Finishing Touches

We are hosting Easter dinner in Scarborough, so Mike has been working to get the basement ready, so we can use the space. Here are a few pictures of the finishing touches. He still has a few projects planned for the future, but it is ready for now. My only contribution was to make the curtains (besides helping to lug the sheet rock downstairs - UGH)! Everything else was designed and executed by Mike! I think he did an excellent job!

The TV area

This is where all of the musical equipment will be stored

New curtains!

Basement Update

Mike took a little break from working down in the basement, but he has been back to work the last two weeks. He has really made a lot of progress and it looks like we may be able to use the space when everyone comes to our house for Easter next weekend! The last time I posted updates on the progress was in December. Since then he has completed more of the ceiling, put down the floor tiles, painted & put up some trim, and put up the doors for the two storage areas. Most of the tools & other miscellaneous items are now either put away or hidden in the storage space, so that we can use the room. We are hoping that the weather will warm up a bit, so it will be comfortable down there, but we have a small space heater if necessary. The shelving along the walls and a built in entertainment center are next on his agenda.

What the Function?

Funny/Embarrassing thing happened to me today...

During first period, I was teaching my Algebra class about functions, we talked a little about domain & range and then I went into explaining f(x). Everything was going great until one of the times I went to say "function" I did not pronounce the n quite so clearly. I of course realized it, and TRIED to continue teaching, but one particular group of students started giggling. As soon as the kids started giggling I had to stop and kind of regroup before moving on. The BEST part was that the Assistant Principal happened to be sitting at my desk doing one of his regular "pop-in" observations. I was of course REALLY embarrassed and I am sure that my face was BRIGHT red! I just looked up, he gave me a funny little smile and then I continued teaching as if nothing happened. Needless to say it didn't take very long for the other teachers on my team to find out about it and have a good laugh/give me a hard time.

Fortunately, when I saw the Assistant Principal later we were able to joke about it as well! I saw him in the hallway during lunch. He mentioned that he hadn't done much work with "f of x" lately, but that when he was in school "they were called functions!" The jokes of course continued through out the rest of the day as other teachers around the school heard about my lovely little blunder!

February Update

Looks like I kind of forgot about the blog for a little bit, but I am back. Oops! Hopefully I can make the time to keep it updated! Here are a few little updates that I can remember from February.

Favorite Things:

On February 1st, we started one of my favorite units of the school year, PANIC! It is an integrated unit with Math & SS. For SS they research, learn and present information about the 1920's. For Math they learn about the stock market, and then simulate buying & selling stocks from that time period. We let the students think that their grade depends on how well they do and how much money they make. The best part is that at some point before the two week unit is over we (the teachers) simulate the CRASH of 1929, which of course causes much PANIC. We end the unit with a 1920's day where students dress up, hear presentations & experience music & dance of the time period. We also give the upper class a fancy breakfast with bagels, donuts & juice, while the middle class get munchkins. Finally, the students who end up in "Hooverville" get wonder bread. It was a great send off to February vacation!

Cruisin':

Over February vacation I went on a cruise with a group of eight girls including Sarah, some of her co-workers, Katie & Danielle. On Saturday morning we flew to Orlando & stayed in a hotel, and then boarded the Carnival cruise ship on Sunday. We spent the next four days cruising to Freeport and then Nassau Bahamas and back. We certainly had a rough start with many problems in Orlando, but it all worked out, we had fun and were able to RELAX! We met a few new people from LA, who joined us at the dinner table, and we went out with them a few times. In Freeport, we enjoyed and/or participated in some trapeze entertainment and a few drinks. The video is hysterical (if Danielle reads this or finds out I posted it she may not be too happy with me)! In Nassau, we ventured out to Senor Frogs for a night of drinking & dancing. On the boat we enjoyed the food, drinks, staff, mini-golf, dancing, water slides and of course the SUN! Sadly, our tans faded FAST after returning home.

On the trapeze you are supposed to swing back and forth, do some flips and THEN jump off. This is what NOT to do...

Sage & Sickness:

While I was on the cruise, Mike was on a road trip with his brother Phil. They drove from Maine to Virginia over the course of 5-6 days. They stopped in various places along the way to visit friends/family. Fortunately, Sage was able to spend the week in Hampden, with my mom. She didn't seem to get herself into too much trouble, and mom's house is still in one piece! Although, on the last day Sage discovered a cardboard box that had been there all week. Friday night of vacation I met mom in Augusta for dinner & to pick Sage up. Then I headed back to Scarborough with plans to get cleaning, errands & schoolwork done before Mike returned on Sunday. Unfortunately, I came down with the awful stomach flu and spent the rest of my vacation in bed. Ugh!

Surprises:

The last weekend in February Mike and I drove back to Hampden to celebrate my mom's birthday! Mike and I were not going to get there until late Friday night, so Aunt Sherry & Gram decided to surprise her and took her out to dinner. She was really surprised when she opened the door expecting Mike & I. On Saturday, the five of use played some games and watched the Fort Fairfield girls game (State Champs) and took mom out for another bday dinner.

I guess that pretty much wraps up February. Surprisingly, March has gone by much faster than I expected (mostly due to this wonderful weather). Hopefully there will be more frequent updates in the future!