My Universe is Room 3

Very Cool

2009-03-09T13:30:00.001-07:00

Two of my paintings will be hanging at the Allegro Gallery in Woodside, Ca from 3/15-3/28. Not my first work in a gallery, but my first artists' reception (3/22). It's so very cool! I hope people like them!

Bad Dream

2009-02-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

I think work is bothering me more than I thought. My dream last night:
Mt principal, Larry Garcia, stepped down, and a student from last year took his place. This student was a mess, and is at boarding school right now. He was also one of the kids who really disliked me.
He changed my job to being an aide at the K-3 school... and I'd have to give up my classroom. I had to make app't after app't to try to get my job back, but to no avail. Finally, he said we'd have to have a dance-off for my job. WTF? Maybe it's because we watched Madagascar 2, and the lion tried a dance off and failed. Is this a sign? Jeez, I hope not.

still wow.

2009-02-05T07:55:00.000-08:00

Yesterday one of the English Dept loud-mouths was assigned to come talk to Elective teachers during lunch. She came in, and attempted to strike up a casual conversation... I say attempted because it was very transparent. I cannot believe they are sending OPERATIVES in to get our game plan. My mole- because I have operatives too i guess- said she reported every word at their meeting yesterday. Also, she accosted P and I after school to 'invite' us to their meeting, as a false olive branch. I declined, as one of our team members was gone. She reported that we flat refused. I think they were trying to skip a step in the process and push their agenda by saying we met with them.
Maybe I will go into politics after all... I am getting a lot of experience!

Wow.

2009-01-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

The poo is hitting the fan around here. A family is suing the district- they have a point with most of it. Should I say that? Whatever, right is right, kid wasn't getting services, of course the 'rents are mad.
The staff is fighting AGAIN. I have to be involved because the 'academic' classes are trying to take an elective period line away from the 8th grader's schedules and give them more English instead. These kids have some of the highest scores in the state. WTF? I've been meeting madly, taking notes and doing research. I can't hunker down and let the shit fly back and forth above me. I have to pull on my boots, and try to stay professional in the face of madness. There are scary folks working against us, and I'm thinkin we're going to lose. Sometimes doing the right thing and playing by the rules doesn't work. :(
But my voice is returning, it's sunny outside, and we get paid tomorrow. OOOH! And Sunday is the SuperBowl and we're having our Usual Suspects over for festivities. All is not lost, um, what does not kill me makes me stronger, and the sun will come out tomorrow.

SO FUNNY... and inappropriate

2009-01-28T12:44:00.001-08:00

http://gofugyourself.celebuzz.com/go_fug_yourself/2009/01/sag_awards_fug_carpet_lisa_rin.html#more

I have no voice, and laughed soundlessly until I couldn't do it anymore.

Help!

2009-01-28T10:04:00.001-08:00

I have lost my voice! I can't find it! I sound like I have smoked 3 packs a day, slurped down a pint of whiskey, and worked in a bar, all for the last 25 years. The kids are laughing at me, not with me, and I don't like it. And I have a nasty cough. THIS SUCKS.
In other news, I really like my new classes. Lots of repeat customers, so lots of peer leadership. Awesome when Mrs O cannot talk. ;)

OBAMA!

2009-01-20T07:53:00.000-08:00

Today is an amazing day! I am so happy to be able to share this with my students. I'm canceling my plans so we can watch history unfold. Let's hope he lives up to the hype!

Remind me next semester...

2009-01-13T10:21:00.000-08:00

... to assign free choice performances to the Drama Pro classes. They are so funny, and just so excited to have their own dances, lipsynchs, and skits. I love their confidence and excitement! Most of them are so extraverted... totally unlike how I was in middle school. Yay!

Almost there...

2009-01-08T07:52:00.000-08:00

Maybe if I make it through this week, all will be better? I even bought a pair of shoes yesterday, and it didn't help. Today and tonight, my second Production class performs... They are smaller than the other group, and infinitely more lazy. I'm pretty sure I have everything ready, but I don't know. Stress is really high today, and I'm thinking my blood pressure is twice what it is normally. One of my leads Facebooked me last night, telling me she *thinks* one of the other leads knows his lines. He was shaky yesterday, so let's hope. This is when I earn my salary. This is when I get to keep my reputation as an amazing teacher... or lose it. Now, that doesn't mean losing my job, just the respect I have fought and clawed and scratched to win.
No pressure.

UPDATE: The first show went well- I feel better. :)

No excuses!

2009-01-06T07:51:00.000-08:00

Wow. Did your mom ever excuse you from a school project just because you didn't do it? Or had the balls to call the teacher to try to get them out of a late penalty? My mom would have died before doing any such thing! In the past 24 hours, I have had five, 5, FIVE, parents attempt to excuse their precious babies from my project that was due yesterday. I assigned it Nov 24. I don't give a poo if you moved over the break, went to France or needed to rest. Be responsible and do it before break, or accept the consequences of having late work. Lots of my colleagues DO NOT accept late work at all, let alone with reduced point value. The parents here are so conditioned to getting things their own way that they think this is fine. Nope. I just had to email and call parents who were upset with me about my timeline of due dates. Turns out their kids were not truthful, and they were sheepish. Also, this was EASY- five paragraph biography of a famous playwright, with an accompanying monologue of at least one minute. REALLY? A sixth grader can't do that... IN A MONTH? Argh, I hope something good happens today, because it's starting off shitty.
January sucks so far. :(

New Year, whhhoooooopeeeeee

2009-01-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

I'm not really excited about it. It's cold and icky today, and we had indoor lunch. Hate indoor lunch because the kids have to eat in my room, and my lunch is cut 15 mins short. Someone was supposed to come in to take the group, but no one showed up. I don't even know whose turn it was. It may be no one at all! I guess that makes up for the year I had duty in PK's room and he just told me to forget coming, he'd be in there anyway. What comes around does go around, even if it's 5 years later.
The end of the semester is so sad... my Minions will be disbanded and sent off to other classes. Snif. Thursdays will not be the same without "I'm-Hungry-Thursday" during 8th period. Remind me to take a picture of them before next Friday, okay? I will miss them, and certainly hope to have such a delightful and tiny group of students in the future. For most teachers, the end of first semester is no big: grades are due, we're halfway through, ect. For elective teachers, we get a whole new schedule and classes. I will have one less Drama Pro class, and one more Drama 6 class. Thank the lord that ceramics will stay two classes, it's my favorite. So anyway, I am busy attempting to wrap stuff up and begin all over again in two weeks. The good news is that after doing this for 8 years (already?!crap that seems like a long time), I can get going immediately and it doesn't faze me much. I am teaching another after shcool class- ceramics for 4th and 5th graders. I am hoping it will be less annoying than drama for 4th and 5th graders. I know, $200/hour is excessive, crazy money for not doing much, but it bugged the shit out of me.
The only thing that got me through was the thought that I was earning a pair of Ugg boots for each class. And I bought me a new pair at the mid-point just to cheer myself up.
I have stuff to do, so off I go. Mr O is having surgery on his leg next week, so I will be out a few days. Poor Mr O, he has varicose veins bad enough that they have to not only remove them, but he has to be put under to do so. They hurt him, so I am glad to see them go. Ick!
xxoo

tagged, Holiday flavor

2008-12-15T20:41:00.001-08:00

maybe this will get me back into blogging. Stuff has been NUTS at school, so I've just been ignoring it... hoping the madness goes away.
1. Egg nog or hot chocolate?
Egg nog with just a skosh of VSOP brandy.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
Santa leaves the 'important' ones unwrapped, the rest are wrapped.

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
Colored on both. And our house is wrapped 3/4 of the way around... FESTIVE!

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
Never. The dogs might eat it, and it's way poisonous.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Usually, the Thanksgiving weekend, but this year we had a party, and with hangovers and stuff, we put it off to the next weekend.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
Cinnamon rolls, eaten between the stockings and the Main Event.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child?
I don't know... I recall one X-mas in high school... we had multiple gift-openings due to multiple divorces, and the gift booty was astounding.

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
You mean there is no Santa? WTF?
9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Just one from Far Away.
10. How do you decorate your Christmas tree?
Colored lights, LED this year as an experiment. No likey- too intense. Then I layer it with my shiny glass ornaments until it about falls over. I have 40 Santas that dominate, but a drunken Rudolph, beer mug, and little houses also join in. Why is my lettering turning black every once in a while? Whatever.
11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
Never lived in it, but LOVE going to visit a few times a year. Swope cabin!

12. Can you ice skate?
Not so much.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
So many good ones... EZ Bake oven! And the ring G got me last year... he picked it out all on his own, and it was amazing. It was out of the blue, and so beautiful, and it made me cry.

14. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you?
Being with people I care about and who care about me. And cookies. And choosing something for my family that will make them happy.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Cookies.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Choosing the tree. We always go together, and march all around Webb Ranch. It's just so happy.

17. What tops your tree?
The metal star that G made me the first year we were married, and the first year we were in our house. I came home from work, and it was on the tree. He was standing there all proud, and it was so dear. I loves him!

18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving?
Giving. I love the ta-da! moment when I found something just right, and the person lights up.

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
Mr Hanky, the Christmas Poo. I might be crazy.

20. Candy Canes! Yuck or Yum?
So delicious.

21. What do you want for Christmas?
Besides a pony that Helen says will shit too much? I have no list. None whatsoever. For me, this is very bizarre behavior. How about some money? Never have enough of that. ;)

I am not tagging anyone, that is my gift to all, and to all a goodnight.

