Happy Halloween!
That's basically all I have to say. Nothing new going on, still busy as heck. Oh, yeah, and I got engaged. wooh!
seriously though, that's it.
Sunday, October 31
Tuesday, October 26
things I hate
waking up 5 minutes before the alarm.
parent teacher interviews when I'm not teaching art, and people are actually going to want to talk to me.
that my fish tank gets dirty so quickly. it's a trade-off, the algae eater keeps the sides clean, but produces an inordinate amount of poo.
realising only after I am all cosied up in my pjs that it is garbage night, and having to get all that shit together and take it outside before I can go to bed.
edit: also, when I put a banana in my lunch, and it makes everything not in good tupperware containers smell and taste like bananas. Why is that? What makes the banana so powerful?
parent teacher interviews when I'm not teaching art, and people are actually going to want to talk to me.
that my fish tank gets dirty so quickly. it's a trade-off, the algae eater keeps the sides clean, but produces an inordinate amount of poo.
realising only after I am all cosied up in my pjs that it is garbage night, and having to get all that shit together and take it outside before I can go to bed.
edit: also, when I put a banana in my lunch, and it makes everything not in good tupperware containers smell and taste like bananas. Why is that? What makes the banana so powerful?
Monday, October 25
phewf
so busy!
I have just been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, getting things going for the play, trying to get done the roughly 1 358 239 things I have to get done by Wednesday for parent teacher interviews. So much to mark, so little time! It's true, it's mainly my own fault. I hate marking, and thus tend to put it off as long as possible. It's now been as long as possible, so, here we go. The only good news in all this is that it's a short class week, only 3 days, with Thursday going half to P-T interviews and half to PD, and Friday entirely for 'curriculum support' PD. Works for me.
I've been up to not much otherwise, trying to find some new and not too expensive clothes to fit into and wondering why none of my students has said anything about my completely popped out belly. It's intriguing. I'm not sure that I would have said anything to a teacher either, but I thought that maybe one of my somewhat, shall we say 'lacking in social graces' 11s might comment, or one of my theatre / musical kids might notice. I think it's more fun for me just not to say anything. Most of them probably won't even notice for a while, even though it's really quite noticeable.
Went up to Freddy for the weekend to see the boy and my sister, had a lovely dinner with the boy on Friday night at Luna, consisting of enough food and garlic to feed and ward off an entire family of vampires, and then a homemade supper of some kind of tasty but unknown meat at my sister's place on Saturday night. It's fun to live dangerously. We also went to see 2, count 'em, 2 movies. We're wild, it's true. We saw Friday Night Lights on Friday, suitably enough, and it was pretty good. Better than say, Varsity Blues, but with no whipped cream bikini, so I guess 'better' depends on what you look for in a football movie. Billy Bob did a great job of playing a normal guy, which I have a feeling is a stretch for him. We also saw Team America: World Police . Really funny, yes. Horribly offensive, yes. Offensive to Canadians, no! Sweet. I'm wondering how the Americans are feeling about it though, and the actors portrayed as puppets non-too-favourably. Drop me a line if you fall in to either of those categories.
That's basically been all the excitement in my life since I last posted. More detail about the preggo stuff on the preggo blog, again, leave me a note if you want to read it, I'm not going to post the link for all on the main page here. I've also had a cold for about a month and a half. It keeps going away, sort of, and then coming back with a vengeance as something new and less fun. It's right now camped out in my throat / chest / nose. I can only take stuff for the coughing, so it's getting mighty old mighty fast to have symptoms that I would normally just blitz with some Advil Cold and Sinus or an extra strength NeoCitrin. mmm...lemony.
I'm off to make supper and mark. wooh!
I have just been running around like the proverbial headless chicken, getting things going for the play, trying to get done the roughly 1 358 239 things I have to get done by Wednesday for parent teacher interviews. So much to mark, so little time! It's true, it's mainly my own fault. I hate marking, and thus tend to put it off as long as possible. It's now been as long as possible, so, here we go. The only good news in all this is that it's a short class week, only 3 days, with Thursday going half to P-T interviews and half to PD, and Friday entirely for 'curriculum support' PD. Works for me.
I've been up to not much otherwise, trying to find some new and not too expensive clothes to fit into and wondering why none of my students has said anything about my completely popped out belly. It's intriguing. I'm not sure that I would have said anything to a teacher either, but I thought that maybe one of my somewhat, shall we say 'lacking in social graces' 11s might comment, or one of my theatre / musical kids might notice. I think it's more fun for me just not to say anything. Most of them probably won't even notice for a while, even though it's really quite noticeable.
