Well, I know that as long as I spend a couple hours with Linda during the week all is ok. She isn't too overbearing and I guess she feels important. I am able to go to work, sub, and I know to always have an agenda of what I need to do after school so I don't get held up talking to her. My post isn't about Linda, though.
So Thursday night (for the past 12 weeks or so) my mom, Linda, and M go out to Olive Garden or Sizzler. I told my mom that I needed to leave about 6p.m. to go to Kaiser to pick up a prescription, get gas, and go to Kohls. I do all 3 and it is close to 7:15 when I'm done. I am about 8 miles from home going through the big interchange and I see my mom in front of me. What are the chances? She was in her car and had just left hanging with Linda a few minutes before. I thought that was pretty funny. There are thousands of cars that go through the interchange everyday, and that I left my mom an hour earlier, and yet we met in the interchange.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
It's for the kids...
So um there is a pep rally on Friday at work and the students are all jazzed. The new principal is trying to promote school spirit. 7 female teachers are dancing to a song and the students have been asking for 2 weeks if I was going to dance. I denied it. I said no. I told them they only wanted teachers and I am just a sub- albeit I usually only sub at this school and am well known. I said I couldn't dance. I did everything to deny it. I gave in and spoke to our lovely choreographer, and I am dancing on Friday. The kids don't know.
I'm prepared to make a fool of myself. I'm prepared to be 3-4 steps behind every other teacher, to forget the moves, to bump into the other teachers, to be laughed at, whatever. I'm jazzed.
So without further adieu, here's what I'm going to be dancing to:
The kids will love it!!! They eat this stuff up. Here's the first minute of the dance that I have down. A special treat for you readers. And OMG my legs are killing me after practicing for this. It is so hard to dance in my room to this.
I used the webcam on my computer to tape it just so I could watch it and check on the timing. I want to get it down.
My moves are completely different than the female teachers who are going to be behind me. I am dancing in front. They are in the background and are going three steps forward and then back, waving their arms up and down in unison while I'm drumming. Then when I turn around and flip the teachers begin drumming and doing what I was doing, then they quickly return to the arm wave as I flip back around. Then I go 3 steps to the left/right as I'm pointing when in the song they are saying "they call me her etc." various teachers are walking up next to me and I'm pointing to them. I need to get the part down after the naming when they say "they call me quiet, but I'm a riot" and throw my hands back quicker. I have the first minute down, but there's still a couple minutes to go.
I'm prepared to make a fool of myself. I'm prepared to be 3-4 steps behind every other teacher, to forget the moves, to bump into the other teachers, to be laughed at, whatever. I'm jazzed.
So without further adieu, here's what I'm going to be dancing to:
The kids will love it!!! They eat this stuff up. Here's the first minute of the dance that I have down. A special treat for you readers. And OMG my legs are killing me after practicing for this. It is so hard to dance in my room to this.
I used the webcam on my computer to tape it just so I could watch it and check on the timing. I want to get it down.
My moves are completely different than the female teachers who are going to be behind me. I am dancing in front. They are in the background and are going three steps forward and then back, waving their arms up and down in unison while I'm drumming. Then when I turn around and flip the teachers begin drumming and doing what I was doing, then they quickly return to the arm wave as I flip back around. Then I go 3 steps to the left/right as I'm pointing when in the song they are saying "they call me her etc." various teachers are walking up next to me and I'm pointing to them. I need to get the part down after the naming when they say "they call me quiet, but I'm a riot" and throw my hands back quicker. I have the first minute down, but there's still a couple minutes to go.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Vent about work
Today was one of those days that make me doubt myself. I can work with the difficult students. I am the sub who is called at the school I usually sub when no other subs will go. M has the most difficult classes. I always offer to sub. First, it is money. Second, I know it is not me who is misbehaved, but the kids, so I just let it roll off my shoulder. There are times however, like today, where I question my ability to handle the kids.
I had a trying day. My first class today was wonderful. It was a class of 34 7th graders who were all working diligently on a project comparing daily life in China with daily life in Japan. I gave little instruction and just told the kids to get to work and stay off of bad sites on the computer. No problem. I handled 34 kids like a breeze.
