Year in Review: 2010

January

-Began final semester in undergrad

February

March

-Turned 22

-Spent spring break at home, resting and reading

April

-Last spring formal, with Sam, my best date in 4 years :)

-Finished undergrad classes

May

-10th Night with the 2010 girls

-Graduated from college!

-Moved home

-Flew to Orlando for job training

-Spent a week lesson planning in preparation for teaching to begin

June

-Began teaching 3 days a week in Greenville NC

-Flew to the ATL for a 24 hour whirlwind teaching trip

-Drove to Richmond for another 24 teaching trip

July

-Went apartment hunting in SC

-Found my apartment!

-Spent 4 weeks teaching in Gastonia and Charlotte

-Visited my aunt & uncle 3 times on my way home

August

-Finished teaching

-Beach week with the family

-Moved to SC

-Began grad school

September

-Got elected to the GEA as the Academic Research Committee chair

-Spent a whole Saturday at a Student Government training session

October

-Survived midterms, thank goodness!

November

-Came home for Corn weekend

-Began working on final papers

-Family came to SC for Thanksgiving at the beach

December

-Took finals

-Came home & saw lots of friends

-Brother got engaged Christmas Eve

-Got the flu

As you can see, 2010 was a year of change. I'm not one for making specific resolutions, because I usually fail at them, but since 2011 will be a year that is mostly stable (no big moves or huge life changes planned), I want it to be a year of small changes: physically, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally. That way, at this time next year when I have to start deciding what my next move will be, I'll be in a mental place where I can look at the big picture and make the best decision for me.

So long, 2010; hello 2011!

Christmas Music Weeks: Days 4 & 5

Sorry I missed yesterday's post; I took 2 exams and when I got home, my brain was fried. So I'll put 2 days in tonight's post :)

Day 4: Favorite Cartoon Christmas song

One of the highlights of Christmas time during my childhood was a VHS tape that we had with a bunch of cartoons, including Frosty. I love Jimmy Durante's voice and this song always makes me smile.

Day 5: Favorite Advent Song

Really, this one probably should have gone first, but what can I say? I'm a little backwards sometimes. The full lyrics and translation can be found here. This song is used at Vespers during Advent and is, I think, really beautiful. I love the simplicity of the chant and, even though I went to a women's college, I do love all male choirs :)

Also, since I figured out how to embed videos, I've edited my first 2 posts to have embedded videos

Christmas Music Week Day 3

Today's selection, favorite Christmas choral piece, will always hold a special place in my heart as a Meredith grad. This is always the last piece of the Christmas concert and the singers from both choirs circle the auditorium and, in the last few years, have started to invite the music alumnae to sing with them. I'm a huge fan of this song, obviously, and I chose this particular version because it's SSA, just like we do at Meredith.

Christmas Music Week: Day 2

Today's selection is a non-Christian holiday song that I've just found (yes, the one I tweeted about). I just think it's an incredibly clever twist that explains Hanukkah pretty well (to this non-Jew, anyway). Also, the beatboxing is great and the singers are pretty cute. I feel like this is a winning combination

Enjoy Candlelight by the Maccabeats.

Tomorrow, I'll be be back with a third song for you and perhaps a picture of my Charlie Brown tree if I've gotten it decorated.

Christmas Music Week: Day 1

I've arbitrarily declared this week Christmas Music Week, mostly because it doesn't feel like Christmas is that close yet (probably because I'm holed up under my exams.

Day 1 is (again, arbitrarily) Favorite Depressing Christmas Song. I'm probably partial to this one because of the wonderful arrangement Dr. W did for Winterfest last year; I actually like his arrangement better, but Diana Krall has a lovely voice. I can't do the red shoe song or the one where the guy meets his ex in the store and they sit in his car drinking and reminiscing... this one, though? Love it. Enjoy!

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?

Stay tuned for tomorrow's category... it's a surprise!

Taken on the USS Yorktown the day after Thanksgiving

The man in the middle of the above picture is my wonderful Grandpa, the man I'm closest to next to my Daddy. We've always had a special relationship, ever since he retired 2 weeks after I was born. I learned to cook standing on a chair next to him, wearing his too-big aprons that he kept in a special drawer in his dresser. We watched cooking shows together, especially Justin Wilson, the Cajun chef ("Ah gawr-an-tee!"), sitting in his brown recliner together. He taught me how to peel potatoes just right and passed down his mother's recipe for pasty.

He's also a musician, playing the trumpet and piano. When I was in middle school, he took me to my piano lessons every week and in college, I knew he was in the audience for every concert and voice recital I participated in. Now that I'm singing for the CSA music ministry, I get to talk to him about the music we do and my own development as a singer (by the way, that's Catholic Student Association, not Confederate States of America... because that is a distinction that has to be made down here).

The family's trip down here for Thanksgiving was particularly special because on Friday, he took all 11 of us to the USS Yorktown, an aircraft carrier like the one he served on during the Korean War. We climbed all over the ship together and I understood a little better all the stories I've heard him tell for years about his time on the Kearsarge. As we walked the decks, I watched him travel back in time to when he was about my age and relive the memories. At one point, towards the end of our visit to the ship, just after he'd seen the memorial to those who had served on his ship and died during the Korean War, I couldn't think of anything to say, so I just slipped my hand into his and he held it pretty tight for a few minutes. I think it's safe to say that we have a pretty tight bond, and I am so glad that we got to share that day with each other.

I wish I had space to write about all the interesting things my grandpa has done. He and my grandma have some wild stories about their early marriage when they lived in Chicago, and they and my grandpa's sister (who has since passed, but was very religious when I knew her) would go out on the town. He worked for the government for years, in computers when the industry was just being developed. They moved down to NC from Washington in the 70s and he and Grandma are the original owners of their house.

I also don't have space to list all the things he's done for me, as he's been financially as well as emotionally supportive. No matter what I'm doing, both of them are incredibly interested and supportive of everything I try. This weekend, we were going somewhere together and talking about grad school. Grandpa told me how proud he was of me for what I'm doing and said that he thinks it's great that, if I go on and do a Ph.D., I'll be the first doctor in the family. Even though he didn't finish college himself, he's incredibly smart and encourages education. Which is good, since I'm planning to make that my career :)

Yes, I am one blessed lady.

Quote of the day

“It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there. Yo’ papa and yo’ mama and nobody else can’t tell yuh and show yuh. Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves”

~Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (p. 192).

Things I Love Thursday: Thanksgiving edition

Pat and Erin in August

(I'm pretty sure she doesn't read this blog, but I wanted to write this anyway)

This year, just like every year, I'm thankful for my sweet family (who came down here, which saved me a trip-they rock!), old and new friends, and all the blessings in my wonderful life. But this year, I want to call special attention to the lovely girl in the picture above.

I've known her since early high school; her family has gone to my church for a long time. This summer, she and my brother started dating and before too long, I think I'll have a new sister (I promise I'm not jumping the gun-both families know they're planning this :) ).

