Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Boot Camp Blogging


Assuming my computer doesn't crash, as of this posting, I've managed to turn out at least a little bit of drivel each day this month. Wow. It seems to have flown right by. I've only got a day and a half left this week, so I've now only got three weeks left in my practicum. I've been doing 80-100% for the last three weeks (that's pretty much six lessons with one lesson to do prep each day). I can't believe it's almost over. I've learned so much. I can't believe it. My confidence in my teaching has wavered, then gotten stronger, over and over...each time getting even stronger than previously. I've taught when I was exhausted, sick, exhausted AND sick, upset and euphoric. Generally, I've been patient (I haven't told any stories in this medium about my personal little terror, whom I will refer to as "Subject 392-B" in the future.) with a few exceptions. I don't think I've scarred anyone for life (not even Subject 392-B, who was sent to the "Thinking Chair", and was promptly forgotten for twenty minutes. Oops. In my defense, it was actually quiet for the first time that week. I was slightly delirious.)

Enough with the patting of myself on the back...time for some stuff!

Apparently there's another army themed exercise program. Interesting...I'll have to look into this further. I've actually said in the past that I would like to be in the army, or an actress or stunt double whose job consists of getting into kick ass shape. (yes, I'm grossly oversimplifying all of these jobs. I know. Quiet.)

One of our butterflies came out of its chrysalis today. It was so very cool! It looks like a couple others might crack out tonight, but hopefully they'll hold off until we can watch. I spent a lot of time staring into the tank they're in today and someone commented on it. I'm funny (and in a multitude of other ways) in that I sometimes cannot sit or stand still, but other times I can spend an hour and a half kneeling in front of a fish tank to watch guppies swim around, or chrysalides sit there and "cook" their butterflies.

I got a lot of comments about my outfit today.
R (one of my K's, heavy accent, and speech difficulty...you may remember him from here)
*R points in the vicinity of my belly* "Hey! Nice! Where'd you get, (just my last name pronounced "Hay-bow")?"
"Thank you, R. I got it from a friend of mine."
*R ponders a moment and points at his shoes* "My mom get!"

S (someone I coach at track): "Why do you look so formal?"

Teacher: "You look too nice to coach track today!"
Me: "I know! I mean, thanks! I meant, I know that I'm dressed up...oh, never mind."

According to the ingredient list, the tea I am about to consume includes various plants with sedative properties that I'm familiar with, but it also contains rosebuds. Now correct me if I'm wrong (which I'm not) but isn't it a common practice to put roseHIPs in tea? They're very high in vitamins and other good things, as they're the fruit of the rose tree/bush/plant. The rose bud, however, is the unopened flower of the rose tree/bush/plant. I'm befuddled. Cat? Have you heard anything about using rosebuds? Maybe it's for the colour? I just don't know.

Edit: Well, I'll be damned. Turns out one can learn things all the time. (Those were on the first twelve google results. I'm stopping now, running out of words to link from.)

Tuesday, May 30, 2006

So many things!


Today was my practice teacher on call day, where I swapped classes with another student teacher. It went really well. She has a very difficult class (as all the teachers at the school mentioned) but they were rather well behaved for me. I missed my little guys though.

I have new clothes!! I went to dearheart's place and met her fiance and Callie the cat. Now I can stalk the three of them. Muahaha! The clothes look absolutely adorable, and I will be wearing some of them tomorrow to school. Thanks so much!!!!

I acquired some hair removal cream...Life brand, I believe. Despite my lack of luck previously with that stuff, I haven't had any side effects yet. I'll let you know if my legs fall off in the middle of the night. If there is no falling off of the legs, I will wear the red skirt I got from dearheart and a white, non see through blouse. I look like a GROWNUP. I'm all freaked out.

Yesterday night was interesting. I didn't leave the school until past 8:00 pm because I was so busy getting my stuff together for the TOC exchange and tomorrow's lessons. I went out the door and towards my car when I saw a group of kids who were hanging out. Whatever, no big deal. Then I realized that they were looking up on the roof...where one of my kids (he's in grade six or seven) from track and field was. Huh. Turns out he was actually stuck, so I got the custodian and a ladder and brought him down. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to give this story the time it takes to be a really fantastic anecdote (it's funnier in person. :P ) so I'm going to bail now. To bed with me!

Edit: I forgot...I wanted to mention this website that's been advertised on one of the Vancouver radio stations. I would really like to (in theory) do Soldiers of Fitness. Timewise, it'll work perfectly. I'll be at school from 0830-430, which means I could go to the early one and have a shower before class, or the late one after a quick dinner. Plus, it's during the week, so I could still get to karate on Saturdays. And then I die on Sunday until the next week. Who's with me?! Doesn't it sound AWESOME?!?!

Monday, May 29, 2006

Posting at schoooooool...


My brain is FRIED. Seriously. I have no idea what I'm doing. I just about packed up and left after reading dearheart's comment in my last post, since I thought today was Tuesday. Holy crap.

I'm working on getting two days worth of stuff together, since I'm doing a mock substitute day tomorrow...going to a grade 3/4 class in another school, while my friend is taking my class. And since I'm doing a full day at her school, I have to have Wednesday all fixed up before I can leave here today. Stupid "have to have everything ready before you leave" crappy rule. *GROWL* On the plus side, it means I can go to dearheart's to pick up clothes directly after I finish school.

I'm so tired. I've hit the nine week slump, I think. Ngha. I think I will be asleep by 8:30 tonight...assuming I get home before 7:30...and since it's nearly six...I'm kind of doubting that. :( Much sadness.

Ok, back to my class to organize things (I'm in the staff room right now...I was looking up information on monkeys for tomorrow, but GAH! I'll just go with what I have.)

Sunday, May 28, 2006

Hmmm.


