Explanation of Truancy

I'm so sorry I haven't posted for the past couple of days. I even have something I want to write about! But I've just been too jolly busy with social obligations and partay-ing and such. And today I've been preparing for tomorrow's adventure to KENTUCKY (of all places - who goes to Kentucky?) where I'm going to be attending a teaching conference (all expenses paid by the school - what fun!). So, ya, I'm not blogging. But I am taking my laptop to Kentucky, so hopefully I can find a few moments there... But no promises:)

PS. Happy Anniversary to Shawn and Gretchen! One of my all-time favorite couples, for sure.

Day 4: Why the Problems of the World Can't be Solved by Talking

Short Answer:

Because not even the problems between two people can always be solved by talking. How could 6 billion even remotely think of talking it all out?

Long Answer:

When our church was undergoing some, er, tension, back in the mid 90s or so, I had this dream of peace. I would just go up to Pastor X (whoever he may have been) and say "Hey, let's talk..." I would explain how things stood, he would see the light, and all would be well! Sigh. I never did get the opportunity to do so. So much for my saving of the day.

And yet, somehow methinks a little sit-down with all the Pastors Xs in the world would have done little. Because no matter how much I talk, or how loudly, people still have this irritating habit of having their own opinions! And (gasp) talking to me in reply! There was nothing in my scheme of saving the world that included a dialogue. I talk, they see the light, world saved. It's very simple. Bother these people with their own opinions! Obviously what this world needs more of is totalitarian dictatorship. By me of course. Under anyone else disaster would ensue.

Hm. My days of teaching US Government are wafting back to me from the mists of the past. Perhaps a totalitarian dictatorship is not the best plan. Even though I would be an awe-inspiring dictator, I'm sure.

Okay, Plan B: NOBODY should talk about ANYTHING! We should all adopt the "Ostrich Mentality." If there's a problem, ignore it. Bury your head in the sand. You know, the more I learn about the Victorians the more I like them. Not only was Tennyson among them (moment of reverent silence), but they had this method of surviving the tensions of the times which I find refreshing: Muddle Through. Just keep on going, not addressing the tension, and probably somehow things will work out. Or if they don't, at least the results may be ignorable.

There. I think I've solved it. If the problems in the world can't be solved by talking or by dictatorship clearly ostriching is the way to go. Rest easy, dear readers. I have found the answer.

Day 3: The Emergence of the Smiley Face into the World of Punctuation

When I was young, maybe 12 or 18 (I can't remember which), my Grandfather (FSM) told my Father (TFM) that he was impressed by a recent letter I'd written him (FSM). It was well-written without any spelling or grammatical errors.

(I had written the whole letter with a dictionary at my side - I am a terrible speller. It took me years to convince my sister that this was because of some genetic fluke and not because of a low IQ. I am quite sure that some of the great geniuses of the past couldn't spell either. I mean, look at Shakespeare!)

I wonder what my grandfather would think if he could see the e-mails I write now. Terrible punctuation! She keeps putting colons at the ends of sentences, and then closes parentheses on them as if she had opened parentheses earlier in the e-mail. Which she hasn't! What is this younger generation coming to?!

I admit, the whole :) as punctuation thing can be overdone. I have to go back over my comments on other people's blogs to edit for them. I usually put in a ! or a hee hee hee instead. Once in awhile a . will suffice.

But really the merits of the :) as punctuation are notable. Have you ever noticed that it is almost impossible to include inflection in the written word? One simply cannot add a note of humor to a sentence. If you choose the right words you can give the reader a sense of irony or even sarcasm. But the gentle smile? Hard to recreate with the written word. But with the :) all is solved! No fear that a reader will misinterpret your subtle humor.

Note the difference:
- Admit it: it was an excellent movie. (Tone implication: You must bow to my opinion. I am right. And I am therefore superior in every way. You should probably grovel now.)
- Admit it: it was an excellent movie:) (Tone implication: Wasn't I right in recommending the movie? Wasn't it worth your time? Your valuable time? And aren't we chummy?)

The :) has saved me many times. There is no mistaking it. I try to use at least one per comment. Well, okay, I really don't try. They just pop out. But I try not to use them so much in my regular posts since they are very e-mail-esque to me. Although I have caught myself using them when writing with a pen, or even a pencil. I've even put them in my journal.

Hmmm, it's sounding like it's taking on epidemic-like proportions. I'm going to have to watch it.

Also, while I'm talking about inflection (which I was talking about a few paragraphs ago), have you ever noticed that it is impossible to add inflection to something whispered? Try it. Whisper "and her name was?" and then "and her name was." They sound identical! I noticed it when my Mom and I were trying to carry on a conversation in whispers and I thought she was making a statement when really she was asking a question. The dialogue that followed was momentarily reminiscent of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First?". Remarkable the role that inflection plays in communication.

:)

Day 2: The Stages of Paper Grading (kind of like the stages of grief, only different…)

* Stage One: Optimism

Thought Process: Of course my students learned from the comments I carefully wrote all over the last papers they submitted. I am about to witness the transformation that comes about as a result of my revolutionary teacher comments.

Timing: Right at the beginning of the paper grading process, after just sitting down in an oh-so-comfy chair with a crisp stack of papers in one hand, a pencil in the other, and a mug of cocoa in whichever hand can take the extra load.

Visible: The top cover page in the stack of papers: Title, Date, Name, Teacher's Name

* Stage Two: Disillusionment

Thought Process: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh! What is this?! I corrected this exact thing in the last paper! Grrrrrrr.

Timing: While reading the first sentence of the first paper.

Visible: "Ancient Greek literature was written on the risings, apexes, and downfalls of the different cultures and epochs of Greek history."

* Stage Three: Anger

Thought Process: Those kids (grumble grumble). Don’t they know that words mean things?! What in the blooming world are they thinking? Didn’t they ever learn to write?!?!

Timing: All throughout the first several papers.

Visible: Sentences like "Because of the war, peace, community and philosophy written by these great authors, Greece has become what is is today," and "Oedipus at Colonus was written during the High Classical Period when there were a lot of Polynesian wars between Athens and Sparta accompanied by severe Greek civil fighting.

*Stage Four: Resentment

Thought Process: What in the world were their past teachers teaching these kids?! How dare they pass them along into high school with writing abilities like these?!

Timing: Following hard upon stage three’s commencement.

Visible: "This is what Homers next writing encouraged Greece to do to live how they were living like back in the peaceful times of the Minoan era."

*Stage Five: Audible Grumbling

Thought Process: If I complain aloud about the ridiculous errors my kids are making, surely my grumblings will be validated by the poor person occupying this room with me.

Timing: Alongside stages three and four.

Visible: Melissa's sympathetic and kindly patient face.

*Stage Six: Awakening

Thought Process: Hey, these kids aren’t really evil, plotting specifically to ruin my evening. They just don’t have quite the same passion that I do for essay writing. Yet.

Timing: Right after the poor person occupying this room with me says, “Hm. It’s weird to be on the other side of the paper from the ‘I really don’t care, I just want to get this done’ perspective.”

Visible: The folly of my own optimism.

*Stage Seven: Acceptance

Thought Process: --------- (not a lot of thought going on, just a grim determination to get through the stack as efficiently as possible)

Timing: Just after awakening.

Visible: A never-ending stack of, um, 3 more papers (sorry, Chad).

Day 1: Sports and the Human Spirit

"I have long believed that competition in sports is detrimental to the human spirit." So says Debra Herrera in the most recent issue of Reader's Digest. Is she right? Does competition hurt humanity?

Herrera, doubtless, is writing from a totally secular worldview. She probably buys into today’s philosophy that no man is better than any other man, no viewpoint better than any other viewpoint. Thus competition is pointless. My worldview is opposed to such a philosophy. Belief in God means belief that the world was created for God, that there is a right way and a wrong way, that there is absolute truth. And there is something in every man that knows he was made for more than this temporal, fleeting existence. There is something in man that desires God.

So where do sports fit in? Does competition in sports help or hinder this aspect of human nature that ultimately desires God? For the casual on-looker sports may appear to be neutral ground. It neither helps nor hinders man in his search for deeper meaning.

However, to the not casual on-looker it quickly becomes apparent that competition in sports can actually help in man's search for truth, because sports are allegorical of what God has created man for.

Sport, of any kind, demands the best out of its players. There is nothing of today's apathetic, relativistic spirit in sports. To be remembered, to be honored, one must be among the best. The precision and speed and strength demanded of today's top athletes is stunning. Similarly, there is something in the human spirit that is crying out for the best. The culture wants to stifle that, to encourage mediocrity. Christianity says no, there is a best; there is a right and wrong. Where else is that truth reflected in today's culture better than in the sporting world?

Herrera claims that it is the competition in sports that is so detrimental to the human spirit. But that competition - that thing that will pay almost any price to defeat the opposition - is allegorical of what is going on in a cosmic sense all around us. There is a war going on for the hearts of men. It is a life and death struggle. And men must be willing to align with the good against the evil. Yes, the Red Sox and Yankees rivalry is not exactly cosmic, but it certainly illustrates the passionate desire to conquer the enemy. Our culture seeks to blur the lines between good and evil. There are no "bad guys," it says. But rivalry in sports helps to keep alive the all-important idea of good vs. evil.

