So for those of you who don't know the "lingo" in the military... the "commissary" is our grocery store... it's pretty awesome... you still get the sample ladies (which is ONE of my jobs that I'm going to have when I "retire"- the other is working at Hallmark- I could/do spend HOURS in there... I might as well get paid!), there are still coupons (MILITARY coupons even!), still u-scans, carts, etc... basically, a G-R-O-C-E-R-Y store... but it can be cool just because it's a "commissary"... but I do have a "love/hate relationship" with it... here goes:
LOVE:
- we don't get "taxed" on anything ***see "Hate" below***
- Military coupons... great deals!
- Did I say that the commissary has great deals and is SUPER CHEAP?! Yeah... talk about getting a FAMILY SIZE of cereal for 1.99... it's absolutely NUTS how much money you CAN save there... it's fabulous... really.
- there are "coupon" people... their sole job is to walk around promoting items and passing out coupons... I don't know how many times I've picked up something and some woman run up to me saying that she has a coupon for THAT item! (LOVE IT!!)
- not really sure if this is a love or hate but there are SO MANY old(er) people there... the reason I absolutely LOVE this is because many of them are retired military couples that are still so in love after all the years and all the wars/years of service... and here they are walking hand in hand... (or sometimes yelling at their spouse that they need more calcium/fiber... or to PUT DOWN the donuts)... it's just great seeing how Caleb and I will be someday :)
HATE:
- you HAVE to show military id... heaven help me if I EVER lose my id... and even worse... it be on payday... (see below)
- we don't get "taxed"... but there's a "surcharge" fee (to keep the u-scans working properly... even though they ALWAYS break down!!!)- I'm afraid that if the money is truly going to the scanners then this "surcharge" fee is going to increase...
- the parking lot... not quite as bad as Walmart but you can only go up/down/one way... starting from one entrance... so it's like a maze that you HAVE to do... it's confusing to explain, but just know it's a hassle...
- the parking lot... spaces... you know when you're looking for a spot and suddenly see one? Your heart begins to beat a bit faster, you tighten your grip on the steering wheel, and my gosh if someone steals that spot they are DEAD!- that, or you hope the worst on them... or, just that their u-scan stops working or that their coupons have expired... ;) ok... so parking lot spaces... at the commissary there are plenty of "open spots"... that are yes, RIGHT NEAR THE ENTRANCE TO THE COMMISSARY... it's like you get so excited to see so many open spaces... right by the store... however, these spaces are for "higher ranking" people... aghhh... I hope they enjoy their spots that NO ONE is allowed to use... and how come I never see these spots ever being used?! Are these higher officials too good for our commissary? (JK!!) Anyways... awhile back Mekala and I were grocery shopping and we were commenting about how awesome it was going to be someday to have a "designated spot/sign"... one day we thought... when our husbands were "higher" ranking... HOWEVER I am SO incredibly PROUD of my dear friend... her husband, Chris is deployed... there are so many reasons why I'm so amazed by her and admire her, but one is the dedication she has to her FRG (lingo: family readiness group)... well, her volunteering/time/dedication has paid off as she got the Volunteer of the Month for her FRG(or as Mekala says- they didn't have anyone left to give the honor to by this time in deployment... he's been gone for several months)... either way- no matter if there is no one left in her FRG to get the award she is the lovely holder of a "designated spot!" at the commissary... YEAH!!! (I am going shopping with her for this month!!!) We are... STOLKED... PUMPED... ESTATIC... and yes, a bit embarrassed that we are so excited about... a parking spot. (and I thought I got excited about coupons?!?! A spot is a 1000x better than ANY coupon!) ;)
- pay day: which occurs on the 15th and 30/31... or whenever the bank decides to "deposit" the money... either way, one must avoid the commissary on/near payday... if you forget that it's payday you suddenly realize it by the amount of people at the store with their carts... yes CARTS... PLURAL... overflowing... or, you can just freak out and think that it's the end of the world or preparing for a huge storm of some sort... that's what it looks like: 100s of people with kids hanging off the cart(S), going up/down the aisles that are unorganized (there isn't really an "order" to the aisles in the commissary)... and that's not even the CHECKOUT LINE YET!! Oh... it's like the day after Thanksgiving... at Kohls... and everything in the store... EVERYTHING is marked down at 75% off... yes.. that's what it's like on PAYDAY. (I had to go on Tuesday this week to get a MIX for a meeting on Wed... guess what day payday was on? MONDAY... and since the commissary isn't open on Mondays... everyone and their brother (basically, all of KY because everyone's related down here ;) jk jk jk) was there... and here I am... standing in line with a MIX... ONE ITEM... boy, did I practice patience :)
- the commissary is NOT Meijer... or Walmart... and is NOT open 24hrs... or Mondays.. what? NOT OPEN ON MONDAYS?! PSH.. whatever.