I find myself in a rather odd position. I feel like posting, but don't really have anything to write about (this is often a precursor to a loooooooooooooooooooooong post.). I went to a lovely BBQ at NoNameYet's new house...it's lovely! I walked right past her daughter when I arrived because I didn't recognize her! Yikes. I need to go over more often, apparently. I had a great time with some people I'd met briefly at one time or another, and also with some good friends whom I've known for ages, and have only met a couple times. The internet is really, really great!! (FOR PORN! [sorry...the link isn't actually porn.])

I was driving through Maillardville tonight (small part of Coquitlam) and it has got this WEIRD energy. I don't know how to describe it. It's got odd connotations for me since I had a boyfriend in grade nine who kind of messed with my mind a WHOLE lot. I don't really want to get into it right now, but remember my tenuous grip on reality? Yeah...he was probably the beginning of the slide into chaos, although just the catalyst at the time. It probably still would've happened without him, just at a different time (if any hiring people see this site, they'll never let me near kids.) Honest! I'm much better now! I just think there are vampires every so often! Doesn't everyone?

Meme


This was done a long time ago, but I did it with my previous moniker...therefore, I shall google the phrase "the teacher is" (complete with quotation marks) and see what I am.

The teacher is responsible for diagnosing educational needs, prescribing and implementing instructional programs and evaluating progress of pupils (well, yeah...)

In other words, if the teacher is a consultant, and opts to retain their active ... If the teacher is currently covered by the collective agreement, ... (Boring)

the teacher is circulating, redirecting, disciplining, questioning, assessing, ... The teacher is on the move, checking over shoulders, asking questions and ... (sounds about right except for the "disciplining" thing. "We" prefer to use the term "management")

the teacher is paid for the statutory holidays as well (Woohoo!)

the teacher is incompetent (Well, crap. That's not very nice.)

The teacher is entitled to a Movement Grant that covers such items as ... The teacher is required to complete a personal inventory of all goods shipped. (Boring)

........................

Mostly boring. Oh well. Screw the google issue.

Karin is suffering from schizophrenia, and hears voices that tell her that (Whoa. I'd better check out the rest of that.)

Karin is an orphan living with a not very loving aunt (Awww...poor me.)

Karin is an unusual superhero, at all times very human (Dude, that totally makes up for the aunt thing.)

Karin is the President of the Prince George Kennel Club (Ummmm....no.)

Not to mention Karin is the only one in her family that *isn’t* a proper vampire (Goddamnit. That totally figures.)

Karin is an Early Childhood Educator with over 18 years of extensive experience (Actually, this is probably the most accurate of all of them...although I would have had to start when I was eight.)

Karin is a deity just below the rank of Kami (I take it back...THIS is the most accurate one.)

Karin is a soft spoken yet determined big-air athlete who is turning heads in more ways than one (Name? check. Soft spoken? Um, not so much. Determined? Sure. Big air athlete? Not even close. Turning heads in more ways than one? Oh yeah. To the left and to the right, because I am HOT, beeeyatches!)

Karin is a romantic comedy that features bright, stylized art design (Apparently I'm a movie now. Jesus, though. A romantic comedy??? *gags*)

Karin is one of the best (Only ONE of the best? Screw you!)

Hey look! I'm twelve again!


This post is rated N for nested brackets and L for links.


Apparently I've matured from the six that I usually act. :) Last night was SO much fun! Dave and I went out to Mundy Park to play night time Capture the Flag with the Saturday in the Park people. We got to see some people we hadn't seen for a while (Hi Ryan. *waves* Ryan found my blog and Ryan was skimming for his name last night, so...Ryan, Ryan, RYAN. [Who says I don't pander to my readers? Yeah, that's right. {Actually, I don't think anyone does. (because I don't have enough to pander to. [Although the nested brackets are for Gwynabella. {I didn't really need all these, did I?}])}]) and I'm just going to start a new sentence to talk about who else we saw. Four years (and apparently three weeks) ago, Dave and I met each other in a class at SFU called "Cyberspace: The Next Canadian Frontier". We also met NoNameYet there at the same time. Last night, we met a girl named Sarah who remembered me from somewhere, and we figured it was because we both did English majors at SFU. It wasn't until after the festivities and we were drinking our celebratory hot chocolate that Dave remembered that we had all been in that class together. How very weird! Fate! That class was literally the only class that fit into my schedule that summer, so I've always figured it was fate that I was in there with Dave and NoNameYet...and now meeting Sarah again, I'm confirming it. Apparently there were discussions with her that included the two of us defending the fact that two guys kissing was sexy (there had previously be assertations that two women kissing were [was? I hate figuring out that...] sexy). So, it seems that this person would be someone to keep track of.

Especially since we were singing songs from the Buffy musical all the way to Tim Hortons!! (WTF, why doesn't Tim Horton's website automatically go from .com to .ca? I'm annoyed...but not enough to boycott.)

Saturday, May 27, 2006

So much to do...


My schedule for today:

0930-1030: Tutoring. (DONE!)

1200-400: Kids meet for karate.

when I get there-730: BBQ at nonameyet's new place. Not until tomorrow! Wooo...I'm not so busy today!

800-when it's over: outdoor capture the flag in Coquitlam.

I'm doing this BIG freaking loop all over the eastern suburbs of Vancouver today. I'm exhausted already...and I forgot to change my alarm from 0600 to 0800 this morning. Whoops. Gotta go iron my uniform, have something more substantial than 25 brown sugar frosted Mini Wheats, figure out how I'm going to bring the giant freaking sign to the meet and pack clothes that are suitable for BBQ and capture the flag...

Thursday, May 25, 2006

The Meme


*sticks tongue out at Cat* I had the TIME, I just didn't have the energy. I sat here for fifteen minutes trying to think of something random about people I've known for four years. Anway, here it is, in order of those who contacted me...and Cat gets put on there for being a brat. :)

Gwyn:
1. Something random about you
You move a LOT.

