The countdown has been pounding away in my head all week.... and now the end is upon me! One more hour until my well-deserved TWO WEEK Christmas vacation! My students are at gym class getting sweaty and hot, I have set the party up on our back table with care. One more hour of eating, playing games, tired fun and I can walk out of here and go HOME! YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Merry Christmas to you all! And to all a goodnight!
Friday, December 21, 2007
Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday School Lesson
I am teaching 6-8th grade Sunday school at my church. We taught lessons the past few weeks on "Thankfulness." I have been trying this week to maintain an attitude of thankfulness as I have gone through this very ordinary week. Here are some of the things I can think of right now.
1. Oregon Chai in a box, which I rediscovered at my local market on Monday and have been enjoying all week.
2. Construction paper snowmen, which my students very cleverly constructed today for our December bulletin board (with a hidden context clue flap to make it educational!)
3. My husband who always forgives me when I am witchy-B.
4. A student letter: "Dear Mrs. Garay, You have work vere hard helping us for the ISAT have been so helpful to us and we apesheate a lot you have to give your self a break. Do you hope averyone pass 4 grade and do you want avereone to get As on the ISAT? (note to self: help Tiana with run-on sentences).
5. Rachael Ray....my faithful friend! :)
6. Dollar Tree decorations on our Christmas tree, which cheers my weary heart every time I enter the house.
7. Sex.
8. Dangly earrings for under $3 to brighten my wardrobe.
9. NPR on my drive home from work.
10. Garlic, olive oil, fresh produce and a big wooden cutting board. I love to cook!!!
11. Full episodes of TV shows on the Internet. I watched CSI: Miami after school in my classrom while I made my language arts centers for next week (note: I stayed 3 hours after school on a FRIDAY--be wowed, please!) :)
12. My wonderful long-distance friends who will post on this blog (if they know whats good for them!!!).
1. Oregon Chai in a box, which I rediscovered at my local market on Monday and have been enjoying all week.
2. Construction paper snowmen, which my students very cleverly constructed today for our December bulletin board (with a hidden context clue flap to make it educational!)
3. My husband who always forgives me when I am witchy-B.
4. A student letter: "Dear Mrs. Garay, You have work vere hard helping us for the ISAT have been so helpful to us and we apesheate a lot you have to give your self a break. Do you hope averyone pass 4 grade and do you want avereone to get As on the ISAT? (note to self: help Tiana with run-on sentences).
5. Rachael Ray....my faithful friend! :)
6. Dollar Tree decorations on our Christmas tree, which cheers my weary heart every time I enter the house.
7. Sex.
8. Dangly earrings for under $3 to brighten my wardrobe.
9. NPR on my drive home from work.
10. Garlic, olive oil, fresh produce and a big wooden cutting board. I love to cook!!!
11. Full episodes of TV shows on the Internet. I watched CSI: Miami after school in my classrom while I made my language arts centers for next week (note: I stayed 3 hours after school on a FRIDAY--be wowed, please!) :)
12. My wonderful long-distance friends who will post on this blog (if they know whats good for them!!!).
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wedding Photos
I have FINALLY put some wedding photos onto this blog. Enjoy! :) There are hundreds upon hundreds more and I may try to get them onto a sight where they can be purchased (most likely by my parents!) and seen in their entirety (is that spelled right?). Keep scrolling down, there are more at the bottom and for some reason they are really BIG.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Peee Yewwww....something stinks!
So I went to work today, quite groggily, of course, since it is a Monday. I truly believe that there is no other way to go to work on a Monday, except for groggily. But what I discovered was that my day was quite nice. In fact, it topped even the expectations I might have for lets say, a Friday. WOOOOWWWWW!!! There was one tiny stinky detail in my day....
....a urinal in the boys bathroom on my floor broke and our ENTIRE FLOOR reeked, I mean, REEKED of poop!!! My kids handled it with grace, dignity and a day full of giggles! We would take huge gasps of air before leaving our room for the lunchroom, bathroom or library and then walk as quickly as we could down the hall. They were especially quiet in the hallway today because they knew if they talked, we would have to stop. Believe me, today was not a day that anyone would want to be stopping in our hall! Unless of course they had a severe sinus block and therefore had lost the capacity to smell.
