Thursday, October 30, 2008

Heard and seen...

Around "Miss H's" room and the halls of the high school:
  • "I wrote a lot on that test. It means I did bad. If I write a little, then I know what I'm talking about."
  • "Just warning you ahead of time, this is going to be bad!" (Today was test day)
  • "Mrs. H-------,...." (I keep correcting them, they keep saying it...)
  • "The Japanese were different from the Chinese because they are located in different places."
  • "They made meat out of dead rats and ropes" (in reference to The Jungle by Upton Sinclair)
  • "Are we watching a film or a real movie?"
  • I have a closet in the back of my room. It's a really old school, and I believe it used to be a cloak room (back in those days...). I keep the door closed, and the other day (for the first time ever), it started creaking open, a little bit at a time about halfway through a class. The students started freaking out (it was making creaking noises everytime it moved). I was sure someone was hiding in there or something (although I couldn't figure out how they could've gotten in without me knowing). It was nothing, but now the students are convinced I have a ghost...

I have a few more that I know I wanted to put on here... but it's 10:30, 2 hours past my bedtime and I still have to pack for a weekend away... my brain is fried -- I've already worked over 48 hours this week... blah.

But the good news is after tomorrow, the school year is 1/4 of the way done! and I'm still surviving. For the most part. :S

I get to see my sister and brother-in-law for the first time in three months! The last time I saw them was on their wedding day...

And another brother (Bob) is flying in to watch my brother (Peter)'s game on Saturday afternoon!

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Meetings, car shopping, football games, family

I'm still alive... just slacking a little in this department.
School's been a lot more of the same -- busy busy busy! I feel like we're all into a routine and everything's going more smoothly than the first few weeks. I'm still looking forward to some real days off, though, at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I know it's not good to wish your life away, and I'm not, but I'm just really looking forward to the Holidays this year. More so than ever.

I had a workshop on Wednesday = substitute for my students and a meeting on Friday morning = another substitute for my students. So I only saw some of my students three times last week. Kind of a different schedule...

I went car shopping this afternoon. I'm looking at a couple of different ones. I have to find out about the fun things like insurance and monthly payments before I decide. But I'm hoping to have a new one within a week. We'll see how that one goes.

Went to my brother's last regular season football game last night. It was in M*T and his team won! :) My brother Jim and sister-in-law Lynne were up for a few days to go to his game and have some family time. It was a nice little break in the everyday life that October usually is. So nice to sit around and visit!

What a blah-post... but I wanted to get back on, even if it was going to be boring. So maybe next time I show up it'll be something worth reading.

Until then, enjoy the rest of this fall, cause I hear the snow's coming!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Some pictures from last weekend

So, here goes... some photos from last weekend!

The four of us on the way back to the mainland.



Sarah

Gwen
and Jill
A random one of the rocks. I have about 40 more, but they are only so interesting.... you get the idea!

My three partners for the day :)



Sunday, October 5, 2008

Rocks, talks, and socks

Weird title, I know. The first two are very fitting for the girls weekend we just had. The third was thrown in to finish it off (but I did buy some new socks yesterday...).

It was awesome to spend a couple of days with Sarah, Jill, Gwen, Tessa (although she was with her dad a lot), and Hannah! (We missed you, Kel!) Jill was a great hostess, opening up her home and disrupting her (and Tessa's) schedule for the weekend.
There's just something about visiting with girls you've been friends with for most of your life. I thought school was going to be in the back of my mind the whole weekend, but I only thought about it once or twice. It felt so good to really relax and just enjoy each other's company!

We went on a tour and saw some cool (ginormous) rocks... I don't want to get into detail about that one except to say that if you've never done it, you should! I highly recommend it! Even though it was freezing cold and really long (3 hours), it was a great way to spend a fall afternoon.

Talks: just being able to pick up a conversation from last year or last month, or ten years ago, or even longer ago is a great feeling. :) Or to bring up a new one that we've never gotten into. There's just some sort of connection there that's going strong. Thanks girls!

And Sarah, thanks again for the ride! (More than just the ride...)

This teacher's "batteries" are recharged and ready to go!

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Balance

Trying to find balance in my life. It's proving a difficult challenge, as there are new things that come up every single day. Today I'm just taking a deep breath, putting aside five minutes for myself, and trucking along. (And thinking of an upcoming girls weekend in two days!!!)

I (finally!) uploaded some pictures from September. The first: D, K, and P's 19th birthday party (a month ago tomorrow!). Yes, that's a pie next to the cake. Pumpkin pie to be exact. It's D's fave, so he always gets it on his birthday. P likes angel food, and it was promised for another day for him. Katz likes the big one -- sweet with fruit between the layers.


My favorite place in the world! Friday after work my mom texted us to head to the camp because it was beautiful out there.

This old sauna still can get nice and toasty! It was super hot on Friday night!

I wanted to get a nice photo of my mom and dad on the beach. Here are a couple of real smiles. :) Forget about the posed, looking at the camera, trying to smile photo. I like this one better!
ahhh. (that's a sigh) Sauna and swimming in the big lake on the last Friday in September. Nothing like it! and the water was warmer than in July! :) What an evening!