Slice of Life 31

https://wilddelight.wordpress.com/2022/03/31/an-interview-about-bobcat-prowling-with-maria-gianferrari/

Slice of Life 30

As I said to a friend today, March is eleventy billion days long this year. Somehow tomorrow is still March, if you can believe it. We really need to ensure that spring break is always at the end of March for everyone’s sanity; colleges have the right idea.

I did get today’s Wordle and Heardle pretty quickly, so that’s always a good way too start the morning. I also had the pleasure of meeting with a professional book club within my department today. We are discussion Penny Kittle and Kelly GallagherMs newest book over Google Meet. While I don’t want everything to remain virtual, I do hope we all keep offering virtual options for events and meetings because it makes them so much more accessible.

And with that, I’m falling asleep. Time yo get some shut-eye!

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Slice of Life 29

It’s still Winter: The Sequel here in NJ. At least my winter clothes are getting a few more wears in before the warm-weather clothes come out.

Tonight we attended the township committee meeting to witness them vote on changing the zoning for the parcel across the street. They did so, unfortunately, but we knew that was coming. However. I’ll be sleeping in my crypt tonight because while at the committee meeting i saw that the town was are honoring the high school boys soccer team for their championship season. When they called out one name I realize I’d worked with his mother at my first teaching job. How could that possible?! He was a baby then and now he’s almost an adult!

Time flies. Ooof.

I got a chance to briefly chat with my dither colleague, which was great, but I sure feel old tonight!

Slice of Life 28

Welcome to second winter in New Jersey! It was 80° a few days ago, and I contemplated putting away my sweaters. Thank goodness I did not do that! It was below freezing yesterday. Not too bizarre for the end of March, but my body got used to warmer temperatures already. All the plants got used to warm weather, too.

Yesterday we got snow squall warnings from the National Weather Service, too.

Not only was it cold, but also we had white-out conditions briefly all over the state. That was bizarre for this time of year! I drove through a squall on my way home and instead of snowflakes there were little ice pellets falling from the sky and bouncing off everything.

New Jersey: experience all four seasons in just 24 hours or so!

Slice of Life 27

March is finally almost over. 🙌

Seriously, this has been such a long, unending month. (Yes, I realize how redundant that sounds. This entire month has felt redundant).

The most exciting part of my weekend was that Aldi opened just five minutes from my house. I’m a big Aldi fan, but I love about 25 minutes from three different ALDIs….until now! ALDIs is my favorite store because they carry almost everything I need, are priced better than most grocery stores, and I can be in and out very quickly due to its size.

I think I’m officially old. I’m excited about a grocery store.

Slice of Life 26

Some days are meant for rest. Today was one of those days. We still have three weeks until spring break, and I am mentally a d physically exhausted. As a result, today was a quiet day.

The new Aldi opened down the street and was the most exciting part of the day. Is it a sign of my age that a new discount grocery store made my day? I finished my grocery shopping, so tomorrow should be relaxing, too!

Slice of Life 25

A few years ago, I started hearing about the show called Hamilton playing at the Public Theater. It was impossible to get tickets, and I was so mad I missed out. Then, as we all know, the show moved to Broadway and tickets were almost impossible to get for years. I managed to snag tickets a few times in those first few years, but I always regretted not getting to see it at the Public.

A few weeks ago, I started hearing about another show at the Public. Suffs “brings to life a complicated chapter in the ongoing battle for the right to vote: the American women’s suffrage movement.” Of course, the limited run was completely sold out. But then today I I saw on Instagram that they extended the run by a few weeks and a new block of tickets was on sale. Long story short, I’m seeing Suffs at the Public in May! It’s a bucket list item, for sure.

Slice of Life 24

Tonight I was supposed to see a new musical at Paper Mill Playhouse. Originally, these tickets were for June 2020; when we were finally able to use them we picked 3/24. This morning, I woke up and wondered what the heck we were thinking. Original plan- see the show on a weeknight in June 2020. Why did we think a Thursday in March would work?!

I’m exhausted. Aren’t we all? After work, I was dreading rushing home, walking the dogs, then racing to Millburn (at least an hour’s drive). A little before we were supposed to leave, I texted my friend and said I was exhausted.

The good(?) news? She agreed! Long story short, we returned our tickets and will buy new tickets for later in the run. We just can’t hang right now, a million weeks after winter break and a million weeks before skeins break. We are all way too tired.

I’m so glad we were able to reschedule. Now I can see the show and enjoy it instead of struggling to stay awake!

Slice of Life 23

Today I spent my work day at BTHS with my humanities colleagues working on curriculum. In the morning, we participated in a fantastic workshop centered on the NJ inclusivity standards for persons with disability and LGBTQ folks. We spent the afternoon working on curriculum. It was great spending time with my colleagues professionally.

One of the things we talked about was making time to read as teachers. I talked about how many audiobooks I listen to and extolled the virtues of the Libro.fm ALC program for educators. So many English teacher issues could be solved if part of our school day was devoted to reading. We could choose new books, read literature, etc. I make time to read constantly, but I know that’s not easy for everyone. We need prep/grading time and reading time to do our jobs.

Slice of Life 22

I hate ticks. Did you know ticks don’t die in the winter? That you can find them all year in the northeast?

Apparently, ticks are not a huge problem everywhere. But me? I’m lucky enough to live in the northeast: tick capital of the United States. I see fewer ticks in the winter, but I still pull a few off the dogs. But now it’s spring and the ticks are out in full force.

Dublin had a slight balance issue with his back leg last month; we had it checked out and it’s orthopedic, so likely just arthritis. But for the past few days he’s had a slight limp on that back leg. Not all the time, but sometimes. He’s still acting normal, so I chalked it up to his arthritis. Tonight I was trimming the hair between his paw pads to help him when I spotted some blood. He hadn’t helped and I couldn’t find a cut, so I knew I didn’t cut him. Then I looked down at the floor and found a huge tick directly under his foot. I’d clearly knocked out from between his toe pads. First: ewww. Second: poor Dubs! I’d have a limp if a tick was feeding between my toes!

So now I’m off to order the dogs’ their Seresto collars because tick season is in full swing. Ugh.