Homecoming

Tomorrow is homecoming at the school I'm teaching at. Am the only one who thinks it's odd to have homecoming in January? I was trying to think what blue and gold I own and the only thing I could come up is my UCLA sweatshirt. I might stick around for the pep rally tomorrow afternoon and maybe even a swim meet (though I can't go to the big game, which is basketball, tomorrow night). Ah ha, that's why it's in January...because they don't have a football team, common among Manhattan high schools.

It's been a good first week back at school. The students were okay when I talked about the test and gave me feedback about the amount of material that was covered. I'm going to give my first quiz next week to help them review better. I've also been incorporated more pseudo-experiments. Being in the chapter social psychology lends itself to that. I spent a whole period going over the paper that's due next week - had them practice writing sections in groups. Also, I'm not worried about getting through the chapter as I've already decided to postpone the exam so I'm going through the material more slowly. I think all of this has helped things get off to a good start. I even had a nice, moderately lengthy conversation with one of the students who came to my office to take a make up exam about his theater interest.

The end of my break I had a chance to hang out a bit...had breakfast with one friend, had dinner and saw a movie with another (Pan's Labyrinth, a little too violent but a thumbs up), visited a friend and her new baby, went to baby shower for another woman. This baby shower was on a whole other level than I'm used to--a small Thai restaurant rented out, buffet, huge diaper cake, beautiful giant cupcakes for dessert, baby games that looked professionally printed, Mikasa prizes, expensive presents, etc. I was the only one from our church there.

Monday night I went to an informational meeting at an adoption agency. I came away excited about the possibility of adoption. Two things that made it more possible were 1) their sliding scale, and 2) the fact that they had no space requirement. I had been under the impression that a two-bedroom apartment was a necessary element for us to adopt. I guess it's only the city/state child and family services that has that two bedroom rule. I like that the organization believes in open adoption, too.

Visiting our friends and meeting Chloe:





Looking at the wrong camera at the baby shower: