Just saw the coolest thing

Just saw the coolest thing.

Thought I'd share.

I was walking back from the office, and i was looking at the sky. It is a beautiful, clear blue today; a shade so true it looks like a crayon melted in the sky...

Here and there are puffs of clouds, some those stretchy, cotton candy ish stratus clouds, an a few solid, puffy culmulus clouds that look as though they could easily support your weight as you rested on them.

As I past the overhang of the building, this low hanging cloud came into view. At the same time, a flock of silvery birds flying in formation passed just in front of it and off to the right.

From my vantage point, it appeared as though the birds launched staight from their resting place on the cloud. They stood out vibrantly against the clear blue sky flying off, as though they had just appeared there to fly after a morning rest in the clouds.

beautiful

Happy to share my birthday with....

Celebrate National Coming Out Day
October 11, 2006

NCOD 2006 Theme: “Talk About It”

“Talk About It” will be the theme of this year’s National Coming Out Day to be celebrated on October 11, 2006. The Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s Coming Out Project is an on-going campaign to empower gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and allied Americans to live openly and honestly about their lives.

"Understanding is curing ignorance and curing ignorance is abolishing fear."
Author: Matt Marty

Domisticated? Not so much!

So... today is my birthday!!!!!! Happy Birthday to me!!!!!! I'm 28. Lord. Where did the time go.

I wore jeans to work today. I sang a song to my doggies, "Its my birthday I'll where jeans if I want to, jeans if I want to, jeans if I want to... ' I made up a whole verse. Sadly (or maybe not so much?) I can't remember all of the words. Sort of a spur of the moment thing.

So last night, I made 22 beanbags on Donna's sewing machine. gary was so shocked he wanted to take a picture to prove it.

I made the bean bags out of this leftover denim we used to make our bedroom curtains. It felt very Sound of Music ish.

I have a whole stack of presents on my desk from the kiddos. One is this huge Santa Bear stuffed animal. yeah.

Andrew is getting his tonsils taken out today. He is going to feel so much better in a few weeks. He'll be able to sleep much better!

Ok I better go teach now.

Buybye

Obsession

I am watching Nip/Tuck.

Never seen it before, so I don't really understand the story line, but Rosie's on it. Only some of my blog readers remember me from my Rosie-obsessed days, but hear I am again. Watching The View, reading her blog a few times a week, and now, here blogging with Nip Tuck in the background to see her. Seriously. Crazy. I know.

Anyways. I have so many papers to correct. I am looking at them.

"Hi papers. I know I should be correcting you. I see you.

But really. It is a friday night. If I tried to correct you right now, I couldn't truly give you the attention that you deserve. You understand, don't you? I thought so."

I desperatly need to go get my nails done with my seester. Tammy??? When are we goooooing???

SO, I wrote an email to my friend today and I thought part of it was pretty funny, so I thought I'd share it with you:

SO, the excitement of my week was when I got to yell at Brett for peeling the candy shell off of his M&M during a descriptive writing lesson and saying, "look, my M&M is naked! It can be a stripper now!" for his whole group to hear, including my most niave little girl who still can't figure out why 5th grade girls have to watch a movie about periods when she's been punctuating sentences since the first grade. Lord.

hee hee. That was a pretty good sentence. I enjoy a good sentence.

I went to dinner with Angie and Andrew and Cori. Cori has the Little Mermaid toy closet with all of these rubbery-plstic clothes tha you can dress Ariel in. Ariel has this ball gown, complete with these white elbow length gloves. Problem? Instead of two white cylinders with an opening at one end, they created a thicker, round outline at the end of the glove where Ariel's hands go, which makes the "gloves" look like two little condoms.

So inappropriate. (my brain, not so much the toy...)

Cool - this episode has scientologists in it... kinda kooky...

By the way, I wasn't crazy about the first episode of South Park - it was ok. not great. Yeah, really not worth mentioning.

Ok. I am going to go now, becasue I am absolutly rambling senselessly. Becasue itis Friday. I am always soooo tired on Fridays. I always type the word becasue incorrectly. Also studnet. I don't know why. My fingers just hit them in the wrong order.

Ok. Night.

