Moving Day

Apologies for the lack of interesting posts and bloggy comments this week. I've been caught up grading final exams and preparing for my classroom move. I hope to visit your blogs again this weekend! I miss reading stuff actually written by, you know, adults.

Today was the first day I was finally able to move my things from one classroom to another. Wait, that sounds misleading -- this was no cute move from one room to another just down the hall. No. This move was from the second floor of one building all the way to the third floor of another building. And did I mention that the buildings are quite a distance apart? (I would tell you the exact distance but I am lazy. Plus I suck at math.)

The worst part was that today was quite possibly the hottest, muggiest day ever. I hate sweating (crazy, I know, since I live in the tropics *shrug*), and I was sweating like mad. Thank God I had a small group of students there to help me, one of whom came at 7:30 AM on her day off just to help me. Love her. And when they left at noon, le boyf came bearing lunch and his loving, helping, lifting arms. Love him!!!

God bless the boyf. I honestly would not have gotten the move done today without his help. He lifted so many heavy boxes for me, pushed so many overflowing carts full of books for me, and all without complaining. Truly I don't appreciate my man enough.

Tomorrow begins the second phase of moving: unpacking. *groan* Oh well, I really shouldn't complain. At least I have a job! And at least I was moved to the main building. Let's hope I stay there for many, many years to come.

picture via we heart it

These things are making me incredibly happy right now...

Okay, so my first happy item is a cheesy one, but that doesn't make it any less true -- I am so happy I have over 140 followers! I still remember when I had maybe five followers, and so it's just unbelievable to me that this many people are actually interested in what I have to say. I began blogging for myself, but now I can honestly say blogging is no longer just a solitary past time for me -- it's now a means of communication as well. Thanks for making it a two-way street, bloggy readers. :)

Today my AP English Language students took their exam, after 10 long months of preparation. What this means is that I can finally breathe a sigh of relief now -- the hard part is over. Now begins the second hard part: the waiting!

I'm loving the offer Starbucks is currently having for their frappes  -- all frappes are half price from now until Sunday, only between the hours of 3-5 PM. Let's just say my local Starbucks has come to know me very well. ;)

I recently discovered some online vendors through Amazon that sell books by a favorite author of mine, Patricia Veryan, for dirt cheap. (I'm talking pennies.) Score!

It took forever for my bangs to grow out again, but now that they're a bit past my chin, my hair is getting close to my desired length -- I have layers and I want the longest part, currently just past my shoulders, to reach the middle of my back. I love that I can style my hair differently now that it has gotten longer!

Okay, so while this may not be conducive to my diet, I am totally in love with Nature Valley's new Nut Clusters -- they're little bits of heaven mixed with joy. Trust.

I'm loving that le boyf's birthday is next Monday because that means I get to spoil him, something he doesn't always let me do!

picture via we heart it

 What's making you happy today?

Who are your five?

Yesterday I began reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven with my juniors. I was very excited because it's the first time all year I get to read a novel with them, since we've been focusing on the FCAT nonstop since day one. Now that that nonsense is over and done with, we can finally get on to the stuff that really matters. Like reading. (Ironic, n'est c'est pas.)

I chose this book because I wanted something that would be an easy sell for both boys and girls, plus I just really love the story. If you've never read it before (gasp), I'll try to tell you a little bit about it without ruining it for you. It's about a man named Eddie who discovers upon dying that he must meet with five people from his past and resolve particular issues with them before he can pass on to his eternal reward. It's such an interesting study of heaven and earth, of life and death, of love and hate, and everything else that comes in between -- all of the intangibles that are so hard to put into words. The author Mitch Albom has that rare gift of putting those intangibles into words.

Before first cracking open the book with my students, I asked them the following short response question: If you had to meet five people before entering heaven, who would your five be and why?

