I am an Idiot

I totally mixed up the names and paperwork of two students today and even went on a home visit of one student with the other student's paperwork.

There was nothing I could do once I figured out my mistake but to admit (to all the people there - 2 teachers, 1 student teacher, 1 translator and 2 mothers and 3 kids) that I had the wrong paperwork - and ask mom to come by and sign the correct paperwork at school tomorrow.

I had all kinds of signs, but ignored them all. My realization was slow, but I guess the upside was that I did not have mom sign someone else's paperwork. I did finally figure out my mistake.

At least I didn't have to use a lifeline :-)

Sheesh!

So for whatever reason, I spent a lot of time yesterday reading about and looking at pictures of Fallingwater.

Frank Lloyd Wright designed it in 1935 - right over the top of a waterfall in Pennsylvania. Construction was started in 1936 and completed in 1939. The family used it as a summer home. They spent about 25 summers there and then gave it to the state (I think).

I have always loved the look and idea of that place.

The powers that be in charge of Fallingwater are selling the opportunity to spend quality time in the home. For about 1,700 US dollars you can sit in whatever room you want, and eat a meal on a patio and stay in a housing facility about 1/2 mile away. I do not think I will be signing up for that one.

You can go there for a tour for 17 US dollars. I think I will do that first. As if. I live in California and have no travel plans in the near future. But I would love to go there sometime.

They say that you do not see the waterfall from the home, except on the top level when you are outside on the porch. You hear the waterfall from inside the home however. The house is very damp and moist from the waterfall, too.

The home was designed around at least one tree. I wonder if it is still alive.

This is Fallingwater in the winter. No wonder it was a summer home! Yikes!

I found a great Youtube video - computer generated that shows the process of building Fallingwater - the first 1:34 or so shows the building process.

YouTube - Fallingwater

Also - I found a tee shirt that I want to get for Dandu - since he's working to be an architect.

FALLINGshirt2.jpg 1200×604 pixels

I tried and tried to import the picture of the tee shirt, but this is all I could do.

So that is my Fallingwater journey.

Happy new week to you all!

Since I Can't Let Things Go

Room 29 at the end of the pathless path.

My co-worker looked at my previous post and commented that I did not capture the dirt-e-ness of the whole thing. So, of course I had to take dirt-e-er pictures.

I took photos of the journey from my room to the rest of the school.

First, I exit the Speech Therapist's side of the room.

Next I turn right, step down, and go through the pine needles behind the portable.

Oops, duck! Pine branch in the face

This is the first gate I must go through. It has to be kept shut so the little kindergartners don't escape. I turn left and walk across the grass at the back of the kindergarten yard.

Walk, walk, walk on the uneven grass.

Head duck! Watch out!

Another immediate head duck.

More uneven grass.

And the final gate before entering the school proper (if the parking lot at the back of the school is the school proper).

Monday most likely will be another adventure, as they poured concrete today, Saturday, on 1/2 of the path to Room 29.

Who knows what adventure awaits another week?

Keep on keeping on my friends!

A Not So Victorious Thursday

With no official warning, the path to my room at school has been torn up - and yikes - has it thrown me for a loop!

Of course I should have known something was up when I saw OUT spray painted on the asphalt path to my portable - but I just figured they would take their own sweet time before they actually OUTed the stuff.

The first day, Wednesday, I went home covered in dirt. Dirty dirt.

So today in protest, I wore my grubby clothes - black capris, my high end running shoes and one of my tie dyed shirts. (At least I didn't wear a Big Lebowski shirt!)

Today we had to go back and forth through some back gates and then through the kindergarten yard to get anywhere. I am taller than the average bear, and I have to duck under all the trees. Ducking and winding. I don't think that's in my job description!

And bringing all my groups through the secret path to my room has been exhausting, too. We also have to go through the speech room to my room, winding around the chairs and desks. Winding, ducking, opening and shutting gates, tromping through the kindergarten yard.

