Interesting conversation with some of my girls today while they were supposed to be working on their math at the kidney table:

I love three day
weekends!  We didn’t do much of anything, but I feel rested and
ready to return to work.  Well, my planning isn’t done, but I’m
psychologically ready. 

I
did spend much of my time in my den this weekend; however, the book
never made it off the bedside table.  My closet is in my den, so I
was hunkered down in there sorting through clothing from the dark
ages. 

My
den is my haven.  It contains all of my favorite things … my
first grown-up furniture, my China library, my grandpa’s hat, my
grandma’s Chinese gongs, a doll bed my mom passed down to me from when
she was little, an antique Chinese puppet that Yang acquired from a
relative and sent to spend his retirement in California with me, and
the cabinet above.  If you look closely, you will see that the
cabinet is actually a dollhouse.  It was my grandmother’s, and she
and I used to spend hours together playing with it.  It is one of
my most precious possessions. 

So,
anyway, my closet had vomitted its contents all over the den; now that
everything has a place again, I can cocoon myself in there again and
enjoy some peace.

I received a call last night from Anita, my former neighbor.  She
received our Valentine package, and yes, she very much appreciated the
hunk on the Abercrombie bag.    Anita is a wild
thing.  Since the last time we saw her about a month ago, she
dumped her boyfriend and already found a new one.  Sheesh! 
It turns out that Albert, her previous beau, was the only one in the
retirement complex who could walk without a cane and he let it go to
his head and was behaving as though he were God’s gift to women. 
  I only hope that if I make it to 89 I have half the energy
and humor that Anita has.

Whenever I go to visit Anita, I am reminded of this story that I first
read years ago.  I used to have my students read it, but it
somehow got lost in the shuffle these past few years.  I think
I’ll take it to school tomorrow to share with the kids … such an
important message.

It Was Grandfather’s Birthday …

It was Grandfather’s birthday. He was 79. He got up early,
shaved, showered, combed his hair and put on his Sunday best so
he would look nice when they came.

He skipped his daily walk to town where he had coffee with his
cronies. He wanted to be home when they came.

He put his porch chair on the sidewalk so he could get a
better view of the street when they drove up to help celebrate
his birthday.

At noon, he got tired but decided to forgo his nap so he would
be there when they came. Most of the rest of the afternoon he
spent near the telephone so he could answer it when they called.

He has five married children, 13 grandchildren and 3
great-grandchildren. One son and daughter live within 10 miles of
his place. They haven’t visited him for a long time. But today is
his birthday, and they are sure to come.

At supper time, he left the cake untouched so they could cut
it and have dessert with him. After supper, he sat on the porch
waiting.

At 8:30, he went to his room to prepare for bed. Before
retiring, he left a note on the door that read, “Be sure to
wake me up when they come.”

It was Grandfather’s birthday. He was 79. But nobody called.
And nobody came.

Seemed like things
were going along just fine.  Didn’t cry in the car on the way home
today, and Sam raised his hand and used words to tell me when he was
upset instead of banging on things, crying, or biting himself …
complete sentences, no less.  Trust me … that is an incredible
achievement.  (Sam’s verbalization of his feelings, not my lack of
tears in the car  )

Quote of the Day:



Solitude
never hurt anyone.  Emily Dickinson lived alone, and she wrote
some of the most beautiful poetry the world has ever known… then went
crazy as a loon.           
              
     

      
              
              
              
              
   — Lisa Simpson

Hmmm … second
day in a row driving home in tears.  I would say I’m not sure what
it is, but actually, I am sure … just don’t know how to put it into
words yet.

Quote of the Day:

My BEST Valentine ever:



Dear Miss G.,

    I think you are
the best, best, best teacher in the world.  I even like the way
you dress too.  Sometimes I feel that my teacher is an angle.

      
              
             
           
          Love,

      
              
               
           
        Benjamin

(yep, that’s how he spelled it … guess I needed to teach that soft g  lesson again!)