Their answers were largely predictable -- my mom, my dad, my boyfriend, my girlfriend, etc. But one answer took me completely by surprise -- a girl in my class asked, Miss, what if it's a person whose path I haven't crossed yet? Would that be okay? I looked at her for a heartbeat and a half, then decided to go with my gut. Sure, hun, that's fine, I told her. Then I whirled back around and asked, What if I were to tell to tell you that your paths would never cross in life. Would you still want to meet this person in heaven? She looked me right in the eye and gave me a blinding smile. Oh yeah, she said. I couldn't help but smile back.

 picture via we heart it

Who are your five? I'm curious to know your answers, reader. Share them with me in the comments. I'll share mine tomorrow. Oh, and in case you missed yesterday's post, don't forget to enter my giveaway!

Miss Honey

One of my AP English Language kidlets almost made me cry today -- she said I reminded her of Miss Honey, the beloved teacher from Dahl's book Matilda. I think that's one of the nicest compliments I've ever received as a teacher...

It also reminded me of how much I used to love this book as a young girl. Roald Dahl's books are all magical, but IMHO Matilda is the most magical of them all.

Matilda with Miss Honey

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All content on this site is the sole property of Ana Cristina Simon, unless otherwise stated, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

An update. And stuff.

So last Saturday we celebrated the boyf's birthday with some friends. His birthday was actually the previous weekend, but since he shares the same b-day as his mom, plus some of his friends were out of town that weekend, we chose to celebrate again on the following weekend. Because we like celebrating, clearly.

We didn't do anything out of this world, just went to this restaurant in Pembroke Pines called The Pub. It's done in the style of a traditional English pub, everything from the decorations to the menu. We were a group of maybe 8 or 10, so they sat us at their largest table. This table doesn't have chairs at the head, it has thrones. I kid you not. Here's the boyf sitting kingly on his throne:

It's good to be king. (I ♥ my boyf!)

Isn't the decor cute? I love the checker-board print on the back of the chairs. So yeah, I like that place. We had fun. It was nice to get together with some of our friends who live all the way up in West Palm Beach and whom we rarely see. Here's a picture that (I think) the boyf took of all of us. My friend Tony and I just randomly decided to pose like that, but I think it came out pretty cool:

And in this next picture, it's Tony's lovely wife Sheri and me. Please ignore the horrible shine on my face. It was very humid!


There are a few more pictures on my Facebook, if you've added me there. Look for the most recent album.

So that was Saturday. Sunday, I hung out with the boyf and spent a lot of the day reading. My department head lent me this book by Ian McEwan called The Comfort of Strangers. It's about this British couple who travel to Italy and meet a enigmatic (read: creepy) Italian man who insists on shepherding them around Venice. I won't say much else because I don't want to ruin it, but it is one of the most disturbing books I've ever read. McEwan is no doubt a brilliant writer -- I loved Atonement. But so much of his writing hinges on one pivotal moment that changes EVERYTHING in the narrative, and it just so happens that that moment in The Comfort of Strangers is so haunting that it takes a truly unique mind to come up with something like that. I wound up reading it in one day because I simply had to know what happened next. And the story has stayed with me all week, dogging my thoughts.

In case I haven't turned you off the book completely, and if you're still curious to read it, you can preview the first few pages of the book here. My department head lent me another McEwan book today, Black Dogs. I'll let you know how that is.

But I'm not going to read it just yet. First things first -- to the movies! I want to see "Up" tonight, and I know tomorrow the boyf is going to want to drag me to see "Drag Me to Hell." Blech. I don't like scary movies. I may have to employ the use of a blindfold. You know, to ward off the intensely scary parts.

On Sunday I'm going to a co-worker's baby shower at Macaroni Grill. Yum. So yeah, it's a busy weekend. But I'll live. And the best thing is that there are only four days left of school! And the worst thing is there are only four days left with my students ... some of whom probably won't even show all next week. I will miss this year's batch of kidlets. (Sniff, sniff.)

But I won't miss Mount Everest. It has been demolished! I have absolutely no grading to do this weekend, which has me feeling a bit out of sorts. I keep looking out of the corner of my eye to see if the pile of unchecked papers is still there, and I can't help but feel shocked every time I see that it's gone.

