The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

Tonight I'm ruminating on what it's like to go home after having been away. It is awesome, but difficult. I spent so much time with my family, and (for the most part) it was a big lovefest because we miss each other. I was so happy to see them, but so sad to get back on the plane and leave. But at the same time, I'm happy here in Phoenix. It's very weird and complicated for me since I've never been away from home like this before, even for college. My trip started out with Ryan picking me up from the airport Tuesday night. I got in late and he had to leave early in the morning for Pittsburgh, but we wanted to see each other since he'll be in Pittsburgh when I'm home for Christmas. I told him I love dramatic reunions, so we would need to run towards each other, and then he'd have to pick me up and spin me around. I said this fully expecting him to tease me and call me gay, but he just said, "I don't know, I might just tackle you instead. I really

(as Peter Griffin would say). 1. I was watching the local news tonight. There was a story about a man who needs a liver transplant. Another family member's dying wish was that her liver be donated to this man. He is married with four little girls. But there was some kind of insurance mix up, and the hospital said, unless you come up with $200,000 right now, the liver goes to someone else. And it did. People are upset, and the governor says we should blame Obama and his Obamacare. Then the news showed a viewer comment from Facebook, saying that since the man had a translator, he was most likely here illegally and didn't deserve the liver. Seriously? I was livid. Of course, if he was here illegally, that's not right. But here's my solution to that- give him the liver. Let him live. Then worry about all that stuff. Of course he should have to pay the bill, and if he's here illegally, he should have to go back to where he came from. But a father's li

Seventh hour has gone horribly wrong. My top honors class has found it necessary to adopt Vegas's motto. Last week I did a mini-lesson on determining importance and showed "Seasons of Love" from Rent. The kids begged to see another song, and since we had a little extra time, and it was the end of the day, I attempted to show them one of my other favorites, "Another Day." The song that precedes this is "Out Tonight," in which Mimi is working at the strip club. Of course, that was the song that was at the beginning of the chapter, so the kids saw a good 10 seconds of Mimi working the pole before I was able to turn it off. Now, the movie is PG-13, so it's not like there was full nudity. It was like she was wearing a bikini. But still, she was working the pole and making some really inappropriate gestures. The boys kept saying, "This is the best day ever." At the very least, I have piqued their interest in musical theater. Yesterday

1. I want every bow on the Darlybird website. In fact, I want every piece of jewelry on the site, too. Actually, let's just say everything on the site. 2. Kurt Knudsen stars . 3. Orange slices. I'm not kidding. I ask for these every year. I have yet to get them. 4. Low hiking boots. I'm not picky. 5. The Message//REMIX Solo: An Uncommon Devotional 6. Tinkerbell Pajamas (Having trouble copying the pics) http://mgsmart.com/thermal-tinker-bell-pajamas.html OR http://www.kmart.com/shc/s/p_10151_10104_027B020901200001P?prdNo=13&blockNo=13&blockType=G13 7. Maybe some Eeyore pajamas , too. 8. Hungry girl book 9. Star earrings from Anthropologie 10. Dress from Anthropologie 11. The Lost World of Genesis . Because it's a really messed up book of the Bible, and I want to know more. 12. Season 1 of Glee 13. A trip to Disneyland. I can dream, right?

Fantasy Football has changed my life. It sounds ridiculous, I know. But it's true. I've learned so much about the game and players; I can hold my own in a conversation with the guys. At work, I always know what they're talking about on Mondays. When I meet guys, they think it's so hot that I can talk football. Last week I was watching over at my friend's house with her husband and his friends. They loved the fact that I kept checking my points on my phone. At one point, one of the guys started singing the Dayman song from Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and I jumped in with the little "Ah ah" high part, and they looked at me in awe. They were like, "You're the perfect girl." Today I was supposed to meet a guy at Dave and Busters in Tempe to watch football. I went straight from church, so I was early. When he texted and cancelled, I decided to stay and at least watch the rest of the Bears game. I pulled out my phone to check my points, and reali

The problem with Phoenix is that there are too many boys. I've been wanting to go to Whiskey River (the country bar), so my friend Jenny made it a Meetup. Honestly, I was not too excited about this because I just wanted it to be a girls' night out where we could dance and meet guys. So, there were these two guys there, Derek and Tony. I've hung out with Derek before, and things have been flirty, but I'm not interested. Honestly, I just enjoy flirting. I'm terrible, I know. But I didn't think he was actually into me; I just thought he was a flirt, too. Well, Derek brought his A game last night. He got me out on the dance floor (and he is actually fun to dance with because he knows what he's doing and is a good leader), and was very touchy feely. Meanwhile, when Derek was away from the table, Tony asked if I was into Derek. I told him no, so then Tony was dancing with me and being flirty. I was less than excited about all this attention. There was, however, o

I haven't thought too much about getting married and stuff lately. There are too many other things going on. But last Sunday, Haley and her husband invited me over to watch football. They wanted to introduce me to a friend of theirs (who was actually really cool, so we'll see where that goes). But hanging out at Haley's, I looked around and realized she has exactly what I want. They live in a cute house. They go to church on Sunday mornings, then all his buddies come over for football for the rest of the day. There is lots of drinking and yelling as they run back and forth between tv's, trying not to miss anything. Their adorable 3 year-old son was running around pretending to kill people with his sword, which, of course, the guys were more than happy to play along with. They were also teaching him about football in between the killings. Haley was watching the game from the kitchen where she was baking pumpkin bread, which made the house smell delicious. It wa

Can I just take a minute to whine and complain? Things That Are Pissing Me Off Today 1. Got to school this morning and was greeted with the news that a coworker was saying rude things about me and another teacher in front of students. It's a long story and it's something really stupid, but my friend (the other teacher) was really pissed and sent her this email that basically says "say it to my face." It was a somewhat confrontational email and my name was mentioned, so now I'm unwillingly being drawn into this drama. What makes it worse is that this teacher I don't like is (inappropriately) close to the principal, so I'm sure he's hearing all about. Maybe being texted about it at 2 a.m. Cuz you know, apparently that happens regularly between those two. 2. We have a new student with the ED label who shouldn't even be at our school because none of us are legally trained to take him down when he gets out of control. He called the Special Ed t