No Uh Ohs

So class went night when surprisingly well. Despite a terrible fear that nothing but the Elmo song would come out of my mouth, class was fun and productive. It was actually really nice to get dressed up--heels and pearls--no Old Navy loungewear. My brother and his girlfriend came over to watch Grace--thank goodness! Don't get me started on flaky highschool babysitters. Grace cried when I left and that made me feel bad but I got over it quickly when I realized I had 2.5 hours to myself. Now it's not like I was heading to the spa or anything but to have some time to myself to talk about things I enjoy really is an indulgence. Not that I really love talking about the death, disease, and general destruction Columbus brought to the "new" world but it is better than watching Sesame for the third time in one day.

I have to confess that being in the classroom was a bit like having an out of body experience. I'm not sure if it's because the support staff greeted me as "Dr. blah, blah" (names are omitted to protect the innocent), or that students called me "Dr. blah, blah, or that I was wearing a suit, but something in me took charge of that room. Now I haven't taught in almost 3 years so I was pretty nervous but once I got in there it all came back to me. I couldn't believe how coherent I sounded, how funny I was (they laughed at my jokes, they really did!), the way I handled a smart ass student (every class has one), and the way I connected with two older, African American students in the class. It was as if I was watching a video of myself, yet there I was teaching. I ended my lecture at 7:10 on the nose (right on time). I felt like Mary Lou Retton I was so psyched. They might as well have held up all 10's except of course for the Russian judge. Maybe an 8. It was amazing.

My legs hurt. I have two blisters from new, fancy shoes. My back aches. And I just cleaned up my disaster of a bedroom. But so far, these are my only war injuries. I didn't get home to see Grace to bed which made me really sad. But I did wake up today energized and ready to go. That is until Grace discovered where dad had hidden the "Risk" game and spilled tiny pieces of armory all over the floor. Back to reality. . . .