My students had to think long and hard about that drink of water that they normally would unquestionably ask to get in the afternoon. Here is a sample mental conversation a student may have had with him/herself: "Hmmm.... I am thirsty. I would love to get out of the classroom for a few minutes. Comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells is not that interesting. But is it worth smelling poop?" Most of them chose that no, it is not worth smelling poop, not even to escape a few minutes of science instruction for a a refreshing sip of water.
What a marvelously shitty day!! :)
....a urinal in the boys bathroom on my floor broke and our ENTIRE FLOOR reeked, I mean, REEKED of poop!!! My kids handled it with grace, dignity and a day full of giggles! We would take huge gasps of air before leaving our room for the lunchroom, bathroom or library and then walk as quickly as we could down the hall. They were especially quiet in the hallway today because they knew if they talked, we would have to stop. Believe me, today was not a day that anyone would want to be stopping in our hall! Unless of course they had a severe sinus block and therefore had lost the capacity to smell.
My students had to think long and hard about that drink of water that they normally would unquestionably ask to get in the afternoon. Here is a sample mental conversation a student may have had with him/herself: "Hmmm.... I am thirsty. I would love to get out of the classroom for a few minutes. Comparing and contrasting plant and animal cells is not that interesting. But is it worth smelling poop?" Most of them chose that no, it is not worth smelling poop, not even to escape a few minutes of science instruction for a a refreshing sip of water.
What a marvelously shitty day!! :)
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Halloween cemeteries and apple cider
Wow, it sure has been a long time since I have blogged. Thank you to those of you who continued to check my blog, long after it appeared I was not going to be a faithful online journaler. I have two things I want to mention here
1. I have a neighbor who has created a "Halloween cemetery" in her front yard. There are 15 plastic tombstones all across her front yard, skulls hanging from the front bush, spooky spider webs, etc, etc. All year long, they have a little fountain by their front garden, and yesterday on our walk to the post office, Arturo mentioned that they should dye the water in their fountain red like blood, to go with the whole creepy cemetary feel. Needless to say, I do NOT like this type of decorating. It not only looks tacky, but is a bit insensitive to people who have recently experienced the death of a family member or friend. I do however, chuckle to myself as I walk by everyday. So to parallel with this, yesterday, one of my kindest students started giving me attitude and was just not herself. So I asked her what was wrong. She told me that her uncle had been shot in the back of the head over the weekend. Whew....the air went out of me and I struggled to respond appropriatly. The truly strange thing is that this occurance is not rare. Every few weeks, they post a new funeral program in our school office for someone related to the school who has passed. Not always in a violent crime, although that certainly is not rare. My heart is truly saddened for this little girl who is one of my new fourth graders. And I don't know how to put it into words, but I just can't help disliking the little plastic Halloween cemetery even more.
2. On a more pleasant note, last night was one of those beautiful autumn evenings. Being an "autumn-lover" I took a new pumpkin-cented candle, some apple cider, a basket of knitting and bills and sat out on my front stoop. I truly believe that in the simple moments that we choose to create and embrace, we find joy and life. Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and holidays are wonderful, but I have found that if I can create pleasant daily activities for myself, I am happy with who and where I am in life. When I choose to play Yahtzee with my new husband instead of watching "Dancing with the Stars", I am making a choice for the good life.
I hope you are also enjoying this crisp, colorful season, as our Earth continues its rotation around the Sun (which is what I taught in science today!). :)
1. I have a neighbor who has created a "Halloween cemetery" in her front yard. There are 15 plastic tombstones all across her front yard, skulls hanging from the front bush, spooky spider webs, etc, etc. All year long, they have a little fountain by their front garden, and yesterday on our walk to the post office, Arturo mentioned that they should dye the water in their fountain red like blood, to go with the whole creepy cemetary feel. Needless to say, I do NOT like this type of decorating. It not only looks tacky, but is a bit insensitive to people who have recently experienced the death of a family member or friend. I do however, chuckle to myself as I walk by everyday. So to parallel with this, yesterday, one of my kindest students started giving me attitude and was just not herself. So I asked her what was wrong. She told me that her uncle had been shot in the back of the head over the weekend. Whew....the air went out of me and I struggled to respond appropriatly. The truly strange thing is that this occurance is not rare. Every few weeks, they post a new funeral program in our school office for someone related to the school who has passed. Not always in a violent crime, although that certainly is not rare. My heart is truly saddened for this little girl who is one of my new fourth graders. And I don't know how to put it into words, but I just can't help disliking the little plastic Halloween cemetery even more.
