overheard at dinner

mark has 2 nieces. they are 5 1/2 and almost 3. they are awesome. also, they are expecting another sibling to join their family soon, so babies are a big topic of conversation at their house.

below, an excerpt of a conversation between mark and the 3 year old this evening.

e: "mark, you have a big tummy."

m: "um, okay. i guess i do."

e: "maybe there is a baby in there!"

kids are the best.

why i live in california

this morning's haul from the farmers' market:

baby spinach
salad greens
regular kale
dinosaur kale
rainbow chard
snap peas
asparagus
basil
cilantro
blueberries
strawberries
peaches
cherries
carrots
clover sprouts
sprouted bean mix
string beans
raw collard veggie wraps

all local, all organic. hooray.

we also split a bavarian pretzel-croissant. and we tried "apriums"- half apricot, half plum. there was actual jumping up and down with glee when i saw the blueberry lady. mark had to steer me away from buying a flat of 24 pints of blueberries. i settled on 3 pints. i figure that will hold me until next saturday.

i think we might be moving into an era of more nutritiousness around here. after our week of takeout last week. i'm dreaming of fritattas.

ten things i love

1. the kids rocking out to phil collins cds
2. passing notes to the second grade teacher
3. watching the nest-building cliff swallows that have taken up residence in the eaves of the school roof
4. the "is a square a rectangle?" discussion (this is a hotly debated topic in first grade)
5. handmade drawings and notes that say things like "i like you because you don't yell too much."
6. reading the pigeon books
7. singing we shall overcome near dr. king's birthday each year
8. hearing gems like, "guess what? i was born on may 16 and my birthday is may 16! isn't that a coincidence?"
9. national poetry month
10. fresh crayons

ten things i will not miss

1. teaching p.e.
2. staff meetings that drag on...
3. "can you open this? can you tie my shoe? my nose is running! i'm bleeding! i can't find my special pencil! but i don't like this lunch. math hurts my feelings! they won't let me play! where is my book box? i don't get it! i'm done! what do i do now?"
4. the feeling that i could/should always, always be doing better than i am (i'm afraid this one may not be teaching-specific)
5. being talked to by 15 people at the same time
6. sneaky kids
7. parents who say, "no, we don't know where her homework folder is and we really can't bring it back each friday like everyone else does, but actually her homework is too easy anyway and can you make harder homework just for her?"
8. colleagues who don't actually like children very much
9. getting sneezed/spit on
10. the pay
    

my new motto

go easy. be gentle.

(we'll see how long this lasts)

wise words

from sarah today:

stalled out

ici ice cream in berkeley. hand-rolled cones filled with chocolate. yum.

a few things:

one: i came across this on a blog today. the blog is design for mankind which looks like an interesting blog but i really haven't looked at it yet. but i loved what it says when you open the page:

because beauty lies in the details of design. in the pencil shavings, in the blueberry waffles. the vintage dress, framed portrait, old postcard.

i love this.

two: i am feeling low. i am in the midst of having big lofty ideas and plans and feeling like none of them are working out. pooh. and why when i feel lousy do i do things that make me feel worse (cookie-eating, laying about, watching bad tv, not bringing lunch to school) rather than better (exercise, drinking water, making colorful delicious salads, cutting out noise)?

three: i really want a strawberry cone from ici. haven't had one yet. i'm told that perhaps there will be one in my future tonight. i'm looking forward to it. last time at ici i had the chocolate salted almond ice cream. delightful.