quote:

Originally posted by piqué:
how many animals have you owned in your life, what were their names, what species were they, and tell us a bit about each one.

(that oughta keep her out of trouble for a while. )

OMG Pique - you're right. I'll have to make a list and get back to you.

We'll start with the present

2 horses - 1. Alladon Mullah Beau - 3/4 Arab and l/4 Saddle Bred 2. Mischief Flame - pure Arab. Both geldings.

3 cats - Bunny and Tuffy (bro and sis out of a Manx mama) Bunny is a total rumpy tri-color. cat and Tuffy just looks like an ordinary brown tabby. Archie - male - an orange cat of unknown species.

3 dogs: 1. Girlie - about 13ish lab/chow mix. 2. Daisy - smooth fox terrier - 9 yo. 3. And of course Ruby who is six months old today.

going back to 1996

Phinney - GSD
Timba - malamute/newfie
Slick - smooth fox terrier
Shooter - smooth fox terrier.
Thriller - black mare

In my earlier days -

Uno - persian cat
Rach - GSD
Buttons - some sort of terrier
Nicholash - shepherd/mix
Willie - yellow-naped amazon
2 cockatiels
1 peach faced lovebird (napoleon)
Blue Parakeet (Jeepy)
Jinxy - collie mix (my growing up dog)
Pansy - a little cocker we had for a short time when I was little.


By gosh - I think that's all of them. I've lived with other animals, but they weren't mine. Just knew them intimately.

quote:

Originally posted by rustyfingers:
Tell us about the teacher who had the greatest impact on your life.

Tell us about the student who had the greatest impact on your life.

The teacher is EASY! Mrs. Betty Faulkner. She was my choir teacher in jr hi/high school. She should have received a Nobel Peace Prize for being a positive influence on kids. She was the most demanding/loving teacher I ever had. She made me feel loved and confident at a time when I felt like the ugliest, geekiest kid in the world. I was good at music and singing and I knew that in her class. At the same time, she always demanded MORE of me. She was amazing. If she had told me to jump off the Empire State Building I would have done it.

I'll have to sort through my memory banks for the student choice.

Are your two horses the first you've had? When did you learn to ride and how long did you want a horse before getting one?

Why Idaho? I see that you lived there when you were younger. Did that influence the decision? Were you the prime mover or did your husband share the choice? Do you ever wish it snowed a little less?

How are your roses doing this year? Do you have other gardening adventures you'd like to tell us about?

How's the beginning of school going? Any surprises among the students? And have you always taught 3rd grade? (My mother started teaching in a one room school, but after she returned to teaching when I and my sister started school, she taught 3rd grade for the rest of her career.)

To repeat Kluur's question, what kinds of music do you enjoy? Favorite composers? Favorite musicans?

What was the last non-work related book you read?

Big Al

quote:

Originally posted by big al:
Are your two horses the first you've had? When did you learn to ride and how long did you want a horse before getting one?

Why Idaho? I see that you lived there when you were younger. Did that influence the decision? Were you the prime mover or did your husband share the choice? Do you ever wish it snowed a little less?

How are your roses doing this year? Do you have other gardening adventures you'd like to tell us about?

How's the beginning of school going? Any surprises among the students? And have you always taught 3rd grade? (My mother started teaching in a one room school, but after she returned to teaching when I and my sister started school, she taught 3rd grade for the rest of her career.)

To repeat Kluur's question, what kinds of music do you enjoy? Favorite composers? Favorite musicans?

What was the last non-work related book you read?

Big Al

I loved horses all my life and never had them until we moved here and I was in my early 40's. I used to tell people I was Dale Evans when I was little. I grabbed every opportunity to ride I could over the years and just sort of learned. No horse within walking distance was safe from me when I was a kid. I would constantly be there talking to them, feeding them, petting them. When we moved here, I was a decent rider, but not super-experienced. Lots of hours and common sense makes you get better. Oh yeah - and an Arab who likes to go sideways at the sound of a chipmunk 300 yards away will keep you on your toes too.

Mr. Teachum and I came to the Northwest to go camping shortly after we started hanging out. He had never been and loved it. California was just getting to be too much and so we decided to get out. It took us several years to do it and we changed our mind several times about where. Our original plan was Bend, Oregon but by the time we got ready to actually do it Bend had grown too much and become too expensive. We came North in May of l992 in our motorhome and an exploratory trip. We looked first in Central Washington and it just reinforced my memories that I don't really like it there. He wanted to come over and look in North Idaho and I did not want to because I had seen too much in the news about the Aryan Nation's activities. He talked me into just taking a speed run to look at it with the promise that if I didn't like what I saw he wouldn't push it. We both fell in love with it and two days later made a full-price offer on our home. Then we went back to San Diego and sold our home, pulled up roots and moved!