2. On a more pleasant note, last night was one of those beautiful autumn evenings. Being an "autumn-lover" I took a new pumpkin-cented candle, some apple cider, a basket of knitting and bills and sat out on my front stoop. I truly believe that in the simple moments that we choose to create and embrace, we find joy and life. Weddings, anniversaries, birthdays and holidays are wonderful, but I have found that if I can create pleasant daily activities for myself, I am happy with who and where I am in life. When I choose to play Yahtzee with my new husband instead of watching "Dancing with the Stars", I am making a choice for the good life.
I hope you are also enjoying this crisp, colorful season, as our Earth continues its rotation around the Sun (which is what I taught in science today!). :)
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
My bad
Okay, I know that I need to post about my wedding and put pictures up, and I really truly WILL.. I promsie. Although most people who read this were like there, and saw the whole ordeal.
BUT... I am sitting here at my local branch of the Chicago Public Library and heard an adult woman say as an excuse from some sort of mistake, "My bad." And I just want to burst into laughter! I know that was like the "in thing" to say for junior-highers about 7 years ago, but for a GROWN UP woman to actually say that to a library employer is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know why it is so funny to me. Probably no one else will get it, but oh well--My bad!
BUT... I am sitting here at my local branch of the Chicago Public Library and heard an adult woman say as an excuse from some sort of mistake, "My bad." And I just want to burst into laughter! I know that was like the "in thing" to say for junior-highers about 7 years ago, but for a GROWN UP woman to actually say that to a library employer is hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know why it is so funny to me. Probably no one else will get it, but oh well--My bad!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Kickin' my own butt
I did not fully realize how stressed I have been the past 2 weeks. I don't know how I missed all the signs: planning my own wedding, end of the year teaching craziness PLUS thinking I was going to be cut from my job (which I was not!). Then Friday night came around.
So I live on my own right now (for 12 more days when my then-husband will move in). So I had this vivid dream that I was trapped in my basement. I saw the window in my room and must have thought it was the basement door. So I start pounding and screaming on it, trying to get out. At some point, the physical pain wakes me up. That was probably the scariest wake up I have ever had. I started crying because I was in pain and also because it was just plain old strange. I have a gigantic 8 inch long bruise on my calf and a bruise and cut that stretches from my wrist to my elbow. My ribs are also very sore and I have a painful bruise on my chin. I am also now a bit worried to sleep on my own. Arturo has taken down the sharp hooks that were on the window (they were bent by me in my crazy nightmare).
The good news is that I have an interesting story when party-talk turns to nightmares/sleep walking. And I also now realize just how anxious and stressed I have been. I am trying to cool it a little bit. But it is difficult to be sprinting full speed ahead and suddenly try to slow down. Not to mention that I MUST do wedding stuff before the wedding (duh). But I am trying to de-stress myself a bit. Anyone else have crazy night stories they would like to share? Or some ideas to unwind?
So I live on my own right now (for 12 more days when my then-husband will move in). So I had this vivid dream that I was trapped in my basement. I saw the window in my room and must have thought it was the basement door. So I start pounding and screaming on it, trying to get out. At some point, the physical pain wakes me up. That was probably the scariest wake up I have ever had. I started crying because I was in pain and also because it was just plain old strange. I have a gigantic 8 inch long bruise on my calf and a bruise and cut that stretches from my wrist to my elbow. My ribs are also very sore and I have a painful bruise on my chin. I am also now a bit worried to sleep on my own. Arturo has taken down the sharp hooks that were on the window (they were bent by me in my crazy nightmare).
