Shoes & Movies

I'm updating within a week!  Woo!!

I have spent the week doing all kinds of things, and I really can't remember what.  Nothing terribly exciting has happened, I guess. 

My feet have been hurting lately, and it's not because I've been wearing heels--I've only been wearing flats.  My first week at observing I tried to wear heels twice, and I've not tried since.  I have, however, been paying for those two days since.  How do women wear heels on a regular basis?  How is it possible to not want to chop your own feet off after a day of super-cute-but-super-uncomfortable shoes??  I watched a news segment on them today, and about the damage they can cause, but the "expert" only talked the length of the song "These Boots Were Made for Walking," and he primarily talked about how good women's butts look because of heels.  Very useless news-watching experience. 

 As I write this, Jay and I are watching The Graduate, and it's pretty darn boring.  I think we're going to stick through the whole thing, but I'm not enjoying it much.  We'll see.

??

For me, coming up with the title of the entry is always the hardest part.  I usually have plenty to say--both online and in-person, as I'm sure you know--just not plenty of clever ideas with which to title what I'm saying.  Perhaps that's because I think a title should be all-encompassing and I talk too much about about too many things?  Maybe I should follow what I'm learning how to teach students: use the writing process (pre-write, draft, revise, edit, publish).  Maybe?

Outline of What I Want to Talk About

• School This Week
• UNT--Tuesday
• BMS
• Monday
• Friday
• Softball This Week
• Trivia
• Mom-in-law's Birthday
• NOT on Wednesday (OOPS!)
• Cookies
• Lunch
• Gangs
• Game Night
• Today (really quick)

There, I think that should suffice as the pre-write.

This week at school has been pretty busy.  Tuesday was my long day, as usual, and it was lo-oo-oo-oo-ng (imagine that pathetically being said in several exaggerated syllables).  I went to pick up my carpool buddy as usual, but I had to leave earlier because I was staying at my parents' house for the week.  I got up extra early and left on time to get to her apartment by seven.  When I was a little over half-way there, she texted me to say that she wasn't feeling well and would be staying home for the day.  Darn.  I'd gotten up super early and driven over there for nothing.  But wait!  I had checks to deposit--the last paychecks from my summer job--and the bank was right there!  Perfect!  So what I thought was going to be a crummy thing turned out to be great.

After the bank, I went to school and arrived there at around 7:15--my class doesn't start until 8:00.  Fortunately, though, I was able to use this time productively; I worked on a group assignment I had completely forgotten about and got pretty darn far on it.  We were able to finish it up in class, and that was awesome.  We'll present our cross-curricular lesson plan Tuesday.  Sweet.

Went to all the classes Tuesday, and they were just... boring.  The best part about Tuesday was going to IHOP.  Did you know that they serve eggs Benedict?  And that they're awesome?  Also, did you know that eggs Benedict are named--according to my Betty Crocker Cookbook I was reading today--after a couple who frequented a restaurant and complained that there was nothing new on the menu?  Yeah.  They whined about it, so the restaurant created the dish just for them, and then named it after them.  I think I'll try this out.  ;)

This week at BMS I did some teacher-y stuff, too.  On Monday I created a rubric for the character cubes the students made.  Then, on Friday, I spent pretty much the whole day grading them according to said rubric--and I didn't even get them all graded!  It took forever!  (They took a test on Friday, so I didn't have much help or assistance to offer the students, so I helped Mr. C.)  I didn't say anything regrettable or embarrassing this week, so that's a plus.  Definitely more conscious of what I say before I say it these days, or at least I'm trying to be.

Softball this week was nothing special.  The team didn't get run ruled, and we're all thankful for that.  The weather was nice, and we're all thankful for that, too.  What we're not especially thankful for are the mosquitos.  I'd be okay without them.  But did you know that only the female mosquito bites?  She needs the blood to help produce eggs.  I learn all kinds of things.

Wednesday is softball, then Thursday is trivia.  We did that and I knew some answers, but not a great many.  We (well, the people on the team who actually answer the questions) went into the final round tied for second, but didn't place after the final question.  This keeps happening!  It's kind of frustrating, but it's also kind of alright--I like the socializing.

