Almost Halfway!

     Tomorrow we will be 19 weeks pregnant and on Tuesday we had an ultrasound.  It was so exciting!  At first the baby was really active and the ultrasound tech (I don't know the real title of this person but what a cool job!) had to chase it around to get the measurements.  Everything looked normal.  There were so many measurements that I couldn't keep track but I remember her saying that the baby weighs about 1/2 lb. at this point.  We got a good glimpse of 2 baby feet (10 toes!), saw the baby chewing and clenching a fist.  When she went to measure the legs, she turned the screen away from us so we wouldn't see the sex.  She said she could tell the gender but that she would be the only one to know.  She didn't write it down, or tell our doctor so that no one would slip up and say it.  After she had taken all the measurements, she was trying to get a good profile shot for us, but the baby decided to cuddle up with its chin to its chest and made it hard to get a good picture.

     Here is a shot with the baby facing us.  It's hard to see, but hopefully you can make it out.  You can see the eyes (the u/s really just picks up eyesockets) and a little hand up above.

     This one I think is sort of a profile shot?  Like I said, this baby got really shy at this point in the process. When I look at it, I think the lit up part is the head.  Baby sure has come a long way since being a gummi bear!

     In other news, I have been asked to cover a teacher's maternity leave at the school I was at for 3 months last school year.  This time it is 8th grade English.  I have subbed one day at that class a few weeks ago and it's going to be so much easier this time around.  This teacher has all the plans laid out so I won't be doing any lesson-planning and I have 2 Honors classes so the kids are better behaved.  Right now the job is scheduled to end January 8th, but my supervisor said that I should expect that to get extended through February.  I am planning on working up until March 10th so I am so grateful to get out of the sub pool for now.

Origami Friends

     I just wanted to share a few recent projects for the nursery.  Today, the origami fox got some friends.  The color is a little off in the picture (the yellow is not that bright), but I didn't finish the owl until tonight so I didn't have the benefit of natural sunlight for the photo.  They look a little stale in the photo, but I love how the origami jumps off the canvas and looks different from different angles.  The frames are leftover from my scissor and saw projects.  The rabbit is hard to decipher in the picture but it is obvious what it is in person.

     I had a tin that my mom got for me that I used to put my embroidery in.  I've kept it all these years!!  I moved my embroidery (yes, I still have all my hoops, needle and thread!) to another box and painted the tin orange.  I also had a random box that I think I got as a teenager?  It was green with pink flowers so I painted it blue.  The texture is rough because I used acrylic paint, but there more for decoration anyway.  I'm sure they'll come in handy to store something.  I'm planning on putting them on the dresser with the origami hanging above.

     Daniel and I bought the board book "Fox in Socks" when we were out and about the other day.  It was our first real purchase for the baby.  I've seen a trend floating around pinterest of displaying books on ikea spice racks on the wall, so I'm going to give it a try. 

     I don't think I've posted this yet on here.  The paper lanterns came in the mail a few weeks ago.  Right now they're sitting on the floor collecting dust, but having them really sets the color tone for the room.  My mom got us this adorable fox blanket.  I'm either going to hang it on the edge of the crib or get a small decorative ladder to hang baby quilts on.  It depends on how much room we have once the furniture goes in.  And...this is my four-month bump!  It's not very big but it cracks me up when kids at school ask me if I'm pregnant.  They always preface it with, "I don't mean to be rude or inappropriate Mrs. Kahn, but..."

     I'm having a lot of fun planning this nursery!  It's fun to do a little at a time and watch it come together.  I hope you're enjoying seeing it. :)

What we've been up to...

     First off, I found a bunch of honeymoon pics on my camera that we forgot to import on iphoto.  These are two of my favorites...views from the condo in Cayucos.  We're planning on spending next July 4th there.  It is so incredibly beautiful!

     For the most part, things are pretty day-to-day here.  The temperature has leveled off to a high of 90 degrees and the mornings have been nice and cool.  Daniel is still enjoying his job and I have found some familiarity in my job as I have been returning to classes I've subbed before.  I get to sub at a 4th grade class over Halloween and I'm super stoked about that.  

