Baby Talk.

So I know I said I wouldn't make this blog entirely about my cat...but give me a grace period. Little else is exciting about my life right now.

Can I just say that it is extremely difficult to photograph a kitten. The thing will not sit still if conscious. Which is why, so many of my pictures will end up being of the cat in a state of respite. Here is the one money shot I could get out of a set of many.


Need proof?


(I used the flash in this one, which is why Cody looks like a giant Cheeto).

Some Cody-antics in the past 24 hours. Remember, the cat is not dumb -- he is just very young (5 months) and has spent his entire life to date in an animal shelter. He has little experience with home life. Consequently, the cat is curious and skittish -- an interesting combination.

11:00pm: Jumped in the shower.
11:01-02pm: Freaked out, tried to find a way out of the shower

12:03am: Saw reflection in mirror -- freaked out and hid under the bed.

4:05am: Came out from under the bed. Slept on Melissa's face.

5:52pm: Cautiously batted at the screensaver.

5:53pm: Received static shock from the screen -- freaked out.

This cat is awesome. And easily freaked.

Recap.

It's been a while. I survived the crazy week with little energy to spare and then I was whisked away to Jamaica for my week off. No email or internet. But of course there was lesson planning.

But let's not speak of those things.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and New Year. Mine was pretty great -- I got to spend time with my family and cruise around on a giant boat. I have pictures!

We started in Miami, Florida.

You can actually see our ship in the background...see the red, white, and blue?

Our first port was the lovely Cozumel, Mexico.
This is the view from our room. We ended up hiring a cab to take us around and show us the island. It was absolutely beautiful. And we stopped at a local restaurant...good eatin.


Waves crashing at Cozumel.

Next, we found our way to Grand Cayman. This island was completely devastated by the hurricanes last year. In the part of the island that we got to see, there were lots of fallen trees and houses in disrepair. So many of the houses still lacked shingles because they simply couldn't get the materials they needed to fix them. It rained pretty much the whole week, so several of the beaches were closed, but we still got to see Hell.
Hell, Grand Cayman. Nice place to visit...wouldn't want to stay.

Apparently the place got its name from the rock formations.
The shores of Hell.

Our last port was Jamaica...which was so beautiful.
View of Jamaica from our balcony. One of those houses is Mick Jagger's. We visited the Ochos Rios area, and climbed up a big ol' waterfall (in the river!) and bounced around in jeeps as we trekked into the hills. .
Beautiful, beautiful Jamaica.

Even though the weather wasn't cooperative, it was great to be able to spend time with the family and to see these beautiful places. One last parting shot of the ocean...

This is the view from our balcony. It was so incredible to walk outside the room and suddenly be in the middle of the ocean.

One thing: why on earth would they show "Open Water" over and over and over again on a cruise? That's bad form. Although the last time I went on a cruise they showed "Titanic".

Finally -- the most important news of all! In December, Jamie and I hit the 6th anniversary (...onto year #7...) and for the anniversary Jamie got me something amazing.

He got me this:




I am in love with this cat. Technically, I was the one who went to the shelter and adopted him. And, maybe Jamie has never seen him before. But that doesn't mean that Jamie didn't give me his blessing and doesn't trust me to adopt only the very best, very smartest, cat out there.

I only meant to go to the local PetSmart to pick up some things in preparation for the new family member. We had planned to wait until Thursday when Jamie got back from break to look. But the local shelter was having an adoption fair and this baby was embodiment of every cat dream I have ever had. I played with him for five minutes and then I had to have him. I had to take him away from the greedy eyes of all those other pet adopters who were oohing and aahing at his adorableness.

Trying not to be rash, I asked the shelter lady if I could just see an application so that I might take it home to look over and decide. Apparently, they only have one copy of the application -- their way of hooking people I guess. But after my interview she let me take it home. Really, I went to the supermarket and bought food and kitty litter. I have never been one for patience.

When I came back he was gone. Some other couple had taken him out to play with him and a different shelter person was searching for his missing files. I signed and he was mine. I actually had to take him away from this other woman's arms. I felt bad...

...but not horrible because now I own the most perfect cat in the world. If I say his name and look at him, he rolls over immediately so that you will rub his belly. He purrs something fierce when you pet him, but he is so undemanding. He will play with his little toys for hours, but as soon as you want some love he'll come over and lay on your lap and kiss you. I LOVE HIM.