Sucked into the vortex of doom!

2008-10-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

So i have been initiated into the worst thing ever.... Facebook.
Peeps, it's bad. I want to know what's going on with all these people all the time. WHO CARES? Really. I don't communicate with the vast majority of these people, like, ever. Most of em are past students... I may have mentioned one or two of them on this here blog.
Checkthis: I have had this terrible compulsion over the last 10 years to pop onto the Internet and visit the same handful of sites, mostly to see if they've changed. What's different? A new hot celebrity mess on Go Fug Yourself? A new spoiler on Survivor Sucks? New theory about wtf is the deal with LOST? Facebook is the perfect thing for me.... perfect thing to suck up all available time, as stuff is changed, new and added onto all the damn time. Pretty much all of it is nonsense. Stuff that I don't care about at all. But I'm addicted. It's bad. I blame you, Beth. Damn you! You pushed me past my last excuse! I'm having too much fun with it. ARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH.
Back to Facebook, now...

Tired now

2008-10-01T07:55:00.001-07:00

Happy October! It's my favorite month, ya know. Pumpkins ahoy, as well as Halloween and my birthday. We have a full-on pumpkin patch in our front yard at home, and one at school, too. Mine at home is way better. More pumpkins, and bigger ones, too. I've already harvested five and have nine ((!)) more on the vine. And one is HUGE.
Anyway. I am already swamped here in good ol room3... I ma teaching an after school drama class, for which I am grossly overpaid. It is easy, but 4th and 5th graders are hella annoying, and giggle far too much. The only way I can get through it smiling is thinking to myself that each hour is as much as a pair of Ugg boots. More, actually, but you know. :) And it's only 10 weeks. I am also back to tutoring my delinquent twice a week. T keeps calling me a whore 'cause all I do is scheme about how to make more money. She has her Masters and makes $10K more than I do, so she can just shut it. Let me scheme in peace! I also find gigs around school consulting with the k-5 teachers about their art programs, or lack thereof. I am an expert- who knew? ;)

The Tale of Little O's Broken Elbow

2008-09-19T11:19:00.001-07:00

Little O is my son. He has been a major topic of conversation, lately. I had to miss a day of school unexpectedly, and for a compelling reason, so everyone and their mother- literally- knows what's up and keep asking.
SO: Little O went to church with his grandma and grandpa. (don't get me started) After Sunday School, he and a buddy were playing on a play structure before actual church started. Grandma used the facilities and told Lil O's buddys' mom she'd meet them inside. In the ten minutes between venues, Lil O managed to climb up over the slide... onto the part with the little cover? And fell off. Onto his left elbow. I have no clue how far up this was, as I do not attend church. I do get a phone call that we need to take him to the clinic, as he doesn't look too good and his arm hurts a whole lot. I figured he has fallen and has a bruise, as my mom isn't freaking out or sounding like it's serious. They pull up seconds later- mind you, it's Sunday morning and I have barely finished breakfast and haven't had an opportunity for a shower. None of my clothes match, my hair is yucky. Anyway, we go to the clinic, and he is white as a sheet, whimpering and sweaty. It's not hot out, so it's very disturbing. He can't walk, so into the wheelchair he goes. He weighs about 60 lbs, and he's hard to lift with out hurting his arm, which isn't really swollen or bruised, btw. They get him in, x-ray, and sure enough, even I can see the break. His humerus was snapped off at the elbow. Actually, across the growth plate. Because it was broken acrfoss the growth plate, we had to be referred to Stanford. Joy. Before we can go, they need to burn a CD with the xrays on it as well as call the specialist, because this is serious, ect. OH SHIT. I call Mr O and his only concern is if it's his left or right. Because of sports, duh. No, he was worried, I exaggerate. This takes FOREVER and they will not give him water nor pain meds because they are thining he needs surgery. HOLY SHIT. He's more comfortable with a splint, and off we go. I have to carry him into the ER at Stanford, him cringing and whimpering because it hurts so much. There is NOTHING worse than having your baby hurt and you cannot make it better. They see us right away, not too many crazy/screaming/drugged out folks in the ER Sunday afternoon. Still no drugs, no water. He's mostly okay, trying to be brave. People, we were there for 2 hours before he got medicine, and when he did, it was morphine. He mellowed, A LOT. Fell asleep, mostly. All this time, he has been watching Cars, then National Treasure. They have On Demand in the ER. Pretty cool, I must say. Mr O and I listened to the guy next to us (ehind the curtain) talk about how he was hurt. He broke his humerus throwing a baseball from short to first. WOW, they thought he had bone cancer. He had dilaudid five times, morphine three times, and was alllllll highhhhhhhh. He told the docs how he has HPV. Later, when I was looking for a phone, he popped in and told me where one was. He said he could hear me talking.. so I told him I heard a lot from his side, too, and tipped him a wink. He looked sxt day- he was staying overnight, therefore I was too. I had to call TR and have her create subhocked and I liked it. He was taken up to surgery at 5:30, and then Mr. O and I had to walk around the Childrens' Hospital until he was done. It was horrible. I had to call a substitute for the new plans with the sub during 1st period. I had to call my principal. I had to walk past the maternity ward where he was born, and the new babies window holding my sons' shoes while he was in emergency surgery. That was the absolute worst, and all the stress and teaars I was holding inside burst out. I couldn't help it. Later, my mom and stepdad and daughter came along with dinner- sandwiches from Piazzas Market. He came around, and the nurse cam to get us. I figured he'd be all funky looking, but no. He was eating a purple popsicle and looking pleased with himself. The surgery went fine... The tip of his humerus had not only broken off but displaced, so they had to pin it back into place using three pins. Here is a picture from this week when he got the temporary cast off and we could see the metal. Cool.
Now he has a red cast and it rules. We had more adventures in the hospital,but I'm tired of typing. Let's just say we didn't really sleep due to our really uncomfortable roomate who needed MORE DRUGS!!!!! alllllll nigghhhhhhttttttttt LONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I wanted to smother him with a pillow.

i am not dead...

2008-09-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

..just busy. Turns out teaching an afterschool class, directing an opera (non-singing participants, of course) and having a kid with a broken elbow takes up some time. Boy-chld will be fine, I'll spin the yarn of his woe some other time when I feel less like passing out from exhaustion.

ugh

2008-08-28T09:10:00.000-07:00

Tonight is PIN, Parent Information Night, or: back-to-school night anywhere else on Earth. I Have to deliver 7, count em, 7 spiels about my classes. I have a wicked sore throat and feel crapalicious. That's all I have. And my classes are awesome.
:)

back in the saddle again

2008-08-13T14:10:00.000-07:00

Aww yeah! I'm back. The room is all crazy and I can't find a bunch of stuff, but it's happy anyway. And Tenacious D is on the Soundock, and that is nothing but joy. I have just put together my desk and associated corner area- stainless dorm fridge, file cabinet, fake wood shelve-thingy, and awesome cubby thing. I am such a fan of the cubby thing- it looks like it was once a mailbox for the staff, but it just has 20 cubbies. It's wooden, and fairly old, with little metal plates to put names/titles. I love it, because I can stash all my crazy stuff inside it. One space is just for manila envelopes, one for big legal pads (white and yellow, holy shit there are 13), one just for my index cards for the various card games I teach. I have a lot of index cards! I have been unpacking my Big Green Plastic Desk Box today. I had four sunglasses cases- all empty. Makes me wonder where their occupants are. Hmm. I have an irrational love for colored paper clips and staples. Not just colored, metallic colored. Like, metallic hot pink binder clips. OOOH! I found a bunch of leopard spotted ones, too. My school is the Leopards, so leopard-spotted binder clips are gonna be the SHIT. I love Uniball pens, too. And white board pens in every conceivable color, thick and thin. I have a whole drawer full next to the whiteboard. Which has storage behind all three panels- and they slide to and fro so i can get stuff out and be dramatic. Aren't you jealous? I thought so. :)
Van Halens' Ice Cream Man is on... I am so dang happy right now!

just before August..

