Gingerbread Houses & Snapchat

I'm really adjusting to this teacher's schedule in the worst way possible: waking up at 5am is getting easier, about 2p doesn't seem too early to be off anymore. After running a few errands, it's all I can do to save enough energy when I come home to get ready for the next day and either work on something with Shannon or Kathleen or read for a little bit. Kathleen and I pulled out a puzzle for our yearly holiday tradition, but this one is quite the obstacle. Not only is it somehow one of the most tedious ones we've ever done, but our animals keep sniffing, laying and jumping on it and messing it up every chance they get. I honestly have lost track of how many times I've had to re-do our work now.

As for working, subbing has been awesome lately. Firstly, it's been such a benefit to be subbing near home, where I have so many friends and connections already in the system. I got to spend a few days subbing for my old teacher, and more than that, he gave me the opportunity to really teach. He told me that he wasn't going to leave any lesson plans, he didn't want a report of how the classes were, he said they were going to be my baby goats to teach as I see fit, to plan and deliver my own lessons and play and experiment with it and see how I really took to being a teacher. I was extremely honored and felt so lucky. That's not an opportunity that a sub really gets, especially for a teacher that is already so well-respected and his classes are so great to work with already.

Then, I got to go back to my own alma mater to teach for the first time, and what's more, it was for none other than my old tennis coach, which meant that on top of knowing the ins and out of that whole place, I got to take over for one of my favorites, and even spend the last class coaching the tennis team. The word got out quickly that I was a former lion, a former student of this teacher, and a former tennis player, and so we all bonded right away. When the students would ask if the rumors were true I would say yes and add "I'm up in these pictures..." because all the former teams were still up on his walls. I don't think they ever really found me though.

Last Sunday was the Gingerbread house decorating, and it was fun! I loveeeee gingerbread houses, and it was fun to see how different and unique everyone's came out, but I was endlessly jealous of Tawny's gingerbread club!! Those disco balls really did it for me, and it brought out a whole new meaning to the idea of our gingerbread house making!

In other news, today I was subbing for what was once my rival high school. It was an early release day, so they just had a worksheet, and the kids were pretty restless, but not at all disrespectful. They were going about their usual antics when I heard the chiming beeps of a FaceTime call. I blew a fake gasket (meaning, enough to make them shut it off, but usually adding in some joke, facetious remark or other facial expression to soften the blow) and I said something like "What is that noise?! Put the phones away, there's no Skyping, or FaceTiming or Vining or Tweeting or Snapchatting or whatever else you've got." They laughed and shut them off. In a few minutes I was giving them a 15 minute warning and started by saying "Listen up my snapchatting friends" to which one boy said "Are we snapchat friends?! Can we be snapchat friends?! Please will you add me on snapchat?" I was so taken aback that I just started laughing. Suddenly voices from all over were pleading with me to add them on snapchat. I kept saying no, no, no snapchat, but instead of listening to me, they all starting putting a list up on the board of their snapchat and Instagram names so that I would find them later and follow them. I kept insisting that I wouldn't, but I couldn't help taking a picture because of how funny I thought they were. They make the job worth it.

Last thing: I think I finally figured out what it is about Riverside. The smog has cleared. I haven't lived here in ten years, and I'm finally seeing that in those ten years, the smog has lifted, and the consistently sweeping and beautiful views are so beautiful, they make me not want to go anywhere else, and just really, really, really love Riverside. Every morning my drive starts with a sharp-focused view of a purple-and-blue-hued snow-dusted mountain in the distance (so like a wintertime morning), and I get sunburst sunrises over the Box Spring mountains where you can see all of Jurupa Valley and everything south of the 60 freeway, between all the hills and the Santa Ana river, and I usually leave with clear blue skies, puffy winter clouds and palm-lined silhouettes in every direction. It's truly breathtaking what it's become with the better air quality these days.

(As the saying goes, these pictures don't do it any justice). Until I find time again my friends...! Enjoy this holiday season