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So I changed jobs in March. It was bittersweet. Bitter because it was mid-year and I had to leave my classroom and students. Sweet because now instead of commuting 42 miles each way to work, I commute 1.5 miles.

I left St. Clair TEC after nearly 4 years there. I must admit, it was a great job. I had great students who I had come to know and love. The funny thing about teaching is you really do invest a lot of your heart into it. Maybe because I am blue (for my True Colors people) but it's really a job that you become emotionally invested in. At least I do. I really do everything I can to help my students. Some days they hate it, but in the end, we end up with a mutual respect and affection. I know I will have the same in Lapeer but it just takes time to develop. Most of my students in St. Clair were 2nd year students, which meant I had them for 2.5 hours each day, every school day.

So needless to say leaving my kids was really hard. I will admit, some tears where shed. They are still popping up in my dreams. On my last day, we celebrated our time together. One of my students designed a t-shirt and we got them printed. And we all wore them. I gave them mock awards, like I usually do in the spring. It was a very emotional good bye. While I really do enjoy my new job and I am getting to know a bunch of new kids, who are getting to know me - I thought I would share some of the photos.

Yes, everyone loves Alex's hat.

It's our best attempt at the Myspace photo.

Nate and I.

That's my Martha!

She made me cry.

Me & Kate the Rock Star!

Britney and I.

He's a trouble maker, but I miss him.

Proud Moment

So I had two groups of students (at St. Clair TEC) who where honored by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters for their Public Service Announcements. I am so proud of them. It was nice because my last week at St. Clair TEC, I got to take them to the awards ceremony in Grand Rapids.  Here are some pictures from the trip. Also one of my students posted their video on youtube so you can watch it.

Quick Blog/First Real blog for 2009

It's been a while since I had the chance to update the TiVo Changed my Life blog. I have some blogs - that need a little more time than I have right now - so stayed tuned for titles which include:

2008 - Where did you go now?
Cruising in Paradise
30 going on 13

But right now I will write about grading. I was up late last night grading and tonight I have just finished. I am not certain - why it takes me so freaking long - but it does. And to top it off (because most of my students had a "cold day" on Friday) I didn't even include one assignment that I would have liked to. However, it's 11 pm right now and it took me all evening to grade another assignment - so if I start with this one I won't be done until maybe next week. So since my grades are due at 8 am tomorrow - I will look forward to adding this grade to the fourth marking period.

I was set back a little tonight - by the turmoils of commuting. I got a flat tire on I-69. I would like to personally thank all the 18 wheelers who moved over into the left lane to give me some room - while I put on my spare in the bitter cold. I hope you can hear the sarcasm in that - because by thanking them I am probably thanking 3 out of the 950 that flew by me at 80+ miles an hour. I have had two flat tires in my life and neither of which happened in June. Yes, 60+ and sunny - easy breezy. 14 degrees in twilight (I mean seconds of light left in the day) = flat tire. Well it's late and I swore I was going to go to bed early - ha ha ha. Well there is always tomorrow.

No Sleep - Sleep.....

Well I must say last weekend I was bracing for a weekend of ZERO sleep. My students had signed up to do the Insomnia film festival. It's a film festival that runs 24 hours 9 am - 9 am. The goal is to produce and edit a short film in 24 hours. However, it was postponed due to problems with Apple's website. At first I was really disappointed - because my team was PSYCHED - and I was wondering if they would still be as PSYCHED - a month later. But as it turns out they were pretty matter of fact about it - you can read their blog post. If you left them a comment - they would be thrilled - because they are pretty much convinced that I am the only one that reads it. I tell them otherwise - but none the less the don't believe me.

Instead Bruce and I used gift certificates to buy ROCK BAND 2. And our band "the next tuesdays" is back on World Tour. And let me say we are pretty freaking awesome. I think the best thing about the new game is well "Eye of the Tiger" is on it along with several Bon Jovi songs.

