Beautiful Weekend after a Long Week!

My week has been busy as normal but this weekend totally made up for it. I have been honestly joyful and happy for a while, despite pain and work and the normalcy of life. This weekend has been truly beautiful in my eyes and has just been great!

All week was borderline crazy. Monday I got a voice-mail from the school in Virginia asking to set up a face to face interview. I was a little shocked considering the phone interview was a little shaky from my perspective, but thrilled none the less. Then Wednesday, after playing phone tag with the Assistant Principal for two days I find out that he doesn't have clearance to hire yet and there is the chance that someone may be transferring into the position. So it isn't worth it for me to drive down there quite yet, but he'll keep me in the loop. It was frustrating to hear and just disheartening. I'm trying to stay optimistic but we'll see.

I finally went to the doctor on Wednesday for a cough I've had for about 3 weeks now, mainly because my parents yelled at me on the phone and told me I needed to go. So instead of continuing to get lectured from 6 hours away on the phone, I figured it would be easier to go and get checked out just to make sure I was okay. The Physicians Assistant basically told me it was a dry irritating cough that was probably just left over from something and gave me an inhaler and a cough medicine pill and said that if it wasn't better in 2 weeks to call her.

I did finally finish Mockingjay, the third book in the Hunger Games series. It was so nice to finally finish. I've been reading it for a while but tended to only pick it up when it was slow at school, which hasn't happened much in the past month or so since exams are coming up. It didn't end quite how I pictured it would but it had a nice twist to it. I like how she wrapped everything up and things ended neatly. It definitely kept me on the edge of my seat until the end.

So on to why this weekend was so great! Friday was a pretty typical day. Just worked at school, then ran some errands throughout the afternoon and relaxed. I even tried to nap, which failed miserably, during the afternoon. I went to work at Old Navy 6:30-10:30. It was relatively slow, which made for an easy shift. It was my last shift working with the best manager because she is leaving, which was sad! After work I came home, had a cider and caught up with a good friend on the phone who I hadn't talked to in a few months.

Saturday was kind of long but it was awesome! I worked at Sylvan from 8:30-1. Then I came home as just vegged out. I worked on the answer key for my class on Sunday but really I just watched a few tv shows and did nothing. Then I went to a friends house and hung out with a few people for a few hours. We really didn't do much, just talked for a while. Then I went out to a bar with a few other friends and caught up on life. It was so good to just hang out with a few girl friends and just talk. Then, out of no where a guy bought us a shot, saying "I just got a new job and wanted to buy the cutest girls in the bar a shot to celebrate!" All of  us girls were just kind of in shock by the whole situation, but we were grateful and did the shot and said thank you. A little while later he came back and asked if we wanted to play darts with him and his friend, so we said yes. We had such a fun time. The guys were super nice, didn't even ask for our numbers, we all just left and said good night. Honestly, it was the first time anything like that has ever happened to me in a bar, and I had a blast. It was a great time with my friends, and then the random guys were good company and were respectful and nice on top of it.

Today was glorious! I got 9 1/2 hours of sleep and didn't wake up until close to 10am. I had a lazy morning, working on more of the answer key for class this afternoon. Then I got ready for work. This is probably the one part of the week I really enjoy working. I'm teaching a class and the 5 students are really good and actually want to learn. I really enjoy the algebra 2/trig curriculum, I'm not sure why because most kids hate logarithms and trig equations in general, but recently I've found it all quite interesting. Not to mention this is the first time that I've been truly teaching other than subbing for a long time! It feels good! Then I went and hung out with friends for the evening. We had a picnic dinner and just laid out in the sun and enjoyed the gorgeous weather!

I haven't felt this good in a long time. And I'm remembering that all of that can change quickly. I've got 2 more days of school, a dinner party to cook on Tuesday, a meeting in Schoharie to help plan Day Camp later in July, and tutoring a student in Geometry for 4-5 hours on top of working at Sylvan and Old Navy for a bunch of hours. It's going to be a transition and I don't do change well. I have a day at the lake with friends to look forward to on Saturday which should be good. Plus one more Algebra 2/Trig class to teach on Sunday.

Wow, so close to break yet so far away!

The running theme of my past few posts have been how long my weeks are, and this one was no exception. I worked another 51 hours this week between the 3 jobs. It was stressful and tiring and at a few points I honestly felt like I was going to burst.

Grad class is starting to add stress to my life. There is one month left, but because of spring break and my professor being gone the week after that we only have 2 more classes, and he just assigned the details of our huge project which will be what our whole grade is based on. Yep, that'll be great! I'm hoping to get as much done over spring break before I leave for vacation as possible but I'm not sure how much that will really be.

