Funny Things That Happened in School This Week

Funny Things That Happened in School this Week:

Taylor and Brandi approach my desk from two different directions.
Me (still typing, not looking at either of them): what's up?
Taylor and Brandi in perfect unison: Can I go to the bathroom? [Look at each other.]
Taylor: Awkward.
Brandi: Totally awkward.
Taylor: Should we hold hands and skip down the hall together?


After I turn on my air conditioning which rattles and groans and makes noises like a popcorn popper.
Nicole [sitting the closest to it]: If that blows up, I'm gonna be the first to die.


Chelsea: Miss A, I haven't seen you in ...
Me: It has been forever!
Chelsea: ... pants before. Oh ...

27 Things to Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die...

On my 25th birthday, I came up with a list of 25 goals I wanted to do. I'm going to rewrite my list without consulting the last one, to compare how my goals have changed/stayed the same/been fulfilled. The top two have been on my list since I was in high school.

27 Things To Do Before I Turn 28 ... or just sometime before I die
1. Go to Ireland
2. Go to England.
3. Go back to Paris.
4. Go back to New York City.
5. Go back to Washington, D.C.
6. Go on a cruise.
7. Write another novel.
8. Get a novel published.
9. Publish "The Journey."
10. Get married. (Um, someday. Not any time soon!!)
11. Have kids. (I'd like several please. You just order them, right?)
12. Reread all the Jane Austens.
13. Get LA11 curriculum organized.
14. Get my reading endorsement.
15. Become more assertive. (This one may be hard to gauge, but whatever.)
16. See Wicked
17. See the Dixie Chicks in concert.
18. This one's private. For me only. (Okay, I cheated and looked at my goals from two years ago. I couldn't think of any more. But I remember what this one is and I still haven't done it and I still want to. But I also still want to keep it private.)
19. Go to a Meg Cabot book signing.
20. Go to a Jennifer Crusie book signing.
21. Take more pictures.
22. Keep organized photo albums.
23. Do a better job of keeping in touch with old friends.
24. Get curriculum for LA9 in order!!!
25. Reread Wuthering Heights.
26. Take a reading class or a 3 credit hour class.
27. Read more books!!!!!!!! (As always!)

Spring Break

My first spring break since college!! Now that I'm at a metro school I can enjoy one!

Saturday: Speech contest. Booo!!!! But the good news is: SPEECH IS OVAH!!!!! (At least until October when it starts all over again. Longest. Season. Ever.)

Sunday: Taken with Dad and Brennan. Very good. I heart Liam Neeson!!

Monday: Shopping!!! New pants that are petites and therefore won't need to be hemmed!!! Maybe I'll wear pants to work for the first time all year. (Okay, just to be clear--I don't go bottom-less. I wear skirts and dresses. Every day. I swear.) Finished A Great and Terrible Beauty. One of the best books I've read in a really long time, and that includes Twilight. (Which I liked.)

Tuesday: Had to go to library to get the next two books in the Gemma Doyle trilogy. SO GOOD!!! Dinner with Hayley. We meet at 3:30 and don't leave the restaurant until 9:30. It was fantastic!!

Wednesday: Inkheart with Dad. Very cute and fun! I want to read the book now. Spend much of the day uploading CDs and downloading music from iTunes which I haven't done since last summer. Discover Natasha Richardson was killed in a skiing accident. Call Tara to lament.

Thursday: Slumdog Millionaire. I laughed. I cried. I laughed and cried some more. Best. Movie. Ever. I love when the Oscars reward a movie that ends happily!!! Finished Rebel Angels. Began The Sweet Far Thing.

Friday: Last Chance Harvey. SO good!! And very different from most movies out there. I heart Emma Thompson. "A Room with a View." "E.M. Forster." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." "Middle March." "George Eliot." "Yes, did you read it?" "No." Took Brennan to the ER at 1 A.M. for a shot because he had another of his infamous migraines. Didn't get home until 4 A.M.

