the unexpected ideas

I work in an amazing building that was built over 50 years ago. While I hate the plumbing (rarely do we get hot water) and the drafty windows (although I love the view) it does afford us one gigantic heater. We fill up its 4 feet with mittens, shirts, paint smocks, and towels.

You see, the kiddos have rather free access to the sink for handwashing. That, coupled with a horrid design flaw (ie: movable faucet) allows for curious children to move the handle and flood the sink. We learn through trial and error. It takes about 4 times of teacher's shrieking/running from across the room before we learn that yes, we can flood the sink and no, we should not do it.

4 times of experimenting with the process x 12 children= a consistent rotation of items placed on top of the heater vents to be dried.

All this to say that we love our heater. The kiddos know our heater. Throughout the day they place items on it and retrieve warmed (and dried items) The heater is not new.

Yesterday it was re-discovered.

In the process of placing a shirt on the heater a kiddo noticed that the heater pushed the sleeve into the air. Giggling ensued as many hands worked to push the sleeve back down against the flow of the air. Then we looked for other things to put on the heater and watched to see what would happen.

Toy cars don't blow up in to the air.

Hair does but we have to lean really far forward

Chalk doesn't

Paper doesn't but makes a really cool sound

Feathers do and oh my goodness! Can you believe it? They fly up into the air!!!

This began at 11:00 am. and continued until they left at the end of the day.

Laughing and jumping as they tried to catch the flying feathers. Concentrating as they tried to perfect exact feather placement to achieve maximum velocity. Frustration as the feathers disappeared into the return air vents.

Can't wait to watch how this idea grows...

Ignoring the Environmental Implications

that right, I've turned my back on the environment. At least temporarily.

Got my heat cranked up to 74 degrees and I'm loving it.

I figure after the stressful weekend (visit with the parents) and the lingering fever/head cold, I'm allowed to crank up the heat and spend a few days under the big down comforter. If only we had a fire place.

I felt it coming on around noon on Saturday...the tickle at the back of my throat. Normally this begins the onslaught of preventative techniques: airborne, oranges, whiskey, sleeping.

Instead I was entertaining the folks. I've always tinkered around with the notion that emotions- especially stress- actually affect health and symptoms I experience.

Does anyone remember the wisdom tooth flare up courtesy

of stressed out Carri trying to open a new school and handle

the surprise visit from a certain someone who did not live

anywhere near me. I assumed distance= not having to be

prepared for surprise visits. Enter evil laughter here. Let's

just say I did not exactly handle that one gracefully.

Well I am a firm believer that stress and my body fighting off illnesses are not a good combination. Thanks to the little snot crusted, I don't know how to not cough on your face, darlings at school- germs are migrating through my system constantly. Normally my body is like Oh Yeah, is that the best you got? and the germs quickly pass with a sniffle or sore throat.

This time not so much. Following a rather stressful conversation...in which I wore my big girl panties and was very very brave...It hit me like a ton of bricks. What began with a tickle at the back of my throat turned into a full blown I've been run over by a truck, cold + fever for added entertainment.

The Plan was immediately launched into: sleep, mucinex, tylenol, chicken soup, oranges, airborne, orange juice and lots and lots of water. And the removal of the stress from my life. 48 hours later and I feel pretty dang good. My body is a wonderful thing. So strong. So impressed at how quickly it kicked those germs outta here.

why I hate October

It hit me slowly. Walking into my favorite coffee shop in Early October.

The wall of pink tulips.

with words on them.

The small table

with a sign, a pen and more pink tulip post it notes.

The invitation

to write the name of a loved one to add to the tulip garden.

The garden

to pause and remember those who have fought and are still fighting.

My response?

I turned and walked out

I love that its not swept under the rug. I love the public awareness. I love the passion of folks donating to the cause. I love, love, love being a cheerleader!

But I hate the reminders. Especially when I'm blind-sided.

Being reminded takes me back to that place when my first loved one was diagnosed.

Breast Cancer? How?

Wait...they found it when the tumor grow so big it broke her ribs?

How did no one know?

What now?

Praise Jesus for stubborn women. Women who take a prognosis of 6-12 months and tell it to sod off. Praise Jesus for "last vacations, last holiday celebrations, last birthdays" multiple times over. Praise Jesus for so many years of still fighting that I can't remember how many it's been.

I hate that it feels almost routine. That the announcement is met with an okay. We know how to fight this. Chicken Soup must be made, blankets must be knitted and fuzzy hats must be purchased.

Today I wasn't blind-sided. While perusing TED.com (love, love, love) I stumbled across this video: A tool that finds 3x more breast tumors, and why it's not available to you.

