Tears a'plenty

I was bombarded with three separate cases of tears today. On the best of days, I usually don't deal well with tears in my classroom and, compassionately, ask if the person would like to go out in the hall (or stay in the hall) for a bit until he/she feels ready to return to the room. It's not that tears actually bother me, rather they don't bother me to the point that I don't want to seem callous and just push on through them without acknowledging them - which is what I'd rather do. This seems a better alternative.

Case 1: We have a group of Marines come in and give demonstrations with gear and MRE's (it ties in with endothermic and exothermic reactions being covered in science). One student came in and was overwhelmed by emotions seeing the soldiers there. We'll call this student Chris (identity and gender anonymous). I took Chris out in the hall, but Chris was able to return and enjoy the presentation. I was not the source of the tears.

Case 2: I kept a student at the beginning of lunch. We'll call this student Pat. Pat has not been the best of students and has been doing very poorly from apparent lack of effort. I guess I stuck in the conversation long enough, trying to get a response that had a semblance of authenticity, when, much to my dismay, the crying began. Pat is not the student that I would suspect of turning on fake tears to get out of a tough discussion. If that was the case, Pat really sold it with actual tears and bloodshot eyes. I guess I was a bit of the cause this time.

Case 3: Report cards came out last week and it would be an understatement to say that grades were less than stellar. This year and marking period in particular seem to come as a surprise to 8th graders who have never had to put in any time outside of class before and it takes many the rest of the year to adjust. At least they do before hitting high school. This student, we'll call Sam (short for Samson or Samantha?) did very well the first marking period, but went quite a bit down the second. Sam came asking what Sam could do (Sam did not actually refer to Sam's self in the third person. Sam is not obnoxious) to bring up Sam's grade. I may have exaggerated a bit because there may not have been actual tears, but Sam was on the verge. I hope Sam does better this marking period.

Three cases of tears in one day. I'm not sure if this compares to my friend in grad school that made a parent cry (you know who you are and we'll see if you read this post), but it was quite a day.

The Humdinger is approaching and I'm thinking of shooting for 63 minutes. That would be about 9-minute miles. Last year I did 11-minute miles and that was tough. I think I'll be in better shape and better prepared for the tough course this year.

Owner of a broken heart

Well, the Vikings did it to me again. They did it to themselves too. The fact that they had 5 turnovers and still got the game to overtime says how much better they were playing, aside from the turnovers that is. I am not happy about the outcome of this game and I am not looking forward to the ribbing I'll get from my students tomorrow. It's not looking like I'm going to get much solace from the Red Wings this season either. There were at least two plays that ended in turnovers that would have given the Vikes the lead heading into the end of the game. I wonder who our QB will be next season.

My daughter's first video game

Well, we got a Wii. I was resistant and apparently could have had one much sooner, but my wife thought I didn't want one. My biggest concern has been that I wouldn't get a PS3. But after a New Year's Eve of Guitar Hero II, my wife actually suggested the Wii. Considering she was actually interested in playing, I said OK to the Wii and away we went. Today a Diego game we ordered for my daughter came and she was into it. It's a little more sophisticated than the Atari 2600 I started out with (Kangaroo was the first game), but she's having fun. It even has an option for someone else to have a helping controller. I still want a PS3 but, this is a step in the right direction and it's fun too.

I've been running better since school started and have upped my basic runs from 3 to 4 miles. Classes started up at the university again today and my running routes are no longer quite so solitary. The Humdinger is about 1.5 months away and I want to finish closer to 60 minutes. The overall goal, though, is to beat my former student again. She wasn't that far behind me last year and has a full season of actual cross country training under her now, so it might be more of a challenge. No walks this year!

Started up volleyball for another session last night and it felt good. I couldn't bump to save my life, but everything else felt really good. I didn't even feel any soreness until about half an hour ago. The core is a wee might weak.

Can't stop without mentioning the Vikings. Sunday's game against Dallas was awesome. They dominated the Cowboys. It was fun to watch. I doubt this game against the Saints will be as lopsided, but if they get enough pressure on Brees, it could be a lot of fun.

And thus ends 2009

Welcome to the false end of the decade, if we follow the numbering convention for years. Currently, we are in the 9th year of the decade and next year will be the 10th. 2011 will be the official beginning of the next decade and most nobody actually cares. Enough with that.

It's been a busy couple of months since the last post. I don't really have interesting stories like I did from the last school year. We had the drug dogs come through and cause the police to break the lock on one student's locker. It was science project time and they made a huge baking soda bust. That kid will be lucky to get into any college with that on his record!

I don't know what to think about the Vikings. They were hot, now not so much. Sidney Rice may be the next Chris Carter, which would be awesome. Percy Harvin has a lot of promise. Adrien Petersen needs to stop fumbling. Favre is doing great, but we need a QB for the future. I hope they can win this weekend and get that #2 spot. We could use some time to heal up and then make a big playoff run. With this season, nothing short of a Superbowl will be considered success.

I've decided not to run the marathon in May. With kids and work, I just don't have the quality time to commit to training. My student from last year has thrown down the gauntlet in multiple ways and is out for my blood in this year's Humdinger. I beat her last year, but now she has a season of Cross Country training and racing, so I'm even less confident than I was last year that I'll beat her.

