self-portrait

self portrait meme:
take a picture of yourself right now.
Don't change your clothes, don't fix your hair...just take a picture.
Post that picture with NO editing.
Post these instructions with your picture.

Okay, okay, so I took that last night. I didn't have much time to post last night between trying to relax a little from a very busy week at school and then get back to grading the massive amount of papers left.
But I basically look the same right now. I'm still on my bed, Gabriel's still taking a nap on top of me. He's really into cuddling recently. No matter where I am, he's gotta be there. He's even been sleeping between D and I through the night. This has really upset Jackie because that was our time to cuddle and she's very picky about how she curls up with someone.

Today was all about grading. I graded my ass off. I've gone through 3 classes of introduction letters and have only one more to go (24 more!). These kids do not play around when it comes to turning in work, man. I am not used to that. I also just finished up checking off the Beowulf/Grendel maps and weekly journals for one class and am about half done doing that for a 10th grade class, too. Sweet! It looks like Mrs. P might just get some "me" time this week!
I had some pretty awesome experiences this week at school. I'll hopefully find some time to sit down and tell you about them soon. I'm getting more used to it and the kids are getting more comfortable with me. I still haven't really gotten to know a lot of the other teachers. They're... strange. Very welcoming, but also, not so much. One of the other new-to-the-school teachers just moved back to the US after living in Germany (her husband's in the military) came to see me early on in the week to say that anytime I wanted to talk, vent, share ideas, etc. to come see her. I'll probably take her up on that this upcoming week.
One big thing happened this week (that I was told about 2 days before it happened--ahh!): Back to School Night/Open House. I saw quite a few parents. One of the dads reminded me of Bob D. He had all sorts of questions, elbowed me a little bit about grading, the schedule, etc, and then shook my hand and said "Welcome to NK county!" I asked him, "Was this my initiation?" He seemed to get a kick out of that. Whew.