Zap

Do you ever find things that just zap right to your soul? Maybe it's a song that you instantly love. Maybe it's a movie that hits you just the right way at just the moment you needed to hear it's message. Maybe it's a character in a book who you just know is a kindred spirit.

One in a Million Saras has a talent for finding new music and then keeping me in the loop. She gives me tours on her ikpod. I had a tour on Friday and fell in love with a couple songs.

OMS also rented the movie Once, which I knew I needed to own within about 10 minutes of starting it. It's one of those movies that makes you believe in real people again.

The book character that is a kindred spirit is from Inkheart. I haven't even read the book yet, though I've been meaning to do so, and I know that the main character is a like soul. She and her father live in a house full of books. She has books as friends. Rory Gilmore (Gilmore Girls) was like that, too. She would take a book with her in case she got bored. I have a friend like that, too. I've started hauling a book around and felt lonely when I was waiting for my family today at a restaurant and had left my book in the car. If my house were smaller, the walls would be lined with books.

Movie of the Day: Once.

What Day Is It?

Hi. My name is Becca and I have a calendar problem. I buy too many of them. I'm fascinated by the pictures, the quotes, the comics, the idea of being organized.

Up until this minute, I have only purchased one 2008 calendar: Live With Intention. It has beautiful artwork and lovely quotes.

Today, I brave the mall and try to only buy the calendars I need/will use immediately at school.

Wish me luck!

Movie of the Day: Calendar Girls. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll laugh again.

Quality Time with the Folks

It's a quiet week in Lake Woebe- Wait. I'm in Duluth. Yep. It's a quiet week at my folks' house. My brother is stuck in Fargo and One in a Million Saras and her husband are here and there with multiple family gatherings. This leaves me with my folks. Not the critical mass one may expect for the holidays. We're all kind of quiet revelers, so, we rented movies.

Last night, we watched Elling, a Norwegian movie recommended by a friend of mine. It was funny, quirky, sad, and sweet. Maybe not what you would expect to watch on Christmas Eve, but still fun.

Right now, we are taking a break from watching Meet Me in St. Louis so my mom can make another layer of Jell-O. Yep, she's multi-tasking on a holiday.

Movie(s) of the Day: Elling and Meet Me in St. Louis. Good, clean fun. Sorta.

Free Time- So Weird

I have the week off. A whole week. It's lovely to have time off. Saturday, I attacked my To Do list with so much vigor that I nearly wiped it out! So, I am looking for activity recommendations from y' all: tdeas for things to do in Duluth, ideas for things to do sitting around a quiet house, ideas for mini road trips. I'm open.

Movie of the Day: Well, I just went nuts at Blockbuster, but haven't watched any of them yet. I did watch some of Home Alone last weekend, which is a cute Christmas movie.

Merry Christmas!

I Llama You!

I used to have a Christmas party. You know, the kind where people linger around eating and drinking and chatting. Only, mine didn't have any alcohol and somehow, that affected the lingering and chatting. People were nervous. Didn't know what to do with out a buzz. The party happened a couple years and then the crappy one. So, since then, I've decided to put the party budget towards something a little more altruistic. Yes, that's right, it's Heifer Time!

Each December for three years now, I have purchased an animal for a person in a third world country. I will spare you the details, but if you're interested, the website is www.heifer.org. If you see me driving around town, you'll notice a leaping cow decal on my car. I'm not into cows, but it's the sticker for Heifer.

This year, I bought a llama for Peru. I hear they're good climbers. And spitters?

Movie of the Day: The Emperor's New Groove. Funny llama.

Woo Hoo

Yes!!!!! It is finally winter break. Ah! Eleven days off (counting weekends). Whatever shall I do? I'm going to start with sleeping in!

Movie of the Day: Mystic Pizza. Yum.

Diversion

Yippe skippy hippie whip-y blippy dippy flippy lippy nippy sippy tippy zippy

bog blog cog dog fog flog hog jog log pog sog

and bland band brand grand hand land sand stand

bore snore door pour core store more snore fore for gore whore lore nor pore roar soar tore wore abhore

Mecca Becca

Movie of the Day: Hokus Pokus.

If You Can't Beat `Em...

No, I'm not talking about corporal punishment. I'm talking about just how silly my students are going to be this week. There's going to be a lot of sugar in their systems and the thrill of over a week off of school. Some might be afraid to lose the structure of school and that's going to throw them out of wack too.

So, I've been sitting here, thinking about what to write and an idea hit me. Smack! If I can't come up with a sugar neutralizer (that I'm allowed to administer to minors) by tomorrow, maybe I should just give in and be silly with them. I'll try to stuff some math in there too and cross my fingers.

Here's where you come in: I need ideas. I'm thinking a theme each day. Perhaps Accent Day. Short Sentences Day. Count How Many Times Ms. _____ Says "Okay" Day (It's a lot.).

Ideas???? Please share. I LOVE getting comments. Love. Love. Love them.

Movie of the Day: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Antidote Please!!!!

Neighbors

An ambulance and fire truck pulled up to a house across the street from school yesterday. My classroom windows faced the house and most of my students started out curious and ended up worried about our neighbor. The medics went inside with a gurney and a black bag. Our experience watching crime shows would tell us that the bag was a bad sign. After the gurney was inside, I told the students next to the window to tell us when it was leaving the house and until then to try to do some homework. We all expected that someone had passed away.

A few minutes later, the kids said that the medics were coming out of the house and the guy was sitting up on the gurney! The bag was for warmth!

Thank God! There was so much relief in the room.

Movie of the Day: Love Actually. Some people like this movie, some people I know, not-so-much.

Right Where You Are Supposed To Be

Do you ever think about what is happening in your life and how that plays out in the grand scheme of your whole life? Maybe you have a crummy job. Maybe your cat is sick. Maybe your big toe hurts. Or maybe something really bad has happened or is happening.

When I'm in these situations, the big ones, I have a hard time looking at them as opportunities for growth. It's hard to avoid "Why Me?" thinking. Of course, I think this is natural.

This Fall, I found out I have d..... and fell into a major "Why Me?" funk. You may have noticed the drop off of blogs and the general "Life Sucks" attitude when I did blog. Or did I hide it well?

Things are better now. I feel rational again. I'm getting my act together. I'm finding joy in big and little things.

My hope is that everyone can find a way through their hard times to glimpse joy.

Movie of the Day: The Addams Family. They found joy in creepy things.

I'm Cold.

In college, I used to make fun of my skinny, skinny friends because they were always cold. I told them that I was from Duluth and there you needed a little extra insulation on your bones to stay warm in the Winter.

Well, since this October, I've lost 20 lbs of my insulation and I'm freezing!!!! It's so weird. I mean, it's not like I didn't get cold in the past, just not so frequently or so extremely. Oy.

Movie of the Day: The Saint. She was working on cold fusion to bring heat to everyone.

Whoosh!!!!

Any one else feel like December is going to fly by way too quickly? Eek.

What's weird is that I'm not chomping at the bit to get my tree up.

The calendar in my office says "May this year bring all the blessings our heart can hold" and for once I think it just might.

Movie of the Day: Where the Heart Is.

ARGH!!!

I spent most of the day teaching and catching glimpses of the snow falling outside. Then, at 3:45, I went out to my car in an attempt to go home. Fifteen minutes and three friends later, my little car was moving and I started home.

My usual trip takes about 15 minutes. Today, it took 2.5 hours. Yes, hours. You see, we had 17 inches of snow at school. Cars crept (if that) across town trying to get home without getting stuck or crunched.

I made it, mostly because I had snacks, used the washroom before I left school, and decided to have an impromptu photo shoot while I was sitting listening to a new mix cd. These are some of the pictures:

The official City of Duluth Christmas tree...

For the record, I took these lovely shots by sticking my hand out the window and getting whatever I could find. Not a lot of composition, but also much safer.

Movie of the Day: Traffic.

Recommendations

It's that time of year when I am asked to write recommendations for some of my students. Usually they are for scholarships and occasionally for colleges.