  Ah, how I miss that kid! 

Well, as
predicted, half the kids didn’t bother to sign their Valentine
cards.  And, unfortunately, my tang yuan turned into a total
disaster … one big, gooey blob of glutinous rice ball.  I didn’t
make the kids eat it; I think they were relieved.   
The backup cookies were a hit, though, as were the insane goody bags my
mom made.  I’m telling you … she spoils these kids.  That
woman needs grandchildren!  All in all, it was an easy day …
P.E. class in the morning, library before lunch, the Valentine party in
the afternoon, and an early dismissal because of parent
conferences.  And, tomorrow is already Wednesday!

Toshi made dinner for me
… sukiyaki.  It was very tasty, and it was heaven to come home
to dinner already prepared.  NEVER happens!

We then went to my parents’ because my mom had little Valentine’s gifts
for us.  Yes, she spoils us too.  Gift cards to Target for
the girls and In’n’Out gift certificates for the boyfriends. 

After that we stopped by the retirement home to leave a gift for my
88-year-old former neighbor, Anita.  I think she was getting some
lovin’ ( if you know what I mean ) from her boyfriend, so we politely left her gift at the door  
We gave her chocolates and wine in an Abercrombie bag with some
all-American beefcake printed on the side; we thought she would
appreciate that touch … this is a woman who hides a poster of Rod
Stewart  in her drawer and periodically fishes it out to give him
a smooch.  

Back when we were neighbors, Anita tried to set me up with the
Sparkletts man.  She described him as a tall, cool drink of
water.  That woman is a card!

I hope everyone had a great day … Valentine’s or not. 

Quotes of the Day: 



Love is like a fire. Whether it is going to warm your heart or burn your house down, you’ll never know. — unknown

        Or for those of you in the rainy Northwest … 

Love is like an umbrella. It can protect you from the storms of life or it can poke you in the eye! — unknown

Kelly News Briefs

I’ve spent my long weekend:


1.   drooling over Apollo Ohno.  Four years is such a long time to wait!

2.  
shopping at the Robinsons May inventory clearance.  It felt a bit
like dumpster diving, but there were some treasures to be found.

3.  
breaking my Bob Greene rules … most notably the “don’t eat after
7:00” and “30 minutes of exercise” ones  (does shopping count as
exercise?)


4.  
studiously avoiding work, but I’ve gotta do it today.  The flying
by the seat of my pants approach seldom results in great days at school.


5.   doing
laundry, laundry, and more laundry.  (Recently I’ve read some
posts complaining about laundry, but let me tell you, I LOVE doing
laundry … I have ever since spending a year in Taiwan with a
washboard, a makeshift clothesline, and the stiff, not-so-fresh results
of washing by hand.  First thing I did when I returned home was
throw all my clothes into the washer and dryer and revel like a Snuggle
bear in the outcome.)

6.  
eating, eating, eating. (See #3) Mexican food on Friday, Souplantation
(Toshi’s favorite) on Saturday, and Indian food last night. 
Yum!  (Oh, and who can forget the banana cream pie for
desert!)  Japanese tonight … our early Valentine’s dinner.

7.  
trying to decide what to get/make for my kiddos for their Valentine
party.  I want to make them tang yuan (a sweet Chinese dessert
soup served especially during the lantern festival) to try, but somehow
I think they would prefer the traditional cupcake.  

They are so excited about  Valentine’s  Day … the funny
thing is that more than half of them don’t even sign their Valentine
cards … just throw them in an envelope and write a name on it … so
they end up with about 15 blank cards.  Whatever.

8. becoming
an auntie for the sixth time!  Nicholas was born to my stepsister,
Jenney, this weekend.  8lbs. and 22 in. long! 

Okay … off to do that
aforementioned work to the musical accompaniment of Toshi, the DJ …
30 seconds of 100 songs for your listening pleasure.  Aiya!

