A fun evening!!!

I had such a nice time last night.  Phillip, Megan and I were going to watch movies.  I made my suggestions (which are always Ocean’s 11, Cars, or any Harry Potter) but we has come to an agreement on a “George Clooney” night– O Brother Where are Thou, and the Ocean’s 11.

Well, I know I have a book (dated 2003) that is just a book of “lists of movies”  Top grossing Ninja movie, top disaster movie, and top movies from a variety of actors.  We started reading these lists, (Like Tom Hank’s movies) and you can’t help laughing thinking about scenes from various movies, or talking about ones you haven’t seen. 

There was also lists of Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor/Actress and Best Supporting Actor/Actress Oscar winners from every year from the 1930′s to 2002!  We had a hoot guessing the names of actors and films and talking and laughing!

What a great way to spend an evening engaged with other people rather than just watching TV again.    Can’t  wait to NOT watch movies again.  If you want to have this much fun, go on AFI (The American Film Institute’s) website–they have good lists, like Greatest hero and greatest Villian or most romantic movie.  You will have a great time laughing, crying and acting out your favourite scenes!!!

worried about next year…..already

I have so many things going through my mind, I don’t know what to write about today.  I have the normal rants about the cool, un-summer like weather.  I have the “hurry up-end of school year” rant.  But even that is tempered by the fact that there are big changes at work coming for next year.  (Not for me personally– I will still teach the 2/3, and though I thought about asking for a change the risks (portables, weird kids, iep’s) out way the benefits (pretty good class, same room–’cause its full of crap, and a comfort level with the material).  But the school is changing.  We are losing 9 full time staff members, due to a redundancy bull-crap restructuring thing the board is doing.  I don’t understand everything, but I know that friends and co-workers are being treated unfairly–and not getting any communication about the process.  Some of these staff members were original teachers that were there on the Labour Day weekend, putting desks together and worring about if we could actually open Tuesday morning.   Others have joined in later years, but the impact of losing so many personalities all at once will be hard to understand and get used to at first.

But I am a generally “up” person, and I trust that my friends will learn to love another school in time.  Things are always changing, it just takes some time to re-adjust.  And I find I do adjust to things pretty quickly. 

Within my school, people are moving grades, and then there are the nine new faces that will join us.  Maybe good, maybe weird, you just never know! (I do know and have worked with 2 of the 9 and they are absolutely good AND weird!!!).  Also we have ANOTHER administration shift.  (I’m beginning to feel like the Defense Against the Dark Arts post at Hogwarts)  A quick re-cap of the admin:

• Year One  : Principal 1,  at Christmas Principal 1 becomes Superintendent, enter Principal 2
• Year 2:    Principal 2, Vice Principal 1
• Year 3: Principal 3 (First time principal) , Vice Principal 1
• Year 4(current year) Principal 3, Vice Principal 2 (brand new Vice Principal)
• SO, heading into year 5, we will be at Principal 3, VP 3

Wouldn’t you feel cursed???????

Ah well, perhaps I should get the Choir Concert ready for the end of THIS year, before I panic too much about NEXT year.

When you don’t feel well

Yesterday was a bad day.  Nothing I could do helped my headache.  I took Tylenol, Advil, had water, had a diet coke, wore my sunglasses in the house, but nothing broke the pain.  I slept, I put an ice pack on my head and neck– nothing.  Then, last night I couldn’t sleep.  I was up until 12:00.  I saw the clock at 2:30, I read Harry Potter (#5–they rode the Thestrals to the Ministry of Magic) from 2:30-3:15 and finally moved to the couch around 3:30am

(There is something about the Magic couch when you are sick— as a child, the couch was where mom bundled you up with pillows and blankets and it somehow feels different from your bed.  I still have to be on the couch sometimes in the middle of the night–even though I know it drives Phillip nuts)

Zoolander was on Showcase at 3:00 in the morning–weird.  So I finally slept a little from 4:00ish to 5:53am when the alarm clock rang.  Another handful of Advil, shower and I’m off to school.  But I still don’t feel well.  I am all shakey-like I’m just getting over the flu. I want nothing more than to have a little cry and curl up with a blankey and my new Sock Monster (named Edwardo).  But, here I am at school trying to put on a brave face for these little monkeys. 

