I have to say that I was somewhat surprised at how well my classes went (overall) yesterday.  Particularly Basic English.  I started the chapter on clauses and sentences, which usually seriously confuses my students.  But I specifically prayed that God would help me explain it clearly…and they seemed to get it.  Now perhaps, I should’ve prayed that they would get it no matter what I said…but we’ll see what happens!

I got home about 5 yesterday since I stayed in my office to prep my lessons for Friday.  I had to be at church around 7:00, so I vegged for a few minutes playing a computer game while Eric read a book.  Then we talked for a while before I made a light supper and went to church.  It feels as if we’ve got a lot of changes happening all at once (his job is getting crazy busy and will probably start requiring more travel, CU is hectic as always, I have a couple of outside obligations on top of CU stuff, Eric’s decided to quit the orchestra, drama is still a bit frustrating, etc), and I needed him to know that I’ve been struggling to be okay with it all.  So we talked about having to be more proactive and attentive to each other since real life is going to require more of our time away from each other.  I guess the honeymoon had to end sometime, right?  Anyway, chatting with him helped, and then I also got to talk for a while to one of my friends at church and she’s always really encouraging.  So I felt better when I got home.

Today…I have lots of things I could do…I have no idea which one to start on…

It was a rainy, gray day.  She sat alone in the house, her mood as
drizzly as the weather outside her closed window. The house was stuffy,
but she walked on her treadmill instead of braving the outside. 
She read a book while she walked, then kept reading on the old green
La-z-boy in the living room until she’d finished the chapter. 
After completing her morning routine, the small brunette sat at the
computer for an hour or two, working, playing games, writing comments
on her cousins’ Xanga sites.  It was a low-key day.

Suddenly, she had a burst of motivation.  Needing to get
groceries, she moved downstairs to leave.  But before she could
leave, a string of chores vied for her attention.  She dried her
hair, cleaned the kitchen, cut coupons and checked supplies. 
Then, finally, she was ready to leave.  She put the garage door
up, just in time to see that the drizzle had changed to a steady
downpour.  She would need an umbrella.  Luckily, she kept one
in the car.  Loading up, she headed for Meijer where she spent the
next hour meandering though the aisles, a running commentary filling
her head regarding which products she needed, which could wait until
next week, what would be the quickest way to finish her shopping, what
could possibly possess that woman to allow her 2 year old son to stand
in the seat of the cart and then leave it in the middle of the aisle so
I had to go back the way I came to get around them, and other such
grocery store digressions.  Finally, though, she finished, luckily
finding an open checkout lane staffed by a young, very bored staff
member.  Then, braving the still-pouring rain, she filled her
backseat with her grocery store purchases, stopped at the gas station
to fill her tank with $2.19/gallon gasoline, and headed home for lunch.

After lunch, she spent the still gray afternoon making spaghetti sauce
for that night’s lasagna dinner and two different types of cookies
(choc. chip and peanut butter) before her husband came home from
work.  She made repeated trips to the computer for email
communiques as well.  Then she began preparation for lasagna, at
which point she realized that she was out of lasagna noodles and had
not bought them earlier that day.  Much chagrined, she braved the
rain one more time to get the necessary ingredient and finally
completed the pasta dish.  While it baked, she began the grading
which had waited patiently for her all day while her husband watched
the Simpsons next to her on the couch.  She completed dinner
preparations, set the table, and they partook of her afternoon’s
labors.  After the meal and with very aching feet, she began the
clean up process which required unloading and reloading the dishwasher
and hand cleaning the rest of the dishes so that her kitchen would not
be a mess when she awakened the next morning to make coffee for her
grateful husband. 

The day ended as it began: slowly.  She finished the book she’d
read that morning, watched Eureka with her husband and made her way to
bed.  Maybe tomorrow it would be sunny again.  Maybe tomorrow
she’d get her grading done.  Maybe she would just take tomorrow as
she had today…one rain drop at a time.

My list of observations from yesterday.

• My Basic English students didn’t seem to have too much trouble with the test I gave…but I haven’t graded them yet!
• It’s nice to have some affirmation sometimes.
• A Basic student said, as he left the room, “That was a good test…it worked for me.” 
• While I explained why I require outlines to be in full sentences (because it requires them to think the thought all the way through and make sure they know what they think), the student who asked the question said, “Wow…that kinda makes sense.”  He seemed shocked.
• People who drive stupidly should have their licenses revoked.
• A dude driving a big white box truck on I70 yesterday morning was trying to cause an accident.  Slowing down…speeding up, trapping a bunch of cars behind him, but refusing to pass me (I was doing 60) so everyone, except him, was terribly annoyed. 
• From the TV show, “How It’s Made” : Bubble gum is made from a gum base that used to be made from tree resin and now is made primarily of rubbers and plastics (no wonder we shouldn’t swallow it!).  It is usually pink because that was the only color the inventor had on-hand when he first made bubble gum.
• Sitting on a rubber exercise ball and trying to keep your balance without using your legs is harder than it would seem…or perhaps I don’t have the balance I should have!
• We went over to Karen’s last night so Eric could help Erik work on the leak in their a/c unit in the basement.  So they got to go to Sears and buy “manly stuff” while we sat in the basement and talked.  I sat on the exercise ball and was very entertained!

