The Haps . . . .

My semester of classwork has finally began so I’m beginning to get into the swing of things. Instead of teaching I’m supervising 13 student interns. It’s a lot of emails and paperwork but I don’t have to prepare for teaching a class. I do have to drive out to schools a couple of times a week.

I’ve also started my course load. Once again I have an all day Saturday class which meets every other week. This one going to be lots of work. I also have my first Anthropology course which also a Woman’s study course on gender and migration. I also began my research internship. I’m trying to hash out my questions before I begin my interviews.

I also just bought a new MacBook. I’ve been toying around with the idea for a long time especially since the new Merom processors are coming out at some point. But Intel says you can swap the processor out and upgrade the software. Hopefully. I could always keep waiting for the next update but I could use the laptop so I can make better use of my time. Especially being out on the road so much. Yesterday I drove about 100 miles and was gone most of the day with several hours down time. I could have used that time to type up work. So I bought the middle of the road MacBook and I’m maxing out the memory from newegg.com, getting a bluetooth mouse, a wireless router so I can work outside the house, and hopefully begin being more productive.

Now I will have more time to blog.

America's Got Talent... apparently not

Yes, we have been watching this awful show off and on this summer. Tonight they are revealing the million dollar winner. I am upstairs reading all y'all's blogs, and Scott is really upset because "rappin' granny" made it to the top five. It really bugs him that she has made it so far. I think that is actually the only reason why he still watches it... because he can't believe that she could go on.

Anyhow, if she wins I think that he will be real mad. Maybe it will keep the both of us from watching stupid reality shows...maybe.

Also, today was my first day of school. It went really well. That is just about all I have to say because I am tired. I am sure in the next few days I will fill in more details.

Right now, it really seemed more important to blog about rappin' granny.

These are the good things:

... about starting a new school that I am loving right now

1. If I am lost as far as what is going on, it is okay! Everybody else is just as lost and confused as I am, and we will figure it out together!
2. There are no"last year we..." because there are no expectations of what was done at this school last year, because it didn't exist.
3. The kids can't wait to come in their new school and check everything out.
4. The teachers can't wait to come in their new school and check everything out.
5. There aren't any remnants of crap left in cupboards from previous teachers. Everything you put in your room is YOUR stuff.
6. All teacher's editions, math manipulatives, and science equipment are brand new. Complete sets= happy teacher! :)
7. The technology is crazy amazing. We are getting Smartboards installed in every classroom. (in case you don't know what that is, you will have to google smart board. Sorry, I don't know how to post a link yet, speaking of technology!)

School starts Thursday. I think that I a may actually take some pictures of my classroom before the kids come. I have to say that I am amazed at how great it looks, not because of how I put it together necessarily, but of how the room was designed. I love it!

Back to work

The school passed inspection yesterday, and we were in today. Wow. It was so exciting to actually get to walk in the building. Everything was new, and though it still looked very much like a construction site, it is obvious that this place is going to be a beautiful school. We had meetings all day except for an hour and a half that we got to work in our rooms. My stuff was delivered from my old school into my new classroom at the new school by district movers, so when I walked in my classroom, my boxes were already there. Talk about spoiled. It was nice not to have to move all that stuff. Tomorrow we get to spend just about the entire day putting together classrooms, which I am really looking forward to.

Now... the bad part. I still can't get over how I can be so excited, yet cry so much and be upset about leaving Emily. There were many times this summer when I second-guessed my ability to be a stay-at-home mom. However, leaving her was so hard today. Scott did it actually because I had to be at school so early, and I knew if there was a problem (Emily crying as I tried to leave or something) that I would be late. So I got up early and worked out at the gym, got ready there and drove straight to school. And yes, I called Scott to check in on how their morning was going. And yes, after I hung up the phone I cried the rest of the way to school. Emily was a champ, and just saw it as a big play day with her friends. She had a little trouble at nap time, but other than that, she was fine. And I got to be the one who picked her up, so she greeted me by yelling "mommy mommy!" which made me cry again. Ughh. I know this will get easier. But right now I am having a bit of a time getting over it.

