OMG!

(Orion, Christmas 2001, Age 4.5)

So Orion says to me, "Wanna hear a funny Christmas joke?" Knowing I better answer yes, I nod. He continues:

"Sam writes a letter to Santa:

Dear Santa,

I'd like a little brother for Christmas.

Love,

Sam"

I look at him, wondering where and when we'll find the punchline, when he asks "Well, what did Santa write back?"

"I dunno," I grunted. Wondering what sort of dorky joke was up his sleeve.

Orion finishes:

"Dear Sam,

Send me your mother.

Love,
Santa"

Then he started to chuckle. "Get it mom? Get it?"

I am not sure which was funnier- the joke or the fact it took me just about 45 seconds to get the joke! Am I getting old? Or is it that I was stunned to discover that my 10 year old knows Dirty Old Santa Jokes?

Correction

Just a note to clear up any confusion about the "YakTrax" I mentioned in my earlier post. I have the YakTrax Walkers. These are "snow chains" for my shoes and they cost roughly $20. You can buy them at Amazon, at YakTrax, or at your local shoe store. They're great and I'd buy them for everybody if I could.

*Tree, you might want to consider making these a stocking stuffer for PilDong!*

Let it Snow!

It snowed! It snowed! It snowed! Yesterday I got to school at 7:20 a.m. and promptly kicked myself for not checking the weather before leaving home and for not bringing sturdier shoes (I was in my Birks and the campus is notorious for NOT shoveling or de-icing walks. There were several injuries last winter. I was lucky not to be one of the statistics and I didn't want to be one this year either!). The weather folks predicted snow turning to ice with accumulations of 1-3 inches. They were right on target. Just around 10:00 that morning the flakes started to fall. It was gorgeous. By lunch time the the cars, sidewalks, and streets were covered. That afternoon, it turned "crunchy" when it switched over to ice.

Today it warmed up enough for the streets to dry out and the yards to get muddy. The next five days the weather folks are predicting highs around 32 and more precipitation. Unfortunately it looks like it will be ice, not snow!

But I am prepared. I've got my YakTrax. I'm ready to go!

Happy Birthday Dr. Goodspeed

Happy Birthday Dear Friend & Welcome Home!

Dr. Eric (von) Goodspeed is celebrating his birthday today! Eric returned home from Iraq about three weeks ago! Hooray, welcome home, and Happy Birthday friend! The Leslie Family misses you!

On This Day

(Kathy & Dad, circa 1975)

Michael Angelo Mangione, born December 5, 1931

Elf-Help Fun!

Got time on your hands? Wanna "elf yourself?" Head over to the Office Max site and have fun. But before you do, take a gander at these elf-alicious videos.

Michael, Robin, and Dominic ring in the New Year!

Elfin Grandkids swingin' to the Christmas beat! Yes, that truly adorable elf is my niece, Ellie.

Thanks brother Mike for the Dissertation Diversion! But it's back to work for me!

Dangerous Curves Ahead!

My birthday present to myself this year was a new pair of tennis shoes (Finally! Nola ate my last pair nearly a year ago!) and a membership to Curves.

This morning I woke at 6:00, dressed, scraped ice, started the car, scraped more ice, found myself at Curves, did the circuit, nearly died, and returned home. My only complaint thus far, mind you I've only been twice, is that it is entirely too warm in the gym. I keep my house at 62. How can they expect me not to keel over with a heart attack if the furnace is cranked to 80? When I went for my interview it was a chilly 65 degrees! Is this some sort of bait and switch tactic? Aside from the heat exhaustion I think this is something I can and will do. In fact, I am considering walking to and from the gym. It's only about .6 of a mile from the house. As I see it, it will take less time to walk there as it does to de-ice the door, heat the car up, and scrape the windows.

I'll let you know how it all works out for me!

F is for Food

I love to cook. I love to eat. I love food. One of the things I have missed the most this past year and a half is feeding my friends. My small kitchen and tiny house do not lend themselves to feeding the masses. I hope to create a nice area in the backyard to do just that, three seasons out of four!

Weird Weather!

Originally we were to be on the cusp of the wicked winter storm that will be dumping lots of snow on my sister very soon (If it hasn't started already!). They predicted ice and a bit of snow. What we got instead has been really weird. Friday's high was not quite 40 degrees. The low last night was in the low twenties. It did start raining ice as they predicted (around 3:00 a.m.). As the sun rose it changed to a drizzle and by noon it was damp, windy and cold (about 40). By 6:00 p.m. it was 60! It is now nearly 10:00 p.m., windy and it's 61 degrees outside. The low overnight will be 55.