2008-07-28T13:52:00.001-07:00

Back from Hawaii. It was mostly good. Too many women all in one place, I think. Funny how the addition of just one makes the biggest difference. T learned to swim, and then snorkeled for the first time. Was so cool! Now, the kiddos are in the trailer-trash pool again, and it's sorta cold. Not sure what to think about the weather. I've been taking Tiki to doggie training so she can be a gigantic well-behaved sweetheart. Right now, she's just gigantic and a sweetie. I weighed her on saturday- 95 lbs at 9.5 months old. OMG that's gonna be a big dog. Let's see, what else? We tried Cheese House today. Delicious, and mostly the way they used to be. And with the addition of a Kids' Sando ($3.99), I felt better about the pricetag. It's the same size bread, looked like a tiny bit less meat, and spread. Two dollars less! The name sure is odd: "sando". That's a new one.
Oh well, dog days of summer. At least I don't have to work year round. :)

Summer Lagging

2008-06-24T14:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry, folks. It's summertime. Room 3 is all locked up and empty. Graduation was GREAT, all the kids delivered amazing speeches. One of the speakers gave me all his leis, so I have this really cool picture of me and some teachers- all lei'd as well. Much crying, as one of the other speakers spoke about how courageous the 8th grade math teacher is... He has ALS. He is the bravest person I have ever met, period. I made him and his wife dinner last week. It had to be 100% organic, and no sugars, starches, dairy, and no processed nothin'. Cave-man style. It was hard! But kinda fun to have to create a simple meal following the directions. M and T and I went to Whole Foods and cruised about until we found stuff that sounded good together. And then I paid WAYYYY too much for fruits for my babies. Whatever, it's just money, right?
Anyway, we bought a trailer-trash pool for the backyard, and M and her cuz are a'swimmin as I type. We all went to see Kung-Fu Panda this afternoon, too. I haven't done a whole hell of a lot in the last week and a half, and it's feelin good. We go to Hawaii next week- yay! I will try to find something exciting to write about before August, but I just don't see it happening. Oh well, we'll see.

best shirt-and ad- ever

2008-06-17T11:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.glarkware.com/productcart/pc/viewPrd.asp?idcategory=4&idproduct=2073

hilarious

New Computer Is Lame

2008-06-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

Sooo, the Tech Goddess replaced my old dusty desktop with this delightful new laptop. I was so looking forward to having this machine... my old desktop was OLD, like 5 years old. And with the clay dust in here, it's a mess. I check my email from time to time with clay all ove rmy hands, I just don't care. So now I have the new one.. Using it now. And I hate it. It's small.. it doesn't have all my neat stuff on it. And I can't remember the password for my wifi at home, so I can't even use it there. What a pisser. Also, we can't have wifi here at school, beacuse they can't figure out how to secure the system! This district is full of money... no wifi. I'd LOVE to use this in the middle of the room, watching a rehearsal, or sitting in the garden during a prep. I was told that a few neighbors had unsecured home wifi, so we could hook up like that. Well, they locked 'em last week! WTF? And I'm not paying f'ing Verizon for wireless connection.
In other news, it's the last Monday of 07-08..... WHOO HOO! And my grades are all but done, just waiting for the last kiln firings today and tomorrow. So. Damn. Glad.

Ugh.

2008-06-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

I have a cold today, so I is bumming. I can't stay home 'cause I have three of my classes performing today and tomorrow, so no couch-time for me. That's okay, though; I have 2.5 months couch-time in two weeks. Hee! And by then, I won't be sick! YAY! Oh, unless I have pnumonia, like my son, which means I'll be down for... the next two weeks! GO PNUMONIA!!!!!! Nah, my grades would be all screwy. And no parties! :( End of school always has the most, and best, parties.

I Hate to Assign Essays Because:

2008-05-29T08:12:00.000-07:00

- Then I have to read them and return them quickly
- 6th graders can't write their way out of a paper bag
- The kids plagiarize then lie about it
-They look at me like I'm crazy when I call them on it
- I have to prove my point by printing out their source and highlighting the exact sentences
- I end up feeling like the bad guy becasue they cheated and I fail them
- I know it's for their own good
- Did I mention it sucks to read them all in the first place?

Can you tell I've been busy?

2008-05-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

And I'm still slammed. I think next week will be better.... Except for the rough drafts I have to correct at the beginning of the week. I have tomorrow off- sorta. I am heading over to the County Office of Ed for a meeting for the whole morning, then I have to come back to school 'cause it's not cool to ditch even though I have a sub all day. I have to do "curriculum planning" for the balance of the day. I think it will look a lot like hanging out in the lounge while chatting and correcting papers. SO: I have yet to write my sub plans, even though the day is going to be reasonably easy. Open House is Thursday, so I have to put up work from every single Art kid I have. No easy feat- I teach around 260 kids in some sort of Art. The 3-D kids will have their master projects to display- good deal, cause they are really nice this year. In fact, that class starts right now.
Be right back

But I never win anything!

2008-04-23T09:59:00.000-07:00

Generally, I think I'm pretty lucky, but I don't usually win shit. Last week, I won the Free Trip to Disneyland courtesy of the district! Yay! Our school was nominated for this national award, and so we, as a school, were invited to this banquet-thingy at the Disneyland Hotel. The Superintendent, AP and a teacher who helped write the application were going for sure, then they had two extra spots. Everyone who wanted to go put their name in a hat, and I was picked! They're flying us down on a Friday morning, banquet is Fri night, staying the night at D-land Hotel (of course) and flying back home the next day. Best part: all free. Even the passes to the park. Really best part: NO KIDS. No one complaining about their feet, no one whining about wanting another $5 lemon icee deal, just grown ups riding the good rides all day. YES! The timing is sorta screwy- the Friday we go is the day after both my 7/8th grade plays perform, and the day we get back is the Big Fundraisin' Auction. I was planning on blowing off the auction because it isn't that fun and I wanted to spend more time with Mickey Mouse, but no. Turns out I have to speak at the auction beacuse VPA is the target of the direct appeal, and I have to say how great it would be if all the parental units in the District gave us $65K like they did last year for Science. The auction usually raises between $300 and $500K, but the direct appeal is cash. We want to do murals, and that costs $15-20K for my time, the other art teacher's time, and a professional to come in and tell us what to do. That and I want a decent sound system in the hall where I do my plays. Bottom line is I *have* to go to this event that I'd rather not attend and drink bad margaritas. One year a former NFL player and his wife joined the teacher table and poured the Patron all night long. THAT was good times. Now they're divorced, so that won't be happening again. Poo.

The Cheese House re-opened today!

2008-04-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Not really room 3 related but I'm fairly certain that anyone who might happen upon this would have passing aquaintance with Casa de Queso, so I thought it was relevant.

Didn't shoot any pictures, but it has to be seen to be believed. It's all clean and styley and not the same. The menu is mostly the same... There are about 5 cheeses in the front case- totally wrong. All the funky stuff was greatly reduced, and now relegated to a 10x10 foot wall of shelves. The chips are in tidy little baskets, and the candies were displayed on fancy-ish butcher block tables. Light jazz was playing above the roar of the crowd. My mouth was hanging open, really. I caught my mouth mid-gape and snapped it shut. I knew it was being remodeled, duh. I knew it had been sold. But I was unprepared for this. Mom and dad Staenke (sp?) were there out front with a table giving out cheese and meat samples-wtf? They did not look pleased. It was the most disturbing 20 minutes. Truly the most disturbing part- MY SANDWICH DID NOT TASTE RIGHT. It looked the same, it nearly smelled the same, but GODDAMMIT, my sammie was WRONG. If I'm paying $5.99 for a turkey-and-cheddar-old-fashioned-on-a-fucking-roll, it had better be RIGHT. Nope. Not enough meat. Roll was tasteless. Not enough Secret Sauce, which was correct tasting, thank goodness. Maybe I'm just being mental because they've been shut for 6 months and I had the sinking suspicion that they would fuck up the Sacred Old Fashioned. Or maybe the chick that made mine just sucked. I miss Jeff, and his older brother who used to give my little boy candies out of the jars and even The Grandma. You wouldn't EVER want The Grandma to make your sandwiches because she took 10x longer than anyone else. The other sandwich makers would come over and commiserate... That's usually when Ty would get the gummy worms or whatever. Yes, I did go often enough that they recognized me, but not enough that they start making my order as soon as I walk in the door. Like Jamba Juice does... yeeeaaah, I am a creature of habit.
Whatever, that's the big news today. I'll write about my Free Trip To Disneyland Courtesy Of School next week.

Playing catch-up

2008-04-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

What I meant to talk about today was last week. Man I was hardly at school last week, and that was sorta cool. I did take the day off to go to the Giants home opener, and instead of sending T a snarky text, I took her along! We had such adventures: drunk dude looking down our shirts, driving around looking for a parking spot for an hour and then buying a parking pass off a guy for $30, drinking wayyyyy too many beers, texting with kids at school, and so on. I got nasty nacho cheese on my favorite Coach boots. It was good times.
Then I went to school for 2 whole days. Nice week! Then we took the fam to Pismo for 4 glorious days in the trailer. OMG the sun was shining, the water was green and blue, and the wind did not blow! Many beers, many rides in the dunes, and I didn't get sunburned. G got kinda crispy, but his turns into tan so well. It was worth my last two 'personal' days.
So far this week is chaos- the DramaPro classes perform a month from today... Compared to last semester, they suck. But in general, not too bad. Looking Glass knows their lines and we're on to costumes/sets.... Jungle Book just has 3-4 stragglers who are almost done. One kid just won't get his lines, and he ad libs the whole time. That, and he's always dirty. And he is my pick for Most Likely To Shoot Folks From a Clocktower 2008. So- I can't ream him out, cause I don't want to be the first victim. Self-preservation, you know. In the 6th grade, he was the one that for the costume assignment forgot it was due, and went to the bathroom, removed his boxers (plaid) and wore them on his head like a hat. Oh, and put his socks on his ears. HAVE AN F. But he did give me a great story that I've used a lot, so I should really thank him.
Well, whatever, now I'm up to date, and have to scoot. Maybe I'll paint?

OMG I just got tagged

2008-04-15T09:47:00.000-07:00

Alrighty, www.acid-indignation.com just tagged me... 10 random things about me. I will do this, but choose to pass it along to just one blogger- Connie at socio-path.blogspot.com - cause that's the way I roll.

1. I hate peanut butter. Won't eat it, really can't stand the smell. BUT, I love Reeses' Peanut Butter Cups and regular peanuts.