Then came the 3 1/2 hour insanium testing block with M's most difficult class of 18 students. It basically mimics standardized testing, so uniform procedures to follow that they hold teachers to, and basically big trouble ensues if you don't follow that. So I prepare. I tell the students we are going to be quiet. I raise my voice 4-5 times at the beginning to tell them to quiet down. Nope. I get louder. I don't yell because I won't do that. I gave up. I raised my hand in the air like some teachers do. I finally decide 10 minutes into it I can't get them to quiet down. There are 6 trouble makers in the class who all insist on sitting on the same side in the room, and while they did listen to me when I told them to move to a new seat, the noise level increased. I moved them so we wouldn't have all the noise. I get on the phone and ask that the AP come down. I hate to do that because I feel like I've lost as just a sub who has no control, then I wonder if when I become a teacher it'll be that bad. Probably not. I will be able to set my own procedures and be strict about things like tardies, restroom, staying in your seat, talking, etc. But AP is down in the room within a few minutes. The kids know she is on her way and quiet down, but it is still not silent. I hate that it takes calling the AP also- the kids like to see me defeated or something. She reamed them because of the ridiculousness in that, but also how it is a standardized sort of test. AP takes big problem maker #1 who is spouting off about needing to fuck or something. I know there were lots of F's and the word horny came out of his mouth. I am now able to pass out the tests with problem gone. All is well for 10-15 minutes, then the 5-6 mouths start. I tell the proctor who is walking around from room to room that she needs to take 3 of the problems because they were interrupting and talking, even with me standing directly above them. I kept 2 of them and just moved them to opposite sides of the room. Again, I felt ashamed for having to have the proctor take the kids. The kids who were remaining got a kick out of it.
After the testing block it is back to another 7th grade social studies class. In this class I need to explain a little more and give more guidelines, but 27 7th graders were easily able to follow directions and worked on their project.
We have lunch and then it is back to the 18 students from the 3 1/2 hour test block. I think a few of them were scared after being ripped new ones by the AP for being removed. The class was pretty good overall. I did have to remind 4-5 students that the New Boys are not the founding fathers. I am explaining what to do to a few students who were absent last week and trying to monitor the other students. I had a lot going on. I don't sit at my desk. I'm circulating around the room while all of this is happening. I for the mostpart was barking out orders and they were abiding. Then in the last 10 minutes the first problem who was removed gets up and walks to the other side of the room and puts glue in a kids hair. I send her to the nurse, get back on the phone with AP, and moments later he is putting glue on the girl who sits across from him. AP removes him.
My last class was chatty and I said we'd read the story as a class, but if I had problems keeping them quiet we'd do the assignment individually. We stopped 3 times for talking so I turned it into an individual assignment. There was some talking, but overall it was tame.
I usually only have problems in M's class, but M has horrendous students. She has sort of bottom of the barrel ones who are borderline alternative school bound and more. I never have that problem when I sub for Linda, the math dept. chair, the 8th grade science teachers, or anyone like that. I did have 1 incident a few weeks back on my birthday with the math dept.'s class where they just would not be quiet and got loud where they were yelling at each other as they were upset over some fight or something during lunch. I did call the AP as I sensed it was getting ugly, but I try to avoid that. I do know that sometimes it has to be done. But ugh. AP does know that M has difficult kids and does pay periodic visits, but I hate it, and I feel weird. I don't know if AP visits other classes or not, but she tends to visit me when I sub. Last week she popped in on me subbing for the math dept. chair, but all was rosy. My kids were all focused watching me instruct them on the overhead. She only stayed for about 30 seconds, and I don't know why she was there, but I had nothing to worry about.
I feel bad also because i would like to work at this school one day, and I wonder what the AP thinks, and what my chances are.
Oh well... tomorrow is another day. I can be as mean as I need to be. New problems. New challenges. I survived today.
I had a trying day. My first class today was wonderful. It was a class of 34 7th graders who were all working diligently on a project comparing daily life in China with daily life in Japan. I gave little instruction and just told the kids to get to work and stay off of bad sites on the computer. No problem. I handled 34 kids like a breeze.
