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??

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!

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.)}])

Time for a nap.

I am so happy it's Friday.

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.)

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.)

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.

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. :)

*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.

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!

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

*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.

*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?

*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/~

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

A list...

...because I've been so blah today and mostly lying around, here is a list of everything I've consumed in the last 48 hours. In bold are the items that are actually somewhat solid.

2 disgusting homeopathic lozenges
1 strepsosil lozenge
1/2 pack of cherry lifesavers
two jello cups (one raspberry, one wildberry)
2/3 package raspberry jello with marshmallows
4 carrot sticks, 3 cauliflower stalks, 1 mushroom and 4 sugar pea pods
one can of mango nectar (hey, I've got five more! What am I waiting for??)
1 container of wonton soup
1 peanut butter and banana wholegrain bagel
several cups of tea with various additives of honey and/or lemon juice
2 scrambled eggs on toast, 1 strip of bacon
1 diet grapefruit pop
1 glass of orange juice
2 glasses of water
6 cold fx pills

The idea of eating anything solid absolutely nauseates me. The thought of trying to put something that might be sharp or cause anguish to my throat in any way makes me to want to curl up in a ball and hide under the covers. As far as illnesses go, this one probably isn't as bad as many that I've had, but I've been so bleah about eating that I'm feeling a lot lousier than I really should. *whine*

And I'm ridiculously twitchy. I want to ride my bike, but I'm having trouble staying upright on my chair.

Oh, and I'm a little grumpy due to my throat constantly bothering me...using the word ridiculously has reminded me of the words that annoy me when they're spelled incorrectly.
-ridiculous NO "E"
-definite/definitely NOT DEFIANTELY NO "A"
-synopsis vs synapses (I get a lot of hits for people looking for the synapses of various books. Please, for the love of all that is holy...READ THE DAMNED BOOK YOURSELF, or else learn how to spell your search terms. Quite often I get the name of the novel spelled wrong too [which means that it's spelled incorrectly someplace in my archives...but that was probably a cut and paste.])

Wow. I think I must be feverish after all that. Ok. Good night.

Still ill

Some description of how icky I feel. You may skip that bit.










I feel so much better than I did yesterday. Yesterday at Gigabyte, I nearly passed out, then nearly threw up. Then nearly both. My neck (not just my throat) was sore. I've lost 4 lbs in three days because the idea of eating makes me want to retch...and also because my throat is/was so raw that putting anything non-liquid down it just seems like a really dumb idea.











Ok, now back to me, not just my symptoms.



Dave came over yesterday to help me with a huge project that I needed to finish before last night...lesson planning for the next six weeks. I had to have 10-15 lessons done for each of the six weeks. Final total...ninety one lessons. Ye gods. We finished a three week unit on plants yesterday, which was a lot of fun. The kids seemed really into it, asking me where they could find plant books in the library at school, and asking me if they could borrow my plant books.

We've been keeping track of the different kinds of fruit we ate on a big wall chart, which they loved. Two of them at different times reminded me of a fruit that we didn't have up there, which wouldn't be such a cool thing, except that we were going by the botanical meaning of "fruit" which means "the part of the plant that holds the seeds". Hence, not only are apples, oranges and grapes fruit, but tomatoes and pumpkins are as well. Anyway, one of my grade one boys, F, reminded me that we didn't have cucumbers on the list. YES!! It got through to them!!! I have to say, that was one of the coolest moments in teaching. They took something that I taught them and related it to something else that they were familiar with to come to a correct conclusion. Totally spontaneously. Woo HOO!

Ow, my throat.

Apparently the obsessive handwashing failed to protect me from the unkillable little kid germs. About thirty seconds after my last student was picked up, my throat started hurting, until by the time I got home, I was in exquisite agony. Some tea with lemon and honey, and several lozenges later, I'm about ready to crash.

How exciting was that?

(PS: photos are forthcoming...I just need to get my film developed...still. Hopefully this weekend. And hey! This way I get people visiting in the hopes of anticipated content.)

(PPS: I'm not going to remember writing this when I get up tomorrow.)

Go See This Movie.

Dave and I went to see

Exercise today: Lucky Number Slevin tonight. WOW. It was such a good movie. Just...amazing. Dave rates it up there as one of his favourite movies now...and I'm thinking that I'm going to be doing the same thing. It's definitely the most enjoyable movie I've watched this year...and that's saying a lot, since I loved Inside Man and V for Vendetta as well.

Now, I need to go to bed.

(subliminal)goseeluckynumberslevin(/subliminal)

Domesticized.

This weekend I made turkey vegetable soup and still have a gallon or so of stock in my freezer. I bought some mixed beans to use as samples for my seed unit and bought a bunch extra (I only needed a small handful) to create turkey bean soup. Then, I wanted some avocado pits to use in the display, and I couldn't WASTE them, so I made homemade guacamole...not to be confused with Whack-a-mole. (And if your brain works the way mine just did, you read that as "walk a moley". *sigh*)

My guacamole recipe: (please note that I'm not a recipe gal...if I cook or do crafty stuff, I like to play with it, so measurements are somewhat...lax. I think I'll post the Accidental Chocolate Mousse recipe to illustrate that.)

Guacamole
3 pitted, scooped and mashed avocados (is there an "e" in there? Like tomatoes and potatoes? Avocadoes?)

1 large tomato, diced

The rest of the lemon juice (probably a tablespoon or so...maybe more)

3-4 cloves of garlic chopped fine

Salt to taste
--------------
Mash together. Serve with chips, and gin and tonic if you're feeling bold. I had school today, so I didn't indulge in the G&T. I'm gonna smell like garlic for days now...I've got days worth of guacamole to eat! :D It's going to go brown on the top...doesn't affect the taste 24 hours later. Try some more lemon juice.

One of my students told me that my hair smelled like chocolate. Considering that she hadn't been close enough to me to smell me, and my shampoo is more like a jujube...I think it was creative licence on her part.

I'll do the mousse recipe later.

Channeling my freakish energy...

Four lesson plans done for next week...three to go.

I worked out for three hours today...karate, and an ep of Buffy while on the bike. What the hell? I should be completely exhausted.

Actually, my brain is exhausted, leading to late night chat sessions that include me saying "My unlickable brain is groggy" and other such whaa??? sayings.

Happy easter everyone. Don't overeat on your bunnies.

...

That sounds naughty...and actually, the word bunny came from another word that was naughty. If anyone's interested, I'll explain the etmology later.

The Spoiled Meme

If you can say yes to forty or more, you're spoiled.

