My little cat decided that she couldn't see out the door so she solved that problem
Friday, November 13, 2015
Thursday, November 5, 2015
National Novel Writing Month has begun
I have accepted the challenge this year, I am 10,245 words in and my fingers are typing furiously. I had an outline of the story I am writing in my head and so this has been an easy start. The only downside is that I have 2 other stories in my head that have to be put on the back burner this month while I focus on the 50,000 word task at hand.
For all you writers out there, get started, you have 25 days left.
Friday, October 30, 2015
American Candy
In my ESL class today I gave them an assignment to write about American Candy. The results were much more humorous than I anticipated.
KitKat
It is 2 pieces of bread
with chocolate over it
Skittles
They taste like fruit,
but not the outside of fruit
Skittles
They taste like fruit, I
have a small cousin that cries a lot, I think I should feed her this so she won’t
cry.
Gummy Worms
They are sour and two
colors, like ombre
Whoppers
They are round and taste
a little like chocolate and a little like Starbucks
M&M's
They taste like chupa
chup candy that we have in Vietnam. They bring me a lot of happiness
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
4 sets of keys
I have 4 sets of keys
one for home
one for office
one for school
one for off site work
My life has become a series of keys
pull into my driveway- keys connected to car will get me into the house
pull into office- pick up keys with red band to get me into my office
pull into school- pick up keys with flashlight keychain to get me into my classroom
pull into off site work- pick up keys with the clip to get me in the office
Only today did I notice how much my life revolves around keys
attempted to put office keys into school lock (fail)
carried home key to my office then had to dig through my purse to correct this error
I have begun to pick up keys and hold them in my lap as I am driving so I know where I am going
office keys get the most fiddling with, red springy band allows me to fidget
school keys are the heaviest, key chain creates this problem, not the keys
off site work keys are the most convenient to carry (the clip) but there are many keys on this key chain that I don't know what they go to
home keys are the most valuable
When did I start carrying keys? 16 when I started driving.
Oh I long for the first 15 years where I could roam free without the responsibility of keys, well actually I would not trade those days for the ones I have now.
With keys, comes great responsibility. They say, "I am trustworthy" " I can be trusted to protect all that is inside these locked doors"
Keys have become an integral part of my life, locking and unlocking things as I choose.
Keep
Everything
You have
Safe
one for home
one for office
one for school
one for off site work
My life has become a series of keys
pull into my driveway- keys connected to car will get me into the house
pull into office- pick up keys with red band to get me into my office
pull into school- pick up keys with flashlight keychain to get me into my classroom
pull into off site work- pick up keys with the clip to get me in the office
Only today did I notice how much my life revolves around keys
attempted to put office keys into school lock (fail)
carried home key to my office then had to dig through my purse to correct this error
I have begun to pick up keys and hold them in my lap as I am driving so I know where I am going
office keys get the most fiddling with, red springy band allows me to fidget
school keys are the heaviest, key chain creates this problem, not the keys
off site work keys are the most convenient to carry (the clip) but there are many keys on this key chain that I don't know what they go to
home keys are the most valuable
When did I start carrying keys? 16 when I started driving.
Oh I long for the first 15 years where I could roam free without the responsibility of keys, well actually I would not trade those days for the ones I have now.
With keys, comes great responsibility. They say, "I am trustworthy" " I can be trusted to protect all that is inside these locked doors"
Keys have become an integral part of my life, locking and unlocking things as I choose.
Keep
Everything
You have
Safe
Sunday, September 27, 2015
International Student-Language Barrier Issues
The international student staying in my home this year is doing well. He stays in his room a lot, but lets be honest, if I didn't speak the language and it gave me a headache trying to figure out what people were saying every minute of every day, I would probably stay in my room as well.
We have had several language issue barriers which have created awkward moments (which are now humorous enough to share.)
The hair cutting incident.
He has been in our home for a month and his hair is getting kind of long so I asked him (through Google Translator). " do you want to get a haircut".
He said "ok" and so I set up the appointment.
I picked him up one afternoon to go get a haircut and as we were driving he had his translator app say "no scissors"
I said, "you don't want scissors"
"No"
"Do you want clippers" and I made the sound and ran an imaginary clippers across my head
"NO"
"What do you want?"
Back to the translator "No haircut"
What? I thought you said you wanted a haircut?
Translator app "You say I must get haircut"
"Must" as in YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! That is what the poor kid thought I said. Stinking Google Translator. Because he is a respectful boy, he was going to do it.
Well at this point we are almost at the haircutting place so I took him in and introduced him to my hair stylist and let him know that there had been a miscommunication so we were just coming to make introductions. My international student said that he would let me know when he needed a haircut.
We left and drove home in silence. Well that was awkward. I talked to him about the miscommunication and we agreed that the word Like was a better word for him to understand.
Would you like to get your hair cut?
We have had several language issue barriers which have created awkward moments (which are now humorous enough to share.)
The hair cutting incident.
He has been in our home for a month and his hair is getting kind of long so I asked him (through Google Translator). " do you want to get a haircut".
He said "ok" and so I set up the appointment.
