On how I may have a new chapter of life coming with my views on Daytona testing after.
Last Friday, I got a phone call about a job interview and scheduled it for Monday afternoon. I was waiting when writing this. I've been working with an employment agency and my job coach did a bunch of online applications for me. She thought I did good at the interview. My answer to the last question was particularly good she said. I put in a resume at another place before I knew about the call.
I got the Daytona test info from the Internet since we don't have cable. All the levels tested in what they call Preseason Thunder. The lower levels, Nationwide and Trucks are banning tandem drafting for more than a lap. This means they're limited to bump drafting. The racers can give someone a push but can't stay on the other one's bumper after one lap, to those not big NASCAR fans. The top 10 fastest in the Cup were Austin Dillon, Brian Scott, Matt Crafton , Aric Almirola and Kyle Larson for the top five, with Casey Mears, Kurt Busch, Dale Earnhardt, Jr., Denny Hamlin and Danica Patrick rounding out the top-10. Also noteworthy, at least to me is Joey Logano was 18th and Trevor Bayne was 23rd and he only ran single, no drafting but still came with 4mph of Austin Dillon. These young drivers were 195.109 (Dillon) and 191.657 (Bayne). Mark Martin tested Tony Stewart's car and was 28th fastest. Except Matt Crafton and Aric Almirola, the top five consisted of rookie drivers. There was rain the Cup was scheduled to test, so due to this rainout all testing was done in an eight hour window the second day. The rest you can look up if you want.
Nationwide tested after Cup. The Nationwide top-10 were Dylan Kwasniewski, James Buescher, Kyle Larson, Elliot Sadler and Ty Dillon for the top five, with Ryan Reed, Trevor Bayne, Bill Elliot, Dakoda Armstrong and Ryan Blaney rounding out the top ten in the first session. The second session top ten were Chase Elliot, Bill Elliot (Chase's dad), Reagan Smith, Ty Dillon, Trevor Bayne for the top five with David Ragan, Chris Buescher (James's cousin), Kyle Larson, Dylan Kwasniewski and Jamie Dick rounding out the top ten. The third session top ten were Dylan Kwasniewski, Chase Elliot, James Buescher, Bill Elliot and Brendan Gaughn as the top five with Kyle Larson, Brian Scott, Regan Smith and Ty Dillon rounding out the top ten. The last session top ten were Chad Boat, Kyle Larson, Ryan Reed, Dakoda Armstrong, Chris Buescher as the top five with Trevor Bayne, Ryan Blaney, David Ragan, Bobby Gerhart and James Buescher rounding out the top 10. Bayne, Chris Buescher and Reed, the Roush drivers were the best Fords in the Nationwide test along with David Ragan, at least the first day.
The Trucks were the last to test. The Trucks first session top ten were Ben Kennedy, Jeb Burton, Timothy Peters, John Wes Townley and Darrell Wallace Jr. for the top five with German Quiroga, Tyler Reddick, Sean Corr, Kyle Busch, Mason Mingus rounding out the top ten. The second session top ten were Jeb Burton, Ben Kennedy, John Wes Townley, Matt Crafton and Darrell Wallace, Jr. as the top five with Timothy Peters, German Qurioga, Sean Corr, Justin Jennings and Ross Chastain. Only five trucks tested in the final session, John Sauter, Matt Crafton, Ross Chastain, Ryan Ellis and Jennifer Jo Cobb.
Thursday, January 16, 2014
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
The Mystery Keeper: College and beyond
This is the story of my life after high school. My high school graduation gifts of a cell phone and laptop computer were for college.
After high school, I went to a community college for my freshmen year. It's in a nearby town to where I live, so I rode with someone, either my dad or some people in our church, usually, but one of my mom's cousins whose work was in that town took me once. There was a boy a year ahead of me in high school taking classes at the college and a woman of going back to college age. The boy, Jonathon was a back up and the woman took me home on my short day. Another woman was working in the town where the college is and had to take her brother there since he had no car then. I usually rode with her, but after a while she didn't want to take me because of some life circumstances, a main one being her daughter had some sort of health issue. I took liberal arts with a science concentration this year. My first semester classes were English, College Algebra, Psychology and Biology, the last caused my short day since lab time was a stand alone ( my only class the day I had it). I made the dean's list. My second semester classes were History, Genetics, Animal Nutrition and Music Appreciation. I planned to take an animal major at another college after that year and many of my classes at the community would transfer there. We camped at the park we went to went I was sixteen. I graduated from the girl's club and had my last horseback riding lessons.
The next year, I transferred to the animal major at the other college, but had some issues there. The classes I took were two animal classes, microbiology and chemistry. I also volunteered at an animal shelter near the college, since that fulfilled a requirement. I failed the lab practical for one of the animals classes and had to work at a vet office the next semester and over the summer, but I wasn't ready for that class, so I couldn't go back to that major. I'd been a happy girl, basically but this took that away for a while, buried it. They would've allowed me back at the college in another major, but I chose to go to quick admit day at the community college. The community college took me back. That spring, our cat died and we adopted two shelter cats. They're sisters and the shelter thought they were one and a half at the time. They weren't little kittens but they were still young. My maternal gramma died shortly before I started back at college. We returned to that park again.
I think being a returning student made it easier for the community college to admit me. They had my info and I had success there before. I went into their animal major, as a path back to the other but did some stupid stuff. I could stay at the college in another major. I was liberal arts for the rest of the semester. I was dropped from the animal classes, I think I had two, but had other classes. They were Public Speaking, Intro to Computing with Mircocomputers, Technical Writing and halfway through the semester I picked up a history class, late session they call it, which was the next one sequentially to the history class I took my first year there. I was liberal arts with the late session history class added for financial aid reasons, but I'm a history girl (means I'm good with history). I made the dean's list this semester. I switched to computers for the next semester because the man teaching the animal classes I took at the community college said I seemed good with computers. I wanted to do this after that animal class issue but couldn't be full time in that major since no late session class suited it. I took Intro to Web Page Design, Microeconomics, Probability and Statistics, Advanced Computing with Microcomputers and Introductory Programming. I wasn't quite on the dean's list, but passed all these classes. This was our last summer at that camping park.
The next year was my last year of college. I was able to remain in the computer major this year. The first semester of my last year, I had Analysis and Logical Design, Advanced Programming, Computer Architecture, a networking class and an overview of technology class. The last two were out of sequence, since they're fall only and I was liberal arts the previous fall. I went to two concerts at the college. A local musician played in the student lounge two Wednesdays without his band. He said "I wish I could bring my band, but they'd probably blow the windows out." They played in the college's theater, apart from this but I wasn't aware until after the fact or it didn't work with my family's schedule. I heard some of their songs at the lead singer's student lounge concerts and I like that kind of music. He played a song I know by another band the first concert in the student lounge. His wife and their middle child were at the first concert and she was supposed to sing at the second but the little guy he introduced us to at the first concert had "bashed his head on a vacuum cleaner". His mom had to take him to get stiches. The first concert was the day after my 21st birthday and the other was the first Wednesday of December. I wasn't on the dean's list but I passed all my classes again. After this came my last semester. I had trouble getting to sleep the night before. I was probably excited about being almost done with college. I took the other networking class, an operating systems class, two business classes, which are required for the major I took and Physical Design and Implementation. The last forms a systems sequence with Analysis and Logical Design. I passed all of these classes and graduated from college late in May 2011. I was excited and relieved about this.