     Over my birthday weekend, we went to a wedding in Malibu.  Malibu was not at all what I expected.  It was very hilly, spotted with ranch houses.  I guess I just always thought of it as a suburb of L.A.  On my actual birthday, the day after the wedding, we drove through the Malibu hills to get to the beach.  Then we drove alongside the ocean to go to Santa Monica.  We explored the pier there, walked along the water, then had lunch.  It was an amazing birthday!  Daniel and I are such good travelers together.  We're both more inclined to take the day as it comes, seeing what we stumble upon.

     In baby news, we have an ultrasound scheduled for Tuesday.  We are 18 weeks along on Monday.  My body definitely tells me if I do too much in a day.  I start to get aches and cramps.  I'm still waiting to feel the first kick!  I'm pretty excited about that, but by the looks of my stomach this is a pretty tiny baby, so it might be a few more weeks before I feel anything.

     I have decided to go ahead with my last semester for my teaching credential.  The timing is good.  The semester ends around the time the baby is due, but I'll finish well before that.  The more time I spend in the classroom, the more I am convinced I have found my life's work...I think it's best to be prepared before the baby comes.

Weekend Projects

     I have been back at work now for 3 weeks and things are going better every day.  The more I sub, the less anxiety I feel about it.  I am finding that I like elementary much more than middle school or high school.  I'll continue to do all grades because a job is a job, but I have much better days at elementary.  They are sweet, eager to participate, and they don't have cellphones!
     This weekend I worked on a few projects for the nursery.  It might seem like I'm getting the room ready too early, but Daniel works weekends and I need to entertain myself somehow.  So I'm putting the nursery together a little at a time.
     The first project I did was a paper pennant banner to go above the crib.  Just this morning we felt an earthquake so there's no way anything heavier than paper is going above that crib!  I got some scrapbook paper, cut it into triangles and strung it along.  It was super easy and I think it turned out cute.  I added a little teal to the color scheme, which I think works these days as a gender neutral color.

     The second project I copied almost exactly from a watercolor I saw on Pinterest.  I just fell in love with it and knew I could duplicate it.  Here's the inspiration:

     Here is my process:

     And here is the finished product!

     I'm more than a little proud of it.  I think it turned out awesome!  Since I already had the frame, canvas, string and tools, both of these projects cost me a total of $2.98 at Michael's.  So far this nursery is far from breaking the bank.

     Tonight we are starting our two night stay at Daniel's work.  They are celebrating the opening of a new building and pool at the resort and letting the managers' families check it out first.  Stay tune for pictures! :)

Origami Obsession

     My sub job ended abruptly this week when the teacher who was on jury duty walked into class yesterday afternoon.  There's nothing more unpredictable than a jury duty assignment.  Today I was unable to pick up a job but I have two elementary jobs later this week.  I have only taught elementary once and it can be kind of a tough position to sub for so I know I need some bribes up my sleeve.  I've found a few games and some easy origami activities that I can reward them with at the end of the day if they behave.
     I was practicing the origami this morning and the dog, cat, and fish are really easy for kids to do.  Here's the website if anyone feels a little origami-ish. :)

First Week Down and an Origami Fox

     I made it through the first week of school and I'm ready to start week 2.  I'm in the same classroom again this week because the teacher has jury duty.  I LOVE long-term assignments.  I am a creature of habit most of the time and I like to know what I'm getting into each day.  This week I have had the pleasure of teaching some great 9th graders including a bunch that I taught for three months last year in middle school.
     This is the first "start" (if you can call it that) to the nursery.  The chest has blankets in it.  I want to cover it with something soft like the faux sheepskin rug from Ikea, and put stuffed animals on it.  This bear has been mine so long that I don't remember when I got it.  I carried it onto the plane from SLC to Portland to make sure I wouldn't lose track of it.  It's going to belong to this lucky baby now.  Don't you just love that plaid bowtie?!

And this....is the first piece of diy artwork.  I stumbled across this origami fox on pinterest and decided it needed to be folded and framed.  It's the first of many nods to the adorable fox in this space.

     If you want to make an origami fox (and you should), the instructions are here.

