Homecoming 2006

I've made it through my second Homecoming week as Student Government Association co-sponsor, and this year I was actually here for the weekend festivities. Last year I missed Friday and Saturday for Beth's wedding. Since I spent between 70 and 80 hours coordinating Homecoming over the past 3 weeks, I thought I would give you guys some details about what I've been up to.

The SGA kids are responsible for planning each of the categories below. We split them up into committees to take care of all the details, and it is our job as co-sponsors to oversee everything and make sure it gets done. For each category I've listed the basic responsibilities of these committees and written a re-cap of how they went this week.

Spirit Week:
-Establish rules for the decoration of hallways by each class and organization in the school
-Find teachers to judge the hallways (we give $300 to the group with the best hallway, $200 to 2nd place, and $100 to third)
-Coordinate spirit days and get them approved by the administration
-Publicize spirit days
-Find teachers to judge the spirit day outfits each lunch period (we give $20 to the best outfit each day)

Here is a picture of me and Erin on Twin Day. Spirit Week at Northern is my favorite week of the year because EVERYONE gets involved. I can remember it being fun at West Linn, but our kids go crazy. They spend weeks figuring out what their costumes will be. Monday was Lazy Day (pajamas), Tuesday was Superhero Day (I was Wonder Woman), Wednesday was Twin Day, Thursday was Blast From the Past Day (I was the 60s), and Friday was Spirit Day. The kids stay up all night Thursday finishing up their outfits for Spirit Day and if you're not wearing red, white, and blue, you are harshly ridiculed. I love it.

Pep Rally:
-Coordinate pep rally games and choose contestants from all 4 grades and the faculty
-Choose 2 MCs from the senior class to host the event
-Sell tickets for $1 at lunch during spirit week
-Write the script and minute by minute itinerary of what will happen in the pep rally
-Work with athletic director to ensure all fall athletes will be introduced

Last year our pep rally was cancelled because the seniors vandalized the football field the night before. This year we didn't have any vandalizism (possibly because we installed security cameras), but we had to contest with the weather. Our gym doesn't hold all the students, so we have to have the pep rally in the football stadium. It was supposed to rain, but the rain held off until the last 5 minutes of the rally. The kids did a great job and everything was perfect. I was completely deprived of sleep and kind of brain dead at this point from all the work we'd been doing, but hearing them all scream at the top of their lungs when their graduation year was announced reminded me why I wanted to teach high school in the first place. The Homecoming pep rally is a huge deal because it's the only one the kids have all year (I guess because of the gym problem). I was really glad we got to have it and that it went so well.

Elections:
-Determine dates for nominations and final elections
-Distribute ballots to the English teachers and collect them (twice: nominations and final)
-Count all the nominations by hand
-Count the final ballots via Scantron machine
-Order one set of sashes to be worn by the nominees during spirit week, the corsages to be worn at halftime of the football game, and the sashes, tiaras, crowns, and flowers to be given to the winners at halftime

Because I am an English teacher and we do the elections in our classrooms (everyone takes English), Elections kind of falls entirely on my plate. The English teachers like to bitch and moan about giving up 15 minutes of their class time to let the kids vote, and it really annoys me that they can't see how important it is to the kids. However, this year I coordinated a new system that seemed to make it easier on everyone and they were pleased with how it went.

Parade:
(We should probably change the name of this committee to "Halftime Show" because now that we can't have floats driving on the track, it's not really a parade)
-Contact the Cheerleaders, Band, Poms, and ROTC to determine their participation in the halftime show
-Write the script to be read by the announcer
-With the assistance of the Elections committee, hold a rehearsal for the halftime show with the members of the Homecoming Court
-Contact the Homecoming King and Queen from both the previous year and 10 years prior to assist in crowning the winners this year
-Oversee the halftime show to ensure that everything goes as planned

This was my first halftime show since I wasn't at the game last year. First the marching band performed, then the poms and cheerleaders. Then the ROTC kids do some kind of drill prior to forming an arch with their swords for the court to walk through. This year, instead of having the kids walk out onto the muddy field as they've done in the past, we had the nominees stand on the track in front of the stands. It worked out really well because that way their parents and friends could see them and take pictures. It was raining fairly hard during the football game, but everything went almost as planned. We all lined up on the track and found out that ROTC was nowhere to be found, so we had to frantically locate them and get them lined up. However, to everyone else, I'm sure it seemed like it went perfectly. The King and Queen the kids chose are both active members of SGA and great kids, so it was a lot of fun for me to see them win. I knew the results ahead of time, so I was watching their faces. Both of them were so shocked and excited that I couldn't help but be thrilled for them..

Dance Details:
-Contact rental companies for tables, chairs, and punch fountains
-Coordinate a list of teacher and parent volunteers
-Design the tickets
-Determine dates of ticket sales and publicize them
-Order food and beverages and their delivery

Dance Decorations:
-Choose a theme and order appropriate decorations from the catalogs
-Organize a schedule of decoration sessions in the 3 weeks prior to the dance
-Oversee the decorating sessions to ensure things are assembled properly
-Keep track of how many hours each member spends at decorating sessions (each member who spends 18 hours helping earns a free homecoming ticket)

I have never seen a school that decorates for a Homecoming dance the way we do. It is unreal, and I don't think anyone outside of SGA has any idea how much time we spend on it. Below are pictures of our gym after the decorating was finished and before we started.















To execute this look, we first suspend the tent-like ceiling (made of strips of gossamer) from the rafters of the gym in the center. Then we have to run wires about eight feet high around the perimeter of the basketball court, to which the edges of the gossamer ceiling are stapled. To everyone who doesnt know how it's made, it looks like it is floating. Then we run wires around the walls and hang the black tarps. The floor is 4 pieces of tarp, and we have to lay them down, stomp across them in every direction, and duck tape them to the floor. These things alone takes an entire day (approximately 12 hours of work). Then we start moving in the decorations we've been working on after school for 2 and a half weeks prior. We order most of these from catalogs and despite how huge they look in these pictures, they all come in tiny flat boxes. There is a TON of assembly required. These decorating sessions drive me absolutely crazy because evidently I am a) extremely crafty, and b) extremely good at ascertaining what directions mean. The kids have so much trouble figuring out what they are supposed to do that it takes what feels like FOREVER to do everything. Inevitably, something gets messed up and my co-sponsor I end up having to fix it somehow. The kids try really hard, and they put in a ton of hours, and things always end up looking great. However, it really stresses me out that other people struggle so much with what seem (to me) like simple tasks. We have to decorate the large gym where they dance (the place we have the tarp, ceiling, and walls) and the small gym where they can sit down to eat and drink punch. This means we spend about $5000 on decorations each year and put in countless man hours assembling them. This year's theme was "A Night on the Nile," which turned out to be kind of hard to put together, but the decorations looked cool even if they weren't all particularly Egyptian.

I guess the black thing is some kind of Egyptian Castle? I didn't know there was such a thing. The fountain in the middle, however, actually spouted real water that we lit up, which the kids loved. The bluish purple thing is some other kind of castle. You can also make out the pyramid centerpieces on the tables, which I thought were a nice touch.




