I have lots of updates.

I'm moving! How exciting! I found a master bedroom for not much more than I'm currently paying. I'll still be within walking distance of work, but-- even better-- my walk to work will be on trails through the woods! My life is magical. I'll have my own bathroom, which is a luxury I haven't enjoyed in over a decade. The living room is currently pretty empty and I fully intend to colonize it with furniture, decorations, and excellence. I will be relocating mid-March. I hope to provide you with pictures when I'm reasonably happy with how things are arranged.

I went rock climbing with a student a couple weeks ago. She's a nationally ranked rock climber, so it was a bit intimidating, but she was a sweetheart. I had a blast. I hadn't done much climbing before, but I think I'd like to do more of it. It's physically challenging while being social, which seems like a win-win situation to me. I think I'll head to SportRock in Alexandria within the next week or so. I'll be scaling walls like Spiderman before you know it.

Speaking of things I've been doing with students, I'm leading three book clubs. Yes, three! I probably told you about the group reading Pride and Prejudice. Well, they finished it, complete with plans to have a sleepover to watch the movie together. That group chose to read Animal Farm next. I've never read it before; I am enjoying it. Ms. Lead Teacher and I decided to put together book clubs for the rest of the class, too, seeing as the format seemed to be working well. She's leading one-- they're reading Dune, and I am jealous. I'm leading the other two, which are reading The Witch of Blackbird Pond and The Tiger Rising. Excellent books all 'round. I am head over heels in love with The Tiger Rising. If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend you find a copy and dig in. It's written for kids, so it's a pretty quick read, but there's some powerful stuff in there. Lots of bang for your reading buck.

I've also started teaching sex ed. It's a mix of being hilarious, awkward, and responsibility-overload-y. The kids have accused me of poisoning their minds, but they're tearing through their reading. (Some of them have read the entire book already!) We're only two sessions into the eight session curriculum, and we haven't hit on anything too charged yet. We've covered individuality/stereotypes/peer pressure and families/friends. Next session: puberty. I'm nervous about how they'll handle the discussion, but I think they'll pull through.

Outside of school, I found myself a sitting group. Also known as a meditation group. I've been going every Tuesday for the past month or month and a half. It feels right. I'm glad I found it.

This weekend, I headed down to Twin Oaks. I had a childcare shift with one of the preschoolers I worked with before, and I pitched in on a milking shift. I got to bottle-feed some calves and spray a whole bunch of cow poop out of the milking parlor. Outside of doing work, I got to catch up with people who know me well. I miss having people around who know me well. I have such satisfying conversations with them. Every time I have headed down to be a guest at Twin Oaks since ending my membership, I have come away with changes that I'd like to make to my everyday life and with some important self-reflections.

I am impatient to have people here who know me well.