May 22, 2014

The last day of school has come and gone. And it went by really fast. The first thing I did when I got to work this morning was print off a card art card so I could write a note to go along with the scarf I made for the first grade teacher who is retiring. I tried to make the note both heartfelt and funny. When I was done writing my note I went down and gave it and the scarf to the teacher. I also brought a book to show her. We were talking about books yesterday and I mentioned S but I brought it in so she could get a better idea for how unique it was. I am excited to delve into it this summer.

When I was in with the first grade teacher I was called to the office, and I can't remember why, but afterward I got a yearbook, which looks really good. Then I went to the gym with the librarian to help set up the slideshow, making sure everything worked and looked alright. Before the slideshow they were playing a short video a couple sixth graders had made on an iPad, so there was the process of unplugging that and plugging the laptop in.

I had a little bit of time after that before the assembly so I went back to the lab to check on MAP reports. The final two still haven't gone through. Which is frustrating. Those are sent home with kids and the two missing kids got copies that aren't quite accurate. Neither of the affected kids' scores will change that much but they did go up a little and it would be nice if they could have taken home reports that reflected that. A copy of the reports also go into their folder in the office but I didn't include the reports for those two kids, with the idea of avoiding confusion later on. I keep checking the NWEA site so when the changed reports show up I can send them to the school. I could say screw it and just wait for when we go back to school, because the reports can be printed off whenever, but it would be nice to get all the loose ends tied up.

The assembly went well. I ended up standing up at the front of the gym for most of it, which felt weird, but there really wasn't any room in the back with all the parents and I needed to start the slideshow. The assembly started with the the iPad video and then we set up the slideshow, but didn't actually show it yet. Next, the last character awards were handed out and then some of the sixth graders got up to thank people and share their favorite memories. I think the slideshow was after that. When we set it up at the beginning of the assembly I had paused the menu screen so the music wasn't playing, and when I went up and hit play the screen went black, but I didn't panic. I just closed the video player, opened it back up, and all was good. The slideshow looked good on the big screen, better than in the library I think, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. To end the assembly, the sixth graders set up and performed the cup song from Pitch Perfect with rewritten lyrics so it was about them moving onto middle school. Some of the kids played guitars, which they learned how to play over the past few months, and the rest sat on the floor with cups, doing the cup portion of the cup song. It was pretty cool.

Right after the assembly was the annual sixth graders vs. staff kickball game. I didn't participate because physical activity and my knees don't mix, but I did watch the game and enjoy the weather. I wasn't keeping track but I think the staff one. After the game I went back to the lab and decided my last act of housekeeping was to clean out my Sent Astray box. I probably should have done that yesterday but oh well. It took awhile because it had been piling up since last semester. I separated out the paper that had one blank side so I can use it as scratch paper next year, and threw away the rest.

I finished that up just in time for the lunch in the library for the retiring first grade teacher. There was some brief talking and then we ate. And I actually had food to eat. I got a rhubarb thing, a big slice of bread, angel food cake with strawberry, baby carrots and broccoli, and potato salad. A bit of an interesting lunch but I liked it. I sat at a table with the two first grade teachers, one of the kindergarten teachers, and my mom. We had good conversations and the time went by fast. When most everyone was done eating the non-retiring first grade teacher gave the retiring first grade teacher her gifts. She was looking forward to having time to golf and to help with that pursuit was a plastic toy set of golf clubs. She also wanted to go bowling, so the second gift was a plastic toy bowling set. Hilarious. The last main gift was a card with money, not quite as good as the toys in my opinion.

I forgot to mention earlier, but my cutout was joined today by a cardboard standee of the fourth grade teacher who has been having so much fun scaring people with my cutout. She had left my cutout in the faculty bathroom last night, not sure if I scared anyone in there, but it was moved upstairs behind her desk along with her standee. I'm also not sure what her reaction was to seeing herself. She ended up moving both of them down to the entryway of the school to greet parents as they came in for the assembly. Hers ended up being a cardboard standee because apparently my wood cutout was a very special order and they have gotten out of the business of making them. So it truly is a one of a kind thing, not just because it is a picture of me, but because it is the first and the last. That is pretty cool.

Getting it into my car after lunch was interesting, and I scared myself. I didn't want to risk messing up my seats and I figured the easiest thing to do was lay down the back seats, throw a blanket over them, and slide it in through the trunk. While prepping my car for that I propped the cutout up next to my car and at one point and stood up from grabbing the blanket out of my trunk and got a little scare when I caught a glimpse of myself out of the corner of my eye. When I got it in, the head was poking between the two front seats, thankfully it was facedown.

My mom, her para friend, and the kindergarten teacher she works with were all going to get a drinks after and then thought I was joining them, so when I turned the other way my mom called me. I never set up the bluetooth in my car because my car is a phone-free zone, so I turned off on the first side street so I could pull over and answer my phone, but just as I swiped my phone to answer it stopped ringing. I tried calling her back but she didn't pick up and it went to voicemail, probably because she was leaving a voicemail for me. So I threw my phone on the passenger seat and went back to driving. And then the voicemail came so I pulled over again to listen to it, and then she called again. That is when I found out they thought I was coming and when I told them I wasn't. My mom later told me the call kind of freaked her out because one of our phones messed with my voice. She got off the phone and looked at her para friend and the kindergarten teacher and said “That was freaky, he sounded just like my father.” That is freaky.

When I got home I let the dogs out so I could bring my cutout in without scaring them and causing a bunch of barking. Then I took a picture with myself in the bathroom mirror, which is really hard it turns out, and then put it just around the corner in my mom's bedroom. A couple hours later I heard her go into her room and a few second after that... “Oh, god!” So that was a success.

I didn't really do anything with my afternoon, other than a nap. Eventually I went and got Chipotle. I caught that the cashier missed ringing up the burrito bowl I got, which cost raised my total about eight dollars, so that sucked, but I figured it was better to tell her so I didn't pay for what she rang up and then have to pay for the missing item when she noticed it as she was putting the stuff in a bag. And it feels good not trying to screw people over.

After dinner I showed several YouTube videos. It has been at least a few weeks since I was able to do that. And then I went to visit the new volunteer kid. For an hour. It has been awhile since we've had an hour-long visit. We picked up stuff at McDonald's and then went and parked my car at a nearby park. We talked about school, which he finished on Monday, getting straight A's, at least in the last quarter. And we talked about random other things, like video games and movies other random things I can't remember. It was a good visit.

When I got home, more nothing. I spent the rest of the night watching YouTube videos. And now it is way too late. My sleep schedule is already screwed up and the summer just started. Tomorrow I've got my urologist appointment in the afternoon, where I will hopefully figure out something useful in terms of preventing future kidney stones. And possibly dealing with the ones that are still in me. That would be great.