Posted by Brad on August 31st, 2008 — Posted in Gardening
Yesterday I finally worked on the pond again. It was time to get the waterfall running and see if it cascaded in a satisfactory way. It was kind of exciting to take the pump out and hook it up. It’s a pretty serious piece of machinery. It was a little hard to hide the hose though, because it’s reinforced to prevent kinking. The reinforcement makes it less bendable. I had to use a rock to keep it under water.
The water doesn’t quite fall the way I expected. I’m a little disappointed. I’m letting it run so I can see if I don’t like it because it doesn’t look like I thought it would, or if I don’t like it because I don’t like it. I may need to pull the stones apart and work on them some more.
My neighbor came over and offered some rocks he found in his yard. They’re huge. I’ll be excited to get them to my pond site and try them in various places. I was already showered by the time he offered them, so I’ll wait until this afternoon or tomorrow to get them. All he wanted in return was some grass. I have buffalo grass in my yard (which I believe is the most evil plant ever). He’s trying to establish something indestructible in his back yard so his dogs could run on it. He wants some rooted clumps to plant there. I wish he’d take it all.
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Posted by Brad on August 30th, 2008 — Posted in Haircuts
I spent most of the day at school yesterday, even though we were off. I wanted to make seating charts for all my classes because the kids seem to settle in better when they aren’t allowed to sit wherever they want.
But before I could make new seating charts, I had to shuffle the furniture a little. Handbells and choir will be taught in my classroom during my afternoon free period, and I had to figure out how to make space for a piano. After trying several arrangements, I finally got it: I would turn the student desks around and make the back of my room the new front. It would work because I have chalkboards on either wall. But once I moved the student desks, I had to move the aquarium. Then I had to move my desk. Then I needed a small bookshelf. Then I needed to move my TV. Then I needed to move the bell equipment…
I never finished the seating arrangements.
FRONT:
BACK:
I celebrated my accomplishments with a haircut.
FRONT:
BACK:
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Posted by Brad on August 29th, 2008 — Posted in Journal
I had to go to my local drug store to get some contact solution last night and remembered to bring along my camera. I’ve been wanting to get a picture of the deodorant aisle for a long time. The deodorants are all locked behind glass.
I can get my strange tree-hugger deodorant at this CVS, so it’s where I come. But in order to get it, I have to tell a cashier, who unlocks the glass and gets it herself. All I’m allowed to do is point. One time, I chuckled and said to the girl helping me, “Does deodorant get stolen a lot?” She didn’t respond. I’m pretty sure she heard me, but maybe she thinks unlocking the deodorant vault is serious business.
I haven’t joked about it since.
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Posted by Brad on August 28th, 2008 — Posted in Journal
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO BETH! HOORAY! She still isn’t older than me, so I guess she can’t kill me yet.
“Some day… When I get older… Older than you…
I… am going… to kill… you”
-Beth
Yesterday we tried something new at school. Instead of having a regular school day, we had a “Retreat Day” for community-building and school-spirit-boosting. The juniors and seniors went off campus, and the rest of us stayed.
I think we did a pretty good job with the Middle School activities. It was really fun. My role in the morning was to challenge groups of kids to find my four dress code violations. The easiest was my green hair.
Hair must be of a natural hair color -BLMS Student-Parent Handbook p.22
Next, we had a variety of physical activities and challenges for them. At my station, they had to cram 24 kids into a circle painted on the ground. It was just over a meter in diameter. It was hilarious! No one accomplished it. I kept thinking it was possible and that they were doing it wrong. Now I’m not so sure.
After lunch, we had meetings to plan class service projects, then we had recess.
I like recess.
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Posted by Brad on August 27th, 2008 — Posted in Journal
Peggy brought an MRE to school yesterday. An MRE is a Meal Ready to Eat. The military uses it for the soldier-on-the-go. The one Peggy had was a beef pot roast. It was in a giant pouch. When she opened it, out came all kinds of drab brown packages. There were crackers and peanut butter, there was a “ranger bar” (which was an energy bar)… but the name I liked the most in the whole package was “Osmotic Cranberries”. My quick searches say that means dried cranberries with sugar added.
There were also many fun condiments. The best one was a tiny Tobasco:
The main course could be warmed by putting it in a pouch with some granules that got really hot when wet. You sprinkle some water on them, then let the package sit for a while. We did it wrong, but there were still some vapors that came out. It was cool.
We ended up microwaving the pot roast because it took too long to get warm. It was actually not that bad.
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