Wednesday, June 23
i've joined some leagues
Saturdays I've committed to playing coed slow pitch softball for the Rochester Telephone Company's team. We are small and weak, but pulled out a win last week, so we are hoping our time is coming. And I've even had a few fans stop by and catch a couple innings! Thanks Grandpa and Grandma.
The 11-12 year old softball team that I am helping coach is in tournament play this week, we are seeded #1 and hope to win the whole thing on Saturday. The other coach is trying to talk me into helping coach the all-star team. I'm not sure I'm interested, but we'll see.
Summers are fun, ice cream always hits the spot, berries of some sort are always ripe, and I am always willing to eat them.
Friday, May 28
the recap
Unlike the stagnation of my blog these past few months, life here in Rochester has been rather interesting. Interesting is one of those throw away words that can be literally used for a variety of situations, sometimes even contrasting situations. So I will elaborate as to what "interesting" means for my life these days.
Getting up at 5:30 am isn't my favorite thing to do, though I would consider myself a morning person for the most part. But most days of the week I rise as the sun is rising. Preparing myself for another day of teaching high school Biology & Anatomy. My long term substitute teaching position ends today as school is out for the summer. Substitute teaching was interesting this spring in many ways. Interesting in how I had to study my tail off to teach Anatomy for the quarter. Interesting that I had to lead a fetal pig (week long) dissection, though I had never even seen the inside of a fetal pig. Interesting in the array of discipline issues that were ever present and increasingly annoying as the days progressed.
Residing in hometown America brings out all kinds of interesting situations, too. Some of which I have previously elaborated on. Recently, I've volunteered to help coach an 11-12 softball team that plays twice a week, been recruited to play coed slow pitch softball on Saturdays, and have been tossing around the idea of joining a women's golf league on Tuesdays this summer. When I moved to Rochester I was envisioning a slow paced life with lots of spare time to read, enjoy the sun and walk the dog. What I've found is that reading doesn't make the priority list anymore, the dog's walks are increasingly shorter (sorry Jasper), and I've desperately missed the sun, which stayed hidden much of May.
But...summer is here! I would like to think I would have more time to sit and contemplate my next move in life, but reality speaks loudly as I notice, free time is someone else's luxury.
Wednesday, March 17
this is how I know spring is here
All of these are signs of spring, along with, late night basketball games at the local park, and pairs of people taking long walks or short ones, just to breathe in the cool first breaths of the new season.
The first signs of spring also usher in the beloved season of march madness. Weeks before the tournament, analysts make their predictions, fans voice their opinions, and the masses converge to carefully fill in their brackets as the teams receive their final seeds.
If you have not noticed the changes of the season, look around, feel the energy in the air, enjoy the fresh air, and don't forget to fill in your NCAA tournament bracket. And may the best team win!
Wednesday, March 10
it's official...i'm old
Me: "31"
Student: "No you aren't. You aren't that old."
Me: "Yes, I am."
As I walk away, I hear her turn to a friend and say, "I want to look that good when I'm old."
I turned around and looked at her, and she kind of turned red. "I mean..."
Wednesday, March 3
in the paper today...
Saturday, February 13
looking for a job?
Hmmm....a roller derby referee? Now there's an exciting job!!
I managed to talk a friend into heading to Fort Wayne last night to catch Fort Wayne's Derby Girls taking on a Canadian team from Hamilton City, Ontario, as well as, an Indianapolis team called the Circle City Rollers. Roller Derby was a new experience for me. After getting an explanation of the rules and a demo before the first bout, it was actually quite exciting. I do have to admit there is somewhat of a "professional wrestling" feel to the whole experience which mostly has to do with the fact that each player has a pseudo name and sports accessories such as fishnet stockings or hot pink bloomers.
Here is a sampling of the type of names we are dealing with here:
- Vicodoom
- The Pink Painther
- Perky Set
- Develyn Side
- Dicey
- Pushy Cat
How popular is this sport? Well, lets just say it was a sold out crowd last night at the Collesium. Nuts! But tons of fun!
Tuesday, February 2
high school - round 2
The time I've spent in the "learning lab" helping students understand Algebra I, Algebra II, Geometry, English, Business Math, and Biology has been a stretch for me. I feel transported back in time to high school. Studying Odysseus's seaward travels, plotting algebraic equations, figuring out dimensions of packing materials, working punnet squares to determine genetic traits. And I'm hearing from the English teachers that the poetry unit is coming up. Yikes!
Maybe when I finish this maternity leave position, I'll be eligible for an additional high school diploma.
My time here will last through mid-March where I will then move to a Biology/Anatomy classroom in the same school to fill in for another teacher until the end of the semester. Dissection and all!!
Sunday, January 24
You know you live in a small town when...
Tuesday, January 19
Moving Day
After reflecting on my random and sporadic moves hither and thither, I've made, what I consider, a wise decision to get a P.O. box this time around. At least for the next 6 months. So if anyone needs my address I'd be happy to send it your way. Just shoot me an email.