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Showing posts from 2012

I was bitten by a kindergartener today.

My friend Matt has this fun blog idea, wherein his blog topic each day comes from the song stuck in his head that morning.  Sometimes they're silly, sometimes he turns it into something quite profound.  Inspired, I thought I would try that. Problem: the song song stuck in my head this morning was "The Mitten Song."  ( listen to it here )  I'm not sure there's much useful storytelling I can pull out of "Thumbs in the thumb-place, fingers all together/this is the song we sing in mitten weather."  It's an adorable song, and I don't really mind it cycling around my brain, but there's really not a whole lot of purpose behind it except that kindergarteners will look precious as they sing it with their reindeer antlers and missing teeth in the Christmas sing-a-long. However, it does lend itself well to talking about my favorite classes - the Ks.  They're so flipping adorable!  I have one class in particular on Tuesdays and Wednesdays that I

it lives!

Oh, my poor blog, how I have neglected you! Today was such a lovely day that I decided to drive home the long way.  When you remember that I work 30 miles from home, you realize that the long way is really long.  But it was so worth it!  The sky was that lovely autumnal shade of blue.  Maybe it's just me, but I see the sky differently during different seasons, and there's a special hue for both sky and clouds that just means it's fall.  Anyways, the weather was so gorgeous that I didn't want to waste a drive on the freeway.  Since I work so far away, the "wild desert" is only two miles north of my normal route.  Not terribly wild, but you can drive without stoplights or seeing houses for quite some time.  It was a great choice. So, student teaching and working and job hunting and trying to sleep, eat, and have a life have kept me rather insane.  I'm really looking forward to three days off next week for Thanksgiving!  I realized during my drive that I&#

finally Friday

I haven't blogged in forever, not because there hasn't been much going on, but because I'm generally gone from 6:30am to 11pm, and those precious hours in between are all used up on trying to sleep.  Today was an exceptional day, however, and I feel like sharing the happy highlights with you. 1.  My 0 Hour class brought breakfast, so I got to school just to feast on doughnuts, blueberry muffins, fresh fruit, and mini-cinnamon rolls.  Yum. 2.  In one class, we played silly mind games the whole period.  Singing? What's that?  We needed a day to re-group, there's been lots of drama.  (and it's a class of all boys) 3.  My girls' choir (the only one I get to keep from bell to bell as my own) discovered my laugh.  All 60 of them imitated it at once, which produced mass hysteria for most of the period.  Throughout the rest of the class, I'd hear a "her hee!" squeak out from a corner of the room, kind of like popcorn, but never being able to tell

Recipe-palooza

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I've been cooking a lot on the weekends, and feeding as many people as will come over and eat with me.  Dad told me I need to be a little old Jewish grandmother, since I never seem to be happier than when I am feeding people.  It's true!  I think it might come from having worked at the Hospitality House , but wherever it originated, I absolutely love to cook for others.  Sharing food makes it better, and part of it might be just that I like to show off. I had one particularly show-offy meal this week.  Nate came over for dinner on Sunday, and it was a Greek/mediterranean/middle-eastern food fest.  I got to use my new-to-me grill for the first time, and all the food actually turned out really well!  It's always nice to feed someone who vocally appreciates one's efforts, and Nate was good at that. The menu was: pork souvlaki (almost), quinoa tabbouleh, tzatziki, and flatbread.  The flatbread I bought from Trader Joe's, and I wish I had a lot more because it was SO

reason #164

I often compile lists (of a single item...is that still a list?) with arbitrarily assigned numbers, eg. "Reason #412 why I will never join the army," or "Reason #275 why I am destined to become the crazy cat lady." Tonight is a reason why I wish not to be single: so that I have someone I can call and say, "Come hug me for an hour.  You don't have to talk, just come hold me and breathe with me, and things will be better."

Student Teaching

Today was my first day of teaching, at a school which shall remain nameless for the sake of privacy.  Just know that it's a pretty big school somewhere in the Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area. I've looked forward to this moment for quite some time now, with varying degrees of excitement and trepidation.  I wasn't too nervous...and even that turned out to be for nothing.  I really did almost nothing today.  I got to do some warm-ups, but only one choir actually sang.  I took roll in a few others, and then sat at the desk listening to the explanation of the handbook over and over, doodling a new choir poster at the desk. I was so underwhelmed by my activities today that I am now eagerly looking forward to getting to teach actual things tomorrow instead of being terrified.  I guess that worked out well. It's weird to look at my little photo id card and see "Faculty" instead of "Student."  It's weird to eat lunch in the fine arts office with all

