I am not very fond of horror movies. I know they aren't real, filled with cheap scares, and most often "not that scary" to most people, but I will always have nightmares and night terrors after watching one. This information aside, Thad got the movie Woman in Black from the library and as it was due, we had to watch it. I sat silently next to him on the couch, making up reasons to leave the living room such as ooh, it looks like d'Artagnan needs to go to the bathroom. Hmmm, I should take your dishes to the sink. I think I should really catch up with a words with friends play. Yet, I still look at the screen at the wrong parts. They foreshadow the horror with music and yet, I fall for it. So here it comes again, another night where I keep the covers tight over my face, feel my heart racing with every sound, and turn the bathroom light on when I "see something." I don't know why I put myself through it!
This probably stems from the fact that I watched Pet Semetary when I was around 6 (thanks to my baby sitter) and didn't sleep for years. Now I can watch movies from that era and laugh, but that one will forever terrify me. Then, I watched one scene from The Exorcist probably around 10. Even worse idea. I love the idea of ghosts and paranormal research ( sightings are a story for another time), but the posession idea leaves my knucles white and my heart racing. I blame this on the Catholic priest at an event we had to go to for CCD called "Going Nuts for Jesus." A priest there did a dissertation on Ouija boards and possession and the reality of them. Did not help my fear of the things that go bump in the night.
On the bright side, school is going well. I was a bit worried about teaching middle school. While the subject area isn't my forte, I find their energy contagious and that they are quite willing to try anything. I was especially excited to see many of the young men in class so willing to be volunteers for our discussion of the communication cycle. In fact, 4 boys today asked to share a skit they created in their basement to Ice Ice Baby. I shall for ever be impressed with 7th grade boys willingness to be embarassed and dance in front of everyone. I hope they keep that willingness.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Disaster Day
Today was not a good day. In the words of Alexander, it was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. The day started when I heard Thad shout "Oh, Crap" as his alarm never went off so he got a late start to the day. Alarmgate. He only overslept by about 15 minutes, but our beloved furry child d'Artagnan uses those 15 minutes to take his sweet time to find the right spot in which to poop. There really isn't a delicate way to put that. I don't know if it is all dogs or just ours, but for some reason he must pace back and forth, turn round and round, sniff segment after segment of tall grass before finding the spot to fertilize.
Fast forward a few hours. I went in to school to continue trying to make myself feel better by getting a few tasks done and preparing for the school year. I am starting (?) to know what to do? (inflection on the end of that statement!) I get back from school after a few hours- I also went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription for the allergies I have been dealing with. Insurance put a preauthorization hold on it and it still hasn't been cleared (I went to the Dr. Friday). I will continue to cough, hack, wheeze in my sleep until this comes through. Off that tangent, I let Dart out of his kennel and go heat up some leftovers from the fridge. I find out a short time after this that Dart has decided to poop on the carpet in the formal living room. Yes, we have a formal living room. It is a waste of space, I'm turning it into a library- details to follow. I only find out after poopgate 2012 that Thad didn't have time to do the ritual passes in the backyard and he forgot to tell me to take the dog out. We're not being cruel to the dog, so please don't yell at me. When I head back to school on Thursday Dart will be inside for many hours, so I haven't been walking him or taking him to the bathroom during "school hours" in order to make sure he can make it through the day. Let's hope this was a one time only deal.
1. Late wake up= no dog poop
2. No dog poop= poop in the formal living room.
3. Completely unrelated, but after doing a load of laundry and sitting on the couch to do some reading, I realize. Dang, the washer doesn't sound right. I walk towards the laundry room and feel a soggy carpet greet my toes. Enter hallway and into laundry room. Water. Water all over the floor. Water flowing down the steps into the basement. Somehow something either clogged in the drain, or the washing machine got stuck in the fill stage, either way- I cleaned up a lot of water. Luckily, I don't believe there was any major damage- waiting for a few cords to dry before we see if they are salvageable. I shall call this incident Watergate.
On the bright side, I haven't washed those floors in a while. This also got me out of cooking (not that I don't like cooking). I really didn't want to make a casserole after washing, scrubbing, wringing, dragging items. We went to the China Buffet Mongolian Grill (think HuHot). I really like this place, slightly cheaper than HuHot- but includes regular Chinese dishes and crab rangoons on buffet. And soft serve, I like soft serve.
Here's to tomorrow going better.
