I'm moving on Saturday! Yikes!

I need some perspective
This post is dedicated to the fact that I have been giving myself stress headaches for the past week and it needs to stop. So please forgive all the obviousness.
1. Moving isn't that bad...at least there shouldn't be bugs in my bed anymore. And I will have a balcony. I'm a lucky girl.
2. Work isn't so hard...when I run out of steam, there's always reviewing, right? There is no shame, or shouldn't be, for admitting that I am running out of time this week and having them read for comprehension or do a webquest online. I can't be Mary Poppins every single day, especially since the color printer wasn't working this morning so I was forced to reenact the Boston Tea Party by myself...slightly humiliating.
3. Signing up for extra work is not masochism...it's just more fun! I already love my Destination Imagination team. It is such a relief and amazingly fun to talk to kids who can speak English! I told them a pun (punster that I am) and they got it:) What smarties they are. We have a "camraderie signal," which is my contribution to the team since I can effectively no longer provide any advice. It's the ASL sign for imagination and then we touch pinkies (in the "i" sign) as though we're combining the imaginations to create maximum imagination potential! And they were afraid it might be mistaken for a gang sign. No gang would do something with so many loops.
4. My mother is not a stressor. Well, this week she is, but she hasn't been in the past, so that's lucky.
5.My current lack of boyfriend can't stress me out. I have options now,choices...but no more blind dates ever! My current success rate of blind dates is about 10%.

Favorites, version 11.20
*The Gilmore Girls, Season 5...I didn't realize that this show is so smart. Whenever I heard about it, I thought it was a schmaltzy mother-daughter thing, and since my mom and I don't do treacle (except rare occasions when we discuss our love of all little dogs), I expected not to like it. But I love all the pop-culture and literature references!
*Christmas is already at the Mall of America. I usually hate how retail starts celebrating the religious holiday before thanksgiving, and it did make me sad that anyone of a non-Christian faith is totally excluded from the decorations in the amusement park, it still makes me warm inside...I love the advent season! Now that I've stopped caring about the presents (Christmas is actually my least favorite day in December), I don't separate my secular anticipation from my religious. Which means that the biggest Gingerbread house in the world (yes, right in my local mall) gets me excited for Jesus' birthday! Speaking of that, I think someone told me that some historians believe he was born in 7 A.D. (ironically after his namesake period started), which would make this his 2000 birthday! Anyway, to make a long story short, I danced in the changing room when Mariah Carey's holiday song played, and I hate that song, but I danced because this year I'm excited! I haven't figured out why yet, but it might have something to do with the fact that I'm moving in two weeks and I'm planning on "taking" my students to Hawaii on our "trip," which is mostly so I can make leis and serve coconut.
*That last bullet point was way too long, so here's a related note: I love that this season brings festive traditions/parties. I'm organizing my first progressive dinner, which is exciting because I like the idea of eating in many different places and because my parents and I used to do them every year when I was little. I'm also organizing my maternal family's biannual (because we didn't do it last year) secret santa. We give gifts to another person secretly for 7 days before Christmas...like how I added that subtle nod to Channukah? (Not that we celebrate the actual meaning of the holiday, but I do think the secular aspect of that gift-giving is much more appealing). I think commercialism should be spread out, and secret gift-giving is a challenge of creativity when we're all spending every day together.
*Yoga. I love yoga. I now fit into my light blue corderoy pants, which I haven't fit into since my freshman year of college, when a boy on my floor used to always touch them because he liked the sound (whatever) and I would blush; it was probably one of the best things about freshman year. So yoga is working out for me and it's fun to boot.
*Forever 21. Having gotten over the fact that it's not age-appropriate (according to the owners), I love this store because everything is super cheap, I could spend my life there and not have time to see the entire selection, and their inhouse designers are amazing gifted at anticipating and copying trends in fashion. I bought my Christmas dress there today for $27. There are some commercial products in which I do refuse to partake due to name: Seventeen Magazine (sorry, you're (omg) 7 years too late), Sweet Sixteen on MTV (I don't think I had one), or AARP monthly.
*Teaching about American history, culture, and society. Developing this curriculum has helped me to remember so much...and I'm teaching 2nd and 3rd graders!! It's sad how little Americans need to know about America to live here. We should actually have to learn stuff and demonstrate knowledge of the flag on Flag Day, for example. It would make the holiday so much more interesting. Last week I learned that the Native Americans who helped the pilgrims (thus beginning the tradition of Thanksgiving) were the Wampanoag. I also learned that the pilgrims actually came from Holland and that the National Anthem is about the Battle of Fort McHenry in Baltimore, which Francis Scott Key was sitting around watching because his friend had been kidnapped. I actually always thought Francis was a woman...I think I'd never seen the spelling.
*Having a nice little posse of friends. Since my major trust issues from high school are still in residence, it's nice to finally realize that I can trust them! I should have known that from the beginning, with the t-shirt, but like I said, issues:)
*My cat. He's a keeper (not like poor sneezes-on-face-then-licks-it-off, who's hopefully with a good family now). Oliver is sweet, and so much the adorable little orphan like his namesake. When I give him catnip (then run away for fear of his random clawings when excited), I swear he looks at me as if to say "Please sir, may I have some more?" He has puppy-dog eyes down to a science. Of course, he also has a belly now, since I've given in too much, so he's on a diet.
*3-day weeks. Those are the best.