Went up to Freddy for the weekend to see the boy and my sister, had a lovely dinner with the boy on Friday night at Luna, consisting of enough food and garlic to feed and ward off an entire family of vampires, and then a homemade supper of some kind of tasty but unknown meat at my sister's place on Saturday night. It's fun to live dangerously. We also went to see 2, count 'em, 2 movies. We're wild, it's true. We saw Friday Night Lights on Friday, suitably enough, and it was pretty good. Better than say, Varsity Blues, but with no whipped cream bikini, so I guess 'better' depends on what you look for in a football movie. Billy Bob did a great job of playing a normal guy, which I have a feeling is a stretch for him. We also saw Team America: World Police . Really funny, yes. Horribly offensive, yes. Offensive to Canadians, no! Sweet. I'm wondering how the Americans are feeling about it though, and the actors portrayed as puppets non-too-favourably. Drop me a line if you fall in to either of those categories.
That's basically been all the excitement in my life since I last posted. More detail about the preggo stuff on the preggo blog, again, leave me a note if you want to read it, I'm not going to post the link for all on the main page here. I've also had a cold for about a month and a half. It keeps going away, sort of, and then coming back with a vengeance as something new and less fun. It's right now camped out in my throat / chest / nose. I can only take stuff for the coughing, so it's getting mighty old mighty fast to have symptoms that I would normally just blitz with some Advil Cold and Sinus or an extra strength NeoCitrin. mmm...lemony.
I'm off to make supper and mark. wooh!
Tuesday, October 12
gobble gobble gobble
happy return-from-gorging-yourself-with-turkey day! I know I ate my share, and also had good-sized helpings of side dishes (my dad's stuffing and my uncle's cream cheese mashed potatoes mostly, mmm) and of course, dessert. Desserts, who am I kidding. Blueberry cheesecake, pumpkin cheesecake with whipped cream, apple pie..drooly drooly. My whole (immediate) family was there - aunts, uncles, 1st cousins, grannie, except for one uncle who lives in the states. My whole family is composed almost entirely of people on my dad's side, since my mom has just my grannie and aforementioned US uncle, and there are only like, 18 of us, but it's always a nice time when we get together. We had some death-match ping pong and a pretty fierce game of Taboo. Much wine and beer was consumed, and I had my own creation of blueberry punch with Sprite deal going on, so I didn't feel too left out.
I had an extra half day off for an appointment this morning, so only had to teach 1 class today, which was fantastic. Also, apparently my morning classes went well, with the exception of a couple of kids, surprisingly from one of my 9 classes, not the 11s who I was a bit worried about. Those 2 9s will of course be spending their break with me, one practising silent reading, one practising sitting quietly and doing work, since those are the 'responsible skills' (as the admin puts it here) that they seem to have forgotten in my absence.
All in all, a great few days, and it's not so bad being back to the routine. How was your weekend?
I had an extra half day off for an appointment this morning, so only had to teach 1 class today, which was fantastic. Also, apparently my morning classes went well, with the exception of a couple of kids, surprisingly from one of my 9 classes, not the 11s who I was a bit worried about. Those 2 9s will of course be spending their break with me, one practising silent reading, one practising sitting quietly and doing work, since those are the 'responsible skills' (as the admin puts it here) that they seem to have forgotten in my absence.
All in all, a great few days, and it's not so bad being back to the routine. How was your weekend?
Thursday, October 7
news
well, most of you know, but for those of you who aren't close, personal, in-the-flesh friends, I figured I should keep you up to date...turns out I'm 15 weeks pregnant. Surprise! That was my reaction too. haha. It's all good though, after the initial, wait a minute...2 lines? what the... Everyone's being really supportive and the parents are pretty stoked to be grandparents, so there you go. I go for my first dr. appt on Tuesday, and then an ultrasound on the 4th, so it's becoming pretty real now. I've also heard the heartbeat, which was incredible, and really made things hit home. There's a tiny person in there. I find the whole process pretty amazing, really. I know how it works, obviously, but really, how the hell? 1 cell, 2 cells, 4 cells...heart, brain, person! Crazy. I've been keeping a preggo-journal too, but I don't really want to post the link on here, since it's a little more personal and has names and such, but if you'd like to read, let me know and I'll send you the link. Some fun stuff though...the heartbeat, wow, and the bump (that's not from too many french fries, folks). Some of my pants don't fit! I'm hoping nobody at work notices if I just don't do them up all the way for a while, until I'm big enough to justify actual maternity clothes.
Monday, October 4
a little quiz (I'm 2%)
I've spaced it out a lot, because you're supposed to answer each question before reading the next, so try not to cheat.
This test determines human thought patterns. Humans fall into 1 of 2 percentiles: 98% or 2%. 98% think alike, and the remaining 2% stray from the norm.
Here's the test:
Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible. Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one. You do not need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind. You'll be surprised by the results...
Ready, Go....
How much is:
15+6
3+56
89+2
12+53
75+26
25+52
63+32
Come on, one more...
123+5
QUICK! THINK ABOUT A TOOL AND A COLOR!
Scroll further to the bottom...
A bit more...
(highlight the next line to see the "normal" answer, hidden for you friggin cheaters!)
You have just thought about a red hammer, haven't you????
