always time for a little nap?

Right- haven't blogged in about a month. That whole teaching thing gets to be rather consuming- for real. 5 classes is a lot- even if it's only really 2.5 preps. (this will change for my last two weeks, where i go to 3 full preps, though one will be shared with history- and that gets complicated, at least, to a point. will be interesting, anyway!!)

so this is assessment week- tests! the end of quarter is friday. grades are due next week, wednesday morning, for quarter grade reports. which means i spend my weekend GRADING ESSAYS. (ask me if i'm excited about this. no, really. seriously.)

anyway- then end is almost in sight. and so far, i'm exhausted, but not entirely dead. at least, not yet. i think the weekend may just kill me, but i'm banking on that extra hour.

FALL BACK, everyone!

this whole teaching thing

So student teaching is progressing. I was observed for the first time (of usually 4 times) this week. I am glad it's over most of all, but I think it went pretty well. I had a solid lesson and the students worked in small groups so I got to demonstrate more than lecturing or discussion, which I think is hard to pull off well without more practice- like on Friday. Though with some good comments and suggestions after 5th period (which didn't go as well as planned- good comments, but I sucked at structuring it), 8th period went really pretty well, and the discussion worked. I wish the period was about 5 minutes longer, but there was more wrap-up from Thursday than planned for. It was good, and necessary, but the balance of timing on that group is really a challenge. But my cooperating teacher thinks that it kind of is too, and he thinks I did pretty well. it all creates some serious grading for me this weekend (like more than just quiz grading), but it's worth it. I have to work on a really good couple of lessons for next week- I'm sure at least one will be discussion, but I think I probably need to put something else in, too. But to facilitate a discussion well you need good practice, so I think I may end up doing that a few more times to work on skills there- because I like that best, and these short stories tend to work well in discussion scenarios.

anyway- any great ideas for introducing puritanism as I begin to plan to switch units into Crucible and Scarlet Letter?

week 2

Okay, so it's really more like week 1.5 (the first truly "full" week). Last week was a full week, but Monday was shortened, Institute day for teachers only and Tuesday was a short day more for scheduling and "policies" signature documents.
We did stuff Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (mostly reading and writing assessments), and now we're on to the "real" stuff. Details on that later in the week, I think!

Otherwise had a lovely visit with college advisors this weekend and ate probably way too much so am back to the better eating again. :o)

Not overly much to do for school at this point so I'm trying to pace myself and do a little work ahead and some research so I don't get totally swamped. So far I think it's going okay.

In other news- I am SOOOO excited it's football season again. A sport I can fully comprehend and appreciate- GO BEARS.


Have lovely beginning-of-school to all of you!

soon and very soon

i start student teaching on monday. with only 1.5 working days (read:week days) left of "freedom," i begin to freak out.
i believe this is not really freaking out about school beginning and more about a new routine that is, at present, foreign to me.

i really do like change. and i typically embrace change.

it's the leading-up-t0-change that absolutely makes me nutty (and, likely by design, everyone around me).

running out to pick up a few things for dinner earlier this afternoon, i passed a staples store. and i paused to think about school supplies. i mean, i do start high school again (in a manner of speaking) on monday, after all.

and i have NO IDEA what i need. they should really make back-to-school supply lists for teachers and not just students. (remember when you had to bring a box or 2 of kleenex for the classroom so there would be enough for the school year? and when you had to bring a change of clothes to keep in your locker in elementary school?)

anyway... now that my three weeks are almost up- this should get interesting!

The end of days...

Today is my last day at current job.

This is kind of a surreal experience. I don't the desktop of my computer has ever been so "clean" (even when I first arrived), and my morning is consisting of posting "I'm no longer here" aut0-replies and messages. Well, and cleaning out my email inbox of all personal emails, as that mailbox will be turned over. Interesting.

