Geschafft!

The week is over! Woo! Survival was a question at certain points; today was not so stellar, but who cares because it's Friday. All those report cards and lesson plans and laundry can wait until tomorrow, since I'm drained and not doing a thing tonight. That, and because procrastination is my religion.

Curriculum Night was yesterday, and I was (obviously) terrified. Dealing with kids is one thing; dealing with parents is another. My boss was making a big deal of this, since this is the school's first year and all the parents (especially the kindergarten parents) are really REALLY into their kids' education and want to know what's going on every minute of the day. Their kids aren't telling them anything and they haven't been in the classroom at all, so they've been on our backs pretty much nonstop. And by 'our', I mean 'her', because the parents don't come to me with any questions. Of course, that would be too easy! Instead, they ask everyone else involved in the school (admittedly, three people) what we're doing and why.

Anyway. I was nervous and had everything written on index cards and all that. To make a long story short, it was a success! Everyone left fairly satisfied, I could answer all the questions, and one parent even told me this morning that her husband said I did a great job. Yay! Plus, it's now over and one less thing I need to prepare.

Also, I've found an apartment! Basic one bedroom, hardwood floors, built-in cabinetry, on the third floor, in a great neighborhood. There's a grocery store down the street, a bar about two blocks in the other direction, and a movie theater about 4 blocks away. I'm going to sign papers tomorrow morning. A bit scary and very adult-like (I still don't feel quite old enough to have a real job and a real place of my own), but how exciting! Pictures to come, as soon as I move in (mid-November) and have a chance to take and post some.

See Spot fly

Dude, I am so tired. Does this ever get any better? At the moment, I've got lesson plans to do (standard), plus preparing a talk and handouts for Curriculum Night, plus figuring out how to set up my room so (a) it looks nice and (b) 25 grown adults fit on the circle time rug, plus report cards to start filling out, plus conferences to start preparing for. Gah. I just want to go to bed and sleep for a week...and it's only Tuesday!

So I'm keeping it short tonight, but have to share a great kid story: Two girls had found a ladybug and brought it into class. We put it into one of those jars with a magnifying lens on top. Everyone had a chance to look at the ladybug and then we put it on the windowsill for the duration of class. At the end, one girl wanted to keep it as a class pet, but I suggested letting it go outside (don't want to be held responsible for killing the ladybug). So as I let it out the window, two girls said 'Bye, Spot! Tschuess, Spot!'
And then one of them goes, 'Tschuess, Fleck!' ('spot' in German)

How cute and hilarious is that?

Phlegm-fueled post

Lovely, eh? I sound like Darth Vader and feel like I've got a grapefruit lodged in my trachea. Curse those germy kids. This all falls into the category of 'more than you needed to know', but if I can't get sympathy from you folks, who can I get it from?

The family's gone this weekend, so it's just the dog and me. Chilling out, watching Bravo. That's to make up for my training from 8 to 4 today, so I had to get up at 6.30 on a Saturday...heinous. What I do for this job, seriously. Tomorrow's dedicated to planning out the next unit: fall. If anyone has any great fall projects/games/activities/songs, let me know...you can earn my undying gratitude and a cookie.

I was attempting to post some photos from Salem here, but there seems to be no love between the camera and the computer. Guess it'll just have to wait until I have the energy to find the instruction manual.

And now back to our regular schedule of sitting around...

Weekend update

Did you miss me? Surely you did, since my consistently witty posts are the only thing worth getting on the Internet.

Right.

Anyway, I'm back! After a fabulous time in Salem and a looong work week, there's probably too much to write in one post, so I'll just do this randomly in bullet form:

• Salem was great! I've always wanted to go, and the four days there reminded me how much I would really like to live in New England. Just the history-filled atmosphere, the ocean, the excellent 17th- and 18th-century houses... okay, all of those sound like lame reasons but it's true.
• Salem is also a rather interesting little town; quite the mix of historical monuments and museums (Puritans, witch museums, old town hall) with new age-type stores (tarot readings, psychic places, handbooks on wicca). It also reminds me a bit of Wittenberg: cute small town that gets tons of tourists for one season out of the year but must be pretty dead otherwise.
• The Witching Hour conference was so fun! I actually didn't get to quite as many panels and discussions as I wanted to, due to sleeping late, but the ones that I did go to were interesting. But I felt kind of out of place, not having wizard robes or a Ravenclaw scarf (yes, I was sorted into Ravenclaw) or my own theories about who should hook up with whom in the books and what is going to happen in Book 7. People there were hard-core fans. It was great fun, but I don't think I'm going to the one in Vegas in 2006; don't have the money, and apparently an HP conference is not something that you just casually attend.
• Things that I bought in Salem: 'Save Ginny!' t-shirt from Harry and the Potters (band that played at the conference.. hilarious!); Gibraltars (America's oldest candy from America's first candy store); butter crunch; an umbrella (it rained nearly every day), admission to the Pirate Museum (arr!), the Witch Dungeon Museum, and the Witch History Museum; a pumpkin ale; and a Reuben.

I can't think of anything else at the moment, and it's time for lunch, so I'm off. How was your week?

Who's not going to school tomorrow?

Or Friday? Or Monday? Because she will be here? Oh happy day!

I've been taking lots of teasing for this, not to mention staying at school until almost 7.30 tonight, writing up lesson plans for a sub, but it'll be worth it. I get to see Heather and learn lots of stuff about Harry Potter and go to Salem.

Bring it on! (But not people in capes or wizard hats or things. That's a bit weird and scary.)

See you Monday or Tuesday, kids!

Phrases to put on a future resume

My laptop's battery is about to die, so I'll just share the ridiculous Advertising Slogan Generator with you. Idea shamelessly stolen from Heather, who shamelessly stole it from Jess. Thanks, you two!

Because So Much Is Riding On Your Bridget.
Today's Bridget, Since 1903.
Every Bridget Helps.
A Bridget Works Wonders.
Come See the Softer Side of Bridget.
The Joy of Bridget.
Moving at the Speed of Bridget.
Loves the Bridget You Hate. (err...what?)
Wear Bridget.
Bridget - The Freshmaker! (my personal favorite)
The Right Bridget at the Right Time.
Pardon Me, Do You Have Any Grey Bridget?
Strong and Beautiful, Just Like Bridget. (most flattering)

Things I saw at the Mall of America today

• H&M (pronounced the German way, of course) - How I missed you! Decent clothing and yet affordable...just wait till I get paid again.
• NY & Co. - the only place where I can buy jeans!
• An amusement park
• DSW - the biggest one I've ever seen
• A woman beating her husband/boyfriend/male companion with a Gap bag
• Legoland
• River of Life (or similarly-titled) church
• A wedding chapel - not related to the above-mentioned church
• Urban Outfitters - made me realize how un-trendy I really am. (shocking! hope you were sitting down for that observation)

Just the ground floor of two wings of the mall took me over two hours...nothing like buying stuff to counteract a stressful few days.