Now we all know I love a good conspiracy theory. And I know it necessarily isn't all true. But it gives me hope for the future. That maybe I won't always hate October as much as I do now.

I turned and walked out of my favorite coffee shop, cause I know too many women. Too many names to add to the wall. Too many women for whom sometimes I just like to forget the hard path that they've taken. Too many women who I just want to appreciate for this moment right now.

a new year tradition

courtesy of my aunt sherry by way of one of her friends, incorporating what I believe are traditions from the Unitarian Universalists...

We begin by lighting a great big roaring fire. Then we write down things we don't want to bring with us into the new year. Then we crumble them up and throw them into the fire. We watch them burn to crisps knowing that they are no longer things we can burden ourselves with.

I love this tradition.

Then comes the other half. We write out a list for the upcoming year of things we want to do. Sometimes this list gets affected by peer pressure "oh, you really should add this or that" Sometimes the peer pressure is inspiring "oh, I like that idea, I'm gonna steal it!" This list is similar to my other list. But being created in a different venue, and stealing other's inspirations, it looks a bit different.

Get another stamp in my National Parks Passport

Start Contributing to a 403b ended up on both lists, guess I have to do it now.

Plan Hawaii Extravaganza. T minus 439 days and counting!!!

Craft Night Monthly Stealing inspiration from a friend

Go to temple with friends- for fun! Cause not fun religious events don't count. Oh and this was also peer pressure inspired

Buy 90% of my groceries from local shops. Hmm both lists again, must be important.

Stay under our grocery budget To be able to transfer the extras for Hawaii Extravaganza!!!

Ski at least twice with Jesse Well not sure about this, since I'm kinda fighting with the mountain right now.

Ride bike to farmer's market twice Peer pressure from friends suggested that numbers might help goals be more achievable, we shall see

Leave work @ work. Well considering I have a bag full of goodies for my classroom I just purchased today, this one won't come to easily. But the tutus were $1.00 at Target...$1.00 and they will look fabulous on my little ones who are playing ballerina these days.

A Roasting we will go, A Roasting we will go

Hi ho the derrio, A Roasting we will go.

Yes, sometimes the teacher in me sneaks out. We sing all day long. Often songs we make up.

My aunts gifted me some new canning jars for Christmas. Of course with the condition that they wanted a few returned filled with awesome yummyness. So I pick up this book from the library and get inspired. Well, overwhelmed to be more exact. Everything looks amazing and sounds yummy and this book sat in my kitchen for 7 weeks before I decided where to start.

Presenting...Roasted Bell Pepper Soup

Isn't is just beautiful!

Having never roasted my own peppers, I wasn't aware of what I was

getting into. Well 4 roasting pans, each making 2 rotations in the oven later; my house smelled divine and I was left with these beauties.

Have you ever peeled the charred skin off 12 peppers? Not too fun.

Ann called while I was covered in pepper slime (mind you, not as gooey as tomato slime) and provided a well needed distraction.

The recipe called for chunking up the roasted peppers, but I decided to present this as a challenge to my blender...turned out okay for me in the end and I didn't have to add an additional layer of pepper slime to my counter.

Into the pot, stir while it attains the proper temperature and seasonings, then bust out the handy dandy immersion blender. Which after borrowing this weekend I am now coveting.

The recipe suggested using a steady hand to simultaneously pour the 2 soups into 1 bowl, creating a 2 toned soup. Well, pouring soup with a steady hand is more difficult than I thought it would be.

Jesse proceeded to fill every spoonful with half of each soup. I didn't have the patience for that.

Am I glad I have 6 pints of this yummy goodness canned? Heck Ya! Will I peel 12 peppers again to create this soup? Doubtful. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Another bathroom conversation

Pee Pee comes out of my penis.

Poop comes out of my bottom.

Sometimes Pee comes out of my bottom too.

Why do I have to hold my penis down?

So the Pee goes in the potty, instead of on the floor

Oh.

Why do I have a penis?

This begins the part where I simply nod or shrug and try not to laugh as this lil one figures out anatomy...

I have a penis cause I'm a boy

Does so and so have a penis? (begins naming all the other boys in the classroom, one by one)

Do you have a penis?

Nope, I'm a girl like your mommy (hoping to remind him of whatever phrase his parents have used to describe anatomical differences)

She has a Ba Gina!

more nodding and shrugging and attempting to not smile

You have a Ba Gina!

Does so and so have a Ba Gina!?! (begins naming girls in class)

I have a penis!

This chanting continues for several minutes then suddenly ends with...

Why are you laughing?

I lost my battle to conceal my smile.

I laugh everyday

Just like Teacher Tom says, If It's not fun, I'm not doing it right...

Cause potty training is just plain funny, a few conversations I've witnessed this week...

