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Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy New Year!

Ah, what a year. Amazing. Last year while we were watching the New YEar's festivities in NY, we had a sweet little baby, who, after some major fussiness, was sleeping like a newborn upstairs, with not a tooth in her mouth. This year...um, yeah, we have the same. But not for long.

Whoo-hoo! (This is a sarcastic 'whoo-hoo', btw.) The girl is teething. (We're pretty sure.) And she may or may not have a runny nose cold type-thing. She woke up with a lovely crust over her nose. So pleasant. Don't know if it's a genuine cold (she was passing around the sippy cups w/ my friend's 20 month-old twins at Friday night's party, and they apparently woke up with nasty cold the next day.) Or, "unexplained" sniffles can be a sign of teething. Either way, we see something popping through there, and please noticed the new blinkie:



Yeah, had to break out the infant Motrin, and we heard quite a bit of yelling before she finally consented to be put to sleep. I of course had to sneak in later and check her. Poor kid. Happy New Year, she'll wae up to crusty nostrils.

Eh, whatever, there's worse things.

We went out to Red Lobster - damn them and their Cheddar Bay biscuits, they had me at hello! - and rented The Simpsons Movie and hung out, munching on our Christmas leftover goodies. The doggie is quite happy we're home. Now we're heckling the Home Shopping Network actors, and wondering why our hick neighbors have been setting off fireworks 12 minutes early. It's very nice here.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Cheers for Actually Showing the Tears

Although LOOONG overdue (but when do I have time to watch prime-time TV?) I want to say a big CHEERS to "Scrubs". I just started watching the 6th season on DVD (Thanks Dad!) and within the first few episodes, there's a very happily expected birth. One of the main female characters, Carla, gives birth, and for once the event doesn't include cute little huffs and puffs followed by a perfectly clean, healthy pink (aprox. 3 month-old) bundle being passed around while mommy sits back and glows, her lipstick still looking fresh. Carla instead labors for hours only to be given a C-section - a little nod to the harsh reality that the act of birthing NEVER goes the way you wish and plan for it to go.

In later episodes the male characters gradually piece together that Carla is showing signs of early postpartum depression. It's the big kicker at the end of a particularly great episode - remember, this a commedy - but as a woman watching the episode, a MOMMY, that is, I was practically yelling at the screen "Carla has PPD, duh!"

And it's not just cute little baby-blues sniffles. She's bawling uncontrollably. She's sobbing because she can't get her baby to latch on (Oh! What's this? Breastfeeding isn't perfectly easy and natural? But it looks so easy on TV! When they actually dare to mention it on TV, that is...) She's a depressed, panicked, sleep-deprived, desperate mess. She feels like she can't do it, has to get a break from the baby, isn't a fit mother. She was lying in bed holding a tiny, beautiful newborn, sobbing her brains out.

And I watched this silly-stupid sitcom that usually could make me snort coffee through my nose, and said, "oh my God...that was me."

It is awful, it's never the same mommy to mommy, and of course, it does eventually go away, and life seems absolutely beautiful a year later. I think I was lucky. But yeah, I remember it well.

Cheers to for showing that sad, scary-ass side of new mommyhood.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

My New Year's Resolution:

"A mother who radiates
self-love and self-acceptance
vaccinates her daughter against
low self-esteem
."


~Naomi Wolf


PS - I also resolve to take more walks, particularly with my girl, in her little red wagon.

Friday, December 28, 2007

Are you absolutely and totally bollicking crazy?

"Well, I can't believe I Can't Believe It's Not Butter and the stuff I can't believe is not I Can't Believe It's Not Butter are not butter, and I believe that they both just might in fact be butter, but in cunning disguises, and in fact there's a lot more butter out there than we believe."

Love Vicar of Dibley

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Well, I always did have to have an "A"

You Have A Type A- Personality

You are one of the most balanced people around
Motivated and focused, you are good at getting what you want
You rule at success, but success doesn't rule you.

When it's playtime, you really know how to kick back
Whether it's hanging out with friends or doing something you love!
You live life to the fullest - incorporating the best of both worlds

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

And a Merry Non-denominational Holiday to You!

After receiving an email forward of a report that rated major retailers in America based on how they addressed Christmas in their stores and advertisements, I pretty much got pissed off.

