Getting a Grip

No, not "a lot" of something, but a handle on things. I feel like I've been in survival mode this week and maybe even for weeks or months. It's a sort of disconnected, wandering type of feeling that isn't as fun as it could be.

I'm trying to do the things that I "should" do. Here's a list:

floss (yep, I was busted)
exercise
do my correcting
pay bills & write letters/e-mails
general tidying up of piles of papers around the ol' house

It's not astro-physics, but I have to make myself do the list. (I wonder if I'd have more fun with astro-physics?).

Any way, I'm off to bed so I can get up at 4:30 to walk/run. Some of you don't even go to bed by 4. Oy.

Until tomorrow...

Hi

I think it's funny how people talk to each other depending on how long it's been between visits and how close they are as friends, etc. I went to a birthday party yesterday and I hadn't seen some of my friends for a while. When they asked if anything was new, I said no. So did a couple other friends.

I know for a fact that there are new things going on in their lives and in mine. Somehow, these are too personal to share in an initial "how are ya?" conversation.

How are you?
Good. I'm moving. (A friend)

How are you?
Rotten. My students are shoving me off the deep end.

How are you?
Well, my toe hurts and I can't feel anything in my left arm.

When these types of answers do happen, we all think it's weird. We're trained to be "good" and then eventually own up to things. Hmmmmm....

Movie of the Day: Tristan + Isolde. A star-crossed love story. I felt bad for Mark (whose name, you notice, is not in the title).

Soon

It's about the time when I start fantasizing about Summer. The lure of sleeping in. The thrill of having "nothing but time" on my hands. The freedom from pesky teenagers and demands. Ah, it's sweet.

My last day of work for the year is June 9th. Teachers have one day to wrap up grades, finals, clean their rooms, and check out. Yes, we have check out sheets. As soon as you're done, you go home.

One year, I was done so early, I felt guilty leaving. So, I helped other friends clean and organize their rooms. I had "nothing but time." Such an amazing feeling.

Now, I've started looking at projects for my free time: an awesome Sundance scrapbook (It won't be cheesy. I'm not into all of those themes stickers and stuff), planting trees in my yard, reading the piles and piles of books in my office and maybe an Oppegaard original if he's willing, and just chillin' on my hammock. I CANNOT wait.

Movie of the Day: About a Boy. Hugh Grant plays a man living off of his inheritance. He meets a boy who changes his life forever. Quirky and fun.

Cute Waiter

Four women from church, sitting around a table discussing "A Girl Named Zippy" by Haven Kimmel, and I have my eyes peeled for the cute waiter. Yep. Typical Becca, I guess. He's in his late-twenties, I think. When he brought us water, he asked how we were and when I returned the courtesy, he said he was "fantastic." Yikes. Okay. Cool. Wonder why he's fantastic. I wish I'd asked.

This was the second time our group met there and he was our waiter then, too. Well, actually, I think he wasn't. He just kept our waters full because he's OCD about water. He also said he was an avid reader (sucking up to a book club? Wanting more tips? Who knows?).

Any way, he seems interesting. The trouble is that at some of the local establishments, it's tough to tell the orientation of the wait staff, especially it they aren't overtly gay. My sister has the perfect question: "What does your ex-girlfriend think of you?"

If he answers: He hates me, She really hates me, What ex-girlfriend?, or We're best friends, then you have some answers without being quite so rude.

I'm not sure I could even pull off asking that question. I'd like to learn more, though.

Maybe next month.

Movie of the Week: 20 Dates. A man makes a documentary about asking out 20 women. Very interesting.

Catch Phrases

My phrase for today will be "Step away from the teacher." I need space or I might end up in a padded room. (End of the grading period).

Other interesting catch phrases from pop culture:

Arnold: What you talkin' `bout Willis?
Mr. T: I pity the fool!
Cookie Monster: Me want cookie.
Fozzy Bear: Wacka wacka
Bart Simpson: Don't have a cow, man!

I especially like Fozzy's.

