Christmas Cheer

So far, December feels very Christmas-y. This past Thursday, April and I went with our friend Mike to get a Christmas tree. A REAL one. We were probably the most picky customers they had ever had. We had to look at nearly every tree and weigh its fullness, height, color, and overall character (we almost got one that had a red patch of needles, just for its personality). After perusing our many options, toes going numb in the cold, we settled on this lovely, fat one. The people running the place were so merry and full of Christmas cheer. And one of the Hispanic attendants called me preciosa. I'll take it :)
Also, my wonderful mother sent me the best Christmas package that I have ever received. Aside from some delicious candy, my stocking from home, and an awesome new Christmas CD from Harry Connick Jr., there was a beautiful quilted wonder from the fingers of my very own talented mother. Here is picture proof of her brilliance.
We have also broken out the Christmas decorations, inside and out. Here are a few glimpses of our newly Christmas-ified house.
Lastly, a week ago, Erika and I went to the National Portrait Gallery. It was a fun little adventure into the city; we plan to have many more.

Once upon a time...

Once upon a time, I said that I was going to post on my blog more frequently...well, I tried. So here is a better late than never post. :)

Recently in school:

• We survived 1st quarter. I learned a lot. A lot. A lot. I learned that having a unit plan makes my life so much happier and that I will never start a year without one, if I can help it. I couldn't do a whole lot about it this year because of the unusual circumstances surrounding my hire, but next year will be better. Already, I have a rough unit plan for 2nd quarter and life is good.
• My classes are starting The Odyssey this week. I had to brush up on my Trojan War information and my Greek gods. There is a lot of furious googling that occurs before class as I try to sort out random myths and minor gods, but so far so good. On Thursday, we went over the Trojan War and what led up to it. I had to tell a lot of stories that day. Luckily, I actually really think The Iliad and The Odyssey and Greek mythology are pretty fun and interesting, so I tried to put a lot of enthusiasm into the story telling. For the most part, they were pretty hooked, until we reached about the last ten minutes of class. I really can't blame them. They did well to stick with me that long. We'll see how the rest of the epic goes. Some kids are really into it already though, which encourages me.
• I went to see our school's production of The Importance of Being Earnest. It was excellent! I was especially proud of my student who, although a sophomore, played one of the main roles, Cecily.

In other news, I am now getting the lay of the land a bit more. I finally surrendered Sarah's navigatrix, so I've had to rely on my own navigation skills. Luckily, I have always been able to find my way home, although not always using the most direct route. :)

The straw that nearly broke this camel's back

I am sitting on the floor, surrounded by stacks of literary analyses, sorting them into piles - those who did well on the assignment, those who had some part of it that was on track, and those who utterly failed. 3 roughly equal piles. I am trying to write an eloquent example paper to show the students what I'm actually looking for. I am rewriting and rescheduling the next two weeks of lesson plans. And then - a large, creepy beetle crawls across the top of my laptop. Last straw. Sanity = gone.

R.O.U.S.s

Well, so much for posting more frequently on the blog. I guess 2 weeks is better than 4 months in between posts. Progress, right? I have been quite busy trying to get my life in control. Most of you probably know that I got hired for a part-time English teaching position at Walter Johnson HS in Bethesda. I started teaching on the Friday of the second week of school. I've been hard pressed to get all of my students, that I inherited from about 6 different teachers, onto one schedule. Somehow, with much juggling and praying, everyone is on the same page. All of my classes are reading The Catcher in the Rye and we're almost finished. We'll finish the book up this week and start our literary analysis papers. Fun, fun, fun. :) Then, onto speech and The Odyssey.

I'm finally getting to know my way around the area...basically how to get to my house, my two jobs, and the grocery store. I can also find the temple and my way to Sarah's house. Other than that, I'm dependent on the GPS I borrowed from Sarah (thanks again!!!!!). My weekly schedule is a little like this:

• Monday - Friday, I teach in the mornings at the high school, then I get a few hours break before I go to my other job. I'm there until about 7 or 8 at night, then I come home and lesson plan/procrastinate and go to bed.
  
