All Good Things, All Good Things

1. Three loooooooooong long super long months later, I am a dozen donuts fuller and finished with my student teaching. I was beyond ready to be finished, and super relieved that the end had arrived... but still, it ended up being quite bittersweet. My kids were sweet and I got a lot of hugs (and a couple of handshakes), and some pretty epic cards. My name's CH and I like warm hugs.

2. WB turned 25 (!!) and we spent a weekend in the mountains. It was weird because the weather kind of went insane, and it snowed on his birthday, but it was still nice to get away with him. Some people are worth melting for.

3. I took both of my PRAXIS tests, and I passed them. Like, really, really, REALLY passed them. Silly worries.

4. I celebrated the one year anniversary of my hip surgery (it has been a year already?!) with a 6-mile run (followed by donuts). I'm training for a 10-miler on April 26, and debating signing up for a half marathon in mid-May that would fit in nicely with my preexisting training schedule for the 10 miler.

5. I also celebrated Free Cone Day, my favorite day of the year. It was infinitely better this year, physically-speaking, since I was not on crutches and didn't get ice cream on my hair. Unfortunately, they ran out of cones before I got into the store. WHAT?! How do you run out of cones on free cone day?! I know, I thought the same thing.

6. My master's portfolio is due next Friday. After that gets turned in, I have a couple more classes; then about 2 weeks off; graduation; and two first-session summer classes. The end is nigh! And, honestly, after student teaching and portfolio-ing, those last two summer classes? No sweat.

7. It is FINALLY spring/summer. Sprummer! Oh, so this is heat. I love it... ooh, but don't touch it.
I love spring, dislike summer. But honestly, anything is better than this XXL winter.




Can you tell I've recently seen Frozen once or twice or several times and that Olaf is my favorite? (Yeah, why?!)

This is What Happens When Grad School Happens

Since my last post on October 29, I have...

* Taught a lesson to my Civics kids, three times, all by myself. And, more importantly, I did not die.


* "Enjoyed" Thanksgiving break with my family, and by enjoy, I mean I did not enjoy it at all and was constantly doing work for the 3.5 days I was home.

* Hung out and took selfies with the new pup that my roommate brought home, Jax(ie).

 * Forced WB to do lots of Christmassy things with me. Notable: ice skating; saw the Nutcracker; driving around to look at Christmas lights; hot chocolate in PJs; s'mores; many many Christmas movies.

* Helped WB adopt a cat, Arya. And she's the best. (I now an co-owner of two animals, with no responsibility. Cuddles galore!)

* Went to the UNC Homecoming game vs. UVA. We won. Wahoo! (Just kidding. Go Heels.)

* Wrote 200+ pages of lesson plans for the "final project" (can you even call it a project? More like a process of death) for our Methods class.

* Freaked out a lot about this spring semester and student teaching

* Went to the high school a few times, trying to make it clear I'm not a student.

* Spent a few glorious days doing absolutely nothing but reading and watching television after the end of the hardest 4 months of my life

* Spent 10 days in Maryland with my family over Christmas

* Registered for a 10-miler on April 26. Hip who?

* Celebrated New Year's Eve in downtown Annapolis with my favorite guy, WB.

Now, I'm in school full time everyday. I start actually student teaching on the 27th, and will spend the next 10 weeks frantically trying to keep up with school, sleep, grading, and a life. (Ha! What life?!) Oh, and completing my hugely important masters portfolio. Which I guess is kind of super important, too. I am a mixture of nervous, excited, and dreading everything. The emotion that I feel the most rotates on a daily basis. Bring on the coffee!

Grad School Barbie

I stumbled across this post in my perusal of the internet this afternoon after I got home from school {I was in charge today while my CT was out for a planning event. Hot dang.}. It made me laugh out loud. Almost halfway there! My personal beacon is 8pm on November 13. After that, I think I will be able to make it through.



                                         

A new gift idea for your loved ones: Graduate School Barbie (TM).
 
Graduate School Barbie comes in two forms: Delusional Master’s Barbie (TM) and Ph.D. Masochist Barbie (TM).

Every Graduate School Barbie comes with these fun-filled features guaranteed to delight and entertain for hours: Grad School Barbie comes out of the box with a big grin on her face that turns into a frown after 2 weeks or her first advisor meeting (whichever comes first). She also has adorable black circles under her delightfully bloodshot eyes.

Comes with two outfits: a grubby pair of blue jeans and 5-year-old gap T-shirt, and a floppy pair of gray sweatpants with a matching “I hate my life” T-shirt. Grad School Barbie talks! Just press the button on her left hand and hear her say such upbeat grad school phrases like, “Yes, Professor, It’ll be done by tomorrow”, “I’d love to rewrite” and “Why didn’t I just get a job, I could have been making $40,000 a year by now if I had just started working with a Bachelor’s. But noooooo, I chose to further my education, I wish somebody would drop a bomb on the school so that I’d have an excuse to stop working on my degree that’s sucking every last drop of life force out of my withered and degraded excuse for a soul…” (9V lithium batteries sold separately)

Grad School Barbie is anatomically correct to teach kids about the exciting changes that come with pursuing a higher education. Removable panels on Barbie’s head and torso allow you to watch as her cerebellum fries to a crispy brown, her heart race 150 beats per minute, and her stomach lining gradually dissolve into nothing. Deluxe Barbie comes with specially designed eye ducts. Just add a little water, and watch Grad School Barbie burst into tears at random intervals. Fun for the whole family!

