've accepted this time change as "School begins!"

This year we have a Freshman, 6th and 4th graders.  A friend asked what grade I was in, so... after 12HS + 5BS + 5MS + 18 years teaching... I am in 40th grade. ;)

The morale around the 7-12 wing is on the up-n-up; we have new administration, and so far, the change has been for the better!  We are so hopeful and optimistic!!!!  It feels good to be hopeful again!

I've even started running again!!!!

Mind you, PART of that decision came when I organized my closet two weeks ago, trying EVERY item on.  I parted with quite a bit, but also added a lil' bit due to a Goodwill shopping spree.  SOME of my pants are a bit too snuggy-snug right now, so...... back to running to burn that lil' layer of pudgy-pudge!

 

The face on the picture really says most of it so far;  :\.  I really haven't run a training program for the past two years, so I'm 100% back to square-1.  Many walks, and slow pace... perhaps I'll get back down to my 9:30/mile average that I ran in 2013 for one of my half-marathons.
Baby steps for now...

 Last weekend a small collection of tomatoes were ripe for the picking, and I made up a batch of salsa.  After a week of HEAT and HEAT and more HEAT, mixed with loads of HUMIDITY, our tomatoes started taking off.  (um yah, that heat in a classroom with zero AC this past week ---- UGGGERS!)

Caitlyn and I gathered up what was ripe;  it ended up being a decent ~70 pounds, with lots more out on the plants yet!     Since the heat is still barring down on us, I was NOT interested in having the stove/oven on for much of the weekend in order to reduce these babies down to a sauce, so instead... Vegetable juice was the plan!  We'll save the sauce-making for next weekend with our next ripe pickings; it looks like this heat is finally breaking this week.  Whew!

 
I have a few different varieties out there:  Abe Lincoln, Polish Linguisa, Red Oxheart, Viva Italia (my FAVORITE for sauce), and a few IDK heirlooms that we received as seed from our neighbor two years ago.  We've planted a few of the 'mystery seeds' each year since we've had them;  they make LARGE tomatoes.  I didn't weigh any last year, but I want to believe that this is close to the largest we've had.  There have been two others I've weighed as well:  one was 1 lb 10oz, the other was 1 lb 12 oz.    It doesn't take many of those tomatoes to add up to a lot of juice in a little time.  ;)

 
After the morning of processing, we filled two full cases of quarts of Vegetable juice (tomatoes, carrots, onions, celery, parsley, peppers).  We no longer preserve straight tomato juice; we prefer the flavor of the veggie juice.  My in-laws like using the juice in Bloody Marys; I'm not much of a fan, but I LOVE using this juice throughout the year for Chili!

I'm SO thankful for the long holiday weekend;  it's always nice having a slow 4-day week start to the school year;  this year we have TWO 4-day weeks to start since we didn't start until this past Tuesday, Sept. 1.
I've used a bit of the available time to organize a bunch of my recent crochet finishes in order to have them ready for my MIL and some craft fairs she'll be participating in.

 

Lots of 100% USA-grown cotton washcloths;  8" and 10" with a couple 7"x9".

Bath Poufs have been a new addition to my collection: small and large sizes

Hats have also been a new addition this year, in a variety of sizes ranging from youth M to adult S.

A bunch of the frilly yarn was still sitting on my shelves, so I found time to get those made into the frilly scarves, plus I still have some left;  I may just bite the bullet to buckle down and clear this yarn out completely.

However, I really really really am thinking of getting downstairs into the sewing room later today.  It's been a month since I've quilted!  If not even longer!  I've fallen behind in the RSC'15, and I can't let Andee down seeing that we decided to team up in a project together :D  And my Smith Mountain Morning in greens is still sitting, waiting for its 14th hour of progress.

For those in the USA, I hope you are enjoying the holiday weekend!!!  For everyone else, I hope you are enjoying your Sunday afternoon before heading back to the workweek tomorrow.

