I realize it's been over a week since my last post. A week seems so long now, since I had been updating every couple of days. But a lot has happened since my last blog. I feel more like a teacher every day. Like I told my friend Janelle, this is my test year, to see if I really want to be a teacher or not. So far it seems to fit me just fine, although the responsibility and the work load becomes heavier by the class period. I appreciate the QSM (Quality Schools Model) and the Standards Based system, and I know why they do it, and I agree with it, but it is a huge challenge. This is not even a normal teaching job. My prep period is only if I come in early in the morning and/or stay late after school. During the day I have 40 minutes at lunch, which is usually spent hanging out with Janelle and Adrianna. Yeah, we're kind of friends.
I teach seven classes. My kids are great, and I pretty much have the same kids all the time, which is good, because I can get to know them. But every day I seem to be in a rush to figure out what I am going to do. It's a good thing I work well under pressure. That doesn't mean my lessons are necessarily good, but at least I am able to put things together. Janelle and I try to stay on the same track as much as possible, because it helps us both to bounce ideas with someone. I wish I had a picture of my classroom to show you. But then again, it's really not all that exciting.
I am reading "Freak the Mighty" with my Reading Extentions class (total of 3 kids, one of whom is gone for 2 months, 1 is gone just today until next week, so there's just one left...). When I was in college I took this Educating Exceptional Learners class, which actually turned out to be pretty helpful now, but my professor (Dr. Cathy Freytag) read this book out loud to us throughout the semester. As I'm re-reading this book, I'm hearing it in her voice. And then I remember how much I miss all the people that have been so important to me. This is a subject that has been on my mind quite a bit lately.
This seems a little depressing, this post. I don't really know what else to say. I am a teacher. I do what teachers do. This is my life now. It's really not depressing, I swear. I did have a cold a couple days ago, but I am better now. Being sick was a little sad. Now I am just teacher tired.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
on being domestic
Today was the first day of school. Now I am a real teacher - sort of. This week the high school kids are planning slash going on the high school leadership retreat, for which I am a chaperone. I get to spend the night with them at the camp grounds... should be pretty fun. I actually have to borrow a sleeping bag because, shockingly, I didn't bring one. (That was sarcastic - I didn't bring anything. It's really very sad.)
Anyway, things went fine. I think I'll be okay at this whole teaching thing, now that I have my own classroom. I keep thinking back to my student teacher days, all the stupid things I did, and all the right things I did, the things I loved, and the things I hated, and really I am just so glad that this is my very own room with my very own rules and my very own strategies and philosphy and style. I mean, I have the school's, too, of course, but no one will be standing over my shoulder every day, and that will be great.
So anyway, I felt very domestic today. After school I hung around and chatted with the fellow teachers and a couple of the students. We worked out some other things with the retreat (our job is never over... even when the clock stops), among other things. I took the dog on a walk like always, only it was raining outside, which made it not as much fun. She was already dirty, but gosh, then she was really dirty. There was a back to school bar-b-que (I wonder what the etymology of that word/phrase is) at 5 for the whole community, so I went to that. I'm playing the violin with my next door neighbor's daughter, perhaps giving lessons, perhaps just playing together - either way, it's good news for me, because I need to play! It should be fun. She's super quiet, so I'm hoping she'll start talking to me soon. She also rides horses - she spent the summer jumping, which is just cool. I saw pictures. Oh gosh I miss riding horses. Anyway, it was a good time.
And then, now this is the domestic part, I came home and I cleaned. I know, I can't believe it myself. But my house was (and sort of still is) just messy. I gave my dog a bath first. Yipes, she was dirty! And the gross thing is, she's got so much hair that a lot of sand and stuff just stays in there. Her bath was seriously, I stuck her in the tub, shut the shower door, and just turned on the shower to get her wet. She was like, get me the freak out of here. She was good about it, though. So I soaked her with the shower head, then turned it off so I could scrub her with soap, then turned the shower back on to rinse her off. Then I wrapped her in a towel and carried her to the living room and let her sit in my lap (which she loves) while she dried off a bit. Then I went down to my other neighbor to borrow a broom and a vacuum, and I vacuumed my whole house (well, apartment) and swept my kitchen. The dog sheds... so I also vacuumed the couches. I was so proud of myself. :) And then I gave the dog a really bad haircut - just because she has so much hair, it's ridiculous, and it makes it hard to keep her clean - but I couldn't get her to sit still a whole lot to make it a good haircut, so she looks a little silly. Her hair is shorter, though, and now she's just a little fuzz ball, so soft and clean and fresh. Well, for a little while, at least. But she's playing now, which is awesome. She is getting into playing with her rope toy that a neighbor gave to us. It makes me happy. :)
Anyway, I need to finish my laundry still, not that you needed to know that. But I know some people have been wanting to see my village, so I have a photo from my window.
