Not the Best Ever...

...but worth mentioning because of its pertinence.

And, they acknowledge the greatness that is Shawshank.

Test Time.

Anyone in the world of education is very familiar with those statewide tests that decide the fate of the schools.  When I was in Baltimore, it was the MSA.  In D.C. it is the DC-CAS.  Well, today was the first day of the DC-CAS.

It was so great to see our students excited to show their stuff on the test today.  Anthony wasthe first one through the doors at 7am.  His first words were: "Is it time to take the test??"  My Joevontae practically jumped into my arms when he first saw me he was so excited.  I am so proud of these kids.

I think the best story came from Kayla though.  We had given our students some mints to suck on during the test to help perk them up when they were getting tired.  It's also supposed to stimulate memory (although I think it's more of a recall thing through association -- if you're eating mints when you learn something blah, blah, blah.)  Kayla then overheard Anfaney talking to himself (I hope that if Kayla ever reads this post, she is able to correct me...I know I have this wrong):

Anfaney: Those mints sure were good!

A: That BCR was hard, but then I got that mint!

A: And it did the trick!

Anfaney is getting an extra mint tomorrow...

Oh!  And for you Traffic Light Boy (TLB) fans out there.  I got an update who says that he is doing very well!  Next stop, Department of Transportation (or whoever handles traffic lights.)

Weekend Update. (Or: The One Where I Hiked 17 Miles)

This weekend has been a fun one!  In fact, I haven't been able to post because of all the fun.

Friday was Emily's (a teacher friend) birthday and so Jamie and I headed over to her place after work.  While there, I realized how long it has been since I hung out with my friends...too long.  I am now inspired to have a BBQ and enjoy this gorgeous weather next weekend.

Saturday was good for two reasons.  First, it was the last day of Saturday Academy which means that starting next week, I get to seize my Saturdays back.  No more getting up at 6:45am on a Saturday morning!  No more early Friday nights!  Actually, who am I kidding, there were still be many early Friday nights.

Also, we got to see our friends Ben and Ragan and their adorable son.  Better yet, they brought him to our house which makes it the first time we have had a toddler at our house!  Of course, Junior hid for the duration of the night, but Cody and Carter became fast friends.  They even shared a head bump (Cody's favorite display of affection.)  Good to know that Cody likes babies.  Or at least, tolerates babies.

Last weekend, Jamie and I made the trek to our favorite old haunt Shenandoah National Park.  A couple Christmases ago, we had gifted each other camping gear.  Him: new hiking boots, Me: a new backpacking pack.  Since then, we had not yet ventured out into the wilderness and were long overdue.  Our plans for winter camping in February were foiled, and work and life had gotten in the way of subsequent plans.

So, we planned our hike, made GORP, and packed our packs.  The rain didn't deter us...in fact, it gave us more motivation because it meant that those other, less hardy, campers would not crowd our hike.  And we set out into the misty woods.

We chose a 17-mile loop that took us along a ridge, down a mountain, along a river, and back up the mountain.  Despite the wetness and the mistiness -- it was actually perfect backpacking weather.  We were motivated to keep on trekking since we would get cold if we stopped.  By the time we were getting ready to stop for the night it was sunny and gorgeous.

One thing that kept the hike exciting was that there were 14 "stream" crossings.

I say "stream" in quotations because it was more like "river" crossings.  I'm guessing Spring is actually when the water is at its higher levels and so we had to brave the cold water throughout the day.  I resigned myself to walking through the water, but Jamie showed off by hopping from moss-covered rock to moss-covered rock.  He paid the price when he fell a few feet from a waterfall, but aside from that was definitely drier than I was for most of the walk.

All-in-all it was a great hike and I would actually love to do it again.  Not too easy and not too hard.  Good views too.

Sadly, despite the fact that we slept in a tent in 30-degree weather, I was better-rested after that night than I had been all week.  Go figure.

The One Where I Met My Hero. (Maybe)

Tire dilemma fixed.  Hooray for husbands with flexible work hours.

So, "The One Where I Met My Hero."  This actually happened a few weeks back on my way back from San Francisco (after visiting my nieces).  

Now that airline companies are nickel-and-diming everything, there are various lines to enter the plane.  I was in the normal person line and next up to board the plane when a woman hurriedly walks through the important person line (a.k.a. Premier Class).  Through the magic of peripheral vision, I had seen her coming from behind me and I hesitated before handing my ticket to the attendant because I figured they would take her first.  

He had actually taken my ticket and began to tell the lady to wait, when he looked at her and the gentleman with her, and then handed back my ticket and took hers instead.  The woman continued her hurried pace onto the gangway, while the man sheepishly followed.

