Note to self...

Things NOT to do when you're having a crappy, lonely weekend studying:

1. Listen to your Coldplay, Damien Rice, Elliot Smith, and Nick Drake playlist. While these seem like great choices for chill background music that won't distract you from your work, you are sorely mistaken. I like their music, but these artists could make someone who's carefree, skipping and laughing want to stop and just end it all right there. Right. I'm exaggerating. But you get the idea. They're good, but kind of depressing.

2. Break for a haircut at your local Hair Cuttery. I've had three experiences with this chain, and yesterday's was my last. Mark my words! (This is the second time I've said that, as some of you know, but I MEAN it this time!) The first haircut I got there was great. It was in Bethesda. The second was in Dupont Circle. She didn't even wet my hair when I asked her to. She cut it dry and did an awful, crooked, painful job as she tore through massive snarls with a fine-toothed comb. I was lured back to the Cuttery by a metro ad. I was a victim of great marketing. Blast! The ad featured a cute girl with a great haircut and white block letters across the bottom that read "fourteen dollars." Ah! Sweet affordability! The wallet of a volunteer is no match for your lure. I wanted to believe that the Cuttery had it in them to redeem their reputation. Just one good stylist. That's all I needed. Like that one in Bethesda. Except Bethesda is quite a trek from here, so I'll go to the one in College Park. Bad bad bad idea. The language barrier presented itself immediately as she hurriedly motioned me to take a seat in her chair. "What you want?" she asked. I explained. She nodded quickly as she stared across the room and pulled at my hair, "uh-huh, uh-huh." I was not convinced that she was listening. No one cares about all the gory details, but it ended in a bad cut. All one length when I asked for more layers. Shorter than requested. Floor covered in hair that was once my own. (Cue dramatic music.) Anyway, I got a bad haircut, and that sucks, but I'm over it. I'll just continue tying it back every day as I have been for the past year. :) Voila!

3. Engage in email fights with your boyfriend because he is phoneless for a week while he switches providers and you're both under a lot of stress. The only thing that sucks worse than unnecessarily fighting with your boyfriend because you're both too stressed out to be reasonable is doing so over EMAIL. Not advisable.

ps. The ice cream truck is playing the 'Fur Elise' and 'Morning Has Broken' today. Crazy truck.

Red pens and dodge ball

I don't have cable. But I wanted some background noise and something to look at as I ate my cheese and crackers during a study break yesterday. Saturday afternoon network tv is not great, so I found myself stopped at PBS, watching Tucker Carlson, the man who looks like a giant doll and has something to say about everything. He was interviewing psychiatrist Sally Satel, author of a book called, One Nation Under Therapy: How the Helping Culture Is Eroding Self-Reliance. It was actually really interesting. See excerpt below:

Satel: ...we talk about children and in fact we talk about the myth of the fragile child. This notion that children can't take competition, can't take grades, can't take second, third, fourth or even last and in response to protecting them and shielding them from these disappointments and preserving their fragile self-esteem, some schools now have stopped offering competitive sports, apparently dodge ball is black listed. Red pens were black listed in fact.

Carlson: Red pens?

Satel: Red pens because red marks are apparently traumatizing. And so -- Papermate executives will tell you the demand for purple pen is now all the rage. But the idea is that this is damaging to kids' self-esteem. It's not damaging to their self-esteem, it's necessary for their development and for learning, and we do think that these kinds of practices in aggregate can have the effect of dulling our competitive edge. Our students, our kids now, you know, in 10 to 20 years will be competing with kids from China and India where they do use red pens and pretty soon they'll probably be outsourcing red pen making to us.

Carlson: I must say I've noticed almost every successful person I know is driven by insecurity. Is actually not driven by self-esteem. There haven't studies shown there is an inverse relationship, the better you feel about yourself, the more likely you are to stay home and smoke pot?

Satel: It's been debunked. It doesn't relate in any reliable way to what we think it should. People with high self-esteem are often sociopaths or criminals or just not particularly accomplished pokes folks. Highly narcissistic of course and people who are highly self humanitarians are riddled with self-doubt. Of course self-esteem is not something you teach someone or can infuse into a kid. It's a byproduct of achievement.

I thought the woman was a bit over the top with some of her remarks throughout the interview, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on the red pen/dodgeball bans and fragile child line of thinking.

Aaaand.... go!

