Our State Fair is a Great State Fair...

The youth group went to the Alaska State Fair this afternoon, and although it didn't compare to our great "Texas Star" ferris wheel and "Big Tex", it was still fun.  We did get our picture taken with Hank the Moose (stuffed, not real) and I ate my first Buffalo burger, which was 100% ground buffalo and was really good.  I learned later that it's actually a lot healthier than beef too.  And Tim was sweet enough to ride a really fast, dizzying ride and the ferris wheel with me even though he doesn't like rides or heights.  We also saw the vegetable and fruit exhibit, where the first prize cabbage weighed 90 pounds!  And there was a 133.6 pound watermelon.

We also asked a lady that helps her husband teach the junior high class and is really involved with the youth group if she would be interested in taking our engagement pictures because I found out a couple of weeks ago that she likes photography and has a good eye for taking pictures, and she was really excited to do it.  She also has good ideas about pretty places to go which is good because I don't have a clue.  :-)

So, today has been a good, long, tiring day and I need to get to bed so I won't be dead at work tomorrow.  Oh, one more thing, Tim and I started Nurtrisystem a while ago, but didn't like being restricted to just their food because it wasn't that great, (even though we both lost 6 lbs. right off the bat) so we switched to Weight Watchers, and Tim has lost 15 pounds so far and I've lost 9. (It really is true that guys lose weight faster!)  And Tim got a membership to a gym by my house and it's really cool because members get to bring a guest with them once a day for free so we use that for me!  We've been twice and are trying to go as much as we can.  Tim is more motivated than me, which is why he was the one who got the membership because the guest can't go alone, but he drags me along unless it's late or something because he likes to stay up and I have to go to bed.  Which reminds me, it's past my bedtime, so good night!

Long time no write...

Sorry for the lack of updates...I'm not very good at being consistent at this thing.  I had an eventful weekend of climbing a 4,000 foot mountain, but was waiting to write about it until I had my pictures up to go with it.  Oh well...pictures will come soon.  We climbed a mountain called Flat Top with the youth group, and Steve, the guy from church that was heading it up, told me that it was no big deal, little kids hike it all the time, blah, blah, blah.  Well, this "hiking" trip was not a hike, it was walking up STEEP hills and rock climbing pretty much at the top and I was afraid for my life pretty much the whole time until we got down to the flatter part and there was a wide trail to walk on.  Yes, it was neat to be at the top and look around, but I'm not in great shape, and I don't like being afraid that I'm going to fall down the side of the mountain if I make a wrong move on an unsteady rock.

My week is going well.  The kids are starting to get into a routine and they are warming up to me. One girl who doesn't like to work, but likes to talk, has asked to go for a walk in the afternoon yesterday and the day before and asked if I could go with her and she has been telling me all about this boy she likes and all the teenage stuff that goes along with that.  Not that I approve of most of what she tells me she's doing, but I like that she feels comfortable enough with me to talk about it.

Well, I need to go so I am not late, so I will write more later!  Tim and I have registered at Kohl's for a few things and are going to Bed, Bath, and Beyond today to register for the rest!  It should be fun!  Hopefully we can find colors that we agree on.  We were having a little trouble when we were there to just look and get a feel for what we want.

My Mommy Made Me Mash My M&M's

Last night I had my first practice with the praise team at church because Anthony, the worship leader, asked Tim if I would be interested in singing with them. The praise team consists of three (now four because we got a new person last night) guitar players, piano player, and a lady who just sings. And now me. Anthony leads the songs and Sammi, the lady, sings and sometimes harmonizes and now they have me to sing the lower alto part. Except they don't have the actual music notes for most of the songs...just chords, so I have to figure it out as I go along. This Sunday is going to be a busy day for Tim so he told me after practice last night that he will probably be going to the first service and working to set things up during the other two services so he won't even be playing with us! He was my security blanket, but I guess I'll have to do it without him.
Yesterday work went a lot better than the first day. The kids had settled down a little until the afternoon when they fall apart every day. They were trying to get the district to shorten the day for these kids because they don't function well at all the last 1 - 1 1/2 hours of the day, but it didn't get approved. I am on my first break, and it's almost over so I really need to get back. This morning has been pretty easy; I've just been organizing the book room.
I'm happy it's Friday and we are going to see Big Daddy Weave tonight and I get to sleep in tomorrow!! Woo hoo!!