I could definitely do with less snow!

My roses have done BEAUTIFULLY this year, thanks for asking. I have just been thrilled with them all summer. The have bloomed and bloomed and really grown. Now all I have to do is keep them all alive through winter again. I have more tea roses now, so I will have to winterize them carefully. I did lose one this summer. It croaked when I went to Seattle. It never did come back strong after winter and I think it just didn't have enough growth to sustain itself. I don't feel too bad as it was a *sale* plant so I didn't lose to much $$ wise. My goal is to get everything in perennials next spring so I don't have to do the annuals thing.

The class is going well. They are lively and chatty, but sweet. I think we will have a pretty good year. I have taught 1st, 2nd,3rd, combinations and have been at 3rd for 12 years.

I really enjoy all kinds of music. Piano-wise, I pretty much stick to Romantic and Classical. Chopin is my favorite, but I love Brahms and Beethoven as well. I adore good old Rock n'Roll and that is what I would like to play on the guitar I am learning. They two different worlds of music for me.

I read constantly. I am currently reading The Angels Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author). It is a sort of prequel to The Shadow of the Wind which was on the NYT best seller list awhile back. I cannot go to sleep w/o reading.

Phew - I feel like I wrote an autobiography!

quote:

Originally posted by teachum:
I am currently reading The Angels Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author).

I read that recently for a book club, I didn't love it.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:

quote:

Originally posted by teachum:
I am currently reading The Angels Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Spanish author).

I read that recently for a book club, I didn't love it.

It's not as compelling as Shadow of the Wind, for sure. I think it's one of those that he wrote before Shadow and then after it was a huge success they brought it out. Kind of like he Richard Bachman books and Stephen King.

I keep looking for the connection of Shadow, but it's not really there other than some shared characters.

Who do you think is funnier looking, OT or Doug?

How many guitars in your household now? How many pianos?

Which are you playing more right now, piano or guitar?

When am I going to meet you in person?

quote:

Originally posted by teachum:
I could definitely do with less snow!

Snow would be a lot more fun if you had one of these.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:
Who do you think is funnier looking, OT or Doug?

Oh you can't expect me to choose, Jon. Although I will say that I prefer opera to donuts.

quote:

Originally posted by AdagioM:
How many guitars in your household now? How many pianos?

Which are you playing more right now, piano or guitar?

When am I going to meet you in person?

There are three six strings: The Guild, the Martin and a little Mexican classical. There is a 12 string somewhere and 2 four string tenors. I can't even count the ukes there are so many of them. Only one piano - my lovely Estonia.

I am playing both the guitar and piano. Tonight I need to go practice the guitar because I have a lesson tomorrow after work. But I also need to play piano because I have my group (Club Klavier) on Saturday. It is hard to play two instruments!

As for when we are going to meet - who knows? I'm betting it may be in Seattle at some point.

Steve - that is a scary machine! Looks like something my Daddy would have loved.

What topok you to teaching from your previous jobs?

Forget the test scores, what do you think is the most important thing a teacher can teach a student?

Do you prefer to teach gifted students? Struggling students? Those in between? Or a mixture of all?

I wanted a profession that I could be proud of and where I felt I had some control over my *work life*. When we moved here I visited the classroom of an old school friend who was teaching and I really liked what I saw and felt. Mr. Teachum had already suggested it and I have to admit I was very attracted to the summers off as I have been working almost non-stop since I was 16. How's that for a run-on sentence? So - voila - I became a teacher. I already had tons of credits, but had to do all the ed courses.

I think the most important thing a teacher can foster in a student is the desire and ability to be an independent, motivated self-learner. I also try to always build a connection with the real world to what they are learning in class especially in subjects like math. I don't want it to be just pencil and paper work.

I do not really have a preference for intellectual ability in my students, but I do much prefer teaching children who have good work ethic and good behavior. I hate spending my day trying to get work out of lazy, non-motivated students or dealing with disruptive behavior - particularly if it's just spoiled behavior. It takes too much away from the learning environment for the motivated, well-behaved students.

What are your honest unadulterated opinions about unions and the role they have played and play in the economic vitality of the middle class?