AliThinks

Monday Fun

I'm going to use a military, or 24-hour clock here.  Just shut up and do the math in yer heads. 

0438:  Wake up cold, needing to pee.  Pee, then find t-shirt and jammie bottoms.  Drink from the bathroom faucet. Sleep.

0720:  Hear the sound of the door opening two flights down.  Realize it's Françoise, who  comes to do a bit of housekeeping, wake the children, and take them to school.
Jump out of bed.  Greet Françoise and say "I just woke up!"

Because This Might Make Me More Interesting

Bold the states you've been to, underline the states you've lived in and italicize the state you're in now... Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C /

Go HERE to have a form generate the HTML for you.

Swiped from Allan who swiped it from his brother, who swiped it from Bet.

Sorry, but I can't italicize any state right now. 

Inertia and Introspection

Wow.  The title says it all.  I'm not sure I can write much more than that.  So many thoughts swirling through the brain, like snowflakes in a blizzard. 

I can't even come up with a good analogy. 

Since I don't have anything to say, go explore some of the blogs over there in the left sidebar. 

Small Town Photo Of The Day

Cat Blog Friday

Java.  I have no idea who took this picture, or how it got onto my hard drive.

Unexpected Gifts

This morning at 11:00, the administration notified the entire school that afternoon classes were cancelled due to a threat of bad weather.  The kids were bussed home between noon and 2:00.  This was a département-wide decision made by the Conseil Général -- so it affected pretty much everyone.  My kids are still in school, because we can walk, but I have been home for the past hour and am loving it! 

That, plus the fact that yesterday was actually a GOOD teaching day, has me in a good mood. 

How To Charm Me

Reply "a mother-fucking ass?" when I mention that I don't have the MFA needed to apply for a certain job.

Growing Up

My ex-husband has gotten our son involved in roller hockey.  This is recent; T. has attended three practice sessions on the weekends.  Today I drove him and his sister up to where we used to live, and the four of us spent the afternoon together.  The ex and I had a good talk.  Apparently I'm a cooler ex-wife than I am a wife.  But then I can say the same about him:  he is much cooler now that we are no longer together.  Go figure. 

Anyway, I took some pictures at hockey practice.  T. was not quite at ease, because he was wearing his street skates instead of hockey skates.  Also, it was a pretty serious practice, because the older kids have a tournament game on Saturday.  But I was proud of him.  Then at my ex-house, I saw a video that my ex-husband shot of a previous practice.  T. was really at ease on his skates, and handled the hockey stick and puck pretty darn well.   

This is one proud mama. 

Black-Eyed Peace

During one of the 8th grade classes, I was working on an "extra" page in the book with them.  It dealt with vocabulary, and ways to increase it. 

One thing I've noticed is that the kids want immediate answers.  They don't want to have to search.  Call it the microwave or internet culture, but they want it NOW. 

I Don't Like Tuesdays

In fact, I fucking HATE Tuesdays. 

The day went okay until three o'clock, when I had the first of my two 9th grade classes. 

I held it together until the end of the last class, and have just calmed down now (nearly an hour later).  A little primal screaming during my commute helped. 

Now I'm going to wash my face and gather my sweet children from the after-school day care program.   Maybe later I'll write about things that made me laugh during the first part of the day. 

Crise d'Angoisse

I had one, a panic attack, that is, just before starting class.  I didn't start teaching on time, but rather 15 or 20 minutes late.  Thank goodness for Lexomil.

Now I'm home, because I had a 4-hour "break."  I don't know what to say.  It's happening all over again. 

I don't owe these people anything.  I could just quit.  I'm sure that any sub will be able to do as good a job as I. 

But then I think I can't quit.  I'm too tired to go into it.  Perhaps I ought to lie down and rest.  Maybe later on I'll be able to write more clearly.

EDIT:  I took a two-hour nap, and went back to teach an 8th grade class.  Vacation did nothing to curb their shittiness.  At the end of class I just said "Look, this is the way you behave, then you say you don't understand anything.  Cut it out."  Well, I said it a bit differently.  I think some of them got the message.  But I still felt that old paralysis come on when they started to get out of hand.   Anyway, thanks for the well-wishes here, there, and everywhere. 

Tomorrow

I go back to work. 

I'm already dreading it.  This is NOT good.  I don't think I can handle another four months of teaching. 

8O

Or, .

A search from the Ivory Coast.

Singapore seems to be tamer.

Oh, les Belges!

Mike, are you paying attention?

From Down Under, W00t!

Lentils are my friends.

And finally, I'm number ONE!  Here, too!

Of course, the fact that I've actually taken the time to check my stats and look for searches means a) I'm a total geek or b) I'M IN THE PHONE BOOK!  I'M IN THE PHONE BOOK! 

 

Small Town Photos Of The Day

So I've spent the day with a facial tic and itchy toes, but I once again have connectivity.  During the dry spell, I went out for a walk with my camera.  Here are some pics from Small Town, France:

P-P-Please Help Me!

Oh, man, I am SUCH a loser. 

Wait.  That's not true. I'm such an internet junkie.  My connection is down, "PPP Server down" and I'm starting to get twitchy.

Mind you, this is a perfect opportunity for me to get things organized for work on Monday.  But I don't want to do that.  I hate my job. 

While I was in the shower, I thought I could browse around looking for jobs.  Then I remembered:  PPP Server down.

Damn that Wanadoo, France Telecom's version of internet.  Usually I have no complaints. I don't even have to connect to their homepage like I did with AOHell.  I just click on my Firefox icon and my favorite pages come up in their sweet little tabs. 

Ack.  I don't even know when I'll get to post this. Maybe I'll go clean something.

Hmmm...I just called a Wanadoo service number I had, and the guy asked if he could call me back.  I said yes, and went to unload the dishwasher.  When I got back here, I noticed that AIM had connected.  I checked, and I'm hooked up to the internets again.  Coincidence?  I wonder.  I'm going to post this now, just in case that PPP server gets wiggy again. 

Super Ass

Sorry...but I just have to write this one in French.

Je ne parle pas beaucoup de mon ex-mari ici, mais je dois dire que l'un de ses talents est son habileté avec sa langue (et non, je ne parle pas de ça).  J. joue avec les mots, souvent et beaucoup.  Surtout, il insère des mots familiers ou vulgaires dans des expressions de tous les jours. 

Carnival Of The Recipes N° 27

Kudos to Allan for his cool Carnival theme. 

Cat Blog Friday

Sumatra, as seen and photographed by my daughter.  She took about 40 pictures, and these three made me laugh the hardest. 

Ring

Look at this: 

Small Town Photos Of The Day