Have you heard of CHINGO BLING?

Well, I hadn't until today.

Gerardo started singing something to the effect of, "I'm running, I'm running, from Immigration.... tryin' to get us deportated..." (Yes, not deported, deportATed). So first I laugh (probably inappropriately), then I ask what is this funny stuff of which you sing.

So here's a link, that you should listen to.

Top 12

A few of my favorite pics from the trip (well, of the ones from my camera):

On the airport train. Mind you, Laura is well-rested, and Wes is starting to wane.
From the Ferry dock in Fajardo. Beginning of beauty.

Laura would be happy to introduce you to one of our many friends -- sick roosters.

I found a favorite place. I'm simply a sucker for big sitting rocks with waves.My favorite building on Culebra. Loved it. I think it is just a barn, but it is yellow and green and red! No, Weston, this isn't necessarily my entry into the competition. It's just one of the sweet pics of the tank on Flamenco Beach.
Morning on the ferry back to the main island. Perfect.
What a dry, good-lookin' crew. We were wet the rest of this day. Oh, the rainforest.
My favorite camera angle of the El Yunque Rainforest.Highly recommended tour of the Bacardi factory. With two free drinks per participant (or 3, if you don't give the guy your ticket, Weston!)

Wes thought he was being so funny with this picture, but I almost like it.

At the fort, El Morro, after our tour guide talked about "Cross Fire." I realize this picture doesn't make sense or show the beautiful scenary, but I absolutely love it.

Cool Huh?

I made these for that Gift and Tell for the previously mentioned Friend weekend. I love how they turned out after I framed them.

February Friend Fest 2009

Last weekend I spent my 25th birthday with some of my favorite friends. Every year (at least for the past three) my college girl friends and I have a weekend getaway together. Years one and two were spent at lake houses of other generous friends. This year, however, we spent the weekend at Sarah's new home in Little Rock.

This year we tried some organized activities, so we could say that we did more than "just sit around and talk all weekend long." Besides the five A-mazing meals, we had a great Gift and Tell Friday night. I came home with four fun gifts, including play-doh, dominoes, clock and timer!

Saturday, after much sitting, eating, and talking we went out for our pseudo-photo shot. Very outside the personality of our group, but fun nonetheless. Here's my fav:

Soccer and Vocabulary

Consecutive happens to be an especially difficult word to pronounce for native Spanish speakers. I had lots of "con-sitive" and "convection" and .... But then again, I can't roll my r's for anything.

Two Pictures

Whoops! It's been awhile, eh?!

I'm still pretty stinkin' excited about the camera I got for Christmas. Rather than posting on my blog, I've been spending my extra computer time learning the camera and the editing software.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from the last month.

Granted, I didn't take the picture I'm in, but I did finish it with a little editing.


The second is the mandatory picture of the Great Ice Storm of 2009 as so many are calling it. I haven't felt like it's as big a deal as everyone is saying, but I have had power for all but 2 hours of the 72 hour ordeal. That being said we are out of school for day 3 and holding....

Christmas Research

On the way to Black Friday crowds, my dad and I were trying to find ways to justify the wheelchair in the back of the car. We had planned this day for weeks, maybe months and we were not about to give up the plan of a fabulous shopping day just because my knee happened to heal faster than expected.

{Originally, I expected to need the wheelchair due to knee surgery, however, I had been walking - with a limp - for several days.}

My dad and I have started shopping the Black Friday sales in the last couple years, mostly for the laughs. People are crazy and we like to witness the craziness. So this year, due to my situation, we borrowed a wheelchair from my parents church, and decided to answer the research question: Are people generally nicer to the wheelchair bound?

I did put the huge leg immobilizer on to make it look a little more legitimate. I did have trouble not laughing multiple times, though, because Dad decided it would be wise to run with me in tow through the parking lot. Also, I felt like a fraud, but...

Anyway, the results: People definitely stare, then quickly avert their eyes, then decide to smile at the wheelchair bound. But the crowds parted like the Red Sea! It was incredible how many "excuse me's" we got. We also got lots of offers for help at Best Buy and even a concerned Best Buy worker asked me what happened. When we went to Lowe's without the wheelchair, no such luck. Busy workers who walked right by us trying to ask for help.

Thus, I highly recommend wheelchair use during holiday shopping.

feet

You know when Cara is at her lowest: when she lets someone touch her feet!

If you are somehow unaware of my foot phobia, well let me tell you --- they gross me out more than almost anything else in the world. I've never had a pedicure, because I can't stand the thought of someone else touching my feel. And people in sandals better just keep their distance or I start flailing.

