Saturday, March 26, 2011
Story of my life
I published all the drafts I have written in the last year or so because I have every intention of updating my blog on a regular basis. However, the story of my life is such that my good intentions never get finished. If you don't believe me, check out the laundry room. So started it. Don't want to finish it!
H-Town in the hizzle!
UNFINISHED POST
I hate flying. I have always hated flying for as long as I can remember. It scares me. Terrifies me actually. I need a significant amount of drinky drinky to get me through my flights. Or prescription tranqs. Each time I fly I hyperventilate as I get on the plane. I have rituals that I need to perform in order to have a safe flight. If the rituals aren't performed then I know we are going to die in a downward, flaming spiral of metal death.
I don't know why I hate flying. I've done it more times than I count. My dad was in the Army and we moved every one to three years. Flying was like driving for me!
I lived in Germany for 6 years and Spain for 4 months so I've been back and forth to Europe at least 5 times. I fly about once every two years to visit my friend Susan or for a family vacation. Yet I still hate flying.
The reason I bring this up is because I just posted a new picture in my blog header of Heidelberg, Germany. I was lucky enough to spend three of my very imformative years living in that wonderful city. I got a chance to be there and have a great time shopping on the Haupstrasse, swimming at Leimen outdoor pool
I hate flying. I have always hated flying for as long as I can remember. It scares me. Terrifies me actually. I need a significant amount of drinky drinky to get me through my flights. Or prescription tranqs. Each time I fly I hyperventilate as I get on the plane. I have rituals that I need to perform in order to have a safe flight. If the rituals aren't performed then I know we are going to die in a downward, flaming spiral of metal death.
I don't know why I hate flying. I've done it more times than I count. My dad was in the Army and we moved every one to three years. Flying was like driving for me!
I lived in Germany for 6 years and Spain for 4 months so I've been back and forth to Europe at least 5 times. I fly about once every two years to visit my friend Susan or for a family vacation. Yet I still hate flying.
The reason I bring this up is because I just posted a new picture in my blog header of Heidelberg, Germany. I was lucky enough to spend three of my very imformative years living in that wonderful city. I got a chance to be there and have a great time shopping on the Haupstrasse, swimming at Leimen outdoor pool
Ramble ramble ramble ramble
UNFINISHED POST
Here is what is on my mind as of lately:
I love my babies! I am going to go through some serious withdrawal when I go back to school. Although Grace has been Ms. Sassy-pants most of the summer, I enjoyed all the time I spent with her. She has been a great help to me, fun to be around, and in general a fabulous kid.
Auddie girl has really had a great summer
Here is what is on my mind as of lately:
I love my babies! I am going to go through some serious withdrawal when I go back to school. Although Grace has been Ms. Sassy-pants most of the summer, I enjoyed all the time I spent with her. She has been a great help to me, fun to be around, and in general a fabulous kid.
Auddie girl has really had a great summer
Wasabi?
UNFINISHED POST
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON JUNE 16, 2010
Hey ya'll!
Day two of summer came up rosy!
Grace started her summer gymnastics schedule today and it's good. Today at gymnastics Gracie did a round off, back hand spring, back hand spring. It was so cool! Oh and it wasn't on the trampoline. She did it on the floor. She wants to get her kip now so badly. Each time she tries, I hold my breath and just hope. So far. . . not so much. Maybe soon?
I love summer. Remember the feeling when you were a kid of summer coming? It was an endless time to do what you want, when you want. Ride your bike all over, walk to friends' houses and play whatever, whenever. Sleep in late and go to bed late. Read as much and as long as you wanted.
THIS POST WAS ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ON JUNE 16, 2010
Hey ya'll!
Day two of summer came up rosy!
Grace started her summer gymnastics schedule today and it's good. Today at gymnastics Gracie did a round off, back hand spring, back hand spring. It was so cool! Oh and it wasn't on the trampoline. She did it on the floor. She wants to get her kip now so badly. Each time she tries, I hold my breath and just hope. So far. . . not so much. Maybe soon?
I love summer. Remember the feeling when you were a kid of summer coming? It was an endless time to do what you want, when you want. Ride your bike all over, walk to friends' houses and play whatever, whenever. Sleep in late and go to bed late. Read as much and as long as you wanted.
Monday, January 17, 2011
4 years
Dear Mom,
It's been 4 years since you died. We still think about you all the time. Gracie and I talked about you the other day. She was asking me questions about you that brought back great memories.
We talked about the day she was born and when you got to first see her. You and Terry were pushing each other into the room to see if it was a boy or a girl. I remember your face when you held her for the first time. You were like a goofy lady seeing the most precious thing for the first time ever! Grace held your gaze steady for awhile and you were forever slave to her and whatever her needs were.
