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What are you up to today? This week?


heidiiiii

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OOF! It's been a bit of a rough week here. I didn't get selected for a job I interviewed for that I really wanted so that was very disappointing. Then we found out that Maya's friends at school, as well as some of her teachers, had all decided to not speak to her in English anymore. The 9th grade class also all decided they didn't want her coming on trips with them anymore because they didn't like that her boyfriend, who is Danish and in the class, was translating for her. Josh and I are absolutely furious at how they are treating her, especially the teachers! It would be one thing if they had consulted even just Maya and said "For your own development, we're going to speak to you in Danish from now on." But,no. They simply stopped speaking to her in English and then started bullying her boyfriend for translating for her. Maya is one to fight her own fights though and was adamant that we not step in. As much as it hurts my heart to not get involved, I've respected her wishes. She doesn't seem worse for wear so I'm just watching for now. It's been quite the blow to us as a transitioning family. A harsh reminder that we are not Danes and will never be considered as such.

I've lost my mojo for working on minis. Garden Lodge has been such a difficult build and it's kind of sucking the life out of me. I think I need to put it away for a bit. I was unhappy with how the windows looked made out of matboard so I was trying plastic but everything is so small and I just can't find the right glue for putting those teeny tiny windows together. I thought about painting them but I honestly don't like the look of painted on mullions. I like the look of the real thing. I think I just need to take a break and work on my wizard cafe for a bit. I'm sure Maya will be upset but she'll get over it.

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I can understand total immersion for learning a new language, but Maya's experience seems more like waterboarding than immersion. It must be hard for you to watch. 

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Miranda, that truly do sound awful and nothing I would support in My school, Yes I would indeed encourage any student to Try using the language commonly used in the classroom but never ever would I condone such actions at all. 

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8 hours ago, havanaholly said:

Anna, over here many  schools have ESOL classes (English as a second language) to help non- English speaking students learn English to get along in their other classes.

We too for Swedish as a second language as well as "language guides" atleast a couple of hours a week for the student to for important  glossary and/or dealing with translation of texts etc which it really gets me when I hear something like this. 

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She’s in a Danish as a second language class and, to her credit, has actually advanced through that very quickly. She’s mainstreamed in a couple 8th grade classes and she’s in the 9th grade English class because she can take the exam this year. She had been hanging out a lot with the 9th grade kids until all this happened. I guess they felt like her boyfriend was spending too much time with her instead of hanging out with them. This was their way to rein that in I guess. Part of me gets it but a bigger part of me thinks it’s so stupid and, frankly, encourages xenophobia. Maya is still firm that we not say anything so ugh.

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4 hours ago, SewMini said:

She had been hanging out a lot with the 9th grade kids until all this happened. I guess they felt like her boyfriend was spending too much time with her instead of hanging out with them. This was their way to rein that in I guess.

I  can understand juvenile behavior, but the teachers going along with it? Really? 

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15 minutes ago, KathieB said:

I  can understand juvenile behavior, but the teachers going along with it? Really? 

Even worse, the teachers are the ones that told them to do it! And over the eeekend when she went on a class trip with the 9th graders, that parents did it too >:(

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WOW I am impressed how she is handling it . I just can't imagine what your feeling and how hard it is to not voice your opinion to the school. Congrats on that. A little jealousy could be behind It since American 8th grade girl came to town hasn't even been there very long and has 9th grade boyfriend to help. 

 

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One of the many reasons we chose to homeschool - bullying.  Jack was only 5 1/2 (we start school at 5 here) when we finished with school - already he was being really badly picked on.  Plus my daughter had 2 1/2 yrs of it.  Bullying seems prevalent in every aspect of society these days - I don't know whether it's people trying to feel better about themselves or out and out unkindness.  You must feel so angry and hurt on Maya's behalf.  It's so tough when we have to step back and let them deal with things.....

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What an unfortunate experience for Maya!  I agree that jealously is likely behind at least part of it, but the teachers should be intervening to curb this behavior, not abetting it!  Maya seems very courageous and strong, but it must be so difficult having to stand back and watch.  {{hugs}}

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Wow, poor Maya. It’s unbelieveable that the teachers are contributing to it. How unprofessional. I get them not wanting her to become too dependant on her boyfriend but to just cut her off cold turkey.. seems cruel to me. It’s hard enough moving to a new country with a new culture, they could be a little bit more compassionate towards her I think. They obviously want her to intergrate but sounds like a pretty harsh way to achieve that. I know when I worked in California I used to hate it when my boss and another coworker would talk in Spanish together and in front of me. It always felt like a deliberate exclusion. Like they wanted to talk about something they didn’t want me to know or perhaps about me. Lol. Maybe some of the others felt excluded by the “secret” conversations of Maya and her boyfriend and this is coming from that angle? 

