and I quote

chris from Notes from the Trenches
"...even though Monday was a holiday this has been a L-O-N-G week, all two days of it so far."

I celebrated the 2nd day of the work week with dinner out, with Ryland and surprisingly Michael. I am so full. Dinner was very nice, Ryland and I compared our opposite food weirdness while Michael looked on in amusement. Michael's only food weirdness is no food with tentacles. I don't understand what compels him to draw the line there, because nothing else seems to bother him but I guess it is the same thing that keeps him away from the surgeries on television or horror that I enjoy.
I won't detail Ryland's weird because I don't have permission and Jake is making a list of this that may be an interesting read in the future. Did I ever introduce the boys to you? I certainly talk about them enough. When Michael started the USC program last year he met the guys in his program. They are a cool group of guys and I have made friends with several of them, Hey Michael even started up a business with them, but the actual boys are Jake and Ryland. When we first met we clicked and in a seemingly instantaneous fashion we have bonded in coupledom with the boys as our alter egos. Sometimes our similarities and fast friendship are frightening sometimes when Ryland calls to tell me he is watching Celine Dion on Oprah in a non-ironic fashion I think "Do I know you?"
But anyway, here after that long winded empty intro is a view into my food weirdness. Which in my opinion is not hugely weird, because I will eat most things I just won't enjoy them.
Things I do not enjoy that the world at large seems to like a whole lot:

• cake!
• mashed potatoes
• sweet potatoes in most forms
• cooked carrots
• most gooey desserts that are very rich and sweet/puddings/mousse
  
• most meat (and yet I did Korean BBQ, see I can eat these things I just mostly choose not to)
• oatmeal, cream of wheat or any other product of questionable texture like tapioca pudding --see mashed potatoes
  

Things I enjoy that people tend to not like so much:

• raw veggies-spinach, carrots, peppers, broccoli, most greens some need blanching and some acidity
• candy you liked as a little kid, now'n'laters, tangy taffy, sweet tarts etc.
• seltzer water
• vanilla or plain yogurt with granola and fresh fruits
• nuts, unsalted almost anything except peanuts which should probably be added to the first list
• practically anything with garlic and/or ginger

That's all I can think of now. I am sure that if Michael was not still working all the time (2-5 hours of sleep crazy composer guy) he could add something. He would definitely add a list of junk that I eat, but I don't need to detail that. I talk enough about my wine and chips habit.

books meme

I found this here and I am just lazy enough to continue using memes for posts instead of anything original.

Anyway here are Krissa's instructions.
Look at the list of books below. Bold the ones you’ve read, italicize the ones you want to read, cross out the ones you won’t touch with a 10 foot pole (I've got books I've READ that I wish I had used a 10 foot pole to avoid, thus they are both BOLD and STRICKEN, -KC), put a cross (+) in front of the ones on your book shelf, and asterisk (*) the ones you’ve never heard of.

I am adding that this list seems very random to me. Keep in mind that I read most of the books I will deem smart people books when I was forced to for smart people English class in high school before they decided I was not smart enough and no longer ivy leauguey enough for their ranks (do you think it was the use of the rogue -y to make things descriptive? I wish I did that in my papers then) Many times I reread the good ones for actual enjoyment because I am strange that way. Also I don't really own any books. This seems strange when I think of how my tall bookshelf overflows. However, it is full of textbooks, art books, and Michael's scores. Also, I am a library girl at heart but when I do buy books I enjoy I pass them on because I want everyone I know to read it too. Also my ten foot pole rule gets broken if I am stuck in a house with no other reading material. Then I would read anything printed.