I picked him up one afternoon to go get a haircut and as we were driving he had his translator app say "no scissors"
I said, "you don't want scissors"
"No"
"Do you want clippers" and I made the sound and ran an imaginary clippers across my head
"NO"
"What do you want?"
Back to the translator "No haircut"
What? I thought you said you wanted a haircut?
Translator app "You say I must get haircut"
"Must" as in YOU HAVE NO CHOICE! That is what the poor kid thought I said. Stinking Google Translator. Because he is a respectful boy, he was going to do it.
Well at this point we are almost at the haircutting place so I took him in and introduced him to my hair stylist and let him know that there had been a miscommunication so we were just coming to make introductions. My international student said that he would let me know when he needed a haircut.
We left and drove home in silence. Well that was awkward. I talked to him about the miscommunication and we agreed that the word Like was a better word for him to understand.
Would you like to get your hair cut?
International Student starts school
It has been 2 full months of having a 15 year old International student in our home. The first month was filled with Google translator and sign language to communicate. He has done really well with learning how to communicate with us.
The second month began the start of school. Now luckily, we send our kids (and new international student) to a private school that focuses on International students. So he was not the only Chinese speaking boy in a school full of English kids. He had people he could communicate with. So how is school going for him? Not well.
While he has learned the routines of our household, even learned to predict what I will say so he can translate it in his head. He has not adjusted to school life very well. I saw him sitting with another Chinese boy on the first day and I asked him if he made a friend. He didn't know the boys name so I told him to introduce himself the next day and make a friend. (It has been 3 weeks and he still doesn't know that kids name.) Now onto classes.
He is shuffling around to the 7 periods he was assigned, He got that part down, which classroom to go to when the bell rings. But he doesn't bring home very much homework, I think because he doesn't understand what the teachers are saying so he misses big gaps. The only homework I have helped him on is Spelling. He brought home his first spelling list and it was words like. Immeasurable, Improbable, Impoverished. WHAT? Those are the kind of words that a 1st year English student is assigned? Well my son (who is in the same grade and same class) brought home the same list. It began to make sense. 10th grade Spelling words, no adjustment for non-English speakers. So I helped him learn how to spell them, he still failed the first quiz.
Week 2 spelling words (I before E except after C rules). Really? Although these words were easier to spell, they were almost more confusing. Receive and Receipt spelled with and EI while Grieve and Achieve are spelled IE. Then we got to the word Beige, this does not follow the rule so how will he learn to put it into a category? I couldn't even begin to explain to him the word Beige, I gave up and told him to just learn to spell it. As the Host Family for this student, I made him learn how to spell it rather than learn the meaning, if this 15 year old boy ever needs to describe that color, I give him full permission to just say TAN!
The second month began the start of school. Now luckily, we send our kids (and new international student) to a private school that focuses on International students. So he was not the only Chinese speaking boy in a school full of English kids. He had people he could communicate with. So how is school going for him? Not well.
While he has learned the routines of our household, even learned to predict what I will say so he can translate it in his head. He has not adjusted to school life very well. I saw him sitting with another Chinese boy on the first day and I asked him if he made a friend. He didn't know the boys name so I told him to introduce himself the next day and make a friend. (It has been 3 weeks and he still doesn't know that kids name.) Now onto classes.
He is shuffling around to the 7 periods he was assigned, He got that part down, which classroom to go to when the bell rings. But he doesn't bring home very much homework, I think because he doesn't understand what the teachers are saying so he misses big gaps. The only homework I have helped him on is Spelling. He brought home his first spelling list and it was words like. Immeasurable, Improbable, Impoverished. WHAT? Those are the kind of words that a 1st year English student is assigned? Well my son (who is in the same grade and same class) brought home the same list. It began to make sense. 10th grade Spelling words, no adjustment for non-English speakers. So I helped him learn how to spell them, he still failed the first quiz.
Week 2 spelling words (I before E except after C rules). Really? Although these words were easier to spell, they were almost more confusing. Receive and Receipt spelled with and EI while Grieve and Achieve are spelled IE. Then we got to the word Beige, this does not follow the rule so how will he learn to put it into a category? I couldn't even begin to explain to him the word Beige, I gave up and told him to just learn to spell it. As the Host Family for this student, I made him learn how to spell it rather than learn the meaning, if this 15 year old boy ever needs to describe that color, I give him full permission to just say TAN!
Monday, August 31, 2015
Indoor Plant Hobby
Recently I have become an indoor plant enthusiast. I like the fact that many indoor plants are good at removing toxins and pollutants from the air. I also like that many plants are easy to take care of and thus, building the success rate of "things I can do".
It all started 3 years ago with a random trip to a local nursery. The mission was a rubber tree plant to keep in my classroom. I had heard it was extremely good for the air and would tolerate a bit of neglect. My daughter and I found one (which she promptly named Herbert) and it sat in my classroom that year. It did take a fair amount of neglect, including the wooden blinds falling on it and stripping it of many of its leaves. Never-the-less, Herbert persevered and I brought him home that summer. Back he went for year 2 at school and when summer came, Herbert was big, I mean really big, like needed a big pot kind of big. So Herbert made himself a permanent home in our kitchen and I decided that I was good at growing things.
