Monthly Archives: October 2010

>Making Choices about Health

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I’m lucky. I have good health insurance coverage through my job. I’m also lucky that my insurer is focused not just on illness, but on wellness. The organization’s leaders remind us that while we cannot control medical costs, but we can control our own healthy choices.
I’ve had some major health issues lately, most recently gout. In addition to treating the gout (thanks, Doctor! The medicines are working well!), I make sure I rest and put my feet up each night, and I’m looking into diet changes that can help prevent further problems. Staying hydrated, minimizing certain foods and alcohol, gradually building strength in the weakened joint, are all choices under my control. With two disabled family members (my hearing loss and Amigo’s blindness & autism), I have to choose our open enrollment options carefully. When I’m due for new hearing aids, I set aside money in a pre-tax medical sub account so that this major purchase doesn’t hurt the family finances.
Aetna asked bloggers to take time to review this article and share five tips based on what we read. Here’s my tip list:
Daisy’s Tip #1: Determine your priorities. Prescriptions? Glasses/ contacts? Hearing aids? Face these priorities honestly, and then figure out the best plan for coverage.
Daisy’s Tip #2: Ask questions. My favorite way to do this is to bring a list to medical appointments. Should I get a flu shot? If so, can I get it today? If the doctor says “surgery,” ask for details. If the doctor says, “medication,” ask how that medicine will react with others that you take regularly.
Daisy’s Tip #3: Keep track of spending. Some of the costs not covered by insurance can be tax deductible. Keep receipts; the dollar amounts are important, as are the receipts that prove it. Tracking dollar amounts can also determine the amount you’ll deposit in a medical sub-account. Remember my hearing aid example? Exactly like that.
Daisy’s Tip #4: Plan ahead. This is my personal goal. I plan a physical every August, but I need to schedule dental cleanings, mammogram, and hearing aid maintenance — all around my teaching schedule. Getting these on the calendar keeps me on top of my own basic health care.
Daisy’s Tip #5: Take care. Really. Remember my opening – wellness opportunities? This is one area that’s under my control. I can read the monthly wellness newsletter and take its advice. I can cook from scratch, controlling the ingredients and preservatives in my family’s diet. I can exercise – when my ankle finally heals. I can get off the computer (as soon as I’m done with this post!) and spend time outside putting the garden to bed for the winter. Informal exercise with a shovel and a pile of dirt: it feels good.
These common sense tips and more are in this article from Aetna, but the tips are not limited to one insurance carrier. Taking control of health care is a personal challenge, and not an easy one. Making changes in coverage, sub-accounts, and wellness are long term investments in your health, your life, and your family’s future.
I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms and Aetna blogging program, making me eligible to get a $30 Target gift card. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

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>Bing "Our School Needs" – Phase Two

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Many schools entered Phase One of Bing’s “Our School Needs,” but only 15 are finalists. You can register and vote for them here. They’re all worthy projects, and there is one in my home state of Wisconsin. Aquinas High School in LaCrosse, WI is seeking funding for a new auditorium. If you read their story, you’ll see why they’re asking for help.
Aquinas is not the only school suffering from budget cuts. When the economy is bad and local taxpayers are suffering financially, the average Joe or Josie on the street sees schools as money pits. The same average Joe or Josie might not know that central administration has been cut drastically, combining two positions into one in several cases. Joe and Josie also don’t know that energy costs have been cut by not turning on the heat until students arrive, disregarding the teachers who’ve been working in their cold and drafty rooms for an hour already. Josie and Joe might collect box tops and soup labels and think they’re helping, but fail to realize that each UPC code earns only 10 cents – not even enough to buy a #2 pencil.
Bing will divide a quarter-million dollars between four winners. The top vote-getter will receive $100,000, and the next three will get $50,000 each. Voting started yesterday and continues through Sunday, November 7, with winners announced on Tuesday, November 9.
PTA and booster club fundraisers can only go so far. Supporting Bing’s donation project will help a lot. Supporting DonorsChoose.org is another way to fund a specific project that will make a direct impact on students and their learning.
Josie and Joe may not understand the need for stronger funding, but Josh does – Josh Groban, that is. Here he is signing autographs as he dropped off instruments and sang in a chorus class at a middle school in Queens, NY. This is a great way to call attention to the project and support the arts in schools. Thanks, Josh! Now would you have a talk with Joe and Josie about school funding?
I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Bing and received a gift card and DonorsChoose.org giving code to thank me for taking the time to participate. I plan to apply my DonorsChoose.org code to my own project here. Please consider passing the word; it’s another very direct way you can help students learn.

