Tagged

I've been tagged by Sharon...

1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

The nearest book is Eoin Colfer's The Supernaturalist. I'm using it for one of the UB classes I'm teaching this summer.

The sentences are: "A message. Shoot the barrel! It was a shot in a million, even with the eyepiece."

Don't think I'll tag anyone though.

Home

For the record I made it back to MN... I'm still completely exhausted... I guess that's what happens when you drive 55 hours in 10 days.

Ah well...

It was a good trip, but I had to start work as soon as I got back. I'm working through Monday and then I have a break until Thursday. Yay! I'll spend that time going through the stuff in my garage and PURGING as much as possible. I've collected a remarkable amount of stuff in 7 years. Seriously. I'd be impressed if it weren't for the fact that I am moving in 6 weeks.

Off to work... will post more later.

Texas

When Mom and I got back to Texas on Saturday it was 100 degrees with 86% humidity.

Oh yeah... THAT's the reason I left Texas.

*sigh*

Still here though. Giving myself a bit of a break from driving and getting together a few things for my new apartment and will start back to MN on Wednesday - getting home on Thursday afternoon/evening.

I work Friday and Saturday, but I've still got a week to finish preparing for my UB classes.

Overall, Mom and I had a good trip. We met lots of nice people in my new town and everyone made me feel really welcome. I'm getting excited about my move... as long as I don't think about having to leave all my friends in MN.

Amarillo...

Sheesh.

It took us 20 hours to get from MN to our destination in CO and we fought very strong cross winds the entire way. I spent Wednesday in the school and on Thursday Mom and I spent a few hours driving around Rocky Mountain National Park (see pictures below). Thursday evening we went to look at my new apartment - the one my new boss recommended. It's pretty much close to perfect. It's a two-story, two bedroom townhouse with a garage, dishwasher, washer and dryer... The 2nd story has an amazing view of the mountains from two sides! And it's in my price range! I spoke to the owner and I'm all set!

We were in CO for two days and we just drove another 11 hours to get to Amarillo, with another 6 hours tomorrow to get home. I'll spend a couple of days at home (TX) and then I drive another 22 hours back to MN.

All I can say is... it's a good thing I love my car.

Just outside of Rocky Mountain National Park we saw elk...


And of course the mountains...


And one of my fave critters, moose...


I'll be living 20 minutes from there.

Uhm yeah. It's pretty much awesome.

*grin*

*bounce*

Apartment hunting

I'm in Colorado with Mom and we're about to go apartment hunting. I spent yesterday in the school and met lots of teachers and kids. I also got a feel for what my job will be like. One word: hectic. I'll definitely need to practice patience and flexibility.

Gotta run now, but will post pictures and more information later.

Commencement

A lot has happened in the last four days...

I trained the girl who is taking my place.
My parents arrived.
I walked in commencement.
My picture was in the newspaper (walking in the commencement march).
I had lots of fun with my parents and we took a walk in the woods at Maggie's house.
D's and my joint-grad party was HUGE and fun. I didn't know we could squeeze that many people into such a tiny place.
Went to the Headwaters this morning.
Talked Mom into staying and going with me to Colorado.
Saw Dad off at the airport.
Mom and I are leaving tomorrow morning to go to Colorado. She gets to see my new home before Dad.

SOOOOO unbelievably exhausted. The past few days have been a whirlwind and I've barely had time to stop and enjoy it, but I've managed.

And in about ten hours Mom and I will be on the road to CO.

Guess I better get some sleep.

P.S. I graduated! Minus my defense... but I got hooded and shook people's hands and stuff. *hehehe*

Potentially Exciting News

One of the things I've been fretting about is finding a place to live in Colorado. It's EXPENSIVE and hard to find what you want. Lots of places are furnished, rent for only 4 months a year, don't allow pets, etc.

I spoke with my future boss yesterday and she said there's a teacher who is leaving and he has a 2 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom townhouse, with a washer & dryer, and a garage. Can you believe it? My very own washer & dryer? The landlord will let me bring my kitty cat AND it's $150 less than other places I've been reading about... and it includes utilities. I'm going to check it out when I'm there next week.

*grin*

WorldWide Telescope

Microsoft's new toy.

Well that's backwards...

I'm supposed to feel better now that I've checked another major thing off my To Do list... instead it's 1:15 am and I'm wide awake thinking about all the things I still have to do.

*snort*

*Email RS
*Call CLV about summer
*Syllabi for UB classes
*Finish Master's Research Paper
*Edit Master's Research Paper
*Defend paper
*Written Exam
*Send final copy of paper to participants
*Commencement - Friday
*Make reservation for Sheba
*Visit new school
*Find an apartment
*Teach for UB
*Move to Colorado - July
*Lesson plans for next school year

Free at last!

Thank goodness!

I just finished my Written Exam and turned it in.
Yay!

Assuming it isn't sent back with red writing all over it, which it shouldn't be, I'm officially done until my Defense.

Now I can focus on preparing for UB and on my trip to Colorado next week I can focus on checking out my new school and finding an apartment.

*DEEEEEEEEP BREATH*

Ahhhhhhh...... That feels good.

A different kind of superhero

Position filled

So... I've been trying to help the Ed Dept find a replacement for me. I say "trying" because I haven't had any luck.

Many
people have been telling me not to worry about it, it's not my responsibility to find a replacement for myself. A few people have been asking me if I know of any good candidates.

Today a I interviewed a young lady and I think she'll work! She has more experience than the last candidate and she's willing to work with me to learn what she needs to.

Yay!

I can't help it. I want to make sure that whoever takes over for me knows what they need to know. I think it's horrible when someone leaves a position and doesn't share
their knowledge with the next person. What an awful feeling to start a new job and have no idea what you're supposed to do or who to ask for help.

So yeah, I'm happy now.

Getting down there...

With a little less than two weeks remaining in the semester, I'm forced to take inventory:

Master's Paper - mostly done, minus some APA edits - defense date set
Written Exam - needs lots of work
Graduation - have cap, gown & hoodie, but need to clean apt.
Summer Jobs - finalize syllabi and send to UB & tell Concordia when last day of work will be
Meet with J regarding future of comp. lab
Colorado Trip - have set date for my visit to the school, need to call apts.

Went to trivia tonight. Had fun, as always, but we placed 8th out of 12. Not so hot. Ah well.

Sorry I don't have anything more interesting to share... you really would think I would...

We won't talk about all the "Goodbye's" I'll be saying in the next couple of weeks as most of my friends move back home...

Iron Man

So... our theater actually had two advanced screenings of Iron Man tonight. When Jer called and asked if I wanted to go I said sure.

I was expecting cheesy, but maybe good... probably a little of both.

I gotta say... It rocked. I was very pleasantly surprised. Yay! Don't you love that? When you have mediocre expectations for a movie and it completely surprises you? I always want to see the movie again to see if it really was that good or if I was just so surprised it didn't suck that I *thought* it was that good. If that makes sense.

Anywho... Tonight was a good pick-me-up. I had dinner with my former dept chair and his wife. He and I went over my Master's paper and I'm going to make the changes he recommended and then send my paper around to my committee. Also, I think I've found a date and time for my defense that will work for everyone. It's in June, but at least I've got a date.

So yeah... I'm in a much better mood.

Now... to sleep.