Picnics?

With all this warm weather it's been impossible not to want to be outside!  (Is it really March or are we just being tricked?)  The only problem is that at our house we only have 3 plastic chairs and 2 folding chairs out back, no real table.  So I've been looking on the web for a picnic table, only to learn that the ones from Home Depot are $300 at the cheapest (for plastic), gasp!  No one wants a plastic picnic table.  So short of stealing one from a local park (stealing is bad), I turned to craigslist!  The site to find everything!  (Except an irish dance competition dress...)  And low and behold, the first post was one being given away for free!  It's a sign!  It doesn't have benches, but no matter, we have chairs, and can easily get more chairs from walmart or something, as I believe the chairs we had were a side of the road grab by yours truly.  But, alas, it's in Gaithersburg, and is 8 feet long.  I believe as long as the guy emails me back that I will be renting a truck next weekend (adventure time!) to pick up said table.  Bring on the warm weather!

Alexandria St. Patrick's Day Parade

My dance school (O'Neill-James) participated in the Alexandria St. Patrick's Day Parade last weekend.  My parents came down for the weekend before heading to Missouri so they got to see me in the parade!   Here's a video clip on youtube that my friend's boyfriend took of us dancing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb-38byzx8M
and here are some pictures!

Lauren and I after the parade

Holocaust Museum

A weekend ago my friend Jaynell came down to visit for the night.  We headed to Liberty Tavern for dinner on Friday, which was fantastic!  They have great food, and even had a special menu marked with what foods are dairy-free.  Made me feel so happy!  Their risotto was great, even without the cheese.

Saturday we headed downtown to the Holocaust Museum after breakfast.  It was great cause we took our time going through the museum, which they've done a great job creating.  If we could get funding, I would love to take my kids there.

The most special part was when we were on the third floor by the boxcar.  There was a little old lady standing with a group of people our age and I didn't really think anything of it, so I walked past.  After a while I realized that they had moved as a group into the boxcar and she was talking so I went over listen.  Turns out she (and I don't know her name) was from Hungary and ended up in a boxcar with her family headed to Auschwitz.  She told how she was crowded in the boxcar and when they stopped her parents were relieved because when the doors opened they saw a camp, which meant that they weren't going to be shot in the woods.  They were told to leave everything so her mother made them put on all of their clothes, which possibly saved her life.  Out in line her mother and little brothers were sent one way, her older sister was sent the other way and when she and her younger sister arrived at the officer, she was sent to follow her older sister because she looked older than her 13 years because of the clothes, but her little sister was sent to follow her mom and brothers.  She paused to make sure that her sister caught up to her mother and then went to follow her sister into the camp.  The survivor then walked through the boxcar and stood in front of a huge picture that had been blown up on the wall of a line going into Auschwitz and pointed to a girl in the picture.  "That's me."  Because she had paused, she ended up in the photo that she didn't know was being taken.  She didn't see the picture for years until after the war.  She said her father and older brother were in the line of men, but didn't know where.  She never saw her father or brother again, nor her mother and younger brothers, who were sent straight to the gas chambers.  It was really moving to hear her story, especially when we were in the museum and it's sad to think that the last survivors are getting older and they won't be around much longer.

Make sure you hear the story of a survivor sometime soon before they are all gone.

Silver Line Station Names

Help vote for the names for the new Silver Line Stations as the metro comes further out into Fairfax!

http://new.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2i6b4V0ySFzEh1y

WMATA created a survey

(not sure which link will work for you!)

Where does "piss poor" come from?

 Where did “piss poor” come from ?

Us older people need to learn something new every day..

Just to keep the grey matter tuned up.

Where did "Piss Poor" come from?
Interesting History.

They used to use urine to tan animal skins,

so families used to all pee in a pot

And then once a day it was taken and sold to the tannery...

if you had to do this to survive you were

"Piss Poor".

But worse than that were the really poor folk

who couldn't even afford to buy a pot...

