5 Things Friday

1) Today, in exactly one hour, spring break will commence. To say that my heart will fill with joy when the final bell rings will be an understatement. I'm going to have an epic staycation at home filled with photo taking, pumpin' workouts, and hopefully some healthy eating. Even though as I write this I am eating a smore. I can always start tomorrow. Besides, I'm still seeing snow when I go grocery shopping (see below) so I'm not too concerned about getting into a swimsuit just yet.

2) My students earned a good behavior party today during which we watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2. In this fine epic film, the chihuahuas get married and have babies, but unfortunately the dad just wants to play with his pups instead of being a responsible parent. I would say it was the worst movie I've ever seen, but my dearest husband did subject me to the awfulness of 300, which I haven't yet forgiven him for. This was a close second however.

3) I'm about to start the Hunger Games trilogy over break. I cannot wait. I'm planning on doing a LOT of couch time in the coming days. I'm also going to start Ahab's Wife soon, and I cannot wait. It looks chunky and delicious. Hurray for having time to read books.

4) Speaking of time to read, I start my LAST GRAD SCHOOL CLASS for my masters on Wednesday. Yes, people, my VERY LAST ONE. I am one thesis and one 10 week class from being an officially licensed reading specialist. Booyah Grandma.

5) I can nevr spell the word license. Or exercise. Or Chihuahua. Because of that this has been a particularly difficult 5 Things Friday post to write. Epic fail. Blame it on the spring break brain.

Huzzah

Life these days is pretty freaking good. After all the drama with work and my decision to leave my current school, I have a new job! It's a junior high ELL position a bit closer to our house than my former job, and the pay and benefits are bangin. I didn't realize how stressed I was about next year until I fell asleep last night and slept without waking up.

Going through the drama and emerging victorious has made me realize how truly blessed I am to have Kev by my side. Whether discussing best and worst case scenarios with him through the decision making process or surprising me with some freaking delicious cookies (pictured above) and dinners out, I've realized how awesome it is to be married to him. This is one of the first big decisions we've made since buying our house, and we survived and came out better than we thought we would. I'm slowly learning that decision making is one of the hardest and best parts of being married. I have my best guy to celebrate with, commiserate with, and grow with, and I like to think we are making each other better people because of it.

Oh, and did I mention that spring break is a mere two work days away? Even though we aren't going anywhere, and Kev has to work all week, I'm really looking forward to the time off. I'm hoping to get things in order around the house, start my half-marathon training, and catch up on all the photo challenges I've slacked on over the past few weeks. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. I mean, seriously, I'm not asking for sundress weather yet, but fleece and jeans weather would be greatly accepted.

Overall, things are going great in our neck of the woods. I'm proud of the way we are growing together, I'm relieved to be gainfully employed in a career that always makes me think, and I've got a great family, awesome friends, and a kicken husband to celebrate with. Huzzah, indeed.

Goals

I reached into the depths of my work bag today and pulled these out:

Perhaps I need to get more organized.

5 Quick Things

1) I've been crazy busy with work lately, as it is report card and parent teacher conference time. I'm really proud of myself though. I feel like I tackled some tough discussions this time (bullying, lack of attendance, recommending a child repeat kindergarten, and domestic issues to name a few) and I did it with grace. I'm so blessed to work with such great parents and for the first time ALL OF MY PARENTS SHOWED UP FOR THEIR SCHEDULED TIME!!! Woop woop.

2) I think spring is finally starting to arrive to Chicago. I wore a dress to school today without freezing my patooties off. I even threw on some open toed shoes. It was awesome. See? Sun.

3) Kev and I are starting to feel like roommates. Stupid grad school raining on our fun. While I love my friends, I feel a date night might be in order soon. Time to start planning something mysterious and fascinating where I can utterly charm my guy.

4) All of the sundresses in stores right now are taunting me and its not fair. Yes, it's getting warmer, but it's still not warm enough to be ogling the potential lounge-ability of the dresses. Harumph. STOP TAUNTING ME TARGET.

5) I'm in a real conundrum about a job offer. Do I take it even though it isn't my ideal position? Or do I hold out hoping one of the other places I applied pans out? Door Number One? Door Number Two? Ack. Being a grown up stinks sometimes.

Alright friends, off to do my LAST CONFERENCE of the school year. The life of a teacher....so glamorous. I can't wait to get in my car and drive, drive, drive.

March Classics Challenge Update

As I've mentioned before, I'm a bit of a book nerd who loves to read anything, but sometimes needs a bit of a nudge to get more reading fiber in her diet. As I've alluded to before, I'm participating in three reading challenges this year: The What's in a Name" challenge, the Chunkster Challenge and the Classics Challenge I'll be posting a more general monthly reading wrap-up at the end of the month, but here's the progress I've made and some bite-sized notes on each book that I've read for the classics challenge.

Yes, I also realize that I haven't been posting as regularly lately. It's report card and parent teacher conference time, people. I'll try to get back to a regular posting schedule later this week. I swear.

Classics Challenge Requirements:
1) A Banned Book- ??
2) A Book with a Wartime Setting (can be any war)-??

3) A Pulitzer Prize (Fiction) Winner or Runner Up: To Kill a Mockingbird- I hadn't read this book since I had to read it back to back years in eighth grade AND freshman year of high school, but I got so much more out of it as an adult. Awe-inspiring, beautiful and full of life lessons in a story that moves at just the right pace.

4) A Children’s/Young Adult Classic-Farenheit 451- I would never have picked this book up without this challenge, and I'm so, so, glad I did. It is on my list of favorites of all time. Haunting, beautiful tale written in the 1940s about the dangers in a world where books are forgotten. Prophetic and wonderful.

5) 19th Century Classic--
6) 20th Century Classic-- The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton- This book, about a girl who loves the champagne life on a ramen noodle budget hit a little too close to home. I loved the tragically flawed character of Lily Barth, but the book moved a little too slowly at times.

7) A Book you think should be considered a 21st Century Classic-
8) Re-Read a book from your High School/College Classes -

I'm planning on re-reading The Great Gatsby because I love it as my re-read, and I haven't quite decided on my other options. Does anybody have any strong opinions on a book that you think SHOULD be considered a 21st century classic? I haven't quite decided mine yet, but I'll keep you posted when I do.

Happy Reading!

Ash Wednesday

As a catholic school girl for one third of my total years of education, and a Catholic for my 26 years here on Earth, today is a big day. Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, Catholics (and, I think, many Christians as well) give something up for the 40 days of Lent in remembrance of Jesus' sacrifice for us.

I always greet this day with a bit of dread. I never quite know what to give up. I mean, 40 days is a long time. I'm just not good at the self-sacrifice thing. At all. Which, I suppose is the point, if you get down to it. I remember sitting in church during one Sunday of Lent when I was in eighth grade and the priest announced that really, Lent was actually longer than 40 days because the Sundays didn't count. I was overjoyed when I realized this meant I had a cheat day each week on which I could eat sweets. My mom, on the other day, was less than thrilled by the advent of the cheat day.

It has been interesting to read Facebook today. Most of my friends are also some type of Catholic/Christian, and the messages have been interesting. I've seen a lot of people posting about giving up pop/sweets/all carbs/treats/alcohol. Good for them. I, on the other hand, feel that I do not have enough willpower to think in such absolutes after my rounds of Game-On dieting this summer and fall, so I've decided to make other sacrifices.

For Lent this year, I'm going to church once a week. I'm thinking that weekday night masses might be the best for my schedule, but who knows, maybe I'll even pop in of a Sunday. Growing up, my parents made sure we were at mass, well, religiously. Since I've been a grown up, I've slid on this. Considering I'm job hunting, getting into the final stages of a school year, and in the final stages of grad school, I'm thinking some quiet space to listen might be exactly what I need these next forty days.

