Wimbledon Court Diaries: September 2010

Week 1

School started on Wednesday, September 8th and it has already been a crazy, crazy week! There were some events that happened this week (before school even started!) that has created a lot of distraction for all of the staff. Technically, I don't think I am allowed to share what is going on yet...but I will definitely update when the cost is clear.

If you put that aside, my first week has been better than I expected. I have 28 4th graders in my class. And yes, everyone was right who told me fourth graders are just big first graders, they really aren't that scary. My class reminds me a little of my fourth grade year (only I hope to be a more exciting teacher). We are boy heavy, and there are a number of students that have behavior problems, that is to be expected now days. I also have a handful of girls (and a couple boys) who are pleasers, and want to do extra work or read me everything they write. So far it has been pretty fun. I only teach for about 2.5 hours a day so it has also been fairly easy. Even if I have behavior problems I know I can walk away from it at 12. I have a feeling it will get more stressful as the year goes on because I do not have the flexibility of finishing a project up after lunch or keeping kids in from recess. I teach math and writing everyday for the most part and that means lots of assessing and lots of grading, but I am hoping to make it a fun positive year for all of them. My biggest struggle right now is what to do about spelling when they are writing. I think I will need to give a lesson on using dictionaries and I have some kids who I am pretty sure won't even be able to do that... Right now I have a pile of math assessments (with no key) that I need to grade. I hope week 2 goes as smoothly!

Newport

We went to Newport for the weekend before school started to set up the apartment. Near by is Agate Beach. We went there for the first time and it was really quiet amazing. I don't know what caused it and if it is always like this, but there are lots of mini sand dunes. It was really fun to play on (and my legs got really sore from walking up and down them). Previously, I had only been to Nye beach and the wharf. We are working on scouting out some new areas and restaurants. We found a cafe by Nye beach that serves a lot of vegetarian and vegan food and of course we couldn't pass up saltwater taffy and caramel corn from the Candy Shoppe on the wharf. I'm looking forward to trying out the drive in the outback. It should be much better in a new car with a working defrost and mist setting on my windshield wipers!

Subaru

Well, it finally happened and I still can't believe it! For the past 6 years I have been looking at every Subaru on the road (mainly outbacks) and dreaming about how someday I would own one. I always imagined that I would get a used 2000-2004 outback. But I noticed that the price of them never really got cheaper and they were getting older. Erik convinced me last year to think about getting a new Subaru outback since they were not all that much more expensive then the old ones. I said that I would consider it, but that I really wanted to test drive them. Now if you have seen my Geo Prizm, you would know I was getting really anxious for a newer car. The Geo was a bare bones 1995 that we bought for $2,200. It now has 199,000 miles, no AC, and a cracked windshield, needs new breaks and new tires. We were hoping to sell it for $500-$1000 on craigslist if we were lucky. With winter coming and frequent visits to the beach, we decided it was time to start test driving Subaru's (plural?). I wanted to look at Carr Subaru in Beaverton because they are "salary salesmen". Last weekend Erik and I drove up there and test drove a 2011 Subaru outback in graphite grey. It had 6 miles on it, a moonroof, backup camera, and the all weather package. To be expected I fell in love. The problem: the price. They would not take my Geo as a trade in and they also could not get the car in our price range. The salesman was great, the sales manager not so great. He would not let us leave and I was starting to panic! Finally, after 3 hours of being there,I stood up and said we couldn't do it (he knew I was the one in love and a push over). We left empty handed and a little discouraged. However, Erik had made us an appointment at Capital Subaru to talk to the Costco sales rep. (If you didn't know Costco can give you some good deals on cars). Well it turns out Capital Subaru is also salary and everyone there is nice (and not pushy) their cars are also more reasonably priced. It just so happened they had a 2011 graphite grey Subaru outback with a moonroof, backup camera, and the all weather package with only 4 miles on it! It was meant to be. I was the first customer to ever drive the car :) Capital also traded in our Geo for $500!!! While we were in the process of getting the car Carr Subaru called and left a message saying they would take the Geo for $1000 if we bought the outback today. Guess somebody was desperate. We went with Capital for many reasons: they were nice, cheaper, and closer to home. So now Erik and I are proud Subaru owners and I have a feeling I will be a Subaru owner for life!