Mind you, I am not complaining. I am confused. It makes me wonder what Mother Nature has in store for us later! I hope we get lots of snow this winter! I've got my fingers crossed!

We Interrupt the Encyclopedia of Me to Bring you a “Photo Meme”

In the spirit of sharing I present you with a photo meme. For those of you with blogs, you may want to give it a try and link to it via the comments page. Those of you who do not have blogs, put it in an email and email it to me!

What do I do?: Type the answer to each question into a Google image search, and you pick an image from the first page of results. Ready? Let the games begin!

1. Age at next birthday?

2. Place I'd like to visit!

3. My favorite place to be!

4. Favorite objects?

5. Favorite food?

6. Favorite animal?

7. City where I was born-

8. City where I live-

9. Name of a past pet?

10. Nickname of best friend?

11. My nickname?

12. My first name?

13. My first job?

14. My grandmother's name?

15. My undergraduate major?

Now it’s your turn!

First Snow

Wednesday, November 21st, 2007 we celebrated our first snow, albeit brief! The day dawned cold and wet. By mid afternoon the frozen drizzle turned to gorgeous, fat flakes and fell for nearly an hour! It was beautiful! Things were just getting covered in white when the snow switched back to the frozen drizzle and things went back to grey!

Here's hoping for a very snow winter in the 'Burg this year! I've got my fingers crossed! How about you?

Happy Birthday

Have a wonderful day Jenny Penny Shiny Shoes Strawberry Heart! I miss you!

E is for Educator

Educators are defined as “ones trained in teaching, teachers” and they can also be described as “specialists in the theory and practice of education.” I am not sure I can remember a time when I didn’t consider myself an educator, a teacher, of some sort-- It began with playing school with my little sister. Later it manifested itself in mentoring elementary students during high school and college. Whether teaching pre-kindergarteners or graduate students at the university, gifted elementary students or struggling astronomy students, I have most closely identified myself, my role in society, as that of an educator. The following is an excerpt from an assignment completed during my first semester as a Ph.D. student at the University of Arkansas. I think it still sums up my beliefs on education. Enjoy!

Core Beliefs:
I believe that all children can learn. Children are unique and creative individuals. They are naturally curious. We must realize this and conduct ourselves accordingly. I believe that children can be problem-solvers, great thinkers, and life-time learners. I believe that learning is a result of the learner seeking meaning for that which surrounds her.


I believe that all children, regardless of ethnicity, income, and geography, deserve similar educational opportunities and equitable resources. I believe that these opportunities and resources must include the basics, such as text and trade books, desks, tables, chairs, windows, chalkboards, and a clean environment, as well as ‘luxury’ items, such as copiers, ditto machines, a safe environment, computers, breakfast, lunch, and snack (regardless of income), internet access, and partnerships with local businesses. I believe that children need an environment that both respects and responds to their individual needs. But most of all, I believe that children are worthy of teachers that are dedicated both to them, as students, and to themselves, as learners- continuing with their own training.


I believe that parents must take an active role in their children’s education. I believe that teachers should be paid a salary indicative of their worth to society- and that this salary should be based on experience, education, and successes… regardless of what grade or age you teach. I believe that learning must be worthwhile, real, and applicable to a child’s life. And best of all, I believe that learning must be fun!

(December 2001)

Ooof!

This is the second blog entry in a row that will begin with "Oooh, I hurt!" This weekend found me scrubbing floors (the old fashioned way - on my knees!) and cleaning carpets (Thank you Rug Doctor). Two full days and the only rooms in he house that are clean are the bathroom, living room, and hallway. Although there's a good start on the kitchen.

Orion has been an amazing help! He's lifted, toted, carried, and scrubbed! Of course, he's been vocal about child labor laws the entire time as well!

Tomorrow the tree goes up! I can't wait!

Bowling Bowling Bowling

Oooh, I hurt. I didn't play last week (conference!) and this week I paid for it dearly. My new average is a 98; it is slowly moving upward. Today's games were respectable, but I threw several gutter balls (WTF!?)- 107-101-106. I was twenty pins over my average. I think that will bump my average up about a pin. I am not really sure what the deal was today. I had a pretty heinous day dealing with some student and the approach to the lanes was very, very slippery. I think that had the biggest impact on my game. I was tremendously worried about landing on my butt. No for fear of pain, but because I was certain if that happened I curse a blue streak that could be heard all the way to Kansas City! I did not want that to happen. Imagine!

