Rainy Days And Mondays

Today isn't raining, but it IS a Monday. And I'm trying my hardest to not let it get me down, but this is the worst kind of Monday--the Monday after a break. The Monday where I have to suck it up and admit that the unit on The Pearl is NOT going to plan itself. Oh, and those essays on the American Dream? Yeah, I've been waiting for them to grade themselves, but after two weeks, I need to admit that it's not likely to happen. Did I mention that grades are due Friday? And like everything else, they're not likely to enter themselves into the computer. Really, I'm wondering why the hell my inanimate objects are SO FREAKING LAZY.

Looking back, I can't be too down because this was an amazing spring break. The two nights we spent at the water park were so great that I wouldn't change a single thing. Wait, I'd make it so we were able to stay longer, but other than that, NOTHING. Did I mention that I got a prenatal massage while at the water park? I did, and it was goooood. It was so good that I felt drunk afterward. So good that I bought the Aveda massage oil the girl used and plan on making Shane and my doula massage me with it while in labor.

Wednesday, Shane returned to work (we don't have the same spring break, so he took two sick days... shh). My parents came over, and we went to Home Depot to spend the gift card that I won from Cutie Booty Cakes. I bought a new bathroom faucet and paint, because I'm totally crazy nesting pregnant lady.
Thursday, Luke and I brought lunch into Shane's school and ate with him. After that, we came home and took a long nap together.
Friday, my parents came over again, and my dad started installing the faucet. My mom and I took Luke on a whole lot of errands to keep him out of the way, including a stop at the super awesome bagel store where I devoured a chocolate chip bagel with chocolate chip cream cheese. It was so good my toes curled. That night, I went to Beth's Pampered Chef party, where I met my candy eating match in her sister. You know how you meet someone and it's like time stops for a few minutes while birds chirp and choirs of angels sing? I promise that's what happened when I met Sarah. I also met Natalie, who is very nice, had cute shoes, and is very brave for showing up to a party full of people she didn't know.
Saturday, I laid around all day because of the aforementioned late night. Shane finished installing the bathroom faucet, and it is so pretty. Then! I went back to Beth's house because I can never have enough Beth (or Steph and Arianne, for that matter!), and also, her sister is my new love (cue chirping birds). We ate candy, played Wii, did makeup, and--most importantly--laughed. Have I mentioned how much I love those girls? Because I do.

And now, I'm in the home stretch. I have two full months and two weeks of teaching left before SUMMER '09. It'd just be two full months and ONE week of teaching had we not missed so many days due to epic weather fail, such as floods, cold, ice, and snow, but even though I look out the window and see snow, I know summer is SO CLOSE... and it's hard to feel down about that. Is there anything making your Monday a little bit more bearable? I hope you can find something!

My Thing

Everybody has a thing, and it either plays into their life in a big or small way. Whether it's big or small, that thing effects their life in a way.

Get your mind out of the gutter! I'm not talking about THAT kind of thing.

No, the thing I'm talking about is that weird little quirk that you have where you either really love or hate something that most people find indifferent. Everybody has that thing. Maybe you really love the smell of gasoline, so much that you enjoy going to the gas station. Maybe you enjoy pickles dipped in peanut butter (disgusting). Or maybe you really hate flowers, which I would find strange, but you might have a perfectly good reason for hating flowers.

So, my thing. My thing has to do with toes. No, this is not where I reveal I have a foot fetish. Quite the opposite. I love to have my toenails polished and pretty, so it's not that I hate toenails all together. But what I hate, what really freaks me out, are LONG toenails. They freak me out so much that I would never get a french pedicure because I know that your toenails have to be slightly longer for that, and ew, no thanks. If you have a french pedi, don't be insulted if I don't admire your toes. When I was 12, my brother got married. One of the guests had these long red toenails that looked like they were FAKE, they were that long. TO THIS DAY, thinking of that woman and her toenails still makes me shudder.
I'm so crazy about the long toenails that I cut my toenails at least once a week. Sometimes I'll be in bed at night, and I'll have to get up to cut them because I feel like they're TOO LONG. I realize that makes me a little insane, but so be it!

What about you? What's your thing? Remember, it doesn't have to be an OMG MAKES MY SKIN CRAWL thing like mine, it could be something you really love, too, that's slightly unusual.

You Capture: Reflections

This week's You Capture theme was reflections, and I caught the perfect reflection on our drive home from Wisconsin.

Back in my childless days, I used to think the visor mirror existed solely for putting on lip gloss. But since Luke, I've learned that the visor mirror is excellent for checking on a should-be-napping child without accidentally engaging said child.
Almost...

And we're out!


After the second picture, I knew that I could safely turn around and watch him sleep, because I love the contented look on his sleeping face, yet it's one that I so rarely get to see any more.

Bump Day!

I wonder how many times I use the phrase "I'm lazy" in this blog? It's true, though. I'm totally lazy. Maybe not lazy, so much as that by the end of the day, I'm tired and looking for shortcuts. Yeah, we'll go with that, it sounds better.

So because I'm lazy, you're getting two bumpish shots, both taken from our mini-vacation. Trust me, you don't want to see me right now any way, because the chlorine has made my hair not so pretty. On the list for today is deep conditioning my hair. That is if I'm, you know, not too lazy to shower.




24 weeks! Two weeks ago, I could still comfortably jog for 30 minutes. Now I can't go three minutes before my body tells me to quit, so I'm happily toning it down a bit and getting ready for the transition from jogging to walking to waddling. ALSO, in that second picture? That's the first time I've worn shorts in five years.

Reflections In The Waves

We're on vacation right now, and I couldn't be happier. This trip was a last minute one, spurred by the thought that I wasn't sure when we'd be able to get away again, with a new baby on the way. After I booked it, though, I had those second guesses, like maybe I shouldn't spend the money because I'll be on maternity leave for six months, but now that we're here, I realize that life is too short for those second guesses.





Money doesn't matter. What does matter is that I'm eating up every minute of the giggles and squeals, the thrilled little voice shouting, "Water park, water park!" the three of us cuddling in the king sized bed, eating junky food (I'll regret this when I step on a scale!), and just having this time for us. We head home tomorrow, but I know the memories we're making will last forever.

It's My Party

Hi, I'm Erin, and welcome to my party.


Sangria's in the kitchen, but you have to drink extra for me since I'm currently off the sauce until July.

I know! July! But it's for a good reason, as we're expecting baby #2 in July. It's a surprise baby, so feel free to place your bets toward pink or blue.

Growing up, I never wanted kids. I wanted to be an actress or a marine biologist. But now, here I am with an adorable toddler and another on the way. In my working life, I'm a school teacher (hence the name of my blog!). I teach 8th grade Language Arts, and yes, I know 8th graders are insane. I'm a superhero by night because I take on the mommy role. And sometimes I do housework, but not much.

I love chocolate, peanut butter, and new friends. I love the color pink, and I'm a makeup addict. Did I mention that I do freelance wedding makeup? So really, all of my makeup purchases are business related. Really, I swear!
I hope you'll stick around! I love new followers, so it'd make my day if you clicked that little follow button off to the right. If you Twitter, add me. I'm just a little bit addicted, but that's okay.

What about you? I want to know you, too, so tell me something you love or something you hate. And please, come back and visit soon.



Photo by Beth of Beth Fletcher Photography

There are some really great prizes being offered, and I'd love to win them all! If I had to choose, I'd pick:

1. Ergo Baby Carrier
2. $100 gift certificate to either Pedal Cars and Retro or A Rocking Horse To Love
3. $50 Target g/c

Novel Confessions

I am a lover of literature. I am much happier reading a book than I am watching TV or movies, and if I take a bath, I always bring a book with me. I have favorite books that I've read so many times that I know the plot, yet each time I discover something new. I will give almost any book a chance, but I must admit that I'm not a fan of romances or westerns. Romances are so cheesy, to me, and all seem to follow the same basic plot. Westerns bug me because they stereotype racially and sexually, and I just can't get past that aspect.

Yet despite my feelings on westerns, last week found me re-reading my tattered copy of Lonesome Dove. This book is my guilty reading pleasure. It shouldn't be guilty because it is, after all, a Pulitzer Prize winner, but despite that, it IS still a western. Almost all of the women in this book are prostitutes, the Mexicans are horsethieves, and the Indians are savages. In this book, though, there are exceptions to the rules. None of these characters are one-dimensional, and not all characters fit the usual western mold. The prostitutes are all women who have been dealt a hard lot in life, struggling to get by. The American Indians are reacting simply to the shrinking of their land and their property.

But what really gets me about this book is that it makes me fall in love with the story. It makes me want to marry a cowboy and travel places on horseback, drinking whiskey in saloons. Fortunately none of these things are possible, so I'll keep my normal, boring life, but there's something special about an 800+ page book that makes you say, "Is that it? Why isn't there MORE?" The thought of having the power to write like that, to make it come alive, amazes me.