Say a prayer please

I know I have told a lot of you about the new school that I will be teaching at this year. Well tomorrow morning is our first day back for meetings and such, and next Thursday (8/17) the kids come back.

The problem is that our school has not passed inspection. None of the teachers have been allowed inside ever, and our stuff is in storage at another elementary school where we can't get to it. It failed inspection 7/31 and this morning at 9 am the government inspector is scheduled to come again to come. Last time I don't even think the sewer lines had been finished, but this time I hear there is a problem with the fire alarm, something the electrician was working hard to finish.

Anyhow, just pray that it will be done, and the inspection will go well. I really don't feel like teaching fourth grade out of my garage! Just kidding. But in all seriousness, our district doesn't have a back-up plan lined up in case the school fails inspection again. Hmmm. Makes me nervous.

So that is all that is on my mind this morning. That and the fact that starting tomorrow morning I will be dropping Emily off at Miss Sheri's house all day, and I will probably cry a bit. It amazes me how much I can love my job so much and look forward to going back, but at the same time I absolutely dread being away from Em all day long. Weird how those two things can simultaneously exists in my heart at the same time.

Let me OUT!

Of the house please! It has been so hot the past week that Emily hasn't been outside to play much, and she is getting sick of her toys. So finally today it was supposed to cool down a bit, which it did, but not enough. We decided maybe this evening after dinner we would all go out and play in the yard and let Emily escape the walls of our home.

Well then the storm moved in. I swear the lightening and thunder and rain hasn't stopped since two thirty. This was also the time when Emily got put down for her afternoon nap. Fifteen minutes into napping and she is woken up by the loud thunder. Nice. After the third time of putting her back down, Scott gave up. Now we have Miss Cranky Pants.

Scott is so bored he is actually considering taking us to the mall so I can find a new top for a skirt I got. He must be desperate. I am trying desperately to get some school planning done, to no avail. I am just plum bored.

Oh well. Hope your Saturday isn't nearly as boring as ours.

Music for the seasons... yeah, I guess

Yeah, I don't really have a lot going on to talk about.

We came home from Bible study, put Emily to bed.
I finally remembered to plug in my ipod so it could charge the battery.
Oh, and I switched up the music (I have the shuffle, so it doesn't hold nearly the amount as y'alls, but it does the job)

Anyhow, that's basically it. I'm really excited to hit the gym tomorrow with my newly added J5 music on the shuffle to listen to while on the treadmill.

I haven't listened to them in a bit, and I realized that all of their music reminds me of summers in Fresno. Why? I dunno. Maybe it was all those great times on the back porch with the music playing out the outside speakers. But I was really excited to listen to it. That and some Fat boy slim. Also reminds me of summers in Fresno. Weird how music does that.

Okay, and while on the subject, Radiohead and travis remind me of winter, especially winters in Fresno. That's Jenny's influence I guess. Anybody else have a band that does that to you?

**and yes, I purposely meant to b put y'all. And no, I never say it out loud.

School starts when??

I don't know if I have said much about this, but I am moving to a new school this year. And when I mean new, I mean, being built. I got the choice to go, and am very excited, good opportunity, great administration, new technology...blah blah.

That being said, yesterday was our official "inspection" day. We all hoped it would be completed in time, but every day that I drove by on the way to the gym, I thought, "there's no way." Maybe it was the sewer lines that hadn't been buried, or maybe it was the large piles of dirt in the front, or rather still maybe it was the parking lot that had yet to be paved and was still a dirt lot. But for some reason, it didn't pass inspection. I can't figure it out.

So... we teachers were all excited to get our keys to our classrooms early this morning because just about every other teacher in our district has their entire classroom ready by now. (we go back on the tenth, and have professional development all day every day until the kids come on the seventeenth.) We are all anxious. And we get the email that we can't yet. Nobody is allowed in until it passes inspection, and they are coming back to re-inspect on the ninth.

Great. That means that if it passes we have maybe that afternoon and the weekend to move our stuff in and prepare for school to start.

I guess this is all the excitement that comes with starting a new school, but I am a little bummed. I am going to let this be the last that I complain about it though, because I am sure that it will be alright... as long as it is ready when the kids come in on the seventeenth. Please pray.