Category Archives: jobstuff

Stuff

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Time for a few stream-of-consciousness ramblings…

Life taken over for the past week or so by end-of-quarter grades. Survived. Also survived report card night fully intact. (Last night, parents could come to school and pick up their child’s report card, and talk to any teachers they wished to talk to. I was VERY nervous, but it was fine.)

Wish we had the whole day off tomorrow instead of a half day, but I’ll get by. 😉

Adam Lambert’s performance at the AMAs? Over the top? Yes. But what do you expect, America, from the guy who cites Freddie Mercury, David Bowie, and Lady Gaga as favorite artists/influences? And how is it any different than anything, oh, say, Madonna has ever done? Seriously. She is literally famous for pulling this sort of thing at awards shows. (Incidentally, apart from the S/M overtones, the whole thing reminded me a lot of Paula Abdul’s “Cold Hearted” video. Coincidence?)

Just as a general statement to all–the busier I get, the more absent-minded I get. That means I do things like forget to answer my e-mail. If I forgot to answer your email, I humbly apologize. :-/

Still in the market for a smartphone. Currently considering the new Motorola Droid on Verizon…

Got to meet my very first niece (!!) over the weekend. Had a nice visit with David and family, but forgot to bring the camera. Will take pictures over the holiday. If you’ve been following me on facebook, you know that it’s been busy, busy baby time on both sides of the fam. Rand’s nephew had a baby boy, making me (despite my protestations that it’s simply not possible) a great aunt. My cousin Meghan went into labor about two months early and was rushed to Pittsburgh to deliver. Baby Fiona is just over 2 pounds, but I understand she (and mom) are both doing fine. The family appreciates all of your kind words/thoughts/prayers.

I started reading Margaret Atwood’s new book, but lord knows when I’ll find the time to finish it. I’m enjoying it so far.

I finished reading the Ed Brubaker Daredevil Omnibus. Wow, did that one end on a downer.

I’ve made micro improvements at DDR. I’m still playing at the lowest level (thanks for that tip, Linda!), but I’m starting to get the hang of it, I think.

I’m sure I have more to say, but I’m gonna call this a post. Tomorrow, I bake. If I am so motivated, I will post photos. Happy almost-Thanksgiving!

Is this thing on?

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I know, it’s probably hard to remember…I retreated into my little hidey-hole, and I’ve barely even poked my head in this last little bit. And then when I do come around, I can barely think of anything that’s worth posting about. Hrm.

Well, I posted a few photos of OVFF 2009. And when I say “a few,” I really mean it. 😉 Good times were had. Maybe, if I get motivated, I’ll post some more thoughts on that…maybe. No promises.

The college semester is rapidly coming to a close, believe it or not. I was asked to teach again next semester, and I said yes, for several reasons:

1. As busy as I’ve been, I have really, really enjoyed teaching this class.

2. It’s kind of fun to share a workspace with Rand, even if just for a small amount of time.

3. I like being in the city regularly.

4. I figure that accepting the position now will give me a bit of breathing room as far as planning and such that I didn’t have for the current semester. (I’ve been pretty much flying by the seat of my pants, which lends itself to the overall overwhelmedness…)

I’m pretty sure that I had more that I wanted to add to this post, but I got distracted while posting it, and now I don’t remember…ah well. 😉 Happy weekend, everyone!

Things I am behind on

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1. Grading. Always. I need to accept that this is just a normal state of being for an English teacher…especially one who took on an extra class. (I love, love, love teaching my college class. I really do…the class is fun, and they’re a great group of students. But I am exhausted.)

2. TV watching. Watched HIMYM last night, but not Big Bang (yes, I did hear how funny it was…). Almost caught up with Glee (just last week’s ep to watch, which yes, I also heard was awesome, thanks). Some shows I have given up on watching currently and will catch them on DVD (Dollhouse and Castle among them).

3. TC stuff. Must do newsletter for October…I am committing to doing that today, even though I should be grading and/or lesson planning. Sorry ’bout that.

4. Birthdays. My sister-in-law’s birthday was yesterday and I have not mailed her card yet. I did write on her facebook wall, though… (happy birthday, Leslie! I’m sorry!)

Ah…in other news, I am greatly enjoying my new MacBook Pro! I have the most awesome husband ever. 😉

On that note…

5. Moving all of the information and applications I need from the old computer to the new computer. I’ve got all my documents, pictures, and music, and some applications. I need to get all my bookmarks (from firefox) and my address book over to the new computer.

