Eastside update

I am here, in Michigan. I've been here for eleven days now and I know, I know, I haven't blogged but I have a perfectly good reason. I'm on vacation!

It's been great, I've finally relaxed and started sleeping well, and sleeping in. I've finished one novel and am over half-way done with another. I've been playing in the garden a lot, going to nurseries, learning about flowers and trees and planting. In fact, tonight we planted five rose bushes who's names are Shockwave, Scarlett, Rainbow Sorbet, Chihuly, and Iceberg. The front yard is looking good!

I've also been spending some time with friends which has been such a blessing. This week I had dinner in Kalamazoo with Leslie and Sara. It was one of those great night where before I knew it, hours had passed, like over five hours. It was as if the past year, or even two, hadn't happened, we'd never been away. It was what coming home should be.

Then Thursday I met my friend Erika and we spent the day at the mall, browsing clothes, makeup, books, and talking. Talking about health, life, work, family, everything and anything. And especially Juno. It was great.

Yesterday I got to play golf, finally, and shot a 99. I beat my dad on the first nine then my game fell apart a little. But it was good to get out their and swing the clubs and focus only on my next shot for a few hours. Then last night I went to my first Olivet College Alumni event which just happened to also be my first Tigers game in Comerica Park. It was a beautiful night and I had such a great time with my friend Angel, which is why I really went, to hang out with her. Again, it was like time hadn't passed, in that good way. It's so great to spend time with people who know you, know your stories and who can share your history. It was also great to walk down memory lane and talk about all those things I did and people I knew nine, ten years ago.

It's been a whirlwind couple of weeks so far. This week will hopefully be a little quieter, not so much travel for me. I plan to finish the John Grisham book I'm reading, so I can go out and buy that new Meg Cabot book. I want to see a few movies and spend some time with my grandparents. Oh, and find a job hopefully. But I'm not stressing. God has a plan for me, I know it.

On the Los Angeles front, several updates: one, I did not get the job I interviewed with. Too many qualified candidates, yada yada. In hindsight, I think it's for the best, it might have been a lot of work along with school. Also, my professional program has just started a listserve (an email sent out with announcements every few days) I'm pretty excited about. It lists activities and opportunities and tells about what grads of the program are up to. And can I just say that today's announcement included two sales by program grads and two movies being filmed by program grads. I think that bodes well for me! I am excited!!!

I've been doing a lot of thinking these past few days and I've come up with a couple of ideas, dare I say, life views I am going to try and hold on to as I go through this next new adventure:

1. To steal a quote from Juno, "I don't really know what kind of girl I am" - I love this. I love how she delivers the line and how she truly means it with all she is and isn't. I love that this line was written by a twenty-nine year old screenwriter who has recently done what I want to do: tell a great story, very well, to a lot of people. While I certainly don't know what kind of girl I am yet, I am having a great time figuring it out.

2. I like me and I think it's important to make sure that I let that show in how I dress, how I treat myself, and how I treat others. I want to make time for what's important in my life, and those who are important. And if I don't want to do something, I'm not going to waste this very valuable commodity of time that I have!

3. Life is great! Bring it on, everything and anything. I am expecting great things and I know, WITHOUT A DOUBT, that I'm going to get them!

We made it!

Whew - it has been a day and it's only the afternoon (well, after 5 but I have no idea what time zone I'm feeling right now). Angela and I made it to Chicago, our plane was even half an hour early! Which was amazing considering how things had gone all day.

