Move Baby Move

I love McSweeney's.

So Long Dearie

I am all cleaned out (with only a slight finger injury) and gone! So long, Utah!



P.S. More to come soon, I promise.

Pick-a-Little/Talk-a-Little

For someone who's on summer vacation, I've been a bad blogger. Sorry. This week was ripe with blog fodder, but part of the potential entries involved my multiple freak-outs about moving. And those freak-outs are not the least bit conducive to sitting in front of my laptop and verbalizing my thoughts.

So, to catch you up, here's what's been going on in my world:

Today
I spent the morning on the phone, trying to fix the issues I'm having with my moving company. I don't like movers.

The day perked up when I headed to the opening session of the downtown farmer's market. It was hot and crowded and very lively. I hung out with Janelle and Dallas and Janelle's family, got my first sunburn of the season, and didn't buy a single thing.

Next came errands, mostly setting up a new bank account (my current one is local and from my college days, so it's about time I got one with a national company). In the process, I found out that I have a savings account I didn't know about. From 1991. With over $2000 in it. I wonder how much of that is interest from the past 17 years. It kind of reminded me of that episode of Futurama where Fry discovers what 1000 years of interest did to his old bank account. I think I'll put it towards my move. Imagine that.

After errands and more time on the phone with the movers, I realized that I hadn't eaten yet today, so I picked up what I affectionately and nostalgically call a European meal - some good crusty bread, a yogurt, and a pear. Yum!

Then, off to get my hair cut. I told April she had free reign with my hair - she's really good at figuring out people's personal styles as well as hair. I trust her, and I wanted something different. She gave me this cute asymmetrical disconnected cut that I really like.

And as I type this, I realize that as a good blogger, I should probably post a photo. So here I am in all of my Photo Booth glory:
(By the way, you see that tower of boxes behind me? Yeah, those are all filled with books. And that would be Tower #1 of 4. Seriously, I have a LOT of books.)

The day wrapped up with a visit with my brother at Liberty Heights, take-out from Rumbi's, and an evening getting ready for my trip to Grand Junction tomorrow.

Friday
Janelle, Christine and I ran away to Bear Lake for a day. We were going to do a slumber-party-type-of-trip, but Janelle's husband had some issues with the idea of Janelle and the kids being away overnight, so we settled for a day trip. 2 hours up, mostly spent listening to the Broadway channel on Christine's satellite radio, then lunch at LaBeau's, movies at the cabin, and then back to city life again in the evening. We actually did pack swimsuits and towels and all for the beach, but it was rather chilly up there. The lake is full and blue and pretty, but we didn't go near it, opting instead for building a fire at the cabin and passing the baby around over movies. It was much-needed by all.

Monday-Thursday
Packing, packing, packing. And a trip to the temple, some grocery shopping and home cooking (a treat for me, since I usually don't bother during the school year. The featured meal of the week was fish tacos. Oh, I also got sucked into reading "The Shadow of the Wind", which I highly recommend to you book lovers out there (of adult ages, I'm afraid. As your former teacher, I can't recommend this to you lovely, bibliophiliac ex-students of mine until you're old enough for books with scenes of, shall we say for those who were in my English class this year, "pink bits"). It's terribly fun. Jason's the one who recommended it to me, emailing me the suggestion when he was a mere 30 pages in. I finished it first, telling him that he had to call me when he finished it, too. He did last night at 11:00pm, which is why I didn't go to bed until 2:30 am, which is why I've had a headache all night and really ought to go to bed soon.

Anyway.

On Thursday I hit a major funk of a mood, feeling very angry and sad and stressed and all kinds of other things at once. So, naturally, I called my mom. She's very nice to me when I'm in complaining moods, which has been all-to-frequent this week. After I got off the phone with her, feeling better, I realized that that was the first real human interaction I had had since Sunday. Four days without really talking to anyone. I mean, I was busy and active and all, which explains why I didn't even realize how isolated I had been. I was surprised, though, at what a toll that took on my moods. As I said before, Friday was a much-needed day off.