Luckily, they seem just as sleepy and out of it as I do.  Let’s all have a nap.  (Well, my class will “play dead” for up to 10 minutes at a time.  God bless the book “Scaredy Squirrel” and all its life lessons!)

Random things that I like to do…

Y’know how you have comfort foods, or comfortable jeans.  I have some routines, books, movies that are like that too.  There are some things, that no matter what else, will always make me happy.  Plus in these hard economic times, its nice to have free or almost free things that will always put a smile on your face

• Going to Ikea– I love Ikea, I play house in their little model homes.  Everything about Ikea is fun.  The meatballs are yummy, and the Lingenberry Juice–yum.  I walk around saying the “Swedish” name for everything “TORK”  “ECTOR”  “MALM”  gotta love that MALM.  And no matter how much I say I’m not buying anything, somehow a basket, kitchen gadget or pillow always comes home with me.   (Note: I don’t  go to the Leslie St Ikea anymore– the parking garage scares me.  Seriously-have you been up on top of that thing? Its all slanty and almost going to collapse, and to be under it —yikes.  Now I will go to the Jane and the 407)   But a fun date is a trip to Ikea, its just hard to convince the peeps at home to take me.  (Hey Megan, wanna go to Ikea???)  Oh–personal message : when they have midnight madness at Ikea, and you think “How many people will really be at Ikea at 11:30 at night—THE ANSWER IS LOTS!!!!  Avoid this at all costs.  No cute stacking baskets are worth that madness.
• The carwash.  This has already been mentioned, but Its worth repeating.  I love going to the carwash.  I don’t like washing the car with a hose and bucket-yuck, but the soft cloth car wash.  Ohhhh spend the extra money and get the TRI COLOURED foam soap.  Woo hooo I love it.  (But if I owned a carwash I would buy little LED lights and rig them up so they looked like gremlin eyes.  Imagine that–soapy windows, you can’t really see, but you catch sight of little glowing eyes–Spooky).  For our anniversary one year, Phillip and I went to the carwash and then Ikea, it was a great day!!!
• I LOVE Harry Potter– I read the Harry Potter books continuously.  Really I mean CONSTANTLY.  Before bed every night, I read about a page or two.  I can’t read new books during the school year–I’m just too tired.  That’s why I read 3 or4 new books over Christmas Break or March Break, and even more during the summer.— But now its Harry Potter.  When I finish book 3, I read book 4 etc…. and when I am finished the entire canon, then I start again.  Since I started reading all seven in order, I have probably gone over the entire set 5 times by now.  I just can’t stop!!!
• I also love the Harry Potter movies.  (Don’t get me wrong–books are better than movies, and if you want to have a discussion about books vs movies I have some strong feelings.  But the movies are visually wonderful! The first one, wow!  How did they know what the Hogwarts Express looked like in my mind).  If I am working on something else and need some noise in the background, a Harry Potter movie is always a good choice.
• Other movies that I watch obsessively are Ocean’s 11, Clueless, Notting Hill, Twister, The Rock, Con Air, Armageddon, American President, Legally Blonde, and Outbreak (or in its alternate title MONKEYPOX)— It doesn’t matter how often I have seen these movies, I will always watch them again and again.  (What does this say about me???  I’m not sure)
• When I am at the grocery store, I always have to check the cakes and pick the birthday cake that I want.  It is probably not my birthday, but I always look. Hmmmmm Blue’s Clues or Spiderman…….. sometimes its a tough choice.  Princesses usually win.  Also purple flowers or balloons in icing.  (at least I don’t slap the roasts–anyone who would do that is really weird)
• I love to buy nailpolish.  I don’t wear a lot of nail polish, but I own a lot!!!  Nothing can pick up a grumpy mood like a $3 bottle of fun!!!