Fall TV!

    Well hello everyone!  I hope everyone had a great weekend.  I spent mine working, but in reality, that isn't so bad, considering I've spent the last three months not doing anything at all.  It's nice to have somewhere to go and something to do, however trivial or mundane at times.  I just got home from work, actually, and Tuesdays are typically very slow, so I spend most of my time reading and cleaning up the shop.  Even though I barely did anything, I'm still exhausted.  My chronic fatigue is rearing it's ugly head again, so I'm going to assume there's some sickness coming on.  I can't wait for that to manifest...  I also can't wait to crawl into bed with my book, but that's neither here nor there.

    Today I decided to talk about TV because I haven't in awhile.  In fact, some of my more successful or popular posts were TV re-caps, where I talk about what happened in a given episode and what my premonitions might be for future episodes.  Since fall officially starts this week, (especially with the weather finally cooling down to an acceptable temperature), we can expect our favorite TV programs to grace our televisions once more.  I'm going to list the TV shows I'm most excited to watch this season and shows that I might get into if I have the time.  We'll start with a few shows that I'm excited to see return to my weekly line-up.

(hypable.com)

    Once Upon a Time:  I've mentioned this show countless times here and there's no doubt it's my favorite anticipated series premiere on this list.  If you are unfamiliar with OUAT, fairy tale characters have been taken from their enchanted forests and castles and placed in a small Maine town due to a curse by the Evil Queen.  Obviously you'll have to start from season one to get the gist of it, but there's a lot of hidden mystery in this show.  I will be honest in the fact that I did lose a little momentum for this series last season when they introduced Frozen characters because I don't think they did any justice to the story.  HOWEVER, Emma is now The Dark One, (due to a series of unfortunate and unavoidable events), and her family has to deal with the repercussions of Emma's sacrifice.  There are a few new characters getting introduced this season that I'm excited about, including Merida, the Camelot crew, (I'm definitely calling them that from now on), which includes Merlin and King Arthur, and the return of Mulan!  I'm really excited about this season, so if you're new to this, just binge watch the first four seasons.  It should only take you two weeks, tops, and it's totally worth it.  GO DARK SWANN!  Also, LOOK AT THAT GORGEOUS POSTER!  Season five premieres this Sunday, September 27th at 8pm EST.

(seat42f.com)

    Arrow:  Arrow has had it's ups and downs for me, but I fell in love with this series after season two.  It's so complex for a CW show that I was initially surprised.  Who would have thought that the CW network, the same network responsible for the Vampire Diaries, would put out great programming like Arrow, The Flash, Reign and The 100?  The CW has become a formidable force when it comes to dramatic television and Arrow is no exception.  It is dark, gritty and very much a DC universe reminiscent of Batman in all his glory.  If you haven't started this series yet, I highly suggest you do so.  The first season is a little slow, but by season two you will be hooked.  We left off last season with Oliver Queen running away to his new, quiet life after faking his own death with the League of Assassins.  The Arrow is no more, but the GREEN Arrow will be born from the ashes.  This season we get the formal introduction of Speedy, Oliver's younger sister Thea Queen, and Laurel Lance as the Black Canary, taking over for her dead sister Sarah.  With so much that can happen to this new and complete team, there's so much to speculate.  Stephen Amell is still HAF though, amirite?  Season four promises to be just as great, if not better, than all it's previous seasons, premiering Wednesday, October 7th at 8pm EST.

(ign.com)

    Agents of Shield:  On the other side of the comic book spectrum, we have Marvel's Agents of Shield, who's last season finale led the way right into the beginning of Avengers: Age of Ultron.  I love the overlap of this series with the Marvel cinematic universe.  The show follows a team of individuals who are members of the S.H.I.E.L.D organization, (who we don't really know that much about, other than the fact that they're very much like secret agents and a task force to be reckoned with), as they investigate various happenings related to the MCU.  The first season set the ground work, although it started extremely slow.  It picked up quickly and now this show is an incredible testament for crossover potential.  Last season we were introduced to the Inhumans, Marvel's take on mutants, (because they can't legally say "mutants" because of copyright).  Skye, or Daisy, has discovered that's she's one of them and has to deal with her new role on the team as Quake.  I'm assuming we're going to dive deeper into the Inhumans story line this season with all the unanswered questions we received at the end of last season.  I literally can't wait to see what happens this season!  Season three premieres Tuesday, September 29th on ABC at 9pm EST.

(amazingracewikia.com)

    The Amazing Race:  This show is my guilty pleasure!  I watch this show with my dad and it's always nice to spend time with him watching a show we mutually love.  We get a kick out of all the different countries and places the racers visit on their way back to home base.  We also love watching the inevitable squabbles and annoying teams that make watching both laughable and painful at times.  It's one of the few reality shows that I watch religiously.  The 27th season, (WHOA), premieres this Friday, September 25th at 8pm on CBS.
    Dancing with the Stars:  Another guilty pleasure reality show I watch with my dad.  I loved last season, but this season looks ratchet, so I'm not sure if I'll watch or not.  That being said, I will most likely be drawn to the allure of Tom Bergeron's awesome personality at least.  It already premiered, so I'm behind at this point, but I can catch up on ABC.com.  Go Bindi!

   
    Those were shows I know I'll be watching the next few months.  These next shows are shows I'd like to make time for, if it's worth my while.  Still unsure whether or not I can commit to one or any of these, but we'll give it a try.
    Gotham:  I tried watching Gotham for awhile and I liked it a lot, but I missed a few episodes and never went back.  I enjoyed the dark, gritty world it portrayed, similar to Arrow, but still different.  Two very different cities, two different settings, two different groups of people, one old school Batman, another new school DCU.  This next season promises the beginnings of the Joker, whom we've all been dying to see come to life on this show.  Rumor has it the guy playing the Joker is really talented, so I'm curious to see how he brings the Joker to life.  That would be one of the only reasons I tune in.  Season two has already started on FOX.

(gamespot.com)

    Heroes Reborn:  I never watched the original Heroes, but I've heard nothing but good things about it from my friends who've seen it.  I would be doing myself a disservice if I watched this series without watching the original, but this new series looks so great!  I'd like to feel the nostalgia that comes from seeing an old character you love in a new show.  Zachary Levi seems to have somewhat of a presence on this reboot, so I'm willing to give it a go.  I'm not sure why I wasn't initially drawn to the original Heroes before, but I will have to find it on Netflix in the meantime and figure out why.  Heroes Reborn premiers Thursday, September 24th at 8pm EST on NBC.

    The Muppets:  I've always loved the muppets, so when I heard that they were trying to resurrect The Muppet Show, I almost fell out of my chair.  That being said, this is a lot different than what I was anticipating, although I think it could work for them.  The Office and Parks and Rec feel of this series makes me want to see the muppets in this environment.  I know it will not be what I am used to and I still crave the nostalgia that comes with the sing-song comedy that is the muppets, but I'm willing to give this thing a shot.  The Muppets premieres TONIGHT at 8pm EST on ABC.

    That's all I have for fall TV shows!  Hopefully I can get to all of them without cable at my disposal...  Which ones do you watch?  What are your favorites?  Are there any shows not on my list that you think I would like?  Leave me your recommendations and comments below.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

Hulking Out and Parent/Teacher Conferences

    So far, so good!  Hope everyone's doing ok.  I'm glad I at least talked myself into typing this up tonight, even though it's been a really long day.  I literally JUST got home from my first round of parent/teacher conferences, (it's about 9:30pm), and I can honestly say it wasn't terrible.  Luckily the two kids who had signed up to see me who are failing my class didn't show, but I'll have to deal with them later.  Most of my kids are great, well-behaved and acing my class, so I'm not too worried.