6. Reading. Um, yeah. I did finish Transmetropolitan. Also, Rand has me reading some horrible, overwritten, soap-opera-y comic from the late 70s-early 80s that he read as a teenager. But pages filled with words? Nothing, except the stuff I’m reading for school and my college class (mostly short stories and epic poems. sample: “The Secret Life of Walter Mittty,” “The Necklace,” “The Most Dangerous Game,” “Gift of the Magi,” “Beowulf,” “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” “The Lottery,” “The Things They Carried.” etc.

I need more hours in the day.

—>side note. I’m really tired of freshmen telling me that “they read that story last year.”One of the problems of teaching in a Catholic school, I guess, is that it’s nearly impossible to align the curriculum. Ah well.

Ok, I should get to work on…something. Toodles.

Week in review, part 2

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Okay, here’s where things get *really* crazy.

If you recall, at the beginning of this week, I had zero jobs. Oh, I’d taken steps to make sure I had work–getting my name on the sub lists of the schools where I’d been working and such. I also had an interview scheduled for a long-term sub job which would have started mid-September.

On Wednesday, Rand called me to let me know there was a sudden opening for an adjunct at his school…someone backed out at the last minute, leaving an intro English section without an instructor and the department head freaking out. We talked about it a bit, and I decided that it would be a good thing for me to do. Since classes start Monday, I had to jump right away to get paperwork in and such. (And also get to work on my syllabus, which is, um, not finished.)

So, one! One job! Ah-ah-ah.

Then, yesterday, I got a call from the principal at a school where I interviewed earlier this summer. It was a great interview, and while I was the #2 candidate, they did select someone else for the position. Well, that person took another job this week, and the department chair (who wanted to hire me in the first place) suggested that the principal call me to see if I was still available. And lo, I was indeed!

This position is another 1-year job, but rumor has it that this one has an excellent chance of becoming permanent. I’ll be teaching 9th and 12 grade English (Regents). I’ve taught much of the 9th grade material and some of the 12th grade material before.

Two! Two jobs! Ah-ah-ah.

This is my life. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to freaking out just a little bit about all of this, but I’m very excited too. I visited my classroom yesterday (I met with dept. chair to pick up some materials), and for the first time ever, I’ve got a completely blank slate. I can do whatever I want, and make it totally mine.

So, if anyone knows where I can get some free or cheap classroom decorations (posters and such) please let me know! 😉

Tidbits

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Well, my general blogging malaise is still with me, but I’m poking in to share a few brief things.

Don’t forget to stop by this post and let me know who you are!

I’ve tried to deal with the sluggish loading problem by removing some things from my sidebar. It seems to have helped a bit. If I ever get the energy, I might try a new theme and clean things up even more. Or, I might just move the whole thing over to wordpress so I don’t have to deal with all of the pain-in-the-butt issues that come withh hosting my own blog. Meh, I don’t know.

I’ve been baking a lot lately. It seems to be my current way of dealing with stress/creative outlet. I’ve taken a bunch of pictures, which I will one day upload. I’ll post recipes, too. My most recent successes have been breads. I made a pumpkin bread last week that was yummy, but for the fact that it got a teeny bit overcooked around the edges. And yesterday, I made a (white) batter bread that is also pretty tasty.

I’m a little bummed out about this whole Channel 4/Time Warner thing because of How I Met Your Mother. Thank goodness for the Internet, eh? I’m not likely to hop ship to a satellite service, because our cable comes with our condo association membership. Maybe this whole thing will be settled soon. Until then, iTunes will be my best friend.

I have watched none of Heroes (we watched 10 minutes into the premiere and got a little bored) or Chuck. Rand and I did watch Dirty Sexy Money last week, which we both continue to love.

I’ve now read most of A Raisin in the Sun, but have not yet started Of Mice and Men. I’d better get on that, as my class will be starting it later this week. (has anyone seen the recent version of A Raisin in the Sun w/Sean Combs aka Puffy or Puff Daddy or Diddy, or whatever name he’s using these days? I haven’t. Just curious.)

Okay, I need to step away from the computer now. Hope everyone’s having a happy Monday!

Sooooooo busy…

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I have to read both A Raisin in the Sun and Of Mice and Men within the next week.

We have open house tonight.

