Chemis-Tree

So maybe its because I am a chemistry teacher but I thought this was really funny - we will sing some chemis-tree carols on Friday. I have lots of them!

Silent Labs

Silent labs, difficult labs
All with math, all with graphs
Observations of colors and smells
Calculations and graph curves like bells
Memories of tests that have past
Oh--how long will chemistry last?

Silent labs, difficult labs
All with math, all with graphs
Lots of equations that need balancing
Gas pressure problems that make my head ring
Santa Chlorine's on his way
Oh--Please Santa bring me an 'A'.

The Chemistry Teacher's Coming to Town

You better not weigh
You better not heat
You better not react
I'm telling you now
The Chemistry Teacher's coming to town.

She's collecting data
She's checking it twice
She's gonna find out
The heat of melting ice
The Chemistry Teacher's coming to town.

She sees you when you're decanting
She knows when you titrate
She knows when you are safe or not
So wear goggles for goodness sake.

Oh, you better not filter
And drink your filtrate
You better not be careless and spill your precipitate.
The Chemistry Teacher's coming to town.

comforted by traffic?

I never felt like I was at all disconnected with the rest of the world but the other day as I was driving I felt strangely comforted by being one of the masses. I am usually on the road between 2:20-4:00 - that is when I pick up the kids or to go to the gym and sometimes later perhaps at 7-8pm if the kids have one of their many functions or I am out of milk. It just so happened that the other day I worked late and then opted to go to the store before I picked up the kids. This meant that I pulled out of Tae Kwan Do around 5:30. As I was stuck in prime-time rush hour traffic, I was strangely comforted that so was everyone else. Not even in a spiteful way, I felt peaceful and connected to everyone else on the road. Strange no?

Shark's Teeth, Sand Dollars, Crabs and Lionfish!

The kids and I had the best time at the beach on Sunday. We went to Venice with a few friends to look for shark's teeth at Casperan Beach. There was not a building in site and the sand was spotted with teeth and littered with boulders. Our friends work for NOAA so they came equipped with an aquarium with an aerator and tools for the sand and sea (and all sorts of knowledge). The kids had caught tons of bait fish and a few needle fish in no time. They added crabs and sand fleas and basically had an entire ecosystem going. They set the animals free and collected again. When bored of the biotic they moved to the abiotic - sifting sand and collecting shark teeth and sand dollars. The boulders extended into the water which made a great place to snorkel. The place was teeming with fish. Schools of bait fish were everywhere. At one point Madeline was with me but kept getting water in her eyes so she hung out on the rocks and hopped from one to another checking out the fish from above. I found a cool hermit crab and Madeline took it back to the tank. I continued to peruse the algae and sponge cover rocks. At this time I saw a pretty big fish (almost a foot) laying on it's side on a rock with all sorts of flowery extensions - immediately I think - lionfish. That is bad because they are poisonous and not suppose to be there. So I look again - yep - gills are moving -its alive - blending in with the tan and orange rocks. At this time I am a bit freaked out so I check with our friend, the field biologist for NOAA. He gets gear and tries to find it but could not. Once home I look to Google - definitely a red lionfish - in our Gulf - on the rocks Madeline was climbing all over - YIKES. So we had a great day, both kids came back with many shark teeth, sting ray stingers and sand dollars and I came home feeling lucky no little toes came in contact with poisonous spines and a little sad that this invasive species has now made it to our waters.

Back to School

So it is back to school for me and the kids. This calls for super early mornings and homework (for me and the kids). Basically, our lives have ramped up into high gear. I am having a fantastic year so far. It is still early but I am so glad I switched schools. Nice kids - nice faculty - huge faculty - so it might take a bit to get to know everyone. Another new teacher and myself are going to take it upon ourselves to get to see a more social side of the faculty. I will let you know how that works out. The one issue is driving. I triangulate the county everyday between going to work, home and the getting the kids. all of which are 20-40 minutes apart. Kids seem to be doing well although they are at an age where I will not know much on a daily basis - just what they tell me. Here is a cute shot of Jackson.

Fay Day

So I thought I would take my hurricane day to update my blog. Summer has come to end (one day later than it was suppose to thanks to Fay). I will be back to teaching chem and getting up before 5am. I must admit that I am looking forward to the new school year but not the hour at which it must start. The kids are ready too I think. Jackson is starting second grade - his second year in the partial Spanish immersion program. Perhaps I will have hime blog in Spanish one of these days. Madeline is going to 4th. She did pass the FCAT with flying colors for those of you who were concerned she wouldn't ;)

So on Fay Day, I went for a nice easy 3 mile run. The weather was cooler than normal with a decent breeze! I had to test my back since it froze up on me over the weekend. That was not fun but the run was good and my back feels good now. I think brownie making with the kids is up next. The weather is holding up pretty nicely; a little gusty but no rain yet. Still to come... preparations for the First Day: pack the backpacks, get clothes together etc.

So as I am typing this - I am watching an update on Fay. Strangely this peculiar storm has strengthened over land and is looking more defined. Still somehow missing Pinellas County entirely. Stay Away Fay!

