beautiful birds

yippee
-the weather was beautiful, so we made a day of it-

• we went to sarasota jungle gardens and had a nice time. the parrots were beautiful

• one of the flamingos was very angry at me and tried to eat my sweater

• we went to the muscle car museum, here is a picture of ang with one of his favorites

• we had a picnic lunch by the water and watched dolphins and pelicans (of course the batteries in the camera died)
  

- we took a LONG bike ride around town and got some errands done at the same time. (Petco, blockbuster, the bike store, walgreens) Dummy me didn't bring the camera, but on the ride we saw a medium sized alligator, a medium size snake, and some type of hawk. The hawk was sitting on a stop sign just watching and waiting for someone with a camera.

- we rode our bikes to the park to play basketball. This time I brought my camera. Used the timer on it for the first time to take our picture on the basketball court. It is crooked because the camera was sitting on my bike seat:




I had to take a picture of this weed just because it is one of the biggest weeds I have ever seen. Bigger than my bike. covered in thorns, too.


We also went to the farmer's market, and bought some fantastic tomatoes and some other goodies. I made the best version of the butternut squash soup yet. Here it is so I don't forget:
1 or 2 florida sweet onions
a few cloves of fresh garlic
2 cans cut up tomatoes (no salt)
4 or 5 small butternut squash (or 1 or 2 med or large) -peeled and cut up
1 can white beans (no salt) -cannelini or white kidney or any mild bean -undrained
about one cup chopped carrots
3 bay leaves
2 TBS no salt seasoning
water
1 cup plain soymilk
1/2 cup cashews
cayenne pepper
1 bunch fresh kale - washed and chopped into bite sized pieces

roast the whole onions and garlic cloves (still in skin) in the toaster oven @ 400 degrees (garlic- about 30 min, onions- about an hour)
meanwhile- clean and chop the other veggies, and let the cashews soak in the soymilk

when the garlic is done, remove it and peel the skins
add the garlic to a big soup pot along with the undrained tomatoes , undrained beans, no-salt seasoning, bay leaves, squash, and carrots
when the onion is done, peel it and add it to the soup pot
add enough water to cover
bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 30 min, until the squash and carrots are done -if it isn't already, turn the heat to low
remove the bay leaves, and add some cayenne pepper or white pepper (I usually cover the top of the soup)
*stick the cashews and soymilk in the blendtec and blend until smooth
add them to the soup pot, and blend the whole thing with an immersion blender
add the kale, cover, and turn off the heat
let stand for about 10 min before eating to allow the kale to cook

playing with pictures

Shanna showed me a fun website where you can make some fun pictures.

I am a product of my choices...I live by design

Anyway, I let off steam; I am at peace with the world now. The whine-fest is over. The 4th period situation is out of my influence, so I am going to focus on what I can control:
I am going to choose the subject.
I am going to request both of our aides for that period.
I am going to think outside the class for inexpensive activities.
I am going to use Mrs. G's room and split into groups.
I am not going to try so hard to keep things academic anymore, because it is obvious I care too much.

So...onto better things. Today is beautiful. No one would go to the beach with me, so I went
myself. The weather was warm but not hot. The water was too cold for me. But I did see some people in it.



My chair.



Me in my chair.

View from my chair.



View from my chair.




Wild daisies growing at the beach.

stupidness

With the budget cuts to the schools, every teacher has to "do more with less". Here is how I am apparently going to do my part. In normal, sane circumstances me and Mrs. G split the students in the unit by grade: 9-10 and 11-12. This way we don't have our immature and gullible 14 year old freshmen with our 19 and 20 year old seniors. Well, Mrs. G has off 4th period, and normally there would be another teacher available for those other students. Not anymore. So I get all of them in a small room for 2 hours a day for the entire year. (4th period is block, so you would normally only have them for half the year.) To top it off I have no new materials and we wont be getting any money for stuff. So I guess we will just be using the same exact books we have used for the past 3 years with the same kids. Nothing like boredom in a classroom to set off the mischievous and the bullies looking for entertainment.