Our AWESOME friend Linda picked us up very early (especially since she's on vacation too, thank you again Linda), at 5:55am, and we were at the airport in Yuma by 6:15. Plenty of time for our 7am flight (in Yuma, the airport doesn't even open 2 hours before the first flight so those airline recommendations don't mean much) except that our flight didn't take off at 7am. We still aren't sure what happened but they ended up running two shuttles to Phoenix and we got on the 7:30, which wasn't bad since it was a jet and it took only 25 minutes to get us there and when we left the 7:00 flight was still waiting for clearance to take off. Crazy. However, we had to wait in Phoenix on the ground, of course, and we got off the plane 8 minutes before our flight to Chicago was to take off. We know the rule about being on board 15 minutes prior to take off but we decided to run through the airport anyway. We had planned to look for the golf cart shuttle but seeing none, and since we had our tennis shoes on, we literally ran, bags and all. And we got to our gate 3 minutes before take off. Thankfully the nice people working the check in opened the door for us, and several others, and let us on! WOO HOO!

Can I just say that while our flight attendant from Yuma to Phoenix had diarrhea of the mouth (she started talking to a woman about how much her job/the airline sucks and didn't quit until after we landed), the staff on the Chicago flight was awesome. They were so nice and helpful, it really was a pleasant experience.

So we made it, and all our luggage made it, and we took a $40 cab ride to our hotel blocks from the Diamond Headache Clinic so Ang is all set to get to her appointment in the morning. My parents are driving over now and should be here in a few hours. Just in time for us to eat again. The first thing we did after checking into our room was run over to Chipolte for food but that will not be enough for the night (I announced to Ang that travel days are points-optional days, I'm eating healthy but by golly if I'm hungry, I'm eating!). Then we went to Borders where I found the book, Meg Cabot's Queen of Babble in the Big City, I've been waiting for and now I'm going to read. (Yes, I have 3 other books in my luggage but I'm still going to read this chick lit novel first! John Grisham can wait a few more days.) Ang is asleep, her sinus/ear infection has worn her out and she has a bit of a migraine from traveling.

Alright, that's it from the Windy City for now. Yes, it is in fact windy, we had a lot of turbulence coming in, so much so that I felt queasy. Oh, and a tip to those of you flying US Airways in the future. They are no longer serving snacks of any kind, that's right no more peanuts or even that oh so not good soy snack, and as of August 1st they will be charging $2 for beverages. Any beverage, including water. Gotta love flying the friendly skies.

My Dad

One of my most cherished memories of spending time with my dad was one night when he was driving me back to college, after a weekend at home. We were nearing Olivet (it was an hour's drive from Howell) and we were having this great conversation. He asked me what I was going to do once I graduated. I admitted to him that I didn't know and I remember being really scared to say that out loud. His response? "I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up," he said and went on to tell me about all the things he still wanted to do with his life. That has stayed with me, that moment and I think about it all the time. And I'm thankful that I have a father who encourages me to be my own person, even if I have no idea what that means from day to day.

My dad is amazing. He really is, ask just about anyone who knows him. He's taught me how important relationships are throughout life, mostly by the way he treats his own. He loves to talk on the phone (which is funny because he doesn't really like to call people, weird, I know) and one of my favorite things to do is call him in the middle of the day when he's at work. We'll talk, about anything and everything, and just make sure we're caught up on each other's lives.

My dad is also smart. He is our family's resident Trivial Pursuit champion and he knows just about anything (ask Ang, she calls him from Arizona and asks him for directions, and even though he's only been here twice, he'll have the answer for her). He's also hard-working. He went into the Air Force at age 17, then when he got out he went to work. It wasn't until well after I was around that he had the opportunity to go to college, and I can still remember going to his graduation, Angela and I in our new dresses, so proud of our daddy, the college graduate.

My dad is the one who stayed up until after midnight with me every night, helping me pass my AP American History class, quizzing me on facts and helping me to understand. He's the one who went on the class field trips and always got stuck with all the rowdy boys and loved every minute. He's the one who stood outside in below-freezing temperatures, directing traffic for my high school choral festival. He's the one who came to every single golf match I ever had, in high school and college. Even my last match, that he told me he couldn't make it to because it was at St. Mary's in Indiana. I remember being okay with that, although certainly disappointed. However, when he showed up, having driven for hours in the rain to be there, I remember feeling so lucky, so special. That's the kind of dad he is. He makes me feel like I am the most important person in the world.

