Saturday Relay is tough - but, I figured out how to make it better! I woke up super early (ouch, but worth it) and went on a great 6-miler. Then, for the rest of the day, I was in a good mood, and entitled to snack all day! There were further bread machine joys, and I managed to accomplish the impossible - I finished my thank you notes!
I've earned myself 3 days off from running. It's nice.
I have a lot of work this week. Well, I have the usual amount of work, but only 3 days to do it. I've been coming in early and leaving late, but I think I might make it through the week and get all my work done! I have until 3PM tomorrow until they close the building for Thanksgiving (OMG where has the time gone?).
Today's lesson was rough. I didn't have enough opportunities for the students to get guided practice for a skill (creating a scale on a graph), so I rushed on to Independent Practice. When this happens, students get frustrated, all hands shoot up at once, and then they get distracted and chatty. I can either spend the time putting out small fires, or admit my mistake and reteach the skill. It took me until the last class, but I finally admitted my mistake, accepted that we wouldn't have time for an exit ticket and still have enough time to practice, and redesigned the lesson. It helped that our principal fellow (like my IL last year, a sort of North Star expert principal-in-training) was there (can you believe that I actually enjoy having principal-folk in my classroom? My, how things have changed...). This class, which is my tough one, did very well, and we didn't finish Independent Practice, or the Exit Ticket, but they learned the skill, which is really what is important.
Back in detention. It's running smoothly - and there's only 30 minutes left. I have no run tonight (woot! but also lame!), so instead, I'm going out for Thai food with some friends. It don't get any better than this. 1 day until Thanksgiving break! This time tomorrow, I will be in the swimming pool. Or, home afterwards, drinking some of that delicious new port we bought.
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Thursday, November 21, 2013
It's an Emergency!
Haha, it's amazing how often students claim that they MUST go to the bathroom NOW. Almost every time, they just want to get out of class. I understand that (really, I do), but if they are failing my class due to weak classwork, I'm not just going to let them leave. It always surprises me how often emergencies are not emergencies, "I'm bleeding!" turns into "Go wash your hands", and the "hiccups" disappear with a stern talking-to. I'd like to think I'm going to make an awesome parent one day (very, very far from now), but then I realize that I'll get to distracted with cheeks and fat thighs to remember to parent.
I really need Christmas break. Tension is high, Relay isn't helping, and the students are getting antsy. Student paychecks are looking worse every week, and homework effort is waning. Students are getting frustrated with me, and I'm getting frustrated with them, and we end class sometimes in a spiral of frustrated dollar-taking.
Fortunately, I had a refreshing day today. Today I introduced Science Fair! (I forget that even though Microsoft Office automatically changes SF to Science Fair, Chrome doesn't. From now on, it'll be SF.) Students were introduced to the 5 topic choices - and they were so engaged! We had a good amount of joy, sillieness, and engagement. Besides, they are doing quite well on scientific method content, which we reviewed today.
It was refreshing.
Of course, now I'm in detention, so I'll end my post before I stop feeling so refreshed.
Workouts have been good. Lots of running. Oh! I forgot! I won a race this weekend! Okay, I didn't win, but I did come in 3rd in my division! I also beat my best 5K by 34 seconds! I'm pretty darn proud of myself - 28:49 - not even close to 30 minutes anymore. Of course, there were only 4 in my division, but that means I beat 1 person. Besides, I was only about 2 minutes away from the 1st place division, so I might have a shot at it next year (for this very small, very local race). I guess the extra mileage is paying off. I'm hoping to keep up my fitness binge (I had a very productive/exhausting weekend), keep off the weight (only 1 more pound to my Thanksgiving goal), and hit 20 miles per week by New Years'.
I really need Christmas break. Tension is high, Relay isn't helping, and the students are getting antsy. Student paychecks are looking worse every week, and homework effort is waning. Students are getting frustrated with me, and I'm getting frustrated with them, and we end class sometimes in a spiral of frustrated dollar-taking.
Fortunately, I had a refreshing day today. Today I introduced Science Fair! (I forget that even though Microsoft Office automatically changes SF to Science Fair, Chrome doesn't. From now on, it'll be SF.) Students were introduced to the 5 topic choices - and they were so engaged! We had a good amount of joy, sillieness, and engagement. Besides, they are doing quite well on scientific method content, which we reviewed today.
It was refreshing.
