My Head Hurts Thinking About This

Scion and the Bumper Stickers

2006-09-09T05:27:00.000-07:00

There is a weird little box car I love to see driving around town. It is a Toyota Scion covered with bumper stickers. I think a while back no one had the Toyota Scion, so this person bought one because they thought it would be fun, had good gas mileage, and could fit lots of stuff inside. And then a million other people bought them.

The fun part of the plan must have seemed ruined. So, they covered the car with bumper stickers (mostly free ones):

"Unity 08"
"Nelson County High School Governors"
"I Live in the Chesepeake Bay Watershed"
"William and Mary Tribe Football"
"Virginia is for Lovers"
"Episcopal Church"

I can't remember the rest (I think there are 10) but I always know whose car it is. I could be a mile away and I would know that driving ahead of me was Weston. Ray-bans and all. Come up closer and wave in the rear-view mirror. Down rolls the window for a friendly hello. Phone rings "Short Skirt Long Jacket".

I feel pretty lucky to know that guy with all the bumper stickers on the weird little box car.

It was on hers and now it is on mine

2006-07-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

Sara's friend put this on her blog. So Sara put it under the big grey tent. And now I am putting it here.

1. My home is...a little studio apartment waiting for a futon to be dlivered so I can sit down.
2. I am listening to...the refidgerator and the ice maker and feeling lucky that I have an ice maker.
3. Maybe I should...plan for the up-coming school year.
4. I love it when...I finally get to the beach, run across the sand and jump in the ocean, ready to fight the waves.
5. My best friend...makes me laugh when I am sad. And I laugh a lot!
6. I don't understand...what is going on in the middle east. It is very sad.
7. I lost...the back of my favorite earring and I can't get a pencil eraser to make it stay in place.
8. People say...that I have a lot of energy, but when they say that I also know that I need a whole lot of sleep.
9. The meaning of my blog name is...that I was trying to think of a name for my blog and I couldn't think of it and it was making me unnecessarily anxious and my head was hurting as I was trying to think of a name for my blog.
10. Love is...doing new things because you love someone and then realizing that you might just love to do those things, too, when you are with them.
11. Right now, somewhere, someone is...memorizing 7 times 8 is 56.
12. I will always...be intimidated when I meet strangers.
13. Once upon a time...I was scared of trying new things.
14. I never want to...give up on people.
15. My personal motto is...shake what your mama gave you (in the literal and figurative sense).
16. When I wake up in the morning...I squeze my hands because I think I may have arthiritis.
17. I get annoyed when...I argue with people about unimportant things.
18. People always...do funny dances at weddings.
19. I sing...Christmas carols very well.
20. Hugs are the best when...they crack my back.
21. Today I...am waiting for my futon to arrive.
23. Tomorrow I will...go to the DMV.
24. I really want... all my students to feel safe, happy, and confident in my classroom.

The Last 10 Weeks

2006-05-21T12:04:00.000-07:00

It has recently come to my attention that I am not what one would call an "avid" blogger. More specifically, I have been told that I "suck" at updating this. And this by BOTH of my two readers. An example: I sent Michael some news a few weeks late, stating that I had tried to send out a big email about the new plans in my life but that my computer had not wanted to cooperate (it is a piece of crap and anyone who has met it would agree... two weeks ago the screen began to fall off but I can still use it at times). He said to me "If only there were a means by which you could post your thoughts and plans on the internet for many people to see." Tou She (spelling?), Michael.

So, here's a quick update on my life:

1. In March I went to Virginia to visit friends, and I am not going to lie. More specifically I went to see the boy of all friends, Weston. It was a good time, but leaving was very sad. Very sad indeed. I cried. I know you are all shocked about that one. Weston and I had decided to stay on our respective sides of the nation for yet another year, he in the blue dot in a red state (Charlottesville) and myself in the land of sunshine and cactus (Phoenix).

2. Boo hoo. Lots of worry and wonder. What to do? What to do? To quote a student at my school, "I am doomed! Doomed!"... maybe it wasn't that dramatic. Life went on. I realized I was OK and still having fun, but you know what... Cross country skiing is hard enough. I did not care to partake in the challenging sport of cross country dating for yet another year. So, Weston and I decided to think and discuss. For all you teachers out there, one might call it a think-pair-share.

