pssst... Aya... my archive page is acting screwy...
/puppy eyes errr /kitty eyes
Can you help me please?

Twelve Days!

Yes, I've started the Aspen's-Parents-Coming-To-MN - Countdown!
After three years of living up here my parents are finally coming to see where their little girl has been, and they're going to see their baby GRADUATE! WOOT! College... walking across the stage... even though I won't officially graduate until who-knows-when now, /sigh.
I have calmed down a bit after a HUGE class discussion last night and a talk with my dad. I have a rough plan etched out to include the new test:
Spend 1/2 summer in MN, take the two parts of the test I can in June.
Leave my stuff up here in storage, spend second 1/2 summer in TX seeing friends and family.
Go to NZ in August - end of Nov.
Maybe come home - maybe go straight to Italy.
Come back to Texas after travels and wait for a test date to be offered.
Come back up to MN to see friends, take stupid third part, enjoy my last days of pre-job freedom ;)
Bring stuff back to TX... unless I find a job up here /ponder.
Go back home and search for a job.

Really I'm pretty lucky because I only have one specialty. Some people have two or maybe even three specialty areas and they have to take a test for each one.
I find it interesting that they give us less than six months notice that we will have to take this test and yet the don't have any: a) test dates b) test made up c) information on the test
HA!
I feel more betterer. I just needed a plan!

I should post about last weekend, now that I have calmed down and have time.

I went with Aya to Fargo to watch her present and I must say the topic was terribly interesting; Blogs in the Educational Environment. Renee also spoke along with another girl and their professor. The open discussion at the end also interested me greatly.
We spent the weekend with Aya's brother and sister-in-law and shopped around, played games, ate good food... it was a good weekend, though very tiring.

Warning: /rant on

ARRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

Insightful eh? How about this: Life SUCKS sometimes. Tests SUCK. People who say we need to TEST, TEST, TEST! suck!

/grumble
/growl
/sigh

Today I found something out that has added to my stress factor.

I have to pass (and still need to take) a two-part test in order to be licensed to teach in MN. And even though I don't plan on teaching in this state it would be wise for me to get a license here because it may let me get a job under probation until I can get licensed in whatever state I wind up in. Plus the school has already told me I won't be able to officially graduate until I have completed my license requirements. In class today I found out they have just added a third part to the test. Add this to the fact that I already have to take the first two parts on the same day and I'm pretty sure I won't be able to take the third on the same day... which is the last time it's offered before I go to NZ.... thus I won't be able to complete my licensure requirements until December or sometime next year = no diploma & no license = no job. THUS my frustration.

ok /rant off

Ok... I feel a little better. I know it will all work out, it's just that with all the other stuff I have been stressing about I really didn't need another complication, but then that's life.

Things to do:

- find out when I can take the p2 part 3
- write paper for ya lit
- present in health (tues)
- film imovie (weds)
- edit imovie
- get grad announcements and send (when/if store ever gets more in)
- return stuff to prof
- check mail/pay bills
- call bank to find out what that stupid fee is all about
- rent car for parents
- get addresses for party invites from Aya's mom & send those out
- note to arhd
- ask for days off from hd
- pe test (thurs)
- pe teach (fri)
- pack
- get storage place
- clean room/do dishes

My brain hurts, I know there's more but I'll have to think of it later.

Aya's presenting at a speech in Fargo today so we're about to head out.
Renee's speaking too, woot woot ;)

Aya's mom, Aya, and I will be staying with her brother and sister-in-law over the weekend. I'm excited to see them speak and I am excited to get out of town for a weekend.

Have a great weekend all!

Bah stupid insomnia bug has bit again.

My floor finished our mural in the lounge today. I'm quite happy with the way it turned out.

Played with some photographs I took recently, updated photo blog, surfed for a bit... gonna try to go to sleep...

Have a good Thursday.

If you have yet to check out WWDN then you should at least see his Photo Blog, which is filled with some rather amusing pictures. This is where I found out about photo blogs, a free service available here.

