Yoga and Pilates is kicking my butt.

But an hour after I was finished, I feel pretty awesome too.

Definitely going to see:

1. Funny People
2. The Ugly Truth
3. Harry Potter/Half Blood Prince

* I spent a half hour on the horn last night with a good friend in Chicago. She's flying down in July to spend the weekend in Orlando. YES! I stayed with her last summer in Chicago, now I get to return the favor. She lived here for a couple years, so we don't have to do the theme park route.

Thank God, especially with this heat. I was actually thinking I'd like to hit up Magic Kingdom some time soon. But this heat beats all. There is no way this side of Space Mountain I'm going to stand in long hot lines with tourists. :P

* I recently changed my hair color. I was a redhead for about 4-5 years, and in March I went back to my natural brunette. I'm lucky my coloring allows me to play with both colors. But now that I'm back to my natural, I get constant questions about "Where do you get your highlights done???"

A friend took a picture of me in the sunlight, and I saw that I have gold, red, and blond highlights back in my hair. LOL. Guess my natural shade is prettier than the concocted one!

* I'm not dating anyone seriously at the moment. For those that have been wondering.

* I have another year in the Junior League coming up. I am no longer in charge of the resale store. YES!! *pumps fists in the air*

I enjoyed my time there, but I've been doing it for 2.5 years...my entire active time in the league. It got old this past year.

I am now a Provisional Mentor. It's like a PX (Rho Chi) for those girls that have been through Sorority Rush. A mentor/go-to person for new members. I'm a den mother! :) My best friend Ana is also a mentor. I foresee a LOT of fun in the next year.

And that's some of what's going on!

I have a feeling this is going to be an excellent week!

On a large blank wall in my bedroom, I have decorator hooks screwed into the wall in varying levels. I display a lot of my handbags that way as art and as a space saver in a tiny condo.

After surveying them, I picked up a dark brown, thick leather one, thinking it's not the most attractive one, and maybe I should either clean it, or toss it.

I just checked the inner pocket (just in case I left some money in there!) and found out this bag is by Coach as well!

Color me shocked!! I got this in a "as is" sale on ebay, and there was no mention of Coach in the description of the bag.

Gonna clean it up!!

Last month I bought a Coach leather-and-canvas bag at a resale store for $4 bucks. (Damn good price, huh!)

It's been sitting on my jewelry cabinet for the last month. I'm going to take it to the dry cleaners this week.

I just checked an outer pocket I hadn't noticed before...

and pulled out a $100 bill!!!

Score!!!

Why do I keep 3 quarters of the junk that I keep?

I am cleaning off my bedroom bookcase, and found my old ID cards from my first teaching school. WHy do I keep them? My hair is awful in the pictures, the outfit a travesty, and I ended up detesting the school in the end.

Should I keep these so I can look back in 40 years and say, "Oh, look how awful Mom looked back in her late 20s?"

OK, I'll answer my own question: No.

Actually, not just No. It's a Hell, No!

*gleefully shreds her ID badges*

*flexing my Livejournal muscles*

I feel the plight of needing to write.

And record everything that happens to me in my life.

In bullet points, natch.

JOB
I gave the UPS guy a high-five and got a huge smile in return.

OK...let me Tarantino it.

IN late May, the school district sent out a long list of open vacancies to teachers whose jobs would end on the last day of school, just as mine would.

On Monday, June 1, I glanced through it, not really interested, because by this time of the school year, I was burned out on teaching. I was looking forward to ripping down my boards, throwing away all the useless papers, cleaning up and packing up all my stuff.

I saw there was an open position for a Media Specialist at a middle school near my old elementary school (Read: where I started teaching 5 years ago). I polished up the resume, did a good cover letter, and sent it to the principal Monday night, not really expecting anything.

Tuesday morning, I got to school at 7:15, checked my email,and found a response from the principal, saying they had an open interview slot at 11:00 on Thursday, and would I email her my references?

::cue mental freaking out::

I cleared it with my current principal that I had an interview on the first day of post plan (she was excited for me b/c she knows how much I love Media), spent Wednesday putting together a portfolio showcasing visual displays I put together, how I improved the media center at my old school, and a few copies of rec letters I got from teachers I helped.

Thursday: I get to the school. The principal greets me in the front lobby, leads me into a room with 9 ppl around the conference table, and announces, "I make decisions by committee. This is my interview committee." SHe introduced the players around the table, wished me luck, and said, "They'll talk with you, then let me know what they think." She then said goodbye, and left.

They interviewed me for about 45 minutes. And I didn't feel uncomfortable or unprepared. I felt confident in what I was saying, how I was presenting myself. That's just further confirmation that I know what I'm doing!

