A little bit of procrastination . . . a little reflection

In law school I used to write posts on Frodo's Dogster page when I was supposed to be studying for finals. Frodo is over rainbow bridge now, and Oliver isn't the literary type (he's more of a fluff-head), but fortunately I have my own blog for procrastination.

It's not exactly finals, but this is a hectic time of year for student teachers. I had my last college class last week, but didn't quite manage to get my homework completed over my too-short winter break. (I turned my Teacher Work Sample in today.) I had a rough week at school last week; I was battling a cold in my throat and lungs, the more hoarse my voice and the more plugged my ears, the louder my students seemed to talk, and the more I struggled to get my classroom under control. I wasn't a very happy camper. But at the end of a long day on Friday, Michael took me out for dinner, and I reflected back on the week. I realized that while I had had a very rough week, all of the students in my classes are good kids. There isn't a single kid who I teach at Ripon High School who is not a good person. Sure, they're a little louder than I'd like sometimes, but they are smart, kind, intelligent people, and I wish them all wonderful, happy lives.

Today, I asked one section of students to write a paragraph reflecting on a regret that they have had in their lives. We were about to read a play about regret, and I wanted to get their brain juices flowing.

The paragraphs I received astounded me. Sure, I got one smart-a$$ kid who wrote that he regretted coming to class today because this was the worst assignment ever. He assured me that at least three other students would write the same thing in their paragraphs. But they didn't. Every other student, out of a class of 26, reflected on something that they had done, and wished they could redo differently. Some students wrote what I expected to read - stories about trusting the wrong people, and friendships and romances gone awry.

Other students took this assignment to an entirely different level. I read about negative attitudes towards school that have now hurt students' opportunities to get college scholarships, run-ins with the law that led to community service and jail time, drug abuse that caused serious friendship troubles, and family troubles that began with a pair of young, innocent brothers playing in a cornfield, and ended with a scarred arm, a fatal accident, and an alcoholic father.

I am so moved by the fact that my students feel comfortable enough in my classroom to be completely honest with me on assignments like this. I tried to write a little motivational sentence or two at the bottom of each paragraph, encouraging my students to continue learning from their experiences, but what can you say to the student who thinks he caused his father to become an alcoholic because he followed his older brother into the field that day?

Happy Birthday 2010!

To resolve or not to resolve, that is the question.

I've been pondering this question for weeks. I've had long lists of ideas for resolutions for the new year. Unfortunately, I can't remember most of them now. The two that are still floating around in my head are:
1. Write letters to friends/sisters at least one Sunday a month . . . more often after I finish student teaching. This was a dear tradition I started early in the almost past decade. I loved spending Sunday mornings drinking coffee, eating pastries, listening to soothing music, writing letters, and chatting with the other regulars. Cafe La France is something else now, but as far as I know, Bristol, Rhode Island is still the most patriotic city in the U.S.

2. Eat LOCAL foods. Not too much. Mostly plants. I've been inspired by Barbara Kingsolver and Michael Pollan this year. I stumbled upon Kingsolver's book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle this summer at an awesome new book store in Portage, Books 'n Beans, and life hasn't been the same since. Then, while Christmas shopping, I saw a copy of Michael Pollan's book that stirred up quite a bit of controversy on the UW-Madison campus this fall - In Defense of Food - and couldn't resist supporting my local book store. I would love to start the new decade with a new outlook on food. Part of this resolution definitely involves joining a CSA, which Michael and I have already agreed to do. It might also have to involve gardening, which is less exciting, because I don't really think I have an aptitude for caring for plants, but teaching seems like a good match for gardening, except for the fact that my first harvest will (hopefully) fall during my first semester of teaching in my very own classroom. But both the gardening and the teaching will only get easier, and it might be nice to have an outlet during the early part of the school year. Particularly if that outlet can help to feed us all winter!

I'm really not sure what the rest of my resolutions were going to be. Probably something about being less stressed and more relaxed, getting more exercise, keeping my house cleaner, and being more productive in general, being more positive, networking in the teaching field, etc.

