So far in 2012...

My second semester of school starts tomorrow.  We had a teacher work day today, and tomorrow all the kids come back.  I'm not yet used to the regular world--I'm not sure I'm in the real world, so I'm calling mine the regular world--because my brain is still in vacation mode.  What I mean is that in the "real world," which is what I'm calling the place filled with people not involved in some sort of academia, there is no winter break (how tragic!), and in the "regular world," there's a short winter break.  However, in the college world, winter break is much, much longer, and that's certainly the best kind of break.  Alas, I'll just be happy to have any break at all.  :)

Do you or did you ever wonder what teachers do on work days?  Would you believe me if I said we didn't do anything productive at all?  Or if I said that we spend the whole time talking about what we did on our breaks?  Would you?  Yes?  Then I'd definitely shock you if I said we had a staff meeting, planned out the upcoming days (or weeks!), straightened up our rooms and made copies, right?  Cause that's what we did today.  Does that spoil the mystery or romanticism of it?  Sorry.  I suppose.  Can you believe how many questions I asked in this paragraph?

House hunting is still the suck.  We're tired of looking all over the internet and all over town, tired of being disappointed that the reality doesn't match up to the expectations created by the pictures, tired of living in an apartment under noisy neighbors and with neighbors who can't figure out that the trash bag goes in the dumpster not next to it, tired.  *Sigh*  But, look we must.

Jay started a new work schedule yesterday/today.  Instead of five eight-hour work days a week, he now works four ten-hour days.  He proposed this schedule to his bosses, and they've allowed him to pilot it for the first semester quarter (oops!  businesses in the real world don't have semesters!).  Today was his first day of this new schedule, so we'll see how it goes.

Yesterday we both had the day off, so we ran some errands and ate lunch together and went shopping--Jay finally got rid of his homeless  man shoes and bought some new ones!  Huzzah!  No more hole-riddled shoes!  (Thanks, Diana, for the great birthday present!) 

Happy new year from ours to yours!