What a Weekend!

This was a really nice weekend, so I thought I should share:)

First of all, as soon as Craig mentioned going to Israel for three months, I started plotting for him to come to my school to talk to my students about it.

Meanwhile, back at the NH ranch, Katie was wishing there was a way to visit me, but had no wheels of her own (being up at Fairwood w/ her fam working on an amazing project everyone will see at the Feast... and in a sneak preview on Brandon's blog).

So these two things worked together for my good this past weekend when Craig, Katie and Rachel all came on down!

Friday Craig came to school with me and was a smash hit:) The more he taught the better he got - from making the 7/8 class break into laughter with his account of bartering, to totally winning the 9th grade over with pictures of men with guns, and other men in kafias. But he was the biggest hit of all in the 11th/12th grade, where his sense of humor meshed with theirs, and the four of them had a grand old time while I sat there and observed (and laughed a lot). It was such a joy to see! I can't wait to go in tomorrow and hear their reactions!

Then we drove home again to an Indian feast prepared by Katie, and the weekend began. Games, movies, dinner-out... it was a typical weekend at the Browns.
For dinner Sat night we were going to go to the Olive Garden, but got there to find it was closed for several days! So we decided to go to a new restaurant, "On the Border." Mexican - mmmmmm. HOWEVER, since it was new everyone else wanted to check it out too. The wait was 1 and a half hours! OY VAY! Fortunately, TJ and Shannon agreed to wait while the rest of us went off to Barnes & Noble and such. We still spent about 45 min there, but kept ourselve entertained with games of "Pig." The food was INCREDIBLE, and we decided it was worth the wait.

One of the most enjoyable moments was playing on the ice Saturday afternoon. Here are some pics:

(More pictures on Flikr - if you want the address, let me know in the comments section:))

More Stuff

Aaron is indeed (as labeled by DJ) a genius! Good job with the new links page!

Yesterday I got into my car, and within seconds was grinning widely. Guess what made me grin.

a) there was a hundred dollar bill on my dashboard
b) the Red Sox spring training game was being broadcast on the radio
c) I realized that that long, horrible day was finally over

I've heard (I forget where) that the answer b is correct more often than any other letter. I don't know if it's true or not - I pick up these weird things and then can't go back to confirm b/c of my somewhat unreliable (to put it nicely) memory. But anyway, in this case b is the right answer, so it's true here. And not only that, but the Sox won the game with a walk off grandslam!!! Not the worst way to end the first game I've listened to this season!

KJ, my kids are very jealous of you living in FL and getting to go to a spring training game or two:)

Good news! At the beginning of the year I merely tolerated Logic class. It was a little too overwhelming to really enjoy, because it's two classes in one, and I have to constantly juggle that. HOWEVER, I'm happy to report that now I actually enjoy it! It's a fascinating subject, that's for sure. So tidy and sensible and, well, logical!

And I'm REALLY loving teaching Algebra. I just graded the latest batch of tests (made by the math company and not by me, lest you accuse me of making the problems too easy) and my kids all got A's and B's! I was very happy.

Incidentally, one should NEVER EVER use and apostrophe (') to pluralize a word. It is always "I saw several cats, dogs, and bananas," and never "cat's, dog's and banana's." The ONLY exception is when you are pluralizing single letters or numbers or something (they all got A's and B's, for example). Just thought everyone should know that. I caught myself with a Thursday's today, much to my mortification, so it's kind of on my mind. Learn from my mistakes, dear readers!

I also read John L's final stanza for the correction sheet poem to my 9th grade boys today, and they genuinely laughed aloud! I thought that was pretty high praise. It's not as if 9th grade boys worry about polite laughter... I really enjoy that class:)

Stuff

Now that Aaron's blog list thingy seems to be a bit on the blink (is it just me?) I have reverted to the old-fashioned way of clicking my way down the favorites list. I kind of forgot how much fun the anticipation can be. Did they update? Yes? No? What will it be? YES!!!!!! (or the opposite). My favorite posts this time through had to be KJ's and Brandon's. Good job, guys:)

Last night was PTF (Parent Teacher Fellowship) meeting at school, which means I spent the entire day on the island. Five of us teachers went out to eat, and we got this waiter with zero sense of humor beyond calling us all "dear." Unfortunately I didn't pick up on the fact that he had no sense of humor until it was a bit too late.
Me: Can we get separate checks?
Him: No. (Instantly, and with a terribly straight face)
Me: (Knowing that people who say "no" that quickly and solemnly, without any pity, are always joking) Hahahaha, PLEASE?!
Him: No. We don't do that.
Me: Oh. (Embarrassed attempts at covering up the fact that he ought to have been joking)

While dining, the five of us, somehow, got onto the subject of background checks for teaching. It turns out that two of the group had never had to have them done! Then one of the teachers observed that the three of us who'd had to have them lived off the island! I'm telling you, this island mentality is uncanny... All those from off the island are instantly suspect! :)

Lastly, if anyone didn't see John L's comment on my Excelsior poem post, check it out - it's oh so funny!

Window into the Past

Last night I was scrambling under my bed for an article I remembered from college. I thought one of my students might want it for a resource for his huge-o senior thesis project. Alas, not only was I unable to find the article, I couldn't even find the notebook from the class! Argh. It was okay, though, because I e-mail my college prof about it, and he wrote back telling me where the article came from and I've already ordered it through inter-library loan (insert long post of gratitude for the RI libraries, again).

Anyway, while I was scrabbling in the underbrush of papers and folders and notes, out came a notebook from before college, yea, even before Bible School! It was one of those marble notebooks, full of lists. Yes, lists. And as I opened it up it was like travelling back in time.

I had lists of Red Sox quotes, favorite people (many of whom are in this blogging world!), career ideas (I was glad to find it written down... I used to have it memorized, but had since forgotten it. Yay that it wasn't lost forever! Write things down, people!), prayer concerns, favorite pieces of music, quotes from books, heroes (some of which I roll my eyes at now, but some of which still remain on the list - like Tim Naehring and Ben Hansen), a guest list for my wedding (an important thing to figure out when you're in high school), letters I'd written and received while staying at the Hills, lists of people I've dreamed about (yes, yes, very important, and including such people as Harrison Ford, Roland Brooks, Frankie Walker, and Steve Wakeman), funny things the Holscher kids did while I lived out there, places I want to travel (got Israel crossed off the list, and Scotland and England are coming this summer!!!), books I want for my children, teachers, names I like (my firstborn's name now belongs to one of my nephews... but I don't mind), movies I'd watch again, and, perhaps most impressively, 100 things for Kimberly to do if she got bored while I was at the Hills.

I thought I'd share some things from the 100 things, in case any of you are bored:

5. Play "Risk" with yourself, putting 50 armies on Great Britain and one on every other country and try to make Great Britain win (can you say Anglophile?)
11. Throw stones (small) at men's dorm windows (scandalized looks at my past self until I remembered I was kidding).
12. Explore the dining hall top to bottom (that's actually a pretty cool building)
18. Go visit Gerry in the garage
28. Hide in the cellar door and watch people's feet go by
51. Set the clock in the main house kitchen ahead one hour and walk through saying "wow, I can't believe it's already ____ o'clock!"
60. Climb the crab-apple tree on the front lawn and yell "BEAUTY!"
61. Lie outside, look up at the stars, and howl loudly at the moon
71. Read my old journals (and die) :)
74. Talk to your plants
81. Get George and Arthur to teach you how to speak Swahili
90. Tease Dad to make up for all the times he teases us
96. Play a game of WWII escape in the main house basement
100. Read a book (the future Lit teacher speaks!)

Anyway, it was a pretty cool glimpse into my past. I love how some things have changed so much, and others not at all. Continuity, but not stagnancy... God knows what He's doing with me!

What a beautiful day!

I just finished playing a killer game of Draw One with Sara and Melissa... on the PORCH! It is SO beautiful out right now! It was so invigorating to be out in the air and the breeze and the warm smellingness. Wow. When I'm in the middle of winter I kind of forget how liberating warm weather is.

This week my 7-12 graders went on a field trip! It was good, and educational, and all of that, but my favorite part was when we'd finished the State House tour and had some time to kill and I led them in games of Moose and Mafia. They are such a fun group! (By the way, the RI state house is unbelievably stunning. I got lots o' pics, of course.)

In other news, one of my 9th graders, inspired by Longfellow's birthday (and the prospect of extra credit), wrote a hilarious poem about the correction sheets I pass out to my students when they misbehave. I present to you now, with pride and giggles (makes sure not to miss the last stanza):

The Blast Correction Sheet

Through many a BLAST correction sheet,
Many eyes have to meet.
Pens are scratching,
Answers matching,
Excelsior!

The teacher smirks with evil demeanor,
Is it possible to be meaner?
Boys are moaning
Girls are groaning.
Excelsior!

