Gusher

So, I'm driving to work this morning, determined to have a good day. I get three blocks from school and notice water in the street. Lots of water. Then, more and more water. The waves off of my tires are reaching higher my windows. Hmmmmm... water main break.

I keep driving. Get to school. Ask if we have water and we do. Drat. Oh well.

About half an hour later, kids come in saying they heard that kids might be sent home. I decide to investigate. Call secretary. No answer. Call principal. No answer. Time to walk around. Ask. Ask. Ask. No one knows, but I heard that two trustworthy teachers were dancing in the halls and the janitors were telling kids to go home. Hmmmm.... nothing official yet. Don't get hopes up.

Then, the intercom beeps (loudly) and the calm voice of the principal tells us that school is closed and teachers will have a staff meeting shortly.

Staff meeting: Water main broke. No kids. Contract says you can go home but building will be open if you want to stay and get things done. Laughter.

Many teachers stay at least a couple hours to get a jump on their To Do lists. I head out at 10:45 to the designated "Hey, let's go out to lunch like grown-ups" location. Nice.

Home. Chores. Ah.

Tonight: Corrected tests. Watched House. Three, yes three, trick-or-treaters. Way too much leftover candy. Oh boy.

Crawling Out

I haven't written a long post is eons. Maybe that's a good thing in some of your eyes, but for me it means that things have been tough. It's weird because there hasn't been one huge thing that happened that caused me turmoil, but just a lot of little things that have taken up the past two months of my life.

Last night, I was sitting in my house, waiting to go to bed. It was 7:15. I can't go to bed that early and sleep all night unless I'm sick. So, I waited. All the way until 9:15!

If you've been reading, you know that I've been sick. I've had too many students at work and more classes than I can handle. I've had parent conferences (which are only half done). I've been to the Cities and missed my fourth day of school this year.

Now, I want things to even out. I want to have energy and be able to act on ideas. I want to relax. I want to spend time with my friends and family. I want to be myself again.

Movie of the Day: The Inside Man. Saw it Saturday. Good movie. I thought it would be more intense, but it was a slow intensity.

Hi

I'm awake at the crack of dawn so I can go to the Cities to learn how to read, or more specifically, so I can help my students read math books. I'm going to be surrounded by English-y people. Right-brainers, perhaps? I should probably grab my pocket protector. It's only a 6-hour seminar, so I should be able to withstand all the wordy pressure.

Movie of the Day: City of God. Watched it last night. Super intense. Not for kids. Very upsetting.

Voting

Can we just vote, already? I haven't even been watching tv or reading all of the articles in the paper. I just want to vote and move on with life. Hose off the mud and look forward to the Holidays. Can we do that?

Movie of the Day: Dave. I'd vote for him.

Order Form

What I would like to order:

One Big Truce for One Week. Everyone stops fighting about everything. Everything. Even which video to watch. No fighting. Just chill. No illegal activity. No domestic abuse. Just chill. Maybe everyone would have to be fed for the week. Maybe every government would have to be responsible for that. One week to see how it feels. Maybe that would save us.

Movie of the Day: One True Thing.

For You

Today I wish for you:

sunny skies
a new friend
a yummy meal
a forgotten dollar in your pocket
a real piece of mail
a beautiful sunrise
a deep soul laugh
a hug

Movie of the Day: Life Is Beautiful.

Write Tiny

I'm sitting at my desk that I bought 5 years ago. My mouse pad is from my college (though given to me by a former professor who was here for a math convention). I have three pieces of pottery on my desk. One was formed by my aunt and the other two were painted by me. I also have a couple poems, the love spell thing flier (for a friend to try next month) and a bag of balloons. I have a list of 4 architects that I've been reading about and the scraps of some sneaky mail. (Sneaky: I sponsor a kid in Haiti. When asking for her Christmas donation, they put an X in the "sign me up for another kid" box. I think that's HORRIBLE.) My desk has two shelves on the front and one drawer that is full of desk-y things (white out, hole punch, highlighters, stapler, jump drive, etc.). The side of the desk has shelves that are full of quote books and my overflow of cds.

This isn't everything, but enough for now.

Movie of the Day: Office Space. Ha.

