Sleeping late
Today was the day I actually got to sleep until seven thirty and still go to work. Technically at least. I had to go to the conference on setting up a remedial program for the kids who don’t do well in our statewide testing (called the MCAS).
The biggest perk was that it took me five minutes to get to the conference because it was on the other side of town. Luxury.
I can’t say the conference was all that helpful. A publishing company who really just wanted you to buy their workbooks and other materials ran it. They did let you take samples, which is always a good thing. Teachers are always looking for free stuff. The schools are notoriously cheap and we are often spending our own money, so we grab anything that is being given away!
I think that I got one of the best compliments I’ve ever received today. One of the presenters had us do a writing exercise that she would do with kids. We could write about anything we wanted to, and I chose my first trip to NYC to meet Michael. We had to write for about five minutes then give it to another person so they could ask questions or for clarifications. After that the presenter asked someone to read theirs and no one was volunteering. So the head of our K-5 language arts program volunteered me, saying, "kW should read hers. She’s very likely the smartest person in the room."
Wow! What a compliment! Made my day!!
I hadn’t finished what I was writing and the last line was something along the lines of "would he show up?" (I don’t have the piece here at the moment) The entire room demanded to know the ending of the story. It was pretty amazing.
The conference ended early and I then went shopping at Wal-Mart and the Christmas Tree Shop. I didn’t get much, a knit skirt and jersey that I’d seen at Wal-Mart and that was on sale, but that didn’t matter. It was a weekday, I was out of work early and I felt like a real person.
Heaven.
Listening to: Whistle Down the Wind
Reading: New York: Apple of My Eye Helene Hanff
Weather: partly cloudy, showers, 62
Trivia: Did Miles Standish ever marry?
You may remember Pilgrim leader Standish from your history class - it's said he sought Priscilla Mullins' hand in marriage by having John Alden do the asking for him. Standish actually married twice. Rose, his first wife, died during the Pilgrims' first winter in the New World. Barbara, whom he married in 1624, bore him six children. Standish was between wives when John supposedly spoke for himself and married Priscilla.
Cool word: ibid (ih-bid) - Abbreviation for "ibidem," which means, literally, in the place mentioned before. Typically used in bibliographies and other reference materials to indicate that a quote from a previously referenced source is being repeated. "Mark's overreliance on a single source was evident in the paper's bibliography, which consisted of a single reference and seventy-six notations reading 'ibid.'"
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HOROSCOPE
You're liable to start the day feeling a little low-key and introspective. Whether or not you're able to, you'd probably like to spend the day at home just relaxing and focusing on your private life. And you're liable to enjoy the company of your family a great deal right now. But later this evening, you might feel like having a little more fun. Some people might not approve though and this could cause some problems. Whatever you do, just be careful that you don't over-do it.
Giving way to little indulgences and extravagances may not seem so bad at all as you survey the scene and decide to give a little more time to what you really enjoy. But it may prove more difficult than you think to know when to call a halt to the proceedings. Your main worry is that no one finds out how much you have spent on these very private vices you would prefer few if any others to know about.