Question Marks

Something I have thought about a couple of times but have failed to mention both outloud and in my blog is how grateful I am to be spending this holiday season.... with my hubby.

I wasn't really expecting it, but Christmas without him last year was rather hard on me.

And since all signs seem to be pointing to a year-long upcoming deployment, it appears as though we are going to have to endure another holiday season apart next year.

I've been putting all thought about said upcoming deployment out of my mind for as long as possible, but with all the downtime I've had lately it keeps pushing its way into my brain.

Once again, my future is a mystery.

The questions that have been plaguing me lately are as follows:
*Will Michael leave in March or April?
*When will we be able to schedule a trip East to visit my soon-to-be nephew?
*Will he deploy for a year or 6 months?
*If he deploys for a year will I stay in San Diego or head East?
*If I head East who will watch over our house while I'm gone?
*If I head East who will take the roadtrip with me?
*Should I pursue my Masters Degree while he's gone or get some temporary job?
and last but certainly not least,
*Am I Ever going to get PREGNANT?!
**And.. if I do get pregnant before he leaves that just leads me to an entirely different and more complex list of questions to ponder.

The thing about all of these questions/dilemmas is that I simply have to wait to find out. It's impossible to know when the Marine Corps will give Michael his departure date. And nothing has been written in stone about the length of the deployment, but Michael just keeps telling me to plan for a year b/c then 6 months will be a pleasant surprise.

If I get pregnant I get pregnant; if I don't I don't. I've already pretty much just decided it's not going to happen. I mean working with a time limit is certainly not the best circumstances for this kind of thing. And I figure that as far as that goes, things are going to happen how they're meant to. If it doesn't happen in the next couple of months then it wasn't meant to be. period.

And, as far as the rest of my questions are concerned, these are not things that need to be figured out today... or even before he deploys. I can't go anywhere or do anything before the end of the school year anyway... and I've pretty much decided that I want to stick around here until the end of the summer no matter what so as not to put a good pool restoration to waste.

Everything else will happen as it will; I know this. Most of the time I'm okay with it, too. It's just that every now and then I get to thinking about all of the question marks hanging in the air and it starts to drive me a bit mad.

One thing I know for sure, though, is that all of my current question marks will be answered one way or another in the year 2010.

So now I feel I must apologize b/c I set out to attempt an upbeat/happy/thankful post and ended up burdening you all with my anxieties about the coming year.

Despite appearances, I am very excited about the new year. I swear! I am! I have always loved the anticipation of the new year... all of the mystery that a new year brings. There's no way of telling what will happen this year - what I will be able to look back on a year from now. It's intriguing, the mystery of it all.


In case I don't have a chance to stop in again between now and January 1, I wish you all an incredible 2010. Thanks for stopping by every now and then and withstanding my random ranting and rambling.

In closing, I will leave you with my absolute favorite and totally appropriate for this post quote:

Blessed are the flexible for they will not be broken.

Amen.

Fate

On our way home from Arkansas we had a 2 hour - that turned into a 4 hour - delay in Dallas, TX.

In an attempt to kill time, we decided to stop in each airport store that we came across. In one of those such stores we were browsing when I looked up and something caught my attention. It took a minute or two for my brain to assess the situation and realize that what had just caught my attention was 2 ghosts from our military past.

Without thought, I turned around, told Mike to "don't ask questions just follow me" and led him out of the store.

When we got out I explained the situation.

During Mike's last deployment there was one marine who had gone with him who he has told me multiple times he hoped never to see again. This guy is a 1st Lt. with whom Michael had a yelling, rip-roaring falling out. Basically, since Michael was his commanding officer but only 1 rank above him, this guy wasn't respecting his authority. He was there with his wife who had been my facebook friend until at some point during the deployment she had mysteriously deleted me. We had never had any kind of falling out. I assume she was just taking what happened with her husband and mine and translating that into her own personal life.

In any case, I think we can all agree that they weren't the people who we hoped to run into at the airport.

The funny thing was that for whatever reason, fate stepped in and decided that we absolutely were going to run into them. Because, no matter how hard we tried to avoid them, there they were.

First we discovered they were on our flight. Then we realized they were only sitting a few rows ahead of us. Despite both of these facts, though, they hadn't seen us -- or possibly they were pretending they didn't see us -- who knows.

We thought we were in the clear of having an awkward run-in with them after we got our bags and successfully walked out of the airport without crossing their path. Then, we flagged down our bus to take us to our long-term parking and had a seat. A few moments later, though, the bus stopped again to load more passengers. Wouldn't you know those two people boarded our bus and took the only seats available - the ones across from us, facing us.

Can you say AWKWARD?

I will probably never know or understand why, but for some odd reason it was fate. No matter how hard we tried to avoid it we were meant to run into those people that day.

**Added Later
To answer your questions... yes we spoke to them. Of course we did. They got on the bus still trying not to make eye contact, but Mike patted the seat across from us and said something to the extent of "Have a seat" thus breaking the ice. The two of them chit-chatted the entire bus ride to the parking lot, mostly catching each other up on mutual marine corps contacts. There was no formal resolution, but I suppose it was good for them to see each other in a non-stress, non-deployment situation. What seems so earth shattering and intense in a living-on-top-of-each-other-for-7-months deployment situation does not seem to be quite as big of a deal in the 'real world'. As for me, what I got out of the situation is next time I run into someone I'm not too keen on seeing, I will waste no time, walk right up to them, and say, "Howdy" !

My Secret Weapon

Today was our last full day of school before a long awaited and much anticipated Christmas break. Tomorrow is a half day, and it hardly counts as a school day since the day will be spent eating, partying, gifting, and singing Christmas carols. A fun day.

This week has been an interesting one, though. The week before Christmas break always is.
Today, being the last real day of school, the kids were... err... umm.. well... how do I put this nicely? Crazy!

Lucky for me, I have a secret weapon.

I have a special class activity that I store in my back pocket for days like today... days where the students are wild and riled and can barely sit still.

:Drum Roll Please:
My secreat weapon is.........

The passback story.

It goes something like this. The class comes up with a couple of story starters. Today our focus was Christmas. When the teacher says, "Go" each student chooses a story starter and begins to write. They have to continue to write until I say STOP. At that time they must do exactly that, stop. It doesn't matter if they are mid-word, mid-sentence, or mid-letter. They must immediately stop and pass their story to the person behind/ next-to/ infront of them(depending on the passing order).

When they get the next story they must quickly read what has been written and continue the story where the last person left off.

It goes on like this for as long as I deem reasonable, and on the last pass I always tell the students to bring the story to a close.

When the stories are completed they are returned to the original writer, and students spend the rest of the class period reading their stories aloud to the class.

Now, this may or may not sound like an interesting activity to you. But let me tell you... this activity is a HIT. I have done this activity for four years now and it has never failed me. Every student is completely engaged and entertained. I love listening to their absolute silent, focused writing and then their giggles and gasps in response to what they read in their newly acquired stories after each pass.

All the students want to share their stories with the class after they are finished writing, and they all proclaim their story to be the best.

Today at the end of class after completing this activity, a few of my students stayed after and told me that we should do this activity more often.

Hmm...
I think not.

I certainly wouldn't want anyone to ever grow tired of the activity that is my savior on crazy days like the last full day before Christmas break.

For this reason, I would like to take a moment to say thank you, passback story. Because of you, I have managed to survive many-a-last-day-before-break with my sanity intact.

Christmas Away from "Home"

These days, I have really been feeling the Christmas spirit. Friday is our last day of school before our big holiday break, everyone in my neighborhood has their houses dressed to the nines in lights, my house is decorated and our mini tree glows with lights every evening. Michael and I have even received and opened our Christmas presents from Santa (aka: my parents).

Wait! What? We already opened our presents from "Santa"?!

Yeah..

This year for the first time in my entire life, I will be spending Christmas away from my parents' home.

Away from my family.

Away from my childhood friends.

Away from all of my favorite Christmas traditions.

This summer when Michael's mom approached me about spending Christmas with their family I wasn't surprised. I expected it. I knew that it was about time we grace the other side of the family with our presence on Christmas.

But that didn't make it any easier for me. In fact, at the time, I even shed a tiny tear over the impending loss of Christmas as I know it.

I'm not going to lie or candycoat. The truth of the matter is that spending Christmas away from my family is a huge deal for me. But I also know that Michael leaves for Afghanistan for a year in a few months and his family deserves to have that special time with him before he leaves.

That's not to say, though, that I am dreading Christmas. I'm not. I'm excited. We will be spending the holidays in Arkansas with Michael's sister, her husband, our two nephews, and Michael's parents. I know that we will have a great time. I know that my five-year-old and 2 and a half year-old nephews will make Christmas Day special. I know that my sister-in-law will prepare and serve a delicious Christmas meal. I know we will have lots of laughs and even go on an adventure or two.

I'm sure this Christmas will be wonderful. It just won't be my traditional Christmas. And I won't get to be with my family this year. That's the part I'm having a little bit of trouble with.

I guess it's time for me to grow up, though. Because if you ask me, nothing says "grown up" like Christmas away from "home".

Undercover Blog Readers

I must say... I'm a bit disappointed with the results of the hair poll I posted on my blog recently.

I'm not disappointed with the quality of the answers I received; I'm disappointed with the quantity of the answers I received.