Cereal

Do you remember the cereal you ate as a kid? Growing up, my mom would only buy Wheaties, Cheerios, or Rice Krispies. That was it. Once in a while, she would buy Cookie Crisp or Super Sugar Smacks (now calls Honey Smacks). I never really liked the kind with "marshmallows" because I don't like my cereal to be soggy and crunchy at the same time. Capt'n Crunch tastes buttery to me, so that was (and still is) to be avoided.

Now, I actually enjoy healthy cereal and treat myself to Cub "corn pops" once in a while. A big treat is Cub "fruity pebbles". I'm pretty wild, huh?

Movie of the Day: Serial Mom. (I couldn't resist. Don't go rent this movie.)

Where Would You Go?

Time for another survey:

If you were forced to move out of the country (which ever one you currently live in), where would you choose to move?


Movie of the Day: North Country.

Bernie

A year or two ago, I bought a plastic skeleton Halloween decoration that is wearing a necktie and thick glasses. I call him "Bernie." I hung him off of my projector screen (that I don't use) and he kept trying to escape! Each attempted ending in him losing some bone or other and I'd have to take him home for surgery, only to return within a few days of convalescence. Poor Bernie. I think I gave him a break last year, but he's going back today. He's had a couple days to hang in my kitchen and hasn't tried any funny business, so it's off to school.

Now, to keep him safe from a few specific naughty students!

Movie of the Day: The Bone Collector. Tee hee.

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow I go back to being a normal teacher with the normal number of classes with the normal number of students. I don't think it's really hit me yet; it's pretty surreal. I've already found myself with more energy to think about my other classes and how I'm going to get them into shape. What to do about "Raoul"? "Eungenia"? "Billy"? Let's hope for some turn arounds.

Movie of the Day: In the Army Now. What my kids will feel if I can pull it off.

Maternal Instinct

Whenever we have a lockdown or evacuation at school, I get this huge maternal feeling. It's like I'm yelling at a kid to not run into the street. "Get out! Hurry! Get out now!" Then, once we're outside (or huddled together in a corner of the room with the door locked and curtains closed), I try to calm them down. The whole time, I'm trying to project calm even though I'm far from it.

Last week, we nomad-ed our way to a local elementary school (I told them which one to go to and then hoped they knew where to go. I didn't!). On our way, lots of kids came up to me confused or scared, asking what was going on. I told them that we were going somewhere to be safe.

Once we got to our temporary shelter, one senior was worried about where his 9th grade brother was. I asked who he meant and remembered seeing him. "He's here. I saw him. He's okay."

I'm in this covenant group at church and one of the things that we talk about are spiritual promptings. I think of them as spiritual gut feelings or ideas. Last Spring I had a prompting that I was a huge owl and with my wings wrapped around my students like a protective hug.

Movie of the Day: Man on Fire. Protecting kids.

Creative Time

Every so often, I think of little things that would be fun to make and have around my house or yard. When I went camping in the Boundary Waters with some kids a couple years ago, we built rock stacks, wrote poems, and they told me about fairy houses that they had built! I want to make a little fairy house for my back yard too! It has to be all natural material, or I imagine the fairies would reject it. I'm not sure what the fairy housing market is like right now, but I want an awesome house!

Movie of the Day: Cinderella. She knew fairies.

Ask a Mom

So, I get up pretty early in the morning, way before my mom. Sometimes, I need some motherly medical advice. I try the book thing, but my main book is from my health insurance company. They might not send me to the doctor as soon as needed.

Any way, so with my mom asleep, I like to ask questions of my friends who are moms. You know, what if I can't stop coughing or should I take this medicine. Now, maybe I should see a pharmacist or something, but moms are so much more available!

Today's goal is to not gross out myself or my students and to get through the day to the three-day weekend.

Movie of the Day: Mother. Gotta love the ice cream's protective coating.

Bleck

My relaxing weekend did me in and I've been caught by a cold. I kind of picture it as these big cootie-type germs chasing me and if I slow down, I'm done. I spent Monday feverish on and off throughout the day. One student said "You look like poop." How sweet, huh? So, I went to bed at 5:45 Monday night. Stayed home yesterday (usually I'll only stay home for the flu), but I just couldn't face 6 classes like this.

Today, however, I don't have much of choice. It's the end of a grading period and the show must go on. So, I will muddle through and then go home to bed. What a glamorous life I lead!