Lastly, sports promote unity, both among teammates and among fans. There is an instant kinship between people wearing the same sports jersey. There is a common bond that is at its height when the competition is the fiercest. This, too, is allegorical of what God intends in man. God has built into mankind the need for fellowship. What is more strengthening than communion with a fellow-pilgrim of "like precious faith?" Again, sports provide a clear reminder of that truth.

So let us not say that competition in sports is detrimental to the human spirit. Rather sports serve as an allegory to truth - a representation of the world as God has created it. Sports are about striving for the best, overcoming the enemy, and finding unity. These are the things our culture needs more of.

Certainly sports are a very dim reflection of truth. I do not advocate going to sporting events as one would go to church. But God has filled the world with symbols and allegories of Himself. "The heavens declare the glory of God!" Might it not be that other things in the earthly realm declare His glory as well? Sports have been around almost as long as humanity itself. Competition is not new. There is something there that is part of the human spirit. And I propose that competition is a part of the human spirit in order to remind man, in however small a way, of what he should be in this cosmic struggle.

Summer Time = Post Time!

Okay, here's the deal. I just want to write! So I'm going to write.

I want to try posting a post every day this week (starting tomorrow) about random subjects that go beyond just what's going on in my life. Okay? Okay. Here we go.

(This may not last past tonight, just to warn you.)

Last Day!!!!!!!

Today was my last day of teaching. One year complete. Wow. God is so good. I LOVE TEACHING!

And then I came home, exhausted, after cleaning out my room for TWO hours. I was up in my room when Uncle Paul called up, "Ummm, Andrea, I think you have a flat tire." "Oh," I said. I wasn't really computing, since my mind was on a project I was working on, and I am kind of used to random things going wrong with my car. "And I think there's a dent in your fender." "Oh," I said. "Do you want to come confirm?" he asked. Oh, I got it at last. I was supposed to go down and look.

Down I went, and Uncle Paul greeted me with a "I know you didn't really need this right now..." And he opened the door to the great outdoors.

AND THERE WERE LINDSAY, AMY, KATIE, CRAIG, AND KIMBERLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! They came down to party with me in celebration of my completed first year of school!

Sooooo, I can't write right now, must go party.

PS. I feel SO loved. It's amazing. I have the world's best friends!

What Does it Mean?!

Has anyone else noticed the recent rash of Princess Bride allusions in the blog-o-sphere?! It's been on Karena's blog, Aaron's blog (via Meredith's comment), and Craig's blog. And now it's on my blog! The Princess Bride is EVERYWHERE! I think it's a sign. A good omen, as it were. I mean, it might be a bad omen, but how could a movie that classic be a bad omen? So it must be a good omen (I might be teaching logic next year, can you tell?).


So I'm wondering if there is any way to analyze and interpret this phenomenon. What can it all mean? There must be some deep, cosmic reason for it. Any ideas?

Perhaps there is an adventure in store, and we are being prepared for it: some adventure of revenge and betrayal and pursuit and love and courage. Or maybe someone is going to be poisoned and this is the cosmic warning. Maybe we've reached the saturation point for bad news in the world and our coping mechanism includes dwelling on fairy tales. Maybe we are just due for a laugh. Maybe the end of the world is at hand! Hmmm, anyone have any creative ideas?

Wheeeeee!

I'm typing this post on my brand new laptop!!! It's beautiful! It's speedy! It's fun! It's mine!

All year I've had in mind the fact that eventually I'll have to stop bumming off the Brown's computers, and finally, when my family decided we'd put our England trip off for a year (which meant I had money in the bank) the time was right. So Shawn scouted out the best possibilities on-line, and Gretchen went to town and brought home MY LAPTOP!

I'm having such fun personalizing it. First, Shawn helped me go through the initial business of putting in your name and agreeing to something-or-other in the Terms & Conditions. But NOW I get to do the more fun personalizing.

First things first, of course. I set Google as my homepage:) Then I zipped over to Webshots.com to get beauuuuutiful pictures for my background. Then I downloaded itunes. And now I'm blogging! My next step will be to start adding people's blogs to my favorites list:) What fun to have my OWN favorites list, and not be just a folder on someone else's (a very kind someone else, at that) computer.

YIPPEEEEEE!!!!

Blessings upon the heads of Shawn and Gretchen. Boy oh boy, did Gretchen every marry well:)

Emily Would Be Proud!

Yesterday, in our poetry unit, we read Emily Dickinson's fabulous poem, "I'm nobody, who are you?" If you aren't familiar with the poem, google it right away. It's so charming!


Anyway, I taught the class second period, and the day progressed as usual. Then, at the very end of the day, as the kids were coming from their classrooms and heading to the end of the hall to wait for their parents, I saw one of my students accosted by a younger student in a silly mood.

"Who are you?" asked the younger student, feigning amnesia, or something.
"I'm nobody, who are you?" responded my student with a knowing look toward me.

WOW!!! I have an 8th grade boy quoting Emily Dickinson!!! My little heart swelled with joy as I acknowledged his wit.

I love teaching!

(PS. Tomorrow is the last day of classes for the high school. We're going to be partying like crazy... With "Ice Age" and chocolate!)

(PPS. Happy Birthday to my nephew, Michael, who is six today! He holds an inexpressibly precious place in my heart. I love you, Misha!)

Another World...

I have just returned home from Florida, and have this weird feeling that I was in a strange and amazing dream-world, or even parallel universe, for the past couple of days.

In this parallel universe, that had almost zero relation to most of my life, except for some of the principle characters, I was in blazing sunshine, on green grass, next to the blue, blue ocean. I was surrounded by a host of friends almost non-stop (you can't get much more blissful than that in my book!). With these friends I was playing volleyball on the beach and watching the sun set over the ocean and going out to eat and bowling and playing games and talking and laughing a lot. And burying treasure in the sand, of course.

Oh ya, and two of the said friends were married! (Small detail there...) They were married in a beautiful, meaningful ceremony that celebrated the sanctity of what they were embarking on. And the music was killer (hee hee hee). I rejoice in the goodness of God, in bringing Jeff and Fritha together, and I trust for His continued blessing on them!

Most of you have probably already seen DJ's post w/ its link to an abundance of pictures (good job, Steph!). If you haven't, check it out!

Teaching Poetry

I'm teaching a wonderful poetry unit to the 7th and 8th grade now. I am discovering that junior high is not exactly the time when one's literary analysis skills are at their peak. This is good news for college professors, but it makes for some interesting moments for me. I love teaching middle school - I'm just discovering that I have to teach on a very basic level. There are some moments where light dawns. Those are wonderful and exciting moments in my teaching world. They usually happen with the 7th grade girls. The 8th grade boys are much more literal. Note the juxtaposition of these two classes last Friday.

7th Grade Girls

Me: So, girls, what do you think of this Raven in Poe's poem? What do you think it could represent?
Girl #1: Maybe death?
Me: Okay, good! We know that someone has died, and the narrator is thinking about that a lot. What else? Why do you think he asks the Raven questions that have such sad answers, when he knows the raven will answer that way?
Girl #2: OH! Maybe he WANTS to keep on feeling sad! He doesn't want to be happy!
Me: Exactly! He is so sad about the person who has died that he thinks the grief will last forever! Good! So now what do you think the Raven stands for?
Girl #1: sadness!
Me: Very good!

8th Grade Boys

Me: So, guys, what do you think of this raven in Poe's poem?
Boy #1: I don't get why he's stuck with it forever.
Boy #2: Ya, why doesn't he just shoo it out the window?
Boy #3: Or hit it with a broom or something?
Boy #1: He could move to a different house!
Boy #3 (with an evil glint in his eye and a sly grin which I instantly and accurately interpreted as the look associated with guns) OR, he could SHOOT it!
Me: Umm, well that's true... But maybe Poe didn't really want to write about a literal talking bird. Maybe he was using the bird as a symbol... (My voice fades as I look nervously at the clock).

I love teaching!!!

Qualifications on Nature Loving

(Editor's note: I may be mixing two nature stories together here. But hey, it makes for a better story.)

As the weather turns warmer, more and more of America is pouring out of doors to enjoy the sunshine. I happily joined them, recently, taking my blanket in one hand, my books and notebooks in the other, and traipsing out to the lawn to do lesson plans in the presence of Nature. I sat down and began to work.

Hm. I kept having to switch positions. The ground was really quite hard. No sofa cushions in the grass here. And no back of the easy chair to lean against either. I had to hold myself up, and try to keep my legs from falling asleep. Wheeee. Nature.

And I seemed to have plunked myself down right in one of those ant paths. I had to keep flicking the things off of me. And sometimes they would crawl in between my toes and suddenly feel intimidated and randomly bite me. Grrrr.

And THEN I looked down and saw that my book was covered in tiny little reddish brown bugs that hopped when you touched them. I quickly realized that if they were covering my book, they could be covering everything else in sight, too. That would include me. Ahhhhhh! I sprang to my feet and forsook nature. Enough was enough!