On her 4 week old birthday, you and Pop Pop called to sing her happy birthday. And although I was still struggling with nasty post-partum depression, that brought a little smile to my face.
One time you were driving with her and you were speeding and got pulled over. You used her as your excuse!! I'm just a grandma! The cop didn't even give you a ticket.
You wallpapered her room without our help. You just went ahead and did it all by yourself. You only wanted perfect for Grace.
The awesome baby shower you held for me. That was fun! Stacey made us all write cards to Grace so that she could open them on each consecutive birthday. I don't know what birthday year you are but we haven't opened yours yet in the first six years. I'm sure when we do get to your year it will be a bitter sweet moment.
So many more memories that were horribly cut short by the brain bleed. I can think there's only a reason you are already in Heaven waiting for us and we're still down here without you. We will be honoring you at the 4th annual Fondue dinner in memorium of Audrey Gerlach, next Saturday. We will be doing a lot of thinking about you that day. . . sadly I don't think it will make up for the amount of time we don't think of you now that life has gotten back to normal since you died.
I love you mom. I miss you. Some days it feels like my stomach is twisting into a little ball and I can't catch my breath when I think about not being able to talk to you or see you again. We will never stop thinking about you and your wonderful, quirky being.
Love,
Lori
It's been 4 years since you died. We still think about you all the time. Gracie and I talked about you the other day. She was asking me questions about you that brought back great memories.
We talked about the day she was born and when you got to first see her. You and Terry were pushing each other into the room to see if it was a boy or a girl. I remember your face when you held her for the first time. You were like a goofy lady seeing the most precious thing for the first time ever! Grace held your gaze steady for awhile and you were forever slave to her and whatever her needs were.
On her 4 week old birthday, you and Pop Pop called to sing her happy birthday. And although I was still struggling with nasty post-partum depression, that brought a little smile to my face.
One time you were driving with her and you were speeding and got pulled over. You used her as your excuse!! I'm just a grandma! The cop didn't even give you a ticket.
You wallpapered her room without our help. You just went ahead and did it all by yourself. You only wanted perfect for Grace.
The awesome baby shower you held for me. That was fun! Stacey made us all write cards to Grace so that she could open them on each consecutive birthday. I don't know what birthday year you are but we haven't opened yours yet in the first six years. I'm sure when we do get to your year it will be a bitter sweet moment.
So many more memories that were horribly cut short by the brain bleed. I can think there's only a reason you are already in Heaven waiting for us and we're still down here without you. We will be honoring you at the 4th annual Fondue dinner in memorium of Audrey Gerlach, next Saturday. We will be doing a lot of thinking about you that day. . . sadly I don't think it will make up for the amount of time we don't think of you now that life has gotten back to normal since you died.
I love you mom. I miss you. Some days it feels like my stomach is twisting into a little ball and I can't catch my breath when I think about not being able to talk to you or see you again. We will never stop thinking about you and your wonderful, quirky being.
Love,
Lori
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thankful
Here are some things that I am thankful for:
Not in any particular order of course.
1) Being healthy
2) Having a husband who loves me
3) Two beautiful girls who are amazing and make me love being a mom
4) A family that is awesome
5) Living all over the world with my awesome family
6) Having an amazing father who has always pushed me to try harder and laughs at my jokes even though they are inappropriate and/or untimely
7) The ability to use humor in situations (sometimes inappropriately)
8) Having amazing co-workers who support me and don't judge me
9) Working next to an amazing teacher who has taught me numerous ways to be a better teacher and has kept me level headed when I've become fired up
10) A beautiful home that my husband built for us with his own blood, sweat, and tears
11) A yellow kitchen
12) A clean living room floor
13) A car with heat, new wiper blades, and brand new tires
14) Harry Potter 7.1
15) Harry Potter
16) Hagrid
17) Dobby
18) A classroom full of students who are diverse in not only culture but learning as well
19) A job that is more of a vocation
20) Friends
21) Long Term friends
22) Susan Garlitz Richardson
23) The internet
24) Frontierville
25) Books about The Tudors
26) Donny Osmond
27) God
So many more that I can't write more. Since I'm rambling, maybe I'll continue this list on my next post.
Not in any particular order of course.
1) Being healthy
2) Having a husband who loves me
3) Two beautiful girls who are amazing and make me love being a mom
4) A family that is awesome
5) Living all over the world with my awesome family
6) Having an amazing father who has always pushed me to try harder and laughs at my jokes even though they are inappropriate and/or untimely
7) The ability to use humor in situations (sometimes inappropriately)
8) Having amazing co-workers who support me and don't judge me
9) Working next to an amazing teacher who has taught me numerous ways to be a better teacher and has kept me level headed when I've become fired up
10) A beautiful home that my husband built for us with his own blood, sweat, and tears
11) A yellow kitchen
12) A clean living room floor
13) A car with heat, new wiper blades, and brand new tires
14) Harry Potter 7.1
15) Harry Potter
16) Hagrid
17) Dobby
18) A classroom full of students who are diverse in not only culture but learning as well
19) A job that is more of a vocation
20) Friends
21) Long Term friends
22) Susan Garlitz Richardson
23) The internet
24) Frontierville
25) Books about The Tudors
26) Donny Osmond
27) God
So many more that I can't write more. Since I'm rambling, maybe I'll continue this list on my next post.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Alexander
I feel like Alexander from Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, by Judith Viorst.