Saturday: Did nothing. NOTHING!!! Except read my book. More than halfway through but it's 800 pages, so once school starts again on Monday, it may be a while!!!

This Week

Sunday: Oscars! Yea, Kate! Yea, Hugh! Yea, musical montage!!

Monday: Book club at Sbrocco. Topic: Twilight. Very fun.

Tuesday: Parent/Teacher/Student conferences. Boo!!

Wednesday: Legally Blonde with Nicole. Oh my God, oh my God, you guys! Look like Elle's gonna win the guy!

Thursday: Tessa's Arbonne party at Nicole's

Friday: Long overdue grocery shopping and stay up waaay too late watching TV.

Saturday: Speech contest. All Is except for for six IIs. Graded all Romeo and Juliet tests (and only took from 8:30 A.M. to 2:00 P.M.).

Books Read in 2008

This list is incomplete as from August to December I did not keep track and therefore had to go by memory. This wouldn't be such a difficult task except that I tend to read as many old books as new, and it becomes difficult to remember whether I read them this summer, or last summer, or both. (I had all seven of the Harry Potter books on this year's list until I remembered that that was LAST year's list.) This is the least amount of books I've ever read in one year, and I'm chalking it up to moving and starting a new job and getting Tivo. On the other hand, maybe I've read 20 more books and just don't remember. Yeah, let's go with that one.

Number of Agatha Christies read in 2008: 11 (6 of them I'd read before, but I did read three that I've been meaning to read for YEARS: The Pale Horse, Toward Zero, and The Mystery of the Blue Train)
Number of nonfiction books (a new record for me. At least, since college): 5 (If These Walls Could Laugh, Don't Kiss Them Good-bye, When You Are Engulfed in Flames, Home, and Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad. Plus, the next book I've got on my list is Wishful Drinking by Princess Leia. Er, Carrie Fisher)
Number of historicals: 9


January:
1. And Only to Deceive
2. Silent in the Grave
3. Birds of a Feather
4. Persuasion
5. Under the Mistletoe
6. The Cliffhouse Strangler

February:
7. Silent in the Sanctuary
8. Something Borrowed
9. Something Blue
10. A Poisoned Season

March:
11. The Tea Rose (yikes! Took me nearly an entire month to get through!)
12. This Pen For Hire

April:
13. Plum Lucky
14. If These Walls Could Laugh
15. The Little Lady Agency
16. Don't Kiss Them Good-bye
17. The Learning Curve

May:
17. Little Lady, Big Apple
18. Allie Finkle's Rules for Girls: Moving Day
19. Airhead
20. The Giver
21. Why Didn't They Ask Evans?
22. The Man in the Brown Suit

June:
23. The Secret of Chimneys
24. The Seven Dials Mystery
25. Little Lady and the Prince
26. They Came to Baghdad
27. Destination Unknown
28. A Fatal Waltz
29. Remember Me?

July:
30. Little Shop of Murders
31. Fearless Fourteen
33. Where Are You Now?

August:
34. A Consequence of Sin
35. Three Men and a Body

September:
36. When You Are Engulfed in Flames
37. The Edge of Midnight
38. Home: The Julie Andrews Story

October:
39. Towards Zero
40. The Mystery of the Blue Train
41. Mirror Image
42. Cat Among the Pigeons
43. The Crucible
44. Night

November:
45. The Pale Horse
46. Princess on the Brink
47. Princess Mia

December:
48. Boy Meets Girl
49. The Boy Next Door
50. A Raisin in the Sun
51. Size 14 Is Not Fat Either
52. Big Boned
53. Ordeal by Innocence
54. Mrs. Kennedy Goes Abroad
55. The Tales of Beedle Bard

Movies Seen in 2008

The movies that I watched in 2008. Around August (the time I started my new job and became so busy that I often contemplated suicide), I stopped keeping track, so many thanks to my sister for allowing me to cheat off her list to copy down the movies we saw together!! The list of books I read this year is much more difficult to remember...