The tricky part is knowing what to say and understanding how I say it affects things. This year, I have three to write which is nothing compared to what the English teachers are hit with, but more than ideal.

The issue: I know that I'm expected to write a glowing, touching, heart-felt letter that will make people what to shower my students with money. I know this. The problem comes when I can't whole-heartedly nominate the kid for a Nobel Prize. How do I find comfortable ground? Are they the best students I've ever had? Nope. Will I try my best? Yes.

Movie of the Day: Election. That girl needed to chill.

Snow Day-Saturday Style

I may have mentioned this before, but teachers love snow days. A lot.

When a storm hits on a Saturday, like today, we lament that it couldn't wait just a bit longer or arrive just a bit sooner. It's such a waste of good snow. Once we accept that we will on get any time off, we plan our "holing up" like everyone else. This involved an emergency run to the grocery store for caffeine. After a two hour nap, I'm now ready to settle in, plunk in a Christmas movie or two, and face my homework.

Movie of the Day: White Christmas.

Socks

You know how stores have these "special shopping days for charity"? Well, a couple weeks ago, I went to the mall with a $10 off coupon and wandered the store looking for something that qualified for the "deal." Any way, I ended up buying the coolest socks ever. They're like a fuzzy sweatshirt for my feet. Very, very, very comfy. The tag says K.N. on it and I think the K stands for Karen. I might need to get more.

Movie of the Day: The Devil Wears Prada (But Becca wears socks.)

A Little Math

So, today I turn 33 3/3, more commonly known as 34. I'm not so thrilled about 34, but my mom convinced me it's better than 35 (which is more significant in the "Oh no, I'm aging" category, I guess). I think I'm going to try to pull off 33 3/3 on my students today and see how many of them are still groggy from turkey.

Anyone have any funny stories from the weekend that they're willing to share?

Movie of the Day: 300 / 10 + 4 (Never saw 300, but Gerard Butler is in it, so how bad could it be?)

Ode to Z

Today is Z's Birthday, so I thought I'd list a couple fun memories of things we've done while hanging out together. First off, Z is 8 today. We have a major connection because his birthday is two days before mine.

Things Z and I have done: feed ducks, try to teach Becca how to play video games (I'm slow), eat lots and lots of pizza, make new friends, go to the Depot, plan lunches out with lots of people, and go to movies.

I hope Z is having an awesome birthday today!!!!

Give Thanks

I have so many things to be thankful for in my life, I can hardly stop smiling.

For instance, a kid said something in class this week and I just started giggling. I should have been trying to keep him quiet, but I didn't have it in me. So, we laugh and try to continue.

My plan for the day is to camp out at my folks' house for pretty much the whole day. This involves having enough "stuff" to do during the down time. I might be packing two bags. Contents: craft magazine, beads, warm socks, a book, DVDs, catalogs, stuff for my brother, and whatever else I can think of to add in the next few minutes. You'd think they were more than 6 minutes away, huh?

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Last Day to Breathe

Just kidding. Well, sort of. For many, today is a day of preparation for Thanksgiving (at least in the US).

The day after Thanksgiving starts a mad dash to Christmas. I picture standing at the top of a steep road. You begin running down and realize that you've started losing control of the speed and at any moment, you could trip and eat asphalt. That's Christmastime.

The goal for this year's holiday season: to find simple happiness and avoid the rest as much as possible.

Movie of the Day: Cool Runnings. They didn't actually run, though. Well, a little.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is coming up soon and my new resolve to eat respectable portions of respectable food is going to be put to the test.

Do you think my mom would be offended if I show up with 5 Rubbermaid containers for "my share" of the goodies?

Movie of the Day: Junior.

Help Someone

Quite a few people I know are going through rough patches right now, things that are wearing them out or overwhelming them. It's hard to know what to say or do to help them sometimes. Yesterday, I just listened. Maybe I'll think of a way to help today.

One of my ideas for RAK (my club Random Acts of Kindness at school) is to have the kids log into the computers at school and go to www.thehungersite.com and have them "click" to donate food. They can then go across the tabs to donate books, save the rainforest, fight cancer. I think it would be an easy way for them to learn to give.

Movie of the Day: Something's Gotta Give. Or someone.

Read

I've been reading more, lately. Maybe it's the weather or my need to relax after work, but I'm finally getting back to sinking into a book for longer than 5 minutes. People have a perception of me as someone who is always reading and while I'd like that to be true, it doesn't always happen. I'm glad things have shifted back.

Movie of the Day: Darjeeling Limited. Quirky.

Funny

I'm in the market for some funny new websites to look at. Are there any recommendations out there?

Oh, and vote today, wouldja?

Soon Winter

Daylight hours continue to change, shrinking now, to a noticeable extreme. We slowly begin to prepare for the cold, prepare to seek warmth. Window screens are covered, our beloved plants as well. Our car trunks gain shovels, grit, and blankets, perhaps food and candles. The urge to create a fleece blanket nest is overwhelming. It's too soon to think of snowmen or skating. For now, we prepare.

I Know

One in a Million Saras, my dear sister, commented that my last blog seemed a bit irrational. Sadly, I know this. I know that my thinking is not always clear and my emotions are running a muck. I know. Luckily, I have taken today off to go to multiple doctors appointments to try to get my act together.

I just need a plan.

Movie of the Day: Pi. It's irrational too.

Roll With Me

In today's episode of "Becca Needs Balance," our heroine Becca is driving to the Whole Foods Co-Op to try to find the tofu chik'n strips that she's started eating to incorporate more protein into her diet. Sadly, Duluth seems to be out of said product and our heroine is getting tired.

Any way, she's driving to the Co-Op. The parking lot is crammed with cars and one even stopped and parked mid-path. Well, after some finagling, she finds a spot and enters the store. Now, she's hungry. She hasn't had anything since 11:30, except Diet Coke. So, she's kinda in a hurry.

It turns out that the Co-Op is having a Halloween Party and the place is teeming with people. She searches high and low for the aforementioned faux chicken, but is unsuccessful. For the second time in 24 hours, she leaves a grocery store with nothing (this is freaky).

Hungry Becca is not a pretty sight. She's crabby. She's rushing. She's ready to bite some one's head off. She knows this. She knows that she needs to stock pile something to eat to make her sane again. Unfortunately, she's also supposed to check her blood sugar and needs to do it before eating. This isn't a time-consuming process, but one that needs to be done near soap and water and preferably not with an audience. Oy.

Movie of the Day: The Witches of Eastwick. Or Duluth.

Happy Halloween!!!

Boo!

3

Cool Things that Come in Threes:

Snap, Crackle, & Pop
Huey, Dewey, and Louis
The Holy Trinity
Larry, Darryl, & Darryl
x-, y-, & z- coordinates
apples, oranges, & bananas
The Three Musketeers
The Three Blind Mice
Peter, Paul, & Mary
Earth, Wind, & Fire
Three's Company

The Three Altos

Movie of the Day: Numb3rs (actually a TV show).

Sloppy Day

I'm standing out in the hall at school tonight, waiting for my next conference to arrive and the other teachers and I decided that we wanted to really "Slob Out" tomorrow. I would be so glorious to wear sweats and be as comfy as we could after such a long week.

Will we do it? No. Will we get as close as we can to comfy? Yes.

Movie of the Day: Anything Charlie Brown with Pig Pen.

The Rollercoaster

I haven't been blogging lately, much. I feel bad about it, but then I think of what I would write and decide not to bore you. Things are up and down for me right now. I can be in a great mood and then suddenly want to sit in my house and sob.

I stop and try to figure out what is causing each emotion and can usually pinpoint it. Then, it changes and I can pinpoint that one. And so on... It's not the stuff of blogging, though.

So, anyone see any good movies lately?

Try and Blend

I'm not great at moderation. Okay, I'm really bad at moderation. I know this. I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs because it would be really tough to stop. Well, now, I've added sugar and big portions to that no-no list. Yes, I've found out I've got the dreaded "d". I don't want to write the name because I'll get screepy people writing to give me cures. However, I now need to avoid sugar (give you a clue?) and it sucks. I like my Almond M & M's. Oh well. I'd rather live longer.

