Sunday, June 18, 2023
Sunday, June 22, 2014
End of the School Year and Anniversary
Hi all! It has been a very long time since I have written. I miss the journaling aspect of my blog. Two years ago I removed public access because of some overzealous student interest in my personal life (not that there is anything here that is at all incriminating, but it seemed prudent at the time), but I have decided to try again.
I don't remember how to get in touch with all of you, although it appears that many of you have not posted in a long time. We will see how it goes.
I just finished my third year teaching and it ended nicely. Students learned, I taught, and seniors graduated just as they are supposed to. I taught my first year of AP Chemistry, and I ran the state required testing for the school. I figured out how to set up a classroom so that 20 students could tie dye without dying desk and floor tiles, and I managed to go from terrifying students (why I can't imagine) to having them confide in me. Such is the life of a teacher!
I am really looking forward to this summer. I have no big plans, but I want to make sure and include time for the things I always want to do, but seldom take the time to do. My mom and dad gave me an awesome drawing book (bird!) for my birthday last weekend, and I am looking forward to taking some time to do art. I also have a pile (really - a pile…) of books I want to read. I have a sun hat and a cute backyard too. I want to rearrange my AP Chemistry Scope and Sequence a little and work on updating some other curriculum, but I think that can wait for the beginning of August. I need some time off!
Matt and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary (yesterday). We got up with the sun (I still can't sleep in when the sun is out - but I will get better at it as the summer progresses…) planted some flowers, cut back the out of control chocolate vine and rehabbed holes in my planters made by those conniving squirrels. (I hear squirrel tastes like chicken….) We had previously decided to go the beach and had talked about Newport and the Aquarium. We weren't sure which way to drive (I really don't like the Corvallis route), but we decided to drive out to Cannon Beach and then south along the highway. About 1/2 way to the beach we ran into some uncharacteristic traffic jams! We were not only going slowly, but were stopped for several minutes at a time. We couldn't figure out what was going on until we saw a sign for the sand-castle competition at Cannon Beach. We decided not to stress out and just enjoyed the day and the drive (windows can be down when you are going under 5 miles per hour.) When we got to Cannon Beach we decided to drive down some back roads we have never taken on the north side of town to look for parking and found a great parking spot next a park with AWESOME bathrooms. Ironically, that is the worst part about Cannon Beach normally - the downtown bathrooms are GROSS. That marked the beginning of a fabulous beach visit.
We walked down to the bakery and got mocha horns (a tradition from when we honeymooned) and then went down to the Cannon Beach Treasure Cove where Matt got me a Roman Buckle (from about 500BC) that was found in England. We then headed to our favorite "dive" where we had fish and chips and some chowder. (The breading on this stuff is as close as I've had to NanNan's outside of England.) After lunch we went to the bookstore and found a couple of books. After a couple more stops we had acquired a floppy hat for me and gummy bears and sea foam for Matt. We walked out past the whale statue and found an obliging log and laid out in the sun (I had actually remembered to put on sunscreen!!) and read for a while. Laying in the sun with a cool breeze was AWESOME. We always talk about relaxing at the beach, but we never do… It was so nice. After a bit we noticed the hoards of people down the beach and realized that was where the sand sculptures were. We strolled down and enjoyed looking at them. Even took this selfie with a grinning sea monster behind us! It was quite a walk back to the car, but we were able to cross a small "stream" and walk across beach to where we had parked. We are ALWAYS parking there from now on. When we got home Matt suggested a chick flick (Letters to Juliet) that I happen to enjoy (wasn't that nice of him) and then we called it a day. Best day at the beach in years!!
I don't remember how to get in touch with all of you, although it appears that many of you have not posted in a long time. We will see how it goes.
I just finished my third year teaching and it ended nicely. Students learned, I taught, and seniors graduated just as they are supposed to. I taught my first year of AP Chemistry, and I ran the state required testing for the school. I figured out how to set up a classroom so that 20 students could tie dye without dying desk and floor tiles, and I managed to go from terrifying students (why I can't imagine) to having them confide in me. Such is the life of a teacher!
I am really looking forward to this summer. I have no big plans, but I want to make sure and include time for the things I always want to do, but seldom take the time to do. My mom and dad gave me an awesome drawing book (bird!) for my birthday last weekend, and I am looking forward to taking some time to do art. I also have a pile (really - a pile…) of books I want to read. I have a sun hat and a cute backyard too. I want to rearrange my AP Chemistry Scope and Sequence a little and work on updating some other curriculum, but I think that can wait for the beginning of August. I need some time off!