The February of this semester I had an opportunity I hadn't had since 2000. My dad had hooked up TV converter boxes the previous fall and that gave us Fox. Fox covers NASCAR races February to the first weekend of June. I could watch with my dad like I did as a kid. It was different now due to the changes in NASCAR and the youngest drivers are around my age. For example, Trevor Bayne and Joey Logano, who were mentioned that day, are a little younger than me. I was a Toyota fan the first four weeks of the 2011 season, then these two drivers became my two favorite drivers. The first Bristol race gave me a metaphor, which Trevor was in the midst of that helped me get over my hurt and made me not upset. That April, he had to go to the hospital due to an illness and I know how it feels it be in the hospital so it made me a little teary. The first time was just overnight but the second time lasted into May. He missed some races and I didn't like to see this be so. I was happy right along with him when he could race again. We have ABC, which also has some races.
After I was done with college, I continued to follow NASCAR and pursue other interests as well. I had some cooking lessons in my last semester of college but not through college. I no longer do that, but I do other things with that woman, mostly volunteering at a library and animal shelter near where I live. I've been reading, listening to music, walking, playing games, watching some things other than NASCAR, like game shows and movies, doing my Sudoku and crossword puzzles and writing. I also have job hunted and even got two interviews, which didn't lead to a job. The last started within the last year. My mom's twin brother stayed with us last summer. About 2.5 years ago, I went to Indiana for my maternal gramma's 90th birthday party, which meant all my grandparents were able to have one. My grampas lived to 91 and nearly 97 and my other gramma was 94. This was the highlight of 2011 to my dad to me it was graduating from college. My gramma's alive yet, but she may die soon. I had some supplement issues as a kid, but vitamin pills and fluoride were ones that didn't affect me in bad ways. I only needed the latter until some point in high school, I think. Flax is another one I could take then and still take now. I added cinnamon and fish oil in college and they had no bad effects on me, apparently, so I still take them. I take these once a day and have since I started them. I took one niacin a day for a while in or shortly after college, but it was used up and never replenished, but I don't think it was bad for me. We just didn't care about it or maybe it was the expense. I still hope to find a job, even if it was with an Aspie computer place. People with Asperger's can be good at tech jobs. Maybe I can get a job as a technical writer, as that class shows in the stories I write on fanficnation.com.
After high school, I went to a community college for my freshmen year. It's in a nearby town to where I live, so I rode with someone, either my dad or some people in our church, usually, but one of my mom's cousins whose work was in that town took me once. There was a boy a year ahead of me in high school taking classes at the college and a woman of going back to college age. The boy, Jonathon was a back up and the woman took me home on my short day. Another woman was working in the town where the college is and had to take her brother there since he had no car then. I usually rode with her, but after a while she didn't want to take me because of some life circumstances, a main one being her daughter had some sort of health issue. I took liberal arts with a science concentration this year. My first semester classes were English, College Algebra, Psychology and Biology, the last caused my short day since lab time was a stand alone ( my only class the day I had it). I made the dean's list. My second semester classes were History, Genetics, Animal Nutrition and Music Appreciation. I planned to take an animal major at another college after that year and many of my classes at the community would transfer there. We camped at the park we went to went I was sixteen. I graduated from the girl's club and had my last horseback riding lessons.
The next year, I transferred to the animal major at the other college, but had some issues there. The classes I took were two animal classes, microbiology and chemistry. I also volunteered at an animal shelter near the college, since that fulfilled a requirement. I failed the lab practical for one of the animals classes and had to work at a vet office the next semester and over the summer, but I wasn't ready for that class, so I couldn't go back to that major. I'd been a happy girl, basically but this took that away for a while, buried it. They would've allowed me back at the college in another major, but I chose to go to quick admit day at the community college. The community college took me back. That spring, our cat died and we adopted two shelter cats. They're sisters and the shelter thought they were one and a half at the time. They weren't little kittens but they were still young. My maternal gramma died shortly before I started back at college. We returned to that park again.
I think being a returning student made it easier for the community college to admit me. They had my info and I had success there before. I went into their animal major, as a path back to the other but did some stupid stuff. I could stay at the college in another major. I was liberal arts for the rest of the semester. I was dropped from the animal classes, I think I had two, but had other classes. They were Public Speaking, Intro to Computing with Mircocomputers, Technical Writing and halfway through the semester I picked up a history class, late session they call it, which was the next one sequentially to the history class I took my first year there. I was liberal arts with the late session history class added for financial aid reasons, but I'm a history girl (means I'm good with history). I made the dean's list this semester. I switched to computers for the next semester because the man teaching the animal classes I took at the community college said I seemed good with computers. I wanted to do this after that animal class issue but couldn't be full time in that major since no late session class suited it. I took Intro to Web Page Design, Microeconomics, Probability and Statistics, Advanced Computing with Microcomputers and Introductory Programming. I wasn't quite on the dean's list, but passed all these classes. This was our last summer at that camping park.
The next year was my last year of college. I was able to remain in the computer major this year. The first semester of my last year, I had Analysis and Logical Design, Advanced Programming, Computer Architecture, a networking class and an overview of technology class. The last two were out of sequence, since they're fall only and I was liberal arts the previous fall. I went to two concerts at the college. A local musician played in the student lounge two Wednesdays without his band. He said "I wish I could bring my band, but they'd probably blow the windows out." They played in the college's theater, apart from this but I wasn't aware until after the fact or it didn't work with my family's schedule. I heard some of their songs at the lead singer's student lounge concerts and I like that kind of music. He played a song I know by another band the first concert in the student lounge. His wife and their middle child were at the first concert and she was supposed to sing at the second but the little guy he introduced us to at the first concert had "bashed his head on a vacuum cleaner". His mom had to take him to get stiches. The first concert was the day after my 21st birthday and the other was the first Wednesday of December. I wasn't on the dean's list but I passed all my classes again. After this came my last semester. I had trouble getting to sleep the night before. I was probably excited about being almost done with college. I took the other networking class, an operating systems class, two business classes, which are required for the major I took and Physical Design and Implementation. The last forms a systems sequence with Analysis and Logical Design. I passed all of these classes and graduated from college late in May 2011. I was excited and relieved about this.
The February of this semester I had an opportunity I hadn't had since 2000. My dad had hooked up TV converter boxes the previous fall and that gave us Fox. Fox covers NASCAR races February to the first weekend of June. I could watch with my dad like I did as a kid. It was different now due to the changes in NASCAR and the youngest drivers are around my age. For example, Trevor Bayne and Joey Logano, who were mentioned that day, are a little younger than me. I was a Toyota fan the first four weeks of the 2011 season, then these two drivers became my two favorite drivers. The first Bristol race gave me a metaphor, which Trevor was in the midst of that helped me get over my hurt and made me not upset. That April, he had to go to the hospital due to an illness and I know how it feels it be in the hospital so it made me a little teary. The first time was just overnight but the second time lasted into May. He missed some races and I didn't like to see this be so. I was happy right along with him when he could race again. We have ABC, which also has some races.
After I was done with college, I continued to follow NASCAR and pursue other interests as well. I had some cooking lessons in my last semester of college but not through college. I no longer do that, but I do other things with that woman, mostly volunteering at a library and animal shelter near where I live. I've been reading, listening to music, walking, playing games, watching some things other than NASCAR, like game shows and movies, doing my Sudoku and crossword puzzles and writing. I also have job hunted and even got two interviews, which didn't lead to a job. The last started within the last year. My mom's twin brother stayed with us last summer. About 2.5 years ago, I went to Indiana for my maternal gramma's 90th birthday party, which meant all my grandparents were able to have one. My grampas lived to 91 and nearly 97 and my other gramma was 94. This was the highlight of 2011 to my dad to me it was graduating from college. My gramma's alive yet, but she may die soon. I had some supplement issues as a kid, but vitamin pills and fluoride were ones that didn't affect me in bad ways. I only needed the latter until some point in high school, I think. Flax is another one I could take then and still take now. I added cinnamon and fish oil in college and they had no bad effects on me, apparently, so I still take them. I take these once a day and have since I started them. I took one niacin a day for a while in or shortly after college, but it was used up and never replenished, but I don't think it was bad for me. We just didn't care about it or maybe it was the expense. I still hope to find a job, even if it was with an Aspie computer place. People with Asperger's can be good at tech jobs. Maybe I can get a job as a technical writer, as that class shows in the stories I write on fanficnation.com.
Tuesday, December 31, 2013
The Mystery Keeper: High School
This is the high school chapter of my life.
I was less nervous about ninth grade than sixth grade. I had 80 minute classes in high school and each class was every other day. Music one day, English at that time the next day, repeat cycle, for example. They weren't sure if I'd need a break in the classes or not. I never did unless I got upset. Then, I'd take a walk in the hall with my aide. I made the high honor roll this year every marking period. Until this year, I used a computer only at school or the public library, but I had so much typing of papers to do we needed our own computer. I had first used a computer in first grade at school, so I grew up with technology, basically. Some classrooms, the music classroom, a social studies and resource rooms specifically at my high school have computers. There's also two computer labs there, if things are still how they were when I was there. We camped at nearby park with some friends Memorial Day weekend. I went on the girl's club camping trip again. In New York, the state I live in, we have Regents exams at the end of the year in high school. I had a science one this year and my teacher called me up to tell me I got a 90 on it. I went to summer camp at a different camp closer to home. A teacher from my school had a job there and I saw him at the last camp meal. He'd been on vacation that week, but came back at the end. I'd taken a music class from him and we knew his family from the church we went to when I was little. I had memorized a lot of Bible verses between that church and the other church's girl's club. I'd also read the Bible with that girl's club. We camped out in my dad's parents backyard but earlier in the summer, we spent a weekend with some friends other than the Memorial Day camping friends at a beach nearby. I live near a lake which is where this beach I speak of is. I still had swimming this year and also horseback riding.
In tenth grade, I had one less class with my aide. Before, I'd only been on my own in Spanish and resource classes, which was a study hall for me as it had been every year other than seventh grade. I'd eaten lunch without the aide since middle school, though, I think. Now, I was on my own in social studies which took some adjustment. The school may have wanted to see how I'd do on my own as I'd grown up more now. I wasn't a little girl anymore and perhaps more able to function independently. It could've been another reason, since no one said why, at least not to me. We camped with friends Labor Day weekend. I took an animal science class, which was an elective for me. Some use it to replace chemistry in their junior year. With biology, animal science meant two science classes. I was good at social studies and science, as well as reading and other academic stuff as a kid. Math and writing were weaker, but still not bad, just not quite as good as the others. We camped Memorial Day weekend with our friends again. I went on the girl's club camping trip again this year as well as that camp where my one-time teacher worked. I graduated from Bible School, which I'd attended since I was preschool age. I had some Regents exams this year, more than before but not for every class, just math in January, social studies, biology and Spanish. The required high school math classes were 1 1/2 each. We camped with the friends we'd visited for a weekend at the beach last year at the same place we'd been then. Once more, I had swimming and horseback riding.
In eleventh grade, I was a bit unsure how I'd do in some of my classes. These were math and English. My dad was more concerned about chemistry than English. but we agreed on math. I took SAT verbal prep for my PSAT the first half and health the other half. Health was required but the other was an elective. It can be taken stand alone, which I did or with public speaking.My English teacher this year also taught SAT verbal prep. I got a permit in February of this year and took driver ed. in the summer. Juniors get priority for that. I skipped the girl's club camping trip since I had math, social studies, chemistry and English Regents this year. I think my English Regents made me nervous about English since it meant I'd write a lot in the class. We had Regents practice packets, one of which had a NASCAR article in it. I think she could be a race fan, which didn't occur to me, except perhaps vaguely back then since I had no opportunity to watch races at that time. I had to write an apology letter to a teacher this year. Resource was mostly a study hall but part of the time was used to teach us things, like once it was apology letters. I had to write one to a classmate because of what I said when she wrecked her car, which was a kind of car I don't like. This was my last year of Spanish even though there was another class yet. That Spanish became a college class right before I was eligible for it, so the students that had it before my classmates had a different experience based on what the teacher said. I was inducted into the National Honor Society this year. I'm unsure if we camped Memorial Day or not, but we could have or at least visited our friends. We camped at a beach near the town this bike camp was held. I'd been unable to learn to ride with being held up as little girl and was too big for my mom to hold up after a while. My dad worked nights after I was in first grade, so he wasn't always available, so after I outgrew both of my little bikes, I just had a scooter to ride. I also had roller blades and then roller sneakers. I was slow when I drove my mom's car but fast on foot powered vehicles other than skates. Like at the bike camp, I made my spotters run. At first I rode my mom's bike sometimes when she wasn't biking, but then got a seven speed one my own at Wal-Mart. I still have it and it's violet. When we bike hiked with our original Memorial Day camping friends (our other friends got in on this), I could keep up with their two weeks younger than me daughter on my bike. I had originally planned to take some college classes as a senior, Pre-calc and the Spanish, but they didn't think I had good enough time management. I no longer had the math tutoring this year, which was a first since it started, I think but I had no hard math-math* after this, but I did take physics in my senior year. This summer I took driver ed and had swimming but no horseback riding.
In my senior year, I no longer had as many required classes. Required was English, social studies and PE. The English was a split class, half a year with each teacher, unlike other grades which had two English teachers and it was one or the other all year. Social studies was a government class half the year and economics the other. The halves could be in either order. I took a business math type class because my dad wanted me to and my mom saw where he was coming from after she saw a description of it. Before she'd been disgusted because a neighbor lady who's no longer living now due to a stroke had said how she took a class like that and found it too easy. Maybe it was different in my neighbor's day. I wasn't too keen on it since I wasn't interested in working at a bank or in a money thing, like accounting, economics or the business world. I was more interested in a sciency type career. My math and science were my non-required but good classes for me, the science because I was a college bound girl and the other just was by virtue of what it was. I liked science but not physics. It was frustrating to many students, me included. My girl's club friend, who was homeschooled, had to go to homeschooling graduation camping weekend, so I didn't go on the girl's club camping trip since it wouldn't have meant as much without her. My class went to a nearby water park one day, though. It was an enhanced Senior Fun Day since not enough of my classmates signed up for our senior trip to have that. The class two years before us had an enhanced Senior Fun Day, only they voted to have it at the Senior Fun Day site beach. The beach is one I went to with kindergarten summer school and the one our beach friends like. I voted for the beach, but was outvoted. I was too amped in a bad way (nervous) about my physics Regents to want to go to the park with my class, but I was told to go and take my review book along to do on the bus, which I did. I didn't go to the scholarship dinner this year, since I missed the high honor roll once and just made the honor roll but was able to win some scholarships and awards. I had five of one and four of the other.
Next week I just might finish this story when I tell about my life after high school. It depends on how much material I include from my college years. This summer, as a seventeen year old I learned the butterfly and also had horseback riding. Since I hadn't been able to much in the driver ed. car the year before, I went to driving school. My mom had no vacation time built up from her new job but we went to the beach to see some friends, the same beach friends previously mentioned, one day, the Fourth of July, I think. My paternal grampa died in that July
*refers to how physics has a math element but falls under the science category
I was less nervous about ninth grade than sixth grade. I had 80 minute classes in high school and each class was every other day. Music one day, English at that time the next day, repeat cycle, for example. They weren't sure if I'd need a break in the classes or not. I never did unless I got upset. Then, I'd take a walk in the hall with my aide. I made the high honor roll this year every marking period. Until this year, I used a computer only at school or the public library, but I had so much typing of papers to do we needed our own computer. I had first used a computer in first grade at school, so I grew up with technology, basically. Some classrooms, the music classroom, a social studies and resource rooms specifically at my high school have computers. There's also two computer labs there, if things are still how they were when I was there. We camped at nearby park with some friends Memorial Day weekend. I went on the girl's club camping trip again. In New York, the state I live in, we have Regents exams at the end of the year in high school. I had a science one this year and my teacher called me up to tell me I got a 90 on it. I went to summer camp at a different camp closer to home. A teacher from my school had a job there and I saw him at the last camp meal. He'd been on vacation that week, but came back at the end. I'd taken a music class from him and we knew his family from the church we went to when I was little. I had memorized a lot of Bible verses between that church and the other church's girl's club. I'd also read the Bible with that girl's club. We camped out in my dad's parents backyard but earlier in the summer, we spent a weekend with some friends other than the Memorial Day camping friends at a beach nearby. I live near a lake which is where this beach I speak of is. I still had swimming this year and also horseback riding.
In tenth grade, I had one less class with my aide. Before, I'd only been on my own in Spanish and resource classes, which was a study hall for me as it had been every year other than seventh grade. I'd eaten lunch without the aide since middle school, though, I think. Now, I was on my own in social studies which took some adjustment. The school may have wanted to see how I'd do on my own as I'd grown up more now. I wasn't a little girl anymore and perhaps more able to function independently. It could've been another reason, since no one said why, at least not to me. We camped with friends Labor Day weekend. I took an animal science class, which was an elective for me. Some use it to replace chemistry in their junior year. With biology, animal science meant two science classes. I was good at social studies and science, as well as reading and other academic stuff as a kid. Math and writing were weaker, but still not bad, just not quite as good as the others. We camped Memorial Day weekend with our friends again. I went on the girl's club camping trip again this year as well as that camp where my one-time teacher worked. I graduated from Bible School, which I'd attended since I was preschool age. I had some Regents exams this year, more than before but not for every class, just math in January, social studies, biology and Spanish. The required high school math classes were 1 1/2 each. We camped with the friends we'd visited for a weekend at the beach last year at the same place we'd been then. Once more, I had swimming and horseback riding.
In eleventh grade, I was a bit unsure how I'd do in some of my classes. These were math and English. My dad was more concerned about chemistry than English. but we agreed on math. I took SAT verbal prep for my PSAT the first half and health the other half. Health was required but the other was an elective. It can be taken stand alone, which I did or with public speaking.My English teacher this year also taught SAT verbal prep. I got a permit in February of this year and took driver ed. in the summer. Juniors get priority for that. I skipped the girl's club camping trip since I had math, social studies, chemistry and English Regents this year. I think my English Regents made me nervous about English since it meant I'd write a lot in the class. We had Regents practice packets, one of which had a NASCAR article in it. I think she could be a race fan, which didn't occur to me, except perhaps vaguely back then since I had no opportunity to watch races at that time. I had to write an apology letter to a teacher this year. Resource was mostly a study hall but part of the time was used to teach us things, like once it was apology letters. I had to write one to a classmate because of what I said when she wrecked her car, which was a kind of car I don't like. This was my last year of Spanish even though there was another class yet. That Spanish became a college class right before I was eligible for it, so the students that had it before my classmates had a different experience based on what the teacher said. I was inducted into the National Honor Society this year. I'm unsure if we camped Memorial Day or not, but we could have or at least visited our friends. We camped at a beach near the town this bike camp was held. I'd been unable to learn to ride with being held up as little girl and was too big for my mom to hold up after a while. My dad worked nights after I was in first grade, so he wasn't always available, so after I outgrew both of my little bikes, I just had a scooter to ride. I also had roller blades and then roller sneakers. I was slow when I drove my mom's car but fast on foot powered vehicles other than skates. Like at the bike camp, I made my spotters run. At first I rode my mom's bike sometimes when she wasn't biking, but then got a seven speed one my own at Wal-Mart. I still have it and it's violet. When we bike hiked with our original Memorial Day camping friends (our other friends got in on this), I could keep up with their two weeks younger than me daughter on my bike. I had originally planned to take some college classes as a senior, Pre-calc and the Spanish, but they didn't think I had good enough time management. I no longer had the math tutoring this year, which was a first since it started, I think but I had no hard math-math* after this, but I did take physics in my senior year. This summer I took driver ed and had swimming but no horseback riding.
In my senior year, I no longer had as many required classes. Required was English, social studies and PE. The English was a split class, half a year with each teacher, unlike other grades which had two English teachers and it was one or the other all year. Social studies was a government class half the year and economics the other. The halves could be in either order. I took a business math type class because my dad wanted me to and my mom saw where he was coming from after she saw a description of it. Before she'd been disgusted because a neighbor lady who's no longer living now due to a stroke had said how she took a class like that and found it too easy. Maybe it was different in my neighbor's day. I wasn't too keen on it since I wasn't interested in working at a bank or in a money thing, like accounting, economics or the business world. I was more interested in a sciency type career. My math and science were my non-required but good classes for me, the science because I was a college bound girl and the other just was by virtue of what it was. I liked science but not physics. It was frustrating to many students, me included. My girl's club friend, who was homeschooled, had to go to homeschooling graduation camping weekend, so I didn't go on the girl's club camping trip since it wouldn't have meant as much without her. My class went to a nearby water park one day, though. It was an enhanced Senior Fun Day since not enough of my classmates signed up for our senior trip to have that. The class two years before us had an enhanced Senior Fun Day, only they voted to have it at the Senior Fun Day site beach. The beach is one I went to with kindergarten summer school and the one our beach friends like. I voted for the beach, but was outvoted. I was too amped in a bad way (nervous) about my physics Regents to want to go to the park with my class, but I was told to go and take my review book along to do on the bus, which I did. I didn't go to the scholarship dinner this year, since I missed the high honor roll once and just made the honor roll but was able to win some scholarships and awards. I had five of one and four of the other.
Next week I just might finish this story when I tell about my life after high school. It depends on how much material I include from my college years. This summer, as a seventeen year old I learned the butterfly and also had horseback riding. Since I hadn't been able to much in the driver ed. car the year before, I went to driving school. My mom had no vacation time built up from her new job but we went to the beach to see some friends, the same beach friends previously mentioned, one day, the Fourth of July, I think. My paternal grampa died in that July
*refers to how physics has a math element but falls under the science category
Thursday, December 26, 2013
The Mystery Keeper Middle School.
This is about my life in my middle school years.
I was nervous about sixth grade but it wasn't that bad in the end. I made the honor or high honor roll all four marking periods. I was a tiger for Halloween, I think since I remember I had cat ears. I got over my sporty phase at this time. In my late elementary years, I liked sports books. I also got a basketball hoop and watched sports TV with my dad. My dad had the same surgery this my mom had when I was four. I was a NASCAR viewer by third grade, but no later than November of sixth grade, I had no more opportunity to watch races as a kid. They petered out on our channels more, as we didn't have Fox then like we do now. I had no clue I'd return to NASCAR viewership ten years after I heard my dad say "Dale Earnhardt died" February '01, though. A few days before this, I brought my science experiment hamsters to the school science fair and they were a hit. I used mice at first but the mice we bought were feeder mice and one died as did its replacement. The other one went to the other sixth grade science teacher and died a few weeks later. When he was alive yet, my class watched a video with the other class and my classmates talked about how cute he was. He was a little white mouse. We kept the hamsters after the experiment. The nursing home my dad works at raffled off a cat, Spitfire that spring and my dad put his name in seven times. We had two cats Fluffy and Snuggles, but they were old and Fluffy was sick and dying. She still crawled on our laps, though. Spitfire didn't like our other cats but she liked us. She slept on my bed before I went to camp, then slept with my parents after that. I went on the girl's club camping trip again and the special needs camp later on that summer. I had aged out of one of the library programs but had the other activities still. In August, my family made a Canadian trip like when I was seven and eight. We also made the girl's club church our church after I finished the sixth grade Sunday School at the first church after going to their evening services a while. The first church had no regular evening service, just plays or movies, special things like that. My dad's work schedule means he can't always go to morning church, so this mattered to him.
Seventh grade was no problem schoolwise but the world wasn't so good. Just after I started the year, 9/11 happened. I was almost 12, so still a young girl in so many ways and it scared me. I just missed the honor roll once, but was on it the rest of the year. I started Spanish class this year. I had technology half the year and health the other half Nothing else too big in my world, schoolwise, but I no longer had OT, which was new. I moved to the next level in my church's girl's club this year. Since we made the church our church, we joined it a few months after I turned twelve. I also got baptized. Since we hadn't bought a new car since I was three and that model was on its last year, my family got a new car this year. It was a second car so we didn't drive it a whole lot but we used it on fun trips. My gramma had heart surgery shortly after the girl's club camping trip, which happened after our dog was put to sleep. Sandy, the dog was old and sick. We still had our dove as well Snuggles and Spitfire, the cats. They and my hamsters were enough for us I guess, as we never got another dog to date. I had a bad time in adaptive PE as the other girl was aggressive to me, pulled my hair so hard it pulled me down and said things like "Bee girl" when bees flew around my head and "loser" for whatever reason. The hair thing was harassment, we were told but she was autistic, so the cops couldn't do much about it. I went on the girl's club camping trip and to the special needs camp again. We also camped at a town park near where I live.
Eighth grade was a good year for me. I was always on the honor roll somewhere and I got an academic distinction award then. Our church had a 9/11 memorial service but we didn't go as my mom wasn't interested in it. I had technology again, as well as home and careers, which were both half year classes. I had state tests, like in fourth grade plus a science test as well. I also no longer had adaptive PE due to my experiences in it the previous year. My PE teacher that year was the son-in-law of a woman from our church, who had surgery like my gramma had and my family visited her in the hospital. I turned thirteen this year and about a week and a half later my mom's dad, my grampa died of heart trouble at 91. I went on the girl's club camping trip as well as to the special needs camp. It seems Snuggles died while I was camping with the girl's club. My family camped at a camping park where my dad's family was having a reunion so it was blended with our vacation. I knew about a local speedway this summer because our dentist advertised it on his bulletin board and the radio station that played in his office aired a commercial about it, but we didn't go. My mom's not a big sports fan, so maybe that explains it. I didn't care either way, though. It had some minor league NASCAR races, which I learned after I could watch NASCAR on TV again. I had now aged out of both library programs but still had my other activities in summer.
Next week, I'll tell of my high school years.
I was nervous about sixth grade but it wasn't that bad in the end. I made the honor or high honor roll all four marking periods. I was a tiger for Halloween, I think since I remember I had cat ears. I got over my sporty phase at this time. In my late elementary years, I liked sports books. I also got a basketball hoop and watched sports TV with my dad. My dad had the same surgery this my mom had when I was four. I was a NASCAR viewer by third grade, but no later than November of sixth grade, I had no more opportunity to watch races as a kid. They petered out on our channels more, as we didn't have Fox then like we do now. I had no clue I'd return to NASCAR viewership ten years after I heard my dad say "Dale Earnhardt died" February '01, though. A few days before this, I brought my science experiment hamsters to the school science fair and they were a hit. I used mice at first but the mice we bought were feeder mice and one died as did its replacement. The other one went to the other sixth grade science teacher and died a few weeks later. When he was alive yet, my class watched a video with the other class and my classmates talked about how cute he was. He was a little white mouse. We kept the hamsters after the experiment. The nursing home my dad works at raffled off a cat, Spitfire that spring and my dad put his name in seven times. We had two cats Fluffy and Snuggles, but they were old and Fluffy was sick and dying. She still crawled on our laps, though. Spitfire didn't like our other cats but she liked us. She slept on my bed before I went to camp, then slept with my parents after that. I went on the girl's club camping trip again and the special needs camp later on that summer. I had aged out of one of the library programs but had the other activities still. In August, my family made a Canadian trip like when I was seven and eight. We also made the girl's club church our church after I finished the sixth grade Sunday School at the first church after going to their evening services a while. The first church had no regular evening service, just plays or movies, special things like that. My dad's work schedule means he can't always go to morning church, so this mattered to him.
Seventh grade was no problem schoolwise but the world wasn't so good. Just after I started the year, 9/11 happened. I was almost 12, so still a young girl in so many ways and it scared me. I just missed the honor roll once, but was on it the rest of the year. I started Spanish class this year. I had technology half the year and health the other half Nothing else too big in my world, schoolwise, but I no longer had OT, which was new. I moved to the next level in my church's girl's club this year. Since we made the church our church, we joined it a few months after I turned twelve. I also got baptized. Since we hadn't bought a new car since I was three and that model was on its last year, my family got a new car this year. It was a second car so we didn't drive it a whole lot but we used it on fun trips. My gramma had heart surgery shortly after the girl's club camping trip, which happened after our dog was put to sleep. Sandy, the dog was old and sick. We still had our dove as well Snuggles and Spitfire, the cats. They and my hamsters were enough for us I guess, as we never got another dog to date. I had a bad time in adaptive PE as the other girl was aggressive to me, pulled my hair so hard it pulled me down and said things like "Bee girl" when bees flew around my head and "loser" for whatever reason. The hair thing was harassment, we were told but she was autistic, so the cops couldn't do much about it. I went on the girl's club camping trip and to the special needs camp again. We also camped at a town park near where I live.
Eighth grade was a good year for me. I was always on the honor roll somewhere and I got an academic distinction award then. Our church had a 9/11 memorial service but we didn't go as my mom wasn't interested in it. I had technology again, as well as home and careers, which were both half year classes. I had state tests, like in fourth grade plus a science test as well. I also no longer had adaptive PE due to my experiences in it the previous year. My PE teacher that year was the son-in-law of a woman from our church, who had surgery like my gramma had and my family visited her in the hospital. I turned thirteen this year and about a week and a half later my mom's dad, my grampa died of heart trouble at 91. I went on the girl's club camping trip as well as to the special needs camp. It seems Snuggles died while I was camping with the girl's club. My family camped at a camping park where my dad's family was having a reunion so it was blended with our vacation. I knew about a local speedway this summer because our dentist advertised it on his bulletin board and the radio station that played in his office aired a commercial about it, but we didn't go. My mom's not a big sports fan, so maybe that explains it. I didn't care either way, though. It had some minor league NASCAR races, which I learned after I could watch NASCAR on TV again. I had now aged out of both library programs but still had my other activities in summer.
