Slayerfan714

I am excited, too.

No. The last movie I saw was American Hustle, but it was in December, so it feels like old news by now.

I need to go see a new movie soon.

EyesOnFire

How is everyone?

Been a long week for me- this whole spring forward nonsense had me off kilter for the past 5 days and it's really effected (affected? I can never remember the difference) my course work. Bleh. Next week should be better. I wish we'd just permanently stay on daylight savings time.

Anyone getting spring weather? It's been nice here as of late- +10C. Looks like the ground hog may have been right about the early spring in western Canada.

ollibear

Hi, Kayla!

Welcome back! I miss you when you are away

It's affected me, too. I wish we wouldn't have Daylight Saving Time at all. I like the normal times, better. Maybe I need to move to Arizona. They do not observe it.

We are getting some spring weather! It was chilly and windy yesterday, but we had one day last week where it reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit. That's a nice day. I dread summer though when the temperature reaches into the low hundreds and the humidity is so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Fall is my favorite time of year in Virginia. But spring is lovely, too. We are lucky that we enjoy four distinct seasons here. We had a great winter! Our students missed 10 days of school for snow, and we do not have to make any of them up. We don't have enough snow plows to remove the snow and ice from the roads, so our school officials cushion our schedule with extra time for situations such as these. I always love it when we actually do get snow. Usually we only miss a few days per year, so 10 is awesome!

Slayerfan714

I also hate DST, but I have to admit that I enjoy it being almost 7 o'clock at it still being light. So small sacrifice?

That's awesome that you don't have to make any of the snow days up. That's the yin and the yang here. Well, NYC only had one snow day, but for instance long island schools were going to have to make up days if they went over. Same with New Jersey. I think they were even discussing Saturday school. Bleh.

Sometimes I don't understand why they don't allot for bad weather days, but what can you do.

If it were me, I'd rather they take away a day or two from spring break (which they have done in the past) than do weekend school. And considering NY goes to end of June as it is, I'm not sure how much more they could push it back without it starting to conflict with summer school and summer plans i.e. camp.

I am really hoping to get some nice springy weather soon! It's still too cold for my liking! Hopefully soon!

EyesOnFire

I like the light evenings and I wish that daylight savings was changed to standard time and we never switch around- thus keeping the light evenings. It seriously sucks to live somewhere where in the winter it's only light from 9-4 (and really only bright light from 11-1). Having light from 10-5 would be much better imo. I'm still a bit off from the change but I'm getting closer to being back to my normal self.

I actually had a theory exam the Monday right after and I have a feeling I did really bad on it, partially due to DST. I do not adjust to these time changes that well when I have nothing to look forward to (unlike travelling which I can adjust to easily because I do have something to look forward to).

I'm a bit let down in regards to that theory class too. I thought that we were going to learn about theories put forth by theorists that aren't/weren't white American/European males. But sadly that's all we've been studying. Out of the 20-ish theorists that I've learnt about in my two theory classes, only 2 weren't white males (although both were of American/European origin).

Crime is still an awesome class though. I'm glad that I signed up for it.

In the part of Canada where I'm from we don't have snow days at all. We could get a metre of snow in one night and school would still be open. The last time my city/district closed schools was back in June due to severe flooding. That was the first time in about 100 years or so that school was cancelled city/district wide.

*Add*
So I did kinda bad on that theory exam but only because I didn't finish the last question (which is a relief because the first midterm went poorly because I mixed up the concepts due to poor studying- thus I actually studied better). Sigh... Stupid slow moving DST addled brain (well my bad writing can be to blame too- I have to write slow or it isn't legible at all).

I hope the final and the paper go better than the midterms...

Slayerfan714

They are saying more snow.

I just want it to be like in the 60s, light jacket weather. Hopefully once march goes we will get some kind of good weather.

What is everyone looking forward to in spring?

ollibear

I'm looking forward to coloring Easter eggs with Eve. Maybe we will have an Easter egg hunt for them this year.

