happy turkey day

in Canada anyway. I don't see how I'll be posting much until I get back Monday night, so until then, have a great weekend and don't eat too much turkey. Or do, whichever.

a bientot.

T-1 day

It's almost the weekend. Thank god. It's a long one too, and I'm so happy. I'm not thrilled at the idea of not spending it with Grant, but he's coming home tonight so I'll get to see him before I go tomorrow. Not much to report here I'm afraid, I got my progress reports finished but still have a pile of marking to get through, which is pretty exciting. I'm going to cook myself some supper sort of early tonight so that I can just sit and work until good tv starts. I may have to watch Survivor tonight though, somebody nearly drowns or soemthing. I'm sure it's actually nothing like that really, but they've got me intrigued. I haven't watched it yet though, so I don't know the people at all. I have no idea what's happening on Friends this week, but ER looks excitng, as usual.

I had to give my 11/12 class today a lesson on cleaning up, since it took me half an hour to clean up after them yesterday. I didn't even clean their garbage, I left that for them since they were back first thing this morning, but I did have to clean the paint pallettes and brushes. They did better today, under threats of never getting to paint again. Lazy bums.

so glad tomorrow's Friday.

new music..

I forgot to tell you. I haven't had a chance to listen to Jack Johnson yet, but the rest of my new cds are terrific, and I'm expecting no less from Jack. John Mayer took once through before I really liked it, but I think that's just because I was so used to his other songs, and couldn't sing along to these ones yet.
Anyway, go buy them.

Tuscany

I want to go to Italy. I saw Under the Tuscan Sun, and today there was a travel brochure in the staff room. I want to go! Anywhere, honestly, but Italy looks lovely. Everyone wears linen and speaks with a beautiful accent, and the food and drink look wonderful.

*sigh*

new comments

BlogBack has comments, and since KlinkFamily hasn't been working for a few days now, I'm moving on! Hopefully this guy is a bit more reliable. Sorry this is so short, I have a tonne of stuff to do, progress reports to write up and things to mark. Good times!

new pictures

I'll try to change them up every now and then. I have a variety of media up there too, you like? Chalk pastel, pastel, photograph, collage, and pencil.

On a completely unrelated note, but it's ok because I'm tired, Dare Simple Pleasures cookies are freaking delicious. I've got sugar cookies and almond cookies, and they're so damn tasty. They also make lemon and chocolate, I'll have to get those next time.

It's getting late, I'm driving this week so I have to get up a bit earlier, hence to bed a bit earlier too. I don't know if I'll make it to East Side this week, sadly. We have to put these progress report things out for all of our students, which is a hassle and a half. I'm not giving marks, because we're doing report cards in a few weeks and it'll be too much work. We have to send a report home Friday for each of our students, letting their parents know how they're doing. Good times. Then we have parent teacher interviews, *then* we give report cards. What? yeah.

Bedtime!

why do you lie?

do you think I'm stupid? I'm not.

Everything my students do goes in their portfolios. Big ol' folders. They know this. I marked my grade 9 portfolios and found that some were missing a lot of stuff, so I told them they need to get their stuff in there so I can mark it. Fine. A few days later, yesterday, one of the girls missing stuff in her folder comes up to me and asks if I got her project. I said no, I didn't check your folder again, is it there? No, she says, I put it on your desk. Now, my desk is not the tidiest thing, but it's in pretty good shape, not very cluttered, and I know what's there and what's not. Her project was not. I said, well, I don't know what to tell you, unless someone came along and swiped it immediately after you put it down, then it has very mysteriously gone missing. I have not seen it. And you know you put everything in your folders, I have been stressing that since day one. She said well what do you want me to do, redo it? I said well it's awfully hard for me to mark something I haven't seen! I left it at that.

Today, I walk by her table, and she's working on this same project. I say hey, you found your project. Interesting. She said oh no, I redid it. I took a piece of paper yesterday and redid it last night. I said really? With the same picture as before? That you said was too difficult and regretted choosing? That's sort of odd, isn't it? She didn't really have an answer for me. I didn't push it, but I will talk to her tomorrow, because the more I think about it the more angry I get that she blatantly lied to me. I just want to let her know that it's very clear she's lying; she wouldn't have chosen that picture again given a choice, and there was no paper out for her to take. So even if she's telling the truth, she got paper from somewhere she wasn't supposed to be. rrg. I assume what she was hoping for was that I would feel so bad for having supposedly lost her project that I would just let it go. But I know I didn't ever have her project, so I'm not going to fall into that trap. Anyway, so then it's easier for her to finish the one she started than do a whole new one. I'm really bitter! I can't outright PROVE that she's lying, but she is, so what do I do?

Teachers of the blogging world, please advise!

Punk'd

I have to say, I think Punk'd is really funny. It's great to see famous people look like asses. I also have to say, having just seen Mandy Moore get punked, she seems like a really sweet person. They did a trick on her where she thought they were making over somebody's house (double wide trailer, in fact), but then they dropped an I-beam on it and it collapsed. They then told her that she had given the crane guy the signal to drop the beam, so it was all her fault. The part that impressed me though, was that they're in this fake house, and it's just terrible, but she was being really nice about it, doing a really good job of looking like it was normal that they didn't, for example, have a towel rack, or that there was actually a seam down the middle of the trailer, or that he bought the thing on the internet.

Anyway, I finished my marking of projects, the cats were helping by laying on the projects and chewing on my pencil. I'm going to get back to it though, start on the critiques and artist studies. wish me luck!

one MILLION DOLLARS!

I feel the need to express my disappointment in the Trading Spaces 100 Grand episode. As I had feared, it was just a matter of them wasting $50 000 each. Doug did better than Lori, she spent just obscene amounts of money on stupid things that they people probably won't even appreciate. Her first purchase was a chair for $2300. A chair. Not an antique, not a comfy chair, just a stupid chair. And I'm sure people will disagree with me here, but my feeling is that you don't have to buy something just because you can afford it. Jenn agreed with me that they could have created very similar looks with their normal budget. Doug couldn't have, because he bought them all new appliances for the kitchen, but it just was sort of a letdown. Sony gave both homeowners new stuff, a tv and surround sound system for one, and a new computer and tv for the other I believe. I'm jealous, but it was sort of frustrating to see that amount of money spent on making over a room, and not knocking out walls or installing giant aquariums or anything cool like that. Cause that's what I would have done, obviously. A huge aquarium, built in to the wall.

I had a decent day at work today; it was International Teachers' Day, so we all got apples in our mailboxes from the district. I thought that was nice, I love presents, especially the unexpected ones. I had to bring a bunch of marking home. I haven't done any for my grade 11/12 class, and I have a bunch of critiques I have to go over. I see popcorn and hot chocolate in my future, but I'll have to mark the art before the popcorn so I don't get anything greasy. I've gotten some really really really nice stuff from my students, I'll post some pictures whenever I get around to it.

For now though, I'm going to make some supper and hit the marking. Mort just came over and sat on my arms, I'll take that as a sign that I should stop typing now.

any other requests?

as per Jenn's request, an only slightly goofy looking vampire smiley guy. . Not bad, he looks sort of vicious.

I got some pins so I can hem my curtains, but have decided that I really don't want to do that right now. Or ever, but I'll have to soon because they're hanging over heaters that I want to use, which is why I need to hem them in the first place.

There's some big do across the street at the fire hall, it's an open house and they had a pancake breakfast. They've been running the sirens off and on all day though, and it's getting a bit wearisome. I'm fairly sure they're packing it in now though, so I'll have a bit of peace before I head up to see Grant.

I bought myself some new music for the drive, Future Shop had a bunch of cds on sale, so as promised a few posts back, I bought them. They were all under $15, I got Jack Johnson (I know Erin has it), Sloan, John Mayer (who I'm ashamed to say I didn't even know had a new album out), and Train, because I've been wanting that one for a while. I haven't bought cds for some time, so I don't feel too too bad. I do feel a bit bad though, because I got paid yesterday and didn't see a red cent of it. The beginning of the month brings all kinds of people to my door asking for money....rent, car, insurance, power...cable and phone will arrive shortly, followed quickly by mastercard. Bastards.

I'm going to go have a bite to eat before I head up to Freddy. Did I mention my wisdom tooth is coming in? I can feel it now, it's gross but sort of cool at the same time, I haven't had a new tooth since I was like 12. At any rate, it'll have to be removed because there's no bottom wisdom tooth to meet it and stop it from growing. It's also on a bit of an angle, which would be really cute, I'm sure. I had my other one out (I only ever developed the top 2, not the bottom, and I'm very thankful for that) and it was no trouble. The only problem was that I couldn't take the Tylenol 3s they gave me, they make me ill, so advil had to do me, but I managed. I have baby anbesol or orajel or something now, so I'm all set. It's grape flavoured.

beefcake.....beefCAKE!

My parents got this slide/negative scanner jobbie, and it's pretty fun. Not especially quick, and especially ram-sucking, but it does work and I'm happy because all of my baby pictures are on slides. So Mom's going through them, and has sent me 2 so far, which I've cleaned up and brightened a bit, and uploaded for your viewing / mocking pleasure. Here is me when I was very little, and sad apparently. Here's a beefcake picture of my dad when he was younger. Nice sideburns eh?