She comes down to see us most weekends and what I love is that even when Pat can't be around because of school commitments, we have a lot of fun by ourselves. We've had beach days and movie nights, shared pots of coffee and bottles of wine-she's a fun chick and we're developing a wonderful friendship. Erin fits right into our family and I'm glad that Pat picked her.

Even though realization that my brother seriously dating someone means that I'm an adult (a fact which is starting to become less scary as I adjust to being on my own) was kind of terrifying at first, Erin couldn't be a better friend and eventually, sister.

Bright spots in a rough day

I suppose it's just the end of the semester looming, but today was really rough for a couple of reasons:

1. I'm sad that my family gets to be together in NC while I'm here (even though they'll be here in one day and a wakeup)

2. I'm a little overwhelmed by everything that needs to get done before December

3. My foot hurts

4. The library is insisting that I lost a book that I know I returned

5. My laptop bottom is cracked, so I have to leave work tomorrow to go to the Apple store to see what they can do about it

However, today hasn't been all bad. For everything that's upset me today, there's been something positive to balance it out.

First, when I parked at school today, one of the compact car spots was open, which is never the case. And since I drive a little car, I got to park there, which made me pretty cheerful. The parking garage leads me to #2. I was walking to the library, minding my own business when a running guy brushed by me-he didn't actually touch me, but he was close enough that it scared me to death. I let out a gasp because I was wrapped up in my own world and that startled me out of it. He called "sorry" over his shoulder, but then when I got further up the street, I saw that he had stopped to apologize properly. He said that he hadn't really been paying attention because of his iPod, and asked several times if I was OK. Of course I was, but his kindness in actually taking the time to make sure made me grateful for human kindness in general.

Third, I have a new pair of shoes! A woman in my Old English class got them, wore them once and found that they hurt her feet, so she passed them on to me. They're oxblood (which is about the worst color name I can think of) leather heels-not practical for cobblestones, but oh so pretty for other things :)

Fourth, I had a bit of a breakdown this evening and rather than sit around feeling sorry for myself and eating a bunch of crap, I decided to clean my apartment really well. 2 hours later and I have a clean apartment (#5!), but I feel much better about myself. Lately I've renewed my commitment to taking care of myself, because I'm seeing how much of a physical toll being in grad school takes on a body; if I'm going to be in this kind of environment professionally, I need to make sure that I'm in tip-top shape. So the fact that I kept my commitment to that makes me pretty proud of myself. Also, I am now exhausted, so I'm off to bed. Maybe one of these days I'll become a regular blogger. Maybe.

It must be the end of the semester...

Because my kitchen looks like this:

My to-do list for this weekend has about 30 things on it, most of which are school related, and I've committed myself to starting my end-of-term papers by setting up appointments with professors to talk about them (eek!). But again, really, I'm happy with what I'm doing. And I'm starting to get super-pumped for next semester: Early Modern Epic in Translation, Tolkien and TA-ing in an undergrad Chaucer class.

In other news, only 11 days until my family gets down here for Thanksgiving and I get to spend the weekend at the beach house with them. Since I have my own kitchen now, I'm going to bring a few things... just not sure what yet :). Thanksgiving is also part of the reason I'm trying to get ahead now, because I know that I won't want to work while everyone's down here.

I know I'm being a bad blogger right now, but... I still have a job, which means that I'll be down here for most of December and school gets out somewhere around Dec 10th, so I should have plenty of time in about a month, if anyone ever even reads me by that point!

Things I Love Thursday

Going home. Because with whom else can you take pictures like this:

Dinosaur faces

I can't even begin with this one...

He loves the distorted options

The river

It's gotten significantly colder here; it dropped from almost 80 degrees yesterday to between 55 and 60 all day today. Work was freezing, but at home, I have my blankets and sweatpants and hot tea and a comfy couch to curl up on with my book. I do like this mild version of cold, so I'm not complaining.

I noticed today, though, that when the chilly wind blows, you can smell the river. Because the Ashley is a tidal river that comes from the swamps, it has a highly sulfurous odor (which Jack, without fail, comments on every time he's here). I wasn't a fan of it when I first moved here, but it's become familiar.

The river smells of courage, because it's taken a lot of bravery to move away from NC and all my beloved people there.

The river smells of independence, because this is where I've chosen to settle (at least for now) by myself.

The river smells of promise, because there is so much that I haven't done, but I can see before me.

The river smells of love, because I'm learning to love this city and the people I'm meeting here.

It may be a little strange, but I think that the smell is comforting, for all these reasons. It reminds me that I'm not in Kansas (or Raleigh) anymore, but I'm not there because I'm supposed to be here. And it reminds me that I'm incredibly blessed to know what I'm supposed to be doing and where I'm supposed to be at this stage in my life. And that is very good.

Not a hermit :)

I swear, some days it feels like the only places I go are work and school. And occasionally the grocery store. That's what happens when you work full time and go to school, though, so I suppose it's my own fault. But tonight, I did things a bit differently. Some of my friends had a get-together to carve pumpkins at one of the second year's apartment and I decided to go. I didn't really want to, because I'd thought I would go to bed early-I've been insanely tired the last few days for some reason.

I did go, though, and I had a ton of fun. I got a wee baby pumpkin and carved it; I'll try to find my camera cord before the pumpkin goes belly-up, but here's what I did:

My new state's flag! And now I'm going to go to bed, having done no work at all, but feeling pretty good about life-I must have just needed a bit of a rest!

Walk On The Wild Side

I need to be a better blogger and not just update my blog on Saturdays, and trust me, I've got things in the works, but for now, enjoy this:

Walk On The Wide Side

The good folks at the BBC actually have a whole show that takes clips of animals and dubs the clips, giving the animals human voices. There's a whole treasure trove of them over on YouTube, and I watch them frequently for study breaks. Go ahead, enjoy a laugh on me.

Happiness is...

Happiness is... sleeping in for the first time in a month.

Now, granted, I've been busy in a good kind of way (especially last weekend, having my family here :)), but it was nice to know when I went to bed last night that it was OK to sleep until 10:00, which I definitely did, because I knew that all I had to do today was homework, and it was glorious.

Happiness is... a cool fall day spent reading.

Some Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, some Kipling, some Richard Wright-kind of random, all for homework, but all good. Speaking of reading, if you have not read Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, you need to. Right now. We read it for African American lit this week and it was one of those books that reminded me why I'm doing what I'm doing. Hurston uses dialect for the speech, which can be a little difficult at first, but it is so worth it. I'm planning a blog that details exactly what I loved about the book, but while I'm working on that, you should be reading :)

Happiness is... a clean apartment.

Before I went out last night, I got my apartment mostly straightened up and finished it this morning. It feels so nice to have it neat and clean-it's doing wonders for my productivity!

Happiness is... homemade bread.

