Excuse Me

Seriously, when did I grow up? Since when did I surrender my right to a day with nothing to do? I have officially resigned myself to the fact that I am a member of the working world and that there is really no such thing as "summer vacation" or "lazy summer days". I mean, I will probably find some completely relaxing time again . . . sometime, someday- but for now it is nowhere to be found.

There is just always something to do. Always. Even if it is a fun thing- it's still something. I mean, "Welcome to life", right? I don't even have a kid yet- so I know my "busy, crazy, tired all the time, working non-stop, burning the candle at both ends" days are not even at their peak. But I still feel tired and (relatively) over-worked. Stop my pouting, already. Stop whining, you wimp. But . . . I just want to whine a little.

I think the true sign that I'm actually falling into the abyss of adulthood is that I am actually wanting true alone time. I'm not really an "alone" type of person. I love being with people. When I want to get away- I usually want to get away with friends. But recently I just find myself wanting 24 hours of nothing to do, nowhere to go, no one to see.

That said- I have loved all the things I "have" to do, also. I love visiting with family and friends, volunteering for church, hosting guests, completing projects, teaching, going to grad school, working and feeling productive . . . but then I also just want a break from it all sometimes, too.*

Maybe I just need a nap.

*Note to all friends and family- I love you and don't want to stop seeing your lovely faces! Like I said, I just wanted to whine for a minute. Okay- I'm done.

Pledge My Ride

Our good friend Tyson Ward is taking on quite the endeavor: biking the 900 miles around Lake Michigan. If that is not impressive enough, he, along with some other friends, are working to get donors to sponsor them on their ride. The donations will go to a great cause: students in need . . . More specifically, my students in need! I am so excited at the prospect of providing increased opportunities for my students and our school.

We are working to give my 5th grade students a much needed "Technology Makeover". We will follow Tyson on his ride and tie in his trip to our curriculum. We will do biking math problems, writing to Tyson, studying the geography and reading related literature. In the end, our hope is that these students will have had a wonderful thematic unit in which they were challenged and excited by the learning taking place- as well as earning our room several new items that will enhance our educational opportunities and capacity for working with technology.

Check it out at: http://pledgemyride.wordpress.com/

American Idol

I think probably everyone who even has an

ounce of singing ability has been asked:

"Are you going to try out for American Idol?"

Well, this year Idol came to the Chi,

and so we thought- what the heck . . .

Why not? No pressure- we just went for a good time

and a good look at all the crazies

We waited in line on Saturday morning to

register for auditions at the United Center

All that waiting in line for these:

the source of all American Idol power

We got in line at 4am and got our wristbands at about 8:30am

That's why we looked like this at 9am

THEN- we went back on Monday morning

(I mean, Monday, butt-crack of dawn)

to actually audition. Again, we got there about 4am . . .

At first the novelty of being in the crowd, listening to

all the good and AWFUL singing, waving to the news

and hanging with crazy-people watching was kind of fun

But then we started to get hot, get rained on

and get annoyed with the crazies

and the AWFUL singing and were ready to

get the show on the road already

We were sick of waiting

You can see us for like 2 seconds in this video

from the Chicago Sun Times at the

bottom right at 1o seconds into the video

Since we were so sick of standing around,

it was a good thing that on audition day

it pretty much went like this:

Waiting

Waiting

Posing for the camera

Cheering for the camera

Waiting

Waiting

Being forced to cheer

Waiting

Waiting around some more

Being forced to cheer

Cheering

Cheering

Waiting

Waiting

Waiting

And then . . .

more waiting

There were 12,000 people at auditions

The Idol crew said it was the 2nd biggest

audition crowd in the history of the show

We auditioned about a 1/4 of the way through . . .

so that would make us contestants 3,000 and 3,001

It went surprisingly fast once they started auditions

We sang in groups of four in between these

black shower curtains for a producer

Doing all the posing and cheering and waiting

it was very clear they were making a TV show

Watching the other people audition, I was really

surprised who they let through and who they didn't

It seemed like hardly anyone got through-

but we still rocked our songs with confidence

Even though we went to audition for fun and pretty

much on a whim, it was still kind of exciting once it was "time"

I sang: Band of Gold

Robbie sang: Honesty

So . . . after we sang our little hearts out

(and did pretty awesome, in my opinion)

the American Idol producer said (drum roll):

"No thanks"

At first we felt like this:

But then we felt like this:

Once we thought about what a fun and funny experience it was

We will probably have a milli-second shot of our

faces on TV and we will definitely be able to identify some

of those crazy people that get on the blooper reels

There were some true crazies

The moral of the story is- if you believe in yourself,

all your dreams will come true

Just kidding - That's not true

BUT! It is true that if you do something with

the intention to have fun, you will have fun

And who knows . . .

What if this were a smaller audition?

What if we would have auditioned for a different producer?

What if we would have sung different songs?

What if we would have worn different outfits?

What if we would have changed our hair?

What if we were number 200, rather than 3,000?

I mean, Jordan Sparks didn't even get through the

first round when she auditioned the first time

Many people from the show audition multiple times

Could one of us really be the next American Idol?

Probably not- but I'm glad we can say: "Yeah, I did that once!"

Hooray for us!! :)

We had a lot of fun . . . mission accomplished.

Maybe next year???

Birthday Boy

On June 17th, 1981 Robbie Culp was born

Oh Happy Day!!

Robbie is super cool because:

1. He gets really excited about everyday things- so we are always having fun.

2. He lets me watch chick flicks, and even watches them with me - without complaining. (Although I usually trade him a man film for a chick flick. Only fair.)

3. He love sports and the outdoors, so he is always willing to do something active.

4. He gets sentimental about random things- which is funny and cute.

5. Has a gorgeous voice- which is sexy and cool.

6. He doesn't care what people think - if he thinks it's awesome, then it's awesome.

7. He helps with the housework. Enough said.

8. He always does most of the driving on road trips. Awww, I love it.

9. He likes to try new things and take risks- he pushes me to do more and be more.

10. He is a hard worker- he gets the job done!

PLUS . . . he's hot. (But he's mine, so tough luck, ladies!)

Happy Birthday, Robbie!!

The Humiliation

As most semi-fashion-conscious women do, I often layer my clothing. A tank top or two under a dress, shirt, cardigan . . . or all three. As such, I also often find myself readjusting all of this clothing I am wearing. Perhaps a tank top as scooted its way up my back (is that too graphic? good) or maybe something just isn't laying quite right. You get the idea. This background knowledge precedes my most current embarrassing encounter:

So Robbie and were going to a meeting at church (to renew our temple recommends) and I had gotten out of the car to find my tank top askew underneath my dress. "Man, this is really uncomfortable and a crazy bunched up piece of fabric doesn't look that nice bulging from my dress, either," I think to myself. I surveyed the empty parking lot quickly. Just us and a few lone cars. I look to my left: the coast is clear. To the right, and behind; I see no one. Okay. I'm going in. I turn so I am mostly blocked by a parked car and proceed to lift up the back of my dress to fix my tank top. Who cares, right? No one is around except my husband . . . Robbie suddenly gives me an awful look and I know that the worst has happened. Just then this DUDE passes us and walks into the church. He did not acknowledge our presence and I quickly hid my beet-red face in stupidity and shame and ran into the building- of course towards a different entrance than our newly made friend. 

What was I thinking? I had absolutely no business fixing my dress in semi-public . . . and my temporary lack of judgement certainly came to bit me in the butt, didn't it?

After I had sworn Robbie to secrecy I thought I would share this with all of you in the least private forum in the world (naturally). Somehow I thought this would make me feel better about the whole ordeal. It hasn't. Oh well- "publish post". 

Bragging Rights

Every year millions of children all around the United States take standardized tests that determine lots of crazy things: which children will advance to the next grade, class placements, if a school will continue be in good standing, federal and state funding, teacher reputation, where people buy houses- you get the idea. 

In Chicago, Illinois we take the ISAT. We prepare for it all year and we go crazy trying to "teach to the test" (that is as high stakes as it gets) and also trying to actually teach. 

Anyway, it is always nerve racking to wait until you see the test scores. Although a student or school year should not be minimized down to a single score on a standardized test, in my opinion; it can still be very validating or devastating based on what kind of scores "your kids (students)" earn. 

Thus said . . . my kids did AWESOME! Highest math scores in the school and extremely high reading scores. Whew! We did it, 5th grade 2009! 

Now let's get working for next year!

Stone Soup Anyone?

The opera was a success!
It was great. The kids were crazy and fun and brilliant.


And of course- here is the George Washington Wig and the
Vampire cape in all it's glory!

And here it is: the much anticipated, world of premier of Stone Soup,
the Opera (well, a clip of the dress rehearsal).
They are pretty hysterical!