We know you single folks are busy. iList Paducah's Mary Thorsby goes on that first date so you don't have to!

May 23, 2011

Tess Lee

Whether dressed in her signature Birkenstocks, doing back bends on a yoga mat or sitting with a good book, Tess Lee is set for the day! Meet this make-up free high school biology teacher and her 172 frogs!

Tess Lee, you are cute, cute, cute, no doubt about it. Here we go!

1. Love me, love my mutt!! He is a rescue dog that is somewhat funky looking, a cross between a pit bull, Chihuahua and chow…so the end result is the body of a pit, the head of a Chihuahua, and a tongue colored like a chow all with these huge bat wing ears!! But Dexter is loyal, loving and devoted.
   
   
2. And then you gotta love my cats as well…2 of which are polydactyl (meaning they more toes than they should). Morris has 26 toes and Anita has 24 toes. Morris looks like he is wearing boxing gloves and Anita actually looks like she has thumbs. Sheldon is quasi-normal, except that he doesn’t leave the bathroom and guards it like an Egyptian tomb.
   
   
3. My all-time favorite thing to do is READ!! I read almost anything I can get my hands on, from scientific books like Survival of the Sickest to zombie novels like Breathers. Give me a lawn chair, sunglasses and book and I am set for the day.
   
   
4. I absolutely love my job (and not just because I get a summer vacation)!!!! I teach high school biology, which is right up my alley because I love animals and all that geeky biochemistry complicated stuff that makes the body work. But for some quirky reason, I really do get along well with the kiddos. I love watching them learn, getting to know them and watching them grow up. I’ve even been in this long enough that I have a few former students who are even doctors now! Yikes!!
   
   
5. A new passion of mine is Yoga. Exercise has never been my strong point, but in January I began attending classes at True North Yoga and I absolutely love the challenge and peace of mind that yoga brings me. And to those of you who say that yoga cannot be an aerobic exercise, then think again!! This is the first fitness program I have actually stuck with and want to keep doing. I have recently mastered crow pose and headstands!!
   
   
6. I am not what you would call a “girlie” girl, give me 20 minutes and I can be out the door, especially because I cannot stand wearing make-up!! Make-up on my face makes me feel as if my face is suffocating! This may be one of the reasons that my students ask me if I am a hippie at the beginning of each school year…
   
   
7. Unlike most women who find a hairstyle and stick with, I am prone to dramatic changes at the drop of a hat. I may grow my hair long for a year only to decide one day to cut it off into a neckline pixie cut the next afternoon. I also experiment with different hair colors. I may do lots of blonde highlights for several months and then come in with super dark brown or red hair the next day.
   
   
8. What to say about my tattoos? My mom wants to know when I am going to stop getting tattoos but I just don’t really see an end in sight…So yes a mild-mannered school teacher can have tattoos. And no, it doesn’t mean a girl is trashy just because she has tattoos!!! I have 9 tattoos and they are all unique, from amphibians to arthropods to shooting stars, and all strategically placed to be hidden from view while working.  However, they do make me extremely cool with the kiddos.
   
   
9. A girls’ gotta love shoes … NOT!!! I am not the typical woman when it comes to shoes, give me my Birkenstock sandals and I will wear them every day of the year, rain or shine, sleet or snow. Come to think of it, this may also be where the hippie comment comes from.
   
   
10. “Music is your only friend.” I could live without TV, but please don’t leave me without the satellite radio in my car or my iPod!!! I have very eclectic musical tastes, everything from Avenged Sevenfold to Pink Floyd to Paducah’s own Bawn in the Mash. I will listen to just about anything as long as it isn’t country or rap.
    
    
11. I collect frogs, don’t know why but I just love those little guys, they seem so cute and happy!!! A student recently counted all the frogs in my classroom and the grand total came to 172. That was quite a huge number, even I was surprised. I also collect quotes, which I write on the board in my classroom for the students. The current quote is by Grouch Marx: “If you aren’t having fun, you’re doing something wrong.”
    
    
12. Even though I could live without TV there are 2 shows I would miss terribly…the first is Dexter. Who can’t help but love a vigilante serial killer who is trying to do good in the world in his own way? I love the show enough that I named my dog after the main character!! The other is the Big Bang Theory, and if you watch as much as I do, then you know why when we chose names and numbers on the backs of our biology club shirts this year I just had to be Bazinga #73. Maybe if you can tell me why I will invite you over to watch with me some night!