So my neighbors downstairs, who also happen to be my landlords decided to put up a big plastic santa claus light above our front door. So if anyone decides to come over, I live in that house, you know the one with the big light up plastic santa on it? Yeah...that one.

some jokes

I was talking to this guy at a bar this weekend and when he asked me why I came to Loyola all the way from MD I told him I had a prophetic dream leading me here. Then my friend Hannah told him her name was Amber. Oddly enough he kept talking to us.

Some of the girls did a survey at school to find out what languages the children at our school speak at home with their parents. One of the kids wrote, "beans and rice."

Usually I don't see the kids from my school outside of school which is odd because I live in the neighborhood. However, my luck ran out as I was buying a large bottle of wine at the grocery and one of my little first graders says, "Hello Ms. Maxwell!"

One of my students today decided to adopt a Jamaican accent. The entire day. We were lining up to go to lunch and the teacher said, "Will you please move that chair?" to which he responded, "Ok mon."

Voting

Today as I voted for the very first time I got chills realizing how historic of an election this is. Even though my vote didn't really count because Illinois is so solidly Democrat, I still felt historic marking the arrow next to "Barack Obama". Maybe he'll win, I certainly hope so, I don't know, but regardless I love it that our country has come to a point where a black man has the chance of actually becoming president whereas only 5o years ago Jim Crowe laws existed in the south and black people were getting sprayed with fire hoses for trying to vote.

Not that there isn't so much farther to go, institutionalized racism is deeply embedded in our country--but at least we have a hope of a president who understands that.