Sympathy Pains for J-2

My fabulous sister Jewels has been having some major pain her right hand. Clearly I wanted to do more than empathize for Jewels, so after school today I proceeded to hang up kids' projects on the wall in one of my classrooms. Sounds harmless, right? 1970s sheetrock is not as forgiving as you might think. Throw in that I'm not nearly as ambidexterous as I pretend to be. And so I pounded the stapler with the same part of my hand at least 460 times (not counting the many bum staples that had to be redone). Needless to say, my hand is bruised. It twinges with each right-handed key stroke.  Can't tell you how excited I am for the 270+ staples I have to put into my other classroom tomorrow.

Cute Juliann, Brett, and an easily distracted Mae on Christmas Eve

And Jewels - I always am telling you I want to be more like you. I just didn't think I wanted to be like you in such a literal way. Hope your hand feel better soon!

Hello 2012!!!

I had grand intentions of posting all sorts of witty and interesting things as the new year rolled around....and here we are, three weeks in, with no wit to be found. C'est le vie.  Here are a few little snippets that have occurred or been on my mind since we switched our calendars from 2011 to 2012. I promise more substance to come later.....

A new year means a new paper chain - this beauty goes from now until July. Why July? Because oddly enough I like it go just past the end of the school year and because I don't know what I'll be counting down to in the summer yet.

I realized that I especially love days when I am dressed like Callie from Grey's (translated - like a college student...t-shirt over a patterned henley without buttons).

I also realized that Europe tastes like watermelon chapstick and Louisiana smells like Apple Blossom Citrus lotion. Summer trip flashbacks hit me every time I use either of these items.

I am so impressed by the acting in Rabbit Hole - it's utterly depressing, but Aaron Eckhart and Miles Teller are fantastic. (Side note - Miles Teller as Willard is the only redeeming part of the new Footloose.)

Usually I shower without contacts in, so on the random occasions that I shower with them in, it's like a whole new world...and I realized that I have way too many products. How many shampoos and delicious smelling soaps does one girl need?

I cannot figure out why I love the movie Enchanted so much, but I fell asleep to it on multiple nights this week. It was a much better line of thinking than which finals I still had to write and which papers I still needed to grade.

I heard a Diablo Cody interview where she said on the topic of facebook, "It's like we're recreating high school every day, and it's weird." For some reason that has stuck with me over the last couple weeks, and for that reason I have deleted all sorts of people on facebook. If I'm never going to talk to them again, why are we "friends"?

On that semi-negative note, I am off to go smell the rain (yes, you read right), sit closer to the fire, and get ready for Downton Abbey.  If you haven't watched it, start.

ps. To let you know that I really will post real things soon, here are a few teasers of what's to come once the grading piles have disappeared and the sickness has abated.

The holidays and the end of 2011 deserve a little more attention than I gave them. So Christmas, Courtney's wedding with Hill, Brandon, and Patrick, etc. will be make a showing sometime soon.