Tha Crossroads...

Yes my lovelies, I am at a crossroads. Not the Bone-Thugs-N-Harmony, Dead-Uncle-Charles, Devil--Is-Really-A-Diesel-Angel kind, but in the career-and-life-path kind.

Ugh. The truth is...I do not know what to do! I know, I can be a wee bit indecisive at times (Ahem!Did I hear a snort from one of you?? Yeah. I thought so.) Anyway, I also happen to cringe at the thought of change. So...even though I'm not exactly happy where I am, the thought of change is like...WHOA! I've been at the same place for five years, and for someone who doesn't like change, I sure have done a lot of it in these five years. Yet...the crossroads is here, and I am looking to see which direction I should take. But at rough as it is now, I wouldn't trade the past five years for anything.

So I bring to you...The Top 5 Things About My Time at JA

1. The PEOPLE. I have met some of the most awesome people at this place. Some of those people I only knew a short time, others are relationships I will treasure forever. :-)

2. The street cred. Hell yeah it feels badass to be able to describe what I do for a living, and where I do it. Call it a Napoleon complex, but I like the toughness image it gives me. It's like Dangerous Minds but without Coolio. Or Weird Al Yankovic.

3. The experience with those damn Regents exams! Teaching Regents courses intimidated the hell out of me when I started, but I've actually developed a bit of a knack for it. Not bad.

4. The kids. Yes, some of them made me want to quit, pull my hair out, and join a nunnery all at once. But others were pretty awesome kids who will hopefully go on to become pretty awesome adults. Those are the ones I like to focus on.

and finally...

5. THE PEOPLE. I had to mention you guys again, because there were so many days that you made coming to work worthwhile. In the past five years I have laughed and cried and sang and danced and complained and hated and loved with you. We ate (okay I ate) and drank (okay, that was mostly you guys). Some relationships started, while others ended. New babies were born, and we had to say some tearful goodbyes. We visited each other's homes, met each other's families, became staples in each other's lives. If I stay at JA or not...and if you stay there or not...I am glad and proud to have spent this time with you and I hope the memories won't stay within the confines of the school building, but rather continue in our actual lives. Thanks for it all.

Wow I suck at this...

Heylo party people. Since SOOOOO many people have been requesting that I dust off the ol' blogarooni and post something in here...well, here ya go. Happy now?

Okay, nobody requested that. I was just bored and happened to remember I had a blog. But I like thinking I have fans...makes me feel important.

Anyway...since this blog seems to be a bit list-heavy, I thought I'd continue the trend. Also...since I suck so badly at remembering to post a blog, I thought I'd keep that theme going and make the list about...

Top Five Things I Suck At

(This should be GREAT for the ol' self-esteem!)

1. Making Indian food. I don't know what it is about garam masala & me but we just can NOT work together in peace and harmony. I want soooo badly to make chicken tikka masala in the comfort of my own home, but every time I try, the results get worse. This was a doomed love affair that was never meant to be.

2. Hacky sack. I spent the better part of my high school years hacky sacking. I wanted to hear "hey...that chick that rocks at hacky sack" as I walked through the hallways, strutting my stuff. Okay, I don't really strut, nor do I have "stuff," but you get the idea. Alas, it was not to be. I'll get maybe two or three good kicks in a round, but that's where the dream ends...

3. Navigating. If you know me at all, I'm sure you'll agree. My sense of direction is so bad that...I don't even know where I'm going with this.

Get it???

"Where I'm going..."

Is this thing on??? *tap tap tap*

Annnnnyway, back to our regularly scheduled list-

4. Swimming. To be fair, I think I COULD be good at this if I was willing to submerge my head in water, but alas...I am not. I DID, however, take a class that markedly improved my skills in this area. Shout out to Passionately Random, my partner-in-swimming-crime! http://passionatelyrandom.blogspot.com

5. Demo lessons. They freak me out! I hate having someone watch me, judge me when teaching. The lesson planning process alone for a demo lesson is enough to send me into a panic attack. Good thing I'm not applying to get a new job anytime soon.

...or AM I???

Anyhow, there's my list. Just to add, I actually started this list May 22, and only got back to it today...proving that I suck at posting on this blog above all else. In addition, I KNOW I had more interesting things to write about back then, but I can't remember them for the life of me. I still felt the need to wrap this baby up, so here it is. My half-assed blog entry...my first in 2011...but hopefully not the only.

But I make no guarantees. I know, I suck.