Up, Up & Away!

With nerves and a new pair of shoes, I am flying away for the rest of the summer. My first stop is here to present at this, then back to this spot for 25 hours of girlfriend-time, and finally off to here for weeks.

That will be a bit stressful, but the type of stress I thrive on. Then, this place with three of my closest friends will be the exact opposite of stress. Ahhh...

Career's Twisted Path

As many of you know, I often equate my job with an abusive relationship. But, I have been rethinking this erroneous analogy, and even though I have yet to conjure the perfect comparison, I know this is an unfair judgment. I won't ever say that again. Promise.

I mean, that photo up above showing water quality testing happening on the Anacostia River is how I spent last Friday. Worlds collided for me as we boarded the Half Shell with Living Classrooms Foundation DC. There are many days when I long for some gettin' dirty outdoor work, such as my old job on that Chesapeake Bay Buy Boat...

...enough dreaming of previous lives, back to my current job. A few months ago I decided to accept a new position at my school and since have felt a resurgence of passion for teaching at this school. Those other photos up there illustrate one of my school's proudest days so far. Cesar Chavez Public Charter School for Public Policy had its first graduation! Chavez only accepted ninth and tenth graders the first year, and 15 scholars made it all the way to the diploma. As I sat at graduation donning a black robe, I remembered (around March I was wondering...) why I care about Chavez scholars enough to put up with this incredibly stressful and time-consuming career. Next year will be monumental for not only the 2nd senior class, but selfishly for me too, for that class consists of the scholars I worked with when I began working at Chavez. Watching those crazy kids walk and shake on the fact that they broke down numerous stereotypes will produce tears of joy. Lots of tears.

Classes end this Friday and only a few meetings happen next week. And then...


...Summer Fun:
I'm flying to Denver to present at this conference with Simon. This excursion will foster professional and spiritual growth-- for, we will spend 5 days breathing in Colorado air, will present for 2 hours, then will head to Rocky National Park for hiking with Mario. Great.

Then, I am heading south for the rest of the summer. A few months ago I was spending oodles of time researching and applying for "things" to do over the summer weeks off. Coulda spent 6 weeks with rich high school kids in Egypt, coulda volunteered with Ashoka, coulda taught summer school...but, I finally turned all of those coulda's down for some time on a Spanish-speaking beach. I cashed in my travel voucher with Taca Airlines for a flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. I only know that I am flying into San Jose, attending my great friend's and cousin's wedding on August 11th, and flying out of San Jose. The rest is to be determined...

...So, do tell! If you were about to board a plane that would land in Costa Rica, what would you do? I have four weeks and am seeking your first-hand experiences!

Photo Opportunities

This Sunday morn affords one time to do purposeless chores. For example, uploading photos to Flickr and Blogger.

Recent Haps:

Dindin for the Birthday Boy:



School's been fun:

It's what?

Teacher Appreciation Week
The ever-present humongous knot in my back -- affectionately named different scholars at varied times of the day -- reminds me of how much I am appreciated. So does this article.
Yup...sure am feeling appreciated.


I am also not thoroughly exhausted and full of sarcasm, nope not one lil bit, totally sincere.

I keep telling myself, "Kerri, just remember, 'It is no secret that teaching is one of the hardest jobs in the world and, undoubtedly, one of the most important.'"

Strange & Fantastic Commuters

It really is the little things! Life has supplied a few unexpected curve balls lately, but in the midst of hardship came a wonderful surprise. As you may know, we commute daily on the MARC for our round-trip journey from Charm City to Chocolate City. You probably don't know, but for my birthday A. created a book of "coupons" for me to use over the course of this year. These coupons are colorfully illustrated and thoughtfully represent how well he knows me. Some coupon examples: Organic Homecooked Ethnic Meal; Day Hike with Keba; Explor-a-bike Day and so on...

These coupons tickled me so much that I pulled out my coupon collection recently on the train to ponder when and which one I would use first. As we made our way home, I decided to cash in my Day Hike coupon for that weekend. I reached into the depths of my backpack and...what...no way...WHERE ARE MY COUPONS?...no way, they have to be here, I just had them...NO!...(emptied bag onto floor) THEY ARE GONE.. NoooooOOOOO!

A. is so smart. These were nontransferable and couldn't be redeemed without the actual coupon. He smiled mischievously at my dismay as I tried to convince him to recreate, he denied me, and I sank my shoulders with self-disappointment. BOOHOO for me, right?

THEN, about two weeks later, our school secretary told me that I had a phone message in my mailslot. This is not uncommon, so I slowly made my way to my mailslot to see who I owed a return call. The message read, "Theresa called about those coupon."

Ummm, what? I don't know a Theresa, not sure what "those coupon" would/could be, so I disregarded this message by telling myself there must have been an error. (Not once did A.'s coupons cross my mind, but I do usually call people back.)THEN, last week, the same wonderful secretary informed me of a letter that recently arrived for me. This too was placed in my mailslot. I sauntered that way and began to open the letter. This envelope was handwritten and the return address was from Glen Burnie.

I opened this mystery package to find...MY COUPONS!!

Theresa Arney from Glen Burnie mailed my coupons back to me! This incredibly persistent woman sought me out to return what most would have considered trash. She jotted a short note about how she tried to contact me at work but I never returned her call, so she just mailed them to me. Well, jeeze, I sure felt awful for not calling her back, but my Thank You note to her was mailed today.

Oftentimes I find myself disgruntled by human misbehavior. I find people rude, brash and inappropriate (especially those from my Mid-Atlantic region). Sometimes I can shrug these feelings away by looking at the amazing people I surround myself with, for they fill me with reassurance and sanity, but sometimes those yucky people stick with me so deeply I can't sleep. This seemingly simple gesture-Theresa's persistence- made my week, well actually my year. I feel warm and fuzzy inside, smile with ease and don't care about those stupid passive aggressive, rude, inappropriate people out there. Those people can't hold down the Theresa's of the world!

THANKS TO MY FELLOW MARC TRAIN COMMUTER FOR BRINGING BACK HOPE!

Do you agree with this projection of happiness?

From a pile of snotty tissues

Just as I praised my body's immune system this winter, wouldn't you know it-- A full-fledged-not-getting-out-of-pajamas head cold strikes. Despite all efforts to avoid this hardship, I was unable to go to work and even less able to keep the fragile area below my nose and above my upper lip dry today.

On Friday, I was sent a vicious warning sign: the headache to top all headaches. Yes, this headache was the Queen Bee of Headaches, the not to be disputed champ! But, the weekend offered a mini-reprieve (for the headache dulled after 12 hours of slumber): Saturday contained a hard running workout under sunbeams; long, slow Sunday brunch capped off with sunbeams on our back deck; Sunday slow run---- AND---- this is where my current plight began. For, it was on this run when I was forced to acknowledge my lethargy and snot production.

I ended my run early, and defiantly returned home to challenge my body to bring on the cold as I gulped echinacea like a fiend. But, alas, to no avail. I am sick and after one day, I am sick of being sick!

I already long to be back with my scholars: