The end is near, and TAKS Sucks.

It has been a very interesting year at school. We were out of school for 2 1/2 weeks for Hurricane Ike, I had 3 students become mothers and 1 become a father, I had a fairly serious situation with an irrational parent and a most unpleasant April full of TAKS review and testing. It's been long, exhausting and challenging, and I am very excited for the year to be over.

April was filled with TAKS review and ended with the TAKS tests the last week of the month. For a few seniors, this was extremely stressful because if they did not pass they could not graduate. It was somewhat less stressful for the 11th graders, but if they pass they don't have to worry about it next year. The 10th graders still have to take the 11th grade test, so it was more of a pain in the butt because they know they have to do it all over again next year. And so, the focus has been nothing but TAKS for April, and it looms over the school like a dark cloud for the rest of the year.

The test results came back this week and we were able to share scores with students and I found myself hugging and congratulating many students on the passing of the science TAKS. I was giving high fives, and in the midst of all the celebrations I realized that we are celebrating and focusing on nothing but taking a standardized test. Lawmakers and other officials like to say that teachers don't need to teach to the test and they should do just fine with regular knowledge they learn in class. This is complete crap, in my opinion.

I have seen old released science tests, and they are full of random facts that they require students to memorize. As a scientist you would not have to memorize such things as what the mitochondria does or how a virus reproduces. You might come to know those things because they are important to what you do, but science is not about memorizing facts. Science is about the process of questioning and discovering, and the joy of that has been completely removed from high school science classes because of these tests. We have to teach students how to memorize as much as possible, and how to answer tricky multiple choice questions. Again, I have seen old tests, and many of the questions are tricky and poorly written. They do not assess how well a student can do in science, but how well they can memorize and answer questions.

I felt very sad today when I realized the hold that the TAKS tests have on schools and teachers. We should be celebrating students asking interesting questions, designing experiments and wanting to learn more about something they find intriguing. Students hate science because it is very difficult to make it fun and interesting while covering everything we need to for TAKS, especially at my school. In the end the students at my school did fairly well, but we did extensive after school tutoring and review in class. And, we celebrated what a wonderful state 'report card' we will have, but it's all at the expense of learning to love learning so that politicians can have their numbers.

A weekend without the kids!!

Paul and I had the most amazing weekend! We went to a wedding in Dallas, and it turned out to be the most extraordinary party we've ever been to, and probably ever will, for that matter! There were more orchids, peonies, roses, hydrangeas and little mini hydrangeas than I've ever seen!! There was a 10 tier cake, an amazing band, caviar, and an after party with scantily clad models handing out pink boas, blinking rings, pink hats, chocolate cigars and cotton candy and a lady who read everyone's lips!!! We enjoyed connecting with many of Paul's relatives who live in Texas and hopefully can get together with them sometime.

The best part was that we were able to sleep in until we were forced to get up at 10:15 on Saturday morning to attend yet another lunch celebration. We came home and literally slept all afternoon until we had to get ready for the wedding. It was so relaxing to not have to worry about the kids for 2 1/2 whole days!!!

The wedding was at the Ritz Carlton, and so we stayed there as well. When we pulled up in the car they knew somehow that we were Mr. and Mrs. Paul Niles - they had the parking ticket all ready and when Paul walked up to the front desk they said "Welcome Mr. Niles" - it was unbelievable!! There wasn't a single soul around the lobby or outside who knew us. We are still baffled as to how they knew who we were. I guess that's why they are the Ritz Carlton! After the rehearsal dinner we hung out at the hotel bar, which is quite the hot spot, even for locals! We got a glass of wine, and it was $16 for one glass!! That's probably more than the whole bottle it came from, and clearly explains how they (at least partially) make all their money!! But, the hotel was beautiful, and they did an exquisite job on the reception and the food.