Also, has anyone else had this problem when posting - after clicking on preview your post I find I need to change something so I go back, change it and then post. The result is two or more posts on my blog... Maybe I'm hitting the back button on my browser instead of "re-edit" /ponder

I experienced a wonderful honor last night as Henry Oertelt, a man who survived five concentration camps during the Holocaust. He is a charming man and spoke for three hours of his experiences growing up in Berlin. I bought his book, An Unbroken Chain and he autographed it to me. I also got one for my parents. I am very glad I got to meet him and listen to him speak. He is a remarkable man.

Psst Renee... this is my baby :)

So I was woken up this morning at 6:50am by an extremely loud, very rude, buzzing... yes the fire alarm was going off, and it was one of my residents! As soon as I opened my door I could smell burnt bacon and I heard a series of curses coming from the kitchen, she was extremely upset at herself. The RA's did their thing and as we were wrapping up with the paperwork I felt a searing pain starting behind my left eye. It got worse and by the time I got back to my room I took two pain killers and grabbed an ice pack, praying for sleep. It hurt SO bad. It was sort of like a sinus headache, but worse. The entire left part of my head, face, throat, neck was throbbing :( No fun. I slept until 10am and by then it was gone, but my eyes are still blurry. Strange.

I find myself with many options for this summer. I am torn between wanting to stay in beautiful Minnesota, needing to earn!��5{�������� spend time with my family, debating on whether or not to take summer class(es). I'm not really complaining mind you, I am very happy to have choices, and so many of them at that. I realize I am very blessed. However, it is putting a bit of strain on me, as I always struggle to make the right decisions, fearing failure, knowing I only get one chance. I feel somewhat confident that whatever I choose will work out...

I've pretty much chosen, but a massive problem still awaits it's solution - how do I get all my stuff back to Texas?

How about this choice?

Wooty-woot-woot!
It works, now I can post my own pictures!

Testing... 1...2...3...

Oh yes and D and I introduced ARHD friend to YATTA!!!

I had an awesome day!

I woke up around 10, sleeping in was quite nice. Read some of Lirael. Went shopping for a bit with my bestest bud. Came back home and read some more of Lirael. Found out through WWDN that I can have my very own PHOTO BLOG for free! Set that up and it's AWESOME! Went to Feast of Nations put on by our International Student Office - great dancing, music, comedy, food, & fun! On the way back home an ARHD friend asked me what I was doing tonight... I told her reading (Lirael) and she invited me to come play games with her and a fellow RA. So we went to his room and chatted, played Phase 10 (remarkably similar to Aya's family's Shanghai) and silly stringed each other. I also got my very own secret handshake with the D-man! Good times. Now I have to unwind and go sleepy-sleep. Shouldn't have drunk four cups of coffee at the FON.

Finished Sabriel last night and was not disappointed.

Went out to Applebee's tonight to celebrate a friend's 23rd birthday. Had fun, there were seven of us neatly packed into a booth. Yummy food, good company.

I'm almost done with Sabriel and OMG! It's really, really, REALLY good. I can't put it down. It's killing me that I have about 10 pages left, as soon as I'm done here I'm going to finish it up and then this weekend I'm going in search of the sequels, of which there are two, Lirael and Abhorsen. I'm really excited about Lirael as there is a DOGGIE in it and you should know by now I'm obsessed with puppies! And apparently Abhorsen brings the previous two together... honestly I only scanned the short synopsis for the books on Garth's website. I want to be surprised. I bet I'll like them since I love the way he blends the real-world of old with his fantasy realm. Yep... definitely need to make a stop at the book store this weekend.

New Angel tonight... one of the final six :( It's a sad thing, but I guess each great show finds it's end :( I'm happy to see they are bringing back several of the major characters from the show's history: Connor, Darla, Lindsey, etc.

I'm sitting in class listening to someone present how to do iMovie, which I know pretty well, I've done several and I've even taught it and helped many other people edit their movies. Needless to say I'm a lil bit bored, but it's ok, I have been throwing my two cents in every once in a while ;)

On the plus side, I found a place to search for jobs in Colorado.

