Sweating the Small Stuff

I’m guilty of sweating the small stuff.  I don’t know why or when this started, but I notice that in certain situations I find myself stressing and over-thinking to the point of exhaustion. I’ll give you some examples of my weirdness.

Whenever I have to go somewhere I’ve never been I stress about it non-stop. What time do I need to leave? How do I get there? Do I take this exit or the next? I could have the whole route memorized and still stress about it. I don’t know why. I’ve never gotten lost and I generally have a great sense of direction. In fact, I used to deliver pizzas and found myself to have a great sense of direction and never stressed about going on a delivery to a place I didn’t know. I don’t know what makes me stress out now, but I do.

Whenever I’m going to a place where there is a set of procedures that I’ve never preformed before, I stress, going over every possible scenario in my head over and over. This could be anything from a trip to the doctor’s office to a trip to the DMV. If I’ve never been there, I stress. Do I have everything I’m supposed to have? What do I do next? Are other people judging my actions because I don’t know what I’m doing?

At the end of all the stressing, when whatever action I wanted to complete has been completed, I always relax. I think to myself, that wasn’t bad, why was I stressing? I know I’m weird and I have really no reason to stress, but I do. I sweat the small stuff, but I’m trying to change that.

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The Great Twitter Facial Hair Contest

Ok, it’s not really a contest. The only thing you win is the gratification of seeing me make a fool out of myself. I’ve decided that I’m going to let the folks on Twitter (and commenter here) decide which facial hair style I should wear. I will grow/shave my facial hair to match whatever the winning choice is then post a picture of it up on here and flickr. What are the choices? Well, I’m glad you asked. Take a look at these fine examples (image from dyers.org).

beardtypes

The only catch is I will not do a full beard (come on, it’s going to be summer in St. Louis. That’s just cruel!) and the Super Mario looks pretty much impossible. You can vote by commenting here or sending me a reply on twitter

UPDATE:There’s now a poll, so submit your vote!

Frustrations

Tonight was a frustrating night at Sylvan. It was frustrating enough that at the end of the night I thought to myself how I didn’t want to ever go back. Both hours I was there I had 3 extremely hyperactive kids that needed constant attention (2 of them I had both hours). None of them would listen to me, none would do their work, all were hyperactive. Usually I have fun while I’m there (otherwise I wouldn’t be there), but tonight was not fun. On top of having kids that needed constant prompting, they were all almost entirely guided practice. It was extremely difficult teaching 3 different things at one time.

The 2 hours mentally and physically exhausted me. The two boys I had, both in 5th grade, would not stop talking to each other or to the table behind me. Typically I have great table management skills, teaching ISS for a year will do that for you, but it’s hard to have table management when they don’t listen at all.

One of the girls I had was frustrating as well, but that wasn’t her fault. The work she had she could not comprehend. It was an independent practice activity and she needed to be guided through the entire thing, and she still couldn’t find the answers. I feel bad for not being able to help her more, especially since the two boys I had required the majority of my attention. The other girl required me teaching a new math lesson, while trying to deal with the two boys who seemed to be even worse the second hour. I hope Saturday goes smoother.

Crawl for Cancer 2009

There is a Crawl for Cancer coming up in St. Louis on June 20th, 2009. If you don’t know what Crawl for Cancer is, it is an event to raise money to find a cure for cancer. You get a group of 10 people together and you drink 4 pitchers of beer at 4 different bars. After the event is over, there is a party where more beer is served. The cost is $400 for the team and it includes the 4 pitchers at each of the 4 bars, the t-shirt, and the after party. I participated in 2007 and had a blast. It’s for a good cause and you get to drink beer with friends. I’m thinking of starting a team (or maybe more than 1 if there are enough people interested). If anyone wants to join, let me know. The deadline for creating the team is May 25th. You can check out the details on the Crawl for Cancer website.

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The Inauguration

Barack Obama taking the Oath of Office

Barack Obama taking the Oath of Office

I guess I should say something about the inauguration. The thing is, I do not have much to say on the topic. I’m speechless. It’s almost like a dream. Whether or not you voted for him or agree with his policies, it was a momentous occasion. The country is forever changed, for the better, from this day forward. I will never forget this election. I will never forget this day. I wish I could have been there. Heck, I wish I could have watched it live on TV instead of listening to it on NPR. At least I experienced it. His speech I think was perfect for the occasion and I think he handled expectations well. He warned America that the road to prosperity will be a difficult one but if we take responsibility for ourselves and work hard, we will get there. The whole day was just amazing. Again, it’s almost like a dream.