consider this my radio player thingy

Amity and I had a moment to chat in the halls today, and we got talking music. I mentioned a few half full bands I thought she might like after she said she loved Weather Boy's sidebar thingy (so 21st century of me, I know). Here's a list for anyone interested in googling a few cool bands who are mostly happy about life. I can't promise everything on this list is classroom safe or that it would pass any family values tests, but I can promise you it makes me hop up and down.

Cowboy Mouth
Guster
Barenaked Ladies
Ben Folds
Wonderlick (one offshoot of Too Much Joy, to which Weather Boy refers.)
The Hold Steady*
james
Erasure
Great Big Sea
Ben Lee
The BoDeans

*definitely NOT family values appropriate, nor do I condone the drug induced life style mostly sung about. I do love the stories, though, and can't help but turn it up and sing at the top of my lungs....

I'll play!

So my darling Weather Boy, through his 7th graders, posed a new challenge for us: what is your theme song? I find myself at a disadvantage because all I keep singing is TMJ's Theme Song, which is definitely NOT my theme song. So as I struggle to get those lyrics out of my head, I find myself stuck. Like my darling hubby, some songs that spring to my mind are not appropriate for mixed company (this is a family blog, of course!).

For tonight, I have to go with Glad to Be Alive by Cowboy Mouth:
When you're walking down the street/Feel the rhythm in your feet
All the life that's crashing by/Aren't you glad to be alive?
Nothing ever goes as planned/Get your head out of your hands
Scream and shout like you were five/Aren't you glad to be alive?

Having heard Fred sing this live helps, and it fits right in with my "Suck it up, Buttercup. Life isn't fair, get used to it" mantra. Throw in a healthy does of half full theory, and I think we have a winner.

(I'm also a sucker for do do dos and la la las :)

As with my husband of 13 years, I'm happy to field any suggestions from the stands!

Sunday Morning Taped

I woke up today thinking about this video. It has nothing to do with my day, but when you get an idea in your head, you go with it.

time flies

It came to my attention tonight, at the annual school talent show, that I have been in the River Valley for 15 school years. I have a student this year who was born in that same school year. It makes sense, since my 20th high school reunion is this summer. I don't feel like I've been around that long, but I'm sure my math teacher friends would agree that the math doesn't lie!!

bonus points for me!

So way back when we all first moved to town, one of Mike's colleague's taught us to play Near Brush With Greatness. It's a simple game: the goal is not to have encountered a famous person, but to know someone who had, and the further removed you were, the more points you'd earn. Well, I'm proud to report my sister and my nephew were in the room at a Barak Obama speech, and made it onto the front page of the local paper's website! (They're pic 21 of 24 of the slideshow.) They're not mentioned by name, nor is Obama seen in the shot they're in, but they were there and I wasn't, so bonus points for me.

There are definitely benefits to working on a college campus. SJ, when you move on, don't forget us little guys!

my powers of 10

Encouraged by Katie...

As of May 18, 2008, at 8:45 PM...

10 years ago I had just earned my Master's Degree. I had almost quit the program with one class to go because I left teaching trying to have the baby who turned into Ben. He was 3 months old, and present, at my hooding.

10 months ago my sister lived in CA, my brother in Chicago, and my other sister in Portland, OR. I lived here. Now, my sister is in MT, my brother in CO, and my other sister moving to CA. I am still here.

10 weeks ago I was basking in the glory of my short lived tenure as a cheering coach having come to an end.

10 days ago was Weather Boy's nephew's birthday. We still haven't sent a card.

10 hours ago we had the house to ourselves.

10 minutes ago I LOL'd at The Office marathon on NBC. I had no idea his name is Michael Scott.

10 seconds ago I saw how big Girly's pipes are. That kid is a house. We've got to call a gymnastics gym for her, soon.

10 seconds from now I'll have finished typing this sentence.

10 minutes from now I'll make a pot of tea.

10 hours from now I'll really wish I had 10 more hours to sleep. I hate getting out of bed.

10 days from now I will have been married for 13 years and 1 day. What I want my kids to know-- both my own and my students-- is that it is not always easy. But it is always worth the effort.

