Snippets

My house is uncommonly calm right now. I have a homemade soup simmering on the stove, and when I sat down to do some web-browsing, Marley helped herself to a spot on the couch and Coconut took her pre-Marley post as my blogging partner by sitting on my lap and watching the cursor travel across the screen.

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Thanksgiving was pretty good this year. We feasted at my parents' house, and Alex's mom and brother joined us. My brother was home for a change (he was deployed the last two Thanksgivings), and with the exception of A's brother (who was strangely quiet and made an abrupt departure), everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

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Last Sunday we did Marley's mange treatment. She was a trooper during the bath, but I felt soooo bad sticking her soaking wet into a crate and making her air-dry. After about 30 minutes of watching her sit there and shiver, I took a hair dryer to her. (We have borrowed a space heater from my parents for next time.) She spent the next two days sleeping like a log, waking only to eat and go outsite, and her skin is still red and raw in some places. I can't believe we have to do this at least 3 more times.

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Alex's birthday was last Friday. I gave him some golf club he hasn't shut up about for the last year and a half. On Saturday night we went to Harrah's. It's not our favorite casino, but it's the only place we've ever won anything significant. We had dinner at the new McCormick & Schmick's they have there. We were both totally unimpressed-- my Fresh Seafood Mixed Grill was bland, and the risotto it was served on was tasty but mushy. Alex asked for a crabcake alongside his filet mignon, and the waitress ended up bringing him an entire crabcake entree in addition to his filet entree. He was scared to send it back for fear that someone might spit in his dessert, so that ended up costing us an extra $30. Also, we didn't really win anything.

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My cousin's Bat Mitzvah was two weeks ago. My mom made the interesting observation that no one seems to dance anymore unless it is a choreographed dance like the Cha Cha Slide. Apparently it is more about knowing the words to every song. Most of the teens just kind of bounced around in groups, yelling lyrics at each other. The high point (for me, anyway) was when my brother and Alex won the dance contest. The couples dance contest. As a couple. We also got my grandma to don a giant pink fur pimp hat and red aviator sunglasses. I have already ordered the picture of that one from the photog's website.

Productive

This weekend was a mishmash of drama and extreme laziness and actual construct...ivity(?) and luckily it was busy enough to, for a few moments anyway, take my mind off the hemorrhoid that is My Job.

The drama part began with a phone call at 6 a.m. on Saturday from my brother. He had been in a car accident on the way back from Atlantic City. His friend had fallen asleep at the wheel, the car was totaled, and because of where my brother was sitting, he endured the brunt of the crash. Thank goodness that only added up to 3 staples in his head, some whiplash, and a bunch of cuts and bruises, because from the sound of things, it could have been waaaaay worse.

So I drove the hour from my house to a hospital near AC (they hadn't made it very far) and played the part of the Good Sister, promising not to tell Mom and Dad before he did, and then screaming at him for spending 6 safe months in Iraq-- a war zone, and then coming back to New Jersey and almost killing himself. Idiot.

P.S. The most entertaining part of this whole thing was when his roommate, D, had to push their female friend, A, unscathed, sporting a hospital gown and disconnecting false eyelashes, out of the hospital in a wheelchair because she was still too drunk to walk.

When I finally returned home, 4 hours later, I slept for another 2 hours and then went to my parents' house so my mom could help me with my resume. I scored a free Omaha Steaks cheeseburger and made my way to Kelly's, where Coconut had a chance to play with her new puppy. It made me reconsider a second dog, because she had so much fun, got out so much energy, and I didn't really have to be a part of it. Then again, I would have to be a part of buying twice as much dog food, giving twice as many baths, and cleaning up twice as many "accidents." So the jury is still out on that one.

On Sunday, Alex and I worked more on the garage. This seems to be a never-ending project, as we have spend many Sundays out there, and still do not have a beautiful, HGTV worthy organized storage space. Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of the day was when we brought our bags and bags and bags (I'm not exaggerating-- there were about 20) of old clothing to the clothing drop dumpsters in the grocery store parking lot.