Fast forward a few hours. I went in to school to continue trying to make myself feel better by getting a few tasks done and preparing for the school year. I am starting (?) to know what to do? (inflection on the end of that statement!) I get back from school after a few hours- I also went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription for the allergies I have been dealing with. Insurance put a preauthorization hold on it and it still hasn't been cleared (I went to the Dr. Friday). I will continue to cough, hack, wheeze in my sleep until this comes through. Off that tangent, I let Dart out of his kennel and go heat up some leftovers from the fridge. I find out a short time after this that Dart has decided to poop on the carpet in the formal living room. Yes, we have a formal living room. It is a waste of space, I'm turning it into a library- details to follow. I only find out after poopgate 2012 that Thad didn't have time to do the ritual passes in the backyard and he forgot to tell me to take the dog out. We're not being cruel to the dog, so please don't yell at me. When I head back to school on Thursday Dart will be inside for many hours, so I haven't been walking him or taking him to the bathroom during "school hours" in order to make sure he can make it through the day. Let's hope this was a one time only deal.
1. Late wake up= no dog poop
2. No dog poop= poop in the formal living room.
3. Completely unrelated, but after doing a load of laundry and sitting on the couch to do some reading, I realize. Dang, the washer doesn't sound right. I walk towards the laundry room and feel a soggy carpet greet my toes. Enter hallway and into laundry room. Water. Water all over the floor. Water flowing down the steps into the basement. Somehow something either clogged in the drain, or the washing machine got stuck in the fill stage, either way- I cleaned up a lot of water. Luckily, I don't believe there was any major damage- waiting for a few cords to dry before we see if they are salvageable. I shall call this incident Watergate.
On the bright side, I haven't washed those floors in a while. This also got me out of cooking (not that I don't like cooking). I really didn't want to make a casserole after washing, scrubbing, wringing, dragging items. We went to the China Buffet Mongolian Grill (think HuHot). I really like this place, slightly cheaper than HuHot- but includes regular Chinese dishes and crab rangoons on buffet. And soft serve, I like soft serve.
Here's to tomorrow going better.
Monday, August 6, 2012
The Inevitable End of Summer Vacation
August. Season of county (and state) fairs, hot weather, our wedding anniversary (Happy 1 year Thad), and the inevitable "end" of summer. I get to report back to school on Thursday while students get a few more days of freedom. While I bemoan the end of summer I do admit I am quite excited for the school year. I get to start my new position of part time high school media specialist, reading strat teacher and 7th grade speech teacher. One of these I have done before (reading strat) all others are new territory. This fills me with both excitement and fear. Excitement as it is something new and wonderful to learn, fear as I feel like I have no idea what I am doing.
I was a city public librarian for a few years while I finished my teaching certificate. I loved it, this led me to decide after teaching English for a few years (11th grade- non AP), that I wanted to get back into the library. After completing my 3rd year of English, and having only just begun my classes I was given the opportunity to switch to this position. I should feel comfortable as I have had experience in the public sector of this position, yet I feel I haven't been able to shadow or experience what it will be like in the school setting. I have gone to school several times in July and August, but I still have no idea where to begin or how to prepare. It is safe to assume that everything will work out, I'll figure out what to do eventually, but like many of the students, it simply makes me nervous for the school year to begin.
Book Review
I recently just finished the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver for a book club in which I belong. This is good as I need to start delving into the abundance of YA lit that is available and that my students will devour through the year. This book will probably appeal mostly to female audiences, but that doesn't mean men shouldn't give it a chance. The book follows the main character of Samantha, a high school senior and 3 of her friends. The girls are the popular girls in school and after a night of partying, get into a car accident. Samantha is able to relive this day over and over (think Groundhog day) until she is able to get it right. Reading it, at times it made me cringe as the girls are quite vicious to some of their peers and it is sad to know that things like this do go on. There is the tradition teenage romance fluff, parent/sibling relationships, etc, yet I thought it read quickly and had some poignant morals the main character realizes in her journey.
I have just started Sarah Dessen's Just Listen, and then will hope to tackle the Nebraska Golden Sower nominees. I hope to review them all if you care to know about a few good reads in the young adult department.
I was a city public librarian for a few years while I finished my teaching certificate. I loved it, this led me to decide after teaching English for a few years (11th grade- non AP), that I wanted to get back into the library. After completing my 3rd year of English, and having only just begun my classes I was given the opportunity to switch to this position. I should feel comfortable as I have had experience in the public sector of this position, yet I feel I haven't been able to shadow or experience what it will be like in the school setting. I have gone to school several times in July and August, but I still have no idea where to begin or how to prepare. It is safe to assume that everything will work out, I'll figure out what to do eventually, but like many of the students, it simply makes me nervous for the school year to begin.
