Say What?!?

So happy it's Friday...this week has felt soooo long. Snow days at the beginning or end of the week, cool, but snow days mid week just make the week seem incredibly long.

Even though I have only been with my kiddios 7 days over the last two weeks there have still been plenty of moments that have left me scratching my head and muttering...SAY WHAT?!?

one. I have a lot of students who appear on my roster but never actually make it to my class, or only once every three or four weeks. I use to be more concerned but really at this point I just worry about the students who show up and move on.

So on my last roster of the day I have had a male student show up once in four weeks. Last Thursday his communities in school person (aka personal counselor) stopped by to pick him up for his session...because all sessions are pulled from electives...and I mentioned he has never come back since the first day of the semester.

She shows back up 45 minutes later and informs me that he doesn't want to be in my class and he has just been going to the learning lab and hanging out. And really its not good for him to be in a class he doesn't want to be in so if I would be okay with him just not ever coming to my class. But still getting a grade and attendance for my class. Apparently she has that agreement with a few teachers for several of her students.

SAY WHAT?!?

I told her no. He could show up and sit out in the back of the room and earn his zero and his attendance...but really you are basically teaching a child that its okay to skip whatever makes you uncomfortable...way to go.

two. A female student, M, asked me to use the restroom but didn't have a restroom pass. All students are given 8 a six weeks and have to use them in order to use the restroom or hallway during class time. I asked her how she was going to manage the next five weeks with no restroom passes. M's response: "it doesn't matter I will be in jail on Monday. I have court. After that probably jail." 

This is the same student when we were working on our Be, Do, Have project and I asked her what she wanted to do after high school responded..."I dunno...jail?!?"

SAY WHAT?!?

three. For the past two weeks (really three class periods, stupid snow days) my Robotics students have been putting together their inventory. In partners they have to find 618 pieces in order to fill their lego kits up...can't build without pieces.

What the kit should look like when complete.

I have bins with each type of piece across all of our large tables in order to make the process a bit more orderly, but really they are spending 90 minutes walking around, talking and counting out pieces...not rocket science.

I have never had so many students complain before...ever! 

"My head hurts from looking down"

"My feet hurt"

"I hate legos"

"I am dizzy"

"I am tired"

"I can't find anything..."

SAY WHAT?!?

You spend the majority of the day sitting, writing and being quiet...this is the exact opposite: embrace it, love it or shut up!

four. In SEL aka homeroom this week during our administrative announcements I was trying to promote joining Student Council...it took us five months for a teacher to finally volunteer to join so we are starting a bit late. My kids had no clue what student council even was for..."discussing our problems"... so I was telling them about my experience in high school: we planned the prom, I spoke at graduation, we did fundraisers to raise money, etc.

All they heard was prom and suddenly they were like a pack of wolves pouncing on their prey...they bombarded me with questions like little machine guns. I could barely answer one before the next one has drilling me with eight more questions.

SAY WHAT?!?

I don't have found memories of prom so it was so crazy uncomfortable, stories that just aren't school appropriate to share...although great learning lessons for me. They demanded to see a picture and since I pretty much bend to their every whim...within reason...I am considering bringing one next week. Sigh.

five. In Web Design this week we are working on our blogging unit and have been since last Tuesday, at this point we have set up individual blogs, loaded avatars, posted about me's, posted a review and a dream travel post. As I was walking around checking in with each student, a female student looked at me with those lost student eyes. 

I asked her how her posts were going, her response..."wait are we supposed to do something on this..." 

Nope just sit there and twiddle your thumbs, ignore me talking, ignore the bored, ignore the rubric...you will be just fine.

SAY WHAT?!?

Don't get me wrong I HEART my kiddio's but sometimes they just make me want to shake my head and for lack of anything better to say...SAY WHAT?!?

What doesn't make me say what, is this song by Eric Paisley...the perfect little tune for Friday Night:

Hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!

Linking up with Whitney, Miss Angie, Doodle Bugs, Lauren, April, and Lauren.

