I Always Feel Like...Somebody's Watching Me

Have you ever gotten the feeling that someone is watching you while you're sleeping? It's a creepy feeling. I guess that is why my mom woke up many a night with me or my sisters staring at her when we were little and had a bad dream. Kelli did this to my twin, Erin, and me a few times when the three of us used to share a bedroom. She was little and didn't know any better; I couldn't understand why she didn't just wake us up instead of staring. And, what's weird about it is the fact that somehow my body knew she was standing there, and eventually I would wake up.

So, why do I have a picture of Mr. Burger King here?? The aforementioned creepy feeling is one I also get when I see the scary plastic-headed King on the commercials. He reminds me of the clown from the movie It, who also creeps me out. I'm sure you've seen the commercials. Most recently, I've seen the one where there's a guy driving alone at night and is, I think, sitting at a red light. He gets the feeling that someone is in the car with him. He slowly turns around to see Mr. BK staring at him with that freaky smile on his face...and then the King hands him a sandwich. So I guess that makes up for him being in his car then? I'm sure people have had nightmares about this happening to them...these are the things horror movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer are made of (well, if you can call that a horror movie).

Worse than the King-in-the-car commercial has to be the one where the King is sitting in a sleeping man's bed...again, staring at the man until he wakes up...oh, and yes, he too gets a sandwich...a breakfast sandwich...I DON'T WANT TO HAVE BREAKFAST WITH A STRANGE, PLASTIC-HEADED MAN STARING AT ME WHEN I SLEEP. You can view it here for yourself. Burger King actually plays on our feelings of uneasiness with these commercials...I guess that is their marketing strategy??..."We'll creep you out as long as you'll buy our burgers." Well, no thank you...you can keep your King and send him to an island with other creepy commercial characters...I am sure Ronald McDonald would fit in quite nicely too.

Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow...

This past Monday, I resigned from my teaching position at the Catholic grade school where I have taught for the past 4 years. As I told my principal, it was not an easy decision for me. It was my first experience having my own classroom and it will always be a time I look upon fondly. This decision came at a time when I am trying to financially secure my future, and, unfortunately, I didn't see my future becoming too secure on what I was being paid. It would be nice to eventually be able to move out of my parents' house and buy my own place...but that is an impossibility for me on my current salary with my monthly expenses, including my student loan which doesn't seem to be getting much smaller! I had spent a lot of time thinking about this over the summer and realized this was something I just had to do. I did not feel comfortable starting the school year and then regretting my decision to stay...I could not--I would not--bring that into the classroom. With the help of my sister, Kelli, I finished getting the last of my things from my former classroom today. My former classroom...it is not mine anymore! It was bittersweet leaving my room behind. You don't realize how attached you've become to the people and places in your life until they're gone. Of course it was hard to say good-bye (as a co-worker) to my dearest friends...but we've promised to keep in touch outside of school through our book club and meeting for dinner, etc. Ultimately, I'm mostly upset over the students I'm leaving behind. I will miss the smiles and hugs I receive each day. It breaks my heart to think back on the numerous times students have asked me, "Are you going to be back next year, Miss Foley?" They already understand the rate of turnover in Catholic schools...all they want is some consistency.

Well...anyway...what will I be doing then, you ask?? I will be a per-diem substitute teacher (a day-to-day sub) in a public school district, taking jobs as they come along and, possibly, tutoring at some point. This seems to be the best way to get your foot in the door nowadays...so, I'm going to give it a go. And, who knows...maybe someday I'll end up having to move to get a better job...but I'll cross that bridge when the time comes. Peace.

I'm Ba-ack...

It's been quite awhile since I posted last...I figured it out though...I've been traveling for the past 3 weekends and time has just flown by with hardly any time to sit down and update this thing.

Anyway, I just got back from my trip to Florida with my family...it was more of a road trip than anything...we flew from Philly to Atlanta, then hopped another plane from there to Pensacola, where we visited the Naval Aviation Museum. We spent the first night in a scary hotel in Pensacola, then drove to Tampa our second day. After staying over one night in Tampa, we did our own sight-seeing tour down the west coast of Florida, stopping along the way to walk on the beach in Naples and wishfully-think our way through very rich neighborhoods.

We also drove down Alligator Alley but didn't see any alligators. We did, however, see lots of swamps and Native American settlements. I won the award for the dumbest comment of the day when my Dad asked whether we wanted to stop at an alligator farm along the way. To that, I replied, "Yeah, I guess...as long as I don't have to touch one." Everyone burst into laughter, as if anyone would force me to touch an alligator anyway. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. It's okay though...I think, at some point, each of us had our "dumb comments of the day." That's what happens when you're forced to sit in a rental mini-van for long periods of time...your brain goes soft.

When we came to the end of Alligator Alley, we were more towards the eastern part of Florida, where we then drove south to stay the remainder of our trip in Pompano Beach, at my Grandparents' Condo...they are snowbirds that head south only for the winter. From that point on, we spent most of our time swimming in the pool, taking day trips to different places, eating dinner out, making waffles n' ice cream, and watching movies that kept Kelli up at night. Yes...I had the good fortune of sharing the couch with her when, one night, after watching the incredibly stupid and non-scary movie Saw, I felt a tapping on my shoulder three different times, waking me up. Kelli tells me she can't sleep. Sometime after the third tap, I eventually turned over to realize that Kelli had fled to my parents' room...leaving me by myself in the living room. Good thing scary movies don't keep me up at night....I just rolled over and went back to sleep. [Kelli denies this version of the story, claiming that I was snoring and keeping her awake...yeah...right.]

All in all...it was a great trip...very relaxing and fun. I was happy to come back home though, see my dog, Murphy, and sleep in my own very spacious bed, where I don't get tapped during the night.

I have posted pictures in my online photo album, not only of my trip to Florida, but also of my recent trip to Maine for Steve & Kathy's wedding.

One more thing before I forget...while in Pensacola, we had dinner at McGuire's Irish Pub...we had great drinks and food there (wow, their rum n' cokes are strong!...well, to me, anyway). Below are the images I scanned of the front and back of the coasters they use at the Pub. We got a good laugh out of it...hey, it could really come in useful!!



Okay...there's actually one MORE thing to add, totally unrelated to the above. I have started a castpost site to show some funny videos and pics I took at my summer camp. Go take a look at Lil' Jerry.

Hasta luego...