Yesterday we had to put my dog to sleep. He was an 11 year-old English Pug. It's amazing how much a silly thing like a pet can affect your life.

Merry Christmas everyone...hope you all had a great holiday. I for one enjoyed the semi-white Christmas up here in NH. Now all that's left is to party in another year and then back to school. Luckily I don't have to go till the 20th. However, I am giving a moment of silence to my friends who have this J-Term thing they are forced to attend. My friends on the basketball team who were back at school on the 26th and my friends on the swim team (yes, that includes you Emily) who have to be back on the 2nd DO NOT however get a moment of silence, as they will be training down at Disney World in FL!

For those of you who haven't already...GO SEE LORD OF THE RINGS! This epic trilogy is by far my favorite books of all time. And they have done an outstanding job with the movie. For those of you who are obsessed with Star Wars, this story blows Lucas out of the water. Definately worth seeing multiple times!
In other news, I heard an interesting statistic about our dear neighbors in VT. I'm not sure which way it goes, but either 33% of the people in the Federal Witness Protection Program live in VT or 33% of people who live in VT are in the Witness Protection Program. Very interesting...

For all my fellow future-teachers:

A POWER OF A TEACHER by Hiam Ginott
I've come to a frightening conclusion that...
I AM
the decisive element in the classroom.
It's my personal approach,
that creates the climate.
It's my daily mood
that makes the weather.
AS A TEACHER,
I POSSESS A TREMENDOUS POWER
to make a child's life miserable...or joyous!
I...
Can be a tool of torture,
Or an instrument of inspiration.
I...
Can humiliate or humor,
Hurt of HEAL!
IN ALL SITUATIONS--
It is MY RESPONSE
That decides when a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated...
And a child humanized or de-humanized.

On the 8th Day of Christmas the School Network gave to me...
8 full seasons of Simpsons episodes
Several hundred pirated movies
Hundreds of thousands of MP3s
5 Mindless Games! (ok, so only 3: CS, Black & White, & Worms)
4 hours/day without IM
3 illegal opperations
Too many email viruses to count
And that blue fatal error screen of death!

Wooo! One semester down, 7 more to go. And then, on to school! (Does anyone else find my desire to remain in the school as a student and/or a teacher for the rest of my life somewhat PSYCHO?!) In any case, just four grueling days of finals next week and then a month of freedom. So until they send home the grades, life is good.

Perfect Silence by Me(my first attempt at a Pantoum)
Life swirls endlessly on
As liquid warmth brushes my face.
Time fades away and I become
Connected with this serene image of life.

As liquid warmth brushes my face
I glow in the fluid sunbeam's touch.
Connected with this serene image of life
Are a thousand hopes and dreams.

I glow in the fluid sunbeam's touch;
My eyes gaze towards the dazzling light.
Are a thousand hopes and dreams
Being heard by the One who knows?

My eyes gaze towards the dazzling light.
The wind whispers through my hair. I am
Being heard by the One who knows.
Smiling, I sigh in peace and dream.

The wind whispers through my hair. I am
Resting in His hands; perfect silence. And
Smiling, I sigh in peace and dream
Because I do not need to worry.

Resting in His hands; perfect silence. And
Life swirls endlessly on.
Because I do not need to worry
Time fades and I become.

Superglue Relationships
It's been a long night. You had a huge project due for your hardest class, and subsequently, you were forced to work on it on a Friday night! You are blindly stumbling back towards your dorm around 1am to try and get some sleep before you get up and continue the never-ending work. Suddenly South Patio comes into view and you shudder. Your timing could not be worse: it's the end of Intervisitation in the girls dorms, and over a dozen couples are standing in various corners of the patio, their bodies a twisting pretzel-like mesh of limbs. There is no avoiding them...the side doors are locked, and you know that you will only find the same thing at every other main entrance. You develop a sudden fascination for the ground in front of you, and accelerate to a power-walking pace until you have safely made it into the dormitory halls.
The Superglue Relationship. It's a pretty common occurrence here at GCC. You know the type. It's those couples that seem to have glued themselves to each other. Maybe there's a bomb between them that will go off if they separate more than a foot. Maybe they prefer being referred to as "BillandJane" instead of "Bill and Jane". Whatever their reasoning, these couples love PDA and will use every opportunity to display it (whether that be through sitting extremely close whispering to each other on the lobby couches, kissing by doors regardless of how many people are walking in & out of those doors, etc.). Don't get me wrong. I'm not one of those bitter single people who hates seeing couples happy. I think being in love is a wonderful thing, and I am all for showing your affections to your love. But it is a matter of embarrassment to the rest of us! It seems as if everyone is embarrassed of their behavior except for the couple. I would think that they could have the decency to at least try to be subtle! In any case, my friend Emily and I have come up with the perfect solution. Armed with lawn chairs and popcorn, you will find us on South Patio one of these Intervis nights staring at and talking about these unabashed couples. If that doesn't discourage extreme PDA, I'm not sure what will! (okay, so we probably won't actually do that...but it is pretty funny to think about)

Okay, reason #431 why living in western PA is absolutely ludicrous:
The last weekend in October: temps were in the 20s & 30s; it snowed for several days straight--poor lil trick-or-treater kids froze.
The first week in December: predicted high tomorrow of 60-something; bright, sunny, and almost warm just 21 days before Christmas!

Ya know, life is like a coin-operated dryer...
I hate doing laundry. After over three months of college, I still haven't been able to figure out just how long those dryers take to finish. So yesterday, as with every week, I found myself staring at the grumbling dryer, hoping that my persistent gaze would make it go faster. Dryers have this mesmerizing quality to them. Their thick yellowish plastic portholes seem to fuzz and disappear as I watch my clothes tumbling away in a frenzied pace to get to wherever they think they're going. Socks, underwear, shirts, towels...they all twist together in this strange clockwise dance. If I stare long enough, even the colors blend into a swirling mix of movement. I think I need to stop letting my mind wander on occasions such as these. I find that often it comes back with strange new ideas. Watching my laundry yesterday, I started reflecting on life. And by the time my clothes had finally finished tumbling, I was of the opinion that life is a lot like those coin-operated dryers.
Our lives are filled with memories and experiences, just as the dryer is full of clothes. Some of these memories are like the smelly gym socks you threw in; others are delicate, like intimates or a silk blouse. Some memories are old and faded, like that favorite pair of jeans; and others bring feelings of warmth, like fluffy towels or a fuzzy sweater. Some memories are unpleasant and uncomfortable, like my Fit-Well uniform or a particularly itchy wool sweater. All these feelings and thoughts and encounters are thrown into the dryer and tumbled together in a whirlwind of motion.
Life is full of these diverse experiences. I have been blessed with many wonderful "fuzzy" memories, as well as my share of "smelly socks". But God has a way of taking all those memories (even the dirty, unpleasant, and uncomfortable ones) and tumbling them all together. In the end, I am left with a bundle of warm, fresh-smelling clothes. Both the good and the bad have come out smelling wonderful, just as God uses both good and bad times in my life to renew my spirit and draw me closer to Him. So next time you're stuck at the dryer waiting for your clothes to stop spinning, take some time to let your mind wander...you never know what thoughts it will come back with!