Quirkages, Pet Peeves and State Testing

I like this word.  We all have quirkages.  (I think it’s my own creation.) I avoid conflict.  I realized something weird today when I was at Walmart. (Yes, I shop there, go ahead and judge me.  I know where most things are. Dairy section, pet food, etc.)  Anyway, I don’t like saying ‘Excuse me’ when people are blocking the aisle, so I change course and walk around them to the closest detour aisle.  Is that weird?  It’s a quirk.  I don’t like putting anyone out, even if it means having them move over a few inches in an aisle at Walmart. (Weird, huh?)

Here are my things:

I have to peel the labels off of any project I buy. You know, those sticky labels that are on practically every plastic item?  I can’t hang with that staying on the plastic…I…must…peel..it…off… (If it won’t come off all the way, I have Goo Gone, which will take off the remaining sticky residue. For your information.)

I’m a water snob, because water isn’t supposed to have a taste.  So, we have earthquake proportions of water.  Not because there might be an earthquake, but because I’m too busy to change the Arrowhead automatic seven 5-gallon-a-month order.  (It’s on my To Do list.)

Oh my, ball sac hanging from trucks, (yeah, you heard that right) because it’s never a mini van or sports car, it’s a truck usually with raised tires.  (Really, do we need this in the world, really?)  Somehow men who have raised trucks have to reinforce their ball-sackage size by hanging them on the end of their vehicle?  How does this make sense?  If you do this on your truck, please explain, ladies.  Lol.

Drivers that drive the speed limit…in the fast lane & then breaking? Why?  You don’t need to break when you get into the next lane…FYI, you don’t need to break when changing lanes, it’s not a thing. Stop it.  You’re making 1/2 of the drivers in California CRAZY with this habit.  Stop breaking when you change lanes!

Strolling folks that take up the entire walkway.  You’ve seen this, a 6 foot wide walkway, occupied by 4 pedestrians horizontally takin’ their time as I’m trying to rush to an event or an appointment.

Butts hanging out of shorts, I’m not a big fan of this. It seems like, well, a willful attempt at attracting male attention, whilst the butt checks are sayin’ “Helllllooo Look at Me!” Really, this is it? This is attractive? I know, yes, some think so, but I just find it annoying. Daisy Dukes, c’mon. Why?  I know on some level why. But, Butt?

Whiny children, whiny is banned in my house and classroom.  Children will stop this immediately if it’s not reinforced.  Go on a Whiny Children Ban like I have.  It works.  You’ll thank me.

Aversion to making phone calls:  I’ve had a phone call on my To Do list for about 4 weeks.  Does anyone else do this? I procrastinate from making that important phone call because I don’t want to get stuck in a long conversation. I procrastinate calling family members especially, because I don’t want to have a 30 minute awkwardly paused and paced conversation.  I’m awkward on the phone. I’m really not, but I FEEL that way, so that’s why I wait until the very last minute to make important phone calls to relatives.  Given the  age gap, texting is not as acceptable.  So I give in and let them hear my voice…eventually.

ABCDF cups in bras.  Yes, we all know this is a thing, and the higher the cup the more prestige.  ABCDF in school, the higher you go, the dumber you are.  How does this make sense?  Who set up these grading systems?  Just sayin’. “Oh, I’ve got a D. Cup size.  Oh, I’ve got a D. Grade in English.”  Totally opposite meanings. Very different reactions.  One is acceptable, the other, not so much.

Raging Waters: The Home of the Burnt Boobs, Butts, Backs, and Bellies, where you go to have a good time. (Until you get home and realize you’re in a world of hurt.)  Yeah, pretty much, people need to learn how to follow the sunscreen directions.  It ain’t pretty people.  The patchy sunburns have scarred my eyes this summer.  REAPPLY! You will thank me later.

In closing, my kids’ CAASPP (California Assessment of Student Performance and Progress) scores came in the mail this week.  There are three categories: Below Standard, Near Standard, and Above Standard.  We received these test results in the mail and I kinda freaked. I immediately had like a fit, not because of my children’s test results, but because I know my students’ test results are going to be received by their parents.  It’s so hard to feel responsible for the test scores of SCORES of children who grow up in different families with a variety of circumstances and realize that it’s up to their teacher to help them get to ‘Above Standard’.  I freaked because during the CST phase we were considered a low performing school (thank God that’s over), at the school I’ve been teaching at for over 14 years.  When I think of being evaluated as a teacher, based on this high stakes testing criteria, I start to panic.  I feel like I have PTSD.  Today I actually cried thinking about going backwards to the days of CSTs and us, as teachers, having to prove our worth based on how our students performed.  It makes me angry and fearful of the unknown in the new CAASPP environment.

So, there you go…Quirkages, Pet Peeves and State Testing.  These seemed to go together.  Tell me about your quirkages.  I’d love to hear that I’m not alone.

Until next Friday.  Love you loves.

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Gastric Bypass Update:

I broke down and bought a Fitbit Charge HR this week.  Tracking my walking is good.  It’s hard to get a lot of walking in when it’s 100 degrees.   Walking at the Lazy River at Raging Waters, that I can do.  So I made it 10,000 steps one day this week.  1 out of 7, not so bad. 🙂  It’s a start.