Miscellaneous Missives

Today I decided to eat the bag of Jimmy John's chips that had been sitting in my desk drawer since last week instead of eating my apple and granola bars since the calories were similar.  This meant I still add an apple and a granola bar in my bag as I passed someone with a sign standing on the side of the road.  "Would you like an apple and granola bar?"  I asked. "Oh, yes.  I'm very hungry," he said as he approached my car.  Then as I handed him the remainder of my lunch he looked at me and said, "You have such pretty eyes."  I looked in the rearview mirror and could only see the dark circles under my eyes, but he was repaying kindness with kindness.

My maintenance required light has been blinking on and off for the last week or two.  I've ignored it since I'm getting my oil changed on Friday.  Today it went steady, so I decided to stop and check my oil.  When I pulled the dipstick out, there was no oil on it.  I did this a couple times and realized I was in big trouble.  As I stood staring at the inside of my car trying to figure out which orifice wanted the oil, the toothless, scruffy gentleman (truly) asked me if I needed help.  I explained my confusion, and he (Trent) showed me the opening.  He also stayed and helped me add the oil and suggested I also go buy and add some oil stabilizer.  I offered him ten dollars for helping me, and he hesitantly took it while washing my windows and headlights.  Next, I went to buy oil stabilizer.  Since I had asked him about the appearance of its container, and he had given me the brand, I knew what I was purchasing.  However, as I left...

Saturday I backed into a pole.  I had looked behind me, but the pole was in my blind spot.  To expedite the process, I downloaded State Farm's pocket app.  Today they called to check in with me and informed me I didn't take a picture of the VIN number and mileage, so I needed to go through the process again.  At this point, I started to freak out.  My car is a 2004 with 186,500 miles.  What if they said the damage was worth more than the car?  Tonight I received my answer when the estimate arrived.  It still will be expensive with my deductible and rental car, but it won't be horrible. Motto by Langston Hughes I play it cool I did all jive That's the reason I stay alive My motto As I live and learn Is dig and be dug in return Today the seventh graders journaled about Langston Hughes' poem Motto .  When they finished journaling, I asked them how it related to the book ( The Skin I'm In ) that we were reading.  The answe...

...Read Langston Hughes, I suggest "A Raisin in the Sun" Listen to Sam Cooke, a change gon' come... I recommend that you read "The Alchemist" Listen to your teachers, but cheat in calculus Tell the truth, regardless of the consequence... I love this song by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis.  Even though it gets a lot of radio time, I don't tire of the lyrics.  The advice is solid, so I decided to read A Raisin in the Sun since I'd never read/seen the play.  Tonight I read the play and listened to a little Sam Cooke.  It seemed a decent way to spend a rainy, Friday night.

6:20  Enter the kitchen (not completely) to realize I forgot to turn on the coffee maker. 6:50  Enter Caribou to buy coffee. 6:52 Leave Caribou with a pound of Amy's Blend Dark Roast.  He tried to sell me two pounds, so I could get a free medium drink.  We settled on one pound and my free coffee. 7:12 Realize I didn't eat my Morning Round because I didn't go into the kitchen because I forgot to start the coffee. 10:46 Decide to eat during my prep.  When I reach into my bag, I realize I don't have my lunch because I didn't go into the kitchen because I forgot to start the coffee. 10:48  Start Jimmy John's order online because they're freaky fast, and I'm hungry. 10:49  Realize my wallet is on the front seat of the car because I had to stop at Caribou for coffee because I forgot to start the coffee. 10:53  Spend too much money on a lousy sandwich from Jimmy Johns... I'm fairly confident that I will remember to start the coffee to...

I'm teaching an after school program.  We're working on reading and writing skills using Blogger and Feedly.  Yesterday we started with Blogger.  The students wrote about themselves including a bit about how they see themselves as readers and writers.  Each student took a picture using their computer at the top of their post.  I did the same when I returned home.  Today we read each other's blogs and commented.  As one student looked at my picture, she said, "You look tired."  I asked her if she could keep the tired comment in her head while she said aloud, "You look beautiful."  Of course, I didn't get the beautiful comment, only a confused look. Today wasn't a complete loss.  I told my after lunch class I wanted to be referred to as "your majesty".  One student asked, "Can we call you Ms. Majesty?"  As I was telling them that would be fine, another student called me Ms. America.  Of course, I said that either was fi...

Today we took the seventh graders to the University of Minnesota campus to visit the Bell Museum and the Weisman Art Museum (WAM).  WAM currently has an exhibit called Human Touch which works the theme of identity which is often a focus of this seventh grade year.  I've been working with a great coordinator from the WAM and was excited about today's tour. When one of the docents shushed me during an introduction, I was less than pleased.  When my docent for the morning group was a bit too inflexible, I was annoyed.  During our lunch break, before the two groups switched locations (walked between museums), I talked with the coordinator about some changes I wanted to see for the afternoon.  I loved my afternoon docent, and I think she appreciated me. Since I wasn't at the Bell Museum of Natural History, I can only imagine that I wouldn't have liked the snakes and spiders, but the students seemed excited about both when we returned.   The Bell Museum i...