DO YOU HAVE:

(1) your own cell phone
(2) a television in your bedroom
(3) an iPod (not that brand, but I have a broken mp3 player)
( ) a photo printer
(4) your own phone line
(5) TiVo or a generic digital video recorder (on my fancy new computer)
(6) high-speed internet access (i.e., not dialup)
(7) a surround sound system in bedroom
(9) DVD player in bedroom
(10) at least a hundred DVDs (if I count the multi packed DVDs)
(11) a childfree bathroom (since I have no kids...)
( ) your own in-house office
( ) a pool
( ) a guest house
(12) a game room
( ) a queen-size bed or larger
( ) a stocked bar
(13) a working dishwasher (My parents)
(14) an icemaker (My parents)
(15) a working washer and dryer (My parents)
(16) more than 20 pairs of shoes
( ) at least ten things from a designer store (I don't think Mariposa counts)
(17) expensive sunglasses
( ) framed original art (not lithographs or prints)
( ) Egyptian cotton sheets or towels
(18) a multi-speed bike
( ) a gym membership
(19) large exercise equipment at home (ancient exercise bike count?)
( ) your own set of golf clubs
(20) a pool table (My parents)
( ) a tennis court
(21) local access to a lake, large pond, or the sea
(22) your own pair of skis (Value Village x-country...never used)
( ) enough camping gear for a weekend trip in an isolated area
( ) a boat
( ) a jet ski
( ) a neighborhood committee membership
(23) a beach house or a vacation house/cabin (My parents...we have a trailer in a "Campers Country Club")
(24) wealthy family members (My uncle)
(25) two or more family cars (three currently, four when my brother wasn't at sea)
( ) a walk-in closet or pantry
(26) a yard
(27) a hammock (not up, but it is owned)
( ) a personal trainer
(28) good credit
(29) expensive jewelry (one pair of emerald earrings)
( ) designer bag that required being on a waiting list to get
(30) at least $100 cash in your possession right now (Thanks D!)
(31) more than two credit cards bearing your name
(32) a stock portfolio (I bought some Michaels craft store stock while I worked there)
(33) passport
( ) a horse (I used to...not right now...but once I'm working!!!)
( ) a trust fund
( ) private medical insurance
(34) a college degree, and no outstanding student loans (I know...love the bank of Mom and Dad)

Do you:
(35) shop for non-needed items for yourself (like clothes, jewelry, electronics)
( ) at least once a week (not any more...but that's probably a good thing)
( ) do your regular grocery shopping at high-end or specialty stores
( ) pay someone else to clean your house, do dishes, or launder your clothes
( ) go on weekend mini-vacations
( ) send dinners back with (almost) every flaw
( ) wear perfume or cologne
( ) regularly get your hair styled or nails done in a salon (not any more...used to have acrylic nails [for like...three months])
( ) have a job but don’t need the money OR
( ) stay at home with little financial sacrifice
( ) pay someone else to cook your meals (does going out to eat a lot count?)
( ) pay someone else to watch your children or walk your dogs
( ) regularly pay someone else to drive you/take taxis
( ) expect a gift after you fight with your partner (WHA??)

Are you:
( ) an only child
( ) married/partnered to a wealthy person
( ) baffled/surprised when you don’t get your way (I used to be.)
( ) been on a cruise
(36) traveled out of the country
(37) met a celebrity (a couple Canucks...they wouldn't remember me though)
( ) been to the Caribbean
(38) been to Europe
( ) been to Hawaii
( ) been to New York
( ) eaten at the space needle in Seattle
( ) been to the Mall of America
( ) been on the Eiffel tower in Paris
( ) been on the Statue of Liberty in New York
( ) moved more than three times because you wanted to
( ) dined with local political figures
( ) been to both the Atlantic coast and the Pacific coast

Did you:
( ) go to another country for your honeymoon
( ) hire a professional photographer for your wedding or party
(39, 40) take riding or swimming lessons as a child (I'm counting both...and not just because it turns me into spoiled, but because there wasn't a space for "owned a horse when you were a kid")
( ) attend private school
( ) have a Sweet 16 birthday party thrown for you


HA! I KNEW I was a spoiled princess! I told you! I told you! Neener neener...

Oh wait. Probably not necesarily a GOOD thing. But I'm cute, and I'm not a snot, so that makes it ALLLLLL better.

...and now you know.

Easter's date shifts from year to year because the date is determined by a very pagan way...

The first Sunday after the first full moon after the Vernal Equinox.

So the Equinox was on the 20th of March this year...the full moon was tonight...and Sunday is Easter.

Intuitive, isn't it? *eye roll*

Why I Do What I Do

From M, one of my kindergarteners:
"Mithus A...I love thchool. It'th alwayth THO fun!"

*melts into big puddle of goo*

That makes up for the fisticuffs yesterday between A and R. Well...the punch, I mean. I think A was too shocked to do anything.

Oi.

One of my kindergarteners, R, punched another, A, in the face today, giving her a bloody nose. Ye gods...SO GLAD I didn't have to handle it.

This Day in the Life...part deux

As promised...the second installment of my day on the 6th of April. Part one is here.

Some clarification about the previous day: I'm still a student teacher, doing my practicum in a K/1 classroom. I'll be a full teacher at the end of August, assuming I don't do anything too horrendous while on practicum. "Dragon Says" is when I perch my dragon (his name is Phoenix, for those of you playing at home...and he's purple. I'll post a picture later, 'specially for DM. [This has to be the most awkward sentence EVER. {Whee! Triple nested brackets!}]) on my shoulder and say "Dragon Says" instead of Simon Says. Also, I forgot to mention that I checked on the beans we're growing...at least three times before recess. I think I'm more excited about them than some of the kids.

I've been off my cold meisiceine for the last twenty four hours, (despite what the above sentence may indicate) and I'm feeling pretty good. So now, without Further Ado...the at times, excruciatingly detailed...my day.)

1025 cont. I chat with the special needs aide who helps out with one of the girls in my class, while said girl eats her snack before going out for recess. I frantically get stuff prepped for the lesson I'll be teaching in the period before lunch. Oh well. I'll have some time before my lesson to look over stuff so it won't be too bad.

1045 I go down to get the kids from the door after recess. I field the bean watering question by at least three more students on the way up the stairs.

1050-1130 I begin my lesson. First I read them The Keeping Quilt, then show them a gorgeous quilt that my FA had loaned me as a model. One of the girls asks me if I stole it. (??!?!? Whaaa???) We talk a little bit about how in the old days (and now...but I didn't want to get into it.) people used old clothes and traded pieces of cloth around with each other, so someone's quilt may have pieces from ten different people. I explained that that made it very special because you could have nice memories from lots of different places. Then I told them that we would be making a paper quilt and we would be creating our own pieces of "fabric" by colouring with crayons on white paper. We would cut out the pieces from ours that we used, and then put the pieces into a big sharing pile so that other people could use what we didn't need.

I get the student of the day, a very shy, sweet Vietnamese kindergarten girl, to start colouring a piece of paper as I demonstrate how to use the triangle stencil on the paper in the corner. Kids tend to cut out right in the centre, and that would make it so that there wouldn't be enough paper. I use the two pieces of paper that I coloured earlier to make the first three pieces, then use one of the SotD's pieces for the last piece and tape it to the whiteboard. Ta da!

I ask if there are any questions. BAD IDEA. Note to self and anyone working with young children: don't ask generally if there are any questions! Some of the questions I received..."Where did you get the book? Is it from our library?" "Did you steal the book?" (again...wha??? different student this time, too!) "My cousin has a quilt." (That's not a question!!) and of course... "When are we going to water our beans?" (should've seen that one coming...) "Can we use the little stencils?" (Those are for later.)

