Midterm

So we have officially reached the midpoint of the semester, and everything is chugging along. I gave out midterm grade reports at the end of last week, and was pretty surprised when all the failing students accepted their grades gracefully. I usually have at least one freak-out, so it was nice to not have to deal with that. The freaking out actually came from the A students, many of whom wanted to know why they had a 96 instead of 100. "Teacher, WHY?" Perfectionists.

So after that, I needed a vacation. Enter spring break! Perfectly timed to come after midterms. Cary and I had a house blessing and housewarming party the first Saturday of the break, which went really well, but had me cleaning like I have never cleaned before all week. I dusted furniture crevices that will never be seen by anyone. My mom was really proud when she got here the day of the party to help set up. The clean gene is totally dominant in her, but not in me at all. I am just like my dad - where I drop something when I come in the door is generally where it belongs. I've gotten tidier since I got married, because Cary is very organized and clutter stresses him out, but this degree of cleaning was a real stretch for me. And in the end, the house looked beautiful and the party was a success. Who knows? It's taken me almost 25 years to get this organized, so maybe by the time I'm 50, I'll have some semblance of organization on a day-to-day basis.

After the party, I headed down to my hometown to help Suzanne do wedding stuff for the first half of the week. Really, she didn't need much help, as she is totally full-steam-ahead with the wedding planning, but I enjoyed giving it anyway. I went dress-shopping with her and Mama, and she found a really beautiful dress. She looked great in everything, but the dress she found was truly stunning on her. I wish I could post a picture, but sadly, I can't. I can post a picture of my bridesmaid's dress, though. I am thrilled that it's not super bridesmaid-y.

See? Very glamorous, and not something that I will cringe at when I look at pictures 10 years from now. I also got to help taste-test wedding cake - obviously a crucial job for the matron of honor. Other than that, I had a restful half-week at my parents' house, while Suzanne and Mike and my mom ran around meeting photographers, videographers, etc. How nice it is now to help with wedding stuff and not be the bride!

I came back home on Wednesday and have been relaxing ever since. I had lunch with Cary at work yesterday, and checked out five books from the library, which I've read two of already. Tomorrow Cary and I are having a date day, which I'm really looking forward to. So overall, a lovely spring break! I love my job, but sometimes I wish I were independently wealthy so I could just do fun stuff all the time. But I imagine it would get old.

Update on Non-Teaching Activities

Mostly what I write about on here is teaching and what that's like, but I thought it might be nice to do a quick update on the rest of my life. So here it is, in list form (because apparently lists are how I process information... who would have thunk it from a such a normally disorganized person?):

1. Cary and I are pretty well settled into our new house, which we bought in November. Most of our pictures are hung, and my mom sent us her piano (so she can turn her formal living room into a library... I want a library). We are trying to phase out our TJ Maxx art and buy real art from our friends or from the art festivals here in town. We're also gearing up for our house blessing/warming next month.

2. Atticus is growing by leaps and bounds. He is almost four months old now, and weighs five pounds. The vet says he was not properly socialized, since he was separated from his brothers and sisters so young. So basically, we have a socially awkward cat who bonds with us by mauling us. We are working hard on fixing this... and by "we," I mean Cary and me, not Atticus.

We are also getting neutered in a few weeks... and this time by "we," I mean Atticus, not Cary and me.

3. George is keeping up the hardcore hatred of Atticus. Poor guy. All he wants is some peace and quiet with Cary and me, and what he gets instead is a kitten half his size pouncing on his head. He has gone from a genial, good-natured fella to a perpetual sourpuss. He's happiest at night, when Atticus is sleeping in the laundry room.

4. I haven't had any real matron of honor duties yet for Suzanne's wedding, but she is going full steam ahead with the planning. The wedding is December 19, and she already has the church, the bishop who is going to marry them (a friend of the family), a reception hall, and a caterer. They started registering last weekend. I'm going down to Palm Bay for a few days over spring break to help shop for a dress - yay!

5. I'm in a really great Bible study at church. It's a study by Beth Moore, who is this dynamo Bible study writer out of Texas. There's a video component to the study, and I guessed that she was from Texas based solely on her hairdo in the video. Every week her hairdo gets bigger. But the study is really good, and I'm getting a lot out of it, despite the giant hair distraction.

6. My obsession with Lost gets bigger every week too. I'm really glad Cary's watching it, or I would explode with commentary at the end of every episode. My officemate Daryl watches it too, so we can discuss on Thursday mornings. Biggest questions right now: are the Oceanic Six coming back to the Island via Ajira Airways? Is Miles the Dharma video guy's baby? Is Locke really dead? Is Desmond coming back to the Island too (with Penny)? Is Sawyer going to be shirtless again? (Just kidding... but really, is he?)

So that's the rest of my life right now... nothing too exciting, but I'm enjoying it.

End of the semester checklist

Teaching-related things I did this week:

1. Gave two final exams at the community college.
2. Graded 40+ final exam essays from the community college students.
3. Averaged 40+ community college final grades and posted them online.
4. Gave a two-day final exam in reading/writing class at the ELI.
5. Graded said exam and dealt with an uncomfortable identical-answer situation.
6. Averaged grades for reading/writing class and posted them online.
7. Filled out student evaluations for reading/writing class.
8. Gave a final exam for grammar class at the ELI.
9. Graded said exam.
10. Averaged grades for grammar class and posted them online.
11. Filled out student evaluations for grammar class.
12. Filled out textbook evaluations for reading/writing and grammar classes.
13. Evaluated listening/speaking exit presentations as impartial judge.
14. Proctored exit exam for 92 ELI students. Dealt with mass exodus to bathroom halfway through.
15. Attended ELI commencement. Happiness at students accomplishing something great, frustration at students talking through the whole ceremony and never listening to their classmates making speeches. Irritation that they do this every semester.
16. Attended ELI faculty holiday luncheon at Hillel Center cafe. Ate kosher turkey sub, got Secret Santa gift card to Barnes and Noble.

Non-teaching-related things I did this week:

1. Took Secret Santa gift card to Barnes and Noble, bought sequel to Twilight, and read it in one day. Annoyed by Bella's overall angst and Edward's broodingness, and can't understand why every mythical creature from here to Greece is in love with such an angsty girl, but still totally sucked in.
2. Celebrated Suzanne and Mike's engagement with champagne, and later with bridal magazines.
3. Tried to train Atticus not to scratch and bite while playing. Not successful. Atticus grounded in bathroom.
4. Went to church ladies' tea party/white elephant gift swap. Squealed along with everyone admiring Suzanne's engagement ring. Got rid of ugly windchime, ended up with grill master's tool belt, complete with holder for beer. Do not own grill.
5. Started blog in attempt to not grade papers.

Matron of Honor

So to end my week of teaching successes and busyness, my sister Suzanne and her boyfriend Mike got engaged yesterday! Yay! So I will be the matron of honor, which I'm really excited about, except for the fact that since I'm married, I have to be the matron of honor, which sounds super-old and not sexy. I feel like I should gain 50 pounds and have some gray hair. But all of that is not that important, because my sister is getting married! She is at my house right now and we're looking at wedding magazines together. Mostly we're just deciding which haute couture dresses are ugly. I'm really excited to help with the wedding planning because I get the fun of planning without the stress of being the bride. Cary wants to help taste-test cake, a job which he says is important for the brother-in-law of the bride. MmmmmMMMM!