play with words

Tomorrow, something fabulous is FINALLY happening in Jacksonville.

We are having a rally downtown for none other than BARACK OBAMA! The best part is - the man HIMSELF will be in attendance. Lately, I've been volunteering for the campaign and being proactive makes me feel useful and excited.

And on the eve of the night I will hear the Future President of the United States of America speak in my town, all I can think is....

What makes the best tshirt?

Obama Baracks!
I Had A Barack-Through
Party Like Barack Stars
or ... Vote Obama 08 (I know, this ones a clunker!)

What can I say? Political volunteering aside, I'm still me!

the working girl at work

So, for any curious readers, these are some pictures from my classroom. I thought you might be interested to see where I spend most of my weekdays. This is where the Working Girl gets her work on, educating the young minds of America.

This is the top of my filing cabinet. All the essentials - lesson plans, bottled water, Nelson Mandela biography, piggy bank, and a starry, starry night.

Ahh, the elusive bathroom pass. Everybody wants one.

A shelf of our classroom library. Note the color-coded labeling system.

Our "Word Garden", where vocabulary grows. It's amazing what I can do with a little fabric, wire fencing, brown paper bags, hula skirts and a staple gun.

The Student Help Station - keeps us organized and feeling happy.

This is what the room looks like from my desk. It's a bit more interesting with twenty hormonal pre-teens sitting in those desks. I promise.

Woo! Desk surfing!!! (Also, that's the giant mirror in my classroom.)
My messy desk at the end of the day.... ok, and the beginning and middle of the day, too.

Tell me what you think ... and yes, your comments will be graded. - WG

my life in text messaging

Here's another fun game to play. These are my last 15 text messages (other than the "ok" and "yes" responses) in order from furthest back to most recent:

- True, punchies for life.
- to get the crazy Sri Lankan bitch off my ass
- not as much as you do!
- wet and irritated. you got a red spot coming for you.
- took a sweet job in kentu
- cky
- no power, two days, this sucks
- you're my person!
- not making cuts til next week
- you little drunky
- be safe, Ms. Frustration
- Yes. Yes, you are.
- I am drugged and horny.
- I need Mike's man meat.
- No coke in 3 days. Go buy a webcam.
-Colton in amazing. I am in love. Hopefully we'll go home tomorrow, depending on his test results.

Sometimes, I prefer my life out of context.

my life in pictures

Taken from Emily, here's a fun little photo game to play. Type the information into google images and see what pops up!

My First Name (No big shock this hooker popped up! LiLo move over. It's time for LiLay!!)

My Middle Name (oooh, scary!)

My Last Name (this was the first image...a guy named Stephen - which is my dad's name! )
and I couldn't help adding that the 5th image in all of google is a picture of MY parents in MY house! I don't know any of these kids though - are they replacing me in mass quantity??

And then there's my age (apparently not something you should spread around)
A place I'd like to visit (I was just talking to one of my students about this...It's Tokyo)
My Favorite Place (no big shock there):
My Favorite Animal (A BLT no "B" please):
Favorite Food (LOL, try and figure this one out):
Favorite Color (add the blue!):
Favorite Bad Habit (probably the only reason I pay a cable bill):
My First Job (although I didn't work for the Red Cross):

My Favorite Restaurant (if you live in Ocala, you should go check it out! Order the BadWich and tell them Lindsay sent you!):
Where I Was Born (that's supposed to be New Jersey):
Where I Grew Up (I do love streets like this - but watch out for chiggers!):

Where I Live Now (our downtown is actually quite pretty) :

and finally....what I'm doing right now! (big shock):

and on that note, I guess I better get my ass off the couch and do something productive. Honest to blog, people!

new neighbor

So, for the past two weeks, I've been greeted by this "little" guy on my front porch. You can't really tell from the pictures, but he is about 8 inches long and half an inch thick. Not your average friendly Floridian lizard!



He's also got these creepy little scales that change color in the sunlight. Today, when I snapped this picture (before he shot like lightning into the bushing enticing my most high-pitched scream) I noticed he was a brownish-green. However, this weekend he was more of a silvery-blue. I don't know what the hell he is, but the fact that I can see him as soon as I pull up in my car, lurking on the porch and waiting for me ... freaks. me. out.

party like barack star

So, those of you who know me, know I'm a very much a liberal. I'm not as educated on the issues as I should be, but I do have a deep belief in taking care of people and making sure that government does not interfere with people's personal life decisions. I struggled with the Obama v. Clinton issues. I really, really, really would love to see a woman run for President. Ever since I was a little girl, and I took those tiny steps onto my woman's rights soapbox, I knew that someday it would be possible. But I believe it will come in time. I believe in many things.

And I believe in the good in people.

I work with adolescents, but that isn't what makes my job frustrating. What makes my job so difficult is working with an endless supply of jaded people. I am constantly told that I'm too idealistic, and when I "wake up", I'll realize that these kids will never change. They tell me, that when I "get a life", I won't waste my time trying to help these kids. The negativity of my co-workers is very overwhelming. It's part of the reason I escape to Montreat each summer - just to be surrounded by people who don't think I'm naive for believing in the good, to be surrounded by people working overtime to bring happiness to kids they don't even know.

So, it is no wonder that someone like me can feels a connection to Barack Obama. His campaign, his story, his message - it's all so hopeful. It's empowering for me to watch him. He has overcome a lot and seen so much more than me. And even though some people say it's just feel-good-political-fluff, I can't help but feel excited that he united so many people with this message of hope.

Oh, the audacity of hope. Yes, we can. I believe in Barack Obama - and even if it turns out that he's not the Political Prince Charming of the Democratic Party - I will still believe in change, and hope, and happy things like that.

under - rated

I am officially obsessed with the following things today:

1. The Law & Order Criminal Intent marathon on USA
2. The Law & Order Criminal Intent marathon on Bravo
3. Law
4. & Order
5. Criminal Intent

Doink-doink!