Where's John Houseman When You Need Him?

Yup, school has started and I am trying to get into the swing of things. I am still overwhelmed and freaked out, but at the moment it is the usual Random Kath level of overwhelmed and freaked out, so things are semi-normal.

There are two young women who sit next to me in my Econ class that I would really like to throttle. Despite sitting near the front, they manage to chit-chat at highly inappropriate times, usually to complain that a lot of the history chapters we are going over now they learned in AP European History and it is a huge waste of their time – this isn’t economics!

First off, shut up. Can you both be any ruder? The teacher's right in front of you. AND I’m trying to hear! Secondly, while the content may mirror that history class you took, you need to now look at it with an ear to how economic systems developed and why things are the way they are today. I find it rather fascinating, especially when reading about the conditions that led to the Great Depression and what happened in the 1970s and 1980s. How does that saying go? “Those who do not learn history are condemned to repeat it.” Or something like that? Anyway, just read the paper to see how much people have to keep learning the same lessons over and over again . . .

Anyway, even though I am the one who sat there first, I think for my sanity I'm going to have to change seats. The class has 300 people in it - the room is fairly full, though I'm sure that soon some of the students are going to drop off due to the dryness of the professor's delivery and the early-ish hour . . .

In other news, I am trying to decide whether I should give up teaching my ESL class one night a week. On one hand, it brings me great joy – I love my students and I love actually trying to impart knowledge! On the other hand, while it doesn’t take as much time as before, I still have to take time to work on lesson plans and make copies, and the class itself kills one night that could be used for studying. I also know how hard it is to find new volunteers to pick up the hole – when I was a sub, I could have been teaching every night. I also really believe in the organization I’m volunteering for, and I’d feel bad by not continuing to contribute.

This is a very hard decision for me – this would be on top of my having to give up choir practice. Mr. Random says I should just wait and see how it goes . . . I may be able to fit it in to my schedule without a problem. However, part of me thinks I have enough on my plate with work and school without trying to fit more stuff on . . . I am so conflicted, and it is making me very sad and anxious. If I am going to stop teaching, I should let the ESL folks know right away, so that they have enough time to find a sub . . .

Oy! Why is this all so hard? I thought this was supposed to be a good thing I’m doing in my life, but it just seems to add more problems . . .

On another, happier, front, I’m going to have more pictures to show you soon. I’ve actually used my camera recently. Woo hoo! On Monday night, I took pictures at another comedy open mike. It was a special occasion, so I documented the evening by taking over 500 pictures. Wow! I didn’t intend to, but it just turned out that way – you’ve got to love digital cameras in that aspect!

My brain is fried, I haven’t had that much sleep, and I have a long day and evening ahead of me. I send many happy vibes out to you all . . .