It’s back to classes for me today.  It won’t be that exciting of a day,
but it’ll be good for me to get back into a routine.  Spring Break just
wasn’t that relaxing, and I’ve been dreading coming back.  But my first
class went okay, so that was good.  Hopefully, the rest will, too.

Yesterday evening, Eric got home later, so after dinner, he worked on
some work stuff, and I worked on my new laptop.  I needed to get
some writing done, so I didn’t even turn on the tv. It was kind of nice
to be quiet for a while.  We went to bed about 9:30 and read until
10 or so.  I had trouble falling asleep, and the alarm went off
very early again, but it wasn’t too bad, I guess.  And I get to
sleep in tomorrow a bit anyway.

Okay…I guess that’s all the (not) exciting stuff I have right now. 

So it’s weird to not have anyone on Xanga for so long.  I hope
everything went well in Chicago, and I hope your grandma is doing okay.

My weekend went way too fast, and I am not ready to start back to
work.  We had my mom’s birthday party on Sunday, so that took most
of the day (it began with church and ended with small group).  I
was really tired by the end of it!  I also spent some hours on
Saturday shopping for a present for my mom.  It was a hard
year…very few good ideas.  But I did find a few things! 
Then on Saturday night, Eric and I went out for Greek food and wandered
around Half-Price Books for awhile.  Shockingly, I didn’t find
anything I wanted, and he did!

Monday, I finished up my grading and ironed.  And today, I babysat
Kelly (Holly slept the whole time!) while Deb got her teeth
cleaned.  We watched Lady & the Tramp and a VeggieTales while
we played Memory.  It was stimulating!  Then we all had lunch
with Mom and I came to my office to input grades and prep for
tomorrow’s class.  I need a better attitude!  Thankfully,
it’s only like 4 weeks until Easter (not counting this week
anyway!). 

It does help to leave all the “good” ones to the end!

I still have 10 portfolios left to grade.  Anyone want to take bets on whether or not I finish today?   Seriously, it’s taking me FOREVER to grade these dumb things…I’m already dreading the final portfolios!

I did grade yesterday, but I also had a dr. appointment at 2:00.  Thankfully, I was walking  out of the building at 2:20 (and it was the obgyn!).  Since I was done so early…I went shopping!  And I actually found a few things I had been looking for, so it was productive all around!

Today I am going to try to finish grading (please, God!).  I actually sorted them into “probably bad” – “probably okay” – “probably good” piles, and I started with the “bad” ones.  So hopefully, as I move into the “good” ones, it’ll start to go faster!  I’m also meeting a couple of friends for a bit this afternoon, and then our small group is going out to a Destroyers game (arena football) tonight.  I don’t really care about the game, but it would be nice to be with people for some fun.  And Eric doesn’t care either way!

Eric walked back in the door about 5:30 last night.  I am so glad to have him back…but it feels a bit surreal.  I mean, I was all tense, just waiting, for three days, so I’ve had a bit of trouble letting go of the tenseness, accepting that I don’t have to wait anymore.  I’m weird, I know. Still it was so nice to have him in bed next to me last night (and when I woke up this morning!).  And even though he had to go to work this morning, I’m just glad he’ll be coming home tonight!

So, I’m back to grading again today.  I just can’t seem to move through these papers quickly.  My head is foggy.  But I just keep taking them one day at a time.  I don’t have class again until next Wednesday, so I have the time to get them done.  I just wish it didn’t take so long!  I am beginning to wonder if I am not really wired to be a full-time teacher for the rest of my life…

Today it is much warmer in Columbus, but it’s supposed to rain.  That’s the annoying part of the shift into spring.  You finally get the really warm weather again, but you can’t really enjoy it because it’s wet outside!  Oh well…

Oh…I just remembered the garbage, so I’ll go do that now or I’ll forget it!

Just thought you’d all like to know…I finished my first class of portfolios!  Now only 19 more portfolios to go and I’ll be done grading.

Eric should be in Dallas right now, about to leave for Columbus (or maybe he just left for Columbus…I’m not exactly sure). 

Okay, I’m very excited about that fact.  It’s been a very empty couple of days (except for my family taking pity on me, of course)!  I’d forgotten what life was like when I had entire days to myself all the time.  I mean, I used to have all day/evening to fill with whatever I wanted to do and I didn’t really see the problem.  But now that I’ve had constant companionship…I do not want to go back to that any time soon.  (So, Lord, PLEASE keep him safe coming home!)