- The Babbling Box!

I Whip My Hair Back & Forth

On my January Goals I set a goal to schedule a hair appointment, and while I hoped I would get in this weekend alas I must wait until Tuesday. Which means more time to dwell on what to do with my hair.

I am way way too attached to my hair, which is ridiculous because its hair and it grows back...and if you are like me it grows like weeds. 

But lately I have been jonesing for a change, perhaps its the winter blues...or...the lack of big changes in my life lately...or...its that time of the month...tmi?

Here is my current mop: long like past my boobies long, thick, blah and the only reason there are even a few layers is because I keep taking scissors to it every couple of weeks.

Of course to the pinterest I went and I pinned about eight hundred different options, a million of which are Pretty Little Liars characters go figure. So of course I am now overwhelmed and need your help narrowing down which one would look best on me. Blame it on pinterest.

  

  

  

Yes I just wrote a whole post about my hair, it has its own pinterest board and a whole room devoted to styling it so a blog post just seems natural.

What hairstyles have you swooning lately?

- The Babbling Box!

WIWW January

It has been super cold in Austin lately...

But in all seriousness I live in Texas these are pretty much our normal seasons:

So I don't typically waste my money on pants, sweaters or jackets. Boots...well those are a whole different ball game. It can be really hard to justify buying cold weather clothing when the number of days we reach freezing generally are in the single digits each year. And all of you Northerner's surviving week ** of negative weather...bless your heart.

But this sudden arctic vortex has left me lusting after coats, sweaters and even jeans. I hate jeans but for some reason colored jeans have become my achilles heal recently.  

Seriously been stalking this coat lately...aka...checking their website to see when it will be marked down.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending upon how you look at it I made it a goal to not use my credit cards for the month of January. Which has meant no shopping...which I have been handling about as well as someone handles detox...
depression, withdraws, shakes, anxiety...

In an effort to handle my rage and also set myself up for my February goals of no credit cards, I decided to start shopping in my closet and pairing items I wouldn't traditionally pair. I have had the worst memory lately regarding which of my 'winter' items I have worn so I thought I would start sharing a few for WIWW more frequently on this little ole blog...
for accountability really.

I know the pictures need work, since changing my dressing room around I don't have a great place to take pictures...practice makes perfect.

Monday: My bestie gave me this scarf for Christmas and I kept thinking it was a summer scarf but I gave it a try on top of my 'typical' winter outfit and loved it!

Tuesday aka Snow Day: Seriously was mid taking pictures as I walked out the door when I received 'the call'. Loved the idea of pairing a dressy shirt with my Target biker boots. The unexpected is always a nice change.

Wednesday: First time ever wearing colored tights, I paired them with my favorite Victoria Secret cotton skirt that I live in during the summer! I liked the way the look came together with the mixes of brown and black but I think it could have been executed better...perhaps black dress and knee boots?!?

How do you make your wardrobe stretch across seasons?

Linking up with Shanna and The Pleated Poppy.

- The Babbling Box!

Be, Do, Have

Another Tried it Tuesday and another snow day. 

Shockingly enough this time I am not here to complain one bit. Our district has no snow days built into the schedule so perhaps we will just run school until July...really this way I can tell the mister there is no way I can get that summer job he keeps hinting at. Silver linings?!?

But back to Tried it Tuesday today I am sharing a project I started using this year with one of my preps and I thought I would share it with you guys...cause the project was born from two teachers sharing. And of course I plan to tell you all about it...I babble duh!

Let me first say that I don't do/make 'cute' TPT products, its just not who I am, or how I teach. My products can always be 'cutened up' by the buyer but the reality is the products are the meat of the unit or project...written out word for word for word...I can give suggestions on what we do in my room but really I think execution is up to the buyer. This is probably why I don't share much about TPT because lordy there are some very very 'cute' products out there...

comparison is the thief of joy and all...

Now that that is out of the way.

