I know so many of these teachers...

And they all believe they aren't being laughed at by their students, but rather "with."
Uh-huh.

Through the Looking Glass

Lyra has met her Jabberwocky, and its name is Psycho cat (or something -- it didn't stand still long enough for me to read its tags).

She's perched on our ledge by the stairs, flipping her tail with dangerous speed and making her crazy high pitched mewing sound, that I believe translates to, "Are you guys frickin seeing this???!!!!!!!!!!"

The Jabberwocky cat is an outside/inside cat (a bad idea, if you ask me and many vets) that belongs to an apartment near ours and spends a lot of its time sunbathing on the white sedan parked outside our window. This drives my poor kitty nuts. The Jabberwocky cat is black and white -- just like my baby -- so I wonder if she feels as though she's having some crazy Trainspotting kind of hallucination. Poor kitty. Sadly for her, I am not going to let her outside to investigate.

First day of school was golden. The half-hour lunch was superb -- at my old school it was technically 20 minutes, but with students milling about during the incorporated passing time it ended up being about 15 minutes of alone time for lunch. Not enough when you teach at a middle school. 30 minutes is a great improvement.

The kids were awesome, and let me tell you -- if anyone here needs a burst of energy, just go walk around in an 8th grade classroom for awhile. If you are at all an extrovert, you will be so powered up. I believe introverts might find themselves intoverting back into their intestines just to escape the crazy (but wonderful!) children and their hormones all around you. They say it takes a special person to teach middle school...but I don't know about that. Sometimes I think it must take an insane person, but that doesn't seem very upholding of my career choice...oh well! They are great! And if you ever want to feel like you are seriously changing lives day by day, teach middle school. They will yell and kick and scream with every lesson, but (seriously now) you can see it in their eyes that they know its important. And when some kid tells you on the first day that you're their favorite teacher so far (what a dangerous thing for me to hear...that could go right to my huge head) because you smiled at them (that's all it took...wowsers) you will know it's all good. I love my job.

Anyway, I'll switch the channel from Lifetime here to tell you a little bit more about my new Vegas lifestyle. Buckwalter and I have been going strong with our slow-but-steady exercise plans, and I've found a new outlet for mine -- cardio pilates. Seriously crazy stuff. Now, I have never been as fit as I'd like to be, but I'm probably at least as fit as the "average" American if not a little more (that's my optimistic side talking). But I love this stuff because I have always hated the monotony of cardio workouts. I've tried lots of stuff that other people love, and it's just so boring to me. Plus you get sweaty and hot and thirsty and it sucks. The first step in helping my cardio health was our little mini-iPod, Greeny. She's helped me to keep from being too bored at the gym and helps me think more about "Act(in') a Fool" and doing my "1,2 step" than about the icky icky sweat spots growing in my armpits. Gross. But now, I have my new friend, Ana, who leads me through an awesome Pilates mat workout with lots of stretching but not too much overkill on the different poses, and then takes me on a fun, jazzercisey cardio time at the end! It was awesome! I was sweating and I didn't mind! And believe me, that's a big step.

So that's it. My day in a nutshell. Or at least, my day in a post. Ha ha. Wish me luck tomorrow...the first day "charm" will have worn off...

Reality kicks in...

The kids show up on Monday -- finally! There comes a time for every teacher (I think -- at least there would if I were every teacher) where they wish they just didn't have to spend more time in their room. I'm ready, already. Let's get going. So come, students, and learn from my wisdom. I shall show you the pathway to correct spelling, and the power of the English language -- used correctly or not.

Anyway, Buckwalter's working today, and I'm meeting him for lunch soon. But it seems we'll be spending weekends sadly apart for the most part. I have them off, and he will be working. Still excited that I might be able to come and play around on a piano for an hour or so while customers mill around, but I don't have my hopes up too high for that one.

Now that September's looming, I'm starting to feel more sad that we can't be in MN for Muffin's wedding. It can't be helped, but it's still sad. We will definitely be thinking about him and hoping the day will be as lovely as he is.

Now to burn more CDs for my classroom and eat a pop-tart. Aah, the Smores pop-tart. There is no finer way to begin your day at the crack of noon.

How's this for Vegas?

Three words for you: Feng Shui Consultant.

That's right folks. My school has a Feng Shui Consultant. How's that for awesomely awesome? I am loving it. Perhaps I shall have her into my classroom for a consultation later this week. On second thought, I'm sure some of my well-loved posters might be considered by her for tossing aside...maybe I'll just go it alone.