Other than that life has been busy with school. I am frustrated because I had a Volleyball accident the week after the marathon - when I was ummmm tackled by a teammate. Since that time I have not been able to run - I did something to my right ankle and it's driving me nuts. I want so badly to run - but then there is this throbbing pain that gets in the way. I actually bought a swimming suit and went swimming the other night - I am planning to go again tonight but I have to wait for open swim at 6:30 pm. I forgot how tiresome swimming can be - and well I miss my ipod - I think running is more my speed.

Also my cousin Babe made it into another commercial with her dog Teddy. When I was little she was featured in the Lands End catalog - now she is in a commercial for the Michigan Tech Credit Union. I am posting it here to spread her fame. Also many might see where my years of training to perfect the Palin accent come from.

ANTM Cycle 11 Starts Tonight

Yes ladies and gentlemen - I said tonight. I am sure you are all in front of your televisions with your TiVo's set to go. This season of ANTM is sure to be interesting - why do you ask? Well they have added a twist - no it's not the girl that decides to tell her family that she is a lesbian or thinks she may be one on national television or the Ivy Leaguer who thinks she maybe too pretty to be a model, this year it's a transgender model. Yes - one model who was born a boy. This my friends is ANTM gold. My only worry right now is that my satellite is out due to the storm - so I may have to watch the encore on Sunday night.

As for judges this year - Paulina's back. I must say that I miss Twiggy. She was much more likeable. Paulina is not quite an Angie Dickison but she's also not that entertaining. Good news here on the television front - the satellite is back. Yeah.

Also I missed the first show, but this season the CW is also premiering a new version of 90210. I plan to watch the encore tomorrow night!!! The rest of my shows are back at the end of September, this should give me a good opportunity to rebuild my relationship with TiVo and work up my television endurance.

This has been an exhausting week. We are back at school with students - and that requires me to be "on" for two 2.5 hour class periods. Which isn't that bad in general, but it is exhausting the first week. So I plan on watching this episode (hopefully if the satellite cooporates) and then heading to bed.

As of 7:40 pm - the satellite went out again - so who knows what that means for my big evening plans.

Screen Porch Loungin'

For those of you who are G. Love Fans, I am sure you see the reference. Tonight I am on the screened in porch enjoying a little out doors, but not too much hence the screen, with the cats and dog. After a couple days of big storms with lots of rains the temperature is a lovely 65 with a breeze and no humidity.

Today, was the last day I had students reporting for the 2007-2008 school year. I still work until the end of June, but I will bide my time with working on my curriculum for next year. You know inventing new things to ruin my students lives, most adults would call it work/projects/tools to help them learn. But remember here I teach high schoolers who tend to have an eye for the dramatic.

When I got home today, Bruce and I headed to the park for a run. We have been pretty good keeping on track for our marathon training. Since May 5 - I have run 62 miles. I am sure all of you avid runners know that isn't a huge accomplishment, but for me it is. So far, I am injury free and feeling good. However, I am knocking on wood, because we all know that I don't have the best injury free record.

I hear it's nice in Nice....

So great deals go quickly as they come on the world of online travel booking. And it turns out that the great deal to Ibiza vanished less than 24 hours after appearing into my life. And due to the face that there are seven of us in our 7:11 running club, making a decision is often difficult so we had to say No to Ibiza. But with that came a new adventure, we are now scheduled for a weekend in the French Rivera in Nice (pronouned: Neese.)

We are flying Baboo airlines. Yes that is right I said Baboo. It's a Swiss carrier that has lots of cheapish flights out of Geneva. There was a lot of debate about renting a van and making the drive. But we decided to keep the van for the next weekend.

So now I am excited about a couple days on the French Rivera - not so excited about all the topless beaches - but I am sure the boys will enjoy that. I am nearly a month out from my trip to Europe. Wow!!

I can't believe how fast this school year has gone. I have just 3 days left with my students. It is crazy. Graduations have come and gone. I miss my seniors, but I think this is something that will happen every year. They are great kids and they will do well and as much as I miss them, I am really excited about what's next for them. I am sure they all have great things ahead of them.

