It's just a Saturday night...

...and I thought it would be a good time to update. I have some time to kill before Dane Cook hosts SNL.

I love my new school. I love everyone I work with. I'm having some trouble with my kids, but I'm dealing. I'm really ready for a vacation, and can't wait til I go home for a weekend in less than 2 weeks! My kids are generally good, but there are a few who are driving me nuts....and it's mainly the boys. I keep a tally throughout the week with the kids, and depending on how many times they land on a certain color, they get 1-2 prizes from the Bucket O' Fun. And it's always the boys who have reds next to their names. I feel for them, but they know the rules, and I have to be tough with them right away until they understand what's expected of them. I've also had to call home a couple of times. I don't like doing that. I had to have one of my kids translate the convo between his mom and I on account of her not speaking English, and my not speaking Spanish. That's the hurdle that I need to get over this year. There are a lot of parents who can't speak English, and I can't speak much Spanish. I guess that's why Amanda's living with me. She can teach me Spanish! I had an observation this week, and it went very well. There were no complaints, and no one was run down. It was an awesome time.

As for the rest of my life...it's good. I'm back in the BN loop now that Sue's back there. I'm actually kind of jealous that she's back there working. I miss the people I worked with. Tonight she called me as she was leaving, and two of my favorite people started yelling for me in the background. It made my day! Living with Amanda's good, we get along great. It's awesome to have someone to laugh with everyday. It's actually a good time out here now.

I can't wait to go home in less than two weeks! I get to have my hair cut for the first time in almost 6 months, get to see my family, and get to spend all weekend with some awesome people. I hope I'll want to come back to Vegas that Sunday. I get to go to Perkins, and some other places that I haven't been to in months. I just can't wait! I get to get my groove on at a friend's wedding, and I have a great dress that will show off the little bit of a tan I have left, as well as my Curious George tattoo. I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!! :)

Pics

For those who have been pestering me about pics of the new place...here you go.

September 11 and such

All day today I've been thinking about 9/11 and the day it happened. I know I've probably posted about it before, but I'm going to post about it again.

I had had such a bad cold that week, and I had a NyQuil hangover. I was sitting in one of my many 2 hours classes. During our break, Erin and I sat in the room instead of going to the commuter lounge in PAC. We were sitting there saying how nothing short of a fire would get us out of our seats. Within a minute of us saying that, one of the other students came running in telling us that there was a plane that had flown into one of the WTC buildings. Just as we got downstairs, we saw the second plane hit. It was surreal. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. We tried conducting class after that, but no one was paying attention so we ended for the day. I remember walking over to Mad/Lor with Erin, and immediately called home to make sure everyone was ok. I knew that they would be, but for some reason I needed the reassurance. I also sat in Niki's room just watching news coverage until my next class began. I got to class, and the prof could tell we weren't really paying attention at the task at hand (You really shouldn't try and have college kids sit in front of a computer when something like this is going on. You could see all of the computer screens on CNN, and other news sites figuring out what was all going on.). No one knew quite what was going on. Was there going to be another attack at some point during the day, or anytime soon? Who was the mastermind behind this? Most of all, why was this happening to us. Just before noon, the president of the college sent out an email saying that it was up to the prof on whether or not we had classes. I know I was excited at the possibility of no more classes that day (granted I only had one more class), but I wanted to sit in front of the TV watching what was going on. During the time between my two classes, I ran to my dorm room and just put in a blank tape to tape all of the news coverage. I can remember setting up sleep timers, and changing the channels so that I could see the different views everyone had. I was also thinking ahead...I'm going to be a teacher, and maybe some day I can use this in a classroom setting. My prof for my afternoon class decided that he didn't want to cancel class. This was a "teachable moment," and we're going to have lots of these in our teaching careers. We only stayed in class for about 20 minutes, but it was still a good class. I ran back to my dorm to find out we were having an emergency staff meeting (RAs) in response to what was going on. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do, and how we were going to do it. It was still a very surreal day. I can remember going to the candlelight vigil that night and just crying with everyone, even though I didn't have a connection to anyone who died. It was a very emotional day. Throughout the next week or so, there were events on campus about what was going on. I can remember our overnight trip to Fallen Timbers for Sophomore Block fell during the President's response to everything that was going on a few days after the attacks. Our prof got a great pic of all of us that night. We made sure we rushed through our evening activities to make sure we could see the President's speech. All of us were crowded around the TV, just leaning in towards the TV. That's what she got...all of us huddled there in complete silence watching this going on. I can remember all of us sitting around afterward talking about how we were all feeling and handling the attacks. That was a great bonding experience. There was another candlelight vigil the week after the attacks, and I can remember crying there too. Everyone was. It touched me to know that I was in such a caring community at SNC.