- retired service members crowd the commissary... and there is a backup near the medicines... as well as a constant fear of being run over by the scooters... I was hit by one... I swear!
Ok... so I know this is a REALLY, REALLY long post but PLEASE HANG IN THERE... I HAVE TO ADD THIS ONE LAST PIECE!!! At the commissary Caleb went with me (which again could be love/hate... love spending the time together- grocery shopping!, but somehow my bill always seems higher...hmmm ;)) Most of you know that Caleb and I are active people... we actually like to workout/run... he has been complaining about shin splints and his hips hurting so I said we'd get some medicine for him... he said that he needed to get some "glucosamine medicine"... picture this: my husband waiting behind (SEVERAL)OLD people... like, OLD... just to get to the glucosamine... that THEY were getting... if he weren't a guy I'm sure he should've/would've asked which one they recommended... I kept smiling and snickering... but just said "Caleb... remember this day... and ask me in 50plus years to get some more glucosamine medicine"... :) life is... GOOD...
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Lifelong Learner...
So in teaching, we call it "lifelong learning"... many other people use this term as well, but the point is that "we're always learning"... so... here goes... I confess... I am still learning...
1. Growing up my sister loved "perogies"... honestly, I was always curious what they were- were they a potato? What were they!??! Caleb, LOVES perogies as well... the other night he was eating one and I looked at him in all seriousness and said "what's a perogie?" Caleb (bless his heart) put his fork down, mouth wide open (astonished that I was ACTUALLY SERIOUS), and kindly told me what it was... it's a type of spaghetti outside... hmm... I was so shocked that I called my mom to see if she knew what they were... (she KIND OF knew)... so that made me feel a bit better about it!
I've had other "learning lessons" over the past month, but I'll stop there (just in case you all think I'm crazy for not knowing what a perogie is!)... I'll go on to the other members of our family and their "lifelong learning"...
Daisy: we're working with her and trying to teach her tricks... she ALMOST knows how to roll over... and then we're going to teach her to "play dead".. however, this is a work in progress as whenever she gets "excited" she pees... I am however pleased to say that she knows when we leave to go to her crate- WITHOUT being asked... (well, sometimes) but for the most part she just goes right in! (YEAH!!!)
Panzer: oh Panzer... he's finding places in our basement to hide... this is NOT GOOD... why? These places are PIPES/venting areas... I'm so afraid he's going to get in one... oh, and speaking of Daisy/her crate... Panzer goes by her crate and the other day I caught him messing with the lock... do you know how horrible that would be if/when he opens it?! AGHH...
Caleb: basically, he's learning how to "live with me"... some of you may know that I love love LOVE April Fool's Day... yes, it IS a holiday... growing up I took this VERY SERIOUSLY... and in prepping for it this year I was SOOO excited to find out that we had a "hose/spray" in our sink (I was devastated when we built a new house in MI and my dad didn't install one for this sole reason!!!)... so... I attached a rubber band to the nozzle- I was all ready- camera in hand (pretending to tape Daisy doing tricks in the kitchen) and asked Caleb if he could get me a glass of water... the loving husband that he is didn't even hesitate- just went to the sink, turned it on, and... FAIL... Fort Knox has AWFUL pressure... I was devastated... I failed!!! I'm thinking of going to my friend Mekala's house to "test" it out on her... I need some fun on this holiday!! (more on her in my next post...) but I just realized that being married on April Fool's Day is kind of a bummer because I can't do half of the tricks I did growing up... I can't "short-sheet" my own bed!!! (I guess I have to go to google now and find some better tricks!) Other than that... Caleb is learning a lot... I'll come up with more lessons later...
