so, my crazy kid bro is getting married. I mean, he's like my peer in so many other ways... Why is it so surreal to picture him as a HUSBAND??

He is so twitterpated with this lovely lady, Tamara, and it is really cute to see. We went out and took their engagement photos yesterday at the St. Louis Botanical Gardens, and it was fun to just hang out and snap a few photos as we talked and walked. More, um, FORMAL shots are forthcoming. This one was my favorite simply because they both goofed off perfectly at the same time. Anyhoo...

Just a lil' quick post... back to the photo editing.

I Think May is Going to Be Even Busier Than April.

I can't believe it's been a whole WEEK since my last post. Sometimes I feel like I'm losing it. YIKES!
a. My house needs a really deep cleaning...
b. My sophomores REALLY need their research papers back...
c. My primary really needs me to prepare visual aids for the next song...
d. The Masons need us to do a little more work for this last month before summer break...
e. I REALLY need to complete my birthday projects for Beckie and Sarah. Because before long, it'll be time to do Steven's and Julina's.... (Why 7 siblings, why???? *smile*)
f. My tootsies REALLY need a new paint job. But I'm too lazy to do it myself and too poor to go get a pedicure...
g. I REALLY need to finish p.processing Jaime's cute photos....
h. My car needs a good wash and vacuum...

And it all seems to disappear under my constant weariness, so that when I have the time, I can't bring myself to do any of it... and when I have the energy, I am using it up at my job. I know, I know, it will NEVER get better... Even when I am done with teaching someday, I will have traded that craziness for the new craziness of a houseful of kooky children of my own... and then I'll bemoan these lost days of REAL freedom. But for the moment, it really doesn't FEEL very free.

Okay. No more whining for now. I've vented. I'm done.

Part of the reason I haven't posted is because I don't really have any new photos. I'm just really in a photography lull... kinda burned out, to be quite honest. So to end my post, I'll put some of the good stuff from my thriving period, in February & March... any feedback/backpatting/validation is always welcome. Maybe I'll get reinspired to go back out and take some more photos...

{this next hot chica is my sis-in-law, Mary Victoria...}

Okay... I'm out. Gonna take my broheim's engagement photos today. Did I mention my lil' bro is getting MARRIED???? Weird.

Remember Prom??

Well... Liesl MacScience teacher "asked" me to prom, and I said yes. So she came over last night and we primped together and looked lovely together and she and I headed over to the prom. It was really fun to see all our students looking gussied up and sparkly shiny pretty, and oddly enough, the kids loved seeing us there, too! You'd think they'd roll their eyes and avoid us boring ADULTS... *smile*
Liesl is 7 months preggo, as you might see in the photo, but if possible, she had more energy than ME, and made it onto the dance floor to shimmy while I sipped a diet coke and bemusedly watched.
All in all, it was a really fun way to spend a Friday night!


The only downside was ditching my older sister Juli, who is in town from Indiana, my parents, who had come into town to visit with Juli, and my dear hubby Joe, who actually happened to have the night off. (*grr* for his never-predictable schedule...) Below, Joe, looking scruffy and casual (and really CUTE) last night as he watched us drive off into the prom-filled night.

The rest of the weekend has been marvelous-- breakfast a Denny's today with Juli and Joe... Shopping and errands with Joe in the sunny, lovely midday...(We got a new home theater system... cool surround speakers!! -perfect for us movie nerds-) Then a really luxurious nap in the afternoon and a yummy sushi dinner with Juli. My sis and I also stopped at the gelateria in downtown St. Louis and had real Italian gelato, which is ALWAYS a happy treat.
Now, as the night gets late, we are enjoying Disney's "Cars" at home, enjoying the new sound system.
I love weekends. Why must they ever end?

Self-Portrait.

...me, shopping at H&M. Bought a skirt.

Finally. It is 70 degrees and SUNNY la la la!


That's all, for today.

Friday the 13th is a-Comin'...

Friday the Thirteenth tomorrow: I wonder if the students will be wacko? One student already WAS. Today during the lunch hour, a junior lost control of her car (bad driver, I hear), and ended up beyond the curb at the front of the school, scraped along some stair-like ledges, and INJURED FOUR MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS!!! Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa???? No one is critically wounded, but still. One IS in the hospital. Wow. Weird.

These past few weeks have been so WEIRD. Really. 80 degree heat, then 26 degree freeze. One of our students, the least likely, committed a shocking suicide. This other student barrels into middle school kids today. The NRA will be coming to St. Louis for their National Convention. Slogan? "Something for Everyone." Creepy. (Will they GIVE people guns before they go through the metal detector, like in the Simpsons? No one allowed unless they're packing heat??) Also in the past few weeks: Being told by a friend that I don't believe in the real Christ and my first migrane stemming from that incident. Hearing that exact same issue addressed the very next day in General Conference not once, but TWICE. Like a reassuring answer from the Lord. Then getting it ALL OVER AGAIN today from one of our MyFamily websites in a flood of "Mormons are Good?/Mormons are Evil?" back and forth crap. FROM MY RELATIVES (in-law)!! Why is it all happening at once? Weird weird weird. Like a full moon, the Last Days, and Friday the 13th all wrapped up in one nice, neat little bundle.

