Pender-Day 2

Yesterday received a sunburn on my shoulders...not too bad. Yes, I did indeed wear sunscreen. We saw a bald eagle flying, a bunch of jellyfish at the dock, hawks, deer and different types of butterflies. I think one was a swallowtail, but I'd have to look that up. Pretty sure I saw a monarch.

Last night I was asleep before midnight. Dave was cleaning up the kitchen a little bit, then came to get me. We went out to the front patio where I lay down on a reclining chair and looked up at billions of stars. It was incredible.

Today so far we've played nine holes of disc golf, scored some free books at a really nifty recycling centre, saw MORE deer (one of which I got a couple pictures of) and are now eating lunch in preparation for more disc golf later in the day. I'm about to go looking online to see what school distric Pender is in so that I can apply here too. I'm completely enamoured.

Oh, hell yes.

Arrived at Pender Island...and I'm sitting here on a couch overlooking the ocean, typing on a super strong wireless connection. Soup has been made, shortly to be consumed on the deck overlooking the 12 person hot tub, the house has been explored...and is WAY WAY WAY nicer than the pictures show.

Un-freaking-believable.

AND, we've got a digital camera, so I can upload some pictures as we go.

Five more days of WOW.

Flickr

I think after next week I'm going to need a Pro Flickr account. I still have several dozen photos I want to put up, and I can only put up a dozen a month. This isn't even counting the pictures we'll be taking this week at Pender.

I was up stupid late last night, resulting in weird dreams that my students were in my room wandering around, and their parents. I got up at one point to move the bra I had hanging on my stationary bike because there was a dad who had come to pick up his child. I woke up at nine, after planning on sleeping in and setting my alarm. WTF? Yesterday I hit snooze for two hours because I didn't want to wake up.

I finally got up about quarter to ten after deciding there was no way I was sleeping any more. While I had been not-sleeping in bed, I came up with a great exercise routine. I live on a hill, and my backyard garden has about a twenty foot high slope with stairs and stuff on it. Our hose is broken, so I can't get it down there to water the plants I put in a couple of days ago...so I had two movie popcorn buckets filling themselves as I brought the other one down. It was awesome. I ran up and down the stairs carrying a bucket of water for about ten minutes. I was being timed, because while I was going with the first bucket, the second was filling up in my bathroom sink. After all that, I did fifteen minutes of karate practice in the backyard. Wow, does the sun ever get HOT. Even at ten thirty AM. I did all of this in a skirt, BTW. I have an official MEC hiking skirt, which I'll be bringing with me this week. :D :D :D :D

I'm REALLY tired now though. I should finish packing, take a shower and finish (start) my application process for the school board I'm applying for this week.

Instead, I may just take a nap.

A test I would love to study for

A post in which I talk far too much about my weight and food.
I got to watch four people test for their black belts today. It was really amazing to watch...and it's somewhat motivating, considering that one of them began training...oh, about a month before I did. Yeahhhhh...oh well. Motivation. It was really terrific though. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. A bunch of us all went out for dinner afterwards, and it's always so much fun to talk with everyone. We're all from such different backgrounds, with different experiences, but we've always got something to talk about, be it snakes, karate, cigars or children. Everyone has something to say and their perspective and filters are all different. I sometimes worry that I monopolize the conversation, so I'm going to try and stop talking so much and try to listen more. That's a good idea for all parts of life.

Oh, and two people noticed that I've lost weight. *fist pump* YES! The official tally is that I lost 12 lbs over the course of my practicum (3 months). I'm now down to somewhere under 160 lbs* and have stayed there for a few days. My goal for this month was to get under 160. Next month my goal is to stay under 160 for the whole month, then the next month is to get under 155, etc. That's a pretty safe set of goals, as the whole crash dieting thing is probably** less than good.

* My scale fluctuates like crazy. Today it told me that I was 134.5 lbs. I laughed at it.
** By probably I mean "definitely" and "I have people who will kill me if I try it" and "My stomach hates me already...I'm not going to intentionally annoy it".