Oh, and up until the trip yesterday, I had been very good, exercising about 1 hour a day every day since Saturday. It's a lot easier to do when it's mid-morning, as opposed to the early evening. I'm not at all eager to go back to work.

Tomorrow I'm off to good ol' Grand Junction. It's mostly a trip of practicality - I'm taking the cat down so she misses the rest of the move (she's already totally freaked out by the boxes), getting my car repaired, and hopefully hanging out with the folks a bit and playing with Emily and co.

There. I've been a good blogger, given a thorough update, and now I'm off to bed. If I can find my way there through the towers of boxes.

TTFN!

Magic Man

Last weekend, while my parents were in town for Andy's graduation, we went furniture shopping for my new place. Specifically, I was hunting for new armchairs for the living room.

We looked at Ikea first, and while there were some styles that I liked, the color choices were not good. I began to fear that the only way to match the existing couch was to get chairs in stark cream or black. That, or get rid of the couch and start from scratch. Neither were favorable options in my mind.

Then my parents suggested we stop by another favorite furniture store of mine, Copenhagen West. My bedroom set is from this upscale Scandinavian store, and I love their stuff. Upon entering, we were greeted by an enthusiastic salesman, Casey.

Casey: Hello! Anything I can help you find today?
Me: Yes. I'm looking for an armchair or two to go in a room with a dark teal couch and butter yellow walls.
Casey: Well, there's nothing like a challenge, now is there?

Casey proceeded to lead us on a zig-zaggy tour of the store, pointing out various styles of chairs. Our destination, it turns out, was what I now refer to as The Magic Pillow.

Casey produced The Magic Pillow from a display towards the back, proclaiming it one of his favorites. "My partner and I have two on our couch at home!" I immediately liked the colors in it, so we set off through the store again, this time with The Magic Pillow leading the way, gripped by Casey.

And lo, we came upon a lovely little swivel leather armchair in apple green. I never would have picked that color, but it went beautifully with The Magic Pillow, and when my dad held up a swatch of yellow fabric he found that is close to my walls, I fell in love.

It's close to this style. Now picture it in something like this color. Crazy, right? I'm telling you, the pillow is magic!

And this is why it helps to shop with someone who knows how to decorate (not to mention two very generous parents who not only bought me two of these darling chairs, but also two Magic Pillows - thanks again, parents!).





Behold, the magic:

Okay, it's better in person than on a blurry picture taken via Blackberry. Still, do you see how it actually matches the teal couch? Magic!

Give Them What They Want

Why I love the internet:

I posted an ad on Craig's List saying, essentially,
"Broken NordicTrack Elliptical. Free, if you pick it up."

Within 36 hours I had three offers, and this afternoon it was gone.

Yay for Craig's List!

All Choked Up

So many posts I want to type, so little energy! The end is in sight, though, people! And come that glorious day next week when I will have nothing (NOTHING) to do other than packing my apartment and resolving banking issues and organizing the piles of things I've toted home from my classroom and updating my computer and waking up when I want to and not at the ungodly hour some adults from agricultural times decided teenagers (and me) would be at their peak learning times, at that time, my faithful readers, I shall blog, blog, BLOG!

A word in the meantime about emotional teenagers (and me).

So the Farewell assembly was Tuesday, and it went very well. Towards the end, Bonnie and Lindly sang For Good (technical side note - they wore peach and teal shirts respectively. A nice nod to the Wicked characters, but horrible to light when my only cyc colors are red, blue, green, and orange. After much debate with very patient techies, Ben and I finally found just the right blend of red, blue, and orange. And it was pretty.)

I was in my usual place in the front row (Handy for 1) checking the sound in the house since the booth's monitors are totally unreliable, 2) running the projector, and 3) being totally in control. Or at least feeling that way. Remember the God-like character Ed Harris played on "The Truman Show"? Yeah, that's totally me during assemblies). I had my headset on and partway through the song, I heard some odd noises. For a moment, I thought the headsets were going out on us again. Looking around, I discovered that the noise was not in the headset, but rather the audience. Some of the girls around me had started crying.

