How do you get a white girl to like an asian boy?

This is the question one of my very Korean boys asked me today. Guess who he likes? The problem ... I have no idea what the answer is. "But don't you know? I mean, you do like asians, right?" Yeah, I could see how he would think that I know that answer, but I don't.

I made Brigid cry today ...

... Twice. Once in the car when I didn't park in the driveway (because we ALWAYS park in the driveway). She was very tired. The second time that she cried was because once I had parked across the street from the house (the only parking available), I let her out of her car seat first. No sooner had I turned around to get Sam out of his car seat, but she runs out into the middle of the road! So I yell, "Brigid get back here NOW!!! You do NOT run into the street! You NEVER run into the street!" And she started crying for good. I apologized to her for yelling a little later, but I was very firm about the fact that she needs to always wait for an adult before ever going into the street and it doesn't matter how much she just wants to be inside her house. Poor thing, but golly she scared me! I comforted her for about five minutes, but after that I told her that she needed to calm down and stop crying. It took her about ten more minutes after that. Sam was sweet, he went up to her and said, "It's ok Bree-bree" and patted her arm a couple times. What a kind younger brother! But after the first five minutes of crying I could tell that it was just her being tired that was making her cry, plus the fact that she didn't cry unless she saw me looking at her. So I stopped looking at her until she stopped completely. Kinda mean maybe, but I after dealing with high schoolers all day long I really wasn't up for being manipulated by a 3 year-old with fake crying. She fussed a bit more when I put her down for her nap, but she was fairly ok by then. I think that I lost a few "cool aunt" points in her eyes today. Ah well, hopefully next time she won't run in the road and next time she's with me she won't get the chance.

classroom management

I've been thinking about classroom management. I think that to explain verbs I'll do a 'Fear Factor' week in class. I (the noun) will (the conjugated verb) eat bugs and break bricks and things. Breaking bricks, do you think that the mentor teacher will like that as a classroom management technique? hmm...

Breaking bricks would also work for science. We're doing physics the first half of the semester.

What else could I do for Fear Factor week? Ideas? lemme know.

a Happy day

So even though the TESOL class that I was looking at online didn't work out this time around, I am now officially enrolled in __________ community college for a class on GIS and I am excited. Another exciting thing? The class is four units and it only costs $20 a unit!!! After the University it is quite a shock to register so easily online and so cheaply. It also just makes my heart happy to be officially going back to school after a year out of it. I love learning.

Along with that happy thought, the cool cool very awesome stuff that I learned from the nice NASA scientists at that Science Teacher's convention a few months ago that got me so excited about astronomy? (and yes, I am still buying books, studying, and ordering cool videos on it). That exact info and even the exact same photographs were on the second page of the California section of the L.A. Times today. They are just now making news. For the second time in my life I have known something before the newspapers, and for the first, I appreciated it.

I just love knowing stuff. And what am I going to do after this class? If TESOL doesn't work still after that, then I want to know math. Just the thought makes my heart pitter patter.

I think part of why school is so exciting to me right now is that I can finally do it now for the joy of learning, and not out of dutiful obligation or consignedness because it's the "right thing to do" or slightly crazed panic because my "career" and "prospects" depend on it. I can do it because it is one of the most beautiful joys God has given me. Thanks be to God.

Red boots and true love

I was writing a note to Josh's grandparent's yesterday, just saying hi, and I thought about love. You know that verse that says, "and my your love abound more and more with knowledge and depth of insight"? It struck me for the first time yesterday that of course having more knowledge of the person you are loving would help your love abound because if love is doing what is best for the person then knowing them better would allow you to be better at doing what's best.

I've been listening to the Bible on cd and I'm to Leviticus. It strikes me more and more as I listen that I really have very little clue about what most of the Bible means. It just doesn't seem to make sense to me when I hear it in big chunks. So I started attending a Sunday school class after church on Romans. I get it better when it's explained to me little by little.

I am officially dreading going back to school tomorrow. Even though I bought cool red boots today. Money really can't buy happiness, or courage for that matter. I don't know what's got my goat so much about going back to school. It really oughtn't be that bad. I like the people there. Maybe it's still just a left over gut-reaction from when I was attending school as a student. That horrible after-the-holiday voice screaming to let me just have one more day to sleep in! I wish.

Ah well, maybe going back will help me be more loving and productive. And hopefully help me to make the time fly until Josh's next shift change. Good news though? In the next two months I have 3 Mondays off. That's 3 whole days that I'll get to see Josh.

That's something that I was thinking of in Church this morning. How now since Josh and I only ever get a few hours together here and there, how precious our time together is and how petty some of the stuff we fought over was. When we see each other now it's just a delight, and I spend a lot of time thinking about how great it will be to see him and then appreciating it afterwards. (Not that we aren't both still really sinful, but it's easier to have perspective on it). Maybe I've gone all sappy, but I was thinking that maybe that's part of why God, even though he's present all the time, doesn't allow himself to be felt by us all the time. Because then we miss him, look for him, anticipate his presence, and treasure him that much more when he does show up. If that is true, I don't think it reflects badly on God for not always making himself felt, but it reflects poorly on us for not always appreciating his goodness when he makes himself known. Absence doesn't always make the heart grow fonder, but when it's real love it does. Absence makes the heart grow wiser, and appreciate more what the heart really has instead of taking it for granted.