Weekly Update

I'm getting ready to head into Week 2 of the 2008-2009 school year. Week 1 went well, and if it's any indication, I'm going to have a great year. My biggest class is my 8th grade language arts class. It has 21 kids. To give you some idea, my homeroom has 16, and then my next biggest class is only 9, so anyway, the 21 is a jolt in the middle of the day. Plus, I've been a little nervous because I've never taught it before. However, my nerves were eased on Friday though when we had a power outage. Unforeseen obstacles like this can really show the true colors of a class. This group was great though. We had a couple of laughs, and then I figured out something we could do in the dark, and they actually did it. They seem like a great group of kids. And luckily, the power only stayed off 10 minutes or so. Whew!

On a sad note, my FREAKING INTERNET IS DOWN AT HOME!!!!!!! Now that I have it, I can't live without it! I haven't been on Facebook since Thursday. I haven't been able to do anything at home but play Mah-Jongg. Ugh. My phone is also down, so it has to be something with my fiber optics line. And, of course, this little problem could not manage to happen in the weeks that I'm home doing nothing all day. I'm going to try to find a time I can let the guys into my house, or I'll have to beg my dad or stepmom to meet them... blah blah blah. It's just frustrating... that it won't work, and that I'm so totally addicted that I feel like all is not right with the world unless I can get on the internet at any hour of the day or night. Sad. Plain sad.

This morning I skipped church, and Avery and I went to Jefferson County Park for a walk. It was beautiful and cool with a nice breeze. Really, it was church. I guess I have a lot of my Grandpa Sutherlin in me... outside alone in nature sometimes feels closer to God than anywhere else ever could.

The extra sleep will be nice, but I'm going to miss the Olympics. I guess having them every four years makes us appreciate them a little more. Yesterday I watched rhythmic gymnastics. Now, that's a sport we don't hear much about. Honestly, I can take or leave the clubs, ropes, and hoops, but the ribbon.... the ribbon is AWESOME! Sometimes, I would forget entirely about the gymnast and just be watching the patterns that ribbon would make to the music. It is a really beautiful thing. It hardly seemed real... more like animation or something. Gorgeous.

I'm at school now, working on my skeletal plans for the year. My GOAL classes have so many big projects that I really need a basic plan for the year just so I fit everything in. We're on regular schedule this week with full-length classes (40 minutes). It's time to get serious, and that's a good thing. I'm ready to dig in.