Talk out loud, lean in your chair,
A correction sheet will be there!
Right on your desk,
Why even ask?
Excelsior!

Another Sheet! The pressure’s pressin’
Don’t you think you’ve learned your lesson.
So chew your gum,
And you’ll get one!
Excelsior!

Do not lift then stomp your feet
Or else you’ll get that dreaded sheet.
You can’t help but bear,
To shred and tear!
Excelsior!

But do not tear! my angry Brother,
Or else you will deserve another!
So do not pout,
But write it out.
Excelsior!

The teacher is another matter,
Her menacing chuckle makes you madder!
She thinks it’s neat,
To hand out sheets!
Excelsior!

Her eyes are burning like wildfire,
She smiles teeth like angry tiger.
She ruins all fun,
For everyone!
Excelsior!

Pencils screech upon the paper,
Time drags slowly like a vapor.
Hearts are in pain,
Students in vain.
Excelsior!

It seems that I have plagiarized,
Something that Longfellow despised.
But go ahead,
Cause He is dead!
Excelsior!

Two Wicked Happy School Things

#1. For the first time in my schooling career, I had one of my very own students accepted to college!!! It was so exciting. I'm ever so proud. And I was really happy because he told me the whole blow-by-blow account of seeing the letter and opening it, and somehow skipping the "congratulations" part, and shaking as he read through trying to figure out if this letter was a yes or a no:) He was unusually verbose about it, which made my day. He was so obviously happy about it!

#2. One of my students who left to go back to public school just called me, and we talked for almost 45 minutes! THAT was a day-maker! She told me all about her new school, and wanted to hear all the news from mine. She is reading Sir Gawain and the Green Knight at her new school, which we read back in the fall! I couldn't believe it! "Miss Murray," she exclaimed. "This teacher got it all wrong! And she isn't even pointing out the deeper meaning!" I exclaimed, "Oh no! What if I got it all wrong!" But then I was happy when she started talking about the deeper meaning part. And she told me that she answered one of the questions the teacher asked, and the teacher was thrilled! She must be such a bright spot in that poor teacher's existence:)

Happy Birthday Longfellow!

Last night Gretchen called me. "Scrap your lesson plans for tomorrow!" she exclaimed. "It's Longfellow's 200th birthday!"

How cool is that?!

So I made a big day of it at school. I did indeed scrap all of my Lit lesson plans, and we had a big Longfellow day. We read poems together, I read poems to them, and I even had one class memorize one stanza each of "Psalm of Life" and then we put it all together. It was so much fun! I also talked about Longfellow's importance in launching American literature onto the world scene. We owe him a debt of gratitude!

And he wrote some masterpieces, boy oh boy. We read "Psalm of Life" of course, and "Excelsior" and then we read some lesser known ones, including "On the Jewish Cemetery in Newport." Can you believe it?! My jaw at least figuratively dropped when I found that one. It made for some great map-drawing episodes on the chalkboard, too, as students tried to describe to other students where it was. As I was trying to describe all the nearby shops and landmarks, one of my students asked "How do you know Newport so well?!" and I felt very gratified:)

One of my students gave such a Rhode Island style set of directions. "Okay, you go by the old Coca Cola building that got torn down..." Oh, great. Thanks. The old building-that's-not-there-anymore landmark. Love it. :)

Anyway, it was a super day. And now, dear readers, you should all go look up a couple of Longfellow poems in honor of that august man and his beautiful work.

Happy Birthday, Longfellow!

Reflections on Driving a Minivan

Saturday I randomly lost power steering in my own car, so today saw me driving out of the driveway in a green minivan.

This was no biggie, really. My main impression as I started was how BIG I felt. As I drove things seemed fine, I just noticed that it took a little more to stop a vehicle that much bigger than my usual one.

But as the day progressed, the differences between driving a van and a car started to become more and more apparent.

First of all, I really don't think anything of it when I blow by some slow driver during my normal commute. But today I felt strange passing people in a minivan. Wouldn't they think it annoying to be blown away by a minivan? I'm always annoyed when a minivan or a semi passes me. Those kind of vehicles are supposed to be driven slowly. Minivan drivers aren't supposed to go 70! They're supposed to be being protective of their 28 children.

That children thing was what really got me, I think. As I pulled into the school I felt like I should be arriving with my 37 children, and unpacking them and their multiple bags, lunches, projects, etc. But instead I just hopped out and went in for another day of teaching. Weird.

On my way home I ran some errands, and was intrigued at how my thought process differed depending on the establishment at which I was shopping. As I came out of Ritz I felt a little embarrassed to be getting into a minivan. I didn't want people thinking I was something I wasn't (i.e. a mom with 43 children). But then, coming out of Morning Star I felt more embarrassed about the fact that I wasn't wearing a wedding ring. Strange, don't you think? I felt like, if I was driving a minivan, and therefore declaring the fact that I had 59 children, I definitely needed to be wearing a ring!

But when all was said and done, I was happy to be driving a car with power steering. Wrestling a car around corners in a parking lot is not a job for the faint of heart (or faint of muscle).

Two Things I Like

I like beautiful and meaningful poetry, like this sonnet by Christina Rossetti:

Lifelong our stumbles, lifelong our regret,
Lifelong our efforts failing and renewed,
While lifelong is our witness, "God is good:"
Who bore with us till now, bears with us yet,
Who still remembers and will not forget,
Who gives us light and warmth and daily food;
And gracious promises half understood,
And glories half unveiled, whereon to set
Our heart of hearts and eyes of our desire;
Uplifting us to longing and to love,
Luring us upward from this world of mire,
Urging us to press on and mount above
Ourselves and all we have had experience of,
Mounting to Him in love's perpetual fire.

And I like shadows on the snow, as depicted in this picture:

Ahh! Slacker!

Sorry for the dearth of posts, people. Shame on me - and on vacation, too! But it's been, um, a working vacation. Definitely. Well... The first two days I didn't get a lot done, and spent most of my time being upset that I wasn't getting a lot done. But then I remembered my Hamlet post, and that God knew what I should do in my day a lot better than I did. So that was okay. Then I got a pretty good amount done Wed and Thurs.

And this morning I got all of my 7/8 papers graded! So that was good. I was thwarted in the 9th grade papers by a phone call, however, and now I'm taking a break for my emotional health.

The phone call was the mother of one of my seniors, letting me know that they did indeed decide to pull her out of the school and send her to public school. Long story. And not unexpected. But still a blow. So I'm taking a blogging break! (The cure-all...)

This is the second of my seniors to leave, alas. My 11/12 class is now just three boys. The two girls are gone. It's going to change the dynamics a LOT. I'm really going to miss those girls. They were the sanguines! But I know it's going to be good with the guys, too. Just different.

Anyway, the phone call was good. This particular mom is one of my favorites, and she said some nice, affirming things. Then my student got on the phone after her mom, and thanked me for teaching and stuff. She said she was going to brag about me to her new English teacher:) What a sweetie. Inside I trembled. What if new English teacher sees through me, and realizes I'm faking it half the time?! What if new English teacher sees my student's papers and sneers at me?! Ah, pshaw. I'm not living in the fear of man! I did what I could - and maybe her papers will be one of the best in the class! I can dream... :)

Anyway, I really believe that God is going to work things out, both for the class left at my school and for the two girls leaving. He has a good plan. And He will get my students to their destination in His own amazing way.

So that's what's been going on with me, lately. That, and I've been having fun w/ my camera, so I will now add some pics to the end of this post as a kind of "my vacation in pictures" ending:)
The Yoot Convention - it was a really great one!
Fun w/ the nephews and their new bunk beds!
Enjoying beautiful New England snow! (I'm wicked into shadows on snow lately...)
Playing Cranium (DJ is building the Berlin Wall, I believe)
Cool aerial shots by Melissa (I really like the ones you took, Meliss!)

Snow Day!

After a few trips to school in miserable weather, I was beginning to think that a snow day would never be mine.

This morning, at 5:30am I found that all three public schools in the vicinity of our school were closed for the day and thought, Surely...! Consequently at about 10 of 6 I was still there poking around, trying to find confirmation that we had been cancelled. I was just about to give up and start getting ready for the day (at 10 of 6 I was going to be excessively late for school, due to all the ice), when the phone rang. It was the headmaster, telling me that school was cancelled. I answered SO cheerfully when I saw that it was him, that he was actually laughing - in a groggy sort of way - when he started to speak. Ya, I was a little excited... and I'd been up for almost an hour already!

So anyway, I DID get a snow day! I'm pretty psyched about it, because that means, shifting today's lesson plans into the rest of the week, I have all of my lesson plans done for the entire week! That leaves today to get ready for next week's vacation (!!!) and the youth convention. YES! It also leaves a lot of time for goofing off, which is what one is supposed to do on a snow day.

Hip hip hurrah for MY school having snow days TOO!

