Wednesday's Hodgepodge



1. Did you know there is a National Day pretty much everything in the universe? February 23 happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced?
Actually......the last time was two years ago.  I went to watch my daughter play basketball in Kentucky.  Before the game started, my husband and I went to Kentucky Fried Chicken to grab a quick bite to eat.  I ordered a chicken sandwich and You might not believe this but it is the TRUTH---the person responded we "don't have a chicken sandwich"---what????? go figure-so we left and went to the trusty McDonald's.  Standing in line at McDonald's, I was still in shock about my order at KFC-and trying to decided which  value meal would be healthy, when the lady said (YES    I was next in line-I mean right there at the counter) "May I help you?" a bunch of teenagers jumped right in front of me and ordered.  I honestly couldn't believe it!  I really don't consider it an inconvenience to me-- more of a SHOCK!!!  Needless to say, I left McDonald's and went to the basketball game and ate popcorn.  My husband said he has never heard me yell or argue with referees so much.  I just responded-what do you expect from me-no chicken sandwich from KFC and rude teenagers at McDonald's has gotten me fired up.

2. When a room in your house needs painting who does the job?
Three years ago, we decided to down size from a 3600 square foot house to a 2200 square foot old, house.  The older house needed to be remodeled-so we hired a crew to do all of it-even painting the rooms.  If I had to paint a room- I would hire it done.




3. Are you friends with your cousins?
Most of my cousins are close-so I would have to say-Yes-we are friends even though we don't get to see each other as often as we would like to BUT there is now the ole Facebook.




4. Do you use an alarm clock? If yes-is it an actual alarm, music, or something else?
How about two alarm clocks!!!!  I am a sound sleeper-my husband use to say to me he couldn't understand how I could hear my children-when they were babies breathe and not hear an alarm clock.  My alarm clocks are VERY LOUD with a BUZZ sound and I have to get up out of bed to turn one off!!!!! the other clock is on the nightstand.




5. What do you put ketchup on?
Mainly just plain french fries.




6. What smells make you nostalgic?
The smell of burning leaves (especially in the fall of the year) reminds me so much of my grandmother.  She would always burn leaves in the fall-I really don't know why because I can't remember any large trees around her house.  It was just something she did. 
Another nostalgic smell is a fresh ham cooking in the oven.  This reminds me of Christmas at my house when I was so much younger.  I can remember my dad boiling and then baking the ham.  He took so much pride in that ham--what wonderful memories I have of him.  I now do this at Christmas and I feel so good when my daughters say-"Gosh Mom-this smells good."




7. Have you heard about the high school English teacher recently suspended as a result of some things she wrote in her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

As a teacher, I get very frustrated at the whole system.  No one really knows until you 'walk in our shoes' for at least a month.  Parents blame teachers and teachers blame parents and the system for the reason a student isn't performing.  I could go on and on and on and on.....but.....well......let me just say ----times have changed and we all have to stop making excuses for the lack of students' performances and do the best we can.  One thing I absolutely hate is in our system when we do testing our names are published in the local paper with our test scores-which really aren't our test scores but the scores of students.  So we are judged by a test given on a particular day to students--I just hope the girls aren't having PMS that day and the boys are-well you know --have their mind on the subject at hand. 
As for Facebook-I WILL NEVER be friends with a student on Facebook-also cautious with what I write just in case a parent can read it. I love teaching, but when I hear about all the negatives about our profession I want to scream-there are some positive teachers out there!!!!  For example-I am going to 'toot my own horn'-I have bought food for students to take home because they have come to me saying they were hungry (now it takes a lot of nerve for an 8th grader to say they are hungry or see an 8th grader going through the trash can because when they get home there is no food), clothes for students to wear, and given money for a student or students to go on a field trip-this does not count for the everyday items I buy-such as paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, note cards, markers, highlighters,.....etc.  So there are great teachers out there-that is overlooked!!!!!

8.  Random thoughts:
I have had the pink-eye. Gosh-I felt like a little child when the school nurse told me I had to go home. I knew my eye was red, but I thought I had just gotten a little irration or something, no big deal UNTIL the nurse took one look at me and said--"Mrs. Doane-you have to go home now and I am writing you an excuse because you have the pink eye.  Only me-------
Have a good week--ya'll!!
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