On Friday, I finished up my kindergarten job, and that was all. *cue the hallelujah choir*

I attended a week's class of ESOL the following week, and didn't hear anything from the principal (Dr. T) Monday or Tuesday. I was freaking out b/c someone at my class mentioned they heard every Media Specialist that was out of a job (about 20) were interviewing for every Med Spec job available in the county (about 3).

Wednesday, June 10, I missed a call, and the display was not a number I knew. I exited the class to the front of the school, hit redial, and the middle school's recording picked up. I asked to speak to Dr. T; and she asked me if I was still interested in coming to their school. I said, "Absolutely."

This is occurring while I am in front of the school in the blazing heat, standing next to a UPS van. The UPS man exits the lobby, walks past me, and sees me grinning from ear to ear. He smiles back at me, and I spontaneously throw him a high-five.

So, I am now the Media Specialist for a middle school, and I've been working out there for the last week or so, learning about the resources, meeting different teachers, and seeing some of the kids in the summer school classes. Irony is--my OLD elementary school feeds in to this middle school, so I'm seeing some of my old students.

Job is GOOD!!!

Health

Health has been good. I am going for another B-12 shot next week; hopefully my last one.

I'm also beginning the tracking and losing weight of the summer. This spring did a doozy on my weight going up and down. I didn't like it, not one 'ittle bit. Tomorrow starts the tracking.

Social Life

Social life is booming. Lots of stuff going on here and there. I need to find some more ways of having "cheap and/or free fun" though. Summertime for teachers is a lean time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I've been catching up on friends' lives little by little. In order to break my obsession with Facebook, I need to start reading my friends' page daily.

What's going on in YOUR life I need to know or you're just so excited about you want to tell me???

Michael Jackson died today.

I can't believe it.

I can't write about what this is making me feel.

The first album I ever received.

The first interracial crush I ever had.

The first real "rock star" I thought was awesome.

I really can't believe it.

Why do I feel like I've made a breakthrough on understanding life on late nights, when my cat decides he MUST sit on my hands...or at least my keyboard...when I'm typing? Also, my contacts are gone, so I squint the hell out of my eyes while typing this.

Disclaimer: If you have any objections to these ideas/motivational spiels, don't address me with them. I don't care. I am not a lifestyle guru. I'm only imparting some things I've learned in the last 10 years, 10 years full of things about growing up, some which I wish I hadn't learned at an early age, and some I wish I had known at a VERY early age.

But seriously....

1. Don't be so serious. So much in life will have to be "taken seriously" so once you have the education/credentials/worksweat to claim as your own, don't be so serious. Let stuff roll off your back. If you're not dying or anyone dependent on your health insurance is dying, don't worry!

2. Whatever your job is, it's not worth worrying OR dying for. You may feel like the linchpin that keeps your job's cogwheels rotating, but you're NOT! And why would you WANT to be?? Too much pressure. Too much neededness. It's NOT the definiton of your need for the world. Concentrate your effort on unasked for kindnesses; unrecorded acts of helpfulness. I truly believe there is Someone watching all of us, so it does not go unnoticed while you're here. And if the atheists/agnostics are right, and no act of kindness means anything, then the smallest act can mean the most. Either way, you win.

3. Show love. Show love from sunrise to sunset and in between. Love for yourself, for your family, your friends, your fellow man, your coworkers, the person you smile at every morning at the bagel shop, at the person you let walk ahead of you in the crosswalk before you drive you car.

4. Smile. Smile when you show love. Smile at the person across from you at any setting---the breakfast table, the crosswalk, the checkout counter, the bank counter, the conference table...Smile!

5. Talk to children normally. Don't treat them like backward idiots. Inquisitive children want to KNOW how the world works. Don't talk down to them, thinking they will "never" undertand. Couch your info in terms they can understand. They are smarter than you think.

6. Have fun. Have fun with the people you know. Have fun with the people you work with. Have fun with the things and work you do. If something stops being fun, it's time to stop doing it.

7. Sexual/romantic love comes in a few different forms. Physical, mental, and unreciprocated are a few forms. Mental and unreciprocated will fulfill a LOT of years in early teenhood/teenagedom. It's OK. It's an exquisite torture machine refining you for bad teen poetry, song lyrics, and crying jags that will stupefy your parents.

8. Don't rush into sex. It's so big and adult. A lot of so-called adults aren't ready for it till mid-20s, but they do it in their late teens...and are WAY confused for a while. Just
enjoy your high school years. And if you feel you MUST indulge in sex, consider this....

9. The expectant length of a human being's life is 84 years. If you take that expectant and divide it by 12 inches on a ruler, you have 7 years per inch. Therefore, by the end of the first "inch", you've completed first/second grade. So when you're done with 2.5 inches (meaning 16-18 years of life), you still have 9 inches of life left on the ruler. If someone has talked you into sex before you're ready in those years (be you male or female), and it results in a pregnancy, you are tied with responsibility of a child AND to the person who convinced you to have sex for another 9 inches of life (or 63 years of life.) Do you really want to risk that much of your life on 5 minutes of "oh it feels so right at this very moment"?