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>Everyone knows it’s Windy!

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>We’re not used to extremely high winds in Wisconsin. Snow, yes. Changing seasons, yes. Driving on roads slick with ice, yes. But wind? Not the usual situation.

How can a visitor tell that these ongoing high winds are unusual?
The first sound out of anyone who leaves their car is “AAAH!”
There’s a sign on a store door: “Please use side door due to wind.”
No one is bothering with their (obnoxious) leaf blowers; the wind is doing it.
Hoods are blown off heads.
I had to put away the watering can, the extra screen for the rain barrel, and more – because I found them bouncing across the backyard.
The minivan tried to change lanes all by itself.
My classroom windows rattle so badly that they knock down anything sitting on the sill.
One student came in with the story of being hit in the head by a branch on the way to school. P.S.; she exaggerates. Her brother said it was a small stick, not much bigger than a twig.
My students like to stand at the window and watch the flagpole rock back and forth.
People ask, “How high is hurricane force?” The answer, as far as I can find, is 74 mph. We’re getting gusts of that, but the general speeds are staying in the 50-60 mph range.
For Wisconsin, that’s plenty windy. I hate to admit it, but I’d (almost) rather have snow!

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>Filtrete Water Pitcher; can it break the bottle habit?

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I volunteered to test the Filtrete Water Pitcher in the hopes that it might break or at least reduce our family’s bottled water habit. I understand that Chuck grabs a water bottle for the convenience of it on the road. But do La Petite and I really need to drink water from these ridiculous bottles around the house? I have a new BPA-free water bottle and an extra that La Petite can claim as her own, and now that I have a Filtrete pitcher we can simply refill the good quality water bottles with filtered tap water.

The big question: will we do it?

The first thing we noticed was the awkward shape and size of the pitcher. It’s a little top heavy, making it tough to fit on the refrigerator shelf without moving several items. It doesn’t fit in the door. Chuck (yes, he’s giving it a good try!) mentioned the top-heavy shape made it a little uncomfortable for pouring.

The filtered

pitcher is definitely more economical than buying bottles. I can replace the filter every three months (there’s a little button on the top that will remind me when it’s getting old), and the pitcher itself will last for years. I wish I had tried this out in the summertime when I was weeding and pruning outside, a water bottle by my side. But wishes aside, I really like the concept that I can get cold, tasty water without spending a bundle and using piles of plastic with limited recycling capabilities.


So, you ask, is it working? So far, so good. Chuck still grabs a plastic bottle or two on his way to work, but I have a new BPA-free bottle on my bedside table filled with filtered water. If I don’t drink it all, I water the plants. I’m actually drinking more water now that it’s so convenient; reaching for a glass and filling it takes no time at all. The downside is still the size and shape of the pitcher; only time will tell if the convenience, pennywise nature, and the eco-consciousness of it will overrule the refrigerator space issue.


Need more information? You can follow Filtrete on Twitter (@FiltreteWater) or “like” them on Facebook. Filtrete also has an email newsletter to which you can subscribe. Just check out their web site.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Filtrete and received the water pitcher to facilitate my candid review. The review is up today, but the pitcher will stay in my refrigerator for a long, long time.

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>Top Ten Reasons to love my bread machine

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>10. There is no scent equal to the aroma of bread rising and baking.

9. I never feel forced to partake in La Petite’s preference: boring and nutrient-lacking white bread.
8. I can add local honey, wheat germ, or flaxseed to a loaf without anyone knowing it’s healthy.
7. It’s easy. Drop the ingredients in, fix the settings, push the button, and let it bake.
6. I can choose a bread that’ll go with the meal – without going to the store.
5. An ordinary sandwich becomes extraordinary when it’s made on homemade bread.
4. While it’s not necessarily cheap, it can be frugal: I can make a loaf for less money than a trip to the store to buy an gourmet bakery bread.
3. The smell of baking bread can awaken a teenager from deep sleep. Add bacon, and the teen might even become coherent.
2. Fresh bread is so delicious; there’s really no equal.
1. If we’re out of bread, I like being able to say, “it’s okay, we’ll just bake a fresh loaf!”