why I love my commute

That seems a silly thing to say, considering how much I probably mention my commute in any my-life-is-harder-than-yours contest.  I drive 30 miles (one way) to work every day, right about the time that rush hour traffic begins, though fortunately I manage to avoid the most congested freeways.  It costs me a small fortune in gas, though with my recent move I'm filling up once a week rather than once every 5 or 6 days (but that's because I'm closer to everything else, and farther from work).  It takes me 30-40 minutes to get just about anywhere after work. But I realized yesterday that I would probably really miss my commute, were circumstances to change.  (Not to mention missing my wonderful job!  I love my job!)  If my daily drive were a few minutes along surface streets, maybe a quick couple exits on the freeway, I would miss out. Long drives mean time to think.  I have few distractions, and can take a breather to sort through the chaos of my mind, since the rest of my

all(most) moved in!

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After a week and a half of being covered in dust and leaping over a massive pile of cardboard boxes in order to get into the kitchen, we are officially unpacked!  We're still waiting on a couch and my pretty porch plants, and a few things need to go up on the walls, but other than that, things are set.  It's a nice feeling.  (oh, and I still need a bed) This is what it looked like for the first couple days...boxen everywhere! As of about an hour ago, we even have internet, which makes it feel even more settled.  I've been loving having a pool to use whenever I want, and I REALLY love not having a half-hour drive home from every event.  I can have people over for dinner, spontaneously.  :)  Even the cats are adjusting, though Fiyero's favorite place to sleep is deep in my closet, under my shorts. So yes, I'm excited to be able to blog again, as I've had many thoughts and no ability to post them this week.  We're having our housewarming party tomorrow nig

moving in the morning

I'm FINALLY all packed.  All that's left is to throw shower stuff and current clothing in a bag, grab a cooler for food from the fridge, and head out.  Chantel and I picked up keys today and moved a couple boxes up.  That makes this my last night at home...again.  We'll see if it's official this time.  The cats get to stay here a little longer till things get settled.  Fiyero's mad at me for putting a collar on him after so many years of freedom.  It's also sparkly, because his fat neck is too big to fit the cute little red collar I wanted.  He's been glaring at me for forcing such indignity upon me, when he's not busy trying to chew it off. I'm not looking forward to getting up at 5 am, but there's stuff to be done...and I woke up that early today anyways, all full of excitement and busy thoughts.  I hate the process of moving, but I'm really, really excited to be in my own place again, and living with such awesome girls.  And closer to

I really, really, really hate packing

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Because I loathe packing so sincerely, I often find myself doing many other things in between boxes, which means it usually takes a long time.  I'm somewhere around half done and still have all weekend before I move, so I'm counting that as a good start.  This small fiend doesn't make it go any quicker, though. The last week has been fun and productive, and cramming it all into this one post won't do it justice, but I'll do it anyways.  We'll go backwards. Today: Jessica came over and we learned two dances (the shim sham and the line dance to Fake I.D. from Footloose), ate smoothies, took pictures of adventures in Walmart, had lots of girl talk, and indulged in a delicious dinner of mac & cheese, cheesy bacon potatoes, totino's pizza rolls, and oreo cake pops. Last night: As You Like It was our play for Shakespeare night.  We formalized the accent-adoption process, and some were very interesting (for example, I was both Igor and an Alligator

frustrations of flirting

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"If I'm overtly flirting with someone, they've already been friend-zoned."  - Annie Flirting is fun, there's no doubt.  Flirting with someone who flirts back is even more fun.  But Annie has a point - it's easiest to flirt with someone you don't really like "that way."  When you know someone is just a friend, it's easy to be a little outrageous, because there's no risk.  You're friends, and you're unlikely to spoil that friendship with some silly flirting.  But when it's someone you like?  Whole 'nother story. I called another friend today to pass the time on my long drive home, and she brought up the same topic.  Why is it so hard for us to flirt with someone we like?  I think there are two reasons.  One, and this applies to everyone, is the risk.  When flirting with someone whose interest you desire, you have something to lose.  This could be your one chance to prove how interesting you are and convince them th