I'm Proud


This is the trailer for my students short film - Another Customer. They completed it for their capstone project in my class. I hope you can see the hard work they put into it. I am such a proud teacher.

And the Award Goes to...

Today was my favorite day of the year at St. Clair TEC - Awards Day. They put a big white tent on the front lawn of the school and we all head outside to honor the students. Awards are given for perfect attendance, Academic Achievement (All A's), Overall Outstanding Student and Most Improved Student. The first two awards are easy - it's just the numbers, but the second two are much harder to pick. Why? Well I have a special spot for all of my students (not all of the time - but all of my students.) So it's hard to pick one over another - this year in my morning class - I relied on grades to pick my overall outstanding - which meant I had three - three seniors who got all A's all year. Then there is my most improved - this student has come a long way. I better say we have come a long way. At the beginning of the year - we didn't see eye to eye at all - everything was a battle - but he is a smart kid that had a lot of ambition. Then towards the end of the year - with a little help from SkillsUSA (our student organization) we finally met on the right page. I look forward to him coming through my doors every morning.

In the afternoon - my overall student was a bright junior girl who too had all A's this year. She was a dead ringer for the award - most of the students had picked her - so why disappoint. My most improved student is a senior - who last year won my in class - Church Mouse Award (more in class awards to be discussed shortly.) She was so shy - she would run away from me when I talked with her. This year, she is talking to me more and getting a little sassy.

So now on to my in class awards. I am one of those people who likes to honor everyone for outstanding achievement in my classroom. We have a lot of fun through the year - so this is my chance to reflect with my class.

For instance I give out an AM and PM version of the Bathroom Pass Super User - yes the kid with the most bathroom passes for the year. Then there is Nutrition award for the student that eats the most junk, The Armenian of the Year (well because he's Armenian and I'm Armenian so we celebrate) there is the Save Early Save Often Award - for the girl that lost everything in a competition because well she didn't save - Least Likely to Get in Trouble - The Front Row Award (for my shortest kid in class) - The Negotiator - The Instigator - The Honorary Holladay Award and the list goes on and on. Believe it or not it takes me a long time to come up with an award for everyone - I put a lot of thought into it. I print them out on official certificate paper with a gold star. The students usually enjoy them - maybe I enjoy them the most. But I had one kid ask if he could put it in his portfolio - I said go ahead. Overall it's a really fun day at St. Clair TEC - but it makes me a little sad - we are getting to the end of the year and I will have to say goodbye to another group of seniors. And it turns out after two years and two and half hours a day - you get to know these kids pretty well and like they too (and have them trained) but my juniors will become seniors next year and then I will start all over again with the training.

Kansas City Here We Come!!!

So I got a call yesterday, well a message, I don't get calls during class. I checked the message and it was Tammy Brown, the Michigan state SkillsUSA director. She called to let me know that my second place audio production team was going to nationals in Kansas City. The first place team opted out and then that opens it up to the second place team. I would like to say that my students really deserve this opportunity because well they only lost first place by one point.

I am so excited for my students - who by the way are thrilled. Which is really cool, they are both seniors and they are great kids, who I enjoy. I am not going to lie, I had already talked myself into being excited for Bruce but excited for me to have a week to myself to clean my house and relax. I also had retired from my position as SkillsUSA coordinator after lots of work for the state competition. However, that was just a momentary thing, I am now just as excited as my students. Plus I get to hang out with Bruce in my favorite city: Kansas City! And this year the Michigan group gets to say in a nice hotel near all the coolest places.

Champions at Work

This weekend, I am traveling on a charter bus filled with 57 kids to Lansing. Well actually it's a chartered bus and a minivan. It's the SkillsUSA state competition. Now I am excited because it is really cool as a teacher to see your students step up and compete, however to be doing it the weekend after getting you got back from Europe - makes it a little exhausting. Yes Bruce and I don't do anything at half-speed, well I would but I married Bruce and he does nothing at half-speed. So right now I am waiting for laundry to finish so I can pack and frankly I am fading fast.