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>More comfort food: Easy Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter

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>I’ve been making a lot of comfort food lately. That says a lot about my state of mind; I’m baking for the comfort of baking itself, and I’m choosing to make things that satisfy the family’s need for simple homemade treats. There’s something very comforting in knowing that when I mix the right amounts of flour, sugar, butter, and a few other key ingredients, the results will always be tasty.

Easy Oatmeal Cookies with Peanut Butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups uncooked oats (quick oats are best)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine sugar and butter and peanut butter; mix well. Add flour and baking soad; stir in oats. Roll into 1-inch balls. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and press slightly with a sugared fork. Bake at 350 for 8 – 10 minutes. Remove from pan and cool oncooling rack. Makes about 3 dozen.
Simple, delicious, and satisfying.
The original recipe was in WE Energies’ 2008 Cookie Book; I added the peanut butter. If you find your cookies a little too moist, cut back on the butter or add flour/oats. I liked the texture of mine just like this.

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>Readers, readers who need books

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>Remember my students, the struggling readers, the guys who need books? I’ve received donations of books (Thanks Earth Muffin! Thanks Mom!) and I’ve drafted letters to several local service organizations. I also took the time to create a page on Donors Choose dot Org, a site that matches teachers with donors.

So here I go again, shamelessly plugging the neediness of my students. If you care to forward this link to people who might donate, I will greatly appreciate it. If you’re willing to drop a little money in the pot, that’s amazingly awesome, too. Spreading the word, even re-posting or linking to this post or the original, will help.
These young ones can learn and will learn. My goal on Donors Choose: to provide them with the specialized materials, high-interest/ low-reading level books, that they need in order to make progress.
I’m beyond subtle now; I’ll put it in big print for you. Go here and check it out! Link to me! Donate, too, if you’re willing and able!
On behalf of the children who look to me for wisdom and knowledge, many, many, thanks.

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>Staying sane in an insane world

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>Well, attempting to keep my sanity intact, at least.

Seeking out supportive people:
  • I had lunch with a former colleague, saw pictures of her grandson
  • a neighboring teacher brings me Starbucks frequently
  • I continue to take training with a literacy coach I respect, and she is one of my strongest advocates.
  • I truly appreciate a husband who not only fixes the house, but cooks like an Iron Chef.
Actively taking care of health:
  • My Neti Pot and me, we’re friends. Friends don’t let friends get sinus infections.
  • My multi-vitamin + iron, it’s my pal. Anemia, begone!
  • Weekends are for napping, sleeping in, and drinking lots of fluids. Laundry can wait.
Actively seeking out opportunities for relaxation
  • fire in the fireplace on a rainy day: warm and cozy.
  • nibbling on chocolate cake made with the last garden zucchini: delicious.
  • pumpkin pie spice flavor in my Dashboard Joe coffee: sweet.
  • Watching the Wisconsin Badgers with my sporty son: priceless.

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>Top Ten Reasons to worry about the upcoming election

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  • The opponent in our Senate race thinks global warming doesn’t exist.
  • The opponent in our Congressional race plans to get rid of Social Security as we know it.
  • One candidate for governor plans to scrap our public pension plan, effectively cutting my income by 30%.
  • The opposing candidate for Senate is out of touch with the middle class, which means me.
  • The opposing candidate for Congress has moved in and out of the district several times; whom does he really represent?
  • Many candidates talk about cutting taxes by reducing education budgets – budgets that have already been cut to the bone.
  • Candidates are talking about judging teachers by their students’ test scores. If that’s the case, people, give me a chance. Bring these kids into my class reading and achieving at grade level.
  • I can’t afford to donate enough to my candidates, but I can’t afford not to; if the wrong side wins, my working conditions will worsen severely.
  • Misleading advertising might just tip voting in the wrong direction.
  • Negative advertising might encourage people to stay home, and low voter turnout is never good.

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>Top Ten Reasons to Leave Teaching

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  • Politicians blame teachers for anything possible – and a lot that’s not possible.
  • Taxpayers blame teachers for rising taxes.
  • Parents blame teachers for not doing enough – despite oft-impossible situations.
  • Politicians, parents, and taxpayers do not understand the challenges teachers face every day.
  • Movie-makers put teachers into scapegoat roles.
  • Salaries are dependent on current political climate.
  • Benefits are dependent on current political climate.
  • Budgets keep dropping, but expectations keep rising.
  • Teachers are expected to make up the difference in budgets out of their own pockets.
  • No matter how hard teachers work, it’s never enough.

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