altoids:curiously strong mints

he isn't really but idol is on and i thought that would be a humorous to be street in my subject line- is it cool that i use the word "street?" 

and what is paula wearing?!?! YIKES (although i have to have my mom help me shop for my work wardrobe- so i guess i am one to talk).

so i haven't updated my blog lately- no new news really and i have been busy.

logan is now 9 1/2 months. he started day care at the end of february and we are all very happy with this change. logan loves socializing with other babies and the infant teachers are amazing- patient, loving women. we started taking him to swim classes and gymboree (the class, not the store- although we did a bit shopping this weekend). he loves both- matt and i love doing it too. logan very much like his mother, he likes to be busy. he tends to fuss if we are home and not out and about. do not get me started on how BIG logan has gotten; he is in 18 months. so instead i am going to brag about how he now knows the word "momma," finally! let see-he has said the following before momma- dada, otto (ohtoe), doggy, yia yia (but to some random lady with red hair at the pug social), and ball.  

work is going well- long but well. at this point i feel very fortunate to 1.) have a job, 2.) have a teaching job, 3.) have a teaching job that pays extremely well. both matt and i were nervous for a bit about possible budget cuts; however matt's district is getting more title one funding and i got word that my position is safe with the elt grant. now we are thinking about possibly buying this fall. i love renting- we are not fixer uppers and i enjoy certain ammenties we have at our complex- gym pool, nice walk way, parking, etc... but we need equity. if we do decide to buy- we are looking at town houses, condo, or a loft. we are probably looking at staying in salem but we may venture closer to boston for a shorter commute- we shall see. i love salem but i would not mind a 10 minute commute to work (versus our current 30 minute). 

last week i spent the most pleasant day just watching the french revolution documentary on the history channel. not exactly the most scholarly piece of work but it brought up pleasant memories of the marie antoinette and louis XVI, as well as the october days and robespierre. tonight gabe came over and we talked about the revolutions nuances- the abolition of christianity and the christian calendar, the declaration of the rights of man, and how for fives years after the revolution france was a black hole with no leadership. it simply was a delicious night. the way to my heart- talking about political upheaval.

 <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://faculty.nwacc.edu/abrown/WesternCiv/robespierre.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 353px; height: 347px;" src="http://faculty.nwacc.edu/abrown/WesternCiv/robespierre.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> last week i spent the most pleasant day just watching the french revolution documentary on the history channel. not exactly the most scholarly piece of work but it brought up pleasant memories of the marie antoinette and louis XVI, as well as the october days and robespierre. tonight gabe came over and we talked about the revolutions nuances- the abolition of christianity and the christian calendar, the declaration of the rights of man, and how for fives years after the revolution france was a black hole with no leadership. it simply was a delicious night. the way to my heart- talking about political upheaval. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/image/necker.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 290px; height: 399px;" src="http://cepa.newschool.edu/het/profiles/image/necker.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a> <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.frankreich-sued.de/prominente-server/Georges-Danton/Danton-001.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 416px; height: 494px;" src="http://www.frankreich-sued.de/prominente-server/Georges-Danton/Danton-001.jpg" border="0" alt="" /></a>

i admit- i use more than one server when it comes to blog. i like to try different ones out to see what i like better. besides livejournal, the other one that i am loyal to is blogger. in fact, i use blogger for my school library's blog- which sorely needs to be updated, sorry kids. i also use blogger for my professional musings- such as pd classes, book reviews, and such. and finally- i have a family blog to update for friends and family about logan's first year and random stuff that matt and i find amusing.

why am i sharing this bit of info- is it because i am afraid that my loyal livejournal readers will think that i have left them for blogger? naw- i just like creating blogs and having people read them!

we had an excellent holiday. it was logan's 1st christmas and otto's 2nd and no- the boys were not spoiled...too much... ok- they were- we cannot believe all the stuff logan and (even) otto received. thank you everyone that helped make their holiday a little more special. matt and i are planning a night out for new years eve, so we decided to keep the gifts to each other light. matt received the following:

the dark knight on dvd
the marvel chronicles
bacon flavored floss
the new rivers cuomo's album
a gift certificate to harrison's
and i received the following:


30 rock season two
grey's anatomy season one (which is going to be exchanged for gossip girls seeing how i already have grey's)
tales of the beedle bard
helping hand's lotion from lush
if i were to list what logan received- i would be here all night but just some quick highlights


ball pit
tickle me cookie monster
crawling mat
superman pj's
a randy moss jersey
a walker
a big boy car seat
and of course we cannot forget about the ock

harley davidson collar
puparoni
a new sweatshirt
a portable water bowl
as usually, matt and i did christmas eve with his side and christmas day with my side. we took tons of pictures of our boys which are posted on my facebook.

the cold virus is running ramped around my house. 1st i was sick, then matt, now logan and me again. last night was the 1st time since august logan has not slept through the night. not only that- he was inconsolable when we tried to put him in the crib. he finally fell asleep in our bed (not that sleeping next to him was in anyway a punishment- i love shared sleep) and slept until 2. i fed him and he went back down- in his own crib this time. it just is rough with both matt and i not feeling 100% or even 50%. i was lucky enough to have today off so that i can take him to the doctor and both matt and i have tomorrow off (in which we wanted to take logan to the pem for the 1st time but not with a nasty cold).

sigh- being sick makes me sad. logan being sick makes me sadder. poor little guy.
well at least i have these pictures from a happier time:


momma's little devil!

logan's 1st halloween (and in salem)!

logan and his favorite big cousin christopher at my school's halloween parade

yesterday we spent the day with my mom and of course I brought my camera. I took a couple of pictures of logan and my mom then place my camera on the coffee table. before we left, i could have swore i put the camera in my purse.

today i spent all morning getting logan ready for nfl openers. matt was taking him down to joey noe's to watch the game. he had an offical patriots onsie, a pats binkie and binkie holder, pat's receiving blanket, and stuffed football rattle. he looked adorable! i was planning to take a ton of pictures of him all decked out and then planning to purchase a sports themed brag book and then planning to show off the book complete with pictures of my pats fan all week at work.

guess where my camera was / is- at my mom's house, on her coffee table.

sigh- logan even has pats pj's and a crib mobile (complete with a picture of tom brady courtsey of my brady crazed cousins).

is hott!

seriously- the guy from indonesia with the tree warts rocks... i mean, i feel bad for this poor man whose life is limited because of this odd condition. this may become my favorite show.

ok- i'm going to get sassy here:

today while driving home from my lunch date with jess, i was coming off the highway and was greeted by a gentleman carrying a sign that read

"need work."

at first i felt sorry for this gentleman. everyone is suffering from this economy. i know several friends looking for jobs. and he was an older gentleman so my heart wrenched for him... for a moment. then i started to think- hey, there is a mall less than a quarter of a mile awhile (seriously like a 5 minute walk) plus a whole strip of stores. wouldn't it be prudent to stand there rather than the off ramp? should i be the one to point this out to him (this is the 3rd time i saw him there)?

also- i love the book "what to expect your 1st year." it is very detail and points out when to expect certain milestones. what i do not like about it is that every chapter begins with the glories of breastfeeding and how you are seriously doing your child an injustice if you do not breastfeed.

i am not sorry i did not breastfeed. logan got his food and nurtients right away. both my husband and i got to bond with him. plus i am not as run down. i only have eight weeks off with my baby and i want to make the most of it.

there is more to sass about but logan's fussing up a storm. so you are all spared- for now. i'll get to vegetarians, the cheap, and the poor some other day.

sleepy. that is all.

my son is awesome- only cries when hungry. great during his day schedule. he's more alert and learning new things. today he held his head up on his own for ten seconds.

but he has this new thing- when he gets up for his early morning feedings, he wants to stay up. not going to be a problem when we go back to work but right now it kind of stinks. but its a trade off for having him in our lives. now i know why everyone tells you to sleep when your baby sleeps.

logan turned a month old yesterday. he definitely lost his newborn look.

now i know why women after having a baby opt to go get a "mom" cut. you know- the short practical cut that does not interfer with anything. today when i was feeding logan- i felt like my hair was everywhere (this was inside mind you, not outside during a twister).