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All content on this site is the sole property of Ana Cristina Simon, unless otherwise stated, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Under Pressure

Song for the week: "Under Pressure" by Queen & David Bowie

I was a ball of nervous tension last weekend. For one, it was both the boyf's AND his mom's birthday on Sunday. Yes, on the same day. So I had to worry about buying gifts and pleasing two VIPs on the very same day. Can you say, tension? Yeah, I think you can.

Then one of the boyf's friends-who-shall-not-be-named up and forgot about the boyf's birthday. Didn't even call. Now, this is a friend who has known the boyf for years. Longer than me, even. I had to bite my tongue while my boyf moped around the house all week, longing to ream out the friend-who-shall-not-be-named for forgetting. Of course, my noble, goodhearted boyf wouldn't hear of it. I was tempted to ream the guy out anyways, but I restrained myself.

Grr.

On top of all that tension, I was scheduled to meet with my supervising assistant principal this past Tuesday for my end-of-year evaluation. Since some teachers have been getting what schools nowadays like to call "surplussed" (read: sacked), and since I know my department, English, is over-staffed, I was quite worried. Especially since I hadn't yet heard from Florida whether they approved my certification or not.

My meeting was set for Tuesday. Monday afternoon, I came home from work to a very welcome surprise in the mail: my professional educator's certificate! :D

There is a God and He is good. Now if only He could speak with our superintendent about giving us hard-working teachers a raise...

The rest of the week has been good, too. I wrote my first "hit" article for Examiner.com, after publishing many pieces that didn't get so much as one comment. Naturally, it was on Twilight. "New Moon," to be precise. I wrote an article discussing the release of a new poster for the sequel, which comes out in November. Before I posted the article, my earnings from Examiner were almost $10.00. This for about 12-15 articles (!). Sad.

After I posted the article on "New Moon," my hits multiplied like randy rabbits. I'm now at almost $50.00. Will I be writing more Twilight-related articles in the future? Oh, I think so.

In other vampire-related news, I read the latest installment in the Sookie Stackhouse series, Dead and Gone. This is the series that the show "True Blood" is based upon, and it is like Twilight -- except it has real bite. And a sense of humor. Oh, let's not forget the (cover your eyes, kids!) sex.

Here I was reading under the assumption that this was the last book in the series. No, I don't know where I got that assumption. I just did. And then the ending of course had to be one of those cliff-hanger endings that leaves you flipping the last page back and forth all confused, hoping against hope there's still another page left, an epilogue, something, anything to fill the aching void of plot-strings left hanging.

Damn you, Charlaine Harris. But I forgive you for creating the scrumptious character Eric.

So what are all you wonderful folks doing this long weekend? I'm going to be staying at the boyf's beach apartment with some friends of ours. Hope your weekend is fun and safe wherever you go! :D

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All content on this site is the sole property of Ana Cristina Simon, unless otherwise stated, and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

My students take on "The Crucible"

So my AP English 3 students read The Crucible some time ago and I had them act out a scene from the play. I was able to record it. It's not stunning quality, as it was filmed with a digital camera, but it will suffice, and you get to see what my students (and my classroom!) look like.

Keep an eye out for "John Proctor" losing his faux mustache. It's for the lulz.

Part One

Part Two

What's in a Name?

I woke up with my right eye throbbing, so I decided to forgo eyeshadow and mascara and wear glasses today instead of contact lenses. (I hope I'm not getting a stye!)

Little did I know the uproar this would cause in my students.

"Ohmigod, Miss, you got glasses?!"

"Wow, hot for teacher!"

"Ohmigod, Miss, you wear glasses?!"

These are a few of the choice statements I got from my classes today. And here's an informal survey: Did you call your teacher "Miss" when you were in school? I've never heard of this phenomenon before. I always called my teachers by their full, respectful name. It was always Mr. Lesperance, never "Mister." Always "Miss Flutie," never "Miss."

Maybe it's a generational thing. I don't know. All I know is I try to make my students call me by my full name. It's only fair -- they've only got 8 teachers while I teach 168 students. If I can remember their names, then they can remember mine.

Ow, my eye hurts. At least I have a planning period now in last block and don't have to hear "Ohmigod, Miss!" again until tomorrow.