Ten years ago today...

...Paul and I started "going out" for the first time!

Can't believe it's been so long!

 2001

 

At the "9th Grade Dance," 2002

Here's to the next ten, and then the ten after that, and the ten after that...

Dopplegangers

In the ten years that I have known Paul, he has been compared regularly to celebrities big and small.

The resemblance in some cases has lead to autograph requests and posing in pictures with complete strangers, and in other cases to inappropriate propositions of a different nature altogether (It's ok, I handled her the situation.) It's not always easy living in the shadow of such fame, but somehow I manage.

So who does he look like?

It's time to settle the debate once and for all.

I present to you:

Election Day 2011: Paul's Doppleganger

Here is what we are working with, folks:

And the contenders:

1. Josh Hartnett

The first celeb Paul was regularly compared with, this one dates all the way back to junior high and the release of Pearl Harbor (swoon!).

I think the resemblance here is all in the eyes and brow.

 2. Matt Damon

During the height of the Bourne movie series, there were a lot of comparisons with Mr. Damon. Let's be honest, there are worse people to look like.

There was also a certain lady in the airport who was so convinced that Paul was Matt that she insisted on an autograph.

If you can't decide who to vote for, might I suggest MD? I would love an excuse to think he is sexy.

3. Jo Wilfred Tsonga

I have no idea if this dude is any good at tennis, but I do know that his photograph made its way into our wedding slideshow.

4. Taylor Lautner

These days, this one almost goes without saying. Let me just say that my middle school girls are simply SO impressed that I married a Taylor Lautner look-alike. The pictures on my desk have been passed around class, shown off to friends in other classes during lunch time, and drooled over during inappropriate times in class many a time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about that.

It's ok for me to like this picture 'cause he looks like my husband.

5. Kris Humphries

The ex Mr. Kim K is the latest addition to the growing list of Paul's doubles. I can definitely see the resemblance in these pictures. Guess I need to start spelling my name "Kourtney"...

They even looked alike as kids.

So what do you think? Who does Paul most resemble?

And before you cast your vote, here's a quick quiz.

Who is who??

(Fun fact: Paul was unable to correctly id his own eyes!)

scroll down for answers

Alrighty, there you have it.

Leave your votes in the comments section!

(1 Kris, 2 Taylor, 3 Josh, 4 Jo, 5 Josh, 6 Paul, 7 Josh, 8 Paul, 9 Taylor, 10 Kris)

Grand Canyon, Day 2

Day two of our get away was spent hiking. The weather forecast called for rain and snow showers in the afternoon, so we got up way too early to get a head start.

It was a brisk 22 degrees when we started our hike, with winds gusting at 40 mph. That's a windchill of about 2 degrees. Needless to say, the trail was icy and slick!

 The view, however, was amazing!

Fortunately, the hiking gets better as you descend. The wind was blocked by the canyon walls, as as we dropped in elevation the temperature rose dramatically. The trailhead was at 7,000 feet, so it was nice to drop down into warmer temperatures, not to mention more oxygen.

Here we are 1.5 miles down the trail. We were still so high up!

It was so warm when we stopped for lunch that we took a little nap.

As great as the trip down was, the hike back up was not nearly as fun. Going down, the temperature kept getting better and there was increasingly more air to breath. Going up was just the opposite! But we beat the snow to the top, and that's what matters.

The very best part, though, was getting to spend time together. Since coming home in September, Paul has had to work almost every weekend, not to mention several weeks of night shifts. It was great to escape and reconnect.

Grand Canyon, Day 1

We decided to get away for the weekend and experience winter! After living in Arizona for nearly a year, we figured it was about time we saw the Grand Canyon, so we headed north. It was worth the drive!

It was great to feel some crisp air, and the Canyon was simply breathtaking. The cliche holds true, of course, that the pictures can't ever do it justice, but here are a few of ours.

On day one, we arrived in the afternoon a bit too late to do any hiking. Instead, we checked out the visitor center and walked around the paved rim trails, which are pretty extensive. We managed to spend several hours doing that and didn't even see all of it.

I like that you can see the muddy river in this one.

