Adventures in February

This weekend I came home from work to a note on my bed saying my best friend wanted me to pack up all of my 'teacher work' and meet her 'at [insert random Maryland address].

After battling Friday rush hour traffic, I drove up to what turned out to be an adorable coffee shop in Frederick, Maryland.  Katie, who had been patiently waiting for me, asked what we were doing.  At which point the following classic movie moment ensued:

"What are we doing?"
"What do you mean?  I thought you planned this!"
"Are you serious?  I thought you planned this!  I got a letter from you saying to meet me here!"

At this point, we noticed that the cashier was smirking.  Figuring she knew something we didn't, we approached her.  She asked: "Are you Katie and Lauren?" When we confirmed that we were, she removed a clue from behind the counter.  It contained $10 and told us to:

Coffee with my bff and a romantic surprise from my gf?  I'M DOWN.  We followed directions, thanks to a friendly barista:

And then found a place to leave one of our cars, and started traveling up 70 as instructed by our previous clues.  Along the drive, we get texts with trivia questions--the answers to these questions will give us our destination!  After a few wrong guesses and misguided google searches, we discovered that we were headed to the Blue Knob Ski Resort in Claysburg, PA.  

Aside from a (minor) perilous journey up a mountain during a snowstorm in my 2003 Saturn Ion which got stuck in the snow that resulted in my need to call on my "Knight in Shining Volkswagen"... at which point she ALSO got stuck--We had a FABULOUS weekend.  

The door to our cozy little cond-snow (I think that's what condos in ski towns should be called) had this little sign on it.  Obviously we said YES, entered and were presented with boxes of chocolates, warm pajamas and lots and LOTS of wine.

It was a fantastic weekend, and I didn't even fall off my snow tube...

I thought I had her beat this Valentine's Day.  I sent her flowers, planned a romantic dinner and got tickets to see Andrea Gibson in March.  Turns out she's the romantic in this relationship.  Still, I'm taking her to poetry:

"Just in case it is, let me also say that I want you

sleepy-eyed in the morning waking at my side

like a warm summer sky born from

so much softness the horizon cries every time

night fall comes to take you

let me also say that I want to make you [gluten-free] sandwiches and soup

and peanut butter cookies, though

the truth is peanut butter is really bad for you

cause they grow peanuts in old cotton fields

to get the toxins out of the soil

but hey, you like peanut butter and I like you"

Happy Valentine's Day!

The weather outside is...

...delightful, actually.

You know how life always works out according to our careful planning?

Two weeks ago, I was dodging questions about my future, vague answers and quick subject changes my saving grace.  And then...SUDDENLY SEYMOUR, I had a plan.

Outdated musical references aside, in one single week...

1. I bought a suit.
2. I took the VCLA.
3. I spent some much needed time with my friends in the 'burg.
   
4. I presented my graduate research.
5. I went to a Julia Nunes Living Room Concert in Philadelphia.
   
6. I had a job interview.
7. I house hunted.
8. I got a job.
9. I signed a lease.
10. I graduated.
    
11. I wished a very dear friend a very happy birthday with a very good wine.
12. I met the children that will be my very first students as a real teacher.
13. I took the RVE.
14. I had my wisdom toof pulled.

"Isn't it funny how you only understand a place before you leave?  And suddenly everything looks so shiny..." - How About You

Next week I celebrate Christmas with my married brother for the first time ever.  I intend to throw my whole heart and soul into our celebrations this year, I have a week to celebrate Christmas, that is my number one priority.
However, somewhere in that week, I also need to babysit, house-sit, move to the other side of the state, get a background check and become an official school employee, and celebrate NYE in NYC with the most wonderful girl in the world.  I have a feeling that, by next Christmas, life will be radically different... for one thing, I'll be a big girl with a paycheck.

Life in your twenties is just a constant transition. I am a thousand things right now, but most of all I am blessed.

Old friends, new places.

I left school on Friday with the intention of 

leaving work at work for the first time in nearly a month.

Mission accomplished.

So OKAY YES.  We're growing up.  Doing big things and moving to 

NEW AND EXCITING PLACES.

This is Ekat's apartment in Alexandria.  Pretty Shnazzy.

This is the harbor in Old Town, Alexandria (also pictured in the first picture...

redundant?  You know, I don't think so...)

It felt SO GOOD to let go, man.  I am becoming aware of how easy it is to become a workaholic.  My life consists of mostly seven-year olds.  THERE ARE NO COMPLAINTS.  However, working all the time makes play time OH-SO-SWEET.  Also... sometimes I still feel like an eight year old at a sleepover.  BUT IT'S COOL 'cause now I'm allowed to drink.

