does this wetsuit make me look fat, or does my fat make me look fat?

Lots to report, not much time or interest in doing so. I moved in with Kevin last weekend, and things have been going well thus far. Not that I'm ever home. I like living here; it's nice not to have to leave a warm bed to throw on my clothes from the day before and brave the cold at 5:30 in the morning just to drive back to my parents' place to get ready. I like having a place for my things. I don't care for the animal fur all over my shit, but I'm learning to deal with it. I attended a writing conference this week (which means I was out of my classroom for 2 days - a first). I came away from the conference with a sense of direction in teaching writing. With a plan. With a purpose. With a system. Which is a lot more than I had before. My teaching has been very haphazard thus far, unfortunately. I plan for a week at a time, not really knowing where I'll be the next week or the next month. I look to my grade level for direction, but get very little. I have been so consumed in other aspects of "First Year" that I've forgotten to do a lot of the things that good teachers do. Fortunately, my brain is beginning to awaken and remember the things I learned in student teaching. There is hope.

I wrote a note to my kids when I stopped by my classroom Thursday night after the conference and BTSA. I wrote a morning message telling them that I missed them and was proud of them. And after I wrote the words, I realized that I meant them. And that is encouraging.