it's pronounced m'waukee

all my life i've been slightly embarrassed by my mom's dancing.  at this point in my life i'm not embarrassed, necessarily, just like, "dance however makes you happy, but i'd like to go on the record as saying you dance funny."  this weekend at my cousin pat's wedding, with all the cousins and aunts (and a couple uncles) on the dance floor, i looked around...and my aunt monica was dancing EXACTLY LIKE MY MOM HAS ALWAYS DANCED.  and my aunt mary WAS TOO.  the same arm movements, the same body movements.  it was almost creepy how similar their dancing styles all were.  a lightbulb went off, and 27 years of my mom's dancing suddenly make sense: in the '60s and '70s THIS MUST HAVE BEEN HOW PEOPLE DANCED.  OHMYGOD.  additionally, my mom and aunts were so cute on the dance floor.

mom, apologies.  you dance just as well as your contemporaries.  props to you.

also, props for staying up and dancing longer than one of your children.

preparations

my parents, sister, and i all have plane tickets over to edinburgh for our family vacation in august, so the next step is for me to book places for us to stay.  booking bed & breakfasts in scotland is um, a little different from booking a hotel in the united states.  it involves emailing the people who own the b&b, finding out if there is availability and what the price is, trying to sound legit by saying 6 august instead of august 6, and then emailing them your credit card number so they can hold your rooms.  it involves trusting these people not to steal your credit card number, and i'm going into it totally trusting them.  let this not come back to bite me.

i've booked us a cute place to stay in edinburgh and am emailing with places in inverness.  it's kind of fun - reaching out to actual scottish people who run these small businesses out of their homes.  i like it.  i read an article recently (though i can't find it now) that said that people don't see a rise in their happiness level because of a vacation (as in, you're not happier when you come back as opposed to when you left) - they see a rise in their happiness level from PLANNING a vacation.  the article is right - planning this vacation is SO MUCH FUN.  (does that sound sarcastic?  i don't mean for it to.  i'm a planner, so right now i'm totally in my element.)

i'm glad that 5 republicans are reasonable

yay hooray!  the second step towards repealing don't ask, don't tell...  i'm going to count mike mullen & robert gates speaking out and saying that congress should lift the ban on gays serving in the military as the first step.  repealing the ban is moving in the right direction towards fairness and equality.  and if qualified and passionate men and women want to serve and fight and die to protect our country, um, let's allow them to and let's support them along the way.  i mean, duh, right?

do you know about my love affair with john lewis?  well, i have one.  and he said this last night:
"don't ask, don't tell - what does it mean?  it didn't make sense then, and it doesn't make sense now.  just like the military helped end segregation based on race, we should have put an end to don't ask, don't tell long ago.  it is an affront to human dignity, and to the dignity and worth of every man and woman serving in our military.  we cannot wait.  we cannot be patient.  we must end discrimination in the military and we must end it now."

and if i wasn't grumpy enough with john mccain, his opposition to this bill AND THREAT OF A FILIBUSTER pisses me off immensely.  i'm starting to dislike john mccain to the same degree that i like john lewis AND THAT IS SAYING SOMETHING.

end of rant.

i hope i'm like this when i'm 80

just one more picture from jill's wedding last weekend:

one of the best moments of the weekend was watching jill's grandma-in-law dancing to a lady gaga song.  she was the cutest grandma EVER (except mine, of course) and i became her friend.  here she is gettin' down with melanie:

when the early bus left to go back to the hotel at 9pm, grandma-in-law did not get on it.  she totally stayed until 11pm, when the last bus left for the hotel.  because she is a rockstar.  LOVE HER.

weren't hidden tracks so cool?

are you like me?  does some music take you right back to where you were when you first heard it?  and by "first heard it," i mean "first put the CD on repeat" (or, back in the day, kept flipping over the tape) and became obsessed with the album.  the summer after 8th grade, i went to a dorky/awesome summer camp, and one of the girls i became friends with had the new alanis morissette CD, jagged little pill.  she made a copy of it on a tape (!) for me, and we listened to it all summer.  i knew all the words to every song - i still do.  when i think of alanis morissette, i think of that summer.