I better go make my "Step..." sign.

Movie of the Day: Three Men and a Little Lady. If you haven't seen Three Men and a Baby, watch that first, then see the above. Super cute. A little 80's, but still relevant.

Slang

My days have been filled with teenagers lately. They have their own language, as I'm sure you know. Since I'm around it so much, I know what most of it means. Here are some translations for you. Use them at your own risk (of being laughed at).

grip: a lot usage: I got a grip of money or a grip of homework tonight
crib: my house/apartment/cardboard box/home
Oh, snap: Oh no/Oh crap.
shart: to fart and a little poo comes out (gross, I know)
lurk: someone who wanders quietly or lurks around

Movie quotes are big. I try to see teen movies, but avoid anything in the horror genre. No need to lose sleep over slang.

Movie of the day: Michael. John Travolta plays Archangel Michael. An all-star cast travels cross-country with him, learning about life.

Substitute Teachers

I started my teaching career as a sub. For three months, I hopped from school to school, never knowing what I was getting into. By November, I had a semi-permanent job for a teacher out after surgery. Then, I switched at semester time and took over for a teacher who retired. From there, I had my own job.

Last Friday, I had a sub while I was at the Math Conference. The day after a sub can go a lot of different ways. If you have a good sub, everyone did what they were supposed to do without getting sent out of the room. If your sub didn't have a good day or didn't do what you expected, the day after is annoying. Yesterday was really annoying.

The kids all wanted to complain that the sub talked the whole hour while they wanted to work (Imagine this. They wanted to work.). He read poems and stuff, which would be fine if it weren't the end of the grading period and the kids were done with everything.

I had one class that spoke up and said they had to work. I'm guessing they were less than tactful about it, based on their personalities. He did, however, sit and let them work. I guess he was sad and crabby after that.

Yikes.

Oh well.

We try to move on....

Movie of the Day: Possession. A movie about two researchers (Gwyn. Paltrow & Aaron Eckhart) who make a discovery about two poets never thought to know each other.

Flossing

I have a love/hate relationship with flossing. I love when I do it, but hate the actual process. It's one of those things that I know I SHOULD do every single day. If I skip ONE time, I'm doomed to not floss for months. (I brush three times a day, though.)

Today, I see the dentist. The hygenist is probably going to comment, but there has been the rare occasion when she didn't. Yep, that's right folks, I got way with cram-flossing before the appointment (a couple days).

This time, I started last night, which probably won't cut it. Well, it cut my gums, but ... Any way, we'll see. If she mentions it, I'll own up to my laziness and try to do better. What else can she do, right? Slap me with a No Flossing Ticket?

My favorite line from Prelude to a Kiss is when the old guy tells Meg Ryan to floss. I think of that in my times of flossing shame.

Confession

My confession: I've never been fishing. Yep, you read it here first. Becca has never been fishing. And I live in Duluth.

Growing up, no one in my family fished. My dad is a do-er not a sit-er. He's also a talker which I guess is not a good thing while fishing. I, too, am a talker (more on that later).

Today, our church service will have a fishing theme and I feel like a poser. So, I'm going to tweak my themed outfit to match my allegiance to the fish. (I won't eat them, so why kill them, right?).

Back to the talking thing. My sister Sara says I talk more on days that I'm not teaching. Do I have some sort of quota to fill? Is it that if I'm not teaching, I have some other activity to report on? Or, was it just a more exciting, less confidential kind of day? Who knows? I think it tapers off in the Summer, but I'll have to pay more attention in June (which is REALLY close now!!!).

I also can hang out with friends and just talk. For hours. This shocks my friends who have kids or lives or whatever. Bottomless coffee? Nope. Many course meal? Nope. Sitting and talking? Yep.

Oh, and one more random thing: if anyone out there knows how to disable Norton Anti-Virus so a new printer can be installed (and then enable it again), could you give me some pointers? Thanks.

Movie of the Day: Look Who's Talking. Classic 80's movie that I completely forgot about until channel-surfing one day. Cheesy. John Travolta's "come back" movie.

