"got something for canadian melodrama?"

sitting outside in the clean night air as i exhaled second-hand smoke from my lungs, s and i were contemplating life. i had a memory of a boy i had a crush on in middle school. it was then, our first year in college, that we realized we were in the same 7th grade science class together. neither of us remembered each other being there. however we could name more than half of the kids sharing our bunsen burners and long, black lab tables. many late nights thereafter, as most roommates have, we continued finding these little commonalities between us. one being our one-time love for a little canadian show on the public broadcasting system called degrassi junior high.

i can't tell you how estatic we were to find someone else in the world that loved degrassi, let alone even heard of it. we reminisced about how we loved joey jeremiah, the twins getting mono, spike and liz' hair, and on and on. s and i were among the few to understand what ben affleck and jason lee were talking about on chasing amy when they made mention of the show. and it was s who called me a couple years back telling me about degrassi the next generation being on the n. yes, we were in our late 20's and we watched but only because snake, spike and joey were on it as adults. but it was the new generation kids story lines hooked me. now that im 30 and STILL watching degrassi the next generation (along with other crap on mtv and vh1) i found out that the n is now showing degrassi old school! which is, plain and simple, reruns of degrassi junior high! you know the first thing i did was call s! when i began the conversation stating i had some very exciting news for her i think she was expecting me to say i was pregnant but no, i had called instead to tell her about our kid show that was going to be replayed for our veiwing pleasure. they play it weeknights from 11 - 2 so i only get in two episodes a nite. at first i was trying to get in 3, since we don't have a vcr on the tv with digital cable (much less a dvr like the rest of the tech. advanced world) but i wasn't able to wake up the next morning for work. so i have to live with the two i can get. it's just so refreshing to see the horrible 80's hair, clothes, and lingo. the show was so cutting edge dealing with topics of crack, teenage pregnancy and alcoholic moms. you know, even before 90210 was cutting edge.

of course, i'm the nerd that has to ask everyone in my age group if they remember the show. they all say they have no idea what im talking about. or rather, what im talking "aboot."

deadpan

ah, the sights of south texas autumn... not to long ago we had lush green trees. today we have dead, brown and bare remnants of once living organisms. no wonder i'm in a funk. although, i can be grateful for the relief from the days of 100+ degree recess duty. yes, for that i am mighty thankful.

today in the lounge i arrived in the middle of a conversation on mischief. i rediscovered something about myself. i am boring. so not the risk taker, always the worry wart, must follow the rules kinda gal. i remember going through a stage in college where this bothered me. a lot. i've let life take over and forgot about it. yet today, here i am once again.
Mrs. G was telling us about how her daughter always sneaks peeks at her christmas presents. A told us a similar story from her past. I piped in about how i never even thought about sneaking a peek because i would have been too worried about getting caught or looking like i was faking my surprise come Christmas morning. HOW BORING! and now im stuck on this idea and i keep finding more examples of just how commonplace i am. i enjoy having a good time, but i enjoy a safe good time. i enjoy going to safe places that i have been to many times before and am comfortable being there. of course, i have to be coerced into going the first time, but im always fine afterwards. its just never my idea.
is it in my dna to be boring? was i raised this way? or have i become this way? and why me? i've been this way for as long as i can remember. taking risks makes me sick. seriously. its not a figure of speech. i get pains, gas even. lol did i say that outloud? perhaps dooce would be proud.
one night in college my roommate wanted to sneak a guy friend of ours into our dorm room. just to see if she could get away with it. oh my, can i tell you i almost instantaneously doubled over with a stomachache! i tried to talk her out of it. i was on the verge of crawling to the bathroom i was going to be so sick. but the two of them were determined to do it. i had this constipated look on my face as she planned how he would slip in through our window after the next university cop passed by. something had to make me this way. one can't possibly come out of the womb like this. seriously, what fun is a college girl that passes gas when you try to sneak into her dorm room?! well, he got in. barely, tiny window. and after about 30 mins. my nerves finally settled down. that is until i realized we then had to get him back out.

dead autumn or not, that story cheered me up! now i must call S and thank her for making me live a little.

dumping ground

today was just like any other day. full of stress and deadlines. i thought teaching would be days filled with laughter and stickers. since my move up to 4th grade it has been quite the opposite. this is my second year and i must say its much better than last year, however the stress level in this grade is unbearable. does moving up in grade levels increase the amount of stress? i feel for high school teachers.

we started a book club today. while i did get to pick which book i will be reading, none of the choices were those of which i would have gone out on my own and purchased. i am a little excited just because it will make me read and because i picked a book on brain research. i was really into that a couple of years ago. however, in my eyes, its just adding more meeting dates to my already filled calendar.

we may have to add a new teacher to our grade level because of our increasing numbers due to the hurricanes. i am very happy to take in these kids of displaced families. but we are crowded, out of desks and one student is even using the beloved teacher chair! i doubt he minds that much.

pros of hiring a new teacher:
number of students per class decrease (small groups get smaller, tutoring groups get smaller)
(thats it, one pro)

cons of hiring new:
i love my whole class i would hate to lose any of them!
we're already in the 9th week of school, what disruption.
can we find a good teacher thats not already hired this late in the year?
what if it disrupts the dynamics of our team? we have an awesome team this year.

okay, the pro is a big one. instructionwise. (is that even a word?)

let's get busy y'all

i found a cool new-to-me website. its called 43things. its a place to make goals. you see others that share your same goals. you can share stories on how your working on these goals to inspire others. or be inspired by reading others.

i have 13 things that i'm doing or want to be doing right now and all day long i thought of a dozen more. one of the things that i want to do is blog more often. i neglect this because im afraid that i dont have anything interesting to say. but the more i write the better chance i have at hitting the interesting stuff! wow i could so go to the website and tell others how i started working on that goal by making myself blog about it!

so im going to do something very bold. i am right now making a promise to the internet (my only reader) that i will write something everyday. there, i've said it.

day one: accomplished!