Educators

Our work as educators is about giving young people access to the opportunities and choices that can move them beyond the struggles of their parents and into a life of their own making. -Bob Lenz

wow it's been a long time

December has seemed to fly by, between finishing school work, seeing my parents in Charlottesville, surviving finals week, a YAG shindig in Butler, PA, and then home for 2 days.  I can't believe that Christmas is only 4 days away, I feel like it should be more time.  I think having our semester run longer than normal has thrown my schedule off.  Here's a list of what's happened in December:
-wrote a unit plan with 2 classmates on the protestant reformation that ended up being over 100 pages long, complete with 5 lessons, supplementals and anchoring activities.  We spent 7 hours straight in the library on Monday to finish it, and were going crazy by the end.
-Went to Charlottesville with the parents, had a fantastic dinner at Bizous on the downtown mall and then saw Natalie MacMasters in concert at the Paramount Theater.  Fantastic show!  She's a fiddler with lots of celtic influences, 7 months pregnant and was dancing around on stage.  We then got to see my uncle Tad and his new wife Kelly at the farm the next day.
-Shindig was held at Garrett's house in Butler, PA. I forgot that I had a camera so I'll have to steal other's pictures.  We had about 18 of us together and it was great to see everyone, especially those that I haven't seen in 2 years. Plus I got to drive up to Pittsburgh the day before and stay with Amanda and Matt, so it was great to see them.
-New Years plans are finalized and I'm heading to DC!  Can't wait until I actually live there.
-Discovered that a few of my YAG friends are now living in DC, so I can't wait until I move there so I can have everyone over to where ever I live and get all of my random friends to meet each other.  Plus I found out that my cousin Nick is living in DC too!  Even more reason to head that way!
-Got home yesterday and we had a great fancy dinner (Mom got out the china) and then during clean up we had a family towel war, boys v. girls.  Alex was then hungry so at 10:30 we proceeded to make double chocolate peppermint cookies.  So yummy.
-Swam this morning, a total of 600 meters, which compared to what I used to do in an hour (~4,000 meters) is nothing, but it was nice to get back in the water.  However, my suit didn't fit as well as it used to because all of the weight that I've gained has gone straight to my butt, which means that I now have a butt, but suits aren't cut for those that have one.

Off to do some Christmas shopping because I've procrastinated and assumed that I'll have more time before Christmas (like time will stop for me or something...) and we're leaving for NC on Wednesday.

DC visit, future home?

Before heading home for Thanksgiving, I headed to DC to see my friend Sara and learn a little bit more about the city that I'm now pretty sure I want to head to when I'm done here in Harrisonburg.  I headed up Saturday morning, met Sara at her house in Arlington and we metroed into the city.  First stop was lunch at Busboys and Poets, a great restaurant near the Convention Center.  Named after Langston Hughes, the restaurant focuses on sustainable and local products, and the food is fabulous!  I did learn however, that almond milk does not work well for lattes or cappuccinos.  From there we walked down to the Newseum and spent the rest of the afternoon there.  They have parts of the Berlin Wall there, they have artifacts from Katrina, they have the top of the antenna from the world trade center, and a great 4-D movie.

The best part is that they have free admission for teachers with their students.  I fully plan to take advantage of that, no matter where I teach.  We could have spent longer, but Sara wanted to head to mass at 5, so we took the metro back to VA and went to mass at her Church.  We grabbed dinner at a Thai restaurant, recouped at Sara's and then drove to the East Capitol District where some of Sara's friends live.  I love that area!  We ended up going to a bar called Kelly's Pub, which was great.  They had live music, a guy who played almost anything you would request.  Two girls sponsored by Smithwicks (pronounced Smit-icks) were handing out free samples, so that upped the consumption more than I had planned on.  I had a great time meeting new people and hanging out.  Sara and I headed back around 11:30 for bed.  The next morning we had brunch nearby with Natalie and Caitlin, also both Thetas.  It was really great to catch up with them!
       On my way back home, with a stop in a VA grocery store for wine requests of the parents (14 bottles), I did a lot of thinking and I'm pretty sure that I want to move to the DC area.  Plus, my ideas about Raleigh were killed when my Grandma informed me over break that NC's budget means that they won't be doing any hiring any time soon.  So my plan of action currently stands at applying to every Middle and High school in the Arlington, Fairfax, Alexandria and DC area.  When I got home I did some internet searching for schools, but if you live in the area, and know of a school, let me know so I can apply there too!  ;o)  Currently I'm considering public, private, independent and charter schools.  I don't know enough about charter or independent schools, but that's something to look into.  I also don't know about teaching in religious schools because I'm not that religious, (thats a work in progress), but I'm sure it's not the same as it was in the 60s.  Thoughts?

Fiasco the Turkey, also known as Fred

Last Thursday was the Social Studies Thanksgiving dinner and I offered to cook the turkey, along with other things so that I would have something to eat and not make others try to cook dairy-free.  This was my first time actually making the turkey, including shopping for it.  I purchased most of the supplies on Sunday during my regular shopping trip, but figured that I could buy the turkey on Thursday after class, which would still give me the 4-5 hours needed to cook it.  I did know that it takes that long to cook.  So I headed to Martins on Thursday after class ended at 11 and picked up a 15 pound turkey to feed the 10-12 people coming over that night.  Little did I know that I bought a frozen turkey, who's instructions say that it takes 2-3 days to defrost in the fridge**, or 5-9 hours in cold water.  So once I got home, I figured that if I defrosted it in warm running water, in the bathtub so that it was sitting in water too, it would defrost faster than the 5 hours, which I did not have, knowing that the turkey needed to be in the oven at 3:30.  Fred* then took a shower from 12pm-3:30pm, attempting to defrost, and probably raising our water bill next month.  At 3:30, Fred was still nicely frozen.  I called my mom to ask about the possibilities of defrosting a 15 pound turkey in the microwave, or just cooking him still frozen, and was informed that neither of those were possibilities.  My options were to turn back time and buy the turkey on Sunday or head back to Martins to buy a non-frozen turkey breast.  And if there were no non-frozen turkey breasts, then consider having ham.  (I do know how to cook a good spiral ham.) Fred then got placed in the little fridge space that I could create and I headed to Martins for the second time that day.  Once there, I did not trust myself to choose a non-frozen turkey breast because I originally thought I had bought a non-frozen one, so I asked the butcher who chuckled when I explained the situation, and proceeded to hand me what he said was a non-frozen turkey breast.  I got it home and un-wrapped it, only to find that parts of it looked frozen!  But once I had washed it, I discovered that the frozen bits were just the juices that had frozen and the bird was not frozen.  Into the pan and oven the turkey breast went at 4:30pm, to emerge at 8pm.