Of course, now I'm in detention, so I'll end my post before I stop feeling so refreshed.
Workouts have been good. Lots of running. Oh! I forgot! I won a race this weekend! Okay, I didn't win, but I did come in 3rd in my division! I also beat my best 5K by 34 seconds! I'm pretty darn proud of myself - 28:49 - not even close to 30 minutes anymore. Of course, there were only 4 in my division, but that means I beat 1 person. Besides, I was only about 2 minutes away from the 1st place division, so I might have a shot at it next year (for this very small, very local race). I guess the extra mileage is paying off. I'm hoping to keep up my fitness binge (I had a very productive/exhausting weekend), keep off the weight (only 1 more pound to my Thanksgiving goal), and hit 20 miles per week by New Years'.
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Electricity and Racism
Today I'm going to be a leader at our staff meeting and begin the discussion of dealing with that challenging class. They have the ability to be so engaged with the content, and there are so many...personalities...but it's getting very challenging to get any content across.
Last Thursday, the 8th grade science teacher was out sick. She definitely needed the day off, but it was my job to teach one lesson, and to teacher the other two coverage teachers the content, since I'm the head science dude here. Of course, it's my least favorite topic in science: electricity. Okay, maybe my second least favorite, next to magnetism (so happy she isn't sick this week). I kind of faked it till I maked it. It worked, though, and I briefly felt like an awesome head science dude.
I also had to video tape a class for Relay. The class had to follow the 5E model, which is a really effective science teaching model, but it's difficult to fit every step into a single lesson. The lesson went smoothly, but I felt like I was fitting into someone else's lesson plan, which is weird. It felt overplanned and not organic. Blech. Can't wait until I'm done with it. Useful stuff, but a lot of work.
Today I had a very uncomfortable moment in which I had to explain to a (black) student why it was not okay to draw a swastika on his hand in class. He didn't really know what the symbol meant, so the dean and I helped educate him. The dean gave him a bunch of readings on the history of the symbol, including its original Sanskrit meaning of goodness and how it has since become a symbol of hate. I got to teach him a bit about why that symbol made me uncomfortable, and I asked him a bit about his background. It turns out, this student is half Arabic, and knows how to read a little Arabic. I shared how the funny language that he can read a little bit of is very similar to the funny language that I can read a little bit of. I think he walked away a bit more educated, albeit embarrassed.
It turns out, I am actually reading Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, not the other book I mentioned. Oops, right author, wrong title. I am still loving it, and sneaking it in as much as I can (like this morning, when I was tidying the classroom), but I hope I can finish the 11 hours left in the next 7 days! There's gonna be a lot of audiobooking this weekend.
Detention today is really, really stressful. I keep waiting for the powder keg to burst (okay, definitely reading too much WWI fiction). I can't focus on my work (hence the blog), but I don't need all my attention on detention. Oy. Oh well, I guess I'll give planning another shot. I still have 15 good minutes left!
Last Thursday, the 8th grade science teacher was out sick. She definitely needed the day off, but it was my job to teach one lesson, and to teacher the other two coverage teachers the content, since I'm the head science dude here. Of course, it's my least favorite topic in science: electricity. Okay, maybe my second least favorite, next to magnetism (so happy she isn't sick this week). I kind of faked it till I maked it. It worked, though, and I briefly felt like an awesome head science dude.
I also had to video tape a class for Relay. The class had to follow the 5E model, which is a really effective science teaching model, but it's difficult to fit every step into a single lesson. The lesson went smoothly, but I felt like I was fitting into someone else's lesson plan, which is weird. It felt overplanned and not organic. Blech. Can't wait until I'm done with it. Useful stuff, but a lot of work.
Today I had a very uncomfortable moment in which I had to explain to a (black) student why it was not okay to draw a swastika on his hand in class. He didn't really know what the symbol meant, so the dean and I helped educate him. The dean gave him a bunch of readings on the history of the symbol, including its original Sanskrit meaning of goodness and how it has since become a symbol of hate. I got to teach him a bit about why that symbol made me uncomfortable, and I asked him a bit about his background. It turns out, this student is half Arabic, and knows how to read a little Arabic. I shared how the funny language that he can read a little bit of is very similar to the funny language that I can read a little bit of. I think he walked away a bit more educated, albeit embarrassed.