Sad, productive day

I'm kind of depressed right now. All of my coworkers/friends/some of the most fun and interesting people I know- are all on a four-day roadtrip to Detroit. Sure it's just Detroit, and I haven't heard rave reviews about the city, but they're headed to a huge music festival and they'll be staying at one of their parents' houses, where they'll lounge in the hot tub, watch movies, and eat a lot. These are all things that I would really enjoy. I was supposed to be a part of this adventure, but the reasonable side of me decided that it would be a bad idea. I have a lot of shit to get done before I move in T minus 22 days, so I backed out of the trip, believing that I really needed this long holiday wknd to get myself together. I still think that I probably made the right call, as I look at my to-do list, but that doesn't make me any happier about it.

I studied for my exams all day today, and during my breaks, I called a few more schools to try to set up my classroom visits, went running, and cleared my closet of all my unwanted, beat-up clothes, in preparation for the move. So, I got a lot done, and I still have a lot more studying and reading to do, but I'm sad to be missing out on all the fun. :(

The hotel maid saw me naked.

That's the whole story.
I got out of the shower. I was brushing my teeth with my towel on my head. Then the maid opened the bathroom door.
Awkward.

Religious Good Humor and Science Fair Fun

(i wrote this yesterday and am just getting around to finishing and posting it now...)

As I walked home from the metro today, I passed the Good Humor ice cream truck. Yeah! Ice cream truck! Quaint...Happy... Nice. Wait a minute. What's that that the truck is playing? It's not Twinkle Twinkle Little Star; it's not All Around the Mulberry Bush... Why, it's ... What Child is This? !!! Yes, I'm referring to the Christmas song about Jesus, the manger, the whole nine yards. Crazy, huh? Maybe it's not. Maybe this is done all the time, and I just didn't know about it. But it was the first religious ice cream truck I'd seen, (Nevermind that Christmas is seven months away) so I wanted to share the news. My neighborhood is about 49% African-American, 49% Hispanic, and a handful of us who glow at night. There are a lot of Christian bumper stickers on the residents' cars and it's not uncommon to hear gospel music leaking from nearby homes. Perhaps the Good Humor driver took note of these details and changed his soundtrack to better connect with his audience. This man is brilliant. He was selling ice cream like no one's business today, and it was just a few overcast minutes from pouring rain. Quite impressive.

Not related...

I spent most of my day today judging 40-some projects at an elementary school science fair. This really is not part of my job, but I offered to do it because I really like the teachers at this school, and I wanted to help them out. Takeaway thoughts of the day:

While teaching next year, I will do anything and everything in my power to develop in my students two abilities:

1.) Critical thinking skills
I want my students to challenge everything. (Including me, and I'm sure they will.) I've noticed that so many ideas become engrained in our minds just because we hear them over and over. (I know this isn't rocket science, but I'm going somewhere with this.) For a lot of these students, those repeated messages are that they're stupid, incapable, underprivileged, lacking the connections or wealth to get anywhere, etc. etc. In addition to the often blamed media sources, these messages also come from their own parents, teachers, neighbors, and friends. These things are often said without ill will, but instead in the tone of 'that's just the way things are.' I want to teach every student I have to question everything they are told and arrive at their own conclusions. I'm actually falling asleep at my keyboard right now, so I'll have to find another time to post about the science fair projects that reinforced my plan to make this a VERY focal point of my classroom.

2.) Presentation and public speaking skills
I talked to a lot of kids who had impressive projects but sorely lacked presentation skills, and I talked to a handful who had projects that were average at best but had incredible presence and speaking skills. They earned roughly the same scores. If I have anything to say about it and my curriculum isn't hyper-structured FOR me, I want my students doing A LOT of presentations and speeches.

Ok. I'm exhausted, and I'm going to bed now. Sorry if this post was disjointed or boring. I'm too tired to sleepy to focus, but I wanted to post those two areas of intended emphasis, so I can look back through my blog in a few months and see how I'm doing in the actual classroom.

Goodnight!

Overly caffinated

It's been a really hectic couple days, but I'll post soon. Thanks to those who have commented! :)

Crickets chirping

I KNOW you're out there! Say something! Anything!

