Gettin' Old

I made a sobering discovery last week: there are actually gray hairs growing out of the top of my head. My first thought was, "Why have none of my tall friends told me about this?" Stiff, wiry little suckers, they are not very long, which leads me to believe they are pretty recent acquisitions. At first, I thought maybe it was the way the bathroom light was reflecting, so I yanked one out and took an up-close look. Sigh....These hairs are not gray, they are pure white.

Ten Guilty Pleasures

Yes, it's confession time. Here are ten of my guilty pleasures. What are yours??

1. Marshmallow Peeps

2. Degrassi, all incarnations

3. Cosmopolitan magazine

4. Redeeming coupons and rebates

5. Jean Auel books

6. McDonald's french fries

7. Step aerobics

8. The kid who plays Jacob in the Twilight movies

9. The Container Store

10. Britney Spears

Polar Bears

Last week, one of my students asked me what is my favorite animal. Today, she proudly read aloud the poem she had created, "Polar Bears - 4 Ms. Howard." I think it's lovely.

Polar Bears - 4 Ms. Howard
by A.

Their fur like snowstorms
Their eyes like ice.
Two great polar bears
Give me a scare.

As they tiptoed quietly behind me
As quiet as mice.
They tapped on my shoulder
With paws like ice.

I jumped into the air,
As high as a kite.
I screamed and yelled.
They gave me a fright!

They said, "We didn't mean to frighten you,
We are really cool!
We were just asking...
Could you just fill our pool?"

Simple Pleasures

The winter quarter was a busy one, but now that it's over, I have a couple of weeks with time to breathe! I've been contemplating simple pleasures lately...

• My ancient washing machine making it through an entire cycle without my having to readjust the load.

• Hot chocolate in the teacher's lounge.

• Coming home to a clean floor because Brandy did not notice that I forgot to put the trash out of her reach.

• Green lights.

• Getting an upbeat text message right when I need one.

• Dark chocolate and red wine.

• The tough kid in my class being absent.

• Being able to print in dark blue when I run out of black ink at a critical moment.

• A weekend with no rain.

2009 Songs

After I posted my favorite movies of the year, I began contemplating my top songs of 2009. I take full responsibility for my shallow bubble-gum musical tastes (at least Katrina will be on board with me!) So here, in no particular order, are the 10 songs from last year that make me crank up the volume and sing along with every word:

Paparrazzi - Lady Gaga

Already Gone - Kelly Clarkson

I Gotta Feeling - The Black Eyed Peas

Waking Up in Vegas - Katy Perry

21 Guns - Green Day

Human - The Killers

Sometime Around Midnight - The Airborne Toxic Event

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Chances - Five for Fighting

Don't Stop Believing - The cast of Glee

You Are a Wise Person

I received this email yesterday from one of my students.

Hi Ms.Howard!! I hope you had a great winter vacation! And a happy new year!
On the New Year's day,I am going to go to K's sleepover birthday party!
Well actually what I was going to really tell you was I've been getting online
put-downs(several of emails that hurted my feelings) from J. I told my parents,
and they called her a stuck-up,(I thought it was too harsh)
and said to break the friendship between us. You are a wise person besides my parents,
so please tell me what to do... Thank you! (Sorry if I'm bothering you...)
--
-C

The future blackberry owner (April 2010)

If you've ever wondered when girl drama starts, the answer is early. Helping young ladies with "hurted feelings" is part of my job, and I remember that hurt all too well from my own elementary school days. I am honored that C thinks I am a wise person. I have faith that these girls will be buddies again soon - I may not even have to say a word as it's likely they'll have it all figured out by the time class starts up again on Monday. However, there is no way for me to fully prepare my girls for the angst-ridden, teary, hormonal, "mean girls," 'tween years ahead of them. It's definitely not easy being a girl!

I have the laziest roommates!