That's my neighbor's dog. He's a malamut (sp?), and he is so freaking gorgeous. He's usually inside with her, so this is a rare moment. That light blue building is the district office. Behind it is the school. So I walk about 5 minutes to work every day. It's nice. That big road there that you see is the main road that goes all the way up and down town. Here's another photo to put it in better context.
That orange building is the same one that's on the far left side of the first picture, so the road that leads to it is the main road that goes south towards the mouth of the river. All the roads are gravel, though there's talk of paving them to help with the dust in the summer time. I don't know if it will happen before winter. It's also been raining a lot, so they may not be able to.
Anyway, this is a little boring and kind of pointless. Hope all is well with you all! Don't forget to write! :)
Anyway, things went fine. I think I'll be okay at this whole teaching thing, now that I have my own classroom. I keep thinking back to my student teacher days, all the stupid things I did, and all the right things I did, the things I loved, and the things I hated, and really I am just so glad that this is my very own room with my very own rules and my very own strategies and philosphy and style. I mean, I have the school's, too, of course, but no one will be standing over my shoulder every day, and that will be great.
So anyway, I felt very domestic today. After school I hung around and chatted with the fellow teachers and a couple of the students. We worked out some other things with the retreat (our job is never over... even when the clock stops), among other things. I took the dog on a walk like always, only it was raining outside, which made it not as much fun. She was already dirty, but gosh, then she was really dirty. There was a back to school bar-b-que (I wonder what the etymology of that word/phrase is) at 5 for the whole community, so I went to that. I'm playing the violin with my next door neighbor's daughter, perhaps giving lessons, perhaps just playing together - either way, it's good news for me, because I need to play! It should be fun. She's super quiet, so I'm hoping she'll start talking to me soon. She also rides horses - she spent the summer jumping, which is just cool. I saw pictures. Oh gosh I miss riding horses. Anyway, it was a good time.
And then, now this is the domestic part, I came home and I cleaned. I know, I can't believe it myself. But my house was (and sort of still is) just messy. I gave my dog a bath first. Yipes, she was dirty! And the gross thing is, she's got so much hair that a lot of sand and stuff just stays in there. Her bath was seriously, I stuck her in the tub, shut the shower door, and just turned on the shower to get her wet. She was like, get me the freak out of here. She was good about it, though. So I soaked her with the shower head, then turned it off so I could scrub her with soap, then turned the shower back on to rinse her off. Then I wrapped her in a towel and carried her to the living room and let her sit in my lap (which she loves) while she dried off a bit. Then I went down to my other neighbor to borrow a broom and a vacuum, and I vacuumed my whole house (well, apartment) and swept my kitchen. The dog sheds... so I also vacuumed the couches. I was so proud of myself. :) And then I gave the dog a really bad haircut - just because she has so much hair, it's ridiculous, and it makes it hard to keep her clean - but I couldn't get her to sit still a whole lot to make it a good haircut, so she looks a little silly. Her hair is shorter, though, and now she's just a little fuzz ball, so soft and clean and fresh. Well, for a little while, at least. But she's playing now, which is awesome. She is getting into playing with her rope toy that a neighbor gave to us. It makes me happy. :)
Anyway, I need to finish my laundry still, not that you needed to know that. But I know some people have been wanting to see my village, so I have a photo from my window.
That's my neighbor's dog. He's a malamut (sp?), and he is so freaking gorgeous. He's usually inside with her, so this is a rare moment. That light blue building is the district office. Behind it is the school. So I walk about 5 minutes to work every day. It's nice. That big road there that you see is the main road that goes all the way up and down town. Here's another photo to put it in better context.
