What’s it like
when all your dreams come true?
When your life
is given something new
and you begin to live the way you’ve always wanted to?
Happy Valentine’s Day, baby! 😉
More than just holding hands
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Category Archives: me!
Let me count the ways
The other day, Rand and I were talking about Valentine’s Day, and I asked what he wanted to do…
“I made a reservation for six,” he said. “Does that work for you?”
Does it work?
I was shocked, in the most pleasant of ways.
You see, the entire time I was with X, he never planned anything. Not once. Not one Valentine’s Day, not one anniversary. I had to plan everything. And it’s not as if I have outrageous expectations…sometimes, a girl just wants to feel valued. Cherished. Important.
And I do. I really, really do. 😉
Madam librarian…
Yes, I’m pretending to be a librarian today. 😉 Honestly, I’ve gotten the easiest assignments. On Tuesday, I was in for a teacher whose classes were all (but one) meeting with guidance to discuss scheduling. I read a book.
Today, I get to read between turning kids away from the library (capacity is 25), monitoring computer use and shelving the occasional book.
Today, I also get to use the computer for a brief moment while the library clerk is on her lunch break. Woohoo!
I subbed 7th grade Spanish on Monday…they were…uh, a handful. Not “bad” exactly, but they didn’t want to shut up. A few of the kids were blatantly disrespectful to each other. One girl, a snotty little thing wearing a too-short skirt and a too-tight top, gave me attitude when I asked her to sit down during study hall. She huffed back to her desk and slammed down her notebook. I went up to her and told her to knock off the attitude. She glared at me. Sigh…
My community college class is, um, interesting. I like my Tuesday class better. The Wednesday class won’t talk to me, will barely talk to each other, and I just feel this wall of attitude coming from them. I spoke to two adult students yesterday after class who told me that I am *not* imagining the attitude. Every moment of that class is like pulling teeth. Yesterday, I let them go early, offering to stick around and answer questions for anyone who wanted help on their essays that are due next week. Four of them stuck around to talk to me. We’ll see how their papers look.
I have one student who is not on my roster. I just got my final list, and he’s still not on it. I told him he has to go to records ASAP and straighten it out. He wanted me to take care of it for him…um, right. Do I look like your mommy?
Hmmm…what else…oh, yeah! I went to the Ash Wednesday service at the Episcopal church yesterday with Jen, and so I still had big smudgy ashes on my forehead. One kid, as I started class, said “Miss, I think you have some ink on your face or something.” Hee. After the service, Jen and I met up with Rand for a tasty fish fry at Gabriel’s Gate. Ah, is there anything better than the Lenten fish fry? 🙂
If you build it, he will come
Ah, substitute teaching…
Last week, I got called in four out of five days. I imagine I would have gotten called in for Thursday as well, but I chose not to work so I could be there for my roommie. I worked today, and got a call for tomorrow.
I should have done this a LONG time ago.
I’ve also made sure that I will get back on one more sub list…a rural district that is the highest paid in WNY, and possibly has English/ELA openings for next year. That is a good list to be on, I think…
Ummm…anyway, I’ve pretty much reaffirmed that I like middle school better than high school. As I mentioned, I had a couple of seniors with attitude problems on that first day.
I *love* subbing classes with teaching assistants/student teachers. My second two days were for 7th grade English, in a class with a student teacher. When I was a student teacher, I had one day where my cooperating teacher had to be out, and I taught the classes. The sub was just there to back me up. That’s nice…not terribly interesting for the sub, but nice. 😉
Also on Monday, I noticed one of the girls crying in the hall on the way in to class, and I listened as her friends rushed up to comfort her…it seemed her boyfriend had just broken up with her. Schmuck couldn’t even wait until after school, apparently. I remember how much that sucked…you’ve just ended this relationship that seems like it’s your entire world, and you have to face that person every. single. day. Ugh. Poor kid…
On Wednesday, the seventh graders had a noun worksheet, on which they had to answer a bunch of questions about themselves. One of the questions was What is your favorite singer/band?
Most of the answers were typical…Usher. GreenDay. Simple Plan. Jessica Simpson. Ashlee Simpson. *shudder* But I saw a few that surprised me. Pink Floyd. Metallica.