I started writing this post intending to talk about my weekend of goofing off and correcting papers. (I get sidetracked a lot.) So far, I've done a good job of mixing the two activities. Right now, I'm taking a break from my last set of tests. They aren't doing as poorly as I'd expected. Well, at least some of them.

Tonight, I get to hear the St. Olaf Band in concert and then host a couple members overnight. Um Ya Ya!

Movie of the Day: Cocktail. They had nifty blenders.

Gloom and Greatness

It's raining. Again. Lots of it. Spirits are sagging.

However, tomorrow is a day off from school. The first day until MEA (Minnesota Education Association convention) is the longest stretch we have without a holiday. We've made it. Okay, one more day and we've made it. WOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Luckily, attendance is optional and most people up North don't make the trek to the Cities. All this translates to Becca getting to sleep in. That should lift the spirits pretty nicely.

Movie of the Day: Wild Horses Can't Be Broken. Spirit.

Rain

It's raining this week and the kiddies are wonky. Off the charts hyper and weird. The rain and the end of the grading period combine to make some classes torture to sit through (for students and teachers). Some kids are scrambling to do what they should have been doing all along (their homework) while other kids know that they are going to get certain grades that they don't want and many don't care. These are 9th graders who have been socially promoted their whole lives and are now going to face the harsh reality of needing credits. We try to explain it to them, but it doesn't sink in for some kids. We'll see how that pans out in the next few weeks. It could be brutal.

Auction

Grandma's Marathon has an auction each Fall and for the past couple years, I've donated jewelry for the cause. I have no idea how much the jewelry has gone for, but I thought I'd share this year's selection (to entice you to attend and bid?). It's part of the silent auction portion of the evening.

Fall

May you crunch leaves,
enjoy resurrecting your favorite sweater,
take brisk walks by the lake.

May you sip apple cider on your porch,
carve goofy faces in a pumpkin,
smell coolness in the air.

May you rake a pile of leaves and JUMP,
help a kid with their homework,
take pictures of the trees.

~Becca

Awesome!!!

One of my friends won a national award for teaching yesterday. He sooooo deserves it! He's inspiring and the fact that someone recognized a teacher's efforts warms my heart.

Movie of the Day: Tommy Boy. (Which I've never seen.)

Clutter

The clutter on my desk:

my camera
7 pieces of jewelry
a stuffed penguin (no, not taxidermied)
my new pet: Artie Fishal 2
six books
a box of fake acorns
the movie Things To Do
Some crafts
a bookmark from Paris
some nail polish
random notes.

A mess.

Movie of the Day: Jane Austen Book Club. Very good. Very sweet. Inspired me to buy the Austen book Northanger Abbey, which is one with the clutter.

Mini Workshop

I went to a mini workshop yesterday and the facilitator asked us to share our dreams, assuming that there were no restraints (money, family situation, health, etc). It was interesting because someone commented on how it's socially acceptable to dream big when you're a kid or a teen, but at some point, you cross a line and start thinking practically and lose the big dreams. How sad, but somehow true. Can you learn to dream big again and risk looking the fool?

What are your big dreams?

Movie of the Day: Dream a Little Dream. Or a big one.

We've Been Saved...Whew.

Art by Sara.

Breaking Hearts

I received some bad news yesterday: my club at school is not funded this year. My club was Random Acts of Kindness and I started it in Fall of `99. We would do things like volunteer, raise money for charity, make fleece blankets for crisis nurseries, etc.

Sadly, I announced our first meeting today without knowing that the club didn't have approval. Technically, it doesn't have a stipend for me to be the advisor. Now, maybe they think that suddenly I'll run the club for free, but they're wrong.

Today I get to share by broken heart with my students and hope I don't cry.

Movie of the Day: Pay It Forward.

Mind Trap

I was at a party last night and people started talking about word games and logic problems. One couple started giving examples and I found that I did quite well, to the point of pulling myself out of the game and just listening. I tried to explain that I play Mind Trap with my students and it really helps with these types of questions.

Movie of the Day: Before Sunset. Very little action, lots of talking.

Blast From the Past

Next week is dress-up week at school and Tuesday is "Blast From the Past". I tried to get some clarification from the student council kids, but they just repeated the title.

This could be fun. Do I dress as:

a disco chick
someone going to a sock hop
a cave girl
anyone from Pride & Prejudice
a valley girl
a hippie
last year's fashion
someone out of Little House on the Prairie
a flapper?

The options are endless!

Movie of the Day: Blast From the Past. Gotta love Brennan Fraser.

Back In The Day

Me, back in the day. Do you like how only my pigtails are curly?

Movie of the Day: Curly Sue.

Mind Control

I had a chat with a friend last night (Hi!) and we came to the consensus that we both think too much. Now, I'm not talking about science or politics or how to save the world. I'm talking about relationships and life status and such. Things like: "why am I single?" or "what did he mean by that?".

These are not productive thoughts, in general, because very rarely am I going to come up with any sort of correct answer. Well, at least not without an excellent therapist in the room.

So, I (well, we) have decided to stop those thoughts in their tracks and go with the flow. (Quit laughing.). Controlling things is something I'm good at. Not controlling things will be an interesting challenge.

Movie of the Day: After the Wedding. Not romantic, really, but SUCH a good movie. Subtitled, so be literate.

Missing

Do you ever feel like there's something missing? Not your keys, but something significant and huge?

In Miss Potter, a character says something to the order of "thank goodness he found you. I didn't even know I was missing you until we met."

I feel like I'm missing something or someone and we haven't even met. It's this murky, "could someone turn on more lights in here" kind of feeling. It's a Friday night alone with a stack of papers you don't want to grade.

I could try to rally some people together, but that just seems like running in circles sometimes. Does that make any sense? I need to leap off this treadmill and find something new.

80's Revisited

I spent a good chunk of time last night thinking and listening to 80's music.

Top 5 Favorites, anyone?

Movie of the Day: Wedding Singer. Great 80's music.

New Laws I Like

Okay, it's just one law that I made up yesterday: when you are sick, you have to eat whatever you want. Ice cream? Sure. Popcorn? Sure. Cold pizza from Sunday? Sure. All's good.

I stayed home yesterday and slept. A lot. Then, when I could sleep no more (18 hours), I watched Ugly Betty DVDs. Yep, good deal.

Pretty much all that's left of the cold is a juicy, deep cough and a little snot. Not bad. Now we'll see what happens when I push myself (a.k.a. teach).

Movie of the Day: Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. America looking normal.

Vacation Time

Right about now, I could use a break. Yes, I know we just finished Day 8 of school, but I think that's a pretty good accomplishment-one that should be rewarded with a day off.

How would I spend my day off? I would sleep until noon. Then, who knows? Make some jewelry? Watch movies? Read? No homework.

Movie of the Day: Dream For an Insomniac. I woke up a couple times last night from my cold and thunder. Oy.

A Little Better

I woke up a couple times last night after some crazy dreams. However, I am feeling better this morning. Thanks for all of the concern. Now, to still pace myself enough to get through Open House at school tonight (which might run until 8). We'll see how that goes.

Movie of the Day: Life As a House.

Pace Yourself

I stayed home from church today with my cold. My throat hurt so bad, I could hardly swallow. I called my choir director and left a message that I was sick (she probably thought "Duh. Have you heard your voice?"). Then, I called another friend as back up.

I've gargled with warm salt water, taken some Advil and a shower (always helps) and now feel a bit better.

My task now is to pace myself so I don't wipe out by 2. I'm not good at relaxing. (Quit laughing!). Any way, I see too many things that I could put away, or clean, or craft. It's annoying.

Movie of the Day: Sick-O. I didn't see it, but one of my many nurse friends said it was awesome!

Picture Day Issues

Today is Picture Day. Well, the kiddies get their pictures taken in August when they get their schedules and stuff. However, today they can have retakes and the teachers have their pictures taken for the yearbook and staff badges. We also get a complimentary little pack of pictures, probably because they interrupt the whole day and they're bribing us to keep quiet about it.

