Longing for home

"And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." And he said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son."

Revelation 21:3-7

This is our future

I was grading a student's quiz the other day and came across a question that he did not know the answer to. Instead of leaving the question blank, he wrote (and keep in mind that this is a high-school sophomore) "fart fart poop."

This is a representative sample of who (or what) will one day be running our country.

Jesus, please come soon.

Good advice

I had to say something to a student this week that I never thought I would have to say (and, quite honestly, hoped I never would). I looked this teenage boy in the eye and said...

"Don't touch me until you pull up your pants."

As what seems to be the theme for me lately, it's not as shady as it sounds. He was wearing three pairs of pants so he could sag (somebody please stop this ridiculous fashion trend!), and he decided he wanted to take the outermost pair off. He had only gotten as far as getting them down around his ankles when he walked over to give me a hug.

I told this story to a friend, and she suggested that what I said to this boy is really a good motto for life.

Gentlemen, kindly do not touch us until you pull up your pants.

Guilty conscience?

And now, my dear 3.72 readers, I bring you today's morsel of sheer entertainment...

The fire marshal was at our school today doing inspections. One of my juvenile delinquent babies was in the bathroom when the fire marshal and his assistant came into my room. My favorite moment of the day was watching the horrified look come across the kid's face when he walked back into my room and saw the two men in uniform standing there.

Does this make me a bad person?

Yeah, that sounds about right.

A Bold Declaration

Words I actually uttered to a friend today:

"From now on, no one is barred from my bedroom."

(Don't worry--it's not nearly as sketchy as it appears to be.)

The response you're looking for is, "Okay."

I met a friend up at the church tonight to get some work done away from all technological distractions. While I was waiting on her to arrive, I decided to get a drink from the coffee and assorted hot beverages machine. I was intrigued by the Chai Mocha, so I decided to give it a try. The conversation I had with my friend about the Chai Mocha is as follows:

Me: "I decided to try a Chai Mocha. I'm not sure I like it. I like chai, and I like mocha..."
Friend: "But just not together."
Me: "Yeah, I think the two flavors just cancel each other out, so all I'm getting is sweet and hot."
Friend: "Sweet and hot? That sounds like an ass."

Guilty

Who else can relate to this?

Awakening

Dress down your pretty faith. Give me something real.
Leave out the thee and thou and speak to me now.
Speak to my pain and confusion.
Speak through my fears and my pride.
Speak to the part of me that knows I'm something deep down inside.

I know that I am not perfect, but compare me to most,
In a world of hurt and a world of anger I think I'm holding my own.
And I know that you said there is more to life.
And I know I am not satisfied.
But there are mornings I wake up and I'm just thankful to be alive.

I've known now, for quite a while, that I am not whole.
I've remembered the body and the mind,
But dissected my soul.
Now something inside is awakening,
Like a dream I once had and forgot.
And it's something I'm scared of
And something I don't want to stop.

And I woke up this morning and realized that Jesus is not a portait.
Where stained glass windows or hymns or the tradition that surrounds us.
And I thought it would be hard to believe in
But it's not hard at all.
To believe I've sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God.

And He's not asking me to change in my joy for martyrdom
He's asking to take my place.
To stand in the gap that I have formed
With His real, and His sweet, and His real amazing grace.
And it's not just a sign or a sacrament.
It's not just a metaphor for love.
The blood is real and it's not just a sybol of your faith.

So leave out the thee and thou and speak now.

-Sara Groves

Assorted thoughts from inservice...

As I was trying to occupy my brain during a not-so-interesting inservice today, my (very weak) poetic side emerged. Clearly, I had a one-track mind this morning.

Two haikus:

My coffee is gone.
Brown joy-bringer of the morn.
My heart slightly dies.

Bladder slowly fills.
My coffee running through me.
Ten-o'-clock come soon!


And this next poem was actually part of the inservice. We were given a poem to read and then instructed to write an original poem modeled after the one that we read.

Women Who Love Coffee: an Ode to Stalk the 'Stros '09

They are quiet and foggy in the morning
until the hot, brown liquid
first touches their lips.
They smile politely
in the presence of their
bright-eyed and bushy-tailed friends
but remain monosyllabic
as if to say, "I'm gonna need a little while."
Starbucks makes
their hearts leap for joy.
When they first sip, it's glorious.
Their spirits warm as the creamy, dark elixir
seeps through their bodies,
and they are once again ready to
mess some...stuff...up.

