Seems about right!

My Political Views
I am a left social libertarian
Left: 3.12, Libertarian: 4.74

Political Spectrum Quiz

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Ten Things Tuesday 10/26/10

10 Classroom Scenes

(plus some extras!)

 1. Working with patterns.

 2. Animal masks - made in an art center that tied in to our weekly reading theme.

 3. Some "Connect Four" action - great for learning strategy and fair play.

 4. Measuring the chair with linker cubes.

 5. Working together to measure a table with linker cubes.

 6. Recording data.

 7. Our measurement lists. The Halloween countdown is above.

 8. Data display. Apparently we have some long arms!

 9. Working with pattern blocks.

 10. Hanging out, listening to a book.

 11. Play-Doh - also known as "fine motor development."

 12. Playing a math card game.

 13. Partner reading.

14. Measuring the rug by the door with inch tiles.

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"

Monday Meme: A Big Ol' List

1. What is the color of your toothbrush? Purple, of course!

2. Name one person who made you smile today. Mr. Mamie, of course! And the doggies. 

3. What were you doing at 8 am this morning? Sleeping ('cause I'm writing this on a Sunday).

4. What were you doing 45 minutes ago? Eating a quesadilla for breakfast.
 
5. What is your favorite candy bar? Depends… Snickers, if they are frozen; Reese’s cups are perennially popular; Skor or Heath bars have a place in my heart.

6. Have you ever been to a strip club? Um, no.

7. What is the last thing you said aloud? "Can you back the TV up - I missed that!" (LOVE the ability to pause/rewind live TV - yay DVR!)

8. What is your favorite ice cream? Any flavor that we make ourselves! Coffee/cocoa/chocolate chip has been the top flavor recently.

9. What was the last thing you had to drink? DietCoke, of course!

10. Do you like your wallet? Yes, it is purple.

11. What was the last thing you ate? Quesadilla.

12. Have you bought any new clothing items this week? No.

13. The last sporting event you watched? Currently watching Redskins at Bears on FOX NFL Sunday. Last night it was Sooners at Mizzou


14. What is your favorite flavor of popcorn? Mmmmm, butter and salt! No funny stuff. We pop it ourselves the old-fashioned way: On the stove, in a pan with oil.

15. Who is the last person you sent a text message to? Mrs. Igor.

16. Ever go camping? Yep, lots as a child, though not too recently.

17. Do you take vitamins daily? Yes, and also fish oil and niacin.

18. Do you go to church every Sunday? Church of the NFL, Baby!

19. Do you have a tan? Kinda. I don’t seek it, but it builds over the summer here.

20. Do you prefer Chinese food over pizza No. Pizza rules, especially my homemade pizza! Zachary’s in Oakland/Berkeley is a close second. I don’t like most Chinese restaurants, though I make good Kung Pao chicken, curry chicken, cashew chicken, and Szechuan beef at home.

21. Do you drink your soda with a straw? From fast food and convenience stores, yes. At home, not usually.

22. What did your last text message say? Me: "Am taking Gma and kids to your house." Mrs. Igor: "OK." Scintillating, I know.

23. What are you doing tomorrow? Teaching first grade.

24. Favorite color? Purple, of course!

25. Look to your left; what do you see? A chair at my dining room table with my "teacher bag" on it.

26. What color is your watch? Titanium (like my car, see #46).

27. What do you think of when you hear “Australia”? That I would like to visit… and “The Thorn Birds!”

28. Would you strip for money? Um, no.

29.Do you go in a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Depends on the place, time, mood, etc.

30. What is your favorite number? The one on my paycheck! (Though it could be bigger.)

31. Who’s the last person you talked to on the phone? Mrs. Igor.

32. Any plans today? Lesson planning, laundry, ironing, fix breakfast-for-dinner.

33. In how many states have you lived? 3

34. Biggest annoyance right now? Never feeling like I have enough time!

35. Last song listened to? "We're Going on a Bear Hunt" on YouTube (downloading for school).

36. Can you say the alphabet backwards? Yes. In two languages.

37. Do you have a maid service clean your house? In my very rich fantasy life!

38. Favorite pair of shoes you wear all the time? A couple of pairs of Nikes, my black “Simple” slides, my raspberry Terra-Soles Mary Jane flats, my purple Crocs, my red Old Navy felt slippers, my brown North Face down slippers, my black Nine West boots....