That orange building is the same one that's on the far left side of the first picture, so the road that leads to it is the main road that goes south towards the mouth of the river. All the roads are gravel, though there's talk of paving them to help with the dust in the summer time. I don't know if it will happen before winter. It's also been raining a lot, so they may not be able to.
Anyway, this is a little boring and kind of pointless. Hope all is well with you all! Don't forget to write! :)
Saturday, August 18, 2007
same thing we do every night, pinky: blog.
I have some pretty cool pictures this time.
Things are getting busier. The kids start school on Tuesday, as I might have mentioned. Today is Saturday, and the teachers had to go to work. Truth is, we probably would have gone to work anyway. Most of us are probably going to be back there working tomorrow afternoon, along with our work day on Monday. There is a lot of work to be done. But, it is normal to be feeling this roller coaster, being appropriately overwhelmed. It's good perspective, or so I've heard.
I'm not finding it hard to keep a personal life outside of school. I feel a little guilty about work that I'm not getting done, but it is so beautiful outside, and I love walking my dog, and I love hanging out with my people. Today started out kind of crummy, rainy and gray, but the sun came out, and now it's just gorgeous. It's 7:37, and it's still gorgeous, and it will stay gorgeous until 11ish, probably. It was supposed to rain tomorrow, but now it's saying that it will be sunny and in the 60s, which kind of stinks (as we, the teachers, were saying to each other) because we have so much work to do, but if it's nice outside, we won't go to work. We'll just see.
Last night we had a bonfire on the beach - me, Jake and Janelle and Daniel, and Adrianna and Dan. It was so much fun! We had a little trouble getting the fire going because it was so windy, but once we got it started (well, Dan got it started while Jake was on his way to get lighter fluid) it was an awesome fire. We made hobo dinners with hotdogs, potatoes, carrots, and onionis. And then Adrianna and Dan had this dessert recipe from their camp. You cut out the middle of an apple, fill it with peanut butter and chocolate chips, wrap it tin foil, then slow cook it on the coals. It was amazing. I think some of our apples were overcooked, so we'll have to do it again. We all decided that that was okay.
This is Janelle and I hanging out on the beach. I tell you what, with this whole teaching in Unalakleet thing, she is a freaking life saver. Plus, she's super fun to be around. We're pretty tight, her and I. (Kelli says I'm getting "all familyfied" - which is just fine with me.) It's crazy, we hang out with her and Jake, and their so easy to talk with, we don't even realize how late it is, so Adrianna and Dan and I are over at their house super late because we're all just talking and hanging out... or playing Wii...
Adrianna and I at the cookout. She's a good friend. We are sharing this first year teacher slash first time in Alaska experience together. It's pretty fantastic. We are the youngens.
Um, this is us preparing food - sideways. Janelle was messing with my camera. She only got one picture out of the deal because she was pushing the wrong button. hahaha. (I wonder what would happen if she read this...)
Anyway, after the bonfire last night we went back to the Snyders' house and played with Dan and Adrianna's Wii. If you've never played Wii before, I highly recommend it. It's pretty much one of the funnest video games I've ever played, right up there with Guitar Hero and Crash Bandicoot. And if you play video games, you too can use not-words such as "funnest." :)
Today was an alright day. I actually am really starting to feel better about the year. Janelle and I are collaborating for 2 of my English classes and her only 2 English classes (the rest of the day she is teaching music), so we're always bouncing ideas off of each other. Then Carrie said she really wanted to have themes going on for each quarter, so that helped Janelle create an outline template for what she'll do for the year, and I, of course, stole the template (collaborated the template), and now we have a much more solid direction. That might mean we have to redo our lessons for the first unit... but the first week of school is going to be introductions and classroom processes, etc. etc. etc. No teaching, really. And then we'll go on the high school retreat that week. Should be a good time.
Today was really gorgeous outside, like I said before, so I decided to take a long walk with Starr (Kelli thinks I should add and extra R on the end to make it more unique, which I think is a brilliant idear) out on the tundra, since when I'm out of the village she can go off the leash, which she loves. She never has me out of her sight, so I'm not too worried about her running off or anything. There aren't really any trees out where we went, and we didn't go too far, so it's not like it was dangerous (Dad), and I didn't get lost. Anyway, we went out past the bridge at the edge of town, then we took a path up a hill. The view was amazing.