For me the SkillsUSA competition is a love hate relationship. I am one of two coordinators for our building. Which means I arrange the registration and hotel for the entire school. I am also the advisor for me students, which means I help prepare them for their individual contests. And then I am coordinator for the Television Production contest which means I help set the standards for the contests and find the judges. (Thank you so much Olive & Angie! Next fruity drink night the first round is all me.)All in all, I think I sometimes bite off more than I can chew. To be honest it always seems like a good idea at the time, but its on nights like this that I wonder what I did in a past life that makes me prone to self-punishment.

In other news as much as it sounds like I am whining right now, I really am not. I was just thinking about how lucky I am to have my job. I really really love working with high school students. Yes, I will admit they can be huge pains in my side, but in the end I am really grow to love my students. (Even the ones that hate me.) It's now my third year at this job and I am still enjoying it. I know I will have a great weekend, however, I am sure that Monday morning will require a large Tim Horton's coffee on the way to work.

Up Without an Alarm

I woke up this morning at 5:40 am without my alarm. If you don't know by now, I am not a morning person. I sleep until noon on weekends if possible. So this time change back from Europe is changing my morning routine for now, like I am showered, dressed and ready to go and I still have time to blog. Usually I leave no time to do anything but shower, dress and leave, which in turns lets me snooze exactly twice with the alarm.

I went back to school yesterday. My classes seemed to have lots of energy, maybe they were revived from the break. Well I take it back my morning class seemed just as quiet and tired as usually, however, my afternoon class is always pure energy. So it looks like the break gave me time to forget.

My students enjoyed my pictures and stories about my trip. Well at least they pretended too, mainly because it was show and tell instead of work.

However, I am still kicking myself because in Frankfurt they were offering 600 Euro cash to be bumped off the flight. That is $960. Enough to pay for the entire trip. But I kept thinking I have so much to do this week, especially since this weekend is the State SkillsUSA competition which I am in charge of organizing for our school. But the kicker was when I was talking to my boss yesterday about the flight situation and he said, oh you should have done it, you had comp time. I was like doh - was he just giving me permission. Well note to self for next time, but I highly doubt there will be a next time. I had never heard of an airline offering cash to miss the flight instead of a voucher. Well I guess I should stop thinking about it, because me thinking about it won't get me $960.

It is nice to be home, however, I have so much to do (laundry) before I leave Friday morning for a weekend with 100's of high schoolers competing in the SkillsUSA competition. Ahhhhh! It will be fun, but I have a feeling it may be like three weeks before I recover from this Jet Lag. Don't worry, I have more from the trip including pictures, but they are on Bruce's computer so you will have to wait. Maybe tonight.

Christian Wins!!!

I was at the MACUL conference the last two days so I was not able to watch the finale of Project Runway on Wednesday. However, when I got home today, I quickly plopped down in front of TiVo and pulled up Project Runway. The very fierce Christian Siriano won. He is a 21 year-old designer and I loved, loved, loved him this season. Why? Well he was very cocky and arrogant but in the most lovable way. How can someone be cocky in a lovable way - well he is very talented so he was cocky but his stuff totally stood out. And lovable in the way that anyone could be that describe every major aspect of life as fierce.

As for the finale - they did play out this model snafu in the previews a lot, but it really didn't seem like a huge ordeal in the show. I must admit despite the fashion show and the last five minutes of the show - it wasn't really that exciting of a finale. But I'm not the producer. The other contestants had very nice collections - I didn't hate any of them, but Christian just stands out as a designer.

I actually really enjoyed this season of PR. To me it was the friendliest season by far, despite Christian's sassy quips - there really was no blood shed. And I think the group was a very talented bunch. And the challenges were fun and amusing - especially the prom challenge. Where it looked like Christian might have faced an early demise because he had the diva high school designer - that wanted the ugliest dress known to man. I questioned the judges thinking a little on the order the designers were eliminated. Like why was Kevin eliminated for having one bad design (and yes it was bad) but Ricky's was just as bad and he had had weeks of bad designs prior to this challenge. But I am no Michael Kors or Nina Garcia - so I can complain but I have no say.

