And we're off...

School started this Monday. Holy chaos Batman! Someone had the 'brilliant' idea to have all 8 periods yesterday in this order: 1,2,5,6,3,4,7,8. For half an hour each. In my opinion this was a disaster. One poor girl got mixed up and sat through my class twice. The sophmores are just as confused as ever. To top it off, the gas wasn't working in my classroom (still isn't) so that meant I had to stick to the less-exciting experiments instead of sacrificing a gummy bear to the chemistry gods.

I am teaching 1 AP class, 3 honors classes, and 2 chem 1 classes. My AP kids had me last year for the most part and they were crazy wound up yesterday. We'll see if the homework I've been giving them is encouraging them to get down to business. I taught my 3 honors classes today- a couple of observations: 1- I have a lot of really small sophmore boys. I don't remember so many small ones last year, but maybe that's because I didn't have as many sophmores. 2- Maybe it's just because it is the beginning of the year, but my classes have been quiet! I haven't had to take any phones away or ask the class to stop talking for the 100th time (except maybe AP). I don't remember the last time school was like this!

My kids from last year seem to enjoy coming back and visiting me. They end up in my room randomly throughout the day. I enjoy seeing them- but not in the middle of class. Tomorrow AP is doing a lab (we'll see if they remember molarity-I doubt it!) and working on measurement and nomenclature and my other classes are making Alka-seltzer rockets. I need to figure out what to have them do after the rockets.

Resignation

It is the end of the summer and I am resigning myself to the fact that I will not die this summer and will go on living into the next school year. In a way, the end of summer was like my "deadline". Yes, I know this is all ridiculous. I really do. I resent taking that ultimate choice off the table. I feel prisoner to my work again. A voluntary prisoner to be sure, but a prisoner nonetheless. I come home late, exhausted from work and spend an hour or two feeling acutely lonely, fall into a troubled sleep, and start again before the sun rises. Is this really what it means to be alive?

On the road again

This is the view from the top of Catherine Pass in Little Cottonwood Canyon. My ward had a campout at Albion basin which is the basin at the bottom of the pass. Lake Catherine is in the background and there are three other lakes north of this one. Ward campouts are always interesting. Sometimes I wonder if anyone will come back as friends. It is also funny (to me anyway) to imagine your ward being a pioneer company headed west.

Our dear bishop is retired Army and has been a boy scout guy for years and years. He had several canvas army tents that we slept in. Now, never having camped with a fair sized group of women, he saw no problem in having seven of us in one tent. He was sure suprised when, at 1 am, our tent busted out laughing and didn't stop for quite a while. To quote him-"At first I thought it was just one of you and it would stop in a minute. Then there were more of you. Then I wondered if you'd ever stop and what on earth was so funny". Well, bishop, there wasn't anything funny. That's just what happens when you put a lot of girls in one place late at night.