Rain

Rain
I opened my eyes And looked up at the rain, And it dripped in my head And flowed into my brain, And all that I hear as I lie in my bed Is the slishity-slosh of the rain in my head. I step very softly, I walk very slow, I can't do a handstand-- I might overflow, So pardon the wild crazy thing I just said-- I'm just not the same since there's rain in my head. Shel Silverstein

My Christmas Wish

Dear Lord,
I would love to live on my very own island that includes a castle, bookshops, outdoor markets and my own footie stadium. Plus houses for my close friends and family. Is that too much to ask?
Love,
Me

PS- this is mostly because I love castles, bookshops, outdoor markets and football and I can't stand most people. That is all.

The PUMA Hardchorus

OK.... this is frickin' incredible.

First of all I love Savage Garden. I truly, madly, deeply do.

Some highlights:

:12- harmonies

:20- the fist pump

:33- eyes closed in the front (homeboy is INTO this!)

:44- confused old man in cap

:56- man in the centre (is he humming or just standing there? you decide)

1:14- random woman not sure of what's going on

1:20- step forward (whoa there boys)

1:28- Mr. No Teeth

1:30- stop yelling!

1:40- way to hold that note lads!

1:46- heart = soccer

Jax wedding

Wedding number three of the year checked off the list! It was a beautiful three days in Jacksonville and I had a total blast! The flight out was a bit stressful- we had a slight delay at our arrival gate in SLC and I would nervous that I wouldn't make it to the Atlanta connection in time. Luckily the gate was super close so I could grab CPK and make it onto the next flight. Then in Atlanta, the flight into Jax was delayed by about an hour. The area I was in reminded me of Ellis Island. Ugh. And then, the worst part was that I was sitting next to a man who had his head in a vomit bag the entire flight. Therefore I spent the flight standing up by the lavatories since I didn't want to be around that at all. I felt bad but I did not want to get thrown up on. I didn't land until midnight and with getting my suitcase, Amy and I didn't get back to the house until nearly 1 and weren't in bed until 2 or so. It was really late and we had to be up early the next morning to take the dresses into be steamed and then meet up with Lisa. Lisa and I got to chat while we got our nails done and then it was off for some Chick fil-A for lunch (yum!) and then off to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

Best part of the rehearsal was the crazy to the minute schedule from the military Devon and then the chatting we had at our table at the rehearsal dinner. The location of the dinner was this beautiful little French restaurant and the decor inside was definitely French. Even if the place hadn't been called the Brasserie, just seeing the interior would have made the influence clear. The food was comme-ci, comm-ca; the salad was bitter, they gave us sherbet in between our courses and the steak wasn't really cooked. Amy's was nearly raw so she brought it home and we ate it with mac 'n cheese at 10:00 at night. Andrea asked kind of cheekily what was for dessert and turns out there wasn't any. Oh, and our waiter looked like Mil Ventimiglia. I kept wanting to call him Jess.

Again, it was a kind of late night since we were up late eating dinner and chatting so the next morning, Amy and I headed out to our hair appointment and made a stop at Starry-bux for some much needed caffeine. The hair appointment was luxurious- I love getting pampered and my stylist was so sweet- we had a good chat while she did my hair. I love that she was able to keep my bangs out of my face and the hair spray certainly held up through the entire night and the dancing. We headed over to the church for our makeup and relaxing time before the ceremony. Jack Johnson was playing in the background, we were being pampered again by the makeup artists, we had some snacks and lunch and chatted with each other.

Then it was into the dresses and time for pictures- there were what felt like millions of pictures taken and it was fun to feel like a celebrity for the day. We all looked great in our dresses and Mindy looked absolutely gorgeous in her beautiful beaded dress. Before we knew it, it was time for the ceremony. I loved that they used their friends and family to read verses about marriage and life together and Mindy and Devon looked incredible together!

Then it was more pictures inside the church and then outside the reception location which was this beautiful yacht and country club a few minutes away from the church. The wedding party hung out outside while waiting to be introduced and then it was time for introductions by the DJ, first dances and finally dinner! By this point we were starving, having only some chocolate to snack on between lunch at noon and dinner. The food was delicious and I got to chat with AMy, Brian and Andrea as we sat up at the head table. There was mingling, exploring, eating and drinking, toasts and then finally the dancing, myfavorite part. When I get married, I want an endless dance party- you heard it here first!




DJ Jacob did a great job with the music- we tried to get as many people up on the floor as possible and I had a blast dancing with the cousins on either side. There was a garter toss and the bouquet toss and I caught the bouquet! Prince Charming, I'm ready and waiting! More dancing and insanity ensued and then it was time to send them off with sparklers and a decorated car. Overall, an incredible wedding and I'm so pleased that I was able to be there for Mindy and Devon!

