Happy Holidays Everyone!

So I think it's Thursday, I've been home for a couple days. Christmas was actually very nice and enjoyable with both sides of family. Today I got to visit with two friends, one old and one new, and tomorrow a little more family time and friend time. I return on Saturday.

It's a whirlwind week and I haven't seen everyone or done everything I'd hoped, but it's still worked out well.

It snowed on Christmas! Also a little tonight.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and relaxed with family and or friends!

Um.

So apparently tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Tomorrow is also when I'm getting on a plane.

I haven't packed any clothes yet. I gathered all the gifts I'm bringing, and put all my favorite photos in little flip albums, and set both camera cases in the suitcase, but no clothes or other necessities.

I have to fly out of stupid Newark. I hate Newark. Or maybe I hate living way the eff out in Queens, an hour or more away from everything.

I'm going home for five days. I'm looking forward to seeing family and friends new and old, but overall I'm feeling distinctly meh about it. It's going to be more of a juggling act than relaxing visit.

Actually, I'm pretty meh about everything right now. Including me.

I guess I'll go throw some clothes into my bag now. Meh.

Seven Random (boring) Things

Ms Frizzle linked to me for the latest meme. (Yay, I love being linked!)

Here are the rules:
- Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
- Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself.
- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. I like to snack on frozen french fries.

2. I own zero pairs of brown shoes.

3. I own fifteen pairs of black shoes. (Jesus!) (At least five are scuffy and worn [ugly] work shoes.)(At least five I never wear.)

4. I hate shoe shopping and I don't believe in handbags. (Here, take my Girl Card. Apparently I don't need it.)

5. I love orange juice and will never drink apple juice.

6. But I love hot apple cider. Especially if it's spiced.

7. I am a whore for back scratches.


I'm not sure I know enough bloggers who haven't already been tagged by someone, so feel free to tag yourself if you like!

Bonus Number Eight: This morning I submitted electronic 'applications' for jobs in Seattle and Kansas City. Random, but I feel good about making strides in the job search!

This is what we call "Data-Dr!ven !nstruction"

Since the children don't know their historical details, and today I wasn't feeling the need to drill them in test nonsense, instead we reviewed a timeline of the last 400 years of American history!

I showed them the part of the US that used to be Mexico, and I showed them a very rough idea of Lewis and Clarks' route to the Pacific. I made sure to make it clear when the civil war and underground railroad happened (and the kids asked if it was really under the ground), and also a couple civil rights big moments. Because I'm tired of hearing the Martin Luther King freed the slaves!

Also mentioned were the World Wars, Custer's Last Stand, Washington being the first President in 1789, the Titanic sinking in 1912, and the Berlin Wall.

One girl asked me if I was Dutch, because I kept teaching them Dutch things. Another girl asked me if I was Irish, because of my nose and ears.

Best of all, at one point, one kid piped up, "Miss, are you teaching us Social Studies?"
I replied, "I'm teaching you. Just because I'm your English teacher doesn't mean I can't teach you other things I know or things you need to learn."
"Yeah!" said another.

Speaking of things to learn, I brought in some National Geographics and Smithsonians, and by the kids' reaction, you would have thought they were gameboys or something. They--all three classes--are so excited and interested by these magazines! I saw them pointing things out to each other excitedly, eagerly paging through the articles, staring in wonder/disgust at close-up pictures of different bugs. It's really exciting to see them be so interested. (Actually, the Herd was *too* interested and I had to scold them.)

Therefore, and I mentioned this to the Grey Bunnies, after the Big Day Next Month, I'd like them to find something they're interested in one of the magazines, and doing a writing project about it. They seemed to think that sounded good. Yay!

I Couldn't Make This Up if I Tried

All of my students have always had trouble identifying genres. (Do the rest of you have the same issue?) Right now I'm trying to combat that in several ways, one of which is by assigning writing in different genres. The other night they were supposed to write historical fiction.

Oh, dear.

Take a look at some of their stories. Please shake in laughter rather than shake your head in despair of all the things they don't really know. :)

--A woman named Britney helped slaves. She rescued Rosa Parks and created the Make a Wish Foundation. For all her hard work, she won tickets to the New Jersey Nets basketball games.