If this is not the case, you a re among 2% of people who have
a"different" if not "abnormal" mind. 98% of those tested would answer a "red
hammer" while doing this exercise. If you do not believe this, pass it
around and you'll see. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among
the 98% or the 2% and send it to everyone, including the person that sent
it to you.
This test determines human thought patterns. Humans fall into 1 of 2 percentiles: 98% or 2%. 98% think alike, and the remaining 2% stray from the norm.
Here's the test:
Just follow the instructions as quickly as possible. Do not go to the next calculation before you have finished the previous one. You do not need to write or remember the answers, just do it using your mind. You'll be surprised by the results...
Ready, Go....
How much is:
15+6
3+56
89+2
12+53
75+26
25+52
63+32
Come on, one more...
123+5
QUICK! THINK ABOUT A TOOL AND A COLOR!
Scroll further to the bottom...
A bit more...
(highlight the next line to see the "normal" answer, hidden for you friggin cheaters!)
You have just thought about a red hammer, haven't you????
If this is not the case, you a re among 2% of people who have
a"different" if not "abnormal" mind. 98% of those tested would answer a "red
hammer" while doing this exercise. If you do not believe this, pass it
around and you'll see. Be sure to put in the subject line if you are among
the 98% or the 2% and send it to everyone, including the person that sent
it to you.
Thursday, September 30
so long, birthday counter
the 361 days makes it seem a long way away, so I'll take it down for now. I had a great time at my partay though! We pot-lucked, and I've been suppering mainly on left overs from that all week. Mini pizzas and perogies are a perfectly acceptable dinner. Tonight I had mini pizzas and homemade salsa. I thought about the guacamole too, but it looked decidedly sketchy, so I decided against it. I have nearly made my way through all of my birthday cake, and just remembered that I also have frozen mini cheesecakes to deal with. mmmmm. I also got presents, which I honestly wasn't expecting, I think I'm past the point where I expect anyone other than family to do things like that. I'm a big fan of gifts though, so it was great. The Fantasia part of the evening was also pretty good, although I didn't get the feeling that this lady knew her stuff as well as say, Jenn, or previous presenters I've had. Also, she called me Dawn at the end of the night, and let my cat out, but really, it was fun.
Tomorrow I've arranged my classes so they're all writing a quiz, except the theatre kids, but I can always think of things to do with them, they're a great bunch, and I could, any day, say...ok kids, you're running the show, and they would, eagerly, and it would be good. I don't know that we'd learn a lot, but whatever. Today the girl who did the warmup (named Hyde, pronounced Heidi, why would her mother do that?) had us play a concentration game where we all sat around in a circle with our eyes closed, and we had to count to 20. Tricky! No, but the trick was, we had to take turns, in no particular order, and if anyone repeated a number or went at the same time as another person, we had to start over. We never did make it, but I'll try it again once we've done some more concentration excercises and see if it gets any better. Anyway, yeah, quizzes for everyone, whee! Also, I've gone from having my class of 24 students in 113 English (remedial, for those of you on different systems), 3 of whom are modified to the point of not being able to even remotely follow curriculum in *any* subjects, 1 of whom we don't really know what's going on, but he's really weak, and hasn't been in school for like 10 years, and all but 3 of whom are just the weakest readers / writers / students I have ever met, with no TA support, to having 2 TAs! I'm so excited. I went and talked to the resource teacher, just to see about possibly getting some support in that class, got someone the next day, then today I had 2! I'm not sure if they're both here to stay, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Anyway, I have to now go make up the quizzes that are going to keep my students busy for tomorrow. Luckily, there's nothing good on tv tonight, because of the GD presidential debate. Hey, I'll save you the trouble of watching: don't vote for Bush! Sure, Kerry's no gem, but, and this is the only time I've felt safe saying this, but it really can't get worse. The country is in an absolute mess, it can only get better, or it will just collapse on itself and get sucked into the centre of the earth, leaving the rest of us to say, hmm, that was weird, and carry on. Of course, all the cool people would get out of there before that happened. Not GeeDub though. He'd be the first to get sucked in.