A few Pics of the new house

For those of you dying to know - yes, I made it 4 miles today! Woohoo. Slowly - very slowly. It took me almost 47 minutes to run it but I didn't stop :) Next up - run faster!

OK so here is an incomplete look at the new house...

A shot of the family room from the breakfast nook
















Family Room















Breakfast nook (and a shot of the screened in porch)














Living Room (not quite unpacked)














Dining room that is acting as the kids work/play room

summertime

So it has been awhile since my last blog...

I have moved and will post pictures of my new place soon. My goal for the summer started off being sleeping in past 7. It was hard the first week - now it is no problem. It is now getting hard to get up before 8! Yikes - maybe I should not have tried so hard. My other goal is to workout as much as possible. I am running a nice slow 3 miles now - I hope to get up to 5-6 slow and run 2-3 pretty fast. I am headed to the gym now to try a nice slow 4 miles. I will let you know how that goes. I have also been active at Tae Kwan Do. I started taking the Hapkido class a couple times a week. It is more self defense (butt kicking) and you also get a much cooler black uniform. But I go back to a white belt in Hapkido. I will get a picture up of me in that as soon as I get one :) The kids and myself have been enjoying time at the beach and various pools. They have also become assistants to me at my part time summer gig as a mad scientist. Well, that is all for now - I will upload new pics soon :)

Moving, an important word

Moving. This is a very key word to me right now. For one, I get up at 5am and pretty much go until about 10pm. So I am moving most of the day. More so these past few days but I digress. Moving on - I think it is time for me to move on with my life. I have not been purposefully mourning my past relationship - my past life - just have not felt ready for anything new and different. But I am moving (there is that word again) this weekend into a new house. It feels right and good. See moving into a new house has kept me moving physically with all the packing and more importantly I think it is helping me move on with my life. It is a new start and it feels good. Did I just say that? I am dog tired and we haven't done the major stuff yet.

PS - I may lose internet for a few day - did I tell you? I am moving - Yeah :)

San Diego - Here I Come!

I spent Memorial Day Weekend in San Diego for my cousin Bobby's graduation. We had such a great time! We jammed so much into a handful of days. We spent time in La Jolla (the cave was amazing!). We visit the USS Midway (even though I didn't really want to - it too was awesome). Balboa, the mountains, Cabrilllo lighthouse... we climbed up hills, down hills, up stairs and down stairs. Just ask my mom about the stairs. After Bobby's graduation we were treated to a party on top of a historic hotel in the Gas Lamp district downtown. The trip was great - really. I will show you some pictures of our escapades.

Tae Kwan Do Belt Test

Madeline is a second degree red belt and I am officially a green belt. Here are a couple of videos of Madeline's performance and one of me breaking my board.

Dear Mr. President...

"I hate kickball" Madeline told me. She sat down during a kickball game at PE and had to run the rest of class of the class. She could not understand how it works that she (as a child) just had to do whatever an adult (her teacher) told her to do. "Why don't children get any rights?" - "Children can't even vote, I mean it is a really important election year..." She went on and on and my explanation of maturity and responsibility was not helping enough. She got out of bed and wrote a letter to the President... all because she felt wronged by her PE coach during a kickball (did I mention how much she HATES kickball).

Here is her letter we are sending off later today (I will scan it in and include if I get time)


Dear Mr. President

I am eight years old and live in Clearwater, Florida. I am concerned about children's rights. Why do adults get to vote and children don't? We make make up a great part of the population you know. And there should be a holiday for children too. There is Grandparent's Day, Father's Day, and Mother's Day. But, no children's day. Please send a response as soon as possible. Once again, I am eight years old, I am a girl, I am in the third grade and I live in Clearwater, Florida. I think I am speaking for all children when I say we should get some rights too!

Sincerely,
Madeline ******

Take Your Child to Work Day

On Thursday, April 24th it was Take your Child to Work Day. Both the kids were super excited to come to work (oh what they dont know...). Anyway, Madeline went to work with me and Jackson went to work with Geoff. Madeline helped me with my lab on gases. She helped run the pressure chamber and she stood in front of the classes and introduced the stations. She was cute and impressed all of the big kids. Jackson had fun in the clean room with Geoff. The picture is of Jackson in the "bunny suit".

Just an Update

I have not posted in a bit because there is just too much going on. I thought I would fill you all in on a little of it. A couple of weeks ago Tiffany came for a very brief but action packed visit. We managed to pack in two evenings out on the town, a nap (well Tiffany did), and a day frolicking in the waves with the kids - all this in about 30 hours. It was impressive actually. The kids have been pretty busy too - On the heels of the racetrack, Jackson went to see Itzhak Perlman with grandma. Madeline and her bff Lauren had fun at their 3rd grade school concert. For school, Madeline wrote the cutest story about traveling to Neptune with Alan Shepard - I will post it when it is returned from school. For the family - I included a picture of Johnny and Amy to prove she exists!