Meine wochenende

I went to NYC this weekend for a TFA placement kickoff event. I arrived noonish on Saturday, met up with a friend from Madison, and spent the rest of the day and evening studying with him and a couple of his dental school friends. It was a wild time had by all. Actually, it was a much needed reality check for me. I took a practice English CST, (a 4-hr. NY teacher certification exam I have to pass on June 25) and my performance was pitiful. I have forgotten a remarkable amount of material that I once knew inside and out. I remember what free verse is but forgot what blank verse is. Alliteration is cake, but I'm rusty on allegory. And so on.

But those were not the questions that concerned me. I can easily brush up on those terms and concepts. What's really causing problems though, is the fact that I was a JOURNALISM major, NOT an ENGLISH major. This means that the last time I really read and analyzed a lot of classic literature and poetry was my senior year AP English class. So I have my work cut out for me in studying for this thing.

Also, I realized that three years in "the j-school," as some liked to call it- really trained me to believe that journalistic writing is the ONLY correct writing. (Disclaimer: My blog is very informal, and I know my writing here is not exemplary, so don't judge after what I'm about to say.)

Some of the multiple choice questions asked you to choose which was the correct way to write a given sentence. I noted in several of these questions that I thought all of the given options were terrible. Yes, one was grammatically correct, but it was often awkward, wordy, and unclear, and I strongly felt while reading it that I would never encourage one of my students to create such an atrocious -albeit grammatically correct- sentence.

And my last soap box rant about the practice test was that I've really grown to know and love AP (Associated Press) style editing, and I'm having a tough time using anything but. But I'll get over it. :)

But those are obviously not excuses for sucking on the practice test. So I'll be studying a lot of English lit and nitty gritty grammar over the next month.

The placement event took place all day Sunday. It went pretty well. Well organized, informative interesting.

I had a mock interview with an NYC junior high principal. He was one of the most negative, jaded people I've ever met. Phrases like "these kids just don't..." and "you can't expect much..." filled the majority of our conversation. I don't consider myself a starry-eyed idealist anymore, after having worked in some really struggling schools, but I definitely do have faith that a lot of students really do have a ton of potential buried within them in hard-to-reach places. This guy seemed to think that every kid in his building was a lost cause. Which is unfortunate because I'm sure that comes across in his work as an administrator. But no big deal. I'm ready to deal with not liking my principal if I end up working with one like him. You just have to wonder what keeps him coming to work if he think it's hopeless. Maybe it's the $100,000+ salary? But I don't know. I think you'd have to pay me a much more outlandish salary to stick with something that I didn't like and had no faith in. I'm stumped.

Anyway.... Overall, a good weekend. I met some pretty cool TFA people, and that was fun.

Quite possibly the worst song ever produced

Many months before I started dating the Best Guy in the world for me, I briefly dated someone who I will here refer to as Other Guy. There is absolutely no need to give any background about Other Guy because what I'm about to tell you is nothing personal against him.

There. Disclaimer complete.

He made me a CD at some point, and most of it was decent. BUT buried within the many tracks of pretty ok songs, there was one called "You're Divine," by The Stereo. During the first listen or two, I thought it was a sweet, sorta sappy song. It was not until a roadtrip to Florida with a good friend of mine that I realized how insulting the song actually is if you listen to the lyrics. We were running out of musical options once we hit Georgia, so we dug to the depths of our cd collections and pulled out some of the albums we hadn't listened to in weeks or months. Out came Other Guy's mix, and along came my realization of the awfulness of this song. See the lyrics below:

my face is burning from the sun, and I'm not having any fun. everyone is on the run. my friends they tried to let me know, but I tried not to let it show. now I've got no where else to go. and you will not be alone. you can be sure of that cause I don't wanna go. you're divine, so divine. take what's mine. my heart, my soul and everything I own. you make it so believable, so believable that I could have someone to call my own. I lost the race that I had run in place of having anyone. I told myself that I was done. and now I have to see it through cause my loose ends are tied to you. what am I supposed to do? and you will not be alone you can be sure of that cause I don't wanna go. you're divine, so divine. take what's mine. my heart, my soul and everything I own. you make it so believable, so believable that I could have someone. what do I have to do? what can I say to get to you? what if it is much worse on the inside? maybe what I said was wrong and maybe we weren't meant to get along. maybe i feel much worse on the inside? on the inside, on the inside. you're divine, so divine. take what's mine. my heart, my soul and everything I own. well, you make it so believable, so believable that I could have someone

In summary: I'm a sad, pathetic individual who feels like I'm kind of stuck with you because I really don't think I can do any better, but I'm too weak and insecure to try. Awww, thanks honey! You always know just what to say! Whether that's what Other Guy meant or not is irrelevant. The point we're focusing on right now is the sheer terribleness of this song.