Tomorrow I've arranged my classes so they're all writing a quiz, except the theatre kids, but I can always think of things to do with them, they're a great bunch, and I could, any day, say...ok kids, you're running the show, and they would, eagerly, and it would be good. I don't know that we'd learn a lot, but whatever. Today the girl who did the warmup (named Hyde, pronounced Heidi, why would her mother do that?) had us play a concentration game where we all sat around in a circle with our eyes closed, and we had to count to 20. Tricky! No, but the trick was, we had to take turns, in no particular order, and if anyone repeated a number or went at the same time as another person, we had to start over. We never did make it, but I'll try it again once we've done some more concentration excercises and see if it gets any better. Anyway, yeah, quizzes for everyone, whee! Also, I've gone from having my class of 24 students in 113 English (remedial, for those of you on different systems), 3 of whom are modified to the point of not being able to even remotely follow curriculum in *any* subjects, 1 of whom we don't really know what's going on, but he's really weak, and hasn't been in school for like 10 years, and all but 3 of whom are just the weakest readers / writers / students I have ever met, with no TA support, to having 2 TAs! I'm so excited. I went and talked to the resource teacher, just to see about possibly getting some support in that class, got someone the next day, then today I had 2! I'm not sure if they're both here to stay, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Anyway, I have to now go make up the quizzes that are going to keep my students busy for tomorrow. Luckily, there's nothing good on tv tonight, because of the GD presidential debate. Hey, I'll save you the trouble of watching: don't vote for Bush! Sure, Kerry's no gem, but, and this is the only time I've felt safe saying this, but it really can't get worse. The country is in an absolute mess, it can only get better, or it will just collapse on itself and get sucked into the centre of the earth, leaving the rest of us to say, hmm, that was weird, and carry on. Of course, all the cool people would get out of there before that happened. Not GeeDub though. He'd be the first to get sucked in.
Wednesday, September 22
blah
so, still not much to report, I'm afraid. Tomorrow is meet the teacher night, where we all get introduced on stage and then go to our classrooms, then parents come through their kids' class schedules for like 6-7 minutes per class, and we run through the outlines etc for them. Good times. I'm mostly annoyed because ER premieres tomorrow night, and this means I'll have to stay up until midnight to watch it. Boo-urns. I stayed up late last night watching Amazing Race, and I'm just so glad for who won. It wasn't who I was really rooting for, but it wasn't who I was really rooting against either. I'll not say who, because I know some people watch it Saturdays in the afternoon when it's rerun.
I'm still struggling a bit with my 113 class, just because even though they're mostly good kids, which is fantastic, they just don't really care about anything. All the stories in the anthologies I have for them are just lame, about broken homes and that kind of bullshit that we assume, or somebody assumes, that lower level kids must be able to relate to and want to read about. Maybe for a story, but not for the year, thanks. We read a pretty good one today that I found in another text, and thus had to photocopy for everyone, called "Of Missing Persons". Anyway, I think we'll do a bit of resume / cover letter building for a couple of days, some more short stories, once I find some good ones, and then the novel. We're going to do "Hunter in the Dark", which seems decent, but I don't have any kind of activities for it, other than chapter questions and tests, and there is a surprising lack of resources for the book online. I have found a pretty good site for short stories though, here, if you just like reading them, or can use them for something.
Things overall are going well though, so I'm pretty pleased. My big plan for tonight is go buy bagels and cream cheese, and watch CSI: NY. I don't normally watch Miami, but I caught the premiere the other night, and they killed off my favourite guy, Speed. I am superpissed. Now I will make a point to not watch it. He was on Dazed and Confused, how could he *not* be the best character? I also have to clean this damn apartment sometime before the weekend, and at least partly before Friday evening when my mom and sister arrive, so they won't know I live in a sty when I'm here by myself. shhh! The party is still on, of course, and you're still invited, if you're in the neighbourhood! and have boobs!
I'm still struggling a bit with my 113 class, just because even though they're mostly good kids, which is fantastic, they just don't really care about anything. All the stories in the anthologies I have for them are just lame, about broken homes and that kind of bullshit that we assume, or somebody assumes, that lower level kids must be able to relate to and want to read about. Maybe for a story, but not for the year, thanks. We read a pretty good one today that I found in another text, and thus had to photocopy for everyone, called "Of Missing Persons". Anyway, I think we'll do a bit of resume / cover letter building for a couple of days, some more short stories, once I find some good ones, and then the novel. We're going to do "Hunter in the Dark", which seems decent, but I don't have any kind of activities for it, other than chapter questions and tests, and there is a surprising lack of resources for the book online. I have found a pretty good site for short stories though, here, if you just like reading them, or can use them for something.
Things overall are going well though, so I'm pretty pleased. My big plan for tonight is go buy bagels and cream cheese, and watch CSI: NY. I don't normally watch Miami, but I caught the premiere the other night, and they killed off my favourite guy, Speed. I am superpissed. Now I will make a point to not watch it. He was on Dazed and Confused, how could he *not* be the best character? I also have to clean this damn apartment sometime before the weekend, and at least partly before Friday evening when my mom and sister arrive, so they won't know I live in a sty when I'm here by myself. shhh! The party is still on, of course, and you're still invited, if you're in the neighbourhood! and have boobs!
Sunday, September 19
in honour of the impending b-day...
I'm having a party! I figured this is the best way to get the word out, although expect real-ish invitations shortly. Saturday night, and you're all invited. Well, those of you who know where I live, anyway. It's a birthday / potluck / Fantasia party, so there's something for everyone! Anyway, if you're interested, which you should be, then come on down.
I(heart) parties!
I(heart) parties!