124 movies so far, including at least 15 entire length TV seasons on DVD and one miniseries. The movies I had never seen before (including the ones seen in the theatre) are in red, all others are in black.


January:
1. Persuasion 1 January
2. Mansfield Park 1 January
3. BBC's Jane Eyre 6 January
4. Atonement 12 January
5. The Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King 12 January
6. BBC's Persuasion 13 January
7. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip 14 January
8. BBC's Northanger Abbey 20 January
9. Veronica Mars Season 3 21 January
10. BBC's Mansfield Park 27 January
11. Veronica Mars Season 1 31 January

February:
12. The Notebook 3 February
13. Mr. and Mrs. Smith 6 February
14. 27 Dresses 8 February
15. Talladega Nights 8 February
16. Fool's Gold 9 February
17. Arrested Development 18 February
18 Pride and Prejudice 18 February
19. Amelie 19 February
20. Ratatouille 19 February
21. Bewitched 22 February
22. French Kiss 23 February
24. Charade 24 February
25. BBC's Pride and Prejudice 24 February
26. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 24 February

March:
27. Definitely, Maybe 1 March
28. Adventures in Baby-sitting 1 March
29. Children of a Lesser God 1 March
30. Wedding Crashers 2 March
31. Air Force One 8 March
32. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark 9 March
33. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade 9 March
34. Montana Sky 9 March
35. The Fugitive 10 March
36. Fool's Gold 15 March
37. Psych Season 1 19 March
38. Juno 22 March
39. The Jane Austen Book Club 23 March
40. The Spiderwick Chronicles 29 March

April:
41. The Number 23 4 April
42. Jumper 5 April
43. Masterpiece Classic: Sense and Sensibility 6 April
44. Masterpiece Classic: A Room with a View 13 April
45. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 20 April
46. Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi 21 April
47. Star Wars 23 April
48. Forgetting Sarah Marshall 26 April

May:
49. Romancing the Stone
50. Made of Honor
51. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark
52. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
53. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls 25 May
54. Sex and the City: the movie

June:
55. Yours, Mine, and Ours
56. The Transporter
57. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
58. Firefly
59. The West Wing Season 1
60. The West Wing Season 2
61. The West Wing Season 3
62. The West Wing Season 4
63. Get Smart
64. The Starter Wife

July:
65. The West Wing Season 5
66. The West Wing Season 6
67. The West Wing Season 7
68. Kitt Kittredge
69. Wanted
70. Mamma Mia!
71. The Dark Knight
72. Journey to the Center of the Earth
73. Journey to the Center of the Earth
74. The X-Files: I Want to Believe
75. The Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
76. Penelope
77. Batman Begins
78. The Faculty
79. Mulan
80. 13 Going on 30
81. Martian Child

August:
82. The Holiday
83. Penelope
84. Aida
85. Legally Blonde
86. Gosford Park
87. The Spiderwick Chronicles
88. Prison Break Season 1
89. Prison Break Season 2
90. Prison Break Season 3

September:
91. Serenity
92. The Women

October:
93. Eagle Eye
94. The Ruby in the Smoke

November:
95. Australia
96. Pride and Prejudice
97. 13 Going on 30
98. Bewitched
99. Journey to the Center of the Earth
100. Enchanted

December:
101. The Shadow in the North
102. While You Were Sleeping 19 December
103. The Fugitive 20 December
104. The Net
105. Sydney White 21 December
106. Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog 22 December
107. Twilight 22 December
108. Home Alone 23 December
109. Shop Around the Corner 26 December
110. Made of Honor 26 December
111. Erin Brockovich 26 December
112. Shut Up and Sing: Dixie Chicks documentary 26 December
113. Waitress (1/2) 27 December
114. Fool's Gold 27 December
115. Emma 27 December
116. My Cousin Vinny 27 December
117. Michael 27 December
118. Mrs. Winterbourne 28 December
119. The Invasion 29 December
120. Sleepless in Seattle 29 December
121. Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day 30 December
122. What Happens in Vegas 30 December
123. Baby Mama 31 Decemer
124. Leatherheads 31 December

Best TV Couples

For my sister who was complaining about the lack of posts. I'm open to changes and suggestions.

