Stories to tell...

I realize, upon looking back on my posts, that I haven't been blogging very well. I haven't been sharing what's been going on in my daily life. I haven't taken the time to find the funny in my life. Believe me, it's there...I've just been ignoring it. With it being winter and still being in IL, it seems to be easier to find myself more depressed than happy. But a couple warm days and a forceful change of my outlook has brought me to this point. If I expect anyone to be reading my blogs, it really should be something worth reading. Take today.

So I'm a middle school math teacher for the time being. I've been doing this for six weeks now. Five more to go! Lately the eyes in the back of my head have started catching things that I'm sure I've just been missing for six weeks now. Like kids passing notes. Oh yes, I have become the teacher who manages to catch the notes that are DEFINITELY worth reading. Take last week. After I gave out the homework assignment for a class, I went back to my desk to start grading things while they worked. Well, somehow a boy in the class got a hold of a note between two of the girls in class. This guy is tall for an 8th grader, and one of the girls is the smallest in the school...shorter than him by a good 12 inches. She is bothering him to give her the note back and is most insistent. Disrupting the class is really not something I'm ok with, so I told this guy to give me the note and for the girl to sit down and do her work since she is failing my class. He dully gives me the note and I put it away for lunchtime reading. When I do read it later, it turns out the two girls were talking about sneaking out of their homes and then copying down math assignments from each other since one didn't have the work done (the one who, consequently, is five assignments behind and failing as well). Since it was a note, I couldn't do much. This week though, on Thursday, I was checking late assignments from some kids who happened to consist of two of the girls in the previous note. Well, it turns out they did the same assignment, on the same kind of paper, and happened to do the wrong assignment altogether. No kidding. So I got to pass out detentions for cheating yesterday. I stapled them to the assignment and then made an announcement to the entire class that cheating wasn't tolerated and that if you were going to cheat, it's just a shame it wasn't done well enough to fool me. I really enjoyed that whole episode.

One last note story...I also picked up two other notes yesterday (I told you I was getting good at this). I found out that there's a love triangle in m 7th grade class I have for both math and writing. I also found out that the sweet boy in the same class broke a girl's heart and likes someone else now. Oh the drama of junior high love. I remember those days. Haha.

I remember that I was the new kid in 7th grade and I had a crush on a boy in my class. I spent alot of that year sending him notes and trying to talk to him. It didn't work. Especially since my friends got together with him and sent me fake notes from him that he liked me too. It was pretty cruel. Then again, I wasn't so nice either. There was another guy in junior high who liked me, but I didn't like him at all. So every single day he would ask me out, and every single day I would turn him down. After months of this he finally stopped asking me and then we proceeded to go through four years of high school without saying a single word to each other (in a class of 28 that was a pretty impressive feat I would say). So I know junior high is a rough time, but they'll get past it and then life will move on. But for now, I'm torturing them the way I was tortured in school by my math teacher and just laugh to myself when I hear/read about the drama that is forefront to their lives. haha.

a good couple of days...

It's been over a week now since I decided to move to New Zealand and I am pleased to say that things are progressing awesomely for that move.

I applied for my working holiday visa, only one part left to finish up- getting the results of my chest x-ray sent in, and am glad that application is basically done. I also bought my plane ticket! I wasn't planning on it, but then I found one on sale for under 700 dollars and really couldn't pass that up. So I got the ticket and am leaving from LAX April 13th. Yeah, I know I'm in IL, I'll just book another flight from Chicago to catch my international flight that day. But it means I get to see one of my friends from college and see LA for a short while! I'm excited to see Adam again, it's been too long. Once I get to NZ, I've got a night to myself and a ferry ride down to the South Island to meet Laura the next day. I'm a little nervous about the ferry ride only because I'm not a fan of the ocean or boats. I will try to be ok with it though. Moving to New Zealand will be an adventure, that's for sure!

Once I'm there, I've got some work already lined up! It seems like things are lining up for me in NZ like I didn't think it would. Theatre work and sewing await me! YAH!

Last weekend I was out in the lovely weather and was able to take some pictures on a walk with my little brother. It was nice and I managed to get a few nice photos. Of course the warm weather didn't last and it's back to freezing temperatures and snow.

Today I was out of town with a friend. I spent my valentine's day with Vangie shopping and watching a movie. It was a very un-romantic day, but one of the better days I've had in awhile. I got some new clothes and they are really bright colors. I guess I can't really wait for it to get warm and wear spring clothes again. It'll be nice to get out more too and take pictures. The cold just isn't to my liking.

Enjoy these pictures and take a look at the rest of them at http://picasaweb.google.com/debinoxford

I'm a woman with a Plan

And yes, it's a plan with a capital P. I've come to a decision and I feel very confident with it. I know for months now, I've been talking and planning (and stressing about) a move to the UK this spring. At first I was going to apply and go in January, then I was going to apply next week to leave in April. But now I've come to a completely new decision. I'm going to move to New Zealand instead!

I had talked with Laura about work there in theatre. She's got some great work opportunities there and I decided to look into it. Well, as it turns out, I can get a working holiday visa for a year, live with Laura and her guys, and work professional theatre with greater ease than making a move to London. I know my plan for so long has been London- and it's still going to be there in a couple years when I want to go to graduate school. However this opportunity shouldn't be missed. In moving to London there's little surity that I'll find theatre work there immediately since I have no contacts there. In New Zealand though, I have a contact and a sewing job waiting for me (medival costume patterns and fabrics are waiting for me--no joke!)

So I'm working on the application process for New Zealand so I can move there instead of London in April. I'm going to do it! I'm thrilled about it actually. I'll be able to do more craftwork and gain experience in theatre again which will make me very happy. Plus I'll be living in a country where the US dollar is worth more and the cost of living isn't nearly as high as the UK.

I have seven weeks left as a math teacher and I'm reaching a point where I'm going crazy. I really know I can't be a junior high teacher- it's rough. They're boneheads for the most part--I can't hate 'em for it because I was one of them. I just didn't really plan on working in that setting ever! Midterms are upon me and in a couple weeks we have the ISAT testing. Man, I thought I had put that all behind me (ISATs I mean). So I've made my Plan and am going to enjoy it when I go. That's pretty much all I got right now. I haven't been out taking pictures lately--though I'm hoping that it warms up so I can get out again. This bitter cold is just not great for me, I'd rather be wrapped up in a blanket and reading a book!