Next week, I'll tell of my high school years.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
The Mystery Keeper Fourth and Fifth Grade+NASCAR Charlotte test
I'll focus mostly on my fourth and fifth grade years with the other a bit at the end.
In fourth grade, I had the teacher I had reading with the previous year. I'd never had a man teacher outside summer school and specials and he never had a kid with an aide before. We were nervous, but it turned out fine. I was a little bit friends with a new girl named Ashley, which was all I had in the friend department that year. My old friends were in other classes. This was my first year as Tinky Winky for Halloween, as I discovered him and the other Teletubbies through a kid magazine I read that summer. I had to take a state English test in January and bit my fingernail bad the night before because I was nervous. I also had a state math test in the spring. I started flute lessons this year and the day I got my flute I ran to the bus home with it. It fell out of the case and was a bit dented. I had in school lessons as summer lessons. I was in swimming lessons, which I started at seven and summer library programs at two nearby libraries which I started the previous summer. At some point before I started fifth grade, we found out my aunt was planning to marry a man she met after getting home from a family reunion at a near to me camp the previous summer. Though she lives in Louisiana, we had to go as she expected us. My parents were also asked to allow me to be studied at Yale by Dr. Fred Volkmar.
In fifth grade, I had a lot going on in my life. I had my first grade friend Rockie come back in my life as we were classmates again that year. That October, we flew to Louisiana with American Airlines for my aunt's wedding. My aunt's quite a bit older than my dad, about twelve years.It felt like summer there and we swam in the outdoor pool at the new hotel we stayed at. I met her son, on the trip for the first time in my life. My cousin I never knew fathered his first child as young man, probably just out of college age. She was eight and her little sister was on the verge of three. I was less than a month short of ten, so I could play with the older girl. She showed me where they kept their balls and we played with at least one. We went to an alligator farm, my family and hers. I had to hold my littler cousin when we got our picture taken with a taped mouthed baby gator. She was probably scared of it. One thing about Louisiana that's not so nice is fire ants. I had to step over some once since I didn't see their hill until I was right up to it. Another thing is my mom could understand the people sometimes, but some were too drawn out. My older little cousin was interested in my precomputer which I brought on the trip, as well as some books. I noticed her Southern accent particularly when she said the letter "y", while spelling her name. I wrote her name on my precomputer and she told me how to spell it. She and her sister have Facebook now and I'm friends with her. Maybe her sister doesn't remember me, since she was so little when we met. Not too long after we got home, I was Tinky Winky again for Halloween.
In November, I turned ten and a few weeks later, we went to Yale. We stayed in a hotel in New Haven. I was tested and observed there. Before we went there, I was scared and said "Eeek!", which became a parental nickname for me. My mom still calls me that sometimes. I had to tell a story based on pictures in a book. I remember it had a frog that though a bee was a butterfly in it. One day, a man tested me and the next day it was a woman. The day the man tested me I hid under a table when he left the room and then made cow horns with my fingers since I had a cow book. They tried to call it devil horns, which was similar to another occurrence in my life my mom told me about. I said something about goose bumps and that was taken as a reference to Goosebumps books and I don't read scary stories. On the way home, we spent the night with my aunt in Connecticut. Shortly after we got home, I started in a girl's club at a local church after we got home since they said I needed to be in one. I went on a camping retreat with the club in June and my mom went since she started helping after the other helper moved away. I did the same activities as the previous summer plus a special needs camp week the church with girl's club paid and math lessons since my mom could no longer supplement my school math. She could still do Hooked on Phonics (Power Builders was the part I was on at this time), but I was beyond Hooked on Math and her math skills. I'd done these since 4. We attended evening services at the church, plus my mom went there with me when she needed a Sunday off from Sunday school teaching at our main church at the time. Sometimes she took her Sunday off at the church I had religious ed at for continuity from there and the children's church. Our main church at the time had a nursery church for 9 months until the start of kindergarten, which my parents helped with. I was their little helper, since I passed out snack as well as get out and pick up the toys. I broke up a fight between two little girls fighting over a doll. I gave one another doll to play with. In August, the club did an overnight tent camping experience, which was hard for me due to my inexperience at camping. I was nervous about middle school. I'll tell about middle school next week. I think Shyloh died in this time span somewhere after someone hit her. She had little traffic savvy.
NASCAR did a test at Charlotte last week and had mock races .In addition, to the five "races", they had single car runs and tested spoilers. Thirty drivers tested including Joey Logano, my second-favorite. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson had the fastest laps.
In fourth grade, I had the teacher I had reading with the previous year. I'd never had a man teacher outside summer school and specials and he never had a kid with an aide before. We were nervous, but it turned out fine. I was a little bit friends with a new girl named Ashley, which was all I had in the friend department that year. My old friends were in other classes. This was my first year as Tinky Winky for Halloween, as I discovered him and the other Teletubbies through a kid magazine I read that summer. I had to take a state English test in January and bit my fingernail bad the night before because I was nervous. I also had a state math test in the spring. I started flute lessons this year and the day I got my flute I ran to the bus home with it. It fell out of the case and was a bit dented. I had in school lessons as summer lessons. I was in swimming lessons, which I started at seven and summer library programs at two nearby libraries which I started the previous summer. At some point before I started fifth grade, we found out my aunt was planning to marry a man she met after getting home from a family reunion at a near to me camp the previous summer. Though she lives in Louisiana, we had to go as she expected us. My parents were also asked to allow me to be studied at Yale by Dr. Fred Volkmar.
In fifth grade, I had a lot going on in my life. I had my first grade friend Rockie come back in my life as we were classmates again that year. That October, we flew to Louisiana with American Airlines for my aunt's wedding. My aunt's quite a bit older than my dad, about twelve years.It felt like summer there and we swam in the outdoor pool at the new hotel we stayed at. I met her son, on the trip for the first time in my life. My cousin I never knew fathered his first child as young man, probably just out of college age. She was eight and her little sister was on the verge of three. I was less than a month short of ten, so I could play with the older girl. She showed me where they kept their balls and we played with at least one. We went to an alligator farm, my family and hers. I had to hold my littler cousin when we got our picture taken with a taped mouthed baby gator. She was probably scared of it. One thing about Louisiana that's not so nice is fire ants. I had to step over some once since I didn't see their hill until I was right up to it. Another thing is my mom could understand the people sometimes, but some were too drawn out. My older little cousin was interested in my precomputer which I brought on the trip, as well as some books. I noticed her Southern accent particularly when she said the letter "y", while spelling her name. I wrote her name on my precomputer and she told me how to spell it. She and her sister have Facebook now and I'm friends with her. Maybe her sister doesn't remember me, since she was so little when we met. Not too long after we got home, I was Tinky Winky again for Halloween.