I found a recipe here, in a link that popped up in my Google Reader (I like going through the suggested links, even though I don't subscribe to a whole lot of them, since Google tends to suggest a lot of super-fundamentalist evangelical blogs for me, which is not me at all!). I modified it quite a bit, as you can see by clicking the link and comparing it to the following; I haven't tried it, but am looking forward to a simple dinner of soup and a sandwich:

• 1/2 cup warm water
• 1 packets of yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tbsp sugar, divided
• 1 tbsp oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3-3 1/2 cups flour

Dissolve 1/2 tbsp sugar into 1/2 cup of warm water in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle yeast on top of the mixture and allow to foam for 5 minutes. Add oil, additional sugar, salt and milk; mix well. Add three cups of flour; mix 50 times clockwise, then 50 times counterclockwise.

Add 1 1/2 cups of additional flour until dough forms a ball. If necessary, add additional flour. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. The dough should be slightly sticky.

Roll the dough into a ball and place in a buttered bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for an hour. Punch down the dough and let rise for an additional 30 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, place into greased loaf pan and let rise for an additional 30 minutes.

Bake the loaf in a 425-degree oven for 25-30 minutes. Remove from the loaf pan immediately after baking. Let cool for at least 15 minutes.

Sorry to have been AWOL for so long; it was midterm season, so I was swamped with work. At this point, though, I'm almost done with my work for the beginning of the week and just need to finish my Wednesday presentation and do my Thursday reading. Also, in 20 days, I'll be home for Corn! Yay!!

My dad is the reason I'm not married yet

I realize that that statement makes it sound like he stands at the door with a shotgun every time I bring a date home and I can neither confirm nor deny that supposition... just kidding. I realized tonight, though, while talking with some of the girls in my program, that it is true that my dad's the reason I'm not married yet, but the reasons aren't bad. Here's why:

1. My dad is supportive. Totally. On Monday night, I called him to tell him about a presentation I did and we ended up talking about class. Now, Daddy's an engineer, so Victorian literary criticism and theory isn't exactly his thing. But it is mine, so he listened while I went on about what an exciting class it was. And I'm realizing that because I've chosen such a highly competitive profession (the term "publish or perish" exists for a reason), I'm going to need a spouse who's incredibly supportive.

2. My dad isn't afraid of sacrifice. Ever since I can remember, he's worked for pharmaceutical companies, which means that buyouts happen a lot, so his job changes too. Right now, he's working an hour away from where my family lives because my mom and brothers are at good schools and they decided not to uproot the family this year. I think that's pretty awesome.

3. My dad is calm. Now, most of the time I pride myself on thinking and acting logically, but I do have a slightly dramatic bent to my personality, so sometimes I need to freak out. Like when I got that horrible sunburn the other week: I called him crying and yelling because it hurt so bad. He listened, then calmly told me what to do to make it better and called back the next morning to check on me. And I was a little better physically, but it just helped to have someone who could be logical so I could just react. This also ties in with number 1 above-I'm sure my freaking-out days won't be over when I get whatever degree I end up with, so I'll need someone to balance me out when I'm upset.

4. My dad is totally, completely, 100% in love with my mom. She is definitely the most important thing in his life and it's really sweet to watch the two of them. They are human, so their relationship isn't perfect, but it's a good one and they're good together. And really, more than anything, that's what I want.

So my dad is the reason that I'm not married yet, because I haven't found anyone so far who can live up to the ideal he's given me. But whenever I find him, I know it will be worth it.

Small Blessings, Day 7

As my week of counting blessings closes, I want to focus on the thing that's struck me today: One of the biggest blessings in my life is that I have chosen to be where I am. It surprises me sometimes how much of their lives people put online, and I guess that I am no different, since I do have a blog. However, I've noticed this remarkable trend on Facebook that some people put a lot of the negativity in their lives out on the internet for the world to see. I consciously try not to for a couple of reasons.

First, I don't want my mother to worry because I know she reads what I write :)

Second, as I said above, I have chosen this life. Yes, sometimes it would be easier to not be in school and I really wish I had a secure job, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm doing what I want to do and what I'm supposed to do. Moving here, enrolling in this program, making my life (for now, anyways) here: all my choice. And everyone makes those choices. I don't know anyone who was actually forced into doing what they're doing; some people have, apparently, made the wrong choice for them and are therefore unhappy, but that's part of being a grownup.

I've been thinking a lot about that idea of being grownup lately, because honestly sometimes it feels like this life is just play-acting at being a grownup, that one of these days, the woman who really lives in this apartment, goes to my school, drives my car, will come back and want me to relinquish her life; it hasn't quite sunk in that her life is mine. But being a grownup is more than just paying bills, having a job and choosing to do things like eat ice cream for dinner (not that I did, but I thought really hard about it tonight!). It's about owning the decisions you make and making the best of them when you choose the wrong thing.

So that's what I'm thankful for today: that I've made the right choice for my life right now and that I have the sense to see it :)

Small Blessings, Day 6

This morning, I really thought that I was going to have to work hard to find blessings in today, as I overslept by 35 minutes; my alarm was set for 8:45 (beach time) instead of 6:45 (work time), and the only reason I got up at 7:20 was because Monday is garbage day and there's a dumpster pretty close to my apartment. I managed to only be 10 minutes late to work, though and the day went uphill from there.

My supervisor told me she's pleased with my work and feels like I'm one of the more conscientious people on the team, which was nice to hear since I've only been there a month. She was at lunch when I ran out of phrases, so I got to leave work early and go sit in my new favorite spot by the fountain to go over my presentation that I gave tonight.

Old English was... long. We spent an hour going over 5 sentences, but Dr. Ward didn't correct my pronunciation at all, which was exciting, as that's one of the things I still struggle with, even after 2 semesters in undergrad.

I went for coffee between classes with my "posse," as Ann has termed us and then we went on a field trip to the library to pick up some books she'd ILL'd. Victorian lit went really well; I had a couple of insights in class that my professor appreciated and my presentation went fabulously. I felt like I was rambling a bit, but when I finished, he said that was exactly what he was looking for from our presentations, so that was a relief.

After class, some of the girls and I went to dinner at La Ha, a Mexican place downtown that's really cheap and actually pretty good. As I type this, my friend Ashley is on her way over, because her apartment has no water, so she's coming to spend the night with me.

Despite the title of this post, I think I've got some pretty big blessings in my life. I was telling my grandparents tonight that I feel like I've carried our senior motto (Go Big or Go Home) into grad school and man, does it feel good!

Small Blessings, Day 5

Today was pretty much perfect. Hillary came down yesterday and we spent all evening laughing, catching up and drinking wine. This morning, we got up and went to the beach, which was AMAZING. I am so blessed to live at the coast!

It was just around 80 degrees, with really low humidity because of the terrific storm last night. There was a breeze and the beach was quiet, with just a few families; the sky had some clouds, and they were frothy and moved around a lot. We laid out for a while, then went for a walk in the (warm!) water. After that, we stopped at one of the restaurants along the main street of the island, had a sandwich and then came back.

