A confession

Ok I admit that the reason I've stopped updating is because I can tell how many people are viewing this blog and even though I'm writing it for me, it still depresses me to know that despite advertising my blog to my wonderful friends who I never get to talk to anymore so that they can stay on top of WHY I never get to talk to them anymore, no one is really that fascinated by my day-to-day.

I'm deciding at this moment to get over that. So here's to me: you're awesome, Jamie. You're working really hard and it shows. Keep up the good work. It will pay off in the end; and yes, this eternal road of insane busy-ness will indeed end: and there, you'll be a teacher, which is what you've always wanted and have always known would be.

Other than curling up in my bed with Fish and the pups to watch LOST on Thursdays, student teaching is the absolute highlight of my weeks. I always count the hours till I'm there doing it, and I always wish those same hours to slow down while I'm there. The children and just the whole school atmosphere infuse me with a giddiness that I miss so much when I'm away.

I think Heaven for me would be defined as having Gabby and my mom and my class all in my own classroom.

Umm, excuse me, Jamie, but did I tell you that I got to be in the CLASS PICTURE today??? SCORE!

Recent pics of the girls

My girls are so beautiful! Just wanted to share two very recent pictures of them :)

First Day of Kindergarten

I LOVE IT!!

i had the best day in my first day with my kindergarten class. they are the sweetest, smartest, most precious things i've ever seen in my life. and the best thing is they love me right back!

i could say so much but let me just wrap it up by saying it took away all my fears of teaching and just made me that much more excited and ready to do this. it was very hard to leave there at 11 knowing i would have to leave them to come and sit behind a desk for 8 hours (yes folks i am so dedicated to the cause here at the SC that i am working until 7 tonight. ugh).

see highlights below:

• the first student introduced to me, preston, hugged me immediately and then proceeded to tell the teacher that i came to his house when he was one. then during sharing time later in the morning, he said he was wrong, i came to his house when he was two. after doing the math and making sure i couldn't have babysat for him 3 years ago, i told the class i was in maryland when they were two. then preston said "i was in maryland then too!" luckily the teacher saved me from losing my mind trying to remember this adorable child by saying she had known his mom before he was born and he had always lived here. how cute, though? :)
• another little boy, cody, is a total ham and he was just funny and sweet and well-behaved. so i sat next to him for the last reading activity for the day, when he leaned over and said to me "miss cook, you really are a cutie" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i almost cried i was trying so hard not to laugh as i said "thank you cody".
• the girls all wanted to sit next to me and read books to me and play teacher with me during free time. they are all so awesome! two of them are esol students: one is from laos and speaks limited english, the other is from puerto rico and speaks no english! but they are both so eager to learn and be a part of the classroom. it is so inspiring!
• one little boy william was having a hard time behaving. he was bordering out of control with his bad behavior. the asst. principal happened to stop by and she took him on a walk. she determined he hadn't eaten breakfast so she brought it to him. i sat with him while he ate and he was just so sweet. so i made it my mission to be his friend for the day (and i will as much as i can!) and i helped him with his spelling worksheet and sat with him on the reading rug. he had been kicking everyone earlier but now he stayed cuddled next to my arm and apparently only felt comfortable pulling my hair into a ponytail and holding it with his hand :)

i love the spirit of diversity that is thriving in that classroom. all of these children want to do well and despite their setbacks, they are just so happy to be there and they press on. i'm so glad i'm working towards a career that will be so rewarding and will allow me to learn something new everyday!

