The Origami Club

While teaching about shape and form in my interior design 1 class, I have the students do a couple of origami projects. This time I was being observed and wanted to find a way to incorporate technology into the lesson. So, I found this great website: http://www.origami-club.com/en/.
They have TONS of really great origami - from simple to difficult. I spent quite a while the other day creating a monkey, elephant, swan, etc. It was really fun.
The reason it was great to use in my class is that it not only has diagrams you can print off, but there is also animation you can play that folds it right a long with you, so if you can't understand the diagram, you have another resource
. If you like origami, or need a fun little activity to keep your kids busy for a little while, this is a great place to head!

DI can be a wonderful place!

While Nick and I were down in Price this weekend, we took some things to DI for my mom. I don't usually go out of my way to walk through the store, but if I'm there, I enjoy walking through and seeing all of the fun and interesting things they have.

Over Christmas break, Nick found a childhood gem "Bunnicula". A crazy children's book about a vampire bunny. This time I think he made an even better find, these cute "mikasa" cups for 50 cents a piece. I love having a husband with great taste!

Happy 2nd Birthday
Emmy & Owen!

We love you :)

Day Off Blues

I know that having every-other day off work should be cause to rejoice, and most days it is. Today, however, I am feeling a bit of the blues. I great deal of my days off in the past have been spent creating lesson plans, grading papers, and other non-day-off activities. I decided that this semester I would be better at leaving work at work and actually doing my own thing on days I'm not getting paid.

So, although I do have lessons to plan and tests to write, I decided that today I really would do nothing related to school. Instead, I would start/finish the projects I have been waiting to do at home. It was going okay until I sat down at the computer to check my email. Out of habit, I opened one window for my personal email and one for my school email. Of course, there was nothing new in my personal account, but my school email had lots of new things. By the time I got to email number three I knew I should have even left school email out of my day.
The week after Senior Ball I found out that three tables had flown out of the truck and broken when they were delivering the tables back to the Jr. High we had borrowed them from. To make my life even harder, the kids just set the tables up, mentioned something briefly to a lunch lady, and no one told me until days later. I have been trying to do clean up of the mess and figure out how to pay for the broken tables (which is no small task as anyone who has purchased things with education money knows). Today I finally got an email back from the Jr. High principal who was of course less-than-pleased, which I totally understand. He went on, though, about all of these things that happened during past years, which I had nothing to do with. Now he wants me to not only solve the problem that the kids this year created, but also do something about the things that happened years ago. Ugh.

So, I closed the email and that is when my once sunny day turned blue. Suddenly the laundry pile seemed to have tripled in size, the snow was no longer white and pretty, but a messy obstacle to keep me from leaving the house, the books and dvds that need to be boxed up were everywhere, I wanted a hot bath, but we don't have a tub, the list goes on and on.

How will I beat the blues? Well, I am venting my frustration here, then I am going to start the laundry, take a long hot shower, drink hot chocolate, and watch a movie I love while I box up books and dvds. Most of all, I am going to try to stop thinking about school and everything related to it!

I don't usually pay much attention to tags, but since this one came from my sister I'll do it!

My answers are in no particular order.

8 Favorite(ish) TV Shows

1. Gilmore Girls (season 1 is my favorite)
   
2. Divine Design
   
3. Jon & Kate Plus 8
4. What Not to Wear
   
5. Kyle XY (can't believe I'm admitting it)
   
6. Ghost Whisperer
   
7. Star Trek: Voyager
   
8. Project Runway
   

8 Things I did Yesterday

1. Administered the UBSCT test (handed out test booklets, read the script, walked around for 2 hours while students tested . . . )
2. Taught my classes
3. Made a power point about architectural history
   
4. Returned the largest cookie sheets in existence to Magleby's
5. Went to an enrichment meeting
6. Ate yummy tacos at a Visiting Teaching Fiesta
7. Watched a cheesy ABC Family movie (Hello Sister, Goodbye Life)
8. Talked to my mommy

8 Things I Look Forward To:

1. Using my new serger
   
2. Figuring out where to put things to reduce clutter
   
3. Nick's graduation
   
4. Finding a place to live near DC
   
5. Up-coming family events (birthday parties, Easter, Memorial Day, etc.)
   
6. Living in an apartment with larger windows
   
7. Visiting Seattle (I'll make it some day, Megan!)
   
8. Summer - no school or work, just packing and playing :)
   

8 Favorite Restaurants:

(I'll also include my favorite meal there, just for fun!)

1. The Olive Garden (Garlic-Herb Chicken con Broccoli, yum!)
   
2. Wendy's (spicy chicken sandwich - lettuce only - with a frosty, of course)
   
3. Kneaders (french dip sandwich & turkey cranberry croissant)
   
4. Cafe Rio (beef burrito - no beans - enchilada style)
   
5. Arby’s (french dip, regular roast beef, mozzarella sticks, cherry turnover)
   
6. Pizza (I can't say just one restaurant, it depends on my mood! I like peperoni with olives and green pepper)
   
7. Cosi (I usually do a make-your-own sandwich - bread, bread and more bread!)
   
8. Chuck-a-Rama (what's not to like? chicken of all varieties, mashed potatoes, cornbread, hot rolls, all-you-can-eat desserts . . .)

8 Things I Wish For:

1. Lots of time with my family
   
2. A computer desk that will store all our printers, computers and hide the cords
   
3. More time to sew
   
4. No more hangnails
   
5. A dishwasher
   
6. To have a better memory
   
7. To be more optimistic
8. To be a better writer
   

Senior Ball

The next senior class activity has come and gone (whew!) The Senior Ball is a seniors only formal stag (don't bring a date) dance. While it gets difficult trying to let the teens do the planning and the work (ultimate procrastination), it all turned out really well.

We had a TON of food left over (about enough to feed another 100-200 people). You really wouldn't believe how much we had. I wish we'd taken a picture. Our entire trunk and back seat was swimming in trays. Nick and I brought it home and spent Sunday morning delivering trays of food to all the family we could think of. Our freezer is well-packed for many future meals :)

Our camera doesn't focus well (especially in the dark) so the pictures aren't that great, but here are a few: