William Willinger

At 8:45 am on September 29, 2004, William Willinger passed from this world.
He was born in Zemun, Yugoslavia, August 17, 1940.
Not that I ever knew that, well I knew it was Yugoslavia, but that was about it.
The birth certificate was kind of cool looking, had to have an interpreter for it. We are staying in Tennessee for a few more days and will have a memorial next year in Michigan.
It has been a long week.
Tam

We are here...

Pat and Ken are on their way today.
We are probably moving him to the hospital today. We are waiting for a room to open up and then they will send an ambulance to get him.
Yes, it is very rough on all of us.

Thanks for your prayers.
Tammy and family

It does not look good

Mike got down there today.
We are leaving VERY early tomorrow. The nurse said he doesn't look good. His heart rate is up and his blood pressure is down.
Argh. Yes that's how I feel right now.

later
Tam

The official end of Summer

Well, it is certainly over. We hit Ren Fest for the last weekend and actually took someone new. Carrie (with her own blog) had never been to the Ren Fest before. Although knowing many people in SCA from Michigan State, she had never actually been to the fair.
I hate to say that will be the last of the real fun for a while. Michael called me last night and Dad is really not doing well at all. I have to get lesson plans together for this week and get a hold of the office. I have to go to Tenn. Tom is going to take the time and go with me.
Please pray for mom and dad. I know she is not taking this well.
I'll try to update you when I get there.

Tammy

We couldn't leave Carrie out of the fun. 

Carrie, our Virgin Ren Fest Person, had a rather good time and loved all the silly people. She now understands how geeks reproduce, they have to meet somewhere. 

Hmmm, Pick a camera you two... LOL 

Of course we couldn't leave without pictures at the gazeebo for weddings. 

Naarah just thinks I'm crazy. That hat looks great on her. The hat guy was missing this year, we really wanted to find one for Tom. 

Tom and Rob look quite spiffy in their outfits. 

This nice couple has a cd that Tom and I bought. They sound really good. We saw them last week and Tom really wanted it this week. 

Always be prepared..... 

Friday, Finally

Hi there,

Long week.
Got some great emails this week and want to share the jokes and stuff, but I need the original web sites so I can link stuff.
For home owners in Michigan here is some news, I heard about it on NPR but wasn't paying to much attention. Seems that Brian was. He found the Oakland press news on it - so check it out - Oakland Press The Important thing to know - we'll be paying our property taxes up Front and MORE.

Hurray, I made a link... I'll try to remember to figure it out for the side bar and tell you.
later
Tammy

HI

Wow, long week. Eww have to run to work.
Just wanted you to see some new pictures.
Got the one scanned. Hmm, I think it looks ok scanned.
Talk to you later
Tammy

Ok, I managed to scan it. Here is the best pic of all the wedding pics. 

Day before school started. Dragged Tom in to help me set up some stuff. Yes, a no do the hair day. lol 

Tom always looks great in his outfit. 

My Hat actually goes with the green front of the dress. Got a few complements. Looks different without all the hair and makeup 

Finally hit the Ren Fest, where else would I wear this dress.... 

Monday and Tired

But, I guess that will be standard operating procedure....
I just can't get up later yet. Besides, Tom wakes me up.. lol

We hit Ren Fest yesterday and saw Tammy and Tabatha. I couldn't believe it, they came in a Limo with a bunch of Tammy's Dancing friends. That was really cool. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of them, they were dressed up. I have a couple pictures of Tom and I and have to post them.
It was hot, in the sun, but rather nice all day. Couldn't get a turkey leg, only 2 places had them and the lines were way too long. And not moving. hmmm

OH YES, they rebuilt a ton of the buildings. New Faces - made a very nice impression. Mostly the food sections, but they were looking sad as it was, so I was really pleased with the look. Of course, the sun was behind all the new buildings, so taking pictures was a waste of time.

Well, off to another crazy day with the students.
Tammy

Wow, its Saturday

Hi, I made it.
It is Saturday, but do you want to guess where I am...?? LOL
Yes, I am at school.
We have a football game today and I hoped to get a little work done. HA HA
I have been here almost a half hour and well, I don't think I have gotten much useful done. Although I did answer email from one of my students. Hurray... One has a computer.
My speakers work, playing the mp3 player, I guess I should just load the music on the computer so I can add to it.
My colleague sent the email to say the lesson plan was done, but forgot to send the plan. Opps.
Oh well, I have other stuff to work on.
later
Tammy

Hmm, Ok its Thursday

Hi there,
Wow, made it to Thursday. I can hardly believe it. I even have enough clothes left to make it through tomorrow also.
Not sure what I'll wear next week, but we'll see. :~)

Interesting news stuff- got sent fun online news info:

Resident Evil - a little change - http://www.laweekly.com/ink/04/42/snap.php

explanation of the second one: (from my friend Mike in LA.)
"The Onion, America's Finest News Source, is know for its whimsical & absurd articles. In a January 2001 article in its archives, the article titled: BUSH: "Our Long National Nightmare of Peace & Prosperity Is Now Over" was originally written to be so absurd and unbelievable in a humorous way, until now when Dan Chak revisits the article and points out nearly all the predictions have come true:"

The onion predicts: http://chak.org/pages/onion/bush_nightmare.html

In the article if you click on the blue words, it takes you to news about that stuff actually happening. One or two of the links did not work, but many did.

