attn: women

Did you know that your body is like a lollipop and if you have sex you're just a "poorly wrapped, saliva-fouled sucker." Please, click the link for some more LOLz like how HIV/AIDS is contracted through skin contact (that one's for you, mom) and condoms cause cancer. Good luck, everybody, you're all gonna die. It was nice knowing you.

In other news, I'm freaking cold. Today was crazy windy and the coldest temps we've had so far. Also, I'm counting down the hours until Friday at 2:05. As the week goes on, sugar levels and anxious jumping up and down in the seats increases, meaning this week is going to be the best EVER. I already had some fun students that pushed my buttons today. One was jacked up on all sorts of sugar and caffeine and one tugged on my shirt like a 5 year old for a good 5 minutes before I told her to leave me alone.
But, next time you see me, give me a high five because I finished grading the first wave of research papers before break. WTG, me!

two more weeks.

Yes, only two more weeks of school, then I get my break. It's only a week and a day, but I'm looking forward to it and will try to enjoy every second of it.
I'm trying very hard to not let it get in the way of my teaching, though. That's easy to do. The kids are thinking of it, we're thinking of it... it's easy to get lazy. I'm not going to get lazy, though. Mostly because I don't want to clean up the mess after lazy teaching and I don't want to be left with a lot to do during vacation and after. I think we have to submit grades before the break anyway, which will help motivate me.
This past Friday after school, Tye and I went out browsing in one of the Norfolk malls, contributed to Toys for Tots "Stuff the Bus" (upped our good karma!), went out to dinner and went to see Granby's production of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown". It was so good! The kids did great, of course. The set was fantastic, it was hilarious and I didn't have one negative thing to say (besides something they couldn't control: how incredibly tired I was). I had a great time with Tye and I think we agreed we should do it again. Now I understand why so many teachers go out on Fridays--it's definitely better than going home and thinking about how tired you are and everything that could've gone better during the week!
I think getting closer to going back to Michigan has brought up a lot of things I don't want to think about. We're still transitioning between these two worlds of our past and our present, and going back brings up all this... stuff (yes, I know- very articulate, but there's really no other way of categorizing it). I find myself slightly nervous and anxious about going back, and that bleeds over when I think of everything here compared to there. Ugh. It's hard to explain. I think maybe it's a feeling that my nostalgia will always leave me feeling disappointed when I go back. Things will never be the same when I'm there and part of me won't accept that, which leads to a small spot of sadness and disappointment. Most of it is way too silly, over-dramatic and personal to bring up on this blog. It'll pass once the holiday season is over.
One thing I do like about this holiday season is that we're driving and not flying. Driving is cheaper, more environmentally friendly (surprisingly), and a whole lot less stressful! Plus, I've already gotten a lot of holiday shopping done. I have to just wait for it to show up on my doorstep, wrap it and/or put everything together. I keep thinking I have to do all that now, now, now! because I'm so used to doing everything closer to Christmas. This year, there's really no rush! Amazing. Why didn't I do this before?

gigantic snowflakes are the new black

We went to our first holiday party last night. The theme was ugly/tacky holiday sweaters. I found this gem:

I know, I know. Please try to hold back your feelings of jealousy and envy.
That thing was about 5 extra pounds of stretched out fabric and shoulder pads.
The get together was lots of fun. We exchanged white elephant gifts, feasted on delicious cookies and other treats, and enjoyed cranberry slush and hot apple cider. We managed to give away our "For Him Only" and "For Her Only" books. Hopefully Danielle and Geoff can find another couple to pass along those brilliant books to help save their marriage from the crazy, insecure women that always ruin relationships. Thank goodness for getting rid of those two books. We ended up getting a Christmas tree coat hanger? Stocking hanger? Whatever it is, I think we accidentally left it at the Kaufman's.

Today I finished up reading some research paper rough drafts, graded letters to the editor, put in grades, and had a brilliant idea of what to do with my 11th graders to help them finish off their sources and body paragraphs. It was very productive.
Then, I turned on some Christmas/Holiday music and dragged out all our Christmas decorations. Here is our mini-tree, filled to the brim with ornaments.

I also put up a garland across the entrance to the kitchen and some lights (the only strand left that works! How did that happen?) across the sliding door. Way to go, me! I am patting myself on the back as I type this.

Of course, once the tree is out, the cats have to investigate. Jackie was hiding behind the tree trying to act like she wasn't going to attack an ornament once my back was turned.

She was laying in the back, eyeing that moose. She never attacked it, but she did attack many of the smaller, rounder, easier to remove ornaments.

Silly kitty.

a different holiday season

I've always wanted to do something like this for my loved ones during the holidays. I hate going to malls and big stores looking through the generic gifts for something special and unique and ending up frustrated and settling for something that'll just work.
This year, I've decided to give gifts that fall into one or more of these categories: made by me, handmade by someone else or portions/all of the profit go to a charity.
I've tried to find a good bunch of websites to help me accomplish this goal.