Mish Mash

This week has seemed so long! I haven't been able to watch hardly any TV (poor me!) and my shows are just piling up on the DVR. (Oh how I miss my other boyfriend, Tivo.)

So anyways, Student - Led Back to School Night was a total success for everyone who tried it, so I am super happy.

Fall seems to be a cosmic time for me to reconnect, as I am once again back in touch with another old friend from high school. (Last fall, if you recall, Angie and I started talking again - and now we hang all the time.)It is really nice emailing with this other friend, too. I almost can't really believe it, but it is pretty cool.

Its 7:30 already, and if I leave for school now, well that would be good.

OH! I got two moled removed (gross? sorry!) They looked kind of funny so we just wanted to make sure there was nothing wrong with them. They have some stitches in them, I guess so that the scar is not as noticable. It is itchy!

Have I mentioned Cathy? She is my new 5th grade partner and she is becoming a fast friend. We have a lot in common, it seems! I so LOVE my 5th grade team this year - we are all so awesome! We work together so well and support eachother. Seriously, its very cool. It helps because my class, well, there not gelling like they did last year. I know, though, that my last years class was amazing - a once in a lifetime expereince.

Ok. I really should go now.

Love you, peeps!

new phone, new pool

New news...
So I got a new cell phone - its cool because it is super skinny and light. Also, it is black and it has a color screen on the outside and on the inside. I downloaded "Seasons of Love" for my ringer and Grant downloaded "La Vie Boheme," for me...

I need to send some pictures to it so that I can customize it even more!!!

Also, we are changing our pool to a salt water pool - no more chemicals, no more chlorine! I am so excited! That should be done in the next few weeks... Very cool.

I am going to watch "Ugly Betty" tonight - thats new, too.

later - gator

WTMI

I suffer from "Way too much information" syndrome. I know. Sometimes I just talk - its annoying.

Anywho. Thats what my blog if for.

So. I love playing around with my blog. I think it is way cool and way fun to change the colors and stuff andit is so east to do! I love the way I can play with the layouts. DO you dig the pic I put up? And the text? Col.

I love my new teaching partner. She is awesome.

I watched Chasing Amy this weekend. I'd seen it before, but it had been a while. Dogma is still my favorite - loving the religious stuff - with Mallrats a close second. View Askew, baby!

This is just the randomness of random. But hey, its my blog, so whatever...I'll do what I want!

My principal likes South Park. She gets it. I love that she gets it.

One of my students had her cell phone stolen out of her back pack today. We found it in the trashcan of the class next door. Our classes switched today - which makes me think I may have a little thief in my class who used the opportunity of being in another class to dump it off. wunderbar.

Its almost October... what the????

In touch with an old high school friend... so strange - I have thought about this person so much, it is almost surreal to being touch with her...

So I am so excited - I am going to go watch 7th Heaven - thank goodness it is on for one more season!

Ok, I am outtie. Talk to ya'll later!

Hmmm... so country music does suck?

Los Angeles no longer has a country music station. KZLA, the only counry music station, switched to a pop station this summer.

The 15 fans are protesting to get their station back. Its a fun fight. I'm glad I got my Jamie Jack and Stench back! Maybe they'll get thier wish too...

IN any case, if your here in LA, and you want to have country, you better have the satellite radio or your out of luck, chuck.

SO sad. Maybe someone should write a country song about it.


(RE: COMMENT: Sorry Ang! KFROG is San Bernadino County. You may be able to get it, but technically, there are no stations broadcating from LA anymore!)

Block

I have had such a block lately. I feel like there are so many things I want to blog about, but when I sit down to type them, they just seem to be incomplete. I save them to publish later or I delete what I have written altogether.

I am not sure why I have been so choppy in my thoughts lately. It is very odd.

I started to write a blog yesterday about how irritated I am that people are still so eager to blame a whole group (the muslims) for something radical extreamists chose to do. But once I started writing it, I realized I wasn't getting my point across the way I wanted to.

Today I started to blog about loose ends - how much they drive me crazy. How I can pinpoint specific loose ends but I think that my dreams bring up many more that I'm not consciously aware of.

I don't know. My head is playing tricks on me! And I'm going to be late if I don't get going.

September date and catch up

So, Grant and I went to the LA COunty Fair yesterday for our September date. "Something old, something new," as I have never been to the LA Fair (although I have been to many others.