39. Are you jealous of anyone? Not specifically.

40. Is anyone jealous of you? Highly unlikely.

41. Do you love anyone? Most definitely. Many people!

42. Do any of your friends have children? Yes, many. And some don’t. It takes all kinds!

43. What do you usually do during the day? Teach first graders, which is akin to herding house cats.


44. Do you hate anyone that you know right now? I try not to hate. There are people who disappoint me, anger me, hurt me… but these are temporary.

45. Do you use the word ‘hello’ daily? Yes.

46. What color is your car? Toyota calls it "Titanium."

47. What size wedding ring do you wear? Fat fingers – I think a 9 or so.

48. Are you thinking about someone right now? My students - took a break from planning for next week to write this, but am still thinking about school.

49. Have you ever been to Six Flags? Yes, Magic Mountain in Valencia, CA (north of Los Angeles).

50. How did you get your worst scar? No scars! Weird, huh?

Okay, break’s over. Back to work! ☺

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Listen up, kids! Or not....

Lately I've been lamenting my class's TOTAL inability to follow directions, and this seems to be a common theme among primary grade bloggers.

I'm sitting here on Saturday night, geeking away with the Mizzou-Oklahoma game on the TV. The stadium officials made an announcement to the fans/students about NOT coming onto the field at the end of the game.

Mizzou just won, and you guessed it - the field was FLOODED with fans and the goalposts were down within 10 seconds.

I guess college kids are as bad as first graders when it comes to following directions!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"

Image credit

Menus 10/25/10 - 10/31/10 + Re-cap of Last Week

(Of course, I do my menu planning on Sunday, but....) 

Re-cap and reviews from last week:

The Chicken Indonesian, was so-so, mostly because there just wasn't enough cooking liquid. if I tried it again I would double or triple the amount of liquid that goes into the Crock-Pot.



Ruby Tuesday Potato-Cheese Soup got skipped because we had so much yummy taco soup left from the night before that there was no need to make a whole new dinner. People at school were ogling my taco soup at lunch!


Niece helped me make the Shepherd's Pie,which was a huge hit. We've had it before, but not for quite some time. I love that fast the she actually likes to do scut-work like potato peeling!


GolfDad showed up to have some Pumpkin Chipotle Chili with us, and we all agreed that it was pretty good. We have versions of chili that we like better, but this was a nice change, seasonal, and a good way to add in some fiber and vitamins (from the pumpkin). There's plenty left, and the kids, Mr. Mamie, and I all said we'd be happy to have it for lunch. To my surprise I was out of my pre-made bag o' mix for  Sinfully Sweet Cornbread, and even worse, also out of corn meal! GolfDad drove home and returned with a bag of Marie Calendar's cornbread mix, which was fine. Niece made some chocolate pudding for dessert... and dropped one (plastic) bowl of it down the leg of her jeans and onto the kitchen floor - quite hilarious!


Menu this week: 

Monday, 10/25: Shredded beef tacos, using a chuck roast from the freezer. I'll drop it in the Crock-Pot with some salsa and a can of diced green chilies. We cook out corn tortillas on the electric griddle, which I highly recommend!


Tuesday, 10/26: Football play-off game for Nephew, so something easy like sloppy joes. I have a Ziploc bag of already-cooked sloppy joe meat in the freezer, yay!


Wednesday, 10/27: Pork Scallopini, stuffing (from a box mix), green salad. Mr. Mamie's class is canceled tonight, so no need to do a soup/Crock-Pot meal.


Thursday, 10/28: Kids are here tonight, and Mr. Mamie has class, so it's going to be a casserole that will keep warm. I have a recipe for Turkey Tetrazini that my stepmom (CrochetMom) used to make when we were kids - I wrote a note written on it that I got it from her when she and Travellin'Dad (and BuffSister) lived in Eugene, OR in 1991. I've made it plenty of times in the last almost-20 years, and I'll have to do something about posting the recipe here.


Friday, 10/29: The kids are here again, and it's Halloween at school I'll be wiped out - seems like a good night for our trusty Zesty Crock-Pot Roasted Chicken, with a side of rice or couscous and a green salad.


