keeps getting better...

I can't believe that everyday I like what I do more and more. It is nice to have you guys be on task with your lessons...even if it sometimes means that I have some of you sitting on desks during lecture or need to have an earphone in to stay focused..there are times when I can relate to your need or inability to be the most conventional of students. I think that is why I enjoy what I do so much. But head my warning....my kindness should never be mistaken for weakness!!

I realize that I know what I know....it has taken me a long time to learn it....and it is my responsibility to offer that knowledge to you in away that it not only makes sense, but also in a way that you retain it and make it part of your intellectual baggage. My goal, I believe is to make sure that if you ever need to communicate in either Spanish or French...that you can with confidence!!

I love snow days....*Smiles*

It was too cool to hear my telephone ring this morning at 5:55AM. It was our fearless leader with the smashing news that we are better off staying hunkered down at home rather than to risk harm trying to get to school today. I LOVE MY JOB!! (If I haven't said that enough so far let's just say it one more time).

See ya tomorrow!!

Priceless moments....

Ya know that commercial for Master Card...well I had my priceless moment today after getting gas at Stewart's....I had someone admit to me that they actually understand Spanish...eavesdropping at the Y...lol!! It is so nice to know that I helped make that happen for you!! It makes doing what I do way worth it...Thanks

Great First Day Back...

Hey guys...I realized that the days are getting longer...on my way home tonight the sun was still up even after I pulled into the driveway! How cool is that!!

At this time of the year I like to think that I am looking forward to Spring so much, that I see signs of it anywhere I can....even if it is only in something as simple as the onset of darkness.

I must say that I honestly liked being back at work today. While we were still on break, it was hard for me to imagine wanting to get ready for work, but this morning I was quite stoked about it!! I feel so privileged that I really want to go to work everyday. Thanks to all of you guys...Happy New Year!!

As it all winds down....

back to school tomorrow...I am excited to see you all again! Sure it was nice to be with family celebrating the holidays, but I am looking forward to getting back to work.

When I was downstate I cruised all my old haunts looking for cool stuff for you guys. I hit the Ideal Foreign Bookstore looking for material for you all, but the prices made me feel faint, so I figured it wiser to surf Amazon for some cheaper options. It was kinda cool to be in there again after all those years. I shopped there when I was in college because my Prof's used to give us long lists of books we had to read for class, and they always had all the books in the list. It still smelled of dust and decomposing paper...kinda made me flash back to my younger days *smiles* I liked it!!

I hope that you all have rested your bodies as well as your minds...and we are all ready to hit 2009 running!! Make me proud!!

Happy Old Year...

Well I finally found a hot spot to piggyback on so I can have access to you all thru my laptop. As I said before I trucked me and my kids and all my animals downstate on Christmas Day. It was a nice day and has been an all around nice visit to my old stomping grounds with old friends...all up until Saturday when I found out that an acquaintance of mine was a victim of violence and unfortunately has become just another NYC statistic.

It is moments like this...the ones that make you go numb...that ultimately make you take inventory of your blessings!! It has been a difficult time for me I must admit...to accept that fate has played itself out and has taken yet another vibrant life from this earth...and to find the justice in it all.

Needless to say my New Year's Eve plans have changed as they are laying Bobbie to rest today...so if I do unite with my posse from Brooklyn...we will all be remembering a man who was taken from us in a botched robbery attempt...and by the way, the guys who did this...GOT AWAY!!!

My moral of this story?? Life is to be appreciated EVERYDAY!! Never take anything for granted...and all my young people out there...we are not infallible and indestructible!! Be safe and be happy...Today!!!!

Happy Kucios...*giggles*

Well this traditional Lithuanian Christmas Eve went over very well....I think my grandma would be proud!!

I was up at a whopping 5:30 only because Gilligan was pacing and needed to go out....so once I was up I figured I'd stay up....I started cooking at like 8 and only finished when the guests started showing up....I forgot how many dishes there were to make the 12 that tradition calls for...LMAO!!

I also made my sis a huge cake for her official college graduation....at 45+!! Congrats Lina....she made the Dean's list!!

We sat and ate and had a serene time....I can't remember the last time we did that!

I hope that you ALL feel the Christmas Magic...it is there....trust me...just tune in!!!

Buona Vigilia.....I am gushing unconditional love and peace to you all!!

You all inspire me...HONEST YOU DO!!!!

I thanked the powers that be for bringing me to you tonight at the Christmas Eve table...as a good pagan would...*giggles*

¡FELIZ NAVIDAD!

Well...I think I am done...

I do believe that I am ready for Christmas...lol!! All of my best laid plans were dashed by the weather...you know how the saying goes...while we are busy planning God is laughing...well in my case it was the weather man!!