2. If I won a big lottery, I'd still want to teach. Part time, of course, with a contract and still having to do grades and the whole thing. I know, I'm mental, but it's that much fun.

3. I hate clowns, but love to send creepy clown pictures to my sister when we're at work. I have a huge file just waiting for when I am in the mood. I collect the especially disturbing ones.

4. I shop when I get upset. A lot. It is obvious when I am upset, because I go to Stanford and spend money. Kids get new outfits, I get shoes, G might get something if he's lucky. Could be worse, I guess I could shoot heroin or smoke crack instead.

5. I love most cheesy 80's hair bands. Night Ranger, especially. My ipod is filled with the lamest lipstick-wearin' spandexed dudes' music.

6. I hate talking on the phone, in particular calling someone. I have no idea why... If someone calls me, that's better, but generally dislike that too. Would much rather be face to face with someone. Or email. I know, I'm a freak.

7. Painting gives me peace, and even though I know this, I don't paint much more than an hour a week. Might help with #4 up there, huh?

8. I like to go camping, but not 'regular' camping. I prefer our white-trash trailer with the shower and fridge and feather comforter. It has hot pink and black bedding and towels because it was the tackiest color combo I could find. I even have pink flamingos that we put out when we camp.... and one of them glows in the dark! Joy!

9. I''ve lived in the Bay Area my entire life, and have never been to Alcatraz. I don't like to do 'tourist'.

10. G and I keep threatening to move to Hawaii and never come back to California. One of these days, I do think it will happen.

Now I have to work or something, my prep has only 10 minutes left. Eww, work.

Favorite Things: 4/2/08

2008-04-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

-pink roses
-Altoids
-Aquarelle Arches watercolor block- rough (I likes it rough!)
-Kolinsky sable brushes
-Sennelier extra-fine watercolors, Windsor-Newton in there, too.
-My 'Hokusai Tsunami' Ugg boots
- Fug Madness, even tho two of my Final Four were knocked out yesterday, and just happened to be my final two, dammit. (damn you Fug Girls! That's too much fun.)

Can you tell I've been painting a lot lately? I happen to have a bit of free time this week- wacky for the last week of the quarter. Next week will be busier, as I am taking Monday off to attend the Giants Home Opener. That involves many beers on the train for an all day extravaganza! Usually, that means cocktails at the Nut to kick off the trip. Ah, nothing like bailing from school to go drinkin and baseballin. T is at the A's/Sox game today, and texted me about how good the beers were. I hope her sub is a mess. And I will text her something equally snarky on Monday. Heh.
OMG, the 6th graders just knocked over the mannequin, Shanaenae. Thank goodness she's fiberglass- no dents!
That's it for now, they're getting too loud!

this gives me so much joy

2008-03-25T11:54:00.000-07:00

http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/

Fug Madness is the BEST.THING.EVER!

Post Spring Break

2008-03-25T08:34:00.000-07:00

This year's schedule is so damn lame. We only have one, *one*, day off from now until June 12. That's a long haul. I plan to make my own breaks here and there to maintain a semblance of sanity.

Yesterday was basically a waste, as the 7th graders were on a field trip. I had three classes that I turned into study halls. So now I have to do all the stuff I wanted to do yesterday, like present a new project in Art 3 and begin rehearsals again in Drama Pro I and II.

In the meantime, I have been being tortured by Smythe European. Looked on my credit card statement, and they charged me $100 for *something*. I shouldn't have been charged squat. I will call during my prep and attempt to remain calm. Not my fault they replaced the headliner and then MARKED IT WITH A DAMN PEN. Are you kidding me? After nearly four weeks, it is returned with wet carpet and a marked-up BRAND NEW headliner. I am NEVER going there again... unless I can bring a flamethrower along. I can't wait for the customer service person to call and ask how my service was. I'm gonna light them UP. With my words, not actual flames.

I may take off for the beach Thursday and Friday with my fam dambly. Just wish Mr O would decide whether or not we're going so I can write sub plans and excuse myself from 2-3 semi-important meetings and activities. SIGH.

I feel all negative today. Sorry. Not even PMS-ing.

Maybe if I look at this picture some more and think how great being there will be, I'll mellow out. July, July, July....

Better!

Ahh Spring Break!

2008-03-19T17:32:00.000-07:00

A quick post while I am not technically at work. I mean, I went to school today, I just didn't have to. :) I went in to paint up a letterhead thingy for my dad, for one of his 'groups'. He does a lot of volunteering for stuff, heading up citizen action groups, ect. He's very civic. Anyways, I designed him a skinny tree picture for his Save the Forest group. I'd post the scan, but watercolors get all wrinkly in the scanner. Came out crap. I can put up some of my other paintings, though. That little three-turtley one I sold for next to nothing to a neighbor. Her daughter fell in love with it, and it felt wrong to charge a lot. It was all she wanted for her 10th birthday. This other one- the belly-of-the-turtle one- is at a gallery in Hawaii.. I think. I did tell my Gramma she could pick one out and have it for her birthday last year, and I know she liked this one. It might be at her house. Of course it's framed now. I took this shot at home, and had it framed when we were over there. Today was the first time I have painted in a while. Think I'll grab a block and think on it. Since I'm on vacation and all...

From the 'glad it's not me' file...

2008-03-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

So, turns out one of our prominent families here at school isn't so happy.
Dad has been having an affair for the last three years, and has left mom. For a 25 year old man. Who lives in the Castro. Dad is around 45, triathlete, tan, pretty, ect, has moved in with him. All I keep picturing is him and his bf, skipping down the street wearing pink hotpants, hand in hand. (is that a stereotype? If so, sorry, it's not malicious.) Don't get me wrong, I'm glad Dad is happy, beacuse don't we all deserve happiness, no matter what form? My issue is the kids. There are three, and I teach them all. Son is WAY unhappy, and I would attribute this to having to watch Dad make out with a dude on the weekends. Son spends the weekends with Dad in the city. I don't think Daughters go. Son is wrecked, and it's hard to watch. I am so sad for the family, all of them, really. All Dad wants is to be gay and loud and proud. His right. Kids just want their dad back. Mom just wants to move on. Daughters don't seem so messed up yet.... maybe they're better actors? Or being shielded? I know many families have WAY worse problems than Dad coming out of the closet, but this is the one that's a bummer now.
Can I add that Mom is telling THE WORLD this story? She is my hero.

My Favorite Things, March 6, 2008

2008-03-06T14:02:00.000-08:00

Things that give me much joy:

-HP Pocket Media Drive
-Stargazer lilies
-Being an elective teacher at conference time
-chamomile tea
-Neutrogena Lip Moisturizer
-Karma
-My E-350 MBZ Loaner( yes, I still have it two weeks later)
-Revo H20 sunglasses (in bronze)
-Parents who do not think their kids are flawless
-My life!

Softballs, literally and figuratively

2008-03-03T07:48:00.000-08:00

It's Monday, and I feel like I need a weekend! I do have SM County art colleague group on Wednesday, so that's cool. Go to a meeting all morning, the conferences in the afternoon. HA! I have conferences this week. All seven of them. HEEE HEEEE and they're all softballs. Speaking of softballs.......
So my world just got even nuttier. Mr O and I 'volunteered' to coach our daughters' softball team. I say 'volunteered' because it was coach or not have a team. Oh well. Now we have softball practice or a game three days a week. Two of those days, I will be tutoring at least two kids first. My calendar for the next three months is FULL, not even kidding. First practice was fun, so that was good. I even had a kid there whose older sisters I taught here. Cool! The mom was sorta cunty, but what you gonna do? Daughter is happy, it should be fun, and it gets Mr. O out of the shop early two days a week. So far, so good.

I know, I know

2008-02-28T10:27:00.000-08:00

It's been a while. I have had so many adventures lately!
First off- 6th grade Respect Day. I had to spend the day with all the 6th graders talking about being kind to one another and repecting each other. All while playing games, like making index card castles without talking (WTF?) and admitting you've done bad things at one time or another. (Really? Oh Hell.) Mess. Hot mess. With added crying.
In more personal news, I have managed to break my Mercedes. Good lord, I love that car. Turns out the sunroof isn't unbreakable when someone DROPS an unknown item on it while jammin down the freeway. Like a damn softball. That was on the morning of my last day of vacation last week. Spent the daycalling insurance, police, getting my car to the dealership in SJ as sooon as possible, as it was raining like Noah was coming... All that good stuff. It happened on 101, in the ghetto-fabulous part of SJ, so when I got off the freeway to start my panic attack in earnest, dudes cruised up to the car like I wanted to buy some drugs. Alrighty, I probably needed the drugs, but not from those guys! So G told me to come to his shop, I managed to do so. He's so good, he made it all better, then helped me do all I needed to do. He's my very best friend in all the world. :)
Tutoring is going fine... I've been seeing my fave delinquent a lot lately, as he's failing all subjects as soon as I let him do work without me. Did 2 hours on Monday (ohhhhh man). You know, I realized then what my limits are, conversationally, I mean. Underage drinking, fine. Swearing, cool. Drugs? Go ahead. I can't handle discussing, overhearing, suggesting, anything sexual. OH MY GOD I CAN'T DO IT!!!!!!!!!! His cousin, another former student popped by while we were working and they started in on stuff and I wanted to die. THAT is my limit. Apparently, my client, for lack of a better word, has been doing a MOM. I wanted to barf in my mouth. Didn't ask age of said mom or her kid. DOOOOOOOD, STOP. I don't want to know, EVER. Frequency of masturbation? NONONONO not part of my job. I had to leave. Doing another hour today. Money is great, but shit, that will put me off my game for a week.
And pretty much every 8th grader is sick from going on the Washington DC trip last week. My classes are soooooooo emptyyyyyyyyy.