My dad volunteers for any and every single job at church, he puts the sprinkles on the Christmas cookies, he puts clean sheets on my bed before I come home, he cries at sporting event on TV, he steps up when no one else wants to, he joined a writing group last year, he teaches Bible studies and Sunday school, his favorite Johnny Cash song is Boy Named Sue, he likes scary movies, he loves to read, he's really, really good at crossword puzzles, he's lost a lot of good friends in the past few years, he loves cookies and those candied orange slices my grandma keeps in the candy jar just for him, he likes talk radio, he's been known to yell at people who get him angry, he listens to me talk for hours on end, he saved up for a few years to get his new golf clubs, and he will do anything, absolutely anything, for my mom, my sister and I. He is simply amazing.

Dad, I love you. And I can't wait to see you on Tuesday night!

Only the beginning

(Photos: 1 - Sylvia who retired as an aide at CRMS this year and Cinthia, Ang's team's science teacher. 2 - Me and Jake, Kristina's husband who teaches Special Ed at the new high school. 3 - Cindy, Linda, who taught Special Ed at CRMS this year but are moving to the elementary school next year and me. 4 - Kristina, Ang's team's math teacher, and Ang. 5 - Olga, my team's social studies teacher, Jim and Debi Prickett, Debi is Ang's team's other language arts teacher. We all celebrated the last day of school Thursday with lunch (and drinks!) at Chili's!)

"There comes a point you think is the end, but it is only the beginning." - Louis L'Amour

I'm not a fan of goodbyes, I'm not sure anyone is. I cry, then when I see other people crying, I cry more, I think life will never be the same, and guess what? I'm usually right. But here's another thing I've learned, while life will never be the same without the people you say goodbye too - it will continue and it might even be better than if you had never met those people you're saying goodbye too.

The school year is over, we finished up with a half-day Thursday. And it went really well, the kids had fun, I had fun, I signed shirts and yearbooks and took pictures, watched kids do cartwheels in the hall (shhh! don't tell my boss!), got and gave tons of hugs, and really just enjoyed my last few minutes with my 100+ students. I thought I might be more emotional, last year my kids were, I had a lot of tears shed in my room. This year there weren't many until the very end of the day. And then I did tear up as I waved to the kids hanging out the bus windows. And here's something I thought was pretty cool: as the bus drivers pulled out of the parking lot they honked their horns, continually, I just thought that was a very happy, positive way to end the year. And we teachers stood there waving at everyone. Very cool.

And it's over. We got all checked out at school (it took a while, there's always extra crap they throw in at the last possible second), and then headed to lunch to celebrate with our friends. We had an awesome time, mixing school talk with conversations on everything under the sun. Then we headed back to school to help our friends Kristina and Cinthia move into their new rooms. Lots of change happening around here. And at five o'clock when Ang and I walked out of Crane Middle School for the very last time I couldn't help but get a little misty-eyed again. I've spent a lot of time there in the past two years. A LOT of time. I've cried, I've laughed, I've loved, I've made amazing friends, I've yelled, I've taught, and most of all, I've grown. I think that's the best part. I've become a different, I hope better, person.

So it's the end and it's the beginning. I'm done being a seventh grade language arts teacher. For now (never say never I've learned). And I'm so glad I took the job. I'm so glad I let those kids and all these people into my life. And most of all, right now, at least for a few more days, I'm glad it's over. I'm worn out but in a good way. The way you get when you have accomplished something pretty darn good.