On another note - I was gone for two days from my classroom and my afternoon students reminded me why I love teaching. Here are two emails I received:

Email #1
Oh I miss you! it's gonna be a long weekend, by Monday it will be like 4 days since we've seen you! Hope you are having fun!

Email #2
where have you been??????? I miss you tons. you only said that you were going to be gone for one day how could you just forget to let us know that you had to go out of town lol???????

Now I did tell them I was going to be gone for two days - but remember these are high schoolers and on a good day they catch about 85% of what I have to say. You might say they are trying to suck up - well it worked - I guess. Because it made me smile. It makes me look forward to Monday.

Snow Day #2

Ok, so I must say that I love teaching and it's not all about making a difference with kids, because don't get me wrong that is great, but there is also a secret benefit that only mother nature can provide: the SNOW DAY.

This morning my phone rang at 5:40 am and it was my boss - saying, "Good morning, Jennie, there is no school today." I do my best to try not to sound too happy, because it is my boss on the phone, but hey who in the working world, regardless about how they feel about their job, doesn't want a free day off once and a while.

So my day so far has consisted of sleeping in, eating at Arby's, enjoying Tim Horton's coffee, a trip to Home Depot with Bruce, shoveling the driveway and watching Eli Stone on the internet, because I missed it last night and forgot to set my TiVo because I was busy finishing a paper on propaganda. I chose to write about President Bush and the "Axis of Evil." I am not how well I did, but I can say now that it is done.

Happy Birthday Olive

Last night we celebrated Olive's birthday with Mango Margaritas and the Cat Bag (as pictured above.) So this is year six of the cat bag and everyone commented on how well it's holding up. I have to agree.

Dinner was filled with lots of fun conversation - however at one point it steered to a conversation of being a fan. (G. Love = Me and George Michael = Olive) Of course there were was lots of discussion, especially with me because I carry the title of G. Love's Biggest Fan. We spent much time on how disappointed G. Love probably was when he met his "biggest fan." A married, midwest, teacher in her late 20's - who doesn't smoke pot. Yes - he was probably more disappointed than he could have ever been with his cure. They were teasing me last night when I said that meeting him was fun but it brought my obsessive fandom down a notch. I heard a lot of "what did you expect?" to be honest I don't really know how to answer that question. Did I think we would be friends? Did I want him to leave with that longing feeling and feeling of lose because he had missed his chance with me because I was married? To answer these questions - hmmmm - really I have no idea what I wanted. I am a self-proclaimed geeky (funny) lady (I would write girl but I am feeling a little older as of late, I have stopped getting carded, my mom told me I no longer look like I am in high school and all the kids at school keep calling me ma'am) - let's face it my patented dance is a horrible version of the robot and I have a serious relationship with my TiVo.

So why am I still pondering these questions the next morning - well it could be the fact that I am about to go to my first G. Love concert of 2008 - quickly followed by another in Chicago and to end the cycle with a concert in Berlin this summer (yes - he will be playing when I go to visit Germany this summer.) I am excited about seeing him in concert - it helps me feel a little younger. Well I better finish reading this chapter for my grad school class that has literally take me a couple days to read - it's only 40 pages, however I think those pages are filled with the same things they put in decongestant because I keep falling asleep the minute I pick it up.

Fall Semester: Over

Today I officially finished my first fall semester since my undergrad at the University of Missouri. Let me say (knowing that it could have been much much harder) it still wasn't easy trying to fit school in with work. Needless to say the "TiVo Changed My Life" blog has been neglected. To all my loyal readers (if any are left) I am sorry. Other things that have been neglected, well TiVo. I really haven't had time to stay current. There are really only two shows that I have been able to see all the episodes of The Hills and ANTM (which I will cover later.) So needless to say I am very happy to have a little break.

