BOGO!!! Cats?

The Boy pointed out that he hasn't even chosen a pet, since the original crew (MJ, Tigger, Indy) were all older than him, Alice belongs to The Girl and the dogs just kind of joined us.  I suggested he wait until he was an adult and get as many pets as he wanted, but it has been kind of weird with only Alice, the un-cat.  Mr. IM and The Boy got home early from skiing (because it was COLD) so we decided to go on a kitten search.  We really should know better, it is not kitten season for starters. However, we once again found ourselves at the Denver Dumb Friends League.  The Boy fell in love with a cat...who had a friend...ummmm...and then we discovered it was BOGO on cats (really?)....So the Suburban Ranch is now back to (full) capacity--2 adults, 2 kids, 3 cats, 2 dogs, and a whole bunch of fish. The cats will get their own posts soon--as soon as I can get a picture where they don't look freaked (it might be a while).  Both cats are over a year old--Obsidian (Sid) is about a year and Coco (Puff) is about 3 (if I remember right).  Sid was found wandering around an apartment complex (sound like anyone else we know)  and Coco was left in the pet drop off bin.  So far Sid and Alice met and are not happy, but Alice hates everyone, so I'm not worried.  Coco has settled into the "cat hole" (where kittens and old cats hide) in my closet.  

In other news, I assembled the greenhouse that we received for Christmas--it can have its own post as well, probably after the cats.  Time to get started on the garden!

Teaching

A while ago, someone shared this article with me: 11 Reasons Teaching Is the Best (Even When It Isn’t)  It was written from the point of view of an Elementary School Teacher, I think it is true (with some revisions) for high school teachers as well.

Here are my thoughts my the high school world...

The headings are Ms. Wiley's based on her elementary school experience, and the narrative is my "twist" on high school....And I discovered that even though her title says 11...there are only ten...

1. Small chores being done for you--Just like Ms. Wiley, I've discovered that there is always a student willing to run to the water fountain and fill my water bottle (although I feel like I have to be choosy about who I send, lest my water have, um, additives...). I also love that my restless high school students LOVE to run to my office to get things I've forgotten or make a quick copy.  I've purposely left my coffee on my desk when I know I have a restless student who will need a walk...shhh...

2.  The compliments....although these are usually strange, always unsolicted, and occasionally just weird..."Miss!  Miss!  Did you get new shoes?"  "Um...no?"  "Oh,well, those are really blue!"  "Um..ok, thanks?"  There's also the "Class was really fun today!!!"  My favorite was, "Hey, Miss!  You're not wearing black today.  Cool!"  (Um, ok?) I also like the guess your age game...a random student will shout out--"Hey, Miss!  How old are you?  Are you older than my mom?"  and another will answer either, "She's 32, duh..." (or....)

3.  But yet, they keep you humble.... "Nah, man, she's at least 60" (D'oh?).....And the "This is boring...."  (yes, PSAT Prep is boring...let me know when you figure out a fun way to really do it, folks...sigh)

4.  The weirdness....It's high school...do I need to even address this?

5.  The camaraderie with other teachers...There are so many inside jokes and "you had to be there moments" where we laugh at ourselves...I love my co-workers (well, most of them... :)  )

6.  Shake your head and laugh moments--this goes with 4 and 5, of course...sometimes I just shake my head and laugh...The "What just happened?" moments, when no one is hurt or embarrassed, but I wonder, "um, what was that?" (see #7).  Last week I was working with a student and another was trying get my attention.  After about five "Misses!" , he shouted "MOTHER!"...which caused all of us to laugh hysterically....and did get my attention..

7. Birthday treats...So this is rare in the high school, although, they do bring their own snacks, so sometimes there are unsolicited candy bars (or Chick fil A french fries!). A couple weeks ago though a parent did show up at school with treats and balloons for her (embarrassed?) 17 year olds birthday...they were yummy...And there are occasional boxes of donuts and other pastries because a co-worker stopped on the way in.  One of my co-workers has started bringing treats for all her IEP meetings...I'm thinking of hiring her to bring some for mine, too :)

8. Pajama Days--or Spirit days as the case may be--Last week was "Wish Week"--Monday Pajama Day (I can't quite bring myself to wear pjs' to school, but I did wear jeans and a comfy sweatshirt), Tuesday: Tourist Day (jeans and a t-shirt), Wednesday: Yellow Day (jeans and a yellow t--are you sensing a theme here?) Thursday:  Animal Day--Skirt, blouse and animal print scarf (jeans needed to be washed)  Friday: School Colors Day--jeans and t-shirt...duh.