In November, I turned ten and a few weeks later, we went to Yale. We stayed in a hotel in New Haven. I was tested and observed there. Before we went there, I was scared and said "Eeek!", which became a parental nickname for me. My mom still calls me that sometimes. I had to tell a story based on pictures in a book. I remember it had a frog that though a bee was a butterfly in it. One day, a man tested me and the next day it was a woman. The day the man tested me I hid under a table when he left the room and then made cow horns with my fingers since I had a cow book. They tried to call it devil horns, which was similar to another occurrence in my life my mom told me about. I said something about goose bumps and that was taken as a reference to Goosebumps books and I don't read scary stories. On the way home, we spent the night with my aunt in Connecticut. Shortly after we got home, I started in a girl's club at a local church after we got home since they said I needed to be in one. I went on a camping retreat with the club in June and my mom went since she started helping after the other helper moved away. I did the same activities as the previous summer plus a special needs camp week the church with girl's club paid and math lessons since my mom could no longer supplement my school math. She could still do Hooked on Phonics (Power Builders was the part I was on at this time), but I was beyond Hooked on Math and her math skills. I'd done these since 4. We attended evening services at the church, plus my mom went there with me when she needed a Sunday off from Sunday school teaching at our main church at the time. Sometimes she took her Sunday off at the church I had religious ed at for continuity from there and the children's church. Our main church at the time had a nursery church for 9 months until the start of kindergarten, which my parents helped with. I was their little helper, since I passed out snack as well as get out and pick up the toys. I broke up a fight between two little girls fighting over a doll. I gave one another doll to play with. In August, the club did an overnight tent camping experience, which was hard for me due to my inexperience at camping. I was nervous about middle school. I'll tell about middle school next week. I think Shyloh died in this time span somewhere after someone hit her. She had little traffic savvy.
NASCAR did a test at Charlotte last week and had mock races .In addition, to the five "races", they had single car runs and tested spoilers. Thirty drivers tested including Joey Logano, my second-favorite. Kevin Harvick and Kyle Larson had the fastest laps.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
The Mystery Keeper First Second and Third Grade Years +NASCAR Champion's Week
I didn't want to interrupt my life story, so I won't go too deep into Champion's Week. My next chapter of my life story first, then a little bit of my thoughts on Champion's Week.
The school district transferred me to another closer to home elementary school within the district for 1st grade. There was 4 elementary schools when I started school but one I never went to closed when I was finished with Kindergarten. My second elementary school had added therapy when I was headed to first grade. I had to take the shuttle bus in the afternoon since my bus home was at the still open elementary school I never attended as it had no therapy when I was an elementary kid. I was in a special kindergarten and 1st grade class and did the 1st grade work. I liked the other kids and books in the classroom, but I had a hard time in other ways. I was still hyperactive, which made me a challenge in certain ways. Sometimes, I got sick. One day, I started coughing at school and missed some days due to a bad cold. I also had a rash, which was found to be a laundry detergent allergy. I would've been Barney again, probably if I hadn't had the rash as I had it on Halloween. I was never found to have other allergies but I had sinus infections as a kid. I was a cowgirl in our Western Christmas play, cowboy hat, boots and I even acted like cowgirl. My class had a circus and I was a clown. I was good with academic stuff like reading and math, but my behavior was my weak area. There was a camping trip I could've gone on if my mom had been along as a second person to watch me (I had an aide), but she won a trip to that park instead. I was one of those wandering Asperger (a form of autism) kids. Kellie, my kindergarten friend spent half the day with a kindergarten class and the other half in the same class as me. I made friends with a girl named Rockie, who had speech therapy with me sometimes. I sometimes put together sentences that didn't make sense, though I no longer echoed like I did as a toddler. I didn't have speech therapy after 1st grade. I also had occupational therapy. I don't know if I had physical therapy at that time or if that was after this time. Though I had times of frustration and being troubled I was able to move to second grade.
I was at the same school as first grade for second grade. My class that year was a special second and third grade class. Hallie, Cindy and Tiffany were friends that year. Tiffany was a new girl and friends with Hallie. Hallie was hyper and a year older than me. Cindy was a grade ahead of me, so she was older too. I was young for my grade yet. I was a princess for Halloween. This was a hard year, because I knew the words of directions but couldn't process it. Think of a puzzle apart. I saw all the pieces but not the whole. There was a point store in the classroom. We could buy little things with points we earned for good behaviors. I remember some stuff I bought, like a cat sticky that says "Hi there". I was a cat fan from that year on. I had a reading class because I was ahead of what my class could give. There was an alphabet play one of my elementary years and I think it was this one. The summer after was the last time I had summer school, which was a social thing for me. I got kicked out of summer school after I elbowed a boy who was behind me. I guess he startled or scared me. My parents no longer experimented with autistic supplements like algae and magnesium after this year. I just took vitamins like any kid and fluoride for my teeth as we have well water. We went to Canada that summer.
I continued at the same school for third grade. I was in a special ed 3rd and 4th grade class part of the day and regular ed 3rd grade the other part. I still had my OT and PT. I also had adaptive PE along with regular PE class. I think it was every other PE day for each and we had PE twice a week. I went to a fourth grade class for reading then. I was a princess again for Halloween. They trained my aide to work with me, so things were better. I think my second grade friends were my friends again in third grade. Hallie definitely was and when she stayed with her grandpa, she rode the shuttle bus with me. Once, we missed the bus and had to have my parents and her grandpa get us. I started in a religious education thing because my school district offered it and still does. It starts with third graders and is elementary only. Once a month. most months Cindy and me, as well as some other kids would go to a church in the town for a chunk of the day. It was a bit like Bible school or kid Sunday School. We'd sing some kiddie Christian songs and do these activities, crafts and such and there was some teaching. We ate there, most likely lunch. We started out at school and were bussed over at start time and back to school in the afternoon. There was an ice storm this winter and a stray dog showed up at our place afterwards. We named her Shyloh because she was shy. I had a book about a dog named Shiloh, which may have been a factor as well but we spelled our dog's named to look like shy as opposed to like the book dog's name. She had four puppies, which climbed on my mom's lap when we started socializing them. After a while, I could play with them. We named them Crystal, Brice, Cuddle and Kristy/Puddle. The two name one's names were mine and my mom's. Mine was from a book and my mom's came from puddles on the floor. A boy took Brice the boy pup but the others found homes with children through our county's humane society. The first two looked like our dog Sandy. My mom's oldest brother died at the age of 55 this year and I missed school to go to the funeral. We went on another Canada trip over the summer. We also tent camped at a local camp when my dad's family had a reunion there that summer.
NASCAR Champion's Week was last week. They honored the Chasers, champion, Rookie of the Year and gave out some awards, like Most Popular Driver. This was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. There was more, which you can look up. They had a banquet and the drivers gave speeches. I don't watch it but I saw stuff about it online. Come back next week for the rest of my elementary years and probably my thoughts on the Charlotte test
The school district transferred me to another closer to home elementary school within the district for 1st grade. There was 4 elementary schools when I started school but one I never went to closed when I was finished with Kindergarten. My second elementary school had added therapy when I was headed to first grade. I had to take the shuttle bus in the afternoon since my bus home was at the still open elementary school I never attended as it had no therapy when I was an elementary kid. I was in a special kindergarten and 1st grade class and did the 1st grade work. I liked the other kids and books in the classroom, but I had a hard time in other ways. I was still hyperactive, which made me a challenge in certain ways. Sometimes, I got sick. One day, I started coughing at school and missed some days due to a bad cold. I also had a rash, which was found to be a laundry detergent allergy. I would've been Barney again, probably if I hadn't had the rash as I had it on Halloween. I was never found to have other allergies but I had sinus infections as a kid. I was a cowgirl in our Western Christmas play, cowboy hat, boots and I even acted like cowgirl. My class had a circus and I was a clown. I was good with academic stuff like reading and math, but my behavior was my weak area. There was a camping trip I could've gone on if my mom had been along as a second person to watch me (I had an aide), but she won a trip to that park instead. I was one of those wandering Asperger (a form of autism) kids. Kellie, my kindergarten friend spent half the day with a kindergarten class and the other half in the same class as me. I made friends with a girl named Rockie, who had speech therapy with me sometimes. I sometimes put together sentences that didn't make sense, though I no longer echoed like I did as a toddler. I didn't have speech therapy after 1st grade. I also had occupational therapy. I don't know if I had physical therapy at that time or if that was after this time. Though I had times of frustration and being troubled I was able to move to second grade.
