Save my pennies for a rainy day...

It's officially Autumn here in the British Isles. I believe Wednesday was the first official day, but this weekend has certainly reassured us all that Summer is long gone. The air is cold, crisp, sometimes rainy, and all the times blustery. I don't think I'll be leaving my house for the next 24 hours until I absolutely need to. I've already ruined, per say, the bottoms of two pairs of jeans...I'm not happy. 

This weekend went incredibly quick. Friday night I spent cleaning my room, getting a few things sorted out, indulging in a glass of wine, and then heading to bed at the ghastly hour of 9pm. Welcome to life as a working adult. It's exciting beyond imagination. Seriously. ... Teaching really takes more out of you than one could ever expect. My Friday's tend to be less intense than the rest of the week. Unfortunately, it's all the work that is done AFTER the students leave that really can wipe you out. The monotonous grading of books where students constantly misuse commas, full stops (periods in American), They're/their/there, where/were, effect/affect, accept/except and the list goes on.  It's the need for differentiating in EVERY BLOODY LESSON that causes you to spend three hours on a lesson when it really should only take an hour max; after a while I completely give up and just hope for the best. The silver lining of all this is that I'm not the only one struggling at the moment--most new teachers are and it's reassuring to know that I'm not alone. I could easily see how this section of my post could go off on a rant about how the children of the UK are falling as fast as the children in the US. How their education system is just as messed up and backwards as ours. How this "Every Child Matters" bullshit is just a different name for the "No Child Left Behind" act. But I won't, because I know I've already lost most of you to the next paragraph of this blog. So I'll continue on...

Yesterday was a bit more entertaining. Bri came to visit, which was simply awesome :) It was so nice to see her, especially since it's been almost 2 years! We got a bite of lunch at Ha Ha Grill (really good food, not so wonderful service), headed over to the mall area, walked around, bought a shirt from Monsoon (it was on sale--I can't actually afford clothes in that store) and then headed back to my house. Jason picked me up about 7, though we didn't actually leave until 9. We finally headed over to Stoney Stratford for the evening. The architecture is BEAUTIFUL there, even in the evening and more so even when it's raining/crappy out. We had some amazing Indian food last night, some really wonderful conversation, and then headed over to The Bull (since the other place was closing at 11pm on a saturday night. I was not impressed by this...) for a drink and a sit by the fire. What a nice evening! 

Today will be spent doing laundry, creating powerpoints for my lessons this week, more cleaning, reading and, as my roommate Michelle says, much faffing about :)

Home sickness is setting in a bit right now. I'm not sure if it's the weather, my terrible PMS or a mixture of both. Some things I'm urning for at the moment: Bagel Bin/Bagel Boys, beautiful Autumns in Maryland and New York, trips to Columbia with Lori SCREAMING the Jimmy Eat World song as we speed down 695, early morning autumn runs down Putty Hill, Anny and Chris, crazy nights out with Sarah, Purrrfect Pitch madness, my second home: Starbucks, Susan always reminding me of such, the PNUSSY wagon, spurratic Panera meetings with my Wife, ladies nights out with Erin followed by much complaining about how Mahwah is a TERRIBLE place for people our age, and so much more :(