It's Almost Real

So yesterday, I applied for school. There was a deadline for free money—I had to be applied to one or all of the three schools by December 01 (tomorrow). And, as the security in the application site doesn't work with my browser, I had to do it at school (meaning I missed a yearbook meeting, the first in the actual lab.)

It's almost starting to sink in—next year, I won't be going to elementary, junior high or high school…I'll be done with that. On to the next thing—school that'll cost me upwards of $10 000 a year, for six years. Why so long for a simple undergrad degree? Well, that's interesting you ask.

The one school that I really want (that is in my country and doesn't cost me $100 000 to attend) actually doesn't have the program I want‚ Education. Soooo…what I'm going to do, assuming I'm accepted (knock on wood…) is attend my choice school for four years, acquire a Bachelor of Arts in __________, then hopefully transfer to a school on Vancouver Island to do a two-year after-degree in Education. Getting my Ed degree in British Columbia would allow me to teach in BC, as opposed to stinkin' ol' Alberta.

Translation: Vancouver, here I come! Slowly but surely….

I would really, really like to work in an alternate school, because everything I do, study, read, watch, you-name-it, proves that the school system I've spent the last eight years in is fucked messed up. Really—spend an hour looking at how children learn, pre-kindergarten, and tel me how the school system works with that.

Children are so naturally curious, so invested in learning everything around them…and then we stick them into half-hour blocks where everything is chunked up, and expect them to sit in a desk all day. No wonder we have kids that fall through the 'cracks'…they're not cracks, they're gaping holes that were built into the bowl.

The current system is built for twenty-five percent of the population. Twenty-five percent. Tell me that's fair. I dare you.

Anyhoo, I want to challenge that, and find ways to make the 'aha!' moments not such a rare thing. I don't know if you've ever spent time with children, or students, but when they get something—and I mean really get it—it's amazing. Their whole face lights up, and you know they've got it because you can hear it in their voice.

I had a moment like that today—one little boy, seven or so, that I've been working with for that past few weeks, got a math concept today…it was amazing. I was grinning the whole way back to the high school—even loosing my favourite card game to a beginner couldn't dim it. (In my defense, I was out second to his first. Beginner's luck—I'll get him next time.)

What are you going to do next year? Are you taking a big step? How will it change your world?

What To Do?

So I know I was tired last night, and this morning proved it. How? I slept in an hour past my usual time to get up. It's now quarter to 0800h, and I'm lazing in my housecoat, playing with Reiki. He has discovered the feet, under blankets, are fun to pounce on. I have discovered his teeth can reach through some of my blankets. Ouch.

Now I waiting for the time to pass—it's too late to go to Curves, too early to go to school…. Feels weird. Maybe I'll actually make breakfast today—I haven't had that in a while. Poached eggs and toast sounds good…and I even think we have cheese in the house. Add some hummus, and it's a meal.

Of course I've made myself hungry writing that…so I think I'll do it. Breakfast, here I come!

Crash Course

So I haven't made a post in a few days, and there's a few reasons why. 

Thursday: I was up until Friday watching movies from a decade a go that are no longer relevant or mildy 'with it.' I spent most of the time critiquing the 'that would never work' factor. (Then sppent Friday morning watching the sequel. >.< )

Friday: Spend the day working on a loooooong email to a former teacher, asking for advice. Then spent the evening with a staff workshop…and meeting this guy:

His name is Reiki…but more on him later. For now, it's enough to say that I was up until…Saturday, I think, working with him.

Saturday: Day with Reiki, volunteer at school, into town 'the city' (ha!) to take advantage of an awesome sale on loooong inseam pants. Hey-oh-yeah. Then I spent the late-late night talking with a friend…and kind of getting psychoanalysed. Always fun. I went to bed early this morning.

So that brings us to today. And though I love my new Mr. Man…he is in the dog house (ewww, stinky!) because he keeps chewing me, my clothes, old kleenexes and these:

Add that to kitten-peeing and the like…I am not pleased. Those were my last remnants of any sort of portable music device—my dear green iPod went through the wash this summer. RIP.

Well then. 

I've attempted to create a chew/claw/chase toy out of some bright neon pink rope I had floating about…he's not interested. Maybe I should sleep with it tonight, so it'll smell like me instead of tealight smoke. He seems to like biting Mahara-scented items. Mainly, my skin. Joy.

Well? Any other baby problems? Any tips? Major don'ts? I need to know—most of the babies I deal with, I can change their diaper and put them to sleep. Then again, I can't pick them up by the scruff of their necks….

Oh! Yeah!

