Barack Obama

In my classroom, when something exciting happens, or if someone does really well on a problem, I will hear a resounding "yesssssssss" travel through the class. Sometimes annoying, sometimes cute, depending on the kind of day I'm having. This was happening in my math class today, but apparently there's a new phrase to say whenever you do something well or get a problem right. Today, every time one of my math students did something well, they would say in a half-whisper, "Barack Obamaaaaa..." and pump their fist in the air, as if the presidential candidate's name is synonymous with a job well done. I could hardly turn around without laughing. I just closed my eyes and breathed in and moved to the next question we were going over. TMTH? I think so.

Blog-a-licious

It has been a very long time since I've blogged. Over 3 months. It's not that I haven't attempted or tried to. Maybe it's a sort of writer's block for the technology age. Maybe it's that I am too tired to think clearly some days. At any rate, I'm blogging now. But it's an awkward transition, sort of like when you haven't seen an old friend for a while, and in the first 10 minutes or so, you might not really know what to say. I think that's what this particular post will be like.

I am in a thoughtful mood this evening. When I say "thoughtful," I mean contemplative, not considerate. I feel sort of 'heavy' tonight. I can't explain it. But I'm thankful for it. I feel like after a long period of feeling grossly (and inaccurately) self sufficient, I actually feel my need of God right now. That's a good place to be, since "all the fitness He requires is to feel your need of Him." I haven't blogged very much about my mom on here, but I feel the need to pay tribute to some things about her life that God continues to use to teach me. Every time that we sing Come Ye Sinners in church, I am struck with the rememberance of my mom and how much I condemned her when she was alive. God is so quick to remind me that while I was condemning her, she was recognizing her need of God, no matter her faults and continuous "falling short." She knew her place before God and was humbled before Him. I am so glad that God is still using her to humble me, even 3 years after her death. And even now, some of the things that I judged her for the most are the things with which I am struggling. Ironic. I often find that the areas in life that I judge someone over will eventually show up in my own life as a struggle. I suppose that is another way to be humbled and kept near the cross of Christ, so as not to think I am anything other than a sinner deserving of wrath but instead receiving mercy and all the blessings that come along with knowing and being loved by Christ. I read a quote today that made me feel hopeful in the middle of some despairing thoughts over sin. "There is no sin and no evil too great that God in Christ cannot bring from it everlasting righteousness and joy." That's encouraging. I feel like I should clarify, kind of like Paul did, that by no means should this make us want to sin more! It does give hope, though, for those who would otherwise have none.

That's all my thoughts for now. I am glad to have gotten through this awkward "first blog" after several months of internet silence. To all of my friends who consistenly reminded me that I need to blog again, thank you for your endurance with me. There should be more to come this month.....

All Violators Will Be Prosecuted.....

.... to the fullest extent of the law.

Do you know what that statement means on our street? It translates into: break into anyone's house, steal anyone's car, pick up any prostitute and do any drug... no worries, you won't actually be arrested. As I write this, I must confess I am a bit jaded at our "justice league of Raleigh" aka the 5-0. It just seems that nothing is done to catch criminals. This does help me to understand better that God is the ultimate authority, and that our trust should be placed in no man.

So why are these thoughts swimming in my mind? This afternoon, our home was broken into. The following things were stolen: Nicole's week old Mac computer, $50 from Kristin, her bike, plus her smaller camera, and about $5.48 worth of change from my change jar (not sure if I'll recover from that loss...) They tried on one of my shirts and left it on my bed, but took off with the receipt and bag it came in. They grabbed Nicole's computer, but missed her Dell and her super nice camera. They grabbed Kristin's tinier camera, but left her super nice camera. They searched Kristin's wallet for cash, but left the credit card right in it's little slot. They didn't take any of our jewelry, even though most of it was in open view.

Poucha witnessed it all, but she is a dog and can't tell us the events of the day.

Shortly after Kristin came home, we realized that the person either climbed in through Kristin's bedroom window, or they came in through Nicole's back door and then rigged Kristin's window so that they could come back in more easily later. There are a couple of people in our minds that are possibilities for who could have done this. We meet a lot of women on the street and one or two of them have come into our homes briefly. It's sad to think they might turn on us so quickly for money, but when you are addicted to drugs, I suppose nothing is more important than that in the moment.

It's super late, and I just wanted to write my thoughts before I forget them all. They are not eloquent, but they are my thoughts, which is, I suppose, the point of a blog in the first place.

.... Nicole just told me that the police officer and the fingerprint people are coming over right now, so perhaps there will be some more to this story...