2. A challenge
We will get together for Firefly and jewellery making.

3. Colour
I'm getting pale orange for some reason.

4. Something I like about you
How you like to have fun. :)

5. First/clearest memory of you
Meeting you at your place in East Van near Dave's place and we walked to the store.

6. Animal you remind me of
Parrot. Colourful and talkative...in a good way.

7. Something I've always wanted to ask you
Why do you like/did you like the North Shore so much?

Laura:
1. Something random about you
Your boots make you almost as tall as me. :)

2. A challenge


3. Colour
Hot pink, lime green and black. All together.

4. Something I like about you
Your fuck-them-all attitude, but how you still care about people.

5. First/clearest memory of you
Meeting you at Canada Day 2002 at your aunt and uncle's place in White Rock.

6. Animal you remind me of
A cat. Cute, but with claws. Playful claws usually.

7. Something I've always wanted to ask you
Are you still seeing that guy you told us about at Easter?

DM:
1. Something random about you
You and I have a Weather Pixie on our sites.

2. A challenge
Sing a Weird Al song at karaoke.

3. Colour
Green...gee...wonder why... ;)

4. Something I like about you
You're independent and slightly crazy. Just like me! And you like karaoke.

5. First/clearest memory of you
Blipping over to your page after the first "Day in the Life" thing that we both did.

6. Animal you remind me of
Frog. Again...gee, wonder why? (For those of you who didn't follow the link, DM writes at "Green Duckies", and has a frog on the top of her page.)

7. Something I've always wanted to ask you
I guess I can't say I've "always" wanted to ask you this...but where did you go in Canada for your vacation?


Cat:
1. Something random about you
You look wicked in a top hat.

2. A challenge
Post every day for a week.

3. Colour
Blue black, like steel.

4. Something I like about you
How you can (and do!) tell people to their faces what you think of them, whether it's good or bad.

5. First/clearest memory of you
Giving you a lift home in my old blue Mazda 323 after late night Norse Mythology class.

6. Animal you remind me of
Cat is kind of a copout...so I'm going to go with butterfly, because you've changed SO MUCH since I've met you.

7. Something I've always wanted to ask you
Do you still have your children's book collection? Where is it in your "new" (calling it that because I haven't seen it) house?

Feel free to leave comments if anyone else would like to be meme'd.

LOOOOOOOOOONG week


Why do the short weeks feel the longest? I'm totally exhausted. I started the meme from a couple days ago for Gwynabella and Laura, but I can't think straight. I'm going to bed at 8:30...freaky.

Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Movie Review


DaVinci Code? Pretty much sucked. The parts with Ian McKellen (too tired to look up spelling.) were excellent and made it into a not-total-waste-of-time. At least the company was good! :D

Meme


Leave your name and:
1. I'll respond with something random about you
2. I'll challenge you to try something
3. I'll pick a color that I associate with you
4. I'll tell you something I like about you
5. I'll tell you my first/clearest memory of you
6. I'll tell you what animal you remind me of
7. I'll ask you something I've always wanted to ask you
8. If I do this for you, you must post this on

Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Guess what I have on my desk.


No, seriously. Guess. I'll wait.

...

...

Ok, done waiting. I've got a new coolest thing. I have a fuzzy leafed plant. The leaves are dark green and the fuzz? The fuzz...it is PURPLE!!! It is seriously, the coolest thing on my desk.

Oh, except for Buffy Season Two. And a book about Firefly. So, I guess it's the coolest non-Whedon thing on my desk.

And except for my computer...but it's more in my desk.

Tomorrow morning I'm taking over a grade four class from one of the other student teachers in my school, while she takes my kindergarten/grade one class. I'm a little nervous. Her kids are kind of...well...insane. Two of them almost got suspended last week. It will be an...experience.

I have a wicked rainforest in my classroom now. Pictures will be coming eventually. Hopefully sooner than when I promised before.

Holy crap, I've only got five weeks left of practicum...which is actually closer to four because this week is basically only two days and the last week is pretty much nothing. Yikes. I'm only 11 weeks from them giving me a piece of paper and telling me to go forth and teach the next generation.

What the fuck have I gotten myself into?

Edit: Ooh! Found out what my new plant is...apparently it's a "Gynura aurantiaca Cv." 'Purple Passion'. The flowers smell like dog poop, and need to be pinched off. Apparently it also grows to be about nine feet tall and is easily propagated via cuttings. Does anyone want a piece of potentially nine foot dog poop purple fuzz plant?

Monday, May 22, 2006

*pouts*


Alias ended tonight. :( Dave hasn't posted about it again yet, so I will. Muahaha. Our evening was as follows:

6:59:57-I knock on Dave's door...I told him I'd be there before seven. I'm wearing my black wig. I figure since Alias is all about the dress up, I'd come over in disguise.

7:01-The wig is annoying both Dave and myself, so it goes away.

7:15-We eat a fantastic dinner that he made...fettucini pesto alfredo with grilled salmon and prawns, and garlic bread.

7:50-We settle in to watch the two hour series finale. I get more questions right on Jeopardy than Dave does, but he gets the final answer.

7:59-I'm giggling in anticipation.

8:00-It starts! It's...an Oprah special? Gah! Dave runs upstairs and confirms that Alias will in fact start at 9. We kill time until then, chatting about what we could do over my nine day vacation that starts on June 23rd. We create a lengthy list of things to consider.

9:00-EEEEEEEE!!!!

9:24-OMG.

9:47-No...no no nonononono...

10:02-OOH!!!

10:14-GAH!

10:22-Realize there's only 38 minutes minus commercials in the Aliasverse. Start getting depressed.

10:23-Stop getting depressed when something REALLY COOL HAPPENS!!! AHHHH!!!!!

10:37-Breathe for the first time in ten minutes.

10:38-EEEEEEE!!! I know who!!!

10:46-Think to self, "There is no way this will wrap up satisfactorily in 14 minutes...gah! Minus commercials!!"

10:54-Oh, the irony.

10:59-Wrapped up satisfactorily. Unbelievable.

11:00-I try to adjust myself to a world with no more new Alias.