Tuesday, September 14
whee! presents!
so, unless you're, say...blind, you've probably noticed the giant birthday counter up yonder. If you're the kind of person who might buy me something for my birthday, I have continued the tradition of the gift blog from Christmas time. enjoy, kids! I also have a bit of an announcement that a lot of you have heard, but the rest of you will get around my birtday. Whee!
Friday, September 10
wow
longest delay between posts ever.
I survived week 1 of my new teaching job, which is quite something, I think. I'm pretty freaking tired, and have been all week, but it's Friday, so I have 2 days to sleep. And to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for the rest of the year. Wooh! Feel free to provide ideas. English 9, 113, and Theatre Arts. I have basic ideas, but new ideas are always fun.
This weekend, as most weekends, holds no really exciting plans. Last night I went out to supper with some teacher friends and had fajitas, they're damn tasty. We had planned to see a movie but we took too long eating and chatting, and missed all the starts, so we went to Chapters and Starbucks instead. Probably a better, although not a cheaper option. It's not possible to go to Chapters and not buy anything. I think we'll go see Garden State this weekend. It's written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, the funny guy from Scrubs. I love him, and this looks like a great movie, I'm really surprised that Fox made it.
I'm afraid the posts are going to dwindle now that I'm not sitting home on my ass 24/7, teaching hasn't yet provided much interesting blogger fodder. One of my students did, yesterday, point to another student in the hall and ask me, quite seriously, if she was my daughter. I told him I'm 24, so...no. Thanks though, buddy. He's like, but she looks *exactly* like you! That may be, but no. Unless I had her when I was 7, which is unlikely at best. I think I had a better concept of people's ages when I was in high school.
I'm going to nap and think about supper.
I survived week 1 of my new teaching job, which is quite something, I think. I'm pretty freaking tired, and have been all week, but it's Friday, so I have 2 days to sleep. And to figure out what the hell I'm going to do for the rest of the year. Wooh! Feel free to provide ideas. English 9, 113, and Theatre Arts. I have basic ideas, but new ideas are always fun.
This weekend, as most weekends, holds no really exciting plans. Last night I went out to supper with some teacher friends and had fajitas, they're damn tasty. We had planned to see a movie but we took too long eating and chatting, and missed all the starts, so we went to Chapters and Starbucks instead. Probably a better, although not a cheaper option. It's not possible to go to Chapters and not buy anything. I think we'll go see Garden State this weekend. It's written, directed by, and starring Zach Braff, the funny guy from Scrubs. I love him, and this looks like a great movie, I'm really surprised that Fox made it.
I'm afraid the posts are going to dwindle now that I'm not sitting home on my ass 24/7, teaching hasn't yet provided much interesting blogger fodder. One of my students did, yesterday, point to another student in the hall and ask me, quite seriously, if she was my daughter. I told him I'm 24, so...no. Thanks though, buddy. He's like, but she looks *exactly* like you! That may be, but no. Unless I had her when I was 7, which is unlikely at best. I think I had a better concept of people's ages when I was in high school.
I'm going to nap and think about supper.
Wednesday, September 1
I'm alive
but only barely! I'll post more soon. I'm super busy being back to work, the admin are very tricky and schedule meetings all day so you actually have no time during this prep week to prepare for your classes. Sneaky! I'm very tired, and my computer is pissing me off, so I'm going to bed. Grant took his computer to Freddy, so I'm using my older crappy one, which is infected with some sort of spyware thing which sets my browser to about:blank and gives me all kinds of nice popups. I've run adaware, I'm running browser hijack blaster (which helpfully lets me know every 30 seconds that my homepage has been changed, and would I like to change it back?), and I've run hijack this! several times, but the damn thing just won't go away. I'm not using IE anyway, I'm using Firefox, but I'm still pissed off and getting annoying popups, even when IE isn't running. I want to uninstall IE, but can't seem to figure that out either, and I do like to use Outlook, which apparently needs IE to work properly. Can I disable IE or something? I have Firefox as my default, but when I click links from my outlook mail or click '1 new message' in Messenger to get to my inbox, it opens IE automatically. If you have any ideas, please help. I've searched for help, but everything seems hopelessly complicated, and what I can do, I've done, with no good results. I'm willing to play with regedit even, but the files I'm supposed to delete aren't where the help pages say they will be. Dammit! I may end up formatting, I don't really care, but I can't find my windows cd, so that's not so much an option. My computer, for some reason, will not install winXP, so I'm stuck with 98, which is fine, but again, I can't find my cd.
Friday, August 27
somebody wasn't thinking here..
ok. Now, I'm a big fan and supporter of the Breast Cancer Site, go, click, every day. Also click on all the other sites, Child Health, Hunger, Animal Rescue, and Rainforest. Go. Now. Do notice, and see if you agree with me though, that it may be in poor taste to have an ad for WeightWatchers placed directly beside an ad to help a starving child. Really. Yikes. I'm sure it's all random, but those ads should be separate entities, not near eachother. One in the 'sponsors' section, one in the 'awareness raising' section.
that is all.
that is all.