The good news is that I have an interesting story when party-talk turns to nightmares/sleep walking. And I also now realize just how anxious and stressed I have been. I am trying to cool it a little bit. But it is difficult to be sprinting full speed ahead and suddenly try to slow down. Not to mention that I MUST do wedding stuff before the wedding (duh). But I am trying to de-stress myself a bit. Anyone else have crazy night stories they would like to share? Or some ideas to unwind?
Monday, June 11, 2007
The End is Near!
Guess what? Tomorrow is my last full day of school!!! We have teacher in-service days on Wednesday and Thursday, but then the kids come on Friday for their report cards for an hour and they are gone! WOOHOOOO!! :) For some reason, only half of my class came today and it was absolutely LOVELY! We put on plays and created sets and costumes and invited other classes to our production. I can handle a day like this. :) Hopefully tomorrow a lot of my students will feel so inclined to stay home. :) Terrible, huh?
Okay, off to the gym to get buff arms fit for a bride. 18 days till the wedding. Can't believe it!
Okay, off to the gym to get buff arms fit for a bride. 18 days till the wedding. Can't believe it!
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
A wee bit of hope and shoe stories
Is anyone else feeling the way I am? A tad bit "down in the mouth" as they say on White Christmas? I have found myself religiously counting down the days until the school year is over. There is just something negative and un-optimistic about that. I have been looking to find reasons to get excited to come to my job. Instead of seeing them as "these last hellish days," I need to look at them as the last fews chances that I have to wield some sort of postive influence over my students. Every morning I am trying to hype myself up for this job. They don't tell you about this mental struggle in your undergraduate.
Okay, so here is what I have been thinking.... everyone hates their job right? So I just need to buck up and stop whining about it on my blogger! The thing is, that as a Chicago public school teacher, EVERYONE knows that my job is tough. If I meet anyone new and tell them what I do and for what district, I immedietly get raised eyebrows and a sympathetic, "Ohhhh... that must be tough." So this makes me feel specially entiteled to whine about what I do. But that is dumb. Because MOST jobs have their pluses and minues. Sometimes the minues in my job seem to overwhelm the postive. But STILL! So here is the wee bit of hope I mentioned in the title..... I will officially no longer bitch about any aspect of my job on this blog! Weehoooooo!!! The masses upon masses of people who read this can breath a collective sigh of relief. :)
Here is a fun thing that happened today. I am up at the board, making a poster of the components my students need to include on their upcoming science fair projects. I feel like everyone is listening and interested because they LOVE working on their science fair projects and they feel relieved that we are actually doing them. Then all of a sudden a hear a quiet voice ask, "Where are Ms. Dahlseng's shoes"? Followed by more students voicing them same question (if you are curious, they did NOT raise their hands to ask the question). Soon, the whole class was disussing what had happened to my shoes. They were just hidden under my long black pants! Even something as small as my "missing shoes" can disengage my little learners at this point in the year! Speaking of shoes, the other day I had to duct tape my shoes together because they broke in the middle of the day! My students had a field day with that because they are always ragging on me for not wearing name brand shoes. Some of them keep promising to buy me Jordans. :) I would take them and run!
Okay, so here is what I have been thinking.... everyone hates their job right? So I just need to buck up and stop whining about it on my blogger! The thing is, that as a Chicago public school teacher, EVERYONE knows that my job is tough. If I meet anyone new and tell them what I do and for what district, I immedietly get raised eyebrows and a sympathetic, "Ohhhh... that must be tough." So this makes me feel specially entiteled to whine about what I do. But that is dumb. Because MOST jobs have their pluses and minues. Sometimes the minues in my job seem to overwhelm the postive. But STILL! So here is the wee bit of hope I mentioned in the title..... I will officially no longer bitch about any aspect of my job on this blog! Weehoooooo!!! The masses upon masses of people who read this can breath a collective sigh of relief. :)
Here is a fun thing that happened today. I am up at the board, making a poster of the components my students need to include on their upcoming science fair projects. I feel like everyone is listening and interested because they LOVE working on their science fair projects and they feel relieved that we are actually doing them. Then all of a sudden a hear a quiet voice ask, "Where are Ms. Dahlseng's shoes"? Followed by more students voicing them same question (if you are curious, they did NOT raise their hands to ask the question). Soon, the whole class was disussing what had happened to my shoes. They were just hidden under my long black pants! Even something as small as my "missing shoes" can disengage my little learners at this point in the year! Speaking of shoes, the other day I had to duct tape my shoes together because they broke in the middle of the day! My students had a field day with that because they are always ragging on me for not wearing name brand shoes. Some of them keep promising to buy me Jordans. :) I would take them and run!
