Secular Confessions

[Gwenn]

LOL!

A lot of what I have been doing at work recently has been defending my conclusions. One of the tests we use heavily (it's the only one I CAN use with kids under 3 or kids who are nonverbal) came out with a new edition last year. We just started using it this year and none of my coworkers like it. Recently it came to my attention that many people feel the test is "normed" poorly. Children who had language disorders were included of the sample of children given the test to determine how the "typical" child performs - with the result that the norms are skewed downward. So a child who is delayed, for example a three-year-old who speaks in mostly 1-2 word sentences, looks like they are low average and the numbers don't show a serious delay. I have other ways of documenting a delay - descriptions of how they communicate and calculating their sentence length and use of grammatical structures as compared to the child's age - and I can show delays in that way. And luckily, there are norms for average sentence length so I have a "norm-referenced measure" to defend. But I seem to be spending lots of my time describing how kids performed on that test and explaining why the test is wrong. I can't help but think I couldn't have done that a few years ago - I wouldn't have had the insight that comes with seeing SO many kids in a test setting. But I have to lay everything out for the future when some administrator comes after me as to why I placed that kid when the test numbers don't justify it.

And all that is both math-heavy AND grammar heavy. God help up you if you don't know what a copula is.

[3andMe]

God help up you if you don't know what a copula is.

Uh-oh, I'm in serious trouble.

Luckily I get by with a little help from Google. Er, I assume it's not this type of copula?

If copula and margins are known (or if they have been estimated), this expectation can be approximated through the following Monte Carlo algorithm:

1. Draw a sample of size n from the copula C
2. By applying the inverse marginal cdf's, produce a sample of by setting
3. Approximate by its empirical value:

s <-------- Another contribution from my youngest child.

[daylilies]

I thought a copula was one of these things:
But that's a cupula.

[3andMe]

Wait, Cupola? Isn't that the guy known for:


Oh wait, that's Coppola.

[Gwenn]

LOL, Kate, I was thinking cupola and you beat me to it!

L, I meant this kind of copula. Not to be confused with (but linguistically related to) the verb copulate.

[raspberry]

Mylah, pictures of The Boss on fb. He loved being Bruce so much, he said I want to dress like this everyday. He burst into tears when I took the bandana out of his pocket.

I have math phobia. I am sure that I have dyscalculia.

Thanks for the good thoughts about my job. off to bed now.

[Gwenn]

How adorable! So cute.

Sorry, I missed congratulating you on your job. Good luck!

[Gwenn]

OMG, Shelley! I am dying from how cute BRUUUUCE is!

[missychrissy]

s <-------- Another contribution from my youngest child.

I'm in serious trouble too. I have never heard of a copula.

Good luck Shelley! You'll have to let us know how it went as soon as you can!

off to see if I can spot Bruce....

[Gwenn]

I'm in serious trouble too. I have never heard of a copula.

Most people haven't, unless they are linguists or speech pathologists. I never heard the term in any grammar class.

[Bridget]

Cutest Bruce I have EVER seen. What a doll.

[Bridget]

Yesterday I was rushing to get us out the door to our playgroup with my hands very full because we bring all the activities. Because of my own disorganization, I didn't get Kai his cards for getting ready to leave and was just asking him to do each thing and it wasn't going well. He sat down, put his head in his hands and said, "This is really so much easier with my card, Mom."
It made me all at once sad for him but happy that we found something to help him. Today I'll make it a set up where he can go get the cards himself.

[missychrissy]

Awww...bless his heart

[sarahlynn]

periods suck..

[sarahlynn]

and im going to have a teenager in 5 days..they can suck at times to

[missychrissy]

periods suck..

and im going to have a teenager in 5 days..they can suck at times to

well hello there!

And I agree on both counts...but teenagers sometimes have their great moments. Not sure if there are any positives with a period though. Except it means you won't be having another teenager in 13 years.

[sarahlynn]

HELLO!!!

might i vent that if i hear one more time that shootings happen because god isnt allowed EvERYWHERE and allowed to be shoved down our throats and bludgeoned into us on a daily basis i might puke..

thank you

p.s. 6 year olds kinda suck at times to..

maybe my period is making everything suck right now.

[AmeriBrit]

Welcome back, Sarah! I agree with everything you said so far! Lol

[missychrissy]

If God could keep shooters out of the schools, then no one needs any guns at home because obviously they have God in their home and they're 100% safe.