The tears, I think, actually started with the Dance Company number Kelley put together for the assembly. It was very much a "saying good-bye" piece, and that triggered a lot of the tears. "For Good" sent them over the edge. By the end of the song, there were at least three girls and one guy sitting near me who were sobbing (SOBBING). The can't-catch-your-breath-I-don't-care-who-hears-me-because-
it's(gasp)so(gasp)SAD!-kind-of-sobbing.

Awesome.

Especially when Ben introduced his gift to the ninth graders. As SBO advisor, he's been taking a lot of pictures since he was installed; which, coincidently, was when this year's ninth graders were little obedient sevvies. So he made them a slideshow of retrospective pictures. All bespectacled and metallic-grinning with their new polos buttoned all the way up. They were so cute.

And any sort of emotional control they had found during the faculty band's numbers scattered and the tears started up again.

To be fair, I used to cry a lot at their age, too. Mostly at movies. There was a time when any movie brought me to tears, including an anniversary screening of "Pinocchio". Then I felt silly and I got very good at controlling my tear ducts (Yay for the intellectual conquering the emotional!). So, despite a lot of pent-up emotion this week (including the horrendous task of saying good-bye to Heidi - she's off to Ireland for a month, so this chapter of our friendship is done), I kept control and didn't cry.

Even today! When my ninth graders all left, when the administration moved up the refund time, canceling my last period with my Advanced Drama kids (I was furious that we didn't get to formally close the class!), when I gave Sonetra my copy of Nobody's Princess because he couldn't get it at the library and he's fallen in love with Greek mythology this year and he was literally speechless, when a student from my first year at Dead President Junior High came back to tell me he got things figured out and he's graduating from high school tomorrow (!!!), when I had to say good-bye to students I've taught all three years and whom I love dearly, I kept control.

That is, until Jackie came to my classroom and gave me a DVD. She had interviewed and filmed dozens of students and teachers, asking them for memories of me and farewells for me. It's hilarious (thanks largely to Jacob and Daniel, of Shakespeare Festival/Nick's eulogy fame, who managed to work their way into almost every interview), and touching. It's also what finally made me let go and cry.

The Melody of Spring

I typically end my Drama 1 class with a Lip Sync assignment. It's a popular one with a good reuptation - when I answer questions about the class on the first day, they say "Do we get to do the Lip Sync thing?"

This year, two of my students asked if they could do a video instead of a live performance. I knew they had taken video productions (a new class at our school), so I figured, what the hey?

I expected a video of them turning on the camera and pretending to sing along while the music played off camera. Their actual project is far more awesome than that. And, they put it up on YouTube themselves, so I get to post it here for you to enjoy and for you to see two eighth-grade reasons why I'm sad to be leaving.




(I don't get the antlers, but I love the antlers!)

Rent

I paid my last rent check! Yay me!










(Not my actual check)
(Nor my actual name)
(Nor the actual amount I pay in rent. Trust me.)

Lookin' Good But Feelin' Bad

This week has been a turmoil of emotions for me.

First, happiness:
Teresa, Nick, and I rendez-voused at my place on Saturday and watched more of "Slings & Arrows".
Sunday, Heidi, Brent and I drove to Boise to see Saltimbanco (which is totally worthe the drive to Boise!). We stayed the night at the nice Cambria Suites, and I got to meet Heidi's awesome friend, Mary. I'll post pictures from this trip soon.

Then, wonder:
As we drove into the valley on Monday afternoon, I suddenly felt very strongly like this wasn't home for me anymore. Denver's home now, and this is just temporary. Odd that the feeling came so soon!

Then, stress:
Tuesday I got back to school to find Awards Night disaster. I'm not up to describing it here tonight, so just sympathize with me over screwed -up orders, zero time to cope with anything, and kids who suddenly decided that they want summer NOW.

Then, sadness:
I got an email from a woman who said she had just been hired to teach drama at Dead President Junior High next year. While I was thrilled that 1) they hired someone and 2) that person wanted me to help them "make a smooth transition", I was suddenly seized by a fervent and fierce mother-bear determination to protect my program and my kids. They are MINE!

