Teri Parris Ford's Blog

Long PD day

I had a Pathway PD day downtown that went from 8am to 4pm, with lunch included that made for a very long day but with great teachers, so it was not too painful. The day was for all the new Pathway teachers-- a team of new Freshman ICT group which I was in and a new Health group teaching juniors (not my group). There were teachers from all four high schools. I finally got to meet my yearbook colleague from East.  But after my me, after the meeting I had to rush over to Costco to pick up pizza for my newspaper kids and then ran back to school to supervise them working on layout. I made it home just in time to watch This Is Us! I'll sleep well tonight. 

Clear but Cold

Yesterday Jim participated in a Bataan memorial death march to commemorate a death march that happened in 1943 held at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico. I believe it a marathon length march that Jim has been training for for months. He got a nice metal out of the ordeal. It made me think about how I should train for something... but what. 

My Monday was pretty uneventful. I spent some of my prep fine tuning my National Board Component 1 paper-- it's supposed to be 12 pages long and I'm a little more than 10. I sent it to a couple of colleagues to read over, so I'm hoping to get some feedback to help. I'm out tomorrow, so I had to prep for a sub. I ordered toner ink and had a newspaper club meeting at lunch. I got home, made soup for dinner and watched some news and a couple of episodes of Star Trek. 

Young at Art

Every other year the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art hosts an art show for the students of Madison's school. They ask all of the art teachers to feature 3 artists for the show. Today was the opening reception and it was a mad house of families, teachers and students. I found Josh, who's student was the feature invitation art work at the front of the show. I had the student last year and she created amazing art work for me as well, but there was no show last year. Oh well. 

It certainly made for a fun afternoon. I spent my morning working on finishing component 1 of my National Boards. I emailed it to a couple of teachers hoping for feedback. I'm going to wait until my student teacher arrives after vacation to get my video taping done.  I worked out and watched a couple of Star Trek episodes.

Saturday's List

My list of things to do today: Vacuum, get groceries, yoga, dogwalk, work on National Boards, start re-watching some Game of Thrones, get outside and start some yardwork. I got it all in but I only did minimal yard work. I need to finish taking down all my Christmas lights. Once we get a little warmer, clean out the garage is in order but it's not warm enough this weekend for that. I must say the sunshine was glorious even though it was still in the 30's. It is amazing how much sunshine can lift the spirit. 

The end of the week finally!

I got up at 5 am and went to the gym, I made myself a breakfast shake that tasted horrible. I think the protein powder I put in it was old and maybe even rotten. I made sure to being in a salad for lunch because I had to cover for Joe as he had his first track meet today. It made for a really long, full day. There was a climate change walk out, so after 2nd hour my classes were pretty small. By 7th hour, I only had 5 kids in my class, and 4 left early! I worked on my national boards when I had time. Joe's classes were really good, so I had time to work. It's slow going but I hope to finish the rough draft of component 1 this weekend. 

I came home and took Balt out for a while, made hot tea and watched Star Trek with a big fire-- my perfect evening.

No Pie for me!

Today was pie day and there was pie for sale at school. I saw several students with pies and I was very tempted to get some pie for myself but I weighed myself this morning and I've gained nearly 10 pounds in the past 4 months. I keep gaining and losing the same 5 and it's been a struggling with, I think because I've been working out harder which makes me hungrier but the weather has had me stagnant and feeling with so little energy for yoga or dogwalking. This morning I tried to take Balt for a dogwalk since the weather was so mild but he didn't want anything to do with it. I know as the weather changes, things will get better. I thought of doing a fast today but Joe got me a lettuce wrap and I was so hungry. I managed to go to hot yoga after school finally and was glad i did. I came home and made some soup for dinner after a hot shower. There's snow in the forecast but today it rained a lot of the snow away. There's grass showing finally!

Rain! Rain!

The rain is supposed to bring flooding with the melting of the snow... which is not melting quickly but it is melting! As the snow melts, it gets ugly. I can't wait until I can see some green, but it will be a while still. I woke to rain this morning. It stopped this afternoon but it kicking up again for the evening. I think we are in for rain all night as well.

I went to the gym early this morning and got to work to find all of my juniors were testing, which made for quiet classes. It was just a work day, I met up with my yearbook rep after lunch and went home after school to do a bit of house work. I made a quesadilla for dinner and watched some news. I'll watch Survivor and should work on my National Boards but I'm already looking forward to going to bed.

Spring is coming!

