$17 Penalty

My 10-year high school reunion is coming up. It costs $50 for singles and $75 for couples. I feel like couples are getting a buy one ticket, get the second half off deal and I feel like I'm being fined $12 for being single.

Has anyone else ever noticed that it's always cheaper for a couple to get into events? But isn't it easier to entertain one person than two?

As I get older, I've started to feel like all the privileges are for couples. How much have I spent on engagement, wedding, baby, and anniversary gifts for my married/engaged/pregnant friends? And how many excuses have I gotten from my my married/engaged/pregnant friends who can't come out on my birthday because they have to tend to their spouse/fiancee/child?

Maybe it's time to consider the singles out there.

Or maybe I'm just bitter.

Nails on a Chalkboard

Do you have any pet peeves? I sure do:

1.) "But um"-I hate it when people say "but um." I never noticed it before the How I Met Your Mother episode with the Robin Scherbatsky Drinking Game, but "but um" is one of the most annoying space occupiers in the entire English language. Actually, I wouldn't even call it English. That phrase had to have originated somewhere in Stupidville.

2.) Dislike!-I can't tell you how many people comment on Facebook with one word that I am banning from my vocabulary. Why do people comment on Facebook photos, statuses, links, etc with "dislike?" Facebook will never provide a "dislike" button. Get over it.

3.) Black pants, black shoes, white socks-You're not Michael Jackson. Put some black socks on.

4.) Import models-The only models I believe in are fashion models who wear birdcages in European fashion shows. Import models are one step away from being porn stars. They look like trash.

5.) Cracked spines, dogeared pages and torn covers on MY books-If you want to stay on my good side, do not mess with my books and do not mess with my bookcase. I have a shovel.

6.) Misuse and overuse of the words "irony," "whatnot," and "random" and the phrase "it is what it is"-Broaden your vocabulary. And if you don't know the meaning of a word, don't attempt to integrate it into your vernacular.

7.) Adults who talk like babies to...other adults-Don't talk to me like I'm six. And ladies don't talk to your boyfriend like he's six. Gentlemen, don't talk to your ladies like they're six.

8.) Pouty faces in pictures-Don't pout in pictures. You look like crap and it makes me want to give you something to pout about.

9.) People who think Sarah Palin is smarter than Barack Obama because she can shoot a gun and "speaks from her heart."-Please. Give me a break. According to her logic, I'm qualified to put out fires because I live across the street from the fire station.

10.) Designer Knockoffs-Did you know that poor little kids in third world countries make your fake Louis Vuittons? Fake fashion is never in style.

That is all.

I Picked Up My Pen

It's been about a year and a half since I started with this blog, and just for fun I decided to read over some of my earlier posts. Then I realized that my inaugural post, I Dropped My Fork doesn't even apply anymore because that so-called "Dreamboat" has sailed away...and now there are so many things that I can't stand about him. Funny how things can change in one year. Still, I have to admit that my world is still pretty upside-down.

In the 18 months since I started this blog, I've had numerous conversations about relationships, and I recently told someone that I really want to end up with a man who I can potentially learn from every day. The reaction: "Wow...that's a pretty high expectation." I never thought it was, but that response made me sit and think about whether or not trying to learn something from someone else is realistic at all. And it made me wonder, too, "Are my expectations too high? Is it even possible to learn something new everyday?"

I've always had a passion for learning and I've always thought that it was important to surround myself with people who challenge me and the way that I think. But now I wonder...is it even possible? So I'm starting an experiment that I'll be documenting on a new blog: The Eternal Classroom. In the Eternal Classroom, I'll be documenting the new somethings I learn each day. Stay tuned. So here I go...I'm picking up my pen, and I'm ready to learn.

THAT Teacher

I was recently inspired by this entry from 1000 Awesome Things and started to think about the teachers who will be closing up their classroom doors at the end of the school year. Then I started thinking about all the teachers I've had who have shaped my life in one way or another.

Mrs. Remington-my preschool teacher who reinforced my love of books and used to give the whole class books every holiday.

Mrs. Lana Murphy-my 4th grade teacher who yelled at the class for misbehaving during a tornado drill because she didn't want us to get hurt during a dangerous situation because "she loved us."

Mrs. Roberta Wallis-my fifth grade teacher who gave me my first B and then said "Don't settle for mediocrity. Be the best that you can be."

Mrs. Christi Pace-my seventh grade English teacher who would peek over my shoulder at the "freestyle writing" that I would engage in after turning in my assignments. She helped me win my very first short story competition.

Dr. Mary Riser, my high school AP Biology teacher who showed me that science just worked. I remember when she comforted me after coming into class upset over something another teacher had said to me.

Ms. Lizbeth Wheeler, my high school history teacher whose casual approach to teaching made history interesting and accessible.

Dr. Kendra King-my first Political Science professor at UGA who inspired me to make the leap from Pre-Pharmacy to Political Science.

Professor Reginald McKnight-a creative writing professor who urged us to just call him "Reg" and once wrote on one of my papers "You are a minor goddess of writing. Make flesh from pen and paper."

And of course, I could never forget Dr. Timothy Powell, the founder of Multicultural Studies at UGA, and the man who I consider to be the best teacher I've ever had. I took two of his classes, where he urged his students not only to think outside of the box but to live outside of it. This is the educator who encouraged us to read books that made us uncomfortable, to think of culture beyond racial and ethnic diversity and to use anything and everything - advertisements, music videos, even architecture for our papers as references. One of the best papers I've ever written (which I still have!) was based on advertisements and pictures I had collected from periodicals right after 9/11. I also structured one of my papers to be a conversation between two beavers in one of his classes-how's that for thinking outside of the box?

How many doctors, lawyers, accountants, bankers, can you name who have truly impacted your life in such an unforgettable manner? Yet I'm certain that everyone can name at least one extraordinary educator.

These days I go into schools and see this dynamic relationship between student and teaccher happening over and overa gain. And I ask myself What is it that makes an outstanding teacher? And the answer is always the same: The best teachers are willing to do whatever it takes to make their classrooms the optimal learning environments because above all they believe that the students are the number one priority.