Maybe I'm a Little Tired...

...but I laughed and laughed when I saw this.

There is nothing better than Japanese T.V.

And now, for a little snippet of dialogue from today...

Joevontae: Halloween is my favorite part of the year! It's even better than my birthday!

Class: [sounds of agreement]

Christopher: [moodily pouting]

Mrs. Long: What's wrong, Christopher? You don't like Halloween?

C: No!

Mrs. L: That's okay, but why not?

C: Because I do all the work but my dad eats all of my candy.

Probably true and sad -- in a hilarious way. When I told this story to Jamie, he rubbed his hands together in preemptive glee at being able to raid his unborn child's candy sack...

Weekend Round-Up

Last weekend, Jamie and I made the trip up to the Big Apple. While we were there for less than 24 hours, we got to see a lot of people and have a lot of fun. We went up for a wedding -- which awesomely took place on a farm in the middle of Queens. Seriously. How awesome is that?




















The wedding was beautiful and I may have cried during the ceremony. Just maybe. And of course it was great to see some of our old friends...


In an effort to save some cash, Jamie and I looked for a cheap motel somewhere near the wedding site. Of course, we neglected to consider that that would mean the motel would be located in Queens, NY. QUEENS of Coming to America fame. I didn't think of this until just before we arrived in NY, at which point Jess assured me that Queens was a big, big place.

She was right. And our motel was adjacent to the Police Station -- which could be a good or a bad thing.

The next morning Jamie and I got up bright and early [give stink-eye to Jamie] to make the trip into Brooklyn to meet some friends for brunch. Despite the fact that we had planned our brunch for 11am, Jamie made sure we left our motel at 9:15am "just in case there's traffic". Sure enough, we were in Park Slopes at 9:40am. So we wandered around and took in the sights.

Sadly, I used up the battery in my camera before meeting up with Jess and Anne Louise so I don't have any pictures of that part of the trip...but it happened! Really! And we ate a delicious breakfast with bottomless mimosas! So great.

We had to return to reality and it was back to work. Today was especially eventful because I had my very first annual throw up. It could have been worse. Poor Cornelius had been complaining of a headache all morning, but managed to do all of his work despite clear discomfort. I was proud of him. As he had not complained of any stomach discomfort, I didn't think twice as he delved into his lunch. I was happy to see him feeling better during recess and running around. Then, during our science "exploration" he worked well with his team as they investigated air bubbles. It wasn't until we had passed in all of our materials that he unleashed the most vomit I have ever seen come out a 7 year old. Ever.

Poor Neal. Still, he managed it like a champ: ignoring the other kids' exclamations of disgust, somehow avoiding getting anything on his clothes, and not even shedding one tear. It was truly the very best situation that could have possibly been. The class was on the empty playground doing an experiment that involved basins of water (good for floor cleanup), paper towels, and none of my classroom or carpet.

Let's hope that will be the last of these.

The Month That Was.

Oh goodness. I've been bad about updating lately. And it's not that I don't have fun things to share with you all -- I really do! It's more about the lack of time and the fact that I have been doing most of my work from my "work" computer and therefore do not have access to my digital pictures. Sorry friend(s).

Work has been hectic and I am definitely feeling overworked and underpaid -- the resting state for most public school educators. Still, I'm hoping that I will see some real growth from my students this year.

But I'll post about them later.

Instead, I want to talk about the shining beacon of light in each of my weeks...the weekend. A few weekends ago (I know, so bad that I am just NOW posting about it) I got to see my lovely friends Abby and Samir in Cleveland. Despite the fact that it took us a good long time to get there by car, our gracious hosts made good use of every minute of our stay and we got to see a lot. We even got to eat some uber-tasty food at Momocho (which, Abby and Samir, is categorically "Modern Mexico" food).


















The weekend after, Jamie and I braved a backpacking trip on Assateague Island. Which kicked my ass (a-teague). While Jamie had assured me it would be a flat, easy hike, neither he nor I knew that it was actually a flat, "easy" hike on sand. Friends, sand is not easy to hike on. Not with hiking boots and a heavy backpack. To make matters worse, it was a beach that people could drive to with their OTVs so there were enough people frolicking in the surf with their Diet Cokes and puppies to make me hate my life a little.

BUT, as we hiked we got further away from the crowds, and we eventually found a place on the bay that was very nice -- if not infested with the largest mosquitoes ever. We got to make a campfire and sleep under the stars in our new tent. It was quite beautiful.

And! There were wild horses meandering around! Sure they liked to stay by the car-camping sites and not so much in the backcountry, but we got to see a few. In the end, the miles and miles hiked on sand was worth it.

Last weekend we had the last BBQ of the year before the weather changed. Which it did, sort of...and this upcoming weekend, Jamie and I are scooting to New York for a wedding and to see some of our old friends. Cannot. Wait. I will try to be much better about posting in upcoming weeks.

To conclude, I would like to share with you a video for some new "you tube" baby that I am actually sort of in love with. Her name is Marie Digby.

Maybe it's because she's of mixed Japanese descent (like me!), or maybe it's because she's from the San Fernando Valley (like me!). Or, maybe I just like that she is able to take ultra-poppy songs and play them with actual talent. There is something slightly hilarious about an acoustic version of Britney Spears' "Gimme More". And yes, she write her own songs too, but I wanted to really hit home the poppiness.