1. Rachel and Ross
2. Jim and Pam
3. Veronica and Logan
4. Michael and Sara
5. Josh and Donna
6. Sydney and Vaughn
7. Danny and Jordan
8. Monica and Chandler
9. Jack and Kate
10. Luke and Lorelai
11. Alex and Ava (Rebecca)
12. Gallant and Neela
13. Doug and Carol
14. Robin Hood and Marian
15. Sun and Jin
16. Bones and Booth
17. Michael and Fiona
18. Barney and Robin
19. Chuck and Ned
20. Shawn and Gus

Mastercard

This is a work-in-progress that I always meant to go back and finish. However, the date on it was August 8, and as it is now November, and I have never updated it, I guess it wasn't meant to be. So here it is in all its unfinished glory:



New apartment and deposits: $1000+
U-Haul: $260
Living in a place where you can have a social life: priceless.

New mattress: $900
New sheets and bedding: $250
Moving to a place where going to bed is fun: priceless.

To Do This Weekend

1. Find my sweatshirts and pajama pants
2. Locate my Paris magnets!!
3. Buy some Ibuprofen
4. CD player?
5. Make handout over problem-based learning solution process, requirements, and due dates
6. Plan next week for problem-based learning/American lit
7. Review "Scarlet Ibis" and come up with some rockin' examples of symbolism
8. Process handout for American lit and prob-based learning solution
9. Make list of displaced people for American lit. Ex: Darfur/Sudan, Hurricane Katrina victims, homeless in America, Georgia victims (120,000 people in the Russia/Georgia conflict), Rwanda, Congo, Afghanistan, etc.
10. Make groups for problem-based learning
11. Kill myself (or wait for American lit/prob-based learning to kill me...whichever comes first)
12. Apologize to everyone for such a bo-ring blog

Shows I Will DVR When I Finally Get My DVR

1. Bones
2. House
3. Chuck
4. Heroes
5. Desperate Housewives
6. How I Met Your Mother
7. Pushing Daisies
8. Lost
9. Private Practice
10. The Office
11. 30 Rock
12. Scrubs
13. Ugly Betty
14. Grey's Anatomy
15. Law and Order: SVU
16. Psych
17. Monk
18. The Closer
19. My Boys
20. Burn Notice
21. In Plain Sight
22. Dirty Sexy Money
23. Reaper
24. Jon and Kate + 8
25. Passport to Europe
26. Supernanny
27. Masterpiece Theatre
28. Mystery!
29. Inside the Actors Studio
30. What Not To Wear
31. The Daily Show
32. Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List
33. Samantha Who?
34. American Idol
35. Dancing with the Stars

10 Women I Admire...

1. Michelle Obama

2. Meredith Vieira

3. J.K. Rowling

4. Caroline Kennedy Schlossberg

5. Campbell Brown

6. Tina Fey

7. Meg Cabot

8. Hillary Clinton

9. Melinda Gates

10. My mom

On Names

I like the name Brittany as much as the next person--well, actually, I don't, considering I think it's just an okay name, and some people--quite a few people--like it enough to name their children that. This past school year, I had six Brittanys in the same grade. And, furthermore, when did people forget the spelling of Brittany? Of those six, only two of them spelled it Brittany, while the other four were Brittney.

What is with the parents who have two children named things like 'Anastasia' and 'Sarah.' Did they just completely give up with Sarah? Sarah. It's a fine name, but it takes absolutely no imagination at all. Do people not understand that names belong in categories? Lee--which is a perfectly fine albeit boring name--does not belong in the same category as Jacqueline. Someone should have told the Bouviers this when they were naming their children.

