Hannah's happenings, Eric's a poet, and a train

Hannah's senior pictures, cello, and Valentine's cupcakes

Hannah was nearing the deadline for submitting a photo to go in the yearbook as her Senior picture. I have to admit that the 3 older boys never had official senior portraits taken, so I didn't plan on doing the same with Hannah. She and Geoff went out with the camera last week while it was drizzling. They got some really nice pictures. This is my favorite.

Hannah's been missing playing the cello since she stopped taking it after her freshman year. We finally got one for her and it arrived this week. She named it Omniscient.

Hannah and Omniscient

For the last few weeks Hannah has been putting time in creating Valentine gifts for her cousins, a few friends, her teachers, and classmates. It involved using my Silhouette cutter to cut out these cute boxes that cupcakes go in. She then made these little sprinkle packets that said: You are the sprinkle to my cupcake. She made one for every classmate she had this semester. She made about 75 of these. Since AP physics is a double block, many kids are in more than one of Hannah's classes, and she has 2 free blocks this semester, it wasn't as many as it could have been. I bumped into a group of her friends after school and we talked about Hannah's gift. I made the comment that she was insane. Skyler said Hannah got it from her mother. I agreed with her, though my insanity runs in other directions.

 Eric's email

Eric's email was a riot this week, so I thought I'd print it. And no, he did not get his Valentine's package this week. It is still sitting on the cedar chest along with Ryan and Jiaxin's boxes. I've decided they will not be getting late Valentine's boxes, but early Easter boxes that have some valentine's candy in them. Anyway, here's Eric:

I do not have much 

to say today, so my post

will be in haiku.

A haiku is a

kind of poem. How many

syllables is poem?

Camera is... three?

Or two, cam'ra. Either way,

I did not bring mine. [I keep asking for photos and he forgets to bring his camera to the computers]

(A picture is worth

1,000 words. That's almost

59 haiku.)

Now that I'm finished

being clever at you, time

to tell you 'bout stuff.

Thank you for the warm

wishes. Happy Saturday

morning to you, too.

I've never eaten 

at Olive Garden. How are

the soup and breadsticks? [Glen and I ate there Valentine's night]

Dr Newell could

never make it, but we did

Get Lynn Hilton once. [Lloyd Newell of Music and the Spoken Word was supposed to speak to them]

The Hiltons were the

ones, In Search of Lehi's Trail. [a dvd I own]

It was pretty sweet.

This week I did not

get time to look at the film. [Glen has asked him to look up a film at the Family History Library]

Let me tell you why.

Research Strategies

was on the third floor, I guess,

instead of floor two?

Turns out there was the

Bountiful 10th Ward Youth Group

using up our room!

And so all of us

who have research Wednesday

just had to stay put.

Special Valentine's

"care packages" came for some

other elders... Weird. [guilty as charged]

What else was there to

tell you about? Hmm, let's see...

No wait, that was it.

A lady told me

when I held the door open

to thank you for her.

Quote: "What a sweetheart!"

Then: "Thank your parents for me."

Well, alrighty then. 

(This was like a month 

ago, only I forgot

about it till now.)

Well, that's about it.

Hugs and kisses to you all.

Elder Perazzo

And since I'm posting Eric's poetry, this is what came up on his blog dielikeadisneyvillan this week (he pre-scheduled posts before he left on his mission). It might be words to one of the songs he's written. I need to ask him about it.

Beyond the Evening Star

I’m blue

By the light of the moon

By the light of the setting sun

I’m a sailor

Who’s sailed so far from home

But where do I belong?

I’m a sailor

Sailing on a sea of stars

Sailed beyond all the stars

I’ve ever known.

I’m a sailor

Sailing on a sea of stars

But where do I belong?

Where do I belong, where do I belong?

Where do any of us belong?

We

All belong here

Planet Earth, the Earth.

We

All belong here

Planet Earth, the Earth.

And the sky used to be above me

But now it’s below me, around me, the sky surrounds me

Planet Earth, the Earth

bad morning at school (whining session now so you can stop reading at anytime)

--the light at the end of the tunnel that I was hoping for last week turned out to be a train that ran me over Friday morning--my worst day subbing ever (in 6 1/2 years) and that includes the spit wads a 4th grader put in my hair back when I'd sub at the elementary schools. Thankfully, the worst part on my day only lasted 30-60 minutes, but it was bad and I felt terrible the rest of the day. Since this embarrassing train derailment has plenty of witnesses, I'm willing (and wanting just in case any of you heard rumors) to talk about it.

