snow shows its face in colonialtown

It's snowed a few times this week, but today it's actually snowed for longer than a few minutes and it's stuck to the ground. Last year, I didn't get to see what Virginian students do when they see snow for the first time, this year, I did. It snowed in Norfolk on Tuesday and my kids went berserk. It was pretty funny, except that we then had trouble getting them focused on their mid-term essay again and it made my drive through the bridge-tunnel and slow-going adventure.
Today my sinuses have started draining, so my throat feels nice and scratchy. Thanks, mom, for the Airborne/Walborne lozenges because they are perfect for today. I also woke up feeling kinda bummed. I really have no reason to wake up that way, either. It's a three day weekend before exam week, which means I don't have a lot to prep for. Plus, it's snowing and I don't have any obligation that would force me to do anything but stare at it from my sliding glass door while laying on my couch with our new, Megan-made quilt. Thanks, Megan, for making an amazing quilt that keeps me warm on these days.
And the mood might have to do with the fact we decided to get another cat, found two adorable kittens to choose from, decided on one after waiting a day to make sure we weren't make a rash decision, only to find out that both of the were adopted/in the process of being adopted. Dang, that was quick. Sorry, David.

Let's just blame the bad mood on me reading Jane Eyre. It'll probably pass by tomorrow, just like the snow.

those new glasses

There they are. They're kinda bronze-y colored and pretty snazzy.

Yesterday, my department chair basically kicked me out and demanded I go home. I was super dizzy, sick to my stomach, all sorts of confused and really wanting to cry my eyes out (not quite sure why, maybe all the stress of the school year so far? i was pretty freaked out at the time, feeling like that and needing to lead students is not a great feeling). I told her it would pass , but she said I needed some rest, since it'd been happening on and off all week. I guess I didn't miss much but kids being kids and the 3rd day with no A/C. That may not sound too terrible in October, but at this point in time, we need the A/C just to keep the rooms from getting stuffy. The rooms with computer labs got up in the 90s. Mine stay around 80-82 degrees, but with only one window for air and 20-30 bodies in a smallish room, it gets stuffy. The kids weren't happy and neither were the teachers.

My head is killing me today, probably due to the rain, so I'm not gonna get much done. Ugh.

the face of a 12 year old, snot-nosed angel

While we were in the frozen section of Food-Lion-soon-to-be-yuppy-looking-store-called-Bloom, a woman told me I had the "Face of an angel! A 12 year old angel!". I could only giggle and shuffle off to sneeze some more because today is the start of the downswing of what was the First Weekend of Allergies/Sinus Crap. Hurray! Fall (and cooler weather) must be coming if I spent a weekend with snot machine for a nose, a horribly dry throat and ears that pop and plug (arrrrg! I hate that part the most!).
Yesterday was definitely the worst, today was much better except I couldn't hear anything, sneezed in twos and threes and sounded funny at times (you know: my bnosth ith stuffed up. bleerrggghh). Oh! And I was wonderfullly together and ready and early heading to school--I even stopped to get gas and coffee in good time!-- only to be stopped for 30 minutes at the HRBT. Oh, Hampton Roads, I love you, but for Christ's sake, I hope I am never the "disabled vehicle" in the tunnel. I always curse the jerk whose car breaks down in the tunnel, but I try to stop myself early, because one day: that will be me. Thankfully, I have no 2nd bell, so I didn't have to worry. The down side was that there were no spaces in the lot I usually park in, so I parked on the street. I opened my car door, pulled out a plastic tub (to be used for... stuff.) that had shapes in it for an activity today. The lid was secured tight when I put it in there, but the lid popped off and a few triangles and squares went everywhere! Way to go, coordinated teacherlady! I pulled it together, had a pretty good, but uncoordinated, day and realized the up side to being late and having to park on the street: My car was in shade! It wasn't half as hot as it usually is, sitting on the asphalt! Why didn't I think of this before?!

Oh yeah, and this weekend we got: a laptop (for me), another iPod nano (for David), and a Jeep. This means we own 2 cars (because this weekend I also paid off my car!! Yayyyy!), 2 iPod nanos, and 2 laptops. Yes, we are finally up to date and even a little more "adult" than before.
OH! AND DID ANY OF YOU SEE BRITTANY SPEARS LOOK LIKE ONE SAD LITTLE LIP SYNCER LAST NIGHT ON MTV?! HOLY CRAP!

these kids make me sick... literally. ba dum dum!

