Overheard

There was a lady on her phone next to me at the salon this morning. Here's my favorite part of her conversation:

"I had to call in my Methodist friends because my Catholic friends flaked out on me."

I guess the Methodists are second-stringers?

The Work of Christmas

I always have a hard time after Christmas because everything just seems so dull. The wintertime pre-Christmas is so different from the bleak, cold, cloudy post-Christmas winter. The excitement and family time is over, and we're all back to the daily grind. Though I do feel a bit renewed, it just isn't as much fun without such things to look forward to. In church this morning, we read the following poem by Howard Thurman. Kind of gives a different perspective and I think presents a good way to look at this time of year.

The Work of Christmas
Howard Thurman

When the star in the sky is gone,
When the Kings and Princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins--
To find the lost
To heal the broken
To feed the hungry
To release the prisoner
To teach the nations
To bring Christ to all
To make music in the heart.

The Windy City

I know we've been back for a while, but I just think this story needs to be shared with everyone. On Saturday, after a great time in Chicago, it was time for us to head back to Memphis/Nashville. We all (my dad, sister, and I) went to hear a really great community band concert at 8am, and then we were off to the airport. Mind you, our flight didn't technically leave until 3:40pm, but we just HAD to see our Tigers play (and BEAT!) stupid Georgetown. After they pretty much cheated and beat Vandy last year in the Sweet 16, I knew that I couldn't handle another of my teams losing to them again.

You're not really supposed to check in for your flight more then 4 hours prior to your departure time. Well, we checked in with (literally) 3h 58m until we were scheduled to leave. If we checked in a normal person time, we would have missed the game entirely. So, we were the only Tiger fans in Harry Caray's in the Midway airport. Oh well, we witnessed the WIN. It was very, very therapeutic for me. Maybe I'll get over last year's loss sometime soon (maybe)...

While that game was certainly the highlight of our day, the two-hour delay would come in a close second (not). Yeah, we left Chicago about 30 minutes after we were supposed to land in Nashville. Needless to say, I didn't make it to the Vandy games that night, like we had planned. After a two-hour delay (with like 45 minutes of it sitting on the plane in the gate), that flight was probably the roughest I've ever been on. The women behind us thought it was absolutely hilarious, but I was less than impressed (and got a bit irritated with their joviality).

Overall, it was a really great trip that included shopping at the biggest Macy's I have EVER seen, an amazing room overlooking Lake Michigan, and a bit of reassurance that I could actually make it living there!

Looking Up

Things are really going well, and I'm happy! My dad is getting to go home from the hospital today--for anyone who was wondering. Marissa came yesterday and we got to go watch the Tigers win, and then watch the UT-WKU game, which was really good. Good, fun basketball with my sister...get much better than that-I don' t think so! Now, I'm in the home stretch of my last semester of actual college (next semester is student teaching) and it's not so stressful. Last week definitely was, but now it's just tests that I don't really have to do all that well on, so I'm liking that! Once I'm done listening to my music for my jazz exam, I'm downloading my first Christmas music and that makes me happy! Hooray for holiday spirit!!

Christmas Get to Know You

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper is so much more fun.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Real. My mom and I have had many a fight over this. I cried the year we got a fake tree.....

3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving.

4. When do you take the tree down? Right after New Year's.

5. Do you like egg nog? Never had it. Why? Because it sounds gross.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My pink dance bag with ballerina slippers on it and my name embroidered.

7. Do you have a nativity scene? Well, no.

8. Hardest person to buy for? How about everybody. I don't get to go shopping because Vanderbilt makes me go to school until Christmas day.

9. Easiest person to buy for? My sister.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail. I had really intended to do cards this year, too....

11.Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The list is kind of long and might offend some people I love, so let's just say that I don't love all of the things I get ;-)

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's A Wonderful Life and White Christmas (it's a tie)

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Ideally, the day after Thanskgiving.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Does giving it to Goodwill count?

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Breakfast casserole from my Mimi or dressing from my Mamaw (okay, we eat that a Thanksgiving, but still...)

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Clear. I know that colored ones are festive, but my mother has taught me to associate them with tackiness.

17. Favorite Christmas song? Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree

18. Travel at Christmas? If home to Memphis counts.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeers? Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer and Vixen. Comet and Cupid and Donner and Blitzen. Oh and Rudolph. Is that all of them?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel

21. Open the presents? Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Not having time to enjoy it because I'm in school/Chicago.