It's the weekend, and thank gad for that. I'm pretty tired. It's really cold here! Especially relative to the temperature it has been lately. It's like all of a sudden it's mid-fall, which is fine, but some transition weather would have been nice. The pumpkins are out at Superstore, I think I'll pick up a couple for my classroom, just for fun. Grant's not coming down this weekend, I'm going to head up tomorrow afternoon for the night. He's not going to be able to come to NH with us, so if I don't see him this weekend it'll be 3 weeks by the time I see him next. No good.

I had a nap for a bit with the cats on the floor when I got home from school today. We have a huge (94") window at one end of the apartment, right when you come in. The kitties were lying there in a big ol' pool of sunshine, looking really comfy and warm, and it was quite cold out, as I mentioned. I just sat down with them for a minute to say hello, but the sun felt so nice that I ended up lying down myself and dozing off. I woke up to find the sun had moved off of me and on to the futon, so I followed suit and snoozed there for a bit longer. The cats thought that was great, they're used to me coming home and plonking down in front of the computer every day. I had one cat lying on my back, and the other on my legs. Good times.

I think I'm going to have myself a khalua and milk and go to bed. I made myself a late but delicious supper tonight, scallops and a creamy bacon carbonara sidekick. Quite tasty. I made too much though, so I'll have gourmet lunch tomorrow. I'm definitely sleeping in, and I may have to put the heat on in the bedroom. Seriously, it's cold here. And I have nobody to cuddle with. (insert crying emoticon here). Ha, speaking of, I spend a good chunk of my evening making new smileys for messenger. I'm such a loser. Check 'em out though!



The crazy looking one is from Calleen, I'm not sure where she found it. The rest are from me, and they're all saveable if you'd like to use them. The last one is intentionally blank, in case you're like me and want to make your own. I'm a geek, what can I say. I love getting pictures and fixing them up, cleaning up scratches and stuff. I could have worse hobbies for sure, so I figure I'm ok. I have to go now though, 11:58 on a Friday night and I'm posting about making my own emoticons. sad!

manage your what now?

apparently, "when the system is functioning properly", (which apparently it has not yet been) the posts are saved in the 'manage your posts' section, which I'm guessing is the bottom half of the screen in 'edit your blog'. So that's good to know, but not especially helpful since it hasn't worked yet.

I'm going to redo what I did yesterday, to an extent. I mentioned Underworld; Jenn and I went to see it and it was surprisingly good. I hadn't head much about it, so didn't really know what to expect. We really just wanted popcorn, and other than Cold Creek Manor, which Grant wants to see, there was nothing playing. I watched the trailer for Underworld and it looked really bad, but I was hoping it would be so bad it's good. So we went, early, and ended up at Reitman's where they had sweaters galore on sale, and then sat in the theatre long enough to need popcorn refills. We also got to harass the cute but 15 year old popcorn guy, which was fun. But yeah, the movie was good. I definitely want to be a vampire though, as Jenn said, Kate Beckinsale sure knows how to make an entrance. Clad entirely in leather, hair and clothing flowing behind her, very sexy. The werewolves, or lichen as they were called in the movie, aren't nearly as hot. They're just big and scary, and the transformation looked really painful. Scott Speedman is cute though.

I drove to Tatamagouche yesterday to check the cottage, and all is well. One little dead tree fell over, but its only use was holding up an old clothesline anyway, so it's not a tragic loss. There's no power but everything else seems fine; none of the lines in our immediate vicinity are down so it must be a bigger line somewhere a bit further away. The drive wasn't bad, the part I was most upset about was the fact that the little bakery down the road from the cottage had closed by the time I arrived, so no cinnamon bubble for me. Probably for the best.

Speaking of no cinnamon bubble, I bought 2 new pairs of cords today. Mark's Work Wearhouse had a Ladies' Night sale, where a lot of things were on sale, and then everything we bought was an extra 20% off of the lowest price. nice eh? Anyway, so yeah, 2 new pairs of pants, size 32. I'm pretty stoked, they might just be made big, but that's smaller than what I usually buy. I bought what I *swear* are my last new sweaters Tuesday at Reitman's, and am now in the process of cleaning out my closet, because I have a lot of clothes. I've recently accepted the fact that bulky sweaters do nothing for me, so I'm getting rid of a couple of those. Not my heavy wool ones though, those things rock and aren't supposed to fit snugly. I have 4 sweaters that belong to Erin, which she'll be getting back this weekend to do with what she pleases, and one that my mom gave to me that she'll be getting back next weekend when we go to New Hampshire for thanksgiving.

Anyway, I'm only able to half watch CSI when I'm blogging, so I have to get going. Hopefully this thing posts and doesn't save in la la land on me again.

*where* does it save the posts?

god damn. I had this huge post, of course, and then was trying to link to the site for Underworld, which I'm not going to do now cause that's what caused this whole mess, and clicked it in the history accidentally while trying to read the address, and then blogger comes up (I'm frantically hitting "stop" but to no avail) and asks me if I'd like to save this post or leave without saving. I say, of course, save. Fine. Where the hell does it save TO? Not on my server, not on my computer, I'm sad.
I'm going to go watch Ed.

an open letter to recording artists

Ok, so here's the thing. Selling albums can be quite simple, if you follow a few basic rules. Firstly, make your singles representative of the rest of your cd. Do not release a pop song if the rest of it is heavy, or vice versa, and if the whole thing sucks, just don't even bother. Secondly, you're not fooling anyone trying to sell those things for $20. Try $12-15, you'll have much better luck. We all know they cost about a penny to produce; if you're greedy, people are just going to download your album instead of purchasing it. Third and finally, putting Britney Spears on tv, all sad that she's losing money...actually makes me want to rip you off. Even if I don't like your music. Ok?
Simple.

My favourite part is the next question...

When you use live animals such as rats and snakes on the show, how do you make sure they are not hurt or mistreated?
Fear Factor always hires professional animal handlers that raise and take care of the animals. These are the same handlers that work many major TV and movie productions. When animals are involved in a stunt, the handlers are present on set at all times. They also advise producers on how to humanely and safely interact with the animals.

This is a load of hooey. Note how they say they advise producers on how to humanely and safely interact with the animals, no mention of the contestants, who, let's admit, are of questionable mental capability anyway. I'm sure they're being super careful of whatever animal they're stuck in a tank with, they're not rolling on or otherwise harming any of the animals. They eat live animals. Sure, they're only little animals, but I'm pretty sure no matter how little you are, getting your head bitten off or being turned into a slurry in a blender is a less-than enjoyable experience.

Anyway, that's my rant for tonight. I'm off to watch CSI:Miami, even though it's not nearly as good as the real CSI. A word to the wise, do not take Advil cold and sinus before bed. It will lead to possibly the worst sleep ever. Neo Citrin on the other hand, will do good things for you. But with this also you must be careful. At all costs, stay away from the honey lemon flavour. It sounds tasty, no? It's not. It tastes like ass. Grotesquely sweet ass, but ass, nonetheless. Stick to the lemon.

One final thought, has anyone eaten at McDonald's lately? I have, and the fries taste different. Not bad, just different. I'm worried that they've switched to veggie oil. They have always cooked in lard. Disgusting? Perhaps.... Delicious? Most definitely. Anyway, they're on this whole health kick, getting rid of large pops and super sized fries, introducing salads as a substitute for fries in your combo... I'll have to ask my students. Some of them work there, they'll tell me what's going on.

One of my 11s brought me an apple today, for a joke for my birthday. Very cute. She made me a card too; the other kids made fun of her a bit, but they were joking and it was funny.

CSI now, then bed.

monopolies

not the board game. I have just received my power bill for the month, and am upset to find a "monthly service charge" of $16.25. Now, if this were like the phone company where you pay $35 or whatever, and that's for all your calls for the month, that's one thing. But the power folks are charging me for every kwh I use, and this extra service fee just for fun, as far as I can tell. We don't have a choice here for power, as in most places I'm sure. If I owned my own house I'd probably switch to natural gas, but I can't just get that hooked up in my apartment.

I'm going to have to call them and see what's up. I'll let you know what they say.

live and learn...

Yeah, so the 'target="new"' tag is all that I needed to be doing. I'll leave the other ones as javamess, too much effort to change all that jazz.

Why isn't anyone updating their blogs? Jenn is, quite faithfully I might add, but the rest of you need to too! See, I'm living by myself now, and need to live vicariously through other people's (hopefully more interesting) lives. Forgive me.

I might have to take a drive out to the cottage tomorrow to make sure it didn't get washed away by hurricane Juan. I'm pretty sure it only really hit Halifax, but they're not talking about anywhere else so it's hard to say.

Anyway, I have to go make myself something for supper or I'll end up having popcorn or ice cream or something equally tasty but not very nutritionally balanced.

is it possible?

I've been typing in this annoying javascript code to get my links to open in new windows....when all I had to do what include the tag target="new"?

Let's give it a go, shall we?

click me

warning: funny spacing below

yes, so I have the title thing all figured, thanks to Jenn. I've realized that where it's leaving spaces after the titles now, for organization's sake, there is some funny spacing in the old posts with no titles. I could go back and title them all, but that seems silly, and I think you guys like me well enough to forgive me some superfluous line skippage.

