VINDICATED

Rather than the, "It's a virus. Drink fluids and get lots of sleep * ." I was expecting, I got a doctor that LISTENED to me. She asked me intelligent questions and used the stethescope on my back. YAY! Then she sent me to get a chest X-Ray. ALSO yay!!!

It turns out that I've got what is known as "walking pneumonia" or "mycoplasma pneumoniae" (yes, NNY, you were indeed correct. Well done!). Basically, it means that I'm coughing a heckuvalot, am on anti-biotics and should start feeling better in a couple of days. YES! I feel super vindicated. For once I'm sick and it's actually something real.

* Um, I'm an education student. Where would you suggest I fit that in?

Go RS, it's your birthday...

Random Synapses is three years old today. Let's go back through the archives and see what I was doing three, two and one year ago today.

July 19th 2003: I was depressed and didn't feel like I was accomplishing anything in my life, so I created a set of goals and this blog sometime after midnight. I also had my first karate lesson.

July 19th 2004: I spread some internet rumours about Dave and Gwynabella (with whom I split a bottle of wine with tonight. Hehe...that's amusing.)
I apparently had a lot of clearance yarn and was working at Michaels. (GASP! I named the craft store I used to work at!!!) I also reviewed the various goals I had originally set for myself.

July 19th 2005: Apparently I was doing a lot of stuff, but I didn't write any of it down. How irritating. At this point I didn't know whether or not I'd gotten into the education program, so I was stressing out about that. My car had recently gotten broken into.

July 19th 2006: I have pneumonia. I'm still with Dave, still friends with most of the people I knew before, I'm nearly finished school. It's been a good three years. :)

Doctor Meme? Paging Doctor Meme?

Just killing time before my doctor's appointment at the clinic today. Man, I hope I get something that makes me feel better. :P

You Are Navy Blue

You're a true adventurer. You constantly find yourself drawn to new experiences, people, and places. Sometimes you feel quite scattered and bored. If something exciting isn't going on, you feel a bit lost.

What Color Blue Are You?

They're on to me...

Dammit! Too many people are borrowing laptops for fraudulent reasons...ie: playing with them during evil lectures. In my defense, I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that. But now! I was actually planning on doing WORK on it today during the lecture. * They're interfering with my education!

Good thing I remembered my sketch book.

* What's this you say? I could do my work on what? What is this PAY-pur of which you speak? My god. Crushed trees? How barbaric.

Anyway, I'm in the computer lab between classes. I need another diet Coke. I had a group presentation today and my partner was sick. So I had the option of either doing the presentation solo, or postponing it. Being the kick-ass attention whore keen student that I am, I elected to do it solo. It went pretty well, although I don't have the evaluation back yet. We also had a representative from GALE come in to talk to us. I now have a pretty blue button badge that says "Some girls like girls". It matches my turquoise necklace. I'm all coordinated now.

Speaking of whores, * I'm in the process of applying to the school board that I swore I would never ever ever EVER work for. I've been seduced ** by the idea of possibly getting my own classroom in the first year. Also, the idea of going where I'm needed and can make a difference is alluring. Rather than flowing along with what's been carved out for me, I might be able to help do some carving.

* I can't wait for the google hits from this post.
** Whoops, there's another one.

Today has been very productive already.

I am losing my damn mind.

My nose is a little stuffed up, and of course I've been complaining about the cough from HELL for the last...what? Three weeks now? Anyway, I decided that during my shower tonight I'd light the candle under my essential oil diffuser. It's been loaded with eucalyptus oil, which is great for de-congesting chests and noses. I'm in the shower and I realize I've forgotten to light the candle. Oh well. Might as well wash my hair since I'm in here anyway. So I put in the shampoo and lather it, then do all the maintenance stuff I do in the shower while my conditioner gets deep into my hair. Except that I haven't put in the conditioner yet. Ye gods.

I'm SO READY for this semester to be over.

Just need to tweak my presentation for tomorrow and *I* get to go to *BED*.

WHY DIDN'T I THINK OF THIS THREE WEEKS AGO??

Bwahahahah!!! I borrowed a laptop from the Education building equipment loan place from 1-415. Guess when TELUD is. I love wireless connections. Hehehe...

I don't actually have anything to say. La di da di da.

...

Our guest speaker hasn't arrived yet. *sigh* I just learned the breakdown of the final exam.