And…um…Scott Celani. (certain people will understand why that’s amusing to me…heehee)
On Friday, I entered the land of the unknown and did a half day as a gym teacher. Whee! It really wasn’t that bad.
And can I just say two words…cafeteria duty. Aieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I’m pretty sure cafeteria duty is one of the levels of hell.
So yeah, keep those positive thoughts coming…with any luck, this will lead to something permanent, or at least semi-permanent. 🙂
Back to school again
So on my first day as a substitute teacher, I got a call. Yay!
Pluses…actually working in my field, getting back into the classroom, networking.
Minuses…a lot less computer time. 😉 Postings will probably be fewer and farther between, as I am now a busy, busy girl.
(Hilary, I haven’t forgotten about your tag…I swear. I’m working on it!)
My first day wasn’t bad. A few seniors with attitude problems, but that’s to be expected. Here’s hoping I get called tomorrow!
I finished Bird by Bird (#47 in the 50-book challenge, by Anne Lamott) last night. This was a great book about writing, and I found Lamott’s writing to be honest, funny and touching. She gives great advice, her personal insights are fantastic, and reading this made me want to check out some of her fiction. I need to go back through and find some of my favorite quotes. I kept reading things to R aloud. I definitely give this one a thumbs up.
I need to finish Moonshadow (#46), but I’ve also started:
45. The Dominant Blonde (chick lit)
44. Passionate Hearts (poetry)
I was kind of confused when R gave me The Dominant Blonde to read, but when I read the “about the author” blurb, I learned that Alisa Kwitney was “a former comic book editor for the Vertigo impirnt of DC Comics.” Ahhh…it all makes sense now. Heehee.
I’m enjoying both very much.
Also on my “to read” list:
100 Years of Solitude
Dave Barry is Not Taking This Sitting Down
The Joy Luck Club
Kiss Her Goodbye
Sense and Sensibility
Breakfast of Champions
Maus (I somehow missed this when the rest of the known universe read it in college…)
Books 1 and 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events
The Sandman (series…how many books should that count as? 😉 )
Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth
I saw Finding Neverland Friday night with R and his friend John (I sometimes think I should abandon the “R” thing, as I’m sure that everyone reading this knows his name by now…hmmm…), and I really, really enjoyed it. I don’t know if it’s “Best Picture” material, but I did enjoy it. I got all weepy and stuff…
And get this, Lost fans, John gave me my *very own copy* of the comic featured on the show! It’s not in Spanish, but it is the very same comic. It’s an issue of Green Lantern/Flash: Faster Friends, for anyone keeping track of that sort of thing.
“I wouldn’t recommend reading it,” John said. “There’s way better comics out there.”
But still, way cool. 🙂
On Sunday, we watched Dodgeball…lots of fun. I thought the best parts of the movie were the clips…the Globo Gym commercial, the Dodgeball video, the ESPN 8 stuff. (Oh, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman were an absolute riot as the commentators.)
I do have more to say, but I’m going to stop here for now…happy almost-February, everyone!
This-n-that
So after I got the hair done yesterday, I needed to make a few stops. I thought, “Hey, if I stop at Evil Wal-Mart, I can get my glasses adjusted.” (They were loose.)
I went in, stopped off at the vision center…the nice man took my glasses and came back a few minutes later.
“I have to see if we have this frame in stock. I went to tighten the screw, and they snapped,” he said.
They did not have the frame in brown, but they did have it in black. He said he’d order the brown frames, and gave me the black ones in the meantime.
When I got home, there was a message on my machine letting me know that the brown frames were no longer available…manufacturer recall blah blah blah. So I can either keep the black frames or come in and pick out new ones. (With a store credit, of course…I was worried that they were going to try and make me pay for the new frames.)
