Wednesday, August 20, 2008

What teacher sets up her classroom at 2:30 in the morning? ME!!


Last night and tonight, I arrived to my classroom (just before 10 PM) and worked until 1:30 AM and 2:30 AM respectively. I am so productive at night!! And so is my friend Andy. He's on a second-shift schedule anyway, and so the two of us hang out and are productive together. Thank God for good friends like him!

The conversation flows, laughter ensues, snacks are eaten, and suddenly the hum-drum nature of unpacking my classroom and setting up for the new school year becomes ENJOYABLE. Hooray! And tonight I even got a little unexpected joy, when I saw--for the first time in my life--the word "spigot" in print, when I had always believed it to be spelled as "spicket" since that is how I thought I heard it pronounced. It's a good thing Andy was there to confirm that my excited exasperations were indeed called for, since the word "spigot" was most definitely referring to that metal hardware from which one gets water.

Here I am at age 29.25 and I am STILL encountering everyday words from the English language in print for the first time! Rare moments like these are so savory for me, and I am actively trying to see how old I can get while having the occurrence still happen. Maybe it makes me feel youthful or something. Or maybe it gets me excited about my language.

Or maybe it is the excitement that comes from realizing that not everything in this world is what you would think it to be, and that sometimes it is even more beautiful and more unique than expected. For example, I remember when I saw the word " mannequin" for the first time in print (which happened as an adult). I was absolutely delighted with it. The "q" was so much more exciting than the "k" that I expected. I had been speaking the word for years and had no idea it was so beautiful on paper. Now when I say it, my lips speak it with a bit more flare, knowing that it has a sassy little "q" in it. :-)

So, yes, tonight was quite an enjoyable and productive night (and early morning). You might be wondering, dear reader, how two night owls like us would know when to go to bed. Well, when Andy's eyelids begin to dro0p and he starts to fall asleep among the books I have scattered around on all my desks, then I know it's time to say "Good morning!" and go home! Tee-hee!!