These websites use your money to buy supplies for other people. Each offers gift cards that you can give others so they can choose what they would like to buy/fund for someone else.
Donorschoose.org. This website is simply amazing. Teachers post projects, equipment, books, etc. that they need for their classroom and you can help fund their projects. What a brilliant idea!
Oxfam America Unwrapped. Buying items and supplies for people around the world. This could include school uniforms, hygiene kits, school desks/chairs, livestock, books for kids, etc.
Habitat for Humanity. They tell you what the amount of money you donate will buy: nails, doors, sinks, floors, etc.
Heifer International. You help buy livestock and kits that teach people around the world learn skills to help pull them out of poverty.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
Kiva.org. Your money helps fund loans for businesses starting out around the world.
Women for Women International. You sponsor a woman in war-torn regions with emotional and financial support, small business or job training, and education.

These websites have lots of wonderful stuff you can buy (most of it's not overpriced, either) and part or all of their profit goes to helping others or to various charities.
Crafters for Critters. Handmade stuff, money goes to "help critters". They have some really cute, handmade stuff, too!
Global Exchange Store. Heavy focus on Free Trade products, but sells items from small crafters from all over the world.
World of Good. Fair trade products, a little more expensive than other websites on this list.
...There are a ton of others, but way out of our budget, so I left 'em off the list.

And, finally, the eBay of handmade goods: Etsy. There is a TON! of stuff on this site. From what I've seen, you can find something for anyone and most of it is a price that we can all agree with. They have gift guides for every person you know and many different ways to help you go through the thousands and thousands of items to find the best and brightest.

If you need any other ideas for a different kind of holiday giving season, try out this website: Buy Nothing Christmas: Alternatives. It's a huuuuge list of things that you can made/put together instead of buying something.

one call to action

I've seen this in a few blogs I read and felt that since today is the biggest retail day of the year, maybe I can convince a few of you, my lovelies, to use your money for some good that doesn't involve giving your money to giant corporations.
I'll have more sites where you can use your money to buy your loved ones positive gifts that help good causes. Remember: this is the season for hope, charity, good will, peace and giving.

In 2004, Jackie Brown Otter founded Pretty Bird Woman House, a women's shelter at the Standing Rock Reservation in South Dakota. The shelter is named after Brown Otter's sister, who was kidnapped, raped and beaten to death in 2001.

According to Amnesty Intn'l report,

High levels of sexual violence on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation take place in a context of high rates of poverty and crime... The unemployment rate on the Reservation is 71 per cent. Crime rates on the Reservation often exceed those of its surrounding areas. According to FBI figures, in 2005 South Dakota had the fourth highest rate of "forcible rapes" of women of any US state.

As a special bonus to the Lakota Sioux Reservation, there are sufficient desensitization to crime and confusion over Tribal/Non-Tribal jurisdiction at Standing Rock to create rape tourism. Says Andrea Smith, an Assistant Professor of Native Studies at the University of Michigan,

[N]on-Native perpetrators often seek out a reservation place because they know they can inflict violence without much happening to them.

Against these odds, Pretty Bird Woman House is staffed by three people-- a nurse, a volunteer, and a part-time employee-- and from January to October of this year, they managed to:

* answer 397 crisis calls

* give emergency shelter to 188 women and 132 children

* help 23 women obtain restraining orders, 10 get divorces, and 16 get medical assistance

* provide court advocacy support for 28 women

* conduct community education programs for 360 women

A few weeks ago, PBWH's phone lines were cut, the office was ransacked, and the building was burnt down.

Everyone was away from the house at the time, but all possessions were lost, and - because PBWH's grant from the South Dakota Coalition Against Domestic Violence is predicated on its ability to shelter women - its funding is also lost. Now everybody's trying to pick up the pieces.

Click here for the full story.

How you can help:

1.

Donate what you can for a new house.

Pretty Bird Woman House already has two potential replacement houses in mind. Both offer significantly more space than the previous building... full basements, storage room and would house more than double the families and women than their previous building. Both buildings have yards which means possible playgrounds for children.

One house has a major advantage in location - a police station across the street.

Because of difficulties obtaining loans (banks are allergic to both Native Americans and poverty) the best solution lies in purchasing the house outright. The Tribal Council could hold the mortgage but coming up with the mortgage payments every month creates an ongoing problem. Since both houses are on the market, they could be gone anytime. Depressed property values on Standing Rock mean that $60,000 gets the house. An additional $10,000 is required to make them secure, with proper fencing, video cameras, reinforced doors and other measures.

Since 10/25, the drive for donations for PBWH has garnered 17% of the $70,000 goal; the drive ends January 2008-- so consider donating in someone's name as a Christmas present. Donations can be made here.

2.

Donate material goods-- clothing, toiletries, non-perishables, etc.

USPS to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
P.O. Box 596
McLaughlin, SD 57642

or FedEx, UPS, DHL ship to:
Pretty Bird Woman House
302 Sale Barn Rd.
McLaughlin SD 57642

3. Spread this meme.

lightning fast trip

Winter break was a quick one.
Our flight D.C. to Detroit went quickly and well. David did pretty okay on his first fight ever. We landed in Detroit, ate some lunch and hung around David's parents' house.
The next day, we went to meet up with Amanda and exchanged gifts. It was nice to see her again, if only for a short amount of time! We also tried to see David's grandparents, but couldn't get ahold of 'em. We drove back to Warren and went to Bo's family Christmas. We came back so late we decided to do Christmas at 2 AM and sleep in the next day.
Christmas started off with a huge, delicious breakfast. Two of David's uncles came over. We watched movies, Superman, and lazed about. We ate dinner with them and then headed to Kzoo. We got to Kzoo about 9:30. We waited for Meg to get home and then decided, since it was late, we would open presents, get it over with and sleep in the next morning. We did. Megan liked her two seasons of Gilmore Girls, my mom's "tea for two" set (two cute mugs and four loose leaf teas) went perfectly with the tea kettle my dad got her (we had no idea we were getting gifts that would go so well together!) and my dad liked his coffee. I love giving gifts. David and I got some awesome stuff. I got some socks from sock-dreams.com (wooooonderful socks!) and enough money on a gift card to get a CD player installed in my car (yesss!). David got a very nice outfit that is very appropriate for internship/grad student life.
I soon realized I was the only one without a laptop. Meg has a beautiful iBook, David has his huge laptop, my dad has a tablet laptop (where you can flip around the screen and write on it), and my mom has a laptop, too, now! David and I made a joke about how we should all be on our laptops and also talking on Instant Messenger. So, we showed my parents how to use AIM! Now they are totally caught up in the technology world.
We headed to Rocket Star for some quality coffee shop time. I dropped off two copies of my zine in the zine library. Meg, David and I showed each other the newest funny videos on youtube we've been laughing at. It was nice.
The next day was our first full day and started off pretty rocky. Brody has been acting up recently and decided it would be a good idea to latch on to Megan's hand with his teeth and not let go. Luckily, Megan's hand is okay, just swollen and has a few wounds on it. No broken bones or anything like that. Whew. Brody will also be going into training after he is out of quarantine. I hope it works and that Brody and my family can live in harmony and finally relieve some stress that dog has been putting on my family.
Mike came to stay with the family for a while. It was nice to see him, as always. It was especially nice to see him since he brought along a Wii! What a blast that stuff is! I was sore from boxing Megan and Mike and I swear I pulled a butt muscle bowling.
We also went to get tattoos. David got the golden spiral, I got my other hip Hedwig tattoo done and Mike got his Harry Potter tattoo touched up. It was awesome to see DJ at the shop. He seems like he's doing fantastically well.
Anyway. David and I went out separate ways, hung out with all our friends, went to coffeeshops, bars, wherever. We caught up with Kalamazoo and tried to see everyone we could. Here's where I will name drop--it was wonderful to see (mostly in order of how I saw you): Clay, Mike, April, Ian, Johnboy, Quaz, Natalie (!!), Scotty, Traci, DJ, Kim, Dan, Bill, Emily, Brian, Katy, Spock... hopefully I did not forget anyone. Congrats to Dan & Emily, who are now engaged.
It was strange being back in Kalamazoo. I was looking forward to being there and seeing friends, but I also felt myself slipping back into bad habits. I used the move to Virginia to start on everything I wanted to do and be. Being back in Kalamazoo, I realized I was being the old Alison. Not that I'm that much different, but it's different enough to bother me. It was really awesome to see my sister, family, former co-workers, friends, etc. But I don't really belong there anymore. Most the people that live there I don't keep in contact with and they don't contact me. No big deal. Kalamazoo moves on without me. Yes, it would be nice for someone to say they missed having me there, but they have no reason to. I wish I could bring some people here with us so this town would be more interesting, but I have no interest in moving back to Kalamazoo. First off, no jobs. Secondly, Michigan is depressing. I'm enjoying Virginia much more. Thirdly, most of the people I still keep in contact have moved other places. David and I were talking about how, in a few years, most of the friends we had in that city will be in other places. That's good, though. Kalamazoo seems to have a way of stagnating people. Anyway, it was good we were only there for a few days. Now it's time to get back to business.
The flight back to VA SUCKED. First, we were supposed to take off at 9. We boarded the plane at 8:30. We sit and sit and sit some more. Finally, the captain comes on and says something like, "Well, folks, if you've looked out the windows, you've seen the fog. The fog's even worse in D.C. and they're not letting anyone fly in." So we sit. Sit more. Finally, at about 10/10:15, they let us leave the plane to stretch. We re-boarded at 10:40 and sat for about 30 more minutes. Finally, we took off. We were supposed to land in D.C. at 10:10. We landed around 1:30. There was about a 30 minute wait to land in D.C. from the back-up of flights. It was so long of a wait that the pilot said if we had to wait 20 more minutes, we'd have to fly to Atlantic City to fuel up. The bright spot of this flight was the head flight attendant who decided to change up the original flight safety spiel. It started off with the usual stuff and then she pops in (not even breaking character) "please pretend to pay attention". She also had other gems popped in there like: "...then we would not have come to work this morning.", "If you are sitting next to a child or a politician, please secure your mask before securing theirs", "For those of you that have never been in a car before, this is a seatbelt. Please secure it tight and low around your waist like Britney Spears' jeans", "the in-flight movie is Gone With the Wind", "The lights in the cabin will be turned off. If you look above you, you will see a white button that will turn on your own personal reading light. Do not press the blue button, as this is your seat ejection button". The best part is that most people didn't even notice because she kept the same tone of voice (and it was very stereotypical flight attendant style) and the other flight attendants didn't even flinch! Everyone acted as if it was totally normal. The people that did notice were laughing their asses off, though. It was priceless.

