89/365: Another Day I'm Glad I'm No Longer a Principal

As I looked out the window this morning, I thought of another reason I'm happy I'm no longer a school principal--snow.  The forecast today is for intermittant snow, a dusting, no accumulation.  However I can still hear the voices "Dr. J, will we get out early?" or "When are we going home?"  The latter was actually my favorite question because my answer was always "after lunch."  I just didn't say how long after lunch.  If a light dusting actually occurs before dismissal, the office will be flooded with phone calls from parents about if school would be cancelling.  Or then there are the parents who just show up to get their kids because the roads are getting bad.  Ah, the good old days! 
 
Instead, I now get to sit in my office and enjoy the view.  I went out at lunch and got coffee because a good strong cup always tastes better when it's snowing.  I can also happily look forward to a fire and red wine when I get home tonight.  That's what snow should bring.

88/365: I Assume February Will Bring a Heart

This is Boo's latest "family" homework project.  Decorate the attached snowman so we can hang him in the hall for January.  November was a turkey and December was the Christmas tree.  This one was more a family project than the last two, primarily because we used hot glue and I was afraid of burns and a trip to SLU.  Klucker attached the twig arms and the holly badge.  I did the embossing powder on the hat and hot glued the eyes and nose.  Boo did pick out all the buttons we used. 
 
We should be getting Boo's report card soon.  The semester ended in December and I'm sure teachers had to have grades ready this week.  I'm in a little angst over it.  Boo is very smart--not sure whether to say gifted or just well-prepared and supported.  Regardless, so far he's got this kindergarten curriculum whipped.  You'd assume that's a good thing.  It would be if Boo were a pleaser like Bella.  Little man is not; he is a clown--an active, hyper, sarcastic clown.  He doesn't sit still well, he's in constant motion, and he's usually two steps ahead of the game.  That doesn't bode well in a traditional classroom setting.  During conferences in October I heard how he had mastered all of first and second quarter, as well as part of third quarter objectives.  Then the other shoe fell about him talking out and not sitting still.  I was expecting this and I actually prayed that his teacher didn't mention ADHD or medication; that would not have ended well for her.
 
I will admit it, as an educator, I was bothered that my son was not the best (i.e. smartest and most well behaved) kid in class.  It took me a few days to process and come to the decision that I really don't give a damn about him getting in trouble for talking and being loud as long as he's not being mean and is doing the assigned work.  I've seen too many bright kids turned off by our education system . . . they get in trouble at school, and then at home, and then begin hating school.  They are disengaged by middle school and either struggle or drop out of high school.  NOT MY SON.  I won't allow it.  We talk about his day each evening.  I ask him what he learned and if he had fun.  When he tells me he got in trouble, I encourage him to be calm and quiet.  Then I hug him and tell him I love him.  In the morning I tell him to have a great day and tell him I love him again.  I know eventually I will be back at the school advocating for my son.  I will not be as accomodating to his teacher as I was in October.  I will asked her reflective questions as I would with a teacher whom I had just evaluated.  If she doesn't seem responsive, I will move to a more directive roll.  I will be relentless on the quest for an outstanding, challenging education for him.  He deserves nothing less. 

87/365: My View This Morning

I got the idea for this photo from my friend Steph's blog.  She's working on writing more and wrote a blog entry while on her trainer.  So this morning, iPad and camera in hand, I headed to the basement.  Wednesdays are my tough workout days.  Coach Chuck had a 40 minute run with 2 fartlek ladders and a 60 minute easy spin on my schedule.  Plus, I choose to do a conditioning class on Wednesday evenings because I love to feel humiliated at how weak I am and be barely able to walk on Thursdays.

While I didn't write this entry from the trainer, I was much to groggy for that, I made myself acutely aware as to how I was feeling during the workout.  By necessity, I am a morning person.  I do many of my workouts from 4-5AM so that they don't interfere with my family or work.  Plus, during the summer months, it's a great time to be outside.  During January, not so much.  Typically my AM workouts are my runs.  There is no one out that early to see my poor form or to laugh at the painful expression as I trudge up and down the streets of town.  Today I chose to do my bike in the morning because speed work is much easier for me to do on a treadmill.  (I can make myself run at a specified pace that way.)  To be able to workout that early, I plan ahead.  My clothes are sitting out in the bathroom, shoes are along side my bike, a filled waterbottle is in the fridge, and my Garmin is sitting by the top of the stairs.

