i'm pretty sure it's the psalms that talks about being well-watered ... well ... i'm feeling pretty WELL-WATERED! thank the good Lord that my janice xanga drought is OVER!! woo hoo! i was so so happy to see that i had missed not one, but TWO postings by the venerable janice, who can keep me on my toes and amused like none other. incidentally, i thought she was waaaaay hot stuff on saturday. mad love to the janice. booyah!

i also just have to say this: I LOVE MY CHURCH. getting to know people in my small group is so neat. we're a whole bunch of troublemakers, i think. it's in the blood. go fugees. today's ultimate troublemaker: young.

i just came back from a three-day conference on large-school-to-small-school conversions. it was so interesting. i realize how much i appreciate my school and my administration. i feel less bad about fidgeting and doodling when our ap (the animated brian schlaak) is pretty much picking his nose and drawing on his popsicle stick. hillsdale was the table with all the trash-talking troublemakers. they egg me on. i love it. all the other districts were all serious and intent on their tasks, while hillsdale cracked year-round-calendar jokes. okay, that's lame teacher humor. you wouldn't get it. but really ... it's such a fascinating time to be in teaching and working at a site that is so reform-minded and so willing to stretch itself and be uncomfortable in order to help kids succeed. how many schools have you heard of where the principal is working to dismantle his own job and give authority to teachers? i'm so proud to be a part of this staff. i might even like my kids a little right now.

last unrelated thought: i have a cello recital on july 11. BLEAH. boo, janice and cindy can attest to how much i suck, esp when i'm under pressure. my bowing arm shakes like crazy and what should be legato comes out like fricking morse code. this time, i'm totally unprepared (read: not practicing again!) AND i'm supposed to be playing this duet with this other guy who takes his cello playing waaaaaaaay more seriously than i. he just emailed me, saying that he wanted me to set a metronome time (say what the) and that he wanted to meet SEVERAL times next week to practice (say WTF). i am sorry, but the song is like 2 seconds long ... and come ON. we're beginners! how much do we have to practice? i'm not going into cello lockdown until late next week. don't ask to come see it. i'm too embarrassed.

janice, welcome back to the blogging world. i missed you.