I have a statcounter for my blog; therefore, I am fully aware of the fact that I have more readers than the 4 people who comment on it.

I've often considered a post such as this in the past, questioning why I have so many "undercover" readers. But, I worried I might scare people away, and I certainly don't want to do that.

The thing is, I would really like to hear from you, the ones who regularly visit my blog but never say "hello".

I wonder who you are. I wonder what keeps you coming back. I wonder.

So, next time you stop in, don't be shy. Drop me a line. It will make my day.

The Wisdom I Impart

Yesterday evening we had a Christmas event at my school. I was in my classroom beforehand, and in walked a student who had been in 8th grade my first year teaching at the school.

We got to talking, and somehow or other she brought up in conversation something she remembered that I had told her class...

She remembered that I had told them that on the East Coast Carl's Jr. is called Hardees.

Oh, did I have a laugh over that one.

Of all the wisdom I impart on a daily basis, more often than not, these are the kinds of things my students remember.

In the past, students who have stopped in to visit have reminisced with me about the time in class when a student gave an answer and I responded, "That's just alright for me, Dawg" (a reference to Randy Jackson on American Idol).

Or, the time I referred to the shabby town in a novel we were reading as a "crappy" town... (little did I know, these kids think "crappy" is a bad word)

Or the time my husky ran away (don't worry, we found him). Apparently, I was rather shaken the next day from the whole experience, because that's something that seems to be imprinted in every one of my ex-students' minds.

Or that chicken and potatoes is my favorite meal. And I'm allergic to apples.

Or the time someone knocked on the back door of the classroom when the front door was wide open. I yelled at one of my students who started to approach the back door thinking he was going to answer it when in actuality he was immersed in reading his book, completely unaware of the fact that he was being scolded by me, and was not planning to open the door at all, but rather, was on his way to throw a tissue into the garbage can. We all had a long laugh over that one, and the students who were there remember it well.

It's funny the things these students notice and remember.

During my first year as a teacher my students brought it to my attention that I sigh a lot.

This year, one of my students informed me that I bite the inside of my cheeks when I am thinking. Indeed, I do. I had never noticed before. Now I can't stop noticing.

I guess what I can say is at least they're paying attention. Somewhere between American Idol and Carl's Jr. I must be slipping some useful knowledge in there somewhere.

Atleast, that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.

The Right Thing

Today I am feeling proud of myself.

Unfortunately, though, I cannot be specific in explaining why.

What I can tell you is that there was a very serious situation at my work that I became aware of and did something about.

It was really scary. Doing the right thing often is. In fact, my heart was beating so fast and hard in my chest, I could hardly get my words out while doing the "right thing".

But, I did it.

I did it because, in the end, for the well-being of my students I had to. I guess, in the end, I didn't see that it was much of a choice.

Hell may or may not break loose at my school in the coming weeks. But, the students will be out of harm's way, and that is the most important thing.

Sacrifice

Sigh...


My family has officially departed the San Diego area. It was oh-so-wonderful having them here.


Every time my mom comes to visit, she helps to make my house feel more like a home. On her first visit she helped me pick out and put up curtains in my living room and kitchen. On another visit she helped me pick out wall color and wall decor for my living room. She has also helped me decorate my guest bedroom, cleaned my garage twice, helped me clean out our guest bedroom closet, strategically placed military trinkets over my kitchen cupboards, and too many other things to even mention. This trip she helped me pick out new accent pillows for my couch and helped me decorate for Christmas.


I would be amiss, though, if I were to leave out my dad's part in turning my house into a home. He was the one who actually painted my living room wall and spent endless hours in my dusty desert yard attempting to turn it into less of an eyesore.

But, this visit, I got the impression that my house feeling more like a home might not just have to do with accent pillows on the couch and the newly painted walls.


There's just something about the company of family and close friends that brings a different feeling to my house. Having them here makes it feel like home.


One evening a few days ago, my parents, brother, and husband were scattered about the living room/kitchen area doing this or that. And, I started thinking about how nice it was to have all of them there. We weren't doing anything special; we were just there, together. Then, I started thinking about what it would feel like to have that more often - say - if I were to live just down the street from my family or just over in the next town. Somewhere close enough where it wouldn't be such a big, out of the ordinary deal for my parents and brother to be spending an evening at my house.


Don't get me wrong. I mean, I am happy with what I have and where I am.


It's just that every now and then, I spend a few moments thinking about what I have given up in order to lead this military life. It's difficult for me to miss out on family get-togethers, my nephew's every day growing up moments, my sister's pregnancy (and soon to be delivery of her 2nd child). It's tough when sickness/heartbreak/tough times strike the members of my family, and I'm not able to be there with them.


I am just thankful that the technology of today makes the world seem much smaller than it actually is.


Being a military wife is a sacrifice.


However,
It is also a grand adventure... one that has taken me places I never could have dreamed of. With that knowledge, I am content.

Thanksgiving Visitors

This year for Thanksgiving my brother and my parents flew into town. So far, the visit has been wonderful. The weather has been exquisite (with the exception of yesterday when it rained for the first time since May).

On Thanksgiving day my mom cooked our traditional dinner which was, of course, incredible. On Black Friday we ventured to a few stores to buy a couple of items. Then, we went and ate San Diego's famous fish tacos and took a hike at Torrey Pines State Park. Yesterday, my mom helped me decorate my house for Christmas and then her childhood best friend came in from LA for the evening and we took her to Old Town for some authentic Mexican food. Today, my brother's friend from LA is coming into town... but it sounds like the boys are going to go to a bar and watch football all day (BORING), so my mom and I have to come up with a plan.

All in all, I am shocked and dismayed that today is already Sunday and my vacation is basically over. Boo! My family will drop me off at work tomorrow and keep my car to venture into San Diego one last time before they go, and then they will head out of here on Tuesday.

It certainly does seem like these visits always go by way too quickly!

The only thing that could have made this Thanksgiving better would be if my sister, her hubby, and my nephew could have been here, too.

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving with family and friends.

A Day Gone Wrong... Very, Very Wrong

Today was one of those days....

It all began when Mike's alarm went off before 7:00 am. I screamed at him, and he supposedly turned it off. However, he must have just hit snooze because sooner than later that blasted thing went off again. This time, I figured if I wanted something done right I had to do it myself, so I scrambled over him to turn that thing off. In an unfortunate turn of events, though, in my haphazardness to turn off that wretched alarm clock (that had absolutely no business going off on a Saturday morning!), I kind of sort of kneed him in a place that guys don't appreciate very much. He awoke with a howl. After that, any notion I had of getting just a little bit more sleep went right down the drain. He was up, and sadly, so was I.

But that was okay, because I had big plans for the day. My brother and parents are arriving in just a few short days, so I was prepared for Operation Get the House Ready for Company to commence.

I really did have the greatest intentions. In fact, if I hadn't stepped on that metal dog brush I'm sure I would be kicking back right now, patting myself on the back and enjoying the fruits of my labor.

I'm getting a little bit ahead of myself, though, so let me backtrack a bit.

First on my to-do list was to bathe and groom my dogs.

My husky went first. I bathed him, I brushed him, and when I was finished with both of those tasks I set down the metal dog brush and moved to get up from my position on the bathroom floor. However, I lost my balance and my left foot came down with all of my body weight behind it, right on top of that metal dog brush which to my dismay was laying teeth up.

The way I knew it was really bad was that I didn't feel any pain. All I was able to register was the sickening feeling of the dog brush coming loose from its placement inside of my foot. That's when I started to scream for Mike.

A small bit of chaos ensued. Michael had a little difficulty locating first aid supplies, I felt as though I was going to faint or throw up or both. I don't do too well with blood, even when it's mine.

Then Michael asked me when I last had a tetanus shot.

umm... high school?

Off to Urgent Care we went.

Oh what a day it was. And that, my friends, is why life is so darn interesting. Never in a million years could I ever have imagined that I would impale myself with a dog brush and spend the entirety of my day in Urgent Care.

Good Times.

New Moon

I am super, wild, crazy excited about watching the movie New Moon.

Last year when Twilight came out, I was equally excited, and a couple of my Twihard friends and I got tickets to the movie on opening night.

We realized that there would be a lot of people there, but I don't think any of us was prepared for what we walked into that night.

First of all, there were the lines waiting to get into the theater. Lines full of teenaged girls and their mothers. Lines that travelled up and down and around. Did I mention I hate lines?

When we finally got into the theater, we thought all was right with the world. We were soooo excited. And then, the movie started... and the girls in the theater started screaming. Or, to be completely accurate, it was more like high-pitched shrieks. Every time Edward Cullen entered the picture they shrieked. This lasted the entire movie.

It was annoying, to say the least.

But, that wasn't even the worst thing. I know I teach young teens, so I shouldn't play into the stereotypes about them, however.... I'm just going to go ahead and say it. Teenagers can often be rather obnoxious when in large groups with other teenagers.

The teenage girls sitting behind us not only talked throughout the entire movie, but one of them also kicked the back of my friend's seat throughout the majority of the movie. No look we gave was dirty enough to halt the socializing or the seat kicking. Finally, my other friend turned around, grabbed the girl's foot, and gave her a death look. The kicking ceased; the chatting did not.

It was by far the most unpleasant moviegoing experience I have ever had.

So, though I am beyond excited to see New Moon, I am rather wary about when and where I will see it.

