Post 41, in which the author makes up for lost time

It's been over two months since my last post. It's hard to imagine how much has been packed into those two months, and even harder to ignore how nice it would be to have immediate reactions and reflections from that time. Oh well. As it is, it is taking a sidelining head cold and me being fairly caught up with work (ish) with work for the first time in a grip to get me back to pondering the great mysteries of life -- or at least whining about the lesser mysteries of my own -- here for you, dear readers.

So what's been happening in the interim? Weeellll ...

-I moved out of Illinois Institute of Technology and back into my REAL home with my REAL wife. Solidified my previously held inklings that I am no longer fit for dorm life, that there IS a difference between 27-year-olds and 22-year-olds, and that it's a very dangerous thing for me to have daily access to all-you-can-eat buffets.

-I returned to Seattle to perform wedding party duties and see old friends, confirming for me that it is nice to have friends ... which is awesome, because all of my friends live two thousand miles away. Move to Chicago, you fools!

-I started working at my new school, first spending three weeks getting to know my fellow teachers and colleagues in professional development. We're hot, we're brilliant, we're awesome, we're humble. The kids are lucky to have us.

-Part of that professional development included a week-long romp in Las Vegas for the annual conference of my school network. Nothing like seeing your brand new coworkers bumping and grinding (that's what I still call it ... I'm cool) on the dance floor to bring everybody together.

-Immediately following Vegas funtime, I performed more weddingly duties for my sister-in-law's nuptials, this time serving as "the priest" (which is what everybody called me, except for my new brother-out-law's very German father, who called me "the big chief," which I rather liked). I won't way the power didn't go to my head a bit. Let's just say, it was a game time decision as to whether I would open things with "Mawwiage ... Mawwiage is what bwings us heuh togevuh ..." Finally opted not to and have been regretting it ever since.

-Priestly duties fulfilled, I returned to my day job as a teacher -- this time with my own kids, the same ones I'll be with for the rest of the year. I call them "The Little Darlings," especially when they're smacking me in the face and jumping off of filing cabinets. That "special friend" (more early childhood educator lingo, I've learned) is unfortunately no longer making my days interesting anymore, but there are plenty of other things to fill the day.

Life as a kindergarten teacher is both crazy and wonderful. Between hours of instruction, planning, preparation, and then other obligations for graduate school and Teach For America, I've never worked so many hours in a day. At the same time, I've never had such gratifying work. The students I am working with are wonderfully resilient and excited for school and learning to read. It is not hard to get excited about work ... even if it is sometimes hard to wake up at five in the morning. Every morning.