What I've learned in 2nd grade

I've learned that every day I walk into the classroom, I feel really comfortable as soon as the kids get me started.  The day goes by running from one activity and lesson to the next.  I laugh with the kids, I joke with them, I do stupid stuff (on purpose of course) so they can think that they're laughing at the teacher.  They love it when I fumble up my words or when I act like a little insane.  And I've learned that I love it too (as exhausting as it can be).  Making them laugh is one of my favorite parts of being crazy Miss. Greer.

I've learned that hanging out with 7 and 8 year olds all day can be hilarious.  And totally educational.

Oh man, I've got a little LDS girl in one of my classes and she always calls me 'Missuster Greer.'  It's like 'Miss.' and 'Mrs.' and 'Sister' all wrapped into one.  I kind of want to laugh every single time she addresses me.  I need to pay attention and see if she uses the same title with the other teachers.  I'm pretty sure they're Mrs. Sparks and Mrs. Verdugo to her.  But she cracks me up.

I've learned that really, the toughest part is at the end of the day.  Not because the kids are all riled up or anything, I mean after that.  I drop the kids off, and suddenly it's time to plan again. Plan for tomorrow.  For some reason, planning has been excruciatingly painful for me over the last two weeks.  I find it to be something I want to put in the back of my mind-- I just want to start flying by the seat of my pants.  Unfortunately, those lessons never go as well...  The kids end up insane and I end up letting go of the end of my rope.

It's not like I've never been a planner.  I was quite the planner.  Remember right after high school?  I made a 5 year plan.  It included every class I was going to take, every plan for every summer or vacation, as well as a clear and concise budget.  Everything went according to plan.  I took the right classes, I went on the right trips, I turned in my mission papers and left in a timely manner, I served for 18 months.  But something I didn't plan for happened.  I reached the end of the 5 years.  My fool-proof, perfect PLAN had come to a close. And I didn't have the slightest idea of what to do next.  Sometimes, I still don't.  Every plan I've tried to make since that PERFECT 5 YEAR PLAN ended has lost its appeal, savor, or opportunity.  Therefore, planning in general is losing that same appeal that it once had.

So I'm hoping that here at the end of 2nd grade; somewhere between AIMS testing and cinco de mayo, that I learn something new, like, what I really want to do with my life.

Release

Today I was released from my calling as the ward Relief Society president.  The sister who has been called is simply amazing and I am excited to see her as she magnifies this calling. She will be wonderful.  I feel as though a responsibility roughly the size of a cow has been removed from where it was perched precariously on my brain.  After the aforementioned Week 10, I can only hope that this will allow me to focus on balancing my life and preparing well for my responsibilities at school.  However, the last 16 months serving in the RS presidency has taught me so very much.  I've learned about the church, my sisters, my Father in Heaven, and much about my own strengths and faults.  I have always had a soft place in my heart for RS, and it has only grown over the last year and a half.  As for now, I'm back to being the Ward Choir Director (Haha!) which I love, so that should be fun.

Food

Okay, so even though half of my family are foodies, I forgot to mention the food at the Spa today.  A.Mazing.  Well, pretty darn good.  Filet minon medallions, cheese and fruit trays, hummus and flat bread trays...  For the first time, today I tried some green apple slices, with various types of cheese, and honey drizzled on top.  I would never have thought to combine cheese and honey. But it was delightful.  It was probably the hunny...

SPA DAY!

After my toughest week of student teaching, I had the delightful opportunity to go get PAMPERED!  My sisters and cousin and I went to the Camelback Inn and Spa and were treated like royalty for a day.  I didn't mind it at all.  My first massage (with hot stones, absolutely delightful), my first yoga class (um, slightly less delightful than the other "first" of the day, but I felt good after =)  I even got to start reading a book! A real honest to goodness book!  It was the Scarlet Pimpernel.  And although it took me about 3 hours to remember how to read a book, and get past the first page, after that, I was really excited about it.  Too bad it'll have to go on the shelf until Summer Break... :-/
Okay, so Spa experience; positive.  Definitely excited for next year's trip :)

Week Ten

This was one of the longest weeks of my life.  I believe over the course of the week I got somewhere around 20 hours of sleep. I require around 40 hours a week.  For you math majors out there, that means I got 1/2 of my allotted sleep time.  That = no good.

My family had to be called in to save me on multiple occasions.  I don't deserve them.  I clocked over 60 hours this week.  I get paid double for overtime, which would be nice if 2 x 0 did not = 0.  Bummer.

Glad Week 10 is almost over.  Dreading Week 11 a little bit, I'm not going to lie.  But I'm sincerely hoping that it's a little less.... well, just less.

The time of decision is at hand...

I'm not sure why, but I wrote this like a million years ago and never posted it.....

After almost 2 years, the day of decision is upon me.  I have looked forward to it and dreaded it simultaneously.  I received my letter of acceptance to a graduate program at BYU.  After a year I would have a Graduate Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, and would be qualified to begin the MA program of the same name, which would take a subsequent two years to complete.  This comes at a time when my brother and his wife are moving to Colorado and my sister and her husband are moving to Boston.  If I move forward, my family will be strewn across 4 states.  Four kids, four different states.

That was unexpected.

Well, the decision has not been firmly made, there are a few more discussions to be had with my Father, but we will see.  I still secretly long to work for and Italian airline, but I have to master Italian first...  A part of me longs to follow McKade or Lynzie to Colorado or Massachusetts respectively, while the majority of me would still like to follow Becca and Joanna out to California.  However, it's lookin' like my chapters in Arizona are coming to an end, or at least receiving an intermission.  I am excited about the prospect of applying at the MTC.  We'll see what happens!