it’s been decided. i will cement my nomination and acceptance into the nerd hall of fame with the following blog confessional. sweet.

as i’m sure you’re all aware of, by way of my obnoxious gloating, i had two weeks of no work, no school, no planning, no meetings, no monotonous shush-ing, or evil-eye vodoo. what’s a girl to do?

one of my favorite break activities is cleaning. i have no will to fight against my genetic disposition to obliterate dirt and clutter. i am my mother’s daughter. hee, hee. this reminds of a good cleaning story. no, you didn’t misread. i actually have a good story related to cleaning. i told you, the nerds have found their leader.

when i was around nine or so, my mother was having one of those days when a single squeak out of my sister or i meant instant evaporation from one icy stare. my sister, the wiser, chose the impenetrable refuge of her basement bedroom. i think i was headed that way when my dawdling ways got the better of me. suddenly, i was cornered in the kitchen with the she-beast.

“the kitchen walls are dirty. clean them,” she snarled, pointing to the sparkling white tiled walls.

“but…” my protest dying on my lips, sensing a rather frigid chill in the air.

“and don’t forget to use elbow grease,” she said while pointing an accusatory finger inches from my nose. sensing her directions would be followed explicitly, she returned to her lair.

i set out naively to return peace and happiness in the land with my cleaning prowess. i dug around for about ten minutes under the kitchen sink where we kept our cleaning accroutrements. then i dug around some more. and a little more, and a little further back into the cupboard.

surrounded now by cleaning products, i began crying.

i guess my desperate searching, or crying, roused my captor’s attention, and she came storming into the kitchen.

“what’s wrong?” she fumed.

“i-i can’t find the elbow grease,” i wailed.

“oh for crying out loud,” was followed by a rather annoyed explanation of idiomatic language usage.

ahhh. good times, good times. so somehow my cleaning-obsessive tendencies are well-rooted in my affinity for words. how appropriate.

but i digress…

like i was saying earlier, i actually enjoy cleaning and having loads of free time on my breaks facilitates this natural instinct. i started with my closet, of course. this came by way of inheriting some real-live bedroom furniture. i am the proud new owner of two dressers. because of this new-found space windfall, i was able to free up a ton of room in my closet. i had most of my shirts and sweaters in these cheesy wire cubes. i think the square patterns indented into my tops was starting to grow on me. well now most of it was relocated to the new dresser.

part of my cleaning mantra is give. give away. give away the clutter of clothing and shoes that are the nemesis of a streamlined closet. gone are all the shirts, sweaters, skirts, and shoes that are no longer part of my regular rotation. but now two of my favorite white shirts are missing…

with my new dresser filled, my bedroom closet cleared out, my office closet was next. oh the shame! random paint containers from crafts past; abandoned sewing machine and sewing projects; retired coats; not one, but two graduation gowns; assorted window dressings; and about five hundred pounds of boxed books from the last move. it was time to cleanse my soul, so to speak.

the boxes were rearranged, the coats delegated for better homes, paints put into their own box, the ironing board now in an accessible spot (yes, i like ironing too. my nerdness knows no bounds), and my TWO picnic baskets tucked safely away from harsh al fresco environs, and my wedding dress (which this is the first time i’ve had it in my possession since i’ve worn it. crazy.).

it was getting a little hectic in the book nook, i’ll admit, so the cheesy wire cubes now hold the overflow from my bookcase. the cubes also hold my circa 1993 cd/tape deck/radio. it’s basically been relegated as a glorified receiver for my ipod, but at least it’s seeing some use.

i took two bags of trash out of my office alone. most of it came out of my “memory” box i had hiding in my sister’s basement. i threw away a bunch of useless crap (i.e. knick-knacks) i was holding on to. did i really need a hollowed-out egg with a smiley face on it, sitting in its own mini-basket? probably not. so i threw most of those away, but keeping the ones that still affected me, like my piggy bank. whatever was left (my crack-influenced wedding ideas list–i wanted my colors to be teal and peach–i was ten and didn’t know any better; old letters; senior memory book) got put back in the box and into the spacious closet it went.

ahh. it felt good. my office was a minimalists oasis once again. my great cathartic opus was over. i needed a break.

my inner clean freak is on bed rest. right now, furniture restorer dork has shown up and we have some bookcases to strip, sand, and stain. i’m getting heady with fumes just thinking about it.

and with that, i’d like to thank the academy because really, it’s honor enough just getting nominated…

not to brag or anything, but i had a snow day today. the day i was supposed to go back to work. and the best part of the whole snow day deal is that most of them really shouldn’t even be snow days. i think the shock of actually seeing snow on the ground renders the superintendent silly. don’t get me wrong. i love snow days, maybe even more so than the kids. but as i was effortlessly cruising around today in the slush, i almost felt guilty about all the other schlumps (you) slaving away at work. almost brought a tear to my eye. oh no, my mistake; that was an eyelash… : P hee, hee, hee.

but i digress. my break is unfortunately, officially over. one more snow day and it would have been a perfect two week break, oh well. all play and no work makes dawn bored. did i tell you i got to sleep in until 11 am today? again. second day in a row. i’m sleepy just thinking about it.

anywho, this is just a short reminder of the three reasons why you should go into teaching: winter break, spring break, and summer break.

don’t let the long hours and low pay distract you…

happy new year!