Still coping....(tear)

Check out this article about Dave and the fire. Though the fire was a tragedy, the article and the video after it are super-cheesy.

There are too many good lines in the article to really pick a favorite, but this is a good one:

"During the winter break, his friends gave him a lot of kitchen supplies in a special way, Schaap said.

“They put on a ‘fire shower’ for me, which was really nice — but there weren’t any games or anything,” he said.

But the creativity didn’t stop there — Schaap even started a wedding registry at Target to list items he needed."

Did you catch that "special way"? :)

How Long Would You Fester?

I think I've been watching too much Six Feet Under lately because I've been thinking about the possible ways I could die. Not really in a morbid, sad sort of way, but more in a practical preventative way. Like if I know about the ways (electrocution, choking, etc.), I might be able to prevent it.

This week I watched an episode where a woman, Emily Previn, chokes and dies alone in her home. She lays there, decaying while covered in ants and other small creatures, for nearly a week before someone finds her. She has no family, no friends, and no one who notices she's gone.

I was discussing with friends last night how long it would take to be found. I'm fairly confident I would be found in 2-3 days, hopefully before the skin starts to just slide off my body. I think that my school would sound the alarm, and my friends would jump in and check it out. But, you have to wonder, how long would you fester before someone would check it out?

"And so, like, well, I left civil engineering for ministry. If you don't know what civil engineering is, don't worry about it. It's boring. So yeah, like, um, I like wanted to get into ministry, full time ministry."

After an already painful display of public speaking (in)ability, our chapel speaker uttered these words, or something very similar, perhaps with more utterances of the word "like." Graciousness in these situations is not my forte, but I was really trying not to nitpick every word or theological difference we had. I couldn't let this go though.

This happened on the same day I first saw that my school was accepting resumes for my job. I had and still have been thinking a lot in the past few weeks about why it feels almost shameful to admit that I'm quitting teaching.

Somehow, teaching seems to give you sort of a badge of character. To say you're a teacher, and to be viewed as one by other people, seems to comment on your moral fiber, for better or worse. And quitting teaching...well, then, you must be backsliding or losing your faith or your nurturing qualities or something.

And now this guy in chapel, this guy who couldn't speak in complete sentences or utter a phrase without repeating like after every word, was telling all of our children that civil engineering should be poo-pooed for "ministry," whatever that means. It pissed me off, for myself and the kids. As I thought about what to do after teaching, I certainly didn't need someone else telling me that I could never do something as important as molding lives, and our kids certainly didn't need anyone telling them the math, English, and science they were studying should be abandoned for ministry.

I just needed to get that ranting off my chest. And in case people are wondering, I have absolutely no idea what I'll do after teaching. Probably rob a bank.

Check it out

I think Ruth's told me about it before, but I just rediscover Lark News, "A good source for Christian news." You have to check out their t-shirts--my favorite is "I want to be a pastor's wife." My 2nd favorite, and probably favorite for middle-school teachers is "Jesus loves you. Then again, he loves everybody."

It works!

Did you know you can call your credit card company and just ask for a lower interest rate? I saw it on Oprah, and thought it would be a big hassle. I tried it though, and in less than a minute Scott was offering me a much lower rate. That's awesome.

Today was Cadet Sunday at church, and therefore time for the annual singing of Living for Jesus. At least it's only once a year.

During the children's sermon today the pastor was using two different cups, one plastic and one handmade out of clay, to illustrate how they bear the mark of their maker. He held up the plastic one and said that it probably wasn't made by hand, but on a machine. Then he held up the ceramic and asked the kids who they thought had made it. Of course many of you who have grown up in Sunday School know what they said...the pastor's kid raised his hand and said "God!" The pastor's response was funny...he said "Well, yes, in a roundabout way."

I'm afraid that every weekend from now until I move I'll think about having to leave my friends. shit.

Giving Notice

This week I told everyone at school that I'm leaving. Boy, did that suck. At the other schools I've left people sort of said stuff like "Wow, we'll miss you. Good luck in whatever you do next!" Or something like that...

At this school, it was different. I'm not sure if that's a sign they really like me, or not. My superintendant was concerned that they had done something to make me leave. A colleague sighed and said "Oh...I thought we made such a good team."

Leaving really has nothing to do with them, but they made me feel guilty. I've never felt like that leaving any other job. Hopefully it's not a sign of things to come.

The Habitation

Here's where ya'll can come and visit me in Sioux Falls--my new home!

The News

It's official. I suppose it has always been official, but until today I've been trying to keep it quiet. Okay...the news is...I'm pregnant.

Just kidding. Though that would have been an interesting message to deliver to my school today, the one that I really told them is that I'm moving to Sioux Falls.

Wow, it's weird to write that. I've been keeping it quiet (quietish?) until now so that my school wouldn't find out through the grapevine, but now that they know, it's out. And I definitely have mixed feelings. I'll miss the Bay Area greatly, along with my friends and my church. But, being close to my family, owning a home, and finding a new job are also exciting.

So yeah. I'm pregnant and I'm moving to Sioux Falls.

My Newest Obsession

I just started watching, and loving, 6 Feet Under. I absolutely love it. And as I watch, I can't stop wondering how the idea of a family in a funeral home came up.

This weekend was great. Amanda was here, and we spent Saturday in San Francisco. The pictures were taken from our hotel room. Miraculously, it was sunny the whole time we were there.

It was great...we took the cable cars, saw the houses from the beginning of Full House (love it), and shopped. Good times.

