a girl’s gotta sleep…

so this’ll be short and sweet w/ more details to follow.

nad, ame and anna threw me the very best surprise partay a girl could wish for.  great friends were there.  at the risk of sounding corny, it is overwhelming to know that you are lucky enough to have so many people come out and yell surprise. thank you to nad ame and anna for planning and a super thank you to everyone who came out. it really meant so much to me. 

i have been lucky enough to surround myself with people who care about me so much. 

thank you, everyone, for making this birthday so special!

(the shock STILL has not worn off!)

i feel very humbled and lucky. 

that’s all i have to say.

As you may or may not know, I have classroom pets: 2 tree frogs, Frank and Beans. Each week I make my pilgrimage to Petco during lunch to get the little critters their meal for the week: 10-15 large crickets. They put them in a bag, I put this calcium stuff on them (we like to refer to it as Shake and Bake), then dump them in the cricket tank.  Any more than 15 and I have to clean out dead crickets. gross.So, there is one girl at Petco who always gives me more crickets than I ask for…by a long shot. On Friday, as I enter Petco during lunch I see her. Dammit.  So I ask for my 15 crickets and as always she ends up giving way too many. (I stopped counting at 38).  Whenever cricket-girl gives me too many, I have to dispose of them. Usually, I open my second story classroom window, and free the little suckers.  (And yes, I make sure there is no one below..but I do wonder if the kindergarten class below notices that it’s raining insects).So, on Friday, I dump my 15 crickets in the tank and then go about trying to dispose of the extras.  However, I’ve somehow forgotten that I am not, in fact, 6 inches taller than I am and cannot clear my counter top (which is underneath the windows).  So try and picture this…  (Keep in mind there were 2 kids in the room at the time)I try to hurdle myself (and the bag of crickets) on to the counter top and grab the window ledge. However, I miss (because I am not, in fact, 6 foot) and I fall. Not stumble, I mean straight plummet to my death. I smack my elbow on the countertop and then the force of that sends me flying on to a chair.  I cannot even tell you the pain I experienced. It was one of those falls that mid-air you think “What was I thinking?!?!” I let out some horrible groan due to the excrutiating pain I’m experiencing, and fall on the floor. The 2 kids in the room stop and are literally stunned. They say nothing. They’ve just seen their teacher attempt a Superman leap and fail miserably. I try to laugh it off but seriously, it’s the most pain I’ve ever experienced. I say to them, “Oh, see! I should have used a chair! It’s okay! I’m okay.” Neither of them move. They are literally paralyzed as if they have just seen someone get hit by a car.So…I am left with this lovely souvenir. I assure you it’s much more colorful in person and there’s one my leg to match. It still hurts and is still really swollen.

Fast fact: Never try to dump crickets out of a 2 story window by throwing yourself on to a bookshelf when you’re short. 

I have been contemplating Ms. Spears for quite some time. My emotions have run the gamut of she’s trash to I don’t really care.  I’ve come to this conclusion: I don’t think she’s mother of the year material, however, do I think her parenting mistakes should have cost her her children? no. And here’s why…

First, yes she made mistakes. However, I’m pretty sure that if any of us as young mothers had someone watching and reporting our every move, including some rookie mistakes (note: this does not pertain to letting the kid drive..yikes!) social services would probably be on our tails as well.

Here’s what I don’t get: California is a big state if my latest geography lesson serves me correctly.  I bet there’s all kinds of drama out there.  Here, in my small homestate of MD, we have our share of problems as well. In fact, as a teacher, I’ve personally witnessed children with black eyes, children w/cuts from being beaten with spoons, sexual abuse w/the abuser still in the home, a child who flinches when you pat him on the back bc of the welts, and on and on. We call social services all the time….and what happens? Nada.

Yet Ms. Spears loses her kids….

hmmm… doesn’t quite seem fair. 

 Marinate.

Playlist: Fidelity- Regina Spektor; Oh Sherrie- Steve Perry; Lost Ones- Lauryn Hill

Am I supposed to feel saddened or sympathetic that Ike Turner, a man who mericilessly beat his wife and denied it for many years, is dead?

He showed no sympathy for anything he did to ole’ Tina and yet on the radio station they speak of him as if he was the second coming. 

I don’t mean to speak ill of the dead but come on! He ain’t Mother Teresa!

(Stepping off my soap box_

Playlist: Joe and Mystikal- Stutter; Hip Hop is Dead- Nas; Hopeless- Dionne Farris; Midnight Confession- The Grassroots.

So the tree fell over.

Seriously, I’m watching TV…I hear this noise and then it was like slow motion….like…”Nooooooooooooooooooooo!”  And then I see it coming at me. Very slowly. My instinct was to jump up and try and save it. Instead, I just let it fall. Broken ornaments, spilled water, twisted lights and garland…the whole 9.  I cleaned it up and went to bed super early. Kath came over to help me fix it.  We had to tie it to the wall and the whole works.  So here’s the lesson: check to make sure your tree trunk is straight, folks. I’ll know for next year.

Then I asked Kath to “trim” my hair. I’d say it’s more of a trim, however, I think I like it. Nad says it’s rockstar hair.  I was sort of hoping to go more along Rihanna’s hair lately.  I thought it was super short and then Bob was like, “Your hair looks so nice now that it’s long.” I’m just not a long hair girl.