Bummers

2008-02-04T08:40:00.000-08:00

One of my 6th grade students lost her mom to breast cancer over the weekend. She's at school today- in Room 3, in fact, as I write. I don't want to make her uncomfortable or make her cry, but at the same time, all I want to do is give her a hug. Swear to God, she's acting like nothing is wrong, and laughing with her friends. School is a delightful place. Normalcy can be the best thing. Just ask my colleague with the diagnosis of something debilitating, then terminal. He's here every day, looking at 5-7 years left. At age 38. With a pregnant 26 y.o. wife who teaches here, too. They ask for normalcy, because at home they are bathed in despair.
Feeling lucky to just be me today.

Week 2 in the Bag

2008-02-01T11:33:00.000-08:00

What a week. Never mind about Briar Rose, too many actors. Jungle Book is shaping up well, so I am pleased. Just finished casting, so that's cool. My 7th graders get smaller roles as usual. I have three of the breaking and entering kids in that class. Interesting...
I shadowed an 8th grader yesterday. Basically, new and awesome principal asked a few of us to get a sub and be a student for the day. That's harder that it sounds! I flunked the Algebra test in a spectacular fashion. I became a fan of the Social Studies teacher. Think I was halfway anyway, but now I'm all the way in. He RULES. Of the seven rooms I was in, four had SmartBoards. I want one more than ever. I saw a teacher- with a SmartBoard not being used- do NOTHING and let her aides do all the work. When I was writing and looking around, I noticed her noticing me, and she hopped up and asked a kid what he was up to, ect. He looked at her like she was nuts. It was comedy. In fact, he asked why she wanted to know, 'cause she didn't care usually. I had to suppress a snort. Can you tell I don't like her much? I took ten pages of notes on a legal pad. New and Awesome Principal came in this am to ask how it went, so I told him. Of course I shared the funny parts, so he was laughing and asking me questions. I think he's a fan of mine, now, too. YAY! I have to prepare for a fish-bowl discussion with the other folks who will be shadowing. That means we'll sit in a circle with the rest of the staff around us and just talk amongst ourselves about our experience while everyone else listens. I have so much to share- it was amazing!

Semester 2, Week one, nearly done

2008-01-25T11:04:00.000-08:00

Alrighty, so we chose The Jungle Book and Briar Rose to produce this semester. Briar Rose is a wacky Sleeping Beauty. At least we avoided I was a Teenage Zucchini. The classes are not even close to first semester's natural skill, but at least I'm culling the herd and getting rid of the kids who don't want to be here.
Art is begining to play with clay today, and that means training them to clean up quickly and well. So far, so good.
Ah, my prep is next. I can listen to the pattering rain as I research new and more interesting projects. yay!

Back to the beginning... again.

2008-01-23T09:58:00.000-08:00

New semester began yesterday. It's funny how refreshing and sad it can be. My triumph that was Drama Production is gone- and replaced with two classes. I met the first one today, and three kids want to exit. Okay, fine, go. Really, it's better that they take another class instead of poisoning this one. But I won't know if they are going for another week, and we need to get the ball rolling. We take the stage in May, right after STAR testing. My issue is as follows: GREAT play first semester means I have to attempt to follow it with two good ones. Last semester was magic- no way I can make another group as good. Am I that skilled? Not so sure. So I'm busting my ASS trying to find good plays for them, and they are choosing HORSESHIT! Please to read: Holmes on the Range, and I was a Teenage Zucchini. NOT KIDDING, I just got up and read them off the board. I may cry. Okay, cool, someone was listening. I also read The Odyssey and Taming of the Shrew. My other class is this afternoon, and one of their choices was The Jungle Book. I may not have to kill them.
In other news, we took the entire 6th grade- 110 kids- to the Marin Headlands yesterday. It was so goddamn cold at one point that I considered leaping off a cliff to get death over with. I have a great and deep love for shoes- anyone who truly knows me knows this. In lieu of wrecking a fine pair of warm boots or sneakers, I wore my super-neat rain boots with the Ed Hardy-style (tatoo) koi fish on them. Rubber boot=not so warm. Dry, yes, warm, oh Hell no. Not even with the wool ski socks. Frostbite, anyone? I swear to God, it snowed. I swear on my Grandma, who is my fave family member, that it snowed. The sun came out for 15 whole minutes when my group was at the lighthouse. My pal was there an hour before us said they had a wicked hailstorm, complete with the 40 MPH winds. It blew all day. And it was windy, too. (ba dum dum!) Sorry. Anyways, it was overall pretty neat to be out there, but can we go in May next time? Please?

SUCCESS!!!!!!

2008-01-18T10:14:00.000-08:00

OMG!!!!!
That was the best play ever. The sets were not so hot, but the kids- wow! I have been getting rave reviews from everyone! The principal was impressed! The vp was impressed! I DID IT!
Now I just have to do it again. Hmm. Yeah. With two classes instead of one. OHHHHKAYYYYY, I can do it!!!!
My Universe is so shiny and happy today!

Countdown: Two Days

2008-01-15T16:14:00.000-08:00

Mild to moderate panic, folks. I counted the signups today- 307 students, and 15-20 staff. That doesn't even include crashers, of which I have many. Up to 100. That is the biggest crowd I've had, EVER. In seven years. If they bomb, I don't even know what I'll do. BUT: the costumes are done, the sets are done, we have all the props. They have rehearsed like crazy! Theoretically, the show will be awesome. Time will tell.
I already had my freakout this morning. They were lagging about the costuming and props. I skewered them real fast and folks got hoppin. Mrs. O is FAMOUS for being supercool, up until I get real hot. Real hot looks real loud and scary, according to innocent bystanders. Takes a lot to flip me out, but once flipped, hoo-wee, it's bad.
But, whatever. As a long-gone music teacher used to say: the performance is like a river; you can't change the path, only watch it slide past.
So true. I just don't want my dead body to float downstream!

Countdown: 4 days

2008-01-14T15:04:00.000-08:00

Oh man, Drama Pro performs on Thursday. We're going to have a HUGE crowd, I've advertised it all over the place and people are talking. Cruella De Ville has even sent out an email suggesting EVERYONE attend- that's 550 kids. I don't think Jensen is big enough... No pressure. Oh no.
So today, finished up the furry pants for Puck, tried on fairy wings for all 9 fairies, and it turns out we're a set short. We made fake-flowered wreaths for fairy heads. We made the brick head-thingy for Snout (Snout? or who was the wall?) during Pyramus and Thisby play at the end. The Moon got his lantern and battery powered candle. The Athenians tried on their gear. OH MY GOD it might work. All I need is a scroll and I'm good. Off to Michaels for some dowels and more fake flowers! WHEEEEEEEEE.
Oh yeah, and the glaze store so my 53 (really) ceramics students can finish their Masterpieces. My list for them is about $250 long. I love to spend me some LE money.
I may be feeling a weeeeeeeeee bit manic today. Juuuuusst a bit.

7 Days and Counting

2008-01-10T14:44:00.000-08:00

Drama Production performs next week. Right now, they are sewing costumes, painting sets, and creating props. Best news is that I think they're ready to perform, and this is just finishing up stuff. They are so comfortable with each other, and have great teamwork. This is how the class should be every single semester.
I bet they will do something to pop this bubble tomorrow.
sigh.

subbing sucks

2008-01-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

It is well documented that I enjoy extra cash. I made extra cash today doing my prep by covering someone's class. Boy, did that suck. Fifth grade is no fun in the first place, and subbing fifth grade is terrible. The plans were all serious, and I had to actually teach em stuff and collect homework. Eww! Real teacher-stuff. I was so happy to be back in my own little warm, space where I know where everything is, and I don't have to dig around for papers. So lame. But: I will be glad to spend that $40 when it comes my way.
Now it's rainy-day-lunch, and they have five minutes to suck it up or get the hell out. Four minutes, now. TALK LESS, EAT MORE! I am so mean. It makes me smile. Hehehehehe

Yay!

2008-01-07T10:25:00.000-08:00

I'm tired, but I'm back. Why does school make me so happy? I used to HATE school. Oh well.
So the semester ends next week, and that means tons of grading, and the play gets to be performed. Oh my gosh. They ran through it this am and it wasn't that good. Which blows to the EXTREME, because it's essential that they are good. New principal+ new superintendent=one chance to impress them with my first play. It's Shakespeare, and the kids are really good(in general), so it should be okay. Now begins the time when I don't sleep due to worrying. One semester, I decided I wasn't going to worry, and it was a spectacular disaster. Stuff fell over on stage. It wasn't pretty, children. I may have hyperventilated. When I went out at the end, all I could say was, "Well, that was something. Thanks for coming out, goodnight!". Not very cute. So I will obsess about it for the next 10 days, and will make it good by sheer willpower.
My hands are cold. Gloves are going back on, so no more typing.

Wow.

