Mamma Mia!

Xmas pageant is tomorrow and the week has flown by with no posts! It is actually very hard to believe that we are here again. Many family members sick, Connecticut, general business, all of this prevented me from posting. But here we are, like I said. Happy to be going on break, even if the family seems crazier than ever. My best gift has already arrived. It was yesterday. I went with the third graders to the nursing home to deliver some pots they had painted with plants in them. I asked them if they could sing their pageant song, "Silent Night" before we left. Even though they do not sing well. There was something about so many children singing, their little voices reaching for the notes, that moved everyone. One old man, Mr. A, raised his hand to speak before we left. He said he thought the performance was so good that they should record it and that the music made him feel warm inside. The tears were strolling down my face. It is so easy to be nice to each other. What the fuck is wrong with people? I saw my true (senior) love on the way out. She was sitting in the lobby, with her coat on, as always. She had no idea who I was (It is like the movie "50 First Dates") but smiled when I wished her a happy holiday. I kind of wanted to take her with me. One day soon I will go to the nursing home and she will be gone. Sweet KL. On a baby note, V was sent home sick yesterday. He has a fever. Again. Mercy. On the birthday front, F is catching up to me, 37 tomorrow. Off to stretch!

Oh What A Day!

Tuesdays are not that bad. I teach at school. Practice a little piano with J after school and then come home with MoJo. I have a chunk of the afternoon alone with the four kids and then does not happen on any other day. When F comes home on Tuesdays, it's tag, he's it and I am off to tutor. But today was full of glitches and snafus and I wondered if I was on candid camera. During my first period class I went to the computer to turn music on. My email was open and there was a message from the head of school's assistant. The message was in the subject line: WE ARE WAITING FOR YOU IN VC's OFFICE. Apparently there was a meeting to discuss the distribution of the 30K we raised for Hurricane Sandy victims. I am the head of community service but I was not told about it. I was teaching anyway, but looked and felt like an asshole. A little while later the same woman wrote to me to ask if I had/could send the information about the Thanksgiving food chain to the communications woman. This woman started work a few days ago as a maternity sub and I know the real woman in charge left all of the info ready. Why didn't this person contact me directly? Once again, I was doing/had done my job but looked like a dingbat. I decided to do some manual labor. We collected thousands (no joke) of articles of clothing for the hurricane victims that nobody wanted. I thought I would continue my schlep of human size garbage bags to the church up the street. For good measure I took a bag with a million coins as well so I could stop at the bank to make our penultimate deposit for City Harvest. I am already tired just writing this. Well, let's just day that it began to rain, I dropped many coins in a putrid corner and the day only got worse.
Today: finished school 2:30pm, 3-4 tutor on 73 St. back to school to get MoJo. 5pm piano lesson Mannes (85St.). home. bye L. double dinner (babies had eaten), quadruple bath. f home. Tag, he was it. Off to 87 St East to tutor. Need to fold laundry. Need to pack for Philly. Need to sleep. More tomorrow.

Support My Brother!

Click here to donate to the MS Society! My brother will be running the NYC marathon for them and he  needs all of our help! Run tío run!

Yee Haw!

AMAZINGLY long but satisfactory day. Learned a lot about moving and movers and trucks. Coordinated the emptying of 3 floors (about 30 classrooms) of furniture and the pick ups. Damn. The school's driveway is currently full with items for my last pick up tomorrow am. What a beautiful thing to see a 40 foot container filled with our desks and chairs, all being shipped straight to Haiti. In addition to the container to Haiti, we donated two trucks worth of items to two NYC daycares, 40 desks/chairs to a school in Nicaragua, a truck's worth of items to a church in Harlem, and the final mountain of items destined to a non-profit in Philly. How appropriate. I am sad that I will never again have the same classroom (see pic). It has been my second home for 12 of my 13 years at school. I am not very good at change. But I do love me a challenge. Maybe I can add mover to my résumé?

