jury duty, the philosopher and..28 DAYS!!!!

the first four paragraphs come straight from a letter that i wrote today while in the courthouse.

as i got off of the DART train (our rapid transit in dallas), i pulled out my jury invitation summons (forced invitation) for directions. a lady saw mine and wanted to tag along with me, so i asked her what courthouse she was supposed to be at, and i tried to keep the look of relief off my face when she said the other one "phew!" she was a chatty, and the worst kind of tag-along you can have is a chatty one, especially if you don't know them because first they try to make it look as if you are bff's, and then crazy things start spewing from their mouth and everyone assumes that you agree with them because you are bff's- guilty by association! you DEFinitely don't get dates that way! (not that jury duty is probably the best place to find a date..12 amgry men)...

when i got there, i checked in, and went to sit down. and after a bit they went ahead and started with the movie orientation a super-imposed clarice tinsley as the hostess talking about the AWESOME experience that being a juror is. and then of course, there were several people who gave their testaments about how amazing it was. the whole time i was thinking, "what? no popcorn???" and uncortunately, i did have to stick around because i met all of the qualifications.

they drew the random lottery and people were herded out of the room. those of us who were left (the 'just-in-casers')were given a little break. "take a break until 10:30," she said. hmm..so, take a break from reading, writing, texting, listening to music, waiting...take a break from serious waiting, to go do some casual waiting so that you can come back and wait seriously again...yep. sounds about right. HAPPY came on, and i wanted to blast it and see if anyone would flash mob...but i thought that might ruin my chances of getting home without a misdemeanor. thank you BRANDY for introducing me to eddy kenzo-loving the album; thanks for posting it on your fb page! (insert smiley emoticon).

and i drank my 2 1/2 bottles of water (i didn't want to break my back carrying more today), so that was rough, as i had no idea how much longer was left. finally around noon, we were given the happy news! and as the lady read down the list, people called out, "HERE!" and exited stage right. one of the people that was called was wang tung perhaps you can understand why for the remainder of the wait, i was singing to myself, "everybody have fun tonight...everybody wang chung tonight!" so as people were saying "here", i was worrying about how i was going to say it when it was my turn....will it be loud? soft? high pitch? should i sing it? indifferent? how can you mess up "here!" i'm sure my "here" was truly remarkable, and if there had been an agent in the crowd screening for an actor to say the word "here," i would have been the chosen one.

then i went to stand in a line to get a work confirmation slip, and a lady coming out recognized me from the elevator and asked if i could say "HERE" one more time...NO SHE DIDN'T! JK! but she did ask if this was the line to get her check. (all of $6), so i told her they would mail it. and then it was back to the DART rail. when i got to west end, i saw the guy i saw back when i went to the avid conference a few summers ago. tyrun.

tyrun is homeless. he buys newspapers every morning (the homeless newsletter of sorts) and then he sells them on the corner-give them away and people make donations; they feel guilted into it after they see the print on the top of the page that says the vendor bought these copies. anyhoo-he stopped me and struck up a conversation. and so...i stood and listened and pretty much didn't get a word in  edgewise. but that's ok, because i'm sure he just likes to have conversation...but here are some of the excerpts:

T: you know, i only talk to pretty people. i don't like talking to ugly people, because phew! they creepy. 
you know, i'm a philosopher. i used to be a drug dealer, and i went to jail and now i'm kind of a pimp. i pimp my newspapers...
let me see your eyes. i can tell if a person is good or not if i can see my reflection in their eyes. you're good.
you know what they say man's best friend is? (me: dog?) ok, ok...flip that around and what d'ya get?  (God) right...see, i'm a philospoher, and things like that just come to me.
people don't like me talkin' to you. they're watchin right now and they don't like it. the police is going to come by after and tell me to stop getting in peoples' face. they don't like it because i'm black and you're white. 
there was more, and fact i kept trying to inch closer to the crosswalk, and he kept getting in my way. i sadly watched the green line to carrollton close its doors and slip away...sigh.

