More Emiko!

I haven't gotten around to posting these videos (bad Mommy!). It's been a crazy week. Sunday we did the March for Babies, even though it was cold. Then Emiko got pink eye! I took Monday off to take her to the doctor and found out she's got conjunctivitis AND infections in both her ears! Poor baby girl! Todd stayed home with her yesterday. She was up for going to Alma's today, though, which is good as I'm running out of days off.

At any rate, here are videos of Emiko's first haircut! She was so good -- didn't squirm or have a fit or anything. Her love of the salon comes from Mommy!

This School is NOT the Bomb. . .

OK, that's a terrible pun, but I couldn't resist. A bunch of bomb threats have been scrawled on the walls in this one teacher's classroom. So the kids are all freaking out, and most of them have gone home. The police were here, but there was no sweep of the building. Nor did we evacuate. We were just told to keep our doors closed and that should we hear an announcement for "Code Blue" to leave the building immediately.

Ridiculous!

I'm not really worried, since I don't think we have many students ambitious enough to either plant or detonate a bomb. It's just irritating that we have such lax security. And if I were the parent of one of these students, I'd have my kid come home, too. There's just too much crap going on right now.

So I'm now sitting in a classroom with two students.

CPS gets paid per pupil, so we have lost a great deal of money today. (We only get money for the pupils who show up each day.) It would have been far less costly to just send everyone home.

That's my day for you. How's yours so far???

Keanu Pics

To my new friends at Club Keanu, here is a pic of Keanu's house and one of his Porsche. We were sitting in the limo taking the pics from inside, so the quality isn't fantastic, but you get the gist of it. His house was awesome and our tour guide did say that there were often fans sitting on the curb outside hoping to catch a glimpse.
Enjoy!


I still haven't found out who the tour operator was -- I'll ask my husband to find out.

It's Been Too Long. . .

since I posted a Barack video. I just found this one and I had to share it!

We're Back from LA

We left for our superfantastic sweepstakes trip to LA on Wednesday. This is the trip that Todd won -- four days and three nights in LA, free airfare and hotel, plus Todd got to spend the day with the stunt coordinator from the movie Diehard IV. Here's a rundown of our festivities:

We got to LA Wednesday afternoon (I got to miss report card pickup!!!). We were met at the airport by a driver (which was so fun). We got to our hotel and got settled. The hotel was super fancy. We then walked around the Hollywood and Highland Center for a bit and got a snack, since we were going to have dinner with my friend Tera in a few hours.

Then as we were getting ready for dinner, Emiko threw up in our hotel room. We thought she was just tired, but then she threw up more in the rental car on the way to see Tera. So we had to cancel dinner. Of course, being LA, getting back to our hotel took forever! Poor Emiko was getting more miserable by the minute. We finally got back and just ordered room service, which I always think is super decadent and fun.

On Thursday, Todd has his Stunt Day at Fox Studios. All the stunt doubles from Diehard IV were there, as well as the stunt coordinator. They reenacted scenes from the movie, then showed the sweepstakes winners how the stunts were performed. Todd said it was really fun. He got back to the hotel with fake blood on him and everything -- that's how close he was to the action.

While he was playing stunt man, Emiko and I got to see Tera after all. She came and picked us up and took us to lunch. Tera and I have been friends for many, many years. She's a fellow Arkansas gal. She's been a vegan for the last few years, but she's very laid back about it -- in that she doesn't proselytize or get mad when I eat meat around her.

She took us to lunch at a vegan cafe called Pure Luck -- it was really good. They use jackfruit, which is an Asian fruit, as a meat substitute. I had the pulled pork bbq sandwich, which used jackfruit instead of pork. It was super good. I was amazed, to be honest. Then we went to Scoops afterwards, which is a famous ice cream place across the street. I had an horchata scoop and a vegan chocolate jasmine scoop. The vegan ice cream was yummy -- I'd never have imagined I would say such a thing!

Friday we hung out with my friend Kris -- another Arkansas gal living in SoCal. She met us at the hotel and we walked to Doughboys, which has what Oprah considers to be the best red velvet cake in America. I don't often agree with Oprah, but she was right on the money on this one. My breakfast was good, but my red velvet cake was heavenly. I had to make myself share some of it with Todd. I really wanted to eat the whole thing by myself!

After brunch, we walked around a bit, and then we went back to the hotel to meet Gary, our driver, for our limo tour of the stars homes! I would never have paid for this sort of thing, but it was super fun. Gary was a great tour guide -- he was really funny and engaging. And I was impressed at his ability to navigate those narrow streets in the Hollywood Hills and Beverly Hills. Most of the houses were shrouded in shrubbery, so you just had to take Gary's word for it that someone famous lived there. We saw David and Victoria Beckham's driveway. We did see Keanu Reeves's house -- it was not covered in shrubbery. And he was home -- his Porsche was in the drive. He had some friends over, judging from the cars out front. He didn't invite us in, though.