alanis morissette was on american idol this week, and when she started singing i was back in 1996, 14 years ago, and awkward-8th-grade me tried to make her way to the surface.  it's also the summer i became a vegetarian, incidentally.  more on that later...

hula chair

ellen cracks me up...and i was laughing OUT LOUD at this ridiculous product that apparently really exists...

no one got tackled this weekend (you're welcome, jill)

my friend jill got married in maryland this weekend, and she was GORGEOUS - the perfect image of a bride.  the wedding was outdoors on an inlet of the chesapeake bay, right on the water, and the ceremony was under a huge old tree, with chinese lanterns swinging behind the minister.

it was a short ceremony (my favorite kind), not about pomp and circumstance but about the people who were getting hitched.  i was so happy to be able to share jill's day with her, and really honored to have been invited.  there was much laughing and reminiscing and photo taking; six of us who played rugby with jill at duke were able to come - plus her sister, who was a duke rugby player after i graduated.

after the ceremony we had appetizers and drinks and waited for the wedding party to finish taking pictures.  jill and mike joined half an hour or so later, and they hugged and greeted people, and made their way closer to where we were standing/consuming massive amount of cheese and crackers/finishing our first beers.  when it was our turn to hug her, another friend took this picture:

i love this picture (it's one of my favorites of the whole weekend) because it's so clear how happy we all are to be together.  we hadn't seen jill before the wedding, and this was our first chance to hug her and celebrate with her.

after we stopped screaming and hugging, we took a photo of the eight rugby girls:

all these photos are from colin's camera - yay to colin for being the appointed photographer!  they are up on facebook, and the comments on the last picture are all along the same theme: "whoa - you girls clean up nice!"  because this is what we also look like (spring 2003):

i love my rugby girls - i loved played on the field along side them, singing rugby songs with them, eating dillo tacos with them...and it was so much fun to see them again and add more memories.  i'm missing our mini reunion weekend already.

daily procrastination

love this - tips for single ladies.  as much as i want to cry out "sexist!" (and a lot of it is), some of these "tips" are still pretty dead on...

no shame

in the airport on friday i saw a man getting ready to board a flight.  in addition to his very full backpack, he had decided to wear a fishing vest and use the many pockets on the vest to store additional things that wouldn't fit in his backpack.  he looked ridiculous.  i couldn't help but stare.

and boy did he need one...

"oh my god they're glistening!"
--willis, forgetting he'd gotten a pedicure with me & jenny hours earlier, and re-noticing his polished toenails.

(he would like everyone to know that his toenails are painted CLEAR.  just enough to sparkle in the sunlight.  pedicures: this is what happens when we're in sandy springs with two hours to kill before dinner.)

just call me mr. feeny

i'm going to be the 12th grade dean of students next year.  yikes, huh?  i'm currently the 11th grade dean of students, but just for the girls (in the 12th grade there is only one dean for the whole grade, while in the other grades there are two gender-specific deans), and for me there is nothing easier than working with 11th grade girls.  i was an 11th grade girl once (in 1998 and 1999, to be exact).  i know what it's like.  working with boys - well, that will be different.  but hopefully just a little different.  we're all human beings, right?  how hard can it be?  (famous last words?)

last month, when i announced to the 11th graders that i would be their dean next year, they clapped and cheered.  CLAPPED AND CHEERED.  with genuine excitement.  i don't know what response i was expecting, but clapping and cheering was not it.  i really was touched.  and then, as the clapping and cheering ended, one kid called out, "you're like mr. feeny!"  luckily, i was a teenager in the '90s and was a devotee of boy meets world on friday nights, so i knew enough to say, "i'm going to need to catch up on my boy meets world - did mr. feeny follow them, too?"  the kid replied, "yeah, and then they all went to the same college and he taught there, too."

that, friends, might be a stretch.  but i'm excited nonetheless.

the 8th amendment

really happy about this supreme court decision on monday - it makes sense to me, and i like my supreme court decisions to make sense.  this is how i would interpret the constitution, so i'm happy that five people more important and educated than me agreed.

also, does it make someone a nerd if she can see a 5-4 decision, read a brief recounting of the decision, and know exactly which five justices voted with the majority?  and then pump her fist when she was right?  yes, yes, i know - i'm a total supreme court dork, AND I DON'T CARE.

