Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Summer Project 8 (week 8) in Rochester, Minnesota

We bought a house! We closed on our first stand alone home on Monday. We started saving nearly 4 years ago so that Jim would no longer have to rent a place but instead contribute to a second family home. Our condo in Madison has served us well and will continue to be my main residence during the school year until I retire which won't be for a few more years. We picked up the U-box I had in storage for the past year on Tuesday and unloaded all the stuff I took from my mom's house-- all the kitchen and bedroom supplies we need, a dining room set and a ton of Longaberger baskets. We did a big Costco run, and got a lawn mower from Menards. Jim and I are having a lot of fun setting it all up and making plans for home improvements (painting, new flooring, patio, garden beds, etc) but most of it will need to wait. 

Yoga Fest Photos

Summer Project 7 (week 7) in Northern Michigan

I drove back up to Song of the Morning Yoga Retreat Center in Northern Michigan with Erika this time to help out Monika with their big Yoga Festival at the end of the week. We are officially volunteering. Erika is teaching her first in person "live" yoga class as well as working in the gift shop while I am the official photographer for the festival. Monika is the festival coordinator and doing an amazing job with the organization of things-- the photo below is of her organizing all the volunteers this morning. The community here really loves Monika and she is remarkably gifted at putting a large event together. I have tried to be as helpful as possible but boy, my feet and back can only do so much. Erika is a light weight as well which at times has frustrated Monika who is just such a hard worker! I am very excited to be here for the week and will hopefully get a lot of participation in the yoga events as well. 

 

Summer Project 6 (week 6) in Virginia

 

As my second week in Norfolk comes to end, I am gearing up for a few busy weeks coming up. I finished up the HVAC cover project (see below) this week and did a bit of patching and painting around her fireplace. While every visit I have in Virginia is very much like a vacation since I make sure to spend time on the beach, Jessi also makes sure to give me a list of things to do around the house, which is very much a labor of love. The HVAC project kept me problem solving as I wanted to avoid using lumber since it was expensive and in short supply at Home Depot. The white vinyl was a bit too floppy so I ended up using PVC piping to prop up the back end of the box. I'm hoping it's good enough. Jessi likes it and that's what matters most. 

I drive home on Friday (7/23), spend a weekend at home catching up on swimming and doing hot yoga and then it is back to Michigan for week 7 and up to Minnesota for week 8. 

 

Summer Project 5 (week 5) in Virginia

The end of week 5 means it's half way thru my summer! I spent the week in Norfolk with Jessi. She's working everyday but I've been helping with her yard most of the week. I purchased some white plastic lattice to make a cover for HVac but it has been so hot and muggy (90's with a heat index into the 100's), I haven't wanted to start the project, opting for other minor projects on her list. I'll be here next week as well, so I have plenty of time! So far, I have walked on the beach most days, added 8 bags of mulch, weeded, added 4 black eyed susan flower bunches, replaced her ferns, trimmed around cement and blocks, added a brick decorative trim to her side area and painted a water proof masonry coating on her brick on the side of her garage as well as make her a big chicken dinner one night (she was craving potatoes). It is gratifying to work on her yard, but I have to admit to always stopping work around noon and showering for the afternoon and spending time with my feet up reading. After all, I'm still on vacation!

Summer Project 4 (week 4)

I had travel on both ends of the week, so only Wednesday was available to work on anything. I picked up clay last week from Patty and knew I wanted to work on creating a couple more clay suns to paint. The ones I made a decade ago  are heavy and have broken. I made sure to make this one thinner so it would be lighter. I'll have to wait to get it fired in September once school starts.

I plan to have them for the new house we just put a bid on last night in Rochester, MN! The housing market is kooky, so we knew going in we would need to make quick decisions. A house we were really excited to see sold before we could even look at it. We looked at 1 on Thursday and 4 on Friday and really liked 1 in particular, so we gave it everything we got so we would not be sorry if we lost out and we did not. We close in August... big changes are a foot.