I've put all the pcitures I took on my flickr site, along with a TON of wedding pictures (by Beth) that David's parents scanned in for us and put on a CD.

Also, Chris and Cherie were broken into before Christmas and hit pretty hard. While we were in Kzoo, we talked to a few people about collecting some money to replace stuff/repair their window. We're going to buy them a few movies they had stolen. If you're interested or if we already talked to you and you can spare a few bucks, let me know.

I hope everyone had a good Christmas and that you have a good New Year's Eve/Day. Ours will probably consist of Yuengling black & tan and continuing watching the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci Fi.

with a quickness

This week we made cookies. One batch of ginger snaps that were far too ginger and one batch of oatmeal/banana/chocolate chip cookies that were deeeeeeeeelicious!
I got a lot of cards from students and teachers. I got candy and cookies from a few students and one of my co-teachers. My other co-teacher gave me these three beautiful candle holders that say, "peace", "joy", and "noel", plus candles. Now I must find something or make something (food-wise) for my two co-teachers to thank them.
One student gave me a cute snowman candle. One of my students made me two "snowmen". They were made of three marshmellows on a stick, dipped in chocolate and white chocolate, meant to be stirred into hot cocoa. She also gave me a card that said I was a great teacher and, even though she may not say it a lot, she appreciates everything I do. It was amazing! I gave her some hot cocoa mix. Other teachers were jealous of the stuff/cards I got... I was totally not expecting anything!
This week, I made copies and put together my first (kinda crappy) zine. It's rushed and kinda disorganized, but it'll work and the next one will be better. I wasn't sure what I wanted out of this one, but now I know for the next one.
Today, so far, has involved packing (pretty much finished), cleaning, and getting the apartment ready for the pipe replacement that's going on while we're gone. We have to move everything off the counters and from around the kitchen sink in the bathroom, remove everything from one of our storage closets, and remove everything from the bathrooms. Ugh! This also means the cats will be stuck in our computer room the WHOLE TIME we are there because they can't be loose while the dudes are working. Carly is going to check on them mid-way to make sure they're doing okay though, so that's good. (It still sucks that they'll be in one room for a week. ugh.)

And we're off!

list it out

What have I done recently?
-Decorated a Christmas tree that is very tiny.
-Remembered how chilly 20 degrees could be.
-Remembered how much I liked 50-60 degrees.
-Laughed at people from the South who complained about 35 degree mornings. It's not that cold. C'mon!
-Started to get my zine together.
-Got excited about giving two people the perfect things. Oh yes.
-Got excited about going back to Michigan in a little while.
-Put on my Canada Olympic team vest. Missed grandpa.
-Found myself hating Virginia a slight bit, but only because I'm frustrated by other things.
-Sang and danced and looked forward to being able to listen to something other than the radio in my car soon.
-Stressed about money. Bah humbug.
-Looked into programs for my master's. Got excited about what I found. I think I found exactly what I'm looking for.
-Wondered if teaching was really what I should be doing. I suck, man.
-Felt frustrated with teaching, the "system", "The Man", students, etc.
-Was disappointed by students being one day behind where they were supposed to be. The whole students not taking responsibility for what they were supposed to do and, instead, deciding to whine has really gotten old. (Then I remember that there are "adults" who do the same thing in college and beyond. Is that more or less depressing? I can't figure it out.)
-Decided to take a day off to avoid mental breakdown and maybe even choking a child or two. I am looking forward to tomorrow. Mental health days, man. That's where it's at.