Wow... I stink at this

I'm leaving on a jet plane in a mere 4 hours, and it just hit me: I haven't blogged in a month. I am completely unreliable. Let me tell you, though, that it is because I've been BUSY!

Firstly, as many of you know from my Facebook picture, I'm growing out my hair. "Why?" you ask? Well... In the words of my Grandfather, when I don't have any left, I'm going to have wished I grew it out at one point! Plus, I'm actually liking the length a lot. Only thing is that it's in this in-between length, and it needs to be thinned. I've got a little fro thing going on in the mornings. I want it to grow longer so I look like this: (Henry Cavill: The Tudors. I got into the show. Not bad.)Hmm... otherwise we're gonna go see Cinderella at the North Carolina Theatre!! I'm taking 82 kids to see it. Well... "I'm" meaning JTOH. I'm actually gonna be in WA for the Holiday and Spring Break. Oh: They all say "Theatre" Thee-aee-ter.... Three pronounced syllables. I think we speak funny in WA... hahaha

More cultural differences: Everyone at school was wishing me a Happy Easter. OK. Sounds good to me. But at school? Having Easter Egg hunts? Putting up Easter Bunnies on the windows at the front entrance? I suppose its not putting up pictures of the Risen Christ, but hey... Still so foreign to me. hahaha.

What else? I don't know... My kids have all learned to play the piano, they ROCK, and they are amazing. We are going to do a Jazz unit after break based on The Princess and the Frog. I'm stoked. I think I'm even gonna have my kids sing one of the songs from it for our Spring Concert. I can already feel the end of the year bearing down upon me, yet it seems so far away at the same time. So much to do in so little time!!

Wish me luck on my plane ride. I'll see many of you at Mass on Friday and Sunday, and my fellow Newmanites at Easter Vigil.

Spellebration and More!

Well... since I jumped back into the whole school thing, I thought to myself: "Self, why not relive your days in the spelling bee?"

Granville Education Foundation has a fundraiser every year in which schools and community businesses enter into the spelling bee they host. Teams are made up of three people from that organization, and there are three rounds: Easy, Medium, Hard. Well... we weren't the first out, but we WERE the fourth!! hahaha. And each team has a theme: We were the Joe Toler Oak Hill(billies)

More importantly, I went and saw a movie yesterday that I encourage you ALL to try to get your hands on eventually. It is set RIGHT HERE in Oxford, NC, my current home. Back in 1970. It's called "Blood Done Sign My Name" and is based on a true story. Many of the people we watched the movie with were alive during this time. Many of the people in the movie still live in Oxford. One is the county commissioner.

Check out the link below for the trailer!! Look for the confederate soldier statue. It currently sits outside of the library, but people want it GONE. I, for one, am with them.
http://www.hulu.com/watch/127642/movie-trailers-blood-done-sign-my-name

Update

Still alive. :)

Didn't get the internship, but I was told that I should definitely apply for the induction internship: With my "interests and specific skills set" I would be a great candidate for it. I actually was wanting to be a TTL at induction, so I was planning on staying in town for that week anyway, and so I think I'm definitely interested!

Glossary:

Induction: The week before Institute in which all new CMs come to ENC for a week of bonding and an overview of the Institute experience

TTL: Transition Team Leader: CMs are broken into smaller groups and have multiple TTLs who act as leader/big brother/sister to help with the transition from college to the real world.

Institute: AKA "Teacher Boot-Camp"... where we learn in 5 weeks what education majors learn in 4 years. Baptism by fire is a great analogy.

CM: Corps Member (TFA is part of AmeriCorps)

ENC: Eastern North Carolina, where I live/work/play.

TFA: Teach For America.

long-overdue post

Well.. this post is long over-due. Its been a month.

Needless to say, I'm busy. I have been prepping for this big all-county concert that was SUPPOSED to happen this past weekend. BUT. We got snowed out. There was an inch of snow on the grass. Nothing on the roads. Well, I heard there was Ice...

Two weekends ago was the start of this so-called "Snow-mageddon" of the East Coast. It snowed 6 inches-ish... and then we were out of school through Wed. We had a late start on Thurs, and then canceled school again on Friday. Craziness.

