and then there was one...

seriously?! poor thing.

the grass is NOT always greener on the other side!

three years ago i accepted a job at a seemingly great school within the cps system. i quickly became close to the assistant principal, sharing similar philosophies and high expectations for students. we would discuss beneficial things for both teachers and students.

somewhere in those past three years, i struck sour note with this person and somehow became "one of them". i was deemed a "troublemaker". was it because i spoke my mind? is it because i have always stuck up for what is right for my students? is it because i was friends with other people in the building already on "that" side? i don't know, but whatever the case may be, i'm on the enemy's team.
though regardless of that situation, i've always learned to just close my door and teach, worrying only about the students in my classroom.

now, this person is becoming our principal, effective monday morning. i knew that there would be changes once the new administration took effect. i didn't think, however, that this person would make changes only to exude her newly received power.

effective monday, all of my preps are changing. i have a double prep on monday and no prep on friday. no teacher will have a prep on friday so that there can be 2-hour departmental meetings. ancillary staff and esl teachers will act as substitutes (which goes against our union contract) using the lesson plans we leave for them.

all correspondance with parents must be approved by the principal before being sent home (includes newsletters, reminders, etc.).

48-hour notice is required for all requests (left very vague).

i know that many of these will fall by the way-side, but it angers me that these were even put into effect. can we not all act as professionals? it is not necessary to micro-manage me. i'm capable of making smart, professional decisions on my own.

i guess i was spoiled to have my first teaching experience in such a great school.

*snap!*

tonight i was invited to participate in a focus group for a large clothing company. i was looking forward to it, especially the $150 cash to be given as compensation. so i make my way to the large office building downtown. arriving quite a few minutes early, i settled in to a chair in the corner, observing the few others around me.

a couple minutes later, an attractive guy walks in and sits in the row of chairs opposite me. like myself, he was playing around on his phone, probably texting like crazy, as was i. looking at him a bit more closely, i noticed again how attractive he was and thinking that gary would also appreciate this fine male specimen.

i decide i'm going to snap a quick picture on my phone and send the picture to gary. my phone was on silent, not even able to vibrate. i discretely hold the phone up, zoom in a couple times and then stop. i think to myself, "now i know that this phone is on silent. it would be just my luck for the loud camera-like sound to startle those around me. nah....". *SNAP!* of course it does. of course people look directly at me.

i quickly throw my phone in my lap, giving the appearance that i'm just playing with my phone and accidentally hit the camera button. then the redness came, along with the warmth across my face.

i was humiliated. and to top it off, i didn't even get a chance to save the picture! what a waste of embarrassment.

sidenote: he should have left his hat on. he was WAY hotter with the hat.

cosmopolitan

over the past year, i've traveled to 5 different countries. i've began to take it for granted. i feel as if it's no big deal to fly across the atlantic or cruise around the caribbean. now i have the bug to continue to travel to new places!

after our ski trip in winter park in february, we have san diego scheduled for march, washington d.c. on tap for april, and now the summer trips are already being planned.

i've learned that the best way to see many things on one trip is to cruise. i want to do a mediterranean cruise. i want to start in italy, move on to croatia, hit up turkey, move towards greece, and return to italy. sounds perfect, right?

reservations are being held. c'mon august!

love.

you never know when it’s going to hit you. you don’t where it is. it may be next to you or it may be a standing on the opposite side of you.

you might have met it years before. you might meet it when you’re least expecting it.

there is always a part of you that looks to the past, thinking that you’ve already met the one. you might always live the past, hoping that ‘the one’ might come back to you.

fate tells you to move on. fate tells you where to be. fate smacks you on the face when you finally meet it.

it makes you say silly things. it makes you do stupid things. it takes you on the ups and downs.

true love perseveres and guides you through life.

7 for '07

since i feel that new year's resolutions are pointless because i tend to break them by january 4th, i've decided to make seven goals for the upcoming year.

while they are personal, i have chosen to publish them here to hold myself to them.

here we go...

1. attain and sustain a healthy, comfortable weight
2. become smoke-free
3. think about things i say and do and how they will affect others
4. further dedicate myself to my profession
5. clip my nails instead of biting or picking them
6. continue to travel to new destinations
7. get a healthy amount of sleep each night

veisalgia

i didn't know that 'hangover' had a technical term. but lately, that has been the least important part of my "boom booms". the holiday season is one for merriment and festivities with friends and boy did i enjoy it.

the christmas holiday should have been renamed 'festival of gluttony' for me. i felt uncomfortable, even in my elastic waisted pants, filled to the brim from the lazy-susan of food flowing in front of me. even when i wasn't hungry, i managed to find something tasty in the continuously-opened refrigerator. i also managed to drink enough to kill a small farm animal.

new years eve proved to top the 'festival of gluttony' though. with a few light hor d'ourves intended, the kitchen table was filled with delightful dips and finger foods. i managed to stuff myself even before many of the guests arrived. later, afraid that i wouldn't be intoxicated for the countdown, i decided to kick it into high gear. i remember ringing in the new year and then choosing to drink nearly an entire bottle of champagne alone! (in all fairness, it was just to get the bottle stopper out of it) while i didn't stumble around or manage to pick fights, i was definitely drunkity drunk drunk.

i enjoyed the first day of the new with fabulous friends. we ate, played euchre for 6 hours, ate, drank, ate, laughed, ate, and oh yeah, ate. again, even when not hungry i still decided to force something down my food.

which leads me to the point of this post... according to wikipedia, one of the nine symptoms of a hangover (aka veisalgia) is loss of appetite. huh?!

apparently i am THE exception.