I'm also giving up unnecessary shopping. You know what I'm talking about. That cute cheap(ish) t-shirt that jumps in the cart when you swear you were only at Target to buy cat litter? Those Goldfish that appear in your hand when you were in the gas station paying for your gas? That shampoo that makes your hair super shiny but you can only buy when you are at the salon so you HAVE to get it every time even though you don't need it? I'm a terrible sucker for those types of things and it has to stop. Lent, here I go.

By no means am I suggesting that you are remiss if you don't observe Lent or give things up. I just know for me, it seems to be helpful to have a regularly scheduled time on the calendar to do so. Wish me luck. Goldfish would be really delicious right now, and its only day one.

Cookie Monster

This weekend, Kev and I had a killer dinner party on Saturday for a few friends complete with fancy shmancy cocktails, a delicious corn chowder, and some fab steak fajitas with tomatillo sauce. All of these tasty treats were cooked by my fabulous husband. Have I mentioned that I am the luckiest girl in the world because I have a husband who likes to cook? Because I am.

Because I was feeling so lucky, I was also feeling generous, and busted out the remainder of our Girl Scout cookies for dessert. Together we consumed some of these:

And some of these:

But none of these, because they are Kev's favorite and thus already consumed:

Pictures courtesy of mentalfloss.com and leantowardsthesun.blogspot.com as I was too busy eating to whip out my own camera

I was feeling all contented and hostess-y and mellow as I bid my guests adieu. Then I closed the front door, reached for the boxes of cookies only to realize that they were all empty. All of them. Gone.

Thus, today I was forced to compose this frantic email to one of my dinner guests this morning:

Hey Lady,

You said a girl scout might be coming by your office today taking orders. If so... I need some replacements:
3 boxes thin mints
3 boxes samoas
1 box tagalongs

Please, please order these for me and I will give you cash. Yep, we're fatties.

me

The worst part is that I'm not even ashamed.

It Never Ends

Yep, it's late. I realize this. I just got home from an after work happy hour that ended now, at close to midnight. No, this is not a reason to call teachers irresponsible either. Harumph. Also yes, I'm probably irresponsibly blogging. So there.

Kev and I had planned to spend tonight staying in. We spent last weekend in Madison toasting my sister's 21st birthday, and tomorrow we are having a dinner party for some of our favorite people. Accordingly, we decided to stay in tonight for a date night with wine. Until I got these messages yesterday:

Kevin: Do you have plans tomorrow night (1st Friday club?)
me: nope
zero plans
Kevin: My coworker Alex has a bday party
at The WHistler
me: nice!
Kevin: it's in Logan Square
me: we have a work happy hour after school
so I probably won't be home til 530 or 6ish
Kevin: Sweet - would you want to go with me?
me: totally!
Kevin: or is your happy hour going to be like last time
me: no, its not

(Sidenote the "last time" Kev is referring to is the blizzard, when we knew we would have the snow day off. We got rowdy on a Tuesday, which is a foreign concept for teachers (and therefore spouses of teachers) and it was awesome)

The interwebs are a hard place to have a change of heart. I didn't see Kev last night because of his grad school, and therefore spent most of today trying to puzzle out whether he really wanted me to come meet up, or he needed space. The sad part of all of this is that it wasn't an issue either way. I was just confused because I couldn't read his tone over computer, and tried to back up because I didn't want to be the obnoxious wife tagging along. I ended up having an unexpectedly great night with my coworkers, and all was well.

The reason that I'm blogging about all of this now amidst a healthy buzz is because while relating my story about potential plans for this evening one of my coworkers looked at me and said "Wow, I didn't realize awkward moments still happened after marriage." Until she said it, I hadn't had that realization either. And you know what? It's all okay.

I'm good with the uncertainty, because it means my boy will be home later. I have the confidence and independence to make other plans because I have a safety net that will come home eventually, even if it means I will go to bed and see him in the morning. At this point, half of the fun of being out separately is that we can have a gossipy catch up tomorrow morning. Despite my sometimes misgivings, we thrive on letting each other make our own space separately. I feel this is one of the ways we have grown together the last year that we've been married. Awkward moments still do happen, and I'm getting better at embracing them as a wife. I've learned over time that the best part of being married is that I have someone who loves me for my awkwardness, and not for my constantly date ready state of preparation. Oddly enough, I'm good with that for now.

Happy Weekend!

MCP Project 52-Week 3

Yep, I'm behind, but I'm okay with it. Ideally, the challenge is designed to spend a week photographing a theme, and then posting your results. I haven't really gotten up the courage to submit any of my photos to the actual blog, mostly because the featured photos tend to be by professional photographers. You know, not teachers...real photographers.

Despite my insecurities, I am learning a lot from this challenge on my own. I've been using my Droid camera more, simply because I don't always have the space in my purse for my big camera. I've become one of those crazy people that stops in the middle of the street to whip out my camera and take a photo. The pics below are a mix of Droid snaps and pics with my big kid camera. Below, here are my interpretations of the theme "Shades of gray." I used this assignment to really look for interesting textures in the day to day of my life, with some interesting results.

From the walk to the train after work, these next few are taken with my phone cam:

Later in the week, when I was at home with the fancy camera:

Still in the mood for more gray? Check out the winning photos from the actual challenge here!

Oscar Commentary

Sunday night, after an eventful weekend in Madison toasting my sister's 21st birthday, Kev and I came home and flopped on the couch. Being the elderly folks that we are, we were exhausted from a weekend of trying to keep up with college kids while drinking. Luckily, the Oscars were on.

I love the Oscars, mostly for the outfits. I love to see what people are wearing, although I rarely watch the movies that are up for awards. (I did watch The King's Speech and loved every minute of it. Huzzah for Colin Firth.) Below, some actual texts exchanged between my mom and I during the show. We like to pretend we are Joan and Melissa Rivers.

Regarding this: (pic from starandstyle.com)

Me: Yikes on the Mila Kunis neckline
M: Looked like her boobs were tattooed. Your sister loved it.
Me: Definite tattoo0-age. Or pasties.

Later....
Me: Colin Firth better win or I will be in a snit.
M: A bloody snit?
Me: Indeed

Regarding Nicole Kidman's white dress and red shoe combo:
Me: Love Nicole's red shoes
M: Ugly dress though. At least Hugh is hot
Me: Kev just said the same thing. About Hugh.

On Oprah:
Me: Oprah has some hideous makeup
Mom: Oprah looks great. She's got some big girls! (Momspeak for boobs)

On Jennifer Hudson:
Me: Jennifer Hudson looks amazing. Love the color.
M: Holy cow. J Hud is beautiful. Implants?
Me: Real. She's the current weight watchers spokeswoman and has lost a crapload of weight. That color is unreal on her.
M: After this, they will all be signing up for WW tomorrow.

Back to Halle:
Mom: Halle rocks it every time.
Me: Agreed. Flawless.
Mom: Between our people mag talks and this text stream I've never felt so deliciously shallow.
Me: Agreed. Awesome way to power down the brain before the weekend ends.

Sometimes, it's great to have a mom and sisters. As much as I love my husband, I don't think he would have offered quite the running commentary I needed. Although he would have at least as many boob comments. Every married girl needs her ladies to keep it real.

Epiphany

I'm really good at to-do lists, as you can tell. I really, really like to color code them, and I spend some time each Monday making lists for the week. My problem, as you can see, is follow through. Again, I refer you to the picture above. I have crossed off only a few items, and it's shameful.

I bring this up because I was walking by a student of mine this afternoon while he was working with a specialist in the afternoon. As I passed, the student was wrapping his teensy fingers around another child's throat. Instantly, both his teaching assistant and I responded.

"J, say you are sorry. Make sure you tell the other person what you are sorry for. Remember, sorry means you are going to try your best not to make that mistake anymore."