It turns out, I am actually reading Ken Follett's Fall of Giants, not the other book I mentioned. Oops, right author, wrong title. I am still loving it, and sneaking it in as much as I can (like this morning, when I was tidying the classroom), but I hope I can finish the 11 hours left in the next 7 days! There's gonna be a lot of audiobooking this weekend.
Detention today is really, really stressful. I keep waiting for the powder keg to burst (okay, definitely reading too much WWI fiction). I can't focus on my work (hence the blog), but I don't need all my attention on detention. Oy. Oh well, I guess I'll give planning another shot. I still have 15 good minutes left!
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Peanut Butter and Jelly, Take 3
It's pretty satisfying to teach the same lesson for the third year. It helps when it is one of my favorites. Yesterday, I taught a lesson on writing procedures; it is the first introduction to lab practicals this year. It includes an opportunity for students to write a procedure for making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, that I then carry out...badly. It teaches them that "put the peanut butter on the bread" might result in an experimenter taking the closed jar of peanut butter and laying it on the whole loaf of bread. Procedures should assume the experimenter is not familiar with the materials or experiment. Essentially, they had to write for 7th grade students. It is a fun lesson that is also useful for learning exactly how much detail is best.
I was worries about doing this lesson with my difficult class, but we keep being told to assume the best, and to give each student a new chance each day, so I have myself a pep talk and dove in. I used a lot of positive narration, such as "thank you for giggling just a little bit and then quickly regaining focus", and I gave a lot of dollars for simple things like responding professionally to surprises, but it worked! Not only did it work, but they have fun. I'm still amazed how differently a lesson can go when it starts on a positive note.
Each year, we have a "culture inspection" at our school. Principals from across the North Star network, as well as some higher-ups in the organization, walk through our school for a morning. They judge us on things like "positive tone" and "educational posters". We spend the previous weeks practicing staying positive, and laminating posters, and making sure breakfast is silent, and making sure our corrections are minimal, and making sure transitions are perfect. Today, I had a few inspectors in my classroom, while we did a practice lab practical.
I had an awesome moment, and an awkward moment. The awkward moment is one that has happened before. Kids get a little excited and nervous when there is a visitor in the room. I sent the kids into a turn-and-talk, when they discuss a concept in pairs, but I didn't "brighten the lines" (give them an obvious cue), so when I said GO, they sort of stared around, unsure if they were allowed to break the silence, and then one student started talking, and stopped, until I gave them a better cue. This is not the first time this has happened to me.
The awesome moment happened during cleanup from the lab. The students followed my directions perfectly, silently, and urgently. Within about 3 minutes, all materials were perfectly cleaned up and students were working on their conclusion. It was beautiful, and was likely 50% awesome instructions and 50% students trying to impress. I was proud.
Unfortunately, I passed the principal after she had gotten her feedback, and she was not in a good mood. I'm hoping it is unrelated, but I don't think so. I think our school is getting a little weaker on the details after adding on an 8th grade, especially on the 5th/6th grade floor. Transitions are a little funny. I hope that we are getting some specific feedback on how we can improve our school (especially transitions!).
I'm on a workout binge from now until Thanksgiving. After my awesome run this weekend, I gave in and failed at my not-scheduling. I planned out two weeks of 8 workouts per week, followed by a light week Thanksgiving. Each of the two weeks will have 3 bikes, 4 runs, and a swim. I've already gotten 3 workouts done (okay, more like 2-and-a-half, because my legs are starting to feel the fatigue, and my bike ride tonight wasn't as hard as I can do when my legs are fresh). I had a tough bike ride (on the trainer) on Monday and a really great, medium fast run in the WINDY COLD last night. The run wasn't as fast as I had hoped (probably due to the biking the previous day), but the weather made me feel pretty badass, and it was my longest-ever school day run (4.43 miles). Here's the rest of my week:
Thursday: easy run 3.5 miles
Friday: REST
Saturday: run like last week (5.5 miles including fast 1km repeats), 1 hour bike (outside, for real)
Sunday: easy run 3 miles, 2000-yd swim
Here's to the wedding exercise binge, part 1!
I was worries about doing this lesson with my difficult class, but we keep being told to assume the best, and to give each student a new chance each day, so I have myself a pep talk and dove in. I used a lot of positive narration, such as "thank you for giggling just a little bit and then quickly regaining focus", and I gave a lot of dollars for simple things like responding professionally to surprises, but it worked! Not only did it work, but they have fun. I'm still amazed how differently a lesson can go when it starts on a positive note.
