new shoes!

so, i hope i get these before it's supposed to be bad weather again. i just bought a pair of those hiking/walking/rugged/kind of boots-but-sneakers things. i was seriously considering getting a pair of those olive green ones with orange accents (since every shoe company makes a pair, it seems), but i just didn't feel like it was me. i'm not that earthy. so, i went for purple and blue (agh, loser).



i'm going to try to post a picture here, because i think they are really cute.

blogs

i like reading other people's blogs. i wonder how some of them get so popular? probably because they have a purpose beyond just informing people about their daily goings-on. so, in an apparent move to remain completely anonymous on the internet, i will describe my daily goings-on:

1. haha (in the meanest way possible): roommate bought a used 1990 volvo 24o, thinking that it would solve all her problems because volvos are so incredibly awesome and never break (according to her). she got a quote for the inspection and it needs a LOT of work...$700 worth. don't tell me your used car is the shit. i have one, and i know, a used car is a used car is a used car, even if it is a volvo.

2. teehee: every now and then i spend the entire bus ride to school dreaming about what me and pete's babies will look like. today my imaginary babies looked especially cute. if that is not the most disgusting thing i've ever said, i don't know what is.

3. boo: all my family is still in europe, and all i want to do is call them. i spend a good few minutes every day picking up the phone to dial, only to realize that nobody will answer until next week.

4. ugh: planning a 25th wedding anniversary party is AWFUL. don't ever do it if you can avoid it. actually, i think it's only awful because other people are involved. somehow it would be less terrible if i were the only one planning. is this because i am a perfectionist? no, i don't think so. micro-manager, yes; perfectionist, no. i don't care if it something gets done crappily if i do it that way, but when someone else starts taking short cuts, oh dear. basically i just wish we were going out to T-Bones with just the five of us, but it's turning into a 100-guest affair (complete with SAVE THE DATES and PROFESSIONAL MUSICIANS). kill me now. on the plus side, bethany and i are making sure coconut bras will somehow be incorporated.

that was my day. or at least, that's what i thought about all day (not to mention some thoughts on english 401 planning, as well as some thinking about dracula, which we just read in victorian literature. good, good, good book.).

ugh

today was going great until i had coffee. then i felt pretty terrible.

i don't know what i do this to myself, because every time i drink coffee it upsets my stomach. on the plus side, i had really productive conferences with my students today! they are all willing to take interesting and exciting risks with their writing, which is very rewarding for a writing instructor. i wish i could post some of the drafts they've written (they're about to hand in the third draft on tuesday) because they've made some huge leaps. it's so satisfying!

also, i know someone whose dad worked at saint mike's! it was so great. i love me some saint michael's college. i miss it.

but my time at university of new hampshire grows short and i still don't know what i'm going to do, so...i should get over smc and start thinking about the future. well, i can't stop thinking about the future, and that's causing some severe anxiety in my life. blah blah. future.

at least aubrey is coming to visit tomorrow! we will go to dave spicy house and sing karaoke, and it will be grand.

and my students shall blog

in first-year english, students almost always write some kind of one week journal, just to get a feel for that kind of writing. we read excerpts from joan didion and anne frank, we talk about why people write in journals, etc.

this semester, instead of having them physically write, i'm having the create blogs. i'd say about 75% were completely resistant (which surprised me, since every one of them has a facebook...perhaps blogging has a stigma?), but i am LOVING reading them. some are really boring, some are pseudo-intellectual, but most are just what the students care to share about their days, and as a person who finds joy in the mundane (and apparently, also in voyuerism...why else would i like to know what some student in my class was doing on a saturday morning at home?), they are giving me great pleasure. i hope they continue to write in them even after next thursday is over. :)

new semester, new year, new attitude?

okay, so last semester didn't go as well as i would have liked. i still ended up with an A and an A-, but really, after reading the comments on both my papers, i'm disappointed in myself. i know i can do better, i just didn't try much until the last week of school, and that never works out.

so, i'm going to be much better this semester! i have to be, because it's the last one and i'd like to leave on a high note. i'm already doing well. i did homework today for my grammar class on friday, i started reading the book that needs to be done by monday, and i'm pretty much done planning my class tomorrow morning. i just re-organized my desk, backpack, and bags, too, so that makes me feel much better. now if only i could clean the living room (it would be a lot easier if my roommate weren't sleeping in it indefinitely), i would be on cloud 9!

actually i had a really great day today. class got out at 12, then i bought my books, took the 2:10 bus home, went to brooke's and ate some of the delicous beef stew she had cooked up, read and did homework, went to get mexican food with sarah around 6:30, then came home, chatted with pete for a few minutes, and came up here to organize. my one sadness is that i didn't make it to my weight watchers meeting tonight, but i will go tomorrow instead.

i am so excited about this year going so well already!!!