I will keep you posted.

Validation

As some of you know, I recently celebrated my 28th birthday.

It has been a wonderful birthday. If your birthday is the day you are supposed to feel loved and appreciated, mine certainly did not let me down.

I have received many wonderful gifts, cards, and notes from family, friends, and students; but, today I received the very best birthday gift by far. It is a heart-felt letter from one of my 8th grade students. I cherish it. And, as I told Michael after he finished reading it.. if I continue teaching after this year.. it will be because of this letter.
(I tried to scan it and post it, but it came out too small to be read... so, alas, I must type it).

Mrs. (Sorry),
Happy (belated) birthday! I hope you the best 28th year of your precious life. You've made it this far, doing great things for your students and others around you. Your presence is joy to me, your smile a brilliant star beaming on my world.

Thank you for being an awesome teacher who not only teaches from the book and guidelines, but a teacher who teaches from a loving heart. One who tries to get to know and listen to us as much as you educate. Thank you for dedicating your time and hardwork to get us ready for the future. Thank you for the attention you give to each of us, your students, who look up to you with respect.

For me, you are more than an 8th grade teacher. You are my guide in my teenage (a very, very hard time in life) time, and hopefully, a teacher who lasts a lifetime. Your kindness and care for me and your other students are strongly appreciated and treasured. And even though I know that you believe we should see you only as an authority figure, as a teacher, you have done so much more for us than what a teacher needs to. Your patience and effort to make learning fun in class makes me eager to hear and know what you have to tell us. Thank you!

Cherish life and don't stop smiling, Mrs. (Sorry).

With hugs and smiles,
Joyce

I did my best to type the letter out exactly as it was written... errors included. Because, I would like to point out that this particular student is an English as a second language student. She moved to the United States from the Phillipines 2 years ago. Before she came to the U.S. she spoke, wrote, and read in Tagalog in school and with her family all the time. She and a friend of hers would speak and write in English to each other for fun. She is basically a self-taught English speaker and an amazing young woman.

I feel blessed to have a thoughtful student like her who is so appreciative of me and who is able and willing to express that appreciation so beautifully.

Highs and Lows

As a teacher, I've found that it's very common for me to have HIGH highs and LOW lows. There are also many of those inbetween moments, too; it's just that those moments don't seem to stick with me as much.

Sometimes an entire day is good or bad. But, usually, it's moment to moment.

For instance, today I had an extremely successful religion class with my 8th graders. It was one of those times where everything just seemed to click into place and all of the students were engaged and part of it. We were having a class discussion and they were eager and interested and it was soooo awesome! It's moments like those that I get it - the whole being a teacher thing. I was flying high during that discussion. Nothing could bring me down.

That is....
Until the next class period when I gave the students in my 5/6 language arts class the wrong words for their vocabulary test. I gave them the Unit 5 words instead of Unit 4. And, doncha know, they let me get through the whole list of words before one brave student raised his hand and said, "Umm.. Mrs. (Sorry), I don't think these are our words."

Sure enough.

In that case, there was nothing I could do but laugh.
And I also gave them a little bit of extra study time as apology for scaring the living crap out of them. I'm sure they were all having secret anxiety attacks thinking they had made the mistake and studied the wrong words.

I heard a few of them chuckle quietly and make comments like, "Oh, that Mrs. (Sorry)." I don't think any of them were too surprised. Sadly, it's not out of character for me to do that kind of thing.

Yeah.
High highs and Low lows, that's me.

Happy Veterans Day

This is quite a week...three big days in a row.

First the Marine Corps Birthday, today Veterans Day, and tomorrow? My birthday.

I took an extra moment today to reflect on what this day means. I have a wall in my house that is covered with pictures of our family members who were in the military.

My maternal grandfather served in the Army during WWII, my dad went to Vietnam as a Corpsman, Michael's paternal grandfather served in the Navy, Michael's dad retired as a Rear Admiral in the Navy.

And, of course, there's Michael.

On this day I am very proud to be part of two families who have given so much to this country.

Happy Veterans Day.

*Note: I've never thought about the fact that there is no apostrophe in Veterans Day until today. I decided to look it up and came up with this info: "Veterans Day does not include an apostrophe but does include an "s" at the end of "veterans" because it is not a day that "belongs" to veterans, it is a day for honoring all veterans". Interesting. FYI, I found this information Here.

Marine Corps Birthday Ball 2009

Let me begin by saying, "Happy Birthday, Marine Corps!"

The above picture is, you guessed it, Mike and me at the ball. I used some cool special effects and am thinking this photo might be a framer.

While I'm on the topic of the photo, take a look at my Marine's medals. They're lookin' good, wouldn't you say? The one that caught the most attention last night was the bronze star... it's the star on the far left.. and it actually looks more like gold than bronze. just saying.

In any case, straight to the point, the ball was a BLAST. It did, however, start out a bit rocky. It had nothing to do with the shoes (I managed to make it through the night without a single episode of tripping on my dress) and it had nothing to do with the hair (I managed something that I deemed acceptable). It had to do with the fact that Mike was in the sword detail.

In other words, he was part of the ceremony and wasn't able to sit with me for the first 30 minutes of the ball. Which was supposed to be okay, because our friends were at our table, so I was supposed to have company. But, they were late.

While Mike prepared for his sword detail, I took a seat at the table... by myself... for a good 10 minutes. Awkward. No one else from our table was there! Finally, one of the marines showed up and told me the ball had been delayed by 50 minutes due to some traffic situation.

So, I headed for the bar. And that's when things started looking up. Our friends arrived, and we had 50 minutes to drink and socialize before the ball began. Translation: everyone had a nice buzz going before heading in for the opening ceremony.

The opening ceremony. The first 30 minutes of the ball the Marine Corps impresses you with their incredible sense of honor and discipline. They remind you that you're not just there to dress up, socialize, look pretty, and have fun. You're there to remember the Marine Corps and all it stands for. They make you proud to be part of something bigger than yourself. It's quite awesome.

And, if I may say so myself, my Marine did an impressive job marching in, standing at attention, and providing sword detail for the guests of honor. Sadly, I have no pictures as my table was near the back of the room, and I couldn't get a good shot of him. So, you're just going to have to take my word for it.

After we ate the delectable food and had a few photo ops in our pretty clothes, we took to the casino. (Oh, did I mention the ball was at a local casino?) Some of the girls and I changed clothes, but the boys opted to stay in uniform. We had so much fun that we stayed out until 2 am! The boys had so much fun that they stayed out until 4 am.

Fun indeed.

Preparing for a Ball

The Marine Corps Ball is tonight, and I'm super excited about it.

Nevermind the fact that they decided to schedule the ball for a MONDAY night (what were they thinking?!)! At first, I was completely annoyed about this, but when I made up my mind to use a personal day to take Tuesday off from work, I realized that the whole ball on a Monday thing is actually to my benefit. Today we have off in honor of the upcoming Veteran's Day, so I actually get a 4 day weekend. Oh, it is heavenly!

There was no way I was going to miss the ball this year. Mike has been deployed the past 2 years during Marine Corps Ball season, so it's been quite a while since we have attended one.

We're doing it the right way this year, too. We got a hotel room and put the dogs in the kennel so we can both drink and have a good time without having to worry about driving or getting home to the dogs in a timely manner.

I ordered a dress online for the occasion - a calculated risk. Amazingly, my calculations were correct. The dress fits perfectly, and I am pretty sure I love it. The true test will be how I feel in it tonight. It's a little long, so even though I bought taller-than-I-normally-wear-heels, I am worried I am going to trip over my dress and create a scene. Cross your fingers for me, please. (My mom told me that I should have gotten the dress hemmed, but I rebelled. I am tall for a woman. These dresses are made for my height. I shouldn't have to get my dresses hemmed!!)

Last night, I spent 2 hours experimenting with my hair. For most special occasions, I generally have intentions of putting my hair up, but get frustrated with my lack of skill in this area and leave it down. I didn't want that to happen this time, so I put a lot of time and effort into figuring out how I was going to do it for the ball. In the end, I watched a couple of youtube videos on how to do easy updos, and I finally managed to come up with something I was pleased with.

I just hope I will be able to manage to do it again tonight when it counts.

Will Sarah slip and fall on her a-little-too-long gown? Will she manage to create an up-do she is pleased with? Stay tuned for updates on what happened at the much anticipated Marine Corps Ball.

Apples to Apples

I am absolutely in love with the game Apples to Apples.

If you have played it, I'm sure you understand why.

I don't believe I have ever had as much fun playing a "board" game as I do when I play Apples to Apples.

The things that make this game so amazing are
1) If you don't laugh while playing, you were born without the fun gene
2) It's not competitive. Which is important. Because I am competitive, and being competitive often ruins the game experience for me.
3) It requires no real skill, yet, it's still (shockingly) educational.

In fact, I have used it in my classroom many times. And, every single student from grades 5-8 is completely in love with it. Case and point, they will sometimes even borrow it from me so they can play during lunch recess. It's that good.

Here is the gist of how to play the game:
There are two types of cards: red cards that have the names of people, places, and things on them (nouns) and green cards that have descriptive words on them (adjectives).

Each person playing is dealt 7 red cards. Players take turns sitting out a round and playing judge.

The first person to be judge turns over a green card. For example, the green card might say cranky. The players then each need to put down a red card that they think best exemplifies the word cranky. Some red card options might be: toes, Al pacino, the Eiffel Tower, having a baby, etc.

