Currently Listening Wherever You Are By Third Day see related

Back Again

Since some of you have returned to Xanga, I thought I should too.  It's been so long since I've been on here that i had to figure out all the new changes they made to the site.  I realized the last time I posted was two days into the school year.  Since that time, over half the school year has passed (HALLELUJAH!), we have celebrated many holidays, I completed 2 graduate courses and started 2 more, and had almost $600 of car repairs.

For an update on more recent events, I am nearing the end of my February break.  This week has been so great, and I hate to think it is almost over.  I spent a really fun weekend in Ohio attending two baby showers and hanging out with my college friends.  We always have a blast when we get together.  It's hard to believe 3 of the 6 of us are having babies soon!  I've spent a lot of time relaxing this week and also going to different appointments that I just save up until break.  Today, I will hopefully meet up with Tracy.  If the weather is bad, it may be tomorrow instead.  Bring on the gabfest!

Life is good, there are many changes ahead, and God is in control!

Since my last post, summer ended and the real world began again.  I went back to teaching this past week, and so far it has been fine.  It's kind of hard to tell after only two days with students, but I'm optimistic.  I'm SO tired though, since I've also started up with graduate work again.  Things are busy, but not unbearable (aside from the occasional meltdown).  Today I worked at the fort for about 6 hours and in that time I probably spent about 5 minutes total sitting down.  My feet are killing me!  I'm also getting back into teacher mode, so my voice was a little scratchy and my feet were a little tired by the end of the day yesterday.  Hm, it doesn't take long to sound like an achy old woman!

Some quotes from the last few days:

One of my coworkers, in the teacher's room on the first day of school: "I couldn't tell if one of my students was a boy or a girl.  I had to look it up on their information file on the computer."

At the fort today, my job was to be the first person to greet people as they drove it, and give them a sheet with the admission rates.  One guy says to me "Yeah, I'm not going to need that.  I just want to go buy some stuff up there.  I'm not giving the fort any money.  They aren't good people. Nope, they aren't getting any money from me."  When I realized he wasn't kidding I told him to go talk to a fort employee who was also there.  Apparently he took care of the guy...

During homeroom on the first day of school, I was trying to make conversation with my wonderful group of 10th graders and asked if anyone went out of state over the summer.  I asked how many of them went north.  One girls said "I went to Maine, but I'm not sure if it's north."

So, as of yesterday, I'm 26.  I just realized that the number of years since my 13th birthday is the same number of years from my birth to my 13th birthday.  (Yes, I am the original Captain Obvious).  It just doesn't seem like my 13th birthday party was half a lifetime ago.  I remember coming back from a week of camp (I think Tracy may have been my counselor that year...) and my parents had arranged a surprise party.  I was so shocked I went to my room and cried before coming out again.  Yeah, girls are weird...

Anyway, back to the present.  No surprise party this time--I actually helped make my birthday dinner of quesadillas and I saw my mom decorate my cake. Every year she makes a cake in the shape of my choice.  This year, I chose a "flip-flop."  I'm not sure why it hadn't occurred to me to have a cake in this shape before.  It was awesome.  And it tasted good too.  I'll post a pic as soon as my dad puts them on the computer.  I also had homemade coffee ice cream.  It was a great day. 

  Yesterday my parents and I went kayaking on the canal.  We paddled up to the bottom of the locks, which was neat.  I'd never seen them from that perspective before.  On the way back, I heard someone shouting my name from one of the banks.  I looked over and saw Phil Guenther!  It was so random that both of us were at the same place at the same time!  I paddled over and chatted with him and his wife Shannon for quite a while. It was so neat to see them and talk to them.

When we got back, my mom decided she wanted to have a campfire.  So, my grandma and my aunt came over and we sat around the fire in the backyard and made s'mores.  It was actually pretty fun.  The end of summer is always kind of sad, so we end up trying to do all these summery things in the last couple weeks.  At least I don't have to start teaching tomorrow like some people...

Tired...