next door neighbor

i wonder what your story is
sitting here... vice in hand
watchin your mistake? your pride...
a game of a box

a late night passtime
one, two, three

his head spins with the furies of your present
your past journeys through your nightmares

i lie awake...she lies awake
wonders of everchanging futures

can one person change you forever?

Just sitting there

It's amazing what just sitting there and dangling your feet can do for a day. I loved it. there were no fences... no shoes....no colored socks...but it was still wonderful.

In a Place

I want to be her.

I want to be here.

I want to wake up in a place where the sound of the rain hitting the pavement is louder than my thoughts; where the breeze is soft and cool; where I can wear whatever I feel like wearing without worrying about being too hot.

I want to walk the streets of a beautiful city with a local coffee shop cup of joe in one hand, and an umbrella in the other.

I want to feel the weight of my bag keeping me grounded and trust that the comfort and protection of all the buildings and shops are available at my convenience.

I'm not alone.
But some days those 5 minutes, the ones right before falling asleep are the most difficult of the whole day.

Like a Balloon

Today in science we learned how lightning and thunder are made; this lesson was very enlightening (no pun intended- haha). The project that further explained this concept was the following: rub a balloon against your head for 15 seconds, slowly bring an aluminum rod near the balloon and listen and watch closely for a little lightning strike. Then go outside, and pop a balloon with a pencil- this is what happens when we hear thunder. Bla, Bla, Bla. Good lesson really. My kids learned so much they applied it to real life. Here's how I could tell.

"Ms. Zariakas, what is this?" (Student points to cheek)

"um... are you talking about my mole?"

"No, Ms. Zouzalick, what is this" (points again)

"oh, a pimple" (really?! really?!?!?!?!)

"you take pencil and pop it with balloon"

"I need to wash my face first"

"she don't pop with pencil. she go like this" (Student uses both thumbs and pretends to pinch a pimple)

"Yes, I'll take care of it when I get home"

As if this weren't enough, the conversation took a turn for the worse.

"Ms. Zariakas, you put ant on it".... to be continued

kids say the "durnest" things

I kissed a frog and I liked it

Written at the exact moment everthing was happening. Oops. I couldn't help it.

My kids are coloring frogs. They eat them, they tell me, or they used to in their country - tadpoles and big frogs. "No baby frogs, Miss Zariakas, those are gross". Um, yeah. OK.

While I'm being serenaded with the fabulous vocal stylings of Mr. Idon'tLikeMyHairSoIWearABeanieInSummertime (he sings everything from "I wanna be with you", "Freedoooom! Freeeedom!" and "Lonely...I'm So Lonely"), Mr. Moody talks about his griflriend and how he's not in love yet. Then they go on to show me what the frog on the backpage looks like.

Basically I have three kids, belly on the kidney table, legs bent up in the air (like a frog), pretending to shoot poison from their yoohoos. (I would like to add that I have Googled it and no frog shoots anything from ...there).

All of this is going while one of them, in synch with his frog simulations, is kissing a picture of a Green Horned Frog hoping he will turn into my "baby maker, walmart man" (aka my so-called prince charming...I'll explain later) - charming.

It's amazing how a book on frogs and silly kids can make it all better.

Like a Bullet

It was just one of those mornings where my thoughts were to fast for a conversation and too heavy to be carried. It was all too much- I just wanted to write.

Try, Try Again (October 2008...from 365 Lessons Learned)

"No," King Tutankhamun said as he stood decisively on his chair, "I shall not, I cannot, I will not." His sad eyes filled with with his past failures, and I scratched my head trying to figure out a way to get him to write 24 homophones.

Read the word. No.
Write the word three times. No.
Write the word one time. No.
Draw, Define, Web, Search, Paint....No. No. No. No. No!

Torture? Not an option.

So far I'd been having a morning filled with trials and errors. Not one victory. Not one. Talk about an ego shootout.

Training sessions, lessons, and observations run through my mind. What do you do when every answer is "no"? Leave it be or keep trying?

