Yea, I'm a [teacher] again!

If you get that reference, let me know. I received my "unofficial" scores for the ORELA test--the scary test I had to take a while ago. I passed with a 288 and 287 out of 300 on each section. I had to get at least a 240. I'm very grateful for everyone's help and support. I really felt the Lord's support, too. It was a good practice in putting my trust in the Lord and not worrying about the outcome.

No Dude

Last time I was with my sister and her family, I attempted to teach my niece to say "dude." My sister was not happy about it at all. (Why not? It was so cute.) My niece picked up on the fact that mommy didn't like the word and my dad captured it on video. Enjoy!

Blessings Behind the Iron Curtain

Okay, so maybe the allusion to the dividing line between communism and the free world is a little dramatic, but the general idea is still accurate. I've been snowed in. And not just the "oh dear there's a 1/2 inch of snow in Oregon. We'd better shut everything down and call in the National Guard" snowed in. We got more than 8 inches of snow yesterday. On top of that (literally) we got freezing rain last night and there was an almost 1/2 inch crust of ice on the snow. I know; I walked in it. It's been alternating between snowing and raining all day. And all day I watched the Southwest web site to see what would happen to my flight.

Of course I didn't get the official word that my flight was canceled until I was standing at the Max (light rail) station (Thanks Jen! You're a life saver!). Fortunately, I had just missed a train because the ticket station on the East bound side of the tracks wasn't working. I called the people who had just dropped me off since I knew they would still be out and I made it home only a little wet and cold.

I called the airline to find out what my options were, and well, provided we don't get another freak storm, I arrive in California at 8:00 pm Christmas day. I could hang out at the airport for the next three days trying to get on a flight as a stand-by passenger, but that just didn't feel right.

So here I am, back in my little house with my two little cats. Oddly enough I feel very peaceful. I called a sister I visit teacher earlier because I knew she had an extra set of chains. (I was hoping to not have to be cooped up for the next few days, but her daughter is using them.) When I told her my flight was canceled, she very practically said, "well it will be for the best, you'll see." And you know, I knew she was right. I don't know why, but I know she's right. It could be that I just need to be here so that the right things will happen. It could be that the Lord is sending comfort knowing that without it, the next few days would be very difficult. Whatever the reason, I am very very grateful.

My ward has been very helpful. As I've called around to making various arrangements (chains--already mentioned--, a sewing machine so I can work on Anna's present, etc.) I've already had two people offer to take me where ever I needed to go tomorrow. They've even asked if I have enough to eat (of course I do, can you imagine me with nothing in the cupboards, fridge, or freezer? Hello food storage!). I called my sister's mother-in-law and I will spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with them. They will take me to the airport when they go to pick up their daughter and son-in-law. It works out perfectly. There's a lot to be said for trusting in the Lord. Come what may, and if I don't love what's happening, I'll at least love and trust the Lord and that's what makes the difference.

Joy of Grading

I freely admit that grading is not my favorite thing to do. I'm always doing things to make it either more interesting or at lest seem like it's not taking too long. Today my strategy was "look for good quotes to put on my blog." I was part way through the first class of essays when I couldn't help but almost die laughing. Students say the most interesting things sometimes. After that essay, I kept an eye out for more quotes.

As a point of reference, the students are persuading someone to watch less T.V. The students, of course, are not named, and the spelling is their own.

Student A: The only person that comes to my mind that watches six hours of T.V. is my friend but than it is not his fault it is the movie's fault the godfather siereis is abou 6-7 hours long. I think if you watch six hours of t.v. you have no lif. Yet that is only my opinion (Pleas don't get mad).

Student B: Their is alot more in Life than T.v Like Camping, exploring, reading But most of all, Family. Sometimes you get so into T.v That you Forget about your Family and other important things.

Student C: My first opinion is to convince them to watch less TV. TV can roten your eyes if you watch it to much.

And my favorite:

Student D: If you love tv so much why don't you just go out side and act like your in a movie. Act out of pretend your a spy of something like that have a picnic out side and watch the cloud's. Look at the beutifule nature that was atended for us in the First it's not like god made a tv and said watch this six houers a day and become fat and stupid like a couch potato now did he.

So there you have it--some gentle reminders about why we shouldn't watch too much T.V. Now I just need to help them re-read what they've written so they can catch some of those mistakes.

What's better than a snow day?

How about a snow week! So I haven't gone to school once this week. Okay, that's not entirely true. I swung by quickly on Tuesday to pick up some papers that needed to be graded. The roads were not too icy so I made the journey. I was glad I did.