--"Long time ago in 1835, World War Two began. But George Bush said "why fight if we could get along". ... George stopped being Mr. nice guy and told them (both) to stop the fighting. If you don't stop I will kill you. George W. Bush said."

The piece de resistance was so 'perfect' that I scanned it for you. Enjoy!

I swear to god, people.

Shh!

I didn't go to school today! And I wasn't even sick!


It wasn't a mental health day either, really; I'm irritated about administration and such, but not enough to stress me out enough yet to necessitate a day off. (But I'm sure it will as the year stretches on.)

No, I took the day off because there would have been no point in going on. See, a bunch of my kids went on a field trip. One entire class, half another class, and five in the third. Seeing twelve of my students is kind of a waste of a day, with only so many instructional days left til the Big Day Next Month.

So instead of frittering away my time on coverages at school, I slept in (but not too late, so that I can be tired at a good time tonight) and frittered away my time at home. I cleaned part of my bathroom, I attempted to work out (but my stupid toe is not healed enough to allow that yet), I did a bit of Christmas shopping online, and, best of all, I completed my Christmas cards! I had some made online with a couple of my recent photos (did you know I'm a photo whore? I know you're shocked); they came in a set of twenty. So this morning I sat on my bed, half-watched old Psych episodes, and wrote out all twenty cards! Addressed, stamped, all done!

Then came the best part that I was really looking forward to--walking them to the post office. See, I have this new camera? And I'm kind of obsessed with it? I took almost two rolls on the way to/from mailing the cards and my first four rolls of film. Then I took a third one this afternoon when I went to a doctor's appointment in Brooklyn, and stopped at Canarsie Pier as the sun was setting. I think I got some fantastic shots with seagulls flying in front of the sun. I can't wait to start getting some of these prints back!

Tomorrow I go back to work, but I won't even mind, because it's only two days. The scheduler won't be happy with me; apparently they thought the machine was not working and didn't get my message that I'd be out. So at 9am, they called me hoping I was 'lost' in the building or something, I don't know. It made me feel a little bad, that they'd have to scramble for last-minute coverages. But you know, I have not taken a single day yet this year, so I'm resolved not to feel bad. I ended last year with at least ten days in my CAR, and earned another three already this year, so I have no need to hoard them.

And this way I'll be extra motivated to get back to Preparing for the Big Day Next Month!

Ding Dong!

Monday morning, I walked into the office only to find a coverage waiting. What's worse, it was for seventh grade, the hell grade of middle school subs. Even worse? It was for the Hydras, my worst class last year. Oh, man. I felt a bit anxious all morning even while teaching. Would they torture me? Would they mock me and laugh in my face like they did when I had to cover them last year? God.

I packed up my MadLibs and BrainQuest and ascended the stairs, trying to exude confidence. As I neared the room and the class spotted me, my breath caught in my throat.

The students in the room gasped and called out, "Miss!" And not in a horrified way. A student standing outside the door threw his arms around me and squeezed. The class waved and grinned at me.

Good god!

Now, to be fair, the class was not exactly the same as last year. My good AP in her wisdom did her best to redistribute some of the, shall we say, dominating personalities. So there were a few faces I did not recognize, and a few faces from different classes mixed in too. Overall, though, it was a very familiar group. Importantly, the two most, erm, troublesome? boys were not there. That was certainly a relief, though it did not make the group perfect by any means.

I went through my spiel about the trivia game and we began. There was a lot of noise from boys clustered in the back of the room, and I had to call out a couple times. But since it was just a coverage, I didn't stress myself and did my best to focus on the kids who were paying attention and participating. It went fairly well. At the end, a couple girls even came up to give me hugs and tell me how they're doing.

I breathed such a sigh of relief when the period was over. I survived! Most of the kids didn't hate me! Holy cow!

Later, talking to Ms Math across the hall (we've taught the same classes all four years, so we're always discussing students and class dynamics), I learned that the Asshole Kid from last year who, along with his Insane B**** Mother, made my life much more difficult, has LEFT THE SCHOOL!

