let's try this again.....

so here’s the deal.  taking a break from the blogging stuff - way back in, oh what was it?  april? – seeeeeeeeeeeeeeemed like a fabulous idea at the time.  but now it’s, um, turning september in less than 8 hours and there’s hardly been a blip on the screen from me.

i’d make some excuses here, but really?  i just didn’t want to write.  no offense to anyone who cares that much.  (and yeah, if you do, chill, plz?  ‘k.  thx.)  A LOT happened this summer.  some spectacular stuff, some funny stuff, and some pretty stressful stuff.  and it’s all stored somewhere deep and comfortable in the caverns of my brain.  and maybe someday i’ll write about some of it and bore you with my ramblings then.  but for now….i’m just going to start with today.

because today i got to analyze testing data.  all.  day.  long.  after i spent the entire week last week doing the same thing (on my own, mind you.  who says i ain’t a self-starter?).  i finally had to laugh to myself because who knew that looking at numbers and state reading objectives could make a girl soooooo incredibly homesick.  because that is what happened.  and those of you from the life i just moved away from will get a kick out of this: i missed data groups.  and continuous improvement.  and, dare I say it?  okay.  i'll whisper it...taks.  (if you are reading this and suddenly feel clueless, please don’t fret.  your justifiable ignorance - a word i use with only the most POSITIVE connotation - really is a strong indicator that i should have a life away from those three things.  because seriously?  they should not be the topics of 94.6% of my conversations.)

please laugh now.

trust me…..this nostalgic feeling will fade very quickly.  as in, just because i got all misty-eyed at how much easier all of this use to be for me, it doesn’t mean it’s worth it to come back to. 

and maybe…..maybe it was just easier today to admit that i missed the “easiness” of the Texas numbers game (seriously.  i heart the okies, but they need to get some of their shit together when it comes to this) instead of the people.  because somedays it’s harder to explain why i left them.

to them... 

...and to myself.

oh collin county

saw this sign while in plano. it is too funny not to share. am curious why they aren't billed as tina fey's? oh wait. that's right. because this is TEXAS.  palin sells.

hey yall.  VOTE.

only in texas - rated pg for mild language

part one:

i was at weight watchers this morning with melissa. the topic was how to get past all of the excuses we give about not exercising. (honestly, kind of a topic i needed to hear lately, as the 'my foot hurts' is getting to be a pretty thin reason for not running. even though it REALLY DOES hurt.)

anyway. we were coming up with a list of common excuses and people were calling out things like "tired" and "no time" and "i don't like to do it" and "my foot hurts." then, the lady next to me - not melissa - calls out, "i don't want my hair to fall." yes. you read that right.

texas = big hair.

(and yes, i know my title says "only in texas," when really that statement probably could have been uttered anywhere in the south and probably in some parts of new jersey. still. it is funny.)

____________________________________________

part two:

one thing i've learned working in middle schools is that for some reason 7th and 8th grade boys CANNOT keep their hands to themselves. (being that i was never a 7th or 8th grade boy and that i was probably too shy to talk to any 7th or 8th grade boys, i honestly never knew this about the species.) with the end of the school year coming so quickly, i think the hyper-tactile gene/neuron/somerandombiotermhere has kicked into overdrive. everywhere i turn they are picking at each other, which is just what was happening as i came to my classroom after lunch yesterday. instead of just saying, 'no no stop that' or something similar, i unfortunately had to, like, be a real teacher/adult when one of the offending kiddos said, 'what the hell?' to the other.

sigh.

so i put on my mean face and had a 'discussion' about how inappropriate his response was. his teacher, my next door neighbor, kaci, joined in on the 'discussion' that was turning rather lengthy because this kiddo was trying to explain to me that 'what the hell' was not swearing. kaci, being much cooler and more on-the-ball than i was at the moment, asked him to explain when it would be appropriate to use the word HELL. without missing a beat, this young ruffian (sorry - kiddo was getting old) said, "well. you could use it to describe a weather event."

yall. he meant this -



what makes this even more hilarious to me is that kaci - who not only is awesome, but who has also spent her entire life before teaching in dfw living in WEST TEXAS - knew exactly what he meant, didn't even flinch, and kept on going with the 'discussion' like what he said was perfectly normal, whilst (sorry, in the middle of teaching shakespeare) i stood there trying not to laugh in this poor child's face.


*full disclosure: yes. i am completely aware that i often affect the same accent. there is no need to remind me of this. my fourth period does on a daily basis.*

and . . . i'm wearing socks

saturday. perfect afternoon. nearly 80. sunny. hangin' in the park with the pup and one of my favorite books. a little bit of a tan forming on my legs. totally rejoicing in the fact that yes, i live in texas.

monday. barely 48 hours later. it starts sleeting. and now, i am doing something i hate to do . . . wearing socks.

earlier, i think i had something else to write about. but now whatever that thought is has left my brain. oh! before the perfect saturday afternoon, i did try to go see the hillary clinton rally in fort worth. it wasn't very organized, which - and i know this might surprise some of you - is actually a very big annoyance of mine. why bother to gather people en masse without a way of communicating what you want them to do? . . . stand in this line, watch the long horns, nope i mean stand in that line, take your purse down that way, but don't take your purse that way, NO CAMERAS, etc.

so. i went for the experience and instead just got frustrated and ended up eating my favorite bbq turkey at risky's and finding my favorite wine (which is hard to buy outside of the vineyard) at lone star wines in the stockyards. so, i guess i created my own experience. i'm glad i went down there, though, because i definitely was reminded of why i love fort worth. sometimes i forget that.