This is one of those 'Oh, ____!' moments. I actually do have something to write about today!
My Grad ring came in, and I picked it up…I'm really hoping I still enjoy it in a few months, years…decades. It was the second most expensive ring in the school, and actually really different than what I originally sort-of wanted. Ugh. I am such a sucker for salesmen….

On another (similar?) note, the ring is actually a bit large, so I'm going to have to get it re-sized. However, I'm going to wait a bit before I do that—perhaps I'm simply having a skinny day. (Ha!)

Any suggestions on how long I should wait? Should I wait at all? Should I have been fiscally responsible and skipped the bloody thing in the first place? (Don't answer that last one, I think I know already….)

Time Beautifully Wasted

Well, so I promised to share my other favourite time-spender. It's Doll Divine, and I adore it. To show just how much I love it…here's my latest doll, done this morning.

Isn't she lovely? Now, me being as in-the-box as I am, I usually create myself in these various styles, and am quite content that way.

So, combined with endless quizz taking, this is how I spend my 'twenty-minutes-until-bedtime' moments. (Instead of being a good little girl and studying, or reading for Book Club. Shh!)

Roses and Teaching

So I guess this is the easy route out again, but Blogthings is my fall-back when there's nothing to do, yet I need to fill time (well, one of two, but it's faster. I'll introduce you to the other soon…). But wait! Today I'll actually discuss what I think of my results! Ooooh!

You Have High Standards

You'll do almost anything for a friend, but you won't be friends with just anyone. You're the perfect combination of simplicity and divinity. You are a secret hedonist, and no one knows how indulgent you can be. You are very reliable. Many people count on you, and rightfully so. You are intense, internally driven, and passionate. You have a purpose to your life.

The Abstract Rose Test

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

You Learn by Teaching Yourself

There's very little you can't teach yourself. You are a huge self-learner. You don't have one learning style that works for you. You try everything that works. You experiment with learning and figure out what works best for you in each context. Your most important attribute is perseverance. Even when it feels like something is impossible to understand, you don't give up.

How Do You Learn?

Blogthings: Free Quizzes for Everyone

So for the rose test—'You Have High Standards'—I could have told you that. I think it's pretty accurate. I'm fairly reliable and loyal, yet I really do love indulging. (One of the reasons my weekly trail mix has so many chocolate chips…?) All in all, this certainly isn't one of the quizzes that I disagree, or even waffle over.

As for how I learn—'You Learn By Teaching Yourself'—I suppose that's accurate. I've never really thought about it that way, so it was a bit new for me. Though once I actually examined it…yep. That fits.

One of the reasons I love Blogthings…and am more than a bit in awe…I haven't got a clue as to how the writer does all this, and makes it all work, you know? Well, what do you think? Could you do it?

Blahblahblah

Yesterday was a rather odd day…I don't really know how to categorize it. I did go to a friend's place, he did as I demanded and amused me…I stayed out too late and worried people….

Yet, it was odd. I suppose I've got to take Me Time more often.

As for today, nothing really eventful—my first morning visit to Curves in months, which was great, I forgot to make tea this morning…supper was bread and eggs around 2000h….

Blahblahblahblahblahblahblah….

Goodnight.

Satur-busy-day

Well, today's the big day—I have so much to do! I've got to get showered/dressed/actually-put-makeup-on by 0900, then I'm off and outta here!

At 1100, I have my designer friend coming in to town to do fittings for a charity fashion show at the local Christmas Festival. (The funny thing is, I don't even celebrate Christmas!)
After meeting with the designer, I've got kids from work coming to do our singing—I work with the after school program, and we've got four songs to sing. I think I know them best of anyone there, aside from other staff. Oh dear. We sing at 1115.

Then at 1200, it's the staff—all of us that aren't afraid of the locals are going to sing 'Twelve Staff of the Society' to introduce the women that this town leaves their children with. (But so far, most have decided to be absent for that…thanks. Way to show a cohesive unit!)

Then at 1315, the Fashion Show! I've done most of the organizing for that—getting models, measurements, my old (and working wonderfully, do you hear me?!) CD player out and ready, digging up clothing racks (which I have yet to locate).

On top of that, I have to find a way to rig up a speaker system to my keyboard, because I'm to play music alongside two of the four songs from my group (one of those songe still needs to be printed off. Shhhhhh!), and one other act needs the keyboard for her accompanist.

THEN, when all the Festival stuff is done on my part (and I'm not staying to clean!), I'm going to the high school to help make turtles for the 10000 Villages/Bethlehem Market next (already?!) week.

THEN, I have a hockey game to volunteer at, but I really don't know if I'm going to go…there's so much already on my plate.

Luckily, tomorrow I'm going to pretend I have a social life and hang out with one of my friends in town. I'm going to show up on his doorstep at 1000, and make him amuse me for hours. Should be fun.