That's my village down there. If you click on any image you can see it bigger, just so you know. These are small, so it looks kind of lousy. But it's really fantastic. I love the patterns of the rivers around here.
Starr ran around like a mad dog. I think I might have worn her out a little. That's okay, though. She enjoyed being outside and getting dirty and smelling things. Now she's napping on the couch slash the floor slash in my lap. She's got a short attention span. She loves attention, and can get a little demanding actually. She has bursts of energy, loves being outside, likes to nap during the day, can stay up pretty late if you let her, and hates getting up in the morning. So yeah, we work out, the two of us.
Just a photo to close. That's my girl Starr on the beach at the bonfire. I realize this is long, so I'll close. But just so you all know, my finger is just fine. :) It was just a little infection, and although painful, nothing too serious. Not in hindsight, anyway.
Things are getting busier. The kids start school on Tuesday, as I might have mentioned. Today is Saturday, and the teachers had to go to work. Truth is, we probably would have gone to work anyway. Most of us are probably going to be back there working tomorrow afternoon, along with our work day on Monday. There is a lot of work to be done. But, it is normal to be feeling this roller coaster, being appropriately overwhelmed. It's good perspective, or so I've heard.
I'm not finding it hard to keep a personal life outside of school. I feel a little guilty about work that I'm not getting done, but it is so beautiful outside, and I love walking my dog, and I love hanging out with my people. Today started out kind of crummy, rainy and gray, but the sun came out, and now it's just gorgeous. It's 7:37, and it's still gorgeous, and it will stay gorgeous until 11ish, probably. It was supposed to rain tomorrow, but now it's saying that it will be sunny and in the 60s, which kind of stinks (as we, the teachers, were saying to each other) because we have so much work to do, but if it's nice outside, we won't go to work. We'll just see.
Last night we had a bonfire on the beach - me, Jake and Janelle and Daniel, and Adrianna and Dan. It was so much fun! We had a little trouble getting the fire going because it was so windy, but once we got it started (well, Dan got it started while Jake was on his way to get lighter fluid) it was an awesome fire. We made hobo dinners with hotdogs, potatoes, carrots, and onionis. And then Adrianna and Dan had this dessert recipe from their camp. You cut out the middle of an apple, fill it with peanut butter and chocolate chips, wrap it tin foil, then slow cook it on the coals. It was amazing. I think some of our apples were overcooked, so we'll have to do it again. We all decided that that was okay.
This is Janelle and I hanging out on the beach. I tell you what, with this whole teaching in Unalakleet thing, she is a freaking life saver. Plus, she's super fun to be around. We're pretty tight, her and I. (Kelli says I'm getting "all familyfied" - which is just fine with me.) It's crazy, we hang out with her and Jake, and their so easy to talk with, we don't even realize how late it is, so Adrianna and Dan and I are over at their house super late because we're all just talking and hanging out... or playing Wii...
Adrianna and I at the cookout. She's a good friend. We are sharing this first year teacher slash first time in Alaska experience together. It's pretty fantastic. We are the youngens.
Um, this is us preparing food - sideways. Janelle was messing with my camera. She only got one picture out of the deal because she was pushing the wrong button. hahaha. (I wonder what would happen if she read this...)
Anyway, after the bonfire last night we went back to the Snyders' house and played with Dan and Adrianna's Wii. If you've never played Wii before, I highly recommend it. It's pretty much one of the funnest video games I've ever played, right up there with Guitar Hero and Crash Bandicoot. And if you play video games, you too can use not-words such as "funnest." :)
Today was an alright day. I actually am really starting to feel better about the year. Janelle and I are collaborating for 2 of my English classes and her only 2 English classes (the rest of the day she is teaching music), so we're always bouncing ideas off of each other. Then Carrie said she really wanted to have themes going on for each quarter, so that helped Janelle create an outline template for what she'll do for the year, and I, of course, stole the template (collaborated the template), and now we have a much more solid direction. That might mean we have to redo our lessons for the first unit... but the first week of school is going to be introductions and classroom processes, etc. etc. etc. No teaching, really. And then we'll go on the high school retreat that week. Should be a good time.