Old Navy, for instance, was on this report's BAD list, as one of the stores that "censors Christmas" because it lists its sales as "Holiday Sales" and has a "Holiday Gift-Giving Guide".

I'm sorry, WHAT? American stores should alienate everyone in the country who doesn't celebrate a particular holiday? Am I wrong, or was this country not first settled by people in search of religious freedom? And now we're all supposed to be Christian, or go stick our heads in the sand during the entire month of December? GRRRR...

I whole-heartedly love Christmas. I have no problem with business putting up trees or mentioning Christmas. It's kind of why most people are at the mall in the first place. BUT some people are there Hanukkah shopping. Or getting food for a Kwanzaa or Divali celebration. We should punish retailers for opening their doors to these people? What, they don't get to shop too?

(I have a feeling that these are the same people who think we shouldn't allow any more immigrants into the country, legal or otherwise, forgetting that most likely somebody let their ancestors in!)

I guess I'm a bad evangelist. I really, really object to the idea that I'm supposed to make sure everybody knows I'm right and they're wrong and they'd better hurry up and be whatever religion I am. Live & let live. I'd be pissy if somebody tried to push "Hanukkah Only" sales on retailers. And I hate the policitcally correct, sensitized version of school programs and curriculums that completely pretend there isn't a major holiday in many major religions this time of year. If we don't teach this stuff, we're just widening the cultural gap. It's big enough. So the second I could, I put Hanukkah, Christmas, and yes, even Kwanzaa into my winter concert. (Kwanzaa is nice, and I do teach it, but let's face it, it's a very newly created holiday that doesn't carry near the weight of the other big two...plus I have to first cover Ramadan and Divali. I'm a busy girl here. Plus, NONE of the students at my school celebrate it. African-American or not. And I have dozens of Muslim and Indian kids. Gotta teach to your own population, I say.)

I should really add that the main reason I was filled with the pissy spirit upon receiving this forward (any many like it, I might add) is that the sender just assumed that I felt the same way as she, that I would actually read and follow the report's guidelines, and that I actually think that we should pretend that everybody whole-heartedly celebrates Christmas as the birthday of Jesus. They don't. Yes, I'm sure the majority of the country celebrates Christmas. But I don't think they should HAVE to, nor should they be given the cold shoulder by retailers in their native country, because they happen to celebrate other things. So I am going to continue to shop at Old Navy, Lane Bryant, and Lowe's, and perhaps go to them first because they at least acknowledge the fact that not everybody in the country is a dear little W. A. S. P. (Said the W. A. S. P.!)

On a more festive note, I'm celebrating big-time this year. I think I'm more excited about Christmas this year than I've been since I was a kid. One reason, I'm sure, is because I actually have a kid, and although she doesn't have a clue about the whole Santa thing yet, we do, and we're psyched that Santa's coming to our house again. But another reason I'm totally embracing Christmas and all its little traditions is that last year I really didn't get one. Up all night with a newborn, nursing had failed, and the baby blues hormones were raging. I barely noticed what day it was. I don't remember much of it, except the part about my kid having major gas and having to be on soy formula for tummy troubles. Soy formula stinks to high heaven, btw. I was not in the spirit. And now life is busy and crazy, but pretty darn sweet. SO Merry Christmas. I will be baking cookies and singing carols from here on out. And "Christmas on Sesame Street" is currently in the VCR. (Yes, I'm watching it while my kid's in bed. Deal with it. I love Big Bird.)

So, in conclusion: Do I think everybody should have to bow down and surrender to the Christmas tree? Hell no. Free country. But as for me, I go downstairs just to smell it sometimes. I'm looking forward to Christmas - and winter break - like crazy.

Saturday, December 08, 2007

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

One Year Ago...