I will try not to let this blog turn into me talking about my cat all the time. Just one more picture.


His name is Cody.

Fwhump! is the sound of poo-poo hitting the fan.

Sorry for being such a lame-butt. Although, not as big a lame-butt as someone else I know. Things have been hectic this weekend. I may have even uttered the words: "This is the worst it's ever been" on Friday.

In all my four years at Williams -- including those countless all-nighters, crunch study sessions, and even the yearbook deadlines -- I have never encountered such a huge hole of shit that I had dug myself into until this weekend. I'm telling you people...it's bad.

However...with great need (and lots of caffeine) comes great accomplishments. By early Saturday evening I finished the entire week's worth of lesson plans (that's 30 lesson plans) complete with fun worksheets, charts, and tests. Come this morning, I completed my Synectics project and my Assessment Analysis project. This evening I finished gathering and analyzing the data I will use for my final project in my Curriculum and Strategies class. Now all I have to do is write 10+ page book review (for the book I haven't started) and then do the final project 10+ page write-up. This is all due on Wednesday. Did I mention that this is all for ONE CLASS? I won't even bother studying for the final.

For another JHU class I just need to complete my SWEEPS assignment -- somewhere in the ballpark of another 10+ pager? -- and then do some tweaking on my electronic portfolio. Thankfully, I'm all done with the third class' assignments.

Honestly, one is not meant to teach and go to graduate school at the same time. At least not during the first year of teaching. Let's hope the kids don't kill me this week. Something about it being so close to the holidays tells me not to get my hopes up.

Bah-humbug.

Would You Like Some Cheese With that Whine?

Today I had a gut-wrenching realization: there are people out there who go home after work and do not think about work from 5-10 when they go to bed. These are the same people who can go to work at 9am. They can also have lives outside of their jobs -- ones where they can go out to a bar and fraternize with friends who are not work-related!

I would like to be one of these people right about now.

I hate having finals -- damn you, Hopkins! Don't you get that we're first year teachers and our first priority is SURVIVING?? I hate working so hard for 36 kids who do not get that I am working so hard for them and decide to throw away their precious time by spending it in the office sitting on their butts instead of in my classroom. I hate not sleeping -- that kind of insomnia is not meant for life after college (or maybe, life after 22). I hate that we're too poor to be able to afford basic cable. I want to go see a friend or two on a weekend! I want to watch a movie guiltfree!

Whinewhinewhinebitchbitchbitchmoanmoanmoan.

In reality, it's not all that bad. Jamie is entertaining. Especially when he wears my crazy rainbow socks.


Yay for socks!

Also, I realized that I hadn't posted any Thanksgiving photos yet. So here you go. I'll let you contemplate the uncanny similarities in peace.


Thanksgiving Crew.

P.S. That's Mary in the middle!

The Girl with No Patience.

I suck at waiting. I am one of the more impatient people on the planet. Ask anybody who really knows me.

Exhibit A: I have already given Jamie his birthday, anniversary, and part of his Christmas present. None of these momentous events have happened yet -- they occur on the 19th, the 22nd, and the 25th respectively. I simply am unable to wait. Ever. I am holding out to the smaller part of Jamie's Christmas present. My goal is to wait until the 17th to give it to him. The one saving grace is that I will not actually be with Jamie for any of the events so we would have to celebrate them a little early anyway.

Exhibit B: I have already watched three episodes of The O.C. after having gotten the boxed set of the first season for my birthday (seriously the most awesome. gift. ever. Thanks, D!) Holy crap! I just linked that to Amazon and saw how expensive it is...reminding me why I didn't get it before. [Runs back to buy D more presents for Christmas].

Anyway, I watched these three episodes pretty much straight through without getting up. That's two and half hours of teen soap drama, people. I also have a mountain of work to do. But I couldn't wait to watch this show.

After having seen the beginning of the season (which I had never seen before), I must say that I finally get it. I can now understand why so many people told me to watch the show because I would like it. I like it.

Exhibit C: Jamie finally caved in to the whole cat debate and has promised to adopt one with me at the beginning of next year. I had to use every ounce of resistance not to run out to PetSmart now and buy stuff for our non-existent cat.

