Vacation Bible School

i just came from day 1 of vacation bible school at my church. i volunteered to help out, but ended up being one of the teachers since, hey, i do it for a living. :)

it's a new adventure, to say the least. i feel weird being there being a teacher and all, when i know i have a lot of learning to do when it comes to the bible. but y heart is in the right place. it was a joy to see little ones so enthusiastic to participate as romans, visiting Paul and the underground church.

i have the oldest kids, and because there were only two in my class, it was pretty easy. what caught my heart were the pre-K kids. they are so cute. i want to take one home.

during the drama part where we visited Paul in his prison cell, i felt a tear fall on my face. i remember Sunday school and for a second, i was reminded of my young self, sitting in class, listening to my sunday school teacher, basking in the wonders of Jesus' love for us. I thank my mom's family for instilling the value of worship at an early age. it faded during my smart ass/angsty stage, but when I reunited with Jesus, I felt i had that in me all along.

as i looked at the innocent faces of those children, the yearning to have one of my own became clear. if God sees it fit to bless me with a child, i know where i can raise him/her.

for now, it would be my joy to spend time with the little ones, and hear what they have to say.

Getting an A

Dear Mr. J.B.,


I got my A because I am a more passionate "showgirl" in my classroom. I have learned to manage my time, resources and energy to come up with a bag of tricks i have designed for the entertainment, enjoyment and growth of my students.



I am a teacher reformed by my experience in teaching Special Ed. I smile more openly to my students and colleagues. I welcome each class with an unwavering vigor, because I know that I am blessed to love what I do.

I no longer seek to punish students who are lazy. I seek to recognize their efforts and their good points. When I enter a grade on the computer, I try to think far ahead into the future and see how a grade would impact my student's future?


I am now preparing for a presentation for my colleagues on how to enrich their bacg of tricks in the classroom using technology. I am excited to share with them the wonders of podcasting, short videos and, online collaboration. I am thrilled to help them befriend technology.


Thank you for being an A profoessor.

gym happy

i went back to gym after, oh two months. it took me long enough, huh? i have so many excuses i don't even know where to begin.

today was quite difficult, but the endorphons kicked in. i feel that i have ,melted a bite out of the cupcake i just ate yesterday.

48 thousand more calories to go.
48 red velvet cupcakes to go
5 cream puffs.
5 pieces of party puto.


huff huff huff.


i can do this.

33

I turned 33 today. and like birthdays past, I spent a few minutes thinking of my mother. at how things were with her life when she was my age. it always amazes me how simlilar and different we are. at 33, she has three kids aged 16, 15, and 11. She was a single mom earning a living for 3 kids.

as for me, i am thousands of miles away from my mom and brothers. this is my 8th birthday away from them, and although it gets easy, there is till a part of me that wishes i can spend my day with them.

enough of the drama, for this is a day of thanksgiving to God. I am so blessed to be here, year 33, alive, fighting the fight and living with more love for everyone. this birthday is more special because I am in the middle (or 3/4, rather) of my master's degree program, I am engaged to my mahal, and most of all, I am saved.


I went out to lunch with my tutees today. They are an important part of my life. They teach me as much as I teach them. Indeed, the Lord has blessed me with them, because I get to experience the joy of being like a parent to them. I am so proud of them.

vertigo-vanity

don't blow your nose too hard. you just might find everything in sight spinning like crazy. it would be nice if you were on a ride or something, but it isn't so when you're all alone in the bathroom at 6 in the morning.


i've been feeling under the weather since wednesday of last week. i thought it was just my allergy, so i didn't think anything of it. i forgtd on with my routine, even going to the boxing and kickboxing classes. by saturday morning i felt worse.
i woke up the usual 5 am and started my breakfast of cold oat bran and granola. being the impatient multitasker, i turned on the TV. but wait, i thought i could squeeze in one more thing. and so i went to the bathroom and decided to put on the avocado seaweed mask on my face. and so there i was masticating my breakfast, setting the green gunk on my face while i watch mtv3. somewhere in the middle of my breakfast i had the urge to blow my nose and i went to the bathroom.


i blew my nose and then everything went spining like a crazy spiral. i almost fell on the floor, but i grabbed on to the sink and closed my eyes real fast. dizzy. dizzy. scared. where's my phone? it's in my bedroom. too far. opened my eyes. everything spinning still. dizy. dizzy. dizzy. i felt cold and afraid.

after a few minutes i groped my way back to my bedroom and called up Z. what, no 911? what can the bf, who lives 130 miles away, do to help me? why didn't i call the ambulance?


because i had green gunk of my face, that's why. i didn't want to freak out the paramedics, nor do i want to be known as the girl who was so sick her face was green. as in ugly kangkong green.


