Ode to MSP

So I'm blogging sooner than I thought. I'm sitting in the Minneapolis airport, awaiting my flight which has been delayed. I've already finished watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, read Oprah and National Geographic, so I'm getting kind of bored. The airport is woefully sparse with the outlets for laptop charging, so I'm sitting on the floor between the ladies restroom and a prepaid phone card machine.

In my boredom, I've decided to compose a short, rhyming, silly poem called "Ode to MSP" in honor of my favorite airport at which to be stuck:

Ah, M-S-P
You're the airport for me
From where I sit
to type and knit
an abandoned french fry greets me
Your worn carpet and pleather
and hot muggy weather
welcome me home without so much as 1 tree

Ah, M-S-P
with carts that nearly run over me
Ladies in sweatshirts and stretch pants,
moms with babies who dance
herald me home
irritated by cell phones
to the land of the corn and the beans.

the end.

more to come if I'm still stuck here in another hour.

Au Revoir

The travels begin. I'm off tomorrow, to home, Iowa, Okoboji, Minneapolis, Haiti, Iowa City, and somewhere near Willmar for Heather's wedding. Thankfully my parents now have high speed internet so I won't have to leave my blog for too long.

I'm excited about the holiday weekend as I'll be spending it at the lakes with my whole family, babies (born and unborn) and all. There we still have dial-up, though I suppose that's fitting for a lake retreat--all relaxed and all. Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Prayer

George MacDonald (1824-1905)

My prayers, my God, flow from what I am not;
I think thy answers make me what I am.
Like weary waves thought follows upon thought,
But the still depth beneath is all thine own,
And there thou mov'st in paths to us unknown.
Out of strange strife they peace is strangely wrought;
If the lion in us pray--thou answerest the lamb.

Hot Ripon, Baked Goods, and a Cemetery Deer

Since my prowess in the kitchen is often nonexistant, I thought I'd post a picture of the cinnamon rolls I made (from scratch!) just to prove it. You can see that my mathematical-spatial abilities have not improved though. I was supposed to cut the "cinnamon roll log" into 12 pieces...I started from the middle, which was obviously the wrong thing to do. I figured out later I should have started by cutting it into 3 pieces. So, yeah, I ended up with a few different sized rolls, but overall they were a success.

After the cinnamon rolls, but before Ripon, I went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium with Nellie and her girls. With all the excitement at the aquarium, I didn't take any pictures. I can tell you that one of her girls was so excited about a seal that she threw up, and I almost dropped the other one into the penguin tank. Kidding. Kind of.

Anyway, we were driving around while one of the girls was sleeping, and we happened upon a cemetery full of deer. So, of course we stopped. Just to prove it, here's a deer.
Yesterday I spent the afternoon and evening in Ripon with Nellie and her family. The drive out there is the most open space I've seen in a long time in California. I know, I shouldn't take pictures while I drive, but I get bored. I actually saw this stretch of freeway twice because of a navigational error.What you can't see in the picture is that it was ridiculously hot. The high in Ripon yesterday was a cozy 104. Thankfully the A/C worked all the way out there. While driving I was haunted by a story from one of the other teachers at my school--she and her husband were driving on a hot day like this when they came upon a sheet accident. A whole truckload of sheep had overturned on the freeway, and many had been hit by cars. It turned into a 3-4 hour long ordeal, at the beginning of which they'd started to mock the people who didn't have A/C. At just the moment they began cackling, their A/C gave out.

Thankfully there were no sheep accidents. Ripon was interesting. There were a lot of things that were very similar to N'West Iowa, but some key differences, mainly diversity and big cities nearby. Some things were the same though--Nellie's parents cooked an outstanding Sunday night dinner, complete with mashed potatoes, corn, meat and applesauce. We also discussed the food pile-up (some for, some against) and the jello and pretzel combo (split again). I also got a tour of their almond farm, complete with processing plant. It's an amazing structure, really.