Other accessories include:
Grad School Barbie’s Fun Fridge (TM) Well stocked with microwave popcorn, Coca-Cola, Healthy Choice Bologna (99% fat free!),and a small bottle of Mattel Brand Rum ™.

Grad School Barbie’s Medicine Cabinet comes in Fabulous (pepto-bismal) pink and contains Barbie sized bottles of Advil, St. Johns Wort, Zantac, and your choice of three fun anti-anxiety drugs! (Barbie Medicine Cabinet not available without a prescription).

Grad School Barbie’s Computer Workstation. Comes with miniature obsolete PC (in pink of course), rickety desk, and over a dozen miniature Mountain Dew cans to decorate your workstation with (Mountain Dew deposit not included in price. Tech support sold separately).

And Grad School Barbie is not alone! Order now and you’ll get two of Barbie’s great friends! GRADUATE ADVISOR KEN, Barbie’s mentor and advisor in her quest for knowledge, higher education and decreased self-esteem.

Grad Advisor Ken ™ comes with a supply of red pens and a permanent frown. Press the button to hear Grad Advisor Ken deliver such wisdom to Barbie as “I need an update on your progress,” “I don’t think you’re ready to defend yet”, and “This is nowhere near ready for publication.”
Buy 3 or more dolls, and you can have Barbie’s Thesis Committee! (Palm Pilot and tenure sold separately.)

REAL JOB SKIPPER, When Barbie needs to talk, she knows that she can always count on her good friend Real Job Skipper ™, who got a job after getting her bachelor degree. Press the button to hear Real Job Skipper say, “Sometimes I wish I went for my masters degree” and “Work is so hard! I had to work a half an hour of overtime!” Real Job Skipper’s Work Wardrobe and Savings account sold separately.

WARNING: Do not place Grad Student Barbie and Real Job Skipper too close to each other, as there have been several cases of children leaving the room and coming back to find Barbie’s hands mysteriously fused to Skipper’s throat.

Author: Unknown

Post found from here.

Something to Consider

"In my experience, you'll never feel qualified. But God doesn't call the qualified; God qualifies the called."

Mark Batterson, The Circle Maker






Have a great weekend.

Grad School Problems, ep. 4

Today at 5pm marked the start of Fall Break. Yay! By a happy coincidence and smart scheduling, I actually began my break when I walked out of my Monday night class at 8pm.

It hasn't been much of a break so far, just time without class devoted to doing schoolwork. But our Asheville trip is on Friday, which I'm really excited about.

Tonight, I stopped on campus to print out a whole bunch of papers and readings while I was on my way to play some soccer and was in the area (we get a bunch of printing money each semester). The first two printers I tried weren't working - they couldn't connect to the network for some reason? I then walked all the way across campus to go to the two libraries and the student union... And all three were closed. Keep in mind this was at 6:15 pm when fall break "officially began" at 5pm. What about those poor students (ahem, grad students) who have to stay in town and work during fall break? Where are they supposed to work?! WHERE ARE THEY SUPPOSED TO PRINT?!

I take huge issue with this, UNC. This seems like a terrible system. You are not a commuter campus!

We the People....

And so our people spelled it out, the things that we should beeeee... And they put those things down on paper and called it the Constitution.

The kids in my civics classes have a quiz on the Constitution on Friday, and for part of that quiz they each have to individually recite the Preamble in front of the whole class. Ms. T played this video in one of them so they could hear it. Every time I hear a Schoolhouse Rock video, the song is subsequently stuck in my head for DAYS upon end. As expected, I shall be singing this song for the next week or so.

I had forgotten the order of the phrases in the Preamble, so now I remember them again. The funny thing about teaching is that when you teach something, you know it so much better than you did when you learned it. And that, I've concluded, is why teachers know everything.

---

We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Them's powerful words.

Night Terrors

On Thursday night, I had a nightmare (read: nightmare) that I was teaching my civics class
and I was simply horrible and having a terrible time. I woke up to discover that it wasn't real, but unfortunately it is not altogether impossible.

This evening, I was laying in my bed, waiting for sleep, when I heard a little "flop" sound that I have always associated with stink bugs landing on a nearby surface. Stink bugs are one of my nemeses, so I know this sound well. Anyway, they haven't seemed to have fully migrated to the south yet, so this sound is also familiar to me for another reason: it's the sound of roaches, falling from invisible heights. I turned on my bedside light and out of the dimness I saw a blurred shape running across my comforter (I was in my bed. In my comforter. Also please keep in mind we've already had one visit from the exterminator. And our house is very clean). I jumped out of bed like I'd been burned, muttered a few choice colorful words, grabbed a shoe, swiped the creature off my bed and killed him on my bedroom floor. I then stood in the middle of my room, every light turned on, surveying the room to see where his friends could possibly be hiding. Having had no luck, I am now back in bed, but my lights are still on, and I have the crawlies. It seems I sleep in terror tonight, my friends.