sushi thursdays

the winter fog has lifted. sushi thursdays are back!

or at least i hope so. i cant explain why but it makes me happy to know i have a little cubby reserved just for our gossip every thursday evening. tonight was an eclectic mix of friends, some of whom i havent seen in weeks. we even had a last minute addition who happened to be in the neighborhood. its always a fun surprise to see who will show. notably missing was standing regular, my bff h. but cute little baby calls! but the good thing about next time is, we'll pick right up where we left off, as if no one missed a thing.

the sushi is a little above average. the waitstaff is accomodating if suffocating. and they serve fried bananas.  what more could you ask for? besides, what they lack in shazaam, we make sure to bring. the conversation is never dull. and although many of the topics discussed neither involve or affect us, we manage to gossip about damn near everything. since many of us travel in different circles, we have much to share. not to mention - our good friend jack always offers up some useful information. and ya just never know who youll see in the flesh.

all in all, sushi thursdays are hands down one of the reasons i get through the work week. its just such a fun time to get together with my best girls and participate in two of our favorite pastimes - eating and gabbing. im hoping today has reopened the gates to many more. because i sure did miss it.

luck of the irish?

i dont quite know what it is, but today is pretty sweet. after the overwhelming debacles of yesterday which i wont even get into because today is a new day, ill admit it was difficult to get out of bed this morning. lately i find that when i tell myself "tomorrow has to be a better day" it comes back to bite me. isnt that just the way it goes? that theory was even brought up in our novel the other day. its everywhere! but not today! i dont believe in all that irish bullshit but since today is their day, ill give it to em. i think the luck of the irish rubbed off on me.


i was early to work.
all my kids were in school, on time for testing.
the morning test snack was cinnamon teddy grahams (yum).
i was able to SOLVE todays math problems - and help guide most of my kids to the correct answer.
my tea wasnt too sweet.
no one fell asleep during post-test classes.
my outside student came early.
he took his time with testing again - and wow'ed me.
my boss let us leave a half hour early.
i got all my copies made.
i cleaned up enough that i can SEE my desk.
i finished/submitted my march madness bracket (with help from my homeroom).
there was not a speck of traffic on the ride home.
the weather was perfect for driving.
maroon5 sunday morning = best windows down song was on the radio.
i had my big black aubrey sunglasses.
my lesson plans are finished.
dinner was homemade broccoli rabe sausage. my favorite.
my dad schooled me on bball and made me laugh.
i had an oreo mcflurry.
i caught up on my missed episodes of pretty little liars.
the girls on the show created a fake page to stalk some guys exgf (no comment).
some of my madness teams are WINNING.
my cough seems to be gone, or at least hibernating.
in honor of the holiday, i was reminded of college dorm memories.
and in turn, reminded my roomies of their long lost love of boondock saints.
i remembered that tomorrow is jean day.
i found $20 that i forgot was mine.
its 8:39 and i have nothing to do but relax.


i guess those irish eyes were smiling at me,
because i sure feel lucky today.

every damn day

today was spring picture day, so the kids were allowed to dress down. no uniforms. i have the utmost respect for the powers that be, but this probably would not have been my decision a week before state testing. coupled with the warm-ish weather that signifies the start of fist fight season, this could have been a recipe for disaster. when the phrases "dress down" and "school appropriate" are used together in a sentence, one is often ignored. take a wild guess. i saw some belly buttons today, a glimpse of a rear, and more skinny jeans than i would have liked. however, the day ran surprisingly smoothly. which brings me to the reason for this post...

if kids are out of uniform, theyre sent to the office and placed in in-school suspension for the day. on days like today, its a little more difficult. case in point - a student who came in wearing this shirt:

whats a girl to do? laugh. its all i could do. and show it to a colleague with a similar sense of humor - and distorted level of sanity with testing right around the corner. and with my mind wandering, i started to think of things i do every damn day. the good, the bad and the ugly. so in the spirit of things, here it is. 

every damn day i . . .

bite my nails. drink water.  laugh with my students. look at my planner. read emails. open a window. listen to music and sing. check facebook and hollie. have a snack. think about a loser (or two). grade papers.  read out loud. talk to my parents. send/receive text messages. deal with stress. walk. make my bed. put on mascara. miss someone. eat alot. use hand sanitizer. think deeply about something. update my summer countdown. smile. see my sister. gossip. fuss with my bangs. correct a student's behavior. ask questions. make jokes that my students dont think are funny. get dressed. raise my voice. dance in the car. wear a bracelet. watch tv. learn something new. lose my pen. say the pledge of allegiance. drive. wish it was warmer. sleep.

ahhh sleep. sounds nice right about now  :)

40 days and 40 nights

ive never been good at giving up. i often hold too tightly to things i should have let go long before. and because i need to point the finger somewhere, i will blame that for my lack of success with past lenten seasons. i truly do try. i just never quite make it. and i get my ashes, say my prayers, and go without meat on fridays. i try to cut out the negative, count my blessings, and go out of my way for others. i am not living in the bubble of catholic guilt. i think im a good person. i understand the meaning of lent. its the giving up that trips me up everytime. so of the multiple things i should be giving up, i am going to try and be realistic. and choose what i know i can physically do without.

originally, i thought "give up something you eat/drink all the time, maybe youll get skinnier/more successful from it" so i obviously thought of vodka. and then i thought, who am i kidding? i'll be knee deep in jello shots come saturday at noon. and then i went with the usual, "oh cmon its forty days give up something really hard and show jesus how dedicated you are" - so ummm, facebook? and then i flat out laughed at myself. however will i spend my days? hearing about the picture of your exbf's new gf with a bad haircut is just not the same as seeing it for yourself. and then i give myself the yearly "why dont you give up that loser you cant stop stressing over whos clearly not worth your time and now would be a great chance to be dunzo" and please, i cant even go there right now. lets just say i need to cut myself off before i get to that option because its ridiculous. so this is where i start to get stumped.

i went with coffee this year because of a few reasons. one, i shouldnt be relying on a steady intake of caffeine to start my day. when i was dead with the flu, and the entire two weeks after, i had no coffee. and i started to feel less like an extra from mj's thriller video and more like a human in the mornings again. two, i would probably be better off investing money in dunkin stock instead of tossing it into a cashiers hands every day. at this rate, i could own a range rover. three, since ive gotten my family hooked on naked juice, i can now replace my morning coffee with a sugar/gluten/preservative free drink that doubles as breakfast and is readily available at my house. and its made entirely from fruits and veggies! im not a health freak, but im sure i could use an extra helping of both. and its definitely better for me than the cream and sugar cocktail i currently sip. four, i hate that the cups are styrafoam. and granted, they will probably not change this in forty days. but somewhere during that time (and with all the money im saving on coffee), i can purchase myself one of those super cute - and way too expensive - reusable coffee mugs.  or two.

and honestly, its lent. im not running for president. how many reasons do i need? today was day one of no coffee. lets see how bitter i am in a week. . .