i planned to spend most of this weekend doing stuff for the praxis. i'm working my way through the book for the first test, reading and working through the sample problems for everything before i move on to the one sample test they have in it. and, in fact, friday night and saturday i did exactly that. hit the math section, though, and kinda hit a bit of a wall. i really need to create a math guide with step-by-step problem solving, and not just for the praxis. it would help for the days i'm subbing in math classes as well, at least up to a certain level.

creating the original math guide was no problem - i did it over 4 classes and 2 years. but then my older girls lost it and now i'm trying to replace it. easier said than done. i hit this wall. i already own the math review, algebra I, and algebra II sheets from quick study. it seems pointless to rewrite some of the info already presented in them. but they don't give step-by-step solutions either. so i hit this wall of trying to decide what info i should put in the study guide and how to organize it.

sounds pretty silly, i suppose. my solution was to deal with it another time. i went through the sample questions they have in the book for the math section, and my biggest problem seems to be paying attention to the wording of the problems and of the solutions.

in fact, i'm really wondering if maybe i think differently than what they're looking for on this test. i'm not stupid, but it seems to me i made stupid mistakes when working through the sample problems.

by saturday night, i'd had enough.

not to mention the headache that started developing as a new storm moved into the area.

so, sunday and today are dedicated to writing. i finished a crit yesterday and worked on novel #3. that actually should be done today, i'm happy to say. course, that means i have nothing left but revisions for the three books, unless i start plotting a new one - and that is probably not a good idea. the plotting method i use makes drafting a novel almost too easy for me now. yea, i get done in less than 14 years, but i end up working on drafting new projects rather than working on the revisions for the current projects. still, with the praxis taking over the rest of my life, even my reading, i needed to write. i get cranky if i can't. and it's really nice to be writing with vagner curled up at my feet on his pillow. he's been getting clingy over the weekends. guess he misses me when i work all week.

anyway, i'll probably get back to praxis studying soon enough. i'm reading through the writing section now, all them basics on english. there's an online version of the test i can take to see if i'm ready. as soon as our money comes through, i'll probably register for the computerized test for pI. once i pass that, i'll register for the closest available pII and gear up to take that. praxis testing is about to end for the 2004-2005 year and i need to get in before they raise the cost of the tests.

writing today has the advantage of making it easier for me to stop what i'm doing and pay attention to my kids today too. they're all out from school and saxy's working, so it's up to me to keep an eye on them. jewel is at a friend's house for a sleep overs, leaving tax and froggy. froggy is fairly easy, even though she's off her meds. taz, on the other hand, needs a constant eye to make sure he's doing more than his self-stimming. so does the dog. we've let her loose from the leash and she went up in taz's room. problem is, when she needed to go, she didn't let anyone know. she just peed in his room. this has been very aggravating about her. we get her to stop in one situation/location and she let's loose somewhere else. i think she needs to see a vet too - she's developed this cough.

tomorrow the kiddles are back to school, but we're keeping froggy home to go see a doctor herself. which means i'm off for the day. saxy decided to take the day off as well and we're going to spend the afternoon together once we drop froggy off at school. he hopes to pick up my fixed cd of my pictures and maybe i can finally post a few here to the journal.

speaking of which, here's a few not so good pictures from saxy's webcam of my poster:

the whole thing

in this one you can see the signatures a little better