Ketchup

Just a bit of an update for your reading pleasure. I'm in end of term mode, so it's Lists Aplenty in the Casa de T.

1. To the recently divorced, attractive colleague of mine who is in her mid 30's and is now not-so-discreetly dating the brand new baby science teacher: First of all, good for you, girl! And second of all, nothing says (screams, really) "Hey! We're sleeping together!" like coming to work together in the morning. (Inner Priss is having an issue with this one.)

2. Staring at piles of papers to correct, I silently impart wisdom on some of my students- "Hey, Dummy! If you'd actually do some homework once in a while and maybe didn't sprawl all over the desk during class and sat up and paid some attention, you'd have done lots better on that test!"

3. Going to see Wicked this Saturday! Mr. T and I will have a nice little weekend in the Windy City while the girls go to Camp Grammy. Of course the forcast looks bleak. I will undoubtedly pack all the wrong clothes as I have done on every previous trip to Chicago. Too warm , too cold, too rainy.

4. I leave for Spain 2 weeks from tomorrow! Me, my wonderful friend and colleague and 15 teenagers. Am feeling every possible emotion all at once. Sooo excited, yet stressed, worried, sad about leaving Mr T and girls.....

5. Last weekend went to see classmates of the girls- they had a "gig" at a local coffee shop- amazing talent in these 2 boys; one in 1st grade, the other in 4th. I felt good about indoctrinating the girls into the world of live music- especially when you know the band. I've always dated guys in bands- it seemed perfectly natural to haul the girls along. Mr T helped them pack up all their equipment- the boys' grandmother later commented on "what a nice kid" he is. She thought he was like 25. Here we were several years ago. Neither of us was 25 then, either.


6. I feel guilty for not wanting to have a speaking component to my final- mostly due to logistics. Anyone have any advice? Suggestions? I've got Spanish 1 and 2 right now. We use the book "En Español" (hate it).

That's all for now.

Cinco de Mayo, a little belated

Just when I think nothing my students do can surprise me, they surprise me.
As you may know, last Sat. was Cinco de Mayo, which is a significant day in Mexican history, but is by no means celebrated in Mexico to the extent that it is in this country. I still like acknowledge it in my classes, mostly because I want to set the record straight with the kids, so they know that it is NOT Mexican Independence Day and who Pancho Villa was (a total Bad Ass, I might add).
Well, last week, I just couldn't pull it all together and wasn't up for the kids having a Fiesta day on Friday. So, I told them they could festejar today. I typed up lists of suggested goodies they could bring to contribute. We've been reading about tapas, so I suggested a tortilla española, olives, manchego cheese, paella, etc.
A bunch of kids volunteered. I figured most of them would forget- just like they do with their homework.
But, you know what? Those little buggers came through. Several kids made flan from scratch. A girl made pineapple empanadas, another made sopaipillas, a kid in each class made a "tres leches" cake. Several moms made sopa de arroz and pans of enchiladas. Someone brought in tamales. The soda they brought was all Jarritos brand- and someone even made and brought horchata.
I love doing things with the kids in a "non academic" setting- food days, games, field trips. It's so fun to see them interact and to be able to talk to them one on one. They are so cute- several of them were really proud of what they made, as well they should have been.
And? Even though it was technically a non teaching day for me, I am exhausted.

La Entrevista

Shawnee sent me my interview questions. It's such a cool thing and definitely better than correcting quizzes. Do you have loathesome household chores you'd like to avoid? Work got you down? Sick of dishes and laundry? Want to play? Here's how it works:

1. Leave me a comment requesting an interview.
2. I will email you five questions. I get to pick the questions. I make no
guarantees as to their relevance.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation (or a reasonable variation) and an offer to
interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


Name five "luxury items" that you could not live without. (i.e., not necessities such as food, water, air, books, Southern Comfort or George Clooney. Although that last one may just be me.)
This is tough. I'm not the jet set, I'm more of the old Chevrolet set. (Although, Mr. T and I once drank a bottle of Meritage that cost $160. I'll tell you about it some time.)

1. I am a perfume snob. Only expensive stuff- Chanel No. 5 is my signature scent.
2. Does high speed internet count? Because there is no way in hell I could ever go
back to (shudder) dial up.
3. Cable television. I lived without it for my whole childhood and most of my adult
life. Now, even though I don't often have time to watch, I love being able to
(don't laugh) watch CSpan if I want, or VH1 or TVland.
4. The Dyson. It's made vacuuming a much more pleasant experience.
5. Taking the van to Miracle Car Wash and letting them clean it - inside and out. I
am not exactly the best steward of my vehicle and it often gets close to complete
squalor, and just letting someone else deal with it makes me feel like a Vander-
bilt or someone.


What other profession(s) would you like to try if teaching ever finally pushes you over the edge?

Well, my dream job - and I mean dream in the literal, I'm not even considering reality sense of the word- would be to be a dialect coach. I LOVE language and sociolinguistics and regional differences in language.
I've also considered Speech and Language pathology, family counseling, nursing. You know, all the fields where the BIG money is.

What surprised you most about pregnancy, labor / delivery & motherhood?
Pregnancy: How much I really loved it, once I got past the nausea, which wasn't too bad for me.
Labor/delivery: How freaking long it took!
Motherhood: How just being a mother can help me connect with people. Everybody was somebody's baby once.

I LOVED your La Familia" post after Christmas and Claire's 9th birthday post. Do you have a favorite post - either yours or another blogger's?

My own favorite post actually got lost. I was dinking around with something and all of a sudden, I didn't have that post anymore. It was about Mr. T throwing away the plastic Little Tikes lawnmower, aka the Mow-Lawn and my lamenting the loss of childhood. Boo hoo. Sometimes I just really wallow in my own drama.
A favorite post from another blogger? Hard to pick. I loved this one from Liberal Banana, who sadly has left the Bloggosphere
, Sweet Adeline's Peace Corps stories and Happy Chyck's Thanksgiving memories. Those are just a few that stand out in my mind.

Name at least one secret guilty pleasure. (I'm hoping you don't dress up the cats like Teacher Lady does to Minnie!)

My cats would kill me. But Mushy did let me do this to him.
I used to think that People magazine was my guilty pleasure. It's not. I'm really more of an US Weekly kind of girl. It's got all the dirt I want with paparazzi-gotten photos a plenty. Yessss!

Let me know in the comments if you want an interview.