'the morning' by andrew osenga

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memorial weekend

to be honest, not very memorable. i was feeling crappy all week, so i knew i would be laying fairly low during the weekend. friday i went to the library to get some movies for the long weekend (they are free, and i knew i wouldnt have to bring them back until this morning) so i got five. if you want to know more about which ones go here. i didnt dare go outside too much for fear of melting. it was rediculously hot here this weekend. on thursday it was around 68, by the time saturday rolled around it was in the high ninties, and over that with the humidity! i like to think of myself as a kind man, but all bets are off in that kind of weather. i turn from mild-mannered teacher into 'HULK SMASH!!!' needless to say, i kept most of my activities indoors. i got a sneak peek at what life will be like after this week: pure lazy fun! ahh, i cant wait...
but first there are a few more events before the year can be called 'over', such as: tonight is 8th grade graduation. hopefully it wont be too long. i better go rooting around my closet and see if i cant find that 'once a year' tie...

bye bye 8th graders

though the sixth and seventh graders still have a week of school left, the eight graders had their last day today. its sad to see them go, but its exciting to know they are ready to move on. the selfish part of me wants them to stick around because they are so much fun and i will really miss the conversations and discussions we had together, but the teacher part of me is impressed and joyful about what they have accomplished over the past three years and excited about their next step into high school!

and just like that *poof* they grow up

it doesnt make sense

i cant figure it out: the weather is great, the sun is out, its in the high 60's, and here i am sick. i thought being sick was only allowed when its bad weather. well, it shouldnt be allowed. sunday i was just sitting around and somehow, amazingly, i could actually feel myself get sick over the course of about 5 minutes. it was one of the strangest observations i have ever been able to witness. and i have been feeling crappy (sore throat and sinus) ever since. ive been trying to take cough drops, but it almost seems like they make it worse.
today my voice got so horse that i actually had to stop class because i couldnt continue without coughing. i hadnt planned to, but i just had them read their textbooks the rest of the hour. i really should consider staying home tomorrow, but i wont. ive only got six and a half days of work left until august, i would feel pretty stupid to not be able to handle that... i guess ill just try to get to bed on time tonight (although last time i did that i was up tossing and turning until three a.m.)

that was rather nice

im just getting back from talking to an old friend. we used to be really close and would hang out all the time. we would often talk for a long time at the end of the day. but about a year ago we had a bit of a falling out. i didnt budge, nor did she. we went our seperate ways. we still kept a business relationship, but we would never really talk anymore. slowly, i think we have both let the wound heal and are now able to chit chat here and there.
today i was just over talking with her for about 45 minutes. it was lovely. i guess i had forgotten how well we got along and how nice it is to connect with her. i dont know if we will return to that social friendship, but i look forward to deepening our working relationship; you know, a friend, not just a collegue.

it comes up fast on you

im slowly starting to realize that its almost the end of the year for me. usually im counting down the days when spring break hits, but this year i havent really even given it much thought. weve only got 9 days left! yikes!!! thats a good thing and a bad thing. its good because, well, lets face it: then its summer vacation! but its also a bad thing because i have so much to cover yet with the kids before schools out, and because this means the 8th graders will be gone forever! thats a sad thought for me. when i started here the current 8th graders were my homeroom kids, and now they are moving on out of here. there are some really great kids in that class and im really going to miss seeing them everyday. it sounds cheesy, i know, but us teachers really actually do love our students! ive only got them for one more week, so i guess i should make the most of it and enjoy these last few days. either that, or ill just give them all F's so they will have to come back here next year...

the weekend at a glance

here is a quick list of fun stuff i did this weekend:
-went home to michigan
-met curt (who seems like a rather cool guy)
-spent some quality time with my folks
-finally got to chill and talk with the guys again
-caught up with adam
-played play-doh with my nephew
-went to tgi fridays twice in one night
-payed way too much for gas
-had my favorite home cooked dinner
-celebrated mothers day
-when to the grocery store for chocolate milk
-2 hours later, when back for diced pineapples
-visited with both of my grammas
-laughed hysterically with my dad many times about really stupid stuff. a lot.

a special day

happy birthday to my niece jaideyn! she turns one year old today! i dont know what is expected of a one year old, as far as development goes, but when i saw here yesterday she was starting to stand up on her own. she just stands there, not holding on to anything, looking across the room. you can see this look on her face that says 'i want to go over there, but how?!?' im sure she will figure out that riddle soon!

as it is

its been a while since my last post, partly that has been due to my wanting to leave quickly after school last week (mowing the lawn, running to the bank, post office, etc) and also due to the lack of things to say. some times i feel like sharing, other times i dont. so it goes.

lights, camera, auction!

saturday was quite a strange day. our school had its annual auction to raise money. its always successful and alot of fun. this year the ladies who are in charge of setting the whole thing up came up to me and asked if i would be interested in donating anything for the auction. i asked what might they have in mind? she said that the local mini golf place gave us four tickets, and was wondering if i would be willing to go play mini golf with a few students on a saturday afternoon. they would then auction off two of this activity. i thought 'well, that sounds fun, i would like to do that with the students even without the auction!' so i said yes.
as this weekend grew closer i started to get a little nervous. how much would i go for? heres what i was afraid of: what if i only go for a couple dollars? i try not to be proud, but that would be a bit of a blow to my confidence. but then i got scared of the opposite: what if it goes for alot of money and the students realize that im not really that cool, and they wasted their money on this? i couldnt win, so i decided that i wasnt going to think about it.
saturday came and my item came up. it was really crazy because some of the parents were bidding on it and i felt totally strange. after it was all over i peeked my head back up to see what had happened. it turns out that it went for way too much: 2 parents actually paid $325 bucks for their student to spend an afternoon mini golfing with me! yikes! i better make it worth their money...