Why do people think that changing the spelling of Imogine to Imogen somehow makes the name BETTER? It honestly is a mystery to me.

There is absolutely no excuse for authors to write books about people named Sarah and Kate. Again, these are fine names, but there are a million Sarahs and Kates in the world--we don't need more of them in the fictional world. If you are creative enough to write a novel, you are creative enough to come up with some unique names. For the love of God!!

On My First Day of Summer Vacation ...

7:10 Wake up in a panic. Remember it's summer vacation. Go back to sleep.

9:40 Wake up in a fog. Wonder what time it is. Realize that because it's cloudy and raining it seems earlier than it is. Haul self out of bed.

9:45 Am greeted by the dogs. Let them out.

9:46 Pour self a bowl of Cap'n Crunch.

9:47 Ponder the adventures of the Cap'n. Wonder why he chose that hat of his.

10:00 Check facebook. Discover I have been friended by the first of my students. She wrote, "Is this you? I think it is based on your profile picture." Profile picture is an icon of several pairs of shoes. Laugh uproariously at how well all my students know me.

10:30 Shower. Dress quickly as it is rainy and below 50 degrees and am freezing.

11:15 Call Dad to see if I can join him for lunch.

11:17 Dry hair and put on make-up. Read about the adventures of Anne Beddingfield while drying hair.

11:45 Leave home to meet Dad at mi restauraunte favorito La Carreta.

12:05 Lots of laughing about his work and mine as we munch on the BEST TORTILLAS AND SALSA EVER MADE!!!!

12:55 Go to Wal-Mart to pick up computer monitor for him.

1:15 Leave Wal-Mart to go to Staples where he tells me he has now reserved a computer monitor.

1:25 Get ice cream cone from McDonald's.

1:35 Go to mall. Buy self a shirt from Christopher & Banks. Buy mother a sweater with little Eiffel Towers and Arc de Triomphes on it on whim. Hope she will like it.

2:20 Leave to go home. Sky is looking mysteriously dark.

2:30 Rain begins.

2:35 Slow to 55 mph due to rain.

2:36 Slow to 50 mph due to rain.

2:37 Slow to 45 mph due to rain.

2:38 Slow to 40 mph due to rain.

2:46 Arrive home to find dogs quite frightened of thunder.

2:59 Watch the American Idols on the Today Show from this morning (thank you, DVR!). Giggle at the corny things Meredith says while secretly feeling EXACTLY the same way.

3:15 Marvel (again) at how well-spoken and articulate David Cook is.

3:30 Check email.

3:40 Check facebook.

4:00 Talk to brother who has just arrived home from fishing trip in Wisconsin. Biggest excitement was when he got fish hook caught in his finger and had to go to the ER. Second biggest excitement was when they nearly got hypothermia during a huge storm.

4:10 Tell brother I think they are idiots. Cute idiots, but still.

4:20 Realize what an exciting and memorable day this first day of vacation has been. Am hoping strenuously for lots of sunshine tomorrow so it will feel like summer.

Dream Emmy Ballot

Best Drama
Lost
Medium
Grey's Anatomy
Bones
House

Best Comedy
Desperate Housewives
The Office
Samantha Who?
30 Rock
Pushing Daisies

Best Actor- Drama
Matthew Fox-Lost
Desmond-Lost
Hugh Laurie-House
David Boreanaz-Bones

Best Actress-Drama
Patricia Arquette-Medium
Mariska Hargitay-Law and Order: SVU
Evangeline Lily-Lost
Emily Deschanel-Bones
Kyra Sedgwick-The Closer

Best Actor-Comedy
Steve Carell-The Office
Lee Pace-Pushing Daisies
James Roday-Psych
Alec Baldwin-30 Rock


Best Actress-Comedy
Tina Fey-30 Rock
America Ferrera-Ugly Betty
Christina Applegate-Samantha Who?
Anna Friel-Pushing Daisies