Do you have a book that just comes alive to you? A book that you could read every day for the rest of your life and never be bored?

My Favorite Shadow

Last week I had a killer stomach flu. I didn't get out of bed for roughly two days, except for a few miserable trips back and forth from the bathroom. Finally, on Saturday, I felt well enough to get up and move around, so we headed to the park to enjoy the sunshine. It was what I needed! While there, I managed to capture a perfect shadow picture for this week's You Capture.



And I'm 23 weeks! It's hard to believe.

Don't Need No Thought Control

The topic of merit based pay for teachers has been in the news a lot lately, and as such, it's been on my mind. If it's been on your mind, I'd love to hear what you have to say, just promise that if you don't have an email registered to your account, you'll leave an email in the comments so we can discuss this more.

Do I think teachers are underpaid? YES. But do I want to see us paid more (or less) based on our test scores? NO. While I think that there are absolutely teachers out there who should not be teaching, I do not think paying them based on standardized test scores is the answer. I do think, on some level, it needs to be easier to get rid of mediocre teachers. My principal does drop in evaluations constantly (and always tells me that I rock, can I just brag a bit?), but if he sees a teacher who he doesn't think is competent, it's not that easy to get rid of the teacher. Honestly, he'd have to walk in on a teacher snorting cocaine off of their desk before it became easy.

I do feel that there will be far too much lost if we begin to judge teachers based on test scores. Let me preface this by saying that of the students I had last year (Indiana usually tests in the fall, so those scores reflect my teaching), 92% of them achieved a score in the 95th percentile on their fall tests. So, likely, I'd get a raise, but I don't want it--not that way. I don't feel that my worth as a teacher comes from how well my students do on those tests. And if my worth as a teacher starts to come from how those students do on a test, here is what will happen:
My students will be able to tell you what figurative language is, but they won't be able to use it to write a poem about a beautiful spring day. Nor will they be able to tell you about the day we used our five senses to describe cookies.
My students will be able to tell you what a ballad is, but they won't be able to tell you about The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
My students will be able to tell you the components of a fiction story, but they won't be able to tell you about the day we wrote a round robin story.
My students will be able to tell you how to write dialogue, but they won't be able to tell you about the day that I used Star Wars action figures to demonstrate it.

Will not knowing the second half of those elements make or break their lives? Of course not, I'm not foolish enough to think so. But does the second half of those equations make them want to be in my classroom? Yes, it does. And if I must teach to the test even more so than I already do, I won't have time for those things. I will have time to spit facts and definitions at my students before we review those facts and definitions, before we drill, drill, drill to make sure they know every key element. One of the biggest complaints from people who choose to home school is that they do so because public education strips individuality from students and learning. I want to cry when I hear this because it's unfair and because it's true. It's unfair because there's not a thing teachers can do about it, because we're already forced to teach so much to the test. Don't you think I'd love to take my students outside once a week to write about flowers? Good God, yes, but I can't. I do what I can, though, to make sure that they can still grow in their own ways, but if you make my pay based on tests, I'll lose that.

In the end, that's what scares me when it comes to merit based pay. I'm not scared that I'll lose my job, I'm not scared that my students will fail the tests, I'm scared that I'll lose that little spark I can still ignite in my students.

You Capture: Texture

I love pregnancy, and I love my pregnant belly, but you know what I hate? I hate stretchmarks. Unfortunately, I am covered in them. Although I gained the recommended amount of weight with Luke and used all the creams, I discovered that my skin does not stretch well. At 16 weeks, I'd only lost weight, yet I already had some nasty stretchmarks. By the time I was in labor, my midwife and doula both exclaimed that they'd never seen such bad stretchmarks (they go from my breasts to my calves--fun, right?). And, you know, no one sees naked pregnant ladies more than the two of them, I'm sure.

But the truth is, on some level, I have to love these stretchmarks. They're here because my skin stretched to carry a 9 pound baby. They're here so that this little guy, with the softest baby skin EVER, can be here, too.
The other day, Luke rubbed his hands over my bare stomach and said, "Bumpy, mama." It is. It's bumpy and, really, anything but smooth, especially compared to his soft hands. This is the best and the hardest shot I could come up with for texture, simply because throwing a part of me out there that I don't like is hard--even though I blurred and soft focused and did everything I could to take the attention away from them, but they're still there. Mostly, I'm okay with that because I love his face and his little hand reaching up to take it all in, no matter how bumpy it may be. Love.
 


Now someone lie to me and tell me I won't get more the second time around.