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love our tree at home. It's very old school kind of Victorian, with all kinds of handmade ornaments from when I was little. I hope my own tree looks like it someday :-)

24. What do you want for Christmas? Christmas is the only day of the year when I like surprises.

Life is Good

This weekend I went up to Knoxville for the UT-Vandy game and Koro's birthday. It was lot of fun (minus the outcome of the game--UT 25 Vandy 24). I had to sit in the UT student section because I waited too late to buy a ticket in the Vandy section. That really wasn't fun. I felt bad the whole time because I really hate it when people do that at Vandy games! People were generally nice and good-natured about it, but I still felt bad. There wasn't really "a play" that we lost on, but it was an overall big comeback by UT and we didn't match it. This next week will be interesting hearing about bowl eligibility and such....I really hope we get to go to one, but at this point it looks unlikely at best. Overall, I heard Rocky Top more times than I can count and after a while the orange didn't set off my gag reflex ;-)

Aside from the game, I had a great time. I got to meet Koro's girlfriend Kati, and she is amazing. I really do love her. We played Disney Scene-it on Friday night and I discovered how much I actually DON'T know about Disney movies. It was fun though. I really like his friends up there. They are really nice and fun to hang out with! It's to the point now that I don't feel like I'm going up there just to see the people I went to high school with, but to see all of them! After the game on Saturday we went out to eat for Koro's birthday, where I got to see Madeline and Laurel and Katie Stokes and Elizabeth. I didn't get to sit by them, but I did get to talk to them for a little while, which was exciting! Then, some of us went out in Knoxville to continue the birthday celebration. I really had a great time and I'm SO glad I got to go!

I promise to update more often....I swear!

Yankees Suck

Did anyone notice that the Red Sox just won the World Series? Probably not, because the Yankees can't stand not to be the center of attention. I think that there should be some sort of mandatory waiting period for people to make major announcements after the World Series. There kind of is now, because teams have to get approval to hold a press conference during the series, but who says they have to hold a press conference to steal the show? The Yankees did not make a formal announcement, but told people that they had offered the job to Joe Girardi.

I always liked Joe Girardi. I thought he was a good guy and a pretty good player. Not so much anymore. Re-associating yourself with the Yankees by choice makes you a not good person in my book. The first time it could be said that he really didn't have a choice. This time, he could have managed in several other organizations, but chose the one that operates unethically. Guess I'm not such a fan of him anymore.

So, now Alex Rodriguez. Jerk. Actually, it's probably more accurate to say that Scott Boras, his agent, is the jerk. That's his reputation. He gets the money for his clients (and himself), and some would say he's the biggest jerk in all of professional sports. But he gets the job done, so I suppose there's something to be said for that. But making an announcement that his (arguably) biggest client is opting out of his contract DURING a World Series game is downright dirty. In some ways, I believe he and ARod should be fined for doing this. It wasn't just "bad timing". In fact, we have every reason to believe that it was perfectly timed. That was absolutely inappropriate and disrespectful. If the Red Sox sign Alex Rodriguez (which I don't see happening), I would have a real problem with that, after what he did during the game in which the clinched the World Series title.

They said on ESPN today that if ARod gets the kind of contract he wants, it will be somewhere around $300 million for 8 years. The work year for professional baseball players is somewhere in the neighborhood of 180 days (the same as for teachers). ARod would make approximately $164,000 PER DAY. That's over 4xs what I will make in a year as a teacher. At least I can confidently say that I will be making a difference and providing a descent and positive role model for children, as ARod claims to do.

The combination of these two major events prompted an hour long special called "A Dynasty in Transition" on ESPN. They ran it all day yesterday. Too bad the special couldn't be on the amazing season the Boston Red Sox had. At least lil ole me can give them their props. Congrats Red Sox!!

Dead Elvis Week

For those of you who are unaware, Elvis died 30 years ago today. And Memphis is having a party. Thousands of people from all over the world (we're talking like almost 100,00o people) come here to celebrate Elvis. It's kind of ridiculous. All of these people refer to it as "Elvis Week". Memphians call it "Dead Elvis Week". An important distinction really. If you don't know the story about how he died, you should Google it. It's funny.