4th Of July Weekend in Michigan

Jim and I went up to visit Monika in Northern Michigan for the 4th of July weekend and had a grand time! We left on Saturday and the drive was quite pleasant -- about 7 hours. The yoga retreat center she works at is in the woods and has the Pigeon River passing right through. We went for fireworks on Sunday night and had fun kayaking on Monday with a big BBQ with her friends. It was a very restful time with of a bit too much eating but I think we kept a vegan diet since we were with Monika the whole time. I'd been there 4 or 5 years ago for the same holiday weekend and some folks remembered me. I will return with Erika at the end of the month to help Monika with YogaFest and I'm looking forward to it!

Summer Project 3 (Week 3) Working at Home

I worked this week from home mostly on my animation curriculum and I got paid for it through a Pathways PD. I had to attend lots of zoom meetings but also got a lot of free time to do research and work which I really appreciated. I have only taught animation once a couple of years ago and I would not say it was particularly successful. I had a student this past year tell me he really liked the class which was a relief. It's such a new media for me, so I'm insecure. I hope to really change it up next year by pulling back on some of the technical aspects and bring in more thoughtful creativity, history and collaboration. Everything I have learned about the IT world tells me how much collaboration is integral. I hear over and over again that "soft skills" are more important than hard ones... so why not change up my curriculum to reflect that? I'm certainly way more secure with teaching soft skills!

I did get to yoga and to the pool a few times but not as much I wanted. I also watched 5 seasons of Downton Abby. Jim was gone so it was pretty quiet, especially in the evening.

My Dad's Birthday

Today my dad would have been 78 years old. He died 4 years ago and I think about him a lot, maybe more now than I did when he was alive. I miss him a lot. Last week my Yukon was barely squeaking every so often. It was one of those things that would gotten me to call him and have a long discussion. I knew how the conversation would go but wasn't sure exactly what he would have told me to do. I called a mechanic instead and paid him $800 for new brakes. 

I feel like I am way too young to be without parents already. It's weird that both Jim and I are in the same situation. Now that we don't have parents to worry about, all we have is our children to dote on. Although there are plenty of other things to worry about in life-- climate change, rising prices and our health!

Summer Project 2 (Week 2)

I made my first t-shirt quilt about 8 years ago after Jessi graduated. Since then I've done several more (here's a picture of Monika's) and each one is very different and quite unique. My approach to a t-shirt quilt is somewhat organic -- I am not looking for perfection. I'm inspired by a crazy quilt my grandma Parris made when I was a little girl using scraps from old clothes. Anyway, a while ago I noticed that Josh had unloaded a pile of old t-shirts on a shelf near my stuff. I took it home and set the pile a side. Year after year, I think Josh would only wear school shirts once, on the day they were handed out and we were all made to wear them for a photo and then he would set them aside. Eventually he would either ask me if I wanted them or I would see them cast out of his office near my stuff and take them. I finally realized I almost had enough for a quilt. I ended up short about 6 shirts, so I filled in some space with blank t-shirt bits. I have no idea if Josh will like it but they are all his t-shirts! I used a grey fleece backing, so it's very warm for the winter.

Other than sewing, I went to yoga everyday. I got new brakes for my Yukon and I've been re-watching Downton Abby. It's been a very relaxing summer break so far!

Summer Project 1 (Week 1)

I eased into summer mode this week with a small project to transform my stairs from carpet covered to wood. Eventually I'll be replacing all the floors upstairs but Jim would like me to wait until he moves out and with Monika moving in in the fall, I'll wait to have her here to help. But with him working at Ft. McCoy this week, I decided to use the time to accomplish something. I spent one day removing the carpet and cleaning the steps. I went to Menards to figure out what my options were. I knew that replacing the steps (which was what I did to the basement steps) would be difficult without help. Menards had oak kits made to cover steps that were a lot cheaper (since they were so much thinner) which was just what I needed. I used a Gorilla glue adhesive with a couple of flooring nails to secure the steps and topped the wood off with a clear poly coat. I had originally thought about painting the risers white and staining the tops (like I did with Jessi's stairs) but decided to hold off since I'm still not sure what flooring I'm going to go with upstairs. The whole project cost less than $500. Replacing my basement steps with pine several years ago cost nearly twice that.

The whole project did not take as much time as I expected and offered me plenty of time for yoga and swimming this week. Luckily the weather cooled off a bit so I could turn off the air conditioner while Jim was gone. I am hoping to accomplish 1 project each week this summer (10 total). We'll see how that plan goes.

