I Hate Meetings and <3 Shopping!
So, even though the students don't officially start until next Thursday, I went back to work today. Beh. I'm actually really looking forward to seeing my girls again, but there is nothing in the world I hate more than preparing for school to start. I hate doing prep. I'm the kind of teacher that would rather fly off the top of my head and go with the flow, which is very odd to those of my friends who know me as the control-freakish, hyper-organized one of our bunch. Lesson planning is literally the dullest thing in the world, but I have to do it because I'm splitting courses with Mary, one of the other two drama teachers at the school, this year, and she'll need my plans and I'll need hers. Mary is anal about putting things on paper, which is one of the reasons why we aren't exactly best friends. (The other reason is because she can be very tempermental about stupid little things and just has no idea how to adjust to changes or go with the flow, which is, IMHO, not exactly a great trait for a drama teacher.) She doesn't really know that, though. Heh. I like to hide my bitchy side when I'm at work.
The other thing I really, really hate about teaching, especially teaching at a private school, is meetings. OMG, there are soooooo many freaking meetings at private schools, because obviously, our kids are paying $19K to go to school, so we have to make sure everything is perfect so the parents don't complain. This morning's meeting was three freaking hours long. That, combined with the fact that I've been literally noctural over the summer and therefore got zero hours of real sleep last night, made for a not-so-fun time. The only fun part is that I got to see the brand-new middle school wing of the school, which is still under construction and is in a race against time to be ready for the first day of school, for the second time, and damn, it's gorgeous. I actually am pretty proud of the school in general - the senior school was build off the foundations of an old house and was newly refurbished over the summer - but the middle school wing takes the cake. It's not only lovely, but is also super-high tech, with SmartBoards (white boards that you write on and everything you write is instantly downloaded into a computer network) in most of the rooms, and - joy! bliss! - a brand-new drama studio, so I don't have to teach in the freaking auditorium and kill my voice all the time, like I had to last year. I get to move into my new office tomorrow! Whee!
After the meeting, I had two hours to kill before our next meeting, so I went out to run some "errands". Basically, I was in search of used copies of various CDs, such as the original London cast recording of Les Miz and the Canadian cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera, since, strangely enough, I only had them on tape. I not only found those, but also the Broadway cast recording of Les Miz, and since they were all used and cheap!, I decided I needed that, too. I didn't find a copy of Miss Saigon yet, though. Hm.
While I was walking along Yonge going into the various used CD stores, I decided to wander into a few other places as well. And, um, I went shoe shopping! I bought these in dark pink (I don't know why the colour isn't listed on the website), and then I decided I had to have these, too, because, like, they're cute and pink and match the outfit I happen to have on today. *thumbs up!*
Then, while I was in Book City (one of the few book chains in the country that has not been taken over by the eville that is Heather Reisman), I was browsing the remaindered books tables and came across a lovely, fat hardcover copy of The Classic Cookbook, which is really two books in one - The Cook's Bible and The Dessert Bible by Cook's Illustrated founder Christopher Kimball. I had to have it, because the two separate books alone are like, $30 each, and the combined book was $19.99! I am such a geeky foodie sometimes. Then, I found a hardcover copy of Dave Eggers' absolutely brilliant semi-autobiography, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, for $7.99, and I had to have that, too. (It's absolutely wonderful, btw. Everyone should read it, and should also read his completely cracked-out novel You Shall Know Our Velocity!.) Finally, to top it off, I found a copy of the extremely rare, extremely hard to find Noel Streatfeild children's novel Party Shoes, part of the Shoes collection of which the most famous is obviously the classic Ballet Shoes. I lurrrrrrve Noel Streatfeild's books and snap them up whenever I can find them, so obviously, I bought this one to add to my collection. Books are so beautiful. I love them. *happy sigh*
So yeah. I kind of went on a shopping spree and spent more money that I should've. *sheepishly* Oh, well!
OOH!!!! While I'm talking shopping, here is fantastic news for everyone who <3s to shop!!! GUESS WHAT'S COMING TO THE EATON CENTRE IN NOVEMBER?! Sephora!!!! You cannot imagine how excited I am about this. Not only is the H&M flagship about to open around that time, but gahhhh, Sephora! I am dying with joy. Also, this totally proves that T.O. is the Centre of the Universe.
As a totally random note, I was struck with the cuuuutest first person Krockfic idea (first person from both, it switches perspectives on and off) last night and EEEE, it's gonna be teh cute. This means I now have four more Krockfics in progress - Rent!fic (a.k.a. Kalan has a minor nervous breakdown fic), NotRatedG!Fic (it's not what you think, shut up!), Church!Fic (oh-so-subtlely controversial?) and now the FirstPerson!Songfic! (it's only sort of songfic, I think). Damn. They keep eating my brayn and I don't know how to stop them.