To keep Kim from wondering anymore…I did not have an exciting day.  I tried to focus on my grading (didn’t get that much done though) and I did laundry to give me occasional breaks from sitting on the couch with papers on my lap.  I don’t know what my problem is this week.  I just cannot focus on the grading.  And while I’d love to just blow it off, I need to just get it done so that I can then REALLY enjoy the rest of my time.  And once I finish these portfolios, I won’t have to grade any more drafts for like two weeks.  But I just can’t make myself do it very well.  I’m still not done with the first class (though I should finish them this morning).

So, other than grading (and laundry), I watched tv.  Well…really, I just had the tv on while I graded so that there was sound in the house.  When I know that someone is coming home in a few hours, I can grade in silence, but if there aren’t going to be any sounds later, it helps to have a low volume in the background.  And of course, I watch educational shows (shows with stories are too distracting…I can’t grade because I get sucked into the plot) so that’s how I justify it! 

My parents took me out to dinner last night in London (it’s about halfway between my house and theirs), so that was nice.  I think I talked almost the entire time…but hey, I haven’t had much in the way of listeners this week!  Then I ran to the Walmart that’s right next to the Bob Evans.  I went in for Dryel sheets and to see if they had sunglasses.  I ended up spending a lot of money.  I guess that’ll teach Eric to leave me alone!

So thankfully, Karen came and talked to me for a couple of hours yesterday afternoon.  I didn’t get much grading done as a result, but I was bumming yesterday anyway.  I was more thankful to have some company for a bit!   Of course, Erik called Karen twice to find out where she was…but her phone was in the car so she didn’t know!

Eric made it to California (he’s probably just starting to get up now).  They ended up having to switch flights because of storms, flew into a different airport then originally planned, and had to drive to their hotel from the new airport.  Of course, one of the four guys decided to check his bag (before they switched flights), so it didn’t arrive with them.  Now, the dumb part is that they flew into CA last night, have a meeting all day today, and then leave tomorrow and will get back tomorrow evening.  So…why would you need a bag large enough to check for that trip?  Especially if you’re male?

Anyway, I did very little yesterday.  I need to be more focused today, though.  But I figure – It’s spring break – so I’m entitled to a little bit of bumming.  I did get to Walmart to get milk and some other small items, so that was good.  But anyway, I should get on to the grading!

Eric left this morning about 7:15, and he won’t be back until Wednesday evening sometime.  I don’t like business trips!  And it’s even worse because I have nothing to do this week but sit in the house and grade.  Oh well…I guess I’ll just have to think of fun things to do to get myself out of the house!

The weekend was pretty good.  We watched the movie Sahara (Matthew McConaughey) on Friday night and had popcorn.  It was very relaxing, which I really needed.  On Saturday, we got a lot of little errands done.  Eric finished our taxes, we ran to the mall (which was Christmas-time crazy), we got my new toys, and finally emptied the recyclables out of the trunk of my car.  Then we spent the afternoon figuring out my new toys before going to hear the Columbus Symphony on Saturday night.   They were performing Mozart’s Requiem, and this was the last part of Eric’s Christmas gift.  So now I guess Christmas is officially over!

Today I have to grade.  If I just get started, then I’ll be that much closer to being done.  I may also do some other errands to break up the day.  I do have to run somewhere to get milk…I’m totally out and I actually prefer eating my cereal with milk most of the time.  I know…that’s just crazy…but hey, what can I say! 

Who says that grown-ups don’t like getting new toys?

This weekend, I got a new cell phone (same number).  It’s super cool!  My old one was VERY old, but I had milked it so that Eric and I could get a family plan.  Then we realized that family plans didn’t really help us save any money, so I milked it for almost a year for no reason.  Anyway…my phone was so old that I think it sort of surprised the guy who helped us at the Verizon store!

Anyway, I walked out with a super new, super high-tech phone (which was on a major promotion) and a bluetooth headset to go with it.  Funny thing is…I didn’t really think anything of the bluetooth thingy, but it came with a package deal that included some other accessories I did want.  BUT, when we got it home and Eric started getting it all figured out and set up (boy am I glad to have him!), it turns out that bluetooth is TOTALLY cool, and I will get quite addicted very quickly!

So I got a new phone, but even more fun (though not so immediately fun) is that Eric ordered a new laptop for me.  Mine is about 6 years old and just not that great anymore.  It tends to just shut down on me at inopportune moments (thank God for autorecovery in Word and WordPerfect!).  Of course, that won’t come for a week or so, but it’s fun to know it’s coming.

So…I got lots of fun toys this weekend!