As expected, going on a Saturday, it was insanely crowded, but lots of fun. We ate, of course, way too much, but who doesn't love carnival food? We looked at all of the exkibits. We watched the horse racing (I picked a horse to win and it did - too bad I didn't bet!) We ran in to Jessica and Alan who took us over to the animals from Jessica's school. We watched a hypnotist (not Mark Yuzuik, who I love.) Over all, it was a good time. Mostly, we just enjoyed being togehter. And we didin;t ride a single ride - who would have thought? Sigh.

I always think of random little things to blog about, but I'm usually in the car so I forget to actually blog them. I have to try to be better about that.

I love that Rosie is on the View. I still find Myspace to be annoying, run as it is, and yet I have a profile - however my name is not posted to it at all so no one can find me, which is nice. I mostly use it to look up other people.

I still haven't finished blogging about my Alaska trip.

I find that I am barely treading water at work- - doing lesson plans literally day to day. I will be so excited when I am actually ahead of the game! Speaking of which, I need to go to work to meet my partner in a while, so I have to get some stuff done.

Later

Karaoke Revolution: American Idol

It's official! The songlist for Karaoke Revolution: American Idol has now been released!


1. All My Life
2. Alone
3. (There's) Always Something There To Remind Me
4. Be Without You
5. Breakaway
6. Build Me Up Buttercup
7. Can't Help Falling In Love
8. Crazy Little Thing Called Love
9. Dilemma
10. Do I Make You Proud
11. Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me
12. Don't You Want Me
13. Easy
14. Every Rose Has Its Thorn
15. Flying Without Wings
16. Heartbreaker
17. Heaven
18. Hungry Like The Wolf
19. If You Don't Know Me By Now
20. It's Not Unusual
21. Just The Way You Are
22. Let's Stay Together
23. Love Will Keep Us Together
24. More Than Words
25. Photograph
26. Piano Man
27. Proud Mary
28. Rock With You
29. Saving All My Love For You
30. She Bangs
31. Stand By Me
32. Stickwitu
33. Straight Up
34. Sugar, We're Going Down
35. The Real Thing
36. Total Eclipse Of The Heart
37. Unwritten
38. What A Girl Wants
39. You And Me
40. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling

Back to School

I have 31 students again this year, same as last. 16 girls, 15 boys. I was nervous starting todayy, but I have to admit, what was really hard was watching all my wonderful students from last year walk into other classes. Sigh. I know I;ve been teaching a while, but in my career I haven;t had many opportunities to see former students in another grade. I also have not had a class that was so wonderful as my last class was.

My new class is pretty cool so far. I have good kids. I have a group of boys that are quite chatty, and funny. I have some spunky girls.

We have a new teacher in my grade level, and I really like her. I think this is going to be an awesome year again!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

On Tuesday, Grant and I and mom and Bobby went to the OC Performing Arts Center to see Dirty Rotten Socundrels. this was our first play in our subscription. It was really good! I had only seen the movie version, but it transfered very well into a musical. The stars were hill-air-ee-ous.

Our seats are really good, too! Awesome anniversery present for us!

Expect the Unexpected

SO... tomorrow we leave for Alaska.

The flight we have scheduled to take from Long Beach to Seattle tomorrow has taken off late for the past four days - we only have like a 45 minute layover before our flight to Fairbanks leaves, so chances are we will be sleeping in Seattle tomorrow night. We have a hotel booked just in case, so we'll see...

Have you heard about the heavy rains? Yeah, apparently some of the bridges have closed, and the train we are scheduled to take later next week is closed at least today and tomorrow due to a mud slide.

I am so excited! I know that sounds odd, but wow - who knows what is going to happen! It is a little exciting, don't you think? As long as everyone is safe, who knows what kind of adventure we'll end up having!

Our credit card was declined
at Target today...
What?

So we call,
and the had put a block on our card,
so we could verify some recent charges...

$1500 at a car dealership in Lansing Michigan
Another $500 charge,
and 3 or 4 other charges

So our credit card is stopped,
and we will be getting new ones.

Grant asked them to rush the card since we'll be leaving for Alaska on Friday.