So Much to Show...

I have taken SO many BEAUTIFUL pictures of my students!!! Unfortunately, I don't feel like I should publish them on my blog for all the world to see... Sigh. So they remain here on my computer, stifled, longing to be free.

There is only one remedy: everyone come to the youth convention or the Feast so that I can show them off! Perfect!

Here are two I can show off, because none of my students are in them (they are from my classroom, and have no special significance or beauty, they just happen to be two that I found that didn't have kids... That's how desperate I am to publish pics right now!):.......

Is it Over the Bridge?

I love teaching on an island. I get to cross ocean water every day on the way to school and back! It is so beautiful and powerful: sometimes alluring, sometimes threatening. And how cool is it that I teach on an island (lest you forget my opening point after all that poetry)?!

Anyway, I've started to see little glimpses of the fact that people who live on islands are a little different from us main-landers. For one thing, there's this weird phobia amongst some of them about leaving...

One of my seniors told me that she had to drive her mom to Providence that evening for an appointment, because her mom can't stand doing the drive herself.

Yesterday a fellow teacher needed internet access (which she doesn't have at home) in order to take her on-line exam for a correspondence course. Another teacher offered her the use of her home computer. "Is that over the bridge?" the computer-seeking teacher asked.

The other teachers laughed (most of us commute in from the main land), but the headmaster said, "The bridges are like the borders of the world," or something like that. It was kind of an eye-opening experience. This island really is a world of its own. And you can do pretty much everything there - there's great shopping, good restaurants, entertainment... So why should anyone leave?

It makes me wonder how else the island dwellers' psyches have been shaped by living there. I know things have changed me - things like being a Red Sox fan and growing up on Classical Music and such... How would living on an island make a life-long difference?

Anyway, it was a fascinating thought. And now I think I need to get out of this thinking business, and go start the Donald Duck comic book I found at a second-hand store today (it is HARDCOVER with about 12 different stories in it! Wooooooooo!).

My Friend Clicka

Dear Readers,

It is my pleasure and honor to introduce to you a new friend:




WWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have leaped into the 21st century with the purchase of a digital camera. My motivation was our planned trip to England this summer... One just can't go to England without a 100% reliable camera.

It arrived last night in the mail (after my DEAR cousin Nate found the SWEETEST deal online and snatched it first, asked later:) much to my delight!) and great was the exultation at its arrival.

People. I am in love.

This camera is exquisite! It takes pictures that I can instantly evaluate! I can delete or save at will! I don't have to pay for an entire roll of film to be developed, only to discover that said roll had been on the wrong setting, and every picture is black!

I thought it would take awhile to get my soul around going from film to digital, but folks, my soul is around it. I am at peace.

I brought my camera to school today and took oh-so-many pictures. With the school day and this evening's basketball game I took 66 pictures! Wellll, 66 keepers, anyway. There were also a bunch I deleted. WHAT FUN (right, KJ?)!!!

It has been a mighty long time since I've been bitten by the camera bug. I still have a couple of undeveloped rolls of film lying around, and that NEVER used to happen. But NOW?!?! I'm right back in the saddle again, boy howdy! (Back where a friend is a friend...)

YIPPPEEEEE!!

NATE - THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

PS. Here's a picture from last night, while I was trying to figure something out and took an oh-so-unposed picture of myself by accident:)

Full o' Spirit!

Yesterday our school had our first ever pep rally in honor of our first ever basketball team! And boy, was there ever some school pride shown! I was so happy to see my seniors truly excited, and saying that they've never felt this kind of school spirit. It's good for them to have something to rally around like that. They were so happy! And they expressed it with face paint and the loudest cheers ever! (Girl 1: "I had no idea I could yell like that!" Girl 2, thinking of her battered ear: "I had no idea you could either.")

The main inspirant (I'm bent upon getting this word into common usage) for the cheers and screams and yells was the Staff v. Student basketball game! It was the basketball team vs. the headmaster and his wife, the 65 year old Kindergarten teacher, the basketball coach, and me. SUPER FUN! Thankfully I was about one foot taller than most of the team, so I was able to do a lot as the center (!) in terms of rebounding and shooting from a one-foot radius.

And boy oh boy did my kids scream when I touched the ball! It was SO exhilerating. Paul Pierce, I understand now... :) I had actually picked up a Paul Pierce shirt at a yardsale last summer, so I was allllll set. [I bought it for Michael to grow into... until I realized it fit ME.]

The staff ended up losing, but only by two baskets (I think). Yay for us! (We would have been SMOKED if the coach weren't playing... Those little boys sure can run!)

So YAY for School Spirit! I'm all for it.

The Eight Word Testimony

A recurring inspirant used in the testimony section of the Fairwood church service is the statement that people can get as much from the testimonies as they can from the actual sermon. (I just made up the word inspirant, and I think it’s pretty cool.) Today’s church service was a perfect example of that for me.

Uncle Paul was talking about the ups and downs of the Christian life – the emotional/spiritual rollercoaster. He turned to Mr. and Mrs. Noss and asked if, at their point in life (they’re in their 80s-90s) they could testify to that being the way life works: sometimes you’re up and feeling good about your walk, sometimes you’re down and discouraged.

Mrs. Noss: Oh yes.
Mr. Noss: I’ve never given it a thought.

:)

How I interpreted their testimonies:

Mrs. Noss: Oh yes, life has it’s ups and downs. That’s just a part of the Christian walk. Sometimes you’ll feel alive and inspired and sometimes you won’t. That’s okay. Accept that as all a part of God’s plan. He uses both the alive times and the dead times for His glory, and for His ultimate plan for you. The growth and the sanctifying process include both of those realities. That’s okay. And here I am, a saint (she wouldn’t say that of course, but that’s how I look at her!), and yet I experience the same ups and downs that you young pups experience. If I can be saintly despite those rollercoaster experiences, you can be, too!

Mr. Noss: I don’t pay attention to those ups and downs. I just keep on going – keep on doing the right thing. I live my life with a focus on God that doesn’t stop to analyze every up and down. I know what I need to do and I do it. God’s commands and promises in the Bible are true no matter what. So I just go right on.

What a fascinating juxtaposition! I was so edified to hear it. There is a place for accepting the ups and downs and seeing them as part of God’s plan, and there’s also a place for ignoring the feelings and the psychoanalysis, and just going right on doing what God has given you to do.

Pretty good, eh? At the end of the service I gave a testimony expressing these things, and after the service Mr. Noss thanked me for my analysis, with a little twinkle in his eye:) I love the Nosses! They add so much to the RI church. I’m so glad I know them!

Under the evil regime of New Blogger...

Another perfectly good post bites the dust.

Yup. Lost another one. Sorry folks, but, like Ahab (was it Ahab I'm thinking of? Is it even the Bible I'm thinking of?), all the spirit has gone out of me, and I can't bring myself to start over from scratch.

Fernando Renaissance!

First of all, I just have to tell you all that I spelled Renaissance right the first time! In college, as we were studying the Renaissance, I finally got disgusted with my 29 various spellings in my notes, and looked it up once and for all:) I did the same thing with Medieval. Those time periods sure are tricky... But since that time I was getting a little shaky, hence my delight at getting it right on the title!

Okay, now for the point: Fernando Ortega just came out with a new CD called "The Shadow of Your Wings." It is SO beautiful! But what impressed me most of all was the spirit of the CD as a whole.

The first CD I ever heard of his was a collection of hymns. It was beautiful. Then, as each subsequent CD came out, he seemed to move further and further from that (as artists are wont to do). When I first heard the CD right before this most recent one, my reaction, after hearing some pretty bizarre strains coming from my speakers, was "What is happening to Fernando?!"

Now don't get me wrong, he still had some incredible gems. It wasn't like I was afraid he was back-sliding or anything. But still, he had, um, modernized, shall we say.

And then I got this CD and heard the most beautiful hymns and Bible verses! And on the back he had written, "There's too little time for reflection in my life these days - too little meditation and quiet. As everything about our culture gets louder and more 'in-your-face,' my ability to concentrate on spiritual things feels thin and compromised. These songs were written in response to that dilemma."

Pretty impressive, eh?! It reminded me of those times in life where we're rushing this way and that, noticing this and that attraction of the world, and then suddenly are pulled up short to remember the "really real." We remember that the point of life is the pursuit of God, and not the pursuit of anything else.

So, all, if you're in need of new music, I recommend Fernando's latest. It dwells on what really matters, and cuts through all that other surface stuff. Yay Fernando!

Grumpy

WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE FREEDOMS OF OUR LAND?! I logged into blogger this morning, ready to dazzle the world with a stunning new post, when I was greeted with two little messages.

"Switch to New Blogger"
and
"Skip this step and go to Dashboard (you may only do this once)"

WHAT?! I decided to call their bluff and go into my old account twice. Nothing doing. They weren't bluffing. I was being forced to switch. AHHHHH!

