Monday, February 21, 2011

February 21, 2011

Happy President's Day! What a lovely, Monday-off-school holiday. In addition to lots of work to get done and a sad goodbye to Brenton (for now, of course), we went to a FABULOUS Brazilian (BraSilian) place for lunch (called Taste of Brasil - very authentic) (website here), which was delicious AND I got 4 loads of laundry done! Tonight: The Bachelor.



February 20, 2011

FIRST AND FOREMOST: SHAYLA IS FOUND!!
Brenton and I had yet another lazy-ish day, tried to go to the Art Museum but it too had disgustingly long lines so we meandered through the town and drizzle and cold to drink coffee and enjoy the city - then went home to regain feeling in our limbs (so much for a pleasant stroll) and had dinner at a great little Vietnamese place (Brenton is going to Vietnam in 3 weeks!) and watched a movie. I also saw this horrifying sight on the way home from getting wine!

February 19, 2010

Shayla is still missing.

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Brenton and I had a very laid-back day, went to the gym, I did a little work, we (he) played guitar, and we ventured downtown to try and cross off one of my bucket list items, only to be deterred by a 3 hour wait time. I will not be thwarted, Willis Tower!

February 18, 2011

The search continues.
Meanwhile, BZ Lower Academy has a science fair which they take VERY seriously... how cute!
And in the surprise of a lifetime, Brenton, my "Valentine" has told me I will have my Valentine's Day gift delievered a little late but by Friday for sure...I'm thinking, flowers? Singing Cupid? Diamond tennis bracelet...? BETTER - he shows up himself! What a Valentine's Day surprise!

February 16, 2011

The nightmare - the daughter of one of our own beloved BZ-ers, (who I call MOM and have said again and again - I would follow this woman to Nepal to work for her in the future) is missing.

Prayers and searches are both in full force.

February 15, 2011

Tuesday turned out to be a better Valentine's Day than Monday. I LOVE my family.

February 13, 2011

Time to head home. I had brunch/lunch with friend Nick, and beforehand we found SUCCESS with the name board! (And by that I mean I found his name in about 45 seconds. Men.)
I then sent this picture to my new friend in Chicago, Alysha, found via Nick, who makes me so excied I could do a friend dance. Ever heard, from "Steel Magnolias", "If you don't have anything nice to say....come sit by me"? This is a true kindred spirit and I will document as we hang out in our shared city!
I also got to travel to and from Chicago, by luck alone, with a fabulous group of TFA/Lighthouse-ers with whom I had a grand old time. On the way to the airport, we found a wallet that had been left in the cab we were in. I impressed all (and creeped out a little, too) with my sluething skills of finding his home phone, contacting his wife and then getting ahold of him, which allowed him to get his wallet back. A feel-good story for the masses. Both the cab driver and my new BFF Jason called to say thank you more than once - and we laughed about it for the next 6 hours of intense air travel.


February 12, cont'd

 I randomly found an old friend from high school who works for the Peace Corps now (yea, Aly McReynolds!) Below, this is the signed poster from Day One, full now, and which my dear old friend from institute, Nick, spent a good 30 minutes of our nightly fun searching futilely for his lost name.
 This was the deluxe hotel across from the Convention Center, looking like a Vegas nightclub except that despite our best efforts (and those of about 300 other "thirsty" teachers) they still stopped serving at 1:00. WHAT?! Who does that?

February 12, 2011

TFA Summit - Day 2
Just amazing, to sit and hear the inspirational words of warriors all willing to do whatever it takes to battle for the largest civil rights issue of our generation. Go here Teach for America on YouTube to see videos from the weekend and you'll understand 1/100,000th of what it was like to be there in an ocean of believers.

 With old friend Alex Munns and MICHELLE RHEE (yeeeee!)


A wonderful panel on carrying the mission into political office and policy-making... and then three of my favorite men: Mr. President with a special White House message, Arne Duncan in a fabulous speech (repping Chicago hard!) and yes, that is JOHN LEGEND performing (and then speaking) for us.