Saturday, 10/30: This will be *the* trick-or-treat night in our community (being that Halloween falls on a Sunday). Thus, we'll have our traditional "Halloween Ham Casserole" - which we did NOT have last year because everything was topsy-turvy with my mom (turns out October 31, 2009 was her last day on Earth, dammit). We DID have it for GrandmaT's birthday in January, and at the time I said that I would post the recipe. After scouring the blog, it looks like I never did. OK, add that to the to-do list....


Sunday, 10/31: I have another chuck roast in the freezer, so I am thinking of doing Mrs. Chili's BBQ beef on homemade whole wheat hamburger buns. I've got two butternut squash (squashes?) sitting on the counter, so I might also try this butternut squash gratin.

Baking, etc:

Last weekend Niece and I made this Paula Deen fresh apple cake recipe from Food Network, and it was a hit! Not hard to make, either. The peanut butter chocolate chip cookies were delicious and decadent, and much-enjoyed in my school lunches.  There are 3 or 4 left in the jar, but knowing Mr. Mamie, those won;t last much longer....

Today (Saturday 10/23) Niece helped me make some caramel dip, into which she, Nephew, Mr. Mamie, and I dunked NUMEROUS slices of Granny Smith apples. There's quite a bit left, so no doubt we'll be "dipping" into it again tomorrow! I think I'll go with a plain, simple cookie this week - I have some "heart-healthy" oatmeal cookie baking mix that we picked up at Lehi Roller Mills while on a trip a while back, and that's sounding good to me right now after all that rich caramel dip.

I imagine that since I didn't bake bread last week, it will be time to do it again this week - a loaf of our usual Amish White and one of wheat bread.

Happy cooking and eating!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!

Six Word Saturday 10/23/20

 Rainy Saturday, ready for fall now!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"

Potato Dreams

 Niece was helping me make our Shepherd's Pie for dinner. Her first task was to peel potatoes. While doing so, she asked me if "potatoes and onions make a good side dish." I of course responded affirmatively, and described the various renditions of "potato and onion side dishes" we have eaten.

She then told me" "I had a dream that I was a cook show host, and I did a feature on potatoes and onions."

What an awesome dream!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"

Image credit 

Kid walks into the classroom this morning and sees a paper on this desk. Quote: "Ooooooooh, spelling test - I LOVE spelling tests!"

Yay, kid!

Happy Feet Friday!

Black "Simple" brand clogs and Halloween socks!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"
(Hunter S. Thompson)

So I'm sitting in Barnes & Noble right now thinking: Yes, this is not a library, but do people - the EMPLOYEES! - have to be SO LOUD with their conversations?

Nearly Wordless Wednesday 10/21/10

 Reading rocks!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"
(Hunter S. Thompson)

Ten Things Tuesday 10/19/10

Ten phrases I might as well record because I say them at least ten times a day:

1.  Sit on your pockets! Criss-cross apple sauce!

2. Your pencil's broken? OK fine, what do we do. That's right, put it in the "bad pencil" can and get a new one from the "good pencil" can. [It's 47 days into the school year and this still seems complicated.]

3. Really? You have to go to the bathroom? We just came in from recess. Try to wait.

4.  Lunch is not for another 47 minutes. It's not that long. You do not have to eat your pencil while waiting.

5.  Sit on your pockets! Criss-cross apple sauce!

6.  Please keep your hands/feet/tongue to yourself.

7.  Don't forget to write your name, number, and date at the top. NAME, then number, then date... look at the board for the date.... NAME first.... then number.... then date.

8.  One, two, three - eyes on me!

9. Really? You have to go to the bathroom? We just came in from recess. Try to wait.

10.  Sit on your pockets! Criss-cross apple sauce!

 

~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Monday Meme

It's a good thing Mrs. Chili always has something to offer, otherwise I'd have nothing!

1. What is the closest item near you that is blue? A bottle of Crabtree and Evelyn La Source Hand Therapy lotion that my wonderful aunt aunt gave me for Christmas.

2. What is your favorite color? Purple all they way!

3. When is your birthday? April 2, which is also Favorite Uncle's birthday.

4. When did you last go to the mall? I was about to say SO LONG AGO I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER! - but then I remembered that Barnsie is technically connected to the mall, so I guess about two weeks ago. But I ONLY go to Barnes and Noble; NEVER into the rest of the mall.