Yesterday morning I had a conference.  At eight.  Gross.  It lasted from eight to noon, and it wasn't terrible, but it wasn't fun, either.  It was required for one class and extra credit for two others, so it was worth going, but I would have rather slept in.  

As soon as the conference was over and I got back, Jay and I went to visit his mom in celebration of her birthday... which was not on Wednesday, as I thought it was.  I somehow got it in my head that it was Wednesday and was all set to call her, and then I found out that I'd missed it!  Talk about embarrassing.  But I still called on Wednesday, so hopefully I sort of made up for it?  Anyway, we went to Duncanville on Saturday and had lunch and brought cookies.  The cookies were SUPER delicious--Jay made them from our Martha Stewart cookie book--and I probably could have eaten about a dozen of them on my own... maybe more.  After lunch we hung out.  During said hanging out, we watched Gangland.  Wow. Kind of makes you want to stay in your house and never leave.  But I learned about some gangs, so that's good.

Finally, last night was also game night.  After we picked up my parents from the airport--which took FOREVER, by the way--we went to play games with my carpool buddy, her fiance, some other classmates, and James.  We played Trivial Pursuit: Team, Taboo, some Zombie game (which we didn't really play--the boys were much more interested in it than the girls were, so we ended up not getting very far in it--Sorry boys!), and Cranium: Wow You're Good edition. The girls won Trivial Pursuit and Taboo, but the boys beat us in Cranium.  :/  We'll get 'em next time.

Saturday was a really long day (we stayed out until past 1), but we had lots of fun.  I slept in today, so that was lovely.  What isn't lovely is the homework I have to do, but that's ever--present.  I am SO ready to be done with school.  SO ready.

So, there's the week, organized per the outline.  Has it made coming up with a title any easier?  No.  I'll try again next time.  (Maybe updating more than once a week would make the content more related, making the title easier to create.  Hmm.)

Happy weekend!

p.s.  We have our wedding pictures online from our photographer, so if you're interested in seeing them, I'll send you the link.  :)

Oh, Dee Dee.

Something quick: Jay and I are at my parents' tonight, and Dee Dee does not like if/when Jay and I kiss one another.  She barks, jumps and runs and grabs her toy (something she does when anyone in the house fights, as a way to get the attention off the violence?).  It's pretty darn funny.  :)

D'Oh!

I've dragged my feet on this long enough.  It's time to update--it's been over a week!

Honestly, I don't remember a whole lot about the week.  I have some funny stories from the middle school, though.  :)  Here's a good one: We're in the library so the students can check out and/or read a fiction chapter book.  A student comes up to me (keep in mind he's an eighth-grade boy) and says, "Miss, will this work?" I look down, and he's holding a comic book, so it won't work.  And this is what I tell him: "No, that is not long enough or hard enough; it will not work."

As soon as I said that, I wished the words could come back in the mouth!  I couldn't--still can't--believe I said that to a middle schooler!!  He, however, got upset that the book wouldn't work and just said, "Aww man!" and walked away.  So.  Relieved.

What did I learn from this?  I really need to think about what I'm going to say before I say it.  Yeah.  A work in progress, to say the least.

Other stories from the past week involve my speaking without thinking, but you'll have to ask me about that--I don't think I'm ready, for professional reasons, to write that out so openly yet.

A Reverse Recap

It's Sunday, and I'm feeling quite lazy; I certainly don't want to do any homework.

Jay and I have been staying at my parents' house and taking care of their dogs for the weekend while they're out of town--my parents are out of town, of course, not the dogs.  Today we came back from church to find that one of the dogs (I suspect Dee Dee) had gotten into the bathroom trash.  Saturday we came home to discover that they ate bread that was on the counter.  The bread they got into was from dinner last night: lemon & garlic chicken, parmesan pasta, green beans, and a fresh loaf of bread.  We thought all of dinner was delicious, and the dogs apparently liked the bread. 