Monday, May 21, 2007
I am an AUNT!
My sister had a baby girl last night around 3:30pm!!! This is the first baby in our family, and we are SOOO super excited! Well, Katie (my sister) is just exhausted and happy, but the rest of us who didn't have to go through labor are simply jubilant! :) I will try to post some pictures, but I am not entirely sure how to do it if I don't have a CD. I'll figure it out.
Other news...... my wedding is in 40 days! A visiting pastor was preaching on the significance of the number 40 in church yesterday. I honestly don't remember what he said, but I do remember thinking, "hmmm... thats cool." But I forgot. STILL.... in some way, having only 40 days until the wedding is significant, even if I don't remember why/how! :)
P.S.--if you are coming to my wedding and you have not sent in your postcard response yet, PLEASE put a 2 cent stamp on it before you mail. I totally did not think about the postage change when I mailed out my invitations. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Other news...... my wedding is in 40 days! A visiting pastor was preaching on the significance of the number 40 in church yesterday. I honestly don't remember what he said, but I do remember thinking, "hmmm... thats cool." But I forgot. STILL.... in some way, having only 40 days until the wedding is significant, even if I don't remember why/how! :)
P.S.--if you are coming to my wedding and you have not sent in your postcard response yet, PLEASE put a 2 cent stamp on it before you mail. I totally did not think about the postage change when I mailed out my invitations. I apologize for the inconvenience.
Friday, April 27, 2007
SAME OLD SAME OLD
Okay, I know it. My blog is boring. I never update it. I need to put pictures up and I never do. Maybe soon I will. I keep thinking.... after the wedding... after the wedding.... after the wedding.... But really, I am quite positive that my life will not immedietly relax after the wedding. LIFE NEEDS TO SLOW DOWN. I am weary and exhausted. Let me repeat that so you know that I really mean it. I am weary and exhausted. This wedding is taking over the very little free time I had to begin with (which was already quite teensy). I am beginning to hate the bride. I think the groom may soon too. She can be "bitch bride" sometimes. Especially if her students spent the day insulting and disrespecting her. Bitch bride needs to get herself a nap and dream about lovely things like cheese curds, flower lattices, a world without children and Rachel Ray recipes.
I believe this is the first time in my blogging career that I have not used an explanation point. I usually like them a lot. Even my fingers are too weary to shift and move my finger that high on the keyboard. I need to leave right now to go pick up my students from the cafeteria. Luckily it is Friday. Wait... I think I might find the energy to explanate on that one. It is Friday! I did it! Again! Again! See.... there is hope for the flowers! Don't let this blog get you too down. Life is good. It really is. Can someone remind me please? I need some good encouragement and a truly great kiss to pick my mood up. I'll settle for the encouragement.
I believe this is the first time in my blogging career that I have not used an explanation point. I usually like them a lot. Even my fingers are too weary to shift and move my finger that high on the keyboard. I need to leave right now to go pick up my students from the cafeteria. Luckily it is Friday. Wait... I think I might find the energy to explanate on that one. It is Friday! I did it! Again! Again! See.... there is hope for the flowers! Don't let this blog get you too down. Life is good. It really is. Can someone remind me please? I need some good encouragement and a truly great kiss to pick my mood up. I'll settle for the encouragement.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The anxiety of testing
The weather this week in Chicago has been FABULOUS! For three days it was sunny and in the high 60's and low 70's. Everything looked and smelled fresh! As I was waiting for the El on Tuesday, I was actually sweating...it was quite lovely! Unfortunatly, Chicago Public Schools scheduled our ISAT standardized testing to be the same week as this amazing weather. So although I was physically enjoying the weather, I have been emotionally stressed out to the max this week.