I may make a resolution to read at least a page or two of a book for FUN every night before going to bed. That would be a good stress reliever for the last three weeks of student teaching, and Michael and I still have a gift card to spend at Barnes and Noble, and I've promised myself a copy of The Omnivore's Dilemma. (I'd get it at Books 'n Beans, but she mostly stocks only newly released books or used books, and I did not see it on the used book shelf when I was in there last week.)

But the question remains when I start getting into long lists of resolutions . . . should I make a bunch of them, and fail to keep them all, or should I just make one, and really concentrate on it? I don't think I have to worry about the local food resolution, because I'm excited enough about it to keep it up without actually having to make a resolution to do it . . .

Well, I have 52 minutes left to ponder . . .

In the meantime, I'm still working on a best of/worst of list for the 2000s . . . stay tuned.

Getting Ready . . .

These pictures are old but I wanted to put them on my blog, and amazingly, never got around to it before the wedding . . . I can't imagine why.


Making place cards for dinner:



Gift bags for our guests:



Folding programs for the ceremony:
Thanks Mom, Carol, and Tracy for all of your help!

December

December by George Winston is one of my favorite albums to listen to at this time of year. It's been playing on repeat on my computer most of the day today.

Last year Michael and I watched the river slowly freeze. I think I tried to write poetry about it for the poetry class I was taking. I don't recall that any of those poems worked out very well, but so it goes. This year, I was looking forward to watching the river freeze. I remember lines of poetry that never materialized, about the river looking like ice soup - chunks of murky black slush slipping rapidly through the barely-liquid heart of the river, pulled along by the deadly current. (I'm not making up the deadly part. According to our next door neighbors, several people have drowned in the river close to our home over the years.)

Anyway, during the little free time I had last year I liked to stare out at the river and lose myself in contemplation. Then one day it was completely frozen and we started to see animal and then people tracks in the snow that built up on top of the water. This year, I have even less free time, so it is probably a good thing that our side of the river (there is a gigantic sand bar in the river behind our house) froze instantly overnight during our big snow storm last Tuesday. When we woke up to a snow day on Wednesday morning the river was gone. Our back yard had expanded by hundreds of yards overnight. The far side of the river, across the sand bar, was still chugging along, but I noticed yesterday that it, too, has frozen completely. I wonder if it will stay that way until the thaw party in March. Time will tell.

This weekend I made Christmas "cookies" - or, rather, truffles. I had the idea, I found a recipe online, and within a week I was in full truffle-making mode. Pretty exciting. They're actually really easy to make.









In addition to making truffles, I've just started reading a really fun book for a book club I joined that will have its first meeting at a little independent book store in Portage, Books 'n Beans, in January. The book is Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn. I highly recommend it for anyone who loves words, language, and conundrums.

Michael and I are slowly working our way through wedding thank-yous (that's actually what I'm supposed to be doing right now . . . ) and I'm still getting the hang of student teaching, although last week even my unruly seniors finally started to respect me as the authority in the classroom. Part of that is because I've learned how to relate to some of the most obnoxious . . . er . . . challenging students. Part of it is also that I've finally felt comfortable enough to teach lessons my own way instead of trying to teach the way my cooperating teacher teaches. I designed an "epic" writing assignment for one class, and just on Friday decided to rearrange the schedule my cooperating teacher had chosen for his sophomore class - I take over tomorrow and I thought it would be better to have the sophomores write a descriptive paper of a concrete experience and THEN write a paper defining an abstract concept, rather than defining the abstract concept first . . . it makes sense to me but we'll see how it goes.

Also, Michael took Oliver to be groomed on Tuesday. Oliver needed the grooming badly. He looked like a fluffy mop - his fur hadn't been trimmed in 6 months, except some little spot jobs I had tried to do on his feet and tail. It was honestly taking me an hour and a half to groom him, and I only had time to do a good brush-through once a week, so he was getting messy and matted. And he couldn't see so he kept running into things! (Like all of the wedding presents stacked in our living room.) Dale, his groomer, did a fantastic job, especially in light of the oncoming blizzard. I think he gave Oliver a kind of Poodle cut. (When I took Oliver in back in June for his first grooming as a member of the Buechner-David family I had no idea how he should be trimmed - having never taken a dog to the groomers before - but I knew that I didn't want him to have a Westie cut, since he's not a Westie. ((Petsmart gave him a Westie cut before we adopted him. It was confusing.)) Dale talked through the cuts he thought he'd make with me, categorizing Oliver as a "Poodle Mix" and I let him work. Mainly, I was interested in getting the fur out of his eyes, but I wanted his fur to stay long because I wanted to see what it would look like when it grew out all the way.) By now, I am completely satisfied that I know everything I need to know about Oliver's fur when it grows out. My instructions for Michael to pass along to Dale were, "remind him that the vet thinks it is best to trim the hair in his ears, rather than plucking it." Dale did what he wanted with Oliver, which I think is a modified Poodle cut, and he looks like an adorable little fluff again. But now he's an adorable fluff who can see! (As far as I know, Oliver has not run into anything since he got his hair cut.)