Math Conference

I spent yesterday (and half of today) at a State math teachers' conference here in Duluth. Picture 1200 math teachers or future teachers gathered around. The Nerd Factor was high.

It starts early in the morning and we attend a couple seminars, eat lunch, go to a couple more. Lather. Rinse. Repeat today (minus the afternoon stuff because some people have more than a 10-minute drive home).

Any way, my seminars were a mixture of The Good, The Decent, & The Ugly. I actually made a couple mouthy remarks in the Ugly one. Nothing disrespectful, just more disappointed in the content of the presentation compared to my expectations. Oh well.

My students in 4th hour are HUNG UP on me getting a boyfriend, so they told me I needed to get three phone numbers of guys and that they'd call them during class. Oy. Not going to happen.

Any way, I hope ya'll are havin' a lovely weekend. Here's the Movie of the Day: Thank You For Smoking. Saw it last night. Funny. Tongue-in-cheek. Also had a preview of my favorite Sundance movie: Little Miss Sunshine!!!! WOO HOO!!!!!

Girl Scout Cookies

I asked Tracey what I should blog about "tomorrow" and she said "Girl Scout Cookies." She got hers yesterday and I got mine on Wednesday (some of them) .

My favorites are Samoas. You can get any of the rest of them as knock-offs year round. Samoas are special. When Kid #1 asked me to buy them, I forgot about potential kid # 2's and beyond and ordered 4 boxes of Samoas. Then, Kid # 2's younger brother asked me to order some. How could I say no? I don't have those yet, but I think I probably ordered more Samoas! Ha.

I wonder what the average number of boxes ordered is per person ordering?

Movie of the Day: Chasing Amy. Not for the stuffy people out there.

Reality TV Bugs Me

I get enough reality every day. I don't need it on TV. I need to see shows with smart dialogue, interesting characters, and normal life stuff. Shows where the parents are smarter than the kids and teachers are there to help. Right now, that wouldn't sell, I guess.

I think of the shows of my youth and what the kiddies have now. I watched "Family Ties," "Growing Pains," and "Facts of Life." Now the kids have "Malcolm in the Middle" with stupid parents and mouthy kids and "Yes, Dear" with the same scenario. I'm sure there are even more that I just can't think of right now. Why are we teaching our kids to be rude?

When I was a sophomore in high school, I was sick for a day and called my Algebra 2 teacher to get the assignment. I said, "Could you tell me the assignment and junk?" (Common vernacular for the early 90's). He said "Junk?" like I had offended him. I felt so bad. Yikes. Now, if I had a kid call for their assignment, I think I'd pass out from shock.

Movie of the Day: Patch Adams. Robin Williams is awesome and inspiring. The REAL Patch Adams spoke at my school a couple years ago. He said the movie was tamer than he really is and commented on how awful it is that we PAY to advertise for clothing like Nike, Old Navy, Gap, etc. He was fascinating!

Things that are Blue

A random list of things that are blue:

• the sky
• blueberries
• Jell-O
• eyes
• Grover
• bodies of water
• my kitchen
• Cookie Monster

Movie of the Day: Blue Sky. Jessica Lange and Tommy Lee Jones. A married couple who live on a military base. She's a little loony. I saw Jessica Lange at Lake Ave. Cafe a couple years ago; she was wearing all blue (denim).

Howdy

My mind is swimming in mediocrity right now. Nothing to report. Nothing to ponder. Just routine. Tromp. Tromp. Tromp.

Anyone out there have something exciting going on this week?

Movie of the Day: Gattaca. Good movie. Futuristic space travel and how we get ourselves in trouble with too much genetic advancement and not enough heart.

I have time?