At the end of the day I found myself humming, Ding, dong, the witch is dead!

This morning I had another coverage (o joy!), and I was rather dismayed to see it was for the same seventh-grade class I covered last week, with whom I kind of strained my voice to be heard over the din. Ugh. But again I packed Apples to Apples, BrainQuest, and MadLibs into a bag and walked down the hall. Only to discover, to my delight, that there must have been a scheduling mistake, because the class was actually an 8th grade honors class made up of some of my favorite kids from two years ago. Sweet!

We played games and yeah, they talked and chatted loudly and chewed gum. But when I wanted their attention, they all got quiet and looked at me. Wow. They enjoyed the MadLibs and the Apples to Apples, and everyone participated at least in the group. I quite enjoyed the coverage too!

This is a week already full of miracles, and only two days in!

Merry Christmas to MEEEEEEE

Oh. My. God. Y'all.

I am so FREAKIN' excited.

This is my new love. I will take votes for names.

It is a Minolta Maxxum 5 SLR. I bought it on Thursday on eBay--it came with a bunch of film, batteries, remote, ring/filter thing, manual, and case. It arrived today and I'm still grinning with glee. Squee!

How Time Does Fly

So apparently it's practically mid-December? And Christmas is in two weeks? Holy crap.

We have two weeks of school left til the break, but if I start thinking about that I may lose my mind. This week at least half of my kids will be out on a field trip--but I only know that because they came in all holding permission slips. Because god forbid they tell us these things in advance so we can plan ahead. Anyway, and then the week after that, they're holding a mock test for three days. The last week of vacation. No, I don't know why they waited this long to plan it. Yes, I think the kids will be insane and so will I.

So we have now, let's see...three and a half weeks of school until the BIG TEST. Four days already gone, plus who knows how many assemblies or other unplanned events will occur.

ARGH.

Also, now I'm a little late getting my holiday cards together, written, and sent. For the last five years at least I've meant to do them. For at least four of those years I never actually got around to it. I'm pretty sure that I did last year. It doesn't say much about me that I don't remember anything.

I was thinking about putting together a calendar of some of my favorite photos from this year, and giving them as gifts to a couple family members. Does that sound cheesy or lame?

The Educator's Oath??

I pledge allegiance
to the test
of the Empire State of New York,
and to the standards,
to which it stands,
Each child, not left behind,
tested with haste,
and judged forever.






*My apologies if anyone has already done this better. Feel free to link to those.

I....

...just bought a camera on eBay!

Less than $100 for a used SLR.

(And technically it can count as a present, since I got a little bit of birthday money last month that I put away.)

Whee! Wooo! Hurrah!

Ooh, I can't wait to play.

Planning to Plan!

I've slowly become intrigued, interested and addicted to shows on channels like TLC and HGTV. On weekends, BF and I love to watch What Not to Wear with our tv friends Stacy and Clinton.

Yesterday I happened upon an episode of My First Place. As the name implies, the show profiles a person or couple who is shopping for their first home. Oh, and the best part is that they surprise them at the end by styling and furnishing a room. Well, I set the DVR to record all episodes and I watched one tonight, about an exuberant young teacher in Atlanta. She found a really cute townhouse and was so thrilled to move in to her own place.

Last night, inspired by this show, I went online to look at house prices. I only looked at a couple cities and areas, but it was exciting just to think about having a real place of my own. A house with a yard? A cheaper, newer townhouse? Hardwood floors or carpet? How many bedrooms and bathrooms? How much of a payment could I afford? What kind of furnishings and design can I do? Will there be someone living there with me? Ooh, it's confusing and overwhelming, but definitely in an exciting, grown-up way.

Partnering with that, I officially, sort of, began a job search. I registered and created profiles on a few charter school job sites, and I looked at a couple state sites and job boards.

Since it's so early in the year, I know nothing is going to happen and jobs won't really be listed yet. All the same, it feels good to do something proactive and begin thinking about possibilities.

