Actually I’m not sure if this is ironic or not (stupid Alanis. Why did you have to mess with my understanding of irony?), but here you have it:
On top of having sniffly nose allergies to Simon (who is a very cuddly guy and I don’t care that I’m allergic to him I still want to snuggle him all the time which is probably dumb but I LOVE HIM and even though I’m a little bit allergic to him it’s not as bad as it is with other breeds of cats), I seem to also be developing a cold. So even when I take Benadryl, I’m still all stuffed up and sneezy, just a different kind. Plus I’m high on Benadryl so it doesn’t count quite as much.

My sister’s birthday was on Friday. I’m not going to tell how old she turned, because that would be rude. I’ll just say that I’m 31, and she’s seven years older than I am. I feel a bit badly because I didn’t get her a present. Actually that’s not true. Back in July sometime I bought her some jewelry and I was too impatient and couldn’t wait til September to give it to her. Still though I didn’t point out that it was supposed to be her birthday gift. Not that someone who is seven years older than 31 actually demands gifts or anything and I doubt she would hold it against me. Her oldest son turns eighteen on Tuesday… it’s so hard to believe. I was 13 when he was born, and it seems like yesterday when he was this little fuzzy-headed blond guy ‘helping’ me to read Green Eggs and Ham. Now he’s a pierced, tattooed, hair-dyed-black, full-fledged adult, and it brings a little tear to my eye (I know I know, he’s not my kid…). He still loves reading, though. And he’s one of the most intelligent kids I’ve met. So it’s all good.

You know, I think eBay might be the bane of my existence. It’s not because of the whole getting-ripped-off-and-never-getting-my-wig situation that happened over the summer. I’m not holding that against eBay, really. One bad apple and all. And, I feel no ill will toward eBay. It’s really not their fault that it’s just SO EASY to find things there that I normally wouldn’t look for in a real life store, and thus, normally, wouldn’t think of buying.

And lately, because of the bit of Blog Advertising money that’s been coming in (I really hope y’all don’t find it TOO annoying), I’ve allowed myself to buy some of the things that I look up. In fact, her is a list of things I have used my illicit blog earnings for:

- renewed my URL or hosting or whatever
- bought a rosary from eBay
- bought some books on Amazon
- sent some cash to a friend who needed it
- bought a skirt on eBay
- bought some wig tape on eBay
- bought curtains for our livingroom on eBay
- sent some money to the foundation to prevent worldsuck

So you see, fully half of the things I’ve done with that money? eBay.

I have to start controlling myself. Or do I?

Nessun Dorma
Luciano Pavarotti, 1935- 2007

Today was the first day with the kids. Not a ‘real’ day, because the morning was spent at assembly and having them fill in paperwork, and the afternoon was a ‘mini-day’ of six fifteen-minute time blocks. Tomorrow’s the real start of teaching, but I’m pretty confident in saying so far, so good. Of course I have 180 names and faces to remember… that’s gonna take awhile. And we all know that most of the time negative behaviour doesn’t start the first week. I’m not complaining AT ALL, by the way, because a grace period is a grace period and I’m perfectly happy with it.

Have I mentioned that I’m in the same classroom I did my last practicum in? I think I have. Anyway, this is one of the most beautiful classrooms I’ve been in. Nice huge corner desk for me, storage… all kinds of stuff. Of course with over 30 students in most of my classes I would like to have a bit more space but beggars can’t be choosers.

What I really love is that I am teaching just one subject this year. One. I have always taught at least two or three subjects at this level, but the administration at this school likes for teachers to ‘specialize’. I love that. So, I teach the same subject to grades 7, 8, and 9, and I just can’t stress how much I love it. I mean, I’ve said ‘love’ three times in this paragraph (four now). I think that gives a bit of a clue.

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Oh, how quickly the summer has gone by!

Yes, folks, tomorrow is my official First Day of Work at the New School. Not that this is any different for me from any other year… this is my (*counts on fingers*) eighth? year of teaching, and only once have I been at the same place two years in a row. So, there’s nervousness at starting off in a new place, but having been in to the New School a couple of times this past week, I’ve met a few people and am not too afraid of them. More nervous of showing up on the first day with the kids and being naked or something. You know how I tend to do that.

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Here are a bunch of photos I took on the day of our first wedding anniversary, August 19th. They are all a bit big so if you’re on dialup don’t bother. also many of them look the same.

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We have a visitor in our house! Guess who it is?

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