It was a good day. It's good to recognize good things :)

Simple Blessings, Day 4

Several things about today:

-Small birds playing on my patio and singing this morning

-The smell of fresh-baked bread

-The laughter of friends

-A clean apartment

-Girls night with my old roommate

Simple Blessings, Day 3

Early this evening, after I got back from the grocery store, I was taking my trash out. As I was walking back from the dumpsters, a door opened and some kids came out to play on their front patio. One of them, a little boy about 5 years old, said "Hey! Lady!" so I turned my head. He said "Hi!!" and then went back to singing while he climbed on the fence. I said "Hi!" back and then continued on my way, thankful that that sweet boy took a moment to say hi in an irrepressibly spontaneous kid way

Small Blessings, Day 2

I had another fabulous half hour today, this time at the Citadel. But somehow, I don't think that counts to write about the same thing 2 days in a row, even if it's true.

But I did have a wonderful drive home. It was pretty cool (about 75 degrees at 6:45) and the sunset over the river was beautiful. As I drove across the bridge, I could smell the salt from the river and see the silhouettes of the dark palm trees against the pinkish-orange sky. Yes, I am blessed.

Small Blessings, Day 1

My pastor down here suggested last week that, as a part of my spiritual development, I end each day looking for the places in my life that God has given me small things. He said that it's not often that God speaks through a parting of the skies, but that He's very intimately involved in our lives in very small ways. I've been practicing that for a week now, and I've realized that there are some very beautiful small moments in each day. So, for the next week, I want to share those things with you.

Today's was exceptionally good. I got a text from my friend this morning asking about our Old English homework which I hadn't finished last night. I decided to leave work half an hour early and head down to campus to work. The building that my class is in is itself in a small courtyard and there are lots of trees because it's right in the middle of downtown. I found a seat on the edge of a deserted planter that had a (working!) fountain in the middle. It was a shady spot and rather cool; it was only about 80 today and a small breeze was blowing. I spent an hour there, working on my translation, which is one of my favorite things to do, in a very nerdy kind of way. I was wearing one of my favorite skirts and the breeze ruffled it and blew through my curls. That quiet hour was one of the best times I've had in a while. At one point in the middle of it, I became cognizant of the situation and thought "wow. I really belong here."

Anyone else have small things to share?

Yesterday's quote of the day

I spent most of yesterday at a Student Leadership Summit so that the GEA wouldn't get 30% of our budget taken away. Most of it wasn't too memorable, except for the "working lunch" where my partner in crime and I sat with a guy from an acapella group and a guy from the archaeology club. At one point, I got up to refill my drink and accidentally got unsweetened tea (which I didn't even know they made down here). When I mentioned that, acapella guy said "Yeah, I don't like unsweet tea. I'd prefer a nice glass of diabetes, which is how is should be down here."

Welcome to the south

One of the 8 million reasons I love Joe

Joe is number 3 of 5, the middle boy in our house. He's also known as "Big J" or, when writing "J"-Jack is "Little J" and "j". Anyway, our birthdays are 4 years and 363 days apart. He came home from the hospital on my 5th birthday, so we've always had a special bond. As evidence, here's our facebook conversation from this evening:

Me

you know, just chillin out, maxin, relaxin all cool

Joe

taking part in recreational sporting events outside of the establishment where you receive and education?

Me

when several young hoodlums who had malicious intent started harassing the individuals who reside concurrent to my place of residence

Joe

my guardian was alarmed at this peril and felt it was in my best interest to reside with my mother's brother in another part of the country.

Me

when i arrived, i motioned for a vehicle wherein to be transported to my uncle's place of residence and noticed that the identifying plate on the vehicle bore the adjective "fresh" and the gentleman driving had a curious pair of novelty dice hanging from his mirror

Joe

I, however, being in somewhat of haste, decided to pay no mind to the novelty dice and request my chauffeur to proceed to my new place of residence

Me

we arrived at said residence between seven and eight o'clock pm, and as I exited the vehicle, I bid the chauffeur farewell and proceeded to examine the luxuriousness of my new dwelling place. I truly felt like a prince arriving in his own kingdom

Yes, we took the lyrics to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song and put them into proper English. Special is one way to describe us!

I love living on the coast

Yesterday I went to the beach with my brother's girlfriend, Erin, who's down visiting for the weekend. He had a football game to work, so we packed up and went to Sullivan's Island, one of the islands around here. A friend of mine from my program had told me that it wasn't really crowded, so it was a good place to go. We had a lot of fun, despite the comedy of errors that it really was.

First, Erin didn't have a bathing suit (because I forgot to call and tell her that I was planning a beach day), so she was wearing shorts that, of course, got wet as we waded in the water a little bit. Second, we only brought one towel, so we had to share it. Third, I'm terrible with sunscreen, so not only was I incredibly sandy when we got back, I also look like I have a Picasso painting on my back. Fourth, we went without eating breakfast and then forgot to bring food or water, so by the time we finally ate something at 4:00, we were ravenous.

However, we had a lot of fun just hanging out; she's the first girl that my brother's dated that I've gotten along with like this, so I'm thankful for that. We people-watched, which is always interesting at the beach, then navigated back to Pat's school to pick him up. The three of us spent the evening here with one of his cadet friends; it was a good night

Acting like a grownup

Last night, I went to bed with an upset stomach. I'm going to blame my non-functioning gallbladder for not dealing properly with yesterday's deviation from my normal eating habits. I woke up still not feeling great this morning, but as I hadn't actually been sick, I went to work anyway. For the first couple of hours it wasn't so bad, but as the morning progressed I felt worse. I texted my dad to see if he was sick too, but it was just me. I really wanted to go home and crawl in bed, but there wasn't actually a reason for me to leave so... I stayed. And I lived.

Sometimes being a grownup isn't so much fun. However, getting to decide to go to the beach tomorrow totally is. So it all evens out in the end

Only the really classy girls drink wine out of juice glasses

Or those of us that don't have wine glasses.

Anyway, I'm doing much better today. I hear that I made my mother cry this morning when she read my depressing post last night, so this is an attempt to ratify that with a couple of stories from my day.

1) At work this morning, just about everyone was late because of traffic; there's bridge construction coming from the island where they apparently all live (guess I'm not one of the cool kids!). One of the guys who's interning with me said that he was late because of an accident... that Animal Control had stopped at to help

2) I'm starting to get around this fair city without my GPS-I only got a little lost going from church (where I had lector training) home. Go me!

3) Bon-Qui-Qui is coming to my school. I don't know where, when or why, but I do know that student tickets are $5 and public tickets are $10. I feel like I ought to investigate this more.

Bittersweet

Picture from our March photoshoot with Kellie

It's not quite 10:00 and I'm sitting in my living room. My homework is done (for tomorrow, anyway), my apartment is clean, my lunch is made for tomorrow and all I have to do is take a shower before I go to bed. It's pretty serene around here; the neighborhood is quiet and indoors, the dishwasher is humming in the background as my keyboard clicks. Today was long - not bad, just long - and coming home to a house that is just as I left it is nice. As much as I liked having roommates, right now I'm really enjoying not having them. I think it's because so much in my life has changed: new city, new program, new friends, new job, new church; getting used to someone else's idiosyncrasies would be really hard.

