stars by your name

How encouraging this comment can be, "Well, we don't have anything yet, but I've put a star by your name."

It really is affirming though, when you finally meet someone in person and they are taken by your amazing talents and potential offering to their great company and they close with, "I'm putting a star by your name." One great charter school I sub with told me that and now I've had a few gigs there, which as you can see by my posts, I enjoy. Also, an incredible company that I would practically work for free with has just confirmed that their hiring "freeze" is not a "frost" as they had hoped and probably won't hire until January, but there is a star next to my name. Who knows, but stars are nice. For now, I will take the star and maybe do a medical study to pay the bills till January. I need a bad disease though or to be really depressed and willing to experiment with treatments...

Fiesta!

Inspired by a party Katie attended, Megan and I will be hosting a Chair/Wine party this Friday night as our housewarming gig. It's BYOC/W - we have a table and no chairs is the problem, really. Don't bring anything fancy or spend much on it, and if you don't have a spare chair then bring a fun beverage, and if you're not into beverages then just bring your fun self and we will be pleased! Please come if you're around and bring friends too! Directions are here.

tears

it was one of those days that tears come easily. I missed my dad a lot. I felt like staying in bed all day and really had to force myself to leave the house. My heart aches. I am tired in my heart. I keep hearing about relationships that seem to lose their luster. How do life-long friendships last and why is there such a difference in commitment between friendships and marriages? I'm holding on to hope for all these marriages out there but it's a dark place of hope with only a small lamp guiding the way. I want my friends and family to be full, not "getting by" or "making it work" with their partners. Where does our ambition go? The drive that tells someone "I'm not going anywhere?" Somewhere down the road we/he/she is gone and the indescribable fervor is taken as well. Ayzosh, take heart.

So I sat in our big chair, after peeling myself off for an hour or so to meet friends for dinner/drinks, watched a couple reruns and tuned in the depressing melody of Joshua Radin.

Broncos for Obama!

This weekend our dear Senator Obama visited Denver. Initially I found this out due to a Craigslist ad my friend Megan had sent me to make some money by selling "merchandise" at the rally. 6-8 hours promising $150-350 didn't sound like a bad deal. My friend Stavros, a couchsurfer from Boulder via Virginia and Portland, and I met the sales crew at 6:30am Sunday morning. Red-flag numero uno: Kidnapper van, sketchy McSketcherson Driver/leader. We hand over our id's (RF#2) so we don't run off with his merchandise, or as my conspiracy theorist friend thinks, so if we get busted by the cops we can't give them our id's. Enter why cops would be an option: Sketchwad doesn't have a permit, as I found out upon returning from my badass sale of all my t-shirts before the rest of the crew. While waiting for my next bag of goodies (yes, I began to sense the illegal nature of this gig pretty soon) one of the other sales guys angrily approaches Sketchwad (who is sitting in the front seat of the van, heat on, doors closed, while we freeze) and demands to see the permit so his friend doesn't get arrested. Sketch tries to stall and stall more and finally admits that he doesn't have the permit... in the car. The guys gets heated and I think he's gonna pull a gun on our fearless leader. In the meantime the rest of this posse is approaching and punching their fists together and yelling, "we're gonna take your f-ing merchandise if you don't give us our id's back" as he responds with "give me your money and I'll give you the id" and this goes on as you look beyond and note the man getting arrested, yes, arrested. ID is given back as the women of the posse take down the license plate for our kidnapper van, the salescrew throws all the boxes of buttons and "Broncos for Obama" shirts back into the van. We then disperse around the block like we've been selling drugs or something. Seriously, this was crazy, or "chaotic" as Sketch says when I go tell him I'm peacing out and want my money for the day. I take my $90 bucks and skeedaddle outta there. Not bad for a few hours of work and still getting to make it for the rally.

small wonders

As some of you know, I have been substitute teaching at a couple schools here in Denver. There have been a few moments that made dealing with 25-30 3rd grade boys bearable so I thought I'd share a few stories. Also, Jenae has been having a rough go and requested funny stories. Hope this helps.

First day with k-5 teaching Spanish as a second language:

Mr. Boobies
So the little 1st graders are squirming around and whispering while I'm discussing honey and telling a story about bees. I continue until Chris pesters me enough.
"Chris, is there something you want to tell the class?"
"Yes, Miss Miller. Josh is calling you mean names."
"Its ok, lets focus on the story."
"But Miss M, he's calling you Mr. BOOOOOBIES!"

