Hurricane Milton

 We've had a few unexpected days off here thanks to a hurricane crossing the state.  We did have school Tuesday thank goodness, as most schools in our area did not (one less day to make up).  We had off yesterday, today, and will not have school tomorrow either.  A lot of people are without power, including my parents in Flagler Beach.  We are fortunate that our power lines are underground - most likely because of being on the same grid as Sea World - so we were not in jeopardy of losing power. 

During the day yesterday we had some rain bands on and off - some heavy - but not really any wind.  The worst of the storm, I've been told, was between 4-6 am.  I slept all night long.  This morning, Zack and I took a walk around our complex to see the damage.

A lot of debris and some trees down, but not as bad as it could have been.  I have been trying to find an accurate recording of maximum wind speeds, but the best I could find was from the Orlando Airport (about 10 miles away) which had a recorded wind gust of  almost 80 mph around 5:00 am.  

We made it through another hurricane.  Honestly, this is the first hurricane we did not evacuate for. When the kids were little they would be pretty scared at the thought of hurricanes and the chance of a tornado so we/I would take them away. The past few years my parents would want to leave so Zack and I (and Ollie) would pack-up and go with them to share the driving.  This time, I don't think my dad would have done very well leaving his home.  Of course, if it was a life and death situation for them I would have taken them out of there, but they live on the ocean side and this hurricane came in on the gulf side so there was no imminent danger to them.  I'm just praying their power is restored soon.  You would think in a retirement community the power lines would be buried.  

HHN Houses 7 and 8

 Let's get right in to it ---

8). The Museum: Deadly Exhibits

Per Universals HHN website: A folklore's museum's newest exhibit, The Rotting Stone, has released an evil spirit that decays everything. 

This house was a "meh" for me.  It was simply just ok.  It offered some interesting sets and scareactors, but it really lacked a good scare. The "creep value" was just not there for me.

Walk through from Attractions Magazines

7). Goblin's Feast

Walk through a goblin village where a feast is being prepared for goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, and witches. This is no ordinary feast though, as the guests (you) are on the menu. The puppets in this house are pretty good, but my favorite parts were a life-sized water wheel and a giant goblin hand.  As in Museum, you are "running" for your survival.

picture credit: wdwnt.com

Walk through from Attractions Magazine

The biggest change this year -- and a VERY welcome one, was the location of these two back houses (Goblin's Feast and Eternal Bloodlines).  The entrances to these back to houses used to be by ET and the walk to exit after going through the house would take forever!  This year, they put them together which was awesome!! It literally saved us 20 minutes of walking time.  

picture credit: wdwnt.com

HHN 2024 Houses 9 and 10

Our routine this year was starting at the back of the bark as always and working our way to the front.  This was usually the order

1 - Goblin's Feast

2 - Monsters: Eternal Bloodlines

3). Slaughter Sinema 2

4). The Museum: Deadly Exhibits

5). Major Sweets Candy Factory

6). Triplets of Terror

7). Insidious: The Further

8). Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

9). A Quiet Place

10). Monstrous: Monsters of Latin America

THE COUNTDOWN

 These bottom two houses didn't take much thought.  I think to most people these houses may have pushed the boundaries, but for my sensitive self, they over-stepped them.  

Here they are....

10). Monstrous: Monsters of Latin America

           The house features three monster legends - Tiahuelpuchi, La Lechuza, and El Sibon.

         The first room, a small cemetery, was innocent enough, but upon entering the second room, you see a mother standing next to a baby carriage saturated in blood and screaming for help.  As if that image wasn't bad enough, in the next room you encounter the creepy monster munching on the "baby".  A couple more visions of blood-soaked baby beds and I had had enough.  

       But it didn't end there because the second monster is apparently nothing more than a pig butcher.  Pig parts everywhere including pigs that been cut in half hanging from the ceiling. 

      So because I am not a huge fan of baby killing (and eating) or pig killing...this house was the definitive bottom for me. 

Image from Lindsay Land (Youtube still shot). This winged creature was the only good thing about this house.