The cooked turkey breast

I had also spent the day making pumpkin bread, southern style green beans (need some work on those) applesauce and stuffing.  I love homemade applesauce and believe that it should be eaten in mass quantities.  The pumpkin bread was the biggest hit, and was alas from a box.  

Attempt at southern style green beans

Homemade apple sauce

Our table with lots of food :o)

You may be wondering what happened to Fred.  Well, he spent the night in our fridge and on Friday I called a local place by the name of Our Community Place that serves 3 meals a day to anyone in the community who needs it, and asked if they would like a 15 pound thawed turkey.  They said yes and Fred was delivered to OCP that morning to be cooked for their dinner that night.  Annalisa returned home from the library Friday afternoon and inquired as to Fred's whereabouts, and was dismayed when she found out he had left us.  I responded that if she wanted to see Fred again, she could go have dinner at OCP.

*Annalisa named Fred when she arrived home to find a very large frozen turkey sitting in the fridge.  I decided that Fred should be the anglicized version of Fiasco, because that's what he was.

**Note: when telling the story to my parents they kindly informed me that they have never had a turkey defrost in the fridge in the 2-3 days suggested on the package.  It always takes 4-5 days.  Good to know for the future!

Dairy free and smiling

Previously I was avoiding large amounts of dairy, but would still eat things with butter and whey in them, mainly processed foods and I was still feeling somewhat crummy.  I cut out all dairy (including butter) about 2 months ago and have to admit that I am feeling so much better!  I still get some occasional stomach/GI issues, but I think that's related to me eating too fast.  I also started taking calcium on a regular basis, Vitamin D and flinestones, and that combination plus not eating dairy has really helped.  I have more energy than I used to and am not so grumpy from feeling like crap.  The one issue with being completely dairy-free is that (well, besides having to inform others that I can't eat anything you make...) is that I don't get any of the good bacteria found in dairy (lactobacillus) which helps regulate your digestive system and prevents yeast infections in females.  So I have to take pro-biotics every couple days to make sure that I have enough to prevent yeast infections, which I used to get about once a month.

So if you go out to eat with me, or I eat at your house, I'm sorry if my dietary restrictions cause problems, but I think you'll prefer my company if I'm dairy-free.

Kurdistan and Contacts

Our practicum class switched so I moved from Broadway HS to the Career Development Academy (CDA) back at JMU where we work with adult English Language Learners to help their English and teach them some American History.  When I taught, my topic was the California Gold Rush, so we saw how to pan gold, talked a little about natural resources, related to natural resources from their home countries, talked about the Mexican American war and how California went from being Mexican territory to American territory (stupid Texas), and then looked at pictures of miners.  I had each group get a picture and talk in their group about the picture with some guiding questions and then each group presented.  That gives them speaking practice in their group, writing practice on their question sheet and speaking practice in front of the whole group.  It worked out a lot better than I thought it would.  Wednesday MaryAlyse taught about immigrants who came to California because of the Gold Rush and I got to work with a gentleman that I will call K.  K told me that he is from Kurdistan, which is in Northern Iraq, but he is not Iraqi.  He is Kurdish, and was very adamant about that. When we were talking about culture and how immigrants bring their home cultures with them to their new country, K wanted to talk about the things he does here in the US, not things that he did at home and still does here.  He is one of the lower English skilled students in the class so I was working with him one-on-one rather than in a group like the rest of the students, which helped, but it was still hard to get things across.  However, I did learn that he had worked for the US Government in Iraq which is why he and his family had to leave and come to the US.  His wife and kids live in Fairfax and he lives here for the job.  One interesting thing that I learned is that he speaks Kurdish and Arabic, but only uses Arabic for translations purposes.  He won't start conversations in Arabic, but will respond to if spoken in Arabic.  That's fascinating to me.  I'd love to learn more about his background and what his kids are like.

Today I went back to the eye doctor for another follow up appointment about contacts.  I've been having trouble wearing them because they aren't that comfortable and I've noticed when wearing them that my vision isn't perfect like it is with glasses, my eyes get tired faster, are really dry and when trying to move from near vision to far vision, it takes a lot longer.  I love this eye doc because he does a great job of taking the time to explain to me what exactly is going on to cause those problems.  I learned that because of my astigmatism, the contacts shift 4-5º on axis when I blink and that sometimes blinking can make it better but sometimes it makes my vision worse.  My prescription is about 165º but because contacts only come in ranges of 10º it's hard to find a lens that will fit perfectly.  So that's challenge #1.  Challenge #2 is that all of the meds that I'm on for asthma, allergies and anxiety affect the ability of my eye muscles to change focus, which means that it takes longer to move from near distance to far distance and back.  So my meds are making my eyes act like a 45 year old's eyes would. That explains why a previous eye doc put me in progressives.  It's not because my eyes are actually that old, it's because my meds are making my eyes act that old.  We're going to try a little bit stronger lens next time to see if that helps at all, but I got reading glasses at Target after the appointment to see things close up and they are actually helping.  I can shift from the computer screen with readers to looking far away taking the readers off much faster than I could before.  Plus I was told to use drops for the dryness (challenge #3: caused by meds, allergies and the weather) which are helping too.  I've been wearing contacts for 3 hours today which is a record! Time to take them out so that my eyes don't get pissed off, but I'm going to have to make sure to wear them a bit each day to see if I can increase the amount of time.  This may actually work. ;o)  But I'm still considering Lasik.

Post #100

It's definitely been a while since I wrote a serious post and there's been a lot going on lately.  I've learned that it's really tough to live with other people, and that you think you know a person but honestly never really do.  I thought I was a better judge of people, but boy has that been proved wrong lately.  I don't want to call anyone out, but suffice it to say that I will be better off next year if I live by myself.  I think I just need my own space where I don't have to worry about having nice things in my apartment and whether they are going to be ruined or misused.  I got all of my parent's old records but don't currently have a record player.  To get a decent one is about $200, but that's not something that I'm going to be bringing into the apartment.  (Things like not turning off the stereo after a party really bug me.)  I'm trying to make sure that people understand now to not expect me to do anything in the spring when I'm student teaching.  I have a feeling that it's going to be a couple rough months.  Not that the last few months haven't been rough enough.