Each year, we have a "culture inspection" at our school. Principals from across the North Star network, as well as some higher-ups in the organization, walk through our school for a morning. They judge us on things like "positive tone" and "educational posters". We spend the previous weeks practicing staying positive, and laminating posters, and making sure breakfast is silent, and making sure our corrections are minimal, and making sure transitions are perfect. Today, I had a few inspectors in my classroom, while we did a practice lab practical.
I had an awesome moment, and an awkward moment. The awkward moment is one that has happened before. Kids get a little excited and nervous when there is a visitor in the room. I sent the kids into a turn-and-talk, when they discuss a concept in pairs, but I didn't "brighten the lines" (give them an obvious cue), so when I said GO, they sort of stared around, unsure if they were allowed to break the silence, and then one student started talking, and stopped, until I gave them a better cue. This is not the first time this has happened to me.
The awesome moment happened during cleanup from the lab. The students followed my directions perfectly, silently, and urgently. Within about 3 minutes, all materials were perfectly cleaned up and students were working on their conclusion. It was beautiful, and was likely 50% awesome instructions and 50% students trying to impress. I was proud.
Unfortunately, I passed the principal after she had gotten her feedback, and she was not in a good mood. I'm hoping it is unrelated, but I don't think so. I think our school is getting a little weaker on the details after adding on an 8th grade, especially on the 5th/6th grade floor. Transitions are a little funny. I hope that we are getting some specific feedback on how we can improve our school (especially transitions!).
I'm on a workout binge from now until Thanksgiving. After my awesome run this weekend, I gave in and failed at my not-scheduling. I planned out two weeks of 8 workouts per week, followed by a light week Thanksgiving. Each of the two weeks will have 3 bikes, 4 runs, and a swim. I've already gotten 3 workouts done (okay, more like 2-and-a-half, because my legs are starting to feel the fatigue, and my bike ride tonight wasn't as hard as I can do when my legs are fresh). I had a tough bike ride (on the trainer) on Monday and a really great, medium fast run in the WINDY COLD last night. The run wasn't as fast as I had hoped (probably due to the biking the previous day), but the weather made me feel pretty badass, and it was my longest-ever school day run (4.43 miles). Here's the rest of my week:
Thursday: easy run 3.5 miles
Friday: REST
Saturday: run like last week (5.5 miles including fast 1km repeats), 1 hour bike (outside, for real)
Sunday: easy run 3 miles, 2000-yd swim
Here's to the wedding exercise binge, part 1!
Thursday, November 7, 2013
Bragging About Unimpressive Accomplishments
I discovered recently that my blog was listed on a forum on Letsrun.com (a website for super serious runners) - on a thread about bloggers that brag about unimpressive running accomplishments.
You know what I have to say about that?
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Also, how do people know about my blog? Are there people out there who aren't related to me? Also, thanks for the traffic! I got 16 clicks through that link!
Once again, I am impressed by the respect I am shown at work, by my boss and my colleagues. At today's planning meeting, we spent about half the time lesson planning and half the time wedding plan. Having gotten married 4 months ago, my principal is kind of an expert.
Additionally, we tossed around some ideas about dealing with a particularly challenging class. One of my teams has been causing some problems. The class has a critical mass of mean girls and clown boys. As a result, the class culture has become one where students react to situations with just a little too much "extra", giggling and sneezing whenever possible, and general making it harder to learn, to the point that grades are noticeably lower than other classes.
I came up with a solution on my own, which was to focus on the class entrance. I know that if the entrance is sloppy, the whole tone of the class is off. And this class is an expert on sloppy entrances. They pile up in the hallway, joking around, knowing that I can watch either the classroom or the hallway, not both. What I've done is give them a challenge. I took away their Oral Drill Challenge privilege (the students enjoy that, and can earn team dollars) until they complete a new challenge: enter the class and have 100% pen to paper within 2 minutes. So far, they have only achieved this once (today) this week, but every class this week has been a lot better. It's much easier to start from an engaged class, then start from chaos and tone it down. This has also helped build my relationship with the entire class, because starting with chaos involves a lot of negative consequences and dollars lost; starting with an urgent and engaged class involves positive feedback over many small achievements.