Ticking Time Bomb

     Tomorrow I am going back to work and I am feeling a little nervous.  Lately I have been only throwing up before bed but I still can't shake the feeling that I'm a vomit-ticking-time-bomb.  I am teaching HS English this week and I'm taking with me an arsenal of crackers, plenty of food since its unpredictable what will sound good, and a just-in-case plastic bag.  Haha, I'm sure I'll be fine!  I've just been so spoiled to spend most of the first trimester at home that going out into the real world is a little daunting.
     Today we are 11 weeks pregnant so I should come out of this morning sickness thing this month.  I can't wait to be done with it!!

Nursery Ideas

These are some of my favorite inspirations from Pinterest.  If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with a fox theme.  I'm also drawn to geometric prints and I have to incorporate a little Wes Anderson where I can!  I've decided to do the nursery in a soft orange, beige and white and then add pink or navy blue details when the baby arrives.  The hardest part will be trying to stay gender neutral when gender-specific baby stuff is so darn cute!

There is a lot of opportunity for some DIY projects and I'm very excited about that. It will give me something to work on while Daniel is at work on the weekends.  My first project is to get all the stuff that's in the nursery packed up and down in storage.  Considering my wedding was 13 months of preparation, I'm going to need all of the next 7 months to pull off this project!

Gummi Bear

     Here we go!  Today we are 9 weeks and 5 days pregnant, due March 24, 2014.  I haven't posted for awhile because I've known for nearly 6 weeks and wasn't ready to let the cat out of the bag.  (Plus, I have been thinking of little else).  But here it is.  We've decided this little picture looks like a gummi bear.  We could see him/her kicking in the ultrasound, see the heart beating, the umbilical cord, and yolk sac.  It was amazing!  We are not finding out the sex.  It's a Kahn tradition that I just can't break, and besides I think the surprise will be exciting.
     I still have a week and a half before school starts, and I'm hoping that the morning sickness subsides before then.  I'm going back as a substitute and have decided to put my teaching credential on hold for now.  Right now we are planning on me staying home with the baby and possibly continuing to substitute on Daniel's days off, if he continues to have his two days off on weekdays.
     Daniel is loving his job right now and we are so grateful we made the move to the desert.  I'm hoping that next summer brings us another move.  Daniel will be promotion-eligible and we both love the thrill of experiencing new places.
     This baby will be grandbaby #8 for my parents and grandbaby #10 for Daniel's parents.  It's awesome that he/she will have so many cousins including one just 3 months older!

Going buggy

     Today, as I went in my bedroom after breakfast to make my bed, I found the nastiest, crawliest bug on the floor.  It was belly up and I couldn't tell if it was dying or just sunning itself.  I couldn't bear the thought of going near it, so I vacuumed it up.  Then I got all crawly and began to wonder if any of the furniture was hatching.  After all, we rescued it from a barn, and it's old.  Who knows what crawled up in the nooks and crevices.  So I've deep cleaned through my morning, and deep cleaning makes one think.
     I didn't expect marriage to come with this awkward phase.  I feel somehow cheated by women before me, by those that "have it all".  Their ambition glares down at me and my sorry lack of ambition.  Nowadays, when I think about working, it's like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle.  Does this piece go here?  Will I be able to afford a nanny?  Will Daniel continue to have weekdays off?  When will I be at the "right place" in my career to have children?  Will we ever be able to live off of one income?  What happens if I become the only breadwinner?
     There are many voices on the subject of women at home vs. women at work.  The more formal arguments come from women at work...naturally.  They get paid to write an article for the New York Times, or they are a top player at facebook who would make for a profitable book deal.  The informal arguments (including possibly this one) are coming from women at home in the form of mommy blogs. For this reason, I wish mommy blogs weren't so nauseating.  I wish stay-at-home motherhood wasn't associated with upcycling every piece of furniture (i.e. painting it teal blue), making gourmet meals for toddlers, etc.  Nauseating as many of them are, they are making a great point.  Many women are finding the working mother model hard to swallow.  For some, it's so great in theory, and so miserable in practice.
     As a babysitter, I have seen many versions of the working mother, from those that work nights or two days a week, to those that work a 9-5 with lots of nanny/hubby help.  Sometimes I noticed a balance had been achieved.  Other times, I witnessed heaps of stress on mothers, children and husbands as everyone tried to share the load.   Don't believe me?  Ask your nanny how many snide remarks she's heard your hubby make, or how many inconsolable "I want my mommy" crying fits she has had to deal with.  I'm not trying to add to the working mother guilt, but I begin to wonder if we as women have more choice than we think.
     As I'm not being paid for writing this, I will keep my argument short.  I think it's ironic that we talk about stay-at-home-motherhood as though it's something new and novel.  It's an old spin on an old classic.  Why the war?  Why the push to get an equal number of women in the CEO spots?  Why does a 26-year-old woman feel like a mooching she-devil when she thinks about the stay-at-home life?  Is there a happy medium?  I hope I find it.