But then, at the same time, it can be hard to be here and not at home. I called home tonight and everyone piled on my parents' bed because I was on speaker phone. Jack told me a joke, Tim told me about all his new football gear, and they came in and out as I talked to my parents for a while. My parents' house is definitely more chaotic than my apartment, but it's a good, loving kind. I called my mom's parents tonight too; they really miss me, and I miss them. I can tell, though, because any time I call, they both get on the phone and try to cram as much as they can into a 30 or 40 minute conversation. It's funny how you can take things like that for granted until they mean so much more because you're 4 hours away.

On a different (and less sad) note, Jack's really starting to develop a little-boy sense of humor. The picture above is the one on my laptop and when I first downloaded it, the file was so big that it was really zoomed in. On Jack's nose. Which had boogers in it. So of course I had to tell him that tonight on the phone and he giggled and giggled. I can't wait to see that in person.

Such, though, is the beauty of this technological age. My parents are getting a webcam so that we can Skype and Mom and I were talking about that the other day. Mom told me that in the 50s, when my Grandma and Grandpa moved from California to Chicago, Grandma had to write letters to her family because no one they knew could afford long-distance phone calls. When Grandma's dad died, she got a telegraph. And here I am, just 2 generations later, spending a Saturday morning Skyping with my friend in Italy. Craziness.

One week in

Week 2 of grad school starts tomorrow and I have to say, I'm still excited. I still haven't had one of my classes yet (it's on Monday evenings and classes started on Tuesday last week), so I still don't know quite what my semester looks like-or rather, what midterm/final time will look like for me.

So far, Old English is exactly what I expected, but after 2 semesters in undergrad, I'm not surprised. I got together with my little study group today to work on the translation for tomorrow; they're all first-years too and I'm excited about having friends in my program. African-American Lit is going to be intense--we're reading a book a week and have to come in with 2 discussion questions and a passage to explicate, as well as the pedagogical approach we would take with that particular passage. Once I get through the first week and really find out what she wants, I think I'll feel better about that. Right now, I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed. The plus side of grad school, though, is that I'm only taking 3 classes instead of the 8 or 9 I would take a semester in undergrad. Don't get me wrong, the workload is heavier (a 3, an 8, and a 20 page paper for one class), but since I'm spending less time in class, I feel like that balances out.

I've also taken on a new project: I'm chairing the newly-created Academic Research Committee for our GEA and planning a research symposium for the spring. The exec board felt that, based on the experiences I had at MC, especially in the honors program, I was the best woman for the job. It will be a 2 year volunteer position and I am so excited to take this on. I'm meeting with the VP of the GEA on Wednesday to talk about budgets, etc; I'm truly jumping in with both feet :)

With week 1 finished, though, I can say that I really feel prepared for this. This is where I'm supposed to be, and my MC education definitely got me ready for this. I'm confident in class and spoke up and volunteered to read a poem in African-American on Thursday. I'm making friends and getting to know my way around--this life I have is really blessed.

Letter to college freshman me

I start my graduate classes tomorrow-yay! I'm ready, with clothes laid out and bookbag packed; I'm just a little excited. As I was getting ready this evening, I started thinking about how, if you had talked to me 4 years ago, when I was just entering college, I wouldn't have told you that I'd be here, getting ready to do this right now. I also thought about how I don't think I believe in regrets; while I haven't always made the best choices, I've learned something from every mistake I've made, which has given them value. So if I were to write my 18 year old self a letter, I wouldn't tell myself what not to do, given what I know now. Here's what I would say:

Dear 18 year old me,

Well, you've got about a week of college under your belt now; it's not too bad, is it? Bummer about that math class-hang in there and just keep working hard. Now, since this is a letter from yourself in the future, you're probably expecting advice about what you should do differently in college. I'm not going to do that though, because you need all the lessons that you'll learn. Not all of them will be fun, but you'll come out on the other side a better person for them.

Here's what you do need to know about what you'll do in the next four years. You'll make some wonderful friends and mentors; you know a couple of them now, even though you don't know how valuable their friendship will be. That girl Sam that lives upstairs? You don't know this yet, but she'll push you to be a better person in so many ways; you'll gain a lot from her outgoing personality and incredible loyalty. You'll see. Also, your English teacher, Dr. G-you'll end up taking a lot of her classes (I guess that's not spoiling anything since you already know you're majoring in English). She'll want you to take some things that you won't want to take, but you'll do it and be a better person for it.

Now, I said you'll learn some lessons that are hard. You'll make mistakes, which I know you hate, but hey sweetheart, you're just human. You are blessed with an amazing family that will be there for you, even when it means being tough on you. Don't ever doubt that they love you, because they will see you through the difficult times both in school and in your relationships. You'll go through rocky patches with Mom and with Dad, but it'll all be OK in the end. One day, after you've wised up a bit, you'll wake up and realize that after all you've been through, your relationship with them has changed; they're not just Mom and Dad anymore, but friends. That's pretty special and unique, so cherish that.

Finally, you know that wedding you're planning for some weekend in May after graduation? I hate to break it to you, but at 22, you won't be married yet; God's plan for you is a little bit different. Be open to that different plan, though, because it's a good one. You'll know when it's time, because you'll have learned (a little bit better) how to be patient while you're working hard. You'll end up in a cool city with a good side job doing the thing you love best, even though right now you don't know that you love it this well.

I better stop before I give too much away. One last thing: don't wish your time at MC away. Enjoy the days that you have and know that when you have to move on, you'll be ready to do that. And hey, if I'm writing you from the future, you know you're going to come out on the other side!

Love always,

22 year old me

First day at the big girl job

I started at my new job this morning; I didn't realize it before, but it's actually a paid internship, which is pretty cool-excellent line on my resume as well as money coming in. It's not hard work, but it is a little frustrating sometimes, since I'm fact checking through Google. However, it's a really relaxed office (jeans are the dress code) and everyone's been really nice so far. Tomorrow I'm bringing in my big blue mug for coffee, which they have all day :)

After I got home from work and had some lunch (I'm only working half days on Monday and Wednesday because of classes), I went out to the 'Del to get my ID number/email log-in and get a photo ID made. It took me over an hour to get the ID number because it's a joint program and none of the students from my home school have been entered into the new database. Finally, I got the paperwork so that I could go up to the second floor of the building to get the ID made and... it's probably the worst ID picture that has ever been taken of me. I was told not to smile and then not given a warning that she was about to take the picture so I look like I either have something in my mouth or I'm getting ready to say something. Let's just hope that no one ever asks to see it.

I also had to visit the post office there, since the post office near my house that I found online (through the US Post Office's website, no less) is actually a doggy day care. I was slightly upset, but my brother (who, if I haven't mentioned it yet, goes to the military school that my school partners with for this joint MA program) said that I could go to the post office at one of the administrative halls at school. Mom also suggested leaving my mail to be mailed in my mailbox to see if I could get it picked up that way. Next time I need to mail something, I'm going to try that, but I know I have a backup option as I'll be on Pat's campus one day a week for class.