This is the only show I've ever seen (with the exception of Firefly, which only had 14 episodes filmed) all of. That's 22 episodes times five seasons, times 42 minutes each (plus the commercial time of the first one because they got a deal with Nokia but it's a long story that is kind of cool but not very interesting to people who aren't fans, and this sentence is now longer than the explanation would have been, but you know what? I'm ok with that.) What I'm trying to say is that I got a little emotionally involved with the characters. I should make myself a couple of bracelets...WWSD and WWBD (What Would Sydney/Buffy Do?) and Dave's actually already used the Buffy thing to get me to do stuff. :P Have I ever mentioned that I've got a tenuous grip on reality? Uh huh.

So anyway, a tip of the wig to five years of Alias. I lift my glass of vodka martini (actually mango nectar), wave my Nokia cell phone in the air and I will never look at a garbage can in the same way again. Thanks for the ride.

All About Meme


Stolen from Rockstar Mommy.

I AM: sitting in a comfy chair with mauve pajamas on...on a Monday morning at 11:43.

I SAID: "Please take your fingers out of your nose." "What are you supposed to be doing?" "1, 2, 3 eyes on me." "That is NOT acceptable." "Everyone, go get your writing books now!"

I WANT: to have the tenacity (tenaciousness?) to stick with things I start.

I WISH: popcorn didn't make me sick to my stomach.

I HATE: feeling insecure in my teaching (like, everytime I get evaluated...I am just feeling like I'm getting good and then I get shot down. :( )

I MISS: having a summer vacation that I don't have to do anything. I think the last one was in grade seven, because then I joined a pipe band.

I FEAR: smothering, inability to breathe, being trapped underground and unable to move. Gaaaahhhh...

I HEAR: Dixie Chicks "Wide Open Spaces" (yep, in the country right now, not the urban centre.)

I WONDER: where I'm going to get a job and a place to live.

I REGRET: losing touch with people from my childhood, not getting more involved in high school.

I AM NOT: just another girl.

I DANCE: all the time, except when there's someone who is obviously much better than I am, then I fade into the background.

I SING: karaoke, alone, with others, in the shower, in the car, to the radio, when there's no radio, the right words, made up words, to little kids, with my guitar, to my tutoring student and her mom to tell them about a song and when I'm all alone.

I AM NOT ALWAYS: even tempered.

I MADE: a brown glass bead and turquoise stone chip necklace last night while Dave played on my computer and I waited for my sheets to finish in the drier.

I WRITE: on my blog, and many multitudes of novels in my head. Also, many role playing scenarios...also in my head.

I CONFUSE: myself with rapidly cycling emotional up and downs...also most people around me.

I NEED: diet tonic water and Dole pineapple juice (not together...that's just WEIRD). I've got pretty much everything else I need.

I SHOULD: be getting ready to tutor and get through the rest of my day.

I START: getting ready for school at 0630

I FINISH: my day, getting in my house, around 900 pm or so.

I BELIEVE: that it's still raining outside. Bother.

I KNOW: that I will finish my school and get a job quickly.

I CAN: grow stuff in my garden and in pots.

I CAN’T: keep myself motivated to keep my growing stuff pruned, weeded and generally taken care of.

I SEE: a very messy desk with coin organizer, spools of CDs and DVDs, my box of rubber stamps, artist's pencil crayons, school photos of me from this year, stacks of papers, reams of paper, a recipe card box filled with recipes I haven't tried yet, my webcam, photos I need to scan, my scanner, speakers, my TV, Bert's Bees lip balm and a purple teddy bear wearing a red Santa hat.

I BLOG: here, here and here...although I rarely post at the last two due to lack of time for knitting or writing.

I READ: everything I can get my hands on. Currently in my bathroom, a 2001 "Most intriguing people" People magazine is hanging on the towel rack. I mostly read SF and fantasy.

I AM AROUSED BY: power...either mine, or someone else's. Also, in the same category...confidence.

IT PISSES ME OFF: when people give me advice or tell me what to do. (Although *cough* I do that occasionally...Hi Kit!)

I FIND: stuff whenever I clean my room.

I LIKE: hot water in all forms (drinking [plain or infused with tea], soaking, washing hands, shower, hot tub, etc.)

I LOVE: the people in my life, my career choice, creating things...crafts, writing etc.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

The master of the template


Woo! Things're fixed!

I've been so busy the last few days. I have a ProD day on Tuesday to do most of my work for school, so I took Saturday and today to do a bunch of cleaning and laundry. I'm pleased with how much work I've done...and now I have clean clothes that I can actually find for school next week. Excellent.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Eek! Bugs!


No, not creepy crawlies. Template bugs. Comments seem to be down. I'll fix it later. Also, I'd really like to fix it so that the empty spaces on the sides are gone. Seems like that's a lot of wasted space.

Update!


I've changed my template from forest green to pea soup green. Now I'm hungry.

Karate! YAY!!! I'm not sick!!! YAYYYYY!!!! Going disc golfing with Dave afterwards! YAYAYAYAYAYAY!!!!!

Ok, time to get ready and quickly eat something before I leave.

Friday, May 19, 2006

Blogging from school.


I'm not going to actually visit my website, because I don't want there to be a record of that site at school. Don't wanna get dooced before I even get hired...

Posted so something's up tonight. To be continued.

Edit: The crazy, unbelievably nasty teacher came into the staffroom while I was writing, so I needed to get out of the page. And since I'm paranoid, I'm changing my profile a bit so that there's less search engine stuff to look for. I'm now known as "The Teacher", the pseudonym that Gwynabella gave me.

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Hitting a new low?


Oh my. I have simply the most obnoxious taste in music. I'm sure that you're all aware of my country liking. However, I've started listening to...hip hop. Oh, gods. The baggy pants and quarter turned cap are in the mail. It's funny because I'm so very white and so VERY suburban...I've got nothing to do with the style or attitude or anything. It's very odd. I blame school. We've got a hip hop teacher for the week (she's SO CUTE!! OMGWTF!!!1111!!!eleven!!!ONE!) and it's probably the most adorable thing I've EVER SEEN IN MY ENTIRE LIFE to see five year olds giving stage "attitude" (arms crossed, hips cocked, head leaning over [not so cute when they give you real attitude...] ) then flashing a peace sign (and yelling "PEACE OUT".)

