According to Alison

Yesterday, I had a few students stay with me during planning for a pizza celebration because they won my behavior competition from the previous quarter.  While we ate, they asked to watch an episode of Phineas and Ferb.  While Candace was telling Jeremy how much she loved car racing or something like that (in the episode), the following conversation took place:

Boystudent #1: She doesn’t REALLY believe that.  She’s just saying those things because she likes him.

Me: I know, Boystudent.  I am a girl.  I know what girls do.

Boystudent #2: Yeah.  They freak out.

It’s always good to get a little perspective on boy-girl relations from 4th graders :-)

“He’s not perfect.  You aren’t either, and the two of you will never be perfect.  But if he can make you laugh at least once, causes you to think twice, and if he admits to being human and making mistakes, hold onto him and give him the most you can.  He isn’t going to quote poetry, he’s not thinking about you every moment, but he will give you a part of him that he knows you could break.  Don’t hurt him, don’t change him, and don’t expect more than he can give.  Don’t analyze.  Smile when he makes you happy, yell when he makes you mad, and miss him when he’s not there.  Love hard when there is love to be had.  Because perfect guys don’t exist, but there’s always one guy who is perfect for you.”

                                                                             -Bob Marley

…and because my friends amuse me:

me: it’s ok that you were a flake because it meant I got to see this boy I sort of like a second time.

J: is that the study package guy?

me: yes

J: oh, he lives here?

me: yeah, I’m sure I told you that…

J: well, I don’t remember feeling the urge to stalk him, so I don’t think you did.

backstory for the next one: I returned from a somewhat awful outing and proceeded to spend like an HOUR commiserating with my friend.  finally, in an effort to get SOMETHING off my chest, I decided to post this really passive-aggressive facebook status.  like 10 minutes after I posted it, I got a text message apology.  then, this conversation happened:

M: what are you going to say?

me: nothing.  it’s 1 in the morning.  I’m asleep.

M: yeah, except you just posted on facebook…

me: oh yeah…crap!

M: you could have turned your phone off right after that, though.

me: right.  that was at least 8 minutes ago.  I definitely went to sleep right after posting.

M: well at least now you don’t have to wonder whether he’s checking facebook…

So I have this problem.  An actual serious problem, not one of my normal, why doesn’t the library have the book I want, why doesn’t Nick Jonas realize I exist type problems.

For various reasons, I would like to leave Nashville.  I would like to be closer to family and friends, I really dislike living in the south, it seems like the Tennessee government wants to destroy the state’s education system, etc.

Here is part one of this problem: while I HATE living in Nashville, I LOVE the school I work in.  The other teachers are, for the most part, great educators and great colleagues, and I have a somewhat crazy, but supportive and talented, principal.  I want to get out of the city, but I feel like it’s just foolhardy to leave a job I like, with supportive coworkers, for a potentially terrible situation (I know I pretty much won the principal lottery, and since I’ve been so spoiled, I don’t know if I’d be able to handle an administrator on the opposite end of the spectrum).  Obviously I wouldn’t leave unless I had secured another job and/or grad school acceptance (more on that in a minute), but that doesn’t mean the job would be as good as what I have now.

Part two of the problem: I’ve pretty much decided that the next step for me is library science (yes, I know, this is not necessarily the most sound decision given what’s going on in the world today, but it’s what I really want to do, and things will work themselves out [I hope]).  I had thought I’d wait maybe another year or two to start applying to schools (and thus stay in my current school and get some more experience in the classroom), but various occurrences have prompted me to want to expedite the process (new evaluation processes, pressures of standardized testing, problems of geography, etc).  If you know me in real life, you know I’m kind of a snob when it comes to academia-if I’m going to go back to school for something, I want to make sure I’m getting the best out there.  However, the best library science school are not in the most ideal locations.  My question is this: is it more important to go to the best school, or the one in the best location?  In the past I would have certainly said the former, but now I just don’t know.  Plus, there’s always the possibility that because the more ideally-located schools are less competitive, there’s more of a chance that I will get funding there.

So there it is, in a nutshell: should I abandon my school here for a less than ideal job in a better location?  and, would I rather be in NYC or DC at a less competitive grad school or at a top school on the opposite side of the country from where I want to be?

It’s kind of a lot to think over.  And I am always open to thoughts and advice.

One of my favorite bloggers, Gracie, is involved with a fabulous new organization, FreelyBe.  FreelyBe has come up with the Kick the Habit campaign:

Before you can change the world, you need to be able change your own. To share freedom, one must be free themselves. In an effort to bring that freedom, we are launching a fun FREEDOM rally- Kick the Habit.

We all have bad habits, right?  So why not try to break them together, with the support of a community?  Here’s my bad habit:

I eat out/get takeout/have fast food WAY too much.

I’m not talking about good, healthy meals at nice restaurants, either-I mean not so good food of the convenience variety.  After a long day of teaching, I rarely feel like cooking, or shopping for real food…but the excuses stop now.

Beginning tomorrow, August 1st, I will be KICKING this habit.  Since I do believe in moderation, I will allow myself 2 meals out each week-but other than that, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will be prepared by ME.

I’ve been looking up new recipes, making meal plans, and bracing myself for the horrors of the crowded grocery store-I’m excited, and I’m READY.

What habit would you like to kick?  How are you working to get rid of it?

This is an excerpt from an actual conversation, in which we discussed the music of our youth.  I did not make it up.  I felt the need to record it for posterity, because I still cannot stop laughing:

Girl1: So if you hate No Doubt, do you also hate the Spice Girls?

Girl2: Well, they were never my favorite, but I don’t hate them like I do No Doubt.

Boy: Which one of the Spice Girls is famous?

Girl2: Posh…Victoria Beckham.  She’s married to David Beckham.

Boy: But isn’t there one who is famous as a solo singer?

Girls 1 and 2: Um…no…

Boy: Hmm.  Maybe I’m thinking of TLC.

Girls 1 and 2: *Blank stares*

Girl2: Um…do you maybe mean Destiny’s Child?

Boy: Maybe.

Girl2: So…Beyonce?

Boy: YES.

So I’m back in Nashville after several weeks at my parents’ house and an amazing long weekend in New York City.  While I’m certainly not thrilled to be back, there are a few silver linings to the giant storm cloud of a situation:

1. Free Fro-Yo: My Sweet CeCe’s card only needs one more punch before I get a free tasty treat!

2. The new Sarah Mlynowski book, Ten things we did (and probably shouldn’t have), is waiting for me at the library as we speak.

3. Air conditioning: although I often choose not to use my a/c, because I hate high electricity bills, at least my apartment HAS it, as opposed to my car, which was basically a sauna during my 17 hour drive yesterday.

4. I’ve been living a microwave-free life here in Nashville, but driving home allowed me to pick mine up, which means that I now have a quick food-heating option for the first time in over a year.  It’s kind of sad how excited I am about this.

It’s the little things, I suppose, that keep us from punching every Southerner who commits a crime of grammar sane.