1. I didn’t “win” NaBloPoMo because I missed a day, but 29 out of 30 ain’t bad. Memo to self: write posts the day before and schedule them to go live the next day. That’s how I was successful at the Slice of Life challenge this past March.
2. I forgot to link up to all my posts from last week on my Monday post, so here they are now:
I missed posting yesterday because I fell asleep at 6:30 and didn’t wake up until about 1:45. Then, I drank some water and ate some food before going back to bed. I wasn’t feeling that great yesterday, so I obviously needed the rest, but I hate that I blew my streak.
Also, and probably more importantly, I missed a day of grading so am even farther behind. (I was going to put “further,” but I am behind by a quantifiable amount. Also, I strongly advise not counting how many papers one has left to grade. I do this constantly and it never makes me feel better. Because I always have so much more to go, see?)
I am supposed to go to a book club meeting/cookie exchange on Saturday, but I am SO FAR BEHIND I may not be able to go. I really need to consider this. Because I really do want to go AND I read the book. But Psych >>>>>>>> everything else coming up in my life. Which! You would think that would have motivated me to get more grading done today, but no. I chose instead to procrastinate by talking to a colleague about how to teach a class I might be teaching in Fall 2018.
I may have a problem.
Anyway, that discussion did help me figure out what novel I’m going to assign next semester: Station Eleven. Unless I do A Wrinkle in Time. Both could work with the theme of my class! (All books pretty much work with the theme of my class. The theme, btw, is cultural literacy.) (Also, now that I have reread my reviews and because the movie is coming out, I am leaning more towards A Wrinkle in Time. I will probably change my mind again.)
Also, I did finish drafting the rubric for my students’ final paper. So it’s not like I didn’t do any work.
I really need to learn to eat the frog. It’s been 13 years. Do you think I’ll ever learn?
I just saw Elizabeth Taylor’s White Diamonds commercial. In 2017. Once I see a Chia Pet commercial, I’ll really know it’s Christmas time. Ch-ch-ch-chia!
Imagine how I’m going to feel after I actually see the movie next Monday. I love them so much 😭. And I’m so glad I moved to LA because I can go to events like this.
Today, I am grateful to Jenny for starting this little gratitude exercise because the Sunday before going back to work is often hard. The Sunday before going back to work after a long weekend is often a little harder. I always have to figure out where to start with all I have to do and it gets overwhelming.
Along with that, I am also grateful for:
1. Spending time with my friend Jasmine over the weekend and getting to meet her family. Not only did we eat good food and have good conversations, we also managed to watch most of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which I haven’t seen in a while. Also, and most importantly, her family is pretty great. A+, would hang out with again.
2. Roseanne, A Different World, and Golden Girls reruns. I got to watch a little of all three over the weekend (including the one with Dwayne and Whitley’s wedding–YES, CHILD), and they were all glorious.
And, of course, because I mentioned it, I have to post the clip again:
Diahann Carroll is a national treasure.
3. Being able to fly out of Burbank instead of LAX. #blessed
4. Figuring out some key stuff that I was blocked about re: this script I’m working on. That also led to me doing some actual (re)writing tonight.
5. Two weeks left of the semester. Although this is also a major stressor for me, the countdown to vacation is real.
I hope everyone else was able to find some joy this past week.
Well, tomorrow is Sunday, which means it’s back to reality. Which is just a depressing way of saying I have a ton of grading to do.
Also, it’s that time of the semester when grading is basically all I’ll be talking about because there are only two weeks left (!!!!).
I’m not ready.
I mean, I am definitely ready for the semester to be over, but I am not ready for the end of the semester–mostly because of all the grading. But also because I need to write final exams and rubrics and also, of course, grade.
Always with the grading.
I did have a lovely weekend with my friend and her family, and I did get some grading done and a rubric written (on Thanksgiving itself, no less). So I am definitely grateful for the time with delightful people and the space to get work done. Also, let’s be real: I got a much needed mental break by taking the past two days completely off.
But, as Shang from Mulan says, “Tomorrow, the real work begins.”
It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these on my blog (since my LiveJournal days, perhaps?) but they’re always a lot of fun. I didn’t go shopping or buy anything today minus two small care package items for my daughter, so consider this my contribution to the rampant consumerism of Black Friday.
All pictures are from the items’ respective sites.
1. Harry Potter Enchanted Sky full/queen duvet cover and two matching shams (PBTeen)
I’m taking a page from Buzzfeed’s book today and posting about the book I’m most thankful for this year.
I’m going to do a throwback to a book series I read growing up: The Baby-Sitters Club.
There are many things I loved about The Baby-Sitters Club, but mostly I love that it’s about all the things I still think are important: female friendship, girls getting things done, girls working together to get things done, and series fiction. Also, let’s be real: my desire to do a Disney Cruise probably all stems from the first BSC Super Special, Baby-Sitters on Board.