Before that happened, however, I woke up at 5:30 to take my parents to the airport.  Do you know what outside looks like at 5:30am?  It's DARK.  I'm pretty sure even the moon is sleeping at that hour.  Once I got them to the airport, though, I came back to their house and went back to sleep.  So that was nice.  Then we met Brittany for lunch and the three of us saw Vampires Suck.  That movie follows the Twilight movies almost exactly, except there are jokes and mockeries you won't find in Twilight.  Jay was not thrilled to see it, saying that he prefers the Scary Movie series because they draw from several movies; watching Vampires Suck was like watching an even worse version of Twilight.  Meh.

On Friday, I went to my second day of student teaching/observing/interning/PDS I (Professional Development School I) at Bowie Middle School (different people call it by a different name, but they all mean the same thing).  I was much more interactive and active on Friday than I was on Wednesday.  On Friday, Mr. C had the majority of the students work on a context clues assignment while four or five students went to the back of the classroom for test remediation.  While he was re-teaching the test material to the students, I circulated the room and helped the students who were stuck (they were given a copy of Diary of  Wimpy Kid, and some of the words had been whited out and replaced with German words; the students were to use context clues to figure out what the German words mean) or not on task.  In this time, I told way too many students to stay in their seats and keep their hands to themselves, but they (mostly) got their work done in the end. 

After about the third class period, I went over to Mr. C and asked him if it was alright that I was circulating the room--he hadn't told me I could, hadn't asked me if I would, and hadn't thanked me because I did.  When I asked him about it, he was more than happy that I'd started to do that; at lunch, when we went to the teacher's lounge/workroom to get his lunch (mine was already in the classroom), he told another teacher what I had done: "Mrs. So-and-so"--I can't remember her name!--"do you know what Christine did today?"  Immediately, I thought, Oh crap, I stepped on his toes with this.  "She took it upon herself to walk around the room and help my kids.  It was fantastic!  I might ask to permanently have a second teacher in the room!"  It was really nice to hear that. 

During sixth period, I went and observed a science teacher's sixth grade classroom.  They did a very cool lab that was all about volume and measuring liquids.  I've never seen students more interested in science: not a single one was off task, goofing around, or bored.  It was amazing.  On my way back up to Mr. C's class for seventh period, I happened upon four boys in the hallway roughhousing.  One kid had another in a headlock, but everyone was laughing--including the kid in the headlock.  In my most authoritative voice, I loudly called, "Excuse me.  Is this where you're supposed to be right now?  I do not believe so."  The boys broke up really quickly and told me they were going to the bathroom; I made them go in one at a time.  When they came out of the bathroom, they practically ran to their classrooms.  It was awesome.

Later Friday night we went to Dave & Buster's to celebrate Katie's birthday (not my sister, for anyone thinking, Hey, her birthday is in December!).  We had lots of fun and won lots of tickets, but we gave them all to the birthday girl.  :D

In other news, it looks like Thursday is our new trivia night.  We went and played at II Charlies, just Jay, James, and me.  I knew one answer this week that the other two didn't, but most of the right answers (or any answers) came from James and Jay.  Going into the final question, we were in first place!!  Coming out the final question, though, we were in fourth.  :(  We didn't bet any points on our answer because we didn't know the answer, but it seems that three other teams did.  Oh well, there's always next week.

And there you have it: a reverse recap of Thursday through Sunday.  :)  Time to rest up before we go to dance class tonight.

Have a great one, y'all!

A Mixed Up Week

Since the last update, a delightful mix of nothing and awesome has happened.  Let's break it down.
Awesome: Jay and I were off work/school Friday-Monday. 
Nothing: What we did on those days (for the most part).  On Saturday or Sunday (I can't remember which day at this point), we slept in until 9:30 (me) and 10:30 (Jay).  It.  Was.  Glorious. 
Awesome: The pot roast my mom made Monday night.
Nothing: Tuesday night's trivia was canceled/postponed because the people Jay and I play with ("The Team") have scheduling conflicts with Tuesday night.
Awesome: We're rescheduling to tomorrow night.  :)
Nothing: The softball game last night was canceled...again.  In the fourth week of the season, this week was the third consecutive game to be canceled because of the weather.  Sweet?
Awesome: I did my first day of observation today.  I met my mentor teacher and stayed in all of his classes and even went to the departmental meeting.  It was a great day, very smooth, very easy.  I don't know if I did it right or not, if I took the right notes, if I was watching for the right thing, etc., but I do know that I didn't get in his way, so that's a plus.  :)  Also, he's really nice and is well-liked by the faculty, staff and students.  I'm excited to stay in his class for the year!