Then came the 3 1/2 hour insanium testing block with M's most difficult class of 18 students. It basically mimics standardized testing, so uniform procedures to follow that they hold teachers to, and basically big trouble ensues if you don't follow that. So I prepare. I tell the students we are going to be quiet. I raise my voice 4-5 times at the beginning to tell them to quiet down. Nope. I get louder. I don't yell because I won't do that. I gave up. I raised my hand in the air like some teachers do. I finally decide 10 minutes into it I can't get them to quiet down. There are 6 trouble makers in the class who all insist on sitting on the same side in the room, and while they did listen to me when I told them to move to a new seat, the noise level increased. I moved them so we wouldn't have all the noise. I get on the phone and ask that the AP come down. I hate to do that because I feel like I've lost as just a sub who has no control, then I wonder if when I become a teacher it'll be that bad. Probably not. I will be able to set my own procedures and be strict about things like tardies, restroom, staying in your seat, talking, etc. But AP is down in the room within a few minutes. The kids know she is on her way and quiet down, but it is still not silent. I hate that it takes calling the AP also- the kids like to see me defeated or something. She reamed them because of the ridiculousness in that, but also how it is a standardized sort of test. AP takes big problem maker #1 who is spouting off about needing to fuck or something. I know there were lots of F's and the word horny came out of his mouth. I am now able to pass out the tests with problem gone. All is well for 10-15 minutes, then the 5-6 mouths start. I tell the proctor who is walking around from room to room that she needs to take 3 of the problems because they were interrupting and talking, even with me standing directly above them. I kept 2 of them and just moved them to opposite sides of the room. Again, I felt ashamed for having to have the proctor take the kids. The kids who were remaining got a kick out of it.
After the testing block it is back to another 7th grade social studies class. In this class I need to explain a little more and give more guidelines, but 27 7th graders were easily able to follow directions and worked on their project.
We have lunch and then it is back to the 18 students from the 3 1/2 hour test block. I think a few of them were scared after being ripped new ones by the AP for being removed. The class was pretty good overall. I did have to remind 4-5 students that the New Boys are not the founding fathers. I am explaining what to do to a few students who were absent last week and trying to monitor the other students. I had a lot going on. I don't sit at my desk. I'm circulating around the room while all of this is happening. I for the mostpart was barking out orders and they were abiding. Then in the last 10 minutes the first problem who was removed gets up and walks to the other side of the room and puts glue in a kids hair. I send her to the nurse, get back on the phone with AP, and moments later he is putting glue on the girl who sits across from him. AP removes him.
My last class was chatty and I said we'd read the story as a class, but if I had problems keeping them quiet we'd do the assignment individually. We stopped 3 times for talking so I turned it into an individual assignment. There was some talking, but overall it was tame.
I usually only have problems in M's class, but M has horrendous students. She has sort of bottom of the barrel ones who are borderline alternative school bound and more. I never have that problem when I sub for Linda, the math dept. chair, the 8th grade science teachers, or anyone like that. I did have 1 incident a few weeks back on my birthday with the math dept.'s class where they just would not be quiet and got loud where they were yelling at each other as they were upset over some fight or something during lunch. I did call the AP as I sensed it was getting ugly, but I try to avoid that. I do know that sometimes it has to be done. But ugh. AP does know that M has difficult kids and does pay periodic visits, but I hate it, and I feel weird. I don't know if AP visits other classes or not, but she tends to visit me when I sub. Last week she popped in on me subbing for the math dept. chair, but all was rosy. My kids were all focused watching me instruct them on the overhead. She only stayed for about 30 seconds, and I don't know why she was there, but I had nothing to worry about.
I feel bad also because i would like to work at this school one day, and I wonder what the AP thinks, and what my chances are.
Oh well... tomorrow is another day. I can be as mean as I need to be. New problems. New challenges. I survived today.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Remodel
I was surprised to get a call from The Guy about 3p.m. on Saturday. I was walking out of Barnes and Noble when he called after an unsuccessful search for play coin money like I used to play with when I was little for a school project. He told me that he was going to be remodeling his kitchen. He has talked about this for many years- probably as long as I had known him. He wanted my feedback on what to do. He wants to move his kitchen around. He wants to move the sink and dishwasher up against the far window. Without showing a picture, it may not make a whole lot of sense. I've been opposed to it since he first mentioned this. I told him how it doesn't keep with the kitchen triangle (to have your sink, fridge, and oven where you can easily reach all 3). He told me why. I gave him my thoughts: does he want to stare at the kitchen sink from the living room? Don't you think the sink is a bit far out of the way? Nobody is going to congregate in the kitchen even if he redoes it like that, what are they going to congregate around, the faucet at the sink? He went on and told me everything- new 30'' cabinets where the sink will go, upgrade to granite, and BLACK TILE FLOORING. I told him I thought black would be too dark and tried to tell him why I wouldn't do that. We probably talked for a good 30 minutes and he said he wanted some help. He told me to call him later and come over.
