Ground Rules

Decisions must be made. Ideas utilised. Plans detailed and enacted. Questions answered! Do I focus on writing about work at school everyday, or veer off course as I have done in the past and discuss whatever is on my mind at the time? I guess I will have to get back to this, because my break is over now!

It's a Nuwa Yeara

School began yesterday, of course I have mixed feelings, about work and life and writing. Since I didn't write all summer I am trying something new where I write while still at school, so I don't have home distractions. We will see how it works out! That's all for now, I need to get back into the flow. It took me five or more minutes just to get my password right and now I am told I have to make a new one in the next eight days. Pooh.

I've been slacking

here for a couple of weeks. Lots of 'stuff' happened. We had Spring Break, and I did a lot of cleaning. We almost moved. Steve put down a deposit on an apartment that we thought was a little cheaper and a little nicer just across the street. But then we were told our building was sold, and the new owner said she didn't want us to move and she would keep the rent lower for us. Then a lot of back and forth happened, and in the end, we decided to stay here.

They had the boys cooking some pizza pockets mostly from scratch in the Life Skills class the other day, and I made brownies with one of the kids. It all worked out well, but I had my head in my hands when a kid was looking through the kitchen drawers for a brush and kept holding up other things like a big fork and a spatula, despite me describing what it should look like. It was very hard for me to not go over and get it for him, but I resisted so he could have the success of finding it for himself, which didn't happen, the other teacher ended up assisting him, but that's okay. A similar thing happened when they were looking for oven mitts/pot holders, despite the drawers and cupboards all being clearly labeled. I think parents should do that in their houses as they teach their children to read. I also think that parents should teach their children to read by reading with them every day. But that doesn't happen.

We went for a bike ride today and got to see a wild blue heron and some other little birdies when we took a shortcut through the woods.

I had a chiropractor appointment awhile back and she said after the assessment that she would do a plan for treatment, but then they called me and said they don't take the insurance I have from school. That was a bummer because I was really liking the doctor even though it's further away then I'd choose. I could still go there, but I would just have to pay for it. I am still thinking about it. I got some lotion from the cannabis shop (which is awesome that one can do that now) for my back and leg pain. I hope it helps. I really want to stop taking the pills they prescribed me from Kaiser (when they gave me the steroid back injection) that I have been taking for months, so I went to ask the doctor if I could stop and she said No, no, no, you must cut back slowly, and then if you find yourself in bad pain then you can go back up. I said Okay, I will do that. And I came home and broke all the pills in half and am trying to keep to the schedule she wrote for me. I already messed up though, but I will be okay.

So tomorrow we are going to return the keys to the apartment that we never used. The manager was going to keep all the money Steve gave him, but now he says he will return some of it. That's good. We have been negligent with our Garage Sale Warehouse store space and need to go do some organizing there and bring down more stuff to sell. I found myself feeling sad when we went there last time and I saw that all of the pretty little fine china teacups and saucers that we had put out were gone. I liked seeing them and having them there. I liked the idea that if they didn't sell I could have an excuse to keep them myself. It was weird. I also think about the big crock with the red wing and the 5 on it that Bob and Mary gave to me that I sold, and I feel a little nostalgic. I wish i kept it, but it was a good item to sell at the vintage store. I get way too attached to things. Way too attached... Peace.

Wow! Busy Week!

I will write some school/work updates. But first,  I want to share something personal. Because I consider myself an alcoholic, as in I used to drink to the point where it interfered with my life and my health and my relationships, I am hyper aware of when I choose to drink now, and how responsibly I do it. It's a Friday night, the beginning of Spring break, and I am choosing to have some beer and wine. I went to the liquor store for cigarettes and considered some vodka then declined it because I know that would just make me feel ill. And although I intend to get a 'little' drunk tonight, I do not wish to make myself intoxicated to the point of illness, as I have done in the past. Thankfully, I still have memories and am able to compare my intake and frequency and know that I am definitely not that same person anymore. That person who would go to the store after work and get a six pack of PBR and a bottle/box of wine and drink it all the same night. I was just thinking about all of this and wanted to write it down. I am grateful I am different, but also that I can enjoy some drinks once in a while now, and not feel like I need to do it on a daily basis. Peace.

TGIT

I will be brief. I need to practice brevity. Tried to color my hair burgundy and made more of a mess than anything. This is Fine. Slideshow presentation day and neither of Gabe's team partners came to class. Fortunately, I had finished it the other day, so that he could get credit for his pages he worked on with me. I just added a few more stats and a couple graphs and charts for visuals. I need to spend some time sitting with him and teaching him how to use the software (mostly Google suite stuff) so he has more independence and competence for future classes.   Honestly, I need a lot more practice with it too, and there are both pluses and minuses in trying to teach something that you aren't competent in yourself.
Ceramics class was cool because I found out where the kick wheel splash guard was stored, trimmed the bottom of the dish student made and got to help a few kids with some tips for throwing pots, which I hesitantly shared, because of my inexperience, but I tried to sound confident anyway. I'm going to try and go after school soon to practice throwing again because I really, really want to leave this class with a few mugs and plates/bowls. I still intend to pay the materials fee but need to wait till payday. The best thing was picking up my finished pyramids. They look pretty cool. Glazing improves clay pieces the way matting and framing improves drawings.
In last class, I helped the teacher by cutting some railroad board for her other art class. Gotta remember to pick up/pay for the hoodie that Emilia told me via email was ready. I didn't even know if it was a size they had available, so that's a cool surprise. PEACE.