What's everyone else looking forward to doing?

Slayerfan714

Coloring easter eggs sounds cool.

I just want it to be decent weather!

Nothing planned as of now, but there's a lot of good stuff coming up.

ollibear

What's up peeps?

I should be house cleaning, but I can't stop thinking about Bay and Emmett. I've been sifting through my thoughts.

My spring break starts in a couple of weeks. That will be nice. After that, just 8 weeks until summer vacation and Switched at Birth!

I bought plane tickets to Disney World again for July 1st through the 11th, just like last year. I should save money instead, but what the hay. I do love being there. The fireworks are spectacular. I love going on all the rides, and I even enjoy the parades. Add in popcorn, caramel apples, and taking a picture with Mickey Mouse, and it's rather awesome.

Slayerfan714

Well after that episode it would be hard to clean!

I like spring break but I don't get one anymore. I guess I could make my own.

Do you find the last eight weeks difficult to get through? I know for me it was like ah, almost there! And yet, so far away.

In college I took this comparative lit class that was co-listed with philosophy and we read [i[Emma[/i], Crime and Punishment and Portrait of a Lady. I liked the first two but not the last. Anyway the class was spring semester and it was really small and all the professor would do is read from the book.

It took everything I had to sit in that class those last weeks especially when the weather was beautiful. I wanted to ditch so badly. But I didn't.

Disney is always fun! I hope you have a good time, Amy.

I went out to dinner with my mom. We got Japanese good and now I'm home drinking chai. I can never get it to taste like Starbucks though. Oh the dilemma.

ollibear

Alyssa, I am so in love with that last episode! I am still in heaven just thinking about it. Bay and Emmett are so good together. I love them.

You should, if not this year, then you should in future years!

I don't think so, for me, but I will let you know if it is hard this year.

Right now, my students are beginning a unit of literature on the Holocaust, and I love those books. Every student chooses his or her own book to read, and we read the dramatization of The Diary of Anne Frank, as a class.

It's such an important topic to discuss with 13 year olds. It could so easily happen in the United States. I don't want anything similar to happen anywhere, but I know it does. It breaks my heart.

We do not go too deeply into what is going on in today's world in my English class, but the social studies teacher goes a little deeper than me.

We visit the Virginia Holocaust Museum. One year, perhaps I will go to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, but I haven't yet. I took a week-long class at the museum in Richmond, and we learned that a more respectful term is Shoah. It doesn't seem to be utilized as much yet, though. That's disappointing.

Here are some of the books my students read: The Boy Who Dared, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Jacob’s Rescue: a Holocaust Story, Once, Then, Now, Prisoner B-3087, Number the Stars, Star Without a Sky, Milkweed: a Novel, The Wave, Behind the Bedroom Wall, The Devil’s Arithmetic, Hana’s Suitcase: A True Story, Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl, Memories of Anne Frank: Reflections of a Childhood Friend, Four Perfect Pebbles: A Holocaust Story, The Gazebo, Surviving Hitler: A Boy in the Nazi Death Camps, Pastor Andre Trocme, In the Mouth of the Wolf, We Remember the Holocaust, Shattered Youth in Nazi Germany, Hitler Youth: Growing Up In Hitler’s Shadow, Izzy’s Fire, Shadow Life, The Hidden Children, Liberation: Stories of Survival From the Holocaust, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, The Upstairs Room, Hidden on the Mountain, Facing the Lion: Memoirs of a Young Girl in Nazi Europe, and The Hiding Place.

After the unit of literature related to the Holocaust, we have spring break. Then, we return in late April, and students read Antoine de Saint Exupery's The Little Prince. James Dean loved that book so much that a quote from it is on his gravestone ("What is Essential is Invisible to the Eye"). Last week, Gilles Marini tweeted that it is his favorite all-time book, and the title character (The Little Prince) reminds me so much of Emmett. It is my all-time favorite book, too. From his interviews, I can tell the Gilles has that same romantic spirit at heart. I wonder if Sean Berdy does, too. He seems like it.

