I heart Mr. Morton

I have this Reading Workshop training to attend next week, and I've been racking my brain about what to do with my classes while I am gone. We are sort of in between units right now in both my 8th and 9th grade classes, so there really isn't any "plan" that I need to follow. My solution? School House Rock: Grammar Rock. Oh, yes. They will be rocking out to "Conjunction Junction," "Verb: It's What's Happening," "Rufus Xavier Sarsparilla" and the rest of the gang. As I have been creating the worksheet and subsequent class activities, I have been delving into my beloved past time of cherishing all--errr....most--of these songs. There are a few that I am less than fond of, such as "Verb: It's What's Happening" and "Lolly, Lolly, Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here," but overall it's great set. It's a classic. Just to show you what a TOTAL nerd I am, when I was in high school I would *literally* rock out in my 1987 Ford Escort Pony to the soundtrack.

One of my VERY FAVORITES is "The Tale of Mr. Morton," which is pretty much the cutest, most romantic, and wittiest grammar songs ever written. I love it! And I would like to share it's awesomeness with you:



My favorite quotes:

• Mr. Morton talked to his cat. Mr. Morton talked: "Hello cat, you look good."
• Mr. Morton wrote Perl a poem. Mr. Morton wrote.
• The cat stretched. The sun beat down. The neighbor chased his kid: "Come here kid! Come on!"
• Mr. Morton was a nervous man. When she opened up the door, he ran.
• ...until Perl showed up with a single rose. Who says women can't propose?!?
• Mr. Morton is happy. Perl and the cat are, too!

Financial Peace...I'm on my way!

My hubby and I have been taking this class called Financial Peace University at a local church. It is a 13-week course that goes over topics like developing a financial plan, setting up a budget, investing, real estate, and much more. Although I was somewhat--okay, a lot--dreading it at the beginning, I am starting to actually (dare I say it?) ENJOY IT! Tonight we talked about "cash flow planning," which I gather is supposed to be a more user-friendly term than budgeting. During the lesson, Dave Ramsey (the main guy) walked through about 5 or 6 different forms/worksheets to complete each month (at least at first) for your budget. This is something that I have been feeling like I wanted to try for quite some time but didn't really know how to begin. As he was going through the sheets, explaining what numbers to put in which line, and how to manage the whole darn thing, this giddy grin spread across my face. I even whispered to my hubby, "I'm so excited to fill these out!" Yep. I'm a nerd. I can't wait. I have only a loose grasp on how we will manage it once it is put into place, but we're taking baby steps. Even my budget-reluctant husband is starting to come around. We are going to work at finding a system that works for our personalities and marriage. We even have our first "Budget Committee" meeting (i.e. where we sit down and hammer out the details, doing our best to avoid a fight) set up for this Saturday. It's certainly going to be a long, bumpy process, but I am really excited about it!

The power of music

Ever since I can remember, music has had amazing power over my emotions. Although I do not keep up with the local music seen, what's new, or much of anything like that, when I hear good music it really speaks to me. Also, I'm a lyric person. Discovering this caused me to realize why my hubby and I have such different musical tastes. He is able to hear instrumental nuances and amazing bass beats that go right over my head; simultaneously, I am broken apart by powerful words, even if the instrumental part is less than exciting. Generally speaking, I like "chill" music. You know the type: acoustic, calm, with a lead singer that potentially hasn't bathed in a week... I also like female artists, who generally do bathe on a regular basis. For some reason, God has recently been laying on my heart the importance of music in my life. I love it. I am energized by it. I am touched by it. I am challenged by it. The timing of this couldn't be better (God kinda works that way) since I got a new car stereo system for Christmas; I can plug my iPod into it and jam to whatever I have on there. Thus, I am also figuring out this whole iTunes site and realizing that whatever kind of music I like is right at my fingertips.

Hope Community Church--where you can find me most Sunday mornings--has an amazing worship band. They often try new things and play songs that I am unfamiliar with. When I hear something that speaks to me, I make a note of it in my cell phone. Over the past year or so, these little notes have been piling up and generally ignored. So, today, I am sifting through them and finding the ones that I really like on iTunes. One that I find absolutely incredible is a song called "Ten Dead Dogs" by Wild Sweet Orange. The lyrics are below the video, since the words are AMAZING.



Lyrics to "Ten Dead Dogs"
I saw ten dead dogs on the side of the road
driving late last night to your apartment
and I thought it was an omen
so I headed on back home and
walked in circles 'round my room
alone.

And Oh my God, is this really what you want?
Would you tell us if it's not?
And could you rewrite the plot
and come and get us?
Yeah, come and get us.

Shivering cold, I woke up in water
and wrapped myself around the toilet seat.
I spoke in tongues and took all my clothes off.
The tops of my fingers
touched the tops of my toes

And Oh my God, is this really what you want?
Would you tell us if it's not?
And could you rewrite the plot
and come and get us?
Cause we can't stop doing
what we think we want,
even though we know it's not.
This place is merely a subplot
to come and get us.

I've never felt this way before.
Am I running away from what
I've always been running towards.
Belief, believe in me, cause I don't know
if reason's ever gonna see why love
would come to die,
to leave.

Oh my God, is this really what you want?
Would you tell us if it's not?
And could you rewrite the plot
and come and get us?
Cause we can't stop doing
what we think we want,
even though we know it's not.
This place is merely a subplot
to come and get us.

