Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

I haven't written to you in quite some time. Perhaps I have never written to you. See, when I was 4, I figured out that you weren't real. I said to my mom, "Mom, I know Santa isn't real." Mom, most likely thinking, "WHO TOLD HER!?!?!?! SHE'S FOUR!!!" asked what I meant. I told her, "At Christmas, there's always sales. Santa wouldn't need money to buy toys. The toys go on sale because the mommies and daddies have to buy the presents." So shocked by this logic, which evidently left me at this pivotal moment in my childhood, my mother knew there was no way to get me to believe again. She admitted that my theory was correct. As a result, I have no memories of believing in you.

Every year, people ask me what I want for Christmas. I don't like to make lists of things I want. First, I feel greedy. Second, if I make a list, then that's what I get, and there are no surprises. I prefer Christmas Eve to Christmas Day simply because of the anticipation and wonderment. Always have, always will.

I'm not religious. Yeah, yeah, Jesus is the reason for the season and all that jazz. But I like Christmas for its secular traditions, the way my family gets together, when normally, they don't. I like to watch people open gifts that I give them. I feel awkward opening gifts in front of people, but I love when they open mine and I can watch their reaction. Means more to me than some scarf.

I finally told my dad last night that I will not make a list because I prefer the surprise. He understood, and I guess he'll leave me alone about it now.

But other people don't. They think I'm ridiculous. Perhaps I am.

So here's my compromise. It's the list of things I DON'T want. Enjoy.

1. Cable knit sweaters
2. Any tops that are turtle necks
3. Velour anything
4. CDs
5. DVDs
6. Video games
7. Clothes from department store petite sections because I am not a 60-year-old prekindergarten teacher or petite, technically. (I'm either the tallest you can be to be petite or the shortest you can be to be regular.)
8. Festive pins
9. Perfume that I don't wear, but you do
10. Holiday items
11. Decorative pillows
12. Books about conservative issues, or "Family First" by Dr. Phil (the only thing I saw flooded in my house after Katrina that made me smile), or cook books (because who are we kidding?).
13. Coat racks
14. Wind suits
15. Something that you, the gift giver, would wear, because chances are, my sense of style is very different from yours.
16. Plaques with sayings on them, like, "Chocolate makes life sweeter!"
17. Muu-muus or housecoats
18. Math text books
19. Tupperware, because we're busting out of our cabinets with that stuff
20. Plush items

A terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day!

Yesterday was rotten. First, I found out that I didn't make the cut to attend the Renaissance Festival with the majority of the school. Instead, I was subbing and stuck at school. Whatever. I'll just go another weekend. I have until Dec. 13.

On Monday, I'd had to attend a bowling meeting about districting since I "coach" the school bowling team. I also direct the play. Rehearsals are dwindling down, so I couldn't just cancel. I had a friend who used to do theater watch rehearsals for me, and paid her in breakfast.

I drove to PJ's, ordered a medium soy latte for Jenn and a small soy mocha for me. The guy didn't put my drink in the drink holder properly, and I didn't notice until I turned a corner and heard a strange sound. This was the sound of a coffee cup popping out of the cardboard tray and flipping over, then coffee glugging out onto the floor mats of my 10-month-old car. It smells like a coffee shop. Thankfully, I had soy milk instead of cow's milk, so it didn't smell sour that afternoon. I pulled over, cleaned it as best I could, and then realized that the brand-new sweater I was wearing had coffee all over the sleeve. JOY!

Then I realized that I forgot lunch. We had a 1 p.m. dismissal for the kids for a SACS meeting, and I had my kids stay for rehearsals. I had some crackers and some leftover brie in the fridge, so I noshed on that to hold me over. When the meeting ended, I grabbed my cast and we walked down the street to the store.

One kid was picked up 40 minutes late, and I'd had a call from Mark saying that he had to go to work for 6:30 instead of 8. It was after 5:30, so I ran to McDonald's for nuggets, dropped them off, said hello and goodbye, and ate dinner all alone.

