Lots o' updates

I'm finally broke down and hit the library so I could update you all (not that Renee didn't do a fabulous job herself; I shall definitely use her services again in the future).

(That's what he said.)

Random bits of information:

1) I am working on quitting smoking again, and I dare say that this time, it may finally take. It will be 2 weeks on Monday. I'm making the supreme sacrifice of skipping my after-work meetings for a while, as it would be impossible for me to drink and sit with other smokers without doing it myself. So I'm a loser with no life, but I'm a SMOKE FREE loser with no life.

2) Speaking of which, I currently have a cough which may be tuberculosis (or, according to my kids, Valley Fever, which is the disease afflicting a character in a book we're currently reading--a 1930s Mexican migrant worker in California). I don't know if it's from the quitting or allergies or what, but I may break down and go to a doctor soon. Or not, since I'm relatively sure it's a combo of quitting AND allergies, which are particular horrendous here in Florida this year. I haven't gone this long without a cigarette in years, so Lord knows my lungs have to expel some nasty stuff.

(I'm sexy.)

3) Random story that I'm sure you guys will find entertaining: yesterday at parent pickup, one of my students was picked up in a different car. "Who's that?" I teased her, eyeing the driver's shaved head and muscular build. "Is that your mom's boyfriend?"

"NO!!" she giggled. "It's her friend."

"Uh huh," I said knowingly. "Her FRIEND." The word "friend" was accompanied by air quotes.

"It is!" my student said. "My mom has lots of friends."

"I bet she does," I said, grinning.

It wasn't until I opened the door for C, my student, that I realized the driver was a female.

Awesome. Not only did I just accuse her mom of being a lesbian, but a rather trampy one, at that.

4) Speaking of our novel (Esperanza Rising), we had to have an impromptu geography lesson when I realized that a large part of the class didn't know where Mexico IS.

It gets worse.

I also had students who:
1) thought Mexico and New Mexico were the same thing
2) thought Mexico was part of the United States
3) don't understand the difference between states and countries
4) don't understand the difference between countries and continents
5) didn't know that North America is actually made up of 3 countries, not just the United States
6) didn't know that Canada was right above us
7) didn't know that Canada and the US weren't the same country
8) thought that Mexico was part of South America (since it's south OF America...but hey, at least that's a somewhat acceptable mistake, although not at the 5th grade level)

Finally, I told them we had to stop for the day, since they were "making my heart sad."

I think that's about all for now. I promise to update again much sooner than last time, either myself or via my superfabulous proxy.

Have a great weekend, all!