Happy Thanksgiving, Mrs. Fritts

Last week I was at Dillon's stocking up on food for the week, when I saw her. Standing in front of the crackers as I looked at the sharp cheddar cheese was my high school counselor Mrs. Fritts. Everyone has those moments in their educations that, when looked back on, are quite pivotal in deciding one's future. One of those moments happened between Mrs. Fritts and I in the cafeteria of Kickapoo High School.

High School Flashback
Fritts: Well hello, Leslie. Let's take a look at your schedule.

Sophomore LS: Okay (slide a stack of papers to Fritts.

Fritts: This looks interesting. Yes, it looks like you'll have enough credits to graduate. But, wait; this Algebra II class. You can't take it until you finish Algebra I, and you're not good at math. Why would you want to take all of these math classes?

SLS: I want to go to college, and most colleges want to see Algebra II.

Fritts: Yes, but you aren't really college material. You're best bet is getting a job or choosing a trade school after college.

SLS: Are you telling me I can't take the math classes?

Fritts: No, but I don't think you'll be successful in them. I can't stop you, but I'm marking down here that I don't agree with your choice.

SLS: Stunned silence
I took the math classes, aced algebra II, and wound up going to college. But for so long I harbored a grudge against Mrs. Fritts for telling me that I should choose a trade. And there it was again--the gnawing feeling that I would be a high school teacher.

And now I am. WhenI saw Mrs. Fritts at Dillon's buying groceries in a white pants suit, she didn't recognize me. It was though we had no history--no past, no grduge. I quickly got out iPhone and took her picture. Since then, I've looked at her picture each day, and I've been trying to let the grudge go. So, for what it's worth, Mrs. Fritts, I hope you had an excellent Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that you didn't beleive in me, so I would have to start.

The BIG Review of Twilight

I must confess at the beginning of this story I had little or no intention of reading the enitre series. I'm typically opposed to series books--since my rapture with V.C. Andrews ended when I was thirteen. Edward and Bella's love seems so unrealistic--and perhaps that's why young girls swoon over it. Thirteen year olds love the idea of love at first sight; for that matter so do some forty year olds, but I'm not entirely in love with that idea anymore.

Meyers does a good job describing the details of the vampires, and she breaks the traditional ideas we have about vampires (sleep in coffins, burn in the light, etc.). If I were to become a vampire, I would look most forward to my heightened sense of smell.

I made Witt get online and order the series for me as soon as I was finished. They should be here in time for me to devour them over Thanksgiving break.

Twilight...Finally

So, I am finally in the throes of the love story between Edward and Bella. Twilight started out rough for me. I just didn't like as much as I thought I would at first. I decided that I had built a resistance to it--too many people loved it for me to like it. But then I began reading on Wednesday and I read a hundred pages in twenty minutes. I had to wrestle myself to the point that if I weren't enjoying it, I probably wouldn't read it so quickly.

Twilight is the story that Laura first called "literary candy" and in part the reason I finally found the name for my blog.

In some ways, Bella reminds me of Weetzie Bat--so involved with someone that she has trouble separating herself from him. It's intoxicating. It's difficult to imagine it on screen--but I am excited about it!