Random!

I was tagged by a couple of different bloggers to complete this meme. Sorry, it took me so long. It has been cra-zy busy with only one week of school left. Yes, I have 1 week left. I’m excited!

I’m too lazy to go back and see if there were exact instructions. I think I’m supposed to tell you six random things about myself. I feel like everyone knows all my random things, but I’ll try to come up with some….

1.  I have to shave my legs every day or at least every other day. I can’t stand to go more than a day. It bugs me. I hate having the smallest bit of stubble, especially in the Summer. I want smooth, sexy legs.

2. I love tattoos. I have a few and want more. Each one means something to me and I have gotten them at some point in my life that I will never forget. Most people that meet me are shocked to learn that I have them. I only show the one on my shoulder. ; ) I like tatts on boys, too.

3. Blue is my absolute favorite color. I love dark blues like a sapphire, which happens to be my birthstone. But, I also like the bright blue sky on a warm day or looking into a pair of gorgeous blue eyes. I do not like yellow. If I wear most shades of yellow, I look sick. I like very pale yellows for decorating, but that is where I draw the line on that color.

4. I do not like science fiction or magic or any of that stuff. Well, I thought I didn’t. Back in April, I borrowed and watched the first season of Heroes on dvd. I love that show. It is awesome. I am all caught up from watching it on the internet and cannot wait for it to come back on tv. I can’t wait to see what is going to happen next. There is going to be a 3-hour season premiere this fall. : ) Yeah!

5. I have become such a beer snob. I don’t know a durn thing about beer, but I know which ones I like. Last night I was at a party that provided adult beverages. It was a very popular light beer that I don’t like to drink. Since I knew this ahead of time, I stopped at the liquor store and picked up my favorite red beer. : )

6. If I eat frozen waffles, I want eggos. Not just plain, though. I want blueberry with light syrup. Pancakes and home made waffles are fine plain with different syrups. The only item that I buy “light” is syrup. I do not buy diet, light, etc. Yuck! I can use the calories and I like to taste them. I really do need to change my eating habits. I had brownie cheesecake ice cream for lunch. Yum!

Seriously?!?

I know I live in a small town. I’m adjusting. BUT, I was not prepared to read this article in the Aspen Times…

Robotic woman gives birth in Glenwood

GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Noelle laid back on a bed at Valley View Hospital, ready to bring her son into the world.

“Noelle, you’re doing well. Your baby is going to be OK,” said Jane Vincent, a nurse.

Noelle is no ordinary woman. She’s a robotic woman. She gave birth to her robotic son, Hal, a good six times or more Thursday afternoon.

The hospital says it was the first in Colorado to acquire Gaumard Scientific’s S575 Noelle with Newborn Hal two weeks ago. The pair are the company’s latest birth simulator, used for training purposes. They cost $37,995.

“He’s starting to descend,” said Carol Bagen, another nurse, preparing for one of Hal’s deliveries.

Hal emerged slowly, pushed by a motor hidden beneath Noelle’s stomach. He cried softly. Bagen toweled him off and handed him over to a pediatric nurse.

“Congratulations Noelle. Good job,” Bagen said.

Hospital staff members are instructed to speak directly to Noelle to make the simulation as realistic as possible.

Gaumard’s engineers also helped with the details. Hal’s tiny ribcage expands and contracts with his breathing. His arms and legs move.

Hal’s face turns blue when he’s having trouble breathing. It goes back to normal when he’s properly treated with a breathing apparatus. Nurses can feel him and Noelle for pulses, and can administer injections to either patient.

The birth training starts from a preprogrammed scenario. Instructors control Noelle and Hal with a computer to branch off from the scenario and react to what’s being done to them. They can change things like either patient’s rates and rhythms for breathing and heart beat, which could mean Noelle needs a C-section or Hal needs resuscitation, or even a much more rare complication.

“What we want people to do is practice, practice, practice, so when it happens with a real patient they’re very comfortable,” said Laurale Cross, director of the hospital’s Family Birthplace.

The birth training is videotaped so participants can later analyze their performance and discuss improvements. Noelle and Hal are especially helpful to prepare for more rare problems that hospital staff won’t often see in real life, Vincent said. The simulation can also help promote teamwork.