The weekend was tiring!  Friday night, I made camp stew and
biscuits for supper and we watched the Nexflix movie we’d gotten
(Transporter 2).  Then we went to bed.  Saturday, I was
surprisingly productive around the house.  Eric finished my new
bedside table, so I emptied my corner, cleaned it really well (I even
got the candle wax out of the carpet…no idea how long it’s been
there!), and set up my new table.  It looks really nice there now,
and it has a shelf so I no longer have to pile all my books on the
floor!  I also vacuumed the stairs and cleaned the kitchen. 
Then I packed a suitcase and we left for the weekend.

We first went to Ryan’s house and watched the OSU game on his big
screen tv.  We stayed until the end and then left for the farm (an
hour past Ryan’s house), so we didn’t get there until 12:30.  Then
we were up at 7:30 because Eric’s old room doesn’t have a door and the
family bathroom is at the bottom of the stairs and we could hear
everything (including my mother in law tell the rest of the family
she’d told us after we arrived the night before!).  Then church
(Ryan spoke) and then to Grandma & Grandpa Powell’s for a family
get together.  After a few hours there, we went back to the farm,
chatted with his mom, Eric rotated my tires, and then we packed up and
left for home. 

We got home about 7 last night, very tired, and watched tv, ate peaches
and vanilla yogurt (fresh peaches from the orchard next to the farm!)
and popcorn for supper, then read in bed before we crashed.  I
slept like a rock.

This morning, everyone was talking about 9/11 on the tv and
radio.  The real memories didn’t hit until someone on the radio
actually replayed the recordings of that day.  Just talking about
the events never affected me, but listening to it again was
surprisingly potent.  And since I’m introducing the opinion paper
today in Comp, I think the ‘anniversary’ will give me a good jumping
off point for getting them to think about their sides of given
issues.  We’ll see how it goes, though…they were only 13 when
9/11 happened!

Yesterday, I was very productive.  I vacuumed the floors,
swept/swiffered the kitchen floor, cleaned up the kitchen, did 3 loads
of laundry (dried, folded and
put away!), and ran errands.  I also graded in the evening,
watched a recoreded episode of Eureka…that is SUCH a funny show …and had some really phenomenal personal time with Eric!  So, overall, I think it was a good day.

I’m very glad it’s Friday, too.  I have my classes, but my parents
are in Buffalo right now, so I’m on my own for lunch, I guess. 
Maybe I’ll see if Deb will be around and stop in to see them for a few
minutes.  We have no great plans for tonight (I’m kind of glad
about that), and we’ll be heading out to the farm sometime tomorrow for
a birthday party for my mother in law on Sunday.  Then we start
again…such fun, such fun!

I don’t feel like I have much to say today. 

Yesterday was Cedarville (classes and working in my office).  I had lunch alone because Mom had a meeting over the lunch hour.  I stopped at Walmart on my way home to get milk and a few other things.  As soon as I got home, I changed my clothes and went to pick up Chipotle while Eric put another coat of polyurethane on my new bedside table.  After dinner, I read a book and Eric worked on his computer until it was time to watch Mythbusters.  Then to sleep!

It was hard to get up this morning…for some reason, I was really tired last night.  If Eric’s light didn’t turn on (at 5:30) and off (at 6:30), I might still be in bed right now.  But the light changes woke me up…oh well!

So yesterday was surprisingly full.  After getting a few things
organized, I graded for a while before lunch.  Then I finished my
Comp grading after that.  I also graded my Basic English
assignment and did some planning for classes today.  Then Eric got
home at 2:30 or so (which surprised me!) because the only thing he had
left to do he could do from home…so he left!  Anyway, then I
moved into my office and worked on writing some scripts for Christmas
and other upcoming drama things I have going.  I started reading a
book that I have to write an article on by the end of October, and I
made scalloped potatoes with ham for dinner.  Then I had a meeting
at the church at 7:30 which lasted until 10.   So I didn’t
get to bed until almost 11:00 and I had a terrible time falling
asleep.  I hate which you just keep switching positions and can’t
seem to relax enough to sleep!  Oh well…today came like it
always does, so now I’m working on class stuff before classes
begin.  Such fun!

It feels like I haven’t written for weeks!  Okay, maybe it’s only been 4 days or so, but still! 

Friday was another crazy class day.  I got home around 5 and Eric and I went out to eat.  Then a quick stop at Microcenter before heading home to watch The Legend of Zorro.  It’s an okay movie…longer than it needs to be but funny in places.

On Saturday, Eric left around noon to go out to the farm with his mom’s computer.  He didn’t get home until 8:30 or so.  I didn’t do that much while he was gone…read the newspaper, ran some errands, ironed while I watched the OSU game.  Then I ran to the church for a skit, and made it back home to watch the 4th quarter of the game  (though it wasn’t terribly exciting at that point!).  After a light supper, I worked in my office until Eric got home. 

Sunday was church (did the skit twice more), and then Mom and I went to Cleveland for a baby shower.  Steph didn’t know we were coming, so she was very glad to see us.  It was a long day, but it was a good time chatting with my mom.  The roads weren’t terrible, but the Highway Patrol was out in force!  We got back to my house at 7:30, and I watched a moved (The Greatest Game Ever Played…it’s about golf) while Eric played on his computer upstairs.  Then to bed!

Monday I did nothing to speak of!  I did clean up the kitchen and harvested some more veggies from our plants. They’re almost done now, but we did pretty well, I think!  The cayenne peppers are still not done!  We will definitely NOT be planting those next year.   Eric worked on staining a bedside table he made for me, then we went for a walk.  And then we just sort of goofed around for the rest of the day before heading to my parents’ house for supper.  We chatted with them (and Karen & Erik) for a while and then headed home and went straight to bed.  I’m glad I don’t have to teach until tomorrow!