1. The Da Vinci Code (Dan Brown)
2. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
3. +To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
4. Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell)
5. The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (Tolkien)
6. The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (Tolkien)
7. The Lord of the Rings: Two Towers (Tolkien)
8. Anne of Green Gables (L.M. Montgomery)
9. *Outlander (Diana Gabaldon)
10. *A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
11. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Rowling)
12. Angels and Demons (Dan Brown)
13. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (Rowling)
14. A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving)
15. Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
16. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (Rowling) read it with the U.S. title Sorcerer's Stone
17. Fall on Your Knees(Ann-Marie MacDonald)
18. The Stand (Stephen King)
19. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban(Rowling)
20. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
21. The Hobbit (Tolkien)
22. The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
23. Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
24. The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
25. Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
26. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (Douglas Adams)
27. Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
28. The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (C. S. Lewis)
29. East of Eden (John Steinbeck)
30. Tuesdays with Morrie(Mitch Albom) I think I read the abridged version of this that Michael got as a gift. That was more than enough.
31. Dune (Frank Herbert)
32. The Notebook (Nicholas Sparks)
33. Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand)
34. 1984 (Orwell)
35. The Mists of Avalon (Marion Zimmer Bradley)
36. The Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett)
37. *The Power of One (Bryce Courtenay)
38. I Know This Much is True(Wally Lamb)
39. The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
40. The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
41. The Clan of the Cave Bear (Jean M. Auel)
42. The Kite Runner (Khaled Hosseini)
43. Confessions of a Shopaholic (Sophie Kinsella)
44. The Five People You Meet In Heaven (Mitch Albom)
45. Bible
46. Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
47. The Count of Monte Cristo (Alexandre Dumas)
48. Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt)
49. The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
50. She’s Come Undone (Wally Lamb)
51. The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)
52. A Tale of Two Cities (Dickens)
53. Ender’s Game (Orson Scott Card)
54. Great Expectations (Dickens)
55. The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald)
56. The Stone Angel (Margaret Laurence)
57. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (Rowling)
58. The Thorn Birds (Colleen McCullough)
59. The Handmaid’s Tale (Margaret Atwood)
60. +The Time Traveller’s Wife (Audrew Niffenegger)
61. Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoyevsky)
62. The Fountainhead (Ayn Rand)
63. War and Peace (Tolstoy)
64. Interview With The Vampire (Anne Rice)
65. *Fifth Business (Robertson Davis)
66. One Hundred Years Of Solitude (Gabriel Garcia Marquez)
67. The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants (Ann Brashares)
68. Catch-22 (Joseph Heller) tried once never finished, gave up
69. Les Miserables (Hugo)
70. The Little Prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupery)
71. Bridget Jones’ Diary (Fielding)
72. Love in the Time of Cholera (Marquez)
73. Shogun (James Clavell)
74. The English Patient (Michael Ondaatje)
75. +The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
76. *The Summer Tree (Guy Gavriel Kay)
77. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
78. The World According To Garp (John Irving) this is everyone's favorite book except me
79. The Diviners (Margaret Laurence)
80. Charlotte’s Web (E.B. White)
81. *Not Wanted On The Voyage (Timothy Findley)
82. Of Mice And Men (Steinbeck)
83. Rebecca (Daphne DuMaurier)
84. Wizard’s First Rule (Terry Goodkind)
85. Emma (Jane Austen)
86. Watership Down(Richard Adams)
87. +Brave New World (Aldous Huxley)
88. *The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
89. *Blindness (Jose Saramago)
90. *Kane and Abel (Jeffrey Archer)
91. *In The Skin Of A Lion (Ondaatje)
92. Lord of the Flies (Golding)
93. The Good Earth(Pearl S. Buck)
94. The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
95. The Bourne Identity (Robert Ludlum)
96. The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
97. White Oleander (Janet Fitch)
98. A Woman of Substance (Barbara Taylor Bradford)
99. The Celestine Prophecy (James Redfield)
100. Ulysses (James Joyce)

My siblings started another one of those erase my answers and send this to everyone email that I thought died in the late 90's. Well I was wrong and here's another one. (oh and I am sure they are all over stupid myspace, but I try not to pay attention to that tripe.)

thanks to matt and then kate

Welcome to the new 2007 version of getting to know your friends. Who writes this crap? What you

are supposed to do is copy, (not forward) this entire e-mail and paste it

onto a new e-mail that you'll send. Change all the answers so they apply to

you, and then send it to a bunch of people including the person who sent it

to you. The theory is that you will learn a lot of little things about your

friends, that you may not already know about them. Because you obviously don't have time to actually call or send a real email you are too busy answering forwarded surveys. Inquiring minds want to know what is your favorite color, ice cream, puppy? It definitely reminds me of conversations had with Kindergartners. Except with Matt there is more cursing (not more than some of my student's but a little more). In several instances I am lazy and just decided to agree with Kate.