I definitely tried to emulate the structure of the BSC books as a baby writer. I was all about diary entries to start a chapter.
I can’t think of how to wrap this up, but I just want to say that these books were extremely important to me in elementary school. I read them voraciously. I would go to the bookstore just to find the next book in the series. They brought me a lot of joy, and I loved the characters very much.
Stacey was obviously my favorite, which is why I picked her first book as the image for this post.
I am not a morning person. In fact, I consider myself a night owl. This may seem contrary to presented evidence because for the past few years, I have had to get up early for work. And since I don’t function that well with very little sleep, I have been going to bed earlier. But that is all contrary to my nature. Left to my own devices, I would go to bed around 2 a.m. every night and wake up around 9 or 10.
However, I am required to be to work at 7 a.m. on Monday and Wednesday and 7:30 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday, so I make it work.
2. Go to bed at a decent hour.
I try to do this most nights. I usually fail. But one thing that helps is setting an alarm on my phone that tells me it’s time to get ready for bed. Most of the time I ignore it, but at least I can’t act like I don’t know what time it is.
3. Shower in the morning.
This is crucial for me. Showering wakes me up. Even if I shower at night, I have to shower again in the morning, or I’m walking around like a zombie.
Minus the cigarette and coffee, this is a pretty accurate picture of how I look at 5:30 in the morning (source)
4. Eat breakfast.
You wouldn’t like me when I’m hangry.
5. Give myself enough time.
While I would like to sleep until the last possible minute, I have learned that rushing makes me cranky, and I get upset when I don’t give myself enough time to eat or get my stuff together for the day. That means I get up at 5, even though I probably could get up at 6.
6. Recognize that I’m still no good at 7, but better at 7:30.
I try really hard to be nice and wonderful at 7 a.m., but I usually don’t manage to get over my anger at being awake until around 7:30. I TRY REALLY HARD. But you know. Anyway, I then overcompensate at 7:30. I don’t think my students can tell the difference, though.
7. Remind myself that I’m really lucky.
I have had to get up this early (or earlier!) for jobs I hated or didn’t like. At least now I’m getting up early and doing a job I love.
I think that four-hour nap threw me off my game yesterday because I totally didn’t realize it was Monday so missed my Monday wrap-up. So here it is on a Tuesday.
1. I’m still blogging my way through NaBloPoMo. Posts from the past week with a heavy emphasis on poetry for some reason:
3. I didn’t finish any books this past week, so I’m still making my way through these two:
Pictured: And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie and Warcross by Marie Lu
4. I wore jeans to work today (for this first time all semester!), which may have made me a touch too relaxed with my students. We talked about gangsta rap (which I just call “rap,” I told them), I told suggested one student to stop studying something he wasn’t interested in, and I am pretty sure there was something about food in there. Oh, right. The one student said the granola bar he ate for breakfast didn’t count as food because he ate it in two bites. “That’s not even a snack,” he said. “That’s a taste.”
5. I am supposed to be packing for my trip up to the Bay Area for Thanksgiving, but instead I have officially started powering down. I guess it’s a good thing I’m not having office hours tomorrow.
6. Related to that last point, I have been grading so slowly these past few days. I should be speeding through these grammar reviews, and instead I have graded one set per day. Do you know the semester is almost over? And there are other things to grade? This does not bode well is what I’m saying.
7. The Jeopardy! tournament of champions just ended, and I am pleased by the winner. In fact, I actually liked all of the contestants this go ’round, and I don’t think that has ever happened before.
8. I finally put up my tree. It is pre-lit, so the decorating is already halfway done. Perhaps I shall add the ornaments before the weekend is out?
9. The coolest thing about my apartment is that I have a fireplace, which means I can actually hang stockings over it. First time ever! Too bad I won’t be here for Christmas. 🙃 But still!
1. Did y’all see Diana Ross on the American Music Awards? Living queen emoji. Absolutely, yes. And Kelly Clarkson’s reaction to her was adorable, and her grandchildren were A+++. The youngest knowing the words to “I’m Coming Out” made my heart sing.
2. I normally wake up at 5 a.m. for work. Today, I accidentally woke up at 6:15. And I had to be to work at 7.
I made it on time, but it was not pretty. And I didn’t have time to pack my lunch. And I left my Fitbit at home (which is the real tragedy here).
3. I may have bought too much fresh fruit considering I’m going out of town on Wednesday.
4. Instead of expressing my shock that I took a four-hour nap, I’m going to just move into acceptance that that’s what my evenings look like now.
5. My favorite thing about counting down to the end of the semester is that I’m not just counting down to the end of the semester, but I am also counting down to Psych: The Movie.
December 7 is going to be epic. (Okay, probably December 8 because I will most likely be asleep.) (Either way, I’m excited. For multiple reasons.)
The Englishist 