This is the week we not only crack out of freezing temperatures, today was over 40 and tomorrow is supposed to get to 50! The snow hasn't melted yet and it's going to take a while for it all to melt. The problem is that the melting freezes back up and leaves ice patches everywhere. When I take Balt out in the morning, I have to be so careful to make sure I don't fall. I came home today at lunch because Erika texted me this morning at work to let me know Balt had gotten into the trash. If we leave our trash drawer open just a crack, he has learned to get in to it. I am going to have to get a child lock pretty soon. I cleaned up and vacuumed and went back to work. 

I am currently spending all of my extra prep time working on my National Board components. I decided to go home after work and continue with the work rather than go to yoga this afternoon. I was very eager to get into my slippers and relax. It was nice to come home to a clean house. 

There's work to do

It was a PCT Monday, which meant a short schedule. It was a work day in all of my classes. The photo above is in the drawing room center piece that Josh creates every semester. It seems to get more and more ornate every year. I spent much of my prep time working on my national board component 1 that I started yesterday. I sent a few emails asking for letters of recommendations. I need a few parents, and students to write up some documentation as well as my written explanations of professional growth. After school we had a department meeting to decide on who's teaching which classes. There were a group of classes that needed to be sorted between Josh, myself and the new person taking Geof's place. It was quite a debate with a lot of back and forth but our decision was finally made with everyone pretty pleased. I'm teaching 6 different classes next year, 2 completely brand new, 1 fairly new. 

I came home late after our meeting. I took Balt out, fed him dinner and made an egg for my dinner with left over salad from my lunch that I did not finish. I watched a couple of episodes of Star Trek Voyager before going to bed.

Sunday Sun Shine

I don't like Daylight Savings! It felt like I slept in and I was a bit confused this morning when Balt got me up at quarter to six. Animals don't under time changes, so I'll be sleeping all week most likely. I know there is legislation out there to get rid of it or to keep it all year or something like that. I'd like to get rid of it. I want my sunshine in the morning!

I got out to get a workout in but once back home I spent the day working on my computer with a big fire roaring. I was supposed to be working on my National Board Component 1 rough draft but I had a long list of things to do in order to avoid working on what needed to be done. Around 5pm, I realized it was sunny and relatively warm, so I took Balt for a much needed long dogwalk. It was a great Sunday to start of a good week.

Rain, snow, fire and yoga

I'll be honest, I did not accomplish a lot today. I got to a hot yoga class was about as accomplished as I got. I talked to Jim for a bit on the phone this after noon after making spanish rice for lunch. I watched Leaving Neverland on HBO which was horrible-- great documentary, but so awful to realize that our fears were all true about Michael Jackson and it was worse than we thought.  Erika and I enjoyed dinner together with fire and watched Mary Queen of Scotts on Amazon. I had a list of things to do that I did not tough. While it was a bit warmer today, it rained so I didn't get out for a dogwalk. Right before coming up to bed, I put on the dishwasher, so at least I can the dishes got washed. Tomorrow I'll bet more productive.

Monika posted this photo on Facebook yesterday. It's a beauty!

Friday Fun

I had to meet kids at school at 7:30am this morning for newspaper distribution so I took the morning off team training. I went out and got donuts for my students and even had a doughnut myself. I'd been craving one for weeks decided today was the day to completely cheat on everything. I went out to lunch with Joe and even though I got a salad at Chipotle, I ordered chips and guac as well. After school I went home and made some hot tea and enjoyed a bit of down time before heading out for the evening with my colleagues for a fish fry. I did not order the fish though-- I got cheese curds and onion rings-- total cheats. The rings were amazing the curds, not so much. The evening was great fun, but I need to spend the whole weekend being good to make up for it.

Pretending it's Spring

Funny how after so much cold, an afternoon in the 20's feel somewhat warm. I wasn't the only person out and about. I took Balt for a much needed dogwalk. My work day was non-eventful. Joe had a sub who took took drawing with me when he was a freshmen in high school and is applying for Geof's job. It's a little crazy.. 

I was too tired to go to yoga after school so I took Balt for a walk instead. The animals had me up this morning at 4am. I'll be in bed early tonight for sure.

Wednesday is hump day

I do team training at Anytime Fitness on Wednesdays at 6am. It makes for a difficult morning but doable. My day was just a work day. I did some grading. I took Balt to Costco after school to get a few items; apples and eggs. Monika called while I was there. It was nice to catch up. I came home and I made an egg for dinner and started working on fine tuning my painting. I watched Survivor before going to bed.

