Terrible, horrible, no-good…well, you know the rest…
Posted by admin on February 9th, 2010. Filed under: Uncategorized.Yesterday was one of those Awful Days. I had been planning all week to give a Very Big Exam to my students, yet failed to you know, WRITE IT last week. I’d done the vocabulary section and the long answer section, but had also promised a multiple choice section which I had NO DESIRE to write last Thursday because all I could think about was my three-day weekend. Late last night, I remembered that last year, in a fit of being The Meanest Teacher Ever, I’d written a multiple choice pop quiz and thought that surely, I could combine the two for the perfect test.
Until I arrived this morning, and could NOT access said test, because our computer system is all kinds of awful. I spent the next 15 minutes scrambling to re-write not one, but TWO versions of the test because kids these days are CHEATER, CHEATER, PUMPKIN EATERS. Mid-way through the writing of the test, I decided that doing this without coffee was not a good plan, so I decided to make some coffee.
Now, let me tell you the grossest thing ever: my classroom, and the entire building in which it is located, is currently experiencing a severe Ant Invasion. I was already Type-A like whoa about cleaning my room, but those stupid ants invaded my candy jar of Dum-Dums, better known as “what I use to entice my students into thinking grammar is great fun.” So, anyways, I opened my coffee pot and what came out? ANTS. Like, a million. Okay, so maybe not that many, but seriously, even one ant would be enough to deter me from drinking coffee from it.
I cleaned out the coffee pot with gratuitous amounts of cleaner with bleach and Clorox wipes and then, for good measure, decided that running a few (okay, three) cycles of water only would complete the psychotic amount of cleaning necessary. So, after running the water through, I decided to pick up my coffee pot and shake it out, JUST IN CASE there were other ants hiding in the crevaces.
Except, I forgot about that glorious warming plate that keeps my coffee warm all morning, and placed my left hand squarely upon it.
Do you know what’s not awesome? BURNING YOUR FINGERS AND THEN HAVING TO TYPE WITH THEM TEN SECONDS LATER. There was much cursing and gnashing of teeth and general whining. And then I had to go make copies, and the office is basically my nightmare in the morning with all the craziness that is going on and I was just not a happy person.
Then, I got a Very Annoying Email (personal, not work) that just made me ranty—you know, muttering under my breath and all composing nasty replies in my head before I finally decided to just not reply. I caught two students cheating on my test (note to students: using a dictionary in the middle of test isn’t exactly a subtle way of cheating, nor is using your cell phone!) which just pissed me right off, because it’s lame and I gave two versions and STILL, they found a way. I had to re-do a semi-important project that I’d already done. By 2:00, I had the sort of headache that makes me want to gouge my eyes out and lie in a dark room and drink copious amounts of caffeine while swallowing a bottle of Excedrin Migraine and ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh.
It was just not a good day.
But then, I got a phone call that was nice, and I was able to talk through some things that have been on my mind. I listened to some Ke$ha and some Patty Griffin and sang my little heart out on the way home. I got three of my favorite magazines in the mail. Elizabeth told me that Eli woke up and asked when I’m coming back, which made my whole day. My dad called to tell me that they’re so certain his cancer battle is over that the doctors are removing his chemo port (the last step in this process!). Andrew took me to sushi for dinner, which I’ve been craving for about a week and it was amazing because it was just what I wanted and sushi is awesome. I made plans to go visit one of my dearest friends and visit her brand new baby girl today. I snuggled with my cat, returned some deliciously fun emails and texted a friend about pure ridiculousness and it hit me that sure, my life may have days when my coffee pot is teeming with ants and teaching isn’t perfect, but still? I really can’t complain.
February 9th, 2010 at 1:21 am
What a day! I can’t believe that the students were cheating right in front of you. Smart ones, huh? I’m glad everything resolved calmly at the end!
February 9th, 2010 at 5:02 am
my facebook status has been “*MYNAME* and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day” for about a week now. Ironically, my day’s haven’t been getting any better, and I think perhaps I was a little premature in unleashing my ‘terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day’ status, because my days have progressively gotten worse, and last Wednesday, when the status was posted, looks like a walk in the park compared to the last three days.
I’m glad at least one of us can have horrible days and still smile at the end of it, because I sure can’t smile anymore.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:19 am
Ah! The healing power of good friends, family and sushi! Glad it got better. My current focus is that spring really can’t be that far away, everything looks better when spring comes.
