1. Where is your cell phone? desk
2. Where is your significant other? working
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? heaven
5. Your father? sleeping (I am sure)
6. Your favorite thing? family
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your goal? survive
9. The room you are in? classroom
10. Your hobby? handwork
11. Your fear? failure
12. Where do you want to be in six years? here
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you are not? outgoing
15. One of your wish list items? nothing
16. Where you grew up? Orangeville
17. The last thing you did? dismissed
18. What you are wearing? casual
19. Your TV? off
20. Your pet? none
21. Your computer? School - Gateway Home - Dell
22. Your mood? tired
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? wonderful
25. Something you are not wearing? smile
26. Favorite story? Peacegiver
27. Your Summer? relaxed
28. Love someone? hubby
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When was the last time you laughed? forgotten
31. Last time you cried? morning
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Another Day
Just another day? I hope for a calm, nice day today. My mind has been muddled the past week with too much upheaval. My students are having a hard time concentrating, I feel disconnected to reality, too much background noise in my head. I need to take a step back and see what I need to do to create a better atmosphere for myself.
I want to acknowledge one blessing in our lives the past few days. Little Maxwell is alive and breathing thanks to his big sister's love and mom's great reactions. See their story here. We are just so thankful that everything turned out alright. Now, no more quarters in the mouth!
I glanced through the Ensign when it came last week, but yesterday I noticed an article I didn't notice before. I an anxious to read "The Functional Family". I am sure I will get some useful information there.
As a side-note: Once upon a time one of my children remarked that Mom and Dad didn't teach them how to fight with a spouse. Could it be that we just never did? Well, we have had disagreements, but learned early how to work them out. The other day on Dr. Phil there was a really good show where he gave advice on how to fight....not that fighting is good, but how to work through the disagreements, and what parents need to do when they feel a discussion coming on. He also has some really good tips on his website. I think it might be something that others would be interested in. I have noticed so many instances in families around where "The Proper Care of Feeding of Families" is becoming difficult. Perhaps we need to learn the proper way to conduct these discussions. Just a thought.
I want to acknowledge one blessing in our lives the past few days. Little Maxwell is alive and breathing thanks to his big sister's love and mom's great reactions. See their story here. We are just so thankful that everything turned out alright. Now, no more quarters in the mouth!
I glanced through the Ensign when it came last week, but yesterday I noticed an article I didn't notice before. I an anxious to read "The Functional Family". I am sure I will get some useful information there.
As a side-note: Once upon a time one of my children remarked that Mom and Dad didn't teach them how to fight with a spouse. Could it be that we just never did? Well, we have had disagreements, but learned early how to work them out. The other day on Dr. Phil there was a really good show where he gave advice on how to fight....not that fighting is good, but how to work through the disagreements, and what parents need to do when they feel a discussion coming on. He also has some really good tips on his website. I think it might be something that others would be interested in. I have noticed so many instances in families around where "The Proper Care of Feeding of Families" is becoming difficult. Perhaps we need to learn the proper way to conduct these discussions. Just a thought.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Happy Birthday, Dallas
As the BFG would say, "My mind is full of squished flies." Even though Dallas' birthday is on my kitchen calendar, I plum forgot to get a card sent until Nancy reminded me last night that it was his birthday. I hope I am eternally forgiven.
Dallas is a wonderful father to Tyler, and great husband to Nancy because he can actually control her :) Just kidding Nancy! He is a brillant computer/internet guy who knows how to speak computer language better than I know English. (And that includes Emery County English.) We are happy to have him in our family. We can truly say we all out-talk him, but hey, we need someone to listen to all our talking. Love ya, Dallas. Hope you have a happy birthday and get to eat all the sushi you want. You can have my share, I don't mind!