I forgot to mention earlier, I installed a new power supply fan in my computer this morning! It has been making horrid noises at start up for quite a while now, and thanks to the nice guy at PC Medic, I did the old, 'popsicle stick in the back of the computer' trick to see if that fan was what was causing the noise. It was, I bought the new fan for $10, and installed it myself. Very proud. It took the removal of quite a few screws, and the realization that the inside of this machine is gross, but I cleaned out the dust and it still works, so I'm happy. The new fan is so quiet, my computer sounds new! Now, as a bonus, if I ever am able to save some cash and buy an iBook, I can sell this baby to Grant's parents without feeling really guilty about it possibly dying in the near future. wooh!

it's like coming up with a name for a poem though...

Which I have a problem with most of the time. But I like the idea of titles, like Jenn, and hopefully if I can't come up with one, I can just not enter anything in that box up there?

I love birthdays. I'll have to take that banner down, it's just silly now!

My grade 10 class sang happy birthday to me yesterday, and most of my students remembered and wished me happy birthday too. My school has a policy where you bring in your own cake for your birthday, that way if you want people to know, they know, and if not, they don't. I wanted everyone to know, obviously. I've also discovered that I'm the youngest teacher at the school. Yay me!

I got home from work to a card and the Bill Bryson book I wanted from Tiresa, who has gone back to Fredericton to be with her husband. Makes sense to me! I'm very much looking forward to when Grant is home here for more than a weekend. Only 3 more months! Tirésa also did the dishes for me, which was very much appreciated, though only noticed a while after I got home.

Jenn and I went out to supper at Jungle Jim's, and had exceedingly large drinks and free cake. She also made me my cake, and it was tas-tay. She also got me Crayola window writers, a (my little) pony, and a (toy) puppy! She couldn't find the Blue Planet vol 1 dvd, it apparently hasn't been released yet, which is odd since I own the other 3. But no matter, it's been ordered and will arrive some time in October. We watched the new show, Joan of Arcadia. I quite like it, it has funny bits, but just seems interesting. It was on opposite Miss Match, which is getting really good reviews, but looks incredibly stupid. If you've watched it and found otherwise, let me know, maybe I'll give it a chance.

Grant was home when I got home, so I got to have birthday fun there too. He got me 2 more glass balls to hang in the window, very pretty. Also some lottery tickets (that I didn't check yet, I may be a millionaire!), and the main thing, a (not *that* kind of) ring. Very pretty, and I'm wearing it on *that* finger, because it fits perfectly. So there. He got me some salt water taffy too, but I think that was more for him than me. We'll probably go out to dinner or something tonight. He doesn't have to go into work this weekend, which is more time for us to hang out. Always a good thing.

Anyway, all in all a good day, now I have to go shower and buy some advil cold and sinus. Sick on my bday? Yeah, I was impressed too. Just a head cold though, nothing too bad.

and you have to go here. She's very, very funny.
Thanks to D for the excellent recommendation!

Ok.

I've had a pretty full couple of days, and I'm freaking exhausted, but you must know all the details.

Tuesday we had a staff meeting, which was fine but totally kills your after school prep time and makes you have to do stuff at home, which I like to keep to a minimum. Wednesday was meet the teacher night, where the parents come and run through all their child's classes and meet us all, get a welcome from the principal etc. More on that in a minute.

Yesterday, my 4th period class, grade 9s, were all giggly. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why. I checked my teeth and face, and made sure I didn't have anything sticking to or hanging off me, and I was in fact clean. Very odd. I asked one of my (supposedly) more reliable students what everyone was laughing at. She says, very sincerely, 'I don't know!'. I say, 'really?, she assures me that yes, she has no idea. Ok. It was also Hawaiian day, we're doing spirit week. Today was 80s day, tomorrow is PJ day, but I'm getting off track. Anyway, because it was Hawaiian day, I had flowers on my desk. One of my students was up getting a pencil out of the cup on my desk where I keep pencils, markers, and pens for them to borrow. She says, I thought, 'is that a real flower?'. I say, no, it's fake, and go to pick it up to show her. She says 'no, is that a real frog?'

I look in my pen cup, and sure enough, there is a frog in there. I say to her, 'I don't think so, somebody must have put it in there for a joke!'.

Then I notice it is breathing.

I am surprised, but I don't scream or anything. I just say 'oh! it is real!' and then turn to my class and ask who did it, tell them nobody is leaving until I find out who it was, and that I am upset with them because the poor frog had been sitting in the cup for like 15 minutes before anyone noticed it.

I made them feel pretty bad, then took the poor frog outside. I had a feeling I knew who it was, but couldn't be sure, but I knew that at least half the class knew because they had all been giggling for the whole time, and had burst out laughing when I found it.

One of my students told me who it was, but I didn't confront him on it, I just let it go to see what would happen. I always give them a few minutes to clean up before the bell, and as they were doing that, one of my other students came up to me and told me that the boy who did it had written me a note and left it on my desk, and wanted me to read it. I said ok, the bell rang, and said boy stayed behind and waited for everyone to leave, and delivered what seemed to be a very sincere apology. I thanked him for coming clean and told him not to even think about doing it again. After the frog, since I didn't freak out, they were all like, 'well how do you feel about snakes?/spiders?/moose?'. I said I'm not afraid of anything that's not going to hurt me, and good luck getting a moose in here. They were reaching at that point.

Anyway, all's well that ends well. The note he wrote me was very sweet, I kept it and it reads something to the effect of, 'Dear Mrs S., I am really very sorry for what I did, and I promise it will never happen again. Sincerely, x'.

The topper to all this is that this boy's mother came in for meet the teacher, and I just sort of laughed, because she asked me how he was in class. I said we had a couple of rough spots but he's a good kid in a class of kids who when they get together just bounce off the walls. I didn't tell her about the frog, and I feel good about that. I think I made my point; I didn't need to get him in trouble. She said she's glad he's behaving (ha) because he told her he just *loves* my class. Very sweet. One of my other male students told me this boy has a crush on me. He has a funny way of showing it, but he is a 14 year old boy, so who knows.

Anyway, this is an insanely long post, so off I go! Birthday tomorrow, I have to bring my own cake, and I don't think I feel like making one as I had planned, so I think I'll buy a Superstore pound cake, they're delicous and have real butter icing. We bring our own cakes on our birthdays, because that way if you don't want people to know, they won't know. I like everyone to know, as you may have guessed based on the banner up yonder.

ok, off I go, for real.

mmmmmm.

I watched a new show, "I'm With Her". It was cute, as promised. Not cynical or mean, just cute and funny. Refreshing.

I have to go to bed, I've been sitting in front of this stupid machine all evening punching in class lists and other such exciting stuff. I do have concrete timelines for all my classes though, which is nice, and makes me feel better about things. It'll be nice to have to add to the syllabi when I'm talking to the parents at meet the teacher tomorrow night.

I have to go to bed though, seriously, or I'll never make it through tomorrow night. Tirésa's making me go to ESM tomorrow too (twist my rubber arm) so I have to be well rested. All are welcome, it'll be at least 9, which is good since the deals only start at 9 anyway.

Just in case anybody was wondering...

Easy one-bowl chocolate cake

2/3 C butter/margarine, softened
1 3/4 C sugar
(cream together)

2 C flour
1/2 C cocoa
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
(combine)

1 1/2 C milk
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla, Khalua, OR dark rhum
(combine)

Add flour mixture alternately with milk mixture to creamed butter & sugar.
Makes 2 8-9" round pans. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let cool before icing.


Boiled/Seafoam Icing

2 egg whites
1 C brown sugar
4 Tbsp corn syrup
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
2 Tbsp water
pinch of salt

combine all ingredients in pot. Beat with hand mixer over medium heat until it holds its shape. Remove from heat and beat one more minute.

I'm doing marking, so I can't stay long, but I just wanted to pass along a happy moment from my day.

I had a student come in after school to work on his project, of his own free will I might add. He's working away, doing a really good job too, and just chatting with me about school and stuff. He came in with the attitude that he's no good at art, doesn't like it etc. He's not giving me attitude or anything, he just never really enjoyed art class. But we're chatting, and he says you know, I don't know why, but I really like art this year. I was like, awww...yay me!

That means I'm a good teacher, right? It made me feel good anyway. I just said well, I try to make it fun for you, to get you hooked so you come back and make masterpieces in a couple of years!

ok, back to marking.

Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a list of the upcoming season premieres. I didn't include the ones that have already passed, or the ones that I have no interest in. I did include the ones I like, and the ones that I think you guys will be most interested in. If you don't see your show, check out this site, which is where I got the rest of these dates.

this site has them in alphabetical order, if you're feeling especially anxious and can't bear the chronological order of the first site.