I hand out paper and fend off the ones who weren't paying attention and try to grab stencils. They happily colour and scribble for twenty minutes, most of the students getting two pieces done, while some methodical ones still have to do some later.

I stop them at 1130 and the kindergartens get ready for hometime, while the grade ones do a lousy job at cleaning up the classroom. My SA stops them from getting their lunch and they do a better job. Whoops. That should have been my job. Oh well. Despite my best efforts, there is one coloured paper with no name on it. I collect the papers and they go on my desk. HOORAY!!! A SUCCESSFUL LESSON!!!

1130 We start lunch a little early (usually at 1210) for the grade ones because we're going on a field trip to a play at one of the high schools. One of the girls doesn't have her lunch because her mom is bringing it at 1210 like normal. Whoops. I guess there wasn't a memo about early lunch. I hope it gets there soon because we're leaving the school at 1230. My teacher reads the K's a story and I let the ones water their beans. FINALLY!!

1200 The grade ones get to go out and play. Before the K's go home, I let them water their beans. FINALLY!! I head to the staff room to gulp my lunch. Lunch is delivered to the student who didn't have any yet.

1220 Students come back in and we get ready to leave.

1230 We start walking to the high school. Ye gods, it's like herding cats! Except cats don't sing "Bingo" eight times in twenty minutes. (B-I-N-G-O...and Bingo was his name-o...yes, I counted. Just wanted you to have it stuck in your head too. It's been in mine since Thursday.) I beg them to sing a different song and they do, but it's one that's as "stick in my head" as the previous one. This time however, it's my fault since it's a song/dance thing that I taught them. I stop three of them from dancing into the street.

1254 We arrive at the high school and take our seats. There is much oohing and ahhing about the fact that our theatre seats have little folding tables, like lecture halls.

105 The play starts. It's a fractured fairy tale and it's totally unsuitable for primary students. It would have been awesome if it hadn't been for elementary kids. The wicked stepmother slaps Cinderella around after making her kneel in front of her in a very Story of O kind of way...the fairy godmother is drunk (and a drag queen, but that part's fine. I thought it was awesome.) Some of the characters laugh hysterically at the fact that the parents of another character are dead...etc. It made me pretty uncomfortable for most of it.

215 The play is over and we head back to school. I spend most of the time trying to get kids to walk in front of me while I bring up the rear for safety. Bingo gets sung another six times. (Had you had it out of your head yet? Sorry...)

234 One of my students was dawdling across the road and is barely halfway across when the light changes to green. I'm 3/4 across and run back to get him and drag him across the road. Heart attack is barely averted.

240 We're back in the classroom and the students work in their writing books until home time.

305 The kids are out the door.

315 I go to the gym to help set up for our Multicultural Potluck. Families will bring in a dish of food from their culture and everyone will share. I'm looking forward to the samosas especially.

430 Setup is finished. I go to my desk and collapse with the third cup of herbal tea of the day and my third cold pill. I write up my lesson plan for the next day so I don't have to do it at home later.

530 To the gym! People are arriving and I help label food for allergies and vegetarian-ness. There's so much food! And samosas!! And moose stew! And...and...!!!

630 Everyone is fed, and now the teachers get to eat. There's still a lot left, but no samosas. Much sadness. I do get some moose stew though...it was really good. I manage to avoid the dessert table and sit down to eat with one of my K's, his mom and grandma. Have a nice chat with them and see a bunch of my students.

700 Start cleaning up with everyone else.

715 Finish cleaning up. I had been prepared to stay until nine, so I'm shocked and amazed. Get the hell out of there with one of my fellow student teachers. I had spent the last 11 hours in the school. Ugh. I'm crashing and feeling like utter crap, cold pill notwithstanding.

800 Get home. Drink Neo-Citran, check my email, read some blogs.

920 Play my guitar for "just one song".

1035 (According to my journal) I start writing in my journal. Stupid. I should've not touched the guitar. :P It's a sickness, I tell you...

Asleep before eleven.

And that was my day. You deserve a prize for getting this far. Write YIMITF (Yes I Made It This Far) in the comments if you actually read the whole thing!!!

Thanks Sheryl for setting this up! It was fun!

Cold meisiceine

My "this day in the life" post will be continued tonight around 8 pm PST. I overbooked myself today and will be out until then. *grumbles* Anyway, sorry for the delay...I'll get on this ASAP!

I did three hours of guitar and singing with my best friend last night, got five hours of sleep last night and I'm about to do five hours of karate. Why do I do this?

Watch the 2004 Peter Pan movie. It's SO good.

A Day in the Life

Every 6th day of the month is the day Sheryl has dubbed "This Day in the Life" day. Or something like that. So today, I was taking mental notes all day as to what I was doing. Here are the results...

0630 Wake up to the country station playing on my clock radio. Yes, this is on purpose, and no it's not to inspire me to get up earlier. I like country. I don't like this song though. *smack snooze*

0639 Wake up again, enough to realize that I feel better, recovering from my cold from yesterday! Yay! Oh. No, wait. I'm still really sick. It was just a temporary euphoria brought on by Neo-Citran hangover. Dammit. *hit snooze*

0648 Debate getting up. *hit snooze*

0657 Wait until the traffic report comes on before getting up.

0702 Realize that I should have been up ten minutes ago. Spring out of bed.

0703 Bathroom, vitamins, ColdFX, weigh myself (167 lbs! Woo!), brush my teeth, get dressed

0713 Eat a banana, take a cold pill, sit down to read an article in the paper

0724 Out the door, four minutes late.

0744 I'm still in Port Moody. I'm gonna be later than I want to be. Bother...te minutes behind schedule.

0745 Realize that my clock is fast. Relax and enjoy my drive. I don't see any bald eagles along the Barnet Highway. :(

0802 Arrive at Gigabyte Elementary, head to my classroom to prep for my lesson.

0804 Check the beans we put in a clear plastic cup so we could see the roots grow. Nothing yet. We just started them yesterday though.

0805 Start prepping for my lesson. We're going to be colouring pieces of paper in lots of designs to cut apart and use as pieces for quilt blocks for a paper quilt. Talk with one of the support workers about how awesome primary grades are because it's just like playing all day! Write the morning message which includes a pattern puzzle for them...red triangle, red square, blue triangle, blue square, black triangle, blank, blank, blue square.

0845 Bell rings I meet the kids at the door. Lots of "Good morning, Mrs. A". They don't really know the difference between Miss, Ms and Mrs. although I've explained briefly. Whatever. "Noisy reading" starts. I let one of the K's read with my stuffed dragon. Dragon gets passed around a bit...learns how to tie his shoes and looks at the pictures of a couple books. Yesterday, he read a dinosaur book. The kids really like him, and they'll read out loud to him so I can listen and see how they're doing. One of the kids fills in the pattern, getting the shapes right, but not the colours. Grrr...speak with her about how she knows she's not supposed to do stuff on the white board unless she's asked permission. I get asked when we get to water our beans. Kids are wiggy because the grade ones are going on a field trip in the afternoon.