your tip of the day

i have several silver rings, and i noticed a couple months ago that the ones i don't wear frequently were getting discolored.  AND I FREAKED OUT.  some of these rings mean a lot to me - a couple are from my grandma, one was my mom's in high school, one is the ring my parents got me when i graduated from duke.  i decided to do what i often do in this situation: pretend it isn't happening, because that is less sad than thinking these rings are unwearable.

yesterday i (wo)manned up.

i went online and searched "cleaning sterling silver" and found this article.  now, i did take two semesters of chemistry in college and one semester of organic chemistry when i thought i was going to be a doctor, and i didn't fail any of those classes, but i have NO IDEA why a paste of baking soda and water rubbed on your sterling silver will make them look like new BUT IT DOES.  it is MAGICAL.  and life is so good right now.

(but seriously: anyone know why this works?)

elton john has covered his music. ELTON JOHN. COVERED.

loving this song right now - ryan adams, "oh my sweet carolina" - and, actually, loving this discovery of ryan (not bryan, don't worry) adams' music.  anyone else listen to him?  i know nora does, and joey does, because after discovering "oh my sweet carolina," i realized that both nora and joey had put ryan adams songs on mixed CDs they'd made me.  so i have "gonna make you love me" and "desire," too, but would love other suggestions of his songs to download!

"nice comeback for the drill"

back story: as in most ballparks, at braves' baseball games there are little games between innings to keep the fans interested - guess which cap the ball is under after it gets scrambled around on the big screen, answer braves trivia questions, etc.  my favorite game, which used to be played on the big screen, is now played live!  by real people in costumes!  the game is the tool race (sponsored by home depot): four tools race in the outfield, and people in the stands can pick a tool to cheer for.  the four tools are the paintbrush, hammer, drill, and saw.  i typically choose the hammer.

here's a picture i found online so you can see the cute tools:

[from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3346/3552759425_4b2f5e1da9.jpg]

i'm watching the braves game on tv this afternoon and they come back from commercial and show the tool race before the first player comes up to bat.  what ensued was hilarious.  many thanks to tivo for allowing me to rewind to get the exact wording:

commentator #1: "what's this all about with this drill thing?  look at the brush just [paintbrush pushes the drill over and runs past] - every day they just pick on the poor guy. i wanna wear the drill thing - [as they cross the finish line the drill has caught back up and jump-kicks the paintbrush, causing both to fall over] oh, a little drop kick there - i love it - nice comeback for the drill - but i wanna wear the drill outfit one day, just surprise the other costumes.  is the same people all the time or do they let people go out there to run it?"
commentator #2: "i think it's the same ones - but it's the same result every day!  when's the drill bit gonna have somebody fight for him?  so predictable.  BULLIES."

i laughed a lot.  i love these commentators - these grown men - being so incensed by the injustice they see when the drill is targeted by the paintbrush every game.

and the braves are up 9-1.  so life is just good all around.

this entertains me

best email i've received in a long time, from my friend dani:

my brother just said to me in an email "by the way, i got married last wednesday."


dani found out about that this very same brother got engaged when the brother's girlfriend changed her facebook relationship status to "engaged."  so perhaps we shouldn't be so surprised about this email.

...deserves a quiet night

yesterday i went night swimming for the first time in over a year.  it wasn't a cold creek in the north carolina mountains - with the quiet other than the sound of rushing water and crickets and sticks breaking as you make your way to the water, the moon the only light - so it wasn't perfection, but it was pretty awesome.

seriously?

the humidity level in my office right now is approximately 99%.  like, i can feel the moisture in the air.  I AM NOT AMUSED.  is something wrong with the air conditioning?  my hair is starting to curl AND I AM INDOORS.

i love the south; i just require the humidity level to be under 80%.  is that too much to ask??  i will relax  my humidity standards in one month only: august.  august is the worst month to live in the south.  we all know it, so just make it as bad as you want.

when does summer officially start?  my calendar tells me that it is june 21.  laughable.  the calendar has not been to georgia.  i will label this post "summer" with reckless disregard for the calendar.

red vs. blue

i found this article REALLY interesting.*  but, honestly, i find any article that talks about red america vs. blue america quite interesting...and i find any article that tells me that my america (ahem, that would be my island of BLUE america [atlanta], even though i live in a sea of red america [georgia]) is doing things right even MORE interesting.

so there.  enjoy a little political procrastination.