Later...

"J, you can make better choices than that. I know you are upset about your punishment, but you chose that by the way you acted."

I sound GREAT when I am dishing out redirection to my students. Harder, is taking my own advice. So, here you go.

I am sorry for not completing the things on my to do list in a timely manner. I will try harder to use my time more productively. I am sorry to myself for making choices that stress me out because of how much I have to do, or lead me to neglect the many important relationships in my life in favor of things that are silly.

My epiphany today was a pretty big one. If I treated myself the way I treat my students, I'd dole out some tough love that would inspire change. If I followed my own advice, I'd be able to focus and take my time to do things the right way because I wouldn't constantly be rushing. I'd be able to use my time in more meaningful ways, whether it be spending time with friends and family or crossing items off my to do list. I am going to try harder to be the kind of person who really follows through. Hopefully, this public declaration will help.

I guess I'm pretty smart after all.....

Slow Down

I read a lot of thought-provoking things today. It all started with my morning Google Reader browse whilst I walked to the train. Rebecca from The Book Lady's Blog about the bankruptcy of Borders, and thoughts on where this leaves the book industry as a whole. I also finished Fahrenheit 451- a book I had never experienced before, and also deals with the questions of literature's value in a technology-driven world.

When thinking about Borders, and books, I often end up thinking about my job. I love my students immensely, and when I think about myself at that age, what I remember most are books. I'm not sure I can say the same for my students. While I don't think they will grow into the kind of adults that shun fiction and non-fiction in favor of wall-sized tv. However, I will say that I have had to encourage reading stamina in my students in a way that I'm not sure people my age had to be coaxed into. With my kids at school, we've practiced, over and over and over, the art of finding a quiet place to read, and several ways to read a book. I've timed the whole class many times to see how long we could read for. At the same time, in my personal life, I find myself making less time for reading and more time for other things. I catch myself refreshing my facebook over and over again, just to see if anything is new. I find myself now, on my Thursday date night with myself, with the tv on in the background, and even blogging has been difficult for me to maintain focus on.

Now, more than ever before, we as a society are making decisions from a wide menu of options. Will we internet browse? Catch up on the DVR? Text friends? Speed off to the mall or to town to check out the latest options there? I know after reading Rebecca's blog today, as well as the news coverage, I started thinking about the choices I am making with my time and my money. As we advance in technology, it is getting easier to ignore the power of books and education to help us make informed decisions. NCLB has made teaching a numbers game looking for results FAST. We use technology to help us find answers and to entertain us and to connect us FAST. We support big businesses because it is FAST. However, the really important things take time. Building reading stamina. Losing yourself in a book to find the answers you are looking for. Maintaining relationships with people you love, and continuing to hold them close as time passes. Holding yourself accountable for your life decisions. All slow things.

I'd like to challenge myself (and you) to build some slow, thoughtful habits. I'm hoping to use the long weekend coming up to become a more thoughtful decision maker. I'd like to slowly build more stamina to use the technology I have in a more thoughtful way, to spend some time in a quiet house with a good book each day, and to really connect with my husband and the many other people I love. I'd like to start spending my money in ways that allow me to connect with and support businesses and causes that are meaningful. I feel that making these changes, in my own small way, will help me to feel more at ease with the directions I see things moving in my career and in society. Slow down everyone, you're moving too fast.

Travel Through Food

I have a bad case of the February itchies. You know the ones I'm talking about. As far as I'm concerned the only good things about February are birthdays of many people I love and the fact that it's a short month. That's it. Right now I'm hungering for travel to places I can't quite afford. I'm yearning for sundress season, and I consider it downright offensive that Target, that mecca that is usually my happy place, is showing bikinis and sundresses right when you walk in. What jerks. Recent uncertainties about work have made me reluctant to book a trip for spring break, so I've turned to other comforts.

Namely, food. What is it about food that instantly takes us to an exotic place? Take last weekend, for example. On Friday, Kev and I ordered from a new Indian/Chinese restaurant that just opened not too far from my home. I ordered my standard Palak Paneer, threw on my sweatpants, and feasted. You know what? It legitimately helped. For an evening I wasn't stuck in the cold, worried about my job, or antsy to get out of the city I mostly love. The break in routine helps.

The best part, though, was definitely this:

I mean, who doesn't love a smiley on top of free samosas?

Saturday Kev and I went to a fancy dinner at a phenomenal place in the loop: Weber Grill. I had never been there, and it was a place that is usually out of our random dinners out price range. We dressed up, we ate steak and seafood, and we got Thanksgiving dinner full. After, we went to the always fabulous Les Miserables and lost ourselves in France for the evening.


I think this weekend and the fabulous food we ate really helped me turn a corner in my February blahs. No, my problems are not solved by any means. Yes, I would still love to be somewhere fabulous and warm and exotic wearing a free flowing uniform of sundresses and flip flops. Sometimes, though all it takes is a break in the routine, culinary and otherwise, to remind you that there are bigger things out there than the petty shit that may be bringing you down. I am better than the way these last few months has made me feel. I am stronger than the drama that has been cluttering my life. I am a fabulous person who can bloom in any climate, and I will make it through this winter and find my invincible spring inside. I am more kick ass than February, that's for darn sure.

Now excuse me while I go spread my awesomeness.

Being Tough is Hard to Do

February is a tough month around these parts. As a teacher, you're kind of stuck. The kids are crazy from having to stay inside in the subzero temps. The administration is freaking out about ISAT, next year, and insane amounts of data that don't always make sense. To add insult to injury, Target (and all of my other favorite stores) have started rolling out my adored sundresses and flip flops, and I'm still imprisoned in sweats that Kev could fit in and hoodies that transport fatty snacks. It's not an attractive time.

Yesterday, my friend E and I were discussing ways to get out of these winter doldrums, and we decided we needed some projects. We decided to do two polar opposite things:

1) Learn to crochet so we can make baby blankets for other people's babies. (Babies seem to be everywhere in my life. I swear, every time I load up my Facebook I see a new fetus in my feed. What's up with THAT?)

2) Try some new physical stuff. So today, we cashed in a Groupon that we had both bought ages ago and headed to boxing.

Yes, boxing. I can't even believe I did it. Me, who spends so much time at the arthritis clinic that everyone there knows me as "the young kid with the really nice blood" went to boxing. I knew I was in trouble when a beautiful, perky blonde girl with the most perfect calf muscles I had ever seen greeted me at the door and made me sign not one, but TWO waivers. I nervously asked her if she had any tips for newcomers.

"Oh no! This is the best place in the entire world and Robbie is THE BEST. You'll be fiiiiiiiine." she chirped. Her perkiness made me re-assess the situation. Here are the things I saw:

1) BOYS. I have never, ever been to a workout class with boys in it before. Sure, there's been the occasional muscular karma type dude in my yoga classes, and I've had an occasional greyhound hiding in the back of my spin class, but these were real BOYS. The kind who wrestle and drink beer and wear cutoff t-shirts and grunt while they do their knuckle pushups. They were warming up on bags right near mine. Yikes.

2) An Australian hyper man in red satin shorts swinging like an orangutang from the rafters our body bags were swinging from. Literally. Swinging. From. The. Rafters. Clearly, he had not been chasing kindergarteners around all day.

3) My terrified and crotchety eyes looking back at me in the mirror. I walked out of work crabby to the max today from work. Stupid state-mandated testing. Stupid people not believing in me. Stupid me not believing in myself. I was doomed.

I changed, then she grabbed my hands and started wrapping them. Then I got to wear the coolest things ever:

For the next 60 minutes, I huffed, puffed and punched a gigantic black bag. It almost knocked me over sometimes. I almost knocked it out sometimes. Through it all, a super spastic Australian man named Robbie prodded us onward while yelling things like "Higher! Kill it! Jab at the body, jab at the head! Men don't like love handles, but women HATE love handles! THROW AWAY YOUR LOVE HANDLES!" You know what? I loved it.

