wcbpolish's Xanga

Suprise!

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 00:38:45 GMT

So, my "guy's day out" turned out to be an elaborate ploy on Shirley's part. She got Brian to take me to a UofM football game (bribed him with a ticket) and then she and Aryn showed up. Lots of fun!!!! too bad my camera batteries are dead. So, I had a wonderful weekend with shirley. Currently my computer battery is at 18% and my brain battery even lower, so I gotta go home.
Let me just close with:
I love Shirley!

Monday, October 19, 2009

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:42:31 GMT

It was a great weekend.

5K (my time sucked and I'm still sore 2 days later)
Dune Climbing

And then the main attraction, apple picking!

Such a sunny day!

I helped Shirley

Apples everywhere!

Me, Shirley, and MJ

Getting ready to cook (but I didn't stay for the cooking or eating)

Fowl Fest '09

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 22:13:20 GMT

It was an AMAZING weekend. It's been almost 3 years since I've been to a chicken show. It was great to see old friends, and make a few new ones.

Here's the show hall, in beautiful Frankenmuth, MI

Love the signs. Too bad I broke THAT rule...

My very good friend Kim, and her husband Ed received an award for all of their years of service to the club.

I was going to spend the night in the car, but the prospective of a $200 fine made me change my plans. Instead, I went up to Caro for the night. All of my friends (and their parents) are AMAZING. I wouldn't trade them for anything short of a million dollars.

Packing up after the show. Sorry the picture is sideways. I thought this was an interesting shot.

Other stuffs
-A couple from the church down here in Toledo went up to see the show
-I picked a whole bunch of little winesap apples from the tree at the show.
-I fought the urge to buy birds successfully.
-I went to Bronners and looked at the Christmas stuff. Then I got stressed out by too many people there.
-Life is still super busy for me, but at least I seem to have some social life.

Hope College: The Pull '09

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 21:15:35 GMT

Hope college tradition: tug-of-war across the river. I went with Shirley to see what it was all about. It was pretty cool, but got boring after awhile.

Looking across the river before it started

The even year team (it's odd year against even year)

Shirley enjoying the show.

Even year victory swim.

Fulton County Fair

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:41:01 GMT

Alex (the spanish teacher) his roomate edwardo, and I went to the Fulton County Fair. It was a lot of fun. Here are some pics:

Turkey Leg

Never had a footlong hotdog before

Look, a polish!

Big pumpkins!

It should have been a bad day today...

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 21:02:21 GMT

...but it wasn't.

#1- alarm went off at "5:00" so I could go run. It was actually 4:00. I went back to bed.
#2- ran at 5, in the rain. Also, got hosed by a sprinkler in the dark. I heard it, but did not see it. This happened twice.
#3- knocked my coffee cup off the desk. It shattered and spilled 1/4 cup of coffee on the floor. The spork was fine, thanks for asking.

So... the morning was definitely sour, but the rest of the day went absolutely fine.
On my way out of the school, I had a spring in my step and was very upbeat. Song in my heart! PTL!

Big Bugs Yesterday!

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:30:45 GMT

Yesterday was a day of big bugs. Found a dragonfly on the way to school and saw a huge praying mantis that afternoon. Cool beans!

Spiritual Emphasis Week

Thu, 27 Aug 2009 21:49:29 GMT

So, school has started. This week is "spiritual emphasis week." There has not been regular class yet, just activities in homeroom, chapels and special speakers, and various activities. One of the activities consisted of students picking up marbles with their toes out of a bucket of ice water. Each homeroom lined up and one after another they took a marble out until the all were out. Crazy. Fun though.

One of the speakers spoke about media literacy- that every form of information has a message that you are absorbing, whether positive or negative, and about the value of carefully choosing what to listen to, what to watch, and what other activities to be a part of. Garbage in, garbage out.
Luke 6^:45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.

Assalak and Akutaq, in Ohio!

Wed, 26 Aug 2009 20:52:38 GMT

So, for the feast that we had on the monday before school started, I made Akutaq and Assalak.
Assalak:

2 packages dry yeast

3/4 cup warm water

2 2/3 cups warm water

1/4 cup sugar

1 T salt

2 T shortening

9 - 10 cups flour

Dissolve yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Stir in 2 2/3 cups water, sugar, salt and shortening. Add 5 cups flour and beat until smooth. Set aside for 10 minutes to let "act" and rise. Mix in enough of the remaining flour to m ake easy to handle. Knead and let rest 10 minutes. Place in greased bowl and turn greased side up. Cover with damp towel and let rise until double.

Divide dough into small 1/4 - 1/2 cup size portions. Gently pull (stretch) small dough pieces from sides and stretch until double the original size. Poke about 5 holes in each piece.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep large pan such as a skillet and turn heat to medium high.

Fry until browned on each side ( try to turn only once ). Drain on paper towels

Akutaq:

Couple of handfuls of Crisco

Some sugar

Couple of quarts of raspberries

1 quart or so of blueberries

1 whitefish fillet

Boil the whitefish for about an hour. Let cool, then ring out and flake.

Fluff the crisco. Add sugar. Fluff some more. Add fish. Fluff some more. Add raspberries. Fluff some more. Add blueberries, mix thoroughly.

Musing upon my educational influences:

Tue, 18 Aug 2009 19:23:04 GMT

As I prepare my classroom and my mind for the upcoming school year, I keep getting smacked in the face by thoughts about how my past has shaped me. Here are just a few random smatterings:

Influences of Cornerstone:
-I put up a poster that says "Study is Worship," a way of thinking that was imparted on my by Doc Carroll.
-I'm thinking of putting up a sign by the bookshelf that says "pick up and read, pick up and read," which is a quote from St. Augustine that keeps running through my head in Dr. Steven's voice.
-7th grade life science does a leaf collection. I'm trying to think like Gator for that. WWGD? "Spruce have needles which are square, stiff, & sharp. Firs have needles which are flat, flexible and friendly just like __________" LOL

Influences of Alaska:
-I was asking where some specific supplies were- construction paper, bulletin board paper, etc- and the response I got: “oh… that’s on the elementary side. High school teachers don’t usually use that” I guess I hung out too much with Carmen and AK and all those other not-really-high-school teachers. LOL
-I'm using the LDM units from LKSD. And making my own.
-I have an overwhelming desire to just staple things all over my walls- inside the classroom as well as in the Hallway!!
-I ordered my own copies of the Globe Science books, as well as cabbage chemistry.