good news

I got a call this morning to sub this afternoon. Ironically, I'm going to be a PE teacher again... at a different school! I guess they must really like me in that role!

I'm actually glad it's just for the afternoon. I had a horrible night... didn't get to sleep until about 5 am. So this way, I managed to get three or four hours of sleep.

My adorable hammies were awake, though, when I got up. They are such a blessing... and I have been SOOOO blessed by God this week, to not get any sub calls while I was sick. Not that I don't need the money, but I was too sick to work. As a sub this could have been really awful for me... I tried to find a website that explained the sub selection process, but was unsuccessful, so here's my best explanation: If the district calls and asks you to sub, then they EXPECT you to be able to sub. If for whatever reason, you cannot or choose to not accept an assignment, your name is sent to the back of the list, and you may not be called again for up to a month. Bad news financially!

On an unrelated note... check out this story! I heard about it on the news this morning. An autistic boy at a high school in New York state had functioned as sort of a manager for the basketball team. As a "gift" to him for his senior year, the coach put him in the final game of the season. He rewarded the coach by tying a school record and scoring SIX three-point shots! How awesome!

Thanks April!

I have spent over five years avoiding scented and colored body lotions and soaps, due to a skin allergy that causes me to have horribly dry and cracked skin. However, last week my dear friend April gave me a tub of Watkins Vanilla Shea Butter, and I kid you not - that stuff is like magic! She is just awesome, that's all I can say!

This is a photo of their aloe & green tea shea butter, so it's not quite the same. It was the closest I could find, though!

PS

Call me crazy, but I can't WAIT for Saturday. I LOVE taking my hams to the vet for checkups or when they're only mildly ill. We go to a woman who, in my opinion, is the BEST veterinarian in the KC metro area, with possibly the BEST name in the KC metro area, and by far the BEST accent in the KC metro area. (Hehe... it's Dr. Noella Allan from the Lakewood Animal Health Center.)

Word to Mrs. McGinniss, sixth-grade teacher extraordinaire - maybe I WAS meant to be a vet, after all.

I REALLY hope I get a call in the morning. Being sick has thrown off my schedule as well as my budget. And call me biased, but I hope I get to sub at the middle school, Matthews, or LSCCS. I think I have a paycheck waiting for me, so if I don't get a call, I'll probably MAKE a call so that I can figure out how to get my paycheck if I'm not called in!

I don't know why but I seem to have become addicted to late-night episodes of M*A*S*H. Not a good thing for a teacher who has to get up early! Hawkeye is my favorite character, of course.

i cheer for the underdog!

I admit it - I'm watching the Olympics. I love it. I mean, it's a fantastic opportunity to watch talented athletes compete - something that is highly infrequent! Tonight I'm watching the ladies figure skating (free skate). Now, believe it or not, I know who wins. I always do - I mean, c'mon, it's on the news all day. But I don't think that destroys any of the drama or beauty that accompanies the show.

Shizuka Arakawa is the underdog in this competition - and I can't wait to see her reaction when she finds out she has won the gold! She is such a beautiful skater, and watching her skate is a delight. Tonight she did a perfect routine. Perfect! It makes me think about how much effort she has put into becoming such a wonderful figure skater. She deserves the first Japanese figure skating gold in Olympic history! She's worked for it!

afternoon thoughts

I'm feeling a lot better, which kind of surprises me. I didn't expect to recover so quickly. But now I'm only left with a stuffy nose and sore throat, which go away quickly with a little decongestant and a lot of water.

My laptop is on its way to the service center, so I probably won't be online nearly as much in the next week or so. This will give me a chance to catch up on all my crochet projects and read the books I have that are due back at the library soon.

Pahokee's appointment with the vet has been postponed a bit, since my vet only works three days a week. Must be nice to have a professional degree and choose your own hours! Pokey will see her Saturday, which is great, since I think he needs some baytril. I found a couple of peculiar scabs on him, directly over his scent glands. Hope they're not infected!

