Motivation, chaos, normal life at the Ranch...

If you are a teacher or a parent (ok, a human being) you know that this can be a nutty time of year. Add to that some computer and camera issues and you have an explanation for why my blogging has been slightly more sporadic lately.

School hasn't been too crazy, but it has been busy...today I participated in two manifestation determination meetings--meetings where we determine if the student's behavior is directly related to their diagnosed disability. Always a hard day and challenging discussion, involving difficult situations, teachers, deans, administrators, parents, kids...well, you get it.  I had to leave one of my team teachers by himself...he was fine, and we are about even from his coaching early dismissals...but I still feel kind of bad.  Today was also "Ugly Christmas Sweater Day"...there is nothing like trying to hold a serious meeting while everyone in the room is wearing a very hideous sweater....Tomorrow our counseling department celebrates "Festivus for the rest of us" (Seinfield reference)--always a fun day to spend some time with folks from all over the building as we run from class to class.  My students are hanging in there, we've had a few breakdowns and therefore breakthroughs. I think we've used more tissues this week than the rest of the year combined though... The Ranch kids only go to school until 10:30 on Friday (I have school all day) and then we are on break....

We finally have the Christmas tree purchased and moved in from the garage.  It has lights and about 3 ornaments-the ones we've been given this year--I suppose we'll get the other ornaments out soon...Many years ago I rolled my eyes at my mom when she said she wasn't going to put ornaments on the tree, just lights...but it is sounding pretty tempting right now.  But, I suppose the children will talk me into ornaments before the weekend is over.  Or, perhaps, now that they are almost as tall as me, perhaps they will just go get the ornaments and decorate the tree without me having to do anything (Hey, I can dream...)

The Boy has started Snowboard team and is loving it.  He has also developed a nasty cough and post-nasal drip...making me wonder daily if we need to steam him.  Tonight I made him take a shower with the Vic's "bubble bath" and he sounded a little better.

\The Girl and I have discussed re-arranging and perhaps even painting her room during break..requiring a deep cleaning and purging first though.  After spending about an hour in there tonight trying to help her sort and purge, I'm exhausted....I'm looking forward to a couple naps though...breaks are good.  I'm also hoping to read a couple books (the pile by the bed is growing again) and hopefully do some lesson planning between the bedroom cleaning.

The pets and kids miss Indy Dog, but are having less melt downs--Mr. IM is convinced that Liberty needs a new friend (and the Rescue Folks do have a puppy that looks just like Baby Indy)...but I don't think we are ready for another dog (and I'm not ready for a puppy) yet.  I suggested a kitten that could ride Liberty like a horse, but so far everyone has vetoed my idea.  I still trip over the spot where Indy slept every morning, in my attempt to step over where she isn't (follow that).  Tigger has stopped waking us up every morning--he now only seems to wake us up on weekends.  we are hypothesizing that he and Indy had some kind of weird arrangement, that Tigger was actually waking Indy up periodically to see if she was ok.  Or not, maybe Tigger really is just a jerk who likes to wake people up and "talk" to them in the middle of the night.

Speaking of Tigger, I've been on his case about writing his annual Christmas letter, but since I haven't created or ordered Christmas cards yet, that seems unnecessary.  Maybe over break Tigger and I will write a letter for the blog.  If you have a hankering to see photos of us in the meantime, head on over to Facebook (unless you're a stranger, in which case, don't, ok?)

Well, this isn't a very exciting blog, but at least you won't worry that I'm lost somewhere....until next time...

Happy Anniversary, Suburban Ranch Blog!

This posts marks the end of my first year as a blogger--yay, me!

Recently someone asked me why I blog--I told her the reasons were kind of complicated, but that I think it is an excuse to keep a diary again.  I was a diligent diary writer for years, starting in fifth grade when my grandmother gave me a little cloth-bound diary for my birthday.  I kept stacks of spiral notebooks for years, writing in them sporadically in loopy, eighties handwriting.  The last time my parents moved my mom handed me a stack and said, "What do you want to do with these?"  With my two kids standing there, asking to read them, I regret (or maybe not?) to say I threw out almost all of them.  I did keep the cloth bound one and a couple others, which must be in a box somewhere, but a great deal of my angst from my teens and twenties is (hopefully) in a landfill somewhere.