Well, each game was over my average and as I am told it is nothing to be put out about. I was also warned not to be too greedy . That is a problem.

Take care, gentle readers, and have a great week! No bowling next week; it's Thanksgiving!

D is for Dissertation and Death

Whichever comes first! It is impossible to separate who I am at this moment from that which haunts me, plagues me, and keeps me up at night- my dissertation. I am not even sure it can be called a dissertation at this time; it’s more like an approximation of a dissertation. But every day, I think, those approximations become something more like a dissertation.

My topic is alternative conceptions in earth science. That is, I want to know what misconceptions pre-service teachers hold in the area of earth science. To do this I have read a boatload of research articles about misconceptions, identifying misconceptions, misconceptions in astronomy, biology, and a scant few in earth sciences. Then I went about creating a sort of questionnaire to unearth just exactly what those pre-service teachers are thinking. Well, I’ve piloted the study twice. I’ve just sent revisions back to my committee and requested a meeting to seek permission to conduct the final round of testing. I’ve got my fingers crossed.

Some misconceptions that are popular include: the earth is closer to the sun in the summertime, one can predict the harshness of the winter by caterpillar coverings, dinosaurs and man roamed the earth at the same time, rivers always flow south, and the sun is directly overhead at noon in Arkansas.

It’s a shame that there’s so much angst tied up in my dissertation for I truly get excited when discussing or thinking about the topic. Regardless, there will be much writing, researching, wailing, and gnashing of teeth this fall and winter.
Wish me luck. I’d like to graduate in ’08!

Observing Veterans’ Day

Last night an old friend from elementary & high school (Hi Pam!) sent me an email, “Something cool Xerox is doing.” Well, I had to check it out. If you head over to the Let’s Give Thanks website hosted by Xerox, you can chose one of hundreds of cards, write a message, and later in the month all the cards will be printed in a huge batch and sent to soldiers in Iraq. You don’t get to choose where your card goes, but you can write your own sentiment or pick one of theirs. According to Snopes, the Let's Give Thanks website has been in business since June 26, 2006 and will continue “as long as there is a need for it.” It only take a minute, so buzz on over and drop a soldier a line!

SRATE

SRATE stands for the Southeastern Regional Association of Teacher Educators. And that's where I am headed in a mere 6 or so hours! Yes, it's just after 2:00 a.m. and yes I am printing off my overhead slides, just in case I don't have access to a projector, yes I haven't completed packing, yes I am driving, and yes it looks like I'll get less than four hours of sleep!

Ugh! This year's SRATE conference will be held in St. Louis, so I have about a three hour drive in front of me tomorrow morning. I will be presenting on Thursday with a group of professors from UCM and again on Friday, solo. My Friday presentation is "Common Earth Science Misconceptions of Preservice Teachers." It is a discussion friendly version of my previous research and current and future dissertation.

We will be staying downtown in the Hyatt just off of Union Station! I am excited to be a "tourist" in St. Louis. After a few days with the conference I plan to hang with my St. Louis Teacher Friends, if time permits, before returning to the 'Burg, classes, paper grading, and the dreaded dissertation!

C is for Crochet

I couldn’t possibly discuss crocheting without talking about my maternal grandmother, Josephine Eva Bogacz Tyran (photo right, 1994). Grandma was born in Gromiec, Poland and came to the U.S. during the first World War. Grandma was exactly sixty years older than me. Grandma taught me to crochet when I was about 9 or 10. Unfortunately I had the attention span of a gnat; I honestly don’t know where she came up with the patience to even attempt such a feat!

More than twenty-five (yes 25) years later I picked up the crochet hook at a friends house. I wanted to learn. But my hands remembered. I only needed to be reminded of the names of each stitch and to practice, practice, practice!

I have been crocheting for about four years now. In that time I have made mostly scarves and baby blankets (Left my niece Ellie models the blanket I made for her, 2006.) with a handful of dish rags thrown in for good measure. I long to expand my repertoire to include sweaters, hats, and mittens. I would love to be able to read a complex pattern with confidence. Gran died nearly eleven years ago. And as silly as it sounds, when I crochet, she is with me. I only wish I had more time to devote to the craft and more money to devote to the yarn!

78 pins over my average!

Bowling Update!

Thursday found me bowling at the UCM CosmoBowl in the student union! My average is up from 92 to 95! Even with the new average I bowled 78 pins over my average! Yeah, I was pretty damn sore! My first game was a heart stopping 148, my second game a respectable 132, and the final game an exhausted 83! Ouch! This week I won't be bowling; I will be at a conference in St. Louis. My next date to bowl is November 15!