list o' goodness

Several things have happened over the past few days that can be added to my own personal list o' holiday goodness. I really do love Christmas.
1. Christmas trees pushed in old lady carts--it's so very Queens.
2. Gifts from the kids--I've gotten a shampoo/conditioner combo and little baby forks and spoons.
3. Piles of gifts, wrapped up in ribbons and bows.
4. Gingerbread cookies, roll out and cut em up style...now I'm off the hook for making cookies from scratch for the cookies and milk party my class will be having tomorrow.
5. Plans for fun...and I like to fun.

Sweet Baby Jesus

I often will get little gifts from my students throughout the day. Typically, it's a piece of paper with a drawing of a little bird or flowers. I also get lots of stickers. One day, I walked around with a 5-inch sticker of a big-eyed alien on my shirt all day. It was a very big hit.

I received a different kind of gift today. It was a pin. Originally, it was attached to a book created out of loose-leaf paper and then cut into an intricate design.

The book was blank because the gift giver did not have enough time to write anything. After a brief high-powered negotiation, I gave the book back so he could have more time to write something and he gave me the pin to wear today. I put the pin on my shirt and went through the day.

While the kids were at lunch, I spruced myself up for our big concert. As I looked in the mirror, I realized that the pin had a very stylized Christmas scene--a tree, a mother and a baby...oh wait, that would be Mary and little baby Jesus. So much for separation of the church and State.

Only the strong will survive

[Note: Geeky blog about blogging to follow.]

So, the people who study blogs and and the actions of the bloggers have come to a conclusion. As of 2007, you will no longer receive an email from a friend telling you that finally, after a few weeks of testing the whole blogging thing out with some anonymous posting, they want you to come check out their blog. We're going to level off. The people who blog will have their blogs. The people who started and quit will keep the quitting thing up.

The blogs I read now are just going to have to keep me entertained.

What is to come

Mentally, I'm done with my semester. In reality, I have one big big paper/presentation combo that is due on Tuesday that is about as far from done as it could be. Despite this minor issue, I've caught a glimpse of the weekends I will get to enjoy for the next few weeks.

I've paid attention to things that normally get pushed to the bottom of the list (haircut, finally getting clothes that double as good for elementary school and something I can wear around adults without looking like a crayola box). I rediscovered my affinity for walking many miles by accident. I wrote my Christmas cards. And, I spent time with the best people.

Now, I'm listening to a birthday mix, eating some lovely whole wheat pancakes, and drinking coffee. I believe that this is what a weekend is supposed to look like. But, it's been a long time since I have had one like this. I'm going to have to try it out again next weekend to see if I can perfect the experience.

These are the rules

On my way home from a teaching test, I found myself in a bit of a situation. Normally, people coexist on the subway with little to no interaction with strangers. We all have agreed to some unspoken pact that no one is to speak or touch. Today the rules were violated.

I was sitting close (but not too close) to two people. Then a woman got on the train and wedged herself between me and the woman on my left. There was not nearly enough room for her to fit--she had to sit on the edge of the bench and I was smooshed into the man next to me. I became obviously distressed. I was touching not one but two people! I had to get out of the situation without violating the no speaking rule. After a moment of panic, I stood up. I am sure that I had mildly pissy look on my face--allowing other people on the train to know that I would never so blatantly violate the rules.

Then, I sat in someones seat who got off the train at the next stop. Then, the lady who knows no boundaries got off at the stop after that one. Then, I realized my disgust at the situation may mean I have lived in NY too long.

So cold

After a whole afternoon spent out and about so I could enjoy the warmth of buildings with heat, I returned to my icy apartment. Here on the second floor, there has been a heat issue for a little bit. I didn't pay much attention until the day that putting on one more layer didn't really solve the problem...neither did the application of the next 3 layers. My nose is cold. My fingers are actually colder than I thought possible. And, my computer screen is cold. My computer screen! It's madness (and much too close to the outside temperature of 28 degrees).

Then saw this online...it might be something to look into.

good things of the day

Some of my students have lives with challenges that are beyond my experience. One came to school without a winter coat on a day that was about 40 degrees. I told someone in the school and the next day a coat was found. Sometimes (just sometimes) my school does something good.

Dance it out (life)

Sometimes I find myself dancing it out. For those of you who don't know what dancing it out is, it is basically a whole body, arm pumping, dance walk thing. It's done when something makes you happy, very happy. Like a cup of coffee or something funny. In September I was dancing it out quite often. Life was good, I was happy. Then I was distracted with a variety of things. There had been no dancing it out. Tonight it returned. One of my last classes for the semester was cancelled. So, I danced it out...all the way down the hallway.

Waking up (life)

For my big three oh, I got an alarm clock that works with my iPod. I love it. This morning, I was woken up by a playlist that has The Flaming Lips, the Stray Cats, Iris Dement and John Pryne, and Django Reinhardt. Ooo, fun. In the olden days, I would have been woken up by whatever annoying radio station my old, wonky alarm picked up.

Let me explain the wonk.

I'm the kind of person who tries to trick herself into actually waking up by having the alarm across the room. I heard that if the actual alarm doesn't do the trick (which it really never did), the walk to turn it off would wake me up. But, the person who said that had never met me. I can sleep like a champion - before and after a variety of things that may seem rousing to others.

When I lived in Arizona, one morning, I pulled myself out of my warm bed and walked across my room to take care of the blaring alarm. My sleepy shuffle across the rug combined with the dry air of Arizona, causing me to pick up a lot of static electricity. When I touched the alarm, the whole thing shorted out for a second and then restarted itself. Since then, my radio alarm clock had been a radio/buzzer alarm...which feel under the category of most annoying thing ever. But it still, officially, did its job - told the time, woke me up (albeit, a little angry) - I had a hard time parting with the clock. It seemed want-y. That is, until I met my new alarm clock. I love my new alarm clock.

I forgot

Somehow, I forgot that I love two things: The Dog Whisperer and pretzel goldfish. Tonight, I was reminded. Faux TiVo will now help me remember about the Dog Whisperer. I'm going to have to think of something for the pretzel goldfish.

Funny things they say (teaching)

Today, my students entertained me. After I asked if there was a song in Bengali that we could sing along with the Christmas carol being forced upon us by the school, one of my students who is Muslim said, "Oh, don't worry. I celebrate Christmas, too." He then sang Jolly Old St. Nicholas as the highest soprano in the class. [In case you are wondering, I didn't present the whole Christmas song angst with quite the same tone when I discussed the issue with the kids.]

Then, after several students found my somewhat hidden family pictures by my desk and asked me who everyone was, one of my students exclaimed, "Hey! I have a white grandma, too." I love my students. Love them.