Posted by Brad on October 31st, 2009 — Posted in Journal
My old grading pen ran out. It actually lasted a good long time. I used it last year fourth quarter and all first quarter this year. I love it when I have to choose a new grading pen color. It’s like Christmas and my birthday at the same time! I still have a ton of colors to choose from in a set of pens I bought last year. After looking them over, I chose green. But it’s an interesting color green. Sort of like a dark lime green or a light olive green. But it’s a little hard to read. After using it for a while, I’ll have to assess my satisfaction.
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Posted by Brad on October 30th, 2009 — Posted in Journal
I got a package in the mail at school a couple days ago. It was from Beth. I was so excited when I saw what it was: she sent me three activity books for Religion class. Woo hoo! I’ve been working hard to vary the lessons in 6th Grade Religion, and the workbook is of little help. It’s like they were trying to make their lessons all feel the same. “Where are all the fun activities?” I kept asking, but they never showed.
But now I have them! One book is full of artistic-type activities, one book is full of letter sudoku, and one book is full of word puzzles. Awesome! The books are awesome, and Beth is awesome.
I used my first activity yesterday. It was a wordsearch on the temptation of Jesus. What was really cool was that after doing the wordsearch, the letters that weren’t used spelled another word. It was amazing.
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Posted by Brad on October 29th, 2009 — Posted in Journal
I’m trying a new deodorant. I ran out the other day and actually went a day without. Nothing happened. It almost makes me want to try it again. If I didn’t have to put deodorant on in the morning, I’d regain seconds of my life every day.
Anyway, I needed to get more of my specialty tree-hugger deodorant. I went to Trader Joe’s, thinking I could get flax and deodorant at the same time. They had flax, but no deodorant of any kind. Dang. It was a school night, and I didn’t want to bounce from store to store looking for my brand. I should’ve just gone to the CVS next to my house, but I was trying to stop at a place that was directly on my way home. There was a SuperFresh across the street from Trader Joe’s. I went there. They didn’t have my brand, but they did have a variety of Tom’s of Maine that I hadn’t seen before. I had stopped using Tom’s of Maine because it was burny, but I decided to give this new kind a go.
So far, so good…
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Posted by Brad on October 28th, 2009 — Posted in Gardening
I went into my back yard to make a quick walk through. This time of year some interesting things are happening, but I often miss them because school is in full swing. I was bending over to admire a nasturtium plant that grew from a seed that fell off of last summer’s plants, when I noticed a deliciously sweet smell. It was much like honey-suckle. I didn’t immediately see the source because I didn’t immediately see any flowers.
Then I remembered the Osmanthus heterophyllus (False Holly). I got it because I liked the shape of the evergreen leaves, but as a bonus, it blooms late in the fall with sweetly scented flowers. I’ll be looking forward to the next warmish day we have. That’s when the flower fragrances really come out.
I read that some people make tea with the dried flowers. I probably won’t do that.
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Posted by Brad on October 27th, 2009 — Posted in Journal
I continue to be surprised at this year’s eighth graders’ tendency to point out my zits. I don’t know if it’s just a fascination of theirs or if they are truly concerned for me, but they ask me about them all the time.
On Sunday, I had a tiny little forehead zit by my hairline. I didn’t leave it alone, so by Monday, it was a huge red bump on my head. The whole area around the tiny zit was swollen and angry. Three different eighth graders asked me about it. At least it was a good opportunity for me to tell them to leave zits alone if they aren’t ready.
When am I going to stop having zits? Isn’t there a statute of limitations on them or something?
It makes me think of a time in World History class with Mr. Fuchs, when he just stopped in the middle of the lesson and wondered out loud about a zit on the end of his nose. He, too, wondered when they would stop. Maybe I should ask him if he still gets them. Wait… Maybe I don’t want to know…
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