game

there is one night of the week that i look forward to more than the others...and that is ladies night. typically, my friend fen and i just get a bottle (box) of wine and sit in her living room with grey's anatomy as background noise. however, this week she informed me that she bought a groupon back in october for a local mexican place and it expired yesterday so she "had" to use it. this was the perfect excuse for me to use with warren, because god forbid some one's groupon expire...the blasphemy! i knew damn well i wouldn't get any flack from him due to the dire nature of this plight. so i put the kids to bed, showered, put on a sparkly shirt and out we went. whenever i leave the house without my children in tow, it feels like i'm escaping an insane asylum. i always hop in the car and look over my shoulder to make sure no one is following me. i mentioned this to butch one time and he told me that he feels the same way. kids are crazy...and they make your life crazy. getting out once a week without them (if even for a few hours) is so necessary. anyway, we went to the cantina and had to wait a while for a seat...apparently there were many other people with impending expired groupons. there was an eclectic cast of characters around us, so fen and i fit right in. we ordered a round of margaritas and got busy shoveling chips and guac into our chops, while talking about the nonsense going on in our lives. (free therapy.)

let me just say that the margaritas at this place are lethal. the first couple of sips taste like battery acid and after that your mouth and tongue go numb, so you don't really taste anything at all. they are comparable to breasts in that one is not enough...but three is too many. when you drink the first one, you think you are good to go to the second...but if you have a third you are surely going to wake up in a back alley wrapped in a carpet remnant and covered in your own vomit. (no joke.) so as we finished up our first, i told her that i had a big day at school tomorrow and i had to bring my A game. to which she replied, "listen, i already know i am bringing my B minus game tomorrow to work...and you are going to do the same." (i love that line.) the main reason i had to act right was we had a big wedding for the kindergartners planned...and i was the bride. my creative (and crazy) coworkers and i came up with a whole unit for the letter "Q" this week. within this unit, princess Q and prince U get united in holy matrimony...to make words together for all of eternity. all week we prepped the kids and sent out formal invitations to the big event on friday. saying that the students were excited for "the big day" is an understatement. the buzz in our classrooms about this was palpable. therefore, i couldn't show up all fuzzy for this exquisite wedding because it would not go well. we had a ceremony, presents, cupcakes, snacks, and dancing at the reception. the other kindergarten teacher (fresh outta college) dressed as the groom, our principal was the officiant, and let me tell you that it was a whole lotta fun.

so i spent the entire morning wearing a prom dress and veil and then had to change out of it at lunch... into a penn state hoodie for a pep rally in the afternoon. sometimes being a kindergarten teacher is like being a clown. i mean, what other job do you get dressed up weekly and then perform for a bunch of 5 year olds? furthermore, early friday morning i was standing in the main office having a serious conversation with a parent about her child's report card. she said nothing about the fact that i was adorned in costume jewelry and a large painted purple letter Q around my neck. however, at the end of the conversation she took a double take at my getup and said, "my son is really excited about the wedding today...thank you for all you do. you make everything so much fun for them." (haha! you're welcome.) so in the wake of a wacky start to the week, it ended just as weird. i do know for sure that our kindergarten students will not forget that the letters Q & U are always together. seeing their smiling faces during the faux wedding was totally worth it. also, i have no idea what is going on with my face in that picture...it looks like i had one too many margaritas. the truth is, i was just as excited as the kids for our big event. moreover, i'd rather be totally ridiculous than totally boring any day of the week. whether you are bringing your A game or your B minus game in this life, go big or go home. it's too short to live it any other way. however, you may not want to have that third margarita because you might end up in a back alley wrapped in a carpet remnant...and that's not good for anyone involved.