Ok, that's today's rant.
Later
Tammy

I think I survived the first day???

Other than my feet; ok, I did survive.

It is Tuesday morning and I'm about to run out the door to work. It seems that we survived. Although, I did give out locker numbers that were not correct. LOL So, I have to fix that today. Hopefully, none of the students put locks on the lockers.
My feet are bruised. I never wear heals that long and stand for that long in them. By the end of the day I sat down with the students. At least the 7th hour was my club. Broadcasters.
The good news is - they are already wanting to do fund raisers to get camera's. WOW, that sounds good to me. We might be able to build an entire studio. Just have to pick a room to do it in. I think I know which one, or in the basement.

OH, Michael sent out an email with a link to an article. I'm not sure how many of you he sent it to, but I'm putting it here for you.
http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040911/NEWS28/409110410&SearchID=73183780085125
I wish I knew how to make the link a different way... OH my computer HTML friends, please let me know......
I also want to know how to make links on the side bar....
I know, LOOK IT UP.

Anyway. I think we might make it through today. My tenth graders are going to be a little tough to crack. Some have major attitudes. Well, I have to get to work and make seating charts. Later
Tammy

The Last weekend of Freedom

IT is finally here.

School Starts on Monday. I think we are sort of ready. The copy machine showed up on Friday, but we were all in a major long (ALL DAY) meeting that made it impossible to do anything.
Plus, we still do not have computers running in our rooms. I heard they were moving some on Friday night after I had to run out. I would have stayed, but I had a hair appointment. I am not getting up at 5 am just to waste 30 minutes doing my hair.
So, my suit is cleaned, my hair is cut, my nails are done, but the school is not ready. We are still missing 3 or 4 teachers. We need 2 science and a computers teacher, and something else. They are looking into another health/gym teacher.

OH YEAH - we learned that like most OLDER school built by the Catholic Church, there are tunnels all over the school. The easiest ones to get to are in the locker rooms. Hmmm, no wonder you can't find the students. I remember the tunnels at St. Mary Academy in Monroe (no I never went in them). There was also a tunnel in the Marysville High School - it has a auto locking door, if you go in- you aren't coming out.
SO, no Gym classes for a while and the fire inspector and the architect are looking at the shape of the gym and the giant bonus room under it. We hope they can come to an agreement quickly, because it will be a horribly wasted space.
So, that is it for now. I think the carpet is coming today, and lots of work to do this weekend. Our football team will be getting trounced by Bishop Foley in Royal Oak today at 2pm. Have a nice weekend.

Tammy

This is a nice series I found on writing. Narrow your topic, use strong verbs. I like it. Good for what we will be doing. I just really need to get all the posters laminated. We don't have a machine available. 

The second bulliten board in the back of the room. I have the rest of the series and a couple smaller posters on writing and studying. 

I found these need toppers, it is a row of books that you would find on a bookshelve. All classics that you should try to read in high school. LOL Most of the teachers have large gaps in their list - including me. 

This is what my classroom looks like from just inside the door. Yes, that is a shopping center across the street and the fire trucks go by at least once a day. 

What a week....

Oh my, I'm not sure I am ready for it to be Thursday already. Dang, so much work to do....
We spent yesterday finally scheduling the sophomore class. I think it was crazy to have us do it. I am so not ready for school to start. I'll know all the kids, but have nothing to teach them the first week...... UGH
Today I hope to get my computer installed... We sort of did and didn't pass inspection. They had to move all the emergency escape windows in our rooms. Now we all have a gap in the wall that has to be filled yet. I couldn't believe they didn't do it right the first time.
Have to get my hair cut tomorrow. The Carpet is supposed to come on Saturday. And we don't have any money from the insurance yet.
I also need to get my nails fixed. Getting a tad too long to type. Better do that today.
Should have pictures tonight. I finally got some stuff up in the classroom.
I have to tell you that the trip to the Secondary Teachers store was a little scary. I was really impressed, the amount of stuff was amazing. Just a little hard to go through some of the stuff.
Well, off to work.
Want to see what traffic is like at this time.
later
Tammy

Labor Day

I can hardly believe that it is already Labor Day. The sad part is that we haven't been to Ren Fest yet. We may try to do that today.
I need to get my syllabus done, or at least in major working order this morning before Tom gets up.