Nature is full of bugs and hardness and crawly things (oh, I forgot to mention the spider that was on me!) and sun in the eyes and probably many more gross and annoying things that I didn't even detect. Blah on nature.

However, the call of the sunshine is a strong one. So I got a rocking chair from the porch and carried it out in the grass to a place I could put my feet up on a convenient rock. I will enjoy nature on my own terms (a. comfort, b. no wildlife near my person), thank you very much.

Sigh. Thoreau would never have approved of me.

Just a Small Grammatical Note

(or a large one, as the case may be...)

A LOT IS TWO SEPARATE WORDS!!!

...A................LOT

ALWAYS

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Okay, my tyrannical inner grammarian is appeased...for now.

Ahhhhh.....

I hope nobody checked this blog in the past 5 minutes, because I accidentally posted only the title. Oh well -- it pretty much says it all anyway.

Right now I am sitting on the couch in our den with four sleeping puppies in my lap, watching the Red Sox winning over the... well, you know who... and I'm NOT WORRYING ABOUT SCHOOL!!! How much better can life get? I have NOTHING due! I keep thinking, "I should be painti... no....I should be resear... no... studyi.... no..." NOTHING! After my math exam today I joined Lisa in that Universal Grin of Release. I couldn't decide if I wanted to laugh, or cry, or scream, or jump, or what... but oh man, what a spring in my step! (especially after returning my 10 or so spoot library books that I'm so sick of looking at)

Hopefully I will post more soon after being cut off from all civilization for a while, but I do actually have to go to bed earlyish tonight... I have an intense faculty vs. student art department volleyball match tomorrow, and I have to be in prime shape.

Life is good.

Community Living

RI is, as you all know, the smallest state in the union. And yet, it's not as if a short stroll will take you from one side to the other. I drive an hour to get to work! But little by little I am becoming more familiar with the state, its highways and byways, its quirks, its people (who might fall under the category of quirks in some cases).

But last week I experienced a moment that brought the state into focus as a cheery neighborhood full of dear friends. Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but hey, it sounded good. In any case, I did have one of those bonding-with-strangers moments that makes me so happy.

I was in the McDonald's drive-through (getting a fruit and yogurt parfait - yum!), stopped and waiting for my food, while listening to sports radio (now THERE is a subject for another whole blog - I love sports radio!). All of a sudden it was as if my radio had gone into surround sound or something. Huh? And then I realized that the Fed-Ex truck that had pulled up nearby was also blaring sports radio! Yay! We were so of one mind!

It reminds me of the time Lindsay started singing a song in the car, and the lady next to us at the stoplight sang the next line! Or when I walked out of the main house singing a song about summer, and a voice wafted down from up near the women's dorm with the next line. Or Claire's recent sneezing story on her blog. So many nice things that bring people together.

Oh! I thought of another one! I was sitting at a stoplight waiting to go, and there was an advanced green for the people coming our way. There was an elderly driver next to me who assumed his light must be green if theirs was, and he went! The car behind him drew up beside me, looked over at me, and shrugged in a mystified and amused way.

Of course, then there are the times in which the whole world seems to be a community, but you are on the outside. Okay, I really only have one example of this. Yesterday I was driving home from work, and suddenly realized that I hadn't gotten hung up in traffic yet, even though I was at the place where traffic usually slows. And then it began to be uncanny. There was no one going under the speed limit in the fast lane! What was going on?! People kept moving into the slow lane when I gained on them. What?! I began to wonder if there was some weird conspiracy going on. Where were all those people who go 60 in a 65? Was there some state-wide event everyone but me knew about? The mystery was never cleared up. I guess it was just a light day for traffic. Strange. But I'll take it!

MA Tax Dollars Put to Excellent Use

Last night saw the first Sox/Yankees game of the season. Big news. Also, it saw the Johnny Damon, now in pinstripes, playing against his old team. Even bigger news. But all of that was overshadowed by one of the most exciting/unusual outside-the-game moments I've seen in baseball.

Tim Wakefield is a knuckleball pitcher, and knuckleballs are really hard to catch. The new catcher was having fits trying to hold onto the pitches. It was starting to be a real problem. So yesterday, the Red Sox re-acquired Wake's catcher from last year: Doug Mirabelli.

Problem: Mirabelli was in San Diego when the deal went through. And Wakefield was pitching that night. Thus the mad dash.

Doug jumped on a plane and flew across the country (and three time zones), landing at Logan Airport at 6:48. The game was scheduled for a 7:05 start. A police cruiser was waiting (here's where the tax dollars come in), traffic was stopped, and Doug flew through the streets at maximum speeds (the radio guys said 100 mph, but I don't know if they were being literal or not). Doug's uniform was in the vehicle, and he arrived at Fenway all suited up, and ready to catch Wakefield, a little after 7:00. How dramatic!

The Red Sox beat the Yankees 7-3, and Doug didn't allow any passed balls.

[Bonus info: Veritek was going to catch if Doug didn't make it in time, and the back-up pitcher (in case anything happened to Veritek) was going to be Alex Cora. Cora is a utility infielder. He said he hadn't played catcher since he was 14 years old. But he wasn't worried. Instead he gamely pointed out that that was what 'utility' meant! I thought that was so cool!]

This morning the radio guys were arguing about whether Mirabelli should have had the police escort. Feel free to leave opinions on the matter if you so desire (I'm sure you can't guess where I stand).

Regaining Sanity One Laugh at a Time

I have a fellow teacher, named Bev, who is an absolute treasure. She's southern, with a fantastic sense of humor, an easy-going personality, and a non-intimidating conversational style. We totally clicked, very early in the year. I love her! She's the science/math teacher, so, as you will know if you read my last entry, she is the one who was out last Monday.

The catch is, she asked her husband to call the school to let the headmaster know, and her husband forgot to do so. Consequently, no one knew where she was. Calling her cell phone wasn't working, and we didn't know her home phone number. Despite my generally optimistic outlook, I couldn't help wondering if something awful had happened and she was dead or something. I was relieved to see her the next morning.

Today was parent/teacher conference day (yes, these two things will tie together eventually). I only had ONE conference scheduled, so the day was practically a day off for me (I lead a charmed life). I popped in to talk to Bev after my conference, and we ended up having the best chat ever!

And in the midst of said chat, I had a very "Tuesdays with Maurie" moment, because I remembered that during that past Monday, when I thought she was dead or something, I was really horrified at the thought that I'd never let her know how much she meant to me. So I told her the story of how I thought she was dead (with a lot of laughter on both sides), and then I told her how much she has helped me this year.

Being a first year teacher, I'm still getting used to my co-workers as well as the way things work at the school. In recent months my patience has been short when it comes to some personality quirks and people's blunt ways of approaching things. I grit my teeth in the teacher's lounge much more often than I do in the classroom. But what has helped me immensely is Bev's approach. Over and over my blood pressure would be rising, and I would hear her laugh. I would suddenly realize that I don't have to be irritated by this! I could laugh it off! The personality clashes were becoming a big deal in my mind, and she saved my life repeatedly. She is like oil on troubled waters: a peacemaker without even knowing it.

As I told this to Bev, she seemed quite surprised, as well as happy to hear it. She told me that her first year at the school she'd also had a hard time dealing with the other teachers. But it got better once she adjusted. And then she blessed me so much by telling me that she had noticed I was bothered a couple of times when things were said to me (this kind of scared me, actually, because I thought I hid it pretty well. She and I are pretty similar in some ways, though, so maybe that has something to do with it.), and she had prayed for me those days! Can you believe it?! It was my turn to be surprised and happy. I had no idea she'd prayed for me! I had a secret ally!

I came out of the room loving her even more than when I'd walked in. I passed on a compliment to her, and got back a whole new understanding of God's goodness in providing us with people like that.

Just wanted to share my happy tale:)

Speaking of Choosing a New Identity...

WHO AM I?!?! WHAT HAPPENED TO THE OLD ME!?

What brought on this identity crisis, you may ask. Well. I will tell you. Monday I got back from Spring Break to the news that the math teacher was out, and I was the lucky one who was subbing for her. I walked into class expecting to monitor a study hall, and found lesson plans instead. And then... (gasp) I TAUGHT MATH. And what's more, I really enjoyed it.

Really!

AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!

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Here I was, I who had disparaged math for so many years, enjoying the fact that parallel lines intersected by a transversal always create equal angles at points 2, 4, 6, and 8. Always! I think what got me was the absolute-ness of it all. There's no saying, "Welllll, you could have phrased that better" on a math problem. It's either right or wrong. But even better was the whole mystery solving part of it all. You get this weird picture of lines all crisscrossing each other, with only a few angles filled in, and by breaking it down into smaller parts you can fill in the missing angles bit by oh-so-sure bit. Wow! What a treat!

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My school is looking for a new math teacher next year (since our present one's husband is being restationed. Waaaaah!). Maybe I should apply! Of course, I can't promise any ability past about the seventh grade level, but still...

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Hurrah for the discovery of new delights!

Craig's Recital!!!

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(words won't do it justice)
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But it might be close to say: PRAISE THE LORD!
And: Yay Craig!

FRIEND!