Any way, the dilemma is what the heck to wear.

The trauma is that I just got a zit last night. It's tiny. Honest. It's right at the top of my lip and it's about the size of a pin head. Cover up and lipstick are my only hope. I'm not big into popping zits.

Gross, huh?

Now, back to what to wear. I'm wearing jeans today. There is no discussion on that. It'll be the first day that I haven't worn a skirt or capris. No ankle-showing for this teacher today. It also means my Chacos are staying home.

Any way, what color? I have a lovely blue shirt, but I don't really like blue shirts with jeans. Hmmmm.... I could change clothes after the picture.... might be too much work. I don't know. Such a conundrum.

Movie of the Day: Picture Perfect.

Better

A winter or two ago, my covenant group at church was talking about how we all felt depressed or blue- well all of us except R. She also seemed to be the only one who was getting any exercise. Correlation?

So, to get myself out of the funk, I have started getting up at 4:45 and walking a mile on my treadmill (takes me 20 minutes). It's helping! Woo Hoo!

Movie of the Day: Grease. Track really saved Danny.

Funky Winkerbean

I'm saving the paper for my mom while she's on vacation and mainly what she cares about is the comic Funky Winkerbean. Things HAPPEN in this strip. It's not as soap-opera-esque as some, but serious issues are addressed.

For instance, Lisa Moore is dying of cancer. Any day now, she will say her good-byes and we will mourn. She's found the son she put up for adoption. She's gone to Congress to plead for more funding to fight cancer. She's had closure.

Sadly, I feel like there are Congress members who actually connect more to a fictional cartoon character than to real, live victims of this terrible disease.

Movie of the Day: My Life. So sad.

Big Day Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Primary Election Day in Duluth. There are 12 people running for Mayor. It will be narrowed down to two after tomorrow! The candidates have been pushing really hard for this win. Some are playing nicely and others are acting like the playground bully.

I will be voting for Don Ness. He has integrity, 8 years experience on the City Council and cares deeply for Duluth and its progress.

Movie of the Day: Things To Do.

Funk

I seem to be in a funk as of late. I'm looking for ways to crawl out of it. Any suggestions?

Movie of the Day: Bobby. Saw it last night. Might be part of the funk. Excellent, though sad, movie.

Above is a picture from France's version of Ugly Betty: Ugly Lisa. She looks funk-y too.

I Survived!

Well, it was an interesting day in Lake Wobegon. Ha. Actually, it was a pretty calm first day (knock on wood). Huge classes. Not enough desks. Or books. But, overall, decent. I think I'm going to have some pretty smart kids (not all, but at least some).

I did come home and take an hour and a half nap. If that tells you how much energy I expended today.

Is it nerdy to go to bed at 9? Ha ha.

Movie of the Day: School Ties. Vintage Brendan Fraser.

Nap While You Can

I got my Back to School haircut today. Megan was running a little behind, so I had some time to bond with the couch. It was cushy and leather and very, very comfortable. I decided to fore go the magazines (not just because of the germs, either) and catch a little shut-eye. It was so nice. I didn't actually fall asleep. I'm too anxious for that. The last time I fell asleep in public was on the bus home from Minneapolis (aka Paris Trip) last February. That was after 30 hours of awakeness. Any way, I digress.

Now, I am going to sleep. In the privacy of my own home.

Movie of the Day: Sleepless in Seattle. Or Duluth.

Here We Are

I started back at school/work today. We had meetings all day off-campus. Tomorrow, we have time to work in our rooms, fight for the copy machine (50 people on one machine), and be totally ready for kids on Thursday. Should be good.

Today, during one of the meetings, a colleague pronounced the word "student" as "studont." I started to think of it as "studon't". Then, I decided that I want "studo's" instead of "studon'ts" this year.

We shall see.....

I was hoping to watch She's the Man tonight, but have run out of time. Maybe tomorrow...

Caffeine

I'm addicted to caffeine. I was at a training for work and we talked about addiction. The trainer didn't talk about caffeine, but I know that the signs work for it. It's just a legal drug.

Sadly, with energy drinks EVERYWHERE, my students are getting addicted to it too.

Yesterday, I only had one can of pop (diet cherry Coke). Now, my head is splitting!!!! I'm hoping it gets better. I'll probably have one can today too. I need to research how to give up caffeine without causing harm to anything or anyone. Eek.

Movie of the Day: Anything by Jane Austen. My sister, mother, and I are going to have a 5-hour Pride and Prejudice Fest today. Woo Hoo!!!

Slacker

I have been such a slacker about blogging. I'm sorry!

I broke down and went into school yesterday to start setting up my room. I took some things out of storage and covered 1.8 bulletin boards. I ran out of paper. I'm going to improvise the rest. Not worth $9 to get one last strip covered.

Now, I'm home with a day completely void of commitments. Weird, I know. Even weirder, I raked. Yes, I took a rake, some gloves, and a face mask and raked up bits of my back yard. I should really get my head examined, eh? (The above picture is actually in Winnipeg, not my back yard.)

Any way, has anyone seen any good movies that they could recommend for my last homework-free weekend in a while?

Movie of the Day: Becoming Jane. Saw it on Saturday. Very, very good. If you like that kind of thing.

Photos From Winnipeg

Theme Songs

One in a Million Sara's and I were riding home in the back seat of our folks' car yesterday, tired out of our minds from shopping and seeing old friends. We started singing old sitcom theme songs from the 80's. The game began with us thinking of a song and the other one trying to sing it just by guessing. It worked once. Then, we just started singing songs. Luckily, we were pretty close to home and Sara could look up the shows we were stumped on : Growing Pains & Family Ties.

Funny.

Movie of the Day: For Love or Money. You gotta love Michael J. Fox.

Sunday Night

Growing up, Sunday night was always a sort of Gloom and Doom time of the weekend, heck the whole week. By six o'clock, Life Goes On would come on with it's "Oh blah dee, Oh blah da..." and I would know it was all over.

We usually had dinner while watching it and then it was time to put the finishing touches on my homework and succumb to the fact that there was school in the morning. I pretty much liked school. Honest. I think the gloom came more from worrying about what might happen than what ever really happened.

Right now, at age 33, I am still feeling the Sunday Night Gloom and Doom. It's in the form of late August and it's that feeling of a whole school year looming overhead. What will my kids be like? What kinds of craziness will happen this year? Just how many kids do they think they can fit in my room? (Right now, the highest roster number is 34.).

I'm gonna try to worry less. Wish me luck. Oh blah dee, Oh blah da. Life goes on....

Movie of the Day: Not really a movie. My brother, Matt, loaned my season one of dead like me and it's awesome! I watched 6 episodes yesterday!

Canada Sends Its Love

I just got back from a mini vacation to sunny Winnipeg. It was lovely weather up there (sunny and breezy). We went to a park, a zoo, the science museum, the planetarium, the history museum, and their equivalent of Canal Park. It was quite lovely. We also had time to take in Hairspray and The Bourne Ultimatum.

On the way there, we stopped to see Dora (see previous post) and right away she asked if we had driven up from Duluth! Pretty sharp. I think she has her good days and bad. She recognized us, but both times that we visited, had asked us about other relatives who have passed away within the last five years. It's so awful to have to break the news to her that someone is gone. Her response was "We're all getting older!". Nice perspective.

On the way home, we stopped in Fargo to see my brother and his girlfriend. Did a little shopping.

Movie of the Day: The DaVinci Code. I like puzzles.

Ideas

I'm having a low-key kind of day. Went to breakfast with a friend and now I'm home to pack. Yes, I'm leaving town again. This time, for the sunny sights of Winnipeg, Manitoba. I'm pretty psyched.

On our way, we are going to top in Baudette to see my dad's cousin who is in a nursing home. I think she's about the size of a breadbox (do people even know what breadboxes are anymore?). Any way, I was trying to think of a gift to give her and decided on a necklace. My mom's response was that Dora (the Explorer???) might not even be getting out of bed these days. I figure that is the time to accessorize the most!!! I hope she likes it.