Awkward Beauty

     I had to submit a "professional-looking" photo to WGU for my student teaching portfolio.  Aren't photographs humbling?  I never thought of myself as particularly beautiful, in the words of a high school classmate "You're no beauty queen, Cheri".  (Why do these things stay with us?  It's been almost a decade since high school.)
     Surprisingly, I have learned to accept some of my non-beauty-queen attributes.  I don't think it's because they "add character" as the phrase goes, but because of a semi-defeatist acceptance of some of my awkward features.
     Awkward feature #1:  My eyes are each a different shape and size.  My left eye is larger and rounder.  My right eye is smaller and more almond-shaped.  Freaky, I know, but not that uncommon.  An online search came up with this article: Two Eyes, Two Sizes.
     Awkward Feature #2:  This one only sort of counts, because it is a recent development and is fixable.  My teeth have continued to push forward in the last five years and my left front tooth is starting to angle forward.  I call it my scraggle-tooth.  It doesn't help that I missed putting lipstick on half my bottom lip for this picture.  Clearly not beauty queen behavior.  I also have a funny drooping gum-line on one side that has to be cut back by an oral surgeon ever five years or so.
     Could be much, much worse.  So, I will accept that I am a crazy-eyed, scraggle-toothed non-beauty-queen.  Does that make me an ogre?

Transitional Summer

     In the past, summer has meant job hunting.  Being the introspective introvert that I am, I would typically spend the springtime reevaluating my life, decide that my current job was not aligning with my goals, put my two weeks in, and then spend the summer looking for a job.  Granted, sometimes the change in employment was due to a change in school schedule or graduation.
     This summer is different, yet strangely similar.  I tend to put enormous pressure on myself...pressure to achieve, to be my personal best.  The way I have handled jumping into teaching is no different.  I didn't know I wanted to be a teacher.  I wanted to be an actuary..i.e. I wanted to attain the crown jewel, the holy grail of being a math major.  It was the job that said, "Wow you're really smart, you must make a ton of money."  Then I started taking the actuary exams and stressed myself out, studying for them alongside my senior year classes.  And when I stress, I draw inward.  I began talking to Daniel about what our future family life would look like, and through those talks, the teacher image emerged.
     Upon moving here, employment was key, but also getting on the teacher track.  I found both in being employed as a substitute teacher.  Substituting is good for me.  It is more money than I have ever made and the pressure is over when the last bell rings.  But where am I going with this?...oh yeah, this summer.
     I am stressed again, but slowly unwinding myself.  I started WGU April 1st, and since then I have been on the fast track.  It's a "competency-based" program, which lets me go at my own pace, which in my world means hyper-speed.  The average student completes the program in 18 months.  I was determined to complete it in 12 months, the main motive being to start student teaching in Jan. '14, vs. Sept. '14 (I only have those two options each year), so that I could get a teaching contract for the '14-'15 school year.
     This summer, I was planning to complete most of my program.  I have done a whole lot since I started.  In fact, I am on track to graduate in March '14.  But my aggressive plan means studying for 3 major math exams this summer, and this task has left me paralyzed.  I have reached that point of overworking myself, and have spent the last three days watching TLC and reading psychology books.
     So I am rethinking.  A teaching contract is getting less and less attractive at this stage in my life.  I really enjoy substituting, and I especially love the flexibility.  Daniel's career requires mobility at this stage, and I can substitute anywhere.  I'm not giving up on getting my credential, just considering slowing the pace.