(Chachi's favs in bold)

9/22 CSI: Miami CBS
9/23 8 Simple Rules ABC (only 3 shows are scheduled to air this season)
9/23 According to Jim ABC
9/23 Less Than Perfect ABC
9/23 I'm With Her ABC
9/23 Law & Order: SVU NBC
9/23 The Guardian CBS
9/23 Judging Amy CBS
9/23 Gilmore Girls WB
9/23 One Tree Hill WB
9/24 Paradise Hotel FOX
9/24 My Wife & Kids ABC
9/24 ED NBC
9/24 Law & Order NBC
9/25 Friends NBC
9/25 Will and Grace NBC
9/25 Coupling NBC
9/25 ER NBC
9/25 CSI CBS
9/26 George Lopez ABC
9/26 Hope & Faith ABC
9/26 Life with Bonnie ABC (I hope David Duchovny is on again this season!)
9/26 Boomtown NBC
9/26 Joan of Arcadia CBS
9/26 The Handler CBS
9/28 Law & Order: CI NBC
9/28 Charmed WB (if you haven't watched this, you should give it a chance)
9/28 Alias ABC
9/28 The Practice ABC
9/29 Third Watch NBC
10/1 Smallville WB
10/1 King of Queens CBS
10/1 It's All Relative ABC
10/2 Scrubs NBC
10/4 Saturday Night Live NBC
10/28 24 FOX
10/29 That '70s Show FOX
10/29 Bernie Mac FOX
10/29 Cedric the Entertainer FOX
10/30 The O.C FOX
11/2 King of the Hill FOX
11/2 Simpsons FOX (Halloween Special, after Halloween, as usual)

and can I just share this with you?

Apple - Why Switch? Top 10 reasons. I drool over the thought of no more blue screen of death...and over iPhoto.

*sigh*

edit: the link works now

I've been reminiscing lately. I was in a musical in high school called "stuck on the 60s", written by my English teacher. It was cool. Well, it was pretty lame actually, but the music was awesome. I had a solo, "Johnny Angel". Look up the lyrics on that baby, it's terrible! but funny. Anyway, I've just been having all those songs in my head this weekend. I think I need to get them all and make a cd to sing along with in the car.

What happened to the iBooks that were all pretty colours? I want a blue one. They're not as neat now. Still very cool, and not more expensive than PC laptops. The powerbook G4s are, but I don't want one of those, that's a bit much. I do want an iBook though, I've decided. 2 desktop computers is silly, and Grant will be back here with his sweet-ass desktop at Christmas. I do think I need my own computer though, I'm very needy as far as internet goes, and Grant tends to take over my computer when he's home, so I can infer that he'll be even more possessive of his own... which he has every right to be, of course, but what about *my* needs? Anyway, so we'll add that to the bday wishlist, which has been updated a wee bit, take a look!

ok, I'm back, having bid a fond farewell to a little neon tetra.

I just bought myself some plants for my classroom, having told the girl that I get no sunlight whatsoever. She advised me to buy this Kalanchoe plant, which is very sweet looking, and comes in a bunch of colours. So I did, but then I'm just searching on Google to find the name of it, and it says that it does indeed need lots of direct sunlight. If they die, I'll be sad, and I'll take them back.

I'm trying to type here, and my cat is laying on my arms and nosing my hands. He's very friendly, but sort of a pain when I'm trying to blog.

I vaccuumed the whole apartment today, I was pretty proud of myself. Did the stairs and everything. I also opened up the paint for the apartment to show Grant's mom, and the one that is for the main walls, supposedly a green, is yellow. Maybe it has settled out, I'm not sure. I'll get our landlord to shake them up again when I have time to paint, soon I hope, and see what colour it is then. I like yellow, but not for my whole house. Anyway, that's about the extent of the excitement for my weekend, so I'll quit here and go make myself some supper.

a bientot.

An interesting take on "Operation Iraqi Freedom". I'm not saying I agree with everything he says, but he has some exellent points. Thanks to Tiresa for the link.

In other news, I have to hem my curtains, and without pins, it's turning into quite an ordeal. They need to be hemmed about 20", because they're hanging over baseboard heaters and I don't want them to touch. I don't want to cut the bottoms off though, because I will probably have use for full length tab curtains in the future. I tried to do it today, got one ironed but got frustrated on the 2nd one and gave up. I did fix a pair of pants I got for $5.99 though, the seam was coming apart in the ass a bit, so I just stitched it back up. What do you want for $5?

Eep, one of my fish seems to be dead and stuck on the filter. Let's have a moment of silence whilst I go perform the ceremonial flushing. Back later.

Miss me?
yeah, you did.

I hope you've all started your birthday shopping, only 9 more days!

I'm having a pretty good time at school. Meet the teacher night is next Wednesday, I'm a bit nervous about it. I'm sure it'll be fine, whatever. I have to go out tonight and buy some proper art pencils and good erasers. That's about the extent of my excitement. I'm not sure where to go, I'm hoping Staples or somewhere sells that stuff.

I don't really have much to report...my parents are coming up Friday, Grant is coming down. I was thinking of going up to Fredericton for a new teacher NBTA thing, but we had a new teacher thing on Monday, and it answered all but like 2 of my questions, so I don't feel like driving and spending the day there for that.

It's been really hot here the past few days. I don't know whether it's that crazy storm affecting the weather or what, but it's no good! It's been pretty cool up til now, very odd.
Anyway, it's supper time.

Ok, and I used a laser printer today, and I'm actually considering going and getting that one from the other day, that didn't come with toner. Apparently, the toner that comes with printers only half fills the cartridge, so you really only get 2000-2500 pages out of it. Maybe the 6000 pages for $50 is a good deal?

*sigh*

I want a new computer too, just because I have new computer envy over Grant's new one. Plus, his parents want a computer, so I could sell them mine and put that toward a new one myself. I really just want one that's faster. I don't like how they all come pre-loaded with a bunch of crap though, I like to put on what I like, so if anyone knows of a good, not terribly expensive company that builds computers, let me know! I'd *really* love a Mac, but I'd like to keep my monitor, since it's relatively new, very cool, and was a graduation gift. Do Macs ever come not attached to monitors?

On a completely unrelated note, but related to Jenn's post, I also have tropical fish that need a bigger home, if anyone's interested. They're silver dollars, but they're really much bigger than silver dollar coins, probably about 5 inches in diameter. I have 2, and they are constantly trying to escape through the tank walls. They may have brain damage by this point, it's hard to tell, from all that head ramming. The ramming freaks out the other fish too, who are all small and probably afraid of the giant silver bastards.

Jenn says that this bad boy blogger has a spell checker in it now. It's not finding any errors for me, but maybe it's only when you publish. Anyway, she's also got her 100 things up, so that's very cool. I'm glad we're friends.
I had a good week at school, and we get Monday off, sort of. We have to go to a beginning teachers thing for the day, so we don't have to teach, but we do have to be there for 8:30, so it won't be much of a sleep-in for Tirésa, but it will be for me. 6:07am? Not for 3 days! Grant is coming down this weekend too, and Tirésa has gone to Fredericton, so it's worked out nicely. Jenn's not happy with me though, haha.

Finally a good movie, or good-sounding movie anyway, has come to Famous Players. You see, they have the good popcorn, and you can get Kool-Aid instead of pop in your combo. The movie is Matchstick Men, with Nicholas Cage, Sam Rockwell, and Alison Lohman. It looks entertaining, so I'm planning on going this weekend with Grant.

I also have to revamp my course outline for the grade 12s. I have some students who are actually taking the 11 course this term and the 12 course next term, so I can't have them basically the same. Which is unfortunate, because I have to teach them at the exact same time. There aren't enough students to warrant separate classes, nor another teacher to handle it. I think my 12s are feeling a bit stunted anyway, held back I guess. There are only 7 of them, and they're all really quite talented, so I'm going to take an even more independent approach than I had planned and let them decide exactly what they want to do, with guidance and suggestions from me. The 11s I'll keep structured, they still need it (it's strange the difference a year makes), and there are still a couple of kids at this point taking art for lack of anything else to do; they don't want to do phys ed or tech, so that leaves me, unfortunately. Anyway, I took them outside today to sketch at the wetlands centre, which is a really cool place. It's also the reason there is such a preponderance of dragonflies, I've decided. It's just acres of marshland basically, but it's internationally recognized and praised, and they do a duck banding program every year that's fairly important in ... duck banding circles I suppose. Anyway, it was a beautiful day, I have them last period, and I thought it was a good way to end the week.

This is getting pretty long, with many, many links there at the beginning, so I think I'll end here and go have a quick nap before Grant gets home.
Oh, there's the spellchecker! My buttons didn't load properly, so I didn't see it.
Wow, it doesn't like a lot of words in here. Ironically enough, "blogger" was one of them. Ha!

Ooh, yet *more* options for blogging! V exciting. Well, feeling better obviously than I was last time.

I went to Future Shop tonight to buy a printer that was on sale. $199 for a laser printer, pretty good deal. So I get there, and find the printer, but also find an HP refurbished for $179, even better deal. Thing is, for some reason it doesn't have toner in it. It's supposed to, so the very helpful guy goes to find some. He comes back and can't find any, but his manager says he can meet me in the middle (give me half price) on a new toner cartridge. Now, that is a good deal, but not when I'm supposed to be getting toner for free. The stuff that comes with does ~4000 pages, the stuff they wanted to sell me for $50 ($100 regular) does about 6000 pages, since it's high yield. Whatever that means. So I said, ok, well 4000 is 2/3 of 6000, so I'll pay you for the other 1/3, which would be $33. Nice guy takes this back to his manager, spends quite a while talking to him, comes back and says he can't do any better than $50. I say I'm sorry, but I can't pay that much for something I'm supposed to be getting for free.