2008-01-05T12:26:00.001-08:00

I cannot seem to be motivated. It's 12:30, and we didn't have breakfast that long ago, kids still pajama'ed. They are watching Lord of the Rings: Return of the King for the eleventy-millionth time, and I have just stepped from the shower. I will return to the Uni in 2 days, and I have no clue how I will accomplish a thing. School starts at 8:05, not 12:30! I'm doomed.
I may rule the Universe, but I can't change start times. Sigh.

Favorite Things- January 4 Version

2008-01-04T10:21:00.000-08:00

-my new Ugg hats- one black, one sand
-L'Occatane French Lavender hand cream
-my non-leaking roof
-SpongeBob SquarePants
-Sudoku
-antspray
-Kona coffee
-brown sugar and maple oatmeal with raisins
-battery-powered candles so I don't burn my house down!

Not quite Room 3...

2008-01-04T10:10:00.000-08:00

I'll be back in the Universe next week. The kitchen is my universe today. Wheeeeeee!
Today it's sooo stormy- I love it. Unlike the Universe of 3, I have walls of windows here to view the storm. I love my Eichler! I only see one broken branch, but it's early yet. The rain is falling sideways, and the copper rain-chain has a river running through it. Mr O went to work, right after he found ants all over the kitchen. Argh! The granite makes ants next to impossible to see. I guess I would have gone too. I think my chemical warfare has worked, as I don't see any movement. They attacked the dog food cup and a corked bottle of decent ($15) wine. Think I got to the wine in time- they hadn't weaseled a way past the vacuum seal-thingy. I'm not even sure the vacuum sealed thingy even works- it's a fancy contraption made by the designer of the Rabbit opener. Looks similar, and is supposed to save a bottle if you only want a glass or two. Mr O doesn't prefer red wine, so I end up ruining bottles by drinking a glass at a time. Good for cooking, not good for sipping. AND since it's 10AM, I don't want to sample the wine, and am also afraid it has drunken ants a'floating. I'll sample later, like at noon. I'm on vacation, whatver.

Merry Christmas Sweater!

2007-12-24T09:35:00.000-08:00

This is my FAVORITE!
She is creeptastic, and makes me want to have a Hideous Sweater Party. How fun would that be?

www.lesliehall.com/index8.html

Mrs. O's sister, h, will get some of Leslie's merchandise for her birthday. Heh heh heh.

JOY!

OMG too much!

2007-12-21T14:34:00.000-08:00

The gift-giving season is right on top of us! And I have two (2) Big Brown Bloomingdales' Bags full of stuff from my kids. I already took a bag home yeserday. This is out of control. Multiple See's boxes. And not the small ones, either. Gift cards for Jamba Juice, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, ect. And homemade cookies! And other odd and sundry things: candles, bath salts, mugs, scarf, wine, handcream. One time I got pajamas. That was sorta icky.
The Universe is full of generous families. And my tummy is full of treats. I feel sorta sick. :)
No school for two weeks! YES!

Hangover=bad

2007-12-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

Ugh, I had so much fun at Van Halen last night, that I completely forgot that I had to teach today! OOPS! My voice is shot, my head is pounding... argh. But I love me some David Lee Roth, even though he forgot the words to the songs in the second half. He jumped around, and was awesome! And Eddie was beyond great! I LOVE LOVE LOVE VAN HALEN!
Yay!

Better!

2007-12-13T13:00:00.001-08:00

Today is way better. What I forgot to mention about yesterday, the day that was so dang bad, was that the Penguin Boy came in and delivered a box o See's candy and movie passes. Hurray! Chocolate always makes it better.
I am slightly disturbed to notice that I went from such a down day yesterday to so far UP today. Am I bipolar? And if so, oh shit. I don't wanna be bipolar! I wnat to have ups and downs like everyone else... Okay, not all dramatically UUUUUUPPPPPP!!!!! and DOWWWWWWWNNNNN, that would suck. Rollercoaster emotions are not good.
Upside- I feel pretty damn good today. WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!

2007-12-12T15:32:00.000-08:00

I have had the crappiest day EVER. Well, it could be worse, but it was bad as far as things go. I was supposed to have a sub today so I could attend a county art meeting and talk bout art and then have the rest of my day planning. Planning =chillin in the lounge w/ my gradebook/planner and venturing out to gossip with my homies. Well, the dumbass sub caller only listened to half my message last week, and didn't get me a sub for Monday AND Wednesday, just Monday. So I had to return from my meeting and teach all day. Very disturbing. Then I get an eeeeevil voice message from a mom informing me that my class is ruining her kids' life cause it's so hard. It's not, btw. Then other shit happened and I don't feel like writing about it.
Gotta go gossip with real people now.

2007-12-05T09:47:00.000-08:00

This is Tiki. She will be joining the Universe on Friday. She is our new puppy. We love Tiki so very much. Tiki will be so very big when she is all grown up. She already weighs over 20 lbs, and is only 9 weeks old. Holy cow!

dec 3

2007-12-03T10:50:00.000-08:00

So class with the Penguin Boy was fine. I helped him with his project and attempted to bond with him. I swear, he's a girl. If his hair was a little longer, he could pass due to his natural looks, mannerisms and voice. Go him! I hope that if he really is gender-confused that he will be able to work it out and be the person he wants to be.
I heard this weekend that the tool used to get into the rooms was found and tried by an adult, just to see how easy it is... sure enough- ka-zam! Two seconds and you're in. I'm pretty sure folks have been in here... I have found soda cups in here, next to the sofa. The sofa had been turned towards the tv so someone could watch it, and the soda was spilled. I have found Starbucks cups in the trash when I haven't been here. Stuff has been moved around in here for years. Looks like for the last 3 years, kids have had the capability and have been creepin around the whole time, passing the knowlege down from year to year. I feel so violated and exposed. I hate misplacing something and having the first thought in my head be- oh! SoandSo has been in here and took it! So dirty.
Other that that all is well. The play is mostly coming along fine- we are working on sets and will be beginning the costumes soon. I plan to try to sew them this year- ulp. I can totally do it- it's just a new skill I haven't acquired yet :)

Intrinsic or Financial Value...

2007-11-30T11:21:00.000-08:00

This week has been so funky.. glad it's nearly over. I tutored like a crazy person- it is like a second job. My gig for this afternoon was cancelled, though, so that's $130 bones gone gone gone. That kid is seeing an actual improvement. SOOOOO GOOOOD! He has gone from a 30% to a 61% in one of his classes. I was going to help him rewrite an essay for a better grade today, but oh well. He is 'busy', which means he has to go drink beers with his buddies. Ninth grader. He's been suspended from school the last three days because of fighting, so maybe he got something done? Doubt it. Doubtin' that one since 1969. If we got more points on that essay, he might be up to a 70%. WOW! My goal is for him to have straight C's. I will say that this whole tutoring deal started as extra bucks, but I feel more and more that it's about their progress for me. Yeah, I like money, it's my pal, but it's more exciting to see the grades go up! I had breakfast this morning with a teacher that works with one of my other clients, sixth grader. She told me that she can tell if L has been working with me- it's the only decent work she turns in! I love hearing that. Okay, I love the money, too. But the real life results, man, that's what makes it worthwhile.
In other news, the Penguin Boy will be in my 4th grade class later. Stay tuned for updates!
And it looks like I am being groomed to be one of the crazy VP's pets. Politically, this is really smart. Personally, I shudder. I need to remember that she is volatile, and seriously crazy. Insane crazy. With crazy eyes. I cannot trust that she is getting close to me for good- I have to assume it is for evil purposes and be alert. No shit. Yes, I know, that sounds crazy, but you just don't know what it's like here.
I have to think of a clever gift for her and the new P for holiday or I'm screwed. O God my life is bizarre.

back again in the Universe.

2007-11-26T13:15:00.000-08:00

Crazy shit has been going on outside the door of my Universe. Kids have been breaking into the school- a lot. They figured out some kind of wire hanger technique and systematically busted into the rooms starting at the top of the hill and progressed down. I'm at the bottom- they hadn't gotten to me yet. Guess they set off an alarm and that was it. Cops came, 8th graders get started on their permanent record. Three kids were arrested, and 9-10 more were involved total. A girl ran away from home after the first three were busted. She came back, but I'm sure is still in deep crap. What is driving me crazy is the fact that these are GOOD KIDS. Not the kids who smoke cigarrettes and drive their parent's cars- you know who you are! The kids who did this are the ones with good grades and are nice to teachers. Kids who are on Student Council. Kids who their parents thought they were proud to have in their families. Well, is that fair to say? Probably not. They are now proud in a different way? Whatever. They did something realllllll stupid. Truly, what is the reasoning behind their behavior? Too much pressure to succeed? Parents acting like life will end if they get a B? It's all so awful. Mrs. O just wants it to end. I don't give homework for a reason! No tests either.

2007-11-08T11:51:00.000-08:00

All is well. I can't complain, really. Two 6th grade classes are done performing, mostly. I have one group to go tomorrow, if their absent member shows up. I am doubtful. She's gone pretty much 3 days of 5, and when she's here, she's mess. I hink the school may have to call the truant office. There are actual truant officers. I thought that was a trip. Anyway, whatever helps this kid get to school and thus help whatever group she is in. She hasn't been at school for any perfromance ont he day of the performance. Parents are getting divorced, reallllllly ugly. Hate each other. Sucks.
I started tutoring another kid- oops- going to lunch.
xxoo

Halloween and other update

2007-10-31T09:40:00.000-07:00

So it's Halloween, and it is all piratey and wonderful around here. My pal, T, and myself have managed to motivate pretty much the entire staff to dress up like Pirates, and it is so great. I am Cap'n Jack, down to the tattoo and key to the Dead Man's Chest. Yay me! The kids are excited, the staff is into it, and this is a glorious day. I wish my piratey shirt was a little longer, as I have to keep tugging at it, but other than that, it is awesome!
My super needy student X is being better. We had a conversation about why he's being all funky, and he said he misses his mom, and is gravitating towards me. I was right, and it's the least creepy answer. Phew. And he's dressed up like Slash today, which I have to appreciate. He's still asking to sit right next to me, but I guess that's alright. I can be a surrogate mom. Right?