I was born in "DEeeeNVER"
There are kids from all over the world in this class. One little girl has a name similar to a friend of mine from Brazil so I ask her where she's from.

"Africa."
"Oh, thats really neat. Where in Africa?"
"Ivory Coast"
"Wow, thats far away"

... or pretty or something and I ask her a couple more questions and told her how cool that was (seriously, that is awesome. Little Ivory Coast girl in Aurora.). The little girl sitting next to her is obviously envious of all the attention little ms. Africa is getting so she raises her hand like she's about to pee her pants and I respond,

"Yes, Olivia?"
"Ummmm, I was born in a uhhhh, big building (as she outlines the buildings with her hands) in uhhhh DENVER, do you know where that is? It was really cool too. My mommy held me in the hospital. First I was in her belly when we got there and then she heeeeld me!"
While trying to appreciate her genuine desire for attention, I hid my smile and told her, "Awesome! That is so special, huh? Wow, I love it when my mommy holds me."

6th Graders:
Can I ask you a few questions?
One girl, with a bizarre name and apparently some mad ski skills, asks,

"Leah, can I ask you a few questions that are unrelated to the Math we are working on?"
"Yes, thats fine Fredertha"
"Are you married?"
"No."
"Do you have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Do you want one?"
"Ummm I'm okay with not having either right now." (My usual "I'm just looking for a job" response doesn't really cut it with 6th graders)
"Do you have a pet?"
"No."
"Ooooh, do you live in a house or an apartment?"
"Apartment."
Other kid interrupts with, "Seriously, Fredertha, why do you ask people such personal questions. That makes people uncomfortable."
"She didn't have to answer the questions, ok."

OK. I could go on. Pencils pretending to be "weewees" and little boys bawling their eyes out because someone tattles that he has a crush on me. I almost pulled my hair out several times and then those little guys do something great like have a Star Wars sound effects contest (which I'm pretty sure I won... thank you. thank you.). Good times with the kiddos.

unexpected generosity

I frequent a coffee shop, St. Marks, mainly to search for jobs and sip some chamomile tea. By frequent I mean I should help pay their rent. The other day a woman in front of me asked for a refill on her coffee and just before she walked away the barista mentioned that they charged for refills. The woman was obviously a bit shocked and apparently short of some moola. I told her I had it and she responded, "That is so kind of you, I'll have to pay it forward to someone soon!"

Yesterday I sent my friend katie a frantic email confessing my tendency to be so verbose in cover letters. HELP! She has been my 'job mentor.' I am not sure if she would claim that, but to me that is one of her many roles in my life. She emailed this morning and said she would help me out and didn't mind, "pay if forward, ya know?" she said.

On my way to an interview at what turned out to be one of the greatest educational environments, I stopped for gas. I ran my card, pushed "no/cancel" in response to the carwash question (how many people do those things? anyone?) and my card wouldn't authorize. I try again and same response. I run in to the cashier and I explain. This is where the road divides. He could scowl and suggest I didn't know how to work the machine, take my card and start the thing from the inside and go about his business. Instead, he went with me outside and tried it himself with the same response. He said he'd start it from inside with my card and even came out with the signature for me to sign instead of me running back in. Seriously! How nice is that? He said, "I help you, you help me sometime."

What good-natured people I've come in contact with.

glorious sun

I woke up yesterday morning, txted google and discovered that winter had not yet come to stay, but the next few days were set for sunshine. After applying for my umpteenth job this week I decided it was time for a treat. Dressed in tank top and shorts, I headed to the mountains. I needed the soothing sunshine, trees, water and mountains. Not that my list ends there but yesterday the conditions were perfect (tell me if you've heard that phrase before).

I looked up the disc golf course, played for an hour or so then headed to a trail in Eldorado Canyon State Park. The sun felt so nice. I hiked around for a bit, got my blood flowing then found a huge rock to camp on for a while. I hiked up my shorts and shirt (i was hidden from the main trail, don't worry - no nudity) and soaked in the rays. The fall sun seems richer than other seasons, promising toastiness the way it transforms the leaves.

After the rock I ran down the mountain to the water and wandered around for a bit. I soaked my feet in the river and looked for fun rocks before heading home.

me. excited about water, sun, trees and mountains in my day.

i like days like this. Guess what? This weekend is supposed to be even better!

In other news, I am applying for jobs like crazy still. I'm hopeful and have applied for several I could get really excited about.