Last summer during curriculum writing I was paired up with a fellow CTE teacher from another school who had taught keyboarding for 18 years but her principal decided keyboarding was archaic and she should begin teaching web design this year...something she knew nothing about.

I felt for the teacher: she was stressed out, worried about her job and basically felt like she had been crapped on. So I talked her through what I do, gave her all of my lesson plans, powerpoints, rubrics, etc. The next day she came back feeling a little more confident and shared with me a project she has always done with her class: Be, Do, Have.

Basically she provides the students poster boards and magazines and they make a collage about what they want to be, do and have in life. This was a teacher with a full lab of computers yet using glue and scissors...I could see why her principal was skeptical at the technical skills being taught. This isn't to say this project wouldn't work well in any of your classrooms with magazines and poster boards...but we are career technical teachers so there is a assumption that technology is being used daily.

With her blessing she allowed me to revamp the project in order to have the students use computers to make the collages, we wrote specific directions and a rubric which can all be found here for free. I wouldn't feel comfortable charging for a product we worked together on.

I use this project to access computer skills and get to know my students at the beginning of a new semester. I tried it for the first time last semester and the second time at the beginning of January so I tweaked the project a bit today based on the results. I love getting a redo in January with semester classes.

Basically I ask the students to brainstorm answers to the three questions...past just material items...

What do you want to be?

What do you want to have?

What do you want to do?

We share some of their answers then students are tasked to: choose their own computer software in order to create a collage of at least 24 pictures to represent their Be, Do, Have.

Not only do you get to know the students goals, ideas and interests you also get to see what sort of technical skills the students have at the beginning of the semester. Bonus you get some really great art to hang in your classroom.

With testing season quickly approaching I thought I would share the activity with the bloggy world...perhaps it can be used to have students set future goals, a brain break after a long day of testing...or whatever your teacher heart desires.

I also had a brilliant idea to combine my love of pinterest with this concept...students could set up a pinterest account, create boards for each topic and pin pictures. Even made a rubric. 

I guess a teachers brain never stops!

How has brainstorming with fellow teachers or bloggers sparked ideas for your classroom?

- The Babbling Box!

P.S. Ignore the weird white patches on the students work, I had to remove their names.

Nominations

Back in December Amanda and Sean over at His and Her Hobbies nominated me/this blog for a Liebster award and I am just now getting around to thanking them...
bad blogger.

This is actually my third nomination, on my first nomination I followed all of the rules and on my second nomination I broke all of the rules. And this time I planned to mix and match a few of the rules. 
Cause its how I roll...

Regardless of being nominated before I was thrilled to be nominated again, like super super giddy, I consider these nominations to be similar to being nominated for a Grammy or any famous award show. 

If blogging had award shows...now there is an idea.

As I watched the Grammy's last night I realized I would be an absolute hot mess if I was nominated...sort of like how it took me nearly four weeks to get around to this post.

Let's get real for a second:

one. I would be late. Not like fashionable late, but like miss my speech late. 

two. My stylist would quit because I would be so indecisive about what dress to choose. I would win him back, yes I imagine my stylist would be a fabulous gay guy, but then I would hate my dress on the day of the event. Cry. Throw things. Thus causing him to have a mental breakdown.

three. My daring dress would cause the award committee to send out memo's the following year regarding tastefulness.

four. I would get annoyed with all of the paparazzi questions on the red carpet and I would roll my eyes or provide sarcastic answers. Just the sort of thing that can be edited for the perfect gossip column later...

five. I would be so extremely star struck: I would either not be able to speak properly or I would run around with a autograph book begging for signatures. 
Or just droll all over Norman Reedus...

six. I would be caught on camera at the most awkward moments, either rolling my eyes or stuffing my face with the snacks I hide in my purse. Those award shows are long I am gonna need snacks.

seven. I would drink too much. A girl needs a little liquid courage before speaking in front of millions of people. Or being compared to Beyonce...cause that is a natural comparison.

eight. I would stop paying attention and clap at the wrong moments. Or begin texting, tweeting and snapping instagram pictures...its what bloggers do.

nine. I would trip walking up the stairs in front of millions of people, either from the height of my heels or the booze...really it could go either way.

ten. I wouldn't know what after party to attend and spend so much time over thinking the whole thing that I would probably fall asleep in my limo...staying up past 11 is difficult for me anyways.

eleven. I wouldn't even begin to know what to say in my acceptance speech, because of course I would win, that I would either make a list...or say something like...

