brilliance

I just wanted to share with you all the works of some of my more brilliant and awesome students. Just the other day in class we did an activity called "Mission Impossible: The Enlightenment". Groups of students got various packets with different information and assignments contained inside. For example, the group on Enlightenment artists had to create a drawing/poster to explain the Rococo style popular during that time, the group with Enlightenment writers had to write a silly short story to explain popular themes and characters during the time, and so on and so forth. The group who was responsible for Enlightenment musicians just floored me, though. Obviously, their task was to WRITE and PERFORM a song about musicians and musical styles of the Enlightenment. They proceeded to write their own version of "Baby Got Back", which they instead called "Musicians Got Bach". Oh, it was such a delicious little rendition. And they actually had the guts to PERFORM it in front of the class. They had practiced, had all the parts down pat. IT WAS ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. I nearly peed. The lyrics will be forthcoming when I remember to bring them home.

Good, Great, Grand... EVERYBODY ON THE BUS!

Life is pretty good at the moment! I'm almost done with my first grad class, there are only 2 more months of school (EXACTLY), the weather is getting nice, the house will be re-sided soon, the yard is coming along nicely, and we just had a great week spending time with family from out of town!!

Anna is harrassing me for pictures of the new siding on the house, but alas, there is none yet. We just got word from our contractor that we have been bumped back to Mid-May. This is quite upsetting, since according to plans we should have had it FINISHED by now. But, I guess you can't really argue with a contractor, so we're just thankful that it will get done before next winter (let's cross our fingers, lest we have a scenario like mom and dad's reno!). So, sorry anna, no pictures yet. As for the new paint in the basement (Penn State Blue & White), you'll have to check out my epson site. I can't find my camera, and I only saved the pictures to that site, and not to my computer. So those pictures will have to do. You'll see some "before" pictures in there, and then some pictures with the new paint. I still need to take more pictures of the "finished" job, but again, can't find my camera. It's somewhere around here.

ANYWAY - had a GREAT time when Sara and the gang were here last week. Tuesday night we hosted dinner at our house. It was great! It was the first time we really had a big gathering here. We need more furniture. And Dishes. But that's beside the point, it was just a blast. Mason, Lydia and Gaby had a great time running around in the empty attic, hiding in the crawl space and scaring the crap out of me. They all also had fun running around the yard, and then breaking the lock on my screen door. And Chase had a great time nearly falling through the screen door in the front, and onto the front landing. It would have been disastrous if Momma Deb hadn't caught him! But, I think I can say that we all had fun.

Then, everyone took off and the pandemonium began. After Taylor sat comfortably on the couch watching me and Mike do the dishes, we watched a re-cap of dancing with the stars, and then hit blockbuster!! We spent the night watching Eragon (which I didn't get at all... good thing Taylor was there to explain it to me) and Pink Panther (hilarious more for Taylor's reaction than for the actual movie itself. "In my pocket I have une HEEMBOOOOGARE. Une HINBEEGEE"). Normally I would have been asleep this late at night, but sleep was pretty much impossible considering the ridiculous amounts of sugar we imbibed. Sour straws, bottlecaps, twizzlers, pop rocks, dots, fun dip and oh so much more. And that's on top of the popcorn and soda we had, too. I think I might be diabetic now.

So, Taylor and I crashed by about 2:00 am, her on the couch, me on the floor. We woke up in time to eat a nice breakfast, and hit 5 Below to get some cool toys and whatnot, before heading to Matt and Deb's for babysitting. Let's just say, sleeping for about 5 hours on the cold floor was not a good idea the night before having to watch some pretty crazy kids. And by crazy kids, I mean Gaby. She is just a ridiculous ball of energy. Hilarious, adorable, tooting energy. But it was worth it, I just love those kiddos! Later that night we had dinner with Matt and Deb, and I was introduced to Guitar Hero. I feel somewhat ashamed of my performance. I think I was a big letdown. The pressure was just too much, and needless to say, I am not a Guitar Hero. I'm more like Raffi. Kid-Tested, Mother Approved. I'm white milk, to Matt's rockin' Chocolate.