1. What time did you get up this morning? alarm 5:30am reset for 6:30 I think but instead I reset the time. wake up at 6:30am and see the clock says 7:30am fling off the covers, leap out of bed, turn on the light blinding Michaela and curse about being late. Notice it is very dark. Run down the hall and into the kitchen...it is 6:35. sleep in until 6:45am

I am nothing if not lengthy.

>2. Diamonds or Pearls? Neither

>3. What was the last film you saw at the Cinema? Children of Men

>4. What is your favorite TV show? nothing in particular, I like HGTV and food shows. I am watching L word through Netflix.

>5. What did you have for breakfast? an apple and tea (in the car)

>6. What is your middle name? Marie

>7. What is your favorite cuisine? sandwich I agree sandwiches

>8. What foods do you dislike? weird texture things, oatmeal, mashed potatoes, cottage cheese, cream of wheat, grits etc.

>9. Your favorite potato chip? Herr's... clearly no Herr's near me, Now I eat Lay's or Pringles

>10. Favorite CD you've listened to lately? a mix of KCRW stuff made by a friend very cool...ask me for a copy

>11. What kind of car do you drive? 98 honda civic

>12. Favorite sandwich? avocado

>13. What characteristics do you despise? extreme social awkwardness even after many get to know you type meetings. but I can't really say I despise this it just irritates me

>14. What are your favorite clothes? comfy jeans and long sleeve t-shirts (w/ fashion sneakers that have velcro, and offer no actual support like my rocket dogs)

>15. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation where WOULDN'T you go? Antartica

>16. Favorite brand of clothing? things that fit (even after the washer and dryer)

>17. Where would you want to retire? beach house

>18. Favorite time of day? 3pm the kids go home

>19. Where were you born? havertown

>20. What is your favorite sport to watch? meh, competitive cooking shows? Iron Chef anyone?

>21. Who do you think will not send this back? this is a blog, maybe someone desperately bored will answer in the comments.

>22. Person you expect to send it back first? nobody

>23. Pepsi or Coke? Coke

>24. Beaver or Ducks? Duck, Goose... i don't get it (I'm with Kate here, and I'll add that I did play a stellar round of duck duck goose today)

>25. Are you a morning person or night owl? neither...can I be an afternoon person. I never want to get up at 6am but I do for work, then I fall asleep on the couch when I try to watch a movie that goes past 9:30pm

>26. Pedicure or Manicure? both

>27. Any new & exciting news you'd like to share? I think I am full of new and exciting from last year. Now I am ready for regular.

>28. What did you want to be when you were little? a doctor, or an artist (but secretly a teacher, I just thought it was lame cause that was the only profession you saw everyday)

>29. What is your best childhood memory? dancing in the basement to Billy Joel thanks to Dave... thinking i was the coolest 6 year old around to Kate--you were the coolest 6 year old around. I will add Jumping up and down on the beds, the above ground pool in all its 4.5ft water glory, jumping of the platform, big waves in the ocean with boogie boards, all the music...

>30. Piercing? ears, nose

>31. Ever been to Africa ? No

>32. Ever been out toilet papering? No (when I read this on Matt's I thought it said Ever been out of toilet paper and I think that is a no too)

>33. Been in a car accident? one, if you don't count when I scrape the side of my car against the house or fence trying to get it out of my very very narrow driveway

>34. Favorite Restaurants? I love restaurants. No favorite here yet, but there are so many we just keep trying new places.