I've been spending some time recently burning some CDs for said classroom -- you know, some of my favorite music but with appropriate lyrics? And it turns out that I've got some inappropriate tastes. I guess the majority of my musical favorites would not be considered school friendly. Turns out Nate Dogg and Warren G discoursing over hip-hop status in the world of music doesn't really cut it in public schools. So I turn to one of my bests -- the Mighty Wind soundtrack. Oops, have to reburn that one too, because of the high-larious version of "Start Me Up" the Folksmen sing. Okay, so how about one of the Ultralounge CDs? Nope -- strike out again -- "Just a Gigolo" will not have my students concentrating for long. So far my classroom has four CDs -- David Sanchez (jazz tenor saxophone), the Coffee Club Orchestra (20's and 30's big band music), Mozart for Your Mind (this CD contains...let me check the track lists...ahh, here it is...Mozart), and my first burned CD -- a combo of the Rushmore and Steve Zissou soundtracks. But I must have MORE! MORE MORE MORE!!!!!!

On to the work at hand. Tonight Buckwalter and I make it our duty to go to the Suncoast Casino (that's THAT Suncoast and not THIS Suncoast) and turn our $20 into $30 again. And then have some din-din. Oh, and by the way -- Buckwalter, if you're looking to spice up the Victorian in a silly fashion (which I'm actually sure you're not, but I've already begun typing and I just feel like such a failure using the "backspace" button) you should consider having, as your casino's free show, some sort of Oliver/My Fair Lady crazy people jumping in the streets and throwing watermelons dance time every hour on the hour. It has to start with one lonely little boy singing, and then suddenly everyone's a-go-go! People could be doing acrobatics across the casino floor while others are twirling batons on the bar. Doesn't that sound great! I mean, it's not at all in the keeping of your theme, but still....worth considering. And THEN rejecting.

Me, stay late?

I promise you -- the time I spent working on my work outside of paid, contract hours was almost zero in the past two years. The bets piece of advice I received during student teaching was "Don't bring your work home with you -- in any way." And it's good advice. Keeping a nice separation both mentally and in the physical world too between your home life and your work life is a, well, a life saver. I don't understand how or why some people blur this line -- why would you want to work when you're at home? The exception for me of course, is money. If I'm being paid while I'm at home, then that's fine. But no money? No work. Don't bring those papers home to grade -- dumb, dumb idea.
But today, I found myself really into decorating my room. My room is big, and I have space for all my posters! Hooray! And I just got into it! We were done at 2:45, and the next thing I knew, it was 4:30 and the assistant principal was on the loudspeaker telling everyone they were going to turn the alarm on in 5 mintues. Wowsers! I worked late!
Now, it's important to understand that I do NOT intend to make a habit of this. But I think it speaks to my happiness here and in this new job so far. I would have NEVER stayed one moment past contract hours at my old place of employment. But today, I broke that little chain. I'm sure it'll link right back up tomorrow (otherwise I'll have to negotiate for more money) so don't worry about little old Madame becoming a workaholic. Ha ha to that.

Amazing people all around...

It's moments like this when you realize that there are people in your life that you wish you had gotten a chance to know better. Especially when you receive a poignant, revealing and affirming email from their outpost in India. A woman I worked with this summer (a lovely woman) has taken a semester off from college to go and volunteer in India. She's working as an English teacher in various places throughout the fall/winter, but right now she's living in what sounds like a run-down house in the Himalayas with other people as lovely as her. They're teaching the children in the area at a one room school house that has very limited supplies due to the poverty in the area. The kids have trouble pronouncing her name and therefore call her "Pepsi." I thought that was a cute tidbit.

It's the everlasting human idea of "making a difference." And she's doing it! Right now as we speak on close to the other side of the world from me. I'm so proud to know her...and all of you too! (A side note to those of you going into or in education -- she discovered this summer that you can make a difference just with a smile. The benefits of being a teacher are many, including the feeling that, even on the bad days, someone's benefiting from you just being alive.)

Ahh, Sunset

We received our first issue of the most fabulous magazine, Sunset -- a guide to living, decorating, traveling and what have you in the west. I look forward to sleeping in tomorrow and reading my magazine on my balcony with the sun rising to midsky and my plants freshly watered. Ah, the weekend.

But on another note, I've been provoked (though not in a negative way) by Quentin's words on The Corral. Perspective. Important indeed. It is of utmost importance.

