By Grebthar's Hammer...

What a savings! So, this morning was great. I got on the bus without a problem. Then suddenly the bus didn't go to the front of the school like it usually does. It stopped out on the road and we were to get off and walk the rest of the way. I'm not sure why they made this change - and it isn't a GREAT trial for me, I just don't care much for change - especially when I don't understand them! Also, if he had driven to the front of the school, I would have been on time for the meeting. As it was, I was late and had to sneak in (which is usually the case - but I COULD have been on time.), grrr! Oh well. I snuck in, sat down and waited til I could go to my desk. After the big meeting broke into little meetings I went to say good morning to the principal and vice-principals (as I always do since I miss the big "Good morning!" with everyone at the beginning of the meeting). At my desk I started plotting the worksheet for the two part lesson Kanako-sensei (Fujieda-sensei, but Kanako is her first name) asked me to make. I'm SO excited. It's on music. She picked the right person for that! I have 35 different genres of music on the worksheet! Of course it doesn't start with that, but I have many activities planned and the last one for the first day is a production activity (the last activity should ALWAYS be so) where they will listen to 10-20 seconds of those different genres and then at the end they will pick their favorite and write a short explanation of why. I'm SO excited to share with them! (I really channeled my parents with this one too - I have the Forties ~Linda Ronstadt and her ballads~, Classic Rock, the Seventies, Classical, Baroque, Romantic, Bluegrass.. oh man! This is gonig to be great!! :D)

Well today I was to grade all those tests for the first graders. I don't believe I received them all - but it was as Mr. Hashimoto predicted. I breezed through them. I mean, the students are brilliant so I didn't have many corrections to make. :) I only got four stacks though and there are six classes. So I hope I have some more waiting for me as I found out... ok, let me back up. I think I told you already that next Monday Morioka Minami is closed to give the students a compensatory day off since they had school on Saturday at some point in the last couple weeks. Before Hashimoto-sensei made it seem like I was supposed to work so I asked him if I was supposed to come to the school. "Well, no one will be here." I had joked with the elders about having to mow the lawn or something if no one was going to be there - but as it turns out, I get to stay home! He said he would call Interac and ask them what to do, and I told him to designate it as a "Work day." A work day means that I am on call and supposed to be working from home. I would do so too if I had something to do! Since I had asked Hashimoto-sensei and Kanako-sensei what to prepare for next week THIS week, I am ready! I have all the games made - dang it! I forgot to take a picture. :/ Later I will get one! --I also have the two-part music lesson ready except for lining up the songs in a playlist on my phone or on my computer and printing the worksheet. In some of the third year classes I am now three weeks ahead of them as they still need to do part two of the last lesson! THEN I found out that next Tuesday and Wednesday is still testing so I have prep time scheduled. DAH! Luckily I have one lesson to plan for Thursday and I REALLY tried to leave it to next week, but I had 2 hours to kill today before I left so I idly started sketching out a plan. I'm not very good at procrastinating when it comes to preparing my lessons. Oh! What I can do is show you my lesson plan book - it's really cool! My mom bought it for me from All-A-Dollar. :) Thanks mom! I went to buy another when I was coming here but they didn't have them there anymore, but with the way I'm using it now, I will have plenty of space for the whole year ... I think. Guess we'll see! :D

My mom got it for me when I got my job at Walden

My ASL planning

My Japanese planning

As I said, at the end of the day, I had time to kill and I was just antsy to get out. Then I saw that I had missed a call from the office on my phone. I ducked out to the locker room and called back. "What can I do for you?" "Uh.. you called ME." "Oh! Hold on - *checks around the office* - it was Tsukasa. She will call you back!" "Ok, but I'm still at the school." "Ok, she will call the school phone." As I'm going back into the teacher's room - which is ACROSS THE HALL, the phone is already for me. Doh! I jogged to my desk, stashed my phone and tried to pick up the line since it was the vice-principal who had answered the call. But he called me up to his desk to have me talk to Tsukasa there. (And really his desk is a whole... 10 feet? from mine but I felt weird and intrusive using his phone. - Actually technically it's the phone at the principal's desk when he sits in at the meetings ... anyway!) So Tsukasa told me about going to the doctor tomorrow to have my foot checked. I'm meeting Chihi at 8:20 tomorrow morning. No rest for the wicked, eh? ;) Actually I'm kind of glad they're making me get up so I can keep the same schedule .. fairly. I get to sleep in 50 minutes! YAY! Anyway, after that call it was about 16h30, so I gathered my things and said goodbye to everyone and headed out.

My bus was so late I was afraid they'd changed the schedule! But luckily it eventually came and off I went home. When I got home I tried to find a poem I had written (and was sure I had placed in my little book basket), but it was gone. :( It's the only copy I have so I hope I didn't lose it! While at work I also wrote a Tanka. It seemed appropriate as it is a Japanese form. I just didn't know what to do with myself and my mind wasn't calm enough to study Japanese. I'm just so excited to have tomorrow off!

When I got home I messaged my best friend, I made dinner, and then I finally kicked myself out the door to go grocery shopping. But now it's done (well mostly). I have a few things to get tomorrow - and my "Aunt Flo" is here a week early. AARGGH! You kidding me!? So I'm hoping that getting up early and getting out will get me enough steam to get all my weekend errands done before the apathy sets in. I can't believe on my long weekend I'm going to feel so crampy! *sigh* Oh well - it is what it is. I'm glad I will be able to stay in my apartment with my heating pad. I just need to get some more books!! Assuming I can find anything good at the library ... (their English selection is small and I've read just about everything NOT strange or disturbing that they have -- no amount of cajoling will convince me to read 50 Shades of Grey. Sorry.) So I believe I am blessed. I also get to go shopping (that's not the good part) for the rest of the things I need (that's the good part) with 3 ladies from the ward who really love me (that's the best part!). Fumie-shimai is my visiting teacher and the one I asked for a ride. She is such a wonderful, dear, sweet woman! Then I found out my very good, English-speaking, friend Yasue-shimai is coming along! THEN Fumie-shimai called me this evening and read a translated script from one of the elders to say that the Relief Society president wanted to come too because she really wants to be my friend (can you feel my heart warming from there? :,) ). Her name is Shinoki-shimai and she is the one who told me my first Sunday that I reminded her of the sister missionaries who first taught her. :) I am surrounded by incredible people!

Hmm anything else? Oh I have a quick funny story - yesterday I asked Suzuki-sensei (male) if I could ask him a personal question as we walked to class. He said yes and I asked if he was LDS. "Eru di what?" Then I knew, no, nope, oh no. He asked me again and I said, "LDS: Latter Day Saint." He stared at me in a baffled manner. "Mormon?" "Moleman!?" "No, Mormon - a religion." "Oh! No, I am not. ... Why?" "Oh the shirt you were looks like something they wear. Sorry." --DOH! But it really DID look like he wears garments. In any case... *laughs* he's not. Oops. Have a great day! XOXO, A

It's so colorful! Check out my new greens and browns!