3. We examined many an option. I continued to figure out how to get my Arizona Teacher Certification finalized. I went to take those big tests that take up an entire precious Saturday of my life. I sat there writing essays about educational philosophy, teaching strategies, and answering multiple choice questions about what to do if I child is wheelchair bound. It was a long day. I was not even allowed to bring SNACKS into testing.

4. I got in my car and made a decision. I was moving back to Virginia.

5. Wham! I told Weston, told mom and dad, told my roommates, found jobs to apply for, applied for one, school school school started going nuts (what had happened to the children?), flew to Virginia to look for an apartment and to look for a job.

6. On Friday, 2 minutes before an IEP meeting I was offered a job with a great rural school district teaching elementary school special education. And now I begin the task of seeing if I will take it.

So, things are hectic but good. While the process of deciding and moving is somewhat shocking and stressful and sad, the actual outcome is one with which I feel very comfortable.

I look forward to the vibrant yet small city of Charlottesville.
I look forward to seeing my friends and family on a more regular basis.
I look forward to living at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains and working in a peaceful and quiet place where people love kids.
I look forward to seeing Weston and being with him.

I would say, things are looking pretty good right about now.

2006-03-05T07:04:00.000-08:00

Hannah at the Superstition Mountains

My Newest Project for My Two Readers

2006-03-05T06:19:00.000-08:00

So, a new project emerges. As you all (two) may know, I love a good project. What I seem to love even more is starting new projects (con mucho gusto) and never ever ever ever finishing them. Hmmmm. I think back to October when I started the mosaic table. The hammer, tiles, broken mirror and liquid nails were STILL strewn across the patio last night. Or to Januray when I started to knit a sweater and knit 1/10 of the sleeve. Four months ago I had my assistant, Megan, copy all of the word problems from another teachers' files. It was 220 word problems. I brought them all home. You know, to catalog them. Still in a pile (in nice plastic sleeves) on my bedroom floor. And the towels sit on a stool behind the bar, a whole week they sit and wait, to be washed in my great purge of dirt that started, but never stopped. This blog, the myspace, my journal, reading the Bible cover to cover in a year, reading "Mountains Beyond Mountains". I love the book, but I just wont finish it. I have been reading this book for going on 4 years now. All of these things have started and stopped on and off for minutes days months years.

But now I have found another project. One with no deadlines. One that actually might not leave me with word problems, dirty towels, and 1/10 of a sweater sleeve all over the floor in the heat of Pheonix, Arizona. My whole web log is changing.

I think my friends are my best resource. I have been a mess at varying points in the last 5 years and there they were at every place where I was. I do not think the reasons for the mess was my friends. Please keep that in mind. I would be in a mess or a great spot and there they were with me in spirit, on email, on the phone, at my side pushing me into the library, telling me to suck it up, laughing laughing laughing and giving me presents (wait, you didn't give me a present... well, get on the ball!). And I kept moving and moving and moving and moving and moving. And now I think I might have landed, as Ben Folds says, for a while. Smack dab in the middle of the desert. And surprise, even though I might not be in a mess, I still love them.

But how can I get them to know and love eachother? How can I have Julio and Sara and Weston and Carmen and Moyra and Katie and Travis and Suzy and Rich and Hudson and Michael and Richard and Sara U. and Liz and on and on and on and on and on all the way to Boston and Japan and the four corners of the world meet?

I am going to introduce you to eachother here. I will start writing little stories that tell why I love my friends and family (oh the fam damily, as my grandmother says). Maybe some of you will become friends. And that will be it. There is no start or finish to the web log. Its just another project which may or may not happen. But yesterday, sitting on top of a cactus covered mountain I thought "I have a great idea."

Hannah Versus the Giant Saguaro Cactus

2006-01-15T20:34:00.000-08:00

Me versus a giant ancient cactus. I lost. Or did I win? Hiked Saguaro National Park today with Carmen. Sunny skies. Cactus aplenty. Sounds like I was the big winner. Look at the photos and judge for yourself.