Pet name ideas?

Brrrrrrrr.

The temperature in my apartment right now is in the 50s. That's as cold as it would get in L.A. ever and would cause Los Angelenos to don their hats and scarves. Brrrrrr. Thankfully, Jamie finally caved an turned on the heat for a little bit. I really wish we had a fireplace.

Yesterday, I was running late for work when I hopped in my car and realized that there was a thick layer of frost. No problem, I'll just run back to the apartment and grab our scraper. Except we don't have a scraper. Hooray for ignorant West Coasters. Maybe it's time to get one of those.

So, yesterday was pretty great! I'm used to having my birthday in the most inconvenient of times with finals and all. This time wasn't really any exception -- still have finals for my Hopkins classes and on top of that all the teaching. But it was so nice to be with my kids. They threw me a surprise party and gave me teacher gifts (you know, used mugs and picture frames) and wrote cards. Had tons of cake.

It was also the second birthday that I've ever actually been with Jamie for...so he was able to spoil me with dinner out on the town (Burmese) and a movie (because I'm too tired for anything beyond that). We saw Closer which was a fine film. A little depressing but good. The weird thing was that people were laughing hysterically in the theater at the most depressing parts. "HAHA! He told her to fuck off!"

Funnily enough, one of the previews for a new movie started off with a scene of one my classmates from high school getting coke splashed in his face (he overacted). Apparently he is in a Will Smith movie. It actually looks kind of funny -- if you're in the kind of mood for that kind of movie. I freaked out in the theater when I saw it and I'm sure everybody thought I was weird.

Hooray for surprises.

Over the Hump?

So everyone said that once we got to Thanksgiving, teaching would be cake. I don't know if that's true.

But I can say that things have been so much better. Honestly, I can safely say that I have my management down for the most part. Or, at least I'd like to think so. Now I got to focus on the whole learning thing.

On the not-so-good note, I had all the money stolen out of my wallet the other day. I'm assuming it was one of my students since they are the only ones who know where I keep my purse (at the top shelf of a closet in the back of my room). It could have been so much worse as they did not take the entire wallet (and thereby burgle me of my credit cards and license), nor did they take my phone or my ipod (!!!) which I usually don't bring into the building except for on days when I have to stay late for class. Honestly, if someone stole my iPod I would be devastated.

So I gave my whole class the spiel of how they shouldn't bring anything of value to school and to stay vigilant for their friends and peers. So many of my kids broke down crying when they heard that someone took my money and then I felt bad.

Today (a full two days later), one of my students was in his reading group in another class. They were studying cause and effect. Apparently his was "Cause: someone was really mean, Effect: my teacher had her money stolen". So cute. And...suspicious. Just kidding.

Please, someone, get me through tomorrow.

And I Was Doing So Well...

...on blogging consistently that is.

The truth is I got deathly sick. Okay, not so much deathly, just sick. But the thought of sitting upright when I could be laying down wasn't kosher with me. Sorry 'bout that. At some point in my illness I was delirious. Jamie alleges (since I don't remember) that I was scared of the "blue men trying to sit on my head and suffocate me" and that when Jamie told me there were no blue men, I was convinced that he was tryin to kill me and started crying.

Weird. I wish I remembered that.

Anyway, I'm all better now. Thanksgiving break makes it even better. We had a successful night last night -- Jamie's brother and his girlfriend are here for the week and I attempted my first Thanksgiving dinner. All in all it was a success! Yummy turkey, (tofurky for Jamie), stuffing and gravy, sweet potatoes, corn bread, cranberry sauce, stuffed mushrooms, brie and brown sugar, candied walnut and apple salad, and of course pumpkin pie. And no disasters. Sweet.

Also, the kiddies were AMAZING on Wednesday. I was bracing myself for the worst -- supposedly the day before break is always the worst -- but they were incredible. They were respectful. There were times when you could hear a pin drop in my classroom because they were so busy working on a creative writing. All around lovely.

Now, I must try and survive the mountains of work that piled up when I was sick from school for two days. Boo.

Will post again soon.

The Other Shoe.

Of course, the day after I have the "I-love-my-job" moment, I have the worst day yet. Honestly, everything was chaos today.

