Trials and Tribulations

Well, I thought I was being very clever and smart-I went down to the basement and dug through the winter things (some of which are like "deep winter" so don't come upstairs all that often) and I brought up some of Annie's things and some of mine and a hat of Sean's so we won't be cold. And I tucked Annie's stuff away in the drawers of the bench (where her stuff usually goes) and I tucked Sean's hat in the pocket of his coat. Anyhow, I had brought a plastic grocery bag with me to carry all the stuff back up the stairs. And my felted hat (it was so fabulous- perfect colour and fit), matching mitts and my leather gloves were in the bottom of the bag. So I tucked the bag just under the bench, thinking that I needed to clear out the last drawer on the bench before adding these things to the drawer. So far, so good, right??? But, as luck would have it, everyone and their dog called that evening, and then I had my school work to mark, so I didn't get at it until the next evening. Except. No bag. Nowhere. And Sean says there wasn't any bag there at all-only the garbage bag which he took out and added to the rest of the garbage as the truck was roaring down the street.
So now, I have a small bag of garbage, lovingly preserved in the house, instead of a bag of winter things for me.
Sean says he never saw a bag of mitts and stuff-and that all he threw out was a bag of garbage. And he will try to stand by that story , even when I am showing him that bag of preserved garbage.
But he knows.
And I am going to remind him of this right up until I opening my extra lavish Christmas presents. (I am really stressing the need for extra lavish)

Oh- and before I forget- I went to that baby shower (the one that said...."and looking forward to something knitted!!!!" on the invite) (eek!) And I finished the sweater about 10 minutes before I was supposed to get dressed. So no pics- just a really quick steam with the iron and off I flew-but trust me- very cute.

Report cards.........

I teach Grade 6/7 in Kingston, Ontario, and am currently part of a pilot project (along with a number of teachers in a number of schools across the city).. Instead of a traditional report card, with marks and comments that you need to understand "edu-ese" in order to get through, these new reports are not about marks but about progress. Hunh? Well, imagine that. The teachers fill out a report form on each kid, that looks a heck of a lot like the kind of forms I send home around midterm time, and in it, I let the parents know if their child is showing limited progress, or progressing with difficulty, or progressing well, in each of the subjects (we're talking a sort of continuum line checklist) and how they are doing in areas of homework completion and conflict resolution and about 10 other areas (Excellent, Good or Needs Improvement). Then I interview every parent, and talk to them for (supposedly) 15 minutes, and that's it for the report cards. What do you think? I actually like this project. A few parents have said that they want the marks. Well, sometimes, it is difficult to do the mark thing at the first term (and we are actually not yet done the first term- it goes until Christmas)-because we have to do baseline in this, and authentic assessment in that, and diagnostic in this other- so what have we taught? The reports were faster to do than in other years- the check mark was nice, as was the notion that I didn't have to write comments for each subject (which, truthfully, is a gigantic pain in the nether regions). But I really liked the interviews. I could say things in these interviews that I would be hard pressed to write on a report. My body language, or comments leading up to the message- whatever- easier to say out in the open rather than couched in edu-terms that sometimes mean absolutely nothing to the parent. So what are your ideas?

Annie is bored.

Hmmm. I don't know where she gets it from. Must be my husband's side.

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth,,,

However, I think I did something very very bad to my knee. It hurts most of the time, but somewhere around a three level, so I can manage it. But now- it seems there is a tiny little troll that is hammering really hard inside the knee and making my whole leg swell up. (Just a side note-this is the knee with the replacement- it has never really been "right") I have really been pushing it- trying to do things I know I shouldn't do- but I just wanted to prove to those people at work that I could do it. Well, I did it and I honestly don't think anyone has even noticed (so much for that theory) Anyhow, I suspect it is time to go and see the surgeon again.


I got some yarn for a little sweater for the baby- I just have to finish it (I have the back done) It is from Naturally Yarns Buttons (LOVE that yarn) in orange and yellow and a bright aqua green- very cute. Here is the pattern-sweet or what??????

If I have time. I will knit the wee hat.


Apparently , the new mommy doesn't much care for traditional pastels (good) and has no idea whether we have a girl baby or a boy baby coming. So this should be just fine, I hope.
Gotta go- gotta knit!

A request....

Annie and I are invited to a baby shower- when Annie was wee, she was a flower girl for this couple, and now they are expecting!!!!!!!! Anyhow- looking for a quick and dirty but really cute idea for a shower gift- could be knitted (but I have to work fast)- any ideas out there? Thanks!!!!!

Last Thursday, my Grade 7s, along with another class of 7s and their teacher, went to Fort Henry for an overnight "historical experience". Well, I swear- for a while, I thought we were in for a HYSTERICAL experience- the interpreters/guides were very good- but they ended their evening with ghost stories. And there are a couple, well, maybe more than a couple of kids who were afraid to admit just how terrified they were. But, luckily, we had no late night calls home to parents- all went well. It was a wee bit chilly, but they handled it all with great cheer. The parent supervisors were spectacular, as were the tour guides/interpreters. If you are looking for an excellent school trip, I would heartily recommend the Fort. The kids wear the old uniforms (replicas, actually) and tour the fort as "new recruits" to Her Majesty's British army (the tale is told that they all came in from the impoverished areas of London, England, by boat, to a better life). They spend time in drill, and in the school room, and they sleep in the barracks on cots.

This is one of the barracks rooms (there are two- a girls' and a boys', and can accommodate 40 people). One down side- The bathrooms are in the upper fort, so it is a bit of a hike to get there.

If you want to go, there are many websites, but this one seems to give the best info-http://www.parks.on.ca/fort/home.htm

On the knitting front, about a year or so ago, I made a little lamb suit for a friend's new grandbaby. It had attached mittens and booties, and I guess the momma liked it so much , the baby wore it. A lot. Soooo- when the friend asked if I would mind taking the booties off, since the baby was getting a might long to fit into it, I said sure, no problem. But I gather the momma was embarrassed to let me have the suit back- because it looked "worn". Well, to tell you the truth, if it had looked perfect, I wouldn't have done the changes, because they obviously weren't wearing the thing on the baby. I actually consider it a compliment that the suit looked "worn" (not bad, just like it had been used regularly). So baby should be right back in his suit shortly.

This is the picture in the book of the suit- a Debbie Bliss pattern. Too sweet for words.