Yeah, I know it's my choice to go, and I'm really not crazy or changing my mind. Still, as soon as I heard from my successor, I was terribly sad about leaving. I'm dreading starting over again, and I'm going to miss my colleagues, my students, and my department.

Then, realization:
I only have to wear dress code five more times!
(Again, my choice, so I'm not really complaining. Still, I totally get where the kids are coming from when they complain about it. I'm sick of it, too. However, I'm still totally in favor of it, so don't go misquoting me around school, oh dear students of mine!)

Then, pride:
After a lot (LOT) more stress and anxiety and determinated-not-crying, the Awards Night came together rather smoothly. My techlings did well with their first time running things without the old techies, many of my kids got awards, and I am downright proud of them all. And there's that sadness again.

Then, excitement:
The seller agreed to fix everything I requested for repairs based on the inspection! I tell you what, either this is the perfect time to buy, or these people are desperate to sell, or I'm missing some major problem with this place. I optimistically suspect the first.

Then, challenge:
Heidi and I decided to submit the teaching play we wrote last summer to a local playwriting festival. Scripts are due Saturday, so we decided to put it all together tonight. Ridiculously ignoring the chaos that is both of our lives right now, we planned for two hours and spent five instead. Still, it's done, we're submitting it, and I'm thrilled! Yay, us!

Now, exhaustion:
'Nuff said.

Given these glimpses of my emotional barometer these past few days (and this is indeed just a glimpse), is it any wonder that I'm sporting a stiff neck, a constant headache, and the perpetual desire to just sit down and cry (which I'm very good at burying)?

It'll come together. For now, I'm gathering boxes, looking forward to a weekend with the fam (they're in town for Andy's college graduation), and bracing myself for a lot of good-byes next week.

Show Me the Key

I left the house a little earlier than usual this morning so I could run to the grocery store on my way to school. I needed to get paper plates, cups, napkins, and some sort of treat for the AVID party 1st period. I dash into the store, grab my items, buy them, and then head out to my car. The radio key stopped working awhile ago on the driver's door, so I stuck my key in the lock and turned it.

It snapped off.

Now there's a fun way to start a workday morning, after a very long work week!

So there I am in the parking lot, about 5 blocks from school, 15 minutes before the bell rings, with part of my car key in my hand and part in the door's lock. I unlocked the back door with the radio key and reached in to manually let myself in. Stupidly optimistic, I tried starting the car with the stub of my key. Nada.

And here's where I am really thankful for cell phones. I called Ben, praying that he 1) hadn't taken the day off and 2) had his cell phone on him in his classroom. Success! I explained and he very kindly immediately kicked the kids out of his room and drove out to get me. While I waited, I called my brother and left a message, explaining my predicament and asking him if he could please, please, please go to my apartment, check to see if I had a spare key, then if I did, run it out to me at school.

I made it to class on time, buoyed by the news from Ben that he had brought Rock Band, "just in case." I told me class all about my morning's adventures, concluding that "Now I'm here, my car is way over there, and I have no idea how I'm getting home today!"

My students were surprised that I said that while laughing. I told them that I figured out a long time ago that the best way to cope with crazy situations like this is to realize what an awesome story it makes and to laugh. "... Just like the time I got robbed!" Which led to more questions.

During my 2nd period, while my students were rehearsing their final projects (our traditional lip sync competition), I told John (science teacher, drummer in our Rock Band group) the story via IM. He offered to drive me out to my apartment to fetch the spare key (which I was really, really hoping I had) during our consultation period. I know! I work with such nice people!

We headed out right after the bell. Thank goodness, I was right about having a spare key, so I retrieved my car after we picked up some lunch from Mad Greek to take back and share with Ben.

After school, we rendezvoused again for some much-needed Rock Band. Janelle stopped by the school for an audition, and we talked her into joining us, which freed me up to take a few pictures:








































Tomorrow I'm going to go make a whole lotta copies of my key.

Simple Little Things

Things I'm glad about:

- The spring rain.

- My cold is a relatively quick one.

- The trees that bloom purple and the green-blooming trees that grow in front of them.

- My peace lily is still alive!