Happy Sunday!

September rolled in.

Ah yes.....and here we have the traditional First Day of the School Year picture, with a couple more additions joining our 3rd, 5th and 8th graders.  We felt it was a quite fitting way to capture the transitions between the ending of this specific summer (of chickens) into the 2014-15 school year.  Lil' Miss Bossy hatched out two lil'uns on Monday, bringing our final....yes, FINAL... 2014 number of chickens to 42.

One (almost full) week into the school year......I AM PUMPED!  Truly!

My transition back into the world of High School is awesomely running smoothly.  Super pumped everyday.  Just HAPPY and ENJOYING everyday.  And so far.........well......MAYBE one or two students are feeling like the kiddo pictured above, but otherwise..... it's been a great start.

And holy moly... Wednesday night brought on a whopper of a storm!  The images of hail and damage slowly flooded the always live Facebook newsfeed.   It was another night of Paul's evening shift, so I had to be the strong one in charge.  Gah!  I don't like storms when I have to play that role alone!

But the girls..... they just snuggled in and buried their noses in their books, fresh from the school's library.  

Life is pretty good right now.  The girls are older and more independent on completing their chores after school.  Goodness -- it's so great they have taken on the responsibility without (too much) complaining. ;)  The days have certainly gotten full!   Going strong 6AM until 8PM most days so far before finally having an opportunity to sit and relax with some FB, blog reading and email reading.  

It's all good :D

Happy Friday!

School projects

I finished my garden-harvest processing last night at 11:00PM.  The burner was turned off, I put a movie in the DVD player in the bedroom, and I stretched out in the bed.  Ummm...... I don't think I lasted past the 007 intro music!  LOL.

And man oh man oh man....

Around 1:00AM, I woke up.... with a headache and terribly sore throat.  People, let me simply say.... I RARELY have a headache.  So when I do... something's up.

The rest of the night was .... just .... kinda miserable :(  I finally broke down around 1:30 and went to the kitchen to get a cough drop.  The rest of the night, I was in-and-out of light sleep.  At 6:00, I gave up and got up.

A cup of coffee tasted good... but I knew I was going to be draggin' a bit today :\

By 8:00, most of the household was awake (not Cassie yet), so the TV was turned off and everyone got busy with their chores.   The girls needed to clean their rooms, and I had to tackle my school work.

I was hoping to be done by noon, but around 10:30, my brain simply was struggling to focus anymore. I reread one problem about 6 times in 10 minutes before putting my pencil down and saying...."nope.  Brain isn't working right now."

I made up some lasagna with some spaghetti sauce that didn't fit into one last quart jar.  And by the time it hit the oven, I tried tackling the school work again... and was a little bit successful... until 1:30.   Paul slumbered out from the bedroom (he worked night shift last night), and after eating a couple of pieces of lasagna, he moved to the couch for a little Football time for the afternoon.  So, I put the schoolwork aside for the moment, and grabbed some yarn and my crochet hook.

I've been working on some Blue-n-Gold scarves to give to our School Store advisor.  I'll be delivering 7 scarves to her tomorrow, and I have enough yarn skeins to make 2 more.  Sadly, the shop I purchased the bulk deal from is backordered on this yarn until OCTOBER 25!  So, when these are gone, they are gone.

This evening, after finalizing paperwork for school tomorrow and getting backpacks ready for the morning, I asked Caitlyn if she wanted to start one of her projects for "Pioneer Day" coming up in school.  (I don't know when yet.... but it's coming up....sometime!)  LOL

Caitlyn is bound and determined to earn an A on her Pioneer projects, and in order to do so, she needs to make four different "pioneery" projects/crafts.

First off..... weaving.

We grabbed a cardboard box, cut 'er up, and starting setting up our "looms."   Naturally, lil' sister wanted to make one too.

Caitlyn is choosing to use Red, White and Blue colors -- the yarns that were left over from her RWB afghan.