So, dragging my feet and muttering under my breath, I went through the process of change. And then I started in on this post. Oh boy is the grumpiness mounting! Do you know how many times I had to enter my name and password just to get to this point?! Every time I wanted to move to a new page: fill in name, password, submit. I must have typed my crazy password 20 times already!

And now the worst part of all. Well, maybe second worst. I hate the new buttons for "save as draft" and "publish" and "comment" and "preview." They're so ugly! They're thin and uninviting, like someone's dissaproving, pursed lips. Ewww. I liked the old, fatter, welcoming buttons, that made you want to be a part of the whole blogging adventure!

But the worst part of all is all the security measures, where you have to override privacy settings every other second. It used to take me 2 clicks to publish a comment on someone's blog. Now it takes me SIX! That is just excessive. I'd rather have hackers galore! I thought modernization and change and progress were supposed to be for increased efficiency and ease!

Oy vay. I knew I was conservative for a reason. Maybe I was brought into the blogging world for such a time as this: to whine and complain about the inevitable. Wait. Somehow that doesn't sound right.

Sigh. I got used to the new kitchen, church, parlour, and front lawn. I suppose I'll get used to this.

(The upside of all of this is that when I first logged into blogger I didn't know what I was going to write about. At least this fiasco gave me fodder!)

[Okay, so I wrote my complaining, tongue-in-cheek post, then hit publish, and then (after being asked to enter my name and password, of course) ran into all kinds of blogger errors and LOST the post! So this is all a re-write, and, alas, I think I lost a little of my tonge-in-cheekness on round two.]

Differences Between Being a Student and Being a Teacher

At first it seemed to me that the difference between being a student and being a teacher was one short summer. May 2005 I was a student, Sept 2005 I was a teacher. No big deal - a few months. But since that time I've realized that that transition was actually a huge chasm, not a mere summer.

*As a student I would clear my throat, and my throat would be clear. As a teacher I feel congested, clear my throat, and instantly, guilty heads from all over the classroom whip around to see if they are the one being corrected.

*As a student I would stay up reallllly late the night before a paper and crank it out in a matter of hours. As a teacher I read papers and think "good grief! how dreadful! It looks like they stayed up realllllly late the night before this paper and cranked it out in a matter of hours!"

*As a student, missing a day meant getting make-up work. As a teacher, missing a day means scrambling about (in the midst of illness) to e-mail in modified lesson plans full of things that students can do with minimal direction, and then picking up the pieces after I return. Way easier just to go to school.

*As a student I could kind of fudge a bit if I was too overloaded, or too whatever, to get real work done. As a teacher, oh wait, as a teacher I still do that. I'm all about self-preservation:)

*As a student my motivation was A's on my report card. As a teacher my motivation is this terror that my kids will graduate without having received a quality education because of some huge hole I forgot about (like, you know, Shakespeare or something - although I know I've got that one covered!). [Okay, so that's not really my motivation. My real motivation is much more positive. This is just the dark side of my motivation...]

*As a student, my happiness came from a good grade earned through hard work. As a teacher, my happiness comes when my students have those "aha!" moments of learning. It is an unbelievable experience.

*As a student, when I screamed my teacher would tell me to be quiet. As a teacher, when I scream my headmaster tells me to be quiet... and that classroom order depends largely on the teacher, and good order is necessary for real learning, and we want our kids to have the best learning environment possible, etc. etc. (Fortunately I only get this talk about twice a year... and I know I need it... and he's always really nice about it. Sigh.)

*As a student I was surrounded with people who were also born around 1979. As a teacher I'm surrounded with people who were born in the 1990s! Good grief! And as a result I get comments like this.

So ya, the two are pretty distinct. But the most important thing in all of this is that I still get the same vacations as I did when I was a student:) I love teaching!

WHAT a MOMENT in the Life of ME!

Tonight I had a most exciting break-through moment. For a long time I have noticed a similarity between a noise my computer makes, and a song. I have mentally noted it, and even audibly. But TONIGHT is the NIGHT when I put it all TOGETHER!

The following is my feeble attempts to share this momentous occasion with you, via my cell phone video capabilities (which are slim at best). I apologize for the extremely poor quality, but I think the message is conveyed nonetheless... Of course, my cell phone will only record for 15 seconds, hence the extreme choppiness of this, my first "videoblog." (I put it in quotes because it is so far inferior to what a real videoblog should be, but hey, I had a jolly time.)

Dial-up users, see below for instructions on making this amazing discovery for yourselves. I don't think it will be worth waiting for if you don't have high-speed...

Okay, peeps with high speed: I couldn't actually get the video from phone to computer without downloading some $30 thing from apple QuickTime (I mean, I couldn't figure it out anyway), so you have to do it through links (ohhhhh, so sneaky!).

Okay, here are the links (in chronlogical order):

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=CEUr442xPmzNSaooa0nU

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=ZEEr4e2qPmzU2a6oohaQ

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=SEUr4u2YPmze3LW7LQih

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=eEKr4I2KPmz1NL57zkKL

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=MESr4o2TPmz6HL9YhURx

And in case you want to know how the song continues (it's track 5 of the first CD), you can click here (it's just music, so you can skip it if you're sick of links - I'm just including it because when my computer makes that error noise and I start singing this song, I often sing into this cheery part...):

http://www.vzwpix.com/shareMessage.do?invite=KEhr4X2rPm7Iz5Fo8UEL


Dial Up Users (HIGH SPEEDERS, DON'T READ THIS UNLESS YOU WANT TO SPOIL THE SURPRISE!):

1. Go to Start Menu
2. Click on Control Panel
3. Click on "Sounds and Audio Devices"
4. Under "Program Events:" and "Windows", click on "Critical Stop"
5. Now click on the cute little arrow below (next to the "browse" button)
6. Take careful note of the noise that the computer emits. It is the little warning sound that you have committed some heinous sin in computer-world.
7. NOW pull out your Lord of the Rings soundtrack. The first one - "The Fellowship of the Ring."
8. Insert it into your computer, or a near-by CD player.
9. Play track 5, "The Black Rider."
10. AHHHH!!! It starts exactly the same way!!!!!!!
11. Be very awed.
12. Now, whenever you hear that heinous-sin-in-computer-world sound, you, like me, can break into song from the LOTR soundtrack!

ISN'T THAT AWESOME?!?!!?

Happy Sabbath everyone:)

PS. I couldn't possibly end this most exciting evening without giving a shout out to my dear cousin Liane, whom I love more than a diamond-studded hairbrush. Even more than a diamond-studded, gold-plaited hairbrush. With diamonds. And other things that are valuable.

OKAY!!!

I HAVE THE SCOOP!!!

And, I might add, the scoop is just too delicious for words.

Any guesses before I spill the beans?!

(heh heh - got to generate a bit more suspense here...)

Non-Icy Marauders

Several weeks ago there was a school shooting somewhere in the country. Our headmaster addressed the issue, and told us that if a stranger every tried to approach our doors from the outside (we all have outdoor access doors in our classrooms - locked, of course), we were to tell our kids to get down on the floor and, um, I forget what else...

Since then, of course, I've had these horrible episodes of imagining such scenarios. Stupid imagination. I can scare myself almost to death in ten seconds flat. But I console myself that no such thing would happen at MY little, innocent school.

I was teaching British Literature today. We were going over the kings of England or something (I'm teaching them this great poem: "Willi, Willi, Harry, Steve; Harry, Dick, John, Harry Three; etc."). They all had their backs to the window, so I was the only one to see a stranger walk by. This is a very unusual occurrence, since our windows face out onto our playground, and not a public street or anything. Being the mature, self-controlled teacher that I am I quickly sabotaged my lesson by saying "AHH! STRANGE MAN!" They all wheeled around and began speculating.

He had on an out-of-the-ordinary hat ("looks like it could fit a gun, huh Miss Murray?") and a black trench coat ("Come on girls, why are you nervous?" "He was wearing a BLACK TRENCH COAT!"). It was a very strange occurrence. The girls kept making scared noises (you know how two girls can work each other up... or if you don't, take my word for it), so I went to the door and peered about, but the man had vanished around the corner. "He's going to take on the Kindergarten class" I joked, untastefully (if that's a word).

I was about to resume my class when two things happened nearly simultaneously. First, one of my girls let out a Matt's-grandmother-esque gasp of horror, and second, I saw a black shape in my doorway. I leaped, and half-screamed (too scared for a real scream), and found myself about four feet away from the place I'd been a split second before. He was INSIDE the school, walking down the main hallway! And he had NOT entered through the front door, because he was walking the opposite direction. OH MY WORD! I went to the door and cautiously looked out, to discover him legitimately talking at the front desk. False alarm.