Matt and I celebrated our 17th Wedding Anniversary (yesterday). We got up with the sun (I still can't sleep in when the sun is out - but I will get better at it as the summer progresses…) planted some flowers, cut back the out of control chocolate vine and rehabbed holes in my planters made by those conniving squirrels. (I hear squirrel tastes like chicken….) We had previously decided to go the beach and had talked about Newport and the Aquarium. We weren't sure which way to drive (I really don't like the Corvallis route), but we decided to drive out to Cannon Beach and then south along the highway. About 1/2 way to the beach we ran into some uncharacteristic traffic jams! We were not only going slowly, but were stopped for several minutes at a time. We couldn't figure out what was going on until we saw a sign for the sand-castle competition at Cannon Beach. We decided not to stress out and just enjoyed the day and the drive (windows can be down when you are going under 5 miles per hour.) When we got to Cannon Beach we decided to drive down some back roads we have never taken on the north side of town to look for parking and found a great parking spot next a park with AWESOME bathrooms. Ironically, that is the worst part about Cannon Beach normally - the downtown bathrooms are GROSS. That marked the beginning of a fabulous beach visit.
We walked down to the bakery and got mocha horns (a tradition from when we honeymooned) and then went down to the Cannon Beach Treasure Cove where Matt got me a Roman Buckle (from about 500BC) that was found in England. We then headed to our favorite "dive" where we had fish and chips and some chowder. (The breading on this stuff is as close as I've had to NanNan's outside of England.) After lunch we went to the bookstore and found a couple of books. After a couple more stops we had acquired a floppy hat for me and gummy bears and sea foam for Matt. We walked out past the whale statue and found an obliging log and laid out in the sun (I had actually remembered to put on sunscreen!!) and read for a while. Laying in the sun with a cool breeze was AWESOME. We always talk about relaxing at the beach, but we never do… It was so nice. After a bit we noticed the hoards of people down the beach and realized that was where the sand sculptures were. We strolled down and enjoyed looking at them. Even took this selfie with a grinning sea monster behind us! It was quite a walk back to the car, but we were able to cross a small "stream" and walk across beach to where we had parked. We are ALWAYS parking there from now on. When we got home Matt suggested a chick flick (Letters to Juliet) that I happen to enjoy (wasn't that nice of him) and then we called it a day. Best day at the beach in years!!
Friday, June 8, 2012
End of the School Year!
I have had a busy year teaching (hence no posts) and have thoroughly enjoyed myself. The last day of school is just around the corner and I can't believe the year is already over!
Today we had a chemistry "photo shoot." I plan to put this picture on the "title bar" of our chemistry periodic table quilt. Students were each assigned an element and were asked to depict a use of their element on a fabric quilt block using "quilt friendly" mediums. I hope to have the quilt top construction finished this weekend.
Of course, they insisted on a goofy picture too...
This weekend I will be finishing writing my final exams - and grading all of those late assignments that start to roll in about this time.
Of course, they insisted on a goofy picture too...
This weekend I will be finishing writing my final exams - and grading all of those late assignments that start to roll in about this time.
Saturday, February 18, 2012
More Job News
Matt was also recently hired at a new company. He will be working at NuScale, a nuclear power plant design company, located in Corvallis! We are both thankful for our employment opportunities.
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Unexpected Milestone
Wow. I have been gone a while. So here is the deal. From October 2009 to July 2011, I was working two jobs. One in retail and one as an HR Admin. Together, these jobs kept me working between 60-70 hours a week, depending on the week. The first year I worked 7 days a week, and then starting in Jan 2011, I managed to get Sunday off. During the summer of 2010 I applied for over 40 teaching jobs. I got interviews, but jobs went to candidates already working in the school districts. The summer of 2011 I went to the teaching fair in Portland and it appeared that NO one was hiring in science. It was a little depressing. I didn't really find any great job listings as the summer progressed until my sister, who subs for the Vancouver School District, called me and said that there was a posting for a science position. This was in the middle of July and it had already been posted for a week (Note: School starts at the beginning of September). I applied, and, after a few weeks, I was called in for an interview. I thought the interview went well, but I realized that there were probably a lot of qualified candidates. When the middle of August rolled around, I figured that since this left only two weeks until school, the position had probably been filled.
Earlier in the year, my siblings and I had planned a camping trip at Barview for three days at the end of August. We got two adjacent sites and set up lots of tents! It was so much fun to have Kristin, Katie, Megan and I, along with Megan's husband and children, Matt and our cousin Emden all together. We relaxed, played on the beach, ate good food, and had a generally great time. The third day of the camping trip I was getting ready to take a shower (Barview campground has great showers, by the way) when Matt's phone (which we had been set up to receive forwarded calls from our home phone) rang, and, after answering, Matt held out the phone to me. The person on the other line indicated they were with Vancouver School District HR and were very interested in me but could not get in contact with any of my references. WOW. Here I was in the "wilderness" holding my clothes, toiletries, and a towel and thinking that it hadn't occurred to me that having my references' phone numbers on me at all times was a good plan. I told HR I would try to contact my references myself and have them call back. I got off of the phone, told everybody what had happened, and then Matt and I frantically tried to find phone numbers for everyone! As two of my primary references were college professors, we were able to find their office numbers online. However, this was a week and a half before the fall semester started and I didn't expect anyone to be there. This proved to be accurate, but I left messages anyway. I then called my current employer, described the situation, and asked if she would be willing to at least provide a reference. She very kindly did so, and then, luckily for me, my CBC/WSU professor called me back and she also called in a reference.
