The Adventures of Kinky Reggae: A Vagabond for Beauty

There's not much going on in my life right now except work. But the kids have been especially cute lately, so I thought I'd write down a few stories. I've been DIBELing the kindergartners, and they crack me up because they are so SQUIRMY. Each section of the test is one minute, and some of them are moving around the whole time. They are also easily distracted. One little boy, after telling me the first sound he heard in the word "game," started telling me all about how he has those at home, and he plays them with his mama. Another little girl stopped in the middle of the letter naming test to bend down and tie her shoe. (Which wasn't untied in the first place.) Their antics definitely break up the monotony of testing so many kids. One day last week, while I was testing a first grader, another boy from his class came running into the library. The boy, R, was pointing at the student I was testing and yelled, "He didn't ask! He left without asking! H

I am in like.  It's that disgusting phase when you first meet someone and you can't get enough of them.  You're excited every time they text, and you feel like you could talk to them for hours. The problem here is that Bernie is an hour behind in Phoenix. And Bernie doesn't have to be up for work in the morning.  His daily agendas include things like hiking, rock climbing, canyoneering, or playing cards with Gram. We text throughout the day, but it's like he has some sensor that goes off as soon as I get into bed: call or text Erin NOW. And of course, I want to talk to him, so I stay up way too late. I am a zombie. Even my principal asked why I'm so tired lately. And everyone who's lived or traveled with me knows, it is a BAD idea to mess with my sleep.  I can't take much more of this.  Bernie's out in the Sups right now, hiking and camping.  I figured he'd be out of cell phone range, giving me a few days' reprieve.  Last ni

Aaand, I'm no longer joking when I say I'm probably going to lose my job. Again. In my 8 years of teaching, I have been at 7 different schools. Some of those moves were by choice. Some weren't. I'm exhausted. They're opening two charter schools in the town where I teach. Our enrollment is expected to take a huge hit. My principal has said twice now that she doesn't see how we could lost so many kids without having a RIF. And my friend heard the superintendent say today that she has to start preparing the list. We would find out in March. I would, of course, want to go back to Phoenix. But it's honestly just not financially possible. I might actually qualify for economic hardship forbearance, because I think my student loan payments would be greater than 20% of my gross income. But even then... it would be really difficult. I did a budget the other day, and money would be SO tight. I'd have no gas money for canyoneering, or money for flights h

In "Into the Wild," the author describes Chris McCandless's itchy feet. I suffer from this, also. I have been home fora two weeks and I'm already antsy, needing to get out of here. I went to a friend's house in the western suburbs yesterday, and as I passed the sign that said "Iowa: 120 Miles," I thought, "What if I just keep driving?" And quickly assessed how much time and money I had. This happens every time I see this sign. I think part of the problem is the weather. It's too cold to do anything. Well, anything I enjoy, that is. I'm not a snow sports person. Anyway, I was pretty upset when my windshield cracked and I realized I need to spend $400 on new glass instead of spring break in Phoenix. However, I realized that Great Smoky Mountain National Park is only 10 hours away, and expenses would be minimal. Perfect. I am having much fun researching Appalachian folklore. I am making a list of things I want to see and do. For

My friend April posted this picture on Facebook. Love it. Bernie and I talk pretty regularly. Last weekend I knew he was going climbing out in the Superstitions, so I didn't expect to hear from him. But when I still hadn't heard from him on Monday, I started jumping to conclusions: He's not interested anymore. I did something to annoy him. Then, I started reacting to those conclusions. I was mad at first, and then I was like, "Whatever. I'm so over this whole thing!" By the end of the school day Monday, I was determined to completely forget about him. And then he texted. Something like, "Hey babe! I'm back. So happy to be warm again! Hope you weren't worried- we had to bivy." (Bivy is short for bivouac, which is an unexpected camping trip. It's what Kristin and I did in the Black Hole.) "Oh no! What happened?" I asked. "We ran out of daylight and slept on a ledge about 180 feet from the top. There were still

I know this sounds a little obnoxious, but I am feeling good about life this week. A coworker told me that the assistant superintendent commented during a meeting, "I wish Erin was here... She'd be able to explain this stuff to us." I ran 10 miles yesterday. I found out that I need $433 to replace my windshield, which I'll have to take from my tax return. This means no Phoenix for spring break. But I realized Great Smoky Mountain National Park is closer than I thought, so I think I'll go hike there if it's warm enough. I watched the season premiere of Girls with my girlfriends. That show is so awesome and hilarious, and even better when you're with friends. Shoshanna: "What's wrong with emojis?" Ray: "A panda next to a gun next to a wrapped gift?! It makes no sense!" I went to the 5:00 service at Soul City for church on Sunday. The sermon was excellent and is still on my mind. The music was phenomenal. I literally laug

I've had some questions about Bernie, the guy I mentioned in my last post. The best was Nancy, who said, " I'm a reading teacher. I know how to make an inference. What's up with this guy you met at FreezeFest???" This question was followed by a 1.5 hour phone conversation. (Not all about the boy. There was lots of running and teaching talk, too. Random side note- I've realized recently that most of my thoughts revolve around four topics- running, teaching, canyoneering, and guys. Nancy and I can talk about 3 out of 4 of those. When we start talking, it's hard to stop.) So anyway, here's what's up with Bernie. Actually... I don't know what's up. What I do know is that we've been talking/texting every day. He says sweet things. He says he's coming to see me (but he doesn't say when). But I don't know if I should take these things seriously... I know he's sincere. But the life he leads... He's always traveling from pl

