Long week…

I took some pictures over the weekend…not a whole lot, but I hope to get them posted this weekend.

I went to my cousin’s bridal shower last Sunday, which was nice. Her wedding is at the beginning of November. Sunday night, her FIL-to-be died in a car accident. I can’t even imagine what they’re going through right now. 🙁

My week has been busy, but mostly uneventful. I’ve gotten caught up with the 8th grade grading, and now I have a stack of college essays to read. Lucky me…

And with that, I’d better get to work. Happy Friday.

Educators save at Borders!

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Teachers, librarians, homeschoolers, professors and other educators, join us for food, fun and prizes during our Special Reception, Friday, September 28 4:00 PM – 8:00 PM at Borders stores. Just bring proof of your educator status. Visit us online for more information.

TGIF!

It’s been a long week…

Yoga Tuesday night. Open House Wednesday night (I survived my first Open House! Whee!). Class last night. I have a huge pile of grading to do. I’m going home for my cousin’s bridal shower tomorrow. I really need to get some laundry done tonight, but other than that, I can relax. I can sleep in tomorrow. Woohoo!

Okay, lunch almost over. Gotta run!

A moment to myself

Well, these past couple of weeks have been pretty crazy…school is going well. I have one class that is sure to drive me insane before my time is up, but I guess that’s always the way!

The school has switched from a “regular” schedule to a rotating block schedule this year. That means I don’t see my students every day–I see them three days out of a four-day cycle. Because of the way my planning periods fall, every first and fourth day of the cycle, I teach straight through the day with my only break being lunch. Ouch!

I like my co-teacher a great deal, and having her there to plan with is a huge help to me.

This past weekend was pretty hard…as I mentioned, Rand and I went to Cleveland for a funeral. We got into town late Friday night, and so we got up early to go to the funeral home before the service. Of course, that meant we ended up in the funeral procession, which was odd…but worthwhile, because I felt it was important to see Jen before the service.

The service itself was lovely, and fitting. The song “On Eagle’s Wings” chokes me up a little on a good day,  and even though I had braced myself for it (really, have you ever been to a Catholic funeral where it wasn’t played?) it still hit me pretty hard. There was such an incredible outpouring of love and support from both friends and family…Shar was loved by a lot of people.

Just a reminder–the breast cancer walk is this coming weekend. Here’s the page for donations.

And of course, I can’t help but at least note today’s date. We shared a moment of silence in school this morning. My heart goes out to anyone who lost a loved one on September 11, 2001, and to anyone who still has loved ones fighting overseas. That’s all I’m going to say about that…

Ok, I have to run…I’ll post again when I can.

School daze

So I spent a good chunk of yesterday in my classroom. I can’t say I accomplished much, but I was in my classroom. 😉

As I believe I’ve mentioned before, the school where I’m going to be working is undergoing extensive renovations. The bulk of the work was supposed to be finished by the end of summer…and, well…

When I arrived yesterday all of the stuff (desk, computer, shelves, etc.) was in the middle of the room. New student desks and chairs were in big cardboard boxes. I was going to move the textbooks over to one of the new countertops, but then I realized that the counter wasn’t actually attached to the wall yet. I wandered about the school for a little bit, picking up a massive pile of mail (mostly book order sheets), student agendas and a desk calendar. I met with my co-teacher, who will be with me for two of the five classes I’m teaching, and planned out the activities for next week. (That, at least, makes me feel a little bit better!)

After lunch, I began opening the cardboard boxes the teacher had packed up at the end of last year and tried to get some of it put away. Everyone’s kind of in the same boat–unpacking boxes–but I’m in the unique position of unpacking someone else’s boxes. I couldn’t really do anything with the desk since there were still things unfinished, and the phone and computer hadn’t been installed yet. The school will be open today, so I may head over there this afternoon to see how things look.

Possibly the worst thing about it is that everything is still covered with a layer of construction dust and grime.  I picked up some Clorox wipes yesterday to try and get some spaces clean enough that I felt comfortable putting things on them.
I just got my schedule yesterday, and I don’t have class lists yet.  I can log on to the computer (well, whenever it gets hooked up), but I don’t yet have access to email or other necessary classroom applications. Those things won’t be dealt with until, uh, Tuesday morning.

Isn’t this fun? 😉

Ack!

Starting tomorrow, I’m a busy, busy girl…new teacher orientation tomorrow, followed by two days of inservice. Friday off, Monday holiday. Tuesday inservice. Wednesday…school starts!

Holy crap. 😉

I saw my mom on Saturday. She and her friend came up for the day, and we did a bit of dress shopping (no buying, just looking!). We stopped in at the shop where Rand bought my ring and talked to the ladies there. I wanted to let them know how happy (and surprised!) I was. (It’s Sarah’s Vintage and Estate Jewelry on Main Street in Williamsville.  They’re awesome.) Then we had dinner at Brennan’s. I had a Clancy. Yum!

We saw Rand’s parents on Sunday, which was also very nice. 🙂

Today, I met up with Susan for lunch. I hadn’t seen her in quite a while, so that was fun!

And that’s about all my excitement for the moment…I’m guessing posting will be light over the next couple of days.

Career-altering decision news

So, the very first thing I did with my day yesterday was meet with the principal of the middle school in my favorite school district, where I’ve been a day-to-day sub for a couple of years now. They offered me a long-term position in 8th grade English, from the beginning of the school year until the beginning of December. I asked for some time to consider it.

In that time, I talked to Rand, and talked to my parents. I had some hesitations regarding leaving my adjunct positions and potentially burning bridges and such. I also called the personnel office to ask about salary.

I learned that I would make substantially more in the long-term position, plus be eligible for benefits. These are both *very* good things, but just icing on the cake, really. This is an excellent district, a place that I would very much like to work permanently, and it’s a pretty tough one to crack. Getting my foot in the door is incredibly valuable. Also, the experience and building up my portfolio for secondary teaching is very good for me in the long run.

So I couldn’t say no. I felt bad about the adjunct stuff, but there was no way I could pass up this opportunity! Plus, I’m going to keep my evening class at the community college. I’m very excited, and very nervous!!

More bday stuff later…for now, you can enjoy this little flickr set. I’ll be adding titles and descriptions to the photos soon!

Papers to grade. Later, gators!

Hippo birdie (to me)

hippo birdie
(I heart Sandra Boynton!)

Thanks to all who have sent and/or posted birthday wishes!

I met up with Jen briefly yesterday, and she gifted me with these:

cookies

Ginger cookies! 33 of them! Thanks, Jen! 🙂

And of course, I had already received my awesome camera from Rand. I also won the auction for the pretty little dress (which I hope fits me!), bought myself a new yoga mat $12.99 at Marshalls), and renewed my flickr pro membership.

And Thomas has just pointed out that a tropical storm has been named after me. Aw, how’d they know? 😉

Sadly, I really do have to grade papers today. Wah! No fair! I also need to contemplate a career-altering decision that needs to be made by, uh, tomorrow. (if you want more info, email or IM me…)

Later, Rand and I will be going out for dinner. Apart from the grading and decision-making, it should be a good day. 🙂

By this time next week

I will be done (or almost done) with my summer class, and will be able to, at least for a short time, resume normal activities.

Meantime, I’m uploading some new photos to flickr and occasionally goofing off on facebook…mostly when I want to avoid grading papers. 😉