We laughed for half of Georgia as we replayed this song over and over and over, belting it out of the top of our lungs. (Also important: the lead singer has a wretched, somewhat pubescent voice so it really adds to the badness and funniness of the song.) I am only sharing this story today because I just got an email from this now faraway roadtripping friend, and she reminded me of the fun we had tearing this song apart.

Just for good measure, I will now return to my earlier disclaimer: Other Guy was a good person who was kind enough to make me a cd, and I appreciated that. I'm actually thankful that he let this one slip through the cracks because I don't know how we'd have made it through Georgia without that much-needed pick-me-up. I wish I knew how to post an mp3 so I could share this work of art with you.

Marvelous News!!!

Nitin is moving to NYC!!!!

He applied to transfer within his current company, and he got the job!
No more plane tickets to see each other. No more month-long breaks between visits. No more pain-in-the-ass planning. And no more cell phone dependency.

It will be glorious!

Congratulations, Nitin. :)

Crabby pants (that don't fit quite like they used to)

Yesterday sucked. I woke up in an inexplicably pissy mood. I realized while hurrying off to work in the morning that I had forgotten to do my dishes from the previous night. Wanting to be a courteous roommate, I scrambled to wash them. When you want to get your dishes done quickly, you naturally flip the water on full pressure. While washing a bowl, I accidentally positioned the dish at the precise angle that directed all of that gushing water directly to my pants. Already way behind schedule, I decided it was just too late for me to go change clothes. So I headed for work, looking like I had peed my pants. Awesome. On my brisk walk to the metro station, a ginormous street sweeper came along and started driving in circles over a construction-demolished intersection that I needed to pass. Massive, dense clouds of dust filled the surrounding area. I paused in hopes that they might settle, but they lingered persistently. Grumbling, I stormed through the floating dust. Now I appear urine-soiled and dirty. Bring it, Monday.

I boarded the metro, and got stuck standing next to a man who had- by FAR - the most potent, nostril-burning body odor any human being has ever lived to tell about. I held my breath for three stops, then opted for a transfer that I don't usually take. I went to work, was irritated by things that absolutely should NOT have irritated me, and had a sub-par day at the office. (My apologies to anyone who had the misfortune of encountering my moodiness yesterday.)

At last, I made it home! I decided that nothing pulls me out of a crappy mood like a good run. For months, it's been too cold or too dark and unsafe for me to run when I get home from work, but it was a beautiful day, and this was my time to shine! I slipped into some workout attire, grabbed my armband radio thingy, and headed for the nearby sketchy running trail. (wooded trail in PG County = sketchy. But my options in bustling Hyattsville are limited so I just think happy thoughts as I try to ignore the crunching of broken liquor bottles beneath my feet.)

Now, as anyone who has taken an extended hiatus from working out can tell you, your first few times back at it are rough. You feel flabby, uncoordinated, and just generally unfamiliar with your own body. But no big deal. A few blocks into it, I felt like I'd fallen into a groove. I made my way down the very busy street that leads to the sketchy trail. A lot of jackasses honk and yell out their windows during this stretch. I have no idea what they say, but I generally flick them off by reflex. I am only mentioning these interactions to highlight the fact that spectators are very much present at this point in the story.

Almost to the end of the busy street stretch and within sight of the trail's beginning, I had to pass through another construction area. Gravel.... gravel.... gravel.... Then, without notice, big slab of elevated SIDEWALK. (cut to slow motion as my foot meets the sidewalk's edge and I fly forward...) 'Nooooooooooo....!!!' Determined to fight the fall and recover with grace, I lunged my other foot forward to take a giant, saving step. But there was no hope. No grace. No saving to be had in that step. I'm not clear on the exact sequence of events from here on, but I know that I landed on my knee, bounced forward, landed on another part of my knee, skidded forward, and scraped up a hip, an elbow and a hand. I don't know how I managed to make contact with the concrete on so many different points of my body, but I trust that my gradual, face-planting process was quite a sight for passers by.

