retail therapy

My savings account has shrunk exponentially in the past week, and for once, it has nothing to do with being young and single. Since Thanksgiving, I've paid for:

1. Car registration
2. December rent
3. LAUSD overpayment repayment
4. Over half of my student loan, which begins accruing interest in February
   

All of this financial do-gooding has left me feeling like I will need to stay in and watch DVDs this weekend. Or go shopping. Either / or.

he also can't stop fidgeting to save his life

Just a quick note to let you know that I've been wearing the same pair of jeans since Wednesday, I've eaten half a (ginormous) bag of M&Ms while finishing eight report cards, and I've been laughing out loud at commercials since six pm. Oh, and that when I got home today, I lay down on my couch to make a phone call and woke up an hour later. That's why I'm awake this late.

A third grade anecdote: Victor is one of my favorite students because he designs his own curriculum. Not, like, as in submitting lesson plans or anything. But there's the lesson that I've prepared and am giving the entire class, and then there's the stuff that Victor is working on at his desk. Or on the rug. Or on the floor with a pile of chewed-up pencils and a picture of a rat.

The students were giving quick oral reports on a project that they just finished, but it turned out to be not so quick since once they stood up, not a single student remembered what they had done in the past thirty minutes. Each group, upon taking their place at the front of the class, began a feverish, whispered huddle to determine who was going to say what. It goes to show how undeveloped their brains are that even the third group was unprepared, like COULDN'T YOU THINK WHILE PRETENDING TO LISTEN TO THE OTHERS???

We're waiting impatiently when Victor, from the far corner of the room, looks straight at me, cocks his eyebrows, and says loudly, "So...I guess I'll read while we're waiting?" He picks up the copy of Harry Potter sitting on his desk, opens it up, and adds, "Good thing I've got a book here, huh!"

psycho potato

This one is even better.

While on a second date with Karaoke Guy, we had a You-Tube-Off and I was introduced to the Hipster Olympics. My favorite part is the cell phone self-portraits. I totally take those.

vanessa

I'm totally bent out of shape because one of my students is leaving my class. She's moving to Arizona this weekend and won't be back on Monday. I don't think she knew, because she gave no indication that anything was changing. I found out after school, so I didn't even get to say goodbye. That's awful for a kid -- no closure -- but it's also awful for me. I took a long walk this evening to shake the feeling but just ended up crying.

This isn't the first time a student has left my class. Far from it, actually. Last year, six of my students left mid-year, and so far I've had three leave since September. However, I've never been caught off guard like this, and I certainly haven't been as attached to anyone as I am to this girl.

She's like the best student, and I say that with all sincerity. She's nice to other kids, she's always smiling and asking me questions, she takes pride in her work, she's very self-assured, she comes up behind me at least twice a day and shouts, "Boo!" which would be annoying with anyone else but she giggles EVERY time like it's the funniest thing in the world. And she's smart. I have had not a single problem with her the entire year. Even Naomi and my mother, upon visiting my classroom, noted that she was a great kid. (My mom also said that she reminded her of me.)

I think one of the secret pleasures of being a teacher is that you have your own little fan club. Nineteen children follow me around every day, listen to my stories, ask me about my new shoes, seek my approval for pretty much everything they do ("Look how I put my eraser onto my pencil!"), practically beg for me to listen to their stories about scabs/church/Spongebob/lizards/chicken nuggets. And while they certainly don't obey my every command (far from it), I know that secretly, most of them worship me.

Three of my kids from last year, the three who gave me the most grief, they shout hello and give me hugs every single time I pass them on the yard. Like, several times a day. Without fail. It totally gets annoying, but there is no way I'm going to stop them because I love knowing that I played a part in their lives. I hope they know, Vanessa included, what an important part they play in my life.

first impressions count

Today, my dad visited my classroom to say hi and to teach them the Channukah song we will be performing for our Holiday Program. It is my goal to have every single person I know come watch me teach at some point this year. I'm three for seventy so far.

My dad has a pretty full head of hair that is mostly white. It's straight and a little bit overgrown, kinda sticking out a bit at the tips. He also wears a bow-tie. He has glasses. When he walked into the classroom, I had turned off all the lights to calm the kiddies down. I started to introduce him when a hand shot up in the front of the class. It was Andrew, one of my favorite students to watch because is pudgy and not totally coordinated. He is also super smart and very mischievous. When he speaks, he smiles.

"His hair," he began, pointing at my dad's white coif, "his hair looks like a genius!"

spring, 1982

From my aunt:

Superdeens and Judah [my cousin] are nice additions to our family. Deens I got to know better than Judah. She has a wonderful, wide open smile and she purrs at the same time. She makes her wishes known (like Jo [my mom]) and has her parents under her control. They carry and walk her to sleep. She's pudgy.

x er size

I'm so in love with my neighborhood right now.

I decided earlier today that I was going to take a long walk when I got home from work. My feet and calves and thighs and ass are still super sore from the thirteen mile hike I did on Sunday. After being horizontal all day yesterday, I admitted to myself that maybe I need to do more exercise. A day of hiking shouldn't be followed by a week of sitting on the couch, immobile.

