That was a busy morning.

So let's talk about what I did today instead of how emotionally overwhelmed I am. Either way, we're talking about ME ME ME. I am a very self-centered person. Yes.

I woke up this morning at 6:00am but did not get out of bed until 7:15am because I (a) am lazy, (b) am tired, and (c) really like my blankies. But I did get up finally and got to School One by 8:00. Why am I going to school on Wednesday? I don't have classes on Wednesday. Well, I'm grading my students' infernal cahiers. (Cahier means notebook.) They must have a grade on them, and their classroom teachers can't do it because it's not their lesson and there's a reason they're not teaching English. And I wouldn't ask them to grade them - it's my class, it's my work. It's frustrating, rewarding, surprising, and astonishing all at the same time. Some kids are awesome orally but don't have a darn thing written in their notebooks; some kids have everything in their notebooks and it's beautifully done; some kids are just absolutely clueless. Luckily their notebooks strongly correlate to their performance and behavior in class and later on the évaluations. I was at School One until 9:30. After that I went to School Two, where I have four classes. That took until about 11:15. I got to School Three which is about twenty minutes away if I book it or four songs on my iPod (thank you Jackie and Andre and Ivan and Benno, that little pink square saves my LIFE) by 11:35. I quickly graded the eighteen notebooks I have there, because school ends at 12:00. So that was my morning. Je suis épuisée.

Remember how S*, a fourth grader at School Three invited me to her tenth birthday party? I did call her parents to decline. I'm her teacher, not her friend. And it's not fair for other kids who don't have a birthday during the school year, who don't have a birthday party, or whatever. Apparently she told EVERY fourth grade girl at her school that I was invited. The other girls in her class all asked me, as did random other students at School Three who I don't even know. Greaaat. "Are you coming to S*'s birthday party?" Eek, I didn't know what to say! S* was absent yesterday for English and today when I was extraordinarily there, so I couldn't even tell her personally. I have a bad feeling this could be uglier, but it's not very comfortable for me. Thanks a lot S*.

Also, we have finally been paid. This paycheck is paying for two weeks on the Cote d'Azur and Paris. I am SOOO excited for vacations. It seems to be mostly on vacation that I speak more French. I will not be taking the Toshiba with me as I really want to disconnect myself from this thing for a bit. I will post about my vacation soon; I know I promised this weekend.

I am going to take a quick nap, write up some grade grids, bundle up American penpal letters, do my exercises (I should post about those some day, it's amusing), go to dinner, and veg. Thursday and Friday are going to be taxing.