Friday

Two more lbs down as of the scale this morning. 10 total!

Cheat day tomorrow. Yay!

The boss lady says they'll try to arrange a sit-down between the cops and my crazy student.

My mother was worried he might have taken more important info. Scared me a moment, but the way he's acting, I don't think it was like that. He just thought he was being funny. He didn't want to do serious harm. He just needs to learn.

Brian's not coming. The weeks lack something without him.

BBQ birthday tomorrow!

K.Z.

Interview

Ok. Part I is over.

I had the interview, and it lasted about 30 minutes. They asked questions about teaching style, student relationships, handling situations, etc. They had not yet seen my video, and were going to watch it after the interview.

They will be narrowing it down to four by next week. If I am one of the four they will contact me then. Then there is a second interview, it can be in person or over the phone, I'm not sure which I'll do. It depends on when they want to talk to me.

So, the ordeal isn't quite over yet.

K.Z.

The week continued...

True friends are very hard to find.

I got the teaching demo recorded with the help of my dear Brandi. She sat there in the classroom with me for almost two hours going over and over the demo, helping me edit it, perform it better, and get it perfectly recorded.

Well, is it perfect? Probably not. I actually watched a few seconds of it and looked like a tan cow. Oh well. I won't not look like a cow until I lose the weight.

So, now I feel a little better that it's finished. They call me tomorrow at 11am for the interview over the phone. I'll be glad when it's all over, and when the week is over. I'm tired, like all the teachers, my students are anxious and tired, and we all are desperately trying to survive the rest of the term.

I showed a good deal of Titus to the lit. class at Tarrant. I'll show them more. I thought it was really risky, but it's not as bad as I remember. Strange how that works.

Eating habits this week are killing me. I'm dying for Saturday's cheat day. Brandi's BBQ!

K.Z.

Sigh...

The week has started. It feels like another week, and I can't wait for it to end.

I have my interview Thursday, and I'm nervous I won't give them what they're looking for. I'm also nervous I won't finish the damn presentation by tomorrow so I/Brandi can record it. Grading is taking a backseat until it's complete. Students might get antsy, but at this point I don't really care. I'll tell them the truth: that I have something going on that is taking precedence for a short while.

I turned the student in to the department. Zena passed it on to the dean. They haven't decided what to do, but I got agitated today when I had a text from him again telling me he couldn't get on the internet and wanted to know if anything was due next class.

I'm not telling him shit.

I guess having a good week is mindset to start out. I think now that I know I'm not going to be here that much longer I'm more anxious to be through with teaching and move on. I'm also tired most of the time. The knowledge of what I have to do this week, and how long it's going to feel makes me weary.

Of course, having weekends in Abilene is like waking from a good dream and not having gotten enough sleep.

So, what to do? Not really sure.

K.Z.

Cheat Day

Lost three more pounds according to the scale this morning. That makes 8 so far.

Yay for cheat day!

Had a ball teaching lyrical poetry, particularly my favourite Shakespearean sonnet, to my lit class, and am excited about teaching Titus next week.

Have dinner with the posse tonight, and a late movie.

Going to Abilene tomorrow for some you-know-what.

Am going to start working today on my teaching demo for my interview next week.

That's all for now! How's everyone?

K.Z.

Creepy!!

One of my more frustrating students, frustrating in a I-think-I'm-funnier-than-I-am-and-I-love-to-get-a-rise-out-of-you-even-though-most-everyone-finds-me-annoying-too, grabbed my phone while my back was turned during class and took my phone number, then called me. I didn't pick up because I didn't know the number. Then he texted me.

I tried to be as diplomatic as possible in telling him it was a bad idea, especially since he had to go behind my back while I was teaching to do it instead of paying attention in class. I told him I would forget it if he deleted the number and used the same contact information as his classmates.

Aghhh!

And We're Off!

I got an e-mail from South Louisiana Community College, where I applied for a full-time position. They want me for an interview. Problem is, they have certain time slots during the week, and it's first come first serve. I can't miss two to three days of the week at the end of the semester.

I jump immediately and e-mail them, telling them I live and teach in Texas and want to do everything necessary, but could I possibly interview on the weekend so that I could travel?

Not likely, right?

They gave me a phone interview!

K.Z.

Oui, Je Parle Francais

I'm setting up a folder with all the necessities for beginning my studies at UL. Of course, I have to satisfy a language requirement, and we know that's not a problem for me at all. But, I'm so siked!

I have so many options as to how I can satisfy it, a couple of which include taking graduate level courses! Ah! Heaven!

I know you must be thinking, "what a nerd!"

But, I really don't give a shit. I'm a nerd! And proud of it!

K.Z.

Tick Tock

"Hook's afraid of an old dead crock!"

