Horror!

Egads! Wanting to learn a second language is something that white people do!

But I'd still like to...

Goals

You may think that I've gone all Bucket List or Last Lecture, or maybe that I've taken a cue from the cute little boxes of Strident gum that list 20 things that are on the "to do" list (including 1) find Nessie 2) bowl a perfect 300 3) swim underwater until your face puckers), but I've set a few goals for myself. Things I want to accomplish in my life. Childhood dreams that somehow take a back seat when you become an adult with a family & a career. I think finishing the half-marathon was what has led me to believe that I can accomplish anything on my to do list. Most recent on my list are the following: 1) audition for and perform in a play (or a movie, or anything that requires acting beyond the teacher show I put on for my students on a daily basis)
2) learn to speak Spanish fluently

What do you want to do?

To the Nines

I have never been, let's say, a fashion icon. I have and pretty much do dress simply. I don't have a talent for putting pieces together in some snazzy, eye-catching way. Sometimes I secretly wish for some makeover show to ambush me and fix me. After living 30 years and never having that experience once, I have learned to adapt more and find little tricks to help me with my handicap.

Ever the English teacher, I feel that I need to cite my sources.

The other day someone noticed a nice sweater/undershirt combo. Works Cited: Gap Mannequin at Censored for Safety Mall.

The eighties-ish bangs that I now sport. Works Cited: English teacher at my school who looks oh-so-cute with her full-on set of bangs.

That little vest number with the rolled up jeans and boots. Works Consulted: Out-of-town visiting sister.

And the fashion du jour, a scarf wrapped around my neck (not for warmth, but for style). Works Cited: sister in Germany who found it, boxed it and sent it overseas to me.

Random

What a week! Here are a few things that have run through my stream of consciousness this week:

1. While watching the HBO series "The Wire" and sipping a latte (two things, by the way, that white people like), one of the characters offered up the old adage, "Heavy is the head that wears the crown." That got me to thinking--as a show mostly about running the business and busting mid-level drug dealers will do--about life today. We elected a new president who will inherit quite a bit--war, a bad reputation in the global community, a tanked economy, foreign threats......and the hopes of Americans that, "Yes we can!" It's no wonder President (elect) Obama wants to hit the ground running. Props to W for (at least seemingly) working toward easing the transition.
2. Speaking of P (elect) Obama, the boyfriend of a friend of mine has been working writing some of O's speeches and talking points. He has spoken to Obama directly. That makes me, like, two degrees removed from the head honcho himself, right?
3. Some people feel the need to get the last word in an argument. I am just such a person. I wish I was bigger than that, but it's one of my vices. So, for better or worse, allow me to say one last thing...if you've never had a conversation with someone, you're hardly qualified to comment about what someone has or hasn't been through in their "young" life.
4. Having completed the half-marathon, I am now running purely because somewhere along the way I started to enjoy it. That and I want to be in shape. Somehow, it's freeing not to "have" to put in a certain number of miles.
   
5. My two-year-old started taking showers. What? When did he change from a toddler to little man?
   
6. In other "time flies" news, my daughter is walking about 90% of the time.
   
7. I am now addicted to lattes. Don't know when it took me by such force (maybe coffee coolers are a gateway drug?), but now I get it.
8. I remember reading the books in the series "The Babysitters Club" and getting inspired to be a great babysitter. I made myself available to all for a cheap price (until I lived in Chicago, then I was like, $5/hr/kid or it's not worth my time). Where have all the babysitters gone? (Mayhaps they are reading about vampires these days and are no longer interested in babysitting?) I just want to go see a movie and maybe go out to dinner without having to eat in shifts and do a song and dance for the kids. There are times when I really wish I lived closer to family.
9. Due to a pre-Christmas gift of money, we now have a new computer. No more playing solitaire while I'm waiting for a page to load.
   

Gotta go...I'm jonesin' for a latte....

America

Today I saw
scrubs, paint-splattered jeans, suits, sweats, athletic sandals without socks, high heels, designer skirts, purses, walking canes, children slung on hips, children crawling on the floor, children peering over their parents' shoulders, high school seniors, senior citizens, middle-aged folks, overalls, uniforms, people with scarves on their heads, people of Latino, Asian, African, Middle-Eastern, and European ancestry, short people, tall people, people with curly hair, straight hair, coarse hair, fine hair, hair-sprayed hair, brown, black, blonde, red, blue hair, tatoos, piercings, be-jeweled people, bespectacled people, balding people, people in wheelchairs, people with walkers, people with running shoes, people of all skin tones and colors...
Today I saw
Americans.

And I was proud.

I Spy

Last night I saw....

• Gas for $1.99 at three different stations.
• Someone run from his car up to the hill next to the interstate so that he could pee in the trees. There was a major traffic jam and when you've got to go, you've got to go!
  
• My two-year-old in absolute ecstasy because he rode his first amusement park ride: a Dora the Explorer bus that went up and down in the air.
  

Halloween Tips

Halloween tips from a two-year-old:

#1. Find something fun to do while you're waiting for it to get dark enough to trick-or-treat. Example: shooting bubbles at your sister.

#2. Change into your costume. Make sure sister goes first just to check it all out before you totally buy in.


#3. Show off your costume's accessories. Tails and stingers are especially fun.

#4. Invite friends over for photo op & showing off.



#5. Practice saying "trick-or-treat" while Mom is busy with sis and sis's friend. Laugh at the two drunken sailors dressed up as a bumble bee and a pumpkin.

#6. Start at the next door neighbor's house who is bound to give you handfuls and handfuls of candy. Say "trick or treat." Get the whole holding a bag thing figured out. Run, run, run to the next house.

#7. Watch out for the house with the live monster, scary music, and smoke. Need to hold Dad's hand for that one.

#8. Run through the street. This is the only time when Mom and Dad don't make you hold their hand; take full advantage.

#9. Try to go to twice to the house that is giving away glow sticks. Those are super fun for when you're running in the street at full speed.

#10. End the night at Chipotle with a free burrito, fall into a sugar-induced coma and sleep until 8:00 the next morning.