Came complete with phone calls galore. It was damn foggy out - literally all day.
But I managed to get a package sent, and buy a ton of frozen meals. I love cooking - but it's no fun if you are just cooking for yourself. Besides, getting all the necessary ingredients is the same if not more than the frozen meals. I think I should be set for a little while - well at least until my Lunchables run out. Yes, yes - I eat lunchables. But I get the Deli Select style lunchables with actual lunch meat, none of that processed stuff.
I didn't get much done in way of school work - I got a journal entry done for my internship and am getting some laundry finished now. So I guess the day has been productive. Thankfully I have another two days left.
As for the thoughts from yesterday, it seems like the district is going to have a shortfall in the budget next year. The plan is - that the district is thinking about taking away our PLC time to cover for it (essentially we go from teaching 5 classes to 6 classes a day). In the PLC time, the teachers are able to get in all the training sessions (like sexual harrassment), discuss things like career clusters, diversity, NCA, and do student interventions. I have a feeling that if they take it away, there goes my job. I'm not the only person with that feeling either. I don't intend on posting much more than that for now. But it would be such a waste to have gone through all this extra schooling, get my certificate, then not have a job next year. Oh well, I'm sure I could find something else with which to bide my time.
Random - We have a Netflix subscription. We have been holding on to Be Kind Rewind for a while, and I actually got around to watching that today. Not a big fan of Jack Black in some of his other movies, but this one was actually really good. A little goofy, but really cute. I am trying to fill up my queue with movies but I have not been paying attention to movies at all. Needless to say, I have no clue what to watch. The next three movies are The Hangover, UP, and The Ugly Truth. Any other movies I should add to my list (I think we only saw New Moon, and Harry Potter in the theater - oh and Star Trek)?
Day 7
One whole week is gone. I feel drained on all levels. I hit 9 pm tonight and was ready to pass out. This week has been enlightening on so many levels....
I have a a couple of couples in my classes. i was going to share the absurd story of the couples, but i thought better of it. But it is in fact a crazy story. And sad too.
I had a student whole called me totally incompetent last semester and got switched out of my class. This student is back in my class again- the first words out of their mouth- "Ms. G, you are like my favorite teacher here". She was dead serious. Short term memory strikes again- believe me, I was at a loss for words.
Andy is finally settled in Iraq. If you want to send mail, you can do that now. I plan on sending a package this weekend.
Silly me for starting this so late- I think I will have to finish the thoughts tomorrow.
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
Day 4
This is post a Cry - Fest.
Mom left today. I cried halfway to work (it's a short drive from the Manhattan airport to MHS). I pulled myself together - all before 7 am. I put in a full day of work - cause today it wasn't teaching, it felt like work. Andy called at lunch time for a few minutes. :o) I still had 2 more periods left to go in the day.
Made it okay through the end of the day. Managed to get my papers graded while still at school. Left at 4. Picked up some milk on the way home. Remembered to put out the garbage for pick up. I had high hopes for the evening - but it has gone the way of the dodo. I will give myself this day - I will pick up tomorrow, try to be more upbeat and productive.
Still in the process of buying something huge - after this is over I can tell all if shopping really does make one feel better.
Mom left today. I cried halfway to work (it's a short drive from the Manhattan airport to MHS). I pulled myself together - all before 7 am. I put in a full day of work - cause today it wasn't teaching, it felt like work. Andy called at lunch time for a few minutes. :o) I still had 2 more periods left to go in the day.
Made it okay through the end of the day. Managed to get my papers graded while still at school. Left at 4. Picked up some milk on the way home. Remembered to put out the garbage for pick up. I had high hopes for the evening - but it has gone the way of the dodo. I will give myself this day - I will pick up tomorrow, try to be more upbeat and productive.
Still in the process of buying something huge - after this is over I can tell all if shopping really does make one feel better.
Day 1
First- thanks for being supportive. I really need to thank my mom who flew out to help with this whole start of deployment. I made it through day 1- a lot of stopping, checking myself, and deep breathing. Silvio spent some time this morning on the hunt for Andy. That made me quite sad.
I think I can do this- so long as I don't get myself in a tizzy while teaching. My goal- no breakdowns at work. First test of this will be when mom heads back east and I really am by myself.
I think a shopping spree might be in order... We will see what I end up getting.
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
Sad
Another deployment has begun. I feel so sad, tired, exhausted, overwhelmed, and anxious. On top of everything else, I picked up a cold during this first week back at school. I don't feel like I have the energy to feel all of these feelings.
But the upside was that the weather provided me time off to spend with Andy. So I suppose that I shouldn't complain about the sub-zero weather. It doesn't make up for everything that will get missed this year: all the spring semester teaching shenanigans, all those crazy holidays, our 2nd anniversary (here's to hoping the army will allows us to actually celebrate number 3 after separating us for the first two), hopefully getting my actual teaching license, teaching at CTC on post, our birthdays (again the army has taken more of those away then we have gotten to share), holidays, and the everday little things.
Well, I should try to sleep. At least work keeps me busy.
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
End of 2009
Well here I am staring down the start of a new year. I am a bit intimidated by it all. In just under 10 days, Andy will be gone for the duration of the year. That means I am stuck with handling everything with the new house, taxes, my job, the cars, shoot everything. One would think that I managed pretty darn well on my own while in graduate school. This should be a snap. Somehow, being out in Kansas, over 700 miles away from any sort of relations, seems so much more difficult.
I plan on sending lots of packages and hoping that family and relatives will send some too. I am excited to use Google's talk feature - hurray for video-conferencing. For right now, I know that most of his battle will be against the dreaded paperwork, but still I am frightened.
As for my expectations for myself for this year, the big one is to try not to be too much of a workaholic, get my exercise on, do some more knitting, and possibly try some new recipes (although with only 1 person in the house not sure how often that will be). I would like to explore more of Kansas as well but I would need to do all the driving myself :oP. Lastly, I hope that we can manage to sock away some money this year - I don't need much in way of food and shouldn't be doing too much shopping, although every now and again I get the urge.
That is about it. Not totally gung-ho about the new year but now super depressed either.
I plan on sending lots of packages and hoping that family and relatives will send some too. I am excited to use Google's talk feature - hurray for video-conferencing. For right now, I know that most of his battle will be against the dreaded paperwork, but still I am frightened.
As for my expectations for myself for this year, the big one is to try not to be too much of a workaholic, get my exercise on, do some more knitting, and possibly try some new recipes (although with only 1 person in the house not sure how often that will be). I would like to explore more of Kansas as well but I would need to do all the driving myself :oP. Lastly, I hope that we can manage to sock away some money this year - I don't need much in way of food and shouldn't be doing too much shopping, although every now and again I get the urge.
That is about it. Not totally gung-ho about the new year but now super depressed either.
Fancy That...
I have yet again managed to forget entirely about my blog. Needless to say, I have been busy teaching. More worrying than teaching on most days.
I hope since I have gotten into a rhythm with school, that maybe just maybe I can manage my time a bit more judiciously. Also, I would like to keep a better record of my memories for the upcoming year. Andy is deploying again with the 1 ID Division Headquarters - so I will be by myself for well...I suppose a year. We will see how things play out.
I suppose the big update is that I only have two more classes left in the alternate route program - internship, and a survey on the "exceptional" child. For the internship this semester, I need to write up my Teacher Work Sample by April. Primarily, it is 25 pages (more pages than I think is necessary) of information about the school, the community, and my unit of teaching. I tried to play it smart and collect all of the data from a unit on triangles that took about 3 - 4 weeks. My problem is that it needs to get typed up and handed in during the middle of the school year. Why not ask for it to be completed during the summer semesters - when I do not have to spend a good majority of my time grading and creating lesson plans? Poo.
I also managed to get the Praxis PLT exam out of the way. Surprisingly enough, I came up with 12 essays in about 2 hours time. Trust me that is difficult seeing as I really could care less about any of the writing assignments I have to do for my classes. It also didn't help that I only spent 1 summer on the topics covered - compared to all the college students in the room who had 4 years of education classes under their belts. Score one for the home team.
I am somewhat sad now - our Christmas guests have left. It was fantastic to have everyone out for the holiday. I only wish that we had asked everyone to stay longer. We now have a quiet empty house and it doesn't really help my being productive for school. I have a couple of presentations to write and I would like to get about a week ahead on my lessons. Lots of fun I am sure.
Anyway - I plan to post my New Year's Resolutions tomorrow. I have a few I hope to keep. But I am going to spend one more day relaxing and then going out for a fancy dinner tonight at Harry's. Probably our last big date night out before the deployment. It should have been New Year's Eve reservations but we were late in calling. But tonight works fantastically.
I hope since I have gotten into a rhythm with school, that maybe just maybe I can manage my time a bit more judiciously. Also, I would like to keep a better record of my memories for the upcoming year. Andy is deploying again with the 1 ID Division Headquarters - so I will be by myself for well...I suppose a year. We will see how things play out.
I suppose the big update is that I only have two more classes left in the alternate route program - internship, and a survey on the "exceptional" child. For the internship this semester, I need to write up my Teacher Work Sample by April. Primarily, it is 25 pages (more pages than I think is necessary) of information about the school, the community, and my unit of teaching. I tried to play it smart and collect all of the data from a unit on triangles that took about 3 - 4 weeks. My problem is that it needs to get typed up and handed in during the middle of the school year. Why not ask for it to be completed during the summer semesters - when I do not have to spend a good majority of my time grading and creating lesson plans? Poo.
I also managed to get the Praxis PLT exam out of the way. Surprisingly enough, I came up with 12 essays in about 2 hours time. Trust me that is difficult seeing as I really could care less about any of the writing assignments I have to do for my classes. It also didn't help that I only spent 1 summer on the topics covered - compared to all the college students in the room who had 4 years of education classes under their belts. Score one for the home team.
I am somewhat sad now - our Christmas guests have left. It was fantastic to have everyone out for the holiday. I only wish that we had asked everyone to stay longer. We now have a quiet empty house and it doesn't really help my being productive for school. I have a couple of presentations to write and I would like to get about a week ahead on my lessons. Lots of fun I am sure.
Anyway - I plan to post my New Year's Resolutions tomorrow. I have a few I hope to keep. But I am going to spend one more day relaxing and then going out for a fancy dinner tonight at Harry's. Probably our last big date night out before the deployment. It should have been New Year's Eve reservations but we were late in calling. But tonight works fantastically.
Color Me Impatient
On Wednesday, I honestly believed that I had very few job opportunities. I had not received any communications from any applied to parties. But Thursday, later in the after I got not one but two job offers. The first was Central Texas College. They are in desperate need of Math faculty - most of their students are taking their math courses online. I am somewhat indifferent to the online course - but that is neither here nor there. The second was Manhattan High School. After speaking with Human Resources at the District, I will now be receiving a letter of intent from the district. I then have to sign and return it to them.
So what is the problem...today is probably the last day to get everything in order for my alternate route program. So I was hustling about to pay tuition for four classes this summer (yes four, I am masochistic, I know this), two of which begin on Monday. Yikes. Forget about textbooks. Lord knows, I probably won't see those show up until after I finish the courses. The good thing is that the courses are online. At least one of them is a math course - the rest are Edu courses. I am sure I will be putting off all of those writing assignments. Not entirely the best thing. Doing this leaves me with only 2 other courses to take in the upcoming year - one more ed class, and History of Math. Yes, History of Math - 1 credit. Hurray for me.
Anyway, I am excited to teach in the fall. It is a seven period day. In at 7:45 am and out at 2:52 pm. I have 1 prep, and 1 professional period. There will be four periods of Algebra 1 - not freshman. These will be sophomores who did not quite get it the first time around. What is nice about these classes is they will have a max of 15 - 20 students. No huge classes. My other period will be Geometry. The school is about 10 minutes from my house = nice commute. Plus it keeps Andrew and I on the same schedule - up early in the morning...I'll be home in the afternoon, and we have the evening to spend together.
Oh - Andy should be home sometime next week from California. Not sure when. I will hopefully find out in the next day or so. More important hope is that I don't go all crazy on him with schoolwork - like I am apt to do.
So what is the problem...today is probably the last day to get everything in order for my alternate route program. So I was hustling about to pay tuition for four classes this summer (yes four, I am masochistic, I know this), two of which begin on Monday. Yikes. Forget about textbooks. Lord knows, I probably won't see those show up until after I finish the courses. The good thing is that the courses are online. At least one of them is a math course - the rest are Edu courses. I am sure I will be putting off all of those writing assignments. Not entirely the best thing. Doing this leaves me with only 2 other courses to take in the upcoming year - one more ed class, and History of Math. Yes, History of Math - 1 credit. Hurray for me.