>35. Favorite Flowers? blue hydrangeas

>36. Favorite Ice Cream? I like sorbets

>37. Favorite Fast Food Restaurant? Chipotle

>38. How many times did you fail your drivers test? None

>39. From whom did you get your last e-mail? Kate

>40. What store would you choose to max out your credit card? credit cards make me nervous. also I hate shopping at just one store how about Amazon I think they have everything

>41. Mountains or Ocean? Ocean but the beauty of California is that you can be at both

>42. Who are you most curious about their response to this? most curious for someone else to continue on with this thing

>43. Last person you went to dinner with? Michael, Jake & Ryland

> 44. How many tattoos do you have? none

>45. How many people are you sending this to? sending it to family, narcissistically posting on my blog for lack of actual content

>46. What time did you finish this e-mail? 6:47pm

>47. Favorite magazine? I love magazines. No current favorite but have started receiving all sorts for free Body + Soul (some sort of Martha Stewart thing), Spin (I don't know any new bands, it is boring to read about music you haven't heard, Hollywood Life (this is the most ridiculous magazine ever. it is like a magazine version of E!) also lots of ridiculous michael magazines like electronic musician etc.

>48. If you could meet any famous person, who would it be? Maya Angelou, I like this choice Kate, thanks

>49 If you could choose another first name, what would it be? I think the two I have are enough

>50. If you could change your profession right now, what would you be

doing? I'd like to choose independently wealthy. or maybe I could organize and decorate other people's houses...or be an artist that can actually sell art in order to support myself and my family and have health insurance...

herding instinct

I have heard that some dogs have a herding instinct that still exists in the home and they continue to try to move family members into the same room. I think I am sort of the same. Michael is out tonight and when he is out I miss him. Even though I know that if he was here my night would look the same, as we worked (meaning he works and I veg out) in separate rooms. There is just something about having that person in the other room that makes me feel good.

Here is a random lame meme from Deborah about Christmas time. I am a Christmas loser. I don't decorate at all and even coming up with holiday craft projects for my Kindergartners is tough. This would surprise people like my sister, who know I make a billion kinds of cookies and my own wrapping paper etc. But I can't get motivated when I know I will be spending the holiday out of state, and when I know that I will be working until the 23rd. Kid's make me tired. Anyway what was I saying? ridiculous Christmas meme here you go:

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? hot chocolate (but whose kidding how about some mulled wine or just some red wine)
2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sits them under the tree? Wraps
3. Colored lights on tree/house or white? white (unless they are those big fatty colored lights outside)

4. Do you hang mistletoe? at my parents house I hang an ancient plastic mistletoe with an elf on top

5. When do you put your decorations up? never, I don't have any (but the parents got it (more than) covered)
6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)? shrimp appetizer

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? lots of them, mostly trips with my parents. downtown philadelphia light show at Wanamakers or the light show and christmas music at longwood gardens, singing songs with Kate at the piano

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Don't know but I don't remember a big reveal, just seemed to get it thanks to the older siblings I'm sure

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? pajamas (that way we look cute in the Christmas pictures)

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree? I still don't get one, but the parents do a ton of old ornaments some of our dorky homeade ones and lots and lots of white lights and gold and red shiny balls. I did the cool art one in Bloom one year with the art people and a flight theme it was huge and cool and full of colored lights, paper airplanes, paper cranes, puffy clouds, and alien spaceships.

11. Snow! Love it or Dread it? love it when I don't have to travel

12. Can you ice skate? very poorly but its fun, makes my feet sore
13. Do you remember your favorite gift? nope

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
lots of family, fantastic food, people opening the presents I get them and liking them
15. What is your favorite Holiday Dessert? not a big dessert girl, so I like cookies or fruit pies.
16. What is your favorite holiday tradition? driving around to see the lights, watching a weeks worth of christmas movies

17. What tops your tree? A star (if I did one)
18. Which do you prefer giving or receiving? Giving (now that I am all big and mature and able to buy things I want when I want them ha ha)