i went home, changed, ate, and then went up to school to grab the potatoes to try to get them down to the pantry. the lady never called me back, so i called again and left message #2. then the fire alarm went off, so i grabbed all of my stuff, including the 38 lbs of potatoes and went on out the door. i took off to find this food pantry, and when i got there, i knocked on the metal door, no answer, so i went to the front, and knocked on the glass door. no answer. i cupped my hands over my eyes at the front door and looked in and saw a man, so i knocked again...no answer...i muttered a few not-so-nice things and decided that if she did not call me back, i was going to find another place to take them...

on the way home, i decided to stop at lowes for some of the hardware that i need for a small project in 109, and as i was leaving, i got a call from the pantry, so i zipped on over there because the last thing i need is for potatoes to start sprouting in my car! she was very grateful, and i was a little ashamed of my frustrated thoughts...i'm sure they are short-staffed and very busy. i know they work very hard to do the very best they can.

now i'm home, and as i look at my calendar, i cannot believe that i have not flipped it from may to june!! what in the world?! as soon as i do, you know what happens-the countdown begins!!!! i think every morning i am going to wake up and do a count dracula countdown like on sesame street-tventy eight! tventy eight days! vahahaha!!! (cue noise machine thunderstorm and lightning)!! yes, that's right! 28 days until i see the mountains and the city i call home! my stomach just did that thing. you know, the ache where you know something is missing and you just want to fill it..that one.

sorry no pics...but while a picture is worth a thousand words, i'm pretty sure my thousand words will paint a picture!
jules

i'm just glad the awkward sexy cup wasn't for me!

welp...good thing that would you rathers don't come true and are only hypothetical otherwise, this post would likely be antithetical...for i would be forced to rhyme all of the time. the last "would you rather" asked of me, was a bit of tomfoolery. to ask a teacher to rhyme all day, seems a bit like child's play. but i WILL say that although this may seem a bit nonsensical, i appreciate the allure of the more commonsensical.

i'm no dr. seuss.

i had the misfortune of being shot again today-methinks this should not be a daily occurrence..even after fixing the laser pointer...0 appreciation.

tutoring = toooooo loooong. the only saving grace is that my side kick is great.

and when i finally got home (had to stop to get valentines), i had to cut up potatoes...focusing on the eyes. making sure that each piece had 2 eyes-i was tempted to draw smiley faces on them before we plant them. i'm not quite sure how i got suckered into this. i still have other things that i need to be focusing on. i had looked up the info about planting them prior to the whole idea, so i knew what to do. now i need to wait a day for the protective coat to form on them before planting them (in case anyone wanted to know...)

THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS IS THAT THE POTATOES THAT COME FROM THE GARDEN WILL GO TO THE FOOD BANK!

in other news, one of the teachers on my hall got an early valentine from one of her students this morning...

awkward much?

last night i went to my education reform policy class, and it was a really great session! we got to hear from mr. mckenzie, an op-ed blogger for the dallas morning. he was interesting and had some good insights. and then we had three advocates telling a little about their organizations and how they got started. it was enlightening. 

i must make a quick plug for one of my coworkers and policy ed fellow, dallas gutierrez. check out his blog post on the teaching trust site here.

it is tragic that our society here in america holds the profession of teaching in such disregard; that it is not valued in a manner that reflects its importance. the fact that the phrase "those who can, do, those who can't teach," even exists, is evidence of a huge misconception about teachers. let's be honest, (as honesty certainly is the best policy) in fact, let's be brutally honest (intellectual brutality?) the job of a teacher is not merely to know one thing and master it. i find myself constantly learning new things and then i have to figure out the best way to coach different types of students and deal with discipline, and plan ahead, remember a to do list of items that need to get done and have deadlines, try to keep the lessons engaging enough for kids who are on, above and below level....try to integrate the latest and greatest technology into the lesson somehow, create rubrics, grade writing, reading, science and social studies essays...what have i left out? oh yeah, plan for tutoring, talk to parents, plant potatoes...work on common assessments, study data to figure out how to best impact my students, grade district writing papers, put up relevant bulletin boards..and i've left out so much (like sst's, rti, trainings, sub plans, committees, paperwork, paperwork, countless hours at home finishing what i didn't want to stay at school doing), but that said, if you are one of 'those who can' and feel that teaching is a cop-out job, i would like you to remember that the only way that you possibly could do, is because there was once a string of teachers who gave you the tools that you needed.