They

"didn't have a pot to piss in"

and were the lowest of the low.

The next time you are washing your hands and

complain because the water temperature

Isn't just how you like it,

think about how things used to be.

Here are some facts about the 1500s

Most people got married in June

because they took their

yearly bath in May,

And they still smelled pretty good by June.

However, since they were starting to smell,
Brides carried a bouquet of flowers

to hide the body odor.

Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet

when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water.

The man of the house

had the privilege of the nice clean water,

Then all the other sons and men,

then the women and finally

the children.

Last of all the babies.

By then the water was so dirty you could

actually lose someone in it.

Hence the saying,

"Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high,

with no wood underneath.

It was the only place for animals to get warm,

so all the cats and other small animals

(mice, bugs) lived in the roof.

When it rained it became slippery and

sometimes the animals would

slip and fall off the roof.

Hence the saying,

"It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things

from falling into the house.

This posed a real problem in the bedroom

where bugs and other droppings

Could mess up your nice clean bed.

Hence, a bed with big posts and a

sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.

That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt.

Only the wealthy had something other than dirt.

Hence the saying,

"Dirt poor."

The wealthy had slate floors

that would get slippery

In the winter when wet,

so they spread thresh (straw) on floor

to help keep their footing.

As the winter wore on,

they added more thresh until,

when you opened the door,

It would all start slipping outside.

A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way.

Hence: a thresh hold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.

Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables

And did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers

In the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day.

Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while.

Hence the rhyme:

“Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old”.
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special.

When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off.

It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon."

They would cut off a little to share with guests

And would all sit around and chew the fat.

Those with money had plates made of pewter.

Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food,

causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes,

so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status.

Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle,

and guests got the top, or the upper crust.
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky.

The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.

Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.

They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around

and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up.

Hence the custom; “of holding a wake”.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people.

So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave.

When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks

on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive.

So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin

and up through the ground and tie it to a bell.
Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.)

to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be,

“saved by the bell” or was “considered a dead ringer”.

And that's the truth.

Now, whoever said History was boring!!!
So get out there and educate someone! ~~~

Share these facts with a friend.
Inside every older person is a younger person wondering,

'What the heck happened?'

Then go read this: http://www.history-magazine.com/facts.html

Curiosity is one of the permanent and certain characteristics of a vigorous mind."
--Samuel Johnson,
British writer

Like Lilly but for accessories

Was just exposed to this fantastic site (http://abigaillee.com/) that personalizes accessories like electronic covers or trays or luggage tags, and they have many designs that all remind me of Lilly designs.  Can't wait to get some presents for people from this site!

A Day in the Life of a Teacher

Leave home at 6:10, arrive at school at 6:35, put my lunch in the fridge, open up my classroom for the math class in their first period. Check email, re-arrange desks for the class, grab papers to copy and papers to grade, head to the work room.
Make copies, write lecture notes for chapter 19, create notes sheet for industrial revolution, enter grades into system for classes, period ends.
Walk back to classroom for SAP period, advise students on choices for next years class, re-arrange desks for my classes, create daily powerpoint with warm-up for 3rd period, continue to enter grades.
3rd period: welcome students, hand out permanent markers to write names on new notebooks, take attendance, help students get started on finishing revolution mind maps, hand out study guides for test to rest of students, help them get started, create key for study guide to post on board, circulate around the room to help and check that students are working, work on notes sheet for IR, check email again.  Continue to answer questions and give students hints until the period ends.  Remind students that test will be tomorrow or the next time I see them because of snow.
5th period: first lunch, 30 minutes to eat and breathe.  Day is half over.  Head back to classroom, set up projector, run to make copies of study guide and scan it, back to class, welcome students, take attendance, start them on finishing their revolution mind maps, post scanned keys on blackboard, circulate around the room, check email again, continue to work on IR notes while scanning the classroom, check weather, grade papers, return papers, circulate around the room.  Have students present mind maps, hand out study guide, help them start the study guide.
7th period: set up projector, run to restroom, back to class before the bell, welcome students, figure out who has to leave early for the science fair, start chapter 19 lecture, show 2 video clips, more lecture, immigration journals, lecture, Boss Tweed skit, half of the class leaves for science fair, watch school house rock videos until the day ends.
After school: enter more grades, do more grading, finish IR notes and print them out, make copies for first 3 things of IR unit, head home.

