Hang on!

Crazy post coming at you!

1. I feel happier than I have in a long time. PS and I had lunch with our former supervisor. It was fun, good and gives us hope for the future. We WILL work together again. We WILL do fun stuff again... Who knows when, but for now, we have lunch and we have each other. As my friend PS says, we have a lot of social glue. I'd link to her wise post about social glue, but she's private blogging right now.




2. My new shoes arrived. I ordered them YESTERDAY at 10:44 am. Today, a little over 24 hours later, they were on my door step. Go Zappos! I did not pay extra to have them shipped quickly. I was surprised and delighted! The shoes seem comfy. The heel is lower than I expected, but that's fine. The toe ring is stiff right now. The reviews I read on the shoe mentioned that the toe ring would be stiff at first, but that it got softer with wear.

I know a TRICK for breaking in shoes quickly, but I'm not ready to do it to the toe ring (yet). The trick is to pour rubbing alcohol on shoes (or the part of the shoe) you want to be broken in quickly. It breaks down the leather or cloth (doesn't work with vinyl / synthetic shoes). The problem with the trick is that it does cause the shoes to wear out faster (the breaking in part happens and then they start breaking down...), so only do this trick if absolutely necessary and if you don't mind the consequence of your shoes wearing out too quickly. (The trick is best with great shoes you want to wear dancing THAT night, but can't because they are too stiff, but the great shoes are so trendy that you know you won't mind only wearing them a few times.) When something is a good trick, there is often a trade-off or consequence.




3. I had a fun conversation at work with PS and N(guy). My colleagues are great. They are smart. They are super fun to talk with about hard problems. We don't know the answers to the problems. We are trying to determine solutions. We laugh. We learn.

My colleagues are one BIG reason why I should not teach again. I learned that I like my colleagues a lot better than students who want me to give them an answer. I wanted my students to figure out what they thought the answer was, but they wanted me to tell them. Most of my students didn't like my methods of teaching. I don't think lecture works. I think getting people to a place where they can discover the answer for themselves is MUCH MORE VALUABLE, because they learn to think, and BONUS!, the information more likely to be retained because they have figured it out for themselves.




4. I have a secret from MWH. I am very bad at keeping secrets from MWH. He knows I have a secret and I'm about ready to burst. He may read this post. I can't tell you what the secret is here, but if you email me, I will tell you. Heeeeeee! Have I mentioned lately how wonderful MWH is? He is!




5. Really, I'm thrilled with my class being over! The teaching experience makes me appreciate good teachers a GREAT deal more. I already appreciated great teachers a lot, but now, even more! I know that most K-12 teachers leave the profession within 5 years... I deeply understand why now. It takes time to learn to be a great teacher. It is hard.




6. I DESPERATELY need a pedicure now that I have cute sandals showing off my toes. PS? Zaz?