I left work today at 3:47, two minutes after I could have done so, but about 30 minutes earlier than usual. I thought I'd run a few errands, pick up some food, etc. Then, I decided I didn't feel like running around and decided to go home and rake my yard (how noble, huh?). Well, turns out it's a bit too windy for any productive yarding. Darn (half-hearted darn, really). What to do? I guess I'm just going to have to read a book, watch some of my backlog of taped tv shows (LOST & Alias), and essentially be a lazy bum all evening. WOO HOO!!!

Here We Go

It's back to school today for all the Duluth kiddies and teachers. There are thousands of little groans going on (or will be in the next few hours) across the city as we face the final stretch of the school year. It's exciting and I tell myself "That's nothing!" Then I remember the obstacles:

• state testing (starting Wednesday)
• field trips (not mine, but absences from other trips)
• General lack of attention because brains turn off at about 70 degrees or the glimpse of a sunny day

I'll see what I can do to get things to stick in their supple minds. Hmmmm...

Movie of the Day: IQ. Meg Ryan plays Einstein's niece. Tim Robbins is the mechanic who tries to show he's a genius to win her love. Walter Mathau is Einstein. His buddies are famous mathematicians. Cheesy, but funny.

Up Early

Happy Easter!

Today is a day for getting up early. Really early (at least for a Sunday). Church-goers across the world are dragging their drowsy butts out of bed to celebrate Jesus' resurrection. I suppose it wouldn't show enough excitement or respect (somehow) to have a noon service today. Hmmmm...

It took me hours to fall asleep last night. Usually, I'm good for about 5-10 minutes of unwinding and then I'm out, but yesterday I had caffeine after a couple days without it. Maybe that was part of my problem or maybe it was all the post-vacation re-entry stuff buzzing in my head. Either way, I'm gonna need a nap today.

Movie of the Day: Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. Very quirky. Very. Funny, though.

Teeny Tiny World

It's a small world, after all. It's a small world, after all....

As promised, here is a recollection of the last day of our trip a.k.a. The Day Becca Felt Like Crap.

I woke up at 3:30 AM with huge stomach cramps, like knives. I thought it was something I'd eaten and tried to go back to sleep. Woke up with a headache, chills, and other unmentionable symptoms. Not the best state for flying home. Oh, AND the sun was out for the first time all week. Oh well.

I spent the whole ride to the airport trying not to yak in the hotel's van. I was still freezing.

Once we got on the plane and I sat in my window seat (not the best for a sick passenger, I might add), I suddenly flipped from chills to sweats. Yep, swell. So, I sweated my way home, hoping not to infect the lady next to me.

At one point, I thought I was going to pass out. I kept seeing stars. Misery!

It was a three-hour flight and by the last half hour, I started feeling better. So, I chatted with my neighbor a bit. She was chaperoning a church youth group from North Carolina. They had 14 kids and 5 adults on this year's trip. They pick a new place each year. She said they were Quakers.

Suddenly, I remembered that I had had a brief (very brief) e-mailing stint with a Quaker pastor from North Carolina this fall. I'd never met him or seen his picture, but only knew his first name. I said that he was a huge Republican and she was mortified! (I was too.). She asked if she could retell the story to the guy next to her and it turns out he knows said pastor!!! How bizarre!!! He gave me the guy's last name and verified it with the Quaker pastors index that he was creating for his church! WEIRD!!!!

It's a small world....

(I also forgot to mention Ghirardelli Square in my previous post. Chocolate. Lots and lots of it.)

My Trip

San Francisco has a ton of interesting museums, hills, and nautical views. Here are some of the fun sights:

SF MOMA (San Fran Museum of Modern Art)

• A Picasso
• A Diego Rivera
• A Salvador Dali
• 3 Ansel Adams photos
• 2 Frida Kahlo paintings
• A bunch of Calder mobiles

de Young Museum

• Tons of African, Aztec, & Incan art
• Funky glass art
• a HUGE picture of blurry circles that were supposedly to be vibrating atoms
• a James Terrell skyspace "pod" that you sit in and look at the sky. It was overcast, so not that thrilling. Did see a bird, though.

