travel

So my list of places to visit this summer keeps growing.

Now Ashley and I want to go to Sicily and Greece.

And then from there I was thinking of meeting up with Emily to visit Veitnam, Singapore, and Indonesia.

And then from there I might come home. We'll see how things go.

Considering I do not have a summer job, I have no idea how this is going to be paid for. JCrew probably won't pay me enough to cover the whole trip, but might make me the well-dressed world traveler ever. (Good thing I have my priorities in line, right?) Thankfully, tutoring helps a lot, and I currently have two tutoring jobs.

I'm pretty sure this summer is my 30th birthday present to myself. No summer school. Lots of sunshine and happiness, and lots of trips. Brilliant.

so rise, and shine....

Today, I got a phone call from our stake's girl's camp director. I'm pretty sure I am going to be a leader this year. I am currently flipping back and forth between excitement and dread....

BTB

Today, we had our annual "Beyond the Books" day at school, during which we held no classes and instead had heartfelt discussions about life. It was awesome. Although it kind of freaked out our Chinese exchange students when all the sophomore girls started crying during a particularly emotional break-out session. Apparently in China, people don't talk about their feelings. They told me they would way rather be in Physics class.

At the end of the day, we showed the movie Gossip to our Senior girls. It might have jumped up to my favorite movie of all time.

remember when....

Hey, remember when I used to be an awesome blogger? Then I stopped being quite so awesome. I like to think it's because I got a life, so I no longer have to blog to make myself feel important. That may or may not be true, but it's what I tell myself.

At any rate, I recently promised a co-worker of mine that if, at some point in his life, his liver were to fail, I would be happy to share mine with him. (He is convinced I have an awesome liver. Don't ask how these conversations get started.) The next day, I stole his parking spot and reminded him that I have a greed to share my liver, so he owes me. This is awesome mostly because he can never get mad at me. Ever. (And I probably won't ever actually have to give him my liver.)

this summer

i'm pretty sure i'm taking a trip to indonesia.

(go ahead, be jealous. everyone else is.)

ironic

For somebody who owns so many clothes, i find it ironic that i do not own a single long-sleeved white tshirt.

smrt

One of the math teachers at our school received the following email from a student two days after a major project was due:

Dear Mr. Math Teacher,

I have finished my project. I would send it to you, but my internet is down, so I will have to give it to you tomorrow.

Thanks,

Your Favorite (and smartest) math student

NYC

Last weekend, after a week of being snowed in, we decided to head up to New York City. It was awesome.

We spent a lot of time in Times Square

Bought cheesy I Love NY t-shirts

Ate some really good food

and went to the top of the Empire State Building. (Since it was Valentine's day and all. Meg Ryan was not there. Neither was Tom Hanks. Such a let-down.)

things i love:

Since it was valentines day and all....

Mostly I just love the snow. Simply because I had 6 snow days that (we have been told in secret) we will not have to make up at the end of the year.

I also love that my mom sent me a valentines card with the word "ass" on it. Hehe. Thanks, mom!

Dear Mabel,

Let's make a deal. I'll visit you if you visit me.

I'll take you to the Zoo and the National Children's Museum and we can have a picnic by the river. It'll be awesome.

Let me know what you think.

Love,

Poodle

PS - Don't let your mom bribe you. You can ask for me to come visit any time.

good news

I don't have school today, because DC doesn't know how to plow streets. Reason #452 I am in love with DC.

We also don't have school tomorrow.

And we're supposed to get more snow tomorrow night.

Bad news: I was supposed to go sledding today, but everyone bailed. We're going bowling instead. I have lame friends. (I like them anyway)

cupcake

So one of my students is missing two weeks of class to kayak in Costa Rica.

Her parents made me cupcakes to make up for it.

They are the best cupcakes I have ever eaten in my life. I stole one of her math teacher's cupcakes. He doesn't know what he's missing out on.

weekend

I woke up Saturday morning, planning to go for a long run. Instead, I looked outside to find lots of snow on the ground. Which meant I didn't change out of my pajamas all weekend. Glorious.

The only thing that would have made it more glorious would be for the snow to come on Monday. There's nothing better than a day off of school.

But, lest you think I was lazy all weekend, I did finish a book (Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet), start and finish a second book (The Rules of Survival) and start a third book (Cutting for Stone). So far, Cutting for Stone is my favorite of the three.

names

I have this student. His name is Anthony. But under the "preferred names" section of my attendance, it says "Anth". So I've been calling him Anth for 4 months now.

He just told me yesterday that he actually goes by "Ant". (Seriously.) And that the whole class has been laughing at me every time I call him "Anth." (Meaning every day.)

If you want my opinion, they should be laughing at him for calling himself "Ant".

ps

I also discovered fabulous post-holiday sales this weekend. For less than $100, I was able to purchase:

• a gray pencil skirt (Banana Republic)
• a sweater
• a pair of corduroy pants
• a black shirt dress
• 2 new bottles of lip gloss
• bronzer
• a pair of tights
• a pair of pajamas
• 3 bottles of shampoo and conditioner (usually $20 each)
• 2 new camisoles

And while I admit that I probably didn't need any of this, I'm really just doing my part to help the economy. Plus, they're really pretty.

fnd

I discovered an all-you-can-eat sushi buffet this weekend. All the sushi I could handle for just $12. My life is complete.

ps - I usually hate buffets, mostly because they usually mean lots of mediocre food. This one was fantastic. And included fried bananas. Like I said, my life is complete.

book reviews (for shady)

The Great Gatsby: Interesting novel and much more fun to read than I remembered, but nothing that I would swoon over.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Kind of graphic in parts, but very gripping. I couldn't put it down and kept reading until 5 am when I got too scared to keep going.

Into Thin Air: Augh. Jon Krakauer is infuriatingly self-centered. But he writes good books, so what can you do?

Ender's Game: Heartbreaking. Please read it.

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet: Loving it so far.

up next:

The Writing Life, by Annie Dillard. I read a collection of her short stories years ago, and her writing is enchanting.

Left Behind: A co-worker of mine hates reading, and this is the only book he has ever in his life finished. He read the entire series. I'm intrigued.

Black like Me: I've heard really good things about this one.

big events of 2009

1. I loved every stinking book I read this summer. Usually I order 4 books at a time and read the first chapter of each until I find one that grabs me. For some reason, this year I couldn't decide which to start with because they were all so awesome. That in itself makes 2009 a successful year.

2. Dubai. Rome.

3. Skiing. I am a total pansy, but still love it with all my heart.

4. As it turns out, I am totally the best Santa ever. My kids are going to be SO lucky to have me around.

5. My first half-marathon. This year it's my goal to actually follow a training schedule for one of these. Just to see if it improves my time at all.

6. Ragnar. Quite possibly the best two days of the year.

7. Starting a successful book club. This month is The Great Gatsby, which I have already finished (and thoroughly enjoyed) and next month is Ender's Game, which I have started and am already in love with. Sci-fi is not my typical genre, but this one is heartwrenching. I'm already in love with Ender.

merry christmas to me!

Today I received a $900 check in the mail from the State of Texas.

I like 2010 already.

the girl with the dragon tattoo

Is terrifying. I didn't want to get out of bed to go to the bathroom for fear that somebody would jump out and smack me in the head with a golf club.

(Nobody smacked me in the head with a golf club. But it was still scary.)