Supporting Actor-Comedy
Michael Urie-Ugly Betty
John C. McGuinley-Scrubs
Jack McBrayer-30 Rock
John Krasinski-The Office
Neil Patrick Harris-How I Met Your Mother

Supporting Actress-Comedy
Vanessa Williams-Ugly Betty
Becki Newton-Ugly Betty
Sarah Chalke-Scrubs
Jean Smart-Samantha Who?
Jenna Fischer-The Office

Supporting Actress-Drama
Sandra Oh-Grey's Anatomy
Katherine Heigl-Grey's Anatomy
Yunjin Kim-Lost
Olivia Wilde-House
Chandra Wilson-Grey's Anatomy

Songs I Sing in the Shower

Songs I Sing in the Shower:

1. Ever since I was a little girl, I have always sung "Stop! In the Name of Love" by Diana Ross and the Supremes in the shower. That is *the* song that I sing. There is something about this song that lends itself to shower-sized gestures and dancing. "Think it over ... haven't I been good to you?"

2. When I'm not channeling Diana Ross, I prefer to sing Broadway songs. "All that Jazz" from Chicago is my all-time favorite Broadway song. I even sang it in my high school talent show with back-up singers and everything. "I'm gonna rouge my knees and pull my stockings down!" I also sing this one in the car whenever I'm feeling low. Or high. It's that perfect song for all emotional occasions. I love both the Catherine Zeta-Jones and the Bebe Neuwirth versions. It is perfectly within my range--low and lower notes--an alto's dream, for sure. "Oh, I'm no one's wife, but oh! I love my life, and all-that-ja-aazz!"

3. I'm not one to sing recent or different songs in the shower, so when I say "Defying Gravity" from Wicked is a new favorite, I mean 'new' in the same way that we say this is a new century--you know, it's been around for several years, but when you take into account relativity, it's new. I mainly sing the first several lines and try to figure out how the song goes on from there, then give up and head straight for the bridge, which is the whole point of singing the song anyway. "So if you care to find me, look to the western sky. As someone told me lately, everyone deserves a chance to fly!"

4. "Written in the Stars" from Aida. Again, the appeal is that it is in an alto's range, and when the water pressure is good and there's enough water in my ears, I barely even tell that my voice is weak and shaky compared to Heather Headley's. Okay, compared to anyone's. "Is it written in the stars? Are we paying for some crimes? Is that all that we are good for, just some stretch of mortal time?"

5. "Amazing Grace" is fun simply because I know all the words to, like, the first three verses, and if I start low enough, I can almost reach the high notes.

6. "The Star Spangled Banner." Simply because I know all the words and I know the harmony, which is always fun to sing. Who knew I was so patriotic?

25 Goals: One Year Later

So here are the goals I came up with one year ago today. 25 things I want to accomplish before I'm--gulp!--thirty. Here are the ones that I have accomplished.


1. Go to Paris. (Totally went. Totally saw. Totally conquered.)

2. See the Eiffel Tower. (Amazing, but the thing that really blew me away was the Arc de Triomphe--that's the moment that I relive which is funny because it was totally unexpected.)

4. Investigate new jobs. (Still working on this. Had two interviews. Nada.)

5. Go to NYC. (Best vacation ever.)

7. See Spamalot. (Hands down, the most hilarious show I've ever seen. Even the actors had trouble not breaking character. "'Mother?' 'Father!' 'Father?'" Ha!

9. Be someone's maid-of-honor. (Was so much fun and--I think--the speech was a success.)

10. Finish a novel. (Last year I wrote, "Even if it's crap. Just finish it." Well, it's crap, but I finished it. Hooray!)

13. Pay off my car. (Paid off. It belongs to me free and clear.)

21. Fly on a transatlantic flight. (I watched four films on it. I think. The whole thing is kind of a blur.)

So nine of my twenty-five goals have been met or at least partly met. Wow. I'm quite impressed with myself. Only 16 more to go.

