Here we go again

Well a year has come and gone. This week the staff started meeting in order to prepare for the new school year. Things sure do run smoother here. There is no need to worry about arguing for hours about something that should have been settled before the last school year ended. We do have more time to work in our rooms and spend less time in meetings.

All the staff had to meet this Tuesday. That day was full of meetings. There was a meeting in the morning with all the staff and went over the changes for the new school year. Then we met as a department. This lasted longer than expected. Then we had to learn a new program that we will be using for attendance and grades. This program is cool because it is web based and parents can go online and see all the information they need. They can see which assignments were assigned and what their child did not do on a daily basis. They do not need to wait till it gets mailed to them or e-mailed. They get instant access, which is what parents here require. Unfortunately, the parents will have access till October for this trimester because it is new. After that the program will be accessible all the time.

Then all the Algebra 2 teachers met again. Then the day was over. Today we had another meeting as a department to decide on our percentages for our grades for the different courses. That took a little long but we came to a conclusion. This would not have happened with the old math department we had. They were cool people but they were very set on their ways and were not willing to change.

See this year we got 4 new teachers because 4 left. 2 of the new teachers came from the middle school, the other one came from Washington, and the other was a private tutor. They are easy to work with. They are also willing to try something new. There were a couple of moments when there was a little bit of tension but then people came to an understanding. It is always good when things work out this way.

What seems a bit funny to me is the things we are going through. I have gone through these things when I worked in Santa Ana and now I am doing it again. The only difference is that we are doing it here some what out of our own free will because we want to be more together in order to avoid many conflicts with the parents and to be consistent as a department for the students. In Santa Ana we had to do these changes because the district was asking us to do it or else the school would be in a lot of trouble.

After our meeting I had to make sure the students that are in my classes belong there. So I had to go to the counselors to do this. I had to read out the names to the counselor. While doing this I mentioned a certain student's name and she said not to worry about him because he was going to be in jail. Needless to say I was surprised. She asked me if I had read the newspaper and I said no. This just got me curious. She mentioned that he got into trouble for trying to steal a six pack of beer and that's it. When I went back to my room I read the article and it turns out he tried stealing the beer at gun point. I was shocked. Nothing like this has happened in Ketchum for a very, very, very long time. It's been so long that nobody remembers when was the last time something like this happened. At least it's good to know he will not be in the classroom.

Then I had other things to do with the department. I barely got any time to work on my classes and lesson plans. I did find out that 2 of my nieces will be in my classes for the second trimester. This will be interesting.

Breaking Up

I keep seeing commercials about this new show. In the show Shannen Doherty breaks up with the boyfriend or girlfriend for the other person. A scenario is set up involving the person that is receiving the bad news while Shannen talks to the person doing the breaking up. Then she comes in with a video in which the partner breaks up with the other person. This is quit a way of breaking up. Wow!

Well in this show that I saw the girl was ready to break up with her boyfriend if he did not propose to her. They had been living together and he had given her a promise ring but she wanted to get the engagement ring. This reminded me of the show My Fair Brady when Adrianne wanted Christopher to propose to her or she was moving out and he did. Well in this case it happened as well. Shannen Doherty showed the guy the video in which the girl told him that if he didn't propose to her then it was over. I was sure he was going to say that it was over. I did not think he was going to do it. In the scenario it seemed as if he was not ready to get married.

After the video Shannen Doherty asked him if he was willing to marry his girlfriend. He thought about it for a little bit and then said yes. His girlfriend came out and then he got on his knees and proposed to her. This was the sweetest thing I had seen. This was unbelievable.

After a month Shannen Doherty went back for a check up and asked them how things were. He said that is wasn't that much different than what he was already doing because he was already waking up next to her. Of course she was exstatic.

Of course the other episodes I saw were nothing like this one. On the other ones the guy was flirting with Shanen Doherty after she showed him the break up video. On the other one the guy and girl broke down. In this case the guy was breaking up with the girl. Even Shannen Doherty got a little emotional. Relationships sure are difficult.

Cheerleaders

Now that I have been on vacation I have been watching a lot of reality shows that deal with the cheerleading try outs for various football teams. Some years ago I had seen a program that showed how much they work out and practice to maintain their figure and learn the routines. On top of that they still have other jobs. Now these shows demonstrate how they go through the try outs and cuts. What surprises me is how some girls that weigh 120lbs get told that they are fat and need to lose weight. Others get told they have a little pouch. I'm looking at them and wonder what their coaches are talking about. Those women look great. They don't need to lose any weight. This is what makes people think that they are fat when they are not. This also gives girls the impression that they need to be super skinny in order to be beautiful. Then this leads to anorexia and bulimia.

