What's been up

1) Aaron is making me catch up to him with Lost. I've been having confusing dreams that never resolve themselves because of it.
2) We are soooo behind on The Office. We have church on Thursday nights and no TiVo. I am so curious about what's going on with Jim and Pam, and the even cuter couple, Michael and Jan.
3) Aaron wants to pick out our Christmas tree on Saturday. I guess we'll have to go to Big Lots or something and buy some lights and ornaments. Maybe I'll put a picture up of our tree when we're done. Or not, because I'm so lazy.
4) I am learning that it is a challenge to keep our apartment clean. We make so many promises to ourselves about cleaning that we just don't keep. Like:
"Let's always wash the dishes right after dinner."
"Let's put away the clothes right after we fold them."
"Let's vacuum this weekend."
In our favor, we do sleep a lot.

It's a sometimes kind of day

I spend a lot of time with high school students. Well, not compared to someone who works at a high school/Starbucks/the DMV/Six Flags, or is the parent of a high school student, or is a high school student him/herself. But it comes down to about eight hours a week. Here are some of the thoughts that frequently run through my head during these hours:
1) I'm old.
2) Who's __________ ? (fill in the name of a local band)
3) I need to do something with my hair.
4) Why does that girl never talk to me? Am I doing something wrong?
5) I'm tired.
6) She totally likes him! I wonder if he can tell.
7) I want a burrito.
Turns out that when I spend time with high school students, I have a lot of the same thoughts that I had when I was in high school, excepting 1). There are days when I feel like it doesn't matter that I'm with them, that I'm not really helping them with much, and I wonder what I'm even doing. My sense of incompetence is sometimes off the charts.
Last night, a freshman girl I'd just met saw me walking toward the parking lot, and she started moving toward me, zombie-like, arms outstretched.
"What are you doing?" I queried. "Giving me a hug?"
She nodded and squeezed me tight. I'm not sure why she did it, especially when I barely know her. I usually don't feel like hugs are a big deal, but this one really got to me, and made me want to keep going for another week. Somehow she came up to me at the right time.