Wednesday Hodgepodge

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1. Did you know there is a national day of pretty much everything in the universe? Feb 23rd happens to be National Inconvenience Yourself Day...when was the last time you were inconvenienced? 
Yes. I had a calendar last year that had a lot of these obscure holidays on them. My oldest kept trying to get us to celebrate all of them. Ha! It's hard enough for me to celebrate the traditional let along the obscure.


However, the last time I was inconvenienced. Hmmm...I'm happy to say I have to think about this and it thankfully doesn't seem to happen often. The time that comes to mind happened about a month ago. 


I want to try ice-skating again. I scored a pair of free skates from my in-laws but they hadn't been used in 20+ years so I knew they should be sharpened before using them. I also need new laces for them. I asked around and found that a local shoe store does skate sharpening. I tried going in twice to have them done. The first time, even though the hours of operation said they were open, the door was locked and there was a "be right back" sign on the front. Needless to say I couldn't wait so I left. I tried again a few days later - even going out of may way to get to the store. Locked again. 


I ended up going to a more "chain-like" store a few weeks later during the week. It took all of 10 minutes to have my skates sharpened, new laces bought, and even skate guards purchased and put on. Oh & no, I haven't used them yet.  


I did try to use them but the rink I picked had about an 1/8 of an inch of packed snow on it. Let's just say it wasn't pretty and I'm thankful no one was around to see me. I need some real ice to try them out. 


2. When a room in your house needs painting, who does the job? 
The one and only time I've painted was seven years ago. Hubby & I had moved back to the farm. We had purchased a 30+ year old trailer and it hadn't been lived in for 8+ years. It needed a lot of renovations in order to be livable (and updating - oh my the updating!). Every room but the living room and our bedroom received paint. Remember me saying it was 30+ years old? All the rooms have lovely brown paneling in them (except the bathrooms - they had vinyl wallpaper). All the rooms had to be sanded, washed, primed, and painted. I have not touched a paintbrush since. Although, our main bath desperately  needs some work done.


3. Are you friends with your cousins?
Not all but a lot of them. Thanks for Facebook I've been doing a a better job keeping in touch as well. Most of my cousins that I am friends with are from my mom's side of the family. My older siblings and I used to spend summers with them so I think that helped quite a bit. 


4. Do you use an alarm clock-if yes, is it an actual alarm, music or something else?
Only when I have to be up to go somewhere. On a typical day I don't use one at all. If I need to use it, I wake up to music. The alarm scares me awake. Waking to an adrenaline rush is not a lot of fun. And I am not  a morning person so that always makes me grumpier than usual.


5. What do you put ketchup on?
Not a lot. If we are out eating, I use it on hamburgers and fries. If we are home, I rarely use it. My hubby likes to make fun, but I don't see the need to extras when the food tastes as good without it. 


6. What smells make you nostalgic?
The beach/ocean. As I mentioned above, I spent summers with relatives and they all lived near the ocean. 

7. Did you hear about the high school English teacher recently suspended for some things she wrote on her personal blog? You can read the story here but in a nutshell she vented a lot of frustration onto her blog. She didn't mention individual students by name but she did make some harsh comments about kids in general and their parents.

What are your thoughts-if you're a parent is your child's teacher online and are you a 'friend' or 'follower' there? If you're a teacher are you on facebook and do you accept or friend students there? How about their parents? If you're a student are you friends with your current or former teachers online? Do any of them have blogs you read? If you're a teacher or a parent do you ever use your blog as a place to vent your frustrations with our educational system? So much to discuss....

Yes, I did hear about the teacher. Her first mistake, sharing the blog publicly. While I agree with her sentiments, sharing your frustrations for everyone to see (especially about your job) is not wise. With the use of widespread social media these days, one really needs to be careful with what they share - especially about your job.

Since I'm a homeschooling parent, I'm also the teacher. And yes, I sometimes vent my frustrations online. However, I'm the teacher of my own kids so I can't get mad at myself or can I? 

I also am not friends with any of my former teachers on line. While I wouldn't be above that, I just haven't sought any out. 

8. Insert your own random thought here.

I have no random thought today. I'm very tired today and working hard to stay awake and motivated. Oh & that parent/teacher thing...I still need to go "school" my youngest son. It's going on 2pm here and he needs a phonics lesson.