“It’s a lot more than just seeing it up on a board,” Bagen said.

Among Noelle’s many features are a programmable hemorrhage that uses simulated blood and catheterization with flow of fake urine. As her uterus is massaged, it shrinks, and an instructor can reduce the bleeding. She can undergo vertex, breech and C-section deliveries.

Vincent said the hospital may use an emergency paging system to call out teams to respond to Noelle and Hal. Noelle and Hal could potentially be used with EMTs, nurses in training and local agencies. Noelle and Hal could be used in an ambulance and controlled wirelessly from another vehicle.

A grant from Colorado Trust paid for almost all of the simulator and associated equipment, Cross said. The Danciger Charitable Trust Foundation paid for Vincent, Bagen and Lanea Orgill to travel to Gaumard’s headquarters in Florida for training.

Cross said Noelle and Hal can get free updated software and scenarios via the Internet.

“It’s so amazing,” Cross said. “The opportunities for it are just almost endless.”

Thoughts? I don’t know what to say. Do I just find this weird because I used to live in a big city where many women had babies ALL day long? Thoughts? Anyone? Anyone?

Happy Birthday, KT!

Happy Birthday, BFF! I am so lucky to have you as a friend. We’ve only been friends for a couple of years, but you have always been around to support me. We’ve held each other up through so many things. We’ve laughed together. We’ve cried together. We’ve stayed out late. We’ve gotten up early for our garage sale. We’ve shared ice cream. We’ve shared clothes. We’ve shared secrets. I am so happy to have you in my life. I look forward to many, many more years and memories together. I’m sorry that I am not there for this year’s celebration. You’ll have a little something from me when you get back from cheer camp. Ooh, I almost forgot about cheer camp! We’ve done that together, too. : ) I love you! I miss you!

Meme Time!

Joye tagged me. She’s a friend from high school and also a teacher. You know you have to follow a teacher’s instructions, so here goes….

Here are the rules: Each player answers the questions about themselves.At the end of the post, the player tags other people and posts their name, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read you. : )
1. What were you doing 10 years ago?  I was working 2 or 3 jobs. I was attending State Tech. I was living out on my own for the first time.

2.  What are 5 snacks that you enjoy?

Oreos

Twizzlers

Klondike oreo bars

mandarin oranges

cheetos
3.  What are 5 things you would do if you were a billionaire?

Pay off my debt and the debt of those that I love.

Buy a house for me and for a few of my closest peeps.

Start a college scholarship in Stephanie’s name.

Quit working and volunteer at a school.

Buy a jet and a few vacations homes.
4.  What are 5 fun things you wish you could do today?

Spend time with my adorable niece.

Sit on the couch with my girls, watching movies, and eating ice cream.

Sit on the beach and drink a beer.

Ride a roller coaster.

Visit a place that I have never seen.

The End. Oh, wait. I have to tag someone…..how about Kelly! Yeah, Kelly! You are the fabulous winner of…oh, sorry, this wasn’t a contest. : ) Luv ya!

Is it wrong?

Is it wrong that I just went to the liquor store and filled my truck with boxes for a project at school? The kids are going to paint them. I guess I should explain my project first. I’m looking for something to keep my overly active 14-year olds busy. We are drawing plans for birdhouses on graph paper on a small scale then creating a paper model. After the paper model, we are building the houses out of cardboard and painting them. Then, (almost done) the classes are going to vote on the best 4 to be made out of wood and placed into our habitat. So, is it wrong that the cardboard has liquor logos on them until we paint them? I promise to make them paint over all logos/symbols.

BTW, I got a haircut today.

Finally Spring/Summer

The warm weather has finally arrived. I sat outside for about 45 minutes yesterday just soaking up the sun. It feels so good to be outside and feel the warmth from the sun. I soaked up more than I intended. I was a little pink/reddish when I came back inside. Do you know how strange that is for me? I rarely burn and usually just turn brown. Being so much closer to the sun here I will have to watch my skin and use more sunscreen than I normally do. So, if you want a quick tan just come visit. We’ll go hang out by the pool.