I think I'll move to Australia.
Meh.
I think I'll move to Australia.
Meh.
Cold, hard floor
This is another year wherein I am not thrilled to go back to school. I'm trying to be positive about it and make myself get to the happy place that I have had prior to these last two school years beginning, but I can't get there.
I'm so tired of the crap that teachers are dealt. I don't even know what I'm trying to say here. I'll tell you a ltitle story.
Last year we were not allowed to have soap in our classrooms by the sink unless there were wall-mounted dispensers. I didn't have a wall mounted dispenser. I had to wait two months to get a wall mounted dispenser. We were also informed that we were to not have any anti-bacterial wipes or hand gel in the room. This, right before what was expected to be a huge swine flu epidemic. Plus with the wipes thing? I don't know if you have seen a classroom full of second graders but they tend to pick their nose sometimes and sometimes miss catching their sneeze. I used to wash off their table surfaces weekly to help get rid of the germs. So I needed les wipes to help me with this.
But this year?
This year we have been informed that we are not allowed to have classroom rugs. We are a completely carpet free school (minus library and school office). During the last few years I had a rug that I purchased from the Menard's remnants. I was proud of that rug. It was striped and cool. And big. It was an awesome 12 x 12. Plenty of room to use the Responsive Classroom morning meeting and to teach the MANDATORY small groups required by the district.
But Ms. Fire Marshall visited our building and informed our head custodians that we cannot have rugs in our classroom unless they are seamed and have a pretty little label on them that say "flame retardant".
I understand from where she is coming. I want my kids to be safe. I surely don't want them burning up. . .
But really? If there's a fire, what do you think we would do? Sit on the freakin' carpet and burn baby burn? NO! We would walk out the door in a single file manner and go to the nearest exit like we have PRACTICED AT LEAST 5 TIMES A YEAR. And furthermore if the goal is to keep our children safe, I should probably get rid of all the books, papers, clothings, etc. that are entirely NON flame retardant so that during a fire, when we are sitting on our flame retardant rug with its pretty little label and not walking out the nearest exit in a single file manner, we will not burn up at all.
I'm so annoyed about this. Not because it is an unreal expectation but because our school reality does not reflect this request. We have children who cannot afford underpants and warm clothing during the winter. Many children - not just 1 - 2 per classroom. So let's have their little tushes sit on the cold hard floor in the middle of winter. Totally makes sense to me.
Maybe you are thinking, "Don't sit on the floor. . . use tables and desks and chairs". Duh. Why didn't I think about that? Oh, that's right! Because our district mandates that we teach in small groups and mini-lessons that require full on butt-on-floor contact. (Don't worry, I do have tables and chairs for seat work.) Also, Responsive Classroom (social curriculum that uses best practices) has a main component of morning meeting which needs to be conducted in a circle at a meeting area.
"Oh", so you say. "Use chairs in the meeting area instead of sitting on the floor". What a great idea! Except most of our chairs weigh more than our first graders. They can't even lift the chairs up to stack on top of their table at the end of the day. So I don't think making them carry the chairs to the meeting area will work.
"Carpet squares?", you ask. Not unless they have the prettly little label (and still cost money).
"Area carpet large enough to seat 24 students that is labeled "flame retardant" and seamed?", you say positively. Yeah, well that is roughly 400 bucks. I believe I make an excellent salary. As someone who works 10 months out of the year we, in my district, are paid reasonably well. But guess what? I don't have 400 bucks to drop on a rug. I could put it on my credit card but I'm still paying that down from the soap and wipes I couldn't even use last year.
I. AM. SO. MAD. ABOUT. THIS.
And in the wise words of Megan Doerr: "This too, shall pass". I wish she lived in my pocket so that I could always have that positivity!!!!
Please feel free to leave your opinion re: this.
And please excuse me while I go print up "flame retardant" labels to sew to my rug. OOOH! Such a rebel!
I'm so tired of the crap that teachers are dealt. I don't even know what I'm trying to say here. I'll tell you a ltitle story.