We took a break on Rodeo Drive. We walked up the street a bit, and then realized that Emiko had dropped her favorite bunny, so we had to back track and find it. Thank goodness it was still there -- it had been trampled upon by very expensive shoes, but we found it.

That night we got to go to my very favorite superfantastic tiki restaurant, The Bahooka! I love love love the Bahooka. Tera met up with us (and didn't mind that I was eating ribs!). The Bahooka has booths that are lined with fish tanks. So Emiko loved watching the fish. I ate my ribs and drank most of a Flaming Monkey Business -- a rum based drink made for two that comes in a huge bowl and arrives at your table on fire. Awesome!!!

Saturday we drove to Redondo Beach to meet some of Todd's relatives for lunch. His brother and his wife were there. They are expecting their first baby, so they are excited about that. Lunch was good, and then we walked around the pier a bit.

Then Todd wanted to go to his grandparents' grave site and place flowers. Which was very sweet, but he didn't remember where the gravestone actually was. So it took about two hours to find it. Find it we did, however. We placed the flowers and got back in the car.

By now, traffic was getting crazy. It was about 5 when we got back in the car, and we had to be back at the hotel by 7:55 to meet our driver to take us back to the airport. As we were making our way on the 405, Emiko threw up again. A lot! We had checked out of the hotel -- we had no place to go. And traffic was a nightmare.

Finally Todd exited on a side street and drove as fast as he could. Poor baby girl was very unhappy. We got back to the hotel at 7:35! So I rushed Emiko into the lobby bathroom and tried to get her cleaned up as best I could. Luckily I always bring backup clothes.

We got outside and our driver was already there. Todd was still returning the rental car, then he had to try to get the car seat cleaned up. So the driver was a bit impatient, but he was just going to have to wait.

We get to the airport and the American terminal is blocked off. Apparently there had been a bomb threat. So there were a billion police cars and bomb squad trucks. Our driver had to let us off at the Delta terminal and we had to make our way to the American International terminal. Nightmare. We finally made it to the counter and got checked in.

We got back from Los Angeles Sunday morning at 5:30. We took the redeye home, which meant we left LA at 11:55 pm. I don't recommend flying this way -- poor Emiko slept the whole time pretty much, but I had to hold her and we were all scrunched up in those tiny airplane seats, so it wasn't comfortable. But we had a really great time overall.

I'm glad we had Sunday to recover -- we all got in bed together and slept til about 11:30. Then we took another nap later. We are all still pretty worn out, but it was worth it.

But it's nice to be home!

Emiko's Walking!!!

Emiko took her first steps unassisted yesterday afternoon. She's been walking by holding our hands for several weeks now, and I just knew she was ready to walk alone. So Todd and I put her between us and made her walk to us. And she did it! It's so amazing! My baby is a big girl!

My Newest Addiction

I found Etsy completely by accident. I was taking childbirth classes, and the teacher mentioned a friend of hers who sold flax packs for pregnant women. I went to the woman's website and was directed to her shop on Etsy. A whole new world was opened up to me!

Etsy is like the Renegade Craft Fair, but year-round and in the privacy of your home. Anything (and I mean anything!) you could possibly want or need is available on Etsy. Crafty people make stuff and put it up for sale. I like the idea of supporting independent artists, and the prices are great. I can waste a lot of time on Etsy.

So far I've purchased:

a Dolly Parton necklace from PreciousPups

a superfantastic cute dress for my friend Martha's wedding from JaneBonBon

three awesome lockets (one was for my sister!) from BirdzNbeez

a watch made of vintage typewriter keys by KeysAndMemories

I hate running into people wearing the same stuff I'm wearing. Etsy helps prevent that from happening. I love love love Etsy. It's the most superfantastic site I've found lately!

Disclaimer -- I don't usually advocate rampant consumerism, but this stuff is great and you are supporting regular people and not huge corporations. Guilt-free shopping!

Help Premature Babies, Dammit!

This pic is of Emiko a couple days after her birth.

As many of you are aware, Emiko Mae was six weeks premature. No one knows why she was premature -- I didn't have any symptoms or warnings or infections or the like. At any rate, she was pretty small (five pounds, 3 and 1/2 ounces at birth), although that's big for a preemie.

She spent twelve long days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Illinois Masonic Hospital. Having to go home without her was heartbreaking. Hell, delivering her and then not getting to hold her for several hours was agonizing. I was beginning to wonder if maybe all of this had just been at dream.

But she finally got to come home and hasn't looked back yet. You would never guess she was a preemie. She has hit all her milestones with her gestational age, not her corrected age. She is happy, healthy, and adorable.