I called about 5:30 and guess I woke him up. I told him I could head on over. I had been stalling for a few hours not knowing if my plans with my cousin would fall through. I expected they would. I get over to his place about 6:30. He called me as I was turning onto his street asking if I could pick up pizza, but he said that he would just order it. I pull in and don't see his cars. I was a little surprised and didn't realize his new car was parked at the other end of the complex. I saw his kitchen sink sitting in the carport. I was a little confused. I go in and see his washer is in the middle of the kitchen, the tile countertop gone, a bunch of boxes stacked as you enter.
I go in and see him in the office. He shows me the touch faucet he found that he is going to buy that cost $700. You just tap it and the water flows. You tap to turn it off. I joked that only he would find that and buy it. So high tech. He showed me the flooring and I decided to just say it would look fine. He is trying to bring out the dark colors in his house. I worried it would be too dark and constricting. I pointed out how the tones he has in the house are nice earth tones now and match well with everything. He told me how the walls are cream, all the furniture is cherrywood, so he wants to have that look nice. I pointed out how I furniture is changeable, floor isn't, so he probably shouldn't work that way. I did just go with the black after pointing this out and tried to be supportive. It could work, but only if it were done well.
The barbecue pizza arrives from Dominos and we sit down to eat it. We put on an episode of Law and Order from Season 1. Good times. The old L&O music went on and on and on. 54 dead bodies in this episode. Good times. Dead bodies and dinner go well together. The Guy called his brother and best friend and told them his plans for the house when we were done eating.
After that we spent a lot of time in the kitchen talking- should he do another island in back of the sink? How much room would he really get? He opened Adobe Illustrator and began drawing the kitchen out. We measured everything in the kitchen and plotted it. Thankfully The Guy's best friend was adamant that an island was needed if he moves the sink. We discussed island sizes, where to put it, moveable or not. The Guy pondered using his current island where the sink was and having that refinished. We discussed lots of different options.
About 10:30 The Guy said we should take a dip in the jacuzzi. He gave me some shorts and I stripped down, and met him out there. We got in the jacuzzi and he talked about how awesome his kitchen will look. He told me how he is hiding this from his mom and how he lied to his brother that he is spending his tax rebate check on this and it is covering it. It is actually $9,000. He told me how he is working his parents to get the money for it. He's too much. It was so refreshing to sit out there. It warmed me up because I was cold. We get out and go back in the house, and I'm warm again. It felt great.
We were out there a while I guess since after we got out we decided to go get some drinks, and that was at 11:45. We get in his car, which I saw finally. I am usually more observant. We talk about how cold it was and head over. We go in the liquor store and The Guy picks up ice cream and informs me he's being bad. He gets some chocolate syrup too. He wanted gummy bears, but couldn't find the good ones. I remind him of what we came for.
Back at his place he serves us both ice cream and I get the syrup ready. We sit down to an episode of "Law and Order" and he does more figuring out on his computer, and has me count tiles and measure more stuff in the kitchen. More discussion and he comes to the conclusion maybe a moveable island is the way to go. He pops some popcorn during our second episode of "Law and Order," and shortly after we both fall asleep. I woke up to the sound of crunching and him finishing off my popcorn. I don't know if I was really out or not, but when I woke up I heard what sounded like "row, row, wow, wow, bow wow" come out of his mouth, and asked him 3-4 times what he said. I still don't know if that's what he had been saying. After the 4-5 time of repeating it I realized he was saying, "bedtime, I can hardly stay awake, are you going to stay the night?" I decided I'd just go, but told him to keep me up to date on everything with the kitchen. I was excited to see. I thanked him for everything including the dog treats he gave me earlier in the night because they were on his counter and his dogs didn't like them.
I left at 2:08a.m. and got home at 2:45a.m.
I called about 5:30 and guess I woke him up. I told him I could head on over. I had been stalling for a few hours not knowing if my plans with my cousin would fall through. I expected they would. I get over to his place about 6:30. He called me as I was turning onto his street asking if I could pick up pizza, but he said that he would just order it. I pull in and don't see his cars. I was a little surprised and didn't realize his new car was parked at the other end of the complex. I saw his kitchen sink sitting in the carport. I was a little confused. I go in and see his washer is in the middle of the kitchen, the tile countertop gone, a bunch of boxes stacked as you enter.