free food frenzy

This is my 200th post!  Apparently, I am celebrating by offering you free food and good company next Friday.  :) I still don't have any plans for my actual birthday, so I thought I might capitalize on all those places that offer free birthday eats.  The list of places that offer free stuff is very, very long, so I whittled it down to ones I would actually be willing to do.  Most of them, I don't even have to buy something to get it!  (although I've signed up for enough e-clubs that my spam box will be forever full of fast food.)  Who wants to join me for a day of free eating?  I'll share a lot! BREAKFAST Denny's - free grand slam IHOP - free meal Einstein's - free bagel? First Watch - free entree LUNCH or DINNER Firehouse Subs - free medium sub Liberty Market - $10 towards meal Joe's Farm Grill / Joe's Real BBQ - free meal ($10) Ruby Tuesday's - free burger Schlotzsky's - free sandwich SNACK Wing Stop - free fries Texas Roadho

amputation

A broken relationship is like a wound. A deep cut hurts, the ragged edges of the flesh raw and the exposed nerves burning at any touch, no matter how compassionate.  As long as it is left untreated, it cannot heal.  Ignoring the pain doesn't make it go away, it just allows it to fester and get worse.  The longer you wait to heal it, the bigger the scar will become. You could stitch it back together.  With time and care, it will heal.  There may be a scar, but the new skin will grow over it, and it will fade with time.  If you've waited too long, there may be some stiffness at first, but even if it never quite goes away, it's still whole. Your other option, to keep it from becoming necrotic and killing off the rest of you, is to amputate and cauterize.  This is a very drastic choice, and won't always fix everything.  You'll have to get used to functioning without it, because you can't put it back together again.  Even if the worst is gone, there may still b

rambles

I don't have a fancy actual topic to write about, but I want to keep the blog alive, so today I will treat you to some of the top floating contents of my mind. 1.  I learned that Yom Kippur is on September 25-26 this year.  For why this is relevant, go listen to this song that has been stuck in my head all week. 2.  As a music teacher, I have a pretty high ambient noise threshold.  However, teaching Pre-K VBS has the ability to surpass that threshold, and for the first time in a long time I found myself driving home without the ipod playing, enjoying the silence. 3.  My 24th birthday is in about two weeks!  It's the day before I take my AEPAs, so I can't do anything too crazy.  In thinking of ways to celebrate, I realized that I've never had a birthday date, so that's what I'm going to wish for on any wish-chances (stars, eyelashes, pennies in fountains, 11:11, dandelions, etc) between now and then.  My birthday's even on a Friday this year, it'd

many manifestations of myself

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I've had a lot of time to myself already this summer.  My sister is up in Seattle for the summer, Dad works, Mom's been working out of town, most friends are in summer school or out of state, and I don't work till 3 or 4 pm each day.  This means my mornings are full of...not much.  It has more than made up for the hectic craze of the last semester, and I'm ready for my life to be filled with a little more busyness again.  This week I was actually pretty good about not sleeping in super late and being a totally lazy bum.  I've been keeping up with my cooking challenge to myself, though I haven't posted it.  Last week's counted double, because I made pizza dough and pizza sauce from scratch recipes.  It was pretty delicious, and I've still got a lump of dough in the freezer, and a small vat of sauce to be used.  (I was expecting about 8-10 people and ended up with 4, so there were leftovers!) Some days, though, I just laze around the house, wondering

Apartment Hunting 101

The house hunt has officially ended (alas!), and the great apartment caper of 2012 has begun!  In a little over a month, I will hopefully be moving to the East Valley with Chantel and Sicily (and Dallas and Fiyero), which will cut down on my gas bills considerably.  I spent this afternoon running around to seven different complexes that all theoretically met our qualifications for living spaces.  Four have been stricken from the list, one is teetering, and two are actually pretty darn nice.  Hopefully we'll all agree and move in soon. Here are a few things I learned today that might make apartment hunting more endurable. Don't go alone.  It's waaaay too boring, and you have no one to bounce ideas off of or compare notes with.  Nate was gracious enough to accompany me and save me from losing my mind, since Chantel and Sis are out of state. Don't go in summer if you live in Arizona.  (whoops.)  If you do, complexes that have a/c in their model rooms automatically

more things I love about my job

1.  hearing students excitedly telling their parents what they learned today 2.  my boss telling me I'm a saint 3.  getting new students who are already pretty good 4.  getting new baby students excited to learn 5.  students wanting to hear me play 6.  making silly faces and yet still having 'classroom management' abilities 7.  brownies, cake pops, cupcakes, cookies, and raspberry lemonade 8.  a photocopier! 9.  listening to my students make up their own music 10.  when I can tell my students actually like me :) I am so blessed in my job!