Dallas is a wonderful father to Tyler, and great husband to Nancy because he can actually control her :) Just kidding Nancy! He is a brillant computer/internet guy who knows how to speak computer language better than I know English. (And that includes Emery County English.) We are happy to have him in our family. We can truly say we all out-talk him, but hey, we need someone to listen to all our talking. Love ya, Dallas. Hope you have a happy birthday and get to eat all the sushi you want. You can have my share, I don't mind!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
And I Didn't Even Know It
I thought I would check my e-mail before turning in for the night. Then, of course, had to check the blog to see who has been looking. SiteMeter showed were the usual links from cox.net (Arizona) etv (which shows the different places in EC), a USU (is that you, Mitch?) and a few comcasts. Not being exactly sure which city for comcast, I thought I would take a look. One was from Salt Lake and they reached my blog through a google search using my name and the words "my thoughts". I don't mind having people find me at all. In fact, it is pretty interesting to see how they came to my site. Another comcast user came from a good search on Chantel and Barrett Labrum so I hope you didn't get any strange viewers of your blog? But that first google search gave me information I was a bit surprised to find.
I clicked on the google search to see just what came up when the person searched my name. Yup, there were several matches that pointed to documents with my name attached. One really caught my eye. It is a lesson plan that I wrote for a masters class assignment. We had to write a unit on a "cultural issue" using literature appropriate for our grade level. I wrote a really good lesson plan based on the Civil War. My students are always really interested when I read them a biography on Harriet Tubman and we discuss slavery and the Underground Railroad. The lesson plan went into lots of details with lots of books to read. How come I never get time to teach those great lessons I plan and write up? Anyway, this lesson plan shows up on the UEN lesson activity page without me even knowing it! At the bottom of the lesson it lists the "authors"; my name, the masters class teachers (whom I won't list here) and another guru of literature lessons from up-state. How she ever got attached to MY lesson plan I will never know! Now, mind you, I don't mind my lesson plan being placed on the UEN siste. I am just wondering HOW it got there. I didn't submit it! And why would the teachers list their names as authors? Maybe they "fixed it up" or something, but shouldn't I have been made aware (yes, I know, I am a WARE) that it was being submitted to the state lesson page? I don't know wheither to be upset, flattered, laid-back, shocked, or what. I think I will just take the "Oh, My, what do you know" attitude and let everyone tell me how wonderful the lesson plan is. But then again, who ever reads those lessons anyway? It has been there since 2005 and this is the first I knew about it! Maybe I am not so famous after all.
Happy reading!
I clicked on the google search to see just what came up when the person searched my name. Yup, there were several matches that pointed to documents with my name attached. One really caught my eye. It is a lesson plan that I wrote for a masters class assignment. We had to write a unit on a "cultural issue" using literature appropriate for our grade level. I wrote a really good lesson plan based on the Civil War. My students are always really interested when I read them a biography on Harriet Tubman and we discuss slavery and the Underground Railroad. The lesson plan went into lots of details with lots of books to read. How come I never get time to teach those great lessons I plan and write up? Anyway, this lesson plan shows up on the UEN lesson activity page without me even knowing it! At the bottom of the lesson it lists the "authors"; my name, the masters class teachers (whom I won't list here) and another guru of literature lessons from up-state. How she ever got attached to MY lesson plan I will never know! Now, mind you, I don't mind my lesson plan being placed on the UEN siste. I am just wondering HOW it got there. I didn't submit it! And why would the teachers list their names as authors? Maybe they "fixed it up" or something, but shouldn't I have been made aware (yes, I know, I am a WARE) that it was being submitted to the state lesson page? I don't know wheither to be upset, flattered, laid-back, shocked, or what. I think I will just take the "Oh, My, what do you know" attitude and let everyone tell me how wonderful the lesson plan is. But then again, who ever reads those lessons anyway? It has been there since 2005 and this is the first I knew about it! Maybe I am not so famous after all.
Happy reading!
Finally.....
I have a small amount of time to do things I have been putting off. My days since before Christmas have been full of fun, great, wonderful things to do, but I haven't had time to do those little things that help create calmness in life. Today I went to the post office. Yes, I got to open my own mailbox. That might seem like a little thing to most people, but all my life my children or my husband have taken the key and gotten the mail. Today, I actually did it myself. Hurrah! (It really isn't such a big deal.) I took some things to send off to Missouri, so I got one errand completed by 11:00 am. I just transferred pictures from my camera to my computer so now I am going to post some of them, and send some off in e-mails. I need to update my school blog and wikispace, not that anyone actually ever reads them, but I want the pictures there so it looks like we do something.
