Work, parties, and work parties
Has it really been 2 1/2 weeks since I posted? I guess that is what happens when school starts. I don't imagine that I will be keeping up with this blog very well this fall. Once I start writing letters of recommendation - which would be this weekend - pretty much all of my creative juices are sucked out of me. And, the last thing I want to do in the little free time that I have is sit in front of a computer and type.School has started, and with it comes the frenetic pace, the sweating through my clothes, never having enough time to open mail/answer phone calls/return emails, and piles of things to do that get moved from my table to my desk to my couch. I long for the days when I had hours of time to waste looking through on-line dating sites and could drag a project that should only last an hour out for days.
I finally took the time over Labor Day weekend to think about my class that I teach and redesign the curriculum. I came up with a plan and added some new stuff. I also decided to organize the kids by giving them a calendar with all of the important college counseling dates already on it. I figure that it can't hurt them to be uberorganized. I also took that time to make some decisions about coaching my middle schoolers in volleyball. I've been reading a lot of books and adapting drills to work for 12 year olds. We have played 2 games - lost the first one and won the second. I have become more comfortable as a coach and the girls have more confidence in their play.
I hosted my first party during Labor Day weekend. I had wondered where I would fit people, but it all worked out. There were ten of us for dinner and lots of wine. We broke out the porron and Catch Phrase - thank god no one had to work the next day. I decided to go with white wine instead of spending all day on Monday cleaning red wine out of my beige carpet.
Last weekend was one of celebration. Friday night on my way home from work I made a pit stop at a bar to meet up with friends for a little pre-birthday drink. One drink turned into several which then meant we needed to order a pizza. You know how these things go. Saturday morning was a new haircut for me, brunch and college football, and then shopping. I had a magical day of shopping where everything I was looking for I found, in my size, and it looked great when I tried it on. I decided to stop tempting fate once I had shoes, pants, and two tops - plenty of options for my evening out that night.
I had a combo birthday celebration with my friend Natalia, whose big day was two days before mine. My only requirement was dancing. I wanted to go salsa dancing but the only places with live bands also had big cover charges. I figured it wasn't very nice of me to expect people to pay a bunch of money to watch me dance with other people. We started the night with a group of 10 of us for dinner at Osha Thai. We had birthdays on the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 20th covered. At the end of the meal they brought out 4 desserts with candles for us to share. Here is a picture of Natalia and me blowing out our candle.
After dinner we headed to The Makeout Room for Saturday Love, their weekly mix of salsa, cumbia, merengue, funk, 80s, and hip hop. More people joined us there for drink and dancing till they kicked us out at 2am. I danced with a bunch of people I met at the bar as well as friends. I got my latin dance fix both as a lead and a follow and got more people on the floor for 80s and hip hop. I was amused by a man named Diego at the end of the night. He asked me to dance and then told me he had been scared to do so earlier because he didn't want to offend my girlfriend. I told him I didn't have a girlfriend nor was I gay, which he took to be a sign to pull me closer and try to kiss my neck. I didn't mean to be rude but I laughed in his face. We finished our dance and I politely excused myself after he asked me to come home with him that night. Oh boys, how silly they are.
Wednesday was the first Unprofessional Development Meeting of the year. My friend Allison and I are the Unprofessional Development Committee which means that we plan social events off campus for the faculty, staff, and administration. We headed to a local brewpub after our first faculty meeting of the year. It is always interesting to see who shows up for these events. There are a handful of people that are regulars and the rest are a mixed bag.
Friday night was my friend Brooke's 30th birthday. After a long week I was only planning to stay for a drink and then head back home. Yeah, somehow that turned into a lot more drinks, body shots, breaking up a fight and stumbling home at 4am. This meant that yesterday was spent on the couch watching bad tv and movies.
Today has been a more productive one. I just got back from a 6 mile hill run with a dip in the ocean at the end of it. I created a route that had a stop at my car at 6 miles to either stop or replenish water before another 5 miles. I decided that since I haven't run in 2 weeks and I have new orthotic insoles I should probably call it good after 6. After a shower I plan on sitting down a getting started on my letters of recommendation. I have 11 to write in the 3 weeks and I will be travelling during one of those weeks. I guees it is time to buckle down and get serious about writing.
posted by Heidi @ 6:08 PM
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