Awesome, right?

Cool Weather, Nice Dinner

Well, the softball game on Wednesday was rained out, so that was sort of a bummer for Jay and the team; that's two games in a row that have been called off due to rain.  Good news?  They didn't lose!  (Haha.)

After the rain on Wednesday, though, the weather has been absolutely lovely.  Today, I even got to drive with the windows down!  It did wonderful things to my hair, of course....

Jay and I both have four-day-weekends!  We're getting to spend lots of time together, like a mini-staycation.  :D  Thusly, today, Jay and I went to the Galleria because I had a Groupon to spend.  (Oh, if you don't know what that is, I'll tell you what I know: I bought $50 to Gap for only $25 out of pocket--I got $25 free!!  They have different deals all the time; check them out.) At the Galleria, we went to Gap so I could get shirts to wear with my new dress pants: super cute.  Jay replaced his flip flops, too.  We had a very successful morning.

Then we went to sign insurance papers (hold the cheers, please) at my mom's office, and then off to the grocery store.

We made tostadas... well, we heated up beans and put beans, cheese, lettuce and sour cream on tostada shells.  Wonderful.  Then Jay made what he calls "Poor Man's Sopapillas" by frying pieces of flour tortillas, topping them with cinnamon and sugar, and serving with a scoop of ice cream, all drizzled with a little bit of caramel.  AMAZING.

And now, we're enjoying the awesomeness that is Netflix.

...man, I sound like I'm being paid to endorse these companies.  Maybe I should look into that?

Quick Update

Yesterday was my first day of 8:00am to 8:20pm classes.  Yup, that'll be my Tuesday schedule for the semester.  It's solid classes from 8:00am until 1:50, then a break until 5:30 and back into a classroom I go.  Fortunately, I'm not the only one with this schedule.  There are (at least) two other girls I know with the exact same schedule, and we all get along well.  So we ate lunch together, then went to Target to kill time, where one of the girls bought the new "Apples to Apples Mod," which is pretty much the original version of "Apples to Apples" with a green dice instead of several green cards (you roll the dice, it shows a letter, you come up with a word that begins with that letter, and the other players play cards that they feel are appropriate for the word you selected).  We went back to campus and played that for a little while, then we went into class.

After class, because it was Tuesday, Jay came up to Denton and we went to play trivia.  We got our butts kicked.  Hard.  Did you know that the International Bowling Hall of Fame has moved?  Yeah, it has.  When the announcer asked the question, "Where is the International Bowling Hall of Fame?", I was so excited because that's an answer I know!!  "It's in St. Louis!!" I told my teammates.  We bet our max points on that, and smugly waited to hear that we were correct.  MUCH to my dismay and surprise, the announcer told us that it has moved--this year--to Arlington.  Arlington!  I was wrong!!  GAAAHHH.  Then, we ended up not getting a single question right in one of the rounds, missing bonus questions, and generally not doing well.  It was a sad night for trivia, but there's always next week.

Today, I took a picture of our china cabinet, and here it is:

Keep in mind that I'm no Ansel Adams, I'm just a girl with a digital camera--a totally sweet digital camera, though.  We, Jay and I, both agree that it's not a permanent solution and that we someday want a dining set with a real china hutch/cabinet, but it's working for now and fits in the room; fitting in the room is very important.  We might re-arrange the stuff inside, but right now we're both just happy to have it assembled and stocked and out of the way.

Jay has a softball game tonight, so I'm sure I'll update about that some time in afterwards. 

Hope all y'all (see that Texan in me?) have a great night!