I found this picture on another blog, and it might be totally weird to post a stranger's personal picture on my blog (if any of you blog etiquette people are screeching in horror, let me know and I can take it off). But the reason I snagged it is this: this is a picture of a game of Catch Phrase, and LOOK at the GIRL! BOTH hands over her mouth. She had ANDREA SYNDROME (n. the irresistable urge to help out the other team if you figure out the answer before they do). Obviously the guy is guessing, and the girl is trying with all her might to refrain from Andrea Syndrome. Hee hee hee. I AM NOT ALONE!!!

Choose your own Identity

????



I was just going to comment on Penny's blog when I spotted something that made me forsake it to come over and post on my own (sorry Penny! I did love those Easter eggs a lot!). What I spotted, or rather what finally registered on my brain, was the little phrase "choose an identity." (Side note: speaking of registering on brains, during our shopping day I said to Katie, seemingly out of the blue, "Yes! You should go to a Red Sox game!" This was because the night before she had said how she needed to get to one some day. And it took about 18 hours to finally sink in! Oy vay.) Anyway, finally the phrase "choose an identity" caught my attention, and amused me. Cool! I can comment as anyone I want to!

I could choose someone else's identity if I wanted to. I might decide to comment as Shakespeare and be wicked eloquent. Or maybe Gerard Manly Hopkins and sound really, really complex yet beautiful. Or I could comment as Ann Coulter and sound incredibly biting but smart. Perhaps I should choose a generic athlete and say the same exact trite phrases again and again no matter what the post is about.

Or, I could choose an identity with a totally different personality. No longer would I be easy going and people pleasing. I could come out with rude and blunt statements. Or I could be totally shallow, and treat everything as a huge joke, no matter how meaningful the post was. Perhaps I should be an ultra-blond and miss every point.

Speaking of ultra-blonds, perhaps I could choose an identity that is based on stereotypes! I could comment as a southerner, a liberal, a hick, a "person of ethnicity."

And speaking of "persons of ethnicity," I could post as someone who embraces every aspect of political correctness! Now that would be a fascinating experiment. I could take offense at so many things that weren't in the least offensive.

The possibilities are endless! Blogs are so much fun!

The Shopping Extravaganza!

I am taking a little break from my preparation for teaching Greek Philosophy next week (and the week after) to proclaim to the world that I (the one who gets incredibly frustrated after 1 hour of shopping) spent MOST of the day yesterday in the most productive pursuit of clothes I've had in ages! Maybe ever!

Katie and I, weeks ago, decided to do a shopping day together, in hopes of finding something suitable to wear to Fritha's wedding (a.k.a Jeff's wedding, in case you were confused). Both of us also needed warm weather clothes.

I was driving Mrs. L home from church Sunday, and told her that we were hoping to find lots of beautiful, cheap, modest clothes. She laughed.

And indeed, as I awoke on the morning of the BIG DAY I barely dared to hope that we would come away with anything. Many's the time I spent hunting, hunting, hunting to come away with 1 item or less. But we piled into the car in good spirits nonetheless. Katie, I should add, is not a big shopper either. Somehow both of us missed out on that part of the feminine stereotype.

We arrived in Wrentham, MA, where there are a bazillion outlet stores, an hour later. We began the dance: into the store, circle around, shrug your shoulders or raise your eyebrows, out of the store. BUT the bookstore proved the first great hit. I found copies of the Aeneid, 3 for $10! I snatched 6, because we'll be doing that book at the end of the year.

Shortly after that, the FLOODGATES OF HEAVEN OPENED! Well, actually, we each found a few things at another place, and THEN the floodgates of Heaven opened! And in this instance, the floodgates were pouring out J. JILL items! For those of you who haven't heard me rant and rave about J. Jill, both how beautiful and how expensive the clothing there is, I will just mention briefly that it is a clothing company that specializes in beautiful, feminine, linen-type, classic clothes. I love it! But I've never really been able to justify spending that much money there. But lo, here was an outlet store with reduced prices!

Katie and I giggled and squealed our way around the store, as if we had hit the jackpot. We both came away with many beautiful purchases! I couldn't believe it. After the giggling and squealing, came the looks of disbelief as we realized what we had just done. We'd shopped at J. Jill, and found beautiful, semi-cheap, and modest clothing! Unbelievable!

And that wasn't the last of the purchases, either. What an incredible day. And wonder of wonders, neither of us got grumpy, tired, or discouraged, despite the fact that we were in and out of stores for hours on end! That is pretty miraculous right there.

Bring on the Wedding! Bring on the Summer! Kate and I are ready.

On Break!!!

Ahhhhh, life is good. For one thing, the weather is incredible. For another, this is the first day of my Spring Break! (Well, technically I have it off for Good Friday and next week is spring break.) And just in case that isn't enough to convince you that life is indeed good, I just finished filing my tax returns! Amy P tipped me off to turbotax, and I must say that was incredibly easy. So now I'm breathing easier. I'm not usually one of those push-it-to-April-15 kinds of people, but this year, well, I was.

Spring break should be fun: I have to read the Aeneid, Greek philosophy, My Antonia (not the whole thing), and a lot of poetry. Then I should be able to cruise for the rest of the year! I only have 5 or 6 weeks left. Incredible.

My last day before break was great: I read "Epic" out loud to my high school, and showed the movie of "A Tale of Two Cities" to my junior high. Not too shabby. I also got all of my grades recorded on report cards, which was a huge relief (especially since I kept waiting and waiting for one kid to get his act together and turn in the two papers he owed...).

And the last event of the day was one of the fathers at school getting home from Iraq. That made me feel kind of weepy and sentimental all the way to Fairwood.

Which is where I am now! I love Fairwood. I think I breath more deeply here than anywhere on earth, if you know what I mean. And, as I said at the beginning, the weather is incredible.

And again I say, life is good.

Happy Opening Day!

Ya, ya, I know - opening day was yesterday. But I didn't post last night because of extenuating circumstances (like, ummm, sleep), so I'm doing it one day late.

Happy Opening Day!!!

It was a fabulous day for me - kind of like Christmas only different. I was so excited all day: decorating the chalk board, making sure the teachers knew (the one drawback of the school: no huge Red Sox fans amongst the staff), and (for the crowning moment) turning on the radio during literature so that we could all hear the first pitch. It was a ball. To Crisp.

Then I got to listen to the game all the way home, and watch it once I actually arrived home. I got to enjoy a fabulous victory (the first on opening day in 5 or 6 years I might add), and then enjoy an hour or so of interviews afterwards. I am definitely in the Crisp camp, after hearing him say he'd done alright, but made a couple of "blunders." Hee hee hee. Not among those blunders was the FABULOUS centerfield catch he made. Damon couldn't have done that (cough cough).

Then the game was being re-broadcast, so I watched the pre-game show! I might have started watching the game all over again, but it was getting later and later...

This morning, as I was getting off Rt 24, I practically burst into tears of joy when I remembered, "HEY! They're going to be playing AGAIN! TONIGHT!" Ahhhhh, baseball season. It's like the missing piece has been found or something. Part of me that was dormant and languishing is vital once more. Hurrah for baseball season!!!

The One and Only Uncle Paul

Now that the comment record on my blog has been blown out of the proverbial water, I would like to let you all know that the last post was Uncle Paul's idea. He woke up mighty early in the morning to ask me if I would post it before I went to school, thus securing the highest possible number of readers in the day. Isn't he a good Dad?!

And I would like to add, at this juncture, that he is a might good uncle, too, and a mighty good every other role he plays. I feel so blooming lucky to be his niece, living in his house, under his pastorship. He is an amazing man - funny, kind, sensitive to the needs of those around him, generous to the extreme, fun, and tenderhearted to the things of God. I've sat in his meetings and practically felt like crying for the poor rest of the world because they missed out on the sermon. He has ministered to me in so many ways - from the spiritual to the car-ful:) He has come out in the morning, just as I was about to drive away, to pray for me. He has instigated many a fun outing. He has jumped my battery many a time. He has sat Melissa and me down for long and interesting discussions. He has made me feel secure. He has made me laugh innumerable times. He has cooked me dinner. He has checked up on me, to make sure I'm doing okay in hard times. He has demonstrated what it is to lay down his life for others. He has been the most incredible uncle anyone could ask for.

So let's have three cheers for Uncle Paul!!!

ANNOUNCEMENT (of great importance)

LOOKING FOR 23 VOLUNTEERS

TO WISH MELISSA A HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY

ON THE 23RD OF MARCH!

The Latest Post (hee hee hee)

I SHOULD have a picture of my beautiful new nephew Jamie,

but for now here's a picture to symbolize new life:) Welcome, dear Jamie!

This time I have a good excuse for not posting for so long...

I was officially sick enough to stay home from school! For TWO days! Real alive sick days. Another first in my teaching history. I must say, though, despite the nice break and all, I felt rather discombobulated being away from school, knowing someone else was teaching my angels. It all worked out quite well, however. I was able to e-mail my lesson plans in, and give them work they could do on their own. Then I was able to get right back in the groove when I returned. It was worth the sickness to hear the happy welcome-backs. Ahhhh, I love my students. They didn't even mind that I taught sitting down for the whole first day back.