Rejuvenation

Last week was one of those weeks that left me feeling like I was beaten up. I came home Thursday night in tears because I was just so done with testing, so done with teaching, so done with doing anything other than pulling the covers over my head and curling into a ball. I'm a pretty calm person and tend to roll with the punches, but this week had too many punches. Tuesday, I was upset because I was expected to give 2 1/2 hours of testing without so much as a bathroom break, despite there being somewhere around 20 teachers who were doing nothing during the tests and could easily give bathroom breaks. I tried to handle it myself, though I feel like a jerk playing the pregnancy card, but 2 1/2 hours? REALLY? I was hurting after 45 minutes, without drinking a drop of water.

Slowly, though, it got better, like it always does. Out of losing our minds from testing, my co-workers and I spent most of the week playing an unbelievably stupid game that we invented. It basically involves five buckets and a giant glitter-filled bouncy balls. So stupid, yet it allowed us to blow off enough steam to DEAL. Friday night, I went to Beth's house with CE, Steph, Sarah, and Arianne. We ate pizza rolls, watched a gross but hilarious movie, and laughed. A lot.

I woke up Saturday morning still tired, but refreshed. It's amazing how a night with people you love, filled with laughter and junky food can do that much good. But it can. Last week really got to me, but it also reminded me that no matter what, there is an up to every down, and life has a way of handing you those ups when you need them the most.

Feeling Testy

If you know me, you know that I abhor standardized testing. You'll also know, then, that this has not been my year. I like to refer to this as the year of tests. Or the year of suck. Either one fits.

Indiana's standardized test, the ISTEP, has always been given in the fall. This year, however, they've made the move to switch testing to spring. What this means for this year is that to have an appropriate amount of time between tests, students took the ISTEP this fall, and they are now taking it again in the spring. My school system has also incorporated another standardized test, one which the kids take four times throughout the year. Basically, I feel like all I have done this year is test. And teach to the tests, which frustrates me. It's not why I became a teacher and the trend toward high stakes testing kills me (thanks No Child Left Behind!). I am also frustrated by the fact that, somehow, I'm supposed to give two hours worth of test without so much as a bathroom break. In case you're wondering, this is my own personal pregnant lady hell.

Today I want to say something positive about testing, though. More about my students, actually. One of my biggest frustrations is the writing prompt on the ISTEPs. Every year, I spend countless hours teaching the kids how to write essays, and every year, the prompt is so convoluted that everything I've taught the kids goes out the window. EVERY YEAR. When I looked at the prompt this year, I knew it'd be more than the same. Instead of giving kids one question to answer, they listed off several questions to guide thinking. Unfortunately, this rarely guides thinking, and instead, makes kids feel like they need to just answer all the questions in one paragraph. Instead of five pargraphs, like I've taught them. If they ask me during the test how many paragraphs to write, I cannot tell them. I cannot even tell them to think of what we do in class. I can only say, "That's up to you." Trust me, the urge to develop a cough that sounds an awful lot like THESIS STATEMENT is overwhelming.

Yesterday, though, as I walked around the room toward the end of the prompt, I saw that of my 25 testing students, only five did not write five paragraphs. The rest? Perfect five paragraph essays? Did I want to hug them? YES. Sure, they didn't have good thesis statements, and some of them had misspelled words, but my students listened and applied. Afterward, several of them proudly told me how much they wrote and again, I wanted to hug them. Despite this, I know the Language Arts scores will still probably be lower than I'd like (they always are), but in the end, my kids made me proud yesterday.

We're Both Fertile

This week's theme for You Capture is perspective. I had a really difficult time with this one! One, I am lazy and did not want to brave the cold weather to go outside, which left me confined to my home. Two, I don't have the best camera, and I kept getting blurry shots. And three, I'm lazy. Wait, I already said that. Because I was lazy, I was sitting on the couch giving up on the challenge, when I looked up and saw her.

I didn't get up off the couch to take it, and I like the angle. You can see the rough edges and the texture better than looking at it straight on. Truthfully, not only do I forget about looking at her from different angles...but sometimes I forget she's there at all.
When Shane and I honeymooned to Belize, I bought her. We had just toured a Mayan ruin, when we came upon a boy selling stone carvings. He had a lot of nature-themed carvings, but much to Shane's chagrin, I fell in love with this one. She's the Mayan goddess of fertility, childbearing, and natural herbs and medicine. The boy told us, with a wink, that if you put her in your bedroom, she'll help you get pregnant. Obviously we didn't need her in our bedroom, but I love having her in the house. The stone is smooth, yet beautifully layered and rough at the edges. On the back, the boy wrote her name, all that she represents, along with his name and address. I love it!

