This time I’m not even going to apologize

Because let’s be real here, my loyal readers (aka Kelly), I’m not the most consistent blogger around. So this time I won’t even apologize for having ignored my blog since July.

For those of you who enjoy the “touching teacher moment” posts here’s  a new one for you to read. This time, however, it was written by a colleague. When reading over it I felt even more grateful to have found my calling and to have such extraordinary coworkers. Enjoy!

“i would like to thank teachers who:
– teachers who empower young women in our community
– teachers who take kids to europe to enrich their cultural knowledge
– teachers who take their students to university visits
– teachers who have inspired students who are in college today

– arrive at 7am and leave at 6pm or later…when they don’t have to
– thank teachers who go out with their students and TA’s during after school hours to build unity
– i would like to thank a teacher who had ZERO kids in the “below basic” tier of their CST scores…and yet was humble enough to not even know about it until someone pointed it out to them
– i’d like to thank teachers who run the recycling program at LMSTA…thank you ESP
– i’d like to thank teachers who have 97% pass rate in their AP programs
– i’d like to thank teachers who come saturday mornings to teach AP kids when they don’t have to, and aren’t paid for it
– i’d like to thank teachers who run inspire kids to read with a book club
– teachers who inspire a new digital age through animation
– teachers who inspire with engineering and application to solve real world problems
– teachers who teach here at the academy and also at other higher ed institutions

i would like to thank teachers who:

– help empower students to raise over $1,000 for schools in africa
– teachers who help run student government
– teachers who are getting students ready to launch a school newspaper
– teachers who are dedicated enough to professionally develop on their own time
– teachers who have raised their CST scores consistently year in and year out

– teachers who go to conferences in the summer
– teachers who grade at

– teachers who build valuable lesson plans to teach students
– teachers who incorporate technology in their classroom
– teachers who serve as mentors
– teachers who serve as second parents

– teachers who collobarate as a department to inspire knowledge and change amongst their students
– teachers who open LMSTA students to the realities of our world today
– teachers who help students get to college when they otherwise would not have even graduated
– teachers who go to support student-atheletes not because they have to, but because they want to

– teachers who create career days
– teachers who make dances come together
– teachers who help students with not just education but personal problems
– teachers who have kept their TA students off academic probation for 3 semesters in a row

– teachers who create life-long learners
– teachers who use various methods to get points across
– teachers who help create community awareness
– teachers who use socratic methods to teach students

– teachers who create student- leaders
– teachers who grade 130 essays
– teachers who inspire artists and musicians
– teachers who create concerts for student and teacher enjoyment
– teachers who run clubs that keep kids off the street
– teachers who  day in and day out inspire change in students

….. i could go on… and on…. and on…. i believe in my heart, that i only scratched the surface…

there is much good that you do… YOU, dedicated teacher, are the catalyst for change, and YOU, inspirational educator, are the reason why Lennox Academy has success… an email is not even close to the thanks that you deserve… but i hope that you know that there are many people out there who do appreciate what you do.  perhaps that hard work and dedication gets lost in the day to day grind that is the educational world… a world filled with many ups and downs. a world of detail and logistics.  a world of progress but also a world of mistakes that are highlighted far too easily.  i want to highlight your success…because your success makes us all stronger, better, and mistake free.   you, dear teacher, ARE edcuation.”

New look

If you scroll down a few months you will notice that I’ve been contemplating a new look for a while now. I had found some cute Nicole Richie haircuts, but chickened out because it would require choppping off a lot of hair. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to make a change, albeit not a very drastic one. So I cut bangs. Haven’t had those since 7th grade!

Although they require pinning when I go the gym to avoid breakouts on my forehead and a litte straightening in the morning when I wake up, overall I’m really pleased with them. My dear friend Frank even said the new hairdo takes 5 years off my face (which is a good thing since the new boy I’m dating is 5 years younger). But keep the cradle robber and cougar comments to yourselves… haters 😉

Touching Teacher Moment

I know you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for my next post, and I’m sorry that I disappointed you. So I figured I’d start off with a good one.