Then, we wrap up the school year with poetry and my favorite play Our Town, so I really love the end of the school year. So many teachers in the building are cramming for state standardized testing, and I try to make things fun and light for students in the last 9 weeks.

That sounds brutal. I read to my students sometimes, but a lot of the time we ask students to find a partner and read to each other (taking turns by paragraph or by page). If the weather is good, we may go outside into the courtyard to read. But that usually works best if the students have a specific task.

Wish you could join me and Eve in Disney! It would be fun to have a friend with us.

You should get to know a barista and ask them the secret. I go to Starbucks every day, but I have never ordered chai. Maybe I can get some inside info for you, though. They know me well enough! What do you do to make it right now?

What's everyone have on the agenda this week? For me, it's being a mom, spending time in the classroom with my students, and writing. I'm excited about all of it, but I am really excited about the writing. I feel like one of these days I will write something good. I hope so.

Slayerfan714

Me too

I think I will!

It is important to discuss with them. The Diary of Anne Frank is always a good read.

And I know you and I have discussed Paper Clips. What an awesome eye-opening documentary. I love those kids and how determined they were!

I have been to the one in Israel, but not any others. I want to go to the one in DC though.

I read Number the Stars I think in fifth grade. Good novel. All of those in fact seem like good novels.

Right now I am still reading one of my favorite authors, Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller. Usually I finish her books in lightning speed but this one has taken me over a year. I'm not sure why. I'm in the thick of it now, and I am hoping to finish it soon. Picoult got the idea after reading The Sunflower. It's a fascinating read.

That sounds like a lot of fun!!

It was brutal. I felt like I was back in elementary school or something. I guess I expected more. I was actually surprised by how much I enjoyed Crime and Punishment. Similarly I was surprised when I read The Metamorphosis in my freshman year and enjoyed that, too. Perhaps I thought both books would be boring, but they weren't.

Me too!!

I should. I usually just get their chai concentrate and mix it with the milk. It's fine and good, but not as good as theirs. And sometimes I'll use the Tazo chai tea bags and experiment! As I said, it comes out fine, but there's something missing. Can't put my finger on it. It could very well be the equipment they have. I just usually make mine on the stove or microwave whereas they have the blenders and mixers.

Oh well.

I have a lot of work to get done But I am hoping to not let it take over my week. Even if it's just an hour for me to take time for me, I'm going to do that!

ollibear

My daughter has a Fun with Pets class today after school. She's learning dog grooming, because oddly enough, that's what she has told me she wants to be when she grows up. She started saying that at the age of four, and she'll be 10 in a couple of months, so maybe she means it.

I would love to help her open a dog grooming business when she turns 18. When I lived in Olympia, Washington, there was this woman who turned her garage into a beautiful studio with several dog grooming stations. She had a staff of college girls. She sold pet supplies in the waiting area. This was back in the early 1990s, and she groomed about 10 dogs per day and made about $40-$50 per dog. It was enough to pay for her home and a stable filled with horses. I loved visiting there. She had these beautiful gardens outside her studio. It was so eclectic. Her house was the color of purple blueberry yogurt. And her studio smelled like the sweetest, fruitiest bubble bath. I could just stay in there forever.

My plan is to take a look at your fan fiction tonight, Alyssa! I haven't looked at it in a while, and I am excited to read it again and send you a message.

Slayerfan714

Dog grooming? That's a cool career choice. We used to bring our bichon in to get groomed (when he was alive) and he'd always come back looking so handsome and smelling so good. But I swear he was so mad at us that when you picked him up, he wouldn't look at you! He would give us the cold tail so to speak I was like, dude, you got all pretty. What's your problem?


Awww. What a great mom They can do well.

I saw that you did take a look at it! Thank you

ollibear

That's so cute! Dogs are funny. Our dog Mollie needs to go to the groomers right now. I'll have to schedule her an appointment soon.

Who has plans for the weekend?