I know I haven't posted in awhile, so I'll make up for that with a big post today. I haven't had any time at all. And it's especially difficult because I don't have internet in my apartment. If you're reading this and you're wondering why I haven't been keeping in touch with you, I apologize. I really am exhausted. I know that's not a good excuse, but it's true. Here's an outline of my day. I get up every morning at 6:00am. I go to school and am on my feet until 3:00pm. Teachers don't sit down. Ever. Seriously. Except during lunch. After the kids leave I clean stuff up and organize the classroom. Sometimes I stay and plan or do other things that need to get done or hold detention. I usually leave by 4:00pm and am back at my apartment around 5:00pm. By then I'm drained, physically and emotionally. Every day this past week I had something else to do at night. This was my schedule:
I forget what I did on Monday night. On Tuesday I went to the doctor after school to get a TB test, then I went back to school for open house night where I met some parents. I got home around 10:00pm. On Wednesday I went to Bible Study for two hours and got home after 10:00pm. On Thursday I went to a concert and didn't get home until around midnight. On Friday I went to the doctor again so she could check the results of my TB test, then I did some shopping, and I finally came home and spent hours cutting out letters for bulletin boards. Along with school and all of those activities, I planned lessons. I really, really need some time to relax. Every week is busy. I need time to do fun things and to have quiet time for myself, but it's impossible to fit everything in. And, as a result, I've been bad at communicating with people. My parents sometimes call me because they're afraid I've dropped off the face of the earth.
Teaching is hard. I don't feel like writing about the specifics, but I have to put up with a lot. I'm the kind of person who needs to be liked, but teachers can't be that way, so I'm trying to adjust. Some of my kids hate me, and I need to realize that nothing will change their minds. I just need to figure out how to prevent them from completely ruining my lessons and causing chaos in the classroom. Peter, another 6th grade ELA/SS teacher, has been a huge help to me. I complain and vent to him and he listens. He gives me advice. He tells me stories that make me feel a little bit better about what I have to deal with. I don't know what I'd do without him. He understands. Not all my kids are bad, though. Some are really sweet.
I feel like writing about some happy stuff. Thursday evening provided me with some much-needed fun time. I went to a concert. It was at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. On my way there, I stopped at the Sex and the City movie shoot (they were filming on 70th & Lex). There were lots of fans there, but I managed to get up into the front row of people. Mr. Big himself (Chris Noth) walked over to the crowd to say hi and stood right in front of me. We had an actual (albeit short) conversation, during which he made eye contact with me. He has gorgeous, piercing eyes that make you feel like the only person in the world when they're looking into yours. He shook my hand, too. He was very nice. He was shooting a scene with Kristin Davis (Charlotte). Apparently she's very shy, so she didn't come over to the crowd. I loved just observing what was going on. It reminded me of all the MTV shoots I worked on last summer. So that was very cool.
After that I headed to the Delacorte Theater. I won tickets to a Patty Griffin concert in an online raffle. Tickets cost $50+, so I was pretty excited about getting in for free. Nic came with me. We had very good seats. The CMA Songwriters played first; there were four of them and they were great. Then Allan Toussaint played. I'm not really into his style of music, but he's a very talented pianist. Then Patty played. She was wonderful. As is the case with most artists, hearing her music live was so much better than listening to her albums (her albums are great, but the live experience is just so much more meaningful). It was the perfect music to unwind to. I love her voice; it's so unique and conveys so much emotion. I loved watching her play the guitar (she's got really fast fingers) and occasionally stomp her foot as she got into the music, but a few times I just closed my eyes for a moment and let the music fill me up. It was a good evening.
This morning I went to the movies. I saw Death at a Funeral. It was hilarious. Tomorrow is the Broadway flea market. I'm really excited. Hopefully I'll score some good stuff.
Here are some pictures from Thursday. I wasn't allowed to use a flash at the Sex and the City set or at the concert, so all of the pictures are blurry because of that.
Chris Noth:
Kristin Davis:
Production area:
The CMA Songwriters:
Patty Griffin:
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