If Jen's behind, what does that make me?

Apparently, it's been 3 months since I blogged. Sorry! I'd meant to keep up much better than this, but then Jen got me into that damn Facebook, and now I have to log into that all the time to accept her plants and send her back different ones! Ugh! :)

So, I'm just ending an inservice day at school. We were supposed to start our new semester tomorrow, but due to the 2 cold days last week, we will have one day to end last semester. That actually works out really well for me, since I have 3 classes that end at semester, and some of them still have work out, or have a few loose ends to tie up. However, I am really excited to start my new classes on Wednesday:

1. History vs. Hollywood. This is the class where we watch "real" Hollywood movies that are "based on a true story." Since the kids seem to think every movie is how history really was, this is a fun class for them to learn about how fake "true" movies really are. Plus, not a lot of prep for me -- hey, we watch movies every day!

2. Economics & Sociology. With our economy the way it is now, I think it's even more important for kids to understand what's going on & why. We do a lot of stock market & personal finance stuff the first quarter, and then get into some cool sociology stuff toward the end.

3. Advanced History. This is a brand new class this year! I'm pretty much making it up as I go along. There are only 5 seniors, so I think it will be great. We will be working on writing research papers using social studies standards and formats. I think it will be a pretty fun class.

So, hopefully second semester will fly by as fast as the first one! Softball starts in only two months, so that will make my life even busier -- and busy is good!

Wednesday afternoon procrastination

It's finally the end of the quarter next week, and I have a crap-ton of stuff to grade. But am I? No! I'm blogging! Terrible, aren't I?!? And, what's even worse, is that I don't have anything of note to say. But, I'm just avoiding doing any actual work. I always assign these projects with the hopes that I'll get great results, but, as always, I get a couple that are really good, several that are mediocre, and then some that are bad. Ugh. On the plus side, with the end of first quarter fast approaching, that means that a couple of my classes are halfway done! Yea! Not that I don't like my classes, for the most part, it's just that each class has a few kids that drive me nuts. Some, because they talk all the time and never know when to shut up. Others, because the class is just way out of their league, but they're stuck in it, and we have to make do.

Aah, well. It could always be worse, right? On the plus side, I can look forward to a weekend with absolutely no plans. Nowhere to be, nothing to accomplish, just 2 days of relaxation. It won't end up like that, but it's nice to think so!

Crazy Sunday morning!

So, I got up this morning about 9. It was nice to sleep in. I came out and was sitting on the couch when I heard this weird scratching noise. I could see Thor, so I knew it wasn't him. I looked to the left, into the little bedroom, and nearly had a heart attack! Climbing up the edge of the door was a squirrel! Holy @#$%! And, I couldn't even shut the door because the squirrel was on it!

I got Thor and myself into my bedroom, but realized my cell phone was in the living room -- and I couldn't remember any numbers! So, I bravely ran out of my room, grabbed the cell phone, and ran outside. I tried to call my landlord, but had to leave a message on his cell. Then I tried his wife, but had to leave a message there, too. So, I called my mom. She wanted me to go into the bedroom and open the window! Apparently, she missed the part where there was a live squirrel in the room!

I realized that I needed to shut the bedroom door to keep it contained, at least. When I came back inside, the squirrel was no longer on the door. I could see it in the crack of the door near the hinges, though -- sitting on my sweatshirts! It was just a baby, and obviously as terrified as I was. That thought didn't really stop me from hyperventilating a bit, though.

My landlady called back and sent her son over. He went in the room, opened the window, and the little guy made it out safely. Hooray!

I have no idea how the squirrel got in, but am glad it's gone. I think it was in the house for a day or two, also. When I got home from EC, I noticed that some stuff had been knocked off of some pretty high places -- places that Thor usually doesn't go. Like the top of the fridge, the shelf above the toilet, or the top of the entertainment center. I figured he'd just been a bit wild. I didn't yell at him, though. And thank goodness, cuz it was probably the damn squirrel! What a wild Sunday morning.

Holy Crap!

I just got home from one of the best football games I've ever seen. Tonight I went to the Kickapoo-La Farge vs. Ithaca game. I didn't have to sell tickets, or do book, or anything. I just went. And it was AMAZING.