A couple of days ago I bought some egg whites in order to make plain egg white omelets* and I finally got around to opening the carton today. Ok. So, I bought these egg whites, and some nice, whole grain bagels to use as a good healthy breakfast. So, what do you think I had for breakfast? First, I soaked some WHITE bread** in the equivilent of about six egg whites. Then I fried the two pieces in butter to make a french toast type thing, and put six slices of bacon in them to create a french toast bacon sandwich. It. Was. Phenomenal. Totally defeated the purpose of the lower fat egg whites, but oh well. It filled me up and was my breakfast and lunch. It kept me going through karate(lighter class today, due to the aformentioned testing, but still...). It really reminded me of someone buying a supersized Big Mac meal, and ordering a diet Coke to go with it.***

* If you haven't seen this movie, you're seriously deprived. Best make up scene EVER.
** Which I've been pretty much avoiding for the last six months.
*** Um. I've actually done this too. Not supersized though... I justify it the same way I justified my brunch today. "I'm cutting out the fat/sugar where it doesn't bother me and enjoying the rest of my food."

I've actually only been to MacDonald's two or three times in the last few months. I went for breakfasts a little bit at school before March because there's a McD's right on my route and I'm usually starving. But yeah. I've been trying to save money and cut out junk food...so I've been twice I can remember. Oddly, both times were with my tutoring student T, once to get her a treat for going to my boss's house and getting assessed, and once as a treat for her birthday.

Dammit. Now I'm hungry. And tired.

I don't know if I mentioned it, but Dave and I are going to be out of town for the next week. We leave on Monday morning and will be on Pender Island until Friday. EEEE!! So excited! Hot tub and ocean and shopping and disc golf and fishing and kayaking and, and and... Anyway, I'll probably not bother posting, but I'm sure I'll write all about it...just like how I told you all about my day in the life post...yeahhhh...

Ok, going to bed. Many things to do tomorrow.

Favourite picture I've ever taken, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

The Aquarium trip went really well. :) No one got lost, threw up or had any accidents. Also, I'm a totally wicked good photographer. More Aquarium photos at my flickr site.

So tired.

I'm in the middle of what my sponsor teacher calls a "Star Wars project". It entails a hell of a lot of work, with little or no payoff (referring to the Death Star). I'm creating a photo album for my kids...and I've arranged it like an actual book, so I have to make sure the pages are all correct and split up and it's very confusing to me...I have to go to bed now. I'm herding a group of five, six and seven year olds around the Vancouver Aquarium tomorrow. On six hours of sleep? Aiieee.

Did I mention that my faculty advisor has warned us that if we leave any students behind on a field trip, we fail our practicum? :P

I'd better get to bed. I have Subject 392-B in my group...luckily, this child adores me and won't let me out of sight. The problem will be disengaging for long enough to ensure the other five students in my group don't fall into the shark tank too often.

Ohhhhhhh my GOD.

I just found a recipe for the filling of Nanaimo bars. And I have all the ingredients...and there's no one here to talk me out of making a batch and eating it.

If anyone needs me, I'll be in a diabetic coma.

Best spam title ever.

This even beats the ones for sending your kids away to boarding school.

settler gynecology

Wha?

Blogging in the 19th Century

I was reading "Diary of A Nobody" last week, or maybe the week before. I'm not sure where I found the link, but it was rather amusing. Apparently it's mocking the journals that were being published in the 1800's by relatively famous people, but I think that it could easily have been written to mock blogs and live journals. I actually had to look it up to see that it really had been written over 100 years ago.

To demonstrate my claim:

From "Diary" Chapter II April 9th:
"Arrived home tired and worried. Mr. Putley, a painter and decorator, who had sent in a card, said he could not match the colour on the stairs, as it contained Indian carmine. He said he spent half-a-day calling at warehouses to see if he could get it. He suggested he should entirely repaint the stairs. It would cost very little more; if he tried to match it, he could only make a bad job of it. It would be more satisfactory to him and to us to have the work done properly. I consented, but felt I had been talked over. Planted some mustard-and-cress and radishes, and went to bed at nine. "

From "Random Synapses" March 18 2004 (that would be this site you're currently looking at):
"I'm going back to Ikea either today or tomorrow. I got scheduled for a lousy ten hours next week, so I can't afford my beautiful new medicine cabinet. *cry* I'll return it and then hopefully be able to buy it again next month or May, when I'm not paying as much rent. Either that or find another, cheaper, just as beautiful medicine cabinet someplace else. I'm also going to be calling the movie extras people today after I finish blogging. Hopefully they'll have some work for me for next week.