A Teaser...

It's been a crazy summer filled with many adventures that, alas, left little time for blogging. I hope to share stories of my summer fun soon, but until then, here's a small sampling from "Stalk the 'Stros '09" to tide you over.

On the last day of our trip, we were inside a Starbucks in St. Louis trying to escape the rain while waiting for time to leave for the airport. I got up with the intention of mailing a letter only to return a few seconds later to tell my traveling companions, "Girls, I have a bit of a problem."

This is what I had to show them:


Notice anything amiss?

*And yes, that is a Dumbledore's Army t-shirt I'm wearing. I am a BIG winner.

On My Wish List

Thank you, Facebook ads, for bringing this to my attention. I always wanted to be the token white Huxtable kid.

Work in Progress

I promised in my last blog entry that I would elaborate on the random drink offer.

A couple of weeks ago, a good friend of mine was in town for some job interviews (incidentally, she got a job and IS MOVING BACK!! YAY!!), so she and I spent our Friday night the way any good Texan should. After we had our fill of Pappasito's queso and beef fajitas (a.k.a. "manna from Heaven"), we headed over to a local bar to have a couple of drinks and hear some live music.

We had been sitting there for a while enjoying the band and the people-watching when an obviously intoxicated woman came over and asked us if we were using our extra chair. Thinking she would take the chair and move it over to sit with her friends, we told her no. She then proceeded to sit down at our table, and she began talking to us. She discovered that she and my friend share the same middle name ("I'm 40 f-ing years old, and I've never met anyone else with that name!"), and that was it--we were friends for life. And just when we thought she couldn't get any more excited, she found out we were teachers. Wouldn't you know it--her stepmom was a teacher, and she loves her stepmom ("I just laugh my ass off when I'm with her!").

Our new friend became concerned that I was not drinking. I assured her that I had already had a couple of drinks but was done for the night. She insisted that I let her buy me a drink "in honor of [her] stepmom." Generally not being one to pass up a free drink, I relented and drank a vodka and cranberry in honor of a funny stepmom who used to teach. Before the night was over, we had danced with our new friend and her group of friends, chatted with and refused additional drink offers from her significant other (who assured me that teachers have his full support), and acquired a fun story to tell.

What I learned from this night was that I do possess some of the "Hey, wanna buy me a drink?" skills, but they clearly need a little redirection.

Is anyone still there?

I've apparently been on a blog hiatus for a little while. The end of the school year is always crazy, but this year had a few special surprises that made it even more difficult. And so, because I'm sure you've wondered what I've been up to over the last three-and-a-half weeks, to quote Inigo Montoya, "Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Since you last heard from me, I (in no particular order)...

have prayed with friends.
have laughed with friends.
have cried with friends.
ran with Tim the marathoner.
have lamented the world's problems.
solved a few of them.
had students make me cry in a bad way.
had students make me cry in a good way.
used my iron for maybe the 5th time in the almost 7 years I have owned it.
sweated in some strange places.
went to two Astros games.
embraced my inner Charlie's Angel.
FINISHED THE SCHOOL YEAR!
watched my babies graduate.
helped change a guy's world view--Yes, we DO think about it.
visited with a long-lost friend.
had a random drunk 40-year-old woman buy me a drink (more on this in another post).
have been discouraged.
have been encouraged.
enjoyed lots of random texting.
received and gave lots of hugs (There are few things better, in my opinion).
did not succumb to Target shoe lust.
decided to go back to Qba (more on this later, too).

Hopefully there's still someone around to read this, and hopefully it won't be another three weeks before you hear from me again.

Is it June 4th yet?!

I'm having one of those days where I can either choose to laugh or cry.

I choose laughter (even if it does get me some funny looks).

Earworms

Don't you hate it when you get random songs stuck in your head? And, of course, the songs that are the most annoying are the ones that just won't go away. For example, for at least three of my four years in college, I had "Hail to the Chief" bouncing around in my brain.

Some days the songs are more random than others.

I started my day with the line, "If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, never make a pretty woman your wife," moved to, "Ha-ha-ha! Ho-ho-ho! And a couple of tra-la-las! That's how we laugh the day away in the Merry Old Land of Oz," had a brief fling with "Fantine's Death" from Les Miserables and have now returned to the Emerald City.

And now, I bet you're singing at least one of these songs, too. Misery does love company, after all.

