Not dead, Mom

Dear Mom:
I am sick. But I am not dead. I repeat, I am not dead. I bought me some Sudafed and more OJ and chicken soup. I am taking lots of naps. Not. Dead.

=)

(Mom's a little bit of a worrier, and understandably so with her two children off in the real world and away from her all-encompassing medical care. Love you, Mom)

So my first sickety-sick-sick day in New York. Not so bad when you have Friday off. I have been working(ish) for about an hour at a time before my head or back or nose tells me I need to lie down, resulting in intermittent hour-long naps throughout the day. Not the most productive 24 hours, I'll tell ya that.

The lady at the drugstore told me to feel better after buying Sudafed... First I thought "How sweet!" then "Wait, I could have been buying it for someone else or to stock up..." then "Oh yes, I am sporting the controlled bedhead, no makeup, slouchy sweatshirt look. Right." Even so, more proof that New Yorkers aren't as far off from Midwesterners as some would have you believe.

If I didn't have to prepare a winter concert, I wouldn't. This next week of lessons is aaaaall concert rep in hopes that the kids learn it really fast and I can sneak in some real content sometime before January... Here's hoping =)

So I decide to go TV-less the year that EVERYTHING on TV is fabulous! Hulu, you are welcome to postpone those fees as long as possible... Please watch Modern Family. It's awesome. Don't let it go the way of Arrested Development. You'll thank me about 2 minutes into your first episode.

Well this has become quite the scattered post. Probs the virus. Cheese and crackers (do I have any crackers left? Hm...) and then maybe a little more lesson planning before my late afternoon nap. If I can kick this before Monday it'll all be worth it...

Love, Hugs, & Sudafed!
Kate =)

Simple Joys

I Love:

Central Park
Especially in autumn. But you already knew that.

Fresh vegetables
Green beans last week, peas this week... and not from a can!! Good snacks and sides and you feel healthy eating them.

Cute kids on the subway
Mom: What's our stop?
3 year old: 1748.
Mom: 125th.
3 year old: I was VERY close.

My teachers
From swapping stories with some other music teachers, apparently school teachers can be very catty. Not mine--yay!! I also randomly ran into about 6 of my teachers on my commute home... Incentive to pack up for the day a little quicker to get to the train station a few minutes earlier than usual! And I have serious suspicions of a secret teachers' lounge. We'll see.

Great conversations with friends
SO many this week! It's good to talk through joys and frustrations out loud sometimes. And I love love love hearing about your lives as well... There's a very tangible feeling sinking in that we're squarely in the realm of adulthood now. The conversations reflect it in content and depth and I LOVE it!!

Streamlined lesson planning
I'm starting a new system where I write next Monday's lesson plans the preceding Monday afternoon and so forth. The classes' progress is still fresh in my mind and I only would have to do 2 plans a night max. And NO WEEKEND PLANNING!!! Big bonus.

Sweet summer evenings, hot wine and bread...
I anticipate Rachel Vickers and Rachel Vickers alone appreciating this.


Some things I could learn to like more:

Saving money

Choosing winter concert repertoire

Cleaning
SUCH a different state of mind when the apartment's clean... And less of a chance of encountering these guys:



But I'll leave you with a more pleasant image...



=)
K

Sometimes you just need real boots.

So I've bought 3 pairs of shoes this month. Roughly 3 pairs higher than average, but all of them necessary buys. Flats for school so my feet don't die and rain/winter boots so I don't die. No more shoes for a while.

And so I'm back to having no money. Pretty sure the shoes put me over my monthly budget, especially since my tax percentage mysteriously increased by 17% between my last two paychecks. I'm working on figuring out why this is; hopefully the answer involves some kind of error...

All free food today (after breakfast I suppose, but already having purchased the items makes it seem like it's free...). Bagel brunch at church this morning--I'm actually making friends!!--and dinner tonight at Sally's. Hopefully dinner conversation can include babysitting requests and winter concert ideas. I was going to go for a multicultural holiday concert but it's too difficult to find that kind of repertoire for littluns, so I'm back to the drawing board with only 2 months until the performances. Theme ideas that don't border on any religious tones anyone??

And last but certainly not least, Homecoming. Though Meghan and I could not be in Wavetown to celebrate with our fellow alumni, we did...
-Wear orange and black
-Dress Brittany in an orange Wartburg sweatshirt
-Stop in a thrift store in honor of Trinkies
-Consume orange-hued pumpkin beer
-Spend the afternoon/evening on Waverly Place
-Attend a street fair (aka Ren Faire) complete with crafts and international munchies
-Eat at the Waverly Restaurant, a local diner reminiscent of East Bremer
-Patronize a bar with discounted pitchers (including one on the house which we still can't figure out how we "earned") and orange Christmas lights

All in all a pretty successful evening, even if I was way too full from dinner to truly celebrate Oktoberfest-style... It's ok, Meghan and Brittany had enough pitchers to make up for my stubborn stomach.

When it's rainy and cold and I don't have money and thus can't really enjoy the city as much as the summer, I really miss home. Libertyville AND Waverly. I hope you all had a fantastic weekend and I can't wait to be in Illinois in December and Iowa in June/July... Although those sound impossibly far away...