Given that it is a Friday, it's also somewhat odd that everyone asks "oh, your last day?" and yes, it is- but it's also the weekend so everyone is leaving between 12:30 and 1 anyway, so it's somewhat anti-climactic. and as the "farewell breakfast" was Wednesday, the past day (and half-day today) mostly end up as filler... I mean, new position trained in, given over.... not much left for me to do, really. I hope that means I did okay with training, etc- but, then again- well, you have to let it go.

I'm giving back keys, cards, files, email inbox, etc... sure it's a little weird- but really, that's life. so I go home this afternoon to pack (Michigan for 10 days or so) and go to see HP 6 and have mexican for dinner.

All in all- an excellent plan for a last-day.

I'd say "so long, suckers," but i'd be lying- i think i'll miss this place. honestly. but i'll be back in april- at least for a weekend :o)

pictures

okay, a couple of pictures. The shoes are exact. The dress is the same style/cut, but the detailing is different (couldn't find the exact one).

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&catentryId=6110579

http://www.davidsbridal.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplayView?storeId=10052&catalogId=10051&categoryId=-49997462&currentIdx=11&subCategory=-49998498|-49997996&catentryId=6087422&sort=

bingo!

fruitful weekend.

dress purchased.
also shoes.
also veil.
also headpiece (tiara-thingy).

all a good deal.

rather pleased with self.

Question

Okay, you all know the saying, "something old and something new, something borrowed and something blue" does this mean the bride needs to wearing all these things, or can the groom be doing some of the wearing, or can it be in things you USE in the wedding?

Let's say, for example, a friend has offered me something that would be of use in the wedding ceremony/service- to borrow. Does that count as my borrowed?

If Tom wears a blue pocket silk (i don't think we're going the pocket silk route, but it was the first thing that came to mind), does that qualify as the blue?

and can you could the dress as new (if it is), given that some people do get resale dresses or remake friends/family members dresses?

just wondering....

it begins...

I have finally sucked it up and made an appointment to go and begin trying on dresses. I was somewhat perplexed at the questions you answer when just setting up a trying-on session. The salewoman asked me what kinds of dresses I would be trying on. I said "brides?" (because really, isn't that what you try on?) Her response "okay, bridal gowns?" elicited nothing more than an "uh, sure" from me.

you should know that the above interchange happened only after she asked my wedding date. hrm.

so, i did what all bride book advice tells you and gave her a fake date about a month prior to my actual wedding date. (for her purposes, May 22 instead of June 26.) Anyway- I'm taking my mom and we're going to play "dress up" in "gowns" Saturday afternoon.

side note: you know how some people get all skeevie about the word "panties?" (i'm neither here nor there about it.) I think I have the same feeling about the word "gown." i think this may come from being an English major with an affinity for Austen novels- i tend to think of gown in the sense of dressing gown and then i get weird images of old men with funky facial hair a-la-mr. bennett. So i'm getting a dress. not a gown. i don't care what those people call it.

I also believe that those "countdown" calendars and clocks, etc, are meant to freak you out. Then again, I had the church and the hotel picked out well ahead and didn't need to do anything else. Even had photographer ahead of time due to a good deal plus coupon.
Now, however, being less than a year away, and actually coming on 11 months away, I start hitting the "crap, haven't thought about that yet," and realizing, promptly, that i will have NO time to do any of this in the fall while student teaching- and therefore abot 4 weeks to get it all tucked in before then.
(engagement photos need to be scheduled, but likely not actually taken until september or october.) Gotten some quotes from DJs, working on florists- budget- feeling kind of overwhelmed, but also just fine about it.


odd. i am slightly unnerved by this feeling of calm and believe it will be fleeting. for now, i guess i'll take it!

vacation

having just spent an enormously slugginess-filled long-weekend in new hampshire, mostly in the sun and/or on a boat, work today was a bit tough to wake up to. why is that?
we purposefully planned to come home somewhat earlier (1 pm arrival at O'Hare) in order to be able to kind of recover from travel, much food/drink, family, etc, and deal with the unpacking and laundry, pick up necessary groceries, and get to bed at a decent hour.
I need to remind myself that, regardless of said pre-planning: work is never easy to come back to after that kind of break!

