follow the white reflective line

Yesterday, we finally had a chance to go get some much-needed bike tires. David had replaced the front one on my Schwinn for my birthday (to make up for the one stolen from the bike last summer), but the back one went flat twice since we've been here. His bike needed two new tires since the ones that were on the bike were crap. We replaced all of those and took our first bike ride together downtown. Hooooly moly! That heavy ass bike could really haul (compared to how it used to attempt to go over 5 MPH). It sure does make a difference having tires that are actually inflated to the correct pressure.
On our way back, we had a fun time of getting through a stretch of road(s) without any street light. We hadn't bought lights yet and just missed the bike shop downtown's hours, which ruined our plan to buy some on the way to Aromas. Crap. Williamsburg still has these nice stretches of country-like road where there are no streetlamps. I kind of like it... unless I'm on a bike with no light. It was pretty exciting though. All we heard were bugs, squeaky bikes, and silence. Every now and then a car came along. Once we got to the light on Monticello, it got a lot better (more cars and a few streetlights). It was dangerous, but exhilarating. After we got home, it was agreed we would (probably) never do that again. We bought a headlight and two rear lights today.
If my writing is extra sucky tonight, it's because I just finished reading about 1/4-1/2 of my students' papers (I have about 130 students. That was a good chunk o'papers). Near the end there it got kinda dodgy. I don't know if I know how to write anymore. Or spell correctly. Or even think in ways that make sense. The kids have heart, but a few of those papers left my brain twisted up into one giant question mark. Their ideas somehow got all twisted on the page. I think maybe they got intimidated by the extra formal feeling of the paper, so tomorrow we're going to review the purpose, audience, etc. of the paper. Hopefully that will help out a few that wish to re-write and up their grade and those that have not finished yet. Ugh. Starting off the year with the most difficult and boring type of essay is a tough situation, ladies and gentlemen.
I am tired and still have some planning to do. This week we start short stories- hallelujah! Literature! How I've missed you!

In weather news, after a few days of freezing (50-60degree) mornings and somewhat cool(er) days, the temp went back up into the high 80s and low 90s. We were enjoying having the windows open, hearing the birds and weird huge bugs buzz up to our screens, and feeling the breeze, but, unfortunately, had to turn the A/C back on for today. It's supposed to go back down into the 70s or low 80s, so it'll probably be turned off again soon.

Two extras:
David now has a blog. There is a link on the right side of the page. He has a great writing style and sense of humor.
If you haven't noticed yet, you can post comments even though you do not have a blog through Blogger. A few people mentioned that they didn't want to get an account/didn't have an account, so they couldn't comment. There ya go, folks.

Happy 19th birthday, Meg!
Congrats Jen on being a contracted teacher for KPS!

yaaaay, let's buy stuff!

I haven't bought a whole lot of stuff recently, just stuff I've been meaning to buy. For example, some more teacher clothes. I found some good deals at Target and I have my eye on some stuff at the outlet mall. When that stuff goes on sale, ohhh my! Will I have some teacher clothes? I love clothes.
I also bought the fancypants camera you see above. I got it for a killer deal on amazon.com and also managed to snag a memory card for a good price, too. It was sent yesterday, so it's already headed my way! Once it gets here and I make sure it's what I want and everything works correctly, I will be sending Miss Katy my digital camera for a few dollars (price still to be determined. I'll see what she's will to pay for it. The whole camera works except for the zoom.) as well as a book that I suggested to her before I left Kzoo.