This thing below with the white posts looks more Arabian to me than Egyptain, but oh well. Then we have our pyramid, our waterfall and river , and some kind of egyptain looking arch that is kind of hard to see in the picture. I don't know if the Nile has any actual waterfalls, but this one looked pretty cool because we had a blue flood light under that white gossamer. When the lights were out, it was glowing blue. That arch thing fell down about 20 minutes into the dance, so it became a refuge for all of the shoes, cell phones, and digital cameras.

Above is a picture of me with two of my favorite kids, Wyatt and Brittany. Together we spent an entire day creating this Sphinx. First we had several pieces of black cardboard that had to be taped together. Then we had to glue gold cardboard over the top of it. Then we had to cover the gold with spray adhesive and attach two layers of black gossamer. Then we had to tape huge roles of white paper to the wall (as big as the sphinx), and I had to use an overhead projector to make the image big enough on the wall so I could trace it onto the paper. Once I finished that, we had to tape the white paper on top of the black cardboard/gold cardboard/black gossamer. Then we had to use exacto knives to carve out the lines I had traced and peel away the black gossamer to reveal the gold cardboard beneath. As you can see, there were a lot of lines. Who ever designed this stupid thing? The kids insisted on taking a picture with me in front of it after we finished it at about 10:30 on Friday night (this explains why Brittany is wearing her Homecoming Queen tiara and cheerleading sweatsuit). Although it was a huge pain, it turned out looking great and the two of them told me that everyone was talking about how it was the best decoration. Plus, these two kids are a lot of fun and (like the pep rally) reminded me why I like high school kids. This year my freshmen are driving me out of my mind, so spending all this time with the older kids has reassured me that I've chosen the right career.

Below are the decorations in the small gym (refreshment area). Whatever this purple thing thing is was definitely our best set of decorations. It certainly looked the most Egyptian and the kids loved it. Originally the kids just had these columns lined up against the wall, but after I suggested adding twinkle lights, the stars on the wall, and the gossamer draped from the tops of them, they turned out looking pretty cool.















To get to the point at which these pictures were taken, we spent 2.5 weeks holding decorating sessions after school. On Wednesday afternoon, we got into the gym and stayed until 10. Then we were in there all day Thursday until 10 and all day Friday until 10:30 (excepting the pep rally and football game). We were there from 8-2 on Saturday, at which point we finally finished up and let the kids go home to get ready for the dance.

The dance itself was great. It was definitely one of those things where the kids have no idea how much is going on because they are in their own little world on the dance floor. It was quite an eventful night for the two of us as sponsors because each of the following things happened. One kid from a nearby high school was arrested. He and his friend tried to get in without tickets and were turned away, and then Sgt. Titus (our police liason who attends all dances) was notified by our parent chaperones that someone was tampering with the back door. He discovered these same two kids trying to break in and noticed that one of them was drunk, so he was handcuffed and taken away. Somebody started a rumor that there was ecstasy in one of the punch bowls, so we had to set that one aside and alert Sgt. Titus. We had a kid who picked his nose until it bled (this is what a student sitting nearby told me) and he bled all over the floor before someone came and told us. We also nearly burned the place down. I started smelling something burning, so I grabbed one of the police officers and we discovered that a girl had set her sweater down on top of a flood light. Good idea! There were no flames (thankfully) but it had burned a smoldering hole in her sweater. It was a pretty nasty smell.

Despite all of these things, the dance was a huge success. One thing I've noticed since I began my chaperoning career at Northern is that the kids start leaving about halfway through the dance, and by the end, almost no one is left. Last night almost everyone was there all the way to the end, so I took that to mean they were having a great time. I loved it because the kids had worked so hard pulling it all together, and then they got to see all their friends and classmates enjoying it all. It is always fun to see my students all dressed up and excited to introduce me to their dates and all of that. Although I was quite loopy by the time I actually got to the dance, I really felt like all of the hard work had been worth it. It seems like such a big time committment to make for just one night, but I realized that if I have to put in 70 hours for 1000 kids to have 4 hours of great fun, I will keep doing it. We sell the tickets for $20, so that means we make $20,000 and about $13,000 after paying for decorations and food and all of the spirit week prizes. Now we get to do the next fun thing, which is figuring out what we're going to do to give that money back to the school. Last year we purchased a covered bus stop for the kids to sit in when they're waiting for their rides to pick them up after practice and games and stuff. This year I think we might buy a new sound system for the football stadium.

I got home around midnight last night and had to be back at school at 9am to clean it all up so P.E. can be held in the gym tomorrow morning. We were all there until about 2 today getting everything put together. Overall, I love the experience because the kids are great and I have a lot of fun with my co-sponsor (even if she is a little out of her mind). However, I am sure glad I have a whole nother year before we have to go through it again!!! Our principal has been commenting all month about how organized we have things and how this Homecoming is going more smoothly than anything in the past. If all this work doesn't buy me the right to stop teaching freshmen next year, he and I are going to have a serious talk! : )

My Summer Vacation by Ms. Chambers

What a week it has been! We spent the first full week of August in Ocean City, MD with Billy's family. He has been really looking forward to it for months because his family used to vacation there every summer when he was young. He hasn't been back during the summer since high school, so I was really excited to go with him and experience all the things I've heard about both from him and my students. The condo his family rented was right on the beach, so we went right down to the beach each day after eating a big breakfast. The first four days were beautifully warm and sunny, and the ocean was also warm enough to enjoy. Our last two beach days weren't quite as picture perfect, but we were still able to spend some time down on the beach. We also went out to dinner a few times and went to the "White Marlin Open," a contest to catch big game fish out in the atlantic. We got to see them weigh in a whole bunch of different fish, and a big 500 lb blue marlin was laying on the sidewalk from before we arrived. It made me think of "The Old Man and the Sea" and I am looking forward to sharing the program with my students this year to help them get a visual of what the different fish look like. We were there for my birthday, as well, and Billy's family got me cake and ice cream along with cards to celebrate. When I got home I also got to pick up all the cards I received from friends and family around the country, which was exciting. Birthdays don't seem quite as exciting now that I'm older, but my favorite part is definitely getting all the cards in the mail and knowing that people remembered and were thinking about me.

All in all, the week was the perfect way to close out my summer vacation. I was glad to get to spend time at the beach with Billy and find out that going to the beach (albeit on different coasts) is a favorite memory of childhood for both of us. All week I kept noticing how the beach there was similar or different as compared to the beaches in Santa Barbara... for example, there's no kelp there but there are jellyfish, and the sandcrabs look the exact same but the ones we found here were much bigger. I missed Oscar during the week, so the only slightly exciting thing about leaving Ocean City and returning home this past Saturday was getting to pick him up at the kennel.

