Yee haw

I'm back from a little vacation visiting my brother in Austin. I had a good time, getting some sun, eating close to 4 lbs. of tortilla chips, and being on constant lookout for cacti and tumbleweed. I took a picture on my phone of the least nutritious breakfast I've ever had, but I can't figure out how to send it to my email and post it. It was made from tortilla chips, scrambled with eggs and cheese. And it looked like this:


And it was good.

We went out with some of Eric's friends, and it was nice being able to have my Bud Light outside in the middle of February.
It was Mardi Gras, and it was crazy. The cops were all out in their riot gear as we went from bar to bar. I got purple beads, and I made sure to see the favorite bar of the cast from Real World Austin.



And now, as I sit here starting at the 3 inches of ice covering a good chunk of my street, I've decided I'm close to wanting to move some place where it's warm for most of the year. I have a feeling that my opinion will change when it turns to spring in Boston, but right now I'm getting restless and feel like it would be fun to be in a new city, and I would be so much happier to get up every morning and go to work not wearing 3 layers. I don't know, I can't see myself actually getting up enough guts to move far away from everyone, and maybe I just need some chocolate to get over the post-vacation let-down.


6th street: I could go out here every weekend.

Update.

Gillian and I put our heads together, and came up with a good solution to the lasagna problem.

Step 1: Examine, and scoop out.



Step 2: Pretend to enjoy:



Step 3: Place in trash bag. Double bag it.



Step 4: Enjoy one last bite.


The lasagna weighed about 7 pounds, and it was obvious he had used a whole jar of sauce, a whole box of lasagna noodles, a ton of cheeses, and some green vegetable (spinach maybe?) which had been shredded into small pieces. So we did actually feel kind of bad as we took out a serving spoon and scooped it right into the trash. And, we were paranoid of getting some bad karma as a result of it, since the poor neighbor really just wants some friends. So we wrapped it up in several bags and were still a bit paranoid that we'd wake up one morning, and find that an animal had torn through the trash bags and lasagna was strewn about the street in front of our apartment. And that then our neighbor would kill us in our sleep.

Full of razor blades and anthrax?

I've been a little stressed out for the last few days, because I haven't been able to decide which team to root for in the Superbowl. It makes me uneasy to watch a game and not at least in the back of my mind be cheering on one team over the other. If I'm watching a game of any sport and don't have much of a preference, then I usually just pick the hometown team. But that doesn't work for the Superbowl. Or, for championship games, like the superbowl or world series, I'll just automatically pick the AFC or the American Leaguge. Anyway, there was a long thought process this morning in the shower, but I decided that due to my unexplainable liking of Peyton Manning since his college days at Tennessee, I'm going to have to root for Indianapolis. Really though, I'm rooting for some good commercials and tasty snacks.

With that problem basically solved, there's another issue to deal with here in our apartment. It's this:



This is a giant lasagna. Why do we have a giant lasagna in the fridge? Well, on Friday afternoon, I ran into our crazy upstairs neighbor, D3, who I regularly try to avoid since he cornered each of us and asked why we ignore him when he tries to come downstairs and hang out. Or asks when we want to go camping, or shopping, or cook dinner in his apartment.

So, when I ran into him, I made sure to make a quick getaway by not saying "See you later!" since the last time I used that phrase, it prompted him to say "Well when is later?" and I refused to take his phone number and call when I'm free, for the 2nd time. But just as I was heading inside the apartment, he told me that he made this lasagna and then realized he was going to be away for the weekend, and would I like it? Uhh...I quickly said I was also going to be away for the weekend, so thanks, but maybe my roommates would be interested. After another painful two minutes, he was finally satisfied when I said that IF my roommates were interested, they'd go upstairs and get the lasagna.

I got a text while at the bar later that night from Gillian, who had been just walking into the apartment when crazy neighbor came flying down the stairs, lasagna in hand, insisting that she take it. When I returned several hours later, there was a note on the door with baking instructions. So now the giant lasagna sits there...we're not really sure what to do with it, because we're pretty sure he's not above looking through our trash to make sure we didn't toss it. And it's in a glass baking pan, which means we're going to have to return it, and he's going to ask how it was. I'm going to maintain that I was away for most of the weekend and have no idea what happened to the lasagna, or just how yummy it was.