Today was really gorgeous outside, like I said before, so I decided to take a long walk with Starr (Kelli thinks I should add and extra R on the end to make it more unique, which I think is a brilliant idear) out on the tundra, since when I'm out of the village she can go off the leash, which she loves. She never has me out of her sight, so I'm not too worried about her running off or anything. There aren't really any trees out where we went, and we didn't go too far, so it's not like it was dangerous (Dad), and I didn't get lost. Anyway, we went out past the bridge at the edge of town, then we took a path up a hill. The view was amazing.
That's my village down there. If you click on any image you can see it bigger, just so you know. These are small, so it looks kind of lousy. But it's really fantastic. I love the patterns of the rivers around here.
Starr ran around like a mad dog. I think I might have worn her out a little. That's okay, though. She enjoyed being outside and getting dirty and smelling things. Now she's napping on the couch slash the floor slash in my lap. She's got a short attention span. She loves attention, and can get a little demanding actually. She has bursts of energy, loves being outside, likes to nap during the day, can stay up pretty late if you let her, and hates getting up in the morning. So yeah, we work out, the two of us.
Just a photo to close. That's my girl Starr on the beach at the bonfire. I realize this is long, so I'll close. But just so you all know, my finger is just fine. :) It was just a little infection, and although painful, nothing too serious. Not in hindsight, anyway.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
exhaustion setting in
A few notes:
We have teacher work days today, tomorrow, and Saturday, and Monday, and the kids start on Tuesday. Why does everything happen so fast? Sometimes I wish the world would just stop moving.
Remember when I said my finger was swollen? Yeah, the infection was pretty deep, and my friend Jake had to cut open my finger and squeeze (literally squeeze my bruised and swollen finger) all the puss out. I was sitting at their dining room table groaning, almost wailing, nearing tears - I can't tell you how much it hurt. There are no words. I think I'm going to quit biting my nails. So the pain kind of put me in a strange mood for the day, and I just felt bad. Janelle and I were working together in the morning again, and although she was mean to me all morning (in jest, of course), she made up for it by sitting with me while I soaked my finger in hydrogen peroxide for 20 minutes-ish, because that's how long it took for it to actually reach my infection. That's how deep it was in my finger. Anyway, it feels a whole lot better now. There is still a little swelling, but I'm just glad I didn't lose my finger. Sorry, Kel, I didn't take a picture of it. But it was nasty looking, I tell you what.
I am feeling very tired. Last night I went to be kind of early. I think I will tonight, too.
I got a package from my dad today. He sent me mixed nuts, Chips Ahoy, Sour Patch Kids, granola, English muffins, and I think a few other things. Guess what I've had for dinner so far? Mixed nuts and cookies. Last night? Cold lima beans and Cheez-Its. I am patiently waiting for my grocery box to get here. Although, mostly I just don't feel like cooking. I miss the old days of free food...
This will be a picture-less post. Nothing new to report, and I don't so much feel like putting anything up now.
It's good to be talking with Pete - good guy, good friend. I finally got to talk to Kelli, which was great. Lots of people are emailing, which is awesome. Some people are not emailing. Not so awesome.
My dog is great. She doesn't like to get up in the morning.
We have teacher work days today, tomorrow, and Saturday, and Monday, and the kids start on Tuesday. Why does everything happen so fast? Sometimes I wish the world would just stop moving.
Remember when I said my finger was swollen? Yeah, the infection was pretty deep, and my friend Jake had to cut open my finger and squeeze (literally squeeze my bruised and swollen finger) all the puss out. I was sitting at their dining room table groaning, almost wailing, nearing tears - I can't tell you how much it hurt. There are no words. I think I'm going to quit biting my nails. So the pain kind of put me in a strange mood for the day, and I just felt bad. Janelle and I were working together in the morning again, and although she was mean to me all morning (in jest, of course), she made up for it by sitting with me while I soaked my finger in hydrogen peroxide for 20 minutes-ish, because that's how long it took for it to actually reach my infection. That's how deep it was in my finger. Anyway, it feels a whole lot better now. There is still a little swelling, but I'm just glad I didn't lose my finger. Sorry, Kel, I didn't take a picture of it. But it was nasty looking, I tell you what.
I am feeling very tired. Last night I went to be kind of early. I think I will tonight, too.