10 weeks from now I will be getting ready for my trip to the CA desert. My uncle lives there, and it is time to visit him while I still have the chance. It's a quick 4 day journey, but it is what I need to do while I still can.

10 months from now I should be prepping for 5 students to graduate from my program, and thereby DHS.

10 years from now Boy will have just come home from his sophomore year of college, and Girly will be about to graduate from high school. We will be making some major decisions about how we want to live as Empty Nesters. How's that for a mind trip?

what was I going to say?

Mike came over for a visit last night while Katie was out of town the the kids were having a sleep over. While watching the Red Sox double header, we came up with a few great blog topics, but I can not for the life of me remember them now. I know one dealt with a commercial, but that's as close as I can come. For any of you who know me, that fact in and of itself is blog worthy: I remember EVERYTHING. But these great ideas yesterday? They're playing dodge ball in my mind, and as soon as I get close to nailing them they run away. I'm going to blame it on the adult beverage I was enjoying while the conversation happened and not that I'm getting old.

silence is not golden

At least not in this case. Where are all the RVBers this week? Except for Beth, we've grown amazingly quiet. Hope you're all ok out there... I sure miss our regular 'chats'!

number of the day

In the shower tonight I realized we have 3 more Mondays left in the school year, 4 if you count workshop days. Those are very manageable numbers.

Happy Mother's Day

I was treated to coffee with whipped cream after being allowed to sleep. I love coffee with whipped cream-- it's not something I do every day, and it's so decadent, and it just makes me happy. How wonderful that my kids know that, and pay close enough attention to treat me on my special day! They also made strawberries and cream waffles (actually, I think Weather Boy did the cooking) and got me a six pack of Coke, and wanted to get me Jax, but couldn't find any. I love these gifts that show they know what I like: it's totally about the thought, not about the cost. They are wonderful kids, and I'm lucky to be their mom.

you couldn't pay me enough

to be 15 again. No way, no how.

For those of you loyal RVB readers, you may have spent the day trying to figure out the identities of those referenced in Beth's post yesterday. (For those of you who didn't, way to not care about gossip! Nicely done!) I learned the identity today, quite by accident. It was boy trouble of the kind only a 15 year old girl can have, without the happy ending of a sit com or afterschool special.

I have hope that, in the end, she'll be stronger and wiser, but getting to that point is not fun.

I say again: no way, no how.

Blame SJ

This is the one I remember watching as a 6 year old. It is definitely a family identifier.

Boy's favorite at about 18 months. We'd sing this before bed. I was getting to be very preggo, and he'd "spread out the cape" and everything. Those were good times.

As lifetime president of the Cookie Monster Fan Club (started at BHS in 1987), I'm a sucker for the classics.

For my hubby...

Girly didn't latch onto one skit so much as all of them. We'd sing this one a lot, in the tub, and do the little dance too. Our kids do love the catchy tunes...

I could go on all night. You get the point. I can't find a complete set of the Bert and Ernie Gift of the Magi retelling, but I'll keep looking. It is what makes Sesame so brilliant: a classic story told in a way 4 year olds will understand and parents will enjoy watching. I honestly think Sesame Street is my favorite show ever.

not this kind of spring fever!

So I guess I've caught the cold going around the school: sore throat, congested lungs, runny nose. Not a fun time, but it most certainly could be worse. I am not planning on using a sick day though, because one more day off kicks me out of the bonus money. Granted, the bonus money for missing 3 days isn't that much, but it's equal to one day trip somewhere this summer, so it's worth plugging on.

winding down

No matter when it is, recital weekend marks the beginning of the countdown. It means free time, which means summer is around the corner. I start counting things like how many Mondays, which is usually a different number than the rest of the days remaining. How many LAWs? When I get to how many trips between my building and the high school, we've definitly hit the home stretch.

For those wondering, the recital went well tonight. A few techie issues that were out of our control, but the dancers all did well. There were only 2 big groups this year, which made it a lot easier. Looking forward to tomorrow... after about 1PM :) Bring on summer!

Postscript:
Day 2 is in the books. One minor technical glitch, but otherwise, a great day. I think the adult groups looked the best ever. But it's done! Wahoo!