"Spring is in the Air" March 2020 W.I.S.H. Challenge

[PollyannaMom]

Explaining my addition for "U" -

DS had to do an animal observation assignment for school. That's the webcam he picked, and the tamarins are sooooooooo adorable! Really made me smile to watch them.

 

[Oneanne]

A - Applause, because we all deserve it.
B - Banana bread, which I made early this morning to surprise DH and DS
C - Chocolate in all forms and all kinds
D - DS, who cooked us all breakfast this morning!
E - everyone in this thread
F - Flowers
G - Gardening
H - Health
I - Internet
J
K - Kitties
L - Laughter
M - Mickey Mouse
N - Nice people, who are making an extra effort to be friendly, even from a distance
O - Ocean
P - Popcorn
Q
R - Reading (doing a lot of that lately!)
S - Sunshine
T - Teams (chat/video through Microsoft 365) -- This is what we are using at work to stay connected and work from home.
U - Utica Zoo's Tamarin & Iguana Webcam
V - Videos that make me laugh
W - Walking
X
Y
Z - Zoom (meeting app) - I signed up yesterday, and was very proud of myself.

 

[Summer2018]

Do you all remember the movie, "Love Actually?" It is my favorite movie.

I was thinking of the very last scene in the airport when everyone is meeting up with their loved ones after a time apart at the airport. The music playing in the background is "God Only Knows" by the Beach Boys. Everyone is running to each other, embracing, crying, laughing, like it has been forever since they have held each other.

That's what I picture happening everywhere when this nightmare is over.

 

[sjrec]

Decided to have my once a week quarantini today instead of tomorrow so I could enjoy it on the deck in the sunshine!

 

[Summer2018]

View attachment 483529

Decided to have my once a week quarantini today instead of tomorrow so I could enjoy it on the deck in the sunshine!

Looks like Heaven.

 

[PollyannaMom]

All right, folks, we're almost there. - We can do this!

For Q, I nominate sjrec's coining of the word "quarantini", because it's perfect!

And for Y, I'm adding yarn, because I just got an e-mail from my aunt, who is knitting up a storm!

We just need J and X...


A - Applause, because we all deserve it.
B - Banana bread, which I made early this morning to surprise DH and DS
C - Chocolate in all forms and all kinds
D - DS, who cooked us all breakfast this morning!
E - everyone in this thread
F - Flowers
G - Gardening
H - Health
I - Internet
J
K - Kitties
L - Laughter
M - Mickey Mouse
N - Nice people, who are making an extra effort to be friendly, even from a distance
O - Ocean
P - Popcorn
Q - Quarantinis
R - Reading (doing a lot of that lately!)
S - Sunshine
T - Teams (chat/video through Microsoft 365) -- This is what we are using at work to stay connected and work from home.
U - Utica Zoo's Tamarin & Iguana Webcam
V - Videos that make me laugh
W - Walking
X
Y - Yarn
Z - Zoom (meeting app) - I signed up yesterday, and was very proud of myself.

 

[Oneanne]

A - Applause, because we all deserve it.
B - Banana bread, which I made early this morning to surprise DH and DS
C - Chocolate in all forms and all kinds
D - DS, who cooked us all breakfast this morning!
E - everyone in this thread
F - Flowers
G - Gardening
H - Health
I - Internet
J - jam, the fruity kind or the music kind
K - Kitties
L - Laughter
M - Mickey Mouse
N - Nice people, who are making an extra effort to be friendly, even from a distance
O - Ocean
P - Popcorn
Q - Quarantinis
R - Reading (doing a lot of that lately!)
S - Sunshine
T - Teams (chat/video through Microsoft 365) -- This is what we are using at work to stay connected and work from home.
U - Utica Zoo's Tamarin & Iguana Webcam
V - Videos that make me laugh
W - Walking
X
Y - Yarn
Z - Zoom (meeting app) - I signed up yesterday, and was very proud of myself.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Heading to bed soon, so I checked the Scrabble dictionary, and came up with: Xerography

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xerox-Corporation

I'm certainly thankful to be able to make photocopies of things!! (Can you imagine copying everything by hand? Or do you remember carbon paper?)

