Lesson Plans

For the last two days I have been writing lesson plans for the unlucky soul who subs for me during my maternity leave. My two classes next semester are AP Calculus and Honors Algebra II. I have not taught either ever. :)
I've taught regular Algebra II, so I know the material. I just don't know what kind of students I'll have. Better than I'm used to, I guess.
So, I'm on day #12 for Algebra II. It's hard, because when I write my own notes, I just write down what problems I'll do, and then work them out on the board. I have to show all the work on my notes, so the sub (since I don't know what kind of math skills they'll have) can follow along. No fun.
PLUS - I'm still battling the case of the numb fingers. So, it's like writing after you've been working in the cold for a long time. Not so legible at all times. I just typed one days worth of notes, to take a break. And, in case you are wondering, typing Math notes is not fun.
The Calculus is a whole different story. There's not much hope that I'll find a Calc sub, so I'm just going to give them some review work while I'm out and then come back a day here and there and teach a little bit. I guess. That's the plan for now.

I don't like not being in control. Four weeks to go. Or will it be less? Or more?

errand day

today, derek and i completed a number of errands we had been putting off:
1. i got my license renewed. bleh.
2. derek got new glasses.
3. we deposited like 9 checks. sorry if you've written us a check lately.
4. we took back some Christmas gifts. (one to the mall, one to best buy)
5. we registered the Volvo.

i think that's it.
the dmv experience was TERRIBLE. it took about 3 hours total, although some of it was my fault. there were three dmv employees, but due to driver's tests and lunch breaks, most of the time i was there, only one employee was working. they were on #38 when we got there, and i was #58. i think the final ten minutes of my wait was just waiting for someone to pick up my new license from the license making machine and hand it to me. frustrating. plus, i was sick and uncomfortable, so it made for a long day.

Starry Night

Even though I'm not feeling that great, I'm still trying to accomplish a number of things over this Christmas break. One of them is finishing the baby's room.
I used paint pens to paint these cute stars on the angled part of the walls. I like it. Hopefully baby Isaac will, too. More importantly, I hope 5 to 9 year old Isaac will like it, because I don't want to repaint anytime soon.

the Christmas curse...

Every year, at Christmas, someone (or everyone) gets sick.
One year, Jake had the flu pretty bad and gave it to me, just before we left to come home. Julie gets sick a lot.
And this year, I'm fighting an unfun cold and cough.
I wouldn't normally complain, because I could douse it out at night with some NyQuil, but it seems that NyQuil is off the list of medications for people with babies inside them. Bleh. So, I have to take drugs that don't put me down for the count. I guess I'll live. Anyhow, that's my story of this year's Christmas curse.

8 down, 1 to go

I am officially due one month from today (January 27th, that is).
Here is an 8 month belly shot for your enjoyment.

Big Shotz Tavern

A few months ago, a Big Shotz Tavern popped up down the road from us.
Since then, we've almost gone there a few times, but decided against it for various reasons. Finally, last night, we went.

It wasn't very impressive.
We got a French Dip and a Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. Neither were all that impressive. The french dip was on hard crusty bread and was served sans dip. Which is dumb. The chicken sandwich was plain. Derek said he likes TJ's Deli better. And theirs is like half the price. Big Shotz was a little bit pricey for the type of food and atmosphere. There was one other disappointment, that I don't blame on the restaurant, nor do I think happens across the board. That is, our waitress was MIA for a large part of the night. Of course, this happened during the part of our dining experience when we both were out of drinks and were trying to suck the melted ice every two seconds. You'd think one of her coworkers would have noticed and jumped in, or at least found her and told her. But, that was not the case.

Anyhow, our curiosity was satisfied and we can close the book on Big Shotz Tavern.
We'll stick to TJ's I guess.

and then Christmas was over....

It's the day after Christmas.
Derek is back to work. I just cleaned up the Christmas mess.
Christmas seemed pretty unChristmas-y yesterday.
It was just me and Derek.
We just hung around the house (except for a trip to Chinese dinner).
Derek worked in his shop. I ripped cds to my computer.
I'm tired. Tired from being pregnant and fat.
Tired of having numb fingers. Tired of swollen ankles.
I don't make a very good pregnant mom-to-be. Bleh.
Anyhooo.... Now I'm just ranting, so I'll stop and find something else to do.

:)

Merry Christmas!!!

That's all I have to say.
I'm busy ripping all my cd's so I can listen to them on my new iPod Nano.