This morning I was having this wonderful dream about not having to get up because it had snowed! It felt so realistic: I got out of bed, shivering, and looked out the window to see more snow than I'm sure they're used to here. I was jumping around for a while, all excited about not having to go to school, and then went back to bed. Then my alarm went off and I realized that none of that actually happened. I was sleeping really good, too. It ended up being a good day in school. The classes were kind of unstructured because of the essay due date being today. Half of my more rowdy class on the "B" day (today) was in the library, finishing typing up their papers with my co-teacher. I was stuck playing babysitter to the already finished (and bored) and the completely unmotivated (and sort of whiny about having to write a paper). I had to explain multiple times things I've already explained and I had to explain why we're writing this paper and how, basically, no- it's not very fun for anyone and no- it's not a very good way to start off the year, but if we get past it, we've all overcome a big, boring obstacle and the rest of the writing for the year will seem soooooo easy. Ah well. That class needs more structure on most days, otherwise they regress into children. Which is usually managable for me, but the crushing weight of essays finished and unfinished and having to read so many of them the past week gave me a big, fat headache. Most of the students were pretty understandable and told others to quiet down. Since the season's changing, quite a few of my students have had some major headaches that we can do nothing about since I can't give them any drugs and they can't take any in school. I told them, basically, "Listen. I have a headache. You'll have to excuse me for any snappy attitude I may give you at this moment. I don't mean it and you'll have to show a little maturity and patience that I know you have. We all have those days, as I've seen from you-- now you're seeing one from me. Next time, we'll all be back to 'normal'." I'm glad most of them understood. I still felt pretty much like a failure at the end of the day and I knew I could've done this unit a lot better. Next time, I know exactly what to do. Lucky for me, I have an amazing department head and two great co-teachers who understand this is the first time I've ever done a unit all on writing one specific type of essay. Whew.

crazy recap!

I am writing this from David's snazzy new HP laptop he finally recieved today.
I've sent out a lot of mail and I'm looking forward to one specific package coming towards me soon. Oooh, fancy and mysterious!
School is amazing. Every day it gets better. The kids are just... wow. I have a few talkative kiddos, but for the most part, they are wonderfulcoolfunnyrespectfuldrivendeterminedamazing and so on. They turn in their essays tomorrow and we will all be happy to be finally over with the SOL (it's like the MEAP) test essay. Thank jeebus.
By the way, some interesting things: First, this is the first time since early elementary school that I've had to stand and say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. I'm totally not used to it and I always forget. A lot of the kids drag their butts out of the seat. Most of them don't recite it. But. They always respect the moment of silence we have before the pledge.
Also, I have quite a few gay or questioning or sassy youth. It's really awesome the way that most of them do not care whatsoever what their peers think. The stereotype of the South from us Yankees is that Southern folk hate everything, right? I've heard a minimum of "that's gay" or "fag". The "fag" usage is usually in jest, which is nice. Yesterday, though, a sweet girl in one of my early classes asked a classmate:
"Wait. Are you gay?"
He nods.
"You don't look gay. I wouldn't have ever told."
I ask: "How exactly is a gay person suppossed to look, my dear?"
"He looks like a gay thug or something! I mean, I would have never guessed!"
Other students talk about it. We talk about the guy from Real World that was "thug" and gay.
Then she asks him a personal question that ended with something like "...it hurt?"
He nods.
THE KIDS FLIP! OUT!
I ask her, "Did you seriously just ask him a personal question in front of the whole class?!" (I'm thinking: No sex life talk from anyone, thank you.)
He says, "What? Am I suppsed to be ashamed of it?"
Cue me feeling proud of him. I talked to him about how I wasn't trying to make him feel ashamed or that he had to hide anything, but I just wanted to make sure he wasn't going to be hurt by some of the reactions. He wasn't. Yes!!
Anyway.
This week also included an Open House on Monday. I met quite a few parents. They were very nice.
Not much else. I went to the ';[ppppppppp';] (gabriel says hello) Post Office and met the most efficient (but most likely to be a serial killer) post office worker ever. I saw the arty part of Norfolk and ate some delicous indian food with Carly. I told her she would love Kalamazoo (I'm pretty sure she would). I miss Mugsybugsy, Nataliesussenhose, Amandafancypants, Miss Katyloo and the idea of having friends nearby. soon, soon, soon.
Megan's going to be 19 soon! Make sure to say happy birthday to her.

