my weekend

So this weekend is going to be super awesome. I can't wait. Let me tell you about it.

Tonight, I get to stay at work until 9 pm to watch our school's winter musical.

Tomorrow, I get to go to a swim meet until 9 pm.

Saturday, I get to wake up at 5 am for another swim meet. (Yay!) The meet will last until about 2 pm, after which I will head over to my student's house for a team luncheon. After which we will head back to the pool for more swim meet.

I'm practically giddy with excitement.

dear friends who wear shoe size 9.5

I have a sad story for you. But this sad story just might have a happy ending.

So JCrew was having an awesome sale last week. Really, totally awesome.

So awesome, in fact, that these boots, which normally sell for $350, I bought for $50!!!! And even though the only size was a 9.5, and I wear a 9, I bought them anyway. Because who in their right mind would pass up a deal like that?! Not me, that's for sure. (Aren't they beautiful!?) I love them a lot.

But here's where the sad part of the story comes in. As hard as I tried, they just don't fit me. And trust me, I tried really, really hard to make them fit.

So, if you wear a size 9.5, and you want a pair of really nice, genuine leather boots, they're yours for a mere $50 (plus shipping)! (They look great with jeans and skirts.) Otherwise, I'm selling them on ebay for a profit.

snow

This is the very reason I get to leave work at 1:00 today. And the reason I don't have to drive to the swim meet I've been dreading.

I love snow.

don't laugh

But I just might be going vegan. I know, I know. Vegans are annoying. And a little bit crazy. (Seriously, how is milking a cow bad for anybody?) But my friend Claire came over tonight (with dinner!) because she's the best visiting teacher ever, and she bore her testimony of how veganism improves your skin 100%. And I will do just about anything for porcelain skin. (Claire also bore her testimony of charity so as not to be sacreligious or anything.)

I still can eat some sushi. And couscous. And sweet potato fries! And Trader Joe's sells vegan cookies, which for me is a must. Plus, it might be a fun experiment. Don't laugh.

good day

Today is a good day, for two main reasons:

1. Due to the 4-day weekend, there are only 2 work days left this week.
2. I learned how to change my own car battery. It's a piece of cake.

9 degrees

That's how cold it was yesterday. But we still got up at 4 am because, as boring as history books are, it's kind of cool when you're there.



Notice how it's still pitch black outside?

Katelyn was trying to get everyone on the platform to join in the official Obama cheer. I'm pretty sure she made it up. When I say O, you say BAMA, O-BAMA, O-BAMA! Conveniently enough, it also works for Oprah, in case you want to cheer for her too.

The metro ride wasn't nearly as bad as reporters tried to make it sound. We got on the first train that came by, and even got seats! (Well, Ryan got a seat but was nice enough to give it to me.)



This is the last picture we have with Erica and Anne. Turns out, they are way cooler and way more important than we are, so they got to sit on the podium with Barack and everybody else. Okay, maybe not next to Barack, but they were pretty darn close. (Check out the picture Anne got!. Whoa.) I decided I need to start hanging out with Anne more. Not only is she awesome, but she has connections.


See Yo-Yo Ma? And see the girl in the purplse scarf behind Yo-Yo Ma to the left? That would be Erica. And Anne is next to her.

While our view wasn't quite the same as Erica and Anne's, it was not bad.




There were lots of snipers.

And tons of people. (Glad I wasn't way back there!)


Before we could get to our seats, we had to wait in a long line. For about 3 hours. And then wait another 3 hours for the inauguration to actually start. After 5 minutes, Laura was about to give up and go home. It was cold. I guilted her into staying. And let her sleep on me.

Tomorrow

Tomorrow at noon, I will be here:

Watching the 56th Presidential Inauguration.

It is going to be freezing. But so totally worth it. (See what the river looks like today?!)

erica (a week and a half late)

Last week was Erica's birthday. She turned 27, so we all went out for Mexican food. Yum.

There are lots of really great things about Erica, but one of my favorite things about her is her hair. Seriously. Check it out! That is some great hair. I've had hair envy for awhile now.

It's also really great that she let me call her Cripple Hipple when her leg was broken. She's nice. Too bad she has to be all smart and go away to law school. That's going to be a bummer.

parents

Sometimes I hate parents. Sometimes I love them. Today, I love them, mainly because of this email:

"To the good people who toil with Jake Starke on a daily basis, I wanted you to know that you will be able to ease into your long weekend as I am taking Jake out of school on Friday. I believe that there is one exception that Ms. Reed has taken pity on the little boy and may allow him to take his Physics test Friday during his first period study hall after which we will head north. I apologize for disrespecting the school calendar but I want Jake to think positively about colleges, so we are going to tour some in New York and Vermont. And then go skiing. I gather that I have no standing to take him out at this time so must beg for your mercy. "

Dear Mabel,

I miss you and your pink shoes. When can I come back to play play-doh with you? Maybe I'll even bring some of my shiny shoes and we can have a fashion show.

And we should totally invite Caroline over for a slumber party! Won't that be the most fun?!

Love,
Your favorite aunt Poodle

news

So my roommate has a new boyfriend.

He pretty much is Michael Scott.

And that's all I have to say about that.

just for charlotte

because i used to call her Charlotte the Harlot and she's still friends with me. She's nice.