I did want the printer, and could reason paying 1/3 the price, but I saw no reason why I should have to pay 1/2 the price, when I shouldn't have had to pay anything for quite a while, since I don't do all that much printing. I do need to be able to print well when I need to print though, which my little Canon s400 just isn't doing for me.

In other news...
I have no other news. I found out today that some little punk in one of my classes was, as I suspected, not supposed to be coming to my class. Dink. He'll be gone as of tomorrow though. He's trouble in other ways too, so I don't feel bad for whatever's coming his way. Most of my classes are good overall though. I have one boy who likes to comment back to me on everything I say, but I gave him his official warning today; and one girl who has enough attitude to last several teenage girls 3 lifetimes. She too has been given notice.

Tirésa bought us supper fixins last night, and cheesecake. We ended up saving both for tonight, which is why I must leave you now. Cheesecake beckons.

a bientot.

I am a bad blogger.
Had a pretty good weekend in Freddy, went to the market and bought bagels and salsa, left them both in Freddy with Grant. Not happy. Didn't have a very good day at school. Going to go shopping to pick up a couple of things, hopefully I'll remember what when I get out, because I was never near my desk when I remembered something I needed to get.
I don't really have anything to say. I'm sure it's related to my being in a down-ish mood. I'll try to think of something to say for later; I just wanted to let you know I'm alive.

There have been some questions regarding the toaster oven/rotisserie/griddle. It's just what it sounds like, you can bake and broil and rotisserie, and on the top there is a little pan that fits in that you can cook stuff in, like eggs or veggies. Ok?

School was good. I was a bit frazzled because I never plan enough stuff, but I know that about myself, so I plan "if enough time" things that I almost always end up using. It works for me. My students seem basically good, some of them are repeating grade 9 for the 2nd or 3rd time so they're a bit pissed off to be there at all, but there's not much I can do about that really. I'm putting together my formal plans for things to do tonight, going through the interest sheets to see what specifically the classes want to do and don't want to do; I'll take that into consideration but of course I won't let the 9/10 classes completely decide what they get to do, since a lot of them put "nothing" when I asked what they liked about art classes in the past.

Anyway, I have about a million and one things I have to do, including, but not limited to, dishes, laundry, making banana bread before my bananas grow legs and run away, make syllabi for my courses, make an "emergency lesson plan", do a sheet on how to respond to art work, buy some paper and fake flowers, etc, etc. That just made me more tired, so I'm going to go get started.

I am cooking a tasty, tasty chicken in my new Toastmaster toaster oven/rotisserie/griddle. I've never rotisseried anything, so I'm pretty excited. I've got some potatoes going in the pan that's catching the chicken-y goodness which should also turn out to be darn tasty.

On a completely unrelated note, I have a tip to pass on to you folks. You know when you pop in your DVD and it goes through all the FBI warnings and crap, and you can't fast forward? If you hit stop and completely stop the DVD, then hit play, it skips that part and you can fast forward through the movie company crap. That's it, I'm off to tend to my chicken.

It's that time of year again folks, the birthday counter is back! Thanks to Jippy.com.
I've put up a very short birthday list over on yonder sidebar, I'll try to think of more stuff, but I'm really not very good at that.

It's cold this morning! I took Grant up to Fredericton yesterday, so I was a bit lonely last night, but didn't get back here until 10, which was a bit late to be doing anything. I rented "Bringing Down the House" and watched it, it was pretty funny. I also rented "The Life of David Gale", but I thought that might be a bit much for me late at night so I'll watch that one today.

My brain's been going a mile a minute planning for my classes, I think I'm ready, and I'll feel a lot better once tomorrow is over and done with. Tomorrow, eep. Anyway, I'm going to write down some plans to get them out of my head, and maybe get dressed. I'm pretty sure nothing is open today, so that sort of decreases my motivation to make myself presentable, since I probably won't be leaving the house.

Ok. I got a box of Popsicle brand "Shakers" popsicles. They're strawberry, vanilla, and chocolate milkshake flavoured, pretty tasty. The only downside is that if you bite it, it's kind of dry, so it's better to take your time. So I'm doing this, with the strawberry, and, well, just look what happened.
Dirty dirty popsicle
Nice eh?

In other news, I found out that the 100 things theme is actually a webring, so join up if you have that on your site, and do it and then join up if you don't have it yet.

I think I'm all ready for school, I made a colour wheel poster that turned out pretty well, and organized my tables a bit better. I'm just hoping I can fit everyone in my 9 and 10 classes in the one room, without having too many people at one table, since they'll need room for paper etc. I'm still a bit nervous, but Tuesday is going to be so fast that we won't really have time to do much anyway. I'm getting my students to fill out an info/interest sheet, and I'll probably just talk to them for a bit about what we're going to do etc. I've figured out how I'm going to work the art history/non-studio aspect into my courses, which makes me pretty happy. I wasn't really sure how I was going to do it since I don't have a lot of slides and stuff, but hopefully my plan will work. I'm going to get them to do weekly critiques of art pieces, either in the room, in books, or at the gallery if they can make it out. I'll teach the 9s some theory and test them on that, but the rest of the classes should already have that so I don't need to pound it in to them.

Happy, feeling good.
Chapman's brand Super Fudges are the best ice cream treat in the world, I'm fairly sure. And they're low fat.
Ben & Jerry's 'half baked' is the best ice cream.

This is my new blogchalk:
Canada, Riverview, New Brunswick, English, Sarah, Female, 21-25, photography, movies. :)

oooOOOOooooohh, I bought a proper teacher lesson planning book. It's red. V. spiff.
Just remembered I have to print off my surveys for classes, as one of the reasons I'm going to school is so I can photocopy those bad boys. I also want to make a colour poster, with a colour wheel and examples of hue, tone, and saturation. It's fun being in the art room, you can just make the stuff you didn't buy! I was sorting through the pastels today, I got myself some baskets at Dollarama, and there are a disproportionate number of pink pastels. I'm not sure why. I will design some sort of bonus project involving pink pastels, brown paint, and red yarn. And glue. It'll be beautiful. I'm not finalizing my outlines for the term until after I meet the kids and get their interest sheets back. I'll probably end up doing what I am planning anyway, but just in case they all really want to do something that I didn't think of and can afford, I want to leave it open for now.

I made my big art order yesterday, and I think I have enough left to do something fun, but I'll have to wait and see. I have no idea how much it costs to buy clay. One of the teachers knows how to use the kiln, so that's a big bonus, since I have no idea. 3 of us who live in Riverview are going to start carpooling to school, so I'll only be driving 1/3 of the time, which is very nice. I made signs for the fire exit and class rules, and plan to make a colour wheel poster tomorrow. I hadn't planned on going in at all tomorrow, but I got stuck in meetings for all but an hour today, so it left me no prep time. I should only be a couple of hours tomorrow though, I just want to be sure I've got everything organized the way I want it, the class setup etc, and photocopy my info/interests sheets for my classes. The first day we only have 50 minute classes and an assembly, so I won't have time to do much anyway. That's good though, I can't freak out too badly.
I'm starvin marvin, I'm not sure why, I actually ate breakfast and lunch today. Very odd. I'm going to go eat something though.
I warn you, I'll probably be talking pretty much exclusively about school for like, a month. Not much going on really...deal with it!

Ok. So yesterday was boring meeting stuff, but I did get to meet the teacher whose job I'm taking over, and got to see what he's done already. I have some ideas now, but am still planning on sticking to my own stuff mostly as well. I did spend some of yesterday's speaker time brainstorming things to do, so I think I'll be set. I do have to make an order, which I will do soon, I'm going to check out the supplier catalogues tonight and put something together. I'm not going to order a *lot* of stuff, just some paint and paper for now. I have to go out again and buy some containers for pastels, they're all in a jumbly mess but I do have a good supply for at least first term.
Today I repainted the door, and am pleased with that. I did some more cleaning and found a box of goggles, some tile for carving and printmaking, and a whack of pastels in the sink. Wet. Why, why would you put pastels in the sink? I'm assuming it was students, but it's still odd. We have a waterfowl park very close to the school, so I'm thinking of some landscape sketching.
I don't have anything to report that's not school related, and I can see this getting pretty boring for most of you, so I'll quit now. Tomorrow is staff meeting for the morning and personal prep time for the afternoon, Thursday is a meeting for new teachers, and Friday is optional as to whether or not we want to go in. I've met some very nice people already, 3 of whom are from Moncton/Riverview, so that's terrific. There are several new teachers, so I'm not alone, which is also nice.
Going to look at art supplies!