Z would've come and played nurse, but he is sick too. so we just skypped most of the weekend, our two sick selves comforted that at least we can video chat between these chats i slept most of the weekend.


now i'm back in school and during my break i went to see the doctor. she says i have a virus that's been going around. she's seen several patients having the same symptoms. she didn't want to give me antibiotics right away so she said to just fight it off and wait 'til wednesday. if i don't feel better by then, i should call her again.

busy as a bee

  i know i'm gonna be crazy busy.  there had been moments this week when i wanted to to run to 7/11 and buy a pack of ciggys, but  i didn't and just chew gum.  for the most part, my jaws hurt and i've gotten gas.  oh well.  

 stress my eye.

  in other news, i had a de javu experience as i frantically tried to beat the deadline for my project in grad school this week.  the deadline was 11:45pm, and as i clicked "send" at 8:30 pm, i yelled my relief and did the dance of joy.

  i'll do better this week.  matter of fact, i'll get started on my reading after this post.

   i had my first classroom observation last week. dunno what my vice principal thought because i have not gotten his feedback yet.

   it's a sweet and happy feeling to be fed a home cooked dinner and breakfast, no matter how simple the dish may be.

   Z is now fond of pork adobo, pineapple chicken and milo chocolate milk.

  i love jolt cola.

 

    

the fat ass awakes

i just logged back in my online fitness journal. weeks of guiltless eating of pansit, turon, rice and ulam... are now biting me back on my fat ass.

it's time to get serious with getting back in shape.

i'm actually going to the gym after this post.

apparently, the cuckoo club at my local curves all went AWOL about the same time i stopped going in the summer. and now we're back in full force.

incidentally, my feeling over achiever self was dismayed when the computer records show that i've only had 69 registered workout sessions. gah! and the other chicks in the gym bravely sport 200- 300-500- and even an 800 workout shirts.

well, hooray for workout # 70 for today. i know there's a glitch because we have to scan our handy dandy bar code id tags and i normally don't because it's too early, yadayadayada.

anyway...

tomorrow is back to school night.

but before that is today.

and slim say's he's gonna visit.

tee-hee.

happy happy joy joy.

okay, time to go to the gym.

a student made me cry

blasted journal writing prompt. it's a good thing i wore my water proof mascara today.

i try to improve my kids' writing skills by making them write short periods of time everyday. and at least twice a week, i ask them to respond to a journal writing prompt.

yesterday, i asked them to write at least 10 sentences on the topic "I love hanging out with _______ "

while sophomores made it seem like they were having all their teeth pulled. my freshmen were more receptive.

i have a slim and shorty in my class. instead of a couple, these two are tight best friends, more like brothers. slim and shorty both have a bit of a speech defect, but for some reason, they understand each other perfectly. they both serve as translators for each other.

and yes, i have both of them in the same class.

anyway, so shorty has been writing intently on his journal, and took a few minutes longer to finish his work. when he finished, he handed me his journal and told me to read it. so i did. "read it out loud," he said. i was surprised. normally they don't want to share journal entries.

i cleared my throat and read...