Today, however, in an attempt to complete my post-op therapy exercises I let my mom help me by supporting my foot! Fortunately/unfortunately the pain was enough to excuse my rule of no feet touching. Who knows maybe I'll be able to stomach a pedicure now....

Oh where, oh where...

has our little remote gone? Oh where, oh where can he be?

So this one time... I had some friends of the male gender who were searching for their tv remote in a hotel room. Unfortunately they decided it would be a good idea to call their sleeping friend, in another state to ask for help (Pretty sure there were a few beers involved).

In a parallel story, my roommate and I have lost our remote. I realize that this isn't a highly tragic event, but when one has searched under all couch cushions, in all drawers, in laundry baskets, under furniture, and even in the freezer (twice) it becomes rather frustrating. 2 days down, who knows how many more we will go....

Roommate quote: "It would make a much better story, if we had both been drunk when the remote was lost."

Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally

I taught Order of Operations on Wednesday of last week. Actually, I should say my great aunt Sally taught order of operations. I realize it has been awhile since most of you worked sixth grade math problems, so here's your refresher course: parentheses, exponents, multiply/divide, add/subtract. Thus, Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally.

Ms. Dean happened to have a "emergency math meeting" that morning, because we ALL know how often those happen.

Here's a picture of my Aunt Sally as well as the Aunt Sally for both the Explorer's and the Pro's teams. What a coincidence!
Now, I must emphasis that I had several students who genuinely didn't realize that it was me behind the pillow butt and grey/blue hair. When I walked into school on the following Thursday one of my students says, and I quote,

Andrew -- "Ms. Dean! Your grandma was here yesterday!"
Me -- "Nope, it was my Aunt."
Andrew -- "Oh yeah, Aunt Sally!"

And he was NOT joking. Oh kids...

Ms., Miss, and Mrs.

If you're ever feeling confident about your single lifestyle, just mention it to a group of sixth graders. I dare you! You will never quite look at the situation the same way.

I was teaching letter writing in my reading class a couple weeks ago, and in an attempt to teach correct Openers, I made the distinction among Ms., Miss and Mrs. Oops. Since then, I've received several interesting and humorous suggestions:

• I'm not going to call you Miss Dean anymore, I'm gonna call you Single Dean!
  
• Miss Dean, I need a picture of you, so I can set up your E-Harmony Page!
• Yeah, if you don't find a match in the first 6 months, the 2nd 6 months are FREE!
  
• You should get married this year, so you can have the wedding here [in my classroom] and we can all come!

They crack me up, and I just needed to share.
Signing out,
- Single Dean

Love My Job!

Last year on Tuesday September 25, I blogged about the fabulous-ness of parent/teacher conferences. And OMG, I just got home from the first night of conferences (yes, it was a 12 hour day) and I'm giddy. I absolutely love meeting the parents and families of my kiddos.

And oh, the glimpses into culture... There really are different concerns of parents depending on their cultural backgrounds. My white parents demand good grades, my Hispanic parents want respectful behavior, and my Marshallese parents just want everyone to be happy. Beyond that, the language barriers actually excite me, as they force me into small usages of my Spanish.

This is what we've been doing recently in math. Graphs, graphs, graphs.....

Survivor starts this week too, like it did last year. What a fabulous week!

I am just THAT cool.

Well, apparently I've got some hidden pop singer genes in me. I really think I would be a hit with the Hispanic middle school girl population. Why the absurdity, you ask? Well Dulce told me this week that my new do makes me look like Rhianna!

So rather than bother with an accurate picture of my new hair style, I thought this would work.


And yes, Brian, Dulce means "sweets" en espanol. I think.

See the resemblance?

No lie. Today, I met Blanca, and she said: "MizDee, you remind me of Mariah Carey." After the shock and laughter, I realized she was serious, and she likes Mariah Carey, so I said, "Thanks, I think."

Back-to-School

At church this morning, our pastor spoke that the good deeds of Christians should pave the way for the gospel. Sometimes I forget that my desire to see justice cover the world is really God's desire to spread his grace over people. (Okay, it is more than just forgetting. I still have serious issues with understanding/accepting that my God, who is love and goodness..., can allow some of the evil and hardship in this world. I get it, when you're talking about Christians suffering, but when you're talking about children who don't know Christ -- what's the point?! ) All that to say, I'm not faking great understanding here, but rather commenting on the great responsibility that has been placed on my shoulders.