I'm still waiting on one college to give me classes or tell me I'm fucked for the summer. Why, why do they take their sweet time? Seriously? They sent out the request form weeks ago. All it takes is a few assignments a day and they could have assigned classes long ago! Spring is almost over! I need my schedule!

Dr. A, the feminine form, wants to meet with me to give me what she calls her "surviving the PhD program speech." As well as discuss what classes I'll be taking the first semester. Of course I want to meet with her, we all know how much I worship my committee, particularly her. Problem is I haven't heard back from the coordinator at Louisiana yet. I sent him an e-mail Monday telling him I accepted and want to get started. He, too, appears to be taking his sweet time.

Bugger.

Am I Terrible?

I've had a lot of drops this semesters. A couple of my classes have decreased significantly. The ones who dropped are students who never showed or didn't turn things in, but still. It makes me wonder...

The Week Begins

Since my friends were so wonderful and fulfilled my weeklong craving, I won't be eating meat for a couple of days. No worries, though, I'll get my protein, and I do love me some eggplant and butternut quash, roasted with some onions, or even just steamed, with just the right amount of seasoning. Yummy.

I finally finished my grandfather's blanket. It's a little rough around the edges, but it's my first real finished piece, and he'll love to have the first.

5lbs!!

Five pounds in one week! I love five pounds in one week! I was hoping for one or two, but five! And I wasn't starving!

It's Friday Bitches!

My 1302 students signed the waiver, but no one seemed to want to borrow my copy. They were all afraid of the gay love.

Oh well.

So, tomorrow is my cheat day, but my partner may not be here with me.

I'm seriously craving a BBQ bacon cheeseburger, with cooked onions and fries. I also really want a margarita. The trick will be not overeating.

Ahh, the pressures of teaching

So, I gave my classes a small extra credit opportunity. For 1301's Legends research paper I show them the documentary on Waverly Hills. The guys who made the documentary also made a really bad horror film. We're literally talking about five busty coeds who are selected for a dare and have to spend five hours in the haunted sanatorium (which bares a different name for the movie, of course). I watched it, and it's pretty much how I remember, just a little more nudity, language and images because I originally saw it on Syfy.
So, of course, I wrote a disclaimer that they all have to sign.
Same thing for Wilde. The movie's based on Richard Ellman's Oscar Wilde bio., and Wilde was gay, so...you can imagine.
Isn't teaching undergraduate level community college fun?
Most of my students probably don't care. But there's always the risk of that one pain in the ass who can't just fast forward through what they don't want to see, or wait for the next extra credit opportunity.

Also, my cheat day is coming! Yay! Let's hope I don't throw everything up this time.

moving onward. and up?

i'm glad to see that we're posting again. i've missed this extra little bit of communication.

i don't have anything new to share or any exciting news to relay. life is, for the most part, the same. my family and i seem to have reached a new normal since dad's last hospitalization. it's a daily struggle and constant worry, but so far everything seems to be working.

i do have some things in the work...i am not, however, prepared to say anything more than that. one day i'll share. when i have a firm answer. when i can say things with certainty.

~b.h.

New E-mail

We can also post via e-mail, it seems. Click on the little envelope.

 

"In short there's simply not,
A more congenial spot,
For Happily Ever Aftering,
Than here in Camelot." - Camelot

New Possibilites

We started this thing to keep in touch, thinking we would all be in different parts of the country by now. Well...

Unfortunately (mostly for me) that didn't really happen. I never would have survived my first semester teaching if it weren't for my friends. But here we are nearing the end of another Spring semester:

Myself: Normal news is that I'm still teaching and trying not to kill my students or certain people at a particular school for which I work. 20lbs heavier, but with some very strict help from someone who has become very dear to me that may change to 60lbs lighter by this time next year. Still not talking to the Ex Factor. Made an attempt, but got all riled up again, so had to call it off.
Good news is that I have officially been accepted to the University of Louisiana. They put me on the waiting list for funding, but hey, it's an acceptance. LSU put me on their acceptance waiting list. I will probably know something certain in a couple of weeks. Even better news, my family is talking about the possibility of helping me into the PhD program with or without funding the first semester. The idea is that I could either go now and pursue the opportunities there, or waiting around in a job I don't truly enjoy, only to spend more money on another Bachelor's and more applications. It seems to myself, and everyone else, I'm better off taking the acceptance and finding a job there while continuing to apply for fellowships and assistantships, which, presumably, will be easier to access when I'm actually there. So, yay for my family and friends believing in me and wanting to help me pursue my dreams.
I'm also turning the screenplay I wrote in graduate school into a novel. I have hopes for it, as well as a hardcore editor.

So, how about an update from everyone else?