The song they're performing their dance to? It's from the show Kim Possible. EEEE!! And I found the lyrics. Muahahaha!!!

Now, I need people to tell me who to listen to for my Pandora radio station. I know all the country singers now, but I'm totally out of touch with this.

SCHOOL UPDATE
Oh man. I had another evaluation with my faculty advisor today. ARGH. I got so frustrated with some of it. Oh, and get this. I've only got five weeks in my practicum (that looks weird. Spelling?)...the last week of which is really nothing. I have a four week unit planned...which means it starts next week. FUCK. Anyone want to turn my classroom into a rainforest before Wednesay? Two day week for me, SUCKERS. Well, kind of. Victoria day on Monday, there's a ProD day on Tuesday, I'm doing a classroom exchange with another student teacher at my school on Wednesday morning, and Friday's a half day. Basically...I've got two full days of teaching my class next week. Gah. And this week was hip hop (five lessons) a three day write (three lessons) and testing (kids getting pulled out of my class throughout the day.)

I wasn't stressed this morning. What the hell happened?

(Edit: and now I've got that rap song stuck in my head. *snarl*)

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Compliments don't make me spend money.


I received so many compliments over the last few days about the skirts I've been wearing that I went out and bought $420 worth of new clothes from Old Navy.

Before everyone who knows me has a heart attack, I brought them home so my mom could help me sort through them. I'm returning $320 worth sometime in the next ninety days....and I know Dave is going to bug annoy harass gently remind me about them to make sure they get returned. Thanks in advance, sweetie!

DAMMIT! I forgot to call Ticketmaster. I bought Kit Phantom of the Opera tickets for her birthday/Christmas present and they were for a night that she's got a final exam. Grr. I've been meaning to do this for a week now. Sorry!

Ok, I'm going to bed. If I'm asleep by 1030, I'll get eight GLORIOUS hours of sleep.

PS...where the hell is this week going?? I've only got a day and a half left (Friday's a half day) and then a three day week next week (Monday's a holiday and there's a ProD day on Tuesday that I'm not sure I need to attend.)

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Me and my diet tonic water


Holy crap it's hot. I didn't realize until I got home from Vancouver and it was 31 degrees. My room at school is usually freezing cold, so it was NIIIIICE today. I'm drinking my room temperature diet tonic water and wishing it was colder. Hmm...my gin's in the fridge...maybe I should partake. Better yet, my vodka is in the freezer...

Tonic water would be even more bitter if there was no sugar in it. Proof of how much sugar is in tonic water.

It's like a billion degrees in here, which oddly, is the temperature Dave usually insists that I'm at. One would think I would be comfortable. One would be incorrect.

I wore a skirt yesterday...it was wonderful. I almost cried today when I put on my jeans (track meet...didn't want to wear the skirt again).

A list of those family members who have this address...hello everyone!
My cousin Victor (go buy his CD. It's so very very good.)
My cousin Erin
My Auntie Janet (and by extension probably my Uncle Jerry)
My mom and dad and brother (although I don't think they read)

Anyway, I'm currently writing an email, writing this post and working on my lesson plans for a couple of weeks from now. I am doing all of these poorly, so I'm going to publish this and get it out of the way.

BTW, I've posted every day this month. Just thought I'd brag, since it's been half the month. (Watch this space...tomorrow I won't post. :P)

Monday, May 15, 2006

When I'm tired...I sound like the Tick.


(MSN message sent to Dave)
Karin-could I actually...be getting better??? says: time for me to beat up my headache with the stick of sleep

I'm going to look at this tomorrow and wonder why I found it so hysterical....I just know it.

YAYY!!!!!!!!!!!


I'm THIS CLOSE *fingers pinched really close* to being completely better. This weekend was enough to shove this cold/flu/plague out the door. YES!

Also, I am jealous. I wish to go here. Maybe next summer. I also want to create a labyrinth in my backyard.

I've gotten slightly rehooked (is this a word? do I care? nah.) onto gardening and want to redesign my parents' back yard. Currently it's very shady with a lot of lawn and places completely groundcovered and a half assed vegetable garden. Oh, and a cute little shade garden that I found and added to a couple years ago. I would like to open it up to the sun and create a bunch of smaller spaces to move around in depending on the mood one is in. I would also like to clean out the (ugly!!) ground cover and make my vegetable garden full assed and tidy up the shade garden and plant a few more things there.

Yikes. And I was planning on having ANY spare time this summer??

Sunday, May 14, 2006

Huh?


What? These flowers? They're for my garden. Why do you ask?

Oh...huh. I'd better get you something, huh?

Kidding of course. Mother's day was nice...lunch (European style smorgasborg) and presents with my mom and dad, then Chinese food dinner with Dave and my mom and dad.

I want to do some serious gardening now. Eep. Too many hobbies all want to get time...I've got to be careful. :P

Happy Mother's Day!

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Heartsick


Something happened today at school with a child who isn't in my class. Obviously I can't go into any detail about it in this forum, but it's really bothering me. :( And the worst part? There honestly, seriously, isn't anything that I can do. This isn't one of my kids, which I'm glad of, because it would completely eat me up. THIS is why I couldn't go into policing. THIS is why I couldn't go into counselling. How do I shut myself down so that it doesn't destroy me? Next time it could be one of my kids...someone I've made a connection to. I guess the real question is, "how do I keep myself separate emotionally, without sacrificing building relationships?" (And if I could tell you that I could probably write a book and make a million dollars being on Oprah. [I don't actually care too much about Oprah, but if I had a book, I'd go everywhere to promote it. {I hope this doesn't hurt my chances to get on Oprah when I get my novel published.(Gwyn: I think you just start over again when you run out of brackets...although it should technically be the pointy brackets.)}])

Friday, May 12, 2006

Time for a nap.


