Our school resides in a building known as The Blue Castle - it’s pretty famous in this side of the city.
It’s a big blue building:

There are two other schools located here, Eagle Academy and Washington Math and Science. Someone called me this morning and asked for the number of Eagle, so I Googled it, got the number and gave it to the woman. The first link that came up for Eagle Academy gave their contact info, a map, and a link to their site. I half-heartedly clicked on it because I was interested in how theirs looked compared to ours.

Here is the link: www.eagleacademy.info

Click on it. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

Yeah, that’s what I thought too. A porn site? Interesting. So I called them and let them know, which they were pretty astonished to hear. And I bet that right now they are having some words with Google.

Finally. I’ve finally gotten some new songs on my iPod. I mean, for awhile there, it was pretty bad. The newest song was Temperature, and that’s just unacceptable. I now have my new favorite hit, “Ain’t No Other Man”, which just reaffirms the fact that Christina (by any spelling) is so much better than Britney or any other teeny bopper of that era. I also took a chance on a Rascal Flatts hit, “What Hurts the Most”, and I can definitely say that I won that bet. It’s excellent.

I started salsa classes this week - one of my coworkers is part of the ClaveKazi Dance Company and teaches. It was excellent. We learned the Mambo, which is so ironic because I was just watching Dirty Dancing last weekend. No Baby jokes please.

On a final note, I’m sitting at my desk waiting for summer school to start. We get to work by 8am and the kids start at 9. However, I’ve noticed that most of the kids get here SO EARLY. As in before 8am. I remember middle school and sure, I came in sorta early to hang out with friends, but this seemed extreme. So you’re thinking:
Maybe they really love school?
Maybe their parents leave for work early?
Which all seem like lovely reasons. And then Irene, the Salsa Girl, tells me “Actually, most of them come here so early because they don’t like to be at home. At all.”
I hadn’t really thought of that. Or perhaps I had, in the very back of my head, but it wasn’t really conscious. All I know is that it left me feeling very sad.

I feel like a homeowner. Well, more like a homerenter who is into rennovating a pad she doesn’t own.

Here is the place I moved into:

It’s two stories, with a basement apartment. A Consultant named Jay lives downstairs, I share the first floor with a Nanny named Annula, and Karen the Writer lives upstairs. And although we are all in the same house, we rarely run into one another. I have a separate entrance and basically stick to my studio area.

The great thing about house living is 1) free use of washer/dryer! AND 2) having a front and back yard. Toby loves running around here, he’s been helping my landlady with her gardening (ie digging in the mud and trying to bite the water coming out of the hose). The yard is quite the fixer-upper, I tackled mowing the lawn (which was heavily overgrown and covered in tall weeds). It looks much better, but there is still so much work to be done. I also painted my bedroom - Bonnie and I had thought a light green would look nice. Celery, we called it. When I went to Home Depot I selected “Lettuce Alone.” [Tangent: what the hell is up with paint color names? Lettuce Alone? Seriously? It doesn't even make sense!] I thought it would be perfect, but when I started painting, it really occurred to me perhaps Lettuce was a little too green. Yeah, I know, what am I even talking about. Basically, I ended up mixing some white it to try and achieve my own homegrown Celery color. As soon as I get a camera, I’ll let you know how it turned out.

What I really took away from this weekend is that fact that I want to buy a home. Soon. As much as I love renovating this place, I want a place of my own. Where I’ll be able to enjoy the changes I’m making on a more permanent basis. But for now I will have to settle for my temporary fix.

I made it to DC. Barely.

I drove down in a U-Haul, with Toby and Molly is the front with me, last Sunday. My moving day just so happened to coincide with the most rain that this area has seen since 1870. Which means that that by the time I arrived in Maryland, it was a big flooding mess. I tried to unpack the truck in the rain, but with all the thunder/lightning, I only managed to get the essentials out (i.e. my work clothes).

Monday morning was spent trying to drag everything out of the truck by myself, before it started pouring again. Bonnie had some “issues” with her car’s bumper but was able to arrive in time to help me unload the sofa. I then had just enough time to shower, return the truck, and make it to work for a 2:30 meeting. Mind you, on the news that morning, they told everyone to stay inside because “there’s no way you’re getting to work today!” Whatever, the education system stops for no one.

The rest of the week was a blur. I worked my arse off, traveled back and forth between the school and headquarters, and discovered that the montly T Pass in Boston was the best investment I ever had. The DC Metro is really nice….but so freaking expensive. At the rate I’m going, I might be spending enough in tokens each month to buy a car. Damn.

The studio is perfect. There is a front and back yard for Toby to explore and once I find a saw, I’m going to install a doggie door so he doesn’t have to stay indoors during the day. I’d put up some lovely pics of him frolicking around (wiggling is more like it) but I don’t have a camera yet. But stay tuned.