I Made It!

I successfully got through NaBloPoMo, with not a day missed!

I took on the challenge because this year I got much lazier with the blog, spending much more time on flickr. I figured I could use the practice in writing actual posts instead of hi, this is what I did in school today.

I did enjoy making more of an effort. I'm not sure it always worked or that it made much of a difference, but it was the kind of push I needed to at least get something up, even if it was just a photo or a list.

But then I thought to myself, Wait, am I losing the teaching aspect too much? I am a teacher blogger, but of course I've never limited myself to posting about school; I just don't have a lot of other things going on. So I suppose it's good to change the topic more often than not. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I've lost focus completely. But it's my blog, does it really need a strict focus? Bleh, I'm thinking too much.

Anyway, thank you to anyone and everyone who followed me along this month! I hope it was a better read than others.

Metaphorical Journeys

Four years ago, our mortgage office got some kind of inspirational pamphlet or something. It described a company with this great extended metaphor [and I'm sure I'm butchering it completely]:

Everyone in the company is in a big canoe. Each person has a paddle and must contribute to moving the canoe. If someone doesn't pull their weight, everyone else will have to pick up their slack. Each member of the team needs to understand the destination and how to work with the others to reach it.

So then you have to ask yourself, Do you want to be in the canoe? You might need to get out of this canoe and find another canoe that's going where you want to go.

This concept really stuck with me, but it took me awhile to admit I hated being in a corporate canoe. I got in just for a fun ride, and though I enjoyed paddling alongside good and funny people, I didn't want to go with them to Corporate Island Paradise.

So I left the canoe. I didn't even wait until we were near another island or another canoe, and I didn't even check to see how deep the water was; I just jumped out.

It was scary, but exhilarating. Where would I go? What would I do? Could I swim well enough to find another canoe? [This metaphor stuff is fun!]

....

Fast forward. I've survived a capsize in piranha-infested waters [that would be my first year], I've made friends with fellow paddlers, and seen both good and bad paddlers exit the canoe.

But here's the thing. When I keep my head down and focused, I don't mind what I'm doing in this work canoe. But when I take a breath and look around me, I don't always like who I'm with or where we're going, or how we're getting there. It seems like instead of one big canoe, we're a flotilla of individual canoes. And though everything looks peachy from far away, close up you'll find some people not moving at all, others moving sideways and just wasting energy, and some turned around going the other direction. Some clueless person is up front in a yacht telling us what to do, while our paddles are splintering and cracking under our hands.

I've begun to feel that I'm outgrowing my canoe. I'm not patient enough to wait for the long-promised new, supposedly unbreakable canoes and paddles. I'm working hard in my own canoe, but it turns out that maybe I'm spinning in circles.

So do I jump out again, in uncharted waters? I've done it before, am I brave enough to do it again? What's waiting for me in a new island chain--more piranhas? Dolphins who will support me, all friendly? Better canoes? Better leaders? Competent paddlers beside me?

Likes and Dislikes

Reconfigure of the original six-year-old "About" page on the old geocities site.

LIKES: My iPod. Itty bitty baby kitties. Painting some building and getting covered with the paint. Loppers. The words "beep," "mouse," "bubble," "poop," "crux," "gelatinous," and "whilst" and "turtle." The smell of new books. Reading. Libraries and bookstores. Candy. Chocolate shops. Good music. The television shows "The Amazing Race," "Bones," "Chuck," "The Office." The movies "The Princess Bride," "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," "The Boondock Saints." Sports movies, especially dancing and baseball movies. Dancing. Ultimate frisbee. Softball. Pickles. Europe travel. Business class on British Airways. A well-packed suitcase. Funny people. Frosting. Chocolate. Gelato! Midori sours. Christmas music. The glow from multi-colored Christmas lights. My scrapbooks and photo albums. Spice-flavored car trees. Cats. Greek mythology. Swear words. Imitating accents (ask me to spell "Alabama" sometime). Frozen pizza cheese. Pepper jack cheese. Pepper jack nachos. Movie quotes. Email. Cucumber ranch salad dressing. Croutons. French fries (especially fajita nacho fries!). Root beer floats. Sneezing. Sleep. Laughing. Cute boys. My stuffed animals. School/office supplies. Pens. Staying up late. My diplomas. Wearing fake tiaras. Wiggling toes in grass or big shag rugs. Boggle. Taboo. Big hugs.