That's a somewhat slow day.  Ha.

Life of a teacher

It's just been one of those years where life is not normal and moving at the speed of a bullet train, yet somehow also feeling like its moving as slow as a slug.  So weird!  And I've been so busy that I can't even find time to call friends or my grandmother, who thank goodness was a teacher so she knows what the first year is like!  I promise I'm still alive, even though I've just donated half my closet to goodwill because nothing fits anymore!  The problem is that eat lunch at 10:30, am starving by 2:10 when school gets out, so I snack at work, then eat chips and salsa when I get home at 5, and then am not hungry for dinner, nor have the energy to cook dinner until 9:30, which is 30 minutes past my bedtime.  Uggh!  I either need to lay off the chips and salsa, which would probably take a strike breaker to get me away from (AP US History reference there...sorry), or have someone cook me dinner and make me eat veggies and protein.  Any takers?  I'll pay!

I keep meaning to do a "day in the life of Ms. V" post, but again, that gets put on the back burner when my lecture notes for tomorrow aren't done, nor are papers graded that were handed in a month ago, nor are lesson plans done for the next unit, nor are papers copied for tomorrow morning!  *Le sigh*

Bed time.

Letters on Love

New York
November 10, 1958

Dear Thom:

We had your letter this morning. I will answer it from my point of view and of course Elaine will from hers.

First — if you are in love — that’s a good thing — that’s about the best thing that can happen to anyone. Don’t let anyone make it small or light to you.

Second — There are several kinds of love. One is a selfish, mean, grasping, egotistical thing which uses love for self-importance. This is the ugly and crippling kind. The other is an outpouring of everything good in you — of kindness and consideration and respect — not only the social respect of manners but the greater respect which is recognition of another person as unique and valuable. The first kind can make you sick and small and weak but the second can release in you strength, and courage and goodness and even wisdom you didn’t know you had.

You say this is not puppy love. If you feel so deeply — of course it isn’t puppy love.

But I don’t think you were asking me what you feel. You know better than anyone. What you wanted me to help you with is what to do about it — and that I can tell you.

Glory in it for one thing and be very glad and grateful for it.

The object of love is the best and most beautiful. Try to live up to it.

If you love someone — there is no possible harm in saying so — only you must remember that some people are very shy and sometimes the saying must take that shyness into consideration.

Girls have a way of knowing or feeling what you feel, but they usually like to hear it also.

It sometimes happens that what you feel is not returned for one reason or another — but that does not make your feeling less valuable and good.

Lastly, I know your feeling because I have it and I’m glad you have it.

We will be glad to meet Susan. She will be very welcome. But Elaine will make all such arrangements because that is her province and she will be very glad to. She knows about love too and maybe she can give you more help than I can.

And don’t worry about losing. If it is right, it happens — The main thing is not to hurry. Nothing good gets away.

Love,

Fa

(John Steinbeck)

(http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/01/12/john-steinbeck-on-love-1958/)

Homework

I'm on the fence about homework.  It's necessary for APUSH because students need to read to gain extra information that I do not have the time to discuss in class.  However, for WHII I'm not sure which direction I want to go.  I have been assigning vocab which requires the textbook, so that hopefully students are reading and getting some information, however not many kids complete it.  Vocab should be their second or third introduction to a word, because I try to include all of the words in class somewhere, but still students don't do it.  I'm not sure where I want to go with this.  Give it up, change it, or continue on the path.