Sunday, April 20, 2008

This and that from my world....

Not much knitting news.....



I have been plugging away on the beanie for Katie...it's taking a long time...fingering weight and size 4 circs...hard to believe this is about 10 hours of knitting pictured...the pattern alternates between 2 purls, 3 knits one round, then 3 purls, 2 knits the next round...and so on...it's a eight round pattern...I keep losing my place...then...have to go back and rip out to maintain the pattern....auugghhh!!!

I should be done with my Cascade Fixation socks probably this afternoon...will post pictures of them once I get them off my needles...I am decreasing for the toe...and...of course doing both socks at the same time...so, they will both be ready to go...yea! No going back to do the second sock.

Spring is coming to Minnesota! The snow has pretty much melted. All that is left is a couple of stray, dirty piles sitting around. One of the problems with late Spring snowstorms...the ground has started to thaw...so, when we plowed the driveway...we ended up with lots of rocks and dirt pushed onto the lawn...I have lots of heavy duty raking awaiting me.

It has been dreary, drizzly, and cold this weekend. I wish it would either downpour and clean everything up or be sunny so I can get outside and start cleaning up the yard...

We did have our first outside hot tub session of the season last night...It was nice...the steam from the hot tub...the slight drizzle cooling off your upper body...unfortunately...the sky was cloudy...no stars or moon...the outside temperature was only about 40 degrees...a bit chilly the run from the tub to the house....it was a nice way to spend a Saturday night....



Squeakers...my constant companion when I am on the computer...I am always being serenaded by her purring....



Nathan performed in the play Fools by Neil Simon. He is the center actor in the picture. If you are familiar with the piece, he played the doctor. It is a comedy and he was hysterical in his part. I was laughing so hard at times that I had tears. I so admire his ability to make people laugh and make it seem so effortless.... I could never in a million years perform in front of people....he did a very nice job...I do have a couple short video clips of the funniest parts...but have no clue as to if or how I could post them....

On the school front...we have been administering the state mandated tests all week. Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments (MCAs for short) Every grade except for the seniors have been tested this week. The 7th and 8th graders are being tested again in Math next week....Each test is a four hour long test...Reading, Math, and Written Language...Science is coming in May...

I have mixed opinions on these tests...because the test results are not linked to graduation, many of the students don't give their best effort on the tests...which then make them a useless tool in evaluating the quality of our district...did I mention the school's total passing percentages (not individual scores) are published in all the area newspapers...

We are into our 4th week of third quarter...woo hoo!!! I haven't officially counted the days remaining but I do know there is only five more Mondays that I have to drag my butt out of bed for :) Once I get pass Monday...the rest of the week is a breeze. They did hire a new secondary math teacher...he will be doing the Geometry (which I hate) and the upper level math. I will teach junior high...Pre-Algebra, Algebra and 10th grade Algebra II. It is all good.

5 comments:

Alana said...

Me, too!! Five more Mondays! Kids are done on the 22nd, and I'm done on the 23rd. Can't wait!

We're finally getting spring, too, and it's glorious. Started bringing out our patio furniture this weekend, and I can hardly wait to sit out there with my dogs and knit and sip coffee!

Rachel said...

Looks like lots of us are counting down days until the end of school!!

Glad to hear you are getting warmer weather...we had beautiful weather for a couple days and now it's back to cold and snow! April in the Northwest, gotta love it!

KSee said...

boy do I know all about getting into the knitting zone and then not paying attention. I sometimes think that I should go back to knitting bags, but then I would have to finish up the ones that I did last year.
Glad to hear spring is coming.

Anonymous said...

Okay, first of all, has it not occured to you that you "perform" every friggin' day. You ARE a teacher after all! (yeah, I know what you meant)

Next - the lack of caring about the MCAs... We just finished the TN version and somehow (don't know the gritty details) our eighth grade teachers factor student results into final grades. BRILLIANT!! High school does the same.

And in regards to spotlight basking offspring... Olivia has her big stage debut Friday night with the SPRING PROGRAM. I've been working to coax details from her - so far I know it will include a "body boogie" and air guitar. Needless to say I will tape it and try to figure out how to upload it to carpool.

PS: I have my first sunburn. Spring in TN is the best!!

Jane Doe Jenn said...

I love spring!!!

Over here, school does not end until June 27th.
We are counting the days, too. :)

Love that green yarn!