 

It's not just Flag Day

Today is my mom's 74th birthday. Last year I drove straight out to her house after school got out to make it for her birthday. She thought she was 74 and couldn't believe it when I insisted she was only 73. We had to do the math several times. I had a good summer with her but I missed out on interviewing her on video. I had wanted to get several interviews on several topics but put it off every summer and assumed I'd be able to do it whenever. By the time I got around to setting it up last summer, she could not remember enough to answer most of my questions and I realized I had waited too long and gave up rather than push her to frustration. Most of the questions I wanted to ask her was about stuff I knew about but just wanted her to talk about on video. She used to be so chatty-- I had decades to get those videos made and never did. The weird thing was I had hints that her memory was fading since she would often ask me the same questions every time I called but I had no idea she had forgotten so much of her past-- not just details but general information like what she did for a living. 

Every summer for the past few decades, I spent time with my parents and after my dad died, I spent the whole summer with my mom. Today is the first day of my summer vacation and I feel a bit lost. I realize this year marks a significant transition in my life. Instead of visiting my parents, my vacations are now about visiting my children. I spent my first day going to an early morning yoga class, hanging artwork at school, making stir fry for lunch and going out for cookies with Jim. It was a good first day, but I am missing my California excursions.

Graduation Times Two

For social distancing reasons, we had two graduations which allowed for twice the student speakers but meant spending most of the day helping out with ceremonies. Admin asked if I would create a photo booth for families to take photos. I needed to have a tent set up for shade and was able to use all the balloons from the senior party photo booth. It worked out great. I stood around letting parents know that I could take the photo with their phones or cameras so that the whole family could be in the photo. It was a great idea! I wasn't sure how it would turn out. Because of the heat, the district decided to make mask wearing optional so hardly anyone was wearing a mask. It was the first time I was able to get photos with kids without masks on and not get into any trouble (I posted a bunch on instagram!!). I came home from the day over heated and exhausted, eager to put my feet up and enjoy some air conditioning.

The Last Day of School!

Finally! What a school year... it was crazy. Today after grading and cleaning up, seniors came back for one last hurrah. There was food and games and music and I was in charge of the photo booth. I was not there to be in the photos but when two of my yearbook powerhouses came by, I wanted to remember them and asked for a photo. I feel so privileged to get to know some students because they are so talented, so smart, so fun to have in a classroom and these were a couple of those special kids. While were out there, Joe came out to say hello and asked to take a photo too. It had been awhile since the two of us took a photo together (here's one of my favorites).

Tomorrow we still have one last morning staff meeting and then I've invited the department over for brunch out on my patio. After that, I'm planning to go to the pool to kick off my summer! I know I'm not as exhausted as most teachers, but this year has been nuts with so many changes and so much work. I'm really hoping after a tame summer, we'll be back next with things feeling back to normal.

It's Hot!

We've had a heat wave all week and boy, am I glad to have the pool open this summer! I'm also glad to have air conditioning both at work and at home. Jim was gone all weekend, so I spend my mornings at the pool and my afternoons cool at home. I had time to go during my lunch hour yesterday but was too busy today and I needed a break since my shoulders are so sore! The heat has been kind of nice. I've been wearing shorts to work and enjoying the warm early mornings outside with Balt. It certainly feels like summer but there's still a bit of work to do. I'm helping with senior celebrations and still have my grades to post. Graduation is on Saturday and then I'm off for two weeks. I've got a week of PD at the end of June which will help financially so no complaints. 

...and it's June.

Yesterday was the last day of regular classes. Instead of finals, we now have bridge week for kids who are behind. I had planned to go to the pool during my lunch for laps and the girls joined me but stayed the afternoon while I had to go back to work. I have a week and half left but the rest of the time is pretty low key and low stress. Monika had to go back to Michigan to finish her summer there and won't be back home until she moves back in the fall. I am sure we will get at least one visit to her this summer. Erika is enjoying a lot of freedom working part time. Jessi just got a promotion as a Navy Lieutenant and we are hoping to visit next month to celebrate and build her a patio with a BBQ. This summer is all about fun and sun with the hope of losing pandemic weight! I'm a little bit at a loss at how little I "HAVE" to do this summer-- with little to no responsiblities hanging over but there is always a lot I CAN do! Still it feels strange. 