Yesterday, very slowly, my throat got worse and worse. It started off a little scratchy. By the end of the day, it was very painful to swallow. I had to do a lot of talking during 8th bell, and it was horrible by the end of that time. I expected that after resting all last night, I would feel better today and not have to do a last-minute absence, but, unfortunately, that didn't happen. My neck is sore because the thing that always swells in my neck when my body is fighting off illness is nice and swollen. I've had a pretty healthy headache going on for a good chunk of the past 24 hours. My throat hasn't felt too bad today, except for the past hour. It stinks because I had to e-mail Chandra and ask her to put my stuff together for the sub. Not only that, but it was the last day for review and starting their essay part of the exam before my odd day kids had their exams next week. I would have liked to be there to review, but there was no way I would have been able to do 3 classes in a row like this. I probably would be way more sick than I am now. I'm not too surprised: a lot of the stress of the end of the semester is off now that it's ending and starting exam week and a lot of my students have had some crazy ailments recently (from fevers to throat problems to good ol' colds and such-- they've been nice and contagious).
This sickness was good timing though, I was having a rough week. My students have been crazy this week, due to having a LOT of exams next week and the pressure we've all been putting on them to do well. This whole part makes me ask exactly why we stress them out so much. What's the point of all this? Are they enjoying education? Are they learning? Are they enjoying it? Is this just becoming a bigger and bigger pain in the ass for them? If so, what's the point of this all?
All hail Airborne. Thanks, mom. That stuff is pretty awesome & has been helping a lot.

don't you let them tell you that you're wrong

Ted Leo and the Pharmacists on Saturday was amazing! We got there pretty early, hung around, waited for them to open the doors. When they let us in, it seriously looked like some prom-type stuff! They had snacks and drinks. It was caaa-razy. My camera was dying, otherwise I would've taken a picture. The place was a good-sized ballroom, but it was only about half-full. Only a handful of people actually knew who Ted Leo and the Pharmacists were, some of those had only recently found out who they were (through Death Cab's recent tour).
The first band was from WBG and sucked. Really bad. It was... oh my. Painful.
The second band was from Sweden, Sirqus Alfon. They were hilarious. They did all covers of popular songs. Some examples: "Crazy in Love", "Can't Touch This" (Yes, MC Hammer. It was awesome), the Mario Bros. theme.... and many more I can't remember. They have a website, you should check it out and get an idea of the craziness we saw: http://www.sirqusalfon.com/

Ted Leo had a sinus infection. It did not show at all. If this show was him at his weakest, holy moly-- he must be amazing when he's healthy. Everyone now and then, after he finished singing, he would play his guitar and cough his lungs out! The dude was so sick! It was awesome to see him live and, especially since he just opened for Death Cab about a month or so ago in Norfolk. The tickets for that show were something like $30 or $40! We heard that he only played stuff from Shake the Sheets. This show, he played stuff from that album as well as Hearts of Oak. They played forever! Plus, he took audience suggestions and played songs that he claimed they rarely play.
What they played (not in order, I can't really remember the order):
Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone?
I'm a Ghost (one of those "rarely played" ones)
The High Party
the Ballad of the Sin Eater
Bridges, Squares
Me & Mia
The Angels' Share
Counting Down the Hours
Little Dawn
Heart Problems
Bleeding Powers
Walking to Do
and one from Tyranny of Distance that I can't remember the name of, but was also one they rarely play.
Basically, it was an amazing show!


This week, I had a rough start. My throat started hurting Friday afternoon. Stayed kinda ache-y through the weekend, and Monday/Tuesday, it hurt to talk a lot. Yesterday, it became really dry and it was difficult to keep my class on track. Today, though, I feel much better and had a day where I didn't have to go to school. It was my 2nd BEST training day and it was pretty useful. It's nice to have those day-long breaks every 2 months to get a little advice and be able to hang out with the other first year teachers from my building. We are the worst students there, I swear! haha.