sigh- i am up for a trim but i'm holding out for two more weeks. that way i can just cram all my beauty regiments into one day- eyebrows, hair, color, and pedi. for now- i'll stick with pony tails and do-rags to keep my hair in check.

logan richard cerasale-messina was born on thursday, june 26th. i knew he was going to come early (his due date was july 14th), but i didn't think a whole three weeks early. here is how it all began:

wednesday night- matt and i wenr to the dmb concert with jess and jim. we got to the comcast center around 4 and we tailgated. we headed in around 7:45 and dave came on 8:15. yes- he started out with don't drink the water and it was glorious. when he started on jimi thing- i started feeling uncomfortable- i had a ton of pressure on my hips. i waited it out for about 4 songs and after so damn lucky- matt and i left. on the way back to salem, i started having irregular contractions. by the time we got to salem- the contractions started to become regular- lasting about a minute and coming every 5. when we got home i took a shower but the contractions continued and becoming more intense. around 1, matt and i went to labor and delivery. after talking to the nurse- it sounded more like very early labor. they had me on the monitor for about an hour then asked if i wanted to walk around. the contractions were still about a minute long and becoming more intense but i figure walking around for a while may help. matt and i walked around for an hour but the contractions continue to intensify. they had me go back on the monitor and then my water broke. the next hour was spent getting me admitted and signing paper work (not fun in the middle of contractions). matt was great though- he held my hand during strong contractions, he walked with me, even rubbed my back. i took an hour long shower and rocked in the rocking chair to help. because we had been up all night and i thought i still had a while to go- i asked the nurse for an epidural so we can get some rest (yes- we- i knew matt would never nap while i was in labor and i didn't want him getting sick). the nurse checked me and discovered that i was 9 1/2 cm! that was at 6:30. the nurse had to scramble to call the doctor and i of course was not going to get drugs. at 7 i started to push (the doctor still had not arrive but at that point i thought i was going to be pushing for hours). the doctor came in at 7:15 and at 7:33- after a half hour of pushing- logan richard had arrive.

he was (and still is) absolutely perfect. depending on what angle you look at- you can see a blend of matt or myself. he is an awesome baby- he gets up about twice a night and is excellent during the day. he's a peanut- all the newborn clothes are swimming on him but he still looks like a cutie pie.

for everyone that attended my baby shower yesterday- thank you so much for love, thoughts, and gifts. it was truly an amazing day because of everyone who went. i cannot believe everything we received. matt, otto, the baby, and i are very lucky to have all of you in our lives. a special thanks to my surprise visitor from california (i do not want to say who because i want to keep you all in suspense- and she may not want me to give her identity away)- it was one of my best surprises ever (and major kudos to lori for keeping it a surprise).

i will post pictures soon.

thank you

no we are not going away this vacation. we are on a quest to get the apartment ready for baby. for this matt felt the need to create an itinerary-
tomorrow: ikea shopping adventure
*we need to get a small desk for our living to put the laptop and printer on, and a new coffee table (that really isn't for the baby. that is mostly because i defaced our old stand in coffee table with matt hate propagada)

tuesday: finish cleaning out the 2nd bedroom; go with doe the ho for the crib

wednesday: move all the nonbaby furniture out of the baby's room and move the baby's in

thursday: we both have to work

friday: we need to take otto to the dog park

matt has our vacation pretty jammed packed but if you want to hango ut- i'm sure we can find the time.

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/tlg/624361339.html

i heard about this on the fnx morning show- the sandbox. apparently it is no longer a greenlight. the producer / director / star currently is working to many hours at walmart to complete the project.

watching red sox = matt and katie very happy.

seriously, how could we have lived three years with cable.

everyone- keep your eyes peel for a baby size mike lowell jersey. i found a manny but no lowell.

i am so mad right now!

