Christmas surprise

My hubby is the bestest. Seriously. And I lucked out this year when he picked my name from the exchange hat!

My gift consisted of several small packages. Inside the first one was a paperdoll who looked remarkably like me (even down to the kidney scar!), designed, printed, and painstakingly cut out by my dearest.

A letter informed me that in order to receive the next package, I would have to identify which "Me" the doll represented. The first outfit was a shirt and skirt trimmed with apple decals, glasses, and a helper monkey. She was "Teacher Solee" of course! I got to open the next item!

Inside were some bumper stickers - "Honor Teachers", "children know everything", and "INFORMATION IS POWER" - a Cowboy Junkies cd (to listen to on my way to work) and a new outfit.
This time, I dressed my paper Solee in ratty, gross sweatpants, a tanktop, and a Harry Potter book. This, of course, was "I'm Going To Sit Here And Read And You Can't Make Me Do Anything Else Solee". Poor Mikey actually has to look at me in that outfit on a regular basis. Yech.

Anyway, I finally figured out which Solee this was and was given the next package to open. Contents = one previously unheard of Stephen King mystery, another bumper sticker - "READ BANNED BOOKS"- and a button reading "IMAGINE". And of course, a new outfit!
Now, Solee was wearing a Star Trek shirt, a Batman skirt, SuperGirl shoes and socks with monkeys on them (that I really have!), thick rimmed glasses and holding what looks very much like an Atari controller. Who else could this be but "Geek Solee"?

Her package, when opened, revealed a copy of the Hebrew Hammer (a cult classic if you ask me!), a button saying "The geeks shall inherit the Earth" and another bumper sticker - "All Your Base Are Belong To Us". And...You guessed it! Another outfit.
The new outfit was a puzzler...a white suit with blue stripes on the arms and legs, a sailor type hat, shaded glasses, and a word bubble saying "@#*!&@!!". Hmm. With a little help from Mikey I figured out that this was "Curse Like a Sailor Solee".

Sailor Solee got a couple of bumperstickers that she couldn't read aloud when she opened them - "F*** All Prejudice", "F*** Censorship" (oh, the irony!) - a button that reads "Do I look like a motherf***ing role model?", and a Stephen Lynch album. Needless to say, the parental figures found this one slightly disturbing, but I loved it. Also needless to say - there was yet another outfit!
The final outfit consisted of an ankle length skirt, a tie-dyed tank with a peace sign emblazoned across the front, sandals, a flower circle for my head, and rose-colored glasses. You know who this is..."Hippie Solee"!

For identifying this last representation of myself I was allowed to open a small wrapped box. Inside there were more bumperstickers - "SAVE THE HUMANS", "Pacifism Kicks A**", "TREEHUGGER", and "Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?" - along with a button that reads "Discover the Earth" and a Flying Spaghetti Monster decal. Among all the clutter, I also found a keyring, complete with key. A key that had that adorable little VW symbol on it. A key that was sitting atop a PICTURE OF A JETTA!!!!

Yes, all of the Solees now have a new car. Teacher Solee can get to school more efficiently, Slovenly Solee has a new place to throw her junk, Geek Solee gets to say she drives a European car, Cursing Solee has new tires to kick, and Hippie Solee will soon be able to announce that she is getting around using the power of corn oil! Whoot! It was quite an unwrapping, I tell you! When the sun comes up tomorrow, I will get some pictures of the actual thing.




Not sure if you can read them in the picture above, but I had previously gotten myself some bumperstickers for the car I hoped to get "someday". They are "Your Silence Will Not Protect You", "If evolution is outlawed only outlaws will evolve", "Plug Into Renewable Energy", "Question Authority", and "WILL WORK FOR PEACE". Now I just have to decide which ones get to go on the car and which have to find places elsewhere...

Happy Holidays

Since Mikey and I are never HOME on Christmas (and since this has been difficult on me in the past), we have decided to have our own holiday celebration this year. With all the bruehaha over which holidays it is okay to mention and how these days, we've decided to have our winter celebration on Dec. 21. Yep - our traditional celebration is now going to be the Winter Solstice. After all, we would way rather be celebrating the Earth and it's gifts to us than the consumerism and rediculousness that have become so tied to Christmas. Not that we aren't doing the Christmas thing for our families...but the Solstice is going to be OURS. Hope YOURS is just as joyful!

Land of the Living

I have returned. Or at least, I am on my way home! I was a little worried yesterday evening when I couldn't get my fever down from 101 even with drugs, but Mikey pointed out that I WANTED the fever - it was a sign that my body was kicking bug butt. I am in no way interested in doing that again any time soon. Bleh.

I knew I was feeling better today when I started sweeping and doing laundry. A healthy Sol is a cleaning Sol! A long round of Zoo Tycoon provided some restful entertainment and soon it will be nap time.