It turns out that I don't have to do lesson plans at all anymore. One of my 7th grade girls has it all figured out. I walked in to Lit today, and she said, "Miss Murray, today we need to practice our Psalm memorization, work on our stories, practice our song for chapel, and then... whatever you have planned." Oh! Okay then! I had other plans, but if you think that's best then we'll go right ahead with your ideas. Hee hee hee. I was amused. Instead we did the Psalm and then... what I had planned. Kids these days.

Another of my students, the son of the principal, told me he had been going through the messages on the answering machine at home, and had heard my message saying I was sick. He repeated the beginning to me, "I'm afraid I'm sick, alas." And then he added, "'Alas!' Who says that?!" I laughed a lot:) I guess it's not exactly what you would call 21st century lingo.

My kids are really getting into Oedipus Rex, and I'm so happy about it. The last play was a bit slog-ish, and we were reading a difficult and dense translation. But this translator did an excellent job making the language accessible, and my kids are getting it. They even gasp at the appropriate places! Yay!

In other news, Ryan Gomes, my very own PC classmate (I saw him more than once!) is doing so well on the Celtics! Two starters are injured or something, so he's been starting, and he's all the rage! He scored 27 points two nights ago and 29 points last night. Sports radio loves him. I'm so proud! (Because, yes, I had a lot to do with it all.) Go Gomes!

Speaking of him, there was a popular t-shirt at our school while he was dominating the college scene which, sacrilegiously, said "In Gomes We Trust." Wouldn't it be weird to be Gomes and pass people wearing a shirt like that? Strange but true.

Okay! That's the latest from the teaching/PC alum front!

Snow Driving

1 hour and 50 minutes after leaving school, I pulled relievedly into my spot at home. And you know what I noticed today? New England drivers may have bad reputations, but they sure get polite in the snow. Nobody is tailgating, everyone uses blinkers, and everyone is going 15 or 20 under the speed limit. My, my. The southerners would fit right in!

Of course, the southerners might not care for the whole slippery roads, barely making it up that hill after the full stop at the bottom, ice on the windshield wipers thing. Even I, northerner that I am, don't like too much of that. But I have a fairly relaxed approach. I stop at Dunkin Donuts, get a hot chocolate, turn on some music or sports radio (I'm becoming such a fan!), and settle in for a long, slow ride. Any aggressive tendencies I may be accused of in fair weather flee, and I become a right lane driver. Until the right lane gets too slow, of course. But I'm perfectly content to take twice as long getting home.

Part of this relaxed attitude has to do with the close encounter between my car and the guard rails on both sides of the road a couple of winters ago. I don't take snow lightly - and ice I take even less lightly. At the same time, I'm not scared about driving in snow. I have to be an authentic New Englander, after all. It's just all about taking it slow and leaving room for the car ahead.

So there is your tutorial, and more, on snow driving. And now, let's hear it for the remote possibility of a snow day!

"I WELD! I'M A WELDER!!"

No, cool as they were, the sea dragons did not offer welding lessons. This is Melissa, back in the frigid north while Andrea basks in the glorious warm fuzzies of a GA vacation. But Monday's high is supposed to be 20 degrees, so she should be consoled that she won't have missed much :). Thankfully I've been too busy this week at school to have to spend too many hours in the deathly silence of her non-presence.

What did I do at school, you may ask (having no idea since you skipped over the above title)? Well, I'll tell you! I WELDED things! WOOOOOOO!!! I feel like I'm in that movie that was mentioned in some random midweek meeting video series in Bible School, which ended up being an answer that Claire got in a trivial pursuit game -- something about a woman welder who was also a ballerina or something (the more I write, the more this sounds like some very strange dream...or a very bad speech. Help me, Claire!). Anyway. yes. We've been making a bunch of quick models in my 3-Dimensional Synthesis class, but now we're moving on to a four-foot sculpture. Apparently the direction I chose in the models will translate best into steel rods and thick wire mesh. Joy. I was quite skeptical at first, but I picked up some short rods from Home Depot (haha... Despot... B&C, you're awesome) and pretended I knew what I was doing in the huge and intimidating Sculpture Room. I rolled them into curves on some steel-roller-machine, and then I got my welding lesson. It was hard... but I persevered. I was comforted by the story my prof. told about a girl who caught on fire and didn't realize it (and was thus confused when her professor started hitting her). hmmm... And it was a little freaky having to stand behind a curtain and wear a pitch-black helmet to avoid blindness. And I kept messing up, and the machine kept jamming, and my professor kept having to fix it (most of the time it wasn't my fault, I was relieved to find). But once it finally started working again it was so comparitively easy that I picked it up pretty fast. I got some sweet beads going, let me tell you (that's a little insider welder language there...). Then I got to actually start welding my sculpture, and now I'm excited. It really works! I can make things out of steel! Now that I'm fully empowered, there's no going back. I have six or so twelve-foot rods just waiting to be bent and welded into submission. I will be holding a drawing for potential buyers of my finished product (No, it won't look like anything except steel rods and wire... but oh, what tremendous forms and activation of space! :).

Okay, that's all I want to write about that.

The Aquarium!

Okay, so back to the aquarium. Folks, if you ever have a chance to go, I highly recommend it. I had so much fun! But, as you probably gathered from Claire's blog, I recommend going on a slightly less crowded day. Oy vay.

Probably the coolest part of all was the fact that you get to touch various and sundry creatures. So here, for your viewing pleasure, are the creatures I, personally, myself, touched with my own fingers!


This, awed readers, is the shark that I touched. Well, not this one specifically, but this kind. This was my favorite moment of the day. I stroked its side as it swam by, and was pretty awestruck that I'd touched a shark. It felt sand-papery. I think I'm going into marine biology in my next life.






Next I touched a ray. That was pretty cool, but it was kind of gross because it was squishy. I'm not a big fan of squishy things. Unless they are things like marshmallows or jello. But those are squishy in a good way. Rays are squishy in a gross way. But still, I'm glad I had the experience. I mean, how many people get to touch rays? Hm, I guess a lot now. But I'm one of them!







Next on the agenda were the shrimp. I'm not a huge fan of shrimp. They are weird looking, bordering on scary looking. But of course I still wanted to touch one. I discovered that they are very dart-y. As in, they dart away when you touch them. This resulted in a sort of very high pitched "eeep!" from me when it happened. The scientific discoveries go on...










I think the last creature to be greeted by my finger-tip was the star fish. As you can imagine, it felt kind of poke-y. That was pretty cool, but I was kind of distracted at this point by Claire's sudden realization that her watch was not waterproof, but had been quite underwater while she touched the starfish. No worries though, the watch was soon off, dried, and as good as new. Phew.




And then of course there were the other fascinating creatures there, many and many a creature, that were off limits for fingers. Like the pirahnas, for instance, which are deceptively beautiful. I enjoyed the mammal population: the otters, seals, penguins, etc. But the most intriguing find of the day (as Claire mentioned on her blog, and continues to mention on a regular basis off her blog) had to be the leafy sea dragon. Incredible. I had no idea such a thing existed! I thought the tank was just full of vegetation, until one began to move about, and then another and another. WOW! Talk about great camouflage. Here are some pictures, so you can see for yourself:

























Amazing, are they not? More evidence for the incredible creative power of God! So, once again, I urge you all to add the GA Aquarium to your lists of things to do someday!

Gasp!

Wonderful, wonderful day today: GA Aquarium and all. Everyone should go. What incredible fun!

But the real reason for this post is immediate inspiration from the paper I'm grading right now. (Yes, I'm actually being productive.) Penny just came downstairs as I was finishing up a paper, and I was commenting to her that this girl was the queen of run-on sentences. I joked that she averaged one period a paragraph. I thought I was joking until I looked at her closing paragraph and found exactly 2 periods!

So here, my friends, is the prime example of a run-on sentence (the assignment, by the way, was a short historical fiction piece. This story was about working in the mills).

"So with my mother dead I got so mad that without thinking I asked the person in charge to give me better pay or I would quit and before he could answer a few more people came to ask the same question and before I knew it there was a mob around him and me and he yelled, afraid he'd have no workers, "you get a raise of a dollar," and after that I was more happy than ever before because I could support my sister and myself and still have a little more money and with the money I bought a better house that wasn't as polluted."

Whew! And there you have it!

The Travel Log of Andrea and Diane's Roadtrip to GA

(some fanciful, some accurate, I'm not bothering to distinguish which is which)

February 18, 2006

5:00pm Mama sees us off, calling out things about coats, and making sure we have them. I tell her I have one in my suitcase. I don't tell her it is a little, dinky, spring jacket.

7:00pm We are booking it from the rental place inside the airport to the car pick-up spot. I am wishing I had more than a little, dinky, spring jacket since the 13 degree winds are causing me to think bitter thoughts about New England - something I rarely do.

8:00pm We have said good bye to Melissa, and are on the road! I squeal about how excited I am.

8:01pm I say again how exciting this is.

8:02pm I once more exclaim about my excitement over taking a road trip to GA.

(Let's cut to the chase here, and just admit that I talked about how excited I was a lot, throughout the whole trip. Diane is a very patient soul.)

