All,
I am taking a break from school work as I started school today. Before the administrators get worked up that I am wasting contract time, I am not on contract, at least not with the school. This is my own personal contract to get myself into school shape. That means waking at 6:00 and getting to school by 6:45 and working until 4:00 just like a regular day. Also, a good chance to get work done without the kids. However, with teachers coming in and out and my new room right by the door to the teacher's lot, they are almost just as distracting. I am sure my Adult ADHD doesn't help much either. Regardless, I officially start Thursday and the students next Wednesday. This means next Monday's Emu will be my last for a little while. I might do little quick ones here and there (yes...it is possible for me to write short emails/blogs), but it will be pretty sporadic. Before I got back to work, I did attend Day 1 of the Iowa State Fair with our family on special "free admission before 8:30 Day". My observations....
*I have found a new way to play Bingo at the State Fair, and no its not Cow Chip Bingo! Next year, I am making Bingo cards that don't have numbers, but have things you can observe. It will have spaces that can be used at any State Fair: person eating corn dog, cow pooping, tractor for sale, etc. But I would like to put some special Iowa State Fair observations on there too: "Mullet-Dad with 3 kids all with mohawks", parents using child-leash (seriously...how are those things legal??!), butt crack from adult, butt-crack covered by thong from 13-year old or less (actually....I could see this everday at our middle school!), person with less than 16 teeth (actually would be the free space on most cards). Everyone would get a ketchup packet and put a drop on each space that they can successfully point out without getting noticed doing so. If you get noticed, you are disqualified and likely beaten up as the people displaying the above observed features are usually likely to attack....yes even the 13-year old girl and the mowawk kids...sometimes they are the worst! Either way, its another fun thing to do each year at the Fair!
*Fair Food: As long as I have my pork chop on a stick, I am fine. However, it was so crowded this year on Day One (stupid free admission!), that the line was too long to get one of these. I settled for a corndog. We also decided try one of the Fair's famous inventions: Sugary unhealthy food deep-fried in heart-attack inducing oil. Yes...we did the "Fried Oreos". Tough decision as we could have had the Fried Snickers, Fried Twinkie, or Fried heart of man in front of us that just died (it was too expensive). And sadly, the Fried Oreos were pretty good. Nearby police thought I was committing sucide when I was chugging pills from my pill bottle, but when I showed them it was Lipitor, they let me go. Then word got out and next thing I know I was crushing the pills and selling the Lipitor dust as a condiment at my own stand for $50 a pill.
*Birth of live animals: If you do visit the Fair, make your way to the Air-conditioned building in the NE corner. This is the baby animal experience, a great hands-on experience for kids and adults. If you time it just right, you could see a baby calf be born with a veterinarian's help, or possible baby pigs, baby goats, or baby chickens being born as well. The baby chickens actually just hatch and are pretty easy to time since they have a zillion eggs hatching all day, but it is amazing to watch any of these events. A little disappointed that the vets didn't pull the calf out with a log chain like my Grandpa did, but now makes the birth of our own children make more sense. Never did understand why hospitals didn't have long chains, but since we will someday have more kids, I will stop there. Anyway...go see this part of the fair, its the best. And make sure to watch the "city kids" watch the live births or videos of live births playing on all the TV screens. Its like a car wreck, they don't want to watch, but they can't turn away. Fun stuff!
After all of this, I have realized why you do the State Fair every year....for the kids and the experience. Jack got a Cyclone hat, several fresh cookies, a corndog, and stickers. He got to see and hold several small animals and pet the furs of the dead ones (I still think that is a little morbid, but thank you Conservation Board). Abby got to see and shout at every living animal she saw and pet a horse which made her speechless. She, too, ate a corndog and danced to the hill billy music in the background as we ate under a shade tree. We covered about 40 acres of Fairgrounds in just 4 hours and the kids took it all in. It has been a good summer and the Fair was a great way to bring it to and end. I just wish Jack would quit asking me if he could have a mohawk and telling me that I could have a mullet if I could grow more hair....
Love&Prayers,
Ben
Things to ponder this week:
1. Olympics...if you haven't watched them yet, you need to. West Des Moines own Shawn Johnson had a great first night and if you get to read anything about her, she is what the Olympics and sports needs. She is a 4.0 student that was not "forced" into her sport. She is friendly and modest and has a smile that is contagious. I hope she wins for her, her family, her school and city, and her country.
2.Also, when talking about the Olympics with sports fans online, many mentioned that they wished politics (China's human rights policies, Georgia vs. Russia, Iraq's inclusion, candidates views, Dahfur, etc) stayed out of the Olympics. I fought the other side of the coin. Olympics have always been about bringing the world together every 4 years away from their wars and countries, but have also been about bringing the world's issues to the forefront for at least a couple weeks. We need to be talking about these issues and if sports gives us a comfortable way to start that conversation then so be it. When they wouldn't take that, I told them look the history of the Olympics...it is always about politics whether people like it or not: Munich, Russia, boycotts, terrorism, China, the Cold War, etc. I could go on forever on this topic, but I will enjoy the Olympics for their intended purpose right now....