The judge must turn each red card over and decide which red card he or she thinks fits best with the green card. The person whose card is chosen gets to keep the green card for that round. The first person to 6 cards (the number varies depending on how many people are playing) wins.

It is a blast.

As far as being educational for the students, they get acquainted with a lot of words they are otherwise unfamiliar with. The great thing about this game is that each green card lists at least 3 synonyms of the word and each red card includes a short (usually humorous) explanation about who or what is named on that card.

For example, today some 5th graders who were playing, turned over a green card that said virtuous. I'm 99% sure than none of them knew what virtuous meant before today. But, somehow, I have a feeling that after a particularly humorous round of Apples to Apples they're more likely to remember the meaning of that word in the future.

Truly, though, the best part of the game is the laughs. To be honest, when I am judge, I always choose the red card that is the most absurd or makes me laugh the hardest. For example, if the word "exhausting" was turned over and someone put down "peanuts" I would laugh my butt off and choose peanuts for sure. I mean, you have to admit, that's funny stuff.

With the holiday season fast approaching, I recommend you buy this game. Buy it as a gift; buy it for your monthly game night with friends; buy it for your Christmas family get-together. Just buy it. Buy it, play it, love it, and thank me later.

Or, you know what? Don't even worry about thanking me. We can skip that step and move straight to, "You're Welcome!"

Bizarre

One of the teachers at my school dislikes me, and I have absolutely no idea why.

Now, normally, I absolutely HATE it when people hate me. But, somehow, in this case, it doesn't bug me so much. I just really think it is absolutely totally and completely bizarre.

The thing about it is, it took me almost an entire school year to realize it. Because, she's not mean to me. I mean, how can someone be mean when they literally do not acknowledge my existence. That's what she does. She ignores me.

I guess the reason it took me so long to notice is because she wasn't being snotty or unkind. She wasn't being anything. I just assumed she was that way with everyone.

Then, at some point, the realization slowly began to dawn on me that she absolutely is not that way with everyone. In fact, with everyone else she is very friendly. She greets the other teachers with a bright smile and a pleasant, "Good Morning!"

But me? She doesn't even look at me. It's weird, because even now, 3 years later, every single time I see her, I will look at her prepared to smile and give her my greeting. But.. she doesn't even look my way. It's as if I am invisible.

The times when I have actually spoken a greeting or a farewell (despite her lack of eye-contact or visible awareness of my presence) to her, she has responded a dead-pan almost whisper, "hello". Nothing like the bright smile and vibrant greeting I have witnessed her giving the other teachers at the school.

It's possible that you may be doubting me on this, and that's okay, because I have doubted myself as well. In fact, on multiple occasions I have convinced myself that I am crazy - that there is no way this woman is singling me out and treating me differently than she treats everyone else at the school.

Recently, I had decided that possibly it was just that we didn't really have anything in common. She teaches 2nd grade; I teach jr. high. I'm a good 15 years younger than she is. She's probably my polar opposite as far as personalities go. Possibly, I told myself, she doesn't dislike me. Possibly, it's just that we don't know each other very well, and she's uncomfortable around me. Possibly.

Well, that theory flew right out the window when the new teacher arrived. The-teacher-who-ignores has literally gone out of her way to befriend the new teacher. It just doesn't make any sense. The new teacher is younger than me. Her personality is not similar to the-teacher-who-ignores. And, she, also, teaches jr. high.

Recently, in the lunchroom, the-teacher-who-ignores actually spoke to me. She was asking me for the 8th graders' song choice for our Christmas sing-a-long since she is in charge of it. But, hey, I mean, she looked me dead in the eye and spoke to me. I nearly collapsed from the shock.

After that, I thought we had made some progress. I thought after her acknowledgement of my presence in the world we might soon graduate to sincere greetings and farewells. I thought wrong.

Which leads me to the incident that got me to write this blog.

This afternoon, the new teacher and I were in the teacher work-room discussing our confusion about an upcoming event at the school. The teacher-who-ignores walked in and was present for a good portion of our conversation. Let's just say she was there long enough to understand that both the new teacher and I were confused about the upcoming event. But, when she jumped into the conversation to clarify things, she was clearly speaking only to the new teacher.

Have you ever been standing in a group of people and had someone come into the group and stand in front of you, boxing you out of the conversation? I don't know how she managed it, but that's basically what she did to me this afternoon.


I'm not even upset. I don't even care that she dislikes me. At this point, I just really want to know why. Obviously, I have wronged her in some way. Clearly, I have done something to this woman, something that I am genuinely unaware of.

Bizarre.

Must See TV

I might have to revoke my previous statement about The Biggest Loser not being my number one favorite tv show.

I just got finished watching my dvr-ed episode of the show for this week and HOLY HANNAH!
I didn't just cry; I sobbed. Like a freaking baby.

I no longer suggest, but rather, demand that you go to this link and watch the latest episode. (Hint: make sure you click on full episodes and not something else. When I first went into the site, somehow I managed to click 2 minute recap instead. It was rather frustrating.)

If you can make it through with dry eyes, I don't think I can be your friend... because you're not a human being.

powerful stuff.

Note: The episode is 2 hours long, so pop some popcorn and kick back because you're in it for the long haul. It takes a good half an episode to get to the sob-evoking stuff, so hang in there. It will be worth it; I swear.

The Sense of Humor of an 8th Grader

The best part of my days is interacting with my students. I honestly can't express to you the joy that they bring to my life.

So far this week, I have literally been in tears from laughing several times. And it's only Wednesday.

The things that have had me in hysterics consisted of one of my 8th graders (Eric) presenting his independent reading project to the class (The project is called Parade of Characters, and the students dress up as the main character in the novel they are reading and talk to us as though they are that character). Well, this kid went above and beyond. He had the entire class in hysterics! For the entire day, I would have random flashes of his presentation and find myself giggling about it again. Awesome. (oh, and doubly awesome, after school today another student came to me and was asking if I had the book Eric had presented in my classroom library. Apparently, he was interested in reading it. How do you spell V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!) *sorry, I am drawing a terrible blank on the title, otherwise I'd give it to you.

Then, of course, there was the fundraising kick-off assembly where students were chosen at random to be part of a cookie eating contest. One of my otherwise shy 8th graders got up there and when asked his name responded, "Jim." (His name's Matthew). I laughed so hard; I cried. Jim?! What in the world would have posessed him to say that? The best part was that the guy in charge was not from our school and continually referred to Matt as Jim. He had no idea, and I think everyone was laughing too hard to bother to correct him.


And then there was this afternoon, when I was in my classroom grading papers. A graduate of my last year's 8th grade class and a current 8th grader generally hang out in my classroom on Wednesday afternoons while they wait for their sisters to finish volleyball practice. They were chatting, and I was grading papers. At one point in the conversation, the graduate (Josh) said to the 8th grader (Matt, a different Matt), "Can you say the months backwards?"

The interaction that ensued went something like this..
Matt: t thonths
Josh: what?
Matt: tuuu uthmonths
Josh: can you say the months backwards?
Matt: het thonms
Josh: silent, confused pause
Mrs. (Sorry): HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

(Interpretation: Matt was trying to actually say THE MONTHS backwards, and Josh had no idea what the confusion was. He was patiently waiting for Matt to start saying: January, December, November, October, September, August, July, June, May, April, March, February)

As soon as my laughter broke into the conversation, they both figured out what had just happened and joined in with me. We had a nice little stomach grabbing, eye-misting laugh over the whole thing, and then Matt immediately swore me to secrecy.

Well, don't you worry, Matt. Your secret's safe with me.... and the world wide web.

I guess you could probably say that in some ways I have the sense of humor of an 8th grader. I mean, with the excitement I've been feeling every time a New Moon trailer comes on tv, I certainly feel like an 8th grader. I suppose there could be worse things, though, right? At least this way, one thing I can say for sure is that these kids are keeping me young.


**Add on: The book that my student presented was The Greatest Salesman in the World

News

Today I arrived home to a news story that knocked the breath out of me.

I don't know if you've heard or not, but yesterday was an especially fatal day in Afghanistan for our US troops. One of those deaths is hitting exceptionally close to home for me, though.

A good friend of a good friend of mine died. A helicopter pilot. A Marine Corps helicopter pilot. A Marine Corps Helicopter Pilot who is a Captain. A Marine Corps helicopter pilot who is a Captain who has a one-year-old child and a wife only 2 weeks from delivering their second child.

Is it sick that my gut reaction upon hearing this news was, "Thank God that wasn't my Marine."

Which led me to think, "Ohmygod... that could have been my Marine."

Which led me to think, "I am sick with sadness for the wife this Marine has left behind."

I don't know Captain Kyle R. VanDeGiesen or his wife. I know someone who knows them. But, even if I didn't know someone who knows them, I think this story would still have struck a little bit too close to home for me.

It's the realization that my absolute worst nightmare has turned into this family's reality.

My heart and prayers go out to this family.

And,
Today I feel a little bit more thankful for what I have, and a little bit more aware of how fragile what I have really is.

Primetime Therapy

I have found a new favorite show. Ok, so not top favorite, but it definitely ranks up there.

