We all know what's in that package:
I'm not allowed to open it.
Sigh...
See, the book was SUPPOSED to come out on October 1st. My birthday. FORTUITOUS TIMING!
And then the stupid book went ahead and came out early, and now I am under strict orders not to touch it until my actual birthday because hey, birthday present. Celebrations, and what not.
So yes, right now, I am staring malevolently at the stupid Amazon package that sits taunting me on the other side of the room. Three more weeks...
Thing the second: I have not been posting as much recently - duh. I am currently not two full weeks into the school year, and I have been pulling nearly 60 hour weeks thus far. I've mentioned my career occasionally here, and I'd like to now take the opportunity to say that I take teaching and my career very seriously. I am tremendously passionate about it, even more so than film, and I've been hoping for further opportunities to stretch myself. Well, this year really seems to be THAT year. I'm the new Science Department Leader this year, which is a tremendous vote of faith in my abilities considering this is my sixth year teaching. I'm mentoring a new teacher, which I'm very excited about because she has such amazing potential and she's doing a great job thus far. I'm presenting at the state science teachers' conference in early November, which will be the first time I've formally presented a workshop at a conference. I'm applying again to present at a national conference slated for next summer, and the very nit-picky application is due in mid-October. Additionally, I have to massively overhaul my Advanced Chemistry course for a variety of reasons this year (best reason: 60+ students signed up for it, more than double from last year), and that's taking a tremendous amount of time.
I am not complaining about a single thing in the above paragraph. I've worked my ass off in the past to get into the position to be able to do all those things, and now I feel like that work is starting to bear fruit, and that's really exciting. But something has to take a backseat. And for the moment, that's movie watching and movie writing.
I'm certainly not dropping my hobby or anything. I just might have to scale way back on my blog, only post once a week or so.
Which is fine. Because dammit, it's my blog.
But I miss all of you, you few regular readers of mine. I miss being able to read all your awesome entries in the depth I'd like, and leave comments to let you know your work is not falling on deaf ears.
So yes. Know that my absence from the blogosphere means I'm going nuts at school, but good lord, I effing love what I do. Yes, it stresses me out, but I would never for a second rather be doing anything else in the world.
That settles it: you're just going to have to cut back on your sleeping. :-)
ReplyDeleteDo you have a young niece/nephew/neighbor that could be blamed for the package being opened? Once it's open the argument would be that there's no point in not reading it now. :-)
I just posted a few minutes ago about the details of the book, if you want to get a virtual booster shot to get you to the end of the month.
hahahahahahhahaha NO. I'm stupidly obsessive about my sleep, and will do whatever it takes to guarantee a minimum of 7 hours a night because I can tell, I can TELL that I'm off my game in the classroom if I'm sleep deprived. That means I have to go to bed stupidly early because I wake up stupidly early, which sucks because I'm a natural night owl who is forced into a grandma-esque routine for the school year.
DeleteI have no one to blame any package-opening on, especially since the gift is from my sister and she knows very well my living situation. I had my husband hide the package from me to remove temptation. Stupid book.
I figured it was something like that. It is perfectly understandable and really it is about getting the priorities right and I would do the same/has been doing the same in the past. Make a killer presentation and get those kids through chemistry and remember at the end of the day when the head is full and the body is tired there is nothing so good as watching a good old movie in the sofa. Well, you could add a cold beer but that would just make me fall asleep and miss the film...
ReplyDeleteCheck in when you surface. we miss you.
Thanks so much!
DeleteOld movies are THE BEST for the end of a hard day or week. And I like to enjoy mine with a glass of wine rather than beer, but yeah, it makes me fall asleep!!
I miss you much! But I like that you are a lady that has your priorities straight. We will still be here every time you surface.
ReplyDeleteThanks, I really appreciate it! I don't really WANT to only check in every few days here, but real life is going to be getting in the way quite a bit this year.
DeleteHey, congratulations on being named Science Department Leader! That is fan-freaking-tastic and I'm sure it was well-deserved. Knock 'em dead!
ReplyDeleteI figured it was the new school year that had taken your attention away from the blog, and I add my voice to the rising chorus of your readers assuring you that such prioritization is right and proper and understandable. School is cool! My oldest just started kindergarten this month, which is important for learning the ropes of classroom behavior and whatnot, but they will probably be thinking of skipping him ahead to high school by the end of the year. Middle school, at least. Last night he asked me, "How come doctors didn't always know how to fix what was wrong with sick people?" I told him it was a long story, but they'd get to it in science class when he's older. I have tremendous respect for all educators, but I wish all of his future teachers especially a lot of luck!
Happy early birthday, and good luck not letting the suspense kill you as you wait to open the new Book! By the way, you and I were both born on October 1st! No wonder our tastes so often overlap. ;-)
- Sunny D
Hey, fellow October 1st-er! That's pretty nifty! At my school, there are a total of four of us who have Oct 1 birthdays. I should bring in a cake for us this year.
DeleteThanks for the comments re: dept head! I'm more than a bit nervous as I've never done this before, but I'm keeping my confidence up.
I always like kids who ask questions so I certainly hope your son keeps that up. I just like it best when the questions they ask are coming from honest places and are not simply an attempt for them to show off how much they know, or test me on how much I know. I get especially annoyed at the latter; in my head, I get all, "dude, I studied biochem for 10 effing years and have taught advanced chem for six. Yes, I know what LD50 means." And yes, I've already had that EXACT thought this school year. Don't try to school Mama J, she don't play that game.
I graduated from high school in a fairly small class (90-something kids) and 4 of us had October 1st birthdays. Of course October 1st is exactly nine months after January 1st, so ... that's a popular way to ring in the new year, I guess!
Delete- Sunny D
Y'know, all the cool kids are born in October. And the coolest of the cool kids are born on the first day (you) or the last day (me).
ReplyDeleteCome back when you can. We'll all still be here.
That's a big ole party worth of cool. First/lasties!!!
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