The principal and I discussed this idea, and others we can put together to help this team be successful.
Once again, I'm noticing that I need to 1) come up with solutions for myself, and 2) ask for help when I need it. I am pushed to improve a lot less this year; I need to continue to hold myself accountable for getting better.
I had dinner with a colleague tonight, who mentioned that this is the time of year when we get comfortable teaching, it all comes back, and we're back in gear for a successful school year. I need to think about it that way - I'm not in a rut, I'm just getting comfortable. But still looking to improve.
Running rest week - instead of running tonight, I went out for grill cheese and cider. Not a bad way to almost-end the week.
You know what I have to say about that?
HAHAHAHAHAHA! Also, how do people know about my blog? Are there people out there who aren't related to me? Also, thanks for the traffic! I got 16 clicks through that link!
Once again, I am impressed by the respect I am shown at work, by my boss and my colleagues. At today's planning meeting, we spent about half the time lesson planning and half the time wedding plan. Having gotten married 4 months ago, my principal is kind of an expert.
Additionally, we tossed around some ideas about dealing with a particularly challenging class. One of my teams has been causing some problems. The class has a critical mass of mean girls and clown boys. As a result, the class culture has become one where students react to situations with just a little too much "extra", giggling and sneezing whenever possible, and general making it harder to learn, to the point that grades are noticeably lower than other classes.
I came up with a solution on my own, which was to focus on the class entrance. I know that if the entrance is sloppy, the whole tone of the class is off. And this class is an expert on sloppy entrances. They pile up in the hallway, joking around, knowing that I can watch either the classroom or the hallway, not both. What I've done is give them a challenge. I took away their Oral Drill Challenge privilege (the students enjoy that, and can earn team dollars) until they complete a new challenge: enter the class and have 100% pen to paper within 2 minutes. So far, they have only achieved this once (today) this week, but every class this week has been a lot better. It's much easier to start from an engaged class, then start from chaos and tone it down. This has also helped build my relationship with the entire class, because starting with chaos involves a lot of negative consequences and dollars lost; starting with an urgent and engaged class involves positive feedback over many small achievements.
The principal and I discussed this idea, and others we can put together to help this team be successful.
Once again, I'm noticing that I need to 1) come up with solutions for myself, and 2) ask for help when I need it. I am pushed to improve a lot less this year; I need to continue to hold myself accountable for getting better.
I had dinner with a colleague tonight, who mentioned that this is the time of year when we get comfortable teaching, it all comes back, and we're back in gear for a successful school year. I need to think about it that way - I'm not in a rut, I'm just getting comfortable. But still looking to improve.
Running rest week - instead of running tonight, I went out for grill cheese and cider. Not a bad way to almost-end the week.
Monday, November 4, 2013
Techincally Reading
Weekends are awesome. They are way too short. Why is it that everyone else gets a long weekend for Veteran's Day next week, except for us. Ugh. (I now roll my eyes and suck my teeth like a 7th grader.)
I've got the November blahs. It's draggy this time of year. Daylight savings is awful (really, this article gives many science-y reasons why). We've finished off the stress of IAs and end of marking period, and now it's just blah. It's not bad, just plain. Work is becoming a habit.
I've decided to spice things up by planning a field trip. I was thinking about the Museum of Math in NYC, which looks pretty cool. We can't do anything outdoors (weather), and we can't do anything that costs much more than $10/student. Any ideas?
Today in class, we took our first look at a reading strategy that will solve the problem we had last IA, which was that students don't do a very good job reading very difficult technical science texts. The strategy goes like this:
1. Read through the article. Don't underline or highlight anything. It's okay if you have no idea what's going on. Jot down a one-sentence summary of the article.
2. Read through the first paragraph. Write a one-sentence summary.
3. Go back to the first paragraph. Underline any phrases that support or give evidence to your paragraph summary.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each paragraph.
It lets the students break the article down, and only holds them accountable for one small piece at a time. We used it to take apart an article on global warming and different greenhouse gases. Did you know that CO2 has a relatively weak greenhouse effect, compared to other gases like methane and CFC, but it the most significant contributor to climate change because it is so prevalent.
Not all students understood everything about the article, but I'm hoping the strategy will allow the students to self-scaffold. That is, if a student can not understand the last paragraph, they can at least work through the rest. If another student can only understand the first paragraph, they should at least be confident in that. This will allow lower students to be able to answer some questions correctly, rather that just giving up at the start. It shows students that if they don't understand something, they can start with what they know, and that that's okay, and they can build up from there.