Speaking of break I got a small Pre-Christmas break on Monday - thanks to Mother Nature. On Sunday we had about eight inches of snow. Since it was Sunday, I was certain that the roads would be cleared by Monday morning, I wasn't counting on a snow day - especially because in order for me to have a snow day all 9 school districts that send students to my school have to be closed. During the 6 o'clock news - I saw on the TV that Bruce's school was closed. Then shortly after I got the call. The call that we all as teachers hope for the call from my boss (aka as the beginning of the phone tree) saying school is closed on Monday. Then of course I did the "woohoo no school" whoop (yes to my boss) I quickly recovered by saying, "I will see you on Tuesday."

So what to do with a free Monday. What I should have done was work hard on my paper for my Intercultural Communications class, but instead I went to the Somerset Collection to finish my Christmas shopping. I am almost finished.

Speaking of snow that leads me to school. I have been pushing my students for the past week or so with book work. Which if you know my students is like Kryptonite to my students - I swear they think I am trying to poison them. So I made a deal with them - they will have a test on Friday regardless. Since it snowed - I thought let's get outside and take some cool photos: and have some fun while we did it. So today my kids (11th & 12th graders) came in their snow gear and we headed outdoors. We had tons of fun. The other perk is that my boss let me wear jeans to work which is a huge deal. Tomorrow we are back to the books and Friday we will be taking test. I know the other instructors at my school sometimes look at me like I have lost it - but hey we are creative types. The picture to the right is me right after being hit by a bunch of snowballs - it's my patented "get in line" point. It gets the kids shaking in there boots, trust me. I have some super cute photos of my students but we were warned this year about publishing photos of our students from school, from the school lawyer. So just imagine your a bunch of creative kids in snowpants with cameras, sometimes I call them my own paparazzi. Teaching digital imaging is a blast.

Now back to TiVo and ANTM. Last week the winner was announced. Salesha was the winner. Which I have to say she isn't my favorite winner. I really liked Jenah, because we was sassy, sarcastic and not so bubble gum. This season was ok, but I am ready for the next cycle. The best part of the season was Miss Jay. He had this fabulous growing Afro during judging. So Tyra I challenge you to get some sassier girls next season. I need to get rehooked. She has to be worried because Bravo is introducing a new show: Make Me a Super Model where the viewers get to decide.

Speaking of Bravo, tonight I am watching Project Runway, I am going through TiVo so I am going back and forth in the season. I must admit I love this show and I it is easy to get hooked. I don't know the characters like I have in the past, but I am enjoying it. Right now I am watching the show with Sarah Jessica Parker as the guest star.

How many leaves can one tree have?

I am guessing nearly a million - maybe more. Today it was me against the leaves - with a little help from my dad, mom and his super-duper raking machine. It's called the cyclone rake and it was like a gift from heaven. Let me say after last year when I nearly killed myself trying to rake all the leaves, it was such a blessing this year. Now don't get me wrong it wasn't magic. We worked all day, but the same yard that was blanketed with leaves yesterday is now clean today. That would have taken me a week to do by hand. For proof please take a look at the before photo and look to the right for the after photo.

The day didn't start in the yard, it started in the kitchen with me baking more pie. I promised my dad pie for his birthday. So I made 2 apple pies today (Uncle Jimmy - Dad owes you a piece, I sent him home with a whole pie and instructions to give you a piece.) I am not the best baker in the work, but I can bake pie. My grandma would be proud, however she would disappointed that I don't use lard. I say if I use lard, vegetarians couldn't enjoy the pie. So I use butter so we can all enjoy the calories.

On another note last night was the first time playing Whirlyball. We had a TEC outing. Organized by Tammy and I. It was fun! If you haven't heard of Whirlyball - don't worry I hadn't until last year, when a student told me about it. In whirlyball, you are in bumper cars, with those nurf basket like rackets and wiffle ball. Then there are two goals that look like basketball hoops without the hoop. We played at this place in Clinton Township - which of course I was late too. We got there and I learned I am still not coordinated. I spent more time bumping into the wall as I tried to scoop up the ball then I actually did playing. I also ran over the ball several times. The one thing I was good at was defense - I like bumping into people. Bruce claims that he now has a case of whip lash. I wonder if anyone else is sore? Regardless it was a fun night on the town with my fellow co-workers.

