So, it's been forever, and while I announced it in real life, I failed to post it on here:
I'm now blogging at my own website: www.justatitch.com
Please come say hello!
Thanks for your support and kindness as I launch a brand-new site!
02 April 2009
02 March 2009
working
I realize I've been remiss in posting here; I apologize.
I'm working on a new project/idea that I'll share/launch soon. Just not quite ready yet. Plus, work, school and trying to enjoy the new place are consuming my time.
Hope all is well...
I'm working on a new project/idea that I'll share/launch soon. Just not quite ready yet. Plus, work, school and trying to enjoy the new place are consuming my time.
Hope all is well...
23 February 2009
best! monday! ever!
This weekend was not my favorite. Andrew and I were up early Friday, hefting and hauling boxes and unpacking. Everytime I move, I ask myself: why do you need a bajillion books? Why so many art supplies? And really, that? But then, once it's all arranged and put away, nice and neat, I'm thrilled to death. By yesterday, the place was spotless. All the laundry was done. My closet was organized, by item type, sleeve length and color. It it glorious.
I am so, so, so happy we did this. In just a few days, this new living situation has made such a difference in my attitude. I now know that my cat is taken care of (spending most of his day in Andrew's lap) and will be there when I get home---before, I was stopping at my apartment after work to check on him before going home. All of my belongings are in one place. And, I have a safe, beautiful home for just me and my favorite person. I live closer to my family---in fact, my parents came over last night bearing dinner and some new kitchen towels to eat, check out the new digs and play a few games of Yahtzee. It was so nice. The only bummer is that now, it's even harder to go to work.
Still, today has been a good day, particularly for a Monday. Kids are learning, getting ready to write a paper. Netflix apparently didn't get some movies I returned, but cheerfully and quickly credited me with nary a complaint. I get paid this week. I found a drove of David Sedaris stories I've yet to read that I'm enjoying. I'm joining the writing club with sweet Marta over at her blog. A friend gifted me with some delicious ginger tea. I'm pondering ways to start back at yoga. My new apartment complex has both a gym and tanning, meaning that I don't have to pay for a membership OR be ghostly pale any longer.
Sigh. This life is a beautiful one.
I am so, so, so happy we did this. In just a few days, this new living situation has made such a difference in my attitude. I now know that my cat is taken care of (spending most of his day in Andrew's lap) and will be there when I get home---before, I was stopping at my apartment after work to check on him before going home. All of my belongings are in one place. And, I have a safe, beautiful home for just me and my favorite person. I live closer to my family---in fact, my parents came over last night bearing dinner and some new kitchen towels to eat, check out the new digs and play a few games of Yahtzee. It was so nice. The only bummer is that now, it's even harder to go to work.
Still, today has been a good day, particularly for a Monday. Kids are learning, getting ready to write a paper. Netflix apparently didn't get some movies I returned, but cheerfully and quickly credited me with nary a complaint. I get paid this week. I found a drove of David Sedaris stories I've yet to read that I'm enjoying. I'm joining the writing club with sweet Marta over at her blog. A friend gifted me with some delicious ginger tea. I'm pondering ways to start back at yoga. My new apartment complex has both a gym and tanning, meaning that I don't have to pay for a membership OR be ghostly pale any longer.
Sigh. This life is a beautiful one.
19 February 2009
things i am loving
This week, despite moving, bad news at work and a cough that makes me sound like I should be beached off of Pier 39, has been chock full of good things. New discoveries, notes and good things from friends, and happy moments. A few of them:
---A good friend emailed me to tell me about Pecannoot, a website that posts a daily affirmation done beautifully by a graphic designer or artist. An uplifting, aesthetically pleasing thing.
---Sweet Juniper's hysterical captions for childhood books and coloring books. A quick warning: if you don't like dark humor or the occasional curse, this isn't for you. But, if you have a good sense of humor and enjoy chidren's literature and the sometimes twisted images it shows, enjoy yourself, do yourself a favor and check out the rest of that set.
---Scrabble stickers, sent inter-district mail by an acquaintance. I love Scrabble.
---New apartment. Dishwasher. Washer and dryer. Bringing my cat over TONIGHT and having both of my loves in one house.
---Cadbury Mini-Eggs.
---Throwing a friend a surprise baby shower.
---Encouragement regarding layoffs from friends, family and colleagues.
---California FINALLY passing a state budget, meaning that maybe I'll have a job next year.
---Getting to do laundry in my own house.
