Life's Ridiculous Again

Hello one and all,
I hope you are enjoying life lately. I'm back into school, whole-hog, as they say. Taking credentialing courses and student teaching at a very cute elementary school in San Bruno. One more year of excessive writing and reading and then hopefully I will be finished with school for a long time. Fridays I have made sure to keep clear for job possibilities, such as substitute teaching. At 7:20am this morning, sure enough, I was called about some job offers. I took one starting at 8am and ran through the house to shower, make coffee, communicate with Chris, who was a God-send when it came to getting directions and making me a fast sandwich. En route to my first assignment as a Jr High PE teacher, I was called and re-routed to an elementary school. Once I got there I saw the sign said, "International." Oh, boy, this was a real adventure. I was told it was a forth grade class and it ended up being a 2nd grade class - much more my style. Needless to say, I got a lot of Espanol practice in today with the kids. Damn, they were good. I read them a story, something called, Froggy's First Beso, and it was written in Spanish. I sounded like a beginning reader and the kids loved it because they got to show me their mastery and correct my mistakes. That was super fun.
Right now I'm crying over the death of a misunderstood giant gorilla (who's not even real!) in King Kong. I got the movie in the library and I'm glad I did because it's oddly good. Some of the CG is a bit shoddy, but whatever. Then there's me crying over the mythical creature - I always cry over abused animals, but still like to watch shows like Animal Cops on Animal Planet when I can. Even if I'm running, full-tilt on the treadmill at the gym, I will cry over whatever sappiness is on cable. Don't ever try welling up in front of me, especially if your male, because I will quickly join you with my own tears. Why am I saying this? I guess crying comes more often when I'm stressed out. So watch out world! I just might cry in public and make people feel awkward.
Like the apple with the cozy? I thank Cute Overload for a daily dose of simple cuteness. It also highlights the wonders of knitting. My knitting has been focused on a quilt-like project where I have been stitching together different colored squares. These seed-stitched squares will be sewn together to form a bed spread, but since the yarn was a bit pricey it will be more of a small blanket.
Funny how house chores, such as doing the ever-dirty dishes, or crafting is alluring when there's graduate work to be done. :)You'd be surprised how fun watering flowers can be in lu of writing a 10-pager. The laundry has to be done right away and friends need to be sent random emails now. If it's a particularly anxious time, I might cry whilst doing the cooking. :) And then you would really know I have a lot of school work sitting on my figurative shoulders.

Smally Goes to Tahoe

Another "Keeper"

Before I get back to my house chores, I thought I would tell you how much My Sister’s Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, surprised me. At first I was skeptical because I thought it started out a little cheesy, but it got me in the end! I heard about it when my professor, Dr. Rossi, said he could not put it down. Now, I see why he might have enjoyed the piece of fiction because it is about a 13 year old taking her parents to court to gain medical emancipation. You see, this young lady was genetically engineered to be a perfect donor for her sister who suffers from a rare form of leukemia. That’s all I am going to say because the plot is great and so is the topic. As you read it, it only gets better. So hit that library or borrow it from a friend, as I did (Thanks, Katie!).

Hell = Taking the RICA

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse then the CSET (check out my post about that experience under May 2006) I had the lovely privilege of registering for, paying the $130 and taking the RICA. RICA stands for Reading Instruction Competence Assessment and it is mandatory for teachers in California.
I believe teaching is more of an art then a science. But the government does not share my views. No wonder there is a shortage of driven and qualified teachers with all this red tape and expensive tests to take for a less then ideal working situation. Tests do not teach – this is one of the lessons I have learned in my teaching course work at SFSU. It is bad pedagogy to only test. A test is a tool for the teacher to see if they have been teaching effectively. I would be willing to take something as annoyingly focused as the RICA if those who want us to know all that information would go over our scores with us afterwards. If I’m found incompetent in my knowledge of reading, writing and spelling, I want to know why.
I do believe if I went to Hell that it would be an eternity of taking the RICA. First of all, it was in a building that was the picture of dilapidation, with the feeling of a depressing institution. Cloud Hall had dreary, unending halls and the bathroom’s stalls had splintered wooden doors that looked like they were made by primates. After we were in our assigned classrooms by our given numbers (we might as well have been robots or a cattle) we got to take our tests on these desk-chair things, where the slab of wood meant for us to write on, was no more then a foot-square. I ended up having to sit at an angle during the test to try to utilize my lack of space.
Then there was the test* itself. The first section had 70 multiple choice (or so they say) questions. 70 questions on the same topic (yaaaawwwnnnn). At least the CSET changed subjects every forty questions or so. An example* of a question is as follows:

If you are a kindergarten teacher and you have five English Learners, how would you teach them reading?
a. You teach them the alphabet.
b. You read to them.
c. You are nice to them.
d. You let them practice writing the alphabet.

Hmmmm…. Let me think…. What? Those were my thoughts during most of the test. The written section did not bestow any more confidence in my teaching abilities either. Oh, and did I mention that for our room full of female test-takers there was only one bathroom pass? Who did that math?
At least I was no alone in this cruel world of over-assessment. My friends Amy, Kelsey, Blair were all there in the same deteriorating classroom. We also studied together. Blair and I shared a more angry outlook on the whole situation (F-it all!), where the rest studied their fears of failure away. Lord willing, we will all pass and, in time, it will be just a bad dream. Tests do not teach!

*DISCLAIMER: I’m not giving away real content OR answers to the RICA, so don’t sue me!

