Gilmore Girls and Cup of the Day

My quality of life just got several notches higher.

My favorite show of all time, Gilmore Girls, is now on Netflix to watch instantly. I remember when it came on, I was the same age as Rory. And even now so many years later it is my go-to show to pick me up when I am sad, or make me even happier when I am happy.

Plus, wearing my Luke's sweatshirt helps me identify awesome people when they recognize where the logo is from.

My happy place is much easier to reach now. :-)

It is the first real day of fall, it barely hit 60 degrees today. I put on a sweatshirt to go outside for the first time in over six months. Today I am drinking a Tealux oolong called Gui Hua that has Osmanthus flowers in it and it tastes so amazing.

Sugary, peachy, and floral all in one. Super super awesome.

Here's to fall. 

Student Teaching, Week 5

Student teaching is exhausting.

I am so so thankful to have one of the best cooperating teachers to help make it as educational and supportive as possible, but I have to say, my weekends (and evenings) are getting less and less restful as time goes on.

I am now the full time teacher, though my cooperating teacher is usually in the room with me. Math is still kind of a pain in the butt to teach, but Reading has replaced it as being the bigger challenge. Doing grammar lessons, going over homework, doing spelling/vocab stuff, writing, and guided reading in two hours is just insane. Oftentimes we just don't do writing, which saddens me, because I think it is the best program this district employs. Read alouds 2-3 days per week, which even in fourth grade the kids love, and a lot of time for independent writing. I am often rather weak in the grammar lessons, and am still working on it, because it seems impossible to go over a grammar concept for fifteen or so minutes per day.

However, even as I get stressed out from time to time, overall most days go rather well. I am still struggling trying to get my college supervisors to realize that there isn't much room or time to get much more creative with lessons, and I am being videotaped this week, but I am trying not to worry about any of that. There is no real reason to - they will say what they will say, and the video doesn't count towards my grade overall. I am starting a unit I developed on Inventions this week, so hopefully there will be something exciting for them to see.

Two more weeks. I will miss this school, and these kids, despite being excited to start from scratch somewhere else.

Student Teaching: The First Week

Now I know why school districts make the first week short, usually.

Three days and I was so exhausted to my core, and it felt like the longest week ever. But definitely not in a bad way. It was more like I was "on" so much, and absorbing so much new information, that by the time the day was done my feet literally felt like they would fall off and I was just too tired to do a whole lot of anything. I am told that will change as I get more used to things, and as I start taking over teaching.

This week, I am starting off by taking over social studies lessons. It is one of the easier subjects in many ways, though it is actually the least scripted (as they do not have a program they use specifically, and a basal reader to go with it), but for me that is actually good. That means it is a subject I have some freedom in, freedom for projects and stuff. There is nothing wrong with the basal reader lessons, but the college expects us to be doing these revolutionary lessons. I am still not totally sure how much I am supposed to stick to these programs. I don't want to derail the curriculum for weeks, as all 6 fourth grades do the same thing for the most part.

I am surprisingly not nervous most days. Leaving at 6:45 when I DON'T have dog sitting and have to leave earlier is kind of killer, but I think all of the mental prep was good. I am set to finish reading my "for fun" book next week, I took a bath, and walked 4 times this week. Well, I walked on the days I didn't have school. My feet couldn't handle anything more.

This week the goal is to cook a little more as my feet hopefully adjust. I am almost finished my lesson plans for this coming week to be submitted tomorrow, and will spend the rest of the long weekend hopefully getting ahead on lessons for the following week, cooking, cleaning, and relaxing. Once Upon A Time season 3 is now on Netflix and I have been enjoying Criminal Minds.

First week down, 6 more to go for this experience.

Student Teaching: The First Day

The first day went really well. I found that going in advance to visit the school made me minimally nervous, as I already had a bit of familiarity with the kids, my teacher, the other teachers, and the building itself. I mostly just helped out whenever possible and tried to get a sense of the routine, but with all the testing, there is only a shady sketch of a routine right now.

To give you a picture of how tired I was at the end of my first day, I wrote that first paragraph and then promptly went to sleep. Luckily there wasn't much of anything I had to do after the first day, for today anyway. I am planning a social studies project that will begin next Tuesday (as we have off Friday and Monday for Labor Day weekend), and might have a couple of other lessons that week as well. So if I want my weekend to be a weekend, and if I want to get started on working on things for the week after (thankfully, my teacher is amenable to me working ahead if I am feeling motivated, and choosing what I want to teach and how I want to teach it. I do have a copy of the first social studies test, so I can make sure to cover all of the points at some point).