One year ago...Saturday, November 18th, 2006:
  • I woke up completely jazzed and talked Bob into going to Ikea to shop for living room tables. We asked if his mom wanted to come along, and we drove to South Philly. We had lunch there, walked and walked and walked. I felt great, only sitting down at lunch and once in the lighting department, and we headed home after several hours. I couched it and blogged while Bob assembled the tables.
One year ago...Sunday, November 19th, 2006:
  • Woke up feeling VERY different than the previous day. Very crampy, tired, and I remember the horrific sensation of having to go to the bathroom BAD all day, but finding it quite impossible because A) I didn't really have to go to the bathroom, I had to deliver a baby, and B) sitting upright hurt like Hell. I remember Bob finding me in the bathroom crying more than once. I remember debating on whether or not I wanted to go to Bob's parents or stay home, because I went back and forth between just feeling very uncomfortable, and feeling like death itself.
  • I remember Bob's insisting on starting to chart 'contractions', as if I were actually having them. I thought he was nuts, because there was no way I was in labor. Bob just likes to make charts, I figured.
  • I remember zoning out of most of the conversation at my in-laws, finding more signs that labor was imminent (or on top of me), and finally calling my not-too-convinced OB on call.
  • I remember practically putting my foot through the floor several times on the way home - this meaning that I had several contractions on the way home, and was actually very well into labor. Still denied it, because this was NOT labor was supposed to feel like. I took a shower, took a Benadryl, got waaaaaaay worse, and went to the hospital. An hour and a half later, I had my daughter.
One year ago...Monday, November 20th.
  • She came in a major a rush...well, she's never been particularly patient. :-)
  • She's changed my life in a monumentally good way. I'M more patient, happier, more tired, more busy, less selfish, have unbelievable multi-tasking skills, and I think I'm a much better teacher because of her; looking at my students not as the little snot-nosed whiners that they appear to be, but as someone's former little babies that they carried, birthed, diapered, and love as dearly as I do Maddie has made me handle them differently (besides, how do I want her teachers to treat her some day?)
  • It's scary, being a parent, because your heart is now out there, outside your body, with this little being who can get sick or hurt or bump her head repeatedly on the coffee table. You live each day differently, because have more to lose. But that's only because you HAVE MORE.
I'm one day late (I wanted to spend yesterday w/ the girl...and then clean up from her weekend party) but,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADDIE!!!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Names, Names.




Your Scandinavian Name is:



Hilda Murray




Your Irish Name Is...

Shauna MacMahon



Your Japanese Name Is...

Mika Genji



Your 1950s Name is:

Priscilla Renee


Your French Name is:

Alavda Bugeaud



Your Italian Name Is...

Andria Rossi



Exotic Dancer Name Is...

Tinkerbell

Thursday, November 08, 2007

Meme

Here's how:
1] Take your answer to each question and type it into Google Image Search!
2] Post one of the images from the first page of results!

1. Age at next birthday:


2. Place you'd like to travel to:

3. Your favorite place:

4. Your favorite object:
5. Your favorite food:

6. Your favorite animal:

7. Your favorite color:
8. Town where you were born:

9. Town where you live:

10. Name of a past pet:

11. Name of a past love:
12. Your best friend's nickname:
13. Your screen name/nickname:
14. Your first name:
15. Your middle name: (and no, it's not 'Norma')
16. Your last name:
17. A bad habit of yours:
18. Your first job:
19. Your grandmother's name: (Peggy)
20. Your major in college:

Monday, October 15, 2007

Dejavu

Wait, I've been here before...sitting happily on the couch, coffee, laptop, TV on the Early Show, feet up on the couch, at 8:15 on a Monday morning. 8:15 is teacher report time at my school. ;-)

Today I'm taking Maddie to Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's specialty care unit for her follow-up appointment. Her original appointment was in June. We'd been struggling with her reflux and eating aversion ("Bottles? I HATE bottles! No bottles!") and she hadn't gained weight or grown in two months. I was a fretful, emotional mess. I opened up to a substitute teacher I'd know for some time, and mentioned that I hadn't been able to get Maddie a pediatric gastro appointment anywhere until July, Children's Hospital couldn't take us till late July. Her hubby was the manager of nurses at CHOP, and she got us an appointment for the next business day. Bless you, Kathy Karpovich. And your hubby. They treated Maddie's reflux more aggressively and monitored her weekly - I finally felt like somebody knew that this whole baby-refusing-to-eat-anything thing was real, and that they cared how she was doing, at every turn. We were also seen by a specialist nurse and had her weighed every other week. She got better, and now not only does she eat, but she also takes 4-5 oz. bottles 3 times a day. Life is SO much better now.