Love & Hugs,
K =)

A beautiful day to be in love... with New York =)

Central Park. It's all about Central Park. No matter how many times I go there to sit or walk or run, it never fails to put me in a better mood. First jog in a month and a half and it was just lovely, despite brisk(er) air and barely any foliage change yet. It's fun to be here in autumn--my favorite season anyway--and see what the city is like "at rest"... No tourists, no major festivities... This afternoon the park was full of natives with their scarves and dogs and warm beverages. Ok, maybe there were some tourists on bikes who couldn't figure out that bikes ride in the lanes with the other bikes, not the lanes with the runners. Wheels, feet, what's the difference...

This weekend was one of the best "normal" weekends I've had in a long time. Productive every single day--a little bit more glueing and cutting tonight and I'll have finished everything I wanted to accomplish over the four days! Highlights include:

Creating a lot of fun printouts for lessons and bulletin boards. My printer may be out of ink now, but at least HP offers online orders free of shipping!

Reconnecting with the magical world of Elmo over babysitting.

Yet another wonderful sermon at All Souls... one of those with affirming sentence after affirming sentence.

A packed but successful Sunday afternoon of errands. I now have a whole bunch more school supplies... And two pairs of flats. That's right, FLATS. Target prices padded the shock a little (though not the heels).

Seeing a three year-old on the subway hitched up criss-cross applesauce in a seat with a look on his face that alternated between pensive and jaded. Then he fell asleep in his mom's lap.

Getting a bargain on a huge bag of what may be the best almonds I've ever had. It's as though they're infused with vanilla extract... Delicious.

Baking banana muffins for the custodians. They don't need to know I made 28 when I bring in 20. Or that I consumed 29 and 30 in batter volume.

Love, Hugs, and Banana Muffins!
Kate =)

PS: Much thanks for the multiple "Your classroom is so you!" comments. It wasn't what I was going for, but I suppose it makes sense as I'm the one who decorated the room... =)

My Classroom! ...After the link =)

Ok so Facebook won the upload race:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2031766&id=123700012&l=0c848e4783

(Sorry it won't let you click on it...)

I entered 458 student names into my computer today. A few things I realized and/or remembered:
*I have 458 students, not the previously projected 600. Still a lot.
*I have a Randy Jackson.
*I have a Jaylynn Hernandez and Jalynn Hernandez in the same class. They go by "1" and "2". Awesome.
*The letter Z will never again be that key that my pinky can never quite find the first time... Not after typing hundreds of last names of Hispanic origin.
*There are too many parents willing to have their children's first and last names rhyme.
*I can envision faces for a good percentage of names!!!

Sleep now.
Kate

Stray Thoughts

An organized apartment facilitates a (slightly more) organized mind.

A refrigerator cannot be to blame for 3 out of 4 yogurts being spoiled 3 days after purchase. I'm lookin' at you, Fine Fare. Don't make me go to C-Town for dairy...

I always forget how much I love grapes.

I think I watch Modern Family in part to vicariously continue suburban living. Also, it's pretty hilarious.

I think I wear Wartburg sweatshirts and fleece jackets to vicariously continue college living, especially since everything about fall reminds me of Iowa.

I have no subway this weekend. Or the two after that. My station better look freakin' spectacular in November, Metropolitan Transit Authority.

No matter what add-ins I mix with macaroni and cheese, nothing beats plain.

I HAVE 18 KEYBOARDS IN MY CLASSROOM!!! =)

Our country is in bad shape when our President wins a Nobel Peace Prize (deserved yet?) and my first reaction is not joy but wincing anticipation of the backlash. Love love love... please??

Pam Halpert. Nuff said.

My boss awarded my school "Best October Bulletin Boards So Far", which is a little embarrassing considering I'm putting up my October bulletin boards next week...

Love, Hugs, and Classroom Pictures in the next post!!
K =)

Should I be this busy if I only work 4 days a week?

No. Probably not. But oh well.

Another crazy week at school... successful lessons, successful observation even though my supervisor came during the nuttiest self-contained behavior disorder class... victory! Been going a little crazy trying to prepare individual (read: 600) pre-assessments for all my students for the entire year... How do you assess 600 students on 25 benchmarks in one week? Without making copies? Personal printer and ink. And scratch paper and pencil. A little stressed out because assessments will take up about 2/3 of each class period so my lesson content is basically extending last week's content and I like to have fresh activities and content every week... But next week will be better. And I'll have 4 days to prepare (thanks Columbus!). Along with new bulletin boards and entering assessment data and developing a concert program. Good thing Meghan's on a retreat!

I say that because all my city fun lately has been with Meghan and Brittany. I probs wouldn't go out at all these days if not for them, so I'm simultaneously grateful and money-anxious and a little generally anxious even though I shouldn't be. But now I might be babysitting more regularly (charter school fell through) and I think I get to keep a lot more of my paycheck after taxes than I had originally thought. I continue to survive off the lowest possible amount it takes to sustain NYC living. I won't know what to do with all the extra money if I ever get hired by the Dept of Ed!!

I do feel a little better now that I'm beginning to establish communities out here. As I've mentioned before, I'm slowly getting to know my teachers--although it's unlikely those relationships will transcend school walls. But more and more time spent with the UU Young Adults is certainly helping to develop relationships. Wednesday night Meghan, Brittany, and I went to a Food & Fellowship night with (free!) dinner and a lovely group discussion on faith ideologies and questions that arise from them. Today we went out with the sameish group for brunch, and although a little spendy, I did meet someone who went to school with my cousin. And that's awesome.

I think I need to exercise more regularly. But I don't have the time. But I am paying for a gym membership. Oh, life.

=) KP