Lots of Meetings

It was a busy day. I covered for Joe's afternoon classes so I was busy every hour and then had two meetings after school. I had hoped to get to yoga but no way am I going to a late class when I've got a 6am training tomorrow morning. I took Balt for a short walk while talking to my mom. I'm in bed and ready for This Is Us tonight before bed.

Below is my painting for the April Staff art show. (photo, painting and then digital combo).

40 in sight!

This morning, I read the paper, checked my email and looked at the extended forecast. For the first time this winter I saw a temperature in the 40's. It certainly offered me my a good mood for the day! Spring is in sight. But today was frigid! I was cold all day. We were stuck in single digits with wind chills under zero. It was a PCT shortened Monday with a department meeting after school. During my meeting I was reminded that we are having an art show in April that I will need new art for! So I came home and started working on a painting I started last summer. The evening evaporated quickly! I ate some left over tuna for dinner.

Workout and yoga

After some time sipping coffee and reading the paper, I went to Anytime Fitness for team training. I purchased a 20 pound med ball to start doing a bit of morning exercise at home on days I don't go workout to step thingsI up. After a shower, I took Balt grocery shopping. I made sure to get lots of vegetables. I'm living on salad this week-- no more grilled cheese sandwiches. At noon Erika and I went to a special yoga workshop that Erika organized with a special teacher. It was a very insightful class and luckily more informative than active. I enjoyed the time with Erika in the heat, but I was happy to get home and put on my PJ's for the evening. I'm in bed early!

There's Work To Do

After a very leisure morning, I headed out to Oconomowoc to meet Melissa at a Starbucks to go begin work on renewing our National Board Certification. We will begin to meet regularly until it's done by mid May. We set a goal to begin a rough draft on Component 1 by mid March. There are only 4 components and one is a video. I have been holding out until Melissa was ready to begin this process hoping she would not decide not to. Everything is easier with a partner!! Not to mention so much more fun. I have a good idea of all that needs to be done, now I just need to give it the time and energy. 

I realize that for the past month I have been wallowing a bit in winter blues, gaining weight and wasting time. Well, I've got work to do now. In just giving up bread for the past 3 days, I lost 5 pounds. That makes me think there's something more to it then a few less calories. I know I feel better without bread. I had slowly began to re-introduce bread back into my diet from once or twice a week until I was eating several times a day again. I know I can't do that! While I'm not intolerant, I'm somewhat sensitive. I got home late this afternoon after chatting with my mom on the road, and treated myself to a burrito bowl for dinner. I made a big fire and watched Poldark.

Suddenly She's 23

At some point between yesterday and today, Monika turned 23. I noticed on Facebook had a notification this year announcing her birthday, maybe for the first time when she didn't have a birthday. I suppose they finally figured out that all the leap year people were missing out on birthday wishes 3/4 years. Anyway, I sent her my annual birthday wished via Instagram collage (see below) complete with (apparently) unflattering photos. I use photos that I love of my beautiful daughters but when I post them, inevitably they disagree. I think they are getting used to it and no longer get upset. Luckily hardly any of their social media friends are mine now that they have left my high school realm.  I'm quite taken back that Monika seems to have "suddenly" gotten into mid 20's. She 's enjoying her first year out of college with adventures. I got a text today of her with her ACE helmet on, in the forest of Northern California and a chainsaw in hand. She is clearing the woods for us, laying paths for the handicapped and planting saplings on the cliffs of the Pacific. She's working hard and gaining experiences for an amazing future. 

I purchased plane tickets today to visit Monika and my Mom in California during my Spring break. I was looking at the weather in disgust and decided I had to have something to look forward to. We are looking at another arctic blast swinging in this weekend. The day was productive but by 8pm I could hardly keep my eyes open. We have a yoga guest teacher staying over for the weekend, so I made sure to do some early clean up in prep. I'd like to put my pj's on and just sleep all weekend, but Balt will have me up by 5am in the morning for sure!

No More February

Just because February is finally over, doesn't mean Winter is over. Although Spring is close--20 days away, there is no end in sight to the cold. I keep looking at the 10 day forecast  hoping for a sign of warmth to come and I can't see it yet and it makes me crazy. I feel somewhat depressed. I've gained weight. I need a change-- sunshine and warmth would be nice but I'll have to do with making other changes. I need to stop eating bread for a while. I need to figure out how to get walking again. I'll need to clean off of my treadmill and start using it. I should have been using it all month.

I had a good day at work. it was just a work day for me and my students. After school the staff gathered for a photo. I ran off to yoga. My knees are bruised, so some poses were difficult. I noticed my inner thighs are stiff and sore from something but I'm not sure what or why, only that balancing on one leg was painful.