So now I'm behind BUT my kids are actually rocking the content, so we are actually a week ahead of schedule, not counting the week lost, so really we are TWO weeks ahead of schedule. I'm going to test them this week and be done with it: Let's move on.

I got the Granville Arts Education Grant of $500, and I am buying keyboards with that money. I am STOKED. I will have a complete classroom set. :)

What else.. I dunno. Life is what it is. Its GREAT. I interviewed for an internship with TFA, and I'd REALLY like to get it, but we'll see.

What are YOU doing for Lent? I am going to say the rosary every night. I think its a good way to set aside time to pray. I like the meditative mood it sets you in as well. Chanting the same thing over and over has a way of letting your mind wander within the boundaries of the content in which you are chanting. I think its great.

Well.. 10% battery life is left, and its nearly 11pm. On a school night. WHY CAN'T I SLEEP!?

We made it!

Back from a glorious weekend in NYC. Thought I'd have city shock, but I didn't. It was kinda impressive.

Barb had never been to NY, so this was her maiden trip. It was cool. We stayed with my cousin Sara Roeder, and she was awesome. We had a GREAT time visiting with her.

I will post pictures later, but we saw The Fantastiks (off-Broadway, but the longest running musical EVER), and rockefeller, times square, madison square garden, WTC, battery park, central park, the met, statue of liberty, and ellis island. We were wiped on the train home.

And then i had a work day on Tuesday, but Barb had to work. Gross.

Its Finally Friday, and she's asleep on the couch. Its only 6:51 and we have a potluck to go to.

Oh! The timer went off. Gotta grab the pie and run!

And we're off...

And just to make sure we start the new year in style, Barb and I are headed out to NYC this weekend. WOOHOO!!!!!!!!!!!

We are staying with my awesome cousin in NJ, and we will be out to see the sights and sounds in teacher-fashion. AKA we will be eating cereal in the morning, packing PB and crackers for lunch, and window-shopping. 50% of TKTS booth for day-of Broadway tickets. See if we cain't get a teacher discount for the MET. Going to church at St. Patrick's on Sunday. This is going to be AWESOME.

Especially since I had a half day today (Thurs), a work day tomorrow, Monday off (MLK) and Tuesday is a work day too... I don't teach for nearly a week! WOW.

Not that I don't like teaching. My body is tired tho. Switching back into teaching is HARD.

SO EXCITED.

Back

For some reason, I keep hearing Relient K's "Boxing Day" in my head.

The Holidays ARE over, but that doesn't mean Christ is gone. It doesn't mean that the fun is gone. It just means we are moving on to the next season! We had a good year, now let's have another: Remembering all the good times that we had!

Tomorrow I start work. I flew home on Saturday. Came to an empty house. Barb doesn't get back until Tuesday. Sleeping in the house last night, knowing I was the ONLY ONE in the apartment was creepy. The wind didn't help. It completely DESTROYED the bow on our front door.

Am I ready for work tomorrow? Well, I'm ready to see all my homies: I've missed their joy and their laughter, even their insecurity. Its a blessing to be able to work with children.

New Year's Resolutions?
1. Spend a year with JP2!! Danielle got me a book of daily reflections from JP2's work. I'm sorta in love with that man. Too bad I forgot to do it last night... make up two tonight!

2. Keep better track of where I'm spending my money! Not that its a problem, I just want to get in the habit of keeping my checkbook better!

3. Hang out with TFA people more. Mom was laughing because I only talked about Barb the whole time I got there, and then didn't mention her for the last 3 days, because I ran out of stories. Basically the lesson here is that I need more friends. HAHAHA

4. Find a way to stay fit(ter) in the real world. I ordered an "AM Yoga" DVD today. 5 workouts. Hopefully I will be able to drag myself out of bed and do them!

Lastly, and most importantly, I want to make sure to spend this year touching people's hearts, and being a manifestation of the light of Christ to everyone I meet. Boy do I have a long hard road on that one... :-P

God Bless Us All in this New Year!