just say YES!

i got myself into a bit of a  pickle yesterday.  due to my unbridled enthusiasm for saying yes to everything and everyone here i earned myself a name with my supervisor.  i ask him daily if he needs any help and have only said yes when he wonders if there is something that i could help with or offer my expertise in.  so he knew that all he had to do yesterday was say, "i have a favor to ask you" and i woud say yes before i knew what it was.  well i did just that and even though he has never asked me specifically for a favor before (this should have been a tip off) i jumped at having a project to fill my down time yesterday.

he asked me if i could come up with some drawings for a test that he had to administer later that afternoon.  really??  since when did he think i was an artist?  did i ever tell him this in another context?  how on earth did he think that i could do this?  what he specifically wanted was three series of pictures.  each series was to have four pictures a piece and each was an answer to a multiple choice question where they had to understand the question (in english of course) so they could choose the right picture.  the kicker is though that each picture measured 2cm by 1.5cm.  i had to fit people and actions into these small dimensions and make them clear enough that students could distinguish what they were.  um, okay. 

i did the first series with a bold attempt at realism.  roundish bodies for people and on them clothing with distinguishable characteristics.  it was bad.  really, really bad.  these people were not looking too healthy or happy in any regard, but alas i pushed on to continue the task at hand.

needless to say, the next series was seeming even more daunting now.  i thought about trying again at small life forms that resembled real people or close cousins to humans and decided that i just didnt care.  i am not an artist, i never told him that i am an artist and if he is going to ask me to do this an hour before he needs them he is going to happily accept whatever my measley pencil scribbles down.  and so it was, the rest of my drawings were sticks with smiles.  i handed them over to him with great pride (if you cant make it, fake it, right?!) and told him i hoped he liked them.  he just kind of looked at me and gave me an "im kind of embarassed for you" smile.  i didnt care at all.  being embarassed at school is so six months ago...


and i write this all happily from my new (new old, old) computer at my desk in my elementary/jr high school office.  it is grand to be here with people who talk to me and acknowledge my presence.  that  is not always happening at my high school and seems to be kind of the norm around here with my other english teacher pals.  i may never understand just why that is so.


post valentine hearts and hugs,
beth