My daughter and I went on the hunt for another rubber tree plant but they were all too large and so we kept looking. We found a ZZ plant, grape ivy and a peperomia. The 3 came home and were given names ( I still don't know how she comes up with those names but something about them speaks to her and she settles on a name.)
I have already blogged about the ZZ plant which out grew its pot and became 4. The grape ivy took off at a rapid pace and became 2. The peperomia is still slowly growing and I liked the look of it so much that I bought another one to go in my office at work.
Work, the unexplored frontier for plants. Well the peperomia was lonely (oh, geez, I am beginning to share my daughters affinity for giving plants human characteristics.) So I got another plant to go with it, I forget the name, it is striking with green and red leaves and the stalks are pinkish/ red. The two little plants sit in my office flanking my desktop computer. I have convinced myself that they are good for the air and they are sucking in all of the toxic computer rays that would otherwise contaminate my work space. I Thought I was done with the plant purchases but then I discovered snake plants. I now have 3 making a statement on the top of my hutch at work and my office is complete.
The only thing I didn't have was another rubber tree plant. I have searched high and low but had not found one. Until that glorious day I was just killing time before my meeting and I went into the original nursery. There she was, not to big, not to small, perfect. So I brought her home and named her Matilda ( because Herbert and Matilda seem like a good match.) Matilda loved her new home and outgrew the window sill in the kitchen and has now taken a place by the window. She popped up 4 new stalks with leaves and so I dug into the soil, discovered that they had sustainable roots and plucked them out of Matilda and into their new home. Matilda and Herbert had a baby. Anna (encase you were wondering).
Now to the point of this post. My husband has drawn a line. No more plants in our home. But before he said this, I snuck in 3 little lemon button ferns. Seriously, No More Plants! I do not understand this.
First of all, I am not asking you to take care of them.
Secondly, they do not interfere with your daily activities.
Thirdly, they are not creating problems(allergies) for anyone.
Finally, they just might clean the toxins out of the air and improve the quality of your life!
I have decided that perhaps we just see things differently.
I see this
It all started 3 years ago with a random trip to a local nursery. The mission was a rubber tree plant to keep in my classroom. I had heard it was extremely good for the air and would tolerate a bit of neglect. My daughter and I found one (which she promptly named Herbert) and it sat in my classroom that year. It did take a fair amount of neglect, including the wooden blinds falling on it and stripping it of many of its leaves. Never-the-less, Herbert persevered and I brought him home that summer. Back he went for year 2 at school and when summer came, Herbert was big, I mean really big, like needed a big pot kind of big. So Herbert made himself a permanent home in our kitchen and I decided that I was good at growing things.
My daughter and I went on the hunt for another rubber tree plant but they were all too large and so we kept looking. We found a ZZ plant, grape ivy and a peperomia. The 3 came home and were given names ( I still don't know how she comes up with those names but something about them speaks to her and she settles on a name.)
I have already blogged about the ZZ plant which out grew its pot and became 4. The grape ivy took off at a rapid pace and became 2. The peperomia is still slowly growing and I liked the look of it so much that I bought another one to go in my office at work.
Work, the unexplored frontier for plants. Well the peperomia was lonely (oh, geez, I am beginning to share my daughters affinity for giving plants human characteristics.) So I got another plant to go with it, I forget the name, it is striking with green and red leaves and the stalks are pinkish/ red. The two little plants sit in my office flanking my desktop computer. I have convinced myself that they are good for the air and they are sucking in all of the toxic computer rays that would otherwise contaminate my work space. I Thought I was done with the plant purchases but then I discovered snake plants. I now have 3 making a statement on the top of my hutch at work and my office is complete.
The only thing I didn't have was another rubber tree plant. I have searched high and low but had not found one. Until that glorious day I was just killing time before my meeting and I went into the original nursery. There she was, not to big, not to small, perfect. So I brought her home and named her Matilda ( because Herbert and Matilda seem like a good match.) Matilda loved her new home and outgrew the window sill in the kitchen and has now taken a place by the window. She popped up 4 new stalks with leaves and so I dug into the soil, discovered that they had sustainable roots and plucked them out of Matilda and into their new home. Matilda and Herbert had a baby. Anna (encase you were wondering).
Now to the point of this post. My husband has drawn a line. No more plants in our home. But before he said this, I snuck in 3 little lemon button ferns. Seriously, No More Plants! I do not understand this.
First of all, I am not asking you to take care of them.
Secondly, they do not interfere with your daily activities.
Thirdly, they are not creating problems(allergies) for anyone.
Finally, they just might clean the toxins out of the air and improve the quality of your life!
I have decided that perhaps we just see things differently.
I see this
He sees this
This must be the problem. Perspective. I see a dainty, well organized addition to our home. He sees hoarders, plant addition. I think I will show him this picture and remind him that things could be significantly worse. I will keep you posted if any other plants join the family.
Well ok, 3 more have already joined the family, but before you lump me in with that second picture. I have found them a home in my classroom. So I am listening to my husband's wishes, no more plants in our home. We just won't remind him that in June, school will end and those 3 will have to go somewhere.
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