Anyway, I am excited to teach in the fall. It is a seven period day. In at 7:45 am and out at 2:52 pm. I have 1 prep, and 1 professional period. There will be four periods of Algebra 1 - not freshman. These will be sophomores who did not quite get it the first time around. What is nice about these classes is they will have a max of 15 - 20 students. No huge classes. My other period will be Geometry. The school is about 10 minutes from my house = nice commute. Plus it keeps Andrew and I on the same schedule - up early in the morning...I'll be home in the afternoon, and we have the evening to spend together.
Oh - Andy should be home sometime next week from California. Not sure when. I will hopefully find out in the next day or so. More important hope is that I don't go all crazy on him with schoolwork - like I am apt to do.
Article
My mom was featured in an article about cancer survivorship.
Article
I did not receive any communication about the possibility of teaching math in the Manhattan school district. I will spend next day formulating letter to withdraw from alternate route program - if I don't have income from the upcoming job, how can I expect to pay for the program. I guess I will go locate the nearest H & R Block to see if there are any chances available to me there.
Landscapers are coming tomorrow to put in beds and a patio. Keeping fingers crossed that the days remain precipitation-less.
Article
I did not receive any communication about the possibility of teaching math in the Manhattan school district. I will spend next day formulating letter to withdraw from alternate route program - if I don't have income from the upcoming job, how can I expect to pay for the program. I guess I will go locate the nearest H & R Block to see if there are any chances available to me there.
Landscapers are coming tomorrow to put in beds and a patio. Keeping fingers crossed that the days remain precipitation-less.
6 month boo boo
Oooops. Distracted is probably not the right word for this situation. Distracted implies a short amount of time where one's mind wanders from it's intended task. Forgotten is more appropriate. It would be poor of me to try to run down what happened over the past six months. I wouldn't be able to remember the important things, I am sure of that. But why don't I share the things that I do know:
- It has been quite a year. Yep, one whole year married. We've had lots of fun, and well some not so fun. Most of the not fun has been my doing - seeing as I freak out over the tiniest things - like packing, and travelling, Silvio, and the fact that I have no control over what the Army tells Andrew to do. It has been a slow acclimation. I report that I am still working on it - but I hope that Andy thinks I am doing better than before.
- Silvio is one whole year old as well. He has learned sit and stay (most of the time), and can perform down but only if there is food around. His most favorite activity is chewing the carpet. I have spent so much time ripping my hair out trying to find activities for him other than chewing the carpet. A Petco has just opened up here - so once they have a trainer, I plan on signing Silvio up for the classes.
- Both sets of parents have come to visit us in our new home (which I love by the way). It was fantastic having them down. They have managed to drop off a bunch of things for us. Needless to say I must find some more bookcases and the like.
- I am trying to find a job. I would love to teach. Unfortunately, I don't have that little sheet of paper which says it is okay to do so. You would think that a Master's degree in content area would make any high school happy. Heck even - 5 years of teaching in the highschool/collegiate level. Nope it's that darn piece of paper - thwarts me at every turn. I had an interview on Friday. It went fairly well. I won't know until Wednesday if I finagled myself in the door. If I get a no, I think I might just drop out of alternate route program. It's silly here in Kansas - no certificate, no job - but no job offer, no continuation of program to obtain certificate. My back up is that I could always adjunct teach with Central Texas College on Fort Riley. They don't need that piece of paper. But I am sure I could find other ways to fill my time....
- Andy is away at the National Training Center for another week and a half. While he is away I vowed to get into an exercising regimen. Why you ask - I tried on my bridesmaid dress for Suzer's wedding. It fit with quite a bit of help. I guess all that cooking has gone all to my waist. So after each workout I have been weighing myself to make sure I am making progress. I know this will sound crazy but I have been hovering around 122- 125. That is actually the highest I have ever been. But this morning after a couple of weeks the scale read 118. So I am happy with my progress but have a couple more pounds to shed by the end of next month. It helps that I take Silvio out a couple of times a day for little walks - gets me outside too.
- Not to much else to report from Kansas. It is hot - already made it into the 90s. Can not wait for the lanscapers to put some trees in our yard so we can get some shade. Looking forward to a trip to Disney World - Andy's first trip. It will be nearly 2 years since my last trip. Crazy!!!
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