He made it an interesting weekend for us, however. When we picked him up at the kennel, they said he had been great all week, but we could tell immediately that something was wrong. He was very melancholy and when we got home, he didn't want to eat, which is normally his favorite part of the day. He seemed to have trouble getting comfortable and we got really worried that something was seriously wrong with him. We took him to the vet, who determined that he was very constipated, which is why he wouldn't eat and didn't feel well. He gave us some special food to feed him, helped him with the constipation a bit, and sent us home for Oscar to get better. However, he got much worse. He started throwing up repeatedly anytime he drank water, he still wouldn't eat and couldn't get comfortable, and his energy just got lower and lower until we were really worried about him. The vet isn't open on Sunday, so we had to wait until Monday morning to take him in. Oscar was dehydrated by that point, so he had to spend the day at the vet getting fluids and other procedures to try to fix his extreme constipation. He still hadn't pooped by the time we brought him home, so the vet suggested that if we couldn't get him to poop at home overnight, he would need to do an x-ray to determine if surgery was necessary. He didn't poop last night and still seemed pretty low so we were really worried that he was going to have to have surgery, which besides being dangerous would also have been very expensive. Luckily, this morning right before we were due to leave for the vet, he started taking bites of food again and then passed the obstruction in his colon. Almost immediately he started acting more like himself and continues to improve throughout the day.

So... tomorrow I go back to work. We have these 3 days for "pre-school staff meetings" and prep time in our rooms, then Monday I have freshman orientation, and Tuesday classes start for real. I am looking forward to becoming a productive member of society again and it will be interesting to see how things go with this 'freshman academy' I'm involved in this year. I will keep everyone posted and given the nature of freshmen, I'm sure I'll have plenty of funny stories to tell of their naivete. The only thing I am NOT looking forward to is again waking up to an alarm. I have prepared myself for tomorrow's commute by purchasing the new Christina Aguilera CD (which came out today) and refusing to listen to it until I'm on my way in the morning. : )

Ya, Mon!

A few weeks ago Billy's parents, Chuck and Patti, celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. While we went out to dinner and had a family get together for them, they decided over the winter that rather than having a large party they'd like to take the family on a cruise, something none of us had ever done. Patti's friend Kathy and her husband Rich, who Patti and Chuck have known since they were young, are also celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. They have two sons that are Billy and Brian's ages, so Patti and Kathy decided to take everybody on one big cruise vacation together. That meant 6 people in each family and thus 12 people total. Our 6 were Chuck and Patti, Billy and me, and Brian and his girlfriend Casey. Kathy and Rich brought their sons Matt and Mark, along with Matt's wife Sam and Mark's girlfriend Krista. We have been planning and looking forward to the cruise since mid-way through the winter, which I realized is longer than I'd ever had any trip planned. It was also going to be one of the few real "vacations" I have ever been on. So here goes my best attempt at describing what we did and how much fun we had... to see the first set of pictures, visit this link

Day 1: July 3
Baltimore to Miami
-Awoke early and went to the airport. Flew from Baltimore to Atlanta and then on to Miami.
-Took the shuttle to the dock, checked in, and boarded our ship: The Majesty of the Seas.
-Went to our "staterooms," which were indeed as small as everyone says. Luckily, everyone is also right when they say the only thing you do in your stateroom is sleep and shower.
-Participated in the on-board safety drill. This required putting on lifevests and standing near our lifeboats (there were plenty).
-Had our first dinner in the dining room. Met our waiter, Wanish from Thailand, and our assistant waiter, Ernesto from Panama. Most of the staff onboard the ship are from foreign countries which gives the trip an interesting international flavor. Their main objective is to make you feel relaxed and meet your every need. Over the course of the trip we grew to really like Wanish and Ernesto, who were not only good servers but also very entertaining.
-Saw our first show. The comedian started off pretty slow but was entertaining by the end.
-Traveled around the ship getting familiar with the layout. Stopped in at the various bars and lounges to drink and hear live music. Spent some time on deck watching as the ship sailed toward the bahamas.
-Went to bed. They call it a "4 day cruise" and I thought that was kind of cheating because we wouldn't get on board until about 3 or 4pm, but all in all, it did feel like a fun, full day.

Day 2: July 4
Nassau, Bahamas
-Woke up early to work out in the fitness rooms. The treadmills are positioned so that you can look out at the ocean as you're running, which was really cool at first. When the ship did a complete 360 to dock, however, it made me feel a bit queesy.
-Ate breakfast in the dining room. There is "free" food available onboard the ship at almost all times. You can order whatever you want and however much of it you want. I loved being able to order everything I wanted and not having to worry if I didn't finish it.
-Got off the ship in Nassau. Did some looking around until it was time for our first "excursion."
-Glass Bottom Boat Tour. I didn't have any idea what to expect from this activity, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It was basically a tour of the area surrounding Nassau, narrated by an extremely enthusiastic Bahamian tour guide who punctuated each sentence with "Ya, MON!" It was cool to learn a little about the history of the Bahamas as well as see some "landmarks" like the Atlantis resort and the homes of Barry Bonds, Oprah, and Michael Jordan (all of which are practically next door to one another). Twice the boat stopped out in the ocean so we could go below deck to look out the glass panels at the bottom. There's no way to describe how clear and blue the water is there, but you could see everything perfectly. At one point it was over a coral reef, and at another it was over the wreckage of a ship from colonial times. Pretty cool.
-Food and Drinks at Senor Frogs. Chicken strips taste about the same in the Bahamas as they do in the states. They didn't have any Corona, but whatever "Sol" is tastes just about the same.
-Souvenir shopping. They are certainly happy to take your money!
-Back to the boat to rest and prepare for dinner.
-Formal Captain's Dinner. I always enjoy getting dressed up and having my picture taken, and although I may have been the only one in the group who felt that way, we all had a lot of fun. I also had a few Cosmos. Since it was the 4th there was an American style dinner (the night before had been Italian). Whatever style it was, it was good.
-Captain's introduction. We went to the theater again where the Captain talked about himself, the ship, and the staff. It was cool to see the people in charge and learn a little bit more about the boat. They were also serving free Bahama Mamas (drinks are the only thing you have to pay for on the ship... food is included).
-Swimming Pool. By this point I was a few sheets to the wind, and I may or may not have pretended to be a dolphin. Much to my surprise, the swimming pool was full of salt water. We moved to the hot tub long enough for the tips of Casey's hair to turn green... must have been a lot of chlorine.
-Watched fireworks on deck. Since a lot (probably most) of the tourists who stay at the elaborate Atlantis resort are American, they were putting on a big party for them onshore. We were able to sit on the deck of the ship and watch the fireworks display before we pulled out of port. They were actually pretty good and I was glad we were able to enjoy a bit of the 4th even in another country.
-Socialized and played games. At this point I may or may not have slipped and fell while playing ping pong and/or lost miserably at a game of horse on the basketball court.
-Went to bed shortly after the ship set sail again.