I am sure I won't be nominated for a Grammy anytime soon, so I really don't need to worry about coming across as the hot mess in front of millions of people. You would cringe if you had to hear me sing. 

But blogging award shows are much more realistic...in my brain...can you imagine a room full of bloggers...

nominating each other. tweeting. taking selfies. meeting their favorite bloggers in person.

Sounds pretty awesome to me.

In the sprite of award season I thought I would nominate a few of my favorite bloggers. Some of these bloggers I comment/email with, others I have never commented, I don't know how many followers they have, I just know I ENJOY reading their blogs daily!

Best Blogger Duo: Amanda and Sean at His and Her Hobbies...seriously they blog together, my boyfriend tunes me out completely when I even talk about my blog.

Best Bestie Teacher Bloggers: This category was difficult for me...

 Alison at Rockin and Lovin Learnin...despite her distaste for Fireball or 'F' I adore her and her comments make me laugh out loud on the regular.

Erin at MissLifesaver...her teacher tips are awesome plus she keeps it real and throws in bits of her own life and opinions, I always look forward to her comments.

Best Mama Blogger: Haley at Truth Be Told...she really is so much more than a mama blogger my categories might need work. Her writing is awesome, she keeps it real and her daughter is pretty darn cute.

Best Tutorial Blogger: Sarah at Venus Trapped in Mars...her tutorials pretty much set me up for making my blog unique and I even use some of them in my web design class.

Best Writer Blogger: Bonnie at Life of Bon...her blogs writing is always amazing, I wish I had her way with words...instead I have a way with gifs.

Best Music Blogger: Helene over at Helene in Between...I have absolutely no clue about anything music related besides what my students teach me, so her blog is purely education for me.

Best Fashion Bloggers: This was another hard category for me...Robyn at XOXO, Cleverly Yours.

Best Bloggers Closet I Want to Raid: Jackie at Because of Jackie.

Cutest Classroom Blogger: Erin at Short and Sassy Teacher...seriously her classroom is so sweet and creative, makes me almost want to teach elementary...almost.

I follow about 160 blogs and coming up with only eleven was incredibly difficult because I love all of the blogs I read and I worry about hurting peoples feelings...but I had to cut it off or we would be here all month.

What bloggers would you nominate for our blogging award show?

What categories should we add?

Linking up with: Bre, Carly and Logan.

- The Babbling Box!

P.S. I realize I broke a few of the Liebster nomination rules...I hope no one's feelings were hurt!

P.S.S. This post got really really long...sorry I'm not sorry.

Snowpocalypse 2014

Today I had my first teacher snow day, and frankly I am rather annoyed by the whole thing...
I even have a cute little five for Friday list to prove it.

one. We were notified at 6:15 this morning that all classes would be canceled, 45 minutes before I leave the house, so of course I was already up and ready. I certainly climbed my butt back into bed and went back to sleep but really who doesn't love waking up at 5:30 for no reason.

two. I am so far behind at school this week, and have stayed past six two of the three nights we worked, that the missing today thing means I have to go up to school and work tomorrow in order to be ready for students Monday and my yearly evaluation Tuesday. Working on a Saturday is every teachers dream...said no one. ever.

three. I could have gone up and worked today, but I don't know the access codes as I wasn't planning for Snowpocalypse 2014. I left my laptop, work binder and work out bag in my classroom. I figured if I brought all that crap home there would be no way we would have a late start today, my bad.

four. We already have a scheduled make up day for school, June 6th. Which means our last teacher workday, clean our rooms, stupid last staff meeting will be on June 9th. What's the big deal you ask...its my birthday that's all.

five. Seriously this is why we closed school and pretty much the entire city...