Christmas Eve Day

It doesn't feel very Christmas-y this year.
It's like 70 degrees outside.
There's no family around.
Just me and Derek. And Lucy. And the unborn baby Isaac Newton.
We're getting ready for church. And then we'll be just hanging around like any normal day. It's a little sad. But, it will be very relaxing. And I'll get a good recharge to finish out the last weeks of school (for me, that is).
We have a lot planned (finish the baby's room, one good house cleaning, lesson plans for my sub, making final exams, and stuff like that)....

Anyhoooo....
Merry Christmas Eve Day. I'm sure I'll be writing more soon.
Since there's not much else to do. :)

future star athlete

Ms. Doub (from school) got me (and mostly Isaac) this for Christmas. I think she knows that our child is probably destined for sports stardom. Or that he'll be a wannabe. :)

Christmas Vacation!!

Today marks the first day of Christmas Vacation. (Winter break, to be politically correct). Whatever. I'm off of school until January 2nd and that's pretty sweet.
We finally did move on Wednesday. It was MADNESS. There were random kids roaming everywhere. We moved my entire trailer in about 20 minutes. Twenty-eight eager (to not do math) seniors can really move some stuff. Plus, I didn't have much to move. So, I'm all settled into room 804 in the new "J" building. It's exciting.

In other news, we had Derek's family Christmas party last night. It was fun. Derek's sister, her husband and son could not come because the little one was very sick. So, it was a rather small gathering. We got some pretty sweet stuff. The main gift was a gift certificate towards a night at a bed and breakfast. I'm pretty sure that will be used way down the line. No bed and breakfasts for us anytime soon.

We are about 2 minutes away from leaving here to go to Derek's work for a baby shower. I'll definitely post updates about that when we get home. Or sometime thereafter. :)

two days

....until Christmas vacation, that is.
It's been tough this week. The kids aren't very motivated. I'm not very motivated. My ankles are gigantic. My fingers in my right hand are usually numb. (That's fun).
Our whole school is supposed to be moving sometime. I'm not sure exactly when. Everyday, they tell us "tomorrow". So, it's hard to plan around that. I have a bunch of tests and quizzes planned for today's "tomorrow" so if I go in tomorrow and they switch their forecast from tomorrow to today, then I'm saying NO.
Um, yeah. So, that's all the news from here.
I have one month and one week remaining in my scheduled pregnancy, although I'm getting a bit uncomfortable and I'm not dealing with that so well. I don't think I was cut out for having babies. Perhaps we'll get the next one already assembled. I think it costs extra, but I now think it's worth it. :)

just a boring update post

i see that it's been quite some time since i posted last.
it is because my life is extremely boring, i must confess.
let's see.....

on saturday, i made cookies all day long. there's still a bit of work to do to bring that task to completion. i have to decorate the sugar cookies with frosting and tasty candy decor. derek has to dip some peanut butter balls in melted chocolate. then the cookies will be ready for gift distribution.

on sunday, i drove to raleigh to visit some old pals. i went to my old church, bethesda baptist. it was a lot different. they've switched to contemporary worship, so i didn't get to try to time my ending notes with the ever long last notes of hugh o'shields. i saw all the old favs, the minor family, the bankers, noah and carly's mom, debbie, scott parrish, laughing karla, all the overcashes, the dowd's and of course, the p. clay stevens family. then, i scooted over to sarahpowers house. from there we went to visit her mom and dad who are in town for a full month. we then watched a hockey game full of batavia newyorkers. that was fun. then i headed back.

this week has been pretty busy, it seems. mostly because i get tired-er and tired-er by the day. we are winding down the semester though. it's day 74 today of 90 days. the last four of which are exams, so it's day 74 of 86 "teaching" days. crazy. and even more importantly, we are out a week from today. i don't think that can possibly arrive soon enough.

in baby news, i am about 6 weeks left (on saturday). it's crazy that the baby could, in reality, come whenever he feels like. i was already born at this point in my mom's pregnancy. tina and burl love (from school) just had theirs about 3 weeks early, so i'm trying to get things sorted out around school, in case of an early baby arrival.

well, that's about it. told you it was boring. :)

friday.

but i'm not bitter because it's friday. :)

silver diner

so, derek and i ate at billy bob's silver diner last night. for the last 4ish years, i've been telling him i want to eat there sometime. it's shiny. it's a diner. what more can you want?



well, i'll tell you. better service. and food prepared the way you ask. that's what.