So we have our complete Alphabet of Gratitude...and a great new Scrabble word:

A - Applause, because we all deserve it.
B - Banana bread, which I made early this morning to surprise DH and DS
C - Chocolate in all forms and all kinds
D - DS, who cooked us all breakfast this morning!
E - everyone in this thread
F - Flowers
G - Gardening
H - Health
I - Internet
J - jam, the fruity kind or the music kind
K - Kitties
L - Laughter
M - Mickey Mouse
N - Nice people, who are making an extra effort to be friendly, even from a distance
O - Ocean
P - Popcorn
Q - Quarantinis
R - Reading (doing a lot of that lately!)
S - Sunshine
T - Teams (chat/video through Microsoft 365) -- This is what we are using at work to stay connected and work from home.
U - Utica Zoo's Tamarin & Iguana Webcam
V - Videos that make me laugh
W - Walking
X - Xerography
Y - Yarn
Z - Zoom (meeting app) - I signed up yesterday, and was very proud of myself.

 

[Oneanne]

Heading to bed soon, so I checked the Scrabble dictionary, and came up with: Xerography

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Xerox-Corporation

I'm certainly thankful to be able to make photocopies of things!! (Can you imagine copying everything by hand? Or do you remember carbon paper?)

So we have our complete Alphabet of Gratitude...and a great new Scrabble word:

A - Applause, because we all deserve it.
B - Banana bread, which I made early this morning to surprise DH and DS
C - Chocolate in all forms and all kinds
D - DS, who cooked us all breakfast this morning!
E - everyone in this thread
F - Flowers
G - Gardening
H - Health
I - Internet
J - jam, the fruity kind or the music kind
K - Kitties
L - Laughter
M - Mickey Mouse
N - Nice people, who are making an extra effort to be friendly, even from a distance
O - Ocean
P - Popcorn
Q - Quarantinis
R - Reading (doing a lot of that lately!)
S - Sunshine
T - Teams (chat/video through Microsoft 365) -- This is what we are using at work to stay connected and work from home.
U - Utica Zoo's Tamarin & Iguana Webcam
V - Videos that make me laugh
W - Walking
X - Xerography
Y - Yarn
Z - Zoom (meeting app) - I signed up yesterday, and was very proud of myself.

Woohoo we did it! Does anyone remember ditto-masters for making copies?

 

[Summer2018]

Woohoo we did it! Does anyone remember ditto-masters for making copies?

OMG yes...the purple ink. When I was student teaching, I had to learn how to do it, but I never actually used it because by the time I got a teaching job, they started using copy machines.

 

[PollyannaMom]

Good morning, and happy Friday, everyone!!

I know we don't normally do an official question on Fridays, so still post about anything that's on your mind!

But I'll start with my own random thought: If you're working from home now, are you/how are you separating your weekdays and weekends?

Here in my house, I think DS is spreading his schoolwork out over the week/weekend, in order to shorten his academic time per day. DH is separating his schedule a little more, as his Zoom meetings are still on weekdays. We're planning to do some more work on the tool room decluttering project this weekend, but I'm thinking of having an at-home movie night or something as well.

Also, do we have a volunteer to host next week??

 

[Summer2018]

Good morning, and happy Friday, everyone!!

I know we don't normally do an official question on Fridays, so still post about anything that's on your mind!

But I'll start with my own random thought: If you're working from home now, are you/how are you separating your weekdays and weekends?

Here in my house, I think DS is spreading his schoolwork out over the week/weekend, in order to shorten his academic time per day. DH is separating his schedule a little more, as his Zoom meetings are still on weekdays. We're planning to do some more work on the tool room decluttering project this weekend, but I'm thinking of having an at-home movie night or something as well.

Also, do we have a volunteer to host next week??

I have been working weekends to meet deadlines, but that ends today. My school responsibilities are bleeding through into all hours every day. My work hours are supposed to be 8:30am - 3:30pm. I've been getting up a 7:30am instead of 5:45am, which is nice by the way, and I have time to eat breakfast and take care of myself before shooting off my first email of the day. I was up at 3am today with stressful thoughts swimming in my brain, but fortunately I fell back to sleep sometime after 4am. Anyway, my para tends to text me ALL DAY AND NIGHT. She woke me up at 11:48pm last night, and it took me forever to fall back to sleep. I hate to give her a curfew because her willingness to work right now is above and beyond what EVERY OTHER PARAPROFESSIONAL in the district is currently doing. They have had a vacation while she has been supporting me every step of the way. So, I don't want to restrict her; hurt her feelings; and end up with no help. I will, however, tell her not to text me after 8pm.