---Our apartment having separate closets...yessssss!
---Using Delicious. Haven't done it before? Seriously, check it out. It's easy. And I'm so excited about using it to catalog all the recipes I find online and never cook.
---SUNSHINE. It's sunny out. And that makes me happy.
---A good friend emailed me to tell me about Pecannoot, a website that posts a daily affirmation done beautifully by a graphic designer or artist. An uplifting, aesthetically pleasing thing.
---Sweet Juniper's hysterical captions for childhood books and coloring books. A quick warning: if you don't like dark humor or the occasional curse, this isn't for you. But, if you have a good sense of humor and enjoy chidren's literature and the sometimes twisted images it shows, enjoy yourself, do yourself a favor and check out the rest of that set.
---Scrabble stickers, sent inter-district mail by an acquaintance. I love Scrabble.
---New apartment. Dishwasher. Washer and dryer. Bringing my cat over TONIGHT and having both of my loves in one house.
---Cadbury Mini-Eggs.
---Throwing a friend a surprise baby shower.
---Encouragement regarding layoffs from friends, family and colleagues.
---California FINALLY passing a state budget, meaning that maybe I'll have a job next year.
---Getting to do laundry in my own house.
---Our apartment having separate closets...yessssss!
---Using Delicious. Haven't done it before? Seriously, check it out. It's easy. And I'm so excited about using it to catalog all the recipes I find online and never cook.
---SUNSHINE. It's sunny out. And that makes me happy.
18 February 2009
today's the day!
Last night, I fell asleep in the house Andrew shares with 4 roommates for the last time. When I drove away this morning, I felt an odd pang of sadness, something I hadn't expected whatsoever, given the months of kitchen wars and roomie drama we've experienced in that house. Still, to underestimate it's role in our life, our relationship, would be silly. It is filled with memories. After Andrew and I took a "break" (a week!), it was in this house that we kissed again for the first time. It is this front door I knocked on to go for frozen yogurt a few times a week as we figured out how to be better together. That kitchen is where Andrew made me a late brunch one morning when I realized that I still really, really loved this guy. This house is where we fell in love again, where we laughed and watched endless movies and built our relationship.
I love that tonight, I'll drive to the next town over, and enter a place that is just ours. A home that signifies the newest chapter in our relationship; a place where it's just me and my favorite guy...
Couldn't be more excited.
I love that tonight, I'll drive to the next town over, and enter a place that is just ours. A home that signifies the newest chapter in our relationship; a place where it's just me and my favorite guy...
Couldn't be more excited.
17 February 2009
on teaching
You know, when you decide to become a teacher, you think you've picked a career that is safe. A career that will always be needed, wanted, demanded. It is a career that is noble, at least in the eyes of others. "Oh, a teacher!" strangers in the grocery store will exclaim. How lovely.
And the truth is that it is lovely. Not all the time. There are late nights when you have a stack of papers that have to be corrected, or days when kids seem more like archenemies than students, and of course faculty meetings, which are their own unique brand of torture. There are sleepless nights of worry and early morning meetings and yard duty. But once you get beyond the piddley junk that kinda sucks, it's a joy. I realize that not everyone feels this, but to hear kids ready and respond to books, to read a well-written paper, to see a kid think about life in a way that's different than before makes me happier than anything.
That is why this whole economic crisis scares and saddens me. Currently, my profession--my lifestyle, really--hangs in the balance. Not because of my actions, but because our state, our government can't seem to get it together. I found out recently that my students benchmark scores were some of the highest in the district; bittersweet news, because I have no idea if I'll be around to teach more kids next year. We are waiting. Waiting to see if our school will have money. Waiting to see if I'll have a job next year. Just waiting. The massive layoffs announced by my district literally stopped my heart. Nearly a thousand people will lose their job, in my district alone.
To say that this angers me is an understatement. To think that there are people in government positions holding out money for their own selfish interests or lobbying groups. To think that people are unwilling to compromise so that teachers and students everywhere can have a normal school environment. Sometimes, I think that people don't realize how bad it is. Did you know that in my district, we get a nurse on-site maybe once a week? Did you know that I have to buy my own tissues and paper towels---my students can't blow their noses? Did you know that we have very little paper, pencils, Band Aids---very little anything? There are no field trips? No more art and few music classes?
I am happy that we passed a stimulus bill. I hope that California can pass a budget. It's not just for me, but selfishly, all I wanna do is teach kids. I love my job. I love it. I just hope that my state, my home can get it together enough that I can do it.