R and Jen both like the black. Thoughts? 🙂
I was surprised this morning with a goodbye breakfast…donuts and bagels, a card with lots of sweet “we’ll miss you” sentiments expressed, and a silver Cross pen. It made me a little teary. 😉
I have a lot of random tidbits of things that I want to accomplish today, and a busy, busy weekend ahead. I can’t really seem to focus on anything…
And of course, I want to express sincere congratulations to my dear friend Shannon and her new fiance Craig! I am so happy for you both. Jen posted a photo of the ring here. 🙂
OH! And I knew there was something I wanted to add about Lost. You know the comic book that Walt was reading, which has been prominently featured in a couple of storylines? The one with the polar bear? Well R’s friend John colors comic books for a living, and he colored that book! Pretty cool, eh? 🙂
Brand new me
Or brand new hair, anyway… 😉
I went to a new place, (to me, anyway) called Bangs. Loved it. I told the girl I wanted a change, showed her the Alyssa Milano photo, and said “I’m toying with something like this. What do you think?”
“Ohmygod, that would look *so cute* on you,” she squealed.
“Okay, then, let’s do it.”
And here are the results:
And a side view:
Question of the day
Can Erin pull off a look like this:
(er, the hair, not the dress…)
and does she want to?
Friday ponderings
I got a pleasant little surprise in my inbox a few minutes ago. Just a little note of validation for which I am extremely grateful. I think that we (“we” being the collective universe of bloggers) sometimes wonder if anyone really cares. We all have moments of self-doubt…am I boring? Does anybody really want to read about my stupid life? So sometimes finding out that, yes, someone does, can make your day. Thank you. 🙂
And for a complete change of direction…today, I want to write about January 21, 2001.
I had just moved to Buffalo the previous summer. Other than college, this was my first move away from home. I come from a very close family…meaning my extended family….grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins. I hadn’t seen (or really talked to anyone but my parents) since Christmas. I had spent Saturday evening, the 20th, hanging out and catching up with an old friend from college. I got in around midnight, then hung out for a while with Jen and her then-boyfriend who were in the living room watching TV. I think we watched Iron Chef. I went to bed, probably close to 3.
A little before noon, the phone rang. I got up to answer it, which was kind of unusual. It was my dad, and it was obvious there was something wrong.
“Your grandma’s in the hospital.”
I didn’t know which grandma he meant. Neither of them was sick.
Grandma Angie, my mother’s mother, had collapsed in her bedroom Saturday night after complaining of a headache. A blood vessel had burst in her brain. She was in a coma, and wasn’t expected to come out of it. I told my father I was coming home, assured him that I was okay to drive. I hastily packed a bag and explained to my roommates that I had to go home. I didn’t take a shower. I asked Jen if I could borrow some CDs for the trip.
I cried for the entire two and a half hour drive.
I’m the oldest grandchild on both sides of my family. Not to give the impression that I don’t love my other grandparents, because I do, but I had a special relationship with my mom’s parents. I spent the night there frequently when I was young. Angie was the grandma I baked cookies with, the one who made the world’s best pies and homemade bread. She was the one who told me stories and sang me to sleep.
She was only 77. She was supposed to see me get married.
Her name was Angelina, which she never liked, and I never understood why. But she was always Angie.
I got to the hospital, where everyone was waiting. When I got there, a priest was praying the rosary in her hospital room. It was obvious, then…not that there was any life left in her at this point. She was already gone.
Thankfully, my mom and her brothers and sisters were spared the agony of having to decide whether or not to take her off the respirator. She went on her own, and we stood there, holding each other and crying.
My grandma collected angels. Angel figurines of all different types. Grandpa keeps her “angel table” up in the house.
I had never lost anyone very close to me before. A couple of great aunts. My great-grandparents on my father’s side. This was my first real confrontation with death.
I still miss her. We all do…
And on a happier note, I make note of this now because it is unlikely that I will be blogging tomorrow…tomorrow it is six months since R and I officially met. I am still amazed by him each and every day. R, thank you for answering my initial message, for “bravely showing up” at Brew Pub to meet me, and for being the smartest, kindest, most thoughtful, affectionate and sweet man I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. 🙂
Resolved:
1. To get back to my (former) NaNovel this month. Nag me. Please. ; )
2. To actually use my free YMCA membership. I had to walk up six flights of stairs yesterday (broken elevator) and I thought I was going to keel over. Not good.