A Little Litter Experiment

For those who don't know, husband and I have cats, a lot of cats. Well, what some people would call a lot of cats, we call it 5 cats. And, as you can imagine, 5 cats means a lot of cat poop. Husband and I have three litter boxes that get changed on a weekly basis (every Monday to be exact, Monday is garbage day) but despite this diligence, there is always room for improvement. 

Three litter boxes means we go through about a bag of cat litter a week, depending on who is changing the boxes (husband doesn't use enough litter in the boxes in my opinion, and I would guess that I use too much litter in his opinion). We usually buy Tidy Cats Immediate Odor Control for Multiple Cats (anyone who has experienced Minerva passing gas can understand why we need odor control), but I was in the store yesterday, and noticed that Tidy Cats also carries a litter with antimicrobial odor control. Now, I'm no expert, but I'm not too sure what good antimicrobial odor control cat litter is going to do, but it was a 25 pound bag for the 20 pound price, so I figured I'd give it a whirl.

Now, the geek in me does wonder if there is any different, so I used some of the remaining litter to run a little experiment. Of our three cat boxes, the one farthest in back has only the immediate odor control litter, the one in the middle is a mixture of the two, and the one closest to the door has only the antimicrobial litter. I'm going to keep an eye on the litter boxes to see if there is any different between the litters and post an update next week. (I would imagine that if you do not own cats, this entry is of no interest whatsoever to you except to confirm that there is indeed something wrong with me.)

First Snow of the Season

There's something about the first snow of the year, it is like catnip to small children. It doesn't matter if the snow stays or not, expect children to be nutty when the snow starts flying. It's been a long week (that is not over yet). Kids have been nutty all week long, lots of behavior issues, lots of meltdowns, and to top it all off, at least three cases of H1N1 at the school. Fun, fun, fun!

I started the week off with a bang, when I realized that the red wine stains on my pink sweater that appeared to be gone in the lights of my bathroom, were in reality not gone in the harsh lighting of my school. (Not that they were all that noticeable, but still). From now on, I must remember to look at clothing in better lighting before leaving my house. 

With all the flu hullabaloo, I've now realized that kinders spend lots of time with their fingers in there noses.

On a brighter note, I finished the Gillyweed socks for sister's birthday. I've now cast on for a new pair of socks, using a pattern called Hermione's Everyday Socks. It is a simple stockinette pattern with a few purl stitches thrown in every couple of rounds. I'm using the Juliet Sock Yarn from a company called Yarn Love. The colorway is called Belle and is a combination of yellows, browns, purples, and greens. A nice springy colorway for these cold dreary fall days. 

Kerplunk!

What's that sound? Oh yeah, it is the sound of me falling flat on my face during my Language for Learning lesson today. Not just a stumble, not just a could have been better lesson, nut just a bad lesson, but a complete and utter failure of a lesson. I couldn't get the students' attention, couldn't keep the students' attention, couldn't get the students to do a  single thing that  wanted them to do. Heck, I couldn't even keep one of the students seated at the table. By the end of the lesson, banging my head repeatedly against a brick wall seemed like a better choice for how to spend my time and almost anything seemed like a better career choice. Yup, I was feeling like a failure, as a teacher, and as a person.

However, I dealt with it. I did not bang my head against a wall, I did not yell and scream, and I did not curl up in a ball and cry. I tried my best to shake it off and keep going with my day. For me, that meant gathering the thre students up and getting them to go on their bathroom break and milk break. And of course they were difficult about that too. But I hung in there. I'm determined to sit down with the book and make tomorrow go at least a little bit better. And it is that determination that makes me think that maybe, just maybe, I can do this. 

...then again, maybe not.

It would save alot of time if I just put the pictures in when I posted.

Here's the promised picture of the Veil of Isis. It has started out pretty well, I think.

And a little closer...

I was a little nervous about the Veil of Isis pattern, because it was my first true lace knitting and the pattern was not terribly clear. However, now I think I have things pretty much figured out, and know what I'm doing. The lace knitting hasn't been too tough so far, the pattern is just a combination of yarn overs, knit two togethers, and slip, slip, knits. It is also great because it is knit in the round, so there are no purls. Considering I'm still working on the Lily Cardigan, which is in stockinette and knit flat and involves long rows of knits followed by loooong rows of purls, it is a pretty fantastic project combination right now. However, I'm totally and completely sick of working on the Lily Cardigan and am tempted to chuck it across the room. But, I will keep plugging away at it, and I will finish it. (Mostly because I'm sure that if I set it aside for awhile, it will get neglected, end up in the bottom of my knitting basket, and will not be thought of again until it is so damanged that I need to rip it out and toss the yarn--not that this has happened).



And the first of sister's Gillyweed socks.

 

My final knitting project for right now involves a knitting student (yes, I'm a student teacher, a religous education teacher, and now a knitting teacher, I'm a bit of a one hit wonder). One of husband's cousin's daughters has asked if I would teach her knitting, and I gladly agreed. Honestly, I think it is a pretty good use of my limited free time. I've put some thought into it, and I figure it's a good way for someone to learn. I have enough spare needles and stashed yarn that she can find out if she likes it before investing in her own needles and yarn. If she does take a liking to it, perhaps some of my yarn that is just sitting there can go to a new and happier home (and for that matter, some of my old needles, too) and I have plently of patterns and books that she would be more than welcome to borrow. However, I've also come to the conclusion that if, after a lesson or two, she decides that knitting is not for her, it is not an insult to me. Knitting is not for everyone and it is nothing personal. Either way, it should be a fun time.

To Whoever Set off the Fire Alarm Today...