    I was a little worried at the end of last week, on Friday, because I got some really negative and harsh criticism/feedback from my cooperating teacher about my progress so far:(  I guess I wasn't doing as well as I had hoped...  It really hurt to hear her honesty, but I appreciated that she had the heart to tell me.  I'm not connecting with the kids in the right way, I'm still too soft on them, they talk over me STILL, I have some trouble makers who think they're smart asses who test my patience, and I guess overall I'm still not delivering the curriculum correctly, (or at least adequately enough to help them comprehend what I'm talking about).  I know that her suggestions and opinions are only supposed to help me and make me better over time, so I hope I can improve to a point where I'm proud of myself again.  Just today I got over the "I don't think I want to be a teacher anymore" feeling, so here's to a new leaf turning.  We just started a new unit on The Odyssey and we're doing a research project about monsters and Greek gods, so this should be fun!

    On the health front, I'm feeling so much better!  I'm on my second day of steroids and I can safely say I can't remember the last time it was easy for me to get out of bed in the morning.  It's been nice feeling "normal" for awhile, even though it won't last forever.  I have a month to see what's going on, but for now I'm focusing mostly on my upcoming biopsy, which is Thursday.  I'll have a long weekend to recover, but I'm still really scared about the procedure and complications...  I have an ultrasound on Monday which isn't terrible, but I have to "fast" for it, which means I can't eat for 12 hours, (2am-2pm).  NOT fun.  I think I'm going to cheat a little and get some jello and/or pudding, (who WOULDN'T want pudding?!)  Getting through the day is hard enough as it is, but with no food and all these 'roids coursing through my veins it'll be hard to survive the day.  Until we get the results back from the kidney biopsy, they won't know how bad my Lupus Nephritis is, so we'll have to wait and see.  It's probably not that serious, but dialysis still scares me, so I hope it doesn't come to that.

    On TV this past week, I've started a new show called The Red Band Society, in which the series is narrated by a child in a coma as a part of a terminally ill or intensive care unit for kids and teens in a hospital in California.  The doctor/surgeon is wicked hot, the characters are snarky despite their conditions and Nurse Jackson is my new spirit animal.  I'm happy there's a show like this on Fox and I can't wait to see what they do with it.  Gotham is another show I've been loving recently that just started.  Obviously my husband and I had to watch this one solely based on the Batman references, but it's surprisingly engaging without the bat.  I'm also excited to see where they take this series because they have a lot to work with and many directions they could take this.  So far I like the guy playing Gordon and I've always liked Donal Logue, so there's a win-win team right there.  I'm still getting over him being a viking...  I love how they've portrayed Selena Kyle so far and I can't wait to see how Bruce and Selena become friends, (or enemies).

    Other shows that have started but I haven't been able to get caught up on are Castle, Bones, (I know who dies...I'm DEVASTATED), Face Off, Agents of Shield, Reign, and The Amazing Race.  I did catch the premiere of Once Upon a Time last Sunday and it was AMAZING!  I'm not turned off about the Frozen team being there, especially if it means that Scott Michael Foster is back in my life again.  I literally screamed when I saw the sorcerer's hat from Fantasia morph from that box at Belle and Rumple's house, but we'll see what he does/doesn't do with that.  Also, the kiss between Emma and Hook proves that Captain Swan is alive and well!  So excited for this season and what they have up their sleeves.
    Well, that's all I have for this week.  I really have to go to bed...  Even though I'm feeling better physically, I'm still suffering from fatigue and my kidney issues.  I've also been really itchy lately, all over, so I'm not sure if I'm allergic to my father's fabric softener or if it's a side effect from the steroids, but I'll figure it out this weekend I think.  I should have an update next week.  I may have to push back my post until Friday, depending on how I feel next Thursday after my procedure, but we'll play it by ear.  Until next time, I remain your faithful correspondent.

PS: In other news, tomorrow is October 3rd.  I'm planning an impromptu Mean Girls Day celebration tomorrow in class.  You're welcome in advance kids:)