I get Austinites don't deal well with large changes in weather but this isn't even worth taking pictures of...
but I did because I blog.

Here are my five little tips to surviving the Snowpocalypse of 2014...yes Austin named it that...

Proof I actually know what snow looks like, just in case you truly think I am crazy.

one. List countless items on Poshmark in hopes that someone will buy them so you can buy new clothes for spring, cause lets be real it will most likely be spring weather come Monday.

two. Blog. This one is too easy but considering I haven't been around much this week it was high time for me to rant your ear off and fill up these pages with some new gifs. It's not like I can share what went on in my classroom this week...three day school week and all.

three. Plan your menu for the week. Since Saturday will be spent at school it was high time I sat down and wasted hours of my life searching through pinterest looking for the holy grail of recipes. Let's be real I didn't find it. But this week I made the most amazing salad and have decided it must be on repeat next week...so only three more recipes to find. Back to the pinterest.

four. Wonder around Target/CVS. Seriously, if you are anything like me this will suck hours out of your day. I need a new bottle of dry shampoo and well...probably 14 other things I didn't even know I needed until I arrived at the store. Makeup aisles are my achilles heel...

five. Go to the gym, chances are the hundred of people who have been filling the space working on their new year's resolutions will be too busy cowering in fear of the ice on the roads to venture out of their homes.

And while you are wondering about the deserted city jam out to 'The Monster' by Eminem and Rhianna and contemplate on the fact that your probably the only crazy teacher out there annoyed by today's Snowpocalypse.

Linking up with Whitney, Miss Angie, Lauren, April, and Lauren.

- The Babbling Box!

Small World

I have mentioned before how small of a city Austin can be...sometimes its just too small.

Last Tuesday 4 minutes before the final bell was to ring I received a phone call, someone was trying to set up an appointment with me to discuss my retirement plan through the district. I was rude and short with him. I had a class about to leave, I had a phone I was trying to take from a silly silly girl who thought it would be smart to take a picture with another student in the middle of the room and I was on my way to dial security when the call came in. 

I had him hold, dismissed class, managed to take the phone despite the massive amount of tears that happened and the 'support' group of girls that showed up at my door. Returned to the phone and made the appointment for Friday at 8 am...reality was I didn't even recall his name or know what the appointment was about.

Friday morning rolled around and I was more annoyed with the idea of the meeting, I had grades to take care of, lessons to plan and it really had been the IT two weeks from hell.

The guy walked in the door and his response...

"I know you..." 

For simplicity's sake, lets call the guy 'C'.

Flashback: I was once a social butterfly that drank too much, partied a lot and made out with boys on the fly...or in the middle of empty bars. There were two bartenders (C and his roommate) that we hung out with pretty regularly, they were always one of our first stops, served me underage, rarely charged us and let us dance on the bar whenever we wanted. 

I won't even fool you into thinking we looked this put together...we were hot messes at best.

I always thought C was cute but his roommate was more my style...he was sort of that guy for a small period of time. The guy you drunk dial, stop by his bar and make out with him in the middle of bar, a few random dates hookups. Please tell me I am not the only one...

Regardless I had a lot of fun and have some awesome memories.

Present Day: I now have to have a meeting regarding my retirement plan and setting up my 403b (like a 401k) with C...the guy who used to get me drunk and I openly hooked up with his roommate in less than classy ways.

I tried to play it all off like it was a completely normal encounter as he asked me my salary, monthly expenses, etc. And then he tried to make small talk asking if I still stayed in touch with certain people. Then as he is explaining all of these plan options which I know nothing about...

I am noticing his residing hair line...

He keeps asking me if I have any questions and all I can think of is...I seriously have no idea what you are talking about to be able to ask a question.