I was at the same school as first grade for second grade. My class that year was a special second and third grade class. Hallie, Cindy and Tiffany were friends that year. Tiffany was a new girl and friends with Hallie. Hallie was hyper and a year older than me. Cindy was a grade ahead of me, so she was older too. I was young for my grade yet. I was a princess for Halloween. This was a hard year, because I knew the words of directions but couldn't process it. Think of a puzzle apart. I saw all the pieces but not the whole. There was a point store in the classroom. We could buy little things with points we earned for good behaviors. I remember some stuff I bought, like a cat sticky that says "Hi there". I was a cat fan from that year on. I had a reading class because I was ahead of what my class could give. There was an alphabet play one of my elementary years and I think it was this one. The summer after was the last time I had summer school, which was a social thing for me. I got kicked out of summer school after I elbowed a boy who was behind me. I guess he startled or scared me. My parents no longer experimented with autistic supplements like algae and magnesium after this year. I just took vitamins like any kid and fluoride for my teeth as we have well water. We went to Canada that summer.
I continued at the same school for third grade. I was in a special ed 3rd and 4th grade class part of the day and regular ed 3rd grade the other part. I still had my OT and PT. I also had adaptive PE along with regular PE class. I think it was every other PE day for each and we had PE twice a week. I went to a fourth grade class for reading then. I was a princess again for Halloween. They trained my aide to work with me, so things were better. I think my second grade friends were my friends again in third grade. Hallie definitely was and when she stayed with her grandpa, she rode the shuttle bus with me. Once, we missed the bus and had to have my parents and her grandpa get us. I started in a religious education thing because my school district offered it and still does. It starts with third graders and is elementary only. Once a month. most months Cindy and me, as well as some other kids would go to a church in the town for a chunk of the day. It was a bit like Bible school or kid Sunday School. We'd sing some kiddie Christian songs and do these activities, crafts and such and there was some teaching. We ate there, most likely lunch. We started out at school and were bussed over at start time and back to school in the afternoon. There was an ice storm this winter and a stray dog showed up at our place afterwards. We named her Shyloh because she was shy. I had a book about a dog named Shiloh, which may have been a factor as well but we spelled our dog's named to look like shy as opposed to like the book dog's name. She had four puppies, which climbed on my mom's lap when we started socializing them. After a while, I could play with them. We named them Crystal, Brice, Cuddle and Kristy/Puddle. The two name one's names were mine and my mom's. Mine was from a book and my mom's came from puddles on the floor. A boy took Brice the boy pup but the others found homes with children through our county's humane society. The first two looked like our dog Sandy. My mom's oldest brother died at the age of 55 this year and I missed school to go to the funeral. We went on another Canada trip over the summer. We also tent camped at a local camp when my dad's family had a reunion there that summer.
NASCAR Champion's Week was last week. They honored the Chasers, champion, Rookie of the Year and gave out some awards, like Most Popular Driver. This was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. There was more, which you can look up. They had a banquet and the drivers gave speeches. I don't watch it but I saw stuff about it online. Come back next week for the rest of my elementary years and probably my thoughts on the Charlotte test
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
The Mystery Keeper: Preschool and Kindergarten
This picks up where the last post left off.
I started preschool two months before my fourth birthday. I barely remember since I was so little, but I liked it. I liked the books there and I've been told they had big stuffed mice. I have a me book from then and there's this picture of a ride-in toy bus. I remember a trip to the quarry and the me book has a picture of us at the fire station. I'm demonstrating the stop drop and roll in it.
Since I live in a rural area, we had a preschool teacher come to the house, but I visited the center once a month. I was excited and danced around when the teacher came. I think I was all amped about her bag, but my mom thinks it was her, too. My mom had surgery this year and my dad took care of me then. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was four, but one of the preschool people didn't think I was due to my affectionate ways. I was a happy autistic kid, like some kids I've read about on other blogs. I could read some at 4, example being stop signs. I had no language delay but I had trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes I made nonsense sentences. I went to a center to be diagnosed. It had toys and a gym, where I've been told I rode a tricycle. Mostly I had coordination problems. I played what they call parallel but at the end of the year, when I was about 4.5, I was starting to play with other kids outside.
Due to my age and hyperactivity, my mom wanted me in Begindergarden. I tested too good on my Kindergarten Screening due to my cognitive abilities. I started in a special Kindergarten and first grade class at one of local elementary schools. It was the one in the district with therapies for kids like me at the time. I made a little friend a few months older than me named Kellie. I was big for my age and she was little, so she was thought to be the younger of us, though you know that wasn't the case. She had to wear a helmet for seizures. We rode the bus together. We were the only ones on our bus. As kindergarteners, we were half-day unless there was a party. I was Barney for Halloween. I decided I didn't like chocolate milk one of those days we stayed all day. They thought I might need to repeat kindergarten, but I tested too good academically, third grade reading level at 5.5, which was how old I was at the end of the year.
I started preschool two months before my fourth birthday. I barely remember since I was so little, but I liked it. I liked the books there and I've been told they had big stuffed mice. I have a me book from then and there's this picture of a ride-in toy bus. I remember a trip to the quarry and the me book has a picture of us at the fire station. I'm demonstrating the stop drop and roll in it.
Since I live in a rural area, we had a preschool teacher come to the house, but I visited the center once a month. I was excited and danced around when the teacher came. I think I was all amped about her bag, but my mom thinks it was her, too. My mom had surgery this year and my dad took care of me then. I was diagnosed with Asperger's when I was four, but one of the preschool people didn't think I was due to my affectionate ways. I was a happy autistic kid, like some kids I've read about on other blogs. I could read some at 4, example being stop signs. I had no language delay but I had trouble with sentence structure. Sometimes I made nonsense sentences. I went to a center to be diagnosed. It had toys and a gym, where I've been told I rode a tricycle. Mostly I had coordination problems. I played what they call parallel but at the end of the year, when I was about 4.5, I was starting to play with other kids outside.
Due to my age and hyperactivity, my mom wanted me in Begindergarden. I tested too good on my Kindergarten Screening due to my cognitive abilities. I started in a special Kindergarten and first grade class at one of local elementary schools. It was the one in the district with therapies for kids like me at the time. I made a little friend a few months older than me named Kellie. I was big for my age and she was little, so she was thought to be the younger of us, though you know that wasn't the case. She had to wear a helmet for seizures. We rode the bus together. We were the only ones on our bus. As kindergarteners, we were half-day unless there was a party. I was Barney for Halloween. I decided I didn't like chocolate milk one of those days we stayed all day. They thought I might need to repeat kindergarten, but I tested too good academically, third grade reading level at 5.5, which was how old I was at the end of the year.
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