Dora was the kind of relative who would place herself at the kids' table in the kitchen while everyone else was in the dining room. I'm not sure if it's because she wanted to be with us or away from them. Either way, she was fun. I'm sure she's still fun.

Movie of the Day: Star Dust. A fairy tale.

Email Withdrawl

I'm sorry. Becca has stepped away from her computer.

Yes, that's right, I went on a trip and left my poor computer at home. I went to Chicago for a work training and our hotel charged $12.95 a day for internet. Now, I don't even own a laptop, but my roommate had one and we decided not to use it.

I'm an email addict. I'm the first to admit it. Some people don't understand why I would like to read my email at least once a day. Maybe that's because they only get work emails or forwards or something, I don't know. Me, I email friends, some who I haven't seen in years and some who I see at least once a week. If I can sustain friendships and feel connected over email, then of course I'm gonna wanna check it!

Any other addicts out there?

Movie of the Day: (I'm switchin' it up and giving you a "Play of the Day": Wicked. Amazing! Awesome. Beautiful.)

What To Say?

How can I write about what happened in Minneapolis? It's so hard to wrap my brain around it and it amazes me that hundreds of people survived. I feel awful for the families who lost a loved one and yet rejoice for so many near-misses.

My friends in my Covenant group laugh when I come up with prayer requests like "Joy," "Silliness," or "Soul-Laughter," but this is truly what I want. I want everyone to find a way out of despair and pain and into joy, silliness, and soul-laughter. I know I'm naive. I know that. But, I also know that we need to hope for something greater, something sweeter than what we have.

My problems are small. My students (yes, I've started thinking about school again, grrrr...) see so many more problems every day that I don't even have a clue about. I've always had a roof over my head, food in the fridge, and parents who love and support me. How can I help people to fulfill their basic needs so that they, too, can find joy, silliness, and soul-laughter?

Sweat Gets In Your Eyes

I'm a cool weather person. That's why I live in Northern Minnesota (or maybe it's because I live here). Any way, when it's 90 and humid, I'm pretty much useless.

Yesterday, I needed to find a AA battery in my junk drawer. It took some digging and I broke into a sweat.

Last night, I played a word game on Yahoo and again broke into a sweat. Oy.

Three times in the past week, sweat has dripped into my eyes. This is not acceptable in my world. Ugh.

Movie of the Day: The Bourne Supremacy. I watched it last night to prepare for The Bourne Ultimatum which comes out Friday.

Things I Might Do Today

It's supposed to be 88 degrees today. I don't have air conditioning. I have a basement. What can I do?

• go to a movie or three
• eat loads and loads of ice cream
• hide in my basement (reading or watching tv)
• head to the lake and just stand in it
• camp out at my folks' house (They have A/C.)
• lay perfectly still and think cool thoughts.

Hmmmm.... we'll see what happens...

Movie of the Day: The Ice Storm. Sounds pretty good right about now.

Beach Head

I've spent the past week hanging out with relatives and reading Harry Potter. Both adventures are done now and I'm trying to recover from what we called "Beach Head." It's that feeling you get after going to the beach. You know, the "I've been in the sun too long and it's wiped me out. Don't expect me to think clearly." Some of us have had "Beach Head" for multiple days this week and can finally try to regain control of the situation.

Sleep. Stare at the wall. Do a little laundry.

Movie of the Day: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Saw it yesterday. Very good.

Blog Slacker

Hi! I know I haven't blogged for a long time. Sorry about that! Things have been nutty here:

1) Wonderful relatives are here from Pittsburgh (since Sunday).

2) In what little spare time I have around all of the "See Duluth" activities, I've been reading Harry Potter. I'm nearly done. Then, I'll breathe, blog, and turn on a radio.

Movie of the Day: Sneakers. Watched it last night with the family. Good flick. Outdated, technologically, but still good.

Getting Home

Do you have a routine when you arrive home?

Whenever I get home after dark, I like to look up to see if there are any visible stars out. Typically, this involves me walking and leaning way back, therefore nearly falling over and then worrying that my neighbors will think I'm drunk. (I don't drink.)

Any way, tonight, the stars are amazing!!!! I vowed to head out to my hammock after dumping my to-go box and checking my email (it's an addiction).

Since it's a chilly night, I grabbed a sweatshirt and headed to the hammock on my deck. The same hammock that my friend Susie wants to rent every so often. I tell her she can use it for free whenever she likes. Everyone should have a hammock.

Every time I look at the stars, and especially tonight, I'm always reminded of just how huge the universe is and how tiny I am within it. So many things seem so important until I sit outside and look up at the stars. In the grand scheme of things, only a few things really matter: faith, family, friends.

That's it.

Movie of the Day: Stargate.

Random Things I Love

1. Pacifica Hawaiian Ruby Guava candles

2. freesia flowers

3. Dora the Explorer Animal Crackers

4. pretty rocks

5. windchimes

6. magnets

7. Fisher-Price Happy Apple toy

8. My Stuffed Animal, Sam Ole.

Movie of the Day: The Lion King

Ticket Stubs

It's been 5 months since I went to Paris and London and I am finally, finally putting together a scrapbook of brochures and ticket stubs. I can't imagine that any of it would be super thrilling for people to look at, but it's fun for me to have the memories arranged in a book.

I mean, I've had photo albums full for months now, but none of them are written in and they only include actual photos. This has "tube" tickets, maps of museums, and silly stickers that I bought when I got back (You know, the kind they sell in the scrapbooking aisles of craft stores. I couldn't resist!!!). So, it's a little cheesy, but fun.

Movie of the Day: The Emperor's New Groove. Silly with a good message.

Nit-Picky

I'm having one of those days where you finally get to the things that have been bugging you, but were too small to attend to earlier. For instance, I need to wash my windows. I'm not quite ready to do that, but I have now cleaned the sills between the screen and the window. Yes, I know it could have been done when I washed the windows, but now I feel better any way.

It's small, but productive.

Movie of the Day: A Bug's Life. Ants: small, but productive.

Old Friends

I spent most of Friday hanging out with friends from high school. I just did the math and we've known each other for almost 20 years. This freaks me out more than I can express. I'm not "old enough" to have had friends for 20 years. Oddly, I have other friends who I've known for 27 years. Eek!!!

Any way, it's interesting to think about what these friends were like in high school and what they have become now. What jobs they have. Who they married. What their kids are like. Very, very interesting.

I wonder about the subtle changes that I don't see during our short visits.

Movie of the Day: Breach. Very good.

Day Trip

I'm heading to the Cities tomorrow for the day. I'm meeting two friends and their kids (2 boys each). I'm psyched. We're meeting in the afternoon (after naptime), which leaves me the morning to goof off in the Cities alone. Hmmmm.... what to do?

Bookstores?
Craft stores?
A museum (nah...)?
???

Suggestions?

Movie of the Day: 1408. Saw it last night. Creepy.

A few Duluth photos that I took yesterday...

I've been distracting myself with www.websudoku.com lately. I find that I don't have the patience for it (or other puzzles) during the school year, but now, I'm looking for something to challenge my brain. Cryptoquips are fun too. The Jumble in the paper is okay. Sometimes, I just guess the answer without knowing the letters. I've also found that it's easier to just say the letters the way they are and let my brain sort them out instead of writing out possible combinations. Goes faster.

Movie of the Day: Batman. The one with the Riddler.

Weird. My blog won't let me give this a title. Grrr... Here's what it would have said:

Girl Power!

In the past month and a half, baby girls have entered the lives of four of my friends! Three of these cuties have joined the world in the last 10 days! I think it's interesting that they are all girls. Their names: Tess, Sophie, Rinnah, and Luli. Sweet.

Movie of the Day: Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The Name Game

Okay, so Tuesday was the last day to vote for my willow's name. Now, I was gonna hypenate everyone's suggestions, but 1) it would be a long name, and 2) that's wimpy. The name is.....

Windy Willow,

suggested by Tracey. Yes, it's windy out and I will now be able to tell just by looking at Windy.

