Hope you had a lovely Labor Day. Rich and I had a great day off, in which we, um, worked. Rich has a paper and a presentation due today, and so he spent most of the weekend knocking that out. I, on the other hand, am trying my best not to make a fool of myself on the first day of school. So, I worked on lots and lots of school-y things.

I also ran a bajillion dumb errands and during my ample waiting times, I read. I finished two books this weekend, both of which were about dysfunctional families. Hooray!

The first was The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This is a memoir of Wall's life, and it basically reads like a manual on how NOT to raise children. In the first page, adult Walls sees a homeless woman on the street and realizes it is her mother. Walls does a good job of not condemning her parents and, instead, lets the reader make up his or her own mind about the parents. This was a totally enjoyable read, though sad and haunting. There are several images from this book that I will never forget.

The second was The God of War by Marisa Silver. This is the book our town is reading together this year. (Yes, our town essentially has a town-wide reading group. My sister says we live in Stars Hollow.) The book follows Ares, a pre-teen boy, as he helps care for his developmentally disabled brother, as he learns how to relate to his free-spirited mother, and as he negotiates his small town's social life. All in all, this was a good read, though, again, sad and angsty. This book made me glad I am not a teenager anymore. (Not that my teen years were anything like what is described in this book.)

I'd recommend them both!

Yesterday was my first day of professional development at my school site. Right after lunch, we took a tour of the whole campus, and when we got back to our building, there were flowers waiting for me in the office.

That's right- my parents sent me flowers for my first day of school. They might be a wee bit excited.

It was a great day all around (though quite long), and it made me even more excited for the great year ahead!

I got to see my classroom today, and it is awesome. I might have squealed out loud. And creeped out a couple of construction workers.

I've been feeling a wee bit frustrated and sorry for myself today.

That is, until I saw this. It made me smile, and stop being sad. Maybe it will do the same for you.

The one where Charlie drinks foot water

Richard got injured at TKD this week while sparring. He has a microscopic cut on one of his toes, which has caused his entire foot to swell up AND an unbelievable amount of blood. The bloody toe prints I've been cleaning off the carpet all weekend attest to that (and make it seem like we've got a serial killer on the loose in here).

We're having a party tonight, and I bought a little too much ice. Rich took advantage of the situation and decided to soak his foot in a giant bowl of ice. Charlie decided that this was, in fact, a giant bowl of treats for him and began eating the ice and lapping the water around Rich's foot.

Also, I hung some pictures on a wall. Yippee!

There are lots of things about schools in California that just blow my mind. Here are the top ten so far (I am sure there are many more to come):

10. In every high school I've visited, there is only one lunch period.

9. This is possible because almost without fail, the "cafeterias" are outside. Kids are allowed to roam pretty much as they please.

8. High schools in LA don't use lockers because of drugs and/or weapons. Teachers can use the lockers for storage, though, in the older schools that have lockers.

7. While there is typically a loose (often unenforced) dress code, it is nothing like the dress codes in Texas. Facial piercing, anyone? No? How about a hat, then? Neon mohawk?

6. Many schools have a "Nutrition" period, which is basically a 20 minute snack time. I found out they do this so they can get one more meal for the kids who are on free and reduced lunch.

5. Many kids will take public transportation a ridiculously long way to get to school (more than an hour, people!), especially if the school they are attending is perceived as "better."

4. Every high school has a "Dean's Office." From what I can tell, this is basically a principal who just handles discipline. When you get sent there, you know you are in big trouble.

3. Many of the buildings I've visited are literally falling apart. I never realized how privileged I was to attend a school whose walls were painted nearly every year.

2. Classes are often enormous. Like, 50 students enormous.

1. Because of the incredibly strong union, it's against the rules to have a dress code for teachers. What?! This one really blows me away.

Are any of these especially surprising to you?

This morning I won some major points with my principal by being the only teacher to volunteer to help hand out flyers to promote our school at the East LA Farmer's Market.

What I discovered is it is very hard to convince someone to go to a different school. For example,

Me: Are you in high school?

Student: Yes (looks at me like I am a creepster)

M: I'm a teacher at *School*, and I wanted to talk to you about how awesome *School* is going to be this year. Have you enrolled at a school yet?

S: Yes, I'm going to *Other School*

M: Well, you should think about *School*. We have a brand new building, the best teachers, lots of activities, cool technology, etc. (Hands over a flyer) You should think about if you want to be overcrowded over at *Other School*.

S: (Takes flyer and basically runs away)

Yikes! I felt a bit like I was on one of those mandatory evangelism trips at the mall. But, I did get a killer pupusa out of the deal, so all awkward conversations aside, I think I came out ahead.

Thanks for the many kind comments, friends!

I am getting used to the new haircut, but it always takes a while when I make a drastic change.

For better or worse, I took the plunge.

Also, school staff meetings are scary. I am now officially overwhelmed.

The hummingbirds are getting a little out of control.

At first, I really enjoyed watching the occasional hummingbird visit our feeder. Now, our balcony has morphed into a hummingbird crack den. They camp out, lounging on the feeder until they are hungry enough to get their next fix. Except for when another hummingbird approaches and everything gets out of control. Who knew hummingbirds are so grumpy?

They are still fun to watch, but in a more high-action sort of way.