I go in and see him in the office. He shows me the touch faucet he found that he is going to buy that cost $700. You just tap it and the water flows. You tap to turn it off. I joked that only he would find that and buy it. So high tech. He showed me the flooring and I decided to just say it would look fine. He is trying to bring out the dark colors in his house. I worried it would be too dark and constricting. I pointed out how the tones he has in the house are nice earth tones now and match well with everything. He told me how the walls are cream, all the furniture is cherrywood, so he wants to have that look nice. I pointed out how I furniture is changeable, floor isn't, so he probably shouldn't work that way. I did just go with the black after pointing this out and tried to be supportive. It could work, but only if it were done well.
The barbecue pizza arrives from Dominos and we sit down to eat it. We put on an episode of Law and Order from Season 1. Good times. The old L&O music went on and on and on. 54 dead bodies in this episode. Good times. Dead bodies and dinner go well together. The Guy called his brother and best friend and told them his plans for the house when we were done eating.
After that we spent a lot of time in the kitchen talking- should he do another island in back of the sink? How much room would he really get? He opened Adobe Illustrator and began drawing the kitchen out. We measured everything in the kitchen and plotted it. Thankfully The Guy's best friend was adamant that an island was needed if he moves the sink. We discussed island sizes, where to put it, moveable or not. The Guy pondered using his current island where the sink was and having that refinished. We discussed lots of different options.
About 10:30 The Guy said we should take a dip in the jacuzzi. He gave me some shorts and I stripped down, and met him out there. We got in the jacuzzi and he talked about how awesome his kitchen will look. He told me how he is hiding this from his mom and how he lied to his brother that he is spending his tax rebate check on this and it is covering it. It is actually $9,000. He told me how he is working his parents to get the money for it. He's too much. It was so refreshing to sit out there. It warmed me up because I was cold. We get out and go back in the house, and I'm warm again. It felt great.
We were out there a while I guess since after we got out we decided to go get some drinks, and that was at 11:45. We get in his car, which I saw finally. I am usually more observant. We talk about how cold it was and head over. We go in the liquor store and The Guy picks up ice cream and informs me he's being bad. He gets some chocolate syrup too. He wanted gummy bears, but couldn't find the good ones. I remind him of what we came for.
Back at his place he serves us both ice cream and I get the syrup ready. We sit down to an episode of "Law and Order" and he does more figuring out on his computer, and has me count tiles and measure more stuff in the kitchen. More discussion and he comes to the conclusion maybe a moveable island is the way to go. He pops some popcorn during our second episode of "Law and Order," and shortly after we both fall asleep. I woke up to the sound of crunching and him finishing off my popcorn. I don't know if I was really out or not, but when I woke up I heard what sounded like "row, row, wow, wow, bow wow" come out of his mouth, and asked him 3-4 times what he said. I still don't know if that's what he had been saying. After the 4-5 time of repeating it I realized he was saying, "bedtime, I can hardly stay awake, are you going to stay the night?" I decided I'd just go, but told him to keep me up to date on everything with the kitchen. I was excited to see. I thanked him for everything including the dog treats he gave me earlier in the night because they were on his counter and his dogs didn't like them.
I left at 2:08a.m. and got home at 2:45a.m.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Pillow fight of sorts
I have been through about 10 pillows over the past 6-7 months. I keep buying pillows and not liking them. I like 2 pillows to lay on, I like my head elevated just so, and nothing was living up to my requirements. Every pillow I buy keeps going flat. I was content with my old pillows, but I needed new pillows since I have a King sized bed now. I tried some Kohls pillows, some from Sears, the Ralph Lauren pillows from Macys, as well as the Charter Club pillows at Macys since they were on sale for $40 after coupon. There was some awful memory foam pillows mixed in. I was out Tuesday night looking around for pillows and couldn't find any. I decided to give The Guy a call because I knew I liked his pillows. Surprisingly he picked up and I told him my dilemma. He tried to find the brand of his, but there was no label. He knew they were Hungarian goose down pillows. He told me to come over yesterday about 3p.m., and we'd find what type they are.
I called him about 2:15 and he was leaving work. He told me to make myself comfortable and he'd be home at 3. He called in the meantime to ask if I could get some waters for him, and he'd pay me back. I did. He gets home about 3:15. He had to stop to get his dogs from doggy daycare. I give him his Christmas gift, which was those Febreeze candles, and a lemongrass soy candle I found at Target. I knew candles were a safe bet because we like the same sort of fresh scents. It turns out he didn't have any candles since they got broken. I also gave him a $50 Best Buy gift card. He hugged and thanked me. Then I told him about the bad date, and brought my candle, Target shopping bag, and plaque to show The Guy. He thought it was hilarious. The plaque said "you make me smile," and he held it in one hand and then put this really dorky smile on his face. It was too funny. Then he said that it was disturbing that this man, at 42, should know that was not appropriate for a first date- if we had known each other for a significant period of time, it may be cute. We joke about Target and how Target was something him and I did, and it was always fun- not weird like this trip to Target was.
We go in the office and he sits down to his computer. He tells me about some of his adventures- some latino guy he met that gave him really bad head the other day. He told me how he has met some people on grindr just to chat, and "knows" these people, or at least some stuff about them. We sat showing each other cute guys on grindr. He told me he tried something online the other day called "rent a slave" or something where he is renting a guy from some place to basically be his slave, do housework, run errands, and stuff like that. He is paying $2,000 and the guy is flying in from Turkey. WTF? He doesn't really know how it works, and is doubtful the guy will show up.
We take time to look at the pillows online. The pillows he has are made by Marrikas and are no longer available. He then finds what he considers the next best pillows for me that are some goose down king sized that are $299 a piece. He said there are no other good pillows and I must have these. HMMM.... I don't see that happening... $600 for 2 pillows... going to have to find some other substitutes.
He showed me some really cool new Sprint products that he wants to buy like a wireless portable hotspot for WIFI. He gets a business call that he has to take, so he handles that.
After he gets off the phone we chat for a few minutes and I tell him I'm headed to school. I tell him how I can't be late, and also that I am still a smart ass in my classes. I told him about the bird walk my professor went on the other night and my smart ass comments.
I took off about 4:47 to be able to get to school by 5:15. Thankfully traffic was wide open. I even got some Chick-Fil-A real quick.
Such a fun couple of hours... good laughs
I called him about 2:15 and he was leaving work. He told me to make myself comfortable and he'd be home at 3. He called in the meantime to ask if I could get some waters for him, and he'd pay me back. I did. He gets home about 3:15. He had to stop to get his dogs from doggy daycare. I give him his Christmas gift, which was those Febreeze candles, and a lemongrass soy candle I found at Target. I knew candles were a safe bet because we like the same sort of fresh scents. It turns out he didn't have any candles since they got broken. I also gave him a $50 Best Buy gift card. He hugged and thanked me. Then I told him about the bad date, and brought my candle, Target shopping bag, and plaque to show The Guy. He thought it was hilarious. The plaque said "you make me smile," and he held it in one hand and then put this really dorky smile on his face. It was too funny. Then he said that it was disturbing that this man, at 42, should know that was not appropriate for a first date- if we had known each other for a significant period of time, it may be cute. We joke about Target and how Target was something him and I did, and it was always fun- not weird like this trip to Target was.
We go in the office and he sits down to his computer. He tells me about some of his adventures- some latino guy he met that gave him really bad head the other day. He told me how he has met some people on grindr just to chat, and "knows" these people, or at least some stuff about them. We sat showing each other cute guys on grindr. He told me he tried something online the other day called "rent a slave" or something where he is renting a guy from some place to basically be his slave, do housework, run errands, and stuff like that. He is paying $2,000 and the guy is flying in from Turkey. WTF? He doesn't really know how it works, and is doubtful the guy will show up.
We take time to look at the pillows online. The pillows he has are made by Marrikas and are no longer available. He then finds what he considers the next best pillows for me that are some goose down king sized that are $299 a piece. He said there are no other good pillows and I must have these. HMMM.... I don't see that happening... $600 for 2 pillows... going to have to find some other substitutes.
He showed me some really cool new Sprint products that he wants to buy like a wireless portable hotspot for WIFI. He gets a business call that he has to take, so he handles that.
After he gets off the phone we chat for a few minutes and I tell him I'm headed to school. I tell him how I can't be late, and also that I am still a smart ass in my classes. I told him about the bird walk my professor went on the other night and my smart ass comments.
I took off about 4:47 to be able to get to school by 5:15. Thankfully traffic was wide open. I even got some Chick-Fil-A real quick.
Such a fun couple of hours... good laughs
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A lull
Things are slowing down for me, and that's a good thing. Since the end of Christmas Break I had subbed nearly everyday. It was sure nice. I happen to like money. I did a semi-longterm sub position, and a few other classes here and there. What was also nice was that every job I had was requested for. I didn't sub yesterday or today, which was almost surprising. Hopefully I get called for tomorrow.