He asked me what I did for fun now days...and I drew a blank. What do I do for fun: sleep, drink, blog??? None of these items sounded right, so I giggled like a five year old. 

Once it was all said and done he goes to leave, I go to shake his hand and he wraps me in a big hug. Just piling on the awkward moments. And then he asks for my cell phone number, for happy hour sometime.

Perhaps I blew the whole thing out of proportion in my head...its me chances are that is 100% true...but the whole situation was just awkward. I couldn't get out of my head for five seconds to actually catch up with someone I used to hang out with at least once a week. But the reality is I said goodbye to certain parts of my life, certain groups of friends and certain behaviors that needed to be let go of. AKA...I grew up.

And instead of coming off as the some what mature adult that has it mostly together that I can be, I acted like a giggly 19 year old who couldn't hold a conversation without discussing boozing.

Who cares, I will probably never see C again...

but its Austin so chances are I will run into him 3 more times this month.

How do you handle those awkward moments in life?

When has your city felt just a little too small?

Linking up with: Bre, Carly and Logan.

- The Babbling Box!

Favorite Teacher

Here I am popping my cherry in front of all of the blog world, I am participating in my first ever rafflecopter.

I was super honored when Miss Lifesaver and Middle School OCD asked me to participate in their two amazing Rafflecopter drawings for their celebration of reaching 300 followers.

They have brought together ten of their favorite teacher bloggers to bring you some of their favorite products in a fun scavenger hunt and to tell you a bit about the teachers that influenced their lives. 

And the fact that I was a included in their favorite list makes me gush with blogger joy.

Graphics and Fonts by Confetti Graphics, The Learning Site, Lovin' Lit, and Shelia Melton

Coming up with my favorite teacher was tough. Like pull out all of the scrapbooks, yearbooks and mementos I seriously just packed away over winter break and try and rack my brain. It's not that I don't have a bunch of memorable teachers, I was a dream student they all loved me, but coming up with the one that influenced my life was tough.

I was dead set on my history teacher until I realized ... of course my favorite teacher is the first and only teacher to ever give me detention. Ms. Stone actually issued me the 'perfect' senior a detention in April for not wearing my student id.

As a teacher I mostly deal with the minions, but occasionally I get a magnet student or two in my room and sometimes they act above the rules, school and lowly other students. I once told a magnet student to put their phone away, a big school no no, and their response was..."but I am a magnet student." 

Ms. Stone's example of how to handle discipline issues fairly and without playing favoritism is a constant reminder to me as a teacher to hold all students to the same standard.  This is also true of the student just out of juvie...the student might frighten me a bit... but they are held to the same standard as every other student in the classroom.

I like to think that the fact that I expect each and every student to follow the rules and hand out consequences regardless of who they are, is something the students respect me for...

but perhaps that is wishful thinking.

I will be honest I did not want to take Ms. Stone's computer class, desktop publishing. 

As a senior I took four classes at the community college but in order to do so had to take 3 classes at the high school campus. Being the overachiever I took AP Calculus and AP Statistics, but literally didn't need a single other class to graduate so in desperation I signed up for one of my few non advanced classes...desktop publishing.

I thought coming to campus for desktop publishing was a complete and utter waste of my time, I had better things to be doing...like sunbathing topless in the backyard. But like any other overachiever senior I was saving my skipping days for senior skip day, so of course I never missed class.

In desktop publishing I learned how to use Microsoft powerpoint, Microsoft publisher, excel and write HTML coding to build a website.

Fast forward four years and I was using my amazing graphic design skills to redesign bar menus for the bar I worked for. Which then helped lead to my first 'adult' job where I did marketing and IT for a law firm, and I used HTML to write the website and my all time favorite program, Publisher, to create weekly newsletters that we sent to over 3000 school professionals.  And then later I spent time training my staff how to use publisher, powerpoint and html for our newsletters and website.

Which ultimately lead me to where I am today, a Career and Technical Education teacher.