So here I am, on the couch, waiting till it's time to take her to CHOP and show her doctors (oh yeah, she has 2, plus the specialist nurse) how well she's doing and find out what they want us to do now. I was a mess, she was a mess, and now we're doing fine.

My set-up here ( again, coffee, laptop, Early Show, feet up) reminds me very much of how much time I spent like this a year ago. 9 months pregnant, big as a cruise liner, and no idea what was in store. House to myself, morning sun coming through the window, dryer clanking downstairs, and no baby yet. (Mine is having her morning nap at the moment.) I didn't get too many moments like this when I was home with her last winter. Even though she was a lot less mobile, she was a heck of a lot more work. Eh, I'll know how to do it all next time. It's got to be easier the 2nd time around. Right? RIGHT?

I actually had the thought that if we want our kids to be pretty close together, I'll have to start getting ready for kid #2 at the end of this school year. (See the Dr. for a health check, stop the pill, kick the coffee habit, etc.) Dear Lord I'm just getting really comfortable with life as it is. It's actually REALLY comfortable right now. This is nice. Mmmm...coffee... maybe they'll come out with findings that coffee doesn't cause any harm to unborn babies between now and my next pregnancy. Bring it.

I had no idea last October what the year would bring, with the breastfeeding failing, the sleep deprivation, the stay-at-home angst, and the horrible, gnawing worry that your kid is is pain every time she eats and therefore, really isn't eating. I'm amazed how little I knew, couching it last October, putting up my swollen feet.

I'm getting flashbacks again to that morning in June when I'd taken an impromptu sick day (well I had no personal days left after my maternity leave) to take Maddie to our quickly-gotten CHOP appointment. I spent her naptime typing up her 'stats', her eating habits (or lack thereof, as my child seemed to subsist on air for about 3 months) and saying mini-prayers every 5 minutes that THIS appointment would be the beginning of the end of the reflux. THIS would fix her and get her healthy and happy again. I was feeling VERY sorry for myself and my kid...and that lasted until we got into the waiting room and saw the REALLY sick kids. Horribly sick kids there, and I felt horrible for having felt sorry for us. But those CHOP doctors fixed her up, over time, and adjusted things every time she took a turn for the worse. I got what I prayed for.

I'm hoping they tell me to wean her off one medication or another (she's on 3 right now, plus a vitamin drop), I'm hoping they give me the A-ok to stop giving her rice in her bottles, and I'm hoping they say they don't need to see her again, at least not for a long time.

And I'm hoping she sleeps a few more minutes. Cause my first class is starting right now, and I'd really like to sit back and enjoy the fact that I am couching it with my feet up and not teaching a chatty 5th grade.

Hey, I'm paying my dues. I'm schlepping my kid to 2 doctor appointments (getting her flu shot at 3), doing 3 loads of laundry, generally chasing after a crawling ball of energy all day.

Sunday, October 14, 2007

Welcome Daniel!

A big, warm welcome for sweet baby Daniel Herman, born to our good friend Nicole Fryslie on October 12th.

Congrats to parents Nicole and Geoff, and new big sister Laura. We can't wait to meet the new little guy! (And we wish Nicole a speedy recovery!)

Monday, October 08, 2007

Walking at Work

I started walking during my lunches on Friday. Yes, that means I've done it a whopping 2 times, but I figure if I get on here and announce that I'm doing it I'll have to actually stick with it a little longer than if I hadn't announced it to all of cyber space. I have an old pair of sneakers and a pair of socks under my desk, and I brought in our old MP3 player to play some tunes on while I walk. Most days I teach 3 classes and am on my lunch period by 11:45. I take off and am freshened up, back inside, and walking down to lunch by 12:20 or so. I made it around the grounds twice in 20 minutes today - it's a very large building, all right? It's two schools in one, plus soccer fields galore.

They may actually be right about exercise releasing endorphines (sp?), helping you feel better the rest of the day. I do feel much more awake and alert than I usually do after lunch. (When I usually have to bribe myself with coffee in order to lift my head off the desk so I can get back to work.) Seriously, though, I'm wondering if all that post-exercise-feel-good stuff just has more to do with the fact that you were doing something entirely unpleasant earlier (exercising, after all, sucks) and now you're, well, sitting at a desk. NOT MOVING.