TMI

I hope you won't think me vain if I tell you this, but I looked pretty darned cute today. My hair was straight, and I was even wearing a skirt. As you may have gathered from a previous post, my students don't get to see this side of me very often. And another rarity here lately--I was actually in an especially good mood today. I don't have any particular reason--perhaps it was because the number of research papers hanging over my head significantly dwindled with my productive day off yesterday; perhaps it was because I was excited (and rightfully so) about Walking Wednesday; perhaps it was because God has convicted me about my attitude at work, and I have been making a concerted effort to not be negative. At any rate, it was a good day.

However, any time my students see me looking a little nicer than normal or see that I'm in a better mood than usual, they are rather free with their comments.

The first 10 minutes of my 4th period class went something like this:
Student: "Ms. Ruddell, you look really nice today."
Me: Thank you.
Student: And you're in a good mood--you have a date tonight, don't you?
Me: No.
Student: Come on, you can tell me--you have a date, don't you.
Me: No.
Student: Ms. Ruddell, I know you have a date even though you won't tell me. It's the only explanation. Or did you have a date last night? Is that why you're so happy today?
Me: No.
Student: Okay, even though you won't tell me, I know you must have had a date.

I think I finally said that my good mood was because I had made a lot of progress in grading research papers and because Jesus loves me, but the kicker was when I told him that the reason I was wearing a skirt was because I actually shaved my legs yesterday.

I may have over-shared, but at least it shut him up.

Not My Home

Proverbs 4:23-27

"Keep your heart with all vigilance,
for from it flow the springs of life.
Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil."

Random Acts

So, I'm going to be a little vulnerable. I've been really discouraged about work here lately. When I am there, it seems like I face one petty frustration after another, and it is starting to get to me. I know that I am mostly to blame for my frustration--I am so overcommitted that I have begun to neglect my work, and I know that I am not giving my best when I show up to my school each day. When I feel like I am scrambling to stay just a half step ahead of my students, I have very little patience to deal with typical freshman immaturity. I just feel like I'm not having much of an impact.

I know that the Lord has placed me in this job and wants me to serve Him here, but more often than not my light does not shine very brightly for Him. I have been praying that God would change my attitude, but it is so easy to become mired in all the little irritations each day brings.

I was feeling especially discouraged on my way to work this morning (I was actually almost envious of my teacher friend who is on bedrest from a back injury because she at least doesn't have to go to work!) and was praying that God would bring me some encouragement and maybe even a hug. I had been at school for about ten minutes when one of my students walked into my room and said that he had something for me. He pulled out a gift with a card from him and his mom thanking me for all that I had done for him. And he even gave me a hug before he left.

It's amazing how God knows just what we need when we need it and is so faithful to provide!

Sage Advice

I went on a Sunday School class retreat this last weekend. At one point during the weekend, a guy and I separated ourselves from the group. Very soon after, another attendee of the retreat came over and told me it was very dangerous. Hmmmm....

(Footnote: I can't take credit for this post--I totally ripped it off the afforementioned guy.)

LOL!!

A kid in my TAKS testing room showed up yesterday wearing a World War II gas mask. No swine flu for him!!

Embracing the Nerdy

As a self-respecting English teacher, I would be remiss if I let Shakespeare's birthday pass unheralded. So, in tribute to the Bard, on this anniversary of his birth [and his death as well, but that's neither here nor there (a phrase coined by our dear Will himself)], I offer you a list, from A to Z, of words first recorded by Shakespeare.

Advertising
Bandit
Critic
Dickens
Epileptic
Film
Gossip
Hush
Investment
Jig
Kissing
Luggage
Manager
Numb
Obscene
Puke
Quarrelsome
Rant
Shooting Star
Torture
Undress
Varied
Wild-Goose Chase
Xantippe
Yelping
Zany

And, as an added bonus, I offer you a list of some of my favorite Shakespearean insults. These are infinitely more creative (and more cutting) than the base vocabulary we have today.

"Let's meet as little as we can."
"More of your conversation would infect my brain."
"Thou damned and luxurious mountain goat."
"Away, you three-inch fool."
"Would thou wert clean enough to spit upon!"
"Thou hast no more brain than I have in mine elbows."

And now I bid you adieu. "Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you."

Tough Lesson

I've discovered that one of the worst things about being a teacher (and I may be biased, but I think it's worse when you teach older kids) is watching students you've come to know and love make bad decisions and knowing that, no matter how hard you try, you can't do anything to stop them.