Something you should know about me is that I love books, movies, and tv shows for their ability to make me laugh or make me cry. I'm not talking a chuckle here or there or a misting of the eyes, I'm talking extreme emotion. Hysterical laughter or waterworks. In order to be great literature, fantastic cinema, or incredible tv it has to evoke one of these extreme emotions in me.

My go-to tearjerker shows have always been Oprah and Grey's Anatomy. Now I'd like to add The Biggest Loser to that list.

A couple of my good friends out here in So Cal are devoted viewers of the show. I remember one particular day (last season) when my friends were talking about how the people on the show ran a marathon. I was impressed.

I decided to start dvr-ing the show to watch during my evening elliptical routine. I figured it would be a motivator.

Well, the show never quite made it to my elliptical routine, because I've just been too darn busy crying my eyes out to exercise!

Tonight, for example, I can honestly tell you that I was literally on the verge of tears/in tears the entire (2 hour!) episode.

I find the tears to be therapeautic. I highly recommend it, especially after a long, stressful week.

The Flu (Part 2)

I currently have a free period at school, and I just walked into the teacher's workroom (which also happens to have a small room for the sick kids).

It took a few too many seconds for my brain to register what I had just walked into. The school secretary was dialing the phone, a flushed 2nd grader was standing by her side, and a smell.... something familiar.... was flooding my nose.

Oh my God, I realized with a gag. It's puke. That child just puked.

I turned around, walked out, tried to convince myself not to vomit, and went immediately to the bathroom to cleanse myself of whatever germs I had just encountered.

Ugh.

The Flu

Am I the only one who is totally freaking out about this whole swine flu thing?

Because I am. Totally Freaking Out.

It's made its way into my school, and I am not at all okay with it.

The other day, one of my 6th graders walked into the classroom, and I only had to look at him to see that he was SICK. I was terribly distracted by this fact. I kept asking him if he was OK. He kept saying he was fine. Except, he really wasn't. That much was obvious.

Finally, I told him he had to go to the office. He said he had already been there. I asked him if they had let him call home. He said he had called home, but his dad told him to stay at school.

I was appalled, and I'm sure I didn't mask it very well. I told him to go again and to tell his dad his teacher said he needed to go home.

Apparently, when he went to the office the second time, his temperature was 102.5.
Like I said... sick.

Kids are dropping like flies, and I am enforcing hand washing, hand sanitizing, and desk sanitizing like a wild woman.

My only hope is that due to my overexposure to all these germs, I might be more resistant to them than your average joe. Because, we're in for a long flu season, folks, and I can tell you right now that I do not want to be the flu's next victim.

Cable Woes

I am seriously peeved with my cable company.

I am an online bill payer. If you expect me to send you a check or pay the bill by phone, you can bet that the payment is going to be late. If I can help it, I get all of my bills online through email, too.

My cable company and I got along just fine for about 3 years. Then, suddenly one day, they decided that the only way you could pay online was if you logged on with your email address from them. Well, I know that I got an email address through them when we first got our service, but I don't ever use it. I have no idea what my password is or how to get into it remotely. Also, in order to log into their online site with this new email address I needed to have a pin number. Well, I have never received or decided on a pin number for my cable company.

This was where the first of our problems began.

At first, I was only slightly annoyed by this change. I simply picked up the phone and called them. I informed them of my dilemma, and they informed me that I wasn't authorized to deal with them by phone - the account was under Mike's name.

Sidenote: Why I would EVER open an account in Mike's name I have NO idea. Considering the fact that I pay all the bills and he is hardly ever home, it doesn't really make too much sense. Note to self: let this be the last time you have to learn this lesson the hard way!

Eventually Mike got around to calling the cable company himself. After speaking with them, he informed me that the bill was paid and I was now named on the account; I thought everything had been taken care of.

Until I received another online bill (that I couldn't open!)... and realized that he had forgotten to get the most important information: the pin number for the account and the password for the email address!

So.. he made another call, explained the predicament, and was informed that a manager would be calling him back (on his cell phone!) with the coveted pin number and password within the hour.

But there was no phone call back.

And today, I received a letter in the mail from this stupid dumb idiotic cable company telling us that this was our last (actually it was our first, but apparently the first is also the last) notice before they cut off our service.

So.. I called the cable company.

And was informed that even though I'm now on the account, I can't be the one to receive the pin number because I am not the primary account holder. I was also informed that the manager had called our landline to give us our pin, but we had not answered. (well, that's because our cordless phone isn't working and we never use the stupid landline, so we don't even have a phone plugged into it currently. Not only that, but they had told Mike that they would be calling him back on his cell phone! I even stood there next to him as he repeated the number to them!)

In any case, I learned that Mike would have to call back on our landline in order to get our pin number. Which, she informed me, is on our bill right under our address and name. However, I informed her that all our bills come online via email, but I cannot get into those bills because I don't have the PIN NUMBER or password needed to access it now that they switched it so that we have to use our cox.com email address.

Oh, she replied.
Well, if you receive a bill in the mail before your husband gets home, you can just check under the name and address and your pin number will be right there.

umm...........

OK.
Bye Then.
I said.

**Thanks so much for listening intently to my problem, and for being oh so much help.

When I got off the phone, I texted the following to Michael:

As soon as you get home we are cancelling our cox cable and switching over to AT&T. They have some really good cable and internet packages.

Doggie Updates

I should really be doing something productive right now. Laundry. Vacuuming. Lesson Plans. Grading. But, those things will have to wait.

For now, I feel the need to write a blog post.

The whole dog thing is... well... not too much better than before. Despite my determination and Mike's weight lifting gloves, walking the dogs together is still pretty much hell on earth. In fact, this morning, while walking my dogs, I had serious concern that my arm muscles were going to give out on me and both of my dogs were going to take off on a wild adventure. All I can say is that I am desperately waiting for the special collars and doggie backpacks to arrive in the mail. I am currently putting all of my hope in them, so they better not disappoint.

Also, the whole walking at 5:00 am thing is probably not going to be happening any more. I did it on Friday morning, just as I had said I would. It was just a little bit freaky, though, being out there at that hour. I knew it was going to be dark outside at 5 am, but I've walked the dogs in the dark (evening) many-a-time before. My neighborhood is very residential, so I'm not really concerned about it. However, what I didn't realize about 5:00 am is the lack of activity. At night lights are on in the houses, you can hear people's tv's, hear their conversations, cars and people pass by regularly. At 5 am I did not see or hear another single human being. It totally creeped me out.

For this reason, I suppose that evening walks are just going to have to suffice for now.

I really set out to write about my students and how they don't like to be in the sun and want to have pale skin. But, I will save that for later.

For now, I know that I absolutely must get off this wretched computer and get busy being productive.

Doggie Disaster

I don't mean to complain. Really, I don't.

It's just that I've been kind of sort of having a really shitty afternoon.

Today when I came home from work... I noticed something that literally made me GASP. I gasped, my border collie started shaking from head to toe (no exaggeration), and my husky immediately went into submission on his back.

I then threw them both in the back yard, screamed, "I WANT TO KILL YOU", and slammed the door. It was quite the dramatic scene.

What offense did they commit that had me gasping, shrieking, screaming, and slamming?

My couch.

There is a hole in my couch. My beloved couch. The couch that I have never once regretted buying. (which is a huge feat since I regret pretty much everything I ever buy). The couch that Mike claims we are going to have forever. The couch that we both proclaim to be the most comfortable couch in the world.

It's one of those things that I don't want to think about too much because it is actually making me sick to my stomach.

I figure, if I can get someone here who's good with a needle they will be able to sew it back together. Truth be told, though, it's not going to look like new. It will always have a scar. A scar that will always remind me of the day my dogs tore a baseball sized hole in my wonderful couch.

But the hole is only half the problem, not even half, really.

The real problem is the dogs. Obviously they're suffering from some separation anxiety after Mike's recent departure. Honestly, though, WTF!!!! How many times has Mike been gone?! Let me count.. oh wait.. he's been gone too many times to count.

So Why this time?! Why this couch?! WHY, WHY, WHY???!!!

Why, indeed.

We've been up and down with our leash training with Copper. It's just.... he is unexplainably bad on walks. Scary bad. Dangerously bad. I actually feel unsafe walking that dog alone or too far from home. In the past, I have fallen down, he has broken out of his collar and run off, I have come frighteningly close to breaking fingers, I have withstood painful ropeburn, and so on and so forth.

Ramsey is fine, though. But when Mike's gone, what am I supposed to do? Take Ramsey and leave Copper alone? That doesn't sound very fair, does it? But is it fair to not take either of them? I don't think so.

It was a dilemma indeed.

So this is what I did. First, I put a leash on both of my dogs and made them follow me around the house all afternoon. I did this to get them both completely relaxed on the leash and completely relaxed on the leash together. Together being the key word here. You see, together on walks they are a hundred times worse than alone. They egg each other on. Anxiety breeds anxiety, and it is a disaster.

Next, I went online and spent a lot of freaking money buying special collars from Cesar Millan's website. Supposedly, these collars are specially designed to keep dogs from pulling without metal things sticking into their necks like the choke collar (which, btw, my husky is deathly afraid of and will run and hide never to come out if you even touch one of those). I also bought doggie backpacks. Not only do they add more weight and give an active dog a better workout, but wearing the backpack on a walk helps the dog to feel like it has a job to do.