Too Much Information

I often use the kids and their lives in our sentence examples during grammar class, just to keep it lively and keep them interested. So today I asked for a volunteer. A kid raised his hand, and I asked him to tell us something we didn't know about him, so that I could make a sentence with it.

He looked around for a while, thought, and then said "Um, I wear boxers."

Definitely more than I needed to know.

Funny Kid Moment

Today we were reading "The Call of the Wild" again, and I was trying to help the kids figure out new vocabulary. We came to the word "demonstrative," and I asked the kids to identify the rood word. I thought they would come up with "demonstrate." Not so. A kid raised his hand, and confidently said "Demon!"

Weird!

I was at the grocery store, and I saw a little girl pushing a baby carriage...with a rabbit in it. A real, live rabbit...in the grocery store. I think I actually stopped to stare. I was so surprised I found myself wondering if the rabbit was a service animal. I'm guessing not in a pink and purple baby carriage.

Normal

Things seem to be getting back to normal after the holidays. After a few hours of lugging things up and down from my apartment to storage and back, all of the Christmas decorations have been put away.

Hating the beginning of anything new, it feels good to me to get back to old routines. It was nice to be back at my own church, clean my house, practice viola, and do the boring weekend routines like laundry. Even school is feeling comfortable again, like I know what to do there.

The kids made me laugh this week. The 8th grade is reading "The Call of the Wild." It's interesting to read together, because at points throughout the year, when we're talking about books, I've told the kids how much I hate animal stories. So, when we started this one, they wondered why I liked it, even though it was about dogs. I told them I liked it because most animal stories go like this: an animal endears itself to people, something happens, the animal saves the humans, the animal dies and everyone is sad. The Call of the Wild is definitely NOT a Lassie story.

I was watching the O.C. this week, a guilty pleasure, and the Kaitlin character has to do a speech on the Call of the Wild. It's funny because she ends up saying stuff like "Buck's hair is really pretty" and stuff about how the dogs fighting and killing each other is a lot like being a teenager.

So I asked one of my 8th grade classes if they watch the O.C., and one of the kids said "Oh, you mean that show with no plot?"

Gotta love 'em.

Why Does Hitler Always Show Up?

7th graders have weird minds. Right now in my 7th grade language arts class we're studying drama. We read a play that's actually a Twilight Zone episode, and they're writing new endings which we're going to turn into iMovies.

Last year I let the kids pick a new theme for the ending...only they ended up not really having themes. When I asked what their theme was, they'd say "uh, it's funny." So this year I let them draw from some themes I made up, hoping to spur on more creativity. The groups that were happiest got "We make our own fears come true," and "We only know how to hurt each other." The other groups weren't as happy with "Sometimes we let our imaginations run away with us," and "We're always surprised at how well we can treat each other." I guess they thought the happy ones wouldn't be as much fun...

Today they're working on the scripts in class, and one group was STRUGGLING to come up with something that logically fit together. We started our new endings in the middle of the play we had read, with a dark, shadowy figure walking down the street, and the townspeople picking up a gun. So the group I'm talking to says "Yeah, the figure is an alien, he's shot by the people, and then Hitler comes up to them."

Uh, where did Hitler come from?

I'm realizing that what is logical to me, is definitely not logical to them. And I think logic is genre-specific, and dependent on how much you've read and watched. These kids thought it was totally logical that Hitler would walk into a small town and onto Maple Street. When I told them it wasn't, they just changed Hitler to a homeless man.

Another, more creative group, had their dark shadowy figure turn out to be an alien whose goal was to midgetize the whole planet. I just liked that they made up the word "midgetize." Although, after watching "Little People, Big World," I'm wondering if midgetizing is derogetory. Better than Hitler, I guess.

The Tact of Middle Schoolers

So some of my 8th graders were giggling today. I gave them a quizzical look, and one brave one said "Ms. D, you have a sunglasses tan."

True, true. Unfortunately I do have a line of demarcation at the top of my nose, and no freckles around my eyes. I also have freckles on only half of my forehead because of my bangs.

I noticed it happening too, but couldn't bear to be without my shades. Probably because my future's so bright. :)

Because of middle schoolers, all middle school teachers can be confident they will always instantly know about all flaws--physical, fashion, or otherwise. And we'll know any time we're wearing shoes exactly like those of one of our student's mothers. That really happened last year.

January is Saved!

Amanda is coming to visit. Whoo-hoo!!

January

Christmas vacation was awesome. Hawaii was beautiful, and I'm going through baby withdrawal. Maybe I do have that maternal instinct.

Oh, and I hate January. I love Christmas, and New Year's Eve, even if it means I'm just sitting around, but January is loathsome. I realized recently, while helping struggling readers picture what they're reading in their minds, that I have pictures in my mind for most words, not just stories.

When I think about "January," the picture that comes into my mind is harsh morning light after you've spent all morning cleaning. It's not the great you just got up and get to have a cup of coffee light. In my mind January is like someone pushing you out of your warm bed onto the floor an hour before you really have to get up.

A New Year?

I rang in the new year in the most boring way...doing nothing. After waiting at the baggage carousel for over an hour, I got home from the airport late and spent the minutes between then and midnight opening mail that had accumulated while I've been gone. No alcohol, no noisemakers, no fireworks. Magazines, Christmas cards, and bills instead.

I think long breaks are supposed to leave you refreshed, ready to go back to work. This is not so for me. It's left me with a sense that tomorrow will be only a continuation of the monotonous.