This weekend will be anything but school work. The weather will be bad, so I will be inside the house. No beach walks this weekend, although, that's probably good because the beach fills up on the weekend. Not a lot of social distancing. During the week, it's perfect for a midday walk.

I will eventually volunteer to host, but I'm not in a good place for that right now. My superintendent, administrators, and parents are up my behind all day long. I'm still working on creating a routine. When I think I have one, the superintendent throws yet another curveball (I wish I kept track of how many there have been so far...) and I am suddenly swamped with a new challenge to navigate. He is definitely not efficient. He overreacts and it trickles down to the teachers. Things change EVERY DAY with him. Even the principals are getting frustrated and impatient. I think we would all do so much better if we could just figure out what works best...working smarter, not harder. It's not rocket science.

Anyway, eventually things have to settle down. When that happens, I will volunteer.

Have a great day.

Back to work for me...

 

[sjrec]

Woohoo we did it! Does anyone remember ditto-masters for making copies?

Yes! It was part of a course I took when I was student teaching-along with learning to use a film strip projector and those 8mm movie projectors!

 

[Summer2018]

Yes! It was part of a course I took when I was student teaching-along with learning to use a film strip projector and those 8mm movie projectors!

Yes!!!

It took me a few years after school to start teaching. I got married then had a baby. When she was 4, I got my first certified teaching position.

At that point, we had modernized to the point of television sets and VCR's on a cart! I had a huge desktop computer that I didn't know how to use though.

 

[sjrec]

Well, I am retired, so I have a different routine than the rest of you. My husband still does consulting work, and depending on deadlines will work through weekends if necessary. His client has reached out saying they understand that deadlines will be extended because of the difficulty he’s going to have getting info while people are home. So that’s good.
I will say I think it’s important to have a routine. I get dressed (and nice clothes unless I am doing yard work) and I do wear makeup most days. I catch up on news, then do some things around the house or run errands (not now, of course). Then it’s time for my walk. Weekends I stay home unless plans with friends and family. I don’t like crowds!
Hang in there, everyone!

 

[sjrec]

Yes!!!

It took me a few years after school to start teaching. I got married then had a baby. When she was 4, I got my first certified teaching position.

At that point, we had modernized to the point of television sets and VCR's on a cart! I had a huge desktop computer that I didn't know how to use though.

My library had three TVs on carts with vcrs and teachers would sign up to use them! Our senior aide would often have to move them from class to class for us-oh, when we got TVs in the classroom that was a big deal!

 

[Summer2018]

My library had three TVs on carts with vcrs and teachers would sign up to use them! Our senior aide would often have to move them from class to class for us-oh, when we got TVs in the classroom that was a big deal!

I love my SmartBoard, but 11 years ago, when we moved into the new school with “state of the art” technology, I definitely freaked out and really missed the shared TV/VCR on a cart. I have a million VHS tapes that I can no longer use. I also have a lot of cassette tapes, but it’s hard to find cassette players now.

The new technology is great except when there’s glitches. WiFi in our school is in and out.

 

[Oneanne]

I canceled my PTO for Thurs/Fri and went back to work yesterday, and I am so glad I did. I decided I was going to go out with a bang and really make sure they missed me while I was out, so I drove the team to come up with a scrappy hacked together solution that would help increase fulfillment capacity in one of our buildings.

During the day there were three different meetings about what was going on, and it came to light that the work priorities for the next 6 weeks were driven by a different group and our business partners hadn't given their priorities yet... which explains why my area fell 'below the line'. In the afternoon they met and a bunch of questions/ideas started flowing on how to increase capacity in the same building the team and I were focused on. So, at my most hopeful I'm thinking there's slim chance I may not go out, and/or will get called back sooner, because there's a boatload of work to be done and it all fits in to the greater priorities.

Connecting to co-workers was really soothing. I set up a group channel for those in my area who are on the list and we exchanged phone #s and emails to stay in touch during the furlough. I let others know I was in "the group" and we talked about how wonderful it is going to be in mid-May to be back in the office and seeing each other again... I teared up more than once.

I've decided to do some on-line classes/learning on professional development things while I'm out, so I'll be keeping kind of a normal work-like schedule of studying a couple hours each day.

