I was lucky enough to participate in the Curriculum Writing Academy for Daily English 10 (one of the subjects I will teach next year, and what I taught this past year). Our fabulous team created the entire first semester from, what I would consider, scratch... Considering that we didn't have a Daily 10 curriculum last year and just went off of the Standard 10. Which was difficult - Standard 10 met every other day, and we met EV. ER.Y. DAY. So Daily 10 teachers will finally have something to call their own and hopefully be more comfortable reaching their students who need the most support in reading and writing.
Plus, I met and worked with some of the most fabulous teachers in the county. I may be biased because, hey, English teachers ARE fabulous. I wouldn't have traded those many, many hours of sitting in student desks, staring at my computer screen for anything because I made some new friends that I hope to keep in contact with.
Plus, there were food trucks. So... Food driving to me? Yeah.
I completed my LAST summer grad school class. Graduation date is set for May 2017 - after 5 years of grad work, it is long overdue. But, that's what happens when you take one class per semester. I wouldn't have been able to afford it otherwise. The woes. But, the YAYS are I will have my Master's and get that pay raise!
And the one thing that's going to make it hard for me to go back to work...
My Manny, the black lab.
He is sleeping on the couch as I write this and it is the cutest thing in the world.
I have been bugging Eric for a puppy for months. Every time I would see someone walking their dog out in the neighborhood, or bringing their dog to his softball games, I would make a comment or post a Tweet or text him something along the lines of - WHY CAN'T I HAVE A PUPPY? But perhaps a little less needy. Perhaps.
And he would always shoot the idea down.
"No, we can't get a puppy, you're at work all day."
"We don't have time for a puppy."
"Not right now."
Basically, my future looked bleak in the puppy department.
Well, sneaky Eric had been planning to buy a puppy since May and left me out of the loop. Everyone else knew. I used to think that I was pretty good at catching on to people when they were lying, but now I don't even know own self!
He said he had to work a catering one night for Famous Daves (which he does, regularly) and I had Paint Nite with my mom and sister, so I didn't think anything of it. He wasn't going to a catering - he was driving, with his family, to Lancaster, PA to pick out a lab puppy for me.
Needless to say, I walk upstairs, completed Paint Nite painting in hand - ready to show Eric what a stellar job I did creating a blob of leaves on canvas and renounce my career in education for an even poorer job in artistry - and I see Eric and this tiny little black creature ambling up to me.
My first thoughts were, "Is that Lola (Katie and Tim's dog)? That's too small to be Lola. Oh my god, that's a baby puppy." And the first things I said were, "What is that? What is that?"
I laughed. I cried. I was being videotaped by Eric's sister, who was hiding in the background along with his brother and mom. So many people talked about how the video of me, laughing and crying, made them laugh and cry.
So, we have Manny - named after Manny Machado of the Orioles. You could say he's my best friend and I'd agree, regardless of how silly that sounds. Yes, I talk to my dog. Yes, I've slept next to my dog more than I've slept next to Eric. But ya know. Puppy life.
He'll be 12 weeks tomorrow. AND I'm going to have a terribly hard time going back to work. Can I just bring my puppy? How do I go about registering him as a therapy dog so I CAN bring him to work?
The next two weeks: puppy, reading, puppy, binge watching shows (UMMM, Stranger Things? The Night Of? Orange Is The New Black? Vice Principals? Done, done, done, and done), puppy, my sister's bachelorette party, puppy, hang out with my godson, puppy, hangout with friends, puppy, volleyball workouts, puppy....
You get the picture.
Hope everyone enjoys the rest of their summer!