It was a slow-go start, but she is hoping to make a little bit of progress every night.

Once this project sees a finish, next on her list for Pioneer Day.....

 -- make a lantern (with Dad's assistance)

 -- make either a corn-husk doll, or a yarn doll

 -- make butter

 -- bake... umm.... some kinda cake, but I can't remember the name.  I recall one of the ingredients being 'corn meal.'  

Happy Sunday everyone!

The transition - lofty goals

The transition is upon me.  'Tis time to start moving into school-mode and away from summer-mode, even IF the garden hasn't cooperated very much with me due to the late Spring this year.  

The beans are JUST starting to produce;  I can predict needing to pick and preserve them on Wednesday; the very day I need to head back full-time to school.  *sigh*.  The tomatoes are just starting to turn; they will easily need another 2 weeks, I think.  The cucumbers are in full swing.  The peas are done.  The corn -- well, there's a small story there, but I think another week is needed for the 6 rows of the "good stuff" to be ready.  A different 6 rows we planted has been ready a few days ago, but..... we be thinkin' it's not that great :(  The seed is called "Northern Sweet", but..... it ain't very sweet, folks!  We are actually wondering if it's 'field corn.'  SO, we're leaving those rows alone, and lettin' 'em dry up.  The plan:  give it to the chickens once it dries.  Potatoes and onions are always Paul's babies, and so I'll let him plan his schedule there. I think that's about it.  We have carrots and peppers and a few other odds-n-ends, but we mainly use them to make vegetable juice with the tomatoes.

Therefore, since the garden hasn't needed me daily, and .....

... after seeing my AP-Statistics scores from my students' May tests.....

it's clear I need to put some time into some curriculum!  The scores are not good.  And, I am taking those scores heavily to heart.  Were they really that under-prepared???  The more and more I think about the whole situation (which I have done LOTS of the last couple of nights when I should have been sleeping), I end up having more questions that answers.

I have researched updated materials;  truthfully, the materials I currently have are not extremely teacher-friendly -- I don't even have a teacher's manual!  They were handed over to me when I took over teaching plain-'ol statistics three years ago having gone untouched and unused since 1999, and I kept them last year for my first year of AP-Statistics.  The updated version looks AMAZING with tips and tricks to help students overcome common errors.  etc, etc, etc.  It seems that I have support from the administration, so tomorrow, my first task will be to contact the Sales Rep to get the ball rolling.  Meanwhile, KNOWING that I'll need to focus MOST of my time this school-year on AP-Statistics, I wanted to get as much curriculum mapping done as possible in my other courses, Math 7Reg, Math 7Adv, Math 8, and Algebra 8.  Eight hours Friday, 12 hours yesterday.... and I have three more units of Math 8 to go, and all of Algebra 8 (ALSO a new text resource this year!).  

Friday night was the worst night I've had in a long time, having just found out the AP test scores that afternoon.  The anxiety of the potential consequences of those scores took over, and I turned into an emotional basketcase.  With so much focus and hype now-a-days about student scores affecting teacher evaluations... .. yeah... definitely a cause for anxiety!

Of course, I could fall into "well, other veteran AP teachers have been commenting since the scores have been published that they are much lower than normal," but... still.  That won't cut the mustard on an evaluation.

So, I'm going to be ready to expect to be called into a meeting with the 'big bad administration.'  But I won't know what of much to say.  Again, I have more questions than answers too.  The kids came out of the testing room saying I had "over prepared them," so obviously, they felt they were confident and prepared.  **sigh**

I don't like feeling like I failed them, but how else can I feel?  

I wish I could see their tests to know where their weaknesses were...

I've been in a blogging funk

For the past few days, from time to time, I would have a sense of guilt come over me when the blog came to mind.  I'm pushing day 10 without a post.    I really don't know how Judy and Bonnie, in addition to so many others, can do it all.  Day after day, two, three, sometimes four posts a day.  