Day 3: July 5
Coco Cay, Bahamas (a private island owned by Royal Caribbean)
-Woke up.
-Rode the shuttle boat from the ship to the island. The island is too small to have a place where the ship can dock, so they drop anchor and transfer everyone on ferries to the island.
-Parasailing. This was one of the real highlights of the trip for me. Chuck, Casey, Brian, Billy, and I went out on a speedboat with a few other people. The parasail was tandem, so Billy and I got to go up together. They put you in a lifejacket and a harness and then they latch you onto this bar so you’re basically sitting in a swing beneath the big parachute. Then they reel you out and you go behind the boat and up in the air. Most of the pairs didn’t even get wet, but the driver dipped us in the water a few times and jerked the cord around so we got a wilder ride. This may or may not have been because he was smoking weed while we were on the boat. I don’t know how high up in the air we went, but we were taller than the ship and it has 14 stories above water. From up there, we looked down and the water was so clear that we could see straight to the bottom. It was amazing.
-Back to the island to relax on the beach. One thing that surprised me about the cruise was that I thought there would be a lot more time to relax at the beach, but there were so many activities that we only really did that for one afternoon in Coco Cay. The beach was strange because there were no waves and it was shallow for as far out as you could walk. But I loved it. They had an “aqua park” where they dug out the sand so it was deep and put in inflatable water toys. I climbed up this fake “rock wall” and jumped off it and slid off it a few times, which was fun. It was probably about 15 feet out of the water.
-Lunchtime BBQ on the island. Is there anything better than a good hotdog and some ice- cold lemonade on the beach? I haven’t found it if there is.
-More relaxing in the sun.
-Back to the boat to prepare for dinner.
-Dinner #3. French night or something just meant more good food.
-After dinner show: Juggling. I didn’t think I’d really be that into juggling, but this guy was really good. He is evidently the only person in the world who can juggle 7 balls at a time. He can also juggle a bowling ball along with other strangely shaped objects. And although his act was kind of cheesy, he actually was pretty funny.
-More nighttime fun on the ship. This included drinks at various locations and various forms of socialization.
-Chocolate buffet. We went down to the dining room where pretty much everything you could ever think to dip in chocolate was prepared as such. I actually managed to stop eating it before I made myself feel sick, but those were the best chocolate covered strawberries I’ve ever had.
-Into bed.

Day 4: July 6
Key West, Florida
-Slept in a bit. It’s a long way from Coco Cay to Key West, so we weren’t set to dock until about 10. Then we were going to have to wait even longer until we were allowed to clear customs, so we slept in a bit.
-Ate breakfast at the buffet.
-Watched the ship finally pull into the Key West dock an hour late, at 11am. We had to wait quite a while for our turn to get into customs and were finally off the boat around 1pm.
-Got off the ship and headed toward the southernmost point in the continental US. Along the way we saw the Key West Lighthouse and the home where Ernest Hemingway lived. It was $11 to go on the tour, so I just took a picture. Later I found out that it’s likely where he wrote “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” so that was pretty cool. Evidently Tennessee Williams also had a house on the island somewhere but we didn’t visit it.
-Reached the Southernmost point, waited in line, and took our pictures next to the marker. Evidently so many people stand on either side of it that the “SO” and the “OST” of “southernmost” were rubbed off.
-Had lunch and shopped along Duval street. As far as I could tell, Duval street is pretty much the only thing going on in Key West. There were lots of bars/restaurants (some of which I recognized from the real world), tourist shops, and regular retail stores. Otherwise Key West seemed like kind of a small tourist town rather than the southern hotspot I had imagined. I was initially disappointed that our stay there was going to be abridged, but it turned out fine.
-Returned to the ship.
-Dinner #4, our final one in the dining room. Another great tasting, entertaining meal.
-More drinking and socializing in various locations around the ship. Another dip in the pool. Packing up for the morning, etc.

Day 5: July 7
Wake up, eat breakfast, leave the ship and claim our luggage, off to a long day of traveling. Finally arrived in Baltimore at 9pm and home to Bowie about 10:30 to sleep in our own bed!

All in all, I had a really great time. The ship was rocking on a few occasions, but for the most part it was pretty stable. Initially I thought it was going to be over before I knew it, but the length of time we were there seemed good. If I were to take a longer cruise, I would like to spend like 2 days in each port so I could see the sights on one day and then spend the other day relaxing at the beach or something. There is always so much going on that you don’t want to miss anything. I was glad to be able to spend time with Billy and his family, and we all got along with each other and the other family well. I would definitely recommend taking a cruise to anyone who hasn’t done it before. The whole experience of being waited on hand and foot by really happy people was unique for me. The only thing I would suggest for those of you who have regular jobs is to plan it like we did so that you get back a few days before you have to go back to work. It was so much fun but it sure took a lot out of me!

How My Luck Changed, or How I Almost Missed My Flight, or How My Dress Almost Got Ruined

My trip home was quite an adventure. First, I tried to sabotage the whole thing by forgetting my purse at Round Table Pizza the night before I left and didn't notice that it was missing until after they closed and all the employees were gone. This brought on a panic because my flight left at 10:10am and Round Table didn't open until 11. The airline people told me I might be able to get on the plane if I had other forms of identification, but I was still pretty stressed out about it because if I missed my flight, I wouldn't be able to get home in time for anyone to pick me up from the airport. There was obviously the chance that someone had stolen my purse, or things inside it, as well. Before we left for the airport at 8am, we stopped by Round Table and much to my surprise, the employees were already there, they had my purse, thus averting disaster.

I purchased my wedding dress while I was home, so I had to take that on the plane with me. Southwest doesn't have hanging closets, so I had to put the dress above me in the overhead compartment. After a long day of traveling I made it to Baltimore, opened up the overhead bin, and MY GARMENT BAG WAS COVERED IN COFFEE. Some dumbass put her coffee in the overhead bin. I almost started to hyperventilate, and I had to get paper towels from the stewardess so I could wipe off the garment bag before opening it to see if any of the coffee had gotten through. LUCKILY nothing got on my dress. Thank goodness I had the plastic $10 garment bag from the bridal shop rather than a real garment bag because everyone's stuff was soaked in coffee. The woman took her cup down and I know she had to see that I was wiping up all of her coffee, but she didn't offer to help. I looked at her and said "Was that your coffee?" and she just sort of nodded. I pointed to the garment bag and said "That's my wedding dress," expecting her to say something like "I'm so sorry, did anything get on it?" but all she said was "Oh." So I said "Luckily it is fine, but I'm sure whoever's coat this is probably isn't going to be very happy" (it was soaked). She said "I didn't realize it would tip over." Not a single sorry, or anything.

I believe these two near-misfortunes can be attributed to good karma. When Dad took me and Billy to starbucks, someone had left a $20 bill on the counter in front of the register and I handed it to the lady rather than pocketing it. I doubt if the original owner ever noticed that he/she was missing the $20 until after leaving starbucks, but I told the lady to put it in the tip jar if no one claimed it, so each barista probably picked up a couple of bucks, and this good deed afforded me a few lucky strokes of my own.

To Oregon and Back

The past week has been a whirlwind of activities. After finishing up with school last Wednesday, I boarded a plane with Billy to fly out to Oregon for Vickie's high school graduation. After a delay in Las Vegas that set us back a few hours, we made it here safely before beginning a busy weekend of family activities. The graduation itself was a nice ceremony and I was glad to be able to help my mom in her preparations for Vickie's grad open house the following evening. Billy enjoyed a day of golf with Dad's side of the family despite never having walked a golf course before. Members from both sides of the family were in town, which also meant juggling back and forth to spend as much time as possible with everyone. A long weekend in Oregon never feels long enough and I inevitably end up traveling from one scheduled breakfast to lunch to dinner, but it is certainly fun to be able to see people that I don't see as often as I'd like.

