I don't care if he DOES play for the other team

I love this man.



I loved him as Doogie and I love him now. I thought I couldn't love him more than I do while watching him play uber hetero Barney on How I Met Your Mother, but bless him, this commercial did it...

I just remembered. I LIKE my job!

Last week my summer ended, and I mourned a little wondering where time had flown. I sat in meetings and arranged my classes and wondered what the heck I was doing there. "Shouldn't I be taking a nap right now?" I thought. "I wish I could just NOT work and get paid," came another thought.

This morning I got up at the ungodly hour of 5 am and was at work by 6:25. "This is WAY too early for ANYONE to be at work! Hmmmmph!" I thought. And then I got out of my car and saw a former student who smiled at me, asked how my summer was, and gave me a hug. I walked down the hall with dozens of kids screaming my name and waving frantically. I was reminded that unlike my own high school experience, as a teacher I'm wildly popular, a little bit like a rock star, truth be told.

I wouldn't trade it, because while I would have liked to be popular back then, it wouldn't mean as much. These kids like me, not because I wear the right shoes or clothes (ha!), but because I love what I do and they can feel that.

In class today I had a lot of blank stares, and have already spotted some kids who might be hard for me to get through, but for the most part I was reminded why I chose to teach teenagers. They make me laugh, and I love their energy and view on life.

The most exciting part of my day was this: for the first time since I started teaching them, I was thrilled to see each and every one of my AVID kids. We end the day together this year, and I think it will be a nice way to do so.

So, even though I will never like getting up at 5 am, I'm so glad to be back at work. I'm really lucky to be able to do something I love this much for a living.

Things you should check out, vol. 2

I first heard Ray LaMontagne on another blog, and since that first listen I've been hooked. I generally like my music a bit on the rough and unfinished side, but Ray's soft mellow voice and music puts my mind at ease and I can feel the tension leave my body with each song. I love him. I've included videos of three of my favorite songs

"Shelter" and "Hold you In My Arms":



and "Empty"





Enjoy!

A picture paints a thousand words?

I found this fun little tag on my friend's blog, and even though she didn't tag me (humph!!!) I'm doing it anyway, 'cause that's who I am.

Here's how it works: For each question, look up the answer on Google image search. Then choose your favorite image from the FIRST PAGE OF RESULTS ONLY. I've tagged five people below...and I'll be watching for your posts!

Name



Favorite Food




First Job




Nickname




Where I was born




Bad Habit (minus the Bud)



College Degree



Where I want to go





Favorite place




Favorite Color




Favorite Animal





Past love




What I'm doing right now




Where I live



Favorite object




Grandma's name




Age



So..... Jamie, Jill, Melissa, Molly, and Emily consider yourself tagged. (If I left you out and you really want to do it, consider yourself tagged too.)

Things you should check out, volume 1

I know I've used my blog in the past to plug things I enjoy, but I've decided to make it a regular feature...

Today's plug is the BBC television series Robin Hood.




I want to start off by telling you that I know that it is historically inaccurate and a bit cheesy. This isn't a show that I'd call particularly smart, but it is clever and funny. It's totally aware of its place in the universe and is just plain entertaining.

We all know the story of Robin Hood, and this series bets on that, using all that we know in order to stray from historical accuracies in favor of fun and modern sensibilities.

Jonas Armstrong:



Is a cheeky and adorable Robin, and I love his hoodie. Yes. Hoodie. This aint your mama's cape wearin' Robin Hood, people.




One of my all time favorite British actors (and the groom in the "It Should've Been Me" video seen previously on this blog) Richard Armitage plays the brooding and complex Guy of Gisborne.



I know. It's a lot of black leather. And some guyliner. But, even though he's a baddie, and trust me he is BAAAAAAAAAAD, he's complex. You can see why Marian is kind of drawn to him even if she is in love with Robin.

Also enjoyable are his interactions with the deliciously evil and campy Sheriff of Nottingham played by Keith Allen.



Allen has said he plays the sheriff as if he has a crush on Robin, and I must say, it shows. I love this sheriff, he's so deliciously evil.

So, I highly recommend you check out Robin Hood on BBC America or on dvd. You'll be glad you did.

The Dancing Queen errr King.... Weeeeeellll??

I've spent the past 5 days in California with my sister enjoying the last fading days of my summer vacation. Mostly I've been napping and watching the Olympics (go Michael Phelps!) and HGTV (I don't get that channel at home with my $10/month cable plan) which is fine by me. Mostly my requirements for this trip were to get out of the heat of Las Vegas and relaxation before I go back to work so it's been perfect. Christy took Monday off and we went to my favorite place in the entire world: IKEA. Well, maybe not my favorite place, but it's awful close. Neither of us needed a whole lot, and we didn't end up buying a lot, but we had a great time and got some ideas for later.