After that, I rummaged through the garage for Mike's weight lifting gloves. I waited until it was sufficiently dark enough outside (so as not to become the neighborhood weirdo) and I put those gloves on, retrieved my dogs, and walked determinedly out the door for what was sure to be a successful walk with both dogs together.

Of course, the first thing that happened was two weiner dogs came by and barked and bucked and growled and got my dogs all riled up. Yeah, that was a disaster. We went back inside.

I tried again a few minutes later after the dogs had calmed down a bit. Armed with my gloves and my desperate determination, I was actually successful. I mean, neither dog ran away, I didn't fall down, break a bone, or even get rope burn on my hands. I don't know what you consider a successful walk.. but in my book that ranks right up there at the top of the list.

I'm not finished yet, though.

I decided. Evening walks are not quite enough. If I don't want to come home to a totally mutilated couch tomorrow, I need to do more.... Which is why I already decided that I will be waking up at the seriously disgusting and unholy hour of 5:00 am tomorrow to take my dogs on a walk. together. with my gloves. and my determination.

God help me.
I must really love my dogs.... or my couch.
KIDDING! It's the dogs.

So Mike is gone. He finally left for those 3 weeks of training in the desert he was supposed to have left for weeks ago. For once, the military actually pushed back a date instead of pushing it forward. It was quite a pleasant surprise.

He's gone now, though. And at first, I wasn't too happy about the whole thing. In fact, I was in a bit of a slump about it. I was thinking man this whole living on my own thing is starting to get OLD.

But here's the truth of the matter: it took me a whole 24 hours to get over it. In fact, yesterday around 9:00 pm I realized that I hadn't heard from Mike all day and hadn't thought twice about it. Even when it dawned on me, I still didn't really think twice about it.

Don't get me wrong. I love my husband. To Death. I miss him and in my dream world he would be here with me all the time. But this is reality, and in reality, he's gone quite a bit.

I guess I have just adapted to reality... which I don't think is such an awful thing.

I'd rather realize at 9 pm that I hadn't heard from my husband all day and shrug my shoulders than spend my entire day missing him and bemoaning his absence.

But that's just me.

Mean People Suck

Recently, I've had some encounters with some not very nice people.

The first incident occurred in Wal-Mart late one Sunday evening. Believe me, I am no Wal-Mart shopper. I am a tried and true fan of Target, but it was Sunday evening, I was in need of poster board for school the next day, and Wal-Mart is only 2 miles away from my house vs. the 5 mile trek to Target.

I'm not sure how, but I was able to con Mike into coming with me. When we got to the store, we made a bee-line for the school supplies aisle in search of poster board. We found the posterboard, but we also found a family of 3 (a mom and her 2 kids) blocking our path to the coveted posterboard. They seemed to be having a bit of trouble deciding exactly what kind of posterboard they needed.

Mike and I stood off to the side, patiently waiting for our chance to grab our posterboard and be on our way. As we stood there, (not one to waste time) Mike inquired as to which posterboard I needed. Then, we waited. and waited. and waited. Several minutes went by.

Finally, Mike stepped in and (politely!) said, "Excuse me, can I get in here for a second?" and he quickly grabbed our desired posterboard and was on his way.

The mother then screamed at her son, "YOU'RE TAKING TOO LONG!" and threw a piece of posterboard on the floor. The family began their retreat through the aisle, at which point the mother, who apparently knew she was mad but was unable to make up her mind as to who she was mad at, started yelling rather obnoxiously, "THAT GIRL THINKS SHE'S THE ONLY ONE IN THIS STORE?! SHE THINKS SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO NEEDS POSTERBOARD?!" (silence where I imagine one of her children was shusing her) "WHAT?" she continued yelling from the next aisle, "IT PISSES ME OFF. WE CAN'T HAVE THE TIME TO PICK OUT OUR POSTERBOARD, TOO?!"

And before she had finished her rant, I had already made the decision that that would be my very last trip to Wal-Mart. Ever.

The good news was that Mike (somehow) managed to miss this little yelling spree. Well, that's not completely accurate, apparently he heard the spree but didn't listen to her words. Since she had initially been yelling at her son, he had assumed she had continued to yell at HIM. I was actually glad that he hadn't realized she was yelling at me, (I mean, seriously, why was she yelling at me? I wasn't even the one who scooted in there and grabbed the posterboard!) because I knew that he would have made a scene and yelled right back.

You see, Michael is the yin to my yang. As much as I am passive, he is aggressive.

Which leads me to Mean Person story #2.

I believe I mentioned in my last post that our first destination on Michael Day was a local seafood restaurant. I know that I have also mentioned that we recently purchased a (new to us) car. Well, we parked our car next to an outdoor patio that was completely camoflauged in vines. Translation: you could hear people talking, but you couldn't see them. As we were getting out of the car, Mike accidentally set off the car alarm. Twice. (like I said, the car is new to us). Some kindly happy hour-er decided to scream, "Why don't you turn off that stupid car alarm!" To which Mike promptly screamed back, "It was an ACCIDENT. SORRY!"

I informed Mike that when he screams back at an idiot he looks like just as much of an idiot. He didn't agree nor did he appreciate my feedback on the situation. But, hey, I call it like I see it.

Which leads me to today, the incident that inspired this post in the first place.

At my school, I am in charge of the afternoon Traffic Patrol. It is a student volunteer organization. The students direct traffic after school under my supervision. Today, I was chatting with one of my students when out of the corner of my ear, I heard an angry woman. I looked up to find a mother yelling at one of the 8th grade Safety Patrol volunteers. She was saying, "YOU'RE IN MY WAY!"

I immediately made my way over to the 8th grader to inquire what the incident was all about. She wasn't quite sure of anything other than the fact that a grown woman had just screamed at her.

When the woman came back, with her 2nd grader in tow, I stopped her and said, "Excuse me, ma'am. Please be nice to my Safety Patrol volunteers."

I wish I could tell you what it was that she said in return, but really, all I know is that it was some kind of hysterical rant about having to wait in line and not being able to go where she wanted to go.

I said, "The Safety Patrol is doing their best; you just need to be patient."

To which she responded with an even longer and more hysterical rant. To which I responded, "Ok, goodbye then."

I mean, I was pissed, but I'm certainly not going to stand there in the middle of the school parking lot and in front of her 2nd grade child and a handful of my 8th grade students and have an argument with the woman. She was, however, completely out of line. I don't care what happens but it is not okay for a random adult woman to scream at a child who she does not know. I don't even think it's okay for an adult to scream at a child she does know, but that's another argument altogether.

Our principal wasn't at school this afternoon, but I will be knocking on her door tomorrow to inform her about this woman. Because, something needs to be done.

Yelling back at her in the parking lot was not the way to handle the situation, but that does not mean that the situation does not need to be handled. This woman needs to know that what she did is not okay.

My official opinion on the subject? Mean people suck. Totally.

Michael Day

This Friday was deemed "Michael Day". In other words, how we spent our evening was left completely up to him. His plans? Dinner at a local seafood restaurant and two movies back to back at the theater. His choices? Zombieland and Pandorum.

Due to a miscalculation on his part, though, we went to see the wrong movie first and would have had to stay up until an ungodly hour in order to watch the other one. So, to his complete and utter frustration, we only ended up watching Zombieland Friday night. (On the very quiet drive home, he confessed that this is why he never makes plans... because it is such a disappointment when they don't work out.)

Taking pity on him, I extended Michael Day a little bit into Saturday so that we could finish off his Day and see Pandorum.

Let me begin by making one thing very clear: I hate scary movies. Actually, I think the word hate does not quite cover it. Abhor. Despise. These words seem more fitting for my feelings about scary movies.

Mike, on the other hand, LOVES them.

As you can imagine, this presents a bit of a problem for us. Every time I leave town he watches every single scary movie from On Demand. If I go to bed early, he can often be found in the living room, catching up on the latest thriller.

I swore off scary movies only a few weeks after we got married. There was an unfortunate incident with a movie about a creepy little devil child that had me too afraid to go to the bathroom by myself. I was in my 20's. A grown woman. Afraid to use the bathroom alone. Yeah. Time to give up scary movies.

Since then I have decided that all that scary movies really do is put thoughts into our heads that should not be there. I'm worried enough as it is; I don't need a scary movie to make me worry about a psycho killer using my skin as a mask or the flu turning the human race into crazed cannibals.

Suffice to say, it was a pretty big deal that I agreed to go to these two movies.

Zombieland was no big deal. I don't really have a problem with zombie movies because they're.. so... well.. fake. And, Zombieland was more humorous than scary, really. We actually both rather enjoyed it. I might even recommend it to other people.

Pandorum, on the other hand, actually was a totally freakishly frightening movie. I hadn't really seen any previews for it, so I was going into the movie completely blind. I had no idea what it was going to be about.

However, only about 5 minutes after it started, I was completely aware of the fact that the last place I wanted to be right then was in that theater watching that dreadful movie.

But, I was a trooper. I'll admit, There were a few incidents where I closed my eyes and tried to take a nap. I probably told Mike how much I hated the movie at least 20 times. However, in the end, I gave it a chance. It was fairly interesting. I could have done without the satanic super creatures that were running around eating everyone, though.

Don't get me wrong. I still hate. abhor. despise. scary movies. In fact, I am at this very moment dreading the fact that Michael will be training in 29 Palms for the remainder of the month of October. This will be the THIRD October in a row that I will be spending alone. That means three years in a row where all those scary Halloween movie previews have been freaking me the f**k out during my (solo!) evening television viewing.