Things about which I am thinking:
-Every time I am in DC, I feel a magnetic pull.  It's an amazing city... It's ALIVE.

-Every time I'm in Nova, I get stressed and weird feelings.

-I DON'T KNOW WHERE I WANT TO LIVE.

In summation:  I still think this video is hilarious.

Crayola doesn't make a color for this.

TEACHING, you see, is like this:

Sometimes it's giant hugs and I-was-WONDERING-where-you-weres from students when you were in the workroom when they came in and they thought you weren't coming today.

Sometimes it's realizing one of those precious darlings didn't take his medicine and has consequently failed to bring anything at all with him to school.

I love what I do, and I love that I get to do it for the rest of my life.  And yet, with each passing day I am realizing the insane amount of work that goes into this job.  I am constantly hanging things up, cutting things out, shoving 23 copies of this math worksheet, calling this parent, touching base about this literacy lesson and whether Tommy's dad's deployment will have any effect on his math scores and my turkey sandwich into a 20 minute lunch break.  

I am developing eyes in the back of my head.  It's true, we do have them.

I am developing the ability to answer 9 questions at the same time, and hug 11 kids in ten seconds to make sure every kid gets hugged at least once today.  I always wondered how teachers could remember  each kid's bus number and which of them can't eat the skittles the substitute passed out because of his orthodontic appliances.  

All of a sudden it makes sense.

Love allows us to do the impossible.  I love teaching, and I love each of my nineteen students.  I find myself chasing a kid down the hallway because it has become genuinely important to me to ensure that  he saw the new student's MarioKart backpack, because I know he loves Mario.  (And, of course, he has already seen it... :P)

And on the reverse side, I have begun to take it personally when students don't connect with a lesson.  I know how capable they are.  I haven't begun to scratch the surface of their potential, but I do know that they can get this.  I do know that, if they can get their fingers out of their noses and their legs out from under their neighbors desks and their eyes from of the ceiling, I know that if I can just get their attention, they can learn.  I LOVE that feeling.  I love the curriculum-related chatter that happens in the hallway after a lesson that set their minds ablaze.  I love their insane and wonderful little minds.  I love their catch-phrases.  I love hearing "Let's DO this thing" when I've explained the rules to the number grid game and set them loose with their partners.

And if nothing else, this is for certain:

Someone will ALWAYS fart at carpet time.

Outside of school, my life is quiet.  It's so different from the constantly social, constantly exciting environment I left behind at JMU.  And I miss it.  I miss the easy access to friends, I miss the meal plans and I miss life after 10pm.

So of course I turn to my true north Katie H. for advice and guidance about continuing to grow in an environment that feels so comfortable to me--living in my hometown with my parents.

Naturally, she suggested that I turn my focus inward.  I have set goals for myself, starting with paying attention to the bad habits I've allowed myself to develop over the past five years.

1. Be Light-Hearted.  "It's easy to be heavy, hard to be light."

2. Don't assume people know you're joking.

3. Distance myself from my politics-- I can't engage in any kind of constructive conversation when something feels so absolutely personal to me.  Getting a little distance allows me to hear other people and even make my points more digestible.

4. Don't leave things on your to-do list.  Just... get things done.  

5.  Ask.

6. Let things happen.

7. Stop buying things that don't fit correctly.  Stop buying things you don't love.  Go back to basics, and accessorize with trends.

That first point, that's something my girlfriend does effortlessly.  I am studying under her tutelage, and yes that word does always make me giggle. 

Ah, skypelove.

I've been reading a lot about Long Distance Relationships (LDRs) lately, and I tell ya what-- it ain't for the faint o' heart.  But this girl, our Baltimore mornings and OBX sunsets, her freckles, her laugh and our fingernails when they're painted the same color--it's worth it.

In other news--

Hooray Hampton roads!  You attempted public transit!  I am elated.  Except... this train has like... two and a half stops.  BUT WHATEVER.  Baby steps, right?  Make this sucker connect to the oceanfront and you've improved my life ten-fold.

WHY is it so hard/complicated/time-consuming/expensive to take one of these from here to Baltimore?  I just wanna be able to read/write/doodle pictures of flowers like a 12-year-old while someone else drives me around, ya hear?

I'm happy here.  I'm growing here.  I'm ready to be planted, ready to thrive.

But for now, this:

I know it's September, but...

Responsible adulthood has an addictive zeal, one I never expected to find.

Met all my new kiddos yesterday!!  Well... 14 of them.  They are the cutest.  Fell in love 14x over.

A city simplified...

Exhausted but happy.  In the immortal words of Annie, I think I'm gonna like it here.