And that's all the randomness that's fit to print

I should've done posts called "25 days of Christmas socks" since I have enough to wear a pair for 25 days.

I think the new Chocolate diamonds are ugly. There. I said it. I think they look brown, dirty and cheap rather than elegant. Nasty.

I'm obsessed with the TV show Criminal Minds. I can kill you in about 50 ways and never get caught. Other than the fact blood is icky. I wish Cold Case and Without a Trace reruns were on here.

How lazy am I that I bought a fudge making kit rather than all the separate ingredients? All the stuff came in one box, with a pan. It's supposed to make 1.5 pounds. I thought a kit to allow me to make that much fudge at once is a good thing.

There's a student, a young man, who works with me in the library in the mornings. I want to give him a little Christmas gift. Any ideas? We have so many regulations I'm at a loss. I might just email his case worker to see if he has any suggestions. Cologne?

I organized a cookie swap at work. Seven people other than me agreed so I'll come home on Thursday with 7 dozen different types of cookies. I think I'm going to make 'Snowball Surprises.' These are a mildly sweet dough cookie with a Hershey kiss inside. YUM!

Speaking of cookies, the first week of my Christmas break I'm going to bake- cut out cookies are first on the list. And I'm going to try cranberry bread. And maybe make some mini whoopie pies.

Speaking of Christmas break, I have some serious shopping left--- but that's for a different post!

I had nothing to do this whole weekend. No solid plans where I was expected to be anywhere. I didn't even get called to sub on Friday so I basically slept and watched TV for the last 2 days. I haven't the concentration or patience to read or craft so I just camped in front of the TV and watched a bunch of TV. I haven't even tried to focus on a movie.

It was cold today. It never got above 25 degrees. Since I lived in the Wild West, I could say that's really not a big deal but it felt cold to me. The house was warm and comfy but I just felt cold which seems silly.

Mac saw the commercial for wateraid.org and he associated it with bad water in Africa. And he's decided I'm going to get dysentery if I go to Africa, and die, unless of course I get kidnapped, raped and killed by the freedom fighters first. Ugh!

Maggie

Gimme a classroom, anywhere

I've missed teaching and I decided I'm not good at in between. What I mean by this is that if I'm going to work in a school I need to be a teacher, in my own classroom. Working in the library is AWESOME and I love it, but I love teaching more. Working the school library is like being a diabetic in charge of a bakery.

I had to laugh because a good friend of mine spent a day at a conference and one of the workshops she went to was all about teaching literature. As I listened to all the cool ideas she learned, I thought,"Ive done that" or "I do that" or "Hmmm, I've always done it that way." And the one workshop she attended that I could most relate to was taught by a 35 year veteran teacher who's been in AP classes since the beginning. And I did all the same things she did. SHE gets to be a conference leader and lauded for her awesome ideas and I can't set foot in a classroom because I don't have the right, damn license, which is so NOT fair. (And as we all know that I know, life isn't fair but it still sucks.)

So I've been looking around for teaching jobs again wondering where I can go. And I found a very credible source and company that puts Americans, Brits and Aussies in international schools to teach English. And I found that I qualify to work for this organization. And I learned of several openings, the one I am most interested in is located in Kenya. Yes, as in Africa. And no I don't care about heat or lack of air conditioning or bugs.

This is an amazing opportunity. This is chance to teach as well as have an adventure. This is what I always wanted- to save the world and this might be my way to finally do it. This is a way to give back. It's a way to be in a classroom. It's a way to help others, to share the love of language and words and books. It's a way to deal with some of my political ideology and thoughts on American Greed Mentality (uhhh, I'm gonna try to NOT get on a 1% soap box). This is something I want to do.

It does pay. It does provide health insurance.

I applied. Now I wait. Who knows- it might or mightn't happen but either way I had the guts to toss my name in the ring and we'll see what happens.

This time next year I might be blogging from Africa. Hmmmm, I might have to come up with a new blog name...

Maggie