Invitation

Everyone is invited to my showcase...it's December 12th, at 7:00PM - 11:00 PM. It's $35 per person which includes wine/beer and a little food. Let me know if you want to come and I'll give more details...like when to get your ticket. It's going to be at the Parrish House Center of St. Michael's in Cary.

Thanksgiving Thankfulness

Things that I am Thankful for:

• My family and friends.
• My job (& job security).
• My lovely co-workers.
• The greatest semester of students, yet. 
• Waiting for my mom and dad to arrive at my house for the holiday weekend. 
• Turkey & Stuffing. 
• Dancing...my showcase is on December 12. 
• The best neighbors a girl could ask for. 
• The most supportive community group. 
• My friend's babies.
• My house. 
• My car. 
• The ability to be challenged. (National Boards). 

These are just a few....there are many more, but who wants to read a dissertation of thankfulness.   

October.... and slugs.

Why does October feel like the longest month of the year? 

Here are my thoughts

• everything is back in full swing.  
• We are almost 1/4 done with the school year, but haven't had a decent break and Thanksgiving feels light years away.   
  
• The weather turns cold..

Now onto the next part of the show...Slugs. 

I have a slug infestation.  They are in my kitchen.  They are disgusting.  They are gross.  And they made me have to go into my crawl space which I believe is the scariest place in the universe and am sure that monsters live there rent free.   

I will continue slug patrol next week, but right now I have done massive cleaning and caulking.  

Dancing Pictures

Pictures of Charlotte Competition

Dancing

I have this little obsession...dancing.  I started doing ballroom dancing....I can't stop now.  I will be dancing in a competition on Sunday.  12 entries.  6 dances. 2 ballroom gowns.  And a good time with my dancing friends.  Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures soon!  

Oh, one of the gowns I am borrowing from my inspiration to start dancing.  (THANKS ELAINE!)  The other one is an altered bridesmaid gown.  I am taking my very first bridesmaid gown (Jess's) and making into a fun dancing dress.   

By the way...I'll be taking a personal day on Monday...it's the first day I left my students with a substitute.   

Almost over..

The first weekend of August...I ran my car into a retaining wall.  :-(

The rest of the story is almost unreal. 

1st Rental Car - PT Cruiser

• Received on August 11
  
• August 13 - went to leave the house and it had a flat tire
  
• I changed the tire and drove it to the nearest Enterprise
  
• They didn't have any cars left

2nd Rental Car - Toyota Tundra

• Received on August 13
  
• August 30 - License plate stolen/lost
  
• September 2 - return to Enterprise
  
• I got notified of a "bulls eye" from a rock on the windshield
  
• Had to be charged $250.00 to cover cost of windshield until their claims department calls me to settle
  

3rd Rental Car - Nissan Sentra

• Received on September 2
  
• Will be turning this car in tomorrow because rumor has it...that my car is ready to be picked up.  

I am not going to hold my breath.  

A weak moment with back to school shopping!

I couldn't help myself.  I love these shoes.  

Making a Ballroom Dance Gown

Here it is...I am going to attempt to make this dress.  I'll keep you posted.  My dress will be green!   YIKES!  Here's to learning how to sew!  

My sister's Visit with me.

Although my sister was sick as a dog...that didn't stop our fun.  Here's a little background on us...we like making lists and doing projects together.   It's how we spend our fun.  Here's what we have done together since she arrived at 11:30 AM on Tuesday...it's Sunday night.  (Lisa leaves tomorrow at 5:00 PM...I'm sure we will accomplish more. 

In no particular order:

• Buy chairs for my front porch
  
• Buy a dress for my ballroom dance showcase
  
• Save plants
  
• Organize my office
  
• Buy, put together, and organize shelves for my basement
  
• Put weather stripping on doors (we did 1 of the 3)
  
• Put river rocks along the side of my house (this included digging an inch of ground up)
  
• Had dinner with Aunt Jane and Carolyn
  
• Dance lessons (twice)
  
• Grocery store
  
• Fix dress for showcase
  
• Haircut for Lisa
  
• Bank to deposit checks
  
• Check into Vegas trip [I couldn't quite swing it :0(... ]
  
• JoAnn's Fabric
  
• Planned Rick's duvet cover
  
• Picked up perscription
  
• Watched 6 movies
  
• Bought 3 lamps and put together
  
• Returned 1 lamp
  
• Made a chocolate cherry cake
  
• Had ice cream 3 times
  

The only things left on the list are sewing...this is all been accomplished while Lisa either had a temperature or was feeling very sick.  Think about what we could have done had she been healthy!   

It's been so much fun...and so many projects are done, too!  

Four Weeks of Summer Left

Finally, my summer is beginning.  FYI, testifying in court was a lot hard than I thought.  I don't think I will blog about it any time soon.  If you want to know all the gory details...email me or call me.   

My older sister is coming tomorrow....which means fun seester time!  We will probably get into projects...I'll keep you posted. 