Since every wedding needs an after party, we headed to a bar called Harmonious Monks which is known for its band made up of the waiters and bartenders. THey all sing cover songs of famous artists and everyone sings along, dances on tables and chairs and has a blast. They sang everything from "Proud Mary" to "Minnie the Moocher" to "I Will Survive" and I was proud to say that I knew every song. And got to dance up on the tables/booth we were sitting in. Loved this place- Orange County and Boise need their own!Amy and I ended up chatting that night until nearly 3 am so we all slept in a great deal Sunday morning. After a southern breakfast of eggs, sausage and biscuits, we headed out to San Marco which is a cute little area near the river and downtown Jacksonville with great little shops and theaters and coffee houses. We went into a great chocolate store and shared chocolate covered oreos and then went to a bookstore where I got two (two!) Madeleine L'Engle Christmas books. I love Madeleine and I miss her quite a bit. I got three of her books a few weeks ago when I was at a used bookstore in Nampa. She can do no wrong in my eyes. I wish she hadn't passed away. We chatted a bit in Starrybux because it was so cold (what's up with that, Florida?) and then off to the airport.

Now I'm writing to you from the plane while watching the craziest Iron Chef America Ever. The Chairman was doing flips in a Santa Costume, Paula Deane and Cat Cora against Tyler Florence and Robert Irvine, Katie Lee Joel, Tina Fey and Ted as judges, Lorilynne in an elf costume and lots of kitchen shenanigans. Nothing better. I'm almost home- I can't wait to see all of you Irvine folk over the next few weeks!

End of the Semester

Well, the first semester of my college teaching career is behind me. I survive! Well, I hope I survived- I didn't post my grades yet because I'm waiting for as many of my evaluations to come in. But once that's done, I've completed my first semester. It feels really good. I feel like I've learned a lot. I know what kind of things I want to continue for next semester but also things that I want to adjust. I want to change the schedule a little bit and get Dora, from the Centre for Experiential Learning into my classroom earlier so we can encourage them to start even as freshmen to look for internships, jobs, etc. I know what I need to do a better job with (Library Lessons, keeping up with the ASC requirements, etc.). I had the students reflect on the class and they for the most part seemed to like it. I actually got a really interesting reflection from one of my students and I kept it so I could write it here but of course, it's in Caldwell. I'll post it when I get back in January. Their finals were about the six strategies that they will use in their future education/career and they were really great to read. So many of them started with "I thought this class was going to be useless" and ended with "but wow, was I wrong and this class totally helped me out.... etc...." so that feels really good. I also had a student who totally blew the class off at the beginning of the semester, realized that she really needed the help the class was providing and worked so hard to turn herself around, especially since she wasn't going that well in any of her other classes. She ended up with a solid C in the class which was so cool- I was really proud of her.

Calculating the grades was a pain in the butt but I got them done. I did them all before the finals and posted their numeric total on post-its (see picture below) so all I had to do once I finished grading the massive pile of papers (also see below) of finals. Then all I had to do was input the last grade and do the final calculations. I had to proctor a final for Dori so I had three hours of uninterrupted grading which let me finish on Tuesday instead of Wednesday. I wish I had known that several months before because I totally could have flown out on Wednesday and made it to Mindy' PJ party on Thursday but such is life and I had a nice relaxing night in Boise with Bailie and Brooke before taking off for Florida.

This post is brought you....

from over 10,000 feet above the earth. Thank you free plane Wifi.

A Little Rant

Today should be a good day. I should be happy that I'm done with grading my finals and all I have to do is post grades. I should be happy that all my Christmas presents are paid and purchases. I should be happy that I'm getting a free lunch and it's discount day at the bookstore. I should be happy that I'm going to a wedding tomorrow. But people bug me sometimes and I need a mini rant.

Rant #1- I went to open a bank account yesterday for residency and I didn't have a proof of residency (like a bill or something- mainly because I don't get mail at my place unless it's from friends or something. So I said I'd come back the next day. I told her I couldn't come that day since I'm proctoring an exam. So I get a message this morning "reminding me" to come and turn my stuff in. I know! I'm not going to wait at the bank before it opens to show you my stuff. I have things to do! So hold your horses. If you don't hear from me by like 4:00, then call. But at 9:30! Come on now. I'm not an idiot.