I've been fighting a funk. I think much of it has to do with school starting up right around the corner.  I've felt some minor anxiety attacks come on;  I really don't know what else to call them.  School creeps into my mind, and my heart-rate kicks up; I get a slight feeling of nausea.  **sigh**  I just realllllly want a good year this year.  I'm tired of not liking what my perception has become of our school.  And honestly, when I talk to other teachers around the nation and hear their stories, I really need to accept the realization that the profession has simply changed all OVER our nation;  it's not just isolated to our District.  The PRESSURE I feel ....  when I think of administration evaluations, admin expectations and directives being handed down to us with little inservice training time.... student evaluations and scores affecting my future.... new texts and new lessons with such little precious preparation time during the day.

grrrrr........

I.  WILL.  SUCCEED.  THIS.  YEAR.   I won't be beat down this year.  LOL.

It's quite simple.  I don't like anxiety.  And that's what I feel right now when school comes to mind.  

Guess it's something I need to work on and figure out.

In the meantime, I HAVE been keeping busy behind the lack-of-blogging time.

The "Peaches and Cream" mill-ends baby afghan is complete.  30"x38"

The pattern was a one-row repeat, so very easy.... and quite redundant by the end.  @_@

So, this cute little purse caught my eye next....

The pattern did not specify how much yarn was needed, so I took a guess.

NOPERS!  Three balls of Aunt Lydia's plum crochet thread size 3 was NOT enough.  Therefore, it is being set aside until I get some more.

This is the first time I've used such a small 'yarn.'  And I LOVE it for this purse pattern!  Can't wait to get a finish out of it.

AND THEN.... Scarf City Central baby.  

I have a few more scarfs in the works;  all to improve my wardrobe :)  Heaven knows, I be needin' some style!

 So, there ya have it.  

Of course, the garden has also called my name from time to time.  Peas and cucumbers mostly so far.  However, the past two days, I have avoided the outdoors if/when I could.  **sigh**  Ragweed has reared its ugly face, and is in full bloom.  I picked up my renewed allergy medicine prescription this morning, and I've been reminded this afternoon of the feeling I have during the initial onset of my medicine regimen.    Loopy, druggy, and "out of body" feeling.  

LOL.  I have so many excuses flying around in my head about why I haven't been in the garden as much as I should.  Why I haven't been out running like I should.  Why I haven't been quilting like I could.  Why the house hasn't been cleaned.  Why the girls' closets haven't been sorted.

But really..... I'm just in a funk.  I don't feel like doing much of anything, except sitting, putting my feet up, and crocheting.

How's that for honesty? 

Happy Saturday everyone!  

Last day of 2012-2013 School Year!

Cold and dreary... but

It's the LAST DAY!  No mood could be dampened today :)

Let the summer schedule ensue!!!!!!!!!!!

Half Full or Half Empty?

The famous question:  Do you see your glass as half full or half empty?

My simple answer:  If COFFEE is in it;  it's ALWAYS half full! :D

Umm....It's already October 4!!!!!!!!!

Holy moly.

A whole lotta school spirit!

Hey!  We (staff) may have lost the Dodgeball title on Wednesday to the Juniors, BUT....

we remain Tug o' War CHAMPIONS!!!!!  The Junior class reigned victorious over all other classes, but didn't have enough to beat us 'ol folk.  I was NOT on the tug o' war line today;  I was the one with the camera-----but still:  what a hoot n' nanny!

And in my inbox tonight when I got home????  My digital copy of our school's 'Lakers' mascot for use on EM!  Sooooooo uber excited!!!  So many possibilities now :)  The school-store advisor and I have already been chit-chatting about what we may be able to work out.  

And to close my "School Spirit" post tonight:  LOOOOOOOK at the face of the boy as Cassie moves past him.  PRICELESS! :D

I'm so super happy.  I did lose TWO of my "prep" periods this week due to all the Homecoming festivities....and therefore have school books and binders at home for some "homework."  I will attempt to limit myself to NINETY minutes total (equivalent to 2 prep hours) so that I can still enjoy much of my weekend.

