Hitting My Stride

I've grown disheartened with the way that Clemson football has shaped up this year. It is looking to be one of those "it will only get worse before it gets better" scenarios right now. So I thought I'd take a much-needed break from football and post an update on how life in general is going for me:

Work

I'm into my second year of teaching. I've transferred to Ralph Chandler Middle, a new school on Fork Shoals Road, where I teach sixth grade English. The difference between this year and the last is like comparing a burning coal to a feather duster. My feet don't feel nearly as much in the fire as they did a year ago.

Part of the reason is the conclusion of my teaching internship. That means I no longer get weekly visits from Dr. Thomas or Klase Gillespie, my district mentor.

Another, more obvious, reason is the close of my tenure as a floater. I have my own classroom at last. I think when I first unlocked the door to my room, I did a little dance. Right there on my own tile. None of my co-workers were watching, of course.

I had (and still have) so many ideas that I wanted to use for my room. Many of them have been realized already. I've put in Reading and Writing Centers. I have devoted one section of my wall to showcasing my students' work, which I'll probably need to expand. I have a Promethean Board, and I'm still learning how to use all the gadgets and trinkets associated with it. I've decorated with lots of posters from SchoolSpot and I'm actually pretty pleased with the visual appeal of the room. It looks like a site in which learning can take place.

A third reason is the students. I'm already in love with the sixth grade and would teach it again next year in a second. Nothing against my seventh and eighth grades from last year. I had some great kids in that crowd. But I'm loving my current fold.

It's hard to believe we're already through most of the first quarter. This year is moving at a much faster pace. I'm actually finding myself forgetting to count down the days (which I did at the end of every day last year. It helped keep me sane).


Wedding/Anna Kate

Anna Kate and I celebrated our third anniversary as a couple last week (not the date of our engagement...that's in two months). We're continuing to make steady progress on the wedding. We've lined up the church and reception site. It's a pretty bed-and-breakfast called Harward House; we plan to have it outside under a tent with a band and catered meal provided by Elegant Gourmet.

Anna Kate has both her dress (which I can't see, natch) and bridesmaid dresses lined up already. We've picked out a few musical selections for the ceremony and reception as well as settled on a honeymoon locale. Hawaii was considered for awhile, but cost and airfare etc. kind of put the kibosh on that idea. We're thinking of Aruba in the lower Caribbean near South America now.

We're in the midst of revising the guest list. At least we each have a list now.

Anna's birthday was last month; I convinced her to let me treat her to The Melting Pot on Haywood Road. It's a different sort of restaurant in that you have to cook your food and you have more of an expanded menu. But it's great. The cheese fondue is especially tasty. We had a wonderful time.

For our anniversary I got the idea to try something different in our gifts, and that was to do homemade gifts rather than going out and spending money. She made a memory jar with a glass pumpkin and wrote over a hundred little memories we'd made over the years. It's one of the best presents I've ever received, and I pull at least one out every day because it makes me smile, laugh, tear up and think of her. I put together a digital scrapbook on a DVD and recorded memories from at least ten locations that were special to us for different reasons (first meeting, first date, movie, football game, funny memory, etc.). Thanks to my wonderful sister, Susannah, for being camera girl and giving up most of her weekend to travel all over Greenville, Simpsonville & Clemson with me and shoot video. It was fun putting it all together and she loved it.

I guess that's about it for right now. I'll try to post more updates later. Whoever you are, I hope you're having a blessed day. :)