9.  Summer vacation and snow days--well, duh...but this does backfire sometimes..."Ack! Now my B day lesson plan is ahead of my A day plan--ugh!  Now, how am I going to fix this?"  I have an on-going "argument" with some friends and family members as well, about summer vacation...if you want me to not speak to you for a few days, just say "Well, you have three months off to just lie around all summer so I don't know why you need snow days"....Ummm...most summers it is about 6 weeks and during that time I am taking at least one class and working on curriculum for the next year...as well as doing all the stuff (like scrubbing my bathtub) that doesn't get done during the school year..honestly..does anyone scrub their tub?

10.  Its always a (fun) adventure--every day is different, every day is something new.  A few months ago I posted a selfie on Facebook and one of my high school classmates said, "You look like you're still in high school"....I was able to answer.."Well, I am.... :)  "

While there are days I'd love a day off (without writing lesson plans for someone else to follow), I do love my job  career.  Thanks, Ms. Wiley, for the inspiration!

An essay on college and other things

So this weekend has been a little exciting. Well, maybe not exciting, but eye-rolling at least.  We are up in the mountains, at the Outpost.  Yesterday was a normal ski day--came in to town, I hung out at the library, it was fine.  This morning, there was a lot of drama about not wanting to ski and so forth, but we did make it into town.  We parked......and discovered that Mr. IM forgot his boots at the apartment.  So The Boy and The Girl are skiing by themselves for the first time, while I use Starbucks "free" wifi (for the price of one drip coffee).  Mr. IM hopes to be back (with his boots) to meet them in about an hour.  Then I can find the car in the giant lot and run to the grocery store. We also discovered that none of our phones were fully charged, so I suspect that the children may find a place to hang out and charge their cellular devices first.   (I gave them my "box", so I am using the charger cord and my computer to charge my phone....Egads.)

In other news, The Girl took the PSAT a few months ago, resulting in a flurry of college mail (via snail mail).  Some of her friends (and their parents?) have been calling these College Solicitation letters...I think they are primarily College Junk Mail (especially since there were none from Purdue and I'm pretty sure none from any other Big 10 schools).  Most of the letters seem to say "We're so excited you took the PSAT and mentioned what career you might like!  We offer a major that is slightly related to your interested!!! Please come to our website and consider giving us a bunch of money to attend this summer symposium that is slightly related to your career of interest!!!"  For .now, all the college mail is being tossed in a cardboard box in the living room so we can see how much arrives.

It does make me think, though, that she will be at college, somewhere in about 2 1/2 years.  (Again, Egads). I guess this is where I say something like "and so the fun begins...)

Well, in any case, its probably about time for me to figure out if my family found each other :)  Have a great week!

What I read in January 2017

With no further ado, the much overdue first book blog of 2017...