On the playlist: Outrageous- Paul Simon; Just One Look- Doris Troy; Drive- Incubus; Mary’s Boy Child- Harry Connick Jr.

I finally put up a tree. I had to wait until I had a little help/brawn for the job.  So, we go and pick out the tree and this morning I wake up and… my tree has a WICKED gangsta lean.  Ladies and gents, the trunk is super straight until about 2/3 of the way up when it makes a sharp 45 degree angle to the right. It’s pretty funny…and it’s a huge tree. Why don’t they ever seem that big when you’re holding them up in a parking lot?!?!  It’s all a small price to pay when your apartment smells of pine goodness.  The cam is at work but I’ll post pics as soon as I can. Trust me…it’s a riot.

Currently, I’m home waiting for the snow/sleet/freezing rain/wintry mix. I have a stew on the stove and I’m thinking a nap isn’t too far off in the future.

Things are still really great.

I’m at a crossroads…sorta like http://http://www.neurosesgalore.com/2007/12/15/free-as-a-bird-now/#more-1011.  To teach special ed or not …that is the question.  On a brighter note, a friend of mine found a Ph.D. program she’s considering so I might have to jump on that.

A girl without options has nothing!

until I have a master’s degree (well, equivalency really. Still need to pass the comps in the Spring)

But I’m excited!

Playlist: Carol of the Bells;  Outrageous- Paul Simon; OPP-Naughty by Nature

Hey folks,

It’s National Inclusive Schools week…which means you celebrating educating all children regardless of disability or language skills. It’s such a great week and I wish it were more widely celebrated. It is, however, celebrated in room 213. 

On a funny note…

I heard something funny in the hallway. It was one of the academic interventionist who is awesome.  She was singing along with the kindergarteners to “Who let the A out? Aaa Aaa Aaa…. Who let the B out? Buh buh….” and on. It cracked me up. Again, evidence that if you ever stood in the back of classroom and watched me help a kid spell you would have material to mock me with for a lifetime.

It flurried today and is supposed to snow tomorrow.  Let me reassure you: Children are in fact distracted by snow.  Tomorrow is definitely going to be a day where we all gather in front of the window, watch it snow for a few minutes, and then attempt to get back to work.

Well, Miami Ink is on soon so I gotta run. Boring post…however…I don’t have a whole lot to say.

Playlist: Your Embrace- Shakira; Fire Door- Ani; Guantanamera- Wyclef; The Christmas Song- Hootie and the Blowfish

Just returned from NYC w/Kath, L Train and Tia. We had the best weekend. We did all things Manhattan…we shopped, we saw the tree, we acted like tourists. I got a “Gucci” bag (loves it!) and had to do some damage at Pearl River.  Love that store. We had an amazing view of the Manhattan skyline outside of our hotel room.  We took the ferry over Friday morning and rode the Path all over the city. I had the very best time a girl could ask for! Oh and I forgot the best Cosmo ever. Fernando, the bartender at the hotel has perfected the tart Cosmo.  So now, as Kath says, it’s a fast slide down…back to reality.  I have to put my body back into detox… no alcohol and only nutritious foods.  It’ll be shock after  a 3 day bad for you bender….but we can do it!

On the way home Kath mentioned that J was meeting me at my apt…to say goodbye.  I mentioned to choke back tears while paying the toll and going through the tunnel….then came back to CP, had lunch w/J, said my see yas…and off he went. I miss him already. He is, after all, my J. He’ll be back sooner than I thought and good times will again ensue.

Other than that…things are going well. I’m all smiles these days, folks. All smiles.

I got home and downloaded some Christmas carols.  Check out the extended playlist.

On the playlist: I’ve Got my Love to Keep me Warm- Billie Holiday; Do they know it’s Christmas- The Christmas Groove Band; Sleigh Ride- Ella; Have  Yourself a Merry Little Christmas- Judy Garland; All I want for Christmas Is You- Mariah Carey; Let it Snow- Michael Buble; Away in a Manger- Nat King Cole; Christmas All Over Again- Tom Petty; Happy Xmas- John Lennon

So I did nothing today… I made a pot of turkey chili in the slow cooker that’s smelling quite yum-o.  Then I watched some bad TV, did some Sudoku and then got a wild hair to check out Ellis Island records. Pretty cool. I found Delorenzos, Mutchlers, and Nibes (maiden names). I put in a call to Big Bob however, homeboy knows NOTHING about his grandparents.  I found a couple Nibes that have names I’ve heard tossed around before in our family and coming from the same country that my mother told me about. The Delorenzos have proven to be a bit tougher….Guiseppe Delorenzo is a pretty common Italian name and you can’t search by Sicily…(where Bob’s famdamily is from). Everyone is listed as Italian. It would be so cool to get more info about immigrants.  I’m hoping that good ole Meemaw and my mom will be able to give some information. You can see the ship they came on and some of the records. Very interesting.  So I’m researching while listening to The Boss’ American Land. It just seems like the perfect soundtrack for the afternoon.

Stay tuned for more on the old search

Today’s playlist: American Land- The Boss, Immigrant Song- Led Zeppelin, Somewhere Out There- An American Tale Soundtrack