DISLIKES: Scraping paint. Spiders. Ticks. The show "Seinfeld." People who are too serious and/or who have no sense of humor. Shallow people and stuck-up people. Stupid people. Stupid people! Stupid music. Techno music. Purposelessly repetitve and/or annoying music. Reality television shows like "Survivor." Commercials! Sexism. Excessive materialism. Cigarettes and cigarette smoke. Jumpy, yappy and/or slobbery dogs. Extreme Republicans and other right-wing conservatives. Shitty birthdays (and I've had enough to know!). Mean people. Senseless traffic. People who can't drive/slow me down/try to show me up by speeding recklessly. Lazy students. Pens that don't work all the time. Waking up early.

Why I'm Glad I Didn't End Up Teaching Math

On the NaBloPoMo site, there's a Writing Prompts group. Obviously, I have not used their wealth of information; otherwise all my posts might have had some interest and/or direction!

Yesterday I visited and saw a Daily Prompt thread with all kinds of ideas. And since I am very tired with zero ideas, I figured I'd take advantage of it tonight (the thread, not the thoughtless fatigue).

From Nov 2: what's your favourite childhood book, and why?

In case you're new, I'll remind you that it is physically impossible for me to choose favorites. Partly because I rebel against certain rules (but unimportant ones like "choose only one") and mostly because I'm terribly indecisive.

So I thought I'd make a list and discuss several influential books from my childhood.

--The first book I ever "read" by myself was "Marvin K Mooney, Will You Please Go Now?" I always felt sorry for him and related to him feeling unwanted and unhappy.

--I loved reading The Baby-Sitters Club books. My dad used to take me to this great local bookstore called Rainy Day Books; the kids' books were at the back of the store and I used to excitedly rush there to look for the new book each month. That store had the classic homey bookstore smell that doesn't truly exist in the big box stores. In the books themselves, I admired all the girls for their different strengths, but I think mostly I was fascinated by their friendships. I had no real friends growing up and desperately wished for a group of solid friends like they had.

--Sometime in elementary school I must have read a Wrinkle In Time. I had loved science in school and after reading this book, I've always had a fondness for mitochondria. And I've always remembered the illustration with the string, showing the time 'wrinkle.'

--By sixth grade I had already read Anne of Green Gables several times. I remember randomly asking a sub if she knew what the word 'fortnight' meant. I had come across it so many times and had a vague idea but didn't know for sure. Big help, she didn't know either. I think we looked it up and discovered it meant two weeks.

--Later on I finished reading the series. We learn about Anne's friends and her children. The last one, Rilla of Ingleside, is a coming-of-age story during World War I. Rilla begins as a spoiled and silly girl, but ends up taking care of an infant and winning the heart of a handsome and gallant young soldier, who happens to be the son of Anne's friends Leslie and Owen. It was so sweepingly romantic. It made me wish to be strong and desirable like her.

--Then I happened upon A Girl of the Limberlost. Eventually it reminded me a little bit of Annie, because the plucky main character overcomes many terrible obstacles. In this one, the heartless mother ignores her, but the girl, determined, collects exotic moths from their swamp to pay for her education. The mother eventually grows a heart and gives herself a physical and mental makeover. The girl finds romance with a man sent to the country to recover from illness. Near the end, he steals her glove for her ring size and presents a beautiful emerald. Of course the girl refuses at first, scared. But he wins her over, the mother is revealed to be loving after all, and all's well that ends well. Except upon the many rereadings, the character (Eleanor! That's her name) gets irritating. All that determination and beating the odds, blah blah blah.