I do a lot of thinking on longer car rides, and sometimes I wish I could record my thoughts because they might make for really interesting blog posts.  Maybe I should look into voice recording software.  But I've had lots of opportunities for long drives this semester, traveling to Randolph Macon, and traveling home twice in the same month.  I'm really glad that I went home for Anna's wedding and it really meant a lot that I was asked to be a part of her wedding, but it was hard because I wasn't really in the best place that weekend.  I've been really struggling with work load recently, and with realizing how much it hurts to be used by someone you thought cared about you, and that makes it hard to go to a wedding.  But seeing how much Anna and Ben love each other and respect each other does give some hope.  I just need to get out of this town!  It's especially hard when so many of my good friends are no longer here (or never have been here), which makes it even more lonely.  Add to that not having the Wesley House, which I'm realizing how much I miss it.  I'm not going to lie, I really liked the social club + faith atmosphere, and I really miss it.  That makes me resent RISE because I don't get any of the feelings from RISE that I did with Wesley.  I'm not saying that RISE is terrible (altho the sign at the house is. Red and orange plus trying to be old looking makes it look like devil flames, which to me symbolizes a cult), I'm sure it is great for some people, it's just not for me.  I'm ready to graduate and move on.

To make matters worse, I accidentally left my computer at home in PA last weekend.  *Sigh* I didn't figure it out until I got back to Hburg and called my parents freaking out.  They shipped it to me, but this was the week that I had 2 lesson plans (10-12 pages each, plus supplemental materials) due.  So I spent a lot of time in the library, which meant that when the post office tried to deliver my computer, I wasn't home.  The post office didn't leave a note until the following day (take a hint from UPS and leave notes!) which I didn't get until around 5pm when I got home from class and the library and of course the post office was closed.  We're not paying taxes to have post offices with insanely small hours.  So I had to wait until Friday to get my computer, wanted to pick it up before we had to leave for Montpelier on our class field trip, but no, the post office didn't open until 9:30 and we had to leave at 9.  (Again, hours?) So I finally got my computer after getting back from Montpelier at 2:30 and was running really late to get to Broadway for work, and proceeded to slice my fingers open trying to get the box open.  Luckily it wasn't deep enough to require stitches, but they still bled quite nicely.  Gah. I'm not even going to write about the beating we (Broadway) got from Harrisonburg on Friday night or the complete waste of human life that the refs were at the game, or my frustrations with drunk people from this weekend.  Those will have to go in another post.

Another note: I had to get new jeans because all of my old jeans were really saggy, so I went to Gap at home and got new jeans that were a smaller size and they fit in the store, but after washing them once (before wearing so my legs don't turn blue) they're now baggy too!  Just like the old ones!  I'm not paying $60 for jeans anymore that get stretched out the minute they leave the store.  Really Gap? Your quality is getting worse.

daily quote

"You can't live a perfect day without doing something for someone who will never be able to repay you." ~ John Wooden

Voltaire

"Le christianisme est la plus ridicule, la religion la plus absurde et sanglante qui ait jamais infecté le monde." ~Voltaire, letter to Frederick II, King of Prussia, 5 Jan 1767

"Christianity is the most rediculious, most absurd and bloody religion that ever infected the world."

The bloody part is so true when you look at the history of the world...

Yay lesson plans on the Enlightenment!

Couple good quotes & other thoughts

"The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do>" ~Jack Kerouac

  

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams


"Truth is, everybodys gonna hurt you, you just gotta find the ones worth suffering for" ~ Bob Marley


Bad day today for PSU football with the loss to Illinois.  We just couldn't get our O or D line helping and then tried to run the same play every time.  Our special teams did really well, just the other important parts (O and D) couldn't get it together.  A couple tweets have been saying that injuries played a large factor into the loss.  But even with the loss it was fun to walk up with my fam and some of A's friends from Cornell, then meet with friends tailgating, go to the game in Beaver Stadium (with 107,000 of our best friends) and then head out for more tailgating.  We also stayed after the game to watch the band so we could see our "little brother" Andy play.  Over all good day!  Having a family birthday dinner soon and then heading downtown with the bro to do some more celebrating.  Tomorrow's going to be a long day driving back.

Literary Tattoos

Annalisa told me about this website, Contrariwise, which has tons of tattoos from literary themes.  I love this poem I found there:

“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.” Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass


A Psalm of Life
Life is real! Life is earnest
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
-H.W. Longfellow

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

- e. e. cummings, i carry your heart with me

Sound character provides the power w/ which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is the highway to success." Og Mandino

In today's news...

Today's thought: "Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly." —MFK Fisher


AND


The findings from a large survey on Americans and their sex lives was unveiled today (Washington Post)


Related? I think so.


I found out he was officially dating her.  I said goodbye, we won't be hanging out alone anytime soon.  Call me when you're actually single.  He said ok.  Where do things go from here?

struggle...

I'm really struggling with this whole boy issue.  I fall for him more every time we hang out, and I want to be able to show that I really care about him, even though I'm scared of being judged for liking him.  However, whenever we're in a group situation, it's like I don't exist.  And the whole fact that he's hanging out with another girl too, make me feel like a mistress in a sense and I hate that.  It feels degrading.  I want to be able to say goodbye and move on with my life and meet someone new, but it's hard to do that here, and a whole big part of me doesn't want to lose him, even just as a friend.  I feel like I've known him forever and am supposed to know him forever in the future.  When we hang out it feels natural and comfortable and I can be my true self, show my fears and quirks, show my passions, my enthusiasm for things, my silliness.  I've never felt like that with a guy before.  He completely accepts me for who I am, and makes me feel more adventurous.  I'm scared to show any of the passion that I feel because I'm not sure that would be reciprocated and I'm scared of getting really hurt again.  But I'm living in confusion and it's making it really hard to concentrate on schoolwork, something I should be doing right now.  *le sigh*

zen room and transcripts

I can never think of better titles.  Last night I took the small tv out of my room and I'll take it home next weekend.  I wasn't using it, the sound is getting funny and I wanted to put a mirror that I have on my bureau.  It definitely makes my room feel more calm.  Now if only I could move my desk somewhere else and have a nice big comfy arm chair for reading in here... Next year if I'm living by myself I'm going to cash out the money that I've saved by living in the cheapest place in Harrisonburg for the last 4 years and get a 2 bedroom place so that I can have a study and keep the computer out of my bedroom.  If Annalisa and I both end up in the Triangle area in NC, we're going to live together and get a 3 bedroom place to have a study/library.  It's already been decided. ;o) But who knows where I'll be next year.