We discovered on Wednesday morning that Oliver loves to play in the snow! I will have to get some pictures of our snow-dog (who is afraid to walk on grass.) What a change from one dog to the next. Frodo loved to run in the grass, sit on the grass, walk in the grass, sunbathe in the grass, etc., but hated to have snow touch any part of his paws. We'd go for walks and he'd hobble along on three legs, not because he was injured but because he wanted to save one paw from the misery of snow. Oliver, on the other hand, really hates putting his paws in grass, but now that the snow is here he bounds through it, romping through our yard. I feel a little bit badly that we had all of his long fur cut off right before the first big snow storm - that would have been extra insulation for him when he goes outside!

For now, here are some before and after pictures of Oliver. And then I'm off to thaw out soup for dinner and finish my school work and to write some more thank-yous . . .

BEFORE . . . Look, ma, no eyes!








AFTER - I can actually, factually see! Isn't it grand?

Winter

A quick count on my own fingers and toes, my dog's toes, and Michael's left hand leads me to believe that I have been in school for 22 years of my life. (Okay, I didn't need Oliver to help with that, but still . . .) This is the first time I have experienced winter as a(n almost) teacher. I learned something about teachers today. Or maybe I just learned something about myself.

Teachers like snow days almost as much as, if not more than, the students.

I am the type of person who believes that life can be jinxed. When deciding what to be called at my second student teaching placement, I thought very seriously about what students should call me. For three weeks, I would technically be Miss Buechner, and then for the other six weeks of the placement I would become Mrs. David. But why on earth would I want to put those poor high school students through pronouncing Buechner for three weeks, only to turn around and present them with an utterly pronounceable, memorable name like David? (My seventh and eight graders at my first placement knew and called me by my maiden name because I actually wrote "Beak ner" board when introducing myself. If they had received a letter from Miss Buechner they would have been dumbfounded.)

Well, for one reason, I was terrified to go by "Ms. David" before actually getting married because I did not want to jinx the wedding. Apparently my cooperating teacher believes in the power of the jinx too (or he's just like that) because he asked me, "are you sure he's not going to leave you at the altar?" when I decided to be Ms. David.

(In a sidenote of this sidenote, I think it is hilarious that my cooperating teacher really emphasizes the "Mrs." part of my name now.)

So anyway, today my students kept talking about how we would not have school on Wednesday, and how great their day off was going to be. I tried to shush them, but they would not listen to me. I tried to counterbalance their tempting of fate by loudly proclaiming (well, not that loudly, but I am the teacher . . .) that there is no guarantee that school will be canceled tomorrow. (As I write this, school is still on, and I'll plan to be there with bells on, as long as I can physically make it to Ripon.) I mostly just wanted them to shut up and let the powers that be make that call, without any interference from students who have no apparent concern for jinxing a good thing!

In an effort to prepare for the . . . um . . . worst, I reserved that media center computer lab on Friday, just in case we're not able to use the media center computers tomorrow. While I was in the media center, the new head librarian (who likes me because it is easy for her to remember my name is Katie David since her name is Kathy Davis) confided that she could really use a little bit of extra time at home tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm going to stop thinking about whether or not I have school tomorrow, and go eat a Pastie (good for a cold night) and watch a movie with my husband (who introduced me to Pasties) :)

Three Days and Counting . . .