Movie of the Day: Wind in the Willows (kid movie).

Ramblings

Okay, a little stream of consciousness for this fine day:

My toes are cold.
I'm wearing a sweater (it's cold out).
I fixed a ring yesterday that's been broken since October. It took 2 minutes.
I have three cds in my stereo and for some reason I get sick of the second one first.
I keep thinking I should dust my car (inside).
I called Walgreens yesterday to find out how to dispose of old cough syrup: Dilute. Soak up with paper towels. Throw in garbage.
It's the last day to suggest Willow Tree names.
I like when people talk fast or with accents (other than my own).
I'm nervous to open an iTunes account, but finally have found some songs I want to buy.
I'm reading Grace (Eventually) by Anne Lamott and sometimes I'm surprised at what she's willing to put in writing. She's very brave.
My aunt has started a bead-making business and they're pretty. (More on that later).

Movie of the Day: A River (stream?) Runs Through It.

Creating Space

I'm trying to sort out old books, clothes, Cds and movies. It's a good feeling to know that there will be open spaces in my house. Room to grow or for something new. It's exciting.

Movie of the Day: Spaceballs. Those guys are nuts.

Books

Do you ever walk into a bookstore and have the urge to write a book?

I do.

Is that weird? I don't think I could write fiction. I just don't have the patience to formulate plot, etc. Plus, I tend to meander in my conversations (yes, I know I can't finish a sentence, just like my mom, before starting a new one).

Any way, sometimes, I wonder....

Movie of the Day: Saved. Watched it last night. Hilarious. And scary.

Dragonflies

For various reasons, dragonflies have been cropping up in my immediate world a lot lately! It started with our last Covenant group with Michelle and had just gone wild since. Above the the dragonfly that I bought to hang on my garage, next to a pretty hanging plant. It's about a foot long...

Today's Movie of the Day is actually a TV Series: Gilmore Girls. In the later years, Lorelei owned the Dragonfly Inn.

Photos For You

Some garden photos...



My friend Laura had Gerber Daisies for her wedding.

This picture is actually sideways. Put your right ear to your shoulder if you want to see what the pink flowers really look like.

This is my favorite part of the garden. I love purple.

The garden as a whole. I didn't really plan it when I shopped, just picked flowers that I liked in bright colors. Tee hee.

Hmmm....

I am looking for recommendations of good blogs to read. There are a few people out there who read this blog somewhat regularly who I don't think I've met. Do you have other blogs that you recommend?

Does anyone else hit "Next Blog" once in a while, just to see what's out there? Have you found anything interesting?

Yesterday, I found a blog of a woman who takes a picture of what she's wearing that day and then describes where she got everything. It's find of fun! She has links to other blogs like hers.

Don't forget to enter your favorite name in my Name That Willow Contest. So far, everyone seems to think the tree is a boy.

Movie of the Day: The Devil Wears Prada.

The Tree-Naming Contest

Here is my tree. Would you like to name it? Names will be collected for one week on this blog as a comment or by email (if you know me well enough to have my email address).

Perfect

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon looking for a willow tree for my back yard. I live next to a swamp and I heard that willows need a lot of water. A perfect match!

Well, Willows come pretty big and grow pretty quickly, so they also come with kind of a big price tag. However, if the swamp goes away, it'll be worth it.

I went to two nurseries yesterday and both said, "The only bad thing is that they need a lot of water." I said "I live in a swamp. Perfect!"

Today, my dad and I go back with his friend's truck so we can transpot a tree safely to my house. No more swamps for me! (Sorry Shrek.)

Movie of the Day: Swamp Thing. He can't try to live here any more!

I Baked

Yes, I know it's hard to believe it, but I helped bake 20 rhubarb pies yesterday morning. The pies are on sale at the Rhubarb Festival today at First Lutheran Church in Duluth. I'm guessing they've sold out already, but there might be other rhubarb treats left. Funny, huh?

Tasty. Plus, all of the proceeds go to CHUM (which helps the homeless).

If Rue McLanahan and Barbara Walters had a kid, they could name it Rhubarb.

Tee hee.

Movie of the Day: Ratatouille. I need to see this movie. I bet he'd make an awesome rhubarb pie.

Little Things I Wonder About

Okay, a few things I wonder about:

1) When you have a cold, where is all of the snot being produced? Sinuses? The Snot Factory?

2) Do you ever jump when you know someone is calling you right back and then the phone rings?

3) Do you check your cellphone when you hear someone else's ringing in public, just in case yours changed rings on you?

4) Do you greet the postal worker at your mailbox or hide until they are sufficiently far enough away before checking your mail?

5) Do you name people that you see on regular basis on your way to work/school/where ever?

6) Do you ever have visions of beautiful pieces of art in your head, but your skills get in the way of getting the art into the world?

Movie of the Day: Jerry Maguire. That kid could ask questions.

What To Do First?

I feel like a little kid at an amusement park who doesn't know which ride to go on first! It's Summer! I've waited for this for 8 months and now I can't decide where to start!

Yesterday, I ran errands and bought a few flowering plants for my yard. I think I'm easing into Summer.

Today, I head to one of my two happy places: The Potter's Shed. It's in Shell Lake and I can hardly wait. It's like standing in line for the Corkscrew at Valley Fair (that's my favorite ride).

WOO HOO!!!!!

Movie of the Day: Miss Potter (which I want to rent soon!).

Student

I was just looking at a friend's blog and thinking about what I missed about being a student. What I miss most is the fact that my success depended mostly on me. I didn't need to factor in other people's moods, attitudes, home-life, hunger-levels, or pasts. It was just me and the book. I miss that.

Movie of the Day: The Power of One.

I'm Back

I bet you thought I'd skipped town or something for all the blogging I've been doing lately!

Sorry about that!

I'm back now.

Today's weather has got me wanting to curl up on the couch and watch a movie or read a book. I don't think I can settle down that much, though, without falling asleep. It's Nap or Move day or something.

Weekend Summary: The marathon went well. I got sunburned, but that is to be expected. The runners ran. The volunteers handed out water and cheered. Overall, a good time.

Yesterday, was Michelle's last Sunday and between the tears and my cold, I had a mound of Kleenex heaping around my feet on the floor during church. It actually looked kind of funny. I survived it better than I thought I would.

Then, I just vegged at my folks' house for Father's Day (ironically, he barbecued his own special dinner).

Whew.

Movie of the Day: Cool Runnings

Early, Even For Me

I am up SOOOOOO early today for the marathon. My alarm went off at 3:50. Ugh.

Whirlwind Weekend Begins

This is going to be one of those weekends that flies by just because it is jam-packed with things to do and emotions to be felt.

Today: Finish delivering baskets. Drop off Toyota Sienna for ESPN to use. Eat spaghetti. Nap. Host friends.

Tomorrow: Get up at 3:45. Shower. Eat. Head out at 4:45. Staff waterstation with friends, family, and students. Shower. Nap. Maybe go out to unwind later.

Sunday: Church. Say good-bye to three of my good friends. Cry heaps. (I have Kleenex and handkerchiefs ready.) Nap.

Whew. I'm tired just thinking about it!

Movie of the Day: The Science of Sleep, which I still need to see.

Guard Down. DRAT!!!

You know how you can run on stress for a while and then when you stop feeling stress, you get sick? Well, I went to bed last night with a sore throat. Now, I must fight. I still have things to accomplish! Today, we make 93 gift baskets. Then, a nap before choir practice. I better get to bed early, huh?

Movie of the Day: My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Watched it while making baskets yesterday. Funny. "Are you hungry?" "Oh, no thanks. I just ate." "Okay, I make you something."

Loose Ends

Yesterday was a day of tying up loose ends. Calling back people who left me messages a couple months ago (Not friends. Not urgent.). Now, I'm ready to make 160 gift baskets for the elite runners of Grandma's Marathon. My family and I have done it for about 5 years now, so things go relatively smoothly (knock on wood).

