so, again

it's been a really long time. lots going on, but no time to sit down and report it all. also I got an iPod touch for Christmas, so most of my free time is dedicated to downloading apps and playing Bejeweled. Sorry.
Kids are lovely, house is good, the man and I are still on speaking terms. No big emergencies or excitements in the last little while, although the boy did fall and smash his face on the deck at the in-laws' place last weekend, and man did it swell! It settled down into a disgusting bruise that made him look very much like he had been in a bar fight. I tried to get him to tell people that he had, but he wasn't up for it. Probably because he doesn't know what that means. Batman doesn't get in bar fights. He's become completely obsessed (to the extent that he's allowed) with the Lego Batman game for the Wii. It's pretty fun, you get to beat everything and everybody up and they break up into lego pieces. We've also been playing Mario Bros a bit. The boy thinks he likes to play, but it's actually almost impossible for him to do most of the things, so not really fun for anyone.
Work is going well. We had a class hamster, but its sibling which was in the another middle level class was (oops) impregnated over the Christmas break, so the 2 were taken home. We got another one, and it escaped. Bastard. I'm thinking of getting a guinea pig, they can't really climb out of stuff. Also they're bigger and I would think more resilient. Maybe. Anyway, now we have these 2 cages attached by a maze of tubes, and no frigging hamster. Sigh. I'm about to the point where I'm just going to decide that this is my classroom, and start getting rid of all the years of other peoples' crap that lives here. Old, old, old textbooks, resources that are completely out of date, pamphlets that have no place being handed out to anyone. Nothing useful, naturally, but a bunch of stuff on shelves and an entire closet, as well as an enclosed shelving unit, absolutely FULL of stuff. As much grief as the French classes give me, I do hope to be back here teaching it again next year, and after that. It's still a very new program, and the kids who are taking it mostly don't want to learn French, so that's tricky. It'll get better. It has gotten slightly better, the kids aren't generally so rude, more good-natured when they say "OH NO FRENCH!" as they pass me in the hall. Good times.
Anyway. The boy has swimming this evening, so I'm heading out so we can all be fed and ready to go! It may be a supper out night, who knows! I'll call the man and see what he thinks. I'm going to try to convince him that he should take the boy swimming, but since he takes him skating, I think that leaves me in charge of swimming. We have to go in the family change room, which I do understand, but we had been going in the women's, because he's just a wee lad. Last week we were complained about, mamas are uncomfortable with these boys in the room with their girls. Well, ladies, I'm sorry that we don't all have the luxury to have same-gendered children to bring swimming. The "family" change room has no benches, leaving you to put your things on the wet floor and fight a losing battle with your child to keep him from sitting on the wet floor, 2 change rooms which are never available, and a toilet which is too high for a child to use. How is any of that family-friendly? There is also a sign on the door that says "no strollers allowed". I do understand that, but it seems ironic, don't you think? Anyway, rest assured there will be a strongly-worded letter heading to the pool folks shortly.
Like I said though, I'm out!