I'm hoping I can get it in 3-4 times a week.
And I still plan to have after lunch coffee, for the sake of my 1st graders. They need a pleasant Mrs. D.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

Yes, but what KIND are you?

You are a Black Coffee

At your best, you are: low maintenance, friendly, and adaptable

At your worst, you are: cheap and angsty

You drink coffee when: you can get your hands on it

Your caffeine addiction level: high

Thursday, September 27, 2007

I'm the Mommy, THAT'S WHY!

I drank so much coffee I actually turned into it. In ice cream form.

Why Can't We All Just Get Along?

Ah, where shall I begin? Well, let’s start with Wednesday morning, at the faculty meeting – the one I completely forgot about and have yet to give my principal a courtesy apology for missing…she may not deserve one…we’ll see.

Background: The related arts staff (nice way of saying ‘specials’, or “art, gym, music, computer, and library teachers” are kind of a clique at my school. Definitely all but the last mentioned subject area teachers, anyway. B, our librarian, keeps more to herself and her library staff, but she definitely cleaves to us more than the rest of the staff. I made it a personal policy to be friendly with everyone, if not friends with them. Something my well-meaning zealout of an Elementary General Music professor instilled in me. You Don’t Talk Trash: about student, teacher, or administrator, period. And you don’t make waves. (I make small waves now. I’m young yet.) So I have maintained a cordial relationship with all the staff, and am near friend-status with a few – mostly the other mommies-of-young-children, and some of the older ladies think of me as their pet, I can tell. My favorite 5th grade teacher calls me Megsy. And of course I have my small group of fellow RA teachers, who I can call all-out friends (because we actually do stuff outside of school on the rare occasions when our spouses, children, and sleep schedules allow. I really need to have them over soon. Is it lame to throw a Halloween party for 5 kids and their parents? Nevermind.)

I understand that I have, on paper anyway, a lighter schedule than the classroom teachers. Now, they may have kids in the room more time, but they may also be sitting at their desk grading homework while the kids have silent reading. I am on stage from the minute the kids hit the door till the minute they leave. I have no downtime during my classes, period. But I understand the schedule discrepancy, and I keep it in mind. I also present myself as Ms. Flexibility (You brought your class to music 25 minutes early by mistake? No biggie. You need the lyrics of “The Candyman Can” re-written to honor the retiring custodian…tomorrow? Consider it done. Going on a field trip during your regular music time and don’t want to miss out on your prep that day? I’ll reschedule you.) This is what the school music teacher does, and I do it with a smile. Again, maybe I’m just young and stupid. BUT:

With all this goodwill bubbling forth from me at school, I get pretty pissy when I hear this news:

At the morning faculty meeting, in front of the majority of the teaching staff, the principal said that we need to do something to equalize teaching time amongst all the staff, so that “nobody is sitting around with large blocks of time with nothing to do.”

(Furious expletive/mild stroke inserted here.)

Clearly aimed at the RA teachers, this supposed statement had us up in arms, in a big way. EXCUSE ME? Where are these large blocks of time that I supposedly spend just lying around? I’d like someone to point them out to me, cause sure has heck haven’t found one yet, and this is my 5th year with this schedule.

Now, I wasn’t at the meeting, I only heard through the grapevine. So far I haven’t had a problem with our new principal – I’ve actually been impressed with her on several occasions. I really don’t’ want to think that she’d come right out and make this credibility-squashing statement right in front of the staff – some of whom have been hungry for this news for years. (Whispering behind our backs only, of course. In fact, none of the RA staff happened to be at the morning meeting. If one of us had, I doubt the subject would have been brought up.) The next major issue occurred when one of the 1st grade teachers, let’s call her D the Whining Bitch, stood up and said she was very glad that someone was finally taking care of this situation because it has bothered her for years.

