Update

The front door finally got primed and repainted and I am happy to report that it no longer looks like some woman from Astoria's tacky lipstick. This was obviously with no help from Markus.

Hookers & School Teachers

Life is tough when you're working in a school. I often tow the line between appropriate dress and unprofessional, but since moving to a different classroom helps with not having the alien teacher breathing down my neck I've been able to dress a little more classy and a little more my age.

Today I decided to wear my new "jeggings" to work. Say whatever you want, these things are the most comfortable pair of pants I've ever owned. I checked with B-Fab to make sure my pants were work appropriate, and since she's technically my boss I figured her okay is all I needed... but, I can't help feeling like a total hooker. Working with 6th graders gives me some advantage cause I know the boys aren't gawking at me yet, but walking down the halls this morning got me a bit nervous.

Maybe I can hide my ass for the day.

Book Ends

Today was the start of another wonderful school year at ODY (we'll call it that because I can't actually divulge the name). The day that I have been anxiously awaiting since I returned from Romania turned out to be better than expected.

We'll call today my book end day. I felt confident walking in this morning - then I walked down the main hallway and passed one of my favorite students from last year (who are we kidding, of all time, my first son's middle name will be his). His little face lit up the way it does when he's trying to be too cool, and with a quick "hey kid," I smiled and felt the familiar drop in my stomach at the sight of a child I've invested so much in.

You could say that the end of my day was somewhat the same. I spent most of my time between classes high five-ing former students and flashing a grin that I couldn't seem to contain. I won't lie, it feels good to feel wanted, to be popular amongst kids you've worked so hard to help educate. By the time school was over and the seniors had come to fetch the new sixth graders, I had taken to wandering the halls searching for one more face. Seeing the flash of a taller, curly mohawk, I couldn't contain my excitement and pride in a kid who I can only pray, will one day grow to be a remarkable young man. He made the JV soccer team. Thank God.

The biggest mistake we make as educators, mentors.. as human beings is writing off those most difficult around us. I spent the better part of my six months at ODY last year watching, horrified, as staff outwardly vocalized their distaste for certain students. Those students [naturally] turned out to be my favorite kids. Strangely, children of all ages have a way of touching your heart in such a profound way, it's difficult to describe really. You can't ever get back the piece of your heart you leave with the children you've worked with.

I cried myself home today, praying that I will be a blessing to the new students and staff I work with this year, but also that God will provide me the opportunity to continue the relationships I've built already. No matter how much taller those boys get, they will always be the first students I ever worked with, and the ones I love the most.

Wilma: I feel like you need to put together a documentary.
Me: Funny you should say that.

Tomorrow I start photographing for the school. I cannot begin to express how happy I am at being given the opportunity to put one of my passions to good use at work.

Paint It Black

Me - Do I need to prime the front door before I paint it?

Markus - No, all the doors I replaced are already primed. You can paint them all if you want.

Two hours later...

You can say it, the door looks like some woman's tacky lipstick.

I send this picture to Markus and he responds, "You needed to prime the door dark gray."

Me - &&*%&$&^(*&)(*)**&%^$&

Happy sanding down the front door and priming it dark gray day!

Freezer Brain

This is pretty random, but let's just say that since I've been back stateside all I find myself wanting to do is crawl into our den ("tv room" for you more 2000 era folk) and hide. Hibernation is key these days. So with that in mind, the first thing that struck my fancy when I got back was to turn on Alias. I watched it all through high school, every Sunday night with B-Fab; she would fold the laundry, I would straighten my hair for school. It became our routine. Then one summer I came home from camp early after getting really sick and I spent two weeks eating nectarines on the couch and watching Alias seasons 1 through 3 - that was around the time when TV on DVD was beginning to get popular.

My pet peeve about well executed television shows is starting to overpower my ability to sit and turn my brain off for a few hours each day while watching Alias. In fact, that was the whole point of this post. Turn on TV on DVD, avoid brain tangents about Romania, orphaned children, ministry, doing God's work.. you get the idea. Season two crept up on me fast and I'm finding that I already feel myself getting frustrated with the way JJ Abrams and the entire production staff (I'm looking at you writers) really dropped the ball on this show. I would tackle a detailed argument about the things I would have done differently, like give actress Lena Olin whatever money she wanted to keep her on, dropped the ridiculous Rambaldi plotline, and focus on what the show did best, flesh out characters who lead complex lives. Sometimes I felt this way about Lost too.. but that's another story and this is exactly what I wasn't looking for these last two weeks home: in depth thought, cause I've got too much of that already.