It took me a while to realize who he was.  My heart believed it, but my brain couldn't.  

As I walked behind my hero on the gangway he turned to me and apologized for cutting in front of me.  MORGAN FREEMAN apologized to me. Red!  My favorite character from the best movie of all time.

The Shawshank Redemption (Trailer)
Uploaded by Tower-of-Dark

"That's okay!" I say, "we're all ending up in the same place anyway"...and while I meant the airplane, MORGAN FREEMAN smiled at me and said -- in a way that only Red can (with that life-weary, all-knowing, March of the Penguins voice): "That's what I always say."  And I knew that he was talking about life and death.  

This moment was too good to be true.  So, afterwards, my brain kept telling me that it couldn't really be MORGAN FREEMAN.  It had to be someone who looked and sounded uncannily like him. After all, wasn't he supposed to be filming some movie far, far away?  Still, I'd like to believe that Red and I shared a moment on that gangway.

And, while Morgan Freeman may not actually be my hero, he's still pretty darn rad.  Much better than Danny Baldwin or Jimmy Fallon.  (Apparently, I am destined to sit near famous people on planes...I finger-quote famous for Danny.)

Edited to add: Incidentally, after I had posted this, I went back and did another random rereading of my blog...and I saw this post where my love for MORGAN FREEMAN was evident all they way back in March of 2004.  To the point where I actually wrote his name in all CAPS then too. 

Hold Me To It.

TWO posts in one night??  

Let me tell you why: firstly, the last two posts have been downer posts.  Secondly, while my life is boring, it is not without pockets of excitement.  Sure it's mostly manufactured excitement, it still counts for me.

So, after taking a little time to go back and revisit my blog circa May 2004 (the blogiest month in the history of this blog -- 48 posts!  It is clear that my primary method of procrastination during finals was through blogging.) I have decided that I am going to blog more so help me.  No matter how nerdy, and cringeworthy I will feel down the line when I look back at it.  To make sure that this renewed sense of urgency does not go by the wayside, I will now list a few "pockets of excitement" from the past few weeks of my life so that later, when I feel like I don't have anything to blog about...I can at least blog about one of these stories:

• The One Where I Met My Hero
• The One Where I Hiked 17 miles
• The One With the Attack Cats
• The One With the Cherryblossoms

These were all moments when I actually thought to myself, "I should really blog about this!" but then got too busy to think about.  I'm taking the moments back!

Starting tomorrow.

Flat.

It was a later night at work today.  My car was the last one on the street and generally-speaking, past a certain hour it is not a good idea to be alone on a dark street in certain parts of D.C.  Unfortunately for me, when I got to my car today my front tire was flat.  Not completely dead-flat, but enough to make my car tilt heavily to one side and question the ride to the nearest gas station.

I weighed my options: 1) change the tire in the dark, rainy, not-crime-free street, 2) take my chances getting to the nearest gas station, 3) tempt fate further by getting to the nearest gas station in a less sketchy area, or 4) call and beg my husband to save me by coming to work and changing my tire for me.

After further consideration, I realized that despite watching and helping Jamie change flats before on several occasions, I had absolutely no idea where to start.  Also, it was RAINING.  Option #1 was out.  While I really wanted to do #4, I knew that would never actually work...so I opted for a hybrid of #3 and #4 which was to call my husband and whine about it a bit, then drive really slowly to the farther gas station.  

The gas station did not change the fact that I still didn't know how to change my tire or that it was RAINING.  Nor was the service shop early because it was late.  So, instead I pumped my tire with air and made the rest of the trek home without incident.  Jamie graciously agreed to change the tire with me once he got home.  Crisis averted?  Let's hope.  Of course, Jamie just got home and it's still RAINING and now it's also kind of late...

Breathe.

A little over a year ago I burned out.  Despite the fact that I loved being in the classroom, that I loved my students, and that I loved teaching...I burned out.  It was to the point where my teaching was suffering and I knew that the next thing that would suffer would be my students and I couldn't have any of that.

Fortunately, I had a way out and other opportunities came up and I got a job that I could love just as much but that removed me from the daily stress of the classroom.  I could still work with students!  I could still devote my life to the mission that I truly believe in!  Life was good!

However, I was quick to learn that this new job was actually more work than my previous one.  Sure, it's a different kind of stress.  It's not the obvious, physical, emotional, daily stress that comes with being a classroom teacher...but rather a more subtle, chronic and acute stress.  One that sneaks up on you but leaves you with your head spinning and debilitated because you don't know where to begin attacking what must get done.