"...me and my girl made a promise to each other that we will be there for each other no matter what. we both hope and pray that some day we will marry and have our own family, but for now we just want to be together. i love hanging out with my girl because she makes me feel so happy and important."

the two female girls in that class were also moved by his entry. i looked at him and said. "shorty, why you do dat? you be making me cry now, that ain't funny." we all burst out laughing.

but i did cry. you see, (i know this will sound corny) most of the kids i have in my classes come from tough homes, mostly single parent families and most of the time, they are seen as trouble makers or "retards" in their other classes. my kids may take more time to learn what the other kids are studying, but they can learn. and they can be as soft and mushy as any "well behaved" regular ed young lady or gentleman.

sure i can tell shorty that this is all puppy love and you know "better not get your girl pregnant lest you wanna be someone's baby daddy" but i am not jaded like that. i just patted him on the shoulder and said "that was an awesome journal entry, shorty, i am happy that you and your girl have dreams together."

with that he gave me a sheepish grin. he was hugged by his girl classmates and slim and another guy classmate shook on it.

this is my family, and i sure am thankful to have these kids with me.

the calm before the storm

i'm still spinning like a top on caffeine to the google power.

i know i've said a couple of times that i don't like having long periods of "vacation." i don't like it because i get lazier by the day.

but lookie now. i'm stressed out because i feel like i'm about to hit a whole mess of stress and work.

thank goodness for karen. she is my organic happy pill. she keeps me grounded and she slaps me if need it.

so noo-ni-noo-ni-noo.


two happy bits of news.

my friends S and L gave birth to little tyler.

sweet.

and then,

i got the "torturing" job that i've been praying for. yey!!!! richard and olivia are a bit sad to know that this new job means they won't be seeing me,not that they need me. i am but one soldier in an army of tutors hired to assure them of academic success in the stressful and ever competitive world of private schools.

i am very happy at this prospect because this will definitely help me in saving money. thank God for this blessing talaga.

i am very excited and kinda anxious about starting grad school. i hopefully i will hear from my admissions rep. i am mailing my scholarship application tomorrow, finally. i hope i make it i hope i make it. please. please please.

in other news cleo and i have been prepping for the start of the school year -- clothes-wise. she got me to consider wearing skirts.

but wait

pencil skirts.

we'll see how my logs look in them.

i know my number one fan approves of the stern teacher/secretary look. having a new principal this school year made me realize i have to rethink my work outfits. have to look the part. stacy and clinton will be so proud of me.
a shout out to candy : dude, i found uniqlo this tuesday. i love it. great basics. you're right of course. saw some lovely astro boy tees and naturally i thought of you.

a drink with gay bf #3, weekend torturing and cleaning up de crib, and a weekend with Z just before school starts.

the dark knight, monster ice cream and our first hibachi

i got back from a weekend down the shore with slim. a bit sleepy from the drive, but all worth it. the weekend was hot and humid -- very bad hair day so kulot ang buhok ko.

unfortunately, the imax theater has sold out its tix for the dark knight the whole weekend. so Z and i made do with the regular cinema across town.

WHY SO SERIOUS?! i love the joker. he was really crazy-scary. though the movie was a bit long, ledger and oldman's characters made it so worth the length. (i only took a pee break once because i did not want to miss a thing). and oh bo by george, Z did not sleep most of the movie. i was impressed. he probably missed about 5- minutes of the movie, but i can't blame him. i thought the movie was a bit long.

after the movie we went to visit a cold stone creamery shop and had ourselves some icy goodness. the ice cream concoction that i chose was pretty neat, it was called cheesecake fantasy. but i still rank mitsuwa's soft serve green tea ice cream my fave of all time.


we did a round of electronic window shopping at best buy and circuit city. as much as i like to buy clothes, i am also interested in the latest gadgets and gizmos around. of course this penchant for electronics is genetically encoded in the male DNA so Z was pretty much in his playground.

we also went to our first hibachi experience. and i wanna do it again. our chef was very showbiz. the food was delish and although i was not so sold on the idea of dining with strangers, it turned out to be pretty fun in the end.


i still have 2 1/2 weeks of camp, then a couple of weeks of vacation.

noo-ni-noo-ni-noo

jane should kick my ass already

because the past week i've been caught in a rut. i have not been to curves at all, and i only started walking again yesterday.
and i've been waking up late -- 5:30-6:00 in the mornings.


and i've been drinking too much coconut and vanilla flavored iced coffee (no sugar, just milk) from dunkin donuts
and i've been eating their turkey, bacon and cheddar flatbread sandwich for breakfast for the past two work weeks.


and i've been watching too much jon and kate plus 8 on TLC.

and i just got engrossed in a new chick lit book. meg cabot is hilarious.