I got a package from my dad today. He sent me mixed nuts, Chips Ahoy, Sour Patch Kids, granola, English muffins, and I think a few other things. Guess what I've had for dinner so far? Mixed nuts and cookies. Last night? Cold lima beans and Cheez-Its. I am patiently waiting for my grocery box to get here. Although, mostly I just don't feel like cooking. I miss the old days of free food...
This will be a picture-less post. Nothing new to report, and I don't so much feel like putting anything up now.
It's good to be talking with Pete - good guy, good friend. I finally got to talk to Kelli, which was great. Lots of people are emailing, which is awesome. Some people are not emailing. Not so awesome.
My dog is great. She doesn't like to get up in the morning.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
music in the background
Let's try this photo thing again. There are some people I want to introduce to you. And plus I think the photos are just good enough to go up. You might agree.
The little guy here is Daniel, Jake and Janelle's son. He loves Dan, the guy he's handing his hat to. In the back there is Janelle. She's great.
This week is pretty busy. It's teacher inservice, so all the teachers from the district are here. It's mad crazy busy. Let's see - since the last update... Monday we had a breakfast with just Unalakleet teachers, so I got to meet everyone, which was cool. We had a session with this guy who was talking about humor in the classroom. It was pretty funny, but some of it was so dumb I was laughing at the guy and the stupid stuff he was making us do. Oh well, we got some stuff out of it. And then I got a dog, and a lot of people called me crazy, but I don't care. She's cute, and pretty, and she's so mild tempered, so mellow. She loves to cuddle and kiss and lay down next to me on the couch. She loves attention. Her name is Star. She's 3 years old - she was abandoned, so I took her. But she was already house trained, so she doesn't poo on my carpet or anything. She loves to take walks and be outside, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I can. She's pretty small, but very hairy. We think she has pomeranian mixed with sled dogs, which are just mutts anyhow, so she's a super mutt. But I love her. :)
This is post bath time. She was so dirty! She knows how to sit and lay down, and mostly she'll come if there are no pressing distractions. But as soon as she comes over she expects you to rub her belly, so over she rolls right against you.
Today was a little more eventful, sort of. At least, it's fresh in my mind, so I have more stories to tell. We all had a particular place to go, some for training in the reading programs. I thought as a first year I'd be in that, but no, I was in the unit design station, which meant I just had planning time. I walked into the assigned room and saw no one I knew. I was like, dang. So I sat down kind of by myself. I didn't really know at first what we were supposed to do in there, so I was just like, mmm, I feel dumb. And then, like fairy dust, Janelle walked in. I was like, ahh, sigh of relief. I think I had this really dumb excited look on my face when I saw her. I was like, "Are you in here???" She's like, "Uh, yeah, I think I am." I'm like, "Oh thank God..." We will be teaching the same thing anyhow, so we needed to collaborate anyway, so it was good work time, and good bonding time. There were some super duper obnoxious people in that room. We were both like, are you kidding me? I can't even focus. But we joked, and giggled, and tried to focus, and were basically productive.
BUT, okay. Last night my left ring finger really started to hurt. But I tried to ignore it and just went to sleep. Today it was like, throbbing. It hurt so bad. It looked like there was a blood blister underneath it, and the top section of my finger was all swollen and red and stiff, and it hurt! I was like, what the world is going on here? I mean, you know when you have an owie, and you just can't focus on anything else except for that little pain that won't go away, so not only was I dealing with my ADHD, which I can usually control pretty well, but I had this bizarre owie that would just not leave me alone. Anyway, long story short, Jake looked at it and took a needle to it, opened it up a little, put some hydrogen peroxide and some ointment on it, topped with a band-aid, and lo and behold, it still freaking hurts. I'd go to the clinic if it got worse, but health insurance doesn't start until September 1st, and no, I'm not going to pay to have someone look at my finger. And no it's not gangrene, and no we're not going to amputate it.
So after my rendevous at the Snyder house, got my finger worked on, chatted with Janelle a bit more (which is so easy to do), I decided I wanted a peaceful alone night with my dog and my computer and perhaps a book and maybe even a movie. I saw Adrianna and Katie (my two friends that are actually my age), and we talked for a little while, laughed about today, joked about the apartment building becoming a dorm hall because we can be a little young and obnoxious (woops), and now I am glad to be a little bit antisocial for an evening. :)
Anyway, I have a lot of work to do, which I should really try to do tonight.