Rant #2- Why is establishing residency in a state so ridiculous! The point person at BSU is pretty unhelpful and isn't detailed in his answers and I've been going back and forth with him for like a month now. So annoying. Why do they need so many thing! I have an Idaho license, which they don't give you without proof of residency, so why can't that be OK? I have a voter registration, which they also don't give you without an Idaho license. I have a bank account (or maybe not seeing as I'm a moron and might not bring by my stuff). And what the heck is an abandonment of domicile? Can my parents sign something that says I've "abandoned" my room at their house? It's ridiculous and driving me crazy. Because I don't want to get an Idaho license plate. They already took my license, I want to at least keep my plate.

Arghhhh. OK, rant over. Now onto happy thoughts. It's gonna be a good rest of the day. The end.

A few stories

Life's been crazy these past few days so here are some stories for you cool cats to enjoy.



My kids have been doing presentations these last few days. One girl was suuuuuuper nervous. She was supposed to present on Thursday but had to leave the room suddenly so we postponed to Tuesday. I got her presentation evaluation sheet back and in answer to the question that asked if there was any other information I should know about the project, she wrote "I'm sorry for vomiting and leaving class." Poor thing.





Any of you remember that part in the Dawn Treader movie/book where they sail into a super thick fog and they start to picture all of their nightmares and then one of the seven missing lords appears? Well, that has been my driving experience the last few nights. On Sunday, coming home from "Stark Aid" (a concert we put on at church to raise money for Kyli at her YWAM school in Texas), there was like a foot of visibility. Same thing coming home last night from Holiday Baking at David's house in Boise, hardly any visibility. It is absolutely terrifying. You really have no idea what is out there in front of you and that's just so scary.

I'm going to Sundance Film Festival! I just got my tickets yesterday0 two showings and a VIP reception and of course all the people watching. I got the tickets through an alumni event and if Yosh got his butt in gear, we'll drive down together for the two days. There are pretty cheap hotels , including one right next door to where the showings are and if not, I can always stay with Thad and Megan. I've never been to Sundance before and I'm really excited!

Tonight's the Nutcracker and I'm debating whether or not to go. I love the Nutcracker but I've been out every night this week since Friday night (and I can't even remember half of the things I've been doing out late....oy...) and am kind of looking forward to a night at home, eating mac 'n cheese or grilled cheese and tomato soup and just relaxing. I've been watching a lot of Alfred Hitchcock lately- last night I watched "Lifeboat" which was excellent, and "The 39 Steps a few weeks before. I've got "The Birds", "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and "Rear Window" at home right now that I'm eagerly anticipating. His stuff is great. I do love the Nutcracker but 'd rather watch my video's of Balanchine's Nutcracker and the other version that has Maurice Sendak designed sets and costumes. I watched them one so often when I was little and could frequently be found prancing around the house in a bride's skirt, undershirt, hair in a bun and
a necklace on my head, pretending I was Clara. I also grew up watching the Balanchine Nutracker on stage with grandma in New York City and loved the book "A Very Young Dancer" which I now own, having found it online several years ago. As much as I love the Nutcracker, I think my warm bed and an early night of scary/thrilling movies wins out.

A Standard Convo Between Me and the Sister

me: i had the most whackadoodle dream last night and you were in it

Roni: pray tell

me: we were somewhere, on this trip or something and we stopped in the evening outside this restaurant or party or something like that

all of a sudden, this olden guy grabs a pool cue and without cause or warning, starts beating me with it

it's very bizarre

i eventually grab the pool cue and don't hit him back but just kind of brandish it and aim at him

but i don't ever really hit him, it's more like you do with a dog or something to keep it away when it's trying to attack you

well eventually the police come and handcuff him but also handcuff the two of us for some reason

Roni: and what was i doing this whole time? just watching this happen?
me: i'm not sure, i was too concerned with the man beating me with the pool cue

me: they're going to deal with the situation but while waiting, instead of putting us in the police car, we get put into our own car

like they gently help us in cuz we're in handcuffs and close the door and just leave us, with our keys and everything

so you say, well, they never wrote down our plate numbers, we have our licenses, we can find a way to get the cuffs off, let's just go

so we drive off and nobody notices and we manage to get the cuffs off and we agree to hide them in a drawer at an unsuspecting friends house so that nobody discovers them and then leave

and we never get caught

the end

Roni: huh

sounds very sam and dean of us

except you probably would have whacked the guy with the pool cue

me: true

i didn't want to get in trouble so i figured that just brandishing it would have helped

and yeah, i never thought that it was sam and dean-esque

funny, cuz i watched no spn last night

no, that's a lie, i watched like ten minus of the end of the heaven ep

but then i watched the maltese falcon right before i went to bed

oh humphrey bogart....
Roni: legendary