My bottom is spicy! following a very big and very stinky BM

It takes a lot of practice not to pee in your underwear. You have to practice a lot. Then you'll be a grown up. Yes, it's true. Grownups do not pee in their underwear

And because it's always fun to watch a boy realize that a girl looks just a bit different with no pants on...Young lad bends down to get a close up view of a young lady sitting on the potty. Looks very confused before asking Why aren't you pushing your penis down? So glad I'm teacher and not Mom. I simply shoo-ed him out of the bathroom and told him to ask his mom about that one.

Learning how to be friends is hard. Just a few ways we've tried this week...

If I take her doll and run away, will she be my friend? umm No

If I scream in his ear that I want to be next, will he give me his toy? umm No

If I'm wanting to do a painting idea and I find 3 inches of room at the table, can I squeeze my way in (and push my friends out of the way) and take a turn? umm No

If while in the course of playing "hockey" I grab my friend and pull him down, will my friend keep playing with me? umm No

It is likely I'll end up sobbing about said friend who fell on top of me umm Yes

Will I get my teacher's sympathy? umm No If you don't want to get fallen on, stop pulling your friends down.

So our goals for the rest of the week. Let's spend less time in the bathroom. Let's play with our friends, not aggravate them. Let's not wrestle at school.

Remembering the fun

"Without fun, we learn nothing but harsh lessons. It's fun to satisfy our intellectual, emotional, and physical curiosities, in fact that's the only way we can do it. Fun is real. Fun is not frivolous, it's central. Fun is the most valuable thing there is. I'm here to tell you, if it's not fun, you're not doing it right." -Teacher Tom

One of my goals for the year, is to focus on the fun. I easily get bogged down by the monotony of wiping noses, rubbing backs and changing diapers. When asked about my day, I recall the 20 minute tantrum about washing hands or the shock of, wait- I'm not supposed to eat the sand?

But my job is so much bigger than that. I want to remember the so much bigger than things...

So I'm choosing to ignore the parent who at the end of a very hectic day while toddler tantrums were erupting in the room decides now is the time to launch into a 5 minute monolouge as to why his child has a bit of poop in his underwear. It couldn't be that his son is only a week into pottytraining, and sometimes doesn't have it quite down yet? Nope, instead it's because I didn't properly supervise him. I didn't thoroughly check him after each potty turn to be sure a bit of poo didn't squeeze its way out. I'm sorry, but I did watch him, and your kid is 3. I fully expect him to be able to tell me when his bottom hurts or just doesn't feel right. But please feel free to tell me all about the proper way to wipe your kids butt, cause I've never done it before.

Instead I want to remember...

When one of the kiddos noticed my painted nails..."Carri, you have paint on your nails! Can I see it? It's so sparkly!"

How my 6 oldest kiddos played together, like actually together. Working on a common idea towards a common goal. And that I only had to step in twice to intervene. Wait...are we actually maturing?!?!

Let's see what today brings...

for 2011 I will...

Begin saving for my future- hello 403B!

Yes this may be its third appearance on my yearly list...but this time it will happen.

Well hopefully

Shop more locally

For the last few weeks I've been working hard at this, and I think I can do 90% of my grocery shopping local. My favorite places: Huffman's Market and Local Yokel. I want my money to stay in the local economy not corporate america.

Waste Less

especially with food. I have a problem...When I cook, I make giant meals (due to Jesse's "parasite" that likes to consume large amounts) However, the leftovers get out of control. I either need to cook less or eat more leftovers.

starting with a pantry challenge. Only shopping for fresh produce/dairy and cleaning out my pantry. Let's hope inspiration and creativity strikes. I have lots of beans and rice, but wondering how many different ways can I make them hmmm

Loving more on my out of town friends

I hate losing touch with my favorites. Lets start taking advantage of all these cell phone minutes.

Going to the dentist- once

Yes, I know I'm supposed to go to the dentist every 6 months. But since I've been once in the last ten years, I thought aiming for twice this coming year is a bit much. Let's start slow with once. Oh and I have a coupon for this!

be Produce-tastic!

A few years ago I half assed an attempt at growing my own seedlings. Well thanks

to a new

shelf for my front window, I am going to full ass an attempt to grow

seedlings.

Tomatoes,

Beans (cause their easy) and something else that we'll love.

Love on my garden more, but be realistic about what we plant

Make and can enough salsa/sauce/tomatoes to last the long, cold winter months

Can fresh fruit in the summer, cause these peaches I'm eating right now are

amazing!

Focus on the fun stuff in my job

I easily get caught up in the bad/exhausting/emotionally draining parts of my

profession,

but like Teacher Tom Says if it's not fun, I'm not doing it right.