I miss you all, good friends. One last picture to close. It's from a while ago. This was my first fishing trip up river with Perry (one of the middle school teachers) and his 2 kids. They live right next door to me. And all 7 of those fish? They're in my freezer. It's great. :) I caught 2 of them, at least...
Talk to you all soon!!
The little guy here is Daniel, Jake and Janelle's son. He loves Dan, the guy he's handing his hat to. In the back there is Janelle. She's great.
This week is pretty busy. It's teacher inservice, so all the teachers from the district are here. It's mad crazy busy. Let's see - since the last update... Monday we had a breakfast with just Unalakleet teachers, so I got to meet everyone, which was cool. We had a session with this guy who was talking about humor in the classroom. It was pretty funny, but some of it was so dumb I was laughing at the guy and the stupid stuff he was making us do. Oh well, we got some stuff out of it. And then I got a dog, and a lot of people called me crazy, but I don't care. She's cute, and pretty, and she's so mild tempered, so mellow. She loves to cuddle and kiss and lay down next to me on the couch. She loves attention. Her name is Star. She's 3 years old - she was abandoned, so I took her. But she was already house trained, so she doesn't poo on my carpet or anything. She loves to take walks and be outside, so I'm trying to spend as much time with her as I can. She's pretty small, but very hairy. We think she has pomeranian mixed with sled dogs, which are just mutts anyhow, so she's a super mutt. But I love her. :)
This is post bath time. She was so dirty! She knows how to sit and lay down, and mostly she'll come if there are no pressing distractions. But as soon as she comes over she expects you to rub her belly, so over she rolls right against you.
Today was a little more eventful, sort of. At least, it's fresh in my mind, so I have more stories to tell. We all had a particular place to go, some for training in the reading programs. I thought as a first year I'd be in that, but no, I was in the unit design station, which meant I just had planning time. I walked into the assigned room and saw no one I knew. I was like, dang. So I sat down kind of by myself. I didn't really know at first what we were supposed to do in there, so I was just like, mmm, I feel dumb. And then, like fairy dust, Janelle walked in. I was like, ahh, sigh of relief. I think I had this really dumb excited look on my face when I saw her. I was like, "Are you in here???" She's like, "Uh, yeah, I think I am." I'm like, "Oh thank God..." We will be teaching the same thing anyhow, so we needed to collaborate anyway, so it was good work time, and good bonding time. There were some super duper obnoxious people in that room. We were both like, are you kidding me? I can't even focus. But we joked, and giggled, and tried to focus, and were basically productive.
BUT, okay. Last night my left ring finger really started to hurt. But I tried to ignore it and just went to sleep. Today it was like, throbbing. It hurt so bad. It looked like there was a blood blister underneath it, and the top section of my finger was all swollen and red and stiff, and it hurt! I was like, what the world is going on here? I mean, you know when you have an owie, and you just can't focus on anything else except for that little pain that won't go away, so not only was I dealing with my ADHD, which I can usually control pretty well, but I had this bizarre owie that would just not leave me alone. Anyway, long story short, Jake looked at it and took a needle to it, opened it up a little, put some hydrogen peroxide and some ointment on it, topped with a band-aid, and lo and behold, it still freaking hurts. I'd go to the clinic if it got worse, but health insurance doesn't start until September 1st, and no, I'm not going to pay to have someone look at my finger. And no it's not gangrene, and no we're not going to amputate it.
So after my rendevous at the Snyder house, got my finger worked on, chatted with Janelle a bit more (which is so easy to do), I decided I wanted a peaceful alone night with my dog and my computer and perhaps a book and maybe even a movie. I saw Adrianna and Katie (my two friends that are actually my age), and we talked for a little while, laughed about today, joked about the apartment building becoming a dorm hall because we can be a little young and obnoxious (woops), and now I am glad to be a little bit antisocial for an evening. :)
Anyway, I have a lot of work to do, which I should really try to do tonight.
I miss you all, good friends. One last picture to close. It's from a while ago. This was my first fishing trip up river with Perry (one of the middle school teachers) and his 2 kids. They live right next door to me. And all 7 of those fish? They're in my freezer. It's great. :) I caught 2 of them, at least...
Talk to you all soon!!
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