We're twenty something, with nothing to lose
And we like what we say, but not what we do
And we live in a crowd, and its breaking my heart
We're twenty something, worlds apart
These are everlasting glory days
Young or old, we'll always feel this way
-- Dala, "Twenty-something"
Sometimes, I think I forget we are only 20-something, a time when words weigh more than action, and becomes an excuse for unfulfilled promises. There are still plenty of time and opportunities ahead, there is no need to feel trapped in one place. As I bare this in mind, I'm beginning to rethink my path in life, decisions that need to be made for next year, rural or urban? NM or elsewhere? USA or Canada? Fling or relationship?
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Highlight of my December
A run through of this past Friday (12.5.08) - Saturday 12.6.08), stay focused, it gets interesting:
Friday 12/5 - took the day off work because I have professional development in town. Since I'm gone, I let the kids practice standardized test questions. June says, "You are mean." I agreed. She lets her kids read current science news and answer questions, much more interesting and less brutal.
7:00AM - woke up, dressed in 2 minutes, went to school to pick up printing paper and a sample unit exam for my paper due today.
8:15AM - have a feeling that my certificate for completion for this None for the Road course is in the mail, went to post office, and it was there!!! NM requires all people under 25 to take a self-taught course in order to get your license. You pay for these courses, and you have to rent a video from the library, answer questions, get stamp from library, and mail everything back to get a certificate. I got the package in August, and got my certificate today. Incredible, the effort that goes into getting a NM license.
8:23AM - left for Gallup where my conference for MESA (the nerd club I run after school) is
9:25AM - arrive in Gallup, pull a friend out of work for 5 minutes, get Casper settled in her house with other dogs
9:45AM - arrive at conference site, already 15 minutes late
9:45-2PM - MESA advisor meeting with "working" lunch, we all got xmas gifts and what not. Yay for extracurricular activities! At the end of the meeting, we heard about a real lock-down at a school in Grants, an hour away from Gallup, because a kid was driving up and down town carrying an automatic and want to strike. What's wrong with kids these days?
2:10PM - 2:20PM - Motor vehicle department - got my new NM license!! My address on there is the TFA office because that's my only real physical address that I can prove. June comments, "What a sad life we lead..." This has been the fastest MVD experience ever!!! Granted, it's my 4th time there for the same reasons.
2:40 - 3:40PM - joined a group of cramming teachers in a coffee shop and crammed for my 50 page project due at 5PM for University of NM education department. Feels like university all over again, cramming at last minute. I was so stressed out today that the trademark motion of the day was pulling out my hairs...
3:45 - 4:30PM - meeting with my program director at TFA office for our co-investigation where we discuss my teaching and his observation, my students' progress and how I could improve... Finally, after seeing that I kept glancing at the clock, he says, "Why don't you finish up your paper, print and go to class?"
4:30- 5:00 PM - proofreading my paper, get more frustrated and give up at the end
5:00 - 5:05 PM - printing printing printing. Office machine can't print double-sided... I printed a book. Stapled all students work together and ran out for my class
5:15 - 8:10 PM - again, 15 minutes late, story of my life. Everyone makes their presentation about their project. Mine sucked but at least I finished. Our professor was a middle school teacher as well, and made a comment to the whole class, "In my experience, the hardest grade to teach and reach to is... 8th grade." Someone else tried to defend their grade level, and then she says, "Well, try teaching 8th graders." That made me feel pretty good.
Last 30 minutes of class, she shared the news that several faculty members in this department, including her, may or may not be coming back next year because with the difficulty economy, deans of colleges and university are cutting back funds and want to cut out personnel and invest more money into distance learning such as videos, cameras and websites... We all lamented for her. They are not the best professor we've ever had, but definitely beat a powerpoint and cyber classrooms.
8:15-8:28PM check on Casper, she has made friends with other dogs. Whew...