After blog updating I plan to work on my math assignment for next week. That means more reading and writing. I also have to do the make-up work from the part of class I missed last week.
UPDATES:
Labrum Family Christmas Party. I didn't go because of MATH CLASS, but my camera went and here are the pictures we got back. Kayden didn't like Santa but LuAnn was kind enough to help him out on the stairs.
My big girl, Lexi.
Nothing bothers Koy!
We had so much fun last week when Nancy and Tyler came to visit. Tammy and Josh brought down their kids on Saturday. Before we knew it Josh had the Christmas lights off the house and the bows and garland all put away. Thanks so much! I was so worried about Dad climbing up the ladder. (Yes, you can say we are old. But those knees need to be protected.) We all went swimming at the new pool in Castle Dale. Correction: Josh and I held down the benches while everyone else went swimming. Hey, someone has to watch the cameras and towels, don't they? We really had fun but noticed now much we missed having Max and Morgan, along with their parents of course. Hopefully there will be a time when we can all be together and have fun in the pool, or wherever.
After blog updating I plan to work on my math assignment for next week. That means more reading and writing. I also have to do the make-up work from the part of class I missed last week.
UPDATES:
Labrum Family Christmas Party. I didn't go because of MATH CLASS, but my camera went and here are the pictures we got back. Kayden didn't like Santa but LuAnn was kind enough to help him out on the stairs.
My big girl, Lexi.
Nothing bothers Koy!
We had so much fun last week when Nancy and Tyler came to visit. Tammy and Josh brought down their kids on Saturday. Before we knew it Josh had the Christmas lights off the house and the bows and garland all put away. Thanks so much! I was so worried about Dad climbing up the ladder. (Yes, you can say we are old. But those knees need to be protected.) We all went swimming at the new pool in Castle Dale. Correction: Josh and I held down the benches while everyone else went swimming. Hey, someone has to watch the cameras and towels, don't they? We really had fun but noticed now much we missed having Max and Morgan, along with their parents of course. Hopefully there will be a time when we can all be together and have fun in the pool, or wherever.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
It Is That Time Again
Can you believe it is report card time again, already? Today I looked over my calendar for the next week and just laughed. Some weeks I have nothing really pressing to do, but not this week! We are so excited about Nancy coming home for a few days so I am trying to get a few things done at home. I thought I ought to sweep the kitchen floor at least once, and clean the bathtub. OK, I should do that all the time anyway. I do have the dishes washed, if you don't count this morning. Yes, my bed is made. It always is before I eat breakfast. There is no way I will get the bathroom walls cleaned. They are waiting for paint later in the year. Dad did help clean out the growing food from the fridge last night, so that is looking better. I might get the boxes out of the front room so we do have a couch to sit on.
And then I realized.....report cards! You all know how much time I put in at school to get report cards completed. I must say it has been better since we changed the format of the report cards. But it was decided that we would hold parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday! Which means I need the report cards done by Monday night. Nancy comes in on Friday and I have a math class on Saturday. I am skipping out on 1/2 of the class to spend more time with Tyler, which means getting the report cards done on Monday, which is impossible to do on one day. An option is to work on Sunday. The last day I did that I broke my arm, so I really don't want to do that. So I stayed here at school tonight to get as much done as possible. I only have the attendance to complete, put in a few numbers, and print them out on Monday. I think I will be ready.
I will need to get substitute plans ready for Friday and Wednesday (after conferences that run from 3:00 to 9:00 on Tuesday.) Basically, I am too hurried to worry. What happens, happens. We are just glad to have Tyler here for a few days.
We are hoping that Tammy and her kids will be able to come down on Saturday and we can all go to the new swimming pool in the afternoon. And maybe Josh could help Dad take down the few Christmas lights on the house.
Do you think I should change my calendar and bulletin board in my room? The calendar says December and the bulletin board says "Merry Christmas." Maybe that will get done before next week. But then, maybe not!
