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.

Wedding

One of my dearest friends is getting married today. I'm so excited! I'm also a nerd, of course, so when I went to her bachelorette party, I took notes on her other friends' names and wrote down ways to remember them at the wedding. Is that nerdy? Yep. I think it's because I've heard of her college friends and it was cool to put faces to the names and stories.

I think about what it would/will be like to get all of my friends from different stages of my life together for parties/weddings/showers. There are so many people that I've loved over the years and it would be awesome if they could meet.

Movie of the Day: Lucky 7. Watched this last night with some friends.

Easter Morning at Hope

Gimme My Energy Back!

I read in a book once that you can cleanse your aura by making hand motions like you are brushing away badness and sweeping away problems. The book also said that you can call back all of the energy that you've spent on people or projects or whatever.

While I think some of the other stuff in the book was really flaky, this seemed to make sense to me and I could actually feel the difference, especially with the energy one.

I kind of think of it as a "Lassie, come home!" only "Energy, come home!"

Try it.

Movie of the Day: Just Like Heaven. A little flaky, but fun.

Potential Song Titles

These should be songs:

1) On the other side of right.

2) The scary side of desperate (T.'s idea)

3) Did your boogers freeze today?

4) I love Numb3rs `cuz "we all use math everyday."

What would you like to add to the list?

Movie of the Day (Back by popular demand): Music & Lyrics. Pop Goes My Heart!!!

Poem

We sink into ourselves
To find the spots we avoid
The places that hurt too much to see
The places that remember pain.
By looking, we can heal.
By sharing, we will heal.


~

Happy Good Friday, everybody.

Ever So Close

Duluth Schools have a really short Christmas vacation and subsequently have a February Break as well as a Spring Break. Spring Break begins tomorrow at 3:45 PM. I am psyched!!! I did my major travelling in February, so this is my chance to lay low. I might take a brief trip South (like a couple hundred miles), but that's about it. I plan to get a haircut. Eat some Easter candy. Read. I cannot wait!!!!

One more day!!!

Ramblings

I haven't posted more than a paragraph in a long time. Mostly, I think it has to do with time and energy (or should I say the lack thereof?). I've been waking up 45 minutes later than normal most days (except today) and that puts a major crimp in my blogging time.

In the last 24 hours, Duluth has gone from Spring to Winter again. It was either a serious step backwards or the fastest Spring, Summer, and Fall ever! It was so tempting to put away all of my Winter stuff (hats, scrapers, boots) and embrace flip flops, gardening magazines, and sunscreen. Now, we're back to square one.

Did you ever watch the show Square One? I think it was on PBS, but I'm not sure. It was on while I was in college and not really interested in kid shows. I do have fond memories of Electric Company and 3-2-1 Contact! The Bloodhound Gang was awesome. They were so smart. Who are the modern-day equivalents? Dora?

When I was a kid, we would have Spring Break the week before Easter and head up North to visit my grandma and various relatives up there. There were six elderly relatives in total and no one under the age of 65. We spent a lot of time sitting around talking and eating. It was great, though I usually had some sort of homework to do as well. Any way, now there is only one relative left and she's fading fast. It feels weird not going up there much, especially around Easter.

Photo: Paris in the Springtime.

Do you have a Spring ritual or rite?

Advice

What do you do when you have a sore throat that you know is going to turn into a cold if you don't do something to stop it?

What I've tried:

Water
cough drops
Vitamin C drops
a little extra sleep
drinking hot water

Any other suggestions?