1. Growing up my sister loved "perogies"... honestly, I was always curious what they were- were they a potato? What were they!??! Caleb, LOVES perogies as well... the other night he was eating one and I looked at him in all seriousness and said "what's a perogie?" Caleb (bless his heart) put his fork down, mouth wide open (astonished that I was ACTUALLY SERIOUS), and kindly told me what it was... it's a type of spaghetti outside... hmm... I was so shocked that I called my mom to see if she knew what they were... (she KIND OF knew)... so that made me feel a bit better about it!
I've had other "learning lessons" over the past month, but I'll stop there (just in case you all think I'm crazy for not knowing what a perogie is!)... I'll go on to the other members of our family and their "lifelong learning"...
Daisy: we're working with her and trying to teach her tricks... she ALMOST knows how to roll over... and then we're going to teach her to "play dead".. however, this is a work in progress as whenever she gets "excited" she pees... I am however pleased to say that she knows when we leave to go to her crate- WITHOUT being asked... (well, sometimes) but for the most part she just goes right in! (YEAH!!!)
Panzer: oh Panzer... he's finding places in our basement to hide... this is NOT GOOD... why? These places are PIPES/venting areas... I'm so afraid he's going to get in one... oh, and speaking of Daisy/her crate... Panzer goes by her crate and the other day I caught him messing with the lock... do you know how horrible that would be if/when he opens it?! AGHH...
Caleb: basically, he's learning how to "live with me"... some of you may know that I love love LOVE April Fool's Day... yes, it IS a holiday... growing up I took this VERY SERIOUSLY... and in prepping for it this year I was SOOO excited to find out that we had a "hose/spray" in our sink (I was devastated when we built a new house in MI and my dad didn't install one for this sole reason!!!)... so... I attached a rubber band to the nozzle- I was all ready- camera in hand (pretending to tape Daisy doing tricks in the kitchen) and asked Caleb if he could get me a glass of water... the loving husband that he is didn't even hesitate- just went to the sink, turned it on, and... FAIL... Fort Knox has AWFUL pressure... I was devastated... I failed!!! I'm thinking of going to my friend Mekala's house to "test" it out on her... I need some fun on this holiday!! (more on her in my next post...) but I just realized that being married on April Fool's Day is kind of a bummer because I can't do half of the tricks I did growing up... I can't "short-sheet" my own bed!!! (I guess I have to go to google now and find some better tricks!) Other than that... Caleb is learning a lot... I'll come up with more lessons later...
Teaching
Oh my goodness I haven't blogged about our life at Knox lately! (I DO HAVE AN EXCUSE THOUGH!!): Teaching!!! Teaching = MY LIFE. I am teaching third grade at Van Voorhis elementary... which is literally down the road... I could walk/ride my bike, but yes, I do drive... maybe one day I'll walk/drive/run/etc. but I can't believe how much stuff you take home everyday when you teach... and I don't have a basket, so I can only imagine how I'd look if I tried biking to school with all of my "stuff"... I might just end up looking like Caleb did when he was training for his bike/adventure race and FORGOT that his feet were locked into his bike pedals... and he had to stop... needless to say I came home about a year ago to a bloody husband... yes, that's what I would look like... but I guess Van Voorhis has a nurse... hmm... weighing my options about this right now...
Ok, so teaching... I LOVE IT!!! I was talking to my friend Michele yesterday about teaching... it seriously is my passion... the other day I was asked about my "job"... and you know what? I can't call "teaching" my "job"... I say "I'm going to school" or Caleb asks "how the kids were"... I have always said "I'm going to work" or "I have to work/have to go to work" but I can't! How awesome is it that I'm 23 years old and have truly found what I love doing?! It's awesome :) My students are amazing and the faculty is wonderful... I am so blessed to be working here... I don't have a job lined up for next year yet as this teaching job is just to finish off the school year, but I'm hoping that I get a full-time position after this!