Last week I took some of my students and my Student Teacher out to dinner to congratulate them on all their accomplishments (finishing Student Teaching, Graduation, a successful school year, etc). One of my students, who graduated and is going to attend UCLA (Go Bruins!) in the Fall, wrote me the following message in a Thank You card:

“Dear Miss,

I would like to thank you for all the support you have provided over the course of three years. I feel that I have built a strong relationship with you; I value you as a teacher and as a friend. I care for you soooooooo much.

I’m sorry that I was not able to visit you this year like I used to. It is just that school seemed to take over my life. I honestly appreciate you, and I am going to miss you very much. I enjoyed having those random conversations with you. I remember when I started my Sophomore year in Spanish 3. I was very disappointed because I did not get accepted into AP Spanish Language. Now, looking back, I’m glad that I was rejected. I would never have met a person as wonderful as you.

I wish you the best of luck, and I thank you for writing letters of rec for me. Basically, I thank you for being a part of my life. I hope we keep in touch.

PS: Remember that you are a beautiful human being, and if these men you encounter cannot appreciate that simple fact, then they are not worth your time (Check her out giving me romance advice). Oh, and I suggest you name your 1st child Carolina, and if it’s a boy, Carolino. And don’t forget that when you get married I want to be the flower girl 😉

This is a really long p.s., but oh well. One more thing. I just want you to know that you have made a tremendous impact on a poor, Mexican, AB540, half-deaf student, and you should feel very proud of yourself. Remember me for my beautiful sarcasm and the weird laugh that I possess.

What else? If you have any handsome Argentinean relatives that I could date do not hesitate to give me a call. Ha, ha, ha, just kidding! No, really, I’m not.

Oh guess what? You inspired me to run the Marathon next year! How freaking exciting! But I’m gonna be smart about it. If I get tired I’m going to hop on something that will roll me along.

If you ever need to talk to anyone, feel free to call me. I may not have a lot of experience, but I am a good listener despite the fact that I only have one functioning ear.

And one more thing. Whoever said that teachers and students could not be friends doesn’t know what they are talking about. We should go dancing Marimba one day. Or you could join me on my daily runs around UCLA, although I must confess the first couple of times you might have to walk so that you don’t leave me behind.

I freakin’ love you Miss… you are my role model! 😛 “

By the way, 80s Hair Metal Rocks

Only 2 more days until Gina and I get to see Bon Jovi  in concert!

I hope I don’t burst from the anticipation first 😛

One more sign that I’m pushing 30

As many of you may recall I had a bump ( a cyst to be precise) on my forehead for about a year and a half that I was too scared to remove because I thought removing it would leave behind a horrible scar.  After The Breakup I decided to make an appointment to see a doctor about removing it because I figured if I still had any game left in me The Bump was definitely going to kill it. So, after having health insurance for 2 years and not using it, I picked a name from the endless list of physicians listed on the Kaiser website, crossed my fingers, and hoped for the best.

For those of you who have Kaiser you already know how painstaking the process can be to get any condition taken care of. The first doctor saw me, felt the bump, took pictures of the bump, and said that I needed to see a Dermatologist because she couldn’t do anything about it. However, Dermatology didn’t have any appointments available for a couple of months. Even though the bump hadn’t really bothered me for the past year and a half I now had the urge to get rid of it, yet I had to wait patiently.

A few months later I get to see the Dermatologist hopeful that I would leave his office that day with a perfectly flat forehead. “Well couldn’t you just drain it or inject it with steroids and make it dissolve?” I pleaded. Chuckling with amusement at my desperate pleas, the Dermatologist referred me to yet another specialist, Head and Neck Surgery.