But, you know, it was Michael Day. And for Michael Day, I'll do anything for the man I love. Even the one thing that I absolutely abhor beyond belief.

*Btw, I really can't wait for "Sarah Day" to arrive. I wonder what I will plan?!

Stream of Consciousness

I wish I had something interesting to write about. I really do.

Unless, of course, you find the fact that my job is going full speed ahead at 100 mph and I am absolutely totally and unequivocally EXHAUSTED beyond belief every waking moment of my days - interesting.

Because, I mean, if you find that interesting then this is the blog for you!

It seems like after a few weeks of school something interesting should have happened. Something story worthy. Something that would have given me a good reason to log onto this website and update my loyal readers on my latest goingsons... (which is totally not a word.. which I totally realize.. but I'm using it anyway..)

Hmm... Let me think... there must be something!

Oh yes, here we go. Today my 7th and 8th grade language arts students turned in their first formal writing assignment of the year, a personal narrative. And, if I may say so myself, they were pretty freaking incredible, those narratives. I'm going to go ahead and give myself a nice big pat on the back on this one, because, you have no idea what a landmark occasion this is for me. When I first started teaching, I would literally want to pound my head against a concrete wall every time I read a jr. high student's piece of writing. It was torture. Truly. I can honestly say that over the course of my years as a teacher, I have seen remarkable growth in my students' writing ability, and I'm going to go ahead and take some credit for that. Hey, I have to take it where I can get it, you know what I mean?

Speaking of credit, (I knew that there must have been something interesting) today we were having a birthday luncheon for my principal and Gabriel's grandfather was there. Remember Gabriel? My failure (or so I thought) from my first year of teaching. Well, Gabriel has done this awesome life turnaround, and it appears as though his grandfather attributes that turnaround entirely to me.

That was a bit of a shocker. One of the teachers was asking him about Gabriel, and he started telling us about how well he is doing these days. He's playing football, keeping his grades up, staying out of trouble. He then turned to me and said, "I don't know what you said to him, but whatever it was, it changed him."

Whoa.

I mean, the truth of the matter is that I didn't do or say anything life changing to Gabriel. I think Gabriel had already made the decision to change his ways on his own, and all he needed was for someone to listen and support him.

But that's the truth if I've ever heard it. Most of the time all kids need is to know that they have someone who will listen to them and support them. This is also why one of the first things I did this year was schedule a one-on-one meeting with each of my 8th graders. In these meetings I ask them how their year is going so far, who lives at their house with them, what they do after school, if they foresee any challenges for themselves in the coming weeks. Last, but definitely not least, I always ask if they will feel comfortable coming to me if they have any questions or concerns for me throughout the school year. It's basically my way of telling them that I'm here if they need me. I think it's really important for them to know that right off that bat.

.....But....hmm..I do believe I've gotten a bit off topic. Where was I going with this? Oh yes, that's right, so like I was saying, I really don't have anything very interesting to write about. Nothing interesting in the least.

Blessings in Disguise (like, seriously, undercover or something)

When Mike was deployed the first time and his career as a pilot was crashing and burning, I literally believed that the world was crashing and burning along with it. I cannot fully explain to you the magnitude of devastation it inflicted upon our lives.

Now, two years later, as I look back, I am 100% aware that things absolutely happened the way that they were meant to.

I mean, Mike got out of the squadron that was kicking his self-esteem in the ass every day and into units that respect and value him as a Marine. He has had one extremely successful deployment since then, which ended in that bronze star I blogged about a few days ago. He is just totally, completely, and unequivocally a happier, more successful person now. And, it's all thanks to the fact that life as we knew it took a rocketship into oblivion during that first deployment.

Last weekend we attended a Hail and Farewell for his new unit. (The title is pretty self-explanatory, but it's a party where you Welcome the new people and say Goodbye to those who are leaving. It's a pretty regular occurance since in the military world there is a constant flow of people in and out of units.) It was the first non-squandron (squadron=pilots) Hail and Farewell I had ever attended, and it was hands down the most enjoyable, relaxed, unpretentious hail and farewell I've ever had the pleasure of attending. If I hadn't realized before that we are where we're supposed to be, I certainly realized it then.

And if I still didn't know it then, I definitely realized it yesterday when Mike informed me that two of our good pilot friends (the only two pilot friends who we held on to when we took an ax and completely cut ties with the entire pilot world) had just received the devastating news that they were being reassigned to a FAC tour. I have no idea what F-A-C stands for, but I do know what it means. It means 2 years of commuting to 29 Palms (see: 6 hours away!) from San Diego to train for a non-pilot related, ground deployment and then the deployment to follow.

Doesn't sound like anyone's dream come true, does it? Yeah, and these are the guys who actually stayed in the squadron. These are pilots, reassigned temporarily for the world's worst tour, completely against their own wishes.

I feel really bad about it now, but I'm not going to lie. *After I found out this wretched news, I actually did a little victory dance in my mind (I know I'm an awful person and an even worse friend. Please don't hate me for it. I feel really bad about it now, I swear I do). I know that we have been the object of our friends' pity for the past 2 years now. I realize it took those 2 years and a couple of wretched FAC tours, but I think we can all agree now that Mike and I got the better end of this stick.

Part of me wants to go back in time to two years ago when I was literally walking around in a stupor, mourning the loss of life as we knew it as though I had just buried one of my dearest friends, and slap myself out of it.

If only I had known then what I know now, I would have never wasted my time with worry, anger, or sadness. I would simply have said, "Things are happening how they are meant to happen." And I would have trusted that. And believed it. Because, it's so cliche, but so true.... what happened to us two years ago was without a doubt one of those blessings in disguise that you always hear people talking about.

And thank God for that. Seriously. Thank God!

*note: this is precisely why I have not told my friends about my blog. telling them about my blog could only end in 1 of 2 ways. 1) I would have to censor myself which would totally suck or 2) My friends would absolutely hate me forever because I failed to censor myself. neither option is the least bit appealing.

Moving On

In a lot of ways, this whole knowing that I'm not going to be teaching at my school next year thing is incredibly liberating.

This year feels really easy. Part of it, I am realizing, is that since this is my 4th year of teaching, a lot of things are simply coming easier to me. For example, though I don't ever repeat exact lesson plans every year or exact projects, I have now taught the art of writing the personal narrative 3 years in a row, so teaching it this year is an absolute breeze. That's just one example of many.

I'm completely comfortable, and though there was a part of me (I'm just going to be completely honest here) was a bit nervous when I met the new teacher and realized that I would lose the novelty of being the only young teacher, I am now realizing that she may be younger, skinnier, blonder, prettier, and more stylish than I am, but those are not the things that make the students enjoy having me as a teacher. It's been a fairly affirming experience for me.

But, I seem to have lost track of where I was going with this whole thing. You see, I set out to tell you about how freeing it is to know that I won't be teaching at my school next year. I am using the same lesson plans and projects for both 7th and 8th grade this year (knowing that I won't have the 7th graders next year in 8th grade it frees me to use the same lesson ideas, slightly modified for their different curriculum, of course), and to be completely honest, I could really care less about a lot of things. My focus is on the kids, not on the drama the teachers and administration provide, and that makes my life so much more pleasant.

At the same time, though, I've been feeling fairly sentimental about the whole thing. Last week probably 12 of my previous year's 8th graders came by to say hello to me and update me on their high school journeys. It was really awesome, but a little bit sad, too. I mean, how will this year's 8th grade class update me on their high school journey if I'm not there for them to stop by and see next year?

Also, remember how I mentioned that I, sadly, am not teaching Literature 7 this year? Today the 7th graders were lamenting this fact to me and asking me if I would be their Literature teacher next year. Hmm... I think not, but they can't know that. Not yet, anyway.

That whole conversation made me a little bit sad.

However, I do stand by my decision. I will miss the kids more than I'm sure I even realize now, but I am ready to move on.

The Military Saga Continues

Today Mike's commanding officer held a ceremony to award him with his bronze star. And, since I got home today, I've been using every means possible to shout this news from the rooftop.

I mean, if anyone deserves recognition for being a freaking awesome Marine, it's my husband. His road has certainly not been easy. He's been a trooper through it all though, and I am so very happy for him today.

This Sunday he leaves to spend a month in the-middle-of-absolutely-nowhere-Arizona training for his upcoming Afganistan deployment in April. The Unit he's with now is getting him trained for an extra special job so that no one else can steal him out from under them and make him deploy with them (apparently, I just found out, there was a possibility that some other unit deploying in February was going to steal him away). That's how awesome he is. He's so awesome he gets to spend a month in the desert.. in the middle of absolutely nowhere.. training for a deployment to Afghanistan. Gosh is he ever lucky.

I'm not looking forward to this month. Not by a long shot. In the scheme of things, I realize, it's only a month. 1/7 of what I have managed to survive twice before.

But, *ugh.

Currently I feel nothing but disdain for this month of training..... And this is precisely why I feel it necessary to not stay here during this next deployment. I've already warned my parents: I will be bringing my 2 dogs to come and live at your house after school lets out.. and for the duration. I've even hinted that they might want to consider putting up a fence; it sure would make my life easier if they would.

In any case, 1 month is do-able. I can do a month on my own. I think I can.. I think I can..