The camel is many straws past the broken back, but despite all this, I still love my job.  Funny how that works.

All this to use as an excuse for not posting regularly.  I do intend to keep this blog going...I am proud of keeping it as long as I have (although, yes, I realize there are some years that have very few posts).  I just need to find a way to sustain the blog along with other things (aka: work).  

Also, when one works all the time, there is very little interesting content to blog about as most of one's time is spent thinking/dreaming/worrying about work.  Add to this the fact that one actively tries not to blog about work to avoid any dooce.com-esque loss of job stability.  Incidentally, if anyone from work is reading this: I LOVE MY JOB AND ALL OF MY COLLEAGUES ARE WONDERFUL PEOPLE.  

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.  

I will post again tomorrow with adventures from our most recent journey into the wilderness!  How very exciting and not-work-related!

CAN YOU HANDLE IT???

GAH!  My nieces are so undisputably ADORABLE.  See below:

Riley!

Leah!

It was wonderful to spend time with them and to see how much they have grown since December.  It's incredible how much chubbier their cheeks are!  Now, at almost six months, they are babbling away and have even ventured into their first "bites" of solid food...  

...the success of which is debatable.  And they were willing to duke it out to prove who was most deserving to earn the right to wear the awesome onesies provided by their Tia and Tio...

Despite the fact that it appears Leah may have sucker-punched Riley at the beginning of the round, it ended in an amiable tie.  

I will be working on a sequel to my first video...but it may be a while before I have the time...

Back!

It's been a long time and I'm going to start with a short post.  These movies in under a minute things have been floating around for a while and for some reason I felt the urge to post this one.

Maybe it's because I liked the Kill Bill movies.  Mostly, it's because I like the last five seconds.

I promise that I will be posting more often in the upcoming days!

Prepped Up!

My school is famous again!

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

How can you watch that and not want to be in education??  I love my school.

The New Day.

Yikes!  I let a whole week go by without posting about Inauguration Weekend.  To be honest, that whole weekend was busy and I filed way more than I could handle in my "to blog later" pile.  So now, I'll try to briefly recap using what I remember.

On Sunday, we headed down to the Mall for the Opening Concerts.  Jamie was fortunate enough to secure some tickets which allowed us to completely jump the line.  You know, the line that stretched for a long, long while down Constitution Avenue.  While we didn't have the fancy pants tickets that got us into the seated section, we did have front row "seats" (a.k.a. standing room).  I do admit that I felt  pretty guilty spread out on my sectioned-off portion of The Mall, when across the reflecting pool there were people hanging off of trees for lack of space.  

The concert was pretty great -- lots of interesting readings and big celebrities -- and the walk home was a good way to thaw my toes again.  On Monday, we went to a Obamabash sponsored by Jamie's group.  They had some pretty good musical acts and really tasty finger foods.  I also finally got to meet all of the people that Jamie had been working with for so long in his group.  

Then, of course, we had the Inauguration.  For a long time, I had been planning to avoid the crowds, and just watch the event from the warmth and comfort of my living room.  I feebly resisted...and by Friday I already knew I was going.  I was NOT, however, going to wake up at 4am to get there.  Instead, we decided on a much more reasonable time of 7:30am and aimed to meet some friends of ours on the way over at 8am.  We knew that we would probably not get the best view, but figured we could position ourselves near a Jumbotron and see well enough.

We met up with Trevor -- Jamie's friend from college -- who was wearing his "Minnesota" outfit.  I guess while he was braving the cold there, he regularly wore this particular jacket over a t-shirt.  What I don't think he took into account was that in college you only have to face the freezing cold air for short bursts of time, whereas this event would require at least 5 hours of freezing cold air.  Suffice to say he was cold.  But I think he was excited enough for the Inauguration that he didn't mind too much.

We followed the signs as best we could...mostly following the crowds and ended up with an incredible space despite our late departure.  We were super close to the first Jumbotron and could still also see the Capitol.  The crowd was incredible.  Normally, my claustrophobic self (yes, even outdoors) would not last long -- but my fears of a stampede quickly vanished when I stood in the crowd and realized nothing could dampen this crowd's spirits that day.  Everyone was just so happy and so friendly.  Even when the almost 2 million people were trying to funnel out of the Mall, everyone was friendly and apologetic for pushing.  It really was great.

But the best part (aside from Obama being sworn in) was watching Bush get into the helicopter and fly right over us.  The crowd around me waved and sang goodbye...