Saturday, a group of us are volunteering at a waterstation for the race and I've just come up with a way to keep my legs from killing me on Sunday: shovels!!!! Usually, One in a Million Saras and I end up picking up cups (the runners drink and toss, the volunteers fill, hand, and eventually pick up). I'm super excited about my idea!

Well, I better get started!

Movie of the Day: The Saint. I know it didn't win an Oscar, but I still like it!

TV Shows I Miss

Friends
Alias
Scarecrow & Mrs. King
The Electric Company
What About Joan
The Carol Burnett Show
Sale of the Century
Alf (just kidding)
My Two Dads
Growing Pains

What do you miss?

Movie of the Day: American Dreamz (Try to see it for free...)

:)

Waa Hoo!!!

The Heartbreak and the Hope

It's nearing the end of the school year and we're all tired. Our brains are full or our brains are drained. I've given what I could and now I need to recharge. People ask me what I do over the summer. I say "Nothing!!!!" It's amazing. The weird thing is, though, it isn't like I'm sitting around on my butt all day. I read. I spend time with family. I go to movies. I volunteer. I dig in my yard. Time fills in.

Right now, I have hectic days with the occasional, "I'm gonna miss this kid." thought. Students who go out of their way to be kind. Students who crack you up when you really thought you were going to crack. Students who don't talk to you all year and then suddenly spill their guts. Students who tell you that they like your class even though it's tough (one of my personal favorites since I have the rep of being the "nice" math teacher).

At the same time, I'm trying to think of a way to acknowledge all of the hard things that have happened over this school year and to find a way to heal from some of the events (difficult classes, insults from students or adults, things like that). I need to find a way to make the above paragraph more prominent and the soul-saddening events less powerful.

Sigh.

Movie of the Day: Dead Poets' Society. Great teacher movie.

Suitcase Ready

I like travelling. I haven't been on a serious trip since Paris/London in February and I'm getting antsy. I'm thinking domestic (jetting off to Europe more than once every few years is more than my lifestyle can afford).

I'm thinking Colorado. But then Boston would be fun, especially in August when I could spend a day with my friends Nate & Claire & Baby # 1. I'm kind of a wimp about heat, so Arizona is out.

Any suggestions?

Movie of the Day: Monty Python & the Holy Grail. Tee hee.

Gardens Of My Mind

It's that time again when I start to drool over greenhouses. Well, more specifically, over the pretty flowers in the greenhouses. I would LOVE a garden full of flowers and a little bench and footrest for my reading. Of course, if I had such a garden, I'd probably have to spend all of my time weeding it, but I'll leave that part out of my dream.

I saw a beautiful garden in a magazine yesterday. Breath-taking. Maybe I should try to become friends with the owner! Hmmmmm.....

Do any of you have lovely gardens that you would like to have readers in?

Movie of the Day: Just Like Heaven. Lovely gardens.

Blinders

It's very close to the end of school. Seniors are done tomorrow. Other kids are done in one week. I'm done a week from tomorrow. We're in survival mode. Get this done. Make it out with grades intact. Complete the last To Do list.

Unfortunately, this means ignoring other things in my life. Like my dishes. I just don't seem to care about them. I mean, I notice "Whoa. They're piling up." but I don't stop to do them very often. I come home from work and stare at the wall. I go to bed at 9. I eat junk food. It's a vicious cycle that I only hope will stop next week.

Take today, for instance. I woke up at 5 (alarm went off at 4:45). Got ready to walk on my treadmill, but decided to check my e-mail first. Fatal move. By the time I finished with email, it was 5:16 and too late to get in 30 minutes of walking AND make my lunch, etc. So, I opt out of walking. Bad decision, I know, but I seem to be making wimpy decisions like that all over the place. It's a vicious cycle that I only hope will stop next week.

Movie of the Day: Nanny McFee. They had issues too.

P.S. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Crafts

Has anyone done any interesting crafts lately? I'm looking for some summer activities.

Tabs

My new weird hobby is to look at the license tabs on the cars ahead of me to see if they're up. Every so often, I do find some that need renewing. Recently, it was a coworker and I struggled with whether or not to tell them. Eventually I did. I started by saying "I have this new weird hobby... and I noticed your tabs are up. A couple months ago."

Yep, I'm weird.

Movie of the Day: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Cut down on your beverage intake before going. It's a long one.

Office Supplies

I like office supplies. I like anything that would help with organizing something. I'm an organizing junkie, actually.

This past week, I went to a friend's house to help her mentee study for a test. I brought pencils, post-its, yellow note cards, and mini highlighters. You can't study without fun office supplies!!!

I get jazzed at Office Max. I don't even have to buy anything, just walk around.

Movie of the Day: Office Space. Staplers are fun too.

Class Personality

Each Spring, seniors around the country (world?) have graduation parties at their homes or in nearby restaurants/community centers. In recent years, kids have been inviting their teachers to attend.

When I was in high school, I NEVER would have invited a teacher. Never. We didn't even think about it. My younger brother invited his Spanish teacher, who did attend.

Some years, I'm invited to one or two parties and attend sporadically. Last year, I attended one party and sat with the kids (teens) and interrogated them about what they're going to do with themselves next. Nicely, of course.

This year, so far, I've been invited to 5 parties. This is a record. Is this class more social? More teacher-accepting? More connected? Who knows?

Movie of the Day: With Honors.

Chock Full O' Ideas

Sometimes, I wish I could just sit around and think of solutions for problems. Not math problems, necessarily, though I like those, but more dilemmas that friends have.

How can I get all of __________ done?

How do I approach a problem with so and so?

What should I wear today? (answer: a black t-shirt and capris)

What song should choir sing for Michelle's last Sunday? (That answer came today!)

So on and so on. I'm chock full o' ideas.

Movie of the Day: Death to Smoochy. Funny!!!!

Learn This

A couple days ago, one of my classes (a small one) started talking about middle names. We went around the room and guessed everyone's name. Is that weird? Then, I memorized them. Once I proved that I knew them, we moved on to birthdays. Again, I memorized them. The weird thing is that I like memorizing things. It was fun. I probably need to come up with more things to memorize to keep my mind sharp (or sharpen it). Hmmmm.....

Yes, I have odd students.

Movie of the Day: The Last King of Scotland. Excellent. Brutal. Shocking.

Silly Things I Like

Pre-school art projects
Pop Rocks
bouncy rubber balls
Laffy Taffy
Stuffed animals
Sidewalk chalk
Pez dispensers (not even the candy, so much)
Slinkies
Wind-up toys
The Fisher-Price musical apple toy

Whoa

My alarm went off at 4:45 this morning and I couldn't figure out what day of the week it was. It couldn't possibly be Monday, right?

Then, as I was sitting here, just now, thinking about what to write and how many days there are left of school, I realized that we are at 18, but after this week, we'll be at 13 and somehow 18 seems like a long time, but 13 doesn't. A week can fly by. Whoa.

Movie of the Day: Calendar Girls.

Transition Time

I just read an awesome quote that said:

All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on. ~ Havelock Ellis

It seems like so many people in my circle of friends, family, and colleagues are in a state of flux. It's somehow more than antsiness. More than ready for Spring. People are thinking of major life changes. Should I move? Should I get a new job? Should I still date him?

Is it Spring Fever?
Is it the world climate?
Is it society?
Is it a hole we are all looking to fill?

What am I letting go of that I should be holding on to and what am I holding on to that I should be letting go?

Movie of the Day: Garden State.

Imagine This

It's 12:30 in the afternoon. You are about to start teaching your 5th class of the day. You look out at a sea of flushed faces, chatting, anxious to finish the school day and head out to the 81 degree weather.

You, however, know that you can't succumb to their pleas to go outside for the hour. They would not do their work. They would bask in the sun and talk.

Are you cynical about taking kids outside? Yes. Why? Because the very first year you taught, you took a group outside and two boys got into a fist fight. Two non-trouble-makers. Surprised the fun right out of you. Ten years later, you still won't let kids go outside.

Here's to today's forecast of 51 degrees!!!

Movie of the Day: The Hot Chick

Pack the Car

I'm in the mood for a road trip. Doesn't have to be long, just something to get movin'.

