can't get no satisfaction.

Today is a rather crackerjack day in the land of Jenna Leigh. To start, it is snowing out and the School District of Philadelphia beneficently called a snow day for all us tired and overworked school folk (hooray!!) I spent most of my morning cleaning house and being remarkably productive on the home front, eventually to wind up here, in one of my very favorite coffee houses in the world: Milkboy Coffee in Ardmore. I am currently nestled in the corner of the café, enjoying a hot cup of African rooibos and a delicious plate of grilled cheese with pickles (yes, pickles) and Sicilian couscous. As I nibble on my fare, Radiohead's The Bends sounding softly through the speakers overhead, I ponder my existence for a fleeting moment... who am I other than some insignificant being floating in limbo amongst all these strangers sipping their espressos and wiping their mouths with little paper napkins? Am I serving my purpose? What is my purpose, anyway?! Who knows... and this grilled cheese tastes way too good to get lost in a thought like that, anyhow.

So here I am, procrastinating the hours of lesson planning that loom overhead, desperately seeking that spark of inspiration that lingers somewhere in the back of my mind. I can feel it; I can taste it on the back of my tongue but it dances there and taunts me from a distance. By now I am moving on to a hot cappuccino, vindictively injecting my brain with a jolt of caffeine to coerce the creative juices into flowing. The soundtrack above has switched to a live album of Simon and Garfunkel, and I think it better suits my humor, peaceful but with a hint of longing...

I just noticed a couple of male eyes peering at me from over their respective laptop screens. I must say, in my beat-up Lynyrd Skynyrd tee, my skintight AA winter leggings and my mum's old "rocker chick" boots, I do look pretty bad ass (okay, I have to giggle a little at that). It cannot hurt that this morning I officially booked a trip to Scandinavia with my sissy - I am sure my face is glowing with the prospect of travel and new adventures, as it always does on such occasions. I cannot wait for our trip. I am trying so very hard to be content in the here and now but my restless soul cannot help but dream of faraway places. "Cause in my head there's a greyhound station where I send my thoughts to far off destinations so that might have a chance of finding a place where they're far more suited than here..." (Death Cab for Cutie's "Soul Meets Body," but if you didn't already know that you need to open your ears). Hmm... I might just have a photograph I'd like to take to go along with that. It is so... "me." Incessantly wanting more, feeling like I belong somewhere else. How does one go about remedying that? Appeasing a seemingly insatiable appetite for the new, the strange, the exciting? I wish I knew how. I am this fatal combination of the simple and the complicated; someone who wants nothing and everything to do with this world, happy on my own yet desperately seeking communion in this complex, lonely universe. It is a very troublesome sort of person to be, let me tell you. But alas, it is through these eyes and with this heart that I experience this life, and it is at times like these I am so glad I have you, my dear. Thank you for enjoying this lazy snow day with me. Thank you for listening to me when I feel trivial, unimportant and unnoticed. You are my everything.

San Valentino

Today is the first Valentine's Day that I am single in the past ten years. I do not say this with even a hint of sadness or disdain, although I must admit it feels a bit surreal. For as long as I can remember I have defined myself as one half of some sort of couple and this year, well, I am just "me." The day has not been passed with roses and kisses and decadent meals but rather with sweatpants and hot cups of tea and a highlighter in hand as I meticulously pore over countless papers in preparation for my master's thesis - and you know what? I am quite alright with that. Despite not having any particular person here to hold my hand or share my day with, I am in love. I am in love with you. I am in love with my life. I am in love with my family and my friends. I am in love with nature. I am in love with knowledge and with hope and possibility. So while my other "half" lies in a bed far away, not yet discovered, today I feel more complete than I ever have, alone. Happy Valentine's Day, everyone. You are loved :)

Lessons for February

So, for all the new readers who are just joining us (a girl can dream, right?), I am currently student teaching in West Philadelphia. I majored in History as an undergrad, but they deemed me a "Social Studies" teacher, so I ended up teaching Civics and Economics this year... admittedly not my forte, but it has been an interesting challenge. Last week, I was discussing the concept of opportunity cost with my students when it dawned on me, as usual, that there may be more to learn there than simply high school vocabulary.

If you're unfamiliar with the meaning of opportunity cost it is, most basically, the loss experienced when you choose one thing instead of the alternative. In other words, if you have five dollars and you go to the corner market and buy milk, you have essentially "lost" the opportunity of buying eggs or a magazine or something else that could have been of value to you. For the purpose of the lesson, the children simply had to familiarize themselves with the term and its application to economics, but I started to think about all the lost opportunities in my own life. I try very hard not to live with regret, but every so often I wonder what would have happened if I had made different choices or done things differently. What have been the opportunity costs of my life? What would I be now if I hadn't chosen this particular path? What sort of education did I give up when I chose to stay in public school instead of going away to that gifted program? How many loves did I miss out on because I chose to stay in your arms? I suppose the possibilities are endless.

That being said, there is nothing we can do to edit the past or rectify our mistakes so I believe it is pointless to rue. However, I think that the lesson comes in realizing that we make choices every moment we are here on this earth. Every minute is filled with decisions that alter the very courses of our lives. If you use your money to buy magazines or alcohol or the latest gadget, you cannot use it to travel or to donate toward a good cause. If you spend your time watching television, you cannot spend it on good conversation or literature or meditation. Our worlds are riddled with choices and the lost opportunities that come as a result. What will you do with the next five years? What will you do with the next five minutes? I hope you make the right choice.