It was also exciting for me to have Billy along for the trip this time around and to be seeing everyone for the first time as an "engaged couple." Everyone was full of questions about the engagement and the wedding, so I appreciated feeling firsthand the support of my family and friends. We sat down with each parent to discuss wedding plans for next summer, so a solid picture is starting to come together of what the events will look like. I also went wedding dress shopping with Mom, Vickie, and Krista, and much to my surprise found a dress, purchased it, and brought it home with me. All of these things make it more real to me that a wedding is on the way, and so thus begins the planning of the details. As usual I'm torn between my natural tendency to want to have everything planned and under control and, on the other hand, my taste for procrastination. I hope to feel a lot at ease about things once we have locked in a reception site and I can begin to focus on the smaller details over the course of the next year.

I am glad to have had the opportunity to spend time with Nate as he passes through between stints in Colorado and Las Vegas. It has been fun to observe Vickie and her friends as she passes through a significant "life moment" that I can remember quite clearly, though it was now 6 years ago that I went through it. I look forward to hearing about what her life at Valpo turns out to be like and how similar or different it is to what I experienced there. I've been glad to see that life is going smoothly for Mom and that she is looking forward to the future with excitement rather than uncertainty or worry. I feel relieved to have spent time with Dad while he is undergoing his chemotherapy and feel assured that while it is a significant inconvience, he is hanging in there and making the best of it.

I was also glad to see such a big turnout from the extended family to celebrate Vickie's graduation. The more time I spend with relatives the more it helps me understand how I have developed into the person I am. I think it is also interesting for Billy as he continues to gain more and more insight into the way our family does things and how that impacts the way I do things. His family has certainly welcomed me into the group as a new but important member, and it's fun for me to see that my family, although we're more spread out, are happy to do the same for him. I look forward to everyone getting together to celebrate our marriage whether it is in Maryland, Oregon, or both.

I return home to Maryland tomorrow and am looking forward to playing with Oscar, sleeping in my own bed, and keeping Billy company in our apartment. He correctly assessed over the past few days that it is a lonely place to be when one of us is absent. He says Oscar sometimes sits by the door waiting for me to come home, so it is good to know that little guy will be there when I get back!

Summer-itis

The warm weather has arrived, the school year is winding down, and summer-itis has hit my students. I am not counting down the days until summer like I was last year but am also looking forward to the break. I really like my students this year and am going to miss them when they're gone, so that helps me enjoy the last few weeks a little more. Yesterday was the last day for seniors which was actually kind of bittersweet for me. I have a few seniors in my 11th grade classes that are there because they've failed in the past, so they're generally a pain in my butt, and I'm rid of them now. But a lot of the kids who gave me so much trouble last year spent the week stopping by to say goodbye and tell me what they're up to after school, so that was fun. It kind of makes me sad that they'll all be gone because when I see them around the building it makes me feel like I accomplished something by getting them all through 11th grade English.

We also had our "goodbye to the seniors" barbeque for student council, which was fun. We have a lot of really good kids in there who are going on to college, so it was cool to have the chance to sit down and talk to them about that stuff. They surprised me with a card that they had somehow been passing around school and having people sign. I almost always find out about things like that ahead of time, so it was a nice surprise. We had elections for the officers next year, and we have a great group of kids lined up to run things next year. We also have two extra weeks in the fall before homecoming, so the year should go quite smoothly.

The weather has warmed up and will continue to do so, and the days are getting longer and longer. I really like living somewhere that has a distinct spring. It is beautiful out here this time of year because all of the trees are really green. Everyone always comments on how green Oregon is, and it certainly is, but out here all the green leafy trees give it a different look. It's nice to see big green trees lining the highway in daylight as a drive to work instead of the barren sticks in the dark that I see in the wintertime.

We're beginning to work on planning the wedding and sorting everything out. We are going to get married next summer, so there's no big rush, but it seems like these days you almost have to have a year to plan your wedding. The plan is to have a wedding and reception like normal out here and then to have another reception of sorts back in Oregon. I am looking forward to dress shopping while I'm home for Vickie's graduation and I think that will really make it sink in that I'm getting married! It will be fun to have the chance to see everybody at Vickie's graduation and have Billy along to spend some more time with my family.

I hope everyone is well and looking forward to the summer. The pool opens next weekend so I am excited about getting a start on my tan!

We're getting married!

This weekend Billy took me to the park and as we were walking down by the water, he proposed to me! We are both really excited about being engaged and looking forward to getting married (although we haven't set a date yet). He picked out/designed my ring while I was in California last month visiting my family, and after it came in he called both of my parents to ask for their blessing and then let me in on the secret. I love the ring he picked out! I have included some pictures of us that we took this weekend and also some pictures of the ring so you can all see how much he spoils me.
Once we start talking about wedding plans, I'll let everyone know, but for right now we are enjoying being engaged!

Thanks Everybody

First, I'd just like to say thank you to everyone that read my last post and said such kind words. I know people must have been keeping the situation in their prayers because everyone, myself included, seems to be figuring out how to return to normal.

Tuesday night was Haley's funeral, which was a nice service. It was a surreal experience for me for a few reasons. First, I'd never seen an open casket before, and to have my first one be a girl that is younger than me was a bit odd. Haley's best friend, another student I have, put together a slideshow of pictures of Haley from the time she was a baby up until recent ones, which was nice. The message delivered by the pastor was pretty religious, but in my opinion he did a nice job of trying to explain why things happen that just seem so unfair. Afterwards I was able to talk to a few of my students who were really close to Haley, and that was pretty hard. It was tough for me to see kids who act so tough in my classroom breaking down and asking me for hugs. I was glad to be there for my own reasons, but it also seemed like it meant a lot to them for me to be there, so I was thankful that I was able to go.

Wednesday, Thursday, and today progressively got a little bit more "normal." Kids were laughing at my jokes again, and I felt like making jokes again. Fifth period still has an empty feeling to it, but I don't think it will ever be quite as lively as it once was... not only because people are sad, but because she was such a big part of the personality of that group. It was interesting to watch the progression the kids went through... they've all known since either Friday night or Saturday morning, so it seemed like Wednesday, while I was still pretty upset, they were starting to feel a little better. I was happy to see her best friend show up in regular clothes and with makeup on after a few days in sweatpants and a ponytail.

There were still logistical things to take care of as a classroom teacher, like trying to figure out what to do about the large research paper my juniors had due today. I knew that I wanted to give the kids who were close to Haley as much time as they needed to get it done, but it was hard to do that without opening the flood gates of excuses about why people needed extensions. I ended up just giving everyone who asked the extra weekend to work on it, because how do you decide who is grieving enough to warrant extra time? I have a student who kids were talking about a few months ago when a member of the junior class committed suicide... evidently she wasn't really friends with him but was going to guidance instead of going to class, missed school for the funeral, etc. The same girl sat near Haley in class, but I never saw the two of them have a conversation, and then the girl told me that she was so upset that she needed extra time. Things like that make me very angry; how could you take advantage of someone's death to procrastinate? And how can you pretend to be feeling the same way as kids whose hearts have broken over the loss of their friend? But I guess that type of person is going to take advantage of any situation they can. There was no way for me to tell her "No, I know you weren't really friends with her, it's due Friday," so I gave her extra time like everyone else, but I hope she has at least a little bit of trouble sleeping at night knowing what she has done.