School is going alright. I was sure spoiled the previous 2 quarters where the work was a complete joke, and I could throw something together prior to class. I can still mostly do that. We are getting into the more core classes, however. I am being exposed to the courses and tasks I need to submit to the state so that I can do student teaching later, which is required for part of the credential. I'll work on the paperwork later this month. My goal is to have most of it done by March 1.
I have an older woman probably in her 60s who is so lovey dovey for one class and is all about the love and "sharing the good news." She likes to go on "bird walks" during class, which are her words for tangent. She said, "now, let's go on a bird walk. Edelia lives down the street from me, she's the lovely old woman who is never going to die, and she's 97. She grew up on a farm where there was horses. One day I was out in my garden spreading manure, and she smelled it. It never occurred to me with dementia and Alzheimers smell is the last sense to go, so when they smell a familiar smell it brings up memories. She came walking out to me asking if I'd seen her horse and figured I better walk her home." Yes. She goes on for hours with these stories. I responded with "I think I need to get my horse and get going. I think I've been sitting here for hours." In my defense, it was near 7p.m., and time for our break in my mind. So as you can see I am continuing to be my little smart ass self in my classes. Last night I needed to lay off on the "prissy pills," according to my teacher because I was being very sarcastic about everything that came out of her mouth, or anyone elses. There are only 6 people in the class. I'm the only guy.
My Wednesday night class is taught by a drill instructor pretty much. He has no tolerance for you being late, anyone being late, cell phones, and stuff like that. I sit in the back on my cell phone- don't tell. I just make sure it doesn't go off or make sounds. He gives a lot of busy work- "get to know you activities." We are given a test to answer each week on the reading and it is done in partners, so my partner and I split it up. He does the multiple choice and essays. I do the key terms, short answer, and true/false. My partner is a super hot Mormon boy, but very straight, and everything is "righteous," and he calls everyone "bro." He's probably 6'3'', 170lbs, sort of thick muscular build, dark brown hair slicked to the front, a few freckles, dark brown eyes.
Yum.
As far as relationships/friendships go, The Guy and I are overdue for hanging out. He has been sick the past week or so, so we haven't hung out. I haven't talked to him since we hung out last other than for a few texts here and there. The 21 year old I went on a date with a few weeks back and I have talked. He doesn't really want a relationship now because he is going through a major transition in his life and he isn't sure how it will turn out, but he wants to remain friends. Maybe I'll find someone one day... keeping my eyes open. Jack off buddy and I are going to get together soon.
Had my car looked over by the dealer yesterday, as suggested by Shawn, and everything looked great. Yay!!! I have been wanting to take my car to the car wash, but that's not happening soon with all this impending rain.
Some musical thoughts:
- Lady Antebellum had the best Grammy performance the other night with "Need You Now" --- I do think the song is waaaaaay too overplayed and is grating on my nerves. I am glad for their success, though. Currently it is the #1 song on iTunes.
- Alejandro is my new favorite Lady Gaga song
- This song is annoyingly catchy, and waaaaaaaay overplayed on 1043 MYFM.
Family is going pretty well. My aunt has made some major screw ups and not produced the documents asked of her by our lawyer, and the court, which obviously doesn't favor her. My grandma still hasn't been buried. Remember, my grandma died September 19, 2009. It is pure disgusting. Right now we don't care whether my grandma is cremated or buried as long as she ends up with her husband where he is buried. My mom is really under a lot of stress and anxiety dealing with this.
My sister is up at 4:45a.m. most days and gone until 7p.m. I never see her. When I do see her, she is usually on her best behavior as mom has made it clear she won't tolerate any nonsense. We do have our usual arguments over where and what to eat. Last week after getting allergy shots we were going out to eat. She didn't want California Pizza Kitchen because it is disgusting pizza and she only likes cheese, we couldn't eat at a steakhouse because they have bland steak, and we couldn't eat at Olive Garden because they have yucky noodles. So annoying. (Hint: I need a nice guy who will actually take me out and let me experience variety... haha.) That seems to be the extent of that. She did fail 2 classes in her fall semester and took 1 over during the winter quarter. With all of her free time and no job I question how she can fail.
My dad's health is getting somewhat better as he was FINALLY diagnosed last month after 2 years of arguing and fighting with Kaiser and the VA. The VA were surprisingly the ones to find the problem. He is on pills for the problem and surgery may be in the future. The surgeries that my dad had last year were only part of the problem, but never fully corrected the problems. He is hoping to be retired this year by the VA.
