A Period of Change

I thought that it was appropriate to switch the template of my blog again as everything else is changing over the course of two weeks. I, again, changed the title of my blog and template because, well, sometimes I get bored with things being the same all the time. Just a few weeks ago Enoch and I rearranged our living room again because the TV was in a bad place in conjunction with the window, causing beautiful bright rectangles on the screen if the TV was on ever before 9:00 pm. And since the TV was in a bad place, we just decided to rearrange the whole room. I know, crazy, but that's how we work.

I have spent the better part of a week working through tediously long meetings and frantically trying to get my room organized. I just added To Kill a Mockingbird to my to read list because it is the novel that the English department would like all of the 9th graders to read and I LOVE the book, but thought it was a 10th grade novel. It is such an amazing book that I'm feeling a little bit of stress because I want to do it justice - I want my students to get it. Luckily, I'm not planning on that one until Feb after the first round of testing so I have tons of time to prepare.

Speaking of my to read list, I'm almost to the point of giving up on keeping track. I'm sure that you think this is insane, that an English teacher would want to give up on keeping a to read list, but let me explain. The reason that I want to terminate the exisitence of this list isn't because I think that reading is a bad idea, but because I have so many books recommended to me, so many books that I really want to read that I feel like the list is doubling daily but my time is not. I'm drowning in the sea of anticipated literature and the coast guard isn't anywhere in site.

I was lamenting this fact today to a co-English teacher and she laughed when I said that I felt like I wasn't very well read - I feel like I'm at a bit of a disadvantage. The mature women who teach in the all female English department have a leg up on my by sheer existence - they've been around longer than me and have had time to have their minds experience more literary pleasure. And of the two teachers who are just a year younger than me, neither of them are married, have children, soccer practices, dance practice, dinner for five, laundry for it feels like 20 and they can spend their evenings perusing whatever their literary heart desires. Hence, my disadvantage, but blessing too, because I get to do fun things with my family, but don't get the joy of reading nearly as often as I would like. I guess I just have to hope that I live with decent vision and comprehension for a long, long time.