The Jeopardy question today is in European fiction. It says "This 1915 story says, 'his numberous legs, which were pitifully thin, waved helplessly before his eyes...'" Any ideas?

Titanic

Later this week, the History Channel will be playing a revolutionary documentary about the sinking of the HMS Titanic. You can learn more about the documentary here.

I find this positively fascinating. The "history detectives" in this documentary are posing a question that challenges everything we've learned about it. Essentially, they believe that the sinking was caused by the ship breaking into pieces, as opposed to the long-held beliefs that the ship broke because of the sinking.

I think it would be very cool to be a history detective. That would be a FUN job!

compaq/hp

I am really, really glad that HP/Compaq have the option for receiving tech support via an online chat with one of their "tech support specialists". I am quite sure that the specialists are all located in India, and it is a LOT easier to communicate with them via a text-based platform.

By the way, I am feeling lots better. Still not tops, but plenty of rest and some hot drinks are making me feel lots better.

i'm sick :-(

Yesterday I had a runny nose, which at the time I blamed on my allergies. But I woke up last night with the chills, and by the time morning came, my voice was completely gone. I think I have the same cold that sidelined the teacher I subbed for last week. Bummer.

As a result of this virus, I cannot think of a single intelligent thing to say. So I promise to be back as soon as possible, but for now all I can say is that it might be another day or two before I blog an intelligent thought.

Hope none of you are sick... this really stinks.

busy but quiet afternoon

I would say this has definitely been a good day... quiet but good. I didn't get a call to sub today - too bad! But I ran to Walmart, got lots of shopping done, and have started working on some things for my hamsters.

I wanted to give them each a little terra cotta pot to keep their nails short, and my mom pulled 2 little terra cotta pots out of the garage. Handy dandy. The only problem is that they both have purple acrylic paint on them. So I spent a large part of my afternoon figuring out how to get rid of that paint.

I discovered, quite by accident, that rubbing alcohol dissolves the paint. I had to run to the dollar store to buy another bottle of rubbing alcohol, but most of the paint has already rubbed off, and the pots are soaking in alcohol right now to dissolve the remaining paint.

I have figured out that I can send my laptop to Compaq to be serviced, which is fantastic. They will only take 4-7 days to service it, including the time it takes to ship it. However, I really wish I didn't have to send my laptop away at all. :( What can I say... it's just so convenient!

Okay... I have a story that is written in my mind and I need to go write it down. Exciting...

what a weekend!

Oh what a life I lead. I forgot how much hamster bites hurt... it's been so long since I was bitten. At least a year or a year and a half. The critter clamps down so hard that he creates a pretty good bruise in the muscle underneath the bite. Them critters got strong jaws!

I went to a pretty involved meeting for my church's website. We're changing hosts and redesigning the site, so this should be pretty involved. Luckily we have a strong tech team.

Ay, and all the thoughts racing through my head at this time... I could certainly use a lightening bolt, so to speak. There's too much that doesn't make sense right now.

ow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yea, I think I'm going to take Pahokee to the vet tomorrow. Or at least ASAP. He bit me tonight, which is totally not like him at all. So I suspect he is not feeling well.

It's extraordinarily peculiar, though, because he's not scratching at his sides. So I really, really do not know what is wrong with him. I'm guessing now that it is probably not ringworm or mange, as I first suspected. I don't even want to imagine what it might be, though, especially since I don't know anything about his first year or so of life. Specifically, I don't know anything about what diseases he might have been exposed to.

There's also a chance that he is just a grumpy old hamster. That's what I'm hoping.

"Pokey"

I found a couple of spots on Pahokee tonight that have me a bit concerned. I'm afraid his scent glands are infected, or possibly worse. He has an unnaturally dark spot on each hip, almost like a bruise but worse, and he also has an unnaturally light spot on his belly. Unfortunately, since it is a Saturday, there is really nothing I can do right now except keep a close eye on those spots. He doesn't seem to be feeling poorly, although it's hard to know for sure since he already sleeps so much and since he is naturally such a reserved hamster. But come Monday, he will be guaranteed a trip to the veterinarian. I hope that all he needs is a round of Baytril.

a most peculiar day

I subbed this afternoon at my mom's school. It's a private school, and the difference I saw between the private school students and the public school students earlier this week was huge. The gap between the students was significant - and that's strange, because I've been working in what I believe to be one of the best public school districts in the country.

