songspinner

songspinner @ 2021-06-26T17:35:00

2021-06-27T19:54:59Z

Hey, all! I know I've been silent for a long time - it's been a struggle, honestly, to find energy to do things like posting here.

I taught distance learning for the last year and a piece since we shut down, and as an immunocompromised person, I was locked down in my home for most of it. (little trips down the hill to the ocean once in a while, a few doctors' appointments and one ER trip). It's kept me safe so far. My husband was working outside the home, so there was a full decontamination protocol (somewhat less now, but still there). I was able to keep having therapy virtually, and to join community science work and an online Shakespeare live-reading production group on weekends.

I'm half vaccinated (second dose in a couple of weeks). I had to go on h1 blockers first for a while to make sure I was safer because of a history of severe reactions and for at least the first dose, I was okay.

I am currently waiting to hear back from HR at my school district to find out if they will accept and back my request for ADA accommodations for the new school year. I really really really don't want to have to take a medical leave, but without the reasonable accommodations being followed, it wouldn't be safe for me to be in a classroom with students. There is no current mandate for vaccination for staff or students, the requirement for masks is still there but being challenged, and the Delta variant of the virus is in the county now. So I'm a little stressed. Union is backing me but HR has to respond first. I'm gonna call and bug that office on Monday morning first thing.

My hand has finally healed, most of the nerve damage included, from the emergency procedures I needed around the start of the pandemic, so I'm starting to work on sewing projects and did my first jewelry work making a small pendant and bracelet for friends for Pride. :)

In a few weeks I will see my sister for the first time in almost two years in person!

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songspinner @ 2019-01-19T20:28:00

2019-01-20T04:29:24Z

Happy birthday, Piplover! I hope it was a good and happy one...

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songspinner @ 2018-04-14T20:57:00

2018-04-15T04:26:19Z

Very proud of my kid, who got nominated for a Queer Youth Leadership Award for our county. Proud that they felt comfortable enough to explain that (though everything) to my parents who were visiting. Proud of the work my kiddo is doing as a volunteer, raising money for our local Diversity Center, speaking on panels at local schools (middle schools, high schools, colleges, and counseling centers) to train folks and answer questions/counter a lot of misinformation and myths.

Excited to share with my 6th period ELD class that the author of the book we've just finished reading in class tweeted me back a heart emoji upon hearing that my students enjoyed reading her book! (G. Willow Wilson, author of "Ms. Marvel")

Stressed out about hockey playoffs but enjoying the intense displays of skill (and occasionally yelling at the refs on my tv or computer screen when necessary). In case anyone is wondering: rooting for the Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks (my local boys), and Vegas Golden Knights.

A little heartsick about my parents' visit right now. My mom, who wrote a cookbook for families dealing with food allergies, bought non-organic strawberries (I am extremely allergic to pesticides, since birth), bought two things for tonight's recipe without noticing that the labels listed things I and/or her grandchild can't have, and then (knowing I can't really eat much onion without stomach problems) was going to use around half a large onion in the dish she was cooking. My kid caught that one and quietly made half of the onion disappear before putting the rest into the recipe. I just worry a lot right now. Mom's overwhelmed from caring for my father whose aging has accelerated due to cancer treatments. I can't tell what is just exhaustion and being stressed out, or if she's really having problems with memory. My sister even suggested that our mom not go with us to Mayo Clinic if we end up going back, since our mom is starting to mix up which of us has which chronic illness issues. I know this is part of having aging parents, but seeing it happen to someone who was a Freedom Rider and is a lifetime civil rights activist, who was a pioneer in school technology use nationwide/internationally, who taught courses in both high schools and a medical school...it's hard. And I don't know at what point we'll have to say something, or take any actions.

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songspinner @ 2018-03-28T19:59:00

2018-03-29T03:02:49Z

A slightly related birthday greeting with hopes it was a lovely day to <user name=shirebound> ! Sorry it took me a couple of days here - I was at an education conference and then had family chaos.

One more school day and then I have a week and a day off. Whew.

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songspinner @ 2018-01-19T00:25:00

2018-01-19T08:27:00Z

And a very happy birthday to piplover!!! I hope it was a good day.

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songspinner @ 2018-01-13T14:57:00

2018-01-13T22:58:37Z

Wishing a very happy birthday to musesrealm!!!!! I hope it is a wonderful one and many happy returns of the day!

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songspinner @ 2018-01-13T11:00:00

2018-01-13T20:09:43Z

Been a while - sorry! I have a few days left of my winter break and then it's back to teaching.

- I spent a few days visiting with my parents and sister (who was here from Ohio), which was nice except for the part where each of the three pulled me aside at some point to ask me to keep an eye on one or both of the other two due to health issues because they're all worried about each other...yeah, that was not relaxing. (especially since one of those conversations started "Look, I know it's not something you want to think about, but when I'm gone..."

- My kiddo (and my husband, as extra chaperone/there in case of a health crisis) are going to Washington D.C. in a couple of weeks, to represent our area at a national youth civil rights leadership LGBTQ conference! (there was an essay, an interview process, and a lot of fundraising). We're pretty damn proud. A lot of extra planning for us, with making sure there's safe food, that she can bring her wheelchair for any bad days/getting through the airport/letter from doctor so she can bring various medical equipment and emergency stuff on the plane, etc.