It Was a Simpler Time

I am in a nostalgic mood. The other day I was driving to school, and as I listened to my iPod on shuffle, AM Radio by Everclear came on. I've always like this song, and usually it puts me in a really good mood, but maybe it was too early in the morning this time... all it did was make me get all weepy about how many things have changed since I was a kid. Technology has done so many wonderful things, but I think it took a little of the magic in life's small things with it, when it came rushing in with all the information we could ever possibly want.

We've all had those moments when we're watching a movie or tv show, and we recognize one of the people, and it's just killing us, because we can't think of their name or what we saw them in. It was always so great when, some time later, I finally saw another movie with them in it, and I had that "aha!" moment. I don't get many of those lately, because now I can just type in whatever I'm watching into the IMDB website. When I was in the 8th grade, I remember recording "Waterfalls" by TLC onto a cassette tape, and I rewound and replayed that thing until I knew every single word to the song (yes, even Left-Eye's special rap part in the middle). I did this with Crossroads by Bone Thugs 'n' Harmony and a lot of other songs. I was kind of a nerd. Plus, lyrics have always been important to me. Now I can just go to Google, type in a couple of the lyrics in quotes, and it pops right up. I know it's easier now, but seriously, it was so satisfying to work that hard and really be glad that I finally knew the words! When I had a new favorite song, it was so exciting to hear it on the radio. I can remember being a kid, driving with my mom, and praying to God that a song I knew (I maybe knew 3 songs when I was 8 years old) would come on instead of her crazy Janis Joplin/Creedence Clearwater Revival hits. When one of the ones I knew came on, it seemed like such a miracle! These days, it doesn't mean all that much, because for a price cheaper than a 20 oz. soda, I can go and download it onto my own computer, and in my opinion, it's just not the same when I am in control over when and how often I hear my favorite song.

These are 2 sections of AM Radio that initiated most of the deep thoughts found in this blog :-)

The vcr and the dvd
There wasn't none of that crap back in 1970
We didnt know about a world wide web
It was a whole different game being played back when I was a kid

I'd be in bed with the radio on
I would listen to it all night long
Just to hear my favorite song
You'd have to wait, but you could hear it on the am radio



Just a little food for thought, to get us all thinking of the days of our generation's childhood, when the most exciting technology was Oregon Trail and Tetris (still the best game ever), and where each of us had at least one friend whose mom had a wood panel station wagon. Those were really the days.

No More TV!

It's Monday, and I'm still not better. And there's more -- I've lost the will to watch television. After visiting the doctor yesterday, I was told that I should be able to go back to school this Thursday. That will make it a full 2 weeks that I was out with these wretched pox. My school has been very gracious, thankfully. As for television, there is just nothing on. It's all I've been doing for 12 days in a row. That's enough to make somebody crazy. Please remind me that I felt this way once I'm teaching again with barely any free time.

In the midst of being stuck inside my house for 12 days, my roommates and I watched Britney Spears perform on the VMA awards. Since I have so much time on my hands, today I paused it on some of the audience member's faces and took pictures, just so you all could see the bewilderment and confusion as to why Britney was performing like she just woke up and decided to maybe walk/sort of dance while lip-synching.

Rihanna and P. Diddy show a bit of amusement at watching Britney......

However, the performance is best summed up by 50 cent's expressions:

That says it all.
I think I'll be doing a lot of reading in the next 2 days as I wait to go back to school....

Wikipedia - My New Best Friend

It's been one week since I was sent home from school with the pox, and I have watched plenty of movies and television since then. I watched the entire first season of Ugly Betty, and now I'm hooked. The Office (season 3) is now on DVD, so Kristin picked that up for me. If there ever was a great week to get the chicken pox, this is it. That said, I don't actually think there's ever a good time to get them after you are 12. I'm supposed to be going back to school next Monday. The doctor will tell me on Sunday if I'm still contagious, or if I have to wait longer to go back. For my students' sake (and my own boredom), I hope I'm ready to go back to teach on Monday. From everything I've heard, my class is doing really well for having had a different substitute almost every day since the third day of school. I'm very thankful for that. I'm feeling so much better now. The only problem is the scabs. I just want to pick them off, and I have done that a few times. As soon as I do it, I'm like, "NO! Don't do that ever again Alicia!" I hear that the more you pick, the more you scab. And still, it's like that idea doesn't enter my mind until right after I pick it all the way off. Gross. This topic is less than desirable. On to something else.