oh, and i would love to see you come to my room and 'do'  for a day in my classroom (without my help and management)...game on!  you see, the truth is, i have held a plethora of jobs in which i could have moved up and 'done,' but i wouldn't have had the impact or made a difference like i can as a teacher.

i'm not complaining, nor do i mean to rant, but last night the thought was just screaming through my head. teachers in this great country are not revered in the way they used to be, and our society reflects that. that is a sad commentary on our society.

to all of my teachers, i may not have shown the most appreciation when i was in class, but in retrospect, my hat is off to you. (if i were abraham lincoln, it would be a top hat, but lately, it's just a bandana....but it's still off in complete respect!). to those of you currently in the teaching profession, do not quit (unless you are terrible; in which case, it might be best if you did find a new calling). quality teachers are not easy to come by, but when we do encounter them, we should do whatever it takes to hold onto them!

i know, all of that from last night's meeting...

g'night!
 jrob

so glad i don't have to lick your face to say hello

i'm so glad people don't greet each other like dogs...between the sniffing and licking of the face, it could get real illegal real quick. (still trying to work with chaco on the face licking thing). not to mention i don't think the neighbors would appreciate it if i sat at the window and yelled every time someone walked by or every time i heard a noise.

i decided to try making potato chips with the fry daddy again tonight-i baked them first for a bit and then tried, but they still came out soggy. boo. the new neighbors probably don't like me very much and have mean nicknames... don't care. the hardest part about making chips is when ya turn around and the potato is sitting up staring at you...right before you pull out the guillotine.

tonight i was watching 'wheel of fortune' and the puzzle had gotten to _ipping down the water slide and the girl landed on a $3500 and i was sure she was going to guess the z, but she said Y..what? yipping down the water slide? really? i wish i could go on wheel and win (i wouldn't even have to be the big winner, i'd be okay with a couple thousand to pay of debt and be done with it! or an all-expense-paid trip to HONDURAS!)
"donna decorates dallas" does that sound sketchy to anyone besides me? too much alliteration to be a clean show? but it's on hgtv, so it must be ok. just sounds a little shady. i just saw a commercial for it a little earlier today.

i'm all 'news-ed out' so i think tonight it's movie night with the boys! so i gave them the choice:

guess which one they chose??? yep, we will be watching hobbits, elves, wizards and hottie strider

 thanks guys! i'll watch pride and prejudice while you're sleeping tomorrow!

 gotta go get the popcorn ready- next time you greet someone be sure not to gp sniffing or lick their face,
julie

pinky gloves-it's all the rave after foot spas

**sorry about last night, i should've given a spoiler alert!

tonight my feet are exhausted- i know i mentioned the foot bath in a previous post, but sadly i never got around to getting it down and ready. well, tonight i really felt the need to pamper myself, and i can't think of a better way than a little foot massage. thank you homedics! the best thing about it is that it was free! my parents received it as a gift and never used it, so they re-gifted it on to me.

relaxing!

hopefully the oil isn't toxic, because not only did bruno think warm water was good, he continued to lick my feet once i had dried them off

i just need to do that more often, because it really is a nice little retreat.

 i really am slightly miffed that i still have not received my canning stuff! i have some strawberries that i want to make into jam. instead i did potatoes again today so i could finish off enough to make ready-to-go scalloped potato packets.

i cut the fingers off of the plastic gloves to create 5 pinky gloves to keep it clean.

i keep a bunch of plastic gloves on hand because i like to have them around when i make certain dishes; they certainly come in handy for many things!

i think i'm going to go see super 8 sometime because it looks kinda interesting-besides, i need to try out those movie passes and see if they really work.

the boys were fighting tonight, so i gave them each their own concentration chew stick. i love it because it calms them down and they go to opposite sides of the room and forget they were fighting in the first place.  bruno has asked if he could guest write a post sometime, so i might allow him to write one tomorrow, so stay tuned!

 be sure to treat yourself this weekend!
julie

to mandolin slicer: you cut me open and i keep bleeding..

ok, i think this one is going to be interesting-i would like to start by giving you a tip:

there's my marker, but what is that white thing?

that would be the tip of my pinky.  look at that hunk of flesh!

