Lazy Sunday

laundry in big piles

so much could be accomplished

but I do nothing. 

Everyone Gets Bullied

When you introduce students to a new concept, they try to forget it as quickly as possible.  When you force feed cheesy character education skits on a multiple times a year basis... hilarity will ensue.  

As I remarked yesterday, it was Bullying Day... aka the day everyone gets bullied!  What I didn't know when I wrote that was that this "everyone" includes me! In one class period alone I had my backpack flipped inside out, my jacket stolen, and had my right foot used as a punching bag by a student who I can only presume needs about twice the amount of Adderall he is currently receiving.  I felt fortunate that I wasn't trying to accomplish anything of great importance in the class!  (Perhaps my students were trying to send me a message not to be quite so evil)

Happy Spring Break

Sunlight and sand?  Hardly... this is what I woke up to this morning...

That said, in approximately 5  hours it will be time for spring break.  Until then it's bullying training day at school.  

Any type of character building day always turns into "The Day Everyone Gets _______" (fill-in the blank with "sexually harassed," "bullied," "called out for being a minority."  I'm all for character building in education... but the way they choose to incorporate such training is absurd.  Right now there is a group of actors in the newly refurbished auditorium performing what I'm calling a skit for the entire 9th grade class who must be crammed into the room like sardines.  The rest of the school is viewing the skit via live feed courtesy of the morning announcements crew.  As awesome as this plan might sound, it really only works if the SOUND IS TURNED ON!  We sat laughing at some dude (with a glowing mane of red hair pulled back into a pony tail that reaches his waist) for 10 minutes before the sound came on - now that the sound is on, we have no clue what we're watching... and it's rather entertaining.  

lacrosse weather

sun and shorts tuesday 

thursday's practice, lots of snow. 

it's lacrosse weather 

Binging and Purging

The economy is going down the drain and I've been reaping the rewards for several months now.  My impluse shopping instincts have combined with my inability to pass up an awesome deal and allowed me to single-handedly stimulate the economy and replenish my wardrob particularly when it comes to work wear.  I try to avoid paying full price for anything (other than comfortable teaching shoes) and have been remarkably successful.  In the recession, my shopping habits surely haven't receded.  Throughout the year I've been stocking up and replenishing my wardrobe particularly when it comes to work wear.  Unfortunately, this has left me with an overstuffed dresser and overflowing closets... until now.  To contrast my binge spending, it is now time for a purge of monumental proportions.  Fortunately this also coincides with the seasonal shift, so it's a good time to dig through boxes of things that have been stored during the colder months and get rid of things I know I haven't worn in several seasons.  

Anytime I get into purging mode I'm amazed at the stuff I've held onto: t-shirts that never fit in the first place, jeans that haven't been worn in years and will never fit again, various items that I'm not quite sure what I was thinking when I purchased (or even if I was thinking at the time), and more fleece than a person has any reason to own (and trust me, I will find a reason for fleece).  I've also been blessed / cursed with small feet.  This means I frequently find shoes on the sale racks, but often find that they aren't as comfortable as I need them to be resulting in lots and lots of lightly worn shoes.  

So far this round of purging consists of:

10 pairs of shoes

10 pull-overs / sweaters / fleece

10 tops / t-shirts

1 blazer

8 dresses

6 skirts

7 pairs of pants

All of this will first be filtered through by my Fashion Saavy Sister who will either take it for herself or use it for school type projects.  What won't be used by FSS will be donated to Goodwill and other charities.  I'd really like to make sure that all of the work appropriate clothing winds up in one of the places for women in need of clothing for job interviews.  I'm also hoping to really make a dent in my t-shirt collection after I get through my laundry -- spring break might not be that much of a break after all!

I don't read enough...

I've considered myself "a reader" since before I myself could read.  To put it simply, I love stories.  I recently finished The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly and was totally enthralled to watch the stories David has treasured since childhood come to life and metamorphosize into the world of the Crooked Man.  I couldn't put the book down.  Even as an English teacher, however, such immersion reading is rare for me.  As I get older, I find that I have less time to devote to reading, and I have become incredibly picky about not only what I'll pick up but what I'll finish reading.  In the past year I've put down several "good" reads, either because I lost interest, or I let too much time pass before I was able to return to the book.  Recent castaways include: The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand), Hot, Flat, and Crowded (Thomas Friedman), and Emma (Jane Austen).  It's not that I wasn't into the book, but perhaps I just quit caring. 

Every so often I attempt to re-commit myself to literature.  I'm presently in one of those states, and I find that it's nearly impossible to dealve into a book and maintain any sense of normalcy in my life.  I'd rather stay up all night to finish a great book than get some sleep and save the book for later.  Over the holidays I parked myself on a the couch for a thorough re-read of the Twilight Saga (Stephenie Meyer) and Harry Potter 6 & 7 (J.K. Rowling).  I averaged a little over a book a day; grated this ceratinly can't be considered heavy reading, similar behavior is present when I'm reading anything I truly enjoy.  So maybe what I'm looking to do now is to find a happy medium between my compulsion to devour an entire book without leaving my seat and the need to maintain a "normal" routine.  At any rate, the next candidate for potential rejection is Dave Eggers You Shall Know Our Velocity which comes highly recommended by two friends.  I'm hoping to start the book and get a reasonable amount of sleep tonight.  We shall see... 

Summer in Oxford

I'm headed to Oxford this summer for my fourth summer with the Bread Loaf School of English (though they'll tell you third summer, but I blame that on WVU... I digress).  I've become obsessed with trying to figure out precisely how little I can pack while maintaining an adequate amount of wardrobe options and dealing with the fluctuations in weather.  Expect thorough debates over exactly how many pairs of socks I'll need (tentatively 4), and whether the hemp or leather Rainbow flip flops make the cut.   I don't want to be bogged down by lots of stuff - and I don't want to wind up with the dorm room disaster that has plagued me (though particularly in Asheville) each summer.  This is to say that I'm hoping to live comfortably while I'm there, but not wind up with possessions that make the trans-Atlantic jaunt just for the heck of it.  

This is just a sample of what my room in Asheville looked like on any given day, so you can understand why thinking through what I'm taking is playing a prominent role in my preparations for the summer.  

High School Haiku

writing a weblog

perhaps now is the right time

for such a pursuit 

We'll see how this goes... 

ep