Oh - and just in case anyone was wondering how dedicated I am to spreading the holiday cheer - I managed to pack and mail (well, get Mikey to mail) the Christmas presents yesterday despite that nasty bug. Or maybe that was a fever induced hallucination? I guess we'll find out in a week or so when my wonderful family members either get their gifts...or not. :)

Just call me Rover

Cause I am sick as a dog.

Fever, headache, congestion, sinus pain, watery eyes, cough, aches and pains all over, inability to focus, lying around all day in that not quite asleep but not quite awake haze.

Ugh.

Story #2

Again, some background info:
1) I have an amazing ability to fight off just about any bug out there until a non-work day.
2) I have been fighting off a bug (or possibly a combination of the many my students have been carrying) for the last two weeks.

Early Sunday morning, I woke up with a scratchy throat and a slight headache. This was not entirely unexpected since it was the first day of my vacation. Obviously the baby cold that I had experienced the weekend before was back for more. By ten, I was feeling badly enough to uninvite myself from the cookie party I had planned to attend. By noon, I was starting a 2 hour nap. And by three o'clock, I was lying on the living room floor trying to distract myself from the aches and pains by watching a movie. At 7:30, I was being tucked under the down comforter with a thermometer in my mouth. Normally, I tend to run cold. It is not unusual for me to have a temperature of 97 degrees. Last night, I came in at a toasty 101.7! No wonder I was shaking like a leaf. Fortunately, some tylenol and a cool rag were enough to help me drop off to sleep. At about 1:30 this morning, I woke up drenched in sweat and feeling MUCH, MUCH better. If I could just shake this cough and stop my nose from leaking, I would be back to my regular ol' self.

So, I have two questions for you.
First - is 98.6 your norm? Or are you a freak like me?
Second - can you explain why my body feels the need to fight like crazy to keep my going to work, but caves at the first sign of a bug when I am on vacation?

Story #1

Friday was the last day of school before the Winter Break. The plan was something like this:
Do something creative.
Go to Library.
Do something artsy.
Go to Recess.
Open presents.
Go to Lunch.
Have a party.
Go home.

Definitely the kind of day I want to be a part of. More importantly, the kind of day I have to be a part of. The plans were all in my head and subs hate having to read minds to get through the day. Never-the-less, I almost missed it.

First, some background information.
1) One of the conditions on our purchase of this house was that all the exposed water pipes be wrapped. I had heard how cold it can get here in Anza.
2) When I went to bed Thursday night it was exactly 32 F outside.
3) As of Thursday night we had not yet turned on the heat in our house. Daylight sunlight through south facing windows and excellent insulation had kept things bearable so far.

So. I woke up Friday morning and immediately checked the temperature. 22 F. Sure glad those pipes are wrapped! I thought. Riiight. It was Pajama Day at school, so I gathered my most school appropriate pjs and headed for the shower. The water felt hotter than normal, but I attributed it to the fact that the air was colder than it had been yet - probably about 50 degrees. I had just finished soaping my head when it happened.

The water stopped. Just like that. One minute it was full blast, the next it was a pathetic little dribble. My still somewhat sleepy brain tried to process this turn of events as I stood, dripping and covered with soap. It didn't take long to realize that my pipes, thought to be warmly wrapped and protected, were, in fact, frozen. Damn.

At this point, two thoughts started a shouting match in my head. "I can't go to school like this." "I can't have a sub cover this day." "But, I can't go to school like this." "But, I can't have a sub cover this day." If it weren't for Mikey, I might have frozen solid waiting for an answer to come. He wisely suggested that I get the bottled water from the fridge, heat it up, and use it to rinse my head. This is why I keep him around, for emergencies. :)

2 hours later, I was sitting in my warm, dry classroom regaling my students with the tale of my morning. My hair, lacking its usual dose of conditioner wasn't at its best, especially after 20 minutes of de-snarling with a brush, but I let everyone think it was part of my Pajama Day costume. That evening, we turned on the heat (another adventure in and of itself - who knew pilot lights were so tricky?) and our pipes have been fine since. I am somewhat concerned because all the exposed pipes we can find are wrapped per the purchase agreement. The only other pipes I can think might be exposed are in the crawl space under the house and I am NOT going in there. There are things LIVING in there.

Long Time, No See

Sorry for the long spaces between posts. The limited amount of time in my day, coupled with the frustration of dial-up internets, just is not condusive to lots of blogging. Luckily, I am on my Winter Break for the next two weeks. With any amount of luck (or perhaps effort would work better?) I will get some of my thoughts down in cyberspace.

I have 2 big stories for you, but those will have their own posts. This is just the little stuff...

