Mynee's Musings

I.T.A.

OK, this is a totally random post today.  It has nothing to do with the kitchen, stamping, food, politics or beer...hee hee hee.  I was clicking through the TV channels the other night and saw one of those commercials for teaching your kids to read and it made me think of when I was in first grade and just starting to learn to read.  The thing is, we didn't read English.  Well, the spoken words were English but it was written in something called I.T.A. which stands for Initial Teaching Alphabet.  I didn't even know what it stood for until I googled it a few days ago.  Here are the characters in the Initial Teaching Alphabet...  

 

We read and wrote I.T.A. exclusively until 4th grade when we were just supposed to magically change over to the standard English alphabet.  When had spelling tests my English teacher, Mrs. Fowler, wondered why none of us could spell.  To us, aul was all, ais was ice, kat was cat; well, you get the picture.  We were now expected to know how to spell words like receive and embarrass.  What the heck?

According to the Wikipedia article, "Any advantage of the I.T.A. in making it easier for children to learn to read English was often offset by some children not being able to effectively transfer their I.T.A.-reading skills to reading standard English orthography, and/or being generally confused by having to deal with two alphabets in their early years of reading."  You think?  Not every elementary school in the Lindbergh School District used I.T.A. but my school, Watson Elementary, was one of the "lucky" ones.  My class was one of the first to start using I.T.A. and my sister, who is 4 years younger, was one of the last.  I guess they figured out pretty quickly that it caused more problems than it was worth.

I found the following in an article called "Educashunal lunacie or wizdom?"  Can you read it?

 
 

I read it with no hesitation.  It says, "the ice angel gave the owl a ring."  Doesn't make much sense but, then again, neither does I.T.A.

In other Lindbergh news, Noah E. Gray, Superintendent of Lindbergh from 1955-1980, passed away Sunday.  He was the Superintendent for my entire time at Lindbergh, retiring when I graduated.  My prayers and condolences to the Gray family.

In still other Lindbergh news, the Lindbergh Spirit of St. Louis marching band will be in the Tournament of Roses Parade this year.  They made their first appearance in the parade in 2005.  I'll definitely be watching!

 

Christmas Cards 2010

First of all, I apologize for my lack of posts for the past 11 days.  Just as the kitchen remodeling was wrapping up, our sweet baby Greta developed a bladder infection with crystals in her bladder.  This can be caused by urinary ph, water and fiber intake, diet or stress.  One of the articles I read specifically mentions kitchen remodeling!  Anyway, she's been on antibiotics (baytril) since the 15th and will take her last dose tomorrow.  Yes, it is possible to pill a cat although, needless to say, she does not enjoy it.  She will go back for a follow up visit to the vet next Wednesday.

I was behind on making candy boxes for coworkers and finished those last night.  I started baking Christmas cookies on Saturday and finished the last two batches tonight.  I just have a few more gifts to wrap and then I'm finished. 

Now, on to the cards I made this year.  Last year I posted a card each day for about a week or so.  Well, I didn't get around to doing that this year so I'm posting them all at once...

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

The weatherman is predicting 3 to 4 inches of snow tomorrow.  If that's the case, we will not be going to Lisa & Randy's house for Christmas Eve.  We only live 3 miles from them but my mom and dad live about 17 miles away and we certainly don't want them to drive in bad weather.  Heck, I don't even want to drive 3 miles in snow.  It's ok though because we all have so much to be thankful for; health, happiness, food on the table, warm cozy houses and, of course, each other.  If need be, we'll postpone Christmas until next weekend.

I hope you all have a great Christmas!

 

We've Got Lights, a Back Splash and Knobs

Woohoo!  It's been a busy week.  Last Tuesday, the tile guy installed the backsplash.  I absolutely love it.  He grouted it on Thursday and it looks great...

 

When I opened the box of glass block tile the previous Saturday, I panicked because this is what it looked like...

 

As you can see, it looks nothing like the tile we chose.  Actually, believe it or not, it is the same tile.  This is the back of the tile.  Boy was I ever glad. 

On Wednesday, the electrician hung the lights.  It was an all day project and he had to return on Friday to run the electric to the island and finish the under-cabinet lights.  Here are the pendants...

 
   

On Friday, some of the knobs were installed and he came back yesterday to install the drawer pulls and the remaining trim along with rehanging 2 doors.  Unfortunately, the order was mixed up and they reversed the number of knobs and pulls so we have way too many pulls and not enough knobs.  Here's a preview...

 

The cardboard is still covering the tile since the grout hasn't been sealed yet.  When the remaining knobs have been installed and the cardboard is removed, I'll be sure to post pictures of the completed kitchen.  Check back soon... 

 

We've Got Counters & Water

The counter tops were installed on Friday and oh my goodness, we love the granite.  It's so cool to know that we saw the granite when it was two full slabs and now it's our countertops.  Here are a few pictures...

 
 
The second picture is part of the granite on the island.  We had asked that they cut the island from a particular part of the slab because we loved the pattern in this area and they were able to accommodate our request. 

The plumber hooked up the water and installed the faucet and garbage disposal today.  He also fixed the gas line to the stove so that the stove can be pushed all the way back to the wall.  The electrician still needs to come back to finish the electric work so we can't use the garbage disposal, dishwasher or stove yet (it's gas but has an electric starter) but hey, we have water.  Here's the faucet...

 
The tile guy is coming back tomorrow.  He was here today but the pencil tile wasn't so he went to pick up some samples and then bring them back so that I could look at them and decide which one looked best.  Our designer is on maternity leave so I think this detail must have been overlooked.  Anyway, all is good and he'll be back tomorrow.  I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

I think we can finally see light at the end of the tunnel.  We're hoping that the kitchen will be finished by the end of the week.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed.  :) 

The Riot

Ugh, another trade.  First it was Ryan Ludwick last season.  Now, the St. Louis Cardinals have traded Blake Hawksworth to the Dodgers for Ryan Theriot.  Trading Hawksworth doesn't upset me but the possible furture trades do.  Theriot is a shortstop.  We have a perfectly good shortstop named Brendan Ryan whom I adore.  His shoulder licking cracks me up.  Rumour has it that Brendan may not be returning to the Cardinals next season.  Grrr, I'm not happy.

Hey, there's a theme here. RYAN Ludwick, RYAN Theriot, and Brendan RYAN.  Hmmm.  Speaking of names, we give most of the Cardinal players nicknames.  Ryan Ludwick was Chunky Monkey (that was his batting song), Brendan Ryan is Boomchickawowow which, let's just say, has something to do with his look when he has a mustache.  Believe it or not, we've always called Theriot The Riot...hee hee hee.

OK, the countertops are scheduled to be installed tomorrow.  Stay tuned for pictures.