BLOGGER TEMPLATES AND TWITTER BACKGROUNDS

Friday, February 15, 2008

This says it all about me!




You Are Totally Anal Retentive



Yup, you're so uptight - people definitely have called you "anal."

You're the type of person who's so OCD you organize your M&Ms before eating them.

You have so many rules and rituals, it's hard for you to let loose and enjoy life.

So go ahead and mix up your alphabetized CD collection. Live a little!

Saturday, February 9, 2008

Page 123


Tagged by my blogging friend Heather. Here's the challenge...

1) pick up the nearest book ( one of at least 123 pages)

2)Open the page to 123

3) Find the 5th sentence

4)Post the next three sentences

5) Tag 5 people (which I can't do, I don't know 5 bloggers...)


In the car, however, beside the actual living girls, the boys realized the paltriness of these images. Inverse properties were also discarded: notions of the girls as damaged or demented. (The crazy old lady in the elevator every day turns out to be, when you finally speak to her, perfectly lucid.)

From The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eudenides

One thing this challenge made me realize is how rich the language is in this book. The word choice is fantastic -- paltriness, inverse, demented, lucid -- these aren't words one would normally use when speaking. And yet, when I read the book, I didn't notice the language being as rich as it is. It took this challenge to point it out to me.

And while I am doing blog challenges, here's one from Cups of Coffee....

What makes me wonder...

I wonder what would happen if I decided to pursue that EdD at USC

I wonder what my cats really think about me

I wonder if I will have to stay on this vegetarian diet for the rest of my life

I wonder what grade(s) I will teach next year

I wonder about the 'big' questions -- God and life after death and the meaning of life

I wonder if this is as happy as I'll ever be

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Super Fat Tuesday

I got up extra early this morning so I could vote in the California primary on my way to work. I always like to get the "I Voted!" sticker to wear to school, so the kids can see that I take my civic responsibility seriously. I went to the church where the voting was taking place, found my polling place, and bent down to sign my name. And then I couldn't get back up. Oh my aching back! I have been in severe pain all day since then. The good news is that I voted and sported the spiffy sticker all day. In pain.

Another thing about this Tuesday; we had a staff meeting. It was the first one I have attended with our new principal. Oh my! She is an amazing woman. I love her! She is direct, to the point, and positive all the while. Such a change from the person who held that position before. She makes me (and everyone I've talked with) feel energized and ready to touch lives, to make changes happen with the students. I want to be a better teacher for her -- and that's saying something, because I love being a teacher.


Sunday, February 3, 2008

I've been tagged by Chasing Butterflies...

Here are the rules:
*The rules are to link the person who sent this to you...and leave a comment on their blog.. so their readers can visit yours. (No idea how to do this, sorry Heather!)
*post the rules on your blog
*Share 7 strange/weird facts about you on your blog
*Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, linking their blog
*Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving them a comment on their blog...

I don't know that there are any strange or weird facts about me (or things that I consider strange or weird) but here goes...

1. I've been a teacher for 14 years and I've only worked at one school.

2. When I visit a new place, I tend to go back over and over until I've 'done' that place to death. Case in point -- in April, I'm going to Paris for the 3rd time in a little over a year. Obsessive? Maybe.

3. If the St. Louis Cardinals are on TV, I won't make plans to leave the house. And yes, I subscribe to MLB Extra Innings, so the Cardinals are on A LOT.

4. The same thing goes for the USC Trojans football team. If they are playing, I stay home. Period. I need to watch it on TV. And if it's not televised (horror of all horrors), I will listen to it on the radio. I don't go that far with the Cardinals, but there are a lot less Trojan games.

5. I NEED to have a book in progress. If I don't, I don't feel complete. Right now I'm in the middle of The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides.

6. I'm a vegetarian. I've toyed with this for a while, but in October I was hospitalized for a kidney problem. My doctor recommended giving up meat because too much protein can cause kidney problems. That was all I needed to hear. It hasn't been difficult because I just think about the kidney pain from October!

7. My mother is a hermit. Or would like to be. Is that a strange/weird fact about me? That's all I can think of right now!

And I don't have anybody to tag!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Back to Work


It's that time of year again...back to school. Which means back to work. I don't officially start back until Thursday, but I thought I'd get a head start and go in early. HA! I picked up my keys at 8am Monday morning and finally walked out of my classroom around 4pm Monday afternoon -- and I felt like very little had been accomplished. Good thing I got that head start!

And I left with a headache and complete body exhaustion. I was in bed, asleep, by 6pm. Yep, it's that time of year again. Gosh, I miss summer already!

Friday, August 17, 2007

Favorite Things


This is a blog challenge from Cups of Coffee, to make a list of my favorite things. These have to be things that can be purchased, so here goes!

  1. Michael Marcus Prime, the best way to even out my skin tone I've found to date
  2. Oil of Olay Creme Ribbons soap
  3. Guerlain Insolence perfume
  4. Starbucks black iced tea, unsweetened
  5. Perfect fit t-shirts from Old Navy
  6. Christopher Blue jeans
  7. Agatha Christie mysteries, especially the ones that pre-date WWII
  8. Baseball cards
  9. St. Louis Cardinals autographs
  10. Manicures and pedicures
  11. My cherry chocolate LG cell phone
  12. Converse All Stars

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Passport to...England and France




Aaahhh, what a wonderful end of summer this has been....it's so hard to describe the past two weeks in Europe: how relaxing, how beautiful, how inspiring. how different life is. So many new experiences, so many monuments visited, so many small moments that were very special. Instead of writing about each one, here's a partial list:

  • Touring Kensington Palace
  • Eating ice cream on the grass outside Kensington Palace
  • Listening to Big Ben chime
  • Visitng the chapel in Westminster Abbey that holds the coffin of Queen Elizabeth I and the one that holds the coffin of Mary, Queen of Scots
  • Riding the Eurostar
  • Eating at La Fregate with its view of the Louvre
  • Carousals in Paris
  • Standing under the Eiffel Tower
  • Wandering through the catacombs under Paris
  • Touring Notre Dame
  • Eating ice cream each evening while strolling through the cobblestone streets of Paris
  • The half day tour of Versailles
  • Seeing the tunnel where Princess Diana died
  • The funfair outside of the Louvre with the great log ride
  • Crepe stands with nutella
  • Walking two miles to see the Eiffel Tower light up at night
  • Visiting the Pont Alexander bridge
  • The Place de la Concorde and standing on the spot where Marie Antoinette was executed
  • A train ride through the middle of England
  • Eating breakfast at the Muffin Man every single morning we were in London
  • Standing on a bridge over the River Avon, feeding swans
  • Shopping in Europe!!!