The following year, there were a couple of things happening on campus to commemorate the attacks. I can remember going to those too. My senior year (2nd anniversary), there was nothing planned for the whole campus. There were a bunch of things going on in the Res Halls being put on by RAs, but nothing campus wide. The night before the 2nd anniversary, Dan, Adam, and I (along with the best HD's help--Adrienne!) (Harr, you were right up there with Adrienne...just not there at the time!) planned a candlelight vigil for the next night. For being such last notice, we had a good turn out. We were very proud of each other for putting this on. Dan and I still talk about it. What can I say, we done good guys!

Tonight I went to a memorial here in Vegas for 9/11. About 2 weeks ago, a group (can't remember who) put up 3000 American flags, 1 for each person who died in the attacks. On each flag there was information about each person. It was so moving. It was more moving than the OKC Bombing Site for me. It hit me when I found the SNC alum's flag there. I never knew her, but knowing that she had at one time been at the same place I had been, made me sad. I was also sad when there were just 1 sentence descriptions about people. There were many with paragraph descriptions, and then there were the ones with, "John Doe worked for such-and-such company." Maybe the family didn't want to share much, but it was still sad. I had to hold back tears many times walking amongst the flags. I was upset that parents were letting their kids play tag and such within the flags, but oh well, the kids don't understand yet. It was all in all a moving day for me.



Well, here's something about my kids. They're pretty good...for the most part. We are staying in for lunch recess tomorrow to work on walking in line, working quietly, and taking our things out of our desks without talking. They wore me out today, but when doesn't that happen. I have my first open house as a teacher this Wednesday. It's kind of nerve wracking!

Oh, and I BOUGHT A COUCH this weekend! I'm finally becoming a big girl!!! YAY!

Dreams

Ok, I know, I haven't updated about my new school and my kids yet, but you can just hold your horses. I'm just doing a post before I go to bed.

Lately I've been having some very vivid dreams. There was one a week or so ago that was just a great dream. I'm not going to go into it here, but I was smiling all day just thinking of the dream. My kids were getting me down, and I'd think of the dream. Thinking about it now is getting me smily. Last night I had two dreams that were pretty vivid. In one I was on vacation along some coast of the US with Adam and Adrienne (I probably had these two in my dream since we played Monopoly for what seems like forever before going to bed). I can remember just goofing off in the hotel, and then standing out on the balcony watching HUGE waves roll in on the shore. I have no idea what that was about, but we sat out there just watching the waves. Before the waves, we were out playing on the beach, just having fun. Then I had another dream that I was back at my high school for a graduation. I was with my sister, and my mom. We were all up in the balcony, and I can't remember who was graduating. After waking up, I figured it was because my niece is graduating from high school this year...I don't know. I've been dreaming about being on vacation, and certain people being there.

I'm thinking it's because I haven't really had a vacation in almost 6 months, and am heading home in a month for a wedding that I cannot wait to go to. Is it bad that I'm more excited about seeing everyone Friday night before the wedding, than the wedding itself? It's going to be a kick ass wedding, but Friday night everyone is going to be together after 6 months. I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since the last time I've been home...that's the longest I've ever gone...

My kids are good, there are some that grate on my nerves, but oh well. That's what happens, right? I did treat them like my second graders on Friday. We didn't get to do our Fun Friday because we spent it in line working on walking in line the correct way. Good times had by all. A student from last school year actually called and asked me to come to her baptism tonight. It was already about 2pm, and it was at 6pm. Amanda and I had planned on going up to Mount Charleston, and I didn't know when we were going to be coming back, so I didn't go. I did promise to come to her dance recital next weekend. That'll be fun. It feels good to know that I did make a difference in this child's life.

For those who don't like what Facebook has done...

....check this out.

"Chasing Cars"

We'll do it all
Everything
On our own

We don't need
Anything
Or anyone

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

I don't quite know
How to say
How I feel

Those three words
Are said too much
They're not enough

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

Let's waste time
Chasing cars
Around our heads

I need your grace
To remind me
To find my own

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?

Forget what we're told
Before we get too old
Show me a garden that's bursting into life

All that I am
All that I ever was
Is here in your perfect eyes, they're all I can see

I don't know where
Confused about how as well
Just know that these things will never change for us at all

If I lay here
If I just lay here
Would you lie with me and just forget the world?