a few things i thought you might care to know
- my dog died. autumn was prettymuch the bestest puppy ever. his mooing and ability to jump off the diving board will be missed. also, i think we're going to have to buy my mom a new favorite child, and soon, because with both kj and i in college, i'm genuinely afraid of her dying of lonliness. god forbid.
- today is my glorious day off. i'm supposed to get my life in order, go grocery shopping, organize, go to the gym, etc. so far i have overslept, watched bad tv, and eaten two very large bowls of cereal. damnit.
- tomorrow i get some of the answers to my questions. i still don't know what grades my students will be in, what periods i teach, exactly how long the periods really are, what it is my SSS class is supposed to be reading, what time school actually starts in the morning, etc. also, i find orientation/training to be tedious, but ridiculously necessary. i'm oddly comforted by at least now knowing 60% of what i don't know. at least the lack of information is no longer infinite. i hope that made sense.
- i really want my own place. i like it here at joe's, a lot, but my room is tiny. i have it really organized and stuff, which saves my sanity, but all of my extra storage, not to mention my desk area, is hiding behind a large couch. this causes a bit of a problem whenever i need, well, just about anything, really.
- i'm worried about my commute. it shouldn't be much more than an hour, which is good. however, after orientation these past few days, making even a 45-minute commute leaves me feeling like i triumphed the beast, and i walk in the door exhausted and unwilling to do much of anything. i am terrified that i will be incapable of doing any work this year. i might just have to be the teacher that's ALWAYS in school. whatever gets me through it, i guess.
- i have to give up my bed for the next ten days or so. kim's mom planned a visit out here before it was settled that i would live here, soooo the futon was promised to her. i get to sleep on the couch, then sneak downstairs early in the morning when i want to shower and get dressed, then sneak out the door. i'm happy to do it, except also i'm feeling unsettled. joe and kim's place is temporary housing, and sleeping on the couch upstairs is temporary housing to replace my temporary housing. also, i forgot about the date and invited brian to come up for the night, so uh, i guess we can sleep on opposite couches? *sigh* this whole thing has me really...uneasy. there are lots of variables that haven't worked themselves out.
- i have been using joe's laptop since i got here. my computer is a mess. it doesn't burn CDs or read burned CDs. the internet is slow on a good day. when it doesn't feel like reading a program or website, it won't. it overheats and shuts down almost daily, even if you prop it up in an air-conditioned space. it won't read PDF files. since coming here, the internet has worked intermittently at best. half the time, i only open up my music program, and it freezes from having too much to do. i really want to buy a new desktop and start over, but joe and his technology-savvy-ness have decided that this is unnecessary and he wants to fix it. that's nice and all, but i don't think he realizes that whatever computer i need has to be up and working and stable within a week from today. i have two classes that i'm teaching. that's daily lesson plans, plus whatever clip art/sound files/websites i want to show to go along with it. a week or two after that, i start taking 2.5 grad classes. the .5 is intro to thesis. i am going to be doing all kinds of research and notations and things, and if my computer crashes, i'm scared that my sanity might go with it. so why not just go ahead and buy a computer, you ask? right, well, the thing is, i don't actually have any money to speak of. i wrote my mom a check for $2,500 because i lost my check card and had been putting everything on her credit card. i'm pretty sure that once she cashes said check, my remaining balance will be a 3-digit number. that's nice and everything, but i also need to buy food and gas and give joe the $100 rent i talked him in to letting me pay. i can expect almost zero stipend until the end of september.
-there is a kitty that is attacking me on my kitchen stool so that i will pet him. after being "ignored" (aka petted on my terms, not his), he is trying from the back. he just got his paw stuck in the waistband of my pj shorts. bad kitty.
- and i'm just now realizing that i left a lot of unfinished business in college park. shiiiiiit. one day is not going to cut it.
i wish to cuddle.
- today is my glorious day off. i'm supposed to get my life in order, go grocery shopping, organize, go to the gym, etc. so far i have overslept, watched bad tv, and eaten two very large bowls of cereal. damnit.
- tomorrow i get some of the answers to my questions. i still don't know what grades my students will be in, what periods i teach, exactly how long the periods really are, what it is my SSS class is supposed to be reading, what time school actually starts in the morning, etc. also, i find orientation/training to be tedious, but ridiculously necessary. i'm oddly comforted by at least now knowing 60% of what i don't know. at least the lack of information is no longer infinite. i hope that made sense.
- i really want my own place. i like it here at joe's, a lot, but my room is tiny. i have it really organized and stuff, which saves my sanity, but all of my extra storage, not to mention my desk area, is hiding behind a large couch. this causes a bit of a problem whenever i need, well, just about anything, really.
- i'm worried about my commute. it shouldn't be much more than an hour, which is good. however, after orientation these past few days, making even a 45-minute commute leaves me feeling like i triumphed the beast, and i walk in the door exhausted and unwilling to do much of anything. i am terrified that i will be incapable of doing any work this year. i might just have to be the teacher that's ALWAYS in school. whatever gets me through it, i guess.
- i have to give up my bed for the next ten days or so. kim's mom planned a visit out here before it was settled that i would live here, soooo the futon was promised to her. i get to sleep on the couch, then sneak downstairs early in the morning when i want to shower and get dressed, then sneak out the door. i'm happy to do it, except also i'm feeling unsettled. joe and kim's place is temporary housing, and sleeping on the couch upstairs is temporary housing to replace my temporary housing. also, i forgot about the date and invited brian to come up for the night, so uh, i guess we can sleep on opposite couches? *sigh* this whole thing has me really...uneasy. there are lots of variables that haven't worked themselves out.
- i have been using joe's laptop since i got here. my computer is a mess. it doesn't burn CDs or read burned CDs. the internet is slow on a good day. when it doesn't feel like reading a program or website, it won't. it overheats and shuts down almost daily, even if you prop it up in an air-conditioned space. it won't read PDF files. since coming here, the internet has worked intermittently at best. half the time, i only open up my music program, and it freezes from having too much to do. i really want to buy a new desktop and start over, but joe and his technology-savvy-ness have decided that this is unnecessary and he wants to fix it. that's nice and all, but i don't think he realizes that whatever computer i need has to be up and working and stable within a week from today. i have two classes that i'm teaching. that's daily lesson plans, plus whatever clip art/sound files/websites i want to show to go along with it. a week or two after that, i start taking 2.5 grad classes. the .5 is intro to thesis. i am going to be doing all kinds of research and notations and things, and if my computer crashes, i'm scared that my sanity might go with it. so why not just go ahead and buy a computer, you ask? right, well, the thing is, i don't actually have any money to speak of. i wrote my mom a check for $2,500 because i lost my check card and had been putting everything on her credit card. i'm pretty sure that once she cashes said check, my remaining balance will be a 3-digit number. that's nice and everything, but i also need to buy food and gas and give joe the $100 rent i talked him in to letting me pay. i can expect almost zero stipend until the end of september.
-there is a kitty that is attacking me on my kitchen stool so that i will pet him. after being "ignored" (aka petted on my terms, not his), he is trying from the back. he just got his paw stuck in the waistband of my pj shorts. bad kitty.
- and i'm just now realizing that i left a lot of unfinished business in college park. shiiiiiit. one day is not going to cut it.
i wish to cuddle.