*rant* The entire year that I've been going through teacher training there are two things that have been the mainstay of what we've learned. They have been DRILLED into our heads. We've been told a) don't just stand at the front of the class and lecture. Teach to different strengths, allow students to discuss things, have different ways to explain things, do group work, art stuff, ETC. We are also told b) when assessing students, ensure that you don't just have a big final exam at the end of the class. Have little quizzes, assess learning informally (eg. asking questions and listening to class discussion), use projects and papers to see what students are learning, ETC ETC ETC!!!!

Guess what the format of TELUD is. That's right. Someone stands up and lectures to us for 2+ hours four times per week, then there's a final exam worth 100% at the end of this week.

ARGH. I guess this is a case of do what I say, not what I do. :P Grr... */rant*

Disjointed Thoughts

*hackchokewheeeeeze*
Hello, I'm still coughing. :(

I'm missing little M's baby shower today, but that's ok. I'll meet him another time.

I've only got four weeks of school left. Four days of TELUD. 19 actual days of classes. 9 assignments/group projects/final exams.

What am I going to DO with myself?!?! Oh, I remember. *

Maybe I'd better focus on finishing everything off before I start thinking about what I'll be doing some time in the last two weeks of August.

* I'll give you a hint. It rhymes with "freely sheep malaskan bruise". **

** What? Nothing else rhymes with "Alaskan".

Hypochondria

Last week, I discovered that I had a learning disability. This week, I realized that I had ADHD and dyslexia. Next week I will probably find out that I have an intellectual disability and/or emotional and behavioural disorders.

I'm currently taking a class on students with exceptionalities. Guess what the course calendar is/has been for the last couple weeks...

Hello, my name is K, and I'm a hypochondriac...or at least I think I am. I read about it in a magazine once, and I have all the symptoms. Well, some of them anyway. One for sure. Sometimes. Maybe I'm just paranoid. I KNOW I've got symptoms for that.

Earlier this week, I made Dave look up the symptoms for cystic fibrosis because of all the coughing that I've been doing.* I don't have any of the symptoms, really. Thank goodness. I'm the kind of person who immediately thinks, "BRAIN TUMOR" or "CEREBRAL HEMMORAGE" if I get a sudden headache. If I have a bruise that won't go away? Cancer. Nausea? Well, I get that so often that it doesn't really register as something serious any more. Actual throwing up? Pregnant. Dizziness? Pregnant...or Ménière's. Granted, my mom has this, so I've got some precedent.

*I tried to make an appointment with my doctor today for the insane coughing of ultimate DOOM. She has moved to Yellowknife. Um. She must've gotten sick ** of my constant hypochondria. I made a Wednesday appointment at the student clinic at school, with the understanding that if things get worse over the weekend, they'll let me in on Monday. If things get REALLY bad tomorrow or Sunday, I'm going to the walk-in clinic near my house.

**Ugh. Sorry. That was a terrible pun that I didn't realize I'd put in until I typed it.

Sunset Dock, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

There are more photos from the Pender trip up. I think that's all of them now (that I'm planning on putting up), unless Rob or Marta sends me theirs.

Coughing and Mango

I cannot stop coughing. I now get a throbbing pain in my head when I cough and often I sound like I've got a puddle in my chest. I freak Dave out because I can't climb a flight of stairs without resting at the top and hyperventilating. At least once every couple hours I cough so hard I gag. There are a few other things, but you probably don't actually want to hear about that.

Raise your hands if anyone else thinks I ought to see a doctor about this.

Also, my tummy is mildly annoyed due to excessive mango consumption. That's understandable though. Damn, but it was good mango.

Today's my Friday. I got a surprise three day weekend when it was revealed to me that the only class I have tomorrow is canceled so that we can "work on our group presentations". Me, I plan on working on my "sleeping in". Wait. There shouldn't be ironic quotes for that. Anyway, I plan on starting this....now.

zzzzzzz...

Don't WANNA go.

Time for the BELUD (or TELUD, depending on which post you read).

Don't WANNA go. *pout* Stupid BELUD.

I remembered my sketchbook.

Vanity Search

So I did some googling* on myself. I'm pleased to announce that I couldn't find me. I'm not going to write search strings, as that would kind of defeat the purpose of remaining ungoogleable**.

*When did that word get verbed? Two or three years now?
**I'm pretty sure that's not a word. And I know it's not a verb the way I've got it.

I'm just waiting to hear from NNY and family about baby...a friend of mine is in the hospital having her second baby. And I'm ahead on homework* so I get to tool around on the computer.

*Behind on readings. Bleah.