My "I can't believe that!" moments from yesterday...

1. Glen Beck, on CNN Headline News, asking Minnesota congressman Keith Ellison if he is working for enemies of the United States. The reason why Mr. Beck asked that question is that Keith Ellison is the first Muslim ever elected to congress. The interview went like this (seriously!):

BECK: Thank you. I will tell you, may I -- may we have five minutes here where we're just politically incorrect and I play the cards face up on the table?

ELLISON: Go there.

BECK: OK. No offense, and I know Muslims. I like Muslims. I've been to mosques. I really don't believe that Islam is a religion of evil. I -- you know, I think it's being hijacked, quite frankly.

With that being said, you are a Democrat. You are saying, "Let's cut and run." And I have to tell you, I have been nervous about this interview with you, because what I feel like saying is, "Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies."

And I know you're not. I'm not accusing you of being an enemy, but that's the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.

ELLISON: Well, let me tell you, the people of the Fifth Congressional District know that I have a deep love and affection for my country. There's no one who is more patriotic than I am. And so, you know, I don't need to -- need to prove my patriotic stripes.

2. Sean Lennon was on the Daily Ten, an entertainment news show on the E! channel. He was in a segment called "Shameless Plug," when entertainers get 15 seconds to tell the audience about something they should buy/see. That's too bizarre.

I worry so much about fear disguised as patriotism that is manifested as prejudice.

From USA Today
'Old Glory' is the flag to fly in Pahrump

"The Nevada town of Pahrump is taking a stand not just against illegal immigrants but flags they may bring with them," USA TODAY's William M. Welch writes this morning on the front page.

The town board in the small community west of Las Vegas voted this week to make it illegal to fly a foreign nation's flag by itself.

"Old Glory is sovereign," says Paul Willis, a retired carpenter and board member. "You can't fly any other nation's flag higher than the American flag."

The town has also declared English its official language and denied town benefits to illegal immigrants.

The American Civil Liberties Union says the restriction on flags violates the First Amendment. In the blogosphere, BrickieBob's Opinion gives "three cheers for Pahrump." But Jack Wood, who says he lives in Pahrump and blogs at Nye Gateway to Nevada's Rurals, says "as soon as I finish laughing at the absurdity of this racist ordinance I'm going to head down to Romero's Mexican Restaurant and order me a Mexican hamburger disguised as a taco."

Yawn
I've felt lethargic for the past two days, and had an on-going tension headache (which just decided to stay today, even though I was in a good mood). I had to stay at work today until 5:45, which isn't late compared to other people's jobs, but such a long time if you consider that I have no time to sit and gather myself, or just waste time, between 8 and 3:30.