The Wicked Blond of the Desert

2006-01-07T17:49:00.000-08:00

Over the past few weeks, I have had the chance to explore Arizona and learn about many new things. I did not do it alone... too blond friends from the east coast joined me and it was wonderful. On one of our many outings, we went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesen West... the school where he educated, and perhaps enslaved, his apprentices. Those people were always digging holes in the desert it seems.

Well, while we were touring the estate we learned about FLW's opinion of the cholla cactus, also known as the jumping cactus. You see, when you pass by this cactus the thorns sense movement and JUMP off the cactus and EMBED themselves into your skin. And not only are these little thorny things... no, no. They are barbs, quills of the plant world. They latch into your skin and it is impossible to remove them, to get them out of your skin and away from your veins which lead straight to your heart (I think that veins lead to your heart... any idea Sara?), without RIPPING OUT YOUR FLESH. Wright's name for them? The Wicked Blond of the Desert. Weston and Lauren had a great laugh about that...

Maybe its true. Maybe it is impossible to get rid of me without ripping out your own flesh. What a strange thought. Here is a picture of me and the Cholla/Jumping Cactus/OTHER Wicked Blond of the Desert. I kept a very safe distance, so I have not, as of yet, had to rip anything out of anything. Although today I did prick myself on a cactus while trying to bury an apple core, but that is another story for another day.

Christmas Wishes for Middle Schoolers

2005-12-20T21:32:00.000-08:00

All of you know this, but just in case you missed the last 19 years of my life, I am a teacher. I teach in a weird psuedo-urban but sub-urban but not... long story... middle school. I don't write about school in general on here because it might be construed as unprofessional. But, to make a blanket statement, I love working with kids despite any ridiculous drama that may ensue.

And the ridiculousness does ensue... trust me. I work with middle schoolers. And not just any middle schoolers, but the middle of the middle schoolers. I teach the infamous and at times terrifying 7th grade. Call me a martyr, call me a lunatic, call me stupid but its what I do. Anyways, in working with my little angels I have noticed something. I love them, I do, but sometimes they lack grace. Other times they might lack manners. And pretty much all of the time they lack a keen sense of what they should or should not do. "But its fun to sing Feliz Navidad in that voice." in the middle of math class etc. etc. Sometimes I wonder what could be done to stop this seemingly unstoppable train crash that is pre-adolescence. Most times I think we should all just wear helmets. Just in case.

So, that is what happens in middle school. And, not to be crude, but in the last 10 or 15 years, middle school has seen the terifying advent of the thong.

Tonight I am watching Mad Hot Ballroom, a documentary about a ballroom dancing program for 5th graders in NYC public schools, for the second time. I love to dance. Look at my other blog entries. I love to shake it when I have a chance. I even taught the kids at a conservative private school in New Jersey to shake it. But, here's the thing about learning to dance, which you can see in this coolest little film ever... It is not just fun. Its so much more than that. Dancing gives kids something that the world is trying to take away from them. I look at the kids in this film and I think about what dancing has done for me, and I realize that dancing gives kids grace. It teaches them the manners and consideration that cannot be taught in a traditional classroom. The things that are so hard to teach in a very harsh world. Dancing can give them the confidence to stand up and be young men and women in the face of a world which doesn't seem to want them to do that.

Thats what I want for my kids for Christmas. I want them to see the really beautiful and graceful things they have inside and grab hold of them. I wish I could teach them all to dance, but sadly I teach 7th grade math. So, in the meantime, I guess I will just do what I can. Love them and bake them cookies. And sometimes tell them its just time to stop. Sometimes I wish you would please just stop yourself before you get embarrassed. That is my secondary Christmas wish. Come to think of it maybe I need thatone , too.

I think the second wish may be an impossibility, but you cannot tell me not to dream.

Welcome to the Sick Fort

2005-12-12T09:02:00.000-08:00

I am sick and I stayed home from school. But not only am I sick today, but every weekend moment was ruined by a sick too stealth and evil to hit during the school week. Instead, it snuck up on my precious weekend time of respite and smashed all hope of rest and relaxation and fun and joy and happiness to pieces.

But not only am I sick, but Carmen is sick, too. My sweet little roommate, Carmen. We have two different things and are cycling through various stages at different points. Saturday morning I was dizzy and glued (not literally) to my bed. She went to the store for me. I sat in my bed and cried because I felt so sick. Its true. I am a big wimp. I hid under the covers. But then... OH THEN... Carmen hit the wall. Literally.