My other sister got a teaching job at the elementary school I myself attended this week because a fourth grade teacher died. Be careful what you pray for people, my sister killed a woman to teach at the same school her kids attend! Just kidding Jenn, just kidding. But, school starts next week and she had to clean out her classroom of 8 or so years and muck out her new classroom as well. So I went with her to her old classroom to pack everything up on one day and watched her two kids the next day so that she could work in both rooms the next. It was fun to hang out with my niece and nephew and it was nice to know I was helping my sister. She's really excited and nervous about this switch, but change is good. I had such a good time going back to my own elementary school and seeing how truly tiny it really is.

At one point my nephew Curtis and I were playing in the courtyard while Jennifer talked to her new principal and I was reminiscing about my own 6th grade year at the school when Curtis said, "This place brings back a lot of memories." I thought he was talking about me, but then he followed it up with "Yeah, right over here is where Vincent threw a carton of milk. He's not a nice boy. Over here Jason threw his milk up into the tree and then it fell on his head. He got mad when we all laughed but it was funny. Yep, this place brings back a lot of memories"

Memories. Like the corner of my mind. I love it when a nearly eight year old gets all nostalgic about 2nd grade. He was so serious and grown up about the whole thing that I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. I think was successful.

Last night Christy and I went down to Palm Springs for the Street Fair on Palm Canyon. I LOVE street fairs and festivals. There's just something about items sold on a street, in a tent, from a guy/girl in a tie dyed shirt. I only bought soap (albeit the best soap ever! I wash my face with their peppermint soap and it's absolutely wonderful.) and a couple of snow cones, but it was fun. When we went to the street fair last month we thought it was unbearably hot, but it was a dream in comparison with last night. It was hot and HUUUUUUUUMMMMMMMIIIIIIIDDDDDD. We sweat like crazy and I was happy that my hair was pulled back and had plenty of product or else it would have swelled in size to a point where I don't know if I could have gotten back in my car. Kinda like this:



When we were about halfway through the fair we stopped to watch a Peruvian one man band named something like Uvula or something. Anyway it was the whole mouth harp, chanting, tribal drum kind of thing, beautiful but I always wonder if the people who buy the cd actually ever listen to it. We stopped to listen and straight across from us was a man wearing an OLD dingy belly shirt that said "JAMAICA!!" across the front, low rise (so low we could tell that he was NOT wearing underwear) paper bag waisted man capris, a tiny man purse, and flip flops dancing to the music. His eyes were closed and he was swaying while clapping his hands over his head and shrugging his shoulders in time to the music. As the song continued he kicked off his sandals and danced with greater and greater abandon, throwing his head back and shaking his hair, literally kicking up his heels and moving around so wildly that people moved waaaaaaay back. I think this had two purposes:

1. to give him space, and
2. to avoid getting any crazy rubbed off on them.

Anyway, by the end of the song NO ONE was looking at the musician. It was the best thing I've ever seen in my entire life. Uvula then said, "For this next song I'd like the little ones in the audience to help me. I have some small instruments for the LITTLE ONES to play along with me." I swear he looked right at Mr. Belly Shirt when he said this. Christy and I decided to wait and see if Belly would get an instrument anyway. Yep. He walked right up and picked up the world's tiniest red tambourine and played along with the kids. This time he attempted to make his feet behave and twitched and convulsed through the whole thing, occasionally throwing up a shoulder or shifting his feet with the music. All I can say is, I wish I'd had my camera, 'cause you'd just have to see this guy to understand how completely wonderful it was.

We finally tore ourselves away and found a guy selling woven name bracelets. He had a sign saying "Find ANY name!" Well, that's a thrown gauntlet if I've ever seen one. I've NEVER found anything with my name on it, but there it was... a rainbow colored MAURY bracelet. I would've bought it, too, just on principle, but the owner of the booth was rude so I left. Humph! That'll show him!

When we walked back by Uvula, Belly Shirt had left along with the majority of the crowd. I guess all good things must come to an end.

My puppy has a problem. He lives to destroy any small appendange that may be on any of his toys. His pig has no ears and a mohawk, his duck has no bill, and his turtle has no legs.

Target has these really wonderful little stuffed dog toys that they sell for $1. I've bought several for Austen in the past, and when he was really little we brought one to my sister's house. Her dog Brie fell in love with it and stole it from Austen repeatedly. We finally left it there.

