Pajamas and Locked Doors

It's Spirit Week again at the middle school. And today was pajama day. Again. Today I chose my striped pajama pants and my new baby blue robe, baby blue slippers and baby blue eye mask thing. I was ready to roll. I took the elevator down to the parking garage and as I walked to my car I thought it might be a good idea to take off my robe on my way to work since my car can get pretty warm in the morning. So, I unlocked my passenger door and started to disrobe (haha). Since I had put my keys in one pocket and my cell phone in the other I had a very clear and loud voice in my head say, "Em... remember to take out your keys before you lock the door." I reached in my pocket, pulled out my cell phone and shut the door. The door closed in slow motion and the "No!" I yelled was low, long and dramatic.

I was locked out of my car.

I was locked out of my building (my key card was attached to my actual keys).

And I was in my pajamas.

"No way that just happened." I was staring at my car in disbelief when out of the corner of my eye I saw the red lights of a car about to back out. I ran over, rapped on the passenger window of the car and pleaded for help. "Hi... Hi... excuse me. Sorry. You see, I locked myself out of my car. Do you know what time the office opens so somebody can help me?" The woman got out of her fancy car, looked me up and down and said, "Did you sleep in your car?"

"What?! No... I'm a teacher. It's Spirit Week. Pajama Day. Look, would you please let me in the building? My cell phone won't work in the garage and I'm going to need to call my dad for the spare."

"I guess so." She reluctantly walked to the doors and scanned me in.

Well, I was still locked out of my car in my pajamas but at least I wasn't locked out of the building any more. Which made me happier... even if I couldn't get into my apartment. I called my dad and begged for his help which would include almost an hour trip during rush hour to deliver the spare. (What a nice dad!)

Then I had to call work since I would undoubtedly be late. And I had to tell them WHY I would be late. As the person who received my message relayed it back to me to "clarify", I could already hear the office filling up with an entertained crowd of my co-workers. Later, I would be repeatedly teased and mocked for being "special" like my students. I liked it. :)

As I waited for my dad to arrive, there wasn't much to do. Everything I had was either locked in my car or locked in my apartment so I took myself down to the gym down the hall and walked on the treadmill for an hour until I got the call that my dad was in front of the building. I burned 277 calories. I feel robbed.

Also, today was a half day (for my students) and so I had to spend the second half of it at a long and dreadfully boring meeting... in my pajamas. And then I had to go to another two-hour meeting with the district... in my pajamas. I was warm and comfortable and mocked mercilessly from 7:30am to 6:00pm. Ahhh... priceless.

So Happy

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/24/germs.sponges.reut/index.html

I Hate My Car

I hate my car. I hate my car. I hate my car. I hate my car. I hate my car. I hate my car.

I REALLY hate my car. I tried to drive to the grocery store today but was worried about the snowy hill I'd have to go up. The hill looked fine but my car still wouldn't make it. Because it was overheating. AGAIN!

How am I supposed to get to work tomorrow? (If there IS work.)

Who wants to go car shopping with me this coming weekend?

Also... HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANN-MARIE!!! I heart you.

Sparks Obsessed

I found a new web site. And I'm obsessed with it. You can find it at www.sparkpeople.com. It's a website created to help people lose weight but it's gained a lot more attention from people who are just trying to live a healthier life. It tracks what food you eat along with all the numbers associated with your food (calories, fat, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals) and also how much you exercise in order to give you a clear picture of what your body is running on every day. But it's not annoying. Also, it has this point system where you get points for doing certain things on the site (tracking your food, drinking enough water, etc) and then if you join a team (like one I just created today) then you can see how many points other people in your team have and make a competition out of it. Being competitive in nature, this appeals to me. Wanna play?

Go to this site to join the team right away!
http://www.sparkpeople.com/myspark/groups_individual.asp?gid=7189&gcode=SYYX2HMRCL

When registering type in "TacomaTeacher" as the referral so I can find you once you're on.

Maschoolital

I had a dream last night. It was mostly about me craving Gandolfo's. I miss it and since the only location in WA is all the way in Redmond I haven't had a Gandolfo's sandwich since before I moved away from Provo in August. Anyway, you'll never believe where I finally found one in my dream. It was in the food court inside a Maschoolital. The building was part mall, part school and part hospital. It was everything I loved and hated all rolled into one building. I shopped, worked (mostly kept having to search for my students in the mall portion) and avoided doctors all night trying to find Gandolfo's. And I finally did. But woke up right before I got to eat my sandwich! Tragic!!!

Weathering the Storms

It's been a while. But for those of you who listened to my record backwards and heard "Em is dead," rest assured. It was just a hoax. I wasn't really dead.

Washington has been in the news a lot lately. Two weeks before Christmas we were hit by a huge storm. It was hurricane-like in nature and wiped out power in millions of homes. Some of them (including my home town) were without power for almost two weeks. When I listened to the local radio stations I heard people calling in and begging for help. There was no electricity and in some areas there wasn't even water. And temperatures dropped to all-time lows. Several people died from drowning, electric shock, being crushed by trees, carbon monoxide poisoning, etc. Me? I never even lost power. My cable went out for about 10 minutes during the storm, though. Life is hard.

After that, there came Christmas. At least, I think it happened. I have a new GameCube in my apartment. So something happened. But it wasn't the same. Most of the stores were closed for several days before Christmas so shopping was a no-go. Almost everybody's Christmas lights wouldn't glow. And then, of course, there was no Grandma. That sucked.

On the plus side, over Christmas break (I mean Winter break...) I got my own classroom. Before I was sharing a classroom with another teacher and it was divided in half with bookshelves. It was horrible and I hated my life. But now I don't hate it as much.

Today I didn't hate it at all. We're in the middle of another storm. A snow storm this time. And there was no school today. And by the look of it outside right now, there's a huge possibility that my unexpected vacation will be extended by another day tomorrow. Hurray!

Back to my GameCube...