- The Blackberry my sister gave me keeps me entertained when I'm stuck waiting somewhere.

- My district hasn't blocked hulu.com yet (it's great to have while I'm grading at school!).

- School ends in 2 weeks!

- Four students stayed late after school today to decorate my classroom because we're throwing a party for the AVID tutors tomorrow.

- Ben loaned me his classroom today so I could teach somewhere warm.

- I had an unexpected 15 minutes in my English class today, so I threw on West Bank Story. They actually enjoyed it!

- Stephenie Meyer's writing is ridiculously addictive.

- Working the concert tonight gave me the chance to read her latest book for almost an hour.

- I get to see Cirque this weekend with Heidi and Brent!

- And, best of all, I get to go to bed now.

Good night, dear readers!

Trouble in His Brain

My cold got bad enough that I took yesterday off. I slept in, read a few books, took care of a few house-buying tasks, and enjoyed not being in charge for a few hours.

When I got back to school today, one of the aides followed me into my room and told me that she had covered one of my classes yesterday.

"Oh, really?" I said as I put my stuff down on my desk. "Did the sub not show up?"

"No, he came," Melodee said. "He just went... well, he went a little crazy."

Melodee went on to explain that the sub apparently went a bit nuts during first period, including swearing at the kids, waving a large stick around at them, and chasing one of them down the hall when Junior ran to the office to get help.

See the kinds of things I miss when I'm out sick?

On the bright side, I am feeling better today (evidenced by the fact that I taught a full day and then worked tech for the film festival, and I'm still awake!). Tomorrow I get to do some psychological clean-up in my first period class, squelch the rumors in the other classes, and work an elementary school concert in the evening. I'd like to complain about the fact that the front office schedules these kinds of events in the auditorium without considering the fact that I always have to work them, but honestly, I'm glad for the money right now. Buying a house is expensive!

My cold has made me turn to comfort food lately - I made creamed tuna on toast for dinner last night and goulash tonight. I was craving magic bars yesterday, too, but found no graham crackers in the pantry. Taking a page from Grandma Cook's cookbook, I substituted Nilla wafers and a few butter cookies I found instead. They weren't the same, but they will do.

I'm deliberately not watching "American Idol" right now. I've never actually watched the show for more than a few minutes; that's about all I can tolerate of it. But it's more important now because this week I'm a Nielson Family! Yup, they offered me $30 to track what I watch on TV. Here for you for free is a run-down of shows I typically watch:

- The Daily Show
- The Colbert Report
- House
- Ugly Betty
- How I Met Your Mother
- The Office
- 30 Rock
- Scrubs
- My Name is Earl
- Gray's Anatomy

Unlike America, I typically eschew reality TV. I think I will watch "So You Think You Can Dance" this summer, though, given how much I enjoyed the MTV marathon this weekend.

I'm curious to hear the report from my 1A tomorrow. The thing is, they're a good class. Yeah, it's a bigger class (40 usually), but they're good kids. I chalk it up to the usual crazies I attract because the district lists the sub job opening under "drama".

Lowdown-Down

I got the yellow house!

To my amazement, they took my first offer with no negotiations - only a change in one of the dates, which did not matter in the least to me. And now I have an enormous stack of papers to wade through and try to make sense out of. This whole house-buying process has created a very steep learning curve for me.

This week, then, has been crammed full. Between teaching, working all of the end-of-the-year concerts and events in the auditorium, and trying to find time to run out to the parking lot to make real estate-related phone calls, it came as little surprise to me when I woke up Saturday morning with a head cold. As Teresa pointed out, it has been a few months, so I due to get sick again.

It timed itself about right - my hope is that by taking it easy all day today, I can get over it quickly. I'm not in a position to miss school next week, so I hope it goes away soon. So I'm watching the "So You Think You Can Dance" marathon on MTV. I'll head out for an hour of church in a few minutes, but after that it's back on the couch for a nap. Stupid immune system.

But yay for the yellow house!

Wait

I put an offer in today.
The leasing agent says he'll pitch it to the owners tomorrow morning.
And so I wait.