Then this leads me to the sad part of the day. The MSU Spartans despite having a 10 point lead going into the 4th quarter could not hold onto it against those Wolverines. I am sure all of you who are currently thinking why does she care she went to the University of Missouri need to know that I am a Spartan fan through marriage. As part of my marital vows I had to learn the MSU fight song, which I am glad to sing upon request. (I do not know the entire Mizzou fight song - I only know the beginning, the end and about three words in the middle. However the Tigers dominated Colorado yesterday 55-10.) These are the same vows that allow Bruce to put up with my G.Love nonsense. I am also not a die hard sports fan and I have cheered for Michigan but here is how it breaks down. I wanted MSU to beat Michigan. Then I want Michigan to beat Ohio State which would have put the Big 10 in the tailspin and I like that. But it doesn't look like I will be getting my way - however there are still hopes that Michigan can beat OSU.

Fall is in the Air

It's getting to be late September and that means two things to my stomach: fresh donuts and apple cider from the cider mill. Yes, I can't get enough. Today, my loving husband made the trek to the cider stand (yes, we don't go to the mill because really we could give a care about pictures, hay rides and the madness that is hundreds of families with children all under the age of 5) - we head to the stand where the cider is cheaper and the donuts are fresh (yes made daily with the donut robot.)

I finally got a chance to sit down with TiVo today: so far, I have watched Beauty & the Geek and The Hills. (I am saving ANTM for tomorrow, I have waited this long and it will help me break up my school work tomorrow.) Yes, I am having a somewhat lazy Saturday. I am not complaining (but I guess it may sound like it) with two full classes at school and then two college classes, I am a busy gal, which means I don't have much time for TiVo except on the weekends. I also haven't made much time for running this week either. I also would like to point out to my loyal readers who I am sure already know, this schedule has also cramped my blogging style, however, I will do my best to pick that up. Despite the fact that I am still in my pajamas and it is 2:40 pm, I am going to make running the next thing on my to-do list (after finishing this blog.) Then from there I am going to finally join the living as I head to Mary's 30th Birthday celebration.

Internet Black Hole

Have you ever realized that you can spend hours just trolling the internet when you have a book to read for class that you would rather not read. Hmmmmmm... apparently 29 does not mean the end to procrastination. Well there's always hope for 30.

School is going well. I am running wild this weekend with Helen at the zoo. However, I don't have as high of hopes of running like a RockStar as I did at last year's race. I am disappointed too, the 7:11 club was going to run as a team in the Detroit Marathon relay, we had finally gotten the team narrowed down to only find out that they filled up and there are no other relay team spots open. It now appears if we are going to run the 5k. There has been talk of the half marathon, but I am not sure that I can get ready for a 13.1 mile run by the end of October. I guess if I really tried I could, it's only 8 miles more than the Crim and what's another 8 miles. The answer is a lot! Well I am going to get started thinking about it with a good 3 mile run tonight in this very fall like weather we are having.

Summer is Over

Yes today school's officially back in session. Today was the first day with students. Today was the official meet and greet. I set the rules and the tenor of the class for the rest of the year. (yeah right) They say as a teacher you shouldn't smile until Christmas break, but I of course break that rule because I can't help it, I am honestly glad to be back at work. I really enjoy teaching. This first week is pretty quiet, it's not until the feel comfortable that they try to put me through my paces. However I am seasoned now... yes at year three I am feeling even better than last year. However the big decision tonight: what to wear for tomorrow? I have already expired my super cute European dress/fabulous shoes from DSW. Whatever I wear it will be cool, tomorrow's high is 88, so despite the fact the school year has started, I guess summer really isn't over yet, at least according to our friend Mother Nature.