Comments Wanted

Okay, so it's been eons since any of my posts had more than 3 comments. Do you think we can get up to 10? 15?

Need a topic? Pick your own topic? Sign your name?

Possible topic: If you could ask anyone anything, whom would you ask and what would you say?

Movie of the Day: My Date with Drew. Inspirational.

Self-Preservation

Okay, so I'm fighting a "Should" today. I "Should" go to the school play. I "Should." However, it's going to be a downer and I just really need some time at home to be alone and wander my house aimlessly, putzing with whatever. It feels selfish, wimpy, and rude to my students, but I'm going to do it any way.

Movie of the Day: Dream Girls. Intense. Good.

Charity T-shirts

A friend of mine has a Buzz Kill t-shirt, supporting Nothing But Nets, a program to help families in Africa who need a net to cover their beds while they sleep so they aren't bitten by mosquitoes and infected with malaria. Great cause. I was planning to get a shirt, but I don't think they're my style. For one, they're orange. Not a big orange wearer. I'll just donate some money instead.

My quest for this weekend is to find other shirt options out there. Should be fun.

Movie of the Day: A Clockwork Orange. tee hee.

Tough One

I've been IM-ing a fellow and yesterday we decided to avoid the topic of work. It was so difficult!!! Teaching is so consuming (he's a teacher too). I'm going to have to brainstorm topics of discussion.

Any suggestions?

Movie of the Day: School Ties.

Exciting

I have a feeling something exciting is going to happen today. I don't know what. It's just a feeling. I'm in a good mood, which might not seem weird because I try to seem like I'm in a good mood most of the time. Today, I'm feeling it too!

Movie of the Day: The Good Girl. I actually didn't like this movie. It was too depressing. However, you might like it.

Happy May Day!!!

Ah

Okay, is anyone else freaked out that it's almost May????? I mean, sure, I dream of May all year (except in the Summer, of course). It's a crazy race to the end of the year and I'm gearing up. I bought some brain food for my students and we're going to get through this!!!!

I've just come in from correcting papers on my deck. I'm trying to not be as ghostly white as usual, so I went out sans sunblock. Yes, I know this is horrible. I know. I know. As soon as I felt like I was getting roasty, I decided to go inside. Honest. I suppose I could have put on sunscreen and headed back out, but laying on my deck with a beach towel is only comfortable for so long (like an hour). My deck furniture is still in my garage and needs cleaning and while that would be a lovely way to procrastinate on my correcting, it wouldn't really get me where I need to go. Sooo.....

Now, I'm inside and determined to get my grades done (report card time, only one more to go).

Anyone out there still celebrate May Day with flower baskets????

Movie of the Day: The Girl in the Cafe. Good flick.

Time for Silly

It's time to take time for silliness:

Smell the rain.
Eat ice cream cones.
Play with sidewalk chalk.
Feed the ducks.
Dance in a parking lot.
Giggle at a playground.

Brush off Winter and have fun!

Movie of the Day: Blades of Glory. Saw it yesterday. Talk about silly!

New Perspective

A saying by SARK says, " Enjoy a tiny adventurous moment, close to home. It changes your perspective, reminding you that the world is deep and rich and full of color and miracles.

Have you ever tried to look around your town as if you were just seeing it for the first time? What would it be like to drive down your street or enter the edge of town? What would you see? Hear? Smell?

It's surreal.

Movie of the Day: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Order

I was sitting at my kitchen table this evening, assembling a taco and realized that I have to put things in it in a certain order. Now, am I a freak for thinking this? I mean, mainly I was proud of myself for cooking. Not only did I have to take out a cutting board and knife, but I turned on my stove. This is a big step. It was yummy. You may ask, what order? Here's the line-up:

heated tortilla shell
lettuce
tomato
cheese
salsa

sour cream if I have it (which I usually don't)

Anyone else like this? Maybe a Brush your teeth, then wash your face, or .....

Movie of the Day: Beauty and the Beast. Belle. I wonder if people would call her Taco Belle these days. (Yes, Michelle, I know that they had a disfunctional relationship and she should have run for her life. I still like my joke.)

Everybody Remain Calm

Every year, one of our chemistry teachers takes the honors kids on a trip to Chicago to see a bunch of museums. It's an awesome experience for the kids, but it's a little messy for those left behind. For instance, from my two algebra 2 classes, I have 21 kids who are going to be gone. That's a third of the kids. Gone for three days next week.

You might suggest that I ease off on the 66 2/3 % that are still in class, but I can't because of how much work we have to get through by the end of the year.

So, we forge on, through the hardest chapter of the year, and try to remain calm.

Movie of the Day: Chicago. I watched this too many times when it came out on DVD. Haven't been able to watch it in years. It's good, though.

Stream of Consciousness Weekend

I'm having one of those weekends where you just do stuff, but there doesn't seem to be any order to it and nothing gets fully done, just 75-95% done. I'm here. I'm there. I'm walking from room to room, putzing around, I guess. I kind of like it. Makes the weekend feel longer.

Today, I've finished a movie (I was really close to being done last night, but didn't realize it), went to church, decided NOT to pay $115 to get my $30 poster matted and backed (not even framed!), got some Girl Scout cookies, and it's only 2:30. What's next?

Movie of the Day: Mind the Gap. Excellent film by Eric Schaeffer, who was in If Lucy Fell (another excellent film).

What The Heck?

Okay, so I've been lousy at blogging lately. I can't really figure out why, either. Maybe it's because testing is boring and doesn't lend itself to funny stories? Who knows?

So, today I'm going to write a long entry, come what may. If you nod off, I apologize. Really.

As a teacher, I know I should write about Virginia Tech. I should. Part of me has a hard time even hearing about it because it makes it hard to go to work every day, wondering if some odd behavior is a sign or just a teenager being weird, or what? I get a little information and that's about all I can handle.

Lately, I've been thinking that I need to clear out some of the stuff in my house. Make room for something new to enter my life. Get rid of baggage (not literally, though my suitcase is kind of beat up). Maybe part with some of my books. Mostly books that I liked reading and wanted to pass along to others but don't seem to pass along. I have about 6 bookshelves, so I think I could purge a bit.

I was going to be a good little homeowner and rake my yard today, but the rain has changed my plans. Darn. What will I do now??? Ha ha. Yard work can wait.

I have a weird habit of buying previously viewed movies without having seen them. Sometimes, they're $5 and that's only $0.75 less that renting it! Why not buy it if you've heard good things and think you'll watch it again?

Okay, well, I think this little rambling jag has gone on long enough. I'm sorry to be so AWOL as of late. I'll do better.

Movie of the Day: Singin' In the Rain. Gotta love it!

Whew

Okay, the MCAs are pretty much done (testing). We have to round up the skippers and force #2 pencil to paper and then we'll be done!!!!

Now, I'm antsy for Spring and Spring-like behavior. I would love to hear stories of wild and zany antics. Are you willing to share?

Movie of the Day: Freedom Writers (Which I need to see. Heard it was good.)

Pray for Students

Today, students across Minnesota (and probably many other states) are taking their state comprehensive assessments that determine if their schools receive federal money or if they get put on probation.

This year's 9th graders will have to pass it in a couple years in order to graduate, but this year's kids are simply required to take it without consequence to themselves. It does, however, drastically affect each school.

Now, kids have school pride, but do they have enough to study really hard for a difficult test just for the sake of their school? Yeah, not so much. So, we'll see how it goes.....

Movie of the Day: Leap of Faith.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho....

It's off to work I go.

We have 8 weeks left before Summer and this week is going to be a garbled up mess with state testing. We have to have 95% of the kids take the test and we have to beg, borrow, and steal to get them to do it. (We don't really steal, that I know of, but don't put it past us...).

Any way, my goal for this morning, once at work, is to make a really nice calendar for the week and try to sort out the mess of where I'm supposed to be each hour and where my kiddies are supposed to be (since they will be more confused than I am right now).

Cross your fingers....

Movie of the Day: Stand and Deliver.