For the Love of Kindle!

I love my Kindle sooo much that I decided I needed to have one in every color. So now I have a black one and a white one! I guess I have 3 if you count my kindle app on my iPad too. Pretty nifty if you ask me.

Ok, ok. I didn't just go out and buy another Kindle to be wasteful and silly. This new Kindle is technically the property of John Adams Academy (the school I work at). It just happens to live with me and spend the majority of its time with me. Also I love it. Its funny because when I got it today, I was super duper excited about it. Even though I already have a Kindle. I hope the other one doesn't get jealous. Don't worry, theres plenty of Kindle love to go around!

This brings us to a new topic:
I love my job!
I have the best job ever. Hands down. Don't even try to argue, I will win. I am so excited about this new school! Its pretty much the most genius idea for a school ever. I'm not just saying that because all the students will have Kindles :)

Grocery shopping into adulthood

My iPad is super cool however, it is not the best for blogging. lame. Anyway for all four of the people reading this blog, I am soRry that I haven't been very good about posting. I know you all check it daily... Emily ... :)

(eye break)

Very important
Updates on my life:

John Adams teacher orientation starts august 1st
School starts august 22nd
I've past the 100 hundredth book mark on my kindle
I moved to Roseville with some awesome roommates
I am growing my hair out again
I bought an iPad. It's groovy
I started running (don't count on this lasting long. So far I've gone 3 times)
Also there's this boy...

Recently I went to the grocery store to get, you know, some groceries, and I happened to run into some friends. Specifically candice's aunts and cousin. The first thing Carolyn said when she saw me was, "look at you, all grown up and grocery shopping!"

Carolyn is right. I am grown up. I mean, obviously I've done a lot of grocery shopping. In fact I think I went twice last week because I forgot to get eggs the first time. I hadn't really thought of grocery shopping as a barometer of maturity before. I think grocery shopping is kind of mundane, takes thought and organization, and can be done poorly if not well planned. So ya. It is kind of like adulthood. Now considering I went to the grocery store to buy eggs but came home with not only that but hot sauce, cheese, a pack of gum and a box of Oreos; I don't think I did so well. I really could have done fine with out those things. Well, except the eggs. And, I don't even really like chocolate Oreos. I hope... Well never mind...

Miracle Report!!

I am so grateful to know that we are children of a loving Heavenly Father. I have learned from such amazing experience that the Lord guides us to be in the right place at the right time so he can bless us. I know at times I feel like I don't understand why things have to happen the way they do but I try and have faith to remember that the Lord's perspective is eternal and trust in him. Lately more than ever, this has been evident in my life.

Wow, I cannot believe how incredibly blessed I am!! Just a few short weeks ago, I was planning on going into the peace corps and I was soooo excited! When, I found out I couldn't go, I was kind of devastated. That was my plan for the next two years and without it, I was feeling really lost. I'm the type of person that thrives on goals. I love having something to work towards. It makes me feel like I'm progressing and I want to always feel that way. After finding out I wasn't going to be leaving for the Peace Corps, I felt goal less and purposeless. I don't like feeling that way. Luckily Heavenly Father has been very mindful of me and my situation. I cannot even begin to tell you have blessed my life is. Just 2 days after making the painful decision about the peace corps, I got called to interview for a history teaching job for the new school year in fall 2011. Substitute teaching started to pick up, and I started getting jobs everyday instead of just 2-3 a week. Then I found out that I got the job I interviewed for which is such a huge deal! I feel so blessed and excited to be able to start teaching full time again in my very own classroom! I started making plans for the future and looking to move out into a place I could afford on my limited subbing budget. A very good friend of mine found a job posting for a permanent history sub job which I applied and interviewed for. Just this last week I found out that I got the job! Even now I can't believe it. It is such a miracle. I will be teaching full time in my very own classroom starting Wednesday! As in 2 days from now! I don't even have to wait till the new school year! Now I am moving in with a group of beautiful roommates who I could not be more excited to live with! Life is never perfect but I know that if we simply focus on the positive things and strive to recognizes the tender mercies of the Lord in our life, we can be happy.

I'm so excited I can't even think straight which is a problem because I'm supposed to be writing lesson plans right now... Holy cow! I can't believe I get my own classroom in 2 days!!

1st Graders are the spawn of satan

I know this blog is called magic in the ordinary days which means I should be talking about the simple pleasures and blessings in life but... sadly all I seem to do is complain! This is the last time!

I love substitute teaching. I have definitely learned a ton from it. I studied history and government in college and only have experience teaching high school basically thats all I know. I'm not a very well rounded person. When I sub, I get to learn about lots of different subjects and lots of different age groups. Teaching elementary school especially has been really cool. I have learned so much about classroom management and different techniques for engaging students. I will definitely apply this to my future classroom and hopefully be a better teacher because of it. Having said that...