I also like to kid myself that someday I'll print out (or have printed) all these entries and make them into a book for the kids--Laura Ingalls always said that she started writing about every day things so the way she grew up wouldn't be forgotten.  We'll see...in the meantime, it is a good way to share funny (or not funny) stories with friends and family who live near and far--this way I only write once, instead of several times and you can all see what we are up to.

In any case, thanks for reading!

Names vs Nicknames, Part 2

So after my previous blog about names vs. nicknames, here's the conversation that happened on Facebook (edited, slightly, to protect the innocent...)

Friend B:  I like that you call them by nicknames on the blog, I think it's cute!

• • June 26 at 8:47am · Unlike · 2
  • Friend A:   It's your blog. Do what you want. If she wants to start a blog where she calls your kids by their names, that's on her.
  • June 26 at 9:42am · Unlike · 2
  • Friend J: Totally your call--I have seen it done both ways. Personally, I love "The Boy," "The Girl," and "Mr. Ranch" 

    June 26 at 11:31am · Unlike · 1
• Mr. Ranch:   I think my name sounds like a salad dressing. Can I get a new one?

  June 26 at 1:24pm · Like · 1
• Grandude:  I kinda like the boy, girl, Mr. & Mrs. Ranch. Tell Mr. Ranch he can either be Mr. Ranch or the salad.

  June 26 at 1:32pm · Like
• Me:  Who would you like to be, Mr. Ranch?

  June 26 at 1:59pm · Like
• Mr. Ranch: Inigo Montoya

  June 26 at 2:03pm · Unlike · 3
• Friend C: Those of us that do know you know their names so I always insert their names when I read your posts. Keep using the nicknames.

  June 26 at 2:23pm · Unlike · 1
• Me: Nice, Mr Ranch....

  June 26 at 2:42pm · Like
• Friend G: I call my boys dawg all the time. Like T-Dawg. I also try not to use names online if I can help it for the same reasons as you listed. Plus they're just kids - who knows what implications there will be to what we posted now 20 years from now? It may seem obvious to us/them in 20 years that we never should have even used any kind of social media at all and they won't appreciate that we've splattered the pictures all over the place without their consent.

  June 27 at 12:11pm · Unlike · 1
• Friend G: Mr Ranch, every time you get one of those nametags that says, "Hello, my name is..." you know how to fill it out! Eventually that nickname will stick. 

  June 27 at 12:11pm · Unlike · 2

When we discussed this issue as a family a few days ago, The Girl said she would like to be called "Princess Sparkle Pony", but that is too many words to type every time.  It looks like the consensus is that Mr Ranch is now Inigo Montoya (I shall abbreviate it as "IM", because, like I said before, I'm not that into typing long names) and the kids are still The Girl and The Boy.  Or perhaps Mr. Ranch will now be "The Salad"...we'll see.

Names vs. Nicknames....Part I?

When I started blogging about a year ago, I made a very conscious decision to not use my husband or kids' names for a lot of reasons.  One reason was that even though I don't believe that a lot of strangers are reading this blog, it is just "out there", there is the potential for people who I don't know to read it. It is difficult to tell for sure on the Blogger data sheet (at least for me), but it does look like at least a couple times someone has come to the blog after a Google search.  I don't need or want strangers to be able to put my kids names and faces with our address and other info.  Of course, I haven't given out our address or anything personal on purpose, but I'm pretty sure that anyone who wants to figure out who I am and where I am could figure it out.  I mean, Blogger is linked to Google and it is pretty clear on Google who I am...Or maybe I just watch too many detective shows on tv.

Recently I had lunch with my former secretary who  read me the "riot act" the other day about "only" calling the kids "The Boy" and "The Girl"...saying, "they have names!".  I pointed out that I do use their names in real life and on Facebook, just not on the blog.  She was not convinced and kept on me to use real names, not nicknames.

Added to that is the fact that when I start writing it is sometimes hard to remember not to use their names...I have gone back to edit and proof and removed names sometimes.  But maybe that is because I'm getting old...

So I'm torn...do I have a "big reveal" and tell you all the family's names (and then use them) or do I try to keep a minimal level of "privacy" and continue with the nicknames?  Thoughts?  Advice from anyone who has been doing this longer than me?

I promise I'll be back :)

Hello...
As mentioned in my last post...it has been a bit nutty around here lately...well, no nuttier than usual!  The faculty musical is finished--it was so much fun!  In celebration, I caught a cold...so you'll have to excuse my less regular blogging for a few days.  I promise I'll be back with something exciting...soon!