Chickens!

How many people with ADD does it take to change a light bulb? Oh, look, a chicken!

That's kind of how my brain is running right now. I have so many things coursing between my ears that I need to list them for later expansion, or just to list them:

• Obama was friggin' amazing. I promise that I'll post pictures. I touched him. Wow.
  
• I heard "Glory Days" on the way home tonight, and it got me thinking. I am so completely and totally blessed. Although life has changed in many ways, I usually feel like I'm currently living my Glory Days. High school was neat. College was cool. DINK status was pretty cool. Parenthood is amazing. And, I'm hopeful that the best is yet to come.
• I'm re-vamping my chemistry course this semester. It's been a long time coming, and I've got an incredible group of students this semester, so I think that it'll be a go. I just need to find the time to create the necessary materials.
• Standardized tests are fundamentally flawed. I lost two and a half hours of my life this afternoon learning how to score these math exams that our freshmen and sophomores took a couple of weeks ago. No wonder our students score 33% proficient in math!! The scoring guidelines are absurd! The kids know waaaay more math than that, it's just that the way that the questions and rubrics are written, you have to be absolutely perfect to earn the scores. Humf.
• It took me a little while to warm up to my VUE, but this is ranking high on the list of most amazing cars ever. You should get one. It rocks. And, it doesn't have a broken accelerator pedal.
  
• I'm posting it, so it's real now. We've resolved that 2010 will bring us a new home. Our condo has done a very nice job, and we like it a lot. We've just outgrown it, and if we want to continue growing, we need more room. So, we're hopeful for a 3 bedroom place somewhere. Hopeful thoughts will help!
• Potty training can't come soon enough. I'm kind of sick of "Mama, change bum."

Ok. I feel better now. Here are a couple of cute pictures from last weekend. Not Obama, but Joseph is cuter ;)

MyBlogSpark? And OBAMA!!!

So, does anyone do this? What am I committing to? Am I selling my soul to creative advertising people? Is it worth it to get free stuff? Anyone care to read about products that I review? Hmmm...post a comment so I know what my readers want. That's kind of a joke given the moderately narcissistic nature of the blogosphere, anyway. But, hey, I aim to please...sometimes.

And, HOLY CRAP!!! I MIGHT GET TO SHAKE THE PRESIDENT'S HAND TOMORROW! THE PRESIDENT! OF THE UNITED STATES! YEAH, I'M SCREAMING!!

Ok, I'm a little better now, but HOLY CRAP! The coolness of this opportunity is really starting to settle in, and I'm getting kind of nervous! Despite multiple suggestions that I go to the meeting in our nicest Urlacher jersey, I think that I'm going to go as a teacher and be way crazy excited if I can get my ticket autographed. A sitting president. Matt and I met George W. Bush at a campaign rally during the first primary season in...1999? And, I shook Al Gore's hand at Dunkin Donuts down the street from my parents' house. But, wow. A sitting president.

I'm allowed to bring a camera, so stay tuned for pictures of the event. I also got some crazy cute pictures of the fam at the SEE Science Center this weekend, but those are taking a backseat to other events. If you've got time tomorrow afternoon, you should watch for me on TV. I'll be the one looking like a teacher :)

Hail to the Chief!

Yeah, that's right! President Obama is coming to my school on Tuesday to talk to 1500 of his closest friends in a Town Hall-style meeting. Since he's coming to our school, 30 spots were reserved for faculty and staff members in our building. More than 30 people were interested, so our names went into a hat and were randomly chosen, and mine was picked! I'm currently waiting to see if I passed the federal background check, but I'm feeling hopeful that I'll actually be there.

My big question right now is what do I wear? I know that this might sound petty considering that he is the President of the United States, but I feel like I've got a realistic grip on my place in this crowd. I'm looking forward to the opportunity to be in the same room as this influential leader. I do tend to think that politics are kind of a dirty game, but I believe that most people get involved with pure intentions and do try to hold on to those intentions for as long as they can. So, regardless of any personal feelings that I have about programs or initiatives or anything like that, I have great respect for people who are willing to take on the responsibility of any public office--especially the President!!

So, I'm pretty pumped. Any suggestions for the visit? I've never done this before, so I welcome any input!

Clarification

I am not cooking another kid. We do know a lot of people who are expecting little people in 2010. So, the blanket that I'm making is for one of those little people.

In case you were interested...

