Sunday, February 27, 2011

Hero


I've never really had a specific "hero" in my life but the other day when I saw a certain Youtube clip, I came close to designating my number one.



And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you you can survive...

HERO Nominee:


Side Note: It's better to watch a second and third time. This kid has so much going for him in life. What a trooper.

Thursday, February 24, 2011

The Three Greats


1. George Washington


2. Abraham Lincoln


3. YOU

Friday, February 11, 2011

For You My Ericson Family

So tonight at D.I. my buddy Ben made the discovery of the week. I want to say "priceless" but it cost one dollar.


See? One dollar.

Here's the treasure:


That's right. Harry and Hermoine book ends!!! Jealous? I was... am. Here's what they look like with a few Harry Potter books on the shelf:


Can you imagine a full set with this dynamic duo? I know. It's unbeatable.

P.S. It actually cost $2. $1 for each end. Worth. It.

Monday, February 7, 2011

40% and I Love my Job


One of my students cracks me up every day. Okay, almost all of them do. But this one (we'll call him Bob) is one I never ceased to be entertained by. Today we began writing Thank You/Valentine letters for the upcoming holiday. I wrote "Valentine's Day" on the board since it kept coming up. Bob raised his hand, didn't wait for me to acknowledge his need to comment, and blurted out the fact of the matter, when it comes to the name Valentine.

"40% of people in the world have the name Valentine."

Blah haha. I'm still laughing now. I don't know what I'd do without him in class. I skeptically asked him, "Really?". He insisted, "No! I'm serious! I even know like four people!" So I made him tell me how he knew them. "Okay, I only know three" was the admittance. Then he ended with the "Well I heard that somewhere". I love my job for so many reasons, and instances like this is one of them.

Here's another instance for ya:

As a class, in reading, we've been memorizing the preamble from the Declaration of Independence. It's taking awhile, but they're doing it and they are able to explain what it means, mostly. Today when Bob came into class, he had to tell me about the Superbowl. He was so excited. "Did you see the Super Bowl!?" he asked. "Nope," was my reply. He was shocked. Then he let me know that the Declaration was recited at some point during the game. He was so excited and then he proudly announced that he said part of it along with them. If my heart could ever glow like E.T.'s then it would have been at that moment. I wasn't excited that he could say it. I mean, that's great and all that he can memorize it but my heart glowed because he was so pleased. He felt so confident and pleased. It was just one big pleasing moment.

I love my job.

Sunday, February 6, 2011

This One Time, Part 3


The electric entrance doors zipped open as I stormed back in the battle zone. O.k. I didn't storm in but the doors did zip open. I found an employee up front who graciously agreed to find the manager. I stood by with anticipation and a sure bit of hope. The 5 minutes of wait time felt like 20. Maybe it was because I stood waiting near that stalwart cashier who snatched my dream right from my fingertips. Maybe those minutes felt so extended because I was awaiting a fate that lay in the hands of some unknown manager. Would he be grouchy? Would he listen to my plight and see that I must be rewarded with an exception to the rule?

I felt a little nervous as the short, bald, frowning man walked down the isle toward me. It didn't look too promising. He approached me with a raised eyebrow and a doubtful "Yes?".

"I know your busy sir. Sorry to interrupt. There's a book I'd like to purchase but it has no price tag. The cashier said it had to be taken to the back to be priced, then returned to the shelves the next day...."

He rudely cut me off, "That's right." He then proceeded to restate that same store policy which I'd just relayed to him. Did he even hear what I'd just said? Couldn't he let me finish explaining myself?

"You can come back tomorrow," he snapped.

Pause:

I've been working my tail end off lately. At work, I give 100% in every aspect. I teach. I work hard in behalf of the interest of my students and do whatever it takes that's in my power to aide them in discovering and developing their highest potential on individual levels. These works include anything from helping a student set up a hygiene/showering with soap schedule (AND successfully maintain the practice), to keeping another off pot, to raising levels of academic understanding for all students. Where there's a lot of students, there's a lot of work that gets done which leaves this girl tired and worn to the bone at the end of a school day.

This D.I. incident occurred at the close of one of those days. And from here on out is where the value of this three part post should start to kick in.

Unpause:

"You can come back tomorrow," he snapped.

I tried not to cry but I started to lose it. I stammered, "It's just that I've been looking for this book for awhile. I know it's just a children's book but..." By the time the end of that statement was out, I was clearly crying. He was taken aback, surprised.

He moved to the cash register where I'd made my purchase minutes ago. "Well let's see" he said, "Where is it?". Um, what kind of question is that? How was I supposed to know?

I desperately tried to choke back the scarry sob mode I felt coming on. "I don't know" was my timid, restrained reply.

He saw the cart with the go-back items and picked up two books. At that moment, my precious Snow White literature caught my eye. It seemed to beam rays of light and then instantaneously it was dimmed by the darkness of the D.I. pricing policy.

Rudely interrogating, in disbelief that a girl would be so worked up about it, he insisted "Well, which one is it?"

From this point on, simply stated, I started blubber-bawling. Let's be clear now. By blubber bawl, I mean I was snorting and choking words out in the least graceful way imaginable. This process also includes sucking in short breaths which makes everything come out all choppy.

"Snow White!"

Blubber. Blubber. Snort. Blubber. I knew before it burst from my mouth that it would sound so pathetic. Blubbering over Snow White? Knowing that it sounded so pathetic, but still knowing that it was so important made me Blubber all the harder.