our server was a little slow. maybe we could call her multi-taskingly challenged. she just seemed to be on one track all night. whatever.
i ordered a "carolina cadillac" cheeseburger.... medium well done. not because i like charred meat, but because of the baby. it was served up and looked delicious. my first bite revealed bright red meat inside. so, i had to trade with derek.
the irony is: derek didn't mind because when he asked how big the burgers were, the aforementioned waitress told us about 1/4 pound. so he selected a different menu item, based on this information. well, lo and behold, the burger was quite gigantic, so due to the bloody meat, derek looked to benefit from the situation. so we switched.
derek had ordered a philly cheesesteak sandwich, but it came without tomatoes and mayo. getting our waitress to bring these items proved quite difficult, so derek got up and found her and got some.
besides this, our evening was quite enjoyable.

hump day

it's wednesday. it's a slow moving week for me.
i don't know why.
and today is going to be particularly long.
i have learning center for my nerdy kids this morning at 7:00ish.
and then i teach all day (that's normal, i'm not complaining about that).
then, i have a few kids taking a makeup test, that will last an hour and a half or so.
then, we have church from 7-9 tonight.
so, without further ado.....
here we go!

night.... divine

tonight, at youth group, some of the students were showcasing their musical talents by listening to veggie tales through headphones and singing along for all to hear. we, the staff, got talking and the topic turned to the most awful rendition of o holy night ever made.
when the night was over, we quickly hopped online to see if we could locate this version, and lo and behold we found it.
it's late, and i'm not in the mood to investigate how to post music on this blog, so here is the link for you to enjoy this ear piercing bit of holiday cheer. enjoy....

texas hold 'em

derek's company christmas party was last night.

we went out to eat with some of his coworkers and wives at carraba'a first. i had mushroom ravioli. it was delicious. and like 50 waters.

then the party was at a fancy pants country club. when we got there, we received 10,000 chips to gamble with. there was roulette, black jack, craps, and texas hold 'em.
the posse that went to dinner snatched up our own hold 'em table and played there for quite a bit of time. i did alright. it was a pretty novice table (myself included) and there was a lot checking. (jake once told me that "checking is what you always do if you can". killer advice from a 9 year old poker star).

anyhow, it was a late night for a pregnant girl, so this morning has been a little rough. perhaps i'm just wussy in my old age.

oh, to finish the story. i ended up about 5000 chips ahead, i think. (i can't remember because of all the water, chocolate dipped strawberries, and mostly the wild mushrooms in my raviolis. oh, and because derek mixed his winnings in with mine while i went to the bathroom.). anyhow, we put all the money on one hand of blackjack. the first card was a 2. then a queen. we hit. it was a jack. the end. :)

warm baby bag

we bought this sweet "coat" for the soon-to-be newborn baby isaac t.

fat ankles

yeah. so my ankles are fat.
that's really all i have to say.

8 more weeks....

hiccups

yesterday, the baby sir isaac t. lidbom obtained the hiccups.
derek tried to hear them, but i saw on discovery or national geographic or some other educational station that fetuses don't make noises when they hiccup.
it was amusing at first, but then it got a little old.
derek and i tried scaring him, but that did not work.
i tried holding my breath, but that also did not work.
i just had to wait it out, and soon the alien stomach action was over.

on a side note...
i hate when people spell hiccup like this: hiccough.

jolly ranchers

jolly ranchers ranking by personal preference:
1. green apple
2. blue raspberry
3. cherry
4. watermelon
5. grape
nobody likes the grapes.
this, of course, is just the jolly ranchers that are found in a "standard" bag.
i am a big fan of peach and orange flavors, as well.

thanksgiving feast

so, dave finally sent the pictures of our junior high youth group thanksgiving activities....
the goal was to make a turkey out of a can of spam and to make all the sides out of an assortment of play-doh colors. well, we didn't use actual play-doh. i think it was dollar tree fun-doh or something of the generic sort.
anyhow, crysane and i (and later, preston) did a super sweet job of recreating our holiday favorites.
without further ado...

7 month belly shot

um, yeah. i'm pretty fat.

back to school....

well, the fun and games has ended. today we head back.
and the schedule is packed solid until christmas.
there are four solid weeks of 5 days a piece until the aforementioned holiday break.
it's a tough chunk of schedule.
the good news is - it flies by when it's like that.
the bad news is - i'm more likely to grab a student by the neck and tell them how i really feel. vacations are good for teachers too.
we are exactly 60 days into the semester. 30 remaining. then we get a fresh batch of kids. except in the calculus case. i get those very same 28 lovely teenagers for another full semester. good times. thanks a lot doyle.

fresh paint

so, we finished painting the baby's room today.
the official color is polka-blue.
it's insprired by some sort of nickelodeon cartoon that escapes me right now.
it is, by far, our best painting endeavor thus far.
(we haven't always had the best of luck).

anyhoo....
now, derek has to assemble the crib and move in the other furniture.
then i can unpack the various gifts and pre-baby purchases we've made.
then, it's game on.

