Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Breathing Room.

Sometimes I wonder how I'll ever have a family. Teaching takes so much time. Ha, then other times I feel like I must be a slow person...I take more time to do simple tasks it seems than other teachers. That has to be the reason I'm always there later than anyone else. Seriously. Maybe by the time I've been doing it for at least 5 years it'll get easier? Hopefully?

So some fun news. I'll be hosting a 28-year-old German named Annika when she comes to our small town to visit with her students. They get here Sunday night and she'll be staying on my futon (poor girl!) for two weeks. I think the best way to describe my feelings about this is anxious. I think it'll be fun, but I also love living by myself. Haha, selfish, I know. As long as I'm still able to make it to the gym, I'll be good. :) I'm just hoping I can find some stuff for us to do over our long Easter weekend. Suggestions? I was thinking of maybe taking her to Amish Country - at least that's what we call it - some weekend. It's pretty cool, and definitely unique.

I'm doing a 5k next weekend and I've got a goal I'm afraid to say out loud. My last 5k I ran in 25:45ish. That was on a dang hilly course. According to the results that was about a 8:19 mile pace. I've been running at least 3.5 miles at an 8:00 mile pace for the past couple weeks...so I'm crossing my fingers. Today I actually managed to run 8/mile, 7:30/mile, and then finished out my 30 minutes at an 8/minute pace. That should make it into the 24-minute range, right? That's my goal. I've said it now. Now I'll have to admit if I actually make it.

So E and I are looking for a house! I'm super excited (if you couldn't tell by the exclamation marks)!! That also means I'll get a puppy, which I'm also stoked for. The house hunt is exciting. I'm sure once we actively start viewing houses and discussing making offers it'll be stressful, too. Right now though, exciting. And I'm just fine with that :)

30 days left of this school year. Not that I'm counting or anything. It's crazy. I still have to finish Julius Caesar and cover Non-fiction with my Honors kids. Ouch.

Oh, and volleyball's over. YES! I love it, but it gets so busy. Hence the post title. I can breathe now.

Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Monday, March 30, 2009

War & Peace

Title: War & Peace
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Review: I know it's no news that this book is long, but I think since I had to read it for class it just made it seem that much longer. However, I did enjoy it. I will admit (bad english teacher!) that I did gloss over some of the war scenes, because really.

Overall I'd say the character's were pretty well developed. I think my favorite was Natasha, just because she seemed naive and innocent while at the same time somewhat deceiving. My least favorite was Mary because she was such a pushover! I mean, her Dad treated her horribly and she did nothing about it!

It's been a couple weeks since I read the book, so this review stinks. Sorry. I'm glad I was forced to read it though, cause I highly doubt I would've done it on my own.


Currently Reading: The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Friday, March 20, 2009

Holy Moly.

I've been a bad, bad blogger lately. If you care to hear my excuses I'll brief them real quick: teaching, night class, volleyball, and procrastination! :) That's it!

Teaching:
  • So the other day I had a fun experience. The bell rang, so as per usual I asked everyone to be quiet and do the bellwork on the board. One young man continued his conversation (rather loudly) in the back of the room. "---, you're still talking. I've asked everyone to stop talking." "YOU'RE RIGHT I'M STILL TALKING!" (Pause) "Fuck this school! I'm leaving!" All the students and I just looked at each other as we watched him storm out of the room. Seriously? What? Gotta love temper tantrums. And I teach mostly seniors!
  • I've been asked by our German teacher to host the German English teacher who is coming with the German students for two weeks in April. Eeek! I've never had a visitor for that long, and she'll be sleeping on my futon, but it should be interesting. She's 27 and single, so we should have at least that in common :)
Night Class:
  • Done with War & Peace. Yes, I finished it! Okay, well I skipped the two epilogues, but I figured after 1000 pages, I was good to go.
  • Just started The Brothers Karamazov. So far? Yawn.
Volleyball:
  • So after losing our first 4 games, we won 2nd place in our weekend tournament - last weekend. Go 7th graders! They were pretty excited. And they impressed me after our win, because they refused to take pictures with their shiny new plaque until they congratulated the team who'd just beat them.
  • Seriously. The middle school volleyball season is short - but crazy. Only 3 more games (Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) and I'm DONE! Until next year, anyway.
Procrastination:
  • When am I not doing this? Really.
Weight Watchers:
  • Core foods definitely work. After my week on the "simply filling" plan, I lost 2.5 pounds. Yay! So I've decided to stay on the simply filling technique until I reach my WW (and personal) goal. Only 4 more lbs until my WW goal. Can you say heck yeah?

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Yes, Really. It's Lame.

War & Peace is killing my blogging lately. But, I swear, I'll be done tomorrow (can you say Thank you!!).

Until then, check out zootoo.com (I know, I know, I've mentioned it before). Central Missouri Humane Society is now ranked #1!! Only 3 more days left in the points phase of the contest and we have to stay where we are. If you like animals and feel like posting some pictures of your cute fur-balls, head on over. We in Central Missouri would love any help we could get.

War & Peace progress = page 911. Ha! What a coincidence.


Currently Reading: Do I really need to tell you?