The Aguirre's

Hitting the ground running

So after a semi restful Thanksgiving Break life has started back in full swing.
Monday there was a basketball game and I had to drive the bus. My girls lost. It was a terribly high scoring game 12-8. Yeah my girls made 4 baskets. But really what do you expect they had been gone for a whole week, are 7th graders, and still really haven't learned the basic skills. My students and I were out of it the whole day. I'm not sure they learned anything and I am not sure I really taught very well.
Tuesday and today I was at a workshop so I didn't get to teach anything to my kids and I am at the same workshop tommorow. And let's just say my boredom level is so high that I found myself playing spelling games yesterday.
Tuesday night we had our "Christmas Party". Yeah I know it's not even December. It was okay we ate at this steak house and that was about it. I wouldn't have gone but Coach Massey wanted all the girl's coaches to be there.
Wednesday is always a busy day with drama class and bible study. And joy of my life we have a basketball tournament Thursday, Friday and Saturday and even though my team is not playing I have to drive the bus. JOY!
And did I mention it's time for progress report grades and I am a little behind on getting grades into the grade book or collecting any grades at all so I am having to give assignments when I am not there and then turn around and grade them.
All in all a fun first week back.
In all fairness the workshop has given me time to grade stuff and we have gotten out early which means I had time to run some errands and make lesson plans and stuff like that. So I shouldn't complain that much.

Jen

Thanksgiving

Well Rene and I ventured for (we think) the last time to Tulsa over Thanksgiving. It was good to see the family but the impending move made things a little bit tenser than normal.
Highlights of the trip include:
Me and Emily getting our hair cut AND eyebrows waxed!!! (I know some of you thought that day would never come)
Taking CJ and Kyle to the zoo. (That was a lot of fun and lead to all sorts of fun observations of and from the boys)
Making two kinds of mashed potatoes in my quest to become the next great mashed potato chef (Gouda/Garlic went over great but Cheddar/Pepper needs just a little bit more work)
And of course watching Emily beat all of us at Starfarers.

Of course there was the usual hanging out and chatting and believe it or not shopping with Mom and Laura the day after Thanksgiving. I survived (it might have even been sort of fun. All in all good to see the family but also good to be back home. Well that is until I realized that life starts really picking up as soon as I stepped across the threshold but more on that later.

Love you all
Jen

A foggy head

This is a picture of San Francisco and no that's not a blurry picture it's the fog. And it is what I feel like about this time of year in Lubbock when my allergies kick into high gear. I am tired and sleepy and not thinking terribly clearly. It's a lot of fun. Sometimes I think Lubbock is trying to kill me.

Played our first basketball games yesterday. It wasn't pretty. Every team lost and it was rough. My girls have sooooooo much to learn. I just need to remember how to coach basketball.

Rene is gone all week and Salvador's friend's father died suddenly and so he is going to be gone all week too. Which means it's just me and the cats and my foggy head....

Sigh!

Jen

The leaves are back

It is definitly fall in Lubbock. Our trees have begun to shed their leaves at an alarming rate. My yard is full of leaves and there are still an awful lot still on the trees. What does this mean? Well we will talk about cleaning up the leaves for a couple of weeks and more leaves will fall and the piles will get bigger and the work will look harder and we will put it off some more until it gets sooo emabarassing that we have to clean them up. Yeah sounds like fun.
In other news I took Friday off to spend some time with Rene and that was really great. It was good to just kind of chill and spend time together. Today we are suppossed to do some stuff around the house and then have friends over for dinner. I really should be doing that "stuff" around the house now but posting seems a little less overwhelming.

Jen

It's a punt week

Ah yes the joy of scheduling. This week is what is lovingly referred to as a punt week. As in take all your plans and punt them because of all the tests and assemblies and events scheduled.
Today was a testing day. Three hours of kids taking tests in utter silence in my room while I have to walk around and "monitor" them. And then we had a staff versus student volleyball game. Somehow I ended up as the coach of the staff team which meant I had to manage the warring, whinning needs of adults who had a need to play in a volleyball game and beat 8th graders. SIGH! It was more stressful than just coaching 8th graders. NO fun!
The rest of the week is devoted to in class testing and two assemblies which means I see my students for really only one full day of teaching this week and then some combination of bits of teaching oppurtunites. It's a little annoying. We also have our first basketball game on Thursday.
Hopefully things will turn around sometime soon and I will perk up. Here's hoping.

Jen

Waterfalls

This is a fountain/waterfall(?) in San Fransisco. It is a memorial to the civil rights movement and Martin Luther King Jr. It's based on his I have a dream speech, but a lot on the part that says let justice flow down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. It was powerful to walk under the flowing water and think about that being how God wants justice to be in our world.

In other news I am having a full but lazy weekend. Rene and I went with a friend from school to visit one of the two wineries here in Lubbock. I know it's a little wierd that there is a winery in Lubbock but hey who am I to question. So my friends boyfriend was in town from St. Louis. It was good to meet him and hang out at what amounted to a small building.

Tonight I am going to work at the church at a Parent's nIght out event to help out a friend who is desperate. I will make some money and it shouldn't be hard.

For those keeping track.
Jennifer 4, Jonathan 3, Emily 2, Laura 0.

The twistiness of my life

This is a picture of the twistiest street in the world? It's in San Fransisco. I drove it and one of Rene's coworker Marie took the picture. It is an apt image of my life. Full of twists and turns and steep hills.

Wednesday is the busiest day of the week. I go to work at 7:40 and don't ever leave before 5:00. Then I run home grab stuff I need for church and head up to the church. I am working on a drama team coordinating the sketch parts of the ministry. It's kind of fun. After an hour of drama rehersal I am leading a bible study. Which I love and then I come home and crash out. A busy twisty hilly day. Has it perks but it does wear me out.

School just plain wears me out. I was gone two days, two short days and the whole class and lesson plans are chaos. It will take me three days to get everything back under control. And completely where me out in process. OH the joys of teaching.

Jen "JP" Aguirre