3. And on a lighter note, this video will forever be remembered as the highlight of the Fair. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it from beginning to end. It was on CNN, news stations around the country, and now Youtube. While you watch, focus on a couple things: remember that this is all live TV, listen to the other 2 newscasters reactions and words (and laughing), and look at how tight this guys pants are by the end of the video... I think he had to be in some pain or at least very fearful for his future!
http://www.kcci.com/video/17135694/index.html
I am taking a break from school work as I started school today. Before the administrators get worked up that I am wasting contract time, I am not on contract, at least not with the school. This is my own personal contract to get myself into school shape. That means waking at 6:00 and getting to school by 6:45 and working until 4:00 just like a regular day. Also, a good chance to get work done without the kids. However, with teachers coming in and out and my new room right by the door to the teacher's lot, they are almost just as distracting. I am sure my Adult ADHD doesn't help much either. Regardless, I officially start Thursday and the students next Wednesday. This means next Monday's Emu will be my last for a little while. I might do little quick ones here and there (yes...it is possible for me to write short emails/blogs), but it will be pretty sporadic. Before I got back to work, I did attend Day 1 of the Iowa State Fair with our family on special "free admission before 8:30 Day". My observations....
*I have found a new way to play Bingo at the State Fair, and no its not Cow Chip Bingo! Next year, I am making Bingo cards that don't have numbers, but have things you can observe. It will have spaces that can be used at any State Fair: person eating corn dog, cow pooping, tractor for sale, etc. But I would like to put some special Iowa State Fair observations on there too: "Mullet-Dad with 3 kids all with mohawks", parents using child-leash (seriously...how are those things legal??!), butt crack from adult, butt-crack covered by thong from 13-year old or less (actually....I could see this everday at our middle school!), person with less than 16 teeth (actually would be the free space on most cards). Everyone would get a ketchup packet and put a drop on each space that they can successfully point out without getting noticed doing so. If you get noticed, you are disqualified and likely beaten up as the people displaying the above observed features are usually likely to attack....yes even the 13-year old girl and the mowawk kids...sometimes they are the worst! Either way, its another fun thing to do each year at the Fair!
*Fair Food: As long as I have my pork chop on a stick, I am fine. However, it was so crowded this year on Day One (stupid free admission!), that the line was too long to get one of these. I settled for a corndog. We also decided try one of the Fair's famous inventions: Sugary unhealthy food deep-fried in heart-attack inducing oil. Yes...we did the "Fried Oreos". Tough decision as we could have had the Fried Snickers, Fried Twinkie, or Fried heart of man in front of us that just died (it was too expensive). And sadly, the Fried Oreos were pretty good. Nearby police thought I was committing sucide when I was chugging pills from my pill bottle, but when I showed them it was Lipitor, they let me go. Then word got out and next thing I know I was crushing the pills and selling the Lipitor dust as a condiment at my own stand for $50 a pill.
*Birth of live animals: If you do visit the Fair, make your way to the Air-conditioned building in the NE corner. This is the baby animal experience, a great hands-on experience for kids and adults. If you time it just right, you could see a baby calf be born with a veterinarian's help, or possible baby pigs, baby goats, or baby chickens being born as well. The baby chickens actually just hatch and are pretty easy to time since they have a zillion eggs hatching all day, but it is amazing to watch any of these events. A little disappointed that the vets didn't pull the calf out with a log chain like my Grandpa did, but now makes the birth of our own children make more sense. Never did understand why hospitals didn't have long chains, but since we will someday have more kids, I will stop there. Anyway...go see this part of the fair, its the best. And make sure to watch the "city kids" watch the live births or videos of live births playing on all the TV screens. Its like a car wreck, they don't want to watch, but they can't turn away. Fun stuff!
After all of this, I have realized why you do the State Fair every year....for the kids and the experience. Jack got a Cyclone hat, several fresh cookies, a corndog, and stickers. He got to see and hold several small animals and pet the furs of the dead ones (I still think that is a little morbid, but thank you Conservation Board). Abby got to see and shout at every living animal she saw and pet a horse which made her speechless. She, too, ate a corndog and danced to the hill billy music in the background as we ate under a shade tree. We covered about 40 acres of Fairgrounds in just 4 hours and the kids took it all in. It has been a good summer and the Fair was a great way to bring it to and end. I just wish Jack would quit asking me if he could have a mohawk and telling me that I could have a mullet if I could grow more hair....
Love&Prayers,
Ben
Things to ponder this week:
1. Olympics...if you haven't watched them yet, you need to. West Des Moines own Shawn Johnson had a great first night and if you get to read anything about her, she is what the Olympics and sports needs. She is a 4.0 student that was not "forced" into her sport. She is friendly and modest and has a smile that is contagious. I hope she wins for her, her family, her school and city, and her country.
2.Also, when talking about the Olympics with sports fans online, many mentioned that they wished politics (China's human rights policies, Georgia vs. Russia, Iraq's inclusion, candidates views, Dahfur, etc) stayed out of the Olympics. I fought the other side of the coin. Olympics have always been about bringing the world together every 4 years away from their wars and countries, but have also been about bringing the world's issues to the forefront for at least a couple weeks. We need to be talking about these issues and if sports gives us a comfortable way to start that conversation then so be it. When they wouldn't take that, I told them look the history of the Olympics...it is always about politics whether people like it or not: Munich, Russia, boycotts, terrorism, China, the Cold War, etc. I could go on forever on this topic, but I will enjoy the Olympics for their intended purpose right now....
3. And on a lighter note, this video will forever be remembered as the highlight of the Fair. If you haven't seen it yet, watch it from beginning to end. It was on CNN, news stations around the country, and now Youtube. While you watch, focus on a couple things: remember that this is all live TV, listen to the other 2 newscasters reactions and words (and laughing), and look at how tight this guys pants are by the end of the video... I think he had to be in some pain or at least very fearful for his future!
http://www.kcci.com/video/17135694/index.html
No comments:
Post a Comment