8:03 pm I confirm directions with Aunt Laura, and it was a jolly good thing, since I was about to take the wrong road.

9:00pm We've found Rt 95 which we'll take for hours and hours. We're home free!

9:01 pm We break into a rendition of "On the Road Again" - this was repeated often over the course of the trip.

9:02pm Diane begins reading "True Courage," the suspense story we've decided upon to wile away the hours.

9:12pm I am hooked on the story.

10:00pm Lindsay calls! She laments the fact that we'd forgotten to pray for Craig during our birthday party for him that afternoon. Diane calls him, we both put them on speakerphone, and we all pray for him!

11:00pm Diane tries to get a little sleep so she can spell me in a couple of hours.

12:00am I am getting a little bit sleepy, but I sing along to the CD I have in and that keeps me going.

12:04am I see the moon at its waning gibbous stage! I am wide awake now, thinking about how happy I am to be a science teacher and how I know so much more about the moon and its phases than I ever thought I'd know.

12:30am The excitement of the waning gibbous (as incredibly exciting as that is) has worn off and I'm feeling really sleepy.

12:45am I pull off for gas, and Diane takes the wheel.

5:45am Andrea wakes up from a remarkably good sleep, ready to spell Diane, who has just driven the entire "graveyard" shift single-handedly. WOW! Let's have a round of applause for that heroic effort.

6:14am Beautiful sunrise! I am starting to feel alive again, and really happy to be behind the wheel. I enjoy driving our little Chevy Cobalt!

9:00am We start looking for breakfast places. We are in the breakfast buffet mode, and call Mrs. Randall to see if she can look on-line for places along our route. Who needs on-star when you've got Mrs. Randall?! (What good is on-star anyway, if it doesn't provide eatery information?)

9:30 Mrs. Randall informed us that we have just passed the last Shoney's for hours. Sigh. We decide on the Cracker Barrel.

10:00am Diane and I "go to church" by listening to Diane's Statler Brothers CD:)

10:00am We enjoy a FABULOUS breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. I hear many southern accents, feel a bit like a foreigner, and am comforted by the glimpse I catch of a Red Sox hat!

11:00am We are back on the road again (breaking into song once more), with only a few more hours to go.

11:01am At the VERY next exit we see a breakfast buffet! We bellow at the irony of it all, but confess that we are really quite full.

1:00 pm We enter Atlanta. I am driving, Diane is reading our very exciting book. I am getting a little nervous at the sight of about 14 solid lanes of traffic!!!

1:10 pm Still a bit nervous, but realizing that the laws about being in your own lane and stuff apply on this super-highway just as much as they did on the mere shmere 6 lane highways of 95.

1:30 pm We're all through Atlanta! Safely!

2:00pm We arrive at Brad and Claire's!

2:01 pm No one answers the door - we decide Claire must still be at church. We call her. No answer. We wonder how long these Southerners spend in church anyway!

2:02 pm Claire calls us back, and apologizes for not answering the phone. She'd been upstairs and the phone had been downstairs. "So you're still at the parsonage?" Diane asks. "No, I'm at my house," Claire replies. "Well SO ARE WE!" Claire is dumbfounded. She comes rushing down and opens the door to see us standing on her doorstep!

2:03 pm We are happy she's so surprised, because surprises are nice, but we're a little mystified as to the reason she's quite this surprised. Then we find out she wasn't expecting us until tomorrow! The source of this confusion is unclear.

2:04 pm We get a tour of her BEAUTIFUL home! I am full of praise. It really is lovely! I am very happy for them.

2:15 pm We zip two minutes down the road to Penny's house to surprise her!

2:17 pm Sure enough, she is dumbfounded to see us:)

2:18 pm The truth comes out! I had called Penny last night to say we'd started at about 8. She didn't get the message until this morning, and thought we'd left at 8am instead of 8 pm! That would be quite the record-setting trip indeed!

2:20 pm We get a tour of Nate and Penny's BEAUTIFUL house!

2:25 pm I'm nearly overcome with euphoria! Ahhhhhhh vacation and GREAT friends. Who could ask for anything more?

Results of a New Valentine's Day Pen

This morning a dear student came in with a Valentine's Day pen for me. I was so enamored of it (it was one long plastic tube that became two hearts at the top) that I decided to take notes in Chapel just so I could use it. But instead of the topic of the day, the following list came out of the pen:


Things I love about Teaching:

*the chalk dust that seems to permeate my existence (colored chalk dust, that is!)
*the 15 minutes in the morning in which the students have to be in the room, but classes haven't begun yet - we have such fun chatting about sports, movies, strange experiences, etc
*lesson plans that work out just right, schedule wise (i.e. I really need this to take two days instead of one, and it does)
*students using something from Literature as an inside joke! (this really happens, much to my delight!)
*those opportunities that sometimes arise in which I get to pass along to the student some truth that I treasure
*my grade book
*walking in in the morning and tossing my keys onto my desk
*teaching new vocabulary - even when it is met with skepticism (they didn't believe that "spartan" is used as an adjective all these many years after the Spartan warrior civilization!)
*when students hear something in assembly that reminds them of something I said in class, so they look over and catch my eye
*when students ask me if I like teaching, thus opening the way for much effusive speech-making!

Oh ya, and I also happen to be partial to teaching itself.

Halcyon Carrots and Pavarotti

Hi folks -- it's Melissa, letting you all know I still exist. I don't really know what to write about, but whatever it is needs to be written NOW. I find more and more that my sabbaths can really only last from sundown to sundown -- gone are the halcyon days of fully carefree weekends. (I just finished reading an Elizabeth Goudge book that used the word "halcyon" several times, and I was reminded that it is a good word. Only it was in the context of weather, which I hadn't really seen before, so I had to ask Andrea what it actually meant. She thought it meant happy, as in "the halcyon days of youth," and while "happy weather" is kind of cool, we thought that maybe it just has a general meaning of being kind of favorable. And now I don't feel like actually looking it up.)

Anyway... back to halcyonless weekends... The Sabbath is extra good now that it means so much more. The rest of the week this semester has been pretty crazily packed, since I'm taking five classes instead of the usual four (I don't know what kinds of insane schools some of the rest of you go to, but at mine four or five is normal). Hours and hours of art continue... only now I'm covered with oil paint most of the time instead of charcoal. Cool. So far I've decided that I really like painting, which is good because I have to decide what my concentration is going to be before too long. It's kind of awkward when people ask and I have to say, "um... well, I haven't actually DONE anything to know if I like it or not, but I assume I'll be a painter." I haven't tried printmaking yet, but I could see myself liking that too. It's the closest thing to drawing in some ways (although painting is too somewhat, but that's more like "drawing with mayonnaise," as one prof. put it). I've discovered that I'm drawn to textures, and especially (oddly enough), things that are falling apart: peeling paint, rotting wood, old crumbling brick buildings... I found myself staring longingly at the ceiling at my dad's shop the other day, wanting to draw it. Hm.

In other news, I was able to stun my coworkers at the W.C. (yep, still there, triplenine) by showing them the flaming carrot trick I learned in Bible School from I-forget-who. You know-- the one where you place two pieces of carrot so that they're barely touching and then nuke 'em in the microwave for a few seconds and watch the fireworks! Do try this at home. Rumor has it it works with potatoes too.

Last night we were crashing at the end of long, stressful weeks, and Andrea declared, "I just want to watch TV until I pass out." I thought this highly amusing. Of course we knew it was a joke, until we started watching the Opening Ceremonies later in the evening and it almost came true. Oy... so long, so weird, so boring. But there was always that one more surprise promised us by the freakily un-aging face of Bob Costas, and that one country that nobody's ever heard of that could prove to be the most inspirational of Olympic tales, and that mystery surrounding the figure shrouded in darkness who would eventually light the cauldron of justice. And were we ever rewarded: Liechtenstein and San Marino out in full force, people walzing around a stage dressed as cows, and then....... STEFANIA BALMONDO as the final torchbearer! YES! I KNEW it! Oh well... I suppose the Italians have every right to give the honor to a random Italian cross-country skiier I've never heard of. But Pavarotti singing "Nessun Dorma" was a good surprise, I must say. [I admit I had to ask Andrea what he sang and how to spell it... "Nessun as in 'Nissan'?"] In the words of one American athlete I heard in the background, "You da MAN, Pavarotti!"

Strange Moments of the Day

I was teaching typing today, and one of my students started talking about how he'd recently decided what he believes, theologically. Oh! I said. He expanded upon the subject by explaining that he is a four-point Calivinist. He believes in four of the five tenets. The one he doesn't believe in is limited atonement (which, I think, is the idea that Jesus died only for the elect - not for everyone). Now this wouldn't have been that awkward, except that the other student in typing is definitely a five-point Calivinist. I, not being much of a Calvinist, but hiding that fact very carefully while at school, was rather tongue-tied. I just said that we must be sure to base our beliefs on the Bible, and both seemed satisfied with that. Oh the tightropes I attempt!

Another weird moment came after I e-mailed Craig about seeing Dan Jansen in the opening ceremonies. Jansen was a mutual hero of giant proportions back in the day. Oh the depths and heights we traveled with him! Anyway, he e-mailed back, and said he'd told Kayla the saga, since she didn't know who he was. What?! Was it really that long ago?