That petty stuff aside, I think the kids are doing well. They can talk about her and remember her without crying now, and I think that is what she would want. If she can tell what we're doing down here, I think she would be glad to see that her friends were really shaken and miss her horribly, but also glad to know that they are learning to carry on with strong memories of her. Her boyfriend is apparently recovering, but I don't know if he is out of the hospital. I think he has got a very long road ahead of him, so I'll continue to pray for him and her family.

It makes me feel grateful to know that I have such caring, supportive people around me, even if you're all over the place and thousands of miles away. Knowing that I have so much support has helped me be supportive to my kids in a situation that would otherwise be nearly impossible. I feel blessed to have so many people in my life who are genuinely concerned about my students, and it helps me to understand how I developed into a person who cared about them so much that it sometimes hurts. So thank you, all of you, for being what I need.

The Stuff They Don't Prepare You For

I never took a class during my education about how to handle it when you show up to work on Monday morning, open your email, and find out that one of your students was killed over the weekend in a car crash. I know a lot of my education classes were pretty useless, but if we could have devoted a single day to how to handle situations like this, it would have helped me today.

I don't know if it should matter that Haley was a good student, but she was. I probably would have been hurt if it had happened to any of my kids, but to pretend that some don't mean more to me than others would be a lie. Some of my students open up to me, talk to me about their regular lives, and find their way into my hearts, and Haley was among them. I have a whole period of off the wall kids who aren't really "students" but have good personalities, and she was in there with them. Sometimes getting through the lesson is difficult with them, but it's never boring, and they're never short on opinions.

I guess the cycle of feelings I experienced throughout the day were normal. First I felt disbelief that someone who had sat 3 feet from me only 3 days ago, and had been happy, healthy, and cheerful, was no longer alive. Then I started feeling awful for her family because I can only imagine how much more heartbreaking the experience has been for them. Then I felt the need to get the details about the car accident which took her life, most specifically whether or not her boyfriend had been with her and whether he had survived. I knew they must have been together, because it had happened on Friday night, and she used to tell me how much she loved getting dressed up and going out with him every Friday. He had been driving, he evidently hadn't been at fault (we had horrible rain over the weekend, and somehow that resulted in their car getting hit), and he's currently in the hospital. We don't have reliable information on his prognosis. Then I started thinking about how for the past few weeks she has been giving me all the new details about Prom, because she was so excited to bring Miles with her (he doesn't go to our school) and she was looking forward to having me meet him. She told me about the dress, the shoes, the hair appointment, the limo, all of that stuff that is the most important thing in the world for these couple of months. Luckily my friend Erin was her counselor, so when I needed to talk, I could talk to someone who knew her.

My first period class is juniors, so I didn't know whether they were friends with her or if they even knew. Our principal came on the intercom at the beginning of class to make the announcement and I could hardly keep it together. Once I got into my regular routine I was managing to do all right, but I knew everything was building up to fifth period, when I'd have to stand in front of the kids who would miss her most acutely. Erin said she'd come in to talk to them, so she was there with me as they were arriving. Usually they're lively, they trickle in, they never shut up until I stand there for like five minutes... but today it was horrible. They all came in, sat down, and focused their attention straight on their shoes. I tried to get myself together to talk to them about it, but I completely lost it. When Erin finished talking, it was silent. I asked them what they wanted to do, and it was silent. I didn't know what to do. For me, the easiest thing is to follow the routine, but how could I expect them to care about "A Raisin in the Sun" when one of the desks is obviously empty? Then I told them which characters they were assigned to read, and I had to modify the assignments because I gave Haley one of the main roles. We made it through the period together, but I just couldn't stop looking at that desk. It's little stuff that I don't know how to handle. How can I look at that empty desk for the rest of the year? But how can I make a new seating chart and put someone else in her seat?

After that period I had lunch, so it gave me some time to reflect a little bit. I was trying to keep myself busy with work, and I needed to clean up my desk, so I got all the pens and pencils together and put them in.... the jar Haley made me in her ceramics class because before she gave it to me, I just had a plastic cup holding all the writing utensils.

Tomorrow night is her funeral service, so I will probably cry my way through all of that, but hopefully it will help me feel some closure. I know stuff like this is supposed to get easier with each day that passes... I hope so.

In the meantime, if you are of the praying persuasion, Haley's family could use your prayers. I don't know how Miles is doing, but it couldn't hurt to send a few prayers up for him, as well. Even if he makes a full physical recovery, he will have a long journey in dealing with the psychological impact of the accident.

Nothing Special

Things for those of us living in the Mid-Atlantic continue along as usual. The school year is speeding by. We just began the 4th quarter, which means I should have about 9 weeks to finish teaching my material, but I realized the other day that it's much less. The students had 2 days off for teacher inservices, spring break is taking up a week and a day, and then we have an entire week of state testing that pretty much renders everything else at school pointless. I still have two major works to cover with my juniors, so I guess we're going to have to abridge something (probably Black Boy, which I don't care for anyway).

They interesting news for me in March was my trip to Lompoc/ Santa Barbara. Due to school committments, I was unable to make it to Great Grandma Ruth's memorial service, but I went out to spend the weekend with the family. Although it was an unfortunate reason to get together, it was fun to see everybody that I haven't seen in a while. Everybody seems to be doing very well and growing up quickly. Aside from Dalton and Mackenzee, we're all adults now, so that changes the dynamic a lot from what most of my memories of Lompoc are like. I am looking forward to spending a bit more time with the family at Vickie's graduation, and am glad Billy is going to be able to join all of us for that. I might get to stay a few extra days late because it is looking like school will be over for me on June 8.

The only other interesting thing going on with me right now is that I'm trying to learn how to cook. At first it was a big pain because I didn't know what we would like, what I would be able to make, etc. Now that I've gotten used to the menu planning and finding things in the grocery store, however, I am enjoying it. I have this cookbook called "Cheap, Fast, Good" which is turning out to have quite a few meals that fit the title. Tonight was the first time I made something out of a fancier cookbook (one of Rachel Ray's) and it was also the first time I hated what I made (mooshu pork pockets) so maybe I will stick to the simple stuff for a while. The only other frustration that continues to be associated with cooking is that it's kind of a pain to cook for 2 people, and since neither Billy or I are crazy about eating leftovers, it means a lot of extra food. We're trying to make ourselves eat the leftovers... but even if we don't, it's still cheaper than going out to dinner.

I am excited about the baseball season starting up tonight/tomorrow, as well. Billy and I went to Camden Yards yesterday with his family for an exhibition game vs. the Nationals. It was fun to see them bring everybody out and shift people around before they had to set up the official roster. Billy is excited because an Orioles prospect named Nick Markakis made the final cut, and he has looked good in the few spring training games we've watched, as well as putting up a good performance at last night's game. Billy has been following him as he has made his way through the orioles farm system, so he's looking forward to seeing him play in 'the show.'

The A's are looking really good this season, if you haven't already heard, so I'm pretty excited about that. I hardly ever get to watch them out here, but I'm looking forward to going to see them when they come to Baltimore. If their pitching turns out to be as good as it looks, I'm hoping they'll have a few extra day games on national TV.

