School make-up mirror ban lifted

I actually saw this article a while back and if any of my female students are reading this, I hope to Gawd! that this never happens at our school because I do hope that they will never take their beauty regimen to an extreme where they will need to ban mirors at Beurling Academy. We already have enough of a problem with guys and their body sprays. I swear, after thier gym class, the hallways smell like man-ho'...

It's still somewhat entertaining to walk by some lockers and see the beauty paraphenalia that some girls (and guys have). Hey, I know that if I ever need body spray/hand cream/body lotion/lip gloss/hair spray I can always go see one of the girls from last year's grade 10 class... It's quite convenient actually, hehe.

Baby Room Update!

A huge thanks to Môôôssieu Carlôôô and the Très Chère Koukla Ali who did a wonderful job painting on Wednesday night. Carlôôô was great considering it was his first time painting (artistically) and Ali, well, she enjoyed painting the little turtle so much she'd paint the entire room if she had the time!

And I did a classic "paint-by-numbers"... after some stenciling, I painted a lovely Hello Kitty. Not quite high on the artistic scale but I am proud of the result.

2 weeks to go!

Although some folks possibly thought that this past weekend sucked weather wise (rainy Saturday, cool Sunday), I found it positively refreshing. Even today, there was much less humidity and I can't complain at all...well ok, I will complain about my carpal still being tunnel-y and I think one can complain when, in the middle of the night one can't even unclench your fingers because you are so much in pain. Yay.

2 weeks to go and some might be in SPM (refresher for Miss A-speak: Standard Panic Mode): the baby's room is not quite done yet and I am not sure if I have all the clothes I need for the baby. If I am lucky (or unlucky depending on whose point of view I look at it, mine or my impending spawn), there will be a heat wave after her birth and I can get by having her lounge around in her diapers.

I will have to kick myself in the tush to get some stuff done this week. Assemble this, wash that, sew these, etc. Oh, I promised some pictures of the room in progress, here they are:


As you can see, it is still very much under construction, so to speak; it'll get done in time though, barring any unforseen events...

From the Land of Duuuh!

Perhaps things are slow lately in the news, I mean obviously we can't talk all the time about Zizou's headbutt or about how Haley Joel What's-his-face's accident, but when Reuteurs posts these 2 articles, I say to myself: that's all you guys can talk about? Here are the titles...

Living with dirty air may boost heart attack risk

Ya think? Really, hmmmm, I wasn't sure about it, I mean I was too busy sucking on a car's exhaust pipe, but thanks for the expert medical verification/confirmation.

Asthmatics who quit smoking breathe easier

Another one for the obvious file. ANYONE who quits smoking breathes easier, but once again, thank you for the top notch reporting.

Meh. Maybe I'm just jaded.

Cheating rife in Vietnamese exams

And I thought it was bad here with a couple of students jotting down formulas on their wrists to help them pass an exam. The advantage of teaching enriched French is that there is not much to study and memerize for an exam. You either get or you don't... read the text and answer questions and if you cannot understand what you are reading, then sucks to be you (I love my job). But I guess you always think it's bad on your end, and things are rosier elsewhere. Which is why I'm glad to see that other countries are having cheating scandals as well, although I do hope they find a solution to it soon.

I must say though that to equate it to a disease is going a wee bit far... Sheesh, that would mean a crap-load of folks I know are infected with this! Quick get an ointment!

Stung by criticism, the government has denounced cheating as a disease and announced action to tackle the problem.

Kenya mob burns teenage 'rapists'

It's beeen a while since a headline grabbed my attention so much that I wanted to comment on it. Allow me to quote a passage from it:

Another bereaved mother told Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper that she had never imagined that her son could be a criminal.

"I have never known my son to be a thief because at no time has he ever stolen from me," said Lucy Nduta.

Uh-huh, right. So because he makes puppy dog eyes at you ma'am he's innocent? Grrrr... I have heard soooo many parents give me that lame ass excuse when I call them up to complain about their kid. "But he's fine at home" I KNOW HE'S FINE AT HOME, I DON'T CARE ABOUT AT HOME, HE'S A PRICK AT SCHOOL!! Sheesh, it's almost as if, they forget that the environment can change someone's behavior.

Now, as for the mob aspect, this is the only problem I have with the entire story. Although part of me thoroughly enoys the whole vigilante action (and wishes there could be some of that at my school when it comes to certain UGIs), I do believe in proving wether you are innocent or guilty and the whole concept of 2nd chances. Hell, if it weren't for 2nd chances, I never would have had The Dave work in my Leadership class.

3 weeks to go

Three weeks to go before I pop out Little Miss Evil (she has inherited her papa's nickname, not because she is malevolent, just because she is our progeny) and I have kept myself busy with random baby-related like the painting the baby's room and making sure my bags are ready for the big day. A wee bit earlier to start prepping my bag for the hospital trip, you say? Let's just say the hubby wants to be ready, so he insisted that I packed my bag...now!

The baby's room is coming along nicely... and I have discovered that I am much more adept at painting than my better-half. The man can paint Warhammer figurines but will manage to be a total clutz when it comes to large surfaces, go figure!

I will post some pics of the room soon-ish.

Oh yeah, HUMIDITY SUCKS!

Summer vacation commences

So, I have officially been on vacation since Thursday June 29th...and not a moment too soon. I desperately needed to get out of that building, the humidity and lack of air was suffocating.

Please note that I say building and not school. I love my school, I just hate the building.

So far, nothing much is on the vacation agenda. Oh yes, one major thing: giving birth. Well, that should be one day, lord help me. The rest will be spent puttering around my AC'd basement and going downtown for some window shopping.