I just finished my second week of teaching. I was a bit conerned earlier in the week because several of my classes were a bit more lively than I am accustomed to. Generally, the students are somewhat subdued in the first couple of weeks but that was not the case this year. They came out of the gates yipping and yapping...but....I have since put the clamps on the potential problem with the implementation of my new seating chart. Most teachers assign seating charts the first couple of days but I wait for a couple of weeks until I get to know the kids and the potential challenges. Than I make my seating and break up all the little cliques and place the kids who might be a potential problem in strategic locations in my room. It generally works pretty well since I have written less than two referals a year for the past five years which ain't too bad considering the nature of the high school beast......The rest of the week had it's ups and downs.... On the up side...I have been tearing it up on my workout regiment. I am now working out about an hour and a half a day, five days a week. I have currently abandoned the gym for the foothills outside of town where I either hike or ride my mountain bike. It's been a real challenge during the week because I do my work outs in the extreme heat but the benefits more than make up for the pain I go through while sweating like a pig as I ride and hike up and down the foothills outside of town. I am gradually building up quite a tolerance to the heat and the physical pain of a good workout. I have also lost about ten pounds over the last four weeks and feel better than I have in years. I don't know how long I am going to be able to ride this wave but I am on top of things right now and am going to try to keep it up as long as I can...on the down side of things....I was caught off guard at the end of the week regarding several personal relationship matters and my living situation which I would prefer to not go into...but...Let's just say I was emotionally flooded for about thirty six hours to the point that the red alert button was on. I still don't handle these unexpected situations all that well even though they generally work out better than I always imagine. And, it is so frustrating because more often than not there is so little I can really do especially when others are involved. I have learned over the years that I cannot think my way through the problems and just laying around worrying or complaining about the situation doesn't help either. Maybe I just need to get on my bike and ride for a couple of hours when the shit hits the fan.....anyway......the temporary crisis mode is now over and life is back to normal which is the way I like it but I better not get too comfortable because it's only a matter of time until the merry go round starts again.....which....I guess is just the way the world turns.......