The two applications that I've looked at so far are both online and request your degree and what it's in.  Meaning I would have to fill out B.S. of Athletic Training when applying for a Social Studies teaching job.  Meaning that they would take one look at my application and pass it on.  So I'll be heading to the registrars office today to discuss what I need to do (who I need to pay) to get the fact that I've completed every class (plus more) for a B.S. in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences, but don't have the title on my transcript.  I don't even want money back for paying as a grad student to complete undergrad classes (which was twice as expensive as being an undergrad).  I just want to be able to find a job.  Altho possibly spending the majority of the summer in Europe is going to make it hard to find a job here, maybe I should look over there...

I wanna be a Theta...oh-oh-oh!

It's recruitment time here at JMU and I'm helping Theta out as much as I can this week which meant being here until 10:30 on Thursday night, skipping out on Friday to do homework, heading to Ashland on Saturday for a Theta Advising workshop and being back here at the house today until about 6.  Yay!  They're doing really well (in my opinion) and I hope it results in a really good group of new members.  (We don't say pledges anymore...that's TNT: Totally Not Theta)  Yesterday was a great affirmation of continuing to be involved with Theta this year as an advisor.  I'm glad that I'm not active because I would not be able to handle that, not sure how Christa (chapter president) does it being in grad school like me.  Granted I'm taking more credits than she is, but still, classes are crazy!  But the workshop was great, got to know Mallory one of our other advisors better, got to meet advisors from other chapters, got to hear that we're not that bad off here at JMU, especially since we're so new and still do everything by the book.  I met the advisors from Duke so if I end up near there next year I can help out with them, maybe not the first 2 years of teaching, but definitely after that if I'm still in that area.  I know for sure now that I want to continue to support the Fraternity in whatever way I can in the future, especially as an advisor!

3 more parties today!  Almost done!

turning a leaf...

Yes, i did get home a 2am last night and yes, it was a wednesday night.  It was a friends birthday, which started out as dinner at Union Station (pretty good, nice atmosphere), proceeded to Jack Browns and then made our way to Finnegan's.  The group left Finnegan's around midnight to head our separate ways, but because everyone else lives downtown they can drink and walk home.  I wasn't quite ready to drive home yet, so i went with Friend back to his apartment to get a glass of water, sit for like 20 minutes and then be able to drive and not be an imposition.  Well that 20 minutes turned into 2 hours spent talking after which I was completely sober, but tired and forgot to turn on my lights driving for about 2 blocks.  There were street lights so I could see, but it made me feel like an idiot and really glad I didn't get pulled over.  The story would have gone like this: "sorry officer, the streets are so well lit that I didn't need my lights to see and thus forgot to turn them on, no I'm not drunk, not even tipsy or buzzed, I'm just tired and confused after hanging out with a friend who can't decide whether he wants to be more than a friend to me or another girl.  I'll turn on my lights and have a good night!"  Oh so confusing!

It's officially fall now, but it feels like the middle of summer...hello climate change!  Highs in the 90s today? Seriously?  uggg, I just want cooler weather so I can wear boots!

weekend in the Star City

After the football game on Friday night (Broadway creamed Central) I drove to Roanoke, arriving at Lindsay and Tom's house around 1am.  There must have been a pick-up truck convention because besides Mac trucks, pick-up trucks were the only other vehicles on the road that night.  crazy!  I passed out pretty fast that night and then was woken up at 7 to get ready for the Marine 5K Mud Run we were doing.  Lindsay's friend Koko was doing it with us and got to the house around 7:15.  We took Logan (5 months) with us while Tom and Patrick (age 4) followed a little later to the race site.  Just before the race started we passed Logan off to Tom.  The course wound through a huge park, through a meadow, into the river, along the road, into a mud pit, up a mountain, along the ridge, down the hill, fording a river, back along the road and into the final mud pit that you pretty much have to swim through.  It was awesome!  I was actually able to jog half of it without my lungs complaining, which is an improvement over the last few weeks.  They still need work to get the asthma under control.  After the race we were covered in mud, used the showers that the fire dept set up and then changed by the car in order to head to lunch at Mac & Bobs in Salem.  Yum!  That afternoon I could feel a cold coming on and I was exhausted from the morning, but a nap didn't really happen.  I got to hang out with Tom on the porch, we had a fabulous dinner and then started to watch the Book of Eli after putting the kids to bed.  I didn't last and had to go to bed before the movie ended.  Sunday I got to sleep in a bit and got woken up by Logan coming to snuggle.  He's such a happy baby and trying to crawl.  I had to keep him from diving off the bed onto the floor.  It was a slow morning and I ended up heading out around 2pm to get back to JMU.  Visiting them now post-children is very different and we don't get the same amount of time to hang out and catch up, but it was still good to see them and get to catch up a bit.  It was especially interesting after lunch with Amanda on Friday, but that will have to be another post as I have to get to practicum.

success quote

"Success is about making your life a special version of unique that fits who you are. Not what other people want you to be"

sustainability and growth

we're reading an article for inquiry class about sustainability and the major theme is that population growth is the major fault for issues of sustainability.  i agree in some senses, because as the population grows you do need more resources for them (or they use more resources).  i've always thought of myself as a fairly sustainable person.  i walk places, i recycle, i turn off the lights and keep the heat low (much to my roomies' chagrin) but reading about this has made me think.  i've always wanted a big family, lots of kids to fill the house and to feed, but the article is making me re-think that.  i still want a family, don't get me wrong, but what about setting an example for the rest of the world by self limiting ourselves to 2 kids.  is that so bad?  obviously we can't make any laws determining the number of kids you can have.  but my thought is that if you want more than 2 kids (and can support more than 2) why not adopt to fill your family.  i know that takes extra money, and i wish that it wasn't so complicated and expensive a process, but that's what i'm thinking i want to do.

real teaching vs. education school

Today I was told that in real teaching (meaning once you have a job) you don't have time for activities in classes with SOLs, you don't differentiate, and you never pre-assess, three things that we have to do in school.  I have an entire class in differentiation!  Why can't school be more practical?!?!?