19. What is your favorite Christmas Song? unsure, but it is weird liking christmas music and not being a jesus person. At school today I was humming oh come oh come emmanuel...strange. also there is so much music that I have done and enjoyed with different choirs over the years I can never pick.
20. Favorite Christmas movie?no favorite but here is the countdown of movies up Elf, Mixed Nuts, Nightmare before Christmas, Miracle on 34th St. the non colorized version, A Christmas Story, Christmas National Lampoon Christmas Vacation, Its a wonderful life and I feel like I am missing one good one so please comment
22. When do you take Christmas decorations down?never put any up to begin with woohoo

23. Snowboard or Ski? neither (but sledding if I had one and lived where it was snowy)

24. Ever kissed your love under the mistletoe? sure

25. Snow Man or Snow Tunnels? both, or an igloo where you get so hot you have to take your coat off. also snow angels.

The Thanksgiving Post

Today my husband (ha, isn't that a funny word? I am still working on using it in daily conversation, anyway) Today, Michael and I are driving down to San Diego to have fancy Thanksgiving dinner with my cousin Amy and her husband (the chef/very important government lawyer guy), my pseudo Uncle John (actually 1st cousin once removed/also some sort of fancy rights protecting lawyer guy) and his wife Karen (who I can't write anything real in parenthesis about because I don't really know her yet).
I, unfortunately, am up at 7am so the drive and the turkey tryptophan effect (if that is true) combined with my love for the vino, should have me passing out in the guest bedroom shortly after dinner. Oh, and in this family we do dinner at a reasonable hour. None of that middle of the afternoon nonsense. If you do that, how do you fit in appetizers and cocktails? Also, as much as I love wine, the idea of cracking open a bottle to have dinner at 11:30am is even a little much for me.
Amy has reported that she has been banned from the kitchen today, which would be funnier if the kitchen was larger and could feasibly fit two cooks with the oven door open. This cozy group of 6 will be a welcome change from my last Thanksgivings, one at my parent's house with 23 of my closest relatives and 3 toddlers, and one at our apartment in Cincinnati where Michael and tried to starve everyone and didn't serve dinner until around 7pm because I was so excited about cooking my first turkey that I continually opened the oven door to baste the turkey, thereby bring the oven temperature down substantially and making the turkey cook in twice the expected time. Whew, how's that for a run on.
The almost-Thankful Part
In my crappy Monday staff meeting, I obligatorily told the staff that I was thankful for having all of my assistants in my class. I repeated this when we did what I am thankful for with the kiddos so they would have some examples (ooohh modeling remember it is Kindergarten), and then I prompted each of my kid's to raise their hand to come up front and say they were thankful for their Mommies.
Yesterday I found out that the school is replacing my assistants with other people. I don't think the people in charge understand that having to train staff is almost like having extra little kids around for a month. Now I am just hoping the replacement is quick and painless.
But really, I am thankful I have a wonderful husband. (there's that word again and ugh that sentence makes me want to gag, but seriously he kicks ass; does the laundry, cooks yummy food, brings me fizzy drinks, and wakes me up to go to bed when I fall asleep on the couch)
I am thankful that I have such a wonderful family on both coasts, who I can visit with and eat lots of food with over the holidays. And most of all I am thankful that I can be stressed about the trivial things in life from my own comfortable home. I do not have to worry about my own daily living conditions. I can feel sorrow over the tragedy and unfair conditions in my community and my world in the awareness that I am healthy and safe in my place in the world. And as much as my little snotty monsters make me crazy, I see them learning (some very slowly, but learning) and I am thankful for the small changes, I can make with my little guys everyday. (Whoa, preachy anyone? Now I have to go find some light Thanksgiving humor writing to read)
Well here is something amusing from last year, I am not sure anyone drinking can report back this early in the morning even on the east coast.

all about me (the title of the wall paper bound book I made in 2nd grade)