Christy then went out and bought several for Brie. When we came to visit a couple of weeks ago Austen immediately went to town pulling every single toy out of the toy basket so that he could play with one. I saw him playing with a little Target turtle toy and assumed it was the one we'd left there as it was missing a leg. At first I thought, "How cute! He knows that's his toy!" Then I realized that it was the wrong color. I got down on the floor and found not one, not two, but three turtles all missing at least one leg, most missing three or four. I asked Christy and she confirmed that before we arrived all of them had their limbs. So, on day one of our five day stay Austen had already maimed three toys.

Last week I went to Target and bought Austen and Brie some turtle toys. Five minutes after giving Austen one of them this is what it looked like:



After all of that heartless destruction, Austen needed a break:



Today, when we went outside for him to do his business I realized that I hadn't picked up any blue feet the day before. Why this moment for my realization? Because I picked up some blue poo, that's why. In case you were wondering, all four feet did, in fact, pass.

When I watched my brother's dog Bo and he ate a washcloth I blamed my inattention on the fact that I was used to only watching one dog. Now I think I'm just a bad dog mom. Good thing I don't have real kids.

I'm not a very strong swimmer...

Tonight after the season finale of My Boys (which incidentally if you don't watch you REALLY REALLY should. I love it.) I found myself watching "Synchronized Swimming: The Pursuit of Excellence" on PBS. It was more interesting than it sounds, although I don't think I'll be shelling out the $19.99 for my very own dvd of it.

What hit me the most was that one of the kids profiled was a boy, "one determined boy" and the only male competitor as far as I could see, competing on the #3 team at the U.S. Open. I had no idea there was such a thing in the real world as a male synchronized swimmer. Apparently he made the U.S. Olympic team, but because men are barred from Olympic competition in synchro he had to stand down. Sad.

Before I watched this documentary, most, if not all of my knowledge about synchronized swimming I learned from Harry Shearer, Martin Short, and Christopher Guest and involved the phrase "Hey you! I know you! I know you!" This was probably not the most in-depth and factual source for one to learn about the sport, I now realize.

Find more videos like this on www.truveo.com.

Little did these men know that twenty years from the time they made this heartbreaking film sexism would still not allow a man to compete in synchro at the Olympics. Apparently, barriers still need to be broken down.

Things I've done today:

1. Dyed my hair. (yeah. I wanted to wait until right before I went back to work but my gray roots were mocking me.)

2. Cleaned the livingroom. I have yet to vacuum (ed. note: I have now vacuumed AND swept and mopped the kitchen, entry way, and hearth!), but I've cleaned off every surface and even broke out the ole' Swiffer duster.

3. Watched The Price is Right (Drew Carey is really sarcastic about the prizes. It's amazing that my Grandma Lowe doesn't rise from the dead just to slap his impertinent face.)

4. Made a smoothie for breakfast (yummy!)

5. Took Austen out several times to pee and poo (no Sex Offender sighting today. He came up the sidewalk yesterday with his walker in his tanktop and shorts and we had a reeeeeeaaaaallllly uncomfortable conversation wherein we both pretended that I hadn't seen him in his undies, while Austen barked his head off at the man.)


6. Went to Vons and then got lunch at Baja Fresh.

I'm exhausted.

We deal in lead, friend

I forgot something else I did today: I watched one of my favorite movies of all time:



You just can't beat The Magnificent Seven. It's just cool. Seriously cool. Even if you don't love westerns you should watch it, if only for Steve McQueen.

All this doing nothing sure can wear a girl out....

It's gettin on time for me to go back to work. I knew I'd been on vacation too long when this morning I actually had to hurry in order to get showered in time to make an 11:20 movie and lunch with my sister-in-law. And after I did these two strenuous things, I had to take a nap 'cause I was just so tired. This is NOT right. I can't explain this phenomenon, but it happens every summer, but this year has been worse than usual.

Maybe this is because I normally do something productive during the summer but my financial situation (see my previous post if you're wondering about that) I haven't been able to go anywhere, and frankly it's hotter than Hades here in Vegas, which makes me not want to do ANYTHING.

Added to that is the fact that most of my friends have been gone all summer taking care of family or traveling to fabulous foreign locales (I really kinda hate both of you, by the by), and I've been here, hanging out with my dog. He's super cute and I love him, but he's not much of a conversationalist, unfortch. This is where the boyfriend replacement dog theory breaks down... So, yeah, I'm a loser, but it's true. I've taken about 35 naps in the past week and I'm sitting here thinking "I need to get to bed." I suck. Good thing I have an actual job for most of the year.

