Nothing but straight-up gossip.

According to my VERY REALIABLE SOUCES, there's some good American Idol drama going on.

1) Bo's girlfriend from back home is pregnant with his child. HOWEVER,

2) He also has/had a thing going on with Carrie, BUT

3) SHE had a little sumpin' sumpin' going on with Anthony before he left the show. (Which Renee, Kishelle and I already deduced.)

Should make for an interesting tour.

Karma, byatch.

Tonight while cooking dinner, Jeff smacked himself in the face with a frying pan and split his lip. (I'll pause while you read that sentence again.)

I witnessed the whole thing, and I STILL can't tell you exactly how it happened.

Streaky freaky.

So I busted out the sunless tanning lotion last night.

If you know me at all, you can imagine the results.

My arms actually aren't too bad (and it is a natural color), but it's streaky/patchy near the wrists and hands and stuff. And my legs...good Lord. Once it dried, I noticed some parts that I had missed, so I tried to go back over it today to even out the streaks...Then but now I'm one shade darker and just as streaky.

I'm not sure WHY I thought this would be a remotely successful venture.

Turning lemons into lemonade...or something.

I'll be updating my resume today for a summer job I plan to apply for: a counselor at a camp for individuals with physical disabilities. Although I have some reservations (let's face it: I'm not exactly the poster girl for physical fitness; while I don't know the exact requirements of the position, I'm pretty sure that I could barely get MYSELF through a ropes course, let alone an adult male in a wheelchair--and yes, there actually is a modified, handicapped-accessible ropes course), this job would also be beneficial in a number of ways.

- The position includes room and board, so I would have a place to stay for the summer that doesn't involve my mother and I living under the same roof for 8 weeks.

- It would provide me with great fodder for my resume (not the most altruistic reason, perhaps, but still a motivating factor).

- One would think that, with all the physical exertion, outdoor activities and (I assume) relatively healthy food, I could actually get myself into shape.

And, most importantly:

- I can spend my Summer of Angst and Heartbreak (good thing that I'm not too dramatic or anything) doing something worthwhile and meaningful. Spending time with those who are physically challenged should help to put my own "problems" into perspective for me; really, all things considered, I'm still pretty damn lucky.

For more information on the camp, go here:

http://www2.gvsu.edu/~lukek/schedule.htm

Robin eggs.

I just noticed a nest in the tree closest to our balcony railing--and in that nest are 4 beautiful blue robin eggs. (You can look RIGHT into the nest from our balcony--pretty cool.) I don't know how long the eggs have been there, but incubation is 12 - 14 days. I wonder if they'll hatch while I'm still here.

Trivia fact number one: robins usually lay four eggs at a time--an egg a day.

Trivia fact number two: baby robins will stay in the nest for 9-16 days.

Trvia fact number three: only 40% of "clutches"--which is like a "litter" of puppies, only for robins--actually survive to leave the nest. Guess I shouldn't get too attached to them then.

I'll continue to update you for as long as I'm around. Remember: today is just the first day that I NOTICED the eggs. They may have been there for a while; they could hatch tomorrow or two weeks from now.

I'm sure I can turn this into an educational activity for "my kids" somehow. I think I'll get a disposable camera and start taking daily pictures, from now until (hopefully) the babies are full grown and leave the nest. Then I can show the pictures to the kids and we can put together a "baby book" for the birds, writing a little story to go with the pictures. They're really too young to be able to do anything much more advanced. Two of the three kids don't even have a concept of time yet, so my telling them that the "eggs will hatch in another week" or "the baby birds will leave the next in two more weeks" won't mean anything to them. (Noah, the 4 year old, once said, "Supernanny, remember when we went out for ice cream last year?"--referring to something we had done the week before.)

My silent soldier speaks!

I got an IM today from one of my adopted boys in Iraq--one I've been writing to since February but haven't heard from till today. I have to say, I got a little teary-eyed when I realized it was him. It's so great to "talk" to him and know he's okay. And get this--he's from Michigan, less than 2 hours away! He'll be home on leave in August and wants to take me out to dinner. He's such a wonderful guy!

On a more positive note...

Yesterday was the last day of my pre-student teaching placement, and I actually got to teach stuff. I received great feedback from Mrs. R and she gave me a glowing review to submit to my advisor, and the kids seemed to be pretty into the lesson. (Although one boy clearly missed the point of the lesson; after discussing Buddha and his values and beliefs, one boy wrote an essay speculating that, if Buddha were alive today, he'd "be in a gang or something.") Plus, I got to break up one almost-fight (no small feat, considering that both boys were bigger than I was).

Gotta love middle school.

Just when I thought things were settling down...

Yeah, Jeff and I are breaking up. I put my notice in at work; I'll be out of here in the next couple of weeks. For the summer, anyway. And after that, who knows. I have to find a way to still pull off this student teaching thing.

I may not post quite as much for a while, because honestly, I'm hurtin' pretty bad. And I don't want this blog to get all depressing and drama-filled and shit. So you all do your thing and I'll chime in when I can.

You all know that when I'm going through a hard time, I may pull away a little, disappear for a while, etc. You ALSO know that I'll find you all when I DO need to talk.

This one hurts, you guys.

Action News.

On the way home from picking up Noah from preschool, Luc announced that he had to go potty.

"Well," I said. "We're not home yet, so I guess we've got a problem."

"Maybe you should call Action News," Noah suddenly said.

???

"WHAT?" I asked.

He just shrugged and said, "I don't know, my mommy and daddy watch Action News every night, and they always say that if you have a problem, you should call Action News."

LOLOL.

Holiday Weekend!!!

So what's everybody doing with their 3 BIG days off?

That's okay, I didn't really want to teach anyway.

http://www.detnews.com/2005/schools/0505/22/A01-189220.htm

Looks like SOMEONE may have to move out of state for a couple of years. Then again, I've been hearing that former graduates of my program have a slight advantage over "traditional" graduates, since we already have a few years of life and work experience under our belts. We can bring things to the table (in my case, my brief career in PR/advertising/marketing) that those who are right of college can't. Plus, I've already gained a couple of extra years working full-time with kids (parapro, nanny, etc), as opposed to the typical college "senior."

I just hope that, by the this time next year, the teaching job market in Michigan is looking a little better....

My new favorite joke.

From Reader's Digest (so if you've already gotten your June issue, you may have seen it).

Why does Snoop Dogg carry an umbrella?

See the comments section for the answer.