[missychrissy]

And I agree, 6 year olds suck sometimes too. Or, it could be AF.

[daylilies]

OMG Sarahlynn! I was just thinking about you! How are things?

[Bridget]

Hi Sarah! Yeah, I had to block some people of fb for even bringing God into the discussion about those poor murdered children. He's got nothing to do with it one way or another as far as I'm concerned. Well, lol, obviously since I don't beleive he's real but the whole concept of him has NOTHING to do with what happened and to think otherwise is just ignoring the real issues.

Big sigh. I just took Savana to a clay/ceramic workshop and the class was great, she loved it, made some great pieces that we have to go back and paint next week. The woman teaching her was very kind and allowed Savana to make all the choices about her pieces which I loved. BUT she asked me how old Sawyer was and I told her 2 next week and she got this total look of shock on her face and said, "Oh, he must have been a preemie. He has that preemie look to him."
Um. No.
Then she proceeds to go on about how she has no medical training but from one instinctive mommy to another that I really need to find out what's wrong with him because he is very small and something must be wrong with his ability to absorb nutrients...and on and on and on. I stayed too nice, as always, and told her I thanked her for her concern but that I realized he was small and had my radar out on it. She wouldn't let it go. It left me feeling like crap. He's 20 lbs. So I know that's small but not alarming is it? She said there is something about his features that makes him seem younger as well. Wtf?

[missychrissy]

I blocked nearly all my pro-gun friends from my news feed on FB. A couple I unfriended because they tried to debate me on my wall.

And jeeze Bridget. That's awful how she acted. If his dr isn't concerned, then you shouldn't be either. You're his mother and you're very aware with all your children's health. If there was something to worry about, you'd already be worried. You've addressed all your concerns already.

I'm really feeling like crap. I just mentioned to Rich that I might be renting a house with my old (as in many, many years) friend Christen after May. He was really disappointed and I got the sense he was going to bring up the possibility of us getting back together. I have no desire for that at all, but I hate hurting him.

[raspberry]

Chrissy that must be a hard situation to be in. Over time he just has to accept it. Not easy on you though.

Bridget, people need a filter! I cannot believe she kept saying all that to you. From the pics of Sawyer he looks like a happy healthy boy.

My first day at work was good. My sil works in the same office and she is training me. It was so nice to see a friendly and familiar face as I started a new job. It's a huge medical office/surgery with 8 locations in our area. It was a lot of medical lingo that was new to me, but I will get the hang of it. I am in switchboard/scheduling.

[daylilies]

I'm glad your day was good Shelley!

Bridget, I'm sorry you had to deal with that! When are people going to get it that babies come in all shapes and sizes?

Chrissy, I'm sorry you feel crappy about hurting Rich

[missychrissy]

Shelley, that sounds fun! My all-time favorite job was when I worked for the mental health/alcohol and drug clinic and that's what I did. Switchboard and front desk. I also typed up the psychiatric evaluations, psychosocial assessments, and discharge summaries. I LOVED doing that!

I was hoping that Rich was already moving on. He's made some gestures like he'd be open to dating if he found the right woman. For his sake, I do hope he finds a good one. He deserves it.

[MashedUp]

Bridget, that's nuts that she kept going on about him! Asher is 22lbs and he's been that weight for a year (he'll be 2 in may). Macie will be 4 in may and she only weighs 27! Some kids are just little. That would make me not want to go back there.

[Bridget]

If Savana did not love it, I'd probably not go back. But she did so I will have to deal with it.
I was sad to see one of my cousins whom I adore, post some things on fb about how the people may not need assault weapons but we don' t need whiny little b#&$#&! either... I love him too much to block him but I sure wish I didn't' t see that. Also, he is a marine so I suppose that may shape his views.

[girlwonder]

I hate that, Bridget. I hate when someone I like posts something so completely wrong. How is is being whiny to mourn the needless loss of innocent children and demand change in our gun laws? Ugh. I would have a hard time with that.

[missychrissy]

I'm really upset that my coworker/manager that I adore, Faye, actually shared one of those pics comparing Obama to Hitler and asking if anyone else was scared yet. I actually wrote that no, I wasn't because Obama is nothing like Hitler and actually I was more afraid of the crazy civilians that still have access to those weapons and magazines because that IS the real, current threat. We have not discussed this at work.