A Nerdy Teacher's Closet: Week 15 (12/10 - 12/14)

It's my birthday week and I have big plans. First of all, though, it is Week 15 of the school year and my birthday is on the 15th, which is Saturday. Clearly not just a coincidence. At least, that's what I'm going to think.

Yesterday was our staff party and it was also Ugly Sweater Day. Now... I don't have classic Ugly Sweaters. I do, though, have a bunch of nerdy t-shirts that are the are supposed to represent the whole "Ugly Sweater" trend. I don't know if I really agree that they capture the spirit of "Ugly Sweater", but it is what it is. Happy Holidays!

Week 15: 12/10 - 12/14

Monday, December 10, 2018
I wore my sad Charlie Brown t-shirt. Poor little tree. 'Nough said. "You Killed It, Blockhead" at WOOT! Shirt.

Tuesday, December 11, 2018
Gosh I was so torn over which shirt to wear. Next week is a dress up week and it threw off my plans. So when I was choosing shirts, it was a question of choosing my Star Wars "Ugly Sweater" shirts  or some of the cuter, more holiday ones. At least for this particular day, it felt right.  "The Dark Side of Christmas" at WOOT! Shirt.

Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Had a sick day and my personal pjs are not on the docket. Missed out on all sorts of great things, but it is what it is. My daughter, though, wore her Totoro Ugly Christmas Sweater shirt, so I figured I'd use that. She was so excited to wear it. I told her to get it in now before the season was over. I love when she gets excited about nerdy clothes. We got this through TeePublic.

Thursday, December 13, 2018
Another Star Wars holiday shirt. So sad that this year there isn't some sort of epic movie coming out on my birthday weekend, but whatcha gonna do. I could no longer find this design, but it was from Woot! Shirt.

Friday, December 14, 2018
In honor of hating having a birthday so close to Christmas, I decided to embody that spirit on this Ugly Sweater Dress-Up Day! WOOT! Shirt.

Saturday, December 15, 2018

It's my birthday and I actually decided to dress up! Go me!

Room Escape - Harry Potter Style

This year I really went out on a limb and reached out to a few women I really felt would create a super happy positive outting with lots of laughs. I knew that the local escape room group was having a Harry Potter themed escape room in December and the last escape room I attended was really awesome. Plus, in reality, I wanted to finally plan something permanent that I couldn't back out on.

In preparation I wanted to make it a super geeky outting with my ladies. So I made little gift bags. First, I made felt house ties for everyone to wear! I took a poll of which houses they were part of so that I could make them a tie. I also got Harry Potter lens-less glasses for everyone to wear, for fun.

Next, I made chocolate frogs in little frog molds and I bought some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. The slugs were way too expensive. I also purchased a Mischief Managed pin for each of us, as well as some Harry Potter temporary tattoos and a cheap, plastic wand for the wandless.

Why would I go all out like a crazy woman? Because I had finally planned a ladies night adventure for my birthday! I was determined to have an amazing time, because I was desperately in need of a little fun.

We all met up and had arrived at Escape Rooms in Appleton. They started by giving us a rundown of the rules of how the room works and some of the safety information. Then it was time to be locked in the room. Inside the room was a screen that showed the timer and would occasionally give us hints to get us moving in the right direction if we were lost. There was no physical person in the room with us.

The five of us worked together to solve all the puzzles and finding all the keys and codes and things we needed to get out. We were able to escape with only 1:46 left on the clock out of 45 minutes! I'm not sure what 5 out of 10 means for difficulty, but we saw a lot of pictures of people who did not win the Snape room. We were proud and women represented their awesome! Take that men (mostly my husband who said we probably wouldn't make it).

Happy 35th Birthday to Me!!!

Happy Womb Exiting Day: Or How My Daughter Turned 5

Happy Birthday to my little Midgiekins! I can't believe it's been 5 years! I still remember the day we went in and your insistence to do things your way, even when the doctor's were unhappy with your choices.

I know parents tend to say the same cliche things about their kids, but I hope you realize how important you are to me. Being adopted, I don't have any blood family to help me understand who I am and what I come from. I never cared much about knowing, until I met you and watched you grow. I see so much of myself in you; your personality, your tenacious spirit, your independence. You are so smart and interested in learning and understanding things. I can see what influences you to make you who you are and what is in you through and through.

My hope for you is to not take on the baggage I have to deal with. You have such a wonderful daddy to help you when I fail to live up to my own expectations. I'm sorry I can't always be everything you want or need me to be, but I try to do my best to show you I love you and support your dreams. You're going to be an amazing person and I am so proud of you for that.

As for your special golden birthday, it's been a wonderful one. You got the games you wanted so badly! You ate at your favorite restaurant and got your giant dessert and you saw your Meemaw! I love you my little Midgiekins! Happy Birthday!

             

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury!

