divine intervention

The City of Angels has sure had some weird weather this year. There was the frosty freeze that killed off all our citrus (causing orange juice nationwide to go up in price), then the ninety degree heat wave several weeks later, and then today and hit-and-run hail storm. Which began and ended within five minutes. Bizarre.

It reminded me of this day several weeks ago, an ordinary partly cloudy March day, a typical seventy two degree Los Angeles afternoon. I got in my car to drive home from school, turned westward, and was completely bowled over by the sky. It was filled with white and yellow clouds, textured and fluffy, laying a blanket over the entire city. The sunlight and the shadows worked in a way that made the sky look like upside down foggy mountains. It was magnificent. I remember sitting at the stop sign at the end of my school block for five minutes, cursing myself for not having a camera phone.

I was so enraptured by the clouds that instead of driving north on Vermont for several miles, how I usually drive, I took Manchester west through South LA. This was so I could stare at the sky as it was lit by the setting sun. Seriously, it was amazing. I remember being on the phone with a friend and having a completely one-sided conversation that consisted of my oohs and aahs and exclamations. As the wind blew the clouds eastward, the blue sky came into view just at the tip of the horizon, where the ocean ended. I noticed this right as I passed the round, white columns of The Forum, a huge deal since I have only seen it once at night and several times from an airplane. Across the street was the Inglewood Park Cemetery, where Ella Fitzgerald is buried. I considered stopping to find her grave, (my class is studying her for Black History Month), but drove on.

After that, I realized I really needed to head home (not the best neighborhood), and so I found a northbound street that cut through. Mesmerized as I was, I actually missed a turn somewhere, and ended up in my cousin's neighborhood. My darling three-year-old cousin, whom I had not seen in several weeks. I stopped by her house and had a wonderful afternoon of tickling, dancing, and cuddling.

It felt really random and spontaneous, but I swear it was not by accident.

whoopsies

I may have kinda, sorta hooked up with a friend of mine, one whom I had promised myself I wouldn't touch again.

oops.

Abbey Wedding Weekend Tidbit #2

Amazing sunset in Boston from the airplane. See the snow on the ground? See the sky on fire?

Very Exciting New Purchase from 99cent Store

Very Exciting New Purchase from 99cent Store:



Very Sad Day when I chewed every single gum ball in one sitting:


(sitting atop list of students whose parents I have to call because of their misbehavior)

bringing awesome back

Ok, I need to toot the horn a little louder, because just this very moment I got an email from my UCLA advisor about my PACT, this huge project we had to do last year, taping ourselves teaching and explaining our lesson plans and whatnot:

How are you? I hope you're well!! Did you know that your PACT from last year has been held up as a model by the state? It was used as the standard for grading!!

All of you reading can say I KNEW HER WHEN.

anal retentive aesthetics

Not to toot my own horn or anything, but apparently I am a super, huge deal at work. On Tuesday afternoon, the entire staff met in my room for our faculty meeting. This meant that not only did I have to make things look impressive and presentable, I also had to give mini tour of the class to the rest of the teachers. This is A LOT of pressure for a first year teacher, to have all these veterans checking out my walls. Luckily, I am somewhat (completely) picky about how things look, and so my room is already beautiful and labeled and appropriate. But still, stress. The meeting and tour was successful, and I got major props from the principal and A.P.

Then on Wednesday, we had a cohort of principals from the district visit our school. My A.P. told me beforehand that they were going to visit my classroom because it looks so great. !!! Pachotch!!! They were going to look closely at my walls and bookcases and displays and scrutinize everything! Like, is this person fit to teach small children? (Definitely.) Does this teacher have any idea what she is doing? (Somewhat.) Is she doing a good job? (According to her bulletin boards, yes.) The suits came and went, and lucky for me, we had guest visitors for Career Day during the visit, so I myself wasn't actually on display, just my walls. I got many, many compliments. Super ego boost.

THEN, today the principal tells us that there is to be a group of Assistant Principals visiting our school tomorrow. They will be walking through my class, led by the DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT. The DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT, my principal informed me, has chosen to ADOPT my classroom. And is therefor going to be showing me off tomorrow while I teach. Seriously! My classroom is adopted! I have no idea what that means!! But it must be good, because no one adopts something they don't like! I must be awesome!

new toy! white and shiny!

Holy Batman, I am now the proud owner of an apple ibook. I never thought the day would come.


Not the day that I got converted over to Mac (I'm not there yet; I do love my right click), but the day that my school would finally get their shit together and give me the laptop they promised in October.

I can't really and truly internet on it yet, because for some reason it won't install Firefox, and for some other reason, it won't log me into Blogger. Since I don't know how to put all my bookmarks in Safari, it will be a while before I can play on my couch. Alas! I must finish report cards first, before I fuss with the new toy!