1 Down, 180 to go (give or take...)

Days of school that is!  Wow!  Today was the first day with our kiddos and it was a good day, just crazy!  I will just give you the highlights: first, their routine that they are used to was completely changed this year and none of them were compliant with that.  They were supposed to be having actual class periods instead of working independently the whole day, but they ended up doing their own work when they felt like doing it.  Two boys are as tall or taller than I am and bigger around and they pretty much roamed around, helped the intervention coaches set up a break room and move things around and did a little work.  The two girls were pretty rude and argumentative and got some work done.  The girl I was working with in the morning didn't have the best attitude, but she got a lot accomplished.  However, she had stayed out until 2 am this morning with "some guy" so she was tired and needed frequent breaks and took a nap during 3rd and 4th period; and then complained in the afternoon when we wanted her to do more work about how much work she had already done. (Maybe 3 worksheets)  Then on the way to the gym, she got in an argument with the nurse about something and said 4 or 5 F-words as I walked her down to the gym, then got mad and stormed out of the building and one of the intervention coaches, Mr. Butch, had to go get her.  

We did have one new 6th grade student who we weren't expecting, who didn't have a schedule so he stayed with us all day, and he was a really good kid.  He did everything we asked him to do and was very nice and funny and pleasant.

The girls are 17 and 16, and I'm assuming the two boys that were here today are close to that age.  We had one other boy that works on his own (with another teacher) separate from everyone else so I didn't really see him.  

So, basically it was a lot of redirecting kids, asking them to do their work, sending them to talk with the intervention coaches in the "practice room" where they practice following directions or whatever it is they were asked to do.  I never got the girl I was working with in the morning to do any work this afternoon.  She did write lovely comments on her math paper though: "I hate school.  I hate the teachers.  Don't ask me why because I don't know why.  I just hate my school work."  

Hopefully they will be still and quiet enough tomorrow and our teacher can explain to them that they WILL be rotating through their schedule as planned and hopefully it can be enforced.  This place is to help them understand and get used to how a "typical" school would function and get them to where they can eventually transition out into first, the other part of Whaley (this school) and go to classes with everyone else, and then to their actual home school.  

Even though it was pretty chaotic, I survived and just stayed calm and the staff there is really good.  It helps my stress level a lot that I don't have the legal responsibility for these kids like the teachers.  I'm there to ASSIST and do what I can.

On a better note, I think Max read my blog because since then, he's been a lot better!  He only bit/attacked me once or twice during the night and let me sleep and slept with me! :-)  He made me laugh today when I got home because I had just flushed the toilet and he was apparently fascinated by that.  He jumped up on the seat and would stick his head in the water and paw at it.  I don't think he drank it, as far as I could tell, but it looked like he wanted to.  :-)

Well, I can see that I will have plenty to write about with this job!!  Tomorrow we are practicing evacuation and disaster drills....so that should be interesting!  Oh, and apparently there was a 5.0 earthquake 30 miles from us which most of the school felt but those of us on our end never did!  (That says something about our situation, I think!)

Happy Birthday Max!

Today my cat Max is a year old!  I was going to get him a treat and some sort of hat or new toy or something, but first of all, I forgot...and I really don't have much spending money at all right now. So he'll just have to settle for Tim and me singing to him. :-)  He's still biting me and attacking me and annoying me and I think he should live at Tim's place.

My conference yesterday was pretty good.  Not much for my particular position specifically, but some very interesting information.  I still have two more days of training until the kids come.

So, happy birthday Max!!  And stop biting me! ;-)

