chochiyo_sama

I am pleased to announce that I am in the process of enjoying an unexpected but much relished four-day weekend.

I took Thursday off as a personal day so that I could have the electricians come and figure out why I wasn't getting electricity upstairs in the bedrooms or in the stairwell.  (The bathroom was fine, which allowed me to run an extension cord across the hall so I could plug in my TV and my alarm clock and phone base.)

I expected there to be a problem in the basement with the breaker box, but it was in the other suspicious place--the attic.  I expected that the attic would be the source of the problem if the breaker box wasn't because the damn squirrels think my attic is the Hotel California...they check in and don't ever want to leave.  And believe me, from the noises I hear coming from up there at all hours, I  think it is probably some form of bdsm squirrel brothel.  I try not to put mental images to the noises I hear.  I'm too young for that sort of knowledge.  Ugh.

It turns out that there were some bare wire splices up there, and that was causing the problem.  They fixed the issue but said that there is a lot more potential problem material up there and that I should really have it taken care of soon.  Ugh.  Fortunately, the issues that they resolved on Thursday, including fixing the three-way switch for the stairwell light, cost me only $166.  I was expecting it to cost an arm and a leg.  I was so relieved when it was such a small amount.  Whew.  Dodged a bullet.

While they were here, one of them told me that the deputy sheriff had pulled up next to their van to tell them that the roads were getting treacherous and that a lot of schools were dismissing early.  I texted one of my homeroom kids and asked her if they were getting out, and she texted back that they had been released at 10:45.  So, not only did I get a day off, but I can continue on, mostly unimpeded, with my curriculum.  It's always a pain to have a sub because they literally cannot go on with what you were doing because (a) it isn't their area of expertise, (b) I have my own unique ways of presenting material to the kids so that they "get it" and I also have my ways of checking in with them to be sure they "got it,"  (c) you have to come up with detailed activities that are educational for the kids, fun enough for the kids to be willing to do them, simple enough for the sub to comprehend and perform without a lot of previous knowledge about the subject area, and extensive enough so that the sub has material to keep them busy for most of the class period.  It's a lot of work to get ready for a sub, and it's a lot of work to pick up afterwards and finish off the activities with the kids, and it takes a big bite of time away from what I *was* doing with them, which requires some revisitation of what we did before before we can move on again.

Sigh.

Only another teacher can really understand the woes of having a sub.

And the subs, God bless them--they have the toughest times of all...

So, anyhow. 

I began Thursday by tossing all my laundry down the stairway.  They came earlier than I expected, so my house was still sort of a wreck.  I had a ton of dirty dishes.  So, while they were here, I did dishes and assembled my new vacuum cleaner.  I still haven't used it yet, but today's the day. 

I was freezing cold all day because of the godawful temperatures, so I turned on the oven and baked chocolate chip cookies and something that Shane Lesley told me about--cornflake macaroons that his grandma makes.  I looked them up on the internet and found a recipe.  It is my plan to gift him with a little baggie of them on Monday.  Assuming we do not have some freaking blizzard and have another snow day!

The recipe did not make a very big batch, and I believe I overbaked one pan as they are like little rocks.  Sigh.

However, the ones that turned out are very chewy and tasty.

In the event that you would like the recipe--here it is:

Cornflake Macaroons

1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3/4 cup flour
5 cups cornflakes
1 1l/2 cups flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cream butter and sugars.
Add eggs and vanilla
Mix in flour.
Stir in cornflakes and coconut.

Drop by teaspoonful on parchment lined cookie sheets.  Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.

You have to watch these carefully as they go from really raw to over baked in seconds.

Next time I make them, I will be using some pecans as well, as I think they would benefit from that.

Brad Paulson came by to plow my driveway while the first pan of chocolate chip cookies was baking, so I hooked him up with a big plate of fresh, warm cookies.  The man had the look of bliss on his face as he was leaving my house.  LOL.

I did not really anticipate a snow day on Friday as the storm was supposed to blow itself out in the night.  I was hoping for a late start so that I could at least see clearly when I drove to school.  However, while I was watching KTTC news, I saw that many area schools were already posting late starts.  And after a bit ROC popped up as closed for Friday.  I didn't cry too hard at the thought of having another day off--but I did miss my kids.