It's a good thing I believe in the power of prayer.

Shopping Extravaganza

A dear friend invited me to go outlet shopping with her on Friday "for a couple of hours." Little did I know that "a couple of hours" would more than double by the time we were through. To those of you well-versed in the way of the outlet mall, this probably seems like no big deal, but I am not a shopper. I'm cheap, I don't like crowds, and I especially don't like fitting rooms. However, this might have been the most enjoyable shopping experience I've had in a long time.

2 purses, 1 pair of jeans, 1 skirt, 1 pair of capris, 1 scarf, 3 tops, 1 pair of earrings, and a newfound fashion sense later, I feel like a new woman! And I got some quality time with a pretty fabulous friend, so that was just icing on the cake.

And now, because confession is good for the soul...

After I had done all the damage I felt I should be allowed yesterday, I did let a couple of other awesome ladies "force" me into a little shoe-shopping action this morning. I have 3 pairs of new shoes (and hopefully I won't be chastised too severely for the third pair--I haven't confessed them to LL yet), but I promise I will give some other shoes away to compensate.

My Life in Pictures

I came across this idea while Facebook-stalking a friend. Here are the directions:

Create a mosaic of your life with 12 photos.

DIRECTIONS:
- Go to Google image search.
- Type in your answer to each question.
- Choose/click a picture from the first 3 images.
- Click "See full image"
- Copy the URL of the photo
- Use this website (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php) to make your collage.
- Paste the copied photo into each line.
- Save the image for use in this note.

QUESTIONS:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What is your hometown?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. What is your favorite movie?
6. What is your favorite drink?
7. What is your dream vacation?
8. What is your favorite dessert?
9. What is one word to describe yourself?
10. How are you feeling right now?
11. What do you love most in the world?
12. What do you want to be when you grow up?

(I did cheat a little to find the pictures I wanted--and because there are apparently a lot of girls with, um, questionable morals who share my name--but it's my blog, darn it!)


(Click on the mosaic to get a better look.)

We're off!

I have been meaning to post a blog about our trip all week, but time got away from me, and now I am leaving for the airport in just under two hours. I, along with nine others, will be in Q-ba for the next week working with a camp that trains the student leaders for a bigger youth camp in the summer. God has already revealed Himself in incredible ways in the preparation for this trip and has taught me just how limited my view of Him can sometimes be.

Some unexpected obstacles have arisen over the last few days, and we covet your prayers. Although right now we are not entirely sure what our purpose will be once we get there, we know God has called us to go, so we are going and trusting that He is bigger than any distractions we have here and that He is certainly bigger than any government.

I know I will have amazing stories of God's faithfulness when I return, and I can't wait to be able to share them with you.

Allegory

This is a topic I've been meaning to blog about since the day I started 3M (1 month blog-iversary is coming up!), but I just haven't had the time or energy to delve into it. And clearly, my conference period at the end of the day at the end of a long week is the best time to address it. :P

I took a day off work a few weeks ago--not for any particular reason but just because I had been running myself ragged, and I wanted a little bit of a break. Now, those of you who have known me for any measure of time know that I am not what I like to call "organized" (stop laughing, Amanda Michelle!), so I decided that I would spend the majority of my day off trying to get some cleaning done around my apartment. Usually, "cleaning" for me means taking the majority of the junk that has accumulated in my living area, relocating it to my bedroom or closet, and firmly shutting each of those doors (oh, and scrubbing the toilet and the bathroom sink) because after all, there's no need for people to see what's behind the closed doors. This time, however, was different. As I stood surveying the pit that I had allowed my apartment to become, I decided that I needed to tackle the bedroom.

As I began sorting through the mounds and mounds of laundry that had accumulated on my bedroom floor, I began to notice a spiritual parallel (and because you are so smart, darling readers, I'm sure you're already there). I realized that I so often approach my walk with Christ in the same way that I approach cleaning my apartment. I work hard to make the areas that people see presentable, but I never bother to address the inner areas that are behind closed doors. So often, I feel that many of the things I do that would fall under the heading of being a "good Christian girl," I do because I am seeking the recognition of man rather than doing them as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit living in me.

My prayer is that I would truly seek God's heart in everything that I do. I also pray that He would surround me with people who would keep me accountable and who would force me to do a heart check to ensure that I truly am living to glorify God and not myself.