the courage to change

I overheard (and then butted into) a conversation the other night at a church event with some friends.  They were talking about a man in South Africa who was explaining to my one friend why blacks were naturally inferior.  She was astounded that someone could believe such a thing in this day and age, but realized that's how he'd been raised and taught, so it was what he really believed.  He had a litany of reasoning to support his claim, not realizing how much of it was unfounded in reality.  It didn't matter if it was true, it was all he knew. How much of what we believe do we only believe because it's what we were raised with?  Our parents teach us something, the lesson is reinforced by other important figures in our lives, and we accept it as solid truth with no margin of error.  It's simply how the world is.  We build our lives on this foundation, and when it is challenged, we have no doubts that we are right, and we continue blithely believing. Eventually,

Love Thy Neighbor

Most people don't really know their neighbors, at least not in a city like Phoenix.  It's too hot to play in the streets together, too much traffic, too many questionable neighborhoods.  We keep to ourselves in our air conditioning and our own backyard pools. I, fortunately, am an exception to this rule.  I know most of my neighbors, and their families have known my family for a generation or two.  Several go to the same church, we have neighborhood parties on big holidays, and you always know someone with a spare key when you lock yourself out.  I've tutored, taught, or babysat most of the kids on this block, and there's always someone to feed your pets when you're out of town, or someone willing to lend you an egg or some sugar.  However, sometimes the best perks are the little things.  The doorbell rang tonight as I was sitting around talking with my dad, and I opened the door to see my neighbor and her daughter standing there holding out a plate with two enor

twirly twirly twirly

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During the school year, the thought of having endless hours of nothing to do sounds soothing and wonderful, a kind of hazy ideal of naps and snacks and lazing in bed with a book.  However, now that summer is here and I don't have anything to occupy my mornings, I've managed to get bored quite quickly.  It's going to likely be worse now that Mom's working out of town for several weeks at once because there's not anyone to be bored with!  So, I have begun questing for different ways to occupy myself.  I've gotten through a couple bestsellers, and I've been doing well with my goal to make at least one new recipe each week.  I've gone dancing at least twice, had a Shakespeare night, played a few game nights, and watched more hours of Netflix than I can count. In defiance of boredom, I decided to do something I've never done before.  I made a skirt! and one, and two, and a twirly twirly twirly! When Jessica and I went swing dancing at Kats Korner o

bonus recipe - Pina Colada smoothie

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The other night, mom cut up a fresh pineapple, and I looooooove pineapple.  I decided I needed to make a smoothie, but not the healthy kind.  It was perfect.  Light, fruity, delicious. Ingredients 2 or 3 scoops Haagen-Dasz pineapple coconut ice cream about 1/2 c of ice as many pineapple chunks as you want about a cup of pina colada mixer Directions 1) Mix it all together with a blender. 2) Genießen.  (enjoy!)

Rosemary Hummus

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I'm sitting here snacking on this week's recipe as I blog.  I was at the grocery store earlier, realizing that the week was almost half over, and while I had cooked several times, I hadn't made anything from a new recipe, (which is my challenge to myself over the summer).  Mom wanted some hummus, but the store only had roasted red pepper (my favorite!), and since she doesn't like peppers, she hadn't bought any.  So, I decided to make her some. Hummus is delicious, high in protein, gluten free, vegetarian, and vegan.  It's great with pita or veggies and makes a good on-the-go meal or a healthy snack.  I chose rosemary to flavor it because a) it's my favorite and b) I have a large rosemary bush in the backyard, so it's convenient.  Also, you'll notice that there's no tahini* in my hummus, for two reasons: I don't like sesame, and we didn't have any anyways. Ingredients 2 cans garbanzo beans, drained 1/4 c olive oil 1/4 c lemon juice

Bahamian Vacation

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This last week was long and wonderful and relaxing and just what I needed.  It was filled with fun and adventure, and so fair warning: this is likely to be a long post! Day 1: Phoenix - Ft. Lauderdale In the early morning hours, I met Marc at security and we boarded our plane.  I usually fly alone, and I enjoyed the single best advantage of flying with a buddy - trading massages throughout the flight.  Passes the time nicely and makes those chairs more bearable.  Once in Ft. Lauderdale, we caught a bus to the car rental place and met Chantel and Shantel and picked up our big ol' Ford Expedition, which fit all 8 of us and our luggage (snugly).  I was the driver, even though Matt's older, and I was thrilled to find it had a little back-up camera in the rearview mirror to keep me from crashing into anything.  Matt, Chris, Austin, and Sicily took a train from Palm Beach to meet us, and when they got there I got a running, jumping, spinning cinema-worthy-epic-airport-reunion hug fr