"That lady's scary!"

The frightening picture above is a sticker I've had on my car since I purchased it almost 9 years ago. (Go Honda! Maybe if American companies made better, more fuel-efficient cars, they wouldn't be shutting down car plants around the country. Sorry, Detroit.) Yesterday Jacob took my door apart to fix a stuck window (thanks, Jacob!) and Talia, whilst watching him work, noticed the sticker and proclaimed it a "scary lady." Mom jumped on the chance to convince me to remove it, as my family and students have always looked at it and wondered, but even though my darling Talia asked me to remove it, I just can't. It probably sounds weird, but it's like a remnant of my 18 year old self that I just can't let go. Thus, the scary lady stays until I run my good ol' Civic into the ground.

Checklists suck.

So we left Greece at 4am yesterday, landed in LA at 10:30pm, and arrived in Bakersfield at 2am. Taking into account time zones, I was up for a total of 28 hours; I HATE that I am a light sleeper and can't snooze on planes. (PS-"The Spiderwick Chronicles" is a hot mess of a movie and should not be shown on land, sea, or air.) The jet lag hit me this afternoon, but I had to post this picture, as it pretty much sums up all that was NOT fun on my European rendevouz. I was required to take roll of everyone whenever we arrived at another really significant pile of rocks, a random church, or when someone had to stop to buy another crappy souvenir that most likely broke in their suitcase. I'll put up more pictures and info. in a couple days when I have had some sleep and am not so bitter...but let's be honest, sleep won't rid me of cynicism.

Ciao Bella!

I am off for 15 days of fun (and chaperoning) in Italy and Greece. Excellent time to travel, as the dollar is worth...NOTHING! I have prepared, however, and packed trail mix and other light snacks for nourishment; there is clothes and art shopping to be done! The last time I went to Europe (ugh-I sound atrociously spoiled-I'm not!) was with a couple of my girlfriends, and we had a blast. I'll be taking 24 high schoolers this trip, which should make the experience a tad different. Love you all!

PS-when you google "greek", the first image that pops up is of that trashy show on ABC Family. Since when is crap about sororities and fraternities for the whole family? Oh, sorry...I didn't realize their target audience was the Lohans.)

If they were red she would look just like her mama, circa 1988.

YESSSSSSS!!!

You Are Gwen Stefani!

All guys dream about you And all the girls want to be you "Sappy pathetic little me That was the girl I used to be"

Who's Your Inner Rock Chick?

I hope they call me on a mission...

Paraguay Asuncion Mission-Elder Urmston reports on October 1 to the MTC!

Six months later...

This past week has been an emotional roller coaster. Due to budget cut shenangians and the fact that I'm low man on the totem pole, I will not be at LHS next year but have a job at Frontier. While I know it's a great school and I'm going to save loads in gas (jealous?), I am oh so sad to be leaving. The most difficult part of this past week was saying goodbye to my swimmers; I gave a little farewell speech and was SOBBING in front of about 150 people. I didn't realize how attached I was to my kids, but they really are my kids; hence pictures of them where most of you have snapshots of your children. My seniors had the last of their classes this week, and now I'm experiencing the fun of packing up the loads of stuff I've accumulated in just two years. At the same time, however, I've received such an outpouring of love, thank you notes, and hugs from them all (and gift cards-score!). Despite the stress, lesson planning, ungraded papers, and sleepless nights throughout the school year, I feel so blessed to be a teacher and to have the opportunity to be a part of the lives of so many.