time for a change

This has been coming gradually over the last few months, but I'm finally happy about my new short crazy hair. The last two times I've had it cut, it was gradually shorter and shaggier and more deconstructed, but this time, I really went all out.

It's not only short and funky (think somewhere between Sarah and Jael from ANTM:Cycle 8) but also chestnut brown with red-violet blended throughout. So, in short, I'm no longer a brunette, I'm a violet-head. What does that say about me exactly? Dunno, but I <3 it very very much!

oh joy!

Spring Break is wonderful! I have to admit that I consider myself lucky to work in a profession that gives me the opportunity to have a Spring Break even though I'm not a student anymore! (Thank God for that!)

Of course, Spring Break generally conjures up visions of drunken college students running wild on the beaches of Florida, but for me, all it means is a much-needed, week-long break from work.

Don't get me wrong, I love my job. I love my school. I love my colleagues. But right now, I'm not loving some of my students so much. And I also hate those last few weeks before TCAPS (Tennessee standardized testing, for those of you who aren't cool Tennesseans). All it is is cramming in the last bits of the curriculum that you've not covered and making the students practice bubbling in answer forms on boring practice tests. Here the tests are given the day the students come back from a 4-day Easter weekend. Of course, I do LOVE the weeks between TCAPS and the end of the school year, but that's a different story.

My Spring Break festivities have included cooking an insane amount of Irish food for St. Patty's weekend (just for Jake and me), visiting with my grandparents, aunt, and two cousins who were in town at my mom's, fighting with apartment management and maintenance about getting rid of the musty mildew stench that permeated our apartment and made both Jake and me horrendously sick, and getting my Spring planting done. Yes, I said planting. If I can actually get anything to sprout, it'll be a miracle, but who knows, maybe come June, I'll have veggies to eat, herbs to cook with, and pretty flowers (ranunculus and asters) to cover my house with.

For now, though, it's back to being a slug and reading what I enjoy most - children's fiction! Ella Enchanted awaits, as does a potential trip to the public library (again!).