It's probably more interesting with the video.  I haven't gotten around to uploading all of the video we took...it'll be up soon -- er, at least some of it will.  We walked home once again from The Mall -- this time through some pretty crazy crowds -- and by the time we got there we were frozen and starving.  We had some of our friends over and all looked back fondly at our morning.  

That night, Jamie and I had the Youth Ball.  I will not delve into the mishap with my dress...but let's just say there was panic and we got out much later than intended.  We waited in line to get in...a line which was around the block...and not at all fun to stand in when it is below twenty, and you're wearing a short dress...and strappy sandals.  We knew not to expect much: we figured we'd be on our feet all night with no place to sit, we ate a big lunch because we figured there wouldn't be food, and we planned to hold our coats as the coat check would be a nightmare.  Really, the only thing that motivated me to go and brave the cold in the strappy shoes was the idea of seeing President Obama up close and watching him dance.  Never mind the musical acts...not a big fan of Fall Out Boy, Kid Rock, or Kanye West.

I am not kidding when I say that Jamie and I were the last ones locked out of the ballroom.  The only person between us and that freaking ballroom was a Secret Service guy.  AND, he was not at all what I expected him to be.  I was expecting stoic, threatening, and not unlike those guys with the fuzzy hats in England.  This guy was talkative and friendly.  Friendly, except he was NOT letting us in.  Boo.

Jamie and I eventually did get in, but long after President Obama left.  Still it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Although it did feel like prom like many told me it would.

Probably the best Inauguration-related thing that happened was actually today at work.  I was observing a teacher with a Pre-Kindergarten class.  As part of their Morning Meeting they were talking about big events that happened in January (as the month comes to a close).  The teacher pointed to a picture of Obama and asked who the gentleman was and all of the children started raising their hands enthusiastically.  FOUR YEAR OLDS...tripping over themselves to talk about our President.  I heard facts about our President excitedly burst out of their mouths: "44th President!", "dad's from Kenya!", "his wife is Michelle!", "he works with everybody!"

Later, when I was talking to one of these FOUR YEAR OLDS I mentioned "President Obama" and he quickly corrected me in his little voice: "President Barack HUSSEIN Obama" with special emphasis on that middle name.  So funny.

I love that these children are excited about their new President because it means that their moms, dads, uncles, aunts, grandmas, grandpas, foster parents, brothers, sisters, neighbors, etc. are excited about their new President.  It truly is an incredible time to be working with children because even the four year olds know they are living through a historic time...

I am sorry for the shoddy writing in this post.  There was a lot to cover and it is below 50 in this particular room of our house and I'm trying to get out of here before I freeze.  Like, I'm thinking, it's in the low 40s.  Stupid windows.

We Are There.

Remember that time when I found my car on Google Maps twice? Well, I found me! Take a look.


See that little itty-bitty yellow circle? That's where I was! This picture is from an hour plus before the actual Inauguration...so it actually filled up even more from there...craziness...(Thanks Abby for sending me the picture!)

More on the Inauguration Weekend soon.

Continuation of Nerd.

Well, we've already establish that I'm old and a nerd. What's that you say? You don't believe me when I say I'm a nerd? (sarcasm). What if I tell you that I laughed -- a lot -- when I watched this.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it) from Joe Nicolosi on Vimeo.

Whippersnappers.

D.C. is buzzing with excitement these days. Yay! The bleachers are up along the parade route! Look! There's our future President at our local chili place! People are still chanting on the Metro and our students are still excited about politics. It's all very exciting.

So, Jamie managed to get us tickets to a bunch of events going on around town. Upon realizing that an Inaugural Ball is called a "Ball" for a reason, I scrambled today to find a gown...and shoes...and all that good stuff. Ick...I hate shopping for dresses.

This whole process has also helped me learned how old and lame (note: I do not mean to imply that being old also means being lame -- I am just both of those things) I am now. One of the other events we are going to has a pretty interesting line-up of performers and speakers including: Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher Raymond IV, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder. Among those reading historical passages will be Jamie Foxx, Martin Luther King III, Queen Latifah and Denzel Washington.

Of those, I am excited about the decidedly old-school performers. Yes, I am more excited about James Taylor than I am about Beyonce. No, I don't really know who will.i.am is and I really like that "For Once In My Life" song by Stevie Wonder. Man, I'm uncool and OLD.

Plus, Beyonce is performing at the ball we are going to also...that's twice the Beyonce I've ever had in my life within two days. Too much booty-shaking if you ask me.

West Side Story on the East Side.

Jamie has been working like a dog lately. He only had 1.5 days off for the holidays, and ended up going to the office while we were in San Francisco visiting the family. He's been working non-stop since then, not even taking a break for New Year's Eve or the weekends. Poor guy.

