getting campy

food. drinks. sun.
inner-tubes.
trashy magazines.
floating dock and canoes.

tree frogs.
roasted pig and
marshmallows.
early morning coffee as
eagles fly overhead.
bathing in the river
with lavender suds.

and the best part:
good friends and new friends
and some of the cutest shorties ever.

camping along the
rappahanock river in
tappahanock, virginia
is some of the best therapy
i know.
thank you, tony and alice
for your hospitality
and for sharing
your lovely life with us
city folk.

click here to see the entire photo set on flickr.

also, check out julia p.'s pictures for more river madness.

T.I.L.T. church ladies

i love going to the
farmers' market
on sundays and seeing all
of the lovely ladies
and gentlemen
who've just come
from church service.

i love how they float through
the crowd wearing their
sugar spun confection hats
looking like they have just
fallen right out of heaven.

timeless.
charming.
stellar.

more love here and here.

self-portrait tuesday: introduction

i am known as kathleen, kat, kathy, kittykat,
aunt khaki and ms. kath-a-mean.
my middle name is mapie.
i have a sailor mouth when i'm not in school.
i always wanted to be a singer.
i took voice lessons for years when i was younger.
i know every single lyric to the soundtrack of "a chorus line".
my first concert was to see barry manilow.
perfume makes me nauseous.
i used to lie about being sick when i was little so i could
stay home and watch "i love lucy".
when i watched "i love lucy", they weren't re-runs.
i grew up in southern maryland next to tobacco and horse farms.
i have only ever traveled out of the united states to visit canada.
i am going to be 40 in twelve weeks.

my father was married five times,
my birth-mother was his third wife.
sooooo...
i am the youngest of two.
i am the oldest of two.
i am the youngest of five.
i am the oldest of five.
i am named after one of my heroes: my aunt kathi.
i love watching cartoons all morning on saturdays.
i never wear makeup.
i own about 20 containers of lip balm.
i often say things that are inappropriate.
t-shirts are what i wear daily.
i love guiness and bourbon and chocolate.
scrapple is one of my favorite breakfast foods.
i am afraid of the dark.
my hair has been red, blonde, blue, pink,
black and many shades of brown.
i have a shoe addiction.
i have been with my husband, paul, for eight years,
married for almost five.
i worked in retail for ten years before i decided, at 28,
to become a teacher.
i waited tables and bartended for seven years
to put myself through school.
i have been a teacher for 4 1/2 years.
i am a wife, daughter, sister, niece, cousin,
friend and fill-in mother.

there.
for now.

more introductions here and here.

end-of-the-week gratefulness

i am grateful:
for long talks with ms. emily.
for windy spring days.
for iced coffee in the afternoon.
for sunday mornings at the farmers' market.
for freshly cut mango.
for honey and butter on toast.
for oyster-mushroom fritters with hot sauce and feta. (oh yeah...)
for roll-down waist gaucho pants.
for flip-flops.
to spend time listening to a new lyle lovett cd
after having dinner with my husband.
for the smell of freshly cut lavender from my garden.
for friendly neighbors.
for the sunflowers growing against our back fence.
that i can run around druid hill lake twice without dying.
for my strength.
for road trips to texas.
for friends.
for family.
for the love of my shorties.
that i am filled with hope. still.

self portrait tuesday: ms. kath-a-mean

i am a teacher.
i am many other things, too.
but a teacher is what i
eatsleepbreathespeak.

my heart is full from it.
my soul is better because of it.

and, at the end of the day
i close my eyes and
hope
that
the world
is better because of it, too.

the challenge this month is to introduce ourselves.

making mamas smile

on friday, we sang.
we sang until we were hoarse.
out of the 85 phone calls
to mothers everywhere,
we sang
"i just called to say i love you"
46 times.
("please ms. k...not that song again!")
we sang for
8 hours.
mother's cried,
cheered,
and marveled over
the sweet voices
of my angels.

and then, that night,
we had the big sleep off.
yes, people,
the third and fourth grade
had a big ol' slumber party
at the school to give their moms
a friday night of peace and quiet.

we donned our p.j.s and
rolled our sleeping bags out
on the stage in the gym.
we stuffed our faces with pizza,
and made tissue flowers,
and watched movies
projected on the wall behind the stage.
we ate ice cream and popcorn while
i told them about the "greenhouse ghost"
and the "control room ghost" that
lived in the school.
"you're lying ms. k."
"oh...if that is what you need to tell
yourselves to make you less scared..."

in the morning, we made biscuits with
sausage and and eggs while we
rolled up our sleeping bags and
packed our belongings.

i handed each one a
homemade rice-krispy treat (thank you, robin)
and hugged them
as they left.
and then, after sweeping up the popcorn
and scrubbing the kitchen down (thank you, joe)
i went home
and slept.

T.I.L.T. say ahhhh!

i love dyed tongues.
what is the use
of eating something
with artificial
blue,
or orange,
or green coloring.
if you can't stick
yer tongue out
and cherish the freakishness
of looking like an alien
or monster
or goonie?

more thursday love here.

and you're a teacher because...

love love love love.

this is my baby-bunny-shortie
who laughs at me when i sing.
"you sound good, ms. k.,
and funny at the same time"
this is the same snuggly cutie-pie
who, whenever i wear heels or
have a new do, says,
"ms. k., we're gonna
call you 'ms. all-that'".
she tells me, every day, that
i am beautiful.
and she hugs me
whenever i am within
arms reach.
she just smiles and falls
into my arms, hugging
me like she'll never let go.

sigh.
i am the luckiest
person i know.

self portrait tuesday: sunshine and love

everyone is always telling me how nice i am.
my schoolmates in high school scrawled
that all over my yearbooks for four years.

i think i AM a pretty nice person.
and it helps when dealing with shorties
cuz nobody wants to be THAT teacher...

however,
i have my smarmy side.
the side that will pounce on you
and scratch yer eyes out
if you have
said something mean or
have hurt someone i love.

my smarmy side comes out
when i am feeling all
badass-and-righteous
with the world.
like when the
school board won't fund our
shorties' future.
or when people laugh
at a racist joke.

my snarl
is what you see before the confrontation.
and after that...well...hopefully you won't have to find out.

the challenge this month is to introduce ourselves.
so here i am.
nice to meet you.

(i promise to post a nice one next week)

serious business, ya'll

the shorties are learning about economics.
supply and demand are what we discuss daily.

we are going to the beach for a week
(yes...that is what i said)
in july.
my mother (iloveheriloveheriloveher)
has rented our dwelling.
the shorties have to raise
the funds for the
water parks and boardwalk fun
and souveniers and t-shirts
and hermit crabs and cotton candy
that they want to indulge in.

so we are:
selling raffle tickets
and
having a slumber party for the 3rd and 4th graders.
the parents pay $15.00 and their kids get to
spend the night at the school
and i get to chaperone (god help me)
and
selling soft drinks after school to the thirsty masses.
and
selling cool stuff from oriental trading.
"what do you mean we have to spend
our profits to make more, ms. k?"
and
calling out singing telegrams for 80
mothers/grandmothers/aunts/sisters,
and people-who-are-like-our-mothers.

(loving side note: thank you, shelley, for your expertise and advice)

they are becoming quite the salespeople.
they even came up with the slogan on the flyer above.
they make all the decisions.
count all the money.
do all the math.

i just sit back
guide them gently
and beam with pride.

my shorties rock.
mmm hmmm.

T.I.L.T. rawkin' out

as i was driving home tonight
"punk rock girl" by the dead milkmen
came on the radio.
"i LOVE this song!!!" i thought
as i cranked up the volume

and then i remembered...
today is T.I.L.T.!
(things i love thursday)

as my reminiscing vocal chords
belted out this 80's favorite o'mine
i was reminded of
all of the songs that make me
drop everything, scream "turn it up!"
and jam out.

these are the songs that make me feel
rock-star-tough.
make me want to thrash around
hair flying
fingers snapping
feet slidin'
as i sing at the top of my lungs
cuz i know every single word and
guitar lick.

these are the tunes that make me croon
and sway back and forth
while i hold my
pepper-grinder-microphone
and close my eyes
with the passion of my new found stardom.

just to name a few...
rosalita by bruce springsteen
bohemian rhapsody by queen
more than a feeling by boston
lovin' touchin' squeezin' by journey
lips like sugar by echo and the bunnymen
paradise by the dashboard light by meatloaf
friday i'm in love by the cure
sunday bloody sunday by U2
anything by led zeppelin or aerosmith

maybe this guy takes requests...


what are the songs that make you scream?


p.s. go here and play with the groovy punk rock girl paper doll.