Ethical Question for Y'all: If you are absolutely too lazy/busy/saddled down with the loads of laundry containing clothes you are currently wearing, do you:
A. Donate bags of dirty clothes, unsensored for worn underwear, in the hopes that someone else might decide to wash them and some less fortunate people will be able to purchase your expensive, designer-but-too-small-clothing?
B. Throw everything away because otherwise someone would have to dig through your clothes, and will inevitably touch a pair of your dirty underwear, and that's just unsanitary?

Alex insisted on A. I want to state for the record that my bags of clothes were clean and contained not a pair of underwear, dirty or otherwise.

After the donation, we went grocery shopping, and I purchased the ingredients for The Last Macaroni and Cheese I am Attempting, I Swear. If this doesn't work, I am spending the rest of my life with Kraft and Mom's (when she makes it and I happen to be around).

Stay tuned-- I'll let you know how it goes.

I didn't want to get the union involved, but I had to. I have made it clear that I do not want to fight for my job. My main objective (Teacher Will Be Able To...) is to get out of there with as little damage to my reputation as possible.

Really, I'm tired of thinking and talking about this, but at the same time, I can't get it off my mind, and so it seems always to be the most natural thing to bring up in conversation. I am being constantly approached at work by people who, meaning to be supportive, want to know how I'm doing, how my week went, their thoughts on what kind of "raw deal," I got, or how the way in which I was, "screwed over is unbelievable." It's nice of them to show concern, and sometimes they do say things that make me feel slightly better ("J is wonderful, but she is having a very tough time over there."), but really? I just want it to be over.

So for now, let's move on to more cheerful topics.

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Family

My little brother made it home safely from Iraq yesterday morning! I saw him last night, and I have decided that from now on, I am going to make more of an effort to hang out with him. He has served his 4 years, and is going to start looking for another job, so it's not really the whole safety issue anymore-- it's just that we're older now, and so the years between us don't seem so significant.

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Food
Ahhh, perhaps my favorite topic of all...

I have never really been much into Indian food. I think this is mostly because I never ate it while growing up, and then in college I was turned off by the smell of it being cooked a couple doors down in my dorm. This past December, we randomly decided to spend our Jewish Christmas* in an Indian restaurant instead of a Chinese one.

I was pleasantly surpised, and ever since then I go through periods of craving. The problem is, there really aren't any good Indian delivery or take-out, or even dine-in restaurants in the immediate area.

I have found the answer in the Tandoor Chef. Tonight I had the Tandoori Naan with the Paneer Tikka Masala over some microwave-in-pouch basmati rice. I know I'm no expert, but the whole thing took 5 minutes to heat and plate, and it beat the shit out of a Hungry Man dinner. The Naan took about 3 minutes in a 400 degree oven, and came out steamy and tender, and it was the perfect scoop for the masala, which was flavorful and rich. I am stuffed after eating just half of everything, but I keep eyeing the leftovers, unsure of whether I can wait until another meal time to finish them up.

* I say this, however my Christmas was actually spent with Alex's family, which is not Jewish. They do the Christmas Day ethnic food thing anyway. The family dinner is Christmas Eve with his mom.

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TV

I don't know what I've been doing lately that's been keeping me so busy, but I have about 2 weeks worth of shows DVR'd. Since I arrived home at 2:45 today, I have watched Top Model, Grey's Anatomy, 2 episodes of Lost, American Idol, and now I'm watching SVU. All this was viewed around the 2 hour nap I took.

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Books

I just finished Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella, which was a nice, mindless and cheery way to distract myself. I have ordered Julie & Julia from the library, and will pick it up when I drop this one off. Which, by the way, I am having issues doing. My new (but not so new anymore since it's been a year since we moved in!) town is sort of city-like where it's not full of suburban neighborhoods, and so the library is on a street with parallel parking. There is a lot behind the library, but then you are forced to walk half way around the block to get to the door once you have parked. All of this, combined with my incredible laziness, has been preventing me from a speeding turn-around rate.