This evening I went to my church's once-a-month game night for the first time. Don't think I'll go back. There was a girl there who has come to my church before. She and I went to high school together. But she (and her new husband) have not been back to my church in several months, and I thought that I could consider her out of my life. To be honest, she is from a part of my past that I wish I didn't remember. So seeing her again threw me off.

I hated it. I hate the way it makes me feel. We didn't even talk, but somehow it was just her attitude and being in her presence... It made me feel like I was in high school again. And that's not a place I want to be. Who I was in high school - that's not who I want to be.

It didn't help that I was the ONLY person there who was over 18 but not married.

Now I'm thinking about what God wants me to do. Specifically in my career. I have all kinds of nagging thoughts that I can't get out of my head... and I don't now what they mean. Aaaaaarrrrrrgggg... my thoughts are so discombobulated tonight.

it's COLD outside!!

Like I said in my last post, I worked in the first grade classroom again yesterday. Today I subbed for the same PE teacher that I subbed for last week. It was fun, but exhausting. By the end of the day, I was READY to come home! But of course, it is FREEZING cold outside. It's in the 20s today. What's even funnier about it is that just two days ago, it was in the 60s!

Tomorrow afternoon, I will be subbing at my mom's school. I'm going to be subbing for a good friend of ours. Her husband has MS, so she has to take the afternoon off to take him to the doctor. Unfortunately, she has to do that pretty frequently. I'm glad that I can help her out though.

I've gotten into a routine after work that does wonders to help me feel better. After I get home, I put away my purse, lunch box, and teaching bag. I go to my bedroom and change into jeans and a tshirt. I tie my hair into a ponytail, and then I wash my face with my bottle of "Tea Tree Oil Daily Foaming Facial Wash" from The Body Shop. This makes me feel SOOOOO much better! I'm also trying to get into the habit of using Aveeno Clear Complexion Daily Moisturizer. I used to be really good about it, but after I graduated I got out of the habit. It's good stuff though.

first grade

Today I subbed in a first grade classroom. I was NOT expecting to get a call today! At about 6 am, my phone rang, and LJ my gatekeeper wanted to know if I could teach first grade at MES today. Of course I agreed... and in my sleepy stupor I wrote down what time I should be there and who I was subbing for.

It turned out to be an awesome class! I really enjoyed the day with them, even if it was a little crazy with the Valentine party and whatnot. They were such sweet kids. I had so much fun with them today.

At the end of the day, I was asked to work with this class again tomorrow. Of course I agreed! So don't look for me online until late afternoon, at the earliest.

I hope that this streak of subbing jobs continues. I really enjoy working, and honestly I will enjoy the paychecks too. But I have to adjust to this, too - getting up early and working all day. Tomorrow will be fun, though, and every day after that will be fun, too. I just hope I can land a good job in the meantime!

fair censorship

Recently, a guest on my blog posted a comment, saying "I don't like censorship, but I love fairness." The remainder of the comment was peppered with curse words, which is why I did not publish it. However, this got me to thinking...

When it comes to censorship, what is fair?

In ancient Greece, Socrates is credited as the first person to sacrifice his life rather than allow the government than censor his teachings. Censorship of his teachings would have been considered fair.

In ancient Rome, only persons of authority (mainly the Senate) enjoyed the freedom of speech. Everyone and everything else in their society was censored. All Roman citizens were required to worship the imperial person or image; those who did not (mainly Christians) were persecuted and frequently martyred. This was considered fair.

In AD 333 set a pattern of religious censorship by burning all books by the Greek theologian Arius. This was considered fair.

