Their Eyes Were Watching God

I read this book during homerooms mostly, and selected it because it's required for the AP class I'm teaching. I didn't choose the book, but it's one of those that I always anticipated reading, yet never picked up. Their Eyes tells the story of Janie, a woman who survives three different marriages, but barely. Perhaps the most interesting thing in the story is the fact that when Janie finds the love she has been looking for through the stroy, she winds up having to kill the source of it before he kills her. This is one of those stories that to truly understand I imagine I would have to read several times. The dialouge's dialect (how's that for alliteration?) are difficult, and each time I picked it up I would have to concentrate on hearing my internal reader. A lot of times after reading a "CLASSIC" story, I'm not sure if I "got it." Should I reflect on different scenes or think of something that I haven't considered yet? That's kind of how I feel after reading Their Eyes. I'm probably misisng something that I will find after a second or third reading.

Happy Birthday, Grandma

Today we went to Grandma and Grandpa's house for her birthday party. Grilled chicken and pork chops laid across a baking sheet, a bowl of pea salad, Watergate salad, fruit and dip, macaroni and cheese. It was just like a Sunday dinner when I was little, and it was also completely different. Before, the food was all homemade, and this afternoon it was from a box. When I was little, the house was packed with people, but this afternoon it was a bit sparse.
Everyone has their own families, and everyone has their own jobs, but even people who were right there couldn't stay longer than a few minutes, or couldn't be bothered to come at all.

Patty didn't bring Maddie over because she was what? Too tired? Too angry? Too bored? What I wanted to say, though, was that it seemed a bit ominous that she lives in the same place where Misty and Gary lived when they wouldn't come over all of those years. Misty would hole up in her trailer and chain smoke instead of walking the two hundred feet to Grandma's house. The whole scene seemed to be straight from an alternate universe. All I can say is "Happy Birthday" Granny.

Easy Saturday Morning

I love the still of Saturday mornings. When I'm the first one awake, and I can be still and think through my plans for the day. When I can plan while I roll Scuba's paws around and watch him sleep between Witt and I. When I can imagine having a baby and holding it close to me and to Witt.

I Conquered the Sky

Today as Laura and I listened to Danyel's tale of lost insurance and missing money, I was lost in thought. I was thankful that I didn't have kids yet, and that I didn't have to worry about losing money because the office manager is a dimwit who can't calculate her own brain cells. It just seems ridiculous that we have to worry about not being paid correctly on top of teaching the youth of America.


All of the sudden, Austin comes breezing in--wearing an outfit that might look fashionable in an urban setting, but in rural Missouri looks a bit silly. He's excited and talking about how he's living the good life now that he's graduated from high school. In a few months, he's going to Tennessee, he says, in the hopes of making a go at a car wrapping business (apparently, a business adventure wherein a company wraps a car with signage for a business). He was quite animated, talking about his cousin who owned the business and how he may one day be the owner himself.

After a few minutes, Laura and Danyel began another conversation, and Austin was quiet for a moment, then he looked at me and stated: "I went skydiving."

ME: That's awesome! What was it like?

AUSTIN: It scared the crap out of me, man. It was like crazy scary!

ME: Yeah?

AUSTIN: Oh my God, yes! I was so freaked out. It was so windy, and the plane opened, and I looked out and I was like --I almost said the D word, sorry. I was like man! It was windy. Then I jumped. By the time I got the parachute open, though, it was was like swoosh, swoosh, swoosh.

ME: That sounds awesome!

AUSTIN: I conquered the sky, man. I'm not afraid of anything anymore; I used to be afraid of spiders, but now when I see a spider I'm like 'can he conquer the sky?' He can't like I did. I'm not afraid of anything!

Part of me was really pleased that Austin had put his fears to rest. Another thread in me, though, wonders if a bit of fear isn't healthy for all of us to have. I'm afraid of being left alone. I'm afraid of seeing the mouse who has taken residence in my garage. I'm afraid that I'm mediocre in every sense of the word.

Perhaps that fear is necessary. That mouse could get me. I know he has plans to steal me or my dog Snap. Sometimes that mouse catches my eye as he saunters past me with his bits of goodness from my garage floor. He's never liked me. I don't know that I can conquer the mouse if I conquer the sky.

Checking for Feet

Earlier this evening, we were watching The Starter Wife and there was a scene that happens to a lot of women on television, but maybe not real people. There was Debra Messing pouring her heart out to a woman in the bathroom. We all know what happens next. Someone was in the bathroom listening to them. Every secret they shared, every mean word they spoke--someone heard it and then planned to go spill it.

Real women don't just talk. Real women check for feet, so they don't piss someone off in the next room.

Sewing Up Loose Ends

This morning, Laura made her way to the car, sighed when she got in and cursed BIG JUG. Then, she mentioned that she had to sew her shirt. She was wearing a pinkish sweatery shirt that had, at one time, had a string or a pouch on the front of it. Those strings came off, and now there were holes in her shirt about an inch long.

Before I had pulled out of the garage, she had rummaged in her bag to find a Ziploc bag full of sewing materials. "You mean you're going to sew it now? On the way to school?"
"I'm not driving," she told me as she pulled the thread through the needle eye. After concentrating for a moment, she looked at me and warned, "but I won't be able to help you drive." We both had a hearty chuckle, then I admitted, "since we are going to a place we go each day, I think I can manage." If, of course, we had been driving to a new destination, I admitted, we could very well be lost.

By the time we parked in space number one, she had sewn the holes, and had put away her materials. We should always spend the time we have in the morning sewing up loose ends. It may make the rest of the day a bit easier to manage.

Namastay

I started the eight week session of yoga today between the restorative lover and Schober.

Blogging and the World

I keep this blog pretty much to myself, but if people from my life or my district were to stumble on to it, I would like to think that they wouldn't assume that this blog is for them. Quite the contrary really. I choose to blog for myself--sporadically, when I have time (which isn't all that often). I got this link to an article in my NCTE post, and it warns about posting private information about my last hangover or my political views, but it seems to me that if I choose to write about these things, I am choosing to do so under the guise that someone has to look pretty hard to find out that I'm blogging.

Yes, I'm a teacher, and yes I have a persona, but a part of that persona is that I am not my job. I love what I do, but I also love a lot of other things as well. That's what this blog is a testimony to--not one aspect, but all the layers that make me, me.

http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/k-12/2008/09/19/in-search-of-support-teachers-turn-to-blogging.html

The BIG Review of Dairy Queen

Witt bought Dairy Queen for me last year when he bought a host of other books. He looked over lists and read synopses, and for whatever reason, the only one I read was Looking for Alaska. There are still two other books I've not picked up yet, but I did finish Dairy Queen earlier this week. Catherine Murdock's tale of young girl who's family works a dairy farm was funny and struck me as a cleverly told story. The voice of D.J. resonates clearly, and as she struggles with figuring out she had fallen for Brian Nelson ( a fact I had deduced about thirty pages before) was cute.

Beyond the love story, though, D.J.'s story did a good job of showing just how many responsibilities some teens have today. Sports, academics, chores, jobs--the list goes on and on. I find myself in my classroom expecting students to care about the format I want essays in when they have to work on helping their families with bills and working an after school job. I see a lot of kids taking on more than they should have to, and at the same time they don't have enough emotional or mental wherewithal to not get into silly arguements.

I really enjoyed D.J.'s story and I appreciate her English teacher for making her tell it--even when she didn't know what she was doing at some points.