Things I want to remember from today

- How very important it feels to do a job and do it well and be done with it. For example, getting 30 lockers cleaned out.
- Jesus' smile when I call him out on any number of things he does.
- The moment when Olga, my teammate and friend, handed my a Willow Tree angel and wished me a great life, hugging me with tears in her eyes.
- Writing notes to about twenty of my co-workers, telling them how much I appreciated sharing the past two years with them.
- Calling out the names of my golfers and awarding them medals in an assembly of about 900 students and teachers, and congratulating them on an awesome season!
- Having Anissa, a student of mine last year, knock on my door and tell me she wanted to give me a hug and tell me goodbye. She's this tough girl, with an eyebrow ring, gangster look, and yet she wrote in my yearbook that she's going to keep writing. Too cool.
- Getting a group hug from Clarissa, Lily, and Eric, students from last year who yelled how much they'll miss me.
- Having Kristina and Linda gather in my room just to hang out, I will miss that - more than they know.
- Laughing at the goodbye staff meeting, getting two hats - one that says "detective" and the other that says "party animal" and hearing how much they appreciate all the "hats" I have worn over the past 360+ days I've worked at Crane Middle School.
- Cynthia Norman, a great friend, hugging me as we left and telling me, through tears, that I am a good person.
- Elizabeth putting quarters in the "college fund" piggy bank I also got at the party, so I won't forget her.
- Having Linda tell me she just isn't saying goodbye to me. I like that because I don't like goodbyes.
- Eating a Snickers ice cream bar and getting chocolate all over me, even on my bangle bracelets.
- Getting a hug from my boss who told me, sincerely, that she would miss me. That's big because sometimes I didn't always feel that way.
- Staring at Luis and Ricardo's baby sister, born Saturday, and being thanked by their parents. It's pretty cool to know that as teachers, we've made such an impact on a family that they want to share these good things with us.
- Looking out at the 40-some people I've worked with for two years and thinking that I will truly miss them.

A very cool thing

Do you ever have one of those days where there's a real struggle between good and evil? Where you can almost feel the fight around you. A good thing happens and boom! a bad thing comes right on it's heels. But then sometimes a good thing happens again to make the bad thing move away from the front of your mind for a little while. Yesterday a very cool thing happened that made some of the bad things seem a little further away and less important.

John McBride is a teacher at Crane and he runs a very cool program called Turning Point that takes in students who have had severe academic and discipline problems. He teaches them every subject and in addition, he helps them to grow up. And one of the best parts is they do. I have several students in John's program and they've all either changed significantly or in some small way that shows they are on their way. While Turning Point is a Crane program, it's separate from our school and of course, as always, there were budget cuts this year, and try as he might, John couldn't save the program he has dedicated his life to. He's a guy who puts his money and time where his mouth is, a former Marine who doesn't give these kids an inch and who gets results. He takes the kids none of us can handle (or frankly, don't want to handle anymore) and he works with them - often one-on-one. And he created a cycling program to keep them motivated. And it worked. They bike miles, they bike inside in stationary programs, they bike in 112 degree temperatures, they get run over by other cyclists (it's true, I saw it happen, one kid went down and John, not wanting to wreck brand-new two thousand dollar rims, rode right over the kid). And they love it. It's a very cool thing.

And yesterday, they got a call from Jenny Jones, the former talk show host, and she awarded John a $25,000 grant to continue his cycling program. He's going back into the traditional classroom at Crane next year but he'll still work with intervention kids and keep his program going after school. Click on the link above and read all about it - John's picture, with his kids, is on the front page of the Yuma Sun today. Very cool indeed. And standing next to him and three of my kids, kids who no longer sit in my classroom every day but kids who were once mine and who now are doing pretty darn well in John's program. I can't think of anything better today. I really can't. God bless public school teachers. Seriously.

The big envelope

It's what every college applicant waits anxiously for. Mine just came a month or two late. Yes, I was accepted into Cal State Northridge's Masters of Screenwriting program. And yes, today I sent them my own rejection letter. I'm going to be a UCLA Bruin (a bear), not a CSUN Matador. But it still feels nice to be accepted, and to do the rejecting this time around.

