Is the ability to be accident prone hereditary?

It has been sooo long since I have written a blog, that I felt it was time. A couple weeks ago, Kayla broke her arm. She fell out of the booth at the Lazy Dog Cafe in Huntington Beach. This just goes to show you that even a small fall can cause a lot of pain. We took her to the emergency room and found she had a small fracture in her arm. She had to have a cast placed on her arm. Three weeks later I took her back to the doctor where he took off the cast but the arm was still broken. So, she is currently in a shorter cast for another week and a half.

Meanwhile, two weeks after Kayla broke her arm my mom and stepfather took Kayla to the park. My mom took Kayla down the slide where she began to tip over. To brace her fall, she put her foot into the ground. Needless to say, her foot did stick but the rest of her leg kept moving. My stepfather had to walk Kayla back to the house while my mom sat on the ground in pain. He got the car took her the ER where they took xrays that showed my mom had broken both bones in her leg above her ankle.

This would cause my mother to have surgery on her leg. The break was so major it took a metal plate and eight screws to put it all back together. She just went to the doctor yesterday to get a permanent cast. She took pictures, gruesome. The incision had to be about a foot long on each side of her ankle. I could not believe the sight of it in the pictures. The doctor placed another cast on her foot and told her she had to stay off of it for another month. He even told her she wouldn't be putting any weight on it for four months. I cannot believe that my mom goes from chasing Kayla around the house to sitting in a chair and getting up only to pee.

Now, if you know anything about me or my brother you know how we have the craziest injuries to ourselves as well as the people around us. ME: both ACLs torn, broken jaw, knocked out a tooth and cracked the two next to it, broken collarbone, several sprained ankles. ERIC: broken collarbone (twice), hyperextended arm, several stitches, several sprained ankles. Could all this be hereditary? Is is possible Kayla is destined to be accident prone? Let's all hope and pray she isn't. This is all I handle at the moment.

Potty Training

This is for all the mothers out there. We've been semi-potty training Kayla for the past couple months. We've had a lot of advice, looked at a lot of websites, and read some books. We tried taking her every hour, potty chart, asking her when she needed to go, rewards, but in the end it was all her. It was like a light turned on in her head and she suddenly told my mom, "I have to go potty." And since then, only one accident in the car and we are officially potty-trained. Well, I say official with the exception of nights. Although, no pee in the diaper the last two days at night. But, personally she could take forever for that, I can handle one diaper a day. But I am relieved for her to be using both the public restrooms and the potties at home.

http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2304657

This travel potty chair is genius. Before we bought this chair Kayla did not want anything to do with the public restroom. But now, no problem! Yes, the reviews are correct it doesn't fit perfectly, but it lays on top, it doesn't move and it doesn't fall in. It's genius I tell you!

Potty training down...next step...dressing herself!

Exhausted!

Have you ever been so tired that you fall asleep and wake up not knowing when or how you fell asleep? Of course you have! Well, this has been happening to me at least once a week, during the work week. I get home from work and feel tired. But right after dinner I am so exhausted that I can't stand up. I lie down, usually with Kayla, and I almost instantly fall asleep. Then, I wake up to Kayla crying because her favorite show is over, and I put her to sleep. The next thing I know I'm waking up at around 2am in the morning with my contacts still on my eyes. I can't believe how exhausting this year has been! I need to get more sleep. Hello end of the semester next week. Two minimum days, no students next Friday. Ah!

Week 1 of the new year

As week one come to a close...I can't help but beam with pride. I just finished grading my kids first quiz and I am proud to say that the class averages have been around a 75%. Now some of you are reading that and can't believe I'm proud of that statistic, but I am. Lately, my kids have been pulling D and even F averages. Now, maybe I'm a bad teacher...maybe my tests are too hard...but I have a feeling that's not the case. But I have vowed that I will get through this year and my kids will be successful. I'm implementing new things that hopefully will make my life easier and them more successful. Well, we'll see the true test will be the benchmark they will take at the end of this month. Let's all pray for the kids.

No more ranting and raving. Its the weekend...rest.

Back to School Again!

Well, its Jan. 6, 2008 and I have to make my way back into the classroom. I wish I had just one more week of my vacation. Do you ever feel like you need a vacation from your vacation? That is how I feel at this exact moment. I'm giving myself an easy day tomorrow because I have no idea what my kids are going to come back like and I don't want to have to deal with the complaints of new material. I hope they are ready to work.

Mike has started a new job at Stamps.com. He's been there three days so far. It's in Marina del Rey. It takes him about 45 minutes to get there and an hour to drive home. Our days of early dinner and early to bed are over. He took us by his office today to "borrow" equipment from another coworker. We set up all our benefits and everything. The downside is now its up to me to keep the house clean, cook dinner, take Roxy out in the afternoon, and keep kayla occupied. I don't know when I'm going to find time to plan and grade papers. I guess I'm just going to have to be as efficient as possible. So, for those of you who would like to see us, you better contact us at least a week in advance so we can set something up. Between our two schedules its gonna be busy!

Shout out to my cousin Robin who is due this month! From what I hear it'll be within the next couple of weeks so make sure Wei Yan gets as much sleep as possible (cuz i know you probably have trouble sleeping at this point).

In closing, I would like to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Love you all!

XOXO

Stabbing at Magnolia High School

I just found this article on the OC register website:

http://www.ocregister.com/news/school-jefferson-anaheim-1926106-stabbed-magnolia

This school is in the district that I teach. Not only that, but I was at the school yesterday at 3:15pm. It is right down the street from the school I teach at. I had just drove up and there were a bunch of cop cars and people in handcuffs. But I had no idea what had happened. They must have rushed the boy to the hospital, because there was no ambulance when I got there.

How can people, especially high school students, have no regard for other people's lives? Thank you to Anaheim PD who are always patroling. It was a good thing they were around or else those kids would have got away.

A little background on that school. It is a Title 1 school which means they have many students who are on free or reduced lunch (poverty students). The student population is largely hispanic, and they have many rough students who attend that school. Now we aren't talking Compton or South Central tough, but tough students none the less.

I can only hope that we will be able to live in a community and within a school district where Kayla can have a safe and effective education.

The first vacation of the year

Well, its almost time for our first vacation since school started. I am exhausted. Now I know how teachers get burnt out so easily. I feel like I'm running around in circles and not really getting anything done. I've got pressure from my department head, the administration, other teachers on campus, and even the district office. I have got to learn how to say no. If I keep at it like this I may drive myself insane before Christmas break. I am stressed to the core. I am waiting and looking forward to the break. But in the back of my mind I wonder whether it will reallly be a break. Can I enjoy the vacation without thinking about family drama or what I still need to do before I go back to work? I hope so, because I definitely need it. I think if I don't get a break, then a BREAKdown will be happening soon.

I hope all is well with everyone out there and I'm sorry if I haven't been keeping in touch. But really, I'm running around like a chicken with my head cut off. I love you all and hope you are all doing well.