I managed to test out of Relay tonight, although it took some negotiating (there were some grading disparities, I was very professional about it, and I will refrain from posting the thoroughly entertaining email thread until I have my certificate and/or degree from Relay). I will take tonight to do something very important - get a manicure. I get to make myself feel special, and even impress my middle schoolers.
I also did a very big thing today. I added Tim to my health insurance. It'll save us about $500 next year. This is real, a real relationship. It's not the ring or the lease that does it; it's the acknowledgement from Blue Cross/Blue Shield that makes it official.
I've earned myself an easy week this week - I hit my workout goals for two weeks in a row (plus a bonus swim), and have absolutely no pain (well, except the sore everything from weightlifting yesterday). I get a week of whatever-I-want training (except today - I want to go running, but should really take the rest). I've started a new audiobook (Ken Follett-Pillars of the Earth), and can't wait to drive and go running any anything else that lets me listen to more. Guess I'll wait until tomorrow!
Addendum: I had been worried about starting a new audiobook because it is a very long book (~26 hours, compared to the usual 10-15), and I only had 4 days left on my loan (it is a 2-week loan, but another book became available that I had to read, and you know how that goes). Fortunately, I just learned that I am allowed to renew a book once per borrowing! That means I have a whole other 2 weeks to read it! It's the things like this that make my day.
I've got the November blahs. It's draggy this time of year. Daylight savings is awful (really, this article gives many science-y reasons why). We've finished off the stress of IAs and end of marking period, and now it's just blah. It's not bad, just plain. Work is becoming a habit.
I've decided to spice things up by planning a field trip. I was thinking about the Museum of Math in NYC, which looks pretty cool. We can't do anything outdoors (weather), and we can't do anything that costs much more than $10/student. Any ideas?
Today in class, we took our first look at a reading strategy that will solve the problem we had last IA, which was that students don't do a very good job reading very difficult technical science texts. The strategy goes like this:
1. Read through the article. Don't underline or highlight anything. It's okay if you have no idea what's going on. Jot down a one-sentence summary of the article.
2. Read through the first paragraph. Write a one-sentence summary.
3. Go back to the first paragraph. Underline any phrases that support or give evidence to your paragraph summary.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each paragraph.
It lets the students break the article down, and only holds them accountable for one small piece at a time. We used it to take apart an article on global warming and different greenhouse gases. Did you know that CO2 has a relatively weak greenhouse effect, compared to other gases like methane and CFC, but it the most significant contributor to climate change because it is so prevalent.
Not all students understood everything about the article, but I'm hoping the strategy will allow the students to self-scaffold. That is, if a student can not understand the last paragraph, they can at least work through the rest. If another student can only understand the first paragraph, they should at least be confident in that. This will allow lower students to be able to answer some questions correctly, rather that just giving up at the start. It shows students that if they don't understand something, they can start with what they know, and that that's okay, and they can build up from there.
I managed to test out of Relay tonight, although it took some negotiating (there were some grading disparities, I was very professional about it, and I will refrain from posting the thoroughly entertaining email thread until I have my certificate and/or degree from Relay). I will take tonight to do something very important - get a manicure. I get to make myself feel special, and even impress my middle schoolers.
I also did a very big thing today. I added Tim to my health insurance. It'll save us about $500 next year. This is real, a real relationship. It's not the ring or the lease that does it; it's the acknowledgement from Blue Cross/Blue Shield that makes it official.
I've earned myself an easy week this week - I hit my workout goals for two weeks in a row (plus a bonus swim), and have absolutely no pain (well, except the sore everything from weightlifting yesterday). I get a week of whatever-I-want training (except today - I want to go running, but should really take the rest). I've started a new audiobook (Ken Follett-Pillars of the Earth), and can't wait to drive and go running any anything else that lets me listen to more. Guess I'll wait until tomorrow!
Addendum: I had been worried about starting a new audiobook because it is a very long book (~26 hours, compared to the usual 10-15), and I only had 4 days left on my loan (it is a 2-week loan, but another book became available that I had to read, and you know how that goes). Fortunately, I just learned that I am allowed to renew a book once per borrowing! That means I have a whole other 2 weeks to read it! It's the things like this that make my day.
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