Joy MacPhail came to TELUD today. Her talk was fairly interesting. I didn't fall asleep during TELUD either, which was good. I'd forgotten to bring my pencils and sketchbook like I'd planned, so I designed quilt blocks and quilts in my notebook in ballpoint pen for most of the talk. If anyone wants a sampler quilt or something with words, I've designed the entire alphabet mostly to my satisfaction. Of course, I probably can't actually sew them all. I've also been designing cute little pictures like butterflies and flowers. I've got a wine glass and a wine bottle which are kind of cool, but just think of the possibilities for people who hate the super saccharine angel stuff*! How about a gin and tonic? I've already got a martini glass Ooh! Or bondage gear? A corset? I already did a platform hooker shoe...what else? Comments! I need inspiration! I've still got 30 more hours of TELUD to get through! A coffin!

* Like me. Ye gods. The worst thing about liking to do stuff like knit and other craft things are the sickeningly cute patterns. I want DRAGONS people. And designs that make me appear somewhat cool when I do them. ** Not teddy bears praying. Also, don't even get me started on the music...yes MUSIC on some of these sites. Gahhhhhhh...

** Although I AM quilting and knitting. Despite the lessening stigma, it's still not exactly cutting edge, especially since I look rather vanilla. ***

*** I'm allowed to call myself that. Not you. So there. ****

**** Gee, am I passive aggressive much? Hehe.

Give me ideas in the comments about counter-cultural stuff I can design for quilt blocks. How wicked would that be??? Now I'm all excited. :D HOORAY!! ANOTHER PROJECT!!!! :D

Oh, wait.

I feel sick

I've put in my applications for three of the four school boards I'd planned on putting applications in for. OMG.

Now it's time for the waiting...

BTW, if I tease anybody (specifically Kit) about how they feel when they're applying, please refer me back to this series of posts, kthxbye.

AHAAHAHAHAHAHAA!

Funny joke! I really DO need a cover letter.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Where did my weekend go?

Saturday: mostly slept.
Sunday: mostly did homework and readings and applications...wasting vast amounts of time on things that I didn't realize I didn't need to do.

Um...hello? I'd like to get my weekend back please. I'm ready for it to be Friday again.

*head DESK* *head DESK*

The major reason I didn't send in my application forms in is because I didn't have a cover letter. Turns out I don't need a cover letter. Holy crap. ARGH.

Mrs. Krabappel: Whose calculator can tell me what seven times nine is?
Milhouse: Ohh! Oh oh oh!!! Low battery?

Totally off topic...just wanted to share.

All growned up?

*stamps foot* I'm NOT a grownup. I'm NOT NOT NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT. (/tantrum)

Um, hi. Just filling out applications for jobs. What the hell? I'm still a kid. I'm just a student. Why do I have to have a career? With, like... responsibility? How did this happen? I'm all befuddled, and I'm really nervous about this. I've been (stupidly) putting off applying anywhere because I'm scared. Ugh.

If being sixteen hadn't sucked so much, I'd wish I was sixteen again. *sigh*

Nnnguuuhh..

I feel like I should do a Day in the Life post for today. It'd be really easy.

1200-134: Play around online and read my book. Write in my paper journal.

501-558: Awake with a BURNING ITCHING PAINFUL OW OW OW!!! ear, nose and throat, all on the right side. Attempt: gently Q-tipping ears. No. Drinking water. No. Sneezing like crazy. No. Blowing nose like crazy. No. Drinking a big mug of Neo-citrin. Ooh. Maybe...maybe...yes... Fall asleep.

133: Wake up. Have lunch, check email etc. Do some reading for classes.

345: Realize I'm still groggy from the Neo-citrin, not safe to drive to karate. Still feel like crap.

352: Attempt to read school books in bed.

742: Wake up.

So there's about where I am now. Bleah. I'm not sure what caused the itchy burning painful ow ow ow. It was nasty. Every time I coughed, sneezed, swallowed or breathed all the bits started throbbing even worse. Gah. I think the fact that it was REALLY cold this morning and all my windows were open had something to do with that. Once I closed them and took the Neo-Citrin I felt better.

You Are 64% Open Minded

You are a very open minded person, but you're also well grounded. Tolerant and flexible, you appreciate most lifestyles and viewpoints. But you also know where you stand firm, and you can draw that line. You're open to considering every possibility - but in the end, you stand true to yourself.

How Open Minded Are You?