I walked out of that gym feeling better than I had in the last few weeks. I think I proved to myself that I could do it. And if I can box, I can certainly find a job that will make me happy, find the time to pay more attention to the details that escape me in every day life, and be a kinder person. I felt like I was going to die, I cheated on a few push ups, but I did it, and I want to do it again.

I tell you what, though, this being tough is really hard work. There were some really tough people in that class today, and I worked really hard to pretend to be tough too so that they didn't beat me up. Now I'm sleepy. Thank God for my snuggly clothes and well-loved blankets, because I'm pooped. Punching is HARD. Punching hard things is REALLY HARD. I feel the only way to remedy this situation is to sit on the couch, eat a pizza lean pocket, and call it a day with my favorite Teen Moms. After all, let us not forget it is Thursday. Our crochet project might be the way to go until these shoulders of mine stop aching. I wish they would stop tattling on me while I'm trying to hang on to my inner badass.

Oscar De La Hoya never had these problems......

Snow Mania

It has been really snowy up in here. Last week, Chicago got hit with its third biggest blizzard in its recorded history and it was awesome. I freaking love snow, and I also really freaking love that snow day feelings never go away no matter how old you are. Last week, I got not one, but TWO snow days (Wednesday and Thursday) and Kev got one work from home day, which was pretty quiet for him. Last night, we got another inch and a half of snow, and I was half an hour late to grad school because of it. Yeesh. I'm a little relieved that no snow is expected for the next five days, mostly because we are running out of places to put it around here. Not to mention people are downright surly about their parking spots. Let me give you some photos to illustrate.

I guess I can see why people would put chairs in their parking spots after digging this out....

I mean there was a lot of snow. Definitely too much snow for fun-sized people.

I will say, though, it makes things look extremely pretty. Especially at the end of the day.

And lastly, and most importantly, all this snow means I got to spend extra time last week with my hot boyfriend. As an added bonus, the internet was out at our place, which means we had a legitimate excuse not to do grad school homework. That's why we're smiling so big.

I must say, I really like the snow. If it's going to be this cold, we might as well get some beautiful snow out of it. Epic weather, battling the elements, and the unpredictability of what is coming are some of the reasons I love Chicago weather.

Although, I'd also like to put in a request to the Big Guy Upstairs. Can we please get about 1 inch of snow each week so it stays looking pretty? City snow gets ugly awfully fast....

2010 Reading Challenge: Numero Dos

So yeah, here comes part two. 5 whole days later. Ooopsies. My goal this week is to get caught up with posts I have planned, so if I inundate your feed, so sorry.

The second reading challenge I did last year was also fairly simple. I needed to read 10 award winners, from whatever prize I liked. I went into this a bit skeptically, but ended up reading some of my favorite books of the year as a result. Here are some down and dirty thoughts on what I read.

1) The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell- (Arthur C. Clarke Award) This book blew my mind. To this day, I'm not sure if I would recommend it, mostly because I'm still not sure that I have spent enough time thinking about it to come to my own conclusions. I loved it, but I definitely want to read it again to sort my feelings out and let the themes marinade more. On my re-visit list for summer. (Side note: my kindergarteners hate reading books more than one time, even though I try to convince them often that it's like spending time with friends. Maybe they're not buying it because of the rash of kicking sprees our "friends" in our class have been having lately. Yikes.)

2) Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (Costa Book Award) I really read this book mostly because it was chosen as the Chicago Reads book of the year. I love the concept of the whole city having one big book club, and while I didn't really end up discussing this book with anybody, it packed a quiet punch for being such a slim, easy read. The themes of immigration and reinvention made me think about my students and the reasons behind their moves, as well as the person I am growing into as their teacher. Still waters run deep in this one.

3) Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (National Book Award Winner)- I devoured this one during a rainy Saturday on a small lake in Wisconsin and loved it. I'm a sucker for literary fiction told from alternating viewpoints and I loved how McCann managed to develop his characters so well when each only narrated such a small portion of the book as a whole. I also loved that much of the book was about the World Trade Center pre 9/11. I'll be passing this one to my bookish friends for sure.

4) A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest J. Gaines (National Book Critics Circle Award) Generally, I dislike books chosen by Oprah for her book club, and for some reason, this one was no exception. One would think I would have loved this story, as I love reading about civil rights and racial struggles, as well as the power of education to make things better, but meh. The book dragged on a little for me, and it seemed to repeat itself a lot. I forced myself to finish this one. (Side note: I am an absolute book monogamist, and I almost always finish a book once I start it, even if I don't like the book. Blame it on the Catholic guilt.)

5) Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides (Pulitzer Prize Winner) I adored this book. I love a great sweeping epic novel, and this reminded me of one of my favorite authors in the genre, Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I know a lot of people who refused to give this book a chance because of its hermaphroditic plot, but I'm so glad that I wasn't one of them. This might be my favorite book from this challenge. Such passion. Such thoughtfulness. Such simplicity in the heartbreaking narration. Love. Love. Love.

6) Tinkers by Paul Harding (Pulitzer Prize Winner) I really didn't like this book. I feel like Harding tried to hard for gorgeous writing and sacrificed plot as a result. It jumped around between times too much for me, and some of the connections drawn between the main character and his father were kind of obvious. Blah.

7) Vernon God Little by Pierre DBC (Booker Prize) This was another book I went into with high hopes, but it fell short. I understand that it's supposed to be a satire of sorts, but it just felt gimmicky and strange. I also found it to be unnecessarily crude for shock value, which surprises me to say because I'm generally not a prude about such things. Meh. If you want a book that raises great questions about school violence, pick up The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb. The first book to bring me to tears as I finished it since I read Where the Red Fern Grows.

8) Oh. My. God. I don't think I labeled a book on my list as being Award Winner #8. I skipped straight from 7 to 9 in my records. Therefore, I'm just realizing now that I didn't actually finish this challenge at all but that I lied to myself. AGGREWRJAGOWJGHGGHAGJFGGGGGGGGHHHHHH. Epic fail. Maybe people are just skimming this and I'll still look super smart. On to......

9) The BLind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (Booker Prize) This was my first experience with Atwood, and I loved it. The twists and turns in the plot centering around two sisters were fantastic and left me shocked and gasping. I also loved that the narration was sprinkled with articles covering the fictional events in the plot. Atwood juggles first and third person narration with brilliance. I wish I had written this book. Maybe I can count this for numbers 8 and 9....

10) The Finkler Question. That dreaded question won the Booker prize this year, and I have to say, (and said it in the last post) I hated almost everything about that book. I was disappointed that it was so bad too, because my reviews of books that have won that award in the past were generally positive. Yeesh.

This will be the last of the bookish posts for awhile. Do people like them? Not like them? I personally am digging the little bite sized review formats for each book, because I like to save my in depth opinions for people who care to read such things or have read the book as well. Do people want more books? Less books? More of my silly life? More of my mediocre photography? Drop me a line and let me know.

Reading Wrap-Up 2010: Part 1

Yes, I know we are 1/12th of the way through 2011, but I needed a good chunk of time to compose my wrap-ups of the reading challenges that I did last year. This was my first foray into the world of reading challenges, and I loved both the requirements of the challenges I chose and the books that I was exposed to because of it. Without further ado, here are my notes on the books I read for the first challenge of the two that I completed last year. Want more reading updates? Friend me on GoodReads (username: nicolegas) or Twitter (@Colie025) for the latest scoops on my reading life.

