Jess and I went to the Lindbergh terminal first, only to realize that we wanted Humphrey. Now, they've apparently remodeled it since I was last there (YEARS AGO!) The building looks completely different from what I remember. I've also never been IN Humphrey terminal. Jess and I have both used the main terminal before, but after yesterday, we are converts for life. We both LOVE Humphrey terminal. It's so relaxed and small, most of my anxiety over flying was gone just from how easy our check-in was. However, it was actually a bit too easy. We had arrived nearly two hours early, and suddenly found ourselves with about an hour and a half of travel time.
My only complaint about the first flight to Atlanta was the dog. One woman had a dog in a carrying case who was definitley not happy to be in the case. I thought at first that what sounded like a whimpering dog actually had to be a squeaky wheel on a carry-on case. Imagine my surprise when I realized it really was a whimpering dog... who was going to be on our flight with us.
The flight itself was delightfully smooth, and once in the air I was fine, even when we hit pockets of turbulence descending into Atlanta. Jess graciously allowed me to have the window seats both times, even though the tickets said that was her seat. Luckily, I was also over the wing both times, which is my favorite place to be. (I can make sure they don't fall off!)
We only had about 40 minutes to get from concourse D to concourse C once we got into Atlanta, and by the time we got there they had already begun seating... so off we went a second time. This place had the engines on the main body of the place, while the first had engines under the wings. Both were very nice planes, though I think the first had an overall smoother ride, while the second went considerably faster. Our flight from Atlanta to Buffalo was only about 75 minutes! I barely got halfway through the album I was listening to on my MP3 player, and when I did start to doze, I was quickly awakened by Jess to give my beverage order.
Buffalo international airport is about the same size (give or take) as the Humphrey terminal back home. We were out of there in under 10 minutes, and Robyn and Bob met us before we got our baggage. We hit a Ruby Tuesday's for dinner on our way from Buffalo to Ripley, where I had the Cajun Catch with steamed broccoli and grilled asparagus, as well as a run at the salad bar. Good food. It was totally dark by the time we got to Robyn's place, so I didn't get to see any of the wine vineyards and farms we passed on the way in, but they have a lovely little house... I'll try to remember to send pictures later. We watched some of Dancing with the Stars, The Middle, and Castle (one of my favorite shows!) and went to bed. Robyn had carefully vacuumed both guest rooms, washed the sheets, and been keeping the cats out for weeks (they have four now!) to make sure my allergies weren't a problem while we are visiting.
This morning we got up and went to Meeder's, the only restaurant in town. We were too late to be introduced to the "usual crowd" however. They offer delicious toast made from home made bread. It was very good dry with a bit of jelly. After breakfast, Robyn gave us a look at the veteran's memorial (which is unique in that it includes the names of living veterans from Ripley as well as deceased,) then gave us a brief driving tour of the town's more notable decrepit buildings. I then got to meet Noni and Bill (Robyn's parents.) They were very nice, if a bit terse. I seem to have made a good impression, though. Noni told Robyn, "He isn't what I expected. I like him." Bill showed us all his recumbent bicycle and made us each take a spin around the yard (though it has no traction on the tires - they're made for riding on a track, not off-roading.)
Then we ran back to Robyn's and Bob's house. Robyn and Jess went to get pedicures, to be followed by some grocery shopping. They went to one of Ripley's sister towns, for these errands, though I can't now remember if it was Westerfield or Northeast they went to. Bob and I stayed home. I worked on a little of the massive amount of homework I need to do while I'm here, and Bob has alternated between reading, replacing the water filter, and keeping the cats away from me. Once I finished my homework reading, I decided to hop online and take care of a few things (like the 22 e-mails that were waiting for me. Just while typing this, I've gotten 2 more!) I'm not sure what is planned for the rest of the day, but I know Jess also has homework to do today.
Tomorrow Robyn is going to take Jess and I over into Canada to check out Niagara Falls. On the U.S. side it's a national park, but the Canada side is a swinging tourist spot. Hopefully should be fun.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Transition
Transition. I've been hearing and saying and typing that word a lot lately.
After about three weeks of e-mail tag and missed opportunities, my principal and I finally met briefly to discuss the transition that will take place at the end of the quarter; namely, that I will stop teaching theatre there and somebody else will take over for me.
Very little was actually accomplished at the meeting other than my receiving permission to communicate directly with the incoming teacher to coordinate the TRANSITION and make it as smooth as possible. It helps that it is a guy that I know. I had met him briefly months ago, but had no idea at the time that he was a theatre teacher. He's very friendly, energetic, and (most unlike me of all) charismatic. He'll do wonderful things for that school, I wager.
