Posted 8:27 AM by Ben
My biggest excuse for not updating this blog is that I have nothing to say, but for now I'm just going to write anyway. If it winds up sounding dumb and embarassing, I guess it'll fit in just fine.

My winter vacation started last night. It was a pretty inauspicious beginning; I went to a holiday party thrown by my mentor teacher and then fell asleep early. But that's okay. If I do nothing besides not teach for the next two weeks, the vacation will have been a sucess.

When I say things like that, Katie thinks I hate teaching. I don't. It's traumatizing and crazy and stressful when I need to plan an empty 50-minute stretch of class every day, but it's also a lot of fun. Katie asked if I want to go to law school, since teaching seems to stress me out so much.....I said that I'd rather be around 120 kids than 120 papers, even if the papers wouldn't scream at me or tamper with my windshield wipers.

That's a story, by the way, but you've all heard variations on it before and I won't get into it.

The party was fun enough. A bunch of 30-something professionals (mostly teachers) and their kids. There was an ornament exchange, which I watched, and a lot of conversation, which I watched. My biggest interactions came with the pumpkin bread and the olive relish.

I dunno. I've gotten better and better at relating with high schoolers (some might say the skill has come eight years too late), but I still had a hard time going up to adults last night and making conversation.

Oops. I just pet Mia and woke her up. I don't feel too bad, though. She woke Katie and I up a few times last night by scratching the bed, until we banished her from the bedroom. She then did a two-hour impression of a fire alarm until I finally got up and changed her litter box. She's such a little priss.

Tomorrow I head to Miami for a few days. I get to see my sister Carin, who is home from France, and most of my extended family. I am very excited about this! But at the same time I feel terrible about leaving Katie, who has to work.

It's a strange shift; we used to go weeks without seeing each other, but now a few days apart will feel like I'm losing a vital limb. I think that's a good thing, and I know that as much fun as I have in Miami I'll be back here annoying her soon enough.

Two weeks without work. I don't hate teaching, but God it will feel good to sleep until 6:01 if I goddamn well feel like it.

Holiday shopping today, cards and gifts. I have no idea what I'm getting or who I'm getting it for. Have a great day, all. Revel in the winter, because the air is electric and cold memories are always more epic than sweltering ones.