Walk-through video from Attractions Magazine

9). Triplets of Terror

          The story of this house introduces us to the Barmy Family  on March 3, 1984 who were having a birthday party for their triplets, Melody, Harmony, and Junior, who are turning 9.   Instead, the triplets slaughtered their entire family.  The triplet killers seek to recreate their family's murder every 10 years.  This particular year of 2024, they are preparing to recreate the scene in Cradleton, Pennsylvania.

      While I like the backstory and, overall, this was not a terrible house, there was a dog killing and that was enough for me to hate it. A dog killing is bad enough, but to have a room where you hear the dog whimpering, bones cracking, and then see the dead dog on top of the washing machine - NOT FOR ME thank you!

Walkthrough video from Attractions Magazine

Next up: Houses 7 and 8

2024 HHN - An Overview

 This was my ninth Halloween Horror Nights (since there was none in 2020) and over the years, I have had many different kinds of tickets and each one has its plusses and its negatives.  

Two times I have purchased the all-event express pass.  I loved the idea of going many times and the shortened wait times that allowed us to do ALL the houses when we'd go.  What I didn't love was the price.  I had this ticket the first year I was down here (2015) and again last year.  My son helped me out with the cost because I would never have been able to do it on my own.   

Years 2016-2019 I did not buy a ticket but instead used my Universal Employee ID to get in.  The plus side of this is that it did not cost me a single penny. Also, it was so convenient parking in the employee parking lot and entering and leaving through the back of the park.  The negative side was, of course, not being able to go through a lot of the houses.  We would get there right at 6 and go through the houses in the back of the park while there was little to no wait. We'd see the Bill and Ted show and then I would leave and let CJ go through the houses using his express pass. 

In 2021, I got a full event ticket without express. The positive to this was that it was cheaper than the express and I was able to go for the entire duration of the event (although I missed an entire week due to having Co-Vid).  Again, the down side, was not being able to go through a lot of the houses; basically being limited to the houses at the back of the park.  

In 2022, I bought a "short-event" ticket with express.  This ticket was only good through September but did include the express.  The positive to this was that it was much cheaper than the full event and yet I could still go for a month and, using the express, we were able to get through all the houses when we would go. The negative was that I felt sad knowing that HHN was not over, but I could not go anymore. 

Last year I got the full event express - VERY expensive, but a great experience being able to attend the entire event and get through all 10 houses each time.  

This year, I went back to the "short-event" option.  So, for me, HHN is over  *tears* even though it is still going on for another 4 weeks.  It really is the best option for me when factoring cost.  

We squeezed a lot into September trying to get the most out of my ticket.  Most nights we'd get through all ten houses.  

Unfortunately, a new development this year seemed to be an allergy to something and every night I would come home with either a nasty rash or hives. 

Very confusing and frustrating. I would put hydrocortisone cream on when I'd get home and most days it would be gone or almost gone by the next day.  

This year, I am going back to a countdown to #1.  Be back tomorrow with houses #8-10.

Another Last Day

 That is a wrap on the 2023-2024 school year. 

I spent this year at Central Florida Christian Academy.  The school is associated with Church at the Cross; a fitting name since the cross in the courtyard is 189 feet high (same as Cinderella's Castle at the Magic Kingdom).  

PICTURE FROM SCHOOL'S FACEBOOK

PICTURE FROM WEBSITE OF ANDREW PLATT STUCCO AND PLASTERING , INC

 I had an amazing and wonderful year!  It is for sure in top 5 of my teaching career.

  It didn't start out that way as, for the first few weeks, I had a student who was dealing with some anger issues.  As a teacher, you want to be able to help every child, but unfortunately it didn't go that way. His method of coping with his anger was being physically aggressive with the other students.  It got the point where he had to be by my side every minute.  He could not sit with the others at lunch, had to walk next to me instead of in the line, could not take part in recess, and could also not take part in specials such as art, PE, and STEM.  Being a private school, we did not have a counselor to help him and  we were working with a non-sustainable solution.  We had to let him go.   

The rest of the year was excellent and the students made it a joy to be there everyday!  They had their moments, but overall they played well together and most of all they loved to learn and willingly stepped up to every challenge I gave them. 

                                      MATH

In Math, they wowed me with their number sentences. 