Perhaps the best part of the visit was that at nightchurch we sang my least favorite hymn. The organist ended the song (all 4 verses) with a finale when he crescendoed into a key change on verse 4. Will this song ever die?

Wait....Hull has a website? Oh my, I was just looking for the link to the town website, and found it has a Wikipedia entry too.

Times sure have changed. The website says they have both a Summerfest and a Winterfest. When I was growing up there was only Horse Shoe Days, which I don't see on the Events Calendar. Oh, and the population (according to Wikipedia) has grown from about 1,700 when I lived there to 1,960. It brings to mind Maurice's apt but strangely suggestive motto: "Small in size, but on the rise!"

Reader Survey

I want a new way to organize the list of people that have links on my blog. I want something interesting, but informative. I've thought about time periods, but some people span more than 1. Or length of their names, but that doesn't really help locate anyone...

Other ideas?

For your laughing enjoyment!

Here is a blast from the past. My dad sent it today, after receiving it from one of his German colleagues. My family went to Germany to visit the candy factory where the gummy bears were made, before the Black Forest brand was sold. I think I'm 12 in the picture. I actually think the picture is hilarious because it highlights almost all of the ugly, embarrassing things about being that age. Note the braces, spiral perm, white Keds, and (gasp!) fanny pack. My brother's glasses are pretty funny too.

This picture makes me rethink the magnitude of any embarrassment in my current adult life. :)

H-O-T

My web browser has a little built-in weather forecast thingy, and usually there's an icon like a sunshine, a cloud, a raindrop, etc. Today there's just a red thermometer with heat waves coming off the top of it.

I've been tagged...

So Nellie has tagged me, which means I have a survey to complete. Here we go:

1. Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, and find line 4. Mine says "window has an identical number of stitches and"

2. Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What can you touch? My coffee cup from this morning

3. What is the last thing you watched on TV? Gilmore Girls

4. Without looking, guess what time it is. 10:09pm

5. Now look at the clock. What is the actual time? 10:00pm

6. With the exception of the computer, what can you hear? The air conditioner

7. When did you last step outside? What were you doing? at 8:30, driving home from my haircut, which takes way too long for how short it is

8. Before you started this survey, what did you look at? Tons o' blogs :)

9. What are you wearing? Jeans and a tank top (full of hair from my haircut)

10. Did you dream last night? Yes! Scary house being broken into dream

11. When did you last laugh? This afternoon, while babysitting Nellie's girls. I laughed when her oldest tried to convince me that mommy said we could watch 3 videos AND go to the park

12. What is on the walls of the room you are in? Sadly, nothing yet...

13. Seen anything weird lately? Do my plants not dying count?

14. What do you think of this quiz? It's long...

15. What is the last film or video you saw? The Break-Up. Long, and should have ended too many times.

16. If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy? A house here and one near my family. Sadly the house here would cost most of that money.

17. Tell me something about you that I don’t know. Maybe ya'll know this, but I have more cat names on my list than kids' names.

18. If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do? Give people little boxes on top of their heads that tell you what they're REALLY thinking

19. Do you like to dance? Only if I've had a few drinks, or if no one can see me.

20. Comment to George Bush: Um, really?

21. Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her? Anna or Grace

22. Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him? I have no idea. I have a list of names that are off the list though after teaching for three years.

23. Would you ever consider living abroad? yep!

24. What do you want God to say to you when you reach the pearly gate? Relax.

25. 4 people who must also do this quiz on THEIR blog: Okay, so now you all are at my mercy--Megan, Ang, Donna, and Charity

Projects!

I LOVE having projects to do. I think I like them partly because in my work I don't really get to see many "finished products," so it's nice to see other things come to completion. Today I started on two summer projects. The first is a baby blanket I'm going to knit for one of the new babies. Today I went to a yarn store near my house and got some beautiful dark gray yarn.

