Backhanded compliment?

I don't usually post actual experiences from work because it doesn't seem professional, but this is too funny. I had to share.

Yesterday was the first day of the semester and I had to wait outside of my first classroom while the previous class finished up.

I stood in the hallway unnoticed by the students that started to congregate and wait as well. They all wore first day of school outfits and stood uncomfortably exchanging names and introductions. I kept a little away from them and avoided eye contact because, as a rule, I try to separate myself as the teacher and be the strictest version of myself on the first day.

Eventually I noticed a girl right beside me and in the interest of not seeming like a complete snob I gave her a little smile nod. She was clearly nervous and quickly admitted, "Oh man, I do not want to take this class at all."

"Oh?" I said, uncertain of how to procede from here since she had no idea who I was and was obviously looking for commiseration. "Yeah, English can be really tough, but we'll try and make it fun......"

Confusion scrunched up all over her face. She hadn't put it together yet so I awkwardly stumbled on, "I mean, man, if I was standing in front of a math class, for instance, right now... I would be sweating bullets! Because..."

"Wait, what's your name?" It quickly and painfully began to dawn on her.

"Sister Robertson," I admitted in relief and embarrassment at the same time.

"OH! Well, then I am SO EXCITED to take this class!" she joked in a panicked tone. "I was just thinking, that girl looks way too old to be taking this class," she blurted out before she could stop herself.

I am dying laughing right about now.

"Way too old huh?" I say a little too loudly. "What's your name?"

*"Marie"*

"Well, *Marie*, you are off to a fantastic start!" I laughed as the class before us finally filed out and I left poor *Marie* to work-out the delightfulness of what just occurred.

WAY TOO OLD PEOPLE?!?!

hahahahahahhahaha

I'm still in my 20s you know. And I will be for like 3 more years. Wait, that's like a decade older than good old *Marie*.

Oh well, the class went on as it always does and *Marie* turned out to be quite the lovely girl. People just say the most awesome stuff when they are nervous. I chuckled about it for the rest of the evening.

*- names have been changed to protect the innocent.... or name that is.

Here, every post needs a picture but in the interest of protecting *Marie's* privacy here's a picture of what Amy Winehouse would look like had she ever been pregnant. What? You never go to baby showers where the theme is pregnant celebrities? That's weird. She was 27 too. I will always love her. The end.

i start monday

I got a call tonight.

I don't remember it word for word.

It went something like this:

The Composition Coordinator (a dear lady whom I really like): "Hi Stephanie. I know you couldn't do First Term but how do you feel about teaching English 101 this Spring. You would start Monday. We really need someone and we thought of you. Sorry it's so last minute."

Me: (inside my head) "Ah crap" (Thinking about all the reasons it didn't work out for my family so well last semester. 1. Leaving my kids in the morning 2. Thomas gets a late start to his day 3. I get a late start to my day with my kids and it throws us off)
"Well......"

Comp. Coordinator: "Before you say anything let me tell you the bad things about this offer."

Me: "Ok....."

Comp. Coordinator: "We are still looking for a classroom for you since we had to add this section due to large enrollment and it would maybe have to be an evening class, but we could try and see if--"

Me: "WHAT? No, no, that's actually a positive! A big one. I might actually be able to do that. The evening class? Oh, good . Yes please. Let me talk to my husband and I'll let you know ASAP."

Comp. Coordinator: (A little incredulous) "Really? Seriously? OK..... Great. Good. Call me back."

Me: "OK!"

And Thomas, that dear man, he was so excited for me (since I cried like a baby on my last day of class this semester) he told me he really thinks I should do it and that it would not be a problem at all.

What a guy.

What a job.

Perfect timing.

Still get my whole day with my kiddos and my nights with my man.

Seriously?

I swear. Sometimes things just work out.

Yes they do.

here's my class

on the very last day:

aren't they cute?

i honestly love every single person in that picture.

oh, and of course we had to do a "crazy one":

i already miss them, but horray for christmas vacation! this is the best job ever.

i don't know how it happened....

but the english department chair observed my class on monday morning and on thursday morning i was invited to teach english 101 again next semester.

a christmas miracle?

i think so! :)

in the spirit of procrastination

thomas said, "so you're not doing those i am thankful posts anymore?"

and i said, "oh i am. i am thankful."

and i am.

you'll see.

but tonight i am home alone (in-laws in kona, husband at band meeting) and i am procrastinating. 20 tests and 20 papers are in my teaching bag and are in the back of my mind. i'll finish the tests tonight at least.

we headed out to the library yesterday and found our next chapter book: and this exact copy too. the tiny illustrations pop up to say hello about every other page and are so random and scrawny and intriguing. it's enough to keep him interested and still begging for another chapter each night so i am excited.

it's fun to have kids. you can relive all this imaginative magic and enjoy seeing their first time with it all at the same time.

next we are reading this one:
it's an abridged version (just like the copy of peter pan we just finished) and is this exact copy- great illustrations: and i'm kinda looking froward to reading it since i am sure it is going to be so strange.

