Rodent Escapees & Staple-ectomies

Somehow this beautiful, open week got all crowded and busy.  Dang it.  I keep getting teased by a light at the end of an insanely long tunnel.

It's already getting late, so I'm just going to list a few quick updates.

1. Just participated in 7th grade orientation tonight.  It was fun meeting some of my future 7th graders...and having Trin enter my classroom as part of the orientation!  I don't know if I will ever get used to the idea of having my own child on campus (let alone in my classroom). 
2. I have a job interview this Thursday for a summer teaching position at the local community college.  It's for a high school program called Gear Up.  That stands for: Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs.  Yeah, it's a bit of a mouthful.  Do you ever wonder if people make up the acronym first, because it sounds catchy, but then they're stuck scrambling around to find words to fit the letters they chose?  No, you've probably never wondered that, because I'm sure you have a life.  Anyway, I found out about this position through Becky.  We met on Saturday for some much-needed girl time (lunch at a cozy Mexican grill, followed by wine), and she let me know that her program was hiring two language arts teachers.  She will actually be the one interviewing me this Thursday, which is sort of amusing to me.  How do you turn off the silly and turn up the professional when it's your girlfriend?  Guess I'll have the answer to that after Thursday.
3. I've been nominated for Teacher of the Year at my work.  This does NOT mean that I am Teacher of the Year, it just means that I'm in the final running.   I've known for almost two weeks now, but I didn't want to post it on my blog because it hardly seemed newsworthy (since it's merely a nomination).  But ultimately I decided that I still felt honored to be one of the final nominees.  Even if I don't get the final vote, I'd still like to remember that feeling of seeing my name on that sheet saying "Congratulations Jodi!"  That felt pretty good.
4. My pet rats escaped last night.  One of them I found right away (Ms. Frisbee).  She came crawling out of her little hole as soon as I turned on my radio.  But Ms. Whatsit pulled a disappearing act well into first period.  I actually had to walk down to the office and report to the V.P. that there was a rodent running around the school somewhere.  He nearly cried with laughter.  He said I had made his week.  Ultimately we found her (she was taking a nap in the students' file folders), and all was well with the world again.  Their little escape hatch has been safety-wired shut now, so there should be no more prison breakouts.
5. I had to perform a staple-ectomy on one of my students yesterday.  He stapled his finger.  I mean, really stapled his finger, to the point where the staple was completely embedded into his flesh.  I just applied lots of pressure, counted to three, and pulled that sucker out.  If you yourself have any surgery requirements, I'd be glad to assist.
6. Class pets made me think of home pets--we have five kittens and they are EVERY where in my house.  I haven't been able to breathe through my nose in two months.
7. Still pluggin' away at my manuscript.  In my next scene, I have to  gruesomely kill off a sweet rabbit, so I'm not looking forward to that.
8. I finally got around to posting the commissioned piece on my Glazey blog (I still love how that rhymes with "lazy" blog, since it pretty much is).
9. Spelling Bee starts tomorrow, and I'm the Master of Ceremonies person again.  I'm excited because I love the break from the classroom, hanging out with the judges, and eating chocolate (there's always chocolate). 

That's not everything, but I need to dig up some clothes for tomorrow and drag my weary arse to bed.