That weird moment reminded me of one earlier today, when I asked my 7th and 8th grade class which two countries were separated by the Berlin Wall, and realized they weren't even alive when it came down. In fact, they also asked me what the Cold War was! You mean not everyone in this country shared the childhood fear of being bombed by the Russians? I explained it to them, and we practiced hiding under the desks in case of bombs.

Inspiration from Greece, Chambers, and Mrs. E Prentiss

Watch out, folks. Heart is full - overflow coming your way...

I just finished reading "Stepping Heavenward" by Mrs. E. Prentiss last night and it was incredible. Amy P had been encouraging me to read it for years, and I finally followed her advice. I am so glad I did. What an inspiring account. Now everyone, don't delay as long as I did! Go out and get a copy and read it! I think you will be amazed, as I was, at the conclusions of the book, after an account that was sometimes almost painful to read: "To love Christ and to know that I love Him - this is all!" And "I have been emptied from vessel to vessel till I have learned that he only is truly happy who has no longer a choice of his own and lies passive in God's hand." What depth there is there.

I have also been reading the Oswald Chambers devotional Bible this year, which has been incredibly rich. From that I have been realizing the importance of being God-aware and God-conscious, instead of self-aware and self-conscious. It is exciting to grow and to realize more of the world around me and more about who I am. But to stop there is to stunt the growth God intends for me. Those things are stepping-stones to the more important - the only important - God-awareness, and who He is.

And then there is Greek Literature. Okay, so we were reading about all these Greek guys, and how they try to thwart their fate and always fail to do so. Fate is supreme. No one can avoid it. The Greek worldview was, in that way, pretty depressing. They were totally trapped by fate.

Then we were reading, in the teachers' devotions time, about Saul and how he was trying to kill David. But instead he was finding failure on every side, for God had willed David to be king. And I started thinking, wait a minute. Is the Christian worldview just as trapped as the Greek one? We can't go outside of the will of God, just like the Greeks couldn't go outside of the fates. Am I supposed to be feeling claustrophobic?!

And then, so quickly, I realized the fundamental difference. We as Christians serve a God of infinite love, goodness, and trustworthiness. His will and His love are one. He is love. We are not trapped in a fate against which we put up a desperate struggle for freedom. We are led to the best and highest freedom by a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son. We are not trapped by a capricious or unconscious fate (I'm not sure which would be worse), but are on our way to our destiny: oneness with a God who is essentially good and loving, and for Whom we were created. What an incredible difference. What a God we serve!

Trust has been my watchword recently. What a security and peace we have in our God. Claustrophobia? No! "Jehovah...brought me out into a broad place; He delivered me because He delighted in me." (Ps 18:19)

You won't believe this...

Today something reminded me of Chad's story of long ago, about that girl who didn't know what "quarter to 8" meant. I told my students with great glee, and was joking about telling Chad that my students were way smarter than his. All the guys were laughing and stuff when the blond girl in my class raised her hand. "I have a confession to make." SURE ENOUGH. She didn't know what it meant either, and admitted that she'd always been confused by that quarter to business. What are the odds?!?! The boys laughed much harder then, and I was hard pressed to back-track about all those non-smart student comments I'd been making. I babbled on and on about how these things sometimes escape us, and how exciting it was to have a learning moment, and how there are many different kinds of smart (oy vay, did I really use that one?). It made for an exciting start to a good day. Phew. I'd better watch out what kind of adjectives I preface my stories with from now on! One never knows. Oh, and I explained that quarter to 8 meant 7:45, as in a quarter of the clock (15 minutes) before whatever time was specified.

Student Writing

I recently completed a mystery unit with my 7th and 8th graders, and then assigned them to write their own mysteries. The results were original, entertaining, gruesome, and funny - quite the combination. Here are some excerpts:

The first is a story about people who get trapped on a cruise ship with a murderer. Here is the advertisement for the cruise ship: "You will be amazed at the food, service, pool, movie theatre, game room, and 24/7 hot chocolate access."

The second story had more exclamation points than, um, I can't even think of a simile since nothing else I can think of even comes close. For example: "All I know is the last name is Mr. McCarthy!" "Go on, please!" "Well, my sisters and brothers were invited too!" "Very interesting!" "I am sorry, but I forgot to get your name!"..."Now please go on with the story!" Etc.

At the end of the above story, the detective catches the criminal (who turns out to be the maid) as she is about to kill his client. He confronts her and she confesses. Then the story takes a surprising twist: "'You are under arrest for murder,' said the detective. 'You either will spend your whole life in jail or die now!' 'I will die now," she answered. So the detective shot her and she died! He then told the girls to pack up and go home!"

Yikes! Nothing like taking justice into your own hands! I jotted down a bit about American criminal law in the margin, but hastened to assure her that it was indeed dramatic. And to think she is one of my quietest, sweetest students! You just never know.

The last story was a 14 page masterpiece, which included this gem of a fight scene: "With that he dodged to the side and with one swipe knocked the gun out of Tim's hand. The gun skidded across the floor and fell into a hole and sank to the bottom of a fifty-foot deep pool used to test underwater equipment. There were a lot of punches, kicks, jabs, and martial arts between the two men. Then Bill sprang up and grabbed an emergency axe from the wall." I will spare you the further details. Suffice it to say that Bill, the good guy, won out in the end.

Phew. Now to move on to our historical fiction unit! Much safer. Of course, we are about to start "The Tale of Two Cities" which has its own kind of gruesome-ness. But somehow Dickens can manage it with dignity.

My First Fieldtrip!

I did it! I led a fieldtrip! I organized it, and bought tickets, and found parent chaperones, and everything! And I'm happy to report that it went very well. We weren't late and it wasn't the wrong day.

My Earth Science class just began a unit about the moon last Monday, and today we went to see "Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon" at the IMAX theater. In 3D! After a lecture to my kids about being Ambassadors for Christ, and not screaming in the mall, and other things, I found myself yelling right out loud TWICE during the film. It was scary! But fortunately the music was so loud I don't think anyone heard me.

The highlight of the occasion was when a man came into the theater with his microphone before the show, and asked for all group leaders to report to the concession stand. HA! That was ME! It felt so strange to get up and walk past the two chaperones, who were much older than I, and go say I was in charge of the whole shebang. My word. What a power trip:)

My kids really enjoyed the show. I wish I'd had a camera to take a picture of them sitting all in a row with ridiculously large glasses on. So cute.

One last thing: I found out, half way up the escalator, that one of my girls has a fear of heights to such a degree that she never takes escalators - always elevators. I held on to her for the rest of the way up. She made it fine. I was glad.

Happy almost weekend!

The 30 by 30 List

The 30 by 30 list is an idea Lindsay introduced to Amy and me a couple of years ago. It's a list of thirty things to accomplish by the time you are thirty! We had such a fun time making them together - what a happy memory. The things can be as varied as you want. Here are some on my list:

*Buy a piano
*Take horseback riding lessons (this is one that was enabled by Amy and Lindsay's graduation gift to me!)
*Read Oliver Twist (done!)
*Go to Israel or Europe
*Teach for at least one year (almost done, and hopefully I'll be at it for much more than a year - I actually had one of those "I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this" moments today!)
*Get a Bachelor of Arts in English (done!)
*Read Dad's Book (maybe this summer?) (and for the remaining four and half years 'till I'm 30?)
*Own the movies Persuasion (check!), Wives and Daughters (check!), Riverdance (check!)
*Memorize the prologue to Tennyson's In Memorium (done... although it's rusty now - I'll have to refresh this one)
*sing in a choir after college (found a possibility - have to audition this summer)
*go to the Boston, NY, Philadelphia or DC art museum
*go camping (I've never been!)
*change my own oil (thanks for the lesson, Bethany!)
etc. etc. etc.

Those are a few items. Lindsay has such ambitious things as refinishing furniture on hers, but that sounded like too much work to me. I just throw it out there to demonstrate the diversity possible:) Not to mention demonstrating the coolness of anyone who would have that on her 30 by 30! I would recommend it for all - it's great fun! And it's exciting to be able to say you've accomplished things on the list.

The Wave of the Past

As the weekend approached, I headed to my favorite movie place, Video Vault (very small townsy and idiosyncratic), to rent "Persuasion." I brought it up to the counter, and the guy told me that I could rent it for $2.50 or buy it for $3.00. What?! It turns out that ALL of the videos in the place are now for sale. They're moving to DVDs. WOWZER. So I bought "Persuasion," and checked to see whether "Pride and Prejudice" (BBC, 5 hour version) had been sold already. Oh ya, he said, it was one of the first to go. Hmmmm. The good taste of these RIers. I was pretty happy, though, since owning the movie "Persuasion" was on my 30 by 30 list (along with a few other choice movies).

Well yesterday, with Melissa (about whose return I could have written an entire 60 paragraph post of joy), I returned. We took the place by storm, scouring every aisle (well, almost... we skipped over the horror films), and picking out the cream of the crop. My happiest find was "Riverdance!" I had looked for it immediately, and hadn't found it. I assumed it was taken already, but then discovered it with the musicals. Hurrah! That was one on my 30 by 30.

