so much for having time to write

second official day of break and this is the first time i've had to sit down and write. ok, not quite true. i've had time, but not the desire. energy. whatever.

school's out. this makes me happy. ecstatic. whatever.

i sense a trend. a theme. whatever.

been an uneventful couple of days, and both included trips to mason, which makes it feel like break hasn't officially started yet. actually, i think it will be monday before i start to really feel it. right now it seems like a long weekend. i did discover something today: i am definitely going to have to find some kind of rhythm to my days. i had great plans today but they were sapped by the unseasonably hot weather. really? 95 in june? isn't that a bit ridiculous? i think so. so much for the yard work i hoped to get done. can't say i miss being a sweaty mess, though. praise God for air conditioning.

from the decisions that may come back to haunt me file: as i went to check out on wednesday, i was stopped by one of the secretaries who asked for my peer observation forms. one problem: i didn't have any. see, as part of our staff development, we were supposed to take one of our plan bells and go observe another teacher teaching in the belief we become better teachers by seeing what others do. and i agree with the sentiment. only, most plan bells i was busy doing other things like, well, planning and grading. and with a student teacher, it slipped my mind. and even though i agree with the sentiment, i didn't care enough to actually do it. fatal flaw, thy name is apathy. now, i could have simply done what some other teachers i've talked to did - simply find a fellow colleague to sign the form for you and turn it in. but that would be lying. so rather than do that, i simply said i didn't do it, which i'm sure will bring about negative consequences of some sort. guess i should feel good about being honest, but actually i don't feel much of anything at the moment.

sunday i'm teaching during our weekly gathering at st. e's. i have a good sense of what direction i want to go, but need to do a little more praying/thinking/studying. not nervous...yet. but i can see it coming. always tough being an instrument of God.

am getting excited about my trip to denver already. alexa called and said there may be the possibility of a camping excursion while i'm there - in wyoming. this was totally rock. i hope it works out, though really, being that close to the mountains will be good for my soul as will seeing good friends.

finally acquired my bi-pap machine. been two nights of misery, but last night was better than the first, so i have great hope it will continue to be better. of course, since the machine is keeping me up, i'm not seeing the benefits of the machine yet. looking forward to the day i sleep through the night with the machine. here's hoping the benefits outweigh the hassle.

went and saw son of rambow tonight. cute. that's the word that comes to mind. good, uplifting way to spend a friday night. much better than most of what's in the theaters now. not sure what the next movie on my list is. did pick up a couple dvds at blockbuster yesterday - bourne identity, waitress and before the devil knows your dead. haven't seen the latter, but heard great things about it. and i like the cast. and it only cost me 3.33, so i took a chance. i'll let you know.

time to fight the machine. i hope it's gentle tonight. will need the energy tomorrow - helping tear down the beauty set and then have chris's party. crazy.
Æ

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Now playing: Elton John - Tiny Dancer
via FoxyTunes

five down (almost), twenty-five (at least) to go

one more day with students. two more days of official school business. and now i have to be up there on thursday for some training for my auditorium tech job, but it includes lunch and is definitely worth it. but tomorrow is the last day i have to get up at 5AM for a while. you have no idea how ecstatic this makes me. no, really, no idea.

graduation was an excellent end to the year once again. since the ceremony is held at the cintas center, practically in my backyard, i walked again. and was a sweaty mess by the time i got there. at least this time i brought a towel with me to help with the cool down process. next year i'll have to bring a change of shirts. stupid overactive cooling system.

nearly six hundred graduates this year. i am always amazed at how many of the students i had little to no interaction with. so different from my student teaching experience where every senior was in one of my classes. i wish sometimes i could be a part of a smaller community where we got to know every student. but the number i did know was significant enough to make it a meaningful celebration. so great to see students taking that final step toward...(i almost said adulthood but anymore it's just the next stage of an extended adolescence. now is not the time to talk about that). and so great to see the joy on their faces as they walked out of the ceremony and saw the teachers lining the hallways, high-fives and handshakes and hugs punctuating congratulations and expressions of relief from both students and teachers. it was not the time to wonder what lie ahead, but the time to celebrate what they had accomplished. the future will wait one more day.

i did have one complaint: it seems to me if you spend three to five years of your life getting your masters degree, you should be allowed to wear your hood. if you can't wear it at graduation, when else are you going to get to wear it? i'm just sayin'.

stayed late after school to get as much grading as i could done before the final batch of exams. all the journals and late work are tallied up now. while first and second bell take theirs, i'll be grading the essay portion of fourth and fifth bell. then hopefully during third bell exam (my plan) i'll be able to get through a significant portion of first and second bell's exams. that will leave only their final reading reflection and any late work turned in tomorrow. the goal is to be completely done with grading by the time i step out the door in the afternoon so wednesday i just have to pack up my stuff and get the heck out of the dodge. here's hoping for a smooth transition to summer life.

for any of my faithful readers in the cincy area, i will be teaching this coming sunday morning in our weekly celebration at st. e's. 10:00AM. the question? what is God calling you away from. at least that's where i think God is leading. we'll see.

brian called today and told me he's bought his plane tickets for the tom waits show at the end of june. i need to figure out where we're going to stay - he flies into columbus on friday night and leaves sunday afternoon, so no use driving all the way back to cincy. i'll check with some of the friends we have up there - surely someone will put two wayfaring souls up for a couple of nights. i hope. looking forward to seeing brian again, especially since it will include seeing tom waits, too. we're trying to organize some kind of social gathering before the show. guess i should look into that as well. at least there's time for that.

last night i put together an over the rhine compilation for my friend kurt's wife. i probably should have been grading, but this was much more fun. i took two song from each of their major releases and one live track from besides. i left off the christmas songs. was tough whittling it down. here's the list, organized chronologically by cd (in case someone wants to compare it to what they'd put on such a cd).

If I'm Drowning
Paul And Virginia
Circle Of Quiet
Rhapsodie
Sleep Baby Jane
Bothered
My Love Is A Fever (Live)
Latter Days
Poughkeepsie
The World Can Wait
Moth
B.P.D.
Nobody Number One
Drunkard's Prayer
Who Will Guard The Door
Trouble
Don't Wait For Tom

not a bad retrospective, if i do say so myself. and i do.

ok, time for bed. here's hoping i get everything done. come glorious end, so i might begin again.
Æ

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Now playing: Johnny Cash & Nick Cave - Cindy (With Nick Cave)
via FoxyTunes