I get to see Jared in two days. I am so unbelievably excited.

This couldn’t come at a better time. I am so tired of where I’m at right now. I want a good change to come and take me away from here. It’s not awful… I just feel so empty and worthless all the time and I don’t want to do this teaching thing anymore. The students hate me. Making the lesson plans is killing me. I am so stressed out and depressed all the time because there’s always something more I should be doing and just don’t want to… my heart isn’t in this.

I don’t know what I’m good for, but it’s not this.

Except for all the papers I need to grade. But I am probably more excited than my students to be done with it. It’s a good book, but so many of them struggled with the basics like the language/dialogue of Jim in particular, and we just don’t have the time to read it it all in class and then have them interpret it.

So the teaching saga continues. I guess that most students hate Mrs. Boothe, but that’s okay. They make it sound like I am making them work hard and really work on their writing, so that’s good. I am not upset to be doing the job I’m there for- to teach them.

My parents bought me plane tickets to go to Austin next weekend (March 7-9th) !!! I am so excited. I haven’t ever seen our apartment there before, and I will have not seen Jared for a month…. and it will be over a month before I see him again. I think he’s fine however it turns out and doesn’t really care too much if I come down, but I’m excited to be with him again. and I’ll see the apartment I haven’t ever seen before! 😀

Anyways… I have lessons to plan and “The Biggest Losers” and TBS’s “The Office” reruns to watch, so I’m outta here!

So, some chocolates come with detailed instructions. Check out the instructions that come with my “Red Fire” chocolate from my chocolate library valentines day gift!

“First breath…engage your senses. Take 3 deep breaths, quiet the chattering mind and be in the present moment.

“See..Notice the color of the chocolate. There should be a dark glossy shine to the bar,indicating a good temper Do you see red flecks of chili embedded in the chocolate?

“Smell… Rub your thumb on the bar to help warm the chocolate and release the aromas. Inhale earthly and spicy notes rising from the bar’s surface.

“Snap… break the bar into two pieces.

“Bite…take a bite, break the chocolate into small pieces that spread across your tongue, pause. Press the chocolate to the roof of your mouth and let it begin to melt. Breathe; it is through the nose that you begin to dect the subtle flavors. Based on your sensory history, you may experience nuances of…leather, diary…..” (long list follows)

“Sense…the texture of the chocolate on the palate, the evolution of flavors in the mouth. In what order do they reveal themselves to you? Sweet cacao, fruity and acidic with spice rounding out the finish. What how the chli warms you after you have swallowed.”

wow, I’ve never been so perplexed by a box of chocolates before!

Well, enough talking about it. Let’s try it. Now is the time of truth- is this chocolate actually as good as the price tag suggests?

okay. I have now gotten a drink prepared- just in case…

…Opening the wrapper…

I looked at the bar and smelled it, but I’m probably not “sensitive” enough to appreciate the look and smell…

Moment of truth….

…and…

Not bad! Very nice chocolate actually. The expected dark chocolate flavor at first, but then it actually has that cinnamon and spicy aftertaste! Probably one of the nifty-est chocolates I have ever had (not that that’s saying much growing up under the Hershey chocolate bar era)!

Interesting. 🙂 I’ve never had spicy chocolate before.

It kind of reminds me of chocolate covered gummy cinnamon bears, but definitely better chocolate. Not nearly as scary as I thought!

I’ll let you know what I think when I try the “Black Pearl Bar” with ginger, wasabi, and black sesame seeds mixed in with dark chocolate!

So, the student teaching saga has begun for me, and I actually enjoy it. I’m always so tired though….. always tired tired tired.

At first I was afraid the students would eat me alive, and that there would be no way in the world that they would listen to me because I’m so much smaller than them and have an annoying girl-ish voice. But they do. And I’ve really begun to work well with many of the students. We have fun, but thoughtful discussions in class, and I’ve gotten about 90% of the sophomores to do the reading consistently, though most of us (including me) aren’t entirely crazy about Huck Finn.

My college prep kids are awesome (seniors), but it’s a lot of grading writing which takes a long time. I enjoy the days that I end on a good note with their classes, and I got my first nice note from a student thanking me for the work I put into their class, which really made my day:

“I just want you to know that I appreciate your hard work. Someday I would like to be a teacher as well, but I always get scared of the idea that I might have a crazy class! I know that this class is difficult [which isn’t as true as she thinks, they’re 2nd or 3rd best] we’re just kids tryin’ to get through high school. Don’t [let?] any of our wackiness affect you personally for the worse. We’ll all get through this struggle and come out better people Thank you!”

I probably won’t get anymore notes like that this semester, but it was really nice to get one like that; maybe I’m doing an okay job!

The hardest thing for me right now is Jared being gone working. I probably won’t be able to see him again until the end of April, which really sucks. Yes, I know it’s not the end of the world. Yes, I know I get to talk to him often because of phones. I think the hardest thing though is that he doesn’t miss me nearly as much as I miss him. but that’s okay too.

Anyways, I need to go make bathroom and hall passes for my sophomore students. They keep on getting up and walking out of class to take 15 minute potty breaks or “go get their coats” and it’s just getting ridiculous… They can go before class (esp. during lunch) and plan on bring their coat with them if they think they will be cold, and if they want to hold on to it, they can get 5-10 pts of extra credit at the end of the semester for holding on to them.

• Mood: drained

I like fortune cookies. Most of the time, they’re really fun to read. Jared went to Panda Express today because I was really tired (me + tired = disaster in the kitchen). So he handed me my fortune cookie and I decided it was his.

“You could prosper in the field of wacky inventions.”

As I am not creative, nor do I like designing things overall, I gave the fortune to Jared who is always thinking outside the box. Then he gave me his cookie and it was even lamer:

“Keep your expectations reasonable.”

:-p Thanks a lot. I didn’t think I was being unreasonable lately…

Image: http://www.nataliedee.com/062806/fortune-cookie.jpg