??

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.  :)