A Trip to the Dentist

Ever since I was a little girl I've had a method for dealing with the terror I feel about going to the dentist. When I get in the chair I go to what my family refers to as my Zen Place. I can't totally explain it, but I kind of float off into my own little world. I can still hear the voices of the dentist and his assistant, but they sound far away, and everything is soft and kinda fuzzy. I guess it's a form of self hypnosis. It's so effective that when I was 5 or 6 years old I actually fell asleep in the dentist's chair while having a few baby teeth pulled.

Today, I went to the dentist for a root canal and crown (Which set me back more money than I'd care to share with all of you people) and I decided that I didn't want to go to the Zen Place so that I could blog about it later. So, I didn't drift off into another plane of existence, but my brain wouldn't let me off completely. After I was numbed and the dentist started drilling I had this pop into my head:



I had to wonder, of all of the songs in my mental jukebox, why that one? Maybe it's the resemblance of Axl Rose's voice to the dental drill, or because it reminds me of a summer vacation spent in Huntington Beach where our frat boy neighbors smoked pot and played that song pretty close to 24/7 the entire week, or maybe it's just an amazing song. It did give me a little chuckle.

The worst part of the entire procedure wasn't the pain of the numbing shot (although I didn't enjoy that one little bit) or the sound of the drill; rather, it was having to keep my mouth open so wide for so long. This caused my jaw to ache something fierce, which you might think would be the reason it's the worst part, but this is neurotic me you're dealing with. It was the worst part because my lips and tongue got all dried out, causing me near panic. I don't quite understand it, but I am almost phobic about having dry lips, hands, and feet. I can't sleep without my Burt's Bees lip balm, Aveeno lotion for my hands, and my creamy petroleum jelly for my feet. This might explain the fact that although my mouth was completely numb, and I could therefore feel NONE of the drilling and prodding and pulling, my entire body was clenched. Clenching is NOT conducive to a wide open mouth and calm resolve, both of which I wanted during the procedure. The thing about clenching, though, is that
1. you don't realize you're doing it until fully clenched, and
2. it's really hard to open wide while clenching your butt cheeks. I can't explain that connection, but it's true.

When all was said and done the assistant told me I was tough which pleased me more than you know. I think you'd have to be Ed Lowe's kid to understand the magnitude of my feelings about this little compliment (The only thing that makes me happier than being told I'm tough is being told that I pack a vehicle effectively). I know that she probably says it to all the girls, but I'm taking it. Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.

There are three things I appreciated about my dentist today:
1. he numbed me so well that I didn't feel any pain at all,
2. he didn't attempt to have a conversation with me while performing the procedure, and
3. he called me kiddo.
I loved that because the last time I was in his chair he told me that my mouth was falling apart and that started happening "at your age", which made me feel older than dirt. His referring to me as "kiddo" made me feel young and free and brightened my day right up until the moment I wrote that enormous check, when I cried a little.

I wish I could say that this little trip is going to be the last for awhile, but then I'd be lying to you. I hate to admit it, especially considering the fact that one of my readers is the wife of a dentist (so this is roughly equivalent to inviting Martha Stewart over to look through your linen closet), but I've been avoiding the dentist for a couple of years and now my mouth is falling apart. I need three more crowns and a couple of fillings like, yesterday and after that my doctor wants to start in on some other teeth that need some work. So, kids all I can say is: GO TO THE DENTIST!!

Added to that is the fact that my school district provides really really crappy dental insurance, so another song has been running through my mind of late:



So, if any of you know of a relatively quick way for me to make a few thousand bucks that will allow me to keep both my molars and my morals, let me know.

A Not-So Fun Fact

It's a fact that if you attempt to sneak out of your apartment at 6:40 am sans bra and in your holey "Wild North Minnesota" t-shirt in order to take your puppy out for a quick potty break and your 90 year old registered sex offender pedophile neighbor steps out his front door in an undershirt and his not-so-tighty-not-so-whities to quickly grab his paper your puppy will not quickly and silently get his business done so that you can stealthily escape to your apartment and attempt to get the image out of your brain. No, instead, your puppy will bark at said pedophile in his droopy drawers and make you think for a second that you might have to run over to Mr. Sex Offender and grab your wriggling puppy from between his legs, and even though this does not occur, it does not mean that your brain doesn't run this scenario past you about 5,000,000 times an hour in vivid technicolor for the rest of the day, resulting in you accomplishing nothing for the next 12 to 21 hours except sitting in your dark closet in the fetal position and singing "Little Purple Pansies" while slowly rocking back and forth and twisting your hair.

How has your day been?