I was so tired today I almost cried several times!

These are photos from today, before they brought in the dump trucks full of gravel.

Please, give me back the path to my room. I miss the cracked asphalt something awful!

It's a good thing that I don't have the money to remodel my house. I don't think I could take it!

Monday Musings on Trivial Tuesday

On Monday night, my husband and I, and Hold See and Joe Ash drove 40 minutes up the hill to see George Winston at a benefit concert. Benefiting a music school for the community. Also we were told to bring canned food for the local food bank. All the proceeds of the CD sales went to the food bank too. Hold See picked these 3 cans to take (yeah, I know we were 1 light - my husband decided to come as an after thought) - vegetarian chili, barely soup and crab meat. It will be interesting hungry people who pick out that food.

Anyway, the conversation going on behind us before the concert started was interesting. It started with some lady, older than me, whining about this and that. I stopped listening, it was so ridiculous. Then I heard something about blogging. I started listening again.

Man: We will get someone else to blog for us. We have better things to do with our time.

Whiny Woman: Oh I know what you mean.

Man's Wife: Debbie knows me really well, she could just blog for me.

Man: We have better things to do.

Whaaat? That was one weird conversation.

George played all kinds of stuff, and luckily my favorite of his.

YouTube - Rain

And there you have it - Monday Musings on a Trivial Tuesday.

Saturday Scavenger Hunt - YARN

So - the word for the week is YARN coined by moi. I tag Woman with No Regrets for next week's word.

The obvious YARN for me is, well, YARN.

As I was thinking about it this week, however, I decided that I wanted to go with the YARN in "She tells a good YARN."

SO as I thought about the YARN I would tell, I came up with Ditka.

As in Butckus.

But as I was reading this morning, trying to wake up. I realized that the guy who wrote the book I am reading, The Things They Carried, Tim O'Brien could really tell a good YARN.

So let me share part of his really good YARN.

It's time to be blunt.

I'm forty-three years old, true, and I'm a writer

now, and a long time ago I walked through

Quang Ngai Province as a foot soldier.

Almost everything else is invented.

But it's not a game. It's a form.

Right here, now, as I invent myself,

I'm thinking of all I want to tell you about why

this book is written as it is. For instance, I want

to tell you this: twenty years ago I watched a

man die on a trial near the village of My Khe.

I did not kill him. But I was present, you see,

and my presence was guilt enough. I

remember his face, which was not a pretty face,

because his jaw was in his throat, and I

remember felling the burden of responsibility

and grief. I blamed myself. And rightly so,

because I was present.

But listen, even that story is made up.

This guy Tim can sure write. It is amazing how a novel about soldiers in Vietnam can

be about me, living this life of mine.

It's a good read. Check it out!

Happy weekend, soldiers!

Victory Thursday

I have been back to work for 4 weeks now. Or is it three? Or is it an eternity?

It is all blending into itself. I haven't even started all my intervention groups, but I certainly have had many meetings.

The night janitor said today, "You teachers certainly love your meetings." I responded with something about stinking a needle in my eye.

The victory I would like to share with you is that I bought some of that wonderful peppermint hemp soap that Laura B. reminded me about.

I love it. It is sooo strong and natural. It does not make particularly good shampoo, however, so don't try it on your hair.

I am so happy that I bought a bottle today. It will make my skin happy to have a peppermint wake up in the morning.

Smiling in Coen Land.

You all have a great day, ya hear?

Wandering Wednesday

Today is Wednesday. I had an IEP scheduled for 7:30 in the a.m. So I told myself when I went to bed last night that I would get up at 5 in the a.m. I never use an alarm clock - i just tell myself before I go to bed what time to wake up. So I woke up at 6 am instead. And rushed off to school, printed, copied, and put paper in folders, waited and then ran a meeting.

I missed my yard duty. Oh heartbreak of heartbreaks.

