YAY!!!

It's raining. I'm so happy right now. I know that seems weird, but I guess you just need to live it to understand it. I've lived in Bakersfield for a month and a half and this is the first time it is raining. I tried to take pictures... I promise, the sidewalks are wet from rain and not the sprinklers. This is the view from my window of another apartment building.

On a note totally off topic, I didn't teach today. I had to go to a lecture for some classroom management thing and ended up coming back here and just vegging out the rest of the day. I found out that Turkey has a secret life of being a complete pile of... well, you know.
HE'S SO LAZY!!!! Seriously though. Look at that gut.


- Carol

playing catch-up (you bring the mustard)

Hey Dodger fans

(sorry, that's an Oliver and Company reference...)

I wanted to throw out a quick update of my life and also get some opinions.

Life is going well. It's begun to cool down a little outside, but it doesn't feel as "cold" here as you are probably feeling recently (low humidity here, remember). We reached middle of the quarter last week, so I had to send deficiency notices home for students who are failing or getting a D. I think I sent out about twelve, not too bad. The reason they are doing poorly is because they refuse to do their homework - not my problem.

I've definitely been working my tail off and overall, I feel like my lessons are improving. I think the kids are actually learning, too! The only issue I am having is coming home and working. I know I'm supposed to find time to separate my school life and home life, but when am I supposed to get everything done? I'm constantly amazed at all of the secretarial, administrative, extra-curricular, etc. things that are thrown at teachers - ON TOP OF TEACHING. I always have it all planned out at school, but when I get home, I usually can't bring myself to do a thing. I just want to exist for a couple hours, without thinking about school.

Yesterday I decided to start running again. I don't know where the motivation came from for this, except that there was a cool breeze and Jeff and Lindsey were going to the gym. I kept up a nice pace for about 25 minutes, and did some sprinting at the end. Yes, I'm feeling it today. I'm not sure how far I ran, because I just ran through the paths at our apartment grounds. Perhaps I can borrow an odometer from someone in the science department.

Since my mom asked me if Turkey was still alive, I'm going to post some pictures I took of him the other day when he was snuggling with his elephant. When I walked in the room he was actually resting his head on it, but he didn't want to look like a wuss so...

I decided that I really need to get my California driver's license and registration/plates this week. It's supposed to be done within 10 days of moving to the state... but who's counting? It's annoying to show my ID (you have to show it every time you use your credit card) and have cashiers remember me and say, "Shouldn't you be getting your new one...?" Ooops. Hopefully, I can sneak in sometime right after school this week. Jeff said it takes at least two hours. I have to get my car a SMOG test and also take a written driver's test, on top of all the paperwork and fees. Now you can see why I have been putting it off...

I have noticed a lot of Californians have vanity plates. I'm toying with the idea, but I wanted some other opinions. Here are a couple ideas I had (Joe gave me the "yo" ones), let me know what you think! All listed are (at this moment) available.

"YO TEACH" and "WE ARE" are taken. Have other ideas? 2-7 alpha-numeric characters.

- Carol

School, football, and beer

These weeks are really starting to fly by!

Teaching takes a lot of energy out of me, and I just want to collapse when I get home. Don't get me wrong, I like it. I just wish it wasn't so exhausting. Tomorrow I'm going to be out and I need to make this update quick so I can write up a lesson plan for the sub. I have to attend a bunch of seminars for BTSA (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) even though I have been through all this crap for my Pennsylvania teaching credential. It's actually a very time consuming process and will take me 2 years to complete, which is why I'm most likely going to stay here at least another year. Lindsey and I decided to throw down some money for these classes and seminars so we will not only get get credit for BTSA but also actual college credit. This will help us rise in pay scale and we can take it with us anywhere we move. Makes sense right? That's why I find it very surprising more people in the program DO NOT choose this option. I guess if you don't have the money to spend or you plan on staying in Bakersfield for life...