Friday was our community service day at school. It wiped me out! We cleaned up trash along the road from the middle school to one of the parks. We probably walked about 5 miles picking up bottles, papers, cups, etc. You know all those things that people just throw out their car windows. One of the groups that was with me stopped counting cigarette butts at 300! Three hundred and we were barely around the corner from school. We stopped and had lunch in the park. This was my first time to visit the park. It is really nice. I plan of visiting it more often this Summer for Jazz in the Park. On the way back to school, we stopped at Dairy Queen for ice cream. They did a really good job handling so many middle school students in such a short period of time. I just felt bad for all of their normal customers that had listen to the noise that we all made. When we finally made it back to school, the students worked on their end of the year projects. It’s really neat to see how the projects coming along and how creative the kids can be with their ideas.

I can’t believe school is almost out. We have 11 days with all of our students, then 2 days of presentations back to back, and then a half day of grades and paperwork. My summer is filling up quickly. I am going to spend two weeks going to classes at Mesa State at the end of July. I want to come to Memphis for a couple of weeks. I’m hoping to teach a class for one week this Summer. I’m looking for a place to move. I’m ready for a full kitchen!!! I burned up my hot plate this week. (I don’t think I mentioned that.) I was making pasta for dinner and heard a popping noise. I thought the pasta was boiling, but it wasn’t. Next thing I know there was smoke coming out of the knob. Nice. So, I unplugged it. I tried it later  and it wouldn’t heat. I have one other double hot plate, but one of the knobs is missing on it. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I will find a place soon.

I have lots to do today. I need to get my insurance paperwork together. It’s due by Wednesday and they changed a lot of things. I need to create a rubric for the bird house project that Nick and I are doing this week. And, I need to put some things in the grade book. I really want to just sit outside and enjoy the sun again. : ) Hope you all had a fabulous weekend!

Hello out there!

I’m noticing some new activity. Leave me a message. : )

So far this week:

• Barely made it to school, but made it through Monday.
• Chaperoned a middle school dance.
• Volunteered at the free physicals.
• Demanded that my students play heads up 7 up.
• Had a fabulous talk with my girlfriends.
• Was called “girl” by a high school boy handing me my coke.

So…

So, the presentation went well. I snapped a little because our faculty was talking a lot and I was ready to get started. (and our boss had already made it very clear that he was tired of it) After a very full day of activities and meetings, we went to another teacher’s house for a gathering. She lives in a quaint cabin down by the river. I fell in love with it. It has character and the relaxing sound of the river in the background. She’s moving to Arizona this summer and another teacher is moving in her place. I’m excited about that because I will still get to visit this awesome place, but it’s very sad to see her go. : (  She is an awesome part of our faculty and will be very hard to replace. While at this gathering I had the best guacamole I have ever eaten. Alejandra came over and brought it. She is so sweet and apparently awesome at making guacamole. I wish I had some right now.

I have 19 more school days! Yeah! Ashley and KT, don’t even rub it in. I started school later than you. I signed up to teach a small class for one week over the summer. I hope I get enough students that want to participate in it. It should be a fun physics class. Yes, I said physics. I love Science.

Everyone say a big congrats to Aunt Barbie! She graduated from Ole Miss today and my mom is throwing a graduation party at her house. (Wish I was there.) I’m very proud of her earning her degree while working full-time and raising her son and husband. Way to go, Aunt Barbie!

I’m thinking about going back to school. I need to get my master’s and I should do it now instead of putting it off. I just need to find a school on-line. The closest university is an hour away. Any suggestions?

Enough rambling for the day…have a good one!

Reliving Vegas and School Stuff

That is what I am doing tomorrow. No, I’m not getting to go for another visit. We are presenting all of our knowledge and learnings to our staff. We have to present for something crazy like 3 hours. We put together a power point and some fun team building things. I hope all goes well. The best part about tomorrow is that breakfast and lunch are both provided for us. I love not having to worry about what is for lunch. And, I love food. I love to eat. I know it doesn’t look like it, but I do. I miss being in Memphis and having such fantastic chefs so close. I could pop in a few different places and have a fabulous meal in no time. Here, not so much. I have only found one restaurant that I love. There are a few others that are okay or even good. It’s just not what I’m used to. I’m adjusting. The restaurant that I love is Juicy Lucy’s. They have awesome steak and seafood. I’ve only eaten there twice. It’s a little pricey, but it is a steakhouse. I should go again soon. Maybe I’ll find someone that wants to take me out for a date. I could suggest it. Of course, if I do that on a first date I might not get asked out again.