Ithaca scored on their first drive and held a 6-0 score until late in the second quarter, when we drove down the field and tied the game at 6. I had to do some stuff in my room after halftime (taking care of the 50/50 money), and came out with 2 minutes left in the third. The score was still tied, but not for long. Ithaca scored to go ahead 12-6. Only a few minutes later, they scored again and converted on the 2-point conversion to gake a 20-6 lead. I thought, "Oh, boys, it was a nice try." Until, with only 4 minutes left in the game, we scored a touchdown to bring the score to 20-12. Hey! Exciting! But, no way we'd come back and tie. But guess what! We did!!!! There was a probably 40-yard pass to Jordan (one of my juniors) who escaped 2 tackles to bring the score to 18-20. All we had to do was convert the 2-point try and the game was tied! And, holy S***, we did! 20-20, with 1:20 left in the game. Ithaca drove down the field, but couldn't score. OVERTIME! I was talking with a couple of people near me, and we couldn't remember the last time LF was involved in an overtime football game. We won the toss, and took offense first. SCORE!!! Shut up! Then, we converted again on the conversion to take a 28-20 lead. Ithaca had their chance to be on offense. The crowd (and I) was screaming and cheering and the boys on the sideline were waving their arms and it was absolutely insane. They got 2 yards on the first play. Then no yards on the next. Then 4 yards on 3rd down to bring up 4th and 4. And WE SACKED THE QUARTERBACK! The Kickapoo-La Farge Predators won the game!

It was honestly the best high school football game I've ever seen -- and quite possibly one of the best at any level. And it was extra gratifying because I don't think we've won a football game in 3 years. It was absolutely awesome. I am so proud of those boys. Hooray!!!

See the Damage!

Here are a few photos of the damage to Sly. He goes to get fixed this weekend. Hooray!

I will be heading to Black River Falls tomorrow to see the fam from the West Coast. It should be a good time. Plus, I will pick up my loaner car from Jan. I'm getting a Chevy (of course) Impala. Never driven one of those, so it should be fun. Of course, I'd rather have Sly, but I can put up with a new car for a week until he's all better.

A Long Day

Well, on the plus side, I'm not hurt. But on the negative side, I wrecked my car this morning. No, not totally, but enough that Sly needs major repairs. I was headed to school this morning, and got behind another car and a road grater. The first car passed the grater. I waited until that car was back in the correct lane, looked for oncoming traffic, signaled, and pulled out to go around. As soon as I was next to the grater, the driver decided to turn left. No signal. No, "Oh crap, there's a car there!" So, I drove down into the ditch on the left hand side of the road, plowed through the ditch, and up onto the road the grater was turning onto. See, Mik, it's not just the Protege that off-roads! :) Anyway, I drove to school and checked the damage. The passenger side mirror is gone and the front passenger door needs definite repairs. Luckily, there doesn't seem to be any damage to the front or underside of the car. It's definitely still drivable. I'll get a loaner this weekend, and Sly will go to the car doctor next week.

But, I had to do a police report, and isn't talking to the insurance people fun? It wasn't as bad as I'd thought it might be, but it still was a hassle. I only talked to my mom like 30 times today -- thanks, Jan, for all your help!!!!

I'm hoping I get a smokin' hot loaner -- but it will probably be some type of wagon. Just my luck.

Random thoughts

So, we are into week three of the school year. So far, it's been good. Today was picture day, and that is always exciting. Can you hear the sarcasm? However, we made it through, even though the high school kids can't believe they have to wait until 6th hour to have their pictures taken!!! My god, don't we know how hard they worked on their hair and makeup this morning???? (Which is why I went and had my picture taken 2nd hour!)

Anyway, middle school volleyball is going pretty well. We had a tournament on Saturday at Kickapoo, and it was weird this year because I didn't have Coach Jen with me. Apparently, she felt that getting ready to go to the Colts game (Peyton Manning stalker) was more important... but it was ok, because the stupid tournament didn't even give out medals this year! The 8th grade team took second place, and the 7th grade team won 2 of their 6 games -- which were their first wins of the season. Then yesterday we traveled to DeSoto for a game (weeks sure are long when you have to go to DS on a Monday night). They absolutely killed the 7th graders on Saturday, but last night my girls rocked! They were awesome -- we won all 3 games! By a lot! To the point that I almost felt sorry for the other team. The 8th graders lost the 1st, won the 2nd, and lost the 3rd by 3 points. Not too shabby.

This weekend I'll be in BRF to see the West Coast relatives. Should be fun. I've been working on an iMovie of my Norway pics to take, since I haven't printed any of my 1100 yet...

One Week Down!

So, we had our first week of school, and I survived. It actually went pretty well. I have six different classes -- my smallest has 6 kids and my largest has 22. That is probably the biggest class I've had in a few years! So far, things have been ok.