I am doing a traditional Lithuanian spread for Christmas Eve and have my family coming over to feast and make nice...I just hope we get the last part right!!

If any of you are interested what it is we "Lugans" do for this holiest of nights follow this link: http://www.javlb.org/educat/tradicijos/kucios.html
Mind you...we Lithuanians have been around since the beginning of time...and were pagans....so there are many let's call them non-holy reasons why we do what we do...lol!!

After our family pow wow ...I am having Christmas morning with my girls, then hitting the road to head to mom's in Queens...need a NYC fix so I can appreciate my country life a bit more. *giggles*

If I don't get a chance to post before landing downstate...I wish you and all of yours Christmas Magic....it is out there...just tune in!!

Last week of school this year...*giggles*

Well tomorrow starts the last official school week of 2008 and I am pumped!! You all are doing so well in your own right it makes me gush with pride when I talk about you guys to folks I know here in Afton.

My youngest had her theatrical debut as Maxine in the Afton Community Theater's rendition of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" this weekend...so I found myself catching up with so many people I haven't seen in a long time and singing your praises to them all. I felt a bit like a hen brooding over her clutch of chicks...LOL!! But the sincere gratitude and good fortune I feel in having been found by your administration oozes from every part of me, because all the people that love me for me...can see the good you all do me.

So Thank You!!

Super Sunny Saturday

Ah...it is Saturday and it feels like Sunday...thanks to that wonderful snow day we had yesterday!! I love being a teacher!! This time Afton closed too so I couldn't aggravate my girls as they left for school and I didn't. So we all stayed hunkered down at the ponderosa and did absolutely nothing...well except me, I did lots of holiday prep work!! Can't decorate a messy home...well at least I can't.

So as I enjoy my second cup of coffee and find the energy to get up into the attic to bring down all that stuff...I wonder....why does this whole holiday thing make me feel the same way that going to the dentist does??? It seems like I have been putting off decorating and getting a tree since the official holiday season started...I mean I even blew off the Black Friday ritual this year...so unlike me *giggles*

Can it be that all this "drama" going on in the world is getting even the most flamboyant holiday junkie down?? I love Christmas...even at my tender age *cough, cough* I FEEL the magic of the season....but I can't seem to sense it yet...am I getting Scrooge-like in my old age??

What do you think??

culture shock?? NAH not at S-E

...it is so cool to see you guys going bilingual and liking it...the first step for me was back in college....sure I took Spanish since 7th grade and finished Afton's program in my sophomore year...then took French for the rest of my years in High School...but I believe I turned bilingual in college...my best friend Monica was dating a Chilean guy and we hung out in Spanish...all the time....the language began seeping into every facet of me...from how I ate...what I listened to....and who I hung out with!!

My hope is that you guys begin to allow other cultures in...test drive 'em a bit...and feel it for yourself before you pass judgement...because no matter where you go in life...you will have to be open to other points of view....my goal is to help in that shift of perspective...just because it isn't how you do it...doesn't make it wrong...just makes it different....and different is not a bad thing!!

...Get 'Er Done...

http://www.doitdoitdone.com/index.html

I heard about this website on the WAAL this morning on my way in to school and figured I would pass it on.

As a lover of time management and lists...I think this is a cool way to not only to keep up with an exponentially growing "honey do" list...but also to really be able to see how one uses the time they have at their disposal.

URBAN DICTIONARY...click here

guess where she is sitting...in the walkway between the columns at St Peter's Square...I recognized it right away....I sat there many times myself...too cool!!

I am sitting in a quiet house...rarity by all means....and am watching Prime News on CNN. (YES again a sign of my age) I just watched a piece on cheerleaders who were kicked off the squad for what they call sexting. IMAGINE THIS...girls in HS sending well those kinds of pictures of themselves on their cell phones....and the kicker is that the parents are suing the school for kicking them off the cheer leading squad.....What do you make of this?? What are they thinking??

I mean really girls I DO HOPE that we all have much better sense than that..okay I remember how it was being in High School and all the stress that comes with it. The right group, the right grades, the right clothes, the right everything...like I said adolescence is ROUGH!!! But with all the tech and stuff that you have now....have the limits been pushed that far that one might even CONSIDER doing something like this??

What is your opinion...we'd like to know!!

The program's website is:
http://www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/prime.news/

At the time I took the poll below...the stats looked like this...

Should the cheerleaders have been kicked off the team for sending nude pictures of themselves?

Yes	72%
No	28%

This is not a scientific poll

...Shlumpy Hump-day....

Ambiguous is pretty much the word that can sum up my mood for today.