I heard a speaker today -- Dr. Harry Wong, who wrote the book The First Days of School. He spoke about his big ideas about effective education -- procedure and routine. For myself, it was a bit of an eye-opener, because I have usually equated routine filled classrooms with two things: elementary school, and boring. But I've decided I'm going to try some of his ideas in my classroom this year. It's always good to spice it up a bit, right? :)

Here's where perspective comes into it. I've been teaching for 2 years. That makes me still a rookie, but at least a rookie who's been around the half-block. The new teachers in my new district are DOMINATED by fresh off the vine teachers -- never taught before. But even the dominating majority here still leaves about 300 people to be accounted for. And that's the rest of us -- people with at least a few years experience. Some of these old hats are inspired, excited, and thrilled by the change in scenery, the new district, the fun speakers, the crazy doorprizes, and the newness of it all. Some of them are sitting through these inservices complaining and whining, and stating over and over again that they would rather be working in their rooms, because that's where they need to be right now. One of them even assured me that she wasn't this negative in her own classroom, and that she would never dream of being this negative in front of students.

I smiled and felt like hitting her.

These people perhaps don't lack perspective, but they are certainly in need of a serious perspective shift. Realize that you are in control. You can be happy. You can be whiny. It's your choice. Sometimes there are outside factors that are so large, that this idea of emotions as a choice disappears. But an 8 hour inservice that you are being paid for and a death in the family are not exactly the same thing.

I'm rambling, aren't I?

I just hope that I can always keep my perspective -- make things fresh for myself and fun for myself even if they are boring. Because I have found in education that your attention as a student is directly related to your effectiveness in the classroom. Think about the crazy crazy people you may have sat next to in high school, and picture some of them in front of a classroom someday. Yeah. It's scary, alright.

So I vow, now, here, to all of you, that I will keep my attitude in mind whenever I am at an inservice, conference, etc. or some of the more boring aspects of teaching. (There aren't that many, it's true.) I promise that I will stay positive (s.p.) and make you all unafraid to say, "Hey, do you see that smiley chipper lady over there? She's my buddy, and you should know, she's exactly the same chipper person in her classroom. What a great gal."

I do love complimenting myself on behalf of all of you. Thanks for the kind words, guys!

For those of you who are keeping score...

I learned today that in my new school district you can become tenured after 1 year. They are currently still 100 high school teachers short for the upcoming school year. :) Viva viva.

Why did I ever teach anywhere else!???!!!!!

WOW! To all of you still comtemplating teaching in Minnesota in the new era in which we live, I tell you that had I known the first welcome day for new teachers would be like this, I would have never even graced the schools in Minnesota that I did. I would have stepped straight onto a plane and never looked back.

My day was awesome. I didn't make any new friends as intended, but no matter. That kind of thing took me two years at my last job, and even then they were just beginning to blossom into friendship. So that's okay. I did meet a couple women from the Philippines who will be teaching middle school math -- they even invited me to sit with them. I felt so loved.

But -- my day. First of all, we were in a middle school in Henderson, and when I arrived 45 mintues earlier than the first speech was scheduled for, the parking lot was already full. I pulled into a nearby church parking lot (where I received forgiveness for all the things that will stay in Osh-Lash-Vegash). And I began my trek into the world of my new school district.

Breakfast was provided -- actually catered. Not so at my last place of employment. There we received stale muffins from the local bakery -- nice and thoughtful, but not delicious. Here there were fruit plates, your choice of 5 different juices, three types of coffee, and many lovely pastries of which I only ate one. Yum.

Then we all listened to some people speak -- here's the kicker. The principal of the school we were meeting in has lived and worked here for 12 years. And he told us all that, like many of us, this had been sort of a Plan B. (lots of relieved laughter here, since I think that is the case for many people, me included). He was originally from upstate New York, and most of his friends who stayed put in the NY state are just recently coming into stable positions in the schools they've subbed at. He, however, is finishing off his something year as this school's head administrator and will be moving to a new NEW school this fall. Wow.

We broke into groups first by geography -- so I was in a room with other Midwesterners -- from MN, IA, WI, N and SD. There were maybe 40 people in the room, and as we went around and introduced ourselves, I noticed that approx. 25 of those people were from MN. And all of those people said that they were so happy to finally have a full time job, they were so excited not to be subbing anymore, etc. I felt a little bashful as the ONLY one from MN who had previously had a full time job in our home state.

Then there were some blah mixer games, which I normally like, but were not of hte fun or creative quality that I have become accustomed to at UB in the summer. Blah, blah, blah.

