tips

Apparently five in the morning is pretty darn early to get up. I was talking to one of my fun colleagues a number of weeks ago, and she confessed that she feels a bit obsessive compulsive when it comes to her morning routine. She says that she worries all the time that she forgot to turn the curling iron (or is it just hair dryer? Oy!) off... she thinks she'll come home to her apartment complex burned down. This colleague of mine, who is a fun Spanish teacher, said that a friend of hers gave her a good tip--when she turns the iron/hair dryer/radioactive power plant off in the morning, she should mark her hand with an "X" or something of the sort. That way, one can "remember" that the task is done and not worry. I can't tell you how many times I used to leave my apartment (you know, the apartment before the house... the lovely little sterile box I lived in while student teaching) and want to run back to check my stovetop. Nope, hadn't cooked anything, but those knobs on the gas stove were pretty tricky (and it's true--a few times I had climbed up on the stovetop to put baking supplies away in the storage above and had accidentally twisted the knob and found my kitchen smelling a little gas-y... did you know that gas really has no odor but they add it for morons like me?).

I suppose that trick has nothing to do with teaching, but in this new beginning, I thought I would once in a while share things that have nothing to do with teaching.

For example, K took me to see Antigone for a continuation of our celebration. It was beautiful and wonderful and exciting and I keep thinking that I really need to get out there and see more performing arts! K also took me to see the symphony for our anniversary this past summer, and it was also fantastic. I keep wondering how much he really enjoys these shows that he goes to with me, but perhaps my joy is enough to carry him through. :) If not, then I find ways to make it up to him--at least, I'll have to start figuring some out!

Come to think of it, we haven't gone on a big trip in a while now. We went to see my grandparents last summer, which was really peaceful and wonderful, but the big adventures out west have been paused. My guess is we might go east next summer to visit his sister--she is due in June. :) (Congrats, M!!) Perhaps if we make it all the way out to the east coast, I can convince him to retrace those steps I made as a pre-teen with my mother and sister--trips to Walden Pond and Orchard House and Emerson's home and the House of the Seven Gables and Salem. (By the way, some fun links there!) A literary tour of Massachusetts or maybe even New York City (six months after my sister moves).

And one more note before I go...

I am watching In Cold Blood not long after I finished the nonfiction novel by Truman Capote (B&N happens to shelve it in fiction-grr). As someone who has taught and will teach To Kill a Mockingbird, I think Capote is particularly interesting, but the film on his life interests me even more. I seem to have no shame when it comes to picking apart authors' lives and seeing how they lived. Is it because I want to be the same when I am ashes? Is it because I am fiercely jealous and wish I could spend my days and nights pounding away, becoming a great writer?