For those of you non-educators reading this, administrating a high stakes standardized test to your own students (who you have literally spent every ounce of energy and money on so they will somehow learn something!) is emotionally grueling and exhausting. I am walking around the room, observing my brightest students make stupid multiple choice choices, and wanting to whisper, "Are you sure about that?" But knowing that I can't... shouldn't... so I won't.. I think. The good news is that these tests are over with tomorrow. They have given me a literal pain in the back of my neck for the past month. So now crazy insane test prep is over and I can go back to my regular teaching. That will be nice. But I know I will still have this pervading question in the back of my mind: "HOW DID THEY DO???" For schools like mine with low test scores, we live or die by this test. So not only do I want my students to be successful for their own sakes, I need them to be successful for the sake of my school and to protect my job. Yikes!
I do sometimes think longlingly to my year as a receptionist. All that was expected of me was to be friendly and punctual. I was a great receptionist! But there are those teaching moments that are positively lovely. When I look around the room and see my students engaged, or when a student asks a "text book question" or when Dushuntae makes me laugh so hard I have to go into the hallway. And they give me the hope to carry on in this profession.
For those of you non-educators reading this, administrating a high stakes standardized test to your own students (who you have literally spent every ounce of energy and money on so they will somehow learn something!) is emotionally grueling and exhausting. I am walking around the room, observing my brightest students make stupid multiple choice choices, and wanting to whisper, "Are you sure about that?" But knowing that I can't... shouldn't... so I won't.. I think. The good news is that these tests are over with tomorrow. They have given me a literal pain in the back of my neck for the past month. So now crazy insane test prep is over and I can go back to my regular teaching. That will be nice. But I know I will still have this pervading question in the back of my mind: "HOW DID THEY DO???" For schools like mine with low test scores, we live or die by this test. So not only do I want my students to be successful for their own sakes, I need them to be successful for the sake of my school and to protect my job. Yikes!
I do sometimes think longlingly to my year as a receptionist. All that was expected of me was to be friendly and punctual. I was a great receptionist! But there are those teaching moments that are positively lovely. When I look around the room and see my students engaged, or when a student asks a "text book question" or when Dushuntae makes me laugh so hard I have to go into the hallway. And they give me the hope to carry on in this profession.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
An "interesting" Saturday
I had an odd day today...
7:00AM--Woke up and Arturo and I took a million el trains and buses and finally arrived on the south side of the city for our "Pre-Cana Marriage Workshop for engaged couples." This trip took over 2 hours (YIKES) in the cold.
9:00AM-4:00PM--At Pre-Cana workshop. Now I understand that there are a lot of really attractive people in the world. But I swear, that 70% of the best looking people in Chicago were all at this training! It was quite depressing. I guess young Catholics in Chicago are all hot. Seriously, the resources we had said that dress was "casual and relaxed." A lot of the women were wearing stiletto boots! That is NOT casual and relaxed!! I was not prepared for this of course. If I had known that I would feel intimidated and inferior all day, I would have done something with my hair or worn a little more makeup! :) Oh well. Now, these pre-martial sessions themselves are quite ackward. We are in a church fellowship hall with about 75 other people. The only thing we all have in common is that we are all getting married. It's odd being in a room full of brides. They are a strange breed....all growing long hair out for the wedding day and trying to get skinny.
4:00-7:00PM--Yes, check that time again and please note that it is THREE FREAKING HOURS. It took Arturo and I 3 hours to get home from this training. We never left the city of Chicago so there is no reason for this. I could have flown to New York City in this amount of time! One interesting thing we saw was at the Midway Orange line stop. There was a man with a portable tape player getting REALLY REALLY REALLY into an air guitar performance. He was even shouting out "WHEW!" and then looking around and saying "That wasn't me! That wasn't me!" It was hilarious. He was a great performer. Chicago is full of talent.
7:00PM-now--I am now sitting at home by myself, trying to warm up after my 5 hours of traveling around this COLD COLD city. I usually consider myself a really positive person, but I am in a cranky mood today. So if this seems kind of negative, that is why. Women, you understand. Being outside so much and feeling like a piece of frozen pork chop does remind me to be thankful for a warm home. So many in Chicago go without proper heating and homes, including some of my students. Despite my moodiness, I know that I have much to be thankful for. Stay warm and make yourself a cup of hot Abuelita hot chocolate!