Kate's almost old enough to die

My school has this terrible rule where teachers can't take their classes outside for their playground time unless it's above 32 degrees. That would be reasonable if we lived in, say, South Carolina, but 32 degrees isn't that cold in Boston. It's been really really cold, but some days were only like 30 degrees, and we still couldn't take them out. Which was totally dumb.

Yesterday we hit the wall. Yesterday was the day all 18 of my kids decided to rebel. They were horrible. They were running. They were screaming. They were shoving in line. They were throwing toys and paintbrushes. They were holding hands during our Israeli dance class and would all of a sudden start running, trying to make the whole line fall down. And a select few decided the writing table would be a good place to pretend that markers and colored pencils were make-up, and decorate their faces.

Today we went outside for the first time in over a week, and it looks like it'll be the last time for the rest of January. Wish me luck.

Today was also exciting because I went to the doctor for the first time in 7 years, and I didn't throw up. (Which is big). But I did come home with a new toy:



It's a bit of asthma. And you don't have to tell me twice, I already know all the cool kids carry inhalers, like my roommate. But should our inhalers ever get mixed up, I can mine apart since mine is the one that is not covered in tobacco.

And speaking of roommates...guess who turned 25 yesterday!





That is one pretty tasty cookie cake. COVERED IN FROSTING. And as you can see, Kate is pretty contemplative before she blows out the candles, clearly pausing for a moment to reflect upon the past year.

Happy 25!

37 days until spring training starts I guess?


Not this year.

Name Game

There's something new on the old blog today. I was inspired by Molly, who does a weekly poll every Tuesday, to make up a poll of my own, and get your brains thinking. And, I was also motivated by one of my sweet, adorable roommates, who tells me at least once a week that I have a lousy 80s name. It's not my fault, I was born in the 80s. And growing up, I thought it was a good name, since I only knew one other girl with the name, and one man. Also, the only word that I could think of to rhyme with it was "lacy." Anyway, the constant reminding that it's an 80s name has beaten down my spirit, so I need some suggestions for a better name. So go ahead, what do you think?

What would be a better name for me?
	Muffy
	Mrs. Tom Brady
	Bahama Mama
	A cool hippie name, like Lavender or Frog
	Stacy is perfect, and isn't "80s"
	Other (leave ideas in comments)
pollcode.com free polls

Tommy B.

This is the time of year when I start posting pictures of Tom and talk about how great he is. Of course, if you lived with me, you would have been hearing this since August. But after an exciting come-from-behind win last night, I am even more compelled to share my enthusiasm for my future husband.



I'd write a little bit more, but this is a family place.

And while we're on the topic of uncomfortable situations...

We were in the apartment enjoying some tasty Miller Lite Friday night, when Kate announced we were driving to the train station in Natick, a good 35 minutes away. Long story short, we're less than two miles from the apartment, heading toward the highway, and Kate announces to me, "So I just thought I should put this out there...I'm not exactly 100%. I'd say maybe 70%." But since I had declined being the one to drive, since I figured I was also somewhere around that state, I was not as concerned as I should have been about Kate's lack of depth perception. I'm not sure why I believed her when we were in the apartment and she said she was fine to drive, since she had been kicking back the brews since late afternoon at work, but that's a conversation for another time.

I have today off from work & I'm heading out to see Dreamgirls with my mom soon. There are no movies out that I want to see right now.

And oh my god, did you know I had pajama day with my class last week?? For some of them. it may have been the highlight of their first 3 and a half years of life.

Go Diego Go

I don't know if this is real or not, but it looks convincing to me. I didn't think they commented on these on TV like it's a sport though, so I don't know. But it is entertaining, and makes me feel lazy and unproductive.

speedy little guy

It's January 6th and it's 70 degrees in Boston, and I for one am in love with global warming.