I can.

Updates

1. Vegas. What can I say? It was Vegas! I think you could spend a month there and still not see everything there is to see. If you've never been, I highly recommend you go. It's certainly an experience unlike any other. And, it really helps if you have credit card reward points to pay for your hotel, because it heps ease the guilt when you spend (what feels like) a million dollars on restaurants and gambling. The drinks, though, are free on the casino floor. Can't beat that!

2. Pool. L-0-v-i-n-g it! The color of it has actually changed a bit since my last post. Before it had this tealish color to it, but since then the water has fully seeped into the surface and the color has changed to a much deeper blue. It's absolutely gorgeous. I am certain everyone who comes to my house now will feel the pool calling their name. It just beckons you to swim.

3. School. Hmm.. Well, things with the students are going well. We're still in the honeymoon, however, I did find myself getting rather irked with them by the end of the day on Friday, so I'm thinking the honeymoon might soon be over. Positive was that a number of my last year's 8th graders have been by to visit me. I must say, as much as that class was a challenge and a pain in my butt, I miss them more than I've ever missed any other class. Weird how those things work out. Anyway, they always want to tell me about their English teacher -- one student actually thanked me for preparing him for high school. He said the writing assignments that we did in 8th grade really helped prepare him for his assignments in high school. It was pretty freaking awesome of him to say that. Maybe I'm not a total failure as a teacher, afterall. :)

4. Cars. Did I tell you? We sold our bmw m3. Buying said bmw was notably one of the biggest mistakes we've ever made. This bmw was waaaaaaaaay too expensive, it broke down regularly, and it cost a freakin fortune to repair. The worst part: it didn't even turn out to be the "dream car" that Mike had initially thought it would be. After finally being rid of it, he quietly confessed that he had never really enjoyed driving it as much as he thought he would. In any case, he convinced a Major who took over his duty station in Iraq that he should buy this car from us. Thoroughly convinced, when he got back from Iraq he took it off our hands last weekend to drive around the city and never brought it back. It was love at first sight for him. It was a huge weight lifted from our shoulders. No more ungodly expensive bmw to worry about. In its place we bought what has turned out to be Mike's actual dream car which does not include the bmw brand name or pricetag. We bought an '05 Pontiac GTO which cost us a miniscule fraction of what the bmw cost us, and truth be told we're both thrilled about it. The drive is about a thousand times smoother than the bmw, our monthly payment on it is laughable in comparison to what we were paying before, and Mike is damn near giddy about it. The best part is that I have received his sworn promise that the next car we buy will be 100% my choice. (note to self: get this in writing!)

The problem is that we're both completely car obsessed but happen to have completely opposite car tastes. Generally, I feel that my car tastes get bypassed for his, so I feel good knowing that next time if I want a Toyota Prius or VW Eos, I can get it with no ifs ands or buts from him.

Overall, life is good these days. I really have no complaints.

Flexible

I have good news: the pool is finished! And, oh man has it ever exceeded my expectations. It is absolutely gorgeous; pictures aren't quite giving it justice at this point. I have been sitting at the edge of the pool today quite a bit just absolutely mesmerized by the shimmering mosaic of colors and gorgeous ripples of the water.

I've also been sitting outside a lot today literally watching the water level rise. You see, we're filling our pool, and it's taking forever! According to the contract, the pool company started filling the pool with water as soon as they were finished, and the way it all goes is that you're not supposed to stop filling it until it's full because it will cause some kind of stain on the new surface if you do.

This presents a bit of a problem, because, well.... We're supposed to be in Vegas right now!!!!! Or, at least we're supposed to be on our way to Vegas. After weeks of planning the perfect anniversary weekend, I had no idea that the pool company would actually finish so early and throw all of my plans right out the window.

Last night, our actual anniversary, we spent in downtown San Diego at my friend's birthday party. After the party we had a hotel just down the street so that we didn't have to drive home. We were slightly late to the birthday party, though, because we spent hours staring at the pool and trying to figure out just the right water pressure so that the pool didn't overflow while we were gone (overnight) and so that it wasn't painfully unfilled when we returned home the next day. Well, the pool certainly didn't overflow while we were gone.... I wish I could say the same thing about it being painfully unfilled, though.

Thus, here we are. Waiting. For. The. Pool. To. Fill. Up. Already! You've heard that expression, "A watched pot never boils" or something like that. Yeah, that's how I currently feel. Watching that water line take its time to edge up and up the pool wall is just a teeny bit frustrating. Especially because, in case I didn't mention it enough yet, I'm supposed to be in Vegas right now.

Actually, I do believe that I deserve a gigantic pat on the back. Because, after initially finding out that the pool people were going to be finishing the pool Friday and realizing that was going to throw a gigantic curveball into all of my amazing plans, I had a bit of a temper tantrum about the whole thing. Poor Mike. His mantra for that evening was, "This is NOT my fault. You can be mad but you cannot say this is my fault." He was right. It wasn't his fault. But my frustrated this is why I never plan anything because everything I plan always backfires in my face-self needed someone to blame for the unfraying of my beautiful weekend right before my very eyes.

Except that after I threw the tantrum of the century, I basically got a grip. Ok. So we didn't get to sleep in at our beautiful San Diego hotel. So we have had to spend a few hours back at the house waiting for this pool to fill up. So maybe we will be getting to Vegas Saturday night instead of Saturday afternoon. Oh well. whatever. We still got to spend an amazing anniversary dancing the night away with one of my best friends on her birthday. We still got to stay in a beautiful San Diego hotel even if we weren't there all that long. We still get to spend our weekend in Vegas. And, to top it all off, we have this beautiful pool paradise that we've been dreaming about forever.

When all is said and done, maybe our anniversary weekend isn't panning out to be the perfect weekend that I had concocted in my mind, but it is turning out to be perfect. And, it's teaching me that after 5 years of marriage one thing that we've learned how to do really well together is be flexible!

Which leads me to one of my absolute favorite quotes of all time, "Blessed are the flexible for they will not be broken." So true.

Good Times

Let me begin by apologizing for my absence of late. It's just that I've been a tad busy.

School has begun, we're getting our pool redone, and we're doing some traveling for our upcoming 5 year anniversary this weekend.

Life in general is pretty darn exciting right now.

School is going OK. The new teacher seems great and we are becoming fast friends. She seems to be more on my wavelength than any of the other teachers, so I appreciate that more than you can imagine. The students are *excellent! I have to tell you, that first week back without the students around was downright depressing. Our school is in the midst of a financial crisis, our principal is beginning to fray at the seams, and everything was generally unpleasant. When the students showed up that first day, it was pretty much a breath of fresh air, and I remembered why I got into this business in the first place. If nothing else, I'm sucking it up and putting forth my very best effort this year because these kids deserve the best we can give them.

The pool. So! Exciting!

Though, the first day was a bit of a disaster. The guys showed up to drain the pool; they put the drain hose into our main drain and exited the scene. Luckily, Mike didn't listen to their assurance that he didn't need to be home, and took the day off. Because, not 30 minutes after the draining had begun our main drain backed up and flooded our kitchen. Good times.

This all happened on Book Day and Parents' Night at school, so I left the house at 8:00 am and didn't return home until 9:00 pm. I don't think anything could have quite prepared me for what I came home to, though.

First of all, when I opened up the garage door and walked into the backyard, the back door was open and the dogs were outside running around. There were sopping wet towels hanging all over the patio (a result of the aforementioned flooded kitchen). From the pool to the guest bathroom stretched a drainage hose which ended in the toilet. The toilet, constantly filling up with water, was flushing itself repeatedly. All the lights in the house were on, the tv was on, the front door was slightly ajar, and one of our couch cushion covers was missing. Oh yeah, and the best part of it all was that Mike wasn't home; he was at a soccer game.

Suffice to say, I nearly had a heart attack. And I started to question whether or not this whole getting the pool redone thing was such a good idea afterall.

The next day, I came home to a scene that was just as positive as the day before had been negative. The pool was about 3/4 drained at that point, so when Mike got home he got the dogs in there to play fetch. Because our pool goes from 3 ft to 9 ft, half of the pool had no water while the deep end had about 2 feet of water. I seriously believe that the dogs and Mike had the time of their lives playing in that almost empty pool. We briefly considered spending an extra $20k and adding "zero entry pool" to our makeover wish list, but then we realized we're not actually millionaires and decided against it. Maybe someday.

And today? Well, today the workers completed all of the demolition, so I can only imagine that tomorrow they'll start on the resurfacing. If you click on this website you can see what we're resurfacing our pool with. We chose the No Fear with blue accent stone. It should look pretty awesome when all is said and done.

That's not all. Friday is our 5 year anniversary, and it's also the first anniversary in 3 years that Mike won't be in Iraq. Friday also happens to be one of my best friend's birthdays, so we'll be spending Friday evening partying the night away downtown San Diego. Because neither one of us wants to drive home that night and because the dogs will already be in the kennel, we used our credit card reward points and got one of the nicest hotels in San Diego (which just so happens to also be only 2 minutes away from where the birthday party will be). After celebrating my friend's birthday and enjoying one of San Diego's finest hotels, we'll be heading to Vegas on Saturday morning for the remainder of the long weekend and to finish our anniversary celebration in style.

All in all, I expect it to be one of the best weekends of my life. No pressure or anything, though.