If you see a teacher, know a teacher, love a teacher, who has been recently hired, give 'em a hug. Or a box of Kleenex and a ream of paper for their classroom. God knows we need all we can get right now.
And the truth is that it is lovely. Not all the time. There are late nights when you have a stack of papers that have to be corrected, or days when kids seem more like archenemies than students, and of course faculty meetings, which are their own unique brand of torture. There are sleepless nights of worry and early morning meetings and yard duty. But once you get beyond the piddley junk that kinda sucks, it's a joy. I realize that not everyone feels this, but to hear kids ready and respond to books, to read a well-written paper, to see a kid think about life in a way that's different than before makes me happier than anything.
That is why this whole economic crisis scares and saddens me. Currently, my profession--my lifestyle, really--hangs in the balance. Not because of my actions, but because our state, our government can't seem to get it together. I found out recently that my students benchmark scores were some of the highest in the district; bittersweet news, because I have no idea if I'll be around to teach more kids next year. We are waiting. Waiting to see if our school will have money. Waiting to see if I'll have a job next year. Just waiting. The massive layoffs announced by my district literally stopped my heart. Nearly a thousand people will lose their job, in my district alone.
To say that this angers me is an understatement. To think that there are people in government positions holding out money for their own selfish interests or lobbying groups. To think that people are unwilling to compromise so that teachers and students everywhere can have a normal school environment. Sometimes, I think that people don't realize how bad it is. Did you know that in my district, we get a nurse on-site maybe once a week? Did you know that I have to buy my own tissues and paper towels---my students can't blow their noses? Did you know that we have very little paper, pencils, Band Aids---very little anything? There are no field trips? No more art and few music classes?
I am happy that we passed a stimulus bill. I hope that California can pass a budget. It's not just for me, but selfishly, all I wanna do is teach kids. I love my job. I love it. I just hope that my state, my home can get it together enough that I can do it.
If you see a teacher, know a teacher, love a teacher, who has been recently hired, give 'em a hug. Or a box of Kleenex and a ream of paper for their classroom. God knows we need all we can get right now.
14 February 2009
Happy Valentine's Day
Ladies, is there anything better than getting flowers from your sweetheart on Valentine's Day? I am here to say that yes, yes there is. It's having your boyfriend surprise the crap out of you.
I was sitting at my desk during 5th period when I heard a familiar voice say, "Knock knock!" and there was Andrew, holding gorgeous coral-colored roses. I was so surprised, and the reaction of my students was hilarious! Andrew is 6'4, I am 5'1 and the kids could not get over the height difference, the fact that I was getting roses and the fact that something so romantic happened to their teacher. That was just the beginning...I was treated to lunch at a local Pho place, got a new Pink Ipod to replace my dead one, and had a mini fridge installed in my classroom. What a lucky girl!
I will keep the sap and "icky love stuff" to a minimum, but suffice it to say that I feel so fortunate. The thing is that Valentine's Day is just one day. What makes my relationship with Andrew so special is that his kindness is not limited to just one day. He constantly looks for ways to make my life better and easier. As a girl who has experienced her share of heartbreak, in that deep, ugly place in my mind, when I was all alone, I've thought that maybe I'd squandered my chances for finding "true love" ever again. Andrew has single-handedly restored my faith in love and in many ways, myself. He is such a great boyfriend and I feel so loved and lucky.
I was sitting at my desk during 5th period when I heard a familiar voice say, "Knock knock!" and there was Andrew, holding gorgeous coral-colored roses. I was so surprised, and the reaction of my students was hilarious! Andrew is 6'4, I am 5'1 and the kids could not get over the height difference, the fact that I was getting roses and the fact that something so romantic happened to their teacher. That was just the beginning...I was treated to lunch at a local Pho place, got a new Pink Ipod to replace my dead one, and had a mini fridge installed in my classroom. What a lucky girl!
I will keep the sap and "icky love stuff" to a minimum, but suffice it to say that I feel so fortunate. The thing is that Valentine's Day is just one day. What makes my relationship with Andrew so special is that his kindness is not limited to just one day. He constantly looks for ways to make my life better and easier. As a girl who has experienced her share of heartbreak, in that deep, ugly place in my mind, when I was all alone, I've thought that maybe I'd squandered my chances for finding "true love" ever again. Andrew has single-handedly restored my faith in love and in many ways, myself. He is such a great boyfriend and I feel so loved and lucky.
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