"However, the walls in my bathroom look specTACular. The ceiling is a little dark though...I mixed up some lighter blue paint for my corner shelf unit and I think I'll do some sponge painting on the ceiling. I'm NOT going to repaint the entire thing...it just about drove me to drink last time, trying to catch all the little speckles of white. *shudder*"

See? Both totally inane. The difference is that the first one was designed as a private diary (although it was actually a spoof and therefore intended for publication, but whatever...that's moot.) My inane writing is intended for an audience. After all, I have a paper journal I write in every night that I don't share with anyone. This is open to the public, and it's blatantly intended...why else would there be an About Me? Or comments? Or a list of my contact information? It's such an odd thing. I've been thinking about why I blog lately. I guess it's partly to stay in touch with friends...but I admit that I'm a little jealous of the readership that dooce et al get. I don't envy them their hate mail, or how they can't write about what toilet paper they use without people getting offended...but it must be a little gratifying to realize that thirty thousand people read you every day.

Anyway, that's just all something I'd been thinking about since I read "Diary".

*waves*

Does anyone besides me actually care about that stupid Day in the Life post?* I think I'll post it later anyway.

*(my post is stupid, not the concept. I love the concept. It just seems weird to me to post it uuuuhhhh....11 days late. And it's only up to 9:30 am. Oh well. It's a cute story so far, maybe I'll just post it as is. [aaaaaaaaaand, the footnote is longer than the sentence it inspired. Significantly so. {but I don't think that's unusual.}]**

**what was the point of footnoting something that's right at the end of the sentence? I admit, I'm copying slightly from mimi smartipants...but I really like that flow...we'll see if it works. After all, I'm all over the nested brackets.

Where the hell was I?

Oh yes. I got my final report from my practicum, and since I already typed out half of it to email to my parents* I figured that I would just copy and paste what I wrote.

*They're on a cruise through the Baltic with my little brother. Lucky so'n'so's. I've got the house to myself for the next two and a half weeks. Am planning themed get together...watch this space.

Comments in [square brackets] are mine.

"K was able to deal well with both the younger and older students of the school. K saw herself as part of the school community and acted to share resources and ideas openly and was willing to invest her time and energy into projects that were jointly undertaken with her teacher and two other student teachers..."

"K participated in aa successful EOC [employee on call] exchange day with a challenging Grade 3 class at another school."

"From the start she was determined to apply herself to her goal of becoming a great teacher and demonstrated the ability to practice what she was seeing with her School Advisor and make use of feedback from all sournces including her own self reflections. Throughout the practicum, K developed more confidence and worked towards organizing her materials [hahaha...that means my desk was STILL a mess...] and plans to be successful. As a result, she was able to plan and carry out meaningful, fun and interesting lessons and make changes when necessary to meet the individtual students...She exhibited professional mannerisms in all her actions."

"The integrated Plants, Butterflies and Rainforest units K prepared were creative and well suited for the students. She decorated the classroom accordingly and the students artwork became murals all over the walls and ceilings."

"Additionally, she was able to effectively involve one student with special needs."

"K took on all routines and responsibilities in the classroom...K loved reading to the students and always brought in an excellent collection of books well suited for her themes."

"K grew incrementally in her ability to orchestrate student learning in a safe and student centered environment....K has a very calm and patient manner and always treated students, parents and staff members with respect...K excelled in giving students genuine praise and encouragement and the pleasant tone of her classroom refected this."

"Throughout K's practicum there has been excellent growth. She appears comfortable in the role of teacher and personal attributes such as initiative, love of children, desire to connect with the students in meaningful ways, and an opennes to learning will ensure that her gowth will continue as she enters the profession. Equipped as she is with many natural talents and enhanced by her on-site training with a great educator [YAY for my sponsor teacher!!] she stands ready and prepared for teaching. We are happy to recommend K as a new teacher! [exclamation point is my faculty advisor's.]"

Now to start applying for jobs. Gah.

Nonononono NO!

Dammit. I'm sick again. DAMMIT! The last day I was sick was three weeks ago and I was sick for almost three weeks. This three weeks on/three weeks off thing...I'm not so sure I'm up for that.

In bed by eight thirty, I think.

Sorry!

The Day post is on its way, I swear.