Any normal person would give up. But not us, not me. We are warriors and nothing can bring us down. Not even King Tutankha-whatever.

Never give up. Never keep trying. Try. Try Again.

Lesson Learned: TSW learn that when push comes to shove, you taste what you're made of. You might bend, till you break cause it's all you can take. On your knees, you look up, decide you've had enough. You get mad, you get ,wipe your hands, shake it off then you Stand. (Rascal Flatts, Stand)

Live What You Love

Today is one of those days; I knew it from the moment I fell asleep last night and had to make one final goodnight call. I knew it from the moment I woke up; my room wasn't too warm, my sheets were too cool, I woke up early enough to brew coffee and be on time to work (although I wasn't). I felt like writing from the moment I woke up...if only I could find one picture to say it all. Then I found this one. So common, so overused, so underrated.

Whether it's visiting Goodwill in search of some good furniture although I won't be buying it until August; talking to mom on the phone for hours about the expense of a used rocking chair vs. a new one; going to watch a movie with my sister for the simple pleasure of accompanying her and enjoying it once more; eating hot dogs with my sister and my boyfriend (wow, I'm mentioning him in my blog haha); fighting over something stupid and laughing about it; seeing the moodiness of my fourth grade summer cclass students; drinking way too much coffee; eating a pickle with jalapeños; cleaning my room; staying up late and waking up hungover from the lack of sleep; reminiscing about my little sister's love life and creating a "happily ever after" ending; and remembering why people call me "good luck sarah".

I love my life. Every part of it- even the parts that make no sense. I'm living it. I only have this life. I'm living what I love.

Certain People

My Brother. My Friend. My Spiritual Guide.

My Support. My Words When the World Was Too Silent.

My Umbrella for a Rainy Day. My Conversation on a Starbucks Tuesday.

My Confession. My "I'll Always be There". My Pillar. My Father.

My Confidence. My Friend. You'll Always be In My Heart.

Where am I now?

A year ago I decided I was doing the wrong thing with my life. What was I doing? Absolutely nothing. I accounted for nothing this world had to offer...all I had was words of wisdom and words of despair. I was, afterall, the image of "despair".

I quit leaving it all to Him. I interviewed with popsugar (one of the highlights of my life that I will always hold dearly in my heart) and didn't get the job. I interviewed with UCLA and ridiculed myself and all the teachings I had received from my university.

I answered a billboard (WANT TO TEACH?), landed a low-wage job as an Instructional Assistant and it changed my life forever. Now, I am happy to day, that starting in August I will be a 1st grade bilingual teacher. yay me.... there's more to come :) and I will surely be blogging about it.

Closer to 30

God is GREAT, beer is GOOD, and people... well...they're CRAZY

I've heard this song many times before, but today it struck a chord.

God is GREAT. He works in mysterious ways. You ask for one thing and get another; you plan until there are footnotes in your schedule book and still nothing turns out like you planned for; you get what you want but realize, in the end, that you wanted something completely different and still here we are...happy.

beer is GOOD. It's damn good. So good that I have one, or two (or three) at least once a week even though I swore I would never (and I meant it, too) be caught dead holding one of these degrading bottles. Now I think it sort of defines a well-rounded, laid back "chick". HA! Did I just call myself a chick? Wow.

people are crazy... like HELL we are. We dance when people are watching, we sing like we can actually carry a tune, we love like we've never been hurt, we act stupid and childish even though we're closer to 30 than we were when we were literally children, we forgive and we forget, we fall in love with movie stars, and we dislike ourselves even though we've evolved to beautiful beings. We party like we're rockstars, and shake it like a polaroid... we believe in Stupid Disney, and romantic chick flicks become part of who we are.

I'll probably come back and write more, edit more, delete more than I already have. But I stand right by Billy Currington and sing along everytime I hear him on the radio

GOD IS GREAT, BEER IS GOOD, and PEOPLE ARE CRAZY.