And, I realize that you probably aren't, but...I've had to start another blog. I'm attempting a master's degree in education at the local university that Matt works at. It's definitely a challenge, not so much because the content is difficult, but because it has demanded a delicate balance between all of the various aspects of my life. Sometimes I'm more successful at balancing than others.

But, part of my current class on technology is to post a variety of reflections on a blog. So, if you're interested in some of my educational thoughts, check it out. I've called it "Those Who Can" because an all-too-popular idea of teachers is that "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." I don't have time to step up on that soapbox, and a bunch of people probably wouldn't like what I had to say about that (and you can all bite me, by the way), so I'm not even going to get into that. So. There. Read it if you want, don't if you don't.

In other news from Allergy World, Joseph was retested a couple of weeks ago for all of his various allergens. The good news is that all of his levels went down, but the bad news is that we still need to avoid fresh egg products, tree nuts, and peanuts. This really isn't a big deal, since we've grown so accustomed to reading product labels. I am encouraged that his levels have gone down though. I feel kind of silly because I don't know exactly what levels they're talking about, but I can tell that 3.88 kU/L is closer to zero than 18.9 kU/L (his peanut levels this year and last year, respectively). So, I've got my fingers tentatively crossed that when we retest him next year (or even the year after) he might be low enough to challenge some of them. But, we're okay.

Isn't he cute?

Other random things:

• The stomach flu sucks a lot when you're two, and it sucks a lot when you're considerably older than two, but you're the one taking care of the two year old. But not as much as the one with the flu. For sure.
  
• I think that I know all the words to Cars.
  
• I love love love Hot and Sour soup.
• I've frogged the same blanket three times. But, I think that I've developed a pattern that I'm really going to like. We'll see. Hopefully I can finish it before the baby gets here...
• We have too much crap.
• Either we have a phenomenal weather system in our backyard, or a broken thermometer. We've gone from -38 to 31 degrees today!

Couple pictures

First things first. Joseph is 2. So, here he is with Mona. His face is dirty and he's got kind of a scowl on, but...welcome to 2.

We all went on a train ride for Christmas in early December. Joseph LOVES trains and this one had Santa, too. So, it was a slam dunk. We drove up to North Conway and rode around in a winter wonderland. It was fun.
Short story: my parents had these two wonderful teachers from China staying with them from the end of September through December 23. Vivian and Winter (Winter's in pink) are two of the sweetest people you would ever want to know and we miss them lots. They made us delicious Chinese food and are so kind and friendly. Joseph asks about them every time that we see an airplane since he knows that they went for a really long plane ride to go home to China. So sweet.

And, while we were in Chicago, Joseph got to drive a tractor.

Supposed to post

So, Jackie tells me I'm supposed to post. So, I'm posting.

It seems that we've been constantly moving so that finding time to reflect on life hasn't happened too much. And, since complete thoughts rarely race through my mind, I'm presenting a list of things that I've experienced or considered lately:

• I've started making bread. Jackie and Ann turned me on to this idea of five-minute bread, and it is "delish," as Joseph says.
• Christmas was busy. We drove to Chicago to be with Matt's family, and we had a nice time.
• I finished one baby blanket just in time to consider three more and a quilt.
• I'm trying socks again. I know that I can do it, I just have to do it.
• I'm even finding moments to read. I read My Sister's Keeper while we were in Chicago, and I've picked up Flowers for Algernon recently.

And, I wanted to reflect on Joseph for a longer moment. What a neat kid. He's got a serious case of two, but he's still wonderful. When he's feeling particularly disagreeable, everything is 'no.' And, when he's feeling good, he just chatters and chatters and chatters. It's so neat to watch him grow and develop, and it's kind of bittersweet to realize that more and more baby words are maturing into real words and phrases. He really is turning into a little boy, and I'm so happy to have the freedom to experience a lot of these times with him. Quick story: he usually takes his blanket, Linus, to day care with him. But one day last week, he decided to take his stuffed leopard, MeeMow, instead. When I went to pick him up, I found him feeding MeeMow snack after their nap. His wonderful lady said that he'd been doing that all day. He fed him breakfast, snack, lunch, and snack; he hugged him all through nap, and shared him with the other kids. So sweet. It warmed my heart to see that he had a kind nurturing side in addition to his all-things-with-wheels side. I'd post pictures, but I'm not that with-it yet...oh well.