Last year around this time, Dave gave me a wonderful gift. I had told him at the beginning of our relationship (four years ago, now. wow.) that I didn't like getting cut flowers as presents because I hate watching them die. I don't really have room for potted indoor plants either. So last year, Dave bought me four rose bushes. :D They're potted just outside my front door, so that I can take them with my when I move out. It's awesome to be greeted by a new rose or bud whenever I leave in the morning. :)

Recent roses that have emerged:

Day Delayed

Due to crazy business and extreme exhaustion, and report cards, the Day in the LIfe post will be done tomorrow. Thanks!

Holy cow, I'm a grownup.

I just spent the evening learning how to do report cards, having dinner with my sponsor teacher and family, and playing cards with him, his wife and a friend of theirs. This is freaking me out. I'm like...adult 'n' stuff.

In other news, we didn't have a scary Satanic day, although one of the boys from the intermediate grades brought a knife to school. Holy hell. What is up with that.

We released our butteflies today. It was very cute to watch the kids see them leave.

I'm tired. Good night.

Songs I currently LOVE.

From the Beat:
Wikked Little Grrls by Esthero
Promiscuous Girl by Nelly Furtado
Hips Don't Lie by Shakira

From JRFM:
Tonight I Wanna Cry by Keith Urban
Not Ready to Make Nice by The Dixie Chicks
Honky Donk Badonkadonk by Trace Adkins
Redneck Woman by Gretchen Wilson
Kiss This by Aaron Tippen

Various radio stations:
Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

There are more but I can't remember them. :(

And off to bed I go...an hour later than I hoped, but an hour earlier than I feared.

Oh yeah. And tomorrow is the infamous 6-6-6 day. (Hello googlers!) If you're worried? Get the fuck over it. Seriously. Women have been planning on inducing labour so that their kids aren't born tomorrow. The numbers are a purely arbitrary way of creating a timeline for people. According to the Chinese calendar tomorrow is day 24 in month 5 in the 95th year of the reign of the Republic. And according to the Gregorian Calendar it's already June 19th and the world didn't end. Source for dates here.

Anyway, if it turns out the world does end tomorrow...well...oops. I guess I'll be the first against the wall.

This isn't going to be funny to anyone but us. In fact, it probably won't even be funny to us when we're not exhausted.

(I just finished my last reflection for my practicum)

The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
wanna copy to read at some point?
Kit --> Me says:
sure
Kit --> Me says:
I'll read it tomorrow prolly
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
take your etime
Kit --> Me says:
I ewill
Kit --> Me says:
*grins*
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
eshaddap
Kit --> Me says:
etthpt
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
emy etyping egoes estraight eto ehell eat enight
Kit --> Me says:
erofl
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I'm giggling like an idiot over here.
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
err...eidioti.
Kit --> Me says:
eerr
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I'm gonna start putting e at the front and i at the back
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
esoi etherei
Kit --> Me says:
lol
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
eloli
Kit --> Me says:
eloli
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
eholyi eshiti I'm exhausted.
Kit --> Me says:
eloli, loli, loli, eloli loli lo
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
OMGn
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Oh noooooo....not n's too
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
good BYE
Kit --> Me says:
*snickers*
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I say good NIGHT madam
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Good DAY to you . I say GOOD DAY!
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
This is way better than being drunk
Kit --> Me says:
ok, that's enough wonka
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I'm going to be so bad tomororw
Kit --> Me says:
ayep
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
It's from any old British movie too.
Kit --> Me says:
ah
Kit --> Me says:
*hugs* talks for chatting earlier when you sould have been working on that thought thing
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
no problem
Kit --> Me says:
I have to sort my rocks tomorrow. I didn't do it earlier
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
When I'm a total hag to my students tomorrow due to lack of sleep, I'm giving their parents your phone number, mmmmkay?
Kit --> Me says:
er... today I guess
Kit --> Me says:
lol
Kit --> Me says:
no thanks
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
heeh
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
okie
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
night
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
for real
Kit --> Me says:
night
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
ereali
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
ELOLI
Kit --> Me says:
ebyei
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Ehahahahahi
Kit --> Me says:
eshooi
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I need to eblogi this.
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
elateri though.
Kit --> Me says:
enoooooi
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
*egigglei*
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Or should the vowels be outside the stars?
Kit --> Me says:
ei'lli edoi eiti efirsti
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
ebitei emei
Kit --> Me says:
einsidei
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
k
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
eki
Kit --> Me says:
*grisn*
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Hahahaha
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
you're doing it now too
Kit --> Me says:
*egrinsi*
Kit --> Me says:
I always typo grins
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
nnononono... *egrisni*
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
that's what is for
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
I'M REALLY GOING JUST WATCH ME!
Kit --> Me says:

Kit --> Me says:
I'm watching you
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
You should just copy and paste this.
The Teacher-Don't worry...that's just my brain falling over. says:
Actually...


