Weekend Wrap - Up

This weekend ended up being quite busy. I didn't realize or had forgotten about all my plans.

Friday:  I stayed in for Shabbat, lit candles, read some Jewish blogs and simply rested. I was quite tired and down time was good.

Saturday: I slept until 9 and made myself a nice Shabbat breakfast. I had a nice easy day with little work.

In the evening I went with my friend Jack and two of his friends to see "CHALK" at the Nuart theatre. The film was a great mockumentary about high school teachers. Of course, when Jack called I thought, "How could I NOT see this flick?". And so I was off to the Westside.

The movie was hilarious and although some was a tad unrealistic, such as small classes and teachers showing up at student's homes, I could relate to much of it. The great thing about the film is although it was comedy, the bigger message was clear: 50% of new teachers quit after their first year and many never make it to the third year. That really makes me sad. As a new teacher heading into my third year of teaching, I just can't imagine giving up. I love the kids, even when they are rude and mean and crappy (haha). The message of teachers being underpaid and underappreciated is there.  I guess it was the L.A. premiere of the movie because the writers and director were there, two of whom used to be high school teachers.  At the end there was a question answer session. I asked a question and got a free t-shirt, but, the shirt was so small I gave it to Jack's friend.

All in all...go see this...a laugh is assured.

Saturday Night after the movie I headed over to a friend's for her birthday. Every time I go to her parties and get togethers I am amazed at the quality of her friends. There were about 15 of us. All in our late 20's and 30's. Last night we all happened to be Jewish and there were a good percentage of rabbis and/or rabbincal students. Every time I'm at one of her events I think to myself, "How can I become friends with these folks". However, although I'm not shy, I always feel like an arse saying, "Hey, let's be friends". However, twice this past year I've done that and made two new friends, one very close, and one who we just started to hang out.  Happily, tonight I received an email from a girl at the party last night. She found me on Chosenet and sent me a note reaching out. That rocked, so if you read this, THANKS! We will for sure hang out.

All in all, it's really nice to be surrounded by people who are educated, caring, and doing something with their lives that has the great potential to positively affect the world.

Sunday, Mother's Day   

Sunday I drove out to my step sister's home for  mother's day and birthday celebrations. My family is heavy on May stuff: 3 of us were born on May 6th, one on May 9th, one on May 10th, and one on May 3rd. My mother's birthday was May 15th.

My father, step mom, 2 step sisters, brother, and all their significant others and nieces and nephews were there. All the family wasn't there this year and we were 4 nieces, 3 nephews, and 12 adults.  It was a lovely day with family, sitting around the pool, watching the kids have a wonderful time.  I received a phenomenal painting from my niece for my birthday. She did it in pastels and wrote me a sweet note around the "perimeter" as she said. She's in the 3rd grade and has a better vocabulary than most high school kids I know. :)

It was also a sad time being the first mother's day for me without my mom. May she be at peace and know I love her.  I'm sure it was hard for both of my brothers too.

Reflecting on the weekend just reminds me that life is filled with many ebbs and flows. There was so much joy, friendship, laughter, the potential of new friendships, and still the reminder of a great loss. I try to take all these experiences and feelings and wrap them up in my heart and mind as learning and growing experiences.

I do hope all the mom's out there had a beautiful day filled with love.