I had a pretty good weekend. Yesterday we had a little get together at the apartment to watch the PSU / ND game on the big screen. It was really nice to be around other PSU alums, even if I didn't know them while we all attended - and at the same time, no less! My only regret is that I wasn't at the game. I can't begin to describe how much I miss it, but you can't stay in college forever! I "borrowed" some pictures from the game, though, for your viewing pleasure. All credit to Mark Sellers for these gems.
Afterwards (since it was only 6pm here), Jeff, some of his co-workers, and I went to Brews in the Village. I have never been to a beer tasting event, but this was slightly reminiscent of Musikfest (which I had to miss this year). We had to pay, but our ticket price included 15 samples (but really, you could get as many as you want, they didn't check), great food from all over town, and lots of live music. The festival was limited to 4,500 people and it sold out. We had a really good time. Especially Jeff:

I must sign-off for now so I can get some grading in and write up my lesson. And how could I forget, the GIANTS are on tonight!! :)

- Carol

Thoughts on a lonely Monday

Buenos tardes!

Nothing special going on for me this Labor Day holiday. It has been a decent weekend and I'm really glad for this extra day to relax.

Last Wednesday was Back To School Night, where parents come in for an open house-type meeting. I was scared out of my mind. It's so weird how different I feel in front of the kids verses their parents. I guess it's because I know how young I look and I AM young and who the heck am I to be teaching their kid and ... it's just really frustrating. So I was really nervous for the first period parents. It was hard to hide my shaking hands and even harder to hide the shaking voice. After 10 long minutes were up, the bell rang for the parents to move to second period class. Two older parents approached me and introduced themselves. The first question dad had was the one I dreaded most, "So how long have you been teaching?" I admitted that this was my first teaching job and the two told me they were teachers as well, so that made me feel a little better because they understood. The other periods went smoother and by the end of the night I felt a lot better. I talked to Marc's mom about it a couple nights ago and she admitted that even she felt nervous when she had to do open houses. I guess it is just one of those necessary things.

On Thursday, I went to Target to pick up a couple odds and ends. When I came out, this is the view I found:

Friday I went out with Jeff to a bar he has been frequenting and met some of his co-workers. Everyone was pretty nice but I just found myself missing my own friends... Saturday really got me feeling lonely again because Lindsey's boyfriend came to visit for the weekend (he's going to law school in San Diego) and I just hung out by myself. I read a book Lindsey told me was a must read, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Stephen Chbosky. It was incredibly good and had a lot of Penn State references, but didn't help much with my loneliness. A very poor choice for my current mood.

Yesterday, the four of us took a beach trip. We drove west to Pismo beach and bummed around there for a couple hours. Pismo Beach is referred to as "Classic California." I found some more information about it here. I even went in the Pacific ocean for the first time with more than my feet, though it was 56 degrees. BRRR. It was weird to think I was at the beach on September 2nd. Here are some pictures I took at Pismo:

After Pismo, we drove south on the 101 to Santa Barbara. The 101 is so neat because at times, you are driving right along the coast.

It was SO much colder there and Lindsey and I had to buy hoodies. I wish I had remembered that this happened when Scott and I went. We ate at a place called Longboard's Grill for dinner. Speaking of "The 101," Lindsey's boyfriend made me realize something. I am using California slang! Back home I would have never said "The 80" or "The 78" but for some reason, I place "The" in front of "101" here. Weird. Anywho, we were all pretty tired last night and didn't get back until 12:30am.

Today I've just been hanging out by myself. I'm still feeling the lonely blues and not in the greatest of moods. Turkey has been acting like a complete jerk. It's strange but he definitely acts more like a jerk when I'm in a bad mood. And that doesn't help anything. Sometimes I really wish animals could reason. Look what he did to the lower level of his condo. UGH!!!!!!

I'm going to go grocery shopping so I get myself out of the apartment. Oh and since Marc requested it, here is the picture Ellen drew for me and a picture of Turkey to compare. She did a great job. :)