So THAT's what 3 a.m. looks like

The hectic pace from my wedding weekend has not slowed, but I've got time to kill "watching" the kids (Norah is playing a game on her Leapster and Levi is pulling everything out of her bookshelf) so I thought I'd mentally purge some of the chaos. Tuesday and Wednesday marked my first auditions as play director. I'd been advertising for a couple of weeks and fielding questions regarding monologues (What's a monologue? What do I do with one?), but I had no true expectation of what the turn-out would be like. Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Fifteen or so students performed for me Tuesday, and another 20 yesterday. Their enthusiasm and dedication were so nice to see. I see hundreds of students filter through my classroom each day, and it can be easy to feel discouraged at the lack of interest or work. Seeing dozens of students prepare EXTRA work for an outside activity gave me a boost of "So this is why I do what I do!" I'm still hammering out the casting process (more of a puzzle than I could have imagined) but the official list will be tacked up outside my room by 7:15 tomorrow morning. My mentor advised hanging it up and them promptly locking my door to avoid tears and questions. While that's not normally my style, I can't say I'm not considering it. Luckily, there are a lot of roles for this adaptation, so even the less than stellar auditions can yield a small speaking part. I'm excited to see them tackle their lines and watch as the story comes together. I'll definitely keep you posted on that wild aspect of my life!

My fellow blogger Angela (check out her funny, thoughtful posts here) lamented recently about the immense pressure we feel this semester. The only noticeable difference is the heightened focus on formative and summative assessments (let's be honest--they're pre and post tests and few English teachers enjoy them), but it feels as though the stress load has at least quadrupled this year. I find myself thinking of a better way to present lessons while I'm trying to sleep at night. I'm worrying over modeling thesis statement writing while I play with Levi. It's like I can't as easily compartmentalize my job and my life anymore. I'm hoping once the first semester of the new evaluation system is under my belt I'll find my groove, but this breakneck pace is definitely taking its toll on me.

What doesn't help is my son's newfound night owl tendencies. I don't actually know if I can call it a habit yet, as last night was the first occurence, but it was a doozy. Levi woke up at 1:30, which he occasionally does to eat, so I made him a bottle and prepared to head back to bed within 10 minutes. An hour and another bottle later I realized that wasn't happening. So, 2:30 a.m saw me driving around downtown La Porte with my kid in tow. It was almost eerie how dead the streets were. I don't know why I assumed more people would be out and about at that time, but I was shocked to pass only two vehicles. I did see a couple walking hand in hand down the middle of State St. (leaving one of our many bars, I presume) and I got an up-close view of the street crew tearing up the median at the bottom of the overpass. I also noticed lights on in houses--I was trying to guess whether they were left on for an animal or for safety purposes or if an inhabitant happened to be awake like me. Once I reached my neighborhood again I saw a man pulling his SUV into his garage and I started making up a story about his work schedule and how he finds time to play with his sons (none of this had any basis except he was parking at 3 a.m.) The whole thing was bizarre and then turned voyeuristic, but the writer (and ex-spy) in me kind of enjoyed it.

We got home, baby silent, Mom thinking her trip did the trick, but then.... eyeballs. He was wide awake enjoying the drive as well. We ended up watching television until 5 when I was able to put him in his crib and grab an hour of sleep in bed before getting up and rushing into my day. Long story short (well, not short at all, I see) I was a bit frazzled and at a loss for words today. My students said I was "hyper," so I guess I muddled through OK. I so desperately wanted a nap this afternoon, but the hubs wasn't home. Now it's time for dinner, and then I'm off to the READ La Porte County Scrabble tournament to dominate with my partner, Ben. Dominate is used loosely here, because the last two years we got spanked by people who have memorized the Scrabble dictionary and can think as fast as machines. It's always a fun night, though, losing aside.

Hopefully I'm not mauled by disappointed actors tomorrow and I can report on a triumphant triple word score. Wishful thinking!