10. Keep your old friends close. Not the ones from this year to a few back, but the ones from eons. They are the ones that knew you when, and remember what. They can give you valuable perspective. And call you on your grandiose shit when you get too big for your britches. You're never better than those that know you. And you're never better than your friends. (God willing.) Also, some of them can retain the fun memories you forget in your waning years. Already, I've been asked, "How can you remember that stuff??" I guess I find my classmates more important than normal. :)

11. Love your family. Love your individual family members. Never plan against them not being alive. My greatest regret was one day, at age 13, remarking how I wouldn't want my father to walk me down the aisle, due to some childhood vengeance. In my today reality, my father won't walk me down the aisle. I live with the memory of making that offhand remark to my mom. And I'll hear it in my head when I do walk down the aisle. No, I didn't know what would happen, but it taught me--never darkly forecast. No, I'm not THAT superstitious, but I'm Irish enough to believe--words have resonance.


_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

I only have 11 points for tonight. Strange, thought I would have more.

Then again...who reads this anyway?



11.

Today was the first day of Spring Break 2009.

I woke up at 8:30, did some stuff around the house, went to the movies and watched "The Haunting in Connecticut".

VEEEEERY creepy movie. Was very pleased with it.

Afterwards, went home, changed clothes, went to Tipsy's house to being pre-demo prep. Her house is being demolished in 3 weeks to make way for her new house. I hate wastefulness, so I offered to come take off faceplates for her sockets and light switches, as well as undo the electrical wiring, so she can donate to Habitat for Humanity.

I met her husband and his parents there at noon, and went to work for 4 hours. I unscrewed faceplates, wrestled with stubborn copper wiring wound around the light switches, sliced my fingers open on sharp screws, discovered black mold behind the switches in the bedrooms, and accumulated a dog's worth of hair on my shorts. I had a ball.

I love working with my hands. Doing small, intricate detail work. I loved it.

I came home, took a shower, then napped till about 6. Tipsy called me at 6, said she had a glass of wine waiting for me. I got to her house, nd had a couple glasses of wine with her neighbors, her parents, and in laws. Such a great group of people.

Dinner was BBQed chicken, cooked by Tipsy's husband, Bob, and sweet potato fries. Afterwards, we headed out for ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery. I was told by a 3 year old that I was a hottie cowgirl.

We went back to Tipsy's house, talked for a bit more, had some more wine, and then I left.

It was a greatly positive night. I had a great time.

I totally love Adam Lambert.

He's my Tuesday night best friend.

He would be my Tuesday night boyfriend, but I have had a Tuesday night boyfriend (see icon)for the last 8 years, and he gets very very jealous.

Plus, I don't think Adam would like me that way.

Best part of his performance last night: Shades of Matthew Bellamy from "Muse." Fan-TAS-tic!

I must have been saving up all this stuff for when I had energy and some time to write.

As "Will and Grace" plays on Lifetime (and it's an episode that has Gregory Hines dancing, so obviously I'm going to stay up and watch), I am going to confess my current obsession.

The movie, The Lake House.

The somewhat sappy tale of two people falling in love through mere letters, against odds, against time itself, and bucking death, and sidestepping other Fates, manage to get together in the end.

It's sad. No, not sad as in a sad movie.

What is sad that I attach so much fervor to a Reeves/Bullock movie. But the story just gets me.

I want love to work out. I want them to find each other. I want them to fight and work towards each other, b/c that's what they really want.

I want that in real life.

/end sappy confession

I know how hard life is sometimes. The only thing that can get you through is focusing on things that will break up the badness, those little signposts that gleam like welcoming lantern lights in a dark night, letting you know there are safe havens on your journey.

Things I'm Looking Forward To (and that are noted on my iPhone calendar to be sure!)

March 17: St. Patty's Day with my friend Julie B. who's visiting from LA. California, ya'll. Swimming pools, movie stars.

March 18: Off school for dr. appts, and a phone call.

March 24: Blue October releases "Approaching Normal"!

March 26: Hair cut. (I love getting my hair cut. Shut up.)

March 27: First day of spring break!!

March 27: "A Haunting in Connecticut" opens!!

April 2: Going to Athens, GA to hang with birma for the weekend!

April 3/4: A day trip to Clemson!!

April 20: Going to Tallahassee to pick up my cap and gown.

May 1: "X-men Origins: Wolverine" opens!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 1: Leaving for Tallahassee.

May 2: Graduating from grad school!

May 21: "Terminator: Salvation" opens!!!!!