Of course I couldn’t get in there to see a doctor for a few months either. But when the long awaited day arrived I was determined to leave the doctor’s office bump free. My forehead had already been poked, prodded, and photographed by 2 doctors. I had already told both doctors that about 2 years ago I had accidentally banged my forehead against the car door, that my forehead had swollen with fluid to the size of a half dollar, and that the bump eventually flattened out.  But here I was explaining it all over again to the 3rd doctor. Her response was quite grim. She said she could schedule an appointment for me to have the bump removed in a couple of months but that I was going to have a 1 inch scar on my forehead. She then asked me to raise me eyebrows so that she could see the wrinkles on my forehead. Since I had wrinkle lines she said she would make a curvy/wavy incision to “blend” in with the lines on my forehead (Sorry lady but I don’t have permanent lines on my forehead just yet!). But wait, it was worse! Then she said that after she removed the cyst I might end up with an indentation on my forehead.  At this point I was so desperate to take the bump off my head that I made the appointment for this minor surgery. Then I left the doctor’s office practically in tears.

On my way out I decided to make myself feel even worse by making an appointment to have my eyes tested. I hadn’t seen an optometrist since I was in grade school, and I was starting to notice that street signs were starting to look a little blurry while driving at night. The doctor was able to see me that same day and sure enough my vision was slightly impaired. He said my vision was pretty good and glasses weren’t necessary just yet. But I took the prescription home with me anyway.

You might be wondering what happened with the bump on my forehead. Fortunately a good friend of mine has a family friend who is a Plastic Surgeon right here in the South Bay. To make this long story short I had my initial consultation, the surgery, and the follow up visit all within a week! And it all cost me less than $200!! And there is NO SCAR!!!

So what does all this have to do with the title of this post? Today I finally picked up my glasses from Kaiser. I would rather be safe than sorry so I broke down and bought my glasses. Without the bump I probably never would have had the motivation to make an appointment to have my eyes checked.

So here I am embracing my new look and my one step closer to 30…

Vegas Bunco Tournament

You’re not a die hard Bunco player until you attend the annual Prilosec OTC Bunco Tournament in Vegas. Although I’m a newbie, my girls and I drove out to Vegas to immerse ourselves in the glory that is Bunco.

Don’t ask who the tool in the cowboy hat is because we didn’t know him.  It would have been a much cuter picture without him!

After a really fun, but short (due to my intoxication… what can I say I’m a lightweight), night at Pure (the cougars were definitely on the prowl) we managed to drag ourselves out of bed on Saturday morning to prepare ourselves for the tournament. Our Bunco pals in the adjoining room joined us for breakfast which most of us desperately needed to cure the hangover. Miraculously I managed to keep down a chicken wrap and a vanilla shake and after a 2 hour nap I was ready to roll the dice with the blue hairs. But before reading on here are a couple of pics from our night at Pure.

  

We had signed up for the Toga Party heat so we wrapped ourselved in white sheets, adorned our tresses with cheesy gold garland, and donned our Bunco Tournament badges with pride. Don’t we look like Grecian goddesses?

The tournament was a blast! And the blue hairs weren’t that blue haired at all. The older ladies in the group that Monica and I competed in were very nice and quite hip. Although none of us won enough rounds to enter the Finals on Sunday we did get to meet the Bunco announcer who was quite handsome.

I have no shame. You know I was the first one to squeeze in right next to him just so he could put his arm around my waist 😉

That night we had a really late night because we went to Tao and had a great time, VIP style, thanks to the rich freaks who work for the Pentagon. 

         

With the time change and our late night/ early morning meal at our all time favorite Vegas eatery, Mr. Lucky’s, we didn’t go to bed until 5:30am. Needless to say, neither Monica, Kelly, Heidi, nor myself woke up in time to go downstairs on Sunday morning to see if we had entered the Finals on a Wild Card drawing. But we got a call from Kristine and JP who did get up in time to hear Monica’s name announced when her card was drawn to secure her a spot in the Tournament Finals! I’m sure those $50,000 could have bought a closet full of Christian Louboutin shoes.