My grandmother taught me how to knit quite a few years ago now, and I've never really gotten past scarves. Actually, I think I may have completed what I called a "cat scarf," really just a very small scarf. Then there was the WAY too big rainbow scarf....also never finished. Not that this bodes well for the baby blanket, but yeah...

The other project I started, and actually completed today, is a place to keep my knitting needles. Right now they live in a "To teach is to touch a life forever" bag embroidered with my name...and a "Miss" in front of it. :(

When my grandparents moved into a retirement home, my grandmother gave me a trove of knitting, crotcheting, and sewing things, which I love. So I bought fabric and sewed up the handy knitting needle holder. It's kind of like a knife or jewelry roll--there are pockets for the needles, and then it rolls up and ties with a ribbon. I quite like it.

My next project is going to be more domesticity on display--bread. I've never been sucessful at making any type of yeast bread from scratch, so I'm anxious to try again. I'm thinking cinnamon rolls....mmmm.

It seems that this week I have been hit upside the head with the revelation that I am going about some things all wrong. I have been preoccupied for the last few months with trying to figure out God’s calling on my life. I’ve wanted to know the specifics—job, city, house, etc. I’ve been comparing my life to what I dreamed about as a child, and trying to figure out why it doesn’t match. I’ve completely ignored everything unplanned that has been good.

So thankfully I’ve been shoved this week in another direction. And I did need a good bit of shoving…I finally got the picture after a 3-point life sermon, how appropriate. First, I got into a discussion with a friend of how specifically God works in our lives…whether or not he shows us which job to choose, which house to buy, etc. Then, I was reading a book I picked up this week, and was nudged to think about any differences between my imagined life and my real life, and anything I am thankful for about that. I was surprised to come up with a list of things that haven’t happened in my life that I’m thankful for.

Then finally this morning the sermon at church was all about discerning our calling. His first point was that our highest calling is Micah 6:8—to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with our God. He also talked about the fact that although there is no one single plan, we work out our calling with fear and trembling. We are involved, but we need to be still, to listen and discern God’s movement.

The part of the sermon that really hit me is that God’s desires will be made known as we respond, that we are to be faithful where we are now. One of the things I’ve been so arrogant about is the fact that I believe that I determine exactly what will happen next in my life. Not only have I refused to see the path that brought me to this point, but I have also refused to acknowledge the fact that each event in my life has prepared me for the next. God does not owe me the life I imagined for myself long ago, but he has other, better plans.

I’m really curious to hear if other people have opinions on this. I thought I had calling all figured out in college, but yeah…not so much. Not that I get it all now…part of what I’ve learned is that I know WAY less than I think I do about the future.

Viewing our faults

Yesterday a friend and I took a sight-seeing trip around some of the more interesting parts of Northern California, particularly those prone to earthquakes. Yes, I'm currently a bit obsessed with earthquakes.

We stopped in Fremont, and saw this exhibit, which is part of the exposed Hayward fault. It's not the exact fault on which this week's earthquake happened, but they're all connected. The exhibit was really cool, but not exactly what I was expecting.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but it didn't really look all that different from any other giant hole in the earth. I think that's why earthquakes are so interesting to me--they're so sneaky. You can't really see anything happening, but you can see the effects.

One of the guides at the Hayward Fault was particularly helpful, and took us out into the parking lot to see how the curb had been torn apart.

There were also two trees that seemed to be on top of the fault, and they were strangely twisted, as if from the force of the movement. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of them, but I was glad that they were pointed out.

We also went to downtown Hayward, where you can see how earthquakes have messed with curbs and streets.

We finally drove up to Berkeley, and to the UC Berkeley campus where the stadium is built directly over the fault, running from goalpost to goalpost. I'm not sure if they're tempting fate or just don't think it's likely an earthquake will happen during a football game.

More appealing than the football stadium was the view from the Lawrence Hall of Science on the Berkeley campus. This picture really can't do the view justice. You can see Marin County, San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and even some of the hills near San Jose.