New pictures!
Mort and George
the regular classroom area of my 'space' Not conducive to creativity in here I'm afraid, but I can spruce it up a bit and maybe just show slides etc in here.
the large, studio area of my class This is great, I found a stash of art desks that I will switch for these ugly tables, and I plan to set up a big still life arrangement in the middle.
Very bare, no? I have some nice posters to put up, and I'm going to repaint the door. Right now it's blue with ART written in big block letters in red. Nice that they made the effort to paint it, but wow, could we have gotten just a smidge creative with that? I plan to, and I want to do it before my students come back. But again, I'm still not freaking out. hehe...it'll come, I'm sure of it.

Wow, I'm boring. Left to my own devices, I'll really just sit around and do nothing. Perhaps get some fast food. I'm going to be in trouble when Grant leaves, I'll just be a deathly bored fat person wallowing in my own...boringness.

I have been trying to put together a plan for the year, but I have to wait and see what I can get for supplies before I can get into really detailed planning. I did meet with my art teacher from high school, and he was pretty helpful, he gave me copies of his course outlines from last year and some ideas on ways to do art history with minimal (read: no) resources like slides and ... a really thorough knowledge to be quite honest. Where we'll be near a gallery, I can get my 11/12s to go 2-3 times in the term and write reviews of the shows, perhaps research one artist they're interested in. I have some fun ideas for projects too, that won't take a lot of resources. I'd like to do some sculpture, I'm hoping plaster of Paris turns out to be not terribly expensive and maybe we can do carvings. I can get them to practise on cheap bars of soap or styrofoam blocks too, so we don't end up wasting too much stuff. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm not terribly worried, which is in itself kind of worrisome. I'm just going to use what I have. I plan to make up rough outlines tonight or tomorrow, I'm meeting Mr Brooks again Monday to make up an order, so it'd be nice if I knew what I would need before then. I'm assuming I can go to Kent to buy wood and stuff and get reimbursed, rather than ordering stuff, but I'll find out for sure.

Anyway, I've been away neglecting my poor kitties all day, so I'm going to go give them some lovin'.

I'm still really getting used to this being employed thing. I think I need to go out and buy some stuff without feeling guilty to really let it sink in, lol. I'm a bit nervous though; I have pottery wheels and kilns that I don't really know how to use, and I can't find the light switch in the darkroom. I'll have to do a refresher course on photography, not the taking but the developing. I'm trying to get in touch with my high school art teacher, who I've done some supply work for, to see if he can help me out. He must have handouts for his photography unit, I know he does one, so that'll be super handy. I also need to know what the kids need to be taught as far as art history. The curriculum doesn't have specific outcomes, just really generic ones like "leadership" and "problem solving", which are good, but don't really tell me how much Picasso the kids need to learn about.
I think I'll head down to the school again today to try to set up a bit more and get comfortable in my space, maybe decorate a bit with my sweet-ass new art posters. For now, I'm going to make some breakfast.
If anyone does know anything about kilns, please let me know where I can get info!

So I have a job. A real one, at that. I'm so excited, but incredibly relieved and sort of tired at the same time...it's such a load off. I'm going to be teaching art to grades 9-12. I'm going in tomorrow to see the school, my room, get keys etc. Apparently I have a kiln and a darkroom, so I'm pretty darn excited. My man at the district loaded me up with posters, paper, overheads, lesson books etc, so I'm stoked, and I'll get to get some new supplies too. I don't know if there's an art fee for the students, I'm pretty sure we had one when I was in HS, that helped pay for some stuff too. I'm in Sackville too, which is a super art community, so hopefully I'll have some good support that way. I'm going to call my art teacher from HS who I did some supply work for last year and see if he has any advice for me, or plans or something.
anyway, I've been on the phone since I got home at 3:30, and I still haven't gotten a hold of my mom, silly woman. Anyway, I'm going to take Grant and I out for supper to celebrate, but I just had to share in case I didn't call anyone already to tell them!
*big fat sigh of relief*

Just got back from the cottage with my dad. Weather was perfect, tide was high, save for perhaps a dog or 2, there's not much more I could have asked for. We got new-to-us furniture today, a loveseat/sofabed and la-z-boy chair that is deadly comfortable. I'm just trying to arrange stuff now so it looks nice. If I knew anything about feng shui I'd probably try to pull some of that off, but I don't. All I know is that you're not supposed to have your back to the door, it's bad for your chi or something, so I'll do that.
Tomorrow, Tirésa and I have an instutute, my last, on advice for beginning teachers from beginning teachers. I figure even if I don't have a job just yet, I will at some point and thus this will be useful. It's a 2-day one, so I'm going to go and see, my only concern is that everyone else will be like, "whee, I have a job! I'm so excited!" and asking things that may not be generally relevant but more specific. It's not so much about being jealous of the people with jobs (esp since I've found out that the people who got jobs I interviewed for were rediculously more qualified), it's more that I just don't know if it'll be useful for me right now. If it's like that, or just crappy, then I just won't go back for day 2. I'm hopeful though.
I have a meeting on Tuesday with a guy at district office who up to this point has been very kind, helpful, and honest with me. I'm just hoping to sort of chat and see if there's really nothing else I can be doing, without becoming annoying. I'm fairly sure there isn't anything, but it's worth checking out. There are also a couple of more jobs that I'm interested in, so I'll see what's going on with them. I'm still upset of course, at the unemployment situation, but as my mom said, I have a pretty good track record of things working out for me, so even if this particular thing is taking a bit longer than I'd like, chances are it will work out soon-ish. I'm not going to tell anyone about interviews anymore though, it's too hard to be let down and then to have to tell everyone else too.
Wow, I think that's probably enough. I'm going to move the futon over to the "reading area" of the apartment, even though it matches really well with the curtains where it is, and move the new couch over to the window. Exciting, no? Once I get everything settled, soon I hope, I'll take some pics and show off a bit. ;)

Another one bites the dust.
(warning, venting to follow)
I'm going to call the district tomorrow and try to talk to someone I know there, because I'm being told that there's nothing more I can do to get a job, that my presentation is really good, I'm not doing anything wrong, but there is always someone more qualified who gets the position. So, my question remains, why are they interviewing me? I have very little interest in doing an interview for a job I cannot get. And if there is somebody more qualified, unless they like, urinate on one of the interviewers, chances are they're going to get the position. I keep getting told not to get discouraged, not to give up, that my time will come, blah blah, but I'm finding it impossible to keep up hope when I really don't feel that I have had a chance at any of the jobs I'm being interviewed for. Interviews are good regardless, to a point. But I'm to the point now where it doesn't even make sense to interview me any more, I think everyone who does hiring at the district has interviewed me at least once, and I don't need any more practise to work on my presentation. I'm pretty fed up. I made a decision to stay here, moved into a new place, and am trying to make it work, but it's proving pretty difficult. I'm not ready to try again for jobs elsewhere, it's not in me to move again, especially for the things being offered in other districts, which are just long term supplies. Better than nothing, yes, but worth packing up and leaving? Harder to say. I also was led to believe that I would have at least one more interview, that I would hear about this week, but I did not, obviously. So I have to see about that.
For now though, I have to go to bed.

Hey, I was just watching Blind Date and Toni, who just got kicked off Paradise Hotel (she scared me anyway, honestly, did you see the size of her arms? and boobs?), was on that show one time. weird eh? It was just a preview of the episode, but she sure didn't look like she was having fun. Neither did her date though.
I had a pretty productive day, I cleaned / deodorized the carpet because the room had a funny smell and I couldn't think where else it was coming from. I hung my new, very pretty tab curtains, I'll take pictures tomorrow when it's bright again. I got thick, cream coloured ones for the 2 bigger front windows and cranberry ones for the smaller side windows. Completely by accident, they match the futon perfectly, so I think I'll leave the futon where it is under the window for now, to show off my interior decorating prowess. I also worked on my presentation for my interview on Thursday, although it's pretty much done, since I've done so many interviews already and been told that my presentation is very good, quite professional etc. I've made more slides, and will make overheads as well since when Tirésa went to her interview, the computer wouldn't read her disk or cd. I've never had a problem, but better safe than sorry I guess! Anyway, because I've been working so hard today, I'm going to go chill out and watch some tv.

My newest pet! hahaha...ew... He lives outside my window. I will call him Harry.

ok, I'm watching the funniest mini-movie thing right now. It's called "Zen and the Art of Landscaping". I'll do a brief synopsis for you all.
Zen is the lanscaper. Wife comes home to swanky house he is landscaping and seduces him. They are interrupted by her son coming home. He tells Mom that Zen used to beat him up in high school. Then Dad comes home, figures out what was going on. Threatens to beat up Zen, egged on by the son, Andy. Parents get mad at Andy for coming home unannounced, and ask him what was so important he had to come home instead of call. He says "I'm gay.". To prove it, he kisses Zen. The dad then asks if Zen is screwing his son as well as his wife. For no good reason, Dad tells Andy that he's adopted. This is news to Andy. Dad further explains that this is because the wife didn't want to have kids as it would ruin her girlish figure. Wife confronts husband about his having an affair, and it turns out to be with Zen's girlfriend.
Just funny, and confusing, so I thought I'd share.