Let me tell you, it was a hard task. Where do you draw the line? You can't buy every good movie, because you would be quickly broke, despite the good price. So we settled for choosing a few of the best, and keeping a list of all the other possibilities (25-30 more, I'd guess). And I kept thinking of other people, too, and whether I should be buying for them!

Katie, do you want "October Sky?"
Dad, how about "Captains Courageous?"
And Derrick, I assume you already own "The Last Samurai."

Anyway, it was pretty fun. I can't believe they're getting rid of all their videos, though! It certainly is a big step forward in technology, I suppose. But I'm happily riding the wave of the past with my newly acquired videos.

I told my kids about it today, and informed them I'd grabbed Hamlet, with Mel Gibson, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, both for their sakes! I'll be teaching Hamlet next year, and I wanted to show them Mr. Smith to demonstrate what a filibuster is. One student was groaning at the idea of watching anything in black and white. I vigorously protested that there was no law that kids couldn't watch movies made before 1999 - there were some wonderful old classics. And he came right back and quoted my own words against me. A few weeks ago, after seeing a movie's attempt to portray Medusa, in 1970 or so, I had practically vowed not to watch any movie made before 2000! I'd forgotten about that, and had to laugh upon being reminded. I tried to qualify my statement by saying I didn't like old movie's special effects. But finally I just told them to forget all those rash statements I make:)

Fun on a Wednesday Afternoon

I usually dread Wednesdays because the afternoons are back-to-back classes, ending with two high school classes. And high schoolers aren't so attentive in the afternoon. But I've shifted my tactics a bit (tighter discipline on one hand, not expecting star quality discussions on the other), and today was great!

We did a writing workshop on creating good paragraphs, and I assigned them to do a paragraph in class on anything they wanted to. I gave an example: a paragraph with the topic sentence "BMW Z3s are some of the coolest cars around." They followed suit. Here are some sample topic sentences (paraphrased according to my memory, and my own style, and my protecting the identity of students):

When Joe hits me, it hurts. (Joe is the student sitting next to the student who wrote this paragraph - a paragraph, incidentally, which was some of the best writing he's done this year!)

Hershey's kisses are the yummiest chocolates. (A story I told of rationing M&Ms while paper writing in college was an example in this paragraph!)

A paragraph is a unit of something larger, like an essay or report. (Clever... a paragraph about a paragraph.)

Elizabeth is the coolest person that ever lived. (This was written at the request of one, Elizabeth, in the classroom.)

Green is the best color. (They say sea green is very soothing...)

The students really enjoyed the assignment! At least, they really enjoyed hearing each other's work afterward. That was pretty encouraging. Maybe I'll do more with this tomorrow. On the other hand, I have a star quality discussion planned, so I'm not sure I'll have time.

In other news: I lost power steering in my car. I think I'm getting tendonitis from man-handling my vehicle around corners. Wheee - workouts while driving!

Back in the Groove

I'm happy to report that one class was all it took - I am thrilled to be back at school. I knew I would be, but I still couldn't sleep very well the night before it started up again. Sometimes I think vacations are too hard to come back from to be worth it. But then I look forward to weekends like some people look forward to trips to Europe. I guess two great weeks is worth the cost of one sleepless night!

Anyway, the highlight so far has been teaching Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians in play form. Danny had told me his students really liked it, but oy vay! My kids are going crazy! Of course, it helps that I'm teaching it to the 7th and 8th graders, who aren't afraid to be wildly enthusiastic at the drop of a hat (how could I have ever been nervous about middle school?!).

At the first murder the girls instantly burst into gasps and shudders and squeals, and the boys burst into accusations and theories. At the second murder it took some dire threats on my part to get them back to reading. I allowed a break for theories, but man! They would have kept at it all day! But of course there were those who wanted to hurry up and read, and forget all the guessing stuff. So soon they were yelling at each other to be quiet. Hee hee hee. What a success. Then they all started talking about nightmares, and I was a little nervous on my way home. So far I've received zero angry parent calls. I'm going for a no-hitter, as it were.

Sure enough, this morning one of my students told me he'd had nightmare. Sigh. But silly me - I should have known he was joking, since he's the one I describe as "probably what Uncle Paul was like as a student."

I heard from my 10th and 11th graders that my 7th and 8th graders (their younger siblings) were trying to repeat the entire story to them - and anyone else who would listen. One student's father is in Iraq. He called home last night...and was regaled with an Agatha Christie story. Well, the beginning of one, anyway. We still haven't finished. She told me that he was very interested in it. Dear man, my respect for him (which was already sky high) shot up some more.

We got another scene or so done this afternoon, and at the end of the day one of the girls told me that the entire class had talked about the play for their entire art class. There would be a lull, and then one of them (the same one every time, I think) would say "but what about Dr. Armstrong?" and they would be off again.

YYYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! I LOVE MY JOB!

They have some really clever theories about it all, too! They should be mystery writers themselves (which they will be next week, although they don't know it yet - it will be my first fiction assignment and I'm really looking forward to reading the results!). They have decided that two of them are married though they are pretending not to be. They have decided that there really is no murderer - they are all killing themselves off in madness or guilt. They have decided that Narracott the boatman must have done it. And Emily. And Dr. Armstrong. And Rogers.

In other news, my high schoolers are assembling a puppet show of the story of the Cyclops. Did I mention that I love my job?

CLAN

No, I'm not going to go into a detailed, historical look at the Murray clan here and now. Sorry. I know it would be incredibly fascinating, and you would all benefit greatly from it. I'll keep it in mind for some future time. Maybe.

Instead, I'm going to go into a semi-detailed, barely-historical look at the RI library system. I love it so much! And, having just availed myself of one of its excellent services, and therefore being filled with warm fuzzy feelings about it, now is the time to rhapsodize.

The semi-details are this: By getting one little card - a simple piece of blue plastic - the entire world of Rhode Island's books are open to all RI residents. I can get books from Newport, Middletown, Portsmouth, Cranston, Providence, North Kingstown, and Scituate, all in one homeward commute, if I want to! If I (in my usual last-minute state) need a movie to show my class the very next day I can just pop over to whichever RI library has said movie on its shelves. Side note: this is a huge benefit to living in such a small state - I could never go across the state to get a movie I needed if I lived in TX, for instance. But here in RI I go across the state every day just to get to work! Ahhh, so handy.

The barely-history is this: Today I thought I should read the book "Epic" to my dear chillins. It is an excellent example of looking at Literature in a deeper way than just words on a page (which is their sad tendency). So I popped over to Amazon and ascertained that I could get the book for quite a reasonable price. But, having decided to pinch pennies a bit more these days, I thought I'd check the library system. LO, there was a copy in Providence! And there was another intriguing work by the same author in Cranston! And thanks to the dear old CLAN system (oh, that is the name of the RI library system, by the way - I probably should have explained that sooner), with a few keystrokes I have both items scurrying on their way to my local library. Amazing! Blessings on thee, oh CLAN system.

This is not to disparage the Dublin Library, of course, which holds my deepest loyalty as a most beloved, architecturally beautiful, historical, intriguing, good-smelling, cozy establishment. But I must admit that RI allows for a bit more flexibility than a small town library.

Might I also add, that if Heaven were indeed attainable by good works, Ben Franklin (wasn't it he?) would be first in line at the Pearly Gates with the good deed of establishing public libraries. Way to go, Ben! Let's hear it for books for free!

Post Christmas Blues

I almost never get post-Christmas blues, I'm happy to report. My birthday is the day after, so there's nothing to be blue about there! And then there's always the happiness of another week (or four, if in college) of vacation. Nothing to be blue about there! And this year I even had a fantastic year-end convention to attend. Nothing to be blue about there, for sure!

But this evening I had a half-hour of post-Christmas blues. It came when I tried to assimilate my Christmas gifts into my already well laden room. As I shoved hangers over in the closet, with all of my strength, I dreamed of those huge closets that are the approximate size of my bedroom when I was a little girl. As I stacked up CDs on the floor I realized I'd have to actually invest in another car CD holder. As I drew out the beautiful framed picture of my nephews it occurred to me that I am already using every single available flat surface to hold pictures. And as I guiltily placed some items on the top shelf of my closet I realized that the simple fact is this: I need to down-size!

But how will I do it? How can I tell the faithful pictures, who have kept me company all through college, that they are going to be replaced by young upstarts? How can I throw out any scrap of clothing, when I could very well regret such a bold move in a few weeks time when I finally discover the shirt that would have matched that thrown-away skirt? How can I part with any little knick-knack that could end up a valuable archive after I become saintly and inspire future generations?

So the only solution, dear readers, is to tear down my barns and build bigger. I'm going to annex TJ's room. He doesn't really need it right now, after all. And in fact, I might even be generous and annex only a portion. In any case, I could use that extra shelf and closet space. I could have two desks and two big bookcases and another huge closet! I could buy large trunks, or even those tupperware storage containers. The possibilities are endless! When TJ comes back home I expect him to be so sanctified that he won't even mind, and will gladly move over to share a room with Amy.

Ahhh, solution found. Post Christmas Blues over.