So what does a snowed/iced in teacher do with a snow week? Well let's see . . .

Monday: Slept in a bit. Got up when my sister called. Exercised, took a nap, finished grading a stack of persuasive essay first drafts. Found out FHE was canceled, so called my sister to see if I could join her family for FHE by web cam. Prepared a lesson on the birth of Christ. Had FHE. Held copies of December Ensigns up to the web cam for my niece to see. Ate gingersnaps for refreshments while my sister and her family had angel thumbprint cookies. "Helped" put Anna to bed by listening to a story, singing, and saying her evening prayer. Afterwords, I did some cleaning and then watched a movie and quilted.

Tuesday: Had a family from my ward over for lunch. They have taken care of my cats before and will be taking care of them over Christmas. Ran errands after lunch--including picking up papers from school. Mailed my teaching license application, retirement information, and insurance information. After dinner, I watched another movie while quilting. I'm getting close to being done with this part of the quilting.

Wednesday: Exercised, and figured out if I would be able to get my hair cut. It snowed all day, so I wasn't about to drive, but I knew that the bus went right past the shop in Forest Grove and would pick me up only about a 1/2 mile from my house. So I spent from about 11:15 to 3:30 traveling and getting my hair cut and colored. It made a nice change from sitting at home. I finished all the grading, but the essays I'd picked up Tue. I dinked around on the computer for a while and finished the night watching Mr. Krueger's Christmas while quilting. I'm about 12 inches of sewing away from rolling it for (hopefully) the last time.

Thursday: Slept in again. Made sourdough waffles for brunch. Graded three classes of essays. The cats thought I should spend the time with them and even went so far as to try to keep me from my work. Here they are sitting on some of the essays. You can only just see the paper Sambo is sitting on.
Mixed up the dough for some sourdough bread. Graded the last two classes' essays. Formed the bread into loaves and went Christmas shopping. I'm basically done, but I had an inspiration for one more gift and since I had time . . . Well, I forgot about the bread and so made a final stop to get some new tennis shoes. My only good pair are mud covered from playing ultimate frisbee. When I got home, the bread was definitely ready to be baked. I had dinner, pre-shrunk some fabric for a project, and waited and waited and waited to find out if we would have school tomorrow. I finally decided that if I did have to go in, the only productive thing I could do with the kids was to review their grades with them. So I put all the grades in the computer. Half way through that, I got the voice mail--no school. I'll go to bed as soon as this is posted.

Snow Update

This picture was taken about 3:30. The snow has mostly stopped, but there are still a few flurries. What everything will be like in the morning remains to be seen.

Let it Snow?!

I've been looking forward to Sunday all week. I love going to church and associating with the saints. At the very least it gives me something to do, and at it's best, my knowledge and testimony of the gospel increases.

Right as I was about to leave, I happened to check my email, which I rarely do on Sunday morning, and there was a message saying that church was canceled! Why? Well the picture and video should say it all.

I was really hoping to be able to stay home from school on Monday. Too bad the snow couldn't have waited. I'd much rather go to church than to school. Oh well, there's still hope I guess. Maybe there will be too much ice on the road to make it to school safely in the morning. The snow is beautiful. It's coming down if pretty big flakes right now.

Blessings of Education

I took my "scary" test today. I feel good about it and am hopeful that I will pass.

While I was taking the test, the thought came to me that I am very blessed to be educated. I don't mean that as compared to others, but just that I have the capacity to learn (and remember) things about this world. There is so much we know from how flowers reproduce, to the movement of the plates, to being able to determine how much fencing one might need to enclose 70 square feet. I realized once again that I love learning and knowing things. It really brings a lot of joy.

If only I could help my students see that way, I'd have it made. I am just grateful for a Heavenly Father who created a beautiful earth and then let us learn things about it.

Thank Goodness for Mothers

I know that I don't fully appreciate everything my mother has done for me. I may not know until I become a mother myself or when I reach the other side, which ever comes first. Nevertheless, I am thankful for the fact that my mother will do anything in her power to help me.

I have a scary (for me) test to take on Saturday. I have to pass it to keep my teaching license, and it covers math, science, social sciences, art, heath, and language arts. (Remember, I am a Language Arts teacher who hasn't taken math since high school and science since her first year at BYU.) I was almost at my wits' end last night when I called my mother. She then proceeded to spend about two hours on Skype helping me understand the practice test questions I wasn't sure about. Not only did I relearn and understand things better, but I felt the comfort of my mother's love which gave me the strength to continue on.

I realize that I am probably worrying about this test way too much, but I am grateful for a mother who still gives everything she has to her daughter.