I had gone to bed at 5 pm (perfectly normal, right?) and I guess she had done the same. I woke up around 9:30 and read for a while. All of a sudden I heard a crash. I decided to ignore it. I could take care of a crash in the morning. Except that that crash was none other than sweet and wonderful Carmen! I heard "Hannah..." and there was my poor little friend passed out in the hall by the kitchen clutching a roll of toilet paper (?). I was sick, so was she. I tried to hoist her up but she was all passed out and crap and I was none too good. I pretty much dragged her to her room and shoved her up onto her bed. Then, I started trying to think of nurses and doctors to call. I was a little ridiculous and I had started to cry because somehow I had convinced myself that she was dying! I kept telling her to stay wake... "don't go to sleep, Carmen" And she looked real sick. Yesterday, she said she wondered why I kept saying that like an idiot. I called Sara, but then realized it was very late there and hung up. I looked at Carmen and she did not look pretty, but she was OK. I decided to just hang out for a while so I could stop being such a wimp and make sure she was OK.

And now here we sit. Too sick girls. I have built the sick fort of days of yore. We have moved the end table so we don't have to move to reach our drinks. We went to the store and stocked up on coke and soup and juice and bagels. And I just got two new magazines. It is just like when I was little except now I have WiFi. Long ago, my mom would build me a sick fort in the basement on days home from school... I would fake sick for DAYS to stay in that fort full of teen magazines and disney movies and M & Ms. My mom was a real sucker for my sick face or she just liked having me around. Sadly, it is a lot different when you are a grown up because then you have to take care of yourself and your ROOMMATE (Carmen) won't let you eat any cheese because it is bad for colds and flu.

Oh my goodness... it totally worked.

2005-12-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

I Live in the Dinosaur Age

2005-12-08T19:10:00.000-08:00

I can't figure out how to do it. Sara, you and "Ben Harper" are going to have to wait. Bated breath, I'm sure. Plus, right now all I have pictures of are my house and its MESSY and gross. Plus, I think my computer is like the war games computer. All the typing looks weird and stuff and I pressed the buttons you told me to and it just freezes. We'll see. Plus, the weekend holds better pictures. This weekend I am going to some ex-Wilcoite in Tucson and do a little hiking as well. Have I mentioned lately that Arizona is the place to be?

2005-12-06T20:09:00.000-08:00

Can I Post Pictures?

2005-12-06T20:08:00.000-08:00

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2005-11-29T21:33:00.000-08:00

It is only 22 days and 17 school days until Christmas break. I feel like I could fly. I am not even kidding... but then there are some things getting in the way of my flight. Here they are in no certain order:

1) Too much pie. Thanksgiving is a time for giving thanks and for eating a lot of pie (give thanks for the pie). If I eat any more pie, it is likley that I will not be getting off the ground any time soon.

2) Arizona has turned cold. I moved here for the warm weather. One of my favorite past times over the last 4 months has been talking about how its summer all year round here and says "oh, that sucks" when my friends say how cold it is where they are. I have been smug and have laughed at people who felt cold. But this morning, as I bundled up (some might say like a little match stick girl) for work, I was horrified to see it was 38 degrees and some parts of Phoenix were getting frost! Since I have gone soft by moving to Arizona, I proceeded to wear my puffy vest all day with a mismatched turtle neck and the first scarf I could find. Also mismatched. I think kids were laughing at my attire. If I get any colder, I will be too frozen to fly.

3) Never getting out of bed. Now, this is said after I talk about going to work in the morning. Every day I HAVE to get out of bed because I am a grown up so I need to suck it up. If I didn't... who would teach the math? But this morning, I hid for a good 20 minutes thinking of ways to get out of leaving my bed and the tent of covers I had created. Unless you strap my mattress to my back, I am not flying anywhere.

But I don't have to fly anywhere. My holiday flying was finished two days ago as I pulled into the Sky Harbor International Airport at 12:15 a.m. on a school night! After a long day/night of delayed flights I was home. For Christmas, I am Arizona girl with a few close friends coming cross country to surround me with some Christmas cheer at this most wonderful time of the year. So, I guess I don't need to fly. I'll leave the flying to them. And thats fine with me (when you fly, your lips get all dried out and "My lips hurt real bad").

