Flash forward a couple of years, and I'm living in the Bay Area. I have a nice car, I have a well-paying job, I'm dating cute San Francisco boys, I have a big circle of friends, I travel to New York City and Europe on my vacations, I have good credit, and I'm no longer shy. I've come a long way. That's not to say that my life is perfect now or that it wasn't great back then (I look back fondly on my Portland/starving college student days), but I'm happy with where I am.

School is getting better. My classroom management issues are all but gone with my 6th graders, though my 7th graders are a work in progress. The principal and the Humanities coach are happy, as the last three reading and writing benchmark scores show that my kids' test scores are steadily improving....but I still feel like a half-wit much of the time. I guess my standards are so high (for the kids and for myself), that they will never be met 100%. I figure that it's best to continuously raise the bar than do anything half-assed.

The principal was talking today about what the school will look like next year. He was laying out all the fabulous high school-level English classes that would be opening up, and my mouth was watering. However, I think that the 7/8 Humanities teacher assumes that the job will automatically be his because he teaches the upper grades now. That pisses me off a little, but I'm not sure that I would want to move back to the upper grades anyway. I've discovered that I work really well with 6th graders. They can be very needy and annoying, but they're adorable. I'm just the right mix of tough, funny, and loving for them. I don't even know that I'll come back for another year anyway. If I do choose to leave, it will be an exodus of the teaching profession all together. If I stay with teaching, then I'll stay with this school. I feel a huge investment in it. I

I didn't make it to the gym tonight, so there goes my reward to myself. I am coming down with some kind of cold. My throat feels scratchy and I feel extra-drained. I'm loading up on immune boosters, so hopefully I can nip it in the bud early on. I'll try to go to the gym tomorrow, but we'll see how I feel. Blegh.

I'm reading a great novel right now called The Good German. It's post-WWII war/drama/mystery. Very Ramond Chandler. It's right up my alley. I've gotten back into the habit of reading - though it's frustrating, as I have so many books to read and I get overwhelmed with that. Plus, I have very little time in which to do it in. I have so much on my plate. I'm trying to set aside at least an hour a day in which to read, though. It's one of the habits that makes me happiest in life.

Speaking of which, there's a new episode of Ghost Whisperer on my DVR, so I'm off to see it. Later!

Anne