So I walked at a brisk pace through all of downtown Culver, and! Remembered that it's Boozeday Tuesday! Farmer's Market! I got myself a few samples of Asian Pear, and then kept walking through on towards a) City Hall b) City Hall Gardens c) Culver City Studios d) Meltdown etc, a grilled cheese restaurant e) Ford's Filling Station, location of my birthday date dinner f) Trader Joes, where I purchased Middle Eastern Flatbread and Tomato and Red Pepper Hummus g) Carbon bar/club.

I returned to the Farmer's Market and had a crepe for dinner. (It looked better than it tasted.) By the time I got home, I was so jazzed about my walk and about my zipcode that I didn't want to waste my energy on wine. I poured myself a tall glass of H2O and took a shower. Plus, drinking alone is a little bit creepy, right? No? Next week?

it was a clear black night, a clear white moon

When I was in college, I had to take a computer programming class to get my B.A. in Human Development. It gave me the skills to make silly tables and charts in HTML. I spent several long nights in the computer lab creating a very girly, very pink webpage in worship of Brad Pitt. I don't even have to tell you how popular I was back then.

This page reminds me of that. Anyone who can make charts and graphs AND has a working knowledge of the past twenty years in rap is super cool. My favorites below:

three white men and a pregnant belly

1. Michael Jackson is awesome. I found his Greatest Hits album on my inherited ipod, and that is what I woke up to for the entire month of October. I wish MJ was not cracked up and instead was a brilliant performer like in his heyday. I love watching him on YouTube.
   


2. Jack White and the White Stripes is my new wake up music. Just FYI.
   


3. Date guy is still interested in hanging out, despite the fact that I have revealed some incredibly embarrassing information about myself. For example, I have had lice twice as an adult. This came up on a phone conversation because I thought I had them again, and my mother was coming over any minute to check my scalp. (Clean.) Another tidbit I let loose is that I generally don't go to the bathroom the entire school day. Teachers tend to hold their pee. To which he replied, "That's not healthy." And then I told him that my purse now contains a glue stick, Purell, and a phillips head screwdriver. Because you never know.
   
   I'm driving down to see him tomorrow for a hiking date, and I've been advised not to wear hiking boots.
   
   
4. Last night I had a dream that I was very, very pregnant. Like nine months along. I think it was really indigestion.
   

students who rock

I collected a shitload of writing papers to grade this weekend and spent many minutes laughing out loud on my couch. Here are some gems:

What did you learn this week? What do you want to learn next week?

This week I learned about animals. Next week I want to learn about guns.

Describe your family.

My mom is nice. My brother Miguel is in 4th grade. My little brother likes to bite people.

What would you say if an alien came to your classroom?

“Welcome, peace my alien friends. What can we do for you."

If an alien came to our classroom I will tell the alien to dance and to give me a lion but a nice one.

teachers who rock

New friend! Meet Mrs. Mimi, second grade teacher blogger extraordinaire! Some choice quotes:

It assumes that I intend to walk off with pockets full of Base 10 blocks. Really? As if I’m preparing for an impending place value emergency? Well, maybe my sister will totally flip at the grocery store over the cost of meat for our summer BBQ and I’ll need to whip out some flats and longs so that we can divide the burden into equal shares….

please, don't even start with me with the whole "must be nice to have summers off" crap because it's NOT the whole summer, it's about 7 weeks, and it's long overdue since I hold my urine for eight hours a day, five days a week, 180 days a year

One day my class was in computer lab (you know, that place with the “teacher” who IMs all day and when you come in with your class at the scheduled time he looks at you like and for a moment you are convinced that he no idea what he is supposed to do next).

we are now testing the shit out of second graders.

It was like it ripped time and space in half. Afterwards, a silence filled the room. Children’s eyes darted madly around the room, hands covered mouths in desperate attempts to not laugh. After all, we have had the “Everybody Farts” talk multiple times.

happy birthday, to me

So far, this is turning out to be a MUCH better birthday than last year, which I guess isn't setting the bar very high. My students surprised me with a few handmade cards, covered in candy, covered in masking tape. Maybe "surprised" isn't the right word, since I warned them all week I would be expecting good wishes. I also received a lanyard and a large, stuffed dog. My favorite surprise was that one of my students, (one of my favorites, actually YES WE HAVE FAVORITES) brought a box of cookies to hand out to everyone in my honor. I love him. Cookies are the way to my heart.

Last night I went on a very fun First Date, perhaps the most fun First Date I've ever been on. We had drinks and appetizers and entrees and a cheese platter and more drinks. We did the cheeses taste-test style, and one of them was so godawful he described it as, "sock-like, reminiscent of basement." I spit mine out in my napkin, which was not at all awkward. (I had nine different kinds of cheeses all together last night, and I'm thinking they could be the cause of my splitting headache today.) Also, he made me laugh and didn't try to stick his tongue down my throat.

Today, I celebrated my twenty-sixth by taking three naps and a bath. In a few minutes, I'm going shopping with my brother to buy me a new cell phone. Happy birthday, me! Then we are having Family Birthday at Pink Taco Hip Mexican Restaurant, which is a far cry from CPK or Thai food, which is where we've gone for every family celebration in the past five years. It's also the nickname of female genitalia, which my mother figured out late in the game.

Here's to a good year, full of cookies and laughter and free of douche-bags.