I watched the sky turn from blue
to black to red and yellow too
before the purple dawn was filling up my room.
And for a brief moment,
I heard the whole earth groaning
like there was something
that it needed me to do

[ Ten Dead Dogs Lyrics on http://www.lyricsmania.com/ ]

Dreaming of a house

We are sort of in the market for a house right now; we are in the very baby stages of figuring out what we want, what we can afford, and how to go about getting a home of our own. In the past I have not been known for my tremendous patience, and I don't anticipate that being one of my strong suits anytime soon. That said, I am already dreaming of what said house might look like and contain. Here is my wish list:

• A dishwasher whose name does not start with "Lisa"
• His and hers bathroom sinks
• More than one toilet
• A shower and bathtub
• A nice view
• Big windows
• Lots of sunshine for my plants
• A separate dining room--screw this "Great Room" crap...there's nothing great about it
• Space for a guest bedroom
• Space for an office
• Room for multiple gardens: vegetable, floral, and fruit
• My own washer and dryer, front loading would be ideal
• Lots and lots of storage space
• A 2-3 car garage (I'm dreaming, remember?)
• A patio
• Kitchen and bathroom drawers that slide smoothly and are clean
• NOT a tiled bathroom floor or shower
• NOT a pedistal sink
• A finished basement
• A good space to take off shoes and coats when you walk in

It's all relative

Today marks the first day in...5?...that the air temperature will be above zero for a full 24 hours! I can't help but laugh at myself at how gosh darn excited I am for that :) I think it will be in the thirties later this week, and that seems downright tropical! I can pretty much guarantee you that people in the Twin Cities will be out and about wearing only a t-shirt and maybe a sweatshirt on that day. It's so funny to me that people freak out every November when the temps hit the teens and twenties but get absolutely THRILLED when we have those temperatures in Janurary and February.

If you have ever seen the movie Grumpy Old Men (if you haven't, shame on you!), then you probably remember the part when one of the guys is walking out to his car on a day just like this. He was singing along to the radio: We're having a heat wave....a tropical heat wave... that song will probably be stuck in my head for at least the next 24 hours :)

Lamentations

As we were discussing the upcoming summer break (yes, I know it is 6 months away, but I'M REALLY EXCITED FOR IT!!!), my husband had the following to say about it:

Oh, great. I'm going to come home everyday to find something else has been reorganized!

He knows me oh-so-well. :)

Why I love my job

Some are a bit sarcastic, others are sincere. You decide which is which.

1. I get to/have to tell kids when it's okay to go to the bathroom.


2. I daily receive the, "Are you serious? Whatever. You're the dumbest thing on the planet" look from about four dozen teenagers.


3. I get to/have to schedule my bathroom breaks.


4. I eat lunch at 10:40am...in 22 minutes.


5. I get to be a part of students *literally* learning what the word "courtesy" means. Honestly, many of them didn't know. So, when you tell your cousins or neices to "be courteous" they might have no idea what you mean.


6. For some reason, I still sweat like a mo-fo when I'm teaching...even if I'm cold. Now I know why all my teachers had pit stains.
7. I spend time everyday with people who WILL change the world.

Just call me Ebert

Over winter (Christmas) break, I have watched a GAZILLION movies. Just as a way of reflecting, I've decided to do my best at listing and rating all of the ones I have seen in the past two weeks. Some of them I have seen before, but most of them were new to me.

1. Walk the Line - good, love it
2. James Bond: Quantum of Solace - eh, okay
3. James Bond: Casino Royale - decent, but I can't get over how the title reminds me of that line in Pulp Fiction
4. Step-Brothers - let's just say that this didn't help my already poor opinion of Will Ferrell
5. The Prince and Me - charming
6. X-Men - love it
7. Valkyrie - met my expectations...good
8. Dr. Suess Cat in the Hat - seen it a million times
9. Lara Croft
10. Burn After Reading - don't waste your time
11. A Christmas Story - a classic, everyone has to watch it every year
12. about one-quarter of Wall-E - I'd like to finish it

That's about all I can remember for now...

maybe I wouldn't be a good stay at home wife after all

For the last several years, I have often wished that I could just stay at home and not work. We don't have children right now, so the whole issue of staying home with the kids never really came up. The idea of not having "real" responsibilities was just sort of romantic. I often reminisce over how much I loved sleeping in until 9, shopping at Target at 11am, and making my way to class around noon during college. While that was well and good then, I don't think having a wide-open schedule would suit me very well, but I sure wish that it would!

I am at the mid-way point of winter break. While it has been amazing to sleep, watch movies, and generally do whatever the heck I want, I don't think it is healthy. I can feel myself getting more and more lethargic. I eat like crap. And my nagging old depression is tugging on my sleeve. I truly think a huge part of this is that I am energized by a little bit of stress. I might as well face it, I like working.

If you have not yet read Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Love Pray, you really should. In this book, the author goes on a year-long journey of discovering herself and finding balance in her life. One of the themes that I pulled out of it is the ability to just sit still with oneself. This is a quality that I long for but do not yet possess. This is likely the main reason that I couldn't stay at home by myself: I would LITERALLY drive myself insane. Seriously.

So, this week, I am going to work on that by actually practicing sitting still and being quiet with myself. Usually, this lasts for about 30 seconds until I find something to read, clean, or fuss over. Maybe I'll shoot for a few minutes. Hey, we have to start somewhere!

Top Five Reasons I am a Bad Gift Giver

No, really, I am. I admit it.

1. When I go to stores, I get far more excited about buying something for me than for anyone else.
2. I tend to buy things that I would like...assuming everyone has my taste and sense of humor.
3. I'm cheap. If I do see something parfait for someone, I'm likely to think, "Nice, but way overpriced."
4. Crowds in stores annoy me, so I'm more likely to just leave than keep shopping.
5. I am a last minute shopper. I'm the one that's stopping by Patina on the way to a birthday party, or fighting through crowds of lazy guys on Christmas Eve (which does not agree well with #4.)

So, it is December 22 (still early for Christmas shopping in my book) and I'm off to battle the crowds at yet another store. Good luck to me!