I just moved to L.A. I am trying to be a teacher (just finished a degree and certification in a different state). I am getting married in October. I love wine. I like to cook and watch other people cook, (at home and on TV.), my fiancé is a composer, musician, film scorer, and generally just the nicest person ever, I am much more cynical, and not as talented. I read all the time. I like babies. I love to go to the beach, but I am obsessed with sunscreen (even so I still burn, just in odd patches that I miss), I tried to cut down on book reading while I was in graduate school and consequently got obsessed with blog reading when I was supposed to be writing papers. I really love good conversation, but I talk a lot so I may intimidate or annoy you but it is just in my excitement to get the words out. I am kind of computer geeky as far as my family is concerned but really I know nothing as far as the real world is concerned. Lucky me, the (elementary) education world is as clueless as my family so I am still a girl genius on the Microsoft Word. I am currently watching Iron Chef America (which totally sucks compared to the original) and the secret ingredient is puff pastry, this is an incredibly lame secret ingredient because everything tastes fantastic in a buttery flaky puff pastry. Also I think the chefs know the "secret" ahead of time and that is pretty lame. I went to college (undergrad) for biology and got many bad grades and then completed an art degree (in only four years yay me!) Ultimately this did not make me competitively employable. Lucky for me I could type and alphabetize and I spent about 4 years as a very educated secretary (ahem, adminstrative assistant/office/sales manager--doesn't it make you feel better to have the word manager in your title? no.) I made the most money doing grunt filing work at a pharmaceutical company. I got many paper cuts and lost many brain cells to alcohol and boredom. Eventually I decided I should work at something more worthwhile that didn't make my soul hurt with the uselessness of it all. I still paint (sometimes). I don't do ceramics or sculpture any longer because I don't have the space or money. It is way past my bedtime. This should all stay true for a while so I won't have to update (I don't think) other than to change the word fiancé to husband. This makes me happy. I hate the word fiancé (maybe the dingo ate your fiancé!) Wish me luck this fall 13 small 5 and 6 year olds may crush my will to live.

things that make me happy

• hot tea with honey that came from a bear shaped container (I have a cold)

• the fact that I can justify eating 6 cans of pringles in the next two weeks (or maybe a little longer) because I can use the empty cans to make rainsticks for my class.

• the video from this article.

the posts I wrote when I thought my blog was deleted forever

Updates

I don't update for over a month, I update every 3 hours you just never know.
Here is a brief bio that I think might be necessary since the accidental (and idiotic) deletion of all my previous postings on the original site of the same name. So in a scattered inconsistent bulleted fashion here you go:

• I started writing on blogger August of 2004 after living by myself in Cincinnati for a month and falling into reading blogs instead of books during summer classes. For some reason I thought it would be less distracting to read little online diaries instead of books that summer, it took me only about a month to realize the addiction was worse than at the library because you could stalk and favorite author with the refresh button instead of finishing a book and having to reconnect with the real world. I immediately became one of those annoying stream of consciousness writers that refuses to capitalize, or edit beyond the whoa-fully inadequate blogger spellcheck.
• my first and now deleted posts were much like episodes of Seinfeld in that they were about nothing. (I miss them)
  
• then Michael came back from his one man east coast tour
• he asked me to marry him
  (but only after I mercilessly teased him for going away for a month and returning with only a bright red ben & jerry's t-shirt and no jewelry...leading me to believe I forced him into a weird situation and responding with "for real??" instead of the traditional yes. Apparently it wasn't my annoying welcome that spurred him, but our successful 5 year relationship (who would have thought?)
• That fall I continued working (sales&marketing asst) and going to school full time at the University of Cincinnati to get my masters degree in special education and teaching certification.

fast forward through lots of posts about my random thoughts about one year

• Michael went to Aspen in the summer of 2005, and I spent a lot of time drinking the wine out of Cincinnati with these girls, Nora & Caitlin
  
• in July of 2005 my only nephew turned one, and in august of 2005 my blog turned one...my nephew is infinitely cuter and a better public speaker (dunk dunk hook hook 2 points...Nice!)[he got a basketball hoop for Christmas]
  