The school was so very a-buzz however. Apparently he had knocked at the 7/8 classroom door! The teacher (brave soul! I would have fallen over in a dead faint) waved him toward the front of the building. The next teacher (way-too-trusting soul! Or maybe, less-paranoid-than-I-soul) let him IN to her CLASSROOM and took him to the front desk.

And now for the ultimate anti-climax: I have no idea who he was or what he was doing. (Loud groans here, I know.) He was talking to the secretary (in a foreign accent, my students joyfully, and with relish, reported) about some philosophy or other, last I heard. Probably just some door-to-door philosopher. But WOW what an adrenaline rush I got!

My kids wouldn't stop commenting on how high I jumped - "Miss Murray can fly!" - and they gleefully reported it to the incoming class. I guess I was taking the classroom joking a little more seriously than I'd thought.

Thanks, Linds, for bringing this all back (because it happened SO long ago) with your fabulous Icy Marauders tale!

Another This and That Post

*WHAT a great GAME yesterday! Oh boy! The valiancy of the battling, battling, battling, hanging on by their fingernails, and finally pulling out a VICTORY! That was exciting. I love games that are tense the whole way through... as long as we win in the end!

*I finished The Count of Monte Cristo (the last of the three of us sisters to do so, slacker that I am) and it was WONDERFUL! I echo KJ's sentiments. And I am so excited about reading it with my 9th grade boys! They are going to love it.

*I did blogging by candlelight on Friday night. How Sabbatic of me:)

*I am steadfastly (or stubbornly) avoiding this switch to the new blogger thing. Why? Well, partially it's fear of the unknown, but also because when I comment on new blogs I have to hit all kinds of annoying buttons overruling security stops that ask me if I want non-secure items displayed. It is so trying! I'm sure there is a way to change my security settings to avoid that, but I have no idea how. Grrrr.

*Uncle Paul is one of the most incredible people I know. The other night he did one of those "say just the right thing at just the right time" things, leaving me all weepy (in a good way) in his wake.

*There was actually a winter advisory warning last night! What?! Winter?! Shocking. It's all gone now, though, have no fear. And not a flake to show for it.

*Go Patriots!!!

Happy Birthday Bing!

I would like to celebrate the birthday of Rudolph Bing, born in 1902, and opera manager of the NY Metropolitan Opera. His was a rich life - or at least a loud one. He had strong ear drums. And he liked music. Have a wonderful day in Heaven, Rudolph! (I assume he must be in Heaven since he's an opera lover. I kind of assume all those who wrote something beautiful ended up there, and since he saw to it that beautiful music was performed, he probably slipped in too. How's that for sound doctrine?!)

Also I would like to bring to everyone's attention that on this day in 1954 the coldest temperature in the history of Greenland was reported: -87 degrees F (hey! how do you make a degrees sign with a keyboard?!). So no complaints that today wasn't in the SIXTIES like Saturday was. (OY VAY!)

Way to go Steve D'Innocenzo for scoring 3 hockey goals in 12 seconds in a Massachusetts high school game in 1982. The opposing goalie must have been deep in contemplation of something like metaphysical poetry (kind of like my Brit Lit class today) to have been so out of it.

Today is also the 51st anniversary of the first appearance of "Dear Abby" in the newspaper. In honor of that day, I leave you all with this advice: if your friend gives you plants to take care of try to remember to water them at least once. If you forget, pull off all of the brown leaves before they return.

And, lastly, happy Feast of St. Adrian to all you Roman Catholics out there.

And God said unto her: You need to be more like Hamlet

So I had this revelation over Christmas break (two weeks off school has the amazing effect of allowing revelations, since your brain can wander over more than lesson plans and classroom management - ooo, funny story about that - I'll put it at the end of the post...): I realized that I need to be more like Hamlet. I'm not suggesting that I need to become a melancholic who analyzes everything thoroughly, is very depressed, and speaks in incredibly eloquent, meaningful, and iambic pentameter-filled soliloquies. But I am suggesting that I need to arrive at the place in which Hamlet arrived by the end of the play (Oh, wait, not the end of the play... Let us say the last act of the play!).

After extraordinary personal struggles, and questions of life and death and God, and then after a soul-searching experience in which he deals with man's mortality, Hamlet finally arrives at this truth: "There's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, 'tis not to come; if it be not to come, it will be now; if it be not now, yet it will come: the readiness is all..." In other words, I cannot control my life or death, that is God's province. And He has it perfectly planned out. It is just my job to be ready for, and to accept, whatever He brings to me.

Over Christmas I realized that sometimes I am thrown for a complete loop if something doesn't work out the way I'd been planning. I ran into a big hitch with one of my Christmas presents, and was practically non-functional for hours because I was so distressed by it. And later I thought of Hamlet and realized that I can accept those annoying things as something that God allowed to happen for a reason. And He is good! Therefore, I don't need to go into tailspins at some little set-back. I can accept things at His hand. Where is the trust being worked out in my life if I think good things are from God but bad things are some mistake? Trust is believing that He is good in every situation, that He has a plan and reason in every situation, that His love is in every situation.

And I need to learn that lesson on the little things (like a glitch in a Christmas present), so that I'm ready for the bigger set-backs. God is good... ALL the time.

Okay, now about that funny story. I'm afraid it might have been a "had-to-be-there" (and not only that, but maybe also a "had-to-be-me-while-you-were-there" moment) but I'm just going to tell it anyway. We were in staff devotions, in which we've been talking about worldviews, and philosophies of education. My headmaster was making an important point about classical education, and about how it doesn't agree with modern philosophies about teaching methods. He expostulated on how, for us, modern methods classes are a waste of time, and he asked, "I mean, really, how many methods courses have you guys taken?!" While I saw eye-rolls and hand-gestures that indicated an infinite number of education courses, I wanted to burst out "NONE! Hee hee hee - the joke's on you guys for hiring someone who has NO CLUE!" I don't know that the joke would have gone over, though. I kept it to myself, in any case. So much of my amusement at the devotions-table is private. Sigh. It's almost a waste. But it makes me laugh on the inside, so I guess that's not a waste. Hurrah for laughing, whether inside or out!

Happy New Year!

I'm pretty excited about 2007. That seems like a cool year. Besides, it's close to 2008, which is exciting because of the Presidential election which (if it weren't so scary) should be quite the drama to behold!

Too bad politics are so serious, because otherwise they would be really fun! I still think they are kind of fun, but I have to take a deep breath when people start talking about culture wars, and realize that there is a lot at stake. Kind of like the Red Sox in the playoffs or something.

Speaking of which, Go Patriots! I'm so looking forward to playoffs. My high school boys were gloating today over all of the football they got to watch over Christmas break.

My Y key has developed the weirdest habit of flipping up sometimes! It just did it while I was typing "they." It's very strange - like Toshiba provides secret compartments for their patrons... built right into their laptops! Awesome. I wonder what wicked tiny valuable I can store in there. Of course, now that I've blabbed about it on my blog it's not so secret anymore. But at least all the people who don't read blogs (Amy, Bethany, and ummmmm, let's see, there must be more than that) won't be able to steal my super secret tiny valuable! (And you know they would try if they could.)

Well, that was fun stream-of-consciousness writing (step aside Virginia Woolf), but now my consciousness seems to have dried up (not a lot up there, apparently), so I guess that's it for now.

Oh, and (in accordance with my title) Happy New Year everyone!

PS. I hate it when you click on a link and you have another window open and the link takes over that window instead of appearing in a new one. ARGH! But somehow, life goes on...

PPS. First day back today - I can't believe I get to be a teacher!

Teaching High School

Every once in awhile one of the other teachers at my school will say something about the high school in an ever-so-slightly negative tone of voice. You know, like they're being tolerated as a necessary evil, since that's what happens to their adorable students after the passage of years.

Well, blah. I happen to prefer them that way!

They will make little comments about not wanting to ever deal with them, and about how younger kids are so much better to teach, and how you can keep your high school students.

WELL THANK YOU, I WILL!

I am tempted to retort that I don't want to be caught babysitting all blooming day long - cutting out paper dolls and reading "The Dog Who Liked Lollipops." I want to actually travel the golden realms of ideas - discussing the human condition and the possibilities of transcendence, reading the masters, teaching students how to THINK. That is where satisfaction in the teaching world lies!

Of course, I never tell my fellow teachers this. I just think "good! I'm glad you like teaching pipsqueaks so that I can have the real students!" And then I come and vent in blog-land.

Now this is not to belittle all of you with young children that need educating, of course. That is where it all begins, and has moments of great excitement as well! I'm just reacting against countless barbed comments and therefore (as is my wont) jumping rapidly into the opposite ditch:)

I Know I'm Kind of Tooting my own Horn Here, but...

I'm SO excited to be

27!