So you think you know how to study

My dad told me about an article in the NYT today that made him think of me.  Called Forget what you know about good study habits, the article discusses some of the common tips about studying and how they are wrong.  For example, a study found that students who studied the same content in two different rooms did better than students who studied that same content in one room.  So finding a single quiet place to study is not always the best idea.  Then another study discussed how students were taught 4 math principles together and given practice sets of mixed problems (some from principle 1, some from principle 2, etc) and did better than the group that was taught principle 1, then given problems on principle 1, then taught principle 2 and given problems on only principle 2, etc.  Which goes to show that you should study mixed content rather than focusing in depth on one big topic.  All of this got me thinking about methods and how to help students learn the best in my classroom.  From the room study I want to try changing the arrangement of the classroom and the decor every-so often to provide students with a "new" place to learn. From the concept tip, I want to have exams with multiple contents so that they don't focus on one topic but learn them together in connection to each other.  Then in the article there was another study about how students who studied 12 artists all mixed up together learned better than those that studied each artist individually.  So rather than examining all Picasso and then moving to Renoir, study them together and find the comparisons, how are they different, how are they similar.  That makes me think about teaching topics based on themes, so instead of teaching about the facts, names and dates of the invention of the printing press, you teach the concept of information literacy and information revolution within the context of the printing press (1440s, everyone mad about the invention, less control of government with people able to read, etc) and then have students compare it to other information revolutions.  To connect it to their lives, ask them whether the internet is an information revolution.  That connects the printing press to something that they know about (the internet) through the theme of information revolutions.

Someone give me my own classroom!  (World History please!)

12 month paid vacation?

There was a tweet this morning asking "what would you do with a 12-month paid vacation?"  I would travel around the world visiting every continent (maybe skipping Antarctica), eating food, seeing sights and writing about it in travel journals like my great-grandparents did so that my future children could read about it.  I'm kinda jealous that Mother-Bod (my great-grandma) got to visit Egypt and climb the pyramids, which are now closed to the public because they're falling apart.  I'm sure having kids climb on them helps them fall apart faster.  But yea, I'd include learning how to sail in that which would take a few things off my bucket-list.  What would you do with a 12 month paid vacation?

Teaching MRI and x-rays

For my practicum class we're doing some peer teaching before we go out into the schools, and they want us to focus on science and technology because they've been told that we're not as strong in that.  I would say that's pretty strong for me, but I am an AT so there's the big difference.  Anyways, we have 10-12 minutes to do a mini lesson and I chose medical imaging, which I've decided to focus on x-rays and MRIs. I feel like I could write a 90 minute lesson easily going through the history and then teaching them how to read the different images and image what life was like if you were injured in the time before imaging.  But I don't know how to do it in 10 minutes and what they should get out of 10 minutes, and then how to make it interactive and fun.  I think that MRI is more interesting than x-rays, but maybe I should just focus on simple and do x-rays and leave it at that.  Gah!

house hunting

i'm falling in love with a house on Franklin St. in downtown Harrisonburg.  someone needs to buy it fast so that a) i don't buy it, and b) so that i can mourn it and get over it.  god it's gorgeous, hardwood floors, huge front porch, great kitchen with gas range, built-ins in the office, fireplaces, built in 1920.  ahhhh!!!!  sigh. holding me back is being unsure of a) whether i want to spend that kind of money at this point in my life and b) whether i want to stay in harrisonburg after this year is over.  i'm not sure of either.  and i'm not sure where i want to go after this year either.

News of the day

I learned this morning that my godmother, Laura has a stage 4 brain tumor.  She'll be sent to either Duke or Houston for further treatment, but my mom said the prognosis isn't great.  ;o(  I also learned that to replace the coat that I ruined at Shack-a-thon (Greek Week) I have to pay $300.  Lovely way to start the day.  So Annalisa and I took our friend Daniel who is living in our complex and went to the book fair and bought books.  Buying books is always a good way to feel better.  We then came back and made a chocolate cake that I have to make the icing for before dinner.

It's going to be an interesting house dynamic this year.  J and A are going to sell tickets for when M and I are ready to kill each other.  It's a complete clash of personalities, which I didn't realize the extent of clashing until she had moved in.  Yay!

My last piece of news is that boys are stupid.

quote

"Expectation is the root of all heartache." ~ William Shakespeare

healthy life and family discoveries

I just saw a RMH tweet about how diabetics should eat on schedule...yup, so should people who are hypoglycemic and prone to sudden drops in blood sugar like me.  Hence, why I always have PB crackers around.

Got good news from the doctor about the appointment last week...perfectly normal test which means my body has actually been healing so all that sleep was worth it!  All those pre-cancerous cells that were removed in Feb have stayed gone.  I'll get another test next Feb to check and make sure it's all still normal, and if it is then I can go to once a year exams.  I won't be able to skip a year like others can because of my increased risk factor, but it's such a relief to know that my body actually can heal.  All the stress about it from the last 6 months has evaporated, well most of it.

The other night I got onto ancestry.com, where I had entered as much of my family as I knew, and was able to figure out some new people to add.  I couldn't figure out who the parent's of David Dows (my great-great-great grandfather) were until I did some searching and found his father was named Eleazer.  How's that for a family name?  From Eleazer I was able to trace it back two more generations to Laurance who was born in 1613 in England and moved to Charlestown, MA.  So that's my grandfather's side, but I couldn't figure out my grandmother's side which is how I have my family connection to this area.  So after some more searching I found that the Dingledines had moved from Germany to a farm between Timbervill and Forestville between 1835-1845.  Three sons, John, Adam and Samuel then fought in the Civil War on the Confederacy side.  That was surprising to me because I had previously thought that my entire family was Union.  Adam (my great-great-great uncle)  was wounded in the Battle of the Wilderness and brought back to Staunton where he died in the hospital.  He's buried in Timberville, which is about 2 miles from Broadway High School where I'm working right now.  If it's not raining after practice tonight I'm going to go find his grave.

Families and Homes

Family and home are themes that have been re-occuring in my life lately.  The beach trip definitely started that with 28 of us hanging out for a week and everyone getting along!  Then going back to Broadway for a day of football practice and remembering that my great-great-grandfather was born just outside of Broadway, so in some ways it really is home.  Then Natalie and Brent's beautiful wedding this weekend followed by a fun evening with friends at Annalisa's house.  (Can we say lake, zipline, slip n slide and mud fights?) Then attending my first meeting as a Theta advisor, which is going to be great, but it will definitely be an adjustment from being an active member of the chapter.  Tonight we made a welcome home banner for the Theta house, just another reminder of these themes.  Life is beautiful!

Football Home Again

I was so bored today that I decided it would be a good day for a trip to Broadway, plus I needed to get a bunch of Sports Med shirts to L, who's working there this year.  I'm so happy I went.  All of my mini-depression from being so bored was wiped away, the sun was shining, the boys were in pads and life was good.  It was as though I was home and could really breathe again.  Simply lovely.  I forgot how much I love high school football.  I even missed the smell of those sweaty boys, how crazy is that.  I'm hoping, and planning to go back next week when I have nothing to do until school starts on the 30th.

"Beware of monotony; it is the mother of all the deadly sins." ~Edith Wharton

quote

"Discovery consists in seeing what everyone else has seen, but understanding it for the first time." ~ Albert Szent-Gyorgyi

hello again

OH MY GOD our internet is finally working!  It's been a frustrating few days without it.  Don't get me wrong, I'm perfectly happy to cut myself off, like at the beach, but when I need to start getting things organized for school, it's a pain to not have it available.  Our rental office just switched us from NTC internet to High Speed Link, and the nice part is that it's now included in our rent (holla!) but we shall see if it works as well.  I've managed to get it plugged into my computer (necessitating a purchase of a longer internet cord) but haven't managed the wireless yet.  That will come with time and this is a good start.

Since we left off I believe I was in NYC or had just returned from NYC to my parental's in State College.  While home I slept, ate really well, sneakily scanned photos of my parents from the past 25 years of marriage (I can write about it now, party's over), slept some more, read some books and tried not to use my brain.  Considering that I would sleep from 11pm until 3pm the following day when not setting an alarm, I would say that I needed some R&R.  I did get to visit SPRA, where the summers of my youth were spent, only to arrive and have a thunderstorm decide to show up too.  Didn't get to swim there, but got to look around, examine the record board and relive some memories.

From State College, we rented a van from Enterprise because my parents downgraded from the mini van to a prius, to get us and all of our stuff down to the beach.  This car was a nightmare.  Barely out of SC we discovered that there was no oil cap, thus returning to Enterprise to get one and trying to leave again.  Alex and I were in my car, mom and dad in the van.  Heading over the mountain, apparently the van was having some break issues, not a good thing when planning to drive 14 hours and over many mountains.  Calling every Enterprise between SC and Harrisonburg, our next stop, produced no vans to switch with, and thus we ended up in Harrisonburg for dinner, delivered my new bookcase and half of my stuff, dropped off my car and headed south, all together in one white mini van.  Another couple mountains and a sudden crazy rainstorm around Danville and we arrived in Chapel Hill, only to have google maps put the hotel in the wrong location.  Finally found it around 11:30pm and discovered that we had a queen bed and pull out couch, rather than the two double beds we requested.  We completely unloaded the van into the hotel room and went to bed.  Mom and Dad got to take the van the next morning to the airport to get the brakes fixed, and we got a second rental car for the day, packed up all of our stuff, left it in the hotel office so that we could change rooms (that pull out couch was a nightmare) for the second night and went to collect Poppa and head to Chinese food.  Some of mom's family was driving through as well so they stopped and we had 10 people plus a 4 month old for a Chinese buffet.  It was great! The food was good, the company was good, lots of laughter, it was a relief from the crazy trip stuff.  We even gave Patrick (age 4) and Poppa (age 86) WarHeads and have videos of the resulting faces.  ;o)  After a 3 hour lunch we dropped Poppa back off, picked up the fixed van, moved hotel rooms, took naps, got dinner and went back to Poppa's to watch a movie and eat.  I think we were all ready for bed that night.  Sunday we got up early to pick up Poppa for breakfast at the Ye Olde Waffle Shoppe, yummy grits and bacon and pancakes and heart destroying goodness.  Breakfast took a while and then we dropped Poppa back off and drove off to the beach.

Oh the beach was lovely.  We had one of the top apartments, and some of the cousins were in the apartments below.  After dropping off all our stuff we walked down the beach to find the house where the other half of the family was staying, got lost, met our neighbors for the week and ran into the ocean, which was a balmy 80-something degrees and felt like heaven.  Half of the clan had arrived, and the other half showed up on Monday, but we made sure to get the waves to the correct pitch for boogie-boarding, bought the booze, and started the traditional puzzle for them.  By Monday night (BBQ night) we had 28 of us there.  Grandpa got a sign that said "Doll Beach House," and we hung it up out front as our lighthouse.  We do family style dinners, so on Sunday you sign up for a night if you want to cook, and then others sign up as crew.  It's one of the best things because then we're all eating together and can sit around and catch up.  Tuesday was the surprise party for the parent's 25th Anniversary at dinner time after taking family pictures.  I don't think they suspected anything.  Aside from a little issue playing the slideshow on the TV, it all went really well.  Wednesday was Beach Shrimp, with 9 pounds of shrimp to feed us all, Thursday was Thai and Friday we had Uncle Jack's Firehouse Style Italian.  In the morning a bunch of us went to water aerobics.  I was the youngest by about 20 years or so, but it was a fun workout and a great way to start the day before hitting the beach in the afternoon.  I got sick on Wed night, some weird fever and stomach bug that kept me off the beach on Thursday.  I always wish that we could have more time there and our week always seems to end too quickly.  Hope to do it again next year!

lactose or proteins or both

My dad and I got on the topic tonight of what I can and can't eat with my dairy-free diet, because my mom thought that butter (any amount) was ok, but milk was not and I had to explain that only small amounts of butter were ok, but that chocolate chip cookies with lots of butter were unfortunately not ok.  My dad now is wondering whether it's really lactose that is the problem because there isn't any lactose in butter.  I'm not convinced that's true, but it is possible that I have an intolerance to other parts of milk besides the lactose (sugar), which leads me to wonder about the proteins.  I'm not sure that I want to have more tests done (which would include blood, as well as upper and lower endoscopies, along with biopsies, fun!) because is it really worth it?  I'm already trying to be as dairy free as possible and how many things contain just one part of milk and not some of the others.  It is interesting reading about it tho.  And I think in general that my stomach is just hypersensitive (like my nerve endings) and doesn't like food, might be a good diet.

I do need to start working out, but motivation is a problem, exhaustion is a problem and I'm so out of shape that I just don't want to start.  Argh!

another update

Monday night in NYC was the first night that it was a decent temperature even after the sun left, so the entire city of NYC decided to join us in Bryant Park for Monty Python.  Seriously, the entire city.  I got there at 7 and the law was full, so we sat in one of the outer alleys, half way back and could see 3/4 of the screen, but since we knew the movie, we just had to hear it.  A's friend L joined us with one of her friends, then our cousin L stopped by with her BF towards the end.  We had yummy pasta salad, beer and cookies, which sounds like a complete college dinner to me.  After the movie we sat in the park talking until a police officer came around, only shouting "park is closing" in the strongest NY accent you can imagine and shining his flashlight in our faces.  We got the hint and headed back to A's place.

Tuesday I got up early with the boys and headed out after breakfast to the subway taking it over to Penn Station and back to Union where Aunt V picked me up and I got my car.  Another easy drive with lots of trucks and construction.  I did see an oil tanker that had run off the road and was being held up by wires attached to other trucks so that it did not fall and explode.  There were lots of guys running around in hazmat suits, and there wasn't anything in the paper the next day about a tanker explosion so I think they recovered it safely.  Had dinner with the parents and thus began my time at home.

So far at home I have: made new bathroom curtains, added light-proof backing to my bedroom curtains, read Undaunted Heart (about the daughter of the UNC president who married a Union General right after the Civil War), finished the first season of Friday Night Lights (tv show on netflix), done some secret projects, slept in (until 3pm the first day, 11am the rest), saw Smokey Joe's Cafe with the parents which was great, went shopping with mom (more like errand running), had a cookout with smores for my parents' students, and am getting ready for the beach.  We leave on Friday at noon.  Should be spectacular. (and possibly my last year ;o(

NYC part II

Things I like about NYC:

• Family history
• People watching opportunities
• Public Transit and ability to walk places
• Shopping opportunities!

Things I don't like about NYC:

• Crowds and Traffic
• Homeless population (it makes me sad)
• Pollution
• People not saying hi or being polite

New York City, center of the universe...

I've been in NYC for 3 days now visiting my brother, who has an internship here.  Got in on Friday, we grabbed dinner in the Lower East side near where A is living, and then headed up to his friend's place on the Upper West Side for a party.  It was hot, felt like 120, and there was only one air conditioner in the entire apartment.  So we hung out in front of it, naturally.  Then Saturday we went down to the financial district, grabbed brunch at the Pearl St. Diner, and went to the South Street Seaport Museum.  Got to see FDR's collection of ship models, which made me appreciate the model we have at home so much more.  Also got to see the Peking, one of the last sail cargo ships and a pretty view of the Brooklyn Bridge.  Then the shopping adventure started as A needed some new dress shirts for work.  Found 2 at Brooks Brothers (Sale! and it was across from the WTC site) then headed up to Macy's where we got him Sperry's (he wanted them, I swear I was not a preppy influence, it's his frat brothers!) and 2 more shirts.  I got 2 shirts on sale (which made me happy because I didn't know they were on sale until I got to the register) and then we headed back to his apt.  After dropping off our stuff and showering, we headed to meet L, our cousin for dinner at Momofuku, a fantastic Asian restaurant.  We had a 4 course tasting menu (we split one for all three of us) plus pork buns (omg delicious) and ginger scallion noodles (omg also delicious!).  So yummy and we got to catch up with L.  We then headed up to her place to let out Holly, her new dog, and went to a jazz bar around the corner.  Drinks were ridiculously expensive, but I only needed one to cover my drink minimum and they had a great band.  A and I then headed back down around 1am, watched an episode of Community and passed out.  Sunday we got up late, made bacon and eggs, watched more episodes of Community and then went up to the Yankee's game.  We made it through 5 innings and it was really cool because whenever A Rod went to bat there were a million camera lights flashing (he was trying to hit his 600th home run).  A nice red storm (red on the weather map) rolled in and we left because I figured they would call the game eventually and didn't want to get stuck trying to get to the subway.  Cool experience tho and we were up in the nose-bleed section of their really nice new stadium.  Headed back here, watched some Community, went grocery shopping, ate dinner, watched more Community and went to bed.  We've watched 16 episodes so far this weekend.  We might just be a little addicted. ;o)

Today I went to the NYC Public Library (5th and 42nd) and looked up where my mom's family lived in NYC in the social registers.  Found them and their houses and then went up and took pictures of 12/14 houses that used to belong to the fam.  It'll be really cool to show the family next time we see them, and I bet mom will be excited about the pics because she just wanted the addresses.  It was a good walk around and a nice scavenger hunt.  Came back down to the apartment to make some pasta salad and then head up to Bryant Park for the showing of Monty Python and the Holy Grail.  ;o) Can't wait!

540 final projects

Links to some of my final projects for Educ 540: Technology in Education

Our WebQuest: http://questgarden.com/106/30/4/100706082115/
My class Website: http://sites.google.com/site/worldhistory2website/
Our Video Project (in 2 parts): 
Part I: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUzy-mLjgTE

Part II: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3G2GcdEVPbc

Enjoy!