February 11, 2011

YEEEAAA TFA Summit weekend! I had been looking forward to this trip for so long, seeing old friends, making new ones and getting re-inspired about the mission. I achieved all this and more and even though I payed for it by being behind and exhausted for a week following, I still feel invigorated and so proud to be part of something much bigger than myself.


Best of all (not to downplay the enormous collective impact of 28,000 teachers, 20 years or a summit boasting 11,000 people all dedicated to providing an equal education to all children in America), I got to see my best girlfriend from college, EMILY ADELMAN. Emily and I are a special breed because we were friends from moment one (even before the moment SHE clams we became friends, when I showed up at her dorm room door freshman year dressed like 'Flashdance') and we just have such a wonderful dynamic. So amazingly good to see her!

February 10, 2011

While I was running around like a crazy person trying to get sub plans, etc ready for TFA summit, I stopped in to watch our darling girls' dance team perform at the basketball game. The game was great - our boys tied it up at the last minute and lost in overtime - but these little dolls were the highlight. Their routine was darling and they take it so seriously! LOVE it.

February 9, 2011

This one is kind of cheap, but I was totally geared up for TFA Summit at this point and literally the most exciting thing that happened today (Wednesdays are not exactly action packed anyway) was that Brenton sent me a link because he knows I love miniature things and cute animals...LOOK. AT. THESE. THINGS. My God, if they weren't so terrible to keep I would want a hundred of them.

February 8, 2011

This is my "school son" Terrell, who not only calls me "mom" and wrote me a Valentine's card that almost stopped my heart and DID make me cry, he also wants to go to UK to be a LEGACY- ha! I adore him and he is brilliant and wonderful, in spite of being a workin progress. He has a great family with lots of brothers in college, and I honestly can't wait to come back and watch him graduate high school and if he wants to go to UK I will pull all the strings in the book. He's why I Teach for America.

February 7, 2011 - Part 2

More importantly, on this momentous day my dear and beloved friend/sister with whom I grew up, Ms. Laura (Weiler) Stevens, had her first child. I literally couldn't sleep the night before, waiting on news...and then this beautiful baby, Hattie Adele Stevens, was born in the morning/afternoon on Monday. I got this picture message at 11:44 am an broke down crying in front of all my kids, who took it well and ooh'd and ahh'd appropriately!

February 7, 2011

 Above: Snowing. Again.
I have always loved snow, but man by this point, the Monday after the blizzard, I was so so so so sick of it.

And here, one of my kids said, in perfect form, "Ms. White, the camera. Right here. This one... this one is for the LADIES." Especially hilarious if you know this child, who really does try to run his game with 'the ladies' quite often, to a delightful effect.

February 6, 2011

Technically, this was the early morning on the 6th!
This was also Super Bowl Sunday, and this is the one picture I managed to take while watching a game surprisingly interesting for me not really caring about either team. Darryl and I definitely made enough food!

February 5, 2011 - PM

Well it's been a while but then hopefully my 3 followrs plus maybe 2 people who read this will have a lot of entertainment - HA! This Saturday, as promised, was wonderful and hilarious and fun. Sprinting through the blizzard to a bar about to close, lots of ladies' fun and "fun" toys ;) and great people!
 Yes, we did do Extreme Dancing competition...and Alison and I worked it while sitting down. (I won)


The bar that did not want us as patrons, because they were totally closed.


Followed by lots of White Castle.


And a little "Taquito" snuggling!

Saturday, February 5, 2011

February 5, 2011 - daytime

I know I will have more nighttime pictures, but my daytime was dominated by my "I'll-go-to-the-gym-after-I-shovel-my-car-out" joke that I played on myself. Timeline: the dilemma.

And then, after my first day of shoveling on Thursday, the plow came:

So I started digging...
And was here an hour in... and then finally, with literally last 2-minute help from neighbor Jose, who actually just wants my spot when I leave, I ended up here....
Victory! Now off to Mimosas and Mischief "Big Girl Sleepover" night!