Lastly, the trip was great because we got to see everybody. Owen is so adorable and I love his little "I'm shy" look. Mike had a great time trying to get him to make funny noises, too. He's easily amused. Gaby is just this awesome ball of energy, and Lydia is so big since I last saw her! She also told me that my house was a very nice light pink color, and that I should keep it that way. Ha! Ta-May-May is a retainer-faced goonball! Mason and Chase were a riot, too. I loved watching Chase sit back and relax with his feet up on the table! Too cute!


Moving on, I just realized how long this blog is getting, and how ridiculously long my blogs usually are (my sister Bird told me she has to take bathroom breaks while reading my blogs, because they are too long. Sorry Bird. Maybe get some Depends.) I'll try to update more frequently so as to limit the excessive length of future blogs. Peace out to all my homies... Werd.

2,543

I have recently been heckled by some, who will remain nameless, who feel my recent hiatus from the blogging world is rather unnecessary. For this, I apologize. However, I would like to note that my hiatus has not been in vain, and that my absence from the blogging scene has been for a good cause. The graduate class I'm taking this semester is great! The professor is awesome, and the class is really relaxed, and I get along with my classmates very well. I was also very stoked to discover that my only "graded" assessment for the entire semester would be one, 20-page paper, on any topic of my choice, that is due at the end of the semester. On the other hand, I was shocked to discover that the other "60%" of my grade is based on participation in class discussion. AND - class discussion is COMPLETELY centered around the 16 required texts that we have to read this semester, along with the 1 text on Material Culture of our choosing. So, to date, I have read 2,543 pages of required text, and I am happy to report that I have been a substantial contributor to all class discussions to date. The reading is a bit ridiculous at times, and it keeps me up late at others, but all in all it's not too bad, and I've finished every book so far. Unfortunately, I'm not looking forward to next week's book, which is 629 pages on the history of historical research. Blah.

In other news - Winter finally kicked into gear here in PA the last few weeks. Since my last rant against mother nature I had TWO, count them TWO days off school due to the snow, followed by freezing rain, followed by more snow. I probably would have gotten off with only one snow day and a 2-hour delay (as opposed to my early dismissal, off, off, 2-hour delay scenario) if PENNDOT hadn't screwed up in such a ridiculous way. The roads were awful, but Bird and I enjoyed laying around the house very much, so no complaints here. Aside from that, we got a little bit more snow/freezing rain the following week, but not nearly as bad. It's been very cold and windy here the past few days, which makes me wonder if winter is going to stick around for another few weeks... hope not. I got my fill of snow delays and days off, so I'm done with winter now.

In other news - Mike has officially started outdoor track. He enjoys it and hates it at the same time... Mike has also successfully installed recessed lighting in our laundry room! The new lights make a HUGE difference, and brighten the whole place up! And in general, their (Mike and his dad) electric work has done much to improve the basement by removing all the creepy hanging wires and wierd makeshift stuff the previous owner had rigged up. Pretty soon the electrical upgrades will be done in the laundry room, and we'll be able to put the ceiling up! Hooray! Mike will also be installing the recessed lights in the "living room" part of the basement this upcoming weekend, so pretty soon we'll have that all finished up as well. It's wonderful!

Lastly, the house will be re-sided soon! Our project got bumped from mid-march to the beginning of April as a result of the ice that stuck around PA for over a week and a half... But we are still looking forward to having INSULATION, a house that's not pink, a new door that's not drafty, new windows in the attic that aren't drafty, and a new mailbox! Hooray!!

THE END.

P.S.

ANNA - PLEASE CALL OFF YOUR PAL-MIZZY BOMBERS!! NO SCHOOL EXPLOSION NEEDED!! Although as former students, I'm sure they would have enjoyed it. Unfortunately, the school still so graciously pays me, and therefore I'd like for it not to be a burning pile of rubble, despite previous comments to the contrary. Thank you, that is all for now.

Apology Accepted, Motha Nature!

