Lemon Drop

Sept. 8&9- Yep, I was right. Nothing happened over the weekend. I used an online program to check my physical fitness (realage.com or some such site). According to them, my real age isn’t 27, it’s 30. I eat too much red meat and not enough fish, vegetables and whole grains. They also suggest some more vitamins (how many pills should a girl have to swallow in a day?) and more strength training. (I walk some and do some yoga, but no weight training, etc.) Okay. I’m trying to stay as healthy as possible since insurance doesn’t seem to make financial sense at this point.

Sept. 10- Monday I had a lot of fun teaching again, yay! It’s so great to have a job you like. Sept. 11- Tuesday I was busy, busy, busy with office hours and studying and running to the store, then going to poetry class. Poetry class was great. I wrote a poem in class and another on the walk home. . I was in such a good mood when I got home that I did an impromptu song and dance (sort of a pseudo-polka…proof positive that deep down I’m a geek. A proud, German geek, but a geek nonetheless).

Sept. 12- Wednesday was more teaching: my students had a great peer editing session. Well, there was one misstep. Hee. Okay, this is embarrassing. I had a tickle in my throat, and they were peer editing. I didn’t really have to talk, so I popped a lemon drop in my mouth. One young woman raised her hand, so I went over to her group to answer her question.

While we were talking, I looked down for a second and…well, I guess my mouth was open, and…yep. The lemon drop dropped out of my mouth and onto a student’s bag. I gasped. “What?” the group asked, “What’s the matter?” “Oh, this is so embarrassing,” I replied, “Okay, I had this candy in my mouth and it fell out on your bag.” Then I reached down to grab the candy and it proceeded to fall in her bag. “NO! I am so sorry.” I reached in and gingerly lifted the candy out and tossed it in the trash. “It’s okay,” they all kept assuring me, “it’s just a candy.” “Yeah,” I replied, “but now I’ll be the only teacher in history with ‘she spit candy in my bag’ written on a student evaluation.” They all laughed, though, so I laughed, which they seemed to appreciate. Do things like this happen to other people, or am I the only one? Maybe I’m the only one willing to broadcast her embarrassing moments.

That day, I also had a big presentation to give (25% of my 19th Century British Lit. grade). I was so nervous, but I think I pulled it together pretty well. I still have to finish the paper that goes along with the speech. When I asked for advice, the teacher asked that I change the focus a little bit. Check. I’m still a little nervous, but I’m trying my best.

Sept. 14- Thursday, writing day, I got up and wrote a few poems and did a little more polishing on my portfolio. Sept. 15-Friday my lesson wasn’t focused enough, but I learned from the experience. Even though I didn’t connect with my students as well as I usually do, they were still attentive and nice. My students were also nervous about handing in their first papers to me on Monday. They kept saying they wanted help, so I added office hours from 1-4. Actually, I ended up in my office from 1 to 5. You know how many students showed up? None. Yep. Not one. Was I surprised? Not really. At least I got some reading done.

That night there was a party for the MFA people. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around until it was too late to walk there. I don’t walk after dark in neighborhoods I don’t know. Neither of my roomies with a car was around. I didn’t want to splurge for a cab. I have the phone number of one girl with a car, but she was the one throwing the party. So no party for me. Instead, I caught up on sleep. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of parties in the future.

My social life is the one thing that’s lacking here. I miss Tom, of course, and I miss my best girlfriends. I miss having people around to hug and laugh with, in that way best friends laugh together. I’ve made some casual-chatting friends, but I haven’t had any of those “A-ha!” moments when you meet a friend and know right away you’ll be friends forever. I found some at BVU, and I found one in Spain. I found some in NYC, and now I need to find some here. Where are they hiding?