Summer and Family Matters

Summer is here!  Today was the last day of school for most of my district and yesterday was my last day of subbing for the year.  Yesterday I watched the first 45 minutes of A Bug's Life 5 times.  I don't recommend it!  Now that summer is on, I can get to work on completing my teaching credential.  I love working on school from home.  I have a schedule for my day and it's so amazing to get chores and errands done and transition right into writing a paper, without having to work out bus schedules or deadlines.  Loving WGU.

We spent the weekend visiting family in Salt Lake City and sending Taylor off on his mission.  I spent the 10.5 hour drive home thinking on the weekend and reflecting on family.  So often we hear the phrase "Life is too short" but when it comes to family, life is long, especially when you have a big family like I do.

What does that mean and what are the implications?  Think back on the history of your family.  It stretches further than you can think about and someday we'll all be great-great-grandma/pa who did such-and-such. Think about your aunts, uncles, grandparents and how much they have affected your personality, well-being, and experiences.  That's what I mean.  Family life is long, and its effect is far-reaching.  Too often, families can lose perspective and get caught up in short-term situations, losing sight of the long-term effects.

I write the next part of my post, not placing any blame, or making judgments.  Truthfully, it's hard seeing my family these days.  Several factors contribute to this fact, including that several of us live out of state.  I would like to propose some solutions that might remedy our future family relationships.

1. Once in awhile, at least every year or two, we all need to be at the same place at the same time.  We need to set a date in the future that we can all commit to being there. (Taylor's Homecoming? Palm Desert resort weekend?)  Being in the same city doesn't count.  I mean everyone is off-work and attending at least most of the time.

2.  We need to have an itinerary.  If we could all spend all of the meals of only one weekend together, that would be amazing, inexpensive, and doable for everyone's schedule.  Meals need to be planned and everyone contributes.

I was a little heart broken after this weekend.  We spent a lot of time in our hotel room, or walking the downtown streets because we didn't have enough of an itinerary.  We heard about people being here or there, but often two parties invited us at the same times and we felt conflicted turning someone down to see another family member.

I almost didn't write this post.  I am so nervous about offending, but this comes from a place that misses my family so much.  Hopefully we can find a way to get over past issues and create a together family again.

On a much, much lighter note, here are some of my favorite pictures from this weekend.

Adam taking care of sippy cups.

Sweet Adeline

Flashback!  Love this picture that my mom found.  1991?

Daniel's turn at taking care of sippy cups.

Tea Party Crashers

Online Personality

What's your online personality?  I just finished my schoolwork this morning (online) and looked across my Bookmark Bar and realized that I spend a lot of time (but also accomplish a lot) online.  Here's a snapshot of my online personality and how I am developing it.

#1. Blogger  - Why not start right where we are?  Femmecheri has become a journaling outlet for me.  I know people outside my family (or even inside) would only find it nominally interesting, but it is cathartic to me to write a new post and to look back on my past posts.

I am also in the works of forming a blog about Substitute Teaching.  I have a lot to say about this subject like advice to new subs, advice to current teachers about how to set a sub up for success and my view that the whole sub system is outdated and cruel.  More on that to come.

#2. Facebook - There were times that I considered leaving fb.  I was getting tired of seeing who shared "yogadork"'s photo, and some people's almost constant status updates were (and are) nauseating.  But then I started to see fb in a different light.  We are lonely these days, lacking community, and fb provides us with a little bit of that.  My new goal when I log on to fb is to say something nice about someone in a comment or like a few pictures.  That's the whole point right?  Why post a picture if you didn't want the world to tell you they approve?  I do it too, and when people like my photos, I feel a sense of comradery (sp?).

#3.  Pinterest - Announcement, if you're following me on Pinterest and you don't want to see a million "how to use legos in a math class" pins (and the like), you might want to unfollow me and choose a few boards of mine to follow instead... because it's about to get real this summer with the math pinning. I love Pinterest, it's like list making on steroids, and you all know how much I love to make lists!  Enough said.

#4.  Twitter - Twitter is an educator's professional development gold mine.  Don't follow me on Twitter for social reasons.  I'm still navigating the waters, but I'm learning a lot from following some really good, experienced educators on Twitter.