By the way, the ballroom dance lessons are underway.  Two more weeks until the performance.   We'll see how I do.   I have a long way to go.   

My lesson in the Justice System

Without getting into specifics, I sat in a courtroom all day today. I am subpoenaed to testify in a court case. Thank God that my cousin had the time to sit with me all day. I would have been a nervous wreck without her. Thanks, cousin! I am testifying for a formal student in the sentencing part of the hearing. That means we have to wait until the jury comes to a verdict. The jury was out deliberating all day. It is amazing what the protocol is in a superior courtroom. I will write more later once the trial is over, but know the Justice system is an interesting way to spend a couple of days of your summer break.

Let the games begin...

No, this is not about the impending Olympics.

My summer has begun. Today, I am just resting and unpacking from Nerd Camp. I met some awesome people and feel revitalized from the conference. I can't wait to start working on my lessons and beefing up my curriculum. We had so much fun!

This week's plan...
Lunch with friends
Working out
Reorgainize office
Clean House (parents are coming in for the fourth)

Here's to the beginning of summer.

~jane

Doughnuts are important, but so is Jane.

This was said to me at church today.

Nerd Camp

I am heading to nerd camp today. That's right, folks. I'm a nerd and I am proud. Who gets excited about a physics workshop? ME!

I get to spend a week with 20 AP physics teachers where we will learn how to teach this course better. We will also be able to network and work through subjects that we need help with! I am so excited.

Things that most people don't pack when they go to a workshop.

• Graphing calculator TI-83+
• Physics text book
• Solutions manual to physics text

I'll catch you on the flip side. Don't worry...I am stretching the other side of my brain too. I started ballroom dance lessons! (more about that later)

4 days

Four more days of work this year....next work day is August 15th. Freedom....its a funny thing. I am so excited, but I want to be wise with my time. Here are some things I am doing this summer:

• Ballroom dance lessons
• AP Physics workshop
• Beach trip with my friend Jess
• College friends weekend
• Visit the family in the 'Burgh
• Work on National Boards
• Work on AP lesson plans
• Hang out with friends
• Read books for pleasure
• Sleep
• Relax
• Work on the yard
• Sit by the pool
• Work out and finally lose that weight.
  
• Sew my quilt and various other things.
  

I'm not going to be busy at all! HA.

Extraordinary...or maybe not....

I have always had this feeling that I was meant to be extraordinary. What if I am extraordinary at being ordinary? Maybe I am just a plain jane. What's wrong with that?

Now, I know some of you are reading this thinking that I am being hard on myself...but I am not. Often at work I wonder if anyone notices if I am doing an extraordinary job, then I realize I am just doing my job. I don't really doing anything extraordinary. Why should I be rewarded for doing something that I was asked to do. I am just doing my job. Maybe I am just good at doing what I am asked to do. Maybe I need to worry less about being extraordinary and just be. Be the best, ordinary, plain jane I can be. What will happen then?

My new Baby.

Since she is so new, I don't have name for her yet, but am pleased to announce the new addition to my family. She has about 40 miles under it's belt...I've been the only driver since mile 14. The light doesn’t do her justice, it’s a really deep, solid blue color.

Under the hood she has 140 hp, 4-cylinder, purrs like a cat engine.

Interior she has air conditioning, cd player, aux input jack for ipod, etc. She has a cool digital odometer & speedometer. She gets 36 mpg on the highway. I have included some pictures. Many friends have had babies this year, so I didn’t want to feel left out. I wanted to share my baby announcement, too! If you are in town...I can’t wait to drive you somewhere, if you are out of town...maybe I can drive and visit you soon!

A new day

One of my sisters and I have a new name for Thursday...it's Friday Eve. We've decided it sounds better than Thursday.

So, Happy Friday Eve! It's so close I can taste it.

Oh...on the agenda this weekend. Test drive 2-3 cars. Next week...it's probably buying a new car!

YIPPEE!

Countdown

Okay...

11 school days until the AP Physics Exam
25 school days until the AP Physics Final
31 school days until the last day of finals

Oh my...I can't believe how time flies.

The Meal

Last weekend was so much fun! We ate a lot...here's our Saturday night meal!

Today...I am starting the big car shopping expedition. More on that later!

Spring Break.

I am in one of those careers that has built in holidays. I really needed a week off, here came spring break. While I don't want to brag...I think everyone deserves a spring break. Should we adopt the French way of life...I believe they have a 40 weeks of work per year. What are we doing working 50. And who really takes their 2 week vacation these days?

Now, as a teacher I have this whole week off. I went to Washington, DC this past weekend to hang out with my parents. We went to the natural history museum, saw the cherry blossoms, went to the air and space museum, sat at the Hirshorn museum, bought a digital camera, found awesome fabric at G Street Fabrics. As far as meals, we had two awesome meals. One was at the Lost Dog Cafe, one was at Sweet Water Tavern, and the last was at the Dog Fish Grill. Yummy.