I am so happy it's Friday.

Thursday, May 11, 2006


quilt detail, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

More pictures...click the link. :D

Passive aggressive bullsh*t.


Someone at school today wrote in the sign-in book "Could the student teachers please remember that coffee and tea are fifty cents. Container is on the counter."

Ok. Let's count the things wrong with this.

1) There are three of us. Only three. If you have a problem with us, talk to us...not the book where the WHOLE STAFF can see it. We've gone out of our way to be approachable. Approach us!

2) One of us has paid a $10 fee. This is the price for the whole year...not for the three months that we are there, so technically, she's paid for all three of us, if we wanted to quibble.

3) The other two of us can't drink coffee because it makes us sick, and we haven't had any of the tea. I get water out of the kettle (which I ALWAYS refill, even if I only took a little bit) or the side of the coffee machine (which instantly refills). It's all coming out of the tap.

4) It seems this person has had it out for me...again with the passive aggressive. This person is in charge of the laminating for the whole school and bitched about my laminating to my sponsor teacher who had told me I could get it done. Nice. Very nice.

Anyway, I've got photos ready on my desk to be scanned.

(BTW, I realize and fully embrace the irony of how passive aggressive a blog is. Just so you know that I know.)

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I should be sleeping.


I'm not. I'm an idiot.

But! I'm an idiot with photos back from being developed. Watch this space...tomorrow...there will be paper quilt and dragon photos.

(ps, I'm still sick, blah blah blah...screw off. Goddamned throat and lungs.)

Tuesday, May 09, 2006

Look! It's bedtime!


I'm feeling so good about teaching this week. Thank goodness, because last week I was in a deep dark funk because of the whole plagiarism-that-wasn't issue. Being ill probably didn't help at all.

But this week is good! And I am going to be in bed before 10:30 tonight so that hopefully I will be even better. DAMN this cough and aching throat. This is getting ridiculous. Day 12 of being sick, ten pounds lost (BTW, seriously, the next person who claims to want this "diet", I'm going cough right in their face...I've already threatened to twice today.) My right ear has been plugged since last night...it's bugging me a lot and I got a sharp flash of pain this morning and a dull ache happening now. Please send anti-ear-infection vibes at me.

Something that's been bugging the hell out of me lately: song lyrics that reference a storm, but put the thunder first, and then the lightning. Also, it irritates me when lightning makes a noise...I submit as proof:

Garth Brooks, The Thunder Rolls: "And the thunder rolls/and the lightning strikes..." (Probably the most famous of them all. Grrr...love the song...hate this.. SO. IRRITATING.)

Johnny Reid, Time Flies: "Mountains move, rivers run, shadows fall with the setting sun/thunder rolls and lighting strikes the darkness covers and
swallows up the light… and time flies" (This one annoys me because it's the SAME LYRICS as above. Please, if you're going to pay homage to a song, make it factually accurate! Or else choose different verbs.)

Thunder, Distant Thunder: "I hear the sound of distant thunder, it's coming closer every day/Soon there'll be lightning crashing to the ground" (Lightning's already hitting the ground, unless it's going from cloud to cloud, which is cool...BUT! Lightning. Does. Not. Crash.)

Live, Lightning Crashes: "Lightning crashes, a new mother cries" (Please see above about the whole lightning not crashing thing.)

Norm Hacking, Thunder and Lightning: "Thunder she'll roll you and roll you and/Shake you to the bone./There ain't no sky too dark/For Ol' Man Lightning." (this one's a bit of a stretch...ok. But the imagery is there...)

It's actually just the first two that really annoy me. (Yes, they're country songs. Yes, I listen to country and it doesn't annoy me. Shut up, Bill. :P) The other ones I had to Google, and boy...does the word "thunder" look WEIRD to me now!

Ok, really going to bed now. I got caught up in researching all those damned songs.

Monday, May 08, 2006

Holy traffic.


Today on my way to Gigabyte, there was a majorly huge accident directly on my route. I know it was bad because there was a Med-Evac helicopter enroute to a different accident, but the other one took priority and they sent it towards my area instead. Dave knew that it was on my route at the time I drive it, and that it was really serious, so he called my cell phone to make sure it wasn't me. Luckily I'd figured he might do that, checked my phone and had to turn it on. I haven't heard anything but I hope everyone's ok. :( Someone found my site looking for "Barnet Highway webcam", which I'm afraid doesn't exist to my knowledge.

I made it to Gigabyte three minutes before the bell rang to let the kids in, and I made it there safely. I never was so thankful and thoughtful about how lucky I am all the time.

In lighter news, I did indeed make a dozen lemon poppyseed muffins. I tried one last night and was fairly disappointed. I've been craving them for several weeks now, and had what they "should" taste like in my head, so anything else would have been a disappointment. My dad liked the one he tried, so that was good. I took one to school today and OMG. The flavours melded together...oh my. They were fantastic. I then arrived home and discovered there were only three left. Hehe. Dad found that they're better the next day too. :)

Sunday, May 07, 2006

*poof!* There goes all my free time...


I just discovered fan fiction. About Labyrinth, Firefly etc. Oh my god. I'm not even going to start with the Buffy fanfics because I don't want spoilers...but there are 28,000 entries for it.

If anyone needs me, I'll be at my computer...(and I thought that blogs and webcomics were time eaters...)

Carb craving


If you're hungry, you may want to skip the following...

I want to make, and gorge on the following:
-lemon poppyseed loaf/muffins
-cornmeal bread/muffins
-chocolate chip cookies
-rice krispie squares
-white bread soaked in syrup so it's like candy
-cinnamon toast on white bread
-vast quantities of pasta with alfredo sauce and chicken or shrimp
-cheese and crackers
-chicken noodle soup from a box
-Kraft dinner
-Rice a roni (chicken flavour)
-Mr Noodles

If I ate even a bite of each of those, I would gain back the nearly ten pounds I've lost while being sick. Therefore, I will go eat a sensible lunch and hope that some of these cravings will diminish. Otherwise, I'm making the first two on the list, and damning the consequences.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

This Day in the Life


This will hopefully be a running thing, because I'll be somewhat near a computer most of the day, unlike last month. Like last month however, I'm still sick. BOOO! Watch this space...I'm going to keep adding onto this same post.