As I locked into my pedals I thought about how heavy my legs felt.  It was as if there were extra weight added to them.  It took a lot of effort to spin at an 85 cadence in an easy gear.  I thought about feeling lucky that today's bike was an easy spin.  I turned on the DVD plan and loaded the next episode of Mad Men.  I questioned myself about how I was able to run so easily this early, but the riding was feeling so difficult.  About eight minutes in, I added a gear and finally was able to hit 90rpm.  I switched between sitting straight up and having my hands on the hoods.  I could seem to get comfortable.  Somewhere after 15 minutes, the blood began to flow better.  My head still felt foggy, but my legs had more life in them.  Actual proof, to me, of the value of a warm up. 

I picked up my camera and took two shots of my view.  Nothing exciting to see.  Most trips to the trainer require me to pick up Barbies, Nerf toys and Wii accessories.  I looked over at the iPad and decided against trying to blog and ride.  I wasn't sure I had that much in my brain or in my ability to coordinate so many movements at once. 

My brain finally began to clear about 35 minutes into the spin.  I began to contemplate the day ahead, what I had to do.  As I did this, I noticed my cadence was speeding up as well.  I was finally maintaining 90+ without concentrating on it.  I was beginning to feel normal.  It made me question those people who are up and out the door in the morning.  Do their brains really engage that quickly?  I would be forgetting everything if I didn't take the time to process my day ahead. 

My hour passed quickly.  I hopped off the bike and headed upstairs to the day ahead.  Work and two more workouts await.

86/365: Law of Abundance

I'm not a superstitious person.  I will step on cracks.  I will go in one door and out another in a house.  I will try to pet the black cat that's crossing my path as I walk under a ladder.  But last year in January, I was feeling a bit vunerable.  I was in my first year at a new job, just got word that my salary would be frozen which actually meant it was being cut because the state required us to increase our retirement contribution, and I was writing the final check to pay for Christmas.  So when I heard about the Chinese Law of Abundance, I gave it a shot.  The idea is this:
 
Within 24 hours of the first new moon of the year.  You write yourself a "blank check."  It's made out to you, the memo says "paid in full" and it's signed "Law of Abundance."  You date it, but you leave the amount blank.  You're supposed to carry this with you everywhere and periodically take it and look at it and visualize financial success.
 
I wrote the check on January 14, 2010 and folded it and put it in my wallet.  When I switched wallets, I put the check in my new one.  And almost everytime I took out my racing license, I looked at my check.  Now I can't say that we came into a huge windfall during 2010, but I can say that we weathered the pay cut and other things well.  And I can say it gave me some calmness when I stressed about money at different times.
 
This year, the new moon came a little earlier.  It's funny, I was actually thinking about my folded check and the lore behind it when I saw a post on Facebook about the Law of Abundance, so before going to bed, I wrote my check.  It's now folded, in the location of last year's.  And I'll see what happens.  Afterall, I figure it can't hurt.  There's definitely some truth the power of positive thinking, so I'll keep thinking that we'll be financially abundant.

85/365: Ready for School

Back to school for all of us today.  The kids were both home for ten days.  For me it was 16 days away from work.  I enjoyed it, but I recognize that we all need structure in this house. 

Boo is not a morning kid, he is a sleeper.  Most days we have to wake him to go to school.  Getting him to get dressed is usually a chore, so I don't even bother with his hair.  The funny thing is, at some point today, he realized how he looked.  He came home this evening with his hair down and neat.  When I asked him about it, he said he wet it down in the bathroom and make it look nice.  What a player!

84/365: Whose Christmas Present Was That?

Klucker bought me an iPad for Christmas.  I love it.  It's exactly what I was hoping it would be.  I can have it on the end table and check Facebook while I watch TV.  I can have it next to me on the trainer.  I take it to the kitchen to Google recipes.  I'm already addicted to the App Store, but am pacing myself.  The only real problem I see with it is that I have to pry it out of everyone else's hands.  This photo is a perfect example.  One of the coolest things it will do is stream Netflix (and yes I know any computer with internet access can do that).  The kids have become fans of "the baby show"  a.k.a. Rugrats.  They also like the bubble game and the snowman game.  It amazed me to watch them pick it up and instantly know how to navigate the apps.  Klucker is also hooked on the bubble game.  The moment the iPad is set down, it's in someone else's hands.  And typically it's not my hands!

83/365: Her Daddy Even Made Her Wash the Dishes

After almost a week, Bella got to bake in her Easy Bake oven.  The first creation was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting that she ate all by herself.  Klucker, having not had an Easy Bake as a child, got to help in this process.  They mixed the cake together and he helped her slide it in oven.  They pushed it through to the cooling chamber and made the frosting while it cooled.  Bella then iced it herself and sat down to enjoy.

The best part of this process was Klucker making Bella wash all of her own dishes.  He kept reminding her that he didn't leave dirty dishes out when they made gingerbread.  He'd check her work and made her wash several pieces twice.  And considering Klucker's already looked up Easy Bake recipes on Google, I'm curious as to how many father/daughter baking projects we'll have.