Early Day

Due to weather (which is actually getting better), I came home early from school. I was done with classes, Hubby was done (the uni cancelled everything b/c of the weather), so home we came.

And what do I do?

I'm grading. I figured I should get as much done as possible. My stack for Biology is nearly an inch thick.....  blah. The hard part of teaching is the paper work/administration part. 

crazy weeks

This last week was crazy, but in a fun-sort-of way. It was the local Mock Trial competition. This is a competition for high schoolers that is a sort-of trial where each team provides advocates and witnesses and lots of direct examination and cross examination goes on. I agreed to be faculty sponsor, as it sounded interesting and something I might enjoy doing. But, as the semester advanced, I struggled to get my mind around what the trial looked like and how I could help the students prepare. I did a lot of making copies, checking grammar and encouraging the students, but little direct involvement.

But now I have seen it in action. On Monday, we had 2 rounds: 415 pm and 615 pm. It was a looooooonnnnnnng day, with a normal school day topped with adrenaline filled competition. But for our first ever time to compete, we did pretty good. We certainly gave the first team, Midway, a run for their money and made them work. The second round wasn't as much fun, but we did well.  (BTW, I don't know what rounds we won and what we lost, though I hope to find out at some point). Tuesday was less busy with only 1 round at 615, and Wednesday had only 1 round at 6 pm. There was a pizza party Wednesday evening at 8 pm where they announced the finalists who competed Thursday evening.  The two schools who advanced, Midway and Waco High, we excellent teams and certainly deserved the chance to go to the state competition. But, in getting to compete with both at some point, I have a much better idea of how to help our students become even better. I had a ton of fun and am totally on fire to do this again next year if I can (schedule wise, etc). Add to a good performance that two of our students were nominated for "Best Witness" and another received "Best Advocate", and we feel we did the best we could of done.

However, it meant late nights (for me) each of three nights. For the students, as teenagers, it wasn't so bad, but poor preggy teacher was struggling. It was 1030 Monday night before I got to bed, 10 on Tuesday and 1030 or 11 on Wednesday. Compare that to my more normal 930 bed time! No dinners were made this week, I ate tons of junk food for dinner (pizza, chick-fil-a, granola bars -- none too bad in themselves, but not that good when that's all you're getting). And I was hardly ever home (or so it felt) this week. Its all done now, which a part of me quite glad of, and I was out cold by 9 pm last night and slept a good 10 - 10 1/2 hours.

And now that its back to a more normal schedule for me (but not Hubby, he's at a Philosophy of Religion conference for most of today), I will make my list for Saturday/Sunday and see what I can get done! Also, I hope to think about what I want to work towards in Feb (goals and sorts) and get a post up about that, but we will see.

School back in session

Well, school starts back tomorrow. I really don't feel prepared, and I'm already feeling behind. But, I must remember that I can keep up. I did while being so tired from first trimester fatigue and that has passed. I'm feeling much more energetic, even with a shorter night's sleep. A good friend is in town, staying with us, and we were up late talking. She is a night owl, big time, and I love a good conversation. Bad combination when I've got to get up early.

I've been keeping my sink shiny for 2 nights now. I know this isn't much of a habit yet, but its a start. I had my week's menu done by Sunday, grocery run done on Monday and I've done well with dinner's this week so far. A good start, I think!

Not much done on the sweater, though. Gonna have to get started, and soon, if I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the month. It odd how intertwined all of life is. To have more time to knit, I've got to use my time at school well and get school tasks done there. Oh, the discipline required!

In other news, I got a new pillow! Its huge! I'll get a picture up soon, I promise.

Life, School and Stuffiness

Life continues as per normal. Hubby is stressed over those last 2 papers to write. I don't blame him at all, I'd be wound up over them, too. Especially when the class grade is based on that one paper. Previously, during the 3 weeks of crazy paper writing time, he worked well enough that the last few days weren't all that bad. I sure hope this round works out the same. He is quite disciplined with his time, but its still hard to get yourself to work when you are tired.

Tonight, I'm feeling pretty good. Thanksgiving was great, and I had a wonderful time with all the family in. Last minute, I discovered we only had 11 forks, so I used a plastic fork. I had 12 knives, and 12 spoons... and 12 adults! Luckily, the toddler wasn't using silverware, nor was the newborn (6 weeks -- that would be my sister's little boy). We ended up with 12 adults, a toddler, a baby and 2 not-yet-born-babies! Quite a full house. I had a ton of fun playing house all week and was feeling great by week's end.

Then, the week back to school was very up and down. By the end of last week, I was weary and tired and still stuffy (still am, in fact), and Saturday evening I was feeling quite miserable. I began to wonder if I was coming down with another cold! But it passed and quickly, so I think it was just the stress/tired/weary effects. Today, Monday, was pretty good. In fact, I got all the current grading done this evening while watching Dr. Who (season 5). I've got a biology final to write, which is the big stressful thing on my plate currently -- but, as a plus -- finals week makes for a much easier schedule for me at school. I'm very much looking forward to it.

A little over a week ago, I thought I might have felt baby move, but I'm not sure. There have been a few times that I wondered if it was baby, my digestive track, or my imagination moving, so who knows. Next Monday, we go for the ultrasound to check anatomy (and find out gender!), and a good MD friend said that would really help me identify if its baby moving or not. He said I'd see the baby move in the ultrasound, feel it and know what I was feeling. So, here's to hoping!

I'm off to bed, now. I'm making for early nights these days, to see if I can make it through the day with out crashing at 230 or 3 pm. Hope all out there have a good sleep tonight and find themselves refreshed in the morning!