So, yeah,
Grant and I leave for Alaska on Friday.
ALASKA! It is almost surreal.
I am so excited.
I'll be doing my vacation blog for that one,
so check there.

My classroom is all set up.
Ready for a new year.
Well, mostly. Enough to make me happy, anyway.
Enough that I won;t be worried while gone.
Last thing I need in Alaska is to think about what I have left to do.
So why is it almost done?
Well, I printed up a bunch of new posters,
and decided to save ink and trees,
I would laminate them before I put them up.
Unfortunatly, we are out of laminate.
SO when I get back,
I will laminate.
If we have it then.
If not.
Oh well.
I'll put them up and laminate them later.

All supplies are bought.
folders for each kid,
pencil boxes,
book marks...

Ready to go.

Big Brother -
Kaysar gone
unbelievably sad
But its true -
he is too good for that game.
too good of a person.
I'd like to see him on the Amazing Race.
Anyway - HOH redo, due to technical difficulties.
Janelle won!
Unbelievably happy.
At least she is in for one more week!

Our August Date

So, as an anniversery gift to my hunny, I made up this dating game. I thought it would be fun to plan a special date every month that is out of the ordainary or not neccesarily spontaneous like most of our dates are. We have to pick cards on the 23 of each month to determine who will plan a special date for the following month. There cards have different things on them to make planning the dates fun.

So on July 23, our 1 year anniversery, we chose three cards to determine who would plan our August date. Grant (card 1) had to plan a medium length date (cad 2) that involved spending less then $20 (card 3.)

I was so excited when we went on our date - to Disneyland! Once upon a time we went on a date to Dinseyland every Wednesday. Now are dates there are less frequent or involve going with other people, so it was really nice to have our first date be there.

Also, we were able to eat at the new Cafe Orleans - we ordered the Monte Cristo (I got the classic and Grant got the all cheese and we went halvsies.) Grant got around the $20 rule becasue he used our Disney reward dollars.

We went on Buzz Lightyear Astroblasters and I got the highest score I'd ever earned - 604,800

You can check out the proof here - for 30 days, anyway!

Visit http://disneyland.com/buzzphotos and enter the following code number into the code box to view a photo of Star Command's newest hero:

*********************************************
CODE NUMBER: 056A42BCE915F316F354C1759D70CD8B

The Alligator

Well, maybe its a crocodile. I am not really sure.

It is a statue over at Westminster Mall. Right now its on the first floor, I think on the Macy's branch.

Kids crawl all over it. They start at the end of the curled tail, (some kids skip that part and start higher up), and they work their way up the animal until they get to the snout, which is raised off of the ground about 2 feet. Some kids crawl up, the braver kids walk up. When they get to the snout, they sit a minute, enjoying their accomplishment, and then they get off. Some jump, some slide around... and then they go back to the tail to start again.

It has happened this way for decades. When I was a child, I would start at the tip of the tail, and follow the curl around.

Another part of the mall has bear statues, but they don't have as much appeal. Sure, you'll find kids crawling on them - anything is a welcome break from being dragged from store to store full of clothes, or worse, shoes (no racks to play in at shoe stores!), while being carefully steered clear of KB toys.

But kids really love to play on that alligator.

Yesterday, I went with Angie to the mall. She wanted to buy some shoes that were on sale. Drew wanted to go play on the statues. I was more then happy to take him and Cori. Right outside the shoestore, and a couple shops up, was that dear old alligator. I was oddly excited to be hanging 'round my old freind again.

I watched as Cori and Drew, along with other children, played on the alligator. I watched the younger ones crawl up. I watched the bigger, braver ones, balance, like on a balance beam. I watched one girl, 10 or 11, just passing by, trot quickly in and take her turn among the little ones, while her mom watched from outside... the girl ran up the alligator, savoring the memory of her younger years... "just one more time, Mom," and then she jumped off the snout, joined her mom, and they continued on their way.

It was such an odd, surreal experience. Watching Cori and Drew play, and having such powerful feelings about it.

In those moments, I thought about how amazing Drew and Cori are. Drew is such a caring big brother. He is thoughtful and considerate, inquisitive and charming. Cori is a character, dramatic and emotional, funny and charismatic. I realized how much I love those kids.