More on the earthquake

Nerdy, but cool: You can view a map of the earthquake's intensity from this morning. Also, people can write in and tell the USGS whether or not you felt the earthquake. I completed their survey, and it's interesting what they ask. One of the questions asked whether you got under a door frame, stayed where you were, or ran outside. I guess I didn't run outside, but I did run to the window. I guess the earthquake training at school didn't really help much.

Earthquake

I felt my first earthquake this morning! I woke up at about 5:30am, and sort of freaked out. This is a strange way to describe it, but it felt exactly like a cat jumping off the bed while you're sleeping. But then I heard the windows sort of rattle, and I started to wonder if someone was trying to break in, or if someone was in my apartment. Thankfully it was starting to get light, so I got up and looked around. Nothing was out of the ordinary except that I had forgotten to turn the air conditioner on before bed and it was getting too warm to sleep.

So I woke up this morning, and while I was having coffee and watching the news I saw on the Today Show that there was a 4.7 magnitude earthquake about 30 miles away from here. Wow, my first earthquake, and I mistook it for a cat.

Training Them Young

Tonight I went into a Christian bookstore, looking for a Book of Common Prayer. I'd checked Barnes and Noble, but couldn't fine one. Strangely enough, the staff at the Christian bookstore couldn't find one either, though two appeared on their computer screens. This is strange to me because it seems like the Book of Common Prayer is something that's been around for a very long time, and shouldn't be so mysterious...

Anyway, while I was searching the store for it, something funny happened. There was a smallish boy, maybe four years old, walking through the aisles. As he passed the books of sheet music, he stopped, pointed to one, and looked around for his mom. He couldn't see her right away, so basically just into the air he said "This isn't a Christian book!" And then he kept shouting it, like he expected someone to run and grab it and throw it on the book-burning pile. "This isn't a a Christian book, this isn't a Christian book!"

It made me laugh out loud, but then I was thinking...how in the world did he make that determination? He couldn't have been older than 4 or 5. And why was it so disturbing to him? It's quite scary to see a 4 year old that freaked out about "secular" sheet music. Nearly as scary as the scripture mints near the door.

More on Jpod

The verdict is in--I loved Jpod. I was also the very first person to check out a copy from the entire SJ library system. For those of you who don't live here, that type of geekiness is encouraged, not shunned here.

Jpod reminded me a lot of Microserfs, but in a good way. It has a similar cast of characters--a group of friends working at a high-tech place, with the back-scab guy replaced by a people-smuggler named Kam Fong. It has a similarly surreal plot that isn't believable, but very intriguing. And, of course, there are the weird Douglas Coupland-required pages of strange things. In this book there are 20 pages dedicated to the search for a rogue digit in the first hundred thousand numbers of pi. I think it would be an entirely different reading experience if I could actually find those things.

Douglas Coupland also pokes fun at himself, which I think reads as really funny. Here are a few of my favorite lines:

"Pass me another Zima."
"Why are we drinking Zima? It's beyond irony. It's not funny or anything. It's just gross. Why not just serve us jugs of Hitler's piss instead?"
"Drinking Zima is something Douglas Coupland would make a character do."
"To what end?"
"It'd be a device that would allow him to locate the characters in time and a specific sort of culture."
"Is that all we are--Zima drinkers? Zima is so nineties."

And there's a very interesting subplot where Kaitlin, the girlfriend in the novel, becomes convinced that most people who work in high-tech fall into the autistic spectrum somewhere closer to the autism end than other people. To counteract this, she makes a hug machine. I was discussing this with Jen and Brian last night, and it seems to be true. At least Jen and I think so.

Anyway, it's a keeper. Jpod is the new Microserfs.