THEN! The big ticket came up. Free lunch catered by a local BBQ place with awesome desserts by a local bakery (NOT stale) and cake. But here's the big deal, folks. There was a raffle drawing. I was assuming it would be for a few gift certificates, maybe one big prize. And I was technically right. Technically.

They were giving away tickets to Mystere, cruises on Lake Mead, flights over the Grand Canyon, gift certificates to LOTS of restaurants, certificates to hair salons, baskets from Barnes and Noble, goody baskets from the bakery that had supplied our desserts, and (drumroll) a check for $1,000. No gimmicks, just $1,000 cash.

No, I did not add an extra 0. But I would like to add that at my previous place of employment I received one Horace Mann magnet and one Horace Mann pen.

It is true that I did not win any of these glorious prizes. That part is of little importance. The important part is that the chance to win something so awesome was made available. They must have given out at least 100-150 prizes of some level. Wowsers.

It is with that last piece of note that I am left wondering what will happen to education in MN? How will my homestate survive? There is no way you would find a district in MN that would be able to put out this kind of welcome mat. The money just doesn't exist. And I would add that if you did see this kind of thing in MN, it would be an extreme WASTE of education funds -- they need to use those things to pay the few teachers they have left, and recruit more counselors (which they seem to always be doing for some reason).

So my final thought (or maybe not final, that remains to be seen with the rest of the week) on this topic is, why did I ever bother with MN? I know the answer -- because I thought that was how my life would turn out. But when there are awesome teaching jobs in other places in the country, why would I have ever stuck around and been part time again? Why would I have tried to glue together a job out of 6 different .17 positions? The job I wanted as a teacher was waiting right here for me. As someone who never thought she would move out of MN, I have to honestly say that I'm very proud of myself for making this choice with Buckwalter. There will be a job for him here. There is a job for me here. Why would we settle for anything else? Booya. Advantage us.

Popping corks

I had a pleasant surprise on my drive back from the TB test today. That's right...I had to take a Tuberculosis (sp?) test in order to be hired by the school district. Not much to complain about -- a skin test that turns into nothing, you come back two days later and show them the nothing and they make a note of it. But seriously -- I equate this disease with things like sending people to sunnier climates in Victorian England and Doc Holiday. Hm. I guess at least I don't have it.
Anyway, that's not the point. The point is I've been reprogramming my radio stations in the MINI, and having a lot of fun with that. It's great learning a new city. Especially when you have awesome music to listen to while you drive around acquainting yourself. And there are some awesome hip hop stations in this town. Lovely, lovely, lovely.
Again, not the point. So there I was, coming back from the east side to home on the west side, not diseased with TB, and searching for a radio station at a stoplight. I was waiting to cross the Strip and was wondering exactly what the "Jubilee" is all about at Bally's when I noticed huge sprays of water over the trees. And I remembered that Bellagio is right there. It must have been a super showy show -- maybe something about pride and being an American, because the sprays just kept coming and coming. How many other cities can you view a fountain show from on your way home from a TB test reading?
I think this move may have been a good idea. I give it a plus so far.

Minor panic attack...

The first in the road to a new teaching job...more to come I'm sure.
As I was printing out my new job packet explaining my exciting week of new teacher workshop days, I became nervous for the first time. Students? No, not nervous about them yet. My school? Nope. This Tuesday, I'll be attending my first of many events where I will meet all the other new people in the district, and have a sort of "mixer" time.
I know I'm good at these kinds of things...they've always been successful before, but I just get so NERVOUS about them. Grr! It's especially frustrating when I was thinking my work week would begin on Wednesday, and then realizing that actually it would kind of begin on Tuesday. Yikes! Argh! Sooner than I was prepared for, and sometimes things like that can really throw me off. Like right now. Thrown. Off.
But it will be okay. Never fear, dear readers. The Madame will come out of this mixer mishap with nary a scratch. Maybe even unscathed. But as for right now, I'm ready to curl up into a little ball, and maybe just get a job at some nice retail place instead. Sigh.

Weather of a different sort

Buckwalter and I have been spending all of our last vacation days until I start workshop and he starts the job hunt (which, technically, he already has, so maybe I should say until he starts interviewing) watching our DVDs, sitting on our new balcony, and knitting. I'm knitting...he's not.

After a summer full of an additional teaching job (which I love, don't get me wrong, and will miss a whole bunch) it's been nice to have this week or so to get organized. The last of the boxes were finally cleared from the living room today. Hooray! Things like that tend to bother me a lot. In college I used to not be able to go to sleep until I had unpacked my dorm room. I had to give that up when I started living in apartments, though. You can have a dorm room unpacked completely by 3:00 in the morning -- an apartment? Not so much.

