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I am an artist & teacher with a ❤ for visual expression, educational methodology, homesteading, & Jesus. My geek-love is The Joshua and we have three peanut-butters: Caleb, Jack, & Louritta.

Sometimes You Wanna Go…

03/09/2005

Where everybody knows your naa-aaa-ame! And they’re always glad you caa-aaa-ame!
Yeah, so, today I realized how extreme my coffee addiction is. I walked into Starbucks and the two girls who were on shift tonight looked up and said, “Hey, Stephanie! How’s it goin’?”
I said that all was well.
One responded, “Do you want your regular drink?”
“Yeah.” (That’s what I said.)
The other said, without punching anything in to the computer, “That’ll be $3.90.”
I paid her and they handed me my drink exactly the way I like it. Perfect.
So…which is the biggest proof of my addiction? The fact that they know my name? That they know how to make my bizarro drink perfectly? The fact that they know exactly how much my drink costs without looking?

Board Update

03/06/2005

Last night I got a ton done on my national board stuff. I still have about 50 pages left to write and more random stuff to do (copy my ID, map out room layouts, demographic study, organize my artifacts, etc.), but that was a huge step for me. I feel like I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even though it’s a very tiny light, very far away. GO TO THE LIGHT, STEPH! GO TO THE LIGHT!!!
The light includes: No more working every night and weekend on this. Blech. I can stop pack-ratting all of my students’ work and actually give it back to them. I’ll have time for volleyball. I’ll have time for friends. SO PUMPED to hang w/ Eddie when he comes out in April (we’re so hitting the WAVES!). I’ll get to concentrate my creative energies on converting our garage into an art studio. I will get to PAINT! WOO HOO! Oh, I’m like a moth to the light, come to me delicate, sweet goodness…

Why is Extra Caramel So Hard???

03/06/2005

Okay, those of you who know me know that I have coffee addiction issues. I’m too busy to go through withdrawal now, so it is what it is. Anyway, my drink of choice is an iced latte with extra extra caramel sauce & an extra shot of espresso. I like the strong coffee flavor. I also love the sweetness of caramel. I hate the flavored syrups *shudders* and the taste of added sugars and sweetners. But, carmalized sugar in coffee…Mmmmmmmgaralahahahagrarlahah….
People like to laugh at me because I turn down cookies and cakes saying that I don’t eat sugar. That is true. I only eat sugar if it’s in the form of caramel sauce in coffee. That’s it. Sometimes I’ll eat a pity cookie here and there, but it’s a very rare thing. Note to self: avoid staff birthday celebrations…they put way too much frosting on those cakes and whine if you don’t eat any.
Anyway, when I order, I always ask for EXTRA EXTRA CARAMEL SAUCE. The people who know me at Starbucks (including “hot guy”) all make it perfectly the way I like it. I hate it when there’s a new person & they don’t seem to understand the freakin’ difference between caramel syrup *blech!* and caramel sauce *Ooo!* So, I kind of watch them make my coffee so I don’t have to make them redo it. I know, I sound way too anal about it…but I just shelled out $4.00 for a stupid cup of coffee and it better be made right darnit!
But the other issue is that sometimes they just won’t give me extra caramel. I say, “I’ll pay for it.” And they say something like, “My boss won’t let me give extra caramel.” What…is it a drug now? Have I had too many shots of caramel for the good of society? Is capitalism no longer en vogue? What’s the deal? So, I say, “So…I’ll pay for the extra caramel. How much do you charge?” And then they start to get nervous and shifty as though their boss is going to find out about the illegal imports of caramel they’ve been keeping in the back and selling to me at inflated prices.
My favorite place is Caffe Adria. They not only have wifi, they display artwork by local kids (it’s cute and good!), have SUPER DOOPER omlettes, are super nice, and…get this…they measure their caramel in SHOTS! So, I can say, “I’ll have a large quad iced latte with three shots of carmel sauce.” Boom. They make it right every time. Only problem is that I have to have cash there and I never have cash on me and I don’t want to pay the stupid ATM fee. *sigh*

good Good GOOD! Good in-ten-tions! Ahhh!