I laid there for a second, stunned, embarrassed, and laughing. Did I really just manage to sprawl myself out this way just by running? At least when I broke my ankle while rollerblading, I had the excuse of getting my wheel caught in railroad tracks. But this? This was just unacceptable. I stood up and surveyed the damages. Bleeding hand and knee, scraped hip and elbow. Each stinging and mildly throbbing. Go home and clean myself up or keep going? I determined that going home at this point would mean accepting the bitter truth that I am less physically fit and less coordinated than I have ever been in my life. I refused to have that and determined to instead forge ahead with my denial, assuring myself that I could still salvage a good run from this outing. So I continued to the trail and finished the expedition without further incident.

When I shared this story with Nitin, he told me that I'm a dumbass. I solemnly agreed. He then formed a theory, based on this incident and my ankle-breaking rollerblade incident of May '03.
"I think that you just get so excited about nice weather that you get overzealous and lose all control. HeehahahHEhewwhEEhAhahaha!!!! Yeah! I'm outside! Splat."

I think he's onto something. :)

Silly freshman

I feel like a freshman in college.

1. Yesterday, I ordered a laptop (actually Nitin ordered it for me because he knows more about computers and he's really nice sometimes.) So, I'll be all set with my brand new computer for my first day of school! YEAH! :)

2. Then today I sat down with all seven of my TFA pre-Institute curriculum books, and started to chip away at the TFA-estimated FORTY-THREE HOURS of assigned readings. After roughly 30 pages of: "just because your students are minorities and are performing well below grade level, does not mean that they are hopeless," - stated in umpteen different ways, I determined that I would stop being such a silly freshman and NOT read every word of it.

Anyway....
I don't mean to minimize the value of that message. It's obviously something that I strongly believe, or I wouldn't be in my current line of work, and I wouldn't be pursuing TFA. But honestly? 120 pages to say it? The fact is... being a 23-year-old white female in a classroom of African-American 12-15 year-olds is going to present its share of challenges. Race will inevitably be an issue. I feel somewhat ready for that.

I wasn't ready a year ago, but my job this year has really helped me to begin wrapping my head around what I should expect. During dinner at one of my non-profit's events a few months ago, a parent yanked the arm of her child who had chosen to sit down next to me and start talking. The woman glared at me as she snapped at her child, "You get away from her!" As she pulled her child away and seated her at another table, I heard her say something about "that white girl." I was speechless for a few seconds, then started to realize how crazy it was that I had made it through 23 years of living without EVER being the object of any form of racism. It was a humbling moment, as I started to comprehend how naive I am. The families I was working with week after week had probably experienced many forms of racism throughout their lives. Whether in the form of outward comments and actions like that night at dinner, or in more subtle forms, like skeptical glances or unspoken assumptions. Obviously, this one experience of mine and the handful of others like it that I've encountered this year have not made me a new person.

I am not claiming to understand anyone's situation or experiences. I know I am light years away from being 'worldly' or 'experienced' or fully capable of ridding myself of all internal biases or assumptions. All I am getting at is that it cannot be taught in books.

Prior to moving to D.C., I had taken my share of courses that dealt with multiculturalism and cultural sensitivity in some form or another. And I thought I had a good handle on it. I would never in a million years have considered myself racist or classist, or even anything close to it. But it wasn't until I spent some time in 'under-resourced' neighborhoods, and got acquainted with several 'low-income' families that I began to understand what those labels mean and what effect they have on those to whom they have been assigned.

I started to really pay attention to my initial reactions to things that I heard and saw. I came to realize that I was full of judgments. I did have my biases. And I realized that I had no concept of how profoundly our experiences had differed. In getting to know some of the families I've worked with, I've since learned to approach each situation and individual with a much more open mind. Again, I am faaaar from perfect in this arena... but I think that most people are. And I don't think that reading books alone will change that. While TFA's 120 pages are a valiant attempt at taking on a huge and unspeakably important issue, I have little hope that it will accomplish a fraction of what it aims to.

I don't mean to sound dark and cynical. I just really think that experience allows someone to understand and internalize something as complicated and ingrained as race relations and biases more than any book ever could.... to the point that reading the book is allllmost a waste of time. So I'll stop being a silly freshman who reads every word, and I'll skim it in search of anything interesting that deviates from the redundant 'you're students aren't hopeless' message. Because I think I've got that part down as much as I can at this point.