So, when I went to bed my feet and body ached like nobody's business and I couldn't keep my eyes open past 9. Luckily this morning leaves me with the aches gone, though I am sure I will start to feel it much more quickly today, and ready to face the day. I am bringing an extra water bottle today, because I also accidentally dehydrated myself yesterday. I drank a lot in the morning, knowing we plan first thing and can use the restroom between 8:45-9:30, and had my water bottle at lunch, and I felt ok until the kids left at 3:30, and then realized how thirsty I was when I left school altogether an hour and change later.

As glad as I am to have what seems like a really great class, and a really great co op in a school I like, I am also really thankful the first week is three days (due to my seminar last Monday), and next week is four days. Physically, it feels necessary to ease in to a full work week, and easier to re-acclimate to the intensely tedious college lesson plan format, by having so much time to complete them.

Like Tag Team

I'm taking it back to the old school cuz I'm an old fool who's so cool!

90s hip hop is amazing, and I miss it every time I turn on the radio on to a Top 40 station nowadays. I find all the best people agree with me on that.

Who remembers LiveJournal? Or Xanga? I know I am dating myself even by knowing what those blogging platforms are. I used to have a xanga I was pretty dedicated to for awhile, and because this blog isn't really "themed" or any of that trendy nonsense people are doing these days, it will probably be pretty reminiscent of that kind of style. I am going to post when I like, which will probably be when I have time. I have time for the next three weeks. Then I begin student teaching and if my adviser is to be believed, my life will functionally end for 15 weeks. We shall see.

Right now, I have been spending the summer reviving myself after my breakup, learning to cook, and purging. Purging a lot of negativity to make space for new possibilities as well as purging old crap I no longer need in my physical space so there is room for maximum revamp. So far, I have been semi successful in both. My tidbit for this morning is this: if you haven't touched it in a year, time to reevaluate if you need it in your life. This goes for clothes, kitchenware, pretty much any object you own. I personally have found this to be very effective in reducing the overall clutter in my apartment, and I use the things I own so much more.

Bonus, works for fake friends on Facebook too. Life tip: if you are in fake friend overload and need a culling, try unfriending anyone you wouldn't wish "Happy Birthday" to every day for a year. Takes about five seconds of your time, gives you a much more personal Facebook experience, and I have multiple friends (real ones) who swear by this.

Maybe it is just me, but I see no benefit in having uselessness around me. Choosing to only be around people and things I appreciate and enjoy, when I can help it, was one big revamp step I didn't even realize I had taken a few years ago. Now it is even more important as I go into dating. And maintain my stance that hashtagging is a useless and bizarre trend I will not be partaking in.

Hello, my name is Leah. I am...

...looking for a change.

So many women my age seem to be in this state of transition I appear to feel stuck in, have been stuck in for years, but only just noticed. Most of my friends are married, many of the ones who are not will be soon. Many of my friends are 5+ years into a successful career, despite the economy making that rather difficult for most of my graduating class. With these two things, they are moderately secure, financially and socially. These are the people who at least appear to have successfully navigated the transition from lost 20something to adult. Then there are the rest of us.

I recently broke up with the man I really thought I might spend the rest of my life with. However, things have a way of working out for the better when it comes to these things. I currently have a profile on a popular online dating site, OkCupid, on which I have had success in the past. Some days that fact fills my heart with excitement of the possibilities...and others it makes me lose all hope in humanity. Seriously, anyone who has done the online dating thing knows exactly what I am talking about. (No really - just google "okcupid fails" and like a shitton of sites come up documenting the insanity that is online dating. Here is just one example if you needed any more proof: http://deadcupid.tumblr.com/ )

I am about to break into a new career field, having never really established a career after college to begin with. As it turns out, when the economy shits the bed and the jobs start getting scarce, having a Bachelor's in Animal Behavior isn't particularly helpful. I worked in the animal care field until realizing I wouldn't be able to feed myself AND my cats with that money (very important for a single lady, you know, as we apparently are required to have some cats). Now, I am finishing up my certification in Early Childhood Education from a small PA school, because finding a teaching position is also rather difficult, but at least when you get one you AND your cats can afford to eat.

I am 29 years old, and I feel nearly as lost as when I was 22, though I am a slightly better cook now. But with student teaching this fall, dating new people for the first time in four years, I am ready for some other changes too. Baby steps like cooking things, organizing my apartment so it looks like a home, and developing my skills as a new teacher. So this blog is for me, documenting some of the changes that are happening and will be happening soon, changes I know have been happening for years now without my notice. And talking about things I like, like tea, and makeup, and animals, and whatever else I like. If you are here reading all this, I hope you enjoy. Or, I am sorry, depending on how interesting my dating life has become.