• Saturday, I go to my tutoring job in the morning until about 1. The rest of the weekend is free.

It's kind of a strange schedule because I have the middle of the day free while everyone else is working. But, it's nice. It's also strange because I'm done teaching at the high school by 11 am, which in Utah time is really 9 am. Weird.

Other weird things - having an opossum as big as a fox run through our yard. Sick, sick, sick, sick. Honestly, I miss the lizards and scorpions of St. George. Pests are grosser when they are warm-blooded for some reason.

P.S. I have a mattress now, and I painted a dresser that will be in my room as soon as I clean a space for it. Standard of living is definitely increasing. :)

3704 Lawrence Ave

So, I don't want to tell the whole story about my job yet until everything is finalized. I want to make sure that everything goes through and works out before I go broadcasting the news.

However, I am working part time at an after-school tutoring/learning center called SpiderSmart in Bethesda. For that job, I work with a few students at a time, giving them reading and writing help. They range in ages from about 7 to 14. The students have all been really cute and sweet so far, and my coworkers are great. I'm excited to become more familiar with the program and to get to know my students better.

Some other details:
I moved into a great house. Again, I was blessed beyond measure to move into a place that is not only close to my two jobs, but has cheap rent and amazing roommates. It's really a cute place too.

Here are some pictures of the house:

This is the street view.The living rooms and kitchen.

I'm not putting a picture up of my room yet, because it'll probably depress you. I don't have any furniture yet, so my bed is a little nest of blankets on the floor. It's really comfortable. I sleep great, but I know that it isn't much to look at. My dresser is a couple of large gray bins, stacked at strange angles. However, I recently acquired a dresser from a nearby curb. Currently it looks like an Easter egg gone wrong, but I went to Home Depot and got some paint and new knobs. It'll be spectacular :) Don't worry, more pictures will follow.

New Beginnings

Probably the only people that read this blog know that I have moved to Maryland recently...when I say recently, I mean I haven't even been here a full week yet. In the 6 days that I have been here I have:

• had several job interviews
• taken one SAT-like test for a job
  
• visited 3 Smithsonian museums
• ridden the metro
• stumbled upon the Glenn Beck rally
• seen the White House
• dropped my little bro off at the airport
• attended a singles' ward in Baltimore
• met up with an old friend from London
• found a house to move into
• babysat
• visited a library
• and driven A LOT!!!!
  

I am really hopeful that I will have a job nailed down in the next week or two. Once that is settled, I think I will relax for a minute. Although, I do have a few goals for my new situation out here in Maryland. They include, but are not limited to:

-start running again
-make an effort to eat healthier, including making real dinners at home and trying new recipes
-actually post to this blog. :)

Happy Valentine's Day :)

Today I was reviewing parts of speech with my 7th grade reading class. I found an online version of Mad Libs, so we did two of them. The first one was about a new winter sport...snow kicking :) The second one was possibly the most hilarious Mad Libs I have ever encountered. I couldn't even read the last line because I was laughing so hard. Enjoy my special Valentine's Day treat to you, dear readers. Courtesy of my B2 7th Grade Reading Class.

A Special Valentine

It's fun to let people know you care about them by making them valentines for Valentine's Day. Follow these instructions to make your own disgusting valentine:

1. To make the valentine, you will need pieces of purple paper and pieces of black paper. You will also need scissors, some monkeys, and a marker or a kitten.

2. Cut the purple paper into the shape of a toilet.

3. Cut a smaller toilet shape from the black paper.

4. Glue the black paper toilet onto the center of the purple paper toilet.

5. Use the marker or the kitten to write a Valentine's Day message to the person. If you don't know what to write, try a phrase such as, “Won't you be my sticky Valentine?” or “Tristen thinks you are as gushy as Michael Jackson!”

6. You may wish to add other decorations, such as hamburgers or other paper shapes. Now you have the perfect disgusting valentine to give to someone special!

7. Be careful when using your scissors, and remember to clean up the area where you have been kissing.