This entry is slightly hard for me to write. It is my father's birthday. I pulled the entry where I talk about the loss of my father, but I still miss him frequently and the horrible events that couple his death as still incredibly raw. Every year I try to do something extra special around his birthday to keep his memory alive in a positive way. Right now I put out a trackable through my hobby of geocaching that is in honor of him and is meant to keep his spirit going. It just recently came to rest in Mississippi after having left from the Harley Davidson Museum in Milwaukee, WI.

As I thought about my father, I also remembered that another inspirational person was born on this day in Waukegan, IL and I want to take a few moments to recognize him. Not only does this person connect to my own love of film (Truffaut's Fahrenheit 451), but he's written work that has influenced generations! Heck, Fahrenheit 451 is even on my bookcart at school for one of our units on Human Rights!

I'm not going to say much about it, but I just wanted to have a little moment where I could recognize an author that I love and enjoy. I am currently reading The October Country and The Halloween Tree. Another funny moment was when I first started dating my now husband, he would always talk down the Martian Chronicles and talk up the Martian Tales by Edgar Rice Burroughs. The joke is that the Martian Chronicles was sometimes known as "the OTHER Martian Tales." Ray (the husband, not the author... yet) always made sure to point that out to me. I love Bradbury's dark spirit and haunting imagery. My students had their first encounter with his work when I read to them All Summer in a Day at the end of the school year. Intense stuff.

So happy birthday, Mr. Bradbury!

Happy Birthday, H.P. Lovecraft!

I am a lover of Lit and most things horror. I'm not all in on the "killing for killing's sake" kind of movies like Saw, but I really enjoy supernatural horror movies and stories and sometimes those really intelligent crazy death movies like the first couple Final Destination movies. Even though, I will admit, I had to watch the first one a few times before I could even handle the crazy deaths.

I guess what I am getting at here is that I like the unseen and the psychological. Even Jaws is more of an unseen and psychological thriller than something like, oh, gee... the umpteen million sequels to Saw. Maybe that's why I prefer Criminal Minds to NCIS or CSI (granted, I used to love the original CSI until a bunch of changes made it meh and then it went off the air).

Digression? Why yes! I excel at them. The point is. . . today is H.P. Lovecraft's birthday! The man. . . the mythos. . . the occultist? Sure! This is a man who has contributed to the shaping of the modern horror and even, to an extent, modern fantasy and Sci-Fi. I don't want to make this a long biography of someone I studied in college, but fell in love with as a reader. So let's shorten this up a big with my homage to his birthday.

Today, on  his 123rd birthday, I chose to reread a work his that I haven't read in such a very long time. It quotes one of my favorite romantic poets and harkens back to my days as a lover of all things romantic and gothic. "The Outsider" by H.P. Lovecraft. A tale so reflectively strange and so near to my heart as one who is trying to find their place. Beautifully crafted with haunting images. A amazing piece of literature and a worthy piece to sharpen the literary mind.

If you're hardup for a way to celebrate, make sure to check out Unspeakable Words, designed by James Ernest and Mike Selinker, with art by Tony Steele.  You have cards with letters and images on them. You try to play words and, depending on angles on the cards, you have to make a sanity roll. In true Lovecraftian style, your either go insane or die. . . err... lose. There are adorable little purple Cthulu like pieces as part of the game. Enjoy! I'm hoping to get a round in with Ray after Isabelle goes to bed. So celebrate!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Lovecraft.

Happy Birthday, Julia Child!

I have always considered Julia Child to be the first REAL Gastro-Geek ("Find something you're passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.")! Anyone who knows her story knows that she didn't even start cooking until she was 32-years-old. Until then, she had just been eating and taking in all that food had to offer. Then she felt like she could start to really share her passion.
I am a lover of cooking. I absolutely fell in love with cooking when I moved overseas to Scotland. The quality of food I was working with, within my budget, was incredible ("You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients."). We also, at times, had such a limited budget that we had to improvise. As I so often do, though, I jumped in and started to teach myself to cook. For some reason, I could just sit and watch a cooking show and all of a sudden, I remembered all the techniques I had seen. I was absorbing knowledge about cooking. I am by no means a master chef or the best cook out there, but I'm good enough and growing every day ("You'll never know everything about anything, especially something you love."). If you want to see what I've been working on, you can look at my food blog. It's small, but I keep trying to add as often as I can.

When I was a little girl, I remember watching Julia Child on television. She was crazy awesome! She was fearless! I never forgot her, but when Julie & Julia was released, my passion for her was renewed. I have her books on my to-read shelf. Julia Child has such an amazingly profound life. She is an absolute inspiration and whenever I put on a string of pearls, I feel the compulsion to cook something French and have a huge glass of wine.

Happy Birthday Mrs. Child! You are truly an inspiration to chefs and woman (and everyone) everywhere! I have a feeling, I too might be "thirty-seven-years-old and still discovering who I [am]." Thank you for helping the wanderers feel they have a purpose.

“The more you know, the more you can create. There's no end to imagination in the kitchen.”
― Julia Child, Particular Passions: Talks With Women Who Have Shaped Our Times