Word of the Day: Recalcitrant

Discovered this word in Sabriel by Garth Nix. I'm reading it for my YA Lit. class and since it's a series I have the feeling I'll be reading the rest soon... I'm really enjoying this world he has created.

Hmmm...

Welp, I got up early and baked some bisquits for a couple of guys who were headed home over this Easter weekend. I then worked at the front desk for two hours. Afterwards I had my one-on-one with the hall director and for our meeting we went out to the Humane Society where he searched for a cat (or possibly dog) to surprise his family with. Unfortunately, the cat he chose was being spayed next Monday, so he can't bring it home until Tuesday.

I was wearing purple bunny ears this morning - in celebration of the holiday of course!
He told me where he would like for us to go... then hesitantly asked if the bunny ears would be going LOL I asked him if he was embarassed to be seen with me in public while wearing them ;) I got to tease him about it, since when he saw me he asked if my Playboy auditions were today :P
(seriously disturbing... I just looked up the word elves under Google's image search...)

BTW the ears are back on.

Have you ever had "One of those days..."

I'm actually not. It's been pretty good so far. I taught in El-Ed PE again today. I had a bunch of stations set up and the kids were divided into five groups, 3-4 per group. As they went around, playing at each station, I had the music going. I encouraged them to make up their own activities with the equipment provided at each station. At the end they all said they had fun and I know I had a blast. The next person who taught was doing t-ball and I stayed in the "dugout" as the head cheerleader. They really got into it. I let them choose the team names so we had the POPCORNs and the ARMYs! I cheered equally loud for both teams.... I wonder if I'll still have a voice for my presentation tonight.

I'm working in the computer lab now, just finished my self-eval for today's teaching and my book report which is due tonight. I still need to finalize what I'm going to say in my report tonight...

I'm going to Fargo in a couple of weeks to watch Aya present a speech! Woot! Her mom, her and I will all hang out in Fargo for the weekend, with her brother and sister-in-law. I'm really looking forward to it. Time-away!

I have made my final list of who to invite for my graduation party and there's like 60 people! I know not everyone will come, but it's just amazing how many people/friends I've met/made in only three years. I hope I haven't forgotten anyone... if I have hopefully I'll remember between now and then.

Psst... Renee! I need your address so I can send you one ;)

Has your day been a DRAG?

Mine's gone pretty well. Plus I just found out I don't have to work tomorrow - which means my eleven to eleven day has just been cut to five to eleven = WOOT! I'll actually be able to get some work done.

To Do:

Read some of Monster for YA Lit.
Do book report for YA Lit.
Prepare book talk for YA Lit.
Prepare lesson for PE Methods
Buy Cap & Gown!
Buy & start on invitations for Grad party

Aya ROCKS!
Thanks for getting my pages working and aligned!

/dance
/party
doo doo doo!

Renee is it still doing the weird jumpy thing on macs?

:)

For you Renee...

I've changed my blog format, again! I can't get the archive page to look or work quite right, but I think Aya might be stopping by later today..
/wink

/grrr and comment thingy isn't working... hehe ok it's still buggy

I am really enjoying the Dancing Scooby! He is awesome!

The light at the end of the tunnel...

The time is coming for graduation. I cannot believe I will be finished with the classes part at least - I still take one online during student teaching, but it's not the same. I actually did it. Barring any unfortunate occurances I will have a college degree as of December 1, 2004. EEEP!

I've been chatting online with a friend who lives in the next dorm. He's a hoot!

*grin*
Yes... we went to see Hellboy again... great special affects, funny at the right times, a dash of romance mystery of sorts, and KITTENS!

:)

/love Hellboy & Ron Perlman he's a big teddy bear :) and I mean that in the best possible way. I remember his Beauty & the Beast days and what a cute kitty-beasty-thing... never thought he was that beastly though.

I really enjoyed this movie... I went to it with an uncertain feeling. I had never heard of the comic all I knew was what I saw in the previews and that it had Ron Perlman in it = reason enough for me. I am glad I went to see it. :)