Mom of the Year

So I created a monster. Well I think I can blame it on my father. During our Spring Break escapades we took a trip to the racetrack. I thought the kids would like to see the horses and might have fun picking out who they thought might win. See, my Aunt came into town and my dad took them for the day and invited me and the kids. It was a lovely day and the horses were beautiful! So anyway - Madeline had her head in a book the whole day. She would momentarily check out the horses and make her choice. She overall was not too interested (well I should say that Inkspell won out). Jackson on the other hand, took to it like a fish in water. He was scheming with my father about the best picks. He was reading the stats about the horses and the jockies and even the racing style of the horses. At one point he wanted to bet on 2 horses, My aunt said "Why do you want to pick 2, if only 1 can win?" Jackson responded "Well one can win and the other could place". For those of you who don't know horse racing lingo (this was my first time seeing a horse race) - to place means to come in second. So during the kid's spring break, Jackson bonded with grandpa - gambling - nice! Just give me the mom of the year award. The next time I will tell you about Madeline's new fascination with the game Risk...

Easter '08

Easter was filled with candy, bunnies and the sounds of music created by the Ford children. They preformed 2 separate concerts. Yes, I said two... with many scene and instrument changes. It was loud and terribly cute (at least the first one :)

The kids took turns on the violin (thank you Ximena), piano, recorder and tambourine. Here are a few pictures of the day!

House for Sale

Nobody wants to buy my house but I'm not bitter. I'm not - really I don't think I am.

I am not bitter that I am trying to sell my house in the worst market ever! So bad that no one has even looked at it. I am not bitter. Oh yeah did I mention that we bought the house built in 1958 that had not been updated since. We spent two solid years doing everything in this house from walls to floors to the roof. OK, so I admit that Geoff did most of the manual labor in the house but, I have literally dug up half of the yard to trying to remove the old landscaping (if you can call it that). When I planted, I did so economically. I bought small and dug a big hole. The idea was that I was willing to wait a few years to see the fruits of my labor. Little did I know that my other half would feel the need to bail on our long term plan. So I am in an almost finished house with a less than half finished yard and the AC breaks down. According to the AC guy we need a new compressor. That is going to cost pretty penny that I do not have. But like I said, I'm not bitter.

Bad Tooth Fairy

Jackson lost one of his top front teeth at school on Friday. He pulled it out at lunch. So, he kept the tooth in a little bag and put it under his pillow and when he woke up it was still there and worse - No money! How could that happen??
We had to run out early (no milk) and when we came back - Jackson found that not only was his tooth gone - but he got $5! The Tooth Fairy must pay big when she is running behind. Crazy! Madeline made the comment that "Mom, you must not be the tooth fairy then since this happened while we were gone, then again, we did go out to the car a little earlier than..." Smart girl - Jackson did not seem to care about the mystery he was thrilled about the $5.

So it's official

Madeline is a 3rd grader. She was moved up on Monday so that she could take the FCAT this week which is necessary for 4th grade. I feel good about the decision. Mostly. Okay, so I have some reservations but who wouldn't. She is happy about the move and the school and the teachers were wonderful about the whole acceleration process (how often do you hear that?). I am sad though. I am not sure how my baby is going to be a 4th grader next year - didn't she just start elementary school? Next year I have to start thinking about middle school! I feel like I lost a year - oh I guess I did in a way...

Tae Kwan Do Tournament

Madeline and Jackson competed this weekend at the Friendship Open! Both kids did great. Jackson was first in forms and in sparring and Madeline had a good showing too! She did her form great but sadly did not win :( She did get 2nd in sparring! Both worked hard and took home a fancy trophy!

Pokemon Mania

Can you name all of the evee evolutions? What about the name of pickachu's trainer? Well I realized the other day while teaching chemistry to my 6th period class that I know way too much about Pokemon. About a year ago - my children began their obsession with the Japanese critters better known as Pokemon. Madeline started by diving in and absorbing all she could. I think she can actually turn into a sponge and learn all that is around her. Pokemon was no different. For a long time I could only discuss Pokemon with her for a few minutes and then I just couldn't take anymore. The conversations would go "Who do you think is cuter - Chimchar or Piplup?" or "my starly just learned quick attack" and on and on. I try to learn to listen for about 5 minutes and then I would have to stop. Fast foward one year... one of my students asked about Pokemon and all of that I actually started talking about pokemon. Just think of all of the things I could use my brain for... Isn't that a form of authentic learning. I just learned it - I didn't want too. It is like a bad country song. When I learn the lyrics I have to sing it - even if I don't want to. So feel free to discuss pokemon with me. I can honestly say that Glaceon is my favorite evee evolution. I may not want to but I will feel compelled to demonstrate all of the useless knowledge I have gained over the last year.

Pendragon

Everyone is doing it! I have finally decided to try blogging. I plan to write down some of my thoughts on my kids, and job and of course the journey of getting divorced. So why now? I am currently reading the Pendragon series (thanks Madeline). The books are basically about a time traveling teenager out to save all of space and time from an evil villain - not a bad read! But what I found interesting that is tied to me creating this blog is the main character must journal all of his adventures so that someone will know what has happened. So I am going to blog in the spirit of Bobby Pendragon. I am going to try to be perfectly honest in my thoughts and ideas even if it makes it hard to follow.