Aids Walk Delight

My walking partner and I had an AB FAB Aids Walk. Not sure how we were able to swing it, but we started early (okay, I did bully one woman at a barricade a little) and had the course all to ourselves. Because we were star walkers (ie raised over 1K each), we had crowns that identified us to the thousands of volunteers as such. Being cheered on while doing something fun (for a good cause) was great, reminiscent of the marathon. Thank you to all who read this who sponsored me. If you did not, there is always next year:)

Senior Service

What a week in community service. I sadly missed Street Squash for the second week in a row, but I happily got to go to the nursing home twice. Every Thursday one upper school homeroom gets to skip eucharist and go to the nursing home. This week I went with the 6th graders and they were great, conversing and mingling with the elderly. The seniors there do not live there, it is like day care and they get to go home every day. One woman in particular, her name is Casey, strikes me every time. Maybe because her eyes remind me of my grandmother's, maybe just because she is so confused, but I am drawn to her every time she is there. She is kind and small, smiles a lot, and repeats herself. On Thursday we chatted a lot and I thought she was sort of following, despite her clear intermittent disconnects with reality. She told me I looked like an "old maid" with white hair and suggested that I color it so that my hair could match my young face. I am stared at every day and hear comments every other about my grey hair. Hers did not bother me because she was trying to be nice and because well, she is 80 and senile, and she has these sad blue eyes. On Friday, a little over 24 hours after the first visit, I took my fourth grade trimester class to do nail care with the seniors. Some of them cringe when they hear about it. Sure, it is uncommon to touch old people, boys are not usually into nail polish, but it always turns out swimmingly. Fourth grade nail care was fabulous as always. It makes me want to cry when I see the kids running around to get remover, different colors. I saw Casey and went to speak to her. She did not remember me and asked me lots of questions that indicated that she was more confused than usual. I dyed my hair today, in fact, I need to go wash it out now before it falls out. I am not sure if Casey will care, but I cannot wait to show her on Thursday.

One of My Street Squash Kids- Go Go Imani!

Food Chain!

This is part of the bounty my school collected for our annual Thanksgiving Food Chain. One of my favorite days of the year. Each child in the school lines up in age order (nursery sitting by the altar, followed by JK etc up into the lobby, up the street and into the church, where the 8th graders are) and passes along the food that we gathered for the local pantry and soup kitchen. After I got a Fresh Direct order delivered to school for MoJo's contribution M asked "Can we bring more? If were the people getting the food we would want us to bring more." So we did. More later!

The Rhythm, the Groove, the je ne sais quoi

Was missing last week but I feel like I am emerging from the funk. Sure, I am still sleep deprived, a bit overbooked, and in a two bedroom, but I am looking at the glass very full, whereas last week there was shit (literally) overflowing from it. The smartboard has been working, the students have been learning, MoJo has been in a great mood. We did spend money on a bad, long film on Monday that made us get to bed way too late, but... we have three more films this week, so there is hope. I have Street Squash every Wednesday and a nursing home trip every Thurs am with a homeroom that gets to skip eucharist, so I am grateful for this regular, built in community service. In addition, I have one fourth grade homeroom for cs class, every Friday afternoon, so we are busy! The high note for this group for me, was a couple of weeks ago at he nursing home. We had split into two groups and I had one downstairs exercising with the seniors and the homeroom teacher was upstairs with more kids. When I went to get her to tell her we had to leave, I witnessed one of my former Spanish students (not a particularly vocal or confident one) reading the horoscope to a bunch of Hispanic old ladies. How friggin' sweet is that? It was like the pinnacle of satisfaction for me.

14 Down 12.2 To Go

Walked 14 with ease. Let's see how I feel tomorrow. And on November 6th. Under $400 left to raise!

Team for Kids Fundraising Time!

As you might know by now, I have a few things that I am passionate about. This year, I am walking the NYC marathon with my mother, bringing together my love for this incredible event, my inability to run it (double back surgery will do that to you), my interest in children, charities, and my mother:) That is right, I am walking it with her. This woman has not exercised a day in her life, making this resolution, to walk for TFK, an even more insane one. Many of you have already donated and I thank you. If you have not, I implore you to give, even $5, so that I can reach the minimum goal of $2,620. $100 per mile is sort of ambitious, but with your help I know that I can do it. Without your help, I will personally have to shell it out as well as live with the humiliation of my mother raising more mula. So donate NOW. PLEASE. THANK YOU. Use this link to support me with any amount donation. I only have 1.5 months to collect $2,620!
http://www.runwithtfk.org/Member/PublicPage/3992

Street Squash Note

Dear, Violetta
thank you for all the help this year and last year i think if I never met you I would not be good in my multiplication I also like to thank you Because you never gave up on me even when times was tough you was always there But not as a teacher but, as a good friend I will always love you. Kyrell. from & loved By: Kyrell W.

