Loose Ends Tied Up In Knots: 05.2008

31.5.08

on the town

I spent a wonderful morning flying around downtown with my (only) good pal (in Texas) Kathy--we worked at the paint-your-own-pottery studio last year--and she tied up a few last things on my Must See San Antonio list. We browsed around Market Square, which has everything of Texan, Tejano, and Mexican persuasions, with a few bonus items like random Beatles tee shirts and penis shot glasses thrown in. We stopped by the Japanese Tea Gardens, which now have WATER! and DUCKS! and are all pretty and renovated (unlike their dry status on my previous visit). Best of all was lunch at Schilo's, a German deli that I'm kicking myself for not discovering earlier. Tasty split-pea soup, homemade root beer and a lovely old building. I wish I had room for dessert.

Here are some parting shots from my last week in SA.

30.5.08

finito!

Classroom is empty, keys are turned in, gifts received, goodbyes given. School is over! I am free from the crazy, red Sharpie wielding mother, the office assistant who slammed my door, and my less-than-competent administration. And I have champagne!

Cheers!

26.5.08

baking, not boxes

Today I did the responsible thing and took steps to DECREASE the volume of items to be moved to Omaha.

I made cookies.

As of twenty minutes ago, grading for the 2007-2008 school year is complete. Lesson plans for the week include random English worksheets covering loose ends, Southeast Asia maps for Social Studies, end-of-year letters to me, cleaning the classroom, and then Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. Also, drinks on Friday (teachers only). (Not at work!!!)

25.5.08

thing one

Today my packing adventures led to the unearthing of several key items:

thing one, originally uploaded by arahsae.

I found my air blower under the bed after months of missingness. Methinks Keaton is to blame.

thing two, originally uploaded by arahsae.

Hooray! A roll of mystery Holga film, ready to process!

Guess who this belongs to . . . should I be happy that he is still full of surprises?

All photos taken with fantabulous new Canon 40D that I adore and cradle like a tiny, heavy, plastic glass and metal electronic baby.

24.5.08

up

up, originally uploaded by arahsae.

Survived all the graduation hoo-ha; I am exhausted. Nothing went terribly wrong--or even mildly wrong. It was fine.

One more week of school with the sixth and seventh graders. Must pack up classroom, must pack up much of house. Must remain calm!

13.5.08

today was surprisingly okay

today was surprisingly okay, originally uploaded by arahsae.

today was surprisingly okay
today was surprisingly okay
today was surprisingly okay
today was surprisingly okay
today was surprisingly okay
today was surprisingly okay

That's nice and all, but I'd feel better if I knew why that is a surprising thing . . .

12.5.08

12 may 2008

I was prepared for today to be overwhelming. Graduation is next Friday and every day means more preparations that are due. There was a lot due today--names for honors and high honors to be submitted so certificates can be printed, nominations for some super-special award that requires a teacher to write an essay (why is this so? If the student wants the award, the student should write the essay) and then two of my classes had quizzes, both of which I wrote up last night.

But I took things step by step and all was well. There was some assistance by something that arrived in the mail today, but I'll write about that later.

Why does washing the car make me feel good?

10.5.08

Ommmmmmmmmmaha

Omaha has a Penzeys Spice shop. Hooray!

And here I was all worried about stocking up after the move.

There's a rack of baby back ribs roasting in the oven, chocolate chip & filbert blondies on the counter, and a fresh basket of local blackberries awaiting attention . . .

Why don't you live closer? You could be eating this! Now!

7.5.08

will she survive, folks?

Twelve more days with the 8th grade.

Sixteen more days with the 6th and 7th grades.

Not counting weekends.

If it was any longer . . . I'd be forced to put my eyes out with needlesharp pencils. TODAY: A cheater (on a quiz!), two daft candy eating liars and another flare-up of the champion dumbasshole kid. He made a visit to the Ineffectual Vice Principal's office; this means five minutes of naughty-naughty-be-good-now-go-back-to-class! It's the first and ONLY time I've sent anyone to the office this year but I could not bear to have the kid within throwing distance one more moment. The idiot will NOT shut up in class (he constantly makes stupid kindergartner noises and then denies it and mumbles under his breath when I tell him to stop), has serious anger-management problems that result in cruelty to his classmates when he overreacts to something he THINKS he hears, and then he plays the victim and wonders why no one likes him.

Good luck, kid! I see you getting beat up real good in high school.

(I know that the problem is he doesn't get good attention from his classmates, so he acts out to get ANY attention resulting in pissed off teacher, but it's MAY. My patience is almost gone.)

6.5.08

Back to the old homestead

Bellevue Log Cabin, originally uploaded by arahsae.

The orders are in and all is official; it is back to Omaha next month!

The move to Nebraska was the impetus to open my Flickr account and blog about my Midwestern Adventures. That took eleven months, and then we left for the unsatisfactory South. Now, three years (and hundreds of photos and 731 blog posts) later, we're heading back. I feel pretty good about it.

It will be interesting to see what's changed about Omaha and vicinity, but I'm curious to note how I am different.