Graduation

Who's going? Where are you staying? I just made an impulse buy of a plane ticket up for graduation, and I cannot wait to see everyone who's coming!

ADDENDUM

Jae just informed me that we may need tickets for Class Day on Sunday. So, if you want to go see Bill, let me know and I'll let Jae know how many tickets '09 needs. Gracias!

I have not in fact disappeared from the face of the planet.

I've just been in graduate school. Just wanted to let you know that no, I am not dead; b, a life update is coming, probably this weekend, and 3, I'll be in the Have for Commencement weekend.

Stay tuned. Love you all, miss you more.

Baltimore is awesome

So, as some of you know, I just moved from a marginal neighborhood to a nice one. (If you need my new address or phone number let me know!)

I went back to the old place today to collect a few stray items, and while I was there, I caught the latest gossip from the block. Apparently someone living on the block has enemies, because last night, about 4:30 am, someone lit her car on fire. As in, from the gas tank. They were attempting to make it explode, but they failed. Instead, the gas tank lit on fire, and melted the entire back end of the car.

Yes. It is still on the street, mangled and charred and everything. I love this city.

I'll try to update again from Egypt (I leave Sunday).
Love from Charm City!

Spring Break! (finally...)

Woo, my spring break is finally here! Now, I need to apologize before I start this post because I know I only talk about school on here, but considering that teaching and taking classes about teaching are pretty much the only things I do nowadays, you'll have to forgive me.

First off, my school has been all over the news, both international and local! That's right, we heard tell of someone seeing this clip, featuring my two principals recruiting in the Iberville Projects next to my school, in Japan:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8604181.stm

The second clip comes from the local news. Last week was state testing in Louisiana, which basically meant that K-2 were kicked out of the building all week so as not to risk disturbing the testing environment. Throughout the week we fed exotic animals, visited two colleges (Tulane and Dillard), and completed 10 hours of service learning. The latter is what we made the news for. We had an anti-litter campaign where we teamed up with a local community center and service organization. We picked up trash around the school, placed trashcans in the neighborhood, and on the last day held an anti-litter parade (you know how New Orleans loves its parades) complete with handmade cardboard signs. Here's the clip from the news segment:

http://www.abc26.com/videobeta/bb75e563-8152-4cf6-aae6-f0474ed36994/News/160-Kindergarten-first-and-second-graders-teamed-up-with-the-Phoenix-of-New-Orleans-to-clean-up-lower-Mid-City

Makes me smile :)

Also making me smile is my long awaited spring break! I'm super excited about my plans - I'm going to New York City baby! My principal and a couple other teachers and I are going on an all-expenses paid trip to observe three of the best charter schools in the city. I love doing this sort of thing because I get such great ideas for my classroom. I observed some schools after The Game and ended up bringing back a behavior management plan that has since been implemented school-wide (not to brag or anything). Also, while in New York, my entire suite has decided to use me coming as an excuse for a reunion, so all of us will be converging there next weekend! I could use me some Yale loving, let me tell you.

Well, that's the update from my front. What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Shameless plug

Hey friends! I've been cooking up a storm in Baltimore, in part inspired by the insane winter.
Anyway, if you're starved for ideas, maybe my cooking blog experiment will help you?
<3
Katie

Snowmageddon

Hi '09!
I guess I'm jumping on the bandwagon here-- three posts in 24 hours! The madness!
As you've all seen on the news, or my twitter or facebook, that the mid-Atlantic has gotten more snow in a single storm than it usually sees all year. We've got more snow right now than Rochester (hi, Rosa!). We're about to break through the record for all-time snowiest winter in Baltimore. And, tomorrow is the third consecutive snow day.
Hitler, of course, is not pleased about this:

(Monica and others sent that to me, and it's pretty great.)
The roads here are essentially impassible. There is a solid foot of ice on most minor roads, and all major (and minor) roads are basically one lane, possibly one lane each direction. That is not at all given, though.... I've already spent many hours digging out my car, but my driving adventure today made me wish I hadn't bothered. It's amazing chaos here.

In other news, grad school is hard, and I keep failing my damn German exam. I'm going to be in Egypt most of May, working on the artifacts from my professor's dig at Karnak temple. This is old, but the same expedition. Yale still functions-- I was up there a few weeks ago, and got to see Elliot and Tasia being super cute and got to celebrate AJ and my first anniversary.

Yale/Harvard Hockey

I was in New Haven last weekend to visit Henry/catch a home hockey weekend that included a Yale/Harvard game. New DM Elliott brought the big guns. And a battle axe. The Whale's got some new accoutrements - video screens near the entrances, new flags, fancy lettering on the bathrooms, and ticket scalpers.


I sat in the student section. Actually, first I tried to stand. Then I got bitched out for standing because then the person behind me couldn't see, and if she stood too, then everyone would have to stand, and then - HORRORS! - everyone would be standing at a hockey game.

To be fair, I was the one not playing by the rules, but her dude friend running off to tell on me to the 60+ year old usher, as I was sitting down (while sputtering, "But it's a hockey game!") - not cool. Also I got weird looks for bellowing at the goalie.


On the plus side, there is a student section! And they joined in on the "It's all your fault!"s. Still, sitting at a hockey game was weird. It was hard to yell while sitting down. We left at the first period break to join the band, and the band section's usher recognized me!

Anywho, Yale pulled off a win with Billy in goal. They even managed to turn a 6 on 3 (two penalties and pulling the goalie, which, as I recently learned, is also a euphemism for going off birth control/having unprotected sex) into an empty net goal.


Final score: