Oh, yeah...

Here's a picture of the hole I made in the tire. Remember? With the huge pothole in Indiana. Yeah.

Miscellany

In my attempt to become more Blake-ish, this year I'm starting my class with a (hopefully) thought-provoking quote. Today's was: "Much less evil would be done on earth if evil could not be done in the name of good" -- Marie Von Ebner Eschenbach. So I asked my students what they thought were some examples of evil done in the name of good. My first class I got some good responses. In my second class, the boys who are trying to convince me not to teach anymore mostly made fun of it. I understand the desire to be cool in front of your friends. I vaguely remember the horrors of high school. The emotional roller coaster, the hormonal disaster that is a teenager. I also remember the class ahead of mine being unduly cruel to their teachers. Their goal being to get Mrs. C to cry every day in class and to get Mr. H to resign. Both of them ended up only teaching for that one year. At the time I thought it was pretty awful of them, but also a little funny. Now I just want to cry for them and a little for me.

My first class generally goes well and the students pay attention and participate. Ideal. Second class, I have one student who continually roams the classroom. Every time he makes a comment he wants to do so from the front of the room. And he wants to make a lot of comments. I have other students who read very slowly on purpose. I'm not sure what the purpose is, other than to frustrate me and maybe get a few laughs(?). Honestly, I don't get it.

In other news, we're already planning our first homeleave. Planning on going to New York and seeing a show, eating Chipotle. (For those of you in Lincoln, you don't know how lucky you are to be in such close proximity to such deliciousness.) There will probably be cheesecake involved. We were thinking about spending the night, but the hostels (not hotels, hostels) start at $62 a night. To get a decent hotel room, with a shared bathroom, you'll pay more than $175 a night. That's a bit steep for us. Manhattan's quite pricy. In any case, I'm excited.

Also, in case you didn't know, the never-ending pasta bowl at Olive Garden started yesterday. Go henceforth and eat lots of pasta.

Also, we're going on Senior Retreat at the end of this week... hoping for good times, hoping there is no hurricane coming through, like last year, and that it's not too hot.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of me in my office, five minutes ago. That's right, my computer takes pictures. Sucka.



Amen.

The things students say... (ripped off title from Carissa)

"Do I have to spell correctly in my journal?"

Since this came from a notoriously sarcastic student, I'm thinking... well, don't go out of your way to spell incorrectly.

(And yes, I'm pretty sure I was a notoriously sarcastic student in my days too...)

Etc.

This is Michael and me at the end-of-summer camp staff party.


Me, my cousin Naomi, Kirk and Christa at Clear Lake, a place my dad visited a lot as a kid in Indiana or Michigan. I'm not sure whether we crossed the border or not.


Me, Kirk and Christa at our Grandpa's funeral.


Christa, me, Mom and Michael at home when they visited in March.


Christa and me when we went to see the Lion King on Broadway.

Randomness from the past year...

This is Shelby. She's not always this calm.



She's usually more like this.



This is the siblings plus spouses last Christmas.



This is during one of the spring break trips to New York. I'll let you guess where we are.



This was a January trip to New York. It was about 17 degrees, plus if you've ever been to New York you know what the wind is like. Oh my word. So I tried to take a shot without the flash. But I was very cold. Hard to keep the camera still. I thought it was cool anyway.

While I was gone...

I got the sweet MacBook that I'm currently typing on. Woohoo! (which also means that my computer is no longer too slow for my camera -- pictures to follow soon.)

School started back. My class begins tomorrow. I have 24 students in one class and 30 (30!!) in the other.

My other grandfather died. He started out with prostate cancer, then it moved to his bones, before it was detected. Then a couple weeks ago it moved to his liver and he died about a week later. It was sad. I didn't get to go to the funeral, which was near Lincoln, which made it sadder that I couldn't go because then I could have seen friends too. Alas, one can only do so many things, and apparently go to so many funerals in one year.

Two days later, my great-grandmother, his mother, died. She was 99. She'd been out of it so long that they didn't even bother to tell her that her son had died, so that wasn't the cause. Maybe it was a coincidence, but I don't know if I believe in those.

Camp ended, I got sick, stayed that was for most of three weeks and we got home safely.

Life is still good. Just tinted a little with sadness right now.

On a sidenote...

Something interesting I learned while with my family last weekend: my uncle met my aunt while buying shrooms. From her.

Ah, yes. What a good Adventist family we are.

Anyway, the funeral went well. Noone had to lie about all the good things they said about grandpa. My brother mentioned that he couldn't remember a single bad memory of grandpa. No loss of temper, no gossip about someone, no unkind word. That's a pretty amazing testament to his life.

Also, on the way up I got my first flat tire. If I had my camera I would show you the huge hole in the tire. I could fit my fist into it easily. I hit a huge pothole in the middle of I-65. That wasn't nerve-wracking at all. The huge semis rushing by at about 75 mph. Two feet between me and them. Can't get further over because of the guardrail. Fun times.

Update

My grandfather died last night. My first biological grandparent to go. I'll be going up to Napanee, Indiana on Thursday and coming back on Sunday. I appreciate prayers, etc.

Time's fun...

Two weeks left of camp. Then a week until staff meetings start all over again. Somethings that I notice about camp that are different now from when I worked here four years ago: I'm bothered by the lack of personal time and space. Even at boarding academy, most days I get off at five and have a few hours to myself. (This is not true for Michael, but that is partially his choice.) I miss my own cooking. The camp food hasn't even been that bad, but I miss vegetables (the unfrozen kind) and well-seasoned food. And actually, I miss cooking itself. I miss time with my husband. Time for each other is rare at best. Even on days off.

But camp is also good. What would I do with two months off to do nothing? Probably just spend way too much money. Or maybe go to Europe. Whatever.

So my grandma is officially moved into the locked dementia unit of an assisted living facility. Mom and Christa went down for two weeks to help with the packing and such. However, Mom accidentally fell through the attic and (luckily) only (very badly) sprained her foot/ankle. And there was a lot of bruising on one side of her body. But now, a month later, the bottom of her foot is almost flat again. Instead of rounded out like a beach ball. Her fall was broken partially by a ladder and partially by a filing cabinet. Which were good things, because she fell over the garage=cement floor.

Mom brought home a lot of Grandma's stuff and we divided it among ourselves. Which seemed like a very strange thing to do before she dies. It was also really emotional. Basically, it sucked.

So that's the summary of my summer so far. I can't imagine that I'll be ready to teach in four weeks. (Eek!) However, I ran into an old friend of mine who is an English teacher, and she gave me a lot of great tips, so I feel greatly encouraged. And when I was talking with her, I actually felt excited. So what does that mean?

How did this happen?

So lately I've been finding pure white hairs attached to my head. These are not gray, nor blond. They are white. It started happening last December when I was enmeshed in grading plagiarized papers and dealing with them, etc. So first I just thought they were stress-induced. But they continue to come. Maybe they were originally stress-induced but now my head has realized that it's easier to put out white hairs than to go to all the trouble of making them brown. In any case, I pull them out. My only concern is that I can't see the back of my head and there could be lots back there that I don't know about at all.

When did I get to be an adult? Someone should have consulted me about this before letting it happen.

Short update

So it's been awhile. Camp is in full swing. Things are good. We celebrated our second anniversary yesterday. We actually left camp for a couple hours and found a Thai restaurant in Cookeville. Who knew Cookeville would have a Thai restaurant? Anyway, it was pretty good, but not fabulous. And it was nice to have time together, because that's something that is sparse around here.

Being secretary keeps me pretty busy. Lots of making phone calls and faxes and making lists. Michael is busy too, but we're both enjoying camp.

So that's what's going on. Just camp stuff. We're alive, although very tired. And we finally got some rain yesterday, which was a huge blessing because it has been dry like butt here. I've never seen the lake this low in June. Maybe August or September. Definitely not June.

Anyway, I hope all is well with you people who may still be checking here for news.

And so it goes

Tomorrow we leave PA for TN. I'm excited. You know, between exhaustion and insanity. I've been so busy with staff meetings and finishing grades and replacing lost items that I haven't had time to pack or do laundry. Yesterday I realized that I would need to get something to put my things in. Since my trusty duffel bag, which I received for eighth grade graduation, was stolen. And that was pretty much the only luggage I owned. Sure Michael has some, but I don't like suitcases. So I went to TJ Maxx and got a new duffel bag. It's not as big. And it doesn't have as many pockets. And I don't like it as much. But it does have wheels. So there is an upside.

I like shopping. But shopping to replace things that you already owned is not as fun. I'm standing in the store, looking at the jeans I bought three days before and thinking, "Do I really want to buy these again? Do I have a choice, since those were the only jeans that fit me?" Yeah. Not as fun. Same with shorts, shirts, shampoo and conditioner, make up, curling iron, hair dryer... you get the idea. I have a lot of stuff that looks like stuff I used to have.

We have a thousand dollar deductible on our renters' insurance. So no luck there. But I'm past the anger and on to the acceptance. Yep, it sucks, but you should have a bathing suit. Even if you already bought this bathing suit a month ago.

Anyway, I live in America and never had to seriously worry about where my next meal was coming from, so I'm fat and rich. And this is not the end of the world.

So staff meetings are basically done, we gather for worship tomorrow and say adios and hit the road. But first I must conduct an inventory of the library (yes, that includes counting every book), and cleaning up and doing whatever it takes for me to feel okay about being gone for two months. Then the long drive and staff week officially starts Sunday.

That's what she said.

Apparently being a sponsor on senior class trip involves:

A. Not getting much sleep because you have to check all the kiddies into their rooms every night and then go hunt down the ones that aren't in their rooms. Then you have to wake up early to be at the bus to go on the excursion of the day. My body cannot handle this anymore, which explains why I'm sick now.

B. Getting your luggage stolen because you were trying to give out room assignments and keys. Therefore, at a great cost to yourself, you must replace all your clothes, toiletries, cosmetics, underwear, swimsuits, etc. So this vacation turned out to be much more expensive than anticipated. And I lost some of my favorite clothes. I cried about it and now I'm going shopping with money I shouldn't be spending. And they don't even pay me to be a sponsor.

C. An otherwise pretty good time. Busch Gardens was fun and I enjoyed the roller coasters a lot. As always.


Now comes graduation. And inventory of everything in the library. That's a whole lot of book counting. And grading the rest of my students' papers. And staff meetings.

I'm tired.

Oh, what's the point?

We got yearbooks today. Mine has my name engraved on a little metal plaque. It looks really cool. And they told me that only special people get their names on plaques. So I felt special. I squealed a little. Now I want to ask my workers to sign my yearbook, but it seems to juvenile. Maybe Michael will sign mine.

Speaking of Michael, he was born 24 years ago today. He actually doesn't want people to call him. Seriously, he told me this earlier today. So maybe email him. My point is: I love him and he's awesome and he's a great husband. For instance: he always does the dishes for me because he knows I hate it. Even though he hates it too. And he's really patient with me when I'm crazy and neurotic, which happens a lot. Like yesterday I had a little anxiety attack and huddled under a blanket for a few minutes and cried. And Michael just calmly made me a sandwich so that at least I wouldn't be hungry when I was done with my panic attack. So those are just two of the things that make Michael wonderful to me. I'm sure you have your own reasons for loving him. There are many. Pick one and email him about it. Or just email him to say hello.

In other news, I taught my last class yesterday. It was a very exciting moment. Now I just have 40 some papers to grade and I'm done! And I failed someone. That was like an adult moment. Let them be responsible for cheating and not turning in their work all semester. Not be nice and let them pass when they don't deserve it. I wasn't a pushover. I feel a little proud about it and a little horrified. Last week I stood up to some parents who called and wanted me to change their daughter's grade just because she was sad about it. And I stood my ground. I was proud of myself. But when I write it all down like this I think I sound like a horrible person. Still, it felt good not to get steam-rolled over.

On Sunday we leave for Virginia Beach. Should be an exciting time. Busch Gardens and the beach and a dinner cruise and all sorts of merriment. Or something. We'll see. Then graduation, staff meetings and heading south for the summer. Items are being checked off the list, slowly but surely.

Amen.

Nothing at all

So there's a lot of stuff going on here, but not a lot to tell about. It's like in high school when your teachers gave you busy work just to keep you quiet. (Something I hated, but now, I'm pretty sure I do it.)

Basically, Michael and I are running around keeping busy, with nothing much to show for it.

We had spring picnic this week, so a lot of the kids are more colorful than I have seen them before. Particularly in shades of red and pink.

We're going to this leadership summit for the weekend at CUC or somewhere near there. I'm a bit fuzzy on the details. I'm not sure what all it entails, but I know Ben Carson is speaking, which I think is very cool. Also, we had to buy another sleeping bag because we only had one and who knows where we'll be "sleeping". I don't think there will actually be a lot of rest. But who knows, I could happily be proved wrong.

There is lots of grading going on. And I only have two more days of classes. I am unreasonably happy about that. I'm going to try to not have my classes held while I'm away on senior class trip. Because I'd really just show a video anyway, and the students would rather stay in bed, and I'd rather not appear to be an amateur. So maybe no one has to know... We'll see.

We graduated two years ago. I don't know how that happened. Time's flown by so fast. And soon we'll be celebrating our two year anniversary. I don't know how that happened either. I want time to slow down a bit so that I can remember everything and not get old and sick and die.

Which leads into my other topic: my grandma is not doing well. She fell twice last week and didn't remember it. Broke her clavicle, had to go to the hospital. Didn't know where she was or why she was there. She's in a rehab center now but will almost certainly never live on her own again. It's just horrible to watch her diminish and die. Basically. When she was admitted to the hospital the doctor asked what her diagnosis was and how long it had been since she was diagnosed. My aunt told him it had been more than a year and he was surprised because most people with her diagnosis die within 18 months. So it looks as though we may be near the end. I can't remember her diagnosis, but it's similar to Alzheimer's, but much faster, and you lose control of some automatic functions, like swallowing, so many people with the disease die from choking or suffocation. And that's awful. So if you could keep her and my aunt, especially, in your prayers, I would appreciate it. Just for peace and for maybe some lucid days to help everyone cope.

Excuses, excuses

So it's been school spirit week here. Which was really just an excuse for me to wear jeans to work. So let it be said, so let it be done. When I was in academy, I never thought about whether or not my teachers wanted to wear jeans everyday. Now I know. Some of us do, and some of us would rather wear a suit and tie every day and also, make all the students wear suits and ties. Well, not the girls. They should be made to wear turtlenecks and skirts down to their toes. Guess which category I'm in?

The weather has been fantastic. Mid to upper sixties. It's good to wear jeans and short sleeves, which is perfect. I'm not yet quite ready for summer. Maybe because winter was brutal and lasted so long, I just want something between the two extremes. Lots of things are blooming, lilacs have just started. They are amazing.

All kinds of busyness is going on here. Last weekend: alumni. This weekend: homeshows for all touring groups. Next weekend: leadership summit. The following weekend we leave on Senior class trip. The following weekend: graduation. The following weekend: we drive to Tennessee to start camp on June 2nd.

When I look at that schedule I want to cry, but I know I'll get everything done. One way or another. Most likely by avoidance, procrastination, then panic. That is how I trained myself to deal with stress.

An awesome thing: I only have five more classes to teach this year. Amazing. I don't know how this happened, but I love the A/B day schedule.

The end.

Confession

Last night Leslie called me. I looked at my cellphone and didn't recognize the number so I didn't pick it up because I didn't want to take another student to Taco Bell. So as I listened to the voice message, I panicked because it was Leslie calling me. And I accidentally pushed delete in my rush to try to call her back. But my phone hadn't saved her number because I opened the phone to look at the number then closed the phone without answering the call. And when I do that my phone doesn't save the number. I was stupefied (or just stupid). I screamed "NO!" all Monica-esque when she accidentally recorded her message as the outgoing message on Richard's answering machine. (You know what I'm talking about?) Then I wept silently because I missed the call because of my own retardedness. And because I miss Leslie. So I hope Leslie reads this and gets a laugh and someday tries to call me again.

The latest

Avenue Q was hilarious. And inappropriate. And hilarious. Picture me laughing with my mouth wide open in shock at some of the things they said (and did). Oh my word. My favorite song: Everyone's a Little Bit Racist Sometimes

Also, New York cheesecake was, again, amazing.

I think I would like to live in New York for about a month and a half. Get to see everything I want to see and then get the heck out of there before global warming floods Manhattan. (I might even venture into Brooklyn if I lived there for awhile.)

In other happenings: it's beautiful here. I feel so happy all the time because it's warm outside and it's wonderful to be not in the house. I feel like a better person when it's nice outside. Also, the trees are starting to get green on the mountain. Right now it's just the trees at the bottom of the mountain. Ground level. The ones up higher are still looking winterish and drab. Grape Hyacinth are growing randomly in my backyard. Just all over the place. Noone could have planted them there. They're just there. And it makes me happy. I saw tulips blooming today. And the blooming trees are all blooming. I feel full.

Coming soon: alumni weekend. I am not looking forward to this. I think they should hold it somewhere else. Rent a big room somewhere. As it is, we have a lot of cleaning and preparing to do in the library (and everywhere else) this week. Bleh. Still, not annoying enough to keep me from feeling happy about life in general and the weather in specific.

News

I'm posting two days in a row. There must be something wrong, right?

Actually, not at all. We just found out that the school that we were supposed to interview at filled the position without interviewing Michael or calling to tell us that they'd filled the position. So we're staying here. And I feel really good about it. I've just kind of been in limbo for a month or more, not knowing how much I should commit to students and staff here and feeling stressed about it. Then the other school was unprofessional and inconsiderate and I feel happy about staying. So there's relief.

I'm glad because I'll be able to keep going to Broadway shows. I'll be able to make relationships for more than one year, so there's a good possibility for better friendships. I'm glad because I like the students here. (At least most of the time.) I'm glad because I like the administration. There are lots of good things. (I'm ignoring the weather, for the time being.) And I'm glad because I'll get to spend the summer near my family anyway. I'm glad because I'll sleep better now, without that hanging over my head.

That, my friend, is what you call closure.

That which is up

There's snow today. When I looked out the window this morning, the top half of the mountain was white. The bottom half was brown. I was drawn to stare at it like you do when there's an accident on the road. It was terrible to see, but I couldn't look away. Now there's this wet snow blowing in my ears whenever I go outside. I can't see the mountain anymore because of the clouds.

Other than that, things are pretty good. Friday night we went to a Jars of Clay concert, for which Burlap to Cashmere opened. That was my favorite part. And the encore for Jars of Clay was good. They sang quite a few old songs, which are the ones I know anyway. Another band played inbetween. Need To Breathe. Never heard of them. And I still don't know what they sing because they were so loud that I couldn't understand any of the words.

Sunday I ventured out to the outlet malls in Lancaster. Banana Republic, Gap, Skechers, Nine West, J. Crew, Pottery Barn and many, many more. And all I bought were some Harry & David truffles and a gift for my mother-in-law.

I'm looking forward to time off soon and catching up on sleep and maybe cleaning my house. Probably playing games with friends. So good times, basically.