I’m sorry to hear you didn’t get the job you wanted @SewMini Miranda. It’s always a bit of a hit to the ego when that happens. I think you are so brave to take on this move, give yourself a break and it will happen when you least expect it. Are there opportunities to volunteer over there? Sometimes the networking involved helps to get a paying job.

Now about the cottage, I liked the windows but if you would prefer wood, have you tried matchsticks?

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2 hours ago, Samusa said:

Now about the cottage, I liked the windows but if you would prefer wood, have you tried matchsticks?

Unfortunately, Garden Lodge is in 1:48 scale and i think matchsticks might be too big. I think I just need a better glue but, meh. I think I'm going to let it simmer for a bit and work on the small cottage I bought. I saw a lovely geode cake that someone did and was going to post a tutorial for in one of my FB groups. I immediately thought of my Wizard shop and thought it would be so cool in there. I definitely want to give that a go. I also thought of some fun ideas for the top level where I want the tea shop to be. I was thinking that maybe I could have books hanging from the ceiling on fishing wire so it look like they're floating. That way patrons could get a cup of tea and just grab a book out of the air to read. Hopefully it would work as well in real life as it does in my head :D

I'm still applying for jobs. I applied to one yesterday and two today. I'm sure something will happen eventually! I do need to do some networking. I have no idea how though. I'm sooooo terrible at selling myself lol.

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17 minutes ago, SewMini said:

I actually meant to say fishing line. I have no idea why I said wire :D

Sometimes my fingers will type something that totally surprises me.  Although come to think about it, what about using a thin wire attached to the back wall to hold a book apparently in mid air? The book itself would pretty much block the view of the wire. This would probably work best for books floating nearer to the back wall. The ones floating nearer the front of the room could hang from mono-filament fishing line.

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Finally!!!  After 2 unsuccessful tries to get a puppy starting back last summer ...we finally got our little Yorkie!
She is so cute and a wild woman!  lol   My new "mini" project is taking care of this little 9 week old bundle of energy and I love her so much!  Please meet Lily.

 

LilyGreenLeafforum.jpg

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1 hour ago, SewMini said:

I somehow missed that you were in Parkland. Hugs to you and your community today 

Thank you. I’m actually in Coral Springs but we are neighbors. About 2 miles from the school. My son’s are graduates from MSD.

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Well, I tried to get up to my lot yesterday and didn't even make it to the top of the road.

The roads are mostly clear. North Shore Rd, which goes the length of the Tahuya peninsula, has the Hood Canal on one side and the high hill on the other. The storms we had brought down a lot of trees on the hill side and when the plows came through, they just went around them, making North Shore a one lane road in many places. However, Canyon Rd, which cuts up through the hill to the top where my lot is, isn't clear at all.

They've plowed it once, but that just made it one lane wide. Yesterday, the bottom was partly slush and towards the top it was total deep slush. I had to back down twice because I met trucks coming down (I should have know what conditions were when I saw they had chains on), but I tried again. I got up to almost the second to the last switchback and couldn't get any further. So I backed down yet again about a half mile of a twisty road.

I can say at least two things about this: 1) I learned I can back my car down from just about anywhere now (never thought I could do that on that road). 2) I'll be buying chains and cables in the near future.

As for driving in snow...well, after attempting to go up that hill and then come back down it, I'm not afraid to drive in snow anymore. Our lot where I live was still full of snow (we got 9" in the lot) and I was slewing around trying to get out and was a little nervous about it. Coming back, I was just, yeah, big deal, and slewed my way back across the parking lot to park my car and didn't turn a hair.

I'd love to try going back up to my lot with cables and measure the snow up there, but given that everything froze overnight plus more snow on the way possibly tonight or tomorrow and the fact that if I live there a number of years I'll get to experience at least one more storm like this, I think I'll pass for a while.

I also don't think the water is going to get put in before April. LOL

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Aw Lily is gorgeous!!!!!!  Good luck - having a new kitten is hard enough work, I'm thinking puppies much be much moreso!  

My thoughts are with you and your town Sable....

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