Spring Break

I had so many plans for Spring Break.  I was going to o into my classroom and CLEAN it.  I was going to organize all of those leftover handouts from lessons long ago into organized binders.  I was going to plan out at least the first part of the quarter.  I was going to go back to Zumba.  I was going to skate the rec trail at least 5 days a week.  I was going to sit by the ocean and soak it up.

Instead, I am laid up in bed with a broken ankle.  I broke my ankle at practice on Wednesday, March 9th, just ONE HOUR after Rack broke and dislocated her ankle and was taken away via ambulance.  We were scrimmaging; I went in for a good hit, knocked myself off balance, and came down on it wrong.  It was the worst pain I'd ever experienced.  One of the girls in my league is a firefighter and an EMT (see: NOT a doctor or a paramedic) and she assured me it wasn't broken.  I should have realized she wasn't qualified to tell me whether or not it was broken and gone with my gut instinct, which was that it was broken and I should have gone to the ER.  But I wanted to believe her (and I know she was just trying to help!) because a sprained ankle heals much more quickly than a broken ankle.

So, instead, I went home and spent the rest of the night in pain.  After Beans got home from work on Thursday, she took me to Urgent Care, where I was x-rayed and found that my ankle was, indeed, broken.  They gave me a gel brace, some crutches, and a list of orthopedists to call.  I went to work on Friday which sucked.  I made an appointment with the orthopedist that Monday.  He then told me I was going to need surgery.  My mom came up Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, I had surgery.  They put in a plate and 4 screws.

My mom left today and I've felt very sad and lonely without her.  It's funny, I was so looking forward to Spring Break, to being able to lay in bed and do nothing, and now that I can, I'm terribly lonely.  The difference though, is that before I broke my ankle, it was a choice to lay in bed and do nothing, and now I basically have no other option.

My friends and derby sisters have been great.  I am so thankful to have them, but it's not the same as having your mommy there. 

This weekend, our travel team, The Beasts of Eden, have our first away game ever.  I'm extremely bummed about not playing in the game, but I am excited to be the bench coach.  I only got to play one game this season, and now I'm out for 12 weeks.  I really, really hope that I will be able to at least play in one more game before the season ends.

I am not looking forward to going back to work on crutches. Crutches are whack.  But I am not going to let this injury take me out of derby.  I will heal and I'll be back on skates again in no time!

I was featured on Sometimes Sweet!

I know I am terrible at updating this blog, but perhaps that will change for a bit seeing as how I am laid up in bed with a broken ankle--had surgery yesterday morning.  That's besides the point.  The point is that I submitted my own "A Slice Of..." feature to the lovely Danielle over at Sometimes Sweet (one of my favorite blogs of all time) and it was posted today!!! 

Check it out!
http://sometimessweet.blogspot.com/2011/03/slice-ofmonterey-ca.html

Also---tumblr

I also have a tumblr---follow me-- http://xlitteredshorex.tumblr.com/  :)

Gorgeous Saturday

Oh hi there!  So despite my superstitions regarding 2011, it seems that this year is off to a really good start!  Home teams were announced and I am on the team I wanted to be on (Babes of Wrath just sounds so much more fierce than Cannery Rollers--though both are rad names), even though I feel that their team is stacked compared to ours.  Aaaaand, I made the All-Star Travel Team!  In addition to that, my 7th graders are still pretty cool, and there's a chance they're switching my 4/5th period class from the stupid scripted program to a transitional 7th grade class that uses the core curriculum.  SCORE!  I was also appointed as the head Fresh Meat coach for the league :)  And and AND I have three TA's this semester, so I have less work to grade--only the really important assignments.

Despite the grading I have looming over me at the moment, I am in a cheery mood. I woke up and went on a 7 mile skate with some of my girls along the coastal rec trail under a gorgeous sun and beautiful weather, had a good lunch with my Fresh Meat committee, shopped a little with Rack, and really just enjoyed this gorgeous Saturday.  Later, I'm going salsa dancing for the first time to celebrate the birthdays of two of my derby girls. I hope you all are enjoying your weekends just as much <3

Welcome, 2011

I'm superstitious about some silly things, and I have this weird thing where I believe that January 1st is sort of a microcosm of what how the year will go.  I know it's silly, but I can't help but enter 2011 with trepidation because I spent January 1st in bed.  I've been sick since Tuesday, off and on.  I've had weird stomach pains and I'm not sure what is causing them.  I hope this isn't a sign of things to come this year.  I really, truly hope that 2011 is awesome.  I haven't had an "awesome" year in a while.  I have a teacher work day tomorrow and the kids come back Tuesday.  I'm really not looking forward to it, though I did find that I missed most of my students over this break.