ok. let me tell the story-you might cringe a little, but it was interesting. the game had begun and i had the 2nd batch of chicken going (which turned out quite spicy). well, after we were well into the 2nd quarter, i decided to go ahead and blanch the potatoes so i could dehydrate them (first time i've blanched something and knew that i was doing it [not blanche like golden girls]). so i had to slice the potatoes. well, i got about 5 out of the bag and washed them off, and one of them fell into the garbage disposal-no, don't cringe yet. i reached down to get it out and it is really hard to get a potato out of a disposal drain-kinda like the monkey that grabs something in the bottle and cannot get it out because his hand won't fit. well, it was a tight squeeze, but i finally got it out. that's when i put a stopper in-brilliant.

then i got the little mandolin slicer out. now, it's small but lethal. i began slicing, and when i got down toward the end i carefully finished the first potato. well, i got careless with the 2nd one and before i knew it, i felt  a slice and i knew i had cut myself. it began bleeding so badly that i couldn't actually see the cut. i rinsed it off and put pressure on it with a paper towel (perhaps a couple of choice words came out and bruno and chaco in unison, [like my students if i say the word 'stupid]' said "awww!"). i proceeded to the bathroom, put a bandaid on it and kept the paper towel on to pressure. then when i removed the paper towel, the bandaid was soaked, so i got more paper towel and continued to put pressure on it and keep it above my head. then i went back into the kitchen and picked up the slicer and there underneath it was what i thought was the tip of the potato, but then i realized it didn't have potato skin on the outside...nope. it was unmistakably my fingerprint! it really took that much off. so i guess if i ever commit a crime i'll have to be sure to just use my right pinky, and no other fingers!

 i proceeded to call my mom because i wanted to be reassured that i didn't need to go into the e.r. (my dad is prone to accidents-he likes power tools. and my mom is a nurse, so we're pretty level headed). i tried to explain to her how big the chunk was, but as i sat there staring at it, i couldn't think of anything that was the same size. maybe a baby's contact..half a lima bean? i don't know. she said just keep the pressure on (and i thought, oh, kinda like the mavs?). and she asked if i had gauze-no. note to self-get gauze if i plan on cutting myself again. done. and so i found another bandaid and put tape around it. mom asked if i could get to the e.r. if i needed to. yes, but i didn't want to because i was in the middle of blanching potatoes and finishing chicken and watching the nba finals!

by the end of our conversation, i was convinced that i would be fine. i may need some aspirin tomorrow b/c it is going to hurt like chopping off the tip of your finger! i had to change out one last bandaid which finally didn't bleed through. i think i handled it pretty well, but the dogs are so intuitive. the were following me around from the kitchen to the bathroom, to the kitchen again. i think chaco heard mom and decided i was going to be fine, but bruno (my loyal one) stayed with me wherever i was. i finally reassured him i was fine by giving him a treat of bbq chicken!

 i woke up this morning, and i knew i had to take off the bandaid to clean it. i cut it off, but it was sticking. so i turned on the water and it finally came off. and it started bleeding again, so i blotted it with the paper towel until it stopped.

this is the side view-it's official, i will forever be single now bc i hear the first thing guys notice on a girl is their pinkies. and now, mine is deformed. no perfect rounded tip anymore...

and here is the culprit-mandolin slicer! i found the attachment-life saver

 then i made my way to the cvs to get hydrogen peroxide, gauze and neosporin. then i dropped off some letters at the post office. i got home and cleaned and re-bandaged and got the dogs ready for another early morning walk...all of this before 8:30! woo!

when we got home, i decided that it would be a good idea to finish slicing potatoes to dehydrate for hash browns later on...if you fall off a horse, get back on, right? yes, i did just compare slicing a finger with falling off a horse-sorry equestrians! and then i poached the last set of chicken breasts to make curried chicken salad.

and then i decided to relax a little:

i ABSOLUTELY love this movie!! and yes, i did get razzles for the occasion-first it's candy, then it's gum!

jennifer garner is so adorable in this movie, and mark ruffalo-the ideal man.

i was planning on starting my canning today or tomorrow, but i got a call from a courier guy and he said that they had received my package, but they couldn't deliver it because i wasn't in their delivery area. so now they will ship it back to amazon to find another way to ship it...boo. i totally could've found a half way point to meet him or something.

alrighty then, if you have sharp objects in your home, invest in gauze-
julie