When will the weirdness calm down?

And for that matter, when will we get 75 degree weather back?????

I know this isn't very intelligible. Quite frankly, all the various weirdnesses have the potential to be touchy/sensitive issues, so I am not really going to go into depth about any of them. I love many of the people who are part of the weirdnesses, so I'll let it all sort itself out individually. Still.

How much does a girl have to take in such a short span of time?


I'm crossing my fingers that May will have some warm, fuzzy normalcy. And maybe some Spring weather. And happy memories.

Till then, good luck with tomorrow! I'm sure I'll need it. I mean, what else could possibly be on the horizon??

Why Am I Blue?

Why is it, after a lovely 4-day weekend, and when there is really only one and a half months left of the school year, that I feel melancholy and reluctant to go to school tomorrow?

Can't I buck up and make it the rest of the way?

I just feel... DONE. Like I don't have anything to offer tomorrow.

I think my sophomores will be starting a new short story. My juniors will be learning poetry terms. Whatever.

I just don't feel ready to go back, after a sunny, lovely day today, home, cleaning, puttering, lounging around with Joe, enjoying silence. But I know once I get there, I will be happy to see my fun kids, chat with my favorite co-workers, and plan a few fun things to come. It's just the night before, I guess. Reluctance to be an adult, controlled by outside forces.

So. To head into tomorrow.... I'll just list my five things I am grateful for today, so I can end the day on an upward swing.

1. The Gelateria on Washington...
Pastries and gelato this morning,
with a tall glass of skim milk. Delightful!

2. "Watership Down" by Richard Adams...
the bunny book. I LOVE the way he tells the story--
so gentle, so natural, but so compelling and
absorbing at the same time.
It's like Lord of the Rings, but with rabbits.

3. My sweet, silent, warm, brief, peaceful nap at 5pm today--
waiting for Joe to rise from his
pre-work slumber, worn out from my bike ride...
under Katie's yummy quilt that is my grown-up
security blanket... Only the sound of faint traffic in the distance,
and Henry chittering in his cage in the next room.

4. DONE EDITING THE WEDDING!!!
*Phew* that is a load off of my chest!

5. Stocking the larder:
a full pantry and fridge after a joint-grocery shopping trip.
Feels good to be supplied again.

so... Life is actually really lovely. So I am going to go to bed, concentrating on that.

HOPPY EASTER!!!

I know it seems impossible. I know you thought he wasn't real. BUT:
Joe and I found the EASTER BUNNY!!!!

And I made him stand still long enough for a photo.

Happy Easter, kids!

Saturday Makes Me Unmotivated.

Here is me today. Note the messy hair with crazy blonde streaks scattered in. That's my new hair color. There are blonde "peek-a-boo's" hidden strategically under the brown. i am wearing joe's fleece hoodie, my red fleece p.j. bottoms, and cozy brown slippers. My hair is actually messier than this. I'm not gonna lie.

Everyone said we were fully in Spring. Everyone lied. It is cold today. *frown*

This computer is an addiction. a sweet, tempting, friend-filled, empty temptation.

I SHOULD be editing wedding photos and senior photos. But the idea bores me just now.

instead, this is what my brain keeps drifting to. Yummy, unproductive, lovely, helpless napping.

Our Little World is SO Lovely Right Now...

I wish I had more photos. The grass on our lawn is getting lush and nearly overgrown, with hundreds of little violets and a few dandelions waving in the breeze. I LOVE it. I wish the lawn cutters would hold off for a few more days-- it's just so nice to see GREEN, and so much of it. The first spring grass seems so much GREENER, vibrant.


Remember this?Our forsythia bush exploded into a riot of yellow blooms just one week later, and the cycle has already reached its zenith and is dying down. Time for the long-term flowers to arrive now. Still, I LOVE forsythia bushes because they do not procrastinate. They are a promise that winter really IS leaving.
I am so relieved to see green appear on trees. I am so rejuvinated to be able to drive with my window rolled down.
I want so very much to NOT be chained to a job, but to be able to make my own schedule, create art, make music, and be outside a LOT. One thing I really do miss in my current life is a porch or easy outlet to the outdoors from my home. Being on the third floor makes it kind of rough. No balconies or anything. I'm craving some light gardening.

Anyway. That's my Spring Rant. I hope to get out and take some Spring-y photos sometime soon. For now, I am off to bed, dreaming of the 4-day Easter weekend coming up. Maybe I'll go get a pedicure.

Good-night!