All three jobs are going well overall. School is typical. Depending on the kids moods and how they are acting the day can go fine or I can be annoyed from the get go. It all depends. Things at Sylvan centers are going well. Things at the city school have calmed down since I switched groups with the other teacher. It's obvious that even the younger kids are trying to pull things over on me but they are easier to handle. It was a hard switch for me to make because I felt like a huge failure but it is what is best for the students so it needed to happen. Old Navy is easy and enjoyable as always.

This week I was both annoyed by, and very grateful for, friends. Annoyed because I once again realized how secluded I am because of my schedule and how selective they can be. Many times it is my choice about what I can and cannot do, especially during the week, and it sucks knowing that I can't be social when I'd like to be because of the time I have to get up in the morning. It's also hard being alone after a hard day at work when I could use a friend or two to be around. With a good friend moving this weekend, I made sure to have time to spend with my friends being social. There was the 80's party on Friday night and a going away party for Saturday night. Both were a lot of fun and I was really glad to have the time to go. It's good to be surrounded by people, but even then I'm realizing how much the majority of people I call friends here are acquaintances. Which really is my fault because of my schedule and my lack of letting people in. At the same time, I can be at a party and at times still feel alone. It is a really odd feeling. Don't get me wrong I had a good time and I'm grateful for the experiences. I'm also thankful for the few friends in my life who know when to push me to talk and can actually get me to do it. I've needed to truly talk for a while now and I finally did a little bit this week, and it helped a little.

This coming week will again be long, only a little over 40 hours of work, and I have Friday completely off! But then spring break starts. One more week!!

I did finish another book this week though! I read Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. It's the second book in the Hunger Games Trilogy and it was pretty good. I had read the majority of it over last weekend and then just couldn't find the time to finish it until this weekend which was really hard because I just wanted to know how it ended. It had a nice amount of suspense and action in it while moving pretty quickly. I'm hoping to start the third book today or sometime this week.

Made it through another week... and another book

This week felt like it was never going to end. My co-worker at school was gone since her two sons made it to Nordic skiing nationals. That meant that I was at school for full days 3 out of 5 days and going straight to work afterwards. Not having much of a break (other than driving between jobs) and working basically 7:30am-8pm most days was just draining. Not to mention when it was busy in the math lab I was alone, which meant I was bouncing between up to 15 kids at once all working on different material. From Monday to Saturday I worked a total of 51 hours. It doesn't sound like a whole lot, most people work 40ish so I really can't complain but by Friday night I was just trying to stay awake at work!

Don't get me wrong, I like my jobs! Things are going really well at all of them. School is going well and once my coworker is back it will be easier to balance everything again. I truly love working at Sylvan! The kids at the city school are getting easier to work with. Some days are still harder than others but that's life working with kids in general. Some include tears, others involve shouting, regularly both happen, it really just depends on tempers. Work at the centers is going really well! I enjoy just being able to walk in and teach! I don't have to worry about doing office work, or working about whether or not if I say something it will lead to an argument or a passive aggressive week of hell. It's nice to just come in and work with kids and do math! Old Navy, is just Old Navy. I'm there about once a week and that's just fine with me. This past week we had to call the cops because we had a sketchy customer shoplift... oh the eventfulness of my life.

Do I wish for a full time teaching job? Everyday! I'm going to apply all over and hope for something this summer because I can't keep doing this to myself. Working three jobs pays the bills but just barely and it isn't really keeping me completely sane, and when it comes down to it I don't have time for all of the things I'd like to do.

I was so run down yesterday that I just gave in. I think my body is trying to stay ahead of a cold. I'm not sure what it is exactly. I've got a bit of a sore throat, my head hurts more than usual (which isn't saying much), I've been more tired (which could be due to working more), and I had a low grade fever. So instead of even attempting homework or anything productive or social I sat at home and was a total bum! I watched tv shows on my computer and read a book and a took a nap. I knew I needed to lay low and try to stay healthy or ahead of whatever it was. I'm feeling better today, at least I have more energy. Still have a weird feeling in my throat and chest and my temperature isn't quite right, but it's 60 degrees outside in March so I'm pretty sure nature isn't sure what's going on and my body is also confused!

On a positive note I finished reading The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I really enjoyed the book and look forward to reading the next two. It wasn't my typical reading but after hearing so many good things I borrowed it from a friend and read it. Because of my readings for grad class and just the amount of time I spend working I didn't finish it as quickly as I wanted to, but yesterday laying in bed and then when I woke up this morning I just couldn't put it down. There was plenty of action, emotion, and thought provoking questions/statements to keep the book moving. I highly recommend it!

An insightful and eye-opening view of the world

I just finished Born on a Blue Day: Inside the Extraordinary Mind of an Autistic Savant  by Daniel Tammet. Talk about an amazing book. I randomly saw this book one day on the shelf of a book store, read the back of it and it kind of stuck in my head so I ordered it. Daniel Tammet is a man who is highly functioning and has Aspergers syndrome. He is brilliant and the book details his life from childhood through where he is now.

