Teri Parris Ford's Blog

It's Spring Break

AND IT'S TOO COLD!! My first day of Spring Break and I woke up to snow. Yuck! We are in for cold weather all week and it's even colder in Minnesota. After a hot yoga class this morning I drove up to spend the weekend with Jim. I'll get back to Wisconsin on Tuesday to do some spring cleaning in Madison. I'd love to travel somewhere warm over my vacation but I have no one to visit for free and it's too expensive to travel just for heat. Jim and I discussed going to El Paso for a short visit but decided to save our funds instead. Once I'm back to school next Monday, I'll be on countdown mode for summer (74 days total, 53 school days). I paid for my summer pool membership this week and I'm eager to use it!

What I've been watching lately

Now that Monika is back home, I'm watching even more TV than I might if I were living alone. Certainly more than if I were living with Jim. Jim and I have very little we like to watch in common other than news, documentaries and some dramas-- especially historical. I can get Jim to watch Star Wars but not Star Trek (I love both).  Monika and I overlap in our interested quite a bit more-- add all sci fi, all super heros,  all romantic comedies and some reality tv. I like to think that I don't watch a lot of tv but occasionally when I connect with someone at work and discuss entertainment, I find that I watch way more than most of my colleagues BUT sometimes not as much as my students (often just as much or more). I do like to watch a series episode then catch the commentary on Youtube on that episode. Anything Star Trek or in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) will have multiple Youtube channels to check out on any given series with all the Easter eggs, call backs, or references mentioned in any episode. Some nights after watching just one show, I can spend the rest of the night watching all the Youtube shows referencing that show.

Monika and I just finished Raised by Wolves on HBO and Star Trek Discovery on Paramount last week. Both were on Thursday nights and it became a weekly ritual for a couple of months to watch both shows-- Star Trek first while eating dinner and then Raised by Wolves with dessert. While Star Trek was pretty entertaining, Raised by Wolves would leave us confused or at times completely dumbfounded. We'd often quickly turn to Youtube for answers after some conversation. It was a lot of fun while it lasted. I watched the first season last year after seeing several references to in on my Youtube channels so I checked it out and LOVED it. I got Monika to watch it (that was when she was living in Michigan). Now that season 2 is done, I will eagerly watch season 3 as soon as it drops next year!

We are now on to Bridgerton on Netflix (just started) and in the middle of Bel Air on Peacock. I've been watching Survivor 42 and Severance on Apple on my own while Monika watches stuff I'm not interested in. Jessi gave Monika an old tv that had been Erika's after Cody moved in with a big tv, so Monika has her own tv in her room, so there are times when I'm watching my show downstairs while Monika watches hers upstairs. Which is fine. I grew up with the tv always on, even if no one was watching. There was a time when there almost a tv in every room, including the garage at my mom's house. So only having one tv per floor (3) in the condo seems reasonable. I've got 2 in the new house in Rochester (a small one in my bedroom and a big one in the finished basement). 

Mental Health Day

I've been working on a charcoal example at work during my art experiences classes. It's coming together so nicely, I think I will frame it! It's been a while since I've made art and I realize I really need to do it more! ]I need to figure out how to get more productive while working. I've been on this "when I retire" mode, putting off a lot of things I want to do but I encouraged by Josh recently to start my book before I retire as well as continue to draw and paint. I mostly just do examples, I'd like to just do me.

I started my mental health day off with a hot yoga class that was so hot it was amazing. It had been a lot time I left the studio drenched in sweat. I also started a new medication to weight loss. I'd been on a diabetes medication that helped me lose weight last year. I started this year with blood work that had my AIC numbers back to normal so I got off of it but immediately started gaining my weight back-- so frustrating. I think the bottom line was about hunger. I think that has been my issue all of my life, I get hungry and don't know when I'm full then eat too much. I wish I had the discipline to do it without medication but I don't. I was very happy that my doctor was very accomodating, giving me a few options to try. My pharmacist suggested I start it on a weekend just to make sure I did not suffer from some of the possible side effects. Instead I had a very successful day, feeling quite hopeful about getting back to that pre-Covid weight and then trying to lose more. 