i belong to this school librarian listserv and recently came a post from a new school librarian that was left in charge of writing a job description for a k-8 librarian. because she was new, she ask for help via listserv about the state qualifications for media specialist / library teachers. when i was going for my licenses- all i needed was to have a bachelor’s and to pass the communication and literacy test. there is no massachusetts subject test for libraries (or instructional technology for that matter). also, school libraries do not have to be "highly qualified"- you do not have to have a masters degree to be a media specialist in massachusetts (which truely sucks for us because it gives districts all the more reason to cut the library program). so i sent the other librarian my experience and so did several other librarians. the librarian got what she needed to created the job description, mentioning that a master degree was not needed. well last night i received another email from the listserv and it was from the organization’s officers and she rammed the other librarian from head to toe. she ranted how that other librarian has no pride in her job and that no one is going to take school librarians seriously because we do not see ourselves as highly qualified. she went on and on about how the correct term is library teacher, not library media specialist or school librarian. to make matters worse- this woman knew she was being rude and mean. oh- did i mention this email went out to everyone! over 1200 members.

guess what everyone- i’m a library media specialist- not library teacher. i love to use technology in my lessons and my kids like it too. my teachers take me seriously not because i have a spotlight feature web site (www.maschoolibraries.org) but because i kick ass at my job. do i care if a student calls me the "school librarian"- just as long as they are checking out books and smiling when they come to class, they can call me whatever. do i get offended when others call me a library teacher- no because i will still merge technology with literacy because that is what my job details me to do. and do i care that a follow media specialist has a mls or not. no- just as long as she or he is certified and does their job right.

i know how it feels to be a budget cut. it sucks and it hurts. i am super careful what i assign my para to do (i maybe pissing off some people but i have my job to do as well as my own ass to protect). i do lobby for education reform to include "library teachers" in NCLB law but the difference between me and the so call "library advocates" of msla is that i do my job and am up to current standards. these advocates have not change their lesson plans since 1990. the only thing technology is used for in these libraries are to email other librarians to complain about everything under the sun and to email others about emailing their reps to help save their (the advocates) jobs. i was so angry last night that i sign on to the current chatroom meeting and firmly- yet politely said that what the officer did to the new librarian was wrong. if she felt strongly about the job description then she should have email the woman (only) and explain to her what was wrong with the description. after all she (the officer) is a veteran and the new librarian would only benefit from her years of experience and advocacy. a much better approach then writing "betch- worry about your own dang business."

sometimes i am embarassed by other "library teachers."

or least among the world of school libraries:

www.maschoolibraries.org

my library is the spotlight library of the month!

major snaps for me.\

well let me see:

i'm at 24 weeks now. we know what we're having (a boy). we have a name picked out (ask and will tell). and we have a nursey decor picked out. i'm taking prenatal yoga and i l-o-v-e it! it's not too much different than regular yoga but no upside down stuff and lifting. matt is not having us do couples prenatal yoga (good for natural childbirth) but i think i can make him come around. oh- and i have cute birth giving pj's picked out ;)

our jobs are going well- awesome even. both matt and i are hella busy but we're happy. otto misses us during the day but he finally got a dog walker so he's appeased. he's making out like a bandit with the whole baby thing- everytime matt and i buy something for the baby- we get otto a toy or special treat so he doesn't feel left out. he's still a baby too (check out the getting ready for baby album on myspace and facebook account).

our springs are always crazy. matt and i are already busy every weekend in april. we have school vacation coming up in three weeks. the week will be dedicated to getting the baby's room ready. we're going to go to boston one day- we want to try tea at the bpl and check out a couple museums we haven't been to in a while. i know we're lame geeks but it's what we like.

this week has been one of those weeks where i wish i could just hibernate. i had four meetings plus two afterschool clubs. i was on my feet the whole week- my feet are killing me! matt was just as busy. it was just one of those weeks where i just wanted to go around my apartment screaming just like steve carrell in the 40 year old virgin.

but i didn't!

and do you want to know why?

i have found my zen or zens.

life insurance and dave matthews band.

yes. matt and i know have life insurance. enrolling for it on thursday gave me a pleasant calming feeling. and don't get the wrong idea about me offing matt because he is not worth much (thank you crohn's). there is something asuring knowing that if something happens to me- matt and our children will have something (alot of something if i do say so myself).

and we're going to go to dave matthews this summer. tour dates we announced on thursday. hopefully the wednesday, june 25th concert. we are only going to one show because we are going to have a very busy summer ;) we will be tailgating! and jess and jim will probably join us. yay. after thursday, my life became calm again.