Between work and home, I feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get all that I need and want to get done. And that includes updating this blog!

School is fine. I can't complain too terribly much. My class sizes are hovering around 25 to 28 students. Large, but not unmanageable by any means. The personalities of my students are finally really starting to show. My sophomores are really sweet. Not the brightest kids I've had, but I can work with that since they are so nice and willing to try on things. My juniors are a bit cocky right now. Don't know why, but they are getting on my nerves and are rather annoying. Must be the age. My seniors are nice but a little rough around the edges. Seeing as they they haven't caused me any trouble (yet!) I'll take them any day over some of the classes I've had in the past (as well as some of the juniors I currently have).

John and I had a nice anniversary. It was an eventful evening, as we ended up going out with friends for drinks. Seeing as how it was our first full week of work, quite a few of my friends REALLY enjoyed their cocktails, which lead to MANY laughs. We ended up eating at the restaurant we had drinks at as my good friend Tammy was our server. She pampered us and we had a great meal.

And now for what many of you are checking for this blog for...Monday's Adoption Academy. John and I arrived for our two-hour class and found about ten other couples in attendance, in addition to a friend of mine and her husband. By the end of the two hours I could barely see straight, but this wasn't necessarily a bad thing! The speaker for the night was a lawyer who teaches law at Capital University here in Columbus. Her goal was to give us an unbiased look into the types of adoptions, and that she certainly did. She gave us the pros and cons of public adoption (ex: foster-to-adopt; adopting a child from children's social services) to public adoption (both using an attorney or agency) to international adoptions. After we walked out John and I both commented that we learned a lot. We were told statistics, average costs, average time it takes to adopt, websites full of information for any sort of adoption we're thinking of doing, and SO much more. I could probably blog for about an hour, but like my title says...I need more than 24 hours in one day. Unfortunately next week I can't go as I have "meet the teacher" night at school, so John will be flying solo on this one. Next weeks' topic is the financial aspect of it all as well as the emotional aspect (for both adoptive parents and adoptees). I've already asked my friend to share her notes with me in case John zones out! ;-)

Thanks again for all your support. We have a L O N G road ahead of us, but people like Wendy, whose daughter was born today via a birth mother, give me hope that our adoption process will be successful and something we are excited to start.

Congratulations Steve and Wendy!!!

I can't believe I am leaving in the next few minutes for our first Adoption Academy class. It seems like forever ago that we signed up for the 8-week course, but the time is finally here.

I'm picking John up from work so that we can try to grab a quick bite to eat and make our way down to Children's Hospital for the two hour class.

I'll be sure to update how it goes later!!!!

:-)

But I think this is very true ~

I have been REALLY REALLY REALLY struggling lately with the situation going on between John and his sister. It has been almost a year (this coming Saturday 9/12) that they last spoke. My heart aches for so many different reasons, and after I got the phrase above in an e-mail it all seemed to make sense to me. I need to stop worrying. I need to stop trying to mend the pieces back together, as the pieces don't belong together...at least not now and not by my hands. I need to lean on my family and friends for support and listen to their wisdom and guiding words, and not care about what his family might say about me.

Right now she is not a part of my future and I need to realize that this is okay. I am not a bad person for keeping her in my past. Heck, if anything, it makes me a stronger person.

Right?

and I always will.
xoxoxoxo

Only four days have passed (with only 176 remaining...but who's counting, right?) and I feel like I'm running in a million and one directions already.

Until I can formally update, this will have to suffice...

• My classes are B. I. G. (last year I had a total of 95 students per semester...this year I have 135 students)!
• I'm getting used to collaborative teaching with two of my English 10 classes and one English 11 class. It is an adjustment having another educator in the room the entire class period. What used to be mine to do 100% is now expected to be divided in half. This isn't a bad thing, but I do miss teaching "alone". I'll explain more later.
• My grading load is up now 40 papers compared to last year. I feel swamped, and like I said, it is only the four day of school.
• As of Wednesday, September 2, 2009, all five of my classes will have turned in a writing sample to me. That is 135 papers to grade...Oy Vey!!!! After 11 years of teaching you'd think SOMEONE would remind me to not schedule papers from five classes to be due on or around the same days.

Now the good things, as I am trying to remain positive this year, even when things get me stressed out:

• I like my English 10 students (so far). They are classes of students with great sense of humor and decent work ethic. Ask me how they are in another month! ;-)
• My 8th period English 11 is wonderful. I have seven former students in the class of 28, and what a difference that makes. Aside from my seven former students, I have four students who took an Honor's English class last year and for whatever reason opted out of the honor's program this year. It is so nice to have such talented writers and readers sprinkled into a class like English 11.
• The Adoption Academy starts in just one week (September 14). A friend from my local internet chat board and her husband will also be taking part in the Academy, so it'll be so nice to have a friendly face in the classes with us!
• John and I will be celebrating our 5th Anniversary on Friday! :-)

Okay...now I must take Cider out and head to bed. That alarm at 5:30 is just brutal after a summer of waking up around 9:00 each morning!