BaD nEws TraVelEd iN 3s ToDAy

here are the examples:
three children cried in class and two before 9:00, over completely unrelated incidents!

three children had to sit out during music/movement class--one for not listening and the others for rough physical behavior. this meant those 3 kids lost 10 minutes off thier roof time.

three lunches (or parts of lunches) hit the floor today. my patience was gone when the little guy i watched play with his sandwich came over to tell me he couldn't eat it because the cheese hit the floor. all i could muster, "of course it did, you were flapping it around." then i handed over fresh cheese without further comment. oh, did you know dalton teachers serve students lunch in the classroom?

three parents have scheduling conflicts for parent-teacher conferences.

but on a more positive note, a lexi wrote me a story today. after she read it to the class, ravi said, "you look like you're going to cry." i wanted to, but i didn't.

i'm going to share it, even though it loses charm without the illustrations. before you read, know that lexi has a gift for language and has clearly been read to. she also has a little lisp, her "th" sounding like "f". (translations are in parentheses)

HOUS 42 by Lexi
hous 42 is varry nic sumtims wee fit but wee oes git along (house 42 is very nice. sometimes we fight but we also get along.) it is varry nics to be in hous 42. sumtims wee r sada and sumtims we r happy and then we git mor happy. ar hous is in dalton. you mit not now dat it is upton (our house in in dalton. you might not know that it is uptown.) dalton is a varry god scohlo (good school). i love it erka and treaka r varry god tickers we do varry god fing (dalton is a very good school. i love it. erica and tarika are very good teachers. we do very good things.) we r all alick...but dirfrint (we are all alike but different). blond hair, borin hair, sum av as hav stapmom sum av as dont (some of us have stepmoms, some of us don't.) Isabel doz lucy dozzent (Isabel dose, Lucy doesn't.) Sum av as r goin to cimp sum av as r not (some of us are going to camp, some of us are not.) ths is varry spsal to as sum av as hav brodrs or sisders (this is very special to us, some of us have brothers or sisters.) ClAiRE and lexi dont...but we can live wif fit (we can live with it.--oh).

on the alternate page from her text were pictures of kids in class...with statments like, "eeshan is from indea", "gaby favrit food is bigits (bagettes)", and jaden has glesis (glasses)".

yep this makes me want to go to work tomorrow. thanks lexi!

odds and ends

-mom, noelle, and i found noelle an amazing wedding gown. well, three actually but noelle picked the one that is totally her. i won't post pictures and be a spoiler but i will say that it's a statement. sophisticated, stunning, unusual and a dress that wouldn't be much on person who isn't much. but if you know noelle, you know that isn't an issue. check back in july for wedding pictures. also stayed tuned for the bridesmaid dress saga. that seach was not so successful and noelle and i tried on abotu 20 dresses.

-for the first time since september, my weekend was work free. it felt odd...and nice. which reminds me, if you have heard my spew about never doing this job again. i lied. yeah the truth is that i would make the same money, have time to shop online and probably work 4 less hours a day as an administrative assistant. but i'd be missing out on the hysterical commentary, honest remarks, and fun little people i spend all day with.

-i'm coming to grips with the harlem rats. when i see garbage bags wrastling around, i don't instantly want to heave. i can tolerate them running across the sidewalk in front of me (at least 6 ft. from me). so now, somehow i feel represented by the upcoming year of the rat.

-i like to unwind by blog stalking. jason unwinds watching sports. we have found common ground on monday nights. all weekend i look forward to monday night for america gladiators! a staple of my childhood....saturday mornings my sisters and i cleaned our rooms, helped with chores, and then claimed a spot on the rug to watch men and women battle for the title. now it's back and an even richer experience because i comprehend how terrifying the gladiators are. those women could squash most men in a fight. jason's fake girlfriend, crush, is especially scary!

Thank You!

As a teenager in my high school years, missionary in Guatemala, student in college, through a move to New York City and the life changing events such as marriage - this man has been somebody that has always provided guidance and stability through his faithful service and inspired leadership.

Listen Up Old Man Winter

My inner child is dying for a snow storm. My boots are ready. I want that "school is closed" phone call. I want to hear kids sledding in Central Park and snow plows scraping the streets (leaving many frustrated drivers digging out). I need an excuse to bundle up on the couch with hot chocolate and movies. I want it to feel like winter.
So far all NYC has experienced are storm warnings that pass, cold rains, and a few sprinkles. And creepier still, 60 degree days. My hope is not gone. I'm keeping my fingers crossed and snow pants ready for a late January/early February Noreastern. Bring it on winter.