--The Secret Garden. I received several versions of this book in elementary school but didn't read it for a couple years. When I finally did, the beginning of the story did not interest me. In fact, it confused me and I probably tried to reread. It never really explained who was who and what the hell was going on. And Mary was such a crankypants! Not lovable at all. I wanted to slap her dour and snobby pale face. But the description of the moors was fascinating; I envisioned it as eternally gray and foggy, all flat, swampy ground covered in brush. Then the mysterious wall, with the secret door, and the friendly bird who leads her to uncover the key. Ooh, the excitement! The intrigue! Finally she befriends the equally dour and unlovable Colin, only Mary is now transforming, and then Colin begins to transform and oh, the hints of romance! The secrecy! I fairly wriggled in delight. And of course father and son are reunited, and they love each other. All are healed and healthy.

I loved reading, and I still do. You can always escape into a book, completely forgetting the real world. You envision yourself in those characters. Would you do what they do? Would you be like them? Would you be friends with them? What would you tell them to do? I tell you, there is nothing better than a good book.

Old Enough

I always think it's weird to be old enough to say I've done something or known someone for over ten years.

But nine or ten years ago, a bunch of us in our dorm gang (erm, as in group of people who hang out, not as in snapping dancing knife-wielding hooligans) made up a list of where we'd all be in ten or twenty years.

Already everything is wrong, but still, isn't that funny? How our perceptions and hopes and realities can change so utterly?

I, of course, was to be the jet-setting fancypants with fabulous apartments in Paris and London (or was it New York and Paris?) and the friends would visit me on the holidays.

Ten years later, in matter of fact, I am a jet-setting lazypants with an adorable apartment in New York who has to come visit everyone at home because for some reason no one wants to come to New York!

We predicted three of the boys married. One of those is married with a child who must be....three? five? we've never met the little boy. Another boy, not from those three, is also married with a child, who is most probably in the two-three range; we haven't met him/her either. Oh, and yet another boy is engaged. Maybe married by now; who knows, nobody tells me anything.

Two of us girls are now teachers. Neither of us planned to be.

None of us girls are married. I'm not sure if any of us planned to be by now. I certainly didn't, but I can't speak for the others.

So now it's ten years since our freshman year of college, and life is real and really different.

What will happen in the next ten years?

The cusp of 40 sounds a lot more daunting than the cusp of 30, I'll tell you that much. (And I am the youngest of the crowd, so several of them are already 29.) It seems like grown-up life is quickly encroaching if it hasn't already. We have to have, like, real jobs and stuff. And be serious and adult and shit.

So what do I think life will hold for me in the next ten years? First of all, based on the previous ten years, things will happen that I would never be able to dream up. But I think there are some patterns that could conceivably continue or emerge.

For example, I'm quite sure I will continue to travel often. In ten years I hope to have visited at least two new continents (South America, Africa, or Asia, perhaps)(I suppose that's all that's really left, since Antarctica is way too expensive and I've already been to North America, Europe and Australia). I wonder if I will have been able to live abroad? That is still such a potent pipe dream of mine. God, I would adore living in Europe. Living Down Under would be divine too.

Which brings me to work! I suppose I have to have a career in order to have money which will allow me to globe-trot. I am certain that I will find a new job for next year, and it's quite likely that I could move out of state again. Because I am unimaginative and scared, I'm sure I will teach for a couple years, maybe a couple more if it's a cushier situation. I'm quite sure I don't want to be a career teacher, but I'm scared I'll be too lazy to leave. As long as I'm dreaming, I'll have a photography business on the side. Ooh! Maybe I'll be a travel writer/photographer! Yes, I'll take that, please!

By 38, if I'm into that kind of thing, I would hope to be married. I've never been sure I want to, but if the right person is there and situations are good, then I think I'd definitely be into it. Ten years is a long time from now, but I would like to hope Boyfriend is still around (as more than that, after all that time!). However, a part of me does expect to be on my own for the long term. I've always been independent and though it would be lonely, I'm sure I'd deal just fine.