Oh well, I guess we’ll have to try our luck again at next year’s Bunco Tournament.

A more detailed account of the LA Marathon

OMG!!!!

I had edited my post, added lots of pics, and was just adding the last finishing touches when my ENTIRE post just disappeared. I don’t understand how this happened!!!

 This is why I HATE TECHNOLOGY!!!  My ass is numb from sitting on it for hours while updating my blog. Thanks Heidi for reading the post before it disappeared. Maybe I’ll try to recreate it… but for now I’m going to bed very frustrated 😦

LA Marathon 3/2/2008

Despite the left knee pains that were freaking me out the last couple of weeks I can proudly say that I successfully completed the marathon yesterday. The texts that my friends received said that I completed it in 4:41:56 but when I looked up the race results on lamarathon.com it said 4:42 (guess which one I’m going to boast?).

It was a really fun race and it seemed to go by pretty quickly. My old college roomies (Nori, Kel, and Heidi) made the trek out to Downtown LA on the Metro, my coworkers Frank and Brenda met me between mile 11 and 12, the Sharpies made it out to meet me at the end, and Franco and Isa were also at the finish line.

 I’ll add more to this post later but after the wonderful massage that my friend Claudia just gave me to get rid of the soreness it’s time to sleep;) But first, a picture of me and my medal!

First Bunco night of 2008

Since I have a 3 day weekend (and those of you who read this blog faithfully already know I only post when I’m on vacation) I’ve decided to take some time to update the B-log (hee, hee for those of you who were at Bunco).

Last Monday Frank hosted our first Bunco night of 2008 at his lovely maison. He made the meatloaf, the salad, and the buns and I prepared the Baked Mac ‘n Cheese. The Bunco Babes were of course mesmerized by Frank’s beautiful home, and it was fun to see their reactions as I followed  attempted to follow (b/c my legs were still very sore from the 23 mile run I had done 2 days earlier)them around as they took grand tour.

Before we started rolling the dice we picked our Secret Bunco Pals (SBPs) for the year which was really fun b/c I’ve never had a SBP before. In December we will reveal ourselves to our pal, but in the mean time we get to give and receive little gifts. It’s like having a Kris Kringle all year long:)

We rolled the dice, we gossiped, I finally got a hold of the Bunco cow, and the best part of it all was the dessert. Frank completely outdid himself (and put my store bought chocalate chip cookies to shame) with a Milcrepe dessert. He even busted out the blowtorch to caramelize the sugar on top of the cake. It was absolutely scrumpcious!

At the end of the night the prizes were awarded to the winners (and losers b/c Frank won $10 for having lost the most rounds) and Kristine stole the show. Not only did she win the most money, but she also made off with the handmade traveling prize that Frank created.

Did I mention that it totally matches the travel bag he made me for Xmas? You can’t tell from this picture, but the inside of the bag is all lined with the fabric from the clutch above. 

BTW Frank, my bday is April 30th. Hint, hint;)

After our first Bunco night I’m really looking forward to the big Tournament in Vegas in March. Watch out Blue-Hairs b/c here we come!

The dreads are coming on strong

I’m in a poopy mood 😦

By 6:30am tomorrow I’ll be back at work and Winter Break will officially be over. So it’s no surprise that I’m feeling the dreads (those awful knots you get in the pit of your stomach when you’re feeling anxious or dreading something). They’re making me sick to my stomach- literally!

 To top it off the weather outside is dreadful so it’s not motivating me in any way. This nasty weather already put a damper on some of my other plans. Friday my marathon training buddy and I decided we weren’t going to attend the 23 mile run on Saturday at 5:30 am due to the storm. Turns out it didn’t rain so now we have to make up the run next weekend. Before I know it March 2 (Marathon Day) will be here and I’m starting to feel the dreads about that too.

Oh well, only 14 more days until MLK holiday.