Then I was very tired later, so I showered and went to bed. Shazzy was in my bed sleeping. He didn't want to move. I read for a while, put down the book, took off my glasses, turned out the light, and rolled over after a minute. Generally, I shove my hand under my pillow when I sleep on my side. I did so, and felt something, which I thought may have been a wayward Kleenex since I'd been sick last week. But it was small. And it tickled me. I was convinced I imagined it until it tickled me again. I yanked out my hand and threw whatever it was into the darkness. I had a bottle of water on the floor and heard a clunk. I freaked for a minute, then grabbed my glasses and turned on the light. I saw nothing. I'd felt it. I'd thrown it. I'd heard it. But I didn't see it. Conclusion: Shazzy brought a spider or roach into the bed, but it ran under my pillow for safety, then fell into my hand before being ejected and running to safety.

At that point, I flung the covers off, ran to the bathroom, and couldn't scrub my hands hard enough. Soap, hot water, Germ-X, repeat. I eventually crept back into my room, lifted the pillows and sheets, decided it was safe, and went to bed.

But then I was wide awake. You would be, too. Light stayed on, I read for a while. I texted Mark what happened. His response: "Well, in 45 minutes, the day will be over."

Gee, thanks. Goodnight.

Erm.

So, today, I went on the first field trip for school that I will take this year. While all field trips are awesome, none can compare to the one I will take from March 27- April 4: GREECE. Yeah, you right. I'm going to Greece. I was supposed to take 7/8 to Puerto Rico. Then 7th grade moved out of the high school. There weren't enough 8th graders to support the trip. They canceled my trip and moved me to the Greece trip the 9th-12th graders are taking. They are going to allow the 8th graders to travel to Greece IF they have a parent accompany them.

Anyway, we saw "Hurricane on the Bayou" at the IMAX. Perhaps this was not a good week for me to go. I silently cried my eyes out and half expected my contacts to float away. I thought it was all just about the wetlands conservation just in case the big one ever came (they started filming three months before Katrina), with an afterthought of the big one having almost hit. Yeah, people not from here, she was not THE big one. She hit Mississippi dead on. We could have been much, much worse.

I would have been a little okay, but seeing aerial footage of the city pre-K was hard. I immediately flashed back to what life was like back then.

THEN, they followed little Amanda Shaw, the violinist, as she evacuated, watched the news, went to her destroyed home, reunited with her grandfather who was rescued from his roof....and Tab Benoit as he found his destroyed home on the bayou.

Did I mention the footage of the baby alligators blowing away from their mother? 50-60 babies, down to 1 after the storm.

Did I mention all of the footage, some real, some news clips, some weather channel clips, some probably recreated CGI? Oh, and what about that transition scene where they showed the Dome with the Dominion Tower and the Hyatt (the two places where I stayed during the storm, if you remember...), while the roof blew off the Dome, and a piece of it slammed the camera lens?

Or how about, when the visuals got to be too much, so I closed my eyes, but there was no way to block out the audio, and it was just like the real thing, all over again, when I was laying in the ad office, trying to sleep, as windows broke and water drenched the rug, and we had to move to a more inward location of the radio station?

Is this what it's like after 'Nam for soldiers?

I could have left, but that would have dropped the student/teacher ratio. I could have left, but I didn't want anyone worrying about me. SO I sat down, and stayed, and cried in silent hysterics.

Didn't experience the storm? Want to? Go see this.

What about the kids? Well, none of them seemed upset, but they were in 4th and 5th grade when it all happened. They moved on. They don't remember. This is both good and bad. As much as I don't want to remember, I don't want to forget or be forgotten.

Why did I go? I was available, they needed help, I wouldn't need a sub, and I teach Louisiana History. I figured I HAD to. Now I wish I hadn't.

Bad week to go. Bad, bad, bad week to go.

I am such a slacker.

This is never a good week for me. It's the last week in August, and, well, I have a lot of trouble dealing with this. It gets a little easier as time goes by, but...it's still too fresh.