In AD 496, Pope Gelasius issued a catalog of forbidden books, which consisted of books opposed to orthodox faith or morals, and the authors were punished. Heretics were tortured and punished. In 1231, Pope Gregory IX instituted the Inquisition. For almost 500 years, the Inquisition remained an influential agency of religious censorship. Yet this was considered fair.

State censorship was severe in the Soviet Union. Political opposition was suppressed by allowing the existence of only one political party. When publishers, authors, or broadcasters were judged to have trespassed the political or moral boundaries set by law, they were punished with confiscation of their publication, prohibition of future publications, closing the media of communication, fines, imprisonment, or torture. This was considered fair.

In Nazi Germany, under the command of Adolf Hitler, a massive propoganda campaign was established, called the Nazi Propoganda Ministry. It was directed by Joseph Goebbels, and it took control of all forms of communication in Germany, including newspapers, magazines, books, public meetings, rallies, art, movies, music, and radios. Viewpoints in any way threatening to Nazi beliefs or to the regime were censored or eliminated from all media. This was considered fair.

When the Constitution of the United States was written, the founding fathers built into it many laws to protect personal rights and personal freedoms. However, I think it's fairly safe to say that the founding fathers could have never imagined an attack as massive as the 9/11 attacks, a war as difficult as the current Iraqi war, or an enemy as crafty as al Qaeda. So that leads us to one prominant question: In light of our current circumstances, what is fair when it comes to censorship? How far is too far? Anarchy is not an option, but martial law is certainly not desirable. What do you think?

is this what we've come to?

My nightly perusal of the blogs I read regularly led me to stumble upon this game, a shocking and saddening Sim game which seems to thumb its nose at the blood of Jesus Christ.

who would've thunk it?

Today I subbed at an elementary school for the PE teacher. It was actually not too bad, all things considered, although I find it terribly hard to imagine myself as a PE teacher. The regular teacher left me a simple lesson plan, though, so (mostly) everything went smoothly.

I feel kinda sorry for this school, though. They only have 30 minute specials classes. That's not very long for a specials class. It's gotta be tough for all the teachers. It means that breaks are short and classes are shorter.

Bunnyservant invited me to go to Pizza Street tonight with her church's young adults class. I think I will, if for no other reason than to just get out of the house.

There's also a young lady at my church, maybe a year or two older than me. She is/was a friend of S, but was also abandoned by him in his latest act of flakiness. I'll have to ask her out for dinner sometime. I know she lives on her own; I'm sure she would enjoy a meal after church or something.

additional certification

I am remembering now that I can gain additional certification by passing another PRAXIS II test. I already have an IPC Elementary 1-6 certificate. However, I'm thinking about getting a middle school certificate. Middle school subjects are subject-based, though, so I have to decide what subject I want to teach. (math, science, social studies, or communication arts) My minor is social studies, so I might take the 5-9 social studies test. And math teachers are in high demand, so I might take the 5-9 math test. Those are my top choices right now. I just have to choose one! Honestly, I think I could pass either one of those tests. But I have to choose one of them.

I can also take (and, if I study for it, I probably could pass) the K-12 spanish test. The way the tests are organized, I can take the spanish test along with either the social studies or math tests for a minimal cost.

Now I just have to choose...

it's been a hard day's night...

I got my first subbing call this morning... twenty minutes before school started! Today I subbed for a para in the middle school who works with an 8th grade boy. It was remarkably easy. I guess this boy has had some behavior problems in the past... but there were NO behavior problems today! Since I was working as a para, all I had to do was shadow him from class to class. Normally, I would help the student (most paras work with disabled students), but my student today was fully intellectually capable. Basically all I had to do was sit in the back of his classes and read a book. Great great kid. Are they sure they want to pay me for this?

The only downside is that I won't get a paycheck for another two and a half weeks or so (thinking optimistically). I really wish I could take my hamsters to the vet sooner than that. But that's okay... a paycheck is a paycheck, whether now or later, and I can put the money to good use.

mom's burritos

I was laying in bed last night thinking about posting this. My mom created this recipe for burritos that is really simple, and I think there are a lot of people who might like this.