Wensdee

I spent four hours after school in the ceramics room glazing my strawberry and donuts and making Cameron a new box copying the one someone else did that he admired and said he wanted one like it. I'm going to have him glaze it when it's ready; so that he can at least do half the work. If I put the glaze colors into little labeled cups then he might do it. It's understandably difficult to do the glazing because unlike paint, the colors look very matte and dull and almost nothing like the colors that they will become after firing. I also spent time reorganizing the glaze bottles that were out of order, but they were much better since I fixed them the forst time and affixed signs indicating where to put the big and little bottles.
There were some participants for the school student walkout today to protest gun violence in the U.S., but not as many as I was expecting. We weren't allowed to join them, but I took two students out to walk on the track and the group had gathered there to speak, so we got to see them anyway.
After school, I got to go book 'shopping' in the library where they have several cartloads of giveaways in preparation of an inventory overhaul. I got about a hundred pounds of books, mostly for myself and Steven, but a few for the classroom and a few for the art room. Oh yeah, I also had fun organizing the books in the ceramics room. I really want to borrow some, he has some great books.

So, they were mostly reference books, and I was going to get this big Gray's Anatomy book, but then I saw a familiar blue binding of the Merck's Medical desk manual, and I remembered growing up my mom had one in the house that she used sometimes. It was from 2006 which wasn't that long ago, and it is significantly smaller than the Gray's, so I got that instead. There were also some amazing books on physics, and I got several while thinking of the passing of esteemed astro-super-physicist yesterday Stephen Hawking. And a nutrition book or two, one about herbal medicines, which I am excited to have to look at. When we move into our new apartment (fingers crossed), we are going to need a few additional bookcases.

Gabe was talking all through History class today, interrupting constantly and telling Lori to 'shut up' and 'stop looking at him' a lot. We have to figure out how to address this successfully because asking him to listen or be quiet wasn't working. His slideshow for a different class is due tomorrow and I helped a lot more than I probably should have, but he was doing it with a group and I don't want them to get a bad grade. What I need to do is create some flash cards for him because he is lacking comprehension and it's really important material. Not that flash cards will solve it all and create depth and understanding, but I think they will help him to be aware of the information, and help me know what he does and doesn't get.

I helped Boris with civil law again and learned a lot about discrimination in voter laws. It is some reprehensible bullshit! Then I was going to read with Lori and she reminded me that I had said we could take a walk for our reading time since we didn't have time the other day, so we walked and talked and listened to Bruno Mars...Peace!

Is it Tuesday Yet?

I guess I'm off to a good start this week because I feel like the week is almost over, but it's only Monday. Yesterday was daylight savings time....time. SO, we were all kind of discombobulated and tired at work. The first class, I read Thor with our kid who needs tons of remedial reading practice and helped another student make her safe driving/don't text and smoke, I mean text and drive poster, second class I helped my student work on designing a computer-generated helmet from a template with the teacher's video example, third class I helped a student with his eating disorder research project, then got a school burger and frosty fruit drink for lunch, came home to get a different student's birthday flowers I cut for her, and last class helped a student read his law assignment about unreliability of eyewitness testimony, and did half an hour of reading with my regular reading practice student. After school, I went to art club and there were only two kids there, and I just worked on my drawing example for the other art class as the teacher and we all talked. There was a kid from the yearbook there and he took my and the teacher's photo and statements about working with kids for the yearbook, along with some student work photos, so that was pretty cool. Then he referred to us as 'girls' and I was like, woah there Nelson, don't call women that, they will most likely give you a beat down and kick your ass. No, I didn't say all that, I said it was disrespectful or something and that it was better he hear it from me than someone who would get really upset about it. I could've explained in greater detail, but I didn't know that he needed a lecture on the nature of feminism and patronizing linguistics because he had apologized right away and thanked us for letting him know, rather than saying why? Who knows. I reacted instinctively in calling him out, because it so rubbed me the wrong way, and that's good that I spoke up. He was just a teenager though, and I would like to know if I would have reacted the same if he were a grown ass man. I certainly hope so!! But he would not be so easily excused or forgiven, and it would seem an adult would 'know better'!

OMG, I was doing laundry and transplanting plants from the little mini garden, when the phone rings interrupting a Crabfeast podcast with Kumail Nanjiani, and it says "Mexico". Who do I know there? It was Adrienne! Quelle Surprise! So we talked for a while and got cut off, and she called back and we talked more, then got cut off again, and she texted saying she was out of minutes. She is doing very well, living very simply and seems happy about it! I wish I could have her address, but she says there is no address because she is illegal and only rents a room. I hope that she is safe. She invited me to visit which was very kind of her.

Laundry all done, and Steve kindly (and generously) took me to Plaid and bought me a special drink and candy to take to school as semi-bribes/rewards for two kids I promised them to. Something something, watching new American Idol now, and last night, we saw the second season premiere of the indomitable Timeless, which was supposedly canceled but had a huge backlash from fans responding with online petitions (which I definitely remember signing too!). The police came to our apartments looking for someone upstairs and I was doing laundry and heard them knocking and that was about it...then later more knocking and loud voice of (neighbor?) calling her boyfriend's name. I wonder if our other neighbor called cops about them fighting or something, or if she called police because she was worried about her boyfriend...? Don't know. Hope they are okay. Peace.