cat vs. bird

Yesterday was spent mostly downtown. Parking was a hassle as it was Saturday (usually a busy day for Colonial Williamsburg) as well as the first football game for W&M. I believe they won against Maine. I also noticed, while I was watching the news last night, that Western Michigan won against Virginia. David said this was a big thing for WMU because Virginia is a good team. I know nothing about football, so, okay, sure, whatever.
Anyway. David had another panel to go see at the school of law, so we ran some errands, searched around for parking, finally decided on the buzzkill of a parking ramp (although it's a very beautiful and cute parking lot that goes along with the colonial theme) that charges $1/hour. We went to B&N where I found that all the Postsecret books (all 35 copies they had) had gone to some event. I finally decided to buy that book and it's gone. Damn. It's okay though 'cause I found it on Amazon for cheaper PLUS Amazon is selling a package deal: Postsecret + Found Magazine book (#1) for about the same price I would pay at B&N for just the Postsecret book. I'll probably do that later on. It was a day of disappointment at B&N. I got spoiled with Kazoo Books and find the price of books at B&N pretty scary. I checked out their magazine selection. Bust has nothing new out. I didn't see Bitch yesterday, but I think it's there usually. Some girl took the last Nylon and Venus was boring. The only interesting thing on Venus's cover was for a book review of Amy Sedaris's cookbook that finally came out (which I will probably look in to buying later on.). What a bust.
After David left for the panel, I wandered around a bit. I sat at Aromas drinking a mocha that was made with powdered cocoa. It was... kinda gross. Everything else they make there is good, but that powdered chocolate stuff is something I won't touch again. As I sat there reading and sipping, this couple with a tiny, adorable dog came. Someone stopped in the middle of the road to tell them how cute their dog was! And, of course, all the sorority girls flitting about stopped and asked, "Is that a chihuahua?!" (it was pretty obvious that it was not.. but. I guess small dog=chihuahua?) The best part was when this group of four people came strolling buy with their two giant dogs. The dogs got a long great and, as the group started to continue on their walk, the older gentleman with them started telling everyone outside Aromas to have a good day. It was adorable!
I finished up my "mocha", headed into Mermaid Books. I love that cluttered little basement. I found a copy of Julius Caesar for 75 cents, which will help me with planning. I headed over to Biggs to see what the Bonus Days gift was all about and the woman working the counter came over and said, "Can I help you with anything? I just love your hair color! That's natural, right? Don't ever mess with it!" I love this town.
Last night we booked our tickets to Michigan for Christmas. I was worried that if we waited any longer, the prices would keep going up. We found a good deal for one round-trip ticket at $123. I figured we should take it since we can afford it now and not wait to see how high it'll go. We leave December 23rd from D.C. and fly into Detroit, then return to D.C. on the 30th. It'll be a little trip from one side of Michigan to the other and back again. Whew!
I've also looked in to ticket prices for Germany in April. I found a good deal from D.C. to NJ to Berlin for $630. Hopefully, I'll be able to find that same price later on when I can actually afford it! I've also priced new digital cameras and I found the one I wanted: A Canon PowerShot A530. I found it for under $200 on Amazon and it's waaaay better than the digital camera I have now. When I buy it (sometime in the future), I'll be sending my old camera to Katy for a few bucks.
Oh and we tried a really good Mexican place: La Tolteca (spelling may be wrong). David and some people from his program went there after his first panel he had to go to Friday night. There was a lot of food and it was really quick. It was even good the next day when I ate what I couldn't eat the night before. Natalie, you would love this place.
The picture in this post is the cat that hangs around our building. She sleeps in that corner sometimes (very cute) and brings her kills to the building. After Ernesto, a squirrel showed up. We're not sure if somehow she got it or it drowned and she dragged it here or what. A mouse also showed up on the stairs. Yesterday, we opened our door and found a bird at the bottom of the stairs. I have another picture of the feathers that were a few inches away from it. She's a very good hunter, it seems.