Because I'm a super genius, I just figured out that I can use the BlogThis!/Google toolbar to blog anything, not just the website address I'm currently visiting. I am a pretty smart person, I just don't think of things all the time. I was realizing too, that if I misplace something, I rarely find it by looking. I just have to think on it for a day, then I'll realize exactly where I've put it. Very strange. I still haven't unpacked, it's really sad. There is just this part of the apartment that's full of stuff, boxes...not even a lot of stuff, but enough that I just sort of pretend it's not there. I have not much else to do today though, so I'll probably tackle it soon. I want to get curtains, and may go look, but 3 of the 5 windows are *huge* and thus expensive to cover. They're covered by ugly mini blinds right now though, so I want to do something nicer. I'll go for neutral colours I think, because I'm pretty sure, but not positive what colours I'm going to be painting in here.
Plus, if I clean up, where will he sleep?

Yes. the other institute was better, not that the grief one was bad, but it was just sad and thus not enjoyable. The sex one was enlightening in that I learned some things and got some ideas, but also in the jaw-dropping lack of knowledge that exists in the general population of teachers.
I have to eat something, because I've been drinking a bit the past couple of days and it caught up with me this morning. For me, drinking a bit is really only a bit, it's just that I do it so rarely that 3-4 Mike's Hard is really quite significant to my poor brain!
The cats are awfully glad to have me home, poor guys, we haven't been home for more than a day or 2 since we moved, so I'm not going anywhere for a while now I think. Plus I'm tired of living out of a bag, it doesn't take me long to get to that point.
Not much to report, it was warm but rainy at the cottage for the time we were there, but enjoyable regardless, of course.
Oh, right, Wednesday night we went to see Bad Boys II, and it was really really good. Very funny for the most part, but with very good action throughout, and just a touch of a love story strung through. Mostly funny though. Go see it.

went to an institute today on helping children deal with grief and loss. Part of the technique we learned was to have the child write a letter to the person they have lost, apologizing for things they didn't get to apologize for, forgiving for things, saying what was left unsaid, etc. Then he read us a letter written by a 14 year old girl to her dog, who had died recently after having been sick for a while. I was *weeping* after the first paragraph. Shoulder shaking, nose running, doing my best not to make too much noise. It was all things like her happiest and saddest memories of him, things she was sorry for like stepping on his tail, forgetting to feed him one time and he got into the garbage and then got in trouble for getting into the garbage. I've been really emotional for the past couple of weeks, but this was just too much. The presenter gave us a break afterward, which was very necessary, since I definitely wasn't the only one crying.
anyway, I have to go to bed, I have to call around tomorrow and beg for a job, and I'm just tired. Still getting used to sleeping in the new apartment and got up early this am to drive here.

well the unpacking is coming along, a bit slowly but all the important things are where they belong. We're getting a sofa bed and a lazyboy chair, I'm pretty exicted about that. 2nd hand, of course, but apparently in very good shape so it'll be cool. I'm going to make a little "quiet area" with all the extra room in this place, with the futon and a desk, facing the fish tank. It will also be good if Tirésa comes to stay with me, instead of having to sleep in the middle of the living room.
anyway, not much going on here, really just concentrating on getting moved in, but I've got my books all put away, most of the clothes and all of the kitchen is organized, including some spiffy new oven mitts from WalMart ($0.80, nice). I'm heading up to Fredericton for 2 institutes on grief and attitudes toward sexuality, both of which I'm looking forward to, should be interesting. We might head to the cottage but I'll be back on Saturday either way.
going to head to bed since I have to get up early.

ok, first, this is the view out my window at the new place. Not too shabby eh? I don't have much new to report, sadly, but I wanted to post that and say that I just posted the "home" pic for 26 things, which I forgot, even though I said I was done. I'm so ashamed....
I have lots to do, so I'd better go pretend to do something constructive.

Boy, moving is fun.

We left the old apartment in much better shape than we found it, except for the mildew, which Grant did actually try to clean up a bit but I have no guilt about that. I've got my fishes set up right beside the computer desk, so now I can spend even more time here! haha...

There are still many, many boxes that need to be unpacked, and the bed has to be set up, but we did pretty well today. My 26 things page is all done, I changed one of the pics and uploaded the missing ones, so you have to go see it again even if you've already been. Compliments are appreciated, I'm pretty proud of the page.

I have to go pick up a couple of things, but Superstore is across the street so I think I'll just go there. Lightbulbs and a water-saver shower head mainly. Also, the fire station is across the street so I feel pretty safe that way. My new landlord gave me 3 booklets that have paint swatches in coordinating groups, very handy. I was thinking green, but I think our stuff is more blue, so we'll see. Anyway, I'll be back, I just want to get those things before the store closes.

Ok. This is all the help I'm getting to pack, good times.

This is the kind of crap I'm running into while doing said packing. Despite the fact that we've had the dehumidifier going since about March, it's still a disgusting basement hole of an apartment, when you get down to it. Not happy. Very happy to be moving to a 2nd floor apartment.

Well my 26 things page is all finished, almost. I need 4 more pictures, so check back on the 1st and it'll be all done. Or just wait until the 1st to go at all, then you won't be disappointed. hehe. Check it out, if you like.

I was up really late last night working on it, with lots of help and input from Mitch, who has a damn fine website going from Jolly Old Hong Kong. Check it out too.

Ok. Now, I'm not putting up my 26 things pictures yet, cause I'm not done, so you have to wait. ha! I do have several other pics though that I'm just going to list off here, that will open in new windows. Enjoy!
a closeup of a dandelion gone to seed
a heron, I couldn't get too close cause the dogs ran after me and scared it away
a starfish we found at mid-tide on the beach. they grab right on to your hand!
this one is in 26 things, but I just love it so much!
my mom and I built this, she's taking it home to her garden in PA
a pretty sunset
my dog Angus in sleeping in the shower, he's weird.
after the rain...
same evening, a bit later
more sun and clouds action
same shot, through my Dollarama sunglasses
kayakers at sunset
neat clouds

Moving is so fun.

I've called already the power and phone companies and credit cards, and am now calling my bank to change my address. I still have to call for cable and cell and Future Shop card. Yarg. I had planned to pack this morning, but it's not happening. I hate automated telephone things when you actually need to talk to a person. I've actually had them try to stuff me back in the automated system when I had specifically told them I needed to talk to a human. Bastards. I did just get off the phone with a very friendly girl at Aliant though, so that helps. I'm on hold right now for CIBC. Good times, good tunes. ha!

I'm sitting here with a purring, very soft cuddly kitty on my lap after having had a lovely week with my parents at the cottage. I get to move out of this hole in 3 days. I'm pretty happy. I'm working on pictures, and want to use a pic of my new apartment as "new" for the 26 things but I won't have any pictures until after the 1st, and will have too much going on that day to be updating links and whatnot. Anyway, I took 143 pictures in the past week and a half, so I'd better get on that.

oh yeah, I've been at the cottage for the past few days, and will be again probably until next week, so no updating I'm afraid. I do have some killer pictures though that I'll post when I get back.

I saved a baby robin today. I think it got mauled by a cat, its wing was bent and it was too small to fly properly anyway. I thought it had had its tailfeathers chewed off too, which would have been too bad, but they just hadn't grown in yet, so that's good. I took him to a wildlife rescue place in Truro on my way home today. Truro wasn't exactly on my way home, but that's ok. It's a pretty drive from Tatamagouche. He chirped the whole way, it was a good time. He'll be nursed back to health and then released there, where there are lots of other robins, as there are everywhere. Apparently only 1-2 of the 5-6 hatchlings actually make it past fledgeling age. They actually have a new place set up that's for songbirds who are injured beyond repair but can still live normally in captivity, as a reminder that people should keep their cats inside. Interesting, no?

Is karma only a boomerang if you're a jerk, or does it work if you're a good person too? I'm sort of still waiting. I won $2 on Super 7 the other night, but I don't think that counts. Especially since the ticket was $5.

Good news for everyone, I say...

Ok, so yes, I got a new apartment, as of August 1st. It's goddamn beautiful. It's quite large, and bright, lots of windows. The couple living there now has it set up with 2 couches and 2 big chairs in the living room, as well as a kitchen table at one end (not in the kitchen) and there is still a lot of room. The kitchen itself has an island, and the bedroom and bathroom are both good sizes, so I'm so excited it's ridiculous. AND, it gets better. The landlord owns a paint store, and the apartment is above that. This is very good news, for 2 reasons. Reason 1 is that he'll provide me with paint if I should choose to change the colour (which right now is off-white, so *as if* I'm not going to paint. Trading Spaces here I come!). Reason 2 is that the store closes at 4:30, so after that the whole building is mine. Not that I can party in the paint store, but I can "entertain" (daquiri parties?) and blast music and whatnot and not offend anybody, cause there's nobody to offend!
I have to call and get everything switched over for the 1st now, so that should be fun. I'm hoping I can at least keep the same phone number, or maybe I'll get it switched over to something cool, like 55-Sarah! Mine now has too many numbers with no letters to spell anything.

This is really neat! It's called 26 things, and it's sort of a photo safari/scavenger hunt thing. I'm signing up, so is Tirésa, and I think everyone with a camera should too. But hurry, we only have until August 1st to get all the pictures.

