secret weed

8th graders are rather hilarious, I am finding out. In my student teaching assignment classroom for next semester, my 8th graders decided to play a game. Guess the teacher's name game. I could have easily just told them, but that wouldn't have been as much fun. Some of them guess it (or already knew) and they kept yelling it out, but I played the game. We had fun with it.

Now, I got married in April, so I'm not completely accustomed to my new last name. Weed. So I really haven't had any grief with it, but this was one of my first accounts. One student commented, "why can't you tell us" and I said, "because it's secret." So, he got this super smirky look on his face and asked, "so can we call you secret weed?" HA! That was great! Then it started a big class discussion on what words can we pair with Mrs. Weed's last name that would make it funny. So there was secret weed, silent weed, hidden weed, legal weed, etc. etc. I guess this is what I get for picking on my husband when we were dating.

Newly Weds

I'm starting to see what people were talking about a couple of months ago when I was only married for 4 months, we definitely were in the newly wed stage. It has now been almost 7 months and for some reason I've become ridiculously crabby and annoyed whenever my wonderful husband says things that he finds funny. I don't find them funny anymore. I don't mean to say that I don't love him anymore because I do, it's just something else is sitting on me.

It might be the holidays. It is thanksgiving break, both of us are coming out of a rather stressful week of school and we kind of just want to be left alone. I just want to watch my Millionaire Matchmaker, Project Runway, and What Not to Wear in peace, but he's insistent on watching every stinkin' ESPN channel there is on t.v. Obviously we're not used to veging out with each other, but still... GIVE ME MY T.V. TIME! Ha.

It might also be a paradigm shift. I think about a month ago I was just so glad to be around him and sit by him and I couldn't believe that I was married to him. And not that I still don't think those things, but I had this brain blast of, wait, he's already the 2nd longest roommate that I've ever had...(Natalie, you still win). I'm not going to lose him anytime soon, or ever, so what is the big problem? I dunno...it's just a thought.

Today I woke up early, because I'm not used to sleeping in anymore and I read for an hour then made breakfast. Erick was still asleep. I made sausage, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes and couldn't wait until he woke up. He woke up and we had breakfast together, cute huh? I think this little scene got me thinking about all of this...I spent some Sam time first and then realized, "Hey, why not share my happy mood with Erick?" (which is when I made breakfast) Then, after about an hour of ESPN, that happy "newly wed" mood went away. So, I'm starting to realize that separate Sam and Erick time is vital to keep that "newly wed" mood. As of right now, Erick is gone doing Erick things, I'm making a jello salad for Thanksgiving tomorrow, and doing my homework on my own time: DEFINITE Sam time.

There's a cat in the WHERE?!

Middle school is really funny. Middle schoolers are even funnier! Since I've been doing my practicum at Elkridge Middle School, I have discovered this. I have also gained a heck of a lot of respect for these crazy teachers and administrators that do it everyday. I am sure once I student teach it will be more of an eye opening experience.

Well, today after I finished teaching a good 3 class periods, it was time for me to leave and go back to P-Town. I had fun with my last class, so it ended on a good note. We joked and I taught them how to sound smart by saying "what is that distant tintinnabulation I hear?" whenever they heard a bell ringing.

I went to the office to sign out and I sat down to wait for the wonderful Courtney so that we could ride back together and I heard a commotion going on with the administrators. So, because I am polite, yet curious, I looked down at my phone and caught up on all of my e-mails while I listened to the women chatting. They were talking about a cat being stuffed in a locker. I was surprised, so I stopped to make sure I didn't hear wrong, but sure enough, there was most definitely a live cat that they found in someone's locker! I stared straight ahead and a lady came out and told me what they found. I acted surprised, naturally, and asked to see the cat. There it was, a fully grown cat that had been stuffed in some 7th grade girl's backpack and stuffed in her locker.

I mean, seriously, I wanted to bring my cat to school when I was little, but I was never gutsy enough to bring one. I don't know if I admire the girl or think she's crazy! That poor cat...ha!

Teenage Dream

When I was in high school I thought that I was the coolest person around. I thought I knew everything and anyone who told me otherwise was OBVIOUSLY wrong. I am now coaching high schoolers in swimming and I have realized how hilarious I must have been as a teenager. I have classed teenagers into 3 different categories.