and i've been eating mangoes 3x a day.

and i love girltalk's new album.

but don't worry, jane packed us a bag of our workout clothes plus MP3 player so i can run and walk up and down

the hills here in camp later in the afternoon.

the hill here in camp is a great workout. not to mention the many steps in camp. stairmaster my eye.

now if only i can get over my fear of meeting lost wild animals in the area.. i should be good.


and if i can get my ass up early in morning to jog in the boardwalk this weekend, i should be good.

and if i can get to drink my soy milk 2x a day and drink carrot juice and my green icky juice instead of anything from dunkin donuts i'll be good.


crap, i gave up smoking and now i'm an iced coffee addict.


i'll get back to you tomorrow morning and see how it goes.

my hips don't lie aka my first ever dance lessons

i am rhythmically challenged. my arms and feet are not friends at all. since a wee urchin i was what you called "matigas ang katawan" (stiff-bodied ; graceless). in many family gatherings where the little kids are forced to do a song/dance number in front of relatives from other cities, i would always do the song number. the evil twins, charry and jocel would always do the dance number. charry and raissa took hawaiian dancing lessons. i took naps. i just can't seem to follow any beat or rhythm. but carry a tune i can.

and so during my teenage years, in dance parties, i would join the other girls who would incubate chairs. or as amy puts it, we "chair danced."
even during my vacation with my high school girlfriends this year i didn't really join them in the dancing. too shy. too awkward.

but i wish i can dance.

i do. at home while i clean up my apartment.
i do dance, in my car.

lately, i've been listening to a lot of upbeat ear candy songs and just go nuts in my living room.

my moves? maybe something similar to an epileptic seizure. or variations of head banging.

and so when the opportunity came to learn a new "skill" i jumped at the idea of learning how to dance.

belly dance.

woo-hoo

i have belly and i wanna dance, so i will belly dance.

armed with my fuschia hip scarf with three layers of bells, i went to the venue and hoped for the best.


man, i had a blast! my teacher is gorgeous, very patient and very very encouraging. there were about 10 ladies in the class and we all had a great time throwing our hips in all directions. waving our hands and turning our heads from side to side. i feel like a pantene girl and sure am glad my hair is long. there's something very sexy about the music and the dance.

wow, ang haba ng hair ko!!!


i can't wait for lesson # 2!

it's getting hot in hurrr

this is day two of half day school days for us here in northeastern
jersey. schools have opted to have abbreviated school days because
of the extreme heat. it makes me kinda giggle a couple of times
thinking maybe we're preserving what little brain cells we have left
before they melt.

meanwhile, clothes in my high school seem to get shorter, tighter, and
tinier to the point of covering nothing,much to the delight of my
boys. the hallways in my floor literally become catwalks of some sort
as the boys position themselves against the walls as they look at the
mostly skimpily clad girls sashay their way to homeroom, the girls'
restroom or lockers. they even have a point system for the girls.

the little prude in me just shakes her head and shrugs her shoulders.
what do you do? the kids of today...

but it is funny to note that even though my my boys are just like any
normal testosteroni teens, who oggle at girls who wear clothes that
leave very little to their wild imagination, they tell
me that they would not want their girlfriends to dress like hookers.
they want their girls to look decent. ha...

anyway,

here i am complaining about the sweltering heat and the AC not running
cold enough. shame shame shame on me tropical island gal. i'm
thinking of running a cold bath complete with ice cubes,coconut
scented bubbles.. and instead of the rubber ducky, maybe two or three of my action figures. ahhh the works.

food, shoes and hair...

background music : mariah carey's cruise control

i finally sent the court papers in the mail today. let's hope the legal system speeds its way to settle and end this once and for all. (jane shakes her head at joffin knowing that this is only step 2 of the process, noo-ni-noo-ni-noo).

in other news, true to my intentions, i did do my culinary experiment on saturday. i busied myself in my tiny kitchen to whip up a pot of SEGEDYN GULAS, a czech stew made of pork, paprika, sauerkraut, milk and sour cream. this is one of czech boy's fave dishes. we actually ate this dish the last time we went to zlata praha.





i liked the texture and flavor of the dish, especially with the czech dumpling , knedliky. knedliky is similar in texture to the dough in our siopao, though the taste is very plain. kinda like our white rice. i didn't make the knedliky. that's a future project and surprise.

i added a special treat of authentic czech beer, the pilsner urquell. here's a picture of my humble creation.




and, what, virginia, was the verdict?