I rule!

2007-10-22T11:32:00.000-07:00

I just do, everyone knows it, and it's true. Just thought I'd say so out loud into cyberspace.
WHAAAAAHHOOOOOOOODDDDEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!
:)

No more opera! Plus penguins!

2007-10-17T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yay! We survived the opera! The kids knew their lines! They were loud enough! They were FUNNY! And I got all kinds of kudos. Go me. I don't feel like I did so much to get all these accolades, but no one else would do it, so maybe I do deserve something? Whatever, it made me look good.
On to my new favorite student. He has a nickname, of course: Penguin-Boy. His actual nick (and animal) is different, but I'll use Penguin-Boy, or PB, instead. They call him PB because he carries a stuffed animal (penguin) around with him to school, on the bus, and in his school picture (!) . Normally, this kind of odd behavior would be endearing to me, especially because the kids all think he is 101 different kinds of wierd. However, I do not find him endearing in the least- he is mean and nasty, and downright hateful to me and pretty much any kid. Why, I do not know. I didn't harsh on him at all. Let me describe this tot real quick: 4th grade, wears Crocs, muscle shirts and shorts to school every single day, blonde hair, sweet looking. Gayest little kid I have ever laid eyes on. Proof we are born to gender preference, not 'deciding' later. He wants to be a girl, has said so, according to his teacher. His family is LOADED, even for our standards, so I can see a gender-change later on in life. As I was saying, normally, this would be the big ol red flag for me that this kid was to be one of mine- artistic, dramatic, and fun. YAY! I love gay boys! NO WAY with this one. He talks back the whole time, straight up says my lessons are stupid, and is disrespectful in general. OH MY GOSH, this kid is in 4th grade. What will he be like in 8th????? ARGH and I bet I'll have him in at least one of my classes until 2012. I am determined that he will not be picked on in my class, but I can't control him the rest of the time. Apparently, he is just evil to all kids, 4th-8th. Everyone knows him as 'the Penguin-Boy', and not in a good way. He swears at everybody, and is soooo negative. Pretty wacky that the whole school knows him by the second week as being a total freak. Just a few kids mention his gender identity issues (which I squelch), but for the most part, they just talk about his stuffed animal. Can I just mention how happy I am that my kids are mostly normal?
He wore a charm bracelet to class last week. WOW.

Close one!

2007-10-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

The test was a big ol NO, so I am relieved. Two kids is plenty, and with the way life has been lately, it would have been twins. Wowza, dodged that bullet! I still feel all barfy, but at least not becasue of that. I just rested on the sofa for 20 minutes and chatted with J while she made a latte. I sure love that machine.
The Art class with X in it has now become even skeevier. Now everyone wants a hug. I am instituting a No Hug Zone in Room 3. They are trying to creep up on me to sneak-attack me. I started sitting on the counter with my back to the cabinets. Girls, boys, 7th or 8th grade, no matter. This is an evil game. They can like me all they want, I want no part of daily hug rituals.
YUCK.
In other news, I have braids today, and look really cute. Go me.
No hugs, though.

O.M.G.

2007-10-04T09:18:00.000-07:00

so, yeah, i'm going to the Longs' at my next prep to pick up a pregnacy test. Then I will take it. Then I will deal with whatever happens next.

They're not disturbing, but...

2007-10-03T11:28:00.000-07:00

... my 6th graders are driving me NUTS. They are so annoying. A few of them are sooooo bossy that they make the class miserable, take over all the projects, and generally make me want to die. The worst part- they think they can act. Yeah... no. Hacky and stilted. Any kind of help I try to give is met with a sigh and rolled eyes. And then they don't know their lines. Can't wait for the perf on Friday.
Not helping is the fact I am so totally nauseous. Like morning sickness nauseous. I am not preggers, but that's how I feel. Sucks sucks sucks. I actually blew chunks last night. And I have to work through lunch. This is so totally bogus. It's the Magic Flute opera deal. The perf is next week and the kids are unprepared and I am so sick. They missed two practices due to my illness last week. I have to help them today, no matter what. I think I can, I think I can....

Hmmm, may have just barfed in my mouth a little, thinking of this:

2007-10-01T10:20:00.000-07:00

My students are becoming disturbing again. They take a while to become comfortable enough to be disturbing at the start of the year. I have one now who is leading the pack in disturbing behavior, I will call him X. So good ol X was gone last year to the East coast and is back. His mom stayed there, and he and Dad came back here. Mom and Dad fight a lot . He really is a cool kid, likes cool music, etc. Anyway, not a day goes by that he doesn't say something inappropriate to me, such as, "I love you". Now, I'm pretty sure that he thinks this is funny, as it's said in a mock-serious voice. But to me, that's really bad. NO WAY do I want any kind of even slight miscommunication regarding boundaries. Becoming the next Mary Jane Letourneau does not appeal to Mrs. O at all! Oh hell no. And last week he decided that giving me hugs was a good idea. I was all: NONONONONO that is not cool with me. My other kids were saying, "why is he doing that?" " Whaaaaaat?" and so on. I told him this was inappropriate, etc. I am considering having a word with the counsellor, but I think I have it figured out. 1)He's looking to me as a Mom, since his is far away, and subconsciously he feels rejected by her? And he needs adult female interaction? Or, 2., he's trying out his mojo on me in some kind of pathetic 8th grade attempt to hone girl-skills? Maybe in his head it's okay to do this because there is no risk, because I am unattainable in the first place, and therefore 'safe'? Or, 3., maybe I am just the hottest (and coolest) chick around, and he has no choice but to worship me? Um, no, not even a little bit. Haven't lost that much weight. Whatever the case, I will not find myself alone with said child at any point just to be safe. Barf bag, anyone?

Favorite Things: September 28

2007-09-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

-My Tassimo single-serve espresso machine. It's like having Starbucks next to my desk! Without the cost!
-My Fiestaware demitasse and latte cups in a myriad of hues.
-Colored staples, paper clips and binder clips. I have red, pink, green, yellow, and blue. I have no idea why these bring me so much joy. But they do. I love the Giant Multi-Pack of whiteboard markers, too.
-My 6th graders who write plays using the 'Move It!' song from "Madagascar"!
-Kids who leave class.
-Kids who say "Thank you" as they leave class.
-Kids who say "Thank you" as they leave class, and give you a hug if you are sick.
-The bell ringing , leaving me with a prep. JOY!

Non- Favorite Things: September 17

2007-09-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

-Opera (going to the opera today)
-Feeling flakey (I don't want to do this yucky paperwork)
-Huge classes (32 kids in Ceramics is wrong)
-Hunger (I am hungry)
-PMS (self explanatory)
-My TMJ (jaw joint- it is quite sore due to stress and other reasons that I will learn after I speak to a Jaw Doc this week)
-Cake (I ate too much this weekend)
-The fact that I am afraid to share my blog due to rampant insecurity
-Feeling insecure about basically nothing (see above)
-The fact that there is no good TV for another few weeks
- The bell for my next class

crazy busy

2007-09-14T11:43:00.000-07:00

not that anyone has noticed, cause no one reads this, but I am so busy I have trouble paying attention. This whole birthday party thing for my kids is CRAZY. Having children really should be planned, because it sucks the big one to have their birthdays 12 days apart! Bad, bad timing. Three parties in the space of a little over a week. GAH! Money, time, energy, all drained.
And at school, I volunteered (foolishly) to handle the student actors in a professional/student production that will be in a month. Auditions were this week, cast list went up today. Rehearsal? Afterschool once a week, plus a lunch. Oh man, I hope my stock goes up as a result. Politics is EVERYTHING. And I get to work with truly awesome kids. Double bonus.
I have *zero* time to just chill now. I also tutor twice a week- what a good deal. 45 minutes=$50. Painless, mostly enjoyable, and lucrative. MMMMMMM, money is nice. An extra $400-$500 a month will be KILLER! And- saving money with my new espresso machine! No more $3 lattes, now they are $.50! And lunch is now $3.50 instead of $10! And I'm losing weight at the same time! OH JOY this is all so good.
So how long before something shitty happens and it all turns into crap? Oh please let it be a long lived awesome streak this time! I've been pretty good lately!

first day!