It's odd. I'm chomping at the bit to get out of that school, but I'm very excited on behalf of the new teacher. I think he'll really thrive there in a way that I wasn't able to. While I am going to sorely miss some of my students, others I hope never to see or hear from again. That sounds terrible, I know.
I'm meeting the new teacher for coffee tomorrow night to discuss various things. I'm interested to see how the conversation plays out.
After about three weeks of e-mail tag and missed opportunities, my principal and I finally met briefly to discuss the transition that will take place at the end of the quarter; namely, that I will stop teaching theatre there and somebody else will take over for me.
Very little was actually accomplished at the meeting other than my receiving permission to communicate directly with the incoming teacher to coordinate the TRANSITION and make it as smooth as possible. It helps that it is a guy that I know. I had met him briefly months ago, but had no idea at the time that he was a theatre teacher. He's very friendly, energetic, and (most unlike me of all) charismatic. He'll do wonderful things for that school, I wager.
It's odd. I'm chomping at the bit to get out of that school, but I'm very excited on behalf of the new teacher. I think he'll really thrive there in a way that I wasn't able to. While I am going to sorely miss some of my students, others I hope never to see or hear from again. That sounds terrible, I know.
I'm meeting the new teacher for coffee tomorrow night to discuss various things. I'm interested to see how the conversation plays out.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Look who's talking!
Many mornings (and occasionally evenings) I will do my regular web-surfing thing. I'll check my e-mail, then hop on Facebook for a while, then dump an absurd amount of time into playing Castle Age on Facebook, and then begin browsing the blogs of my dear friends.
Most days, I flip through all of them in under a minute, and then grumble to myself that people don't update their blogs often enough.
This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself reading a relatively new (four days old) blog by Sean when it occurred to me that I also update my blog very rarely, and that it was just as likely that my friends occasionally find themselves grumbling about not being able to keep up on the happenings in my life. Huh.
As it so happens, I do have some happenings to report:
About a week and a half ago, another teacher interviewed for the permanent drama teacher position at the school where I work. Around the middle of last week, they were offered the position and accepted. I will continue as the drama teacher until the end of the first quarter (two weeks before Thanksgiving) and then I will leave and the new teacher will come in. While I'm glad to finally have a concrete answer, it is also fairly irksome that both I and my students are getting jerked around in this way.
This also means that I get to return to job hunting, my least favorite activity in the entire world. Hooray. Fortunately, the storm of job hunting I did the day before I was offered my current job did lay the groundwork for a smoother re-entry into the ranks of the unemployed. Wish me luck.
Most days, I flip through all of them in under a minute, and then grumble to myself that people don't update their blogs often enough.
This morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself reading a relatively new (four days old) blog by Sean when it occurred to me that I also update my blog very rarely, and that it was just as likely that my friends occasionally find themselves grumbling about not being able to keep up on the happenings in my life. Huh.
As it so happens, I do have some happenings to report:
About a week and a half ago, another teacher interviewed for the permanent drama teacher position at the school where I work. Around the middle of last week, they were offered the position and accepted. I will continue as the drama teacher until the end of the first quarter (two weeks before Thanksgiving) and then I will leave and the new teacher will come in. While I'm glad to finally have a concrete answer, it is also fairly irksome that both I and my students are getting jerked around in this way.
This also means that I get to return to job hunting, my least favorite activity in the entire world. Hooray. Fortunately, the storm of job hunting I did the day before I was offered my current job did lay the groundwork for a smoother re-entry into the ranks of the unemployed. Wish me luck.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Wrestling Demons
Okay. I am happy to be gainfully employed, and I hate being unemployed... but now this is getting a bit ridiculous. I almost prefer unemployment.
My capstone class, I'm realizing, is a huge commitment, and often has me working on things alone that I don't feel comfortable doing without the input of others. I mean, our assignment for week two was to come up with the question that would be the basis for our entire capstone. While I have managed to choose one, I'm riddled with doubt. I don't know if I care enough about this topic to crank out 75-125 pages on it, and my alternative questions are fairly mediocre. Oh, except one... that would probably end up being 400+ pages and take 5 years to complete (which I don't think I have the strength for!)
Then, over the same weekend that I'm supposed to be writing my first draft of my first chapter, I'm also suuposed to be choosing plays to direct for the drama club at work. While I have ideas, I don't personally have a very developed dramatic library, so I don't have a whole lot at my fingertips. I also don't have the time to order a bunch of possible plays and read through them, as I'm supposed to have a list of possible plays by Tuesday. Grr.
I guess I'm just frustrated. I went from having almost no responsibility to having so much that I'm nearly paralyzed by my inability to find a starting point.
Gotta go.