The first reading challenge I signed up for over a year ago was the 2010 reading challenge. The premise of this challenge was simple: read 10 books published in 2010. I have to say that this was probably my favorite of the two reading challenges, because it exposed me to some great new books by authors I had never read before. Here's what I read:

1) Committed, by Elizabeth Gilbert- I expected to love this book, all about the institution of marriage and full of definitions of marriage by people from around the globe. However, my affection for this book was tarnished by Gilbert's grouchy attitude. Her whining about having to get married got tiresome after awhile, and I didn't find her thoughts totally genuine. Overall, kind of meh.

2) Imperfect Birds: A novel by Anne Lamott- I LOVE Anne Lamott and can't recommend her books enough. This book was no exception. The writing and characters were quietly gorgeous and lovely, the plot kept me engaged, and the powerful bittersweet themes of mistakes, redemption, drug use, and aging really packed a punch. Love, love, love Anne Lamott and this book.

3)The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Steig Larsson- The Millenium trilogy was one of the few sets of books that Kev and I agree on. i was less than impressed with the amount of graphic battle in the first two books, but the treachery and deceit in this book, plus the closure inherent in the book itself, made it my favorite of the three. I'm a sucker for secret government plots, and so this was right up my alley.

4) Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman- After reading this book, I really wanted to take Kerman out for a drink and chat her up. Her narration of prison life was breezy enough to make this feel like a vacation read, but there was enough emotional depth to make it academically engaging. I do wish that Kerman had talked a little more about what led to her imprisonment in the first place. Everyone likes hearing good girl gone bad tales.

5) House Rules by Jodi Piccoult- I am a sucker for Piccoult's books. Yes, I know they are a bit fluffy, and her writing is not the greatest, but the themes she writes about keep me coming back every time. This book, about an autistic boy accused of a crime was a good brain candy read, although her books are so stinking predictable it's ridiculous. Flew through it when I needed a brain break, and it served its purpose well.

6) The Handbook for Lightning Strike Survivors by Michelle Young-Stone- This book got a lot of hype by my web pal Rebecca, and rightfully so. It was my hands down favorite book I read for either of my challenges last year. I loved the characters, I loved the plot, and I have begged my bookish friends to read it, too. One of those rare books that I picked up and could not put down. Go get it. Please.

7) Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris- This book was awful. I forced myself to finish it out of respect for how much I love Sedaris normally but the unnecessary violence and sarcastic animal characters did nothing for me. I have no idea what purpose Sedaris was trying to achieve, but it didn't do it for me. Did I miss something here? Yikes.

8) The Marriage Artist by Andrew Winer- I received this book as part of LibraryThing's early reviewer program, and it was wonderful. I love a plot that twists and turns, and I love even more tales of complicated loves and mysterious losses. Lovely, heart wrenching writing and characters that were gloriously real and alive with faults, this was a great read.

9) Room by Emma Donoghue-There has been a lot of hype about this book. While I hated the phony narration of the main character, watching his mother's fight to keep them alive inside while locked in their own world was enough to make me read this entire book in one afternoon. I got sucked into this book the same way Law and Order: SVU always grabs me. How are there people in the world that would really do such things? How do victims cope? This one haunted me for a long time. Sidenote: Kev read it and never finished it. His hatred of this book was cause for some extremely spirited debate between us for quite some time.

10) The Finkler Question by Howard Jacobsen- If it hadn't been December and this book hadn't also been an award winner, which allowed me to double-dip with my other challenge, I would have never finished this book. I'm all for obnoxious book characters, but the main character in this book was so irritating that I found myself rooting against him. The book was overly long, tried too hard to have poetic language, and had characters who dragged the book down. Yikes.

Well, friends, there you have it. Look for upcoming posts about my second reading challenge of 2010, as well as the three (yes, 3) challenges I'm participating in this year. Happy reading!

Crazy Jobs

The talk of my crazy job today is the weather. Because Chicago is about to be hit with a crazy thundersnow of epic blizzarding proportions, school has already been canceled for tomorrow. Although we're not announcing it to the kiddos until closer to the end of the day, murmurs are afoot. I, for one, am just plain excited. Sure, this cancellation means that we'll have to make up a day at the end of the year, but right now is a miserable time to be at school, what with the darkness in the morning, the looming pressures of high stakes testing, and drama going on about job placement next year, so I'm happy to stay home in my robe reading books, catching up on homework, working out, and generally lounging.

This morning I was so excited about the snow that I bounded out of bed, which is a rather strange occurrence for a confirmed morning crabass like myself. Even more strangely, Kev was up and chatty at the same time, and we started talking a little bit about the many differences between our jobs. Kev noted that his bosses know that he takes the Metra to work, and that they would probably expect him to come in tomorrow regardless of weather. I voted that he lobby hard to "work from home."

I'm fascinated by people that can work from home, or people that have different jobs than mine. My favorite thing to do is to ask people about their jobs, which my husband and friends think is a terribly odd trait. However, it's a good reminder for me that not everyone's jobs come with the perks of snow days and summers off, but are also not full of whining kids and administrators who play favorites. Besides, if I didn't ask, I would have never found out about my friend who is a physician assistant. Her whole job is to assist with robot performed surgeries. Basically, she moves internal organs out of the way while a doctor uses a nintendo-like remote to guide a robot to perform precise surgeries.

That's freaking awesome.

So, moral of the story, I hope you remember today to try and find ways to value the positives of your job more than the negative, and to appreciate the people in your life who are unsung heroes in their jobs. This unsung hero will be home tomorrow, using her snow day to count the many reasons she loves her job. Happy Tuesday!

Around the House

Kev has class on Thursdays, which means that I spend Thursdays alone with whatever plans I make. This might make me the worst wife ever, but I sort of like the odd weeknight at home alone. Generally, I spend these nights on the couch with the cats and a book, avoiding my to-do lists and alternating between reading and watching my guilty pleasure tv that Kev abhors. (Strange side note: while Kev is a gigantic Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 fan, he will not watch more than 10 seconds of 16 and Pregnant. He says that actually seeing how young the girls are while they are physically pregnant gives him the creeps. I find this odd.)

Today, though, I finally did something I've not been making time for, and played with our new camera. Yes, for Christmas we were lucky enough to receive enough Amazon gift cards to make buying our dream camera. I am ecstatic, and true to my secret love of all things reading and research, spent some copious interweb time looking for some help getting my creative itch scratched. While I want to use my camera a LOT, I just don't think I'm ready for the traditional photo a day, 365 challenge. However, this blog has a great weekly photo challenge, and I figured that I could at least do that.

Or so I thought. Oops. Somehow, we are now on Week 4, and I spent tonight working on Week One's assignment. Big oops. So, while I'm hoping to catch up with the rest of my photo procrastinating this weekend, here are my favorite shots from Week 1's challenge: Around the House.



While I'm not crazy about my iron being in this shot, it does have three of my favorite things about our home in it: our orange curtains, our dining room light fixture, and our arched doorways. When I think about going home, this is one of the mental pictures I have.



This picture makes me laugh really hard because it so perfectly sums up Kev's and my eating habits. Top shelf full of tamales, lean pockets, chocolate and Ben and Jerry's: mine. Bottom shelf full of meat: Kev.



This picture was just born out of curiosity about shooting with no flash out a dark window. To me, it is Chicago. Porches, exposed brick, and kind of a strange finish. I also like the funk factor of my patterned scarf's reflection on the glass.



I love glasses. They just say "good times ahead" to me. Or maybe that's just the liquid I fill these guys with talking.



I'm not brave enough yet to attempt self portraits, but I kind of like the strangeness of my three paned bathroom mirror. It's sort of eerie, no? Definitely the scariest elbow I've seen all day.

Now if you'll excuse me, I am running late for my usual Thursday night Lean Pocket, pajama and pregnant teen Thursdays. TGIT.

