perspicacious.org

Since I've been going to Weight Watchers since September, the next obvious step was to start going to Jazzercize, too. Because I am a 45 year old soccer mom. *sigh* I didn't realize, however, that Jazzercize is actually sort of fun, and good for people like me who will never exercise unless absolutely necessary. It's also good for developing a little bit of rhythm, because I am super clumsy and helpless at coordinating the movements of my arms and legs. Don't worry, I am a tad embarassed about all of this.

While I'm not weight watching and jazzercizing, I've been busy finding us a free place to live this summer. I saw an ad in a teacher's newsletter for someone to house sit for the summer, and I sent off and email and R and I are going to do it. It is totally free, which is great, but involves caring for a dog and a cat and two hamsters and three mice and some fish. And mowing the lawn and dealing with emergencies. But, you know, it's free.

That's all, folks.

tags: weight watchers, jazzercise, exercise program, house sitting

I've been having lunch with three funny little second graders. One is a new student, and earlier in the week I took her for a reading test. She ended up not reading, but crying and crying when she saw my pictures of my cats. Turns out she had to leave her own cats in Texas. And her grandpa and her cousins and her dollhouse and lots of other things she loves. And her family is living in a hotel room now– 4 kids and 2 parents, and a dog that just had puppies. Yikes! At any rate, I thought that some adult attention might be nice for her, so I've been having lunch with her and 2 friends on days when I'm free. Second graders have the most bizarre conversations. They'll say anything that comes into their heads, whether or not it has any bearing on what we're currently talking about. And they'll combine foods that one should not eat together– graham crackers in orange juice? Eww. They're awfully cute, though.

This week has been one of my hardest, especially on Tuesday when I had a very mischevious 4th grade class, discipline problems and a semi-confrontation with a student's father. I had written the child a discipline referral because he didn't follow my directions after 3 requests, and the father…shall we say, doubted the authenticity of my note. To the point that he pretty much called me a liar. Don't you know, I enjoy writing fraudulent discipline referrals for fun. Don't you?

This event culminated in a nice stack of apology letters from the child and the rest of the class. Here are some of my favorites:

Dear Ms. P,
I am sorry on behalf of my classmates. Even though I followed the rules. I might of done something wrong so I am sorry.
Your friend,
J

Dear Ms. P,
I'm sure the last hour of your day was terrible just because some of my classmates. I hope you'll come back if we get our acts together. The reason I want you to come back is because you the best substitute I've ever had. [insert frowning face with tears]
Sicerly,
K

There are also some that are very genuine and heartfelt, but those two are the funniest. What a week, I tell ya.

tags: subbing, apology letter, weird foods

I just wanted to let y'all know that there have been some spam problems, and I think some of your comments may have been registered as spam unintentionally. I turned the spam settings to beeyotch because I was getting so much spam, but I certainly didn't have the intention of not letting real comments go through. Hopefully I have it fixed now, and I'm going to check the rejected comments cafefully to make sure nothing gets labeled incorrectly as spam. If you have had problems posting comments, or this happens to you in the future, please please let me know.

Thanks, and sorry if you've had issues.

We went to the Ice Park last night, too late to see John Leguizamo promo Ice Age 2 (alas, that happened Sunday night), but in plenty of time to enjoy the unseasonably cold weather. I guessed that it was around 10-15 above last night when I picked out my clothes, but I think it was actually closer to 0, and it was pretty chilly. I had on many, many layers, but I was glad most of all for the HotHands ™ inserts in my mittens. I didn't take as many pictures this year as in the past– mostly because I couldn't bear to take my hands out of the mittens. I did make R take pictures of me, though. Ha ha!

This picture is from inside an ice pyramid and, yes, I am sitting at a tiny ice table on a tiny ice stool. One side of the pyramid opened onto an ice slide. There were lots of other slides this year, but not much else. One of the most fun things in the kids' park was a hot tub made of ice– once the kids got in they slipped and slid and couldn't get out. It cracked me up.

The rest of the park is full of ice sculptures, and I must say that they were sub-par this year. There were a few neat ones, but nothing to entice me to take my hands out of the mittens. See the ice alaska website for pics of the art and general info.

tags: ice, ice park, Fairbanks, ice carving

3 days to spring break, 11 days until the equinox, and I couldn't be happier. I would hardly use the word "springlike" to describe today (it's 9 degrees out with blowing snow), but the rapidly returning light is something to rejoice in. Just 6 weeks ago it was definitely dim out by 3:30 or 4:00; these days it's visibly light out until at least 7:00 or 7:30. The light has a way of sneaking up on you in the springtime– before you know it it's light out until 9 or 10:00 at night. Then summer, and you forget what darkness looks like.

R and I have no super exciting plans for the break. I want to go to the Ice Park to see the ice sculptures, go aurora watching before the darkness leaves us for the season, and go tubing up at the ski area. R's supposed to ask her doctor today if sledding is OK, since we don't want her to hurt herself. She's been home since last Wednesday, hanging on the couch and generally feeling ouchy. Today was her first day back to work, and I hope she's holding up OK. Seems like the recovery wants to take longer than the amount of sick leave she has available.

I've been busy subbing all over the place, and vascillating between feeling satisfied and somewhat apprehensive about work. Last year I used to just come in prepared to do whatever's needed– I often don't know what I'll be doing until I get to school. This year I've been feeling like I need some advance notice so I can prepare for sub jobs, but I've been having a lot of last minute stuff to do and it's kind of…stressful. I'm looking forward to doing something else next year. I hope I hope I hope that it's a teaching job. I miss it.