8:30-9:45PM Hung out with Sarah, my friend who's getting married in April in Kentucky, at Coal Street Pub, which was packed that night! Awesome hamburger...
10:00-12:11AM - Movie "Twilight" - now I want to read the book, still love teen romance movies...
Saturday 12/6:
12:30-12:50AM - arrive back at my friend's place, she's not there, I got the bed to myself, sweet!
12:50-5:50AM - sleep... zzzz
5:50-6:15AM - wake up, brush up, and head out to Red Rock State Park for annual Gallup Balloon Fiesta
6:30 - 7:00 AM - walking aimless around the field, trying to figure out what to do about volunteering at the rally, especially since the volunteer coordinators didn't show up. Finally, decided that since everything's so disorganized, I'll just go up to a balloon pilot and offer my service. One person introduces me to another group and on and on, I have a group to work with! Eilene is the pilot for their hot air balloon called Dreamcatcher, and Jeff is the crew chief. I'm one of two crew member...
7:00-8:00AM - setting up the balloon. Man, those things are heavy and gigantous!! Even our balloon, which is only 54,000 cubic feet, is massive.
8:10-9:40AM - 1.5 hr in the air with Eilene, I can't believe I'm off the ground 1000 feet, floating away from gravity, and relying on a giant bubble. It was breathtaking and I can't believe that turn of events led me up here among the clouds!!!
9:45 - 10:30AM - Packing up the balloon. Man... that was massive and still completely incredible!!!
10:30 - 12:30PM - hanging out at Tailgate Grazing party where all the balloon parties set up camp ground with their trailers, setting out food, drinks for everyone to taste. You just walk around and eat everyone's food even if you don't know them. Apparently, tradition normally calls for at least couple of days of celebration, this is already pretty sweet though. Also had a "First timer induction ceremony" where we had to kneel down on mats, hear the pledge for hot air ballooners, do a hand-free chug of champagne while someone poured water on our heads. I even got a certificate to prove I've rode the hot air balloon for the first time.
Rest of the day lays in lethargy because of a lack of sleep and a drain of energy. Still, I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS ON A HOT AIR BALLOON, MET THESE INCREDIBLE PEOPLE, AND HAD AWESOME AMAZING HOME-MADE FOOD!!! The best part: THEY WERE ALL FREE!! Except for the parking fee... It was DEFINITELY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY EARLY DECEMBER!!
Friday 12/5 - took the day off work because I have professional development in town. Since I'm gone, I let the kids practice standardized test questions. June says, "You are mean." I agreed. She lets her kids read current science news and answer questions, much more interesting and less brutal.
7:00AM - woke up, dressed in 2 minutes, went to school to pick up printing paper and a sample unit exam for my paper due today.
8:15AM - have a feeling that my certificate for completion for this None for the Road course is in the mail, went to post office, and it was there!!! NM requires all people under 25 to take a self-taught course in order to get your license. You pay for these courses, and you have to rent a video from the library, answer questions, get stamp from library, and mail everything back to get a certificate. I got the package in August, and got my certificate today. Incredible, the effort that goes into getting a NM license.
8:23AM - left for Gallup where my conference for MESA (the nerd club I run after school) is
9:25AM - arrive in Gallup, pull a friend out of work for 5 minutes, get Casper settled in her house with other dogs
9:45AM - arrive at conference site, already 15 minutes late
9:45-2PM - MESA advisor meeting with "working" lunch, we all got xmas gifts and what not. Yay for extracurricular activities! At the end of the meeting, we heard about a real lock-down at a school in Grants, an hour away from Gallup, because a kid was driving up and down town carrying an automatic and want to strike. What's wrong with kids these days?
2:10PM - 2:20PM - Motor vehicle department - got my new NM license!! My address on there is the TFA office because that's my only real physical address that I can prove. June comments, "What a sad life we lead..." This has been the fastest MVD experience ever!!! Granted, it's my 4th time there for the same reasons.