Taken in December

Taken in May

Pretty impressive for 7 and 8 year-olds.  This is an ongoing process that starts with number sense.  The know their multiplication facts through song and so I teach them how to multiply across 0's and the order of operations. In the first picture, they were connecting their knowledge of counting quarters and relating it to multiplication.  I also taught them to do double-digit by double-digit multiplication using the box, expanded form, and multiplication across 0's. 

My success in teaching Math comes from creating an accepting, relaxing, and non-stressful environment and by introducing skills and benchmarks early so that by the time they encounter them in the curriculum, they are proficient.  Most of my students will tell you that Math is their favorite subject. I didn't feel nearly as successful this year; the two 40-minute specials a day took a chunk out of the time I usually spent teaching Math.  

                                  READING

Most of the kids entered with a good reading base. The first fluency read I did (August) resulted in a class average of 72 words per minute.  The year ended with an average of 150 words per minute.  This is well above the national normed reference of 100 words per minute for Spring of 2nd grade.  ALL of them ended the year reading over 100 words per minute.  

Fluency is a very important skill in reading because without it, a student will struggle with understanding what they are reading.  Comprehension is an important part of reading as well as prosody. They all come in reading like robots (normal for their age) and it takes a lot of work to get them to understand character identification and situational awareness so they are able to read with the proper tone, intonation, and feeling.  This Spring we read Because of Winn Dixie and I could hear the growth through the novel reading.  Toward the end, I rarely had to tell to think about the feelings of the character, think about what the situation was, and to read appropriately.  

As a side note, after we read the book, we watched the movie and it was so funny to see the kids react with surprise and glee as each character was introduced.  

This summer I am hoping to get some hours at Huntington and will also be teaching summer school at my old school for the last three weeks. I also what to get some online professional development classes done through the Bob Jones website.  

I can't believe it's been a year (June 5) since this, 

 One year later and I am healthy and have have clear skin thanks to Methotrexate.  

The Magic Continues

 As I eluded to in a previous post, as a fan of the Orlando Magic we became quite accustomed to lots of mediocre to downright awful games and seasons since Dwight Howard left in 2011. 

To be exact 

- 243 wins

- 603 losses

As bad as that is, it becomes worse when you think one can assume some of those 243 wins came only because the other team looked at the Magic as their chance to exercise "load management."  

While finishing 34 - 48 last season wasn't exactly anything to boast about, their (very) young players showed moments of brilliance and gave all the fans hope for the future.  

Before this season started, most fans would probably say they would have been happy with a .500 record and a game in the play-in.  But as the season wore on they exceeded these expectations and positioned themselves squarely in the playoff race.  They ended the season with a 47 - 35 record, the best winning percentage (.573) since 2010-2011, 1st place in the Southeast Conference, and 5th place in the Eastern Conference. This was good enough for the playoffs and first round match-up with the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

It was highly suspected that Cleveland tanked toward the end of the regular season so that they could play the Magic and avoid having to play a "better" team.  Orlando almost made them regret this decision, gave them everything they could handle, and took the series to 7 games.  

Image from Google - Fadeaway World

Image from Google - ClutchPoints

But I want to talk about game 3 ------- because --------I WAS THERE!!!!  It was on Thursday April 25.

The Amway Center is now the Kia Center
Image from Google - Spectrum 13 News

This was my first ever NBA playoff game. I was so excited when my son told me he got tickets and let's just say, the atmosphere did not disappoint. 

The team were coming home down 0-2 after struggling on offense in both games played in Cleveland and, early on, it looked as if we'd have little to cheer about as the offensive woes continued.  But then, as quick as switching on a light, the shots started falling, the Magic pulled ahead, and never looked back.  The 3rd period clearly put some distance between them as they outscored Cleveland 35 - 16. 

The final score was 121 - 83. It was the worst playoff loss in Cleveland Cavalier history and it sent a message that Orlando was not going to be as easy to overcome as they had thought.  It was the best evening I have had in a long time!!!!!!  

Image from Google - Orlando Pinstriped Post

Image from Google - Fear the Sword

Image from Google - Goal.com

The future looks bright. And just in time as it appears as if the Lightning are going downhill.