I got some school supplies while I was out too; I've been in school long enough that all I need is a couple of notebooks and pocket folders because I have tons of pens and everything else for classes.

Oh, and in the "new things" category, I joined the CCM choir. Music isn't really a new thing for me, nor is being in a church choir, but like I said before, I didn't do CCM in college, so combining that with my music is a new thing for me. Rehearsals are at 3:45 on Sundays, so I'll just be downtown earlier for Mass; I'm very excited about this.

Try New Things

This phrase, "Try new things," is, I have decided, going to be my grad school motto. I'm already on my way with living on my own in a new city, but I don't want it to stop there. There's only one thing I wish I had done differently in undergrad and that was get involved with Corn from the first year. After this past year, I wish I hadn't waited until senior year to get involved, but there's nothing I can do about that now. The only thing I can do is make sure that from this point forward, I'm not afraid to try things.

So, that being said, let me recap the weekend so far, starting on Friday morning. I had an interview here in town for a company that publishes math-based products, but has a side project compiling what is basically a phrase thesaurus. They're in the stage where they need humans to check what the computer has done to make sure that the uses the computer puts in are legitimate. It was a pretty short interview, but I got the job and start on Monday. The director/owner of the company said that he can't guarantee me work after the end of October, but that still gives me a couple of months to put some money away and get my bearings here. Plus, like my grandpa said, you never know when something temporary might turn into something permanent. We'll see where this goes, but for now, I'm just relieved to have a job.

After my interview, I met my family for lunch downtown, then we came back to my apartment to unload some of my brother's stuff. We said goodbye as I was going to my department orientation, which was really hard. Don't get me wrong, I'm really excited about everything that I'm doing, but I cried when I hugged everyone goodbye. That will be one of the biggest adjustments, I think, because I'm used to seeing my parents/brothers/grandparents at least 3 times a week, if not more. But I'll adjust, I know. And my dad's planning a trip down in a couple of weeks to bring me some chairs for my living room, so it's not like it will be months before I see anyone.

Department orientation was good. There are 16 of us that are coming in (or at least, according to the program director, have accepted the offer), and I've met about half so far. It looks like I've picked a program that's pretty close-knit; the 2nd years who were running the orientation talked about library study evenings and group think sessions and lots of professional development events that the GEA (Graduate English Association) sponsors. After a summer spent being a teacher, I'm ready to be a student again, and I'm so excited to start classes on Wednesday!

The first night was hard, I'm not going to lie. Pat and I got pizza, watched The Office, and hung out; I also started alphabetizing my books, a project that took me until last night to finish. I cried a little when I went to bed, but I woke up feeling better about life. It'll be good to have him so close-kind of like a little piece of home :)

Saturday morning I had the college-wide orientation/ethics in research seminar. The orientation part was useful; I found some people from my program that I had met the day before and we sat together. The ethics in research seminar was not quite as helpful. It was pretty much totally geared toward the sciences, with emphasis on what federal regulations/organizations controlled testing with animals and human participants, etc and the requisite bit about plagiarism. As one of the other students in my program said, "I write about dead guys. As long as I give them credit and everyone else who's written about them, I'm good to go." Nonetheless, it was at least good to have friends to sit with.

After the orientation, I headed further downtown for my brother to pick me up-it was freshman move-in on the street that my orientation was on, so the street was blocked off. As I was crossing a major intersection, I saw a girl that looked familiar: an MCG who I had Spanish with for 2 semesters freshman year. She's just moved down here for a job; it was so fun to see someone I knew. Once he picked me up, my day got boring: lunch, nap, grocery shopping, finishing my alphabetizing, dinner, cleaning up, then entertaining some of his friends. Actually, entertaining is an exaggeration; really, they just needed to get off campus so they came to hang out with him here.

That brings me to this morning, which so far has been quiet, except for my brother's snoring from the next room. My "new thing" for today is to go to Mass tonight with the Catholic Campus Ministry (CCM) at my school, something I wasn't into in undergrad, but think I ought to try here. I may end up at a parish yet, but the chaplain at the Del suggested that I might want to get involved here, so I'm going to give it a shot.

That's all I have for now; if you really made it to the end, you deserve a cookie. Or you should come see me :)

Jack on names

Yesterday in the car, coming back from downtown:

Jack: Mom, why didn't you name me Troodon (apparently his new favorite dinosaur)?

Mom: Umm.... well, it was on the list, but we liked John better.

Jack: Oh. Well, do me a favor. Start calling me Donny from now on, OK? Donny, like short for Troodon.

That child does beat all :)

Jack on leaving me here

Me (walking into my parents' room at the beach house and finding the bed trashed): Dude, you have totally destroyed this room!

Jack: Dude, you have totally destroyed my life!

Mom: Jack, that's not nice. You're going to miss her when we leave her here on Friday.

Jack (matter of factly): Mom, I know. I already cry in the night about it, OK?

Things I already love about my new school

1) It's in a beautiful city

2) The financial aid office was actually helpful-in 20 minutes, I had all my loan information in my online account; I went in and accepted and the whole year is taken care of.

3) My classes are within a few blocks of each other-yay!

Off to bed because I have to be downtown at 6 tomorrow morning (gag!) for first-come, first-served parking passes.

Leaving home

The Road goes ever on and on

Down from the door where it began.

Now far ahead the Road has gone,

And I must follow, if I can,

Pursuing it with eager feet,

Until it joins some larger way

Where many paths and errands meet.

And whither then? I cannot say

(The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien)

Today's my last day at home. I'm in the midst of packing, but my room's starting to look sad. All my books are gone, as well as the bookshelves. Honestly, at this point, I'm starting to have mixed feelings about going. I suppose that's normal, but here's where I am right now: so excited for all the new adventures that living in a new city and going to grad school will bring, but slightly terrified of being on my own. I'm so close to my family that being 4 hours away will be difficult.

But like Bilbo, I'm being called by the Road... for whatever reason, I'm supposed to be where I'm moving to, so I'm going. And I'll be back here, but I know that it won't be the same.

Things I Love Thursday: Beauty edition

I've decided to experiment with having themed Thursdays (man, I love alliteration!), so this week's theme is beauty. Here are, in no particular order, as usual, the things that I'm loving this week:

1. Rimmel Extra Super Lash Mascara

I like this mascara because the curved brush picks up every single last lash I have and it stays on for hours, which is wonderful when I'm busy (which would be, oh, I don't know, most of my life). It's cheap too, which is nice for my student budget.

2. Conair HS34r Compact Hairsetter
These hot rollers are a new purchase for me, but I've decided that with grad school (!) and real world job interviews (!!) coming up, I need to do something a bit classier than heading places with wet hair. I'm moving further south, so I can't fight the curl, but I figured there had to be a way that I could do it better. I think I've discovered it. It's a really easy set and it gives a nice curl (when you don't leave it in too long-I looked rather poodle-esque for a while this morning until I tamed it). I think I'm going for an Old Hollywood look, like Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca. We'll see, and I'll post a picture once I perfect it :)

3. Burt's Bees Super Shiny Lipgloss
Simply put, this makes my lips shiny without a lot of color, which is great for when I'm in the middle of a teaching day and don't have time to painstakingly reapply my lipstick.