1.  The Hammer of Thor (Rick Riordan)--I guess I was behind on my Rick Riordan reading, because I came across this one (from the Magnus Chase series) and the next one (from the Apollo series) at the same time.  Both a a quick read, very engaging, carry on the stories of Riordan's characters.  I enjoyed them.
2. The Hidden Oracle (Rick Riordan) See #1
3. Among Wolves (RA Hakok)--picked this up for free on my Kindle app and it was a good read.  A post-apocalyptic story about some kids who survive "the end of the world" because they were on a White House tour.  Has a mystery, some drama--I guess there are going to be several books in the series, this one and the sequel are published (see #10).
4.  Lilac Girls (Martha Hall Kelly)--I really like how the author took several different stories and brought them all together at the end.  It is semi-historical, set during World War II, and follows women from America and from Europe.
5.  The Princess Diarist (Carrie Fisher)--A good read, I put it on my hold list at the library shortly after Ms. Fisher died and it came to me quickly.  About half the book was actually her diary from the time though, not really edited for publication, so it was like reading a 20 year old woman's diary (which is what it is titled, so no surprise I guess).  I liked her non-diary writing portions..it was worth the read, but not top 10 worthy.
6.  The Escape (Hannah Jayne)--I really like Ms. Jaynes' books-they all have a great twist that is unexpected.  This one was not disappointing.
7.  Salt to the Sea (Ruta Sepetys)--really loved this book. About refugees at the very end of World War II.  It follows a group of acquaintances as they try to find safety and end up on a ship that sinks.  There is an "afterward" as well and a good historical base for the story.  It was not quite top 10, but was a very good read about an overlooked WWII event.
8.  Sword of Ptolomy (Rick Riordan)--Read it quick on my phone, I think it is only available digitally.  Typical Riordan, a good quick read.
9. The Book of Three (Lloyd Alexander) on CD--I have never read this series, even though I knew it existed.  The Boy found it on CD so we gave it a try.  It reminds me a lot of the Hobbit and of Narnia, and a little of Arthur.  A good book to listen to in the car, the narrator didn't make me sleepy.
10.  The Devil You Know (RA Hakok)-Book two of the series (see #3)
11.  The Missing (Caroline Eriksson)--Left me wondering through the whole book if the main character was losing her mind or if there was something else going on.  A good mystery.
12.  Walk into Silence (Susan McBride)--book one in a series about a female detective.  I want to read more, but I'm not excited about it, so it is on "the list" to read later.  Very entertaining.

Last January I read 13 book, but the year before only 8..so I'm off to a decent, if not fast, start.
I also read about half of a book that I gave up on, I think it was called "Everyone brave will be forgiven".  It was about education in England during World War II, presented through a love triangle....I may pick it up again some day, but not right not.

Goodbye, Tiggy-Puff

This post is very overdue, I had intended to write an update on our friend on January 22, suggesting that he might live forever, but here it is, already half way through February.

As many of you know, we said good-bye to Tigger on January 24.  He had a good long life--18.5 years in all, 18 of those years with us.  He outlived his buddies MJ, Cass, and Indy, as well as the Jeep Wrangler, the Volvo, and that Subaru.  He joined me while I was still in my 20's, and, well, here I am, clearly not in my 20's :)

Tiggy started his life with us in our favorite apartment in Denver--with a patio overlooking the duck pond and a great tree to climb. He was a funny looking kitten, inspiring the hit song, "Tiny headed Tigger, maybe someday you'll get bigger...."  After a few months, we moved to the townhouse, where he (with some skepticism) welcomed Indy, then The Girl, and finally The Boy.  Tiggy learned to love Indy.  They loved to play "pets on the stairs", even after Indy grew too big to fit comfortably.  Tiggy also like to have Indy chase him through the cat door, although that didn't always end well for Indy.  My favorite picture of the two of them is both on their hind legs peeking out the front screen door to spy on the neighborhood.

Tiggy moved to the Suburban Ranch with us--he learned to love the new backyard and the stairs to run up and down (and down and up).  He learned quickly not to sleep on the railing though, as he fell off and apparently gave himself a concussion and a detached retina.

On that note, he was not the smartest cat, in fact, in all truthfulness, he was not very smart...he is famous for getting his head stuck in things as a young cat, like yogurt cups and kleenex boxes. He didn't learn to purr until after MJ left us and was not good a personal hygiene, even in his prime.

Tigger was a good friend to both the kids though--when I went looking for pictures, there were few that didn't include him being toted, cuddled, or otherwise posed with a child.  He never randomly attacked anyone (unlike his cohort, Alice).  As a younger cat, he loved to sleep in cribs, baby swings, high chairs, and pack and plays.  He and The Boy had an on-going (soft-pawed) battle for the crib...I would find them often in a silent battle for who owned the space.  I'm not sure who actually won--I usually found them curled up together sleeping mid-battle.  He was fearless right up to the end, taking on Morrison and Liberty for water (bowl) rights and causing them to have to wait their turn so he could stare at their water instead of his.

Good-bye, Old Friend, you will be missed.