I showed off my pasty winter legs in shorts on my run this morning, and was hot! I'm not wearing any socks in the apartment, and only have on two layers and I'm not cold! I have windows wide open! Goodbye glaciers, hello summer in January.



I do need one good snow storm this year though.

R.I.P. Winnie the Pooh

Today I arrived at school and found our class pet, a beloved beta fish, belly-up in its bowl. He was a good fish. He was ok with not eating over the long weekends when no one was there to feed him, and he dealt well with three and four year olds pushing the bowl around to get him to swim faster. He even didn't seem to mind when Isaac added colored water from the water table into his bowl because he thought Winnie the Pooh might like a drink.

Unfortunately, poor old Winnie met his match when four year olds from another class came into my empty classroom to play as their parents talked outside, and the kids decided to add soap to the fish bowl. Turns out fish don't like soapy water. Luckily, the parents felt really badly about letting their kids play in my room, and subsquently kill the fish, so this morning around 8:15 they dropped off an identical fish, and by 9:30 the new fish was swimming around in a clean bowl, and no one knew any better.

Another Year Already?

The last week of 2006 ended with a bit too much partying, and 2007 began with more of the same. I went down to visit Molly in Philadelphia, and it turns out A)Molly still provides "adventures" and B) I'm not 20 years old anymore. I think my body is still trying to recover from that trip.

I made a few new friends in Philly.

This is my new favorite cat, Crunch.


This is my other cat friend, Pepper.


And this is my new favorite Irishman with a drinking problem.


The trip also included a visit to the state penitentary and the Medical Oddities Museum, where I got to see gigantic warts and tumors and fetuses with deformities. Luckily, I only took pictures of the insides of bars.






It was a fun visit. I even got to play on a playground and roll down a hill at 2AM.

And last night, we rang in the new year in style, with Miller Lite from a keg, beirut and flipcup, and a lot of Andre champagne.










At brunch this morning, I made everyone tell their New Years resolutions, so please feel free to share your entertaining ones here. And can you guess whose resolution is to try not to get pregnant?

Happy 2007.

Vay-cay-shun

When I invent my own planet with my own customized weather (90 degrees and up for 2 months, 84 degrees for 6 months, 70-75 degrees for 2 months, and blizzard-like conditions for 2 months), I'm also going to redo how banks work. There's going to be an express line, just like there is in the supermarket. In the supermarket, you get to go in a special line if you only have a few things. It should be the same at the bank...if you have something that you know takes 2 minutes or less, then you should be able to stand in a separate line. I had to stand in the line at the bank for 35 minutes, to do something that only took a little over a minute. It made me mad while I watched people hog 5 minutes with the teller.

My new planet will be so cool though. Besides better banking, frosting will be a good source of calcium and contain all the necessary vitamins to keep you strong and healthy.

And in other things that are cool, check out the blow up santa that my neighbors had on their porch:




I realize it's tough to see past the conglomerate of wires that cannot possibly pass any safety codes, but if you look closely you can find santa. The sad part is that during the month of December, the neighbors only had him inflated a handful of times. I checked most nights out my window before I went to bed.

Tomorrow I leave for a mini-road trip. I'm headed to Philly to visit Molly for a couple of days before I make my way to visit Kerrin in Connecticut! Who knew Philadelphia was 6 hours from Boston? Certainly not me. Turns out I was forgetting about NY and NJ. Who needs those states anyway.

V-A-C-A-tion! (Is almost here)

I'm not in teaching for the presents, I swear. But this time of year, right before vacation, it is nice to get some acknowledgement from the parents (and the kids who are old enough to put on their shoes themselves) that they appreciate all the effort you're putting in. And many have been bringing in gifts over the past week. However, the gifts are mostly coming from some of the really sweet, cooperative kids and parents, and not from the ones that make me lose sleep and want to put my head through a wall. But, of the ones who have already brought things in, I've been extremely surprised by the generosity of some of the parents. Some parents spent a combined $100 on the two teachers I work with and me, which was way over the top, and this sounds pretty cheesy, but the nicest gifts I've gotten between this year and my student teaching were cards with anecdotes about how the child liked or appreciated me.