Wisdom

“Let no one be slow to seek wisdom when he is young nor weary in the search of it when he has grown old. For no age is too early or too late for the health of the soul. And to say that the season for studying philosophy has not yet come, or that it is past and gone, is like saying that the season for happiness is not yet or that it is now no more. Therefore, both old and young alike ought to seek wisdom, the former in order that, as age comes over him, he may be young in good things because of the grace of what has been, and the latter in order that, while he is young, he may at the same time be old, because he has no fear of the things which are to come. So we must exercise ourselves in the things which bring happiness, since, if that be present, we have everything, and, if that be absent, all our actions are directed towards attaining it." —Epicurus, Letter to Menoeceus


4 Simple Rules to Live By:
* One -- It doesn't matter. Whatever it is that is keeping you from being with your family, your lover, your passion. It is not nearly as important as you think it is.
* Two -- Live within your means. Both with money, and with your own well being. If you cannot enjoy being with yourself, if you do not enjoy who you are, or hate yourself. Then how can anyone enjoy you? Or love you?
* Three -- Be the person you want to be. No one is perfect, and if you want to be a stronger, more willful person. Simply do it, make the decision to stand up when someone pushes you down. Make the decision to speak out when someone is trying to hurt another. Anytime you find yourself hating something in your life change it, which leads to the last one.
* Four -- Change what you cannot accept, and accept that which you cannot change. If something makes you unhappy (Job/Relationship/Friends/Location/Diet/Body Odor) change it. If you cannot change it for whatever reason, accept it until you can.

Daily Quote

Relationships unlock certain parts of who we are supposed to be. - Donald Miller

Trivia

Things I learned at Trivia tonight:

*The first moonwalk was today, July 20th 1969.
*Forever 21 is starting a line of maternity clothes that has been attacked by Planned Parenthood.
*Emmy Lou Harris was discovered in DC in 1971.
*Madame Toussaud actually lived in Versailles with Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI before moving to London
*6 presidents have been named James, 5 John and 3 George
*the Hope diamond is about 45 karats, which is equal to about 9,100 mg
*Happy Birthday was originally a song about morning

Nightmare

I keep having the same nightmare, and it's really been weighing heavily on me lately so I think that's a signal that I need to write about it and maybe it will go away.  It started after I scheduled my next doctors appointment for Aug 16th where we'll find out whether my body has been able to heal itself or whether there are more spots (cancerous or not) and I'll need to get more procedures.  The weird thing is that I don't usually remember my dreams unless they're trying to tell me something, which has happened in the past, and i usually don't figure it out until it's too late.  So last Thursday (the day of computer issues and subsequent meltdown) I woke up at 3am after dreaming that I had had the doctors appointment, they found more spots, did surgery, radiation treatment and told me half of my cervix was gone and I would never have kids. Needless to say I woke up crying, not just one or two little tears, but the wet your pillowcase and want to change it kind.  I had the same dream the other night, only a different doctor that I've never seen before. Same procedures, same turnout. I think my biggest fear has gone from failure to never being able to have kids.  Falling down stairs is still #3 then.  I'm trying to take better care of myself...do things that I enjoy, take yoga classes, be at peace. Trying, not succeeding well so far, but trying.

Slip inspiration

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13F_moDD7HI&feature=player_embedded

Enjoy!

Computer Glitches

On Tuesday I worked for about 1.5 hours creating part of our video project, downloading clips off youtube, editing them and arranging them in imovie at the lab in Memorial.  I saved it to the thawspace, the area that does not get erased, so I thought everything would be set when I got there this morning.  Gabe and I filmed our little clips yesterday, which we were going to add in today.  Got to class, tried to open up our project, and what do you know, it was blank.  There were no clips in it.  I stewed all class, trying to figure out what happened to it, and then after class learned that I had only saved the project into thawspace, not the events.  The maker of imovie9 had decided to separate them when saving.  Jerk.  So I recreated it which took about an hour, saved the events into thawspace and when I was done checked and the project was in thawspace too, last updated at 12:54. Thought I was ok.  Restarted the computer, opened up thawspace, and the project was still there as were the events.  Double clicked on the project to open it, and once again, it opened up blank. I have no idea what happened to it.  I also couldn't get the film we made yesterday loaded onto the computer, so I had to go to the ETMC, finally figured out how to open them and couldn't look at imovie again to restart the whole project.  Came home and had a meltdown. Now I'm making brownies, hoping that will help.  I hate computers.  I hate JMU's stupid lab security bullshit of restarting computers. I hate Thawspace. and I hate imovie.

What makes YOU happy?

  

Just out of a relationship?  Take some time to take a look at what really makes YOU happy.


Patti Stanger just tweeted this, and I think it's pretty important.  So I'll be thinking today and updating this later tonight with some thoughts.

daily quote

  

"Someday your prince charming will come. Mine just took a wrong turn, got lost & is too stubborn to ask for directions."

Dutch National Anthem

Wilhelmus van Nassouwe
ben ik van Duitsen bloed
den vaderland getrouwe
blijf ik tot in den dood.
Een Prinse van Oranje
ben ik, vrij onverveerd,
den Koning van Hispanje
heb ik altijd geëerd.

Mijn schild ende betrouwen
zijt Gij, o God mijn Heer,
op U zo wil ik bouwen,
verlaat mij nimmermeer.
Dat ik doch vroom mag blijven,
uw dienaar t'aller stond,
de tirannie verdrijven
die mij mijn hert doorwondt.

William of Nassau am I, of Germanic descent; 
True to the fatherland I remain until death. 
Prince of Orange am I, free and fearless. 
To the King of Spain I have always given honour. 

You, my God and Lord, are my shield, on You I rely. 
On You I will build; never leave me, 
So that I may remain pious, your servant at all moments, 
Dispelling the tyranny that wounds my heart. 

Only You

My love

Your love

Has opened up a world I’ve never known

All hope

Was found

A place I never dreamed I would go

Feels like only yesterday I had locked my heart away

Safe behind a castle of stone

Sure I’d always be alone

Only you know how

To hear me through the silence

You reach a part of me that no one else can see

Forever true there’s only me and only you

Only me and you

In your face I trust

With you beside me I am standing strong

One truth 

Two hearts

You took my life and made it beautiful

So you dared to let me shine

Even walk a step behind

Willingly you give yourself to me

Knowing who I was born to be

Only you know how

To hear me through the silence

You reach a part of me that no one else can see

Forever true there’s only me 

And only you

Only me and you

Only you know how

To hear me through the silence

You reach a part of me that no one else can see

Forever true there’s only me 

And only you

Only me and you

~Sinéad O'Connor, Love theme from Young Victoria