Note: Jessi is gone officially for a while. I got to talk to her on the phone to discuss her phone plan so she will have access to it in Europe. I'm hoping the time is not stressful. The war in Ukraine is very stressful.

Getting Back

After our quick trip out east, I came home and weighed myself. I've gained some weight-- almost 10 pounds since the holidays. It is time to get back on track, back to the mat, back outside. It's still freezzing outside BUT Spring is in the air! This coming week weather-- 50's almost every day. I need to add walking to my afternoons. This weekend I went back to the hot yoga studio after 3 months off, but then I made vegan banana bread and watched a lot of tv. It's all about balance and moderation.

I got back to work last Thursday thinking I only had one week before spring break but then realized this weekend I actually have 2 weeks. Ouch. I have a student teacher coming in a week, so help is on it's way with my overloaded schedule. While not really overwhelmed, work is tiring so it is hard not to put my feet up when I'm home especially when its cold. I'm hoping with warmth, getting out side will get easier.

Family in Virginia

We are spending time with family this weekend. Jim is on his spring break and Jessi is prepping to leave on an assignment overseas. Both Monika and I took some time off to make the drive out to see Jessi. Friends asked me why we don't fly and the reason is really Balt. I think Jessi wants to see him maybe as much if not more than us. He's happy to take the trip and enjoys it way more than we do, I'm sure, although I enjoy the drive too. With gas prices so high, I am glad Jim and I are sharing the payments. We arrived Saturday evening with plenty of time to sit around and chat but too late for dinner. The weather is glorious! Jessi took us Colonial Williamsburg on Sunday. We walked around, visited the university (William and Mary) and then went for pizza for a late lunch. It was a fun outing. We played Trivial Pursuit in the evening. It's too bad Erika could join us but she has work AND school. 

Balt and I enjoyed a morning walk on the beach. Tasks for today-- taxes and more family time!

 

Find Something Else To Do?

Our school is dealing with several threatning calls a day and on Wednesday, two small fires lit in bathrooms. One, I personally put out! Yes, I was walking to art from the main office, saw smoke and walked into the boys bathroom with another adult. I decided to turn the can over and smother the fire out, hoping the rubber can wasn't flamable. It seemed to work. While I was putting out the fire on one end of the building, another had been started closer to the art dept, also in a bathroom. Kids are weirding out and after getting to spend a day at the mall, they are trying different things to distrupt. At this point the police believe it has been the same person calling in all of the bomb threats but there copy cats calling in weapon reports as well. We have stopped responding to them but there is a police presence, just in case. Before the pandemic we had an "SRO" (school resource officer) at our school but the school board voted them out after George Floyd's murder. Without the SRO, there is now a bit of disconnect between our school and the police; students don't feel as safe, staff don't feel as safe, and a couple of kids free to start fires, call in weapon reports and/or bomb threats. There are rumors but no one knows who is calling in. Luckily we got the kid who started the fires. The police chief of the city did a news conference yesterday asking for those calling in the threats to stop and just find something else to do. I'm hoping they were watching, I doubt it. It's been a crazy week-- uneasy at best. Read at >> Everything Counts in Large Amounts.

 

Lockdown vs. Lockout!

It's been almost two years since my last entry... a year of online learning and a semester of pandemic, masked in person learning and we are back to school lockouts, holds and bomb threats. Yesterday during 4th hour we got an all call to evacuate the school and go to the mall food court. My kids were in the photo lab, so they opened the garage and high tailed out. Since they were all seniors, most tried to leave in their cars. A few made it out with their cars but some were stopped and told to walk to the mall with the rest of us. Eventually about 80% of our students left the mall area for home Read the rest at >> Everything Counts in Large Amounts.