Hard won

Things are going well today. I am going to be very busy over Spring Break, as I've decided to make a 3-destination trip over the course of that week.

I'll start by flying from here to Houston for a party! Yay for parties!

From Houston to Tampa for some fun in the sun. Yay beaches!

Then, from Tampa back to NY to rest before going back to school and work. Yay rest!

I am really excited and looking forward to my first real vacation in a long, long time. It's going to be difficult to be patient until April!


PS-For the person I spoke to today, you know who you are. Even the hardest won apology means little when it's not sincere. I shouldn't have had to ask. You owed me one just as much, if not more, than I owed you yours.

Kitty head butts

There are fewer things more loving than a kitty head butt (for those of you who don't speak feline, that means that they are marking you as either their property or a member of their family).

After a long day of dealing with insane children, I came home and sat down at my desk with the intention of looking up a phone number for the local Pizza Hut (too bad for me, there's not one that delivers to my neighborhood. Not to worry though, there are other pizzas to be had...) Lena ,jumped up on the desk, so she was eye-level with me, and proceeded to talk to me and head butt me. Simple pleasures are the best, and "fur therapy" is one of my favorites.

Everything is okay here. It's now slushy outside, since the accumulated snow from this weekend has started to melt, but besides that, it's the warmest day we've had all week.

University starts soon, so I'm psyching myself up to start class again. Just for the record... my current cumulative GPA? 3.6 baby! (Not bad for everything that's happened to me this year, huh?)

Happy Birthday to Me!

Thank you to all of you who made it especially memorable this year...

I love you guys!

Long weekend

Having a long, relaxing weekend. I'm still trying to figure out if I can go see my friend Rocio in Florida over Mid-Winter break by keeping an eye on the air fares for that week in February.

Besides that, I had a great catch-up conversation with Conner, my college roommate. I have not been keeping in touch with people as much as I'd like, so I'm trying to do better.

Doing well on my New Year's goals...I feel like I'm always trying to do a little more here and there, and it seems that it's all adding up. I need a new, smaller pair of jeans. I can really see the light at the end of my "wanting to be a little thinner" tunnel. And thanks to my new "accountability partner" (that would be Conner) I think I will be working out more often, making the whole process move even faster. It's a whole new ballgame when one has a possible trip to Florida, a wedding to be in, a high school reunion, and a prom to go to in the next six months. Talk about motivation!

My birthday is next week. Last night I had a bit of a "poor me" attack. seeing as how it will be the first birthday without my mom. But after talking to friends, I'm optimistic that everything will be okay. Rocio is actually going to be in NYC for the week, and between her and my school buddies Jodi and Janice and my Fellows Friends, it looks like I'll be partying all week.

Busy bee

Sorry I haven't posted in a long while. (Well, at least it feels like a long while...) I have been running around like crazy. The "gots-to-get organized" bug kicked in and I have been spending long hours at school on top of professional development (where they tell you all the things you're doing wrong and then adding more things for you to do), new teacher credit meetings (where they try to tell you all the things you missed the first time around because you were just trying to survive), UFT meeting (our union, where they tell you which candidates they support and the forms you've forgotten to fill out or weren't told about to begin with) on top of trying to figure out things about Mom's estate (all liquid assets are gone, yet there are still bills, and I can't sell the other house 'til July, and the bro and SIL don't want to pay their half of the house or car until they get their half of the proceeds from said unsalable house) on top of actually trying to come home (45 minutes on 3 trains), feed the girls (unsatiable piglets--just kidding--they're perfect!), myself (soooo hungry by 5 o'clock now!) and maybe get to watch a movie or tv now and then (really missing tv...where have all the good shows gone?)

Oh, yeah, and university courses begin on the 27th. Grrreat.

But speaking of tv, Alias is back on! Finally! If you're not into it, I won't bore you too much with details....let's just say that it totally rocked! The old gang is back together, and she's starting the season with some steamy scenes with the yummy Michael Vartan (who, if he happens to read this, should know that I'm available--haha).

Um, besides that, the girls are good. I added photos to their online photo album. Click here to watch them go from babies to teens to full-grown cats right before your eyes! (All with cute captions, of course!)

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/astoria_lily/my_photos

(Please let me know if this doesn't work....)

Only about 5 working months left of school!!!

Happy New Year and then some!

Happy 2005, everybody! Hope all of your celebrations were fun-filled and safe.

And to Holly, whose New Year's was especially exciting....congratulations!

Mine evening was low-key, but I think that was what was best this particular year. Earlier in the afternoon, I took myself out to lunch, and then to see Finding Neverland. Later that night, I stayed home and watched the ball drop on tv (no way I was going to Times Square!).

Neverland was an amazing film. Definitely a buyer once it comes to DVD. Johnny Depp is absolutely the most beautiful man I've ever seen. Usually, I'm not overwhelmed by someone's appearance in a movie, but I was actually distracted a couple of times by how fantastic he looks in this particular role. Add in a lilting accent, and voila, you had me at 'ello.

But, more than that, the story is really well written, with perfect jumps between the real world and the story world. The plot pulls you in from the very first moments and holds you in suspended reality the whole time. Kate Winslet is so believable as the young mother of the 4 boys who would provide inspiration for the "Darlings." Her internal conflict between wanting to stay and knowing it's not ultimately her choice resonates throughout her performance. She is such a talent.

Actually, the show was so good that not only did everyone laugh at the same spots, but there were also audible sniffles during the sadder moments and I swear, I actually heard people whisper, "I believe" when Peter says that if you believe in fairies, you must say, "I believe." (We did stop short of clapping to bring Tinkerbell back to life, but just barely!)

Best wishes for a wonderful New Year, and good luck to all of you who are going back to face youngsters on Monday morning!