(Insert 2nd furious expletive here)

I’m sorry, WHAT has bothered her for years? The fact that I have more preps than she does? Because last time I checked, the teacher contract doesn’t guarantee you the same # of minutes prep time as every other teacher in the district. I believe it guarantees you 46 minutes (they get 50 minutes in Elem. 4 for free, if we’re going to be picky.) But more importantly, HOW DARE D. THE BITCH BE BOTHERED BY IT AT ALL??? She is NOT an administrator, she is not a supervisor or a principal, and therefore she doesn’t GET to be bothered by it. But she’s God’s Gift to us all (super conservative Religious Nut as well, by the way) and so it’s her job to pass judgment on things that are not in her usual jurisdiction. What she WANTS is probably to have one of us give her an extra prep, or something. Come watch her kids so she gets more time, or extend all specials classes to an hour (isn’t she supposed to be teaching at some point?)

Here’s the problem: What she’s going to GET is: us, fired. Or cut back to 4/5 salary, with no benefits. The budget for the district hasn’t passed in a few years. Things are tight, as they are all across the state. They’re not going to keep assigning us more and more duties that don’t really need done. (And if we’re giving her extra preps so that we don’t have them, isn’t she going to have more preps than other Elem. teachers at other schools?) That’s not how they do things here. They’re going to cut us back to 4/5, like the positions originally were, and take away our health insurance. Bob and I can’t live on less than we’re living on now, end of story. I don’t know if D the Bitch knows this is more than a battle for more preps, but truthfully, she is lighting the match that will set the fire that could destroy my family’s security. And I don’t like Bitches playing with fire near my family.

My good friend the art teacher apparently put her in her place yesterday afternoon when she came to drop her kids off for Art class. Basically informed her that other people had come to us letting us know what horrible things were said behind our backs (Jr. High, anyone?) and that we know that it was her. I’m told she sputtered lots of apologies and claimed it wasn’t personal…but if you’re messing with my job, it IS personal! Then D. the Bitch she marched her butt into the principal’s office and Lord knows what was said…

I don’t want to completely flip-flop on my position on this principal, and I don't know if she really did say, in front of the staff, that we RA teachers are sitting around with nothing to do for a large part of the day. But boy howdy, if she said that and doesn’t in some way rephrase the statement and include an apology, she will find a different working environment. We all have tenure now, and I have a feeling the elementary staff will be finding out exactly what it’s like when we REALLY are sitting around with “large blocks of time with nothing to do”, if the matter keeps getting pushed. You can kiss your rescheduling things to suit your little lives GOODBYE.

I'm angry now, and talking big, but ultimately, I just want to do my job. I know I have a good job, an ‘easy’ job, if you want to look at it in a rather shallow way. But I didn’t design it myself or make my own schedule. I just wanted to be a music teacher. It was the first and only interview I snagged fresh out of college, and I miraculously got hired by a rather wealthy school district and put in a nice position. I’m not rolling in dough, and neither is my husband, but I’m happy here and I’m always willing to do stuff for other teachers, to keep other people happy here too. I just want to do my job and keep my job, as it is.

I can’t wait to find out what went down yesterday. And more and more I feel I really need to talk to the principal, and find out what was said and where we stand. Isn't that the adult thing to do? Is it better to completely ignore a nasty statement you heard was made, because you didn't hear it from the source, OR should you go to the source and ask them "honestly, what did you say, cause I gotta know if I hate you now or not." But this needs straightened out. Because it’s only September, and I can’t do this he-said/she-said crap, or worry about the future of my position, for another 9 months.

Saturday, September 22, 2007

I like to bite the bullets.

I think they have a certain flare. Plus this way I don't have to come up with whole paragraphs. I seriously must look into my own ADD issues...