So what's your online personality?  What do you use social sites for?  Are you using them in a way that gives back to you or are they sucking up your precious time?

About Cars

Not many people know this about me but I have a fear of riding or driving a car on the freeway.  I used to drive everyday on the freeway in SLC, but then I rarely drove in Portland and sort of got out of the habit.  I am trying to be proactive with dealing with it.  My drive to work has been on 55 mph roads and I try to remind myself that it's not much different from the freeway.  Our new location makes Hanford a more logistical 5 hour car ride so we will find ourselves on that road more often.  I am looking forward to the drive to Salt Lake because it gives me a chance to stare my fear right in the face.  I also have a few tests to take that require me to drive an hour on the I-10 to Redlands.  I know that many people have similar fears or fears of flying, etc.  I'm only human in the end.

Anyway, I took this picture on our way to Hanford last week and I'm planing on taking my camera for the SLC car ride.  I tell Daniel, "A life where you can't drive to see family is not worth living."  Even if the thoughts linger, every time I get in the car, I have conquered.

Land of Rattlesnakes

The heat has us shying away from hiking these days but this is a hike we took back in March.  It's beautiful but according to another hiker, there were rattlers around.  Glad I didn't see/hear any. I wish I had some pictures of Daniel but as you can see he has mad photography skills.  Glad things have settled down for me and I can blog again!

Home

It's amazing to me how character builds in a home.  You start out with one idea of how it should look but as you welcome different items, it comes together in its own way.  Our home has started to take on an earthy feel.  It's nothing that someone would pin on pinterest with the tag "I want my home to look like this!" but somehow it fits just right for us.  It feels so comfortable and warm.

Our home is too small for a piano and getting the piano from Hanford seemed too daunting of a task so we sold it.  It went to a good home, one where an eight-year-old girl is learning to play and that made me happy.  Someday, after I have settled into teaching a little more, I will take up the piano again.  For now, I am content with finding new pieces to listen to on Spotify and plotting how I will get my students to listen to classical while they do their independent practice.  hehehe

Finally Settling In

Last week I had this grand idea about a new product that I could launch on Etsy, but this morning I woke up feeling disoriented.  I felt this morning that there were so many things on my "to do" list, but that I had no sense of their priority.  So I've used today as a reality check.  I watched the Randy Pausch video on Time Management again.  (I posted it on my blog about a year ago), and I discovered that I have not yet settled in.  So much has happened in the last 8 months, including graduation, getting married, moving to California, starting as a substitute teacher, and in April I will start my teaching preparation program.  I think my brain has been in reaction mode, and now I need to switch gears.

I'm making a few changes, such as getting a desk and getting organized.  I'm closing my Etsy store so I can focus my energy in more productive ways.  After all, I opened the Etsy store when I was out of work for two months waiting to see if we would be moving to California last summer.  Now that I am working, it doesn't serve me to keep it open.

These next few weeks are crucial for me to get my time managed before I start my teacher program.  I'll be posting some of my solutions here so stay tuned!

DIY Art for our Bedroom

I started this art project last weekend and had to put it on hold during a busy work week, but I finished it last night.  I took a few photos of the process so you could see how easy it was.  I bought a canvas from Joann's that was on sale for $10 and spent another $8 on masking tape and paint.  I absolutely love how it looks in our bedroom.  When I see it in the room with our older furniture, it reminds me of a quilting block and I can't wait to get the quilt from Utah that my grandma made for us.  It will look so beautiful folded at the foot of our bed.

Don't think I'm this creative!!  I got this idea off of pinterest.  First I painted a random design.  Then I made a triangle cut out pattern.  I used the pattern to help me place the masking tape and create identical triangles. My plan was to paint the whole thing white, but as I started painting from left to right, Daniel noticed that the ombre (sp?) effect looked really cool.  So there you have it.  Our bedroom finally looks a little more complete. :)

New Stationery Sets on Etsy

I finally posted my new stationery products on Etsy.  I have been working on this project for a few weeks but it took me awhile to list because I had to figure out how to close the stationery cases.  I ended up using a brad-button closure.  I think they turned out great!  Let's see if I get any buys!