Little Life Updates

I had a few whole big posts in the works, but then I realized that I probably won't have time today after school to do the kind of life update and reading update and photo updating that I'd like to, so those posts will have to wait for other days this week. For now, here is a teensy list of items floating around my brain.

1) I like the cold, but I wish you could exercise outside in it. I love the snow, and bundling up in blankets, and the sheer adventure of wondering if you will survive when you step out the door, but I wish it was bike riding season, or running season. I know people do both of those things in the winter, but I'm just not willing to risk my life in such ways.

2) Kev and I had a fabulous day on Saturday. We had no plans all day, hung out in our wicked awesome bathrobes (which truly do deserve their own post), read books, played video games, and went out on a fabulously wonderful date to the sushi place near our house, where we drank wine and solved the world's problems. I love my partner in crime.

3) Things have been tough at work lately. Without getting into it, there has been a whole lot of drama. Luckily, instead of letting it bring me down, I'm letting it give me the courage to explore my options and I'm finding some great ones. I've also found a support system of people I never knew were cheering me on ready to help. And of course, I have my man by my side (see #2) and a whole passel of friends to take my mind off things. Life is good, despite the mayhem, and I'm oddly grateful to be going through what I'm going through.

4) I have some kicking reading challenges lined up this year, which also deserve their own blog post, and I'm having a great time with them.

5) I also get to walk my Godpuppy today. He's a corgi and he's silly. More on that later.

6) I'm getting absurdly into the skinny jeans and boots look, although I have a strong belief that people need to wear butt-covering shirts with such apparel. I have seen far too many adult women running around without pants and it makes me uncomfortable. I like to choose whose buns I get to see and when I see them, thanks. What's with that, anyway?

Well, my friends, I know this wasn't much of a post after the two week hiatus, but given a terrifying to do list at work, homework, and a friend's birthday party tonight, it's the best you are going to get today. Happy Tuesday

Confession

I'm pretty sure that I'm going to hell....because of mixed nuts.

Let me explain.

Two years ago, our school piloted being a peanut free school. This meant no staff or students were permitted to bring any peanuts, tree nuts, or products with peanuts or tree nuts (like many granola bars) to school. We were told to abstain in order to protect the kids in our building who have allergies to these kinds of nuts. Students who brought items with peanuts (like peanut butter sandwiches) were forced to sit at a separate table away from the other students. All students had (and still have) to clean their hands with cleaning and de-germing wipes. Teaching assistants were turned into searching machines, sniffing out traces of nuts.

After some parent outcry, they lifted the ban last year, and we were "encouraged to abstain" from bringing nuts. We have big yellow signs on every door with notes from our district superintendent encouraging us not to bring these items to school. The kids are still wiping down before they start the day and at lunch, but now it's the allergy kids who sit at their own table (with friends who have sanctioned lunches).
As for me? I've become a nut felon. Most of the time, I try to eat according to a healthy eating plan, and this plan recommends that we eat a thumb sized serving of a healthy fat (like nuts or olives) after each meal. So, deep in the depths of the bottom drawer of my desk, which is inside the tiny office in my classroom, I have a jar of cashews and macadamias.

Although my nuts are hidden, I still feel guilty enough about this to devote a whole blog post to it. Why? I make sure to wipe down my hands after I eat the teensy serving of nuts twice a day, and none of the students that are in my classroom throughout the day are allergic. Most of the students in our school are allergic to peanuts, not tree nuts. And yet, I can't shake this guilty feeling.

Tell me your thoughts. Am I insane for feeling guilty about this? Or do I need a good punch in the face for eating my nuts so cavalierly? I need some outside perspective on this one.

2011

I was going to write a big blog post complete with a picture from each month of 2010, along with some thoughts. However, I realized something: we have big gaps (Jan-May, in particular) with NO photos. Yipes. So instead, here is my resolution for 2011:quiet focus.

In 2010, I feel like Kev and I really settled into being married. We stopped worrying about what our friends thought if we missed or made plans (were we weird because we were the only married couple and we still went out a lot? were we weird if we wanted to stay in?) We also started to really look towards our future. We both started grad school, we bought our condo, and we made more solid plans for our finances. We started eating healthier. We lost some weight. We gained some exercise. (By the way, I'm hoping to learn how to spell the word exercise right on the first try in 2011. It always takes me three tries. Exersize. Excersics. Exercise. Damn.)

You know what I learned in 2010? Growing up isn't half bad. I love the home we're building. I love watching our mish-mosh of college furniture slowly disappear as we hunt for the perfect items for our new place. I love talking about what we might be when we grow up. I love learning things from Kev, like how to jump a car. I love laughing at our 8 trillion weird jokes and arguing over the 8 trillion pieces of clothing all over our bedroom floor. I've realized that I love my life-and sometimes that means not worrying about where that makes me stand in relation to my friends. I'm always going to be awkward, and unique and different and strange. Because as Coco Chanel once said "to be irreplaceable, you have to be different."

So, for 2011, my goals are fairly simple. I want to get back to the goal weight I achieved this summer (damn you, Polish food, cookies, and oodles of wine that added 4 holiday pounds to my gut). I want to quit procrastinating, and focus on achieving a few meaningful things each day at work and at home, and I want to take a few pictures each week to remind myself how lucky I really, really am.

Happy 2011 to all of my family and friends. Whether I see you every day or once every few years, I'm blessed to have you in my life.

Ten Things for Tuesday

***I planned on doing a long post about what we did over break and New Years, but I'm tired from getting back to work and quite frankly sick of reading other people's posts about how they are too fat, so you're getting this instead.

1) I want to go to Florida to spend some time with my grandparents over spring break. The airfare is not cooperating with this plan. Boo hiss.

2) I'm playing a round of Game-On Diet with my co-workers to start 2011 off right. Fortunately, it's holding me accountable. Unfortunately, eating healthy serving sizes is leaving me STARVING after binge-ing all of break.

3) Today I had a great day at school! My two lowest students (who happen to be sisters) both showed flashes of brilliance today and used more English than I've heard them use before. Sometimes I think I have the greatest job in the whole world.

4) Kev had a major disappointment today. Oddly, it reminded me how much I adore him, because I hurt worse for him than I think he ended up feeling for himself.

5) I love the All-State Mayhem commercials. I still giggle every time I see the high school texting one. I want them to keep airing forever.

6) After a month-long hiatus, I went back to my normal routine of walking my former neighbor's dog. I opened the door and he came running to me. I think he was happier to see me after Christmas break than my students were.

7) I'm absurdly excited that Teen Mom 2 is going to happen. This show also makes me absurdly thankful that I didn't have a child when I was 16. Especially since that child would be 10 now. Yikes.

8) Kev has his 10 year reunion this summer. I'm already a little stressed about what to wear. I hope I can find a fantastic sundress for the occasion, especially since we went to the same high school and I'll know a majority of the people there.

9) I know a lot of people that think that Facebook has made high school reunions obsolete. This makes me sad. What about all the people that I don't stalk on Facebook? What about all the people that are going to appear much more or less normal in person than they do on Facebook? So many questions.....

10)I'm officially addicted to swap.com., which has yielded me a gigantic to-be-read pile that Kev is starting to comment on. I'd better finish my trashy vampire book tonight so I can start reading some big kid books again.

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Getting the Magic Back

It's that time of year, folks. Not Christmastime, not holidays in general. It's the time of year where my students start to drive me a little crazy.

Now, don't get me wrong. My kiddos are just as cute and hard-working as ever. Easily distracted by mentions of the upcoming holidays, sure, but mostly fine. It's me that's the problem. I'm frustrated that our winter benchmark scores aren't higher, worried about the ongoing evaluations I have to submit to as part of being a non-tenured teacher, and antsy for the two week long break that begins next week but still seems so very far away. Last week, I found myself getting downright snippy over stupid things. I even uttered the phrase "shame on you" to two of my students who were food fighting at snack time. Seriously, I said "shame on you" to two students who are still learning English and are clearly a few generations behind any person that would actually be shamed by that phrase. Except for me, of course. I shamed myself by using it. But I digress.