Actually, that's not entirely true: he did leave the office "early" yesterday -- a SATURDAY NIGHT -- to take me to see the new Westside Story. He had purchased tickets as a Christmas gift and it provided him with his only break since Christmas Day. Not that I'm complaining (maybe just a little), but I just miss my husband.

Anyway, the show was great! It was interesting because they made it more "authentic" by having scenes and dialogue in Spanish. When the Sharks were talking amongst themselves they spoke and sang in Spanish. The cast was great and I was super happy to see that Cody from my guilty pleasure reality show Step It Up and Dance was playing Riff. It was pretty great to see him dancing in real life -- he's really good -- a nice to know that he could sing as well. Good for Cody! Oh and hey, that was him in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"!

By the way, if you actually want to see Benjamin Button, don't watch the trailer from that website as it shows the entire film. I exaggerate, but not all that much.

Disclaimer.

I'll begin this post with the warning that you may not find this video all that interesting if you are A) not related to me or B) not obsessed with babies/cuteness. That being said, I spent too much time on this not to post it on my blog. Also, I still feel like gloating about how adorable my nieces are. But again, I warn you that this video is long (about 8 minutes) and is probably only interesting to those meeting the aforementioned requirements.

I know it's a low-quality video, but I will upload a larger version soon. If it's not abundantly clear, I absolutely love these babies. I am glad I managed to finish the videos before I started work again (tomorrow)...there wouldn't have been a chance otherwise.

It will be back to regular posting content tomorrow!

Premiere.

Here is my first attempt at editing film using my Flip. I went against Jamie's advice and decided to make many smaller movies using the video from our trip rather than one big one. At the very least, it would be easier to upload...Enjoy!

Belated Holiday Wishes...

Just got back from my trip out West to see the family. I'm just going to cut to the chase and give you what you want.





Aside from how adorable they are, the thing that struck me most was how quickly they are growing up. Last time I saw them they were 10 days old and not all that unlike blobs. Granted, they were cute then too, but they did little else than sleep and eat. And poop!

This time, they were (much) larger blobs that cooed and attempted to roll and showed their personalities. And poop in larger quantities. I just left yesterday, but I'm already itching to get back so that I can watch them grow some more...

Christmas with the family was pretty great. Jamie and I flew to California on the 24th. Poor Jamie had to work on the 26th and on -- but we still enjoyed ourselves. He managed to pull a couple of strings and get permission to work out of the San Francisco office so that he could at least spend a part of the evenings with us.

I hope that all of your holidays were exciting and relaxing. I will be posting again soon with my first attempt at a video! In case I don't make it back today, I hope everyone has a Happy New Year and enjoys the extra second of 2008!

and Many More to Come...

When we got married, Jamie and I (okay, just Jamie) decided that we would no longer celebrate the anniversary of our first date.  After all, we had a new, more significant date to celebrate.  Instead, we would simply commemorate it with an extra hug and smile and maybe a nice dinner.  While I was a little saddened at the prospect of "losing" the 8 years we had been together before getting married, it did make sense.

BUT, despite all that, today we did celebrate our "date-iversary".  Granted, our actual date-iversary isn't until tomorrow, but Jamie is super busy with work these days, and this would be our only opportunity to get out to a fancy meal.  We decided to celebrate this one because it is the TENTH anniversary of our first date!  10 years!  

I think that's pretty special.

So we went to a nice dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in the District.  Even though it wasn't Chinese food like on our first date, we figured it was a good choice since it was an "asian fusion" restaurant.  Yum!  

I would also like it noted that I abided by the rules laid down by Jamie and did not purchase any date-iversary gifts.  He did not.  However, he is forgiven because he got me really purty jewelry.

More posts soon! 

The One Where I Steal from Other People's Blogs.

I fell off the blog-posting wagon!  Sad.  Well...I will update briefly now.  I say briefly because I need to put together a presentation for tomorrow and I haven't started...at all.

First, the obligatory picture of my nieces as they rounded the jolly age of two months.

So funny.

Next, a video that our lovable best man (a.k.a. my brother-in-law) posted on his own blog about his venture into comedy.  Actually, it's just a little song he performed with his friend at a Thanksgiving celebration in Italy (?) with his graduate program.  Although his Bret imitation leaves something to be desired (there can only be one), it sounded as though the ladies in the crowd disagree with me.

I miss the guy.  He needs to return from Italy yesterday.  Also, there would appear to be a lot of woo-girls in Italy.

And finally, some pugs for no apparent reason.