Last night the neighborhood had a 'stand outside and make joyful noise' thing,to thank the first responders, and it was so wonderful. People all around were out hooping and hollering and banging on pans.

I normally make a clear separation between the work week and weekend... I do check SLACK and email over the weekend, but at my convenience and I rarely respond to anything. This weekend will be the exception, as I plan to work on a few things to make sure everything is buttoned up and in the best shape when I'm out... if I'm out. Again, part of the plan is to prove my awesomeness and how much they need me.

I got to use a ditto-master a couple times, helping out in the school office and at summer camp. I loved it and thought it was magic. I also loved paper cutters because they made perfectly straight lines that you couldn't do with scissors.

 

[sjrec]

I canceled my PTO for Thurs/Fri and went back to work yesterday, and I am so glad I did. I decided I was going to go out with a bang and really make sure they missed me while I was out, so I drove the team to come up with a scrappy hacked together solution that would help increase fulfillment capacity in one of our buildings.

During the day there were three different meetings about what was going on, and it came to light that the work priorities for the next 6 weeks were driven by a different group and our business partners hadn't given their priorities yet... which explains why my area fell 'below the line'. In the afternoon they met and a bunch of questions/ideas started flowing on how to increase capacity in the same building the team and I were focused on. So, at my most hopeful I'm thinking there's slim chance I may not go out, and/or will get called back sooner, because there's a boatload of work to be done and it all fits in to the greater priorities.

Connecting to co-workers was really soothing. I set up a group channel for those in my area you are on the list and we exchanged phone #s and emails to stay in touch during the furlough. I let others know I was in "the group" and we talked about how wonderful it is going to be in mid-May to be back in the office and seeing each other again... I teared up more than once.

I've decided to do some on-line classes/learning on professional development things while I'm out, so I'll be keeping kind of a normal work-like schedule of studying a couple hours each day.

Last night the neighborhood had a 'stand outside and make joyful noise' thing,to thank the first responders, and it was so wonderful. People all around were out hooping and hollering and banging on pans.

I normally make a clear separation between the work week and weekend... I do check SLACK and email over the weekend, but at my convenience and I rarely respond to anything. This weekend will be the exception, as I plan to work on a few things to make sure everything is buttoned up and in the best shape when I'm out... if I'm out. Again, part of the plan is to prove my awesomeness and how much they need me.

I got to use a ditto-master a couple times, helping out in the school office and at summer camp. I loved it and thought it was magic. I also loved paper cutters because they made perfectly straight lines that you couldn't do with scissors.

I love your plan!

 

[Summer2018]

I canceled my PTO for Thurs/Fri and went back to work yesterday, and I am so glad I did. I decided I was going to go out with a bang and really make sure they missed me while I was out, so I drove the team to come up with a scrappy hacked together solution that would help increase fulfillment capacity in one of our buildings.

During the day there were three different meetings about what was going on, and it came to light that the work priorities for the next 6 weeks were driven by a different group and our business partners hadn't given their priorities yet... which explains why my area fell 'below the line'. In the afternoon they met and a bunch of questions/ideas started flowing on how to increase capacity in the same building the team and I were focused on. So, at my most hopeful I'm thinking there's slim chance I may not go out, and/or will get called back sooner, because there's a boatload of work to be done and it all fits in to the greater priorities.

Connecting to co-workers was really soothing. I set up a group channel for those in my area you are on the list and we exchanged phone #s and emails to stay in touch during the furlough. I let others know I was in "the group" and we talked about how wonderful it is going to be in mid-May to be back in the office and seeing each other again... I teared up more than once.

I've decided to do some on-line classes/learning on professional development things while I'm out, so I'll be keeping kind of a normal work-like schedule of studying a couple hours each day.

Last night the neighborhood had a 'stand outside and make joyful noise' thing,to thank the first responders, and it was so wonderful. People all around were out hooping and hollering and banging on pans.

I normally make a clear separation between the work week and weekend... I do check SLACK and email over the weekend, but at my convenience and I rarely respond to anything. This weekend will be the exception, as I plan to work on a few things to make sure everything is buttoned up and in the best shape when I'm out... if I'm out. Again, part of the plan is to prove my awesomeness and how much they need me.

I got to use a ditto-master a couple times, helping out in the school office and at summer camp. I loved it and thought it was magic. I also loved paper cutters because they made perfectly straight lines that you couldn't do with scissors.

You seem so optimistic today. Good for you!