Jury Duty

This was, hands down, the most boring thing I've ever done in my life. I'll admit it - I went in there looking to get excused...I even joked with the principal of my school that I'd try to be "as offensive as possible" which I didn't end up doing. But, I was honest.

Anyway...the best part was getting to sleep in a bit and the drive there was about half of what I normally drive to work. I took some papers to grade...some people had their own paperwork, some had the telltale white iPod earbuds (many of these with sunglasses and/or a "walk" of some sort.) A couple of people sorta napped on the roughly upolstered couches. I recall thinking it reminded me of an airport, but not nearly as exciting.

I notice there's always a "vibe" in rooms like those...should I talk to this guy/old lady/nun...oh wait they're talking to me first..."Yeah, it is kinda hot in here...no, I've never done this before." I'd gotten a root canal the afternoon before and I was still tired with a slight headache. All I could think about was getting out of here, and in the meantime, please don't talk to me anymore.

But, luckily, I got out of it and now I won't be summonsed again for at least 12 months. As I walked out of the courthouse, I felt like I had been set free.

Things to do when....

Your students are taking a mandated district assessment: post a new blog, read some message boards, drink some Airborne because you feel yet ANOTHER sore throat coming on (please don't be strep, please don't be strep....) - anything but grade papers, right?

Why is grading papers so awful? I think part of the problem is that it's so solitary. I'm not a huge fan of solitary, unless it's completely fun, indulgent or involves sleep. Grading papers also forces you to relive the horror of how much the students did NOT "get" the lesson you taught them, but now they're not even in front of you, so you can't throw out sarcastic comments or yell at them. The irony of grading is that once I start, it's surprisingly easy and quick. It never takes quite as long as I think it will. Thank God for small favors.

So, to the right of me, on my shabby desk circa 1936 is a stack of reports the students did on the origin of their first names. Each one is no more than the front of a page long, but they're staring me down like a hungry predator. I am actively trying to ignore them, but the guilt is eating away at me. If I grade now, I can relax at home later. Do it now, so it's not really solitary...you have a room full of kids taking a test, nice and quiet...just do it! The rationalizations begin.

I should go....

Finally, the right weather for Halloween

It's pretty cold outside, for a southern California night. A San Fernando Valley night, to be specific. Alex carved two pumpkins, which I prepared with Sharpie faces - one a classic pumpkin face (boring), the other a floppy-eared dog (obsessive). Each has two tea lights and they look completely perfect outside. Even the people upstairs have a lit, carved pumpkin on their balcony. I think they used one of those intricate stencils. It may be Che Guevara. Or Carlos Santana. But, it's probably Cheech Marin.

We haven't had any trick-or-treaters and it's already 6:59pm, so I'm not sure we'll get any. We plan to drive out to our "new" neighborhood, where we have our eyes on a house. We want to check out the Halloween action over there. It's important to see how much holiday spirit a neighborhood has. Oh, man, like Candy Cane Lane in Woodland Hills, just east of Pierce College. You can turn in off Oxnard and there are about 10 blocks of large, sweeping lots, though kind of rustic, sprawling ranch houses, red front doors (my current fave), no sidewalks and everyone goes NUTS at Christmas - I mean nuts. It's totally over-the-top, and on weekends in December, the streets are packed with sightseers, teenagers sitting in flatbeds, kids sticking their heads out the sunroof of Dad's SUV. Some people even sell hot chocolate. Winter's answer to the lemonade stand. It's a slice of middle America in LA.

I love this time of year. November starts tomorrow and the trees are really starting to change now. I think I'll go put on a sweater.

Bye, bye nails...

So, for the past few weeks, I've actually had "long" nails (for me, anyway). It's been really nice. I've been able to get a real manicure, do lots of filing which felt very girly, and I could even polish them myself because they were long enough where I wouldn't just end up with polish crusting up my hangnails.

But, as most things go...the nail era is over, I fear.

It starts with one snag, one chip, one flake and snowballs into total nail destruction. I knew it was over today when I didn't even try to save the ailing nail. Instead, I reverted back to familiar behavior. I bit. I peeled. And it was completely and utterly satisfying.

I just bit another one off - the right pinkie. That one was a real survivor, at one point even getting *gasp* TOO long, if that's even possible in my world. There are four left to go, and I know which one will be next.

Who knows...the nail era may return, but that remains to be seen.

Soaking Wet

I'm sorry....is this rain going to stop anytime soon? This is freakin' SoCal. It's supposed to be 83 degrees in February.

My puppy is not into this rain at all. Housebreaking? Not happening.

This is quite possibly the most boring blog on record, but it's just my first, so whatever.

Till drier days.......