Gross Foods Prepared and Served Mostly by People of Dutch Ancestry

Okay, there are just some things that do not, and should not, go together. Lately I've had similar conversations with colleagues and friends about the disgusting foods that are always served at gatherings, mostly church related--potlucks, weddings, funerals, graduation parties... Having grown up with an Irish mother I avoided having to eat most of these in my own home, but a church potluck reminded me of a few of my least favorites this morning:

1. The most disgusting: Jello, particularly jello mixed with cool whip, with VEGETABLES in it. Gross! Fruit is weird, particularly pears, but celery???? I accidentally ate some this morning and was totally grossed out.
2. Ham buns. For those of you who might not be familiar with a ham bun, it's a slab of ham on a dinner roll. Not so bad in and of itself. However, the traditional ham bun is served with the roll (both sides) slathered in butter. And, lately I've seen a few with melted, processed cheese spread. Ick.
3. Sugar sandwiches and peanut butter/butter sandwiches. This may have just been my grade school and high school, but wow...a sugar sandwich consists of bread, butter and sugar, and the peanut butter at our school was always mixed 1 to 1 with butter.
   
4. Sloppy joes with potato chips on top. I don't so much mind the taste of a sloppy joe, but handling one is usually treacherous at best. And potato chips on top just puts it over the edge for me.
5. Pretzel/jello dessert. This is jello perversion that is second only to celery. There's a layer of pretzels in a dessert, under jello. "Don't they get soggy?" you ask. Yes! Soggy pretzels? Gross.
6. I don't know what to call it other than a food pile-up. People (my very own family members included) mix together corn, applesauce, mashed potatoes, and sometimes a piece of meat. Ick, ick, ick. Give me a divided, plastic plate anytime.
   

I'm sure I've missed a few, but these are my top offenders. Feel free to add to the list.

The end of it all

The last week and a half has been mentally exhausting, grading stacks of research papers, quarter tests, make-up work, and organizing drivers for field trips. After Monday, it will all be over. Today was the deadline for grades, but sadly I still have a little work left to do. After having a minor breakdown at school, my principal told me to go home and have a glass of wine. Check.

So as I was having this glass of wine and unwinding from a stressful day, I started reading one of the last assignments my 7th graders did for me. I asked them to write a short letter to the 6th grade class, for me to read to them on their first day of seventh grade.

Here is the best advice (both wise and funny), excerpted from their letters (spelling and emphasis theirs:

• Two good events in seventh grade are Spiritual Retreat and LaserQuest (don't let Miss De brag about her beating you or us; it's a long story.
• If you ever want to see your phone again, don't let the teachers see it.
• Also, if you think no one is interested in the opposite sex in the seventh grade, you don't have very good common sense, be prepared for more couples.
• First of all, never try to suck-up to your teachers. It DOESN'T work. Second, if you have a problem, talk to an 8th grader or a teacher. P.S. If you're ever smelling lotion, don't squeeze the bottle. I know from personal experience.
  
• Teachers will respect you more if you do your homework and ask questions. And don't borderline dress code, it's really embarrasing to have to change into your P.E. shorts.
• During later classes in the afternoon you can drift off and watch the P.E. classes out the window
• Don't try to get in trouble on purpose
• Don't try to argue with Mrs. B, you'll NEVER win
• Don't argue with any of the women teachers, you'll NEVER win
• Some of the teachers might seem iffy at the beginning, but toward the middle of the year they might turn out to be funny, or do something to surprise you.
  

And here's one student's whole letter, after I clearly said I wanted two paragraphs, and/or a do/don't list: "Dear Sixth Grader, It's good to know that Miss De is strickt and it's not a good idea to upset her."

We had an all-school skating party today, and it was so much fun! I wasn't exactly looking forward to today after many restless nights of sleeplessness, but it was definitely more fun than I had thought it would be. For one thing, the little kids were hilarious. Most of them couldn't skate well, and the 1st grade teacher told her kids they had to wear helmets, and lots of them did. That was really cute. Also, the "couple skate" brought back so many memories of middle school...ah, the drama. It also reminded me of the many Saturday mornings my brothers and I used to spend skating at Magic Wheels, a skating rink near our house. I think there's actually a picture of me when I was 5 skating with someone dressed up as a giant pink carebear.