What do you do when you care but the folks you care about don't care about the fact that you care??

When is it, that there is that light bulb that goes off in their head, that gives them that "a-ha" moment, that it dawns on them that just maybe they are cared about unconditionally.....one doesn't expect anything back for caring....well...nothing except honesty and respect....is that too high a price to pay for having someone genuinely care about how you are??

On the other hand, it may just not be cool to have someone like me care about what you do, who you hang with, why you are absent, or how you are handling heavy duty life situations that your circumstance has dealt you. Maybe it is the people that are in your posse that scoff at the idea. Maybe it is that that same one that scoffs secretly wishes it was him I gave a hoot about...well FYI...I care about him TOO!!!

There is no greater challenge than adolescence....I sure wouldn't want to do it over again...even if I could go back and do it all again knowing what I know now!! NO WAY!!!!

This is why I care...whether you see it now or not...I want to make sure that you make it out there in the real world...no matter what you wanna be when you grow up.

...parent teacher night...oh my!!

Today I spent my day waiting....waiting to sing your praises to your folks...and the one parent I saw I had to go track down in the cafe....lol!!

No worries...it is all good!!

I do need to say tho that I am very proud of the effort I see you all making in my classroom. From the way that the Spanish IV group has taken the ball and are running with it for their midterm video project, to my Spanish I class' ability to actually express themselves in Spanish and their desire and genuine interest in starting to e-mail a group of kids in Salamanca, Spain, to my French I kids that are breezing through all our units so quickly!!

YOU GUYS NEVER CEASE TO AMAZE ME!!!!!

Rock on!!

who can you run to??

I heard the saddest news this morning as I was preparing to come to school. On the Good Morning America program the mother and sister of a young man who took his own life live on line were interviewed by the program's host. The young man's sister spoke of community...of a communities responsibility to look out for the well-being of its own members.

I believe that all of us cyber-junkies understand what the virtual community is and how it functions....yes we all know that there is etiquette and protocol and just plain ol' common sense rules that should always be followed. But my question to you all is this....is your real time community involvement just as important to you as your virtual community?? Do you hold your virtual self up to the same strict standards that you do your real-time self?? Do you portray yourself and your activities honestly, with integrity and honor??

As my on line following begins to build and noticeably expand I hope that you all remember the importance of being true to yourself and your community...be it your MySpace community, your Facebook community, or just the community you find outside your front door.

In light of the greater good....PEACE!!

Well as quickly as it came is about as quickly as it went...this mini-vacation I mean. I can't believe it is back to work tomorrow!! But hey...let's look at the bright side...Christmas vacation will be here before we know it. LOL!!

In the meantime it is my role to make sure that you guys are really learning...so I think the best thing for us to do is just back it all up and run thru it all over again in a more general view...just so we are solid as we wind down till the end of 2008....and make sure you guys know how to use what we have taken in thus far!!

¡Hasta mañana!

Black Friday...oh my!!

This cartoon pretty much sums it up for me this year!! I had all the best intentions to get out there and snag all the great deals that "black Friday" has to offer, but then my rational mind took over...(yes...just another my age is showing moments)...and I decided to stay in.

Can it be that all the years in Europe have actually served a purpose for me personally?? See...over there it was nearly impossible to have or obtain all the credit that you can get here...so I just got used to living in a certain way and learned that immediate gratification was not always the smartest thing to strive for. After all...it is only STUFF!!

I hope you all are enjoying the time off...I am!! LOL

In light of the greater good...Peace!!

Happy Turkey...

So it is officially Thanksgiving Day vacation!! Phew...we made it!! *giggles*

How cool was it to see Mr. Reed today!!! Too bad we never started the wave up there in the bleachers. Next time!! *grin*

I hope that you all do realize how much effort it took for Mr Reed not only to come visit but also overcoming the thought of the risk he was taking by simply exposing himself to all your wonderful kid germs. He loves you guys that much that he put doctor's orders on the back burner just to share your space!! How awesome is that??? See you guys DO ROCK...and I am not the only one who notices!!

I hope that you guys sleep late, rest, and totally enjoy the Thanksgiving holiday...remember that there is always something to be grateful for everyday...not just on November 28th...ya just gotta look! :))

Peace

happy sno-day

First snow day of the season and the coolest thing about it was that the kids in my house had to get up and go to school!! It was funny...for the shoe to be on the other foot for a change. I was reminded on more than one occasion this morning not to rub it in, but I just couldn't help it.

With the schedule shift tomorrow I get the pleasure of teaching first thing in the morning. Tomorrow will be my littlest one's big test...will she remember to shut the front door before getting on the bus??? LOL!!

Hope you all enjoyed your day off...see y'all tomorrow