Hills

• Went down Lombard street. Slowly.
• Took a cable car in the pouring rain. Lots of bells dinging.
• If you know how to repair brakes, you would strike it rich in SF.

Ferry/Cruise Rides

• Our hotel was in Oakland, so we took the ferry over to SF a couple days. It was about a 45 minute trip for $4.50 (if you bought a ten-pack of tickets).
• The bay cruise takes you under the Golden Gate Bridge which was awesome.
• It also takes you around Alcatraz. Did you know Native Americans claimed it as their land for two years (after it had closed)?

Golden Gate Bridge/Golden Gate Park

• We didn't actually touch the bridge, but took some lovely pictures. Lots of pretty flowers in the park too.
• Did you know there are buffalo in Golden Gate Park? Oh, give me a home...

Well, that concludes our mini-tour of San Francisco. More details to leak out later, I'm sure. Oh, and keep your eyes peeled for the events of "the last day" or "The Day Becca Felt Like Crap".

Movie of the Day: Saved. A satire on Fundamentalism. Hilarious!

I'm back!

Greetings! I'm back from my short vacation to Soggy San Francisco. The sun came out yesterday morning as we packed to head to the airport. Typical, I suppose. When we left SF, it was a whopping 70 degrees. When we landed in Minneapolis, it was 84! Yep, global warming is alive and well.

Any way, we had a nice time hanging out with my aunt and uncle, and seeing the sights of the Bay Area.

More details to follow....

Movie of the Day: The Rock. We took a bay cruise around Alcatraz on Wednesday (in the rain). Very interesting...

Greetings

Greetings From Sunny California. There's a little sun. A little. We are relaxing this morning, plotting out what to do for the rest of the day. My aunt is prepping her music for her orchestra rehearsal tonight. Her orchestra is playing with the San Francisco Gay Mens Chorus. We're going to try to catch a bit of the rehearsal. It's a shame that all of those cute, clean men will be gay. Maybe there will be a few scruffy ones for balance.

My aunt claims that there are a slew of single, straight men in the city, but I'm not sure I buy it. It's kind of nice to just assume that no one would be interested and just go on my happy way. Hmmmm... a new way of life? Ignore men? Hmmmm.....

So, I know you've been missing a movie of the day (for two whole days!) so, I'll give you a trilogy to take care of you: The Lord of the Rings saga. Enjoy!

I'm officially old.

Well, maybe not so old. Maybe just mature or tasteful. I don't know.

My friend's little sister tried to convince me to get a myspace account. I told her I had a blogspot, but she kept on with the pressure. So, I've been doing a little reading and searching on myspace and I'm just not impressed with what I'm seeing.

I found the site of another friend's little sister and found more than I EVER want to see.... Gross!

I'm either old or just out of that "age-bracket" or something. Or, I'm just a prude. Whatever. I don't need those types of images in my head....

Any way, how y'all doin'?

Whew.

Today is the last day before Break. Thanks goodness. Tonight, I do my dishes. You might think this is pathetic, and maybe it is, but I feel better when my dishes are done and my house is reasonably clean.

When I was a kid, my friends and I were obsessed with the movie Annie (coincidently, the Movie of the Day). We had all the songs memorized, would pick parts and put on the play. Some of us even helped clean one mom's house! She had to pretend to be like Miss Hannigan. I wasn't there, but I wonder if she did the drunken slur too. Hmmmm... I love Carol Burnett!

PA

I could really used a temporary Personal Assistant right about now. Someone to pick up the metaphorical drycleaning. Someone to get me lunch. Someone to remind me to make the test I have to give at 10:00 (I forgot to tweak the tweaks I wanted to make. Drat!). Someone to pack my suitcase! Someone to have my mail and newspaper held.

Yep, that would be lovely.

Movie of the Day: War of the Worlds. I'm not a big fan of Tom Cruise any more, but this was interesting and made me jump (in a good way). Dakota Fanning is going to need extensive therapy as an adult.

