I'll take the blame...or credit...

Tomorrow is Wednesday. Wednesday is when I have to drive from Binghamton to Cortland for my grad class. Please see below for tomorrow's forecast and the forecast you will likely see in and around the southern tier for the remainder of the Wednesdays until May. All apologies.

oh yeah this is what friday feels like.

first week back and i can feel the tension in my shoulders. I'm exhausted but also full of joy! I really freaking missed my kids and having them back in my life is so so so wonderful! I also am so proud of myself for waking up at the butt crack of dawn every day and Wii-ing. (did i mention i freaking love love love love love my wii?) I figure if President Obama (eek! i love it!) has to get up in the morning and face the mess of a country that Dick Cheney left him...erm, I mean, "GEORGE BUSH" (wink wink) then I can get up and face my attempts weight loss and health. much more managable.


It's been incredible to have the president speak and look at the television and see a person I respect. A person that I have respected for years. A person who realizes that there are ACTUALLY TWO WARS being fought!!! A person who shares my values of everyone working together to improve our country and in turn our lives! So let's talk about this COMMITTMENT TO SERVICE. Ashton Kutcher actually made me cry when he was talking about his celebrity call to service campaign that he and Demi Moore are leading. I was telling Nick about it and he said what are you going to do? I told him I am going to be an underpaid educator who understands that the most formative years of a child's life are from zero to five and that even though I get paid a third of what a public school teacher gets paid I'll fight the good fight in my classroom and keep advocating as a voice for my little friends whose voice is often too little to be heard (we're talking proverbial "voice" of course...you should hear the little voices in my room sometimes...yowsa!).


I would like to say thanks to President Obama for finally giving me a reason to see the American flag and feel a true sense of patriotism and pride. I'll be watching, though. You've got a high standard to uphold. I believe you can do it but I'll be damned if I just breathe a sigh of relief and stop paying attention!

dr. martin luther king, jr.

As I was reading a newsletter with some info and quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I found this one that really resonated with me today.

"In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."



I'm looking forward to the inauguration tomorrow. thoughts to come...

happy 26th birthday, karlton!

This weekend was comprised of celebrations for my best friend, karli.

When I met Karli I was 25 and had just started working at the Bux. She had transferred down to the Vestal store from her store in Geneseo where she had also just graduated from college. I won't get into the gritty details of our first days at the Bux but suffice it to say that Karli and I were like 2 peas in a pod. Making up songs about mocha, our coworkers, scooping coffee...you name it and we could make up a song. One night, Karli called me and told me she was coming over with 40s to sit in the back yard and chat. The only other person I had drank forties with since high school was my "wife"/roommate Arrelaine and you know how close we became. That night Karli and I sat at the picnic table and talked about life, boys, and literature. It was the beginning of one of the greatest friendships in my life.

A friendship which comes with Karli often telling me what to do. Now, that's not as bad as it sounds. You see, I am a libra and don't make decisions well. I am also a "comfort zone" person. For example, I wanted to remain 25 and never go beyond that age. The plan was to just continue to celebrate being 25 another year each October. Alas, my friend Karli said to me "you're turning 26. otherwise, someday i'll be older than you and that doesn't work" (something along those lines). So when it came time to celebrate HER 26th birthday I was ready to bring it in with a bang.

Literally, I suppose because the day revolved around champagne. We went to the tranquil bistro for brunch where we had tasty meals and mimosas and then later in the night we had a party where everyone brought fixins for champagne cocktails. It was REALLY fun to try different combinations! Karli made "classic champagne cocktails" which included cubes of sugar and bitters (thanks to michael for supplying the bitters!). I decided to go with a blackberry/blueberry/cranberry juice to mix in (note: do not use cranberries as garnish for these cocktails...they look pretty but taste YUCK!). We had lots of strawberries, raspberries (with grenadine, yum! thanks rose), and tasty champagne! It was delicious! and super fun!

I am glad my best friend made me turn 26 even though it means I am facing the "big 3-0" this year. I'm glad we are all still together and growing and have lived to see these days. I think sometimes the world is a proverbial "bitch" and can hurt and sting like nothing else but the most wonderful thing is to know you've got a support system around you that's like a big fluffy pillow and a best friend to tell you what to do if you ever don't know. ;)

Karli and the bitters (they match her scarf!)


Rosie (the ladies behind her are like us in 40 years!)


Katherine Mary offers the last cranberry muffin to the birthday girl (that's michael next to me)

once upon a time...

...so after reading and commenting on karli's blog i started listening to my old DMB album, under the table and dreaming. now, this is the only dave matthews cd i ever owned. i listened to it incessantly once upon a time.

you know how music can transport you immediately back to a certain time? well, this transported me directly to a time before i knew ANYONE (with the exception of my sister) who reads this blog. or at least that i know of... unless shane reads this blog...and i only knew him because he was mr. social at the park...and nick corcoran was merely that ADORABLE life guard that was also a FRAT BOY so that was never going to happen...

it reminds me of sitting in coffeeshops writing for hours in my marbled composition notebook listening to either the chatter of angsty teens or my walkman which usually held mixed tapes with the likes of dmb, rem, smashing pumpkins, violent femmes, urge overkill...

...now i've got to go get out the photo albums and be nostalgic. life was so different then. once again i thank the HP for the amazing journey i'm on... i'm pretty friggen lucky...

why i love my job part 802398234

Right... Today was my first day back at school ... *sigh of happiness* ... we have three days this week to get our rooms back together after a deep winter clean and do a little planning, interview new parents and meet our new students!

Those of you who know me well, know that I have been dying in the rocking chair that I have been using since the beginning of the school year. It looked something like this:



Today our director told us at our morning meeting that the threes would be getting a new glider. I squealed with delight! No more slats bearing into my back as my darlings cozy down in my arms! No more of the children being "not comfy" because of the hard wood arms!!

"HOORAY!! THANK YOU NANCY!!" <3 I exclaimed as she came in to show me my new rocker:



...i love my job...



(you should too! it motivates me to write blogs of happiness and joy!!)

I have a blog?

You wouldn't know by looking at this blog that I've been off for two weeks, would you? I am terrible at updating these days thanks to my new obsession with the Wii. (see previous post) I can't get enough.

So, here's what I've been thinking about lately... I'd like to take all the people that I really truly love and hold them really really close to me like little dolls. I'd like to wrap them up in blankets of my heart that keep them warm and protect them and keep mean, nasty, wartfrog people away from them!

WHY? I'm feeling a little needy right now. I am beginning a year that has more hopes attached to it than ever before and I'm scared. Following a more Buddhist philosophy I try to have no expectations of the future. I trust the universe to show me where I am needed, what I need to do. I think the universe is giving hints now that this is what I need to do but it's frightening. Luckily, though, I have blessed with the most dynamic, creative, loving, incredible support system ever created.

Thank you, HP, for those souls.