<<Note: Jessi is the only woman in her unit getting promoted. She explained that in the room were a lot wives with their babies! Jim and I are SO PROUD of her!

Memorial Day Weekend

The official kick off to summer ended up being an amazing weekend. Monika rolled in on Thursday but rain and cold hit pretty hard. Magically Saturday morning the cold spell broke and we got an abundance of sunshine. While it was not that hot (mid to high 60's), it was still so pleasant. I got in my first swim for the season which was so wonderful. The water was so warm!! I also got to hot yoga. Erika came by for lunch on Saturday and Sunday. Monika wanted a BBQ, so I had to go buy a small roaster made of cast iron that I knew would get plenty of use this summer and fall-- esp once Monika moves back home in September. We roasted vegan brats, beyond meat burgers, corn on the cob and asparagus. 

I love a holiday weekend! I was able to get most of my prep done on Friday, so I'm already good to go for school on Tuesday, giving me an actual day off tomorrow. I hope to get another swim in and more hot yoga. While a got a little house cleaning, I'm still holding off on starting any major projects-- mostly because of Jim. He hates a mess. I think I am going to have to wait until he moves back to Rochester before starting on any remodeling projects. 

1 Week Left

The last regular day of school is next Wednesday and there's no school on Friday or Monday. So yeah, this school year is coming to an end quickly. My yearbook kids planned and worked distribution today. We had amazing weather and all went perfectly. Tomorrow we continue but it's supposed to rain. I have one last project in due in my art classes and my kids have had plenty of time to get the work done. I am hoping they get stuff turned in. Instead of finals, we now have "bridge week" which is just for kids who have fallen behind. The goal is for all of my students to be done before that. Monika is coming home for the holiday weekend, which is exciting and will certainly make the weekend more fun. Below is picture of my painting class. I've been working on a panel for the LatinX mural.

Closing in on Normal

I drove out to visit with my friend, Melissa last Sunday and didn't bother to wear a mask the whole time I was there (see photo). It was a super fun day sipping coffee, chatting and playing kids. I am eager to visit again in the summer. Mask orders are being lifted for those of us who are vaccinated but only about 50% are. Of course, those who don't want to be vaccinated typically won't wear a mask anyway, so I'm not sure how things will play out. At work, we still have to wear masks since underclassmen just started getting vaccinated this week but most of my seniors are and are not really practicing any kind of social distancing. I haven't had any incidents of COVID in any of my classes and I have not heard of anyone having to quarantine due to exposure at our school (a teacher had to stay home to be with a child who was exposed at elementary school). I have felt completely safe and pretty stress free this whole semester.

The yearbooks were delivered a week early, giving us plenty of time to get distribution planned out and organized. The kids have been so excited and we have yet to find any mistakes. Oddly, this year's book, my 7th, has been one of the least stressful books made. I guess, life is just feeling very not stressed! It's a little strange really. We are at this fun place where there is still not a lot to do, but more freedom to enjoy life without the fear of dying if you do do something (like visit a friend or go out to eat). Usually May is crazy busy but not this May. I find myself with way more time on my hands than I know what to do with. I volunteered to paint a panel for a school project (pictures to come), and I'm all caught up with grades and school work. I always feel like I should be doing more, but I'm holding back some.

Another Example

Working with my students on our final projects makes for most of days being pretty relaxed. While not all students are caught up, I'm doing my best to keep things less stressful so kids can get their work done with what time we have left with school. My favorite project that I do with my digital art (illustration) students is the self portrait where kids just draw over a photo. It's super easy (for me) but a lot of kids who feel like they are not good artists create really nice work since there isn't a lot of thinking, just draw what you see. It gets some students inspired to keep drawing. I grabbed the photo I shot for our first project to draw over as an example (included here). I usually get these projects printed and post them in the office for admin and they love it. 

As the school year winds down, we have 2 weeks left of class, no finals, we are starting to think about clearing out, cleaning up, yearbook distribution (the book is getting delivered this week) and just finishing up having survived a crazy year. What's next year going to look like?? No one knows.