Day 162 - Bowl of Cereal

Who knew that somebody could miss a bowl of breakfast cereal so much.  While I am thankful for the pounds that the South Beach Diet has helped me shed, two weeks without bread, sugar, alcohol, fruit, rice, cereal and potatoes (to name a few) has been very hard.  Phase 2 allows me to enjoy a bowl of oatmeal or cold cereal with fruit.  It feels like winning the lottery.

Kashi Go Lean with blueberries

Day 160 - Lab Makeups

These kids are as excited about making up their science lab as I am about spending an extra 45 minutes teaching today.  The great thing is that we've replaced our digital thermometers with these awesome temperature probes. What's even better is that they hook directly into our other new technology - netbooks. The probe not only collects accurate data but it generates a graph. This technology is making some aspects of my life so much easier this year.

Austin, Konner, Adam and Vicki watching how salt affects the boiling point of water.

Our new probeware in action.

Day 159 - The Price of Convenience

I don't really like the drugstore where I purchase my prescriptions.  In fact, I keep thinking about switching to Bartells because I love that place.  So why do I patronize Walgreens?  It is less than a mile from my house, it's open 24 hours and it has a drive up window.  If I needed to I could head over there at 2 a.m. in my pajamas to pick up my generic Fosamax.  On days like this, I really like the place.

Day 158 - Technology Class

I spent a few hours at the district office today in a class called "Tech Savvy Tips". Wasn't really sure how helpful the class would be but I ended up with a fair amount of information that I can apply in my class.  Always a bonus when you get paid for a class AND the information is useful.

Also headed to Davis Optical to order some new eyeglasses. . .perhaps the focus (no pun intended) of an upcoming post.

Day 157 - Perfect Perch

The cats seem to have adopted Grady's new dog bed as their own, often curling up individually right smack dab in the middle.  When this happens, Grady is too polite to kick them out so he resorts to curling up on the hard living room floor. Today I found both Skye and Finnegan perched on his bed keeping a watchful eye out for birds on the deck.

Day 156 - Crows

There are several places I pass on my route home that seem to be crow flyways - virtual bird highways they regularly follow as they head home at dusk to roost. One is along Route 9 in the Clearview area and the other is along I-405 in the Woodinville/Bothell area.  That's where I took this picture.  It never ceases to amaze me how many birds you will see in this situation - sometimes the flock (murder) stretches for miles.

Day 155 - Goodbye Armando

Armando Guiterrez has been a custodian at our school for 13 years. Needless to say we were all shocked this week to learn he was leaving to go to another school in the district.  You can't blame the guy.  It's a smaller school with less work. We've been told that custodians are reluctant to join our staff because our building is so big. The staff celebrated today with cake and as people shared their Armando memories, it was clear the man has mixed feelings about leaving.  I took this picture several weeks ago as he was riding around the halls on his new "zamboni".   I will miss his kind nature, his whistling in the hall and his homemade salsa!  Hasta luego amigo.