*i linked to it through scenes from my hood, a blog i read that some of you will find interesting and some of you will think is the least interesting thing you've ever read.  but i wanted to pass it along to you anyway...

fraud prevention

apparently if you purchase some clothes online (something you never do) and then 15 minutes later purchase an airline ticket from london to edinburgh, your credit card company (wachovia) will freak out and call you to make sure your card hasn't been compromised.

the automated service that called me did give me the warm fuzzies because i knew that someone was looking out for me.  and yes, wachovia, those charges were from me.  I'M GOING TO SCOTLAND!

conversion

i just had lunch with a former student, who told me that he is no longer identifying as a republican.  this is a kid who was a die-hard republican in 2008, someone who voted for mccain with gusto.  i was speechless.  he's an independent now, he says, because the republicans can't get anything done.  "obama is just knocking things off his list - he's getting things done.  i like it."  we talked about the fiscal side of things, and he's not in love with obama's plans, "but," he said, "at least obama is going to pay for the programs he's setting up."

i know he's on his way to becoming a democrat.  i can just feel it.  and it makes me so happy.

be jealous, elementary school teachers

as a general rule, high school teachers do not get good end-of-year presents.  elementary school teachers bring in the loot.  not high school teachers.  and that's okay - i'm not doing it for the presents, obviously.  i do occasionally get a really sweet card from a student, thanking me for something i've done or for being a good teacher, and i cherish (vomit - hate that word - but it's the right one here) these cards.  i save them in a file folder in my desk to pull out during a particularly bad day.  (i have to come clean, though - i've never actually pulled them out on a bad day.  i think just knowing that they are there is enough.)

until this year, the best end-of-year presents i'd received were:
1. barnes and noble gift card
2. gift certificate to a movie theater
3. this bracelet, which i got my first year of teaching from a student named boombim (i am not kidding you), and which is made of shells.  i love it.  boombim is probably graduating from college this year, and that is crazy.

readers, this year i got two rockin' presents, in addition to some really sweet cards that went into the file folder to save forever and ever.

present number 1:

a ring from a stella & dot trunk sale in our school bookstore.  if the phrase "stella & dot trunk sale" means nothing to you, do not fret.  stella & dot is a jewelry company that doesn't have stores - they have parties in peoples' homes and sell there.  i'd bought two pairs of earrings at the trunk sale in our bookstore that morning, and a student and her mom saw me oohing and ahhing over things, including this ring, which i did not buy.  and then they bought it for me.  SO SWEET.  i love it and it fits perfectly.  life is good.

present number 2:

this is a bag THAT IS ALSO A COOLER and IT HAS MY INITIALS EMBROIDERED ON IT.  i am losing my mind it is so perfect.  remember that dinner with claire #2 that i was telling you about?  it was really a tailgating dinner before a concert, and i packed drinks, cheese, grapes, and salsa in this bag and took it with me and they stayed cold and life was so good.

i hope you've enjoyed a photographic representation of my loot.

there were no rabbits inside

this weekend i went to a bar called the warren.  it was on the third floor of the building.  the whole time i was walking up the stairs i was thinking, "this is the worst named bar ever.  did the owner not read watership down?  warrens are UNDERGROUND."

dinner

i'm cruising through kroger on saturday, grabbing some things to take to dinner with claire #2, and i come across this:

this, friends, is my favorite store-bought ravioli, and it normally costs $4.29.  (yes, i know this is a lot to pay for store-bought ravioli, but it is cheaper than going out to dinner and thus i justify it.  i have no children, pets, mortgage, or car payments.  i can have $4.29 ravioli.)  i tried to figure out why this was being given away for the change i can find on the floor of my car on any given day, and i discovered that the "use or freeze by" date was that very day.  so i grabbed one container.  and then i grabbed two more.  i couldn't NOT.  i froze them.  i was a little nervous about how they would dethaw, but for 75 cents i figured i could risk it.

last night i made one of my favorite meals - these ravioli with pesto, peas on the side, broccolini and garlic on the side.  i just had to cook the ravioli about a minute more than normal and it was perfect.

