Cinco de Mayo Loco

I wish I got credit for blogging here instead of on my grad school discussion forum because I am rocking my blogging frequency here...and not so much for my school DF. :(

Now..on to what this post is dedicated to: Cinco de mayo (or Cinco de mayonnaise because that is what I always think of when I read this word). I have a few Mexican students and so we had a fiesta. The problem was that I have them from 8-9 AM, so it was more like breakfast time. Here is the good thing: 7th and 8th graders don't care and will eat and/or drink whatever in the morning. We had a complete fiesta that was so much fun! I was really getting into it. Not as much as Daniel though- the Russian boy who took his shirt off (when I went to get paper towels) and was shimmying with a sombrero on to some Mexican song playing on my CD player. We had music, dancing, streamers from the ceiling, refried beans made by a Mexican grandma, fresh guacamole that one of my 12 year olds made this morning in front of us, Russian chocolate wafers, Buffalo Ranch Doritos, European Aloe Vera juice, and....of all beverages to serve at 8 AM to teenagers: one girl brought in Moutain Dew Volt or Voltage or something. Side note-can you tell from that list that most of my students don't shop at Giant? It is usually from some ethnic market so we get a nice mix of food. I brought in Hot Tamales-those spicy candy things like Mike and Ikes. I thought I had cups, but only had those little bathroom ones..so..I had to pour drinks like every 10 seconds. You can fit like 1 oz. in those cups because of the soda fizz. Mt. Dew was everywhere and I am pretty sure the janitors will hate my classroom now. They were toasting to "ESL class forever." I love them. Although when we were toasting with those little tiny cups, I am pretty sure it looked as though I was handing out shots of Tequila or something. I promise, I wasn't. Here is one pic I snapped with my phone this morning. This is one of my 7th grade girls from Taxco, Mexico. :)

We had a lot of fun and then at 9:30 I had to rush them off to hear a Holocaust survivor speak, which was very sad. Talk about a change of events!

Favs

Currently, I am hooked on 2 things:

1. Starbucks Dark Cherry Mochas. I have a problem when I have too much caffeine. It interferes with medicine I take and I shake and get obnoxious. I remember when I had my first coffee freshmen year in college during fall finals. I was up all night in the library and I was so jittery that my writing looked like a 3 year olds and I was on the verge of having a panic attack. So I haven't had much coffee in my life. BUT, I had a dark cherry mocha the other day because I didn't think I could make it through work without falling asleep. WOW! My students thought I was insane. They loved my energy. And..it put me in a really good mood. Plus, it tasted fabulous. Sweet, but good.

2. Train. I got their new CD from my parents for Easter. I could listen to it over and over again and never get sick of it. Totally recommend the entire CD. I love the songs: Save Me, San Francisco, I Got You, Soul Sister, and Marry Me. They are playing with John Mayer in Hershey July 25 I think. I REEEALLLLY want to go, but I have no one to go with and the tickets are kind of expensive.

Superlatives are Sexy!

I was just grading some papers from the High School. Let me give you a background of the assignments...Lesson: Comparative and Superlative Adjectives. On an index card walk around the room and write 7 sentences comparing you and your classmates in this ESL class now. Sample sentences given: Sam is tall but Roman is taller. Sebastian is the tallest in the class.

Ok-so I am reading the cards this morning and this is what I find on one of my sophomore boy's:

#5. Dah Ler (girl in the class) is sexy but Miss Plamer is sexyest in the room.

Note: incorrect spelling of my NAME! and sexyest. Ugh. High school boys!!! Totally were not supposed to use the teacher in your examples. And stop sitting in the front row staring at me. Thanks, creeper kid.

And then, while grading the advanced classes essays about a book and character collage they had to do...
One of my junior boys, when asked why he put that specific item on his collage, in his WRITTEN essay, he writes: "I chose this picture because it was my favorite part in the book. The girl had big boobies and I love boobies."
That was his concluding sentence and then he turned it in for his final project grade. What are these kids thinking? Nevermind. I don't think I want to know.

Good News!

Grad school has been kicking my butt as of late. Mostly because I find it hard to strike a balance between doing work for work and doing work for school. Whenever I work on one of those two for an extended period of time, I feel guilty like I should be doing the other one.

I have had the same Prof. 2 classes in a row now. I thought the guy hated me. He is seriously one of the most intelligent people I have ever conversed with, but he is so blunt it borderlines being rude. Let me give you an example of one of his messages to my (small) class of like 15 people:
Please do not email me with questions or problems. I get too many emails in one day and don't have time for yours. Send your queries to Stephen and he will contact me. Only do this on Thursday evening and I will get back to you at my leisure.