I then drove north to a small town just a bit past Baltimore to Abingdon. Here is where I spend 2.5 days with a college roommate, Jess, her husband and 5.5 month old, Mikaela. It was so fun hanging out with a stay at home mom and her daughter.

As far as this weekend, more college friends. Chris and Leah will be here later tonight. I am so excited here is the menu for the weekend.

Friday Dinner: Vegetable Enchiladas, Guacamole, Refried Black Beans, Salsa, and Chips.
Friday Dessert: Chocolate cake or Ice Cream (Moose Tracks)

Saturday Breakfast: Pancakes, Bacon or Sausage, Eggs, Toast, Coffee
Saturday Lunch: Chicken Salad in toasted bread bowls, Grapes, Apples, Root Beer
Saturday Dinner: Spinach Stuffed Chicken, Vegetable Saute Couscous, Salad
Saturday Dessert: Chocolate cake or Ice Cream

Now that I have a digital camera...I start to document more of my life.

10 more weeks until Summer break.

A Bad Day Revisited

Just so you know this is how my day started...
1] My neighbors were on their porch drinking at 2 AM loudly talking, which kept me awake most of the time between 2AM - 5:30 AM.
2] My automatic coffee maker didn't put the grounds in for me last night...so I had to make my coffee twice because the first pot was just hot water.
3] There was ice on my windshield, which I had to scrap...which required me finding my scrapper since this is the first time this winter I had to scrap.
4] While I was scraping my windsheild, my neighbors were still partying from last night and came out to see how I liked the ice. (I was already a 1/2 hour later than my usual departure from my house to work, due to a sleep in, and they were drunk).
5] I needed gas in my car, gas tank door frozen shut.
6] Pump at gas station wasn't on for the morning yet, so I had to wait 5 minutes for the ever efficient gas attendant to actually turn on the gas.
7] I forgot to drink my orange juice, so I was starving by the time I got to work.
8] Before I got to work today, I had clocked 40 hours of working this week. It's only Thursday.

I think I am having a bad day and possibly a bad week.

AP Physics

Here I am on a Sunday morning, I just have done 2.5 hours of studying to teach my AP Physics class tomorrow. My head is tired already and it isn't even 11 AM. I have never studied or worked this hard in my life. I love teaching a higher level of physics, but really what is magnetic flux. Seriously that's what I am teaching on Monday.

You know, I don't even think I remember learning about this in college. Also, who really remembers those freshman level classes anyway. You know if I went back to undergrad now, I would get so much more out of those classes. I wished I paid more attention or at least studied a little bit more. (I am a nerd).

Thank God for good students. My students are gracious with me. I think I have them fooled into thinking I might know what I am talking about. Although Friday, they asked if I could go on to the next lesson and I said "No, I just couldn't." The real reason...I looked at my notes and I saw magnetic flux and the internal dialog was, "What the hell is that?" No, we can't go on...I can't let you get too ahead of A day folks. I teach 2 classes of AP Physics students....I meet with them every other day for the entire year. Instead of just having them for a semester.

Well..enough procrastinating. I have 60 Honors Physics lab reports to grade and am trying to work out #4 on that AP Physics Quiz I am giving on Wednesday. I'll leave with this quesition...is it fair to put a question on a quiz that the teacher can't do or understand?

COFFEE

I hang out with a group of ten women about once a month. We often ask each other questions, last night the question was what are three things that make you happy. Here are my three.

1] My house.
2] My job. (it's new and I love what I am doing)
3] Coffee

The last one is so important because of my little coffee ritual each day. When describing it, my friends said I should write an editorial. So, here it goes.

It's the night before, I am about to go to sleep and I put the water and grounds in my coffee maker. It's not just any coffee, it's my Carmel Truffle Millstone coffee. At 5:35 AM, the gloriousness begins. The coffee starts to brew. I can smell the aroma as I get out of the shower. I know it will warm me inside out.

As I leave for work, I take out 2 travel mugs. Yes, that's 2 mugs. I fill them both as much as I can. I drop a spoon of slenda and a splash of fat-free French Vanilla creamer and stir. As I leave my house, I have a coffee mug in each hand and usually a smile. It's like I am preparing for a big adventure.

The first mug starts getting sipped by the first stoplight on my commute to work. The drive is about 25 minutes, this is just enough time to finish that first cup of coffee. The first cup is mostly to make sure my eyes stay awake while I am driving at the ungodly hour of 6:00AM.

Each morning, I am one of the first cars in the parking lot at work. It's then that I grab the other mug and I get to enjoy the 2nd cup of the morning. That is one of the happiest things I do each day. I really savior and enjoy that 2nd cup. Even when I forget to finish the 2nd cup because work gets away from me, it's the thought that knowing I had the option of a 2nd cup of coffee to enjoy that makes me thankful.

Coffee makes me happy. The taste, the jump of energy. I am thankful for a lot in my life, but I am really thankful for coffee.