0900 Computers. The kids are drawing a picture in KidPix for their older buddies. They interviewed them about their interests and now their picture should reflect that. I go around a lot asking why they're drawing knights and stuff when their buddy said they like Def Jam (whatever that is) and Christmas. Minor crisis as three drawings don't print but we have to leave.

0950 We're back in the room. I get asked when we get to water our beans and I tell them before lunch. I run the calendar time, which is fine. They're still wiggyI get asked when we get to water our beans. I field that question about six more times in the next twenty minutes. They're kind of really excited about their beans. It's very cute. We play "Dragon Says" instead of Simon Says. They're amused. I'm happy that they get to jump around a bit. We do sharing time which is uneventful except for one of the boys hitting himself in the eye when he tries to show off his yo-yo. He then attempts to do it again, presumably without the skull cracking part. Command decision: I take it away from him while he finishes talking about it.

1025 There's a lengthy announcement that messes up my calendar schedule, but I get everyone finished before the recess bell goes.

And now my cold meisiceine had kciked in, so I'm goind to bed. Whoa... TBC tomorrow someimte.

EDIT: Part Two is here!

YEEEHAW!!!!

The Debutaunt is CANCER FREE!!!!! YAY!!!!!!! *hops around like a madwoman*

Knitting Joy!!

Today I was looking for yarn in my mom's stuff when we unearthed several balls of super ugly yellow yarn from the seventies!! Exactly what I need for Jayne hats! And the colour that I have THE MOST TROUBLE finding.

It's a sign I tell you. It's a sign that I'm never going to have my own Jayne hat, ever...because I know of at least two people who want ones of their very own.

Hey, internet. What should I charge for a Jayne hat? They take about five hours (after making two, hopefully they'll start taking less time... ohpleaseohplease!) and a crapload of stress (because in the both I've made, I've had to rip them out about six times each...also see above note about being unable to find the ugly colours) to make. They take roughly a ball and a half of the yarn I use.

Yarn: about $5-10...more if someone wants really good yarn
Time: about 5:00
The sweetest, most cunning hat ever: ??? but not priceless...oh no. I want to put a price on them.

And then my head explodes because I have too many things I want to do all at once.

Boom.

I am an idiot.

I went to a great vegetarian restaurant today, Naam...it's awesome. However, I got in the door and realized I was wearing a suede jacket. To a vegetarian restaurant. Filled with vegetarians. Now the question is...do I feel like an idiot for wearing that jacket, or do I feel like an idiot for feeling self conscious?

In my defense, I didn't know that it was a 100% vegetarian restaraunt until I got in there. But still...

This is cool. Via breebop.

da dee da da...

...feeling groovy...

I'm feeling about ten thousand million times better. Thank goodness. And my paper weaving art project lesson went really well! I'm really happy. And tired. My back still hurts, but not nearly as bad as yesterday. Boy, yesterday was hideous. I was at school today from 0800 to 2000 with a brief break to grab subs for a bunch of us that were staying late. I got to wear pajamas tonight at school though. And brought my stuffed purple dragon. One of my kindergarteners thought I should leave it on my desk, so it's there now. Maybe I'll let kids read stories to him tomorrow or something. It could be one of my "things". As a teacher, especially in elementary, I need "things" ... brooches, themed earrings, wacky t-shirts and mugs etc.

It's not late, but I'm tired. And I still have to make Rice Krispy Squares for tomorrow...sort of a thank you for the staff at Gigabyte for helping us make our first week go so well. Gah. I think I'm forgetting to do something as well...but it's not in my planner, so it mustn't be important.

...

...WTF is it? This is going to bug me.

Oh...not good.

I was sick twice today. This sucks. I'm feeling way better, but still weak. I stayed at school the WHOLE day...go me. My faculty advisor was evaluating me today, so hopefully it was just nerves and exhaustion. I'd really rather not have the flu THANKyouverymuch. Heard during my bombed lesson today: "Mr. H...can we never do this ever again?" Eep. :P Not a good thing to have the kids say with the FA there taking notes. :( I got a decent review today though. She evaluated my teaching, rather than the very bad results. Mental note: next time, this lesson will be used on grade 3/4 or so.

And my back is absolutely killing me. Oh man. Ow.

In my "spare" time...

*laughs like a lunatic at the title*

Ahem.

I got an email from a friend of a friend who wants me to make him a Jayne hat (from Firefly...haha, it's been weeks since I mentioned Firefly. :P)

I'm all twitterpated. I might get paid to knit...or at least have the yarn paid for. How cool is that? I might even get to play with REALLY GOOD YARN that I don't have to pay for myself. *glee!*

Oh, right. Heh. School. Crap...maybe I could triple task...I used to knit while watching TV...why can't I knit while watching TV on the exercise bike? Maybe I should sell videos of that...

Update

Firstly, I'd like to say that I suck. :P For the last couple weeks I've been waiting for my Livejournal friends list to update, and only a few people have...then I realized yesterday that when my hard drive got wiped, my auto-login for LJ got trashed...so I've been reading only public posts. Whoops.

Nextly, my Rio seems to be officially dead. Two years, 20 GB, $400...I will miss thee. Maybe Dave will be able to work some tech voodoo on it, but I'm not holding my breath...not because he's not TechMasterExtraordinaire, but because well...I'll either be right or very pleasantly surprised.

Nextly nextly, I start my practicum at Gigabyte on Monday. Three months of teaching the little ones. Eep. I sometimes wonder what the hell I've gotten myself into. That moment often occurs when I wake up to to realize that I'm sitting upright in bed in the middle of the night and giving a lesson to my easel. It looks like a person in the dark, ok? My toques are on top of it. I'm not completely crazy yet.

Just give me three months.

I've established a rule for watching Buffy. I've moved the stationary bike into my room, and I'm only allowed to watch Buffy if I ride the bike for the whole time. That means that if I allow 42 minutes per episode, 22 eps/season, 10 seasons of Buffy and Angel...I'll be on the bike for 154 hours. That will last me 73 weeks if I watch three episodes a week and I'll be on the bike for two hours a week. Then I guess I'll have to start watching Hercules, Xena, Kindred the Embraced, Sex in the City and the rest of Alias. Oh, and 24...

... etc.

I'm going to be so freaking buff. I can't wait until I'm strong enough to watch a full two hour plus movie. Although I need a wider bike seat, or a better bike.

Ow.

Real content?

Nope. Another movie.

Brokeback Mountain in 30 seconds...with bunnies.

Who doesn't love ninjas?

A Ninja Pays Half My Rent

...

...

What? I'm taking a break.

Boooored...

Why isn't anyone posting or sending email? You are forcing me to do WORK over here! Honestly!

Getting stuff done at least...

This sucks. I hate lesson planning six weeks in advance...there are just way too many variables to do it effectively. :P

I'm GRUUUUUUUMPY.

I didn't get anything done yet today. I suck...and I've still got a bunch of stuff to do for school next week. *grumble snark*

My Rio Karma (20 GB mp3 player) seems to have bitten the dust. :( I might open the case tonight and see if it's the battery that's doing bad things. *sigh* I miss my tunes.