1. Drama Queens/Divas/Divos/etc.

One swimmer on this high school team is the definition of a divo. He has to have all the attention and everyone has to know how tired, sore, in pain he is because he is working the absolute hardest out of anyone. If something hurts he takes it to the extreme. Once he came up to the other coach and me and told us his scapula was ripping apart from his spine. Another time he told us his esophagus was severed or that he was coughing up blood. It was great really, but he was quite serious about it. When he works hard he gets this look on his face where his eyebrows furrow together, his lips pucker out and his cheeks puff out with every breath sounding quite strained. So hilarious.

2. I'm too tough for you

I have had many a swimmer that claims they don't need help and they can do it on their own. False. They are apparently too cool for school, I guess. These swimmers have presented a problem because they don't really try to learn, they think they can do it all on their own. These teenagers can be quite funny as well because they basically show us who is right in the long run...aka the instructor/teacher/swim coach/etc. Teenagers like this are actually my favorite because I have become really good at breaking them down, humbling them, and seeing their true personality.

3. I need my mommy

These swimmers are generally the same as the too tough for you swimmers in that they have the same attitude toward instruction, but they break down easier because really they just want attention and their mommy. I spent a whole practice yesterday being a mommy to a sick boy, 3 girls who didn't want to do their work, and a boy who severely injured his "jewels" with a pull buoy. I was going back and forth between all of these teenagers giving them the attention they desperately called for. Teenagers are very attention desperate. As my mom would say, up until I left the house, when I was upset: "What? Is your attention meter low again? Let's fill it up." This obviously didn't make my pride feel better, but it made me feel better in the long run.

Cookie Monsters

Chocolate, flour, sugar, eggs, salt, baking powder, brown sugar, vanilla, baking soda, soft butter. Mix together. Bake.

It has always been fascinating how such simple ingredients can make something so delicious.

Noon: 24 hot chocolate chip cookies. 12:15 : 1 dozen warm chocolate chip cookies. 12:20: 10 room temperature chocolate chip cookies. 12:25: 5 chocolate chip cookies. 12:30 : 0 chocolate chip cookies.

It is amazing how 24 cookies can disappear in 30 minutes with 6 people in your family and you can't get even one!

Mary Poppins

When I was little my mother would watch generally only 2 things on t.v. : home maker shows or old movies (generally musicals), so I grew up watching both of those things (don't worry I watched cartoons too). When I grew up I wanted to be a famous singer and be in movies with Grace Kelly and Judy Garland, or at least sing like them. I got into singing and loved every minute of it. I got into the various genres and wanted to do more with them, but somewhere along the lines of life I got lost into reality.

On Friday Erick and I went to see Mary Poppins at the Capitol Theater in SLC. I felt like a kid again! I left the theater feeling elated that people still exist that do my version of "real entertainment" (not this Lady Gaga or Brittany Spears kinda crap), the I-can-sing-dance-run-in-place-and-not-be-out-of-breath kind of entertainment, the stuff that the media industry was built off of. It really makes me think, though, where did I realize this so-called "reality" and why did I stop going for my childhood dreams? I know I could have been just as good as those people on the stage, but what caused my life to end up the way it did? I'm not complaining that I have a bad life, because I love it, but still it is very very intriguing.

Slice of Life

One of my dreams was to become a painter or some sort of artist when I was little (that, and becoming a rocket scientist, a chef, a teacher, a singer, a dancer, etc.). I loved looking at different sunsets and objects in my minds eye and trying to figure out how to paint it. I have taken one oil painting class in my whole life and I loved that picture. It was one of my most proudest moments when I completed it. I've tried to paint, sketch, draw, and I can copy certain items pretty well, but they just aren't the same as I picture in my mind. I'm now at the point that I just don't even try to draw or paint them anymore.

This last weekend I had an experience like this. My husband, Erick, and I were hiking the Y on a beautiful evening right at sun set. We stopped to take a break and looked out over Utah Lake and saw one of the many sunsets I have seen in my life, except a little bit more interesting. The sky was lit up bright orange and fading into a deep blue above the misty purple mountains. When looking across the silky smooth lake it reflected a bright pink instead of the orange of the sky. I loved it! I tried to take a picture of it, but it just wasn't the same as I saw it.

I guess that's the beauty of art, it is entirely in the view of the creator. Hopefully some day I will find the time to be all of the things that I wanted to be when I grew up as a child, but for now I will work on my writing. That's the only way I can give my perspective of the world right now.