(these pictures are from 2005. i 'm on the steps of the MET and jason & i are in front of the Alice in Wonderland statue)

Welcome 2008

jason and i left for utah a few days after christmas. even though we didn't get the first class ticket upgrades we were hoping for, we did attend the annual neck-n-nog, slept in, mastered (at least jason did) guitar hero, skied, played catchphrase, got christmas pajamas, tried bootcamp--once was enough, spent time with family, went to a jazz game, played wii sports and had wingers, cafe rio, and mom G's amazing cooking.

jeff (dressed to the 9s for the neck-n-nog) rocked out, while standing very still on guitar hero.

that's jason and john playing wii tennis. check out that serve!

doing errands we saw one of dad's trucks. electrical wholesale is everywhere!

jill helped jason pick out glasses. i think he seriously wanted these...

but he settled for these.

Christmas in New York

The house was full of family and friends for Christmas eve dinner. We dined on the traditional stuffed artichokes, Italian fish dishes, and delish desserts. When my mom put these cannolis on the table, a hushed "ohhhh" was heard from my dad. Yum!

Noelle made adorable personalized cards for our cousins Adam and Hope. Adam's looked like steak and Hope's looked exactly like her dog! Noelle is so darn cute!

Welcoming the Christmas Season

December was a perfect ending to a fabulous year. Jason and I attended holiday parties, seasonal sings, and enjoyed time with our families. The first two weeks of the month, Angelique was here from CA. Noelle joined us so we could all be together for "Christmas" just not on the 25th. There was also the annual Nicolai family Christmas party.

On our way to Wondee Siam 2--best Thai in NYC. Angelique spent a weekend with us...we shopped, relaxed, socialized, and ate. We don't even have to ask, whenever she's in town we dine at WDS2.

Picking out the Christmas tree. After a briefer than usual debate (because only one of the two major debaters, Noelle and Frank, were there) we found a truly perfect tree.

But it wasn't all perfect. Under Jason and Angelique's watchful eyes, Noelle and I rolled down the windows for the tree to be secured onto the car. Nothing seemed odd until we went to leave and realized we had tied all the doors shut. After we stopped laughing, Jason had to climb in and out.

Nicolais Christmas. A wonderful morning of gift giving and getting. Jason and I both got new coats (you may have noticed I got to wear mine early). And we almost have enough of our china place settings. Mom got dad the biggest flat screen i've seen...now it's the 60'focal point in our family room.

Ear Candling is one of our holiday traditions. You wouldn't believe how clear and light your head feels afterwards.

this much i know is true

a. my husband loves golfing, so he goes on trips with his buddies to practice.

b. everything tastes better covered in butter. throw caution and cholesterol to the wind because it does! especially rice cakes.

c. i love teaching but not the prep, planning, and business aspects.

d. life is better with sisters. especially sisters who snag you skinny jeans just because they're on sale for a rediculously low price and sisters who will you medical advice, even though they don't want to, because they know it will calm you.

e. 60 degree weather in new york this time of year is creepy. where are our blizzards already?

f. i do not like to edit, i do not like capitalizing when i write, but i do like "...". they compliment my thinking.

g. this weekend i am post all my wonderful holiday pictures--i know it!

it all started four years ago

four years ago i graduated from college and moved back to NYC from MD. my boyfriend, mike, came to visit and introduced me to a small sketch comedy group--The Upright Citizens Brigade. things with mike didn't work out but things with me and UCB couldn't be better. if you've visited in the past 4 years, i've probably taken you there or at least put that on the menu of options.

in this dinky underground theater, where tickets range from $5-8 dollars, The Stepfathers quickly became our (Jason's hooked too) favorite group. we get excited when we see one of the actors pop up on a commercial and come up with fun "starters" to shout out in the beginning of each performance (ours usually aren't loud enough to be picked).

in early december while shopping in j.crew, i see this guy (jason already saw him) have one of those instant recognition moments. john mayer? no. the after school piano teacher at Dalton? nope. and then jason whispers, "that guy is in Stepfathers". ah ha! we watch for a minute from behind a pile of sweatshirts and then i say, "i want a picture with him." feeling a little jittery, i begin my approach and his phone rings. i fade away as he takes the call. a few moments later, i nervously walk over and giggle some lame quasi pick up line, "people probably ask you this all the time but are you a stepfather." we made some pleasantries; he's zach, i'm erica, this is jason. i asked for a picture with him and he said next time we are there to say hello.

he was flattered. he said so himself. that probably had something to do with me saying, "we're your biggest fans." what does that mean? all i know is i left j.crew with this picture and that cute dress i was holding.