We also saw some young elk. They didn't seem bothered by us at all.The rim of the canyon was much more forested than I expected.

We were hoping for a colorful sunset, but the it set too far south and we couldn't really see it. It was still really peaceful. The sound of the wind blowing through the canyon was beautiful.

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Pictures from our second day to come later!

La Cucaracha

I love Test Day. The quiet, the intensity of the students’ motivation, the quiet, the focus, the part where I don’t have to do anything…but, really, mostly the quiet. Last Friday was just one of those test days. It had been a long and hectic week, full of pre-Halloween anticipatory madness and post-Halloween sugary hangovers. By the time Test Day arrived, we were all ready for a calm day. And so it went. I answered last minute questions, gave the requisite schpiel about cheating, and passed out the exams. The kids began working, I made a few rounds to make sure everyone was on track, no problem. Everything went flawlessly. 

Then, for the first time since last Test Day, I sat down. In my classroom. While students were there. I was savoring the moment, taking some deep breaths, thinking maybe teaching wasn’t so bad, when a sweet little girl in the front row raised her hand politely. I looked up, and she very sweetly asked, “¿Cómo se dice ‘cockroach’ en español?”

I wasn’t sure why she was writing her mini-essay about cockroaches, but 6^th graders definitely do weirder things. “La cucaracha,” I replied.

If my classroom was New Orleans, this cockroach is Hurricane Katrina

 

Simultaneously, and without any warning whatsoever, exactly half of my class erupted from their seats and stampeded to the corner of the room. It was like someone flashed a gang sign and they all went to war. Or the moment when they raise the gates at the horse races.  “Iwannakillit!Iwannakillit!” ”Lemmesquishim!Lemmesquishim!” “Canistompitpleasescanistompit” ”Diemonsterdiiiie!” “deathtocockrooooooooach!” “Aaaaaaaaaaaahh!” 

Not to be outdone, the other half of the class burst into song. Yes, song. “La cucharacha! La cucaracha!” One even got up and began dancing the cha-cha. They were like spectators at a gladiator event, only more musical.

 

During the .003 seconds that it took for this chaos to erupt, and in the ensuing 15 seconds it took my brain to catch up with what happened, I just sat in my seat. It was Test Day. I was supposed to be allowed to sit. I thought. Is this what anarchy is like? What just happened? Why are they singing? Did that kid just do a victory dance? Oh please don’t take your shirt off. Does this mean I have to get up?

I’m not proud to say that I just sat there for a minute and watched this all unfold. And then maybe another minute. (Hey, I don’t like cockroaches, ok? I figured I might as well let them kill it first.)  When finally I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t be relaxing this Test Day, I reluctantly got up and made my way toward the madness. So long, chair. Maybe next Test Day. Oh crap, is that the door I hear? Is one of them escaping? Oh, good, it’s just… administration? Oh poop.

That’s right. The admin chose this lovely moment to drop in for a visit. Maybe it was the smell of bloodlust in the air, or perhaps they heard the chanting and beating of drums, I don’t know. But drop in they did, and what a snapshot of my classroom management they took! 

I have yet to receive a pink slip, though, so they either know what “cucaracha” means and pieced together what was going on, or they were as exhausted from Halloween week as I was and didn’t notice. I mean, at least the kids were singing in Spanish, right? 

But the most impressive part of this story is that, even after being repeatedly kicked, stomped, squished, and smeared by a horde of crazy 6^th graders, that cockroach lived. It lived long enough to crawl back under the wall where it came from, only to reappear a day later during my 6^th period class, missing legs and all. But that’s a tale for another day.  

Scenes from Schmafganistan

I've had a blog for about a week, and already I am neglecting it. Just one of the perils of working and being busy. But tonight, faced with the choice of doing dishes or blogging about nothing, I choose: blog about nothing.

Since nothing interesting has happened to me this week beyond being told off by a couple of hormonal middle schoolers, I will instead fascinate you with someone else's life.

Behold, pictures from my brother's "trip" to the big desert overseas. Somehow, I ended up with his memory card and the responsibility of distributing the photos amongst the family. That may or may not have been 6 months ago. Anyway, better late than never. Enjoy!