Through the misty fog...there is beauty

I just realized that I hadn't written anything about my teaching situation. I found out a few weeks ago that I've been approved to do my student teaching at home. Double Yay!! I've already had my placements set up and everything. The first placement will be in a third grade class at John Bidwell Elementary and the second will be super awesome. It's with my old sixth grade teacher (Mrs. Granados) at my old school (Genevieve Didion). I've been able to visit her twice and she is so excited, says it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. And we get along really well. I hung out in her class Thursday morning and ended up leading the class in a bunch of lessons and bantered and participated with her in the other lessons. It was so much fun. As guilty as I feel working in such a nice school with students who have everything, it is really happy and I enjoyed myself so much. So, I'm really looking forward to that.

Also important info: I've got a new phone!!!! Finally managed to update my technology and kick Cingular to the curb in favor of Verizon. So, I finally can read my screen. Also, I stopped by Mira Loma on Friday. I went there mostly to visit Aleisha, Cliff's sister/my sister-in-law?, who teachers math there and congratulate her on her pregnancy. Most everyone had left by the time I left Aleisha's class, so I didn't get to visit much. I did see Mr. Mathews though and I ran into Jessica Hoffhines and Sarah Frayne randomly, which was cool.

Today, though, was sooo nice. It didn't start off all that great. I had to wake up at 4:30am in order to leave for San Francisco and make it to my appointment by 7:30. I had to take a test on elementary content knowledge for my credentials. SFSU, not my favorite college, mostly because of the need to take a Mission St. exit in order to access it. The problem is that along my route this morning there were 4 Mission St. exits spread throughout the city and as I passed the first two I started getting really stressed out, like I totally screwed up, missed the exit, and now I'll be late and have wasted $400 for nothing. So, I took the third Mission St. exit, but unfortunately that was not the one I needed. This was followed by being totally lost in the city and thwarted by one-way streets and lack of freeway onramps. Thankfully, the song "What If God Smoked Cannibus?" played in order to maintain my composure and through a couple of lucky guesses and turns, I arrived only a few minutes late. Although I breezed through the English and math parts, the social studies and science parts were surprisingly tough. Not all the questions of course, but some I had no clue on. What's a more, for example, and how does it relate to culture? I know who the Mores were, but this was not the question. All kinds of other random things that I'm going to have to do some major last minute studying on when I figure out what grade I'm going to teach.

When that finished, I had a good 7 hours to kill before the Giants game I bought tickets for. I drove about for a bit, then was intrigued by a Starbucks glimmering in the fog and the prospect of caffeine that may help me stay awake for another 12 hours before I got back home. I had to park a mile away from the place, but the walk was neat because it was in this very asian area (no, it wasn't Chinatown), but everyone was asian (with a few exceptions) and it was bustling and there were produce trading and people speaking asian languages and signs written in asian characters and it was really cool to be transported to Asia so rapidly. Although, I think in Asia I would have stood out more and received a few more glares. I have yet to travel to somewhere where I really stood out because of the way I look (besides Vanderbilt I mean). After doing some planning at Starbucks, I decided to move the party elsewhere...ending up in Golden Gate Park. By the way, there was a moment when I came over a hill and in the distance could see city, park, mountain, and the Golden Gate Bridge (and fog) and realized "I'm here." It's so neat to have those moments of appreciation for where you are and what you're doing. So, in the park I walk over to the botanical gardens where they were featuring some really cool "primitive plants" that made me feel all Jurassic Parky. I was able to get a lot more planning and some reading done. There was also this family picnic-ing nearby and they had a little girl who was about 2 and I think she discovered dirt just then. For almost an hour she groped it, flung it in the air, smeared it all over (creating a very adorable face, by the way), ate it, rolled in it, stomped on it, and surely slobbered on it. When the distraction became too much, I headed for the ocean, just beyond the view of a really huge windmill. The ocean was so beautiful. Gosh I love California!! I just walked up and down for a long time watching the waves and the people and the pelicans and the windsurfer and thinking and smiling and enjoying the smells and the wind and view.

Lucky for me, that experience reenergized me to take on the big city and promptly get lost again. I managed to find the restaurant I was looking for though, Lori's Diner, serving turkey burgers and milkshakes. Mmm mmm good! Payed 4 dollars to park for 40 minutes, but that doesn't compare to the prices in the parking lots at the ballpark. $50 for the closest lots and $25 for all the others!!! Ridiculous. Needless to say, I found a very shady nearby area, and by shady I mean sketchy, and parked for free. I will admit that upon leaving the car I feared the trip back to the car, especially because I parked so far away from the ballpark that I wasn't sure I could find my way back and it would be dark and not well lit making the shady shadier. Luckily, when I did leave there was one couple heading and the same direction, probably a little anxious about the Mexican following them into a dark alley. We all made it though. The game could have been better, we lost to the Cleveland Indians 7-6, but it was fun to be a participant in it. I was in the bleachers and people are crazy out there. I wish I had someone else with me, but I was glad for the experience. The ballpark is so nice and I've only been there once before about 4 years ago.

Anyways, I need to sleep, but that'll catch you up on the latest. New Mom news to follow....

"I dig my toes into the sand.
The ocean looks like a thousand diamonds
Strewn across a blue blanket.
I lean against the wind,
Pretend that I am weightless,
And in this moment I am happy.

I wish you were here."