And Then, There Were -- NONE

My son got the call about 1 p.m. today, within minutes he called me, he leaves for Air Force basic training on Monday. He will be at San Antonio for six weeks, then tech school for another four months. Meanwhile, the daughter is at College Station, about an hour from Dallas. Wifey and I are still in Williamsport.

Meanwhile, at School
We continued our lesson on physical and chemical weathering. Thanks to all the concerned parents that, after receiving my mass email about upcoming progress reports, contacted me for updates.

Well, the boy is packing. Have a good weekend, folks.

Lab 9 -- Reviewing physical and chemical changes

A neat little reading packet about weather and changes. The packet must be completed through page 8 for tomorrow. We get to watch a video, tomorrow and finish Lab 9.

An Angel From Heaven Responded To My Blog, Yesterday
If you look at the comment section to yesterday's blog, you will see a response from Shirin. This is the young lady that took my daughter in during the last few hurricane evacuations from Galveston. Shirin and her family fed and housed my kid for several weeks as Texas A&M regrouped and moved operations to the College Station campus. Shirin and her family came directly from heaven and appeared at a time when my family needed her most. She literally saved my kid -- and for that, I will be eternally grateful. Please take a moment to comment to this blog and say hello to Shirin.

Have a great night, folks.

They Must Love Me, This Assignment Could Be Done At Home

Okay, I've got about a dozen munchkins in my classroom completing Lab 8e -- identifying sand. This part of the project could be done on any computer, because you access the website through my website. Instead, they chose to stay after school and work in my room. Although I know its not true, I fancy to think they stayed because they wanted to spend some extra time with me. They Love Me -- They Really Love Me!!! Eh, they wanted an excuse to be with friends. Hey, I can imagine - can't I.

Daughter Has A Home
Fancy that, my daughter is being housed in a hotel at College Station, Texas. She said she has to take two buses and walk about 15 minutes to get to campus from the hotel, but, she has a single room with a king-sized bed, fridge, microwave, coffeemaker, and AC. After a four hour trip from Houston to College Station, she spent the night in the room. She realized, this morning, she needs to buy a coat. She said even at 10 a.m. it was cold. Since she is completely lost, she did find someone to guide her to the campus bookstore. "Dad, they have coats, but, the price!!!" I told her to go ahead. At this point, her health and comfort are priority over cost. Geez, that hurt to say. All that money! Oiy!!!! Still the college version of my kid in sweats and sneaks is better than the teenaged kid with designer clothes.

I Like This Class
You should see my cherubs. They are working on this lab and fully-intend to finish by 4:30. For the last few weeks I questioned their maturity. I am eating crow, they are working in a mature manner. Aiy, it does my old Irish heart proud -- whoops, I'm Polish.

Have a great night, folks. Time to ask Pappa Z for help.

Hey! There's a Docs in my Google!!!

Took my social studies class to that fancy new computer lab that was supposed to be for middle school, but, was taken over by high school --arrgghhh. Anyway, showed my munchkins how to use google.docs. It is a neat alternative to Microsoft Word without - to quote Mr. Ellis, our 7th grade social studies teacher - "all the bells and whistles."

Speaking of Computers
Some of my science classes are behind schedule and should be on page 16 through 18 in their packets. This involves using the computer and finding sites on our FOSS module. Your kiddoes have all the instructions and are welcomed to work at home. I want this entire packet done by Thursday morning. NO FORGIVENESS!!! It's now time to observe deadlines. We have to push-on. I am three weeks behind schedule, as it is.

Maneuvering through a battlefield
My kid called at 3 for her 100 mile trip to College Station. Here it is pert near 7 and she is still 40 miles from College Station. She said the roads are like minefields, traffic is bumper-to-bumper, they had to travel in the opposite direction to get around impassable road lengths. So, there they are, my kid, her friend and her boyfriend, enroute to the main campus. She is staying in a hotel, tonight, and will be assigned a room and an area rooming house, tomorrow. Would you go through all that?

Have a great night, folks. Pray for the hurricane victims in Texas. While you're at it, say a little prayer for Mrs. Fry. I just adore that woman.

Shake It, Baby!

Take 400-grams of rocks, a plastic jar, and 27 kids with the job of turning those rocks into sand, and you have a loud event. Talk about a rock concert! They had to shake those rocks for 10 minutes -- seven groups per class. Oiy, Mrs. Dincher regained her hearing three class periods later, poor Mrs. Phillips went home in a daze. Even Mr. DiMarco, high school principal, came down to investigate the ruckus. He said it reminded him of the days of Mr. Snyder teaching Earth Science -- Mr. DiMarco, where do you think I got the idea? I had Mr. Snyder for science.

Okay, 'nough said. Time for lotsa Tylenol.

Have a great night, folks.

It's All GONE

The daughter's roommate made it to Galveston, today, to retrieve personal items from the dorm room. The near 100-degree daily temperature, 90+ humidity, wind and rain damage, permitted mold to take over the entire dormatory. Apparently, there is nothing worth saving, except the fish in the aquarium. He was left behind because school officials told students at time of evacuation to take only a week's worth of items and they would be back at campus in a few days. Apparently, all left the aquariums behind. I don't know about the others, but, this fish was still swimming about. Kinda neat how aquatic critters can reduce their metabolic rate to survive long periods without food.

Now, we have to submit an itemized list of all her belongings. All those clothes we bought this past summer - gone. What a waste. She said she never got a chance to wear half of those clothes.

Well, I have to submit a claim through FEMA -- I've been told victims of Katrina are still waiting for their FEMA checks -- don't t'ya just love government workings?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, folks.