Last year, I started writing a 3rd anniversary post during my off-periods at work. Since I'm unable to get on Blogger at school, I typed it in Word and saved it. I never did get to finish it, because Gustav made us evacuate right around this time. I thought about it today, and e-mailed it to myself so I could post it at home.

SO, almost one year late, here's my unfinished 3rd Anniversary post.

Today is a day none of us can ever forget. I fear that a lot of the world...specifically the rest of the country, and even the rest of the state, has moved on and forgotten. Perhaps not today, as we are staring down Gustav in a fierce battle of wits. How much do we want him, and how much are we willing to lose? But what a rollercoaster ride of emotions this is.



All week, I was planning to write about all of the progress we’ve had. The news stories either portray us as a war zone or all better. Quite the contrary on both counts. We’re not all better. But things have been looking up. It may seem insignificant, but we lost Macy’s. They pulled out and have had a vacant section of the Esplanade Mall for these three years. As a result, along with losing Mervyn’s before the storm, the mall has declined. They’ve lost a book store, several clothing stores, and, most recently, the Disney Store. Without anchor stores, the mall is declining in popularity. But after watching the spirit of our people, the determination, the strides we’ve made through the worst adversity imaginable, they have decided to return. Not only are they renovating their former space at the Esplanade Mall, they are building a new wing on Lakeside Mall. Lakeside is doing quite well, actually, in the wake of people avoiding the Esplanade.



This week, instead, my attentions have turned to weather.com and nola.com as panic spreads. Perhaps some of this is stemming from my work environment. I have several very anxious young students. The youngest were in 4th grade the year of Katrina. I think some of this…their youth during such a confusing time…may contribute to the behavior issues we’ve had all year. All year. Heh. These three weeks.



I have to spend my days as the fearless leader to my students, calming their fears, giving them the science and the facts, remaining calm. But as soon as students are gone, the adults gather. We have many teachers from all over the country this year: the three who moved here from California , the one here via Notre Dame, one from Maryland . The latter was here for college and evacuated for Ivan and Katrina. But all of them are panicking, and rightfully so. We have the group of us who lost everything in Katrina and are extremely gun-shy. We have those who lost nothing, but watched others lose it all and now fear it. And then we have those who seem impervious to it all. But even they falter in their bravado at times. When we are all together, it’s all we can discuss.



I don’t know what we’ll do if IT happens again. I don’t believe we’ll be back. Flood me once, shame on you. Flood me twice, shame on me. Flood me a third time? No thank you. Where will we go if IT happens again? I don’t know. Yeah, I don’t buy into the whole “hundred year storm” thing. I understand that they don’t mean that literally. But I also didn’t bank on this being an “every three years storm.” I’m still attached to my city. I love her almost unconditionally. Sure, she still has a long way to go, but I don’t know where else I could live. It would have to be a major city, one with a lot of culture and history. It would have to have a certain charm to it, a lot of color, and have good food. It couldn’t be a little white bread town….that’s for sure. What if we end up with children? I want them exposed to life beyond what we can provide. I want them to know that there are other people out there with different traditions and cultures. I love my exposures here. I look at my students, and I see many colors and faiths. There’s black students, Hispanic students, some Indian students, white students, boys, girls, Catholics, Jews, Baptists, Episcopalians, and who knows what else. I love that we are not predominantly white. That’s where I went to school. We had one black family in my grammar school. Everyone else was white. We were all from the same basic neighborhoods. And that means similar income levels. Bor-ing. It wasn’t until I went to high school that I was truly exposed to people who were different. Then there’s my immersion into Jewish culture at the J. And when I moved to the Bayou Region for college…well…my world was certainly expanded. Not only did I meet people from other parts of the state, I met people from all over the world. And when I did all of these things, I learned so much more and became the adult that I am today. I would want that for my children.



I honestly DON’T know what we’ll do if we lose it all again. Shoot, even if we don’t lose things but the city floods again, I think we’ll be done. We’re supposed to be going to Indiana if we evacuate, so maybe some exposure to the Central Plains will help. Neither of us has ever been to that region before. Maybe we’ll like it. Who knows. (Edited to add: not so much. While we had a nice visit with Devon, Indianapolis would not be a place to go.)



