"It's alright, I'll be fine...

...just leave the pieces when you go."

Since it is Halloween and I am still a little awake, I decided "Hey, why not write in my blog!?" Theresa did a decent job of capturing the spirit of Hobo Day (though I spent very little time with those guys due to UPC and the fact that I don't get much sleep so I slept through the game). But here is a brief look at what I am doing with my time.

-I am teaching 4 classes a day now. I have 8th, 9th, 10th, and 12th and will add 11th next week.
--8th is doing grammar; they start pronouns on Thurs.
--9th is just finishing up Poe and we are starting "The Most Dangerous Game"
--10th is working on "Night" by Elie Wiesel
--12th is still doing Macbeth
It is tiring and there are a lot of behind-the-scenes things that go on that most people don't know about that I am still getting used to. Being held accountable to these students and their parents is a change for me--no longer can I just put things off because I don't want to do them and reap the repercussions later on. I guess that is part of growing up.

My car may or may not be possessed by spirits. Either that or I have an electrical problem. After calling Kris last night I thought it was my battery or alternator beginning to go out and the warning light was just a warning. This morning after none of my gauges worked I began to think it was a fuse. This afternoon after the radio and headlights went out and the dashboard indicators flashed on and off sporatically I determined it was possessed. After calling Kris again, he told me to go get it checked immediately. Dang it. He didn't get the memo to tell me it would be alright even if it wouldn't be alright.

Random pieces...
...I am planning a beauty pageant. One of the regionals for Miss South Dakota to be held in Feb. This is a lot of work.
...I am working on a Project Runway program at SDSU which will result in a lot of money getting donated to some worthy organization. This too is a lot of work.
...I am out of food. I had popcorn and a granola bar for supper.

Wow, that is really about it. Teaching has over taken my life. I should go to bed because I have a teacher's meeting at 7:45 and the hour drive each morning is rough. Luckily Nick is calling to make sure I am up and that reassures me a little bit. Good thing I have him around.

"Suddenly I see...

this is where I'm 'sposed to be" (yeah, I couldn't think of anything else and I have been drinking.)

Here I sit, having returned from the bars, watching "The I Inside" with Ryan Phillipe. I was out at the bars before this, and due to the fact that I drink very rarely, the drinks I had were enough to get me tipsy. So I came home to have my favorite drunk-food. What is it I reach for after a number of drinks? Not pizza. Not chips. Not sweets.

Nope. I go for a grilled cheese sandwich. I can't even count how many times I have made a grilled cheese after leaving the bars. And I love it. Really makes me happy. Despite the high heat aspect of making them.

So yeah. There you go. Next time you return home after a night of drinks, try a grilled cheese--it'll make you happy!

"I find it quite interesting...

...a noun's a person, place, or thing."

Wow, I haven't written in this puppy for awhilee, but I think it is justified as my life has gotten busy again.

I have become a teacher. Yup, I am influencing America's youth. Yesterday was my first day fully in charge of one of my classes (8th grade language arts) and it went well considering the large handful of hiccups (including having to completely overhaul my lesson plan within a few seconds of finding out the worksheet I had planned the lesson around was not the one that was run-off to hand out). Today was my second day and it went a lot better...thankfully. I have been working diligently on my lesson plans and this is going quite a bit better now that I have an Internet connection at my desk (though all email sites are blocked, so that is a problem). I am working on two units (Renaissance Poetry and "Macbeth" to be exact) and am trying to get through "Night" (a novel about Jews during WWII [I think] before I actually have to start teaching it. I also have to work on a few short stories, but since they are indeed "short" this should go relatively well.

I am trying to get to know all my students (it is a relatively small school) and even went to the home football game this evening. Granted, it is part of my requirements to graduate from the Teacher Education program, but it was fun. Another student teacher and I went out and bought school sweatshirts and cheered just as loud as anyone else at the game (they lost, but hey...I was there at least!).

I also took a strong interest in the community by touring the highlights the city has to offer--it was one of the childhood homes of author Laura Ingalls Wilder ("Little House on the Prairie" if you didn't know), so I went to see the homestead, watched a short video about her youth, and went to one of the shops that is mentioned in the books that is still in operation today--pretty cool if you ask me. Next week I am going to the cemetary to see where Ma, Pa, Carrie, Grace, and baby Ingalls are buried...I loved those books as a child, so I am way interested in the history behind it.

This seems a little rambly, but it has been a long week...I work a little over 40 hours a week at the school, drive 10 hours a week to and from, plus all the work that I bring home with me, plus the collegiate obligations I still have (coursework and UPC mainly, though UPC is falling to the wayside); waking up at 5:45 isn't fun either, but I am getting used to it. I guess "getting used to it" is just what I have to do...a teacher's work is never done it seems, so I might as well keep up with it.

Yup. That's it. Pretty sure it is just about bedtime...on a Friday night...sad.