Right now I would be happy weighing 130lbs. My ideal weight for my height is around 120 lb. I wouldn't imagine myself weighing that little. I know I obsess over working out and losing weight but I would hope I wouldn't obsess that much.

I really do admire how much they work at the routines and to keep their shape but do a couple of pounds really make that big of a difference. The people that really get to look at them are the ones in the front rows of the stadium and are in their vicinity. Then again who really pays attention to them. I probably think that because I am not a guy but do you know how big a stadium is. The most important thing to me when I am watching a game is the game not the cheerleaders or side distractions. The only times I would really pay attention to the cheerleaders is when the game is slowing down and if I knew one of them.

I think this way because when I have watched my brothers high school games I would look at the cheerleaders when their was a big lead from either team. Then I would also pay more attention to them because my niece was part of the squad. Otherwise I really don't pay that much attention.

The ones that are really interesting are the ones that perform different acrobatic routines. Also the ones with the props, such as tall flags and batons. Now those are interesting.

Dodgers

My Dodgers have made it to the front of the line. I was so disappointed last month because they were in last place. Now they are tied for first in their division. They really need to win their division in order to make it to the playoffs. I have faith that they will do it. I almost thought they were not going to go anywhere but the have won their last 11 games in a row. I didn't think they could do that wonderful but they did. Granted they lost yesterday and still have today's game, and till October 1st for the season to end but I know they can do it.

I really hope they make it to the playoffs. They managed to do it 2 years ago they can do it again. Although they have let me down before and I don't live in Los Angeles I am still a true blue fan. They can make it.

Go Dodgers!

Insomniac

I think I am turning into an insomniac. During my vacation I usually go to sleep late because I cannot and do not go to sleep late when I am working because I need to be on my toes with my students. But lately I have been going to sleep till 2 or 3 in the morning and wake up by 9 or 9:30. Usually I would take naps in the afternoon but I havn't done that for a while also.

I need to stop going to sleep so late because I will be heading back to work soon. I need to go back to my old sleeping pattern. I don't know why I started doing this because I was going to sleep relatively early when I was in LA. Then I come back and everything changes. Maybe it is because we really have long summer days here. It doesn't start to get dark till around 9:30 pm. Well I need to start forcing myself to get to bed early.

Weight Loss

I am so excited because I can fit into my old pants. I am pretty close to the weight that I was 3 years ago. I think I still need to lose 5 more lbs but not more than that. I still have trouble fitting pants around my thighs but I have figured out how to solve this problem. Buy jeans that are stretch they work better around the thighs. :-)

Now it's just a matter of keeping the weight off. But it's not easy. I love to eat french fries and would love to eat a lot of the food I haven't been eating. I know I can, it is just a matter of moderation and portion size. The funny thing is that when I was in LA and on the cruise I gave myself permission to eat what I wanted because I was going to work it out. I've noticed that as long as I keep working out even if I eat badly I will maintain the weight because I am burning it off. Still that doesn't mean I can eat fast food all the time but once in a while, more often than not, eat some bad stuff. But even though I told myself this I still didn't eat that badly. I had more access to fast food and I still stayed away from it. Now that I don't have that ability I want to eat all that bad food. Which goes to prove that people always want what they cannot have. Well it still does make it easier to lose weight. I can't wait till I meet my goal. Thus far I have managed to lose most of the weight I put on while I was on vacation. I have 5 more lbs to go. Yay!

One Year

Hard to believe but I have been in Idaho for one year. How time does fly. I can't believe that a year ago I was driving down here with my brothers and Charlie. The ironic thing is that around the same time this year I was driving back from California after spending 2 weeks of my vacation there. Let me tell you I was glad to be back. I enjoy the tranquility of this city.

I do miss everything that Los Angeles has to offer but I do not miss the traffic and humidity. When I went out I tried to go during the time that there was no traffic and it was not as hot. It does get hot here but not as hot as it was over here. It was hot all the time. Here it is cool in the mornings and at night but not over there. The temperature even reached to the 100s. I was still there last year at that time and it was not that hot. After spending time in South Gate I realized how many more things were accessible in Garden Grove and Santa Ana. I did have to drive there but there were more attractions there.

Even through all this I really enjoyed seeing my friends again. I even got to see a friend I had not seen since I was in college. I also got to see people I did not think I would get to see again. There were still some friends I would have liked to see but didn't because of the heat and expensive gas. I still enjoyed my vacation. Unfortunately this also signals the beginning of the school year. I know just about everyone works all year round and I should not be whining but it is still sad to go back to work.

So I already had my round of meetings this week with the math department. We will start meeting as a school in two weeks and classes will begin in three weeks. Two of my brothers will also be leaving to college in about two weeks. The other one doesn't leave till the end of September.

It is sad how many things change. There are many good and bad things but that is life.