My capstone class, I'm realizing, is a huge commitment, and often has me working on things alone that I don't feel comfortable doing without the input of others. I mean, our assignment for week two was to come up with the question that would be the basis for our entire capstone. While I have managed to choose one, I'm riddled with doubt. I don't know if I care enough about this topic to crank out 75-125 pages on it, and my alternative questions are fairly mediocre. Oh, except one... that would probably end up being 400+ pages and take 5 years to complete (which I don't think I have the strength for!)
Then, over the same weekend that I'm supposed to be writing my first draft of my first chapter, I'm also suuposed to be choosing plays to direct for the drama club at work. While I have ideas, I don't personally have a very developed dramatic library, so I don't have a whole lot at my fingertips. I also don't have the time to order a bunch of possible plays and read through them, as I'm supposed to have a list of possible plays by Tuesday. Grr.
I guess I'm just frustrated. I went from having almost no responsibility to having so much that I'm nearly paralyzed by my inability to find a starting point.
Gotta go.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Limbo, take 2
Well, I got my answer... but it was neither a yes or a no.
To paraphrase the way Jess summed it up: "We want somebody better than you, but we can't find anyone that fits that description, so we'll keep you around for now." I've been extended through at least the end of the first quarter, and I've been asked to begin planning for a fall/winter play (which implies I'll be here for the whole first semester.) I don't know how I feel about this response. A bit annoyed, but simultaneously grateful. Huh.
To paraphrase the way Jess summed it up: "We want somebody better than you, but we can't find anyone that fits that description, so we'll keep you around for now." I've been extended through at least the end of the first quarter, and I've been asked to begin planning for a fall/winter play (which implies I'll be here for the whole first semester.) I don't know how I feel about this response. A bit annoyed, but simultaneously grateful. Huh.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Waiting in Limbo
So, I've been working at this school for three weeks. Tomorrow could be my last day. I honestly don't know. They interviewed me again for the permanent position on Tuesday. Now it's Thursday and I still don't know if I'll still be around on Monday to continue grading the performances that my classes started today. Huh.
Limbo is slightly irksome...
Limbo is slightly irksome...
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ray of Hope or Be Careful What You Wish For
Yesterday I woke up in a REALLY depressed mood. Jess could tell something was wrong, and when she asked I told her something to the effect of...
"It's September first. I shouldn't be struggling to find a job. I should have been hired by now. I am supposed to be up to my eyeballs in lesson plans, and you should be complaining about how busy I am and how you never get to see me anymore."
That conversation happened as we were taking a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. After this proclamation, Jess gave me a pep talk. It seemed to work, and upon returning home, I went into a mad frenzy of filling out applications, calling places that I've applied to, following up on potential job leads, the whole shebang.
(Side note: The other day I was doing a crossword and one of the clues was "The whole _______" the answer to which was "Shebang")
Well, good thing I did. Last night we were visiting my mother when my cell phone rang. The job that I interviewed for about a month ago was given to the woman who had taught my Creative Dramatics for Teachers class last summer. She in turn gave a copy of my resume to the Interim Principal at the school she was leaving. (She was leaving because they had cut her down to just under half time, after being full time just two years ago.) That same interim principal was the person on the other end of the line. I now have an interview today at 2. If it goes well, I will stick around for the school's open house night tonight, and be hired as a short-term sub for the first two weeks of school. If that goes well, I will be hired for the rest of the year. Now I have only FOUR DAYS to create my curriculum! Gah!
Be Careful What You Wish For.
"It's September first. I shouldn't be struggling to find a job. I should have been hired by now. I am supposed to be up to my eyeballs in lesson plans, and you should be complaining about how busy I am and how you never get to see me anymore."
That conversation happened as we were taking a leisurely walk around the neighborhood. After this proclamation, Jess gave me a pep talk. It seemed to work, and upon returning home, I went into a mad frenzy of filling out applications, calling places that I've applied to, following up on potential job leads, the whole shebang.
(Side note: The other day I was doing a crossword and one of the clues was "The whole _______" the answer to which was "Shebang")
Well, good thing I did. Last night we were visiting my mother when my cell phone rang. The job that I interviewed for about a month ago was given to the woman who had taught my Creative Dramatics for Teachers class last summer. She in turn gave a copy of my resume to the Interim Principal at the school she was leaving. (She was leaving because they had cut her down to just under half time, after being full time just two years ago.) That same interim principal was the person on the other end of the line. I now have an interview today at 2. If it goes well, I will stick around for the school's open house night tonight, and be hired as a short-term sub for the first two weeks of school. If that goes well, I will be hired for the rest of the year. Now I have only FOUR DAYS to create my curriculum! Gah!
Be Careful What You Wish For.
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