I also think it's super hilarious how ci_slash has, like, divided itself into cliques and people in one clique totally avoid anything written by those in the other, and there are only a few newbies who cross over. I also enjoy how every single possible CI2 pairing is listed in the community interests except for Krock. HEEEEEE!!!
And that is all for my rambling today. Yes, I am very bored, stuck downtown in between meetings at work and the CI taping tonight. They'd better not mess up the standards, yo. That is all.
The other thing I really, really hate about teaching, especially teaching at a private school, is meetings. OMG, there are soooooo many freaking meetings at private schools, because obviously, our kids are paying $19K to go to school, so we have to make sure everything is perfect so the parents don't complain. This morning's meeting was three freaking hours long. That, combined with the fact that I've been literally noctural over the summer and therefore got zero hours of real sleep last night, made for a not-so-fun time. The only fun part is that I got to see the brand-new middle school wing of the school, which is still under construction and is in a race against time to be ready for the first day of school, for the second time, and damn, it's gorgeous. I actually am pretty proud of the school in general - the senior school was build off the foundations of an old house and was newly refurbished over the summer - but the middle school wing takes the cake. It's not only lovely, but is also super-high tech, with SmartBoards (white boards that you write on and everything you write is instantly downloaded into a computer network) in most of the rooms, and - joy! bliss! - a brand-new drama studio, so I don't have to teach in the freaking auditorium and kill my voice all the time, like I had to last year. I get to move into my new office tomorrow! Whee!
After the meeting, I had two hours to kill before our next meeting, so I went out to run some "errands". Basically, I was in search of used copies of various CDs, such as the original London cast recording of Les Miz and the Canadian cast recording of The Phantom of the Opera, since, strangely enough, I only had them on tape. I not only found those, but also the Broadway cast recording of Les Miz, and since they were all used and cheap!, I decided I needed that, too. I didn't find a copy of Miss Saigon yet, though. Hm.
While I was walking along Yonge going into the various used CD stores, I decided to wander into a few other places as well. And, um, I went shoe shopping! I bought these in dark pink (I don't know why the colour isn't listed on the website), and then I decided I had to have these, too, because, like, they're cute and pink and match the outfit I happen to have on today. *thumbs up!*
Then, while I was in Book City (one of the few book chains in the country that has not been taken over by the eville that is Heather Reisman), I was browsing the remaindered books tables and came across a lovely, fat hardcover copy of The Classic Cookbook, which is really two books in one - The Cook's Bible and The Dessert Bible by Cook's Illustrated founder Christopher Kimball. I had to have it, because the two separate books alone are like, $30 each, and the combined book was $19.99! I am such a geeky foodie sometimes. Then, I found a hardcover copy of Dave Eggers' absolutely brilliant semi-autobiography, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, for $7.99, and I had to have that, too. (It's absolutely wonderful, btw. Everyone should read it, and should also read his completely cracked-out novel You Shall Know Our Velocity!.) Finally, to top it off, I found a copy of the extremely rare, extremely hard to find Noel Streatfeild children's novel Party Shoes, part of the Shoes collection of which the most famous is obviously the classic Ballet Shoes. I lurrrrrrve Noel Streatfeild's books and snap them up whenever I can find them, so obviously, I bought this one to add to my collection. Books are so beautiful. I love them. *happy sigh*
So yeah. I kind of went on a shopping spree and spent more money that I should've. *sheepishly* Oh, well!
OOH!!!! While I'm talking shopping, here is fantastic news for everyone who <3s to shop!!! GUESS WHAT'S COMING TO THE EATON CENTRE IN NOVEMBER?! Sephora!!!! You cannot imagine how excited I am about this. Not only is the H&M flagship about to open around that time, but gahhhh, Sephora! I am dying with joy. Also, this totally proves that T.O. is the Centre of the Universe.
As a totally random note, I was struck with the cuuuutest first person Krockfic idea (first person from both, it switches perspectives on and off) last night and EEEE, it's gonna be teh cute. This means I now have four more Krockfics in progress - Rent!fic (a.k.a. Kalan has a minor nervous breakdown fic), NotRatedG!Fic (it's not what you think, shut up!), Church!Fic (oh-so-subtlely controversial?) and now the FirstPerson!Songfic! (it's only sort of songfic, I think). Damn. They keep eating my brayn and I don't know how to stop them.
I also think it's super hilarious how ci_slash has, like, divided itself into cliques and people in one clique totally avoid anything written by those in the other, and there are only a few newbies who cross over. I also enjoy how every single possible CI2 pairing is listed in the community interests except for Krock. HEEEEEE!!!
And that is all for my rambling today. Yes, I am very bored, stuck downtown in between meetings at work and the CI taping tonight. They'd better not mess up the standards, yo. That is all.