Ok. Back to reading the other six books.

Barb-n-Jim

I have mentioned my supportive parents on my blog before. But what I forgot to mention was that Thursday was my dad's birthday! I thiiink he turned 56, but I tend to lose track because neither of my parents look or act their age. (And I mean that in a good way.)

And, of course, I can't forget to say.... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MUPPALUPAGUS!!! (This is a nickname that I gave to my mom back in the day in my attempt to combine 'mom' and the Sesame Street character 'Snuffelupagus.' In hindsight, I'm not sure why I saw it fit to combine those two characters, but the name was created with the best of intentions, and it was meant as a term of endearment.) :)

Anyway, my parents are awesome. They've done soooo much for me, and they deserve, at the very least, this honorable mention on my blog. I love you guys!

Overwhelmed

I KNEW as I wrote that post about 'nothing really happening' that it was just the calm before the storm. Yesterday, I had a conference call with about 50 other NYC TFA corps members and a couple TFA admissions staff people. It just walked through testing logistics and preparation.

Turns out, I'm taking those two four-hour exams that I mentioned back-to-back on the same day: June 25. Sweet. I'll be in Philadelphia for training, and I'll have to take a bus to NYC to endure eight hours of testing. I'm looking forward to it. (Oh yeah, and those tests will cost me about $200. That’s roughly nine days of work at my current ‘salary.’) J So, that’s no big deal, I suppose. I knew weeks ago that I’d be taking two lengthy exams I would need to study for.

What I did NOT know was that I would be shipped seven THICK books of pre-training curriculum that I have to work through before June 19^th. I have to conduct school visits and classroom observations in D.C. before going to the Philly training, and I’m supposed to read each of the books, prepare ‘reflections,’ and answer all of the questions in said books. These spiraled bundles of joy each sport a bright, inviting cover and bear the following titles:

Teaching as Leadership
Instructional Planning and Delivery
Learning Theory
Diversity, Community & Achievement
Classroom Management & Culture
Elementary Literacy
Secondary Literacy

They sound interesting enough, and I’m sure that they’re full of valuable information. But I’m getting worried. (Which is unfortunately my useless go-to emotion in these situations.) They said that I should not plan on getting aaaany exam prep in once Institute starts because they give us more work there than we can really keep up with as it is. So, I basically have until I move in mid-June to cram for my exams and work through all of the pre-Institute curriculum and school visit assignments.

Also, it looks like I might go to NYC next wknd for an accepted applicants event where we’ll schmooze with a lot of NYC principals and do mock interviews. I also have to get a physical exam, a tuberculosis test, and a few shots. And I need to submit my site preference form and letters of recommendation to the university where I’ll be taking my grad school classes in September. And I should figure out how I’m going to move and where I’m going to move my things TO for my upcoming homeless months. And somewhere in there, I’d like to purchase a laptop to replace my piece of shit computer that is now on its third reinstallation of Windows 98 because it keeps crashing. (TFA strongly recommends bringing a computer to the training.) Oh, and I should find an apt in NYC at some point too.

I’m hyperventilating a little.

Oops. I sharted.

(That’s only funny if you’ve seen the ok-but-not-great movie, Along Came Polly, and aren’t easily grossed out.)

Interesting article, but no time

I found this Washington Post article on yet another initiative to improve struggling DCPS schools interesting.

I have a lot to say about it, but unfortunately, I'm at work and can't spare the time to write my thoughts out.

But read it if you have some downtime and post comments. I'd be interested to see what people think of the ideas they've come up with for DCPS.

Fabulousness

1. I just spent a fantastic weekend with an incredibly charming and devilishly good-looking guy who was kind enough to double as my math tutor for a few hours to help me prepare for my exams.
2. Sinead has been insanely helpful with offering TFA insights and other valuable advice.
3. My family has stopped asking, “Now, why would ya wanna go and do a thing like that?” re: moving to and teaching in NYC, and they’ve started to be extremely supportive and excited for me.
4. My friend from work, Josh, who is a TFA alum, does a giddy, Pillsbury doughboy-like move every time he talks to me about my upcoming training and teaching.
5. I learned today that ‘fabulousness’ IS a word.

In case you missed it....

I'm still in search of middle school level 'boy books.' In case my request for comments and suggestions got lost in my last post, I wanted to make a seperate one to make sure everyone saw it. Please comment or email me!