Although the weather has been warm here the past few days, we are due to get some below freezing weather toward the end of the week. I am ready for it to be warm for good and looking forward to the summer. I think I'm going to take one master's class to see if I'm interested in the program I'm looking at, and possibly try to find a retail job at Border's or Barnes and Noble or somewhere like that to put some extra money in the bank. The cruise with Billy's family to celebrate his parents' anniversary once seemed so far off, but now it's just about 3 months away. We don't really have any other plans for the summer (no weddings this year) so if I'm able to spend a few days at home after Vickie's graduation, Billy and I might be able to fit in another vacation somewhere. At this point a trip to the apartment swimming pool sounds pretty good; I'm ready for it to be hot!

A Gum Collection and Other Weird Stuff

While studying the Harlem Renaissance, my students read Zora Neale Hurston's "How it Feels to be Colored Me." If you're unfamiliar, I'd recommend checking it out- it's pretty funny. My favorite part is when she says discrimination doesn't make her angry, it just makes her curious about why anyone would want to deprive themselves of her company. At the end of the essay, she talks about a metaphoric brown paper bag containing odd bits of nonsense that represent her, so of course I give my students brown paper bags and tell them to fill them with things that represent them. They have to share them with the class, and today we had some interesting items, so i thought I'd share them.

Hands down the most unusual thing brought in was a "red shoe." Before I go any farther I have to explain that the kids stand next to my desk, set their bags on my desk, and take things out one at a time. It works well because they don't have to juggle the items, I get to see them up close, and some people feel more comfortable standing next to me up front rather than standing there all alone. So anyway, this girl was talking about a red shoe her mom gave her while she was reaching in her bag. She pulled it out and set it on my desk right in front of me as she was explaining that she has filled it with her gum collection. HER USED GUM COLLECTION. A red glass shoe, on my desk, with hundreds of wads of chewed gum, all different colors, filling the shoe and piling up on top of it. She went on to talk about how this is significant because each piece/wad represents a different moment in her life and they're all brought together inside this red shoe. In retrospect this is kind of an interesting idea, but while she was explaining it I was so disturbed that I couldn't process it. The best part was the kids couldn't figure out what was going on. After she finished explaining it, a kid was like "A gum collection?" and apparently I said "It's FULL of CHEWED GUM!" Laughter ensued, to say the least.

No story is as good as that one. Frankly, I know kids had all kinds of interesting stuff all day, but all I can think about at this very moment is the gum collection. Anyway, I will try to proceed with some other interesting tidbits.

One student is a drummer in the band and he had his favorite drumsticks in his bag. He held one up, said its name, held the other one up, and said its name. I asked how he can tell them apart and he said "I wrote their names on them."

One girl who brags constantly about being a hippie and dresses in all 80s clothes (she seems to think 80s clothes are what hippies would have worn, I'm not sure what the connection is there) brought in pictures of a peace rally/protest she went to in DC this summer. She had all these peace loving poses and stuff and she summed up her explanation by saying "I didn't take any shoes, and I walked around barefoot. My feet got so nasty and dirty, though, I had to scrub them for an hour after I got home. I wouldn't recommend doing that." I am sure people at peace rallies in the 70s went home and scrubbed their feet afterwards.

Another girl started with the pictures of all the dogs she's had in her life. She flipped through the pictures one at a time and told us how each one died. It went something like this: "This is the first dog I ever had. He got hit by a car. This is my dog Smokey. He got stolen about a year ago. This is my dog Boondock. He ran away because my dad didn't shut the gate. This is my dog Ringer. I had him when I lived in Waldorf and he got taken away in that tornado that came through there a few years ago." I asked if she was serious and she looked at me with a face of complete disbelief that I could even question it, and I felt bad. She proceeded. "This is my dog Buster, he died of old age." A girl in the class shouted "THANK GOD!" and everyone started laughing (including the girl with all the dogs, which was important to me, because I make a big deal about not making fun of anything in the bags). She had two other dogs, another one that died of old age, and one that is still alive (miraculously).

The other one that comes to mind is a kid whose parents immigrated here from Vietnam during the war. All of his things were about the pride he has in his heritage, so that was interesting and cool, and then he pulled out a bag of rice. He said "This is rice." (I found that funny in itself, because clearly it was rice.) Anyway, he went on to explain that rice is really good, and he eats it every night, but if you eat it too much it gets boring. And that represents him because if you're around him too much, he gets a little boring, too.

Also, a lot of boyfriends/girlfriends made it into the bag, but only one girl had nice things to say about her boyfriend. Everyone else seemed very bitter or something. I dont know if they were all in fights or felt uncomfortable saying nice things in front of the class or something, but it was weird.

The gum shoe, though, wow. I could do this activity for five more years and probably wouldn't get anything as great as the gum filled shoe.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Billy sent roses and chocolate to my classroom. Aside from making me happy, it made me the envy of about 2/3 of my female students. Sometimes it feels weird to have these girls looking up to me, but I thought about it, and I realized that I have now have everything I wanted in high school, so they're not very different than I was.

Student Quotes

As you may or may not know, while I was student teaching I had a quote of the day on my instant messenger profile because kids said crazy stuff every day. I don't know if it was because they were freshmen, or if I am now so used to their behavior that it doesn't strike me as strange anymore, but I wouldn't have a daily quote to report. Recently, however, they've said some pretty funny things, so I thought I'd share for old times sake.

Corey: Ms Chambers, it would be so awesome if you came to one of our parties.
Me: You seem to have misunderstood me; I like high school kids, I do not like hanging out with high school kids.
Corey: No seriously, they're rad, we have apple cider and applesauce and apples and that's where I get the apples that I give you every day.
Me: I'm sure.

For part of black history month we had an assembly where a woman pretended to be Harriet Tubman. It was good the first few times, but then I started grading papers, which resulted in:
Tim: Ms Chambers!
Me: Yeah?
Time: PAY ATTENTION!

During the performance she explained how people called Tubman "Moses" and sang the "Let my people go" song. At the end of the day, the performance got done 5 minutes before the period was over.
Junior: Are we going back to the classroom or are we staying here?
Me: We're staying here because we won't make it back before the bell rings and you will all scatter.
Junior: Ms Chames, LET MY PEOPLE GOOOOOO!

Chance walks into the classroom.
Chance: Hey Ms. Chambers.
Me: Hey, what's up?
Chance (looking at Alan): Did she just said what's up? She just said what's up! (followed by hysterical laughter- am I really that old that I can't say what's up without getting laughed at?)

Eric: What kind of music did you listen to in high school?
Me: All kinds I guess, mostly country.
Eric: Country music is like the wind- it bloooooowwwwwws.

Response question after reading "We Wear the Mask":
What types of things do kids in your generation use as 'masks' to hide their true feelings?
AJ's response: I guess some students use drugs or clothes from abercrombie or something, but the worst is when girls are loud and obnoxious and try to disagree with everybody for no reason. There is a girl like this in this class and she sits three seats behind me and sometimes I worry that when she gets all loud she might just eat me.