I am not a fan of Valentine's Day. I mean, I don't hate it; I'm not one of those girls who's all anti-Valentine's, because I think that's kind of sad and pathetic. But I don't especially like it either, because I'm usually single, and on the years I haven't been, there's always the hope that it will be this really great day, and it rarely lives up to expectations. So my feelings towards this day are somewhat ambivalent. However, for some reason I absolutely love Valentine's crafts. I just think Valentine's stuff is so darn cute! Since I recently conquered my fear of making wreaths, I decided to try this wreath I found on Pinterest: http://mineforthemaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/heart-argyle-valentines-wreath-tutorial.html?m=1 It was ridiculously easy, and I'm happy with how it turned out!

When I got up, the weather was 3 degrees and foggy in Green River. Not gonna lie, I dragged my feet a little getting ready and leaving town. But the further south I drove, the more sunny and clear it became, and my smile got wider and wider. It felt so good to be back in my favorite spot in the world. I got to North Wash around 11:00 a.m. Kristin and I had a gleeful reunion. After jumping up and down and hugging, she yanked up her top and I motorboated her. Bernie, Jason's BFF, looked on with wide eyes. I guess it was quite the first impression. I was super excited to meet the legendary Bernie and Adam, Kristin's canyoneering buddy. We were also joined by Marie, who's from California and had met Adam and Kristin at a canyoneering rendezvous. Jason had somehow managed to sleep through all the excitement. "Jason," Kristin yelled, "you missed the motorboating." "Goddammit!" came his voice from the tent. He finally emerged to do our Predat

Kristin is hungover. Jason's knee hurts. I am trying to function on 2 hours of sleep. A canyon does not sound appealing. We did the tourist thing instead. We went back to Little Egypt, the playground of hoodoos. We saw the bicycle seat and Kristin's balls and Jason's recliner. Jason and Bernie did some bouldering and had fun finding different routes up the rocks. Then we drove out to Burr Point to see what it looked like in the winter. The view was breathtaking, and we just hung out for a while, enjoying the beauty. The drive on the dirt road in and out was also eventful; it was snowy, so of course Jason was doing donuts and skidding sideways down the road. I attempted a few of those moves in my Subaru, but it stubbornly remained on course, braking efficiently and refusing to skid. I definitely feel safe driving it in the snow! Things got a little more eventful around the campfire that night. I was sitting by this wonderful lady named Jenny and this girl Stephanie. Step

It was a lazy morning, but Bernie and I finally decided to go check out Death Canyon- short, easy, and hopefully mostly dry. I had so much fun with Bernie! We strolled up to the bottom of the slot and checked out the pool we'd rappel into at the bottom of the canyon. It looked so small and shallow... No big deal. So we hiked up and around and dropped into the canyon. We were chatting so much we almost didn't notice we were in a slot! Bernie and I have such great conversation, and I love that he's not in any hurry and is happy to go my pace. Soon we came to a downclimb that looked a little intimidating from the top, but ended up not being a big deal. (Can I just pause for a moment and express my newfound love of downclimbing? I still hate sliding; I prefer to wedge myself in a crack and let friction help me out. But it's so much fun! I can't get enough!) Anyway, I downclimbed like a boss, and we found ourselves at the top of the rappel. We took off our socks and

Bernie was a sweetheart and put on my spare, and we evaluated out options. There was no one in town who could fix my tire (the tire guy just wasn't in the mood- seriously, Hanksville???), which meant we'd have to go to Green River. Although not excited at the prospect of driving that far, I was excited at the thought of seeing Dave (aka Cousin Eddie from Christmas Vacation). We drove back to camp to give Jason the option of coming with us and arrived just as our group of friends reached the top of a nearby ridge, on their way to do Middle Leprechaun. Despite their shouting and insistence that I join them, I skipped Middle Lep in favor of fixing my car. It seemed like the responsible thing to do, but I was miserable. I'd been wanting to do this canyon for months, and now I was missing my chance. Bernie and I decided that we would find a way to redeem the day. We skipped Green River and patched my tire ourselves. (Actually, Bernie patched it while I supervised.) Then we dec

Kristin and Adam spent the night in the hotel with me. When we stepped outside the next morning, Adam said, "Your front tire is flat." I didn't think that was funny. It wasn't a joke. Adam put the spare on, and I chose to look on the bright side- I now feel pretty confident that I could change a tire myself. We headed to camp, and this is where things started to fall apart. Everyone was mad at each other, and Brian had shown up unexpectedly. (This wasn't actually a bad thing, just funny on top of everything else.) I was SO angry at someone in our group, but was determined not to let that ruin the day. All 7 of us did Morocco, a short, fun, pretty canyon. It was so great because Kristin hung out towards the back of the group with me (which is unusual because she is usually full speed ahead), and I think both of us were just really in the moment, so happy to be together in this beautiful canyon. It was the perfect way to start off a new year. The funniest