And then I realized.....report cards! You all know how much time I put in at school to get report cards completed. I must say it has been better since we changed the format of the report cards. But it was decided that we would hold parent/teacher conferences on Tuesday! Which means I need the report cards done by Monday night. Nancy comes in on Friday and I have a math class on Saturday. I am skipping out on 1/2 of the class to spend more time with Tyler, which means getting the report cards done on Monday, which is impossible to do on one day. An option is to work on Sunday. The last day I did that I broke my arm, so I really don't want to do that. So I stayed here at school tonight to get as much done as possible. I only have the attendance to complete, put in a few numbers, and print them out on Monday. I think I will be ready.
I will need to get substitute plans ready for Friday and Wednesday (after conferences that run from 3:00 to 9:00 on Tuesday.) Basically, I am too hurried to worry. What happens, happens. We are just glad to have Tyler here for a few days.
We are hoping that Tammy and her kids will be able to come down on Saturday and we can all go to the new swimming pool in the afternoon. And maybe Josh could help Dad take down the few Christmas lights on the house.
Do you think I should change my calendar and bulletin board in my room? The calendar says December and the bulletin board says "Merry Christmas." Maybe that will get done before next week. But then, maybe not!
Friday, January 2, 2009
I Make a Good Dinner
The other day I was looking at the leftover turkey in my fridge. It was left over from Christmas, not Thanksgiving, thank you! I wondered what I could make for dinner that would be better than the tradition turkey casserole. I was thinking abut Cafe Rio and all the good chicken recipes, and thought, "Why not turkey enchiladas?" I have a pretty good recipe for enchiladas, but it isn't the same as you can buy. I wanted something really good. So I went to the Internet and found a few recipes that were all about the same and decided I could do that or better without a recipe. I did! And it was good! Of course I don't have exact measurements but here goes. You can try it and see what happens. I am sure that leftover chicken, or cut up chicken breasts or anything like that, at well as roast of any type would still work as well. I just happened to have turkey.
Cut up some turky, shred it or cube it. I did a couple of handfuls - how is that for technical? Put it in a frying pan with a little bit of water to steam it. Cut up a tomotoe to add color and flavor. You could probably add onions and green peppers if you want. Add a can of slices olives (because they use them at Mexican resturants so why not?) At this point I added about 1/3 can of green enchilada sauce (mild because that is how we like it). I let this heat up until the turkey was warm. Pour a little bit of the enchilada into the bottom of a glass oven pan (or whatever you have). I heated up the tortillas so they would wrap up. Put a tortilla into the pan, fill with the meat mixture, add shredded cheese (I used a taco blend already shredded), roll up and squish close. Keep rolling up more until the pan is full. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top, put into the oven about 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (until bubbly and warmed through). We served with some shredded lettuse and more cheese, a bit of sour cream.
Really, it was great! Now, I suppose there are some readers who already knew how to do this, but I didn't, so I feel like I did one goal this week. I made a new recipe that I can use again. It really was good! Easy and not expensive, and we liked it. We even ate the leftovers. This is the way my cooking is, just throw a few things together. But this time it really worked! Not just mushroom soup and sour cream, either. A great flavor.
Cut up some turky, shred it or cube it. I did a couple of handfuls - how is that for technical? Put it in a frying pan with a little bit of water to steam it. Cut up a tomotoe to add color and flavor. You could probably add onions and green peppers if you want. Add a can of slices olives (because they use them at Mexican resturants so why not?) At this point I added about 1/3 can of green enchilada sauce (mild because that is how we like it). I let this heat up until the turkey was warm. Pour a little bit of the enchilada into the bottom of a glass oven pan (or whatever you have). I heated up the tortillas so they would wrap up. Put a tortilla into the pan, fill with the meat mixture, add shredded cheese (I used a taco blend already shredded), roll up and squish close. Keep rolling up more until the pan is full. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce on top, put into the oven about 350 degrees for about 30 minutes (until bubbly and warmed through). We served with some shredded lettuse and more cheese, a bit of sour cream.
Really, it was great! Now, I suppose there are some readers who already knew how to do this, but I didn't, so I feel like I did one goal this week. I made a new recipe that I can use again. It really was good! Easy and not expensive, and we liked it. We even ate the leftovers. This is the way my cooking is, just throw a few things together. But this time it really worked! Not just mushroom soup and sour cream, either. A great flavor.