Crystal showed me her report card because she was proud of making honor roll for the second time in a row. I looked at her grades and told her I was proud of her. She pointed to her 92 in Aerobics and this conversation followed:
Crystal: I hate that class.
Me: Why do you hate it if you have an A?
Crystal: I don't like the teacher.
Me: Why not? It's just aerobics.
Crystal: Yeah, but she wants us all to be anorexic.
Me: I think she probably wants you all to be healthy.
Crystal: No she doesn't. All I know is I want to be thick, and I started out at 123 lbs and now I weigh 118 lbs.
Me: What do you mean, you "want to be thick"?
Crystal: Well not that thick, I want to be like a girl in the rap video thick.
Me: Well, then eat more. Aerobics is good for you.
Crystal: No she wants us to look like a man like her. I want to be bumpin.
Corey (who has apparently been eavesdropping): A little cushion for the pushin!

Things are looking up

For one reason or another, things are going much more smoothly at school. I don't know if it is because we made oregami frogs and had a jumping frog contest or if it's because i'm showing a whole movie (All the Pretty Horses) as a reward for doing well on the test, but my juniors seem to like me these days, which makes my day go by more smoothly. I know I haven't updated in a while, so I thought I would just post some of the random ideas that have been bumping around in my brain.

-The world was a better place when Britney Spears ruled it. Or at least, the Super Bowl was better when she was in the Pepsi commercials and the halftime show.

-I don't know if people really get what they deserve in life, but I do know that your children end up paying for your mistakes. I see this with my students every day. This is an even better motivation for me to behave like a productive member of society than just knowing that I will get what I deserve.

-Last week I spent over an hour trying to make it through the last 5 miles of my commute (an accident shut the road down). While this was frustrating, I saw something I have been waiting my entire adult life to see: somebody got pulled over for thinking he was more important than everybody else and driving up the shoulder. Those people drive me crazy, and I slept a tiny bit better knowing that at least one person had to pay for it.

-I have rediscovered the person inside me that really enjoys running. I had forgotten how much I always hated the first mile.

-The Northern High School student paper can expect to never get a quote from me again. They asked me if I had a new year's resolution, and I said no, but I explained that my boyfriend was trying to get in shape for a cruise so I guess you could say my resolution was going to the gym with him. They published the quote as follows: "We are going on a cruise in July, and my boyfriend needs to get in shape before then, so I am making him work out." That was fun to have to deal with all day. When I called it to the attention of the newspaper teacher, he said "If it was a misprint, we're sorry." IF it was a misprint?? I just told you it was!

-For a few months the boys in my 7th period class have been bringing me the fruit out of their lunch that I guess their moms think they eat. Last week one of them upped the ante and brought me Otis Spunkmeyer cookies. When he brought them again the next day, I told him that it was one thing to give me leftover fruit, but I feel guilty having him buy me cookies I don't need. Since then I have not gotten any cookies NOR have they brought me fruit, so I am a little disappointed.

-When the touchdown the Seahawks scored in the first quarter was called back, it cost me $50 in our pool. I'd just like everyone to know that.

-ESPN says Joe Montana didn't go to the Super Bowl as a past MVP because he wanted to be guarranteed $100,000 to make his appearance and they wouldn't give it to him. I hated him when I was young and now he has made me hate him all over again.

-My favorite commercial during the Super Bowl was when the lady tried to climb over people on the airplane and ended up in the man's lap. That is me every time I try to fly home- well, not the ending up in someone's lap part, but the getting trapped by the window while having to pee part.

-My favorite TV show is The Office and I don't even work in an office. I regularly laugh quite loudly while watching. And if Pam and Jim don't get together, I might die.

-I finally saw that penguin movie and it was even better than everyone said. Especially on our TV. I felt like I was there, except it didn't smell bad, and I bet all of those penguins smashed together in one place would be really really smelly.

-I was sad that Sheryl Crow and Lance Armstrong broke up.

-Billy got an iPod. They're really all they're cracked up to be.

-In one week I broke both our computer and our printer. I broke the computer the day after the warrantee ran out. Typical.

-We haven't turned our heat on all winter and our apartment temperature is averaging about 85 degrees. I don't know if our neighbors below are running a hot stove yoga studio, or what, but I am worried about how expensive it will be to keep this place cool in the summer.

That's all for now.

Happy 2006!

My winter vacation is winding to a close. I am excited that I have one more day off because it will be easier to transition back into school with only a 4 day week. Actually, due to MLK Jr. day, we have three 4 day weeks in a row. Kelsey is coming to visit over my 4 day weekend, so I am looking forward to having her see my life here and meet Oscar.


Speaking of Oscar, we have now had him for exactly one year! On New Year's Day last year we drove out to the Eastern Shore of Maryland and picked him up. He has come a long way in one year and now is generally well behaved. He still has a lot of puppy energy, but not as many obnoxious tendencies as he had in his first 8 months or so. To the left is a picture of him opening his Christmas present from Billy's parents.


I was able to fly back to Oregon to see the family on Christmas day. Although it sounds like an inconvenience, this actually worked out quite well. It allowed me to spend Christmas Eve with Billy and his family and I got back to OR at about noon on Christmas day. The airports and planes weren't as busy as they probably would have been if I'd left a few days before. It also gave me some time to rest and relax between the end of school and a long day of traveling. While I was only home for a few days, I made good use of my time. Aside from spending the usual time with the family, I also got to have dinner with Mom, Vickie, and Brent over at his house. Vickie celebrated her 18th birthday on the 27th... it's hard to believe she's an "adult"! I was glad to meet some of her friends that I've heard about and Ryan, who she has been talking to for a while. She seems to be enjoying her senior year, and listening to her with all her friends took me back to being that age. In some ways its hard to believe that was 6 years ago... but sometimes it seems like even longer. I also got a chance to spend some time at Krista's new condo, which she and Tina moved into over Thanksgiving. They have it nicely decorated and it feels like a home already. They, along with Kelsey, prepared quite a feast for all of us, and the food was so good that I voluntarily ate vegetables! To the right is a picture of me and Krista at her place. I also went to The Old Spaghetti Factory with Dad, and it is always fun to sit down and talk to him one on one. Plus, I love spumoni! Everyone back home seems to be doing very well in my absence, which is comforting to me.

I returned to Maryland on Dec 30, and last night went to a New Year's Eve Party with Billy, his parents, his brother Brian, and Brian's girlfriend Casey. We all went out to dinner beforehand, which gave me a chance to catch up with them about their Christmas. We also discussed some preliminary plans to go on a cruise this summer for Billy's parents' 25th wedding anniversary, which I am really looking forward to. The party was at the house of one of their family friends, so it was nice to ring in 2006 in a relaxing, controlled setting. Spending time crammed into a small space with thousands of drunk people is not my idea of fun. :) Below are pictures from the party (Me and Billy, and Brian and Casey).

This holiday season has really helped me appreciate the life I get to lead these days. I didn't realize how easy it was to get caught up in my day to day responsibilities without thinking much about all the ways I've been blessed in the past year. To be in a healthy relationship with someone I love, to have a job that I enjoy which pays me enough to live comfortably, and to have supportive family and friends are all great things individually... but I feel truly lucky to have found them all at age 23. Opening the mail box over the past month and finding the Christmas cards from all over the country has really helped me realize that wherever I am, I'm not too far from people who care about me. Although I do not get to see everyone nearly as much as I'd like, I feel happy to have everyone in my corner. I am glad to have had the chance to see many of you over the break and to have you all in my life. I hope that 2006 brings all of you as much love, happiness, and success as I was able to find in 2005!