"busog!" says Z (one of the very few tagalog words that he knows)


i was very nervous as to how he would like it, considering this is my first venture into cooking his kind of food, but i must say he was appreciative. it's a great feeling for any cook to be praised for one's hard work no?

i told him that i need just 6 dishes more to cover the week and we're good to go.

i'm cooking up another pot of segedyn gulas to bring with me when i visit him this weekend.


in other news...

to celebrate my "being good" at not smoking, i bought a new pair of snazzy shoes. lookit.


aren't they precious?



i felt good while walking around with them shoes, though it seems like i was on top of a tall building wearing them. and man, did coming and going from one place to another take a loong time wearing those shoes. it's hard not to be cautious knowing i might get hurt and can be seriously humiliated if i trip in the hallways.

i did mention in my previous post that one should never cut her own bangs right? well whoopee-doo. here's proof of my mishap.



i look like i'm 12 again.

on the brigther side, at least i can still grow it back. for now, i'd have to settle for the cleopatra/baby china look until it grows back.


i can't wait for tomorrow. half day of school and looking forward to a sunny weekend, hopefully learning how to ride a bike? yes please!!!

what's in your fridge?

i like to know what's going on with my friends and family. what they've eaten for lunch, breakfast or dinner. i know my mom is always curious about how my apartment looks like. because i know she'll have a fit at how messy i can be, i'll only show you and her a peek at my fridge, or how it usually looks like. on my door you can see a variety of condiments : catsup, spicy catsup, a couple kinds of hot sauce, a bottle of wine,salad dressing, seltzer water...

then i have fruit and veggie juice, a liter of cider vinegar,soymilk,a couple of salad dressing sprays, little containers of caesar salad dressing from quizno's which i use as dipping for their flatbread. on the middle level i have a motley of jello, pudding, home made tuna salad. at the bottom i have a tub od whipped butta, a can of sliced peaches, bottles of wine, a bottle of tabasco and some chocolate chips from waay back (that i would toss out tomorrow), a tub of hummus.

and on my freezer, it's just ice cream...

what about you, what's in your fridge?

welcome to the box

music : estudyante blues by freddie aguilar


three days into my new job at the high school and i am slowly beginning to understand that i'm in this game for the long haul. i jokingly told karen that my kids are either going to drive me insane, or otherwise. with her signature laugh, she patted my shoulder and said "you'll be fine, they already like you. if you can get them to actually do work for five minutes, it's a beautiful thing."

great. 5 minutes out of the 50 minutes, that's what 10% productivity? help me. i want my mommy.

i have three 10th grade writing classes, one 9th grade writing and one 9th grade reading. of the five, the first two are the easiest to handle, probably because the 10th graders are more mature or probably also because they are at their calmest in the first couple of hours of school.

my 7th period class is a challenge. i have 5 boys and a girl that i have yet to meet. to say that my 7th period class is a rowdy bunch, is an understatement-- they're nuts. one of them K, have tricked me a couple of times. most of my kids come to class late, and naturally this is a problem. K, being the "helpful" goofball that he is, told me that if i see any of his classmates, (to) call them out and tell them to come inside. so i did. i saw Z and called him. he came quickly inside the classroom, a bit upset. i didn't think too much of it. i saw L and the same thing happened. L yelled at me and told me to close the door. he sat in the farthest seat in the room. Z asked me why i had to call him out. and then it hit me. my kids are ashamed to be seen coming inside my classroom. why? because this is the ed box class. sigh.

i sincerely apologized to the three boys, and i told them that it was not my intention to embarrass them. i then had the strong urge to smack K on the head for misinforming me. my fault actually.

i got a taste of action in my 8th period class. tweedle dee and tweedle dum decided to duke it out calling each other retards. at first it was casual, and then i got scared that they might really hurt each other. Tdee and Tdum were both tall, but Tdee was about 6'5". i tried to break up the fight because the three stoogies were just standing there watching the two beating the crap out of each other. Tdee almost snagged me and when i yelped, that's when he almost gained consciousness and let go of Tdum.

another teacher intervened. a few minutes later one of the security officers checked in also and asked if i wanted any of the boys to be taken out of the classroom. i looked at Tdee and Tdum. Their eyes were pleading not to be taken out. I told them we're fine.