Tomorrow:  Apples and Tomatoes  {and laundry}

Never too old...

I love homecoming week, despite the crazy blips and blurps that happen to the normal daily schedule routine.

Today's blip and blurp:  DODGEBALL SHOWDOWN!

And every year, once the classes battle for Top Dog, the mighty mean Staff team gives them a run for their money.

Sadly, this year...... we weren't so victorious :|  BUT, still dang-tootin' fun :)

This year's big winners:  Our Junior class!  Yes...QUITE intimidating.

Okay...it's Wednesday, right?  Holy moly.... these days are flying by.  And I'm exhausted.  But still smiling and Whoo-hooping it up :)

School routine

Holy moly!  It's the 2nd Friday of the school year already!!!!!!!!

So what are your morning routines like?

Here...Cassie is putting her contacts in; Candace just washed up her face and hands from breakfast;  Caitlyn is getting her shoes on....backpacks are waiting patiently on the floor.  This picture was taken two minutes before they need to be heading out the door to make sure they make the bus on time.  Aghhhhhh.  

We're ALMOST at a "well-oiled-machine" status;  a couple more mornings, and this should be a natural morning transition.  

AND OF COURSE!!!! After a fun rivalry win over the Chicago Bears, Caitlyn and I were sporting our Green Bay Packer jerseys today :)

So---weekend is here!  Whahoooo!  What are YOUR plans???  {{Y'all should know what MINE are}} :)

AND---anyone want to take a guess at how much schoolwork I brought home for the weekend???  :D

First day of school - Year 15

With the sun rising, the girls embarked on their First Day of School 2012-13.

We have a 6th grader, 3rd grader and 1st grader this year.

Bus-time is 7:00 AM, almost exactly on the dot!

Cassie's kinda loaded today!  One backpack full of school supplies, and the other packed with her Cross Country supplies.  Water bottle - gatorade.... she's going to grow up and mature SO MUCH this year!

And bus-driver Trish greeted the girls with a smile.......and then a wave and smile to me for her own First Day of School picture :)

As for my own day-----woooooweeeeeee.

Crazy Chaos!  LOL.  But if it weren't, it wouldn't be the first day of school now, would it?!?!  8-)

The after-school routine has already come and gone;  feeding/watering animals while I start dinner preparations; homework papers/projects on the table; and Cassie is off to one of her Cross Country meets.  I feel bad neither Paul nor myself travelled to cheer her on tonight, but......it's just a bit too crazy to try to fit that in on the first day of school.  Thankfully, she understands!  I expect her phone call soon to pick her up;  one nice thing about Cross Country meets:  they don't go too late! :)

As for sleeping last night-----yup!  T'was exactly as expected...toss-n-turn....toss-n-turn....

I want to believe tonight will be better.  Crossing fingers.

Have you sensed the transition?

Hm :\
One post is three days..... instead of three posts in one day !  HA.

Yes, yes.... the past two days, I have been at school for teacher-inservice.  The days were wonderful as wonderful can be; and the excitement of a new school year; the classroom coming together;  the technology bugs getting worked out;  all the coworkers faces; summer stories; new changes/challenges introduced for the upcoming year.

Many of the teachers are heading back in today to do final preparations;  and after 14 years of "Day 1 schedules," I've learned to go-with-the-flow; smile and high-five students; and the day will be a success.  This is the first year that I DO NOT have copies of my syllabus ready; this is the first year that I don't have any "real" lesson planned for the first two days of school..... the "wings" will sprout and I will be "going with the flow."