One More

I just discovered a grammar error in a previous post, and I'm trying to decide if fixing it is a pride issue or not.

Pride or not, I think I have to fix it.

Random Thoughts

I'm so glad English TAKS is over! At least the kids followed the rules...

It's a bad idea to try and open a box of crackers while driving home from the grocery store. I think I will be finding remnants of that mistake in my car for a while.

Amy's brand frozen cheese enchiladas make me ridiculously happy.

I've imposed upon myself a weeknight 10:00 Facebook curfew. I'm hoping more sleep will be a side effect of said curfew.

I got home from small group after 10:00 tonight.

I've kind of got the shakes.

I LOVE my fellow heiresses!

God is showing me a lot of ugliness in myself--not pretty! (This may be explored further in another blog post.)

The Countdown to 30 is not off to a great start, but hope springs eternal. (More about this one later, too.)

Megan's a mommy (again)!! Welcome to the world, Ben!

I got to talk to the BFF today--stupid 9 hours that separate us!

I need to go to bed, and listing more random thoughts won't help me achieve that goal. Good night!

I urge you...

...to rally behind me in my cause to get Carmen to wear the world's most awesome pantsuit to '80s Prom.

(I've been forbidden to post pictures, but take my word for it--this is a very noble cause!)

Demotivators

Because my brain is lacking in creativity and energy tonight, I give you a few anti-motivational posters to ponder.




Yeah, this about sums up the whole 3M experience.


I've often felt that I exist solely to make others feel better about themselves.


This one just made me laugh out loud.

Wake-Up Call

Does anyone else feel the need to look just a little better on Mondays? I figure that Mondays are generally pretty rough, so it helps my mindset a little if I feel pretty. I even had my hair straight today which generally only happens once or maybe twice during the work week.

I realized today, though, that I might want to start putting a little more effort into my appearance at work. While I received several compliments from my students, I also had those that walked in and did a double take when they saw me with the straight hair because they thought that they had a sub. When it gets to the point that people can't recognize me because I look nice, there might be a problem.

Now, if only people that won't get me arrested if I decided to date them would think I looked hot...

My Alter Ego

I'm sure no one else has this problem, but work does not always bring out the best in me. For quite some time now, I've been praying that God would stop me from, as AJ says, "letting my ugly hang out."

I was discussing this inner ugly person with one of my classes the other day and explained to them that I don't like this person any more than they do, and I would really appreciate it if they would not do things to encourage her to come out. Then, they decided that my evil alter ego needed a name, and thus, Ursula was born.

Hopefully, we won't see much of Ursula.

P.S. Another student suggested Shrek, and while I don't particularly want to be an ogre, I did very quickly identify which student in that class would play the role of Donkey to my Shrek.

A Shout-Out...

...to my friend Elaine for perhaps the best Valentine's Day card ever.

This is what I had waiting for me in my mailbox today:

And by tomorrow, I clearly meant...

...two days later. :) Since fun things happened yesterday, too, I'm going to make this a special whole weekend edition of "Things I Loved."

For your edification:
1. making a man-pile with Tricia
2. fun with friends, both old and new, at MTC
3. catching up with Shelley
4. wearing a tiara while I cleaned my apartment
5. being served a fabulous Valentine's dinner by even more fabulous guys
6. sitting at the "fun table" at said dinner
7. a lovely serenade followed by Tim's beautiful poem and a gorgeous rose
8. fun with conversation hearts
9. Way to go, 20 Cent, Para-dig 'em, and Paradigm 3!!!
10. Erin's Paradigm fight song (with a special, super secret ending)
11. cooking a meal (albeit a quick, easy one) for the first time since Christmas
12. Elizabeth chastising my dog for growling because "[he doesn't] get a period"

This concludes my "Things I Loved" list. However, since I don't have many more ideas for blog topics, I may revisit this one.

Much love today...

...but I am way too tired to blog about it tonight. I'll fill you in tomorrow. :)

P.S.

I only had one student tell me that I needed a man today, and he's not a student whose opinion I...shall we say...seek out, so I wasn't all that concerned.