Reflecting on the First Week of Teaching

So far, I LOVE being a teacher.  I love choosing my own clothes for work.  I love getting there early and setting up my room for the day.  There have been times this week when my patience has been tried.  I had to give one girl a referral for saying "Shut up b***" when I asked her to move back to her assigned seat.  I issued a quiz to a class of 30 and got 11 papers back with nothing written but a name at the top.  Who puts there name on an empty quiz?  Do they think I offer participation points?  I don't think so.

My students might not know it, but I am learning every day.  I have learned that one class responds to lecture/note-taking while another responds to a discussion format.  Some classes can handle working quietly on their own while others need constant instruction to keep order in the classroom.  Towards the last 10 minutes of one class, there was a boy in the front row that just couldn't keep his mouth shut while we were trying to work through problems as a class.  I moved him to another desk to keep him from distracting his classmates, but it turned into a game of moving the desk forward every time I looked away.  Of course, the class was in stitches and it was extremely disruptive.  I pulled him aside after class and asked him why he was behaving that way.  He showed me his paper and he had the whole homework assignment finished and every problem was correct.  The lightbulb went off in my head.  He's bored!  I talked to another teacher about this and she suggested that I ask him to be my T.A. and when he's finished he can alphabetize class homework by last name to make it easier for me to grade.  I can also have him and another student that's finished play math board games at the back of the classroom.  SO MUCH TO LEARN!  I get so excited to get back in the classroom and try to be a better teacher each day.

There really isn't any other news.  Since I have to get up at 5am every day, I am so tired by 9pm every night.  My feet get so sore from walking up and down the aisles that I have had to postpone my running goals.  But all in all, I am very, very happy.

Daniel showed me this video that one of his friends posted on facebook.  For some reason, this is one of the funniest videos I have ever seen!  Hope it makes your weekend. :)

Jitters!

Tomorrow is my first day of school and I am so excited and nervous.  I know that everything will be great but I can't help but feel the first day jitters.  I have a two-week assignment teaching middle school math and my day will go from about 7:15AM to 2:30PM.  There are seven class periods but I might get a prep period.  It's a little scary not knowing much about the job until a half-hour before class but I chose the two-week assignment so that I could have a little more consistency (not to mention guaranteed work for two weeks!)  Anyway, here goes!

Bump and Grind

Just a few pictures from when Daniel and I hiked the Bump and Grind trail on Wednesday.  It only took a few hours and we started and ended behind Target haha.

Bonus:  Daniel took this picture from the roof of a building and I think it's awesome.

Here's to a healthy 2013!

Maybe because I'm a little hyped up after my barre workout, I have health on the brain.  Sad to say it, but my arthritis is back.  I can see 3 red nodes on my fingers and I have some joint pain.  I guess the desert isn't a cure, but I looked online and found a list of super-foods that might help slow the cartilage damage.

Broccoli, Berries, Pineapple, Yogurt, Brazil Nuts, Flax Seeds, Spinach, Salmon, Tuna, Winter Squash, Olive Oil, Almonds and Kale.

I'm going to try and build my menus around healthy servings of the above and see if it helps.  Onions were also on the list so I'm going to try to cook with them more in soups.  That's about as daring as I can get these days.

And here's something for all you birth-control takers out there.  When I started taking birth control a few years ago, my doctor casually said I should consider taking a vitamin B-12 supplement.  So I bought some, took it for maybe a week and then forgot about it.  As I renewed my prescription, it was never mentioned again.  Then, about two weeks ago, the soles of my feet would go numb especially at night and I would wake up due to a burning prickly sensation in my feet.  The next day, I started getting numb, painful fingers.  I looked online, and after the internet tried to scare me into thinking I had diabetes, I found the culprit:  A lack of B12 causes nerve damage!!!  What?!  Shouldn't this be blaring news when you start a birth control regimen?  Shouldn't someone say, "Damage to the nervous system is very serious and is possible when you're on birth control for an extended period of time."

Anyway, I have been taking a B-12 vitamin twice a day for two weeks and after a few days the prickly feelings stopped.  So...get your B-12!  The consequences of missing out on it is not fun.