Sweet Basil @ 2 days after germinating

So I planted some herbs that hopefully will be part of our centerpieces at the wedding. They are on their third week of growth already and look great. Everything has germinated as planned, aside from a few duds. There are no true leaves yet, just the first leaves so far. I think I will wait until they sprout more leaves before I transplant to larger containers, but I'm not sure really as I've never planned a pot to pot transplant like this with herbs before, let alone I've had very few transplanting experiences anyway...so we'll see...? The seeds that I planted were:
Basil (genovese, lettuce leaf, bush, & sweet,)
Parsley (italian & extra triple curled)
Cilantro
Sage
Thyme


Day of planting (Set up)


Thyme 3 days after planting...looks like little birds in a nest seeing their mother with a mouth full of food...ready to get some noms!


Cilantro, 7 days after germination, very spindly :/


Counting the days until I get to see her again...

Molly asked me to summarize Mr. Popo in 6 words...I gave this a lot of thought this past week and I have realized that my emotions for him change little each day...I thought they would change, however. I thought that I would see him with new eyes each day and think of new words that come to my mind to describe him...but no, they don't change really, maybe a word or two, but the meaning is always the same. And it's funny...Because this is exactly how I feel about Molly. Every thought I have of her is always in the light of how much I love her. That intensity of love that I feel is all consuming and overwhelming and is so pervasive no matter if we have a bad day, I wouldn't "summarize" her differently on these days...Yet in a friend, at least a more distant friend I am just the opposite. My interpretation of them changes on a whim at times. Depending on how they treat me or what they say about a certain situation...Their summary is always changing. Yet...My dedicated love that resides in only a few people (and animals) is all the summary there is to speak of. It's like my imagination for summarizing one's life is either free as the wind or is softly bound by gooey warm chains that wrap around me and keep me from straying off into a world of judgments.

So, here goes: Mr. Popo; My moon, leashed. Yet, always free.

I like the relaxing and thinking section.

Activities like ''doing nothing,'' ''sitting around,'' sitting in a hot tub or daydreaming peak around 5 p.m.

Okay, so I'm a lot sadder than I had thought I would have been.

Dear Aaron,

Thank you very much for your interest in Teach For America and for the time and effort you invested in interviewing with us. I am very sorry to inform you that, after careful consideration of your candidacy, we are not able to extend you an offer to join the 2010 corps.
Your initiative in applying to Teach For America demonstrates your commitment to expanding opportunities for children and effecting social change, and we would like to offer all candidates a path to realizing these aims. This said, we know that Teach For America is not a fit for everyone. While acknowledging the limitations of any selection process, we have developed a set of admissions criteria over time that helps us identify those most likely to be successful in our particular program. We use the written application, transcripts, online recommendation forms, phone interview, and all parts of the interview day as lenses through which to view evidence related to these criteria.

We know that you have the potential to make a significant contribution to meeting our country's pressing social needs, and we encourage you to pursue other ways to make a difference. To assist you in your pursuit, we have posted on our website a list of recommended resources. If you also are interested in being contacted by other education and service-oriented organizations that may wish to recruit Teach For America applicants for similar opportunities, you can complete a short form here.

Although this news may bring disappointment, I hope that your experience with Teach For America thus far has been positive. If you would like to share any anonymous feedback on our admissions process, we welcome your reflections and suggestions here.

Lastly, I am sorry that we are not able to provide individual feedback on admissions decisions, given that we do not have the resources to handle the volume of potential requests. We attempt to minimize the disappointment we know this can cause by being upfront about this policy in our application.

Again, thank you for the energy you invested in our admissions process. I wish you the best in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

Joshua Griggs
Vice President, Admissions

So today I will find out if I got the teach for america job or not. I'm hoping and my heart hasn't stopped beating slightly faster than normal all day (and for the past two days). If I should be invited, it will be a nice security blanket going into my interview next Saturday for the teaching fellows (on the 30th). Though, if I shouldn't be invited, I won't fret...a little sad, yes. But what's done is done and I can only look ahead at that point, right?

Last night I made what I view as my "bachelor's meal" It's named as such because (as I realized last night) I almost never make it when Molly is with me and find myself making it frequently when she is away at Madison. It's probably not the healthiest of suppers, and might be a little bland to some (most?)...though, that's another thing: I find myself eating blander foods when I'm not with her. hmmm...anyway, it goes simply: 1 can of diced tomatoes, 1 can of kidney beans, a cup of rice, and maybe a can of corn. Heat everything up on the stove and wrap in a tortilla. I usually have leftovers for the next three meals :)

Well, we'll see what they say...

Yay! I passed my PRAXIS exams (writing, reading, and math). Math and reading were above average and writing was average (just a few points above the passing grade for all states, phew!). This means I will never have to take them again! Yipee! $180 I won’t have to spend again. And now I've signed up for the next PRAXIS tests ($260), Biology Content, Middle School Science, and PLT 7-12 (Principles of Learning and Teaching grades 7-12). I have a few months to study for those, so that will be nice. :)

And I'm sick again... First it was h1n1 (pronounced: “hiney” lol) now it’s a cold or something. Whenever I am sick (especially if I have a fever) I almost always have wild/scary/annoying dreams that are extremely vivid and set in stone to my memory. So, as I have come to expect, I had just such a dream on Monday night. It was about the interpretive trail project that I'm working on at work. I was in an office/meeting room around a large round table and on the table were huge piles of messy blanket globs of all sorts of drab colors. They were the work that I had done so far and I kept trying to talk to the other people around the table (who weren't there)and these blob things would keep jumping on me and no letting me talk, so I would have to push them away constantly. The end! When January is over and I don't have to think about this interpretive trail project, I will feel much much better.

I hope I can get Molly's X-Mas present done. Just need to get better...I hope by tomorrow. I'm so looking forward to having her home again. It's been so long.

This is exactly where our money ought to be going. Take out 10% of the military budget and there would be funding for programs like this across the nation.

Then start training and hiring dedicated, inspiring teachers.

10 years down the road...achievement gap...What achievement gap?


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I finely am reading my invitation to interview (I found out yesterday) email from the Twin Cities Teaching Fellows. Here is their last paragraph. Makes me a little happy to hear. That'll be January 30th. Almost two months away...maybe I'll run into a hardship that I must overcome by then!

Our application review process is thorough and competitive, and only the strongest candidates have been invited to participate in the interview process. The quality and breadth of applications we have received has reinforced our conviction that outstanding individuals are willing to do something about the inequalities that persist in our schools. We are glad to see you among that number and look forward to meeting you at your interview event.