Day 1 Successful

Today was a good first day at work. I will be in the "Level 2" area of the school which is for high school students that have to be separate from the rest of the school because of their behavior. The whole school is for special education kids and they have 6 periods a day, but the kids in Level 1 and 2 have to be separate; kind of like it's own school inside of the school. Level 1 is the "Sensory Center", and Level 2 is the "Learning Center". Our kids have extreme behavior issues, and a few have autism on top of that, but none are classified as anything. They have specific IEP's (Individualized Education Plans) and we have to record their "points" each day for their different goals. There are two teachers and four TA's in Level 2. When you walk in the room, there is an open area with a desk, and it's surrounded by about 10 classrooms. In the past, the kids just worked independently on work all day and they pretty much had their own room, but this year they are going to put them on a rotating class schedule similar to the rest of the school, but they will just be rotating within the big room. The teachers are still trying to figure out all the logistics about who is going to do what when and how to divide up responsibilities. One TA has to sit at the desk in the open area to sign kids in and out during the day, and another one has to be in a room with a couple of kids that cannot work with the other kids, etc.
The teachers are really nice, and it seems like a good place to work. The two teachers' names are Nicole and Dale, and Nicole told me that I can do a lot of observing the first week and just kind of let the kids approach me and let them get used to me. Two of the TA's have been in this area a while, and the other TA has been at the school since March of last year, but was on the other side of the building. We also have two "security" guys (intervention coaches) who do the physical restraining part, and their office is right across the hall.
Tomorrow we're all going to a convention center for district-wide training, including a class specifically for TA's which I'm looking forward to since I know nothing. It was nice, though, realizing that I don't have nearly the amount of responsibility as I did as a teacher. (Hardly any right now, other than be on time). Once school starts I'll be busy, but not outside of school, and TA's aren't even aloud to know the password to the new program for grades and attendance, so I don't even do that. I will help take attendance and record grades on paper, but I don't have any official responsibility for grades, lesson plans, or anything. So I can go home and relax instead of working until I go to bed. :-) Which will be good once my class for Capella starts in October. I'm taking my second class toward my masters in marriage and family therapy: Ethnic and Cultural Awareness.
Well, just wanted to share my first day with everyone because I knew certain people would be asking me. :-) Hope everyone has a good night!

Last day of freedom!

I'm starting my new job tomorrow!  I still don't know what class I'm going to be in, hopefully they will have made a decision by tomorrow.  We have a staff meeting in the morning, but the rest of the day is just to get the classroom ready.  Friday I have a district-wide training for special education teachers.  I'm excited to get started!

I went to the dentist today (long over due!) and didn't have any cavities!! Yea!  I went because I needed to get them cleaned and my gums looked at because they are really red and inflamed.  Sure enough, I have gingivitis and have an antibiotic rinse I have to swish in my mouth for 5 minutes 4 times a day!  I think that's a little excessive, but oh well.  I have to go back in a few weeks for another cleaning and to make sure the infection is gone.  The redness and puffiness is supposed to go away in a couple of weeks, so hopefully it does so Tim and I can get our engagement pictures taken.  They also said I need to get my fourth wisdom tooth out.  I had three pulled 4 years ago at the dentist, but they left one in because it was still impacted and for some reason didn't refer me to an oral surgeon to have it removed.  So now that it's come in I have to go to a surgeon and get it out.  Fun! :-/

Last week I went with Tim and some of his youth group kids to a statewide youth conference here called Fusion.  It was held at this gigantic Baptist church called Anchorage Baptist Temple.  There were concerts every night and a really good speaker, break out classes, and an illusionist and Christian artist.  It was a neat experience.  I got to see lots of Christian bands/singers that I hadn't heard before like Eleventyseven which is like a punk rock group and I couldn't understand anything the guy was singing but he was fun to watch jump around on stage.  I also saw Lecrae, a Christian rapper who was awesome!!  Brandon Heath performed the first night and he was really good too.  I had heard some of his songs on the radio.  Thousand Foot Krutch performed the last day, and I didn't particularly enjoy them because they are an extremely heavy rock band and just too loud for me.  We're going back a week from Friday to see Big Daddy Weave which is going to be really good.

Some exciting things that are going to happen in the near future: Tim got us theater tickets to see The Lion King in late September. :-)  He does not like musicals but is sweet enough to take me to see them.  Also, I discovered swing dancing a couple of years ago when I was at Prestoncrest CoC, and there is a swing and country western dance workshop the weekend of my birthday and Tim and I are going to that.  I told him it could be my birthday present.  We get to learn the basics of swing and 2-step (which I already know, but Tim has never danced, and I'm really not that great) and then a dance the second night to practice everything you learned.  I'm really looking forward to it.

Tim and I started Nurtrisystem last weekend. He started on Friday and I started Saturday.  The food's not the most exciting food ever, and I still get cravings every now and then when I see something that I can't have, like peanut butter (for those of you who know me well know how horrible that is for me!).  But the good news is I have already lost 6 pounds!  Tim has lost at least that much and we are looking forward to being skinny for our wedding! :-)

TTFN! :-)