and here i am. it's time to begin counting down the days at this point- 11.5 working days left, not including today. That's given no other days off (and it's looking like there is an impending 1/2 friday that i'll take to make sure i get all my appointments and check-ups in while still fully covered health/dental.) (yes, i'll still have health care, but let's be real- get the stuff done that has to get done while other people pay and you're not shelling your life out to cobra!)

really- i just don't have many days left. just over 2 weeks. hm. sometimes, that hardly seems possible. and, amidst it all, there is still work to be done here, so i can't just give over to my replacement or stop doing things- it is odd to have a laundry list to accomplish and then train a person- and it's odd when you're trying to do this and figure out what the priority is- and when this all happens. hrm.

in other news- tom has made stupendous progress in our garage and we may be close to ready to garage sale. (interesting- i can't even remember the last time we held one of those- not even sure it was in our present house). so this may be interesting. i'll try to get the organ information up here- not that any of you all would be interested in an antique organ that needs some repair to be play-able, but it's kind of interesting what we've found out, just the same (and by we i mean tom and his penchant for research into odd things).

on to other things? i need to clean/organize the basement next. and it should probably happen pre-garage sale in order to get rid of stuff i no longer use/need (which is probably much more than i realize!!)

new things

so, major life changes happening with wedding, student teacher, etc. no biggie.

today, the person who will replace me started. this is a weird mix of emotions that causes some inner turmoil- and basic exhaustion.

i have no problem with this, knowing that she is likely qualified and i'm leaving on amicable terms, etc, but it's still weird to share 3.5 weeks with someone who will fully replace me and what i do.

i don't want things to be awkward, but i feel that's somewhat inevitable. has anyone had this? what do you do? or what suggestions might you have?

in other news- the FAFSA form is next to impossible. and that's just the end of it.

VBC, etc

this week is VBC (vacation bible CAMP) at church. Due to working downtown and the current ineffectivity of my shoulder, i am "acting" in the nightly dramas. Tonight is the last night (and therefore the potluck). I will reprise my role as Felicity Snootlithe, Foreign Correspondent for the "Heavenly Times." (we're doing St. Paul and the Early Church as the theme this year.)
Anyway... i'm kind of a snobby foreign correspondent with a sloppy British accent (though the sloppy is my own and not written into the script. effect of not having done dialogue in quite some time as well as effects of vicodin for shoulder pain- NO, i didn't drive myself!!)

Otherwise: day off tomorrow for appointment with rheumatologist which happens to fall SMACK in the middle of the day (moderately annoying!) and is the only appointment available this week. Unsure why the ER docs decided rheumatologist, but there it is. My hunch is there will a CT scan or MRI in my future- hopefully near rather than far so we can decrease drugs and ice-pack-frequency!!

Tomorrow, however, is also T-minus one year to wedding day. Sometimes, that's not a big deal. Other times, I can't believe it's only a year away and I start to worry about budget, looking for a dress, little details, and the fact that student teaching makes up my life from mid/late August until mid December, and that moderately freaks me out. Especially because I'm sure there's stuff I have to DO in preparation for wedding things somewhere in there, while i know that student teaching consumes your life and them some in process.
This *is* all going to be fine.

I just need to remind myself of that sometimes. This may require some therapy this weekend.
(therapy of this type typically means cooking in quantity. i think i need to get the refill propane tank, soak some mesquite or hickory chips, and make sure I have enough vinegar to make pickles while making everything else on the grill.)

now, if i can just get off the drugs I can enjoy all of this with a nice sangria.....

Challenge

This weekend i started the EA sports-active 30-day challenge. (for those of you not-so-inclined/informed, this is a Wii game with a personal trainer- developed by Oprah's own trainer/doc pal.)
Anyway- the point is engagement photos at the end of the summer. and impending dress-shopping (or at least trying-on).
so i'm slowly beginning to discover muscles i think i had but wasn't aware could feel so, uh, stretched?
I was brilliant enough last night to possibly get a little over-zealous in my endeavor. I had physical therapy (an hour, 45 minutes of which is continuous activity, which becomes more and more involved and aerobic by session- this one was relatively intense.) Missing the train by about 30 seconds (lamenting that this happens NEARLY EVERY time), I finally get back to my car around 7. Realizing that this will put me at softball in time to see the team shake hands, I decide to go home. And try for another day of challenge.
This was not necessarily the best of ideas.

I do, however, feel it working, which I suppose is good.

So: technically, according to challenge calendar, today is my "rest" day. Do I decide to ignore today's rest day and work out anyway? Given that I have PT again tomorrow, maybe this spreading out this is better- work out today, take my "rest" day tomorrow...

well, maybe i'll see how i feel when I get home!!

DIY repsonses

Thanks for your many responses. A few things I probably should have stated previously:
1) Wedding has be be moderately large- family only puts us at about 125.
That said-
2) Church (my home church) and venue (reception/hotel) have been booked. (Family and friends equate to a fair number of overnight guests). One thing I was told was to look for all-inclusive (ie, check what else is include in "venue.")
Hotel includes: cocktail hour (drinks and appetizers, passed and i think a table with cheese, etc.)
4 courses (antipasto, salad, entree, and dessert)
CAKE is included. (this was a big thing- and i'm kind of thinking cupcakes.)
chair covers (which i didn't need) are included.
full bar is included. (with champagne toast)
"simple centerpieces" are included (so like mirrors with tealights.)
(also includes honeymoon suite with champagne and strawberries! and TWO parent rooms for the evening.)

we've also already found a photographer (good price, though we were willing to spend a little more on that.)
having a friend do video.

have a friend who may be able to set us up with a discounted DJ- which is a huge deal.

flowers will be an issue, i'm sure- wedding is later June. we plan to visit a florist this month to see what's in season... anyone else married in June who has seasonal suggestions? We're also trying to pick an "accent" color- platinum is the base, but we feel like we need a "color" for flowers, etc...

this whole "DIY" thing

so i "read" the red-eye weekdays because it's a train thing... and for the crossword and sudoku. but sometimes there's some interesting stuff.
Today, for example, the front page is about "cheap" weddings. (yeah, right- and this is also the article that lists Chicago as one of the top most EXPENSIVE cities in which to get married. riiiight....)

ANYWAY- thoughts from those of you out there who have gotten married, here or elsewhere on DIY stuff? Yeah, okay, centerpieces and invitations are kind of a given. But what else did you do, have you seen, would you consider, for DIY or cost-saving options?

placement!

at last! Placement has been confirmed and I'll be student teaching at Niles North in the fall. I pick up my books tomorrow! Hooray!!

In the Beginning...

Okay, so many of you have asked me to start blogging about mostly the infamous wedding of 2010.
(Yes, getting married.)

So, here's what we know so far:

Bride: Kate
Groom: Tom (Fester- yes, as in Uncle)

Date: June 26, 2010.
(for details check out theknot.com wedding website: http://www.theknot.com/ourwedding/KateLee&TomFester

(details like location, etc, are on the website)

Color: Platinum. (it's shiny!)

size: It feels huge! family alone puts us at about 125. so we're working on (unfortunately) paring down the guest list (so we can afford it!)

We have booked church, reception hall/hotel, and photographer. and we're fully aware we need to start working on the rest, and soon!

The latest question I've gotten is whether or not I'll keep my name.

I think, for teaching purposes, I may keep it. Legally I'll probably change it.


What else is going on? Hoping to find out my student teaching placement for the fall (beginning August 2009) this week or early next. Details on that when it's all signed and done!