I turned in my paper the other day which had basically been consuming my life the last 2 weeks. And...I shall brag a bit because [it's my blog] I worked hard!!!! I got an "A." Considering the last course he refused to give me an "A", I think this is a great accomplishment. I really want to tell people, but no one really cares about my paper about Options in Grammar Teaching. :( The stupid paper is worth 50% of my entire grade. So this is good news for me. Now if I can only survive until the end of May................

New Life

I can't get the formatting to work right whenever I put more than 1 picture in my blog. But, these are two pics of the newest member of the family...Samantha Rae McCracken. She was born this morning at 1:12 and weighed 6 lb. 4 oz. and she was 19 inches long. She is definitely a cutie. The entire time I was there she maybe cried once and it was this soft cry that was almost soothing in a way. She was very content and slept a lot...most of the 4 hours that I was there. Watching Ryan with her was just precious. He will be such a great dad!!

It is so strange to think that my cousins are now having kids!!! Like a whole new generation. I am starting to feel old. But, it is kind of good I guess. I think you appreciate God's blessings more. It just amazes me to look at something SO tiny and intricate and think that some people don't believe in a Creator. The whole miracle of God creating every limb, cell, tiny feature...is precious and I think that God's love is seen so clearly in the eyes of a newborn!

I love spending time with my family. I can't wait to watch Sammy grow up. Good job and congratulations, Abbey and Ryan!

Mr. Roger's Neighborhood

I was really excited because I was getting a new neighbor-and by neighbor I mean we share the same house (split in two) and walk up the same stairs and have the same porch, so it kind of matters how I like/dislike the neighbor. My old neighbor was apparently there for 4 or 5 years. He was very nice-30 years old, polite enough-but not very social and it was just kind of a bummer. Because I have no friends in this town, that's why. My old neighbor was the brewmaster for the entire PA Rennaissance Faire and well..yeah.

Ok, now that I brought you up to speed, my new neighbor arrived this past weekend. It is now mid-week, and I just met him now walking in from work.

Now think about a balloon when it is filled with air. That is how I felt because I was praying that my new neighbor would want to hang out sometimes, maybe watch sports together or talk on the porch or even jog around downtown with me. What happens to a balloon when you let the air out? I am that balloon. All hopes abandoned.

I waited for the guy to walk up the sidewalk and I shook his hand which was awkward enough. Then the guy didn't even say anything so I said, "Hi. I'm your neighbor, Bethany." And he said, "Ok." AWKWARD MOMENT! Then I asked him where he was from-he said this town, surprise. Then I asked what he did and in a barely audible voice he said he worked at a nursing home kitchen. Ok. I apologized for not meeting him before and he said his friend met me the other night while his friend was out having a smoke. FALSE. I didn't meet his friend. Then before we were even done the "conversation" he walks up the steps. I am pretty sure this kid has ZERO personality. Other notes about him-he drives a very old Buick. I think he is 23 years old (I think my landlord told me that). He carries large black garbage bags to and from the trunk of his car. I have seen him do this 3 out of the 4 days he has been here. I am hoping one day my body won't be in one of them. I mean, I am willing to give the guy a chance, and by that I mean not judge him completely and still say hello if I ever see him. BUT, I don't see us EVER hanging out. The dude is so socially inept. And I am used to Corey who is kind of socially inept as well. This is a whole different ballgame. My words do not describe the weirdness that just went down.

I wish I lived in Mr. Roger's neighborhood. They were all so social and friendly and very, very helpful. Remember that little trolly they had? I want that too so I would have transportation.

Emeril's Delight

A few weeks ago, Corey and I both went "home" and enjoyed a rainy weekend with my parents. We all went to the new SANDS casino in Bethlehem (for dinner, not the slots) because I had been dying to try Emeril's new restaurant. He doesn't have any other "Burgers And More" restaurants in the country, so it was very new and exciting. Burgers and More is supposed to be called BAM! for short, since that is what Emeril always says. In case you can't tell yet, I'm a huge fan! Pork fat rules! Ok...so my restaurant critique is as follows:

1. Only waited about 10 minutes on a Saturday night to be seated. +
2. Create your own burger-write on a paper what you want and hand your paper to the waiter. +
3. Quality of the burger- AMAZING! Big and juicy! +
4. Sides- we all got something different. I got the classic fries-they were good, but small. +/-
5. Dessert- THE BEST PART. Corey and I split a Bananas Foster Milkshake. I never tasted anything so good.

I wish that I could be a food critic. There isn't anything better than a quality burger, fries, and a shake! YUM! I really recommend going to the SANDS for BAM!