A list, a song, and some cat drama. Normal day.

You know those songs that you just have to listen to, on repeat, for weeks? Music just gets into my blood and into my bones, sometimes, and I have to let it run its course till it's done with me. This song, Night of the Dancing Flame by Róisín Murphy is that song for me right now:

 

So good! Just Halloween-y and spooky enough to make me a little excited about Fall, but definitely still steamy enough for summer.

Things I am looking forward to in the next week:

1.) An all-day training tomorrow at work. Weird, maybe, that I'm looking forward to something that's usually so tedious, but I'm actually pretty excited; I'm the only part-timer at my work who will be attending this particular training with the rest of the full-timers, so I'm hoping this means that someone higher up is expecting a lot from me. And that's a good thing.

2.) Going home to the Bay Area this weekend with my man! He's going to meet my dog, hang out with my parents, see the place where I grew up... So exciting!

3.) Starting my new programs on Tuesday! I'm most looking forward to running a Harry Potter book club- does this generation of kids even know Harry Potter? They will soon!


Less awesome thing of the week: crazy sister ran away, again. But that's a story for another day. So, I'll end with my favorite part of the day: Steve Frisbee, the neighbor cat, flirting with my Little through the glass door this morning. They just can't quit each other, those crazy cats!

Catherine

New around here.

So, I am beginning this blog. It's a good time to start something new; it's almost September, which has always felt more like the beginning of a new year to me than January. When does one grow out of that school-kid mindset?

It's also the beginning of a new phase at work, which is what made me decide to begin this blog. I work at a national non-profit, which runs an after school program throughout the school year, and a summer camp program in the summer months. We are revving up for our school year program to begin on Tuesday, just next week! I'll be starting a new position as the Learning Center Teacher, which makes me so excited and happy. Walking into my new room and seeing my desk and bulletin board is so strange, since I've always resisted being a teacher. And yet, here I am; I never went to Teacher School, officially, but here I am, running all of my own academic programs, serving hundreds kids every week. And I love it.

I'm most excited about starting up a Girls Group for our 6-8 little girls. I've worked with elementary-aged kids for awhile now, and I've noticed that even the littlest girls are starting to worry about makeup, boys, clothes, hair... So much stuff I didn't even think about till I was at least in middle school. I feel like such an old lady, sometimes, but even being just 23 has given me such a different perspective on girls' relationships to themselves and to the world. I'm looking forward to helping a bunch of little ones go out into the world a little stronger, and a little more sure of themselves, and a little braver! Something I certainly could have stood to learn as a child.

I'm hoping this blog will give me a place to talk about my new work life- hilarious kid things, the challenges of being a not-quite-teacher, the advantages of working for a non-profit. I think I'll probably also just write about my life- living in Portland, DIYing my tiny little apartment, co-existing with a grumpy cat, cooking lots of yummy food. I'll hopefully get some pictures going soon, too. For now, though, I'll end with a Portland sunset, and some sunflowers on my balcony. This is beauty!

Catherine