The Book

After a day in the sensory deprivation tank, I am back in action. I'm on facebook now. Are any of you on facebook? I have one friend. So far, so good.

The Subs

This week's been a long stretch of misery. First the horrible workshop for teachers where 2 women stood in front of me and told me that I need to test test test test test kids to get them up to speed. They also told me what graphs are and how you can use graphs to actually SEE progress or lack of progress. Half day out of classroom for that one. Then the root canal happened and I was out again. Today I was gone the whole day for a workshop on collaborative teaching. It wasn't too bad, but when one of my collaborators called over to wildschool to get an update on the day, she told me that my Kid-With-Many-Problems (KWMP) had beaten the crap out of my Kid-Who-Is-Quite -Odd-But- Extremely-Amusing (KWIQOBEQ). So that tainted the rest of the day. At the end of the day I went by school to look at KWIQOBEQ's bruised and battered face. It looked quite awful. I talked to a friend at school who told me my students paraded back and forth between the classroom and the office pretty much all day. Then tonight, come to find out, I have lost the battery recharger for my camera. I think I may have left it in Chicago. Flippin icing on the cake.

The Show

We saw Bruce Springsteen this week. He was playing music, giving what might be called a rock concert. The show was phenomenal and I've been reliving it for the past two days by watching youtube videos of every song he sang. And then some other songs. Then I watch them again. A couple of times. I showed one of these to the peeps on Friday morning as they ate their breakfast so they could understand why I was so tired and potentially crabby. They reacted positively and I felt good about creating yet another generation of fans for the boss. I wish I could retire and just follow Bruce around. Not just attend his shows, but be around during his regular life as well. I wouldn't want to interact with him per se, just unobtrusively observe what's going on in his day to day.

The Cards

The report cards are done, I tell you, they're done. I stayed at school til 10pm, and now I can truly enjoy life once again. I vow never to get behind on the grading ever again.

The Merriment

These hats were a big hit, as were the shamrock leis. I'm getting credit for the hubbub that's created through the Menosky patronage. Lots of heads turned as the leprechauns and I walked through the halls today. Some peeps even ran out of classrooms to give us a look. It was like our own St. Pat's Day parade, even though we were just heading over to read to our book buddies. I feel slightly guilty about everyone thinking I'm such a fun teacher, when I've basically done nothing to contribute to the fun. We did write some limericks, but come to find out, limericks aren't even Irish. Oh well, I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth. I've just never done that.
p.s. Thanks, D. We had a blast.

The Model

From Saturday's want ads:

Model needed for portrait of Anna Karenina. $7 - $12/hour. Downtown office.

The Ending

The realization that spring break is nearly over comes eventually and it's here now. We've made the most of it. #1 son's band played some music and you can hear it here. Teendaughter got her driver's license and we can no longer see her here. Husbandman and I saw some good movies and took some good walks. I read 1.5 books. And they were from our public library.

The Day

1. Woke up and finished this fine novel.
2. Walked over to the dentist to adjust my bite.
3. Headed over to Menosky's for some chat and a bevvy
4. Went to see Bank Job
5. Came home and had a grilled cheese sandwich.
6. Watched Darjeeling Limited. 
7. Except for #2, the day's been just right.  

The Gift

Last week, it was time for our ymca walk. That meant coats. So I started in on my rhyming. Stuff like, "Don't pet a goat, go get your coat." and "No time to float, just get your coat." The kids groan and beg me to stop, but as I told them, "I'm very good at this." Little miss mp shook her head and said, "It's a dark gift."
I loved that comment but I do disagree, my rhyming gift is all goodness and light. Obviously.

The Breaks

Spring break is here and those around me seem to be doing interesting things.
Teendaughter is in Philadelphia at a conference for Journalists and the Constitution. She kindly left her schedule out on the counter so between doing laundry and reading my book, I check it out every hour or so and think about her attending sessions like this one:

"Women and the Law; Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sherrilyn Ifill, Elena Kagan & Gene Pratter will participate on a panel discussing the successes, continued challenges and emerging issues, faced by women in the legal profession...The program will be moderated by ABC News correspondent, Lynn Sherr."

And I've gotten quite a few emails from Husbandman in Israel that go somewhere along these lines:

Jerusalem. Holy shit, that was fun. Originally, we had plans to start with the Old City and then see some spots in modern Jerusalem but in the end, we decided to spend the whole day in the Old City. We started in the Armenian quarter (where I bought a cool hand painted ceramic tile--i.e. a hot plate), then headed to the Jewish quarter and the Wailing Wall. Then we spent a lot of time in the Muslim quarter. ... Then we finished things up in the Christian quarter--saw that church holding the Holy Sepulchre. It was at that point that we had to decide whether or not we were heading out of the Old City and G insisted that instead we just redo our whole walk which turned out to be kind of nice--especially standing above the Wailing Wall and Al Aksa Mosque at sundown. Out of one ear, we heard Yeshiva students singing Hebrew songs, out of the other came Muslim prayers. Then after a few minutes, bells started to chime from the churches. Anyway, the day was really a blast.

Even #1 son seems to be taking charge of his day and left for a pal's house with his Xbox in one hand and his lacrosse stick in the other.

We're all having our own experiences and I guess there's not much point comparing the various spring breaks, but I'm starting to rethink my original plan, which was to spend as much time as possible being bored out of my gourd. I may need to snaz this vacay up a bit. The way it's looking, that hot plate might be the high point of my week if I don't get my act together.

The Proposal

I'm pretty happy right now because I just submitted my proposal. These things can take a lot longer than you think they should. Now I can return to slacker mode. With abandon.

The Review

NRC proposals used to be due tonight at the stroke of midnight, but this afternoon, the deadline was moved to Thursday. Husbandman wishes I didn't get this reprieve because now it will just take me longer to get it done, but I'm not going to look this gifthorse in the mouth. I couldn't get the proposal all the way done tonight because I was helping #1 son review for a science test. I learned the difference between crystalline and amorphous solids and caught up on some news about valence electrons.

The Sirens

Right after gym class, lining up in the hallway, I heard a peep say that something was wrong with one of our littlest peeps. I turned around to see this kiddo in a weird standing faint---rigid and definitely not right. I scooped her up in my arms and ran for the nurse. Her breathing was labored and she had lost consciousness. When I put her down on the little nursebed, school nurse began shouting her name, I was holding her hand whispering over and over to our social worker, "We're going to need an ambulance, she needs an ambulance." So the ambulance was called and she got whisked away and towards the end of the day I was told that she's fine now and some tests were taken at the hospital. Scary times at school, making my resolution to be "delightful" today super hard to accomplish. 4 more days til spring break. I hope we can all make it through.

The Getaway

Weekend with Savvymom (and her unborn child) in the big city was way fun. I loved the walking around talking parts. And the dinner at this awesome place. In future, I'll go to Chicago every weekend. It's fun there. And the place delights me. Sign up for a weekend away asap.