Day care closes in 1.25 hours and then we have three days before the school year resumes.

Here we go 2010!

And thus ends Rocktober

Halloween always makes me sad. It's not because winter is coming (I like the cold and ignore the driveway). It's not because it means 25% of the school year has passed (I'll get to that later). No, it saddens me because it signals the last day of Rocktober. Yes, the month in which all that rocks rocks a little bit more and that guy who does voice-over commercials for every classic rock station in the nation rocks a little harder is almost over. Take heart! Even though Rocktober is ending, that does not mean that we cannot continue to rock. In fact, we must take up the battle cry and continue to rock during all of the months that won't rock for us. Rocktober doesn't just exist as 31 days of the year. It exists deep inside every one of us that refuses not to rock just because it is November.

Anyway, the first nine weeks of the school year ended on Tuesday, and those limbo days between the end and when grades are due are torture. This year may have been worse than others. We had an outbreak of the symptoms of H1N1. I'll never know if many of our kids actually and the pork bug, but they sure acted like it; they didn't come to school - for days. The timing couldn't have been better because everyone was missing the week before then end of the marking period when we cram tests in to make the cutoff and be able to grade them before the grades are actually due. You would think they would be a little more considerate and think of some of the consequences of their not coming to school and how if affects me. I can't stand it when people make everything about themselves!

Vikings are looking good at 6-1. Another win over Green Bay this weekend would make for a very nice record, especially in the division.

Rock on

Tale of the Brat Thief

I still can't decide if I'm upset with the events of last night or proud. I made a couple of brats that I had roaming in the freezer and cut them up to eat with some pasta. I was working on something else and when I turned around, about half of the brats were missing. My daughter was there and said, "I love brats!" and proceeded to continue pilfering my stash. I lost my cool a bit as I didn't have any back-up brats and told her to stop. She took the plate to the table and the next time I turned around ate all but two little pieces. I was really looking forward to those brats, but the enthusiasm she was exuding about them may have made up for not eating them. I quite proud of how much she likes brats. She even chooses them over hot dogs.

Tuesday night was one of the best nights of volleyball I've played in a while. Even though it was in a gym with a concrete floor and the end lines were the walls, it was a lot of fun. We played what was probably one of the best teams, and it turns out that we may also be one of the best teams. We split the 4 games and could have won all 4. I felt a lot more comfortable this week getting use to playing 6's again after three summers of doubles. This is going to be a fun season.

I even went for a run the following day and felt good, not unbearably stiff. Anyone who read my last post saw that I found a new shoe store. It's really my new store. I decided that shoes were too big and contacted them to see if they could do anything for me. They have a 30 day return policy, regardless of the condition of the shoes. I'm glad that I decided to boycott Dick's Sporting Goods. I tried to buy shoes there and couldn't get someone to help me. It was clear that I was looking for shoes and wasn't just looking casually. I had my 1-year-old in a stroller, so I was definitely motivated to find a pair and make a purchase. You don't go trying on shoes for fun with a 1-year-old. As I stood looking at the display, holding shoes and looking intently at the sales people, the only response I could get was a curt notification that they only had that shoe is size 14 as one guy rushed to help someone else. I waited for a good 15 minutes and couldn't even make eye contact with anyone. No one even gave me so much as a, "I'll be with you in a minute," or, "Are you being helped?"

Anyway, I'm heading back to get some shoes that actually fit on Saturday and may get some more wool socks. I love those socks. I want to get some SmartWool clothing too. A friend of mine clued me into a site called Steep and Cheap that has some amazing discounts, so I'm watching that because I can't afford $70 for a running shirt.

Big game on Monday. I'm hoping the Vikings are for real and we see an Adrien Peterson extravaganza as he leads the Vikings to a rout of the Packers. Buffalo wings will be made and the kids will go to bed so I can watch this game.

More volleyball and wool socks

Started a new volleyball league last night. It's been a long time since I played 6's, especially with a full team. It's been even longer since I played on a a gym floor (note to self - need to dive less). That being said, last night was a lot of fun. It helped that we won all four games. This will be a good cross-training activity to give the short-twitchers a jump start and give me some speed back when I run.

I finally got some new running shoes. It's been three years since I bought my last pair, but I have to confess that I didn't really use them until this past January. Our local store closed down and I'm boycotting Dick's Sporting Goods, so I went on a search for another local running store. I found one, but it's 45 minutes away. If you are in the area, check them out. It's Elite Feet in Montoursville. They were very helpful, but I think I may have gotten the shoes a little too big. I'm not sure. The last pair was a little too snug, so it may just be a reaction to actually having some room in the toe box. I also wore my new socks, my first pair of wool running socks (Smart Wool to be specific). The guy at the store said I would be amazed at the difference between them and cotton socks. I have to agree, they did feel pretty good. The only problem is I only have one pair.

Today was the first full day of Autumn and we reached 84 degrees in my classroom. We got an email on Monday saying the AC would be off for the week. Anything above 75 and it gets difficult for anyone to concentrate in a classroom. We were spoiled up to this point. The new system put in over the summer (or fixed or whatever...it worked) kept the temperature in my room below 72, often below 70. It was really nice. Today, not so nice.