I did watch 1 3/4 movies yesterday: V for Vendetta and Just Like Heaven. V was interesting. I'll have to watch it again to catch the bits that I missed. JLH is an old standby.

Gilmore Girls

Spoiler Alert:

I finally caught up on Gilmore Girls this weekend. Sara commented that the third episode is finally up to speed with the other seasons and I have to agree. I love the quirkiness of the show and the third episode is chock-full of it. Whew. Luke and Lorelei are driving me nuts with their break-up, but I guess they needed to create more tension between them to re-hook us. Hmmmmmm....

Movie of the Day: Bug. Watched it last night. It's all about the chain reactions of life. You have to watch carefully, but it's worth it.

Good Quotes

I had the whole day to myself yesterday and had an awesome time doing some of my list from earlier this week. I read, made jewelry, did laundry, cleaned, caught up on Gilmore Girls (!!!) and slept in!

Two quotes from The Wonder Spot by Melissa Bank:

He had a way of hugging that could pull you all the way in, and make you feel safer and more loved than you ever thought possible.

Try to remember that we're having a conversation," I say, "and your goal is to impart information." (when her brother would space out mid-phone call).

Movie of the Day: Waiting to Exhale.

Spooky

So, yesterday, I wrote that school would be crazy and I must have jinxed it because we actually had to evacuate before school even started! Someone called in a threat to three schools in town! Yikes. What a weird day. We ended up walking to an elementary school nearby (about half a mile) and hung out in their auditorium and gym for an hour. Oh my. Luckily, everything was fine and we were back in class by 10. Wow. It was still a good ________ & ________ Day, though!

Movie of the Day: The Great New Wonderful. Odd movie. Watched it with One in a Million Saras and our mom. Sara wouldn't let me leave until I explained the plot. I decided it was about mental illness. (Totally guessing).

Anony's Questions

Well, I haven't seen any new movies lately and don't watch much TV! I went to Little Miss Sunshine for the fourth time last week and have been swamped with work otherwise. I did get a couple recommendations of DVDs and will be heading to Blockbuster tonight to check some out.

Movies that were recommended: Touching the Void about mountain climbers and Dark City which is Matrix-esque.

Today is _________ & ___________ Day at school. (Fill in your own high school's colors). It's going to be wild. I mean WILD. My plan is to make it through alive with all of my students unharmed and hopefully still allowed back in school on Monday. I will be showing an episode of Numb3rs, which is the perfect thing for today. It's just the right length and has math, suspense, action, and cute actors. Awesome!

Well, I hope you all have a lovely, lovely Friday. Go ___________s!

A Start

Let's see. Diane's question was answered (briefly) in the comments section yesterday. Linda's question is going to take some thought. I'll try to write a decent response on Saturday. From there, we have One in a Million Sara's questions:

1. What you may build in your backyard next summer: I would like to build a pagoda-ish structure in my back yard that would have chimes in the upper ceiling portion and then hanging hammock chairs (canvas with a little mini chair for your feet) below.

2. Paris: My friends Nate and Claire have moved to Paris for a year (her native land) and I'm planning to visit them for Spring Break. I should really buy my tickets now, huh? I'm hoping to add in another country too.

3. The state of Gilmore Girls today: I am two weeks behind, so I can't comment too much. I wish Luke and Lorelei would get their act together.

4. ways that we adults can reach out to teens: I'll have to address this one later. Too big for this morning.

5. how you don't like dogs, but will taunt the Nuschler: Well, Nuschler is kind of dumb and now that I know he isn't going to attack me, it's fun to taunt him. Plus, it was only once, to the best of my recollection. (Tee hee).

Anony, I'll hit your questions tomorrow and we'll go from there. To anyone, feel free to add questions too!

Movie of the Day: Must Love Dogs. Ha.

Tired of Myself

I've been walking on my treadmill before school as of late (8 days now) and while I walk, I pray and then try to think of what to blog. This morning, I realized that I'm now tired of any ideas that I have for a post. Who wants to hear another gripe session about school? Who wants to know that I did my dishes last night? Very few people, I'm guessing.

So, this morning, I would like to take suggestions on post topics that you would like to read. I'm taking requests.

Movie of the Day: Lovely and Amazing. (Actually, it was kind of Disturbing and Boring, but I wasn't consulted on the title.)