I am excited about my Presenting America class. It is one where we do a local history research project and then kids also do their own project following National History Day rules. The first year I did it, we made a pretty cool video on the history of our school, and last year we interviewed some WWII veterans and others who were alive at that time. Unfortunately, we ran out of time to actually make a video of the interviews, but I still have the tapes and am hoping to do something with it... in my free time! :) Anyway, this year we are working in conjunction with the Kickapoo Valley Reserve to make a museum dispay and possibly a movie. Our topic is the flood from this summer, and comparing it to other floods in La Farge -- from last fall, one in the 70s, one in 1907, and one in 1899. We are going to compare each of these, and then talk about the implications of building the dam on the Kickapoo that was supposed to happen in the 1970s, but didn't. I think the kids are interested in the topic, so that always helps.

Middle school volleyball started this week, too. I have 12, possibly 13 girls -- not many, but enough for two teams. We have had 2 "real" practices, and then an optional one last night. Our first game is Monday, so I'm not sure how well that will go. But the girls are really enthusiastic and excited to play. If anything, we will have a lot of fun this season!

Even though being back at school isn't too bad, it's still hard to adjust to being up EARLY every day, and not napping! So, today I slept until 9:30, and I definitely forsee a nap in my future...

Jan & I at 5000 ft.

The view from our hotel in Loen.
















A really awesome view of a lake... somewhere!


So, I've been back from Norway for a week, and still haven't updated my blog. Sorry! But I'll try and get a bit out today, and more soon.

The trip was wonderful. The group that we traveled with from Eau Claire were a lot of fun, and the rest of the tour that we met in Norway were from all around the world. I definitely made new friends (Hi Lana & Darlene!) and came away with wonderful memories of a beautiful country (and around 1100 photos).

I will put more photos up later, along with a slideshow (once I figure out how to do it!). But I promise not to put all of them up here -- you'd never get through all of them! But I did get some great shots, and can't wait to share several of them. It was a great trip, even though by the end Jan and I were ready to kill each other. :) But overall, we enjoyed traveling with each other, even if we won't be doing it again anytime soon!

So we got back Sunday night, I got back to my house Monday, picked up Thor from the kennel (he was not happy with me, btw), and got ready for school on Tuesday! Three days of inservice, and then I headed up to the Cities to hit the MN State Fair on Friday. I went with Chris, Ger (her mom), and Nicholas (her nephew). We had a blast, and ate our weight in fried food. Big Fat Bacon -- nummy! Pig Lickers -- gross.

Now I'm enjoying a few days of NOTHING before school gets going in full swing on Tuesday. It's hard to believe that summer's over with already!

Who needs to sleep when the Olympics are on???

So, pretty much I haven't slept more than a few hours at a time this week. I am obsessed with the Olympics, and since they are on 24-hours a day, it doesn't leave much time for rest. I've even been watching boxing (4-7 p.m., CNBC). I even know how they score boxing. I have created a "nest" on the couch, always surrounded by smokes, a bevvie (coffee, Pepsi or beer, depending on the time of day), and a book to read during commercials. It's a good thing these only happen every 2 years!

But, I figure I need to get all my Olympic needs filled this week, since I leave for Norway on Friday and don't really plan on having time to stay up-to-date next week. I haven't started packing yet, but that's on the agenda for today. I did talk to my credit card companies and let them know I'd be gone, and dealt with all my money stuff, but as for actually putting stuff in a suitcase, well...

My next post should have plenty of pictures, and will be updated sometime the week of the 25th. Although, I will be at inservice for school, and probably need to do some stuff to get ready for classes, too. It's hard to believe school starts on the 2nd! I'm not ready!!!

Nothing's Ever as Easy as it Seems...

So, I was pretty excited when I had the opportunity to buy Microsoft Office 2007 Suite for a great deal. As a (now former!) student at UWEC, there was a website I could log into and get this great student discount. Instead of around $300, the CDs were shipped right to my house in 3 days for only $75.00! So, it showed up last Friday, and right away I tried to load it. Ummm... it didn't work. So, I went online and learned I had to first remove the old Office stuff. No more Word and PPT. Not a problem, though, because I'd load this right up, right?

Not right. I ended up having to download and install SEVERAL Microsoft Updates (apparently, it's a really good idea to install those right away when your computer tells you to). So that took most of the weekend. But finally, all updates were installed by Sunday morning. And the damn CDs still didn't work! Ugh. I found out I could call the UWEC computer help desk, but of course, not on a Sunday in August. Grr.

So this morning, I gave them a call. A very nice young man named Kyle was ever so helpful! He pointed out that these are DVDs, not CDs, and should run in my DVD drive. They don't. He told me then that my only option was to call the company where I ordered them from and request a new copy. I was profuse with my thanks.

