StrangeRanger

Working from Home

Well, starting up week three of working from home.  Another week of planning for my kids, most of whom are doing no work even though I'm poking and prodding them and their parents as best as I can from a distance.  I've got a few, though, that are doing everything they need to do, and that's a good feeling.

I've learned some new technological tools during this adventure in distance teaching.  I've learned how to screencast!  Broke out an old gaming mic a friend had given me and started doing vocab pronunciation guides and a read-aloud!  I read "We Don't Eat Our Classmates" by Ryan Higgins.  It's a great book!

And it guest stars Daisy!  Who, since we're at home all the time is sorta my classmate.  And yes, her trying to eat me does figure into the story.

But it has been nice being at home with LadyRanger and Daisy.  Daisy does make it hard to work, though.  Here she is "helping" me take the photos of the book for my read aloud.

Is this book about me?  You could do a "screenCAT"!  Get it?

Well, yes.....kinda.....

Good!  Everyone wants to know about me!

She finally got bored and moved on to other toys and I got my work done for that hour of the day.  She then proceeded to distract me in another, completely cat-like fashion.

You don't mind if I go absolutely psycho-kitty on my toy right here at your feet while you're trying to do important work for you job that brings in all our kibble.  Do you?

No dear, of course I don't.  Carry on.

Very well then.  I go on!

And, then she did!

As much as I'd rather be in my classroom doing my job with my kids, it is a delight to be home with my family.  Not always easy, but quite rewarding.  

I think Daisy is enjoying it a bit, too.  Though it's probably only the toy.

I love my toys.....

She got pretty twisty down by my feet.  I need to do a bit of make-up work now, but it's worth it to watch her enjoy herself so much.  

Have a great week ahead, all and stay safe and well!

Catblogging during Quarantine

Not gonna get much of today, actually.  It's been a long and wearing week.

First, no one in our home has the bug.  Nor have any of my friends or family gotten it.  

Second, I am in one of the many, many school systems who have been closed down for at least two weeks. Now, this closure was accompanied by a declaration that we would continue to provide some educational activities for our children.  This has meant that school staff, from Central Office on down, has been scrambling to figure out what to do for our kids.  It seems to have mostly fallen on administration to provide the platforms, and on us teachers to provide the meaningful activities, monitoring and assessment.  We've been given precious little guidance as to what we actually need to do (which is sadly normal) or how we need to format activities, assess and grade them, or monitor the number of students who have actually done them.  We're building this airplane as we're flying it.  Really, it seems that we're designing, drafting, cutting, sewing, testing, revising and reconstructing the parachute after we're been tossed out of the plane.  Top it off with the fact that we're working on a poorly designed, poorly coded, blogging system that teachers across the nation have to use, that is being completely overwhelmed by the numbers of people who have to use it daily, and you get a Charlie Foxtrot of epic proportions.  The only good thing about this is that the "oh no!  our system is swamped due to the massive numbers of users" screen in a cute drawing of a kitten tangled in a skein of yarn.  "Kitten Detangling units are being sent out".  Really?  It just makes people hate kittens.

What?!?

Nothing dear, you are always lovable!

Our State Superintendent (of whom I an not a fan) has said that we are not coming back on April first, as previously anticipated.  I have no idea what's going to happen with this school year and I'm really rather apprehensive about it.  

One group of people in the public schools that I do really want to give a shout-out to are our SCHOOL CAFETERIA LADIES!!!!!  WOOHOO!!  They have been on site every day making bags of breakfasts and lunches for anyone 18 years old and younger.  They've been handing them out and loading buses that take the food where it needs to go.  I've always had a profound respect for these unsung heroes of the school day.  That respect is expanding exponentially in this public health crisis.

And note: these ladies ain't gettin' an extra dime outta this work.

Next time you're at your child's school, take the time to say thanks.  These ladies are the absolute best.

The one creature who's had the most trouble adapting to my new work-at-home-mode has been Daisy.  She's more than smart enough to know that something is a bit different.

Wait....you're not sick....it's not the weekend....I don't see any holiday decorations up....it's not summer......WHY ARE YOU HERE?

She'll figure it out at some point.  

Wish me luck all.  I'd really like to get back in my classroom.  I'll wish you all, and everyone else, luck right back.  Stay well!

Have a great week ahead!

Our Cat and Her Relationship to Rules

Yesterday LadyRanger and I made one of our favorite dinners ever.  We call it Spanish Soup.  It's a chickpea and potato soup with saffron and sherry, dressed with Picada and Romesco sauce.  It is something of a production number, given all the moving parts.  We always break out the good china and silver for this dish.  Since we've been having an early spring, we decided to take a chance and put some flowers out on the table as well.