Thursday, August 26
16 Things That Took Me Over 50 Years To Learn:
by Dave Barry, Nationally Syndicated Columnist
via D
via D
- Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
- If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will chieve, its full potential, that word would be "meetings."
- There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."
- People who want to share their religious views with you almost never want you to share yours with them.
- You should not confuse your career with your life.
- Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance.
- Never lick a steak knife.
- The most destructive force in the universe is gossip.
- You will never find anybody who can give you a clear and compelling reason why we observe daylight savings time.
- You should never say anything to a woman that even remotely suggests that you think she's pregnant unless you can see an actual baby emerging from her at that moment.
- There comes a time when you should stop expecting other people to make a big deal about your birthday. That time is age eleven.
- The one thing that unites all human beings, regardless of age, gender, religion, economic status or ethnic background, is that, deep down inside, we ALL believe that we are above average drivers.
- A person who is nice to you, but rude to a waiter, is not a nice person. (This is very important. Pay attention. It never fails.)
- Your friends love you anyway.
- Never be afraid to try something new. Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark. A large group of professionals built the Titanic.
- Thought for the day: Men are like fine wine. They start out as grapes, and it's up to the women to stomp the crap out of them until they turn into something acceptable to have dinner with.
Monday, August 23
Oh, Canada...
Medals! We're ranked 15th out of...a lot of countries. 200 or something? Sure, some of them only had 4 athletes, but still. Not too shabby. I'm pretty pissed off that the US is leading. No offence, my American faithfuls, but it's just nice to see the unexpected happen.
fun with cruise control
I got to drive Grant's new car back to Moncton from Fredericton for reasons I don't feel like going into. It works now, so everyone's happy. Especially me, who got the nice car with the full tank of gas, vs. Grant who has my newer but not really as cool car with no gas for the week. Haha. Anyway, his car has cruise control, which I didn't know existed for standards, but it does. And it works. For a while I had it set at about 130, driving behind this truck who was clearly in a hurry, but when he turned off I didn't want to be going that fast all by myself, so I slowed down to about 122, still on cruise. I'm still passing people, but not going so fast that I'm worried about getting pulled over. So, while passing this one truck, a woman in a Ford Focus comes up super fast behind me, rides my ass until I am able to pass the truck and move back over. Fine, you go. She boots off away. So about 3 minutes later, I see that I am catching up to a car...lo and behold, the same Focus. I pull out to pass her, because otherwise I will run into her, she has slowed significantly, and she sees me, and speeds up. Fine. I pull back in behind her, she starts to move away from me again. I lose her again for about 2 minutes, then catch up again. Please bear in mind that my speed is remaining perfectly constant during this little adventure. I pass her this time, stay ahead for a couple of minutes, then she passes me. Fine. Again, a few minutes later, she passes me, again, soon, I pass her. I am laughing my ass of at this point, but she fails to see the humour. She soon passes me one last time, never to be seen again.
I have some advice. Take a gander at the speedometer every now and then, it's quite handy. It's very conveniently located mid-dash for your viewing ease. Try to keep that needle in approximately the same spot while driving. This saves gas, and aggrivation toward and from other drivers. Use cruise control if you have it, it's fantastic! I think it's the one luxury I would spring for in my next car. CD players are standard issue now, so I don't have to spring for that.
That about sums it up. Last night we had a fantastic chicken dinner at my sister's place, and then we spent the night at Grant's aunt's place, on the squeakiest bed (seriously, just from sleeping, the noise!) and thinnest pillows in the world. I'm thinking weekends here rather than in Fredericton.
I have some advice. Take a gander at the speedometer every now and then, it's quite handy. It's very conveniently located mid-dash for your viewing ease. Try to keep that needle in approximately the same spot while driving. This saves gas, and aggrivation toward and from other drivers. Use cruise control if you have it, it's fantastic! I think it's the one luxury I would spring for in my next car. CD players are standard issue now, so I don't have to spring for that.
That about sums it up. Last night we had a fantastic chicken dinner at my sister's place, and then we spent the night at Grant's aunt's place, on the squeakiest bed (seriously, just from sleeping, the noise!) and thinnest pillows in the world. I'm thinking weekends here rather than in Fredericton.
Tuesday, August 17
randomosity
2 fun sites. Site 1: Bacon and Eh's. A good read, with lots of good links. This is where I found Site 2: Disclosure.ca. I'm always up for a project; the goal of this site is to get pictures from all over Canada, eventually every town and city, that show something that represents Canada or being Canadian to the picture taker. Sounds pretty neat to me, get clicking!
Also, I've become somewhat obsessed with 2 songs. Avril's Happy Ending, and Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved. Here are the lyrics to the latter for your viewing pleasure.