When we were little kids, really, really little, because we still lived at the old house on Correy St., Karen and I learned an eerie lesson one day: Don't touch hot cooking appliances. It was eerie because simultaneously, while Karen was outside cooking something on the grill with Dad or Uncle Steve, I was inside cooking something on the stove with Dad or Uncle Steve, at just about the same moment, Karen touched the hot grill and I touched the hot stove. Not a good idea. So we learned a little lesson: Don't touch hot appliances! (Steve and my dad also learned a lesson - don't cook with little girls with shrill voices!) (As it happens, I like it better when I learn about the painful side of life vicariously through Karen - if she does it first, often I'll just decide not to do it - getting ears pierced, getting tested for allergies, grabbing the hot end of a sparkler . . .) (I also like learning other lessons from Karen . . . like how to tie my shoes, blow bubbles, drive a stick shift, and, hopefully, how to have a happy marriage.)

So why do I bring up this eerie story today?

Michael's mom and step-dad came to town today to help us get ready for the wedding. Since they are going to be in town for Thanskgiving, and since the idea of going out to dinner for my favorite holiday really depressed me, Michael and I decided we would cook a small Thanksgiving meal for Carol and Vern at our house. (Plus, it's practice for next year, when my mom says I'll be hosting Thanksgiving . . .)

To preface this next paragraph, I just want to say that I am pretty certain I have never, ever burned my hand while taking a pie out of the oven before. Ever. In 30 years. And I actually make a lot of pies. So, why, three days before my wedding, did my hand slip as I went to take the pumpkin pie out of the oven, catching my finger on the 425 degree metal rack?? 'Which finger?' you ask. My ring finger on my left hand, just above the knuckle. Are you kidding me?? Last night I think I drove my mom and Tracy a little bit crazy, because I was being overly protective of a fingernail - catching myself from breaking down cardboard boxes just in time to prevent breaking the nail on my right thumb - a nail that will be nowhere near pictures of my brand new sparkling beautiful wedding band on Saturday! I held my finger under lukewarm, cool, and cold water, so hopefully the burn mark won't be too bad by Saturday.



Well, if a burned ring finger is as bad as it gets, I think my wedding day will be pretty wonderful.

I'll be keeping my other 7 fingers crossed . . .

(by the way, the pie was delicious)

Busy

In March, when I told some of my professors that I had gotten engaged over Spring Break and was planning a fall wedding, they told me I was crazy to get married during my student teaching experience. Even at the time, I knew they were probably right, but Michael did not want a long engagement, and I didn't want to wait until the summer of 2010 to get married either, so we set the date in November and started planning.

Last Friday was my last day at my first student teaching placement. I love teaching middle school!



In less than two weeks, all of the wedding craziness will be over (except writing thank-you cards). I am excited about being married, I can't wait to see our as-of-yet-untaken wedding pictures, and I'm really looking forward to having an entire weekend without doing wedding planning!

Last weekend Michael and I went to Madison early Saturday morning to meet with Ubaldo, our fabulous cake decorator. I can't wait until everyone can see the amazing works of art he is going to make. After the cake, my mom and I met up with Jenny and we headed to Vera's for our final dress fittings. The seamstresses at Vera's worked wonders with Jenny's dress, so she's not drowning in excess fabric anymore. My dress is great too - it's amazing how much easier it is to move with the dress hemmed to an appropriate length! Jenny knows exactly how to get me into my dress (though the seamstress said Michael is on his own for getting me back out . . .) and after Jenny bustled the skirt I exclaimed something like, "Wow, I'll even be able to dance in this dress!" which is exciting considering how much we're paying the DJ.

Michael and I had brought a carload of food to my parents' house, because the other teachers surprised him with a wedding shower at school on Friday and sent him home with leftover cake and veggies that would have fed a small crowd. My dad was having a party to celebrate the completion of his new patio (see marksretirementblog.blogspot.com) so we through there was a good chance some hard workers would help us eat the leftovers - but my mom had made a pie and a pan of brownies, so we ended up bringing a lot of food back home. (Don't people know I'm trying not to gain weight before my wedding???)

After the feast, my mom took me to the hair salon, where I met Teresa, my wedding day stylist. I flipped through some books of hairstyles which were much more helpful than my stack of bridal magazines (the models in bridal magazines all have slicked back hair and very few of them wear veils) and Teresa helped me create a wedding day hairstyle. I may try to go with more curls on the big day, but that kind of depends on what my hair looks like Saturday morning.