• fall of 2005 I quit my job to do an unpaid internship at a suburban elementary school
• when I tell you the children I am teaching can't read, I am not lying. I teach 1st and 2nd grade and really they can't read ...but we're working on it so if you have any good picture book suggestions I will take them. We are working on basic letter recognition so any literacy activities are good. (literacy activities=reading, for Kate, like extra language= babbling, this is why I am getting the master's degree)
  
• not that it really matters because I should be changing internships in the next 2 weeks where I expect to start over with emotionally younger, non verbal children with more severe disabilities (yes, this is the placement I have my fingers crossed for)
• I do have two or three pseudo jobs working with other kids with autism in aba therapy at home and in an exercise class at a local YMCA.
• I am really looking forward to holding a real job next year with a real paycheck.
• I am in a constant state of stress when I think about
• writing my thesis
• moving to???? L.A.?, N.Y.? Miami? unknown other city?
• wedding plans
• and yet I am very excited to move if only to get the hell out of Cincinnati (not my kind of town, I want to be near an ocean)
• and speaking of oceans, I will be getting married near one (isn't that nice, I hope it doesn't rain but whatever, Angelique's wedding took place during a thunderstorm that was ridiculous and we had fun, she will have to write about that sometime)

that is all for now.
felt I needed a recap since the deletion
let me know if you have any questions.
posted by nancy at 1/13/2006 07:41:00 PMp

spoiled

Yeah, I am spoiled and ungrateful. Michael did all the laundry today and all I have to do is put my clothes away. Will I do that? Maybe sometime next week after I have shifted the pile from bed to dresser to other dresser to floor etc.
Yay! We are getting married.


(and I swear if we ever have a washer and dryer that doesn't require quarters (and/or four flights of stairs, I too will do laundry)
posted by nancy at 1/13/2006 04:21:00 PM

stuff

Yesterday, I made a bastardized version of this dish (Pelau) from the blog chookooloonks. Don't ask me how to pronounce it (the blog name or the dish) because I really have no idea. Also, I am pretty sure anyone looking for authenticity or even for me to use all of the ingredients listed would be sorely disappointed because really what I did (with help from Michael) is to hustle up some of the ingredients from our cabinets to try to find a dish to use up the huge amount of rice Michael made for burritos earlier in the week. He made a huge tupperware container full and is telling me it was only 2 cups dry but that is a lot of rice (even for me and I really like rice). I think I bought coconut milk when I read the recipe about a month ago because the recipe sounded so tasty. It was a good quicky version with boneless/skinless chicken breast and precooked rice. (maybe it was like the Rachel Ray 30 minute version but actually it probably was faster than 30 minutes). Next time I will make it spicier I think, and use the real ingredients like whole pieces of chicken and uncooked rice.
School
Today my supervisor came to observe me at school for the last time in this placement. She is a total space cadet and my mentor teacher and the SLP (speech language pathologist) can attest to this as she turned the conversation from the possibility of my moving to L.A. to the traffic in Atlanta after the Olympics (say what?).
Now that that is done I am feeling pretty open, especially because I don't have to "work" until Saturday. ("work" being all that which is not teaching, taking classes or going to classes, so anything where people actually pay me for a service instead of me paying them.)
After school I went grocery shopping and all sorts of lovely items like Wine, and sushi, and a beautiful French loaf of my favorite Shadeau bakery bread. yum.
Relaxation with Michael+minor trauma
I felt good thinking about my relaxing evening, my unusually full bank account (thanks federal student loan people), and then Michael came home. We ate sushi, and I made him a steak to go with it because he is a manly man (ha). Then I read blogs while he napped (under my halfhearted coercion, no one should have to work two jobs without a brief nap, and it is easy to get someone to fall asleep with food and exhaustion) on the futon. When he woke up from his nap he scurried (Doesn't the word scurried make you picture rats, what is the comparable word for human busy, organized moving around?) to get ready for work, walking back to the office, gathering stuff, putting on shoes, into the kitchen to fill his water bottle with caffeinated tea to get through the evening, and back out into the living room...CRUNCH! right onto his glasses, shattering the left lense and mangling the frame. The glasses now look like the kids glasses from the Christmas Story (or for the more literary minded like this).
Excusing my ranting post
What is the point you ask? Why am I reading this long ridiculous post? Because you are a voyeur and you love to glimpse into someone else's life. Especially when it makes you feel better about your life (yes the one with TiVo, cable, real couches, paycheck(s) and lasik eye surgery etc.)
but really the point was I am relaxing tonight (and only sort of doing school work)
So tonight is entirely dedicated to sitting on the futon, watching (network) TV and absorbing my class readings in through my lap because really I know it will be all TV and a little wine.
And really I can wait until tomorrow or Saturday to think about going with Michael to get new glasses. (luckily he is not as blind as me and can get along okay without glasses for a day or two, if I hadn't accidentally deleted my blog, I have a feeling I may be able to back link here a post about my broken glasses this fall, but maybe not. I have been pretty slack about this updating thing.)

p.s. Why does blogger spell check not know the word Blog but does know that the brand TiVo is capital T little i capital V little o? creepy.
posted by nancy at 1/12/2006 07:26:00 PM


Musical Theater/Movie

I have no idea if this came from another site or if she went searching for hall & oates but check it out. Caitlin
posted by nancy at 1/11/2006 02:43:00 PM

ets

Today I took the second standardized test that I need to pass to be a certified special educator in the state of Ohio. (Note that I will not be living in Ohio so there is a distinct possibility that I will need to take a variety of other tests to be a certified teacher in another state.) The test was ridiculous, in the most Michael sense of the word. I show up at 10:35, our pass key in says we need to be there at 10:45. The proctor is locked out of the testing room so we do not go in until 11:20. With the standardized directions we do not begin the test until 10:55. I am finished by 11:25 and am forced to sit in the room and stare out the window until 11:55 when we are all allowed to leave. It is like being punished for being a fast reader. The ETS company has a racket with this testing. You pay them ~$150 for every test you take. They are the only company that provides legit study materials which they charge for, from ~$30-$65. I bought none of these and study naught. If I need to retake this test I will be bled for another $150+ and probably study materials. So I can prove to a state I don't live in that my knowledge of critical assessments (usually done by school psychologists --not me--) and historical knowledge of disability law suits will make me a great teacher. bleh.
posted by nancy at 1/07/2006 03:33:00 PM

yes girls
It did get sunny out, briefly, and now it is just cold and spritzy again (that is not quite a drizzle but still needing windshield wipers less than intermittent, got it?)

I added my lovely commenters, and again will make changes when motivation strikes me.
my biggest attitude improvement has come from the pseudo resolution to stop listening to the news so much during my commutes. It is just making me depressed with the state of the world and therefore grumpier at home. Add to that a new bottle of red wine and some sushi and I am a happy girl, and yay! tomorrow is Friday. That is all.
posted by nancy at 1/05/2006 07:34:00 PM

deleted
yeah um, so going into my crappy first week of 2006 I just deleted my whole blog. All the posts since August 2004. I think my writing sucks but this has become such a habit. I feel like I just burnt down my house and lost all the stuff that brings back memories. I guess I gotta go take some ginko biloba now and cry into my bagel with fancy avocado spread that I made for dinner.

to let it all out here are some other things I want to stop happening to make 2006 a better year.
1. slipping on the stairs
2. driving home in thunderstorms with a broken windshield wiper
3. all of my 6 year olds forgetting how to read and calling the letter C --e.
4. receiving whiney emails from professors that talk about the shortness of the quarter and require pre-term reading.
5. being locked out of home after a "Christmas Vacation" in the National Lampoon's context
6. rain (yes I know we need rain to grow things etc etc, but can it just quit it for this week)

please show me your support and I will eventually re link your websites when the sun comes back out
posted by nancy at 1/03/2006 07:42:00 PM