She Will Be Loved
Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else
I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow
I want more
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore
It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things that make you who you are
I know that goodbye means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls
Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
[in the background]
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Yeah
[softly]
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Try so hard to say goodbye
Also, I've become somewhat obsessed with 2 songs. Avril's Happy Ending, and Maroon 5's She Will Be Loved. Here are the lyrics to the latter for your viewing pleasure.
She Will Be Loved
Beauty queen of only eighteen
She had some trouble with herself
He was always there to help her
She always belonged to someone else
I drove for miles and miles
And wound up at your door
I've had you so many times but somehow
I want more
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I know I tend to get so insecure
It doesn't matter anymore
It's not always rainbows and butterflies
It's compromise that moves us along
My heart is full and my door's always open
You can come anytime you want
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
She will be loved
I know where you hide
Alone in your car
Know all of the things that make you who you are
I know that goodbye means nothing at all
Comes back and begs me to catch her every time she falls
Tap on my window knock on my door
I want to make you feel beautiful
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Look for the girl with the broken smile
Ask her if she wants to stay awhile
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
And she will be loved
[in the background]
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Please don't try so hard to say goodbye
Yeah
[softly]
I don't mind spending everyday
Out on your corner in the pouring rain
Try so hard to say goodbye
technical difficulties
I'm supposed to get in touch with the vp at my new school, but I can't log in to my school email to find his email address or phone number. Not helpful.
I spent a nice weekend at the cottage with my parents, it was actually sunny for a good part of the time, which was a pleasant surprise. My dad and I also painted the bedroom in the little cottage, which was pretty funny. It had been wallpapered, so they took off most (but not all) of that. Dad had filled in most of the holes, but not the seams of the drywall and stuff, and we then bought paint at Loonieland and painted the room. Interesting. It's going to take about 4 coats, I think, and you can still see the wallpaper chunks through the paint at this point. Pretty nice. I love dollar stores though, they have the most interesting assortment of stuff.
Grant and I are going back-to-school shopping today, he starts work on Monday and needs some new stuff, and I might pick up a couple of things myself. My actual plan for teaching is still pretty rough. I don't know my schedule, but I do know that I'll have the English classes all year, so that's easy to figure out. I'm going to try to do a rough outline, but what I'd really like to do is to talk to the other grade 9 teacher and see what her plan is. I find it's helpful to be doing the same things at the same times, in case kids have to switch out or anything, and that way you know the kids are going to get the same things covered in the run of the year, so they're all equally prepared (or not, haha) for the next year. The 113 class, I don't know. I don't even know what books I have to work with, so that's interesting. They also re-arranged and cancelled some of the provincial testing, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm responsible for. I guess I'll find out! I keep looking for work in Freddy, but there just isn't any, and Grant keeps looking for work here, same deal, so it's looking like we'll be spending a few months apart. *sigh*. We did one semester last year, so this will just be...double that. Good times. He'll have a car too though, so can come visit me. He joked that I could come see him on snow days, but that's probably not the best plan at all.
T-13 days until back to school, yipes. I know those of you who aren't teachers have no sympathy for me whatsoever, but those of you who are or who know teachers understand. There's a reason we get summers off, and it's not just for the kids. There's a school district in the states where the kids go for 9 weeks, then get 4 weeks off, all year. That sounds pretty sweet to me, I'd definitely sign on. I'm off to get some breakfast and forget about the sadness that is returning to work. Thanksgiving is really early this year, wooh!
I spent a nice weekend at the cottage with my parents, it was actually sunny for a good part of the time, which was a pleasant surprise. My dad and I also painted the bedroom in the little cottage, which was pretty funny. It had been wallpapered, so they took off most (but not all) of that. Dad had filled in most of the holes, but not the seams of the drywall and stuff, and we then bought paint at Loonieland and painted the room. Interesting. It's going to take about 4 coats, I think, and you can still see the wallpaper chunks through the paint at this point. Pretty nice. I love dollar stores though, they have the most interesting assortment of stuff.
Grant and I are going back-to-school shopping today, he starts work on Monday and needs some new stuff, and I might pick up a couple of things myself. My actual plan for teaching is still pretty rough. I don't know my schedule, but I do know that I'll have the English classes all year, so that's easy to figure out. I'm going to try to do a rough outline, but what I'd really like to do is to talk to the other grade 9 teacher and see what her plan is. I find it's helpful to be doing the same things at the same times, in case kids have to switch out or anything, and that way you know the kids are going to get the same things covered in the run of the year, so they're all equally prepared (or not, haha) for the next year. The 113 class, I don't know. I don't even know what books I have to work with, so that's interesting. They also re-arranged and cancelled some of the provincial testing, so I'm not entirely sure what I'm responsible for. I guess I'll find out! I keep looking for work in Freddy, but there just isn't any, and Grant keeps looking for work here, same deal, so it's looking like we'll be spending a few months apart. *sigh*. We did one semester last year, so this will just be...double that. Good times. He'll have a car too though, so can come visit me. He joked that I could come see him on snow days, but that's probably not the best plan at all.
