Saturday, September 23, 2006

American Village

Perhaps my goal of posting more than once a week was unrealistic during school. Therefore, the new schedule will have me posting about once a week. This will only be a big deal to Sarah and my mom, my regular readers. Considering how Sarah hears these things everyday and I tell Mom when I call her it seems like the only purpose of this blog is to practice writing.
Last weekend I had my class for the Teaching American History Program. A professor from Samford University presented. I have heard him lecture before and he is always good. I only had a three day week at school because as part of the program we spent two days in Montevallo at the American Village. The place is an American Revolution experience type place. The people who work there really go all out to make it as real of an experience as possible. The only down part was the lodging at Montevallo University. It was a glorified dorm room. The place was free though, so the price was right. The best part of the weekend was that I was chosen for a trip to D.C. in December with all expenses paid...very cool!
I really wish I had something more exciting to report but that is about it.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

This is the Niners Year! *fingers crossed*

Please don't get me wrong. I love weekends. It just seems like after the three day Labor Day Weekend this normal two day weekend is just a major letdown. The weekend has been great though. I stayed late at school on Friday and did a large majority of my schoolwork. When at all possible I try to avoid bringing too much work home with me. Sure this policy means I am one of the last people, if not the last person to leave school. I think that it balances out when I don't have too much to do when I get home and want to just relax. So far that is exactly what I have done, relax. After this week I needed to do nothing.
Sarah made a comment that was dead on when she said, "Hey, it is only money." Between the extra money in my paycheck and some reimbursement checks I was excited to make a dent in my VISA. Tuesday I had a plan to head out of school early and get my car all registered here in Alabama. When I got in my car I decided to take it to the Honda dealership. The steering wheel had been shaking more than I thought was safe and it needed its oil check. When I got there they got me from the waiting room to show me my right front wheel. The alignment was so off that it was a hair away from a blow out. On top of that, I need a new oil pan and gasket. Atfer the new tire, alignment, and parts all the VISA progress was negated. It is my car so it is not like I could not get it fixed. It is always a little deflating when financial progress is yanked from you. But once again, Sarah is right, it is just money.
This weekend has been full of football, both college and professional. USC was off this weekend so it was hard to care too much. Plus, the big match up between Ohio State and Texas was a real letdown. As a matter of fact, the most exciting college athletic development has been BSC Volleyball's first victory of the season. Go Panthers! My hope is that the first NFL weekend is entertaining. The 49ers are my favorite team and the last few seasons have not exactly been thrilling. I am trying to be excited under the old "every team has a clean slate and is undefeated at the beginning" attitude. For even the most diehard that is a real tough pill to swallow. I am trying to be cautiously optimistic. This season I have joined a fantasy football league. So even with my favorite team out of the season within a few weeks probably (I hope not, but probably will be) at least the whole salary cap league will keep me interested in the NFL past the first month after the Niners are already mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.

Saturday, September 02, 2006

Savoring With All My Might

Sarah and I have a running joke when it comes to enjoying our weekends. As an adult with a grown up job I have come to appreciate my weekends. So every weekend we ask each other, "Are you savoring?" This long weekend has been full of savoring. I spent the better part of Saturday watching the opening weekend of college football. Once USC had their game in hand I was in full savoring mode. Sunday I finally got around to uploading the pictures from my Europe trip and other events. They are all now in a digital photo album. The only thing missing is the set of photos from London. Once I find those I will upload them. On Sunday I also got all my grading done. I had some writing assignments to grade and reading question packets. Now that these are all done I will be able to print out progress reports. I can only imagine the kids are amped about that development. Today I have spent the day planning the next two weeks. Granted, I don't have the materials done, but at least I know what I want to do.
In about 30 minutes Sarah should be home. She went with the volleyball team to a tournament in Wyoming. This was her lone free weekend for awhile and going with the team was optional. I am glad she went though because it seems like her job requires so much and takes so much that at the least she should get a free trip every now and then out of it. Sure she had to work while she was there, but she also got to see parts of the Rocky Mountains after the tournament. She called and said it was gorgeous. I would hope that being able to go there made the trip worth it. When she gets home we may go do something together before the long weekend ends.
There is only a little more weekend left. I need to get my last bit of savoring in while I can.