Usually, I miss all of this craziness because I'm back at school, but not this time. The only sad part of this week will happen tonight when there's a candlelight vigil. The rest of the week consists of lots of parties, a 5k race, movies galore, fireworks, tribute concerts, an art show, and even more stuff (Dale Earnhart, Jr. even made an appearance). Oh, and a TON of people who aren't from the States. One couple from Scotland even got married at Graceland. Whoa.

Now, if you "ain't from 'round here", the 105+ degree heat can cause a problem. Today, a lady actually died celebrating Elvis' death. I know it's not funny and heat is a serious problem and all, but this lady was so determined to celebrate Elvis that she didn't take a second to drink some water and sit down. Seriously?

The best part of my week was that we went to the baseball game on Saturday, where the kickoff for Elvis week was held. The game was really, really good. And then there was a really cool fireworks show set to Elvis songs. Some of them I hadn't heard before, so I got a bit of Elvis education and appreciation.

So that's enough of my Elvis stuff. That all sounded very not nice...I do love Elvis, but find this level of worship to be a bit out of control. I'm excited to come to VANDY in 5 days!!

Summertime

I don't quite know why, but life is good right now. Of course, there's a lot of stuff to complain about, but I haven't felt much like complaining lately. That's a first. Since I got back, there has been a little bit of work, but not so much. Last week I worked afternoons at the daycare I worked at last summer. This week, I am doing some mornings at my dad's band camp. Oh, high school clarinet players...

Mainly, I've just been doing a lot of TV watching (I'm currently enjoying a new "The First 48"....yes!). Tomorrow, I'm going to Fall Creek Falls to see Betsy and Lauryn, who I was in England with. I'm really excited about going away, but even more excited to see them. We had the best time in England!

I just want my friends from here at home to actually come back!! Everybody is gone somewhere--I haven't seen anyone yet, which is kind of sad. I know that I said no complaints, but I suppose that is my one complaint ;-)

I'm baaaaack!!!

Since I'm back from Cambridge now, I will start posting on this blog again. Hopefully I will be better at this one than I was at my England blog ;-) Since I've been back, I've just been working and doing a little unpacking. The jet lag was nowhere NEAR as bad as it was going to England. That was a relief! For anyone who might be wondering about my previous post, my grandmother is doing really well. I haven't been able to see her since I got back, but I have talked to her on the phone. She had a mastectomy right before I left and is now on medication instead of radiation and chemo. That was really great news. Hopefully, I will get to see her soon. Thanks to everyone for the prayers and positive thoughts for our family.

Since I am back at work at the preschool I worked at last summer, there are soooo many cute kid stories coming your way. Those of you familiar with the little boy who managed to make my life hell last summer will appreciate this story. This same boy was sitting in time-out today (his usual perch), and decided he wanted to chat with me. It went a little something like this:

Him: "Ms. Ashley, where's your husband?"
Me: "Well, I'm not married..."
Him: "Then why are you working?!?!"

I think he was a bit confused...


Can't wait to see everyone soon!!!

CAMBRIDGE!

So, I decided to start a different blog for Cambridge. That way, I can give it out to everyone (Dad's coworkers, sister's friends) and they won't be reading all of the somewhat more personal stuff I post on here. Most likely, I won't post on smile in trouble until I return from Cambridge. I would love for you to see my England blog, so here's the link: ashleyacrossthepond.blogspot.com.

Also, I wanted to let everyone know that my grandmother did have her surgery on Wednesday and she was able to come home yesterday. They did a mastectomy and also took two lymphnodes that were marked as possibly being cancerous. Though it sounded like she was a bit grouchy, the surgery went well, and my grandmother seemed to be in good spirits. Thanks for all of your prayers and positive thoughts!

I need to go because we're leaving for the airport in 3 hours! I can't remember the last time I was this excited (it's a different excited than basketball season...)!!!

Cambridge Countdown: 3 HOURS!

Busy Bee

This weekend, I was in Nashville for Dessa's wedding. It was beautiful. I am so happy for she and Taylor (and perhaps a tad bit jealous). Then, on my way back from Nashville, I stopped by my grandparents' house in Humboldt. I got to see my grandmother, which was really great. She seems to be doing well. Her surgery is tomorrow, and she seems to have come to be at peace with it all. I will certainly keep everyone updated on that front.

As for preparing for England, I've got a list as long as my arm of things I have to do in the next 76 hours. Is my passport here yet? Nope. Has financial aid sent me my money yet? Nope. Have I gotten some new teacher clothes yet? Nope.

Ok, this is stressing me out. Why am I posting, again? Off to take care of all this stuff...