I had a memory of an old friend.

I had a glimpse of what it will be like when I have my own children, when Grant and I take them to expereince things that we did as a child. Disneyland, swimming in a pool, the alligator at the mall. I know that, in itself, will be emotional, but I didn't realize how much so.

An acknowledgement

I know my blogs are often full of typos and misspelled words.

I am not the greatest speller in the world, something I tell my students at the very beginning of the year, and I am not a very good typer, either.

In addition, I often type out my blogs quickly, because what is on my mind wants to come out, quickly.

Yes, I could use spell check. I do know how to use it correctly.

However, I think of my blog as my journal, and like I tell my students, a journal is all about content. I'm not concerned with mechanics and grammar. I am concerned with thoughts.

Saved!

I watched the movie Saved! last night.

I love that movie.

Loved it more this time then the first time I saw it.

Its a comedy/drama

Plot: Christian girl at a Christian high school,
Her Christian boyfriend admits to her that he is gay,
she prays and feels that Jesus has told her to have sex with her boyfriend
to help him with his perversion, to make him straight.
She thinks Jesus will resore her spirtual virginity.
His parents find a guy mag, realize he's gay, and send him to rehab.
She finds out she is pregnant,
and thus starts her senior year.

Great movie... some of the funniest scenes ever...

Awesome cast, too, Macaulay Culkin, Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Heather Matarazzo, Mary Louise Parker, Eva Amurri

Here are some good quotes:

Mary: [about the Virgin Mary] I know this is wrong, but do you ever wonder if she just made the whole thing up? I mean, it's a pretty good one. It's not like anyone can ever use virgin birth as an excuse again.
[pause]
Mary: I don't really think she made it up, but I can understand why a girl would.

Lillian: I keep trying to remind myself that when Jesus closes a door he opens a window.
Mary: Yeah, so we have something to jump out of.

Cassandra: There's only one reason Christian girls comes down to the Planned Parenthood.
Roland: She's planting a pipe bomb?
Cassandra: Okay, two reasons.


Hilary Faye: I mean you're not born a gay, you're born again!

Pastor Skip: Let's get our Christ on, let's kick it Jesus-style!

Cassandra: I always get this really left out feeling at Christmas time
Hilary Faye: [to Patrick] Jewish.
[Back to Cassandra]
Hilary Faye: Well, if you decided to accept Jesus into your heart you and your people could join in on the fun!


Mary: So everything that doesn't fit into some stupid idea of what you think God wants you just try to hide or fix or get rid of? It's just all too much to live up to. No one fits in one hundred percent of the time. Not even you.....

Why would God make us all so different if he wanted us to be the same?

Random Stuff

I love Exercise on Demand...
My current favorite?
Jab, Kick.
When I started, last month, it was Jab, Kick episode 2
That expired yesterday,
and now it has Jab, Kick ep. 3
I love it.
But now I am all yucky sweaty,
and too lazy to do anything but sit here and type.

I've been back to my classroom,
starting to set up,
organizing,
cleaning out cupboards.

Last year, with my broken wrist,
everything just sort of got thrown in,
in a semi organized fashion.

I have so many great ideas for this year!
I am excited. It will be a good year.

So summer time
brings my summer shows...
watching the random episode of Days of our Lives
doesn't take many to catch up,
A Baby Story
which is on all year,
but I only really watch in the summer,
Bringing Home Baby,
a new TLC show about the first 36 hours home with a newborn,
and of course, Big Brother,
Go season 6 alliance,
James, Janie, stay cool, don't screw it up...
I hope Janelle or Kayser wins.
Also, watching the new Treasure Hunters.
It would be much better is it were not one long commercial
"lets use ask.com and then book our best option on Orbitz before our next Motorolla message comes through."
gag

I've been back on AIM
off and on,
I haven't used Instant Messanger in years,
but I sign on now,
to see if Amy is on,
Its odd not seeing her three times a week.
She is doing well by the way,
recovering from her Bone Marrow transplant,
if all goes well, she will be back in school in September for third grade.

The puppies are being lazy,
Kanga is laying on the dog bed,
curled up,
Belle on the couch next to me,
both napping,
you know, busy day,
eating, barking, sniffing,

I love summer