Hannah Needs

2005-11-17T19:46:00.000-08:00

So, I looked at Sara's blog (actually, if you are looking at this, you probably ARE Sara (how's it going?)... so I guess I was looking at YOUR blog) and she (you) recommended this little game. You type your name (in this case Hannah) and "needs" after it into the search bar in google. And then you see what it says that you need. I thought, oh thats silly. It will kill a few minutes before grading papers. Little did I know that an hour later I would still be chuckling to myself (today, I have been thinking I am rather funny)about what I had found.

So, here are a few things. I got a little addicted, so you can stop reading whenever you want.

1. "Hannah needs your support" Don't we all?
2. "Hannah needs a good home and a daily walk" The computer don't lie.
3. "Hannah needs to get this shit happening again" Yeah, dog.
4. "Hannah needs to to into the tunnel and face the prisoner" Don't even go there. Sounds scary.
5. "Hannah needs to go to school" Every day. How does the computer even know this!?!
6. "Hannah needs her vaccinations, worm tablets, and flea control" I have been feeling a little off lately.
7. "Hannah needs help--- are you in New Jersey?" If you knew me when I lived in NJ, you would agree.
8. "Hannah needs puppets" Sure, why not?
9. "Hannah needs to apply a lot of makeup so she can perform" Some mornings I feel like that as I get ready for school.
10. "Hannah needs long term prayer" THAT IS TRUE.
11. "Hannah needs a little sister from China" I always wanted a little sister from China!
12. "Hannah needs to be naked at all times" Sure. Whatever. I think that sounds like a good idea.
13. "Hannah needs to be as mobile as possible" Is this computer some sort of mind reader?
14. "Hannah needs to be distracted" What?
15. "Hannah needs a solo" Have you heard me sing? Its great. I DO need a solo!
16. "Hannah needs to understand that a woman's greatest sex appeal is her inetlligence and her sense of humor" Good thing for teachers to know.
17. "Hannah needs to be home sometimes" Check.
18. "Hannah needs salt!" Check.
19. "Hannah needs better costumes" I haven't been able to find all of my costumes.
20. "Hannah needs the phone line" I have needed the phone line a lot lately. And that is good.
21. "Hannah needs to wear a cute blue mask" Maybe it would bring out my eyes.
22. "Hannah needs a champion" Don't we all? Could he wear a cape?
23. "Hannah needs to jump all the way down and pick up the two treasures in the water and then jump all the way up again. (watch her head on the spikes)" Sweet!
24. "Hannah needs to get out more" OK. I better go.

I Never Write On This

2005-11-10T21:02:00.000-08:00

I never write on this web log. Its true. People say to me, "You should write on your web log" or "When are you going to write on your web log?". You people are just silly. You have talked to me before! My life is not very exciting or cool (because I live in a desert... boom boom chic) and I am a lazy typist. Hate to type.

But tomorrow... hallelujah... I am going on a little vacation. I am going to the GRAND CANYON. See I have nothing to say about it. I'm just happy that I am going somewhere. Its going to be fun. Hostel. Hiking. Hullabaloo. Hannah. Hannah hiked to the hostel and caused a hullabaloo... horrendously. I AM GOING TO THE GRAND CANYON. It sounds better in caps. Here's the interesting thing about that: I just moved to Arizona. Before July 6, I had never even BEEN to Arizona. Before June 1 (ish), I had never even really THOUGHT of Arizona. And now... I LIVE here and I do things like go to the Grand Canyon, and I had never even thought of it before. Sure, the GC (somewhat like the "OC" but really not at all) sounded very nice, but very far away and practically in another country. That is what it seemed like to me. Another country. And now I live here, and its pretty nice to be here with all this newness for me. Maybe its not new for other people, but for me... I never even THOUGHT about this and somehow I just landed here. All of a sudden, out of nowhere I ended up living in Arizona. And thats kind of how my life has been going for the past little while... things I had never even THOUGHT of have just been happening. All this newness and its not even spring! Who would even believe it.