When I returned from the showers, we started packing up camp. When everything but the last tent was packed, HR called back and OFFERED ME THE JOB!!! I was to come in for HR stuff on Thursday, which was exactly one week before school started. Best camping trip ever!
I saw my classroom for the first time the following Friday and then put my nose to the grindstone! It has been a wild and crazy ride so far, but it feels SO good to do what I love! The work load is approximately 70-80 hours a week...(not a lot has changed here), but it is much more enjoyable. I am enjoying students and the academic experience. I have a great administrative staff, science colleagues, and kids. I honestly couldn't have asked for a more perfect situation. I teach two class of integrated science (this is a Freshman course) and thee of Chemistry at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, WA. The commute is short (25 minutes) and I have my own classroom. I am truly grateful!
So, if you don't hear from me too often, know that I am writing or grading something or maybe sleeping! Matt and I have tried to make Saturday our "no school work day," but that is a work in progress. Today we are headed out to run errands: get binders for school, get notebooks for school, get binder clips for school.... you get the idea!
Earlier in the year, my siblings and I had planned a camping trip at Barview for three days at the end of August. We got two adjacent sites and set up lots of tents! It was so much fun to have Kristin, Katie, Megan and I, along with Megan's husband and children, Matt and our cousin Emden all together. We relaxed, played on the beach, ate good food, and had a generally great time. The third day of the camping trip I was getting ready to take a shower (Barview campground has great showers, by the way) when Matt's phone (which we had been set up to receive forwarded calls from our home phone) rang, and, after answering, Matt held out the phone to me. The person on the other line indicated they were with Vancouver School District HR and were very interested in me but could not get in contact with any of my references. WOW. Here I was in the "wilderness" holding my clothes, toiletries, and a towel and thinking that it hadn't occurred to me that having my references' phone numbers on me at all times was a good plan. I told HR I would try to contact my references myself and have them call back. I got off of the phone, told everybody what had happened, and then Matt and I frantically tried to find phone numbers for everyone! As two of my primary references were college professors, we were able to find their office numbers online. However, this was a week and a half before the fall semester started and I didn't expect anyone to be there. This proved to be accurate, but I left messages anyway. I then called my current employer, described the situation, and asked if she would be willing to at least provide a reference. She very kindly did so, and then, luckily for me, my CBC/WSU professor called me back and she also called in a reference.
When I returned from the showers, we started packing up camp. When everything but the last tent was packed, HR called back and OFFERED ME THE JOB!!! I was to come in for HR stuff on Thursday, which was exactly one week before school started. Best camping trip ever!
I saw my classroom for the first time the following Friday and then put my nose to the grindstone! It has been a wild and crazy ride so far, but it feels SO good to do what I love! The work load is approximately 70-80 hours a week...(not a lot has changed here), but it is much more enjoyable. I am enjoying students and the academic experience. I have a great administrative staff, science colleagues, and kids. I honestly couldn't have asked for a more perfect situation. I teach two class of integrated science (this is a Freshman course) and thee of Chemistry at Fort Vancouver High School in Vancouver, WA. The commute is short (25 minutes) and I have my own classroom. I am truly grateful!
So, if you don't hear from me too often, know that I am writing or grading something or maybe sleeping! Matt and I have tried to make Saturday our "no school work day," but that is a work in progress. Today we are headed out to run errands: get binders for school, get notebooks for school, get binder clips for school.... you get the idea!
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Back-log #1 - Fisher Family Visit in July 2010
In July our friends John and Connie and their two kids Natalie and Kai came through town and stopped to say hi. Connie had been staying in their home in Spokane with the kids while John worked at a new job in California. This visit was the beginning of a few summer weeks where they would all get to be together. The kids were excited.
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
I'm Back!
July has been an eventful month! As most of you know, I have been working two jobs for the last 18 months: a retail job and an HR job. Together I was pulling about 60-70 hours a week, and for the first year I didn't have any days off of both jobs! In January I kept the same hours, but managed to arrange to have Sunday off. In April the store announced that they would be closing our location and that the last day would be on July 14th. So, I am down to one job, and I am finally getting around to the many things I have been wanting to do.
I have managed to have a LITTLE bit of a life between work hours, and I have managed to document most important events with photos. As my blog is essentially my journal, and because I think some of you might be interested, I am going to post "back-logs" every couple of days until I am caught up. Some of them are from last year....
I have managed to have a LITTLE bit of a life between work hours, and I have managed to document most important events with photos. As my blog is essentially my journal, and because I think some of you might be interested, I am going to post "back-logs" every couple of days until I am caught up. Some of them are from last year....
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