Fire!

In our apartment, Squeaks and I have a lovely little fireplace. If I were the only one living here, that fireplace never would have been used. It's all too much work for me. Getting the fire started, keeping it going, stopping it safely, and cleaning up afterward: it's not something I would do myself. Squeaks, though, she's dedicated. She loves a good fire; she likes starting it and tending it and will stay there all night keeping it going. I'm just glad she limits her "burninating" to the occasional fire in the fireplace.

We usually plan to make s'mores when we have a fire. Unfortunately, our only source for firewood is the local store (Meijer, Giant Eagle, Kroger, etc.), and that wood is always wrapped in plastic and usually permanently wet. That makes starting the fire and keeping it going extremely difficult. Thus, we usually have to use some kind of fire starter for the job, which means we can't cook food over that fire; the chemicals might kill us. This has happened to us no fewer than three times between this year and last, once was last weekend when one of my friends from out of town was visiting. That has led to much disappointment for everyone involved. I hadn't realized the extent of my own disappointment in the lack of s'more until this weekend.

On Friday, Squeaks and I had Squiggly and KP over for a visit: dinner, hanging out, the usual. We decided we would also like to have a fire since it's been so chilly lately (and Squeaks has been wanting the fires for a while). We were determined to succeed in s'moring this time! Squeaks was focused and dedicated, and she made that fire work!

Finally!! S'mores! I had two, and they were delicious! It was at that moment, in the middle of my first campfire treat, that I realized how much I had wanted those blasted things. The combination of sweetness from the mallow, the richness of the chocolate, and the crunch of the graham...the creator of s'mores was a genius! God bless him! (We did look it up, and "some more" treats are attributed to a man, though I don't remember who it was.)

We will most definitely be doing this again, and if we take too long to have a nice fire, we may just have to figure out how to use the microwave or something to warm the marshmallow. I won't want to go so long without a s'more again, but I'll have to be careful not to have them too often either. They could be dangerous, as could Squeaks' pyro tendencies, but we'll take that one fire at a time.

Do Better!

Any of my regular readers know by now about my work woes. Don't worry about me too much. I'm a little worried, but I'll get by, and I'm sure I'll find something decent if start putting in the legwork to do so.

It's funny that I'm thinking so seriously about this now because I feel I'm doing my best as a teacher this year. While I'm putting less evening and weekend time into grading, I'm using more of my between-class-time (when not grading) planning for my classes. I'm creating PowerPoint slideshows to guide my delivery of non-discussion information and preparing better to teach, rather than relying on discussions of readings, as I've most often done in the past. I'm trying more to instruct my students on various aspects of writing itself in different ways, as I've not done quite the same way in the past. Doesn't it always happen that way? Just as I start to figure out a better way of doing something when it's about time for me to move on.

Anyway, I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. In fact, it's often one of the first issues I bring up when talking to someone I haven't seen in a while (if I've done this to you, I'm sorry...I'm trying to cut it out). I'm trying not to obsess or worry, but I can't seem to help it.

Yesterday, while with my parents and one of my sisters, I visited my grandfather. He has a little trouble remembering certain things, but he generally does a great job of remembering at least some of what is going on with his many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Just before the visit ended, he asked me if I was going to be teaching. I reminded him that I had already been teaching for a while and mentioned that I might have to stop teaching soon to find a steadier job. I thought he would be disappointed or encourage me to stick with it. My grandparents have all been proud of my academic achievements in the past and admired the fact that I was teaching. Instead, he offered the most supportive advice anyone could have. He said, simply, "Hey. If you can do better, you do it."

I agreed and joked that it would become my new motto. Upon further thought, I don't think I am joking. That should be my thought process moving forward in the job hunt. The whole point in trying to find a new job is to do better. Otherwise, I might as well stay where I am. I will begin this job search soon (as I've just discovered I don't have any classes at one of the places I teach), and I will remember to "do better."

I love my grandfather, and I am reminded regularly how wise, loving, and amazing he truly is.

An A with Attitude

I've realized recently that a have a new attitude about work that may not be the most positive. I don't think it affects my teaching, but it certainly affects how I go about using my "down time."

When I had more classes to teach (you know, before one of my employers decided to cut back even further how much adjuncts could work), I would spend entire weekends grading essays. I would take on one class per day, Friday through Sunday, and work in the fourth class throughout the week, if possible. If now, that meant I went by the numbers instead of the classes. That would usually mean around 80 essays to grade over a weekend. I don't like to make my students wait for results longer than absolutely necessary, so I've always imposed a one week deadline on myself for essay turn-around. These were not fun weekends, and I always felt bad for my roomie (sorry, Squeaks!), but I did the work and made it through relatively quickly. However, I was also sacrificing my weekends.

If the other place I teach also had essays coming in, that would mangle my system a bit, but it just meant less free time and a bit more irritation (again, sorry, Squeaks!). All this is certainly not the "glory" of teaching, but it's part of the job I knew going in would be somewhat painful. As an English teacher, it's what I have to do. I was reluctant but willing (mostly).

Now, however, that has all seemed to change. This semester, I haven't spent any weekend time grading (so far), and I've collected essays from all of my classes. I have four classes total (two at each place), while I used to have five or six between the two, so I do have fewer essays to grade. This led me to the theory that I could, in fact, grade all the essays during the week between other required work activities (i.e. teaching classes, tutoring, planning for classes, etc.). I didn't even think I'd have to grade any on week nights, and I really haven't so far. About three weeks ago, my first essays from the newly limited school came in, and I graded about 32 essays only during work hours. I graded around 37 papers from the other school this week, all between Monday and Thursday, and the only time I graded any at home was in the morning, after breakfast, when I'm more patient and focused anyway.

This began as a supposition, an experiment, just to see if I could do it. Frankly, I'd rather spend weekend and evening time on anything except work, especially grading, so I wanted to try it. Now, however, I've determined that this is how I should try to keep getting this time-consuming work done. I enjoy myself more, and I don't have the pressure of always doing work to add to my irritation with my work situation.

I guess I've decided that, if they're not going to give me enough hours and bring in enough money to do much more than make sure ends meet, then why should I give up my free time to do extra work? I still do the work, and I want my students to learn what they need from me and succeed in the future. I want to do the best I can as a teacher in the classroom, which means using some off-time to prepare. I just don't think I should have to work so hard for so many unpaid hours of the day for an organization that doesn't appreciate the majority of its work force.

In case you're wondering, yes, I am beginning the process of finding another job. If you have any leads in this geographical area, let me know.