1200-I am in a dark theatre with Dave on one side, Jeff on the other side watching Tom Cruise doing one of several things...jumping on a couch, running very rapidly towards a fight, running very rapidly away from a missile/bullet shower/helicopter, being in a gun fight or else we were watching his stunt double do something mean to Phillip Seymore Hoffman's stunt double.

1220-The movie is over, and we're rather impressed, despite this being the sixth or seventh movie in a row that we've seen that didn't have an Easter egg at the end. Honestly...if we're going to look like dorks and sit to the end of the credits, at least reward us ONCE in a while. Driving home, I pretend that the cars are following me, which is fun until I get nervous that one of them actually IS following me. What is it "they" say about paranoia?

1230-I get home and remember that I need to start this post. I run to the bathroom first.

1231-I remember that I forgot to refill the toilet paper, and since I don't share a bathroom the only one I can blame are the spiders. Damned spiders. Problem easily solved.

1235-Why does all the toilet paper have to be all the way upstairs. *grumble and decide to begin post*

1240-When Dave calls, I make the good decision to have us just go to bed in our respective houses because I'm still sick and coughing, and I teach T tomorrow morning.

1242-I start this post.

1252-I am going to go away from the keyboard, but I feel as though I should continue typing as an internal monologue while I go and do the things I need to do to get ready for bed. Maybe I should type into the future...oh dear. The cold medicine seems to have rotted my brain because I'm actually worried about this. Dave? Is this meta? I'm so confused. ok...solution...

1254-prediction: the quest for toilet paper, writing in my paper journal, getting changed for bed, setting my alarm for 930 *get giddy at the idea of sleeping in until 930* *ignore needling thought that I won't actually sleep that long*, read a little bit of my new Sara Douglass book (God's Concubine...book two of The Troy Game) and hopefully be asleep without the use of a roofie-pill.

0200-I actually get to sleep around this time becaues I was enthralled with my book. DAMN, it's a good series.

0910-I get a phone call from T's mom saying that tutoring is cancelled for this morning. How annoying...I'd changed my plans last night to reflect the fact that I was going to be tutoring. I try to fall asleep again and fail.

0920-I start reading my book again.

1030-I finish my book. This is something like five huge novels I've read in the last week or so. I've MISSED reading!!

1037-check email and blog roll, then head upstairs for some food.

1043-while idly surfing around blogs and referrers, I discover MC Hammer's blog. This has to be fake...one would think that MC Hammer would have enough money to have his own domain name at least. (God, I'm such an internet snob.)

1050-Dave calls me and while I'm talking to him, there's a knock on my door. It's him! On his cell phone! Awwwww... :)

1051-*censored* ;)

1245-We go to the mall for lunch and drugstore stop. I get some Contact-C since I'm pretty much out of the stuff I like. I get a BURRRR-EEEEE-TOOOOOOOOOO and rice. We wander around for a bit, and since I took a non-roofie Contact-C on a stomach that'd been empty since early last evening, I start wigging out. I'm high as a kite, giggling, getting distracted by little Winnie the Pooh figures in animal costumes and purple dragons, which I coveted. I was wandering around in a complete daze and talking nonsense. Dave figured that I was just saying whatever came into my head, like I had no internal monologue. I know this sounds like me on a normal day, but it was really uncontrolled.

130-We get home and I lie down in bed and despite the allegedly non drowsiness of my pill, I nearly fall asleep while pulling the covers over me. When I pulled them over me, I twisted my leg into an uncomfortable position, which kept me awake long enough to get up, make my bed, recite a short impromptu soliloquy about how primitive bed clothes are and how sleeping bags are far superior for their instant climb-in-ability. Dave thinks that's pretty funny. I really should record the stuff I say when I'm tripping on cold medicine. I get into bed and fall asleep while Dave does stuff on my computer.

420-I wake up a little when Dave comes over to cuddle with me.

530-We both wake up. Dave does some more stuff on my computer, and I think I read for a while. Dave marvels at the sheer amount of stuff I've got set to tape on my computer.

630-I take a shower which steams out my stuffy nose and makes me feel a bit better and actually a little hungry.

700-We have dinner upstairs. I have salmon in dill sauce, asparagus, mashed potatoes and corn. Oh, and green tea.

800-I drink my tea and read while Dave does some stuff on my computer. (I'm such a cliche...I just need a cat on my lap and I'm the stereotypical English major on a Saturday night!) I now have my TV hooked back up to cable, a headphone extender for my stereo (whee! I can move the bike back from the TV!), a working webcam, a tidy desk, my PC tower back where it's supposed to be, a wireless game controller and probably a few other things that I'm unaware of. Yay!

900-Dave and I watch last week's Alias that we recorded on my computer. I <3 my computer. I don't <3 this episode of Alias. :P Too...forced.

1030-Dave goes home and I read for a little while, then come and update.

1100-I;m planning on taking a roofie based cold pill, quickly check my blogroll, then will probably do my squished tree journal, read a little of my newly begun book and pass right out. If I do something wonderous and amazing, I'll be sure to update. :) Sorry this day wasn't very interesting...most of it was spent asleep and/or reading. :P

Edited: I started reading blogs and now it's midnight. I haven't taken my roofie yet, and my chest hurts really badly and it kind of hurts to breathe. I think I coughed too much today. I had a bunch of coughing attacks...time for bed and medicine. Good night!

