week one, down

i have finally completed my first official week as 'faculty'. i have never been to so many meetings in my entire life. meetings, assemblies, bowling.. you name it.

i'm getting used to my laptop; my desktop is still my favorite, but i like the portability of the laptop. the campus is wireless networked out the wahzoo, and there is a hotspot somewhere near my apt, which means i can type in bed! the keyboard is funky to type on but i'm sure i'll get used to that too.

i am slightly overwhelmed, but am not alone in that - several new teachers i've chatted with feel the same way. some of it is just getting used to the wierd 10 day schedule, some is the fact that we've been completely deluged with information this past week with little individual time to ready our respective areas/classrooms.

i've had two assemblies already and they both went fine. everyone seems to be pleased with me, which is a relief. i have a lot of goals i would like to accomplish this year, beginning at the most basic levels like shop maintenance and organization of the shop and booth. it appears that organization and saftey have not been at the top of the td list for some time now.

this past weekend we moved my brother into his dorm at umbc, which was exciting on many levels - it was neat to be back at a college, neat to remember my college days (which were a blast). we went to visit him last night and he seems to be doing all the things a college freshman should/will do (draw your own picture).

i've babysat for my neices a few times now and it's always a blast to see them. they, and my sister, came to the 'new faculty dinner' at the headmistress' house on monday and people are still telling me they've never seen such cute kids. i've gone to my mom's, just because i can, a couple of times now. i get to see my sister everyday if i like.

this weekend i plan to play catch up with the unbelievable amount of paperwork i've gotten this week, and i will prolly head over to school for a bit on sat/sunday to try and clean up the shop a little, while i have the opportunity to wear dirtyable clothes (i have dress like a grownup during the week!). aside from those things, i plan to sleep and finish unpacking my apartment.