Great Big Stuff

A quick update on the events of the weekend:

Thursday night:
Flew to Denver

Friday morning:
Went to Dead Playwrite School District, met Teri the HR Lady, was the victim of two hit-and-run compliments in course of 5 minute conversation with her, signed many papers.

Friday later morning:
Went to my new school, toured the building, met a ton of people, observed a few 8th grade LA classes, constantly had to remind self that there is no dress code to regulate at this school (my teacher-sensors were going nuts!)

Friday noon:
Got a little lost

Friday afternoon:
Met Elizabeth (the awesome realtor), Jeff (the lender) and Rachel (the sister/opinion-giver), signed many papers.

Friday later afternoon:
Toured 9 properties, narrowed it down to two. Also found many that caused us to say "What are they thinking?!" (burgundy carpet - seriously?)

Friday night:
Had Chipotle dinner (they're like Starbucks now - you can find one on almost any corner in Denver), picked up parents, grandma, Andy, and his girlfriend at the airport, all rendezvoused at Rachel and Ben's for dessert and discussions.

Saturday morning:
Met Elizabeth at the two selected properties for Mom, Dad, and Grandma to give opinions. Narrowed it down to one. Tested the drive from that one to school (12 minutes on a Saturday in good weather - not too shabby!).

Saturday noon:
Met up with Rachel, Andy, and Jen for lunch at Garbanzos.

Saturday afternoon:
I called Elizabeth and told her to start the papers to put an offer in on the property (!!!!), then shopping in Boulder. Rachel and I officially switch phones, so I am now a member of the Blackberry world.

Saturday night:
Pizza party at Rachel and Ben's, lots of talking.

Sunday morning:
Mother's Day brunch at the hotel (it was yummy for a buffet!)

Sunday noon:
Returned rental car, flew home.

Since then:
Resumed normal life, constantly obsessing/fretting/calling parents over decision to buy. Much guilt - if I can't do the dishes regularly in my current place, I don't deserve to have a pretty place, etc.http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gif
I'll post more about the home buying situation as it develops. Hopefully it develops. Briefly, I found this charming, lovely condo that I've taken to calling "The Yellow House." English major that I am, it, of course, is a reference to The Yellow Wallpaper but I promise that it is a beautiful shade of yellow and in all likelihood will not cause me to go insane. After all, I didn't see a single creeping lady in either of the walk-throughs.


More news to come!

The Easter Parade

I've been enjoying videos of the Broadway Easter Bonnet Competition on youtube this afternoon while I wait for my realtor to call. (If you don't know, it's an annual competition between the running shows to 1) make a spoof/skit and 2) make some kind of Beach Blanket Babylon-esquq hat. Really, the whole thing is a fundraiser for Broadway Cares.)

Here's some of my favorites:

(Caution - language)

Tradizzle
(I wish I could do a version of Fiddler like this!)


You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
(terrible sound quality, hilarious Rent reference)


Sweeney Todd meets Queen


John Doyle's Company

Real Big News (Reprise)

I've really, really wanted to blog about something for a long time, but I couldn't because of certain political reasons. However, I've resolved most of those this week, so I will finally post the news.

Bad news first: No Africa for Amanda this summer.

Wait, let me put the emphasis in the right place:
No Africa for Amanda THIS summer.

I will go, oh yes, but it's not to be right now. When my cell phone, car, and elliptical machine all broke in quick succession, I figured the universe was telling me to rethink where my money was going. Especially since plane tickets to Tanzania tripled in price over three week's time. So, instead, I'm bracing myself to grow up a little more and use the money (plus a lot more) as down payment on a place to live.

Yes, I am working on becoming a homeowner (news #2). Which totally freaks out military-brat-me. Fortunately, those nomadic genes are pacified by news #3 (brace yourself):

I'm moving to Denver!

That's the big secret - the one I've been working on since, well, my trip to Portland. Remember that? It wasn't just a pleasure trip - I was scoping out possible places to live, since I knew this would be my last year at Dead President Junior High. I loved Portland, but I also figured that most of the things I love about it are offered in Denver, plus Denver is my sister's hometown and it's within driving distance of my parents. So, Denver won!

