Sunday, October 18, 2009

It's Autumn and my Housemate is Driving me Crazy!!!

It's officially fall. The leaves have turned colors and committed suicide on sidewalks, roadways, and yards. I can see my breath puff out in front of me when I walk around campus (which always makes me think I should be in better shape), and I can pull on my favorite hoodie or warm clothing and not worry about sweating up a storm in class.

I love sweater weather!

With that being said, my housemate, a guy by the name of Chris, is driving me crazy!!! "Now Patty," you're probably saying. "He's a guy and you have to make allowances for how dirty guys are." Um, I know this. I shared a house with two guys and a was one of three girls among 14 kayaking/climbing guides who shared the main living quarters when I lived in Valdez, AK. Guys can be dirty, thoughtless, tactless, and rude (and to set the record straight, I had no problem living with the guys in Alaska)...but that's not my problem here.

There are a lot of small things Chris does/doesn't do that annoy me to no end. Along with that are a number of little things I can't quantify to reasonably justify my exasperation with him. Let's just say I won't be sad to see him go, but he's signed a year lease...just like me. I'll learn to ignore, adjust, or stop being passive-aggressive, but so help me!

There's my praise for autumn and my venting for my housemate. Two ends of the happiness spectrum.

Monday, October 12, 2009

No Worries!

Hopefully this won't become a habit -- only blogging once a month. Needless to say my life has been a bit hectic. I have a newfound respect for teachers. I never realized how difficult it is to constantly be "on your game" as you're teaching classes while staying current with homework assignment, papers, and readings. Sheesh!

Although I feel overwhelmed quite a bit, I also feel blessed. I live with people who I enjoy...for the most part...and teach students I look forward to seeing every other day...for the most part. I can't have everything the way I want it!

Sage (my chocolate lab) has settled in nicely. My roommate Chris brought his dog, Keaton, to live at the house too and generally speaking Sage ignores Keaton. Heaven forbit Keaton gets too close to me or Sage's toys because then she starts growling. Sage is very possessive. Just a few nights ago Christiana (my housemate) and I were upstairs in the hall just sitting on the floor talking about our days and Sage was chillin next to me. The moment Keaton walked to the top of the stairs and Sage saw her, Sage immediately put a paw across my legs as if to say, "MY human." It was the funniest thing. Christiana and I laughed about it for quite awhile. What was even more funny was that after Sage made her move, Keaton turned around and walked back down the stairs. I guess Sage's point was made.

Class-wise things are going good. I'm still struggling in my Grad-level class, but things are starting to click into place in my mind. Now if I can just find a topic for my paper... German is going well also. I tend to stress about the tests and worry I won't remember everything, but when I get into the classroom & look at the test I just want to kick myself because it's never as hard as I think it's going to be. Must be the overachiever in me.

I have to say the highlight is teaching Freshman English 101. The students have loosened up enough now that they enjoy razzing me when I misspell a word on the board (little snots!) and don't get offended when I tell them to stop complaining and suck it up. They honestly make me smile on a daily basis...because I don't smile enough!

Another long post, but hopefully I'll become a more active blogger. I hope this gets you up-to-date on what's going on with me. Feel free to ask questions in the comment section and I'll try to answer them.

No worries!