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.