Jeff Foxworthy's Take on Teachers: HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER? (Commentary by Rixie)

Jeff Foxworthy's Take on Teachers: HOW DO YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TEACHER? (Commentary by Rixie)

1. You can hear 25 voices behind you and know exactly which one belongs to the child out of line. (This happens all the time and I love when I can reprimand a student without even turning around. The kids are always amazed by how we know them!)

2. You get a secret thrill out of laminating something. (Well, more like seeing something laminated--not the actual lamination process.)

3. You walk into a store and hear the words 'It's Ms/Mr. _________'and know you have been spotted. (I go NOWHERE in this town because I'm afraid of being spotted. I finally get it, Mom!)

4. You have 25 people that accidentally call you Mom/Dad at one time or another. (It happens at least once a month. They're always so embarrassed. Luckily by the time they're not freshmen anymore, it doesn't really happen. There's still a senior boy and two sophomore boys that call me Mom whenever they see me just as a joke--it's a little frightening.)

5. You can eat a multi-course meal in under twenty-five minutes. (Twenty-five? Ha! More like nineteen!)

6. You've trained yourself to go to the bathroom at two distinct times of the day: lunch and prep period. (No matter what!)

7. You start saving other people's trash, because most likely, you can use that toilet paper tube or plastic butter tub for something in the classroom.

8. You believe the teachers' lounge should be equipped with a margarita machine. (I could use one everyday during third hour...about 10:00 a.m.)

9. You want to slap the next person who says 'Must be nice to work 8 to 4 and have summers off.' (I always respond, "Who do you know with that job and where can I apply?" A teacher is never "off-duty." Especially living in a small town.)

10. You believe chocolate is a food group. (I lock my door at 4:30 and all my students know that if you need in after that to talk to me, you'd better bring chocolate, cause I won't open the door without it.)

11. You can tell if it's a full moon without ever looking outside. (I know I'm slow, but for my first 18 years when my mother would come home and say this, I thought it was a joke and she was kidding. I had no idea that this was a real occurrence until my first year of teaching when it suddenly clicked. I wish all people who don't work with kids would have to come in to the classroom and experience this. The change is as real as it would be if they all morphed into werewolves. It's that obvious.)

12. You believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.' (I work with freshmen, so they're never mellow. Not even first hour when the rest of the students are sleepwalking.)

13. You feel the urge to talk to strange children and correct their behavior when you are out in public. (Once at the movies [with either Kim or Tara--I can't remember now] I actually turned around and started scolding these kids without even thinking. It's like I flipped out and thought it was okay to yell at total strangers in the middle of a movie. It's hard to turn the teacher switch off. ... I also want to reprimand crying, spoiled children in stores.]

14. You believe in aerial spraying of Ritalin. (I love when parents say they don't believe in Ritalin and my mom says to their face in total disgust, "Oh...you're one of 'Them.'" On behalf of teachers everywhere, may I just say to these parents thanks for punishing US for YOUR mistakes?")

15. You think caffeine should be available in intravenous form.

16. You spend more money on school stuff than you do on your own children. (Well, I don't have kids, but I definitely spend more money on school stuff than I do on myself!)

17. You can't pass the school supply aisle without getting at least five items! (I am THROUGH lending pencils to the kids. DONE!)

18. You ask your friends if the left hand turn he just made was a 'good choice or a bad choice.' (I mainly want to lecture my friends and especially my siblings about the dangers of procrastinating.)

19. You find true beauty in a can full of perfectly sharpened pencils (and a blank sheet of notebook paper.)

20. You are secretly addicted to hand sanitizer (and the scented wipes. One of the other English teachers and I give those things to each other for birthdays and Christmas every year.)

and finally,

21. You understand instantaneously why a child behaves a certain way after meeting his or her parents. (Um, nuff said.)

"She feared that the same unfortunate persuasion still governed."