Round Three

Today has been a little harder, but never fear, dear readers (all 5 of you)--there was love today. :)

I present to you:
1. a night's sleep that was not interrupted by a dog needing to go outside
2. a morning without an annoying Christina Aguilera song in my head
3. a pretty good curly hair day
4. an awesome 1st period class--I can have fun with them without losing control
5. the second day in a row of receiving an orange at lunch from someone who said "it had [my] name on it" (The sticker on yesterday's orange said "Sweet Cutie;" today's said "Kiss a Cutie.")
6. unexpected Valentine's gifts from students
7. giving myself the freedom to have some down time
8. Barefoot wine (3 varieties)
9. Sam's spinach-y puff pastry yumminess
10. good hang-out time with fabulous work friends

Tune in tomorrow for one more day of love.

Things I Love, Part the Second

Today had a few low points, but fortunately there are many things I loved about today, so they definitely canceled the bad.

Thursday love:
1. a belated (but very much appreciated) birthday card from Kelly
2. the best coffee name ever: Lunch with Elvis (It's peanut butter and banana flavored!)
(actually, #s 1 and 2 are things I forgot to add to my Wednesday list)
3. a very timely, encouraging e-mail from my dear friend AJ
4. the prompt delivery of my Girl Scout cookies this morning
5. the conversation that stemmed from my Facebook status about said Girl Scout cookies
6. student randomosity: "The Cracker Song" and "You need to make her eat the book."
7. developing a slight crush on two guys
8. a new word to add to my vocabulary: "hairgasmic"
9. the massive simultaneous break-up at Koinonia
10. friends with whom I can be silly but who also encourage me in my walk with Christ

I can't wait to see what Friday the 13th will bring.

Fighting Against (my) Nature

It is no secret that I am not a big fan of Valentine's Day, and yes, some of it does stem from all of the typical reasons a single gal would not like this particular holiday, but the thing that moves the general indifference or even dislike to outright loathing is the fact that my school district does not give us Valentine's Day (or if it happens to fall on a weekend, the day closest to it) off from work. Why would I want Valentine's Day off, you ask? Let me give you a general scenario of what I have had to deal with 3-4 times a day every Valentine's Day that I have been a teacher.

(Imagine a room in which half the desks are covered with candy wrappers from the massive amounts of sugar these 15-year-olds have just ingested.)
Me: Raul and/or Rowena*, could you please stop hanging from the ceiling and sit down?
R and/or R: Doo-de-doo...I love love, and I love loving love...
Me: R and/or R, quit climbing the walls and sit down before I rip off your arms and beat you with them!
R and/or R: Miss, you're just jealous because you don't have anyone. If you had a man, you wouldn't be getting this attitude with us.

Oh, to be so young and yet so wise...

*Names have been changed to protect the obnoxious.

But, believe it or not, this general rant is not the point of this blog post. In an effort to combat the rise in blood pressure that is sure to accompany my efforts in teaching on Friday (and because I need blog topics), I am going to embrace the spirit of the season and each day through Saturday make a list of the things I have loved about that day.

Things I Have Loved Today:
1. surprise Valentine's presents from two of my work friends
2. students that make me laugh
3. a visit from an "awkward genius" (her words, not mine) former student
4. cheap wine and lots of laughter with Sam and Kim (aka "Muffie")
5. a lovely pre-Valentine's Day dinner with some fabulous girlfriends
6. the amazing Carmen
7. Walking Wednesday with LJ

Stay tuned...

Ummm....what?

Here's a word of advice for all of you: if you are going to compare yourself to a literary character, please be familiar with the character to which you are alluding.

I was in a discipline committee meeting (I have no idea why I'm on this committee--I'm not the world's greatest disciplinarian...) yesterday, and our chairwoman was talking about how when the tardy bell rings, there are no kids on her hallway because they're all afraid of her.

Now, goodness knows I would love to inspire more fear in some of the students--I think it would make my life considerably easier. However, I hope that should I ever achieve this goal, I would have the sense to not describe myself as having an Oedipus Complex as this teacher did.

Obviously, she is the wrong gender to have this complex, and even if that were not an issue, I would hope that her ability to intimidate students would not make her want to kill her father and have sex with her mother.

My Inaugural Blog

Under my friend Alyssa's "gentle" encouragement, here I am trying out this whole blog thing.

I am a horribly inhibited writer, and as an English teacher, this fact causes me quite a bit of embarrassment, so I decided to give blogging a try as a jumping off place.

I can't promise that I will blog every day, nor can I promise that anything I blog about will interest anyone but me, but, at any rate, I welcome you to join me in my adventures in self-indulgence.