THIS WAS THE BEST 25 CENTS I HAVE EVER SPENT.

I LOVE DEALS.

this is how i spent my morning

it was like president obama knew that i would have some time on my hands at work today - the result of teaching only seniors, who had their last day of classes on friday - and he gave me a supreme court nomination to entertain me.  hooray for spending all morning reading about elena kagan and watching her nomination announcement!

three ladies on the supreme court at the same time?  do it, obama!

mother's day

this is one of my favorite pictures of me and my mom.  i am very little, but i have a big head.  and no hair.  that was par for the course for my first couple years of life.  this is the winter of 1982-83 and we're in the front yard of our house in mcgrady.

one of my favorite parts of this picture is what is written on the back:

i don't know whose handwriting this is...my grandpa george's?  my (great) aunt isabel's?  either way, i love it - i'm so new in the world that my name has been misspelled.  this entertains me.

anyways: back on track.

happy mother's day, mama!  my favorite things about my mama are too numerous to list, but i'll give you a couple of them:
1. she's always there when i need her - ALWAYS - from the mundane ("um, mom, i left a bag of groceries in the car for three hours when i got home.  can i still eat the yogurt?") to the important ("A DOG JUST BIT ME."), she is always the first person i call when i have a problem i can't solve.  i value this so much.  additionally, during the few times i have needed to, i can be ridiculous and cry on the phone and she will just pretend like it isn't happening and will do an excellent job of diverting me/making me feel better.  prime example: the newark airport (aka HELL), 2004.  i'd missed a connecting flight on the way up to exeter, new hampshire to interview for my first job and had to spend the night in newark (i did fine), but it was the next day and i'd missed my connecting flight on the way back home, too.  and i hated my life a lot.  and i cried into a pay phone and she let me.
2. she taught me how to cook.  she created two girls who love to cook and who are, i think, pretty good at it.  this is a lesson you can't buy anywhere and one that i think is so valuable.  cooking relaxes me, feeds me, brings people together, lets me care for others.  i can't understand people whose parents didn't teach them to cook.  i love that my mom did.
3. she is not scared of anything.  not dead things or the dark or being home alone.  she is tough.
4. she never puts herself first.  ever.  she always puts her family first, and her students, and her friends.  she is an incredible example of selflessness.  she rocks.

so happy mother's day to my mama (i love you!) and all the other mothers out there...

swoon

new celebrity crush.  except he's only a quasi-celebrity.  jon favreau, barack obama's head speechwriter:

[from http://80sbabiesthink.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/jon-favreau-11.jpg]

adorable, my age, AND incredible with words?  SOLD.

i knew of him before this, but last night i started watching the documentary by the people: the election of barack obama (i won't spoil the ending for you), and it has just solidified my love of him.

that is all.

boo hiss

"i hate duke like i hate the nazis."
-- kurt's dad on glee


seriously, folks?  even glee hates us??

not cool, glee, not cool.

i am my mother: example #2

i mean, really.  I AM BECOMING MY MOTHER.  it is clearer and clearer every day.  this morning i couldn't get any more lotion out of the bottle, but i knew there was more hiding at the bottom.  i cut the bottle in half and slid the top half over the bottom so the pump could reach the lotion at the bottom.  BECAUSE I AM MY MOTHER.  if you go into the bathroom at my parents' house in mcgrady i can pretty much guarantee that there is a bottle sitting like this on the counter.  except it wouldn't be oil of olay.  it would be jergens.

when i was younger i thought this looked ridiculous.  now i just don't care.  i need that lotion.  I PAID FOR THAT LOTION.

procrastination for today

mistranslations entertain me.

made up holidays

overheard last night while volunteering:
"there are a lot of people at el azteca* tonight because it's cinco de mario or something."

yes, yes - the fifth of mario was yesterday.  my friends and i accidentally went somewhere hip to celebrate when all we wanted were some cold coronas.  our local mexican restaurant (el azteca) was overrun by people because a radio station was having a party (?) there to celebrate this holiday-that-has-turned-into-an-excuse-for-americans-to-drink.  we arrived just before the huge crowds came as they got off work at 5pm; when we left at 5:30 THERE WERE POLICEMEN DIRECTING TRAFFIC IN AND OUT OF THE RESTAURANT PARKING LOT.  i was like, seriously?  this "holiday" is ridiculous.


