Bentley's Halloween Adventure

Here he is as a pumpkin! (Well, only a tshirt because the costumes were so thick and heavy I was afraid he'd sweat to death between his hair and a costume!) Although we only got a few kids, he bolted to that door (gets so excited with the doorbell!)

My vote COUNTS?!

So living in NY after turning 18, I always voted. I enjoyed it and had been taught that it was an obligation I had to my country. I agreed. However, for the 2004 presidential election, my vote really didn't matter. Whether I voted Republican or Democrat, NY was a blue state. Done deal.

Here in Virginia, however, it's a MUCH different story. A "battleground" state. A state where my vote matters and where voices can be heard, election can be swayed and history can be made. Hmmmm...what to do?!

Maybe I'll just vote for that self-admitted pothead I met during Presidential Classroom, Ralph Nader. ;)

More fun teaching moments :)

- My phone is vibrating on my desk...a student says, "Mrs. Mabb! Look! Your phone is breakdancing!"

- "I like kissing girls. My dad says I'm a lil' pimp."

- "The girls in my class think you're lucky, Mrs. Mabb" "Oh yeah, why is that?" "Because they say you have a tight man."

They're just so fun!

Mom's Visit

Had a great time with my mom here! She cooked, cleaned and spoiled us but it was a much needed break and relaxation where I was able to relax and not stress while feeling less than stellar. She's the best :)

My Visit to Johns Hopkins

Many of you know this, but I had to share for those who don't and those of you who just plain are stalking me :)

I originally had an appointment for Oct 29th but after feeling much worse very quickly, I called yesterday, cried a little, and got an appointment this morning. It was at 8:20 am which meant leaving the house at 6 am so that I could get there on time. Fun stuff!

I got there at 7:15 and the place was already filling up. I filled out paperwork and got called in around 8:30. The doctor was wonderful. She was very helpful, kind and explained everything to me (results of bloodwork, etc). No one had done that before so I was pretty clueless (except for google). She had actually heard of hypokalemic periodic paralysis, too! It was on her boards to get into the JH fellowship! So I knew I was in a great place! She did a full physical and then went and got "the man".

Dr. Melina is a lyme disease specialist (this is all he deals with). He was so warm and looked at me and said "You are going to be OK." I needed to hear that really because when you are in the pain that I was in, you have to hear that. He also did a full physical and explained what I am experiencing.

Basically, after full antibiotic treatment for lyme disease (which I had), after about 4-5 days of feeling better, you can crash, basically returning to symptoms had at the beginning of the illness. Boy, did I crash! It happens in about 75% of people they said which was surprising yet comforting. I knew that I wasn't going crazy! And better yet, I knew I was OK and that what I was feeling was OK and that the lyme disease wasn't progressing.

I have some super-ibuprofen and should be just fine. But what a great experience. Finally someone sat down with me, explained what I was going through and gave me great answers. And by "the man". :)

My Classroom

Here are some pictures I took! Yes, it's small. And it's cozy and I love it!

76?!

It's 76 here today. And I'm freezing. And I have a horrible head cold. And lyme disease still.

Oh. And a first grader told me I looked terrible. And I got marker on a nice shirt.

Funny Day

School was interesting today.

- 3 & 4 year olds playing outside my office in the common area. Teacher asks them to quiet down. For the most part, they do. Except for a few. And one child yells, "What the fuck, Tyrell?! She said be quiet."

- A student sees my Blackberry on my desk. He says, "Oh, you have a Blackberry? Well that's nothing. My mom has a Blueberry. It's a tight phone." So apparently, I'm missing out on the latest blueberry phone trend. :)

Washington DC

Driving into work today, I had a "moment" as Christie and I would say :) (Jen, too!) I was driving across the bridge over the Potomac and was taking in the Capitol and Washington Monument and said to myself, "I'm pretty lucky that I get to live near such a neat city". Some days, I take it for granted, get ticked off at tourists who walk about 2 feet per minute getting into the metro and while the doors are closing are checking out scenery and then locals don't get to catch their ride home on time!!! Ok, I'm done with that. ;)

But really, what a cool place to work. Granted, my end isn't exactly downtown, but still.

But those tourists...be prepared if you ever come to visit, that I will disown you if you act like that and don't hustle onto a train. DISOWN.

haha :)

School Rules

I LOVE my students this year. They're very enthusiastic and best of all, hilarious! A few stories:

- You know you teach in DC when you use a play money rewards system and when you begin explaining it, a first grader starts yelling explicit lyrics to a 50 Cent song.

- You know you teach in DC when you call 12 parents and 9 of them have explicit ring back tones on their phones.

- Trying to teach the 1st graders the word "grazie" from our book: "So, Italians say 'broccoli' to say thank you? Why? My mom makes me eat that stuff and it's gross." (You might need to say both words out loud to figure it out, so I've heard. ;) )

There are many more...I need to write them down each day :)