It was so awesome to be away from the kids for 2 nights to refresh! They had a wonderful time with my parents and barely cried while we were away, which made me feel very happy!! In fact, they were really sad when they left today. Thomas told me he was very sad! I think one of the most important things in being a parent is to have time to ourselves as a couple, and to teach my children that we will always be there for them - I think going away for long weekends only strengthens that idea. They learn that even though we left we will definitely come back. Plus, they get to hang out with their grandparents, and everyone knows kids always behave better for others than for their parents!!!

Well, I forgot to bring my camera to the wedding, but have a couple pics from my phone of a particularly me and Paul next to a large flower arrangement (there were at least 8 of these), the cake (the pink wall behind the cake is made up ENTIRELY of pink roses) and a really awesome fruit sculpture from one of the three buffet tables at the cocktail hour (bottom pic - there are tomatoes, raspberries, some herb and blueberries in it!!).

A few more of the outside

Here's a couple more. The one on the left is taken from our backyard looking at the empty lot next to us, and the one on the right is our backyard as seen from the back door. The sidewalk leads to the garage.

Pictures of the new house

I've gotten several requests for some pics for the house, so here goes. We are still unpacking and so things are still a bit messy. But here are some pictures. From top to bottom it's the back patio, my fountain, the living room, the kitchen from the living room, and a different angle of the kitchen. We are getting settled and would love to have visitors anytime!!!

The Sky was Crying . . .

I am clearly terrible at this whole blogging thing, but I'm trying to stick with it! I'm so tired at the end of the day that the last thing I do is want to write a blog, but I'll try to do better in case anyone actually reads this!

We've gotten all moved in to the new house, and we LOVE it! We moved in April 11 and sat down after unloading boxes and moving things all weekend, and I think Paul said it best - it finally feels like we are home! The neighborhood is great, the house is working out well, and it works so much better for us. The kids seem to like it, and I'm really loving our big yard! I can't wait to have a party - it's coming soon!

We moved in with no incident, but things have been a bit hairy as we try to get settled in. First, a floor length mirror fell on Sophia (she was not hurt), then she fell down the stairs (again, not hurt but they are wood with no carpet, and as an added note she fell down the stairs 3 times at old house and it doesn't seem to phase her), and then Sophia's dresser fell over after Thomas was opening all the drawers - it was really light b/c it was nearly empty. Thomas was only bumped on the head - I was changing Sophia only a few feet away. It's amazing how quickly some things can happen.

Then, last weekend it rained like I've never seen before. It was worse than Ike. I was painting at the old house, and then the power went out. I could barely see across the street and then I heard something that sounded like a mix between a siren and a train horn. I thought it was a tornado, but had no way of knowing the news b/c the old house is COMPLETELY empty. I found out on Monday that a tornado did touch down not too far from our house in Seabrook, and that several teachers who live close by heard the same thing. I was SO scared, but thankful that it didn't last too long. After a couple hours the rain stopped and I tried my best to get home. The neighborhood was flooded, major streets were flooded, water was up to the middle of car doors in some parking lots, cars were stuck in high water and the creeks and lake were VERY high! Paul told me not to come home b/c there was probably 1.5 feet of water in the cul-de-sac. However, by the time I cam home the street was clear. The creek behind our house, however, was like a flowing river! I would say we had about 6 more feet and the house would have flooded. It's been since Saturday, and I don't think the creek is down to it's original level yet.

At school I heard from many students and teachers of flooded homes and cars. Many people spent Sunday ripping up carpet and trying to get their cars to work. I heard Clear Lake got a total of around 11 inches in 2 days (Fri and Sat). It was one of the craziest storms I've ever seen. Luckily, our house didn't flood!!!

So, that's been the action around here for the last few weeks. We are slowly unpacking and getting things in order. I've been working extra the last couple weeks doing tutoring at our school for the state test, the TAKS, which is happening next week. I am going to be VERY, VERY excited when it's over and my life can return to normal. The pics are of the high water at our house and one of a street when I was driving home.

Here's the new house. It's on a cul-de-sac, has a creek behind it, and and empty lot next to it. All the houses around this area are brick because of the hurricanes. But, we are really excited and I'll try to post pictures of the inside after we move in.

