Saturday Evening Post

I haven't posted much lately. And what I have posted has been from other sources, not original. To be honest, I've been a bit afraid to write. If I start writing, things start coming out, and there are too many things that --much as I might like to--I don't need to share in a public forum. I can't keep avoiding my blog, though. It has no real purpose for anyone else, but writing is therapy for me.

My days have pretty much been running together. Get up early, go to work, sit in my room in the afternoon working on lessons and grading, come home, eat, take my valerian root, watch some TV, go to bed. Wash, Rinse, Repeat. At times, I find comfort in my routine, but some days I feel like I'm running on a hampster wheel. While it can be reassuring to know what's coming next, the redundancy is sometimes... well, redundant. I can't say I'm bored, but I do feel my life lacks a healthy share of excitement.

School is stil tiring and I'm still frustrated on a daily basis, but things have been better recently. A majority of my students hasve started to calm down somewhat. They seem more focused and are better at coming to class prepared. Their attitudes are also improving, which allows me to get to know them better and make a connection. I realized recently that I made a mistake by not requiring journals this year. Usually, I have my students keep a journal; I assign two topics a week. The journals are not graded on grammar or spelling, just content. These journals allow the students to share their lives and allow me to respond to them. I decided against journals this year due to the number of classes and students I teach. I just didn't think I'd be able to read them all. I regret that decision now. I should have sucked it up and made the time. I feel like I would be so much further along with them at this point. C'est la vie.

Holiday season is arriving, which means my weekends will be more full than usual. I desperately needed to spend today cleaning and grading papers. My house is disgusting and I'm supposed to hand out progress reports on Monday. Unfortunately, I woke up this morning with perhaps the worst headache I've ever experienced. The only one that could touch this was the three-day sinus headache I had in college. I couldn't even move. Today's headache started in the base of my neck and worked its way up over my head and into my temples. By the time it was done, even my cheekbones were throbbing. John gave me something to take and heated up all of the bed buddies we have. I buried my head underneath them and slept for awhile. I'm still not pain free but it's only a dull ache now. I'm totally wiped out which sucks because I need to go and buy a couple of gifts for tomorrow.

Not much else to write right now. Well, that's a lie. There's just not much I'm going to right. Sorry for the tone of this. I'll be more chirpy next time.