Well well well... it appears that all I need to do to get what I really want is complain about it in every possible venue to anyone who can stand to listen to me yammer on. SWEET! My one wish for the school year was FINALLY granted on Wednesday, with our very first TWO HOUR DELAY! YAHOO! It was pure bliss:) I got up, sat expectantly on the edge of the bed watching the delays scroll across the top of the screen, and before long, those sweet, sweet words came flashing on. "PALMYRA AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT, TWO HOUR DELAY, MODIFIED KINDERGARTEN." So I cuddled back up under my warm cozy blankets, and vegged out for a couple hours. Got to catch up on my "Saved by the Bell", and actually gave myself time to eat breakfast. The joy rushed right back into my career:) Which brings me to my next point...

I think I've been a bit cynical and bitter lately. First semester gave me nothing but worries and stress, but this new semester has awakened me to WHY I started teaching in the first place. I like it! Two hour delays! Random fire drills that get me out of class for 30 min. at a time (break was nice, 12 degree temperature was rough)! Assemblies and Pep Rallies! Someone else paying for my grad school, which I love! SUMMER VACATION! There really is so much that I enjoy about my job, and the teaching isn't half bad either! I've actually got some kids who are nice and who do work and who follow directions this semester! And also, I haven't been cursed at, spit at, or had anyone expose themselves yet this semester!! Yes, truly, things are looking up:)

SNOW DAY

I don't think that I ask for much. A two hour delay, early dismissal, school explosion... BUT NO. Mother nature just can't cooperate. And so it's FEBRUARY and the state of PENNSYLVANIA has seen no significant snow fall yet. I am a bitter person at this moment. It is FRIDAY AFTERNOON, and the HUGE SNOW STORM that was supposed to hit the mid-state THURSDAY afternoon/evening is JUST NOW showing up. I've gotta say, I'm getting sick of hearing the forecasts calling for snow, with accumulation of 7-a billion inches overnight, only to read in the very fine print that the actual CHANCE of snow is only 12%. WHAT IS THE POINT OF FORECASTING THE WEATHER IF YOU CAN'T PREDICT WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WITH MORE THAN 12% ACCURACY!! Needless to say, there've been no delays, no early dismissals, and no explosions. This year just keeps getting worse and worse! I think I might move to the Arctic.

Bird's haircut

Yee-haw! First semester of school is over, and only one left to go!! First semester seemed to go at a snail's pace, so I am hoping that second semester goes much faster, and with far fewer "incidents". I don't know if I can handle another semester like the first without ripping the hair out of my head. And I feel that the stress may be somewhat compounded by the fact that I am starting grad classes tomorrow. Hopefully it will all stay in the realm of "manageable".

Speaking of "manageable", Bird got a new haircut. By me. It was an interesting experience to say the least. We all go through the back-to-school ritual of new clothes, new supplies, new haircut, and Bird is no different. She's heading back to school in a few weeks, and was getting herself all set to go. Unfortunately, she made a bad decision on WHERE to get her hair trimmed up, and I feel that I may have doomed her in this. You see, she was just getting ready to leave for her haircut when I called and asked her to drop a CD off for me at the high school. Being the loving person she is, she agreed. What I didn't know, is that she didn't have a hair appt., she was just going to find some local hair shop and walk in. If I had known this, I would have warned her to STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM "OUTLOOKS" IN PALMYRA, as they were responsible for butchering my hair this summer (my hair is still recovering from this, by the way). But, alas, she ended up in the chair at outlooks. She called me later and told of the butchered job she got, and asked if I had some clippers... and I did. So she came over so we could try to fix it a bit. Let me just say, in my defense, her hair was horrendous when she got here.



So, we set out with some scissors and some clippers. Bird was talking about just cutting it all off, buzz style, and I was trying to talk her out of it. We came to the conclusion that she, if anyone, could probably pull off the "faux-hawk" look. So, we gave it a shot. Oh my did we laugh. Let me just tell you that the only persons hair I've ever cut is Mike's, and it was a bit different cutting a girls hair, with my nice blunt scissors. But I did an ok job on the top. Then, it was time to trim up the back, and I'm not so good with the clippers. I accidently took kind of a chunk off the back of her neck, but luckily I was able to even it out by taking a chunk off the other side too. All in all, it didn't turn out too badly. I took a lot of Bird's hair, but it turns out she really can pull off the faux-hawk. It kind of fits her. I'm not sure if mom and dad will agree, but hey, like I said, her hair was bad BEFORE she got here!