I do already know that there will be some positive points this year:  we're forming home teams and are going to have our first derby season!  I also got new skates for Christmas and will be breaking them in!

Some things I'm all about right now:  Ben Harper, The Big Bang Theory, and Butternut Squash soup.  And the nerd in me is smiling at the alliteration in that list :)

5 1/2 Instructional Days Until Break

I have had the worst week.  Most of it was directly related to the worst student I've ever had.  I have a student who has the worst attitude ever and is downright cruel to me.  She refuses to speak to me in any tone other than one that is just absolutely downright mean.  She doesn't like me (for no good reason as I am the easiest teacher to get along with) and she keeps me aware of it for two hours a day, five days a week.  The funny thing is that she does all her work, has an A in my class, and doesn't have the kind of behavior problems associated with a typical problem child.  I have been cussed out by students more times than I can count.  I have some of the most dreaded students in the school, all in the same class, who do nothing but talk the whole two hours and don't do any work, but I don't even flinch with those kids.  Those kids I can deal with, because it wasn't personal.  They still liked me.  They knew I was on their side, and they felt safe with me.  This girl doesn't like me.  It's personal with her and I"m not sure why.  I've never, in my 3 years of teaching been disliked by a student and I'm not sure how to deal with it.  I know this sounds really petty and wahwah.  I don't want her to see me as a friend or anything.  I just don't understand why she has such issues with me without having any reason to.  I'm sure I'll never get an answer.  I would be okay with the her not liking me thing, if she kept it to herself.
    Even if I just ask them to open their books, she has some kind of comment to make under her breath, "Ugh! Oh my god! I hate this class!"  All.  The.  Time.  I had finally had enough of her the other day and wrote her a referral.  Here is an example of everything she did in just ONE day:
Speaks to me in a disrespectful tone, daily.
Was asked to stop throwing paper balls from her seat into trash can.  Twice.  Didn't comply.  Detention assigned.
Continued to yell across the room to friends.
After the bell rang for 7th period and she was supposed to be in class (not mine), she came in with another student, disrupted my class, and erased her name from the detention list and left.
After school, asked twice to clear the parking lot and she didn't listen.  After the third time, she walked as slowly as possible.

So the assistant principal calls her in during my class the next day to issue the consequence (lunch detention till Xmas--HA!) and she comes back and wants to get into it with me about why I wrote her the referral in the first place.  I told her it was because she was disrespectful to me every day and she barked back, "THEN DON'T TALK TO ME!"  I told her that I'm her teacher and I have to talk to her, but that she needs to treat me with some respect.  She rolled her eyes and did another "Oh my god!" 

I seriously dread seeing her on a daily basis.  That's how much she ruins my day.  I'm so done with her.  Thank god she's moving to a different English class after the Winter Break.

My new feet.

Tonight a few of us headed up to San Jose to take a speed skating class from a World Champion Speed Skater.  We were hoping to get some tips on upping our speed and fine tuning our form.  As Nastassia talked about skating, I was rolling around a little, and taking some grapevine steps while I listened.  It was then that I looked down at my feet at my cheap, red, Reidell Diablo skates and was filled with a sense of calm.  I wondered: when had my skates become an extension of my feet?  I've been comfortable on skates for months, but I supposed I didn't realize they'd somehow become a part of me.  I feel like I can do anything in skates now, and be comfortable (short of going down an EXTREMELY steep hill, or maybe driving a car.  Anything standing, really).  It was a pretty neat feeling knowing that I've dedicated so much of my blood and sweat (and MONEY) to derby, and not only gain confidence and improve my skating skills, but to truly develop this new life.  My skates may be cheap, bottom of the line, and made of synthetic materials, but that means little to me because when I see my skates, I see: freedom, speed, expression, stress release, happiness, family, sisters, smiles, sweat, strength, and beauty.  They're better than any mirror you could ever put in front of me because they show me what's inside as well as outside.