jump for joy

tomorrow calls the end to a week of vacation. i won't lie, i thoroughly enjoyed my break. as a student you never realize that teachers look forward to time off from school just as much as, if not more than, students do. i spent my time off playing with the steady trickle of friends that poured into lubbock. i often get the feeling that my friends and i are weird in the way we all reunite at holiday time, but i like it. however, it still is funny when i run into people i was in no way expecting to see. a perfect example......

thursday night we made our way up to fox and hound knowing that because it was basically the only bar open in lubbock, we would surely see a plethora of lhs kids. i saddled up to the bar to order our drinks and glanced around for familiar faces. a guy a couple of people down from me smiled and said hello. i gave him an awkward smile/wave and immediately turned to tess. i knew i was supposed to know him and he looked slightly like a guy i dated right before my freshman year in college. we walked off, i racked my brain for a few minutes and then promptly forgot the incident.

when i was making my way back from potty break with tess the guy called my name and grabbed my arm. first thing out of his mouth: "sorry i was such an asshole." yep, most definitely matt. the last time i had seen him was 5 years ago when i was standing on his front porch listening to him tell me i should leave. i won't lie, it was very lovely that he felt enough remorse to apologize all these years later. however, i told him it was no big deal, that it was years behind us and simply walked off with a little more strut in my stride.

every tool is a weapon if you hold it just right

you know those stories you hear that make you say "that doesn't happen. people don't really do those things"? yeah, well apparently those stories are my life. you may remember that my car was totalled while innocently parked in front of my college station home a year and a half ago. seriously, when does that happen? well, now i have a new tale to add to the list.

living in lubbock with my parents means that most of my worldly belongings are in storage. correction: were in storage. you know, until some crazy man decided to "give" it all away. a friend of a friend of my dad was letting me keep my stuff in her office garage downtown. so the aforementioned friend has a crazy son who got into the garage and "donated" all of my things to charity. personally, i don't buy the whole act of good will bullshit. shady family members tend to hustle not donate.

but the point is, the vast majority of the things i once owned are suddenly gone. currently the most upsetting thing is that my winter clothes are no longer existent. maybe if i lived somewhere that isn't in the lower 30s/upper 20s in the morning it wouldn't be such a big deal. but yeah. so that blows.

good news is i talked to an attorney (which in and of itself is odd because he's 27 and silly as hell) tonight who told me i can totally sue the crap out of the guy if he doesn't find a way to pay me back. suh-weet. look for me on judge judy.

completely different matter: one of my girls came up to me today and said "miss mahan, i want to show you something." she promptly pulled out a sonogram. man oh man is this job interesting.

sorry this was completely uneloquent and unfunny. deal.

gig them

Gig them
Originally uploaded by marmahan.



Fratastic
Originally uploaded by marmahan.

Aggie spirit all night long
Originally uploaded by marmahan.

i pretended to have school spirit this weekend. felt like freshman/sophomore year of college.

i should've worn pants

today i had my first up close and personal teacher experience with a fight. back in junior high and high school fights were the highlight of my day. i learned today that it's VERY different when you're on the other side of the situation.

towards the beginning of class i saw two of my kids gesturing towards the door with the universal "what's up bitch, let's go" signs. you know, arms up in the air, shoulders shrugging, neck bobbing out like a turtle. one of my kids has had a history of older guys harrassing him, so i decided to investigate. i stepped into the hall and called to the boys. yellow shirt boy (from here out to be referred to as YSB) whipped around and began violently yelling at me. now, i may be small and look like a nice person, but i do NOT handle confrontation well, especially when it comes from kids like YSB. i fired back at him that he WOULD stay where he was and that we were going to visit with a principal together.

as i started to make my way down to YSB, my student came out into the hall to explain that he didn't rat the guys out. YSB turned his rage from me to my student. right about then the mother hen in came out in full force. pushing my kid back in the room with one hand while telling YSB to back off, i could feel the rage building inside me. my kids may be brats and thugs at times, but nobody will mess with them while i'm around. with my babies tucked safely away back in 114, i turned to find the assistant principal yelling at YSB. the kid just didn't know when to quit and his anger just kept feeding on itself. my principal called the police officer who was conveniently located in the office next door. i returned to my classroom shaking and basically speechless. my kids asked if i was scared and i respsonded "no, i'm just really pissed."

to be completely honest, there was a slight moment of panic when i realized that i was about to hold apart 2 kids who were about 6" taller than i. however, i'm pretty proud that i kept my composure and didn't back down from the little punk.

more than anything, today made me think about the state of american education. violence in schools isn't limited to the inner city. teachers everywhere deal with the reality of a lack of physical saftey every day. it isn't enough that i have to broaden their horizons and fill their little noggins with knowledge, i also have to try and make sure they don't kill each other. pray for us all.