There is an awesome thunderstorm happening right now. It's been going on for the past 2 to 3 hours. Rain, thunder, dark clouds, lightning in the distance, all that jazz. And I'm very happy to see it come. One concern I had with moving into a desert climate was that I would be done with storms. I'm relieved to find that's not the case. The clouds are magnificent moving over the mountains and then slowly disappearing as they drift into the valley.

As someone who never thought she'd live anywhere except Minnesota, I have to say that this move gets a plus so far.

Sex und die Stadt

We've been watching a lot of "Sex and the City" lately, for reasons twofold:
1) We have no cable
and
2) It's fabulous.

In fact, it's a little bit of an understatement to say we've been watching "a lot" of this lovely show lately. We started two weeks ago with episode one, season one, and are starting on episode one, season four tonight. Goodness gracious me. That is a lot of sex. Und die Stadt.

Something does happen every time I watch this show consistently. Suddenly, after about, I'd say, 4 episodes, I realize that I have so many wonderful things to wear. And I rarely wear them. Why, you ask? Because most of the time, I'd rather wear my jean shorts and a free T-shirt from UB instead. Comfy, cozy, and just nice in any weather.

But when I watch this show, my closet begins to come alive and all of these skirts and dresses and sexy outfits I can't possibly wear as a teacher start to threaten to eat me if they don't get out more often. And then the inevitable happens: I find myself writing on my blog on a completely ordinary day where I'm eating both meals (that being lunch and dinner) at home, and I'm wearing a green and yellow sundress that I used to reserve only for date nights.

It's good to be comfy. I am very happy that I am the kind of person who doesn't always feel they need to look their best, in case the mailman comes to call, or a camera crew walks by, or someone peeps in your window, or whatever the reason people who are always dressed up do what they do. But it is nice to remember these cloth veterans of date nights gone by, and these amateurs of date nights to come by letting them see the light of day every now and then. I'm sure they get sick of never seeing the sun. Poor things.

The real question is, will I feel sad enough for my clothes to break out the evening gown for the day tomorrow, or my wedding gown for church on Sunday? Hey, now that I live here, I bet I could find loads of places to wear my wedding gown to. And it thought it would only have one day in the sun...

Please note the loveliness...

For those of you regulars to the Report, I have added you in (finally, with some help from Bucky) to a lovely little "Links" section there on the left. Oh, you all look so sweet! How adorable...
Anyway, we're finally here, and I just have a few words to say about marriage. Specifically mine. And how happy I am.
I don't like to gush, and those of you that know me know this to be true, but Buckwalter and I had an awesome 1st (2nd) anniversary in Osh-Gosh-Vegash. We tried a new restaurant, where I guess poor Buckwalter's lasagna tasted like it was adorned with Chef Boyardee sauce (not so good) but my chicken cannelloni (sp?) was so good. And the gelato (which I think might be one of those things that is good wherever you are...I don't have any facts to back that up) was also so good.
But the awesome part of the evening was when we smoked the pre-embargo Cuban cigars we'd been saving for quite some time. One was purchased for him by me, and I think the other was a present from G-money, that man of taste and graciousness. I had never had anything Cuban before (I had a Brazilian boyfriend in high school ;) ) but never a Cuban cigar. It was AWESOME. I know that particular adjective makes me sound dumb and more than a little bit stupid, but it simply fits. The cigar was AWESOME. Awe with a some on the end. And I finally learned how to blow smoke rings! Which I intend to perfect before Marathon Man comes back in December for Coke-in-a-bottle and cigars. I hope to someday strive for wizardry with my smoke blowing -- it would be so fantastical to be able to blow a smoke ship. Ha ha. Anyway, it was a really nice time, and I thought I needed to mention my first experience with the tobacco that is so close to wacko.

Also, the apartment's coming together really well. We've got a lot of art hung, or hanged if you prefer. There were two new additions to the new home is Lash-Vegash -- two new pillowcases from my mom. Buckwalter's is an awesome cheeseburger and fries pillow and mine sports some striped umbrellas and rain. You'll have to come visit us to understand what that might mean.

But everything's coming into focus now. And I have to say that so far, I really like it here. Operation "Get the Madame out of the Midwest" is off to a roaring beginning.

Now it's time to be off to my "so good" in-unit washer and dryer. I love being able to say "I think I'll throw in a load of towels," and not have to worry about some old lady stealing my laundry basket when I'm back up in my apartment. Crazy old lady.