Overlookmen

Holy moly - I have heard, from various sources, that Watchmen is a fantastic graphic novel, and it may very well be. But the movie - yowza bad.

And LLLOOONNNGGGG.

And disjointed.

And violent.

And set up for a sequel - unbelievable!

Please, save yourself the dollars 8 and the hours three and don't go - no matter who tells you what a fab book it is.

I may sound like a masochist, but now I totally need to read it - did they butcher the book, or is everyone I've talked to about it is just crazy?

Wow - I cannot tell you enough not to see this.

So - see any good movies lately?

Kids

When I first began teaching, I began my Master's program in School Counseling. Most people think I'm fairly level-headed and a pretty good listener, and though I was REALLY struggling in my classroom, I knew my future included working with kids. I stayed in the program for a few semesters, but, after some time getting to know my kids, realized this was not a career I wanted.

As an ELA teacher, I'm privy to lots of info that other teachers may not get about their kids thanks to the power of writing. This is wonderful in terms of relationship building, but clues me in to some of the more awful parts of a kid's life as well. I figured that currently I know more than I want to about the bad things that go on in the world, if I became a counselor, the world as I know it would get darker. No thanks.

Another example of the wiseness of my decision to pursue an MA in English Ed occurred this past week. Several of my students are in foster homes, some with more success than others. On Thursday, the office called one of my students out of her 4th hour class to release her into the custody of two strangers - effective immediately. Her foster family decided they didn't want her any more, and within a half hour of discovering that, the girl was on her way to a detention center in Detroit - not even allowed to say goodbye to her teachers or friends. So not cool - and we wonder why some kids are screwed up.

So, while this has reaffirmed my career choice, it's also reaffirmed my intentions to become a foster parent when my kids are grown. I like to think some good has come out of this.

Bowling for ?

My friends, Sue and Lori, and I decided that we become way too hermit-like in these dark winter months, so last fall, we joined a bowling league to force us out of the house one night a week. The idea was to see each other regularly, and to perhaps meet some new people along the way. Sounds brilliant right. Well, it turns out that maybe not so much. It's not that we don't have a nice time, but really all any of us want to be doing from 7-9:30 on a Tuesday night is cuddling up on the couch with our dogs watching Two and a Half Men reruns. So, needless to say, we are anxiously awaiting the end of the season.

Maybe next year we'll try darts.

Speaking of cuddling with my dog - I'm guessing most of you don't know I have one (don't you love how I assume enough people are actually reading this to allow for a most of you!! Call me Pollyanna:). Jasper (named after a semi-famous vampire) is suppossed to be Ally's ridiculously cute birthday present dog, and he is all that. Except he thinks he's my dog. But - here's a couple pictures just so you can fall in love (and see my cute kids too:).

Noon-thirty already!?

As my devoted readers (which number many:) may have noticed, posting here has taken too much energy of late, but when my friend Kevin exclaimed that my blog sucked (which I am choosing to believe is in reference to quantity, not quality) I decided it was time to shake off the funk and get back to the business of becoming a writer.

The end results of Daylight Savings Time are, for me, wonderful. I love the light - crave the light - am looking forward to actual spring, then summer, with gleeful anticipation. But, this day with only 23 short hours in it about kicks my butt. In fact, it has been a long bleak winter for me.

Despite appearances, I am not much a doer of drugs, but two pharmaceuticals these past several months have persuaded me that a daily drug habit can be a good thing.

Late fall - perhaps with the end of Daylight Savings Time as the signal - my mood began spiraling downward to the point that I finally relented and asked my doc for some help. I'm thinking this turned out to be a good thing - no more crying jags on my way to work, and I've actually been managing to get out of bed at a reasonable hour. Doc recommends staying on them pretty much except when the summer is here - I'm beginning to agree.

Then, in early February, we finally put Carlos on ADHD meds. I wasn't so sure about that, and I'm not sure his dad or his teacher were totally gung-ho either. Carlos was a fab little dude with a ton of energy - was there really anything to be fixed? Apparently so. One month and 26 magic little pills later I can't imagine it took us so long to do this. He is still a fab little dude with plenty of energy, but he can now focus that energy on specific tasks. The amount of progress he's made with his speech, writing, and other fine motor skills is tremendous. Seriously.

So Kevin - let me know if I stop sucking:)

Ringing in a New Year with a House Full of Middle School Girls

Al's birthday is nine days before Christmas, which her dad and I have always celebrated seperately from Christmas, so I don't think she's ever felt "shorted" in the gift department. However, parties were long a challenge, because, let's face it, the week before Christmas is often filled with enough holiday festivities that a little girls birthday party is an easy one to skip. I believe it was four years ago that we came up with a brilliant idea - Al (with some help from her momma) hosts a New Year's Eve sleepover. It's perfect - the girls have a great chance to ring in the new year together, the parents don't have to look for a babysitter (or leave their MS girls home alone), and Al actually has people show to her birthday party. The only drawback? I have a house full of middle school girls. I believe I'm some sort of masochist.

Snow Shovels = Good Karma

This is the beginning of my second winter here on Whitney Street, and I have been continuing my habit of digging out not only my driveway, but that of my elderly neighbor, plus helping other neighbors who might be shoveling while I'm out. Just the neighborly thing to do.

Well, today I got home from work, and I was deciding whether I should park in the street rather than further mash down the boogers that the snow-plow leaves at the botom of the driveway when - dun-duh-duh - someone had already moved all that chunky, heavy snow for me!!!

Don't know for sure who it was, so this is be best I can do for a THANK YOU!

Vampires and Werewolves

Well, I should be:
1) Working on my culminating project for my MSU class
2) Grading papers
3) Planning for next week

but all this has taken a backseat to Bella, Edward, and Jacob. If you don't know who these beautiful people are, then you clearly don't have many teenagers in you life.

Twilight is all the rage among the adolescent set. I read the first book several years ago, and though I couldn't put it down, I thought it was a bit lame. Fast forward a few years - ALL the 13 year-olds in my life (which are many) think these are the greatest books written and can't wait to see the movie. I took Al on opening day, and she then convinced me to read the rest of the books.

So, one week later they have consumed my free time. I have read more in the last week than I probably have the rest of the school year (no small feat). But I hate it. The books aren't well written, they're predictable, Bella infuriates me with her devotion to her "Man", there is a total fairy-tale love-at-first-sight thing that is disturbing, and the characters are not super-bright - lots of plot "twists" that surprise them were so predictable that I didn't even know I figured them out - I just though they were obvious to everyone. Kind of like if tomorrow's headline was Scientists Discover - the Sky is Blue!

So what is so compelling about these books? Pure escapism? Avoidance (I do have a ton I'm avoiding - see list at the top)? I can't figure it out.

Let me know if you do.