What worries me most about this is not the moving and relocating. Yeah, that’s a major concern, but I worry more about my parents. I can’t bear to imagine what will happen to my dad if this happens again. His whole life is his business (after family, of course). What will he do? I don’t want to watch him suffer again. I don’t think I can handle that.



But back to my Katrina musings. Enough of Gustav. I can’t think of him any more.



We’ve seen so much happen in three years. We bought our home last year, and we’ve done a lot to it. We’ve pretty much replaced anything important for a home. We’ve upgraded a few things, eliminated a few things, added a few more…and it really feels like a home now. I even put in a garden a few weeks ago. I did some hibiscus and some dust roses. My mom called them primroses, but I’m going by what was on the stick.



We’ve seen some new businesses crop up. In addition to Macy’s returning to the city, we’ve seen a lot of people join us. It may not seem like much, but IHOP, Sephora, and many more stores and restaurants have put their faith in us and finally joined our area. Now, if we can just get an IKEA… I try to give business to as many of these people as I can to thank them for believing in our efforts.



We’ve had a lot of remodeling to existing businesses. Many local places have opened, like NOLA Beans in Lakeview. They’re a bit pricey, but the food is good. It’s as if people took stock of their lives and realized, “HEY! I want more than my current lot in life! I’m going to take a risk!!!”



We’ve had people come and go, through choice, through relocation, and through death. A lot of our local characters are gone now, which is sad. But Frankie or Johnny, whichever one has the bad rug, is still here with a new Special Man. Al Copeland died, which means there will be quite the void at Christmas. Luckily, we’ll still be able to see Ben’s house if we want to see extravagant holiday decorating… I saw that Ruthie the Duck Girl just died, too. It’s still sad to see places that have been replaced by new ventures, like Charlie’s Deli. But at least the building isn’t vacant. Thank goodness for that. Charlie’s has new life (Even if that life has been vandalized…the new place is Touché Café, and someone spray painted a “D” over the “T.”)

It happened, but in the best way I could ever imagine.

What happened? I hit a new decade. I'm 30. I really had a hard time turning 20 ten years ago. I wasn't doing so well with 30, either. But at least this time, I had Mark to do it first and show me it wasn't so bad. Hm.

I came into this world 30 years ago. My parents lived in New Orleans East, then moved to Metairie almost a year later. They still live in that same house in Metairie, although the house has been through a great many changes in 29 years! I was the first granddaughter and grandchild on dad's side by 3 months, the third granddaughter of four grandchildren on mom's side. I apparently was a good baby. Naturally...

Twenty years ago, when I turned 10, I was so excited. I couldn't wait to hit double-digits, but the thought of being a teenager soon scared me. I never thought that those days would come! I was in Amelia Island, Florida, with my Dee-dee, my aunt Pam, my cousin Amanda, and maybe Myron. Geoff was only 5. They showed me "Dirty Dancing," which angered my parents. It was the first and only time I ever saw that movie. Please do not revoke my girl card! It was my first trip away from home without my parents, and the longest I'd ever been away from them. I was at SPN for school, making nice grades, never being in trouble, and hanging out with a great group of friends.

Ten years ago. I just got back from Emi and Jason's wedding, my first foray into the Pacific Northwest, my only Jamba Juice experience, and the first time I ever ice skated. It was the furthest I'd ever been away from home (and still is, but don't think that means I never travel!! I've been to about half of the states!), as well as my first flight without my parents and my first real road trip of sorts with friends. It was also the first wedding of a friend I'd ever attended, and it made me feel old. In fact, I'd only been to Philly, NJ, and everything between here and Florida at that point in my life, and figured I'd never see anything else.

Ten years ago, I wasn't driving, I had never been drunk, and I had met Mark several times, but was not dating him. I was such a good girl ten years ago...

Ten years ago, I was convinced I would have an amazing career as a journalist. I thought I was in my final year at the JCC. I was rebelling against my thoughts that mayyyybeeee I should switch majors and go into education.