Cambridge Countdown: 3 days!

Hoping

First of all, I should probably warn you that this is not the light-hearted, loving-life type post that I usually have.
Today I found out that my grandmother has breast cancer. They don't know how much it has spread or really how bad it is, but she will be having a mastectomy on Wednesday. She is about 70 and lives outside of Jackson, TN (halfway between Nashville and Memphis). She went into the hospital a couple of weeks ago for a cough she couldn't get rid of. Before they allowed her to leave, they made her have a mammogram. That's when they found the tumor.

I leave for Cambridge on Friday (in 7 days). I suppose that's what's most difficult for me...not being here when I should be for my family. I hope that everything will work out, she will be fine, and I can come back to see the same Mamaw that I know and love. I hope for that.

This is one of the most difficult and scary things that I have ever dealt with in my life. For those who know me, you know that I like to have a plan. The unknowing kills me. That is difficult, to leave the country not knowing if my grandmother will be here when I come back. No matter what happens, I know that she has lived a good life, has raised a good family, and got to live out her dreams. I hope that she is granted the chance to continue living them. As for me, I am a believer that there is nothing in this world that we can't handle. So, I'm positive that my family will make it through this stronger than we were before.

I'm not sure if it's okay to ask or not, but if you could remember her in your prayers, we would all appreciate it. I will be lighting a candle for her at church on Sunday, which is our strange Unitarian equivalent of a prayer. I know that things will work out, but it never hurts to have a little help ;-)

Thanks for reading this far, and I'm sorry for the downer of a post. It just feels better to write it down, and I feel like I should share it with those who care.

Honeysuckle

I've been home for a few days now, and I'm loving it. All of Germantown smells like honeysuckle. It's fantastic! Minus the unpacking (which I despise), being home is great. I was pretty darn happy that everything managed to fit in my car to move back (but only thanks to my mom coming up to get all of my clothes a couple of days early!). It's sort of weird because there really aren't many people home yet from school, so there isn't a whole lot to do. On Friday night, I went to the Redbirds game to see my dad's band play the national anthem. I absolutely love these games! They had fireworks afterward, even though we lost (reminded me of the football game Vandy lost to Rutgers and then we still had fireworks). They were really cool. Fireworks in downtown Memphis is something everybody should see, if you're willing to brave it and go into downtown Memphis, that is!

That's pretty much all that has been going on since I came home. So that everybody knows, I will be keeping this blog for when I go to England, so look here for pictures, updates, and funny kid stories. I will be in (the equivalent of) 4th grade, so I'm sure the kids will be a good time. That reminds me, I've got to get started reading Harry Potter...I don't want those kids to make fun of me for not knowing the stories!

Cambridge Countdown: 12 days!

I think I can...

Done: one final, one paper, one project
Still left: one final, one take-home final, one large paper, and one day of practicum

Oh, yeah, and then packing...

So, it's finals time (as if you didn't already know that). Generally, I am a fan of finals because it's the only time of the year when I actually have time to study for things in an effective way. No meetings (mostly...), no classes, no other distractions. Just studying. In and of itself, studying is not fun. But, when I actually have time for it and can study for an exam and still get 8 hours of sleep the night before, I think life is pretty good.

Junior year is basically over. That means one more semester as a real college student, and then one as a fake teacher, and then I'm done. I'm not sure which is scarier. Being done with college or being in the real world (it's probably the combination of the two). So, for now, I should stop contemplating all of the stuff that I have no control over (i.e. where I can get a job next year), and focus on what's coming up soon: England!

I leave in 22 days! I'm really excited, but also a little bit sad to not be able to spend the whole summer with my friends and family in G-town. I suppose I'll live, but no 4th of July fireworks on the river will certainly make me a little sad. I'll just make up for it by teaching my British kiddos the Star Spangled Banner or something ;-)

That's it for now. In case anyone is wondering, I will be back in G-town Monday night (as of now). Good luck on finals!!

Bye, 4th grade!

So, my teacher and my students in my practicum made me a book on my last day of practicum. Here is my favorite letter in the book:

Dear Mrs. Crops,
I'll like to thank you for teaching me math and science if I didn't know the questin (read: "question") you could have said I don't care but you didn't you help the whole class and you help me in science oh yeah grajaleysion (read: "congratulations") Mrs. Crops for your colegge (read: "college") school thing.
Sincrely,
Your best student Darius

Okay, really? How can you not love these kids?