I started reading the teachers Edition of my English 10 book yesterday and found out that I have a LOT of extra stuff to help the students (and myself) survive the first year of teaching this.
Friday was fun. We worked all day and then 3 of us went to a tiny bar on 8 Mile road and M-10. Then the girl who sent us there showed up. Her brother owns the bar. LOL We hung out for a while and then went to the football game where we were slaughtered by Gabriel Richard in Riverview. It's "Ree-shard" for those who haven't been around the Catholics ever. I swear they got to pull out their 3rd and 4th string guys to hit us with. It was sad. Oh yeah, we are the Ravens.

Saturday, Tom and I were bums. A bit of EverQuest and then to the movies. Ah yes, Movie Review time.

Alien vs. Predator - Ok, so the story is transparent, and the acting not that great. I hate to tell you that I think they had it right with Arnold the first time. Anyway - it was fun. The Android guy from the other Alien movies was in this movie - that was cool, Tom had to explain it to me. WAYLAN is the company and he is the owner. This movie takes place this year. The other movies are in the future and the androids look like their patron saint owner. LOL The special effects were pretty good. The momma Alien was very cool.

Without a paddle - Now here is a funny movie. You are probably thinking - oh no another American Pie- NOPE. There are a couple of low brow jokes. But the story is very good, and the acting is actually decent. I happen to adore Seth Green, so that made it worth it. Other actors are certainly recognizable. Thank goodness they left out Aston Cutcher. I would boycott it.... Anyway - we were laughing out loud, and the whole audience seemed to enjoy themselves. It takes place in the woods and on a river - if you didn't guess.

I would say - wait for DVD for the AVP movie and try to get out to see "Paddle".

Sunday, Tom's parents came over and we got a little bit done here. We did one of the biggest trips to Costco we have done in a LONG time. Got a new faucet for the kitchen. The old one drips and isn't very good. So, I think we may try to install that today...... Wish us luck. LOL

I have to get some school work done, while tom Sleeps.
Later
Tammy

OH MY GOSH - It's September

Welcome to Old Redford Academy.

We had Freshman orientation yesterday and will have sophomore orientation today. I will have every single sophomore that goes to the school. I have all (4) the sophomore English classes AND a Speech class. So, I guess I'll see some of the Juniors.

I did some decorating to my room. Trying to bring down the echo level. The ceilings are high and too many flat services. Used fabric instead of paper on the bulletin boards. Posted some pictures.

TOM painted one wall last night with the base coat I picked out. GORGEOUS. I love it. I bought a quart to see if it works. So now I have to buy tons more. Please let me know what you think, check out the pictures. I really need help coming up with the color for the Inside of the bookshelves. Should I leave them white, or a major contrasting color? Mom said she would help rag paint the walls. We might try to do it in the bedroom area - and if we can handle it, I may try. But, I will certainly be able to live with this color until mom can come visit.

Well, I have to run out the door to school.
Later
Tammy

Welcome to Old Redford Academy preparatory High School. That covers the sign that says - Benedictine High School. LOL - we have a ton of religious symbols still all over the school. We are going to name the gym - "Historic Benedictine Gym" so that people who actually graduated there can feel good about driving by, or showing up for homecoming. 

Lovely crappy TV and Crappy Teacher desk. We started meeting in my room, so I have the coffee machines and stuff for now. Yuck. I have to say I really like the room now that I di some work. 

Picture from next to the teachers desk and the windows. Celings are like 10 foot up and there are two sky lights on that side of the room near the wall. NEW student desks. 

This is the back wall of my classroom. EEEWWWW Really needs some help. 

Wow, that gold is really bright.... The room echo's alot, so I bought fabric to help. So that is red fabric with batting for making quilts underneath it. That is beige next to it. I need to get border for that one. Now I need posters or something.. 

My classroom- with the top borders done. I really love the fabric. Sort of a fall color and goes great with the silver borders. This goes over my desk(chalkboard) and the side wall. 

I LOVE THE PAINT. The color doesn't look quite right in the picture - between the flourescent lights and the flash. Just the back wall is done. Testing!!!! It looks great under the flourescents. Think I might get a 5 gallon, to do all basement, stairwell and probably my bedroom. I think it is a good base color to work with. Yes, we plan to do some ragging, but may need moms help with that. 

This picture was taken without the flash, gives a slightly more accurate color and you can see the difference from the white. OK, what color to do the inside of the shelves????