Showing Jemison How to Make a Web Log

2005-05-18T19:24:00.000-07:00

Here is Hannah.

Here is Sarah Berg.

Here is Jemison.

See Hannah show Jemison and Sarah Berg how to make a web log.

French Things

2005-05-03T20:37:00.000-07:00

I have not had much to say for a while. Its true. My present situation has tried to eat me whole and I am now entering my last set of finals prior to beginning the ever frightening thesis. Tomorrow, I have two and I will say that two bottles of wine and a trip to look for plastic poop (I need it for a presentation, I swear) have not been the most helpful in working on that. But I have been studying since this weekend, so let's hope for my own sake that that is enough.

Tonight I sat around with Carmen, my sweet little roommate who quizzed me on hearing and vision screening for my final tomorrow as well as adaptive behavior and various psychometric tests and Gwladys, my other sweet little roommate, who also happens to be from the country of France. And here is what we talked about on this lovely evening: Poor Norwegians, what are they famous for? Vikings and SALMON, an apparently fatty fish (little did I know) with lots of Omega 3 Fatty Acids. What is France famous for? They get everything. French fries. Toast. Poodles. Kiss. I think the list might go on. We even considered renaming the kiss... I mean, gosh, is that even fair? Give someone else the kiss, you get delicious foods and a poofy tailed dog! So we have decided to rename the kiss. No longer shall it be the french kiss. From now on: the Pakistani kiss! I think it has a nice ring to it. Good evening all.

A little less cranky

2005-04-03T18:49:00.000-07:00

I still think that William and Mary might be out to ruin me, but I just did something that was not writing a paper (although now I have to write a paper on it, but whatever) and was actually extremely interesting. There is an online simulation of having a learning disability at this web site. I highly recommend it to teachers, students, friends of teachers, friends of people, pretty much anyone. It is very interesting and will teach you a lot.

Go to this web page http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/intro.html and look for the attention, reading, writing, and mathematics sections. I guarantee it will be an eye opening experience.

So, I'm less cranky and I have learned something. Now I will type out another paper for "the man". Always trying to bring me down.

I AM CRANKY

2005-04-03T15:59:00.000-07:00

I am not going to pretend. All of those other journals... maybe not the one about the hole in the plane... were nice and happy. I think I was writing about flowers. But now its time to get real.

I HATE WRITING PAPERS AND I THINK WILLIAM AND MARY IS TRYING TO KILL ME.

I really do because every time I turn around I have another stupid paper to write. And that is what they are: stupid papers. I cannot even do this anymore. In the last four days I have written five papers and I am still not done. I have three more to write for this week alone. How can I have written five papers and not be ready for the week. And how can it have taken me four days... one of which I was not even writing because I had a bad cold (boo hoo) which I blame on them too. They probably implanted the germs in my apartment while I gone on my happy vacation so I would come back and miserable. I hate them because they are trying to ruin my life. I am supposed to be at the beach and in the sun on spring break. I am supposed to be having a nice time. I am NOT supposed to be sitting on my ass in their stupid computer lab hating my life. I hate them. They are evil.

I have nothing else to say about that. I just wanted to post it on the internet so that everyone else can see how evil William and Mary is. E-V-I-L. I'm going to go now and eat in the library next to the "No food or drink" sign. I will have a drink there, too. Then I am going to kick their garbage cans.

Boy, I feel better. I am one cranky lady today.

My Head Does NOT Hurt Thinking About This

2005-04-02T09:54:00.000-08:00

I love when everyone leaves my house. For all my years of having roommates, this has been the sacred time. Why, you might ask? Do I hate my roommates? Do I run around naked? Do I do drugs? None of the above. Never hated my roommates. Don't really run around naked, not on purpose. Maybe if I forgot my towel in the other room. Drugs, not at all. I like my roommates to leave my hosue so I can have a dance party. It makes everything so much better. And that is what I am doing right now at 9:47 am on Saturday morning. I am dancing to the Celtic Salsa, and I am very cool and suave while doing it.