7:00AM--Woke up and Arturo and I took a million el trains and buses and finally arrived on the south side of the city for our "Pre-Cana Marriage Workshop for engaged couples." This trip took over 2 hours (YIKES) in the cold.
9:00AM-4:00PM--At Pre-Cana workshop. Now I understand that there are a lot of really attractive people in the world. But I swear, that 70% of the best looking people in Chicago were all at this training! It was quite depressing. I guess young Catholics in Chicago are all hot. Seriously, the resources we had said that dress was "casual and relaxed." A lot of the women were wearing stiletto boots! That is NOT casual and relaxed!! I was not prepared for this of course. If I had known that I would feel intimidated and inferior all day, I would have done something with my hair or worn a little more makeup! :) Oh well. Now, these pre-martial sessions themselves are quite ackward. We are in a church fellowship hall with about 75 other people. The only thing we all have in common is that we are all getting married. It's odd being in a room full of brides. They are a strange breed....all growing long hair out for the wedding day and trying to get skinny.
4:00-7:00PM--Yes, check that time again and please note that it is THREE FREAKING HOURS. It took Arturo and I 3 hours to get home from this training. We never left the city of Chicago so there is no reason for this. I could have flown to New York City in this amount of time! One interesting thing we saw was at the Midway Orange line stop. There was a man with a portable tape player getting REALLY REALLY REALLY into an air guitar performance. He was even shouting out "WHEW!" and then looking around and saying "That wasn't me! That wasn't me!" It was hilarious. He was a great performer. Chicago is full of talent.
7:00PM-now--I am now sitting at home by myself, trying to warm up after my 5 hours of traveling around this COLD COLD city. I usually consider myself a really positive person, but I am in a cranky mood today. So if this seems kind of negative, that is why. Women, you understand. Being outside so much and feeling like a piece of frozen pork chop does remind me to be thankful for a warm home. So many in Chicago go without proper heating and homes, including some of my students. Despite my moodiness, I know that I have much to be thankful for. Stay warm and make yourself a cup of hot Abuelita hot chocolate!
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
Surprising people
I find that I do not have much to say in a blog to be honest. I have NUMEROUS stories about my students and my adventures as a Chicago public school teacher, but that is not something I want to write about for any of the aforementioned students to stumble upon. But today is Janelle's 25th birthday. Cheryl came into the city for the night and we were on our way to Jewel (grocery store chain) to get some birthday candles for Janelle's cake. As we were walking the chilly/icy block to Jewel, we crossed paths with a man. He looked like your average neighborhood commuter coming from the El station. Then, as he walked past us, he growled. It was a very low-sounding growl. If I had been alone, I may have questioned whether the growling had even happened. But Cher also noticed, so I know it really happened. Strange. We sped up a bit and waited to giggle until he was out of earshot. Chicago really is a great place to live if you want to be reminded of your own sanity and normalness.
On a totally random note, I still LOVE Blues Traveler music! I loved singing it in high school, and I still enjoy be-bopping around the house playing air guitar and air harmonica.
On a totally random note, I still LOVE Blues Traveler music! I loved singing it in high school, and I still enjoy be-bopping around the house playing air guitar and air harmonica.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
My colorful house
For those of you who I don't keep in super good touch with, my fiance and I have recently bought a house. It's a three-bedroom bungalow on the northwest part of Chicago, in a neighborhood called Jefferson Park. The people who lived here before us really loved pink. I mean, REALLY loved pink. Here were all the pink things in the house: the border around the exterior windows, all the carpet downstairs, the ENTIRE bathroom, floor to ceiling curtains,the kitchen walls..... ! When I was in 2nd-4th grade I LOVED pink and wanted nothing to do with any other colors. But since then, it's really not my "cup of tea."