There is a tv show on right now that is ridiculous. It's called The Pick Up Artist. It's a bunch of guys who don't do so well with "the ladies." They are videotaped talking to all these girls to see if they can get their numbers, and these three guys watch them in some secret van somewhere (creepy), and they critique their "lady getting abilities." In my not-so-important opinion, the guys who run the show have no room for judging the other guys' ability to be cool and have "game." There are more reasons I do not like this show. The guys cry. And I don't mean they "get misty-eyed." I mean they sit there and cry like little girls when they are told that they are safe from elimination, or when they are told what they are doing wrong. If these guys want to get more dates, maybe they should start with not sitting around and crying like the women that they want to get. Clarification: there is nothing wrong with men crying. It can be endearing, and possibly a sign of true humility. But when you are on a reality show where the sole purpose is to learn how to get "the ladies," and you're afraid you will be sent home next, maybe that's not the time. Pick your battles, guys. Is it really worth a cry?

I've also been researching a lot of things on Wikipedia. That's the new IMDB for me. Anytime I watch a new show or movie (which has been often this past week), I love finding out more about the actors and actresses, like what else they've played in, or where they were born. Thanks to these internet sites, you never again have to play that awful mind game where you ask yourself for days on end, "Where have I seen that guy before??" Now with just a few clicks and some typing, you can know almost instantly. Now that I am done with promoting these great sites, onto the topics I have researched. I am a semi-expert on some of these topics now.

1 - Leona Helmsley's Dog, Trouble
2 - Princess Diana and her troubled marriage to Prince Charles
3 - Kenneth Ellen Parcell from 30 Rock
4 - All things related to chicken pox and shingles
5 - Idina Menzel (Elphaba in Wicked/Maureen in Rent) and other Broadway stars
6 - Jenna Fischer's (Pam from the Office) separation from her husband
7 - Where my kidney and liver are (I probably should have already known that)
8 - The Flight of the Conchords. Here are two of their youtube videos.
Albi the Racist Dragon
Hiphopopotamus vs. Rhymenoceros

With 3 more long days ahead of me, I'm sure there will be more interesting things to blog about. Please let me know if there is anything interesting that I should research. For today, I'm done.

Chicken Pox

Many of you have called and asked how my first week is going. Thank you for all of your prayers! I love my class, and I have many interesting stories about my funny kids. I will include several funny stories at the end of this blog, but I want to begin with the latest info. This morning, I was sent home from school with the chicken pox. Yes, that's right, I never had them as a kid, and that finally caught up with me this week. That used to be my interesting fact about myself. You know, when you play "2 Truths and a Lie," or "I Never." What a bummer. Now I have to lead with, "I grew up on a blueberry farm." Bo-ring. When I was a kid, I remember my mom making me spend the night with kids who had them and playing with other kids at their houses when they were sick, just so I would "get it overwith" and not have it as an adult. Seems to me that "many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand." If you remember anything about how to deal with them or speed the process along, please please oh please let me know. If I've been around you at all in the past 2 or 3 days, and you haven't had the chicken pox, you should really be on the lookout. I'm sorry. I didn't know. I blamed my sore throat on talking all day at school, my exhaustion and achiness on it being my first week with the kids, and the little spots/water blisters that started appearing on Monday on being stressed out. I thought surely they were hives. Everyone I asked about it said the same thing.

Just since I began this blog, I discovered a pock (is that correct?) in my mouth. This is no fun.

God is teaching me to trust Him, that's for sure. All week I was worrying about preparing and being ready, and today that pretty much got squashed into the ground. I am worried about how my students will respond to a substitute when we haven't even completely established the
routines and procedures well yet, and now I have no choice but to just wait and see how it goes. I suppose I'm thankful for the chance to rest and think and pray and read and try to keep my mind off the itching.

I just got off the phone with my dear friend Amy Hamm, and she is going to the store for me so I don't dehydrate... Thank you!

Ok, now on to how funny my kids are. Here are just a few of the things I've heard so far...

(after talking about the movie Hairspray)
"When I'm grown I'm gonna make a movie called HairButter."

(conversation between myself and a kid who missed the bus after school)
"My dad's name is Wilmer too. I'm a junior."
"That's great. Do you think you'll name your kid Wilmer too?"
"I don't know. (long pause) I don't know if I'll get married, I can't tell the future."

I also have a student who LOVES Mabel Simmons aka Madea, and he always quotes the movies. It's very hard for me to control myself and not jump in and start quoting too. They know I like Madea and that I have seen all the movies and some of the plays, but I think I'll let it stop there. There's a fine line between teacher and friend. :-)

Thanks again for all your prayers! If you want to pray more, pray that if the Lord wills it, I will have a speedy recovery and that it won't be a severe form since I'm an adult. Thanks so much!