Ok, so Smarties has a new kind, Sundae Smarties. They come in 8 flavours: chocolate, strawberry, orange, banana, caramel, vanilla, raspberry, and wildberry. They still are brown inside like regular smarties, but do not taste like chocolate. Except for the chocolate ones. hehe. Anyway, my mom really likes smarties, so I got 3 boxes. They're not very good. I tried one of each flavour and had to take a break from eating for a while. Grant just sees 'smarties' and gobbles a mouthful, and the look on his face when he chewed....I laughed my ass off. He had to spit them out, I still laughed.
Poor guy.

Did you know that on the bottoms of Bounty chocolate bars there are little palm trees and the word Bounty stamped in? Pretty neat.

I'm growing veggies in little pots outside my window: tomatoes, peppers, beans, and watermelon. Everything is growing, to an extent, but the beans are the only thing showing any signs of producing something.

Giant bean!
Bean, actual size.

There are about...5 beans so far. I'm pretty excited though, regardless, because most of what I've tried to grow up to this point has just died. The calla lily Erin gave me is still going strong, and a daisy plant I got from school in June is not only still alive, it's flowering again!

yay me!

I'm going to look at an apartment tomorrow. "Avail August 1st. Bachelor or 2 bdrm apts with balcony. elevators, storage lockers, laundry facilities, close to drug store. $340-$550 per month. Seniors welcome." They take cats, and I'll feel pretty safe living with seniors. I asked the guy if it's only for seniors or for anyone, and I was joking, but he said 'well we do make exceptions, how old are you?' I said I'm 24 and a teacher, and I guess that passed criteria because I'm allowed to see it. I'm looking at the bachelor, maybe the one bedroom, we'll see. $340 is a pretty tough price to beat, esp for cats allowed and laundry faciilties, security doors etc. I'm going to take a drive by later to see if it looks decent from the outside, but I'll probably go regardless tomorrow, some places look really dumpy outside but are nice inside.

I'm pretty excited, it might be cool living with old people. I don't like to par-tay much, so it shouldn't be a problem at all, and maybe they'll bake me brownies or something!

ok, links now open in new windows. enjoy. it's a really simple script, fortunately, from the Javascript Source where I've gotten some fun scripts for free, so there's their plug from me. Which opens in a new window. haha...

Damn, but my kitty is cute, eh?

what's with the lack of comments people? I'm feeling a little unloved over here...

I really liked that song when it was out long ago, in high school, and my sister found a mixed tape (bwah ahahah) with that on it, and it made me happy, so there you go.

Also, I went to "Butterfly World" at the Boardwalk here, and it was really neat. It's a giant dome full of flowers and plants and butterflies fluttering around freely, and they land on you and whatnot, and it's really cool. And, of course, you can take pictures. Anyway, I went on Saturday and I haven't gotten around to posting the pictures yet, so for Jenn, who's been harassing me about it, here you go.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

Tell Her
Del Amitri

Tell her not to go
I ain't holding on no more
Tell her something in my mind freezes up from time to time

Tell her not to cry
I just got scared that's all
Tell her I'll be by her side, all she has to do is call

Tell her the chips are down
I drank too much and shouted it aloud
Tell her something in my heart
Needs her more than even clowns need the laughter of the crowd

Tell her what was wrong
I sometimes think to much
But say nothing at all
And tell her from this high terrain, I am ready now to fall

Tell her not to go
I ain't holding on no more
Tell her nothing if not this; all I want to do is kiss her

Tell her something in my mind
Freezes up from time to time

Well, still not happy, currently trying to figure out what exactly I'll be able to do in the fall as far as paying rent and bills goes. If I don't have a teaching job, I'm not really sure what I'll do. I can have my tutoring job, but that's only 20 hours/week and won't cover everything. Supply teaching is pretty random most of the time, I can't count on any number of days guaranteed per week. I could live with Grant's parents, but I don't really want to, A, and B, I can't supply in Moncton if I live in Rexton, they don't give you enough time for that kind of travel, so that would give me about 3 schools within reasonable driving distance, which is silly, and if I'm not in Moncton every day, I can't tutor there after school. Getting a roommate isn't an ideal situation because I don't really know anyone who needs one, and I'll likely only need one for 4 months, which would be sort of inconvenient for everyone involved. So if anyone out there has recently won the lottery or something, I'd sure appreciate some of that! I'm not expecting to be rolling in dough at this point, but I did expect that I would be able to support myself.

big sigh.

sorry I'm so depressing. We did go see Pirates of the Caribbean tonight, it was really good. Quite entertaining, and it's got that Elf from Lord of the Rings, Orlando Bloom. 2 interesting facts. Johnny Depp is 40, and the girl who plays Elizabeth is only 18. I'm astounded on both counts. It makes sense that Mr. Depp is 40, but he sure doesn't look it.

anyway, yeah, it's 1:24, so buenos nachos.

Seriously though, 2 rejections in one week? It's becoming awfully difficult to be motivated to apply for jobs when I feel like I have no chance of getting one. My presentation is excellent, very professional, but I just don't have the experience to compete with the other candidates. Why then, do they call me?
In other super news, I found out that one of the main reasons I didn't get the job from Monday was that they are retarded, and completely misunderstood part of my presentation where I told them quite clearly that I didn't bring some of the lesson plans I have because I didn't make them, but I did bring several examples of lesson plans I did make. Somehow that got turned into 'I have never made a lesson plan, here are some examples of ones I have scammed.'

not happy.

So I'm not feeling quite as bitter, I did have a good time at my institute the past 2 days, and I still don't have a job, but I do have another interview on Friday for an at-risk site in Caledonia, so once again, happy thoughts and crossed fingers are appreciated. I'm going to call tomorrow and see if I can't find out why specifically I didn't get the job yesterday, and if I have a chance of actually getting jobs or if they just like my presentation and like having me around in the office. Not to sound really snarky or anything, I know interview experience is good to have, but it is pretty frustrating to think that I really can't *get* any job I'm interviewed for because there's somebody who has significantly more experience than me who will win because of that. I'm still hopeful though, seriously, so I'll keep interviewing.
But now I have to sleep.

Ok. So if you do your absolute best and try your hardest and work your ass off and give a killer presentation that represents you really well and you're perfectly qualified for the job, and you still don't get the job, what kind of loser ass does that make you?

Just wondering.

Hey, look what I won at the fair! It was a dart game, and since all the games are rigged and my aim is crap to begin with, I looked away from the dart board thing while firing, and I hit 2 stars! Out of 3 tries, not bad eh? I'm pretty proud of myself, and the cheetah is damn cute.
Anyway, it's almost 1, I'm here by myself and the cats are giving me grief for not being in bed yet, so off I go.

Today is Grant's birthday. I bet he'd love to get happy bday wishes from strangers! haha....go for it!

wow. I was just looking for stuff, and came to realize that the webpage I stopped updating in November, since it was NBNet and we've been on Rogers since then, it still on the NBNet server. Weird eh? I thought they deleted those things right away. Apparently not. Check it out! Hey look, it's me in November. Short hair!
I also found some fun links that I had totally forgotten about, that I will add to the links section. Good times.

ok, how does one republish one's archives with the new blog editor? I edited the template and now it says "blogarchivewhatever" where the dates should be. rrrrg...

but damn, they're cute aren't they?

must....stop...posting.....giant.....pictures......

I'm so happy that Blogger and Google have joined forces; they're 2 of my very favourite sites! This has culminated in the supercool Google toolbar with Blogthis!. I do enjoy it, I can search now with the "I'm feeling lucky" option or search images from the toolbar. I can also blog whatever page I'm on at the moment, and while I haven't yet figured out the fine points of that feature, I'm sure it's a good thing.

Another reason I'm so excited though, is that a while ago I had this toolbar magically install itself on my computer, and man, did that piss me off. It didn't show up on Adaware or virus scans, and there was no uninstall. I could deselect it, but it would still be there. It didn't come up in any file searches on my computer either. So I search and ask for help but the best I could find was how to not enable 3rd party browser extensions, which is good, until I find this Google/Blogger toolbar that I want. Now I must kill it. So I search and search some more, and find out how to search and edit things in the registry, and I do, and I don't have that toolbar anymore as an option. The evil one, that is. Honestly, it wasn't that evil in itself, but I did not put it there or agree to its being put there, so that sort of made it evil.

yay me!

So we came up to Fredericton to put a damage deposit on an apartment for Grant, and we get here and the guy has rented it. Now, this is not even the most irritating part, it's just that he had our number and really could and should have called us to let us know to save us the driving up on a nice day when I would MUCH rather go to the cottage.

100 things is a lot!

seriously, bed now.

"Clearly an unwanted pregnancy or a sexually transmitted disease would more than offset any advantageous psychological effects of semen...."
Thanks Jenn for the sweet link!

I didn't get a job, the new blogger editor is sweet, and Mike's Hard Limonade is really tasty. I'm going to bed now.
Sinbad is funny too, gotta love Brad Pitt in cartoon.

ooh, blue...you like?

you know, I'm looking at this colour on my sister's computer, and it's kind of gross actually. I like they layout, it's quite similar to what I used to have, but I'm not seeing the beautiful spring green happy colour I was seeing yesterday. Blech. I'll work on it....

ooh, new colours!

Happy Canada Day!