The guest reader showed up twenty minutes late -- two seconds after I decided that the reader would not be showing up and therefore had began my lesson.

Alexis.

I got called out of my class to attend an IEP meeting (for a special ed kid) -- right as I sit down to read our comprehension story to my kids. We are already behind two days in reading comp. As I walk down the hall, I pass my Johns Hopkins advisor who did not get my message about said meeting and was on her way in to do my official observation. She was not pleased.

Came in all flustered because the meeting was chaotic. Did not know where to pick up with my kids who had been left in the hands of a substitute. Botched the rest of my observation.

Missed my lunch because I was busy lecturing children about respect. Made three students burst out crying when I told the class that "it hurt my heart that they could be so disrespectful to each other and to me after I work so hard for them". Missed my planning period because I was busy holding resource detention and calling parents. Am hungry. One grandparent comes to my classroom and proceeds to beat his grandson's ass in the boys bathroom across the hall. I finally shed a tear on schoolgrounds.

I now have no voice whatsoever and a fever. Any pipe dreams of skipping work tomorrow are out the window as another teacher just walked out of her classroom today and quit. We had no substitutes before...we have negative substitutes now. Those kids are going to be dispersed among different classrooms until we get one. Not looking forward to having 1st graders sitting in the back of my classroom tomorrow.

I have to redo several report cards now.

P.S. Isn't it funny how I assumed I would be too busy to post on this, the day of my blog's birthday, a few days ago. I have no faith. Happy birthday blog.

What is This? A Freshman Dorm??

There is the slight possibility that I have strep throat...and I am not happy about it. For serious.

I have decided that I really like teaching science. I really wish we had more than a 20-minute period to teach it. Also, it kind of gets shit on for being the last 20 minutes of the day.

Today wasn't a particularly good day -- but it wasn't a bad day either. On the way to a meeting for TFA...I actually stopped and thought to myself: I really love what I'm doing. I love being a teacher. I love being one of the most important adults in the lives of my students right now (aside from family of course). I love that a smile from me, or a pat on the head from me can make their faces light up. The job that I have right now is a really good one.

It's too bad it's kicking my ass most of the time.

Munday.

This is going to be a pretty crap week. I'll post if I survive it.

On today's agenda:

-Turning in Report Cards
-Being Observed by the Assistant Principal
-Visit from the Superintendent and the State Senator
-Meetings until 8pm
-My students bouncing off the walls and fighting

Goody.

Happy Birthday.

Officially, I know it hasn't been a year. But I also know that come the 16th, I will be so busy with planning and what-have-you, that I will not have the time to give a proper post. Therefore, I would like to commemorate the 1st birthday of this blog a couple days early.

So, to prepare for this post, I checked out some of my first posts ever. I can say that I am sufficiently embarrassed. If this were a paper journal I would have impulsively ripped out and burned those pages (at least that's what precedent would suggest). But, I will grin and bear it.

It's pretty great to see how much things have changed in a single year. A year ago, I was complaining about a 5-minute mini lesson that I would have to give in front of 12 "students". Now, I have 8 hours of that every. single. day. And in front of 20 bipolaresque hooligans.

It's also nice to see how my life hasn't changed. I still cannot sit down and do work without a little bit of procrastination. Seriously. I need help. And I'm still pretty fond of:


...this guy.

Anyway, that guy just came into remind me that I have to figure out and record 20 report cards for tomorrow (of which I have not officially graded a single thing -- all year) and that I should procrastinate no further. Boo.

P.S. Happy Real Birthday to Scott: the best little brother I never had.

What Happens When You Have...

...two recent college grads, living in an apartment together, one of whom goes to law school full-time, and the other who makes a meager living by being an elementary school teacher at an area 3 school, over a week's (more like three) worth of laundry, and washing and drying machines that cost $1.50 per load (I know, ludicrous)?

You get this:


Laundry Explosion!

In My Thoughts.

Today I learned that a friend of mine lost her arm in a bus accident yesterday and it gave me another one of those "life is so fragile" feelings. She is a beautiful and strong human being and I know that she will survive this with so much grace and positivity, but I cannot help but be so angry at how unfair life can be.

Fridays are so good.