I went out there in February and in addition to the fun I noted in my entry on the trip, I also went to a massive job fair. Many interviews and stresses later, and I accepted a teaching post in a tiny district in Denver. Eighth Grade Language Arts, with the option to start a theater program. Hmm... sound familiar? But this school not only has no history of a drama program, they have no performing space whatsoever. No auditorium nor cafetorium; nada. My creativity should be stretched in all kinds of new ways. Fodder for dis blog, right?

So, there's the news. And for those former students of mine who read this (shout out to Sarah - Of course I remember you, and I'm happy you're doing well with your own little family) well, spread the word. Because your last chance to see your old drama teacher on this side of the Rockies will be June 5th. Ish. It may take me a few days past the last day of school to pack up my classroom. So come see me!

Speaking of, if anyone knows where I can get my hands on some boxes, I could use a few.

Okay, a lot.

Seriously, I needs to gets me some boxes.



Holy cow, I'm moving.

Queen Mab

Friday was our annual 9th grade Shakespeare Festival. This year, Porter asked me to emcee the entire event, which meant I had to track down a costume. Getting to the costume shop about 45 minutes before they closed the night before, I couldn't find a Renaissance-style dress that wasn't made for someone over 5'5" (they all came to my calves). So, I looked through their Roman costumes and found a long tunic. Add a black wig and some heavy eye makeup and I decided to dub myself "Queen Mab" and go with it. Whoo.

The festival went smoothly. Aside from my on-stage duties, I was also in charge of the costume contest (six categories are traditional - best royal, best peasant, best male, best female, most authentic, and best headdress) and, of course, the post-workshops entertainment.

Four of my Advanced Drama girls volunteered to do monologues, which they did fine at. Nothing spectacular, but then I didn't take a lot of time to coach them, either. I've been prepping Jacob and Daniel instead to do the big show - Romeo and Juliet in 20 minutes. It's a crowd favorite, naturally, full of slapstick and silliness. The actor I originally casted as the narrator had to be dropped for missing too many rehearsals, but the student I asked to fill in memorized the lines in one night and did great. Jacob and Daniel were awesome, just as I figured they would be. They not only have great comedic timing and instincts on their own, but they feed off each other beautifully. It was one of the easiest times directing this piece for me because their humor worked so well with this style.

My black wig and makeup came in handy after school, too, when Ben, John, and I met up again in Ben's room for another round of "Rock Band". Kelley joined us for a bit as well, and showed off her awesome guitar skills. I'm getting better at singing, good enough to play it on hard on the songs I've actually heard before. I'm also getting good at faking my way through the songs I've never heard before in my life. I tried expert on a few, but it's REALLY picky about pitch. Afterwards, Ben burned a cd for me of songs, which should help for next Friday's session. In fact, I'm listening to it right now. I like a lot of the songs, but I can't say I'm a fan of "Gimme Shelter". It took me most of the song to figure out a snippet of the lyrics - enough to search for the song online to figure out which one it was.

This weekend I gave in to my addiction again and read three books. I shouldn't do that too often; it tends to make me moody. All three were well-written, and I liked each. Very different types - from chick-lit magical realism to classic YA sci-fi/adventure to depressing YA realism.

I didn't just sit and read, though. My elliptical trainer totally broke down on Friday (12:58 minutes into my workout). I took it as far apart as I could. Far enough to realize that I wouldn't be able to fix it this time. So, I did a lot of research on line and wound up ordering this one from Amazon. With their usual low price, plus another $100 off, plus free shipping, it's a pricey-but-good purchase for me. I'm glad at how much I miss working out already, and I hope the habit picks up again after I wait for the delivery.

I bought my old one from Janelle for $100 - a great bargain, and it's served me well for the past few years. This one, though, has a smaller footprint, a longer stride (18" - much better for my height), and hopefully won't sound like an off-balanced washing machine trying to escape from the wall.

