I am not graduating from high school

So I was back at the high school subbing yesterday and today. Yesterday I was in the same classes from last week, and today I was all over, doing a little of everything and nothing. This morning there was a Senior Tribute assembly for the wee ones that are graduating. It was cute, they had some speakers (one really reminded me of Don), singers, a time capsule (with DVDs in it! These kids are rich!), and a slide show. The slide show was way long, it had pictures of all four of their years, and the last section featured two pictures of each student (there are only about a hundred seniors), one as a baby and one as a senior photo. That was really cute. Not to sound too shallow, but a lot of the girls seemed a little indistinguishable..they all have fake tans and highlighted hair. The very end featured a candle ceremony, where the seniors stood in a circle facing outward with lit candles, and the juniors came to stand in a circle facing them, and the seniors handed off the candles and then the juniors proceeded out. It was a nice Tribute Assembly, even though it was an hour and a half long.

Anyway....I have been warmly welcomed by other teachers and staff at the school, it's been wonderful. They fully understand my struggles in dealing with the students and we laugh. They completely agree when I tell them that the sophomores are monsters. I feel a bit of an imposter, so young yet, too young to really be on the same level of the teachers that I was frustrating just a few years ago. (Although, I was a good decent student that didn't misbehave or really stick out in any way.) But at the same time, these kids make me feel old and prudish. All the girls wear either really short skirts or really low pants that lets their belly and back fat hang out for the world to see. Ugh. The boys wear loose saggy pants and sweatshirts. And don't get me started on the way technology is invading the classroom. Kids come to class with iPods or walkmen on, cell phones ringing and texting all over the place, and protest when I tell them to put it away. The bloody cheek!

I don't go back to Starbucks until next Thursday. Which is just fine because this afternoon I got a call for a temp assignment. Yay money! It goes all next week and a couple days the week after that. What a relief. Even though it's in Kirkland. Hurrah, now I will be plenty busy for the next week and change!

Oh man. The night before last, I had this crazy succession of dreams, or one long and really convoluted dream. First I was taking a math test outside a dorm I had just moved in with that was like the Americorps housing I dreamed about a few weeks ago. While I was taking this test, I fell asleep and dreamt of being shoved down a street. Then I woke up huddled against a young Brad Pitt who was trying to work on his test. Then I was on a train in France, that sort of turned into a bus. I was having one of those dual-language conversations with the driver; she was practicing in her English and I was practicing my French. Just chatting until on the side of the road I spotted a group of ducks. Not the usual kind of ducks, though. These ducks were really fluffy, like chicks, but the coloring of grown-up ducks, like red and black or black and white. And these ducks were giant ducks. Not even unusually large ducks, GIANT ducks. They were the size of large dogs, two or three feet tall and two feet wide. GIANT DUCKS.

I worked out tonight for the first time in at least two weeks. I really could tell the difference, I got tired sooner and my body felt all jumbled. I am hoping to work out tomorrow and next Tuesday, and then who knows. I have to make them quit me before the June billing, so maybe I won't even have the option much sooner.

Then my mom and I sat down at my computer. She will be at a conference in North Carolina in August, and we figured that would be a good time to come visit New York. Even though it will be August in New York. My mom has been all over the world, has been on different continents each New Year's for the past four years, but has never been to the Big Apple. So instead of just flying with a regular ticket, we played around with frequent flyer miles and got it all arranged. It was fun! It should be a good trip. What will make it better is the possibility of getting a hotel in Manhattan with said 'frequent flyer' stuff. Ooh, Manhattan. I realized that every time I've gone to NYC, I've only stayed with people, I've never stayed in a hotel, motel or even hostel, and never have I stayed in Manhattan. So this would be a first for me, too. Fun!