Merry Christmas

Where we are...

So after layoffs, confusions, and some hustling. I am back at LAUSD. I am now the Response to Instruction and Intervention Expert. Well the title is mucho misleading because I am no expert. Its been a really interesting learning experience working at the Local District level. The biggest adjustment is working with adults. First job I ever had that actually requires me to depend on another person. Its not so fun. Who knows how long this is going to last. With another terrible budget year, I am on the chopping block again. I just need to make it to the first day of my third year.

Another exciting part of my job is that some of the neighborhoods the schools are in are pretty tough. My favorite is getting chased by small dogs.

Baby Lets Wait Program for Adults

We really love our dogs, to the point that we have to control our urge to talk incessantly about them. mean look at them, how can you not? Because we feel we are so successful as dog owners (minus the pooh eating) we often feel we are ready for children. And then we went to one of these:


Our friend's daughter's 6th bday party. They were having so much fun, but my god, the noise and the chaos! There were just so many of them and so few of us! It really made us realize how unprepared we were for parenthood.

Compton

No matter what people think or say about "ghettos" there are still human beings living there full of life and dreams.

Been working as a lead teacher at a literacy program out in Compton. When I drive through the neighborhood there are parts that fits every stereotype about Compton and then there are truths; teachers committed to teach struggling students to succeed. Teachers who care, reflect and love their jobs. Families who only want the best for their children. Its been really refreshing.

Hit and Run Nonsense

To say my life flashed before my eyes would be an exaggeration especially since it would of been blurry because the air bag blew my glasses off my face into the backseat. Thursday morning I was was tboned by a green Saturn or Pontiac and lost control and hit a telephone poll. Not a small one, but the big brown ones that people post Lost Pet Flyers. And the fool who hit me left! There were lots of good Samaritans around leaving me their numbers telling me that I was not at fault. The car looked pretty wrecked, my 2007 Honda Accord. The fireman was pretty impressed that I walked away with bruises. BUT to top off my moment one of the witnesses asked me if I spoke english...sigh....

Got the news yesterday from the insurance company that my car is total loss and we only have three days of rental left. And to top if off, because they couldn't catch the person who hit me, my uninsured motorist insurance doesn't work because there is no proof that she didn't have insurance. Really..no....really....

Because of the above reality I have been stalking Piedmont and Ave 59 everyday. Walking by looking at every dark green car for visible bumper damage. Curse you hit and run driver! So if you live in the HP neighborhood...keep an eye out for a dark green Saturn or Pontiac or Gram Am (I didn't have my glasses on, see above explaination) right bumper light and paint completely gone. They left that behind on Thursday. Okay enough ranting..

Jordan a future grafitti artitst?

It was a chilly morning at the LA Book Festival. But always worth the long drive (well especially because my sister drives and I snooze in the back) They had a wall where you could write the book you are currently reading. What a great way to share the love of books.

Post Wedding Thoughts

This may be the last post I will ever write about weddings. Its funny though, I still troll some of the wedding blogs but inevitably the desire is fading fast. Three things I loved most about my wedding:
1. Small, reflection, photobooth.
Everyone wanted to know why I didn't tear up when I saw Mike choke up during our vows. Honestly I don't know why, except I was just really happy that day. My entire mentality was about what a great party and fun day I was going to have. I already know how much he loves me, one of the reason I wanted to have a wedding was that I wanted to share that love and happiness with everyone else. Cheesy I know...anyhow here are some pictures from our wedding. Who knew my laugh was so big!

Oh Kogi Truck...will it be better the second time?

I drove home on Eagle Rock and saw the Kogi truck again...
Last time we waited 1 hr and 45 minutes for



It was rather disappointing, the sauce was sweet, a little spicy but you couldn't tell which was pork, chicken or beef. Call me picky eater but I like to taste the meat I am eating. BUT
should I treat it like dating...three is the charm? Was the first time just awkward because we really didn't get to know each other and we just didn't have enough time? There must be a reason why there are 50 people standing in line for an invisible truck? (When I drove by there were was a huge line and the truck didn't even arrive yet)

I did it

So now what am I suppose to do with all the DIY crap?

Weepy

The other day I was driving home and started to think about what I might say to my students on the last week of school. How do you say goodbye when you don't want to?

wedding in 10 days!

Today I took a mental health day from work. I needed it to run the last minute errands for the wedding. I finally sat down and thought about my vows. I am not sure where to begin? I thought about what I might want to say:

How I knew he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with?
What I love most about him?
What are my promises?

Am I suppose to memorize this? Of course in the process of trying to write my vows I got totally distracted by this:

I'm 1 of the 8,800 Pinked Slipped

Sigh..just when I thought things were turning around... I got pink slipped. Okay so it wasn't really news, since I have been working with my school site union on actions since January. I will be waiting anxiously to see if some one is going to bump me out of a job. To add insult to injury, if I get bumped by an administrator/bureaucrat they will still be making their $150000 salary. Jesus, that is enough for three newer teachers that are getting laid off. The madness!
Mike, was offered a job and it might be me looking for a job in a few months. So I can feel blessed by that, but everytime I head down to the district downtown office I can feel the rage boiling up inside me. They spent more money on security than the federal reserve. Why do they need that many police officers, clerks, and high tech badge shit! Okay now I am ranting.

On a lighter note...well more inspirational note...
I went to the protest to disrupt the Board vote to allow the RIF (lay off ) letters. And as we were chatting our No Budget Cut No More...we see a busload of students from CEJ arrive. It was awesome. It was great to see the support the students and community members. I am even in the LA Times.

If you look at the top right, next to the woman with the sunglasses, that is the back of my head. And directly across from me is my colleague who is also getting pinked, Jimenez. Its our 10 second of fame.

For my valentine one week late..

The DIY mania

Even though we are planning for the wedding, it feels like we are falling into a routine. Although there is only two months left to our big day! We invited our wedding party over for a breakfast brunch. It was nice to introduce them to each other instead of meeting for the first time at the rehearsal. We also needed nimble hands to put together our programs. After hours of cutting and cutting and cutting here is our final product:

Mike and I have been going to Michael's every week for their make your own sale 40% to get materials for the wedding. That is how we scored our invitations to about 50 cent each. We also decided to give our lovely flower girl this:

We figured she will be running around like a four year old should and this would be durable. And she can play with it. Fake flowers are tacky? It cost me $4 to put it together and wrap brown ribbon around it.








My final DIY test run is my mason jar idea: Wrapped some brown and pink ribbons around a $1.89 jar. I will fill it with flowers from the whole sale district (picture right next to it). So the total cost for the center piece should be about $15. Plus I have find some votive candles. Question:Should we add our monogram somewhere on the jar or leave it be?