This is my original blog. I haven’t updated for years. I keep it as a reminder of the journey.
Please see Broke Teacher for education and Poser Homestead for chickens, recipes, and dead zucchini.
If the Music Won’t Die, Neither Will I
Haven't run in a while--it seemed like a great day to get back. 80 degrees in Rhode Island. Sun. When I got home from work, the world was happy and everyone doing his thing--the perfect time for sneaking off for a pre-grilling workout. But...the iPod was on red. Deep...
Food Extremists Who Are Worse Than Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lraDNDuFNj8#! This is me. Entirely. I never made out with anyone in the produce aisle, but I feel strongly about food. I want to grow and raise what I eat. I want to eat healthy, to avoid packages. I do lots...
The Next Deplorable Trend in Fashion: Teen 101 Series
Sagging. Butt cracks. Guys with skinny jeans that look like they got robbed from a second grader. Hundred-dollar ripped jeans. Sneakers that are venerated not played in. Chains on pants. Bright red hair. Micro micro micro minis. Shirts missing sleeves--maybe it was a...
Sloooowwww Down! And Do Not Delete
"No!!" I said as I watched my finger click "Don't save." I was multitasking--talking, thinking, and typing, laptop balanced on my knee. My finger headed for the wrong square. Microsoft Word gave me the a courtesy reminder. "Are you SURE you want to push the left-hand...
Learning the Vowels
I was doing hallway duty. That's where I stand at the top of the stairs and greet everyone as they come in--ask them about their weekend, compliment the new hair-do. Really, I'm supervising, but I don't like to feel like bad cop when kids clearly haven't finished...
Sleep in Your Own #$%$ Bed. It’s Why I Pay the Mortgage.
I need a good real estate agent again. I just moved, but I need advice badly. Here's my dilemma: 1. How do I buy a couple of square feet in my own damned bed? 2. How can I then I secure it from trespassers and wanderers? I tried not to get to this point. When you buy...
Pulling Weeds
I'm pulling weeds in the garden and planting new flowers. The garden is full. It's huge. Truth be told, it could have been a little bigger--I'd have filled it. A million things poke through the soil--some in rows, more in random places where I stuffed them when I ran...
Heroes
The boy slept on the desk. I woke him again. I wasn't that boring. Maybe I was--am I qualified to make that determination? That was a minute of his life he would never get back. I asked him after class. "Was I that boring?" "No, Miss, I had to work." He worked in his...
Old People Alert: Words You Can’t Say
I'm giving a vocabulary test. I don't like vocabulary tests. I'm tired of them. Even though I don't love tests, vocabulary is important. Not just for students, but for me. I'm getting old. Words change their meaning. Not being up on vocab is a dangerous thing. I...
Jurassic Frogs
We found a frog in the garden. A big, green Calavaras-county style bullfrog hiding under the straw. "Mom, he reminds me of a palaeobatrachus. That's a dinosaur that was an amphibian. A dinosaur frog. Frogs are amphibians, you know. They live in the water and on land."...
Shakespeare Smackdown (You Can’t Handle the Truth!)
It's Shakespeare's birthday. I don't have a card. To tell you the truth, I'm a bit angry at the man, dead though he may be, because no one will do my work in class. They're all walking around with scraplets of paper in their palms, muttering. "Get your work done," I...
Financial Literacy Is Overrated
"Mom!" "What?" "Can I borrow five bucks?" "You're five. What do you need five bucks for?" "My Junior Bow." We went to the Bass Pro Shop about a month ago. We passed by the hunting section. I wandered in looking at the bows. I don't hunt. I'm a vegetarian Gandhi-loving...