*a mexican restaurant down the street from where i volunteer

if you haven't heard of jason heyward, you don't live in atlanta

i have a new favorite braves player.  well, i guess i'm just adding him to the mix - i still really enjoy escobar and prado and mccann, but now i love watching jason heyward play, too.  in fact, i think all of atlanta is in love with him.  and here is why: in his first major league at bat he hit a home run (impossible not to smile while watching this clip).  since then he's hit 6 more - he's tied for fourth in the national league - and has 23 RBIs, for fifth most in the NL.  and he's 20 years old.  and he's (i think) the only african-american player on a team in a city that is 60% african-american.  we heart him A LOT.

if only the braves weren't 11-14.  they won three in a row this weekend, though.  i will focus on the positives.

baking is messy, but delicious

it was a good thing that joey wasn't home on this night:

because i kind of made a mess of the kitchen.

every day in each of my classes i ask a current events question.  i want my students to pay attention to what's going on in the world, and competition seems to help foster this.  the team in each class that answers the most questions correctly throughout the semester gets a little prize that always involves food.  this semester i made:

mini smores, from a real simple idea - AREN'T THESE THE CUTEST THINGS YOU'VE EVER SEEN?

melt chocolate chips.  dip big marshmallow in chocolate.  top with a little piece of graham cracker.  bite sized smores!  (you also get to see my purple nail polish in this photo...)

raspberry cookies, but the baking of these failed miserably - so they were out...

apple muffins, from a duncan hines mix, and

chocolate chip cheesecake brownies WHICH WERE SO GOOD I COULDN'T BELIEVE I'D MADE THEM MYSELF.  to-die-for good.  at my last meal, please make me these brownies.  it involved a double boiler, which i'd never attempted before, but was so easy and i felt so professional.  and i definitely recommend putting the brownies in the fridge for a bit before serving them because they're really soft and crumbly if you don't.  but i will totally be making this recipe again the next time i can think of any reason they'd be appropriate.  (shout out to rachie for introducing me to the blog where i got this recipe!)

and my kids loved their treats, i think, and it was a nice way to end the semester.  yes, that's right.  i said END.  because my students took their AP exam yesterday and are done-sky.  we'll be watching episodes of the west wing all week, and then they graduate.  CRAZINESS.

layover

last night a good friend - my first friend - from mcgrady who now lives in seattle texted me to say that he had a layover in atlanta, and would i want to meet him at the airport and have dinner?  so we did, and it was so nice to catch up.  this is us when we were little.  joe is exactly 11 months older than me (i remember thinking that this was SO COOL when i was little - november 7th and december 7th!), which i will blame for the reason that i'm chock full of baby fat in this picture and he is not.

in this picture i am thinking, "blowing bubbles is AWESOME.  but you have to try really hard not to drop the bubble container."  i also remember that blowing bubbles sometimes meant you got soap in your mouth and that was about the worst thing ever.

in the course of our conversation over dinner last night, catching up on work and family and life, i said to him, "i forgot about the rockin' scar on your forehead - is that from when you fell off the trampoline or when you got cut on that rusty metal?"  it was the rusty metal, he said - roofing or siding or something.  we were little - in elementary school.  it's special to have had a friend for that long, to remember him getting a cool scar.  even if the GETTING of the cool scar wasn't exactly fun for him.  he says he remembers holding a kitchen pot under his head and letting the blood drip into it on the way to the hospital to get stitches.  he's tough.

book club with claire

last week i finished reading city of thieves, by david benioff and it was SO GOOD...the kind of good where you know you'll read it again.  in fact, i almost started again from the beginning when i finished the last page.  that good.  i love it when authors can tell a simple story and tell it well.  i don't need a million characters or fast-paced events - i just need a good plot.  and i loved this one.

city of thieves - success!
suite francaise, by irene nemirovsky - failure.  i could not get into this book.  50 pages in and i couldn't do it any more.  i wanted to like it, because of the circumstances of its writing and rediscovery 60 years later, but i couldn't make myself.  so i stopped trying.  don't judge.