Ivy let me sleep late this morning and greeted me eagerly wagging her tail when I came downstairs. She has transitioned well from her days as a puppy. She has not had a wetting incident in quite a while. I contend these are more a function of being tuned into her needs. She is a good advocate for herself and has a special bark to let us know when she needs to go outside. However, lately her bark to go outside to check for rabbits is getting close to this bark and it is confusing. Either way, she goes outside on her tether. Sometimes I sit with her and other times I just go back inside. Continue reading Day 78: A Final Saturday
Category Archives: Teaching and Learning
Day 77: The Meteor Shower, Triskaidekaphobia, and …
Last night, Thursday, after I posted, Ivy and I took off for a journey into the country. Earlier, I read this is the time of the astronomical year when the Perseid Meteor Shower can be seen by the naked eye and the peak viewing would be Thursday evening, especially in the late night and early morning hours. I remember making a similar trip last year with William and Olivia to look up at the sky for meteors, but we were unsuccessful.
This year and I drove west along the old Lincoln Highway toward DeKalb, Continue reading Day 77: The Meteor Shower, Triskaidekaphobia, and …
Day 76: A visit to school…
Thursday was hot, very hot. So hot the National Weather Service called for an excessive heat warning and urged people to stay inside and avoid strenuous activity. Ivy and I were more than happy to comply. But, I wondered how in the world did I ever survive growing up in Sugar Land, Texas? I do remember summer in my youth, but I do remember staying indoors quite a bit, but I also remember swimming in the pool or in the lake. But, that was then and I was used to the heat, now I am not. This type of heat is uncommon for Chicago. Continue reading Day 76: A visit to school…
Day 75: This means one week to go…
The number of days remaining in summer vacation hit single digits earlier this week and now I am down to a single week. I am left with spending time getting ready for school and wrapping up loose ends before school starts.
Teachers view the end of summer much like students do, I am certain. We view it with a sense of sadness that our time to rest, relax, and rejuvenate is over. Our time of dressing casually will end, as well as sleeping late or staying up late, they too will come to a halt. It also means some activities will need to curtailed or stopped altogether. I had not really planned for summer to end so I had not planned what to do with the blog, I do want to continue but I cannot keep the pace of writing daily and maintaining my sanity and grip on class all at the same time. I have some thinking to do on this matter and I hope that – if you are reading – you continue to stop in and read along on my journey through the year. Continue reading Day 75: This means one week to go…
Days 73 and 74: The Doghouse in the Nile
Monday and Tuesday were much the same: I stayed home and worked in the basement and walked Ivy occasionally. It was too warm and muggy to want to be outside, though I did sit outside and read Monday afternoon. I had Ivy on the tether and she was barking so, I went outside and sat down and she stopped. She was content to lie beneath the chair while I read. Otherwise, my sole outdoor activity was simply walking Ivy. Continue reading Days 73 and 74: The Doghouse in the Nile
Day 71 and 72: Sillybandz, Nemo, and Mosqitoes!
The purpose of this blog was to chronicle what I was doing to make the days count. It is a philosophy that I have used with my students at the end of the year. I challenge them with the statement; “We can all count the days, but can we make the days count?” Hence, why I named the blog: Making the Days Count: A Summer Well Spent. In some ways, I have answered the call. I have reported what we have done as a family, what I have done individually, but I have failed, in some cases, to connect the dots to why it counts. With the days dwindling a summer has been well spent and the school year will soon be upon me. Continue reading Day 71 and 72: Sillybandz, Nemo, and Mosqitoes!
Day 70: Friday at home
It has been ten full weeks of summer, seventy days, with twelve more days remaining. Eighty-two days of summer vacation are a bit short of the ’…hundred and four days of summer vacation…’ promised in the song that inspired this blog:
There’s a hundred and four days of summer vacation,
‘Til school comes along just to end it,
So the annual problem for our generation,
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe…
From “Today is Gonna be a Great Day” by Bowling for Soup (click to play) 104_days_clip
I am beginning to feel that school does come along just to end it. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to getting back in the groove and having a regular schedule. Continue reading Day 70: Friday at home
Day 66: The cousins arrive
Today was the day, really the day. Olivia was going to get her stitches out. It was also the day William and she had been looking forward to – their cousins were arriving from Texas. It was going to be a great day. However, first we needed to finish the cleaning and moving we started Sunday.
Olivia woke and reminded me about our ‘date’ and we took off for the hospital to have her stitched removed. We checked in and it was a not a busy morning. The doctor checked in and the stitches were out. Olivia noted it took hardly any time at all. Even though the stitches were out, Olivia’s wound was not finished healing. She had to stay out of the water for another week.
Olivia pleaded, ‘What about tubing?”
The doctor replied, “No, swimming, what happens when you fall off?”
Olivia, retorted, “I won’t fall off.”
That is Olivia for you. We stopped at the bakery and got doughnuts and newspapers to ease the pain of no swimming. Continue reading Day 66: The cousins arrive
Day 65: Our last Sunday at the cottage
This is our last week at the cottage. It has been a great summer. We can all look back at the summer, smile, and realize that our days have counted. Each day has been a great day, for one reason or another.
For the past few years, this Sunday has marked our return to Wheaton and reality. Not this year, William decided not to play football this year and it means we do not need to be back for evaluations and ‘team selection.’ His decision gives us more time up north and we can visit with Beth’s sister Jill and her two boys: Sam and John. They arrive Monday afternoon and the kids cannot wait to see them. They live in Texas and we do not get to see them except for holidays and briefly during the summer when our paths cross at the cottage. Grandma and Grandpa will be driving up from Ohio Tuesday and it will be a full house, or rather a full cottage. Continue reading Day 65: Our last Sunday at the cottage
Day 63: The sign said “Cook out – 6:30”
Today was the day – Olivia was supposed to get her stitches out. From that perspective, it could have been a disappointing day but as it turned out it was possibly the best day ever.
It all started Thursday, when I arrived at the beach with Ely boat. Beth and Anna were talking about the guard camp and I remembered reading in the Crawford County Avalanche that Friday was the annual Michigan National Guard Review at Camp Grayling and the public was invited. I mentioned this because Anna’s boys, Nick and Kris, love to play army with William and Olivia. In fact, this is what they were doing when Olivia injured herself last week. Continue reading Day 63: The sign said “Cook out – 6:30”