2007-08-27T07:52:00.000-07:00

OMG, I love the first day. Get all the rules out, everyone has a good grade, all is well.
And, I feel like all my non-sugar eating has been paying off- I feel smaller. Whoo-hoo!

a few of my favorite things: August 21

2007-08-21T14:27:00.000-07:00

- my fresh new planner
- my clean, quiet classroom
- my car (still love it!)
- Jamba Juice
- Eclipse Mint Mojito gum
- The fact that my work is so much fun, I can't truly call it work

YAY!
xxoo

ahhhh

2007-08-14T08:55:00.000-07:00

I went up to work yesterday. It was so lovely to be in good ol room 3, and push all the furniture around. I opened up my Desk Box and replaced all the stuff on my desk. During the summer, all my items are taken out of the room, cleaned (theoretically), and put back wherever. It took me 3 hours to put the room right. Almost- I didn't move the pottery wheels or one table. As I'm Velcro-ing plaster hands to the wall (it looks cool, trust me), the custodians came in and asked why I didn't call them to move stuff. Every year, I move my own stuff. I have asked for them to move my stuff in the past, no dice. They actually looked pained that I did my own moving around of furniture. Hmm. Could it be that the new boss has dropped the hammer? Like, they need to do their jobs? NO WAY. OMG, does that mean my room will get the floor mopped regularly? Or perhaps waxed more than once a year? Too cool. Or, they just had a momentary passing pang of thoughtfulness. Wait and see, wait and see. Ill go up for more fun next week.

quick joyous note:

2007-06-14T11:20:00.000-07:00

The new principal looks like Jerry Garcia! Long hair, earrings, and tubby. All he needs is a tyedye and Birkenstocks. How much of a hard-ass can he be if he looks like Jerry Garcia?!? Can't be. Impossible. I just want to be left alone to do my thing, and be allowed to spend as much money as I like on my program. Too much to hope for, probably. OMG, what if he gets high? WAY too much to ask.
I will call him Larry Garcia. His name is Larry ______, but to me, Larry Garcia. YAY!

sad

2007-06-14T11:10:00.000-07:00

To me, this is the saddest day. The kids are gone, my room is all empty. No art on the walls, and my costumes are all hung up and stashed away. The last thing I have to do is put my Soundock into it's box and put all my stuff in the car. People are leaving to their summer plans, and saying goodbye for now. I have no purpose here, and it sucks. No one needs my help. My desk is bare except for my phone, computer and my very cool mug. All my cubbies are empty, when usually they are packed with papers, toys, snacks, planner, cellphone, and all other goodies. Maybe if I hated my job, this day would be even better than yesterday. "Whoo HOOOOOOOO no more crappy-ass kids asking me dumb questions and dropping glaze containers!" I like those dumb questions. I really don't like it when they drop the glaze, though. That part sucks BIGTIME. At least all my cool stuff is still on the wall by my desk. My creepy clowns (see example above) are my especial favorites. Hee hee! I feel better after putting up the clown.

at last! at last!

2007-06-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

...The last day of school. There is nothing better, as a kid or adult, than the last day of school. I love the ability to start all over with as new group of kids next year. These 8th graders have been too FAST. I said this to a graduating 8th grader, who informed me that some of the more popular 7th graders had a party and got all drunk. DUDE, I didn't do that til high school. Then again, 5-6 years ago the principal caught a girl giving blowjobs behind the bushes. Yucky. I think high school would be sooooo much worse, so I will just try to deal with the slight nastiness of middle school. The skank/loser factor is more the exception than the rule.
In other news, we have the name of our new superintendent! It's a guy! We will now have a male principal and super. Not sure what kind of changes that will bring, but I have to believe they will be good changes. No more emotional decisions, no more illogical crap. I hope.

favorite things- June 11 Edition

2007-06-11T10:58:00.000-07:00

Orbit mint mojito gum
L'Occitane Creme Mains (hand cream)
Chapstick- cherry
Bose Soundock
Lulu's chop salad
Mercedes ML500
Vitamin Water- XXX

Of course this is a very incomplete list of my Favorite Things. I wish I was Oprah so I could provide a whole collection of my FTs to donate to a roomful of strangers. That would RULE.

sub update

2007-06-07T09:41:00.000-07:00

After a very nice conversation with Da Boss, it seems that one of my classes is particularly wicked when I am gone. They like to swear, and discuss homosexuality and drinking. Gasp! They don't do this when I'm here. Except swearing, but that doesn't bother me too much. My thought is this: these subs need to have better classroom control. I can shut down an inappropriate conversation in under 10 seconds. Or- kick out the offender(s). The issue will be getting them to trust me for next year, soI can have days off without having to rely upon my colleagues to cover my classes. I do know that other teachers have subs who refuse to take their classes, so it's not just me. I do let the kids have more freedom than other classes. Probably all my fault for being relaxed. Oh well, these 8th graders are outta here in less than a week- wah-HOOOOOdeeeeee!!!

WTF?

2007-06-04T09:59:00.001-07:00

Alrighty.
I was gone on Friday, and even though I called for a sub, no one covered my classes. My colleagues had to come in and do it in shifts. Turns out no subs will come for me. Because one of my classes is obnoxious. My principal told my closest friend this, and asked her to tell me. Let me add that the principal said 101 nice and admiring things about me and my teaching in the process, but the fact that she couldn't come to me to tell me this remains. I am not hurt, and I'm not really upset. I'm sorta icked out. No sub will cover my classes. I hear that only two would do it, and now those two won't either. Not sure how I should proceed on this. I know it's the riotous art class full of the older kids. Well, they will be graduating in two weeks, so do I do anything? I don't know. This part sucks. Maybe I go see the boss. I may or may not report back.

lameness

2007-05-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

So today is the Big Spirit Competiton's field trip. Nothing going on at school, so it's field trip/assembly week. The 7th grade is going to the water-park. This is a big deal, because the 8th graders usually win, and the 7th just rallied and won the whole shootin match. The girls were crying and carrying on. So silly. A bunch of super-bitter 8th graders were planning to stay home today and have their own day off school in protest. School hasn't started yet, so I don't know whether or not this is actually happening. As a parent, there is no way I'd let my kid stay home today. Talk about sore losers! They said it was rigged against them. WAHHHHHH we didn't get to go to the water park. On a cloudy, un-hot day. WAHHHHHHHH

No excuses

2007-05-30T07:45:00.000-07:00

So yesterday the rough draft of the final essay was due in my 6th grade classes. I have a thick sheaf of bad writing to peruse before tomorrow morning. Awesome. I have to go thru them before we go to the Sierras, you see. I like the rough draft process because it's just fact-finding for me, and trying to determine if they have plagiarized the whole thing. I had a kid copy and paste the whole thing, straight from the webpage. Even kept the picture. At this point, I'm pretty familiar with the research websites regarding this particular topic, so I was able to go right to it. His mom jumped right in to protect her baby when I failed him. I was unfair, because I expected her kid to do an essay on vacation! How dare I? Hmm. She neglected to notice what date it was assigned- 3 weeks before vacation. Get over yourself, crazy bitch. When I pointed this out, she didn't have too much to say. No apology, but I guess I was crazy to expect one. I love it when parents scream at me, then see the error of their ways. I don't catch heat too often for stuff I actually did. For imagined slights- more common.
The due-date of this essay brings with it many excuses. Oh boy: printer died, no electricity, sister on computer all night, mom out of town... it goes on and on. I accept none of them, not even with a note. I assigned it 3 weeks ago, no excuses. Email it to me! Jeez. I did have a kid bring in his laptop (reallly nice iBook) to try to print it here, but since I'm PC, and have an antique printer/no USB printer cable, no dice. Good effort, though. We'll see what the stragglers try to say today.

whew!

2007-05-29T15:29:00.000-07:00

Can I just say that field trips are lame? Not my favorite activity. We went on one today. With the entire 6th grade. In theory, the trip should be great. A day off from work, playing around with some very cool science stuff, but not so much. I did avoid the worst part though: the bus. The school bus part is hideous, at best. I hate riding the bus. It smells, the kids yell and sing and shout the whole time. And the drivers do about 40-45 MPH on the freeway. So wish I was kidding. BUT, one of my friends ran the trip, and volunteered me and our other friend to drive. SAVED!!!! That part was really good. The other adults on the trip were very bitchy, and made the organizer miserable. I made it my goal to be 100% positive about the whole thing, even though it was kind of a mess. I guess everyone does things differently, and all the adults involved put in their 2 cents. Not welcome to hear while in the midst of 111 6th graders, all of whom would like to shop in the overpriced gift shop. Ay yi yi.
And now the AC repairman says my system is mostly fixed. It was a damn sauna in here last week. Smelled like a Turkish prison. Not that I've ever been in a Turkish prison.... You know what I mean, Constant Reader, right?

school is more interesting than anything!

2007-05-25T09:28:00.000-07:00

let's see if I get inspired to do some writing.... I decided to write about school- changing the names of the innocent and guilty- because some crazy stuff happens around here, and it's damned interesting. It may read like fiction, but I swear, it's true.
This year has been particularly scandalous. Middle school is generally tame. The kids are too young to be doing too much experimentation in sex or drugs. Usually. 06-07 has been anything but tame. The older kids here have been losing their virginity, entering drug rehab, and doing stints at the local loony bin. Holy crap, what is that about? Isn't middle school supposed to be a place to grow and still be protected? I always thought so. Not so much now.
My favorite delinquent I have known since 4th grade. I will call him Bob. He was busted drunk driving in 6th grade, with an oz. of pot. As the cop hauled him out of the car and slammed him up against the truck of the car, he puked all over the place. Another time, he was brought to the ER on ectascy and cocaine, and 10 beers. His older brother thought it would be funny to get him wasted, but then panicked when Bob passed out.
Today is the day after Open House, and all is in chaos. My classes are performing and having other classes come in to watch.
argh.