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2001-10-14 - 8:26 p.m. I had a pretty good weekend. We had inservice day on Thursday and then statewide inservice day on Friday. I ended up going to the Oregon Teachers of English Conference in Portland on Friday and staying the weekend with my friend, Helen, who I did my teaching program with. It was pretty fun. There were some big deal English people there that no one probably has heard of who is reading this, but they were a big deal to me. I also got a free book! This lady had this display of all this Writer's Inc. stuff and we asked how much the college one was, and she said she wasn't selling them but if we come back later on she will give them to us for free. I was quite pleased with that. I also got some useful information on how to do Lit. Circles. I was amazed by being surrounded by so many English teachers. I felt a little bit intimidated, to be honest, especially when we did any group work. I don't know why. Helen and I had a good time together this weekend. We went on a winery tour with a bunch of her friends. It was definitely a case of hanging out with richy riches, but it was still pretty fun. The only thing that bothered me was that some rather racist comments were made by some of the people. It was shocking and offensive. I discovered that I actually do like some wines, but I didn't buy any because I have better things to do with my money. One nice thing about staying with Helen is that she is a mom and I guess she feels sort of motherly toward me. She totally made me feel taken care of the whole weekend. When she would wake me up she would bring me a cup of tea, and I thought that was so nice. She also made a bunch of food and it has been awhile since I have had a home-cooked meal (not that my mom makes much food for me--she is a non-cook like me). Anyway, it felt good. Her husband and son are really nice as well and her husband gave me a whole bunch of flower bulbs for my new little house. I am hopeful that what he said is right--that all I have to do is plant them and they will grow in the spring. I am not a very good plant person but I would love to have some flowers. I also went to the mall. I have mall withdrawal and so it was fun for me. I got my mom two presents for her birthday and also got a pair of pants and bought Justin some mango dry skin body butter from The Body Shop. I know it is an odd gift for a boy, but he gets dry skin and it really irritates him. Also, I discovered that boys really do like to be pampered but are too manly to buy their own pampering products. You have to buy them for them. Mark and Elizabeth asked if we wanted to go on vacation with them for Spring Break. I think it would be fun. She works for a hotel chain now and if we could get cheap airline tickets then it wouldn't cost us very much. I'm hoping that it will all work out, though I am also a little afraid. Sometimes Mark annoys me, but lately we have been getting along pretty well. I'm worried about tomorrow. I haven't really thought out too much what I am doing. I hate the feeling of being behind and unprepared. It's funny how sometimes the other online journals you are reading parallel your own life. I have had that feeling a lot lately. Hmmm... I'm off to watch The Practice pretty soon. I am not pleased with the whole Jimmy-gambling-addict storyline, but I'll watch anyway. I am looking forward to watching Boston Public this season, hopefully it will be good. I wish they would make it a bit more realistic, but I still enjoy watching it somewhat. The biggest complaint I have is that I think they make the kids look a lot more evil than they really are. I wish they would focus more on the positive relationships between teachers and students.
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