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TheBoy

I know I said I wasn't going to talk anymore about all the work drama, but this is really about Alex's reaction to said drama. He has never much seemed like the night-in-shining-armor type. He is usally laid back about everything, and will try to solve any concerns by telling me, "just don't worry about it." But since all of this shitty stuff happened on Monday, he has really stepped up to the plate. He has suddenly taken on this protective air, ranting about contacting the union and getting legal advice and conspiring with friends about how to best "make that asshole regret what he's done." I have never much been into the macho type, but I have to say I'm kinda liking this.

The Short of It

At my post-observation meeting yesterday, my VP said (and these are not his exact words, but rather, how it translated in my head), "If you are a teacher trying to get tenure, and you're going to the administration for help, the administration will just think, 'instead of giving her tenure, why don't we just hire someone else who already knows what to do?'"

So I guess I dug my own grave, in asking for help and all. This wasn't any kind of official meeting about next year, but I'm taking the hint and writing up my resume over spring break. I'm having my mom ask her own superintendent if it will look better to potential districts if I have resigned or if I am non-renewed, and also, how to answer the inevitable Interview Question, "Why did you decide to leave X City?"

Something tells me, "I am fucking burnt out from those kids and that district," wouldn't be appropriate.

I woke up this morning feeling all depressed, and decided that rather than sit around alone and mope all day, I'd go to my parents' house. My mom brought me coffee in my favorite Winnie the Pooh coffee cup, and my dad my dad came home from errand-running with what was perhaps the Sweetest Gesture Ever: sushi and a stuffed monkey.

I love living with Alex, but sometimes it is just so nice being Home.

can I get a Hell Yeah

... for Christine, who passed her PA Bar exam!!!! I knew she would, she is one of the smartest people I know, but she likes to walk around pretending like she needs to study and doesn't do enough of it. Whatever girl- You Rock, and you know it.

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Yesterday I took Coconut to a dog park for the first time ever. She had the best time, and loved playing with all of the other dogs (my parents' dog just runs away from her). I can't wait to take her back, but I have made the decision to wait until she is fixed. Poor little girl was humped on by every boy-dog in the place at least once. At first, we weren't sure who liked it more, but by the end, you could see that, "get off of me I have a headache" look in her eye, and she is so little that her attempts to escape their grips weren't working. However, we hung around for way longer than I planned because everytime we were about to leave, a new potential friend showed up, and she was just so happy to see everyone who walked through the gates.

Now, I am looking for some of my human friends with dogs less than 35 lbs. to join us. Borrowed dogs will work too... any takers?

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Tonight, Alex and I are going to my parents' house for "Family Dinner," which was planned by my brother. He starts a one-month training tomorrow, before leaving for Iraq. When he called to let me know about the dinner, he said, "You don't have to come, but it might be the last time you see me." I know there was an implied, "- before I leave" in there, but it still sent chills down my spine.

I don't believe in god, but if you do, or if you don't, your thoughts, prayers, whatevers, are welcome in order to send some positive energy my brother's way for a safe deployment.

Parenthood

I guess I knew when I decided to get a puppy that it would be a lot of work. What I wasn't really anticipating was the lack of sleep and the pee on the carpet 5 effing seconds after we come inside from what appeared to be a successful "out" trip.

But, in truth, she is too freaking cute to even get angry. See for yourself:


Introducting Coconut! Chillin' on the kitchen floor


In Stealth Mode under the chaise lounge at my parents' house


Still under the chair...


And STILL under the chair...


Ooh she gets SO PISSED when she gets a bath...>

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Alex and my dad are out golfing together for the second time this month. I am so glad that the two of them get along, but I kind of wonder what their conversation is like. You can't exactly have regular manly golf course chatter about boning the drink cart chick when you are with your girlfriend's father/daughter's boyfriend.

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I was bitten by one of my students (yes, again) and this time skin was broken. Work made me go to a doctor and get a tetanus shot and now I'm on a year-long blood work schedule. Man, my job is awesome.