Teaching has so many perks... for those of you who have children or have even babysat younger kids you know that "kids say the darndest" things... (remember the tv show with Cosby?)- yeah, that's my life... EVERY DAY!!! For instance... one of my students came up to me and told me that he didn't want to learn how to tie his shoes b/c if he knew how, his mom would make him do it from now on... or another time when a student wasn't necessarily working... I asked this student to come up to my desk to see the progress that they had made on their assignment- the student started crying and said "I haven't been looking at you because I knew that if I did, then you would call me up here to see how much I've gotten done... and to be honest, I haven't done anything... it's just... it's not my fault... I'm just... just... so lazy!!!!!!" STOP. PAUSE. I told the student to go sit back down... turned around and about died of laughter... really? OH MY WORD... I LOVE MY LIFE. In all seriousness though teaching is wonderful- I love going to school (notice I didn't say "work?") and just being around the students... it's sooo great!
Ok, so with teaching, I've been doing many experiments/hands on activities/etc. because I like to keep them "entertained" so that they don't go "off the wall"... and I'm trying to show them how to be healthy as well (we're working on eating healthy/exercise/food pyramid/etc. in Health)... so, our class is doing a project with the acidity levels in pop and what it does to your teeth... we put teeth (from one of the other teachers!) in cups and filled it with different types of pop... then measured the acidic level... (which is really high for pop!) and are now seeing the teeth change colors as well as DISSOLVE.. yes, the teeth are DISSOLVING! Needless to say, the students and I are totally disgusted... but they still are going to drink pop... one said that they didn't need teeth to enjoy icecream/etc... hmmm... I don't think the student is "getting" this lesson... talking about not "getting" it... rewind to the introduction of this lesson... here I am telling the students what we're going to do- for about 10 minutes I'm saying "pop is very acidic"... "pop isn't good.. pop, pop, pop... " then another teacher who was with a student, in the room said... "SODA"... and it was like a HUGE LIGHTBULB went off throughout the room... the kids had NO IDEA what I was talking about... I forgot I was "technically" in the "south"... where they say "soda"... but don't you worry Michiganders... I REFUSE to revert to "soda"... so our experiment is called the "Soda POP Experiment"... from there we continued to talk about how different regions do/say things differently :) (teachable moment huh?!)
Ok, so some of you may know that I don't "do" teeth... or blood... nope... not me. Teaching third grade I totally forgot that they're still loosing their teeth... AGHH!!! However, I have amazing students... awhile back we were talking as a class about things we do, things we don't like, "quirks" (we learned that!), etc... I was honest and told them about my "fear" of horses, how I don't handle blood well, how I don't like loose teeth, etc... so... going back to my story... this week a student had a lose tooth... she walked up to me and said "Mrs. Lohman I lost my tooth... it's in my hand- I know you don't like teeth/blood, so I just wanted to tell you- I'm going to the nurse"- PRAISE GOD FOR OUR NURSE!!! ;)
Last note about teaching (for this week!): Picture day was Thursday... yes, PICTURE DAY... they have several "picture days" in military schools as the "turnover of students" is so quick... remember, this is the military- your life revolves around MOVING... within my first two weeks of teaching, one student moved away, I then gained a student, then, got a student from another classroom, and just a few weeks ago, had another student move away... and will possibly have more come/go within the next week or so! However, picture day- I was SOO EXCITED! It was my FIRST "picture day" as a TEACHER... it is however a bit stressful... being on "this side" of it... we had our picture day AFTER lunch... so, I told all the students to be SUPER CAREFUL when they ate/drank (they did so well!) and then we washed our faces/hands- no ketchup on the chin/cheeks in ANY of my kiddos pics... yes, I was that teacher that had baby wipes/fixing hair/tying bows/etc. as the students were going up to the photographer... hopefully they turn out and the parents like them... however, I can't help if some of my kids blink ;)
Ok, so teaching... I LOVE IT!!! I was talking to my friend Michele yesterday about teaching... it seriously is my passion... the other day I was asked about my "job"... and you know what? I can't call "teaching" my "job"... I say "I'm going to school" or Caleb asks "how the kids were"... I have always said "I'm going to work" or "I have to work/have to go to work" but I can't! How awesome is it that I'm 23 years old and have truly found what I love doing?! It's awesome :) My students are amazing and the faculty is wonderful... I am so blessed to be working here... I don't have a job lined up for next year yet as this teaching job is just to finish off the school year, but I'm hoping that I get a full-time position after this!