This dancing time is the time of BIG RIDICULOUSNESS. I do the big moves. Flashy turns and maybe some jumps. Or leaps. It does not matter what music is on or what else I have to do (case in point I am supposed to be writing a few case studies right now). I am all of a sudden Carmen Miranda (caliente!) or Martha Graham (dramatic!) or a few times I was that famous ice skater guy. He's good! But I cannot remember his name. Brian Boytano? Something. I was dancing to Les Miserables at the time. And I think I was nine.

So I love to dance around when my roommates leave. But there is the ever present problem: being caught in the BIG RIDICULOUSNESS. I think every roommate has caught me in the middle of the big dance move, a jump or such. Angela: the Christina Aguilera shake. Maria: Yellow Submarine Boogie (complete with costume, I was practicing for a grammar lesson... long story). Jenny: Billy Elliott skippy hop and the Charlies Angles opening number. Sara: well, I think she was right there with me, but I am sure she saw some pretty bad, bad as in cool not sucky, moves. Beck? Sexx Laws? I was so cool. I even had an entrance. And the list goes back to my first college days. Anyone remember the Mariah Carey Christmas dance, Bemis girls?

You see, I am and always will be a dancing fool, but if you have not seen me dance during this sacred time, you have not seen me dance. I recently saw myself dancing on my friends' wedding video. It was not the same moves I do at home. I did not look as cool. What was wrong? Where were all my smooth moves? I think its the fear of my inner dancing queen coming out. Maybe it will be too much. Maybe people just won't get where this is coming from. Maybe they will all be jealous. Who knows, but I think my cool moves need to come out. The world is really missing something.

So, now I'm going to do the Celtic Salsa one more time. Really work on honing my moves and then I might be able to get to work.

A Birthday Passes

2005-03-30T20:32:00.000-08:00

I am the Queen of Birthdays. At least the queen of my own birthday. But this year was a little different type of royalty. I used to think the world lived for my birthday. Surely, the whole world was waiting for my fifth birthday when I dressed up as a Japanese geisha, or my eighth birthday when I had a teddy bear party with all my bears and their friends, or my twenty third birthday where certainly the whole world waited with baited breath for me to arrive on a small Honduran island, or my twenty fifth birthday (shared by one lovely Eleanor Helms), where I was a rock star diva for a night. Birthdays have changed on the other side of 25 and its been nice.

For this my twenty seventh birthday, I got so many nice little surprises I had to document it:

Surprise 1: Liz made me a cake. It was crooked and only half way iced, but it was delicious and lovely nonetheless.

Surprise 2: Carmen put tall candles on the aforementioed cake and held off on it until I was done with my now almost two weeks late project (nothing like a little understanding on your day of birth). Then she gave me a lovely and thoughtful present even though before I had unwittingly ruined her present by buying the exact same pair of earrings for myself.

Surprise 3: Sara and Brett made me a SCAVENGER HUNT and kept it a secret! There were clues and everything!!!!!!!! I couldn't even believe it. I also had some trouble with some of the clues, but whatever. I figured it out nonetheless. There was a new CD and a bar of home made soap (not a hint, I hope) and strawberry shortcake and beer. What more could a girl ask for?

Surprise 4: This was not really a surprise becuase I planned it, but it was nice anyways. Me, Carmen, Gwladys, Matt, Mo, Daniel, and Jessica all went out for fancy martinis. Twas the bomb to be loved enough that people would want to spend a precious free evening with me!

So, here's to a new year and to my lovely friends.

Holes

2005-03-30T20:23:00.000-08:00

I do not know how to spell holey as in holes, empty spaces in things. Today I traveled in what I believe was the SECOND holey plane in one week. There were empty spaces in it.

The day was beautiful: I had coffee at an old haunt, I got my hair cut (love a new do), I rode THE RAPID and made a friend (for the time I was riding rapidly on THE RAPID... which is a bus), and then I hopped in a taxi destined for the Grand Rapids International Airport... all 10 gates of it! Oh the adventure!

I thought I was going to get bumped, but to no avail. Free tickets and I were not meant to be friends. And so I boarded, ready to begin my safe and warm footed journey home. Again I was wrong! I would not have warm feet on this journey. I THINK THERE WAS A HOLE BY MY FOOT. How could only my foot be freezing and nothing else? I was sitting on the emergency exit isle; they had trusted me with the lives of all of these other 49 people! And I was privy to the secret information about the hole in the plane. What would I do?!?! Nothing except freeze my foot and try and keep it safe and away from the door... surely my heavy doc martens would swing the already faulty door open and I would plummet to my doom, followed by the other 49 people on the plane, as the air sucked us out and away. It didnt happen but I think it is only because I was perched on my feet, protecting us from imminent death.