But, I thought, before I call this company, I should double-check my DVD drive. And guess what!!! That doesn't work. Nothing will read in that drive. So, I went online and bought a stupid new DVD drive. Another $45.00. Then I found a great website on how to install DVD drives. I thought, "Great! I can do this myself!" Untill I actually read the steps. It seemed a bit more complicated than I want to tackle. I called my local computer store (Viroqua Office and Computer Supply) and found out that they will install it for me, along with any software for between $35 and $70. Good lord. Not that that's a bad price, but my "GREAT DEAL" on software has turned out to be a lot more work than I'd expected. But then again, what else is new and different???

Home Again!

Well, I finally got my unit done and have come back home. It sure is nice to be here -- I think I might have overdosed on cable! :) But, life at my mom's was pretty easy, too. It's always an adjustment coming back here, but it is nice to be home.

I spent all day Saturday cleaning out my entry room closet -- something that hadn't been attempted in the 8 years (!) I've lived here. I never need to buy candles or tissue paper EVER AGAIN! Ha! It took nearly all day, but I got it done. It is so nice! I can even put the vacuum cleaner away, instead of sticking it in the second bedroom... I also found a few things I didn't know I owned -- like an airbed and two snow tubes. When and, more importantly, why, did I buy those? Anyway, I now have a trunk full of stuff to take to my mom's before it heads to the Goodwill. It sure feels good to get rid of stuff I can't remember why I had in the first place.

This afternoon I am headed out to check out a kennel for Thor for when I go to Norway. It is only a few miles outside of town, and it was recommended by my vet. Thor will have his own kitty condo and his own time in the playroom. It will be traumatic for both of us, I think, when I actually have to drop him off! But that's still a few weeks away, so I just won't think about it...

I hate the library!

So, I'm procrastinating. I have been working on this project for almost a month, and I am so tired of it! I have been in the UWEC library nearly every day. Ugh. I'm almost done, but have one stupid lesson plan left to write, and I've hit a block. Stumped. Can't come up with anything good. So, instead, I'm cruising the net. I'm just waiting for that burst of inspiration so I can finish this darn thing! Maybe once I get it all done I can actually go to MY house instead of living with my mom. Which has been great, by the way, but it would be nice to be home where I can watch ESPN and TLC anytime I want! So, if you have any great ideas for a lesson plan dealing with urbanization and aggregate census data, let me know!

I hear ya, Jen!

Unfortunately, William (Billy, as I like to call him) Patterson did not ask my opinion about leaving CSI, either. I am a little disappointed in him, but suppose I'll get over it. After all, Peyton did call and let me know about the surgery. He's doing fine, by the way.

Norway Meeting

So, my mom, Jan, and I are going to Norway in August for nine days. I am really excited about it -- it is my first trip there, and my mom has never been to Europe before. I think it is going to be a lot of fun. We are traveling with a group through Higgins Travel in Eau Claire, and last night we had an informational meeting to get to know the other members of our travel group. There are 11 of us going, but when we get to Oslo, we will join a larger group with others from around the world. That group could be as small as 15, or as large as 40. A great opportunity to meet others! Of course, I am the youngest one in our group, but not by too much. There are three married couples, two ladies, a single man (actually my pastor from when I was in high school and actually went to church...), and my mom and me. I think it is going to be a great time.

There is lots to plan for before then, the least of which is finding a kennel for Thor. I have one in mind, but have yet to visit it. It will be hard to leave him there for so long -- he is such a needy boy! Usually when I go on vacation, he goes to "grandma's" but that's not possible, since "grandma" will be traveling with me!

Getting Older

Well, I am definitely getting older. As if all the gray hair wasn't enough, today I went to the optometrist and learned that I need reading glasses. Ugh. But I picked out some pretty awesome frames. It will be a big adjustment but I think I'll survive.

I even think it will be a good thing, since I've been spending a lot of time reading things with very small print and also looking at old census data on the computer. I am still working on this project for UWEC, which is turning out to be a bit harder than I'd anticipated. Of course. :)

Hello!

Hi everyone. My name is Amy, and I live in Viroqua, WI, with my cat, Thor. I am a high school social studies teacher at a really little town near here. I've been a teacher there for eight years, and it keeps me really busy. I coach middle school volleyball and varsity softball. I am also the Student Council and Travelers' Club Advisor.

This spring I completed the Learning By Doing grant through UW-Eau Claire, and earned a certificate in Public History. I am currently taking another class as an extention of the project.