compliment circle

puget sound on a stunningly clear day.

i led a compliment circle this morning and

was so touched by the kind and thoughtful words

5 year olds can choose to say to each other.

~ ~

later, as I walked them to lunch:
"you won't ever forget me, right?"

i.a. looked at me with glittering eyes and said

"no! i will think of you at night and and and

then say your name."
O____o   :P    :)

"Are you interneting?"

“I had the epiphany that

laughter was light,

and light was laughter,
and that this was the

secret of the universe.”
― Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch

finally got a pair of rainboots

& a biscuit with strawberry balsamic jam~*~

the earth breathes.

for dessert, we had:

problem: trying to peel stickers/labels off of

glass bottles and leaving a residue of stickiness

solution: use a hairdyer to heat up the edge

of the sticker for 10 seconds;

the entire label should peel right off.
~
problem: cut flowers wither and die too quick
solution: put a penny & sugar into vase.
~
problem: struggling to put duvet cover

back onto a comforter after doing laundry

solution: use hairbands to tie the ends of the

comforter inside the duvet; then shake it

out and the entire process shouldn't

take more than 15 seconds.
~
problem: dry skin in the wintertime
solution: honey aloe + sugar mask!
1. cut a piece of aloe in half + rub your face with it.

2. mix RAW honey and sugar in a bowl and

GENTLY rub your face with that too.

3. let it all crystallize for 1 hour.

4. wash off.
~
problem: your lotion contains too many
sulfates & chemicals you can't pronounce
solution: use a cocobutter stick ($1.98)
or coconut oil ($6.99-15.00) instead.

"Our lives begin to end the day we become

silent about things that matter."

- MLK, Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/martin_luther_king_jr.html#yCte8K4vkFTGRQB1.99

according to buzzfeed,

the city I should actually live in is
Cape Town.

"You have never been able to sit still

a single day in your life. An avid adventurer

you are always looking for the most unconventional

way to do things. You love city life,

but couldn’t imagine life without getting out

into nature every once in a while."

ashley loves cleaning bathrooms.

i love cleaning kitchens.
we both love vacuuming.

we are a MMIH (match made in heaven~*~)

ate a popsicle, then went into the sacrifice courtyard.

95% of my kindergartners speak one of the

following languages:
1. Somali

2. Cantonese
3. Amharic

4. Vietnamese

5. Mandarin

6. Arabic

7. Spanish

for my inquiry action project for the

Community, Family & Politics strand,

i'm interested in drawing upon the amazing

linguistic diversity in our classroom to create

something. i just don't know what yet.

any ideas?

 

& cambodia

write one thing you did for yourself over winter break:

"i climbed a mountain with my childhood friend and

we had a picnic and watched the sunset."

 sometimes, suddenly, i'll

remember that i live in seattle.

in every city i live in, i always find one food
item from a specific cafe that I become obsessed with.

Santa Cruz --> italian sausage sandwich from Z's.

Beijing -> zajianmian from laobeijing

Wellington --> salmon teriyaki from SUSHINOW

 Seattle --> this artichoke sandwich:

ashley accompanied me today & watched me

stuff myself while she drank her juice.

chai tea, ginger snaps and

a documentary about sushi

= the best way to spend a friday night after a

week of 10-hour classes/11-hour days of kindergarten.

after the bell rang and

all the kids got picked up,

cathy and i just sat there,

in an essentially TRASHED classroom,

and stared into space until

she commented that we both look shell-shocked.

T.G.I.F

the day i spent 3 hours wrapping presents

i miss sunbathing with mops.

i got tulip bulbs for $1 each at the farmer's market.

everyday, they open up a little more.

i ordered a red tote to carry all my

teaching stuff back and forth and spent waaay

too much time sewing patches on.

HAWAI'I, HERE WE COME!
:D  :D  :D  :D

I might be going to Hawai'i next month, with my mom,
sister and grandma, during a break I just
found out I had (mid-winter break)!!

i'm excited to get to go back to

the South Pacific, especially after learning about
the Pacific Heritage during my time in NZ
& also writing all those 10-20 page papers on Oceania:

1. Imagining Hawai'i: Postcolonial American Tourism
in the Hawai'ian Islands

2. The Emergence of the Middle Class in
Papua New Guinea and Tonga

3. The Indigenization of Penecostalism in

Tonga and Fiji

4. Skin, Power and Spirituality:
Tattooing in the Marquesas

*please work out*

"find the heartbeat of a classroom."

thank you for preventing my hair from

catching on fire!
and also this yummy honey lavender cake!

i got little umbrellas from the

dollar store for my bday cupcakes.

they went WILD over them.

my mom took this pic of me

in a fitting room.

sums up my winter break ~*~

[plants. ornaments. movies.

eating. sunbathing. books.]

planted the nasturtiums from seeds.

made the pot from clay.

i CREATED this thing that now exists.

i read 'Arthur's Underwear' to the class today.

then we had pomegranate quarters as our snack.
^___________^

13 schools in the Seattle Public School District
qualified for a "Healthy Snacks" grant of

$241,900 from the USDA. everyday, we get

a basket of cool/sometimes random things,

such as: beets, bok choy, asian pears,

fingerling potatoes, pineapple chunks,

blackberries, etc.

one of the best things about working with

kindergartners that you get to eat alot of

snacks with them..

(especially birthday cupcakes~*~*)

gaaah, so much more to do

and all i can do is sit here & eat these cheese rockets.

sleepless in seattle

Seattle's Urban Craft Uprising

Natalie and I met the artist of apakstudio

and got some good deals on whimsical prints

in the "slightly imperfect" bargain box!! :D :D

I think i also unknowingly met

Jill Bliss..

it was 15 degrees out & my feet were on the

verge of getting frostbite.

 ashley and i celebrated being done with

 winter quarter by feasting on pasta!
i ate sooooo much complimentary bread.

we are now halfway done with our masters degrees.
O__________________o

google weather has snowflakes for friday.

i'm hoping so ~*~*~

facebook has this interesting new option

of viewing photos.

i explained to my grandma the more nuanced

[and accurate] history behind Thanksgiving
(encountering the "Other," suspicious trading,

a feast (eating duck, not turkey)

then a wave of mass genocide that is now celebrated

in the "spirit" of giving thanks.

then we picked prickly pears.

design within reach

provides free beverages

(i got this lemon blackberry punch

and my sister got a rosemary drink)

and has super nice modern ergonomic furniture.

michelle and i wandered around,

searched for gingerbread men,

contemplated mint hot chocolate,

and then watched "12 Years a Slave",

a very intense, brutal and real movie

based on the true story of Soloman Northup.

“It is not the fault of the

slaveholder that he is cruel,”

Northup writes, “so much as it is

the fault of the system under which he lives.”