I woke up this morning thinking, "Boy, do I hope I get the opportunity to traipse through the muddy school yard in the rain. I hope I can also take some time to stand under dripping pine trees while we ensure that the building is not really burning down.  And it was a tremendous treat to have three special needs students that I finally got to settle in and focus on their math interrupted, especially so close to lunch. Also, to add to the fun, I was wearing flats, which ensured that my pants ended up more than a little bit wet and muddy. It really made my day.

Aside from the unexpected fire drill, I'm adjusting nicely to student teaching. Lessons with my first grader have been going well. It is difficult for her to sustain attention, so I feel like I'm spending at least half the lesson redirecting and reminding. However, the student is sweet, and easy to work with. It provides a nice break from some of my more challenging kinder students. My co-operating teacher will be gone this Thursday and Friday for a conference, so there will be a sub. It will be interesting to see how that goes. Also, on Friday, my university supervisor will be visiting for an hour. I'm pretty nervous about that.  Thursday will bring its own amout of fun as well, I will be an extra pair of hands on the first grade field trip to the apple orchard in the morning (hope for good weather, the group that went today had rain) and after school, I'll be driving to Eau Claire for my student teaching seminar. There was a brief moment of hope earlier this week that it might get shifted to next week, but that hope was dashed today. Next week would really be better for several reasons, including a. Jeff has both golf, and Lions this week and it would be nice to have an extra evening to spend at home; and, more importantly b. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of assignment I was supposed to complete, but haven't even looked at it yet. 

When all else fails, pray for a fire drill

When you go to the first meetings about student teaching, when you first get your assignments, and before you start, people warn you that the process is exhausting. I believed this was true, but never realized just how exhausting until I did it myself.  I'm consistantly waking up earlier than I ever have before, (a fact which is augmented by the fact that work seems to insist on scheduling me for the 5:30 am shift on the weekends) and I'm both mentally and physically engaged with what I'm doing all day long, with the sole exception of the 20 to 30 minute lunch break.

The students on my caseload are great, but present their own level of challenges. I have a student who occasionally likes to flop down and lay on the floor and requires physical assistance to redirect him. I'm concerned about him, because he always seems to be very tired all day at school. I know a little bit about his home environment, and have to wonder if he is getting enough sleep. The other kids on my caseload range in abilities, but all of them have unique and usually wonderful personalities.


I'd adjusting to my  school and my relationships with the teachers and staff at the school. I'm trying to force myself to come out of my shell, but with me, it is always a fight with my shyness. However, I''m trying to make progress and to foster relationships with the people of my school. 


My personal goal for this week is to add stops at the gym to my daily routine. My current plan is to go tomorrow, but that would mean that I have to pack a gym bag tonight. I know for a fact that if I stop home first, I won't go to the gym at all. I want to get back in the habit of going to the gym again, and I think it would provide a little mental downtime after finishing out the school day. The problem is getting myself to start doing it. I also have to work on getting things done when I get home from the school day. I've been giving in to the seemingly constant state of exhaustion I've been feeling, but I need to stop doing that and get things done around the house. 


The lunchroom also provides a whole new dimension I never expected. It seems like almost every day I come home with some sort of food product on some part of my clothing. It can happen innocently, like when I leaned on the syrup-coated table while eating breakfast with one of my students, or can happen less innocently, like when that same student wiped his oreo-coated mouth on the knee of my khakis. Either way, doing a spot check with stain remover before chucking the clothes in the hamper has become part of my routine. 


On a bright note, I seem to have done a pretty good job at assembling my "teacher clothes". Each day, I stretch and bend to make sure nothing is showing that shouldn't be. At this point, Old Navy should give me an advertising job for their perfect khakis. I wear a pair pretty much every day in either capri or pants form, in some color or another.

 

Mind Challenges and Mindless

My knitting these days can be combined into two categories. I'm attempting to do lace, The Veil of Isis, and though I'm faithfully following the instructions, I'm not quiet sure that I understand the pattern. I'm somewhat afraid that this is going to end badly. On the other hand, I'm very pleased with how it has turned out so far, I'll have to post some pictures of the work in progress. The yarn is Knitpicks Gloss Lace in the Mermaid colorway a beautiful light blue color.

My other knitting is pretty mindless. I'm working on adding inches to my Lily Cardigan. My initial goal was to have it done for nephew's baptism, which is this weekend. It was overshadowed by the sucess of my Shawl that Jazz wrap, which I decided to wear with my baptism dress instead. Right now the work on the cardigan is all stockinette, knit a row, purl a row, over and over and over. It is the prefect relaxation tool after a long day of student teaching.

Of course, I also have a pair of socks on the needles. They are for my sister, I'm planning on sending them out to Seattle with her birthday present the beginning of November. I've finished one sock, and have a couple of inches done on the second sock. The first sock went fairly quickly, so I'm not worried about finishing it on time. By November, I should have finished that pair and moved onto another pair (or two).
Student teaching is consuming my weekdays right now. I'm at the school by 7:15 every morning, and home around 4 every afternoon. But, by the time I get home, I'm pretty exhausted. It is nice to be able to enjoy knitting where I don't have to think about what I'm doing. I'll begin to take over lessons starting next Monday. There are good days and bad days, but so far I have not doubted that I've chosen the right career path for me. 


My weeks are about to get a little bit busier as well. I've just talked to the Director of Religious Education from my church. I'll be teaching religious ed classes on Wednesday nights. I'm teaching eighth grade, the same class level that I taught the first half of last year. This means I do have some lessons already planned. I do want to look over the lessons and make some changes. I have a meeting with the rest of the religious education teachers next Wednesday evening.