Teri Parris Ford's Blog

More Cold coming

After our snow dump yesterday, we had a very pleasant day with some sun and not so cold temps but I'm told the frigid weather is coming. Of course by mid February into March I start getting more antsy. I've been thinking about going tanning. There is exactly 30 days until spring and it can't come quick enough! I've learned to plan getaways in February so I don't get depressed. 

Today was just a work Tuesday, trying to get as much done as possible. I had demos in all of my photo 1 classes and I finished the staff board that I create for the principal and sent it to print. I did a lot of yearbook organization in the afternoon. At lunch I went to Costco to get gas and food, knowing Jim was coming this weekend and I'd need some basics but really I just had to have coffee and half & half tomorrow morning. I got home after school and did my beach body workout because I didn't do it this morning. I had leftover soup for dinner and chatted with Erika on the phone before going to bed. Below is a photo of my painting 2 class which has 6 kids in it. It's the most chill class I've ever had.

More Snow

What was supposed to be a few flurries turned into 4-6 inches of heavy snow today. It snowed most of the day while I was busy at school with more to do than I had time for. I stayed late hoping to catch up with yearbook stuff. I came home in a slippery mess, glad I didn't have anywhere to go. I had hot chicken soup waiting for me in my crockpot. I watched the news and then spent some time chatting with Jessi and Monika with Jim on the phone as well and went to bed early.

End of the Weekend

We slept in and watched the news. We took our time checking out of our hotel and then went to a mall walk around in comfort. We window shopped and ended up getting Jim a shirt and tie. We went out for Mexican food and sat for hours talking as we drank, ate and then drank some more (I drank diet pepsi while Jim drank margaritas). I drove back to Rochester while Jim played music from middle school (Steely Dan, the Fixx, etc), continuing our conversations. Once back to Jim's I packed up my truck, which I had left with a full tank of gas, and made my way back to Madison. As soon as I was home, I unpacked and went straight to bed.

Minneapolis, MN

We spent the night at Ft Snelling last night since Jim has access to the military hotel which is very affordable and nice. We went out to breakfast and then headed downtown for a day wondering around the inner city skybridges that go from building to building. We stayed the night at the Hilton downtown with is a favorite spot of Jim's when he's got meetings here in the twin cities. We enjoyed a movie and luxurious night.

Valentines Weekend

Valentines Day at Memorial is always wonderful with lots of valentines and singing. I got donuts for my students and then left school on Friday as soon as I could and we got to the twin cities in tine to have dinner w some old friends. It’s cold! But we’re enjoying the company. 

Cold Thursday

We got a couple of inches of snow last night and then temps took a nosedive. The thermometer will keep dropping deeper into negatives all night into tomorrow and we have wind chill advisory as well. Yesterday I picked up some Purell and Lysol for my classroom. I've got sick kids in every class and having finally gotten over a bad bug myself, I'd like to keep things a bit more sanitized. I've decided to spray my students keyboards once a day with Lysol and encourage them to use hand sanitizer as well. Just during the flu season. Normally I'm anti- hand sanitizer opting just to wash my hands but in the computer lab, I think it is especially germy. 

Anyway, I spent the day getting stuff done. My painting class has 8 kids in it but with illness, I am only getting 5-6 coming. It certainly makes for a very easy going afternoon. After school I went to yoga, made a quesadilla for dinner and watched Picard.

Wednesday Away

I had a sub today and did not need to be at my meeting until 9am which gave me a very nice morning with plenty of time to workout and have a nice breakfast. I had a great day with my Pathway team. I came home and decided to hunker down with a fire since snow was in the forecast. I finished my leftover soup for dinner and watched the news and the season premiere of Survivor-- 20 years ago I watched the first season. I can't believe I've been a fan for so long! I haven't watched every year, but almost.

 

Tuesday Observation

I am currently on the school's SIP committee which is to say, I signed up to attend a bunch of meetings and to observe a bunch of classrooms. I'm not sure why. I'm a bit cynical when it comes to school improvement. I'm pretty sure fixing up the girls bathroom would be #1 on my list of ways to improve the school. When you go to a school that appears to be poor-- old heating system, dirty and broken bathrooms, etc. -- there is a feeling of being "less than" and even though we have some wealthy students that attend our school, the overall feeling is that we are losers. I spent my prep today observing 2 other classrooms-- I saw kids engaged in math and English. I found the experience somewhat interesting. I didn't see anything new or out of the ordinary. 

My day seemed too busy to get out. I had wanted to go out for lunch but I couldn't get away. Luckily I had some leftover soup to warm up. Once home, I made dinner, watched the news and tv until bed... too tired to do much else.

Another Monday

I finally got my basement gym stocked with just about everything I need to get my workout in the morning done without any excuses. I'm saving $140 a month now that I'm not going to Anytime Fitness. I don't have a trainer helping me, but I feel like I learned enough in the year that I went to be able to workout on my own. My goal this week is up my time to 45-60 minutes. I've been doing 1/2 hour. I'm feeling like I'm getting stronger and my belly is feeling a bit flatter. I'm not losing weight but it's about health and wellness, right?

My Monday was busy... every work seems busy which is why when I'm home, I try not to do too much work. No matter how much work I do at home, I'm still busy at school! On Monday's I have newspaper at lunch, and meetings after school. We had a shortened schedule so the day zips by. At times I feel myself drenched in sweat from running around or just running around helping kids. I'm never sure if it's me, a hot flash, the heat at school on high or just my metabolism running higher since I'm working out more!?