It just seems like such an established age, you know? Like I've arrived! And what's more, 27 is three cubed, the trinity of trinities. That's got to be significant! :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! May the amazing love of our Savior be real to you as you celebrate. This Christmas season I have repeatedly noticed the line from “O Holy Night” that says: “He appeared, and the soul felt its worth.” Jesus loved us enough that the salvation of our souls was worth all of the suffering of the human life. He was willing to take on mortality so that we could take part in His immortality. We were worth it to Him! That is love, indeed. And I am thankful for it, and return it with all of my heart!

Happy celebration of His Love to all of you!

I'm on Christmas Break!!!

Hurrah for Christmas!!!

My last day of school was great fun - I got to put on a Christmas party for 7-12 grade. I taught them the game Mafia! Definitely very Christmas-y. They enjoyed it, although the dead people kept on talking and voting. Silly kids. But still fun!

Linds, we played your bow-on-the-head game, too! They thought it was fabulous, and begged me to play a round during chapel. I opted out of that one, even though they said they'd all defend me if the headmaster tried to fire me over it. Thanks, guys.

I was overwhelmed with gifts: some of them even gave me birthday presents! Good grief, I was never that nice to MY teachers!

And they liked their gifts too - one of my high schoolers (11th grade) said he'd keep his Hamlet bookmark forever! He was really pleased with it. Hurrah!

And now I'm on break, and basically my only responsibilites are to read books to see if they'd be good to teach, and finish Christmas shopping. I can handle that! Last night Gretchen started reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" to KJ and me. I needed to read it for school, but the thought of turning to page 1 of a 650 page book was daunting. So she turned to page one for me! And now I'm totally hooked, and am not at all daunted at the prospect of turning to page 30. Thanks, sis!

Merry almost Christmas everyone!

Christmas Presents!

Last year I made gift bags for my students for Christmas. Ahhhh! Excessive! And totally non-repeatable. I knew that I needed to find something small and cheap that I could do this year and every year in the future. But what? And then Aunt Laura and/or Melissa suggested bookmarks. PERFECT! I am, after all, a teacher of BOOKS.

So last night and today I've been working on them. They are individualized by class, and each have a picture and quotes relevant (for the most part) to the book we've been reading. I'm so happy with them! I'm going to print them off, and take them to Staples for laminating tomorrow.

Hurrah for cheap, repeatable, and yet meaningful! I'm especially happy with the Hamlet ones. Ooooh - and the Hobbit ones. Oh, and the Jane Eyre ones. Right. I like them all.

I'm especially pleased with the twist I put on the Hobbit ones, though, so I'll elaborate. There's a picture of Bilbo and Gandalf at the top (thanks, google images) and then there is part of one of Bilbo's traveling songs about wandering and coming home. And then there is the verse from Isaiah that talks about God leading the blind on paths they know not of, and making the darkness light before them. Yay!

Grading... (Sigh)

I just graded SO many papers (well, according to my standards - not Chad's). Grading papers is the only part of teaching that I don't love. In fact, to be perfectly honest, I don't even especially like it. To tell the truth, there is little that is more discouraging than a stack of papers to grade. But I had to get them done this evening because I have to submit my midterm grades tomorrow. Sigh. So of course, to console myself in the drudgery, I turned on the Bruins game as a sort of self-deception (ha ha I can't be miserable because there is a game on somewhere in the outskirts of my consciousness!). Okay, okay, miserable is a mighty strong word. And as long as I have a game or something it's quite endurable.

I had a college professor who said that the only way he survived paper grading was by setting a strict quota for every day. Otherwise they would pile up and completely overwhelm him.

And in honor of professors and the dread of paper grading, I bring to your attention this fascinating bit of trivia I ran across recently, concerning our dear friend J. R. R. Tolkien and the creation of The Hobbit.

"One day when he was engaged in the soul-destroying task of marking examination papers, he discovered that one candidate had left one page of an answer-book blank. On this page, moved by who knows what anarchic daemon, he wrote "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit."
In typical Tolkien fashion, he then decided he needed to find out what a Hobbit was, what sort of a hole it lived in, why it lived in a hole, etc." (From tolkiensociety.org)

Pretty good, eh? So who knows what good may come of paper grading! Take heart my old professor! Take heart, Chad! Take heart all you other teachers out there! Some great epic work may yet come of this business...

Happy Christmas Season!

I LOVE the Christmas season, and I love it more and more as I more and more comprehend the incredible significance of what it stands for. Emmanuel: God with us. What an amazing – staggering – life-changing reality!

Yesterday I read in Colossians: “To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Jesus’ birth means Christ in us, salvation, and a Savior who understands the human condition, who has made the way of escape from that “condition” to eternal rightness and perfection. Amazing truth!

I still remember and am blessed by Amy’s 9:00 hour message during our third year: Jesus was willing to come to live on “this mortal coil” (quoted from Hamlet! Amy is incredible…) with all of its “slings and arrows of outrageous fortune” for our sakes. He lived through it. He understands it. He died in it. And He won the victory over it.

He “counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in likeness of men.”

Almighty God, Love Himself, would not allow mankind to suffer and perish. And Christmas is our yearly reminder that because of this we have a Savior: God with us.

Teaching is a Serious Business

There are some scary things about teaching. These kids think you know what you're talking about, and expect you to be right. And they have amazing memories (except for where quizzes and tests are concerned, of course). Students will remind me of things I said last year - things I'd totally forgotten I even told them. And if I'm wrong... phew!

Last year I taught my science class the phases of the moon. We spent all of class on it. It took them awhile to catch on. Then I went to assign their homework, and discovered that I had taught them everything exactly backward. I spent the whole next class trying to fix the errors of the class before ("okay kids, remember everything I told you, except in the opposite way"). Oy vay.

One must really be careful in the teaching profession. What if I hadn't caught that mistake, and they'd gone on to college and told their teacher that a waning gibbous was a waxing gibbous? Oh the horror. As a teacher, I cannot o'erlook these possibilities. (Sorry - Shakespeare is on my mind. We finished Hamlet today. SO good. The kids really liked it.)

All of this is just to give you the context (which, as we all know, is vital) for my leaping up in the night, grabbing my laptop, flipping it open, and googling "hanged." You see, ever since last year with The Tale of Two Cities I've been telling my students that you haven't hung the person, you've hanged him. Weird, but true. But in the dark watches of the night I wondered: Was it really true? What if I just picked that up some weird place and it's really not the case at all?!

Google, however, came to the assuring rescue. The past tense of hang (when talking of people) is indeed hanged. Phew. That's one thing that won't come back to haunt my students in later years!

Schooling Ups and Downs

Yesterday was SO much fun.

Okay, you know how Hamlet is described as the "melancholy Dane?" Well. Danny, when he taught Hamlet, spent a day doing personality testing for the four personality types! He suggested this to me and I tried it and we had such fun doing it. My class has a Choleric, a Sanguine, a Melancholic/Sanguine, a Phlegmatic/Melancholic, and a Sanguine/Phlegmatic. They had such a great time going through the questions and laughing and comparing and discussing.

One of the classic moments came when one student looked up from the incredibly meticulous drawing he was working on to ask "What do they mean by detailed?" Ya. That would be you, pal.

I pointed out how their diverse personality types were probably part of the reason the class gets along so well...

Then came today. Whew. The kids came to class and within ten minutes trouble broke out. It was a small thing, really - one of the boys took one of the girls' water bottles. But that was just the straw that broke the camel's back, as it were. [Side note: on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire someone got out at the $100 question for saying it was the stick that broke the camel's back. It pays to know your cliches!] Up to the surface bubbled the wrongs of three months. People were mad in no time! So much for the class getting along so well...

The lesson plan was chucked. Well, I attempted it, but looked out upon sullen and flushed faces, and decided other things were more important. [Happy thing! In the mornings I pray for the Holy Spirit to help me to be the teacher I need to be, and to remind me of Him throughout the day. During this class I actually remembered to PRAY for help in dealing with the situation! That was a big deal for me, and I'm thankful.] Instead of reading of Hamlet and Polonius, we talked about give and take, personality differences (how handy that we'd just done the personality tests!), kindness, and going on a journey from where we were now as a class, to a place of harmony:) I encouraged them that they have a special class - uniquely close. They're lucky!

Then I resumed Hamlet. But I could tell some of them were still pretty upset. My poor choleric had been ganged up on, and was not recovering quickly. SOOOO, the lesson plan was scrapped again and we played the telephone/pictionary game! Fortunately they loved it. Laughter once more filled the classroom.

They were ten minutes late to their next class - I ran ahead of them to tell the teacher it was my fault. But I thought it was important.

I love that class so much. They are so much fun, and so fabulous. But they need to work on the whole "walk in love" idea. And we will work on that, boy howdy! They have incredible potential, and there's no sense wasting that in squabbling and needless barbs. So there are my recent adventures in school-world.

Man. I love teaching.

Let it Snow!

Okay people. Here's the deal: I want snow!!! What's the point in living in New England if you don't even have snow by NOVEMBER 28?!?!