After 2 weeks of dealing with these mostly 9th graders--and if they aren't 9th graders in biology it means they've failed it already and are taking it again so they aren't mature and/or aren't dedicated students--who mostly don't seem to have much respect for women teachers, I was at wit's end and loosing my voice. No joke. Out of the 6 classes that I have (5 biology classes and 1 environmental science that another teacher has thankfully taken over most of the teaching--although with the firing of the wood shop teacher last week, that might change as she might have new things to deal with), I don't have one class that I consider well behaved. To sub here for a day or two would be OK, but after 2 weeks...

The classes have good kids in them, of course, and kids that I like, even though they are a pain in the rear, but none of the classes are quiet while I'm trying to talk. I will start to talk and then one or two (or more) groups start talking. So I stop and wait. They get quiet, so I try to talk again. As soon as I start talking, so do they. Sometimes I can't even figure out who is talking because they don't have individual desks but have 2 tables pushed together with 6-8 students at a table...so part of the class has their backs to me and I can't always see who's talking...OK. I just figured that out. I need to either change the tables or make sure everyone's turned to see me...hmm..but how can they take notes with the table behind them... I'm going to have to work on that. And of course the classes are somewhat large (the average is 30). I had already decided on changing the seating chart (there wasn't one when I arrived...everyone just sat where they wanted), which led to the problem Friday morning.

Basic story: after 2 boys (a 10th grader and a senior neither of whom had Mr. Wilson last semester which often means they have been kicked out of some other teacher's class at semester), who don't do any work ever anyway and one (the senior) has a tendency to swear, refused to move when I tried to try a new seating arrangement. It was just the straw that broke this camel's back. The incident itself shouldn't have been that big of a deal. But, because of the previous 2 weeks (and I had just emailed the Derild, the Dean of Students, the previous day telling him I needed help figuring out what to do with 4th and 5th blocks specifically), and the fact that this hormonal camel was running short on sleep and was fed up with disrespectful and disobedient students, it went from bad to worse. My fault.

I couldn't remember how to send a referral email, so I couldn't go that route. I got really frustrated as I was trying to call the office. I couldn't get through and, because I only knew one person's extension and she wasn't answering (and I didn't have a list of extensions then, but Derild brought me one later), I couldn't call anybody else in the office. I went across the hall to get another teacher to help me. But it was his prep...so I went down the hall and had to get another teacher to come. I was ready for the insane asylum by this point.

He kicked the boys out. And yelled at the students for me. And threatened them. He was much more imposing that I am. After he left, one of the pain-in-the-butt-but-I-like-him-anyway students came to me and said, "I think someone needs a hug." I just laughed. Anyway, we finished the instructions for the lab and started our chromatography experiment.

After a little bit, the boys were brought back to my class by Derild and I was told they promised to co-operate. Sigh. Since they were the straw and not really a huge problem in and of themselves, that was OK.

And the girl in the next block that I had, sadly, been excited to hear that she was arrested for a parole violation and Derild told me that she wouldn't be in my class that day, she was there because her mother bailed her out for $2,500 (that info came from the girl). There are few students I truly want nothing to do with. She is one of them. I'd rather have the other 2 boys every class period than this girl in just one. Another sigh.

So, I was not having the best day at school. But I survived, and that night Glen and I got to go to the temple and eat out with the other members of the High Council and Stake Presidency and their wives at The Olive Garden (Glen and I split our entrees of portabella mushrooms in smoky cheese sauce and eggplant parmigiana--definitely my favorites). I was very grateful that we were invited to carpool with Christy and her husband as that was one less stress for my day.

I'm so glad we have Monday off. Saturday, when I should have been elsewhere because of my calling in Young Women's, was spent grading papers, inputting grades, studying cellular respiration which is our new topic for next week (it has been over 30 years since I studied this stuff), and trying to get lesson plans together. I'm mostly ready. Like I said, I'm glad we have Monday off.

So, sorry for the ramblings above that I'm too tired to edit correctly (I love parenthetical phrases, in case you hadn't noticed).

Hoping for a better week. Shalom and namaste.