national christmas tree

so my neighbors and i headed downtown to see the national christmas tree, since we live in DC and haven't seen it yet. it's enormous.

I love this picture:

And just to prove that I was really there:

Further proof, if you're a skeptical sort that needs more convincing:

And the White House, just for fun:

Me and my roommate Julie:

Book Wish List

yet again... so many books, so little time

A Thousand Splendid Suns: By the author of The Kite Runner. I hear it's nothing like The Kite Runner, but that it's just as good.

13: Thirteen Stories that Capture the Agony and Ecstasy of Being Thirteen: Being thirteen pretty much sucks. They are strange, strange people living in a strange, strange environment called middle school.

Emotions Revealed: The same friend that recommended The Prince has read a lot by Paul Ekman. Apparently it is really really easy to read people if you just know the tricks. I thought he was bluffing until he proved that he could tell me exactly what I was thinking at any given moment. He was alarmingly good at it. I need in on this!

The Evolution of Useful Things: Stories like these could be useful as a segue through my class I should be teaching this summer. (I can only teach it if there is enough interest to fill up the classes...)

some updates

#1: School is out!! Friday was our last day, and I am FREE until January 7!!! We spent the last two days of class building towers and other engineering-esque projects so we wouldn't all go crazy waiting for the final bell to ring.

#2: Our first book club meeting was a success. Everybody liked the book, except for Julie, who at least pretended to. How nice of her. And we ate the chocolates my students gave me for Christmas, and the homemade biscotti that Rochelle baked. Now I need to find The Story of Opal. This one is proving more difficult.

#3: I started reading The Prince, by Machiavelli. It's my friend's favorite book, and I agreed to read it as long as he would read The Schools Our Children Deserve, since that's one of my favorite books. He wasn't thrilled with the arrangement, but it turns out I'm pretty good at making him do what I want.

#4: I am finally going home tomorrow! I get to play with my nieces and nephew, buy them presents, and overall convince them that I am their favorite person on earth.

#5: I woke up early yesterday to brave the outlet malls. We arrived as soon as the stores opened, missed all of the crowds, and partook in all of the early bird specials. I finished my Christmas shopping and then bought myself two pairs of pants for $7.50 each, a sweater for $9.00, and another pair of pants for $3.50. I love bargain shopping.

do you have enough ideas yet, mom?

and this CD would be perfect for my stocking. kasey chambers is my hero.

please don't hate me

but i really want a pair of these boots.

i know they're ugly. hence the name ugg. but boy, oh, boy do they look warm and cozy. and i've realized in the past few days, what with the snow, and the snow delays, and driving the bus in the snow, and going to the Redskins game in the snow, that i need a WARM pair of shoes if i'm going to survive to my 28th birthday. and i would really like to turn 28.

so here they are. these ones are expensive, but there are some cheap knock-offs all over the place that will also be warm. i prefer the tall variety. brown or sand.

stocking stuffers

per mom's request

MAC brow set: my eyebrows need SO much help. seriously.

Black tights. It snowed for the first time today, and it is COLD! Some in winter white and charcoal would be nice, too.

i also really love this coat. although it might be a little big for a stocking. and i might need something hooded for those crazy snow days.

and WARM winter clothes. a pair of sweatpants from my school, as cheesey as that sounds. and of course, i always could use some more books.

book club

book #1: The Kite Runner. My roommate bought it for me for my birthday (she's the best) and i can't wait to read it.

book #2: The Story of Opal. According to Matt (one of the book club co-founders), it demonstrates why we're told to be like children. sounds interesting

book #3: The Count of Monte Cristo: i can't wait to read it again! it's been a few years, and the story is great. i think i'll love it even more the second time around, now that i know the overall plot and can absorb more.

book #4: East of Eden. also an old favorite. everyone should read it. as long as you can handle some of the details...

this is how i impress my students

when we have a discussion in class about how it is physically impossible to eat six saltine crackers in one minute, because the salt dries out your mouth so much, i challenge them to a saltine eat-off.



and then during lunch, we collect all of the saltines we can find and i proceed to eat six in less than a minute. without a sip of water.



now i'm pretty much their hero.