It's a beautiful ride...

"Life ain't always beautiful,
But it's a beautiful ride."

So, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind. I've been to California and New York City in the past 10 days...who would have thought?! I absolutely love March Madness, but the most devastating time is when you have to watch these guys lose. You can scream, yell, laugh, cry, jump, and fall. But that's all you can do. It comes down to what the guys on the floor do. The worst is when they do everything right and then it doesn't happen.

In particular, Vanderbilt playing Georgetown in the Sweet 16. The Commodores deserved to win. And, no, I'm not talking about the last Georgetown play of the game and the blatant no-call when Jeff Green traveled. I'm talking about the whole game. Vanderbilt played their best basketball, and they deserved to win.

Though it hurts everybody right now (I'm assuming the players hurt the most), I think back on the amazing season that Vanderbilt Men's Basketball has had and I can't help but be ecstatic. We were better than 49 of the 65 BEST teams in Division I basketball. When you think of it like that, not making it to the Elite 8 doesn't seem like the biggest deal. We made it to the Sweet 16 and that's all that matters.

New Deep

If I Could Live My Life Again
Jorge Luis Borges

In the next one I would try to make more mistakes.
I would not try to be so perfect, I would relax more.
I would be sillier than I have been, in fact, I would take very few things seriously.
I would be less hygienic.
I would take more risks, make more trips, contemplate more sunsets, climb more mountains, swim more rivers.
I would go to more places I have never been to, I would eat more ice creams and less cereals.
I would have more real problems and less imaginary ones.
I have been one of those persons who lived each minute of his life with judgement and in a prolific way; of course I had happy moments.
But if I could go back, I would try to only have good moments.
For if you don't know, that is what life is made of, only of moments; do not miss the now.
I was one of those who never went anywhere without a thermometer, a bag of hot water, an umbrella and a parachute;
if I could live again, I would travel lighter.

Great Expectations

The last few days have been an absolute whirlwind. For no reason in particular, it's just the everyday happenings of my life. Sometimes I think I do too much, try too hard. But then I look at it again and wonder "Why not?" I'm not doing anything (school, sorority, band, etc.) that I don't absolutely love, so "Why not?" I don't know why not, other than, it's, really, really hard to do it all. I hope that this past week has not been indicative of how my whole semester will go, or else we are in for a long one.

Things are looking up, though! Next week, Emily, Keshia, Madeline, and Koro (4 of my best friends from home) are coming up for the weekend! I absolutely cannot wait!!

So, Grey's this week was something interesting, and for the first time, I actually identified with Meredith's narration there at the end. Something about it just resonated with me. So, here it is:
"We all think we’re going to be great and we feel a little bit robbed when our expectations aren’t met. But sometimes are expectations sell us short. Sometimes the expected simply pales in comparison to the unexpected. You got to wonder why we cling to our expectations, because the expected is just what keeps us steady. Standing. Still. The expected's just the beginning, the unexpected is what changes our lives."

My Red High Heels

So, the past two weeks have been crazy. I got back to school on Saturday night and recruitment prep started on Sunday morning. I love recruitment, don't get me wrong, but it is just not good that it coincides with the beginning of Spring semester. I finally bought my books on Tuesday (almost a full week after classes started), but have yet to have time to figure out what I should be reading in them. I'm just gonna sum up that recruitment week in a few words:
so fun
exhausting
lots of driving to random places throughout middle Tennessee
few classes
no voice
Annnnddd...that's all on that.

This week has been emotionally draining for me. I'm not even sure why. I think it's mainly the fact that I am so far behind in academics. That just sets everything else off. There has been lots of crying and very little sleeping, but I've made it through (thanks in part to my fabulous housemates and....ahem....Professor Chatman--a whole other story). You know that John Mayer song "Something's Missing"? That's very similar to this whole thing right now. I just can't figure out what's going on, but I know that I will make it there.

Until then, I just need to have fun. That's what I've decided. So, tonight we're watching Legally Blonde and having mocktails at the house, and then I'm putting on my cute shoes and going out. I think it's just what the doctor ordered.

Believe it or not Kelly Pickler may have said it best:
Baby I’ve got plans tonight
You don’t know nothin’ about
I’ve been sitting around way too long
Trying to figure you out
But you say that you’ll call and you don’t
And I’m spinning my wheels
So I’m going out tonight
In my red high heels