The good news is, I got my mojo back with my kids at the unlikeliest of places: a field trip. Today, we spent the whole kindergarten morning at the Chicago Botanic Garden Wonderland Express, and it was, quite frankly awesome. I had lots of parents show up to help supervise, the kids were fairly well behaved, and we were all in awe over the tons of model trains, hothouse plants, and Christmas trees that we saw. The museum even had a scavenger hunt bingo sheet for the kids to mark with stickers to help them focus on specific things throughout the museum. It was awesome.

Like married life, I sometimes find myself looking for ways to keep the magic alive with my kids. Spending 8 hours a day with tiny, pesky, humans is a lot. Sometimes it's easy to see their flaws instead of what they are: developing humans who are learning one day at a time to make their worlds better. Days like today remind me that when I find myself in a rut with them, that it's time to start something new, so that I can see the best sides of them. One of my naughtiest kids even begged me to sit by him on the bus today, and asked me to hold his hand throughout the exhibits. Say it with me: awwww.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed and bored with the routine. It's easy to take the people in your life, both under and over five feet tall, for granted. It's harder to do something unexpected, to break out of the norm and shrug off the responsibilities for a day to get out there and remind yourself why, exactly, you continue to fight so hard for the people that you have in your life. But it's so, so, worth it.

I think I might even survive these next three days :)

It's Really Here!

Well, folks, I'm writing to you today from the comfort of my couch, where I have been laid up with some sort of heinous stomach virus for the last 24 hours. I would have posted sooner, since I have lots of time on my hands between trips to the bathroom, however I thought that the N key was broken on my computer. Luckily, I whacked it really hard, and it seems to be working. nnnnnn. Yep, we're good to go.

Christmas season has arrived and arrived hard at the Gas house this year. We're stoked. Gifts have been purchased and requested. As usual, my gifts to Kev are probably going to be my favorites that I buy for anyone in my family. He doesn't like to give me a lot of hints as to what he wants, which I take as a personal challenge, however I think I usually guess well. I'll catch you up on what I got him after Christmas, of course.

I'm not going to lie, the first few Christmases Kev and I spent together were kind of tricky. There were a lot of negotiations about scheduling (as in: we can miss Christmas morning at my house to go to your house, but then I will NOT miss Christmas Eve at my Grandmas, etc.) There were also a lot of awkward figuring out of roles. Should I bring a beverage or dish the way real adults do? Do I claim a seat at the kid table even though I married into this family? Why are Kev's cousins making fun of me because I volunteered to help with the clean-up? Tricky business. However, I feel like we've settled in a bit. This is the third Christmas I'll be celebrating with both sets of parents, and we've fallen into a rhythm.

What this means is, I've decided that this is the Christmas that we're going to extend to our home. Now that we have a home that we'll be in for the next 5+ years, we're decorating. Stockings are up. We have a teensy tree that the cats miraculously haven't ruined yet, and I demanded that we celebrate St. Nicholas night on December 6th and fill each other's stockings. Every year since we've been dating, we go downtown to see the Daily Center Christmas tree. Slowly, very slowly, we're inching into building traditions of our own. While Kev thought I was kind of strange at first for demanding a tree and St. Nick's night, he agreed Sunday night after opening stockings that he loved it, and it's something we need to keep. Starting little traditions between the two of us has so far been one of the best things about being married. It confirms once again that I have a partner in crime. It's weird, and adult-ish, but also super fun.

Did anyone else need to take some time to get into a Christmas rhythm with their other half? Do any of you have a holiday tradition or event that you would demand a significant other to participate in? Or are we crazy? Let us know.

Blessed

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays, and this year was no exception. Fun with my crazy siblings (home from college), our crazy college friends (home from being adults) and spending quality time with the crazy adults that played a large part of my childhood (explains a lot about me). However, a few things happened last night that made me really feel how lucky I am. First of all, we put up our very first tree together. It's a 4 foot tall fake one, and we don't have any ornaments to put on it, but a little ribbon and some dollar store glitter globes did the trick. We also put up our stockings (new from last Christmas) and are getting ready to find a home for the beautiful manger my grandma has bought us. That's actually a good story...for another day.

A family that we are excellent friends with has been hit by a tragedy, and we found out about it last night. The contrast between the sad texts and the happy environment really reminded me how lucky I am for the following:

-Laughter every day
-Knowing every day that I am loved, sometimes for good reasons, and sometimes for no reason at all
-a home that is safe and comfortable
-friends from all walks of life
-my education, even when I complain about it (ahem, grad school)
-the fact that I get to educate others
-stupid kittens that snuggle and entertain
-financial stability in these uncertain times
-a job that challenges, frustrates and inspires me, all daily

Happy Holidays! There's lots to be thankful for, and not just on Thanksgiving. Chances are, if you are reading this, you're on my thankful list. So thanks, just for being you.

Great Escape

Last weekend, Kev and I went to the wedding of two awesome friends of ours. The groom had stood up in our wedding, and we adore both of them. Even better, we've known then for a very long time, so we were able to sneak out to the suburbs for a weekend of behaving poorly and dancing the night away.

We came back early on Sunday, since we had grad school homework to do and a house to get in order. As we walked up our courtyard, it appeared that the screen of our second-story living room was out. "Yikes," I said to Kev, "I really hope that the screen doesn't have a big hole in it." "I know," said Kev, "Otherwise the kitties would be very cold."

We walked into the lobby of our building to find two things. 1) Our screen, and 2) a sign.

FOUND CAT (LOBBY)
ORANGE AND WHITE
LARGE

We walked in and hunted around our place. There was Dante, hissing beneath a couch and being his generally crochety self. No Felix. Disturbing, since the only route of escape would have been out the SECOND STORY WINDOW.

We called the number on the sign and walked into the condo of the woman across the hall. We'd never met before. Turns out, we'd never met because she is a cat woman in every sense of the word. Embroidered cat pillows, framed cat wall art, three cat condos all taller than I am, six cats. I couldn't even look at Kev while we were in there. It was amazing and terrifying, all at the same time. Last but not least, hiding in her bathroom, Felix.

In the weeks since, Felix has seemed fine, although I doubt we'd be able to tell a difference from his usual stupidly happy behavior. Moral of the story: While you are off behaving irresponsibly in a hotel, your cats will behave irresponsibly at home. Being a pet owner is not for the faint of heart.

Ways I Know I'm Getting Old

-I have a headache spawned from work stresses, not booze.
-I'm thinking about going to bed at 9:45 to remedy this problem, rather than going out to a bar. Because again, it's some sort of strange sober headache.
-I am only on page 72 of a book I started a week ago.
-I've worn heels out to events without people calling me ahead of time demanding that I do so.
-I saw one of my second grade students wearing a neon comic-book print rain slicker with aviators and plaid pants. I told him he looked like Elton John. He responded "Who's that?"
-I just heard that New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys are touring together and performing mash-ups of their greatest hits. I squealed in delight while driving my Focus.
-I'm going to a wedding this week, which made me realize that if I am ever the head bridesmaid at a wedding, I will be known as the "Matron of Honor." Ew, ew, ew.

Somebody help me.

The Joys of Photography

Recently, we went to Vegas for our friends' wedding. They had an awesome, low key ceremony that was perfect for the two of them, and as a wedding gift, we borrowed one of Kev's coworkers' fancy shmancy camera so that we could commemorate their big day. Before taking the camera to the Vegas wedding, Kev, his dad, and I headed up to Minnesota to visit Kev's younger siblings at college. I spent an afternoon with the camera and I am now officially addicted. As previously mentioned, I'm trying to become more of a creative, artsy person, and I feel this may help. Unfortunately, the camera is way out of our price range, so I guess I'll just have to post wistfully about how awesome having it was, and then hope somebody reads this and takes pity on me. Preferably somebody with a generous heart, a softness for chatterboxes like myself, and lots of cold, hard cash.