Don't get me wrong though, I polished off the box of chocolates in a day and a half, and I can't wait to spend my visa gift card on a 30 pack of beer.

I got a shiny new camera from my parents for Hanukkah, so you get to see some updated pictures...like random pictures I took during the 3rd consecutive hour of sitting on my couch at home, the festive appearance of our apartment, and our new jumbo TV which has aired "Mean Girls" at least 3 times in the last two weeks.









Tomorrow is the last day of school before VACATION!!! I'm pretty excited. After tomorrow, it's a whole lot of sleeping past 6:11, sitting in PJs until noon if I want to, and visiting Molly and Kerrin! Hooray.

Mr. Brady

I can't sleep, so I thought I'd share the happy announcement that I saw on the news an hour ago...



That picture is no more!

Tom Brady is back on the market!

I think Al Gore was right about global warming.

Why is it like 60 degrees in the middle of December?

So, I head out to my car this morning and realize:

1)I have a $40 ticket for apparently parking on my street without a permit.It's not a huge deal, since my sticker is on my car, but it's annoying that now I have to go appeal it, just because some traffic guy (badge number 322) didn't look closely enough.

And 2) My car key broke and fell off somewhere. I found the biggest piece of it in the hallway of the apartment a few minutes later, and was off to work.

...Where I found out that the assistant director had not forgot (as I assumed she had) that I still needed to have a physical to work. And that my paychecks would be withheld if I don't get one in 3 weeks. Have I mentioned how much I hate the doctor? Hence why I haven't gone in 6 years. I had a bad history of getting nervous and throwing up on the table every year until I was 13. True story.

And then we had Abby's birthday in school. And her mom had hyped up her birthday so much since September, that Abby became the three year old version of a Bridezilla. No one was allowed to touch the balloon on her chair, and for awhile, no one was even allowed to look at it. No one was allowed to decorate her birthday sign. And no one was allowed to play "birthday" in the dramatic play area. And she asked us every 2 and a half minutes if it was time to eat her yellow cupcakes yet.

The only saving grace to the day was when the Biter's mom told me that that their dear sweet biting and spitting son told his dad he has a crush on me. I don't know how, or why, since besides the fact that he's bit and spit at me, all day long all he hears from me is "You cannot hit your friends," and "You cannot wear dress-up high heels during circle time."

"Irregardless"

So, we got a Christmas tree for our apartment yesterday, and despite the fact that the upcoming holiday makes me mildly miserable for about a month and a half each year, I have to admit that it's a pretty good looking tree. Of course, this is also in comparison to our sickly, scruffy, Charlie Brown tree from last year:


Last year's tree had trouble standing up on its own

This year's edition is about 8 feet tall, and has so many branches and needles, that Kate didn't need to wrap lights around bare sticks like last year. I'll try for some pictures soon.

In other news, I'm thinking that I'm going to start knitting again. I desperately need a project, because I think I'm starting to drive my roommates crazy. I developed this knitting complex though. The idea of figuring it out again and learning how to fix my screw-ups again is making me all nervous. Plus, I'm going to need to go back to the knitting lady to get another lesson when I'm ready to end the scarf that I plan to make, but she scares me because I know that she knows I'm only knitting because I'm bored, and I have no intention of knitting myself a practical hat, and sweaters for my grandchildren.

And finally, if you haven't seen the movie Mean Girls, you're going to need to watch it. I watched it yesterday in its entirety, and I'm going strong in my second viewing tonight.

Yesterday one of my students bit me.

And then he kicked, hit, spit at my face, and ran around the classroom for me to catch him, at which point the biting, spitting, etc. repeated.

I don't get paid nearly enough to deal with that one. The family better give me a very nice present this December.