Ten years ago, hurricanes didn't mean much to me. Well, other than a day off, of course. I'd never evacuated and thought people who did were stupid.

Ten years ago, I was a one-cat girl; my lovely lady Nala Noelle was the only kitty in my life.

Ten years ago, I thought I would never get married, but desperately wanted kids.

I was also one of 12 grandchildren on mom's side and one of 5, as of that January, on dad's side. That was it for the cousins.

So much has changed in ten years.

At 30, I am entering my 5th year as a teacher. I was voted Junior High Teacher of the Year in '08. I've been granted the role of journalism teacher and drama teacher for the upcoming school year. I also moderate the bowling team! I've been at the JCC for 14 years and am the assistant director for my 4th summer. And don't forget my three calendar years there as an all-around go-to girl! I've been with Mark for 9 1/2 years. We've been married for 7. No kids, with no chance of them any time soon.

Four cats exist in my life, one of whom is still my Nala. She lives with my parents, as does Geoff's cat, Icarus. I have Shazbot and Lily with me. Each is my favorite in his or her own special way.

I've upped the amount of states I've been to, and most of the ones I've visited have been as a group leader for middle school children. I drove halfway to and halfway from Indiana as we evacuated for Hurricane Gustav. I fear hurricanes.

I've rented a home, mucked out that home, moved back in with my parents, bought a home, fixed up part of said home, and owned three cars. The first was a '94 Corolla which was murdered by Katrina, the second was an '05 RAV4 which was murdered by a crazy drunk woman, and the third is an '09 RAV4 which will hopefully have a long and happy life.

I am in disbelief over having memories that are about 25 years old. My goodness.

How did I spend my 30th? The best ways possible. For the first time in 14 years, my birthday fell during a camp day. Once it was on Open House day, many times it was during Orientation, but never have I had the chance to celebrate it at camp.

The day started with me picking up doughnuts for staff breakfast. One of my CITs brought me a Cookie Bouquet cookie shaped like a turtle. She's so sweet! The Zion campers (4th-6th graders) made me birthday cards, many of which were so hilarious! They're hanging on my office wall. We took a field trip to a gaming place for kids, and I blew everyone's minds with my Guitar Hero skills. I won against all of the counselors. Booyah! My friend bought me lunch from La Madeleine, and another friend baked ice cream cone cupcakes for me. The camp day went smoothly, and then the whole camp serenaded me with "Happy Birthday" at dismissal. They had my little buddy Ben, who is about to be 7 now and is a black belt in Tae Kwon Do (can you believe it?!?!?!) present a card signed by the whole camp to me! After dismissal, the staff surprised me with cake in the staff lounge, another round of singing, and a card signed by the whole staff...it's in three languages, too! (English, French, and Spanish...I need our Israeli to go back and add Hebrew to it. She signed the camp card, but not the staff one. Trilingual is cool and all, but quadrilingual would be totally awesome!!!) One of my students gave me a gift card to Zea's at the end of school, and so Mark and I had a delicious dinner that night. Yay for eating out....for free! We basically paid the tax and tip.

Oh, and the night before my birthday, my brother-in-law Phil scored free tickets to Coldplay from Anne and Scott. They couldn't use their tickets, so they gave them to him. The seats were amazing, too. First level (not floor) right alongside the right side of the stage. Fabulous.

Last night, my friend Kristin and I held a joint birthday party at our house. It was an international potluck. People brought lasagna, hummus and pita, guacamole, pot stickers, chicken chow mein, quiche, macaroni and cheese, snickerdoodles, Dutch cheese, cheesecake, goat cheese, Olive spread, quesadillas, salsa, sangria, Chilean wine, white chocolate macadamia nut cookies...it was an amazing spread! Everyone had a blast...especially Mark, for the most part, who left one ever-shrinking club amongst our friends and joined the ever-expanding one. I think only three of us remain who have never overindulged to that point...and I am one still! Poor guy. I told him that my plans for today included watching "The Hangover." I guess he misunderstood me. I meant the movie. He interpreted it as reality!!! Ah well.

Oh, and on Friday night, when I was out with my camp staff for the end of the first week staff dinner, I got carded. Yeah. Carded the week I turned 30. Beat that!!!

What is going on these days???

An ingenious (?) proposal.

The J's membership director was asked to help a prospective member propose to his girlfriend this weekend. He called Giselle to set things up, and they rehearsed it. Basically, he was going to bring in his girlfriend for a tour and try to sign up. The guy got into an argument over their membership category.

He wanted a couple membership, but you would have to be in a single-domain or married for that to take effect. (We have a couple of kids with two mommies, and they get family/couple rates.) SO the argument wears on, and she says, "The only way I can give you the couple price is if you're married, I'm sorry." And the guy says, "So, if I would be to ask her to marry me right here, you'd let us have the couple rate?" And she says yes. So the guy says, "Well, it's a good thing I have this with me," digs in his pocket, pulls out a classy ring, gets down on one knee, and the rest is history. They set up a small camera ahead of time and had bottles of champagne and everything. Ta-da!

Ingenious, or idiotic? Points for creativity and originality...but...I dunno. It's not the most romantic place in the world. They aren't even Jewish, so it's not like it's a place with childhood memories or anything.


Snuggie Cult on My Street?

I went to pick up some Quizno's for dinner, and saw something odd that caught my eyes: A delivery guy from Pizza Hut handing over a box of pizza to a woman in a Snuggie. On my way back home with dinner, Snuggie lady was walking down the block with a slice in her hand following a young emo boy, STILL WEARING HER SNUGGIE.

WHAT IS THE WORLD COMING TO!!????!!!!!???!!!!!!???!

Some updates

Swift finger of justice....from the parents!!!!
When last we spoke (well, I wrote, you read), We'd busted the kid for alcohol and my 8th grade boys were so wide-eyed in wonderment as to the identity of the rat.

The alcohol bearer is still at school. His mom brought him to jail and had them lock him up for a few hours, then brought him to rehab at Children's. I don't think he'll be trying a stunt like that any time soon.

Oh noes...
But today, a much younger student was busted for the same thing. Sigh.

Luigi needs a 1up mushroom
As for the kid I wrote about earlier, the one who I want so desperately to save, well...

He's in school. An 8th grader. 15. He's said before that he can't wait until he's 16 so he can drop out. He's probably going to get his wish.

He started out okay. 4th quarter is research project time. He started out not great, but fairly on track. He was scared. Ish. And then....he trailed off. And I had to let him. He needed As in 3 classes to pass the year. One A in one class would have let him into summer school with an attempt to pass the year. He's not getting them. He did zero work and zero studying in all 7 classes...but will pass drama based on participation. I don't know what will become of him. I'm scared and nervous for him. I gave him all I had, and he took it all for granted. I wish him luck in whatever he does.

All of the kids are allowed to participate in graduation, but he will not technically graduate.

Ending another one
The final 8th grade final exam is tomorrow. On Thursday, they'll have their corrections, followed by graduation (excuse me, promotion ceremony) rehearsal, then field day. No school for 8th grade on Friday. Promotion on Monday morning, 12th grade graduation that night. Regular school for the rest of the week, then a week of exams, with school ending May 29.

CAMP!
Jess and I are ROCKING camp prep. It's approaching so quickly! CIT Kick-off party is May 31, Orientation begins June 2, and camp starts June 8. We won't discuss June 10th major significance. I'm having too good a day to think about it, especially considering...


I started off on the wrong foot today!
I don't know HOW I did it, but I rolled my chair onto my toes this morning, and the pain was so bad that I couldn't even stand up at first. Instead of a rollicking theater game, I had my kids continue watching "My Fair Lady" so I could sit down. Boo. One would assume that that meant that my day was awful, but...


Mission accomplished!
Contract talks finally happened today. Usual minor pay raise. I get to keep the bowling team. I'll co-teach journalism/yearbook with my friend Kristin. I'll teach some older students (Many of whom I've taught before, and including the seniors, who were my first 8th graders.) And, best of all: I get to direct the school plays!!!