I now have season 3 of Buffy in my possession. I'd been holding off on watching the last two episodes of season 2, since I wasn't at a major cliffhanger section, and also because I've decided I'm not allowed to watch unless I'm exercising for the first episode and I'm lazy. Oh, and I'm crazy busy with school.

I saw "V for Vendetta" on IMAX last night with Dave and JY. It was wicked good. I enjoyed it very much and would like to see it again.

Now I need to get stuff ready for karate. My back still aches. :( I'm not sure how much I'll be able to do, especially if we do a lot of throws.

Fun game alert

Howard Tayler of Schlock Mercenary played this game, Film Frenzy. It looks like a LOT of fun. I hate games where there's a ton of waiting so this looks like it'd be a good game for me.

Ow..ow...OW!!!

I wrenched my back today in class. School is dangerous!! It's a dull ache on the left lower part of my back right now...we'll see how bad it is tomorrow. :(

*waves at T.P.*

We were talking about being googled today and I asked if she'd found my blog yet...so here we go. :)

I'm feeling pretty good about the rest of the semester. I'm almost finished.

I had something I wanted to say but I don't really remember it...oh yeah...I fixed my Rio Karma...it was The Broken for the last few days. I was without my tunes for quite a while, as I haven't put my mp3s on my new computer yet. *preens* I am Tech Girl.

Oh, the dilemma...

I...I just don't know what to do. You hear about choices like this...but when it comes time to actually make them, you simply aren't prepared. *deep breath*

Ok, here goes.

There are these amazing corn muffins that my mom and I make...and I can't decide how I like them the best!! Plain? Just butter? Warmed up? With butter and strawberry jam? Butter and honey? Now the true dilemma is about to happen. It's a crisis of epic proportions...

There are only two left...

Ba ba BUUUUUMMMMMM...

Crashing.

Most of my stuff is done for the week...one more assignment due tomorrow. Think it's done? Hah...no. Not so much. I'm SO TIRED. *bibble*

Schedule of due dates:
Friday 10-Science 2 page year plan, math fair idea
Thursday 16(?)-art: visual journal and 3 lesson unit
Before practicum: first four weeks or so of lessons

...

...

Holy CRAP. I'm almost done!

I love interviews.

I just wish today had been a real interview...I would've totally ACED it. I'm pleased. Between that and the interview I had a million years ago for LA I'm two for two. I'm not going to have any trouble getting a job as long as my practicum goes well and I get a good reference from my sponsor teacher and principal. :D

This week?

Grr...in some ways this week is shaping up to be almost as bad as last week. Today was rough. Must. Stay. Positive.

Although in other ways it's CERTAINLY better...for example, I'm currently typing this on my now functional computer. We (read: Dave and Jeff Y.) wound up having to wipe the hard drive, but through some technical miracle that I have no hope in hell of reproducing should the need ever occur, they managed to save all my data. My lesson plans! My teaching resources and favourites! My craft patterns! My game of Bard's Tale!

However, it's also twenty to one...and I have to be up in just over five hours. Well, nuts. Tomorrow's going to be interesting, considering I've got a PE lesson to teach at 0830, a mock interview in front of all my classmate at 11 and a literature presentation at 130.

The last week...

...is finally over. Seriously, except for yesterday last week had to be the worst I've had in years and years. Between being sick, having to redo an assignment, not being able to move, having my computer go kersplat, having the backup computer unable to see any of my assignments, getting about four hours of sleep in three days...etc.

Yeah. I'm just glad it's over.

Yesterday was nice...I went to a beautiful wedding. I'm not a big wedding person, but it was fun. I also caught the symbol bouquet...which is supposed to mean that I'm getting married soon. Huh. Not so much. :) I slept with the wedding cake piece under my pillow (it was wrapped) and I wound up dreaming about a bunch of random people and I was fighting zombies and other assorted nasties...so that didn't work so well. Oh well.

Computer Drama

One inoperative computer + one inoperative software package + assignment due = very stressed out Karin.

In other news, someone has left chewed up gum on the hard drive of this computer at school. That is revolting.

Amused, by exhaustion

Listening to my mp3 player, a couple songs from now is "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" by the Arrogant Worms. However, since the title and band blurb take up a rather large amount of space, my Rio informs me that "Last Saskatchewan Pirate" by "Arr" is coming up soon.

*snicker*

Currently listening to: Byran Adams "I Fought the Law"

Witty Title.

I'm still kind of sick...this sucks. I'm all alone in a computer lab at school...and since I've been watching way too much Buffy I keep expecting a demon or something (*cough* sexyvampire *COUGH*) to come crashing through the window. And me without a viable escape route...or main character status...

My brain isn't really working right. I think I understand a little about how indoctrination works now. :P Blasted school. Oh, and my computer isn't working right now, so there won't be much in the way of posting. Excellent...it'll be just like normal.

You're sick in bed? So what else is new?

This is seriously, the worst cold I've EVER had that I can remember. I started going down on Friday, slept all of Saturday and I'm still horribly ill. I think I'm getting an ear infection too, or else it's just because of cramped neck muscles radiating pain into my ear area.

Sore muscles: check. Sniffly: check. Coughing: check. Sore throat: double check. Sneezing: check. Head spinning dizzyness: check. Extreme exhaustion: check. Fever: no...but very temperature sensitive.

I've already emailed my profs to let them know I won't be at school tomorrow, most likely. Bleah.

How amazing is Dave? He cleaned He brought me Buffy season 2 for me to watch while I'm sick. YAY!!! He also brought other things to help me cheer up, and played a PC game (that I've already almost finished) for me to watch and he put up with all of my shrieks of "NO!!! Don't go in there yet!" and "GET THE LONGBOW!! Get the LONGBOW! Oh...you didn't get the archery skill? Uhhhh...sorry..."

It was fun. :) Now if only I wasn't in Ouchland.

Infected!!

While my boyfriend was in bed with another man, he managed to contract something, which he then passed on to me.

...

No! Just a cold, people. Sheesh.

Lucky in...everything.

I've always known that I'm the luckiest person I know...although some may beg to differ. Too bad. I know it. That's how I got into school...through a random variety of very, VERY fortunate events. Anyway, let's now give a totally fictional example...let's pretend that...say, I didn't do some homework for some reason. Not that I'd do that. Since this is after all, fictitious. Purely. Not only will I have the time to do it on the bus that I fictitiously took today (or some other day) but I will arrive at school with my freshly turned out assignment in hand and discover that the deadline has been extended.

This kind of thing happens to me ALL THE TIME. It's truly awe inspiring how often I'll completely bail on something (allegedly) and it will turn out for the better anyway. It blows my mind.

Ok, that's it for THIS four years...

I went out last night for a stag-ette. Oh. My. God. I hadn't been that wasted in at least four years. I feel like absolute crap. I stopped drinking roughly twenty hours ago and I'm very very hungover still.

Unngghhhh...