What is the deal with first graders?! I have taught every single grade, k-12 and each grade has their challenge but 1st graders are by FAR the most difficult. They are awful! Its like they wake up on the wrong side of the bed every morning! I have subbed 1st grade about 4-5 times and for several different teachers. It is always the same! Its very deceiving because they are ridiculously adorable. But! Don't judge a book by its cover. 1st graders are without fail very very mean! So, be warned: If you ever find yourself surrounded by a pack of first graders, run don't walk as fast as you can!

Letters from my house in Auburn, CA

Dear Martin Luther King Jr.

I think you are wonderful. Really I do! Your letters from a Birmingham Jail, inspire me to be a better person. You seem like a really hard working person who understood the importance of a good education. Why then sir, must we miss school on a day mean to honor you and therefore prevent me from subbing? That is all. Thank you.

Sincerely
Katie Roskelley


PS. Anyone reading this should probably go read Letters from a Birmingham Jail. AMAZING

Peter Pan

I love my Kindle. I cannot remember what life was like without it. Its pretty much the greatest advancement in my life since learning to read. Its a big deal. Kindle, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways...
1. You're adorable
2. I can carry you with me EVERYWHERE
3. You allow me to have access to the Constitution wherever and whenever I may need it. (which is often)
4. You have lots of free books
5. You are simultaneously tiny and yet expansive
6. You have a dictionary
7. You have travel scrabble
8. You are mine

I could go on. In short, I am in love. I am sure the kindle will be a topic of conversation in future blogs because it has had and will continue to have a profound impact on my life. One of the coolest things about the kindle is that I can download thousands of books for free. Many of these books are ones I have been interested in but have not read because I have a. Been too lazy to go to the library to borrowit or b. been too cheap to purchase it. The Kindle is without a doubt flawless but, it has created a complex situation in my abundantly flawed life. I am currently in the middle of about 23-37 books. That seriously is only a slight exaggeration. Everytime I start a book, I think to myself, "how many othere books are there waiting to be downloaded for free that I don't even know about?" This prompts me to begin a search which unfailingly results in 2-5 new books being downloaded. Of course I get excited about the new books and begin reading one of them which inevitably results in repetition of the whole process. Because of this, I have only succesfully completed 2 books in the few short weeks I have owned my Kindle even though I have spent hundreds of hours reading on it.

The 2 books I have been able to read all the way through are: The importance of being Earnest (which is actually a play) and Peter Pan. I had read The importance of being Earnest before but had forgotten how incredibly hilarious it was. If you haven't read it, you totally need too! Its soooo funny! I laughed out loud through the whole thing. Oscar Wilde's writing is incredibly flamboyant and I love it. Peter Pan, was a book I had never read before. I have wanted to read it for a long time and I am soooo glad I did. It is fantastic!

Do you remember what it was like to be a child? Remember the crazy things you used to think up when playing with dolls our just making up games outside with friends? It was so much fun! I miss those days. Reading Peter Pan, is like reliving those days. JM Barrie does an incredible job of expressing exactly the mind and imagination of a child. He has such a whimsical way of describing things that when I picture it in my mind it makes me giggle. Heres one example,


Stars are beautiful, but they may not take an active part in anything, they must just look on for ever. It is a punishment put on them for something they did so long ago that no star now knows what it was. So the older ones have become glassy-eyed and seldom speak (winking is the star language), but the little ones still wonder. They are not really friendly to Peter, who had a mischievous way of stealing up behind them and trying to blow them out; but they are so fond of fun that they were on his side to-night, and anxious to get the grown-ups out of the way. So as soon as the door of 27 closed on Mr. and Mrs. Darling there was a commotion in the firmament, and the smallest of all the stars in the Milky Way screamed out:

"Now, Peter!"

If you haven't read this book, you are no better than Captain Hook himself! Bad Form! No go out and read it!

PS if you're not lucky enough to have a kindle, stop being lazy and go get it from the library!

Are you ready for Christmas?

I am not a big fan of small talk. I am admittedly a frequent participant as it seems to be completely unavoidable. Around the holidays the small talk grows less varied, instead of the usual "how has your week been?" or "What do you think of this crazy weather?"** we bring out our go to holiday small talk.

During this time of year we have options such as the very open ended "Don't you just love Christmas time?" or the pleasant "You staying here this year or going out of town?" My personal least favorite is "So, are you ready for Christmas?" This statement is usually accompanied by a facial expression that would imply impending doom. What exactly are you expecting my response to be? Was I supposed to be preparing for something? I am a single, 20 something living alone in my grandmother's basement. Are you wondering if I have I prepared myself mentally for the awesomeness that is Christmas? Or perhaps you're referring to the physical preparation needed to handle the excess food and beverage consumption. Either way, I generally try to avoid such heavy topics as my mental and physical health in small talk.

In the last few weeks leading up to the blessed day, I have been asked this question probably a bazillion and a half times. My usual response is something to the effect of "Oh ya! Bring it on! I love Christmas!'' This response is generally met with gasps of shock and unbelief, as if i have been blessed with some unearthly Christmas preparatory super power. Yes. I have a super power, and I am awesome.


**(by the way I have a whole other issue with this statement. We constantly talk about "the crazy weather" if the weather is always crazy wouldn't that make it normal?? anyway...)