I did some more research for my other plans, which I should be able to tell you all about next weekend. Granted, most of you know my plans by now, but I haven't officially announced it yet, so I'm avoiding leaks. After all, I know some of my former students know of this blog and while I don't think they read it anymore since it's, you know, literary-like what with my complete sentences and correct spelling and all, I still am aware of the remarkable capacity for gossip to make it's way around the Dead President Junior High School community. So one more week.

Last night, Heidi, Brent, and I took the lightrail downtown to see a fused glass exhibit at the main branch of the library, then went to dinner, then went to see "The Producers" at PTC. It was a good production, as far as that show goes, and with good company. Today was stake conference - shorter church, but on much more uncomfortable seats (those metal chairs get downright painful after just a few minutes, let alone two hours!). Then I drove to have late lunch/early dinner with Grandma Cook, and then back to Salt Lake to work a bit more.

Tomorrow the state testing starts. I'm not worried about it. I've never stressed out about how my students will do. I just teach them what I teach, and every year they score well, if not great. This year it's all on the computers, which will make things a bit trickier for monitoring. As each student finishes a section, they're supposed to raise their hands and wait for me to come over, double check to make sure they answered all questions, then I have to be the one to hit the submit button. That will translate as a lot of running around the room and a lot of reminding kids to not talk and to wait patiently until I can get to them. Fun, fun! My turn is scheduled for Monday and Wednesday this week. It also means my kids will be bouncier than usual in drama class, since they tend to vent their restlessness from testing in there. I'm countering that by having them do their monologue performances this week. Ah, fear. You can be my friend when we work together.

Missin' You

Things My Parents' Europe Trip Taught Me:

1) My mother's ability to worry is hereditary.

2) Said worrying is caused by lapses of communication, and manifests itself through many remarkable feats of imagination, all of which end with the travelers dead.

3) If any of said scenarios should come to pass, I would be my brother's legal guardian for the next 6 weeks.

4) If I did become my brother's legal guardian, chances are my brother would never know it because I don't see or hear from my brother for months at a time. In other words, in a race between him finding and charging his cell phone and the next six weeks, bet on the six weeks.

5) I hate making life-changing decisions without my parents to advise me.

6) Vicarious living can happen from parents for child, not just child for parents.

7) I'm really, really glad my parents got to run away from their workaholic tendencies for a while.

Here's a picture of the two of them in a hotel mirror in Istanbul. And, see? I have no need to worry - they're protected by the evil eyes!


Just to prove the lapses of communication and the subsequent worrying are indeed hereditary, I am going to post here an email I got from my parents when Emily and I backpacked Europe back in 2000. This was about 3 days into the trip, and we were still in our first stop - visiting Mercedes in England.

Date: Sat, 10 Jun 2000 12:33:27 -0600
From: wsara
To: chitarita
Subject: Worries

Dear Amanda,

Dad: No news from Amanda?
Mom: Nope.
Dad: Not even email?
Mom: Not even.
Dad: Postcard?
Mom: Nyet.
Dad: Smoke signals?
Mom: Nay.
Dad: Telepathy?
Mom: Non.
Dad: Probably busy.
Mom: Probably kidnapped
Dad: Probably terrorists.
Mom: Not mentioned on BBC.
Dad: Notice you watch BBC every night lately.
Mom: Thought terrorists.
Dad: Sold into slavery?
Mom: Worse.
Dad: Not that?
Mom: Could be.
Dad: Converted?
Mom: It's happened before.
Dad: Like Bill Bryson.
Mom: Anglophilia.
Dad: For shame.
Mom: Affecting the accent.
Dad: Following cricket.
Mom: Driving on the left side of the road.
Dad: Enjoying boiled cabbage and potatoes.
Mom: The full monty.
Dad: I hear there's hope.
Mom: A cure?
Dad: Just over the Channel.
Mom: Of course
Mom and Dad together in Chorus: La France!

Please write.

Love, Mums and Pops.

Dear Old Shiz

I took my AVID kids to Westminster today for a tour, a Q&A with admissions, and a scavenger hunt. They behaved well, they were friendly and polite (if a little boisterous), and I heard this comment from three different kids:

"Dang! Now I want to go to college!"

Then again, that was in between the many, many comments by the girls about the rampant hotness of college guys.