(note the use of punctuation/capitalization or lack thereof) whole note makes me want to cry and go to SS every day.

A Day In The City

My foot hurts, my quad hurts. I am surprised that my arms do not. I walk like a maniac. In part to make them sleep, in part because I cannot take transportation. I started the day with a roughly 3/4 mile walk to school (114 St) to pick up the 4th grade. We walked a couple of walks to the nursing home to deliver toiletries and to participate in an Easter egg hunt they prepared for the kids. AleVit was very popular and every senior touched their feet. I felt sadness for them as they surely must have felt the poignancy of being on opposite ends of life. From there I went to Rite Aid where a nice lady helped me take AleVit's passport pictures. It was not easy to make them look straight, not cry etc. We forged ahead to the 104 St post office and I was certain that I had everything necessary for their passports. Obstacle 1: there is no fucking ramp and lots of steps (I was told it is a landmark building and cannot be modified) so I had to take apart the stroller to get it up there. Obstacle 2: I forgot their birth certificates! I had the forms, the notarizes permission from the missing parent, the money, the ids. Ugh. As A screamed at the top of her lungs and some crazy old lady kept touching her, I was told by the scary post office lady that I had until 4pm to return with the documents or I was screwed. Same transaction but in reverse to get down the damn stairs and out. Long walk to 77 St for lunch with tía D. Long walk home. Okay, I admit that I stopped at Whole Foods to buy an iced chai and 2! pastries (btw I tried to get the usual at Silver Moon and they were sold out for the second day in a row! A sign?). Got home. Met sitter. Fed A. Got documents. Train (too tired to walk) back to post office (thank goodness they did not need to see the babies this time!) just before 4pm. Made it. Walked up 10 blocks to school (are you getting the picture of the round and round nature of my travels?). Got MoJo. M4 home. Brings me to now. Sitter still here. F out to dinner tonight so a long evening awaits. Will bathe the kids before I let my help for the evening leave. Are you bored? Tired? I sort of am, just from the retelling. Ok. Laters.

Aids Walk New York Time!

As I train for walking #$@&^% the NYC marathon in just over 200 days.. I thought I would throw in the Aids Walk, which I have done almost religiously since the 8th grade. Click here to sponsor me. I set a modest goal of $1,000 because the real whammy will be when I start fundraising this summer for Team For Kids. You really should. Do it now. If you want to join me for the walk that would be great too. But an easier way to help and to feel good is to sponsor me AHORA- do not delay. Danke, Spasiva, arigato..

F is Back!

Woo hoo! That was a long week, and I missed him mucho. I hardly slept last night since I waited for him and then was not in synch with the twins sleep. I was so tired that I passed out for 2 hours (!) right after everyone left this am (twins collaborated with a co-nap in the crib). Today was a good day. I went to pick up MoJo with snacks aplenty. Soon after a sitter came over and I left the children and the mother in law to go to Street Squash and to the gym. How nice to see those kids again. 7th grade homework was a nice change of pace. I hope to stick with these kids 5 more years so that I can have seen them through 6-12th grade. I would be so happy to do that. I got the following bill (humorous) today:

2/8/2011 ante, post & vaginal delivery $11,000 (bargain!)
3/4/2011 credit insurance adjustment -$4,000
3/4/2011 credit insurance payment -$6,990
patient balance copay $10

I guess I can pay $10 for two babies. But should my insurance really pay $11,000 for my 30 minute performance on a slab in the OR? What thieves!

Haiti Total $

M's money collection for Haiti is officially over. We set February as her fundraising month and it is now March 1. I am happy to report that she collected $60.55 and we will be sending a check to MADRE, a charity I organize many drives for, tomorrow. It just so happens that I am currently collecting clothes and shoes for children in Haiti at school, so M's check will be part of that drive. Good job!