4. Pond's Cold Cream
This vintage beauty cream is what my grandma uses and the smell reminds me of sleepovers at her house when I was little. It takes my makeup off wonderfully and makes my skin feel nice too.

5. Noxzema cleanser

This brand has been around for a while and has apparently always been sold in the blue jar. I like it because it wakes me up in the morning and leaves my face really soft, just like the Pond's does.

There you have it for this week! Come back next week to see if I'm feeling serious or frivolous

Dad on House Hunters

Me: "I'm soooo tired. But I want to watch the end of this episode. Wait, does House Hunters actually have episodes?"

Dad: "No, it's really more of a vignette."

Setting up house

I visited my paternal grandparents this afternoon and had a delightful visit with them; I hadn't seen them since I started working, so I told them all about my job, my apartment and everything that's happened recently. I also got quite a few heirloom things for my kitchen from them. Unfortunately, I've packed them all in moving boxes, so no pictures yet, but I have added the following things, among others, to my kitchen collection:

-2 glass jars with cork lids

-2 wine carafes

-my great-grandmother's cookie press

-a pie plate

-a muffin tin

-a couple of casserole dishes

-a teapot my grandparents received as a wedding gift, 51 years ago

Pictures will follow when I've moved and unpacked. I'm terribly excited, though, because I like things that have a story. Plus, it's nice to keep those kinds of things in the family.

Jack on dinosaurs

(Talking about apatosaurus)

"Yep, they were herbi-whores"

I had a real teacher moment today

Today I had one of my two high school classes, wherein we read The Fellowship of the Ring. Tolkien is an author that is near and dear to my heart because he was a medievalist like I aspire to be and I love finding those connections to medieval literature in his works. Last week, this particular section didn't go so well; my kids were really resistant to reading and didn't think it was relevant to their lives, etc., etc.... basic high school excuses.

All week long, I've been thinking about this class and agonizing over it. Part of me wanted to come in defensive today, ready to defend my beloved author and familiar world of Middle Earth; the other, more practical, part of me knew that that was the best way to drive these kids away. I decided that the best option was to go in with an open mind and let them surprise me. And boy did they ever surprise me.

At first, they were reticent to speak, no matter how much I simplified the questions. Then one girl raised her hand and said "Can I be real honest here?"

"Yes," I replied, "as long as you can be nice about it."

"I don't know who nobody [sic] in this danged book is! I read and could probably answer your questions, but I don't know who you're asking about!"

The lightbulb went on in my own head.

"Oh! Is anyone else having the same trouble as A-----?" I asked.

A chorus of "yes!" rose from my students.

So I adjusted. We made a chart on the board with the various characters and who they were and then I sat on the edge of my desk, just like my dear teacher Dr. J did and talked with them. We had a very adult-level conversation about the ethics of Bilbo not killing Gollum when Bilbo got the Ring, as well as Frodo's choice to take on the burden. We talked about why Gandalf could not take the Ring himself, because of the corrupting influence of the dark power and how fraught with peril Frodo's journey would be. It was a truly excellent conversation and I was proud of them because just about every kid got really vocally involved.

After this, we took a break for the bathroom and as I was following my students back to our room, I hung back because a couple of my students (girls with whom I had had some attitude problems last week) were eating. They saw me and promised that they were "almost done," and I told them that when I was in high school, I used to bring food in my purse and sneak eating all the time. They look shocked, so I continued, telling them that I had texted in class before and had conversations behind the teacher's back... that's how I knew that they were doing that behind mine. One of them high-fived me and said she thought I would have been one of those "goody goody little perfect students" and she was shocked. Her shock came, I think, at finding that I was not as superhuman as they thought. After that conversation, though, I had no more trouble with them; it was as if they needed me to come down to their level, just a little, which I did, and we got a lot accomplished when we were on the same page.

This, my friends, is why I do what I do. Even though they frustrate me sometimes (or a lot), I truly do care for every one of my students, from the toughest to the sweetest, and small breakthroughs like this are what let me know that I'm doing my job effectively. And that's worth more than anything.

Growing up

The past few weeks have been crazy, what with finishing the early teaching term and starting the late term this week. I'm traveling twice as far this term (3 hours as opposed to 1.5), but the flip side of that is no extra travel to sub. I'm also fortunate in that my uncle/godfather and his family live halfway between home and my teaching site, so they're letting me spend Saturday nights with them for the next 3 weeks. My new kids are, for the most part, great and I'm sure I'll have some fantastic stories from this term as well!

I have also done some grownup things in the last few weeks. I have:

-Made my first car payment and my first car insurance payment

-Found an apartment

-Set up an account with the electric company

-Sent out 20+ resumes

-Scheduled a job interview for the next school year

-Begun furniture shopping

And in doing all of these grownup things, I've realized something: freaking out doesn't get you anywhere. I'm notorious for getting some kind of awful pain somewhere before a big life change. In high school, it was migranes, the summer before college (and before senior year) it was a stomach ulcer... my stress about new situations seems to manifest itself in my body; this year, it started out as the carpal tunnel in my left wrist that comes and goes (apparently wrist pain is part of being an academic, at least in the humanities!). And then I came to the conclusion that freaking out was really unnecessary. As St. Augustine wrote, "pray as if everything depended on God and work as if everything depended on you." That's what I've been doing lately and everything is working out. I'm in grad school, with some funding. I have a place to live and will most emphatically not be living in my car. I've even got a job prospect. All of the pieces are falling into place and I'm quite serene about the whole situation. To quote one of the famous medieval mystics, Julian of Norwich, "All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well." Yes indeed, all is well

Things I Love Thursdays, vol. 3

This week has been a little crazy, so this post will be pictureless, but I've been working on my list, so I wanted to post it anyway.

5. Photobooth

Oh my word, I'm having so much fun with this. It's kind of dangerous, especially when I'm in hotels by myself, because I end up spending lots of time recording myself talking, then playing it back... all in innocent fun, of course, but a huge waste of time. Not that I'm narcissistic or anything.

4. The Office

My brother got me hooked on it (I know, I know, 5 years after everyone else on the planet), and for some reason, it's the best part of my days these days. I'm working my way through Season 2 and it's positively shameful how much I watched today; I can't bring myself to put the number out into cyberspace where it will exist for the rest of time. Steve Carell's character makes me profoundly uncomfortable and there are a few subjects that make me feel a little squicky, but overall, I've been laughing hysterically, much to the chagrin of my hotel neighbors, I'm sure.

3. Kids

As a teacher, this should go without saying. My kids remind me daily why I'm doing this; it's not about the money, it's about them. They work hard for me and give me hugs and tell me they love me. And if I've made a difference over the last month for just one or two of these kids, then it's been worth it. I love all my kids and I'll be really sad to leave them next week. However, I've just gotten my new assignment and I'll be going out to the western part of the state for 4 days a week over the next 5 weeks, which means a whole new crop of kids to get to know!