Also, for all the ingredients, I have not included "amounts", because we generally don't measure amounts on them. We just make a serving per person (i.e. make 3 servings of corn if you will be serving 3 people, etc.). This is a very flexible recipe, so you can play with it an awful lot.

Chicken breasts, cut up into small chunks
Corn (frozen)
Salsa
Plain white rice
Refried beans (1 can)
Cheese (shredded, of course - the best kind is the jack or cheddar jack cheese)

Spray a wok or a skillet (we use a wok but I think a skillet would be fine) with non stick spray. Brown several small chunks of chicken over medium heat. When the chicken is done, add salsa and corn. (If you like spicy burritos, use lots of spicy salsa; if you like less spicy burritos use a medium amount of mild salsa.) Cook the chicken/corn/salsa mix for 3-4 minutes, until the corn is thawed and cooked.

In another pot, cook some rice. Again, just based on how many burritos you will be making, cook servings of rice according to the directions on the package. Usually it's my mom, dad, and myself, so we cook 3 servings of rice.

Get out your dinner plates and put one large tortilla on each plate. Spread refried beans on the center of the tortilla. Add some rice on top of the beans. Add some chicken/corn/salsa on top of that. Sprinkle some cheese on top of that. I like to add a bit more salsa on top of that, though my parents don't like that. Stick it in the microwave for one minute. When it comes out of the microwave, you can wrap the tortilla around the burrito, though it's usually a tight squeeze!

This is a very flexible recipe. I think it could be changed a lot. For example, we always make it with refried beans but I bet it would work out with black beans. Also, we always use chicken, but I have a feeling it would work out fine with ground beef. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

children's book ideas

Okay, I have to make a confession. I am a procrastinator. Three weeks ago, I signed up for a community education class about writing children's stories. The class meets one day each week. Unfortunately I tend to either finish my homework right away or wait until right before class and finish it. Terrible.

The other people in my class are these good, organized, self-motivated people who write every day. Unfortunately I'm not like that. I write in spurts - which is not good, because if I ever hope to become a published writer I have to become more disciplined than this.

In the meantime, I have a character that I need to develop for this class, and absolutely no inspiration! That's so awful. But I figured I would toss some ideas out here and see if any of you had any suggestions.

Ok. So far my character is a hamster (what else?). He lives with a family (what do you think the family should look like?). And... hmmm... I'm thinking that the hamster should solve mysteries. Only problem is that I have no idea of what kind of mystery he should solve! Of course, this is a children's book, and I've seen some children's books with good, clean mysteries (i.e. "The mystery of the lost baseball cards" type things). Not blood-and-gore mysteries that you would see in adult literature ("Who killed Colonel Mustard in the billiard room with the candlestick?"). What is a unique, clean, fun mystery that the hamster-detective could solve?

And if you have any other good ideas, throw them in. None of this is set in stone... it's all just ideas.

almost forgot!

I wanted to mention...
Late this afternoon, I was laying on the floor beside my cages, just looking at my hamsters and watching them sleep. (if you're a hamster-lover you can understand this!)
Anyway, while I was watching them, the runt started snoring a bit and making these little bitty noises... really quiet, but I could definitely hear her. And she started rolling around a little bit. I realized that the Runt was having dream! Ohhhhh... it was soooo cute! Okay... I think I've probably lost the male half of my audience about now, but she was just so adorable!
What do you think hamsters dream about?

I felt wild and crazy this afternoon, and took a few pictures of her with a ruler, so you can see her size. To compare, Miami was six to seven inches long when she died. Black bear hamsters are HUGE. And in terms of her weight, I bet she will at least double, possibly triple, her weight. I'm not sure what her exact weight is, though. I also managed to get a few shots of her sleeping in her cage, just before she had her dream. So cute! Click on the links for more photos.