Life Is Too Short

A truly fantastic human being, experienced teacher, mother, wife and best friend was lost when, Scott’s mom, Pattie succumbed to the complications of her cancer, this last Sunday. My friend, who was also my Matron of Honor, Lara, called last night around 9:30pm and I knew something was not right. A few weeks ago I emailed her telling her that I would be happy to meet her if her little family ever came up to visit Scott’s family in Northern California. At this time she requested that they could focus on quality time with Pattie and immediate family and I understood.
Cancer is a term that involves so many vile afflictions that can strike almost any part of the body. Grandma and Grandpa’s skin cancer, caused by sun-worshipping, resulted in Grandpa’s ears looking like they had been bar-b-qued. But they both luckily had no other complications. Laddie, our Scottish terrier, died when his bone cancer left him in so much pain that he could not leave his little dog bed. Right around the time I was forced into womanhood, my mother was going through a hysterectomy because she had an orange-sized cyst on her ovary. That procedure was followed by hormone therapy and the sudden emotional roller-coaster of menopause that we had to cope with as a family.
When I heard that Pattie was diagnosed a year or two ago, I prayed for a miracle and hoped that it would be a successful battle. I prayed that she would pull through because she had such a rich life. She recently remarried herself before watching two of her boys get hitched. The last couple of years also saw the birth of a few healthy grandchildren. At the wedding slash baby shower held at Pattie’s warm home, the house was packed with friends and family. I got the pleasure to sit next to Grandma Pattie (that is the picture I included above). That was a year ago and I believe she was quickly diagnosed with cancer after that.
When Lara called last night we talked and kept it business-like, no crying. I found out about the funeral and expressed how sorry I am. I could tell she had been crying because she sniffed a lot. Last night I had a hard time sleeping and that is very unusual for me because that is one thing I do well. I had a mental image consisting of rows after rows of people walking together on this expansive highway. Every so often someone collapses or the ground gives way and swallows a few more people. Every one keeps walking, but seem shocked by their fellow walkers disappearances.
Death is sometimes sudden and life is short. When I was tossing and turning in bed I thought about how I would need tissue at the funeral and in a dream I found an individual pack in a random purse. I was bummed when I woke up to find that that, in fact, I have no Kleenex. I guess this is one of those bridges that you have to cross when you come to it. I pray that God is taking care of Pattie now in Heaven. Maybe she was such a treasure here on earth that He wanted to have her close to Him. But we will miss her here.

Simpsonizederised

Yo! We both got Simpsonederizeded - rock, rock on!

Cheers to Three Years

Yes, Chris and I have been married a wonderful and interesting three years. We have been through four moves, many job changes and I'm still in the process of changing my career via grad-school. I noted in Chris' card that the difference between the last two year's anniversaries and this years, was that I am growing more comfortable. Chris is still the person I would most likely want to hang out with. We are currently trying to get rid of our Newlywed Nine (mine is more like fifteen!) Fortunately we have each other to help promote (and cheat on) good habits. :)

So, for this year, since Chris was starting a new job a short commute away, I wanted to have a celebration at home. I hand-picked apples, savory sausage, fresh-baked french bread and fondue cheese. We also invested in some Mumm's Napa champagne, which we had at our wedding, and that was perfect. The reason we had fondue was because we dated in Switzerland where they are fondue perfectionists. Our wedding DVD, that Uncle Spence recorded (good job Uncle Spence!) played while we dined at our coffee-table. Cheers!

Cousin Bri-guy and Keri's Wedding

July 20th, 2007 was the day Brian and Keri joined their lives in marriage! I love weddings and love seeing family more. Chris and I drove the two hours to be with our extended family at the Sacramento Mormon Temple. The Price Family, minus Emily and Brian, drove to Santa Clara to stay with Mom the previous Wednesday evening. Chris and I got to spend time with them for dinner. On the Friday we met at the Temple for photos, but then drove into Old Town Folsom for a Mexican Food Luncheon. I helped Mike and Uncle Greg with a rap in honor of the recently married. Mike even custom-made beat for it!
Chris and I had planned to stay in Chico for the rest of the weekend and were invited to a BBQ at Aunt Lo's house. More great family time and slidding down their slide into the cool pool!
Our dear friends, the Reid's, let us sleep in their side of the duplex that we once lived in, while they were away. It was great to stay in a place we were so familiar with. Luckily, Chico was not as hot as it could have been. We visited eatries we loved like Sin of Cortez for breakfast and Christian Michael's for dinner/happy hour. Besides stuffing our fat faces, we also walked around the quaint downtown and had an after-dinner walk we used to have every night. We were a little sweaty after that walk and decided to go for a night swim at the Cootsona's. Before going back to the house we had to walk to Shubert's for some ice cream. You must think we are 300 pounds each, but we just love some of Chico's finest restaurants and had been planning this trip for a while. :)
Sunday we went to Bidwell Presbyterian Church where Uncle Greg was teaching that morning. Aunt Lo wanted to go get some Peet's after the service so we had an hour chat and sat outside the shop, sipping half-caf coffee in real mugs. It was great to have some one-on-one with someone who's older and wiser. On our drive home we took the 99 South to Yuba City (Taste of India is our all-time favorite Indian food place!) and then to Sac-Town for shopping.
We had an excellent weekend. Chris and I were surprised how relaxed we were because while we had lived there we were not always so stress-free. Looking back to that time of our lives we had a hard time finding consistant work for both of us and that was really hard. But Chico does have a draw and we thought almost just as relaxing as Tahoe. Gasp!