My goal for this week is to make up a song about the American Revolution using the tune of American Pie by Don McLean. My two friends on here, Betsy and Allison I expect input. I am currently trying to get my hands on my old roommate's American Revolution song. Her song is to the Jingle Bells theme. 

Mark and I went to see Twilight on Friday. I thought it was pretty good. It wasn't OH MY GOD amazing or anything, but it was a good adaptation of a 400+ page book. Mark even liked it, and he wants to read the books. He thought the film did a good job of capturing the serene, normal high school vibe (minus the vampires) as well as representing the female teen psyche. Then the credits rolled and we realized book, screenplay, and direction was all by women. 

Friday and Saturday were the first two days of professional development with my new school leader. See is very organized to say the least. I think the school will be in good hands. However, I don't think she gets what we all went though...the psychological and emotional damage. A couple of us broke down during the first day of professional development. I was like, "Our previous school leader told us the same thing, how can we be sure that what you are saying is true?" I am glad I got our what I was feeling. Never again and I going to keep my mouth shut when I know I am being done wrong. 

I sat down and gave myself a reality check. Paying back loans is going to change my life significantly until March, when my car will be paid off. I am giving Mark my credit cards and my debit cards. I am a cash only girl from now until March. I was reading a blog about a person who each on a food stamp budget, I tried this at the store, and I went about 20 dollars over (not bad for a first try). We are going to be eating a lot of lentils and rice. 

I spent most of today being a couch potato. I love weekends. 

 
Come December I have to start paying back my student loans. I refuse to pay more in interest than principle balance, therefore I will be paying out about $1000 a month for the next 10 years. Sweet. However, that means that I will have my student loans paid off before my unborn children go to college. From the months of December until March life will be tight...March my car is paid off and I will have some extra cash to play with. I am getting a bunch of letters from my lenders about interest rate and principle balance reductions. I am not sure if I completely understand what is going on. 

I am feeling disconnected, we are all so busy and never seem to find the time to talk. Where I work we have a saying, No Excuses. If I expect my 5th graders to live by that, then I must live by it as well. I am making a conscience effort to keep in touch with those I love most. It's a definite weakness of mine...I love you dearly, but I don't call you. I get so caught up in the present. I have so much to tell you. I am so tired. I spend all my nights next to a person I am just tickled over. Buster needs a walk. I have papers to grade. So, here I am re-entering the world of blogging. It seems to be a great way to keep y'all in the know. I was going to keep my old blog, but it was much too much work to delete the entries from a lifetime ago. I wanted to start fresh. 

Teaching is a new challenge each day. Depending on the day I love it or I hate it. Unexpected challenges have arisen which has tested me and are still testing me. I love education. I love KIPP. I am just working on finding my place in the world of education. I am teaching and not going to school. Without the academic dialogue it feels so much more like a job than it did in Memphis. I am teaching social studies this year, and kids just don't like social studies. I don't get it! I am such a nerd for social studies. I think part of it is that I am teaching early American history, which is not a specialty of mine. If I were teaching 7th grade geography I could totally blow their socks off. Perseverance. 

Mark and I decided that we are moving after this school year. It is just too hard being in Ohio for Mark. He is teaching adjunct classes and creating websites. It's a far cry from making movies. Therefore, we are planning to move to LA or to Albuquerque, NM. ABQ has a blossoming film industry and is Mark's hometown (or the city near the village he grew up in). I LOVE ABQ! It is so progressive; it is Athens all grown up. The mountains, the desert, and the adobe-brick houses. I love it all. We have friends there. UNM has this wonderful PhD program in the school of education that I love. And ABQ is a place where we can see ourselves growing old. 

LA, well LA is LA. It is the best place for both of us to be ensured work. I have a couple interviews with Teach for America next week, and an assistant school leader from a KIPP school in LA is coming to see me teach. Mark has quite a few connections in LA. We have great friends there as well. 

We will see how things go!