Happy Halloween.

For the record, I got the green light from Jamie to post this Halloween picture.  I find it to be adorably hilarious.

I think it may also be the closest I've ever seen Jamie to being unhappy.  He's just a pretty happy guy.  Also, for some Halloween fun, you may wish to check out this site.  I definitely had some costumes that belonged on that site.  Couldn't dig any of those up...but here is me as a bumblebee.

Rally Call.

A pretty great day for a rally.  It was gorgeous outside -- very crisp and fresh -- and the sun was shining.  It wasn't below freezing like the last time we stood outside on The Mall for a long time.  So, we strolled over to the Capitol and tried to find a place to stand and see the nearest Jumbotron.

Note: the sea of people on the other side of the stage.  Yowzers.

Even better, Marty McFly and Doc Brown came down from NYC to attend with me.  

There were lots and lots (and lots) of people there.  And, I found that -- just like at inauguration -- people were in such good spirits.  It was an important message, and in the end, I'm glad that so many people felt the clarion call to attend.

P.S. How awesome are Jess and Chad's costumes???

A Joke.

A three-legged dog walks into a saloon in the Old West.  He slides up to the bar and announces: "I'm looking for the man who shot my paw."

I just skimmed through a list of the "Top 50 Funniest Jokes Ever Told" and the one above was the only one that got me to chuckle (and it was #44 so that's not a good sign.)  That being said, here is a great joke (for those of you who are craving a little update on the progress of the CUTEST NIECES IN THE WORLD):

You're welcome (...Abby).

Happy Heart.

One of the main reasons I left Baltimore was because of the heartbreak.  I loved my school, I loved my students,  and I felt successful within my classroom.  The problem that I couldn't get past was the uncertainty that surrounded my students when they left my classroom.  There was the chance they would continue their growth with their next teacher, but there was also a chance that they could be placed on the roster of a "lemon".  Every year, I watched and suffered repeated heartbreak at seeing some of my students slide back into bad habits, lose confidence, or end up suspended more and more often.

So I left.  There were many, many other reasons why I left -- we bought a house, the commute was rough, etc. -- but I may have been able to live with those, had it not been for the lemons.  Unfortunately, I felt powerless to stop it.  It was a city-wide...and even nationwide issue.  So I decided to go with charter schools where the school could hire the most-qualified teachers and fire those that did not pull their weight.

Today, DC Prep was in the news again and it made me cry.

The students in that video are largely made up of my former students -- the last class I ever taught.  After all these years, it is wonderful to know that I have passed them along to excellent teachers in 3rd grade, then 4th grade, and now 5th grade.  What is even better is knowing they will get more of the same at least through 8th grade, and very likely through high school and college.  So proud of DC Prep.

One of my teachers always tells her students that they make her heart smile.  My heart is smiling now.

Musket-free Post.

Hop into my time machine and get magically whisked back to a couple weekends ago when Jamie and I decided to spend Columbus Day (or Indigenous People's Day) in Harper's Ferry.  So we hopped into our car and drove over to West Virginia for a glorious autumn afternoon.

And, of course, it being a holiday weekend, there were all sorts of civil war reenactments going on.  Including this one of Jamie pretending to be President.

All in all, a lovely day with my favorite person.  Thanks, Harper's Ferry!

Heroes.

Look!  Prep is in the news!  Aren't our babies adorable?

If you're in the area and would like to volunteer let me know! 

Be The Hero.

Tonight I spoke on a panel for TFA.  It made me realize how long it has been since I have thought back to when I was nervous about my interview, or when I actually got in, and all of the adventures that followed.  Plus, I never would pass up an opportunity to brag on our students.  They are pretty awesome, though.

I got a little thrill seeing all of the eager, young faces eager to take a part in the movement.

Along the same vein, Jamie and I (and Scott!) went to see Waiting for Superman a couple weeks back.  Our School Board hosted a private screening for staff and friends.  And I know that I have posted the trailer on here before, but I'm doing it again...

Because, seriously, if you haven't seen the movie yet...you should.  As an added bonus, when you buy your ticket online, you actually get a $15 gift certificate to spend at Donorschoose -- which is an awesome organization and is the source for many grants I have received in the past...and actually have many of you to thank for the generous donations!  (Thanks!)  

As a sidenote, Davis Guggenheim allegedly told one of our Board Members that if he had the chance to do the movie all over, he would have included DC Prep in the schools he followed.  I take it with a grain of salt, but still fun to think of...

Speaking of which, if anyone is local to DC, DC Prep will be on the news again next Tuesday...at 6am...got a DVR?

Another Fine Day in Our Nation's Capital.

Oh boy, do I love long weekends!  They are very much worth the pain and sorrow of having to return to work.

I do have plenty to share -- most of it not all that exciting, but I will have to parcel out to several days rather than try to cover it all at once.  Jamie and I are trying to turn over a new leaf and get to bed at a reasonable hour these days.  We gotta be in bed by 10:30!  But, you can stay tuned for: (a la Friends)

• The One Where Jamie is Handy
• The One With the Muskets
• The One with the Panel
• The One with the Rally
• The One with Superman
• The One with the Transformers

I'll actually start with the last one, because it is the mystery that has been bugging me all day.

Jamie and I live on an Emergency Thruway -- meaning we're among the first streets to get plowed, and that we have emergency vehicles going up and down it like nobody's business.  That said, we are pretty used to hearing sirens and firetrucks whizzing past our house.  It doesn't really bug us anymore.  But this morning...

This morning, we had sirens blasting for a solid half hour and I counted more than a dozen emergency vehicles go past our house.  It was enough for me to get out of bed and check the computer for any breaking news regarding an attack on the Capitol and think about whether we should close the windows to combat a biological attack of some kind (as if it would help).  Some story about how Transformers 3 would be filming in the area and shutting down streets around town for the next week or so.  Aside from being bummed that I couldn't be inconvenienced for a better movie, I thought nothing of it.

When my friend, Kayla, (hi Kayla!) mentioned that Bumblebee (a Transformer??) was in an accident with a police car today, I immediately pictured some giant Transformer animatronic something or other crushing a police cruiser...something like this:

It did not occur to me that movies these days actually do most of that stuff with computers.  So, in fact, the accident looked more like this*:

Apparently, the police SUV was responding to a bomb scare somewhere on the Hill (which Jamie insists are a weekly thing) and did not get the memo about the streets being closed for filming.  I wonder if he noticed that something was off when he saw the giant Optimus Prime tractor-trailer passing by.  Fortunately, the police officer was okay -- minor injuries -- and no bomb went off on the Hill, and my mystery from this morning was solved.

*If you watch the full video here, you can see how sad it is when they totally have 7 people attending to the Transformers car while only one guy is checking on the police officer (only after seeing the fancy car first.)