  • Musicovery.com is so nice.
  • So is Kneebouncers.com
  • Struggling with the working mom balance thing less, struggling with other people wanting Maddie time during Mommy Time more. Hands off, she's mine. Bob's exempt, of course.
  • On that subject, my mom visited this weekend.
  • My shampoo or something is giving me a itchy rash on my face and neck. So fun. So itchy. Do I have the energy or presence of mind to systematically figure out which early-morning shower product is doing it? Not at 6 AM. Please.
  • Bob closed the pool today. Fall starts tomorrow. Not sure if that's a :-( or a :-)
  • It's a :-( for Bob because the cover was a bitch. Stupid cover.
  • Bobby also ordered a 1 gig memory upgrade for my lappy, because it's gotten worse and worse lately. I grow old every morning waiting for it to get through its digital calisthenics and actually start up. Can't wait for the new speed to arrive.
  • The dog and I are doing a love-hate thing lately. We have blond tumbleweeds everywhere, he cuts it waaaay too close for comfort when he bounds around the house...right over Maddie's head.
  • On the other hand, she will now crawl through his legs like she's going under and overpass. She does this just to get those gray hairs started on my scalp.
  • She now eats pieces of: string cheese, whole wheat bread, noodles of all kinds, meatballs, peas, carrots, banana, cake, and of course vanilla ice cream is a big hit. Yes, that's what I said. All of you who save cake for the first birthday are missing the delighted smile of a toothless wonder chomping on a fresh piece of yellow butter cake. It's a sight. You are then the hero, eternal, in their eyes.
  • Does anybody know where they sell foam rubber suits in 12 months size? She started to cruise (walk, holding on to furniture) this week, and she has yet to figure out that she needs to continue holding on in order to stay upright...and not bang her head. How about baby-sized helmets? She fell backwards and took a pointed, star-shaped block straight to the back of the neck today. I immediately started getting visions of this spinal cord injury hospital I visited as a kid. I'm not going to survive her toddler hood, am I?
  • I think I may like Men At Work (the band from the 80's). Don't tell anyone.
  • I am still mostly impressed with the new principal at our school. She hasn't taken much crap from parents, she's showed a backbone, and yet you don't feel like you're talking to your boss when you're chatting with her. And she drops curses left and right in her office. I like that in an elementary school principal. You have to be able to swear somewhere in that building, damn it.
  • Done my 'homework'. Wrote out my curriculum maps for the whole year, and with the exception of planning multicultural dance unit with the gym teacher, I'm done, and pretty happy with it. 5th may need tweaked, I was rushing by then. Now I just have to go through and list all the songs we MUST do in addition to the lessons I've lined up, and we'll be in lesson-planning heaven.
  • Now it's bedtime. I can't make it past 10 without at least wanting to pass out.

Saturday, September 15, 2007

Career Choices

Apparently I should have gone into secondary education. Except that I hate kids older than eleven. The grade at the right is how my "skills" reflect my ability to perform that particular job. I'm obviously pretty average. Except at theater and the arts. Broadway here I come, baby.

1.

High School Teacher

Fair Match

2.

Director of Photography

Fair Match

3.

Professor

Good Match

4.

Set Designer

Fair Match

5.

Costume Designer

Fair Match

6.

Music Teacher / Instructor

Good Match

7.

ESL Teacher

Good Match

8.

Foreign Language Instructor

Good Match

9.

Special Effects Technician

Fair Match

10.

Desktop Publisher

Fair Match

11.

Cartoonist / Comic Illustrator

Fair Match

12.

Computer Trainer

Fair Match

13.

Animator

Fair Match

14.

Actor

Very Good Match

15.

Fashion Designer

Fair Match

16.

Child and Youth Worker

Fair Match

17.

Director

Good Match

18.

Elementary School Teacher

Fair Match

19.

Teacher Assistant

Good Match

20.

Special Education Teacher

Fair Match

21.

Early Childhood Educator

Fair Match

22.

Occupational Therapist

Fair Match

23.

Speech-Language Pathologist

Fair Match

24.

Corporate Trainer

Good Match

25.

Artist

Good Match

26.

Comedian

Fair Match

27.

Graphic Designer

Fair Match

28.

Casting Director

Very Good Match

29.

Critic

Very Good Match

30.

Musician

Very Good Match

31.

Computer Animator

Fair Match

32.

Website Designer

Fair Match

33.

Print Journalist

Good Match

34.

Medical Illustrator

Fair Match

35.

Market Research Analyst

Fair Match

36.

Translator

Good Match

37.

Composer

Very Good Match

38.

Writer

Very Good Match

39.

School Counselor

Good Match

40.

Potter

Fair Match

1. Go to: http://careercruising.com
2. Type in "nycareers" as username.
3. Type in "landmark" as password.
4. Click on "Career Matchmaker" (next to arrow sign).
5. Have fun finding out you should have been a plumber!

*Thanks to Nicole for the reference!*