"We invent nothing, truly. We borrow and recreate. We uncover and discover. All has been given. We have only to open our eyes and hearts, to become one with that which is." ~Henry Miller

For the sake of an update

i wish i had more to say! i wish i could say that the bank came back and begged us to buy the house for a little less than we had offered (there's gotta be a weird bank reason this could happen!) and that i was moving in next week. i wish i could say that i finally got a much-needed raise and therefore was only doing pro bono babysitting henceforth. i wish it were true that the school i'm student-teaching at offered me a job at first glance, based solely on my cute face that only kindergarteners could love, so i didn't have to keep going to night classes. mostly i wish i could say that my visit to the orthopaedist's office this morning has resulted in answers and cures.

instead, i'm still not a homeowner. i'm still broke and babysitting. and i'm still spending all my otherwise-free nights in class.

oh, and the knee. i DID spend the morning at the doctor. and she still can't find anything wrong. she has the two worst combos for a doctor: she seems kind of like she doesn't know what she is doing AND she has a bad bedside manner. just my luck! anyway she finally ordered an MRI, only at the insistence of my fabulous mother. the doc sort of presented it as "there's nothing left to do......... i mean, unless you want an MRI". and it's like.... ummm... i'm still in pain after almost three months.... so how about we exhaust all efforts......idiot. so if they find nothing in the MRI, at least i will know that all options have been officially exhausted. my next options are a second opinion or physical therapy.

the doctor did say that since it's almost felt better a couple of times only to start hurting again, this might mean that since i'm favoring the knee, it's just weak from non-use and when it starts to feel better, it's not used to the weight i start to reapply to it. so my plan is, since there's obviously no severe injury to worsen, i'll just start trying to walk as normally on it as possible and hope that building strength makes it go away. i'm also going to attempt to wear only sneakers until it gets better. i never wear sneakers besides on the walks with the dogs, which i haven't done in over a month. so hopefully these changes will make a difference fo me.

Photo Survey

*** I just noticed that if you hover over each picture, most of them tell you exactly what I searched for :)***

Love it Shea :)
1)Answer the questions below
2) Take each answer and type it into Photobucket (http://www.photobucket.com/)
3) Take any picture from the first page of results and post. (click on the picture and copy the HTML code) Don't explain, it's funnier that way!

1. The age you will be on your next birthday

2. A place you’d like to travel

3. Your favorite place

4. Your favorite object

5. Your favorite food

6. Your favorite animal

7. Your favorite color

8. The town in which you were born

9. The town in which you live

10. The name of your pet

11. Your name

12. Your middle name

13. Your last name

(**How funny that it's two animes in a row)

14. A bad habit of yours

(**Hint: look at the reflection :))

15. Your first job

16. Current Car

17. Favorite sport

18. Favorite kind of music

19. Your crush

20. Favorite thing to do

one step closer

sooo the sellers accepted my offer on the house! this isn't as great as it sounds -- all it means is that we're now officially in contract (which is good) and that it's now the bank's the next move to either accept the offer or make a counter-offer. the world is my oyster at this very moment!

my mom and i were talking today about the laws of attraction and how they apply at this very moment. basically i need to be completely visualizing myself in this house because i really feel like it's where i am meant to be. i have to erase (or at least bury) all doubt. i could really use anyone else's help with this so i am going to go ahead and post the link to the house listing. please picture me in this house, with my own furniture and, most importantly, a brand new paint job on EVERY interior wall!

http://www.realtor.com/realestate/tampa-fl-33604-1086240496/

in other news, my boss informed me that i need to buy some "sweater sets" for kindergarten. i hate it when she is so unfashionably right. so in order to offset the pain of having to spend money on sweater sets, i am going to treat myself to some new throw pillows for my bedroom.

thanks to some delightful serendipity, i have managed to find so many awesome antique pieces in my favorite colors: sage green and dusty blue. unfortunately, as a result, my room is very boring. i'm taking some advice from HGTV, which i watch at every cable-watching moment (thank god for late night babysitting duty). i want some pillows that mix the duller colors with some really bright ones. i also have this amazing amelie poster from japan. amelie is sitting in her bed: her walls are red, her bedspread is orange, and she has two small sage green pillows. i bought a plain wood frame from ikea and painted it sage green. you wouldn't believe how much it ties the huge red/orange poster in with the room, because the frame really brings out those two little pillows. so these new pillows on MY bed are going to have reds and oranges in them to complete the look.

i forgot!

did i mention that the class where i will be student teaching is a KINDERGARTEN class?! so exciting :) i start next week!