In other situations that I don't care to be in, I had another confrontation with the crazy guy who lives upstairs. Here's my question to you....if you go downstairs, not once but twice, and knock on the door, and immediately hear the talking inside the apartment stop, would you take that as a hint that the people don't want to do anything with you? Would you then hunt down each member of the apartment, and ask why they don't want to be friends with you? Would you ask for their phone numbers or email, even though they've told you "no" before? I walked in the apartment at the same time as him tonight, and said a polite "hi" and then "see you later" as I started to close my door. But then he asked, "Well, when is later?" Uh, that was my nice way of saying I'm done talking. Then the akwardness continued for a few minutes, during which he asked why we're ignoring him, and do we want to be friends with him, and can he have my email or phone number, and would we hang out with him if HE made the plans. It ended with me getting his email, and closing the door on his face because he doesn't leave when you say bye. I need to learn to be more blunt, but come on.

No more maple pie.

It sounds odd, but I sometimes don't like having vacations because it makes it so much worse to go back to work. Don't get me wrong though, I'll still happily take my vacations. I've been enjoying not having to make lunch, or iron clothes, or wake up to an alarm clock (though my body has decided--without my consent--that 7:30-8 is a good wake up time on vacation).

For Thanksgiving, we had a big international fest. We had people from Thailand, Taiwan, Germany, and even Texas. Almost half of the people at the dinner table had no idea what "pilgrim" meant, and couldn't even appreciate the Pilgrim hat desserts I made:

But I bonded with them anyway when I realized that the three girls from Asia and Europe enjoy the same teenage dramas as me, including but not limited to The O.C., Gilmore Girls, and One Tree Hill.

This weekend I got a cool new phone. It's so shiny. I'm definitely in love with it. It even slept in my bed the night I got it (I like the new electronic smell).




My body's going to be in for a shock at lunch tomorrow when I feed it carrots and a sandwich rather than stuffing and mashed potatoes along with brownies and trifle and pie.

Post-Thanksgiving

I'm so full I want to die.

The important stuff, like lollipops.

I love Thanksgiving. Not quite as much as Halloween, but it's right up there. What's not to love about getting together with a bunch of people, and being expected to stuff your face with stuff like mashed potatoes and turkey and gravy and stuffing and cranberry sauce. Not to mention, dessert.

It's a fun time to be in school too. It's the first little mini-vacation of the year, and from here on out it's an easy slide into June (or so I'm telling myself). Since more than half of my kids are from Israel, some are going to be celebrating their first Thanksgiving this year, and it's kind of neat teaching them about it.

Today in school I talked with them about what it means to be thankful, and I had everyone say one thing that they were thankful for so that I could write it on these Pilgrim faces they made. I was extremely impressed with a few of them, like Eitan, who said he's thankful for going to Israel on Wednesday, and Sam, who said he's thankful for playing with Grandma Joyce on Thankgiving, and a few that were thankful of their moms and dads or sisters.

But then, there were a couple who had no idea what I was talking about...so I got a kick out of writing that Abby is thankful for lollipops, and Edan is thankful for Batman, and Andrew is thankful for trains.

What are you thankful for?

Oh, and happy thanksgiving. Don't drink too much wine and wrap pants around your head as you puke. I hear it kills the day.

I found this and thought it was funny. Don't let it kill your appetite...

Don't get the black lung, pop

When did it get to be the middle of November? I feel like it was just Christmas and all that stuff. I'm very excited for Thanksgiving, and very excited for snow soon. Though it's hard to believe that it will be cold and wintery soon since it was warm enough to get outside for a few runs wearing shorts this week. This morning I saw sleds for sale inside Shaws, and it seemed weird.

Over the past week, I neglected to mention the fact that it was Ms. Gillian McCabe's 24th birthday. Kate and I made her an absolutely gigantic cake. And no, that's not orange poop on top of it...it's a cheesy poof, to commemorate the time(s) when Gillian housed an entire back of artifical cheese snacks herself.