Yeah...I got some nice things to look forward to.

Finally watched American Idol from my couch this morning.

Adam Lambert...you are so awesome.

Lil Rounds...I like you a lot.

Redheaded Alison...girl, you can SAYNG!

Others...good job.

Spring Break---Going to Athens, GA to visit Birma for a weekend!!!

Just because I dont have enough to worry about in my life...

There are two cats available through Pet Rescue by Judy.

While checking out the rescued animals, I found these 2, a male and a female, and they seem to saying, "we're yours."

I miss having cats around my house. I miss having animals to come home to.

I'm just wondering...if this is a quick "fix-it" method for how bad I'm feeling right now. (More in a another entry). As in, to save our marriage, let's have a baby!!

The 2 cats have been spayed/neutered, all shots are up to date. I just pay the adoption fee.

Plus buy all the other feline accessories, which I have plenty of practice in.

Should I adopt?

It sucked me in again.

Mainly by the performances of Adam Lambert.

If he makes the top 12, I may watch this season. If not, feh.

I am almost completely fluent in Hindi thanks to all these winners tonight.

Is it strange that I find Gene Hackman's snickering laugh to be very sexy?

Does anyone out there believe in this?

I don't..to an extent. I believe in "connection" at first sight. I have seen several different men in my lifetime, and there was a feeling that this man was going to be important to me, in one way or another. I can remember the very first time I ever met 2 of them, and even after all these years, they're still in my life, and mean a lot to me.

But what about someone that you see, and never interact with? It could be that girl on the El you spotted two stops from yours, but never talked to. It could be that guy in your class that sits two seats away from you, but you never drum up the nerve to actually talk to him. You agonize over wanting to talk to them, but can't find the words to break the ice.

And it's not the fact that they are attractive, or you like the way they sit. THere is a feeling from inside you; it wells up and convinces you, this person is important. You must make contact with this person.

....but you don't.

Then time passes, and you lose the opportunity, and it never comes around again. Chances are, you never see the person again.

BUT! What if that person--Intriguing Stranger--keeps cropping up time after time?

Would you finally speak/communicate with Intriguing Stranger? What would finally induce you to make the move?

I wonder how I would like Baltimore.

I'm beginning to worry about the external image people see of me.

Is it really me?

Or the conceived, public-safe me?

Original Plans: Complete Internship Project #3; make more sight words for my class; begin Internship Project #1.

Reaction now to Original Plans: BWA-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

New Plans: Watching Friday the 13th: 2009 edition; hanging out with my favorite boys; finding more pictures of childhood scan for Facebook.

I am currently laying on my couch, feet propped up, with painkillers booming through my blood.

My disc slipped around 1:00 when I bent down during Math.

I made it through the next 3 hours, scrambled together lessons and papers for tomorrow, and called in for a sub.

There is no way I am moving for the next several hours.

ALthough, I do need to get groceries if I want to eat sometime tonight...sooo...there will a late run around 9.

Why do I feel like I'm getting the crap kicked out of me healthwise this year?

I have messed up my TMJ somehow.

It's never been properly aligned, but I've been able to live with it.

Nowadays, I can't bite down in the back. Laying on the left side of my face in bed makes my jaw ache horribly when I turn over.

I'm eating yogurt and melon for lunch and dinner b/c it's easy to slurp down.

Thankfully, I have a dentist appointment soon.

Anyone have a problem like this? Sometimes when I eat, my jaw pops so badly, it's painful.

Cross your fingers for me.

I applied for a new job today.

A new elementary school is opening in the fall, and a notice went out this morning the new principal is looking for a Library Media Specialist.

I sent off my resume, with a brief cover letter explaining why I am no longer a Media Specialist, and am now stuck in the soul-sucking hell that is kindergarten (ok, I didn't phrase it like that exactly), but I got an email back from the principal thanking me for my interest; they are reviewing resumes and compiling lists of applicants. All those that will be interviewed will be notified by the end of February.

pleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleasepleaseplease ad infinitum

Man...

It's been a while since I've surfed ebay for nothing in particular.

When enoelie was my partner in crime, it was a daily visit/learning experience.

Two weeks ago, I found my best friend a new charger for her uber-duber-exclusive laptop at half-price she was quoted.

However, now, if I'm not searching for something uber-specific, I'm really lost.

People, who gives a flying fudgesicle what Aretha Franklin wore to sing in???

Yeah, her hat was big! People were taken aboard it. They were probed on it!

However, LISTEN to what your Chief Officer is saying!!

For once, there's something substantial to listen to!

However, when well-written words speak to me, I must remember them.

Especially in this age of teaching instant-gratification-spoiled kids.....

"What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility — a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task."
--President Obama, Inaugural Speech, 2009

Whoever his speechwriter is, DON'T fire 'em!!