Speaking of lonely, I've never been positive I wanted kids. Actually, grown kids seem kind of cool (especially with the spinster idea), but the baby thing...yikes. My two youngest siblings were born when I was nine and thirteen, so I did a lot with them and have zero illusions about the beauty of diaper changes and two AM crying. Again though, if I decide to have one, I hope that when I'm 38 it would be a toddler or in school. Still though, picturing me as someone's mom is way, way too weird. Even the pregnancy thing...shudder. Aren't I too young for that?! That's a grown-up thing! But I do like the idea of shaping a future citizen, teaching it languages and sharing books, taking it around the world and doing fun activities.

I have to say, watching and reading about so many people's journeys through these things, through blogs and flickr, has made it all (marriage and parenthood) seem more normal and kind of more interesting. Fascinating, really. But...ssh, don't tell.

In the next ten years, I don't care about acquiring much material wealth, but I do want to be comfortable, independent, with some quality surroundings. A nice camera, a real couch someday, an awesome big soft bed, a cushy armchair with piles of soft blankets for curling up with books, actual bookshelves filled with my books and photo albums. Really, what I desperately want is to have ALL my things together in one place, in *my* place. My entire life, belongings have been spread among and lost at different houses (oh, the joys of joint custody), and I *hate* that. I have a constant low-level anxiety about my stuff--at this point, I don't even know what I have back home, where things are, or in what quality. So when it comes time to be a real adult, I will gather with me all my things. I'll probably need a lot of space, but it will be worth it.

In general, I want to be happy and satisfied with my life in ten years. I hope to make and accomplish some goals. I hope to be surrounded by good friends. I want to be happy with the decisions I've made and the person I've become.

Things That Make Me Happy!

Being productive and completing the to-do list I wrote on my hand!

1. I made my doctor's appointment.
2. I did my laundry.
3. I changed the sheets. Yay clean fresh sheets!
4. I printed out new attendance sheets.

----

Starting a new library book (which is kind of stupid because I have FOURTEEN of my own books on a chair. Plus four other library books. I'm dumb, I know. But come on, who can resist overdosing on books?!) that is already awesome. It's called The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman. It's a YA book about some boys who 'meet' a kid who seems invisible, and it's hilarious.

---

Songs that make me happy:

1. The theme song of How I Met Your Mother.
2. The theme song of The Office.
3. 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' by Mariah Carey.
4. [changed!] 'Build Me Up Buttercup' by The Temptations.

Do you have any happy songs?

Traditions

Tank and a half of gas: $50

Driving 280 miles in three state: 6 hours

Visiting old haunts: Priceless



Discovering new delights: Priceless



Satisfying the wanderlust: Doubly priceless

Yes, I'm Thankful.

I know I was supposed to do this two days ago, but I didn't. So there.

--First, although it's going to sound terribly cheesy, I am so grateful to my boyfriend. He is the best ever. I don't write much about our relationship or things we do, but really, he is so good to me. He's so patient with my moods and chatter, he's always kind to me (except when he teases me), he's too generous with gifts, he likes to travel and is a good traveling companion (I don't think he knew how serious I was when I told him how important that is to me--it's a make or break kind of thing), and he makes me feel beautiful and loved. I am just as happy globetrotting next to him as I am hanging out at home watching tv.

--I'm thankful for the friends I've made in the last few years, some from school, some from the blogosphere. I never had much luck finding real girlfriends when I was young, and so I value them extra now. These women are intelligent, fun, good people who accept me, laugh with me, make me feel whole like only real friends can.

--My family is far away from me, but I do miss them. They've been supportive of me being out here in New York, which was the only thing I had the first year. There were a lot of ups and downs growing up, but regardless, because of them I became who I am. They made me a reader, a traveler, a liberal, an appreciater of culture, an independent person.

--Not to be too much of a blogwhore, but I'm so surprised and grateful that people read this blog. Thank you for listening to my rantings and ramblings. I appreciate you all! You have taught me a lot.

--I'm thankful for my students this year, for allowing me to enjoy being in my room. Don't get me wrong, I get irritated and yell at them just as much as in previous years, but these kids make it fun. I kind of love them. They are helping me get through this year.

--I love my DVR. It changed my life, and so cheaply! [Yes, I can be shallow. At least I realize it.]