When she was finished with my hair, Teresa did my makeup, which was almost as odd of an experience as my first (and only) pedicure, but I felt like she did a pretty good job of listening to what I wanted. I also learned that the brown tones that I like so much when I buy makeup tend to turn orange on my face (which I noticed in my engagment pictures) so Teresa stuck with pinker colors. I'm trying to get used to the pink . . .

The salon doesn't sell makeup anymore (they did 4 years ago) so Teresa explained I'd have to go out and buy more lipstick if I wanted to keep my lips looking great all day . . . which was kind of annoying. About 75% of the reason I decided to pay $60 to get my makeup done was to save the trouble of picking out the colors myself! My mom, Jenny, and I were too wiped out to go lipstick shopping that evening, although we did head over to Macy's where I picked out new wedding jewelery for my bridal party. The first set of jewelery I bought does not match their dresses, which should have been obvious to me when I got it in May or June.

We met my dad at the Great Dane for dinner and I came home to Michael many dollars poorer, but excited to look at the pictures my dad had taken of my hair and makeup.

On Monday I started my second student teaching placement. I have 120 new students, whose names I need to learn! I began teaching two sections of a World Literature class on Wednesday, which was a little bit sooner than I hoped to begin, as I'm still trying to figure out who everybody is, but it's actually easier to learn names when you're teaching than when you're observing. In addition to learning their names, I'm also trying to learn my own. My cooperating teacher thought it would be best if I didn't change my name three weeks into my student teaching placement, so on Monday I was introduced to the students as Ms. David. (I was introduced to faculty and staff as Katie-going-to-be-David-in-three-weeks-Buechner.) After the wedding I'll make the switch to Mrs. David. (When I decided to go as Ms. David my cooperating teacher asked, "you're pretty confident he's not going to leave you at the altar?" I have to admit, I'm a little bit superstitious, but at the same time, I'm pretty confident Michael's not going to have a change of heart in the next two weeks . . .)

Today I got up fairly early and made some additions to one of our wedding websites (you can find a link at the bottom of this page). Then Michael and I headed to Madison to meet with our minister and to figure out where to put the piano during our wedding ceremony. Unfortunately, although it had not been listed on the church calendar, there was a service going on in the church at our meeting time, so we were not able to move furniture around in the church to try to get the piano in the front rather than in the back. We're sure it will all work out, but I'm a little bit nervous because our original photographer, who was going to come to the rehearsal, and would have been able to tell us how our pictures would turn out with the piano in various locations, cancelled our contract because she has a medical condition that makes it difficult to see whether her camera is in focus. I guess that's the bad side of going with an individual instead of a photography company that has many photographers. We hired a new photographer on Tuesday (and are excited about the package we're getting, as this company's prices were discounted for the remainder of the year, so we're getting more bang for our buck this way) and we're excited to get to know these photographers, but they won't be able to be at the rehearsal, so we'll meet them for the first time on Saturday morning.

After our somewhat less productive than planned meeting with the minister, Michael and I went to La Brioche (where we're getting our wedding cake) for breakfast, and then he headed home, to rest up before his bachelor party, about which I know almost nothing, although there was a rumor of sushi. I went to my parents' house to figure out how much the wedding reception is going to cost. Then my mom and I went lipstick and shoe shopping, where I successfully found lipstick I think I like, and my mom was disappointed because she found a great, comfortable pair of shoes that were not available in her size.

After shopping, we went out for orange lattes at Steep and Brew, and made a plan for wedding day transportation (whoo-hoo, another item to cross off of my To Do list on The Knot). My parents were the excited recipients of a somewhat frantic phone call from my sister asking if they can come and visit for a week, since Adele's babysitter is sick. They took me out for dinner, and I came home, where I've spent an hour and a half on the computer, typing student teaching reflections from my first week at my new placement and finally catching up on my blog!

I'm sorry there aren't more pictures. Soon enough there will be plenty of pictures for everyone. I think the part of my wedding I'm looking forward to the most is looking through pictures for the next 50 years, which is strange since I hate having my picture taken.

I'll try to blog again before the big day . . . but I have a lot of reading and a lot of wedding stuff to do before then!