2:40 - 3:40PM - joined a group of cramming teachers in a coffee shop and crammed for my 50 page project due at 5PM for University of NM education department. Feels like university all over again, cramming at last minute. I was so stressed out today that the trademark motion of the day was pulling out my hairs...
3:45 - 4:30PM - meeting with my program director at TFA office for our co-investigation where we discuss my teaching and his observation, my students' progress and how I could improve... Finally, after seeing that I kept glancing at the clock, he says, "Why don't you finish up your paper, print and go to class?"
4:30- 5:00 PM - proofreading my paper, get more frustrated and give up at the end
5:00 - 5:05 PM - printing printing printing. Office machine can't print double-sided... I printed a book. Stapled all students work together and ran out for my class
5:15 - 8:10 PM - again, 15 minutes late, story of my life. Everyone makes their presentation about their project. Mine sucked but at least I finished. Our professor was a middle school teacher as well, and made a comment to the whole class, "In my experience, the hardest grade to teach and reach to is... 8th grade." Someone else tried to defend their grade level, and then she says, "Well, try teaching 8th graders." That made me feel pretty good.
Last 30 minutes of class, she shared the news that several faculty members in this department, including her, may or may not be coming back next year because with the difficulty economy, deans of colleges and university are cutting back funds and want to cut out personnel and invest more money into distance learning such as videos, cameras and websites... We all lamented for her. They are not the best professor we've ever had, but definitely beat a powerpoint and cyber classrooms.
8:15-8:28PM check on Casper, she has made friends with other dogs. Whew...
8:30-9:45PM Hung out with Sarah, my friend who's getting married in April in Kentucky, at Coal Street Pub, which was packed that night! Awesome hamburger...
10:00-12:11AM - Movie "Twilight" - now I want to read the book, still love teen romance movies...
Saturday 12/6:
12:30-12:50AM - arrive back at my friend's place, she's not there, I got the bed to myself, sweet!
12:50-5:50AM - sleep... zzzz
5:50-6:15AM - wake up, brush up, and head out to Red Rock State Park for annual Gallup Balloon Fiesta
6:30 - 7:00 AM - walking aimless around the field, trying to figure out what to do about volunteering at the rally, especially since the volunteer coordinators didn't show up. Finally, decided that since everything's so disorganized, I'll just go up to a balloon pilot and offer my service. One person introduces me to another group and on and on, I have a group to work with! Eilene is the pilot for their hot air balloon called Dreamcatcher, and Jeff is the crew chief. I'm one of two crew member...
7:00-8:00AM - setting up the balloon. Man, those things are heavy and gigantous!! Even our balloon, which is only 54,000 cubic feet, is massive.
8:10-9:40AM - 1.5 hr in the air with Eilene, I can't believe I'm off the ground 1000 feet, floating away from gravity, and relying on a giant bubble. It was breathtaking and I can't believe that turn of events led me up here among the clouds!!!
9:45 - 10:30AM - Packing up the balloon. Man... that was massive and still completely incredible!!!
10:30 - 12:30PM - hanging out at Tailgate Grazing party where all the balloon parties set up camp ground with their trailers, setting out food, drinks for everyone to taste. You just walk around and eat everyone's food even if you don't know them. Apparently, tradition normally calls for at least couple of days of celebration, this is already pretty sweet though. Also had a "First timer induction ceremony" where we had to kneel down on mats, hear the pledge for hot air ballooners, do a hand-free chug of champagne while someone poured water on our heads. I even got a certificate to prove I've rode the hot air balloon for the first time.
Rest of the day lays in lethargy because of a lack of sleep and a drain of energy. Still, I CAN'T BELIEVE I WAS ON A HOT AIR BALLOON, MET THESE INCREDIBLE PEOPLE, AND HAD AWESOME AMAZING HOME-MADE FOOD!!! The best part: THEY WERE ALL FREE!! Except for the parking fee... It was DEFINITELY THE HIGHLIGHT OF MY EARLY DECEMBER!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)