Feeling the need to update...

I feel like I need to just write. I love memes, but I really do have so much to say!

Things have been C R A Z Y. Hence, the title of my blog. I know everyone is busy these days. And that includes us. Being in masters classes...what was I thinking? As a teacher, I am required to take 18 credit hours within the first 5 years that my teaching certificate is issued. So this is my fifth year, and I've reached the 18 hour mark back in August, so my certification is all good. The program I'm in is a 5 semester deal, and I'm in the 4th currently, and at the end of it (just after Thanksgiving), I'm done for a while. I know, why not just get it all over with? There are several reasons, most of which being that I need a break. Teaching a new thing this year, multi-age, is challenging and time-consuming, way more than I anticipated, and having all this work to keep up with ON TOP OF lengthy lesson plans and meetings and projects and parents and the list goes on....way too much on the plate if you know what I mean. So come Thanksgiving, I'm out for a while. Yay!

Besides the excessive amounts of work, I love multi-age. It is the best thing I have ever done as a teacher! The kids are wonderful to work with, as are the parents. Here's something I heard from two of my kids today. I've been teaching a unit in social studies on positive character traits versus negative ones. As we are standing outside waiting to be picked up, one of them says, "Look at that big kid (middle-schooler) over there. He's being mean to that other big kid." And the other one of my students next to her says, "Yeah, that's a negative character trait." I am not joking....they really used those terms, EXACTLY as I have been preaching it to them for the last 2 weeks. It was a classic moment. Another cute moment (there are hundreds) happened during their spelling test today. I was giving them time to write the word after I said it, and the room was completely silent, and one of the younger boys says completely out of nowhere, "It smells like burnt tuna fish." Everyone looked at me like I was going to tell him to be quiet, afterall, it was a test, but I just busted out laughing and then they all copied me. I think he was smelling the heat being turned on for the first time this year, and the vents were dusty or something. Anyway, it was pretty funny.

Aside from school, K and I are great. He's excited about fall because it means hunting, I'm excited because it means apple orchards and cider, and those beautiful leaves and the smells of fall that I miss from my childhood. I can go home to my parents' houses anytime I want and I'll get my fill of the above mentioned, I just have to drive there! I haven't been home to their houses since April. I've seen my parents multiple times, I just haven't gone home. Guess I'll make that a priority soon.

For our upcoming anniversary (4 years) he got us tickets to Aerosmith, both of our favorites! The concert was on Wednesday, and it was soooooooooooooo good! And soooo expensive too! But it made the hectic-ness of the week go away for about 3 hours, and that in itself was worth it!. You can see the pictures here. I'm working on uploading a video clip that I took myself, but apparently it's not as easy as it seems.

This past week marked the one year point after my aunt passed away following a 10 year battle with cancer. Every part of the fall, even the things I love that I mentioned above, remind me of the time it took her to actually die last fall. It's heart-breaking. It was about a 6-week process, I think the longest 6 weeks of my family's life. I think about her every day, EVERY SINGLE DAY, and I miss her more as time goes on. Before she died, she took time to say goodbye to each of us privately, way before she was bedridden. I just sat there with her, hugging, crying, wishing I could be anywhere else doing anything else but that, and at the same time, I knew that one day I would be completely grateful for those moments, when it was just her and I. I'm so tired of being sad that she is gone, and tired of hearing about the tragedies of breast cancer, where it metastisizes to, and how long people have to life. It just isn't fair, and it doesn't do me any good to say or think that, but it just isn't. My aunt was only 41. Way too young. A week ago there was a dedication ceremony at a local environmental park where she spent years working to improve the conditions of the environment. You can see those pictures here.

I am so geeked about the Tigers right now. We watched the game tonight OF COURSE. I rushed home from work to get to the TV to see it because they moved the time from 8pm to 4:30, I think because of the weather. The Oakland A's are most assured not used to these temps. What an advantage that gives us. One more game, and we're in the playoffs baby!! This is SO what Detroit needs right now. There's so much shit going on with The Big 3 cutting back on jobs, people losing their homes, bankruptcy... The Tigers doing this well is really bringing things to a more positive level, at least that's how I feel about it! It's exactly what this city needs!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! I will be watching the Tigers today and if you do too, please root for my boys!! Bless You Boys!