- As we are a hockey family now, we've gotten tickets for actual, live hockey games! (I'm going to one with my husband and one with my kid)

- Kid now has THREE reptiles - bought herself a native (to CA) Rosy Boa (a baby one named Rivet, as in Rosy the Riveter) and two bearded dragons since someone we know couldn't take care of one and she adopted it.

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songspinner @ 2017-10-11T18:58:00

2017-10-12T02:24:26Z

Been a while, DW peeps! (sorry - tired and punchy)

Happy Coming Out Day to those participating, and love to those who either can't due to risk or okay with not doing it. If you are a newer follower of my blog, I guess this is me coming out. 🙄

I had the oddest experience today wearing my Bi-Pride button at work - my assistant principal knows I'm bi, and so do several of my colleagues that I trusted over the last several years enough to tell. But since I'm starting as the advisor of the middle school's QSA (aka the Equality Club) on Friday, I needed the kids who recognized the colors to see it and know I'm a safe person and I'm part of their community. I already know we have at least three trans kids on campus who've trusted teachers and our counselor, and a whole bunch of kids who are great allies and want to learn how to do more. No adults said anything about the button, but I did catch at least two people glance at it and then almost comically drop their eyes from it like they weren't sure they could say anything. So it was a very quiet coming out day for me; my kiddo was doing volunteer work with our local LGBTQ+ diversity center by manning a booth at the community college health fair and then running the front desk as an intern for the center for a bit in the afternoon.

Parents are up in my hometown in an area of northern CA that is between areas in danger, but there's a lot of smoke both there and around here right now. Some family evacuated, all are safe. One member of our extended family ended up with their house safe and now the water on their property is being used to fight the fire, and another's parents lost their home and had to be rescued when the route out was blocked by that fire. Really scary.

I am going to go have dinner now, and get my early Byzantine Roman garb out of the costume trunk (well, one of the trunks - and this is the costume my husband did most of the sewing on because he had better costuming teachers in college) and get it ready for the history lesson tomorrow.

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songspinner @ 2017-08-29T22:13:00

2017-08-30T05:14:16Z

Happy birthday, piratesorka! I hope it was a beautiful one, my dear.

I know I've been quiet on here lately - start of the school year, mom's surgery (she's healing nicely), and a lot of stuff going on. Updates soon...

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songspinner @ 2017-05-08T22:50:00

2017-05-09T05:57:55Z

Exhausted from two new units in my classroom today (YAY - Science Fiction and Fantasy, and Medieval European history) and then taking an extra paid hour after school to cover someone's enrichment class, and because opening night of the show was last night. One more show this weekend. It's a mixture of live singing/percussion (us), dancers (a group and choreographer with whom we've worked several times now), and a local, very eccentric chef who is cooking as a performance around the other things. There is a whole bit which is a parody of" Chopped", the cooking competition show. The dancers don't know what song we're doing; they're given a kitchen tool as a prop, a set of steps, and an mp3 of the music at that moment, and are then given minutes on the clock to create a piece that interprets the music!

But there was a glitch in the sound and my solo mike was on longer than it should have been, so the rough recording we did to see how it was going turned out to have my voice heard over the rest of my section. And I screwed up a bit on a song when the person next to me who had not practiced her part messed up and it threw me off. And there was a song we dropped in pitch by the third verse, although I'm not sure if the audience could tell. So I'm feeling sort of bad tonight after our debrief and rehearsal, although I keep telling myself that crap happens in live performance and that there were professional musicians in the audience who liked the show and what we did. That didn't stop the anxiety attack after rehearsal though. My brain needs sleep and a reboot.

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songspinner @ 2017-04-16T19:01:00

2017-04-17T02:02:38Z

Posting here as well, since I'm in the process of switching over.

The journey to Mayo Clinic was what we'd hoped - some answers and some pending for our daughter. One thing that has a possibly simple fix for at least part of it, and one very complicated thing (a dysautonomia syndrome) that explains a hell of a lot about the last 5-7 years. That doesn't have a cure, but it has treatments and things that will ease the symptoms and maybe give her part of her life back that she's missed. And more possibilities for the future. The rest is pending because there are more test results and interpretations to come. There were a lot of tests - 4-5 appointments a day. And she got to see the inside of her heart. (she loved that, little science nerd that I've raised) Mayo Clinic is absolutely amazing - it's a medical city, literally. The main hospital is attached to a few big hotels (including the one where we were staying) by skyways and tunnels. It has its own food court, mall, pharmacies, patient education centers with classes when you get a diagnosis, free shuttles to satellite facilities, and a TON of help while you're there. So ridiculously organized! She had no bad experiences, and in fact had several doctors reassure her that no, her pain and other symptoms were not in her head, that the other doctors who said that were just plain wrong, and that they were glad she came to them.

We're exhausted, happy to have the beginnings of answers, a little scared at what this will now all entail, but hopeful for the first time in a long time.

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