Plane #2 was no better and it was not on time either. It was very late and I was very cranky and very hungry. When the plane finally arrived, I went to board. They were not calling the Zones as usual, but who really gives a care. Apparently the lady behind me who was pretending to be 900 years old cares. She stood behind me in line talking in the frail voice. She was like 45, maybe even younger... maybe she was 16... and she kept whimpering LITERALLY WHIMPERING. "why aren't they calling the zones? whats wrong?" I said very plainly that they were probably just trying to board us faster. then there was a sound, maybe an alarm maybe a cell phone, and she jumped and shreiked like my grandma times 3 million (I love my grandma, this is more for the effect). I ignored her. She kept whimpering all through the line. I kept thinking to myself "I will not look at her. She just wants me to look at her." I was asked to step to the side so they could fix my seat assignment. "What is wrong? What is wrong with the plane?" she whimpered. I should have told her there was a hole in it.

When I finally arrived in Virginia they ahd lost my bags and some time soon they will deliver them to me. My roommate Gwladys thinks they don't do that in France (she is from France). I am glad they do it here.

Day After Easter

2005-03-28T07:12:00.000-08:00

It is the day after easter. lovely. if you look at the pictures you wills ee some of the magical fun of easter weekend. thats me and my friend sara in some bushes in the woods. we went for a walk there. and sara on a little frozen lake. we didnt walk ON it but BY it. and then thats me and sara and brett in their house. we walked into the hosue sat down and ate cookies. its a bit funny to say all of this bc i think only sara and brett know i have a web log. hi to both of you.

we also played cranium and i am going to pronounce that i STILL believe that the humming one -hum dinger- is the hardest, perhaps a big conspiracy. i dont think any one can really hum a tune right. and then it just makes you laugh. and then you get stuck humming the same part over and over and then youre just pissed. a pissed hummer. seems to be an oxymoron. humming is happy and joyful, but generally not thought of as pissy but then all of a sudden you are put on the spot and asked to hum for points. its an evil trick. i luckily did not have to hum in cranium. that was all left to sara. and also, her friend mandy spells things backwards very well. congratulations to her on that. i think i might try and adapt cranium so that my students could play it. i would need to change some of the answers bc i dont hitnk they would know, for example, how to act like tina turner. although i do.

anyways, the girls won at cranium and then i won at catch phrase bc i got to be on both teams. we reworked the rules. so, all in all it was a victorious easter weekend for me. who is the cahmpion? me. I AM THE CHAMPION. sing songs to your hearts content (songs about me).

today i am on vacation. i am sleeping in for a whole week. it is my rockin spring break 2005! i dont think spring break "rocks" as much when you are a graduate student who has seen the evil of credit card debt. nonetheless with the aforementioned games and walks in the woods it was great. AND THEN the yonker/schipper clan welcomed me AGAIN to their house for holidays. i was thinking back and i think i may have been with their family more than with my family on major holidays in the last few years. and while there i also learned to play poker from an adorable six year old boy named dylan who is adept at the game. he taught me a thing or two.

and now i am looking for a job on the internet. these are the cities i am looking at thus far. tell me what you think:

Boston, MA
Washington, DC
New York City
Grand Rapids, MI
Seattle, WA

i am also trying to think of some place sunny and open, with lots of fun things to explore. i know a lot of those cities are big, but the reason is that i like public transportation. not necessarily a big city. i may add to this list. or i may subtract. phoenix, arizona has a nice ring to it. i dont really know what i am talking about.

Easter Days

2005-03-27T18:42:00.000-08:00

Here's some pictures. I'll write later.

I Made a Blog

2005-03-26T16:37:00.000-08:00

Today I went to Yankee Springs. Hiking, not candles. And then I made a blog. Wait, yankee Springs is not candles at all. Yankee something. I went to Yankee Springs. It was loveley. I am on vacation.