I am excited about grad school, I really am. I'm excited to write more, to be forced to write (yes, even though I LOVE writing, I still need that external motivation of a deadline), and to learn more about this craft. My kids ask me every day where I'm going and I explain, every day, I'm moving to Los Angeles to try and become a screenwriter. Today they drew pictures of me on the board, directing. One even had me yelling, "Cut, cut, she's dead!" with an actress lying near me (with a megaphone). Yes, I'm trying to bottle their creativity to take with me. They began asking for my autograph today, which I happily supplied, and asking me to put them in my movies. I tell them I will try my best, not having the energy or desire to break their little hearts already by explaining that it will be unlikely that I will ever be in that particular position. Ah, to be young and innocent!

Also, for those of you following my writing career that's been flourishing here in my bedroom/office, I think I'm going to rewrite my screenplay with the lead being an older woman. Yes, I know! Big change! But it came to me last night as I lay in bed (I work really well late at night, my mind never shuts down) and I am excited by this prospect. BUT I WILL FINISH THE NOVEL FIRST! I promise myself that. Big things are in store for my five deployment "widows".

Okay, enough writing about writing, I think I'll get a few paragraphs in before I get lazy and head off to watch John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Nation, good things are ahead! And I think it all starts with a big envelope.

The Last Friday

Tomorrow's it. The last Friday of school. The last time I will give a spelling test (until of course I get roped into visiting Ang's classroom or something). The last time I will hear, have a good weekend Ms. Knapp (of course, one of my precious darlings says this every day, and then says, oh right! it's not Friday - gotta love seventh graders). The last time I'll go to Lute's downtown after school with everyone (even Shannon!) and hang out and complain about my job.

But things are good. I'm having fun talking with the kids while they work on projects. And I'm packing up my room and organizing which I love. And today, during my team meeting, my team praised me for all the work I did for them this year which was a big surprise. We've had a long, rough year and to hear from colleagues that they appreciate you is a very cool thing.

Tomorrow I have my phone interview, and I'm sending out applications for more jobs in LA. I'm looking forward to next Friday when the only thing on my agenda is a 10am massage and the first day of summer vacation.

Monday musings

Are you ever really tired but just don't want to waste time sleeping? That's how I am feeling right now. I slept a long time Saturday night - Sunday morning and then Sunday went by in a blur and now it's Monday night and I'm exhausted but I just want to do stuff. It was a good weekend and all but still, I want to be busy, I want to be proactive. And I want to write. But life keeps getting in the way.

Some life stuff of late:
- The Red Wings lost in 2nd overtime tonight to the Penguins. So we'll go through this again Wednesday and I'll save my t-shirt until Thursday. Come on Detroit, we want another Cup!

- We went to the semi-annual sale at Bath & Body Works today and got a bunch of soap and stuff. At regular price it range up at $99.60. We paid $33.50. Rock on sales!

- There are eight days left of school and it's getting harder to be patient and keep the kids quiet and busy. But we're managing. And I'm trying to enjoy my time with them and my co-workers.

- I've seen my share of movies lately. They include: "What Happens in Vegas" which was funnier than I expected. I went because I just love Ashton Kutcher. But it was totally worth the five bucks. Then we saw "Sex and the City" yesterday. SO SO SO GOOD. Honestly one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time. I laughed, cried, and loved seeing some old friends make the switch from small to big screen really well. And can I just say, I was one of the youngest people in the theater by about 30 years and I thought that was pretty cool because everyone seemed to like the movie. Recent Netflix include: "American Gangster" which started on a confusing note but picked up and was a great story, and not nearly as violent as an average episode of "The Sopranos". Also, "The Savages," an interesting character-driven piece about dealing with an aging parent. I've decided I really like Phillip Seymour Hoffman and he did well in this flick.

- And last but not least, I have my first L.A. interview on Friday. It's with a charter school as a Professional Development Coordinator and the principal said she was really excited by my resume. I'm really excited about the prospect of another paycheck after June 20th, my last from Crane. So here's hoping!

- Okay, I am going to bed now. I am tired and want to write but chose the excitement of ice hockey instead and now I must get my beauty sleep!!!!