Sooooo tired!  I am so incredibly glad that I have
a 3-day weekend coming.  We’re just going to stay close to home
and relax.  We resisted my mom’s begging to go to Vegas with
them.  Somehow Vegas just did not sound relaxing.



Still working on report cards.  All of the grades are done, but
the comments just aren’t flowing this time around.  I either have
very little to say or too much to say to fit in a little box. 
They’re due on Friday, but I had hoped to turn them in tomorrow. 
I guess I’ll stay late tomorrow and get them finished.  I am NOT going to spend another night staring at them.



Today is the first day since Friday that I haven’t exercised … just
feel like a slug.  Came home really exhausted and grouchy. 
One of my kids lied to me today and then denied that she was lying even
though at least ten of her classmates disputed her lie.  I really hate
it when students lie.  I’ve told them that everyone makes mistakes
(even shared some of my better ones from my own childhood) and that
lying only makes the mistake worse because then instead of one mistake,
you’ve made two.  Worse yet, this little girl is the one who is
constantly condemning others.  So tomorrow she and I will have a
one-on-one conversation and get to the bottom of this. 



A reminder to me to take it easy with her … one of my former students
came to visit today.  He is a seventh grader now and visits
frequently just to chat about what’s going on in his life.  He
mentioned a time when he was a second grader and I was frustrated with
him because he was not bringing his homework.  He and I had
stepped outside the classroom so we could discuss it.  I expressed
my disappointment with him and it made him cry.   Five years
later, he still remembers it.  He said today that he understands
now that my disappointment meant that I had high expectations of him
and knew he could be better, but it still really struck me that he
remembers it so vividly.  Every word said to a child has such
power.  I don’t regret that particular conversation because it was
not angry or hurtful … it was what he needed to hear … to know that
I cared and I knew he could do better.  But it did remind me to be
mindful of my every word because you never know what will stick with
them.

Don’t tell my kids but I’m going to do their report cards while I watch The Bachelor tonight. 
Yes, I got sucked into another season.  I can’t resist … this
show is just so ridiculous.  I’m sure tonight is going to be “the
most dramatic rose ceremony EVER” … again. 

I am turning over a new leaf.  Having to take off
my shaper/torture device in the car on the way to the board meeting the
other night is what did it.  I want to lose 20 pounds.  I’m
not one to go for goofy diets, so I’m just trying the sensible
route.  These are my rules … adapted from Bob Greene’s:

So much swimming around in my head these days.  I feel stuck …
in so many ways.  I think that’s why I’m constantly relocating in
my head.  My current destination is North Carolina.  I’ve
researched the town of Cary and picked out my house on
realtor.com.  I have a house picked out in Bangor, Maine as
well.  And Brookings, OR … and Calgary, Alberta … and Prince
Edward Island.  Actually, I think it may be running away more than
relocating.  But that’s a story for another day …
 
Off to take a walk … good night, all!

Quote of the Day:
They say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.
           
           
           
           
           
           
    –Andy Warhol

Whew!  Glad that’s over.  The speeches went well.  I got
a few laughs from the audience and my student charmed their socks off.   He was soooooo cute!  In his speech he thanked the principal for always reminding everyone about the rules. 

See?  I can be nice. 

Wish me luck … tomorrow night I have to give two speeches at our
district board meeting … one an introduction for my student who is
one of our Students of the Year and the other an acceptance speech for
Teacher of the Year.



Yep, I am my school’s Teacher
of the Year, but before you get all excited there are a couple of
things you should know.  First, it is not that hard to be Teacher
of the Year at my school since we only have 15 teachers; everyone gets
a turn sooner or later.  Second, I was the only one left on the
ballot since unbeknownst to me, the other nominees withdrew because
they didn’t want to have to give a speech. 



My mom is all excited anyway,
so my parents are going.  And Toshi will be there too, grumbling
because he has to wear a tie.  



I’m
off to bed … gotta get up early to do battle with my hair. 
Can’t give a speech in front of tons of people with schoolmarm
hair.