Last Night of Hanukkah...

Hanukkah presents for 2008: (all from Michael)

Multi-colored pearl necklace
Coldplay CD
Garmin for my bike
Garmin adapters so I can put it on 2 bikes
Cute bubble bike jersey
Flowered bike socks to match the cute jersey
Scale that measures BMI, body fat, etc
Two inner tubes for my bike tires


Michael received from me...
A Dell mini
Bike tights
Bike shoe covers
Black T Shirts from the Gap
A reversible belt
Season 3 of Arrested Development (a Hanukkah tradition)
An autographed Steve Poltz CD
And something else I can't remember at the moment.... darnit

A post just for Sarah

I'm sure it is a surprise to none that Michael is once again posting disinformation about Rainbow on his site. However, since Sarah asked, here's a picture of a quilt. This is a small one I made for a girl last year. It's a memory quilt... each square is from a different girl in the Assembly.

Thanksgiving Menu

Beautiful Browned Turkey
Nicole's Evil Stuffing
Bouteille Call Cranberry Chutney
Creamy Mashed Potatoes
Michael's Corn
Green Beans with Shallot Crisps and Walnuts
Gorgeous Fall Salad
Hot Buttered Dinner Rolls
Baked Apples and Sweet Potatoes
Steal-the-Peeler-from-Big-Sister Apple Pie
Dueling Pumpkin Pies a la Jenny

Flying!

On Saturday, our friend Marty took us for a flight on his beautiful airplane. We went for Catalina for lunch and a hike, and then flew back to the OC. I flew on the way back, right over the Huntington Beach pier.

This was far less scary than I expected. In fact, I liked it way better than flying commercial. You can read more about it at Michael's site.

Platy McFatty, Rest In Peace

I am sorry to report the loss of Ms. Platy McFatty this evening.

Her death came not long after her return from fat camp, where she successfully transformed from a morbidly obese fish into a moderately overweight yet stunning lady. Although she died the same day as the earthquake, her death is believed to be unrelated. The family declined an autopsy, wanting to remember her as the happy fish she was.

The Clown Loach Army has declined comment. Mr. Plecostomus said, "she was pretty nice, but shouldn't have eaten all the clown loach food. She should have left the stealing of their food to me."

She was the mother of ten (possibly more) and only ate one of her offspring (that we know of.) Eight of her offspring preceded her into the great beyond. She loved red flakes and carnivore pellets. She was afraid of nothing and no one, and dominated the tank since her arrival.

Platy McFatty is survived by her daughters Zippy and Zippy Jr., and her dear friend Miss Skinny. Private funeral services were held in the upstairs lou.

The Zippy sisters request that in lieu of flowers, mourners send snails for the clown loaches. If the Army is distracted, its pellets will be easier to steal.

Not the wisdom teeth!

They apparently have to come out. In my poorly scanned X-Ray, above, you can see that my bottom wisdom teeth are growing sideways into my other teeth. Those regular teeth have old, old fillings that are crumbling, and therefore have to be capped. Therefore, my poor wisdom teeth must go.

As my friend Tom pointed out, I can't afford to lose any wisdom.

My awesome day

Today, I had the honor of meeting Professor Francisco Jiménez . He is the author of several autobiographical works detailing his experiences as an immigrant child of migrant farm workers in California in the 1950s. Jiménez , inspired and helped by teachers, attended Santa Clara University despite crushing poverty, went on to attain graduate degrees at other prestigious universities, and today is a teacher at SCU.

His works inspires kids to believe that change is possible in their lives if they work hard and are willing to reach for futures that sometimes seem impossible.

I've met other authors before, but it was inspirational to see Jiménez speak. He was addressing a small class of English language learners from all over the world who are attending San Jose City College. The students had very limited English skills, but he made them feel comfortable and encouraged them to ask questions. He was gentle and inspiring, and very gracious. He expressed over and over again how much he owed to his teachers, and thanked our little group from the OC for doing what we do.

It was worth the negativity of the annoying people at Ethics Camp this year just to have today's experience. (They don't know where we disappeared to for an hour and a half today! Ditching is fun.)

Jiménez's inscription in my copy of The Circuit, which he was kind enough to sign:

"To Nicole -

With respect, gratitude and admiration."

How cool is that?

Another Post?

I know. It's amazing.


I'm back at Santa Clara University at Ethics Camp. Truly pathetic that I've posted only once since the last Ethics Camp. Today we were asked to think about what effort we could make to change something in our lives. I'm resolving to put more effort into blogging.


Of course, this might just be me maintaining the Rainbow blog, which I also haven't been doing. In my defense, Michael spends a lot of time in our computer playing poker, so I really can't be blamed. And work blocks blogspot, so that's another way I can't waste time there.





But today was a good day, professionally. I just presented some of my brilliant teaching ideas to alternative ed teachers from all over the state. Although they had a plethora of reasons why they couldn't possibly do what I do (none of them, oddly enough, an honest "I'm too lazy") they were deeply impressed by my stunning classroom activities. This is my favorite. It's an illustrated word wall in the shape of a flag. Obviously. I won't bore all of you with the the teacher-y reasons one must have a word wall as part of one's teaching strategy. I just think it looks cool. :)


Negative people are irritating. I love ethics camp. It's re-energizing and enlightening and soothing. It's a chance to get away from the classroom for a week and be with other professionals who care about students. However, there's always a group of people who are forced to come, and choose to see the week as an assignment rather than a privilege. Why can't they just sit back and enjoy themselves? Why must they criticize and spew their negative attitudes over everyone? They're bringing me down.

Tour de Cure 2008!!!

Michael and I are riding in the Tour de Cure again! Woo-hoo!

We're quite excited as always to be helping to raise money for the American Diabetes Association. This disease adversely affects the lives of millions of people every year, including members of our own family. We hope that our efforts make an important contribution to finding a cure.

Please support me by going to my Long Beach Tour de Cure page and making a donation. Or, if you prefer, visit my Napa page and support those Northeners. Every contribution, no matter how small, is greatly appreciated.

I'm also looking forward to raising more money than Michael for the fourth year in a row!