Book Review
I recently just finished the book Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver for a book club in which I belong. This is good as I need to start delving into the abundance of YA lit that is available and that my students will devour through the year. This book will probably appeal mostly to female audiences, but that doesn't mean men shouldn't give it a chance. The book follows the main character of Samantha, a high school senior and 3 of her friends. The girls are the popular girls in school and after a night of partying, get into a car accident. Samantha is able to relive this day over and over (think Groundhog day) until she is able to get it right. Reading it, at times it made me cringe as the girls are quite vicious to some of their peers and it is sad to know that things like this do go on. There is the tradition teenage romance fluff, parent/sibling relationships, etc, yet I thought it read quickly and had some poignant morals the main character realizes in her journey.
I have just started Sarah Dessen's Just Listen, and then will hope to tackle the Nebraska Golden Sower nominees. I hope to review them all if you care to know about a few good reads in the young adult department.
Thursday, August 2, 2012
Welcome to Megan
I tried doing a blog once in college, but I gave up on it. In a few of my technology classes I have noticed that we are encouraged to use blogs to do professional networking. So, I'm jumping back on the bandwagon and blogging once again.
Here is what to expect when reading my blog. Humor- whenever I do write, which isn't very often, I try to put a bit of humor in it. Whether it is intended wit (not often), situations of my demise, or lack of checking my writing, it will slip in.
Second, I often find that I have trouble sleeping at night as I can't always shut down my mind. I am constantly thinking about the events of the day or what is to go on in my classroom the next day. This (much to the chagrin of my husband, Thad) often leads to me making noise and gestures in my sleep. So, I shall try writing about what is on my mind whether it be fears, plans, ideas, etc. Consider it an online journal.
Third, I would like to discuss the latest book (adult or YA for the high school librarian in me), restaurant, technology tool, whatever.
Last, what I learned today. We learn so much each and everyday, so I will share at least one thing that I learned.
While running today, I got the idea to start a blog once again. I have taken a bit of a hiatus from running recently and decided I needed to get back in the habit. I started out the summer doing a run every morning, but when Thad and I decided to adopt a dog (d'Artagnan) the running stopped. I don't mean to use the dog as an excuse, but I'm going to. He is a rescue from the Capital Humane Society and came to them as a lost dog. Whomever his previous owner may not have treated him all that well (this is speculation), and he was scared of every new person he met, every sound he heard, and would not walk well on a leash. We have been working on leash training and walking each morning, so running took a backseat.
While running, I began to think of how I would like to write. I have always enjoyed reading humorists such as Dave Berry, I love reading Bill Bryson or even human interest pieces by local writers such as Rainbow Rowell or Cindy Lange-Kubic. I will never be at that level, but they do influence me. Although, if you want to pay me to write or syndicate me I will abide.
So here it begans, the life and times of a not so eloquent writer.
What I learned today:
That my husband is a wonderful and patient person as 1. I have had a cold for more than a week and been coughing constantly at night, 2. the dog snores quite loudly, 3. when the cat bathes at night, her collar jingles loudly. Thank you for not trying to smother us all in our sleep for not letting you have any.
Here is what to expect when reading my blog. Humor- whenever I do write, which isn't very often, I try to put a bit of humor in it. Whether it is intended wit (not often), situations of my demise, or lack of checking my writing, it will slip in.
Second, I often find that I have trouble sleeping at night as I can't always shut down my mind. I am constantly thinking about the events of the day or what is to go on in my classroom the next day. This (much to the chagrin of my husband, Thad) often leads to me making noise and gestures in my sleep. So, I shall try writing about what is on my mind whether it be fears, plans, ideas, etc. Consider it an online journal.
Third, I would like to discuss the latest book (adult or YA for the high school librarian in me), restaurant, technology tool, whatever.
Last, what I learned today. We learn so much each and everyday, so I will share at least one thing that I learned.
While running today, I got the idea to start a blog once again. I have taken a bit of a hiatus from running recently and decided I needed to get back in the habit. I started out the summer doing a run every morning, but when Thad and I decided to adopt a dog (d'Artagnan) the running stopped. I don't mean to use the dog as an excuse, but I'm going to. He is a rescue from the Capital Humane Society and came to them as a lost dog. Whomever his previous owner may not have treated him all that well (this is speculation), and he was scared of every new person he met, every sound he heard, and would not walk well on a leash. We have been working on leash training and walking each morning, so running took a backseat.
While running, I began to think of how I would like to write. I have always enjoyed reading humorists such as Dave Berry, I love reading Bill Bryson or even human interest pieces by local writers such as Rainbow Rowell or Cindy Lange-Kubic. I will never be at that level, but they do influence me. Although, if you want to pay me to write or syndicate me I will abide.
So here it begans, the life and times of a not so eloquent writer.
What I learned today:
That my husband is a wonderful and patient person as 1. I have had a cold for more than a week and been coughing constantly at night, 2. the dog snores quite loudly, 3. when the cat bathes at night, her collar jingles loudly. Thank you for not trying to smother us all in our sleep for not letting you have any.
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