31 down, 9 to go

so i'm 31 weeks pregnant today.
i've gained a ridiculous amount of weight over the last couple of weeks.
(topped off, of course, by much holidy feasting)

we've been painting the baby's room. it should be done today, so look for pictures soon. once, that's done, we'll move all the furniture that's crowding the room that already doubles as my office and the spare room. so that will be nice. for me and any potential desks that don't like navigating bags of shower gifts, extra furniture, etcetera, etcetera.

i think we settled on a middle name for the baby with the first name of isaac and last name of lidbom. middle name: timothy.
i think that's all on the baby update for the week.

thanksgiving eve

it's the wednesday before thanksgiving.
supposedly, this is the #1 party day of the entire year.
or maybe it's #2 after new year's eve.
whatever.
either way, i'm not going to be partying i don't suppose.

so, there's no kids at school today. that's always nice.
i just graded about 150 math items. tests, quizzes and classwork type stuff.
good times. i despise grading.

let's see....
we had a delightful dinner with my ex-mentor doyle last night.
his dog came over and played with lucy while we went out for (heartburn) mexican.
he also gave me all of his forbush paraphenalia. since he's a quitter and won't be coming back. (just kidding, if you read this doyle)

anyhow, that's all the (not so important) news from my world. good bye.

just another manic monday

actually, it's not JUST another manic monday.
it's the monday that kicks off my two day week.
it's pretty tough.
we actually have a teacher workday on wednesday, so technically, i have to work.
but, it's hardly work when there's no kids and classes to teach.
gotta love this time of year!!

30 weeks

Today marks 30 weeks of being pregnant.
For the Frankie's out there, that means 10 to go.

We still have an enormous amount of work to do.
I have cleared out the baby's room for painting, but have yet to actually move towards actually painting the room. We bought a lot of baby furniture type items over the summer from various yard sales and other ex-baby owners. But, most of it's in the basement, garage and crammed into the other upstairs bedroom (my current office).

We haven't taken any classes on having babies yet, either. They run for 4 weekends in January. I'm not sure how that will work out, since I'm due the 27th, but we'll see what happens, I guess.

We have a shower today. It will mostly consist of Derek's Mom's church friends. I don't know how many of them I'll even know. Luckily, Derek is coming with me, so I won't be totally on my own.

I'm growing exceptionally fat. And, I'm sure it will just get better as time wears on. I can barely tie my right shoe. (I can still pick my left up and cross it onto my right and handle that. Due to a large number of knee surgeries, I have to bend over the floor to take care of the right). I have a hard time with the glove compartment in Derek's car. Especially during acceleration. It's a good time. But, I can still see my feet. So, that's working out for now. :)

calvin and hobbes

warning: this video has a "reference" to some expletives.
and it's a little violent. but, pretty funny, all the same.

old

so, today is my 30th birthday.
it sounds so old.
yet, i feel so, not-30.
i pretty much feel the same as i did in high school.
(without the whole pregnancy thing, of course).
if i knew then that people who were 30 felt just like me, i would have called them on acting so grown up all the time.

still. 30.
that just sounds so old.
remember that tv show "thirty something"? those people were OLD.
i guess i feel old when i turn thirty something instead of just plain thirty.

in other news, there's 2 more days of school until the weekend.
and 4 more student days until thanksgiving break.
and 10 weeks and 2 days until the baby gets born. (projected, of course)

a versatile number line

perhaps i should have been more specific with my directions.
i guess i just thought one would usually assume that a number line is just that -- a line.

but, it is not so. on my last test in "intro to math", this was the number line one student drew.



it's definitely one of my top ten wrong answers of all time. i should start a list...

back in the bible belt

well, we're back.
truth is, we got back sunday night, but i've been busy and tired and haven't posted.
it was a pleasant trip. we didn't really do much.
we took jake out to buy his birthday present. he chose a gumby toy and a robot dinosaur.
we went to eat at the pok-a-dot where derek ordered his favorite, an italian omelet.
we also dined at other local establishments, such as the miss batavia diner and pontillo's pizza. other than that, we mostly lounged around and did very little.
it was relaxing.
the two 10 hour drives it was sandwiched between were not as wonderful. nothing bad. just unfun.

so, yeah. now we're back in the swing of things. counting down the days until thanksgiving vacation! (6 student days)....

in other news, the baby is less than 11 weeks away.
and i'm 2 days shy of 30 years old. bleh.

that's all!