I know, I know, all you fellow New Englanders are screaming at me now (inwardly, if you happen to be in a more public place): "What are you thinking?! We're going to have plenty of snow, loads of snow, TOO MUCH snow before you know it! Stop tempting fate!"

But I'm starting to get anxious. What if it didn't snow this winter? Can you imagine? What if I was forced to move to (gasp) Canada or something to get my snow fix?

Sometimes you don't know you're an addict until the addiction is removed. If we don't get snow I'm going to have serious withdrawal symptoms. I mean, the fact that moving to Canada even crossed my fingertips is a tell-tale sign.

Anyway, the point is, I keep seeing snow globes, and snow flake cut-outs, and snow stickers, and snow storms on tv, and I look outside and see fall, fall, fall. Let's have a little winter!

Now, I'm not being an extremist here. You'll notice I said a "LITTLE" winter. But whatever it is, I'm feeling a little desperate.

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

(Ya, ya, first big blizzard you'll all be inwardly - or outwardly - berating me. You superstitious readers, you.)

Happy Thanksgiving... and Merry Christmas Season!!!

I am thankful for a wonderful year! God has blessed me immeasurably, most noticeably in the deepening of my relationship with Him and in my teaching. But also in an awesome summer. And of course the amazing people in my life! Thank you, friends and family, for enriching my life, for encouraging me on, for being the world's best people!

And NOW, since it's the day after Thanksgiving, it's time to start in on CHRISTMAS celebration!!! YIPPEEEE! The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorites - especially at that moment when Dad puts on our family's favorite Christmas CD (An Old World Christmas). And Dad was out putting up our Christmas lights, so when sundown hits the Christmas season will be here big time!

(Back to the Thanksgiving theme - I'm thankful for Danny, who just came jogging by here and stopped to chat for a bit. "Here" being my car, which is parked outside Gerry's where I'm pirating his high-speed connection. My brother is so awesome, and he makes me laugh so very much. He and Andrew and Brandon - they are the three kings of laugh-provoking - at least as far as I'm concerned. Anyway, just wanted to add that little spontaneous 'thankful-for.')

So ya, opening day of Christmas season: HURRAH!!! May it be a blessed one for each of you - and full of the reality of what it all means: Emmanuel - God with us! Amazing truth.

:)

I almost never turn my laptop off. I just flip the cover down and it goes into hibernate, or standby or whatever it is when the screen goes black and then you have to hit the power button to get it to come back to the screen you left it on. Anyway. Last Friday night I decided to turn it off. And as I was clicking on the buttons to do so, into my mind flashed the paraphrased verse, "There shall be a Sabbath of rest for the computer of Andrea." Hee hee hee. It still makes me laugh! My subconscious is hilarious. I guess that wouldn't be my subconscious, actually, since it dawned on my consciousness. Well, whatever it is that puts funny ideas into my mind out of the blue is hilarious!

Then, driving home from school yesterday I was listening to NPR (I don't have a CD player right now, and was sick of sports radio; i.e. I was desperate, okay?). Apparently there is an NPR program called "Open Source." Instantly the whatever-it-is-that-puts-funny-ideas-into-my-mind suggested Open Sores as a possible alternate title. Quite appropriate, if you think about it.

I am going to kick myself. I had a third hilarious thing to relate and now I can't remember it for the life of me! Grrrrr. It's probably just as well, since I'm sure these things are much funnier to me than they are to anyon

I REMEMBERED IT!!!

Okay, so you know how I'm just finishing teaching Macbeth and am in the midst of teaching Hamlet? Well this morning I was driving to work and thought, "Ay, this likes not me." This likes not me?!?! Um, I think you mean "I don't like this," Andrea. Snap out of the Shakespeare talk!

It reminds me of the Calvin and Hobbes in which Calvin and his mom are going back and forth in Elizabethan language for awhile, and then in the last frame you see they're watching some such movie together, which is totally captivating the mom and totally revolting poor Calvin:)

Ahhhh, I love Shakespeare.

Speaking of which, the teacher with whom I share my room thinks Shakespeare's plays were written by Sir Francis Bacon (HA!). The students got us into a minor confrontation on the subject (which I totally won, by the way... I think), and this fellow-teacher told me he had been reluctant to broach the subject with me because he knew how much I loved Shakespeare and "it would be like telling you I saw your boyfriend at the mall with another girl."

Well actually, sir, this wouldn't bother me because it obviously wouldn't be true, just like it's not true that Shakespeare's plays were written by Bacon!

Case closed.

Post over.

(That was fun!)

Some Sabbath Thoughts

It has been impressed on me over and over in the past several months how intensely personal the Christian life must be.

Last February, when I was in GA with Diane, Uncle Dave had a wonderful mid-week meeting along these lines. He talked about "the secret place" - that hidden place in which our souls commune with God. And he talked about the white stone given to the overcomer, on which a name is written that only God and the overcomer know. He connected the two ideas, hypothesizing that the relationship we form in secret with God is the basis for that secret name, as if the name captures the essence of the relationship between that soul and God. I love that.

It made me think of C.S.Lewis' "The Four Loves" in which he talks about friendships, and how, when two people are friends there are three identities: friend one, friend two, and the relationship between friend one and friend two. Fascinating thought. So with God. The relationship I have with God is an entity totally unique from any other entity.

And as I prayed, a few months ago, for revival and vision in the church, I realized so clearly that in praying that way I wasn't praying for a church that had incredible Sunday services in which everyone was crying and shouting hallelujahs and never disagreeing about anything. I was praying for individuals to catch a fresh glimpse of Jesus, and follow after Him with their whole hearts - totally in love with Him and desirous of His will. A church of individuals whose eyes are fixed on Jesus. And it was very real to me that in praying for revival in the church, I needed to start with praying for my own relationship with God to take on new and vibrant life.

And since those thoughts started percolating in my mind I've run across SO many Oswald Chambers quotes along the same lines. (And I will now take this opportunity to HIGHLY recommend the Oswald Chambers one-year Bible: "My Utmost Devotional Bible." So good.) I know it's hard to read quoted work sometimes, but believe me, this is well worth it!

"It is not sufficient to know that God has redeemed the world, and to know that the Holy Spirit can make all that Jesus did effectual in me; I must have the basis of a personal relationship to Him. Paul was not given a message or a doctrine to proclaim, he was brought into a vivid, personal, overmastering relationship to Jesus Christ... Paul was devoted to a Person not a cause. He was absolutely Jesus Christ's, he saw nothing else, he lived for nothing else."

"Abandon in the profound sense if of infinitely more value than personal holiness. Personal holiness brings the attention to bear on my own whiteness... The holiness produced through the indwelling of the His Son in me is a holiness which is never conscious of itself. There are some people in who you cannot find a speck and yet they are not abundantly blessed of God, while others make grave indiscretions and get marvelously blessed; the reason being that the former have become devotees of personal holiness, conscientious to a degree; the latter are marked by abandonment to God. The only way to be kept cleansed is by walking in the light as God is in the light."

"The battle is lost or won in the secret places of the will before God, never first in the external world... That is the way abandonment begins. Every now and again, not often, but sometimes, God brings us to a point of climax. That is the Great Divide in the life; from that point we either go toward a more and more dilatory and useless type of Christian life, or we become more and more ablaze for the glory of God - My Utmost for His Highest."

I started writing this post without knowing where it would go... But I probably should have guessed

It is not Kimberly's birthday anymore. It is, however, parent-teacher conference day! And consequently, since I had only three conferences, I am home from school waaaaay early. I love conference day!

There are some incredible parents at my school. I haven't had to deal with any of the "oh my child is an angel - the bad grade must be your fault" types. They are supportive parents, and great to work with. Hurrah for Christian schools!

I came home with three video versions of Macbeth. I will be watching them for a large part of the afternoon, deciding which version will be best for my kids to watch. My life is so hard.

I had my students write out what they thought of Macbeth, and 3 out of 4 of them hated it. Hm. The class is four 9th grade boys, so it's not like it was my upper level or anything. But I was still surprised. (Boy #4, by the way, got an insane amount of brownie points for liking it!) Who hates Macbeth?!?! Part of me was sad, because if I had taught it better they might have liked it better. And part of me was annoyed because of my suspicion that one of the boys' very negative attitude influenced the other two. Grrrr. I sense an attitude peptalk/lecture coming up!

So I'll just add my little exhortation here (warning: preaching to the choir coming up!). Be one of those people who makes things go. Go into whatever you do, especially if it involves a group, with a positive attitude. It makes such a difference for everyone else! And it's scary how much one bad attitude can poison a group.

In other news, I'm reading Hamlet with my older group, and they're loving it! And, what's more (perhaps) they're understanding it! I was so overjoyed yesterday when the whole class was laughing - really laughing - at Polonius and his way of talking. Yay! Way to understand Shakespeare's sense of humor! That class is so awesome.