I went home, took Balt out for a bit, made dinner, talked to Monika, watched the news and went to bed early.

Snowy Sunday

We started with an early winter snow but then winter dipped into being pretty mild time and last week we got a taste of spring with some heat and sunshine but we got 5+ inches today! It was the kind of day to sit back with a fire and just relax. I did my beachbody workout, had leftover soup for lunch and watched a movie (On the Basis of Sex) about Ruth Ginsburg, some Netflix and the news. I took Balt for walk out in the thick of the weather. It's been in a long time since we've gone on a walk together! It was way overdue. Over course he was passed out for the rest of the day after.

Saturday Off

Balt got me up way too early, so the plan for the day was to get in a nap. I did. I made it to yoga this morning and got a lot of computer work done. I finished my taxes and filed. I made a big fire, made some soup and watched Judy so I could catch Renee Zellweger in her Oscar nominated performance. I thought about spending the whole weekend just watching Oscar nominated movies, but I wanted to make sure I went to bed early.

Friday & Development

It was a busy week, so having no kids on Friday was a relief. Even with all the morning meetings, I still had the afternoon off to catch up. Thursday I was able to get to a hot yoga class after school so I woke up sore. I've been working out most mornings but gave myself the morning off and fasted so I could go to the lab for blood work. In order to get my metformin renewed, I needed updated numbers that came in at the end of the day as "good." I got a nice note from my doctor telling me how well I'm doing with keeping my blood sugar down. It surprised me because I've been stress snacking on chocolate. I treated myself to a latte and cinnamon roll on the way to work after my morning tests.

I had a long list of things to do today that I did not come close to finishing but I got a good start. My yearbook kids are so lazy this year, that I'm having to pick some of their slack. We are short on photos and I've been bad about taking photos as well. I've got to start picking it up!

At 4pm I forced myself to hit save and get ready to leave. I went to the pharmacy to pick up my prescription and went home and did my beachbody workout. Monika called and then later Jim called. I'd gone out to lunch and got a large diet coke and found when I went to bed I couldn't sleep so I stayed up watching Youtubes knowing I could take a nap tomorrow. 

Locked Down

We had a lockdown drill today, formally known as code red. The district reworked all of its drills and now instead of just practicing with kids, we have folks from downtown and the city practicing with us, including police. It seemed as if since the school was taking it all more serious so too were my students. Or maybe the whole matter is just so serious. Discussing the idea of an intruder at our school does not seem the least bit far fetched, it's as realistic a drill as a fire drill now but more somber. My students needed to stay quiet for 15-20 minutes and hidden, I told them to put their headphones on and just keep the volume low enough not to be heard. We hunkered down in a back corner of the department with the shades pulled and the lights out. Josh's kids were just as quiet. It was kind of amazing. I'm not sure how the rest of the school did, but our corner was great. 

After school I had a parent teacher conference and a haircut. I made a salad for dinner and watched Star Trek.

Teacher appreciation

I had a long, busy day that ended with a hockey game. It was teacher appreciation day and I got to meet up with both Joe and Josh. I snuck out early and was eager to get to bed early!

A Regular Monday

We had a regular schedule today, which made it a long Monday, but there's no school on Friday, so it should be short week. I heard kids complaining about the long day at the end of it. I really like my schedule this semester, but my mornings are busy. I have a really nice chunk of time to prep, run errands, meet, etc in the middle of my day and then I finish the day with 2 very different classes. Today I took a photo of the security staff at our school for the yearbook. They are busy people and hard to gather in one place at one time since they have different schedules and different jobs. Last year I wasn't able to get a photo of them for the staff section, so I wanted to make sure I got one this year. I really appreciate these people but they are the ones that deal with all that is difficult at our school. If I ever want a kid removed for any reason (typically its a kid who isn't in my class), all I have to do is call security and they take care of it. They do such a great job of de-escalating very volatile situations. They certainly deserve more than just a photo in the yearbook, but it's the least I can do to make sure they get a little credit.

At the end of my work day, I came home and made a salad for dinner and watched Star Trek.

Super Sunday

Coffee, fire, news, hot yoga and lunch with Jim. Wonderful weather got us outside. We took down the Christmas lights and took several bags in the garage to St. Vincents for donation. After Jim left I worked on the taxes and found we owe money which put me a really bad mood, so I started watching the super bowl in order to catch the half time show. I'll have to finish up and pay when I file later this week. 

Closing

For over 10 years we have talked about refinancing our condo and even started the process twice but never actually got it done until today. Jim drove down to Madison this morning for a 10am appointment at the UW Credit Union to sign all the paperwork. We got a great deal-- a solid 3%, 12 year loan, no closing costs. We were at  5.25% at Wells Fargo with about 17 years left. Since we shaved 5 years off the loan, the payment went up a bit, but we are saving about 4 grand in interest annually. Joe was the one to tell me about and I went to Wells Fargo to ask if they could match and they actually told me, no and I'd be crazy not to jump at the deal being offered at the other bank. Jim and went to see 1917 afterward and then out to eat to celebrate. We did a bit of shopping and came home for the evening to relax. It was a very good Saturday.