K, so there’s a ton of stuff to type and yet not a lot of time to type it. I’ve still gotta come up with lesson plans for tomorrow, after all. At any rate, here we go, more or less.

Thursday: I woke up around four because Tommy’s alarm went off. He’s nice enough to hit it quickly though so I can fall back to sleep, but there was some other alarm going off. I got up and wandered around the basement for quite a while trying to figure out what it was, and finally discovered that it was an alarm on the water softener. Not having any clue what to do about this and figuring that Dad was just getting up in ten minutes anyway, I go back to lying in bed awake until Dad just it off around 5:25. Then my own alarm went off at 6. Dippy. I got up early because I had to hit the store before going to the high school. Our first day back always involves a pitch-in cookout, apparently, and names from A-J were to bring salads or casseroles. I get in Rook’s van and drive into town. At the first stoplight, the van dies. I manage to pull it into the parking lot of a gas station where the attendant told me it was either the gas pump or that it just dies. Not knowing Rook’s van well at all, I just opt for calling Mom to tell her about it then I walk to the grocery store. Mom met me at the grocery store and dropped me off at the school. Unfortunately, I was wearing sandals which are fine for average walking but not long-distance walks so I now have a couple holes in the tops of my feet where skin used to be. Once at the school, I enter my classroom to discover that the phone was ringing nonstop–a constant, irritating ring for the entire ten minutes I was in there. Didn’t matter, I had the opening session to go to where–much to my chagrin and disgust–there was a prayer to start off the school year. I guess it was supposed to make everyone feel hopeful for the upcoming semester, but it just pissed me off. Prayer should NOT be allowed in a public school EVER. I could rant more about it, but it’d take too much time. So I hop from meeting to meeting where I’m introduced as Erin Ringwald Doyle so the older teachers can figure out who I am. Lunch comes around and no one but me ate any of my salad, and it was the healthiest thing on the table by far. Later that afternoon, someone came by and fixed my phone (I had long since yanked it off the wall). Then I walked to the library (again with removing skin from my feet) and hung out there till it closed to come home with Mom. Long day. Very, very, very long day.

Friday: I had to get my picture taken for the ID badges all teachers are now required to wear, so I got there early to get some more cleaning/organizing/whatever done before that. After the picture taking, I carried armload after armload of books from the book room to my classroom before a book cart finally became avaiable. I barely had time for lunch before I was in another meeting, this one about learning the gradebook software, after which I was immediately stopped by someone about filling out forms for my 403b. I really needed to call the former French teacher about the French 3 books (as in I couldn’t find them and had no idea what books I was going to need for this semester, a bad sign) but was constantly stopped or busy until well after three, at which time I discovered my long distance codes don’t work. Luckily, Ian came down that evening and I got to hang out with him at his parents’ even if I was so tired I conked out relatively early, leaving him to toss and turn all night. He’s cute.

Saturday: Ian and I did some random shopping around town for some additional school supplies, then we hung out at his parents’ a bit longer before coming up to Bramble. We did some stuff on the computers then he left so I could get some work done. It seems that all I’m doing is working on syllabi or lesson plans or figuring out the books or the class requirements or whatever. I haven’t had much time to do anything else. Irritating. It was awesome seeing Ian though, and when he called down here to tell me he’d made it to the Haute OK, he got Kitty to meow into the phone for me. I miss her.

Sunday: I didn’t set an alarm but woke up at 7:30 this morning anyway. Go figure. I immediately started working on syllabi and lesson plans and getting them edited and printed off. I went into the high school this afternoon to try and find my French 3 books (I found half of them) and to put up some more posters, clear off my desk, put away random supplies, and generally try and get the room in working order for tomorrow. Needless to say, since the printer in my room is not cooperating with my computer, I didn’t end up staying there long because I couldn’t print off anything at all let alone class rosters or other information. I did at least find out when my lunch period is. Luckily, my prep period is first so I’ll have some time to make photocopies and get the rest of my textbooks from the book room. I’ll be waking Rook up early and dragging him in with me.

It’s going to be an interesting day tomorrow, I’m sure. I haven’t even come up with what I’m doing in any of my classes yet beyond passing out books and passing out the syllabus for each class. I’m sure that’s enough. Then tomorrow night I’ll come up with what I’m going to do Tuesday, and Tuesday night I’ll come up with Wednesday’s lesson plans, and so on until I get a chance to work a week ahead. Maybe if I get going, I might get two weeks ahead, but I seriously doubt it. It’s going to be a long semester, and I’m going to be pretty crazy-busy for quite a while. I just can’t wait until I get the internet in my bedroom so I can work on grading and the like in there rather than having to pester Rook to use his computer. If I’m awake tomorrow night, I’ll post. If I’m too tired, I won’t. At any rate, I need to write down some lesson plans or something.