School is going alright. I was sure spoiled the previous 2 quarters where the work was a complete joke, and I could throw something together prior to class. I can still mostly do that. We are getting into the more core classes, however. I am being exposed to the courses and tasks I need to submit to the state so that I can do student teaching later, which is required for part of the credential. I'll work on the paperwork later this month. My goal is to have most of it done by March 1.
I have an older woman probably in her 60s who is so lovey dovey for one class and is all about the love and "sharing the good news." She likes to go on "bird walks" during class, which are her words for tangent. She said, "now, let's go on a bird walk. Edelia lives down the street from me, she's the lovely old woman who is never going to die, and she's 97. She grew up on a farm where there was horses. One day I was out in my garden spreading manure, and she smelled it. It never occurred to me with dementia and Alzheimers smell is the last sense to go, so when they smell a familiar smell it brings up memories. She came walking out to me asking if I'd seen her horse and figured I better walk her home." Yes. She goes on for hours with these stories. I responded with "I think I need to get my horse and get going. I think I've been sitting here for hours." In my defense, it was near 7p.m., and time for our break in my mind. So as you can see I am continuing to be my little smart ass self in my classes. Last night I needed to lay off on the "prissy pills," according to my teacher because I was being very sarcastic about everything that came out of her mouth, or anyone elses. There are only 6 people in the class. I'm the only guy.
My Wednesday night class is taught by a drill instructor pretty much. He has no tolerance for you being late, anyone being late, cell phones, and stuff like that. I sit in the back on my cell phone- don't tell. I just make sure it doesn't go off or make sounds. He gives a lot of busy work- "get to know you activities." We are given a test to answer each week on the reading and it is done in partners, so my partner and I split it up. He does the multiple choice and essays. I do the key terms, short answer, and true/false. My partner is a super hot Mormon boy, but very straight, and everything is "righteous," and he calls everyone "bro." He's probably 6'3'', 170lbs, sort of thick muscular build, dark brown hair slicked to the front, a few freckles, dark brown eyes.
Yum.
As far as relationships/friendships go, The Guy and I are overdue for hanging out. He has been sick the past week or so, so we haven't hung out. I haven't talked to him since we hung out last other than for a few texts here and there. The 21 year old I went on a date with a few weeks back and I have talked. He doesn't really want a relationship now because he is going through a major transition in his life and he isn't sure how it will turn out, but he wants to remain friends. Maybe I'll find someone one day... keeping my eyes open. Jack off buddy and I are going to get together soon.
Had my car looked over by the dealer yesterday, as suggested by Shawn, and everything looked great. Yay!!! I have been wanting to take my car to the car wash, but that's not happening soon with all this impending rain.
Some musical thoughts:
- Lady Antebellum had the best Grammy performance the other night with "Need You Now" --- I do think the song is waaaaaay too overplayed and is grating on my nerves. I am glad for their success, though. Currently it is the #1 song on iTunes.
- Alejandro is my new favorite Lady Gaga song
- This song is annoyingly catchy, and waaaaaaaay overplayed on 1043 MYFM.
Family is going pretty well. My aunt has made some major screw ups and not produced the documents asked of her by our lawyer, and the court, which obviously doesn't favor her. My grandma still hasn't been buried. Remember, my grandma died September 19, 2009. It is pure disgusting. Right now we don't care whether my grandma is cremated or buried as long as she ends up with her husband where he is buried. My mom is really under a lot of stress and anxiety dealing with this.
My sister is up at 4:45a.m. most days and gone until 7p.m. I never see her. When I do see her, she is usually on her best behavior as mom has made it clear she won't tolerate any nonsense. We do have our usual arguments over where and what to eat. Last week after getting allergy shots we were going out to eat. She didn't want California Pizza Kitchen because it is disgusting pizza and she only likes cheese, we couldn't eat at a steakhouse because they have bland steak, and we couldn't eat at Olive Garden because they have yucky noodles. So annoying. (Hint: I need a nice guy who will actually take me out and let me experience variety... haha.) That seems to be the extent of that. She did fail 2 classes in her fall semester and took 1 over during the winter quarter. With all of her free time and no job I question how she can fail.
My dad's health is getting somewhat better as he was FINALLY diagnosed last month after 2 years of arguing and fighting with Kaiser and the VA. The VA were surprisingly the ones to find the problem. He is on pills for the problem and surgery may be in the future. The surgeries that my dad had last year were only part of the problem, but never fully corrected the problems. He is hoping to be retired this year by the VA.
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