Probably the best part of the skating party was that one of the teachers requested some music from the good old days--Wannabe by the Spice Girls, and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper. Bring on the 80s.

Argh!

I can't sleep. My poor students...I've felt exhausted every day this week for lack of sleep. It's aggravating to me because I like to be very efficient. If I'm not sleeping, I should be doing something else, not just lying in bed waiting to sleep.

So, I'm making a list of activities I'd like to do this summer. My colleague/friend Becky and I have been talking about what to do since we're both not working this summer for the first time in many moons. Here's what we've discussed so far:

1) Outlet mall shopping
2) Trip to the aquarium
3) Trip to the beach (with books, yea!)
4) Quilting (Becky knows how and will teach me, though I'm not sure I have the patience)
5) Laying out by the pool at my apartment
6) Shopping for a bike for me--again, Becky is the expert here

I'm not sure what else...there's always the library, and maybe Donna can teach me some of the HTML stuff she's learning...

Other ideas?

Today we finished up our film unit and the last academic day of school with The March of the Penguins. Here's the review of one of my seventh graders:

"It's only slightly inspirational because it's narrated by Morgan Freeman."

Hester

So, I traded in Viktoria the viola. After having a few lessons and hearing my teacher's viola, I realized that Viktoria was cheap and sounded more like a toy viola than a real viola. I went to a strings shop to look for a viola, and they were so incredibly helpful. Most shopkeepers in CA don't seem overly friendly to me, but these guys were exceptional. They let me take home two different violas on approval (something I thought only happened in IA). I chose this one because it has the best tone. A lot darker and richer than the one I had before. I decided to name her Hester. It fits for a lot of reasons. First, the sound is dark and rich, much like Hester Prynne I think. I've been re-reading the Scarlet Letter lately, and I really admire Hester's character. Yeah, she's an adulterer, but I think she proves that she's a very strong and yet humble woman in the face of that. Also, and less significantly, the apartment I live in is the "Hester" model.

Anyway, I've learned a lot about stringed instruments. I had no idea that wood could be "flamed," like it is in the second picture. I guess it's a natural state for some wood, and it's admired in stringed instruments. Also, I guess I always thought that violins and violas were mostly flat, but not so. I think that the back of the instrument resembles a human back.

I'm also increasing my repertoire. I've learned some fingering, and now I can "play" a few more songs, mostly old hymns. I say "play" because it still sounds much like a sick cat. Someday, someday...

Good Times with the Young'uns

Today was one of those times when I really appreciate 8th graders. These times are increasingly rare as the school year marches on toward Thursday. Since I only had 1 class period left today with one of the 8th grade classes, I decided to have them do extemporaneous speeches, mostly for fun. They wrote topics, put them into a basket, and then picked one out to speak on.

Here are my favorite topics from today:
1. Delicatessan Meats
2. Cheeses
3. Trees
4. Anime

I know they're probably supposed to be on current events, but these were hilarious. The poor girl who got delicatessan meats didn't know what a delicatessan was, but she did a fine job of singing the praises of bologna. I told them they could make stuff up if they didn't know it, as long as they spoke with confidence. She make up "risercha" meat, after she saw the word "research" written on the board. One boy tried to incite the class to rise up against anime, calling it clown cartoons and people with disproportionately large heads. The girl who got the topic of trees talked about how she wouldn't want to be a tree, and how she'd hate squirrels living in her. She started to talk about how she wouldn't want squirrels running up her....and then stopped, realizing that we were leaving the G rated arena.

Anyway, I'm glad there are still fun times, even though everyone has been made crazy by the end of the year.

Check it out! Josh finally posted something about his engagement. Congratulations, Josh and Sarah!!!!!

Ew!