T-13 days until back to school, yipes. I know those of you who aren't teachers have no sympathy for me whatsoever, but those of you who are or who know teachers understand. There's a reason we get summers off, and it's not just for the kids. There's a school district in the states where the kids go for 9 weeks, then get 4 weeks off, all year. That sounds pretty sweet to me, I'd definitely sign on. I'm off to get some breakfast and forget about the sadness that is returning to work. Thanksgiving is really early this year, wooh!
Tuesday, August 10
vacation is ending, and I'm so not ready
I was so traumatised by the Lenny post that I had to take a break. Also I've been feeling like ass lately.
I'm trying to get my head wrapped around my teaching assignment for the fall, because that's coming up pretty quickly and I don't have a concrete plan of action. I've thought of some fun projects, but not for right away. I've also had dreams of the sort that I show up on the first day of school, but unaware that it's the first day, and all my students are there like, what the hell? and my classroom is not set up, and then, generally, I'm naked. No good. I don't think I'm that nervous, but maybe I am subconsciously.
We finally got around to seeing the Village and Bourne Supremacy. I enjoyed both, although they're pretty different. For all who are debating the Village based on scariness / nightmare factor, go see it. I scare easily, and though there are some jumpy parts for sure, but overall it's a really good story, and the acting is fantastic. Also, and I may be completely retarded for not realising this, but Joaquin Phoenix is a Phoenix a la River. I did of course, know his last name, but I just never made the connection. Interesting. Anyway, he's a fine actor, as is pretty much everyone else in the movie. Adrian Brody did a great job too. Bourne was good, a bit fragmented, but that was on purpose, and I do agree with Tirex that they made the bad guy pretty obvious. I (heart) Matt Damon though, so whatever.
And I'm still looking forward to Harold and Kumar, so shut it.
Still on the topic of movies, both of our theatres here are now Empire, where one used to be Famous Players. This means nothing good, as far as I can tell. While both theatres now get the good movies, where Famous used to just basically have the Disney blockbusters, they now get the SAME good movies. There are currently 5 movies playing at both theatres. Which would be good, if we were in like, Toronto. But we're not. The theatres are about 6 minutes apart. Redundant, I think.
I might go to the beach this afternoon, but the possibilities are really endless here. This weekend is either for the cottage or to Halifax to see the Buskers. I could do either, really.
I signed up for gmail, but it wasn't working because IE sucks and messes with cookies. Anyway, it's working now, and apparently I can invite somebody (because you can't just sign up yet) so if anyone is interested, let me know. It kicks hotmail's ass, with like, 1G of server space and no annoying ads. If you're just looking for info, go check it out. I invited my sister, so I only have one invite, and I think everyone who uses Blogger got one, so only you non-bloggers need apply.
I'm trying to get my head wrapped around my teaching assignment for the fall, because that's coming up pretty quickly and I don't have a concrete plan of action. I've thought of some fun projects, but not for right away. I've also had dreams of the sort that I show up on the first day of school, but unaware that it's the first day, and all my students are there like, what the hell? and my classroom is not set up, and then, generally, I'm naked. No good. I don't think I'm that nervous, but maybe I am subconsciously.
We finally got around to seeing the Village and Bourne Supremacy. I enjoyed both, although they're pretty different. For all who are debating the Village based on scariness / nightmare factor, go see it. I scare easily, and though there are some jumpy parts for sure, but overall it's a really good story, and the acting is fantastic. Also, and I may be completely retarded for not realising this, but Joaquin Phoenix is a Phoenix a la River. I did of course, know his last name, but I just never made the connection. Interesting. Anyway, he's a fine actor, as is pretty much everyone else in the movie. Adrian Brody did a great job too. Bourne was good, a bit fragmented, but that was on purpose, and I do agree with Tirex that they made the bad guy pretty obvious. I (heart) Matt Damon though, so whatever.
And I'm still looking forward to Harold and Kumar, so shut it.
Still on the topic of movies, both of our theatres here are now Empire, where one used to be Famous Players. This means nothing good, as far as I can tell. While both theatres now get the good movies, where Famous used to just basically have the Disney blockbusters, they now get the SAME good movies. There are currently 5 movies playing at both theatres. Which would be good, if we were in like, Toronto. But we're not. The theatres are about 6 minutes apart. Redundant, I think.
I might go to the beach this afternoon, but the possibilities are really endless here. This weekend is either for the cottage or to Halifax to see the Buskers. I could do either, really.
I signed up for gmail, but it wasn't working because IE sucks and messes with cookies. Anyway, it's working now, and apparently I can invite somebody (because you can't just sign up yet) so if anyone is interested, let me know. It kicks hotmail's ass, with like, 1G of server space and no annoying ads. If you're just looking for info, go check it out. I invited my sister, so I only have one invite, and I think everyone who uses Blogger got one, so only you non-bloggers need apply.
Thursday, August 5
also, what the hell happened to Lenny Kravitz?
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