* I have made good progress at defeating the Holiday Blues. We got a little Christmas tree (really little - about 18 inches tall) and decorated it. We put lights up around the window and started wrapping gifts. I handed out presents to my well-deserving friends at school. It's hard to feel Grinchy when you are making people smile! Mikey and I also made some important decisions about how we are going to celebrate. Perhaps I will elaborate further another time. For now, I just want to say that I am in a much happier place and I am glad of it.

* You know those peanut butter cookies that have the chocolate kisses smooched into the middle? They are SO yummy. And they are SO easy to make. But 8 minutes really is long enough for the baking.

* Mikey has been spending all his time breeding fish. No, not real ones. He has a new computer game in which you breed fish, trying to find each different combination possible - including some magical fish. He has charts and anything. He laughed at me when I charted my progress in Geneforge!

* Just about all of our gifts this year are homemade. I am enjoying that quite a lot, although I am worried about the reactions of certain people. Those people are just looking for a reason to be insulted though, so I am not going to worry too much.

* One of the other 5th grade teachers has her kids working on a poetry unit. One of the assignments was to write about their 4th grade teacher. She has 6 of my students from last year, so on Thursday last week I was presented with a very touching poem about myself from the perspective of said students. I am going to frame it and put it in my classroom.

* Despite the absolute terrors my students have been since the Christmas bug bit them all on the butt, we managed to have a very pleasant last day on Friday. We played games and opened presents (teachers get THE BEST loot!) and generally enjoyed being together. It gives me hope for the second half of the year! :)

A Blue Christmas

I never thought I would say this, but after several years of ample evidence, I am compelled to come clean.

My name is Soleil and I get depressed around Christmas time.

I know. I bet you were like me, thinking that the only people who are sad at Christmas are pathetic, lonely people whose parents beat them as children or who have Gremlins-type memories of parents disappearing only to be found in the chimney. Holiday depression should come from bad things, things that inspire horrible memories.

Well, I can tell you that the exact opposite is also true. My childhood Christmases were some of the best anyone has ever had. Christmas was a season of peace and love, when everyone in the house did their best to remain calm and joyous. Sharing and caring, everyday occurances, appeared ten-fold amongst siblings and parents alike. There were books to be shared and ornaments to be hung and traditions around every corner. Although I am sure they were there, I can't think of a single bad Christmas memory. And I think that is the problem.

These days Christmas is different for me. For one thing, it is 60+ degrees outside with bright sunshine and nary a snowflake to be seen. For another, I know that I will be required to pack a bag and travel to a distant house to wake up in a strange bed on Christmas morning. While this is not the worst thing in the world...it does add a thin varnish of "company manners" over my holiday when what I really want is to be albe to skip brushing my hair and getting dressed, getting right to the monkey bread and new novels. Worst of all is the absence of tradition. At least the traditions that hold such prevelant places in my mind. The hunt for the tree, the Poinsetta Punch, the homemade eggnog and toffee. The reading of The Nutcracker as the music of the Sugarplum Fairy plays in the background. Mom's piano carols. The draping of my brother in blue lights that so perfectly match his hair. The fireplace. The togetherness. The CHRISTMAS of it all.

The problem is that the key members of those memories are spreading to the wind. My parents are split up. My siblings are growing and moving and marrying. I am stuck in a pattern of summer visits and winter separations. The things that once made the Christmas season what it was are not only missing from my day, but they are no longer happening at all. I'm sure that each household carries on the bits and pieces that are most important to them, but the whole of it is gone.

I have tried to convince myself that I am making my own traditions, but it is hard to do that in the shadow of perfection. My decorations are quite as memorable. My cds don't have quite the right versions of the songs. Our plans aren't quite what I am wishing for. Consequently, I end up cranky and irritable and sad during a time when all I want is peace, calm, and joy.

I guess I am slowing coming to terms with it. After all, admitting that there is a problem is the first step to solving it, right? So, I will continue to search for my own traditions to replace those that have drifted away. But it will never be the same. And sometimes what I really want is for everything to just be the same.

How do I know that I have good people in my family? My hubby is comfortable disagreeing with them in a way he would never try with his own. They are open minded enough to hear different opinions. Or at least I hope so. If not, we've gotten ourselves into trouble on a family members blog. :)

It's been a busy week - a series of 7:30 - 5:00 days and skipped lunches. It is horribly chaotic in my room due to the magic that is "Holiday Fever". I just managed to avoid a cold by going to bed VERY VERY early a couple nights ago. Did the trick, though. That pesky sore throat went on its way without a peep.

I would love to say more, but its past my bedtime and I can't think clearly. One more week and I am free to lounge around the internet all I want. See you then.

PS - It's freakin' cold in this house. It's not yet cold enough, consistently enough to justify the propane it would take to turn on the heat, but it is cold enough to make it slightly unpleasant to attempt anything that requires you to get out from under the covers. Like waking up in the morning. Brrr.