My kids are taking quarter tests today, which are like exams except that they only cover the current quarter's material. When they take these tests I sit up front to supervise. This morning, at the beginning of the test, one of my kids was burrowing deep into his ear with his pinky and then licking his finger. Ew!

Jpod!

Has anyone read or seen Jpod, the newest Douglas Coupland novel? I read somewhere that it's supposed to be the Microserfs of the Google generation. I was really disappointed with Miss Wyoming, so I'm a little leary of this book messing up Microserfs for me too. Anyone read it?

A Delightful Afternoon

This afternoon my church had a combined Pentencost service with the Korean church that rents our building. It was an outdoor service at a local park with an amazing view of the hills around us. After the service there was a potluck with lots of good fruit, kim-chi, and outstanding Korean BBQ.

The service itself was interesting, and very fitting for Pentecost. We had two readers, one in English and one in Korean. Then the sermon was also given in both languages. Maybe it's because I really love linguistics, but I love listening to other languages being spoken. And I actually got to participate today. The person who was going to read the scripture was home sick with his kid, so I got to read the Pentecost story from the book of Acts for our church.

It was so nice to actually want to hang out with people from church. Usually I'm not wanting to hang around after church for a long time because I hate the awkwardness of trying to figure out who to talk to, but the people in this church are so friendly. Janelle and I even played on the swings, even if it was on her daughter's command. :)

The afternoon was gorgeous as well--upper 70s, a light breeze, perfect weather for being outdoors.

Good, Solid Names

In August I will, Lord willing, become the proud aunt of another little baby. No one (including myself) seems to believe that being the older, wiser aunt gives me any naming rights, but that doesn't keep me from thinking about it.

Although I love my nephew dearly, I really hope this one's a girl. And, I also hope she gets a good, solid name. One of my colleagues in Haiti told me about the custom of giving a name in the hopes that the child will grow up into the meaning. That seems wise to me. Also, it helps you avoid the trendy names that have little meaning, like Madison, McKenzey, etc. Sorry if any of you have children named that...but ick. So, even though I don't think anyone in my family reads this, here are the top 5 names and meanings I think would be good choices for the little one:

Eva: Giver of Life
Anna: Gracious
Grace: Grace
Kate: Pure
Zora: Dawn

And, just for fun, my top 5 cat names:

Chairman Mao (say it out loud)
Mr. Kittyhead
Gladys
Quiddie (sorry Amanda, I'm taking it back)
Dog

This guy makes me laugh out loud. I hope I see him in Haiti this summer.

Is it over yet?

The end of the school year makes me want to drink in a bad way. In fact, there was a gin and tonic consumed tonight after school. There are five days of school left, with 1 of those being an all-school skating party.

There are a few things that make the end of the year crazy. First, this year I have 36 research papers to grade between tomorrow and next Friday. Thankfully I've read them all at least once and am grading on a rubric, but it's daunting. Also, the kids are c-r-a-z-y, and not in the good way. Sometimes they're crazy and funny and I have good stories to post here. Lately they're just crazy annoying. Like today two eighth-graders thought it was HILARIOUS to get up every other minute to sharpen tiny pencils, break the ends, and repeat the routine. Some weird stuff.

Oh, and know how when you go to the movies you don't like to sit near the pre-teens because they are constantly talking through it? Yeah, same thing at school. It's somewhat amusing, but 13 year-olds simply cannot watch a movie without making comments on it. So, after every dog fight in Call of the Wild, there are a million comments about what they would've done in that situation, if they were dogs.

I don't know if it's like this for other teachers, but I am SO ready for this year to be over.

One semi-funny kid story to leave you with--D, this tall, lanky red-headed 8th grader (some of the kids call him a ginger kid, like that one episode of South Park) was galloping across the playground like a horse, singing "I can't wait to sign in to day care" in at least 3 different keys, and once in falsetto. This is the same kid who sang the organic chemistry song on our field trip to the library. Yea for singing.