Moving!

I am super excited to be moving to our new house soon! We close this Friday, and hopefully everything will go well. I am not, however, excited for actually physically moving. I have been packing for 2 weeks, but it's just amazing how much crap people can accumulate over several years! And, as I sort through stuff I've been finding lots of stuff that I don't really want or need (tea, eye masks, 15 boxes of dayquil and other assorted cold medicines, old envelopes, books I don't like, etc.) that I feel bad for throwing away, but I know that I"ll never use. So I have been doing my best to throw things away that I know I haven't used in the past 4 years and I definitely won't use any time soon. Still, it's hard to throw things away that are completely fine and functional. I do have a huge bag of stuff for Goodwill. But, there's always the little thought in the back of my head that says 'well, I might want this sometime and would hate to have to go buy it if I've already got it'.

I also did not realize how much baby stuff we have!!! And, the kids' clothes are just piling up faster than I can sort it. They grow out of stuff SO FAST!! We are keeping everything in case we decide to have one more baby. It will be an awesome day when we can get rid of everything for good!

It is a cleansing feeling to go through drawers, closets and bedrooms cleaning things out. We are renting a truck this weekend, so I hope i can get alot done this week. Movers are coming the following Friday, so I hope we can get organized and packed fast!!

Students and Personal Responsibility.

I've had it. I reached the end of my rope today. As I was giving out gradesheets to my students, many of them realized that they had many zeros for assignments they haven't turned in. So, I would either show them the assignment or tell them when they did it, and most of them said 'well, I wasn't here. I didn't know we did anything!'. And, on occasion they actually ask if they have to make it up since they were absent. Seriously. I wonder if they actually think the entire school shuts down and doesn't do anything on the days they are gone. So now they are scrambling to make up their zeros which is a huge pain in my ass while simultaneously blaming me for their terrible grades. This makes me mad. I have been known to ask the kids if they are serious and if they think the school revolves around them and their lame excuse absences.

My class is somewhat difficult, but generally if you are there every day, pay attention and at least try to do the work you will pass easily. If you try really hard you can easily make an 'A'. But, the majority of the students have no personal responsibility, especially when it comes to grades. They are rude, blame me, throw tantrums and then expect me to bend over backwards to help them make up their work. I gave a test today, did a review yesterday and gave them a review sheet. But, did they study? Wait, study? What's that? Do you have to do that after the 45 minute class is over? They're too busy doing who knows what to even remember to bring a pencil to school.

I attribute this to several things. First, the parents. Parents are way to quick to make excuses for their kids and they hardly ever punish them. Parents actually have to said to teachers at my school that they just don't know what to do anymore, yet the kid is out late every night, drives a decent car that is paid for, has a nice cell phone and computer. But, parents don't take that stuff away or ground them. So, what is the reason for a student to be worried about anything? Their parent will just come along and take care of it for them.

Secondly, many teachers just give grades for the kids if they are there or just do the assignment. There are students in my school who have missed 5 - 10 days of school, yet still have a 90%. What is the incentive if they can miss every other day of school and still make an A. I also have to wonder what in the world is going on in that classroom if kids who are gone so much have A's. But that's a whole separate story.

And, lastly, society doesn't do anything to help. We glamorize drug use, sex and people who commit crimes or don't get an education yet are still successful like some musician and athletes. The students have to grasp of reality when this is what they see every day. Most likely they are not going to become the next greatest guitar player or football player, or they are not going to start up some business and become a millionaire when they can barely multiply. And, I'm not kidding about the multiplying - it's unreal.

Well, this is my experience at my school, which is an alternative school, so I understand that we have a different population of students. But, it's still just as disheartening to see this lack of personal responsibility among young people.

Possible Winner . . .