February 9th, 2010 at 5:59 am
So sorry your day was so chaotic, but glad at the end of the day all was right
February 9th, 2010 at 6:32 am
I’m so sorry you had such a crummy day – can’t believe your kids cheated WITH DICTIONARIES! If it makes you feel ANY better, you made ME feel a lot better regarding the dentist thing, & I appreciate it so much! <3
February 9th, 2010 at 6:49 am
I hope today is better! Take care of that burned hand
February 9th, 2010 at 7:19 am
i love that even on the shittiest of shitty days there are still so many things to be happy about if you want to. glad to hear you had some great reasons to smile beyond the crap filled day.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:30 am
oh! i had one of these day yesterday, too! and same here: i realized that even if one thing disappoints, it doesn’t mean everything else has to. so i decided, on a whim, to go a trip with a friend next weekend. and i already feel better. hope today is better for you!
February 9th, 2010 at 7:40 am
Ouch! I gasped out loud and shuddered a little reading about your burned hand. Hope it’s not too bad. Great news about your Dad! You are blessed to have great friends and family to help turn a bad day into a not-so-bad day.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Wow, reading this post exhausted me so I don’t know how you’re feeling!! When I was in school nobody ever got caught cheating in an exam, over the whole 7 years of high school! And I was always too scared to even think about it lol!!
I hope your hand gets better soon, and that you’re able to sit down and unwind sometime this week – you deserve it!
February 9th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Oh man. That is some crappy day right there, I’m glad that there was at least a light at the end of it all.
February 9th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Oh my gosh you poor girl, I’m sorry about the horrible day! I hope your poor hands are feeling better, and I’m so glad things started to turn around. Cat cuddles and sushi tend to make everything better
February 9th, 2010 at 8:39 am
Oh man, that sounds indeed like an exhausting day…. I hope you get the ant problem under control. I hate ants.
I am glad the day turned around later… and Sushi dinner can make up for almost anything
How’s your hand doing? Will you be able to crochet tonight?
February 9th, 2010 at 8:57 am
curious, what are three three favorite magazines?
i love the things we pull out of our comfort boxes when we have bad days. (your magazines, cat, baby, sushi..)
February 9th, 2010 at 9:30 am
Multiple choice tests are the devil yet a necessary evil… I can’t believe how difficult they are to write and to find already written. Isn’t that what we pay the publisher for? But THEN, the kids change and the questions don’t and so even though it was so great to have the text questions one year, you have to come up with something the next year. And even though I HATE, HATE, HATE multiple choice tests for their testing value and the difficulty in writing them, there is NO way I was ever going to read all free response or essay questions because who the hell has all that time!
There are something I do not miss about teaching!
Happy Tuesday Amy!
February 9th, 2010 at 9:31 am
It’s really hard having a bad day at work. I’m happy to hear things did end up turning around and you were able to get out of your funk, thanks to some good things happening.
February 9th, 2010 at 9:38 am
What a crap day. I hate mean emails! If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything! Anyway, hope today is looking a little brighter for you.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:24 am
Ooooh, first: I’m sorry you had a bad day, and second: I love how you turned this around! Sometimes we just have stinky days where nothinggggg goes as planned but then the amazingly incredible people in our lives just remind us of the big picture. Awesome story!
February 9th, 2010 at 11:28 am
At dinner the other night a lively discussion broke about among the New Yorkers and Californians at the table about what was worse: ants or mice. The New Yorkers loathed ants. The Californians mice. It seemed backward until we realized that it all has to do with what you have come to believe as normal. As a Californian living in NYC – Mice are not okay! I hate ants too but I will take them any day over rodents.
So, would you rather have mice or ants?
February 9th, 2010 at 1:46 pm
I’m very sorry your day went that way!
However, I’m so glad to hear about your dad’s good news =) I hope it continues to be on the up & up for him!
February 9th, 2010 at 2:06 pm
Hand injuries are the worst. I have done that so many times. I’m lucky I don’t have more scars than I do. And ohmygodthecheating. I never had the guts to do that in school, ever.
I am so glad to hear your Dad is cancer free. Isn’t it funny how sometimes how even the worst days can manage to turn themselves around a bit?
February 9th, 2010 at 5:16 pm
Your ant invasion sounds like something out of a horror movie, and brought up that awful part in The Poisonwood Bible about the carniverous ant invasion they had. Have you read that book? Do you know what part I’m talking about? AWFUL.
Anyway, it’s nice when the good things outweigh the bad. It’s especially nice when the good things happen AFTER the bad things to make you forget about the whole thing. Soooooo happy about your dad. That is just amazing! And yes, sushi is awesome and delicious.
February 9th, 2010 at 7:42 pm
What grade do you teach again?
If they know better than to cheat, I’d automatically fail anyone I caught.
February 9th, 2010 at 11:03 pm
I hope things are looking up. We had ants invade at the library and one day I went to the staff lounge to get a donut, because someone had brought them in special, and found the whole box crawling with ants. So disappointing.
Like the Ashley above me, I’m wondering what grade you teach.
February 10th, 2010 at 12:09 am
That sounds like it was incredibly frustrating for you! I hope that you’re back to your normal self today!
February 10th, 2010 at 1:05 am
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