It was all fun until the puking... :P I'll talk more about the fun parts later. I'm going to bed with another ginger ale, pack of tums and a big glass of water.

Ha!

I think I figured out where the soap opera was coming from. I accidentally kicked my "radio" button on the speaker control panel and it started picking up the audio of the TV from the invisible waves that I've heard rumoured. So yeah. I turned it back to "pick up noise from computer" and everything seems to be going well.

Nine years too late, I've started watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer season 1. I am good and hooked now. I've seen the first eight episodes...wow. Some of it's really sexy...I've got a thing for immortal doomed love...Highlander and the like. So yeah. I'm happy, but I've only got four episodes left until I'm finished the first season...THEN what am I going to do?? I don't want to go out and buy Seasons 2-6 (ok, to be perfectly honest, that's EXACTLY what I want to do...but it would be fiscally irresponsible of me). It's amusing to me because I've only seen maybe three full episodes of Buffy (plus the movie when it first came out...and I also now own...muahhaha!) and got hooked on Firefly first. They're both created by Joss Whedon, but Firefly came out in 2003, while the Buffy movie was from 1992 and the show started in 1997. Basically what I'm trying to say is that most people went from Buffy to Firefly, whereas I went in the other direction. Thank goodness for DVD goodness. :D

Weirdness...

"As sands through the hourglass...these are the Days of Our Lives..."

This is coming through my computer right now...but I'm not sure why. How bizarre...my media thing isn't working, and I don't have any windows open that are showing it.

Now it's advertising the Home and Garden Show. This is annoying...I don't know how to turn it off!!

Longing for a laptop...

...and a wireless internet connection that I can use on the balcony or the back yard. It's GORGEOUS outside. I don't want to be in here!!

I've got my door wide open and my space heater on my feet. It's luverly. I've actually been getting work done this week...I'm shocked because I figured my brain would turn completely off. As it is, it's turned partly off...but that's ok. I've still got four (ee!! Yay!!) days off, counting today and I've gotten a lot of stuff done.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go sew for a while.

Warning...actual content ahead.

I'm as shocked as you are...
[This post almost got eaten...so some edits are in the square brackets, like this one]

Putting up the Johari link has helped my self esteem immeasurably! I read it and go, "Awwww!!! People think I'm awesome!", then I go, "Hey, how come no one thinks I'm intelligent?" Hehe. [Of course, since I wrote this, TWO people have decided I'm intelligent...how come "psychic" wasn't on there, huh?]

So, hello to my not-a-stalker-who-was-born-in-1979-and-is-from-England that I chatted with today. :) I actually had fun, unlike the other times people have randomly IM'd me. Talk to you again when the fates align and our various time zone issues have us meet up again online.

I've been playing a lot of disc golf over the last few weeks. It seems to have helped, because I actually beat Dave by ONE WHOLE STROKE!!! on Friday on our way back from school. I think I did that once, many moons ago. But then I lost to him yesterday, as the stars slipped back out of alignment. Bother.

My dad is going to be home from Mexico on Thursday and my brother will be back from cruise gallivanting on Saturday. So much for using the sewing machine like crazy while they were gone. My quilting fabric is currently in the washing machine so that it will shrink and the dye will run in a controlled manner, rather than when it's in project form and it needs to go in the washer. Ick.

I'm thoroughly enjoying my week off. Here are my plans for this week...feel free to visit with me during my open times.

Mon-Tutoring 3:30 (I'd better finish this FAST), Ultimate 6-8
Tue-0900 oil change, hang out with Bimkins, 330 or so tutoring, Valentine's dinner with my mom.
Wed-hang out with NNY, Tutoring 330(change this methinks), meeting
Thu-hang out with NNY if Wed falls through (our luck is BAD), tutoring, something that I can't remember.
Fri-Tutoring early...T has day off. Is that all I've got? That can't be right.
Sat-tutoring? karate 430-630, maybe some disc golf.
Sun-disc golf, tutoring? Dunno yet.

This week has been my big push for getting all my stuff done that I won't have time to do in the next six months, making sure things are clean again/still and doing most of my homework for the rest of the semester. So far, I'm doing...okay. Not great, but not too bad either.

Also, as of yesterday, I've exercised for more than 24 hours (total) since the beginning of this year...this is not counting all the walking I do to get around campus. I am pleased. It doesn't sound like much, but that averages out to about four hours a week. I'd like to get my average up to five, maybe even six hours a week by the end of the year. It ought to happen...Ultimate is two hours, and karate is two hours, so just a little extra during the week ought to do it...one or two rounds of disc golf or something.

Meme.

Johari Window.

Specific apology.

The general apology is below...this is specifically for Dave who has put up with some wicked bad mood swings, especially over the last week. I'm sorry, sweetie... I'll be human again in a day or two. And I'll try to be less "yell-y" and more "talk-y".

(and yes, I did apologize to him in person today too...I just still feel bad. He's not mad or anything, but I feel awful.)

Hello?

Hey, has anyone even noticed that I've been somewhat...ummm...lacking in the content department lately? Sorry...I've barely had time to breathe. I'm in the middle of crunch time at school. I predict things will slow down around June or so. Of 2007.

I was very tired yesterday and amused Dave greatly by reciting a story he'd heard before...it's a REALLY good story and he wouldn't let me tell it...so I told it to myself, complete with hand gestures and silly voices. Oi.

I've got a week off, ostensibly a "Reading Break" but it's going to be more of a "Homework not-even-remotely-resembling-a-break" that begins with a birthday party tomorrow night, clubbing Saturday and ends with a Staggette on the following Saturday. One of the girls in my group is going to Vegas...leaving tomorrow, back on the next Saturday. She plans to get some work done. If she does, she's more dedicated than I would be. :)

D&D Quiz

I Am A: Neutral Good Elf Ranger Mage


Alignment:
Neutral Good characters believe in the power of good above all else. They will work to make the world a better place, and will do whatever is necessary to bring that about, whether it goes for or against whatever is considered 'normal'.


Race:
Elves are the eldest of all races, although they are generally a bit smaller than humans. They are generally well-cultured, artistic, easy-going, and because of their long lives, unconcerned with day-to-day activities that other races frequently concern themselves with. Elves are, effectively, immortal, although they can be killed. After a thousand years or so, they simply pass on to the next plane of existance.


Primary Class:
Rangers are the defenders of nature and the elements. They are in tune with the Earth, and work to keep it safe and healthy.


Secondary Class:
Mages harness the magical energies for their own use. Spells, spell books, and long hours in the library are their loves. While often not physically strong, their mental talents can make up for this.


Deity:
Mielikki is the Neutral Good goddess of the forest and autumn. She is also known as the Lady of the Forest, and is the Patron of Rangers. Her followers are devoted to nature, and believe in the positive and outreaching elements of it. They use light armor, and a variety of weapons suitable for hunting, which they are quite skilled at. Mielikki's symbol is a unicorn head.