Plans

While fully aware that one's intentions rarely pan out, here is a list of things that I would do if I had time:

1) wash my dishes
2) finish reading "The Wonder Spot"
3) rake
4) rent movies
5) attend a football game
6) create a homework calendar for algebra 2
7) throw rocks in the lake
8) buy groceries
9) sleep in
10) make jewelry
11) paint a picture that I've had in my head since Sunday

MEA day (Duluth gets one day off instead of two) is a week from Friday. Could be a big day.

Movie of the Week: Remember the Titans. Football.

Don't Think of an Elephant

The weeks are flying by and do you know the saying about ignoring the elephant in the room? Well, I have my face squished up against the window, gasping for air, with the elephant bristles poking me in the arm. I'm thinking it can't be ignored any more.

What the heck is Becca talking about? My life. Or should I say lack there of. I actually told someone this weekend that Mondays are my best days because I'm not exhausted yet. Yep. Bad sign.

This weekend was very fulfilling on a soul/friend/healing level while being the least amount of homework accomplished all year. This does not bode well for the Monday Happiness Level, but the kids will just have to wait for their quiz scores, I guess.

Any way, I hope to escape Dumbo pretty soon.

Movie of the Day: The Gods Must Be Crazy. Weird things falling from the sky.

Alone Time

All day at school, I lament my lack of alone time. I just want to think. I just want to get stuff done without other people talking to me.

Well, this weekend, I get half of my wish: I'm going to be driving alone a lot. Like 9 hours, I figure. That's a lot for me. Now that it's here, I'm a little afraid to be alone with my thoughts.

Maybe I'll come up with something brilliant!

Movie of the Day: Pi. This guy goes nuts. Scary math movie.

Happy Sounds

1) A clock ticking at night
2) The final bell on a Friday
3) Kids giggling (especially if you caused it)
4) The ocean (when you're safe)
5) Your favorite song on the radio

What would you add?

Movie of the Day: Sound of Music. I gotta get me a mountain and some curtains.

Sorry So Short

If you are someone who reads this regularly (thank you), you may have noticed that my posts have been getting shorter and shorter. Normally, I'm a wordy kind of gal. Teachers generally are. But lately, I've been swamped. Well, for the past month, I've been swamped.

School is sucking the life out of me and to combat that, I've been trying to maintain my "normal" outside life. Yeah, that doesn't work. I feel like I'm a zombie going through the motions of life, especially work. Yesterday, a kid said, "Um, we haven't had a test yet." WHAT?!?! How can I have gone this far without a quiz or something??? Well, teach every hour of the school day with four types of classes and 189 kids and things slip through the cracks. (Okay, it's a big crack.)

So, long story even longer, I really would like to write longer posts and give you more to distract you from your regular day, but I've gotta go....

Movie of the Day: Mannequin. Zombie-esque.

P.S. There are good things going on that I'm not quite ready to share, so don't start calling the people in white coats just yet....

Homecoming

Next week is Homecoming at work. It's a HUGE deal. We have theme days and the last day is "School Colors Day". (Insert actual colors). It is going to be wild, as always. Kids will show up with painted faces, colored hair, and head to toe school colors. About 10 rebels (or space cadets) will wear a different color. That's it. Wearing the official Homecoming t-shirt isn't enough. You must go all out.

It's fun. And not the best academic day of the year.

Movie of the Day: Never Been Kissed. School Spirit. And Michael Vartan.

Be Safe

It must be Fall. I'm having an overwhelming urge to clean and hunker down in my house. Rent a heap of movies and grab a blanket. Make vegetable soup and buy Great Harvest bread. It's weird.

My sister Sara asked if I was happily distracted enough to not be freaking out about all of the school safety stuff right now. I think I am. I hear about it and it doesn't quite burst my bubble. Or, maybe my hunkering down is for safety?

Movie of the Day: Higher Learning. Disturbing.

Painting

I was at a training thingy on Friday and there was an awesome painting on the wall. I couldn't see a signature and there wasn't a sign, so I had to do some researching when I got home. It turns out to be Gerome's Pygmalion & Galatea. I don't know the mythology behind it, but it seems like something I'll be looking up soon. Cool, huh?

Movie of the Day: Girl With a Pearl Earring. Paintings.