Just this morning, a friend posted this on Facebook, and I had a good ol' laugh!  I try to play-it-straight with the students if they ever ask me the classic, "When are we ever going to use this?"  I usually try to brush it off with "You probably won't,"  and then I walk away to avoid what they realllly want:  a distracted teacher.  HA!  Is that bad??    But why does math get the bad rap?  When will you ever need to know that Lincoln was the 16th president of the United States?  Or, .... maybe English, Science and Social Studies teachers also hear that infamous question???  Am I being biased to think it's only Math teachers who hear it?

To try to keep humor in the workplace, I forwarded this one to our Driver Education instructor; a REALLLLLLY cool dude!  And, I shouldn't have been surprised at this response (cuz he's kinda a mathy/sciency/safety nerd too)....  "Actually, Amy, it should be the squ.root of 625, which results in 25 MPH- the officialy school-zone maximum speed.  The speed limit shown in more that 26 MPH. That's simply too fast for the safety of our students."

LOL

I sure do appreciate the amazing staff I get to work with :)  In fact......

YAY!  I forgot I took this picture last week!!!!  The driver instructor is in the hat (he's also our "shop" guy), and the other two pictured here are my Matheliciously-nerdy counterparts.  They are part of the "cribbage crew" in the staff lounge during the high-school lunch period.  Therefore, I RARELY get to chill with them and a game of cribbage (I eat in the Junior High lunch period), so....last week, when we all were putting in some 'flex' hours, they let me know that "the game was on!"  {{Linda--shhhh!  I promised the guys 'no Facebook,' but I didn't say anything about my blog.  Tee-hee}}

Boy--working with great people sure makes a job nicer, huh? 

Alright;  cinnamon rolls are done (Cassie is getting to be a GREAT 'cook' around here).  Today:  Final school shopping detail.

Happy Friday Everyone.

A 33-minute phone conversation with Mom...

I'm sorry...but no matter HOW old you get.....Mom is still Mom!  And when she's needed.....I'm thankful mine is still there!

What

A

Day!

I internalize anything that has my name attached to it!  I put my BEST WORK forward.  I pride myself on a strong, motivated work ethic. I pride myself on GOOD products that have my name on them.  Do you get the drift that I want my name to bring on comments of dedication, pride, work ethic, ...

So, this morning, when I come in from picking tomatoes and after a few moments of quilting...I check my phone at 10:30...showing a missed call and 2 texts.  :|  That's not the norm for MY phone.

Missed called:  school office
Text #1:  Teacher colleague #1 -- "Are you here at school?"
Text #2:  Teacher colleague #2 -- "Are you ok?  Where are you?"

Uhoh....this can't be good.
So I call the office.........only to be informed that I was scheduled to PRESENT today at 10:00 and 11:00 at our school's Technology Institute.

?!?!?!?!?!!?

WHAT!  How did I miss THAT one?!?!?

So, with my heart beating out of my chest and my body reacting to a sheer panic....adrenaline painfully shooting through my arms (does that happen to anyone else?!?!)....I pull up my school email account to see what on earth I might have missed;  maybe an unread attachment?????  I knew ABOUT the Institute today, and I am (was?) a member of the technology committee, but really didn't have any intentions in being a participant, despite a stipend being offered to participants and presenters.

I couldn't find anything.  Nothing.  Nada.  No email.  No phone call.  No text.

In the next hour, a few emails were sent between myself and other individuals involved.   And in the end, some ownership was claimed ... "I knew you hadn't received any emails about this."

My thoughts are SCA-REAMING comments right now based on that line, but I've been attempting to "let it go...let it go....let it go."

But again....for ME....it comes down to:  MY NAME WAS LISTED ON THAT PROGRAM!  And I was never contacted.


So, yeah.......after hours of continual fretting, wondering if a legitimate mistake was made.....or if a growing target is on my back.......I finally called Mom.   THANKS MOM!!!!!


I can't BUH-LIEVE my job truly may lead me to therapy!!!!!!

And thanks for letting me vent to all of you who have read down this far.
Commenting has been removed from this post.  If you really want to talk to me, my email is open.