I asked Tdee to stay after school for a few minutes. our conversation went on like this ...

me: I am very disappointed in your behavior.
him: come on miss, we was only playing
me: but how am i supposed to know when you guys are still playing or not?
you guys can seriously hurt each other.
him: didn't the old teacher tell you something about us. this is what we do.
we're just playing. just chill. do not come between us unless you see
blood on the floor.


me: (eyes wide open, jaws dropped) but what if you accidentally hurt me
while i'm trying to break you guys up? do you realize how big you are
compared to me? how easily you guys can send me flying against the wall?

him: (takes my face with both hands and levels his face on mine) miss, we're not
gonna hurt you. we like you. we won't even hurt a single hair of you.


was i scared when he held my face? no. i saw in his eyes that he was serious. he let go of my face and i raised my right eyebrow.

me : fine.


i extended my right hand as if to shake his hand, but i balled it into a fist. he reached out his right fist and we "shook" on it.


man, this is gonna be one hell of an adventure.


welcome to my world.

First Friday

music : back on the chain gang by the pretenders

and so it is, two days into my new gig as a high school english teacher, i am at a loss with how to get my "kids" to work. i never said it was going to be easy teaching these kids, but then my friends will tell you, i don't always go for what's easy. noo-ni-noo-ni-noo. if i can't beat my hyper kids, i'll join 'em. this means i might have to take an early trip to dunkin donuts and get a double shot of espresso to make it through the day. hrrrr.


the high school has been fine so far. on the first day the asst. principal already hooked me up with my classroom key and id so i can have access to the building. i like that i have my own designated parking spot. my classroom needs a little touch of jane, but i'll get there.

for now, i have to bury my head in making writing packets for edgar allan poe's cask of amontillado.

teacher durga is ready with her props : my EA Poe action figure, pictures of myself on my 2001 visit to his grave in baltimore, and a few books.

wish me luck on my show.

inday mode

music: L A M B by Gwen Stefani


it's a sunny saturday noon, i'm still knee deep in cleaning up ze apartment. it never ceases to amaze how much mess i can make in a very short amount of time. add to that my ADD, and of course a one hour task can stretch for half the day. i honestly do not know which parent to blame for my overactive and often distracted mind. no matter, too late now, just imagine tasmanian devil trying to clean up while leaving a trail of mess in the process.

twisted, i tell ya.

it's a good thing i've got rockin' sounds to keep me company. gwen is the best music for cleaning up, so um yeah, i look like an idiot with my swiffer duster in one hand and the vacuum on the other, shimmying around the apartment in my curious george pajamas. goofy goofy goofy. thank goodness i got rid of my scooby doo fuzzy slippers.

okay, back to work.

a yaya weekend

music: these are days by the 10,000 maniacs

so bespren chocnut flew up here from texas to visit the big apple, myself and moonshine. we had a "slumber" party on friday night. i ended being the first to sleep after only two drinks.

the next day we took a ferry to the city to take a look at a few display windows on 5th ave. there were so many people, it's like divisoria all over again.
yesterday, r and i went to central plark to look for balto and take some pics. had lunch at saigon grill and union square and a bit of shopping at filene's basement and forever21.

click here for more pictures.

'til tuesday

our school finally had its much anticipated latino heritage presentation today. it was such a treat to see my students perform on stage.

i also got to see Lynn, my librarian friend. she's hosting a Harry Potter book club at my school's library. i promised i'll go next week and join the fun with fellow potterheads.

i posted new pictures here. take a look, dali!

still waiting for word from the board of ed about my employment. keep your fingers crossed.

thanksgiving is two days away. i have a lot to thank for this year.

i have a dinner invite from a highschool classmate who will be hosting the dinner for another batchmate who will be in town next week. chocnut will be visiting next week as well. yipee!