The quarter is up. I cannot believe how fast it went! Although I feel like I have been teaching forever...every minute in the classroom is on fast forward, and every week speeds by. Report cards are due and I feel like I'm just now getting the hang of things. Sad.

I do think this bodes well for the rest of the school year. I've been told that the first stretch of school is the hardest and that if you can survive through Thanksgiving you're in the clear. Let's hope this next week doesn't completely crush me.

P.S. I'm taking the camera to school with me tomorrow -- you should be seeing some lovely picture of the classroom (sans kids, of course).

Hotness in a Pink Jumpsuit.

I know I promised (or at least implied) a bunch of pictures from this weekend. Sadly, I am a pooface and forgot to bring my camera to each and every outing. I remembered to pack it in my bag and took it with me to Massachusetts, mind you...I just never took it out that last mile from the hotel in which I stayed to Williams. Lame, I know.

BUT, I did have a great time seeing my friends -- it was incredible to me to see just how many '04 alum actually came back! I managed to see most everyone that I had aimed to see, but since I was only there for a little over a day (arrived late on Friday and left early Sunday) I didn't really get to see anybody as much as I would have liked. It felt so rushed. Still it was great (and surreal) to see what everyone was up to.

If anything it made me realize that I need to do a better job keeping in touch with people...

New Strong Bad. I mention it because it has an awesome homage to a childhood pasttime of mine. Actually, more of a childhood pasttime for my brothers -- I was always the lame little sibling who watched the big kids play video games rather than actually play them. I'm including it because I know Dave will appreciate it. (Wait 'til the paper comes down and then click on "Strong Bad"...it's awesome).

On the Ups...

Today would have been a great day if it weren't for the last five minutes of class. My students were learning, they were quiet and well-behaved. They were respectful and all around lovely.

Then, Alexis decided to leave school early and shit hit the fan. It ended with her mother calling the assistant principal some bad bad words. Wah.

The good news is that tomorrow I will be heading to Williamstown for the much awaited Zero Year Reunion and Homecoming...and more importantly, to see my beloved friends who I miss dearly. Many good stories (I'm sure) and pictures to come! For now I must de-snot my nose and lesson plan. Oh and pack for the trip!

UNLESS

Not feeling the Johns Hopkins love tonight. Head is full of snot and is also pounding. Not happy that I just got home and that I have five lesson plans to write. Boo.

Also not feeling America right now. Seriously, if I am going to be spending my time teaching it...

So this morning I woke up with half a voice. I decided to tough it out at school and pleaded pathetically to my children to not make Ms. U raise her voice. They were sweet and caring for the first 25 minutes of school. Then all hell broke loose. I realized that if I do lose my voice what I end up with is a horrible wheezy, raspy, animal-like, screeching noise that actually does a good job of getting their attention. I have to make a note of that.

Snot Monster.

I am seriously checking the polls every two seconds. My stomach is in knots. (Help!)

Today was a pretty unproductive day (of course). I did little to advance myself along in my lesson planning. Instead I sat around feeling sorry for myself and blowing my nose. I am playing with the idea of taking a sick day tomorrow -- but I am of the "boy-who-cried-wolf" paranoids who thinks that if I take a sick day tomorrow, next week I will be stricken with a severe case of almost death and will lack the chutzpah and the sick days to take a day off.

Plus, I'm thinking of taking a half-day on Friday so that I might be able to take off at a reasonable hour for the 7-hour road trip to Williamstown. Homecoming! Friends! Nostalgia!

Therefore, I must grin and bear it. Hopefully, my kids will take pity on my non-voice and runny nose. Unlikely, I know.

Democrats Vote on Tuesday. Republicans Vote on Wednesday.

My throat is so sore. With each swallow I am dying a little bit inside. Luckily, I have tomorrow off so I get to sleep in and basically feel sorry for myself allllllll day. Oh...and maybe some lesson planning.

My stomach is in knots about this whole election business. Although, after living with Jamie (who's life has been almost completely consumed by the elections) I feel like I've been relatively blase about the whole thing. Right now, he's driving to Philly to help protect voter's rights -- like the good little citizen that he is. I, on the other hand, am just watching movie after movie and drinking hot tea. Oh, and I'm really hoping that Kerry will win.

Kerry would want me to be healthy.