0.7 miles each way to the Post Office

Tonight I went for a walk. I have been trying to walk more lately, but I haven't been as diligent as I would like to be. Tonight, though, was a turning point. I decided to cancel my membership to Curves. I am tired of paying money each month for somthing I don't use.

..... James needs the computer. I will finish thi post later.

Ok, I'm back. I decided to quit going to Curves. I stopped going long ago, but decided to finally quit paying for it a couple of weeks ago. I called the Magna Curves. "Hi, I'd like to cancel my membership, since I don't ever come." "Ok," the owner on the other end replied, "but you'll need to put that in writing." "Will and e-mail work?," I asked. "No," she explained, "you'll need to send us something in the mail."

Fast forward almost two weeks and I finally remembered to write a letter and send it in the mail. In honor of canceling my membership, but also being aware that I need to be more physically active, I walked to the post office to mail the letter. When I returned, I google mapped my walk and found that the distance is 0.7 miles. That makes 1.4 miles round trip! I counted my steps on the way back. It was right around 1100 steps which would be around 2200 steps round trip. 1.4 miles divided by 2200 steps means that my stride is approximately 3.36 feet. That's just over 3 feet 4 1/2 inches. (Does that sound about right? I'm such a nerd for even figuring that out.)

I also decided to put a calendar on my blog to track my walking progress. Each day that I walk, I will put it on the calendar, highlighted as an "appointment." That way I can visually mark my commitment (and so can you).

I hope you all had a nice Labor Day!!

You paid me what???

After all of these great things I've had to say about Murray this week, I finally got my first paycheck today. Are you ready for this? . . . a whopping $32.00. Huh?!? Are you kidding?

Actually, if the truth be told, I don't start getting my salaray pay until the end of September, so my $32.00 was a small, but pleasant surprise. I guess I got paid $100 for attending two days of new teacher meetings before my contract time started. Today I also realized that 3 months ago I filled out a financial form to put $50 per paycheck into a separate account and then the rest in our main account. So $100 netted around $82, minus $50 to the other account, and I get my whopping $32. Woo hoo!!!

First Week of School!!

Pros of Murray High - Part 2

• Personalized business cards
• $500 grants (and no one has ever been turned down) for whatever technology, classroom needs, etc., that you can justify using
• Spartan Tote Bag for all teachers
• Assemblies begin at 7:50. If students don't want to go, they don't have to. Teachers are not required to go, either.
• Wednesday early out.
• No lunch duty

Only downside so far . . . despite the fact that Murray seems to have plenty of money for teachers to use if they need it, they are also very stringent with supplies. I've had to use my legislative money to buy post-it notes. Oh well. I can't complain too much.

In other news . . . . James has officially become a Ute this week, starting up in the nursing program. He is a little overwhelmed with all the reading and assignments to keep track of, but he'll be fine once he gets the hang of it! He is also looking for families to do physical assessments on to fulfill a variety of class lab projects. Any volunteers?

What's in a name.

Last year I taught the first student of my career who shared my same name. Her name was Hayli. This year is quite a different story. My name (and variations of it) must have been very popluar in Murray, Utah, 15-18 years ago. Why do I know this, you ask?

1st Period has a Haley, 7th Period has a Haley, and (oh my goodness) 6th period has a Haylee, another Haylee, and a Hailey

Ahhhhhhhhhhhh . . . . they're attacking!!!

Other names of interest as I look over my roles are Zechariah, Jatavia, Maika, Measha, Kadeem, Markessa, and Tagiafouga, just to name a few.

Pros of Murray High School

I have worked for Murray School District for 5 days now. Here are the "pros."

• High Expectations.


• Dress standards for teachers. (Jeans are only permitted on Fridays. Perhaps this is restricting, but I think it adds a degree of professionalism.)


• Thermostat in my own classroom.


• Assertive leadership.


• Collaboration among teachers.


• Math department refridgerator, microwave, and laser printer down the hall.


• Textbook lady


• Part time math assistent for 2 of my 3 sophomore Algebra classes.


• Biggest class is 28 students


• Toys! I need to get two more cables so I can hook up a vhs/dvd player to my ceiling mounted lcd projector. I need to get both it and my new laptop wired to my classroom sound system. Oh, and I have calculators and a variety of other TI supplies as well.

That's enough for now! More to come next week. We'll see what happens once the students arrive.