And while I'm in the midst of Lit updates, since I guess that's what this post has turned into, my 7/8 girls told me yesterday that Jane Eyre is the best book they'd ever read in a literature class. HURRAH!!!

Man, I love teaching lit.

Happy Birthday KJ!

Today is Kimberly's birthday!

I, for one, am so glad she was born. She is a wonderful sister and friend - a wonderful girl. And here she is, away from home for her birthday. And she's having a great day! I talked to her on the phone and she was so chipper and happy... she is amazing.

In fact, she's been amazing throughout this FL business. Who would have thought the youngest would go so far away? But she has been thriving! I can't even express how proud of her I am. She is forging her own way - being so responsible and grown-up - and she's having fun doing it! She is taking college maturely - even going to a professor's office to chat about how WRONG he had been in class. The two had tea together and talked for an hour or more. She's doing good work, she's learning, and she's enjoying it. And I'm SO IMPRESSED!

That's not all that impresses me about KJ - add to the above her response to God, her courage, her poise, her beauty, her sense of humor, her ability to make whatever she's doing a party:), her friendships, her intellect, her just plain old awesomeness!

So happy birthday, Kimberly! I love you!

EXTRAVAGANZA!!!

Melissa here...back from semi-retirement, once again glad that I glommed onto Andrea's blog instead of creating my own. But this week was rather momentous for several reasons, so here I am.

Numero Uno: I got into my very first real car accident yesterday. Yay! How blogworthy! Ugh. I was on my way to class and got stuck in traffic -- the kind where the car in front of you moves up 10 feet, then you move, then they move, then you move, then they stop moving, and then you keep moving. Just took my eyes off the road for a second, and WHAM! Suddenly the rather large pickup in front of me looked a whole lot larger, and my brain slowly registered the fact that this was no slight tap of the bumpers. Thankfully the guy in the truck was fine -- in fact, he was incredibly nice ("don't worry about it... these things happen."). There was just a slight dent in his bumper and some cracked undercarriage parts. I was also fine, besides my crumpling nerves. Unfortunately, my nerves were not all that was crumpled. Waaaaah! The truck's bumper was high enough to pretty much take out my lights, grill, and the front of my hood. It looks like my car was punched in the face -- a very sorry sight. A situation like this creates such a helpless (and utterly stupid) feeling! One second before, the hood was shiny and intact; then suddenly it wasn't. Surely there must be a way to go back that tiny amount of time and make it go away. But sadly, life sure doesn't work that way. So I was left to feel foolish and shaken up, and then get rescued by so many heroes: my mom (only a few minutes away at the time), the nice truck guy, the cop (um, actually he was a little annoying), Uncle Dave, who got me over to the shop and hooked me up with new wheels in no time (sure is nice to have connections), and my dad, who got home that night and flooded me with love and immediate forgiveness (and a few exaggerated [I hope] estimates of how much it would cost to repair the thing). Such undeserved grace! I really am very thankful that it wasn't worse. It reminded me of how easy it is for such things to happen, and how much protection God really provides on a daily basis. And boy howdy, I was so careful on the way home it felt like it was my first day with a driver's permit.

Okay, so that's not the main reason I'm posting. You probably all skipped that first part anyway if you saw there were pictures below. I'M ONTO YOUR GAME! Man alive, people have no attention spans these days. Anyway, on Monday I officially signed the next 3 semesters of my life away to the art department. BFA FOR ME!!! (Bachelor of Fine Arts, to those who see only in IM-ese and thought I was saying Best Friends Always or something). I had to apply to get accepted into the program, which will theoretically lead to a studio art degree rather than the more generalized B.A. I had to gather my best pieces from current and past classes and present a portfolio for the faculty to review. Lil scary. But, hallelujah, I got in! And I got some positive feedback from my professors and even from a couple of the awe-inspiring senior painters... that always feels good. I really can't believe I've gotten to this point. Basically God has opened door after door over the past couple of years and gently shoved me through them. Suddenly here I am in my junior year, hardly knowing what happened, with a goal and the means to reach it (or at least head in that direction). I'm amazed at what God has done. I still don't know what the final result will be, but right now I'm grateful.

I know several of you more far-flung friends (FFF)have been wanting to see some of my work, so I figured I'd post a few pictures. They came out a little dark and oddly sepia-toned, but you'll get the idea.

First, here's my studio, in all its cluttered splendor. I thought about cleaning it before I revealed it to the world, but that wouldn't really be a true picture, now would it? Notice the spectacular lighting, thanks to the magic of the traveling A's (all these pictures actually came out quite dark, so illuminate times 10 in your imagination).

Here are a couple of drawings from last year. They're done with ripped paper textured with ink and charcoal and such kind of thing. Anyone recognize the above image? (hint: place)

And here are some of my paintings. The first one is, um, a still life with bottles (thanks to Uncle J, who happens to dig up some really cool ones).

This is Uncle L.'s skull (uncles sure are popping up a lot in this post). Not literally his, of course, but he happened to have an extra one kicking around that he let me borrow. At first it was a little freaky being locked up in the cellar with this thing (especially since that was before the days of spectacular lighting).

And here's one from this semester. We've been working on quicker, more gestural stuff a lot.

And that's all for now. Thanks for listening.

A Good Revelation for a New Englander to Have

Guess what I just realized this year: I really love autumn! (I was going to say I love the fall, but I was afraid that could be misunderstood...)

I've always been a spring/summer girl, myself. How could I help it? Weather getting warmer, flowers blooming... no school. But this year I have been struck over and over again by how beautiful the fall is.

There is the foliage, of course. I've noticed the beauty of the leaves repeatedly. But it's not just that. There's something bracing and invigorating about the briskness of the air, for instance. Maybe intense is the word I want. Everything feels sharp and alive. It's a very different kind of alive from that alive feeling of spring... but it is an alive feeling none the less. And this quality of the air makes the nights so clear. Like the night has come into focus.

Also, there is an amazing blueness of the sky that autumn has more than any other season. The contrast between leaves and sky can be breathtaking.

And now, even after the leaves have all fallen, I still love the season. The air is getting that Christmas tenor to it. I take a deep breath and think of the warmth of the Christmas season. No doubt about it, I am a new convert to this fall business.

And it probably helps, too, that fall is no longer "I have to go back to high school" time, but rather "I get to start teaching again!" time:)

Portland Head at Sunrise

I found this picture on line and thought it was astonishing. I love the breaking dawn - the way the darkness is giving way before the light.

It's coming, friends...

hgjlk

Climax Reached!

NOTE: Those who have not read Jane Eyre should NOT read this post!!! Instead you should go directly to the library, check the book out, read it cover to cover, and then return and read this post.

I have been holding my breath since September 12 or so (which is a very long time to be holding one's breath - that's got to be some kind of record), when I started reading Jane Eyre with my class. I was paranoid lest someone spoil the surprise for my students!

I distinctly remember the how surprised and horrified I was the first time I read that book: the feeling as if all the wind had been knocked right out of me, the total shock and dismay, the sense of going through that darkness with Jane, thinking nothing can possibly work out right now.

And I really wanted my students to be able to remember a similar feeling! With the accompanying feelings that come at the end of the book, of course. But my wishes for my kids were in constant peril, as chronicled below:

September 14: Headmaster walks through the classroom, sees the book the kids are reading, and asks "Oh! Have you reached the part with the locked up woman yet?"

September 30: I realize that the high school students have read this book several years ago, and that they love to give away endings to each other...

October 15: Headmaster's son (the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Marilla!) asks one of my students if the ex-wife has showed up yet. (Fortunately I'm able to later assure said student that headmaster's son had it all wrong - thank goodness for monosyllabic prefixes!)

October 23: Fellow-teacher says, "Oh the person who laughs wasn't Grace Poole!" (And then, much to his credit, he realizes the students haven't read that far yet and adds:) "It was the butler!"

October 24: I mention to my high school students that we're about to get to the climax in my Jane Eyre class. They cannot stop joking about giving the story away. I impress, very deeply, the fact that I do not wish them to do this. I think they understand. But I can't be totally sure.

October 25: I read aloud the chapter about the wedding at last! The students are shocked, and questions fly so think and fast that I can't even finish the chapter. Incredulity and understanding hit all at once. SUCCESS!!!!!!

I begin to breath again.

October 26: The students are still incredulous, and keep giving Jane not-quite-morally-sound advice about what she should do (here's a new one - "They should just put Bertha out of her misery! And then they should get married!" A short but interesting - and slightly disturbing - discussion about euthanasia follows). We get to the end of the period and the wails of anguish when I say we have to stop are enough to persuade me to get permission to read more to them during their lunch period! Five of seven (the five girls, surprisingly enough) opted to stay.

What a fabulous success! I can't wait to finish the book now...