(Friends don’t let friends blog tired.)

Laundry List

Is it just me who calls it that sometimes? Why a laundry list? I would guess that a person's laundry list would look like this:

LAUNDRY LIST
-do laundry
-fold and put away laundry

I suppose that those steps could be broken down into other steps, but that just seems ostentatious.

Anyway, here's what *I* did today.

-Tutored
-Took T (my student) out for lunch/buying a CD because it's her birthday on Tuesday (something she's been reminding me of for the last four months. Not in a "get me something" way...just an "I'm so excited!!" way. This makes it significantly less obnoxious.)
-changed laundry from washer to dryer (had to get laundry in there someplace)
-made a bet with Dave that I would win at disc golf today.
-lost by seven strokes at disc golf today.
-went to the mall and had two bathing suits, a pair of shoes, various shoe and sport paraphenalia and a grand amount of undergarments purchased for me.
-had dinner at Dave's
-read "The Positronic Man" by Isaac Asimov
-came home and put together the ultimate fruit salad, containing the fruits I love (grapes, pineapple, banana, peach [I forgot about the mango until after my container was full, I didn't feel like peeling oranges and I like to save my apples to eat with peanut butter or cheese. {and Dave cringes as he reads that last part.}]) and none of the crappy filler fruits that are in commercial fruit salad (Melon. Bleah. [And Dave thinks of all the times I've eaten melon and enjoyed it.])
-currently thinking about my final reflection for my practicum, eating my guacamole and chips, and a bowl of fresh pineapple in front of me, in anticipation of my desire for a sweet food instead of my salty chips.

Something I Have Wanted to Write About and Have Forgotten Until Now

The female staff bathrooms in Vancouver schools are very odd. There's a locking door, a small area with sink, soap, garbage can, etc...then a single stall within the room, which also locks and contains the toilet. I don't understand why the toilet needs to be sequestered away from the sink. It's not like the sink will be offended if they're in the same room. Nor will there be anyone else in there washing their hands if you lock the main door. I'm confused...and I have this compulsion that I can't just lock the first door and leave the other one alone. It's a small thing, but it irritates me. When I was in a different school (which had the same layout!), I decided that I was going to just leave the damned inner door open. I don't know why it bothers me, but it just DOES! Anyway, I left the door open, and I heard someone rattling at the door to open it. Minor panic, then I laugh to myself. Silly! There is a lock! And it is locked! Ha ha ha!

And then I hear a key turn in the deadbolt.

More than minor panic ensues as I lock the inner door. Whoever it was didn't actually come in, but it was a very weird moment. Why would someone try to open the door? I'm even more confused by that. The door at Gigabyte has a latch bolt and no key, which is why I was complacent.

Aren't you glad you waited around to read this?

Something

Would you believe that this blog has become so important that the person behind it has staff that ghost write it on her behalf?

Exercise today: 20 minutes of ...

Melted.

I have so many things I've mentally noted to write about and I can't think of many at the moment.

I saw X3 last night with Kit, Bimkins, Dave and Michelle (whom I believe I've mentioned once or twice. I was her bridesmaid two or three years ago.) I finally got to see a trailer for Snakes on a (mothaF*CKING) Plane! I think I was the only one in the theatre to "get it". Although it's funny because I was pretty meh about the whole thing, but now I'm all over it.

I made guacamole tonight. Mmmmm...guacalmole. Too much garlic, which means it's almost garlicky enough for me. So gooooood.

That's about it. I want to make an appointment for an eye exam, since I haven't had one for about five years. I've been noticing things getting a little blurry around the edges...kind of losing their sharpness. I've had glasses before (and look damn fine in them) but I tend to forget to wear them.

Appointments I need to make: doctor, dentist (ensuring that the asshole hygenist doesn't clean my teeth again. He was such a wanker, and I actually threatened to walk out if he didn't quit telling me that I made a bad choice about going into teaching.), optometrist, audiologist. Bleah. I hate making appointments for stuff. :(

Tomorrow's gonna be such a slack day. I'm excited. I didn't even need to prep anything. :D