This week it rained every single day. It made my class crazy. One day, the rain had slowed down to a slight drizzle, but the playground was way too wet, so we got the kids in their raincoats and took them out to the pavement and I chased them for 10 minutes just to get them to run and get some energy out. Yes, I'm pretty thrilled to have a master's degree and spend my mornings chasing (literally) 18 three year preschoolers.

It's 6 months until I turn 25.

Lost, and probably gone forever

The thing about my kids (my students, not future biological) that irritates me 65 percent of the time is their parents. I think some kids send their kids to preschool thinking they're going to get the love and attention that they do at home. Newsflash: preschool isn't home. I like your kids, but I have 17 others, and at least 2 are crying.

The biggest trend lately in my classroom is bringing in things from home to show, or to show only to a select group, resulting in crying by the other two-thirds of the class. There's no doubt in my mind that some of the kids spend a good 15 minutes every morning choosing one of their most prized possessions to bring into school. And while it's sort of irritating to have to spend so much time in circle saying, "And now let's see what Isaac has! Stand up and show it to us, Isaac!" it is nice for them to get so excited about showing their things to their friends.

But, inevitably, these valued items get lost somewhere in the room, or pocketed by another kid with the child put it down for a minute to play with something else.

And then the parents complain:
"Edan brought in two old cell phones, and now we're missing one. Do you know what happened to it?"
"Ellie has a special ribbon that she lost, and we miss it. Where is it?"
"Abby brought in her pink pig yesterday, and I don't know where it went. Can you look for it today"

Sure, right after I deal with Oliver, who's pooped in his pants for the second time before 10 o'clock this morning.

I ate nachos twice today!

I decided I like voting...it makes me feel all happy and American, but not in the "we're obese and want to take over the world and george bush is our hero" sort of way. Today was my first time voting in Scummies...I finally gave up the absentee ballots and registered in Somerville. And it was so much more exciting than in Medway, where everyone just went to the high school gym to vote. It took me until yesterday to figure out where to go, and it turned out my area got to vote in a fire station! And the sirens went off while I was there! It was pretty exciting.

I ate a pomogranate today too, which was equally exciting.

Last week I started going to bed by 10, and I got a solid 8 hours of sleep a few nights that week. Two mornings I even woke up before my alarm clock, just before 6AM, all set to go. I had too much going on in my head this week to fall asleep before 11:30, so I must be off to dreamland to reaquaint myself with my bed.

BIG NEWS

There's a pretty good chance that the next time you see me, I'll be well on my way to morbidly obese. It seems I've made it my personal mission to finish off the Halloween Butterfingers in our apartment. And after that, I'm already pretty sure my next mission will be the Almond Joys (minus the almonds--I pick them out). I seriously love candy.

But, the big news of the day is that after 2 years and 3 days of living in this apartment...drumroll please....

WE HAVE A FULLY FUNCTIONING PORCH!

I plan to take a picture of it soon. I only wish I had taken pictures of the entire month and a half long process. It's hard to imagine, but our apartment actually went from looking the crappiest on the street, to looking the crappiest times 14 on the street. It seems our landlord decided halfway through the construction to have the guys tear off the siding on part of the house (yeah, just part) and replace it. So you can probably guess how the apartment looked, with slabs of wood sticking out of the building as the porches went up, part of the siding off, and trash and other work materials scattered around.

I'd guess that our apartment is still the ugliest on the street. But, I'm curious to see next week when it's all done (supposedly, though I'm skeptical since it was "getting done" 2 years ago we were told), and all of the materials that are blowing around are cleaned up. I don't know for sure, but there's another house on the street that might be able to take the prize from us.


I realized I have no pictures of the old porch, except this one, where you can just barely catch part of it on the very far right. It's obviously the one that looks like it's 4 seconds away from falling over and ruining our fun playing in the snow.

Happy Halloween

I'm so stuffed with candy and pumpkin seeds and apple cider.

But in honor of the most fun day of the year, I'm giving you the gift of dogs in costume.

Check out this, for some really good costumes:


And these, for some pretty funny ones...











And I promise I'm going to try so hard to refrain from the costumed dogs for awhile.