What American accent do you have?

Mine was pretty much dead on...

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Inland North You may think you speak "Standard English straight out of the dictionary" but when you step away from the Great Lakes you get asked annoying questions like "Are you from Wisconsin?" or "Are you from Chicago?" Chances are you call carbonated drinks "pop."
The Midland
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
The West
Boston
North Central
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I do say "pop".

Spontaneous NY Trip

We have early release from school today and the day off tomorrow, so Derek and I decided to take a spontaneous trip to Batavia, NY.
We figure it could be the last time for awhile, with me growing larger by the minute.
Then the baby will be here and with school and babies and all, it will probably be next summer before we revisit lovely, scenic Western New York.
We decided last night, so I was up packing and preparing. Then, for some unknown reason, I got the best night's rest I've had in a LONG time. That was pretty sweet.

Well, anyways... look for updates from our travels soon.
:)
And happy weekend to all...

math jokes

for the mathematically inclined....

kissing fish

this is sort of cool.

NHL on Google Video

Um, this is pretty sweet.
You can watch the games of any NHL team via Google Video.
So, even here, in the middle of North Carolina, I can watch the Buffalo Sabres.
I love technology.

belated birthday shoutout

Happy Belated Birthday to my little baby brother Jake, who turned NINE on Sunday.

(a nine year old Uncle - that's fun)

6 month belly shot

for those of you in far away places that have been asking to see what my new and improved midsection looks like, here you go:

i'm not really a big fan of the tight, belly revealing shirt, but i don't think it would have done much good to post a picture in a big loose polo shirt (my standard daytime clothing choice) or an even bigger loose fitting sweatshirt (typical nighttime fare).
anyhow... enjoy.

lucy the wonder dog

here is a picture of our dog.

that's all.

we need a little christmas

but not quite this very minute.

there's a radio station that is already 100% dedicated to christmas music.
i don't know when it started, but i first heard it yesterday. november 5th, that is.
that is WAY too early to have christmas music.

now, don't get me wrong. i love christmas and the music and the memories. but, it definitely has a one month window of opportunity in my life. it should be declared a law that all things christmas should not be seen, heard, or smelled until the day after thanksgiving. well, except for the thanksgiving day ads. those would be acceptable.

anyhow, i'll be steering clear of 104.7 until thanksgiving, lest i should become bored with the christmas season by early december.

goldminer

pretty much the most addictive game ever

make your own snowflake

who doesn't like making paper snowflakes....


....without having to pick up all the tiny little scraps of paper!!

an old favorite

this is one of my favorite old computer games.

long sunday

another weekend come and gone.
we made no "baby-progress". that is, we didn't prepare in any way for the arrival of sir isaac.
we need to paint. and get the room in order.
we probably need to do a lot of stuff that we aren't thinking of at the moment.

derek has been sick, so i've been steering clear of him and all his germs.
and it's made for some pretty lazy days for the both of us lately. and lots of tv.
(we have a dvr now -- no more foil covered rabbit ears!)

we had rake 'n run for our youth group tonight.
we carted the kids around town and raked up yards and then left.
it was fun. then we ate pizza and had youth group. made for a tiring day.

in other (great) news....
we have this friday off and thursday is a half day. that's something to look forward to all week!!

that is all.

28 weeks

So, today I am 28 weeks pregnant. For those that don't know, that leaves 12 more to go.
The official due date is January 27th.
So far, I've had a pretty easy pregnancy. I didn't have any morning sickness. Or any sickness at all. I didn't feel great in the first few months, but I can't complain. In the last month or so, I've started feeling VERY tired. I'm sure it's due to the baby, but probably also the return to teaching. I have also recently developed an almost chronic case of heartburn. I was slightly prone to it before, so it's not much of a surprise. I keep a large tub of Tums nearby, and all is well.
The baby is kicking away and letting me know that he's in there. It's pretty weird. Like an alien.
So, that's the update on the baby development. Perhaps I'll post a fat stomach shot soon....

here we go....

hello.
this will serve as my official kickoff post to my new-and-improved attempt at a blog.
i have a website.
i haven't updated it since march.
i lost the password. then when i found it, i think i had lost all three members of my pathetic audience. so, i am pulling the plug on that.
so, why start again??
because i'm getting ready to have a kid (a boy named sir isaac). and i know that people will want pictures and updates and such. and it's just way easier than calling.
well, that's my opener. hope you enjoy the show.....