Did I forget anything? I'm sure I did. Absolutely positive of it, in fact—now, if only I could remember what it ws that I forgot.

Lightbulb!

I figured it out! Why my posts don't get published (just think, there's loads of them backlogged…!)!


It's the labels.


Every time I write something, and go to sort it with labels, the blasted this pops up an error message and doesn't publish. Great. So, my solution is to simply never sort, or organize, or categorize anything.

This. Is. Going. To. Be. Hell.


But at least I can post, right…? Right? Come on, I need the encouragement. Smile and nod, folks. Smile and nod!

Fine White Powder

No, not crack. Snow. Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of it. No busses today, the whole district is like 'whaaa…?'

On the plus, I made grilled cheese a new way (for me) today and it turned out really well. And I put supper into the crockpot at 1000h, so it'll be nice and ready when I come home from work again in a few hours. (I worked 0730-0930, now I'll do 1530-1730.) Supper ready means I actually will eat it, because it contains neither meat, leftovers or soggy unknown ingredients. I made it 100% today. 

Soooo…I shall share with you the recipe! (Remember that this is all approximate amounts!)

Mahara's Tofu Mac-and-Cheese

Blogthings: The Easy Route

Two Blogthings to report today, because I;m too lazy to actually say anything insightful. I'll let quizes do it for me.

You Think Love Should Be Smart

You're not sure if it's love unless you're connecting on a deeper, more mental level. When you fall in love, it tends to be right. That doesn't mean it's easy though. You tend to have crushes on brainy, witty, insightful types. Looks matter less to you. People are attracted to you because you're bright, funny, and quirky. You are definitely one of a kind.

The First Date Movie Test

Blogthings: A Fine Line Between Insight and Stupidity

You Are Not Scary

Everyone loves you. Isn't that sweet?

How Scary Are You?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

Well? I have reason to believe not everyone agrees with that last answer…the quiz simply didn't ask the right questions!

Sleep Time Yet?

I'm so very tired tonight…ugh. My schedule seems like it's roomy, but then I get down to it, and there's not that much 'blah' time. At least, not if I follow it.

Monday—Curves, Sewing Club

Tuesday—Farmer's Market, Karate

Wednesday—Curves, Zumba

Thursday—Library, Karate

Friday—Curves, Optional Hockey Game

Saturday—Optional Hockey Game

Sunday—Optional Hockey Game

Now, of course this is not considering the work-school-volunteer-school-work process I do every weekday, starting at 0730. I don't finish up until anywhere between 1630 and 1800. Then I proceed to do whatever the daily duties are. 

Oh, and at school, I'm only on two teams currently—Leadership Team and Yearbook Team. They meet at noon, one day a week respectively. Heaven forbid there's a long weekend, and they end up on the same day…then it's a matter of which meeting will need me more. 

On a lighter note, I was going to put my first picture up here (gasp!), by showing you the amazing cooking that is making me fat. OUr cook at work…I swear, we're not allowed to be able to run up a flight of stairs. If we can do that, we aren't eating enough. Naw, I jest, she's fantastic—simply a little too much so in the…uh…cooking department. Her food is sooooooooooooooooooooo good…yummy!

Today was cookies with jam dollops in them…mmmmmmm.Thank goodness I'm no longer eating three meals a day there, like I was this summer!

(Yep this is the post I attempted last night—turns out I managed to save it somehow. Yippee!)

Ugh

I made this lovely long post last night…all brilliant and such…than the flippin' site kept having troubles and wouldn't let me post. So, I left it open on my dashboard, and was going to copy it onto a new post this morning…. Unfortunately, my Safari crashed before that was possible. So now I don't have it at all, and I doubt I'll redo it. Too much of a reminder.

Thanks, Blogspot.

Cargon, Honour & Privilege

Last week, my local librarian asked me to read a novel before she catalogued it—not unusual, I've tested books for her before. I've usually found them nothing too special, decent. I've enjoyed them, but I've not been intensely attached.

Maybe it's because I haven't done much book reading lately, or maybe it's the cliffhanger ending, but Kimberly Gould's Cargon, Honour & Privilege literally made me desperate to continue.

I think I scared my sister when, after finishing, I promptly shouted that it couldn't end that way, not there. It simply couldn't. 

But it did, and I then preceded to do a preliminary search for a sequel—not likely, seeing as the novel is copyrighted 2011, and the book is said to be made on October 17 of this year. Despite that, I would eagerly welcome a sequel.

I devoured this book in what used to be my slowest time—about three hours for 202 pages. I'm out of practise (reading online will do that to you, it seems), but for those three hours, I was completely immersed in Cargon. 

