Dear February,

Where did you go?

Love,
Poodle

imagine

One of my students came to class today with an imaginary friend. Just because he knew it would annoy me.

It worked.

update

because it's been a while.

1. Swim team is officially over. I got thrown in the pool. Twice. I was ready for the first one and wore my swimsuit. I was not prepared the second time. All I can say is, it's a really good thing the other coach brought me some clothes to change into. Really. If I had to drive the bus home in 20 degree weather in soaking wet clothes, somebody would have died.

2. Track season starts Tuesday. I bought myself a new pair of pants to wear to practices. They're awesome. I'm actually a little excited about track.

3. Today was our first monthly Iron Chef: Connecticut Ave competition. Everyone made a different dish that somehow incorporated strawberries and we all voted on the winner. The meal was surprisingly delicious. Katelyn won with her apple/cheese quesadillas with strawberry dipping sauce. So good.

4. Ryan came over and offered to carry my strawberries and banana concoction to the dinner. Then he claimed it as his own. Charming.

5. I bought a plane ticket to visit Ashley in Dallas. It's going to be awesome.

6. I'm going to see the Peking acrobats on Friday. We have great seats.

stretch

So, good news. This is our last week of swim practice.

Which means we have had some super productive practices recently. Ahem.

So, my kids have been wondering if it's really possible to fit an entire person inside of a swim cap. Rumor has it, you can. But they just don't seem quite stretchy enough. Now, since I'm an educator and all, and want to encourage curiosity, we obviously had to test it out ourselves. What kind of self-respecting scientist relies on wikipedia to answer these kinds of questions?

Turns out, they are stretchy enough. Awesome.

on being a vegan

It's official. I've crossed over to the dark side, and have officially followed a vegan diet for two whole days. It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Claire has all kinds of vegan recipes that she's sharing with me, and we're checking out the vegan bakery next week.

First up: vegan chili. It's cold here, I love chili, and it's easy. I'm easing myself into the whole vegan cooking thing. I think this is going to be fun.

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.