2. New Planners

I went to WalMart this evening (mostly because it's really close to my hotel) because I was in need of a new planner; my MC one runs out at the end of July and I hate to get a new one a month into it (most planners start in July). For just $9, I have the planner of my dreams: a big, lovely green weekly/monthly planner that lets me organize to my heart's content. Yes, I am a nerd. Yes, I will also geek out over buying school supplies for my 18th first day of school. It's who I am and I embrace it.

1. Revisiting beloved childhood novels.

This job has been wonderful because it has had me revisit books I loved once upon a time but had forgotten about. In my 4th/5th grade class, we just finished Henry Huggins and are working our way through The Cricket in Times Square. I had forgotten how much I loved them until I reread them; surprisingly, my memories were quite strong. I'm also listening to a new audio book, L.M. Montgomery's Anne's House of Dreams, part of the Anne of Green Gables series. I love Miss Montgomery's books, and I'm finding that as an adult, I'm picking up things that I missed as a child; I understand things that I never did before and I'm able to feel both joys and sorrows more keenly. I can't find my copies of the series, so I suppose it's up in the attic and I'll need to find it before I move.

I went shopping today with a gift card that I received for my graduation. With it, I bought 4 skirts and a sweater; all grownup clothes. To go with those clothes, I needed a new pair of shoes because I had no navy shoes. I ended up with a rather flat pair of loafers: teacher shoes. My camera cord is a bit lost at the moment, so I can't post a picture, but they're pretty basic navy blue loafers. You know, the kind I said I'd never wear until I was a mom.

But... when I'm teaching 3 two and a half hour classes in a day where I'm on my feet the whole time, comfort trumps fashion. So here I am, owning teacher shoes. And not really sure how to feel about that.

Third grade is my favorite

I have 7 third grade boys on Thursday afternoons and I really think it's my favorite class to teach. Today, we were working on punctuation marks as a part of the fluency training we do. We talked about several different kinds of punctuation and what that meant for reading out loud. They had some trouble, so I put some of the marks up on the board for them to identify. Our exchange went like this:

Me: (writes a comma on the board)

Boy 1: Ooo! A pause!

Me: Yep, that's what it does, but we call it a comma.

(writes quotation marks on the board)

Boy 2: Ooo! Ooo! Me me me! Those are... concentration marks!

Me: (stifling a giggle) Actually we call them quotation marks.

(writes an exclamation point on the board)

Boy 3: Hey! An excitement mark!

Earlier in that same class, we'd been reading a book about a dog and the discussion turned to pets. One of my students said he had a new dog.

Me: Oh, wow! What kind of dog?

Boy: A Pomeranian mixed with something else

Me: Is it a boy dog or a girl dog?

Boy: Girl dog

Me: What's her name?

Boy: Lola Ballerina. My sister named it. It's a stupid name. And I'm pretty sure my Papaw hates the dog. Stupid dog.

I love my boys.

Things I Love Thursday, vol. 2

Welcome to this week's edition of Things I Love Thursday. I have to say, it's been a lot of fun keeping an eye out this week for things I might want to write about. So, without anything further, here are this week's top 5 things that I love (this week, I'm counting down to my absolute favorite).

5. Hotel pillows

Part of my job this term is traveling to teach, so I've been staying in a lot of hotels lately. And boy howdy do I love the pillows. There's just something about the soft, yet firm, yet fluffiness of them that can even make a bad day seem less catastrophic. I also love the fact that I've been getting king-sized beds, which means lots and lots of pillows for my happy snuggling. Despite the fact that strangers have slept on them before, they're still pretty terrific!

Image found here

4. The Raleigh Farmer's Market

I wish the picture below was mine, but it's not. I'm usually too busy shopping to stop and take pictures. This past week, I loaded up my Reisenthel basket (the one about which I waxed poetic last week) with fresh corn, blackberries, peaches, green beans and goat cheese. The smell of fresh dirt, the warm fresh peach samples, the farmers who are willing to answer any and all questions: an hour there is a pretty happy hour for me. I'm on a quest these days to eat fresher and more locally (can't wait to get down to Charleston for that!), so having a Farmer's Market so close to my house helps in my endeavors. This week, Jack asked if he could go with me, because he's on a tomato kick. The kid loves them (and cucumbers with hummus) and can't get enough! I'm all for supporting local food and good habits in kids, so perhaps the camera will make an appearance this week.
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3. Books on Tape

I have to give Sam the credit for this one; she suggested that since I'm spending so much time in the car these days, I should try it. I'm so glad I did. The book pictured below, The Food of a Younger Land, is the one I started on this teaching trip. It's about a book that the Federal Writers Project (part of the WPA) started but never published right around the time the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor. It's a look at the traditional food ways that, even then, were starting to die out. 70 years later, it's a fascinating look at what my grandparents and great-grandparents grew up eating and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. Sam, if you happen to read this, you're totally right about the voice. This guy's voice makes the whole thing interesting!

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2. Garmin nuvi

My Garmin is my best friend when I'm on road trips; Cupcake and I have taken lots of adventures together so far this summer and I'm anticipating lots more, especially as I get to know my new city. Yes, I've named my little piece of technology; it's an homage to one of my music professors at Meredith, who called anyone or thing that frustrated her "Cupcake." The first trip I took with my Garmin was to DC; the Garmin takes a while to calculate where you're going, but I didn't know that at the time, so I was driving down the highway yelling "Come on, Cupcake! Hurry it up!" as it tried to read satellite signals. From then on, it has permanently retained the moniker... I actually think it's kind of cute.

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1. MacBook

Like I said the other day, I've finally jumped on the Apple bandwagon and I am so glad I did. I've envied Mac users for a while now, but this little baby was worth the wait. It's sleek, streamlined, easy to use and did I mention pretty? It finds a wireless signal in no time flat, which is practically miraculous, considering how long it took my MC computer to connect to the internet. Pages and Numbers make a lot of sense to me and I'm very excited about working with this computer all next school year.

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That's it for this week's edition!

I love my job, but...

Today was hard. As my supervisor put it, I had some very human mistakes. I also had situations that I had no control over that I had to deal with; by the time I left school, they were all worked out, but it still made for a long day. When I got back, I was exhausted, but I still had several hours of work to do. I have, however, come up with a good plan for dealing with days like this.

1. Get in bed and wallow for at least 30 minutes in the fact that I had a bad day.

2. Call my mommy and explain what happened.

3. Have a piece of dark chocolate.

4. Sit back and look at each situation analytically to figure out how that can be avoided in the future.

5. Get out of bed.

6. Leave the room and decide that when I come back, all negativity towards the day is gone.

Surprisingly enough, that worked! I left for dinner and came back about an hour and a half later with a pillbox, toothpaste, a copy of Real Simple and some post-it notes with an "M" on them and I was ready to settle back into work. And suddenly, it's easier for me to remember, in the words of Robert Browning, that "God's in his heaven; all's right with the world."