Tomorrow's the first day back to school (with students). Although I don't know the specific needs and hurts of my kids yet, I already feel a great burden to make sure these kids see love this year. I found myself praying this morning that God would make it obvious which kids I need to focus on this year. That by week 2, I'd be finding ways to meet their needs. I will continue to pray that anything these kids see in me this year they would attribute to the provision of God. Although I want my kids to succeed in math and reading, I really desire to see them find relationship with Christ. Don't really know what that looks like in public school, but I know my God is capable of much more impossible situations.

Goodbye Summer

Well, summer's over. Ok, not the season based on astronomy, but the season of no work/no school. I go back to work tomorrow. Actually I'm looking forward to the change of pace. I am designed to work with smelly, skwirmmy, snotty sixth graders, so it fits that I would look forward to being with them again. I am, however, sad to say goodbye to many of my summer favorites. So long:

- weekday afternoons at the pool
- snowcones in the hobby lobby parking lot
- waking up at 8:30, then taking a nap from 10 to noon
- reading
- late night drives to the lake
- spontaneous travel (i.e., Eureka Springs for the 4th - see picture)
- forgetting the current date
- craft projects
- Gilmore Girls
- and just good clean fun!

Minor Resolutions

So I went to Mexico. I've been back for a week, and yet I still feel incapable of writing it justice. That is, it was a short trip, but packed full with experiences. Beyond the clinics, children's programs and haircuts, God worked in some sweet ways.

A couple of years ago, I spent a solid chunk of my summer in a big Asian country with a campus ministry. While there, we worked primarily with college students and studied the language (as stated on our visas). Regardless of how much I desired to see this nation come to know Christ, I was constantly frustrated and exhausted by the culture. On so many levels, the culture there wore on my every single nerve. So I left with a burden for spreading the fame of my Savior, and yet I also left feeling discouraged about the possibilities of returning.

This trip to Mexico, although much shorter and sheltered, gave me hope for a possible stint overseas. I have no idea what that will look like, but I left Mexico feeling like I could and would adjust to life in a Hispanic culture more quickly than in an Asian one. Maybe I am just familiar with the culture, but I loved this week.



In Other Completely-Unrelated News: Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer came out Friday at midnight. Although I did not go to any of the wait parties, I have already purchased the book and am making my way through the last volume of my favorite werewolves and vampires.

On my mind

Several things are on my mind these days: ever-changing community, the value of short-term missions and the coming school year. It makes me slightly nervous to write about things that I'm unsure of (I'm not supposed to end a sentence w/ a preposition, but I just did.). I much prefer writing (and talking) about things of which I am confident that I can contribute valuable information/insight. Thus, many of my posts deal with events, rather than opinions or theories. So here goes....

Ever-Changing Community:
People move and people get married and people just plain change. I am confident that God designed us to live with people, but I am continually frustrated by the way those people rarely stick. I am also aware that God draws me to himself each time one of my close friends moves, gets married or leaves community, but it remains difficult nonetheless.

Short-Term Missions:
I'm getting ready to leave for a trip with my church. World Missions is a big deal, and I want to be a part of it, however, I haven't figured out what that really means for me. I highly doubt that means a short-term trip ever few years or so. I think it means something more, but what? I guess I'm hoping for a bit of clarity.

The Coming School Year:
I can't wait! I realize that it isn't cool to want to go to work/school, but I can't help myself. I'm so ready to meet the new 112 kiddos. In a month I may be singing a different tune, but right now, I'm just ready to get back to the classroom!

Did you know?

Random and fabulous fact of the day:

Salsa now outsells Ketchup in the United States by 40%! Woohoo, I love me some Mexican food. Apparently, so does the rest of America.

Recently:

May is always a crazy-busy month. I think, because I'm in the educational system, it will always be busy. Just a little recap:

Returned from a fun weekend in Tulsa.
Spent a weekend in Kansas City - who knew that was such a cool place?
Saw the Broadway musical, WICKED, for the 2nd time - still fabulous.
Gave my first end-of-year final.
Visited the nostalgic small-town of Booneville.
Chaperoned an ungodly number of parties, dances and days-at-the-park.
Said goodbye to my first (and favorite) group of 112 sixth graders - a few of which are pictured above on crazy hair/hat day.
Packed up my apartment in F'ville.
Unpacked in S'dale.
Went to the pool for the first of the season.
Saw Carrie Underwood and became a REAL fan of Keith Urban.
Watched 2 seasons of Gilmore Girls - 5 more to go....
Enjoyed an evening of baseball and fireworks - and kids who get waaaay too excited about fireworks.

I'm sure I'm missing several other great moments of the last month, but these are the highlights.