well, i have about forty sewing projects i am in the process of and i think they are all going to roll together in a big ball of houndstooth, stripe, bold, print, solid, and patchwork and swallow me whole.

what a way to go.

who do you think will win project runway? i think they're all pretty good, but none of them have me so inspired i want to study their lives and strive to copy or anything. does anyone else feel like the designers are just not as great as they used to be? or maybe i just dont know what is stylish. that's more likely. each week thomas and i go, REALLY? about what the judges rave over. i guess we've reached the point where we are no longer "in". i can live with that. :)

ok, ok. procrastination over. grading. grading. grading. bleh. :)

thankful for my jobs

teaching eng 101, sec 2 is a special little hobby of mine. a time where i can reconnect with the old geeky literary version of myself and enjoy helping my students see how they can find themselves in the pieces we are reading. i feel like the lord knew that waiting for the apartment to be done would be an exercise in patience for little-old-impatient-me and so he gave me a little treat to help keep life moving and busy in the form of this teaching opportunity.

when it is done on december 16th i will be sad because i truly have enjoyed it, but there will be some relief too. i have another job, i think you know what i am referring to, the one that involves the raising of two little pups named ambrose and asher. i am looking forward to slowing down and dedicating even more time to these two and not having anything extra to distract me. this fleeting time with my babies is precious.

admittedly the extra money each month has been pretty awesome and we have set it aside for purchases like these:

glad to be able to have it through such enjoyable means, but i must say, given the choice i would take the chubby toddler in the middle over the fancy rug surrounding him any day of the week.

today i am thankful for my jobs: one for now and the other for eternity.

vi ses senare!

i ordered these:


and now i'm embarking on the task of organizing a semester around them, four short papers, one long one, a group project, maybe a workshop, discussions, circling up and sharing, pop quizzing no doubt...etc. and the author list in the text is to die for: from flannery o'connor to wordsworth to truman capote, shakespeare, langston hughes, john updike, mark twain, kurt vonnegut, elie wiesel, emily dickinson, edgar allan poe, maya angelou, robert frost, and many others that get my mouth watering. it's gonna be hard to choose.

and last night i made an itemized colossal list of all the things i need... well, want to make for our new place and thomas is such a champ. he listened to them all with an appropriate amount of interest and at the end said a heartfelt, "good luck!" as he designed this cool new bloggy header (thanks t-rob!).

anyway, i never take much time out of my life to blog. it's usually a second here, 10 minutes there, whatever is fluttering through my fleeting mind, but it's time to get writing, organizing, syllabi-ing, quilting, sewing, constructing, painting, mod podging, hammering, crafting and as always there will be many many adventures along the way.

until we meet again :)

life update

nothing earth shattering, but enough to keep my mind active in the middle of the night, wondering about all the possibilities, potential problems, and other excitement....

i got asked to teach a section of eng.101 at byuh. i feel like i should properly punctuate this post, but i'm not gonna.

anyway, i will teach this fall semester, which starts sept.17th. initially i was shocked and flattered, but thought "there's no way" since i have two very young children and i want to be home with them. i dont like to leave them, i dont want to be away from them, i quit my job as a supervisor even when we needed the money so i could be home all day with my kids, teaching them, nurturing our relationship...etc. i dont want whomever i leave them with to be put out, overwhelmed, or annoyed with me.... so i thought, "that's really nice. i would love it. i'm not going to do it."

then i got more information and found out my class is MWF from 7:30-8:30am. hmmmm.... that is doable. we are up anyway, thomas can plan to not leave for work until then, my friends dee and sarah and echo have volunteered as back-ups if my mother-in-law cant be thomas' back-up in the event of an emergency, but really it's only for one hour so that shouldnt even be necessary. i probably wont even have to leave milk for asher. i live 5 minutes or less from campus. i can be back before our day really even starts so it wont interrupt preschool, beach day, play-dates, or any of our other normal adventures and activities. i have an office i can use, but i am not required to have office hours since i am a special instructor and not a professor. it can be by email or appointment if my students need me. and it pays pretty good, oh, and have i mentioned that i love english?

ok, so i'm going to do it. i really think it was meant to be for us right now and if i didnt do it.... i would probably be really mad at myself.

this morning i got to go observe another eng101 class on campus and i was on fire by the time i left! it was so fun and i just got really pumped to have my own students, class and get to be a part of the university community again three mornings a week!

so now i just have to choose a textbook, plan out my syllabus, and brush up on all the grammar and MLA rules that i tried to erase out of my mind upon graduating! and that's the scary part for me. this is a freshman class and by time they leave they should be able to know all the rules and write at a college level and be able to analyze a text...etc. and so i feel a little inadequate, but i know it will be really good for me and i am up for the task. when i got hired i was told that creating a good syllabus and preparing these students for the rest of their college writing would be a balancing act, but i am going to give it my best shot.

so, yep, that's my life update. i am nervous and excited and really happy about it.

the end. :)