At 17 I would have never dreamed that that little desktop publishing class would have lead me to becoming a teacher, I probably would have laughed in your face if you had told me back then.

My second semester of teaching I was grasping at straws and failing at engaging the students with the standard CTE lessons, so I recalled a few of the projects Ms. Stone used and revamped them and BANG they were a hit. A part of me thinks I should go back and thank her...and maybe even apologize for being the moody dramatic teenager that I was...because ultimately I owe my love of teaching technical skills to her.

Woo...that got long fast, I think you deserve a prize!

Because what blogger wouldn't love to create little mini bloggers in their classroom? In the scavenger hunt I included my blogging unit, while I use it as a way to teach digital citizenship and cyberbulling in a two-three week period you could easily use this across a semester depending on how often you have access to computers. And the best part is the blog site is free, easy to manage and kid safe!

Head on over to Miss Lifesaver's blog or Middle School OCD's blog and enter the Scavenger Hunt Rafflecopter. Everyone is a winner! My favorite teacher is: STONE.

Also be sure to also enter the Grand Prize Rafflecopter at Miss Lifesaver or Middle School OCD. The person that wins the Grand Prize will receive my $10 Starbucks Gift Card, because every teacher deserves a little treat now and again, along with many other fabulous prizes from some other very special bloggers.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Best of luck to all of you and I hope you enjoy the scavenger hunt goodies!

Who was your favorite teacher?

- The Babbling Box!

Don't You Be My Neighbor

Sorry I had to...

Forbes declared Austin the "number one metro area with the most economic momentum going into 2014" its a pretty wordy title in my humble opinion. But also one that makes me think: sh*t more people?!?

As it is we have had a population growth of 16% since 2007...if we keep making this city sound so amazing its just going to attract more people. And I for one am already sick of traffic. Where do these new people plan to live? How do they plan to get to work, cause 35 is a nightmare now? Where do they plan to shop?

Just one light up from our house they are building a new 55 acre apartment complex, and if I was rolling in cash I would probably go check it out, but the $2000+ rent for a three bedroom is a bit of a deterrent. 

But here is the real reason the mister and I won't be looking at the complex: the complex exits onto the 35 feeder and you must go north to sit at the worst light in the history of lights, in my opinion, in order to go south or even get on the freeway. As it is we can wait an average of 4-10 turns to make it through this intersection, I can't wait to see all the fun the new residents will add to it.

So without further ado a few reasons 
I Don't Want You To Be My Neighbor:

Here are a few of my favorites:

one. Bats. It's 'the Austin' thing to do, to watch the bats fly out of the bridge at sunset...so I did it once...it smelt, it was crowded and I was bored. Come on they are bats. 

two. Austin is adult never-never land...everyone over 30 still acts, parties and dates like they are 21. 

So when you go and get that big girl job with that degree you worked paid so much for you will lose most of your friends. They are ready to go out at about midnight on a Monday and will be working on a Friday night. They will be posting their walks of shame on facebook when you are teaching your third class of the day. 
It just gets awkward.

three. Public transportation, what's that? So if you decide to move to Austin but have to live on the outskirts of Austin to afford the rent, hope you like your house because you aren't going anywhere. ever. 
Or just get really good at driving drunk, my advise.

Cab drivers will either charge an arm and a leg to drive you home, or try to kick you out when you tell them your address. True story. Or never show up when you call them. 

And buses...as long as you are prepared to run across the freeway and walk 5 miles in the dark. And wait in the dark for the bus that might eventually come. And ride the bus with the sleeping homeless. 
Then you are golden.

In all seriousness, I won't mind that much if you do move here...

chances are if we are blog friends then we can be real friends...

but perhaps we could share the rent or carpool...or you could be my DD? And we can make fun of the odd people watching bats...and the hot young 21 year old's. And come Friday night we can be drinking buddies...

Alright I am making Austin sound too good now...
seriously don't move here it sucks!

- The Babbling Box!