calm and calamity

Today every seagull found a home on top of a lamp post on the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel. We were going slow enough for me to finally enjoy the scenery. The sea was calm, the rain had paused, the seagulls rested and traffic flowed nicely. It was a nice moment to cap off a nice day.
Most of my classes are good. Two of them range back and forth. One of them usually ends up with me feeling like a complete failure (That will change soon, though). I've been observed for the first time by the many people who must observe me. It was okay, haven't heard any feedback yet. Everyone seems to be very supportive of first-year teachers and pretty laid back in general. My co-teachers are amazing women. I've met some of the sour teachers in school and survived. Too bad for them. They don't know how good they got it here. Maybe I can appreciate this so much more because it is such a positive change. The atmosphere in this HS is so much different from the schools I know (and love). It's not as draining. There is hope. Most of these kids have goals, they know where they're going and they're doing what they need to get there. The district gives them a chance to succeed.
I miss my sister. I'm looking forward to a new digital camera, plane tickets to Michigan for the holidays and to Germany for spring break, and see Amanda's new city. I'm enjoying getting mail and writing back. We're enjoying being able to buy groceries again.
Speaking of food, Williamsburg has really good food. Last week we finally tried Sonic. It was delicious! And they have so many flavors to put into smoothies, slushies, sodas, etc. Oh my! But as for the independent food places here, they are even more amazing. We finally went to one of the pancake/waffle houses here (there have to be about a million! Or at least ten.), Mama Steve's, and it was so freaking good! We had really been craving something resembling an Old Standby from Crow's Nest and I think I found my substitute (it's even better). The pancakes were delicious as well. We're also enjoying Aromas and Retro's.
Soon David's laptop will be here. We will be able to fix his bike and look into getting me a lighter bike for the roads here. The weather is beautiful and cool. The rain comes in waves in small drops and small downpours that are beautiful to watch.
The most entertaining thing that has happened today involved a batch of notes. One showed up on the banister for the stairs. It said, basically, that the people in #1 saw a mouse and have heard noises. They asked if anyone else had seen or heard anything, because our landlord/realtor will not send someone out unless it is an infestation of the whole building. Someone else near them wrote another note and mentioned they heard noises. Someone else writes a note that we should get together an army of cats (I liked that one). And, finally, someone replied with what we were going to write: There was a dead mouse on the stairs. We figured the community cat found and killed it. I'm interested in seeing where this goes. Maybe the salamanders (or something close to that, they always move too fast for me to check them out), the toads, and the community cat can bond together and get the mice out?

and on to the next..

Okay. So. Let's recap.
My first day came with my first feeling of pure panic. I almost ran out of the room as students started filing in. I was really tempted to start screaming, "WAIT! I can't do this! We've all made a huge mistake!" I had no clue what to do. My first block was awkward and weird, by the third class I had, I had it down and got the hang of it. Now things are going okay. I've got a few problems to smooth out, but those mostly come from being new to everything: school, area, teaching, etc.
On Thursday night, David and I went to a dinner for the Public Policy grad students. It's an informal thing where each student hosts a week, others sign up to come, everyone brings something. It was really nice to get out.
This weekend we were met with a Boil Water Advisory. I guess that's better than getting hit with another hurricane/tropical storm/depression. By the way, Ernesto costed Virginia about $90 million in damages-- half of that in Richmond alone (they were floooooded, man. It was crazy to see on the news). Anyway. The Boil Water Advisory. James City County/Williamsburg were under this advisory because of a leak in a water main that may have contaminated water. On NPR in the morning, on the way to school, I heard WBG maybe wasn't affected by it because, apparently, WBG gets most of its water from Newport News. So, I don't worry about how I brushed my teeth, took a shower, put water in my nalgene and the cats' dish with water that may be contaminated. I get home and the news has changed: Everyone needs to be careful and boil water before they drink it or use it for cooking. My thirsty dumb ass doesn't even think, drinks some water and then realizes, "Ohhh, yeah... This is the water they're talking about. Oops." The advisory of course made David and I feel a thirst like no other because all of our juice was gone and we already drank all of the water left in the brita. Oops. It was hilarious, the psychological effects of the Boil Water Advisory. We ended up going to a gas station to get some pop/tea. Ahh.
Saturday we went to the outlet mall. I love that place. So cheap! David found some shirts and a pair of pants that are worthy of a grad student. I found a comfy pair of green Keds slip ons for $10 (now to be known as my Old Lady Yachting Shoes) as well as some hot stuff for teaching clothes. Like I said, I love that place.
Today started another week in school. Things went fine. I felt a little headache-y all day. I was really light-headed and kinda queasy my first block. I told them that if I passed out, not to laugh too hard. I got about two laughs for that one. The rest of the kids were like "You are really bad at telling jokes." Thanks, guys.

a quickie

First week is over with. My students are amazing, funny, kind and very respectful. Sure, I have a few that'll take a while. But definitely not as many as last year. Maybe next week that will all change. Who knows?
I survived. I'm tired. That's about it right now.