I mean, this camera takes very relaxing pictures of tress:


It also takes pictures of delicious grapes at vineyards:



It can document snazzy fashion choices:


Best of all, it has a multi-frame feature which allows you to take multiple shots with a single push of the button. This option is especially helpful for archiving important moments in sporting events. For example, when Kev's dad out putted Kev in frisbee golf:


That last photo alone should be enough evidence. Have I convinced you that I need this yet?

Halloween Madness

It's the Friday before Halloween, which, for my students, means a day of insanity and catwalk-like presentations of their costumes. The world of kindergarten has been an exhausting place lately. I've had a crier in my room every day this week, and a terrible hacking cough has been circulating around my room, which actually makes me grateful for my overzealous immune system. I'm currently writing this in my empty classroom, surrounded by cupcake shrapnel, while the shrieks of the neighboring over-sugared first graders pierce the walls.

Overall, it was a very exciting Halloween party, complete with skeletons made from Q-tips, toilet paper mummy wraps, and a parade around the school. The funniest part about working at a school with a young staff, though, is that we were all secretly whispering about our "grown up" costumes. You know, the costumes that no child should see a teacher wearing. You know, the costumes that remind us that there is life beyond purple glue sticks, keds, and parent teacher conferences. The trend for girls seems to be to dress slutty, which doesn't exactly translate to grade-school friendly adult attire, which means most of us have a "school" costume and a "real" costume. I settled for a pair of butterfly wings with jeans and a t-shirt. My kids told me I looked gorgeous, and I was comfortable enough to endure the treat induced tantrums.

Grown up costuming, on the other hand, is another story. I'm not really into the scandalous thing, and now that I'm married, I really don't see the point. After all, Kev has this locked down. Kev has also announced that he has no interest in dressing up this year, even though it is a good friend's birthday and we will be at a bar celebrating all night. I still have no idea what to be, although I can give you a list of suggestions I gave to Kev about dynamic duo costumes for the two of us, including Coach Q and the Stanley Cup, a Ghostbuster and Slimer, and a lawn gnome and a landscaper. I'll let you figure out who would be whom in each pairing. After a hearty veto from Kev on all counts, I'll be spending the next 24 hours whipping up something awesome. Something.... I just don't know what yet...

Kev and I were out of town the last two weekends in a row, so look forward to some excellent photo recaps this weekend of our adventures.

Happy Halloween!

Itch (the good kind)

I've decided lately that I need a hobby. Or rather, I'm itching to create something tangible. Like a knitted hat, or a fabulous meal, or a series of thoughtful photographs.

Kev has always been the more creatively talented of the two of us. He took years of art classes as a kid, and has some astoundingly beautiful drawings and paintings to his name. He's also a suspiciously good athlete. He hides it well, but he is. It seems like anything that guy touches, he's good at. It's one of the many reasons I married him.

I, on the other hand, am the queen of big ideas. I love to sign up for things or start things, but I rarely finish them. This is a major problem for me, and probably contributes to my lack of really cool talents. Sure, I'm a decent teacher, and I can write things that make a bit of sense, but that's about it. Sports? I'm a disaster. Art? My kindergarteners routinely do better. Crafts? Forget it. The only thing I'm really talented at is setting a goal. Meeting it? That's another story.

I'm going home today to bake some pumpkin cookies, and this weekend Kev and I are going up to his brother's college to visit him. At said beautiful small college, we will have the chance to take lots of outdoorsy photos, which I'm hoping to frame and stick on our wall above our purdy new couches. Maybe, just maybe, if I continue with one of these options, I can start a new hobby.

I have a creative itch that I'm looking to scratch, but I fear this may take some work and practice, two things I don't like. As I'm typing this, I'm realizing I may need to start small. Maybe I'll take my camera out once a week, and I'll bake or cook something new once a week. Maybe it will get easier if I start small. Maybe I will follow through on these resolutions.

Maybe I'll even post about it someday soon....

Señor Justin Bieber

Yesterday, I was walking down the hallway when I spotted one of my first grade friends. She is a teensy Mexican girl in our transitional bilingual program, and I love her because she always has a smile on her face. I happened to notice that she had a large picture taped to the inside of her locker, something that is kind of a rarity among six year olds, since they are generally not as pop-culture savvy as some of the older students. Not this peanut, though.

Not seeing the picture, I asked my friend who was in the picture in Spanish. She didn't miss a beat. Replying back in Spanish, she said "You know him, Mrs. G. Es el señor Justin Bieber. Claro." Of course, indeed.

This makes me laugh for several reasons
1) Justin Bieber is 16. He definitely has not earned the title "Mr. Justin Bieber" yet
2) Justin Bieber is so popular that even a six year old that hasn't yet learned English knows him and loves him enough to put in his locker.
3) I missed an opportunity to ask her to sing me a Justin Bieber song.
4) Somebody signed the Justin Bieber photo in a suspiciously elementary school looking style of cursive. Perhaps a third grader?
5) She used the word "claro" which means of course. Implying that I must be really stupid for not knowing that he would be in her locker.

Wow. Just, wow. The best thing I can say about my job is that it is never, ever, boring.

Think Before You Wed

Hi All! Sorry for the lack of posting lately. Grad school has started again and I was in a bit of a pickle at work that was eating my soul. Luckily, I've given myself a mental pep talk, turned the corner, and now I'm off and running again. I promise more posts this week, but in the meantime, here are some thoughts for today.

Last weekend, I had a girls night with some of my co-workers, one of whom has been dating her boyfriend for 18 months. Somehow, we started talking about how you know if the person you are dating is the person you will marry. Represented in the group were women who had been married anywhere from 4 months to 8 years, so I feel we had a somewhat wide range of experiences to work with. I get asked all the time how Kev and I knew we were ready to get married. I'd like to tell those of you pondering that question that there was one magical moment that made me realize that I wanted Kev to be mine forever, but the truth is a lot more complicated. I can't point to any one thing that makes Kev perfect for me, but I do have a little checklist that the ladies and I came up with that may help.

10 Signs You Should Probably Put a Ring On It:
1) The person you are dating is the first person you call with good or bad news. Or irrelevant news. Or puns. Or for no reason at all.
2) Running errands with that person is something you enjoy doing. Because if you get married, you will have a lot of conversations about boring things, and need to make a lot of mundane decisions (which brand of cat litter to use, should you upgrade your toilet plunger, etc.) together.
3) You would be happy to spend the rest of your life with the person you are dating TODAY. Believe me, the person you walk down the aisle towards will not magically change with the signing of a legally binding piece of paper. When you get married, you will still have the same blessings and problems that you did before you took the plunge. Trust me on this.
4) You have a good belly laugh with that person every single day.
5) You have woken up next to each other and not been grossed out.
6) You can tease your significant other, but damn it if someone else makes a joke that hits a little too close to home, you ferociously defend that person.
7) You've talked about money and can live with the fallout from that conversation. (Side note: Kev had no idea that women's haircuts usually cost more than 20 bucks. He still fails to understand why I refuse to get my hair cut at Supercuts with me, or why I shop at stores besides Kohls for my clothes.)
8) You realize that this person will be your plus one to almost all the events you go to, and it doesn't make you cringe. This includes family events, weddings for people neither of you really like, and extremely boring and shmoozy work functions.
9) You've eaten each other's cooking and lived to tell about it.
10) You realize creating a healthy marriage and creating a beautiful wedding are not the same thing.

Now tell me, what am I leaving off the list?