Interim grades have to be in tomorrow, and I still have a bunch of essays to grade.

I wrote six discipline referrals today.

Thankfully, I’m giving a test in two of my classes tomorrow…that should be a good opportunity for me to get some things accomplished.

In other news…I received an issue of The Martha (TM: Eden) in my mailbox yesterday, courtesy of Jen! 😉

I’ve been told to keep watching my mailbox, so who knows what the mailman will bring me next? Stay tuned, and thanks, Jen!

A new Halloween costume for me?

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edna-incredibles.jpg by you.

So last week, one of my students says, “Hey, I just figured out who you look like! That lady from The Incredibles!”

Um…I’m pretty sure he didn’t mean it as a compliment. 😉

Still trying to keep caught up, never mind, y’know, actually getting ahead…

I’m pretty sure I had some other things to say, but they’re all escaping me at the moment. One of these days, my brain will function normally again. I’ll keep you posted.

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Quick update

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Life has been busy lately, and I’ve been online for only short spurts of time…I keep having to read 3 pages worth of twitter updates at once, and I have 663 unread items in my RSS reader! So if you’ve sent me an email, or left me a comment and I haven’t responded, don’t feel bad. I’m just a slacky slacky slacker. 😉

I now feel confident that I can let you all know one wee bit of exciting news–I have a job for this school year! It’s a long-term job, filling in for a teacher who is taking a full year of maternity leave. Orientation will take place next week, but I’ve been going in this week working on prepping my classroom.

For those of you who read the protected post, I decided to drop the community college stuff, at least for this semester. I spoke with the department secretary, who told me to just let her know if I want to teach in the spring. I just felt it would be too overwhelming to try and do it all right now. Truthfully, I’m kind of relieved at the prospect of having my evenings free!

(Aside…I wandered off in the middle of writing this blog post. I swear, sometimes I really do think I have low-level ADHD…)

Today, after attending SmartBoard training (whee!) I went out to the Scholastic warehouse sale (goes through Saturday, I think) and bought $30 worth of books I didn’t need. 😉 I did, though, manage to replace my copy of Speak, which went missing last year. I suspect an 8th grader.

I’ve been doing a bit of reading here and there…if you follow me on twitter, you know that I recently finished Little Brother by Cory Doctorow, and that I loved it. Fantastic. I’ll have to do an update on what I’ve read since the last time I posted about what I’ve read sometime soon. 😉

Watching lots of the Olympics, of course. Some quick stream-of-consciousness thoughts:

watching the Olympics with TiVo is excellent

I love Bela Karyoli

I don’t love the new gymnastics scoring system

I cried when Nastia Liukien and Shawn Johnson won gold and silver in the all-around competition

I didn’t know synchronized diving existed until this year

why is there so much beach volleyball on prime time?

I realized that the last time I watched the (summer) Olympics with any regularity was 1996…y’know, Kerri Strug and all. Rand and I realized that summer 2004 was when we were first spending a lot of time together. 2000? I dunno. I might have been on vacation?

I think I probably had more Olympic-related thoughts, but they’ve flown away.

I’ll leave you with me, age 12, desperately wanting to be Mary Lou Retton (and not succeeding!):

eringmynast

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June? Seriously?

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Mind you, I’m not complaining. For one, it seems that the weather is finally starting to cooperate, at least somewhat. For another, it means only 11 1/2 days more of *classes* to go (they still have exams after that, but my life will be much easier).

By the way, it turns out that I’m going to be at this job until the official end of the school year. As long as they’re paying me, I can’t complain. 😉

I just don’t know where the time has gone is all. Finally, the fact that it is June 2 means that THERE ARE ONLY 40 DAYS LEFT UNTIL THE WEDDING.

40 DAYS!

I am excited beyond words. I am also mildly panicking about the things still left to do. I’ll post more about the to-do list over at the wedding blog…

I also need to do the TC newsletter, which I always, always without fail, put off until the last moment. Ah, procrastination.

We had a nice weekend, which those of you who follow me on Twitter already know included seeing Iron Man. I loved it! I also watched the Lost finale, which I thought was very good. (One scene in particular had me weeping tears of joy. Those of you who watched it know which one!)

Slowly but surely, we are ridding the new place of boxes and putting things away. It feels really good…

And that is all. One more class to go for me, and I’m outta here. Enjoy the rest of your Monday! 🙂