Yesterday, I left school on my first break to take my mother’s day present to UPS. (Mom it will be there Monday. I’m sorry and I feel bad, but I refuse to pay $45 to get it there by Friday. I wish I could be there. Love you!) I was feeling bad about not getting Mom’s present to her in time and decided that I needed something good to eat to help lift my spirits. (wow, this post is all about food) I stopped at the local sandwich shop at 10:30 in the morning. We eat lunch early in 8th grade. Luckily, they were selling lunch and just stopped serving breakfast. I decided to be nice to someone else to make me feel better. It works. The guy working, possibly an owner or manager, strikes up a conversation. He is a former teacher and is ready to get back into teaching. And that has nothing to do with what I was saying. Um, okay, I went back to school with my turkey and an Italian for Jamie. He loves that sandwich. I ran in his room and said, “Italian. I’m just going to put it on your desk.” He stood there with his mouth gaping open. I replied with, “Just thought I would make your day.” That was not the right thing to say in front of a group of 7th graders. Jamie said thanks and I left the room. I was about half-way down the hall when I heard the ooh and ahh and cooing from Jamie’s room. I walked back, threw open the door, and told his class to get over it, boys and girls can be friends. They laughed, pointed at Jamie and told me how red his face had just turned. It was really hot in his room and so I pointed it out to his students. They always give him a hard time. So far, he has been accused of having the following teachers as girlfriends: me (but this is actually the first time since football season), Kristen, and Suzanne. I guess in the minds of 7th graders anyone they see you talking to must be your girlfriend, your wife, or your crush. I will have to remember that.

We have three more weeks of school. It’s hard to believe. We have so much going on on. Three work days for our end of the year project. A field trip to the Caverns. (I’m sooo excited about this.) We have a service learning day where we are going to clean up some local parks and help a local church with some yard work. The last week of school (not included in the three weeks above, so that is actually 4 weeks) all of the students come on Monday and Tuesday and then, the 8th graders will come in groups to complete their interdisciplinary project. They will be giving 45 minute presentations on various topics. It will be a long couple of days for me, but I am very excited to see them. They started working on them in January and have many great ideas.

Going to finish watching Gray’s…..or talking to Jason since he just called. Now, I’ll have to watch it on the web.

Nothing New

Not much worth typing about around here.

The weather is getting warmer. : ) Yeah! I actually wore a skirt and flops to work yesterday. My kids all commented on the skirt. What does that say about my work wardrobe?  It was a perfect cinco de Mayo. Some other teachers and I went to a local restaurant for tacos and margaritas. Yum! I take that back. The tacos were good. I have yet to find a good margarita here. I had to order an extra shot of tequila.

Does anyone want to move to Colorado and teach with me? We have a Science and a Math position open. Come on, it’s beautiful. Everyone is really nice. We could be roomies.

I saw Ironman Friday night. It was really good. I wasn’t sure if I would like it or not, but I did. What I didn’t like was the big bruise I got on my knee. I got up during the movie to go to the restroom and hit my knee on the chair that was in front of me. The movie theater is downtown and very old. They have one screen and the cup holders are on the backs of the chairs. I guess it was actually the cup holder that I hit. All I know is that it hurt. It was bad enough that it woke me up in the middle of the night when I rolled over on that side. I am so clumsy.

Coming home last night I saw a beautiful doe. She was running in front of the elementary school. I was going to try to get a picture, but she didn’t like me following her and took off quickly. It was strange to see just one. They usually travel in small groups of 4 or 5.

Our kids are out of school on Friday. The teachers have a work day. I get to present all the awesome things I learned while in Vegas. Where to get drinks? Where I could shop? Where to eat family style at an Italian restaurant? No! I learned a lot about PLC’s, Results, Standards, Assessments, etc. I just need to put together a power point. The Vegas crew is putting together some things after school the next couple of days.

I still haven’t decided if I want to cut my hair shorter or not. I went through some pictures and I liked it shoulder length. I’m just indecisive right now. I know, not me?!

I’m going to go grade some papers and get things together for tomorrow. Night.