Weight Ticker

I discovered a really neat site where you can make all kinds of tickers! I made one for my weight loss.

Go to http://www.tickerfactory.com to get your own!

I have been doing really well, 31 pounds so far, without having to starve to do it. I just hope that now that I had to stop taking my PCOS meds (Metformin) that I won't stop losing weight. I had already lost about 15 pounds before I started the meds, so maybe that's not the reason I was losing the weight anyway. We'll see!

Conversations with middle schoolers. . .

If you've never had the opportunity to work with middle school kids, you should try it. Oh, they're not always angels, but they're not the demons that lost of people make them out to be either. In fact, if you keep a sense of humor they can be quite entertaining.

Week before last my dad had to have surgery, so I took two days off work. I told the kids what they'd be doing with the sub and how I expected them to behave. Here's how it went with each class after I told them I'd be out. . .

First period--7th graders:
"Why can't your mom drive your dad to the hospital?"
She doesn't drive.
"Why is it that most old women don't drive?"
What makes you think my mom is an old woman?
"Well, I figured you'd have to be like 45, so she'd have to be old."

Wow. . . that stings.

Third period--7th graders:
I hear APPLAUSE coming from one child. Everyone in the room looks at him, and one girl finally says, "Maybe she's going to be really happy not to have to see you either, but she's too polite to tell you about it."

:-)

Fourth period--7th graders:
"What will you give us if we're good for the sub?"
Nothing. I don't reward you for doing things that you're supposed to do in the first place.
"Not even a Jolly Rancher?"

Sigh. . .

Sixth period--6th graders:
While I was telling them about it, the phone rang twice, the intercom came on once, and I had the endless streams of "make X stop doing Y", and they were all wiggly and fidgeting.

I don't think they realized I was going to be gone!

Anyone want 31 6th graders?

My web page. . .

I worked on my web page most of the day today uploading photos and reformatting pages. The main page looks perfect in draft form, but the spacing is weird when published. Darn it. . . I'll have to try to fix that another time. I've been online too long today.

Stop by for a visit. http://www.geocities.com/lizibday

Let me introduce our animal family. . .

Here's another photo of Gene, my rotten dog, and one of me with Gene. He's 10 or 11 years old. I got him in 1995 at the Humane Society in Lexington. He was already a big dog, but he still had that gangly look of a puppy. He stayed with Mom and Dad when I got married since they've got a fenced yard. Plus, they said that the dog and I couldn't leave home at the same time!

And then there are the fish. . .
The three biggest goldies are Rocky (the calico fantail), Cory )the red & white oranda), Muttley (the chocolate oranda), and Goldie (the tiny fantail). Then there are the two babies. . . Mimi (white fantail) and Callie (calico fantail) who aren't pictured. I did have a handsome black moor, Chief Blackfish, but he died of a bacterial infection about a year ago.


There are also five gouramis, two zebra danios, a couple of fancy guppies, eight corydora catfish, and a plecostomus in the 55 gallon tropical tank. Only the pleco has a name, Darwin. He lived out of water for three days when his original tank collapesed, so he's earned a name. I figured Darwin was a pretty good one since he's evolved enough to live out of water. I've got four fancy guppies in a small tank at work, too.


Finally, there's the office betta. He lived in a bowl on my desk. He's a pretty happy guy since he builds bubble nests all the time. They say that's a sign of a happy betta.

Yesterday didn't start too well. . .

Yesterday morning as I was getting ready for work, I heard the school bus blow the horn outside the house. When I went to look, I saw that she's run over one of the neighborhood dogs. Since I'm a dog love, I know all of the neighborhood dogs by name and give them treats anytime they're around.

This was an old beagle named October who belonged to one of my students from last year. So, there we all were yesterday morning. . . standing in the middle of the road crying over the dog. Another dog was with him, Tiny the rottie mix, and he was scared to death. He stayed right between my feet the whole time, and I had to carry him back to my house. When I went back to the road, he barked at us the whole time. Poor guy was shaking so bad.

I just don't understand people who let their dogs run loose all the time. I know that dogs will sometimes get loose, but just letting them roam around unsupervised is asking for trouble. Poor Tiny doesn't even get attention from his owners. I give him water, treats, and ear scratches. One set of neighbors give him dog food, baths, and medicine. The others give him food scraps.

I think he's pretty cute. If I had a place to keep him, I'd offer to take him off their hands. It's not like they actually pay attention to him!

My dog still lives with my parents. They have a large, fenced yard. That's the best place for him to stay. I go by and give him ear scratches a couple of times a week. Of course, Gene's the cutest one of all!

Another year has begun. . .

School started back for the kiddos on August 9th this year. This makes my 13th year of teaching. In some ways it doesn't seem that long, but in other ways it does. Quite a few of my former teachers are still working there, so that makes it seem like I'm still a youngster there. I try not to think about the fact that most of the students I had my first year of teaching turned 30 LAST YEAR. Oh, and did I mention that the new teacher across the hall from me was one of my students when she was in 8th grade? One of my students this year is a second generation for me. . . I had her mother when she was in 12th grade. At least she's in 6th grade, which doesn't make me feel quite so old.

I like my schedule this year. We're on a six period day, and I have periods 2 and 5 for planning. That means that my longest stretch of teaching is only two hours! Whoo-hoo!! I actually get to use the bathroom on a regular basis. (Doesn't take much to make me happy.)

Welcome to my blog! My life is very interesting, and I just felt like I needed to share it with everyone. (insert sarcasm here)

Since my dial-up internet connection makes it painfully slow for me to update my website, maybe this will make it easier for those of you who follow my life through to there to actually get some current information for a change.

Stay tuned!