Recycling

A little while ago, I had a huge problem with junk mail taking over my kitchen (more specifically, the top of my microwave). I decided to buy a $2 waste basket and keep it near my front door and then chuck junk mail straight into the "recycling bin" right there! It's actually quite nice!

Since I haven't had any major projects aside from work and church stuff, it's nice to use some creative ideas to smooth annoyances at home. I feel a little bit like Doc in Back to the Future.

Movie of the Day: Back to the Future. I LOVED this movie growing up. Classic 80's.

Micro Happiness

Do you ever think of the teeny, tiny moments of happiness that you have throughout the day? Here are a few of mine:

the feel of my pillow right before I get up
the last couple seconds of a warm shower
the first three M & M, which always taste different than the ones to follow
getting personal mail
hearing an old favorite song on the radio at the exact time I needed to hear it
making my quiet students giggle

Sometimes, I think we focus on chasing macro happiness too much and ignore the micro stuff.

Movie of the Day: Good Will Hunting. Robin Williams. Matt Damon. Minnie Driver. Ben & Casey Affleck. Math. A brilliant, tormented young man, and a wise mentor. Great movie!!!

Jewelry Shopping

Yesterday, I stopped by Catherine Imports with my sister Sara. We were just looking around, but I was drawn to the jewelry counter (naturally). I'm a jewelry junkie. My grandfather was a jeweler and one of my only memories of him was sitting on his lap in his tiny workshop while he worked on watches. He smelled like mints (similar to Altoids). My whole life, I've been drawn to shiny, pretty jewelry.

Sara laughed when I asked to see something by name: "Can I see the blue abalone with the pearl?" I know what the stones are and usually what the cut is.

When Sara was looking for engagement rings to suggest to her honey, I went with to help decipher the "Diamond" stuff. It was fun.

Now, they have right-hand rings. I would love one, but worry that if I bought one, it would outshine any possible engagement rings in my future. I tend to be attracted to smart, but poor guys. Drat. So, I hold off on it.

Movie of the Day: Big Daddy. Adam Sandler. Joey Lauren Adams. Jon Stewart. A man helps take care of his friends new-found son. Sweet and funny.

Inspired

Sleep helped. (Whew).

Movie of the Day: Emmanuel's Gift. It was a wonderful documentary about a man who was born with a deformed leg. He overcomes amazing prejudice to become a national hero and help so many other people who have disabilities. I just happened to notice this movie when I was cruising Block Buster. I'm glad I did.

Well...

Do you ever get in one of those moods where you just don't know what to do with yourself? It's like you are Monumentally Bored. Not just a passing moment of, "hmmmm....what should I do now?" but a "My life is a Hamster Wheel of Nothingness"? I need energy to create something good and fun right now. I need to reconnect with friends and laugh.

Or maybe I just need some sleep. (My mom's answer to this "beside yourself" kind of feeling.)

Teaser: Saw an awesome movie tonight. More tomorrow....

Random Thoughts

I can't come up with a topic for the life of me today, so you're going to get some genuine randomness for this lovely April 1st.

• My new shampoo is grapefruit & honey, but it smells like caramel apples to me.
• I think this is probably a bad idea for spring.
• Steven Wright has a good quote about shampoo: Boycott shampoo. Use real poo.
• My yard looks like a lake and it's turning into a river in my basement.
• The Month of Trudge is over!!!!!
• One purchase on the National Parks website has landed me on at least 10 environmental mailing lists. Save a tree; quit mailing me.
• One week from today, I'm leavin' on a jet plane. WOO HOO!!!! California, here I come!
• I don't think Duluth is going to get another snow day, so now I'm hoping for a power outage or maybe a day to sanitize the whole school (mono is all over this year!).
• I know, "Sanitize?" It happened in Wisconsin, it could happen here.

Well, that's about all that's been buzzing through my head for now. I hope you have a lovely April Fools' Day. Look alert!

Movie of the Day: Memoirs of a Geisha. Saw it last night. I didn't know anything about geishas before seeing it, so it was very educational. Also, the cinematography was amazing!