Sleeping runt 2
Sleeping runt 3

With a ruler 2
With a ruler 3
With a ruler 4

Blogger down and the China market

I posted last night, but because of Blogger's outage the post was lost. In short, though, my post was about my cousin. To refresh your memory, my cousin is the one who used to be really close to Jesus, then met this guy, moved in with him, and eventually got married. When I met this guy, I was immediately concerned, because he bears all the hallmarks of a domestic abuser. So I am afraid she is suffering at his hands. She barely speaks to me now. Anyway, I found out yesterday that she is pregnant. I'm more than a little concerned for the baby.

I've been more than a little concerned about the skunk. She's so, so little and I just haven't seen any growth in the days that I've had her. I'm virtually certain she was the runt of litter. I'm also wondering if she may have been taken away from her mom too soon. I'm praying so hard that I will get a subbing call next week so that I will have the money to take her to the vet. In the meantime, I've started adding a multivitamin and Tang to her water.

This morning, my mom and I got up and went to the China market and the City market in downtown Kansas City. The China Market is a cool, cool place. It's basically like an Asian grocery store. It's crowded, and a bit smelly. But you can get so many kinds of really good food there. I can get some types of candy that can't be found anywhere else, and also some noodles that aren't sold anywhere else. They also sell really good (and really unique) fruits. My mom and I buy our oyster sauce, soy sauce, and pad thai sauce there, as well.

Of course, there weren't many vendors at the City market because it's not exactly produce season. However, from the produce they had, I was able to get some good prices on produce and buy some good treats for my hamsters. I wanted to get lots of different vitamins for them so that I can encourage the runt to grow. I got grapes, Romain lettuce, broccoli, and carrots.

Feeding the little runt is so funny - almost pitiful. I'm so used to Miami, who could put two grapes in each cheek pouch. The runt is so little that she can't even eat an entire grape. We have to cut the grapes into quarters for her. She loved the broccoli and ate a teensy-tiny stem of that. She won't really put much of anything into her cheeck pouches - sometimes when I give her papaya treats, she'll put one of those in her cheek pouch, but that is the most I've seen. (And her papaya treats are about 1/8 inch cubed!)

lil' stinker!

The Skunk let me hold her tonight, a few times. Grudgingly, I might add. I have no photos of her because she was very jumpy and required two hands at all times to be held securely. My mom fed her some different treats, though, and she took treats out of my mom's hand, which was a huge sign of progress.

Every time I held her, I was struk by how little she is. She's still a baby, really - she's a toddler, in human years. So she will grow a lot bigger still. I'll try to get a photo of her with a ruler sometime soon, but don't count on it, as she is very jumpy and still a bit temperamental. She's so pretty and so small. It just makes me feel so blessed to hold this tiny creature in my hands. This tiny little thing, created by God, with a tiny little heart that beats and tiny little legs that run on her wheel (constantly!) and oversized ears that are always sticking straight up, listening to the curious sounds around her.

In the process of rescuing and adopting Pahoki and the Skunk, I learned that the Kansas City area has organizations dedicated to adopting rabbits and guinea pigs, but there are no adoption organizations for hamsters, gerbils, mice, or rats. In my mind, I keep turning this fact over and over. I wish I had more time and more space in my home. Especially the space. If I had more space I would establish a small animal rescue in a heartbeat. I just wish I could adopt every one of those lonely, scared little animals. I hate to imagine what will become of them.

One down, one to go

I spent a large portion of my day working with the new hamsters. Pahoki has already begun coming around for me. He's a sweetie at heart - I can't imagine why someone wouldn't want him. By this evening, I had him out of his cage for several minutes, and he was nothing but a dear the entire time. A bit nervous, perhaps, but quite a gentleman. Here's a couple of photos from the evening, and you can click on the links for more.




"E.T. Phone Home"

"Can you hear me now?"
"Good!"
Playing with Pahoki 2
Playing with Pahoki 3
Playing with Pahoki 4

(If you look closely, you will notice that the wallpaper on my cell phone is a photo of Miami!)