I was eighteen when I saw Persuasion and I didn't get it.

I was twenty-three when I saw Persuasion again and I loved it.

I was twenty-five when I read the book and it broke my heart, stole my breath, and then deposited both at my feet near the end of the story.

Most people prefer Pride and Prejudice, and while I do delight in Lizzy's victories and grieve for her humiliations, this was not a book that I was chained to. That's not to say I didn't love it--I rooted for this modern chick all the way. The ending uplifted me, and I genuinely believed in Lizzy's and Darcy's story, that they were the only people that could ever make the other truly happy.

I adore the film versions of all of Jane Austen's books, but I often wondered how much I would love the reading experience if it weren't for the wonderful pictures of the talented actors portraying these characters (Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Jeremy Northram, etc.) running through my head. I found Northanger Abbey a bit ridiculous even as a piece of satire and was unable to even finish Mansfield Park. But Persuasion ... Persuasion turned out to be my great love.

It was Persuasion that made my stomach drop when Captain Wentworth finally noticed Anne again, that made me throw the book down in frustration when Anne was being a martyr (only to pick it up again as fast as I threw it down), that made me cheer when (to quote Kipling) Anne kept her cool when those all around her were losing theirs, that made me cry in that wonderful heartwrenching, poignant way when Wentworth finally wrote the letter and they walked home through the park together.

It is Persuasion that I reread parts of to myself just for the sheer joy of the language and the dialogue and the conversation. It is Persuasion that took me through a life's cycle of emotions--contentment, loneliness, meloncholy, hopelessness, hopefulness, love, and utter joy. It is Persuasion that motivates me to read other Austens in the hope of finding that absolute joy again. It is Persuasion that I stole a copy of from the library just because I had to have the copy that I first read. It is Persuasion that spoke to my soul and changed my life in the way that only few books can do. It is Persuasion that speaks to the adult Jane Austen reader that I am now. It is the heartbreak and the loss and the redemption and the forgiveness of Persuasion that, as an adult, I identify with.

10 Things I Want to Have Accomplished by This Time Next Year

1. Find a new job
2. Reconnect with an old friend
3. Watch The West Wing
4. Schedule a trip (DC?)
5. Finish the novel I'm working on
6. The journey stuff
7. Get Tivo or DVR
8. Pay off my credit card debt
9. Get a new cell phone
10. Update photo album

"What is a Friend?

A single soul dwelling in two bodies." ~ Aristotle

Many of the movies and books and TV shows that I truly treasure are focused on friendship. From Anne and Diana to Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte to Elinor and Marianne to the Ya-Yas to Bridget and Shaz and Jude to the movie I watched tonight--the Jane Austen Book Club, the focus on friendship between women is a central theme.

They say that women with strong female friendships are healthier and happier and that even their marriages benefit from it. Although I am really a homebody and not much of a social butterfly, I do agree that there's nothing more comforting than watching old movies while giggling with friends. I feel better and stronger after simply watching a movie that's heavy on the estrogen.

What is that line from Sex and the City about women being the only ones left in the end? The first time I watched Sex and the City, I was very into Mr. Big, and then Steve, and then Aidan, and then Harry, and, of course, Mr. Big again. I find that as I get older and rewatch the shows in syndication, I hold my breath for different moments--Carrie dedicating her book to Charlotte; Samantha giving up her hair appointment to give Miranda a break from the baby; the four women deciding to be each other's soul mates, and--to me, the most poignant of all the episodes--Carrie standing up with Miranda at her mother's funeral. These are the reasons I watch now.

The best part of each of these TV shows and movies and books is that the women recognize what they have--they meddle and they judge and they fight and they disapprove, but at the end of the day, they support and they cheer and they encourage and they stand alongside of and they show up, even if it's reluctantly.

George Santayana said it best when he said, "The loneliest woman in the world is a woman without a close woman friend."