And because it's Wednesday, you get a belly shot! Since we're doing perspectives here, I thought I'd do one from the front (even though the full frontal makes me look wide--also, what up purple bra?). Oh, also, I finally have a feeling as to the sex of this baby, but I'm so not sharing with anyone, in case I am wrong. You'd have to get me drunk to get that information out of me, and obviously the odds of that happening are right up there with me winning the lottery (those odds brought even lower by the fact that I don't play the lottery).

I want you to notice my awesomely hilarious shirt that Keely of kiddie winkles so graciously made custom order for me. I think my Mayan goddess would dig it!

They're Stuck With Me

First! You may have noticed my amazing new layout, courtesy of Christy from Ruby & Roja. This is the second time Christy has made me over, and I LOVE IT. The first time, I didn't know Christy, so I was all nice and helpful. Now that I know Christy, I was absolutely no help at all. Oh, and I also called her stupid. Despite my verbal abuse, she still worked hard to come up with a design that was so me, managing to combine my love for words with my unnatural love for bright colors. I want to point out here that I didn't come up with any of these adjectives, but I am thoroughly flattered that people think those things about me!

Speaking of people (nice segue, right? Incidentally, segue is one of my favorite words EVER. It's so fun to say), lately I've been thinking about Luke not in terms of Luke my son, but in terms of how Luke will soon enough be a big brother. That boggles my mind because I still think of him as my one and only, so it's hard to believe that he'll be the OLDEST. I think he'll be a great big brother. I think he might tease his younger sibling, but ultimately, I know he'll be protective. He already is, when he kisses my belly every single night and lays his head across my stomach (are you melting? Because I do EVERY night), sweetly saying, "Hi baby."

It makes me think of my siblings and how, no matter what, we're stuck to one another. I have a different situation than most people, as my brother is 13 years older, and my sisters are 11 years older. I'm sure the word popping into your head right now is ACCIDENT, but c'mon. Could someone as awesome as me *ever* be considered accidental? As the youngest sibling, I know I gave them trials and tribulations, but yet, they still took care of me. There are two instances that stand out clearly in my mind, both involving my sister Susan. They both happened when I was five or six. One night, I accidentally killed a lightning bug, and because I was apparently an emo kid, I went to bed right away, crying and refusing to go to the bathroom before bed. That night, I massively wet the bed, for the first and only time. Did I mention our sleeping arrangements? I slept on the top bunk, Susan slept underneath me, so you can imagine what she woke up to! She used to try to tell this story to embarrass me, before she realized that it just makes me laugh gleefully.

With this second story, however, she got her comeuppance. Somehow Susan drew the really short straw and also had to sit next to me at the dinner table. One night to be annoying, I kept chewing on the strings to her sweatshirt. She repeatedly and nicely asked me to stop, but I wouldn't. Finally, she was so frustrated that she violently yanked the string out of my mouth, taking a NOT AT ALL loose molar with it. She grabbed with such force that the tooth flew across the table. Have you ever had a tooth yanked without pain medicine? No? Let me tell you, then, that it HURTS and bleeds. The worst part was that I got very little sympathy because after all, I did kind of ask for it.

Yet despite the golden shower and the forceable tooth removal, she's still and always will be my sister. I know that if I desperately needed her, she'd be there and vice versa. In the end, I hope that's what it will be like for Luke and his future sibling. I can't wait to see them grow.

Yes To Yanni, Redux

Awhile back, I encouraged you to just say Yes to Yanni. Because I don't want you to miss out on a good thing, I'm going to remind you again! Yanni Voices takes the already beautiful music of Yanni and makes it even more appealing, by adding lyrics.

I have my husband to thank for really getting me in to instrumental music. Although I've been a huge fan of musicals my entire life, I've always been a little bogged down by music with a lot of instrumentals. My husband, however, loves this type of music, and so we started listening to it during dinner every night. And now? I'm a fan. I can't wait to introduce Yanni Voices to our dinnertime reportoire. I love it because it has the instrumentals for my classics loving husband, and it has the lyrics for people like me who like a little verbage with their music.

If you're lucky enough to live in my area, you can catch Yanni Voices tonight on WTTW. If you don't live in my area, check and see when it airs by you. Can't wait until tonight? Go hear for a little sneak peak at what you'll be hearing! And to be honest, I'm a little interested in what I'll be seeing, too, because those boys aren't just nice to listen to... I hear they're nice to look at, too!

Thanks so much to One2One Network for this exciting information