Day in the Life

1200: I write in my paper journal. Change my alarm to 800 because I have a field trip and get to "sleep in".
1230-800: I'm asleep.
809: Snooze button.
818: Snooze button.
827: Gah! Gotta move, gotta move! Get ready for school.
856: Race out the door.
924: Gah, traffic on Broadway.
1004: Arrive at the UBC farm almost twenty minutes late. Whoops. Talk with others about practicum and stuff.
1038: Walk around the farm and see cool ways of doing organic farming. And there were chickens!
1208: Head back to campus and meet up with Dave for lunch as a surprise.
120: go to the Education library and take out two young adult novels to read during the BELUD.
130-343: Read my novels, occasionally glancing up to see if there's anything important happening. Nothing important happens.
418: Drive someone home, and drive myself home.
506: Arrive home, have some dinner and chat with my parents.
603: Sit down at the computer, begin composing this, watch an episode of Kim Possible and two of the Simpsons that my computer taped for me, check email and blogs.
701: Think to myself, "Maybe I ought to actually do some homework that I need to get finished for tomorrow."
812: Find scholarship information and pass it on to my faculty advisor, whom I had talked with earlier today and she said that she would help me however she could.
821: Stop stalling and find article on assessment for synopsis for tomorrow.
823: Chat with Bimkins for a few minutes on MSN.
845: Chat with my mom for a few minutes on MSN, then realize how silly that is and go upstairs to talk with her.
858: Make myself a pineapple smoothie. I have definitely perfected the smoothie recipe. Talk to Dave on the phone. He had called to tell me that there had been a machete in a fight at the field he was at this evening, and that everything was all right.
914: Stop chatting with my mom and come back downstairs to do synopsis and research stuff on dyslexia.
956: I finish my synopsis and prepare to do some research on dyslexia, specifically, how to help students in the classroom who have it. Check my beluga picture and see two more fantastic comments. Yippee!!
1015: Double tragedy! The scholarship I was talking about wasn't to do with money...it was for something else. Also, and far more tragic...I've finished my smoothie. Drat me for telling my mom she could have the leftovers!! Also, my mouth is sore from too much pineapple. But I loves me the pineapple... :( Time to get back to started on researching dyslexia... *SIIIIIGH*
1032: *coughcough COUGHGAG HACK cough* Ow. My cough has not gone yet. Ooh, but I'm finished researching, AND I've got an idea for how our presentation should go. Hell, yeah.
1039: Gah! Creepy thumps from outside! Oh. Just moths kamakaze'ing into the window since my light's on, and my curtains are open. Arrange dinner/movie date for tomorrow with best friend, other best friend and his boyfriend. We're trying to decide where to eat...with probably emphasis on fast food. I vote for tacos. They're both fast AND food.
1044: I am accused of acting insane because of pineapple. I protest. I act insane because I am insane. Pfft. Like pineapples could affect my metabolism. Only grapes among the fruit have that privilege. And usually only when they've been fermented, bottled, and consumed with good company. Ahh...sweet, sweet, grapes.
1056: Watch an episode of the Simpsons and skim quilt websites. Realize it's too late to go upstairs and cut fabric for a quilt I've been meaning to work on for the last...six months or so. It's all planned out now...just need to cut out fabric and sew it together. *snicker* Just. Hahah. :P
1120: Begin to turn off computer and go to bed.
1121: Realize that a webcomic I LOVE is online again!!!!
1129: Remember that it's been over two years since I looked at it and can't remember what's going on, so I regretfully close the window and go to bed before I get distracted by any other shiny things.

To be continued as I do more things before bed.

What is this, like three posts today?

I've gotten mildly addicted to Flickr lately, posting pictures, joining groups etc. Anyway, I joined a group called "Ratings" where one rates pictures out of ten. I submitted my beluga picture with my students in front of the tank...and...well..

Read the comments. Wow.

Edit: it's actually four posts. And I keep forgetting to mention that tomorrow is the Day in the Life post day. So remember what you did all day and at roughly what time and I'll post my day too. Maybe even before the next month!! *snort* Who'm I kidding??

Zen Garden, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

From the yard of the house we stayed at on Pender Island.

Two Lists

Things which have annoyed me today...
1) Being ignored by former cohort people
2) Not being sat next to during the Big Evil Lecture of Ultimate DOOM*, even though I intentionally sat in the area my classmates all sat in last day, AND even though I inadvertantly arrived half an hour earlier than the class started.
3) Arriving half an hour earlier than the class started.
4) This nagging cough that WON'T GO AWAY.
5) Having to get up almost an hour earlier than I did at Gigabyte.
6) Being left out of all of my former cohort people's groups when making up groups during class.
7) Realizing that I've got five things due in the next week.