Teaching has so many perks... for those of you who have children or have even babysat younger kids you know that "kids say the darndest" things... (remember the tv show with Cosby?)- yeah, that's my life... EVERY DAY!!! For instance... one of my students came up to me and told me that he didn't want to learn how to tie his shoes b/c if he knew how, his mom would make him do it from now on... or another time when a student wasn't necessarily working... I asked this student to come up to my desk to see the progress that they had made on their assignment- the student started crying and said "I haven't been looking at you because I knew that if I did, then you would call me up here to see how much I've gotten done... and to be honest, I haven't done anything... it's just... it's not my fault... I'm just... just... so lazy!!!!!!" STOP. PAUSE. I told the student to go sit back down... turned around and about died of laughter... really? OH MY WORD... I LOVE MY LIFE. In all seriousness though teaching is wonderful- I love going to school (notice I didn't say "work?") and just being around the students... it's sooo great!
Ok, so with teaching, I've been doing many experiments/hands on activities/etc. because I like to keep them "entertained" so that they don't go "off the wall"... and I'm trying to show them how to be healthy as well (we're working on eating healthy/exercise/food pyramid/etc. in Health)... so, our class is doing a project with the acidity levels in pop and what it does to your teeth... we put teeth (from one of the other teachers!) in cups and filled it with different types of pop... then measured the acidic level... (which is really high for pop!) and are now seeing the teeth change colors as well as DISSOLVE.. yes, the teeth are DISSOLVING! Needless to say, the students and I are totally disgusted... but they still are going to drink pop... one said that they didn't need teeth to enjoy icecream/etc... hmmm... I don't think the student is "getting" this lesson... talking about not "getting" it... rewind to the introduction of this lesson... here I am telling the students what we're going to do- for about 10 minutes I'm saying "pop is very acidic"... "pop isn't good.. pop, pop, pop... " then another teacher who was with a student, in the room said... "SODA"... and it was like a HUGE LIGHTBULB went off throughout the room... the kids had NO IDEA what I was talking about... I forgot I was "technically" in the "south"... where they say "soda"... but don't you worry Michiganders... I REFUSE to revert to "soda"... so our experiment is called the "Soda POP Experiment"... from there we continued to talk about how different regions do/say things differently :) (teachable moment huh?!)
Ok, so some of you may know that I don't "do" teeth... or blood... nope... not me. Teaching third grade I totally forgot that they're still loosing their teeth... AGHH!!! However, I have amazing students... awhile back we were talking as a class about things we do, things we don't like, "quirks" (we learned that!), etc... I was honest and told them about my "fear" of horses, how I don't handle blood well, how I don't like loose teeth, etc... so... going back to my story... this week a student had a lose tooth... she walked up to me and said "Mrs. Lohman I lost my tooth... it's in my hand- I know you don't like teeth/blood, so I just wanted to tell you- I'm going to the nurse"- PRAISE GOD FOR OUR NURSE!!! ;)
Last note about teaching (for this week!): Picture day was Thursday... yes, PICTURE DAY... they have several "picture days" in military schools as the "turnover of students" is so quick... remember, this is the military- your life revolves around MOVING... within my first two weeks of teaching, one student moved away, I then gained a student, then, got a student from another classroom, and just a few weeks ago, had another student move away... and will possibly have more come/go within the next week or so! However, picture day- I was SOO EXCITED! It was my FIRST "picture day" as a TEACHER... it is however a bit stressful... being on "this side" of it... we had our picture day AFTER lunch... so, I told all the students to be SUPER CAREFUL when they ate/drank (they did so well!) and then we washed our faces/hands- no ketchup on the chin/cheeks in ANY of my kiddos pics... yes, I was that teacher that had baby wipes/fixing hair/tying bows/etc. as the students were going up to the photographer... hopefully they turn out and the parents like them... however, I can't help if some of my kids blink ;)
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