Well, everything happens for a reason. The other house did not work out, but after looking at a few more we found one that we really like. It is laid out almost exactlly how we talked about building the other one. It has 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms and is just slightly bigger than this house. The whole layout is more conducive to families and having parties which will work great for us. The bedrooms are laid out wonderfully for kids, and 2 of them have a nice jack and jill bathroom. The lot is bigger and there's a creek behind the house although that land is owned by someone else. There's an empty lot next door and it's on a cul-de-sac and there's lots of mature trees everywhere. It's perfect for us, and I hope it works out. The sellers have accepted our offer, and so we have to have an inspection and everything. And, the bank has agreed to give us an awesome interest rate as our primary residence as long as we move in within 30 days, which will be a little crazy, but doable.

We do still have to sell our house which is the most worriesome part of this whole deal, but we've added some nice upgrades and can really competitively price it. I'm hoping it won't take a super long time, and this is the best time to sell since it's the spring. And, we have a great realtor. I think it will show very nice and it will be probably be a bit easier and nicer since we'll be moved out. So, say a few prayers for us that we can sell it quickly!

I am hesitant to put any pictures or anything up, so I'm going to wait until we actually own the house. We're going to have to do a little painting and someday I'd like to change the stain on the kitchen cabinets, but that's all cosmetic and easy to do when the time is right.

So, hopefully everything will work out. My friend Molly's friend lives right next door and seems really nice, and Molly will only be a couple minutes away. And a few other friends live closer which will be nice! I'll keep you posted!

Goodbye House

We had to cancel our contract last week with the house we were trying to buy. We had all agreed to get an engineering report, and the sellers supposedly ended up picking the engineer saying that our choice didn't seem fair. Well, no engineer came to the house - it was some guy who collected data, wrote the report and then had the engineer look over the report. He said he would put recommendations for repair, measurements, etc. in the report and that it would have an engineer's stamp.



We got the report and it was the most pathetic thing I've ever seen. It had no data, it referenced repair recommendations and an elevation diagram that were not there and it had absolutely NO substance whatsoever. And, I find that a bit strange considering the house was slanted off the level by over 4 inches. Our realtor, Jeff, called their realtor (whom I'll refer to as RH from now on) about this. RH said he spoke to the engineer and that he didn't want to get sued and in the middle of anything so he basically didn't say anything. I"m not sure how putting repair recommendations in a report is a bad thing, but whatever. I think what is more likely is that RH asked the engineer to make a vague report that he would be able to give to future buyers and not scare off. We are thinking about filing a report with the BBB.



Jeff tried to call the engineer to no avail. So, as a last resort we wrote a letter to the sellers themselves and explained that we love the house, would actually still like to buy it if the repairs could get taken care of and outlined all the inconsistancies and problems we've had with RH. It was a good letter. They actually replied saything they live out of the country so sometimes communication is slow, but that they would address our concerns with RH. We replied and said that we would still have to cancel the contract because we cannot proceed further this way, but please let us know if and how they would like to move forward. So the ball is in their court and we are just waiting I guess.



In the meantime, RH wrote Paul and e-mail that was supposed to go to his client that was totally misspelled and claimed we had missed our deadline for canceling the contract without penalty. Paul wrote back (cc'd the sellers and Jeff) and attached the contract that very clearly showed that we did not miss the deadline. Then Jeff wrote to RH saying how difficult this has been to work with him. RH also called Jeff and as Jeff was voicing his complaints about this whole deal RH hung up on him. I think Jeff is also going to file an official complaint about RH. He has been totally unprofessional and ridiculous to work with. He kept mentioning to Jeff a backup offer that he had, and so when we sent the contract cancellation we were sure to attach the foundation report we had gotten that says this house has major problems and an engineer is needed. That will have to be disclosed to any future buyers. Hopefully if anyone else ends up buying the house they will see what a serious problem it is.



I guess there is a small chance that the sellers will want to work with us and see that their realtor really screwed some things up. But, I'm really disappointed - it's a great house that we were really going to be able to make our own, it has an amazing huge back yard and it's the perfect location. Otherwise, I suppose it just wasn't meant to be.