So, Arturo and I have begun our painting of the house to "de-pink" it. We have painted the living room and dining room so far. Our living room is a nice deep redish color and the dining room is apple green. The kitchen will be yellow. The bathroom will be blue. And the room that will be our bedroom is a really cool jade and green color. Just for all you Houghtonites out there..... we are not living here together yet, I live with roommates until the wedding. :) Moral compass...... mostly on target! :) Anyway, I am sitting here tonight on the couch, looking around the house and thinking on my day. As I looked at the walls, and imagined how the color will erupt even more as we continue to paint, I suddenly thought, "Oh my word.... I live in a Lifesaver Candy House! Crap! My family was never huge into colored walls, and I have rented until now, so I really have never lived anywhere with color. Oh well... the paint is bought and I'm sure it will be quite lovely and express our creativity and imagination! COME VISIT!!! :) As another plug for local visitors, we live very close to the airport (25 min el ride), about 8 blocks from the el and a major bus depot! PLUS... Chicago is a super city and I love showing is off!
Okay, well thats it for my post. I have to get up early (5:45AM.... sympathy please!) and it's after 10pm, so I must fly to my comfy cozy bed. Many friendly thoughts......
So, Arturo and I have begun our painting of the house to "de-pink" it. We have painted the living room and dining room so far. Our living room is a nice deep redish color and the dining room is apple green. The kitchen will be yellow. The bathroom will be blue. And the room that will be our bedroom is a really cool jade and green color. Just for all you Houghtonites out there..... we are not living here together yet, I live with roommates until the wedding. :) Moral compass...... mostly on target! :) Anyway, I am sitting here tonight on the couch, looking around the house and thinking on my day. As I looked at the walls, and imagined how the color will erupt even more as we continue to paint, I suddenly thought, "Oh my word.... I live in a Lifesaver Candy House! Crap! My family was never huge into colored walls, and I have rented until now, so I really have never lived anywhere with color. Oh well... the paint is bought and I'm sure it will be quite lovely and express our creativity and imagination! COME VISIT!!! :) As another plug for local visitors, we live very close to the airport (25 min el ride), about 8 blocks from the el and a major bus depot! PLUS... Chicago is a super city and I love showing is off!
Okay, well thats it for my post. I have to get up early (5:45AM.... sympathy please!) and it's after 10pm, so I must fly to my comfy cozy bed. Many friendly thoughts......
Thursday, January 4, 2007
From anti-blog to blog creator!
I think blogging is stupid. Okay, I USED to think it was stupid. And then my dear friend, Cheryl and I were "blog-stalking" and we both concluded that "WE NEED BLOGS!" So here mine is. I am guessing that I will not have super amounts of thoughtful and philosohical reflections. HELLO..... any crazy stranger can read this! But I am going to try to update this. Maybe at school while I give my students tests.... hmm.......
Okay, so here goes my first blog story. New Years Eve. It is suppossed to be an extremely exciting night, right? Mine was not. I had made dinner for 7 friends (including some roommates). We are talking a nice dinner.... cuban garlic rice, tuscan chicken and crusty Italian bread (props to Rachel Ray for the recipes!). Then 3 of them LEAVE for other parties, so Cheryl, Arturo and I are just sitting there, drinking our yummy Screwdrivers. Our time together was so exciting, that Arturo falls asleep right on our wood floors! So I think you get the idea.....we did make the best of it by drinking many Screwdrivers, playing some board games and having fun. But next year I am definitely going to make it to some parties. There's just too much hype around New Years to not do something exciting. And I believe this will end my first post.
Okay, so here goes my first blog story. New Years Eve. It is suppossed to be an extremely exciting night, right? Mine was not. I had made dinner for 7 friends (including some roommates). We are talking a nice dinner.... cuban garlic rice, tuscan chicken and crusty Italian bread (props to Rachel Ray for the recipes!). Then 3 of them LEAVE for other parties, so Cheryl, Arturo and I are just sitting there, drinking our yummy Screwdrivers. Our time together was so exciting, that Arturo falls asleep right on our wood floors! So I think you get the idea.....we did make the best of it by drinking many Screwdrivers, playing some board games and having fun. But next year I am definitely going to make it to some parties. There's just too much hype around New Years to not do something exciting. And I believe this will end my first post.
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I LOVE the swings! I really truly do!!