Friday, May 05, 2006

Sunburns


Yesterday was interesting. My sponsor teacher was sick (whoops.) and so I was supposed to have a substitute because legally I'm not allowed to be in a classroom completely by myself with no one in the school to supervise me. There was a screwup with the system though, and I didn't have a sub for the morning. All was fine, and there were many people checking in on me throughout the morning. I was supposed to teach most of the lessons at that time anyway. The afternoon was interesting as well. There was a district wide earthquake drill which involved us being on the field for 45 minutes. That's a really long time for six year olds. I got a little sunburn on my face. But all was well and the kids were really good while we were out there.

Then today was massive giant garbage pickup day. The whole school got gloves and went around the community picking up litter. It was fun, and got us out of the school between recess and lunch. Then, since it was a half day, the kids all went home.

The End.

Oh, right. Illness update. I took my roofie cold medicine last night, and was out cold in half an hour. Forget sleeping pills! I'm just going to take a Contact-C. I'm feeling better than I did yesterday...I even went out in the garden for an hour and a half and attacked dandelions and planted vegetable seeds. This year I have somewhat of a machinegun/Darwin approach to gardening...ignore how far apart stuff is supposed to be and just scatter seeds around. Something's bound to grow. The last few years I actually tried doing the whole "row" thing, but meh. Too tired and chaotic this year.

And now because I'm completely insane, I'm going to go see a movie with Dave and Jeff. I'd better take a non-roofie pill because otherwise I'll irritate everyone with coughing like crazy. I hope that the popcorn smell isn't going to make me sick...last Monday I was very ill...and I'd just eaten popcorn. Mmm...taste aversion. :P

Thursday, May 04, 2006

*cough*


Yup, still sick. Yesterday at about 8:00 I took a night time Contac-C and did the paper's Sudoku while I waited for it to kick in. (For reference: Extra strength Neo-Citrin kind of puts me to sleep...doesn't affect me much.) I started drooping over my newspaper in about fifteen minutes, then got up to put my dishes from dinner away. The world started spinning and I ricocheted into several pieces of furniture/walls like a pinball ball before I made it into the kitchen. I was slurring my words, talking about weird things...it was like being drunk. It was insane. So I stumbled downstairs, quickly did a couple lesson plans (which I haven't looked at yet...I wonder if I'll be able to follow them this morning...) collapsed into bed and was asleep before nine.

I woke up briefly at 1 am or so, back to sleep, then woke up again at 0400, back to sleep and then asleep until 6:30, which is when I needed to be up. I'm totally refreshed, although still sick (STILLL!! ARGHHHHHHH!!!) but I'm at least functional.

And now to school.

...


...


What? Why are you still looking expectantly at me? OH! The meeting yesterday! It was fine...and Gwyn...turns out it was at 9-930, so your thoughts were right on target.

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

*pout*


Don't WANNA go to school today. I still feel as bad as I did yesterday, and Monday, and Sunday...I mean, shouldn't I be feeling better? At least a little bit?

Today I have a meeting with my teacher sponsor and faculty advisor. It's a normal one...halfway through my practicum* and it's mainly just a checkup, but it seems to be more than that because of the whole plagiarism kerfuffle. I'm sure it'll be fine, but on the off chance that someone is reading this before 8:40-9:00, think happy karma thoughts at me.

*Oh my GOD, I'm halfway through my practicum!

Remember that the 6th (Saturday) "Blog what you did in an excruciatingly detailed fashion" Day. I'll be doing it. Will you?

Tuesday, May 02, 2006

*insane, humourless cackling*


Hello, hubris? This is Karin. Piss off.

After writing the post below, I checked my email. There is one from my faculty advisor who asked me to call her immediately because she thought I may have plagiarised an assignment.

What. The. Fuck?

If you all know me, (which granted...most of you don't...) you would realize that I am probably the least likely person to copy someone else...partly because I'm just so darned smart that I could do a better job on it than anyone else.

Things I've Never Done That Most People Would Find Surprising
-smoked pot
-taken any illegal drugs except for a little alcohol before I turned 19 (some of which my parents let me have) and my brother's Tylenol 3's because the Percocet that I had been prescribed were too strong for me.
-cheated on a test
-cheated on an assignment (including plagiarism, or letting someone else use my work)
-lied to a telemarketer
-lied as a retail employee
-stolen anything (except for some earrings when I was four because I thought the store lost them and didn't want them any more, and the cashews in Dave's room that I can't stop eating!!)
-lied to get a day off work or school
-skipped class before university

Anyway, the whole thing seems to be ok now. But oh my god, waiting for her to call me back was among the longest half hours of my life.

Of course, I'm still sick, and in fact I'm home today. It doesn't have anything to do with the stress of yesterday...more to do with the stressing of my throat yesterday. My throat is currently sore up to my ear.

On the plus side, I learned two great number songs from a Mr. Dressup that originally aired when I was in grade nine. Who knew that children's programming could be such a resource to me now?!

o/~Let's do the number rumba (cha cha cha!) o/~

Monday, May 01, 2006

Oh my GAAAAHD...


It's already the first of May. Where the hell did April go? Oh, right. Practicum.

Seems to me I was just saying "Where the hell did October go?" and now it's suddenly May? Holy crap.

And another holy crap moment...in thirteen weeks, I'm going to be a qualified teacher (yadda yadda, barring unforseen etc. ad nauseum)

THIRTEEN WEEKS!!!!!

In sickness news (because I KNOW you all don't hear enough whining about how I feel...) I think I'm running a mild fever (Mom tested..."I think you're a little warm"), my throat is WICKED sore again (taught PE to 20 five and six year olds...no matter how good they're being [and they were AWESOME today] I'm gonna have to yell, plus I did an hour of track and field coaching...again with the yelling, since it's outside. [And WTF is up with me and all these nested brackets lately? I'm going to rename this blog Random Bracketses.])

Now I shall eat my jello with marshmallow and fruit, as it's the only thing that appeals to my poor raw throat, and drink my neocitrin, whilst typing furiously to send off my lesson plans before I fall asleep on my keybob bbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbjjjj jjjjjjjjjjiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuu uuuuuuuuuuuuuuummmmmm