He who fails to plan, plans to fail

I'd like to report that our dinner date went quite splendidly last night :). The place was actually called Blue Highway Pizza, and with the exception of the electricity going out for a few minutes, it was a really fun evening. I enjoyed getting to know a few new people in the area, and Tracy and I are pretty confident that we'll continue to be friends with these people in the future. It was really nice to get out and socialize a little, and I hope to be doing more of it soon.

I've gotten final confirmation that I've been hired with a tutoring company here, so now I'm just waiting for school to start so I can start teaching some kiddos! Since the tutoring company contracts with schools, I don't get to start working with kids till the school year starts. It'll be excellent to actually make a decent paycheck even in my student teaching semester. I'll be busy, but Tracy is busy too, so at least we'll both be busy and getting paid for it.

One important thing I did today was take the advice of the above-mentioned new friends and get to Wal-Mart early for some school supplies (UF students haven't all flooded back into town yet, but they're coming). I searched for and found the ever-so-important planner, something that I hold more dear than nearly all material possessions. I never thought I'd be one of those people, but in the last couple years of college, I came to depend on my planner for keeping school, practicum, field experiences, and extracurricular stuff organized so I didn't forget vital due dates and appointment times. It sounds silly, but purchasing this planner gives me the biggest sense of calm about beginning the semester. I've already written everything important that I know of so far into the planner, and I'm waiting with pen poised for more assignments and obligations. I feel as though if I have it written down, it's do-able. From my planner I can make a list for the week of what I need to get done and in what order, and each step gets crossed off the list one by one. You may laugh at how anal I've become about these things, but it has helped me stay a week ahead of my college due dates for the past 2 years, thus alleviating a lot of the stress I used to feel.

I hope this weekend to possibly go to some of the natural springs around here. For the Oklahoma people, this is a lot like "floating the river" near Tahlequah. I think it would be a cheap and relaxing way to spend my last truly free weekend with no school stuff to worry about.