Let the Christmas Music Play!

Today I officially started listening to Christmas music. Generally I have a strict rule about waiting until Thanksgiving to bust out the Christmas CDs. I guess I'm in the Christmas spirit a little early this year. Here's one of the Christmas songs that gets seriously stuck in my head. I prefer the Faith Hill version, but that wasn't available on YouTube.com.

What's one of your favorite Christmas songs?

Grades

Grades, grades. Go away!

Don't come back any other day.

I have Bejeweled Blitz to play.

Please don't come back any other day.

Counting My Blessings: My Grandparents

Growing up we spent every Sunday at one of two places: Grandma and Grandpa Myer's house or Grandma and Grandpa Smith's house. I thought it was normal for kids to see their grandparents as often as I did, but at some point I realized how abnormal it was for me to have real relationships with all my grandparents. And when I hit college I was shocked to find how unusual it was to have four living grandparents.

Today as my mom's family celebrated Grandma Myers' 70th birthday, I counted her and my other grandparents as some of my most precious blessings.

The Fam

There are a lot of things I could tell you about my mom's family, but today I was reminded that we are an undeniably loud group of people. Because my cousin Danny is getting married in two weeks, the women in my family attended his fiancee's bridal shower today. Our ensemble, all 11 of us--my mom, aunts, girl cousins and Grandma--constituted the majority of the party goers, and dominated the conversation. Upon our departure, my cousin and I questioned if we should feel remorse over our loudness. Ultimately we decided that we're just a loud family and people have to accept us as we are.

Sweet Victory

In October the my district's high school football team (most of them my students at one point or another) made history. They ended a 28 year loosing streak to their archrivals, Penn. Prior to that, the last time Mishawaka's football team beat Penn was in 1980. I wasn't even born yet. Needless to say, it was a pretty big deal. I even found this picture of the scoreboard online.

But the best part is that it didn't end there. Tonight the boys put the finishing touches on Penn's season by beating them again--this time in a sectional game.

Beating Penn TWICE in one seaon? Now that is sweet victory.

Shopping

Didi's getting married in April. She's asked me to be in her wedding, AND she's letting me pick my dress. I'm excited for her... and about my dress.

Which style of dress do you like better? I really like the color of the first one and I think that's swaying my opinion. The dress I wear in her wedding won't be brown though. My dress will be tangerine. Yes, that's tangerine. As in bright orange. Isn't that exciting?!

Post Secret

I attended a Post Secret event in Kalamazoo tonight. It was a fantastic night with good friends!



The video for "Dirty Little Secret" by All American Rejects features just some of the secrets people have sent to Frank over the years.

Here's a link to the story behind Post Secret.

Domo

The old adage "You learn something new everyday" really is true. Today I learned about Domo. Two rather odd kids in my class were asking me if I knew what "domo-domo" was. I thought they were swearing at me in some foreign language. Turns out, they're just infatuated with a cartoon character from Japan. Apparently 7-11 just started using Domo as a mascot of sorts. They have new slurpee cups featuring Domo and his friends, as well as brown coffee cups with just Domo's face on them.




I'm so taken with the little guy, I might just have to stop at 7-11 to get myself a Domo slurpee cup. :)

Heavy

It's not uncommon for me to bring my work home with me. I often grade papers, create lessons, and work on school stuff from the comforts of my own home. But I also bring my work home with me emotionally. I care deeply about my students. They work their way into my heart, and I can't help but empathize with them. Tonight my heart is heavy with the poor choices of a young man who is looking for acceptance in all the wrong places.

Inspiration!

I know it's a day set aside for celebrating the birth of Jesus, but I think I'm also going to be celebrating the opening of Sherlock Holmes on Christmas Day. To be fully prepared for the movie, I've been reading about the exploits of the world's most famous detective. My dear friend Jen even lent me her copy of "The Complete Sherlock Holmes," which ought to keep me busy for a little while since it includes four full-length novels and all 56 short stories!

Today I decided that allowing my students to see the movie without reading a Holmes and Watson story would be a crime. My plan is to designate the week before Christmas break as Sherlock Holmes week. In a moment of pure genius I decided that I'll also re-create one of Holmes and Watson's adventures in my classroom! I can't wait to see how this plays out.