Books I want to read:
The American Story, 100 Stories for the entire family to share
Paris to the Moon by Adam Gopnik
Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert

I'm so excited to move! My new apartment is so swanky.

When I got home tonight, I had three messages on my answering machine
(imagine them all with a highly pronounced Spanish accent, which makes it either cuter or a bit creepy):

#1 "Miiiiisssssss [my last name]" ::long pause:: click
#2 breathing, click
#3 "Miss [my last name], call me. You neeeeeeed to callllllllll me. This is [student's name]." click

Obivously, giving out my home phone number to parents at conferences was a bad idea.

Democrats won the house and senate!!

I'm so excited...I was listening to Bob Dylan, because there was actually that spirit of change this fall, and it's actually happening now:)

It's much harder to be such a little pessimist. I've been having a hard week at work. My dad advised me this morning to find a different job and I agreed (for about 5 minutes). Some days there is so much bureaucracy that the feeling of futility is overwhelming. We were supposed to have a 1/2 day meeting, and I prepared for it, and was about to leave, when the leader realized she had forgotten to tell me it was cancelled! But at the same time, whenever I feel this way, something at school makes me remember how rewarding teaching can be.

This morning, I sent an email to my team of colleagues, explaining what I've been teaching...some people had no idea what I did! And their feedback was so nice. I also got lots of random hugs today! Most of them were from students who I only ever see in the hall, which is funny. We also learned that we're probably getting a new teacher. I also solved the mystery of why one student likes to cut up his math tests. His teacher couldn't figure it out, and he had completely shut down, so I started asking him in Spanish, encouraging him not to cut his homework to bits, too. And he stopped. Then 5 minutes later, he poked me and said, "I cut when I don't know how to do math." A-ha!

Tomorrow, we have conferences during the morning, then I have the afternoon and Friday off from work. I definitely need a break. I'm going to start packing, do a lot of yoga, and relax.

Here's a beautiful painting by my favorite artist, Paul Klee, to make your day more relaxing, too!

The Pledge of...whatever
How ironic is it that even though students are required to say the pledge of allegiance every morning in their classrooms, a teacher can get in trouble for presuming help them to read the words? Apparently, saying "under God" in school is okay, but discussing why you're saying it or what it means is not (not that I was actually going to discuss it, merely gloss over it quickly to get on to what "for which it stands" means. So essentially, the importance of the pledge, it's actual relevance to America, is completely superficial- the act of repeating it without comprehension is the purpose, I see now. I couldn't decide if I should have an upper case or lower case g, or g-d, anyway, to try for the most inclusive form, so it's just as well. I really can't understand why those words are still there, spoken enthusiastically by students who have no idea what they're saying, every single school day.

Mi casa es su casa
I finally found an amazing new apartment! I put a deposit down yesterday. It's so clean, beautiful, sunny, and big...plus, there won't be bugs marching across my face every night, because it's on the fourth floor! I also have a balcony that looks all the way down Hennepin. The manager said it's good for barbequing. Ha. It will probably be my tanning balcony/place for drying clothes since I might not want to walk all the way down to the basement!

I'm so excited to have all my friends over to see it. That won't happen until the first weekend in December, when we'll have the "Big Chill" unpacking party (though no drugs will be used, and no one will lend out their husband to impregnate someone else- I hated that part!) But it's going to be so much more fun to have people over, since it's bigger and less sketchy. And Chipotle is right across the street!

So this month will be lots of packing and preparing for the move. I'm also going to start coaching Destination Imagination at my school, which is an incredibly organized and detailed (and time-consuming) endeavor. I hope it will be as fun as I'm expecting, though! I'm looking forward to working with students who are able to express themselves well in English.

Finally, in this little update, I've become a yoga fanatic. I always thought that yoga was all ooming and stretching, but it's actually such a hard workout! Especially the sculpting class, when we use 5 pound weights and workout in a room that's 80 degrees!! It's so amazing...I love it. I have my physical therapy next week, too, so hopefully I can start running again soon.