I never gave the March of Dimes any thought (or premature babies, for that matter) until I had a preemie. All babies need a full nine months in their mother's womb to get the best start in life. So Team Fuji is walking in Chicago's March for Babies. It's April 27th at Grant Park. If you would like to join Team Fuji and walk with us, please let me know! You can also donate to our team and help us reach our fundraising goal of $500.

For more information, check out our page on the March of Dimes website. You can also go straight to my fundraising page from the web banner on the side of my blog!

Thanks for any support you can provide. Chances are that I will have another preemie -- usually one preemie begets another one. So I definitely want to do whatever I can to avoid having Baby Fuji #2 (I'm not pregnant, yet, but working on it!) spend any time at the hospital without me.

Blog On, My Friends

My friend Lindsay -- a coworker -- just started a new blog -- ShopGirl. She mostly discusses things she wants to buy. It's cute and a good source of ideas. And a great way to ignore our students!

We were talking about our blogs -- my other friend and coworker Anne has one, too. This got our friend (we'll call her JoJo) all excited. She doesn't believe in the magic of the internet. She's afraid that all her douche bag ex-boyfriends are spending all their time googling her name so they can stalk her. She is a funny lady with very strong opinions! (Just ask her about natural childbirth. . .)

We did all this during our team meeting. Obviously, very little work was being discussed.

I think everyone should have a blog. You can learn so much about people. And it saves time from actually having to talk to people, yet you still know what's going on in people's lives. It's a win win! For people too lazy to regularly call or email people, it's perfect.

So there, JoJo!

What Is Wrong With These Dang Kids???

This has been a tough week. First thing Monday morning, I found out that two Dunbar students were involved in the killing of that student at Simeon High School Saturday. One of them, Ronald Little, was my student the last two years. He was in my sophomore English class and then my junior English class last year. So I knew him well. I would not have guessed he was capable of this.

I have had several students I think are completely capable of killing someone, but he's not one of them. The kids called him Rerun, since he'd been held back once or twice. The kids made fun of him, and I remember him getting beat up a time or two. In my classes, he just didn't show up that much. I often had to call his grandmother, who is raising him. You can tell she's a tired old lady who has no idea what to do with this child. I don't know where his parents are.

He has always been pretty nice to me. I remember one time we had a big argument, because he refused to take off his hood and his headphones in class (that was my first year at Dunbar, when I was more concerned about those rules). And later that year he was suspended for freaking out and beating the shit out of some kid who had been bugging him. I guess that was a clue.

Anyway, he was taking Saturday school at Simeon, because he failed most of his classes at Dunbar and had to make up credits. He failed both of my classes. From what I have heard from other students, a group of kids were harassing him each week. So he brought a gun to Simeon on Saturday, hidden in his waistband. He told the kids he had a gun, and they followed him outside and were taunting him to show them the gun, etc etc. So he gave the gun to Samuel (who I don't know) and he's the one who pulled the trigger. I get the impression that he wasn't aiming at anyone in particular.

So now an 18 year old is dead, and Ronald's life is over before it really even had a chance to begin.

What makes me mad about all this, is the media coverage. Chicago Public Schools had a rally yesterday (during school hours) to protest gun violence. They actually bussed 400 or so CPS students. The mayor was there and was very dramatic in his pleading for students to stop using guns.

I am not a fan of guns, at all. But the problem isn't guns. The problem is poverty and hopelessness. I have so many students who have nothing to live for. And they'll tell you that. They live in these shitty apartments in the projects -- slums, basically. They go to shitty schools. I wish Mayor Daley would come to my school (unannounced, so it's a surprise) and just walk through the hallways. Listen to the way the kids talk to each other. So many of our kids are consumed with anger. Use the bathrooms. Where there are no doors on the stalls. No toilet paper. No soap or paper towels. Then he would see how hard it is to feel hopeful.

It would be nice if our schools were places where hope could flourish, but they're not. (Well, if you are at Payton HS or Northside College Prep, you have hope. Not at my school, or most of the others in the city.) The rooms are so dirty. Trash is left everywhere. Security is lax and selective.

I'm trying to remember the last time I saw Ronald. It had to be in the last month or so. I remember being surprised that he was a senior. I know that I asked him how things were going. I don't remember his answer.

I have heard that his grandmother is very sick. I can't fathom what she must be going through.

I'm guessing Ronald and Samuel will be locked up for a very long time. Chicago wants to make an example of kids like these. They are saying it's gang-related, although that's misleading. Every kid has to pick a gang, but not all the kids are active gang bangers. I don't think Ronald was, but I could be wrong about that.

Then today, I took my 6th period freshman reading class to the library to use the laptop lab. Two laptops were stolen during my class. Presumably by my students, as no one else was in there. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be blamed for that.

How much longer til summer?