The man's eyes widened. I had taken this matter to a whole new level. I was causing a scene! Then, everything changed. Somehow the dynamics flip flopped. The control of this situation was now in my power. Wide-eyed, he held the book closer to me. He wasn't so rude now. Somewhere inside him there was a reservoir of sweetness! That or he was just flabbergasted.

"Two dollars?" was all he queried, cautiously.

The only thing I could do was nod my head and grab the book. Despite his relent of policy, my tears didn't follow suit. I walked up to the cashier (a different one than the first) and handed her the book. I choked out "two dollars" and she nodded her head. She was all concerned. She leaned forward and whispered "Are you okay? Can I do anything for you?". Obviously I was in pretty bad shape. The look the lady gave me seemed as though she were concerned that as soon as I left the store I'd find a cliff and drive right off. That sounds terrible but man, you should have seen her face. I apologized twice for my radical display then quickly headed out the door.

By the time I got to the car, everything inside me cleared up. By the time I had the car started, I felt fine and was wondering what was for dinner, "Should I make a stop for a burger on the way home? Was I going to go to the basketball game later this evening? Oh, what a day in the life of this girl. I've definitely got to tell my mom about this one time.".

Friday, February 4, 2011

This One Time, Part 2


So there I was, this one time, at Deseret Industries after school looking for classroom supplies. As usual, I made it a priority to stop by the books section. Perusing, perusing, and what? Lo and behold! A Snow White Book. I knew the instant I saw the cover that it had to be the one. I must submit that there was a major difference between this one and the one in San Fran. This was a larger sized version and printed in the 80's while the true one was so small, quaint and much older. I'm not complaining though. Beggars can't be choosers, right? While I KNEW it was the one, I still had to open to the inside front page to make sure. Yep, it matched the one in San Fran. The picture and wording was the same! "How could I remember the wording?" you wonder. I'll tell you and show a picture of what I'm talking about.

Tell: The picture and writing was/is a little catchy so it was recalled from my brainy recesses in a snap.

Show: Here's what that magical page looked like:




So now that you see what I'm talking about, I'll get along to the good part of the story...

There I stood, book in hand with a thrill of delight. I went straight to the cash register. Didn't even finish looking through the remainder of books section! This neglect of treasure has never happened before, so you know how good of a deal I felt I had. Taking great strides down the isles, I made it to the cash register, triumphant. Once at the register, I organized my loot in piles by price and Snow White was at the very end in the "missing price tag" pile. The guy/clerk informed me abruptly and almost rudely that he couldn't sell me the book without a price tag. "It needs go to the back where it will be priced then it'll be put on the floor tommorrow. If you want it, you can come back tomorrow." Ooooo.K. A logical step forward would be to just go to the back and have it priced, right? Not an option with this guy. It's store policy. He wouldn't budge or let me get a word in edgewise, a word explaining that this wasn't just any book! I started to tear. I know, I know. I was a little teary. And ticked too. Out of nowhere, magically an ever-so-desired book appears and that clerk-guy had the audacity to tell me to "come back tomorrow"? I couldn't talk to him as I swiped my debit card. If I said anything I'd have a tear spill over, for real. That or I'd say something nasty to him. I walked out the automatic doors with poison pumping from my heart to my nerve endings. Actually, I wasn't mad, just stunned and a little panicked.

Halfway to the car, I had a surge of determination. If I waited till tomorrow, the book might be there, but then again, it might not. Had I not just seen an up for grabs, lone binder in the school supplies cabinet the other day and when I went back the next, it was gone? No, that little trick wouldn't happen to me again. No, sir! I would have that book!!! I quickly threw the bags I had in the car, spun around, and dug my heals into the parking lot as I plowed forward, back into the store.

You know something? I got it. I was determined. What?! What happened?! How did I get that book?! That's the best part of the story and it's yet to come. I bet you want to know, don'tcha?Well, stay tuned for Part 3.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

This One Time, Part 1


There was this one time in October of last year that I went to California to visit my uncle, aunt, and cousin. Oh, it was the grandest time. While there, we went to this place:


It's the Walt Disney Family Museum. In fact, Here's a picture of me and my cuz outside in the sunshine.


Are you wondering about the limo? Keep wondering. The museum was pretty rad. Loved it. There was so much cool "stuff". In particular, there was one whole section devoted to Snow White. Of course, the most fascinating item that caught my attention was a book entombed in a glass case, kind of like Snow White in her coffin (she was in a glass coffin, right?). The book was.... Snow White, obviously. Not a big surprise if you're standing in a room plastered with the girl. The luring part about the book was that it was one published when the movie first came out (1937). It was opened to the first page. I read it, naturally. I was hooked. I decided I'd have to get a copy, somehow. So while no one was looking, I jimmied the glass top off and snuck the book into my purse. J/K.

My only option (that I could think of) was to write down info about it (copyright, etc.) and hope to find one online in the near future. I found a few on Ebay. Here's a picture or two:



If you want it too, check it out HERE, where I got the pictures from. I somehow couldn't see myself spending a rough 5 hundred bucks for one. So I sent my cosmic wish out into the universe beckoning for one to come to me at my favorite shopping place, Deseret Industries. Did it come to me? You're dying to know. I know. Stayed tuned for Part 2 of "This One Time". There's a little twist to the story.