I. CAUGHT. THE. CHIPMUNK!

I am a ferocious hunter!!! Wee Beasties of the Backyard-Fear Me! For I will not rest until you are brought down! That means you, Mr. Wee Chipmunk who is looking for a mate.  Yeah you! You, eater of my strawberry plants.  Destroyer of my Roma Tomatos.  You shall not continue to vex me with your early morning chirping any longer!

For I have opposable thumbs and peanut butter!!

Don’t let those beady little eyes fool you.  He really is a noisy little beastie who hunted for a mate at the early morning hour of 6 am!  Right outside my bedroom window!  And he ate ALL my strawberries until nothing but limp little plants remained.  Not even my impatiens were safe from this itty bitty destructo.

Alas, I am not so cruel as to capture you in a rat trap.  Or even to hunt you with a pellet gun.  No, I am nice and have captured you in a live trap so that you can spread your chirping and strawberry eating elsewhere.  Like the ravine on the other side of the river, far from my home.  I wish you well and a long happy Munk life.

But not under my bedroom window, buddy.

On Monday, my brother-in-law made an appearance on Martha Stewart.  Kyle is the executive sous chef at Matsugen, a restaurant in New York City.

Want to watch? Check it out

He shows up about 2 minutes into the piece.

Way to go Kyle!

I just finished The Heretic’s Daughter by Kathleen Kent.

It’s the story of a family living near Salem during the time of the Witch Trials.  The story follows 8 year old Sarah as her family flees to another town to escape the pox.  As her brother falls ill, her father sends her back to her aunt’s home.  When she returns to her family, she is upset that the two families don’t get along better, and is especially cold to her mother.

There are family secrets involving her father and King Charles, but that takes a back seat to the story that begins about halfway through the book.  Her mother is charged with being a witch, and the whole family ends up imprisoned, save for her father and baby sister.

Kent does a wonderful job with this historical fiction in retelling the tales of the Salem Witch Trials and how it affected families and neighbors.  This time period is one of my favorites in American History.  While reading this book, I was reminded of “The Witch of Blackbird Pond,” but as that is a story meant for young adults, it had a much happier ending than “The Heretic’s Daughter.”  I don’t want to ruin it for anyone who hasn’t read it yet, but it was a bit depressing, as I’m sure that time period was. It definitely wasn’t a book to speed through on a weekend.

Overall a good read.

The other day, Ben and I were watching the Oscars when I had a flashback.

When I was in high school, I was part of a movie making workshop.  I got involved because of a class I took in high school.  One of the students was a movie making wizard. You know, one of those guys who does amazing things and you just sit back and think, “that kid’s gonna be famous one day.”

Long story short, as we were watching the Oscars, I said to Ben, I wonder if I’ll ever see Kevin on this show getting some award for an animation or film editing or some such thing.”

Enter the internet.  I started searching for anything that would indicate what Kevin‘s been up to (Cuz you know, it’s fun to be able to say, HEY! I know that guy!-or at least I did 10 years ago).

And this is what I found:

Ok, so he’s not as famous as I thought he’d be by now, but this is a video he shared at Comic Con in New York.

I’m still impressed.

Plus, I love Avatar, and this is darn funny stuff.

Yesterday was a big day around here.  I was at school while the new president was being sworn in.  And 500 students from the African American community were here watching a brand new role model step into the most powerful job in the world. 

It was a great day.

300 middle school students were in the gym where we used the projecter to display the ceremony on our 15 foot gym walls.  The students were so polite and listened intently to everything.  When Joe Biden was sworn in, they clapped; when Aretha sang, they applauded; and when Barack Obama was sworn in, they erupted in cheers.

The elementary students all doubled up in classrooms to watch, and while they didn’t get it completely, they were there to watch history happen.  

And some day in the future, all 500 of our students will be able to tell their children exactly where they were when America got its first African American president.  

Congratulations Mr. President.

Huh, the English-French dictionary says it’s “art.”  Well, pooh, that’s not very exciting is it?

I have one more goal to add to my New Year list: Learn French.

In an unexpected turn of events here at casa de Rimes (I took Spanish in school) my graduate program is offering only 2 art history courses this summer.  I need 2 art histories to graduate, and would like to do that sometime soon.  So, while one class is Gothic History (which I ADORE-studying medieval manuscripts was something I did as an undergrad), the other is Parisian Art History.

IN PARIS!

The itinerary states that we will spend a good chunk of 3 weeks at the Louvre, Musee de Picasso, and a bunch of other places in the art capital of the WORLD. And I am in a gigantic swoon over this opportunity.

Of course, this means that I will see my husband for exactly 2 weeks this summer. Which means we will miss celebrating our 5th Anniversary AND Miss R’s birthday AND my birthday together as a family.

BUT IT’S PARIS!

(I’ve already started thinking about what to pack-which includes how I can smuggle a knitting project onto the plane)

I’m off to the library to find a “Learn French While you Sleep” tape!

I thought I might share my classroom where I work with you today.  I brought my camera for other purposes, but realized that it might be fun to put up some pictures of my room.  I didn’t realize until I looked at the pictures just how chaotic it looks.

This is the view from my desk.  I have a row of cubbies in front to hold the student’s artwork. Yep, it really does look that messy.

And this is my desk.  Yep, it’s just about always that messy.  Although, I did tidy up a bit before taking the picture.

And here’s Fritz in her classroom habitat.  She is back behind my desk, but over to the side so the kids can still see her without encroaching on my space.  Plus, she’s there to talk to while I’m grading papers.

And here’s some of my kids pretending to work.  They look so quiet in this picture, but really, they were chattering away.  They absolutely demanded to be photographed.  You know how kids are.  I told them I’d only take their picture if they were working.  Right after I snapped this one, they were back to being silly.  But that’s 5th grade for ya.

And that’s the mini tour of my space.  I am encapsulated here for 8 hours (sometimes more) of my day.  But not to worry, I escape now and then.

I’ve finished book number one for my reading challenge!  I decided on doing #2 first (because I’m crazy like that) which was a title with a time in it.  Now, technically, Ben doesn’t like that I’m using this book, but I think it counts.

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris.  Ben thinks this shouldn’t count because “dark” is not technically a time.  But I think that if “Twilight” counts, then “dark” should also be counted as a time.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  It’s one of my guilty pleasure genres: paranormal vampire mystery romance-that’s a genre, right?  I picked it up because I had heard about the HBO series, “True Blood” which is based on this series of books.  I haven’t seen it, but I spent the better part of the afternoon contemplating whether or not I should get HBO just so I can watch this series (my smart fiscally minded part of my brain won out, so I’ll just have to wait until they release it on DVD).

Sookie is a waitress who lives in Louisiana and hears other people’s thoughts.  She saves Bill the Vampire from some people who were trying to drain him of blood-vampire’s have blood that is good for many uses including healing people.  They fall in love, but meanwhile, the entire town is up in arms over the murders of several girls who have been dating vampires.  Bill and Sookie have some rough patches, but eventually they solve the murder and live happily ever after-at least until the next book (which I haven’t read yet).

Anyone over the age of 18 who has read Twilight should totally read this series.  It’s got all the same elements (Sookie’s boss can change into a dog-hope that doesn’t spoil anything-and is also in love with her), but is written for a much more adult audience.  MUCH more adult, if you get my meaning.  However, if you can get past the vampire biting sex stuff, it’s a great mystery. Total guilty pleasure read.

Now I have to get back to my family and do some dishes.