He is a savant, similar to the character in Rain Man. He discusses his love of numbers and how he views them. In the beginning of the book he says "No matter where I go or what I'm doing, number are never far from my thoughts. Numbers are my friends, and they are always around me." To Daniel, each number is a different shape, color and texture. He sees them in his head and when doing mathematics problems they all work together in his head to form what he calls a mathematical landscape. I have to say I'm a little jealous! He memorized over 22,000 digits of pi and broke a record!!

The book isn't limited to his abilities. It also details his struggles as a child and the trails he went through with his family. The bright spots include how he was able to overcome some of the social pressures and stigmas surrounding autism and has truly become independent.

I suggest the book to anyone interested in reading about someone who has a unique ability to learn math and languages (several different ones), while limited by a disease that effects 1 in 110 children.

Family History, Iranian History, Imprisonment

The book I just finished is called My Prison, My Home by Haleh Esfandiari. And as the title of this post suggests it held a lot for me.

Haleh is my great aunt, and 4 years ago she was imprisoned in Iran. This book is a concise summary of both Iran's history over the past 100 years but also her story or turmoil and captivity. It was interesting for me to read about her childhood and hear more about her life. I really only get to see her once a year when we go to visit, so reading about her life was interesting. Obviously being 25% Iranian I follow the news and have always taken interest in history in general, but to get her take on the countries history was helpful. The political view was also helpful. She shed light on the relationship between the United States and Iran over the past 30 years and how is has swung in the balance and why. 

Reading about the imprisonment was difficult. To think that anyone could capture a 68 year old woman and keep her in solitary confinement for over 100 days is astonishing to me. The fact that she was regularly interrogated on top of that was heart-breaking. Knowing that she is home safe and that she is doing well makes it that much better, but I know that while it was going on our whole family was constantly up in the air and always worried. 

Another Book Finished

The math lab has been busier on average each day, and my homework has started to take over my down time when it isn't busy but somehow I've still been able to find some time to read.

Today I finished Something, Maybe by Elizabeth Scott. This is another teen based book, a fun and easy read that let me escape into someone else's drama occasionally. The premise is kind of dull. A girl with a really weird family background; her Mom who works as an online "web star" wearing little clothing, and a "Dad" who is mainly out of the pictures except for when he isn't ( and then is just making things even more stressful) and who makes his living being surrounded by pretty young girls who are always around him. But Hannah is just trying to blend in and get through high school. There are two boys at work who treat her differently and lead to a weird (but expected) twist at the end of the story. I wish there had been a little bit more at the end of the story, giving more substance to what was just starting. The book was good for an escape but didn't have much substance.

Next on my list of books to read is My Prison, My Home by my great aunt Haleh Esfandiari who was imprisoned in Iran a few years ago. I'm curious to read the book and get a little bit more insight into my families past and heritage in Iran.

Quick and easy read!

Today was particularly slow at school. For some reason Fridays are never quite as busy as the rest of the week. I was able to finish another book which was a plus!

The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han is a lighthearted book about what summer can hold for a young teenage girl. Each summer Belly goes to a beach house with her family and her Mom's best friend's family. The story is about the twists and turns that the summer of her sixteenth birthday holds. She flashes back to how past summers were and then details new friends, old loves, and sadness. It is a really easy, quick read. Pretty "fluffy" but it was a decent book. I probably won't read the other ones in the series but it was a good time filler. 

Another awesome book!

When school is slow I have a lot of time read. Since I never know how many kids will show up, or when they will for that matter, I always have a book with me.

I just finished Sing You Home by Jodi Picoult. She is my favorite author. All of her books have a story that could happen anywhere. She writes with such detail that you feel like you know the characters. I have a hard time putting her books down because of how real, raw, and emotional they are.

Sing You Home is about a great many things. It starts with a failed pregnancy, which leads to a painful divorce, turning into new love, and ending with a court battle over frozen embryos. There are so many feelings and stories and experiences that go into this story to make it feel like you are stepping into the characters lives and watching on the wall. I won't go into anymore details but I highly recommend this (and all) Jodi Picoult books.

A down to Earth book

Now that school has started up again I have some free time during the day, when students don't come in for help, to just read. I just finished a book today and thought that I would give you my take on it.

Love the One You're With by Emily Griffin

One of my friends recommended this author to me because of her heartfelt, raw emotional writing that fits what her characters are feeling. Without giving the story away, this is about a woman who is battling the renewal of a friendship with the "love that got away" against the "perfect" life she has with her husband, best friend, and family. It is a vivid tale of the struggle between veiled perfection and wondering what might have been. The story is a wonderful reminder to be grateful for what you have a yet to never settle in life. The book was a quick and easy read, lighthearted and emotional, with just the right amount detail to keep you wondering what might come next!