Community Service Day!

Well, it's not really a day, just an hour, but I am excited about it anyway. A couple of years ago my school decided to turn our saints's day into a service opportunity. As the community service coordinator, this means that I get to find projects for all of the children grades N-8 (about 350 kids?) to do. It is actually quite fun and inspiring to have this much say in what/how we do to teach children about community. Projects included having nursery students (ie  my son) work with 4th grade ones to make a wreath for the local soup kitchen (nursery students will deliver these next week before our annual food chain so they can see where all of the food goes), 7th graders singing at the local nursing home, first graders baking brownies and making cards for the local firehouse (to be delivered tomorrow), 8th graders peeling vegetables at the church for the soup kitchen, second graders making vinegar with rosemary from our greenhouse to sell at the PA holiday fair...you get the idea. In any event, I was lucky enough to be imbibed with the helping spirit as a child and I am grateful to try to inculcate this vibe, one kid at a time, at my school. Tomorrow the 4th graders will go clean Riverside Park for the second time. I will not be there (language conference in Boston) but I know it will be fun! As Thanksgiving approaches, along with all the other holiday fanfare, I like Citibank's motto (what is wrong with me quoting Shitty Bank?)- This year, let's but giving before thanks. I encourage you to find a meaningful way to do something, no matter how small or how many times a month (even 30 min per month) to help out somewhere.

Manual Labor

I am guessing that my ancestors in Russia or Italy must have surely included many blue collar workers. There is something so satisfying about manual labor that I almost wish I hadn't gone to college. Okay, I would not take it that far, but there is a part of me that longs to work at the Chinese dry cleaner's, to sort and clean and bag all of that clothes.. another part of me wishes I could paint the lane stripes on the street (I once did in Milano with a perplexed worker's permission), make pizzas all day (I also did this on one of my birthdays to F's horror- he is easily embarrassed) or just sort and pack stuff. Part of my psychosis ties in with my love for recycling no doubt. There is just so much stuff everywhere, surplus, it is anxiety- provoking. I love having drives at my school where families bring in old books, clothes, eyeglasses etc. The satisfaction I get packing mountains of dregs for the donors and treasures for the recipients is just huge. I just spent an hour packing school supplies for Operation International Children and I can assure it will be the highlight of my day. I found a trucking company that is coming to pick up these heavy boxes for free and take them to the warehouse in Missouri, from which they will be shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan. THANK YOU Old Dominion Freight for being so damn generous and efficient! So, I leave you with this question. Do you like to do mindless tasks? Use your hands? Maybe this is part of what makes us, historically and biologically distinct as humans? How we use tools and our digits. My mother gets her relief by ironing 100 shirts a week, I do everyone and their mother's laundry (except for my own mother's), F fixes anything and everytihing that is broken (jewelry, toys, plumbing, electronics). Please do tell me how you use your hands...

Community Service- I Recommend It!

There is nothing quite like it. The warm and useful feeling you get when you help others or help kids to help others.. I love it. The Spanish teaching part of my job is fun but obviously quite repetitive. The community service part is always a treat. Besides organizing school wide drives etc., I get to try to inculcate little kids with a sense of service and the privilege of being in a position to do so. We just had a school wide drive for OIC and watching my fourth graders assemble dozens of school supply kits for children in Iraq and Afghanistan is just too sweet. How the hell will I ship 1000 lbs of supplies to the Kansas warehouse for overseas shipment is a whole other logistical nightmare.
On another note, I got to go back to Street Squash yesterday for some tutoring. The kids there are great. Most of them are screwed, stuck in crap Harlem schools (that many of them travel to from other boroughs because they are actually better than the ones in their neighborhoods!), live with fractured families, have no role models.... but they all drag their butts to Street Squash 2, 3 and even 4 times a week because some adult in their lives convinced them that education is the way out. I wish I had more time to dedicate to them. If you live in New York City and have even 2 hours a month to tutor (any day of the week but Sun), be a mentor, or help a senior with his/her college applications, contact them! I promise you the rewarding feeling will last longer than eating a delicious piece of cheese or chocolate or sex or yoga or whatever else makes you feel good:)