Then I pushed into kindergarten, and third grade.

I then organized and distributed paperwork.

Chewed out a few students.

And so goes a slice of my work day.

That's wandering, isn't it?

Still have an open door policy under the portable.

Welcome skunks and all little wildlife critters.

It's skunky smelling. Pretty much all day long. I take my camera to work everyday, in hopes that I will catch view of a skunk to share. Haven't seen one in my 3+ years - but I have certainly smelled more that my fair share - and had to joy of hearing their mating screech!

I wonder what variety of stripes our skunks have. Perhaps someday I will have the photos to share.

Sure, and if only blogs had smell-o-vision - 'cuz I'll probably get sprayed in the process.

Happy day, my friends!

Trivial Tuesday

The Return of the Seven

We've done the seven deadly sins and the seven virtue - here's another seven we should all be familiar with -

The Seven Dwarfs!!!

Bashful

Doc

Dopey

Grumpy

Happy

Sleepy

And who have I left out?

I hope you have enjoyed this seven outing.

Have a great Tuesday/Wednesday.

More tomorrow!

Monday Musings

Another work week.

Here I am at home after work, wondering what to share today. Of course I am tired - working huge gears and wheels is exhausting..........

So I thought that I would share a couple of the cards that I made.

The pictures of the cards do not do them justice - I think it's the crappy background - can you believe I have 2 full sofas and an ottoman covered with that material? What was I thinking? If I ever decide to sell my cards on line, I will have to find a better way to photograph them!

Heh! Well, another day, another dollar! Have a grand week my friends.

Also - Ananda Girl tagged me for Saturday's Scavenger Hunt - the word is YARN.

EPIC!

So I have decided to share my favorite epic rock songs.

Let's start with You Can't Always Get What You Want

YouTube - the rolling stones - You Can't Always Get What You - Let It

Then on to Babba O'Reily by The Who

YouTube - Baba O'rileyYouTube - Baba O'riley

Then Roundabout by Yes

YouTube - Yes - Roundabout (Studio Version)

Free Fallin by Tom Petty

YouTube - Tom Petty - Free Fallin'

Not really epic, but at least it not a 70's song and I do love it.

I am sure there must be some song from this decade that is EPIC and I like, but I sure as shootin' can't think of any.

I guess I will finish my epic list with Five Hundred Miles by The Proclaimers

YouTube - Five hundred miles (benny&joon)

(I also love Benny and Joon).

I know it's not really epic either, but it is a very important song in my life -so----

Happy EPIC weekend to you!

Dog Day Afternoon

There you go! What else can be said?

Other than I'd love to be in Hawai'i- but I could do without the grass skirt!

Another Day Another Dollar

Well, here I am.

I brought my camera home from work - so I will share chicken and egg pics. The chickens came first at my house - I could hear the question forming in your minds so I thought I'd answer it before you asked!

These are the first eggs from the Casa ladies. They were tasty. I cooked them up (the eggs, not the chickens - sheesh!) on Saturday. Joe-Ash asked what I put in the eggs - nothing - they were just good 'cuz they were fresh! They are very little, though. They will get bigger as the ladies mature.

Next, I would like to share a picture of Mildrid - our in-home cat and band name inspiration. She is very cute, but without any social skills or redeeming qualities.

And finally - I will share the last picture on my camera - the open door policy on the portable that is called Room 29 - Resource (AKA my room at school). It is a big Welcome! to the skunks in the neighborhood.

One day I was in my room early, before school, and I heard a hellacious racket under my room - I thought something was killing something else - it so freaked me out that I took off - almost running. It was sooo creepy! There was a strong aroma of skunk. I finally figured out, after talking to the custodian and other folks in the staff room, that no one was killing anyone, they were just having sex. I felt better after that and returned, somewhat grudgingly, but not fearful, to my room. If I had had students in my room when that happened, there would have been a lot of discussion for DAYS about it, after we all finally returned.