5. When was the last time you bought a pair of pants? I can't really remember! Probably last winter.

6. What do you want for your birthday? Birthday's a long time away... ask me closer. But the default answer is an iPad.

7. Who will be your next kiss? Mr. Mamie for sure!

8. What was the last candy you ate? A Nerds Rope that Nephew carelessly left here last night. Hope he doesn't think he's getting it back!

9. Are you wearing socks right now?  Nope.

10. When was the last time you went out of the state? June, when we took The Little Mermaid to the closest major airport after her visit.

11. Have you been to the movies in the last 5 days? Nope! And probably won't go until the next Harry Potter comes out in November.

12. What was the last thing you had to drink? Iced water, yum, in a big lime-green plastic cup emblazoned with the crest of my grad school.

13. What are you wearing right now? Plaid mens "lounge shorts" and a black t-shirt. It's the last day of fall break and I am home lounging!

14. What was your last purchase? A giant, cold, delicious dietCoke (for me) and a giant, hot, sweet coffee (for Mr. Mamie) at Maverik at 9 this morning.

15. Who was the last person you talked to on the phone? Um... actually talked? Maybe GolfDad on Saturday? Texting is more likely, and that would be my brother, Igor, this morning.

16. Have you bought any clothing items in the last week? Nope.

17. Do you have a pet? Beagle and Laprador, woof!

18. What’s the last sporting event you watched? Broncos/Jets yesterday afternoon.

19. What’s the most played song on your iTunes? A kids' song we use in the classroom almost daily - "Clap Your Hands" by They Might Be Giants.

Clap Your Hands - They Might Be Giants from They Might Be Giants on Vimeo.


20. If you could be anywhere right now, where would you be? Exactly where I am, in my chair in the living room! Except maybe I would rather be at Grammie's house in Kansas, 'cause I miss her.

21. What is the last thing you purchased online? Books from Scholastic.

22. One thing you hate about yourself? My tendency to procrastinate, like I am doing right now... I have SMARTBoard files to build for school this week, cookie dough in the fridge to get baked, bread drying on the counter to make into croutons, both the washer and the dryer have finished their cycles, and I have ironing to finish. But here I am answering a long meme!

23. What’s your favorite soup? Many! Here are a few: Spicy Cheeseburger Soup, Ruby Tuesday Potato-Cheese Soup,  Creamy Mexican Turkey Soup (works great with chicken).

24. Do you miss anyone? My mom, endlessly. Family who are far away, like Travellin'Dad, Grammie, and Favorite Uncle.

25. Last play you saw? Hmmmm, probably something at my state's Shakespearean Festival. Or, "Man of La Mancha" put on by a local musical theater company.

26. What are your plans for the day? Refer back to #22.

27. Last person you messaged? Igor. The Maverik manager wondered when he'd be back in town so he could clean the windows (of the Maverik).

28. What do you know about the future? That no one can predict it.

29. Are you wearing any perfume or cologne? Nope.

30. Where are your best friends located? The bestest one is in this room! Other than that, they're all over - here locally; in Berkeley, CA; in Portland, OR; in NYC....

31. How old do you want to be when you have kids? That ship has sailed!

32. Who was the last person who made you cry? Someone from #30.

33. Do you have any tattoos or piercings? Ears pierced; no ink.

34. How do you like your soda? Very cold! And diet.

35. Do you like hot sauce? YES!!!

36. Next time you’ll take a shower? Later today.

37. What was the last movie you watched at home? A short movie that Mr. Mamie downloaded from the Interwebz.

38. What is your mood? Mellow. Yay, fall break!

39. What kind of car do you drive? Toyota RAV-4. 160,000 miles and going strong! We also have a Nissan Pathfinder with 100,000+ on it.

40. Have you ever been to Virginia? Yes, early '90s as part of a trip to D.C. I can still hear the voice on the metro: "Orange train to Vienna!"

41. What are you doing right now? Answering these questions, and them returning to the list in #22!

~Mamie
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!"
(Hunter S. Thompson)

Cool!

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 70% Robin 65% Superman 55% Batman 55% Hulk 55% Green Lantern 50% Catwoman 45% Supergirl 35% Wonder Woman 35% Iron Man 30% The Flash 25%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz


~Mamie "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!" (Hunter S. Thompson)

Funny

I just read this joke, and it made me laugh. No, my sense of humor is not very sophisticated!

"Last night I dreamed I ate a 10-pound marshmallow. This morning I woke up and the pillow was gone!"


Image credit