Lesson planning is ONE of the circles in hell.

Good lord. I've already put in SO MUCH WORK on these goddamn lesson plans and I still have SO MUCH MORE to do! So today we went to the baseball game. I couldn't look at my syllabus for another minute.

Made Rice Krispie Treats for the orientation lunch tomorrow and scraped out the pot - mmm, yum. I don't think I've had those things since I was about 12 (and yes, they are as good as you remember.)

1. There was a chubby little toddler beside us at the game and he kept solemnly handing us this ... noisemaking toy, and then equally solemnly taking it back.
2. There was a baseball-obsessed kid behind us (keeping stats in the program). When Wool E. Bull drove around the infield in a tiny stock car (!) and threw souvenir balls into the stands, Heather caught one. The kid just walked up to her and stuck out his hand, without saying anything. Highway robbery (of course she gave it to him.)
3. I was hung over today. I could not stop drinking margaritas last night. I drank them before we went out, I drank them while we were out, and I drank them after we got home. I even drank the rest of Jinsher's when she couldn't finish it. I felt like doody for most of the morning (what do you expect, dummy?)

Let's see if this widget works.

Aww yeah. Installed Tiger and set up the new printer today - PLUS cleaned up my office, reshelved books, etc. I'm getting a good jump on the start of the new semester - except for the part where I haven't done any of my teaching prep or anything. And there is a lot of non-academic shit I have to do this weekend - like plan that orientation lunch and GO to that orientation lunch and go to happy hour and send out reminder emails and have people over for dinner on Saturday night (that includes cleaning up)....none of that seems like it's going to convert my Tuesday/Thursday lesson plans to a Monday/Wednesday/Friday lesson plan. Maybe there's a widget for that.....

Long time no write.

Teaching was grand and also terrible, all at the same time. Some highlights? I will add more as I remember them.

1. One fourteen-year-old student's wildest dream: "Don't ever forget that you want to move to Myrtle Beach, work at Block Buster (sic), go on Fear Factor, and win $50,000. Love, Amber."
2. One four-year-old boy's bedtime story to himself (his name is Jonathon): "Once upon a time there was a little boy named Jonathon. He was very handsome. He was soooo handsome that all the girls loved him. They loved him so much that they gave him candy. He stayed up all night and giggled with the girls. He ate the candy."
3. A class of 20 four-year-olds squealing in that amazing dog-register way that only they can, DIRECTLY across the hall from the computer lab with the open door, when the bear/mom popped out from the next-door classroom during a bear hunt.
4. A 2nd grader lists off the characters he loves to read about in stories: Herbie, Jesus, and SpongeBob.


School starts back in a week. I have to plan some kind of orientation luncheon, which would be fun, if I knew what the fuck I was supposed to be doing, and if Heather B would answer my emails about when she'll be back to help with the planning, and also if we were cooking for it instead of buying things from some crap place. I don't even know what the budget is, or how many of them will come - and we will be using PAPER PLATES. I have a FEELING about this semester.

And I STILL have to finish that goddamn James paper. Note to self: email Dr. T and set up a meeting about that. Blah.

i will now go back to my Rex Stout/Nero Wolfe reading jag. I only have a few precious days of reading-for-pleasure time before reading-for-class time starts up.