*henceforth to be referred to as the BELUD.

Things which correspond to the above list of things that have annoyed me, but why they're actually good.
1) I've made some different friends.
2) I got to sit by myself against a comfy squishy wall and doze off during the BELUD.
3) I got to read my book (based off this website).
4) I get some sympathy from people because I really sound sick, but it's not really hampering my ability to do stuff. Except walk up stairs. And have long conversations without coughing.
5) Umm...I got nothing. This just generally sucks.
6) I got into a group and made new friends, PLUS I get to go very early in the semester, thus freeing up time for later. Which leads into the last piece...
7) I'm going to be finished many of my assignments early, which I did a couple times last year, and it's totally the awesome when that happens.

Aw nuts.

Turns out I'll still have a class on Mondays. :( And I'm about to go into a four hour class on special needs kids (both high and low functioning...ie: gifted and ones who need extra help.) *sigh* I'm tired. I dreamed this morning that I was super awake and aware and had already gotten up and gotten ready. Then I woke up for real and was supposed to leave in ten minutes. Gah.

Yee haw!

The morning has been going well, although the space bar on this lab computer is wonky. :P My schedule looks something like this:

Monday 100-400
Tuesday 0830-1200, 100-400
Wednesday 0830-1200, 100-400
Thursday 0830-1200, 100-400
Friday 0830-1200

The 100-400 is a large lecture, which I've been dreading since I knew about it. I hate large lectures...ever since we started doing more hands-on stuff. 12 hours a week of lecture. *cries* Anyway, today I discovered that this lecture thingie is only for three weeks!! That means that I should get Mondays OFF, and be finished by noon the other three weeks. YES! I'm so excited, that I can't even believe it. I think I'll be playing a lot of disc golf in the afternoons at Jericho. Or going to the beach...or shopping at Granville Island and on 4th street. This is like getting one of the best gifts in the world.

Except for rose bushes. And trips to Pender. ;)

Front Deck to Ocean, originally uploaded by Random Synapses.

Instead, I'm waiting as Kit's photos come trickling into my MSN account. Here's a teaser of what I got to see every morning while at Pender.

Can you tell my brain is still there? Not to mention part of my SOUL. And I have to start school tomorrow. :(

(Devil's) Day in the Life

From 6/6/6...Many, many, many days late due to exhaustion, report cards, Blogger being down and several other factors. Maybe I'll get July's done within a day or two...NAH.

0630: alarm goes off. I ignore it and hit snooze.

0639: see above.

0648: see above.

0657: see above.

0706: see above.

0715: jump up in a panic, since usually I leave the house at 0720.

0716: do my usual getting ready stuff. Weigh myself...I'm at 163 lbs.

0729: leave the house and begin driving to Gigabyte.

0730: get irritated at morning DJs talking about (oooh...scary...) how today is evil and/or commercials and/or that stupid Miss New Booty song and change the station.

0736: see above.

0739: see above.

0746: see above and continue until the end of the drive.

0812: arrive at school, dump my stuff in the classroom and sit down to make sure my stuff is organized for today. It is, because I have to have everything ready for the next day before I leave. I do various stuff around the classroom, chat with my sponsor teacher and the special needs worker. I also check with the other teachers in my open area to see if they're interested in coming out to the field to watch us let the butterflies go this morning.

0845: the bell rings and I let in my students. They're adorable, as always. They go and do their noisy reading and I read with some of them.

0858: Subject 392-B wanders in late, as usual. Probably visiting the library and talking to the librarian. This happens a lot. I'm a little annoyed, but whatever. It happens. A lot. I pick my battles.

0900: I stop the reading and call everyone to the carpet for attendance. I explain that it's time to let our butterflies go so that they can live in the wild. There is a general outcry because they've gotten very attached to the butterflies. So have I...but I know it will be less traumatic for the kids if the butterflies are gone than if they all die in their tank. I answer a ton of questions. (aside: for some reason we aren't allowed to release butterflies that can survive in our area, even if they're native to the area. I can understand if they're invasive species, but Monarch butterflies are on the decline here...so wouldn't it be a good thing to raise and release some to help the population? /soapbox)

0910: We head down to the field, soccer ball in hand, for the release party. All three classes stand in a circle with the butterflies in the middle. The butteflies are going crazy in the tank because they're feeling sunlight for the first time since they were eggs (if then!). We talk about expectations for when the butterflies take off (don't run around, if they land on you don't squish them, etc. [It's a good idea to outline expectations for five year olds...things aren't as obvious to them as to we who have some life experience.])