Last year we were not allowed to have soap in our classrooms by the sink unless there were wall-mounted dispensers. I didn't have a wall mounted dispenser. I had to wait two months to get a wall mounted dispenser. We were also informed that we were to not have any anti-bacterial wipes or hand gel in the room. This, right before what was expected to be a huge swine flu epidemic. Plus with the wipes thing? I don't know if you have seen a classroom full of second graders but they tend to pick their nose sometimes and sometimes miss catching their sneeze. I used to wash off their table surfaces weekly to help get rid of the germs. So I needed les wipes to help me with this.
But this year?
This year we have been informed that we are not allowed to have classroom rugs. We are a completely carpet free school (minus library and school office). During the last few years I had a rug that I purchased from the Menard's remnants. I was proud of that rug. It was striped and cool. And big. It was an awesome 12 x 12. Plenty of room to use the Responsive Classroom morning meeting and to teach the MANDATORY small groups required by the district.
But Ms. Fire Marshall visited our building and informed our head custodians that we cannot have rugs in our classroom unless they are seamed and have a pretty little label on them that say "flame retardant".
I understand from where she is coming. I want my kids to be safe. I surely don't want them burning up. . .
But really? If there's a fire, what do you think we would do? Sit on the freakin' carpet and burn baby burn? NO! We would walk out the door in a single file manner and go to the nearest exit like we have PRACTICED AT LEAST 5 TIMES A YEAR. And furthermore if the goal is to keep our children safe, I should probably get rid of all the books, papers, clothings, etc. that are entirely NON flame retardant so that during a fire, when we are sitting on our flame retardant rug with its pretty little label and not walking out the nearest exit in a single file manner, we will not burn up at all.
I'm so annoyed about this. Not because it is an unreal expectation but because our school reality does not reflect this request. We have children who cannot afford underpants and warm clothing during the winter. Many children - not just 1 - 2 per classroom. So let's have their little tushes sit on the cold hard floor in the middle of winter. Totally makes sense to me.
Maybe you are thinking, "Don't sit on the floor. . . use tables and desks and chairs". Duh. Why didn't I think about that? Oh, that's right! Because our district mandates that we teach in small groups and mini-lessons that require full on butt-on-floor contact. (Don't worry, I do have tables and chairs for seat work.) Also, Responsive Classroom (social curriculum that uses best practices) has a main component of morning meeting which needs to be conducted in a circle at a meeting area.
"Oh", so you say. "Use chairs in the meeting area instead of sitting on the floor". What a great idea! Except most of our chairs weigh more than our first graders. They can't even lift the chairs up to stack on top of their table at the end of the day. So I don't think making them carry the chairs to the meeting area will work.
"Carpet squares?", you ask. Not unless they have the prettly little label (and still cost money).
"Area carpet large enough to seat 24 students that is labeled "flame retardant" and seamed?", you say positively. Yeah, well that is roughly 400 bucks. I believe I make an excellent salary. As someone who works 10 months out of the year we, in my district, are paid reasonably well. But guess what? I don't have 400 bucks to drop on a rug. I could put it on my credit card but I'm still paying that down from the soap and wipes I couldn't even use last year.
I. AM. SO. MAD. ABOUT. THIS.
And in the wise words of Megan Doerr: "This too, shall pass". I wish she lived in my pocket so that I could always have that positivity!!!!
Please feel free to leave your opinion re: this.
And please excuse me while I go print up "flame retardant" labels to sew to my rug. OOOH! Such a rebel!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
I'm going to pontificate about the amazingness of my 6 year old now
Her birthday party, March 2010. She wanted to have her party at gymnastics because she loves it so much!
Grace has been in gymnastics for two years. She took a tots class and she was really good. Her first night the instructor asked how old she was because she was doing such a great job.
Fast forward to September 2009. I got a call on a Friday afternoon from Emily at Rising Stars Gymnastics Academy where Grace was enrolled in a gymnastics class. She said that they noticed her potential as a gymnast and were interested in getting her on their training team. We took her for a tryout and she made it onto training team 3. In January she progressed up to training team 4.
She has been continually getting certain skills she will need to move to level 5 which is the level at which RSGA gymnasts compete. She is amazing! She can do three back hand springs in a row, a couple of different kinds of passes on the floor, front hip circles, back hip circles, casts, squats to the high bar, and is currently working on her kip. The "kip" is an extremely difficult skill to get. She is so close and it should happen any day!
We spoke with some parents at her work out today who mentioned that she is so talented that she will probably be on level 5 in January when they do another skills assessment! This is so exciting. Also very scary because her monthly tuition will go up a bit.
I'm just so proud of her. She works really hard at gymastics and looks so forward to it. She pushes herself to attain skills and has a fun time doing it. She has a can do attitude and is fun to watch!
I love my big girl and am so proud of her.
Click here for the best gymnastics place in MN.
Click here to see her official training team photo. Scroll down to the bottom. She is wearing the purple leotard, on the bottom right with her leg out. Check out her 6 pack! That photo was taken in November. You should see her washboard abs now.
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