Find out What D&D Character Are You?, courtesy ofNeppyMan (e-mail)



Detailed Results:

Alignment:
Lawful Good ----- XXXXX (5)
Neutral Good ---- XXXXXX (6)
Chaotic Good ---- XXXX (4)
Lawful Neutral -- XXX (3)
True Neutral ---- XXXX (4)
Chaotic Neutral - (-1)
Lawful Evil ----- (-1)
Neutral Evil ---- (-4)
Chaotic Evil ---- (-2)

Race:
Human ---- (-4)
Half-Elf - XXXXX (5)
Elf ------ XXXXXXXX (8)
Halfling - (-3)
Dwarf ---- (-5)
Half-Orc - (-3)
Gnome ---- X (1)

Class:
Fighter - (-3)
Ranger -- XXXXXXXXX (9)
Paladin - (0)
Cleric -- (-2)
Mage ---- XXXX (4)
Druid --- (0)
Thief --- (0)
Bard ---- XXXX (4)
Monk ---- X (1)

OMFG...this is too funny.

Brokeback to the Future

No content content.

http://metaatem.net/words/

I've seen this one a few times today

Muhaha...especially one bit...Dave, point it out to everyone. ;)


Yellows are motivated by fun. They are inviting and embrace life as a party which they're hosting. They love playful interaction and can be extremely sociable and persuasive. They seek instant gratification. YELLOWS need to be adored and praised. While YELLOWS are carefree, they are quite sensitive and highly alert to others motives to control them. YELLOWS carry within themselves the gift of a good heart.

YELLOWS need to look good socially, and friendships command a high priority in their lives. YELLOWS are happy, highly verbal, easily bored, and crave adventure. They can never sit still for long. They choose friends who, like themselves, refuse to allow lifes boring details stifle their curiosity. They embrace each day in the present tense. YELLOWS are charismatic, spontaneous, positive, and can be irresponsible, obnoxious, and forgetful. When you deal with a YELLOW praise and adore them, take a positive, upbeat approach, and promote creative and fun activities for and with them.


What Color Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


Exercise today: 3 hours disc golf in the pouring rain...deja vu...

I woke up at 1000 on a Sunday morning. Voluntarily.

Apparently I've taken leave of my senses. No matter. Today is a mini disc golf competition at Mundy Park in Coquitlam (for googlers: Mundy Park Doubles, 1200 sharp [and they mean it], $5 plus mandatory $1 closest to the pin, various $1 and $5 charges that happen rarely [for holes in one and so on]).

I've got a headache. :( I've been having headaches the last few days when I wake up. I'm wondering if it's due to less caffiene (checks the empty cans...I'm mostly not drinking caffinated drinks any more) or sleeping wrong, or not getting enough, or too much sleep? Who knows? Not me. Internet? Got any ideas?

Crazy Disc Golf Lady

This morning I woke up to weak sun coming in through my window. Good thing, since today's the day that I competed in the Ice Bowl, a charity disc (frisbee) golf tournament. It's been a while since I played (before Christmas, and before that...ummm...sometime in the summer...?), so I didn't have much expectation of me doing very well.

I arrived, a few minutes late because I took too long getting things ready. Whoops. Things hadn't started yet, and I got to throw the disc around some of the baskets a bit with some guys from Mundy. (Rats, I should've gotten a ride out with one of them. Meh.) I threw pretty well in the warm up. The Tim Horton-mobile was there with Timbits, coffee and hot chocolate for us. Faaaabulous. Our teams were assigned and we were off. I played decently, even though most of my good drives were used up in warm up.

We were playing Texas Scramble style, so the best throws were the ones we took, however each person could only record three baskets and three drives for the whole 12 holes, which meant that there was a certain amount of strategy involved. I wound up with some okay drives and a wicked good putt. Some of the holes had games with them, like you could only use your opposing hand (the exception was the one player who only hand one arm...he did a funny throw instead), you had to roll the first throw, the first throw had to be performed with a paper bag over your head etc. Lots of fun. I was soaked through within about fifteen minutes of playing, and my shoes were soaked within about fifteen seconds of walking into the park. Mental note: white, mesh topped shoes are not the best things to walk around a park in January in.

Lunch was chili and ice cream, apparently ice cream is an Ice Bowl tradition. It was GOOOOOOD. We had a putting contest, as well as longest drive, an auction and something called Ring of Fire where everyone is about twenty feet back from the basket and everyone throws their putter discs all at once towards it. It was chaotic and nifty. All in all it was a really great day.

Oh. I almost forgot. I won the women's putting, women's longest drive, novice putting, women's closest to the pin and I tied for the most food and money donated to charity. *buffs fingernails* Women's Championships in Kamloops, here I come. Note to self: I'm busy on May 28th...I'll be in Kamloops.

Bored at school

I'm in the computer lab for a non optional lesson...so far it's been mostly stuff I knew already. Blah.

I desperately want a steamed milk with almond syrup. I managed to control myself today before, and then after PE (I go past two Starbucks on my way to the gym, then to the education building.) I'm proud of myself. :) I need to pick up the syrup myself so that I can make significantly cheaper drinks at home to curb my cravings.

Blah, blah blah, tutoring, blah blah school, blah hanging out with Dave, blah blah blah karate.

I'm so disorganized this term. I have papers scattered all over my room, I don't have a good central binder, and I have no idea what/when my assignments are. I'm exhausted. *sigh* Soon. Seven more months. Or seven more weeks and I'm back on practicum. I can't wait to be the teacher again!! It's so frustrating because I really feel that I could teach a class if I was given one right now.

Oh, I remember. I was offered a job that would start in October 2007 in Los Angeles. I don't have to get things started until September...don't know if I'll take it, but it's an option. And it's certainly a relief that I'm being noted as "EXCELLENT STRONG CANDIDATE" on the file that the interviewer had. Also him insisting that I stay in touch with him because he really really wants me to work in LA...

...maybe I'll get to meet Jack Bauer and Sydney Bristow... ;)

Annoyed

I've had a really bad day today. I don't usually get bad days, or else I just deal with it better than a lot of people (or else I forget that I have them). Anyway, I don't want to get into it right now (it's not weight related for frickin' once) but now my Rio mp3 player is only playing into one headphone. How irritating. And slightly disorienting. Phantom of the Opera is significantly less dramatic when it's not in surround sound.

I'm going to go play with fabric and the sewing machine for a while.

(edit: Pink Floyd also is significantly less dramatic. Dammit.)

No, seriously...I am doing homework.

This is really really long. Who else has gotten it?



Please Save Canada! [2006Jan20]
http://www.pleasesavecanada.com

*snip*

Why I shouldn't read old blog entries.

Last year around this time I was ten pounds lighter. :(

Four days of blog catchup.

I've now caught up with all my blogs/LJs that I read. I haven't commented because there would be far too many...so pick the comment from below that best fits your recent posts.

"OMG, I totally agree!"
"I can't believe it...wow."
"*hugs*"
"Glad you had fun."
"I'm sorry...I wish I could help somehow."
"Congratulations!"
":("
":)"
"I don't know what to say."

I have survived my first week back in class. I did not have a relaxing day yesterday. I have far too much homework already. I landed on my head at karate yesterday.

Soooooo tired...

Am I done my eight weeks yet? Can I go back to being the teacher now? uggghhhh...