0912: The lid is lifted off the butterfly tank and some of them flutter out immediately. They land on the grass around us, slightly dazed by the fact that there is so much FREEDOM all of a sudden! They had been in a ten or fifteen gallon tank for the last while, and a tiny dixie cup as caterpillars. My sponsor teacher and I lift out the reluctant butterflies and hold them on our fingers for a moment before letting them go. The butterflies begin scattering. I have three butterflies on my hands and show them to the circle of students.

0915: We watch the butterflies for a while, then begin heading up to the playground. I carry three butterflies whose wings aren't working very well off to the side of the field and through the fence. My sponsor teacher makes the call that playing soccer on a field with a multitude (22, minus the three I moved) of butterflies on it, may not be such a good idea.

0916: Sparrows start swooping around the field. I distract the students. These butterflies aren't going to be breeding anyway. I'm not sad...I didn't actually SEE any get eaten...

0920: The kids play on the playground for a while.

0940: We bring the kids in and get ready for a lesson before recess. I panic slightly because I had planned for two periods of butterfly release, not just one.

0945: Teach a lesson about the rainforest. (There will now be a massive lack of detail because this was almost a month ago.)

1025: Recess. I have my snack and plan for what else I'm going to be doing in the afternoon.

1040-1205: Teach a few things...worry that I'm singling out Subject 392-B for misbehaviour that I would allow with other kids.

1205: K's go home, I go to the staff room for lunch. My sponsor teacher has left to go to the zone track and field meet so I have a sub this afternoon.

1250: I let the 1's in from outside and we do some more rainforest lessons. I teach everything except math.

305: I let the 1's out to go home. One of the kids's moms is late, as usual. Whatever. I threaten him with making him do all the chores in the classroom until she gets there, as usual. He squeals and protests, as usual. His mom picks him up.

310-450: I kill time at the school until it's time for me to leave and go to my sponsor teacher's house across a bridge to another municipality/city.

520: I arrive a little early and wait until he shows up.

530-700: We work on report cards and have dinner (tacos) with his wife and two daughters. I see the family pets...a dog who won't stop yapping at me, a lizard and a medium large fish tank. Coooooool. I show one of my kata to my ST's daughter who is in tae kwon do and showed me one of her forms.

700-1000: General chatting about teaching (ST's wife is also a teacher) until their friend shows up and I learn how to play euchre. I'm pretty terrible.

1000: I go home and am in bed by midnight.

Shellshocked

Hey all. Got back late last night...am very tired and shellshocked and trying to readjust to life with traffic lights and grocery stores that are open past eight thirty.

I'll update later, but for now I've been playing with my flickr stuff. I'll leave you with these thoughts: the island was amazing, so much that I'm looking at real estate and into jobs at the school. Plus I'm thinking I might open a gallery out of a guest cottage on the land I buy. I'm only partly joking...

Night!

Pender-Day 2

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

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

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

Oh, hell yes.

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

Un-freaking-believable.

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

Five more days of WOW.

Flickr

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

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

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

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

Instead, I may just take a nap.

A test I would love to study for

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dammit. Now I'm hungry. And tired.

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

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

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

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

So tired.

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

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

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

Ohhhhhhh my GOD.

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

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

Best spam title ever.

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

settler gynecology

Wha?

Blogging in the 19th Century

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

To demonstrate my claim:

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

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

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

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

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

*waves*

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

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

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

Where the hell was I?

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

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

Comments in [square brackets] are mine.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Now to start applying for jobs. Gah.

Nonononono NO!

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

In bed by eight thirty, I think.

Sorry!

The Day post is on its way, I swear.

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

Recent roses that have emerged:

Day Delayed

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

Holy cow, I'm a grownup.

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

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

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

I'm tired. Good night.

Songs I currently LOVE.

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

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

Various radio stations:
Because of You by Kelly Clarkson

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

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

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

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

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

(I just finished my last reflection for my practicum)

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

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


(Friends don’t let friends blog tired.)

Laundry List

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

LAUNDRY LIST
-do laundry
-fold and put away laundry

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

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

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

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

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

And then I hear a key turn in the deadbolt.

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

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

Something

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

Exercise today: 20 minutes of ...

Melted.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.)

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?!?!

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.)

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.)

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...

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.

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

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?

*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.

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.

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.

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.

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*)

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.)

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)

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.