Books to Read:

Teaching Introductory Physics: Okay, snooze, I know. But remember that physics class you took with me once when I convinced you that you wanted to be an engineer? That was fun. And it's honestly one of the best books I've read in a very long time. I take it with me everywhere I go.

The Promise, by Chaim Potok: It's the sequel to The Chosen, which is one of my favorite books of all time. I didn't love it quite as much as The Chosen, but it's still good.

A Long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier: if you're particular about writing styles (which i sometimes am) you might not love it, but everybody should read this book at some point in their lives.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: a year of food life: pretty interesting.

The Brighter Side of Human Nature, by Alfie Kohn: I've read several of his books, and they get repetitive after you read more than two (he starts to repeat the same stories) but if you've never read anything by Alfie Kohn, you should. It's inspiring.

must-read

has anyone else read this website? #115 is one of my favorites.

Dear people who were just now invited to read my blog,

Um, yeah. Sorry.

Don't think that I forgot about you. I was just letting the anticipation build. Or something.

Love,
Poodle

a mexican christmas

So, the picture uploader thingy is being really slow and, as it turns out, I'm not that patient. I'll have more later.

Before Christmas actually came, we drove out to Cholula and Puebla where we ate some fried grasshoppers (less disgiusting than you might think)

sat on an elephant (because sometimes mom still thinks that we're five years old. That may be because we sometimes act five, but that's beside the point.)

and saw some ruins.

Then we came back to Mexico city for Christmas eve and Christmas day. We made all of our regular Christmas treats for caroling. We were planning on singing Feliz Navidad (because it's the only Christmas song we know in Spanish) but when mom ended up singing what essentially translates into "I want your anus (and happiness)" we decided to forego the song and just deliver plates of food instead. Smart move, if you ask me.

Christmas day, we opened stockings

and took a pinata to the kids at the refugio.

Later, we went to the Zocalo, which during the holidays is a lot like Disneyworld. Except way better, because Disneyworld just isn't that fun. Sorry, but it's not. All in all, not a bad trip so far.

glorious freedom

only two classes left, and i am free for 16 whole days. no more ball jokes or other teenaged antics.

today is the last day of school, and i have received some delightful gifts from several very generous students. these include:

• a $100 gift card to Nordstrom. what should i buy? some shoes? a pair of designer jeans? too many choices
• a gorgeous blue cashmere scarf
• another blue scarf (apparently they're big this season)
• a barnes and noble gift card (awesome)
• lots of chocolates
• candles
• earrings

Today we have our faculty holiday party at our headmaster's house. i am going simply because the door prize is an all-expense paid trip for 4 to cape cod. i am determined that i am going to win.

i am a member of "the reason" which is a club that provides a reason to get up early on saturday mornings. tomorrow morning we are baking sugar cookies to leave on people's doorsteps.

then i'm watching mamma mia with rochelle. and attending the mandarin branch christmas party. i'm going for the food.

not that interesting

to most of you, anyway. probably my mom will pretend to be interested, because that's what moms do. but a math teacher guy wrote this, and i am happy to say that i can (mostly) answer yes. (except for on some days when i'm annoyed. and yes, i am feeling pretty smug with myself right now, thank you very much....)

Evolution of an Educator:

At first, your students don't know anything because you teach poorly, and you know this. Then, you become happily aware that some students are learning. You know that other students still aren't, but you are pedagogically nearsighted and can make only blurry distinctions between the two camps. Your teaching improves and the ranks of the Is Learning camp swells and you know the members of the Isn't Learning camp by name. You develop better methods of tracking achievement and you know exactly what the students who aren't learning haven't learned. Moreover, as you teach, you begin to anticipate the material that will confuse these students. You realize that your intervention can effectively transfer a student from one camp to the other. At a certain point, the technical challenges to increasing student achievement disappear, but the moral challenge remains. Will you do it? Every day, every hour, every student for 180 days, will you do it?

teenagers....

So we're building roller coasters in my class this week. Which is mostly really fun. The only problem is, we're using marbles (which the boys prefer to call balls - for obvious teenaged boy reasons).

Some of the marbles are too big to fit in the tracks that we're using. According to Ryan, Jeff's balls are too big. I thought about asking him how he would know that, but I don't want to encourage this.

We're also using cups for support. Ha. That's freaking hilarious.

Heaven help me. I better get a great Christmas bonus this year.

final exams

So I always give the same bonus question on all of my final exams:

"Explain any concept that we learned this year that was not addressed on the exam."

It gives the kids an opportunity to explain the stuff they studied but that I didn't ask about. Some of them impress me with their knowledge. Some do not. I always get a few interesting responses.

Some of them are blatantly butt-kissing: "I learned that I love physics and that Ms. Reed is the best teacher ever!"

Right. Sure you did.

Some of them are a little funny: "I learned that Michael Scott burned his foot on a George Foreman grill because he likes the smell of fresh-cooked bacon in the morning."

I think I talk about The Office just a little too much.

And my personal favorite: "I learned that Ms. Reed really likes candy."

Awesome.

words to live by

Yesterday, I received this email:

sometimes i underestimate how freakin' awesome you are. then i repent. today i repented.

Love,
Your Repentant Sister

I'm pretty sure I'm going to make my students read it today.

Never forget this. Ever.

The end.