Here it is, one of my favourite times of year - the beginning of second semester.

Why do I love second semester, you might ask? Well, even if you didn't, I'm going to tell you. Here are my reasons, in no particular order:

1) Everything old is new again - Okay so it's a bit of a cliche, but I love that I can just throw away everything I screwed up from last semester and get a chance to try again. Experience tells me I will undoubtedly make the same mistakes again this semester, despite my good intentions, but right now I can still bask in the warming glow of the hope that this will be the semester I succeed!

2) New friends, new people - Okay I loved the kiddos I taught last semester, but truthfully, spending 5 days a week with them grows tiresome after awhile. I would liken it to living with a friend...you can really, really like them, but sometimes you get sick of seeing their face everyday. So instead of waiting until you're not friends anymore, you evict them and get a new roommate. Well I am getting approximately 90!

3) Stress-less - For the next week, I won't feel buried beneath an unbearable mountain of marking. Sometimes even two weeks. So I can do fun stuff without this nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me "You know you should really be working right now!". I always ignore that voice, but still, it's annoying.

4) Change for the sake of change: Sometimes, a change is good, just because it's a change. Like sheets, or underwear.

And as I sit here in my workroom, writing this blog, I have come to the realization that courses may change, students may change and timetables may change, but in the midst of it all I remain the same.

But for the next couple of weeks I can hope that this is the semester that I will change!

Can't wait to see what June brings :)

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Okay so I'm a thief; I have stolen the term "intentions" from a colleague who has in turn stolen it from somewhere else. But since I always fail at maintaining my resolutions and am then overcome by the accompanying shame and guilt, I decided this year to try out some New Year's intentions, and see how well they go. So here they are, in no particular order:

1. No more sports suspensions - I almost made it through a full year without one, but blew 11 months of problem-free sports events in December by engaging in a small altercation with another player in a hockey game. So this year I intend to make it 12 months without issue. We'll see how it goes.

2. Less procrastination - I can remember being 8 years old and trying to write my speech for my grade three class the night before I had to present it. I remember at that time thinking, "I will never leave anything to last minute again." 25 years later and I am as big a procrastinator as I was then. But this year that all changes. I will stay on top of deadlines, will finish marking essays in less than a month and won't spend more time on Facebook than work.

3. Stop over thinking - Sometimes you just have to go with the flow. I think I have sabotaged many a potential relationship by worrying too much about what might or could happen, instead of just being happy in the now and letting what happens happen. I've actually already failed at this once this new year, but since I hadn't actually put this list in writing I won't count it as a failure yet.

4. Start eating healthy - this one will go a lot better if I include doing grocery shopping on my list as well. I know it's not going to happen, but I figure I'll add it to the list for the hell of it.

5. Be better organized financially - This is probably the most important one, and one I really need to work on. I have to start looking at my finances and keeping track of where my money is going.

I could go on and on and on, but we'll stick with 5 for this year, and see how they go. But at least this year I won't feel bad when I break them all :)

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