03/02/2005

Every day I think, “Man, when I get home, I’m gonna get so much done.”
Then I get home and realize, “Man, I’m tired. I want to eat a non-nutritious meal and go to bed.”
Night after night. It’s kind of depressing. I’m thinking of getting a taser that I can use on myself to bring a sense of alertness back and get moving.
But, isn’t this what happens when you work all day and then come home and work all night only to go to bed and start the evil cycle all over again???
Despite my track record I still, without fail, find myself each afternoon having good intentions and high hopes for that evening. *sigh*

Oscar Madness

02/28/2005

K…I don’t want to go off on the Oscars or anything. I’m just mad that The Aviator didn’t take Best Picture & Best Director. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I loved Million Dollar Baby and think Clint Eastwood is a phenomenal director and can really put together a great character-centric film. But, Scorsese made an amazing film that took two years to put together. It’s great on so many different levels. It’s a complex story that was so perfectly put together. It’s top notch all the way!
Anyway, if I could give you those Oscars I would, Mr. S.

There is a Redeemer

02/23/2005

As life progresses, I keep learning more deeply about different aspects of God and who He is. Recently, I’ve been dwelling on Him as my Redeemer. A recent study of the Book of Ruth gave me new insights to what a kinsman-redeemer is to a person. Especially a person who is broken and left alone, unjustified, and without hope.

Job 19: 25-27

I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes — I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!

Isaiah 54: 5

For your Maker is your bridegroom, his name, GOD-of-the-Angel-Armies! Your Redeemer is The Holy of Israel, known as God of the whole earth.

Heh Heh Heh!

02/18/2005

The other day in class the office called and told me to send Yu down to the office. I covered the phone and announced across the room, “Hey, Yu! Go to the office!” Half the class looked at me puzzled, pointed to themselves, and said, “Who, me?” Then we all watched Yu grab his backpack and leave the room.
Man, you can’t write that stuff. Oh wait, you can!

Why Don’t You Just Get Out Of Here?

02/17/2005

And go to Hollywood? You could totally make it.
I have a student that says this to me every day.
I teach a drama class and very often will use my own performances to give students an example of how to play a game or learn an acting technique. They’re like, “Wow! When you did your crazy person, I thought you really were crazy!”
Hel-lo! It’s called acting. And that’s what drama class is about.
Anyway, I have this student that comes up to me every day (for the past week) and we have a dialogue similar to this:
Kid: Mrs L, you are such a good actress.
Me: Thank you.
Kid: Why don’t you go to Hollywood and just get out of here?
Me: I like it here just fine.
Kid: I know, but you could totally make it out there.
Me: I don’t want to be an actress.
Kid: But you’re so good! You could totally make it! You should just go to Hollywood…get out of here.
Me: That’s a really nice thought…but I have no desire to live in Hollywood. And no desire to be an actress. I like teaching and I like Cupertino and I just like my life how it is. I don’t want to be an actress.
Kid: *puzzled look* But…you could totally make it. Why don’t you just go to Hollywood?
And the saga continues…

Keeping My Cool

02/15/2005

Am I cool? Suppose I’d have to actually be cool to be able to keep it. Heh.
Anyhoo… I’ve been trying really hard to stay on high ground lately. My job has been kind of surrounding me with negative people who are all down on the teaching profession and how evil administration and everyone is. Ick. We’ve had some gossiping issues too. It’s so frustrating to be like, “HELLOOO!!! I’m like ten feet away from you…do you think I can’t hear you??? And why do you care what color I’m wearing and how it ‘doesn’t go with my skintone?’ Aren’t you an adult? Don’t you have anything better to talk about???” Ugh.
One of my classes acted bad for a sub the other day. So, I got to spend all of my prep time today dealing with that. Oh, and I had a minor student-on-student strangling incident too (is strangling minor???).
So, I’m trying to stay positive and stay focused on the good and not get dragged down. So many of my students are so awesome that it really brings me so much joy & energy to be able to work with them. It’s like, “Kid strangling other kid…get out of my class! …Ooo! What a pretty mask you’re making!” Kind of a split personality thing is going on at times…but it sure beats being a bitter person.
Plus this National Board thing is killin’ me. I’m right at that point where I just have to sit down and write a buttload of stuff and organize everything. I spent six hours on Friday night just watching videos of me teaching trying to find the best unedited parts to add to my portfolio entry. Now I have to write about them and explain everything I did in the video and what rationale I use to back it all up. Then I have more entries to do with documentation and hoo-haw, then all of the assessments. I wish there was some alternative to going through this that would still give me the certification. You know…donate a kidney, fight a shark, run 30 miles in stilettos. Something less painful than this.

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