I call it "taking a chance" because, apparently, flowers (along with mice, bats, feather toys and occasionally my leg) are Daisy's sworn enemies.  No matter where we put them, no matter how we protect them with stern lectures, shouts of "NO!!" and vigorous applications of the spray bottle, Daisy will kill them and eat their corpses.  We've explained the house rules to Daisy many and many a time, often accompanied by PowerPoint presentations and written notes.  It's gotten us nowhere with this cat.  Her "...relationship to rules..." I said.  Really, she has no relationship to rules.  They must exist in an entirely different space-time continuum.  There are a purely human construct that serves no purpose in her feline world.

I will say, she did well while we were having dinner.  She didn't get up on the table while we ate (another rule more honored in the breech than the observance). She didn't even bother the table or the flowers as LadyRanger and I relaxed on the couch to enjoy the last of the wine.  It wasn't until I got out the camera that she became interested.  Maybe it's because I was taking a pic of something that wasn't her!  

Here are two pics I took seconds apart....

...and then.....

What's all this, then?

And after being urged off the table, she tries again from the other side.  

Incorrigible, this cat.

By the by, I'd like to wish you all a pleasant St Gertrude's Day on the 17th.  I'm about as religious as the average concrete garden gnome, but I figure the Patron Saint of Cats should get a shout out.  High time someone else claimed rights to that day as well.  Perhaps we'll have less pinching and more purring!

Have a great week ahead, all!

TRAUMA. And a sea chanty.

Daisy had a trip to the vet Friday.  It was just the routine check-up and shots.  A dental exam to see if she needs a tooth-cleaning.  She does.  

Daisy was a difficult patient.  Poor girl was terrified and combative the whole time.  You know the drill.  Vet.  Assistant.  Towel.   Growls.  At one point Daisy got out of the towel and ran to the top of the Vet.  After we got her offa him we managed to give her the rabies booster and then she ran to the top of me.  

It wasn't hard.  You're not that tall.

The tough part now is that we need to take her back in to get blood work done so that we are assured that she can withstand the anesthetic they use when they clean her teeth. So.  We've got a sedative for her.  One pill the night before, one pill an hour before.  We hope it calms her down some.  Poor girl, she was really scared.  She goes back in April for both appointments.

Scared?!?  Never in life!  I'ma just see if the under-the-bed-space is where it was this morning.  Just checkin'.....

Needless to say, we're a bit worried about how this is all gonna go.

One day, ONE DAY I say, we'll have a cat who doesn't flip their kitty mind when we take them to the vet.  Ivy was the best of all of them in that regard.  Knew how things worked, that ol' girl did.  Knew it was an unpleasant experience but harmless, just had to get through and there were treats galore on the other side

And now, as is my habit, I've adapted a song for the use of my cats.  It's an old sea-chanty.  It was featured in the film Master and Commander, based on one of my very favorite book series.

It's called "Don't forget your old shipmates" and is a rousing good tune.  Give it a listen and I'm sure you'll be singing my version in your head for the rest of the day.  I know I am.

Safe and sound, at home again

Let the kitty purr, meow

Safe and sound, at home again

Let the kitty purr, meow

 

Long we fought at the stupid vet

Now we're safe at ho-ome, meow

Don't forget the kitty treats

faldee-raldee-raldee-raldee meeeee-ow!

 

When she was put in her travel box

An hour or more ago-o, now

Who kept up a piteous cry,

Who like Daisy-o, meow?

 

Long we fought at the stupid vet

Now we're safe at ho-ome, now

Don't forget the kitty treats

faldee-raldee-raldee-raldee meeee-ow!

 

I could probably come up with more verses.  Probably will, actually.  I'll post 'em up here when Daisy has come home safe and sound from her dental appointment.  

Have a good week ahead, all!

28/7

No, that's not a typo.

Yesterday was our 28th, or 7th, anniversary, depending on how you look at it.  Really, I suppose it was our 28th AND 7th anniversary.

We've been married for a long time, but not as long as we want.  We've been through good times and bad, fat times and lean and we've stayed together.  Don't get me wrong, there are still days when we both wake up and think "What was I thinking?!?" but we both realize that we are better and happier together than we would be apart.  LadyRanger is a real, positive force in my life.  The single most important fact of my existence.  I am delighted and grateful that she has chosen me.

Of course, every marriage has others involved.  A supporting cast, if you will.  The crew that really does the stage managing and arranging and accommodating so that the couple with the star power can look good on the main stage.  And you already know who our faithful mangers are, don't you?

Do you know how hard it is to keep these two on track?!?  Drama, drama, drama....

We've never agreed on much, but, dang, you're right about that!

And it's getting worse as they get older!  Trust me, this ain't easy!!

The thing is, we plan to keep bothering our cats with our dynamic togetherness for a long time.  As long as "us" and "cats" can possibly intersect.

eeeeewwww..... c'mon guys, get a room.......AND NOT THIS ONE!!!

Sorry, we're young and in love.  

We hope you all are, too.  Have a great week ahead!