Today was my last 8-10 pm practice, I think! Starting tomorrow, there is a free lane after school, so I no longer have to practice until 10, come home and eat dinner, and then wake up for school at 5:40. Yay! Swimming is going well too - I split a 59.9 on 400 medley (butterfly) which is, as much as I can remember, the first time I've ever been under 1:00 untapered (= tired).

Then, because we were already in Chicago, I stayed in Chicago for the night and got to MAKE PUMPKIN COOKIES with the Boumgarden family (graduated swimmer now doing Teach for America in St. Louis; he came to watch the meet.) It was amazing - sometimes, I forget how nice it is to relax, have fun, and just eat cookies and icing. Also, seeing John talk about his third grade classroom made me remember that I have awesome kids. Sure, there's a few that wouldn't be considered a favorite, but on the other hand, these kids are awesome. And I'm starting to (tangent here) get the question "what are you going to do?" a lot now. My answer?
"I'm a math major for secondary education."
Pitied Questioner: "oh, so you want to teach?"
"Er, well - maybe? I like a lot of things? Almost everything in my twenty-one years has pointed me directly on the path to nerdy math jokes and knitted cat- sweaters, but I know one thing: I'm pretty sure that I'm thinking I might not want to be a teacher." And a good mentor/friend of mine pointed out that I don't have to pick anything "for the rest of my life." I can just pick for a year, a few years, at a time. So my answer for the future - I am applying to a couple graduate schools for Ed Psych programs, which would prepare me for research. (Similar to what I did this summer, only leading the program instead of tagging along behind.) I am also looking at various non-profit organizations and community development programs that have educational and research-based components. Last, I am waiting until after student-teaching is over to reflect without the stressors of teaching; then I will be a little more decisive and opinionated about teaching, even just for a few years.

Oops, big tangent. Anyway, had fun in Chicago - pumpkin cookies and visited Josh's friends in Lincoln Park to watch their two little girls dedication ceremony at church.

And if you are looking for things to pray for, here's a mini-list:
- finishing up teaching - being excited about it and enjoying it; showing the kids that I love them and the subject of math.
- John teaching - patience, more love, for the kids to respond to the work he's putting into it.
- futures. they're crazy. As for this, I have a quote that I always think of - "God seems to do whatever he pleases with little regard for my schemes, and that is utterly disconcerting" -Winn Collier
- Norovirus to STAY AWAY - Hope College, our main rival, has been quarantined for 5 days due to an outbreak of the Norovirus (I think it's like a really bad case of the flu). No documented cases at Calvin yet, but we've been warned.

And if you're looking to respond, does anyone have any fun ideas about spatial relationships/ 3D geometry? Like 3D coordinates, polyhedra, etc... Short, fun activities that don't take up a whole lesson space.



Me, utterly disconcerted. (in my new glasses.)