I usually don't read YA fiction, which is what I would classify this as, but I can't shout the praises loud enough. Maybe it's the amount of roses (LOVE IT) in the book, but I found the relationships, growth, and evolution utterly absorbing. I'm not one for sappy lovey-dovey stuff (ick), but the romance was so well done, I could actually laugh along with it.

As for the characters…Eve, the main character, was so easily accessible and true, that I found myself in her. (To be honest, I found myself in practically every character!) The people who were originally stiff were so three-dimensional by the end of the book—even halfway through it. The character I originally hated, but had an uncannily accurate prediction about, grew on me in the last ten pages or so. By the end, I wasn't completely disgusted by him—I didn't like him, but I could think of worse fates. 

The game of Cargon…I still don't truly understand it, but I think it would be fascinating learn more about. I would be greatly interested in that….

So, all in all, this was fabulous, I strongly recommend it. (I'll be suggesting it for Book Club 2013!). 

I have another book I'm going to nick from the Library soon and pre-read, too—that one looks a little more mainstream with the current teen novels today (geez, what's with the teen obsession?!), but still intriguing. I'm looking forward to telling y'all about it, too! (It even has a sequel, ready to read. ;) )

Got It!

So, next month's book club is going to be a big deal: we've got author Karen Bass coming in to talk about her second novel (I loved her first one, Run Like Jager!), and we've got goodies (and wine for the adults) to munch on for a holiday celebration.

That's where I always get stumped. Last year, I was still eating meat when we did our party in February (huh? How does that work—the dates don't match…), so I made a Rueben dip and brought bread. This year…I refuse to cook with meat, but I want to actually cook something, because I can now use my kitchen, thanks to the move (and plus, it's so very close to the library). Even so, I still don't know what to make.

Or, I didn't.

I was Stumbling today, and came across this recipe. YUM. Right before that, I found this one. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Do I use both? Or only the pudding one? Can I de dedicated enough?

Is it even possible?


Ach, I hope so. I now can't wait for Book Club, even more than before. Who knows—I might actually read both books this month!

Well, I Could Have Told You That!

I saw this as one of the similar quizes…I had to take it, if only for a laugh. Oh dear.

Your Family Is 92% Dysfunctional

Your family is more than a little nuts. And you definitely should think about moving on. This doesn't mean you need to completely cut your family out of your life... But it does mean you need to create a healthy support system of your own. One that doesn't involve your family. Even if you've already made a clean break from your past, it still may be haunting you. Checking in with a therapist from time to time is probably a good idea.

Is Your Family Dysfunctional?

Blogthings: 100's of Fun, Free Quizzes and 3 Stupid Ones

Really. I'm so surprised.

The Refrigerator Says…

So I'm a huuuuge Blogthings fan, and I took this quiz today…the last line made me laugh—it feels oddly accurate. >.<

Your Refrigerator Says You Are an Adventurous Eater

You aren't greedy, but you don't really deprive yourself either. You strike a good balance with the stuff you buy. You tend to be a fairly thrifty person. You splurge occasionally, but you're mostly a saver. You are a very adventurous person. You love to try new things, and you get bored very easily. You are responsible, together, and mature. You act like an adult, even when you don't feel like it. You are likely to be married - and very busy.

What Do the Contents of Your Refrigerator Say About You?

Blogthings: If Quizzes Are Outlawed, Only Outlaws Will Take Quizzes

Hook, Line and Stinker

I suppose I'm fishing, (two blogs, one day, oooh!) but I'm soo very excited, and terribly nervous.

I've finally started writing again, a story that's been sitting on me for months now, and I've finally begun it. I know where it's going, I know the characters, I know how long it needs to be to keep the setting. What I don't know is how to put it on the freakin' screen. It's driving me mad(der).

Aaaaaagh! I should simply sit down and write it, but…it over think, and what if, and how come and don't do it. Someone should give me an incentive, eh? (Ooh, the quaint Canadian card. >.< )

Please?

It's Only Just!

So almost two years ago, I got to see Carol-Anne Cole speak at a conference—and one thing above all else stuck with me.

Just.

It's only one word, right? Only a little, insignificant, four letter word. Yet something Ms. Cole said made me think. She said to eliminate the 'just,' because almost every time you use it, you're demeaning or minimizing something.

How many times do we call someone, and when they answer, we say "…oh, it's just me?" Or, we tell people we just wanted to say hi? Or "I was just thinking…."

It's belittling. You call someone, it's not just you, it's you! I want to say hi? Then I want to say hi! And "I was just thinking…?" Ugh. Yes, I have a brain—and it even works most of the time. I'm never "just thinking."

So…I don't use the J word anymore. I notice when you do, and I wince a little every time. It kills me a bit inside, and it makes me feel small—even when you're doing it to you.