My methods classes are fun. I'm learning how to teach math, science, art, music and PE this semester. My art class is mostly going to be studio work, which means actually squishing around with the clay. PE is half in the gym and half in class. Music I haven't had yet and science and math I did last semester as well. Good stuff.

I kind of started quilting on the weekend. *sigh* I have too much stuff I want to do and not enough time to do it!

Dooo wop...do do do dee doooo wop...

Just kind of humming to myself. Endorphins have kicked in after spending twenty minutes on the exercise bike reading. So, I'm finished at Gigabyte for the next eight weeks while I cram thirteen weeks worth of classes into that time at the university. I've got a nice easy project due in two weeks, a partner science project due on Friday and a couple other things.

I have now got all of my topics that I'll be teaching in March, April, May and June at Gigabyte. So far it looks like I'll be doing a bunch of art projects on "weaving" which will include finger weaving, finger knitting, spool knitting, lanyards, paper weaving, regular knitting and/or a combination of some of those and a couple other things I can't think of off the top of my head. I'll also be doing a short unit on plants, a PE unit on aiming practice (chucking stuff at other stuff), a four week unit on butterflies, which will include actually hatching caterpillars into butterflies and a unit on the tropical rainforest which will include a field trip to the Vancouver Aquarium's rainforest exhibit.

I'm really excited. :D

Irony

Quaffing my vitamins and other assorted "good health" pills...with diet pop.

Because I don't have my agenda with me...

KARIN: YOU ARE TUTORING THREE PM SUNDAY AFTERNOON

New Music

My cousin sent me an email the other day...he's recorded an album called "Happy Days" and it's available in mp3 format through SVC Records in the UK. It's only about six bucks Canadian and I really enjoy it. There are some samples on the links above.

On the needles:
the hat that will never END! (been on the needles for nearly two years.)
baby blanket (not for me.)

School is tiring.

I am seriously craving a certain kind of food.

Want to guess?

I'll give you a hint. It starts with a "P" and ends in a "eanut butter and banana sandwich".

Quick break

English Genius You scored 100% Beginner, 100% Intermediate, 93% Advanced, and 100% Expert!

You did so extremely well, even I can't find a word to describe your excellence! You have the uncommon intelligence necessary to understand things that most people don't. You have an extensive vocabulary, and you're not afraid to use it properly! Way to go! Thank you so much for taking my test. I hope you enjoyed it! For the complete Answer Key, visit my blog: http://shortredhead78.blogspot.com/.

My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender: You scored higher than 65% on Beginner You scored higher than 40% on Intermediate You scored higher than 42% on Advanced You scored higher than 93% on Expert

Link: The Commonly Confused Words Test written by shortredhead78 on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the 32-Type Dating Test

Happy Delurking Week

delurk5, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

The lovely and talented Sheryl at Paper Napkin created Delurking Day last year, but now rather than a mere 24 hours, it is SEVEN WHOLE DAYS!!! Yes, it is Delurking Week. I got to be the second comment on that particular post (Why, yes. I do sit here and wait for my blogroll to refresh. You say that as if it's a BAD thing...) Anyway, I just had 8 people (all at once!!) reading here...well...glancing here. Clicking over from there. :) So, please! Comment! Even if you comment regularly, I would love to see a number in the double digits. I know you're out there...

Does anyone else do this?

Thinking to self at three different times:

"Cool, I can do something after the first day back at school."
"I'm free Tuesday afternoon."
"Dave's birthday is on the 3rd, so I have to stay free."

Guess what day the first day of school was. Yep, Tuesday the 3rd. Managed to triple book myself. Good thing my New Years resolution wasn't to be more organized.

Oh wait. It was. I just forgot because I lost my resolution sheet.

I just drank the last sip of pop from my can and it sprayed up through the top and splashed me in the nose. Hooray for gravity.

Busy, not much to say.

I don't know how much of this is interesting to people other than myself. :P I received my copy of Firefly (and Serenity, and the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie) on...Tuesday or so? Something like that. It's a Joss Whedon extravaganza!!

Stuff at Gigabyte is going well. I feel like I totally bombed one of the lessons I taught on Thursday, then I winged (wung? wang? *snicker*) one in the afternoon because we had a sub and it went FANTASTICALLY! Grrr...I was getting evaluated on the earlier one. Go se (Chinese for a very bad word pronounced GOE seh. Firefly is eduma-cational!)... Oh well. I'll just have to dazzle this week. I started helping coach basketball for the time that I'm there which is fun, although it means I have to be there an hour before I usually would. i plan on helping out with track and field during my major practicum.

I find I'm exhausted after being there all day, although I don't teach the whole time I'm "on" the whole time, fielding questions and tattle tales and all the stuff that a normal teacher deals with. Oh, and we went skating on Friday. I tell you...one has not seen chaos until one has seen five classes of primary students trying to keep their balance on a sheet of ice.

To do today:
-magnifying glasses x 12 (science lesson)
-arrowroot cookies (same lesson)
-thank you letter
-return DVDs to HMV
-tomorrow's lesson plans
-pick up garlic pills and vitamins
-avoid getting sucked into the makeup section of London Drugs

The honeymoon is over...

...the kids have realized that I'm a teacher and not just someone who comes in and reads them stories and does art projects with them. Crappity crap.

They've started testing me...

Greatest blonde joke ever

This truly is the greatest joke ever....

Woo!

According to the Canada Post tracking system, my copy of Firefly and Serenity are en route...arrived in Richmond this evening. :D

In other news: I'm going to be competing in a disc golf tournament that is for charity...either the Food Bank, or Alzheimer's. Food and money are welcome...AND for every $15 or five items of food you pledge, I get a point taken off my score (it's golf...low scores are good). I'll post details in a bit.

In other, other news...I've been getting a lot of hits from people searching for random stuff. This has been happening since Christmas...so I'm thinking that people are trying out the new computers they got.

In other, other, other news...I managed to lose weight between Hallowe'en and Christmas. :) Just wanted to share because I'm pretty pleased.

My two week practicum starts tomorrow. Eep. I feel ready, but I had a minor setback in the form of "all the libraries are closed for the New Years long weekend and I planned to get the book I needed for my lesson at 9:40 am tomorrow." I finally found something suitable, but it was a nerve wracking day. If it was my own classroom I would have just said, "The hell with it." and done something completely different, but since I had to submit my lesson plans I couldn't do that.

I got some of my text books for next semester. I flipped through one of them and I'm already annoyed. *sigh* It's really a burden being RIGHT about how to teach something and have all the textbooks contradict me. ;) (I have research to back up that I'm right...but then with enough research I could probably prove I came from Mars too.) So, it's difficult...but something I don't really have to deal with until the mini-practicum is over.

So when's the sequel coming out?

...and WHERE is my copy of Firefly and Serenity?

Orson Scott Card (writer of Ender's Game, and other books) reviewed Serenity. So, if you don't trust my judgement...maybe you'll trust his. :)

Happy New Year

I had a good evening last night...good friends, good food, fun games and movie. I hope everyone stayed safe.