A Little Rambling

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...

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 durin...

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 ...

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 mor...

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."

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...

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...